Top o’ the mornin’ to ye!  St. Patrick’s Day is here again, one of the favorite holidays around the ol’ Flamingo Pond.  The husband is half-Irish, and back when we got married, we made a deal:  I would get all the Jewish holidays and he would get St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas.  I took this to be a pretty fair compromise, since the only holidays he wanted were the ones involving good food, good drink, and prezzies!  And we like to start the morning with a slab of old-fashioned Irish Brown Bread.  This is not the sweet bread with raisins or some such, that you might find in stores, today.  Real Soda Bread is just that – bread. Slice it up for sandwiches, chunk it up to sop up soup or gravy, toast it up & slather with good butter, a piece of cheese, maybe some jam.

We don’t dye anything green around here, no sir!  From the beginning, we’ve only made traditional Irish recipes, prepared as closely as possible to the traditional ways.

One of the really lovely things about this bread is that it’s pretty quick to make. Just mix up the dough – either by hand or mixer with a dough hook – form it up and bake.  No resting time, no rising time.  You can have this on the table, all warm, crusty, and ready to eat in about an hour!  And I’ll bet you have the ingredients ready to go, right now.  So, let’s do it:

Irish Brown Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups stone ground whole wheat flour
• 3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbs. sugar, honey, or molasses (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups soured milk *

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In a large bowl (or your mixer bowl), combine the flours, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.  Add the sweetener (if using),  and add the milk, a little at a time, mixing well.  The dough should be firm and still just a bit sticky.

Divide the dough into two pieces, form into firm balls, and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or pan liner.  Flatten each ball slightly with your hand, to about 2-3 inches thick.  Slash an X across the top of each loaf (to let the fairies out, of course!).

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when the bottoms are rapped with your knuckle, or an instant-read thermometer inserted through the side indicates at least 192° F.

* Yes, I actually let milk go naturally sour for this. Don’t go freaking out. No, it’s not going to hurt you.  After all, that’s how basic farmers cheeses historically got their starts, and the natural acids work with the baking soda to get the dough rising.  And it’s a great way to use up milk that’s “gone off” on you.  If you don’t have any soured milk on hand, just measure out your milk and add either a teaspoon of lemon juice or a teaspoon of white vinegar, mix it well and let it sit till it reaches room temperature.

Don’t save this just for St. Patrick’s Day, either! This is a tasty, healthy bread that’s great all year long, especially if you just noticed that you’ve run out of bread for sandwiches or snacks.

More St. Patrick’s Day food ideas:

• Mashed Potato Biscuits (Irish Potato Cakes)
• Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day
• Chicken in (Non-Dairy) Tarragon Cream Sauce
• Colcannon (Mashed Potato with Cabbage and Leeks)

I came home late from work the other night, and even though the temptation was great to order in pizza or take out Chinese, I resisted. I had just baked these light and fluffy burger rolls with the Soft Whole Wheat Bread dough recipe from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and was really eager to try them. So, in the interest of time – I was so hungry I could have chewed the arm off the couch – I grabbed some ground beef and some of my favorite cheats, and had supper on the table in literally, fifteen minutes! That’s less time than you can get a pizza – or even decide on your toppings!

This quickie meal blends the gentle heat of a favorite chili, the fun of a Sloppy Joe, and the goodness of whole wheat. By the way, this would make a great addition to your Super Bowl menu, too! Ready? Start your stopwatches:

Black Bean Chili Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

2 Tbs corn oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 16 oz jar Oxford Falls® Fried Green Tomato Salsa (or any tomatillo-based salsa)
1 15.5 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
8 whole wheat or whole grain hamburger buns (toasted, if you like)

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the ground beef. Add the jar of tomatillo salsa, stir, bring up to a simmer. Add the black beans and the diced tomatoes, including its liquid. Allow to simmer until most of the liquid has cooked off, about 5 minutes.

Serve over sliced burger buns. Serves 8.

Told you it was a cheat. A tasty, even pretty healthy cheat, at that. Want to make it even healthier? Change out the ground beef for ground turkey, or even ground chicken.

And those burger buns? They sprang from this edition of the HBin5 Challenge:

To review, Michelle over at Big Black Dog, organized a group to bake from the book by Dr. Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe François, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

The current challenge is to bake 3 different things using the Soft Whole Wheat Bread Recipe: a loaf of bread, hamburger or hotdog rolls, and Apple Strudel Bread.

First, the straight-up sandwich loaf:

This is actually the second loaf I made. The first one was made with the original recipe from HBin5, and was a great hit. So much so, that the loaf was eaten before I could photograph it! This is an excellent sandwich loaf – soft, tight texture, and holds together, even sliced very thin. But I couldn’t help but wonder if I couldn’t make it even healthier for my borderline-diabetic husband.

In this version, I substituted light agave nectar for the honey as the sweetener, and substituted an 8 ounce carton of Egg Beaters (roughly the equivalent of 4 eggs) for the 5 eggs called for in the recipe. I also added 1/4 cup of flax seed meal, and to lighten it up a bit more, substituted white whole wheat flour for half of the whole wheat flour. While MJ detected only the slightest difference in taste from the original, it wasn’t anything pronounced, and I was instructed, “Don’t lose this recipe!” The highest praise.

Next up, were the burger buns you met at the top of this post. I used my kitchen scale to make these buns all the same size. They baked up soft, beautifully textured, yet sturdy. Delicious!

Last, but not least, is the Apple Strudel Bread. The same whole wheat bread dough is rolled out and rolled up with chopped apple, walnut, and (in mine) dried blueberries instead of raisins, all mixed with raw sugar and cinnamon. Yum.

This was perfect for the Jewish holiday, Tu B’Shevat, essentially our Arbor Day. As the 3 of you regular readers should know by now, a Jewish holiday doesn’t exist that doesn’t have certain food traditions attached to it and this is no exception. Traditionally, foods that contain tree fruit and nuts are served on Tu B’Shevat, and the apples and walnuts in this, definitely qualify.

Check out the other participants in the HBin5 Bread Braid to see what everyone else came up with!

Come back Tuesday for my first sponsored giveaway! Here’s your hint: Whether you’re a man or a woman, gourmet cook or home cook, you need this, and I’m betting most of you don’t have one!

Oh, my. I have just discovered The Buckwheat Pancake. No, no! Not just buckwheat pancakes – THE best buckwheat pancake I’ve ever had! I made these for Sunday breakfast, and had to share them with you.

Sure, they’re healthy and low fat, but they’re also so delicious and easy to make, you won’t care! Would I lie to you?

Please don’t go by this photo! I don’t know what happened here, but they really do look golden brown & delicious in real life!

Buckwheat Apple Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk (can use low-fat, if available)
1 large egg (or equivalent of egg-substitute like Egg Beaters)
1/2 Tbs. wildflower honey
1/2 Tbs. dark honey
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbs. Smart Balance Light (or other) margarine, melted
1 medium apple (your favorite) diced or chopped small

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. In another, smaller bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, except the apple. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and mix until thoroughly combined. When the batter is smooth, fold in the chopped apple. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Spray a large frying pan or griddle with cooking spray and heat it until a few drops of water bounce around before evaporating. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Turn when the tops develop bubbles and the edges look dry. Cook the second side for about 3 – 4 more minutes, or until brown.

Serve with additional Smart Balance and honey. Makes about 8, roughly 5-inch pancakes

Notes:

One more time: I receive no consideration for using Smart Balance Light, or any other brand. I have it in my fridge because we like it and for its stated healthy composition. If you want to use something else, feel free.

I prefer to use local honeys. If there’s a farmer’s market in your area, odds are you’ll find someone selling local honey. For this recipe, I used a local wildflower honey and an avocado honey, which is a very dark, rich honey that has almost a bite to it at the finish. If you can find buckwheat honey, that would be awesome! If you can’t find a dark honey, you can substitute molasses.

If you’d like, you can substitute agave nectar for the honey – use the light agave nectar for the wildflower honey, and use the dark, raw agave instead of the dark honey. *Bonus* – Although there’s very little honey in this recipe, substituting the agave nectars for the honeys makes these pancakes an excellent choice for Type II diabetics.

No, you don’t have to use a “cooking” apple. I used a Golden Delicious in mine – you can use whatever you have.

I used an electric griddle set at 325º F.

And, of course, this recipe is easily doubled to feed a crowd. You can freeze any leftover pancakes with pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper slipped between each one, in a freezer bag, and reheat them from frozen (don’t thaw them) in your oven or toaster oven, whenever you want them!

You have got to try this the next time you have a craving for pancakes – and they won’t wreck your diet!

Here it is, Recipe Monday, and timing being what it is, it’s also reveal day for the December HBin5 recipe.

To review, Michelle over at Big Black Dog, organized a new bread baking group, baking from the new book by Dr. Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe François, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. We’ll be starting to bake from the book officially next month, but till then, Dr. Jeff provided us with a special recipe to play with in December.

This month’s recipe is Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest, and it ain’t your mama’s challah. Or mine, for that matter. For starters, the flour used is primarily whole wheat, and there’s much less egg. Honey is used as the sweetener and there’s dried fruit and orange zest. Very festive!

Being out of regular whole wheat flour, I used white whole wheat, and my fat of choice was canola oil (which is what I use in my regular challahs). Instead of Craisins, I used a mixture of dried fruit packaged as “Antioxidant Fruit Blend”, containing dried cherries, cranberries, plums, and raisins. I also used flax seed meal instead of the wheat germ, and used demerara sugar as my topping. Otherwise, I made the dough exactly as in the recipe.

Conclusion? Well, frankly, I think I need to make this again to be sure.

In all honesty, I think my dough “aged-out.” That is, the recipe says that it should be baked within 5 days, or you should freeze it. I had good intentions, really I did. It was the cookies! I blame the cookies!

I didn’t freeze the dough, and I didn’t bake it until 8 days later. I didn’t get the rise I was looking for, except in those little ones I made in my mini-bundt pan, just for fun. And the flavor is pretty strong. MJ said it tastes almost rye-like, and I agree.

On the other hand, this dough was a pleasure to work with, and although a bit softer and stickier than “normal” bread dough, it was much easier to shape than last month’s Pumpkin Brioche. As I said, I will make this again and bake it within the proper amount of time, to see if I get a better rise and milder flavor. I want it at its best.

Want the recipe? Click here to get all the instructions and try it yourself!

If you’d like to join in and try baking healthy breads in a whole new way, click here to visit Big Black Dog and learn about our monthly “Bread Braid”.

If you skipped yesterday’s posts hoping I’d move on to a happier subject today, you’re in luck!

I’m on a healthy cooking kick lately, most of which seems to be occurring over the weekend. If something works out, Mondays are the logical time to share that with you. Mostly so I’m forced to write it down and remember what I did. I can’t promise a new recipe every Monday – or even any kind of post, for that matter – but, hey! This makes 3 in a row… I think it’s a trend. At least it’s not a muffin!

Roasted Garlic & Spinach Pasta
– Makes 4 servings

1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbs Smart Balance or butter
4 cloves garlic, chopped in large, coarse pieces
1 medium onion, cut in large dice
1 box whole grain short pasta (e.g., rotini)
1 package baby spinach
1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan cheese to garnish

In a small sauté pan, heat olive oil and Smart Balance (or butter) together over medium-low heat.

Add the garlic, onion, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir together and reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions to al dente. Drain and return to the pot.

Add the uncooked baby spinach to the hot, cooked pasta, pour the hot oil with the onion and garlic over the top, and toss together.

Turn the heat back on to medium, add the diced tomatoes, stir to combine, and cover the pot. Heat for an additional 4 minutes. Serve it up with a little grated parmesan on top, and enjoy!

I’m really liking these new whole grain pastas that are on the market now. They’re not as tough as the old whole wheat versions, they’re high in protein and fiber, and have much better-balanced carbs. I used the Barilla Whole Grain Rotini here, but Ronzoni also makes some good ones, and you can use anything that looks good to you – even a long pasta, if you like.

I’m also fond of those bags of baby spinach you find in the salad section of the store. It’s completely clean, tender, and so quick that, as in this recipe, you hardly need any direct heat to cook it.

What about the oil? Olive oil, as well as being tasty, is one of those healthy, monounsaturated fats. From Wikipedia: “Unlike the high amount of animal fats typical to the American diet, olive oil lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. It is also known to lower blood sugar levels and blood pressure. Olive oil contains the monounsaturated fat, oleic acid which has antioxidants such as vitamin E and carotenoids, and oleuropein, a chemical that prevents the oxidation of LDL particles. It is these properties that are thought to contribute to the health benefits of olive oil. Research indicates olive oil prevents peptic ulcers and is effective in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, and may be a factor in preventing cancer.” So, while it is a fat, it’s one of the good guys!

This is really quick to throw together on a weeknight, and – served with a salad, maybe some garlic bread – a completely nutritious meal – especially if you want to go meatless one or two nights a week.