Irish Pan Boxty Cakes

I loved the boxties at the Irish Pub Andrea took us to in Vegas. So sad they closed! In clearning out more files, I found this recipe.

Pan Boxty Cakes
1 cup grated peeled raw potato
1 cup thick mashed potatoes
1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs,beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
Butter or Margarine
Sugar or cinnamon sugar

1. Use food processor to grate potatoes or grate potato by hand.
2. Place grated potato on clean dish towel and press out excess liquid.
3. Combine grated potato with mashed potato. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt, mix well.
4. Add eggs and milk, mixing to make a soft batter.
5. Heat skillet with 2 Tbsp butter until hot. Drop batter by tablespoons onto skillet and cook 4-5 minutes on each side until well browned.
6. Serve hot with butter and sugar or cinnamon sugar. Makes 6 servings

Mexican Cornbread

Mexican Cornbread
1 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 15 oz. can cream-style canned corn
3 Tbsp. diced green chilies
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
4 tsp. baing powder
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease a 9 x 13" baking dish. In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in cream corn, chilies, and cheeses. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, bakgin powder and salt. Add flour mixture to corn mixture; stir until smooth. Pour batter into pan. Bake approx. 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into center of pan comes out clean. Serves 8.

Recipe pirated from a San Diego Mexican cookbook at the store - I'm guilty but it looks like one I've been hunting for. Can't wait for a pot of chili and this cornbread.

Alcohol Substitutes

Remember when I was making a creme de menthe pie and I didn't it know that it called for alcohol, I just thought that creme de menthe and chocolate whatever were just extracts. I found the following I clipped from a newspaper some time ago and thought I would add it to our blog. By the way, Andrea, I found it cleaning out a box of file folders!!!



Alcohol Substitutes
Cooking Substitutions for Alcohol – Newspaper Clipping

In Soups and Entrees:
Dry (unsweet) red wine: Water, beef broth, bouillon or consommé, tomato juice (plain or diluted), diluted cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. Liquid drained from canned mushrooms.
Dry (unsweet) white wine: Water, chicken broth, bouillon or consommé, ginger ale, white grape juice. Ginger ale,white grape juice, diluted cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. Liquid drained from canned mushrooms.

In Cheese Dishes (fondue or rarebit)
Beer or ale: Chicken broth, white grape juice, ginger ale

In Desserts:
Brandy: Apple cider, peach or apricot syrup.
Rum: Pineapple juice or syrup flavored with almond extract
Sherry: Orange of pineapple juice
Kirsch: Syrup or juice from black cherries, raspberries, boysenberries, currants, or grapes or cherry cider.
Cointreau: Orange juice or frozen orange juice concentrate.
Crème de menthe: Spearmint extract or oil of spearmint diluted with a little water or grapefruit juice.
Red Burgundy: Grape juice.
White Burgundy: White grape juice.
Champagne: Ginger ale
Claret: Grape or currant juice or syrup or cherry cider.

Note: To cut the sweetness of the syrups, dilute with water. Also, there are many flavor extracts such as almond or pineapple that can be added for interesting flavors.

Flambles or Flaming Desserts
The only substitute that might be used is a sugar cube soaked in lemon extract, then set atop a dessert and burned.