Recipes of the Week - Irish Soda Bread & Shepherd's Pie

This week, I tried not one, but two new recipes - in the same meal, no less! St. Patrick's Day is Alec's favorite holiday. He says it's because he's part Irish. I say it's because of the beer. Despite Alec's love for the day, we've never celebrated it in a big way. So, I decided to make a yummy St. Paddy's Day meal. First, I came across a recipe for Irish Soda Bread and then I started browsing FoodNetwork.com for ideas for the main dish. I love Shepherd's Pie and there were quite a few recipes for that. I picked one from Rachael Ray and adapted it a bit.

We didn't have the meal until, Tuesday, the 18th because Alec got back from D.C. very late Monday night (more like early Tuesday morning!).

Classic Irish Soda Bread
from Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
3 c. bleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 c. cake flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp table salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter (2 Tbsp softened + 1 Tbsp melted)
1 1/2 c. buttermilk

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Whisk flours, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt in large bowl.
3. Work softened butter into dry ingredients with fork or fingertips until texture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add buttermilk and stir with a fork just until dough begins to come together.
5. Turn out onto flour-coated work surface, knead until dough just becomes cohesive and bumpy, 12 to 14 turns. (Do not knead until dough is smooth, or bread will be tough.)
6. Pat dough into a round about 6 inches in diameter and 2 inches high; place on greased or parchment-lined baking sheet or in a cast iron pan, if using. Cut a cross shape into the top.
7. Bake until golden brown and a skewer inserted into center of loaf comes out clean or internal temperature reaches 180 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes.
8. Remove from oven and brush with melted butter; cool to room temperature, 30 to 40 minutes.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie
adapted from Rachael Ray

Ingredients
2 lbs. potatoes, such as russet, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk & milk combined (I just used the rest of the 1-pint container of buttermilk I bought for the Soda Bread, then added enough milk to make it 1/2 cup total)
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 package ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 c. turkey stock
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup frozen peas
Paprika

Directions
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potatoes and pour them into a bowl. Combine sour cream, egg yolk and milk. Add the cream mixture into potatoes and mash until potatoes are almost smooth. (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the paddle attachment to do the potatoes. My mom says not to make mashed potatoes with a mixer, but I had heard it worked well with the KA, so I tried it back at Christmas and I thought they tasted good.)

While potatoes boil, preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to hot pan with turkey. Season meat with salt & pepper. Brown and crumble meat for 3-4 minutes. Add onion. Cook with meat 5 minutes, stirring frequently. In a second small pan over medium heat cook butter and flour together 2 minutes. Whisk in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Thicken gravy 1 minute. Add gravy to meat & vegetables. Stir in peas.

Preheat broiler on high. Fill a pie plate with meat & vegetable mixture. Spread potatoes over meat. Sprinkle with paprika and broil until potatoes are browned.

You can get the original recipe, which calls for Beef or Lamb here.
Here are a few photos:

The Soda Bread:

The Shepherd's Pie:

On the island for serving:

On the plate, ready to eat: