Happy Saint Patricks day! If the Irish Brown Bread recipe didin't whet your appetite try this delicious Irish stew which I posted back in November. It was always the dish we traditionally ate on St. Patrick's Day so try it out and enjoy! Lá Fhéile Pádraig Shona dhuit!
Link: Good Mood Food Irish Stew!
Irish Brown Yeast Bread
This has to be one of the easiest bread recipies in the world with no kneading it’s a no brainer! The loaf can be frozen and defrosted when needed and is the perfect accompaniment to a hearty soup or made into a chunky sandwich. For anyone hooked on white bread this is a really healthy alternative and you can also add rolled oats sprinkled on top for an extra crunch.
450g of wholemeal flour.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 7g sachet of dried yeast.
1 teaspoon of treacle.
15 Fl Oz of warm water.
A small handful of mixed seeds
Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Dissolve the treacle in the warm water and add to the dry mix. With a large spoon combine the ingredients until it forms a wet mixture. Turn the mixture into an oiled and floured loaf tin, sprinkle with seeds and cover with cling film or a damp tea towel. Place in a warm spot to allow the yeast to do its work for approx 20 mins. Cook in the oven for about 45-50 mins at Gas Mark 7/ 220oC. You will know when the loaf is done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.
The bread is quite moist and will last for anything up to a week, you can store it in an airtight container. It also freezes brilliantly for up to a month, so you could also make a few extra to save for later.
Photos: Jocasta Clarke
Sofie recently turned 22 and to celebrate her mom and brother came over to visit. Since we are always treated to some tasty traditional Swedish dishes when we visit them, I thought I would try and serve something traditionally Irish for our first meal! One of the few dishes that I know well as being traditionally Irish is this Irish Stew.
We always had it growing up and I’m sure most homes across the country were the same. I used to have a serious problem with the potatoes, insisting they were picked out before I was served- much to my mom’s disgust!
There are many different takes on this recipe with many using lamb instead of beef, but this is the one we grew up with. I actually rang my mom the other day for the recipe, and she got a little bit excited and started adding all sorts of mad vegetables to it to make it more exciting, but at the end of the day Irish stew is Irish stew, so I’ve tried to keep it simple! Just like mammy used to make- without parsnips thank you very much! ;)
Irish Stew
This is a really tasty one pot dinner which is perfect for cold winter evenings. Ask your butcher for stew steak, which is normally available, but you can also use any other cheap cuts of meat. This recipe serves 6 people and you will need a large casserole.
3 tablespoons of wholemeal flour.
3 teaspoons of ground black pepper.
1 ½ pounds of stew steak.
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil.
4 large carrots, chopped roughly.
2 large onions, chopped into half moon pieces.
1 ½ litres of beef stock.
A good pinch of sea salt.
2 bay leaves.
5 large potatoes peeled and sliced into 1cm discs.
A good handful of freshly chopped parsley.
Preheat the oven to 200˚C/390˚F/Gas 6.
Place the stew steak, wholemeal flour, and black pepper in a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and give it a good shake so that all the steak pieces have a nice coating of flour and pepper. Heat a large frying pan with a good glug of sunflower oil and brown half the steak pieces. Transfer the steak pieces to the casserole. Repeat with the rest of the meat.
Fry the onions in the meat juices on the pan for 2 minutes, adding an extra drop of oil if necessary. Transfer the onions to the casserole. Add in the carrots, beef stock, sea salt, bay leaves, and stir through. Add the potato slices on top, season with a generous amount of black pepper and cover with the lid. Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook for 1 ½ hours.
Serve straight from the casserole to some large bowls with some tasty wholemeal bread. Sprinkle the parsley on top and enjoy!
Although the Irish summer hasn't really been good to us so far- it does provide the odd worthwhile day of sunshine, when untanned arms and legs get out for the day and prove, they too can work a pair of shorts and a t-shirt! Yesterday was one of those days, and instead of missing the opportunity we jumped in head first to summer. We even kidnapped a dog!
Well almost, James, his owner was down at the Oxegen festival so we took pity on him and brought him with us. Sofie and I were joined by Michael and Senan on our little road trip which ended up at the hill of Tara. Now being the Swedish viking, my girlfriend is, she was highly unimpressed when we showed her the magic of one of Ireland's premier tourist attractions, a hill of mud. But she did set herself up for disappointment as we walked towards the hill, when she claimed she hadn't been that impressed with the Colosseum in Rome! I'm sorry to say that there is something fairly reminiscent to the hill of Tara and an episode of "Father Ted" when they all go to a funfair in "The Field" the whole place is even watched over by a flock of sheep...
For the picnic itself, I finally got to use my handy dandy food picnic carrying thing, which was one of the presents I got for my birthday. It was my mom's interpretation of the bento box I posted about back in Febuary, but the containers are way too big for just one person, so it's ideal for feeding about 4 people.
And after all that food what better activity to enjoy on a picnic than a spot of Kite Flying. Well the enjoyment only came after a long process of trying to get the bloody thing in the air, but when we finally got it up, it was great craic.
As for the food, I made some really quick and easy Mexican Quesadilla's (recipe below), tagliatelle with homemade tomato and basil sauce and the one desert recipe I can always put my faith in, Goeey Chocolate Puddings.
These Mexican Quesadilla's are not that healthy but they are a perfect party or snack food and even a simple little starter. You can spruce them up with whatever you like, a bit of chicken, sliced peppers but this is just the straight forward way of making them:
Mexican Quesidilla's
Serve straight away or save for later, either way they still taste great!
