Potato Candy

Yesterday we had leftovers for breakfast and lunch - nothing interesting there. For dinner my husband made a rice dish. He sauteed a head of cabbage with a polish sausage (we picked up four packages on a really good sale). He added the remaining onion soup that I turned into gravy and some leftover plum sauce and served it over brown rice. It was good. A bit on the gooey side but the brown rice offered a nice firm texture under the saucy cabbage. The flavor was amazing. It's fun to clean out the fridge sometimes and dump extra sauces in dishes. Sometimes it's the seasonings that make the dish.
I promised a potato candy recipe - the actual recipe will be at the end of this post.
My son has this deep love of potato candy and, to him, it's the ultimate St. Patricks Day food. He requests it when he has a function at school during the holiday.
I started with having him peel 6-7 small potatoes (I thought they were small, in hindsight they may have been closer to medium). I wanted him to have enough but I also thought it made sense to use up the bag. I didn't realize this was far too many potatoes. I boiled the potatoes until they were soft and then ran them under cold water to keep them from being to hot to handle. I mashed them with a stick of Nucoa and then set them in the freezer to cool. It took a little work but by the time I added the sugar they were cold. I mixed in slowly an entire 2 pound bag of powdered sugar. This was when I realized I was in trouble. I didn't have anything resembling a dough - this was a definite soup of a mess. I couldn't run to the store - I didn't have time since I left this to the last minute so I did what any great cook does, I substituted. I added some regular sugar, maybe 2 cups but that didn't really help and the texture went from smooth to gritty. I needed something that maintained the current flavor and yet thickened it. While thinking on that, I added the vanilla which was not enough and my homemade version wasn't strong enough. Being of quick mind, I grabbed a rather dusty, forgotten bottle of Irish Cream coffee syrup and added that to the mix. It was perfect, the flavor complemented nicely and may become the new flavoring for this particular candy. I decided that coconut flour would be perfect since I finish off with coconut. I like coconut flour, it adds a nice nutty flavor to baked goods and was my go to GF flour (I started using it long before going GF though because it's high in fiber). About 1 cup of the flour and the dough was good to go. I finished it with about 2/3 of a bag of sweetened coconut and put the whole thing in the fridge. By this time I was too tired to spend time rolling it into balls and then in the remaining coconut.
My son and husband did that before his party. He said the kids were skeptical at first but then ate them all up. I want to note that they only rolled a portion of the dough. I still have a ton of it in my fridge that I need to come up with a plan for. The gritty texture never really went away but the flavor only got better. I may be coming up with a way to use the dough as a filler in cookies.

Potato Candy
1 large potato - peeled
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
4-5 cups confectioner’s sugar
5 cups sweetened coconut flakes
Boil potato until soft Mash until smooth and add butter. Let cool completely. Mix in vanilla and slowly add sugar. (if the potato is still warm it will melt the sugar so make sure it is cool). Add sugar until you have a stiff dough. Knead in half of the coconut. Roll the dough into small balls and roll in remaining coconut. The dough gets soft when warm so may have to refrigerate it to make it workable.
Can add green food coloring with the vanilla.

Menus and Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones

I was talking with my mother on Friday and we got to talking about keeping a record of what we eat especially when it comes to how we use the foods we forage. I've been struggling a little with this blog because I haven't found a good way to share how we survive the month with our food budget. I have shared recipes and grocery budgets but that doesn't touch the day to day ways we stretch our food and the mistakes we make. Starting this week, I will be sharing our daily menus as well as recipes and tips. It may need some tweaking so please be patient while I figure out how best to share this information.
Sundays are a family dinner day and consists of a sort of potluck centered around a theme or main dish. Currently, we are down to just us and my dad. Sometimes we get more family and weird combinations as people just bring something to share.
This Sunday we wanted to do something Irish in honor of St Pat's day but no corned beef. My mother had given us a roast that she found in her freezer - she wasn't quite sure what it was or what condition it was in but we're forever scavengers so we gladly took it.
We got our Bountiful Baskets on Saturday. In the basket we had - romaine lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions, some kale looking leafy green (that no one was able to identify), potatoes, granny smith apples, 2 english cucumbers, carrots, oranges, melon, and 2 cabbages. I think that was everything.
We centered our meal around the roast and his basket (since it's really just him, he likes to use it when we eat with him). We cooked the roast in the crockpot for 6 hours. We had covered it onion soup I had made weeks before (we froze the excess). It was amazing. My dad made a salad of lettuce, shredded carrots, chopped cucumbers and tomatoes. Then he grated Cougar Gold Cheese over the top. Then he chopped up a cabbage and sauteed it with garlic and soy sauce. We microwaved some potatoes while I made a gravy out of the onion soup (1/2 stick butter, 1 cup flour and all the soup). We finished the meal with some cupcakes my father made (cake mix, frosting and grated coconut).
That was dinner. I had made breakfast late in the day so we only had the two meals.
Breakfast was Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones. We have some overly ripe pears that need to be cooked so you'll be seeing a lot of pear dishes this week. I had come across a recipe for Peppered Pear Scones and thought they would be wonderful with the peppery bacon I had purchased this month. These have no added sugar and just a touch of fat making them fairly healthy and super tasty.
Peppered Bacon and Pear Scones
2 cups chopped over-ripe pears (removing core and seeds but leaving skin)
2 cups whole wheat white flour
2 teas baking powder
1/4 teas baking soda
4 slices thick cut peppered bacon
2 eggs
1 TB Molasses
1/4 cup milk
Bake bacon in the oven (lay bacon on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet) at 350 until crisp. Meanwhile make batter. Add flour to a bowl with baking powder and baking soda. Beat in eggs and molasses. Mix in pears, taking care not to break them down too much. Using scissors, cut bacon into 1/4 inch pieces and drop into bowl. Add 1 tablespoon bacon grease, try to get the meat drippings and extra pepper in the process. Mix thoroughly. Drizzle in milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until the batter is wet. Pour onto a baking sheet and smooth out until an even 1/2-3/4 inch. The batter will be rather wet.
Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm with butter.

Steak, Cabbage and Onions

That's a terrible name for the recipe but I made this up last night so there's no great title. We sprouted some broccoli sprouts and thought they would be good with the cabbage we go for 39 cents last night. We love fried cabbage and this recipe is low cost and healthy. I don't recommend broccoli sprouts though. They are pricey and smell horrible. They tasted fine but for a week we were sure something was rotting in our kitchen as they sprouted. We threw them in this dish but you can use any sprout or none at all.

1 petite sirloin steak
1 large onion
1 head cabbage
1 cup sprouts
oil

Oil pan and heat (we use cast iron so you can omit if you use non-stick). Slice steak into 1/4 inch strips. Fry in pan until well seared. Chop onion and add to meat. Chop cabbage and add to pan when onion and steak are caramelized. Fry for 2-3 minutes and then top with a lid and turn off heat. This will steam the cabbage but prevent the bottom from burning. When cabbage is soft, turn heat back on. Add sprouts and heat thoroughly.
We serve with soy sauce and rice.
Can subsitute chicken, tofu, etc for steak.

Red Cabbage and Apples

This is the other cabbage recipe I promised. This is a nice easy recipe because it's cooked in a crockpot. Feel free to switch the cabbage to green cabbage. I am patiently waiting for the cabbage price to drop for the holiday. Some stores are already having St Patrick's day sales but starting Tuesday/Wednesday is when the best sales should start - can't delay though or there won't be anything left.
Red Cabbage and Apples
1 small head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
3 medium apples, peeled and grated
¾ cup sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup crisp-cooked and crumbled bacon
Fresh apple slices (optional)
Combine cabbage, apples, sugar, vinegar and cloves in slow cooker. Cover; cook on HIGH 6 hours, stirring after 3 hours. Sprinkle with bacon, if desired. Garnish with apple slices.

Cabbage Wedges with Tangy Hot Dressing

One year I hosted a huge St. Patrick's Day party and made a beautiful spread for the meal. I discovered 2 new cabbage recipes that year. Cabbage is one of those things that I absolutely love. There is no such thing as a bad cabbage dish but I am still one who makes the same few recipes over and over again. When cabbage goes on sale, I buy at least 10 pounds. Cabbage stores wonderfully in the fridge (often for a couple months) and is very versatile. I often chop it up and fry it with bacon.
Anyway, this recipe is one that is simple and offers a slight alternative to the every day cabbage.
Cabbage Wedges with Tangy Hot Dressing
1 slice bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/4 cup cider or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon caraway seeds
1 green onion, thinly sliced
½ head red or green cabbage (about 1 pound), cut into 4 wedges
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon with slotted spoon to paper towel; set aside. Meanwhile, dissolve cornstarch in apple juice in small bowl. Stir in vinegar, brown sugar and caraway seeds; set aside. Add onion to hot drippings in skillet. Cook and stir until onion is soft but not brown.
Place cabbage wedges, flat side down, in skillet. Add cornstarch mixture to skillet. Cook over medium heat 4 minutes. Carefully turn over cabbage wedges. Cook 6 minutes or until cabbage is fork-tender and dressing is thickened.
Remove cabbage to cutting board; carefully cut away core. Transfer to warm serving plates. Pour hot dressing over cabbage wedges. Sprinkle with bacon pieces. Garnish as desired. Serve immediately.

Bubble and Squeak

I am not certain that this is Irish but it's something that makes me think of Irish foods and is a recipe we make often. Now if you look up the recipe I am sure you will find many varieties and this may not be one. This is what my family makes and loves.
Bubble and Squeak actually comes from the sounds the dish makes as you cook and eat it.
Bubble and Squeak
1/2 cabbage (or more)
1/2 pd bacon
onion, chopped

I use scissors to cut the bacon into 1/2 inch slices and drop them into a hot skillet (use a fairly deep skillet). Fry until it's cooked but still soft. Add chopped onion. Fry until onions are starting to be translucent. Chop cabbage into bite sized pieces or so and add to the skillet. Fry until cabbage is coated in bacon grease and top with lid to steam the cabbage cooked. All in all this recipe should take about 15 minutes to cook - the cabbage should be firm but cooked.

Colcannon

The recipe for Colcannon we used for years had leeks and when leeks became harder and harder to find, I stopped making it. I have since lost the recipe but I can give you the gist. I tried looking up a similar recipe and discovered that there are so many variations that I was stunned. I think I am going to pull this out again and try making it with onions instead of leeks.

This one from allrecipes.com is quite similar to what I used to make.
1 pound cabbage
1 pound potatoes
2 leeks
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch ground mace
1/2 cup butter
In a large saucepan, boil cabbage until tender; remove and chop or blend well. Set aside and keep warm. Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain.
Chop leeks, green parts as well as white, and simmer them in just enough milk to cover, until they are soft.
Season and mash potatoes well. Stir in cooked leeks and milk. Blend in the cabbage and heat until the whole is a pale green fluff. Make a well in the center and pour in the melted butter. Mix well.


Note: if you use leeks, wash them very well. Do to their design leeks gather dirt in between their "leaves" and can ruin a great dish.