An Irish Italian Meal: Bacon and Pea Risotto

I had just started cooking dinner the other night when Paul suggested that I take some photos and blog about it. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I looked down at the big pile of cubed Irish boiling bacon that I was about to put into the risotto and realized that I use Irish bacon all the time.  So often that I don’t even recognize it as an “Irish” ingredient anymore. Friends who aren't Irish ask me what it is and how it's different from regular bacon. Like brown bread, I had never even heard of Irish bacon until I started dating Paul and celebrating holidays with his family. My father-in-law, Paddy, studs his with cloves and boils it for just the right amount of time.  It puts the turkey to shame every Thanksgiving and I can never decide whether to eat more then and there or to hold off with the hope that there will be some left over. I think Paddy has caught on to my not-so-subtle clamoring for the leftovers so he often sets some aside for me when he makes one. I freeze it for fried rice, pasta, omelettes, sandwiches, pot pies, soup, you name it.

Bacon and pea risotto was actually a first in my household but I will definitely make it again. The kids loved it and Emmett, who had requested “plain noodles” for dinner ended up cleaning his plate. We were joking that we should have been wearing the “Half-Gaelic, Half-Garlic” T-shirts for this meal, but really, who doesn’t like bacon, peas and rice?

Mr. Plain Noodles stealing bites of the good stuff from Dad. 

Bacon and Pea Risotto

1 fist-size slab of cooked Irish boiling bacon, cubed

1 cup frozen peas

1 shallot, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

¾ cup Arborio rice

⅓ cup white wine (optional)

1 tablespoon butter, divided in half

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups chicken stock or broth (This is more than enough.  I heat up more than I need and use what's left for another purpose)

1 sprig rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (dried work fine as well)

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup Parmesan cheese plus more to finish

1 lemon for serving

Place chicken stock or broth in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. While stock is coming to a simmer, prepare your shallot, garlic and bacon. Place a heavy bottomed pan on the stove and turn heat to medium high. Add half of the butter and the olive oil.  Once the pan is hot, add the shallot and garlic and turn down the heat as necessary to make sure the shallot and garlic do not burn. Cook about five minutes, until shallot is translucent.  Add the rice, rosemary and thyme and stir until all of the grains of rice are coated in oil/butter and begin (just barely) to toast. Turn the heat back up and add wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Once wine is almost completely evaporated, turn the heat down to medium low and start adding the stock. I use a soup ladle and add a couple of ladles of stock at a time, keeping the rice-stock mixture at low boil and seasoning with salt along the way. Once the rice has absorbed most of the stock, I add more. After 10 to 15 minutes I start checking the rice to gauge how much longer I think it will take to cook through. Once it is just a little more al dente (15 minutes or so) than I would like, I remove the sprig of rosemary and add the bacon, peas, and a little more stock.  I continue to cook until the rice is just cooked through. Try not to get distracted at the end because it can go from perfect to mushy quickly. When the rice is ready, I turn off the stove  and remove the pan from the heat.  Then I season the risotto with salt and pepper and stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. I serve it with lemon wedges, more Parmesan, and ground pepper on top.   

First Days of Fall: Pumpkin Spice French Toast

Believe it or not I have never had a pumpkin spice latte. Gasp. Where have I been? I know. While I love pumpkin and spices I’ve never really found the idea of coffee with pumpkin and spices too appetizing. Coffee and pumpkin pie? Yes. Coffee and pumpkin bread? Yes. Pumpkin pie in my coffee. No. See what I mean? Or maybe I just have no idea what a pumpkin spice latte is like - a distinct possibility. I digress. My point is that now that it is officially fall, seasonal pumpkin flavor is out in full force. From the ubiquitous latte to yogurt, m&m’s, cheerios, cinnamon rolls, beer,  donuts, ice cream and everything in between, I’ve been seeing orange everywhere. I’ve also been trying to make healthier breakfasts for the kids.  They are pretty good eaters so it’s not too hard, but they are kids. They don’t worry about calories or carbs (thank goodness) and they love eggo waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, lots of beige stuff and sugar, sugar, sugar! Who can blame them? Not me. But I do try to offset this by adding vegetables to their muffins, solid sources of protein to their morning meals in the form of eggs, peanut butter and yogurt and by serving them whole grains whenever possible. I’m not fanatical about this kind of thing, but I try.

Pumpkin french toast is such an easy way to get my seasonal pumpkin fix while also providing my kids with a (somewhat) healthy breakfast that they love. I cut it into sticks for the kids and give them their own little cups of syrup to dip them in. I’m super-stingy with the syrup but they haven’t caught onto that yet. Parenting, like most things, is all about managing expectations.

Soldiers for the wee ones.

I happen to think this breakfast would be a perfect match for some Irish weather and a cup of tea or coffee. Did you know that while pumpkins do grow in Ireland there are very few pumpkin growers in the entire country? According to the Irish Times, in 2014 there were only 11 commercial pumpkin growers in the whole country. Maybe in our next lives Paul and I can move there and become pumpkin farmers!

Yogurt, almonds and cinnamon for me. 

Pumpkin French Toast

Serves 4

4 pieces whole wheat bread (best if stale but fresh works too)

3 large eggs

1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

¼ cup milk

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar lightly packed

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter for the pan

Maple syrup for serving

Mix the eggs, spice, milk, pumpkin, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Coat griddle or pan with butter and heat over medium high heat.

Add pieces of bread one by one to bowl containing the pumpkin mixture and coat thoroughly, until fully saturated.

Place bread on hot griddle or pan and cook until bottom of slices begin to brown, a couple of minutes.  

Flip and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side or until both sides are golden brown and french toast is springy to the touch.  

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Sticky fingers, funny face. 

Family Dinner: Fish

The Barry dinner table: All cleaned up for a photo. This is where it all goes down. 

I’m determined to have family dinner with real, home cooked food most nights. I’ve read a lot of articles lately that describe family dinner as a thing of the past and downplay its importance. It’s probably true that family time doesn’t have to be around the table but still, family dinner is important to me. I grew up eating both breakfast and dinner with my family and I want to do the same now that I have a family of my own. My son already expects it. The other day when he walked in and I was upstairs instead of in the kitchen he gave me a funny look and said “You’re not cooking dinner?” Of course, all kinds of thoughts started racing through my mind. Mostly, what am I teaching him about gender roles that he always expects me to be cooking when he gets home?  But also, isn’t it nice that he expects a home-cooked meal every single evening? Isn’t it nice that dinner is part of his daily routine? That he loves to drag his little sister to the table shouting “Dinnertime!!!”?  So I resolved to be mindful of what I’m teaching my kids about gender roles but not to stop cooking. Also, for the sake of honesty, my little guy does ask me “if we are having friends over” whenever he sees me cleaning.

Long Grove Irish Days. The free Irish dance lessons were a huge hit with my tiny Irish dancers. 

Now that I'm back at work, fish is my weeknight weapon. It’s so hard to cook a proper meal (and wait for a proper meal to cook) at the end of a long day when everyone is tired and hungry.  But fish cooks in minutes and the whole family, thankfully, LOVES it.

When we were in Ireland, I noticed that a lot of people don’t eat fish or shellfish despite the natural abundance of seafood in the region. I thought this was quite odd and probably just my (mis)perception of things. But recently I read that, for the last few centuries, the Irish have indeed eaten well below the European average of seafood.  This is thought to be due to the association of seafood with religious fasting. In addition, Ireland has historically had a primarily cattle based economy and seafood, especially shellfish, was associated with being poor. Of course all this is changing now as so many of us are growing to appreciate the natural bounty of the region and Irish chefs continue to embrace and popularize local food products. Lucky for me, because I intend to keep seafood on my regular weeknight rotation and am always looking for new recipes.

I made this one up with the help of Arctic char on sale at my local Whole Foods, my garden and my sweet baby who slept for even longer than the 20 minutes it took me to throw this one together.

Arctic Char with Almond Gremolata

Feeds 2 adults and 2 hungry toddlers or 3 adults; A slightly larger filet would easily feed 4 adults

For Gremolata:

A handful of roasted, salted almonds (or whatever nuts you have on hand, pecans, pistachios or walnuts would all work well)

½ shallot, diced finely

1 handful of Italian flat leaf parsley

1 handful of basil leaves

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I used a new high quality EVOO that I just bought from the Olive Tap, right next to Paddy’s on the Square. They have such a nice store, check out next time you are in Long Grove.)

Juice and zest of one lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

For Fish:

1 Arctic char filet (about 1lb)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Prepare the gremolata by dicing the shallot finely, chopping the nuts and herbs to your desired coarseness/fineness and placing in a small bowl.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and set aside.  

For the fish, heat a large skillet or saute pan to medium high and add vegetable oil until smoking. Season the filet generously with salt and pepper and place it in the hot pan skin side down for 2-3 minutes until crispy and golden on the bottom.  Flip the filet and cook about 2 minutes more until fish is cooked through, taking care not to overcook the fish. I try to make sure the internal temperature of the thickest part of the filet does not go over 145F but this comes down to personal preference. I always eat the thickest part because my husband prefers his cooked just a little bit more.

Someone found a mirror. 

We ate this so fast I didn’t even take a photo - which is why I chose to post more photos of Irish Days instead (which was SO MUCH FUN!). Too bad because Paul even commented on how pretty it was.  If you would like a visual, I know I always do, it looks something like this, which was actually my inspiration for the dish.