New Find for Irish Night

Even though we have a very reliable and set Irish feast, that doesn't mean we don't welcome new discoveries each year! You can find our tried and true recipes here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. See below for our newest find!

Irresistable Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Karin Christian. You can find it here.

Notes: This was a great soda bread recipe. We served it with Irish butter. It was a lovely texture and not dry like some soda breads can be. Good stuff!

St. Patrick's Day Leftovers

 

I made extra corned beef this year so that we could have Reuben sandwiches. I usually use deli corned beef, or pastrami (which I actually prefer over deli corned beef). However, using leftover corned beef made for such fantastic Reuben sandwiches.

I usually broil my sandwiches, but this time I opted for a shortcut and used the microwave. I don't think it would have worked as well with deli meat, but with the leftover corned beef, it totally worked.

Reuben Sandwiches

Ingredients:

Sliced rye bread
Sliced Swiss cheese
Thousand island dressing
Sauerkraut, drained
Corned beef

Directions:

Toast the slices of rye bread. Place the slices of rye bread on a microwave safe plate.

Top the toasted rye bread with Swiss cheese (one slice per piece of bread, or half a slice of Swiss cheese per piece of bread if you want a lighter sandwich). Spread the Swiss cheese with desired amount of thousand island dressing.

Heat the corned beef in the microwave.

Place desired amount of sauerkraut on one slice of rye. Place desired amount of corned beef on the other slice of rye. Carefully put the two halves of the sandwich together. Slice sandwich in half and serve.

Source: Reuben sandwiches have been around for about 100 years, but the origin isn't really known. It either came from Omaha, Nebraska or from New York City. Read about it here and then decide for yourself.

Notes: These were so good and so easy. It made for a perfect and easy dinner to follow after the more time consuming St. Patrick's Day dinner that we had.

St. Patrick's Day Find

 

I usually make this Irish soda bread, but I found this recipe and just had to try it. Now I will have to make both kinds of Irish soda bread each year!

Easy Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
3/4 cup raisins

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, caraway seeds, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and sour cream. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in raisins.

Spoon into a greased 9-in. springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing sides of pan. Cut into wedges; serve warm.

Yield: 1 loaf (12 wedges)

Source: Taste of Home. You can find it here.

Notes: If you only cut this into 12 wedges, they are very generous in size. I think you can get a lot more than 12 wedges out of this. This was just so good. Moist, flavorful, and so easy to make.

Holiday Catch-Up: St. Patrick's Day!

More holiday catch-up!

For St. Patrick's Day this year, I made two corned beef roasts. I used one roast to make my traditional yearly favorite...which was our blog's very first post. That recipe can be found here. For your convenience, I have also re-posted that recipe below.

I used the second roast to make a Reuben braid. Reuben sandwiches are one of my favorites. Those lovely (and super calorie-laden sandwiches) were my biggest craving during my first pregnancy. I usually prefer my Reubens made with pastrami, but since they are so often made with corned beef, I thought I would give it a go for my braid.

I used a Rhodes Dough recipe as my inspiration. That original recipe can be found here. I didn't follow the recipe exactly because it used turkey pastrami and I was planning to use corned beef and it also used Italian cheese salad dressing instead of Thousand Island. Anyway, my version of the recipe is below.

I also made an Irish inspired trifle for a dinner that we were invited to at my sister-in-law's house. We had it for one of our Irish feasts in year's past and I was really excited to make it again.

My Mom made some fantastic recipes for St. Patrick's Day. She made some old favorites in addition to some great new finds. I still need to pin her down for the soda bread recipe, but as soon as I get it, you will get it too! Irish soda bread can be dry at times, but this was the most moist Irish soda bread I've ever had. It was so good. It can be made with or without the currants and caraway seeds. I'll post that recipe very soon...but right now, the important thing is to get this blasted post actually and finally posted!

So, I realize that St. Patrick's Day is behind us, but you can always enjoy these recipes...or you can save them up to try next year. Either way, I hope you enjoy them!

Reuben Braid

Ingredients:

1 Loaf Rhodes Bread Dough, or 12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed to room temperature (I used 12 dinner rolls)
1/3 cup Thousand Island salad dressing
1/2 pound shredded or thinly sliced corned beef
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 cups sauerkraut, drained
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons caraway seeds, divided

Directions:

Spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Roll loaf or combined dinner rolls into a 12x16-inch rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 minutes. Remove wrap from dough and pour dressing lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down center of dough. Top with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and 1 tablespoon caraway seeds. Make cuts 1 1/2-inches apart on long sides of dough to within 1/2-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.

Lift braid with both hands and place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with remaining caraway seeds. Bake at 350°F 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.

Source: Rhodes Dough was my inspiration. Besides the two changes noted in my commentary above, I followed the recipe pretty closely.

Notes: I'm still learning things about working with frozen dough. I made my braid after quickly glancing over the original recipe...and only after carefully reading the recipe did I realize that I should have done a few things differently.

My mistakes? Well...

I let the dough thaw and then rise completely. The Rhodes Dough recipe doesn't. What difference does that make? Well, my braid turned out a little puffier because it had risen more. It still tasted great, so...not the end of the world, but it would have been easier to work with and looked prettier if I had followed the Rhodes Dough instructions.

I also cut my braided strips on the diagonal instead of straight. The result? My braid turned out a little loose rather than tight and neat like the Rhodes Dough recipe. Also, I didn't tuck my strips in on the other side of the loaf...again, the result was that it was a little messier.

Yeah, I'm still learning. But as I said, it tasted great.

You can also serve this with additional Thousand Island dressing as a dipping sauce.

Irish Cream Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients:

1 package devil's food cake mix
1 cup refrigerated Irish creme nondairy creamer
3 1/2 cups cold milk
2 packages (3.9 ounces each) instant chocolate pudding mix
3 cups whipped topping
12 spearmint candies, crushed (optional)

Directions:

Prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using a greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.

With a meat fork or wooden skewer, carefully poke holes in cake about 2 inches apart. Slowly pour creamer over cake; refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a large bowl, whisk the milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.

Cut cake into 1 1/2 inch cubes; place a third of the cubes in a 3 qt glass bowl or trifle dish. Top with a third of the pudding, whipped topping, and candies; repeat layers twice. Store trifle in the refrigerator.

Yield: 14-16 servings.

Source: Taste of Home, originally found here.

Notes: I don't really like those spearmint candies, so I skipped those. Also, I only used about 3/4 of the cake in the trifle. I couldn't fit in anymore than that! Finally, I used one 5.9 ounce package of pudding instead of two 3.9 ounce packages. It was a little less pudding than the recipe called for, but believe me, there was plenty of pudding. And I love pudding, so I didn't feel like I was scrimping because I was missing 2 ounces of pudding. :)

Roasted Mustard Potatoes (originally posted on our blog last year, here)

1/2 c. Lakeshore Strong Irish Mustard or other spicy mustard

1/2 c. olive oil

3 lbs. new pototoes or red skinned potatoes

2 medium onions, sliced for garnish (about 1 1/2 c.)

Chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 400F. Scrub the potatoes leaving skins on. Cut into 1 1/2 in. cubes. In a small bowl, combine mustard and oil. In a large bowl, comine potatoes, onion and mustard mixture, tossing to coat well. Spread evenly on baking sheet.

Bake at 400F for 45-50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and crispy. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve. Yield: 6 servings

Notes: These were really tasty, but the first time I made them, I didn't cook them long enough. You might want to leave a little more time to make sure the potatoes get done. I might try adding another 10 to 15 minutes next time. It could be because I doubled it and the volume didn't cook as quickly.

Above: Our favorite Corned Beef with Red Currant-Mustard Sauce is shown above with an all-green salad, Irish Soda Bread, Roasted Mustard Potatoes, and Irish Cabbage.

Corned Beef with Red Currant-Mustard Sauce (originally posted here)

Note: Corned beef brisket needs a long, slow simmer to get it tender. Put it in the slow cooker first thing in the morning. But the cabbage, potatoes and carrots will turn mushy if they've been cooked all day. They can be microwaved in 15 or 20 minutes just before dinner is served.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 to 3 pound boneless corned beef brisket
Corned beef seasoning packet (or 1 tsp whole black peppercorns and 1 bay leaf)
3 ribs celery, cut into 3 inch lengths
2 medium onions, cut lengthwise into quarters
3 1/2 cups water
1 pound green cabbage, cut into 3 inch wedges
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 2 inch pieces
6-8 small carrots, tops trimmed, or 4 medium carrots, cut crosswise into thirds
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsps. butter, melted
Salt
Pepper
chopped parsley

Instructions:

Place celery and onions in 4 1/2-51/2 quart slow cooker; top with corned beef brisket. Add corned beef seasoning packet, if included, and 3 1/2 cups water. Cover and cook on high 7 hours, or on low 9-10 hours, or until brisket is fork-tender. Remove brisket; set aside. Discard cooking liquid, celery, and onions.

Place cabbage, potatoes and carrots in 2 1/2 quart microwave safe casserole dish; add 1/2 cup water. Cover and microwave on high 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Drain vegetables; add butter and salt and pepper as desired; toss to coat.

Carve brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with vegetables and red Currant-Mustard Sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Red Currant-Mustard Sauce:

Ingredients:

12 ounces Red Currant Jelly
3 Tbsp. Coarse grain Dijon-style mustard

Directions:

Place 12 ounces of red currant jelly in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high 1-2 minutes or until smooth, stirring once. Whisk in 3 Tbsps. coarse-grain Dijon-style mustard. Cover and microwave on high 30 seconds.

Or, you can melt the jelly in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Once the jelly is melted, stir in the mustard.

Notes: You don't have to serve the sides listed with this recipe if you prefer to make other Irish sides. Simply omit the potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and butter.

Source: This recipe was found in the recipe section of the Deseret News years ago. The clipping that I have doesn't include the name of the person who created the recipe.

Irish Cabbage (originally posted here)

1 small cabbage, cored and thinly shredded

1 stick butter

6 T. water

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tsp. flour

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt half the butter in a heavy pot; then add the cabbage and toss until coverd with the butter. Add water, cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes. By this time, the liquid should be nearly absorbed, and the cabbage cooked. Add the nutmeg, the flor, and stir well; then add the rest of the butter and toss until melted into the cabbage. Add pepper if desired.

This was really good and a nice change from the normal steamed cabbage we serve with corned beef. It was quite good, but then a stick of butter makes everything better.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons McCormick Carawaay Seed (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon McCormick Cinnamon, Ground (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins or currants (optional)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 9-inch round cake pan.

Mix flour, sugar, caraway seed, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Stir in raisins. Mix buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in medium bowl; stir into dry ingredients. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutrition information: Makes 16 servings. 129 calories, 1 g fat, 26 g carbohydrates, 28 mg cholesterol, 182 mg sodium, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein.

Source: McCormick & Company, Inc. recipe, copyright 2008. Found on www.mccormick.com

Notes: This was so, so good. A lot of Irish soda breads can be a little dry...but not this one. It was moist and slightly sweet. Delicious! Besides that, Irish soda bread is pretty much the easiest kind of bread to make...ever. So, if you want to make bread, but you're a beginning bread maker, this bread is for you!

By the way, we have two versions of this bread pictured on our blog. The one at the very top is without raisins/currants and caraway seeds. The one right above this recipe has raisins/currants and caraway seeds added in. You can make it either way...or both ways! Just do it according to your taste.

Green Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 oz green food coloring
Favorite white frosting
Green sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease your muffin tins or place muffin liners in each cup.

Lightly mix eggs in a medium bowl with a whisk. Add in remaining liquid ingredients (oil, buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring). Whisk until blended and set aside.

Place all dry ingredients into another mixing bowl and sift together well.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or two until well combined and the green food coloring is well incorporated.

Divide batter into cupcake cups (about 3/4 full).

Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow cupcakes to cool completely. While cupcakes are cooling, prepare your favorite frosting (or you can use canned frosting--which is what we did this time around).

Frost cupcakes and top with green sprinkles.

Source: I found this recipe on Pinterest. It has a few sources. www.lovefromtheoven.com and www.bakerella.com (the actual recipe for the cake can be found here.)

Cool Mint Oreo Cookie Balls

Ingredients:

6 oz (3/4 of 8 oz pkg) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
1 pkg (15.25 oz) Oreo Cool Mint Creme Cookies, finely crushed (about 4 cups)
2 pkg (6 squares each) Baker's White Chocolate, melted
6 drops green food coloring
2 tbsp chocolate sprinkles.

Directions:

Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended.

Shape into 40 (1-inch) balls; place in single layer in shallow pan. Freeze 10 minutes. Mix melted chocolate and food coloring until well blended. Dip balls in chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Top with sprinkles.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

40 servings, 1 cookie ball each

Nutrition information: 110 calories, 6 g fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 65 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 0 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 1 g protein

Source: Kraftrecipes.com

Notes: These are super tasty, but really rich. I, personally, thought they had more cream cheese than I would have liked. I would have preferred a greater Oreo cookie to cream cheese ratio. But that was just me...others disagreed and liked them just the way they were. So, I would suggest that you make them according to your taste. If they seem too creamy, add more crushed cookies. If you like them creamy, follow the recipe as is.

Irish Sides, St. Patrick's Day Part II

The babies really got us off schedule this year. We didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17th because I had the opportunity to go to Ohio to see Grandbaby #4 and Grandbaby #5 wasn't ready to go out in public yet. And when we cook with all the family attending, that's pretty public!

I did have the chance to cook corned beef for the Ohio Foodies while I was out there. I ran across one idea for a green salad to honor St. Patty. You just took every green vegetable that appealed to you: green lettuce, avocado, cucumber, snap peas, green pepper, etc. It was actually really yummy and the total green color suited the holiday just fine. When I made it in Utah, we topped it with Green Goddess dressing to complete the picture.

When I cooked in Utah, I needed a change from the usual parsley potatoes. I found this fun website that had some great sides. It was littleshamrocks.com. It also sold Irish clothes and other fun things. I think you'd enjoy checking it out.

So here are some of the sides that we tried. They all turned out very well.

Roasted Mustard Potatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Lakeshore Strong Irish Mustard or other spicy mustard

1/2 c. olive oil

3 lbs. new pototoes or red skinned potatoes

2 medium onions, sliced for garnish (about 1 1/2 c.)

Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Scrub the potatoes leaving skins on. Cut into 1 1/2 in. cubes. In a small bowl, combine mustard and oil. In a large bowl, comine potatoes, onion and mustard mixture, tossing to coat well. Spread evenly on baking sheet.

Bake at 400F for 45-50 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and crispy. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve. Yield: 6 servings

These were really tasty, but I didn't cook them long enough. You might want to leave a little more time to make sure the potatoes get done. I might try adding another 10 to 15 minutes next time. It could be because I doubled it and the volumn didn't cook as quickly.

Irish Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 small cabbage, cored and thinly shredded

1 stick butter

6 T. water

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tsp. flour

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt half the butter in a heavy pot; then add the cabbage and toss until coverd with the butter. Add water, cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes. By this time, the liquid should be nearly absorbed, and the cabbage cooked. Add the nutmeg, the flor, and stir well; then add the rest of the butter and toss until melted into the cabbage. Add pepper if desired.

This was really good and a nice change from the normal steamed cabbage we serve with corned beef. It was quite good, but then a stick of butter makes everything better.

Orange Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

1 c. orange juice

4 T. granulated sugar

5 T. butter

1 pinch red pepper

15 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise with stalks still attached

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Place the sugar, juice, butter and red pepper in a saucepan and simmer until butter and sugar have melted to make a glaze. Place carrots into an oven proof dish and pour over the glaze. Bake until the carrots are tender. Yield 8 servings.

These were really pretty, but I only cooked them about 15 minutes and they definitely needed 5 - 10 minutes longer. It was a nice touch of color and looked really pretty.

Irish Feasting Continued...

 

I already posted our family's recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage and a recipe for Irish Soda Bread on March 17th (I made them for my family and in-laws).

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day on Sunday night with my side of the family. We again had our Corned Beef recipe (with its Red Currant Mustard Sauce, of course--it is essential!). But we tried some different side dishes. We found wonderful recipes for Colcannon, Irish Soda Bread, Irish Potato Candy (which doesn't actually contain potatoes--it just looks like mini potatoes), and Irish Cream Bundt Cake. I'm also including another potato candy recipe called Potato Pinwheels (this recipe DOES contain potatoes). We tried it last year and it is very yummy!

So, I hope you enjoy these recipes. Let the Irish Feasting continue!

Colcannon Potatoes

Makes 12-16 servings
Prep: 10 min.
Cook: 35 min.

Ingredients:

2 pounds cabbage, shredded
2 cups water
4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 cups milk
1 cup chopped green onions
Salt and coarsely ground pepper, to taste
1/4 cup butter, melted
Crumbled cooked bacon and minced fresh parsley

Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring cabbage and water to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Keep cabbage warm.

Place cooking liquid and potatoes in a large saucepan, add enough additional water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-17 minutes or until tender. Drain and keep warm.

In a small saucepan, bring milk and onions to a boil; remove from the heat. In a large bowl, mash potatoes. Add milk mixture; beat until blended. Beat in the cabbage, salt and pepper. Drizzle with the melted butter, bacon, and parsley.

Source: Taste of Home. You can find it here.

Irish Soda Bread

20 servings
Prep: 20 min.
Bake: 40 min.

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Cinnamon-sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Combine buttermilk and egg; add to the crumb mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 5-6 times.

Divide dough in half; shape into two balls. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat each ball into a 6-in. round loaf. Using a sharp knife, cut a 4-in. cross about 1/4 in. deep on top of each loaf. Brush with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 2 loaves.

Nutrition information: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 165 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 14 mg cholesterol, 174 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home website. You can find it here.

Notes: This was contributed to Taste of Home by Anne Flanagan, Laguna Hills, California "This recipe came all the way from Tipperary, Ireland, where my great-grandmother lived. I have eaten Irish Soda Bread in New York, Philadelphi, and Los Angeles, but none compare with what my grandmother made for St. Patrick's Day."

Irish Potato Candy

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar; beat until smooth. Using your hands, if necessary, mix in the coconut. Roll into balls or potato shapes, and roll in the cinnamon. Place onto a cookie sheet and chill to set. If desired, roll potatoes in cinnamon again for darker color.

Servings: 60

Nutrition information: 59 calories, 2.3 g fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 20 mg sodium, 9.7 g carbs, 0.4 g fiber, 0.3 g protein.

Source: Allrecipes.com contributed by SAUNDRA. You can find it here.

Irish Cream Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Irish Cream flavored liquid coffee creamer or Irish Cream flavored Italian Soda syrup
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Irish Cream flavored liquid coffee creamer or Irish Cream flavored Italian Soda syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil, and 3/4 cup Irish cream flavoring of choice. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon some of the glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow glaze to absorb and repeat until all the glaze is used up.

To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water, and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream flavoring of choice.

12 servings.

Nutrition information: 527 calories, 23.6 g fat, 92 mg cholesterol, 477 mg sodium, 67.2 g carbs, 0.5 g fiber, 4.1 g protein.

Source: Allrecipes.com contributed by Sue Haser. You can find it here.

Notes: We used Irish Cream coffee creamer. This is really good. The glaze can be a little tricky to make, but even if you screw it up (which I have done), it still tastes great!

Potato Pinwheels

By Elizabeth LaBau, About.com Guide

These sweet-and-salty treats have a surprising ingredient: mashed potatoes!

Ingredients:

1 medium potato, cooked and peeled
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions:

Cut the peeled and cooked potato into eights and place in a stand mixer. Beat until mashed, then blend in vanilla extract. (This can be done by hand using a fork or potato masher if you don’t have a mixer.)

Mix in the powdered sugar in batches until thick and incorporated. Add coconut last and mix until well-blended.

Form candy into two equal balls and wrap in cling wrap. Refrigerate for an hour to firm up.

Spread waxed paper on your counter or table and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Roll the candy, one ball at a time, to form an 8-inch square on the waxed paper. Spread each square with peanut butter, covering the entire surface.

Roll the candy into a tight spiral like a jelly roll. Wrap each roll in waxed paper and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm enough to cut.

Slice the logs into ½ inch slices and serve. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Source: About.com, Elizabeth LaBau's webpage (she specializes in candy). You can find it here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is our family's tried and true (and super easy) recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage.

I'm also including a recipe for Irish Soda Bread that I tried today. It was very easy and quite tasty. I chose this particular recipe because I had all of the ingredients in my pantry already.

Corned Beef & Cabbage with Red Currant-Mustard Sauce

Note: Corned beef brisket needs a long, slow simmer to get it tender. Put it in the slow cooker first thing in the morning. But the cabbage, potatoes and carrots will turn mushy if they've been cooked all day. They can be microwaved in 15 or 20 minutes just before dinner is served.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 to 3 pound boneless corned beef brisket
Corned beef seasoning packet (or 1 tsp whole black peppercorns and 1 bay leaf)
3 ribs celery, cut into 3 inch lengths
2 medium onions, cut lengthwise into quarters
3 1/2 cups water
1 pound green cabbage, cut into 3 inch wedges
1 pound red potatoes, cut into 2 inch pieces
6-8 small carrots, tops trimmed, or 4 medium carrots, cut crosswise into thirds
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsps. butter, melted
Salt
Pepper
chopped parsley

Instructions:

Place celery and onions in 4 1/2-51/2 quart slow cooker; top with corned beef brisket. Add corned beef seasoning packet, if included, and 3 1/2 cups water. Cover and cook on high 7 hours, or on low 9-10 hours, or until brisket is fork-tender. Remove brisket; set aside. Discard cooking liquid, celery, and onions.

Place cabbage, potatoes and carrots in 2 1/2 quart microwave safe casserole dish; add 1/2 cup water. Cover and microwave on high 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring once. Drain vegetables; add butter and salt and pepper as desired; toss to coat.

Carve brisket diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with vegetables and red Currant-Mustard Sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Red Currant-Mustard Sauce:

Ingredients:

12 ounces Red Currant Jelly
3 Tbsps. Coarse grain Dijon-style mustard

Directions:

Place 12 ounces of red currant jelly in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high 1-2 minutes or until smooth, stirring once. Whisk in 3 Tbsps. coarse-grain Dijon-style mustard. Cover and microwave on high 30 seconds.

Or, you can melt the jelly in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Once the jelly is melted, stir in the mustard.

Source: This recipe was found in the recipe section of the Deseret News years ago. The clipping that I have doesn't include the name of the person who created the recipe.


Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an "X" into the top of the loaf.

Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

We topped ours with honey-butter.

Source: Allrecipes.com submitted by MP Welty