Recipe

Irish Roasted Shallots – An Amazing Appetizer

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To be honest this recipe and the herb dumpling recipe are
the main reason that I bought this book, and I am so happy that I did.

These roasted shallots may very well be the best thing ever!

It’s almost like eating onion rings, but better in my
opinion because there’s cheese! And who doesn’t love cheese? Besides they are
roasted, not fried, and not completely breaded so they are a little bit better
for you, and if you use whole wheat bread crumbs and low fat cheese its all the
better.

Can I take an aside to tell you about the dairy in Ireland.
It’s freakin’ fabulous! I swear I had some of the best cheese, and ice cream
imaginable there. Oh how I want to go back now!

Now back to this great little appetizer. I knew this would
be a good one for Chuck, but I was still a little surprised when he asked if I
could make them again tomorrow. They are really great, too bad shallots aren’t
cheap, or I totally would have, maybe I can get a whole bunch at the end of the
season.

Irish Roasted Shallots

8 shallots or small onions

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

½ tbs thyme

¼ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

2/3 cups breadcrumbs

1 cup shredded Irish cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 425. Peel the shallots, and slice in
half lengthwise. In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, oil thyme, and pepper,
add shallots and toss. Transfer to a roasting pan in one single layer, add
salt, and bread crumbs. Roast in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until
shallots begin to blacken. Scatter with shredded cheddar cheese, and roast for
an additional 3-5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove
from heat, garnish with parsley and serve warm. (Serves 4-6)

Oh and check out this complete meal. The rest of the recipes are comeing soon!

Boiled Dinner

By Jessica

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For those of you not familiar with coddle or boiled dinner.
Let me tell you about it.

In Ireland Coddle is a popular dinner, the Catholic culture
made it super popular because you can basically through all your leftover meat
into a pot on Thursday during lent and have a meat free house for Friday.

In my household growing up it was one of my father’s
favorite things, and his good old fall back, because I’m telling you any one
can cook this.

Honestly I had no idea it was actually a traditional meal
until I started looking up typical Irish food for our trip last year. I think
it has a lot to do with the fact that in the old day’s people didn’t have the
best teeth and boiling things up made them soft and easy to bite, plus it was
easy, and the broth could help add flavor to things for those who couldn’t
afford meat all the time.

I came across a recipe for Dublin Coddle in the Irish PubCook Book that I bought recently, and decided to give it a shot. This recipe
is very similar to the one in the book.

I always remember it being very bland growing up, but I
think that my dad just prefers simply made food, which I can appreciate. I
decided to add a few more herbs in mine, because well as you all know I am
obsessed with herbs. I also used a leftover ham that has been sitting in the
freezer for a while, but it’s been known to be made with sausages, rasher
bacon, stew meat, chicken pieces (dad’s favorite), or just about any other cut
of meat you can think of. The same goes for the vegetables; it’s a veritable
left over, toss in everything but the Kitchen sink wonder.

You can make it on the stove, just put it on a simmer for
30-45 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften. This particular time I
opted to use the crock pot. It uses less energy, and I don’t have to watch it.

Irish Coddle with Ham

1 lb ham meat, cut into large chunks

4 medium potatoes, chopped

1 cup baby carrots, or 2 large carrots chopped

1/2 medium cabbage, chopped

2 bay leaves

2 tsp pepper

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

½ tsp caraway seed

2 tbs chopped parsley

3-4 cups water

Add all ingredients to the crock pot and set to cook on low
for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve warm. (Serves 4)

Steak & Soba Stir Fry

By Jessica

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Part of my most resent quest to make vegetables the
spotlight means trying new things. I saw this recipe in my Bon Appétit magazine recently and knew I had to try it. I’ve eaten bok
choy plenty of times in the average Chinese food take out, but I’ve never
cooked with it. Besides the picture is so pretty isn’t it? It makes me want to
dive right in and gobble it all up.

This recipe is my own take on that one. I wanted to include
more vegetables, and avoid purchasing oyster sauce which I would rarely use,
and I wanted it a little more liquidy (yeah I made up my own word there). It
being my first foray with soba noodles I don’t know whether I over cooked them
or if they are naturally just sticky, but the extra liquid I tossed them in
really helped. I also wanted to clean it up a bit, not that there is a whole
lot in need on cleaning on this one. It’s pretty darn healthy already.

The result was amazing. I loved this recipe; the mixture of
textures and flavors is really awesome. Beware it’s much more filling that you
would think, so start with a small portion.

Steak & Soba Stir
Fry

6 oz soba noodles
16oz flank steak
Salt & pepper to taste
Olive oil cooking spray
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
2 heads baby bok choy, cut into 8th’s
2-3 carrots cut into match sticks
4 tbs soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1tbs toasted sesame oil
½ cup vegetable or beef broth
1 bunch scallions, greens cut into 2 inch strips
1 handful roasted almonds

Cook soba noodles according to package instructions and set
aside. Generously season steak with salt and pepper, and placed in a greased
skillet over medium high heat. Cook 4-6 minutes per side, or until medium rare,
remove from heat and let rest for at least 10 minutes, while the stir fry is
prepared. Wipe out the skillet and heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onion,
garlic, and ginger until softened, roughly 1-2 minutes. Add bok choy and carrot
and cook for 4-5 minutes, tossing occasionally. In a small bowl mix together
soy, sesame oil, vinegar, and broth. Add to pan, tossing lightly. Stir in
scallions and almonds cooking for an additional minute or two. Remove
vegetables from heat, leaving remaining liquid in pan, then add soba to pan and
toss to coat. Add to stir fry mixture. Slice Steak into ½ to ½ inch ling slices
and serve. (serves 4)

Back in the Running Groove & More Grilled Cheese

By Jessica

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Have you noticed and influx of grilled cheese recipes from
me lately? I have, am beginning to think that I have a problem.

The last few months we haven’t been eating a lot of bread. I
mean really, Chuck and I have the same 2 loafs of Italian bread, and sliced
bread in our freezer since before we moved almost 2 months ago. So maybe I am
just going through bread withdrawal and my body wants it back.

Maybe it’s the weather. I mean there’s a little nip in the
air still and grilled cheese has cozy connotations.

It could also be because when we moved Momma chuck loaded us
up with cold cuts so we wouldn’t have to worry about food, and we don’t want
the cheese to go bad.

Maybe it’s because I started running again. I already
admitted to you that I haven’t exactly been on the workout
band wagon, so this has probably been pretty shocking for my body.

I don’t know what happened. I forced myself to run the 2.62
miles for Boston, and despite the crappy feeling and circumstances going in, I
felt freakin wonderful after. The following weekend my college roommate came to
visit, and forced me to run with her, because she wasn’t familiar with the
area, but I’m glad she did, because the following Monday I was at it again.
After running an easy 3 miles I still had the enegery to do an ab workout and a
yoga session. And this has persisted ever since!

Where is this energy coming from? I’m seriously questioning
how on earth I have been able to jump back in; when in the past getting back
into the swing of things has been a very slow process.

Maybe I shouldn’t question it.

Whatever the reasons are for my new found energy or my
grilled cheese obsession here is the latest creation that I made for leftover
lunch the other day when there was no pasta left to go with my chicken parm.

Sorry for the crappy picture. It’s from work, but I still ahd to share.

Chicken Parmesan
Grilled Cheese

1 prepared parmesan chicken breast
2 slices of mozzarella cheese
2 slices bread of choice
1 tbs butter
Warm the chicken either in the microwave or the oven. Place cheese side down on 1 slice of bread. Add both slices of cheese and top with remaining piece of bread. Butter both sides of the bread and place in a skillet on medium heat. Cook until the bread is toasted and cheese melted. Serve.

How can you not love this; this cheesy saucy toasty sandwich
of wonder? I mean come on!

D4One: Clean Bruschetta Chicken & Alfredo Sauce

By Jessica

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I am super excited about this recipe. It’s got a great
combination of fresh ingredients, with wonderful bold flavors, that meld
together wonderfully for a wonderfully well balanced meal.

The alfredo sauce is rich, creamy and wonderfully thick,
something that is not always found in clean recipes, but makes me so happy. I
especially love how wonderfully it picks up the flavors of any herbs and spices
that are added. This paired with the bruschetta chicken is a real winner,
especially when you add just a little bit more of the tomato mixture. The fresh
juicy tomatoes and basil add brightness and texture to the dish which really
makes a great visual impression. I really like the combination of the cold
tomato mixture on top of the warm chicken, alfredo and melty cheese.

This meal made me feel like I was eating at a restaurant,
except that I was really in sweatpants, watching White Collar, and it only took
about 20 minutes. Do you believe that? I mean really! I started boiling the water
for the pasta, and had the chicken done long just as it started to boil, and by
the time the pasta was done so was its sauce. That’s great right?

Clean Bruschetta Chicken

1 medium tomato, deseeded and diced

2-3 large basil leaves, staked rolled and sliced thin

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 tbs oil

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 chicken paillard

1 slice low fat mozzarella cheese

In a small bowl combine the tomato, basil and garlic,
tossing to mix, set aside. Preheat grill, grill pan, or skillet (be sure to
grease the pan with cooking spray). Combine oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Place
chicken on the grill and brush top and sides with balsamic mixture. Continue to
cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes a side, brushing with vinegar mixture continuously.
Once chicken is nearly cooked through add cheese to the top and cook for an
additional minute or 2 until the cheese melts. Remove from heat and serve with
tomato mixture on top.

Clean Alfredo Sauce

1 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ cup skim or other low fat milk

¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

½ cup low fat ricotta cheese

In a thick bottomed sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat
and sauté garlic for 1-2 minutes or until it begins to brown. Reduce heat to
low and add milk. Slowly add in parmesan cheese and whisk until well blended.
While whisking add in ricotta cheese. Continue to whisk until well blended and
smooth. Sreve warm over prepared pasta.

Random thought: Does anyone else feel an incredible urge to
drink wine while watching a show like White Collar? I swear it gets me every
time!

Recipe

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