Irish Apple Tart on a Plate

I love trying to find authentic Irish recipes to make on St. Patrick's Day. Yesterday we had this delicious treat for dessert. I got it from IrishAbroad.com, which is kind of a fun site with all sorts of Irish stuff. Not that I looked at it all - only the recipes! The lady who gave this recipe (Imen McDonnell) is an American that married an Irish farmer and now lives in Ireland. I thought it was pretty fun to get her take on Irish food!
Now for the tart. Imen says that many Irish people bake pies on a regular plate. I thought that seemed like a fun idea so I looked at the bottom of my plates and found one that said it was oven-safe. It's a hideous thing that came with Chad when we got married. Good thing I kept it around though, eh?
Because plates are more shallow than pie pans, this doesn't have as much fruit as a normal apple pie would and is therefore, I suppose, considered a tart. And the crust is not regular pie crust. It is more like a cookie crust and is really good! It has LOTS of butter in it. Once a year for this treat, I guess! Although my kids all started to say they were going to choose it for their treat for FHE. Maybe more than once a year!

 

Irish Apple Tart on a Plate

For the apple filling 

2 1/2 to 3 cups of thinly sliced apples 

1/2 cup of sugar 

2 tsp of cinnamon 

a squeeze of one lemon (or a splash of bottled lemon juice)

1 tbsp of grated fresh ginger

Mix everything together and let sit for 30 minutes.

To make the pastry 
(Enough for two tart cases) 

550g (3.5 cups plain flour) 
120g (generous 2/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar (I used regular white)
320g (scant 1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter (I used 1 1/4 c.)
pinch of salt 
1 egg 
2 egg yolks 
1 tsp natural vanilla extract

Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl; cut the butter into pieces and work it into the flour with your fingertips. Now make a well in the middle of the flour-and-butter mixture and add the egg, egg yolks and vanilla extract. Stir with a fork to incorporate the flour evenly until you have to begin using your hand. Using one hand only, bring the dry and wet ingredients together (this might take more time in the winter). 

Divide the pastry in half. Roll one half as big as the plate. Fill with apple filling. Roll the other pastry half big enough to cover the plate. Cover and pinch the edges together to seal. You can flute the edges, but mine didn't stay looking too fluted once it cooked!

 Heat oven to 180 c / 350 F. Place plate on a cookie sheet, if desired. Bake for about one hour (check after 45 minutes). 

Serve with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Recipe from irishabroad.com

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Mmmmm...these were tasty.  Jeff loved them.  If you have a caramel lover in your house you should give these a try.  I would say just make sure that you sprinkle the salt on evenly so that you don't have too much in one bite.  And I don't think I used quite as much salt as it calls for and it was fine, so maybe use a scant tablespoon.  : )  My caramels also took a lot longer to melt - that could be because they were stored down in the freezer, uh, I mean basement, and also because our microwave is not as high-powered as some.  Just fyi.  : ) 

Salted Caramel Butter Bars

Ingredients

2 cups butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

4 cups flour

1 14 oz bag caramels, unwrapped (About 40 - 50 individually wrapped)

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp coarse sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 325. Line a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat until creamy. Add in vanilla and beat until combined. Mix in flour until a soft dough forms.

Press half of the dough into the prepared 9 X 13 pan. Refrigerate remaining half of dough.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven while you prepare the caramels.

Place the caramel in a microwave safe bowl. Add the cream and vanilla, and microwave for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave at 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.

Pour the caramel filling over the cooked crust (Do your best to pour it evenly over crust as it is very difficult to spread). Sprinkle salt over the top. Removing remaining dough from fridge and crumble it evenly over the caramel.

Return the pan to the oven and bake until filling is bubbly and the topping is firm and golden brown. About 25 - 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

 

Recipe and picture are from joandsue.blogspot.ca

Seared Scallops with Lemon Orzo

We had this tasty combination for dinner tonight.  The lemon orzo was really good, and if you don't like scallops, it would go well with another mild fish or with chicken.  I served this with a green salad with oranges and gorgonzola cheese and Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette and it all went rather nicely together. 

Seared Scallops with Lemon Orzo

1 -2 tsp. olive oil or cooking spray

1/2 cup onion, minced

1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 1/2 pounds sea scallops

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 tsp olive oil, OR coat with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in pasta, broth, and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente. Stir in chopped chives and lemon juice. Keep warm.
2. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle scallops evenly with salt and pepper. Add scallops to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with pasta mixture.

Recipe altered slightly from cookinglight.com

Monte Cristo Stuffed Chicken Cutlets

Jeremy gave these a 10 - we even ate them cold because we first had to console two nearly inconsolable girls.  So you know they're good if they were a 10 while cold!  We had them with garlic mashed potatoes and garlic and walnut broccoli.  Yum!

This recipe is slightly altered from Rachel Ray

Monte Cristo Stuffed Chicken Cutlets

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard, divided
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 4 slices Swiss or Monterey Jack cheese
• 4 slices honey ham
• Flour, for dredging plus 1 tablespoon
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  
• cornstarch – if needed
  

Serves 4

Preparation

Halve chicken breasts through to make 8 cutlets; pound very thin, about 1/4 inch. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Spread a semi-thin layer of Dijon on inside of the cutlets and sprinkle with thyme. Fold and arrange 1 slice each of cheese and ham on 4 cutlets, leaving a little chicken exposed all around. Place the remaining cutlets Dijon-side down over the top and press down at the edges to form 4 stuffed cutlets. Dredge in flour.
Beat eggs and lemon juice together in a shallow dish.
Heat a large skillet with oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter into oil.

Turn 2 stuffed cutlets in egg batter and add to pan. Cook about 8 minutes, turning occasionally or until cooked through and golden. Transfer to a platter and cover loosely with foil. Melt another tablespoon into the pan and brown remaining cutlets. Remove to the platter.

Add remaining butter to pan and sprinkle in flour 1 minute, whisk in stock and thicken to form gravy; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in maple syrup. While whisking, bring to a boil. If necessary to thicken, remove a small amount of liquid and mix with 1 Tbsp cornstarch then slowly return to pan while quickly whisking.
Halve stuffed breasts, top with gravy and serve.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Happy Valentine's Day!  

These pancakes were a hit with all of my kids even though they didn't have maple syrup (not usually acceptable around here)! I did kinda feel like I was putting several cinnamon rolls on my plate at once! Pig out - it's Valentine's Day! And, look, even the newspaper carrier was in the spirit today:

Hilarious!

Anyway, you use a squirt bottle like the kind ketchup and mustard come in at some restaurants to make the cinnamon swirl. (Note: I saw something else recently that suggested using a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Brilliant! But either way will work).

I've modified this recipe a bit from the original. The recipe I used called for using melted butter, which may taste yummy, but little chunks that solidified kept clogging up my squirter, resulting in big blobs of the cinnamon batter like this:

Nice, huh? Don't worry, they still tasted good! I tried cutting a bigger opening, but that didn't work. So I tried keeping the batter warm in a pot of warm water, but I didn't want to actually cook the batter in the bottle and it didn't really work for me.

So, I've changed the recipe to use oil instead, along with a few other changes.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
2 c. white flour
1 c. wheat flour
2 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
4 T. oil
Cinnamon

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients; add to the dry and stir to combine. Pour about 1 c. batter into another bowl and add a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon, until it's a nice dark color. Pour the cinnamon batter into the squirt bottle.

Heat the skillet to a little lower temperature than you would normally use so that the pancakes will be mostly cooked through before you flip them. (That way the cinnamon design won't get too browned to see well). Pour plain batter onto the skillet and immediately swirl with the cinnamon batter. Let cook until golden on the bottom, then flip and cook the other side.

For the glaze, I like to use 1 T. butter to make it taste a little better. Add about a cup of powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 T. milk. Mix together well, adding more milk or powdered sugar until it's the consistency you want. Serve over pancakes.

Recipe adapted from livingthecountrylife.com

Maple-Butter Roasted Chicken

Mmmm....we had this for dinner tonight.  I just used chicken legs and thighs instead of a whole chicken and I used dried thyme and left out the lemon since I wasn't stuffing a whole chicken.  I'm sure that fresh thyme would've been scrumptious, but I didn't want to go back to the store today and I forgot to buy it.  Anyway, the skin was delightfully crispy and the meat was juicy and tender.  Tiernan and Mia dubbed this "the best chicken ever!"  : )  Oh, I drizzled a little maple syrup over the chicken after I finished spreading the butter all over the chicken - just for a little extra maple-y goodness.  : )

Maple-Butter Roasted Chicken

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoon(s) maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh thyme
• 1 bunch(es) thyme sprigs
• 1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) chicken
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together butter, maple syrup, and chopped thyme. Set aside.
2. Place chicken in a roasting pan and stuff cavity with lemon and all but 4 thyme sprigs. Slide hands under the chicken's skin to loosen. Spread half of reserved butter mixture between loosened skin and meat. Rub remaining butter mixture on top of skin and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast chicken until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh reaches 165 degrees F, about 1 1/2 hours (or about an hour if you're not roasting a whole chicken). Remove chicken from oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Garnish with remaining thyme sprigs

Recipe altered slightly from Country Living magazine

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans

I realled liked this dish.  Jeff was not a fan, but he's usually not a fan of brussels sprouts anyway.
This would be good to make at Christmas, with the readily available cranberries and the Christmasy colors.  : )  I happened to have some fresh cranberries in the freezer.
Also, I sort of forgot the barley but it was still good.  I don't know if I'll bother adding it next time or not.  : )

Pan-Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries & Pecans
Serves 3-4

1 pound brussels sprouts, de-stemed and halved
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup pecans
2 cups barley, cooked
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Heat skillet with drizzling of olive oil over medium heat. Season brussels sprouts with salt & pepper and combine with cranberries in skillet.Cook sprouts and cranberries for 8-10 minutes, until berries begin to burst and sprouts become tender. Add balsamic vinegar, maple syrup and pecans. Stir to coat and remove from heat.  Top with gorgonzola and serve.  

Recpie and picture from http://rachelschultz.com/