Celebrate this beautiful flower with me, Kathleen Raskin of Kathey Jo’s Kitchen by enjoying these great, easy to grow bloomers. If you don’t have any in your yard, plant some today. You can also enjoy this day by purchasing fresh iris from your local flower shop. Iris have spiritual importance in Japan, as they’re thought to ward off evil spirits, and prevent illnesses. Since you can’t really eat irises, there are iris recipes that I’ll be sharing with you today. What’s your favorite iris? I think simple blue flag wild iris is a favorite to have in Kathey Jo’s Kitchen.
Sicilian Iris
Ingredients
- 4 bread rolls round
- 250 grams of cottage cheese (ricotta cheese)
- 50 grams of sugar
- 25 grams of dark chocolate, chopped
- Half of a vanilla bean
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons of milk
- breadcrumbs
- sugar
- Fry oil
Directions
- Prepare the filling: Mix the ricotta with 50 grams of sugar, chocolate and the vanilla seeds.
- Take the sandwiches and make a hole on one side, remove some crumb (set aside), fill with cottage cheese and close the hole with the crumb kept aside.
- Carefully dip each Iris ball in the milk, then into the beaten egg and finally in bread crumbs.
- Fry the Iris in hot oil, when they are golden, drain on absorbent paper and pass them in sugar. Serve.
Baked Nutella Iris
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 75 oz. lard
- 75 oz. sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 ½ tsp active dry yeast
- Nutella as needed
- Milk to brush
Directions
- Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water together with 1 tbsp of the sugar. Set it aside to activate.
- In the meantime, put the remaining sugar, flour, salt and lard in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Once the yeast and water mixture has become frothy, add it to the bowl. Knead well until you obtain a smooth and pliable dough.
- Let it rise for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
- Divide the dough in 12 balls. Flatten them with a rolling pin. Place some Nutella in the center of the dough circle. Then gather the edges and seal your bun. Put it upside down on a baking tray covered with baking paper.
- Brush with some milk.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 390°F for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Let the buns cool down completely, then dust with icing sugar and serve.
