Colcannon

It's a rare rainy day in Hollywood this morning. The weather is conspiring to make a very authentic-feeling St. Patrick's Day. What better excuse to cook up some comfort food, Irish-style?

Colcannon is about as comforting as food gets. It's got the salty goodness of bacon, hearty starchy potatoes, and you can never go wrong with lots of butter. The cabbage (or kale, such as the case may be) and green onions add sweetness to counter the bacon and a textural counterpoint to the mashies. It's simple, easy, and delicious Irish fare. This is the perfect dish to prepare your tummy for all the beer you're going to pour into it tonight!

Colcannon

(My recipe, based on seeing a few St. Patrick's Day cooking shows a year or two ago. Is it the most authentic recipe? I don't honestly know. But it's easy and incredibly delicious, and I like to think any proper Irishman or -woman would welcome a bowl of this and commend me for the effort.)

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 3 large or 4 smallish potatoes, scrubbed, peeled if you wish, and cut into 1" chunks
• 1/2 head green cabbage, sliced
• 2 green onions, sliced very thin
• 1/3 stick of butter, about 3 tablespoons
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup whole milk

Directions:

1. Put bacon in a large pot over high heat. Cook until crisp, then remove from heat, but do not drain.
2. While the bacon is cooking, simmer the potatoes in a little water and cover with a lid. When you can break the chunks of potato with a fork, add the cabbage and simmer until the potatoes are done, about 3 minutes more. You want the potatoes to be cooked through but not mushy.
3. Lift the potatoes and cabbage from the water and add to the pot with the bacon in it. (Yes, leave the bacon grease in the pot!) Over medium-low heat, fold in the butter and milk, stirring to combine and break up the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the green onions. In about 5 minutes you will have a creamy, comforting bowl of Irish love!

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Covered Bacon

Sometimes it seems like you have to jump through flaming hoops to make something that everyone will like. In my case, I have one picky preschooler, and one husband who has adopted the Paleo lifestyle. (I don't have the space here to explain it, but here's a good primer if you are interested.) The husband has cut all grains and starches from his diet, and the girl is allergic to most nuts. Eek! To make baked goods that everyone can enjoy, I've found an unlikely ally: coconut flour!

Coconut flour is readily available - Whole Foods has it, as does Amazon.com - and is quite affordable, considering you only use about 1/2 cup of it, compared to 2 cups of regular flour, were you to substitute. Can you tell coconut flour apart from wheat flour? Yes, of course - the baked goods I've made with coconut flour are denser and grainier in texture, and don't rise as nicely and as fluffy as white flour. But it's worth it for us. Coconut flour doesn't spike your insulin levels like white flour does, is gluten-free, and is a great source of protein and fiber.

This cake is fast, easy, inexpensive to make, and quite healthy. I might even go so far as to say it's guilt-free! Try not to eat the whole thing at one sitting.

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use butter or coconut oil to heavily grease an 8-inch round pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and coffee granules together. Use a stand mixer or an electric handheld mixer. Beat it till it's nice and frothy.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix together coconut flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Sift this mixture through a sieve over the wet ingredients, one-third at a time, and mix well after each addition.
4. Spread batter (it will be quite thick) into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes. You'll know it's done when it's dry and firm but still a little springy to the touch.

For my husband's birthday, I made this and brushed the top of the cake with melted chocolate chips and garnished with chocolate-covered bacon. It was awesome. For my sister's birthday, I made this with the frosting for my Mocha Brownie Torte recipe. It too was awesome.

And as a bonus:

Chocolate-Covered Bacon!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 6 slices bacon, preferably thick cut
• 1/2 teaspoon or so of coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

Directions:

1. Cook bacon. Whatever method you prefer is fine: pan-fry, bake in the oven, even microwave. Just get those things pretty crispy. When done, blot vigorously.
2. While the bacon is cooling, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave SLOWLY. They go from melty to scorched quickly, so heat them for 20 seconds, stir, repeat, until they are just melted. Stir in the coconut oil.
3. Paint your bacon. You could dip the bacon into the chocolate, but that's a pretty heavy chocolate-to-bacon ratio. I used a pastry brush to apply the chocolate. Let them dry on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

Yeah, chocolate-covered bacon is a splurge, and a novelty, but sometimes you just gotta be silly. A Korean friend of the family tried this and said it tasted like a sweet and salty cookie. She liked it!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

I know you love it. I do too. There's no shame in it: ranch dressing is awesome. But have you ever read the ingredients on the bottle? It starts off okay, with water, oil, onion, maybe some spices, and then it veers off into chemistry lab. Xanthan gum, disodium inosinate, modified food starch, MSG - do you really want to eat these things? Do you want your kids to eat them? There IS a better way!

Make your own tonight. Seriously, read the ingredients in this recipe, find them in your fridge and pantry, because I guarantee you have 90% of them right now, and figure out a work-around for the one or two ingredients you don't have. It will taste just as good as the stuff from the bottle, without that weird plasticky feeling on your tongue. Eat it on salad, dip your veggies in it, go crazy. What are you waiting for?

Homemade Ranch Dressing

(Recipe courtesy Mark's Daily Apple)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cultured buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 heaping teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon tamari
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 small clove garlic, finely minced
• optional: 1 or 2 teaspoons mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Whisk everything together or process in the food processor. That's it! The flavors meld and get better if you let it chill for a while, so consider making this the night before you want to eat it.

Note: I never have buttermilk in the house. It's one of those ingredients that goes bad before I can use it all. A good substitute is the same quantity of milk with a teaspoon or two of lemon juice mixed in. Try making this as-is, and then the next time you can fool around with the ingredients to make it more to your liking. My dressing looks sort of greenish because I used more fresh dill and green onion (instead of chives) than called for, but that's how I like it.

Easiest Ever Marmalade

Winter doesn't have a whole lot to recommend it: Wet, cold, dark, et cetera. The only bright and shining thing that flourishes in winter is citrus fruits. My neighbor has a Meyer lemon tree that is going bonkers and she puts out a pail of lemons for me every week, and I love it. If you are lucky enough to have an orange tree, you are probably inundated with fruit right now - but what if it's too much? What to do?

Last year I was given a giant bag of oranges from a friend's tree. So big a bag that there was no way we could eat them all. Then I realized: Marmalade! Yummy orange marmalade that will last all year in my pantry and taste delicious on toast, in tarts, and even dressing beets (more on that in a later post.) I just opened my last jar of marmalade, canned 12 months ago, and it is still delicious. Canning is amazing!

If you are new to canning, this is a great way to learn. The recipe is easy to follow, the prep is quick, and the ingredients are cheap, especially if you have a tree in your yard. You can buy jars at the grocery store or even the hardware store. You also need a really large, tall pot to boil the filled jars in, and a pair of tongs or a special jar lifter to get the jars in and out of the boiling water. What are you waiting for? Make some marmalade!

Easiest Ever Marmalade

(recipe courtesy of Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine)

(makes about six 8 oz. jars)

Ingredients:

• 3 small oranges, unpeeled and seeded
• 1 lemon, unpeeled and seeded
• 1 small grapefruit, unpeeled and seeded
• 2 cups canned crushed pineapple, with juice
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries (I omitted these)

Directions:

1. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, working in batches, pulse oranges, lemon and grapefruit until finely chopped. Do not puree.
2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine chopped fruit, pineapple with juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to sheet from a metal spoon, about 20 minutes. Add cherries and boil until mixture reaches gel stage, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and test gel. If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.
3. Prepare canning jars and lids.
4. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot marmalade. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place jars in a large deep pot filled with boiling water, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil, cover pot and process for 10 minutes. Remove lid, wait 5 minutes, and then remove jars, cool overnight, and store.

For more information on canning, please see:

http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started.aspx

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Can/

Curried Kabocha Dip

My favorite winter produce, by far, is squash. They last forever on your counter so you don't have to worry about spoilage, and they are incredibly healthy for you. My secret weapon in the kitchen these last few months has been the kabocha squash.

The kabocha, also known as a Japanese pumpkin, is big, green, heavy, and delicious. It has a dense texture, much better than the slightly watery butternut squash, and is just as sweet. My kids love it, including my 8 month-old daughter, who slurps it up as fast as I can spoon it in!

I had roasted a kabocha the night before and had scraped out the insides and packed it up in the fridge. I also had people coming over for dinner and hadn't thought out an appetizer. Necessity is the mother of invention, so here is what I concocted. Not too shabby for a spur-of-the-moment dish! I served this dip with Triscuits, because I love them like no other, but my husband ate it with carrot sticks and that was pretty good too. Try it, you might like it!

Curried Kabocha Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 kabocha squash
• 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil, or more to taste
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut squash in half, scrape out seeds, and rub the insides of the squash with olive or vegetable oil. Place squash halves cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. The flesh should be very soft and the shells starting to collapse. Let cool for half an hour, then scrape from the shell. Put half the flesh away, and reserve the other half in a bowl.
2. While squash is roasting, put the cumin seeds in a pan over medium heat and toast for a few minutes until brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and grind in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
3. In a food processor or large bowl, mix together squash, cumin, and remaining ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve warm or cold with crackers, chips, or veggies.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I love my crock pot. I have found, however, that almost all the recipes in my crock pot cookbooks are for meat-based entrees. That's all well and good, but there are some times you want something lighter, or vegetarian (or that isn't made with a can of cream of chicken soup!) I ordered a book on Amazon.com, hoping to find something new and different, and I did: "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson.

The recipe for Black Bean Soup was easy to follow, and I had everything I needed for it already in my pantry and fridge - and I'm betting you do too. This came out better than I expected! The texture was both chunky and smooth after I used my immersion blender (you can put your soup in the blender or food processor and pulse lightly, or even use a potato masher to get your desired consistency.)

Serve this with chopped green onions, cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, tortilla chips, or any or all of the above. Terrific!

(Sorry about the photo. It's bean soup, and it's delicious and nutritious, but there's just no way to make it look glamorous in a photo!)

Black Bean Soup

(recipe courtesy "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 green (I used red) bell pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (15.5-ounces each) black beans, rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes, left undrained
• 4 cups stock (I used less, probably closer to 3 cups)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic; cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a slow cooker, add the beans, tomatoes and their juice, stock, bay leaves, cumin, thyme, and cayenne, and season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours.
3. Remove and discard the bay leaves and taste to adjust the seaosonings. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice, if using. To thicken, puree at least 2 cups or up to one half of the soup solids with an immersion blender used right in the cooker, or ladled into a regular blender or food processor and returned to the cooker. Serve hot.

Granola!

One of my favorite breakfasts is yogurt and granola. I had a stash of crunchy granola bars in the cupboard, and I would bash one, still in its wrapper, with my meat tenderizer mallet until it was all crumbles, and mix it into my yogurt. All good things come to an end, however, and I ate all the granola bars before I ate up my supply of yogurt.

But all is not lost! With a quick search of the pantry, I found I had all the ingredients I needed to make a batch of homemade granola. You probably do too.

The basics you need are oats, vegetable oil, and maple syrup or brown sugar. Everything else is to your own taste. Some ingredients have more fat than others (the nuts and coconut are high in fat, but are still good for you, so don't let that dissuade you.) If you don't have wheat germ in your refrigerator, I highly recommend it. It's great for you and mixes into many recipes to contribute a sweet, nutty flavor.

This is what I used - please feel free to experiment and make a granola that your kids will like. You can eat this with yogurt (and honey and bananas and berries....) or with just a splash of milk. It's good stuff - believe it.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole oats
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Combine oats, nuts, and other dry ingredients (EXCEPT cranberries) in a large bowl.
2. Combine oil and maple syrup in a saucepan and simmer on low for a few minutes, stirring, just until it bubbles. Remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir it to make sure everything is coated and damp.
3. Spread on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for 60 - 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure even toasting. Let cool, add the cranberries, and store in an airtight container.

That's it! Try adding these or other ingredients for different combos: raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, cashews, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, or even M&Ms (when it's cooled) if you are feeling naughty.