Deeper 'n' Ever Pie

And here it is. In all it's cheesy glory the Deeper'n'Ever pie. This definitely cured any unvittled eye shrink one might have had. Due to the size and depth and the fact that I made it earlier in the day I first warmed the pie in a preheated 350º oven for about 1 hour. I tested it with a metal chopstick to make sure it was heated all the way through. Once that was accomplished I placed a generous amount of grated old cheddar cheese on top. Waited until the cheese had bubbled then removed the dish from the oven and served straight away. The Deeper'n'Ever pie was tasty and saw Dibbuns and non-Dibbuns go for seconds and thirds. This is an easy recipe because essentially it is just layers of mashed vegetables. Also if you bake it straight away. However if you choose to do it the way I did by making it in the morning and baking it later it may be a bit of a process. I can assure you that all the effort is worth it! My son was very pleased with the effort and a full round table discussion regarding Brian Jacques Redwall was plenty.        

The top crisped up and the cheese bubbly with nestle layers of potato, carrot and turnip. 

Piping hot and disappearing fast!

Hope you all have a great weekend! - JW 

The REDWALL Cookbook

This is my son's cookbook. And I could not be more pleased when he asked for a cookbook for Christmas. However I sense an ulterior culinary motive here and he has succeeded.  He knows I  like to review all cookbooks regardless if it is based on a book or a movie, outdated or old, tongue and cheek, new or vintage. My cookbook collection is extensive and he happily has added one of his along the sidelines.  

All recipes are based on the Brian Jacques Redwall series. Something that my son reads religiously. This cookbook is fun and enjoyable for any Dibbuns at heart. Even if you have not read the Redwall series you can still get a sense of the characters and storyline. Culinary and literary tales combine amongst the recipes which are divided into the four seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. 

Tonight I am serving Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie. Which recipe was handpicked by my son. I will serve this with English bangers and a spinach salad. Another day I will make the Loamhedge Legacy Nutbread.  

Mole's Favourite Deeper'n'Ever Turnip'n'Tater'n'Beetroot Pie

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1 pound (3medium) potatoes, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound (4 medium) carrots, peeled and chopped

1/2 pound turnips or rutabaga, peeled and chopped

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

1 cup (2 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese or any hard cheese

Crisp green salad, for serving  (optional)

Pickled beets, for serving (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Place the carrots and turnips or rutabaga in another saucepan, cover with water and add a pinch of salt. Boil all the vegetables until soft, 10 - 15 minutes.

2. Drain the vegetables separately, then return them to their pans and add half the butter to each pan. Mash the vegetables until they are smooth and season with salt and pepper. 

3. In a deep casserole dish, spread the alternating layers of mashed vegetables, starting with the carrot mixture and finishing with a layer of potato. Roughen the top with a fork.

4. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake on the top shelf until the cheese is bubbling, about 15 minutes. 

5. Serve with a crisp green salad and pickled beets if desired.

Here was my effort in the kitchen this morning. Although I did have a bit of help. My husband decided to peel and chop the potatoes and turnip before dashing off to work.    

This was the best kitchen workout. Peel, chop, boil, cook, and mash. 

 First a layer of the carrot mixture goes on the bottom of the dish.

 Then a layer of potato. Keep alternating until you finish with a layer of potato on top.

   

Finished. The grated cheddar cheese still needs to be placed on top however since I am baking this later I will add it then. Will post a picture tomorrow in all it's melted cheesy glory. - JW

Irish Oatmeal Cookies

Every week I try... or more to the point I make a sweet treat for the kidlets. Whether it be cookies, brownies, banana bread or cupcakes. I try to create and covet the holy grail of all baked goods. Offering them homemade indulgence. Ultimately, I hope that all my baking and cooking efforts inspire them to create for themselves inside the kitchen. Sharing their culinary delights with pure enjoyment. Nothing is more rewarding when it is done by yourself. Kitchen flattery will get one to sample works in progress, witness the failures, and of course to be the prime taste tester. Whether it be hot out of the oven or fresh from the pan. The taste tester is where it is at. And I had four of them last night while I made these oatmeal cookies.

I bought a box of McCann's Irish oats and on the back of the box was a recipe for Irish Oatmeal cookies. The recipe looked good however I thought that the butter content was a bit much. How could I reduce that. I felt a substitution was in order. One part butter and one part applesauce. I omitted the nuts and raisins because I did not have any on hand. And instead I added coconut.     

With the few substitutions they turned out fine. They offered a more cake like texture then a biscuit one. Still the taste testers approved.  

Irish Oatmeal Cookies

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1 1/4 cup softened butter or margarine

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350º

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla extract. 

3. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture. Mix well. 

4. Stir in McCann's Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal, raisins and walnuts.

5. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter on a ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes at 350º. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire cooling rack. 

Makes approx. 36 cookies

Notes: I added 1/2 cup butter and 3/4 cup organic applesauce instead of adding the 1 1/4 cup of butter the recipe called for. Also I omitted the raisins and nuts and added about a 1/4 cup of shredded coconut. Baking times may vary... I baked my version of this recipe for only 12 minutes. 

    

Copper Wok

To ease my love of all things copper my husband found this wonderfully priced wok for me. And I am certainly grateful. Seeing how our other wok was showing a considerable amount of wear and tear. I was a bit apprehensive regarding the stainless steel interior however after many uses food sticking is not a problem. Cleaning is a breeze. The most important thing is heat. The heat is even and is retained very well when using this wok. This is my third copper piece of kitchenware and I am very please. 

Have a good weekend everyone! - JW 

Beef Cider Stew

As promised I will share the recipe for the Beef Cider Stew from the Apples, Apples, Apples cookbook. This recipe was fairly easy and after some simple prep work and the cooking time was tweaked. This is a hearty dinner for a St. Patrick's Day however beef cider stew is good anytime.

Beef Cider Stew  

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Serves 6 

2 lb (1 kg) stewing beef

3 tablespoons (45 ml) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt

1 teaspoon (5 ml) pepper

1/4 cup (50 ml) vegetable oil

2 sliced onions

2 cups (500 ml) sweet cider, I used Magners, or apple juice

1/2 cup (125 ml) beef broth or water

2 tablespoons (25 ml) cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) thyme 

4 small potatoes

4 medium carrots 

1/2 cup (125 ml) sliced celery

1. Cut stewing meat into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. I added a bit of paprika to the flour mixture. Add meat and shake to coat. Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large stewing pot over medium heat and brown meat on all sides, in two batches. Add sliced onions and sauté for 3 minutes or until soft. Drain off excess fat.

2. Return meat to Dutch oven and add cider or apple juice, beef broth or water, vinegar, and thyme. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour or until meat is nearly tender. 

3. Peel potatoes and carrots. Quarter potatoes and carrots. Add vegetables to stew and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until vegetables and meat are tender.

Notes: I decided to pre-cube the meat and chop the vegetables before starting. I also added a bit more stock, I used vegetable stock, because I had chopped a more vegetables than stated in the recipe. I added a small tin of no salt stewed tomatoes. So that it would make an adequate gravy also because of the extra veggies I added. I also added a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce. I had purchased better cuts of beef therefore the cooking time was not as long as stated in the recipe. 

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Serving up a slice of Guinness bread and a bowl of Beef Cider Stew with a pint of Guinness at our house for St.Patrick's Day. I already posted the recipe for the bread. The recipe for the stew I will post later. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Irish Heritage Cookbook

This cookbook is only 96 pages and offers recipes that are contributed and inspired by a long list of the author's family members in Ireland. There are plenty recipes to choose from and the nine chapters bring a taste of the emerald isle into your home. This cookbook may be small however it gives a no fuss, straightforward, here are the recipes approach; which makes finding a recipe very efficient. 

If you do celebrate or if you do not celebrate St. Patrick's Day this bread recipe will add something a little different to your breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Mercedes' Guinness Bread (an adaption of the popular beer bread)

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2 packages od dry yeast

1/2 cup of warm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 bottle of Guinness stout (6.3 oz)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 teaspoons salt 

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups unsifted white flour

1 teaspoon ginger

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 375º

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tablespoon of sugar; set aside for 5 minutes.

Heat stout, honey and margarine until warm. Add stout mix to the dissolved yeast and stir into 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in the remaining flour, ginger and caraway seeds to make a soft dough.

Shape into a ball. Knead on a floured board until smooth, about 3 minutes. Form into a round loaf and with floured knife make a cross through centre of the bread. Place in a greased 8 inch round cake tin. Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Bake at 375º for 30 minutes or until done. Remove from pan and brush with butter. Cool on rack. 

Avocado Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

I diligently made these cupcakes this morning. I was very curious to see and mostly to taste, if using avocado in replace of butter was going to make that much of a difference. I can honestly say it does not. The batter... yes I had to sneak a taste because to me that is the true test. What the batter tastes like is a precurser to the end result. Remember licking the beaters, the wooden spoon and running your finger along the inside of the mixing bowl as a child? If there was baking to be done and when all was said and done then there certainly were beaters to be licked! 

The recipe came from Avocado Central. It is a great website that has many recipes dedicated to avocados. I urge you to give this recipe if for nothing else other than to see how easily avocados may replace butter. For this recipe, Avocado Red Velvet Cupcakes click *here*  They taste virtually the same as if made with butter or oil. 

This is what they looked like when they came out of the oven. A lovely reddy brown colour and spongy cake like texture.

All dressed up and ready to be eaten. I did not make the Honey Avocado Icing as suggested instead I made a Cream Cheese one.

Surprise dessert time! I am sure these will be gobbled up in no time. As I did with mine. 

- JW 

My Big Greek Salad

I know it is Thursday and I can hardly say this is a throwback Thursday because I always eat salads. This was my dinner last night, my version of a greek salad. Mixed herbed greens with chunks of cucumber, red onion, crisp green peppers, slices of radishes and quartered juicy hothouse tomatoes. Topped with fried Halloumi cheese and a homemade herb dressing. I chopped a reasonable amount of veggies which means there are leftovers for lunch today.  I do have some avocados kicking around so I will have my salad with additional slices of buttery avocados.  Hope your Thursday isn't too much of a throwback! - JW   

Applesauce, and Avocado Oil Banana Bread

I decided to make banana bread and play around with the ingredients a bit. I wanted to cut some of the fat, add healthy fat and keep it moist as ever. I omitted vegetable oil and used avocado oil and applesauce instead. By doing this it has accomplished all three. I usually add or should I say requested to add chocolate chips to any banana bread I am making. However this time I wanted to appreciate the flavour of the avocado oil. Even if it was minimal. Regardless, banana bread is generally sweet enough. The texture of this loaf is light, spongy, and very moist. I am quite pleased with my efforts in transforming this classic recipe.          

Applesauce, and Avocado Oil Banana Bread

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3 -4  ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

1/3 cup avocado oil

1/3 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 caster sugar

1 cup  unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon mixed spice

pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Then grease or line, with parchment paper, a deep loaf tin. 

In a separate bowl blend the flour, baking soda and mixed spice. Set aside.

In a large bowl mash the bananas. Then add the avocado oil, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir together until blended. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Pour in the sugar. Stir until all is blended. 

Add the dry ingredients all at once to the wet ingredients and blend together. Once the batter has come all together pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until the top is nicely brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack. 

Notes: I have a loaf pan that is a bit longer than a regular loaf pan and deep so I used that. You can use regular all purpose flour. I just like to use unbleached.

Applesauce Scones

That big jar of applesauce in the refrigerator was starting to call out to me. I found this recipe from a cookbook I have called, Apples, Apples, Apples. The recipe is a bit different... more cake like in texture. And no eggs! 

Applesauce Scones

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1 cup (250ml) all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons (20ml) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) salt

2 tablespoons (25ml) white sugar

1/4 teaspoon (1ml) cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon (1/2ml) nutmeg

2 tablespoons (25ml) butter

1 tablespoon (15ml) currants

1/2 cup (125ml) cold, thick applesauce

1. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, 1 tablespoon (15ml) sugar, and spices into a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

2. Add currants. Stir in applesauce. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. Pat dough into a buttered glass 9-inch (22.5cm) pie plate. Score lightly with a knife into 6 wedges. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.

3. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 15 to 18 minutes. Serve hot with butter and cheese.  

Notes: I used a square non-stick tin because I did not have a glass pie plate. 

- JW   

Let Them Eat Cake!

I have a couple of little souls who need cheering up so I made this delicious carrot cake. It was only intended to be one layer however I cut it in half, sandwiched the cream cheese icing between the layer and made this a double decker cream cheese carrot cake! I didn't want to carry the icing all the way around. I quite enjoy the raw, roughness of the cake with loose lashings of icing. Sometimes there can be a heavy hand where icing is concerned. Where ultimately the cake becomes forgotten. With a simple sweet icing such as this, less is more.

Cream cheese icing may be a bit tricky. I have tried many recipes only to have them look and taste less desirable than imagined. Here is the recipe I stumbled upon...

Cream Cheese Icing

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1/4 cup (60ml) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (60ml) butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon (2ml) vanilla

1 - 1/2 (375ml) icing sugar

In a bowl beat the cream cheese with the butter; beat in the vanilla. Beat in the icing sugar in two additions until smooth.  

Have a good weekend everyone! - JW 

Broccoli Cheese Risotto

Serving up something cheesy always has it's advantages. This risotto is easy and comforting, to say the least. To make this simple yet satisfying dish you will need the following...

1 white onion, diced

a crown of broccoli, raw and chopped

2/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 cup asiago cheese, grated

1/2 cup old farmer's cheddar cheese, grated

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2/3 cup dry white wine

3 cups low sodium vegetable stock

1-3/4 cups risotto rice (Italian or arborio)

   

First you want to heat the olive oil in the saucepan. Add the onion and cook over low to medium heat. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes or until soft. Then add the broccoli and cook for a few minutes.  

When the broccoli has turned a nice bright green colour, stir in the rice. Stir and cook for at least 1 minute or until the rice is translucent. Whatever remaining oil that is left in the pan will coat the rice.  

Pour in the wine and simmer for 1 minute, stirring until all the wine has been absorbed. Gradually adding the stock. You do not have to pour all the stock in at once... gradually and slowly. Reserving half of the stock until most of the liquid is absorbed from the first addition. Add the remaining stock. Increase the heat so that the liquid simmers. Simmering for about 15-20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. You want the rice to be creamy however firm to the bite. With this recipe the rice should not be mushy.

Once all the stock has been absorbed remove from heat and add the cheese. Gently stir until all the rice has been coated. You may season with salt and pepper if you wish. Serve immediately. 

Hope everyone is having a good week! - JW