Heirloom Tomatoes

Having read about Heirloom seeds for several years, my husband and I decided to try our hand with growing heirloom tomatoes in our garden this year. We bought several different varieties of plants, planted them in our small garden spot and watched them take off…


We were impressed with the amount of fruit we collected off the Yellow Submarine and finally had to start giving them away to family and friends as they are a little small for processing but have a wonderful flavor. They are great in a tomato salad.



My favorite was the Big Rainbow as they are not only a wonderful color but they made a great Tomato Jam. This tomato has a lot of meat and so I had some nice fruit in the jam. I finally picked and froze enough of them that my next batch of jam should be a nice amber color and will certainly share the photos on here when I get it done.

I recommend to all home gardeners to try out a few of these “new” old plants in your garden, not only for something different but for the flavor that so many of the newer varieties just don’t have.

GUINNESS SPICED BEEF

This is a wonderful recipe. My son and I together prepared this dish for a family wedding and we quadrupled the recipe. There were very few leftovers, but what we did have left made the best roast beef sandwiches I have ever eaten. I only marinated this for 24 hours, but from what I am told you can do this for up to 3 days for a stronger flavor.



6 lbs sirloin tip roast or beef eye round
3 bay leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground mace
6 ground cloves
1 clove garlic, crushed and made into a paste with salt
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
2 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
1 bottle Guinness stout

Mix all the flavorings and spices together. Rub in the mixture once or twice a day for up to two days.
Place the beef in a large bowl and rub all over with the spice and flavoring mixture.
Cover and refrigerate.
The spices and flavorings will now be mixed with the juices drawn from the beef.

Tie up the meat firmly if needed and place in a roaster.
Rub in a last teaspoon of ground cloves.

Mix 1 1/2 cups cold water and a bottle of Guinness, pour into bottom of roaster.
Place rack in roaster and roast on rack.

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees and cook for about 3 to 4 hours until well done.
Allow to cool.
When cool, remove from the cooking liquid, place on a serving dish and cover with a weighted plate.
Refrigerate until serving time.
Serve cold, thinly sliced.

IRISH STEW

A warm bowl of Irish Stew

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion chopped
3 pounds boneless lamb stew meat
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 3/4 teaspoon dried
Salt and pepper to taste

2 medium white potatoes peeled and sliced
3 cups chicken stock
4 medium potatoes halved
8 carrots peeled and halved

Cook onions and lamb in butter until onions are translucent.
Add the thyme, salt and pepper, slice potatoes and stock and cook for 2 hours or until meat is almost fork tender.
Add the potatoes and carrots and cook until the vegetables are tender.

For a traditional Irish stew do not thicken; for those of you who like a thicker stew then you may make a roux to add to the stew.

2 tablespoons lamb drippings
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Salt and pepper
2 cups cooking liquid

Mix 2 tablespoons of lamb drippings and 2 tablespoons of flour over medium high heat to form a paste, stir in the 2 cups of cooking liquid to form gravy.

Add the gravy to the pot to thicken the stew.

MY DADDY'S LIMERICK HAM

Leftover Limerick Ham on Sour Dough Bread.

A traditional dish in Ireland, it is usually made with a whole ham but our family uses just the butt portion unless we use a whole semi-boneless ham. This recipe has been handed down in our family for more than 30 years.The orange juice was my addition and I doubt you’d find it used in Ireland but it is a nice twist to the recipe which can be left out if you desire.
Warning this ham is addictive and once you’ve eaten one prepared this way an ordinary baked ham just won’t do. You may substitute 1 tablespoon of pickling spices for the bay and cloves; whether you tie them up or just toss them in is left up to you as a person choice.

6 pound cured ham
1/2 cup cider vinegar
Equal parts of apple cider and water to cover ham
1 small onion peeled
2 bay leaves
6 cloves
8 tbsp brown mustard
8 tbsp brown sugar
Whole cloves
6 ounces frozen orange juice thawed (optional)

Put ham in large stock pot and cover with water/cider mixture, add vinegar, 6 cloves, bay leaves and onion. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes per pound until meat begins to pull away from center bone. Remove from heat and leave soaking in pot for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove ham from pot and take off heavy skin, put ham in roaster, cut crisscrosses in fat. Reserve stock if using orange juice. Mix mustard and sugar into paste. Rub or pat over ham, stick cloves in ham. Mix orange juice and 1/2 to 1 cup of stock together and pour around ham in dish. Bake 30 minutes or until ham begins to brown.

INA GARTEN'S PASTITSIO

My Pastitsio

The recipe is hers and its easy to follow; while it does take a little (lot) of prep work and time to cook it was well worth it. I had never heard of Pasitsio (Greek Lasagna) and at first when I thought I'd never make it again because it was not a quick dinner... however after tasting it I changed  my mind.

I was a little afraid when I read it had a Bechamel sauce as I did not know what this was... turns out it's white sauce... something I've been making long before I ever turned 16. It was the first sauce I learned to make at my daddy's side in the kitchen.

Rather than post the recipe, I've provided the link... please follow it and try this dish, I promise you it's wonderful!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/pastitsio-recipe/index.html

ALMOST KEY LIME CUPCAKES WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

I love Key Limes, Key Lime Pie and well just about anything made with Key Limes. I grew up in Florida, home of sunshine, citrus and yep you guessed it Key Limes.  For years I would have to purchase bottle juice when I went back home for a visit or maybe grab a bag of limes if I was lucky. Then the local discount store decided to carrry both the limes and the juice... until recently... shoot! Wouldn't you know it, I had my mouth set for something tart and sweet and well Key Limey.

Don't fear though, these cupcakes are divine even if I had to use a regular lime, they are worth the time. I could have eaten the bowl of frosting by itself but decided a trip to the hospital or sick in bed would not be worth it.

Dorie gave them 5 stars with the following comment:  "Granny.... (long pause as she swallows her bite) you sure make good cupcakes".


CUPCAKE BATTER

1 box Betty Crocker White Cake Mix

3 Eggs
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup Key Lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

Mix batter according to package directions. Fill cupcake pan with liners and fill liners 2/3 full. Bake 18 - 20 minutes, check with toothpick for doneness.

Cool 10 minutes and frost with frosting:


WHITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING

5 ounces melted white chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Crisco
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of lime juice
3 1/2 cups shifted powdered sugar
Heavy whipping cream

Cream butter and Crisco, add melted chocolate, salt, vanilla and juice. Add powdered sugar. Thin frosting with whipping cream until consistency. Fill with bag and pipe on frosting or use a spoon.

FRESH FRUIT COFFECAKE

This recipe is adapted from the first dish I ever made with Blueberries. We were living in Connecticut and bought some local berries and I pulled out my only cookbook at the time and I found this wonderful recipe that I decided to try out and being generous I ended up making half a dozen and sending them to work with my husband.  My grandfather called this a Kuchen (German for cake). Twenty years later along with a few alterations and its still a favorite…

Have all ingredients at room temp. Put rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x2 round pan.

Whisk together thoroughly:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
In large bowl, beat on medium to high speed until light and fluffy (3 to 4 minutes)

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar

Beat in 1 at a time until just blended:
2 large eggs

Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. If batter is too thick (should be like brownie batter) then thin with about ¼ cup of milk. Scrape batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Combine:
1 Tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over
2 cups fruit (if using Peaches, sprinkle with Fruit Fresh or lemon juice)

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the cake and bake until top is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center (avoiding fruit) comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.