Love pasta? You can’t go wrong with Pasta Alfredo. It’s fast, easy and tasty.

Invented by the Roman chef after whom the dish is named, it consists of just pasta, parmigiano and butter.

Ingredients

1 lb fettuccine
1/2 lb parmigiano reggiano cheese
1/2 lb butter
and a little bit of salt

Method

Boil the fettuccine in salted water until al dente, this is firm, not undercooked, but not too soft. The key is to use enough water to allow the pasta to have space to move around. That allows even heating and a uniform coating of starch that’s boiled out of the pasta. Drain, but don’t rinse.

Warm the butter in a large bowl to a little more than room temperature, making it soft and easy to spread. This can be done any number of ways, but one easy method is to add a small amount of water to a ceramic bowl, then microwave. Take care not to overdo it, though. Microwaves can be damaged if the bowl becomes dry and there’s no remaining water to heat. Then add room temperature butter to the heated bowl.

Grate the cheese into fine, small chunks. If the cheese is slightly dry, sprinkle a few drops of the water used to boil the pasta into the bowl with the cheese.

Drop the still hot pasta over the butter, add the cheese and toss vigorously. Stir until the pasta is well coated with the soft, gooey mixture. Cover and let sit for a couple of minutes.

For a delightful variation, add a teaspoon of garlic powder to the mix and stir in well. For the true creative, substituting a bit of romano cheese for the parmigiano is an option. To spice it up just a bit, sprinkle a dash of cayenne pepper into the bowl and work it in.

For a thicker sauce, simmer butter, garlic powder and two cups of heavy whipping cream in a saucepan for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Other variations include using a bit of cream cheese to thicken the mixture still further. Blue cheese (about four ounces, crumbled) has even been used instead.

For a lighter sauce, substitute milk for the cream.

For a seasoning variation, a bit of basil can be added to the mixture.

There’s nothing which smells as wonderful as a yeast cake when it’s baking. This coffee cake recipe is perfect to make on the weekend, when the whole family can enjoy it, or when you’re expecting guests.

Make the yeast coffee cake

Being organized is a key strategy when starting any project. The baking of a coffee cake is no different. Therefore, it is important to assemble the ingredients needed along with the appropriate cooking utensil.

First of all the baker will need a pan to pour the coffee cake mixture into. A bundt type cake pan should suffice.

Then, assemble together the needed ingredients. Those ingredients should include:

2 cups of warm water, two packages of bulk yeast or the equivalent of 4 teaspoons, ½ cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ cup of cooking oil. In addition, to the mixture, 2 eggs will need to be added, 5 to 6 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar and 6 tablespoons of butter. Also, as an added flavor, the ingredient to make a delicious coffee cake is the addition of cinnamon. 3 teaspoons of cinnamon should be sufficient.

Preparation

Once the ingredients have been gathered together they can be combined to comprise the coffee cake batch. The first step in the process is to dissolve the yeast in warm water. This combination of yeast and water should be allowed to stand for a couple of minutes.

Following this first step, add the sugar, salt and cooking oil. Stir these ingredients together.

Following these steps add in the eggs and beat vigorously to ensure the eggs are properly mixed in. After the eggs have been added, mix in one cup of flour and stir till the mixture is smooth in texture. Following the addition of one cup of flour add in two additional cups and stir in the mixture till the batter is smooth. When this step has been completed add in enough of the remaining flour so that the batter is sticky to the touch.

Once this process has been completed the batter should be placed aside for roughly 20 minutes. During this 20 minutes take the opportunity to lubricate the cake pan and prepare the glaze for the coffee cake. This can be accomplished by mixing the sugar and cinnamon together and melting the butter.

After the 20 minutes has elapsed take the dough and pull out lump portions equivalent to the size of a small egg. Take these small portions of dough and roll them into smooth balls between the palms of your hand. The rolled balls of dough should then be glazed in the melted butter and rolled in the cinnamon and sugar.

After this preparation, place the balls into the pan. Don’t pack the rolled dough too tightly. Add the dough until completely gone and layer the dough if needed. Allow this dough to rise by placing in a warm area for about 45 minutes.

The last step is to bake the dough in an oven for 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Enjoy.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Corned beef and cabbage, perhaps one of the most recognizable of Irish recipes, is also very simple to make if you buy the corned beef, which is pickled brisket. What you’ll need is a joint of corned beef, placed in a pot and covered with water. Boil the water, and then add 2 large onions, two large carrots, some potatoes, a bay leaf, and some pepper to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes, then add one cabbage, quartered, and simmer for another half hour.

For this meal, serve the meat surrounded by the vegetables, and as with many Irish recipes, extra mashed potatoes will make the meal perfect. With just a little time, that’s all you need to create this simple meal.

Soda Bread

Another one of the traditionally Irish recipes is that for soda bread. As the name may imply, soda bread is one in which the leavening agent is baking soda, rather than yeast as in many traditional breads. All you really need for soda bread is about 4 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of salt and about 2 1/2 cups buttermilk. The rising comes from the reaction of baking soda, which is a base, with the lactic acid in buttermilk, which is acidic. Because this bread is so easy to make, you can quickly perfect your own recipe and learn to add other ingredients, such as raisins, to improve it.

Boxty

Many Irish recipes feature potatoes heavily, and none exemplifies this more than boxty, which is a traditional potato pancake. This meal is made by grating 1 cup of raw potato which has been squeezed so the liquid has escaped, and by adding 1 cup of mashed potatoes, 2 cups of flour, then about a teaspoon each of baking powder, salt, and butter. Knead the mixture and divide into flat cakes that can be baked or fried. While this recipe might sound similar to hash browns, it tends to have a much finer texture.

This, like the other Irish recipes here, are simple to make, so give them a try and see how good a celebration of Irish cuisine can taste.