KZCAKES: Irish

March 25, 2014

March is here and I couldn't be happier. Spring is a good time of the year to clean house, especially your pantry. I always find all sorts of surprises in my pantry when I reorganize it-- probably because my pantry is all spread throughout my small apartment in order to give everything a home. I have a "flours" shelf, and often find that extra bag of powdered sugar that I didn't know was there, or a huge unopened bag of quinoa flour I bought for some cookies I never made.. etc. Today was my lucky day, because I found 2 giant bags of cashews! I sort of felt like I won the lottery. The cashew lottery. The best kind of lottery.

With them I made a new recipe-- an Irish Potato Pie! Is that a real thing? No? Okay good, then it was my idea. I suppose it takes inspiration from a french gratin, but Irish stuff is like waaay way cooler than french stuff, so I'm referring to this baby as an originale.

I sliced the potatoes super duper thin with a knife, but you could use a mandolin if you've got a good one. Use the slicer attachment on your food processor if you must, but they usually make my slices to thick for proper layering. I used part of my rediscovered cashew stash to make a creamy sauce to pour over the top, and baked it.

Intended for but not limited to St. Patrick's Day fixings. I can't see this not going over fabulously at a potluck. Unless you have, like, really weird friends.

Irish Potato Pie

4-5 yukon gold potatoes, washed

3/4 cup cashew pieces

1 head garlic

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Peel away as much of the papery outsides of the head of garlic as you can without removing any cloves. Place on a small baking tray and roast for about 35-40 minutes, or until cloves are soft and golden. Remove from oven and carefully remove the cloves from the papery skin.

Using a food processor fitted with the slicing blade, or a mandolin, or by hand, slice the potatoes into thin slices, no thicker than 1/8 inch. If slicing by hand slice as thin as possible. Put sliced potatoes in a mixing bowl and add 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.

In a blender, combine the cashews, roasted garlic cloves, almond milk, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, garlic powder, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper. Puree until very smooth and no grainy-ness remains.

Spray a pie plate with canola oil spray.

In a spiral pattern, line the pie plate with the potato slices in a neat pattern. Continue until all space is used up and spiral is complete.

Pour the cashew sauce over the potatoes and smooth out top so that you can slightly see the tops of the potatoes. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until top of the pie is lightly puffed and golden.

Serve whole, and slice as you would a pie.

February 23, 2013

Corned Seitan and Cabbage

February 17, 2013

Let the Pregaming Begin

Well Hey Everybody. I hope everyone has been enjoying the remaining few weeks of winter, had a nice Valentines Day, and have been rolling around in a bed of cash you got from your tax returns. I've been doing most of the listed activities, but also much cupcake baking and selling this month, as it was the holiday practically invented for me to sell red velvet cupcakes to everyone I ever met. So since I've been doing my cupcake thang so much lately, I haven't set out to create many new recipes to share with you all, but I figured with St. Patricks Day but a month away, I can let some recipes trickle out from my vault full of Irish Food Recipes to get the Irish juices flowing up until the big day.

Irish Soda Bread is a beloved staple of my family's. Growing up, we would make this many times throughout the year, not only in March-- but yes, lots of times in the month of March. Today I got all crafty and decided to make muffins out of the soda bread batter. Just as you'd expect, the muffins are crafty-- and just my type.

They are sweet, but have a tang from some caraway seeds, cause I really dig that rye crunch. But if you don't, just leave them out. I always use dark and gold raisins in my soda bread. You don't have to. Your muffins just won't kick as much ass. That's all.

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

1/2 cup dark raisins

1/2 cup golden raisins

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Spray a muffin tin with canola oil spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and caraway seeds.

In a large measuring cup, mix together the almond milk, vinegar, oil, and vanilla.

Make a well the the middle of the bowl with flour mixture and pour in the almond milk mixture.

Using a wooden spoon or whisk, mix to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry until no large lumps remain.

Mix only until combined.

Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, scoop the mixture into the greased muffin tin.

Bake about 22 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean, or the top of the muffin only slightly gives when pushed, or feels firm.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.

March 17, 2012

Happy St.Patrick's Day!!

St Patrick's Day is here! What a great holiday... An excuse to wear green, which we blondes look especially good in, to drink many beers perhaps beginning at an early hour, and to cook an Irish feast! Now I know you're all thinking, "That's just what she does every day..." but March 17th is special. The green is much more elaborate, I almost always break out the kelly green, the best shade of green. The beer-drinking is accompanied by the rest of the participating country, and the beer is often green. Of course the feast is special too. I make Irish stew many times throughout the year, yes... But I don't serve it alongside beer-braised cabbage, colcannon, and loaves upon loaves of Irish soda bread. See? Holiday.

Irish Stew... One of the most comforting soups you can make. Traditionally, it's made with lamb and is just a glorified beef stew. But since I am very untraditional, and vegan, I make some steamed seitan and simmer it inside. The broth is homemade usually, to reach the deepest darkest depths of flavor imaginable. Oh, and beer goes in too. Got to make it Irish.

Colcannon is just creamy whipped potatoes with spinach and kale spread into a casserole dish and baked until browned. But it sounds very festive to call it "Colcannon." Instead of cream, butter, and whatever goes into traditional Colcannon, I made a roasted garlic cashew cream to pour in while my potatoes whipped. You can achieve the the highest levels on the "creamy" scale when using cashew cream. The cashew phenomenon is in full swing right now, and I'm totally on the bandwagon.

Beer-Braised Cabbage is my cabbage addition to the feast. The cabbage is always what people push off their plates, try to hide it in their potatoes, or under their soda bread to make the cook think they ate it. Everyone is always convinced they don't like it, even before trying it. So I tried to make it look as appetizing as possible so that it wouldn't get the plank straight away. Along with green cabbage, I braised onions and garlic in a ton of beer and topped it off with crispy fried shallots, and a little parsley, a little green keeping it festive.

Irish Coffee Cupcakes

Star of the show, incredibly moist with a Jameson butterscotch filling, these cakes are vanilla base with the addition of espresso and topped with an almondy buttercream and a green sugar drizzle. I used to drink Irish coffees all the time before I was poor. They serve it to you in a big mug and top it with whipped cream and green drizzle, so if you've ever had one, you know what I'm talking about with the fluffy buttercream and green sugar drizzle.. Jameson on the inside... Get it? It's an Irish Coffee. Cupcake.

A solid favorite for sure.

Happy St Patrick's Day Everybody!

Adventure Time with KZ !

Irish Cookie Sandwiches

Irish Potato Pie

Corned Seitan and Cabbage

Let the Pregaming Begin

Happy St.Patrick's Day!!

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