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With summer on the horizon, and thinking of all of the wonderful Irish recipes which are made from potatoes, and the many Wyoming barbeques at The Sweetwater which would frequently include potato salad, I thought you might enjoy a favorite summer recipe from my table. This particular recipe is also featured in a blog post at my Inspirationals Blog on my author website (and it’s free to sign up for my newsletter while you’re there).
Feel free to stop by and have a look around, sign my guest book, and enjoy the free reader resources offered there—: www.LisaPrysock.com
Lady Lisa’s Potato Salad
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INGREDIENTS
Potatoes (any kind, redskin, Idaho, or russets work well) About 12-15 (more if you want plenty of leftovers)
3-5 boiled, peeled, rinsed, and sliced eggs
1 and 1/2 cups of diced Celery
1 Large diced Onion, Vidalia preferred
1 Large green pepper, chopped or diced
Fresh or dried and chopped parsley, about two teaspoons
2 and 1/2 cups of Miracle Whip, more or less as needed
1 cup mounded of sour cream, low fat or light is fine, more or less as needed
1 and 1/2 cup of Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Sea Salt, about 1 teaspoon
Ground Pepper, fresh ground if possible, about 1 teaspoon
Basil, about half teaspoon
Dill, about one teaspoon
Paprika, sprinkle on top
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DIRECTIONS
Boil a large pan of peeled and quartered potatoes until the potatoes are soft. (About 40-50 minutes) At the same time, boil about 5 eggs for about 18-20 minutes. Since the eggs will be done first, crack and peel the shells, rinse, and slice. Set these aside in a small dish to add to the top of the salad at the end. If you are still waiting on the potatoes you can begin chopping the veggies. When the potatoes are not under cooked or over cooked, but soft enough so a fork can easily slice through them, drain the potatoes into a colander, rinse with cold water, and cut into slices, cubes, and chunks. Pour these into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Dice three to four stalks of celery rinsed in cold water to make enough for about 1 and 1/2 cup. Peel and dice a large onion. Wash and dice a large green pepper. Add the celery, onion, and green pepper to the bowl. Wash the parsley by rinsing in cold water. Set on a paper towel. Take another paper towel and pat the parsley until it is fairly dry and then chop it into approximately half inch pieces. Add all of these ingredients to the bowl along with the seasonings.
Now add the shredded cheese, miracle whip, and sour cream. Stir gently and thoroughly. Taste it to see if you need more or less seasoning and more or less miracle whip or sour cream. If you need less seasoning, you may add more cheese and sour cream to the dish to tone it down. If the ingredients are too dry, add more Miracle Whip or more sour cream until it is a texture you like.
When you are satisfied with the taste, pour the entire contents of the bowl into a pretty serving dish, add the sliced eggs to the top, and add more chopped parsley or celery leaves as a garnish. Season generously with the paprika by sprinkling it across the top of the dish. I like to serve this dish right away slightly warm, but the second day the chilled leftovers are also fabulous. I usually get a ton of complements on this salad so when I make it, I make a very full pan of potatoes and adjust the recipe as needed.
SWEET IRISH BREAKFAST Scones
This is my own variation of this traditional Irish recipe:
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INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 cup Raisins
1/4 cup each of Dried Cranberries and Dried Cherries
1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel
1 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon Almond
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INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and in large mixing bowl, mix the flour, and baking powder. Then add butter. Using a pastry cutter or table knife, cut butter into flour until it makes crumbs.
Stir in raisins, cranberries, cherries, lemon or orange peel, and the sugar. Mix well.
In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, vanilla, and almond flavor until thoroughly combined. Pour into flour mix and stir until dough forms.
Add more flour in 1/2 cup measurements if too thin. You want it to have a firm enough texture to shape, but it should be soft and wet. Be careful not to add too much flour.
Transfer dough to a flat, clean, floured surface. Use a floured rolling pin to flatten dough to 2-inch thickness.
Cut scones with a round cookie cutter.
Place scones on a pizza pan or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a stone baking tray. I recommend using a little non-stick spray.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden brown. Cool on wire rack.
Serve warm or cooled with tea, coffee, juice, butter, jelly, jam, or as they do in Ireland, fresh cream.
These may also be served with icing, glaze, or powdered sugar sprinkled on them for other variations.
They are wonderful served with bacon, scrambled eggs, and fried skillet potatoes brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley.
GLAZED IRISH TEA MADELEINES
I found this fabulous recipe doing my research for Irish foods at a wonderful place, Cindy’s blog, Little Miss Celebrations, at this link: http://www.littlemisscelebration.com/2014/03/05/glazed-irish-breakfast-tea-madeleines/
These can be made in lemon, almond, orange, or vanilla flavors. They’re actually French sponge cakes in a cookie form with an Irish twist. Serve with Irish Breakfast Tea. Traditional Madeleines are baked in shell loaf molds, but you can adapt the recipe to use muffin pans or other miniature mold or loaf pans. There were a number of similar recipes for this cookie, but I liked this one the best. You’ll want to read the whole recipe before attempting. Here’s what Cindy writes:
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INGREDIENTS
¾ cup of sifted cake flour
1/2 cup plus a few tablespoons unsalted butter (Use extra butter because some is lost during the straining)
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teabags of Irish Breakfast tea
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INSTRUCTIONS
Cut open tea bags and pour tea into a small bowl. Over medium heat, melt butter until it turns golden brown. Remove from heat and add tea leaves to butter. Allow to cool and tea leaves to steep in the butter for 10 minutes.
In the top of a double-boiler (or in a pan set over boiling water,) whisk eggs and sugar until mixture is just warm. Remove from heat and whisk in lemon rind and vanilla. Combine cake flour and baking powder and stir into egg mixture. Strain butter through a chinois or mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth, allowing a small amount of tea leaves to remain in the butter. Stir butter into flour mixture, cover with plastic wrap and let batter sit at room temperature for one hour.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush each mold cavity of a madeleine pan with a very thin layer of melted butter and dust with flour; remove excess flour from pan. Fill each shell-shaped cavity with batter, about three-fourths full.
Bake cookies until the edges are very light brown and the centers rise, about 10-12 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and invert cookies on wire rack to cool.
Tea Glaze
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INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 cup of brewed Irish Breakfast Tea (allow tea to steep about 5-7 minutes)
1 teaspoon vanilla
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INSTRUCTIONS
Add vanilla and 2-3 tablespoons of tea to confectioner’s sugar, more or less as needed, and blend to make a smooth glaze of pouring consistency. Place a piece of waxed paper under wire rack. Drizzle glaze over cookies, allowing glaze to run off onto waxed paper. Let glaze set. Cookies are delicious warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container. Unglazed madeleines can be frozen. This recipe is adapted from my favorite basic Madeleine recipe from Cooking A to Z, The California Culinary Institute.
Swiss Apple Cherry Pie
I found this pioneer recipe while doing my pioneer research and many pioneer recipes which have been preserved at the following link:
https://homesteading.com/pioneer-recipes/
Here’s what this recipe states:
Swiss were among the pioneers of the 1800s who went on the Oregon Trail. They brought with them pioneer dessert recipes including this Swiss apple cherry pie.
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WHAT TO DO:
1-Prepare 4 large cooking apples and slice them thinly
2-Make double-crust pie pastry
3-Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and brush the bottom of the pastry shell with it
4-Lay apple slices on the pastry shell
5-Mix a cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour and ground cinnamon each, and half a teaspoon of grated nutmeg
6-Sprinkle some of the dry ingredients over the first layer of apples
7-Take fresh or canned cherries and make another layer with them
8-Sprinkle with the dry ingredients
9-Continue layering and top with the melted butter
10-Add top crust and rub it with evaporated milk
11-Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 425 F