We recently had an Irish cooking class and I wanted to share the recipes form our delicious meal!!

We started off with a simple Roasted Tomato & Irish Cheddar Appetizer. For the tomatoes, I generally toss about 3 Chopped Roma tomatoes with 3 T of Olive Oil, 1 tsp Salt, 1/2 tsp Pepper, 1 tsp Garlic Powder & 2 tsp Sugar. Roast for about 35 minutes at 375 and serve with some good Irish cheddar & crackers! Yum!

Growing up, in my house, St. Patrick’s Day Dinner was not corned beef & cabbage. My Mom’s Grandparents came from Achill Island, & Tourmakeady in Ireland. When other people were eating corned beef & Reubens, my Mom and her family were eating cottage ham & boiled dinner. The way my Mom put it was that they didn’t have any connection to corned beef, but that the cottage ham & boiled dinner was a treat that they had always enjoyed, so it became the tradition in her home too. And mine. As a kid I remember waking up to those smells on St. Patrick’s Day.

My Mom is an amazing cook and is the angel, for us, that connected the dots of food & family & love & tradition…but for me, the smell of that boiled dinner makes my stomach turn! I am a vegetarian, but that’s not even it. I can cook & smell all sorts of crazy meat & seafood dishes and appreciate the savory aromas. But there’s something about the cooked carrots & cabbage boiling for hours. That salty little ham. The caraway seeds & raisins in the Irish soda bread. No thank you. Of all the things you dream about graduating from and never going back to when you grow up and move out – that was on my top 10 list. Imagine my guilt when we came to town with our daughter around St. Patrick’s Day years ago & Mom made me my own boiled dinner in a separate pot from the ham, so I could enjoy it too. Shit.

Between that, and the fact that my husband always gets a shipload of corned beef at all the bar gigs that week, I had to adopt a whole new St. Paddy’s Day meal tradition. Oh man, this was perfect. Irish stew (vegetarian too), brown bread & homemade butter. YUM. And those smells will always make me hungry!!

Guinness Beef (or Lentil) Stew

• Vegetable Oil
• 1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
• 2 Carrots. Diced
• 1 Parsnip, Peeled & Diced
• 3 Ribs of Celery, Chopped
• 4 Cloves of Garlic, Chopped
• 2 T Tomato Paste
• 3 T Flour
• 2 T Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 T Sugar
• 4 Sprigs of Thyme
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1.5 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 lb Bite Sized Yellow Potatoes (or peeled & chopped potatoes)
• 3 lb Chuck cut into 1 inch Cubes
• 1 Can of Guinness Beer
• 2.5 Cups Broth (Beef or Veggie)
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Parsley
• 1 Cup of Lentils, if Making Vegetarian Version

Begin by heating up a few tablespoons of vegetable oil & browning the beef. Brown in batches, about 2 minutes per side, then set aside. Add onion to the pan and saute 4-5 minutes. Add the next 4 ingredients and saute an additional 5 minutes. Once the vegetables are softened a bit, add the thyme & stir in the tomato paste & flour. Keep everything moving so that nothing burns, but enjoy the aroma of the sugars in the tomato paste caramelizing & the thyme opening up. After about 2 minutes, pour in the beer, sugar, worcestershire sauce & seasoning. Let simmer a minute or 2, then add your potatoes & broth. If you are making beef stew, add the beef, if you are making lentil stew, add the lentils! Let this simmer for 1 hour, check for seasoning & stir in Parsley! Yum!

In 2017, we had the privilege of going to Ireland with our daughter, Grace, my husband’s band, Mary’s Lane…and 40 more of our friends! It was breathtaking & fulfilled a lifelong dream. To experience several parts of the country, and spend a few days on Achill Island taking in the beauty and tracing my roots. Incredible. The only drawback was that I was pregnant and had morning sickness everyday…ALL day! I was a cheap date, of course, at the pubs, but the restaurants too. Brown bread became my best friend! The only meal I could handle besides, perhaps, a little tea & digestives!

Ever since, I have wanted to experiment & make a recipe of my own. As with any cultural dish, when I began my research, it was all over the place. Many claim you can’t make it without oats, many would never add sugar, many wouldn’t dream of skipping the wheat bran etc etc. I am sure that the recipe I share below will continue to change over the years as I learn more about its traditions and tweak my proportions. For now I am very excited to have a great recipe for brown bread that brings back such cherished memories, fills my belly for a day of sustenance, & tastes pretty damn good dipped in tea.

Brown Bread

• 3.5 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 Cup Steel Cut (Irish) Oats
• 1/2 Cup Wheat Bran Flakes
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1.5 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Cups Buttermilk
• 2 Eggs
• 3 T Softened Butter

Grease your pan – my most recent discovery is that a springform pan is actually amazing for this! Cast iron is great, as are foil or glass pans – you may need to divide the dough for 2 smaller pans, depending on the size.

Mix together all dry ingredients. In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together wet ingredients. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add 1 tsp of white vinegar per cup of whole milk as a substitute. Make a well in your dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Mix together by hand until fully incorporated. Dump this dough into your pan or pans. It will be sticky, but that is perfect. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes to an hour. The timing does depend on the pan you are using. In the springform, mine took right at about an hour. If the top is getting more brown than you would like, you can always cover with foil to prevent further browning. You will want the bread to cool about 10 minutes, then you’ll want to remove it from the pan right away. If it stays in the pan, the steam will make the bottom of it soggy. Yuck. The best way for it to cool is to place it upside down on either a cooling rack or cutting board. It will take a good 30 minutes for this to fully cool. You want to wait until it is fully cool before cutting, or it will kind of mush together, almost as if it weren’t fully cooked. Also yuck! Serve this deliciousness with Irish butter and give the end pieces to your favorite people, because they are pure magic.

Get ready. We have 2 more courses of carbs coming your way!! Next up, Boxty! Everyone’s love of potatoes at their best in this delicious combo of mashed & raw potatoes. I love mine extra crispy with sour cream. As I develop the nuances of my own recipe, this is the one I turn to:

Boxty by Daring Gourmet

A perfect ending to a meal!! Bread Pudding with Whiskey Caramel Sauce!! These are the 2 recipes I used for our class, I hope you enjoy!!

Bread Pudding by Fantabulosity

Whiskey Caramel by Gimme Some Oven

Weeknights are busy, but we still want to get a warm, semi healthy meal on the table! I put together a week’s worth of meals for a family of 5. 1 shop list reusing several ingredients, just a little prep on Sunday and you should be in and out of the kitchen in about a half hour each evening, all for around $100! Food prices are going up and up, so planning is our best strategy to keep our grocery bill from doing the same! Most of these dishes should leave you with some leftovers for lunches, as well as some leftover ingredients to throw together another dish or 2.

This past week I teamed up with Maureen Kyle of WKYC’s Mom Squad and we hope that this helps you to get delicious food on the table faster! Let me know if you have any questions, enjoy!

Grocery List:

• Basil (I recommend freeze dried, so that you can keep it up to a month in your fridge and continue to enjoy it in future dishes)
• 1 Baguette
• 16 oz Monterey Jack Cheese
• 2 Cans or 1 Jar Enchilada Sauce
• Chicken (Package of 2 Chicken Breasts-alternately a Rotisserie Chicken)
• Corn Tortillas
• Cilantro
• 1 lb White Rice
• 1-8 oz Can of Tomato Sauce
• 3 Jars Marinara Sauce
• 16 oz Ditalini (or other small pasta)\
• 1 Bunch Kale (Baby Kale=No Prep:)!)
• Parmesan Cheese Block
• Onions (3)
• 3 Cans Cannellini Beans
• 1 Pkg Kielbasa
• 2 lb Carrots
• 2 Crowns Broccoli
• 1 pkg Cherry Tomatoes
• 2 Zucchini
• 1-2 Pkgs Udon Noodles (I prefer the fresh ones that are precooked)
• Fresh Ginger
• Fresh Garlic

Here is a quick list of items that I normally have on hand, but if you do not, you will want to grab as well:

• Garlic Powder
• Onion Powder
• Dried Oregano
• Italian Seasoning
• Cumin
• Soy Sauce
• Sugar
• Olive Oil
• Vegetable Oil
• Stick of Butter
• Lemon
• Sesame Oil
• Sriracha or Garlic Chili Paste

Sunday Prep:

I always like to chop a few onions and package them up for the week, it makes things so much easier. Between my cutting board not tasting like onions right away, and just having them on hand! I often will chop up some garlic as well. Many of these recipes will have us using a microplane to grate the garlic and save time as well.

We also want to precook our chicken. From fresh or frozen, you can poach your chicken on the stovetop to prepare it. Bring water to a boil, and add in chicken breasts. Turn down to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes. It will be ready for chopping or shredding and using all week! Alternatively, you can purchase a rotisserie chicken and shred the breasts for our meals, and use the rest for sandwiches and lunches!

I also recommend cutting your vegetables ahead of time to save on prep. Cut the broccoli into small florets, cut zucchini in half lengthwise and into 1/2″ slices & cut 3-4 carrots into 1/2″ slices. All of this should only take about 30 minutes & we are ready for Monday!!

Chicken (or Vegetarian) Enchiladas

Author: Kitchen With Britt Courses:Uncategorized Recipe Keys:mexican, weeknight, dinner, cheese, enchilada, chicken, vegetarian

Prep time: 15 minutesCook time: 25 minutesTotal time: 40 minutes

Description

Delicious enchiladas are a great weeknight option. Add a side of Mexican rice and some chips and salsa and you’re in business! If you would like to add in some extra nutritional value, I like to mash up a baked sweet potato and spread a bit of that on the inside of each enchilada before stuffing. (You could add baking a sweet potato to our list of Sunday prep, if you are doing the full menu).

Ingredients

• Corn Tortillas
• 12 oz Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• Enchilada Sauce (I love the Trader Joes brand!)
• Shredded Chicken (1 Breast)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Sprinkle 2 T of cheese, and some chicken to the center of a tortilla & roll up. Lay into a 9 x 13 pan, seamside down. Repeat. Over and over and over again! You want to pack them in fairly tight to fit as many as possible
3. Once you have your pan completely filled (give a count and make sure it is the amount you think your family needs – I would say about 15 for a family of 5 is good)
4. Pour the sauce to completely coat the top of the enchiladas. (Any open areas can dry out.) Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes. You can top with cheese if you have any extra. Ready to serve, while they are baking, start your rice!!

Notes

• While the enchiladas are in the oven, start your Mexican rice.

Mexican Rice (Note, double this recipe, if you would like to serve it with Sheet Pan Dinner on Wednesday)

Tuesday: Pasta Fagioli with Baguette & Lemon Butter

Wednesday: Sheet Pan Sausage & Vegetables

Thursday: Asian Noodle Stir Fry

Friday: Calzones

Here is an opportunity to use up leftovers!!

Cut your premade dough into equal parts. Roll into circles, using a floured surface. Once rolled out, add in marinara, cheese and any toppings of your choice. Seal the edges and bake at 400 on parchment lined trays for 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness. Enjoy!!