Pot of Gold

There are different versions of the Pot of Gold, here is one that includes champagne. Light and gilded with a hint of fruity sweetness.   

Pot of Gold

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makes 1 cocktail

2 tablespoons pear juice

2 tablespoons Irish Whiskey

Champagne

twist of lemon 

Place the pear juice and Irish whiskey into a fluted champagne glass. Top with champagne and a twist of lemon. 

Stay warm and have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Stewed Apple Pudding

Like a bread pudding, stewed apple pudding is substantial. It is a great way to use up any apples lying about and a quick way to create a delicious dessert. I have made and posted about this before however felt the need to post something that is satisfying and comforting at the same time, again.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Spring Break this week and the weather has been so up and down. Looking forward to the weekend! - JD 

Brown Soda Bread

This brown soda bread recipe is easy and scrumptious. A slice with dinner or a slice toasted for breakfast with butter and a rich marmalade is supreme.  

Brown Soda Bread

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1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons wheat bran

3 tablespoons wheat germ

2 tablespoons old fashion oats

2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tablespoons honey

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat over to 425ºF

Butter and flour a 9x5x3 inch loaf tin. Line the bottom with baking parchment paper. 

Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Mix well. 

Add the butter, rub in with finger tips or a pastry cutter, until the mixture resembles fine meal. Add the honey then stir in enough buttermilk to form a soft dough.

Transfer the dough to prepared loaf tin.

Bake until bread is dark brown and tester inserted into centre comes out clean, about 40 minutes. 

Turn bread out on to a wire rack, right side up, and cool on wire rack.

Notes: Oven vary therefore I had to bake the loaf just a bit longer.   

The Meteor

This lovely chartreuse cocktail is atmospheric and has a sweet anise taste, that will rocket your cocktail repertoire. 

The Meteor 

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makes 1 cocktail

1/2 oz rye or bourbon whisky

1/4 oz Italian vermouth

1/4 oz absinthe (or absinthe substitute)

Ice 

Stir all the ingredients together. Serve in a cocktail glass. 

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Pineapple Carrot Zucchini Loaf

Spring has sprung and this super moist loaf with a subtle spiced flavour; is delicious on it's own or with a cup of tea.  

Pineapple Carrot Zucchini Loaf

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3 cups of unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons maple extract

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup grated carrots

1 can of crushed pineapple, well drained

Preheat oven to 350ºF (170ºC). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf tins. Line the pans with baking parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the chopped walnuts and set aside.

In another bowl beat the eggs together with the coconut sugar, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and maple extract, until smooth. Stir in the dry mixture until just moistened, then fold in the zucchini, carrots, and pineapple just until combined. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf tins.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove from tins and finish cooling on a wire rack before slicing.

Notes: I only have one loaf tin therefore I made 12 muffins with the remaining batter. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! - JD 

The Irish Cocktail

The Irish cocktail is smooth with a long, strong finish with many ingredients at play. This would be a lovely pre-dinner cocktail or an evening cocktail where one is quite affable.  

Irish Cocktail

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makes 1 cocktail

2 oz Irish whiskey

1/4 oz Absinthe

1/4 oz Triple Sec

1 bar spoon Luxardo maraschino

1 dash Angostura bitters

Lemon twist for garnish

Olive for garnish

Add the Irish whiskey, absinthe, triple sec, maraschino and Angostura bitter to a mixing glass. Fill with ice and stir until well chilled, about 20 seconds.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist and or olive. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Shamrock Sugar Cookies

As some of you know St. Patrick's Day is this weekend and we have been busy making and baking shamrock sugar cookies. Splashes of green sugar and bright rainbow sprinkles enhance these festive cookies to bring the luck of the Irish to you and your stomachs.

Plenty of sunshine and infinite blue skies here. Hope everyone is having a good week so far. - JD   

Tourtiere

This was my first time making Tourtiere and there are plenty of recipes with a few alterations. It is my understanding that a traditional tourtiere recipe does not have potatoes; the addition of potatoes makes for a dense, thicker Tourtiere. This is one of my daughter's favourites and I received a double thumbs up from not only her, but my son and my husband. My son thinks the more seasoned a tourtiere is the better and he also added his final touches by creating the vent design on top of the pie.   

Tourtiere

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1 Ib ground pork

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup water

2 or 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice or all spice

1 teaspoon summer savoury

1 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon pepper

*other seasonings to use, thyme, oregano, or cinnamon

2 homemade pie crusts or 2 ready made pie crusts 

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

In a large sauce pan combine the ground pork, ground beef, onion and the water. Mix well. Cook covered over low medium heat until the ground pork and beef are cooked through, stirring occasionally.

Place the peeled and quartered potatoes in a medium saucepan; cover with water and boil until just tender. Drain and give them a rough mash. Add to the cooked meat mixture. 

Remove from heat and add the salt, mustard powder, mixed spice, summer savoury, sage and pepper. Mix well to combine the meat, potato and seasonings. 

Roll your pastry out and line a 9 inch pie dish with it.

Fill with the meat mixture. 

Roll the other pie crust out. Cover the top of the pie with it. Roll or pinch the edges. Press down the edges with the tongs of a fork. Then cut several vents on top. Brush with an egg wash and place in the pre-heated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely golden brown.     

Notes: Normally Tourtiere does not have the addition of potatoes therefore you may omit them, if you wish. You may also wish to tweak the amounts of the seasonings according to your taste. I made one large pie, as I do have a deep pie dish and a large quiche baking dish, I used the large quiche baking dish and made two batches of pie pastry to accommodate.   

Lonsdale-Hands Pile Driver

An exceptionally smooth cocktail, the Lonsdale by Richard Lonsdale-Hands a British Industrial Designer, denotes a "for adults only" singular dry cocktail. One is definitely plenty!  

Lonsdale-Hands Pile Driver

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makes 1 cocktail

1 oz gin

1 oz sherry

1 oz vodka

1/4 oz Cointreau

Ice

Shake all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and serve in an old-fashion glass. 

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Summer Fruit Crumble

Over the past few days the snow fell on E-town nonstop. Regardless of how beautifully pristine white everything became, thoughts of summer ran through our heads. Remembering all the fresh fruit I had stashed away in the freezer I decided to make a summer fruit crumble; which consisted of rhubarb, blackberries, strawberry, blueberries and of course, I added some fresh apples. Summer was in our thoughts and in our stomachs very comfortably as the snow gently fell outside. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! -  JD     

It Happened Last Night

This cloudy amber drink has a tart and slight fizzy lemonade taste. A surprisingly lively cocktail. 


It Happened Last Night
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makes 1 cocktail

Juice of 1 lemon
1 oz dry gin
2 oz cherry brandy
dash of Angostura bitters
Ice

Place all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain into old-fashioned glasses over cracked ice and fill with soda water.



Have a wonderful weekend everyone! - JD 

Bacon ~ A Love Story

This condensed cookbook is resourceful and fun and is written by bacon blogger and enthusiast, Heather Lauer. She explores the increasing popularity of bacon with historical and fun facts. Bacon sales have increased over the years and, according to this book, Google has over 50 million results for bacon! 

Whether we love or loathe bacon, it has become more common place in our households and daily life. No longer a breakfast staple but a hot culinary commodity that has evolved. Traditionally, bacon is pork however over the years and the flux in eating habits has created some interesting versions such as: turkey bacon, tofu bacon, beef bacon and duck bacon. Yes, duck bacon! Pork, turkey, and tofu, are the most recognized. 

There are two parts to this book which read like a paperback : Bacon 101 and The Bacon Diet, together they consists of 10 chapters and approximately 20 recipes. This cookbook is sure to inspire and quite possibly sway you into the throws of Baconmania. Like bacon brownies, candied bacon ice cream, bacon wrapped corn on the cob and bacon wrapped water chestnuts dipped in honey. I am going to share the recipe for Hungarian Rice because it is an easy and simple dish that can be adapted to your culinary desires. Like adding mushrooms using turkey or tofu bacon, or shaking in a bit of paprika; it is a bit universal with possibilities. There is a back story for this recipe which I am including as well from the book. 

To find out more about Heather Lauer and Bacon Unwrapped click *here*

"This recipe comes courtesy of a Bacon Unwrapped reader named Steph: "Our standby bacon-based entrée is what my husband calls Hungarian Rice." "This dish is perfect example of how the use of bacon and a few simple ingredients can make an incredibly delicious entrée." 

Hungarian Rice

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Serves 4 to 6 

1 pound sliced bacon (your favourite)

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

4 cups cooked rice (your choice)

1 cup frozen peas, thawed and drained

salt and pepper

1. In a large cast-iron skillet or other heavy skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove the bacon and place it on a paper towel-lined plate. Reserve the bacon grease in the skillet. Once the bacon has cooled enough to touch, chop it coarsely.

2. Add the garlic to the drippings in the skillet and cook over medium heat just enough to bring to the flavour. Add the rice and heat, stirring to get the drippings and garlic mixed in well. Add the bacon and peas. Continue cooking until the peas are heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. 

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. A bit warmer temperatures which is welcoming before we head back to cold. - JD