Posted by Catherine:
We had a monthly get together at our castle in March, and the theme was Irish Eats in honor of St. Patrick's Day. We had Irish Chicken and Dumplings, and while that simmered there was a contest for who could make the best Irish Soda Bread. Both were super easy, however, the chicken and dumplings were a little time consuming b/c they had to reach a boil, simmer, and what not--totally worth it though. Chris compared the Irish Soda Bread to those wonderful Butter Dips that we ALWAYS make. And You know me, I am a sucker for the word easy in a recipe. Both recipes were taken from allrecipes.comAmazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup margarine, softened
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.
Irish Chicken and Dumplings
Ingredients
- 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 2 onions, quartered
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 5 carrots, sliced
- 1 (10 ounce) package frozen green peas
- 4 potatoes, quartered
- 3 cups baking mix
- 1 1/3 cups milk
Directions
- In large, heavy pot, combine soup, water, chicken, celery, onion, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about 1 1/2 hours.
- Add potatoes and carrots; cover and cook another 30 minutes.
- Remove chicken from pot, shred it, and return to pot. Add peas and cook only 5 minutes longer.
- Add dumplings. To make dumplings: Mix baking mix and milk until a soft dough forms. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto BOILING stew. Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
