Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. Naturally, I was craving all of my favorite Irish foods: barbecue, cole slaw, and lemon yogurt cake.
Now, before you start throwing you blarney stones at me, I have an EXPLANATION.
The weather on Saturday was damn near flawless. It was 70. I wore flip flops. I wore a tank top. I ate dinner on the patio of a restaurant. ON THE GD PATIO.
And despite the fact that St. Patrick’s Day turned colder and I should’ve been seasonally celebrating the aforementioned St. Patrick, who did…a thing…for which he will always be remembered, I was not craving anything Irish. As much I love some corned beef and cabbage, the only thing Irish I was craving was Tom Branson.
He’s dreamy.
HASHTAG YUM
Anyways. Warm weather! (That went away and became cold weather!) Delicious barbecue! (That was made indoors and is made of chicken and not porks!)
When you’re needing the south in your mouth (…ew….), who better to turn to than Paula Deen? She seems really nice and also, a little bit terrifying at the same time. Let me prove the terrifying point to you right now.
Um? I’m kind of terrified of Oprah, too.
I rarely crave cole slaw. But when I do, I fiend for it like an extra on The Wire. This recipe is from the Sandwich King, Jeff Mauro, who won Next Food Network Star a few years back. I prefer to think of him coming to his title as Sandwich King by more traditional means, having ascended to the throne of Sandwichlandia when is father finally succumbed to the delicious, yet fatal, pastrami-thelioma.
….that joke sure was a long way to go for a ham sandwich.
EH??!?!?
Never mind.
This sandwich is good. And simple. The sweetness of the barbecue matches up well with the cool (temperature) of the cole slaw, with a tiny heat (spice) from the sriracha. Plus, you can’t go wrong with the earthy flavor of celery seeds. Cause bonus, they WILL always get in your teeth.
I also made this Lemon Yogurt Cake by my best friend Ina Garten. Because, well, she’s great at everything. Everything except making things that are low in fat or calories. In the paragraph about this recipe in Barefoot Contressa at Home, she says that because it has no butter, it’s a lighter version of a lemon cake. Huzzah! The replacement for the butter is whole milk yogurt (healthy!) and vegetable oil (…um….). Plus, it still has plenty of sugar in the cake and essentially two glazes. I’m not convinced it’s any more healthy unless you just want to say “well, there’s NO butter in this cake. Isn’t that marvelous!” But it DOES taste good, especially with a cup of coffee. For breakfast.
HASHTAG BREAKFAST CAKE.
It was a lovely St. Patrick’s Day. Even though I didn’t wear any green. Or eat any colcannon. I’m gonna save that shit for the 4th of July.
Pulled Barbecue Chicken Sandwich, From Pauladeen.com
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 whole-wheat hamburger rolls
- Coleslaw, optional, but….make that shit mandatory
A-simmering
Barbecue Pulled Chicken and Cole Slaw Sandwich
Three-Tone Power Cole Slaw, From Foodnetwork.com
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 8 ounces green cabbage, finely shredded | I used a bag of cole slaw mix and supplemented with pre-shredded carrots to get to about 18 ounces of cole slaw matter. Cause I was le tired.
- 8 ounces red cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
Whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, mustard, Sriracha, sugar and celery seed. Season with salt and pepper.
This is the only slaw picture I took…so enjoy.
In a large bowl, combine the green cabbage, red cabbage and carrots. Pour over the dressing and mix together. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
Lemon Yogurt Cake, From Barefootcontessa.com or Barefoot at Home (copyright 2006)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ¼ x 2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
B.W., Before Whisking
Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
Cake? Or Murderous Plant from Little Shop of Horrors?
Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
Finished Cake? Or glazed murderous plant from Little Shop of Horrors?
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