Healthy Recipes for St Patrick’s Day

23 February 2006

Irish Soda Bread with Honey Corned Beef and Cabbage and Glazed Parsnips

Irish Honey Soda Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 cup golden raisins
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 cup non fat yoghurt
1/3 cup honey
2 tblesp low fat milk

METHOD
In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda and salt until thoroughly mixed. Cut in butter until mixture resembles small peas. Mix in raisins and caraway seeds. In separate bowl, whisk together yoghurt and honey; blend into dry mixture. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface; knead until smooth, and 1 minute. Shape dough into a ball. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. With a sharp knife, cut a shallow “X” on top of round. Brush top with milk. Bake at 325ºF (160ºC) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown and crust is firm. Cool before slicing.

Honey Corned Beef and Dill Cabbage

Allow 45 - 50 minutes cooking time per 500g of beef (or around 60 minutes per lb). For a 2-1/2 – 3-1/2 piece you’d need to allow 3 - 4 hours, total cooking time, including honey glazing. You can prepare the beef ahead of time and then bake with the honey glaze for 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm with glazed parsnips and cabbage or cold with horseradish sauce.*

Beef
2-1/2 to 3-1/2 lb boneless corned beef
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
Dill Cabbage
1 head cabbage (2 lb), cut into 8 wedges
5 tbsp butter, softened
1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
1-1/2 tsp chopped fresh dill

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). Place corned beef and 2 cups water in stockpot. Bring just to a simmer; do not boil. Cover tightly and cook in 350ºF (175ºC) oven 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours or until fork-tender.
Remove beef; trim fat. Place in a baking pan and coat with honey. It can be stored in a refrigerator till required.
Bake covered on medium or low heat, for 30 minutes and serve. (It can bake for much longer, as your serving needs dictate.)
About 10 minutes before beef is done, stir fry cabbage in 2 tblesp butter for 5 minutes till it is lightly cooked but still crisp.
Mix remainder of butter, 1 tbsp mustard and dill; toss through hot cabbage. Carve beef diagonally across the grain. Serve with cabbage and parsnips.
Serves 6 to 8

* “Corned Beef” – also known as New England Boiled Dinner - has nothing to do with corn at all. It is really a salted beef, and got its name from Anglo Saxon times when a granular salt the size of English grain (their so-called corn) was used to process it.

Serve with Honey Glazed Parsnips
The “Beaujolais” of honey - NZ Tawari* honey – fresh, clear, and best savoured when young – is ideal for use in this dish. The Tawari’s waxy white flowers give a honey with a subtle, lingering butterscotch flavour. If not available, experiment with alfalfa, sage or sourwood.

Parsnips 900g (2lb) peeled and quartered
2 tblesp oil
50 gm (2 oz) butter
2 tblesp clear honey

METHOD
Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Cut out any woody centres of the parsnips. Preheat a roasting tray on top of the stove and add the oil and butter. Fry the parsnips until golden brown on all sides. Roast them in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

Pour the honey over the parsnips and carefully turn them, making sure they have all been covered. Put them back in the oven for 5 minutes. The parsnips will now be tender and sweet. Stir them in a serving dish and spoon some of the honey glaze from the pan over the top to finish.

* Airborne Tawari Honey from selected stores and supermarkets in NZ. US online sales at Fast Pak Store.

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