Alchemy in The Kitchen - Simple Ingredients, Magical Food

Pear, Apple and Muesli Crumble – how to banish Winter!

2012-02-03T09:59:00.001Z

You’ll probably remember a time when, as a child, you ate an ice cream too fast and your mouth froze and the cold sensation spread to give you an almighty headache. If a city could have that sensation, my home town would have it now. Brrrrrr! There is only one remedy. This place needs crumble. Now!

For 4 servings you will need...

... to pre-heat the oven to 170°C

Crumble mix

100g plain flour

75g butter, cut into small cubes

¼ teaspoon fine table salt

65g caster sugar (or brown sugar)

1 teaspoon grated orange zest (I used mandarin)

100g of your favourite unsweetened muesli

1 Place the flour and butter in a mixing bowl and rub the butter into the flour, lifting and crumbling the mixture between your index and middle fingers and your thumbs, until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. There’ll be some larger pea-sized lumps but don’t worry. These help make for a good texture in the crumble.

2 Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You can pop the mixture into the freezer at this stage for later use if you wish.

Magic ingredient: Don't forget a touch of salt to bring out the sweetness

Filling

200g apple, sliced or chopped

200g of hard pears (such as Conference)

35g sugar or honey

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

3 Mix together the filling ingredients and transfer to a square pie dish approximately 21cm x 21cm (8½” x 8½”) and 6cm (2½”) deep. Alternatively, I’ve used 4 individual round pie dishes 11cm (4½”) diameter and 4.5cm (about 2”) deep.

4 Cover the fruit mixture with a layer of crumble approximately 1cm thick (½ inch), patting it into place but taking care not to pack it too tightly. Transfer to the pre-heated oven and bake for 30 – 40 mins or until golden brown. Serve with custard or cream and a big fat warm smile because Winter has been banished – from the table at least!

Later that evening...

Variations: Crumble is a great dish to reflect the seasons – rhubarb and strawberry in late Spring, cherry in the Summer, and apple, pear, and blackberry in the Autumn. Vary the flavouring in both the topping and the filling – almond extract is good with a cherry filling, clove loves apple. It’s a dish to be played with and experimented with.

Toad-in-the-Hole – and how to avoid a soggy bottom!

2012-01-26T18:42:00.000Z

Is it any wonder that British food has a bad reputation with dubious-sounding dishes such as Bubble n Squeak, Wet Nelly, Clapshot, Huffkins, Singing Hinnies, Tiddy Oggies, Spotted Dick, and my own particular favourite, Toad-In-The-Hole.

I steered well clear of Toad for many years because I thought it might be named after its filling. However, I have since discovered that Toad-In-The-Hole is a Yorkshire-type batter, embedded with meaty sausages, all smothered in onion gravy. Like the nursery rhyme, when it’s good, it’s very, very good and when it’s bad it’s horrid!

Toad is traditionally made in a large roasting tin and a soggy bottom is very difficult to avoid. The edges rise beautifully but the middle can be thick and stodgy and rather bleagh! Some recipes advise adding half the batter to the tin and letting it cook for a few minutes before adding the sausages and the rest of the batter. This doesn’t work.

I have made many, many Toads in pursuit of Toad excellence and have discovered several key elements:

'Toad' in a pond of creamy batter - hold your nerve and fill the cups to the brim

1) Use more eggs than most recipes tell you to, but less than the 8 eggs Heston Blumenthal suggests in his recipe.

2) Use a metal tin, preheat the oven and preheat the fat

3) The only way around the soggy bottom issue is to use a muffin tin and make mini Toads.

4) Use good meaty sausages – I use pork mostly, but have been known to use beef or lamb when I find a particularly good product.

For 4 servings you will need...

Onion Gravy

75g butter

3 large onions, halved and sliced thinly (approximately 500g prepared weight)

A teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons plain flour

350mls chicken stock

100mls red wine (something drinkable but not your best Bordeaux)

1 Start by making the onion gravy. Melt the butter in a pan and add the sliced onions and thyme. Cook over a low heat. The onions will first become soft and translucent and after about 25-30 mins will begin to brown. Keep an eye on them that they don’t burn and continue to cook slowly until they are a deep golden colour. (You can make the batter while the onions are cooking.) Sprinkle the flour over the onions and continue to cook for a minute or two. Add the stock and red wine, stirring until the gravy begins to simmer. Lower the heat and allow the gravy to continue simmering gently while you make the batter. (This gravy is also great with chops and the Sunday roast.)

And not a soggy bottom in sight!

Toad

150g plain flour

½ teaspoon of salt and a shake of white pepper

4 medium eggs
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

150mls milk

150mls cold water

8 good quality pork sausages (approximately 300g in total)

4 rashers of rindless bacon or 8 slices of prosciutto (optional)

3 tablespoons of olive oil, goose fat, or lard

2 For the batter: Measure the flour into a bowl. Add the salt and pepper. Add the eggs and mustard and begin to whisk into the flour. Add the milk and water, whisking until the batter is without lumps and the consistency of pouring cream. Refrigerate until needed.

3 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Divide the fat evenly between 8 deep muffin cups (I only have a 12-hole muffin tin so I just use 8 holes and that works fine) and place in the hot oven.

4 Meanwhile, lay the rashers out on a chopping board and running the back of a knife over them, stretch them out slightly. Cut in half lengthways and wrap each sausage in a spiral of bacon (or a slice of prosciutto if using). Make a ‘hinge’ in each sausage by making a cut halfway across – this makes it easier to fit them into the muffin tins.

5 When the roasting tin has been in the oven for about ten minutes, remove it and pour in the batter which will sizzle as it hits the hot fat. Place the bacon-wrapped sausages in the batter and return the tin to the oven for 20-25 minutes or until well-risen and golden. (You may need to lower the temperature to 190°C if your oven is very hot.) Serve immediately with a generous helping of onion gravy.

Spaghetti and Meatballs - The Mystery of the Missing Recipe...

2012-01-19T21:21:00.000Z

I've just noticed that I've passed the 100 posts stage! I'm delighted that my 101st recipe is one of my absolute favourites.

It's a recipe I get asked for over and over again - good ol' spaghetti and meatballs! I get calls and texts saying “I know you did meatballs on Alchemy but I can’t find them!” Ah, the mind is a funny old creature, always playing tricks.

I mentioned making meatballs for my finicky (but otherwise delightful) little niece, who loved them and now thinks I live in a restaurant. That post, however, was about something entirely different. So, for those of you who have been scratching your heads when the search box comes back blank, here’s my meatball recipe. I leave out the chilli when making these for young kids, although I leave the wine in as all the alcohol evaporates in the cooking. I like to vary/mix the meat I use but my favourite combination is half lamb or beef, and half pork which gives the meatballs a rich flavour and lovely succulence.

For 4 - 6 servings you will need...

Simple tomato sauce

2 x 500ml cartons pasata (or whiz 2 cans of chopped plum tomatoes in your blender)

2 teaspoons sugar
100mls red wine (or chicken stock if you prefer)
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

· To make the sauce: Put all the ingredients together in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Allow to simmer gently, uncovered, while you prepare the meatballs.

Meatballs

4 tablespoons olive oil for frying

250g minced lamb or beef

250g minced pork

1 egg, beaten

50g white breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leafed parsley

1 red chilli (seeds removed), very finely chopped or a ½ teaspoon chilli powder

2 cloves garlic, crushed

50g - 75g spaghetti per person

Freshly grated Parmesan to serve

I've a date with spaghetti tonight!

1. While the sauce is simmering, prepare the meatballs: put the minced meat in a large bowl and add the beaten egg, followed by remaining ingredients and mix until evenly distributed throughout the meat.

2. Wet your hands with cold water to stop the mixture sticking to them while you form the mixture into small balls, about the size of a walnut shell, setting them on a plate – you should have 20 – 24 compact meatballs.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Gently place the meatballs in the pan, making sure they are not touching or they will steam rather than brown, affecting the flavour. Fry, turning every minute or so until browned all over. This will take about 3 - 5 minutes and you may have to do it in two batches, depending on the size of your frying pan.
The browning stage is important to add flavour and give the meatballs a crust so that they don’t dissolve into the sauce. Don’t worry that they are not cooked right through – you’ll finish cooking them in the sauce.

4. While the meatballs are browning, taste the tomato sauce and add more salt and black pepper if necessary. You may also want to add a little more sugar if the sauce tastes too acidic. When the meatballs are browned, add them to the tomato sauce to finish cooking through. Simmer gently for 30 minutes.

5. Towards the end of the cooking time, bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add a teaspoon of salt to the boiling water and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet.

6. Drain the pasta and toss it in a little olive oil before serving it up with the meatballs and sauce spooned over the top. Serve a bowl of grated parmesan on the side.

Child-friendly!

Variation: Add a teaspoon of grated lemon peel for adding zing.

If you prefer, cook the meatballs in the oven: When you’ve browned them in the frying pan, arrange the meatballs in a heatproof dish and pour the tomato sauce over them, add some freshly ground black pepper and bake in the oven (pre-heated to 180°C) for 30 minutes.

The End! Sigh...

Saintly Cauliflower Soup – with Blue Cheese and Prosciutto Sinners

2012-01-13T12:12:00.001Z

Sometimes stuff doesn’t make sense to me, like the greengrocer explaining I could have two cauliflowers or none, when I wanted just one. It was a ‘take it or leave it’ situation, but what’s a girl to do with two cauliflowers? Everyone to whom I offered the spare had already either been to the shop and either purchased two or temporarily sworn off cauliflower in protest at having a brace of anaemic brassicas foisted upon them.

Too much of a good thing?

One cauliflower was dispatched into a relatively saintly, healthy New Year’s resolution soup which I topped with sinful blue cheese and prosciutto croutons. One cauliflower down, one to go. Got any ideas?

For 6 - 8 servings you will need...

25g butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 stick celery, peeled of stringy bits, roughly chopped

200mls dry white wine

600g cauliflower broken into florets

900mls good quality chicken stock (homemade if possible)

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

1 clove garlic, peeled

Salt and ground white pepper to taste

1 Melt the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion and celery. Lower the heat and fry gently for about 5 minutes until onion is soft and translucent but has not taken on any colour. Add the wine and let simmer until the liquid has reduced by half.

2 Add cauliflower and chicken stock to the saucepan (you could use vegetarian stock if you prefer). When it has come to the boil, lower the heat, add the clove of garlic and ground white pepper, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Blend to a smooth liquid – a stick blender is the perfect tool for this. Taste and add salt and more white pepper only if necessary. The soup is pretty saintly so far. Be a devil and add these sinful croutons.

Blue cheese and prosciutto sinners!

Croutons

4 slices French bread, each about 1cm thick, cut into cubes

2 tablespoons olive oil

20g blue cheese, crumbled

20g prosciutto, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 180°C

(War on Waste note: I try to make these croutons when I have something else baking in the oven to avoid using a whole heap of energy for a few croutons)

3 Place the croutons in a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the blue cheese and prosciutto pieces. Scatter on a shallow baking tray and bake for about 5 minutes or until golden and the cheese has melted. Set a timer and keep an eye on them because they go from golden to charcoal in a flash.

Instead of the croutons you could add a swirl of fresh cream, or sprinkle with a little crumbled blue cheese before serving.

p.s. If you enjoy reading Alchemy in the Kitchen please consider nominating it for the Bloggies!

Click the link before Monday 16th January - http://2012.bloggi.es/ - and scroll down to the Food or Writing sections - depending on which aspect you like best and nominate Alchemy as follows:

Nominee: Alchemy in the Kitchen URL: www.alchemyinthekitchen.ie

Coffee Mille Feuille – child’s play!

2012-01-08T12:35:00.001Z

Naughty breakfast!

When I was a child, my cousin Pamela had what I considered to be one of the best jobs in the world – right up there with ballerina, stunt pilot or zoo keeper. She sold pastries from a little bakery close to where my mother shopped. It would have been just plain rude not to pop in and visit when in the neighbourhood.

Pamela always had a cake for me and my brother when we stopped by to ~~pester her~~ say hi. Oh such agonising over what to choose! My favourites were crackly chocolate éclairs, squidgy cream doughnuts, and coffee slices, which I could separate into a thousand puff pastry layers, having licked away the vanilla cream and the coffee icing. You’ll be glad to know I’ve developed manners since and no longer dismantle my food before consuming it (well not much). Although, I did have these for simple little mille feuille for breakfast...

For 12 pastries (6 portions) you will need...

1 sheet decent quality puff pastry (250g)

icing sugar to dust

Hidden potential...

That's more like it!

For the coffee cream you will need...

250mls fresh cream

25g icing sugar, sifted

2 heaped teaspoons instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 teaspoons boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk, dissolve, sift, swirl, sigh!

Preheat the oven to 200°C

1 Trim the edges of the pastry sheet with a sharp knife so that they are straight. Cut into 12 equal rectangles approximately 5cm (2 inches) by 10cm (4 inches). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking parchment.

2 Dust generously with icing sugar and transfer to the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 8 – 10 minutes or until the pastry is well risen and golden brown and the sugar has caramelised. Transfer to a cooling rack.

3 For the coffee cream, simply whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks when you lift the whisk out. Whisk in the icing sugar, the dissolved coffee, and the vanilla extract until combined.

4 Split the cooled pastries and fill with the flavoured cream. Dust with icing sugar before serving with a decent brew.

Variation: Coffee is great with orange or blackcurrant. Add another flavour dimension by spreading the pastry with good quality marmalade or homemade blackcurrant jam.

Omelette with Croutons – unsophisticated, but unashamedly delicious!

2011-12-29T18:24:00.001Z

What an egg-citing omelette!

We had a magically multiplying turkey this Christmas. It fed 19 people and there was still some left. It made sandwiches and delicious turkey soup and there was still some left. Great slices of it were wrapped and given away and there was still some left. Much as I love turkey, there comes a point when it’s enough already!

After all the rich food of Christmas, anyone who makes me the simple treat of a fried egg sandwich gets huge brownie points. It must be on squishy white bread – and lightly cooked so that, when cut, the yolk oozes out and soaks into the bread – sigh…

Another unsophisticated egg/bread combination that I love is this omelette stuffed with croutons. Plain or cheesy, I love both versions.

For an omelette to feed one, you will need…

Croutons

1 slice bread, crusts removed, cut into 1cm cubes

25g butter, melted

For the cheesy version, you’ll need

25g Gruyere, grated or 25g blue cheese, crumbled

¼ teaspoon fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 160˚C

1. To make the croutons, toss the bread cubes in the melted butter. If making the cheesy version, add the cheese and thyme, turning the bread cubes until coated in the mixture. Spread the cubes out on a shallow baking tray and bake in the preheated oven until golden – about 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 80˚C to keep them warm while you make the omelette.

Omelette

2 fresh eggs

a pinch of salt

freshly ground black pepper

25g butter

Have a warm plate ready as the omelette takes only a minute to cook and it’s a major culinary sin to put an omelette onto a cold plate.

2. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium/high heat.

3. While the butter is melting, break the eggs into a bowl, add a little salt and pepper, and whisk lightly with a fork until the yolk is just combined with the white of the egg.

4. When the butter is melted and the pan is hot, pour in the egg mixture and let it spread across the base of the pan. Shake the pan back and forth over the heat so that the egg doesn’t stick and burn. When the egg has mostly set and the surface of the omelette is creamy, sprinkle the hot croutons down the centre of the omelette in a line covering roughly about 1/3 of the surface.

5. Using a spatula or fish slice, gently fold 1/3 of the omelette over the croutons, as if you were starting to fold a letter. Then tilt the pan so that the unfolded portion of the omelette slides onto the heated plate. Gently roll the rest of the omelette head-over-heels onto the plate to cover the unfolded portion, enclosing the filling completely.

Unashamedly unsophisticated (but utterly delicious!)

Eat immediately with a green salad while you wonder what to do with the rest of the never-ending turkey.

Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Speaking of which, any turkey tips?

Dilleasc Bread – wet ankles optional!

2011-12-18T16:19:00.001Z

A little slice of heaven...

If you want to watch Europe’s last sunset splash down in the Atlantic every evening simply book a ticket to Achill on Ireland’s West coast. The play of light in the skies is breathtaking as the weather shifts minute by minute.

Watch Europe's last sunset about to splash down in the Atlantic

Achill is the place for edible seaweeds and you’ll see bags of Carrageen Moss and Dilleasc for sale throughout the island. Just don’t make the mistake of telling the locals that you actually paid good money for the stuff. There is an ancient saying directed at such rash behaviour. It goes something like “Hahahahahahha – what sort of a big eeeeejit are ya!” Apparently the proper way to acquire seaweed is to “hitch up your skirts” and get your ankles wet. Brrrrr. Way! Too! Cold!

Dried dilleasc - stone age crisps from Achill

I bought dilleasc (dulse) which is widely available throughout the world. Dilleasc has been eaten as a salty snack since ancient times. It contains beta carotene , a natural antiviral, and is an excellent vegetarian source of B12 and Iron. If you are not in a position to hitch up your skirts and harvest it from the shore with your own fair hands, you can usually buy it dried.

For dilleasc crisps, spread the dried seaweed out on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes at 180°C, until crunchy. Better still, whizz some of baked seaweed in a food processor with some coarse sea salt for a condiment with a peculiarly addictive savouriness.

Sprinkle on a taste of the sea...

I made a dilleasc yeast bread to go with smoked salmon. It tastes of the sea and is wonderful with chowder yet not too savoury to be made into toast and drizzled with honey.

For a 2lb loaf you will need...

250g strong white (bread) flour

60g wholemeal flour

70g oatmeal

1 teaspoon fine table salt

1 teaspoon dry active yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

250mls fresh milk at room temperature

80mls water at room temperature

1 cup loosely packed dilleasc (dulse)

Preheat the oven to 200°C at step 4

1. Mix together the first six ingredients. Then, add in the sugar, milk and water stirring until there is no dry flour left and the mixture comes together in a soft sticky dough. Cover and place in a warm, draft-free spot for between 12 and 18 hours. It should smell beery and be full of bubbles and doubled in size.

2. Meanwhile, soak the dilleasc in fresh cold water. After about 20 minutes it will be soft. Rinse, squeeze out any excess water, and finely chop.

3. Sprinkle the chopped dilleasc onto the risen dough. Then, holding the bowl in one hand, use the other, lightly floured, to mix just long enough to distribute the dilleasc throughout the dough. The dough will deflate alarmingly – it’s supposed to. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured 2lb loaf tin. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave to rise again for between 1 and 2 hours in a warm, draft-free place, until almost doubled in size.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C and put a deep baking dish on the bottom shelf. Carefully pour boiling water from the kettle to a depth of about 2cm. It will evaporate as the loaf bakes, creating a crispy crust.

5. Bake the loaf for 30 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Turn it out of the tin and check that the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. If not, pop it back in the oven for a further 5 minutes (without the tin) then test again.

If you make the dilleasc condiment I mentioned earlier, you could sprinkle a little over the top before baking.

Note: I’ve adapted my recipe to Jim Lahey’s ‘no knead’ slow fermentation method because it uses less yeast than the usual quick rise.

Pastéis de Nata - Portuguese for "my day has just gotten better"!

2011-12-15T14:01:00.002Z

Pastéis de Nata - Portuguese for "my day has just gotten better"!

This week, I paid a visit to the Christmas fair lining the river banks in the lovely town of Westport, Co. Mayo. Even if I hadn’t read the signs, my nose could have found it, such were the gorgeous aromas coming from the hot food stalls. My tastebuds were mugged by a hotdog stand with a range of interesting sausages on offer – for me it had to be the lamb and rosemary sausage – my compliments to Kelly’s of Newport – delicious! I nearly cried when a passerby jogged my arm and the last bite ended up on the ground - the last bite is the best bit :(

Yum, those cupcakes look fairy, fairy delicious!

There were more cupcakes than you could shake a stick at – some simple, some with little personalities of their own. I was very tempted to have these for dessert but I’d been to Sinead Lambert and Jose Barroso's Sol Rio café in Bridge Street once before and needed one of their hot chocolates. Ok, the hot chocolate was just an excuse – the real reason was that I had developed an instant addiction to their famous Pastéis de Nata – creamy Portuguese custard tarts in a puff pastry that manages to be crisp and chewy at the same time – and it was time for another hit.

Sol Rio - a friendly welcome and great food - and don't just take my word for it,
they've a gazillion plaques on the wall, underscoring their foodie credentials

Amy, our lovely waitress, promised me the recipe and it duly arrived in my inbox. I’ve taken the liberty of transcribing the recipe for the domestic cook and adding the traditional method of moulding the pastry shell.

For 12 highly addictive Pastéis de Nata you will need...

Puff Pastry

500g cream flour

250mls water

pinch of salt

500g butter, softened and divided into 4 equal portions

1. To make the puff pastry: In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine the flour, water and salt until it comes together in a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 2.5cm (1 inch) thick.

2. Spread one portion of softened butter over the pastry, leaving a margin about a finger’s width all round. Fold the bottom third of the pastry in towards the centre, then fold the remaining third in to make a neat parcel. Brush off any excess flour and give the pastry a quarter turn.

3. Repeat step 2 until you have used up all the butter, making sure that every time you give the pastry a quarter turn that you are going in the same direction – helps give maximum rise.

4. Once you have incorporated all the butter, refrigerate the pastry while you make the filling.

Custard Filling

250mls cream

zest of half a lemon – in strips rather than grated

160g caster sugar

25g butter

25g corn flour

4 egg yolks

1 whole egg

5. To make the filling: place the cream and the lemon zest a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil.

6. Meanwhile place the sugar, butter and corn flour in a heatproof mixing bowl.

7. When the cream has come to the boil, strain it into the mixing bowl, stirring to combine the ingredients. Turn the heat right down and transfer the mixture back into the saucepan.

8. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together with the whole egg. Slowly add half the cream mixture to the eggs, whisking all the time (warning: if you add the cold eggs to the hot cream you’ll get sweet scrambled eggs - bleagh!).

9. When you have combined approximately half the hot cream with the eggs, add this mixture to the remaining hot cream, whisking until well combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Refrigerate until ready to assemble and cook the Pastéis.

Sunrise in pastry form...

Pastéis de Nata

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C

10. To assemble the Pastéis: remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out into a rectangle about ½cm thick (¼ inch) thick. With the long side nearest you, roll the pastry into a tight sausage. Using a sharp non-serrated knife, cut into 12 even slices and place, cut side down, in a 12-hole muffin tin (no need to butter the tin – the pastry has enough fat to stop it sticking). Using your thumbs, press the pastry out to line the tin, starting in the middle and working it up the sides. The pastry should be slightly thicker at the top.

11. Fill with the cooled custard mixture, leaving a gap of about 1cm (½ inch) at the top. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until a nice golden brown on top. Decorate with icing sugar or cinnamon. Finally, make sure to invite people over or you will probably end up scoffing the lot yourself!

Ooops... couldn't resist!

Disclosure: I paid for every morsel I consumed in Sol Rio and I received no incentive to share this recipe, other than the fact that they are utterly delicious and you need to try them for yourself.

Soupe Bonne Femme – a pot of gold!

2011-12-11T13:55:00.001Z

Liquid gold...

This week, the weather has been perishing (is that a uniquely Irish expression?). Every few minutes the windows are rattled by the machinegun fire of yet another shower of hail. Between hail showers, a rainbow appears, in the same spot, every day. My own personal rainbow! It is very camera shy. In the time it takes me to remove the lens cap, the gorgeous arc of light has disappeared to make way for the next hail shower.

Today I was determined, and lay in wait, camera at the ready. I got my photo but was absolutely frozen by the time I had captured the image. You know that leprechauns bury their gold at the end of the rainbow, don’t you? Now I have a record of where to dig!

You know that leprechauns bury their gold at the end of the rainbow, don’t you?

Soup is the best way to reheat a frozen body. In the vegetable basket was one solitary carrot, a head of celery, a skinny leek and some tatties. In the fridge was a jug of chicken stock from yesterday's roast. They may sound meagre, but these simple ingredients make a magical soup called Soupe Bonne Femme – Good Wife Soup. Perhaps, once upon a time, the measure of a good wife was being able to make something pretty wonderful from almost nothing. This is a soup of endless variation – feel free to add rice, pasta, onions – but make sure to use good quality chicken stock if you want a pot of liquid gold.

Simple ingredients, magical food

For 4 generous servings you will need…

50g butter

1 carrot, sliced

1 leek, finely sliced

1 stick celery, peeled and finely chopped

2 medium potatoes (tennis-ball sized), diced

800mls good-quality chicken stock

salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

1. Melt the butter over a low heat and add the prepared vegetables. Stir to coat with the melted butter, then cover with a lid and continue cooking gently for ten minutes. You want the vegetables to soften without colouring.

2. Add the stock, and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently with the lid on for 15 minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper only if needed. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley and serve with good bread.

Right, I'm off to find that leprechaun's gold - wish me luck!

Honeyed Goats Cheese in a Walnut Crust – devilishly good!

2011-12-06T17:49:00.002Z

Goats cheese, honey? Where?

What’s with the goats on the M11? It is rather alarming to see their devil’s eyes glaring out from the side of the road. Go back to the hills where you belong, silly creatures.

Serious danger to traffic aside, I cannot see a goat without thinking of goats cheese and I found myself at the checkout with two gorgeous little cheeses in my basket. My beloved thinks he doesn’t like goats cheese so it has to be presented in disguise. Here’s how that went …

Brrrr... goats cheese needs a coat in this weather!

For 2 portions you will need…

1 heaped tablespoon plain flour

a pinch of salt and a twist of black pepper

1 egg, beaten

100g fresh breadcrumbs

50g walnuts, finely chopped

50g melted butter

2 small crottins of goats cheese about 70g each (how ripe is up to you – I used fresh)

Green salad and runny honey to serve

Hey, watch me do the eggy-paddle!

Preheat the oven to 180°C

1. Mix the salt and pepper with the flour and sprinkle into a shallow bowl. Place the beaten egg in a second shallow bowl. Place the fresh breadcrumbs in a third bowl with the finely chopped walnuts and pour in the melted butter, tossing the crumbs and the nuts until the butter is evenly distributed.

2. Sprinkle the cheeses with flour, making sure to coat every last centimetre of the surface. Dip in the beaten egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture.

3. Return the coated cheeses to the egg bath, and again to the breadcrumb mixture, gently packing the crumbs around the cheeses to seal well.

Goats cheese in its winter coat of breadcrumbs and walnut

4. Transfer the cheeses to a lightly buttered baking tray and place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

5. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with a green salad and a generous drizzle of decent honey.

Honeyed Goats Cheese in a Walnut Crust - Devilishly Good!

Variation: I'll be doing mini-versions to pass around with Christmas drinks!
_________________________________________________________________

p.s. The Fairy Hobmother has been to visit. I didn't quite believe she exisited but she waved her magic wand and lo! and behold! I have been give a £40 voucher to spend. The Fairy Hobmother's mission is to bring joy and happiness to the world’s bloggers by providing treats for great, hard work in the blogosphere!

As an added bonus, she says that any readers that leave a comment on this post and make a wish, could be visited by her too! Get wishing foodies!

Tortilla Española with Smoked Bacon – and TLC!

2011-12-01T19:16:00.002Z

The secret ingredient? TLC!

You know by now that I love magical dishes born out of the simplest of ingredients. One that I return to time and again is the Tortilla Española – the Spanish Omelette. The basic version has just 3 main ingredients – potato, onion, eggs. But there’s a 4th magic ingredient that must go into the mix – TLC – or Tender Loving Care.

The Three Amigos... on their own, they're nothing!

Each element must be selected with TLC - there is nowhere for inferior ingredients to hide in this classic dish. If you know the hens personally, so much the better! The tortilla must be prepared with patience - a hall-mark of TLC - and it must be served with reverence. TLC will make all the difference between a ‘so what’ snack and a meal fit for the Gods.

In this version, I’ve added smoked bacon. For the veggie option, obviously leave out the bacon... although in Spain, bacon/ham isn’t considered to be meat ... so you might still be served the bacon version as 'vegetarian'...

Serves 2 hungry people

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
100g of smoked bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
500g potato, diced into 1cm cubes
approximately 25 strands saffron soaked in 1 tablespoon boiling water
5 large eggs
½ teaspoon fine table salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Tortilla - Spanish for "Just what I wanted!"

1 Heat the olive oil in an 18cm (7 inch) frying pan over a medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until opaque then remove from the pan.

2 Turn up the heat then add the onion and potato and stir until well-coated in oil. Immediately lower the heat to the minimum setting. You want the potatoes and onions to cook without colouring. Cover the frying pan with a lid. After about 10 minutes carefully turn the contents of the pan so that the potatoes and onions cook evenly. Replace the lid and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, poke a cube of potato with a fork make sure it is cooked right through. If not, continue cooking for a few more minutes and test again.

3 While the potatoes are cooking, break the eggs into a large bowl and beat with a fork until the yolks are just incorporated with the whites. Strain the saffron liquid into the eggs, discarding the strands. Add the salt and black pepper.

4 Once the potatoes and onions are cooked, add them to the bowl of beaten egg and mix until every piece of potato is well-coated. Then pour the mixture back into the frying pan and cook gently without a lid for about 20 – 25 minutes.

5 When there is no longer any liquid egg on the surface, slide a spatula around the edges of the omelette to make sure it isn’t sticking. Then cover the pan with an inverted plate and carefully up-end the pan. Gently slide the tortilla back into the pan to finish cooking the other side for a further 2 – 3 minutes.

6 This is good hot or cold, at any time of the day or night. Cut into thick wedges for a substantial snack and serve with a green salad. You could also cut it into cubes and impale with cocktail sticks for an excellent finger food.

Variation: Non-traditional... I love to add some smoked salmon in place of the bacon. No need to cook the salmon in advance. Simply add it to the egg mixture at the same time as you mix in the potatos and onions. Tortilla Española is also really good with this ‘Fierce’ Tomato Sauce.

Uachtair Nollaig – the Ultimate Christmas Cream Cake!

2011-11-22T17:30:00.001Z

Uachtair Nollaig - it's a piece of cake!

The first Domestic Goddess, Hannah Glasse, is often credited with the famous recipe that begins ... First, catch your hare. That’s how I feel about Christmas cakes... First, bake in September, then bathe in whiskey for 3 months. Doh! Missed that boat again!

Never mind. Although my mother makes an amazing traditional fruit cake with marzipan and royal icing, it's good to have an alternative for those who prefer something a little lighter. My recipe uses simple ingredients to create a magical no-bake Christmas cake: cream, chocolate, booze and biscuits. I’ve called it Uachtair Nollaig – that’s Irish for Christmas Cream.

It’s delightfully retro – based on the ice box cake of 50s America – and it combines 3 gorgeous flavours that really spell Christmas for me, chocolate, orange and ginger. It is simple enough to get the kids involved. Oh, and I’m warning you now, you will want to lick the spoon, and the bowl, and the whisk.

Warning! Lickability rating: extremely high!

For 10-12 servings you will need...

150g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), chopped or grated
500mls Avonmore Double Cream, well chilled
250g cream cheese
60g icing sugar, sifted
50mls Cointreau / Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
150g Ginger Snaps, crushed
100g Bourbon Creams (or other chocolate cookie) crushed

You’ll need an 18cm (7”) loose-bottomed or spring-form cake tin, about 7cm (3”) deep. You’ll also need a pinch of imagination to decorate. I’ve used chocolate fingers and chocolate flakes.

Decorate with imagination, or chocolate fingers!

1 Place the chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Place 200mls of the double cream in a saucepan and heat until just bubbling at the edges. Pour onto the dark chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and combined with the cream. Leave to cool.

2 When the chocolate and cream mixture has cooled, add the cream cheese, icing sugar, liqueur and orange zest and whisk until thick and smooth. (An electric whisk or stand mixer is best for this).Then add the remaining 300mls of double cream and continue whisking until the cream forms stiff peaks when you lift the whisk out. Take care at this stage not to over-whip the mixture or you’ll end up with chocolate butter!

3 Sprinkle about 1/3 of the ginger snap crumbs over the base of the tin. Cover with a layer of cream. Next add half the chocolate cookie crumbs in a layer, followed by another layer of cream. Continue with another 1/3 of ginger snap crumbs, another layer of cream, the remaining chocolate cookie crumbs, another layer of cream, the remaining ginger snap crumbs and finish with a layer of cream. Smooth the top. Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight. It will set solid enough to cut into slices.

4 Carefully run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the tin. Remove and decorate as desired. For the cake shown, I pressed chocolate fingers to the side and sprinkled with chocolate flakes.

Easy to make, even easier to eat...

Ah, sometimes the simple things in life are the best!

Crainquebille Potatoes – a tummy hug like no other!

2011-11-19T15:10:00.004Z

Crainquebille Potatoes - a saucy little side

We are turning our culinary backs on the potato. In Ireland and the UK, pasta and rice are replacing the spud as the national carbohydrates. Some of the reasons offered are “too much work”, “can’t do a whole lot with them”, “the family don’t like ‘em”

Too much work... Depending on the dish you choose, potatoes can be very quick or take hours to cook, but often the actual preparation time is minutes.

Can’t do a whole lot with them... Oh Ye of Limited Imagination!

The family don’t like ‘em... Related to the two reasons above. If you can’t be bothered to spend a few minutes preparing them and have absolutely no imagination beyond mash, mash and more mash, the family are probably sick to death of ‘em.
Potatoes can give you a tummy hug that you just cannot get from other carbs. Smooth, buttery mash is the ultimate comfort food but what a range of dishes you can make! Tartiflette... Tortilla Española ... Patatas Bravas... Boxty... Pandy... the most amazing chocolate cakes, bars and truffles... chips... Pommes Anna... Gratin Dauphinoise... Boulangère... I must have at least a thousand potato recipes on my shelves.

Crainquebille Potatoes are a side dish I love to serve with roasts and while the Gruyère topping is non-traditional, I think it adds to the dish.

Potatoes are social vegetables - often seen in the company of garlic, herbs and other party vegetables

For 6 servings you will need...

50g butter

2 onions (each the size of a tennis ball) roughly chopped

500g potatoes (prepared weight), diced into 2cm cubes

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, very finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, very finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

400g tinned chopped tomatoes

¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

250mls good quality chicken stock

100g fresh breadcrumbs
50g Gruyère cheese, grated

Potoates, tomatoes, herbs, crunchy breadcrumbs, melted cheese = tummy hug

Pre-heat your oven to 200°C

1 Melt the butter in a medium sauce over a medium heat and add the chopped onions. Cook without colouring for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.

2 Add the diced potatoes, herbs, garlic and chopped tomatoes, salt and black pepper and stir until well combined. Transfer to an oven proof dish, approximately 21cm x 21cm (8½” x 8½”) and 6cm (2½”) deep. Add the stock. It should barely cover the potatoes.

3 Transfer to the preheated oven and bake at 200°C for 20 minutes. Then, turn down the heat to 180°C and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and easily pierced with a fork.

4 Remove from the oven and sprinkle with an even layer of breadcrumbs. Finally, sprinkle with Gruyère and return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and the cheese has melted. Mmmmmmm.

If like me, you love potatoes, here are two more of my favourite potato recipes...

Tartiflette with Chorizo - a swim across the bay is essential preparation

"In a moment of madness brought on by a rare glimpse of blue sky and sunshine, I went swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. The water was wild and breathtakingly cold, so when I say “swimming” I really mean a vigorous flailing of limbs in the direction of the shore, the main purpose of which was to avoid being swept out of the gorgeous little bay, next stop America.

There is only one dish to help the post-swim thawing process – a dish well known to skiers – and one which caused me a little anxiety - Tartiflette.

‘Patatas Bravas’ with Garlic Mayonnaise – Aioli! Ole!

“Growing potatoes couldn't be easier. Pop seed potato in ground, cover with earth, and forget for several months. ..Today, I am going to celebrate the crop Spanish–style, with Patatas Bravas, a tapas dish I first tasted in Barcelona. Crispy potato chunks are topped with a ‘fierce’ tomato sauce and a cool aioli (garlic mayo) on the side. It is traditional to have a chilled glass of wine or beer ready to quench the chilli heat.”

Irish Coffee Mousse - Worth the Caffeine!

2011-11-12T15:29:00.002Z

Phew - it was just a dream! Now, Irish Coffee Mousse is a proper pick-me-up!

I’d been sent some Really Good Organic Coffee from Café de Cuba to sample. I don’t often drink coffee – remember the coffee-grinds-on-the-ceiling incident? So when I drink coffee, it has to be WTC* – Worth The Caffeine. This was WTC, and the hint of vanilla and chocolate got me thinking about dessert in general, and coffee desserts in particular. The obvious coffee dessert is tiramisu - cue wibble wobble flashback sequence...

Years ago I had a friend who would sometimes mind my house when my beloved and I went on holiday. His specialty was an incredible tiramisu. He always made an enormous bowl of the stuff to welcome us home. I liked tiramisu but after the ninth helping it was more of a ‘put-me-down’ than a ‘pick-me-up’. You really can have too much of a good thing. Groan. Eventually, we had to confess that we donated his tiramisu to more appreciative diners.

Ok, we're back in the present day. It was all a bad dream.

So not tiramisu then. Something light... Something easy... Something that wouldn’t involve a trip to the market. Coffee and walnut... ? Done that. Irish coffee... ? Too early in the morning to be quaffing Irish coffee. But the idea had potential...

My mother makes a gorgeous fruit mousse. Drop the fruit, add some strong coffee, a little white chocolate to emphasise the vanilla, a shot of Irish whiskey, a swirl of cream on top... Irish Coffee Mousse. Sigh!

Drop the fruit, add some strong coffee, white chocolate, a shot of Irish Whiskey ...

For 4 - 6 servings you will need...

200mls evaporated milk, chilled (place in the freezer for an hour-and-a-half)
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
100mls strong coffee (I used 40g Really Good Organic Coffee grounds for this amount)
4 leaves of gelatine and a little cold water to sponge
50mls Irish whiskey
100g white chocolate, grated

Whipped cream to decorate

1 Brew the strong coffee and place in a measuring jug along with the whiskey. Meanwhile, sponge the gelatine by placing it in a bowl and covering it with cold water. After a few minutes it will soften. Remove from the bowl and squeeze any excess moisture out of the gelatine. Place it in the hot coffee and stir until completely dissolved. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally. You are looking for the moment when the mixture starts to thicken to a syrup-like consistency as it starts to gel. If you add the coffee mixture before this stage, you'll end up with coffee pannacotta, which is not the texture we're going for.

2 Whisk the chilled evaporated milk with the brown sugar until it thickens and forms soft peaks when you lift out the whisk.

3 As soon as the coffee mixture starts to gel, whisk it into the evaporated milk until combined, light and fluffy. Divide the grated chocolate between pretty glasses or coffee cups and top with the mousse and a swirl of cream. This amount makes 4 large portions or 6 more dainty portions.

You could use a cream liqueur in place of the whiskey if you prefer. You could also use decaf and replace the whiskey with an extra 50mls of coffee and a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you prefer a more innocent dessert. I've also made this with low-fat evaporated milk for an even more guilt-free experience.

Cheers!

Café de Cuba has also introduced a decaf, and Cha - a range of organic teas from the Himalayas. I've tried Spring Mint (organic green tea and mint) and Golden Mango and was pleasantly surprised.

Green Tomato and Gooseberry Tart - a dessert fit for the Whistle Stop Café

2011-11-04T16:58:00.001Z

My very promising tomato crop suffered a miserable “summer”. The entire ripe harvest from three sturdy plants yielded 4 cherry tomatoes. And I don’t mean 4 pounds, I mean 4 actual cherry tomatoes - although they were divinely sweet and tasty. Without sunshine, I am left with an abundance of green tomatoes.

Excuse me! Could you point the way to the Whistle Stop Café?

Before “The Recession”, I might have thrown them on the compost heap, but my War On Waste philosophy (WOW) now digs at my conscience. Sooooo… what to make with these sharp tangy fruits. Chutney? Pickle? Ketchup? The smell of simmering vinegar puts me off making these preserves, lovely and all as they are.

I experimented with green tomato jam and ended up with a conserve by mistake. The taste was similar to gooseberry mixed with elderflower and yet it had a flavour all its own and definitely warranted further experimentation, hence this tart.

For 8-10 servings you will need...

Sweet Pastry

175g butter
75g caster sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
1 egg, beaten
260g plain flour

1 Using a stand mixer (or a large bowl and plenty of elbow grease) cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest. When light and fluffy and paler in colour, mix in the beaten egg and continue beating until combined. Add the flour and mix until it forms a soft paste. Shape the paste into a ball using floured hands. Flatten into a disc about 2.5cm thick (1 inch) and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

2 Roll out the chilled pastry until you have a circular shape about 28cm (11 inches) in diameter. Use to line a 23cm (9 inch) tart tin (I use a loose-bottomed tin as I find it easier to remove the pie from the tin before serving). If any holes develop, simply use excess pastry to patch them up, pressing firmly into place – it’s a very forgiving pastry. Remove any excess pastry by running the rolling pin over the top of the lined tin. Chill for a further 30 minutes.

3 Pre-heat your oven to 170°C. Remove the tart shell from the fridge and prick lightly with a fork. Bake blind by lining the shell with aluminium foil or greaseproof paper and fill with ceramic baking beans. (You could also use dried beans and store them in a jar specifically for this purpose).

4 Place the tin on a baking sheet and bake the tart shell in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Green Tomato and Gooseberry Tart - WOW!

Green Tomato and Gooseberry Filling

250g green tomatoes cut into bite-sized pieces
200g gooseberries, topped and tailed
50mls fresh orange juice
50g runny honey (or caster sugar)

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
150mls double cream
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pre-heat your oven to 160°C

1 Place the green tomatoes and gooseberries in a medium saucepan and add the orange juice. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. These can be cooked and cooled ahead of time so that when your pastry shell is ready to be filled, you can go right ahead.

2 Drain the cooked fruit and arrange the pieces in the cooled pastry shell.

3 Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, orange zest, until thick and creamy.

4 Whisk in the double cream and cinnamon until combined with the egg mixture. Pour over the fruit in the tart shell. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until the surface is golden and the tart is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the tin.

The pastry is very 'short' with a wonderful orange zing and the tart is creamy, sweet, sharp and delicious. I used a combination of tomatoes and gooseberries but it would work with tart apples if you don't have gooseberries.

Barmbrack and Colcannon – My Two Favourite Halloween Recipes

2011-10-30T13:26:00.000Z

There are a couple of Halloween recipes that I make often because they are far too delicious to save for the spookiest day of the year.

I shared them this time last year, but in case you missed them, here's an encore:

Earl Grey and Honey Barmbrack (click for recipe) – the politically incorrect, fortune-telling loaf (virtually fat-free if you are concerned with such things, but even better slattered with butter);

Probably one of the most politically incorrect
cakes you'll ever sink your teeth into!

I am making double quantities of this today - one loaf for me and one a special 'commision' to take to a Halloween party tomorrow. I make this at least once a month and stored in an airtight container, it lasts for up to a week and improves all the time.

Colcannon with Corned Beef (click for recipe). You’ll see the beef was an afterthought. Colcannon is so good that I’d happily eat it on its own, swimming with pools of golden butter. Sigh.

Traditional Irish Colcannon for Hallowe'en (though any excuse will do)

Some people hide fortune-telling trinkets in Colcannon just as with the Barmbrack but I think they'd be less easy to spot and it seems a far easier way to end up with chipped teeth.

Happy Halloween!

Toffee Apples – For Time-Travelling Taste Buds

2011-10-28T16:07:00.001+01:00

When I was but a youngster, my aunt used to take me into Dublin city centre on Saturdays. We’d trawl the shops for a while then wander past the stalls in Henry Street and into Moore Street in search of bangles to add to my already extensive collection. A girl can never have too much jewellery. I loved the buzz of these streets, so packed, so noisy, so very much Dublin.

A little taste of yesteryear

One of my favourite times of the year was around Halloween when the street sellers hawked plastic masks, sparklers and bangers, monkey nuts and cellophone-wrapped apples. I only fell for the chocolate apples once – they seduced me with their multi-coloured sprinkles but the “chocolate” was cheap fatty cake covering. Yuk!

The toffee apples – on the other hand – never failed to delight. Oh the anticipation of cracking the toffee shell with my teeth and sinking into the soft sweet apple beneath. Fruit never tasted so good. (nostalgic sigh!)

The Moore Street I knew, no longer exists, but just one bite of these apples is enough to send my taste buds travelling back to that part of Dublin’s past. Trick or treat? Definitely a treat!

For 6 old-fashioned Moore Street Toffee Apples you will need...

225g caster sugar
110 mls water
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1 teaspoon white malt vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25g butter
6 small sweet apples – I use Gala
6 popsicle sticks

A sugar thermometer is handy but not essential

1 Prepare a tray by covering it with non-stick baking parchment or silicon paper.

2 Place the sugar and water together in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. When the sugar has dissolved, add the golden syrup, vinegar, butter and vanilla extract and continue to heat without stirring until the caramel is golden and smells like caramel - and sugar thermometer has reached the ‘hard crack’ stage. This is between 149°C-154°C (300°F-310°F). If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, drop a little of the hot syrup into cold water. Leave for a minute until it cools enough to handle. It should form hard brittle threads that snap when bent. If not, continue cooking the syrup for a further minute and test again.

3 When the syrup is ready, pierce each apple with a popsicle stick, inserting it about halfway into the apple to provide a firm grip. Working quickly, dip each apple into the hot toffee syrup, tilting the saucepan carefully so that each apple is completely coated. Remove from the hot toffee and allow any drips to fall back into the saucepan.

4 Place each apple on the prepared tray, stick pointing upwards, to cool completely.

The apples are best eaten on the day you make them.

Variation
Quickly dip the toffee coated apples into your choice of chopped nuts, or sprinkles while still hot before placing on the tray to cool.

Panfried Hake with Potato Crab Cake – A Sofishticated Dish!

2011-10-24T17:42:00.007+01:00

The fact that I live a stone’s throw from Glendalough made it easy to persuade some English friends to make a long-overdue visit to Ireland. Glendalough was not the only attraction. Here’s how my sales pitch went:

Fishing for compliments: Pan-fried Hake with Potato & Crab Cakes and Spicy Tomato Sauce

· We’re less than an hour’s low cost flight away...

· Your English pound will stretch so far against the euro you’ll think it’s made of elastic...

· We have sunshine 365 days of the year – ok that’s stretching it slightly but not my fault the sunshine is above the clouds J

I promised them a céad míle fáilte (the hundred thousand welcomes, compulsory under Irish law). I promised them the countryside would soothe their stressed-out souls with its wild beauty. I promised them that the food would get their taste buds dancing like Michael Flatley. The Guinness got them thinking they could dance like Michael Flatley – but that’s another story...

Their timing made them the perfect guineapigs for my Irish Food Bloggers Association Salon du Blog creation...

Potato + Crab + Chillies = Hot Stuff!!!

These friends are pescatarians. Woohoo! Give me fish and potato in any form and I’m one happy girl. This magical combination can be moules frites and a glass of Rosé... sigh ... or fish n chips eaten from the paper while seagulls swoop ever closer in an attempt to share in the feast. However, sometimes a girl needs something a little more so-fish-ticated...

Don’t be put off by the list of ingredients - most, you will already have in the cupboard. Everything except for the fish can be prepared in advance.

For 4 servings you will need...

Spicy Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
300mls pasata (or a tin of tomatoes, sieved)
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
a pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic. Lower the heat and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the onion has softened without colouring. Then add in the remaining ingredients and let the sauce bubble gently for about 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Oh crumbs!

Potato Crab Cakes
400g Rooster potatoes, boiled, then ‘riced’ or mashed and cooled
200g crab meat
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 green chilli, finely chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

3 tablespoons plain flour

1 large egg, beaten
125g fresh breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 180°C (fan)

1 In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 9 ingredients. Divide the mixture into 4 even portions and form into cakes or patties about 2.5cm (1 inch) thick.

2 Set out three plates or shallow dishes, one each for the flour, the breadcrumbs and the beaten egg. Dust each potato cake with flour, then dip in egg and cover with breadcrumbs. [If preparing in advance, cover and place in the fridge at this stage. Place in a pre-heated oven about 15 minutes before you start cooking the fish.]

3 Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown - 20-25 minutes

Tanned? Me? Well, just a bit...

Hake
4 boneless fillets of hake, each about 180g
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fresh coriander to garnish

Fish - the ultimate fast food!

1 Brush each fillet with oil and sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Place the fillets – skin side down – in the hot pan and cook for 5 minutes. Then, using a fish slice, carefully turn the fillets and turn off the pan, allowing the fillets to continue cooking in the residual heat while you assemble the dish. To assemble, divide the tomato sauce between 4 warm plates. Sit a potato crab cake on top and finally sit the hake on top and add some fresh coriander.

A saucy little creation!

Bask in the compliments as your friends sigh happily and start planning their next trip to Ireland.

Pan Am Oli - A Toast to Bread!

2011-10-16T17:16:00.001+01:00

Have you met my personal rain cloud? It follows me wherever I go, waiting to spill buckets of rain on me when least convenient. It is so reliable, I could hire myself out as a rain maker.

Meet my personal rain cloud...

I was in Florida about 8 years ago. There had been drought for about 3 months. Not a single drop of rain had fallen. My beloved and I took a canoe out on what had been a lake but which had shrunk to an alligator-infested puddle due to the lack of water. When we got to the middle of this admittedly large puddle, a tempest blew up out of nowhere. The wind threatened to capsize the little boat. For a few nerve-wracking moments, I thought we were going to become a quick and tasty lunchtime snack for hungry reptiles. Rain fell from a miniscule cloud high in the sky, hitting the water like pennies, and soaking us to the skin.

“Fall in, honey?” I was asked when we returned the canoe, looking like a drowned rats. Huh!

My personal rain cloud struck again when we visited Majorca. Himself and myself dined in a sweet little local restaurant right on the harbour, starting with Pan Am Oli and moving on to one of their incredible stews. We had planned to return for another excellent meal. Meantime, the island was struck by one of the worst storms they’d had in years and nearly half the boats in the harbour were wrenched loose from their moorings and destroyed. Huge waves flooded our chosen restaurant. Grrrr. Naughty rain cloud!

My Pan Am Oli kit... ready, steady, go!

Whereas Jamie Oliver takes 30 minutes to make a meal, Majorca can feed four people in 3 minutes. Pan Am Oli or bread with (tomatoes and) olive oil is one of those ‘simple ingredients, magical food’ snacks that I absolutely love, as much for its speed of preparation as for its textures and tastes.

For 4 people you will need…
4 slices artisan country bread
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 tomatoes, halved, seeds removed
3 tablespoons (approximately) really good olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Toast the bread on both sides. For each slice of toast, rub one side with garlic, using the surface of the toast almost like a grater. Rub the same side of the bread with the cut side of a tomato half, squeezing out the pulp and juice. Drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.

One slice is never enough.

Be prepared to make seconds ...

In At The Deep End - Literally!

2011-10-10T18:56:00.000+01:00

Were your childhood monsters in the wardrobe or under the bed? Jake Tilson’s monsters were in the attic. They sprang from a book he discovered there, illustrating the violence to be found beneath the sea – bloodied waters during a dolphin attack, and “gaping, skeletal jaws of a great white”. To tackle his fear of all things fishy, he undertook to cook his way out of his phobia.

Venice...

Even if you never cook a morsel from In At The Deep End, it is still a great read for the armchair cook/traveller. We start off in Jake’s family kitchen in Venice (brings back some lovely memories for me as I honeymooned in that strange and lovely city). Venice is photographed as if by tourist camera.

We travel with the Tilson family (Jake, his wife, Jeff and daughter, Hannah) to Sweden, and experience such luscious dishes as Jansson’s Temptation and Gravadlax. Sprats feature quite a lot in this section in one form or another as do fishballs. I’d like to have seen a greater range of dishes in this section. Jake raises his concerns about over-fishing and gives some advice on how to fish local!

It was this big...

Aberdeen in Scotland is next – again with the tourist photos, which work extremely well. It wouldn’t be

Scotland

without kippers and we get a bbq, several pates (or does he mean pâtés?), and potted kippers as well as a crab soup called Parten Bree. There is a lovely collage of tiny houses (some barely more than sheds) in the village of Footdee - or Fittie to the locals.

We cross an ocean to New York for the next leg of the trip and make Salmon and Dill Baked Fish Cakes using canned Alaskan salmon. I can’t bear tinned salmon so someone else will have to try this recipe and report back. I’ll happily try the Crab Cakes with fennel and tarragon though.

You needn't shell out to make a fabulous seafood meal...

Jake gets a commission to write about Australia, so with a wave of his magic wand – ok, just turn the page – and we land in Sydney. We’re straight into one of my favourite foods – mussels – and he’s grilled them three ways – with feta, pinenuts and mint, with chilli and coriander, with nuts and garlic. Yum, yum, and yum! There are a few fish in this chapter that I know I am not going to be able to get at my local market, but hey, if I get to

Australia

, I’ll know how to cook barramundi and red emperor. Meanwhile, I can substitute similar local varieties.

Japan is next where Jake discovers that no morsel of fish is wasted. After all the exotic travel, it is rather deflating to end up in Peckham for the final chapter of the book and as if Jake feels this, he carries the influences through to the first dish in this section – fried fish with wilted herbs and noodles.

Pasta is kinda noodles right?

The whole book hangs together extremely well so it is no surprise to learn that Jake is the designer and photographer as well as the author.

I’m not going to cook everything from this book, but it is a book I shall enjoy reading for many years to come, with as much a right to space on the bedside table as on the kitchen bookshelf.

(Review copy supplied by Quadrille Publishing. Opinion supplied by Hester Casey!)

In At The Deep End by Jake Tilson
Quadrille Publishing
ISBN 9781844009756
Price: £20.00

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry - Love at First Bite

2011-10-06T10:02:00.000+01:00

Isn't it funny where the inspiration for a meal comes from. I had been all set to make a simple grilled chicken salad with sweet potato wedges when I spotted the sad lonely bowl of coconut, left over from some dipped toffee apples I had made earlier in the day. Stand back, said the cooking area of my brain, I'll deal with this.

On the spice trail...

Before I knew what was happening, out came the wok (...love my wok) and a selection of spices (...love spices), some Greek yoghurt (...love Greek yoghurt) and a few other bits and pieces. There was stirring. There was frying - all to find a suitable home for the poor leftover coconut. About 30 minutes later, I was ready to serve up this light, fragrant curry. It doesn't in any way claim to be the authentic cuisine of any curry country, but I love it.

For 2 - 3 servings you will need...

2 tablespoons light oil such as peanut or sunflower
300g chicken breast, diced into 2cm (½ inch) pieces
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
½ teaspoon mild chilli powder
3 tablespoons dessicated coconut
200mls chicken stock
250g Greek yoghurt
1 medium sweet potato (about the size of two tennis balls), diced into 2cm (½ inch) pieces
2 curry leaves (optional)

Fine table salt to taste

An alium by any other name...

1 Heat the oil in a wok or a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for about 2 minutes until golden on all sides. (Don't overcrowd the pan or you'll end up with sad grey boiled chicken and miss out on the gorgeous carmelized flavours that frying adds.) Transfer to a bowl.

2 Add the onion to the wok or saucepan and stir fry until lightly golden (about 4 minutes). Add in the garlic, ginger, turmeric and chilli powder and cook for a further 30 seconds. Then add the dessicated coconut, chicken stock, and Greek yoghurt and stir until combined.

3 Add the chicken to this sauce along with the sweet potato and the curry leaves (if using). Cover and simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until the sweet potato is easily pierced with a fork and the chicken is cooked through.

4 Taste and add salt if necessary before serving with basmati rice.

Love at first bite... yum!

I've since made a vegetarian version of this curry: heat the oil and proceed from step 2 above, using vegetarian stock, and adding zucchini and aubergine along with the sweet potato, and fresh spinach leaves and sugar snap peas about 5 minutes before the end.

Chinese Five Spice – a Magic Powder that Makes Sparks Fly

2011-10-02T15:00:00.000+01:00

One of my earliest food memories is of a night I went to the theatre with my parents. As if that were not treat enough, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant on Dublin’s Dame Street on the way home. My meal came in a little fried potato basket which I was convinced the chef had spent hours weaving. J I loved the mixture of dishes that arrived, and better still, getting to taste them all. One sublime duck dish had a distinctive warmth and depth of flavour (although at the time I would probably simply have described it as “yummy”). This particular flavour I’ve come to recognise as the work of Chinese Five Spice.

Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Pungent... Magic!

Chinese Five Spice used to puzzle me because sometimes there were more than five flavours in the mix. I discovered that the five refers to the five flavour sensations rather than the number of spices. These are sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty. Chinese Five Spice is readily available in your supermarket, but it is incredibly easy to make. Chinese Five Spice is wonderful with fatty meats such as pork, and duck, and adds great flavour to stir-fries, vegetables, soups and tofu dishes. It is powerful so a little goes a long way.

I'm going to be fennel seed when I grow up!

Over time, I’ve evolved the proportions to suit my taste buds, however feel free to vary the quantities of any element to suit your own taste. As with any spices, I like to keep small quantities in stock so that the turnover in the kitchen is high and they are not kept around for ages, getting stale and losing flavour.

The Spice of Life

For about 8 teaspoons of powder (enough for several meals) you will need...

1 tablespoon Szechuan pepper corns

6 whole cloves

4 pieces star anise

1 x 6cm (2½) inch piece of cinnamon stick or cassia

1 tablespoon fennel seed

· Dry roast the pepper corns for about 1 minute in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add to the rest of the ingredients and grind to a fine powder using a spice grinder, food processor or pestle and mortar. Sift the powder to remove any pieces that haven’t been totally pulverised. Store the mixture in a small jar in a dry dark place and use within 1 month.

A really quick cheat to find your flavour preference is to use pre-ground spices and mix ½ teaspoon each of the five elements. You’ll quickly get to know which flavours you prefer to dominate and adjust them accordingly next time you make up the mix. It is trial and error but when you find the combination that suits you, sparks fly!

p.s. thanks to LiveLifeNYC whose question sparked this post.

Chicken Noodle Soup in an instant – Hey Presto!

2011-09-27T19:55:00.002+01:00

An excellent habit I’ve inherited from my mother is to keep a pot of decent stock on the hob. Into the pot goes poultry, lamb and beef bones (although not necessarily all at the same time) and of course the holy trinity of carrots, celery, and onion, plus a few herbs.

Simmered down, homemade stock adds a fantastic flavour boost to stews, curries, casseroles and can form the basis of an almost instant soup like this one. I've used chicken stock. Feel free to use vegetarian stock and perhaps add tofu to the broth, or use a fish stock and add some cooked prawns at the end.

Hey presto! Magic up a bowl of soup in under 10 minutes...

For a delicious light soup for 4 – 6 people in under 10 minutes you will need...

1 litre well-seasoned stock (it has to be good – it’s the star of this soup)

50g dried fine egg noodles, broken into small pieces
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 carrot, thinly sliced, or grated
½ teaspoon Chinese five-spice
a pinch of dried chilli flakes (turn up the heat if you like – this is the mild version)
1 tablespoon corn flour (corn starch)
1 egg, beaten
100g cooked chicken, shredded
4 spring onions or a large bunch of chives, roughly chopped
Flat leaf parsley or coriander (cilantro)

1 First heat the stock in a medium saucepan over a medium heat until simmering. Add the dried noodles, ginger, garlic, carrot, spice and chilli flakes and continue to simmer for about 4 minutes.

2 In a small bowl, mix the corn flour to a smooth paste with a little cold water, and add to the gently simmering stock, stirring until the soup thickens a little. Add the shredded chicken and continue simmering for a minute or so until it is heated through.

3 Nearly finished! You can take the soup off the heat now. Stir until it is swirling in one direction – clock-wise appeals to my sense of order – and drizzle the egg into the hot liquid in a thin but steady stream. It will break up into shredded silken ribbons. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary although if you are starting with a decent stock it should need no further seasoning.

4 Add a generous helping of the chopped spring onion/chives, and parsley/coriander to each bowl before ladling on a serving of light fragrant soup.

Optional entertainment: knock over water jug while photographing soup, drenching self and camera. L

Happy "Arthur’s Day" - A Stroke of Guinness!

2011-09-22T15:52:00.001+01:00

My Goodness! The marketing machine over at Guinness is Genius! When Obama visited Ireland to find the lost apostrophe of his Irish roots (O’Bama) the money shot was that pint of the black stuff in his hand.

Britain

’s Queen Elizabeth was a little more canny on her visit, and merely looked at her pint of plain with suspicion. It still made headline news.

This bread is a stroke of 'Guinness' - and it's perfect with my mum's Plum and Ginger Jam

In a nod to “Arthur’s Day” - another stroke of Guinness from the marketing department - I made Guinness and Cranberry Bread from TV Chef, Catherine Fulvio’s new book. In Catherine’s Family Kitchen, she shows us around Ballyknocken House, her cookery school and home. As the title of the book suggests, this is all about family. Catherine says “There is nothing quite like sitting around the dinner table, laughing, joking, catching up, and, most importantly, enjoying good home-cooked food.”

The book revolves around the number 5… 5 useful gadgets… 5 ways with chopping… 5 quick soups… soda breads… scones… pasta… mash… sauces – you get the picture - all easy ways to ring the changes and keep the family menu from ever getting boring.

There are plenty of simple-to-prepare dishes to tempt your tastebuds and also to broaden the palate of any younger members of the household. It is an eclectic mix – Asian, Italian, Irish – with the emphasis on dishes that are quick and easy to put together, and even easier to eat.

The Guinness and Cranberry Bread (a soda loaf) took about 3 minutes to put together and just under an hour in the oven. It was dark and sweet and the perfect partner for my mother’s incredible plum and ginger jam. Himself and I demolished several slices before it had even cooled.

On my list to try are: Marinated Aubergine and Courgette with Goat’s Cheese and Hazelnut Dressing; Orange and Oregano Cod; Seafood and Spinach Open Ravioli; a show-stopping Thyme-infused Raspberry Chocolate Meringue Tower and how could I resist the Orange Mocha Crème Brulée.

I have two criticisms, and they are both aesthetic. Firstly, while most of the recipes are dark type on a light background making for optimal readability, there are several on brightly-coloured pages with white type in a script font, which I found hard on the eye – and my eyesight is pretty close to perfect.

Secondly, Catherine is one of the most animated and energetic people you could possibly meet and yet there is a ‘posed’ stiff quality to several of the lifestyle portraits in the book which doesn’t do her justice. On the other hand, the food photos are stunning; so less lifestyle and focus more on the food perhaps… These are minor complaints. I’ll definitely be cooking from this book.

As for “Arthur’s Day”, where does it all end? Next thing you know the Whiskey companies will be clamouring for their day… What’s that? They already have one? So they do - Paddy’s Day!

Review copy of Catherine’s Family Kitchen, courtesy of Gill & McMillan Publishers

Catherine’s Family Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio

ISBN: 9780717150571
Hardback: €22.99

Blackberry Curd – I’m Wild About It!

2011-09-19T11:32:00.001+01:00

Blackberry season is nearly over and I am making the most of the remaining wild berries. I've made jam, and the cordial has proved really popular with my family who are using it to make everything from blackberry bellinis and mojitos to pancake syrup and the mystery ingredient in a berry compôte. One of my favourite ingredients for a versatile dessert is curd. I love lemon curd, but I’m always happy to experiment. Here’s my latest curd creation.

Berry, berry delicious - blackberry curd stirred into double cream on mini-pavlovas

For a 1Lb jar you will need...

200g caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten
75g butter
100 mls fresh blackberry juice (I made this by pressing 200g fresh berries through a sieve to remove the pips)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Place all the ingredients together in a medium saucepan and heat gently over a low heat, stirring all the while. Continue stirring for about 25 minutes until the mixture thickens. Don’t be tempted to leave it even for a moment unless you want blackberry-flavoured scrambled eggs. To check if it is ready, dunk a spoon in the mixture then draw a finger through the mixture that adheres to the spoon. The channel you make should remain. If no channel remains, continue cooking for a further five minutes and test again. It will thicken further as it sets.

2 Pass the mixture through a sieve to ensure it is totally smooth before transferring to a sterilised jar. Cover when cool and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Wild about blackberries

I fold this mixture into whipped cream and use it to fill mini-pavlovas. It is also fantastic used to sandwich a simple Victoria sponge, or to fill a pastry shell. Top with mixed berries.

Potato Gnocchi with Sage and Walnut Butter – Better a Dinner of Herbs...

2011-09-15T19:13:00.000+01:00

There is a proverb which goes something like: Better a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf and hatred therewith. In other words, better to have modest offerings given with a generous heart than abundance offered with a mean spirit.

Gnocchi sounds so much more exotic than "potato dumpling"

My cupboard obviously has a generous heart. At first glance today, it appeared empty. Baked beans on toast for dinner... hmmmm. Think, Hester, think! Potatoes, flour, Parmesan, eggs, nuts, butter and plenty of herbs in the garden... channelling ... channelling... ggggggnnnnnn... gnocchi!

For 3 to 4 servings you will need...

Gnocchi

550g Rooster or other floury potato, skin on

100g plain flour

2g (½ teaspoon) baking powder

½ teaspoon fine table salt

1 egg, beaten

A little extra flour for dusting

1 Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and carefully add just enough boiling water to cover. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook gently for about 15 minutes or until easily pierced right through with the tip of a knife. Drain the cooked potatoes and leave them aside for about 5 minutes or until just cool enough to handle. Gently peel, then push the potatoes through a potato ricer, catching them in a large mixing bowl. If you don’t have a ricer, mash them with a regular potato masher. Using a fork, gently spread the potato out into an even layer without compacting it. Leave to cool.

2 Next, sprinkle in the flour and baking powder and lightly combine until the mixture resembles ground almonds.

3 Add the beaten egg and mix gently using a fork to bring the ingredients together. When the egg has been evenly dispersed throughout, bring the mixture together in a ball, using floured hands.

4 Turn out onto a floured work surface. Divide the mixture into about 4 portions and roll each into a rope about the thickness of your thumb. Using a sharp knife, cut each rope into pillows of dough about 1.5cm long (half an inch).

5 Place each pillow of dough, one at a time, cut side down in the palm of your lightly floured hand. Press gently with the back of a fork so that it forms a slightly ridged indent. This helps the gnocchi hold any sauce you care to add. (You can freeze them on a tray at this point and transfer the frozen gnocchi to a freezer bag. Cook from frozen.)

6 To cook: bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Carefully drop the shaped gnocchi into the pan one at a time. They will sink to the bottom of the pan. Don’t add more than will cover the base of the saucepan in a single layer. Make sure the water comes back to simmering, turning up the heat if necessary. When the gnocchi rise to the surface continue cooking for a further 3 minutes. When the gnocchi are cooked, drain and add to your favourite sauce.

The humble potato gets an Italian makeover

Gorgonzola or porcini sauces are particularly good with gnocchi. Today, however, I’m all about the simple so here’s how my sauce goes...

Sage and Walnut Butter

70g butter

50g finely chopped walnuts

3 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaved parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage

1 fat clove garlic, crushed

Parmesan

Black pepper

1 Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat until sizzling. Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan in a single layer and fry gently until golden brown – about 3 minutes. Turn to brown the other side and add the walnuts at the same time. After 2 minutes, add the crushed garlic and herbs and cook gently for a further minute or so.

2 Transfer to a warm serving dish and scatter with parmesan shavings.

Just add Parmesan

Better than beans on toast!

Spiced Chocolate Carrot Cake – Worth The Calories

2011-09-11T19:07:00.002+01:00

Chocolate cake is one of the most deceitful desserts you are likely to come across in your foodie life. Here’s how dastardly a chocolate cake can be...

I'm nuts about carrot cake...

... you are in a restaurant or café. You’ve eaten your meal and it was rather delicious and filling. You don’t really want dessert but the waitress thoughtfully brings the menu, just in case...

Sophisticated it ain't!

You hear a little voice... “Pssst! Hey you... yes you... over here!”

There, just past the apple pie, is a chocolate cake. It is calling to you. Hmmmm. You crane your neck – it can’t hurt just to have a little look. It does give the impression of being rather delicious. Is that fudge icing on top? Your eyes ignore the protests of your belly and you find yourself ordering.

It arrives, a swirl of cream on the side. You sigh in anticipation and sink your fork into the dark layers. Ack! It is dry as dust and certainly NOT WTC* (Worth the Calories). Another “all style, no substance chocolate cake” gets pushed around the plate while you wait for the bill.

Waiter! Waiter! My cake is on fire!

One cake that is unfailingly luscious is carrot cake so I have combined my usual recipe with my favourite spiced hot chocolate recipe. Sophisticated it ain’t! Worth The Calories, definitely!

For 12-14 servings you will need...

Cake Batter

350g plain flour

60g dark cocoa powder (such as Bourneville), sifted to remove any lumps

350g caster sugar

14g baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

100g chopped nuts (I use a mixture of almonds and walnuts)

50g raisins (or sultanas or currents)

50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

300g finely grated carrot

4 large eggs, beaten

300mls peanut oil (or sunflower oil)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Rub a 26cm (10 inch) round cake tin lightly with butter and line the base with a circle of baking parchment.

2 Place the first 9 ingredients in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Add the grated carrot and mix well. Add the egg and mix until combined. Finally add the oil and vanilla extract and mix well until combined into a batter.

3 Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 60 minutes or until well risen. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean.

4 Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes in the tin. Then remove the tin and allow cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

Does spiced chocolate carrot cake count towards my five a day?

Cream Cheese Frosting

200g full fat cream cheese

100g butter, softened

700g icing sugar, sifted to remove any lumps

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50g walnuts, chopped

1 In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until combined.

2 Add the sifted icing sugar in about 4 stages, mixing well between additions. An electric whisk is best for this task.

3 Finally add the vanilla extract and beat until the icing is thick and smooth.

4 Spread over the cooled cake and sprinkle with the chopped walnuts.

5 Pour yourself a mug of tea and find a quiet place where you can enjoy this cake uninterrupted.

This will keep for about a week if kept in an airtight container in a cool place.

Aioli – Greater Than the Sum of its Parts!

2011-09-05T18:54:00.057+01:00

Some people will tell you they remember exactly where they were when Elvis… JFK… Princess Diana… died. It will probably be no surprise to you at this stage that I pinpoint memories by taste.

My DIY mayo kit!

For instance, my first trip to the circus: I would never have recalled my dare-devil mother riding a plumed horse around the ring if I hadn't had an introduction to red lemonade that day. I remember vividly how the bubbles felt to my 3-year tastebuds and how utterly bewildering and delicious.

Other moments that have stuck in my mind are: (first trip to France, with my parents) a savoury mille feuille of morel mushrooms, in a restaurant near Chartres; an incredible salad Niçoise followed by an equally wonderful Coq au Vin in the tiny wine village of Julienas.

And then there was Ibiza in my late-teens… endless blue sky, warm sea, glorious beach, excellent company and another insignificantly lovely day… until we went to a small beachside restaurant. We ordered and while our food was being prepared, the waiter returned with a tray of crudités and a bowl of silky, garlicky deliciousness as a dip. The bowl, the waiter told us, contained allioli – or aioli - garlic mayonnaise. It was so far removed from the mayo-in-a-jar variety I scarcely believed him.

Hard to believe there was a storm raging when I took these sunny photos! Don't you love yellow!

You’ll probably have heard a rumour that aioli is difficult and temperamental. Ignore! Take your time and in mere minutes you will have mastered one of the great culinary secrets. Bring a garlicky jar around to your favourite vegetable gardener. It is perfect for anointing the autumn harvest. Once you have mastered the basic recipe, play around with the flavours. I sometimes use a little sesame oil and soy sauce for an Asian twist. Lime and corriander is also a lovely variation.

You will need...

The yolk of 1 large (free range) egg

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt (I use Maldon for this)

1 clove garlic, crushed

150mls light olive oil or other light relatively flavourless oil such as sunflower or peanut oil – you could use a mixture of oils if you prefer

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or cider/wine vinegar

1 Place the egg yolk in a bowl and add the mustard, salt and crushed garlic. Whisk together until the mixture thickens slightly. An electric whisk is best for this but it is not beyond the capabilities of a balloon whisk and I always feel that any calories expended in whisking up aioli allow a more guilt-free consumption of the end result.

2 Now for the tricky part: Trickle about a teaspoon of oil into the mixture and whisk until it has completely disappeared. Repeat this trickling and whisking process until you have used about a third of the oil, allowing it to disappear into the emulsion you are creating before adding the next drizzle.

3 Now you can start to add a steady trickle of oil, whisking all the time as the mixture thickens. When you have added two-thirds of the oil, add the lemon juice or vinegar and whisk until combined before whisking in the remaining oil at a slow trickle. See, simple! Covered, aioli will keep in the fridge for about a week. It can be used as you would normally use mayonnaise and is good enough to take a starring role as a dip or as part of that classic 1970s throwback, egg mayonnaise. When made with care and decent ingredients, it is one of those “greater than the sum of its parts” dishes.

Warning: addictive...

Troubleshooting: If you have rushed things, the aioli may split and refuse to absorb the oil. Don’t panic! Simply place another egg yolk in a separate mixing bowl, and slowly add the curdled mixture.

*Please note that current health advice for pregnant women, children, the elderly and immuno-compromised is to avoid raw egg – one of the constituents of aioli.

Blackberry and Mint Cordial – Essence of Summer

2011-09-02T16:33:00.004+01:00

My little niece, The Imp, started school yesterday – heaven help them – and with typical back-to-school timing, the weather has changed for the better. It is a perfect day for blackberry-picking.

Little time-capsules of summer...

I like to imagine blackberries as little time-capsules of summer, storing the tiniest rays of sunshine as sweet little jewels, ready to release the most incredible spiced-berry aroma as you turn them into pies, or jams or jellies.

Kids love blackberry picking (for about an hour or so) and it is a great way to spend time with them, to get in some fresh air and exercise, and help them connect food with nature.

Blackberry and Mint Cordial - as it appeared in my imagination...

This time last year, I made bramble jelly after some competitive blackberry-picking. Check it out for some tips on collecting the best berries.

Today, the warm weather has left me thirsting for a cool drink. How about some of my blackberry and mint cordial... (previewed on the Morning Show today on East Coast FM).

From berry to berry-delicious beverage in about 30 minutes

For about 750mls of cordial you will need...

1kg fresh or frozen blackberries (wild, organic if possible)

250mls water

5g fresh mint sprigs (including the stems)

500g sugar (approximately)

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Place the blackberries in a saucepan along with the water and fresh mint. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and use a potato masher or similar to mash the fruit. Don't be tempted to use a blender as crushing the pips can make the juice bitter.

2 Strain the juice through a sieve to remove the pips, extracting as much juice as possible. Measure the juice and add 500g sugar per 500mls of juice.

3 Rinse the saucepan before adding the blackberry juice, sugar, lime juice and vanilla extract. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved.

4 Carefully pour the hot cordial into warmed sterilised screw-top bottles (I use my dishwasher to sterilise the bottles and transfer the cordial while the bottles are still hot). A funnel is very useful for this job.

5 Leave the bottles to cool fully before replacing the lids. Store in the fridge and use within a week or two.

This can be used undiluted over ice cream or substituted for the rosehip syrup in my yoghurt pannacotta recipe. As a drink, I dilute this slightly spicy Autumnal syrup with 4 parts sparkling water, or better still, 4 parts sparkling dry wine and lots of ice. Cheers!

Hedgerow heaven... cheers!

Having collected your blackberries, head for the Mountains to Sea literary festival in Dun Laoghaire. It runs until 11^th September and has a wide range of events suitable for all ages and tastes.

Older kids and teens will love Eoin Colfer, Darren Shan, and Cathy Cassidy while the little ones will enjoy the Picture Book Picnic. Sunday Miscellany will be broadcast live from the festival and is available online for overseas listeners on the RTE Radio 1 website. If you like great writing you’ll love this programme. Guests are always a surprise and have included Man Booker Prize winners and short-listees and I’m very honoured to have been on the show a couple of times myself. Click here for the full festival programme.

The Art of Eating GIVEAWAY is now closed - thanks to all who entered (and those from overseas who would have hopped on the bus to Dun Laoghaire if they could.)

There are still a small number of tickets available. Don't miss this rare chance to hear three fabulous food writers talk about their passion, over lunch.

White Soda Bread with Seeds – Too Many Cooks ...

2011-08-29T15:55:00.003+01:00

With two cooks in the house, sometimes my mental inventory of stores doesn’t tie in with what is (or, more often, is not) in the cupboard. I’ll often be half-way through baking a cake and I’ll reach for the eggs only to find that my beloved must have made a giant omelette for breakfast because the dozen or so that were there yesterday have vanished.

White Soda Bread with Seeds - merely a delivery device for peach jam

Today, I had a hankering for brown soda bread to go with my friend Penny’s incredible Peach Jam. There were a few obstacles in my way, namely no brown flour, and no oatmeal – the two main constituents of my brown soda bread recipe. I could have sworn there was some there last time I looked... hmmmmm.

This white soda bread was a total experiment. I added the seeds to make it seem half-healthy.

A quick and easy bread for when you're in a jam...

Soda bread is normally cooked on a baking sheet. This is quite a wet mixture so I’ve used a 2LB loaf tin.

For one 2LB loaf you will need...

... to pre-heat your oven to 200°C

1 teaspoon olive/sunflower oil for the baking tin

500g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon salt

125g mixed seeds (I used 50g pumpkin, and 25g each of brown linseed, sesame, and sunflower)

1 tablespoon runny honey

400mls buttermilk

1 Rub a 2LB loaf tin with the olive/sunflower oil.

2 Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and seeds in a mixing bowl, keeping back about a tablespoon of the mixed seeds. Add the buttermilk, stirring just until no dry flour remains.

3 Transfer to the prepared baking tin and level the surface before scattering with the tablespoon of seeds you reserved. Place in the pre-heated oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes has elapsed, lower the heat to 180°C and continue baking for a further 15 minutes.

4 Take the loaf from the oven and remove the tin. A cooked loaf will sound hollow when tapped on the base.

5 Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity ~ Og Mandino

... like making bread out of nothing when your other half has raided the stores ~ me

As I’m writing this, my beloved has started cooking his demon chicken curry. I wonder when he’ll discover that I’ve used the last of the yoghurt... and the cardamom... and the chillies... J