Sweet Irish Soda Bread With Caraway Seeds & Raisins (a.k.a. Spotted Dog)

Saturday, March 26, 2011


I might once have described my memory as "an iron-clad lockbox" but taking care of a toddler has turned my brain into a swamp. So it was hardly surprising that I was out and about for several hours last Thursday before it dawned on me that it was St. Patrick's Day. I had vaguely registered that a lot of people seemed to be wearing green but I didn't think much of it. It was only after I noticed that grinning leprechauns were leering at me from behind random corners that I finally put it together that it must be St. Patrick's Day.

It was shortly after this "aha moment" that I spotted these big, gorgeous hunks of Irish soda bread lying around, flaunting their good looks in a local bakery. As I was drooling over them, I realized that I actually had no idea what Irish soda bread was... I decided to look it up when I got home and (minor miracle!) also managed to remember to do it the next time I was in front of a computer.

Turns out that it's called soda bread for, you guessed it, bicarbonate of soda, which is used to leaven the bread. My search turned up lots of variations on traditional Irish soda bread which is made with flour, baking soda, buttermilk and salt -- nothing more nor less.

Ingredients For Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I was particularly drawn to the recipes for sweet Irish soda bread with raisins since "ray-ray" constitute one of my son, Will's main food groups these days. He seems to have a hollow leg when it comes to "nature's candy." And since that carton of organic buttermilk sitting in the fridge was not getting any younger, I figured, why not give it a shot?

It did not take long to mix up a batch of dough and get it ready to bake. The caraway seeds gave me pause for a moment but then I tossed them in and I am so glad I did. The combination of their uniquely tangy, almost floral flavor and the straightforward fruity sweetness of the raisins is not to be missed.

Buttermilk and Egg Mixture for the Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Soda bread is traditionally baked with a cross cut on top. My new blogger friend, Shannon Marie at Forks, Knives & Spades, offers up three possible explanations for the cross:
  1. To help it cook more uniformly,
  2. To let the faeries out prior to baking, or
  3. To remind good Irish Catholics where their loyalties lie...
Whatever the reason(s), I think it makes the baked loaf look even prettier.


Cutting The Cross into Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I busted out the bread while it was still warm and served chunks to our maple syrup-making guests, Daniel and Rio, and to Rahm and Will. It went over quite well.

As predicted, Will mostly picked the raisins out of his piece and ate them but I think I saw him take a few bites of actual bread, too.

Will picking the ray-ray (raisins) out of his piece of sweet Irish soda bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Next year, I hope to remember to make this bread BEFORE St. Patrick's Day but it's good any time of year.

Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

-- print recipe --
Sweet Irish Soda Bread (a.k.a. Spotted Dog*)
Makes one large loaf

Ingredients

* 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
* 3 Tbsps sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into pieces
* 1/2 cup raisins or currants (you can use more if you're into raisins)
* 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
* 1 large organic egg
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
* 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. With the oven rack in the center, preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal. Once at this point, use your hands to pinch and fluff the mixture. Add the raisins and caraway seeds and mix in with your hands to distribute.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then stir in the buttermilk and baking soda. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir with the fork until the mixture forms a damp dough.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and coat the dough with flour on all sides. Knead with you hands a few times, then flatten into a disk about 8" across. Place in the center of the prepared baking sheet and, with a floured sharp knife, cut a 1/2"-deep cross on top.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes. The loaf should be a deep golden brown and sound hollow when rapped with knuckles. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

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* A note for all you sticklers and purists out there: technically, sweet soda bread is not actually considered Irish soda bread at all-- it's considered an "impostor" that is also referred to as the infamous sounding "Spotted Dick", "Spotted Dog" or "Railway Cake."  For more on this heated controversy, visit The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread (no joke!) I thought about titling this post "Spotted Dog" but in the end, decided that Sweet Irish Soda Bread sounded more appetizing.

From Sap To Syrup

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I'm happy to report that our little experiment in backyard alchemy was a success! After many hours of boiling down sap over an open fire, we are now the proud owners of a little less than a quart of beautiful, amber maple syrup.

Liquid amber - a quart jar of homemade maple syrup by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I'm probably biased by all the hours we put into it, but I could swear the flavor is superior to other maple syrups I've had -- I taste both butter and vanilla amidst the sweetness and the maple.

Below is a recap of our process in pictures (seeing as they're worth a thousand words and all.) And here's a link to an easy-to-follow how-to that walks you through the process and a very detailed FAQ from Cornell in case you'd like to try maple sugaring on your own next year. 

Turning Sap Into Syrup

We began by tapping eight sugar maples at my in-laws' house.
Maples tapped by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Using an 1/2" bit, Rahm drilled a small hole about 4 inches deep into the trunk of each tree roughly 4 1/2 feet above the ground, then pushed the metal stiles in with a few gentle blows of a hammer. The sap began to flow right away.
Maple sap dripping out of the stile by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We used a mix of yogurt containers and milk jugs to catch the sap.
Yogurt container to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Milk jugs are definitely a better choice than yogurt containers since they hold a lot more sap and are also easier to hang and empty.
Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We discovered that the sap, itself, is absolutely delicious - cold and sweet with a mild maple flavor. We ended up drinking it straight out of the tree.
Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Our first attempt at making syrup was conducted indoors which is not recommended, particularly if you have wallpaper in your house, as the steam will peel it right off the walls! Due to our inexperience and lack of candy thermometer, we ended up boiling our five gallons of  sap just a tad too long and it solidified in the jar as it cooled.
Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011
Luckily for us, this maple sugar is an incredible treat. We've been using to sweeten our tea and coffee (not surprisingly, it imparts a lovely maple flavor) and as a topping on vanilla and chocolate ice cream -- soooooo good!
Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011
But Rahm really wanted to make SYRUP so we embarked on a second attempt using an open fire and with a lot more sap on hand to play around with.
Boiling down the sap over an outdoor fire by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We boiled the sap down in our big enameled canning pot and a couple of much smaller camping pots.
Boiling down the sap over an outdoor fire by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We invited some friends over to keep us company. Will and his friend, Rio, ate Irish soda bread, played with  racecars and stomped around in the little stream that runs next to our house. Unfortunately, they moved too quickly for me to get a good photo of them together so this one is just little Will picking the raisins out of his bread.
Will picking the ray-ray (raisins) out of his piece of sweet Irish soda bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Throughout the day, Rahm added more sap to the pot to replace the liquid as it boiled off.
Rahm adds more sap to the pot by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
After night fell, we brought the greatly reduced sap inside to finish it off on the stove top. I put my new candy thermometer to use to ensure that we did not boil too long this time around. When you make syrup, you shoot to catch it at the point when it boils at 7 degrees above the temperature at which water boils (which is somewhere between 200 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the altitude.)
Finishing the syrup on the stove top by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
The final step was to strain the syrup through cloth (flannel is recommended if you have it) to remove any wood particles, bark, dirt, fiber, etc.
Straining the hot syrup through cloth by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
The fruits of our labor -- slightly less than a quart of delicious, homemade maple syrup! Beautiful, no?
Liquid amber - a quart jar of homemade maple syrup by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

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Maple Pecan Scones

Friday, March 18, 2011

I've got maple syrup on the brain these days and could not stop thinking about maple scones last week...

Maple scone, cappucino and The New Yorker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Luckily, food blog search, one of my favorite online sources for recipes, turned up just the kind of recipe I'd been hoping for. Better yet, it comes from one of my favorite new blogs, The Wednesday Chef, written by Luisa Weiss, a half America-half Italian girl who was raised in Germany but lived in NYC until she moved back to Berlin a couple of years ago. Her complicated cultural heritage appears to have given her a deep appreciation for food - both her recipes and photos are to die for.

Maple pecan scones fresh out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Luisa attributes this scone recipe to the Samuel Sewall Inn in MA (via a NYTimes article a number of years back.) The only change I made to this recipe was the addition of a maple glaze. And, if I do say so, myself, it is an excellent addition - it really kinda makes the scones.

Maple scones doused with glaze by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

The combination of maple and pecan is pretty incredible - sweet, nutty, slightly smokey. They're also quick and easy to make - one of my requirements for anything I bake these days. 

Maple pecan scone with maple glaze by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I think you'll like these. Give 'em a try.

-- print recipe --
Maple Pecan Scones
Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

For the scones:
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 cup white flour
* 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
* 2 tsps baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 stick of butter
* 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
* 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
* 1 large egg
* 2 Tbsps milk or as needed

For the glaze:
* 1 Tbsp unsalted organic butter
* 1/8 cup maple syrup
* 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both flours, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, or two knives scissor-fashion, cut the butter into flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs or coarse meal.

2. Add the nuts. Stir in the maple syrup and egg and just enough milk so that the dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball. Turn the dough onto a Silpat or parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and pat (with floured hands) into an 8-inch disk; cut into wedges, but do not separate.

3. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet and carefully separate. Let cool. While the scones are cooling, make the glaze.

4. Heat the butter and syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk the confectioners sugar into the warm mixture. Continue to stir until smooth (there should be no lumps of sugar left) then drizzle over the scones.

These scones taste great on their own and even better toasted with a little butter.

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Sap Is Rising... Adventures in Maple Sugaring

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Lately, we've been having cold (below freezing) nights and warm (above freezing) days -- the exact conditions needed for maple sugaring. The change in temperature is what makes the sap rise and spill out of taps into waiting buckets.

I've wanted to try maple sugaring ever since I was a little girl marveling at the metal spiles and buckets that decorated the huge maples along our road in upstate New York in early spring. Everything about the process whispered "magic" to me. The small metal taps, the grand old trees, the buckets that appeared mysteriously over night, and most of all, the special "water" that dripped from the stiles and plink, plink, plink-ed into the buckets. This is the stuff Tuck Everlasting is made of...

Maple sap dripping out of the stile by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Now that we're back on the east coast, it's finally time come to make this dream come true. I'm happy to report that, unlike so many childhood wonders, the magic of this one has not dimmed with time. If anything, the whole thing seems even MORE magical now that I've finally experienced it first-hand.

Two weeks ago, using a drill and a handful of metal stiles from the Accord hardware store, my husband tapped eight maple trees at my in-laws' house. The sap has been gushing forth ever since. In fact, it came out a LOT faster than we'd expected, leaving us scrambling for bigger containers and rushing to boil down our first batch of maple syrup.

Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

It turns out that sap has a rather short shelf-life, which surprised me. So it's important to gather it often and not leave it sitting around for more than a couple of days, particularly if the temperature is above freezing -- or it will spoil.

Within a day and a half, we had five gallons of maple sap on our hands. By the way, maple sap is absolutely delicious as is! You can drink it straight out of the tree and it is cold and refreshing with a slight maple flavor and a mild sweetness. Move over nectar, maple sap is the new drink of the gods. Why some new age entrepreneur has not yet cashed in on this new superfood health drink is beyond me...

Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Due to the 40 to 1 ratio that dictates turning maple sap into syrup (that's right, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup - no wonder the stuff is expensive!), we knew that five gallons would not yield much syrup but we decided to give it a go anyway. Woefully unprepared, we ended up boiling the sap down over a number of hours, indoors (which is really not recommended, especially if you have wallpaper anywhere in your house!), in four separate pots. When we were done, the house had been thoroughly humidified and smelled very mapley, indeed.

Boiling down the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Something went slightly amiss (there's no candy thermometer at our house and we appear to have misinterpreted what "sheeting" looks like) and we ended up making maple sugar instead of maple syrup. 

Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

I really can't complain about this mistake -- the sugar is rich and startling sweet with a lovely mellow maple flavor and surprising hints of vanilla. I've been putting a couple lumps in my coffee in the morning and sneaking little spoonfuls here and there when I can no longer resist the urge.

Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

My husband wants to try doing another boil (outside, this time) to see if we can get the timing right to make syrup instead of sugar. I bought a candy thermometer at Woodstock Hardware in preparation and we're gathering firewood and setting up a firepit. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous. Wish us luck!

Spoonful of Maple Sugar Licked Clean by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

Thanks again to our noble, majestic friends, the maples. Oh, and keep an eye out - a very nice, simple maple pecan scone recipe is coming soon.

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Rye & Cornmeal Muffins With Caraway Seed

Friday, March 11, 2011

I get a lot of my favorite recipes from Martha Rose Shulman's Recipes for Health series on the NYTimes.com site. In addition to being healthful (which is always nice, even though it's not usually my primary concern), her recipes are interesting, fresh, and always yield something delicious and homey.

Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

These muffins make a nice accompaniment to a hearty soup (think potato-leek or the like) and are also good toasted with butter or cheddar cheese or spread with something decadent like spinach dip or herbed goat cheese.
Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Between the rye, caraway, and cornmeal, they offer a nice mix of flavors and textures. The blackstrap molasses lends a welcome touch of rich sweetness, too.

Baking a batch was quick and easy. Since they freeze well, I put a couple in the freezer to eat next time I make a big pot of soup.
Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Rye & Cornmeal Muffins With Caraway
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

* 1 cup rye flour
* 1 cup whole-wheat flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup cornmeal
* 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack positioned in the upper third. Oil or butter muffin tins.

2. Sift together the rye and whole-wheat pastry flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the cornmeal and the caraway seeds.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, blackstrap molasses and buttermilk. Using a whisk or a spatula, stir in the dry ingredients, and mix until well combined. Do not beat; a few lumps are fine, but make sure there is no flour at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Spoon into muffin cups, filling them to just below the top (about 4/5 full). Place in the oven, and bake 25 minutes until lightly browned and well risen.

These keep for a couple of days out of the refrigerator, for a few more days in the refrigerator, and for a few months in the freezer.

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Winter Veggie Pie With Cabbage, Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese & Dill

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Cabbage, beet and goat cheese pie by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

In my continuing obsession with Recipes From The Root Cellar, I recently discovered this delightful, savory pie. It's exactly the sort of simple, hearty food that I imagine my ancestors in Kiev must have eaten hundreds of years ago. If so, they were very lucky people.

The pie is so good that, in spite of my resistance to recipes that require numerous steps or a lot of prep time (which generally rules out anything that involves pie crust), I have made it TWICE in the past month.

Pie dough resting in the fridge by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

The combination of the buttery pâte brisée crust, the concentrated sweetness of the roasted beets, the light, flavorful dill, the mellowly sweet sauteed cabbage, onion, and carrot, and the melty, creamy goat cheese leads to a rare kind of gustatory bliss. The kind that makes you close your eyes for a moment while you chew.

Cooking the pie filling - carrots and cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

You're probably drooling by now (if not, you should be) so I'll cut to the chase and give you the recipe. I've taken the liberty of augmenting a few things to make the pie a bit bigger than Andrea Chesman's original recipe -- trust me, you're going to want to eat a lot of this...

Cabbage, beet and goat cheese pie - ready for the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

-- print recipe --Winter Vegetable Pie
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

* 3 Tbsps olive oil
* 3-4 cups thinly sliced cabbage (preferably green or savoy, though I used red and it was really tasty - the pie just ended up looking a bit bloody between the red cabbage and the beets)
* 1 large onion, thinly sliced
* 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
* 1/2 cup fresh dill, washed, removed from stems, and chopped
* 2 roasted beets, thinly sliced (I recommend roasting them as that concentrates their flavors deliciously, though you could also boil or steam)
* 8 oz fresh soft goat cheese
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Make the pie crust dough (see below for recipe) a day in advance or earlier in the day so that all you'll need to do is roll it out when it's time to put the pie together. Roast the beets, slip the skins off and slice them in advance, too.

2. Once you've got the beets and pie crust ready, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cabbage and onion and cook until the onion is golden and the cabbage is completely wilted, about 25 minutes. Stir in the shredded carrot and the dill and stir to combine. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll out the bottom pie crust and place it in a 10-inch pie pan. Then roll out the top crust so that you'll have it handy when you're ready, but leave it to the side (you can put it on a sheet of waxed paper to prevent it from sticking to the counter - that will also make it easy to flip it on top of the pie when the time comes) while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

4. Arrange the beet slices in concentric circles over the crust in the bottom of the pie dish. Crumble half of the goat cheese over the beets. Spoon in the cabbage/onion/carrot mixture and top it with the remaining goat cheese.

5. Fit the top crust over the pie and fold together the overhanging dough. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal and prick several holes in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape during baking. (You can save any extra dough you end up with after trimming and roll it out to make a little free-form apple tart for dessert. Just slice the fruit and mix with some lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon, then mound it in the center of the dough, fold it over the fruit and toss it into the oven to bake for 25-20 minutes alongside the veggie pie.)

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 30-35 more minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Let stand for at least 10 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature with a fresh green salad.

And now for the pie crust recipe...

-- print recipe --Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)
Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
* 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month. But remember to remove the dough 30-45 minutes before you'll need to roll it out or you may find it too stiff to work with.

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Cooking Co-ops, an idea worth sharing!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I would have posted about this brilliant idea many months ago but the NY Times happened to publish their article about it the week before we moved from California to New York. Needless to say, I was a tad busy that week...

But better late than never. Here's the basic gist -- a cooking or dinner co-op is a great way to ensure a varied diet of yummy, home-cooked meals WITHOUT having to cook more than once or twice a week.

Especially for those of us with little kids, this seems like an absolute win-win.

The main steps are:
  1. Find a group of people who are interested in the idea and whose cooking you like (this is really important!);
  2. Discuss and come to an agreement on things like ingredients (meat or no meat, fish or no fish, grass-fed, organic or conventional, etc.) and frequency of meals to swap (3,4,5,6 meals a week); and
  3. Set up a drop-off/exchange location and time.
Then you can start enjoying a whole bunch of home-cooked meals that YOU DID NOT HAVE TO COOK! And you can really put some time and energy into the one or two meals that you do prepare each week, too. I think it sounds fun!

Here are the relevant links from the New York Times for more detail:
Anyone who is located in the Hudson Valley and interested in participating, please let me know!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Sweet Irish Soda Bread With Caraway Seeds & Raisins (a.k.a. Spotted Dog)


I might once have described my memory as "an iron-clad lockbox" but taking care of a toddler has turned my brain into a swamp. So it was hardly surprising that I was out and about for several hours last Thursday before it dawned on me that it was St. Patrick's Day. I had vaguely registered that a lot of people seemed to be wearing green but I didn't think much of it. It was only after I noticed that grinning leprechauns were leering at me from behind random corners that I finally put it together that it must be St. Patrick's Day.

It was shortly after this "aha moment" that I spotted these big, gorgeous hunks of Irish soda bread lying around, flaunting their good looks in a local bakery. As I was drooling over them, I realized that I actually had no idea what Irish soda bread was... I decided to look it up when I got home and (minor miracle!) also managed to remember to do it the next time I was in front of a computer.

Turns out that it's called soda bread for, you guessed it, bicarbonate of soda, which is used to leaven the bread. My search turned up lots of variations on traditional Irish soda bread which is made with flour, baking soda, buttermilk and salt -- nothing more nor less.

Ingredients For Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I was particularly drawn to the recipes for sweet Irish soda bread with raisins since "ray-ray" constitute one of my son, Will's main food groups these days. He seems to have a hollow leg when it comes to "nature's candy." And since that carton of organic buttermilk sitting in the fridge was not getting any younger, I figured, why not give it a shot?

It did not take long to mix up a batch of dough and get it ready to bake. The caraway seeds gave me pause for a moment but then I tossed them in and I am so glad I did. The combination of their uniquely tangy, almost floral flavor and the straightforward fruity sweetness of the raisins is not to be missed.

Buttermilk and Egg Mixture for the Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Soda bread is traditionally baked with a cross cut on top. My new blogger friend, Shannon Marie at Forks, Knives & Spades, offers up three possible explanations for the cross:
  1. To help it cook more uniformly,
  2. To let the faeries out prior to baking, or
  3. To remind good Irish Catholics where their loyalties lie...
Whatever the reason(s), I think it makes the baked loaf look even prettier.


Cutting The Cross into Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I busted out the bread while it was still warm and served chunks to our maple syrup-making guests, Daniel and Rio, and to Rahm and Will. It went over quite well.

As predicted, Will mostly picked the raisins out of his piece and ate them but I think I saw him take a few bites of actual bread, too.

Will picking the ray-ray (raisins) out of his piece of sweet Irish soda bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Next year, I hope to remember to make this bread BEFORE St. Patrick's Day but it's good any time of year.

Sweet Irish Soda Bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

-- print recipe --
Sweet Irish Soda Bread (a.k.a. Spotted Dog*)
Makes one large loaf

Ingredients

* 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for shaping
* 3 Tbsps sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into pieces
* 1/2 cup raisins or currants (you can use more if you're into raisins)
* 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
* 1 large organic egg
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
* 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

1. With the oven rack in the center, preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal. Once at this point, use your hands to pinch and fluff the mixture. Add the raisins and caraway seeds and mix in with your hands to distribute.

3. In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork, then stir in the buttermilk and baking soda. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir with the fork until the mixture forms a damp dough.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and coat the dough with flour on all sides. Knead with you hands a few times, then flatten into a disk about 8" across. Place in the center of the prepared baking sheet and, with a floured sharp knife, cut a 1/2"-deep cross on top.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes. The loaf should be a deep golden brown and sound hollow when rapped with knuckles. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

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* A note for all you sticklers and purists out there: technically, sweet soda bread is not actually considered Irish soda bread at all-- it's considered an "impostor" that is also referred to as the infamous sounding "Spotted Dick", "Spotted Dog" or "Railway Cake."  For more on this heated controversy, visit The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread (no joke!) I thought about titling this post "Spotted Dog" but in the end, decided that Sweet Irish Soda Bread sounded more appetizing.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

From Sap To Syrup

I'm happy to report that our little experiment in backyard alchemy was a success! After many hours of boiling down sap over an open fire, we are now the proud owners of a little less than a quart of beautiful, amber maple syrup.

Liquid amber - a quart jar of homemade maple syrup by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I'm probably biased by all the hours we put into it, but I could swear the flavor is superior to other maple syrups I've had -- I taste both butter and vanilla amidst the sweetness and the maple.

Below is a recap of our process in pictures (seeing as they're worth a thousand words and all.) And here's a link to an easy-to-follow how-to that walks you through the process and a very detailed FAQ from Cornell in case you'd like to try maple sugaring on your own next year. 

Turning Sap Into Syrup

We began by tapping eight sugar maples at my in-laws' house.
Maples tapped by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Using an 1/2" bit, Rahm drilled a small hole about 4 inches deep into the trunk of each tree roughly 4 1/2 feet above the ground, then pushed the metal stiles in with a few gentle blows of a hammer. The sap began to flow right away.
Maple sap dripping out of the stile by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We used a mix of yogurt containers and milk jugs to catch the sap.
Yogurt container to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Milk jugs are definitely a better choice than yogurt containers since they hold a lot more sap and are also easier to hang and empty.
Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We discovered that the sap, itself, is absolutely delicious - cold and sweet with a mild maple flavor. We ended up drinking it straight out of the tree.
Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Our first attempt at making syrup was conducted indoors which is not recommended, particularly if you have wallpaper in your house, as the steam will peel it right off the walls! Due to our inexperience and lack of candy thermometer, we ended up boiling our five gallons of  sap just a tad too long and it solidified in the jar as it cooled.
Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011
Luckily for us, this maple sugar is an incredible treat. We've been using to sweeten our tea and coffee (not surprisingly, it imparts a lovely maple flavor) and as a topping on vanilla and chocolate ice cream -- soooooo good!
Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011
But Rahm really wanted to make SYRUP so we embarked on a second attempt using an open fire and with a lot more sap on hand to play around with.
Boiling down the sap over an outdoor fire by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We boiled the sap down in our big enameled canning pot and a couple of much smaller camping pots.
Boiling down the sap over an outdoor fire by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
We invited some friends over to keep us company. Will and his friend, Rio, ate Irish soda bread, played with  racecars and stomped around in the little stream that runs next to our house. Unfortunately, they moved too quickly for me to get a good photo of them together so this one is just little Will picking the raisins out of his bread.
Will picking the ray-ray (raisins) out of his piece of sweet Irish soda bread by Eve Fox, The Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Throughout the day, Rahm added more sap to the pot to replace the liquid as it boiled off.
Rahm adds more sap to the pot by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
After night fell, we brought the greatly reduced sap inside to finish it off on the stove top. I put my new candy thermometer to use to ensure that we did not boil too long this time around. When you make syrup, you shoot to catch it at the point when it boils at 7 degrees above the temperature at which water boils (which is somewhere between 200 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the altitude.)
Finishing the syrup on the stove top by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
The final step was to strain the syrup through cloth (flannel is recommended if you have it) to remove any wood particles, bark, dirt, fiber, etc.
Straining the hot syrup through cloth by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
The fruits of our labor -- slightly less than a quart of delicious, homemade maple syrup! Beautiful, no?
Liquid amber - a quart jar of homemade maple syrup by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

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Friday, March 18, 2011

Maple Pecan Scones

I've got maple syrup on the brain these days and could not stop thinking about maple scones last week...

Maple scone, cappucino and The New Yorker by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Luckily, food blog search, one of my favorite online sources for recipes, turned up just the kind of recipe I'd been hoping for. Better yet, it comes from one of my favorite new blogs, The Wednesday Chef, written by Luisa Weiss, a half America-half Italian girl who was raised in Germany but lived in NYC until she moved back to Berlin a couple of years ago. Her complicated cultural heritage appears to have given her a deep appreciation for food - both her recipes and photos are to die for.

Maple pecan scones fresh out of the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Luisa attributes this scone recipe to the Samuel Sewall Inn in MA (via a NYTimes article a number of years back.) The only change I made to this recipe was the addition of a maple glaze. And, if I do say so, myself, it is an excellent addition - it really kinda makes the scones.

Maple scones doused with glaze by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

The combination of maple and pecan is pretty incredible - sweet, nutty, slightly smokey. They're also quick and easy to make - one of my requirements for anything I bake these days. 

Maple pecan scone with maple glaze by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

I think you'll like these. Give 'em a try.

-- print recipe --
Maple Pecan Scones
Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

For the scones:
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 cup white flour
* 2 Tbsps packed brown sugar
* 2 tsps baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 stick of butter
* 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
* 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
* 1 large egg
* 2 Tbsps milk or as needed

For the glaze:
* 1 Tbsp unsalted organic butter
* 1/8 cup maple syrup
* 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine both flours, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, or two knives scissor-fashion, cut the butter into flour mixture until it resembles fine crumbs or coarse meal.

2. Add the nuts. Stir in the maple syrup and egg and just enough milk so that the dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball. Turn the dough onto a Silpat or parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and pat (with floured hands) into an 8-inch disk; cut into wedges, but do not separate.

3. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Immediately remove from baking sheet and carefully separate. Let cool. While the scones are cooling, make the glaze.

4. Heat the butter and syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk the confectioners sugar into the warm mixture. Continue to stir until smooth (there should be no lumps of sugar left) then drizzle over the scones.

These scones taste great on their own and even better toasted with a little butter.

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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sap Is Rising... Adventures in Maple Sugaring

Lately, we've been having cold (below freezing) nights and warm (above freezing) days -- the exact conditions needed for maple sugaring. The change in temperature is what makes the sap rise and spill out of taps into waiting buckets.

I've wanted to try maple sugaring ever since I was a little girl marveling at the metal spiles and buckets that decorated the huge maples along our road in upstate New York in early spring. Everything about the process whispered "magic" to me. The small metal taps, the grand old trees, the buckets that appeared mysteriously over night, and most of all, the special "water" that dripped from the stiles and plink, plink, plink-ed into the buckets. This is the stuff Tuck Everlasting is made of...

Maple sap dripping out of the stile by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Now that we're back on the east coast, it's finally time come to make this dream come true. I'm happy to report that, unlike so many childhood wonders, the magic of this one has not dimmed with time. If anything, the whole thing seems even MORE magical now that I've finally experienced it first-hand.

Two weeks ago, using a drill and a handful of metal stiles from the Accord hardware store, my husband tapped eight maple trees at my in-laws' house. The sap has been gushing forth ever since. In fact, it came out a LOT faster than we'd expected, leaving us scrambling for bigger containers and rushing to boil down our first batch of maple syrup.

Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

It turns out that sap has a rather short shelf-life, which surprised me. So it's important to gather it often and not leave it sitting around for more than a couple of days, particularly if the temperature is above freezing -- or it will spoil.

Within a day and a half, we had five gallons of maple sap on our hands. By the way, maple sap is absolutely delicious as is! You can drink it straight out of the tree and it is cold and refreshing with a slight maple flavor and a mild sweetness. Move over nectar, maple sap is the new drink of the gods. Why some new age entrepreneur has not yet cashed in on this new superfood health drink is beyond me...

Attaching the milk jug to catch the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Due to the 40 to 1 ratio that dictates turning maple sap into syrup (that's right, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup - no wonder the stuff is expensive!), we knew that five gallons would not yield much syrup but we decided to give it a go anyway. Woefully unprepared, we ended up boiling the sap down over a number of hours, indoors (which is really not recommended, especially if you have wallpaper anywhere in your house!), in four separate pots. When we were done, the house had been thoroughly humidified and smelled very mapley, indeed.

Boiling down the sap by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Something went slightly amiss (there's no candy thermometer at our house and we appear to have misinterpreted what "sheeting" looks like) and we ended up making maple sugar instead of maple syrup. 

Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

I really can't complain about this mistake -- the sugar is rich and startling sweet with a lovely mellow maple flavor and surprising hints of vanilla. I've been putting a couple lumps in my coffee in the morning and sneaking little spoonfuls here and there when I can no longer resist the urge.

Maple Sugar by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

My husband wants to try doing another boil (outside, this time) to see if we can get the timing right to make syrup instead of sugar. I bought a candy thermometer at Woodstock Hardware in preparation and we're gathering firewood and setting up a firepit. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous. Wish us luck!

Spoonful of Maple Sugar Licked Clean by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating Blog, copyright 2011

Thanks again to our noble, majestic friends, the maples. Oh, and keep an eye out - a very nice, simple maple pecan scone recipe is coming soon.

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Friday, March 11, 2011

Rye & Cornmeal Muffins With Caraway Seed

I get a lot of my favorite recipes from Martha Rose Shulman's Recipes for Health series on the NYTimes.com site. In addition to being healthful (which is always nice, even though it's not usually my primary concern), her recipes are interesting, fresh, and always yield something delicious and homey.

Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

These muffins make a nice accompaniment to a hearty soup (think potato-leek or the like) and are also good toasted with butter or cheddar cheese or spread with something decadent like spinach dip or herbed goat cheese.
Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011
Between the rye, caraway, and cornmeal, they offer a nice mix of flavors and textures. The blackstrap molasses lends a welcome touch of rich sweetness, too.

Baking a batch was quick and easy. Since they freeze well, I put a couple in the freezer to eat next time I make a big pot of soup.
Cornmeal, rye, caraway, molasses muffin by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

Rye & Cornmeal Muffins With Caraway
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

* 1 cup rye flour
* 1 cup whole-wheat flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/3 cup cornmeal
* 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* 2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the rack positioned in the upper third. Oil or butter muffin tins.

2. Sift together the rye and whole-wheat pastry flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the cornmeal and the caraway seeds.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, blackstrap molasses and buttermilk. Using a whisk or a spatula, stir in the dry ingredients, and mix until well combined. Do not beat; a few lumps are fine, but make sure there is no flour at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Spoon into muffin cups, filling them to just below the top (about 4/5 full). Place in the oven, and bake 25 minutes until lightly browned and well risen.

These keep for a couple of days out of the refrigerator, for a few more days in the refrigerator, and for a few months in the freezer.

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Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Winter Veggie Pie With Cabbage, Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese & Dill

Cabbage, beet and goat cheese pie by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

In my continuing obsession with Recipes From The Root Cellar, I recently discovered this delightful, savory pie. It's exactly the sort of simple, hearty food that I imagine my ancestors in Kiev must have eaten hundreds of years ago. If so, they were very lucky people.

The pie is so good that, in spite of my resistance to recipes that require numerous steps or a lot of prep time (which generally rules out anything that involves pie crust), I have made it TWICE in the past month.

Pie dough resting in the fridge by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

The combination of the buttery pâte brisée crust, the concentrated sweetness of the roasted beets, the light, flavorful dill, the mellowly sweet sauteed cabbage, onion, and carrot, and the melty, creamy goat cheese leads to a rare kind of gustatory bliss. The kind that makes you close your eyes for a moment while you chew.

Cooking the pie filling - carrots and cabbage by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

You're probably drooling by now (if not, you should be) so I'll cut to the chase and give you the recipe. I've taken the liberty of augmenting a few things to make the pie a bit bigger than Andrea Chesman's original recipe -- trust me, you're going to want to eat a lot of this...

Cabbage, beet and goat cheese pie - ready for the oven by Eve Fox, Garden of Eating blog, copyright 2011

-- print recipe --Winter Vegetable Pie
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

* 3 Tbsps olive oil
* 3-4 cups thinly sliced cabbage (preferably green or savoy, though I used red and it was really tasty - the pie just ended up looking a bit bloody between the red cabbage and the beets)
* 1 large onion, thinly sliced
* 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
* 1/2 cup fresh dill, washed, removed from stems, and chopped
* 2 roasted beets, thinly sliced (I recommend roasting them as that concentrates their flavors deliciously, though you could also boil or steam)
* 8 oz fresh soft goat cheese
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Make the pie crust dough (see below for recipe) a day in advance or earlier in the day so that all you'll need to do is roll it out when it's time to put the pie together. Roast the beets, slip the skins off and slice them in advance, too.

2. Once you've got the beets and pie crust ready, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the cabbage and onion and cook until the onion is golden and the cabbage is completely wilted, about 25 minutes. Stir in the shredded carrot and the dill and stir to combine. Season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll out the bottom pie crust and place it in a 10-inch pie pan. Then roll out the top crust so that you'll have it handy when you're ready, but leave it to the side (you can put it on a sheet of waxed paper to prevent it from sticking to the counter - that will also make it easy to flip it on top of the pie when the time comes) while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

4. Arrange the beet slices in concentric circles over the crust in the bottom of the pie dish. Crumble half of the goat cheese over the beets. Spoon in the cabbage/onion/carrot mixture and top it with the remaining goat cheese.

5. Fit the top crust over the pie and fold together the overhanging dough. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal and prick several holes in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape during baking. (You can save any extra dough you end up with after trimming and roll it out to make a little free-form apple tart for dessert. Just slice the fruit and mix with some lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon, then mound it in the center of the dough, fold it over the fruit and toss it into the oven to bake for 25-20 minutes alongside the veggie pie.)

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 30-35 more minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Let stand for at least 10 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature with a fresh green salad.

And now for the pie crust recipe...

-- print recipe --Pie Crust (Pâte Brisée)
Makes 1 double-crust or 2 single-crust 9- to 10-inch pies

Ingredients

* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
* 1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, 8 to 10 seconds.

2. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream through feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

3. Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap in plastic. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill at least 1 hour. Dough may be stored, frozen, up to 1 month. But remember to remove the dough 30-45 minutes before you'll need to roll it out or you may find it too stiff to work with.

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cooking Co-ops, an idea worth sharing!

I would have posted about this brilliant idea many months ago but the NY Times happened to publish their article about it the week before we moved from California to New York. Needless to say, I was a tad busy that week...

But better late than never. Here's the basic gist -- a cooking or dinner co-op is a great way to ensure a varied diet of yummy, home-cooked meals WITHOUT having to cook more than once or twice a week.

Especially for those of us with little kids, this seems like an absolute win-win.

The main steps are:
  1. Find a group of people who are interested in the idea and whose cooking you like (this is really important!);
  2. Discuss and come to an agreement on things like ingredients (meat or no meat, fish or no fish, grass-fed, organic or conventional, etc.) and frequency of meals to swap (3,4,5,6 meals a week); and
  3. Set up a drop-off/exchange location and time.
Then you can start enjoying a whole bunch of home-cooked meals that YOU DID NOT HAVE TO COOK! And you can really put some time and energy into the one or two meals that you do prepare each week, too. I think it sounds fun!

Here are the relevant links from the New York Times for more detail:
Anyone who is located in the Hudson Valley and interested in participating, please let me know!