Apologies for the silly title. I’m a little punchy. It’s been one of those weeks at work, where I’m constantly teetering on the brink of bursting into manic laughter, at which point they would have to tie me up and drag me off to St. Mungo’s. Yes, one of THOSE weeks. Add to that that I haven’t been feeling well, and, well, that’s the explanation for why posting around here has been on the light side. Fortunately, I have some lovely comfort food to deliver to you, in case you, too, are having one of those weeks.
When you are sick with a cold, the best thing to have is a hot toddy. If you’ve never had this miraculous concoction, it’s a shot of scotch whisky, a few tablespoons of honey, the juice of a lemon, and a cup full of boiling water. The honey, whisky and lemon all have antibacterial properties and they soothe your scratchy throat and calm your cough. Plus if you drink enough of them, you won’t even realize you feel bad. See? Magic.
I saw this recipe for hot toddy pudding in Gourmet, and I knew I had to try it. It combines the comforting flavors of a hot toddy with a different kind of magic – the surprise pudding. You pour batter into a pan, and in the oven it separates into a layer of sponge cake and a layer of custard. I had tried this before once with boiling water and chocolate to really disastrous results, but this particular pudding comes together like a dream.
Entries Tagged as 'whiskey'
I Toddy Taw a Pudding Cake — Hot Toddy Pudding Cake
April 17th, 2009 · 19 Comments · Baked Goods and Desserts, Entertaining, Spring
An Alternative for St. Patrick’s Day — Dublin Lawyer
March 15th, 2009 · 4 Comments · Entertaining, Main Dishes, Quick, Recipes, Seafood, Spring
If your market is anything like mine, you may have noticed (from the displays of Guiness, Cabbage, and “Kiss me I’m Irish” aprons) that Tuesday is the feast of the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, or as many call it in the U.S., St. Paddy’s Day (quick aside from my dad’s arsenal of bad jokes: What’s Irish and stays out all night? Paddy O’Furniture. HA!). My husband and I both count some Irish heritage in our generally Western European mutt backgrounds, but neither of our families are of the “Boo Ya! We’re Irish!” varieties, despite the fact that both of us have Irish names. And yet we celebrate St. Patrick’s day, without fail, and now you can too.
The obvious menu is the one the market sells — Corned Beef, Cabbage, maybe some mashed potatoes. But much as I love corned beef, and I have definite opinions on how to prepare it (crock pot with a bottle of beer, on low for 8-10 hours), and serve it (with Colcannon and hot English mustard), and what to drink with it (I say dark ale, the husband is a Guiness devotee), but I thought I’d present you with something a little different, in case you don’t like corned beef, or don’t eat red meat, or it’s 6 pm on March 17 and you haven’t started cooking, or you’ve already seen sixteen trillion recipes for corned beef all over the blogosphere). And the one that caught my eye (natch) was Dublin Lawyer.
It really couldn’t be simpler — it has four ingredients and takes about 10 minutes to make and yields an elegant dish with a lovely presentation. In other words, I would eat before you hit the bars for the traditional green beer.
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