Journal

Week 5 Cooking Results

So this week, I was cooking out of The Irish Spirit: Recipes Inspired by the Legendary Drinks of Ireland. I gotta say that I've never cooked with so much alcohol i my life. Sometimes I use it here or there, but never to this extent. The week started off very good, but then went down hill...as far as Shannon was concerned. The last two she didn't like so much.

Oh I did like the Irish Mist...It was like a decent whiskey combined with honey and some spices, dangerously easy to drink.

Gaelic Steak (p 17)

The sauce that went over the steak had a bit of whiskey in it...it called for Irish...but I used some Scotch whiskey instead (since I have many bottles). I actually purposely used mushrooms...which, is, shall we say, quite uncommon for me. Since neither Shannon nor I are big fans. But this turned out quite well.

Chicken Cashel Blue (p 24)

I made bread crumbs (basically took an entire La Mie ciabatta, food processored it, toasted them and put the leftovers in the freezer), and it had a wonderful crust on it when I was done. I didn't use Cashel Blue, but Maytag blue (not near as expensive). I do think I could have made it better, but it turned out well.

Beef in Ale with Cheese Cobbler (p 54)

I liked this quite a bit. Though when it was cold and I warned up some leftovers for lunch, the ale undertones were overbearing...but when warmed up again. It was quite good again. I quite understand whey Shannon didn't like it. if it was less ale and more beef broth, I think it would've gone over better. I used Boulevard Irish Red Ale. We both, however, really loved the cheese cobbler. These were fairly similar to the muffin things that Holly makes from time to time. I think the cobbler with the stew was quite good.

Tulach Mhor Lamb Casserole (p 112)

This one I didn't get at all. It said slice, I did, it said combine chicken broth and Irish Mist, I did. It said cover, I covered, it said bake for a long time. It said uncover and bake some more, I did.

I think if I made cubes of potates, diced the unions and mixed it all together...added less liquid (like lamb isn't gonna give off a lot of juices anyways) and then pretty much do it the same way...but maybe some cheese and bread crumbs on top to finish with, it'd be a lot better.