The Kitchen Alchemist: GF Irish Soda Bread

"In which I try to make healthful, affordable, easy meals:

in other words, throwing together ingredients in hopes of creating gold."

It's a blessing that I've converted to gluten-free for my health at a time when the GF movement is picking up and running.  There are plenty of recipes to be found online, and special ingredients are becoming available even in your run-of-the-mill grocery store.  So to celebrate Saint Paddy's Day, I was able to whip up an {easy gluten-free Irish soda bread}.

I picked this recipe because it had the least ingredients, and the ones most readily available to me.  I followed the directions, but it was a little undone inside after the allotted time baking and cooling.  Still, it was quite delicious.  I just wish GF breads didn't look so grainy.

Here's the markup:

Time // A

Ease // A-

Presentation // B

Affordability // C

Health // A

Taste // A

Good scores, overall!  The only thing is that almond flour is pricey, and if you add butter to this like is traditional, you significantly bump down the health grade.

We are Catholic, and my children's great grandfather (husband's father) was named Paddy and worked as a docker in Cork, where my mother-in-law was born and raised.  My children are somewhere between a half and a quarter Irish.  But Saint Patrick's Day isn't about nationalism for us; though that is the main allure for people in Ireland and America.  For us, it's a special day to commemorate the British saint who peacefully converted the entire land of fierce and loyal people; who, in turn, preserved civilization in the so-called "dark age" abbeys and became missionaries to the rest of Europe when it was plunged into true spiritual darkness.

I love Saint Patrick's Day.  In Wales, where we live on and off, it is a high feast which calls for a break of the Lenten fast.  One day, I would like to make a pilgrimage up Saint Patrick's Mountain, or {The Reek}.  Maybe when the children are older and can come along.  But today we are keeping things low key, with this traditional bread, corn beef and cabbage, some {Irish folk songs}, and maybe a movie (I recommend {The Secret of Kells}-- more on that later--or The Secret of Roan Inish).

Saint Patrick's Day links:

• The Secret of Kells and the Art of Making at Everything to Someone
• The Kitchen Alchemist series at Everything to Someone
• Great Films for Kids: The Secret of Kells, at Ignatius Press
• 11 Irish Movies at Catholic All Year
• All Their Wars Are Merry at Everything to Someone

The Kitchen Alchemist: Onion and Potato Stew

"In which I try to make healthful, affordable, easy meals:

in other words, throwing together ingredients in hopes of creating gold."

A remnant from Lent.  I'd had a difficult time finding vegetable stock, out of which I make my staple fasting soups, but I did get some onion-flavored Oxo gravy granules.  It sounds sort of icky, but it's basically a bouillon cube all powdered up.

I started boiling potatoes without any real plan, then saw the onion gravy in the cupboard and added several spoonfuls of it in for flavor, until I liked the color and consistency in the water and the taste (I like it strong).  But I needed a little something else besides potatoes, and we didn't have any other vegetables in the house.  So I added your standard off-brand noodles from a bag and continued cooking until everything was soft and consistent.

You know what?  I really liked it, and so did Afon!  Very hearty and flavorful, and if you like the taste of onions, which I love, then it's a treat for the tongue as well as time-friendly.

Time // B

Ease // A+

Presentation // B+

Affordability // A-

Health // C+

Taste // A-

Not bad!  Health got the lowest rating because of white flour carbs, starchy potatoes and a near intravenous injection of sodium from the gravy granules.  Still vegan, though--hey!

The Kitchen Alchemist: Fried Rice and Vegetables

"In which I try to make healthful, affordable, easy meals:

in other words, throwing together ingredients in hopes of creating gold."

If you're just joining us, the idea for this continuing series is outlined very somberly here.  If you're new, it may or may not also be useful to know that during Lent, I give up all animal products except for fish on weekends.  Hence the extreme simplicity of the meal.  (Also, I'm a lazy creative cook.)

This meal was scrapped together from leftover rice and vegetables and turned out very well.  My favorite thing to do is to throw things together in a pan with oil.  So that worked out nicely.  Since they were leftovers, all I had were carrots and potatoes, but a more traditional recipe would use peas and other vegetables.

I always start my "stir-fry" with a glob of oil and chopped garlic.  Then I add onions, and that makes the base.  Since the carrots and potatoes had already been boiled the night before, they didn't need to be cooked through; I just browned them a bit in the pan.  Then I added a bit more oil and the rice--which, again, was already cooked.  It took about twenty minutes for the rice to fry up how I like it, but it was a pretty hands-off twenty minutes.

Vegetables taste especially nice with Worcester sauce (see my "You Know You're in Wales When" segment here), but the fish ingredient means I can't have it on weekdays.  Instead, I used vegan-friendly salt and chutney to punch up the flavor.  We ate it with salad greens and drank cherry brandy for dessert.  It was popular with our friend Glyn, who is joining the Eastern Orthodox Church this Easter, and so can't have animal products either.

Glyn, Afon, and Rupert having fun after dinner.

Report card time:

Time  //  B

Ease  //  A

Presentation  //  B+

Affordability  //  A

Health  //  A

Taste  //  B+

The time would have gotten a B+ or A- because it was pretty effortless, but I took into consideration that it only works if you have leftovers.  If you try this or something similar, let me know.

The Kitchen Alchemist: Birthday Cake

"In which I try to make healthful, affordable, easy meals:

in other words, throwing together ingredients in hopes of creating gold."

I made this cake for Afon's birthday (the day of, not the party), and googled recipes literally five minutes before pulling the ingredients together from the depths of my parents' pantry.  I picked this one for easiness and ingredients.  But the majority of my family members are squeamish about whole milk (why?), so when I came to that part, I improvised a little.  In addition to the watery, flavorless skim milk, I added two spoonfuls of sour cream hoping to thicken it up a little.  Oh, yeah.  It thickened it all right.

After the cake came out of the oven (not burnt!!), I googled icing recipes, and narrowed down the results by which ones called for shortening.  I'd always wanted to use the innocent and unused vegetable Crisco minding its own business at the back of the spice drawer.  I actually loved this icing.  I'm not that into buttercream, but this had an almost floury taste to it which I loved.  And it was easy to whip up, easy to apply.

When Afon saw me preparing the cake, he took a full two seconds to register what was happening, turned sharply on his heel, went to the cutlery drawer, and came back with a spoon, ready to dig in.  I was able to hold him off with a compromise: he licked the icing and batter spoons, and I kept the cake intact for later.

Three out of five liked my dense, doughy cake; one of them being Afon, who gives two thumbs up to anything with sugar.  My mom and I liked it (also sugar fans).  But my father and sister thought it tasted weird.  Do with that what you will.

Time  //  A

Ease //  A

Presentation  //  A+

Affordability  //  A-

Health  //  D

Taste  //  B

Yep.

The Kitchen Alchemist

"In which I try to make healthful, affordable, easy meals:

in other words, throwing together ingredients in hopes of creating gold."

You know I like my fairy tale metaphors.  c;

There are far better cooks and far better cooking advice out there.  And while I can follow a recipe well enough, my attention is often fragmented (the writer's curse!) and my patience strained.  My favorite type of meal to make is one in which I open the pantry, pull out some ingredients I think would be complimentary, toss them in one pan or pot on the stove, and eat it!

So far, my experiments have been mildly successful.  Probably because of their extreme simplicity.  And I've got pictures.  Lots of pictures.

So I'm going to start documenting my kitchen experiments here, on a not-regular-basis.  I say "not regular" rather than "irregular" because even that word summons an inkling of competency that I lack.  It'll go something like this: ingredients, preparation, and then exams, graded on the rubric of  Time // Ease // Presentation // Affordability // Health // Taste.

 Anyway, stick around for more if you're interested.  It's going to be ridiculous.