Our Recipe for a Successful Marriage

One of the great things about being married is that you share responsibilities with your partner! This week my adorable husband decided he was going to make me dinner. Of course this doesn’t happen very often, he has a few dishes that he is in charge of, usually grilled cheese, because for some reason his just taste better than mine, and what he calls ‘Nathan’s Gourmet Mac’n’Cheese’ (although he uses penne or fusilli pasta so it isn’t really mac…but that’s just a detail.) So last night of course he wanted to make his mac’n’cheese, which was fine by me, because it meant I didn’t have to cook, but if you know me now you probably realize that I have a passion for all things culinary, so I really can’t just hand over my kitchen and sit on the sidelines, and honestly what’s better than cooking with your honey? In my opinion not much!

Since we have moved to Ireland, my husband has developed a taste (and love) for cheese, Dutch Smoked Gouda is his favorite, but he loves ANYTHING smoked usually. So our fridge is usually fully stocked with assorted varieties of cheese (I gotta make sure my man is happy!) Last night we had a selection of mature Irish Coloured and white cheddar, white cheddar with peppercorns, white cheddar with Irish Whiskey, (are you noticing an Irish theme here?) Dutch smoked Gouda, Dutch Edam, parmesan, and singles (aka ‘American’ cheese.)


We assumed our roles, him as the (stand-in) head chef and me as his sous chef, and we started cooking up a cheesy storm! Now the whole recipe actually started earlier in the day when I prepared the grilled chicken and the rashers (bacon). I started by lightly seasoning the chicken, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, and a bit of smoked paprika, Then I grilled them for about 8-10 minutes each side (I am PARANOID about under-cooked chicken.) Meanwhile, I placed the rashers on a baking rack over a parchment lined tin. I baked the rashers for about 20 minutes on about 180 degrees C, turning them halfway. When the bacon and the chicken were finished, I removed them to a small plate and let them cool. Once they were cooled, I diced the 

meat and put it in the fridge until we were ready to add them. After that we started on the sauce and put the water on for the pasta. He started by making a roux, and heating the milk. After cooking the roux for a few minutes, he added the milk, and then we (by we I mean I LOL) tempered an egg and added it to the mixture. When it had cooked for a few minutes, it was time to get crazy with the cheese!! Now he has a very particular order in which he adds the cheese, (probably because he's an engineer...and they tend to have exact 'logical' ways of doing things.) He begins by adding the singles (processed American cheese). Then the Dutch Edam, Dutch Smoked Gouda, any other random cheese we have lying around, and then both red and white cheddar and stir until most of the chunks of cheese have melted into a lovely pale pool of cheesy goodness. By this time, the pasta should be done, and your sous chef (aka me) should have drained it. He added the diced chicken and the rashers to the sauce and stirred briefly, then I poured in the noodles and he stirred until the cheese was evenly distributed. Then we poured the cheesy noodles into an 8"x8"x2" baking dish, covered with seasoned (and buttered) bread crumbs, and we baked it until it was golden and delicious! 

Here's his special recipe:

Ingredients:

• 30g butter
• 15g plain flour
• 500 ml milk
• 1 lg egg
• 5-10g dried powdered mustard
• 5g smoked paprika
• 5g pepper
• 2-3g salt
• 4 slices of (American) Singles
• 60g Dutch Smoked Gouda
• 120g Dutch Edam
• 240g mature red cheddar
• 240g mature white cheddar
• 250g Penne or Fusilli pasta (or pasta of your choice)
• 150g bread crumbs 
• 60g parmesan cheese
• 200g Rashers (bacon)
• 250g boneless skinless chicken breast
• Assorted herbs/spices to season bread crumbs

Method:

1. Season chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley and grill over medium-high heat for about 8-10 minutes per side. Meanwhile, place rashers on a baking rack over a parchment lined tray and bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.
2. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C. Bring water to a boil for pasta. Meanwhile, melt butter in a separate saucepan over medium-low heat, when butter is melted add the flour and the powdered mustard, and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, meanwhile pour milk into a heatproof jug and warm in the microwave for a few minutes. When the milk is hot, add it to the butter mixture. Lightly beat the egg and temper it with about 200ml of the warm milk mixture, whisk constantly and add the egg mixture back into the pan. Add paprika, pepper, and salt. Let the mixture thicken for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
3. After the sauce has started to thicken, add the cheeses, and stir until the cheeses melt, then add the cooked rashers and chicken and stir until combined. Mix in the drained pasta.
4. In a small bowl, melt 15g of the butter, add bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese, season with any herbs you like.
5. Butter/spray an 8"x8"x2" baking dish and pour in the cheesy pasta, and top with the seasoned bread crumbs. 
6. Bake at 220 degrees C for 20-25 minutes or until bread crumbs are golden and crispy.

Fresh from the Oven

I spent ages sifting, mixing and whipping in the kitchen this week. I started the week by asking my husband what treat he wanted for his breakfasts this week. Usually he opts for scones, or muffins, but this week he wanted baps (buns, rolls, whatever you want to call them.) I will admit that I am a bit lazy when it comes to making breads, rolls, and dough, I take the easy way out and use my bread machine, typically the main thing I do with the machine is mix, knead, and proof the dough. It has a heating element which reaches the perfect temperature for the dough to rise. After my husband’s breakfast needs were tended, I had to address the girls in my Stitch’N’Bitch group. I decided to test a new recipe that I had written this week. One of my absolute favorite things to do is bake with alcohol, which can be seen from the post last week about the boozy Irish cupcakes (which will now be known as ‘Irish Threesome Cupcakes”) So this week I decided to take one of my favorite ciders and turn it into a cupcake. I made Strawberry Lime cupcakes with Koppaberg Swedish Cider, the cupcakes were good, but not perfect. I will post the recipe, but keep in mind that they haven’t been perfected yet. I also decided to make chocolate covered pretzels (which I realize involves absolutely no baking…only melting and dipping) for my husband because it’s one of his favorite treats. Now here's the recipes:

Bread Machine Baps

Ingredients:

• 180ml milk
• 60ml warm water
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 60g butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 tsp salt
• 475g strong flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp yeast

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in the pan of bread machine (in the order recommended by the manufacturer.) Select dough cycle and start the machine.
2. When the dough cycle is complete, preheat oven to 160 degrees C and  remove the dough to a floured surface, and divide into 8 equal parts. Form the dough into circles, tucking the edges under to create a smooth top. Place on a baking tin lined with parchment paper, cover with a tea towel and let rise again. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Strawberry Lime Cupcakes with Koppaberg Cider

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 300g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 320ml Koppaberg Strawberry Lime Cider
• 1-2 tsp lime zest 

Method:

1. Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and cider, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined (when adding the cider, the mixture will appear to curdle a bit, this is fine.) Fold in the lime zest. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin(s) and bake at 180 degrees C for 15-17 minutes, or until wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Koppaberg Icing

Ingredients:

• 250g icing sugar
• 250g butter, at room temperature
• 40ml Koppaberg Strawberry Lime Cider

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for 30 seconds, sift icing sugar over the butter and beat on low speed until combined, add cider slowly while beating on low.
2. Ice the cupcakes with a spatula or piping bag.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 200g chocolate
• Hard Salted Pretzels

Method:

1. Chop the chocolate and place into a medium heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a small sauce pan of simmering (NOT BOILING) water. Do not allow the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir the chocolate until melted and smooth.
2. Dip the pretzels with a fork, and shake off the excess chocolate. Place the pretzels on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place the tray in the freezer for 10-15 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.
3. Optional: drizzle contrasting chocolate over the top of the pretzels and place in the freezer for a few minutes.

Cloudy...with a Chance of Meatballs

So I don’t know how other families are, but in my family the biggest argument (EVERYDAY) always started with “What do you want for dinner?” So when I got married and moved away, I decided NOT to have that argument ever! So on this cloudy Irish morning when I woke up without a dinner plan…I panicked a bit! I rushed into the kitchen desperately searching for something to throw together. I found some whole wheat spaghetti, two cartons of tomato passata, and 500g of turkey mince. Suddenly it was clear: Spaghetti Bolognese and Meatballs! I opened the cartons of passata and dumped it into the slow cooker, and added all of the ingredients listed in my grandma’s spaghetti sauce recipe, and a few of my own. Next step was the meatballs. Now, I have never made meatballs before…but I figured I watch enough Food Network to pull it off. I knew the general ingredients, and how to assemble them. I started with garlic, bread crumbs and tons of herbs. I mixed the meat with the herbed bread crumbs, and rolled it into meaty balls of deliciousness.

I sautéed the meatballs in a bit of oil until they were golden brown and fragrant, and removed them to a baking tin lined with kitchen towels. After they cooled enough to handle, I placed them into the bubbling tomato hot tub. I let the sauce and the meatballs cook for about 7 hours on low heat, and served over whole wheat spaghetti with freshly grated parmesan cheese and garlic bread. Now since I only cook for two, I placed the remaining meatballs and sauce into freezer bags so the next time I wake up without a dinner plan, I have a lovely supply of frozen pasta sauce and meatballs.

• 500g Turkey Mince
• 6 cloves garlic (I REALLY love garlic)
• 75g fresh bread crumbs
• 75g freshly grated parmesan 
• 2-3 garlic Italian herb blend
• 1g onion granules
• 1g thyme
• 2-3g parsley
• 1g rosemary
• 1g oregano
• 2-3g basil
• 2-3g smoked paprika
• 40g butter, melted
• 50ml water
• 1 lg egg
• 3-4 tbsp oil (for sautéing)

Method:

1. Mince garlic and place into a large bowl, add breadcrumbs, cheese, and all herbs, add in melted butter and stir to coat evenly.
2. Add turkey mince, egg, and water. Using clean hands gently combine the meat and the bread crumb mixture.
3. Pinch of small bits of meat and roll gently into 1" balls, place on a tray until all of the meatballs are mad
4. Heat 3-4 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, when the oil starts rippling, add about 1/3 of the meatballs to the pan and brown them on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Once the meatballs are browned remove from the heat and drain excess oil on a kitchen towel.
5. After all of the meatballs have been browned, allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes and add them to the pasta sauce.

WIP Wednesday

This week I am working on three projects, two that I am continuing from last week, and a new one that I just cast on. Recently my husband and I were invited to a friends home for dinner, since the couple is expecting their first child I thought it would be nice to knit something up for the baby. Now normally this wouldn’t be a problem. I would choose a color based on the sex of the baby, but this particular couple chose not to find out the sex. So I dove head first into my yarn stash in search of something ‘gender neutral’. I discovered a ball of Sirdar Crofter DK in FairIsle (54). So I decided that this colorway had enough green to be neutral. Now I set out to find the perfect pattern. After an extensive and rather unsuccessful search on Ravelry, I remembered that I had received a copy of  ‘Wee Wooly Toppers’ by Wooly Wormhead. I looked at the book and remembered that several of the girls from my knitting group had done ‘Tubey’ and it turned out very cute. So I decided to give it a go! First of all the pattern knits up extremely quickly (especially when you’re dealing in the smaller sizes). I decided to go with Medium so that the hat would fit the baby when the weather starts to cool off. The pattern is extremely easy to follow and the results are brilliant.

I am still working on my shawl and my vest top from last week, although the vest is nearly complete. I will be sure to post more photos when it’s done, maybe even a few of my niece modeling it (whenever I get around to sending it out!)

TasteFest Cork

Thursday marked the beginning of ‘TasteFest Cork’ a spectacular food festival featuring 15 of Cork’s top restaurants and their most popular menu items, loads of locally produced dairy products, from cream and cheeses to ice cream, cheesecakes and panna cotta. There were also local jams, relishes, sweets, meats, and pastries. You could even relax with a professional massage. First, I must say that the festival was brilliant! We had a great time, we spent several hours perusing the stalls, sampling delicious goodies, and watching demonstrations from celebrity chefs.

Toffee and Marshmallow Cheesecake with Crackling Praline
from Electric.

We were delighted with all of the free samples from the exhibitors, we sampled several varieties of handcrafted Irish Cheddar from Old Irish Creamery. We had previously purchased the Irish Whiskey Cheddar from our local supermarket, and we thought it was delightful, so we were eager to try their other varieties. They were all amazing, but we ended up narrowing our selection to three, Oak Smoked Cheddar, (because my husband goes nuts for anything smoked!) Vintage Red Cheddar, and our favourite Garlic and Herbs Cheddar. We sampled some delicious ham from Carroll’s. We also sampled yoghurt, and the most amazing vanilla ice cream from Glenilen Farm. We had loads more but those were my favourites!

Meringue and Cream with Organic West Cork Strawberries
from Cornstore.

As for the restaurants, the best (in my opinion) were the Spicy Chicken Wings from Boardwalk Bar & Grill, and the Fish and Chips (which happened to be my first experience with fish and chips…I have never really been a fish person) from Hayfield Manor. For dessert, which may or may not have been consumed before our entrees, my absolute favourite, and the thing I cannot wait to try to recreate was the Meringue and Cream with Organic West Cork Strawberries from Cornstore. However, in a close second for my favourite dish was the Toffee and Marshmallow Cheesecake with Crackling Praline from Electric

We also enjoyed a lovely cooking demonstration by Rachel Allen. I was simply delighted to watch her cook! I have tried a few of her recipes and have been amazed by the results, and she was so lovely in person! It was definitely one of the highlights. She made pan fried mackerel, panzanella, a bean and bacon salad, chocolate crème brulee, and a strawberry flirtini, The festival also had other demonstrations by some of Ireland’s top chefs. One of which I was extremely disappointed to have missed was Benoit Lorge from Lorge Chocolatier.

Overall TasteFest Cork had a great atmosphere, gorgeous food, and brilliant cooking demos. I do have to say the ticket price was a bit much, and the ‘Corkers’ was kind of a pain but in general the experience was fantastic!

WIP Wednesday (it's only a day late)

So when I moved to Ireland 19 months ago…I had NO IDEA what I was going to do for entertainment…I started watching ‘Gilmore Girls’ it started off as something to kill time during the day…and then I started to like the characters and get into the story…it was very entertaining. Then something happened…I had an epiphany of sorts... The episode ‘Knit, People, Knit’ came on…and I watched Lorelai and her entire town having a “knitathon” and I thought to myself…I want to start knitting! So I did some research, and tried to find wool/yarn shops in the city centre. Upon searching I was brought to an amazing blog full of useful information. That blog was titled 40 Shades of Life, after reading the post about knitting in Cork City, I decided to venture out and buy some wool! I went to Youghal Knits on Princes Street. From that shop, I purchased my very first yarn and knitting needles. When I got home I must have watched a thousand videos on YouTube about how to knit, I tried and tried and something just wasn’t clicking. Then on the 4th of July, my husband and I ventured into Blarney for the “Blarney Bowl”. Which was great, it was a REAL football game! (and by REAL I mean AMERICAN football, because I just can’t get into soccer for some reason.) We stood there and watched as the players from the “Cork Admirals” and the “Dublin Dragons” began warming up and preparing for the game, and this couple walked up and stood next to us. After striking up a conversation, I found out that they lived in Cork City also! We exchanged info, and when I got home I realized that the lovely woman I had met at the Blarney Bowl was the author of ’40 Shades of Life’ , I contacted her and she invited me to come to her knitting group! It was on that Wednesday night, that I met the most amazing group of women, and my entire life in Cork was quickly turned upside down! For the first time in Cork, I had people to socialize with, hang out with, and call my friends! Those women ignited something within me that I had NO IDEA was in there…it was a love of knitting, and apparently I’m pretty good at it! So after all of that, I am going to get to the point of this post, I am going to start writing a weekly post about what I am working on. I have decided to title it “WIP Wednesday” and of course I realize that it’s not Wednesday, but I had way too much fun baking yesterday to do another post about my knitting! Now..on to my projects.


 This week, I am currently working on 2 projects. The first one is one that I have been working on for a few weeks. It is a delightfully adorable vest type top for my niece. When I decided to make something for my niece there were several factors that had to be considered. 1. She is VERY picky when it comes to clothing, she doesn’t like the way most things feel against her skin, even a normal t-shirt can drive her crazy. 2. The temperature of her home in Phoenix, AZ, it gets QUITE hot there! The third thing I had to consider was how gorgeous she is, I had to find a pattern that would produce something that was as beautiful as she is! So after doing some research and talking to my mother-in-law, I stumbled upon ‘Clara’ by Amber Bertram on Ravelry I decided that THIS was the pattern for my lovely Marin! It is a gorgeous tank style top with a flowing lacy body. I downloaded the pattern and started trying to find the perfect yarn. I decided to go with King Cole Bamboo Cotton because I had knit her something in it before and it’s very soft, and easily cared for!
I am doing pretty well with this pattern, it is a fairly simple pattern, the start is a bit tricky but once you get past it it’s a great pattern. Here is my progress so far:

The second project I am working on this week is for a ‘Knit-along’ featuring yarn from Hedgehog Fibres, This yarn is hand dyed by locally by a lovely woman with an AMAZING eye for color! The yarn I chose to use is a blend of 85% merino and 15% nylon sock yarn, (it’s SOOOOOOOOOOOO soft.) The colorway is ‘Wish’ and it’s a gorgeous blend of teal, turquoise, blue, and green. The pattern I chose is called “Vlad” and it’s by Tammy Bailey. It’s a gorgeous lacy shawl with a gothic sort of feel, which happened to match my mood at that exact moment! Now last night in the midst of the flowing beer, gorgeous cakes and cookies, and the amazing company I somehow lost a few stitches so I have had to frog a bit (thank God for Lifelines) since this photo was taken, but it’s not too far off!

Boozy Irish Cupcakes

Last week, at my regular knitting meetup, we were discussing blogs, which brought me to the realization that since before the arrival and departure of my parents back in May, I have been neglecting my blog. I don’t know if it was because I didn’t have much to say, or if I was to busy with all of my current projects, but I have decided that it’s time for my neglectful behavior to stop. As the girls and I were discussing our blogs and our recent activity, they gave me a brilliant idea. Every week, I spend hours in my kitchen baking delicious treats for my fellow knitters (and regular pub-goers), why not write a post about what I am baking each week! So this is the first one…it doesn’t have a name yet (so if you have any suggestions I’d be delighted to hear them!) but here goes…

This week we are down a pregnant knitter, as she’s gone away on holiday…So I decided drunken cupcakes were the way to go. After a brief Google search for “Amazing Cupcakes” I came across a blog that caught my attention…The post was from BrownEyedBaker, and it was titled “Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes”. Now I realize that the name is offensive to all of my lovely Irish friends, so I apologize, and will refer to them as Boozy Irish cupcakes from this point on. But back to the point...when I read the post I was delighted! They sounded FANTASTIC! Since I already had a recipe in my repertoire for Guinness cupcakes, I was well on my way to a deliciously moist and boozy cupcake. For those of you who are unaware of this cocktail, it is typically a shot of Irish whiskey, floating on top of a shot of Irish Cream, then dropped into a pint of Guinness. Once the two shots are dropped into the Guinness, the drink must be consumed as quickly as possible as it will curdle. If you are able to consume the drink quickly enough, it’s supposed to be delicious and creamy.

I started with my basic Guinness cupcake recipe, but because there is quite a bit of alcohol in these cupcakes, I decided to go with mini cupcakes.

After the cupcakes were done and cooled, I prepared the Jameson Ganache...

While the ganache was cooling, I cut small holes in the center of each cupcake, once I had finished doing this to 80 mini cupcakes, the ganache was cool enough to put into a piping bag! I filled each of the dark cake caves with thick drunken chocolate ganache.

When each cupcake was infused with the chocolatey ganache, it was time to prepare the Bailey’s Buttercream!








I piped the Bailey’s Buttercream over each cupcake, covering the dark pools of chocolate whiskey goodness. Of course I don’t have the best piping skills, so they aren’t the prettiest cupcakes, but they taste amazing!




Now onto the recipe!

Guinness Cupcakes:

• 250 ml Guinness 
• 250 g butter
• 75 g cocoa powder
• 400 g caster sugar
• 142 ml sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla 
• 275 g plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C & line cupcake tin with paper baking cases.
2. Pour Guinness into a large wide sauce pan, add butter and heat over medium-low heat until melted. Whisk in cocoa powder & caster sugar. 
3. Beat sour cream with eggs and vanilla. Temper the egg mixture by adding about 1/2 cup of the hot Guinness mixture into the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Pour tempered egg mixture into the pan. 
4. Whisk in flour and baking soda.
5. Pour batter into cupcake tin and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until wooden cocktail stick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Jameson Chocolate Ganache:

• 200 g bittersweet chocolate
• 160 ml double cream
• 30 g butter, at room temperature
• 10 ml Jameson Irish Whiskey

Method:

1. Finely chop chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Heat cream until simmering and pour over chocolate. Let sit for one minute and stir from center outward until smooth.
2. Add butter and whiskey, stir until combined. Let ganache cool until think, but soft enough to be piped.

Bailey's Buttercream:

• 460 g butter, at room temperature
• 500 g icing sugar
• 90 ml Bailey's Irish Cream

Method:

1. Using an electric mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl. 
2. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually add the icing sugar until all of it is incorporated. 
3. Add Bailey's Irish Cream and increase speed to medium-high, whip for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Alternately, if you would like to prepare basic Guinness cupcakes, it is simply divine when topped with cream cheese icing, here's the recipe for it:

Cream Cheese Icing:

• 300 g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 150 g icing sugar
• 125 ml double cream

Method:

1. Whip cream cheese until smooth, sieve over icing sugar and beat together until combined.
2. Add cream and beat again until icing is a spreadable consistency.