Kathleen's 4th Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl

Out of breath but I finally made it to Cuisine Kathleens 4th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Blog Crawl! I wouldn’t miss an event put on by my Irish lass.  Make sure you check out Kathleenn's BLOG and link up to all the party-goers to see all the St. Patrick's Day celebrations.


I didn’t have a lot of time to bake but I was able to put together this fabulous dessert…. Festive Mint Cream Dessert from Taste of Home. You can get the recipe HERE.

My sweet Annabelle doll had to be a part of the celebration

Gave 2/3 of it to friends, they were very grateful! One made the comment it was “sinfully delicious”,

   The plate is part of a few Irish pieces made by…who else…

The quote ALL "Foley's" live by

Thanks For Stopping By.....

Kathleen’s 3rd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Blog Crawl

Wouldn’t dare miss this annual blog crawl since I have Irish heritage from both my Dad & Mom.  More importantly my friend, Kathleen, is so gracious to host this every year.  Make sure you stop by Cuisine Kathleen and check out all the links.  

  

When I see this little saying I automatically think of my nieces..YES, that means Jill, Katie, Abby, Jessie, Shelly, Sarah, Amy & Gina.

My favorite St. Patty's drink.. A grasshopper

 

Now for the treats ...

 

Chocolate Mint Irish Cream Cheesecake

Adapted from BHG

Ingredients

1-1/2  cups  finely crushed chocolate wafers, chocolate graham crackers or chocolate Teddy Grahams*

6  tablespoons  butter, melted*

1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon

3  8-ounce packages  cream cheese, softened room temperature

1  8-ounce carton  dairy sour cream

1  cup  sugar

1  8-ounce package  semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

3    eggs

1-2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2  cup Baileys Irish cream Chocolate Mint liqueur

2  tablespoons  whipping cream or milk

2  teaspoons  vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. For crust: In a medium bowl, combine crushed chocolate wafers, melted butter, and cinnamon; toss gently to mix. Press mixture onto the bottom and up the side of a 9- or 10-inch springform pan. Set aside.

2. For filling: In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and melted chocolate. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in eggs just until combined. Stir in cornstarch, liqueur, whipping cream or milk, and vanilla.

3. Pour filling into the crust-lined pan. Place springform pan in shallow baking pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until center appears nearly set when gently shaken.

4. Cool in springform pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a small sharp knife, loosen from side of pan. Cool for 30 minutes more. Remove side of springform pan. Cool for 1 hour. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours or up to 24 hours. Makes 16 servings.

5. *Note: If using a 10-inch springform pan, use 1-3/4 cups crushed chocolate wafers (about 21 cookies) and 7 tablespoons butter, melted, for the crust.

 

Adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the mix is also a great idea to help prevent cracking.  Cornstarch is also coagulant.  That is a substance that causes a liquid to change into a thickened mass.  This is why Junior's and many other high-end cheesecake makers use it in their cheesecake recipes.

 

This was so good and so rich!!  It really needs the whipped cream on top or a raspberry sauce would be great also on the side!  Have to tell you the truth... the reason I initially put the whipped cream on top was to camaflouge a large 'crack' on the top (I even had it in a water bath).  Sending most of this home with my DIL, Carrie, who celebrated her birthday yesterday.  The rest I will take to the office since my boss is a dedicated chocoholic.

NEXT…

A very simple and quick dessert

 

“Lucky You" Mint Pie

  Very Best Baking

• 1 cup (6 oz.) Nestles Semi-Sweet Mini Morsels

• 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 prepared 9-inch (6 oz.) chocolate crumb crust

• 1 package (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix

• 1/3 cup water

• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

• 3 to 4 drops green food coloring

• 1 container (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided

• Additional Mini morsels, fresh mint sprigs (optional)

  MICROWAVE 1 cup morsels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 45 seconds; stir until smooth. Stir in butter; pour into crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until cool to the touch.

  MEANWHILE, BEAT remaining evaporated milk, pudding mix, water, peppermint extract and 3 drops food coloring in medium bowl until combined. Gently stir in 2 cups whipped topping and additional drop of food coloring, if desired. Spoon over chocolate layer.

  REFRIGERATE for 2 hours or until set. Sprinkle with additional morsels. Spoon remaining whipped topping in center of pie. Garnish with fresh mint. 

 

Last but not least….

I HAD to try Kathleen’s soda bread.  Now keep in mind I never make bread of any kind, except maybe banana bread.  Had no idea if I was doing it right, what the consistency was supposed to be, NADA, NOTHING to go on!  I left out the raisins since they are not a favorite of mine.

 

 

Irish Soda Bread 

Kathleen’s Recipe

 4 C flour

1 t salt

4 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

3/4 C sugar

2 t caraway seed

1 C raisins

1 egg

1 t vanilla

2 C buttermilk

1/4 stick of soft butter

Sift dry ingredients. Mix in the seeds and raisins. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.

Add beaten eggs and soft butter, mix

Put into 2 greased loaf pans, or 1 10 in round. Slit the top with a knife.

Bake at 350 about 30 to 35 for loaf pans, 50 for round.

Brush with butter or milk 10 min before removing from oven.

Check center to see if done, do no over bake..

I made one round loaf on Silpat and one loaf…they may look a little crude but…I was really surprised at the taste.  I actually like the caraway flavor.  My friend Sue and her hubby just left taking the balance of the round loaf and three pieces of the cheesecake!  Sue made the comment her Mom always used to put caraway seeds on pork chops when she was growing up.

As any GOOD Irish family, we have our own Kathleen’s …My Dad’s little sister Kathleen I never met, she died at the age of 14 from a ruptured appendix.  This is a school photo taken in 1932…

She’ll probably kill me for this – but our other Kathleen is my niece who goes by ‘Katie’,  isn’t she a cutie and a beauty!!  She is actually the namesake for the Kathleen above.

Thank you Kathleen for hosting this ‘crawl’, and anxious to check out everyone’s links!  I'm also joining in on JanMary's St Patricks Day Carnival - check out all the great links here also!

Thanks For Stopping By….. 

Eggs Benedict

“Hot buttered English muffins, Canadian-style bacon, and poached eggs are topped by a heavenly drizzle of hollandaise sauce”

What is there NOT to love? This is my all-time favorite breakfast, which unfortunately I do not make very often possibly for the reason; it has 892 calories, with 71 g of fat! The good news is there's a whole stack of low-fat Eggs Benny recipes on the Internet. If I make this twice a year I’m lucky, so of course I had to make it for St. Patrick’s Day Foodie Friday hosted by Michael, Designs by Gollum. Make sure you check out her blog to link up with other bloggers who participate in Foodie Friday, you’ll find some super recipes!






The recipe is not complex at all…start with a toasted English muffin with a slice of Canadian bacon on it, topped with a poached egg and creamy Hollandaise sauce. There are literally dozens of recipes for Hollandaise on the Internet and in cookbooks worldwide. I’m confessing I do not make any of them…. My time is precious to me so I use the Knorr packaged Hollandaise Sauce mix, which in my opinion tastes very good. I’ve been told that the McCormick brand is very good also, though I have never tried the brand.

If you’re going to indulge and make Eggs Benedict, you may as well go all-out and serve the dish with a chilled Mimosa!!



Make sure you all stop by Cuisine Kathleen and join in on Tuesday, March 17 for a St. Patricks Celebration "IRISH" style. There will be a Mr. Linky so you can link your blog to Kathleens!! Hope to see you all there...






May you live as long as you want,
And never want as long as you live.

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

While trying to use up ground beef in my freezer I came across this recipe I had in my Recipe Box on Food Network. Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy featured on Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee.

My extensive liquor cabinet (holds 4-5 bottles) didn’t have cognac so I switched it out with sweet vermouth (which I use in various steak recipes)! It is mainly used to sauté the mushrooms so the flavor isn’t that crucial to the overall recipe.

Served it with long grain wild rice and a side salad… made a simple perfect meal. I was drawn to the recipe since most of the ingredients I already had in the pantry.

I know what you’re thinking…WHAT does Salisbury steak have to do with the month of March and anything green??? Think hard..there’s an answer!


The answer: Absolutely NOTHING! That is why I was FORCED to make myself an after dinner cocktail… A GRASSHOPPER!!




· 1 shot green crème de menthe
· 1 shot white crème de cacao
· 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
Place crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and ice cream into a blender. Blend until thick and creamy…YUMMMMMMM

My sweet St Patty’s Annalee doll is hanging on tight!




May your neighbors respect you,
Troubles neglect you,
The angels protect you,
And Heaven accept you.

Chocolate Pots with Irish Crème Liqueur

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Around Valentines Day one of my favorite bloggers, Susan from Savoring Time in the Kitchen made delectable Chocolate Pots de Crème.

We both had purchased these cute 2 oz red lions head pots from Sur La Table and I figured it was time to put them to use. Since it is getting close to St. Patrick’s Day I decided to make Chocolate Pots with Irish Crème Liqueur.




Simple, simple recipe:

Chocolate Pots with Irish Crème Liqueur

5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 Cup heavy cream
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Irish Crème Liqueur

Break up the chocolate and place it in a food processor. Over medium heat, heat cream to almost boiling. Combine cream with chocolate and blend until chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
Add the egg and Irish Cream liqueur and blend again until smooth. Pour into six ramekins and chill for at least 24 hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
Serves 6.



Needless to say, these are very rich tasting and should be served with a cookie of choice… one recommendation would be Irish Oatmeal Cookies!


Irish Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups McCann’s Quick Cooking Irish Oatmeal

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and oatmeal. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared sheet, leaving space between. Bake 7 to 8 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool.

YIELD: 2 Dozen



IRISH SAYING ...
May your home always be too small to hold all your friends