Irish Soda Bread Darina Style...

Wanted to share this great tutorial video from Darina Allen... she is so charming!!!

First post of 2011

You would not believe the schedule I have kept since last we spoke!!!  I am on spring break with only four weeks of culinary school left and then graduation.  I am getting ready to make a Chocolate Guinness Cake for St. Patty's Day and I have LOTS to share with you guys.  I started all those soup posts and they are saved in my draft pile and I will finish and post those sometime.  I also ran into a snag with budget and have not been keeping up with the Dorie Greenspan recipes but will be back on that by May I hope.  It requires extra ingredients and we are on the Dave Ramsey budgeting plan and often don't have that little extra for the odd ingredients needed.  I will eventually but right now I need the spending discipline.  I tend to blow budget on food and books... it is who I am.

Here is a photo of the Guinness Cake I made last year... just in case you want some foodie photos to tide you over.  I have a slew of them from work I hope to start putting up for you on a regular basis and some cool school restaurant pics, too.  Just give me some time... thanks for being patient as I finish this phase of my life and move into the professional chef phase.  You guys are a bunch of good eggs!  :)

Ingredients for the cake:

1 cup Guinness
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Ingredients for the topping:

8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the over to 350 F, and butter and line a 9 inch springform pan.

Pour the Guinness into a large wide saucepan, add the butter — in spoons or slices — and heat until the butter's melted, at which time you should whisk in the cocoa and sugar. Beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla and then pour into the brown, buttery, beery pan and finally whisk in the flour and baking soda.

Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined pan and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Leave to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack, as it is quite a damp cake.

When the cake's cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand and get on with the frosting. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sift over the confectioner's sugar and then beat them both together. Or do this in a processor, putting the unsifted confectioners' sugar in first and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.

Add the cream and beat again until it makes a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

Makes about 12 slices

From Feast by Nigella Lawson. Photographs by James Merrell. Copyright 2004 Nigella Lawson. Photographs Copyright 2004 by James Merrell. Published by Hyperion. All Rights Reserved.

Drooling over cooking books again...

I love Darina Allen.  She is the owner and brains behind the Ballymaloe Cookery School.  One of these days I hope to be able to attend something there.  I would LOVE to actually do their 12 week program but life and money and family do not permit me to do so at this time in my life.  I keep trying to tell my husband that we could go when the kids get older and I could go to school and he could hike around and fly-fish all day and I think that was enticing enough to him for him to put it on our Bucket List.  LOL

Anyway, until I can get there I am on a mission to read everything Darina Allen has written in preparation.  This is her newest and it looks quite promising.  It is now on my wishlist.  :)

My project...

I did a project this semester on facilities and layout and menu for a restaurant that I would want to open. My project was a Bed & Breakfast with a cafe and bakery business during the week. I thought some of you might like to see what I have been working on.

I focused this semester on an Irish Bed and Breakfast that I would open in east Texas. Here is the tentative menu I came up with:


I love all things Irish so here are some of my favorite Irish Food Links for enjoyment, too...

Darina Allen Newsletter Archives

Gastronom.ie

Spicendipity

A Plaice for Everything

Bibliocook

Cake Creations

The Dublin Gobbler

Fairy Cake Heaven

Food and Drink Ireland

Messy Chef

Peppermint Tea

Our Grannies Recipes

The Humble Housewife

Truly Scrumptiousness

I ADORE peasant food...

Most countries peasant food is the thing to eat if you want to experience the country at it's finest. When Dan traveled overseas in college he often stopped at the local shops to pick up the local fare. I think it is important to eat what the local do best. I would not buy cornbread in Washington DC (believe me they don't know how to make it). They had no idea what black eyed peas were when we were there either. LOL When I am in Memphis I buy barbeque and when I am in Louisiana I buy gumbo. I don't buy clam chowder in Arkansas either. You are more likely to really enjoy the food if you eat what they are good at making. I have picked up a few books on Irish food over the years from people who are living there and have been cooking there for their whole life and they are very simple recipes and very comforting foods. I love the foods of Ireland and their charming simplicity and quiet nourishment. We celebrate every year with traditional recipes. Here is our dinner tonight as we celebrated St. Patrick's Day...

A staple

Irish Soda Bread

The beginnings of an Apple Crumble

Lettuce, grapefruit and walnuts (this is more English but we love it)

Not pictured is a nice vegetarian version of split pea soup with vegetable broth and carrots that we started with.

....and we finished with the Apple Crumble...