KerriansKitchen

KNR, p. 217 “Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad”

 

It’s grillin’ season!

 

Some of our pals grill all year round. We know a guy that keeps a snow shovel inside the house near the deck door – just in case it snows – in order to clear a path on the deck to his five-foot-wide grill.  🙂  But, we’re a little more conservative, and stick to mid-May until first frost in mid to late October.

 

Whenever your grilling months, you probably serve fresh vegetable salads of some kind along with the great meats and veggies you can sear on the grill top. We like this cucumber and tomato mix, tossed together with an easy salad dressing and feta cheese, for a light salad that goes well with a variety of BBQ food. Hamburgers and hot dogs or steaks and potatoes? It works with everything we’ve tried on the grill and nobody has died yet from eating the fig balsamic or the herbes de Provence. Promise.

 

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"Tomato Cucumber Feta Salad"
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 3 medium tomatoes, cut into one inch chunks (about 4 cups)
  • 2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced (about 4 cups)
  • 1 6 oz package feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fig balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, feta and onion in a large serving bowl.
  2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, herbes de provence, pepper, and lemon juice.
  3. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and cheese and lightly toss until combined.
  4. Serve cold.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

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KNR, p. 166 “Cobbles for Vegetable Stew”

 

CobblesIMG_5113

Sheila and I eat in a lot of pubs whenever we visit Ireland. The food is tasty and in most places, is real comfort food. In order to get through those damp, cold Irish winters, food needs to be the hearty stick-to-your-ribs kind. We saw Vegetable Cobbler on the menu in a Killarney pub and thought it was a misprint. After all, we eat cobbler at home, but it’s always made with fruit – loads of different kinds of fruit, but always fruit.

 

We found out that Irish pubs rarely serve fruit cobbler and instead, go for a savory version and serve it as an entree. Until that day we had been served mashed potato topped stew and pie crust topped stew, but the gal told us that those were meat toppings. The cobbles (biscuits) are used primarily with an all vegetable stew. We learned something new every day!

 

Here’s the recipe that Sheila came up with to use with our year round hearty vegetable dishes. She modified her regular biscuit recipe and now it reminds me of those cheesy biscuits we get at restaurants here in the States.

 

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"Cobbles for Stew"
Author: 
Recipe type: Side Dish
Cuisine: Irish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4 Tablespoons butter or margarine
  • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano (or rosemary, depending on the vegetable stew seasonings)
  • 1 jumbo egg, slightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • Parchment paper
  • Aluminum cookie tray
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F)
  2. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl
  3. Add the butter/margarine and mix together with a fork or pastry blender
  4. Mix in 2/3 cup cheese and all the oregano (or rosemary). Set aside.
  5. Place the milk in a small bowl.
  6. Add the beaten egg to the milk and stir together.
  7. Add 1 cup of milk-egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together to form a soft ball of dough.
  8. Add more of the mixture if needed to include all the dry ingredients in the ball.
  9. Roll out dough (on a lightly floured surface) to about a 1/2 inch thickness.
  10. Use a lightly floured glass or lightly floured cookie cutter to cut two-inch circles.
  11. Add the cobbles to the top of your stew.
  12. Brush with leftover milk-egg and sprinkle the leftover cheese on top.
  13. Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

 

We love that the ‘cobbles’ can also be baked on their own and eaten as an alternate bread at any meal. I taste-tested quite a few of these to make sure that the recipe was just right. 😉

 

If you are making the biscuit/cobbles without the stew, or have extra dough that doesn’t fit on top of the stew (as we did in the photo above) line the aluminum cookie tray with parchment paper, and increase the baking time to 13-14 minutes. Eat warm right out of the oven and serve with butter/margarine.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

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KNR, p. 70 “Irish Peasant Soup”

 

 

 

During our last trip to Ireland, Sheila and I had lunch in many different restaurants, in both big cities and small villages throughout the country. We were surprised to see that there were two comfort foods common to every mid-day menu: Brown Bread and Irish Peasant Soup. While I’m traveling, if I find something I like to eat, I tend to stick with it, just to be on the safe side. Sheila says I should be more adventurous, but IMO, odd sauces can cover up a LOT of mystery meat.

 

Having said that, we discovered that each of the places had different recipes for the soup. Sheila came up with this combination of vegetables after striking up a friendship with a chatty cook who revealed that the soups are basically created using whatever is fresh from the garden that week.

 

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Irish Peasant Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 stalks celery, (no leaves) diced into 1/4 inch cubes
  • 2 quarts (64 ounces) organic low sodium chicken broth (Swanson’s)
  • 1 teaspoon powdered garlic
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 ¾ cups baby carrots, sliced
  • 3 parsnips, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon fine sea salt or Kosher salt
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped kale
Instructions
  1. Saute diced celery in olive oil until translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
  2. Add 1/4 cup of chicken broth if needed to keep from sticking.
  3. Add powdered garlic and onion powder. Stir.
  4. Add sliced carrots, sliced parsnips, minced garlic and salt.
  5. Add 1 cup more chicken broth, stir, cover and bring to low boil, cooking until parsnips fork tender (about 20 minutes).
  6. Stir occasionally.
  7. After parsnips are fork tender, add the kale and the remaining chicken broth, cover and continue on simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
  8. Remove soup from pot a little at a time and puree in blender or food processor until desired consistency, setting aside until entire contents are pureed.
  9. Return puree to pot and lightly season with salt, etc. to taste.
  10. Reheat before serving.
Notes
Note: If making ahead, this soup gets a little saltier in the refrigerator by the next day.

It’s easy to substitute other veggies if parsnips or kale are out of season or unavailable. Keep the seasoning, liquids, and measurements the same. The basic recipe is quite versatile. Promise: nobody will die if you switch out collard greens for the kale.  😉

Enjoy!

 

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