Chorizo and Thyme Fougasse

I have a tiny bit of chorizo in the freezer and saw this on the cooking channel so decided I needed to give it a try.  It is a super simple bread recipe of just flour, salt, yeast and water.  You can decide what herbs you would like to add or any meat.  You could use pepperoni also.  

 3 1/2 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1 to 1 1/4 cups

Leaves of 4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1/2 cup chorizo sausage, very finely chopped

Vegetable oil, for oiling

3 tbsp milk, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Dust a large baking sheet with flour.

Put the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix together to combine; pour in the water, just enough to make a dough that is loose and easy to knead, but not too sticky. If it feels tight, then add more water. As you knead it, the dough will become less sticky, so if you can add all the1 1/4 cups your loaf will be much lighter.

Knead the dough for 5 minutes in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the thyme and knead for an additional 30 seconds, or until it is well combined. Put half the chorizo in the middle of the dough and then fold the edge around it to cover and knead it for an extra minute.

On a floured surface, shape the fougasse into a ball, making sure the top of the ball is taught and smooth. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into a rough oval shape and transfer to the flour dusted baking sheet. Using a very sharp knife, or razor blade, carefully cut slashes in the loaf to look like a fern leaf, then with floured hands open up the slashes wide, as they will close up a lot when the bread is left to double in size.

Push the remaining chorizo into the top of the dough, then cover the dough loosely with oiled plastic wrap (you may need several pieces). Let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size (1 hour).

Remove the plastic wrap, brush the dough with milk and place in the oven.  Throw a couple of handfuls of ice cubes in the bottom of the oven on lower shelf before closing. This will keep a crust from forming too quickly on the bread, which would prevent the bread from rising nicely.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the bread has risen and is a beautiful golden brown.  You nose almost tells you when it is done. It will come off the sheet once fully cooked too.

It is tough to top the taste of warm bread straight from the oven, slathered with lots butter.

Enjoy your day, be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Stir Fried Shrimp

Here is a very quick go to meal you can make when you can't think of something new for supper.  

I usually have small frozen shrimp in the freezer and like to use it for a salad.  Try making stir fried shrimp and putting it over your favorite salad, with fried rice or Ramon noodles.  You can make an oriental salad and crush up raw Ramon noodles and then top with shrimp.  Get creative.  

I'm using dried herbs because it is winter, but if you have fresh double the amount.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

2 pounds shrimp

1 tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. dried thyme.

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Salt to taste

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly browned, about 30 seconds. Add shrimp and stir-fry for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano and thyme and continue to stir-fry until shrimp are cooked through, curled, and pink.  If you are using fresh basil, oregano and thyme, double the amount.  Season with salt and red pepper flakes to taste. 

Super simple today.  Have a super day, be happy and may God bless you and yours. 

Scotch Eggs

Here is another traditional St. Pat's Day recipe, even if it is a Scotch egg.  Serve it with your Colcannon and fresh soda bread or for your St. Pat's Day brunch with your Boxty. 

Makes 4 eggs

1 pound lean ground beef

2 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cups finely minced onion

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper

Flour for dusting the eggs

4 hard boiled eggs (Bring to a boil, turn off stove and put on lid and let it sit for 20 minutes)

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Boil your water in a decent sized pot, once the water is boiling, add your room temperature eggs carefully with a spoon and set your timer for 7 minutes.  As soon as your timer goes off, remove the eggs and put them in a bath of cold water.  Crack them and shell them under cold water.

In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, one of the beaten eggs, the olive oil, onion, garlic, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

Put a small amount of flour into a bowl. Dredge the hard boiled eggs lightly in the flour and then dust off the excess flour with your fingers. Using about 1/4 of the “meat” mixture, pat the mixture around one of the eggs, completely enclosing the egg in the mixture. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with the remaining eggs and then transfer the plate to the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour or more.

Place the second beaten egg and the bread crumbs in two small bowls. Dip the scotch eggs into the beaten egg wash and coat well. Transfer the egg to the bowl of bread crumbs and coat on all sides. Shake off the excess bread crumbs and place the scotch eggs on a nonstick or oiled baking sheet.

Bake the Scotch eggs in a preheated 350 F. degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown (you may want to turn the eggs a few times during cooking to ensure even browning.)

Variation – Try using a good breakfast sausage and wrap in bacon and then bake as stated above.  Serve on St. Pat’s Day or with your Easter Sunday brunch. 

Wishing you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours. 

Colcannon (Irish potatoes and cabbage)

Anyone of you that really know me well, know I'm not a lover of cooked cabbage.  I love it raw, but God did not bless me with a love of it cooked.  Since this is a very traditional Irish dish, I'm sharing this for St. Patty's Day.  Bacon, butter and potatoes makes everything taste better.

6 slices bacon

5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 cup butter, plus 1 tablespoon for serving

1/2 cup milk

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 clove garlic

1 small head cabbage, cored and chopped small

3 green onions, chopped

Chop bacon and brown in a large skillet. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Remove pan from heat and reserve 1 tablespoon of pan drippings.

Place potatoes in a pot with the water just barely covering the top. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender and drain. Return to pan and add 1/4 cup butter and milk. Mash with a potato masher. Turn burner to low and cover to keep warm while you prepare the cabbage.

Return bacon pan to stove and heat over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and cabbage to reserved bacon drippings. Stir to combine. Cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until cabbage is soft.

Stir cabbage mixture into warmed potatoes. Stir in reserved bacon pieces and chopped green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl, top with remaining tablespoon of butter.

Next Sunday is St. Patrick's Day so may have another Irish recipes to share tomorrow.   Have a great Monday, be happy and may God bless you and yours.

Boxty (Potato Pancake)

Here is a traditional Irish potato pancake called Boxty for your Sunday Brunch.  

8 oz raw potato, grated

8 oz mashed potato

4 oz flour

1 egg

1 tablespoon chopped spring onions

Milk or buttermilk to mix

Mix the grated and mashed potato together. Stir in the flour and garlic/onion and season with salt and pepper. Add the beaten egg and enough milk to make a batter that will drop from the spoon. Cook on a griddle or shallow fry for about 3 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve with bacon and eggs.

Tomorrow I'll share Colcanon (potatoes and cabbage) with you.  

Hope you have a beautiful Sunday.  Be happy and may God bless you and yours. 

Irish Stew

The potato is a staple in the Irish diet so I am naturally going to go to Irish stew in thinking about any Irish dish.  My mom loves it with barley but there are no rules.  I like it simple.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion (or you can use small whole like Cipolline or pearl onions)

3 cloves garlic

1 bottle Guinness beer (must be bottle, not can!)

2 pounds beef stew meat

4 medium potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

Add to favorites like Barley or when done top with dumplings or biscuts

Pour the olive oil into a skillet over medium heat. When the olive oil is hot, put in the chopped onion and garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until soft, about 6 minutes.

Add the Guinness, beef, and sliced potatoes to the skillet and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Place quartered potatoes in a 6 quart slow cooker. Transfer Guinness beef mixture to slow cooker over the quartered potatoes.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, until meat and vegetables are very tender. Add more salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

Alternate Method if adding dumplings

Cook the stew in crock pot on high for about 4 hours.

Parsley Dumplings

1 1/3 cups flour

1 handful fresh parsley (optional)

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

Make the dumpling dough: in a medium bowl, stir together the flour, parsley, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the cream and stir just until the dough comes together.

If you are adding dumplings the stew needs to be simmering. Drop the biscuit batter by the large spoonful on top of the simmering stew, cover and cook for 15 minutes, until the biscuits are cooked through. Do not remove the lid

Tomorrow I'll share another Irish recipe for St. Patty's Day.  

Be happy and may God bless you and yours.  

Corn Beef

You will need to get started on corn beef well before St. Pat’s day because it must be cured at least 5 days or more.  Great thing is you will probably be able to enjoy several terrific meals out of your work and effort.  Start watching for sales on corn beef now. 

Corn Beef 

Brine:

1 gallon water

2 cups Kosher salt

3 tbsp pickling spices

½  cup brown sugar

1 large bay leaves, crumbled

½ teaspoons ground ginger

Brisket:

1 4 to 5 pound beef brisket

1 tbsp pickling spices

Use a mortar and pestle to crush the pickling spices a little (or the back of a spoon).  Add about 3 tbsp. of the spice mix (reserve the rest for cooking the corned beef after it has cured), plus add half stick of cinnamon, 1 large bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger to a gallon of water in a large pot, along with the Kosher salt, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate until well chilled.

Place the brisket in a large, flat container or pan, and cover with the brine. The brine should cover the meat. The meat may float in which case you may want to weigh it down with a plate. Alternatively you can use a 2-gallon freezer bag (placed in a container so if it leaks it doesn't leak all over your refrigerator), place the brisket in the freezer bag and about 2 quarts of brine, squeezing out the air from the bag before sealing. Place in the refrigerator and chill for 5 days. Every day flip the brisket over, so that all sides get brined equally.

At the end of the cure, remove the brisket from the brine and rinse off the brine with cold water. Place the brisket in a large pot that just fits around the brisket and cover with at least one inch of water. If you want your brisket less salty, add another inch of water to the pot. Add a tablespoon of the pickling spices to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a very low simmer (barely bubbling), and cook 4 hours (or put in a cock pot) until the corned beef is fork tender. At this point you can store in the fridge for up to a week.  Remove the meat to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before cutting. You can also use the spiced cooking liquid to cook vegetables for a boiled dinner or corned beef and cabbage. Slice thinly against the grain to serve.

Left overs?

Make a grilled Reuben sandwich with rye bread, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.

Or how about home made hash.  A little boiled potatoes, onion, chopped up corn beef and salt and pepper. Simple and great when topped with an over easy fried egg.  

Left overs are a very good thing and that makes me happy.   Tomorrow I'll share Irish Stew.

Be happy and may God bless you and yours.