Can I become a Home Chef?

Instant Chocolate Mousse

2012-01-16T21:15:00.003Z

It's a New Year and one of my (many!) New Years resolutions is to get back to blogging once a month and to try lots of new recipes as often as I can. Life is very busy these days and I am finding it harder to find time to cook new recipes. So recently I have been keeping a look out for some new and tasty recipes that are quick and convenient. I have recently got the food network channel at home and I am loving watching all of the exciting new cooking shows. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Nigella Lawsons show 'Nigella Express' recently. I was never a huge fan of Nigella Lawson in the past so had never watched any of her shows but I recently flicked on to her show while she was making this easy chocolate mousse and I just had to try it. This recipe is super fast and takes approximatley 10 minutes to make and approx 10 mins in the fridge. It can easily be used for a light dessert for friends or else kept in the fridge as individual little treats for all the family.

Unlike traditional mousse recipes this mousse sets really quickly as it uses marshmallows so it's also a great recipe to use if you want to make a last minute dessert. The first time I made this I put them into little pots in the fridge and we ate them as treats after dinner and they were devine! The next time I made this recipe was when I had visitors at short notice and I made a quick fruit compote with a scoop of vanilla icecream to accompany the mousse which was topped with shavings of chocolate (see photo) and my guests loved it. This wouldn't be a dessert for anyone watching the calories in the new year but I would highly recommend it for all you chocolate lovers!!!

Ingredients:
675g mini marshmallows
55g unsalted butter, softened
255g good-quality milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
225ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:
Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Put the saucepan on the stove, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile whip the cream with the vanilla until thick and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. Pour or scrape into 4 or 6 glasses or small dishes and chill until you want to eat.

Fish Pie with cheesy mash

2011-11-21T22:08:00.000Z

I am a big fan of seafood and one of my favourite seafood dishes is fish pie. I always choose this dish when eating in one of my favourite local restaurants Wrights Angler's Rest located in the strawberry beds in Dublin. This dish is a particular favourite of mine during the winter. I have tried various fish pie recipes over the years but recently I made Neven Maguire's Fish Pie with Cheesy Mash from his new ipad app. There is a lot involved in this fish pie recipe and you would find much simpler fish pie recipes elsewhere, however the extra ingredients and time required for this recipe is well worth the effort as the result is an extremely tasty seafood dish.

The fish listed in this recipe can easily be substituted with any other types of fish of your choice.

Ingredients:

150gm cooked prawns

350gm cod fillets

350gm salmon fillets

350gm smoked haddock fillets

100gm mature cheddar cheese

225gm leeks

800gm potatoes

3 tblspns toasted breadcrumbs

salt and pepper

900ml milk

300gm brocolli

1 tblspn fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tblspns creme fraiche

1 onion

50gm butter

1 bay leaf

2 tblspns plain flour

150ml dry white wine

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160degrees.

Remove any stray bones from the fish and season generously, then place in a roasting tin with the bay leaf and milk.

Poach in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a knife.

Remove the fish from the tin and take off any remaining skin. Flake the flesh, checking for bones that might have been overlooked.

Strain the leftover milk into a measuring jug until you have 600ml. Discard the bay leaf.

Increase the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into even-sized pieces and place in a large pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender.

Drain and return to the pan and dry out a little.

Mash well and beat in half the butter and the grated cheese. Season well.

Thinly slice the leeks and onon, melt the remaining butter in a small pan and gently cook for about 5 minute.

Pour in the white wine and reduce by half. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Gradually pour in the reserved poaching milk and stir until you have a smooth sauce. Season and reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stiring occasionally.

Lastly chop a tablespoon of parsley and toss together with the prawns, flaked fish and creme fraiche and cook for 2 minutes.

Be careful not to boil the mixture because the fish will break up and the sauce will go mushy.

Spoon the fish mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish that is about 20cm square and 6cm deep and top it with the cheesy mash and sprinkle over breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until top is golden.

To serve, divide among warmed plates and add some steamed brocolli to each one.

Salted caramel millionaire’s shortbread

2011-10-23T10:26:00.000+01:00

Chocolate, caramel and shortbread are a fantastic combination and I watched Simon Rimmer make these morish treats a few weeks ago on one of my favourite weekend shows: Something for the Weekend on BBC. The shortbread in this recipe worked perfectly and although there is a bit of an effort in putting this together, it is well worth it! I used a fairly deep baking dish for this recipe and the result was a fairly thick layer of shortbread. If I was making this recipe again I would use a larger and more shallow dish. Apart from this the recipe worked well for me. I don't normally like extremely sweet things but I absolutley loved these!

Ingredients
For the shortbread
175g/6oz unsalted butter
75g/2½ oz caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
225g/8oz plain flour

For the caramel
200g/7oz unsalted butter
1 x 397g/14oz can condensed milk
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp sea salt

For the topping
350g/12oz milk chocolate

Preparation method
1.Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square cake tin.
2.Rub the butter, sugar, vanilla seeds and flour together in a bowl to make rough dough. Press the dough into the cake tin and prick all over with a fork.
3.Bake the dough in the oven for five minutes, then reduce the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and bake for a further 35 minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool in the tin.
4.Meanwhile for the caramel, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil for 10 minutes
5.Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread. Chill in the fridge until the caramel has cooled and hardened slightly.
6.For the topping, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, pour the chocolate over the caramel. Chill in the fridge again until the chocolate has set, then cut into 9 squares.

Chicken Casserole with Sweet Potatoes

2011-09-25T22:50:00.000+01:00

A casserole is a really heart warming meal for a winters evening and the weather we've been getting lately in Ireland tells me that it's time to start making more wintery recipes. Some casserole dishes I've made previously have left me unsatisfied and I've often found them boring and similar in taste to each other. This recipe is from Neven's ipod application which I downloaded recently and it can be downloaded from itunes or you can find out more from his website. It uses chicken thigh pieces which if you can purchase from your butchers already boned, it will save you a lot of time (I learned that the hard way!). This dish is relatively straight forward and easy to make if you don't need additional time to bone the thighs. I had the left overs the next day and I loved it even more. The flavours in this dish are slightly sweet and full of taste. The redcurrant jelly adds a lovely fruity and sweet flavour. It's the type of meal that would put you in good form on a cold winters evening.

The fact that the flavour improved further on the second day makes it ideal for a midweek dinner as you can make a large pot which will do for two days. As per Neven's recipe I served it with mash potatoe which is my ultimate comfort food! The sauce is in this dish is more like a broth than a creamy sauce which I was slightly apprehensive about as I normally prefare thicker creamy sauces but I have to admit that it was perfect for this recipe. This dish is going to be a regular in our home throughout the winter and I'm already looking forward to making it again...although next time I will make sure that I buy the chicken thighs already boned!!!

Ingredients:
(serves 6)
120ml red wine
1 tblspn toasted flaked almonds
600ml Chicken stock
Pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
mashed potatoes
2 tblspns redcurrant jelly
2 medium sweet potatoes
3 tblspns olive oil
12 rindless streaky bacon rashers
1 tblspn fresh flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 medium onions
12 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Stretch each rasher with the back of a knife and then use to wrap around a chicken thigh.
Heat the oil in a large casserole with a lid and cook the wrapped chicken thighs in batches until lightly browned all over. Arrange on a plate and set aside.
Cut the peeled onions into wedges and peel and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes and reduce the heat and add to the casserole, then saute for 5 minutes until golden.
Crush the garlic and add it and cook for 1 minute, stirring to prevent the mixture sticking.
Add the redcurrant jelly and then pour in red wine and stock.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and return the chicken to the casserole.
Cover and cook for 1 hour or until the chicken is completley tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. Season to tase
To serve, sprinkle the casserole with a teaspoon each of chopped parsley and flaked almonds, then place directly on the table with a large bowl of mash.

Spicy Chicken Salad with Avocado Salsa

2011-06-05T18:47:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since my last blog! I have been doing lots of cooking but I have been neglecting my blog as I am busy getting organsied for my wedding next month! I have made this dish twice in the last month and I have finally found the time to share the recipe with you.

Chicken is one of my favourite foods to eat. I am always looking for interesting chicken recipes and I came across this particular recipe in Neven Maguires HomeChef cookbook. I was attracted to this recipe as it also has one of my other favourite foods; avocado! The texture and flavour of the avocado salsa in this recipe is delicious and would work well in lots of other dishes. The sesame seeds give the chicken coating a lovely crunchy texture.

The preparation of this dish is a bit time consuming and you may be tempted to leave out the balsamic cream but it is definatley worth the effort. I guess this is why Neven rates it with 'two hats' which means it's an intermediate recipe. This dish would be perfect for a substantial lunch or a light dinner.

Ingredients:

4 slices white bread, crusts removed (1 day old)

2 tsp medium curry powder
2 tsp mild chilli powder
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
50g (2oz) plain flour
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
2 large skinless chicken breast fillets, cut into strips lengthways
Sunflower oil, for deep-frying
25g (1oz) mixed baby salad leaves

For the Avocado Salsa:
2 avocadoes
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Finely grated rind and juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp balsamic cream, to serve

For the Balsamic Cream:
Makes 150ml (1/4 pint)
150ml (1/4 pint) beef or chicken stock
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
150ml double cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

For the Avocado Salsa:

Cut the avocadoes in half and remove the stones, then scoop out the flesh and cut into dice. Place in a bowl and add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, coriander, lime rind and juice and olive oil. Season to taste and stir well to combine. Cover with clingfilm and leave at room temperature for up to 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

For the Balsamic Cream:

Place the stock in a small saucepan with the tomato purée, vinegar and cream. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes until reduced by a quarter and thickened to a sauce consistency.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Use immediately or allow to cool, transfer to a bowl and cover with cling film, then chill until needed, for up to 5 days.

For the Spicy Chicken Salad:

Place bread in a food processor or liquidiser and whizz to fine crumbs, then with the motor still running add the curry powder, chilli powder, sesame seeds and parsley until just combined. Tip into a shallow dish and season well.

Place the flour on a plate and then beat the egg and milk together in another shallow dish. Toss the chicken strips into the flour until well coated, shaking off any excess, then dip into the egg mixture and coat in the flavoured breadcrumbs.
Heat a deep-fat fryer to 180C (350F) or half fill a deep-sided pan with the sunflower oil. Cook the breaded chicken strips in batches for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you are cooking the remainder.
To serve, arrange a mound of the spicy chicken on each warmed plate and spoon the avocado salsa to the side. Drizzle around the balsamic cream. For a more formal presentation, spoon the avocado salsa into 10cm (4in) cooking rings set on serving plates and ladle the balsamic cream around each one. Arrange the spicy chicken on top and garnish with a small mound of lightly dressed salad leaves.

Chocolate Brownie, with Fudge Sauce and Caramelised Pecans

2011-04-21T23:01:00.000+01:00

I've developed a really sweet tooth over the last year or so and this recipe from Neven Maguire's HomeChef has been tempting me for some time! I've never made chocolate brownies before and to be honest there was a bit of effort in this recipe but it was well worth it. Make sure you go the whole hog and make the fudge sauce also as it was incredible! These were extremely morish and I liked the brownies the most when they were fresh from the oven and still warm.They are also good when they have cooled down and have some heated fudge sauce poured over. These were a real hit with all the family and anyone who is a chocolate lover will absolutley adore these brownies. This recipe gets top marks from me and will be a regular weekend treat.

Ingredients:

For Brownies:
225g (8oz) butter

275g (10oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
275g (10oz) plain chocolate, finely chopped (at least 70% cocoa solids)
4 eggs
100g (4oz) self-raising flour
75g (3oz) cocoa powder

For the Fudge Sauce:
150ml (1/4 pint) double cream
25g (1oz) caster sugar
25g (1oz) butter
175g (6oz) plain chocolate, finely chopped (at least 70% cocoa solids)
Vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream, to serve

Method

These are intensely chocolatey brownies that get smothered in a rich fudge sauce that is flavoured with - you've guessed it - more chocolate! If the brownies have gone cold and you want to heat them up in a hurry. Pour over some of the fudge sauce and flash under a hot grill until bubbling.

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F), Gas mark 3. Place 25g (1oz) of the butter and 25g (1oz) of the sugar in a small heavy-based pan with the pecan nuts. Cook over a low heat for 4-5 minutes until the pecan nuts are lightly toasted and caramelised. Spread out on to a baking sheet lined with non-stick parchment paper and leave to cool before breaking up a little.

Place 100g (4oz) of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl with the remaining butter and set a pan of simmering water until melted, then stir to combine. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a bowl until stiff and holding their shape, then whisk in the remaining sugar until you have achieved a stiff sabayon that can hold a trail of the figure eight. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the sabayon and gently fold in. Add the melted cooled chocolate mixture with the remaining finely chopped chocolate and the caramelised pecan nuts and continue folding gently until all the ingredients are just combined.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a deep-sided baking tin that is about 30cm (12in) x 23cm (9in) and at least 5cm (2in) deep and that has been lined non-stick parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the tin around and bake for another 10 minutes until the top is crusty but the centre is still a little soft.

If serving warm about 10 minutes before the end of the brownie cooking time make the fudge sauce. Place the cream in a pan with the sugar and butter and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 4-5 minutes until thickened and beginning to become syrupy, stirring occasionally to prevent the mixture from catching. Remove from heat and leave to cool a little.

Meanwhile, place the chocolate for the sauce in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until melted. Whisk into the sauce until smooth and well combined. This is ready to serve warm or transfer to a bowl and leave to cool completely, then cover with clingfilm and keep in the fridge until needed. It should keep happily for up to one week.

Remove the brownies from the oven and leave to cool slightly before lifting out of the tin with the parchment paper. If serving warm cut into portions or leave to cool completely and serve cut into portions when cold. To reheat the fudge sauce transfer to a pan and gently heat through, or pierce the clingfilm and heat in the microwave. Arrange the warm or cold brownies on plates with the hot fudge sauce and scoops of the ice cream or whipped cream to serve.

Chocolate Cake

2011-04-03T18:35:00.000+01:00

I love watching Lorraine Pascales 'Baking Made Easy' show on BBC. She just makes everything look so easy. So, I was delighted to receive her new cookbook as a present recently. It's my fiance's birthday this week and I wanted to make him a chocolate birthday cake but I didn't have a huge amount of time to do it. As I flicked through my cook books, Lorraine's recipe entitled 'I just don't give a damn-Chocolate Cake' caught my eye. This recipe is super easy and fast to make. It is basically done in two steps, sponge and frosting. To make the sponge couldn't be easier or quicker, just put all the ingredients in the food mixer for 3-4 mins and then put in baking tins and pop it in the oven; couldn't be simpler!! The frosting is straight forward also, I used milk chocolate instead of dark chocolate as I prefare the flavour of milk chocolate but the dark chocolate would look nicer. I also found I needed to add a few drops of water to the frosting mix to get the texture right.

This is not the most sophisticated chocolate cake in the world, but it is very tasty and extremely quick and easy to make so I would highly recommend it!

Ingredients:

Cake:
Vegetable oil, for oiling
140g creme fraiche
130g very soft butter
230g soft light brown sugar
seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
4 eggs
180g plain flour
pinch of salt
40g cocoa powder
10g baking powder

Chocolate Frosting:
80g good dark chocolate
130g butter, softened
seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
250g icing sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Oil the cake tins then line the base with baking paper.

Put all the sponge ingredients in a large bowl and beat well for 2-3 minutes with an electric mixer or 3-4 minutes by hand until everything is combined. Dollop the mixture into the prepared cake tins, level the tops and bake for about 25-30 mins, or until the cake is well risen and is coming away from the side of the tin. The cake will be super, duper moist. Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for about 5 mins, then remove from the tins and cool on wire racks.

To make the frosting, put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan on gently simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water, and leave to melt. Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool lightly.

Put the butter, vanilla and icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate and beat until combined.

Once the cakes are cold, using a palette knife, spread one of the cakes with some of the frosting, then sandwich them both together and spread the rest of the frosting on the top.

Massaman Curry

2011-03-06T20:49:00.000Z

As I have previously blogged, I love a really good curry. I first experienced Massaman curry in Cambodia when I was travelling through South East Asia with my friend Cailin. We'd been travelling for several weeks and eating curry, rice and noodles every day. We arrived in Siem Reap in Cambodia and were staying in a lovely guesthouse called 'Mommys Guesthouse'. We saw massaman curry on the menu for the first time and couldn't believe it when we read that it had potatoes in it! After being deprived of spuds for several weeks this was like heaven to us! Needless to stay we ate it every night during our stay in 'Mommys Guesthouse' and it was our favourite dish during all our travels. This continues to be one of favourites curries still.

This particular recipe is from the Asian cooking course I did with http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/ last year. It has very authentic flavours and always brings me back to my fantastic holiday in Cambodia. Making the paste is an effort and some people may be tempted to buy a ready made paste in the supermarket but I really think it's worth making you're own. The recipe for the massman paste below makes approx 9 tablespoons. 2 are required for the recipe and I freeze the remainder in ice cube trays for use at a later stage. This is an extremely tasty curry and I love the addition of the potatoes! This recipe works well with chicken or beef.

Ingredients-Curry Paste
10 long dried red chillies, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp. ground coriander seeds
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 whole star anise
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground white pepper
6 pink thai shallots or 3 regular, chopped
7 garlic gloves chopped
1 cm. ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp. chopped kaffir lime skin or finely chopped lime leaves
1 tbsp. shrimp paste

using a mortar and pestle, grind the dried spices. Add the remaning ingredients, blending after each addition, to form a paste.

Ingredients-Massaman Curry
(serves 4)

400 ml. coconut milkcream
2 tbsp. peanut or sunflower oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp. massaman curry paste
500 gr. lean beef, cut into 2,5 cm. cubes or 4 small chicken breasts, cubed
2 tsp. sugar
2 to 3 tbsp. fish sauce
400 ml. beef stock or water
½ tbsp. lemon or lime juice
4 small potatoes, quartered and parboiled
3 tbsp. whole roasted peanuts then pounded a bit
4 pink thai shallots or 1 regular one, quartered
sprigs of coriander to garnish

Heat the oil in a wok, add the garlic and fry until golden.Add the curry paste, mix well and cook for a few seconds. Add the coconutmilk, stir well.

Add the beef and stir it into the sauce to make sure that each piece is thoroughly coated. Stirring after each addition, add the lemon juice, sugar, fish sauce, stock .

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the potatoes and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the peanuts and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the shallots and cook for another 5 minutes.

Add water if your curry becomes to thick.

Poor into serving dish and serve with natural yogurt if desired. Garnish with coriander.

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic & Thyme

2011-02-15T20:16:00.000Z

Roast Chicken is one of my absolutley favourite dinners. It reminds me of Sunday roasts at home when I was a child, although it is still a favourite when I go to my Mums for dinner. There is nothing more comforting than a roast chicken dinner served with mash potatoes, gravy and veg. I'm not a huge fan of stuffing but if I'm making a roast chicken I usually make it with a basic stuffing of breadcrumbs, butter, onions and mixed herbs. I then season it with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil before placing in the oven. Check my cooking times page for instructions on how long to cook the chicken if it's a different weight than the one in Nevens recipe below. If I want the roast chicken to be a bit more special I make a stuffing based on sausage meat. (try this pine nut stuffing recipe from an earlier blog).

This particluar Roast Chicken recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef cook book. I watched him make it last week on his RTÉ TV programme and it looked so tasty I gave it a go a few days later. I have to admit that Nevens technique in preparing his roast chicken by lining the breast with seasoned butter resulted in an extremley tasty and succulent chicken. It was very tasty, however, it must be noted that a large quanity of butter was used which obviously adds to the flavour but unfortunatley will also add on the calories!

I also followed his recipe for the gravy to accompany the chicken. I found it was very pale in colour so I added an oxo cube which wasn't part of the recipe but I felt the gravy needed it. I seved the chicken with gravy, mashed potaties and roast veg (baby potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potato, garlic, carrots and shallots).

I really liked the flavour of this Chicken and I would follow this recipe again if I was doing roast chicken for a special occasion but it has too many calories to be eaten mid week!

Ingredients
1.5kg (3lb) chicken (preferably free-range or organic)
1 lemon
1 fresh thyme sprig
75g (3oz) butter, softened
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 red onions, peeled and halved
4 small carrots, peeled
1 leek, chopped in half
2 celery sticks, chopped in half
1 garlic bulb, broken into cloves (but not peeled)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp plain flour
120ml (4fl oz) white wine
600ml (1 pint) chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Roast potatoes and buttered peas, to serve

Method

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat the oven to 230C (450F), Gas mark 8. Finely grate the rind from the lemon and place the rind in a bowl, reserving the lemon. Strip the thyme leaves from the stalks and add to the lemon rind. Mix in the butter with the garlic and then season to taste.

Loosen the skin from the chicken breasts starting at the cavity end and working your hand underneath to release. Spread the butter evenly under the skin and lay the skin back down on top. Slash the chicken legs several times with a sharp knife (this is to help ensure crispy skin once cooked).

Place the onions in a roasting tin with the carrots, leeks, celery and garlic, tossing to coat in one tablespoon of the olive oil. Sit the chicken on top of the pile of vegetables and drizzle all over with the remaining olive oil, then season well, rubbing it all over and right into the slashes.

Cut the reserved lemon in half and put it inside the chicken's cavity with the reserved thyme stalks. Place the chicken in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 200C (400F), Gas mark 6. Roast the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes, basting the chicken halfway through cooking.

When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a board and put the carrots and red onions on a warmed plate. Cover each with tin foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes while you make the gravy. Using a large spoon carefully remove most of the fat from the tin and then place the tin directly on the heat. Stir in the flour and then holding the tin steady, mash up the remaining vegetables as much as possible with a potato masher to release their juices.

Pour the wine into the tin and allow to bubble down, stirring continuously to blend the flour in. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until slightly reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally. Take a large jug and set a sieve into it, then pour in the gravy mixture and use a ladle to push all of the liquid and some of the vegetables through with the back of the spoon. Stir in the juices from the resting chicken and season to taste. Transfer to a warmed gravy boat.

Carve the chicken into slices and arrange on warmed plates with the reserved carrots and red onion halves, the roast potatoes and buttered peas. Pour over the gravy to serve.

Braised Red Cabbage

2011-01-30T20:08:00.000Z

This vegetable dish is a huge hit in my family and always features at family dinner parties. I must admit that up until recently I haven't been a huge fan and because of this I'd never actually made it myself. Recently though I found that I've grown to like it and when I invited my parents over for dinner during the week I thought I'd give it a try. There are lots of variations of this recipe but this one is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook. There's a fair bit of preparation in this dish considering it's just a side dish to the main event and it has a 1hr 45 min cooking time, so it's a vegetable dish that needs to be cooked well in advance of serving. I'm told that this dish reheats very well so it could be made the day before. I followed the recipe exactly but I must have left it over a low heat at the end for too long because it was slightly overcooked but luckily it was still edible! The ground spices add a lovely flavour. I'm looking forward to trying this vegetable dish again as it's a lovely colourful vegetable side dish to serve at a dinner party.

Ingredients:
1 tblspn sunflower oil
50g rindless smoked bacon, diced
1 medium red cabbage, core removed and finely sliced
2 tblspns balsamic vinegar
4 tblspns light muscovado sugar
300ml red wine
300ml apple juice
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tspn each of ground cinnamon, ground cloves and mixed spice.

Method:
Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Add the bacon and saute for 30 seconds, then add the cabbage, stirring to combine.
Reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes until the cabbage is well coooked down, adding a tablespoon or two of water if the cabbage starts to catch on the bottom.
Add the balsamic vinegar, sugar, red wine and apple juice. Give everything a good stir, then cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the apples and spices and cook gently for another 30 minutes, again stirring occasionaly.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and keep warm over a low heat.

Pea and Coriander Soup

2011-01-23T22:11:00.001Z

The cold weather has me making soup again and I've just made a batch of this lovely tasty soup which is also very low in fat so is a good choice for my lunch for the next few days. Now I'm not a big fan of peas and I usually can only tolerate them mixed into a shephards pie, stir fry or rice dish. Previously I've made pea and mint soup which is a popular soup but it tasted too much like peas for me!!!! My sister makes this pea and coriander soup and I was hesitant to try it after my experience with the pea and mint soup, but she finally convinced me to give it a try. This soup is a very easy soup to make and was surprisingly flavoursome. The pea and coriander go well together without either ingredient being too overpowering and I definatley prefare it to the pea and mint soup! This recipe is originally from a Rachel Allen cook book.

Ingredients:
50g butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garli, chopped
1 medium red chilli, finely chopped
1 1/2 pints chicken soup
450g frozen peas
Large bunch of fresh coriander
Salt and pepper

Method:
Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan
Add the onion, garlic and chilli and sweat for a few minutes until softened
Pour in the stock and bring back to the boil
Add the peas straight from frozen, put a lid on the saucepan and bring back to the boil
One it has returned to the boil, remove the lid and continue to boil until the peas are cooked
Once the peas are cooked add the chopped coriander and salt and pepper
Liquidise and serve

Walnut & Fig Bread

2011-01-10T21:35:00.000Z

My first attempt at making bread from Neven's book HomeChef was a bit of a disaster as I got the measurements for the water incorrect and I ended up with a sloppy mess all over my kitchen counter! My second attempt was a much greater success and I found this walnut and fig bread very easy to make. Like all homemade breads which use yeast, it is a little time consuming so make sure you have plenty of time before you start as you need to leave the mixture for an hour to rise.

This bread was very tasty and the figs and walnuts added a lovely flavour to the bread. You could always experiment with other ingredients as well. This bread from Neven Maguires HomeChef cookbook was a hit with us and I will definatley make it again. I halved the recipe and made one loaf whcih worked out perfectly.
Ingredients:
(makes 2 loaves)
550g strong plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tspn salt
50g butter, diced and chilled
7g sachet of easy blend dried yeast
100g walnuts, roughly chopped
350ml lukewarm water
50g dried ready-to-eat figs, finely chopped
sunflower oil, for oiling

Method:
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, walnuts and figs until evenly combined.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and then pour in 350ml lukewarm water. Quickly mix to a smooth dough, then turn out on to a lightly floured worktop and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Knock the dough back by punching it lightly with a clenched fist, then divide it in half, shaping each piece into a smooth round.
Put on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper and cover each one with a damp tea towel. Leave to rise again in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220degrees. Remove the damp tea towel from the loaves and slash the tops 4-5 times with a sharp knife.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 190degrees and bake for another 25-30 minutes, swapping the loaves on the oven shelves halfway through.
When cooked, the loaves should sound hollow if tapped on the bottom.
Transfer to a wire tray and allow to cool.
The bread can be wrapped in clingfilm and stored in a bread bin for 1-2 days.

Chicken and Coconut Soup with Galangal

2010-12-19T11:45:00.000Z

Thai is one of my favourite foods. I fell in love with it when I was travelling through Thailand several years ago. I love the fresh flavours and aromas from all the ingredients when cooking. This Thai inspired soup from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook is extremely tasty and full of flavour. It is a very straightforward recipe. You will probably need to visit an Asian foodstore to get some of the ingredients but it is well worth the effort.

This is a lovely dish for a winters evening and would be really filling served with some homemade brown bread. The coconut milk base makes this a nice thick soup and it could equally be served with rice as a Thai curry!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp sunflower oil
25g (1oz) root galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
2 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed and thinly sliced
4 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves
1 large skinless chicken breast fillet, thinly sliced
400g tin of coconut milk
500ml (18fl oz) chicken stock
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
100g (4oz) shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Coriander leaves, to garnish

Method:

Heat the sunflower oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves and cook for 1 minute, stirring continuously.

Add the chicken strips to the saucepan with the coconut milk and stock, then stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer, then mix in the chilli sauce, Thai fish sauce and shiitake mushrooms.

Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is completely tender and cooked through and all of the flavours have combined.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the lime juice. Ladle into warmed oriental-style bowls and garnish with coriander leaves

Sausage Rolls with Sesame Seeds

2010-11-28T17:42:00.000Z

It's the time of year when everyone is getting ready for Christmas. The Christmas puddings are made and shopping for presents is well underway. For me Christmas is all about spending time with family and friends and of course it's all about the festive foods. In preparation for the christmas season I like to have a few things in the freezer. Homemade sausage rolls are great to have in the freezer as they can be cooked from frozen and are very tasty.

This recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef cookbook. He rates it as a one hat recipe (straightforward). This was my first time making sausage rolls and I found it very easy. Ready-rolled puffed pastry takes the effort out of working with pastry. I always keep a pack of jus roll puff pastry in the freezer as it thaws very quickly and is very versatile. I was unable to buy the sausage meat so instead I bought a pack of quality sausages and I removed the skin and just used the sausage meat.

Ingredients:

(makes 40)

25g butter

2 tblspns finely diced onion

3 eggs

450g good quality sausage meat

2 tblspn sweet chilli sauce

1 tblspn chopped fresh basil

1 tblspn double cream

500g ready-rolled puff pastry thawed

plain flour for dusting

2 tblspn sesame seeds

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onions until soft (but not brown). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Break two eggs into a food processor or liquidiser and add the sausage meat, chilli sauce, basil and cream. Blend for a few minutes until smooth and then place ina clean bowl and add the cool onions and mix.

Spoon the mixture into a piping/icing bag and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up a little.

Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and a pinch of salt and set aside.

Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface and cut into four long strips. Pipe the sausage meat along the centre of each strip in a fairly thick line.

Brush along one long edge of the pastry with a little beaten egg. Roll up to enclose and press down the edges firmly to seal.

Brush the four large sausage rolls with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds.

Cut each roll into 2.5cm lengths, wiping the knife each time to clean off the sausage meat and arrange on two large baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper.

Bake for 15 minutes or until crisp and golden.

Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Tarts

2010-11-21T13:19:00.001Z

These smoked salmon tarts are really easy to make and could be used as a starter or as a main course. If you have small tartlet cases these could also be served as canapes for a party. I chose to serve them as a main course and I served them with roast baby potatoes with balsamic vinegar and a green salad. Equally this tart would go well with any green vegetables and mash or baked potatoes. You can also be experimental with the fillings of this tart and put together other ingredients. I like chicken, feta and brocolli.

The recipe uses shortcut pastry but I used filo instead which also works well. If using filo pastry you would need about 3-4 layers of filo per case. I always keep a pack of jus roll filo pastry in the freezer as it defrosts very quickly and can be used to make quick desserts or tarts. This recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef cookbook and he rates the difficulty as intermediate.

Ingredients:

(serves 6)

375g (13oz) Shortcrust Pastry, plus plain flour for dusting

4 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
100g (4oz) asparagus tips, trimmed and cut in half crossways
225ml (8fl oz) double cream
3 tbsp snipped chives
225g (8oz) smoked salmon, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

If making these tarts when asparagus is not in season, use leeks or sprinkle a tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon into the cases for a better flavour. You can make the pastry cases up to 24 hours in advance, or the raw cases can be frozen for us for 3 weeks.

Roll out the pastry as thinly as possible on a lightly floured work surface, and use it to line six loose-bottomed 10cm (4in) round, fluted tartlet tins, of 2cm (¾ in) in depth. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes to allow the pastry to rest.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4. Prick the pastry bases with a fork, then line each with a circle of non-stick baking paper or foil. Fill with ceramic baking beans or dried pulses, place on a baking sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes until the cases look set.
Carefully remove the beans and the paper or foil from each cooked pastry case. Separate one of the eggs and reserve the yolk. Brush the inside of each pastry case with the unbeaten egg white to form a seal. Return the cases to the oven for another 2-3 minutes or until firm to the touch and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and decrease the temperature to 170°C (325°F), gas mark 3.

Meanwhile, bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the asparagus tips for 2-3 minutes until just tender. Drain the asparagus and plunge into a bowl of iced water to prevent any further cooking. Drain again and pat dry on kitchen paper.

Place the rest of the eggs and the yolks (including the reserved one) in a bowl and whisk to combine. Beat the double cream and chives, and season well with salt and pepper. Divide the salmon equally among the pastry cases, season with pepper, then arrange the asparagus on top. Give the cream mixture a good stir and carefully pour over the top. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just set but still slightly wobbly in the middle. Allow to rest for 5 minutes, then carefully remove from the tins and serve warm or cold with salad.

Smoked Bacon and Tomato Soup

2010-11-03T19:58:00.000Z

Autumn is the perfect time of year to start making soups again. Soup is such a comfort food in cold weather. The great thing about it is that you can make it from so many different ingredients. It is not difficult to make soup and once you try one recipe you will master the basic technique for all soup recipes. This recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef cook book and Neven rates it as a one hat recipe i.e. straightforward. Neven suggests using fresh tomatoes and/or tinned tomatoes. I used 10 large fresh tomatoes and one tin of chopped tomatoes. Once I chopped the tomatoes I put salt over them to draw out the flavour.

I was slightly dissappointed with the flavour of this soup and I'm not sure if that was down to the quality of the tomatoes or the bacon. In saying that I would make this soup again but perhaps I'd leave the bacon out.

Ingredients:
(serves 6-8)

2 tblspns olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
350g smoked bacon or pancetta, rind removed and meat diced
1.8kg ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped or 4 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes (or use a mix of both)
2 tblspns tomato puree
Salt and pepper

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a high heat. Add the onions, garlic and bacon and cook. Stir occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until the onions have softened and the bacon is cooked through.

Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat a little and cook gently for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes should be soft and the liquid released.

Blitz the soup in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth. You can pass the mixture through a sieve if you want the soup to be more smooth. Put back on the hob and heat once more. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

A Taste of Texas

2010-10-26T21:38:00.001+01:00

Apologies for the lack of blogs over the past few weeks but fortunately for me I was on holidays in Texas! We had the most wonderful trip with our friends and got to taste lots of what Texas food had to offer. We based ourselves with our good friends Briany and Kirsten in Austin, which is a fantastic city. It has a lot to offer and we only wish we had more time to explore it further.

We were brought to one of Austins most famous bar-b-que restaurants, The Salt Lick on one of the evenings to taste the best of Texan bar-b-que. The photo above shows the meal I was presented with, which was some bar-b-qued ribs, turkey and beef served with coleslaw, beans and potato salad. It was a huge serving and very tasty as it was covered in their famous bar-b-que sauce. However, I have to admit that the mixture of three different meats did not sit well on my stomach afterwards!!

Another great food that Texas is famous for is Tex-Mex which is most popular in the southern parts of Texas. Tex-Mex is used to describe a localised version of Mexican food in America. We ate in a couple of good Tex-Mex restaurants but these photos were taken in the best of them; Trudys in Austin. These will give you an idea of what Tex-Mex has to offer.

The first photo is Chicken Flautas which is four corn tortillas stuffed with spiced chicken rolled and fried. These were served with guacamole, sour cream, and queso

This second photo is the Chorizo Stuffed Chicken which is cracker crumb breaded chicken breast stuffed with chorizo, fresh jalapeños and jack cheese. This was then topped with chile con queso.

Finally, this is the Stuffed Avocado which was absolutely delicious. This was a fried, breaded avocado stuffed with spiced chicken and cheese. Covered with a choice of sauce and even more cheese. This was the dish which I chose and it was incredibly tasty. I am a big lover of avocado but never imagined that I would be eating it fried!

As the photos show, some of the dishes are very heavy and are served with lots of sauces, so wouldn't be good for the wasteline if eaten very day! However, I must say that all of the Tex-Mex we tasted was very tasty. It is very different to the Mexican food I've tasted previously in Ireland and I would recommend giving it a try if you ever get the chance.

Amaretti Grilled Peaches with Lemon Mascarpone Cream

2010-09-28T21:29:00.000+01:00

This lovely and light dessert is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cook book. Neven suggests that you can use nectarines for this recipe or even drained canned peaches if there are none in season. I used fresh peaches. This dessert was very quick and easy to make and it was relatively low in calories so I think it would be perfect for a ladies lunch or dinner.

I found it difficult to get the amaretti biscuits and I ended up going to an Italian wholesalers in Smithfield to buy a box. To make this dessert lower in calories I replaced the mascarpone cheese with greek yoghurt which worked really well.

Ingredients:

For the Peaches
4-6 large ripe peaches
75g (3 oz) Amaretti biscuits
1tbsp caster sugar
Few drops of vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Butter, for greasing

For the Mascarpone Cream

100g (4oz) mascarpone cheese
2 tsp caster sugar
Few drops of vanilla extract
100ml (4fl oz) double cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4.
Place the peaches in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water to cover. Set aside for 1 minute, then drain and cover with cold water.
Cut each one in half, then remove the stones and peel the skin away.
Place the Amaretti biscuits into a plastic bag, seal and crush with a rolling pin into fine crumbs.
Tip into a bowl and mix in the sugar, vanilla extract, egg yolks and lemon juice.
Grease a shallow ovenproof dish.
Arrange the peach halves in the dish and fill the holes in the middle with the Amaretti mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the filling is golden and the peaches are completely tender but still holding their shape.
Meanwhile, mix the mascarpone in a bowl with the sugar and vanilla extract, then add the cream and whisk until smooth and just holding its shape.
Remove the peaches from the oven and allow to cool slightly, then transfer to plates and add a dollop of the mascarpone cream to the side.

Madras Curry

2010-09-21T21:14:00.000+01:00

I really love a good curry. Thai and Indian are my favourite types. There are just so many different variations that I never get bored of them. I recommend spending time making your own curry from scratch rather than using processed ready made curries from the supermarket. I find a lot of people are put off from making their own curries due to the large amount of spices and other asian ingredients in the recipes. However, if you make an effort to buy the ingredients for a couple of different recipes, you'll very quickly find that you have a well stocked spice cupboard. Then you will be able to make a variety of curries with the spices you have to hand. I recommend buying your spices in an Asian foodstore rather than the supermarket as they are of much better quality and much cheaper.

The recipe for this curry is from the Asian cookery course I completed earlier in the year with http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/. It was a fantastic cookery course where I learnt many Indian and Thai dishes. This was one of my favourite curries from the course and in the main is described as a medium hot curry. The last couple of ingredients turn the medium curry into a madras curry.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

150ml oil or 4 tblspns of ghee

4 whole star anise

4 whole bay leaves

6 whole cloves

10 whole green cardamons

1/4 tspn chilli powder

1 1/2 tspn coriander powder

Heaped tspn cumin powder

1/2 tspn turmeric

1/2 tspn garam masala

1 green chili finely chopped

2 medium sized onions finely chopped

2 tblspns finely chopped garlic paste

1 1/2 tblspns finely chopped ginger paste

1 1/2 pints chicken stock

200 grams tinned tomatoes

200ml coconut milk

4 chicken breasts, diced

(the following turn this medium curry into a madras curry)

1 tblspn tamarind water

1/4 tspn malt vinegar

1/2 tspn chilli powder

5 Curry leaves

Method:

Heat the oil or ghee in a large pot, when hot put in the whole spices. When the whole spices swell add teh onion and fry for approx 5 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.

Now add the ginger and garlic and fry for 5 minutes.

Add 200 ml of stock to cool the pan and then add the dry spices and green chili.
Cook for 3 minutes then add the rest of the stock, stir, put the lid on and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer for a further 15 minutes or until thickened to your liking.
Remove the whole spices and blend the sauce in foodprocesor or with a handblender.
At this stage you could add vegetables for a vegetable curry or chicken pieces for a chicken curry.
After adding let the curry simmer for a good 15 minutes.
If you prefer lamb or beef then simmer for longer in order to get the meat tender, if your sauce becomes to thick you could add some water.
You now have created a restaurant style curry sauce that would be called ‘medium hot curry’.

You may eat this curry on its own or create a Madras by adding a tablespoon of tamarind water, a quarter of a teaspoon of malt vinegar, half a teaspoon of chili powder and some curry leaves.

Serve with some boiled rice and dollop of natural yoghurt and some chopped fresh coriander to serve.

Profiteroles and Chocolate Sauce

2010-09-18T09:50:00.001+01:00

My Mum has been making this dessert for many years and we all love it in our house. I have been making it a lot lately and it is always the first dessert to be finished at a dinner party or bbq. It is personally one of my favourite desserts also!

I thought choux pastry would be difficult to make the first time I made it, but trust me it's easy. Just make sure you stand over the pan as your making it before it goes in the oven. The recipe for the chocolate sauce is also very simple and there is no messy melting of chocolate in glass bowls over boiling water.

You can make these well in advance and once the choux pastry is cooked it can be frozen until required. The chocolate sauce can also be frozen. Then simply defrost 18 -24 hours before you will be serving them and fill with fresh cream.

Choux Pastry

Ingredients:
(makes approx 12 profiteroles)

65g plain four
50g stork
150ml cold water
2 medium eggs, whisked
150ml cream, whipped

Method:
Measure ingredients very accurately. Sieve the flour onto a square of greaseproof paper.
Place the stork, cut into small pieces and the water into a medium saucepan, over a moderate heat until the stork has melted.
Bring quickly to the boil, then remove instantly from the heat to prevent evaporation and beat in the flour with a wooden spoon, all at once.
Beat over a low heat with the wooden spoon for 30 secs to 1 minute or until the mixture leaves the side of the pan.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Gradually beat in the whisked eggs with a hand whisk, beating very thoroughly between each addition.
If mix is too stiff, add a little bit of egg.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper and using a small spoon place small blobs of the mixture on the paper ensuring you leave space for expansion between them.
Bake in a preheated oven at 220degrees for 20 mins, then at 200degrees for 15 mins.
Remove and allow to cool on a wire tray.
Fill the pastry with cream and top with chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce

Ingredients:
(makes enough to cover 12 profiteroles)

200ml cold water
2 dessertspoons of caster sugar
200g of chocolate, milk or dark

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat gently, stirring occasionally until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is combined.
Serve the chocolate sauce hot with the profiteroles.

I like to drizzle some chocolate sauce over the profiteroles and serve in a big bowl in the middle of the table and then place the remaining hot chocolate sauce in a jug so people can help themselves.

Homemade Humous

2010-09-13T22:33:00.000+01:00

Humous is one of my absolutely favourite snack foods. It is low fat and nutritious and can be used as a dip or with salad. I love having it as a snack with carrot sticks or with toasted pitta bread. This is also fantastic made with chilli which gives it a nice kick. Simply chop the chilli and add with the garlic. The tahini paste can be found in asian food stores.

This recipe is from Rachel Allens Home Cooking. It is a simple recipe and only takes a couple of minutes using a food processor. This will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Ingredients:

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 heaped tablespoons of tahini paste

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Place all the ingredients in a food processor, season with salt and pepper and blend until really smooth, adding a little more oil if necessary.

Check the seasoning, adding more lemon juice and salt and pepper if needed, and place in a serving bowl.

Braised Fillet Of Hake, Broccoli and Glazed Carrots, Classic Parsley Sauce

2010-09-07T20:40:00.000+01:00

Hake is a fish which I haven't cooked much of in the past but I recently bought a large fillet in KishFish while it was on special. It is a lean white fish with a mild flavour and the fillet holds together well when cooked. It also has very few bones whihc is an advantage. Hake could be used in any white fish recipe.

The parsley sauce in this recipe is very tasty and not too thick and I will definately use it again when cooking fish, not only hake. This dish was fairly quick to make and the fish and sauce only took about 12 minutes to make in total. If you're cooking potatoes as I did, it will take a bit longer, about 35 minutes in total.

I found this recipe on the www.rte.ie/food site and I have only adapted it slightly. The fish and accompanying parsley sauce could be served with any fresh vegetables and nice new potatoes or mash.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2)

2 x 170g hake pieces
2 x Diced shallots
200ml white wine
squeeze of Lemon
Small clove of garlic, chopped
100ml cream
Salt and Pepper
small head of broccoli
3 carrots, peeled and cut
50g butter
small bunch of chopped flat and curly parsley
6 x baby potatoes
25ml cream
tspn of wholegrain mustard

Method

Cook your potatoes in a pot of salted water for approximately 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Cook your carrots in a steamer (or boil) for approximately 25 minutes and when cooked drain and glaze with a couple of knobs of butter.

Steam your brocolli for approximately 10 minutes.

Place the pieces of hake in a shallow pan, add the diced shallot, garlic and wine. Season lightly, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for 3 minutes, approximately, remove from the heat and leave for a further 7 minutes.

Remove the fish from the liquid cover and place in a low temperature oven to keep warm.

With the remaining liquid in the pan, reduce the liquid by half, add the cream and a drop of lemon juice. Bring to the boil once again and whisk in a few knobs of butter, correct seasoning if required.

To finish:

Drain the potatoes once cooked and then put the lid on the pan and shake vigorously until potatoes start to break up. Add the 25ml of cream, mustard and salt and pepper and mix gently.

Add the parsley to the sauce and whisk once more.

Put some potatoes on the middle of the plate and arrange the fish fillet on top. Add the vegetables around the plate and drizzle with the sauce.

Marinated Pork Fillet w/Basil & Pine Nut Stuffing

2010-08-28T16:06:00.000+01:00

Pork is such a versatile meat product and it has had a bit of a resurgence in recent times. Pork belly can be found on the menus of most modern restaurants in Dublin at the moment and Bord Bia have recently been promoting pork heavily. I tend to buy a fillet of pork when they are on special in Superquinn, which seems to be frequently enough. Pork fillet is lovely stuffed or can be diced and I use it in currys, stir frys, stroganoff or in sweet and sour sauce.

This recipe is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef and he has rated it as two hats i.e. intermediate. This dish was relatively straight forward to make, although it must be made well in advance as the pork needs to be marinated for up to 24 hours and the stuffing needs to rest in the fridge for up to an hour. I followed the measurements in the recipe, however I ended up with nearly enough stuffing for two fillets, which was slightly wasteful, so next time I will reduce the amount of sausage meat I use.

This dish was very tasty and full of flavour, the marinated pork was extremely tender and moist. This would be a lovely dish for a dinner party and although Neven suggests serving it with buttered noodles I chose to serve it with fresh vegetables and baby potatoes.

Ingredients:
(serves 4-6)

For the Pork
1 x 700g pork fillet (tenderloin)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tblspns light soy sauce
1 tspn mild curry powder
2 tspns grated root ginger
good pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tblspn light muscovado sugar
2 tblspns sunflower oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Stuffing
200g quality sausage meat
2 tblspns sweet chilli sauce
1 tblspns chopped basil, plus sprigs to garnish
1 egg
100ml double cream
2 tblspns pine nuts, toasted

Method:

Trim any fat and membrane off the pork and split the fillet lengthways without cutting the whole way through.
Open the fillet out flat, cover with clingfilm and flatten using a mallet, base of a saucepan or rolling pin.
Keep the shape as rectangular as possible, with a thickness of no more than 1 cm.
Place the garlic, soy sauce, curry powder, ginger, cinnamon, sugar and sunflower oil in a shallow non-metallic dish, large enough to fit the pork fillet.
Stir until well combined, then add the pork to the marinade and coat. Cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
To make the stuffing, place the sausage meat in a food processor with the sweet chilli sauce, basil and egg. Blend until smooth, then slowly add the cream through the feeder tube.
Season generously with salt and pepper and then blend for another 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the toasted pine nuts, then cover with cling film and chill for at least an hour to firm up.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200degrees.
Remove the marinated pork from the fridge, place on a large sheet of foil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the sausage stuffing thickly in an even layer all over the pork.
Using the foil, carefully roll up the pork with the layer of stuffing inside, like a swis roll.
Twist the ends of the foil tightly and place on a large baking sheet lined with non-stick baking powder.
Roast the pork for 50 mins, turning occasionally until it is cooked through and firm to the touch.
Remove the pork form the foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Carve diagonally and serve.

Homemade Pizza

2010-08-28T16:03:00.001+01:00

Pizza is such a great comfort food and comes in so many varieties. However, for such a simple dish it can be really hit and miss when you're out. Everyone has their favourite places to get pizza from, either take away from dominos etc. or restaurants with the all important pizza oven. Some of my favourite places to eat pizza are 'Fat Freddys' in Galway and 'Milanos', 'Cafe Bar Deli' or 'Fire' restaurants in Dublin.

I have only recently started making my own pizzas at home and before this I used to buy margherita pizzas in the supermarket and then add my own toppings. Since starting to make the base myself I have not bought a single frozen pizza or ordered one in and making your own is much more satisfying. I have tried a couple of recipes for the base both with and without yeast and I find the one below works best for me.

The fantastic thing about making your own pizza is that you can make it exactly to your own taste i.e. thick or thin based and with whatever toppings you fancy! Another great benefit about making pizzas for a group of people is that everyone can have the toppings of their choice.

You can find various recipes for the tomato sauce but I use passata and add seasoning and some fresh herbs. I have also included below a recipe for carmelised onions to use which make a very tasty topping. I have given some suggested toppings but really the list could be endless!

These recipes are adapted from Garth Mc Golgan on www.rte.ie/food

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

For Pizza Base

700g self-raising flour
375ml warm water
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml extra virgin olive oil

Caramelised Red Onion Topping
½ tsp sea salt
2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
30g butter

Suggested Toppings
Avocado
Chicken
Mozarella
Tomatoes
Peppers
Mushrooms
Ham
Pineapple

Method:
For the carmelised onions put all ingredients into a pot on a high heat for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pot. Allow to cool before using
To make the pizza base place the flour, salt and sugar together ina large bowl. Drizzle in the oil and stir gently.
Add 300ml of warm water and mix together. If still a little dry continue adding the remaining water until you have dough that comes together.
Leave the dough to rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
Split the dough into 4 and roll out to fit a flat oven tray. Prick it all over with a fork. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 240°C degrees for 5-6 minutes. Allow to cool.
Spread some passata over the base of the pizza and season with salt and pepper and add some chopped fresh basil leaves.
Now add all of your chosen toppings and top with some grated cheese of your choice.
All pizzas will take 4-5 minutes in a very hot oven, or until the cheese is melting.

Carrot, Ginger & Honey Soup

2010-08-16T22:56:00.000+01:00

Soups are great in the winter time and make a nutritous, healthy and low fat lunch. I thought that this particular soup looked nice and light for a summer time soup and I hoped it would make a nice change to all the salads I've been having for lunch lately! This recipe was from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cook book and it was rated as one hat, which means it's straightfoward. And straightforward it was. There are only a small number of ingredients in this soup and it mainly required grating, which is very effortless. This soup is fairly low fat and you could substitute the butter for oil spray to make it even lower in fat, however, the butter does give it a better flavour.

The recipe uses root ginger, finely chopped. A tip I have for using ginger is to buy fresh ginger, peel it and place it in the freezer. When you need to use the ginger, you simply take it out of the freezer and grate the required amount and then return the remaining ginger to the freezer for the next time you need it.

The recipe suggests garnishing the soup with whipped cream and snipped chives. I used fresh coriander instead of the chives and I think it worked really well. The fresh flavours of the carrot and ginger worked well with the hint of coriander. Overall, this soup was extremely tasty and would work well in the summer or winter.

Ingredients:
(serves 6-8)

75g unsalted butter
1 onion, finely chopped
20g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
700g carrots, peeled and grated
1 tblspn runny honey
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper
Lightly whipped cream and snipped chives to garnish.

Method:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and ginger and cook gently for 8-10 minutes until soft but not browned. Stir occasionally. Stir in the grated carrots, honey and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour 900ml boiling water into the carrot mix and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes until the mixture is slightly reduced and the carrots are tender.

Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and reheat gently. Ladel into warm bowls and garnish.

Mango Salad with Grilled Lemongrass Prawns

2010-08-12T21:34:00.001+01:00

This light Asian salad was from a recipe I found in the Lifestyle magazine of the Sunday Times newspaper a few weeks ago. This salad was lovely and tangy and has lovely fresh mango as one of the main ingredients. The mango, coriander, lime and prawns really complement each other. This is a fantastic salad for summer time dinners or lunches. It would also make a nice starter.

I made this seafood salad as part of the seafood cookalong on twitter.

Ingredients:

(serves 2 as mains or 4 as starter)

For the marinade:

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 stalk of lemongrass, roughly chopped

3cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, peeled

3 lime leaves, chopped

1 tblspn groundnut or veg oil

16-20 raw tiger prawns, peeled with tail tips on

For the dresssing:

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

1 tsp golden caster sugar

1 tblspn thai fish sauce

Juice of 2 limes

For the salad:

6 shallots, peeled and finely sliced

1 tblspn vegetable oil

2 green mangoes, peeled, stoned and cut into strips

1 tblspn lime juice

6 cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters

2 tblspns dry roasted peanuts, crushed

A handful of fresh corainder leaves, chopped

Method:

In a food processor, blend all of the marinade ingredients together and pour over the prawns and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least an hour.

In a pestal and mortar, pound together the garlic, chilli and sugar until you have formed a thick paste. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and season to taste. Place the dressing into a small bowl until ready to dress the salad.

Fry half the shallots in a frying pan in oil for about 5 minutes until crisp. Remove and drain in kitchen towel.

Toss the mango in a bowl with the lime juice, then mix with the raw shallots and tomatoes and dressing. Spoon onto serving plates and top with the peanuts, crispy shallots and coriander.

Heat a griddle pan until almost smoking and grill the prawns for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden and slightly charred. Top the plates of salad with the prawns and serve.

Mejillones Rellenos (stuffed mussels)

2010-08-07T00:59:00.001+01:00

This recipe was inspired by 'Isa' who is currently visiting us from Spain. She advised me that this is a typical dish from her region and that it is normally served as a starter or as a selection of tapas. I bought a kilo of mussels but they were all quite small and therefore it took me a good two hours to make this from start to finish!! (this inlcudes leaving them in the fridge to set for 1 hour). However, the end result was worth the effort. Isa claimed they were as good as her mother makes, which I took as a compliment! Between the two of us we ate the whole plate as a starter followed by a light mains. They are extremely tasty and a nice alternative to serving mussles rather than just being steamed/boiled. They can also be made in advance and frozen. If cooking from frozen, ensure the oil is very hot and that they are cooked through. I will definately be making these again.

I cooked these this evening as part of the seafood cookalong organsied on twitter by my fellow irishfoodies. This recipe was based on one I found on the web called 'Albarino to Zinfandel'.

Ingredients

1 1/2 dozen mussels, scrubbed and beards removed
3 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoon white wine
1/2 cup mussel liquid
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water
4 tablespoon fine dry breadcrumbs
Olive oil for frying

Method

Steam open the mussels. Put them in a deep pan with the water. Cover the pan and put over a high heat, shaking the pan, until the shells open. Remove from heat and discard any mussels that do not open.

When mussels are cool enough to handle, remove and discard the empty half shells. Loosen the mussel meat from the bottom shell and arrange the mussels in their shells on a tray in a single layer. Strain the mussel liquid and reserve it.
Heat the two tablespoons of oil in a saucepan and sauté the minced onion until it is softened, without letting it brown. Stir in the flour, cook for a minute, stirring, then whisk in the wine and the mussel liquid. Cook, stirring, until the mixture is thickened and smooth. Put a spoonful of this white sauce onto each mussel and smooth it level with the top of the shell.
Refrigerate until the sauce is firmly set, at least one hour. Place the beaten egg in one dish and the bread crumbs in another. Dip the mussels, open face down, first into egg, then bread crumbs. Arrange them on the tray in a single layer. (The mussels can be prepared up to this point, then frozen. Freeze them in one layer, then pack them carefully in a freezer bag or plastic container. Let them thaw at least one hour before continuing with the preparation.)
To fry the mussels, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan. Fry them in two or three batches, breaded side down, until golden brown. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve hot.

Chicken Korma

2010-08-05T22:58:00.000+01:00

This rich Chicken Korma is another dish I learnt on my Asian cooking course with http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/ It is more like the type of Korma we find in Indian restaurants in Ireland as opposed to a traditional curry found in India. In saying that, this korma is a very rich and creamy curry and has been a huge hit each time I've made it. I made it tonight for our Spanish student who is currently staying with us. It was her first ever Indian curry and she absolutely loved it! I served the korma with fluffy basmati rice.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1 tablespoon of oil or ghee

5cm cinnamon stick

3 green cardamon pods

4 cloves

1 star anis

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 cm cube of ginger finely chopped

1 tblspn of ground almond

1 tblspn ground peanut

1 tblspn ground cashewnut or walnut

Milk (as required) minimum 200ml

1/2 tspn ground cumin

1/2 tspn ground coriander

1 tspn turmeric

1/2 tspn chilli powder

4 tblspns of natural yogurt

2 tblspns or creamed coconut

1/4 tspn garam masala

4 tblspns of cream

4 chicken fillets, cubed and boiled in salted water for about 15 minutes (or use leftover roast chicken)

Method:

(becasue of the use of dairy products in this recipe, keep on low to medium heat at all times)

Heat the oil in a medium sized pot and add the cardamon pods, cinnamon stick, cloves and star anis and fry for approx 20 seconds.

Add the chopped garlic and ginger and fry for a further minute.

Add the 3 types of nuts and stir well for 2 minutes.

Add 8 tblspns of milk and mix well.

Add the coriander, cumin, tumeric and chilli powder and mix.

Add 4 tblspns of yogurt, one at a time, and stir.

Add the coconut and garam masala and stir and then add the cream.

Add the chicken at this stage and cover in the sauce.

Adjust the consistency by adding more milk until you achieve the volume and consistency required.

Bring the sauce to just below boiling and serve with fluffy basmati rice.

Apple Muffins

2010-08-03T23:00:00.000+01:00

These muffins are very quick and easy to make and are lovely at breakfast time as a treat or as a snack throughout the day. This recipe was taken from 'Easy Food' magazine with only slight adjustments. I found the cooking time was longer than suggested in the recipe and this may be down to my oven. The cooking times in this recipe are per the original recipe but may vary.

Ingredients:

(makes 12)

Melted butter to grease

300g plain flour

1 tblspn baking powder

2 tspn ground nutmeg

150g brown sugar

2 medium apples, cored, peeled and chopped

125g butter

2 eggs, lightly whisked

185ml milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper cases.

Sift the plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Stir in the apple and sugar.

Whisk together the butter, eggs and milk until well combined.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the paper cases and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Nutella Cheesecake

2010-07-27T22:54:00.002+01:00

This cheesecake is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook and is rated one hat. This means it's rated as straightforward, which it was. This cheesecake is very easy to make although takes a considerable amount of time to cook in the oven. The normal cheesecake I make (usually lemon or strawberry) doesn't need to be baked and just sets overnight in the fridge and would be a more convenient cheesecake to make. Neven's cheesecake is initially cooked in the oven for 55 minutes and then you turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in for a further 1 1/2 hours until completely set.

I found this dessert very heavy and although it wasn't the prettiest to look at I quite liked the texture. If you are a big chocolate fan I would recommend giving it a try and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

75g butter, plus extra for greasing
250g ginger nut biscuits; crushed
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
2 x 250g tubs mascarpone cheese
100g caster sugar
2 tblspns cornflour
3 eggs
200g jar of nutella
1 tspn finely chopped stem ginger

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160degrees. Fill an oven dish with hot water and palce in the bottom of the oven; this will stop a skin from forming on top of the cheesecake.

Lighty grease a 23cm springform tin. Melt the butter in a saucepan and once melted, mix in the crumbled biscuits. Spread the mix evenly over the base of the tin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Place the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and use the paddle attachment to mix in a food processor or alternatively use an electric hand mixer to mix. Once completely mixed, pour mixture on to the biscuit base in the tin and place tin on a baking tray.

Bake in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until the cheesecake is just set around the edges and still wobbly in the centre. Turn off the oven, open the door and carefully run a knife around the edge of the cake tin. Close the oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven until completely set; about 1 1/2 hours. Remove from the oven and place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Sausage Cassoulet

2010-07-21T13:52:00.007+01:00

This recipe is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook and is rated as one hat i.e.straightforward. Neven's recipe uses wild boar sausages but he suggests that if you find them too difficult to source that you can use any other type of sausage. I used south african sausages. I had problems finding haricot beans and I ended up using broad beans instead. I tried several shops and even an asian store but haricot beans don't appear to be readily available. I suggest you could use any bean of your choice in this recipe and it would be equally as tasty. This recipe is very easy to follow and required minimum effort. It is a nice healthy mid week option. The sauce itself was very flavoursome and this recipe could be used for various other meats instead of the sausage. I served this dish with mashed potatoes. It took me approximately 1 hour from start to finish. The recipe says to start it in a frying pan and then move to a casserole dish or roasting tin; I cooked the whole dish in my le creuset pot.

When cooked I found the sausages a bit rubbery but I'm not sure if this was down to the variety of sausage I used. I will try this recipe again and next time I will either try a different type of sausage or perhaps try with chicken pieces.

Ingredients:

(serves 4)

4 tblspns olive oil
8 large wild boar sausages (or sausage of your choice)
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tblspn chopped sage
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
400g tin of haricot beans, drained and rinsed
1 tblspn smoked paprika
Salt and Pepper
Chopped flat leaf parsley to garnish

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180degrees. Heat 1 tblspn of olive oil in a frying pan (or le creuset style pot) on the hob. Add the sauasages and cook gently for 1 to 2 minutes until sealed and lightly browned. Transfer to a plate for use later on.

Add the remaining 3 tblspns of oil to the pan and add the celery, onion, garlic, chilli and sage. Sautee for 10 minutes until the onion is completely soft but not brown, stirring occasionally. Add the tinned tomatoes and bring to a simmer for approx 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly reduced and thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Now move the contents into an oven proof dish so that all the sausages will fit snuggly and are covered in sauce. Then stir in the haricot beans, the smoked paprika and the sausages so that they are covered in sauce.

Roast for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling and the sausages are cooked through. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

Griddled Lemon Chicken with Brazillian Salsa Verde and Mango Couscous

2010-07-21T13:52:00.004+01:00

This grilled lemon chicken with brazillian salsa verde is a recipe from my recent cooking course at http://www.dublincookeryschool.ie/ The salsa verde is so tangy and refreshing that I have made it several times since. It is an easy salsa verde to make and can really liven up a simple meat or fish dish whilst being relatively low in fat. It can be used as a marinade, sauce or dipping sauce. It will last up to 7 days in the frideg but is best eaten fresh.

The mango couscous is an adaptation of a recipe I found on line and the fruity flavours of the mango went perfectly with the chicken. This is a quick and easy meal to prepare and is ideal for a summer dinner or lunch. The chicken can also be cooked on a bbq. It is also a healthy dish and won't pile on the pounds; which is good as the pounds have been piling on since I have begun this blog!!

Grilled Lemon Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
3 tblspns olive oil (or use 2 tblspns olive oil & 1 tblspn chilli oil)
3 tblspns lemon juice
2 flattened garlic cloves
Salt and Pepper

Method:

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Mix the oil, lemon juice and garlic in a small bowl. Add the chicken, turning in the marinade until coated. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinade for as long as possible; up to 24 hours.

Heat a cast iron griddle pan until very hot (you could also use the bbq). Drizzle the chicken breasts with a little olive oil and place on the griddle pan, serving side down. Cook for approximately 6-7 minutes without moving until the underside is cooked. Turn over and cook again for another 6-7 minutes or until it is cooked through. Timing will depend on the size of your fillets. It is also possible to move the chicken to a preheated oven at 180degrees to finish cooking if you prefare. Serve with the salsa verde drizzled over and with your choice of salads.

Brazilian Salsa Verde

Ingredients:

4 spring onions, very finely chopped
1 tblspn ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 3 limes
2 tblspns olive oil
2 tblspns honey
1 tspn coriander seeds, roasted and ground (or 1 tspn ground coriander)

Method:

Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Add more honey if the salsa is a little tart.

Mango Couscous
Serves 4

Ingredients:

250g couscous
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic , minced
1 mango , peeled, pitted and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 jalapeno chili , seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
75g raisins
1 ripe tomato , chopped
Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tblspns chopped mint
2 tblspns chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt , plus more to taste

Method:

Coook the couscous in boiling water as per the instructions on the packet. Fluff with a fork and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Add garlic, mango and jalapeno. Saute until mango begins to color, about 1 minute.

Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, couscous, raisins, tomato, lime juice, mint and parsley and toss to heat through, about 1 minute. Season with salt. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Chicken Liver Pate with Fig Jam

2010-07-14T22:50:00.007+01:00

This pate is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef and is rated with two Chef's Hats, which means it's intermediate. I adore pate and I was very excited to try Neven's own recipe. Previously I had been using a recipe I found online, which was always a big hit. Unfortunately I was very disappointed with this pate. It is a very smooth recipe and the raw chicken livers are blended before cooking in the oven in a bain marie. I felt this pate really lacked flavour. It could have been down to the chicken livers themselves, although I doubt this as they were freshly bought from the same butchers I always use. Personally I think it's the fact that the rest of the ingredients are fried off together and only added to the raw livers in the last step before they are placed in the oven. In the recipe I usually use, the liver is fried off in the pan with all of the other ingredients and I feel this method adds more flavour. Also, the method I normally use leaves the pate a little coarser and I quiet like this. However, the real disappointment with this recipe was the lack of flavour.

There was also an omission from his recipe in the book. Most pate recipes advise you to pour melted butter over the top of the pate after it has been cooked and this will preserve the pate. The photograph in Neven's book shows the pate with the layer of butter, however he doesn't give this instruction in his recipe. I have included it below.

The fig jam which was included in this recipe was very nice and an excellent accompaniment to the pate. I will definitely use this fig jam recipe again, although I will be reverting back to my old recipe for the pate. The jam was very simple to make and will keep in the fridge for up to 2 months in an airtight jar. This jam would also be lovely served with cheese.

I have provided Neven's recipe below but here is a link to the recipe I normally use if you are interested in that also:

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-chicken-liver-pate

Chicken Liver Pate:
(Serves 8 - 8 small ramekins)

Ingredients:
400g fresh chicken livers, well trimmed
300ml milk
100g unsalted butter softened
3 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
1 tspn chopped thyme
1 tblspn port
5 eggs
1 tblspn double cream
Salt and pepper
Approx 200g melted butter to seal pate when cooked

Method:

Place chicken livers in a non-metallic bowl and pour over with milk. Cover bowl with clingfilm and leave over night in the fridge. This will remove any traces of blood. (personally I think this step can be skipped if you have bought good quality livers)

Drain off the milk and pat dry with kitchen towel. Melt 25g of butter in a pan and add the shallots, garlic and thyme and sweat for 4 to 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the port and cook for a further minute or until evaporated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool immediately.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the drained chicken livers in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the cooled shallot mix, the eggs, 75g butter, the cream and season with lots of salt and pepper. Blend again until well combined.

Pass the mixture through a sieve into a large jug then pour into your ramekins. The mixture should come 2/3rds the way up the sides. Cover each ramekin with tinfoil and place in the bain marie (a roasting tin half filled with boiling water). Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until set but still a slight wobble in the middle. Remove from the bain marie and remove the foil. Add the melted butter to seal. Allow to cool and then place in the fridge until required.

Fig Jam

Ingredients

3 tblspns olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and sliced
225g dried figs, chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
150ml red wine
2 tblspns balsamic vinegar
1 tspn caster sugar
1 tspn chopped thyme

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and then add the onions. Cook the onions for approx 10 minutes, stirring occassionaly until soft but not brown. Stir in the figs and garlic until well combined, then pour in the wine and balsamic vinegar. Cool for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened.

Stir in the sugar and thyme, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Blend in a food processor for 1 to 2 mins until smooth and then cool completely. Store in an airtight sterilised jar in the fridge.

Mango and Polenta Upside Down Cake

2010-07-11T20:53:00.001+01:00

This Upside Down Cake is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cook book and is rated as a two hat, which is intermediate. I didn't find this recipe too difficult and it was fairly quick to make. I made it with fresh mango but Neven suggests using apricots, pears, peaches or pineapple if you prefer. This cake is really light and very tasty. There is a lovely flavour as the juice from the mango seeps down into the sponge. I would definately make this again and next time I might try using a different fruit. The mangoes I used were very ripe and by the second day they were starting to go dark. My sister-in-law suggests making a sugar glaze for it the next time, just heat sugar and water and when it is syrupy you can paste it over the top of the cake. This will give the cake a nice glaze and also help preserve the fruit so that it doesn't change colour. I will definately try this the next time I make this cake.

Ingredients:

175g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

200g caster sugar

seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod

2 eggs

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling

75g polenta

2 medium ripe mangoes, peeled and sliced into wedges

Whipped cream or icecream to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Use a greased 23cm cheesecake tin and lightly dust with flour, removing any excess.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds with an electric hand beater in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add the two whole eggs, one at a time beating until smooth. Add the egg yolks a little at a time and beat until smooth. (if it starts to curdle add a little flour)
Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and polenta and beat until it is a smooth batter.
Fan the prepared mangoes on the base of the greased loose bottom baking tin and then spoon the cake mixture on top, spreading it with the back fo a spoon until it's smooth and covers the fruit completely.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the top is set and has gone golden brown. Cover with foil and cook for a further 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 to 20 minutes. Take the cake out of the tin and invert it on to a flat plate, running a knife between the cake and the tin base to release it without breaking the mango topping.

Cupcakes

2010-07-11T19:32:00.000+01:00

Everyone loves cupcakes and I baked a batch of these chocolate and lemon cupcakes for my friends party on Saturday. Cupcakes have become really popular again over the past couple of years and are much more fancy than the fairy cakes I remember as a child. I use muffin cases when making cupcakes so they are a generous size. The recipe for the chocolate cupcakes were from food blog likemamusedtobake. Her recipe is for 12 cupcakes but I think this is for the smaller cases. I doubled the recipe and using the muffin cases it made 14. I didn't need to double the icing sugar, the measurements in the recipe makes more than enough icing for all 14.

http://likemamusedtobake.blogspot.com/2010/02/where-have-all-fairy-cakes-gone.html

Below is the recipe I use for my lemon cupcakes with butter icing. This makes 8 cupcakes in the muffin cases or 12 in the smaller ones.

Ingredients:

125g butter

125g caster sugar

zest of 1/2 lemon

2 eggs beaten

150g plain flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

Cream butter with an electric hand mixer in a large bowl.

Add the sugar, lemon zest, eggs, flour and baking powder to the bowl and continue beating.

Divide the mixture between the cases, filling the cases by 2/3rds.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or test with a skewer.

Butter Icing

Ingredients:

75g butter

125g icing sugar

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 to 2 teaspoons of lemon juice

Method:

Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer until soft.

Add the icing sugar gradually and beat along with the lemon zest and enough lemon juice to soften.

When cupcakes are cool, spread the butter icing on top.

If there is any butter icing remaining you can add a drop of food colouring and use for decorating the cupcakes.

Chicken, Lemon & Broccoli Pasta Bake

2010-07-07T21:49:00.000+01:00

This pasta bake recipe is from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook. It is rated as two hats which is 'intermediete'. At a glance I thought this would be a quick and easy recipe to make for a midweek dinner but I should have read the recipe in full, as it actually took me 40 minutes to prepare and a further 20 to cook! The bechamel sauce is a seperate recipe in the cookbook and I didn't take the timing of making this into account when I looked at the recipe. I halved the recipe to make enough for 3 servings but I used too much pasta and it ended up being slightly drier than it should have been. So, I recommend following his recipe exactly below or if dividing in two; ensure that all ingredients are halved. Initially on tasting I thought this recipe wasn't worth the effort for a pasta bake, but by the end of the second bowl I was satisfied that I would make it again, although next time I will watch my measurements to ensure there is sufficient sauce. If you like pasta bakes and like the idea of making your own sauce, then I recommend giving this recipe a try. Start by making the bechamel sauce first.

Ingredients:
Serves 6

275g penne pasta
450g cooked chicken meat in bite sizes
450g head of broccoli, cut into bite size florets and blanched
300ml bechamel sauce (see recipe below)
150ml chicken stock
4 tablspns double cream or creme fraiche
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
25g butter, plus extra for greasing
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
2 tblspns chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp chopped sage
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Cook the penne in a large saucepan of boiling water as per instructions. Drain well and refresh under cold running water.

Prepare the bechamel sauce as per instructions below and warm in a saucepan before whisking in the stock and cream/creme fraiche. Bring to a simmer and then cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until you have achieved a thick pouring sauce (you should have about 500ml in total). Season with salt and pepper and add enough lemon juice to taste.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and saute teh onion for 3-4 minutes, teh stir in teh breadcrumbs, lemon zest and herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another minute or two until lightly browned. Remove from teh heat.

Toss the pasta, cooked chicken pieces and broccoli together in a 3.5 litre, 5cm deep, greased ovenproof dish and pour over the sauce to cover completely. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbling and breadcrumbs are lightly golden.

Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:
makes 300ml

450 ml milk
1 small onon, peeled and roughly chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
1/2 tspn black peppercorns
25g butter
25g plain flour
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

Method:

Put the milk in a small saucepan with the onion, bay leaf and peppercorn and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave for 10 to 30 minutes to infuse. Strain the milk through a sieve into a jug.

Place the butter into a clean saucepan and when melted stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove the saucepan from the heat and gradually poor in the milk, whisking until smooth after each addition. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add a pinch of nutmeg.

Return the pan to the heat and bring sauce to the boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is smooth and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Use immediately or transfer to a jug, cover with clingfilm, pressing it into the top of the sauce to prevent a skin forming, and allow to cool. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 days and reheat slowly in a saucepan over a low heat.

Passionfruit Mousse with Butter Cookies

2010-07-06T21:41:00.001+01:00

I attended a one day cookery course at Dublin Cookery School in Blackrock on Saturday and it was a really enjoyabe day. The day was a mix of demonstrations and hands on cooking with Ballymaloe trained Chef Grainne. The theme of the day was 'Summer Entertaining' and we did a nice mix of mains, starters, salads and desserts. I had never made mousse before and I was surprised at how easy it was. The passionfruit gave the mousse a lovely flavour and could be substituted with mango or many othe fruits for an alternative flavour. This dessert would be ideal for a dinner party as it can be made in advance and kept in the fridge until ready to serve. The butter cookies we made were a lovely partner to the mousse. I made this recipe again on Sunday for dessert and it was as good as the one I made in the cookery class, I envisage this becoming a frequent dessert in my repetoire!

Passionfruit Mousse

Ingredients:
Serves 6

3 eggs
75g caster sugar
1.5 leaves gelatine
240ml cream
6 to 8 passionfruit/90ml passionfruit juice

Method:

With an electric mxer, beat the eggs and sugar together in a small bowl until they are thick and mousse like (you should be able to draw a track with the beaters an the mouse should hold a figure 8 on top). This could take up to 10 minutes.

Soak the gelatine leaves in a big bowl of cold water. Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks but be careful not to make it too thick.

Place a sieve over a bowl. Cut the passionfuit and scoop out the juice and seeds into the strainer. Press out all of the juice from the seeds. You should have about 90ml of juice. Heat the passionfruit juice in a small pot and when hot, remove from the heat.

Remove the gelatine form the cold water, squeeze out excess water and then add to the passionfruit juice. Whisk into the juice until dissolved and then pour into a small bowl to cool. When cool, whisk the juice into the eggs and sugar mixture.

Fold the whipped cream into the mixture. Once mixed, spoon into 6 glasses and place in the fridge to chill for a least 1 hour.

To serve dress with some fresh blueberries/slices of peach or nectarine and a sprig of mint.

Tips:
*When preparing the mousse use a small bowl; the smaller the bowl the thicker the mousse
*This recipe serves 6, you can't divide the recipe as it won't work

Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp of vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon of grated orange/lemon rind
270g plain flour
1/8th teaspoon of salt (if using unsalted butter)

Method:

Cream the butter with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy again. Add the egg yolk and beat until light again.

Work in the flour, and then salt if you need it, until just evenly mixed.

Place the dough on a sheet of clingfilm and shape into rolls any size you like. Chill in the fridge and then slice a scant 1/4 inch thick.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are lightly browned on top. Remove and place on a wire tray to cool

Tips:
*When doing anything with clingfilm, put two layers together as it's easier to manage
*The dough will keep in the fridge for up to one week or freeze the roll and then cut and cook from frozen as required.

The Winding Stair

2010-07-02T21:31:00.001+01:00

We went for an early dinner to 'The Winding Stair' this evening. I have read many excellent reviews about this restaurant over the years and it had been on my list of restaurants to visit for a long time. The restaurant is located on Ormand Quay Lower in Dublin beside the Ha'penny bridge on the north quays. It is situated above a bookshop of the same name and has been in existence since the 70s and following its closure in 2005 it was reopened in 2006 by the Thomas Read group. It has a small casual dining room with wooden tables and chairs and has a New York loft feel to it. It has large windows on one side overlooking the liffey. I hear bookings are nearly always necessary and I had no problem getting a booking one day in advance. They offer a pre-theatre dinner before 8pm with a choice of 3 starters, mains and desserts costing €24.95 for two courses or €29.95 for three. Although we were there for the pre-theatre menu I had a quick look at the a la carte menu and starters ranged from €6 to €14. The mains came in at €22 to €27 with additional sides at €3.95. Desserts are €5.50 to €10.50 This restaurant has won several awards over the years and receives consistently good reviews and I'm happy to say that we weren't dissapointed. For starters we went for lamb kidneys on toast with green leaf salad and clogher head razor clams served with brown bread and salad. Both starters were delicious. The kidneys were cooked to perfection and were lovely with the white toasted homemade bread. The lightly dressed green salad leaves were a nice accompaniment. The razor clams were so fresh we could taste the sea from them and were extremely tasty. For mains we had the seabream with garlic, paprika and dill served with sweet potato mash, aspargus and vine tomatoes and also free range roast chicken in a bean and pea stew. Both dishes were extremely satisfying and bursting with flavour. The seabream was heavily flavoured with garlic which was to my taste and went exceptionally well with the sweet potato which was incredibley smooth. The chicken looked like a small portion on arrival but with the beans it was in fact a sufficient serving. They have a very extensive wine menu and I opted for a glass of Rose at €5.95 which went well with the fish. The service was efficient but it would have been more enjoyable if our waitress had a little more personality and if there was a longer wait between courses. Overall, however, I was very satisfied with the quality and flavour of the food in this restaurant and I enjoyed the atmosphere immensley. It's one to recommend!

Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

2010-06-29T20:32:00.000+01:00

These Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies are from a recipe I found in the Avoca Café Cookbook. The recipe below makes a large batch of 25 small cookies or 12-14 larger ones. This was my first time using this particular recipe and I was unsure of how they were going to turn out. I was concerned that my pastry mix was too crumbley but I managed to form nice biscuit shapes to cook in the oven. I was very satisfied with the end result and these cookies were simply delicious. I was surprised at the amount of butter in this recipe and combined with the large quantities of sugar means that these biscuits are very indulgent! They had a perfect texture and are just perfect with a cold glass of milk, a hot coffee or tea.

Ingredients:

300g of butter at room temperature (very nb)

160g caster sugar

175g finely ground/chopped hazelnuts

600g plain flour; sifted

1/4 teaspoon bread soda

450g chocolate chips (dark chocolate is best)

Method:

Use a hand blender to cream the butter and the sugar until completely combined.

Add the hazelnuts, then the flour and bread soda and mix well.

Finally add the chocolate chips and mix.

The dough should be sticking together and if it's too crumbley it means that the butter wasn't soft enough. If this happens beat it with the hand mixer some more and if this fails add two tablespoons of milk.

Once your dough is ready, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Remove from fridge and roll until approx 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out round shapes using a biscuit cutter or alternatively shape using your hands.
Place on a baking sheet/ roasting tin lined with parchment paper.
Cook in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes until starting to turn brown.
Remove and transfer to a wire tray to cool.

Asian Salmon with Sweet Potato and Mango Salsa

2010-06-28T19:17:00.000+01:00

After an indulgent weekend of bbq food in the lovely sunshine I made this light and healthy fish dish for dinner. Sweet Potato is a very healthy and low calorie vegetable which is a lovely substitute for normal potatoes. I am surprised that it is not used more by Irish people due to our love of all things potato! It can be cooked in the same way as normal potatoes and is best served mashed, roasted or as chips. It also makes a lovely soup. As the name suggests it is a much sweeter potato and can be served with a variety of dishes.
My marinade for the salmon was inspired by asian flavours and I was pleased with the end result. The mango salsa was a nice finish to this dish as the mango and mint flavours went well with the mild sweetness of the sweet potato and the asian infused salmon. This dish took me a total of 40 minutes to prepare and cook and serves two people.

Ingredients:

Salmon Marinade

1 teaspoon of whole coriander

2 small cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 small red chilli deseeded and chopped

1 tablespoon of lime juice

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

Salt and pepper

2 organic salmon fillets

Mango Salsa

1/2 mango cubed

1 large tomato cubed

2 scallions chopped

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh mint

salt and pepper

Lemon juice

Mashed Sweet Potato

1 large sweet potato; peeled and cubed

1 tablespoon of creme fraiche

1 teaspoon of butter

Salt and Pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Firstly prepare the salmon marinade by placing all of the dry ingredients, one by one, into a pestal and morter and grind.

Add the lime and fish sauce and then pour over the fillets to marinade until ready to cook.

Next place the cubed sweet potato into a boiling pan of water and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until softened.

Mix all of the ingredients for the mango salsa in a bowl, ready to serve.

Heat a griddle pan on the hob and once it is hot place the salmon fillet on the pan and cook for approx 7 minutes each side (depending on thickness of fillet).

At this stage drain the water off the sweet potato and add the rest of the ingredients and mash .

Once the salmon is cooked serve with the mango salsa and mashed sweet potato.

Mum's Homemade Brown Bread

2010-06-28T13:58:00.001+01:00

My Mum has been making this beautiful homemade brown bread for many years and it is a consistently good recipe. It is quite a firm bread and doesn't tend to break up like some brown bread recipes. Homemade brown bread is such a comfort food and can be used in so many ways at any time of the year. At the moment I am enjoying it served with a plate of salad and I also love it fresh from the oven at breakfast time. This is a very easy bread to make as there is no yeast involved.

Ingredients:
14oz coarse wholemeal
2oz plain flour
2 tablespoons pinhead oatmeal
1 tablespoon wheatgerm
1 tablespoon of bran
1 level teaspoon bread soda
1 level teaspoon of salt
Half litre of buttermilk

Method:
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
Add the buttermilk and mix well
Put mxiture into a greased loaf tin and place in a preheated oven at 180degrees for 55 minutes
To check if it's cooked put a skewer or sharp knife into the bread, it should come out clean
Remove from tin and place on a wire tray to cool

Chocolate Fondants

2010-06-19T23:32:00.000+01:00

Finally a chocolate fondant recipe that works for me!!! I have tried several chocolate fondant recipes in the past but I never seem to get the timing right and they always end up overcooked. This recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef book and he rates it with '3 hats' indicating it as a difficult recipe. Based on my past experiences cooking chocolate fondants I would agree that they are a tricky dessert, however, I followed Neven's recipe exactly and it was absolutley perfect. The outside was a delicate spongey texture and the middle oozed of hot gooey chocolate. The differences in this recipe compared to others I have tried was the inclusion of chocolate drops in the centre of the chocolate mixture. Another difference was placing the ramekins in the freezer for 5 minutes before using. This recipe suggests cooking for 12 minutes at 190c which is longer and at a higher temperature than other recipes I have tried and I think that this made the difference. It was tricky to get the cooked fondant out of the ramekin so I suggest that you ensure to grease the ramekins very well.

Ingredients:

(serves 10) I divided all ingrediemts by 4 to make 2

200g butter and extra to grease the ramekins

100g plain flour; sifted plus extra for the ramekins

200g plain chocolate; broken into squares (at least 70% cocoa solids)

4 eggs

4 egg yolks

250g caster sugar

30 plain chocolate drops

Ice cream and sprigs of mint to serve

Method:

Preheat oven to 190c

Grease 10 ramekins with butter and then dust with plain flour. Place in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

Melt the butter and chocolate squares in a glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove and allow to cool.

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.

Beat the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and then fold in the flour.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the ramekins until a third full. Place some choclate drops into the centre of the mixture in each ramekin and then completely cover with more of the chocolate mixture.

The ramekins should be a little over half full.

Place the ramkins into the fridge for about 15 minutes until the mix is firm but still sticky.

Bake the fondants in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, they should be soft to touch but cooked on the outside.

Allow to rest for a minute then invert each one onto the middle of a plate.

If the fondant doesn't come out of the ramekin easily, run a thin knife carefully around the edge and try again

Serve with some ice cream and a sprig of mint.

Neven's full recipe can be found on the RTÉ website where he serves his fondant with poached cherries

Gratin of Cod, Prawns & Basil

2010-06-19T22:39:00.001+01:00

This recipe is from Neven Maguires HomeChef and is rated by Neven as 'two hats' which means it is moderatley difficult. Personally I found this recipe very straightforward to make and it contains no difficult steps. Neven calls this recipe 'Gratin of Hake, Prawns & Basil' and suggests substituting the hake with other white fish such as cod or haddock. I chose to make this recipe with fresh cod. His recipe includes homemade chilli jam but he gives the option of using sweet chilli sauce instead, I took the shortcut and used sweet chilli sauce. This dish was a real success and the combination of the sweet chilli sauce with the sweet basil and the fish was extremely tasty. If you are not a fan of spinach, you could easliy substitute it with any other green vegetable such as green beans or asparagus.

Ingredients:

(makes 4)

4 x 175g hake/cod/haddock fillets

16 raw prawns, peeled (I used cooked frozen prawns; thawed)

4 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

4 teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce

125g grated mozarella cheese

4 tablespoons of pesto

Salt and Pepper

50g butter

225g spinach, washed and stalks removed

pinch of caster sugar

Method:

Preheat the overn to 180c . Line a baking tin/sheet with greasproof paper.

Place the fish skin side down on the paper and top with the prawns.

Sprinkle over the basil and then drizzle with the sweet chilli sauce.

Scatter with the grated mozarella cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Place in the over for 15-20 minutes until golden.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add a pinch of caster sugar.

Add the spinach and sautee until wilted.

Remove from the pan and dry on kitchen paper.

Place in the saucepan again and keep warm on the lowest heat until ready to serve.

Place a pile of the spinach in the middle of your serving dish and remove the fish from the oven and place carefully on top.

Drizzle a tablespoon of pesto around the plate and serve.

I served my fish with roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary.

Nevens full recipe can be found on the RTÉ website

Homemade Burgers

2010-06-18T21:20:00.004+01:00

The sun is out and it's time to heat up the bar-b-que again. One of the tastiest and simplest things you can eat off a bbq is a homemade burger. There's nothing nicer than a good burger topped with cheese, some relish, lettuce, juicy tomato and a dollop of mayonnaise. It is perfect served in a floury bap/bun. My recipe for homemade burgers is a slight variation of Jamie Olivers recipe in 'Ministry of Food'. What I particularly like about Jamie's recipe is that he uses cream crackers instead of breadcrumbs, which I think gives the burger a great texture. I usually make a batch of burgers and freeze whatever is left over in a container, seperating the burgers with greaseproof paper. This means that I can take them out of the freezer individually to cook as they won't stick together due to the greaseproof paper. I have given my recipe for the actual burger below but when it comes to toppings there is an endless list of possibilities such as bacon, avocado, mozarella cheese, tomato, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, relish, gherkins, pineapple, swiss cheese, coleslaw etc.....

Ingredients:

Makes 6/7

450g premium minced beef

12 cream crackers

1 medium egg

3 teaspoons of dijon mustard

2 teaspoons of sweet chilli sauce

1 tablespoon of chopped parsley

1 tablespoon of chopped coriander

Salt and Pepper

Method:
Put the crackers in a sealed freezer bag and pound with a rolling pin until crumbed
Place the crumbs in a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients
Season well with salt and pepper
Use your hands to mix the ingredients together
Shape the mixture into 6 burgers with your hands
Put on a plate coverd with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for an hour before cooking or placing in the freezer
Place on the bbq and ensure it is cooked all the way through

Dublin Bay Mussels

2010-06-15T22:47:00.001+01:00

Today I went to Kish Fish seafood wholesalers which is located in Smithfield. They have a small shop open to the public which is well stocked with a large variety of fresh fish. I am a big fan of seafood although I don't cook it half as often as I would like to! The recent cookery show Martins Mad about Fish, which featured on RTÉ, was a real inspiration for people to cook fish. The aim of the show is for Martin to 'take the fear out of fish' for viewers by demonstrating how to fillet and prepare fish for cooking. The show has been a great success and I look foward to trying out some of his recipes from the RTÉ website.

Fish is often a more expensive option than meat and I think this is one of the main reasons Irish people don't cook more of it. I managed to buy a kilo of fresh mussels today for €3.00 which was good value. It is important to prepare the mussels correctly before cooking.

Preparing the mussels:

Once you get the mussels home, store them in cold water. When ready to prepare, take each mussel and use the back of a knife to remove any barnacles and remove the 'beard'. The mussels should be completely closed before cooking. If part of the shell is broken, discard the mussel. If a mussel is slightly open, tap the shell with the knife; if it closes tight keep it, if it remains open discard. If in doubt-throw it out! Rinse the mussels a few times in running water.

Cooking mussels:

Mussels take only a couple of minutes to cook and it's important that they are not over cooked as they will then become rubbery and tasteless. Mussels are generally steamed until they open. Once cooked they can be added to salads, soups etc. There are various different recipes but the most popular is 'moules marinieres' which is a french recipe using wine, garlic, shallots, parsley and butter. My recipe is a variation of this.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of fresh mussels; prepared as above
6 shallots; finely chopped
3 garlic cloves; finely chopped
150ml creme fresh
1/2 pint fish stock
salt and pepper
Bunch of fresh parsley; finely chopped
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter

Method:
1. Heat the oil and butter in a deep saucepan until butter is melted
2. Add the shallots and garlic and fry for 3 minutes
3. Add the stock, parsely, salt and pepper and the creme fraiche and stir until nearly boiling
4. Finally add the mussels and put the lid on for 2-3 minutes
5. Check that the mussels have opened, they are now ready to serve
(It is important that any mussels which have not opened are discarded)

Mediterranean Chicken

2010-06-14T20:12:00.001+01:00

I (very) loosely based this dish on one I came across on the internet today. I liked the name so much that I thought I would try my own version. You could remove the chicken skins and substitute the potatoes with more vegetables and this would be an extremely low calorie dish. Chicken on the bone is always much more flavoursome than boneless chicken breast and is also much more economical. I used chicken thighs in my dish but you could use any cut of chicken. I cooked this in my le creuset pot (my favourite item in the kitchen!) and I started it off on the hob before placing it in the oven for about 80 minutes. The chicken was literally falling off the bone and by serving it with mash potato it turned out to be a comforting and pleasing meal.When trying this dish why not make it your own by adding your favourite vegetables such as carrots, mushrooms, parsnip etc.

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

6 Chicken thighs

3 cloves of garlic; finely chopped

8 shallots; peeled and left whole

1 red and 1 yellow pepper; deseeded and chopped

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

1 glass of red wine

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

2 teaspooons of worcestershire sauce

1/4 pint of chicken stock

fresh herbs (parsley, basil)

Salt and Pepper

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1. Heat oil in your casserole dish on the hob and brown the chicken pieces to seal.

2. Add the garlic, shallots and peppers to the dish and toss for 2 minutes

3. Add the tinned tomatoes and stock and stir for 1 minute

4. Add the wine, worcestershire sauce and tomato puree and stir until boiling

5. Add salt and pepper and herbs and move into the oven to cook for 80 minutes

6. Serve with mash potatoes or rice or alternatively add baby potatoes to the casserole dish at step 2

For the mashed potatoes

Boil potaoes until cooked through; then drain

Add salt, butter, 100ml of milk and half a tub of creme fraiche or cream and mash

To get a smoother finish use a whisk

Decadent Chocolate and Raspberry Torte

2010-06-10T22:03:00.001+01:00

My sister Sandra made this chocolate dessert recently and it was really heavenly. I'm not usually a fan of desserts containing mainly chocolate but this chocolate torte was delicious. I particularly like the use of chocolate chip cookies in the base. A small slice was more than enough for me but if you love chocolate you won't be able to get enough of this dessert. It is ideal if you are looking for something which can be made in advance as it is very easy to make and it can be kept in the freezer until ready to serve.

Ingredients

Base:150g chocolate cookies crushed into crumbs
25g butter melted

Filing:
1 x 170g tube Carnation condensed milk
225g bitter chocolate (I used 60%)
1 x 142ml carton double cream

To decorate:
Fresh raspberries
Cocoa powder or chocolate shavings

Method

1. Make base by mixing crumbed biscuits and melted butter and press into 20cm springform tin. Place in fridge to chill.
2. Place condensed milk and chocolate into bowl together. Melt together in microwave for 1 – 2 minutes until chocolate is just melted. (Better to take out just before chocolate fully melted and mix together to melt last pieces). Allow to cool
3. Add in cream and beat well together until smooth. Pour onto biscuit base
4. Put into freezer for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
5. To serve, run warm knife around edge of tin, remove sides from tin. Sprinkle torte with sifted cocoa powder or chocolate shavings, Place pile of raspberries in centre.
6. Enjoy with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Mulled Fruit Trifle

2010-06-08T20:16:00.002+01:00

When I think of trifle I always recall the trifle of our childhood which was made up of jelly, tinned fruit cocktail, swiss roll and birds eye custard. This recipe from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cookbook is a long way from my childhood memory and I can safely say it is the nicest trifle I have ever tasted! Neven rates it as 2-Hats but the only tricky part of the recipe was the custard; it would be easy to overcook. This trifle took me approximately 45 minutes to make and can be made a day in advance. If making it in advance I would suggest adding the cream nearer to the time of serving. You could take a short cut and buy ready made custard but I think making the custard yourself is worth the extra effort. This trifle was a big hit with all my family at the weekend and would be an ideal dessert for any occasion. Neven's recipe uses 100ml of ruby red port, I mixed 50ml of Sherry with 50ml of cassis and it was delicious!

(Serves 6)

For the Custard:
300ml milk
100ml double cream
seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla pod, pod also retained
5 egg yolks*
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour

For the Mulled Fruit:
100ml ruby red port
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon ground mixed spice
seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla pod
500g frozen fruits of the forest

For the rest of the trifle:
200g madeira cake broken into pieces
300ml double cream
toasted flaked almonds, pomegranate seeds or grated chocolate to decorate

To make the custard place the milk, cream and scraped vanilla pod in a heavy based saucepan over a gentle heat until nearly boiling. Meanwhile place the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla seeds in a bowl and whisk until pale and slightly thickened.

Before it reaches boiling point remove the milk mixture from the heat and remove the vanilla pod. Slowly whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Place the mix back into the saucepan and gently cook without boiling. Stir continuously until it coats the back of a spoon. Remove, cover with clingfilm and allow to cool.

To prepare the mulled fruit; place the port, sugar, mixed spice and vanilla seeds into a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes until syrupy; stirring continuously. Stir in the frozen fruit and set aside until cool, stirring occasionally.

Place the mulled fruit into the bottom of a large glass serving bowl (1.5 litre). Scatter over the madeira sponge and then pour over the cooled custard. Chill for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Before serving whisk the cream and layer on top. Place your chosen topping to decorate and serve.

*Tip: Why not use the left over egg whites to make a quick meringue dessert.

Roasted Vegetable, Chickpea & Feta Salad

2010-06-08T19:47:00.002+01:00

This evening I made this warm vegetable salad from Neven Maguire's HomeChef cook book. It uses one of my favourite ingredients; butternut squash. When roasted I find that the butternut squash is full of flavour and is a very comforting vegetable. I often put it into my stews and it is delicious as a base for a soup. For Neven's recipe I substituted sweet potato for the courgette and carrots. Neven rates this as a 1-Hat recipe and I can confirm that it's very easy to make. The final product was very tasty and I even liked the addition of the chickpeas, which I normally only like to use for humous. Neven suggests serving this salad with focaccia bread but I also think it would be suitable to be served with any meat or fish meal. You could substitute any of the vegetables in the recipe with your other favourites, once they are suitable for roasting.

(Serves 4)
For the Salad:
1 small butternut squash; peeled, deseeded and cubed
1 red pepper; deseeded and cubed
1 courgette; trimmed
1 fennel bulb; first outer layer removed and cut into smaller pieces
1 red onion; peeled and cut into thin wedges
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 bunch of asparagus; trimmed and halved
400g tin of chickpeas; drained and rinsed
175g feta cheese
25g wild rocket

For the Dressing:
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 220c. Place all of the vegetables, excluding the asparagus, into a roasting tin with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes remove from the oven and add the asparagus and cook for a further 20 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through and starting to carmelise around the edges.

In the meantime place the cumin seeds on a heated frying pan and toss for 1 minute. Place the toasted seeds into a pestal and mortar and grind into a powder. Place in a bowl with the lemon and whisk. Season with salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the olive oil and then leave to the side.

Just before the vegetables are ready place the chickpeas in a boiling pan of salted water for 3 minutes, then drain. Remove the vegetables from the oven and add the chickpeas, salad dressing and season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool a little then divide between 4 bowls and top with crumbed feta cheese and top with rocket salad leaves to serve.

Hanora's Cottage

2010-06-01T13:38:00.008+01:00

I spent last weekend in a fantastic guest house in the Nire Valley in Co Waterford which has won many awards for its hospitality and food. It is called Hanoras Cottage and it is a family run 4* Guest House with 11 beautifully decorated rooms, each with it's own double jacuzzi bath. They are famous for their breakfasts and we read great reviews about the food in the restaurant. I am happy to report that we were not dissappointed. The breakfast buffet was by far the best I have ever come across in all my travels and consisted of approx 15 different fruits both fresh and marinated, fresh porridge and muesli, a selection of cheeses, tasty smoked salmon and at least 4 different types of homemade bread and a selection of homemade scones. The breads were amazing and all made by husband and wife team Eoin and Judith. Once we had indulged ourselves with all that was on offer we were asked would we like a full Irish breakfast!! The fried eggs were cooked to perfection, which is something most places seem unable to achieve. It really was a fantastic feast and easy to see why it had won so many awards. We also ate dinner there on both nights and the Chef Eoin served us a mouth watering 3 course meals on each evening.

For starter over the two nights we had seared scallops with sauteed veg in a white wine sauce; oven baked helvick crabmeat in filo with red chilli jam (2 nights) and panfried lamb kidneys with tarragon and wholegrain mustard. All of the starters were very large in portion and very tasty. The scallops were especially good as they were cooked to perfection! For main course we had pan fried wild seabass with bearnaise sauce with rocket salad; roast breast of duck with poached plums, onions and sultana (2 nights) and Irish striploin of steak with sauteed onions, brandy and pepper sauce. We enjoyed all of the main courses which again were very generous portions and full of flavour. Finally came dessert and we tried the homemade raspberry ripple ice-cream; meringue nest with poached pears, fudge and walnut sauce; apple and blueberry tartlet with vanilla ice-cream and creme anglaise and the chocolate fondants with chocolate ice-cream and chocolate sauce. The meringue was the only dissappointing dish of the weekend as it was over cooked and very chewy. The other desserts were all devine and the choclate fondant was deliciously soft in the middle.

All-in-all the food was of an excellent standard with a good variety on the menu and very generous servings. This combination of a high standard of food matched with very comfortable surroundings and excellent customer service is an example of what Irish hospitality should be. If, like us, you would like a relaxing weekend away with exquisite food then I can recommend Hanoras Cottage http://www.hanorascottage.com/

Cajun Chicken Salad

2010-05-27T17:00:00.001+01:00

I was invited to my friend Karens house last night with our other good friend Maria for dinner and a few glasses (bottles!) of wine and a girly catch up. As it was a nice summery evening Karen made her gorgeous Cajun Chicken Salad which is one of my favourite chicken salads. The cajun spice gives it a lovely flavour. She served it with crusty bread and lemon infused oil and humous to dip. This salad is great for summer lunches or for light suppers with the girls. It was perfect for our evening which was full of chats and laughs! Karen has previously served it with homemade wedges which also goes well. With a little persuasion she agreed to share the recipe with us:

Karens Cajun Chicken Salad
Serves 4

Chicken Breast x 4, sliced to bite size pieces
1 tblspn Cajun Spice
Rashers x 4 , cubed
Jazz Apples x 2, cut into wedges
Large Serving of rocket salad
Olives stuffed with pimento peppers
Fresh parmesan cheese, shavings

dressing: Good Olive Oil and Balsamic vinegar

Cook the Chicken in some olive oil in a frying pan, when nearly cooked coat with the cajun spice and remove from pan when fully cooked
Cook the bacon in the pan and remove when cooked
Place all of the ingredients into a nice salad bowl and toss with the dressing and serve

Pad Thai

2010-05-24T19:18:00.006+01:00

As I previously mentioned, I recently completed a 10 week Asian cooking course with http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/ This was a fantastic course which covered Thai and Indian cuisine. Most of the recipes were for curries and were very detailed and extremely authentic. It was the most enjoyable cooking course I've done and I learnt many new cooking skills. I missed one of the classes in which she covered Pad Thai and I thought I would give it a try this evening when I came home from work. This recipe was easy to follow and was by far the quickest recipe we covered on the course as most of the curries took 1 to 2 hours. In total this Pad Thai recipe took me 25 minutes to prepare and cook. The key to this recipe is to have all of your ingredients prepared and ready to go. I have shared the original recipe by http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/ below but this evening I used beef and prawns instead of chicken and it was a tasty alternative. I also omitted the dried shrimp, the preserved radish and I used vietnamese shallots instead of spring onions.

Ingredients:
2 tblspns of oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tblspns dried shrimp (optional)
2 chicken fillets, cut into strips
2 eggs
1 pack of rice noodles cooked as per the instructions on the packet
preserved radish (optional)
4 spring onions, finely sliced
4 tblspns of roasted peanuts, coarsley chopped
Good handful beansprouts
1/4 tspn chilli powder
1 tblspn sugar
2 tblspns fish sauce
2 tblspns light soy sauce
2 tblspns tamarind juice
1/4 tblspn lime juice
1 tblspn chopped coriander

Method:
Heat the oil in the wok, add garlic and fried shrimp; fry until golden
Break the eggs in the wok, scramble until firm
Add the drained noodles, stir well
Add the chicken and stir for a couple of minutes
Add the radish, spring onions, half the peanuts and half the beansprouts and stir well
Add the chilli powder, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, tamarind juice amd lime juice.
Stir well and cook for one more minute.

Serve in large serving bowls topped with remaining peanuts, beansprouts and chopped coriander

It's Picnic Time!

2010-05-24T13:56:00.006+01:00

It was such a treat to have the sun shining all weekend and I definitely made the most of it as who knows when we will see the sun shining again! I joined some of my friends in the Phoneix Park yesterday afternoon for a picnic. After a quick look in the fridge I managed to pull the following together:

A cold potato salad
A pasta salad
A green salad with baby leaves, fresh mint, chopped tomatoes, onion, peppers and radish dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
Marinated chix (lemon, vinegar and sweet chilli sauce) and seasoned steak for the portable bbq
Some banana and walnut bread for afters

I love picnics and I find it's important to prepare as much of the food as possible at home and transport in plastic containers so then everything is ready to go once you have the picnic blanket set up. For this picnic we had a disposable bbq so I brought some meat. It's advisable to cook the meat on a foil tray or inside tinfoil rather than placing the meat on top of the disposable bbq (tip from my mate Gary).

I recently rediscovered Heinz Salad dressing which, when I first tasted it, reminded me of childhood picnics. I now ensure I always have a bottle in the fridge as it's very handy for dressing potato, pasta or any salads and is also lovely on baked potatoes!

Cold Potato Salad

Baby potatoes or cubed potatoes cooked and left to cool
Bunch of scallions finely chopped

For the dressing, combine:
200ml Creme fraiche
50ml cream
1 tblspn red wine vinegar
1 tblspn wholegrain mustard
2 tblspns honey
Chopped fresh parsley

Combine the potatoes, scallions and dressing and serve

Pasta Salad

Pasta cooked and cooled
Finely chopped mixed peppers
Finely chopped tomatoes; deseeded
Finely chopped red onions
Heinz Salad dressing

Combine all ingredients and serve

Banana and Walnut Bread

225g Self Raising Flour
50g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
1 egg
3 ripe bananas; mashed
3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
50g chopped walnuts
1 tspn salt

*Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer
*Add the egg and mix before adding the mashed banana and mixing once more
*Add 1/3 of the sieved flour and salt and then 1 tblspn natural yoghurt and repeat 3 times mixing continuously with a wooden spoon
*Add the walnuts and place in a greased bread tin and place in a preheated oven at 180c for 1 hour

This is a quick and easy bread/cake which is really moist and great for both kids and adults

White Chocolate Tiramasu

2010-05-23T13:23:00.004+01:00

So I have finally attempted one of Neven's recipes from "Home Chef". I was heading to a bbq yesterday and I wanted to bring a dessert so I chose the White Chocolate Tiramasu from Neven Maguire's "Home Chef" book. Neven rates all of his recipes with either 1, 2 or 3 chef hats...3 being the most difficult. This recipe was rated with 2 hats. It wasn't difficult to make but took longer than I expected; about one hour. In his recipe he makes 8 individual servings in martini glasses, I chose to do one large bowl as it was easier to transport...and perhaps here is where it went wrong!!! His recipe does say that you can make it in one bowl but when I assembled it there appeared to be way too much of the custard.

I was looking forward to tasting it as normally I don't like regular tiramasu. Unfortunately, it was very dissapointing. It was extremely heavy and lacked real flavour. The strongest flavour was the white chocolate, which personally I found a bit sickeningly sweet. My fellow diners all have sweeter tooths than me and they said it was 'nice' but could only eat a small portion!!?? If you have a sweet tooth and love white chocolate then perhaps this is the dessert for you, but I suggest serving it in individual portions as per Neven's recipe. I think if I was making it again I would substitute the raspberries with mixed berries and use less custard mix.

So here it is:

For Custard:
5 egg yolks, 1 tblspn cornflour, 3 tblspns caster sugar, seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla pod, 300ml milk, 100ml double cream.

For Poached raspberries:
300ml red wine, 75g caster sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, seed and pod from 1/2 vanilla pod, 350g raspberries, cocoa powder and sprigs of mint to decorate.

Other ingredients:
150ml double cream, 175g white chocolate grated, 500g mascarpone cheese, 16 sponge fingers.

To make custard; beat egg yolks, cornflour, sugar and vanilla seeds until pale and thickened. In a medium saucepan place milk and cream and heat until nearly boiling. Gently whisk milk mix into egg mix and put back in pan over a gentle heat. Cook gently for 6-8 mins. Transfer to large bowl and allow to cool.

Place 2 tblsns cream in a saucepan and melt have the chocolate into the cream until melted. Remove and mix into cooled custard. Allow mix to chill and cover with cling film.

Place red wine in medium saucepan and add cinnamon, vanilla seeds and pod and bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 15 mins until reduced. Place raspberries in heat proof bowl and cover with wine mix (remove cinamon and pod). Allow to cool.

Whip remaining cream in a bowl. Take chilled custard and mix in the cheese until smooth and then the grated chocolate. Mix in the whipped cream.

To present, place the rasberries in the bottom of the bowl/glass using a slotted spoon. Place a layer of the sponge fingers and then pour over the wine mix. Top with the custard mix and chill for an hr until set. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top and decorate with a raspberrie and sprig of minute and serve.

The full recipe can also be viewed on the RTÉ website: http://www.rte.ie/food/2010/0226/whitechocolatetiramisu.html

And so it begins.....

2010-05-18T22:44:00.003+01:00

I grew up in a home where food played a major role in our household, and still does. My Mother is a fantastic cook and from a young age I was in awe of her ability to be able to produce a tasty feast at a moments notice for unannounced guests.

Most of my childhood memories involve food; from picnics out of the boot of the car on a rainy day at the beach, to family meals at the kitchen table. I vividly remember my parents throwing lively parties for friends and families where the aroma of large pots of curry filtered around the house.

This skill of cooking was passed onto my older sister whom today is also an inspiration to me in my cooking. Most of our near daily phone calls involve sharing recipes or talk of food in one way or another. She is a great cook and is the person I call when a recipe is heading for disaster!

My family was also blessed with another fantastic cook when my brother married my sister-in-law who is a trained chef. She is often sharing her skills with us when we gather for weekends in our parents Wexford holiday house. These weekends are when all 4 of us get a chance to cook together to feed the family.

Surrounded by these 3 amazing cooks constantly inspires me to continue learning new cooking skills. The one Chef whom we all admire is Neven Maguire and it is because of this that I ended up seeing Neven in a live cooking demonstration in Dunboyne Castle Hotel one wet Wednesday evening in February 2010.

Myself and my sister had bought my Mum the overnight stay in the hotel for her birthday to see Neven's demonstration. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be able to get the time off work to accompany her.

I spoke with Neven during the demonstration and I was pleasantly surprised to find him very friendly, down to earth and genuinely interested in speaking with us. He was even so kind as to invite me to come visit him in his kitchen in Blacklion, an offer I would love to take up sometime in the future. I sat watching the demonstration in admirattion of his ease of cooking and practical manner in communicating the recipes. It was at this point that I was inspired to indulge in my own love of cooking.

As I've said I've been inspired by the 3 women in my family and also by Neven’s love of cooking and practical way of teaching others to cook. I have spent the last couple of months looking for ways to take my love of food and cooking to a new level.

I have recently completed a 10 week Asian cooking course with www.cookingwithjackie.ie in the local community school. This was the most enjoyable course I have ever done and Jackie was an amazing teacher. We learnt lots of different Indian and Thai cooking recipes which were extremely authentic. I have travelled to both of these countries in the past and I have a love of Asian cooking (and basically all other cuisines)!

On finishing the course last week I found a new vacuum in my foodie life and this is what has lead me to start this blog.

I have never blogged before and up to a couple of weeks ago, I had never even seen a blog! So here I am, my first blog inspired by Neven Maguire and a love for all things food.

Over the next few months (years?!) I am planning to cook my way through Neven Maguires "Home Chef" book in hope that I can improve my cooking skills whilst sharing my experience of his recipes. Along the way I will also be sharing recipes from other sources which I hope will be of interest to readers (f there are any)!!