tadhgs-stuff

[tadhgs-stuff]

Delia's Leek and Potato Soup for Instant Pot

My mother's favorite recipe, adapted from Delia Online.

Prep time: 20 mins, Cook time: 1h 10mins

Ingredients

- 50g butter - 1kg (about 3) leeks, diced and washed with outer shell removed - 250g (1 medium) onion, chopped - 600g (2 large) potatoes, peeled and diced - 850ml vegetable stock - 275ml milk Set the instant pot to saute, add the butter and wait for it to melt. Then set the pot to slow-cook low for 30 minutes. Stir in the onions, leeks and potatoes and close the lid.

After the slow-cook, add the boiling hot stock and cold milk. Set the pot to saute-low for 8 mins, and cook without the lid. If using cold vegetable stock, saute for 15 mins. The soup should be nearly boiling.

Now set to slow-cook, high for 30 minutes. Blend when completed.

[tadhgs-stuff]

Instant Pot Borscht

Inspired by https://instantpoteats.com/delicious-instant-pot-borscht-recipe-beet-soup/ and adjusted to taste ;)

Makes about 5 litres and takes about 30 minutes of prep time. You probably need the 8qt pot for this, and a food processor with a shredder head.

Peel

* 600g, or about 4 medium-sized beets

and place in 1.5 litres of water in a sauce pan on the stove, on medium heat for about 10 minutes.

Set the instant pot to sauté medium, 15 mins and add

* 60ml or 2oz Olive oil

wait until hot (about 2-3 mins) and then add

* 400g or about 4 finely diced medium-sized onions (do no shred) * 35g or about 8 cloves of garlic * 1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Seasoning * 1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence * 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, and then add

* 700g, or about 6 medium-sized peeled potatoes * 250g, or about 2 large peeled carrots * 400g, or about 1/2 a medium-sized cabbage

Take the beets out of their water, shred them and add them too. Keep the water.

When everything has sauteed for about 10 minutes, add the beet water into the instant pot, along with

* 1 liter of vegetable stock * 50ml (about 3 tablespoons) of Tomato Purée

Set the instant pot to high pressure and cook for 15 minutes. When done, use quick release to depressurize.

Serve with frozen or freeze-dried Dill, sour cream, and optionally, fresh bread and Kielbasa sausage.

[tadhgs-stuff]

McCambridges style wholewheat buttermilk soda bread

You can't get McCambridges bread outside Ireland, and you can't really copy it, because they make their own flour, but here's the best approximation I've found, based on ingredients I can find here in Boston

* 400ml low-fat buttermilk * 30ml (2 tbsp) molasses * 500g Bob's Redmill 100% Wholewheat Stoneground flour * 40g old-fashioned oats * 30g (2 tbsp) Flax seed * 1.5 tsp baking soda * 2 tsp baking powder

Use the "cake" setting on your bread machine, with a dark crust.

The consistency of the dough will vary if you change the flour or buttermilk, so check after it has mixed for 5 minutes, to make sure that it's slightly elastic and spongy, but neither very dry, nor that there is excess moisture in the pan. At this time, it's also useful to check for, and scrape oof any flour off the sides or base of the pan. Once mixing is done, pat the bread flat in the pan if necessary

[tadhgs-stuff]

Instant Pot Vegetable Coconut Curry

This is mild enough for my kids to eat

Warm the pot and then saute for 5 minutes

* 4 medium chopped onions (about 300g) * 3 cloves minced garlic * 1 Tbsp chopped ginger * 1 tsp mustard seed * 1 Tbsp ground corriander * 1 tsp tumeric * 1 finely chopped chilli pepper, seeds removed

Sauté together on low for about 5-8 minutes.

Then add * 2-3 large carrots (about 300g) * 250g green beans * 2 bell peppers

and sauté for another 5 minutes or so, until everything is well coated in spices

Now add

* 1 can coconut milk * 300ml-600ml of water, as necessary, until the vegetables are almost covered

Cook on high pressure (medium, about 9psi) for 10 minutes, and then quick release. Saute on low for about 5 minutes to thicken, and serve.

[tadhgs-stuff]

Apple Crisp

A deep, sweet but not too sweet, apple crisp

Fills a 9 x 13 baking dish  - about 8 - 12 servings

Ingredients

For the base

- ~1.2 kg medium apples, (I used 0 Spencer apples here).

- 120 ml boiling water

- 3 tbsp Maple Syrup

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp allspice

For the crisp

- 230g (1 cup / 2 sticks) butter

- 180g (2 cups) rolled oats

- 140g (1 cup) white flour

- 150g (3/4 cup) brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350F

Peel the apples, chop into at least 8 pieces each, and distribute evenly in the baking dish. 

Mix the maple syrup in the water and pour onto the apples. Sprinkle the cinnamon and all spice on top

Melt the butter gently in a 3L (or larger) pot. Mix in the oats, flour and sugar so that  everything has a nice, sticky coat of butter. Cover the apples with the crisp

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 40 minutes, until slightly browned on top.

[tadhgs-stuff]

Making Apple Sauce is NOT worth the effort

Here's why making apple sauce is not worth it:

* Cost: A peck of apples from a local orchard, even at a good price, will cost $8, and make 2 quarts of apple sauce - so $4/quart. A 24 oz jar of a good apple sauce (like Vermont Village) costs $5/quart at my local supermarket. Unless you live in an orchard, there's no way you're saving money here

* Effort: Making apple sauce involves - Peeling all the apples - Chopping all the apples - Slow cooking, or a whole lot of stirring - Sterilizing jars and lids - Canning the resulting apple sauce - Cleaning everything. Don't forget to clean all the apple sauce you got on the stove.

* Taste: Even if you do it well, it still probably won't taste much better than apple sauce from the store. Any flavors you want can be just added to apple sauce from the store, and left to infuse for a day, with way less work on your part.

So, two things I did learn from making my own apple sauce

1. the traditional way results in a much thicker sauce. I guess the commercial stuff either adds water or retains more of the original juice from the apples.

2. Making apple sauce is way more effort than it's worth!

[tadhgs-stuff]

Peach and Ginger Jam

Ingredients

* 1kg peeled and pitted peaches * 450g cane sugar * 20g finely chopped fresh ginger * 1/2 lemon * 1/2 box suregel pectin

Yields about 1.2 liters of jam

Note: make a multiple of this, because it's a lot of work. Typically I make a batch using 4kg of peaches

To peel the peaches:

1. Try using a side-arm potato peeler to gently peel the skin off. This is the quickest and easiest way, and works great unless the fruit is very ripe 2. Make an X shape though the skin of the bottom of the peach. Take a pot of boiling water, dunk some peaches for 1 minutes, then dunk in ice cold water for 1 minute. Then take them out of the water, dry with a tea towel or kitchen roll, and attempt to peel, starting at the X. This tends to work only if the peach is very ripe, so I usually do it for ones that can't be peeled with the peeler

To make the jam: - Chop the peaches to that they are no larger than 1cm in any direction. Then mix in the sugar, and leave for for 1 hour (if you like) for a deeper flavor. - Puree at least half of the mix, otherwise you're going to end up with chutney instead of jam. I use an immersion blender for this. - Mix in the lemon and ginger, bring slowly to a boil, and cook until it's set.

Cooking notes - Peaches spit like hell. Wear long sleeve clothing, use an oven glove and a long handle spoon when stirring. Use the deepest pot with the thickest bottom you have to minimize kitchen cleaning afterwards - Do not heat at more than half heat, ever. They will scorch, and the flavor is delicate, so you will notice. - Stir at least every 2 minutes, more often if necessary. If you notice anything sticking to the bottom, make sure to get it off, and cook on a lower heat. If you can't get it off, change the pot - This jam comes to a set quite quickly. You probably only need to boil for 20 minutes

[tadhgs-stuff]

Jess's Millionaire Shortbread

Based on Jess McGovern's recipe: https://gustotv.com/shows/flour-power/ but with a little thicker shortbread base.

Total cook time is about 2 hours, for which you have to be working about 30 minutes

Ingredients required

485g good quality salted butter (I use Amish Butter Roll)

110g white sugar

340g white flour

1 can dulce de leche

40g brown sugar

175g good quality chocolate chips (I use Callebaut 810)

3 oz heavy cream or a little extra butter and some milk

1. Shortbread

Cream 400g butter and 110g white sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy, or give 3 minutes in the bread machine, scrape down the sides with a spatula and then another 3 minutes.

Add 340g flour and 2oz of whole milk or heavy cream and form a dough

Cook in a parchment paper lined 13x9 tray at 350F for 20 minutes, and leave to cool

2. Caramel

Put 1 can (14oz) Dulce de Leche, 40g brown sugar and 85g butter in a thick bottomed pot, and heat on lowest heat until it starts to caramelized about 20 minutes, stirring every 2/3 minutes, and more often at the end. 

Pour onto the cooled shortbread, and put in the fridge

3. Chocolate

Put 175g / 1 cup of chocolate chips in the thick bottomed pot with 3 tbsp heavy cream (or 1 tbsp melted butter + 3 tbsp milk) and heat on lowest heat until the chocolate melts. Pour onto cooled caramel and leave in fridge overnight to set.

[tadhgs-stuff]

Creamed rice

* 2.5 pints (1.2L) whole milk * 200g (1.5 cups) risotto rice * 100g brown sugar * 1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the milk in a large, thick bottomed saucepan on medium-high for about 6 minutes until close to boiling. Add the other ingredients and simmer, stirring every 3 minutes, until it becomes a thick pudding. (This takes about 40 minutes)

Serve with caramel, jam or fruit

Inspired by https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/a-simple-classic-that-this-michelin-starred-chef-says-is-a-guaranteed-crowd-pleaser-1.4228729

[tadhgs-stuff]

Ginger Banana Bread

For 2lb bread machine Mix or blend * 1 stick butter (110g), melted * 2/3 cup (140g) brown sugar * 1 egg * 2 large cups (about 300g) mashed bananas - about 5 bananas * 3/4 cup (200ml) molasses Put the mixture in the bottom of the bread machine and then add * 2 large cups (280g) flour * 1 tsp baking powder * 1 tsp baking soda * 1.5 tsp ground ginger * 1 tsp cinnamon * 1/2 tsp allspice * 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Set on the cake setting, medium crust, and at beep add

* 2 tbsp (40g) finely chopped fresh ginger Alternatively, hand mix and back at 325F for 1 hour

Inspired by https://www.thekitchenmagpie.com/banana-gingerbread/

[tadhgs-stuff]

Roasted Cauliflower

Preheat oven to 430F (for al dente) or 400F (for a more thorough roast)

Remove the cauliflower leaves and as much as the stem as you can. Then rinse it.

Mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp of kosher salt and 1/2 tsp of black power. Optionally add a pinch of garlic powder, onion power or red pepper flakes

Pour the mix onto a plate and rub the cauliflower head all around in it. Then put the cauliflower in a pie dish, and pour the remaining oll and herb mix on the top. A spatula can be helpful to get all the oil off the plate.

Bake for 40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned, then serve with Hummus or Tahini

[tadhgs-stuff]

Neighborhood Cream of Wheat

Cream of Wheat just like Somerville's Neighborhood breakfast

I used to have a super-complicated version of this (below) but I found a simple cheat that actually tastes even better and is probably closer to the original!

1. Get cream of wheat (red box), and follow the instructions of the side of the box, including the recommended amount of salt. 2. When adding the cream of wheat to the water, also add 1oz of sweetened condensed milk, 1/8 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp of butter per person 3. In the bowl before serving, stir in 2oz fresh whole milk and add a dash of cinnamon

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Way easier than this version below, which I had originally derived from https://www.chowhound.com/post/cream-wheat-recipe-296154

* 2 oz butter * 3/4 cup Cream of Wheat (red box) * 2 tbsp brown sugar * 1/4 tsp salt * 1/4 tsp vanilla * 1 pt milk * 2 pt boiling water * Dash of cinnamon

Heat the butter in a thick bottomed pan until sizzling. Fry the Cream of Wheat, sugar and salt together for 2 - 3 minutes, until it's back to sizzling again.

Now add the vanilla and milk little by little. Stop adding if it comes off the boil, and mix everything together into a spongy mess. Start adding again if it starts to stick.

Once all the milk is in and it's starting to stick again, add the boiling water and whisk it thoroughly to mix in the cream of wheat without forming lumps.

Reduce until it's the right consistency - thicker than a soup, but thinner than regular cream of wheat or molasses.

Serve with a dash of cinnamon, and optionally some extra sugar

[tadhgs-stuff]

Pressure Cooker Green Lentil Dal

Feeds 8

Ingredients:

- 1 large red onion - 50g / 1/2 stick of butter - 1 tsp cumin - 2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning (or 1 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp oregano) - 1 tsp ginger - 1 tsp Garam Masala - 1 tsp red pepper flakes - 1/4 tsp hot cayenne pepper - 1/2 tsp tumeric - 4 cloves garlic

- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger - 400g / 14oz tinned tomatoes

- 450g / 1lb dried green lentils - 1.4l / 6 cups boiling water

Method

Melt the butter, and fry the onions and spices in it until the onions are golden brown. Add the ginger and tomatoes and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Put the contents on the frying pan in the pressure cooker with the lentils and water. (If you're using a frying pan, use the boiling water to get everything out of the pan.) Cook at 12 psi for 20 minutes. Skim off foam, reduce on a medium heat until you get your desired soupiness, and serve on rice with fresh cilantro

[tadhgs-stuff]

Molasses Cookies

Ingredients

* 1 stick butter * 50g / 1/4 cup coconut oil * 75g / 1/4 cup molasses * 1 large egg

* 250g / 2 cups flour * 2 tsp baking soda * 1 tsp cinnamon * 1/2 tsp cloves * 1/2 tsp ground ginger * 1/2 tsp

Preheat oven to 375F

Melt butter and blend with molasses sugar and egg.

Mix the remaining dry ingredients in a bowl and then blend together. Roll into 1 inch balls and bake, 2 inches apart, for 8-10 minutes

[tadhgs-stuff]

Huge Hummus

A nice zesty hummus in a big quantity

* 16oz dried chickpeas - pressure cooked / soaked overnight and drained * 1 tablespoon salt * 1/2 cup tahini * 1/2 cup olive oil * 2 squeezed lemons * 4 cloves of garlic * 2 tablespoons water * cumin and paprika to taste

Blend together in a food processer

[tadhgs-stuff]

Simple Butternut Squash Soup

Here's an easy to make Butternut Squash soup

* 1 butternut squash * 2 peppers * 4 cloves garlic * 1 tablespoon brown sugar * 1 tablespoon montreal steak seasoning * 7 cups / 1.7 litres boiling water * 100ml / 1/2 cup heavy cream

Fry the butternut squash, peppers, garlic sugar and seasoning in butter for 10 minutes

Add the boiling water and cook on the soup setting of the pressure cooker (15 mins)

When you're done, mix in the heavy cream

[tadhgs-stuff]

Banana Bread

Wet Ingredients

100 ml whole milk 115g (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 400g (2 large) bananas 130g (2 large) eggs 100g white sugar

Dry Ingredients

380g white unbleached sifted flour 1 tsp ground nutmeg 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp active dry yeast 140g semi-sweet chocolate morsels 80g chopped walnuts

Method

Blend the wet ingredients together.

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl, and then mix in the wet ingredients.

Place in the bread machine bowl, and let rise for 1-2 hours. Then bake for 1 hour.