Irish Rule-Breaking Bread

So, I intended to keep everything very simple with my recipes. Simple ingredients. Minimal steps. Basic tools. Now this bread may seem to defy that pledge, but it really doesn't. First: no yeast and rising and all that. Second: only 7 ingredients - all of which you should have around, with the exception of one (whole wheat flour), but it isn't outrageously expensive and keeps very well in the freezer. Third, and last, this bread is so good. Eat it plain just when it comes out of the oven or slathered in butter and jam. Devour the next day toasted. The loaf is very big, but you can cut good-sized individual slices (or just cut in half) and freeze. When hunger strikes, pop in microwave or toaster oven. This delicious bread may get a bit stale after two days on the counter - if it lasts that long - so freezing is a great way to keep a very good thing going.

Set oven to 400

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 baking soda

6 tablespoons cut up butter

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups soured milk (direction below)

Ok, soured milk. Not as bad as you think. Just add 2 tablespoons vinegar to your measuring cup, then fill with milk until you hit the 2 cup mark. Place the measuring cup on the oven while the oven heats makes the the reaction between milk and vinegar happen faster. This is important to make the bread to rise, so don't omit. You can use buttermilk of course, but that you definitely won't have in your fridge!

Add flours, salt, and baking soda to your mixing bowl and toss about with a fork to combine. Before you add your butter, you can either cut it up into very small cubes (about the size of a pea) or add the butter to the flours and use a pastry blender to cut into the butter until it reaches this size. Yes, a pastry blender is one of those tools you won't use much, but you can get one easily and inexpensively. I put mine in the photo so you can see what it looks like.

Once butter is added to the flour mixture, add the sugar and combine with your fork by gently tossing.

By now, soured milk should be looking thicker and kind of yogurt-y. Pour it into the mixing bowl and using a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula, easily work the milk into the flour mix until you have a big ball of dough. You may have to get your hands in there at the end, but just be gentle. If dough stick to your hands, pull off the dough and dust your hands with flour to prevent further stickiness.

Once you've got the ball of dough, place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Press it down into a circle shape that is about 2 inches high. Use a sharp knife to make a cross cut on the top and off it goes into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes.

Freezer = Friend

Of course, you have many friends, but your freezer should be among your best. Since you will be preparing food primarily for just yourself, you may run into lots of waste. You open a jar of pesto, but only need one scoop. You make some incredible spaghetti sauce, but can't possibly eat it 3 nights in a row. Tossing things out is such a waste of time and money. Instead, keep a stash of Ziplock or Glad plastic ware around and pop fresh leftovers (under three days for most items) straight into the freezer. Labeling is a good idea - just grab a Sharpie and write directly on the container. Name and date is good. You don't want to keep things frozen more than a few months and many foods looks strangely similar when frozen.

P.S. One final note: I am not a huge fan of placing plastic ware in the microwave. Prefer to run the container under warm water and and put frozen item in a nice microwave-safe bowl. Then, press "start".

Oatmeal with Fruit & Maple-Glazed Walnuts

Oatmeal has a bit of a bum rap for being boring. And this is not at all fair. Why? Because oatmeal is a blank canvas that you can do so much with. Plus, it is very good for you, filling, and incredibly inexpensive. Any winter - even Chicago's worst - can be beaten by a hearty bowl of oatmeal. Try it for breakfast or lunch or dinner. You won't be disappointed.

1/2 cup Quaker Oats 1 Minute Oatmeal - no pre-flavored packets please!

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup or just a handful of dried cranberries - any dried fruit you like will work

1/3 cup walnuts or almonds

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

banana - or any other fruit you love

Add oats and milk to microwave-safe bowl, cover with wax paper, and cook for about 1 minute 25 seconds. This time may vary based on your microwave. When cooked, oats should look thick-ish. If too milky, cook a bit more. If too thick, add a bit of milk.

Stir in salt, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, and dried fruit.

In a small skillet heat walnuts carefully until you smell a just a bit of nuttiness - stay focused here because nuts burn in the blink of any eye. Turn down heat and add the remaining tablespoon of maple syrup to nuts in the pan. Move nuts about to coat them evenly and then remove from heat.

Add maple-glazed nuts to the oatmeal, as well as sliced banana or your favorite fruit. Enjoy!

Brownies Extraordinaire

The deliciousness of these brownies is due to a slight mishap that turned out very well. The recipe on the Bakers chocolate box said large pan; we went smaller (by accident) and a classic was born. Clearly, you never know what might happen in the kitchen, so do not despair! One minor warning: do not make this recipe if you crave solitude. The smell of baking brownies will have many, many people pounding on your door.

4 squares Bakers unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 stick butter
2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour



Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt chocolate and butter in medium size sauce pan. Watch carefully. Use low heat and stir often as chocolate burns easily. When both are nearly melted, remove from heat and continue stirring until completely melted.

Stir in sugar and salt until combined.

Stir in eggs vigorously. Your mixture is warm and you want to incorporate eggs before they set.

Stir in vanilla.

Gently stir in flour until all combined.

Pour into greased 8X8 pan and cook for 45 minutes.