irish milk stout bread (or: beer for breakfast)

oh, hai! how do you like the detail on that picture? can you practically taste the beery goodness? or perhaps your screen isn't hd. mine is. because i have a new! fast! laptop! and a new! shiny! camera! and a new! fancy! mobile! hotspot! thus, i am blogging in bed and drooling over the pics of this irish porter bread which i actually made with a milk stout. mmmmmm. in order to keep myself in fancy technology upgrades, and creatively fulfilled, i'm back in the kitchen making sure daddy & bill still love me enough to give me fancy, spill-proof keyboards and a better camera than the one i gave a shower to. okay, TWO showers.

ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon EACH ground cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. and allspice if you have that. i don't.
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 a bottle of porter or stout
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 beaten eggs

prep:

• warm up your beer
• grease 2 8-inch round cake pans
• preheat to 350*

actual cooking:

• combine flour, salt & spices
• work in butter with a pastry cutter or your hands
• add sugar
• make a well in the mixture
• combine beer & baking soda
• pour the liquid & eggs into the well and still until just combined
• divide between pans
• bake for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 300*
• bake for another 40ish minutes until bread pulls away from the sides of the pan
• enjoy warm or room temperature with the rest of the beer

a margamarita

these are the world's best margaritas. that's what i told everyone at nardo's graduation party, and i'm standing by it.

• 1 part limeade concentrate
  
• 1 part tequila
• 1 part corona
• 1 part water
• over crushed ice
  

to fill a 3-gallon beverage dispenser, a part is 84 ounces (or 7 cans/bottles).

braised mediterranean chicken with tomatoes, zucchini & polenta

happy blogiversary!



with this dinner i accomplished some long-ignored goals:

• i made a dish found in one of the three cooking magazines i subscribe to (everyday food)
• i used beer in food (bud american ale-- which isn't TOO too bad)
• i cooked something from scratch that i normally buy (polenta)
• i used a recipe that involved careful timing & "meanwhile"-ing
• i actually used some of the fresh herbs i grew from seeds (oregano)
• i got this gorgeous creature to come over for dinner, after a mere 17 months absence:

ingredients:

• 1 tbs olive oil
• package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (5 from TJ's)
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp crushed garlic (or 2 cloves, chopped)
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved width-wise
• 1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/2 cup beer (or dry white wine)
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 4 1/2 cups water

prep:

• chop oregano (& garlic)
• cut veggie to size
• measure beer, broth, water & cornmeal (do it)
• season chicken with salt pepper

actual cooking:

• heat olive oil in a heavy pot
• put water on to boil in a saucepan with 1 1/2tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper
• cook chicken in olive oil about 6-8 minutes, until browned on all sides
• transfer chicken to a plate
• add garlic, tomatoes & oregano to olive oil
• cook about 30 seconds until fragrant
• add beer to tomatoes
• slowly, whisking all the while, add cornmeal to water
• reduce heat on polenta to medium-low; whisk often
• add chicken broth to tomatoes
• return chicken to the pot
• bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, cover & cook 15 minutes
• add zucchini
• season with salt & pepper
• cover and simmer 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through
• serve chicken and veggies over polenta