Oat Farls (a Biscuit like Scone)

Several hours or the night before, in large glass bowl, stir together oats and 1 1/4 c. buttermilk until combined. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let stand in a cool place overnight. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet. In medium-size bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Gradually beat flour mixture into oat mixture to make dough. (Add more buttermilk, if necessary, to make the dough soft enough to shape. Having additional flour ready for hands and board.) Shape dough into a flattened 8" round, about 1" thick. With a sharp knife, cut dough into quarters. Place each quarter, or farl, onto a greased baking sheet. Bake 40 minutes or until browned. Cool on wire rack. To serve, break farls with fork or fingers and butter well. If there's any left, they freeze well, or you can split farls and toast them in a toaster oven the next day. Note: I prefer making smaller farls. I take this recipe of dough and make 2 rounds, '" thick, cutting them into 8 pieces. Irish Freckle Bread Makes 2 loaves or 20 servings 1 lg. (1/2 #) potato 1 1/2 c. water 5 c. unsifted unbleached flour 2 packages active dry yeast 1/3 c. sugar 1 t. salt 2 lg. eggs, room temperature 1/2 c. butter, melted and cooled 1 c. dark seedless raisins or currants Peel and quarter potato. Cook in water. Reserve water (1 c.) and mash potato. Cool liquid to 120-130 degrees. In lg. bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. flour, mashed potato, yeast, sugar, and salt. Beat in cooled cooking liquid until smooth. Cover bowl loosely with clean cloth and let rise in warm place until puffy - about 1 1/2 hours. Stir down batter, then add the eggs, melted butter, and raisins Gradually beat in more flour, 1/2 c. at a time, until a soft dough forms. Knead dough until smooth, about 10 minutes. Grease two 8 1/2 X 4 1/4 inch loaf pans. Divide dough in half and form into balls; let rest 5 minutes. Pat balls into ovals and place in greased loaf pans. cover pans loosely with a clean cloth and let rise 45 minutes or until dough reaches tops of pans. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake 35 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on top. Remove loaves from pans and cool on a wire rack. Note: I like to use 4 junior (1/2 size) loaf pans. Bake about 25 minutes. Irish Oatmeal Cookies 1 1/4 c. butter 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 c granulated sugar 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 t. vanilla 1 1/2 c. unbleached flour 1 t baking soda 1 t salt (optional) 1 t cinnamon (optional) 3 c McCann's Quick Cooking Oatmeal (or any brand of quick oats) 3/4 c raisins (optional) 1/2 c walnuts Cream butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla Combine together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, quick cooking oatmeal, raisins, and walnuts. Add to butter mixture. Drop rounded teaspoons of batter on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees F. Cool 1 minute before removing to wire cooling rack. Yield 4 1/2 dozen. Killarney Cherry Cake (Ireland) 1-lb. 2 1/2 oz. pkg. chocolate fudge cake mix 1/4 c. plus 3 T. creme de menth or 1 1/2 t. peppermint flavoring 1/2 c. chopped red or green Maraschino cherries 1 1/2 c. heavy cream 2 T. confectioners sugar (powdered sugar) 1/4 c. whole green (or red) Maraschino cherries Chocolate curls (take a potato peeler to a cold or frozen Hershey Chocolate Candy Bar) Prepare cake according to package directions, substituting 1/4 c. creme de menthe for 1/4 c. water or adding 1 t. peppermint flavoring (I prefer the peppermint flavoring to the creme de menthe). Stir in chopped cherries; pour into two greased 9-inch layer pans. Bake as directed on package. Cool. Whip cream with remaining creme de menthe or 1/2 t. peppermint flavoring and confectioners sugar. Spread one-third of the whipped cream between cake layers. Heap remaining whipped cream on top. Arrange whole cherries (you might want to drain or blot on paper towels first) and chocolate curls over whipped cream. Note: I prefer the peppermint flavoring in the cake mix. The cake tends to burn if I use the creme de menthe. If you want to save time, frost the cake with a tub of Cool Whip (regular or Extra Creamy, the Low-fat stuff doesn't hold up well) with either creme de menthe or peppermint flavoring in it instead of whipping the cream. Make sure this cake is refrigerated. Colcannon 1 pound all-purpose potatoes, washed but not peeled 1 pound green cabbage, shredded (4 cups) 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup) 1/4 c. milk 1 T. butter 3 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated Salt & pepper to taste Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until they are very tender but not mushy. Drain them, reserving the cooking liquid, and set them aside to cool somewhat. Using the potato water (you may have to add more water), boil the cabbage and onion for about 5 minutes. Drain the vegetables and set aside. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin, place the pottoes in a bowl, add the milk and butter, and mash them until they are smooth. (I just peel, cook, then mash the potatoes or use left-over mashed potatoes.) Add the reserved boiled cabbage and onion to the potato mixture. Mix two-thirds of the cheese with the potato mixture. Season the colcannon with salt and pepper if necessary, and transfer it to a greased casserole or shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Before serving the colcannon, heat it through in a moderately hot oven (the temperature is not critical - it can be between 350 and 425 degrees f., depending on what else you are using the oven for). Let the cheese on top melt and brown slightly.