Potato Soup with Quick Rye Scones

While this was a meal intended to celebrate (a belated) St. Patrick's Day, really the only thing that made the meal even remotely Irish was the use of potatoes and a couple of bottles of Guinness.  No matter though, as the meal was still outstanding. 

I simply cannot help myself when it comes to kitchy and tacky things and so when it comes to the holidays, I feel it is my place in life to be the one among friends and family to prepare the cliche meal that is befitting. 

For the soup:

1.5c. onion, chopped

3c. potatoes, chopped

3.5c. chicken stock

(salt & pepper to taste)

dried dill, to serve

-Saute the onion in a soup pot (~2 litre pot) and when coloured, add the potatoes, chicken stock, and a bit of salt.  Simmer this until the potatoes are cooked, 10-20 minutes, depending on their size.

-Carefully, puree using a food mill or blender, and, if you're so inclined, put through a sieve to get out any lumps.

-Put this back on the stove to heat through, thinning with more chicken stock or water if needed.

Meanwhile........

For the Scones:

136g. (3/4c.) each of rye and AP flour

1t. baking soda

1c. buttermilk or milk

1/2t. caraway seeds

-Combine all in a bowl, form into 4 mounds on a lined or greased sheet pan, and bake 400 for 15-20 min.

Serve with good butter, English, Irish, or otherwise.  This served only the two of us, but it could easily serve 3.  Also, if you prefer the milder leek here rather than onions for the soup, feel free to make that substitution as I think it would be quite nice.

Saturday afternoon snack

Sometimes on a lazy Saturday afternoon, you just need a little pick me up; nothing to heavy but something that is enough to quiet those nagging pangs of hunger a couple of hours before dinner.  I made this for my mother, with left over bread, but by all means, make this with a fresh slice of whatever bread you like, just so long as it isn't the super market sponge variety. 

1 slice of bread
1/2 roma tomato, diced
2T. chevre
dash of oregano
salt, pepper, olive oil

-Drizzle the bread with a spot of oil and toast in the broiler while you chop your tomato and get out the chevre. 
-Combine all of the ingredients, the salt and pepper to taste, and mound on to the slice of now toasted bread and drizzle with just a touch more olive oil.
-Slide under the broiler and let the chevre take on a bit of golden colour and remove.  I wouldn't let this cool down too much, but tomatoes are known to be acidic and thus, retain heat for longer than you might expect. 

I did try slicing this, but it wasn't at all very pretty, and I think that it made it even more difficult to eat.  I wouldn't go pulling out a knife and fork or anything, nor would I wear my favourite white shirt when eating this, just as a precaution.

Winter's Bread

While, I did make this for Christmas morning, I think it's still appropriate seeing as Panettone is traditionally made for Christmastime and New Year's celebrations, and if not for Christmas, then it must be for New Year's?  I must admit, this was much more annoying to make, but hear me out:  I didn't even think to read through the recipe before I started.  I read through well enough to make sure that I would have enough time to make it and also to make sure that i had all of the ingredients on hand and ready to go.  Even still, this is a very fiddly little recipe and if you've no problem being tied up in the kitchen a while (sometimes it is necessary to be confined to one room for a while, especially during the holiday season's preparations) then I would still go for it. 

Hopefully, you will find my interpretation of the directions a bit easier to follow, and seeing as there are steps that I missed, completely skipped, and didn't bother to recreate, I can (somewhat, at least) call this more of 'my own' recipe than I first thought that I would be able to.

'My' panettone isn't necessarily super traditional, there is no mascarpone cheese, it does not take 20 hours (but only four), and is not made with an acidic sort of dough, and is rather more dense than the kind that is manufactured, but to be honest, once any type of bread, it seems, goes into a mass production, it gets lighter and fluffier until it is something that resembles Wonder Bread, but that, my friends, is an entire different story that I have time or space to explain to you about.

So, focusing back on the bread itself, it is a sweet, enriched dough made with eggs, milk, and butter; studded with dried fruits and scented with citrus fruits.  Really, it is a wonderfully rich bread that is fabulous by it's lonesome or toasted with butter. 

1/3c. warm water
.5 oz. active dry yeast
1 lb. 5oz. (~4c.) flour
1/2c. warm almond milk, original unsweetened
2/3c. sugar
4 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1t. vanilla
3/4c. soft, sweet, butter
1.5t. salt
2c. mixed dried fruit, chopped if needed
zest of one orange & lemon


-Begin by blooming the yeast in the warm water until it foams.  This usually takes about 8 minutes for me, but just keep your eye on it.  Add about 1/2c. of flour, cover with plastic wrap and let this rise in a warm place.  I tend to keep my house pretty cold for bread making, so I just leave it on the bathroom counter with the heater on high and it works beautifully.
-In a separate bowl, combine the 4 whole eggs, only 2 yolks, sugar, and vanilla; and then add the warmed milk.
-In the bowl of an electric mixer (with paddle attachment) beat the butter, salt and remaining flour until it resembles a sort of crumble.  Carefully, add the egg mixture, and then the bloomed yeast sponge from earlier and beat on high speed until the gluten has visibly formed (the dough will be stringy) which should take around 9 minutes.
-Add the dried fruit and the zest; put in a bowl that you've buttered or sprayed/rubbed with oil; cover with plastic wrap, and take it back to it's warm place to rise for another 2 hours.
-However you prefer, grease either 2 loaf tins or panettone molds; turn out the dough and knead a few times; cut into half and shape into either rounds or loaves; place in the molds/tins, cover in plastic wrap, and let proof in their warm spot for about 45 minutes.
-Meanwhile, preheat your oven or 400(f) and when ready, brush with an egg-wash made of the remaining egg yolk and a splash of water, then cut a vent or two to let steam escape during the baking.  Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven's temperature to 350 and bake for a further 45 minutes, making sure to cover the tops with foil if they decide to brown a bit too quickly.

There are some recipes that call for almond extract, candied citrus instead of the fresh zest, and many other variations.  I honestly do not think that there is much of a way to improve upon this other than maybe using a vanilla pod in place of the extract.  The almond milk was definitely my change, seeing as I didn't have any ordinary milk in my icebox at the time, but ordinary milk is what the recipe specified.  The fruits that I used were a combination of dried prunes and dried cranberries (using more prunes than cranberries) and by all means, if you like the candied citrus, then use some in place of the dried fruits and exclude the fresh zest.  This bread has something for all of the senses, its rich texture, floral scent, slightly sweet flavour, it's density, and it's lovely dark shell and golden interior. 

Obviously, I didn't have panettone molds using, instead, loaf tins but they worked perfects.  As far as left-overs of this, I would try making a sort of stuffing (Nigella Lawson has a recipe), in bread puddings, in french toast, or even as croutons. 

Have you ever had or made panettone?  Which part do you like best about it: the fruit, citrus, rich flavour?