Spring Stawberry Salad by Jennifer Mullens

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:

1 bunch spinach, rinsed

10 large strawberries, sliced

Dressing:

½ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup white wine vinegar (I use balsamic or rice vinegar)

1 cup vegetable oil (I only use ½ cup)

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Almonds:

½ large bag of sliced almonds (or however many you want)

White sugar (I just dump some in – maybe 1/3 to ½ cup)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a blender, place the ½ cup sugar, salt, vinegar, and oil, and blend until smooth. (you can also do this with a hand mixer) Stir in the poppy seeds.
3. Sauté the almonds and sugar over medium heat until the sugar melts, stirring constantly. Cool. Add the almonds to the salad just before serving.
4. Pour the dressing over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat. (just before serving)

Bread Pudding from Debra Caudill *****

This is so so good. I love it to pieces. Suzie

14 oz. loaf challah bread, cut into 3/4 inch cubes

¾ cup granulated sugar

9 large egg yolks

4 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp table salt

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 1/2 cups milk

2 t unsalted butter, melted

2 T light brown sugar

1 T granulated sugar

1. Adjust oven racks to middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine brown sugar and 1 T granulated sugar in small bowl; set aside. ( I double the sugars and I use dark brown sugar )

2. Spread bread cubes in single layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Bake until just dry, 10 –15 minutes, stirring and rotating trays from top to bottom racks halfway through. Cool bread cubes about 15 minutes, set aside 2 cups.

3. Whisk yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk in cream and milk until combined. Add remaining 8 cups cooled bread and toss to coat. Transfer mixture to 9x13 pan and let stand, occasionally pressing bread into custard, until cubes are thoroughly saturated, about 30 minutes.

4. Spread reserved 2 cups of bread evenly over top of soaked bread and gently press into custard. Using pastry brush, dab melted butter over top of unsoaked bread pieces. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture evenly over top. Place bread pudding on rimmed baking sheet and bake on middle rack until custard has just set and pressing center of pudding with finger reveals no runny liquid, about 45 to 50 minutes ( 170 °) . Serve warm with Bourbon Brown Sugar sauce.

Bourbon Brown Sugar sauce

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

7 T heavy cream

2 1/2 T unsalted butter

1 1/2 T bourbon (or rum) ( I omit this )

Whisk brown sugar and heavy cream in small saucepan over medium heat until combined. Continue to

cook, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Whisk in butter and bring

mixture back to boil; about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in bourbon. Cool to just warm; serve

Saint Paddy's Irish Sandwich

This recipe is from allrecipes.com

1 (3 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs spicy brown mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 medium head cabbage, cored and sliced thin
spicy brown mustard
12 slices sourdough bread, lighly toasted

Directions

Place corned beef in large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water. Add the spice packet that came witht the corned beef. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound until tender. Remove meat and let rest 15 minutes. Slice meat across the grain.

Whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Place the shredded cabbage in a large bowl and pour the dressing over it; toss to coat the cabbage with the dressing.

Spread a layer of mustard on 6 slices of toasted bread. Place some shredded cabbage and corned beef on each slice and top with remaining slices of bread.

Colcannon by Heather Goodman

This is a recipe from County Mayo, Ireland. Kale can be substituted for cabbage.

Ingredients:
1 pound cabbage, chopped or shredded (I used half of one large head of green cabbage)
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used 4 medium russet potatoes, probably more than a pound)
2 leeks, finely chopped
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:
- Saute kale/cabbage in a little olive oil and chicken stock until tender. Keep warm.
- Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain.
- Chop leeks, green parts as well as white, and simmer them in the milk until soft (about 10 minutes).
- While leeks are simmering, season potatoes with salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mash well. Stir in cooked leeks and milk. Mix in the kale/cabbage. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Make a well in the center and pour in melted butter, mix well.

Note about leeks:
I had never cooked with leeks until I made this recipe, so I had to learn how to get them ready for chopping. So if you're in the same boat I was, this is one method I learned, I'm sure there are others. Cut the roots off the white part, plus about 1/4 inch of white. Then cut the greens down to the light green. There are recipes out there that use the dark greens if you don't want to waste them. Cut the leeks in half lengthwise, then place cut-side down in a bowl of water to soak. Agitate ocassionally and slightly separate layers to loosen and remove sandy soil that is trapped inside the leek. Once clean, shake dry and chop.