Eat Arkansas

No caraway seeds? They're in the recipe I use (from Bon Appetit) and they give a nice touch, especially with a bowl of beans or bean soup. The whole wheat and bran must make for a hearty loaf. Certainly looks good!

ARK. BLOG: I did a lot of studying before baking. I saw some recipes with caraway seeds. Some, too, with currants or raisins and other sweet items. But I wanted to find something close to what I was served every morning in Ireland and this recipe was a very reasonable facsimile, it turns out.

Picture is lovely. I can almost smell it, which is the nicest part of good bread. I'll be interested to know how long it remains palatable. Good bread lasts longer than what we are used to, even if it gets a little dry. It even survives freezing.

Oh, and even dry bread adds a lot to soups and casseroles. It makes good croutons, too.

(I was once summarily appointed the baker to a community of monks--without any previous experience. That's when I learned to respect the virtures of good bread.)

Where can you find Bulgarian buttermilk?

ARK. BLOG: It's Coleman's. I got it at Kroger. I bought it, rather than "standard" buttermilk because it has a higher fat content. I didn't figure that would hurt. It sounded more like the buttermilk described in the treatise in Elizabeth David's book.

Thanks for the guidance Max. Once Mr. EY found out how easy soda bread is to make, he made some. We're thinking of sub'ing fresh rosemary or basil for the caraway (we have some growing that we need to use). I'm sure we'd love the whole wheat and bran--knowing that it was what you had on your trip makes it all the more appealing!

Bulgarian buttermilk is
thicker, richer, more
like we grew up on.
That is all I buy, makes
best cornbread & to
drink.

I hate to use a thread for baking bread to post a recipe that uses cans of things, but OnesAndZeros (on the Arkansas Blog) requested a recipe for chicken & spinach enchiladas.

Here it is, such that it is:

Chicken & spinach enchiladas

If I do something with chicken, it usually starts with roasting the whole bird, then removing all the meat for use in recipes. I put everything else in a pot and cook it down to stock for use in other recipes.

This dish is probably not technically enchiladas, and it's also not really a recipe with exact amounts -- I'll just try to guess at the amounts, but you can't really mess it up.

About 3 cups pulled (shredded) chicken meat

16 oz package of frozen leaf spinach, thawed and very, very well drained

8 oz package of cream cheese, softened (if you do this in the microwave, remove the foil wrapper, unless you like fireworks in the kitchen)

One or two (!) cups of grated jack (or pepper jack) cheese

One onion, finely chopped and sauted until translucent

Here's where you can wing it, depending on your appreciation of color and "heat":

8 oz (or so) diced green chiles
jalapenos
pimientos
olives

I use ground cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper to taste.

Stir all of that stuff up in a mixing bowl until well blended. It should have a fairly firm consistency and should not be runny at all.

I prefer corn tortillas, however mrs mann prefers the flour ones, so guess which way I make this?

Take one of the large (burrito-sized) flour tortillas and put about 4 oz of filling in the middle and fold up both ends before rolling up the tortilla--burrito-style.

(A stick of butter is 4 oz, so let that be your guide. These are fatties!)

I bake these in a 7 x 12 glass baking dish, so just keep building them until you run out of filling, placing one right next to the other. Once the dish is full, cover with green enchilada sauce, right out of the can. (You will need more than one dish for this amount). Bake uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes or so. I sprinkle yet even more jack cheese on top for the last 10 minutes. You can add black olive rings, jalapeno slices, etc., if you want.

(If someone has a recipe for REAL green enchilada sauce, please share!)

So glad you shared the recipe--authentic soda bread is one that I've never been able to pull off (although I'm really good at slicing the X-shaped cross on top).

It must have been in the air this weekend, as I made some to-die-for beer & cheese bread. Will send pics.

Looks wonderful, Max. I think the Bulgarian buttermilk was a stroke of genius.

Now if we could only get some of that extra creamy butter they slather on their bread in Ireland, we'd be in business....

Thanks for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to try it.

Recipe for chicken tamales as requested 1's&0's.

Prepare instant masa mix per instructions (I got mine at a Harp's and the recipe calls for 16 small puppies and mine yielded 9) I used my chicken liquid to add to the recipe

Meat mixture: two large poached chicken breasts chopped and shredded)

Take chicken liquid and add chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin (about 1tbsp each).*

Add to chicken and place over low heat. Cook and continue to shred meat as it cooks out excess liquid.

Let cool.

By this time, you have been soaking the corn husks in warm water.

Spread out blotted husk. Spread masa mix over creating a thin layer that is a rectangle about 2x3 inches.
Leave about 1 inch space on the sides.

Place a line of meat down middle. You can add a bit of cheese here if you wish.

This is where it gets tricky. I brought the sides of the husk together squeezing gently to bring the edges together to create the puppy. I even used my fingers to help make it seal in a tube. I then wrapped the tamale, folded the bottom over and trimmed any excess on the open end.

Steamed them on low heat for about 90 minutes. Served a thin chili sauce over them Sunday night. Wife enjoyed them.

*You can use a variety of flavors here. I even added some commercial salsa verde to my mix.

Go to the internet to get some more instruction on folding the tamales.

Good luck and enjoy. I was actually pleased by my first time results.