This year, for St. Patrick’s Day, I ate tacos with fish from the English coast, drank an English beer with those tacos… and made Guinness bread. (Hey, I tried!)

Here in London, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t the kind of holiday it is in the US. People go out here, but it doesn’t have the same kind of exciting buzz or the green rivers. I’m guessing it might be because of the formerly sour relations between the two countries…

So while this post doesn’t include any unnaturally green food or silly hats, it does have a delicious and somewhat sweet bread to snack on while getting over a big night out. My favorite way to have it is warm with a bit of butter on top.

The best part about making this bread is that it didn’t require any yeast or rising. A bit of baking powder and some fizzy(ish) beer does all the work!

Notes: I cut 1/2 the sugar from the original recipe, but it’s still a sweet bread. If you want something more savory, you could cut it even more.

Also, while I would love to write that this bread is vegetarian, it’s unfortunately not. If you’re strict, it’s worth knowing that Guinness is processed with something called isinglass, which is made from fish.

Original recipe from: The Black Peppercorn

On The Counter

3 cups flour, sifted
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) salt
4 tsp (20mL) baking powder
1/3 cup (30g) oats
1/3 cup (85g) demerara (raw) sugar
12 oz (340mL) Guinness
1 tbsp (6g) oats
non-dairy spread or butter to grease loaf pan

What to Do

Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 9.5in x 5in x 3in (24cm x 13cm x 7cm) with the butter/spread.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/3 cup oats and sugar.

Slowly mix in Guinness using a wooden spoon. Try to avoid lumps, but don’t overmix. The batter should be quite sticky.

Scoop the batter into the greased pan and sprinkle the remaining oats on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Test with a toothpick at 45 minutes. If it comes out clean, remove from the oven. If it doesn’t, put it back in for 5 more minutes at a time.

Place on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Slice while still warm.

January is definitely the month of tight budgets, both money-wise and diet-wise, and I can’t say that I’m the exception. While it’s nice to imagine that while traveling between New York, London and Edinburgh over the holidays, I ate well, didn’t spend much money and therefore don’t need a quiet January, that’s just not true. (Then again, my January hasn’t been as healthy and frugal as I’d have liked either.)

This meal, however, is something no one has to feel guilty about. I first grabbed this recipe from The Kitchn, and went back to it for a great January meal. (By the way … how is it nearly February? When did that happen?)

For what it is, this panade is way tastier than I expected. It has deep, rich flavors and is super-hearty. One portion is a lot more filling than it looks!

I had some whole wheat bread loaf butts hanging around in my freezer waiting for such an occasion, and it worked perfectly. Worth noting: I tried freezing and reheating, and while it needed a little bit of water before going in the microwave, it worked out really, really well. Also, if you want to make this vegan, you can leave out the cheese without losing too much. Just be willing to adjust your herbs and spices to compensate.

Hopefully your 2013 resolutions have gone well so far! And if it involves using up bread butts, now’s your chance.

Adapted from: The Kitchn

Serves: 4 (at least!)

On the Counter

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz.(400g) cans of tomatoes, whole or diced, undrained
1 cup (240 mL) hot vegetable broth
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar
1 bay leaf
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
2 thick slices old whole wheat bread
1 16 oz. (400 g) can of white beans, such as cannellini or navy, drained and rinsed
2 cups (50 g) fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup  (40 g) grated cheddar cheese, plus extra for garnishing
salt and pepper

What to Do

In a thick-bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until translucent and soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for another minute.

Add in canned tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, crush them with a wooden spoon. Follow it up with the broth, one tablespoon of sugar, bay leaf, red pepper flakes and salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon is a good place to start).

Stir and increase the heat until it boils, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Add in bread and beans, and stir. Make sure the bread is well covered.

Simmer for at least 5 minutes, or until the bread has become soft and mushy. Break it up with a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat. Add in spinach, and let it sit until just wilted, about 1 minute.  

Stir in the cheddar. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. If it tastes bitter, add
the remaining sugar and stir.

Serve in bowls, topped with a bit of freshly grated cheddar.

I love this dish!  It’s so easy and filling, and it really feels hearty and comforting. Plus, there’s pretty much no guilt in this dish. With only two slices of bread in the whole thing, it’s definitely not a calorie deal-breaker.

What better way to start a new cooking blog than with breakfast!

I love having a weekend morning that I can dedicate to stretching my breakfast into brunch. While a weekday’s breakfast might be a bowl of oatmeal or Greek yogurt and fruit, weekends offer the opportunity for pancakes, baked eggs or French toast.

French toast is something that I haven’t made in the year+ I’ve been living in London. I wish I had a good reason for it, but I was really just too into sharing the joys of American pancakes to even consider French toast. Some weekends, though, I just need a break from carbs for… a different type of carbs.

What many people know as French toast is actually called Pain Perdu in France (and quite a few other French-speaking places) and it’s a slightly different style than French toast. Where French toast is exclusively cooked on a griddle or in a skillet, pain perdu is often baked. And while French toast is usually served with butter and syrup, pain perdu is served with honey, creme anglaise, fruit, or even jam.

As a first-timer, I kept it simple with a bit of butter and honey. Next time: summer berries. The nearly-lost bread was a sourdough baguette left over from dinner. It worked nicely, though it requires a lot more soaking time than sliced bread with a wider surface area.

I liked this recipe a lot because it’s baked rather than fried, and there’s much less risk of having bread that tastes more like scrambled eggs than it does custard.

Now, on to the recipe!

Serves: 4, with 5 pieces each

On the Counter:

• 20 slices of baguette
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) milk
• 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
• salt to taste
• butter, honey or other topping of choice

What to Do:

Preheat oven to 205°C/400°F. Butter an oven-proof dish or cookie sheet. In a bowl, beat the eggs together with salt, sugar, milk, and vanilla.

Pour into a large, flat-bottomed dish. Put the bread slices into the dish to soak up some of the egg mixture.

Turn them over with a spatula, letting them soak long enough to have taken in the mix, but not so long that they begin to fall apart. (It took me about 1 minute per side, with a little bit of squishing, but my baguette was quite dense.)

Gently move the soaked bread slices to the buttered dish/sheet. Spoon any of the remaining mixture over the slices.

Place the dish in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes total. After the first 10 minutes, turn the slices over so they brown evenly on both sides.

Serve immediately with your toppings of choice.

It looks amazing straight out of the oven. Golden, sweet and ready to be eaten. It was hard to wait to get them to the table!