The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 29

(9. Wednesday, March 15, 1995 The Pantagraph 1 if Cream butter and sugar. Blend in cream and whiskey. Stir in nuts and coconut Cover and set aside until ready to use. LUCK OF THE IRISH TRUFFLES cup whipping cream Vfc cup sugar 6 butter, do not substitute 1 cookies 'n mint candy bar (7-oz.) broken into pieces 1 tsp.

vanilla extract Chocolate sprinkles Place wax paper on tray. In small saucepan, stir together whipping cream, sugar and butter; cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just begins to boil. Remove from heat; immediately add chocolate bar pieces and vanilla. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is well blended. Pour into glass 9-inch pie plate.

Cover; refrigerate several hours or overnight to harden. Form into Vi-inch balls, working quickly to prevent melting, roll in sprinkles. Place on prepared tray. Cover; refrigerate 2 hours or until firm. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Makes about 3V4 dozen candies. IRISH CHEDDARWICHES 8 slices Cheddar cheese 2 tart apples 8 slices fine quality raisin or raisin-walnut bread 2 to 3 honey mustard 2 softened butter Peel and core apples. Cut, crosswise, into 12 thin slices. Set aside but work quickly to keep them from discoloring. Spread each slice of bread with mustard.

Place a slice of cheese on 4 pieces; set 3 apple slices on top of each piece of cheese. Cover with remaining cheese. Top with remaining bread, seasoned side down. Lightly butter each side of sandwich. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat Place sandwiches on hot griddle and grill, turning once, for about 6 minutes or until cheese has melted and bread is golden.

Remove from griddle and cut into triangles. Serve with hot pint of ale. Makes 4 sandwiches. CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE 2 carrots, cut in 3-inch pieces 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered V4 tsp. pepper 3 to 4 lbs.

corned beef brisket 2 medium onions, quartered 1 cup water Vi small head of cabbage, cut in wedges Put all ingredients except cabbage wedges in Crockpot in order listed. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or high heat 5 to 6 hours. To prepare cabbage, cook separately in skillet Remove 1 cup of broth from Crockpot Pour over cabbage wedges in skillet Cover and cook slowly for 20 to 30 minutes. To serve cabbage, season with butter, salt and pepper. (Recipe from Menus it More by Ann Marie Bramer.) By NANCY GORDON Pantagraph food writer March 17 is the feast day of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland who converted the Irish to Christianity.

In Ireland, it is a national holiday, (largely religious), but a non-religious holiday in the United States. On that day, everyone claims to be of Irish descent, they wear green clothing and shamrocks, drink Irish whiskey and march in parades, celebrating right along with their honest-to-goodness Irish friends and neighbors. Today, the largest of the more than 100 St Patrick's Day parades in the United States is in New York City. The first was in Boston in 1737. St Patrick's Day in Ireland is also recognized as the beginning of spring when farmers begin plowing their fields to plant potatoes.

To celebrate the day, serve up a heaping bowl of Irish Colcannon, a traditional dish combining the earthy flavors of potatoes and cabbage. Or, perhaps you'd prefer some Irish cheese sandwiches or a delicious cake. Recipes to help you get ready for your St Patrick's Day celebration follow. IRISH OATMEAL CAKE 1 cup quick cooking oatmeal 1V4 cups boiling water V4 cup unsalted butter 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 2 Irish whiskey 2 large eggs 1V4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. ground cinnamon 1 tsp.

baking soda Nut Topping, recipe follows Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch round or square cake pan; set aside. Place oatmeal in a heat-proof mixing bowl. Pour boiling water over oatmeal and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Beat in Irish whiskey and eggs. When well combined, stir in oatmeal mixture. Combine flour, cinnamon and baking soda. When well combined, stir into oatmeal mixture. Beat until well mixed.

Pour oatmeal batter into prepared pan and place in preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean and cake is golden. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Spread Nut Topping over top of warm cake.

Place under preheated broiler and broil for 5 minutes or until topping is bubbling and toasted. Remove from broiler and cool on wire rack for at least IS minutes before cutting. NUTTOPPING 6 unsalted butter, softened V4 cup light brown sugar cup heavy (whipping) cream 1 Irish whiskey 1 cup chopped nuts, walnuts, pecans or almonds V4 cup grated unsweetened coconut Get in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day with this Irish Oatmeal Cake Truly Irish Soda Bread more at home; her own mother baked three or four loaves of bread every day. "It was like the staple of life," Mom said.

"It was made every day." So here's my mom's recipe. Enjoy a slice with a pat of butter and a mug of tea on St Patrick's Day. MOM'S IRISH SODA BREAD 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour Vi cups sugar 3 tsps. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp.

salt 1V4 cups raisins or currants 2 eggs beaten 1 cups buttermilk 2 shortening Sift flour with sugar, baking powder, soda and salt Stir in raisins. Combine beaten eggs, buttermilk and melted shortening. Stir into dry ingredients just until flour is moistened. Turn batter into one greased 9V4-by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about one hour.

Remove from the pan immediately. Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing. Serves 8 to 10. By MARY ANN FERGUS Pantagraph staff My mom and dad have passed on the music, the dances, the stories and silly limericks of their homeland. They did not pass on many fancy recipes.

A trip to Ireland last summer confirmed that the food on the Emerald Isle is good and hearty; but not exotic. We feasted on large servings of meat or fresh fish, vegetables and boiled or baked potatoes. Whether in the home of relatives or at a restaurant, the servings were always large as if all visitors were about to herd sheep or go off on the bog and cut the peat used to heat homes. What about corned beef and cabbage, you ask? "That's just a myth, manufactured in this country," my mom (same name as mine) said last week. It has as much to do with Ireland as leprechauns.

When Mom left Ireland more than 40 years ago, she was not concerned with bringing any recipes. But another Irish friend in Chicago soon gave her one for Irish Soda Bread. Perhaps it made her feel LARGE SAUCEPAN! ADD COOKED POTATOES ('DICED DRAINED), CUP VTTk lGJ HEAD OF GREEK jMl i CAE6 AG (COOKED WW COVER 4 A CHOPPED prepared, Horseradish GREEN OMIONS WITH CUPS OF MILk AND SIMMER OVER LOW HEAT CARAWAY, SALT PFPPER TO XM I VPVF IN WARM ia LA nicw TASTE, 3TBLS 'TIL ONIONS ARE SOFT. ur ii Oh ViAKGAKINh AND MASH x-v If ftV 1 Pv WELL. k.SS EIGHT Cl gS- TO TEN.

JJ Experiment improves average eater's diet 'If the guys go out for wings, I'll be right alongside. But I'm eating better. It was so much easier than I could have Qeorg Bunca, an 'averag eater1 Molasses, coffee flavor Irish cake IRISH BLACK GINGER CAKE V4 cup butter, softened Vi cup sugar 1 egg 1 cup unsulfured molasses 2V4 cups unbleached flour 1V4 tsps. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground cloves 1 tsp.

ground ginger Vi tsp. salt IVi tsps. baking soda 1 cup hot, strong, freshly brewed coffee Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square or 9-inch round cake pan and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until smooth.

In large bowl, beat egg into molasses, then add to butter mixture. Sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and salt, then fold into butter mixture. Dissolve baking soda in hot coffee, then add to batter. Beat vigorously until well blended. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Serve plain or with warm lemon curd (found in most supermarkets) or with whipped cream. Or, split cake horizontally and frost with cream cheese icing to which has been added chopped zest of a lemon or orange. Makes 8 to 12 servings. WASHINGTON, D.C.

(AP) George Bunca lived on deli sandwiches and Chinese takeout He never ate fruit and had a vegetable maybe every other day. Bunca's menu, nutritionists say, is typical of the largely unhealthy way Americans eat So they used the New Jersey man and four other average eaters to persuade consumers that improving the diet isn't that hard, and doesn't require sacrificing taste. "People think of nutritionists as people with hairnets who are always finger-wagging," said Larry Lindner, executive editor of Tufts University Diet St Nutrition Letter. "We always try to say, 'Look, if we give you the information, you can juggle anything into your diet with a little planning and forethought' The American Dietetic Association, while pushing those new nutrition labels the government put on food last year, noticed that surveys showed people were aware of the labels but nobody knew if people actually understood them and used the information. After all, only 10 percent of Americans eat five fruits and vegetables a day, the minimum recommended for good health, while another 10 percent don't eat any on a daily basis.

A new Gallup Poll shows only 6 percent of Americans eat enough grains, and un skim milk chops 8 grams of fat without sacrificing calcium; just a cup of milk and a slice of cheese the size of two dominoes satisfies adults' dairy requirements. Don't like greens? A sweet potato packs a nutritional punch. Shredded carrots slip into spaghetti sauce to add vitamins without changing taste. Slide green pepper onto a sandwich. Lindner calls these "nutritional sleights of hand" that can improve even a bad diet Next, the five experimenters learned to balance.

The policeman discovered spinach pizza, lower in salt and fat than sausage pizza plus some greenery. The grandmother discovered low-fat yogurt The secretary allowed herself hot dogs and cotton candy at the fair but later snacked on fresh strawberries. Bunca cooks low-sodium, vegetable-packed stir-fry in place of the won ton soup that contains a day's serving of sodium. The teen-ager, alarmed to discover the calories in soft drinks, traded one for some milk and doubled her calcium. Will the new habits last? Lindner's optimistic.

"It's a juggling act but the bottom line is the message that you can improve your eating and not be in food jail." told millions eat too much fat and salt So the ADA found five average eaters and used the food label to teach them nutrition basics. Lindner turned the nine-month experiment into a national lesson by publishing the step-by-step progress for his 200,000 subscribers. This month, he pronounced the experiment a success. The five former vegetable-phobes learned to squeeze nutrients into their favorite meals and still eat the occasional chocolate cake. "I'm not a fanatic," said Bunca, 30, of South Plainfield, N.J.

"If the guys go out for wings, I'll be right alongside. But I'm eating better. It was so much easier than I could have imagined." ADA dietitian Nancy Schwartz said, "We were using real people, real food, real menus, even supermarket visits, so people would believe this. Hopefully, we'll inspire people to make some changes." The ADA picked a diverse group: A 200-pound suburban Chicago policeman whose fondness for barbecue and smoked pork gave him almost twice the daily limit of salt A Marietta, grandmother at risk of osteoporosis from too little calcium. A Dallas secretary whose daily fast-food lunches made almost half of her calories come from fat, well above the recommended 30 percent maximum.

Bunca, whose marketing job kept him so on the run that he was underweight from a deli-and-takeout diet high in salt and low in vitamins. And a Denver teen-ager who, wanting to stay 107 pounds, missed vital nutrients by shunning breakfast and lunch. They all had food coaches assessing their diets, teaching them to tell a food's value from its label and then customizing their menus. First they learned the basics. For example, a serving of fruit or vegetables is half a cup, enough to fit in an ice-cream scoop.

That's just four Brussel sprouts or 10 to 15 grapes. Other lessons: A proper serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards; switching from whole to.