Pareve Irish Soda Bread

I don’t know why I wait for St. Patrick’s Day to make and eat Irish Soda Bread. It’s a really nice treat for breakfast together with my usual yogurt. It isn’t sweet and it has a compelling, moist, dense texture that makes you feel as if you aren’t going to be hungry again in an hour but also isn’t heavy at all. 

And yet I never think to make it until now.

Silly. This is too good for once-a-year.

Here’s a pareve version, which you can use if you’re kosher and want to have some delicious bread with corned beef and cabbage (or any other meat). It tastes just like the dairy version, made with buttermilk (there’s a note on how to substitute just below the recipe).

Irish Soda Bread (pareve version)

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1-1/2 cups water

• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup raisins

• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Mix the water and cider vinegar together and pour over the flour mixture. Mix the ingredients until you can form a soft dough. Work in the raisins and caraway seeds, if used. Sprinkle some flour on a work surface and knead the dough 18-20 times. Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly. Cut a small X on top with the tip of a sharp knife. Place the dough on the baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Makes one

NOTE: For a more traditional, dairy version use 1-1/2 cups buttermilk in place of the water and cider vinegar

Scallion Cakes

If the Giants or Jets aren’t playing I’m not much interested in the Superbowl. It might have been okay if the New England Patriots were in it, since I live in New England, sort of (a lot of Yankees consider us lower Fairfield county folks New England-imposters). And maybe even if the Bears were in it because I went to college at Northwestern, in Evanston, Illinois and spent 4 years cheering on Da Bears, Cubs, White Sox, etc.

Frankly, Green Bay and Pittsburgh? Not interested so much. 

But we always go to my brother and sister-in-law’s house on Superbowl Sunday. It’s been a tradition for years and years now, whether or not we watch the game or just switch TV channels occasionally to see who’s winning. They have an enormous TV that makes you feel as if you are in the stadium. Jeff makes the best fireplace fire and also the best popcorn (he uses an entire stick of butter). Eileen will surely make a turkey breast and fixins. So I guess my contribution will be hors d’oeuvre.

Instead of the usual guacamole or salsa, I’ll bring Scallion Cakes. They’re crispy wedges of fried dough filled with little bits of chopped scallions sprinkled judiciously with crunchy particles of kosher salt. Believe me, these things are like potato chips. You can never eat just one. I better make a double recipe to have in my freezer for when my kids come to visit. You don’t even have to defrost them — reheat them in a single layer in a preheated 425 degree oven for a few minutes on each side until they’re hot.

Scallion Cakes

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup cold water
• vegetable oil
• 4-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 scallions, finely chopped

Place the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the boiling water and mix at medium speed until a rough dough has formed. Let cool for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the cold water and mix until the dough forms into a ball. Knead for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic (you can do all this in a food processor). Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 10-inch circle. Brush the dough with about 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Sprinkle with about 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Sprinkle with about one tablespoon of the chopped scallion. Roll the circle jelly roll style. Form the rolled dough into a coil. Press down on the coil to flatten it slightly. Roll the coil into circles about 1/8-inch thick (don’t worry if some of the dough breaks and the scallions pop through slightly). Repeat with the remaining dough, salt and scallions. Keep the circles separated. Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet large enough to hold the circles. Cover the pan and cook each circle, one at a time, over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side, or until browned and crispy. Add more vegetable oil to the pan as necessary for each circle of dough. Drain the fried circles on paper towels. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Serve hot. Makes 48 pieces

Carrot and Parsnip Fries

Man and woman does not live by french fries alone, although sometimes that’s all I think I want for dinner.

But french fries aren’t the healthiest thing and besides they can be messy to make if you cook them from scratch.

Long ago I tried to find an alternative because I realized I would never be able to eat as many french fries as I’d like to. Nothing really comes close. I’ve tried the baked fries, but really, they’re awful unless you put a whole lot of olive oil on them and then, what’s the point?

On the other hand, if you don’t use potatoes your expectations aren’t the same. When you make carrot “fries” or green bean “fries” you don’t expect them to taste like regular french fries so you don’t make the comparison in the first place. You can even bake them rather than fry them and it’s okay because your mind is not thinking the usual.

I make carrot and parsnip fries at least once a week. They’re roasted. It’s one of the vegetables that I DOUBLE at dinner because everyone, I mean, everyone who eats dinner at my house, loves these things.

They’re not french fries. But they’re really really good.

Try some. This is from my book, Hip Kosher.

Carrot and Parsnip Fries

• 1 pound carrots
• 1 pound parsnips
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 3 tablespoons chopped mixed fresh herbs, optional

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them into strips about 4-inches long, 1/2-inch wide and place them on a baking sheet. Pour the olive oil over the vegetables and toss them to coat each piece. Sprinkle with salt and the optional herbs. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning them once or twice, or until the vegetables are tender and lightly crispy.

Makes 4 servings

Baked Cranberries

On Thanksgiving when I was a kid the cranberry sauce choices were either the jellied kind that trembled or the lumpy kind that clumped together on the plate. In either case, from the can. The lumpy stuff was way too sophisticated for me. The shivery kind went down easier.

Then my mother discovered fresh cranberries. We never looked back. Especially because the recipe is so easy you could do it in less than 5 minutes prep time. And even though it is lumpy, the fruit has a faintly resilient texture and your tongue can actually tell it’s berries you’re eating. It doesn’t cook into an indistinguishable mass. It’s good and beautiful too.

Baked Cranberries

• 12 ounces fresh cranberries (3 cups)

• 1-1/2 cups sugar

• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange flavored brandy

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and drain the berries and place them in a single layer in a baking dish. Add the sugar and toss to coat all the berries. Cover the dish tightly with a lid or aluminum foil. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove the cover and stir thoroughly. Let the berries cool. Stir in the brandy. Chill thoroughly.

Makes 6-8 servings