Recipe for St. Patrick's Day

Kim Watters here. In honor of St. Patrick's Day next week, here is a traditional Irish recipe for Beef and Guinness Pie. 

 Let me know how yours turns out. Inquiring minds want to know.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

Ingredients:

• FOR THE PASTRY
• 7 oz all purpose/plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 4 oz butter, cubed or an equal mix of butter and lard
• 2 -3 tbsp cold water
• 1 beaten egg, for glaze
• FOR THE FILLING
• 1oz all purpose/plain flour
• 1lb chuck steak cut into 1"/2.5cm cubes
• ¾ oz butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots chopped in to 1"/2.5cm cubes
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• 17 fl/oz Guinness or stout
• 1½ pints hot beef stock
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt and ground pepper

Preparation:

Make the pastry following these instruction

• Place the flour in a large bowl and season with salt and ground black pepper, add the cubes of meat and toss well in the flour until evenly coated.
• Heat the butter and oil in a large, heavy-based, flameproof casserole dish until the butter has melted. Add the meat to the fat in small batches and brown quickly all over for just a minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add the onions and carrots to the pan and fry gently for about 2 minutes then return the meat to the pan with the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, ale stock and sugar. Grind in plenty of black pepper and a little salt, stir well and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook slowly for about 2 hours until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened and is glossy. Remove from the heat, place into a 2½ pint/1.5 liter deep pie dish and leave to cool completely.
• Heat oven to 400F.
• Roll out the pastry to 1/8"/3mm. Cut a ¾"/2cm strip from the rolled-out pastry. Brush the rim of the pie dish with water and place the pastry strip around the rim, pressing it down. Cut out the remaining pastry about 1"/2.5cm larger than the dish. Sit a pie funnel in the center of the filling; it will support the pastry and stop it from sinking into the filling and becoming soggy.
• Place the pastry lid over the top and press down to the edge and seal. trim off any excess pastry an crimp the edges with a fork or between your thumb and forefinger. Brush the top with beaten egg and make a hole in the center to reveal the pie funnel. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden.

Optional - You can decorate the top of the pie with pastry trimmings as you like. 

taken from original source About.com

http://britishfood.about.com/od/recipeindex/r/beefalepie.htm

Make the Most of your business Cards

I had the good fortune to sit next to Sharon A Moore at the Chocolate Affaire this past weekend. She was a hoot and a half and had a unique idea on how to make the most of that white space on the back of business cards.

On her cooking themed murder mystery book, Mission Impastable, she posted a recipe. It was fun to watch her call folks over to her from across the crowd with the offer of a free and easy recipe for lasagne rolls.

And if they didn't like to cook, well, she had that covered too.

The talented Ms. Moore also writes naughty books and her character offered ten sex tips on the back of that card.

Folks came over in droves.

If you want to read Ms. Moore's other tips, here is the blog post: http://otpblog.blogspot.com/2014/01/make-that-business-card-work-for-you.html

Since her adventures extend from the pages of a book to the kitchen, she's also posting a month of appetizers on her personal blog: http://sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com/

Some of them are downright yummy.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini


Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon into a bowl.

Pour into mixture and stir. Add zucchini.

Turn into greased 9 ½ by 4 inch bread loaf pan or muffin tin.

Bake at 325 degrees for 40-60 minutes (less for muffins) or until bread tests done.

Allow to cool 5 min. in pan, then turn out onto wire racks.

Sugar Plum Recipe

Sugar Plums
from Saveur Magazine

2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for ten minutes. Set aside to cool and then finely chop. Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Mix almonds, apricots, dates and spice mix in a large bowl. Mix well. Pinch off rounded teaspoon-sized pieces and roll into balls. Dust the sugar plums with powdered sugar and refrigerate in single layers between sheets of wax paper in airtight containers for up to one month.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Just in time for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe

Ingredients
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter
Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inchspringform pan. Set aside.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.
Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover withlastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Banana Nut Bread Recipe

I've gotten a lot of compliments on my banana bread recipe so I thought I'd post it here in case anyone is interested.

Banana Nut Bread

3 very ripe large bananas
2 eggs
½ cup butter or margarine
1 ½ Tbsp buttermilk or sour cream
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts

Place bananas, eggs, butter, buttermilk or sour cream, lemon juice and sugar into bowl and mix until smooth.

Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Pour into banana mixture and stir until flour is moistened. Stir in nuts.

Turn into greased 9 ½ by 4 inch bread loaf pan or muffin tin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes (less for muffins) or until bread tests done.

Allow to cool 5 min. in pan, then turn out onto wire racks.

Recipe for Glogg

My grandmother used to make a variation of this recipe every year for the holidays. It was the only time I ever saw her snockered. It's not for the feint at heart. Enjoy.


Swedish Glögg

Makes about 1 gallon

1.5 litre bottle of inexpensive dry red wine

1.5 litre bottle of inexpensive American port

1 bottle of inexpensive brandy or aquavit

10 inches of stick cinnamon

1 Tablespoon cardamom seeds

2 dozen whole cloves

Peel of one orange

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup blanched almonds

2 cups sugar

Garnish with the peel of another orange


Notes: There is no need to invest in expensive wine or brandy because the spices are going to preempt any innate complexity of a fine wine, but don't use anything too cheap. Remember, the sum will be no better than the parts. Do not use an aluminum or copper pot since these metals interact chemically with the wine and brandy and impart a metallic taste. Use stainless steel or porcelain.

Cardamom comes in three forms: pods, seeds, and powder. Do not use powder. If you can only find the pods (the look like orange seeds), take about 2 dozen and pop them open to extract the seeds. Cardamom seeds may be hard to find, so you may need to order them from a spice specialist like Penzeys.com.

Assembly: Pour the red wine and port into a covered stainless steel or porcelain kettle. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, orange peel, raisins, and almonds. Warm gently, but do not boil. Boiling will burn off the alcohol. Put the sugar in a pan and soak it with half the bottle of brandy. Warm the sugar and brandy slurry over a low flame. The sugar will melt and bubble until it becomes a clear golden syrup of caramelized sugar. If you wish, you can speed up the process a bit and create quite a show by flaming the brandy. Flaming will create a 2 foot high blue flame, so be sure there is nothing above the stove that can catch on fire. Then, stand back and light the brandy. Turn out the kitchen lights and watch it burn! This caramelization is crucial to developing complexity. Add the caramelized sugar to the spiced wine mix. Cover and let it mull for an hour. Just before serving, strain to remove the spices, and add brandy to taste (about 1/2 pint). You can serve it immediately, or let it age for a month or two. If you are going to age it, make sure the bottle is filled as high as possible and sealed tight.

To serve glögg, warm it gently over a low flame or in a crockpot, and serve it in a mug. Garnish it with a fresh orange peel, twisted over the mug to release the oils.

Thanksgiving Treat

Just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Here's a special recipe for those of you incharge of bringing the dessert like me.

Pumpkin Orange Mousse

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
4 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1 cup very cold heavy creamwhipped cream (optional)

Place the orange juice in a heat proof bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and place the bowl in a small saucepan. Poor simmering water into the pan and halfway up the outside of the bowl. Stir the rum, and remove from the heat when the gelatin is totally dissolved. Remove the bowl from the pan and let cool to room temperature. Beat the eggs in a large bowl until the mixture thickens. Slowly add the sugar, beating constantly until the mixture becomes light and lemon colored (about 4 minutes). Mix in the pumpkin, spices, and orange zest. Add the gelatin mixture and mix thoroughly. Using clean beaters, whip the heavy cream in a separate bowl until stiff. Gently fold the cream into the pumpkin mixture. Spoon the mixture into individual dishes or cookies and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Top with whipped cream before serving if desired.

Halloween Recipe

Just in time for those of you who want to make something special for your favorite trick-or-treaters.

Homemade Gourmet Caramel Apple Recipe

Heat caramel in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals to avoid scorching. Be careful! That is hot, boiling, sticky, sugar! Hot hot hot! Keep the caramel warm by placing the bowl on top of two towels that are laid on top of your frying pan, set on low heat.
Make a small cut in the apple where you would like the stick to go, and put the stick into the apple.

Dip 1 apple into about 150°F caramel, submerging it. Lift the apple out, allowing the excess caramel to drip back into the bowl. Turn the apple up and hold it for several seconds to help set the caramel around the apple. Place this coated apple on greased foil. Repeat with remaining apples and caramel, spacing apples apart (caramel will pool on foil).

Let the apples cool for about 5 minutes. Push the caramel that has pooled around the apple back up against the apple.

You can choose to decorate warm caramel with chocolate chips, red hot candies, nuts, toffee, sprinkles or other fun things.

Firmly press decorations into the caramel, then return each apple to the foil. Another option is to dip caramel-coated apples into melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip off, and then rolling them in nuts or candy. For something different, take a candy painting bottle, and drizzle melted chocolate over caramel-coated apples and sprinkle with decorations.
Chill until decorations are set, about 1 hour. Cover. Chill up to 1 week.

Enjoy.
Kim Watters

Quick Halloween Recipes

Ghoulish Hands

The kids will love these ghoulish hands. Wash a pair of surgical gloves and fill with either colored water or fruit punch. Tie the ends with banker clips or rubber bands and place them in the freezer with the fingers facing downward. You may want to make sure it a try is under to pick up any spillage. Make sure you do this a couple days before. It does take time for the gloves to completely freeze. Green hands look very eerie in the punch the year I did this, and the kids adored me for a least a week.

Deviled Eggs with Creepy Spiders

Anyone can do this added touch if you have black olives and a knife. Prepare deviled eggs as usual. Whole olives will do nicely. Cut them in half lengthwise. Keep one half and place it on the prepared egg, then cut 8 stripes from the other half for legs. Place 4 stripes on each side of the other half of the olive or body this is on the egg. I swear your kids--and adults--will get creeped out.