When Irish Eyes Are Smiling - Guinness Fondue

St. Patrick's Day is HERE!!!!!

It's that time again....  Yes, it's time for me to don my sacred, if a little scruffy, Guinness hat and do something fun and interesting with this most Irish of brews.

Come on..... "Say ya like my hat, Shannon!"

The only difference this year, is that I chose to use Draught instead of the Extra Stout.  Though I must admit that I had to rack my brain a little to come up with something this time.  It had to be REALLY good since I messed up last year and missed St. Patrick's Day all together, being absorbed in my quest for Sauce Nantua and Mahi Mahi Mousseline.

Then it struck me.  I love Traditional Irish Soda Bread, so I should do something with that.  But Guinness Soda Bread just didn't sound all that appetizing.  I may bake my Soda Bread unconventionally, but that is simply because I lack a bastible (Dutch Oven), but I am a purist when it comes to my ingredients.  So I thought about using it in bread pudding with Guinness.  But I am really stuck on the Irish Whiskey Bread Pudding I usually make.....  I mean, why drink beer when you can have whiskey, right?

Then, since I was cooking all sorts of German food this last week, it suddenly hit me.  Fondue!  Soda Bread would make excellent dipping fodder.  Hmmmmmmm  Would Guinness make an decent base for a nice Cheddary fondue?  You bet your shamrocks it does...  Use a nice Irish cheese (I chose Kerry Gold Dubliner) and you are all set for a Swiss classic with a seriously Irish twist.

After all, aren't we ALL a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day?

Guinness Fondue

(With Toasted Irish Soda Bread)

Olive Oil, in a spray can
1 Loaf Traditional Irish Soda Bread (with no frills)
14 oz Dubliner (Kerry Gold), shredded
1 TB AP Flour or Corn Flour
1 tsp Mustard Powder
1 clove Garlic, sliced
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 1/4 cups Guinness Draught
1 tsp Lemon Juice

Cube the Irish Soda Bread and lay it out on a baking sheet and spray with olive oil.

Toast bread in the oven at 350F degrees for about 10 minutes, just until it begins to color; set aside

Toss shredded Dubliner with Flour (either AP or Corn) and Mustard Powder in a medium bowl or a zipper bag, set aside.

In a small sauce pan, heat oil and saute garlic until it becomes fragrant.

Remove the garlic slices and add Guinness and Lemon Juice to the saucepan.

Bring to a simmer and slowly add the Cheese, a little at a time, stirring until completely melted before adding more.

Once all the cheese has been incorporated and everything is silky smooth, move to a fondue pot or a small crock pot set on low.

Dip toasted chunks of Irish Soda Bread until your hearts content. (No fondue forks? Skewers work well)

Don't forget to chase it all down with another Guinness.  :)

Want something Green?  Forget the artificially dyed Pilsner....  Dip chunks of Granny Smith apple.

But my favorite dipper of all, is crispy bacon....  Muah ha ha ha!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
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For other Guinness Stout recipes see....

Guinness Cake with Bailey's Frosting

Guinness Ice Cream

Guinness Mousse

The Black and Tan - Stout Brownie & Malted Gelato

Into Bushmills instead of Guinness?  Check these out instead.....

Irish Coffee (Caife Gaelach)

Irish Whiskey Bread Pudding

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Grits to Glory - Polenta Corn Bread

I have an extreme love/hate relationship with corn bread.  It can take a bowl of chili to intoxicating highs, when executed properly, or devastating lows when not.  Sadly, all of the cornbread I have consumed in restaurants has fallen short of my expectations.  Way short.  Like "careening down a depression spiral" short.  What is the obsession with sweet corn bread?  Why would anyone want Maple or Honey Butter to smear on something that is already so sweet it makes your teeth hurt? I just don't understand this "Cornbread" that is really more of a light and fluffy corn muffin.  Don't get me wrong, I LIKE corn muffins... for breakfast, not with my chili.

So how do I like my cornbread?  Well, it should have a dense, but tender crumb.  Crusty on the outside, moist on the inside.  Savory deliciousness should be the prevalent flavor, not sweet and cloying.  Inclusions of Cheddar, Onion, or Bacon are welcomed, but not a necessity. 

As a result of the above criterion for palatable cornbread, I have concluded that I like buttermilk based cornbreads that are baked in a cast iron skillet that has been liberally smothered with copious amounts of butter, which has been browned in the oven prior to dispensing the cornbread batter therein.  In order to facilitate a more dense crumb, only a SMALL amount of flour is necessary.  Just enough to keep the corn bread from crumbling in your hand.  To achieve a moist interior, I take a tip from the Italians.  I find that the addition of a polenta-ish mixture made with chicken stock fits the bill quite nicely.  True, it's more of a cornmeal mush than polenta, since I don't cook it nearly long enough, but polenta sounds classy, so I am sticking with it.  LOL

Luckily, I have Buttermilk left over from making Cultured Butter a couple days ago.  Woo Hoo!
But enough chewin' the fat.  Here is how I make my cornbread.

Polenta Cornbread

3 TB unsalted Butter, cut into pieces
118ml (4oz) (1/2 cup) Chicken Stock
280g (9.8oz) (1-3/4 cups) Medium-Grind Stone-Ground Yellow Cornmeal, divided (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
64g (2.25 oz) (1/2 cup) AP Flour  (just a little bit)
2 TB granulated Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
pinch of Cayenne
236ml (8oz) (1 cup) Buttermilk
5 TB Sour Cream
2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
optional - 85g (3 oz) (3/4 cup) Cheddar cheese

Heat the oven to 425°F and throw a 10-12 inch cast iron skillet in there.
In a small saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil.

Divide up your corn meal by placing 80g (2.8 oz) (1/2 cup) in a small bowl, and the remaining 200g (7 oz) (1 1/4 cups) in a large bowl.

Add the Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Salt, Baking Soda and Cayenne, then whisk to combine and set aside.

When the chicken stock comes to a boil, pour it over the cornmeal in the small bowl, whisking constantly, until it forms a polenta-ish mass (or puls, or mush, as the case may be).

Add the Buttermilk, Sour Cream, and Eggs to the cornmeal mush and whisk after each one is added.

Now is also the time to add any Cheese if you like. (always add to the wet ingredients, whether cheddar, green onions, bacon, diced jalapeno or all of them at once)

When the oven and pan are fully heated (about 15 minutes) remove the skillet from the oven and add the butter then throw it back in the oven (not literally, cause that would be messy) and let the butter melt and brown slightly.

While the butter is melting, add the Buttermilk/Polenta mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl, and stir, just until blended. (don't over mix, it doesn't need to be completely smooth)

Remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and tilt the pan to swirl the butter around to coat the pan evenly, then pour the butter into the batter and stir to combine about 6-8 strokes should be good.

Pour the batter into the hot skillet. (The sizzling is music to the ear)

Place back in the oven for about 18-20 minutes, or until the cornbread pulls away from the side of the skillet.

Remove the skillet from the oven and immediately turn the bread out onto a rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Serve hot, with a big bowl of chili. (though not necessarily as adorn with condiments as this bowl is).

mmmmmm  Crunchy exterior, dense, moist and totally tender interior... THIS is the stuff dreams are made of.

Mangia!!
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It's Always Beddar With Cheddar - Cheddar Biscuits

I love biscuits...  Especially in the winter.  They just seem to be the kind of food that hugs you while your eating it.  Whether simple Baking Powder biscuits or Buttermilk Biscuits, Spelt or Whole Wheat they are little fluffy bundles of comfort wrapped in a towel at the table.  Which is another thing I love about fresh biscuits.  When they are swaddled beneath layers of cloth to stay warm, and you have to peel back the layers to reach the heavenly disks of warm fluffy goodness, it's almost like opening a Christmas present.   LOVE it!

Biscuits are, in and of themselves, VERY similar to pie crust...  In fact, the only real difference is the leavening; be it Baking Powder or Baking Soda.  Thus the same rules apply... "ALL THINGS MUST BE COLD"! This means, cold flour, cold butter, and cold milk... or buttermilk.  Follow the same steps as you would making pie crust... Work the butter into the flour, add milk (liquid) and stir until a dough forms... Be careful not to overwork the dough, or the biscuits will be tough.  Roll, cut and bake as fast as you can, and you will be rewarded of light fluffy and oh so delicious biscuits.

Cheddar is my favorite addition to baking powder biscuits.  I like to sneak a little Cayenne into them.  Not much, but just enough to lend some subtle heat and kind of warm you from the inside out.  ;) 

Cheddar Biscuits

9 oz (256 g) (2 cups) AP Flour
1 TB Baking Powder
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper, ground
2 oz (56 g) (4 TB) Unsalted Butter, sliced thin
4 oz (113 g) (1 cup) Sharp Cheddar, shredded
6 oz (175 ml) (3/4 cup) Whole Milk

Preheat the oven to 450 F (230 C) degrees
Whisk the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Cayenne together in a bowl.

Add the Butter slices.

Work the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture looks kind of like coarse cornmeal.

Add the shredded Cheddar....

Work the Cheddar into the flour as well.

Add the cold Milk.

Stir with a fork until the dough comes together. (it may be a little sticky, but that is OK)

Turn out onto a well floured surface.

Roll to 1/2 inch thick.

Cut 3 inch rounds.

Gather scraps, roll and repeat. (You should end up with 8 - 10 biscuits.)
Place the biscuits on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Swaddle them in a towel to keep them warm.

Consume with copious amounts of butter.

Mangia!!
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1970's Retrospective - Olive Cheese Nuggets

I think this is one of the most lasting recipes to ever come out of the 70's.  All three of us boys make them, and we never seem to make enough to satiate the holiday crowd.  For these have become my family's New Year celebratory icon.

I have always found it somewhat amusing that when someone is exposed to them for the first time, they always express incredulity that these tiny nuggets of heaven could be good. Then, with something that could only be construed as fear, or panic, they pop one into their mouth, and then another, and then another...

Before you know it, they are hiding in the corner with the plate in their lap, shoveling these little savory bits of cheesy goodness into their mouths and screaming for more...   LOL 

This makes a lot if you are using the small Manzanilla olives, not quite as many if you use the Queen olives. While the Queens are significantly larger, they come stuffed with Garlic or Almonds or Jalapenos or even Anchovies. So take your pick, it's up to you, get creative... Find your favorite combination.

I particularly liked the Onion/Vermouth soaked olives; but was terribly UNimpressed by the Feta stuffed as well as the Blue Cheese stuffed... They conflicted too much with the Cheddar Cheese.

Olive Cheddar Nuggets

4 oz (113g) (1 cup) shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, room temperature
2 oz (56g) (1/4 cup) Unsalted Butter (Softened)
3.5 oz (100g) (3/4 cup) AP Flour
1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
A pinch of Cayenne pepper
34-ish Pimento stuffed Manzanilla Olives or 18-20 Queen Olives (stuffed as you like)

With an electric mixer, blend softened Butter with shredded Cheese until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk Flour with Salt, Paprika and Cayenne.

Slowly add the Flour mixture to the Butter/Cheese mixture......

Stirring until a soft dough is formed.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour

OK, this is the hard part.....
Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C) degrees.
Dry your olives well, or you will have a hard time doing this; the dough will not stick to the olive at all.  They will soak up the excess brine and become gooey.

Take a small amount of dough (about a 1 1/2 tsp) and wrap it around the olive, to completely encase it.

Set the nuggets on a parchment lines baking sheet.

At this point, they may be covered in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, however, they must be brought to room temperature before baking (1 hour on the counter)

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. (usually 12 minutes with Manzanilla Olives and 15 minutes for Queens)

Serve to your incredulous guests, but watch carefully to make sure no one snitches your serving tray.

Mangia!!
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