Matcha - Green Tea Irish Soda Bread

I am afraid the next few posts, like the previous one may be very green.

With St Patrick's Day a few days away, I am even more inspired. 

To be absolutely honest, I was prompted and inspired to make an Irish soda bread a few weeks back, when an Irish colleague at work started raving about Irish Soda Bread.  She spoke about it with so much passion that it reminded me of how much I actually liked Irish soda bread, but also how easy it was to make.  I have made many variations in the past, with dried fruit, fresh fruit like summer berries, with bananas, nuts and cheese. 

A month or so back, I found a tub of matcha  - green tea powder that I had picked up from a Oriental supermarket a year back and decided to include that in my Irish soda bread recipe.  Yes, I know I could have just used a bit of green food colouring, (rather than this expensive powder ) but I was curious to try it out in a sweet bread, as I've seen Matcha used in chocolate eclairs, cupcakes, cheesecakes and lattes (vegan and dairy versions).  

When the Matcha Sweet Soda Bread came out of the oven, it seemed to have lost its green colouring, but when we sliced into it, we could see a shade of green-ness.  Its not in your face kind of green, but a light gentle soothing green.  We spread a little butter on top and ate it warm, it was quite nice.  I am sharing a slice of this Soda Bread to Caroline Makes and  More Than Occasional Baker for Alphabakes.  The theme this month is the letter S (for Soda Bread).  I am also sharing it with Eat Your Veg and Bangers and Mash for March edition of Family Foodies event: the theme is Let's Go Baking.  

Irish Vegan Menu for St Patricks Day

I know St Patrick's Day has passed us by now, but I am posting this for future inspiration. 

For starter Irish-Indian Spiked Milligan Soup. In memory of the world premier Irish-Indian, a root vegetable soup spiked with curried spices.

Served with home-made granary croutons in the shape of shamrocks 

The main St Paddy's Shepherds Pie was plated up like an Irish flag , not that dissimilar from my Irish Vegetarian Plate see this link. 

To the left green sauteed cabbage, in the centre the white mash cottage pie in the centre, to the right orange Chantenay carrots. Oh I did make some shamrock centre with parsley, but upon the baking in the oven, it kinda got lost a little.

Unlike my Welsh Red Dragon Burgers which are made from sweet potatoes, red hot chilli flakes and minced jalapenos, the 'Maggie May' Burger was one of my plainer versions packed with the orange glow of carrots, sliced french green beans and potato chunks, so you may want to have a dash of mustard to heat it up. 

For cake there was Orange Carrot Cake and Father Teds Chocolate Mint Cakes topped with shamrock, both suitable for those following a vegan diet.

Spiked Milligan Soup for St Patricks Days

I hummed at what to call this soup which was specially made for my St Patricks Vegetarian menu.  I eventually had decided on Indian-Irish soup, but my husband a huge Spike Milligan fan called it 'Milligan soup'. 

 Well why not?

So in memory of the world premier Irish-Indian, a root vegetable soup spiked with curried spices. 

 I wonder what Mr Spike Milligan would have thought of it. 

For those who opted for the starter of soup.  A bowl was accompanied with chunky home-made shamrock shaped granary croutons. 

 I am sharing a bowl of this soup with Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for this week’s Souper (Soup, Salad and Sammies) Sundays and One Ingredient hosted this month by Laura of How to Cook Good Food and Nazima of Franglais Kitchen who are featuring my favourite ingredient chilli this month. .

Spike Milligan Soup for St Patricks Day 
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon Curry Powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 pints vegetable stock, made with 1 teaspoon bouillon powder
Salt to taste
40g fresh coriander leaves and stalks, minced
Method
Heat the oil in a pan, fry the onions until soft. Add the vegetables and spices and cook over gentle head until it begins to soften a little.  Then pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the minced coriander and add salt to taste, simmer until the coriander begins to wilt. Tweak seasoning and serve.  

Curly Kale and Potato Tortilla

I've had a busy few days.  My mother in law is here, its her first time in Wales, so we have been out and about quite a lot.  Last night we were at my parents, and my mother in law was getting acquainted with my rowdy nephews and nieces, playing board games and old fashion hangman, where she had to guess the name of children's movies.  I think she did pretty good. 

The weather here has turned a little grim, there was even hail stones at one point.  Where has all that promising Spring sunshine gone, I for one am waiting for it to warm up and stay that way and that is unusual for me to say, as I have never ever been a sun-worshipper. 

Okay onto today's grub, I should really call this a 'Green and White Tortilla' or 'Celtic Tortilla'. First because it St Patricks Day and secondly, well the Welsh Rugby Team have done Wales real proud, but I am not - its just a simple 'Potato and Kale Tortilla' - no need to be pretentious is there?! 

A generous sliced wedge was served with a simple green salad.  We have so much of it, that we will probably have it for lunch tomorrow too.  I am sharing this with Chef Al dente who is hosting the first ever Gimme Green event.  Here you must create any dish using a green vegetable or fruit as the main ingredient.  It can be either a savoury or sweet dish. 

Okay, I'd love to stay and blog a bit more, but I better be off, it's rude to keep your guests waiting. 

To those of your  celebrating St Patricks Day, Have a Good Evening. 

Shamrock Brown Scones

For the recipe see here.

Curly Kale and Potato Tortilla
Serves 6 - 8 depending on appetite and cut slices
Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
4 - 6 medium potatoes, thinly sliced (preferably with a mandolin)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
200g curly kale, rinsed, stalks removed and roughly chopped.
6 eggs, beaten
Method
Heat oil in a frying pan measuring about 9 inches with high sides. Heat oil, add the onion and cook until soften, then add in the potatoes and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes on medium heat until they are beginning to soften and turn golden, flipping them over now and again. Season with salt and pepper.  Tip into a large bowl.  In the same pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, then stir in the curly kale, and cook until wilted.  Then tip back in the potatoes and stir well to distribute the kale and the onion. Adjust seasoning if necessary. 
Gently pour in the beaten eggs, reduce the heat and allow to set. When it appears set and no longer soft in the middle. Cover the frying pan with a large plate or lid and invert the potato tortilla over onto the plate or lid. Then gently slide the upturned potato tortilla back into the frying pan. Increase the heat and cook the tortilla for a few more minutes until set and golden. Transfer the kale and potato tortilla onto a large serving plate and serve slices either warm or at room temperature.  Based on this recipe.

Shamrock Brown Scones

I don't have any roots in Ireland, but I do very much enjoy the sense of occasion that comes with St Patrick's day. This year fellow bloggers across blogosphere will be joining in the celebrations too and creating culinary delights, as well as those you can drink and get rather tipsy on. I thought to myself why not join in and do a little bit of Irish cooking too, but other than the numerous delicious potato recipes which incidentally are accompaniments, you have to admit that 'traditional Irish vegetarian food' is pretty much an oxymoron. (I am happy to be told that I am wrong). So I decided to do a bit of home-baking instead.
May I present to you my Shamrock Brown Scones. For those of you who may not know, may I share with you that St Patrick used the shamrock as a symbol to explain the concept of the holy Trinity in Christianity.
Believe it or not, these Irish Brown scones actually come from an Irish Vegetarian cookbook. As someone who enjoys eating her spuds and vegetables, last year like a mad woman I hunted for a Irish Vegetarian cookbook and could not find one, by heck I could. Eventually I tracked on down in Edinburgh at an independent bookshop called Word Power. Whilst in Edinburgh, I also picked up some pretty shamrock baking cups, unfortunately it looks like I won't be using them this year.

I am submitting these scones to The Daily Spud who is hosting a Paddy's Day Food Parade on the 17th March. A great way to join in the revelries without leaving home, especially as I'm doing the early shift the following day.

Instead of plain whipped cream, I thought I would apply a little natural green colouring to the whipped cream, and sprinkled it with a some little green gems (chopped Angelica). To make it more patriotic, you see. D said all that was missing was a green jam or preserve, something like gooseberries. mmmm Maybe next time.

Most people know how to make a good scone recipe, so I won't publish the recipe here. But for your information this one uses half plain flour and half wholemeal flour, full fat butter and full fat milk. Well its got to have full flavour. Recipe made from Irish Vegetarian Cookery: Traditional and Modern by Patrick Cotter (and no he is not related to Denis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso).

A true vegetarian Irish Plate

Today I was working the early Shift. I am not so good getting out of bed so early, especially when it is still so dark in the morning, but it was good to be finishing at 2pm, then you have the rest of the afternoon to yourself. So what did I do with a few hours of my afternoon? I went into the city centre and visited a couple of High Street bookstores and scoured their shelves for Traditional Irish Vegetarian recipes. I flicked through the Irish Kitchen, the Irish Pub, The Celtic Cookbook and a few others. Other than the recipes I’ve mentioned in one of my previous blogs. There was nothing to support Traditional Irish Vegetarian cuisine. When I got back home, I also researched on some websites and blogs, and found countless veganized and vegified Irish recipes, such as Irish Stew, but none of these enticed me to recreate them at home.

So in the end I decided, why all the fuss of trying to veganize or vegify a classic Irish recipe. Why don’t I just keep this evenings meal pure, simple and still rooted in aspects of Traditional Irish Vegetarian food that promises to be both comforting and deliciously hearty.
So here is it, may I present to you Shamrock potato cake served with braised cabbage and carrots. No meat imitations or substitutes required. The shamrock is St Patrick's symbol, he used it to explain the concept of the Trinity.
And will I be having a pint of Guinness to wash down my hearty meal?. The answer is no. Firstly, Guinness is neither vegan or vegetarian as it uses isinglass (fish bladder) in the filtering process. I think there are other alternatives for both vegans and vegetarians, but I really wouldn’t know as I have not done my research in this area, and the reason I have not done my research here supports my second reason for not having Guinness tonight. And the honest reason is that I simply am not a beer drinker, never mind being a Guinness drinker. Oh McNulty would be so disappointed in me! But I hope he understands that my heart is in the right place.

To everyone celebrating St Patricks Day, I hope you have a good evening.

Irish vegetarian food: is it an oxymoron?

With St Patricks Day not far away, my thoughts are turning to food, that is Irish vegetarian food of course. I have been to Ireland a few times, to be more specific Belfast, and it was all work related. I was fortunate one of the days to go and have a wander through the city centre and I came across Avoca, not a vegetarian place but very enticing indeed. The three places in Ireland that I would really like to go and eat at someday are Blazing Salads, Cornucopia in Dublin and Cafe Paradiso in Cork.

I do applaud Irish vegetarian chefs especially Denis Cotter of whom I am a huge and grateful fan. I know many vegetarians and cooks alike found his last book Wild Garlic a little too specialist, especially in relation to ingredients. For example, where can I get sea kale, Russian red spinach or sweet dumpling squash from? But for me its not an issue. If feeling ambitious, I can either grow some of these vegetables at my plot; or more realistically substitute them with something similar. I love Denis Cotters approach to vegetables and food. For me he and Nadine Abensur are vegetarian chefs that truly inspire me to cook food that is both creative and delicious to eat.

But back to the question is Irish vegetarian food is an oxymoron? Well lets delve a little deeper. What Irish vegetarian cuisine is there that is not meat based? The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is champ, boxty potato cakes, colconnan and soda bread. But these are not vegetarian meals in themselves; rather these are accompaniments to a main meal. I do think Irish food is very similar to Welsh and Scottish cuisine, being largely based on meat. Even the soups whether its leek or potato seem always to be made with either chicken or beef stock.

It is only in the last 10 years that there has been a revival in Traditional Welsh vegetarian cuisine with the comeback of the Glamorgan sausage. In Scotland, there is now the infamous Vegetarian haggis which is just as popular as the original meat based. But from Ireland what do we have? I know there are many meat dishes that have over the years become vegified, and its no different in Ireland with the Irish Stew becoming vegified. But in relation to traditional Irish vegetarian cuisine what is there? Please help me out here as I would really like to know. Please feel free to leave me feedback on this in order that I might pay homage to St Patricks and dish up more than champ and Irish whiskey coffee on the day.