Mabon
RecipesApple Butter (Lotwaerick)
4
quarts Apples
2 quarts Water
1 1/2 quarts cider
1 1/2 lbs. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp cloves
Wash and slice the apples into small bits. Cover with the water and boil until soft. Press through a sieve to remove skin and seeds. Bring cider to a boil and then add to apple pulp and sugar and cook until it thickens, constantly stirring to prevent scorching. Add spices and cook until it is think enough for spreading. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
Blackberry Wine
3 lbs.
blackberries
3 lbs. of sugar
1 gallon boiling water
Wash berries, put in large bowl and over the boiling water over them. Stir well, then cover bowl and leave for ten days. Strain liquid through muslin, add the 3 lbs. of sugar and stir well. Cover the bowl and leave for 3 days, but stir daily. Put into bottles and cork, loosely at first. Allow to ferment for six months, slowly pushing in the cork as time passes.
Beef & Barley Vegetable Soup
3 lbs.
soup meat
2 Tbsp. fat
2 quarts water
1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
1/4 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/2 cup barley
1 cup carrots, cubed
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 cups canned tomatoes, drained
1 cup fresh peas
Brown meat with bones in hot fat. Place meat, soup bone, water, seasonings, and parsley in a soup kettle. Cover tightly and simmer 1 hour. Add barley and simmer another hour. Cool and skim off excess fat. Remove soup bone. Add carrots, onion, celery, and tomatoes. Simmer 45 minutes. Add fresh peas and continue cooking 15 minutes. If leftover soup becomes too thick, dilute with beef broth. Can be doubled or tripled and freezes well.
Cock-a-Leekie Soup
3
1/2 lbs. frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 lb. beef shanks, cut into 1" pieces
6 cups chicken broth
3 slices thick cut bacon
1 Tbsp. dried leaf thyme
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup pearl barley
1 1/2 cups chopped leek, white only
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
Put the chicken, beef, stock, bacon, thyme, and bay leaf in a large, heavy pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile boil barley in 1 1/2 cups of water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. Remove chicken from pot. When cool enough to handle, de-bone and set aside. Add leeks and barley to the pot, along with the chicken. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley.
Dandelion Wine
2 quarts dandelion flowers
3 lbs. sugar
1 oz. yeast
1 lemon
1 orange
1 gallon boiling water
Pick the dandelions on a sunny day. Pick just the heads until you have 2 quarts. Wash flowers and put into a large bowl. Slice orange and lemon thinly and add them to the flower heads. Pour boiling water on top of them, stir well. Cover bowl, leave for 10 days, no more. Strain liquid into another bowl, stir in the 3 lbs. of sugar. Spread the yeast on a piece of toast, and float on top. Cover the bowl and leave for another 3 days. Remove the toast, strain again, and bottle. Cork loosely at first, and ferment for 3 months, pushing the cork gradually in farther as time passes.
Garlic-Roasted Potatoes & Greens
2 lbs. red-skinned potatoes, sliced
6 large cloves garlic, sliced lengthwise
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. wine vinegar
salt
pepper
4 cups watercress sprigs, rinsed
2 Tbsp. chives, chopped
Mix potatoes, garlic and oil in a 10 x 15" rimmed pan. Bake at 450° until well browned, about 1 1/4 hours. Turn vegetables with a wide spatula every 10-15 minutes. Pour vinegar into pan, scraping with spatula to release browned bits and to mix with potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour potatoes into a wide, shallow bowl. Chop half the watercress and mix with potatoes. Tuck remaining watercress around potatoes and sprinkle with chives.
Old-Fashioned Ginger Beer
For the Starter:
1/2 oz. yeast
2 tsp. sugar
To Feed the "Plant":
7 tsp. ground ginger
7 tsp. sugar
To Flavor:
1 1/2 lbs. sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
Mix starter ingredients with 3/4 pint of warm water in a glass jar. Stir, cover, and leave in a warm place for 24 hours. This is your starter "plant". Feed the "plant" with 1 tsp. each of ground ginger and sugar each day. After 7 days, strain through a fine sieve. Dissolve the sugar in 2 pints of warm water. Add the lemon juice and the liquid from the "plant". Dilute with 5 pints of water, mix well and store in corked bottles* for at least 7 days.
*Use strong bottles as pressure may build up which will cause thin bottles to explode. For the same reason use corked bottles rather than those with a more secure closure that will not "give" under pressure. The amount of suga in the final stage can be varied according to taste.
Pecan Pie
1 1/4 cups pecan pieces
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light karo syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 375°
Spread pecans in an unbaked 9" pie shell. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over pecans. Bake slowly at 375° until done, approximately 1 hour. Hint: Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil about halfway through baking to prevent crust from getting too brown before the pie is done.
Roast Fillet of Beef
1 fillet of beef (5-6 lb) trimmed
5 garlic cloves, slivered
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
Tabasco sauce
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup port wine
2 tsp. thyme
1 bunch watercress
To prepare the fillet, make slits in it and put slivers of garlic in the slits. Rub well with salt, pepper and Tabasco. Combine the soy sauce, olive oil, port and herbs and place the fillet in this marinade in a baking dish for at least 1/2 hour un-refrigerated, or an hour or more in the refrigerator. Turn several times while it is marinating. Preheat oven to 425° F. Place the fillet on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30-35 minutes, basting occasionally with the marinade. A meat thermometer should register 120° for very rare, 125° for rare, or 130° for medium rare. After it is removed from the oven, the internal temperature will rise as much as another 10°. Allow the fillet to rest, covered with foil, up to 30 minutes. If it needs to sit longer, you might try a catering trick: Wrap the fillet, just out of the oven, in plastic wrap. Unwrap just before slicing. Cut into slices and place on a warm platter; garnish with sprigs of watercress.
Irish Herb Scones
1/2 lb. mealy potatoes
4 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp. savory
1/4 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. powdered sage
oil for frying
Boil or bake the potatoes, then pass through a food mill. Mix the flour, salt, oil & herbs with the potatoes. On a floured board, roll this dough to thickness of 1/4". Cut into triangles 3 or 4" wide. Fry in very hot oil on both sides until a light golden brown.
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
9 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp. salt
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup honey
Sift together 3 cups flour, salt and yeast. Combine milk, water, butter, and honey in a saucepan and heat over low heat until liquids are warm (butter need not be melted completely). Gradually add to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes. Add remaining flour a cup full at a time until a soft dough forms. Turn onto lightly floured surface and allow to rest 10 minutes. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in large greased bowl and turn to grease all sides of dough. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a loaf. Place into greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks.
