St. Patrick's Day and Irish Coffees

Growing up in Southern California, my family and I would often make the trek up to San Francisco for a few days. My mom lived in Santa Rosa when she and my dad were dating, and my parents would often explore the city when my dad would visit her. As little kids, my dad would take us back to some of his favorite spots like The Buena Vista.

The Buena Vista, in Fisherman's Wharf, is one of those places that never changes. It still looks the same as when I went there as a kid, and I'm sure it looks exactly like it did when my dad first started going there. The Buena Vista might seem like some neighborhood bar not worth its weight in gold, but it is a secret gem.

In 1952, then-owner Jack Koeppler and international writer Stanton Delaplane teamed up to recreate the "Irish Coffee" served at the Shannon Airport in Ireland. Their search for the perfect Irish Coffee recipe helped introduce Americans to the drink, and to this day, it is considered the quintessential Irish Coffee. 

Whenever we visited San Francisco, my family always made a stop at The Buena Vista. My dad would order Irish Coffee for himself, and grilled cheese sandwiches for me and my siblings. The last time Zach and I went to The Buena Vista, I still ordered a grilled cheese...but also enjoyed an Irish Coffee. 

Irish Coffee is the perfect way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend.  The drink is great in the late afternoon, right around 4pm, as the spring air gets slightly chilly and you find yourself needing a warm pick-me-up. Though I rarely celebrate St. Patrick's Day, March 17th happens to be one of my favorite days of the whole year. Find out why next Monday!

For more of my SF favorites, like The Buena Vista, check out my Pinterest board here. 

I am providing two Irish Coffee recipes--one from The Buena Vista, and one from Food Network. Both are great! I prefer The Buena Vista's, but I use the Food Network's version when I do not have any sugar cubes on hand. 

Irish Coffee: Buena Vista Version

1/3 cup of whipping cream
1 cup of hot, black coffee
2 cocktail sugar cubes
Jigger of Irish whiskey, like Jameson

To make the whipped cream, beat whipping cream with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form, like this:

Then, follow these instructions from The Buena Vista. 

Irish Coffee: Food Network Version

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 jigger Irish whiskey

Beat the cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. 

Fill mug with hot water to preheat it, then empty the mug. Add brown sugar to mug, then add the coffee, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.   

Add the whiskey to the coffee.  Top with whipped cream.
 Of course, I had to use a San Francisco mug...

Greek Yogurt Sauce

I recently purchased an UP band for myself, and I have actually been very thorough with logging my food, activity, and sleep habits through the UP iPhone app. Even after just a few days, I noticed myself making healthier food choices, simply because I am now keeping track of almost everything I eat. 

Last weekend, I wanted to make a dip to go with some crudités and sandwiches, but I wanted the dip to be somewhat healthy given my new found health kick. Perusing the internet led me to focus on Greek-inspired veggie dips. I love love love Mediterranean food, and this dip is definitely going to be in constant rotation in my kitchen! It only takes about three minutes to pull everything together, and the dip really livens up sandwiches, salads, and vegetables.

Hope this inspires you to bring some health, Mediterranean cooking into your life this week!

Greek Yogurt Dipping Sauce

From Ellie Kreiger

1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1/8 teaspoon salt

Fresh black pepper to taste


In a small bowl, stir together all of the ingredients.  It's really that easy!

Back to Basics: Oatmeal

             

Poor oatmeal. I often think of it as a neglected breakfast food. At a weekend brunch, it seems plain and ordinary compared to waffles, pancakes, and eggs. During the week, it can be difficult to actually take the time to sit down and eat a hot breakfast before leaving work.

However...oatmeal is actually one of the most perfect weekday breakfast foods. I make a large pot of oatmeal Sunday night, and then simply store it in the fridge during the week. I can easily pack a to-go container of oatmeal for days when I have early morning workout sessions and want to eat breakfast at work instead. If I'm at home, I quickly heat up the oatmeal before making myself some coffee. 

I fluctuate between toppings--some days I prefer pecans, berries, and a little bit of greek yogurt on top of oatmeal, and on other days, nothing but bananas and brown sugar will do. One thing never changes though. I always, always, always use McCann's Steel Cut Oats. It's simply the best oatmeal around.

Oatmeal

Makes approximately four servings

1 cup dry McCann's Steel Cut Oats
4 cups water
Pinch of salt

Heat four cups of water in a pot until it is briskly boiling. Sprinkle in the oatmeal, stirring well.

When the porridge is smooth and begins to thicken, reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The oatmeal should then be ready to serve with whatever toppings you see fit!

Olive Oil Cake

As soon as I saw this cake recipe, I felt an instinctive "yes." This is a recipe that draws you in, like a fresh cup of tea on a dreary afternoon. I know olive oil sounds unattractive in a cake, but it ensures the cake is super moist, yet has a superb crispy crust. Instead of tasting olive oil, you tasted a bright orange flavor from orange zest, orange juice, and Grand Marnier.

Even more importantly, I love the simplicity of this cake--you probably have most of these ingredients on hand already. Honestly, the most difficult step is grating the orange for orange zest (more instructions here). After that, it is a pretty simple dump, mix, and bake recipe. 

This weekend, invite some old friends over for tea. You know, the ones you always promise to see, but never actually do. Bake this cake, ideally right before they come over, so your house has a wonderfully sweet orange smell before they arrive. Brew a pot of tea, devour this cake, and enjoy the lovely afternoon catching up with friends. 

Olive Oil Cake

From Food 52

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup Grand Marnier

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-inch cake pan (make sure the pan is at least two inches deep), and cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. 

In another bowl, mix together the oil, milk, eggs, zest, orange juice, and Grand Marnier. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden.  A toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Transfer the cake to a rack, and let it cool for 30 minutes. 

Run a knife around the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack, and let it cool completely.

Roasted Asparagus

Grocery shopping in DC is stressful. Living in California, I used to love the peacefulness of grocery shopping, the trivial yet enjoyable nature of picking out food for the week. Here in DC, grocery shopping is quite the ordeal.

First, I walk about fifteen minutes to get to a grocery store. If I remember to go shopping before Sunday, there might be decent looking produce at Safeway, Harris Teeter, or Trader Joe's. At Trader Joe's, I have to prepare myself for the check-out line that wraps around to the entrance of the store and is at least twenty minutes long. And if I make the crucial mistake of shopping in the late afternoon on a Sunday, then I am definitely heading to Whole Paycheck Foods for produce. After filling my reusable bags with produce, dairy, and meat for the week, I begin to make my trek back home.

Back in California, grocery shopping was a chance for discovery--for uncovering new ingredients to add in to my repertoire. Here in DC, I just want to get into the grocery store and leave as soon as possible. I started following strict shopping lists so that I could get in and out as quickly as possible. Usually, I am pretty good about making a list and sticking to it. 

This past weekend though, I got distracted by some asparagus. It just looked so good, and I realized that I had not eaten asparagus in so long (probably because it's a spring vegetable, and it's currently only the beginning of March...). I decided to buy the asparagus, even though it wasn't on my list, and I wasn't quite sure how I was going to cook it. My family typically cooks asparagus out on the BBQ but due to the lack of warm weather (and a real BBQ grill) here in DC, I realized that wasn't going to be an option.  I decided to stick with a traditional roasted asparagus recipe--it was delicious, straightforward, and quick. 

Hope this inspires you to pick up some asparagus next time you are at the market--it's just the start of spring, so there will be lots of beautiful asparagus at the market over the next few months!

Roasted Asparagus

1 lb of asparagus

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Cut off the tough part of the asparagus (last two inches or so).

Place the asparagus on a sheet pan. Toss the asparagus with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 25 minutes. The asparagus should be tender yet still crisp.