bostonzest

Tag: raisins

  • It’s Irish Soda Bread Season!

    Every March, Irish Soda Bread starts showing up everywhere. We've seen it at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Markets. But, we prefer the versions from a few favorite area bakeries.

    Where do you buy your favorite Irish breads? Tell us in a comment below or send us an email and we'll add your ideas as an update.

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    Clear Flour Bread had both white Soda Bread with raisins and traditional whole wheat brown bread (above) last weekend. They hope to have it Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through St. Patrick's Day. We recommend getting there early before they run out of the day's supply. And, call ahead on weekdays to see if they happen to have some.

    Clear Flour Bread, 178 Thorndike St., Brookline, MA 02446 (map & reviews) Phone: 617.739.0060

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    Any time of year, you can find a full line of exceptional Irish Breads at Greenhills Irish Bakery in Adams Village, Dorchester. They add caraway seeds to their Irish Raisin Soda Bread (above). It tastes just like the recipe Penny learned to make with her Irish cousins.

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    They also make this Irish Brown Soda Bread that's perfect with meals, a Treacle Soda Bread for those with a sweet tooth, and Irish Barm Brack – a raisin yeast bread. 

    Greenhills Irish Bakery, 780 Adams St, Dorchester, MA (map & reviews) Phone: 617- 825-8187 ‎ 

    DSC_2563 - Version 22013-03-06-irish-soda-bread-trader-joes-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    We even took one for the team and taste-tested this "Trader Joe's Blarney Scone Irish Soda Bread." It was not a superlative version but, that said, soda breads are forgiving and there was none left a day later. 

    Over on the Boston Chowhound board, a couple of trusted hounds recommended Hi-Rise Bread Company in Cambridge and Keltic Krust in West Newton as their favorite spots for soda bread. 

    (Update: Keltic Krust closed in 2014)

    Tomorrow, we'll help you learn to make your own soda bread with a great collection of recipes, one of Ed's all time favorite carbo-loading versions, and a great video that shows the technique for Brown Bread that no recipe can completely capture!

    (Update: Here's a link to that post. Irish Soda Bread Recipe Collection.)

    Related Posts:

    Greenhills Irish Bakery, Adams Village Dorchester

    Clear Flour Bread– Clearly Artisan, Clearly Charming…

     

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    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: © 2011- 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    Blizzards and Irish Soda Bread
    Soda Bread Knows No Season
    Wholesome Irish soda bread recipe especially for St. Patrick's Day
    Irish Soda Bread Scones

  • Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

    Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue. 

    IMG_6106 - Version 22012-12-01-honey-oatmeal-honey dispenser-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser. 

    I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

         

    My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser. 

    Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did. 

    Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees
    Is Honey Better Than Sugar?
    Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party
    Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!
    American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition
    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

    Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue. 

    IMG_6106 - Version 22012-12-01-honey-oatmeal-honey dispenser-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser. 

    I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

         

    My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser. 

    Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did. 

    Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees
    Is Honey Better Than Sugar?
    Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party
    Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!
    American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition
    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Finally Found a Great Honey Dispenser!

    Each morning, I line up my breakfast components – oatmeal, chopped nuts, raisins, and honey. I buy my honey from Keown Orchards in pound jars. Spooning honey from these can be messy and leaves the jar in need of regular cleaning to remove the residue. 

    IMG_6106 - Version 22012-12-01-honey-oatmeal-honey dispenser-© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    Over the years, I’ve tried about every honey and syrup dispenser on the market. They all seem to have their drawbacks. I was about to use one of the sqeeze bottles I keep for various other kitchen uses and did one last search for “squeeze bottle” instead of honey dispenser. 

    I found the Japanese Squeeze Bottle you see in the photo. Its attached cap attracted me to it over the alternatives. It comes with different colored caps and has passed my daily use test with flying colors. Plus, it gives me much better control of the amount of honey I’m using.

         

    My tip for filling it is to use the body of a cake decorating syringe. The end that would take a tip goes into the squeeze jar and the honey is poured into the wide end that would have the plunger. I let it sit for a little while after filling and most of the honey drips down into the dispenser. 

    Of course, it’s not perfect, an occasional wipe is needed. I seal the top and run warm water over most of the bottle and then wipe it dry and give the tip a wipe with a clean hot dishcloth. But, it doesn’t turn into a big mess the way other honeypots did. 

    Don’t you love a simple and inexpensive solution to a daily annoyance? This would make a great gift for a honey lover!

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  

    Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers’ comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

    Related articles
    Hanukkah Cocktail: The Bees Knees
    Is Honey Better Than Sugar?
    Bring a Big Wedge of a Great Cheese to the Party
    Check Out Our Wine List for Thanksgiving & Holiday Gatherings!
    American Chop Suey, a New England Tradition
    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Poached Chicken is a Cook’s Treasure

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    Poached chicken is something you will often find in our refrigerator, especially when we're busy. It doesn't take long to poach a whole bird, chicken parts on the bone, or boneless chicken. You can poach it in water and aromatic vegetables. But for the bonus of a super rich chicken stock, start with a low-sodium chicken broth.

    Here are a link for learning how to poach a chicken. I use the Chinese White Chicken method.

    Perfect Steeped White Chicken

    Once cooked, you can turn the chicken and broth into chicken soup. Here's how we deal with that option. Variations on a Soup theme

    Of course, you or your household guests could turn sliced chicken into a wonderful array of chicken sandwiches. We recommend you grab a loaf of When Pigs Fly Bakery's "Savory Cranberry" bread, or as we call it, "Stuffing Bread." It tastes just like a favorite holiday bread stuffing and makes a great sandwich with some swiss cheese, chicken, and a dab of spicy cranberry chutney.

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    Then, there are salads. We're not mayo fans, so we turn our poached chicken into a Curried Chicken Salad with an oil and vinegar dressing. But, traditional chicken salad may be exactly what your family will welcome.

    And, from there, you can let your imagination fly. Stir fry some veggies and toss in the chicken to warm it. Heat up some pasta sauce and make a quick chicken sauce. 

    We even make poached chicken for our favorite pup when she's not feeling peckish and we need to tempt her with something special. She loves it.

    A heavy pot like a Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron French Oven is perfect for poaching chicken. 

     

    Details:
    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino