Irish Whiskey Punch

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Some legends claim St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.  Others claim those "snakes" were the Druids and Pagans.  I'm inclined to believe the latter.

Whatever you believe, have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day.  Wear something green, tip a bit of Irish beer or Whiskey.  Speaking of which, here is my recipe for Irish Whiskey Punch, which I make every year.  My guests--even those who claim not to like whiskey--practically lick last few drops from the bottoms of their cups.

Slainte!

Irish Whiskey Punch

Ingredients:
6 lemons
3 pints of boiling water
2 cups of sugar
3 pints of Irish whiskey

Method:
Peel the lemon rind very thinly, and then squeeze the lemon. Add to the boiling water and sugar. Dissolve the sugar. Then add the Irish whiskey, strain the punch, and serve. It can be served hot or allowed to cool and bottled for picnics.

Variation (mine):
The first year I made this, when I removed the lid from the pot, flames erupted.  So now I prepare the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a sauce pan, then dump it into my crockpot set on low, THEN add the whiskey.  It can be served directly from the pot.  Leftovers--if there are any--can be stored in the fridge and reheated, or serve it cold for a picnic lunch.  If you're not driving...

Enjoy!

And if you need an Irish read, don't forget to revisit my Mulligans.  If you haven't met them, MULLIGAN STEW is still only 99 cents in digital format.  Find all the links at my site.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Go muirní cnoic na hÉireann thú.

May the Irish hills caress you.

From the Mulligans (and me) to you!

http://www.debstover.com/mulligan.html

And don't miss Bridget's Bodacious Mulligan Stew Recipe while you're browsing. :)

Happy New Year

I chatted up the meal I am preparing on Facebook, and several people asked for my dessert recipe.  I can't remember where I found this recipe, but I always make a few changes as I go to make it mine anyway.  My apologies to the originator.

Menu:
Hoppin' John (Black-eyed peas for good luck, you know)
Beef roast with garlic and onions
Cabbage wedges braising in the drippings left by the roast
baked potatoes for one person, another gets quinoa
I forgot to put the sourdough bread in the bread machine, but it was in the plans.  I think the Mimosas made me forget. :)

Having grown up in Kansas, I'm not familiar with Meyer Lemons, but now I am!  Yummy.

Meyer Lemon Cake

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil (I replaced this with 2 sticks of melted butter for personal preference)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated Meyer lemon zest, divided
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
6 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a large bowl, beat eggs together with sugar until combined. Beat in 1 cup of oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 teaspoon zest, and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended.

3. Gradually beat in flour mixture then beat in sour cream. Pour batter into tube pan and bake 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cake rest 15 minutes before inverting and frosting.

4. To make frosting, beat butter, cream cheese, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon zest and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until well blended. Frost cake when fully cooled and store in refrigerator.

Happy 2011!


~Deb
www.debstover.com

Dinner Party Recipes

I was asked for recipes from a small dinner I had last night for a writer friend, my gentleman friend, and Princess Bonnie. Maggie Mae (my standard poodle) digested every bite we took, of course. The meal was yummy, if I do say so myself.

As an aside, I use only organic, natural ingredients. When I say whipping cream, I mean real whipping cream you make with a mixer --not "Cool Whip." Since I'm allergic to soy and corn, I've learned to return to nature, and use only real food. I'm a firm believer in Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.

FWIW, just like my novels these recipes emerged from my imagination (or were altered drastically from the original). :)

Pork Loin with Spinach

Ingredients
Serves 4
* 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
* 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
* 1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary and/or chopped thyme
* 1 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 3/4 pounds pork tenderloin (about 2)
* 3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
* Freshly ground pepper
* 1/2 - 1 pound spinach, washed well (may substitute frozen, if necessary)
* 1 large lemon, scrubbed and sliced

Directions
1. Put olive oil in bottom of large crockpot or Dutch oven (if using oven, preheat to 325).

Place onion slices and some coarse salt in bottom ( henceforth, dish refers to either
crockpot or Dutch oven).

2. Place pork in dish; sprinkle with herbs and seasonings (reserve some salt & pepper).

Layer spinach over pork with garlic and lemon slices. Sprinkle remaining salt & pepper (to
taste) over top. Cover dish.

3. Roast in oven, spooning juices over pork occasionally (unnecessary in crockpot), until
thickest part of pork reaches 155 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat; let rest until pork reaches 160 degrees, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, prepare bread and quinoa.

I serve spinach and broth over the quinoa, and prepared a flax flatbread.

Flatbread Recipe (make while meat is cooking)

Ingredients:
* 2 cups flax seed meal
* 1 Tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 1-2 Tablespoons sugar equivalent from artificial sweetener (I omit)
* 5 beaten eggs
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare pan (a 10X15 pan with sides works best) with oiled
parchment paper.

1) Mix dry ingredients well (I use a large whisk for entire process).

2) Add wet to dry, and combine well. Make sure there aren't obvious strings of egg white.

3) Pour batter into pan. Spread it away from the center in roughly a rectangle an inch or
two from the sides of the pan (you can go all the way to the edge, but it will be thinner).

4) Bake for about 20 minutes, until it springs back when you touch the top and/or is visibly
browning even more than flax already is (basically, texture of cornbread).

5) Cool and cut into whatever size slices you want. Just cut it with a spatula.

Chocolate Mousse:

Ingredients:
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup Cocoa powder (pure, not drink mix!!!!)
* 2 cup (1/2 pt.) cold whipping cream (real stuff, not fake!)
*2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Stir together sugar and cocoa in medium bowl; add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat on
medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally, until mixture is
stiff. Spoon into serving dishes.

Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish if and as desired. Cover and
refrigerate leftover desserts. Four 1/2 cup servings.

Top o' the Mornin'

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
"Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

Though many Pagans believe the "snakes" St. Patrick allegedly drove out of Ireland were actually witches and Druids, it's still a favorite holiday for many of us, because it celebrates all things Irish. My great-grandmother came from Ireland, and lived with my family during my teen years. My memories of her inspired my MULLIGAN series for Berkley/Jove. Visit the site to find an excerpt from Mulligan Stew, a link to a short story I wrote for my readers that takes place between the two books, and also one to Mulligan Magic. Yes, another excerpt there as well. On the Mulligan Stew page, you'll find Bridget Mulligan's secret recipe to her "Bodacious Mulligan Stew." It's a mutation of her downhome, hillbilly cooking and Irish wholesomeness. My family loves it, and this recipe actually came down through my family via my great-grandmother.

Irish Blessing
by Anonymous

Go n'éirí an bothar leat
Go raibh an ghaoth go brách ag do chúl
Go lonraí an ghrian go te ar d'aghaidh
Go dtite an bháisteach go mín ar do pháirceanna
Agus go mbuailimid le chéile arís,
Go gcoinní Dia i mbos A láimhe thú

Translation to English
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

If you've a hankering to visit Ireland in person, I must direct you to All Ireland Travel. A visit to their website is the next best thing to going there. The owners, Kemberlee and Peter Shortland were my research sources while I wrote both MULLIGAN books. In fact, Peter took the photo that became the cover of Mulligan Magic.

Sláinte agus táinte.
"Health and wealth!"

~Deb