Jalapeno Cheese Bread

Sometimes a vegetable or two will end up in my crisper without being designated for a meal (I'm sure that happens to everyone. Right? right??). This week I had three lonely jalapenos with nowhere to go.
The other day I came across (another) beautiful cooking blog, Homemade by Holman, and what do you know, there was the most perfect recipe that called for the exact amount of jalapeno I had. It was meant to be.
This Cheddar Jalapeno Bread is easy to make and comes out beautifully, colorful, moist and tast-ay! We loved it, and I definitely think this will be the new chili partner in my house. I can't wait to make it with fresh jalapenos and peppers from the garden.
I made one alteration to the recipe, I had this delicious smoky chipotle cheese, and I used that instead of regular cheddar. mmmmm!

Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
Recipe adapted from Pink Parsley, originally from Savory Baking

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, diced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8" x 4" loaf pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, pepper, salt, and cheese. Toss together and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, combine milk, oil, and egg and whisk together. Pour mixture into well in center of flour and stir mix together lightly with a wooden spoon. Add peppers and stir just until dry ingredients are all combined. The batter should be lumpy. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.


Bake bread for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown. Bread should spring back when touched. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, run a knife around all sides and turn out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.


Also, you'll want to go check Homemade by Holman's photos, as mine don't do this pretty bread justice. We cut into it while it was still hot so it didn't cut so well. But boy howdy was it delicious.

Irish Soda Bread

I had a small carton of buttermilk that I needed to use and I was trying to think of something clever to make (it was originally intended for red velvet cake, but then I suffered from a case of valentine goody burn out...) Fortunately, allrecipes.com came to the rescue and I found this recipe for Irish Soda Bread, very appropriate for this month!
I've never even had Irish Soda Bread, let alone made it from scratch, so I was surprised that there was no soda in- just baking powder. But I trusted the recipe and I'm glad I did, it's delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon caraway seed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Beat eggs with buttermilk. Add the eggs and buttermilk into the flour mixture; stir in raisins.
3. Pour dough onto lightly floured board. Shape into a round loaf, adding flour if necessary. Place in a lightly greased springform pan. Sprinkle top with caraway seeds if desired.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

I didn't have a springform pan, so I just shaped it into a round shape and baked it on a cookie sheet. I did pull it out of the oven about 20 minutes in to brush the top with butter. Mmmm. butter.

I will definitely be making this simple but tasty sweet bread again in a few weeks to go with my corned beef! (no cabbage, though! blech!)

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This is kind of a no brainer, but these turned out so good I had to share.

2 Large Sweet Potatoes
2 tbs butter
2 tbs honey
half and half

Boil Sweet potatoes until soft. Toss into kitchenaid (or mash by hand) with butter and honey. Add Half and half until smooth and creamy.

TADAAA! Instant beautiful side dish to go with your honey pecan pork :)