Irish for Today

Preparing to be Irish for Today

The SSC Library Teen Cooking Club went Irish for Today in preparation for St. Patrick's Day.  Green was mandatory, which included candy AND vegetables.  Balancing savory and sweet dishes was also required.  That balance makes the afternoon go very smooth.

Lucky Charms Treats

The lucky rainbow struck the Lucky Charms Treats team.  Everyone wants to be part of a sweet recipe team, but there are not enough for everyone to join.  Remember that note about balance?  We must have both sweet and savory to keep our brains and bodies in check.  I was tricky with this recipe.  Anyone who chose this recipe, also had to do dishes--the DREADED CHORE!

They're Magically Delicious!

Another team made the main course, Irish Potato Soup.  We tweaked this recipe slightly.  To keep it vegetarian, we used vegetable stock and let individuals decide to use the bacon bit toppings.

I've never eaten a Leek...

As this team gathered their ingredients, there were questions about the leeks.  We've never cooked them in this program, or if we have, it's been a very rare opportunity.  Even adults in the program were excited to see them prepared.

"They truly give the Irish Green for this class!"

Another sweet recipe was nearly requisite for the theme.  I took two shake recipes and "blended" them to one.  The Grasshopper Shamrock Shake was a fantastic hit.  Students who participated in "Made with Love" had high expectations for this beverage, and those hopes were met!

Minty to the Third Degree

Using this Shamrock Shake recipe as a guide, we then used inspiration from this Thin Mint Shake recipe.  Combining the two created the Grasshopper Shamrock Shake.  AND IT WAS DELICIOUS! (Grasshopper cookies are an alternative to Thin Mints.)

CHOCOLATEY Grasshopper Shamrock Shakes

Irish Soda Bread was the last recipe, multiplied by 3 teams.  This was the questionable recipe, in my opinion.  Knowing from experience, it would easily be a flop or favorite.  This was a truly "From Scratch" option.

Dough is gross!

Anyone who has made dough by hand knows the stages the ingredients take from simple and separate to sticky and gross to nearly total crumble that has no hope, to suddenly perfect and ready to bake.  I have upgraded my kitchen with a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and will NEVER go back!  I lived the rough life that my students are facing and it's important to get your hands dirty as a chef, learn the process, then upgrade as time passes and income allows.

Progress is key

For all who struggled with this recipe, I promised that progress is key to success.  Stopping where the ingredients were still lumpy, sticky and gross would leave the project in a terrible position.  Pushing the ingredients to combine into a beautiful dough would be totally worthwhile.  They completely agreed with me once the food was in their tummies!

Plain on top, Raisins on the bottom, AKA Spotted Dog

These breads cooked to a gorgeous brown within 50 minutes.  We omitted caraway seeds to avoid unusual flavors.  Keeping 2 breads plain and including raisins in one allowed a little bit of variety, but plenty of quantity for a hungry brood.  We must not forget that all Irish Soda Bread needs a cross cut on the top before baking.

Cut the Cross

Eat Out Eat Well tells us the scientific reason for cutting the cross.  "Slashing the dough lets heat penetrate into the thickest part of the bread and allows the bread to stretch and expand as it rises."  If my grandmother taught this class, she would say "Now you cut the cross to keep the devil away!"  I just love those superstitions.  Regardless of myth or science, we Cut the Cross.

I'm S T U F F E D ! ! !

The meal was delicious!  Having a good balance of sweet and savory saved the afternoon from chaos. I asked what everyone's favorite dish was and I got a widely varied response.  Surprisingly, the soup won overall!  Where I feared the veggies and greens would frighten, this crew proved they accepted the challenge and gobbled it down.

The Champion- Irish Potato Soup!

Thanks to Wegmans Food Markets for partnering with the SSC Library on this program series.  We appreciate all the variety of good and new ingredients to try each month!  Extra special thanks goes to the Local Steeleworkers Union Hall for letting us take over their kitchen every second Friday afternoon of each month.

Eggs on the Agenda

Check back in April to see what Egg-citing Edibles we create for Eggstatic Entrées.

Thanks for visiting!

xo,

erica

Cake Day

If March has a Pie Day, I needed to follow in April with a Cake Day.  While National Cake Day is really November 26, the Southeast Steuben County Teen Cooking Club Cake Day was April 8.  And What A Cake Day It Was!  This class had the most students than ever before.  Luckily, I had more volunteers than ever before!

There were five stations for the 29 students to work.  Each person was designated a table and team and work was underway.  Cake Pops were the HIT of the event.  Above, you see the beginning of chocolate and vanilla cake pop creation.  I really thought the vanilla cake looked like wet sand.

Crumbs to Pops

Making these cake pops required baking cake, then demolishing it into crumbs, adding frosting, then rolling that concoction into bite sized balls.  It seems like more work than necessary, but the results are AMAZING!  I had this recipe on my mind since the summer.  If you are even slightly inclined to try, please check out this book, aptly titled Cake Pops.  The projects listed in the book are so impressive, as are these made by the students.

Cake Pops

The next recipe is one of my favorites for left over mashed potatoes, Potato Cakes.  In order to keep these recipes dairy free, we used instant mashed potatoes, almond milk and dairy-free cheddar cheese, but they still smelled like melted butter...YUM!

Potato Cakes

Impossibly Easy Hamburger Pie Cakes were created by another team.  This recipe was vegetarian, because we used soy based "beef" crumbles, almond milk, and dairy-free cheese.  They were magic and disappeared as fast as they exited the oven.

Cheeseburger Cakes

Chicken Enchilada Cups were another vegetarian option that surprised the meat lovers.  Rather than use real chicken, we substituted smoked tofu to provide the meaty texture, but maintain a vegetarian meal.  There were mixed responses to this "new-to-the-students" ingredient.

Tofu based "Chicken" Enchilada Cups

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes were the last on the menu and this recipe certainly requires some tweaking.  Rather than baking the cake in cupcake liners and topping them with the cones, we would opt to bake the batter directly into the cones.  There are several recipe variations of this method, so this would take a little trial and error.  The things we did not like about the method provided in this recipe were the difficulty icing the cakes.  The icing kept ripping the cake, which was the bottom of the cake, rather than the top.  These treats were also very top heavy, so not easy to transport from table to counter, let alone make ahead and take to a party.

Ice Cream Cone Cakes

Icing included

Even with some trials, these recipes came out perfect.  I love watching the process.  While clean up is often daunting, it was a delight to have so many helping hands.  We even celebrated with a Spring Breaker from Atlanta, Georgia.  This program is going nationwide!

Before

and

After

Another successful Teen Cooking Club is in the books.  Check back in June for a review of Iced Teas and Black Cows.  Rather than read about these programs, contact me to sign up for the an event!