Archive2010

Will this chilly weather ever end? Anyhow let’s cheer ourselves up with a big pot of bubbling stew. These recipes certainly won’t break the bank and will provide a wonderful meal for family and friends. The trick is to seek out your local family butcher and start to ask questions. Get to know the joints of meat so you can buy wisely and chose the recommended cuts of meat for a particular dish. The good news is that the cheapest cuts are best for stewing and slow cooking and you will need lots of bone for flavour. A nice chunk of neck of lamb or scrag end make a delicious lamb stew. Bulk it out with lots of carrots, onions or maybe a parsnip. You could cover the entire pot with peeled whole potatoes and you will have the whole meal in one pot.

Lamb shanks are lovely and meaty and also a good buy. They take ages to cook to melting tenderness but when the meat is virtually falling off the bones everyone will be licking their lips. Serve them with fluffy mashed potatoes or if you prefer just beans or lentils.

How come so few people over here know about beef short ribs? These are 4 inch strips cut diagonally across the lower ribs. I first came across short ribs in Tom Colliccio’s Craft restaurant in New York on a cold winter’s day, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. However a lovely American friend Mary Jo Wendel gave me her recipe which has become a firm favourite. I’m also mad about a family dish we called Scalloped potato which also contains beef kidney and a tiny bit of flank of beef. Another truly economical dish and the most comforting thing to eat on a dreary winter day.

 

Mary Jo’s American Braised Short Ribs

From Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

Beef short ribs are about 8–10cm (3–4in) strips of a cross section of rib bones and the meat that links them together. This is more of an American butcher’s cut, but now that we’ve discovered short ribs over here, we can’t get enough of them. This cut cooks out to melting tenderness when slow-cooked, which is why we’ve chosen braising as the method of cooking and the high percentage of bone adds lots of extra flavour. If at all possible, make this the day before it’s needed – the flavour will be even better and it’ll be much easier to remove every scrap of fat when it has solidified on top.

Serves 6

6 crosscut beef short ribs, trimmed

salt

225g (8oz) streaky bacon (in a single piece if possible)

1 tablespoon olive oil or duck fat

225g (8oz) carrots, diced

175g (6oz) celery, diced

8 garlic cloves, cut in half

1 chilli, sliced

1 red pepper, diced

1 yellow pepper, diced

3 large onions, 1 sliced – the other 2 chopped

1 tablespoon tomato purée

225ml (8fl oz) red wine

1 sprig of rosemary

2 bay leaves

small fistful thyme branches

1 cinnamon stick

3 spirals of orange zest

Beef Stock or chicken stock to come halfway up the pot

Roux (see below), optional

If possible, trim and sprinkle the beef with salt the night before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 150°C/ 300°F/gas mark 2. Remove the rind and dice the bacon. Save the rind to cook with the beef as it adds gelatine which gives the sauce extra body. Heat a little oil in a wide sauté pan and brown the diced bacon. Remove it to a plate.

Brown the beef in batches (do not overcrowd the sauté pan). Leave 2 tablespoons of fat in pan and use it to sweat the onions, carrots and celery, stirring to dissolve all the browned bits in the sauté pan. Add the garlic, chilli and peppers and sweat for 5–6 minutes or until limp.

Place the beef, bacon and vegetables in a casserole or heavy braising pot, preferably enameled cast iron.

Add the tomato purée to the hot sauté pan and cook briefly. Add the wine and bring to boil. Pour the over the beef and add the herbs, cinnamon stick and orange zest. Add enough stock to come halfway up the pot. Cover with a butter wrapper and tight-fitting lid and transfer to the oven. Braise in the oven until tender, 3–41⁄2 hours – the meat should be tender and almost falling off the bones.

Remove bay leaves, stalks and stems of the other herbs and the orange peel and cinnamon stick. Leave to cool overnight. Next day, skim off the solidified fat and discard. Bring the pot back to the boil, add more stock if needed and thicken with a little roux if desired. Taste and correct the seasoning.

 

Roux

Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred to thicken up a sauce.

110g (4oz) butter

110g (4oz) plain flour

Melt the butter in a pan and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. It will keep for a fortnight in a refrigerator.

 

 

Remove most of the fat from each shank and then scrape the meat away from the bone to loosen it. Make two deep incisions in each joint and insert a sprig of rosemary and a sliver of garlic wrapped in half an anchovy fillet into each incision. Season the meat with salt and black pepper.

Heat the duck fat or olive oil in a heavy sauté pan or casserole and sauté the lamb until it is well browned on all sides. Remove the lamb shanks from the pan.

Next add the bacon and cook until crisp, then add the carrots, celery, leek, onion and garlic and cook over a high heat until slightly browned. Add the red wine to the pan and bring to the boil, stirring for a minute or two. Add the stock, herbs and orange peel to the pan, then place the lamb shanks on top. Cover and cook in the oven for 21⁄4 hours.

Remove from the oven and add the tomato fondue, cannellini beans, herbs and enough stock to half-cover the beans. Cover and simmer for a further 3⁄4 –1 hour.

When the lamb has finished cooking it should be falling off the bone. Remove the thyme, bay leaves and orange peel. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Serve the lamb shanks in a hot, deep dish with the beans and vegetables poured over and around. Garnish with sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme.

 

 

 

 

 

Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic, Rosemary and Cannellini Beans

From Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

This is where the magic of slow cooking transforms something that, cooked on a high heat, would be very tough, into something soft and tender.

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks, about 1kg (21⁄4 lb)

8 small sprigs of rosemary

8 garlic slivers

4 anchovy fillets, halved

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For Braising

30g (1oz) duck fat or olive oil

225g (8oz) streaky bacon

2 carrots, roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 leek, roughly chopped

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 garlic head, halved horizontally

225ml (8fl oz) bottle good red wine

300ml (1⁄2 pint) lamb stock or chicken stock

sprig of thyme

2 sprigs of rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 strips of dried orange peel

Accompaniment

1 x Tomato Fondue

1 x 400g (14oz) tin cannellini beans, drained or 200g (7oz) dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight and then boiled rapidly for 30 minutes

600ml (1 pint) homemade chicken stock or lamb stock

2 sprigs of thyme

leaves from 2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped

sprigs of rosemary, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/gas mark 2.

 

Scalloped Potato with Steak and Kidney

From Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

 

This is an economical and enormously comforting dish. We used to ask my mother to make it when we came home from college on winter weekends. You can do lots of variations on the theme; streaky bacon is particularly good and shoulder of lamb would also be delicious.

Serves 4–6

1 beef kidney, about 450g (1lb)

salt and freshly ground pepper

450g (1lb) well-hung stewing beef (I use round, flank or even lean shin)

1.3kg (3lb) ‘old’ potatoes – Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks, thickly sliced

350g (12oz) onions, chopped

50g (2oz) butter, or more

370ml (13fl oz) beef stock or hot water

Garnish

freshly chopped parsley

large, oval casserole, 2.3 litre (4 pint) capacity

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/ gas mark 2.

Remove the skin and white core from the kidney and discard. Cut the flesh of the kidneys into 1cm (1⁄2 in) cubes; put them into a bowl, cover with cold water and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt. Cut the beef into 5mm (1⁄4 in) cubes. Put a layer of potato slices at the base of the casserole. Drain the kidney cubes and mix them with the beef slices, then scatter some of the meat and chopped onions over the layer of potato.

Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper, dot with butter, add another layer of potato, more meat, onions and seasoning and continue right up to the top of the casserole. Finish with an overlapping layer of potato. Pour in the hot stock or water. Bring to the boil, cover and transfer to the oven, and cook for 2–21⁄2 hours or until the meat and potatoes are cooked. Remove the lid of the saucepan about 15 minutes from end of the cooking time to brown the top slightly.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve in deep plates with lots of butter.

Epigrams

From Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

 

A simple way to turn a very cheap piece of meat into something delicious.

Makes 12–16

900g (2lb) lap of lamb or trimmings from the streaky end of a rack of lamb

plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper

beaten organic egg

fresh white breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/ gas mark 4.

Cut the lamb into pieces about 7.5cm (3 inch) wide and 10cm (4 inch) long (size isn’t crucial here, but they shrink as they cook so don’t cut them too small). Dip each piece in well-seasoned flour, then in beaten egg and finally into breadcrumbs. Transfer to a roasting tin and cook in a single layer for 30–45 minutes, depending on size. They should be crisp and golden. Turn once or twice during cooking so they crisp up evenly on each side.

Serve with sauce paloise (like a béarnaise, but made with mint), onion sauce, mint and apple, or redcurrant jelly.

Mashed Potato

 

Cooking the potatoes in their jackets keeps in the flavours. They are also easier and less wasteful to peel.

 

Serves 4

 

2 lbs (900g) unpeeled potatoes, preferably Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

1/2 pint (300ml) creamy milk

1-2 ozs (25-50g) butter

 

Scrub the potatoes well. Put them into a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When the potatoes are about half cooked, 15 minutes approx. for ‘old’ potatoes, strain off two-thirds of the water, replace the lid on the saucepan, put on to a gentle heat and allow the potatoes to steam until they are cooked. Peel immediately by just pulling off the skins, so you have as little waste as possible, mash while hot.

 

While the potatoes are being peeled, bring about 1/2 pint (300ml) of milk to the boil. (Use a two pronged carving fork so they don’t break and gently pull off the skin so there is minimum waste – we feed the skins to the hens). Add enough boiling creamy milk to mix to a soft light consistency suitable for piping, and then beat in the butter, the amount depending on how rich you like your potatoes. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

 

Beef Stock

 

Makes about 3.5 litres (6 pints)

 

2.7kg (6 lb) beef bones or more if you have them, preferably with some scraps of meat on them, cut into small pieces

2 large onions, quartered

2 large carrots, quartered

2 celery stalks, cut into chunks

10 peppercorns

2 cloves

4 unpeeled garlic cloves

1 teaspoon concentrated tomato purée

large bouquet garni, including parsley stalks, bay leaf, sprigs of thyme and a sprig of tarragon

 

Preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF/gas mark 8.

 

Put the bones into a roasting tin and roast them for 30 minutes, until nicely browned. Add the onions, carrots and celery and return to the oven until the vegetables are coloured at the edges. Transfer the bones and vegetables to the stockpot with a metal spoon. Add the peppercorns, cloves, garlic, tomato purée and bouquet garni.

 

Degrease the roasting pan and deglaze with about 300ml (1⁄2 pint) of water. Bring to the boil and then pour over the bones and vegetables in the stockpot. Add enough additional water to cover the bones, about 4.6 litres (8 pints). Bring slowly to the boil. Skim the stock and simmer gently for 5 – 6 hours, topping up with water if necessary. Strain the stock, leave it to cool and skim off all the fat before use.

 

Fool Proof Food

Rustic Roast Potatoes

 

Serves 4-6

 

So quick and easy. Just scrub the spuds well. Don’t bother to peel.

 

6 large ‘old’ potatoes eg. Golden Wonder or Kerrs Pinks

Olive oil or beef dripping (unless for Vegetarians)-duck or goose fat are also delicious

Sea salt

 

Preheat the oven to 230

 

°C/450°

F/regulo 8. Scrub the potatoes well, cut into quarters lengthways or cut into thick rounds 3/4 inch (2cm) approx. Put into a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and toss so they are barely coated with olive oil. Roast in a preheated oven for 30-45 minutes depending on size. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve in a hot terracotta dish.

 

 

Hottips

Meet two of France’s leading winemakers – Pascal Verhaege of Château du Cèdre, Cahors and Luc de Conti of Château Tour des Gendres, Bergerac at the Wines of Southwest France Dinner. Taste their critically acclaimed wines, matched with a menu inspired by the hearty, regional cooking of the French southwest. On Tuesday 16^{th March 2010 at 8 pm at the Exchequer Room Fallon & Byrne, Dublin 2, tickets are available at €65 per person. To book phone David Gallagher 01 4721012 – wine@fallonandbyrne.com.}

The Gracey family have been farming on Forthill Farm in Tandragee, Co Armagh since the 1700s. Kenny and Jennifer Gracey opened their farm shop towards the end of 2008. They sell their own meat from their Belted Galloway and Longhorn Cattle that produces beautiful marbled tender beef that is hung on the bone for a minimum of 21 days. Their pork sausages are delicious made with 80 percent meat from their prize winning herd of Saddleback and Gloucestshire Old Spot Pigs. Telephone 0044 (0) 28 38840818, email info@forthillfarm.co.uk.

During these recessionary times we’re racking our brains to come up with thrifty ways of having fun and improving our quality of life without breaking the bank. Every year when we plan our course schedule for Ballymaloe Cookery School we come up with some new ideas. One of my favourites this year is ‘Grow your own Party or Wedding with Sarah Raven’ – whom many of you will know from BBC Gardeners World and her columns in The Daily Telegraph, Gardens Illustrated, Gardeners’ World Magazine. The idea is to plan ahead so you can grow as much of the produce and as many of the flowers as possible for your own wedding or party. Sounds daunting, but you know, with a bit of forward planning its absolutely achievable even for those who don’t reckon to have green fingers. Can you imagine the delight and satisfaction of filling your home and church with beautiful bouquets of home-grown flowers? Apart from saving money, garden flowers are so beautiful and fragrant and even simple flowers like primroses, sweet pea and cornflowers can be utterly charming. You can even crystallize the flowers to decorate the wedding cake and then of course there’s the food. Sarah will give suggestions and recipes for several menus for Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter weddings, with lots of great images and ideas.

Then you can choose your favourite menu and with Sarah’s advice you can grow the vegetables, salad, herbs and even berries and fruit. Can you imagine how much fun you’ll have and more importantly how much extra money you will have to spend on bubbles and fizz. Sarah’s ‘Grow your own Party or Wedding’ course is on Tuesday 30^{th March For those who are eager to learn more about vegetable gardening, Sarah will teach her brilliant ‘How to Grow Year Round Vegetables’ Monday 29th March, 2010. Meanwhile here is a suggestion for a Spring wedding menu. www.foodforliving.ie or contact Lucy on 086 8179964}

Spinach and Rosemary Soup with Heart Shaped Croutons

Fish Mousse with Shrimp Beurre Blanc

Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb with New Potatoes, Roast Beetroot and a Salad of Organic Greens and Flowers from your Garden

Goats Cheese with Honey and Rocket Leaves

Rhubarb and Strawberry Compote with Shortbread Sweethearts

 

 

Spinach and Rosemary Soup

 

Serves 6-8

 

The trick with these green soups is not to add the greens until the last minute, otherwise they will overcook and the soup will lose its fresh taste and bright green colour. For a simple spinach soup, omit the rosemary and add a little freshly grated nutmeg with the seasoning.

 

50g (2oz) butter

110g (4oz) onion, chopped

150g (5oz) potatoes, chopped

225-350g (8-12oz) spinach, destalked and chopped

600ml (1 pint) homemade chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

425-600ml (3/4-1 pint) creamy milk (1/4 cream and 3/4 milk)

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

 

Garnish

 

2 tablespoons whipped cream (optional)

sprig of rosemary or rosemary flowers

 

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it foams add the onions and potatoes and turn them until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the boiling stock and milk bring back to the boil and simmer until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the spinach and boil with the lid off for about 3-5 minutes, until the spinach is tender. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh green colour. Add the chopped rosemary.

Liquidise and taste. Serve in warm bowls garnished with a blob of whipped cream and a sprig of rosemary. If you have a pretty rosemary bush in bloom, sprinkle a few flowers over the top for extra pizzazz or use your heart shaped croutons.

Heart Shaped Croutons

 

Serves 4

1 slice of slightly stale pan bread, 5mm (1/4 inch) thick

Sunflower or olive oil

With the help of a heart shaped pastry cutter, stamp out your shapes neatly.

Heat the sunflower or olive oil in a frying pan, it should be at least 2cm (3/4 inch) deep and quite hot..

Add the croutons to the hot oil. They will colour almost immediately, so turn quickly to achieve a golden colour on both sides. Immediately remove from the pan, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm. Allow the oil to cool, strain and save for another use later.

 

Note:

Croutons may be made several hours ahead or even a day. The oil may be flavoured with sprigs of rosemary, thyme or onion.

 

 

Fish Mousse with Shrimp Beurre Blanc

This recipe makes a large number of light fish mousses. It’s a favourite on our menu and can be served with many sauces. Even though the mousse is light it is also very rich, so it’s vital to cook it in small ramekins. They can be done in several batches as the raw mixture keeps perfectly overnight, covered in a cold fridge. Cooked crab meat, oysters, prawns, periwinkles or a tiny dice of cucumber could be added to a Beurre blanc sauce to serve with them.

Serves 16-20 as a starter

12 ozs (340 g) very fresh fillets of whiting or Pollock, skinned and totally free of bone or membrane

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

1 large egg, preferably free-range and 1 egg white or 2 whole eggs

Generous 1¼ pints (750 ml) cream, chilled

Beurre blanc sauce recipe x 2

4-8 ozs (110-225 g) peeled cooked shrimps

¼ oz (8 g) butter

Garnish

Sprigs of chervil

Whole cooked shrimps (optional)

Ramekins 2½ fl ozs (65 ml) capacity, 2 inches (5 cm) x 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep

Cut the whiting fillets into small dice, purée in the chilled bowl of a food processor, add the salt and freshly ground pepper and then add the egg and egg white and continue to purée until it is well incorporated. Rest and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, line the ramekins with pure Clingfilm or brush with melted butter. When the fish is well chilled and has rested for approx 30 minutes. Turn on the processor and pour the cream steadily down the tube of the food processor. Stop immediately when the cream is incorporated. Check seasoning. Fill the mousse into the moulds and put them in a bain Marie. Cover with a pricked sheet of tinfoil or greaseproof paper. Bring the water in the bain Marie just to boiling point, put it in the oven at 200C/400f/regulo 6 and bake for 20-30 minutes. The mousses should feel just firm in the centre and will keep perfectly for 20-30 minutes in a plate-warming oven.

Meanwhile make the Beurre blanc sauce and keep warm. When the mousses are cooked remove them to a warm place and leave to rest. Toss the shrimps in a very little foaming butter until hot through, add them to the sauce, taste and correct seasoning: the sauce should be very thin and light. Pour a little hot sauce on to each plate, unmold a mousse, place it in the centre and garnish with shrimps and sprigs of fresh chervil.

Note: It is vital to season the raw mixture well; otherwise the mousse will taste bland.

 

Beurre Blanc Sauce

Makes about 250ml (8fl oz)

Serve 2 -3 tablespoons per person

Beurre blanc should be served with poached fish, not pan-fried or pan-grilled fish.

3 tablespoons dry white wine

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots

pinch of ground white pepper

1 tablespoon cream

175g (6oz) unsalted butter, diced

salt, freshly ground pepper

freshly squeezed lemon juice

Put the first four ingredients into a stainless steel saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and reduce down to about a tablespoon. Add 1 generous tablespoon of cream and reduce again until the cream begins to thicken. Whisk in the chilled butter a piece at the time, keeping the sauce just warm enough to absorb the butter. Season with salt, taste and add a little lemon juice if necessary. Transfer to a Pyrex bowl over a saucepan of hot but not boiling water. Keep warm until needed.

Useful Tip

Keep warm in a flask until needed. Beurre blanc can curdle if the pan gets too hot. If this should happen put 1-2 tablespoons of cream into a clean saucepan, reduce to about half, then vigorously whisk in the curdled mixture, little by little. Serve as quickly as possible. The flavour will be a little ‘softer’ so a little more lemon juice may be needed to sharpen it up and cut the richness.

A re-emulsified sauce will not be as stable as an original. Leftover beurre blanc will

solidify as it cools. It may be used to enrich fish sauces or mashed potato.

Slow Roasted Shoulder of Lamb

 

Serves 8-10 approximately.

 

A shoulder of lamb is much trickier to carve than a leg, but the flavour is so wonderfully sweet and juicy, it’s certainly worth the struggle particularly at home where perfect slices of meat are not obligatory. I sometimes put this into the low oven of the Aga in the morning. By 7.30 pm in the evening, it is beautifully cooked – how easy is that!

 

1 shoulder of lamb 3.3-3.6kg (7-8lbs) on the bone

Extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Gravy

600ml (1 pint) homemade lamb or chicken stock

 

Roux, optional

 

Score the skin of the meat in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife. Sprinkle the meat with salt and freshly ground pepper and drizzle with olive oil, roast in a low oven 140°C/275°F/gas mark 1 in the usual way for 6-7 hours – this gives a delicious juicy succulent texture. Alternatively cook in a moderate oven 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 for 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Carve it into thick slices. Serve with light gravy.

 

To make the gravy

: Spoon the fat off the roasting tin. Add the stock into the remaining cooking juice. Boil for a few minutes, stirring and scraping the pan well, to dissolve the caramelised meat juices I find a small whisk ideal for this. Allow to thicken with a very little roux if you like.

 

Taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper if necessary. Strain and serve the gravy separately in a gravy boat.

 

Serve with new potatoes and a garden salad with edible spring flowers.

 

 

 

New Potatoes with Mint

Serves 4-5

2 lbs (900g) new potatoes eg, Home Guard, British Queens

2 pints (1.2 litres) water

1 teaspoon salt

a sprig of mint

Bring the water to the boil. Scrub the potatoes. Add salt and a sprig of mint to the water, and then add the potatoes. Cover the saucepan, bring back to the boil and cook for 15-25 minutes depending on size.

Drain and serve immediately in a hot serving dish.

Note

It’s vitally important for flavour to add salt to the water when cooking potatoes.

 

 

Rhubarb Compote

When I had stewed rhubarb as a child, we just put the rhubarb into a pan with a little water and sugar, and stewed it to a mush, but now I’m frightfully fussy about keeping the pieces of rhubarb whole. This recipe is the way to do that, because the fruit is

just brought to the boil and then left to stew in the hot syrup. If it does turn to a mush though, just make it into a fool. Some people like orange with their rhubarb. I’ve never been tempted by that combination, but I can quite easily indulge in rhubarb and ginger.

Serves 4

450g (1lb) red rhubarb, e.g. Timperley early

450ml (16fl oz) stock syrup

Cut the rhubarb into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces. Put the cold syrup into a stainless steel saucepan, add the rhubarb, cover, bring to the boil and simmer for just 1 minute (no longer or it will dissolve). Turn off the heat and leave the rhubarb in the

covered saucepan to finish cooking, and then cool.

Variation

Rhubarb and Strawberry or Raspberry Compote

A truly gorgeous combination. Hull and halve lengthways 225–450g (1⁄2 –1lb) fresh strawberries – Cambridge Favourite or Cambridge Vigour are good. When the rhubarb compote is almost cool, add the strawberries and stir gently.

Alternatively, add 225g (1⁄2lb) whole raspberries at the same stage.

Shortbread Sweethearts

I am a big fan of this simple shortbread recipe. Measure the ingredients accurately and you will have no problems. The biscuits can be served with tea or coffee, with fruit fools and mousses or sandwiched with seasonal fruit and cream to make a more complicated confection. The biscuits will keep fresh in a tin for a couple of days.

Makes 20 biscuits

6oz (170g) plain white flour

4 oz (110g) butter

2 oz (50g) caster sugar

Put the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter and sugar until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Keep going and it will come together into a mass. Knead lightly to form a smooth dough. Do not be tempted to add any liquid. If you have measured the ingredients accurately it will work. Chill at this point if you wish or roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch (7mm). Cut out the shapes with a heart shaped pastry cutter and transfer to a baking tray. Gather up the trimmings, lightly shake off the excess flour and roll and shape again. Bake in a moderate oven, 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 until a pale golden colour. Immediately remove from the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool. If you leave them on the oven tray they will stick and burn.

The biscuits can be simply served with a light dusting of caster or icing sugar.

For a more involved presentation, sandwich together with whipped cream and sugared seasonal fruit.

The dough can also be baked in tartlet tins of your choice and filled with seasonal fruit, jam and cream or whatever takes your fancy.

Fool Proof Food

Crystallized Flowers

Flowers and leaves crystallized with sugar will keep for months, although they may lose their initial vibrant colour. This is what we call a high-stool job – definitely a labour of love and not something suited to an impatient, type A personality. The end result is both beautiful and rewarding and many family and staff wedding cakes have been embellished with crystallized flowers over the years.

Flowers and leaves must be edible and are all worth doing.

Smaller flowers are more attractive when crystallized eg. primroses, violets, apple blossom, viola’s, rose petals….We crystallize lots of leaves as well as flowers so one can make attractive arrangements. Use fairly strong textured leaves – e.g. mint, lemon balm, sweet cicely, wild strawberry, salad burnet or marguerite daisy leaves.

The caster sugar must be absolutely dry; one could dry it in a low oven for about 30 minutes approx.

Break up the egg white slightly in a little bowl with a fork. Using a child’s paintbrush, paint the egg white very carefully over each petal and into every crevice. Pour the caster sugar over the flower with a teaspoon. Arrange the crystallized flowers carefully on silicone paper so that they retain a good shape. Leave to dry overnight in a warm, dry place such as close to an Aga, over a radiator or in an airing cupboard. When properly crystallized, these flowers will last for months, even years, provided they are kept dry. We store them in a pottery jar or a tin box.

Hottips

For those of you who were disappointed when cookery classes were cancelled at Brennan’s because of the floods in Cork city take heart Lucy Hyland teams up with chef Gary Masterson at Brennan’s Cookery School on the 4th, 11th and the 25th March, where they will cover the five principals of healthy living with delicious recipes. Cost €48. For further information see 

Irish Raw Milk Cheese Presidia ( IRMCP)

– Slow Food Taste Workshop- Friday 26th February 2010 at 7pm at Donnybrook Fair Cookery School. Taste Workshop, followed by informal cheesemaker tastings Places are limited, so please book in advance with Elisabeth Ryan eryan@sheridanscheesemongers.com – 086 394 9270

Close to a hundred people crammed into our local village hall recently for the inaugural meeting of GIY (Grow it Yourself) Shanagarry, East Cork.

The organisers had hoped for 25 – maybe 30 people but by 8 o’clock the original meeting room was bulging at the seams so we had to decamp down the stairs to the Badminton Hall. It was just about large enough to fit the throng of people eager to hear more about the new initiative that is engaging people from Dingle to Drogheda to Dublin. A few positive things have emerged from this recession, many of us have come to realise just how vulnerable we have become and how little control we have over our lives. Suddenly we appreciate the value of a degree of self sufficiency, how lovely it is to sit down to a plate of food where even one or two items come from your own garden or back yard. Suddenly there is an unprecedented interest in producing your own food preferably organic or at least chemical free not only in back gardens but also allotments and community gardens. So no surprise to learn that in this new era vegetable seeds are outselling flower seeds for the third year in a row.

Unfortunately just when we badly need the know-how there is a deficit of practical expertise. As individuals and a society we have to a great extent lost the knowledge and skills that any of our grandfathers and great grandfathers would have taken for granted. Yet there is a deep craving to learn once more.

GIY Ireland was founded almost by accident by Michael Kelly – a well known author and journalist – Michael and his wife Eilish wanted to rear their family in the country so they moved to Dunmore East from Dublin five years ago. They bought a cottage on an acre of land and began to settle in. They had a vague notion that it would be nice to grow a few veggies, maybe keep a few chickens and in time maybe get a pig. They had bundles of enthusiasm but not a notion of how to go about starting. They scarcely knew what a digging fork looked like not to speak of how to sow a seed. But where could you find out? Michael thought that there must be an organisation that like the ICA (Irish Country Women’s Association) or the Flower Club who could help, but their emphasis was different. Neither was the IFA (Irish Farmers Association) interested in sowing a handful of spuds or a row of broad beans. Gardening books often assumed too much knowledge. Eventually Michael linked up with a couple of others who were desperately seeking out all of that. They helped to dig each others garden and swapped seedlings and plants and shared tips, triumphs and disasters.

Out of the experience was born an organisation that is sweeping across Ireland called Grow it Yourself. In less that a year almost 50 groups have started around the country. It’s very simple, a not-for-profit organisation which takes the ‘I’ out of Grow it Yourself. GIY membership and meetings are free and open to all amateur growers from all walks of life – urban and rural – young and old, novice and expert, back garden or allotment.

Each month groups meet nationwide in public venues to exchange tips, knowledge and war stories about vegetable growing.

The first National GIY week will be from Saturday 20th to Saturday 27^{th February, 2010. For details of events around the country check www.giyireland.com www.cookingisfun.ie}

Spiced Lentil and Carrot Soup

This soup is really fast to make and has lots of flavour – perfect for a winter lunch or supper.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1/4-1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

600g (1lb 5oz) carrots peeled and grated

140g (5oz) red lentils

1.35 litres (2 1/4 pints) chicken or vegetable stock

125 ml (4 fl oz) milk

salt and freshly ground pepper

Garnish

4 tablespoons approximately natural yoghurt

fresh coriander leaves

extra virgin olive oil

Pitta bread

Heat the oil in a stainless steel saucepan over a medium heat; add the cumin seeds and chilli flakes. Stir for a minute or so, add the grated carrot, lentils, stock and milk. Bring to the boil, season with salt and freshly ground pepper, then simmer for about 15 minutes or until the carrots and lentils are completely soft. Purée in a liquidiser until smooth, add a little more stock if it’s too thick. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Serve in hot bowls with a blob of natural yoghurt, some fresh coriander leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top. Pitta breads makes a good accompaniment.

Roast Jerusalem Artichokes (Slices)

This winter vegetable is particularly good with goose, duck or pheasant.

 

Serves 4 to 6

450g (1 lb) Jerusalem artichokes, well scrubbed.

2 tablespoons or olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

a few rosemary or thyme sprigs, optional

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/ gas mark 6.

Slice the well scrubbed artichokes into 7mm (1/3 inch) rounds. Toss the Jerusalem artichokes with the extra virgin olive oil. Season well with salt. Arrange in a single layer on silicone paper on a roasting tin. Roast for 10 minutes or until golden on 1 side then flip over and cook on the other side. Test with the tip of a knife – they should be tender. Sprinkle with thyme or rosemary. Season with pepper and serve.

Shin of Beef and Oxtail Stew

Another humble dish, which has recently been resurrected by trendy chefs capitalising on their customers’ nostalgic craving for Granny’s cooking. Oxtail, or the tail of a beef animal, makes an extraordinarily rich and flavoursome winter soup or stew. If you prefer, you can cover and cook this very gently on top of the stove rather than in an oven.

Serves 8

175g (6oz) streaky bacon

2 oxtails, about 450–600g (1–1 1⁄4lb) each, cut into segments

450g (1lb) stewing beef

25g (1oz) beef dripping or

2 tablespoons olive oil

225g (8oz) onions, finely chopped

225g (8oz) carrots cut into 2cm (3⁄4 in) cubes

50g (2oz) celery, chopped

150ml (1⁄4 pint) red wine and

425ml (3⁄4 pint) beef stock OR 600ml (1 pint) all beef stock

1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of thyme and parsley stalks

1 tablespoon concentrated tomato purée

salt and freshly ground pepper

175g (6oz) mushrooms, sliced

25g (1oz) butter

10g (1⁄2 oz) roux

2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 160ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3.

Cut the bacon into 2.5cm (1in) cubes, cut the oxtail into joints and cut the beef into 4cm (11⁄2in cubes). Heat the dripping or olive oil in a frying pan, add the bacon and sauté for 1–2 minutes, then add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the bacon and vegetables into a casserole. Now add the beef and oxtail pieces to the frying pan, a few at a time and continue to cook. When the meat begins to brown, add it to the casserole. Then add the wine and 150ml (1⁄4 pint) of the beef stock to the frying pan. Bring to the boil and use a whisk to dissolve the caramelised meat juices from the pan. Add to the casserole with the herbs, the rest of the stock and the tomato purée. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook very gently for 3–4 hours, or until the oxtail is falling off the bones and the vegetables are very tender.

Meanwhile, cook the sliced mushrooms in a hot frying pan in a little butter for 2–3 minutes and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir into the oxtail stew and cook for about 5 minutes. Strain the liquid from the meat and vegetables, and keep them warm in a hot serving dish while you thicken the broth. Remove and discard the bay leaves, thyme and parsley stalks.

Bring the cooking liquid back to the boil, whisk in a little roux and cook until slightly thickened. Add back in the meat and vegetables. Add the chopped parsley and bring to the boil. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve in the hot serving dish with lots of Champ or Colcannon

Swede Turnips with Caramelised Onions

Serves 6 approx.

900g (2lbs) Swede turnips

salt and lots of freshly ground pepper

50-110g (2-4 oz) butter

Garnish

finely chopped parsley

Peel the turnip thickly in order to remove the thick outside skin. Cut into 2cm (3/4 inch) cubes approx. Put into a high sided saucepan. Cover with water. Add a good pinch of salt, bring to the boil and cook until soft – this can take between 45-60 minutes. Strain off the excess water, mash the turnips well and beat in the butter. Taste and season with lots of freshly ground pepper and more salt if necessary. Garnish with parsley and serve piping hot.

Caramelised Onions

450g (1lb) onions, thinly sliced

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan. Toss in the onions and cook over a low heat for whatever length of time it takes for them to soften and caramelize to a golden brown, 30-45 minutes approx.

 

Beetroot and Walnut Cake

Serves 10

3 free-range organic eggs

150ml (5 fl oz) sunflower oil

50g (2oz) soft brown sugar

150g (5oz) white or spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

100g (4oz) beetroot, grated

60g (2 1/4 oz) sultanas

60g (2 1/4 oz) walnuts, coarsely chopped

Icing

175g (6oz) icing sugar

3-4 tablespoons water to bind

To Decorate

deep-fried beetroot (see below)

pumpkin seeds

1 loaf tin 13 x 20cm (5 x 8inch)

Preheat the oven to 180º/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Line a loaf tin with a butter paper or baking parchment.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and sugar until smooth. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add a pinch of salt and gently mix into the egg mixture. Stir in the grated beetroot, sultanas and walnuts. Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Next make the icing.

Sieve the icing sugar, beat in the water gradually to a stiff consistency. Spread evenly over the cake, allow to drizzle down the sides, leave for 5 minutes and scatter with deep-fried beetroot (see below) and pumpkin seeds.

 

To Deep-fry Beetroot

Peel the outer skin off the beetroot. Using a peeler, slice thin rings of the beetroot. Allow to dry on kitchen paper for 20 minutes. Deep-fry until crispy.

 

Ottolenghi’s Carrot and Walnut Cake

We used two 8 inch cake tins and then sandwiched the two cakes with the icing as well as the top – it was light and delicious.

 

Serves 6-8

160g (5 1/2oz) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon clove

1 organic egg yolk

1 large organic egg

200ml (7fl oz) sunflower oil

275g (10oz) castor sugar

50g (2oz) chopped walnuts

50g (2oz) desiccated coconut

135g (4 1/2oz) roughly grated carrot

2 organic egg whites 

pinch of salt

Icing

175g (6oz) cream cheese

75g (3oz) unsalted butter

35g (1 1/4oz) icing sugar

25g (1oz) honey

25g (1oz) chopped and lightly toasted walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350°/Gas Mark 3 1/2.

Grease 2 x 20cm (8 inch) loose-base cake tin and cover the bottom and sides with greaseproof paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices.

Lightly whisk together the 1 yolk with the 1 whole egg. Set the whites aside.

In a mixer bowl with the beater attachment beat together the oil and sugar for about a minute. On a low speed slowly add the yolk and egg mix. Add the nuts and carrot and then the sifted dry ingredients. Don’t over-mix. Remove from the mixer bowl into another large bowl.

Make sure the mixer bowl is totally clean before pouring in the eggs whites with a pinch of salt and whisking on high speed until firm peaks form.

Gently fold the egg whites into the carrot mix in 3 additions. Do not over mix. Streaks of whites in the mix are ok.

Pour the cake mix into the prepared tins and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 to 45 minutes. It could take longer. A skewer would come out totally dry when inserted in the middle of the cake.

If the cake starts going dark while the centre is not cooked cover with foil.

Once ready, let the cake cool down totally and remove from the tin.

To make the icing

, bring the cheese to room temperature and beat up in a mixer until light and smooth. Remove from mixer. Beat the butter, icing sugar and honey in the mixer until light and airy. Fold together the cheese and butter mixes.

Spread waves of icing on top of the cake and sprinkle with nuts.

 

Fool Proof Food

Refrigerator Cookies

Makes 50 approximately

225g (8oz) butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

1 organic egg

1 tablespoon double cream

300g (10oz) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

pure vanilla extract (or lemon juice or ground ginger)

Extra sugar

Cream the butter and caster sugar in a bowl, then add the beaten egg, cream, flour, salt, baking powder and vanilla extract. Shape the dough into a long roll or rolls, about 5cm (2 inches or smaller if you prefer) in diameter, and wrap in silicone paper or foil. Chill in the refrigerator until the next day.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas Mark 5.

Cut the dough into thin rounds. Arrange well apart on 1 baking tray. Sprinkle them with sugar and cook for about 10 – 12 minutes in the preheated oven; they should remain pale in colour. Transfer to a wire rack. There is no need to bake the dough all at once; cut off what you need and put it back in the refrigerator until you fancy another bicci.

If you would like different flavours, divide the dough into three, and flavour each mixture differently.

Thrifty Tip

Split the contents of your different vegetable and herb seed packets with friends.

Hottips

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group

presents Middle-Eastern Vegetarian Foods

Ann Crowley and contributors from Morocco and Egypt will discuss the culture of vegetarianism in their countries and describe their favourite traditional recipes at the Crawford Art Gallery Café on Thursday 25th February at 7.30pm. The €6.00 entrance fee includes tea or coffee, recipes and tastings.

John and Sally McKenna – publishers of The Bridgestone Guides

are teaching a one day Food Writing Course at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Saturday 27th February, 2010.

If you think there is no more to food writing than the recipe ”n” restaurant concoctions of the weekend newspapers, then this course will be a revelation.

Whether your ambition is simply to write a blog, or to write your masterpiece, then knowing the work of great writers is one of the keys to understanding the artfulness and greatness that lies in writing about food. The course is also extremely practical, Sally McKenna will discuss how to create everything from the simplest blog to the mechanism behind lighting food for photography, or mastering page layout for your own book. To book phone 021 4646 785 or

I’m continually surprised by how thrown waiting staff in many restaurants seem to be if one asks about the provenance of the food. They immediately seem to go on the defensive and it can take three or four attempts to find out the source of a piece of meat, fish or cheese.

A recent attempt to identify a cheese on a salad in a Cork restaurant came back first as Irish, secondly as West Cork and eventually after I’d decided not to venture any further I was presented with the name of a Co-op in Co Tipperary. I’m still none the wiser about the name of the cheese or the cheese maker. Sadly nowadays – despite the fact that local is the hottest word in ‘the gastro’ vocabulary –the source of supply is more likely to be a multinational catering company than a local supplier not to speak of a farmer or fisherman.

Why aren’t more restaurants serving local food proudly? Those of us in the hospitality business depend on local people to support our restaurants and hotels, yet few enough consider it a priority or obligation to put some money back into the local community by supporting local butchers, bakers, farmers, cheese makers or vegetable and fruit growers. Those who do, generate tremendous good will for their business and hugely enhance the experience for their guests by incorporating local food in season and identifying the producer on their menu. This is a win win situation for both the customer and the producer. The latter gets the credit for the product and extra sales when satisfied customers go in search of the original next time they go shopping. Cork has a history of being proud of its own so Good Food Ireland Cork Week – from Monday 8^{th to Friday 12th February – gives us the perfect opportunity to showcase the bounty of Cork city and county.www.goodfoodireland.ie has tons of info on little gems around the country.}

 

 

Hottips

During the Good Food Ireland

Cork week (Monday 8th to Friday 12th February) Good Food Ireland Hotel and B&B members will offer three nights accommodation for the price of two.Fergus Henderson the owner of St John’s Restaurant

in London will give a cookery demonstration on ‘Nose to Tail’ eating at the Cookery School at Donnybrook Fair on Saturday 13th March from 10:30am to 1:30pm. The €100.00 fee includes tea/coffee on arrival, recipes, tastings and a glass of wine. Phone 01 6689674 or email ^{cookeryschool@donnybrookfair.ie to book.}

To mark the first Good Food Ireland Cork Week, restaurants and hotels, pubs and cafés all over Cork will serve a Good Food Ireland plate incorporating the food of the local Good Food Ireland members for €15.00 per plate including a glass of wine. There is an abundance of superb artisan produce in this area – free range chickens, ducks, geese, farmhouse cheeses, cured meats, honey and home cured hams and bacon, homemade sausages and even some day boat fish.

Good Food Ireland was founded by Margaret Jeffares in November 2006. It operates as a not-for-profit industry driven Irish food tourism organisation. It is the only industry group with an all island-food tourism strategy.

Good Food Ireland was founded to endorse and promote these places committed to local food and to link the food producer, farmer and fisherman with the hospitality sector. It’s brilliant for those of you who like to seek not only great places to eat but artisan produce and local Farmers Markets when they are travelling around the country. The Good Food Ireland food map pulls all the strands of the food jigsaw together The website

Kay Harte of the Farm Gate Restaurant in the English Market will offer her guests Millstreet Venison Casserole from Jack McCarthy Meats in Kanturk. Millstreet Country Park farmed venison is not as strong or gamey as the wild meat and is available fresh all year round.

Claire Nash of Nash 19 on Princes Street in Cork has had a Good Food Ireland plate on the menu since March 2009 with offers the produce of eight to ten artisan producers to a tremendous response from her customers.

The plates change daily and include Belly of Pork and Free Range Bacon from Crowes in Co Tipperary, Sliabh Luachra and Smoked Beef from Jack McCarthy Meats in Kanturk, a selection of smoked fish from the Burren Smoke House, charcuterie and cheese from Gubbeen in West Cork, Cooleeney Brie from Thurles, Co Tipperary, Inch Pudding from Thurles in Tipperary, Ardsallagh Goats Cheese from Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, Organic Millhouse Smoked Salmon from Geraldine Bass in Buttervant, Co Cork and Nash 19 chicken liver pate and Nash 19 organic brown bread made from Sowans Organic Flour.

Ballymaloe House will feature the produce of many local producers including Tom Clancy, Ballycotton Free-range Chicken, Noreen and Martin Conroy’s Woodside Farm Bacon and Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smoked Salmon. So lets get out there and celebrate Good Food Ireland.

 

A Plate of Irish Charcuterie and Cured Meats

One of my favourite easy entertaining tricks is to serve a selection of Irish artisan charcuterie from inspired producers like Fingal Ferguson from West Cork, Jack and Tim McCarthy from Kanturk. The quality is so wonderful that I’m always bursting with pride as I serve it.

A selection of cured meats:

Air dried smoked Connemara lamb

Smoked venison

Prosciutto, Gubeen, Chorizo

Venison Salami

Smoked Beef

Sliabh Luachra Beef

A selection of:

Crusty country breads, sour dough, yeast and soda

Tiny gherkins or cornichons

Fresh radishes, just trimmed but with some green leaf attached

A good green salad of garden lettuce and salad leaves

Arrange the meats and potted meat on a large platter, open a good bottle of red and tuck in!

 

Chicken Liver Pâté

 

Nash 19 will serve their own chicken liver pate with their organic brown bread on their Good Food Ireland Plate.

A richly flavoured chicken liver pâté. Seek out organic livers.

Serves 4-6

75g (3oz) butter

100g (3 1/2oz) finely chopped shallot

1 clove garlic, crushed

225g (8oz) organic chicken livers

2 tablespoons brandy

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

pinch of mixed spice

salt and freshly ground pepper

Melt 25g (1oz) butter in a saucepan, add the finely chopped shallot and crushed garlic. Cook on a low heat until soft but not coloured, 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken livers, cook for 4-5 minutes turning once or twice, add the brandy, allow to flame. When the flames die down, add the mustard, a pinch of mixed spice, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Put the whole lot into a food processor. Allow to cool. Add 50g (2oz) butter and whizz until smooth. Fill into ramekins, cover with a layer of clarified butter and then refrigerate until needed. Serve with hot thin toast.

 

Tom Clancy’s Roast Ballycotton Free-range Chicken with Herb and Woodside Bacon Stuffing

Serves 6

Tom’s chickens take 12 weeks to reach maturity. They are fed on special feed and range freely on his farm in Ballycotton and the flavour and texture is mouth watering.. Woodside Farm traditional pork and bacon products have developed a loyal following in a short time, a little crispy bacon added to the stuffing makes it extra delicious.

 

4 1/2 – 5 lbs (1.5 – 2.3kg) free range chicken, preferably organic

 

Giblet Stock

Giblets (keep the liver for a chicken liver pate)

1 thickly sliced carrot

1 thickly sliced onion

1 stick celery, sliced

a few parsley stalks and a sprig of thyme

 

Stuffing

4oz (110g) Woodside Farm Streaky Bacon cut into small cubes

1 1/2 ozs (45g) butter

3 ozs (75g) chopped onion

3-3 1/2 ozs (75-95g) soft white breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs eg. parsley, thyme, chives and annual marjoram

salt and freshly ground pepper

a little soft butter

 

Gravy

1 – 1 1/2 pints (600-900mls) of stock from giblets or chicken stock

 

Garnish

Sprigs of flat parsley

 

First remove the wish bone from the neck end of the chicken, this is easily done by lifting back the loose neck, skin and cutting around the wish bone with a small knife – tug to remove, this isn’t at all essential but it does make carving much easier later on. Tuck the wing tips underneath the chicken to make a neat shape. Put the wish bone, giblets, carrot, onions, celery and herbs into a saucepan. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, skin and simmer gently while the chicken is roasting. This is the basis of the gravy.

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or sunflower oil in a frying pan, add the lardons of bacon, and cook until crisp and golden.

 

Next make the stuffing,

sweat the onions gently in the butter in a covered saucepan until soft, 10 minutes approx. then stir in the white bread crumbs, the freshly chopped herbs, a little salt and pepper to taste. Allow it to get quite cold unless you are going to cook the chicken immediately. If necessary wash and dry the cavity of the bird, then season and half fill with stuffing. Season the breast and legs, smear with a little soft butter.

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/regulo4. Weight the chicken and allow about 20 minutes to the lb and 20 minutes over – put on middle shelf in oven. Baste a couple of times during the cooking with the buttery juices. The chicken is done when the juices are running clear.

 

To test prick the thickest part at the base of the thigh, hold a spoon underneath to collect the liquid, examine the juices – they should be clear.

 

Remove the chicken to a carving dish, keep it warm and allow to rest while you make the gravy.

 

To make the gravy

, tilt the roasting tin to one corner and spoon off the surplus fat from the juices and return the roasting pan to the stove. De glaze the pan juices with the fat free stock from the giblets and bones (you will need 1 1/2 pints depending on the size of the chicken). Using a whisk, stir and scrape well to dissolve the caramelized meat juices in the roasting pan. Boil it up well, season and thicken with a little roux if you like (the gravy should not be thick). Taste and correct seasoning, serve in a hot gravy boat.

If possible serve the chicken on a nice carving dish surrounded by crispy roast potatoes and some sprigs of flat parsley then arm yourself with a sharp knife and bring it to the table. Carve as best you can and try to organise it so that each person gets some brown and some white meat. Serve with gravy and bread sauce.

 

Use the cooked carcass for stock.

 

East Ferry Free Range Duck with Orange

 

Robbie and his wife Yvonne are third generation of the family to run traditional poultry at Easy Ferry, Midleton, Co Cork.

 

Serves 4

1 free range duck – 4 lb (1.8kg) in weight

3 brightly coloured oranges

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 1/2 fl ozs (63ml) red wine vinegar

2 1/2 fl ozs (63ml) red wine

1/2 pint (300ml) duck or chicken stock

4 fl ozs (110ml) Port

1/2 -1 tablespoon Grand Marnier

salt, pepper and a few drops of lemon juice

Garnish

sprigs of parsley or watercress

Scrub the oranges. Peel the zest from two with a swivel top peeler and cut two thirds into fine julienne strips, blanch and refresh. Season the duck cavity and the skin with salt and freshly ground pepper. Put the remaining one third of the orange peel into the cavity and transfer the duck to a hot oven, preheated to 220°C/425°F/regulo 7. Reduce the temperature to 180°C/350°F/regulo 4, after 30 minutes. Continue to roast for a further 30-45 minutes.

While the duck is roasting make a sweet and sour caramel.

Boil the sugar and vinegar over moderately high heat for several minutes until the mixture has turned a chestnut brown coloured syrup. Remove from the heat immediately and pour in 1/4 pint (150ml) of the stock. Simmer for a minute, stirring to dissolve the caramel. Then add the rest of the stock, port, wine and juice of one orange. Simmer until the sauce is clear and lightly thickened; add the orange liqueur little by little. Add the remainder of the orange julienne. Taste, correct the seasoning and sharpen with lemon juice if necessary, leave aside. The sauce may be prepared to this point several hours in advance. Cut the remaining 2 oranges into neat skinless segments and reserve for garnishing the duck.

When the duck is cooked, allow to rest in a warm oven for at least 10 minutes before carving. Carve neatly and arrange on a serving dish or individual plates. Garnish with the orange segments. Spoon some of the sauce over the duck and serve the rest separately in a sauce boat.

Garnish with sprigs of parsley or watercress.

 

Shrove Tuesday Pancakes with Orange Butter

 

Every Shrove Tuesday we make pancakes at the School, the students queue up to eat them hot from the pan, with much swapping of stories about how mothers made them – this year one was heard to remark ruefully – ‘my mother’s pancakes never tasted like these- these are delicious! In fact these are very nearly as good as Crepes Suzette but half the bother.

 

Serves 6 – makes 12 approx.

 

Pancake Batter

175g (6oz) white flour, preferably unbleached

A good pinch of salt

1 dessertspoon castor sugar

2 large eggs and 1 or 2 egg yolks, preferably free range

425ml (scant ¾ pint) milk, or for very crisp, light delicate pancakes, milk and water mixed

2 tablespoons melted butter

 

Orange Butter

175g (6oz) butter

3 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

200g (7oz) icing sugar

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (optional)

 

Freshly squeezed juice of 5 oranges

 

8 inch (20.5cm) non-stick crepe pan

 

First make the batter. Sieve the flour, salt, and sugar into a bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the eggs. With a whisk or wooden spoon, starting in the centre, mix the egg and gradually bring in the flour from the sides. Add the liquid slowly and beat until the batter is covered with bubbles. (If they are to be served with sugar and lemon juice, stir in an extra tablespoon of castor sugar and the finely grated rind of half a lemon).

Let the batter stand in a cold place for an hour or so – longer will do no harm. Just before you cook the pancakes stir in 2 tablespoons melted butter. This will make all

the difference to the flavour and texture of the pancakes and will make it possible to cook them without greasing the pan each time.

Next make the Orange butter.

Cream the butter with the finely grated orange rind. Then add the sifted icing sugar and beat until fluffy, add the orange liqueur if using.

Make the pancakes in the usual way.

Heat a non stick pan until very hot, pour in just enough batter to cover the base when you tilt and swirl the pan. Put the pan back on the heat; loosen the pancake around the edge with a non metal slice. Flip over, cook for a few seconds on the reverse side. Slide over onto a plate. Repeat until all the batter has been used up.

Pancakes and orange butter can be make ahead and finished later. The pancakes will keep overnight covered in a fridge. They will peel apart easily – no need to interleaf them with greaseproof paper.

 

To Serve:

Melt a large blob of the Orange butter in the pan, add some freshly squeezed orange juice and toss the pancakes in the foaming butter, fold in half and then in quarters (fan shapes). Serve 2 per person on warm plates. Repeat until all the pancakes and butter have been used.

 

 

Fool Proof Food

Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smoked Salmon Pâte

 

This is a delicious way to use up smoked salmon if you have any trimmings left over.

 

Smoked salmon trimmings

Softened butter, unsalted

 

Remove any skin or bones from the fish. Weigh the flesh. Add three quarters the weight in butter. Blend to a smooth puree. Fill into pots and run clarified butter over the top. Alternatively, mould in a loaf tin. Turn out and cut in slices when set.

Love is in the air and there are a few things more alluring than the smell of something delicious cooking in the oven. Doesn’t matter how sexy you are, they soon get fed up with burnt burgers and greasy chips.

So why not ask your cute friend round for lunch or dinner. Doesn’t have to be fancy – just comforting and gorgeous. Think about the menu carefully, listen out for clues in the conversation, would a chicken casserole hit the spot or will a tagine of lamb be more appealing? Both could be made ahead and served with ease and aplomb. The latter just needs some couscous, the former some fluffy mash or just a baked potato.

A bowl of delicious soup might be the perfect starter on these wintery days with some freshly made bread. Nothing brings on thoughts of romantic proposals faster that the smell of crusty bread – organise it so the bread is just coming out of the oven as they arrive. Suddenly they can see their whole life stretching out ahead of them – coming home every evening to the smell of something delicious bubbling on the stove – you may laugh – but try it and let me know how you get on.

If a delicious soup seems a little dreary or pedestrian why not try a twice baked soufflé, it sounds posh, but it can made ahead and just popped into the oven to reheat a few minutes before the meal. Alternatively a little goat cheese salad with crispy chorizo or pomegranate seeds is another easy option with a little twist.

For pudding there’s a vast choice, you might want to check out whether your friend does in fact have a sweet tooth, otherwise a delicious piece of Irish farmhouse cheese and some homemade crackers could round off the meal.

However most people are tempted by a bit of pudding. Is it to be an irresistible bread and butter pudding, a silky chocolate mousse with a few boudoir biscuits to dunk or a juicy apple tart even better mammy used to make. Here at the cookery school Rachel Allen and Rory O’Connell will be teaching a one day course ‘How to be a Culinary Cupid – the Art of Cooking for your Valentine’ on Saturday 6^{th February – you’ll have lots of fun and learn two or three menus and a myriad of tasty tips to tantalise your sweetheart’s taste buds.} If you are going to Galway

don’t miss the terrific food at Sheridan’s on the Docks restaurant and pub. Sheridan’s Cheese Shop is also a must – it’s got the best selection of cheese in the West and lots of other goodies as well 091 5649905 ^{sheridansonthedocksgalway@gmail.com}

Chicken and Streaky Bacon Casserole

 

The casserole can be an entire meal in a pot by covering the top with whole peeled potatoes just before it goes into the oven. Use a really good chicken (see Hot Tips for sources)

 

Serves 4-6

 

1 x 3 1/2 lbs (1.57kg) chicken (free range if possible) or six chicken thighs

a little butter or oil for sautéing

12 ozs (340g) green streaky bacon (blanch if salty) look out for Gubeen or Woodside Farm bacon at Mahon Point or Midleton Farmers Markets.

12 ozs (340g) carrot, peeled and thickly sliced (if the carrots are small, leave whole, if large cut in chunks)

1 lb (450g) onions, (baby onions are nicest)

sprig of thyme

homemade chicken stock – 1 1/4 pints (750ml) approx.

 

roux – optional – just melt ½ oz butter and stir 1oz white flour, cook on a gentle heat for 2 – 3 minutes.

 

mushroom a la créme (see recipe)

 

Garnish

2 tablespoons parsley, freshly chopped

 

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/regulo 4

 

Cut the rind off the bacon and cut into approx. 1 inch (2 cm) cubes, (blanch if salty). Dry in kitchen paper. Joint the chicken into 8 pieces. Season the chicken pieces well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon until crisp, remove and transfer to the casserole. Add chicken pieces a few at a time to the pan and sauté until golden, add to the bacon in the casserole. Heat control is crucial here, the pan mustn’t burn yet it must be hot enough to sauté the chicken. If it is too cool, the chicken pieces will stew rather than sauté and as a result the meat may be tough. Then toss the onion and carrot in the pan adding a little butter if necessary, add to the casserole. Degrease the pan and deglaze with stock, bring to the boil and pour over the chicken etc. Season well, add a sprig of thyme and bring to simmering point on top of the stove, then put into the oven for 30-45 minutes, 180ºC/350ºF/regulo 4.

 

Cooking time depends on how long the chicken pieces were sautéed for.

When the chicken is just cooked, strain off the cooking liquid, degrease, return the degreased liquid to the casserole and bring to the boil. Thicken with a little roux if necessary (see below). Add the meat, carrots and onions back into the casserole and bring to the boil. Taste and correct the seasoning. The casserole is very good served at this point, but it’s even more delicious if some mushroom a la crème is stirred in as an enrichment. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley and bubbling hot.

 

Mushroom a la Crème

Serves 4

1/2-1 oz (15-25g butter

3 ozs (75g) onion, finely chopped

1/2 lb (225g) mushrooms, sliced

4fl ozs (100ml) cream

freshly chopped parsley

1/2 tablespoon freshly chopped chives (optional)

a squeeze of lemon juice

salt and freshly ground pepper

roux

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan until it foams. Add the chopped onions, cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 5-10 minutes or until quite soft but not coloured. Meanwhile cook the sliced mushrooms in a little butter, in a hot frying pan in batches if necessary. Season each batch with salt, freshly ground pepper and a tiny squeeze of lemon juice. Add the mushrooms to the onions in the saucepan, then add the cream and allow to bubble for a few minutes. Thicken with a little roux to a light coating consistency. Taste and correct the seasoning, and add parsley and chives if used.

Mushroom a la Crème keeps well in the fridge for 4-5 days.

 

 

 

 

Tagine of Lamb with Raisins and Honey

 

The great thing about this recipe is that you have all the ingredients in one pot and can prepare this ahead and the flavour improves with time.

 

Serves 6

 

1.35kg (3 lbs) boned shoulder of lamb

1/2 tablespoon) ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

generous pinch saffron

50g (2ozs) unsalted butter

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

salt

175g (6ozs) raisins, soaked in water and drained

2 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons chopped coriander

 

1 tablespoon oil

50g (2ozs) flaked almonds

 

fresh coriander leaves

natural yoghurt

 

Trim the lamb, discarding excess fat. Cut into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) cubes. Mix cinnamon, ginger, pepper and saffron with 4 tablespoons water. Toss the lamb in this mixture. If you have time, leave to marinade for up to 24 hours.

 

Melt the butter in a wide pan. Add the lamb, onions, garlic, salt and enough water to come half way up the meat. Bring up to the boil, cover and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for about an hour, turning the lamb occasionally until the meat is meltingly tender. Add the drained raisins, honey and half the coriander. Continue simmering for a further 30 minutes or so, uncovered until the sauce is thick and unctuous. Taste and adjust seasoning.

 

While the tagine is cooking, scoop out the flesh out of a preserved lemon, chop up the peel. Fry the almonds in the oil until almost golden brown. Then add the diced lemon and toss 2 or 3 times. Drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle preserved lemon, almonds and remaining coriander over the lamb just before serving. Natural yoghurt makes a delicious accompaniment. Serve with couscous.

 

Salad of Ardsallagh Goats Cheese with Rocket Leaves, Pomegranate Seeds and Local Honey

Pomegranates are the symbol of fertility and also cut cholesterol brilliantly.

Serves 2

2 handfuls rocket leaves

soft Ardsallagh Goat’s cheese

1 tablespoon best quality local honey

Maldon sea salt

¼ pomegranate

coarsely ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon

Divide the rocket leaves between 4 large plates or 1 large flat serving plate. Slice or dice the goat’s cheese and sprinkle on rocket leaves. Remove the pomegranate seeds from the skin, sprinkle over the rocket leaves. With a teaspoon, drizzle the honey over the salad in a grid pattern then drizzle the salad with extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Finally, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

 

Homemade Cheese Crackers

 

 

‘Wow you make your own crackers’ is bound to be the response to these delicious little biscuits. They keep for several weeks in an air tight tin and also freeze well.

Makes 25-30 biscuits

110g (4 oz) brown wholemeal flour

110g (4 oz) white flour, preferably unbleached

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

25g (1 oz) butter

1 tablespoon cream

water as needed, 5 tablespoons approx.

Mix the brown and white flour together and add the salt and baking powder. Rub in the butter and moisten with cream and enough water to make a firm dough.

Roll out very thinly to one-sixteenth inch thick approx. Prick with a fork. Cut with 6.5-7.5cm (2 1/2-3 inches) round cutter. Bake at 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2 for 45 minutes approx. or until lightly browned and quite crisp. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Mousse with Boudoir Biscuits

Serves 6

110g (4ozs) good quality dark chocolate

110ml (4fl ozs) cream

1-2 tablespoons rum, brandy, or Grand Marnier,

or

1 teaspoon grated orange rind (optional)

2 eggs, separated

Boudoir biscuits

Chop the chocolate finely. Bring the cream up to the boil, turn off the heat, add the chocolate to the cream and stir it around until the chocolate melts in the cream. Add in the alcohol, if using, and whisk in the egg yolks. Whisk the egg whites until just stiff, then stir in a quarter of the egg white, fold in the rest, gently, being careful not to knock all the air out. Pour the mousse into a glass or cup and pop into the fridge for an hour or two to set. Serve with Boudoir biscuits for romantic dunking.

 

 

Bread and Butter Pudding

Don’t change anything in this recipe. I know its rich but it tastes divine and will definitely do the trick.

 

Serves 6-8

 

12 slices good-quality white bread, crusts removed

50g (2oz) butter, preferably unsalted

1⁄2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, cinnamon or mixed spice

200g (7oz) sultanas

450ml (16fl oz) cream

225ml (8fl oz) milk

4 large organic eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

175g (6oz) sugar plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

pinch of salt

 

1 x 20.5cm (8 inch) square pottery or china dish

 

Butter the bread and arrange 4 slices, buttered side down, in one layer in the buttered dish. Sprinkle the bread with half the spice and half the sultanas, and then arrange another layer of bread, buttered side down, over the raisins, and sprinkle the remaining nutmeg and sultanas on top. Cover the sultanas with the remaining bread, again, buttered side down.

In a bowl whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar and the pinch of salt. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve over the bread. Sprinkle the tablespoonful of sugar over the top and let the mixture stand, loosely covered, at room temperature for at least 1 hour or chill overnight.

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

 

Place the pudding in a bain-marie and pour in enough water to come half way up the sides of the baking dish. Bake the pudding in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour or until the top is crisp and golden. Serve the pudding warm with some softly whipped cream.

 

Irresistible Apple Pie

The pastry is a gem, it is made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from ‘hot hands’ don’t have to worry about rubbing in the butter. Rhubarb, plums, apricot, gooseberries in season all work brilliantly.

 

Serves 8-12

 

Pastry

8 ozs (225g) butter

2 ozs (50g) castor sugar

2 eggs, preferably free range

12 ozs (300g) white flour, preferably unbleached

 

Filling

1 1/2 lbs (675g) Bramley Seedling cooking apples

5 ozs (150g) sugar

2-3 cloves

egg wash-made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk

castor sugar for sprinkling

 

To Serve

 

softly whipped cream

Barbados sugar

 

tin, 7 inches (18cm) x 12 inches (30.5cm) x 1 inch (2.5cm) deep

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/regulo 4.

 

First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.

 

To make the tart

Roll out the pastry 1/8 inch (3mm) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Peel, quarter and dice the apples into the tart, sprinkle with sugar and add the cloves. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with castor sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and Barbados sugar.

 

Fool Proof Food and Thrifty Tip

 

Doune McKenzie’s Cheese Biscuits

 

A brilliant recipe for using up left over bits of cheese, add a little blue cheese if available.

 

Any bits of left over cheese eg. Cheddar, Parmesan, Gruyere, Coolea, Cashel Blue … a little soft cheese may also be added but you will need some hard cheese to balance the flavour.

 

Weigh cheese then use equal amounts of butter and plain white flour.

Grate the cheese – rinds and all. Dice the butter. Cream the butter and stir in the flour and grated cheese, form into a roll like a long sausage, about 4cm (1 1/2 inches) thick. Alternatively whizz in a food processor until it forms a dough, shape using a little flour if necessary. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 -2 hours until solid.

 

Slice into rounds – about 7mm (1/3 inch) thick. Arrange on a baking tray, cook in a preheated oven 250ºC/475ºF/regulo 9 for approximately 5 minutes until golden brown.

 

Leave to cool for a couple of seconds then transfer to a wire rack. Best eaten on the day they are made as they soften quite quickly.

 

 

 

Hottips

All over the country people

are beginning to rear good chicken in a traditional way once again. They take much longer to mature so cost considerably more that the intensively produced birds – however the meat is like a forgotten flavour and the carcass makes a terrific pot of broth.

Dan Ahern, Dungourney Co Cork 021 4631058.

Nora Aherne: Elfordstown, Midleton, Co Cork 021 4632354

Tom Clancy: Ballycotton, 086 3089431

East Ferry Poultry: 021 4651916

Coming up to Christmas lots of newly published cookbooks arrived on my desk. There were so many that I simply couldn’t manage to mull over each one. Now that I’ve had a bit more time to digest the various tomes I’d like to pass on my thoughts. There were several treasures, including one I had been eagerly awaiting, The Irish Seaweed Kitchen by Dr. Prannie Rhatigan. Even though I was brought up in the midlands about as far away from the sea as one can be in Ireland I was always aware of the power-house of nutrition that grew around our coast. Unlike me, Prannie lived on the West Coast of Ireland where the rhythm of the tides and the love of the sea provided a back drop to every day life. As children their father took them harvesting seaweed and sea vegetables. Once the first frosts had sweetened the sleabhac (nori or sloke) which was usually after Christmas the cycle began. By St Patrick’s Day the egg wrack and black wrack had been put into large barrels to ferment with horse manure, and later on nettles and comfrey, to provide nutrient rich feeds for the organic vegetables and herb garden. The potatoes and peas had to be in by St. Patrick’s Day or were not on target in the garden. As the days lengthened, the first carragín and alaria were harvested for kitchen use and the winter supply dried and stored.

Summer days brought duileasc and the second flush of carragín came ready from harvest. Other delicacies like sea lettuce, pepper duileasc, bladderwrack and channeled wrack each came ready in their own time, sometime between spring and the end of autumn. So began a lifetime’s fascination with seaweed and their medical properties. Latterly Prannie’s medical training dictated that she work from a science base. Research originally based on anecdotal evidence is building fast; seaweed can lower blood pressure and lipids and is known to boost the immune system. Prannie’s minutely researched book will help even the novice to identify and harvest sustainability, as well as advice and recipes on how to incorporate ‘the most nutritious form of vegetable on the planet’ into your diet. The guide to the medicinal properties, culinary uses and health benefits is invaluable.

Simon Hopkinson is one of the finest and most highly respected UK food writers of our time. He has a large and loyal following. I too am a devoted fan. Known to food lovers for many years as founder chef of Bibendum’s in London, since he relinquished his post to concentrate on his writing in 1995 he has produced several gems including ‘Roast chicken and other stories’, ‘Second Helpings of Roast Chicken’ and ‘Week in, Week out’. In his latest book ‘The Vegetarian Option’- published by Quadrille – he focuses entirely on cooking mouth watering recipes without meat or fish. The net result is as inspiring as we have come to expect from Hoppy, as he is known to friends.

How many more books can possibly be written on Italian food? I’d hazard a guess that the body of work must run into several thousand by now. The fresh sunny flavours have enduring appeal whether you live in Kiltimagh or Santa Fè. Marcella Hazan and The River Café cookbooks are my most frequently thumbed volumes but a new voice emerged before Christmas with high praise on the back jacket from Georgio Locatelli, Matthew Fort and Anna Del Conte; herself a favourite of mine. The book is called ‘Easy Tasty Italian’ and is written by Laura Santtini, published by Quadrille who wants to ‘add some magic to your every day food’. It’s quite unlike other books on Italian cooking I’ve come across. It’s witty, quirky, yet earthy and practical with a scholarly undertone. Definitely worth considering adding to your cook book shelf.

Laura Santtini’s Roasted Lamb with Tomato and Pecorino

Serves 4-6

800g lean lamb shoulder on bone, cut into large 8cm pieces

3-4 large potatoes, cut into chunks for roasting

400g ripe tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds

2 red onions

1 celery stalk, sliced

3 garlic cloves

Handful of chopped fresh oregano

Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

60g pecorino cheese, finely grated

150ml olive oil

Juice and a piece of zest from 2 lemons

Handful of chopped fresh mint, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180° C/ gas mark 4. Place all ingredients, except the cheese, oil, lemons and mint, flat in a large roasting pan. Generously douse in olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and mix well together with your hands. Sprinkle with pecorino cheese and splash with oil. Bake in oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes. During cooking you can baste with a splash of wine (red or white) and or a splash of stock. If the meat looks as if it is burning at any time, cover with foil.Serve sprinkled with the mint. VARIATION 2 or 3 chopped anchovies and or a handful of black olives can be added for flavour.

Prannie Rhatigan’s Duileasc Champ

Seaweed used: Duileasc

Serves 4

675g (1 ½ lb) baby potatoes, scrubbed and lightly peeled

salt, 1 teaspoon

45ml (1 ½ fl oz) double cream

4 tablespoons white wine

juice of ¼ lemons

2 tablespoons duileasc, finely chopped

In a large saucepan, cook the potatoes in well-salted boiling water for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain well and return to pan with double cream, white wine and lemon juice. Gently crush each potato against the side of the pan with the back of a fork. Add the duileasc and season to taste. For a quick and easy seaweed mash, add 1 ½ tablespoons of crushed duileasc to regular mashed potatoes; a great combination to any fish dish.

Prannie Rhatigan’s Prawns with Land and Sea Spaghetti

Seaweed used: Sea vegetables, sea spaghetti

Serves 4

20-30g dry weight spaghetti or approximately 250g if using fresh

250g (9oz) organic spaghetti

1-2 tablespoons grape seed oil

2 shallots or 1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely

1 red chili, deseeded and chopped

500g (1 lb 2 oz) jumbo peeled cooked prawns de-shelled, fully thawed if from frozen and very well dried

1 teaspoon Thai 7 spice for stir-fry

25g (1oz) flat leaf parsley

25g (1oz) coriander, leaves and stems, chopped

A dash of oyster sauce

Sea salt

1 handful mixed sea vegetables, soaked in hot water to barely cover for 2-3 minutes

Extra coriander and parsley to garnish

Cook the sea spaghetti in a pot with plenty seasoned water for 15 minutes or until al dente. Cook the spaghetti in a separate pot of seasoned water for 10-12 minutes or until al dente. Heat the oil in frying pan over moderate heat, and sweat off onions and garlic. Add chili and cook for 1 minute. Add the prawns, seasoning, herbs, oyster sauce and salt to taste. Stir until the ingredients are heated through and well mixed, about 2-3 minutes. Drain the spaghetti and sea spaghetti and place in a warmed serving dish. Add the contents of the frying pan, spices, seasoning, mixed sea vegetables and their hot soaking water. Stir gently to mix, check seasoning and serve on warm plates sprinkled with chopped coriander and parsley.

Cooks Tip: 600g (1lb 5 ½ oz) of prawns serves 5 adults and small garden peas can be added as an extra vegetable portion. Cut down/omit chili if cooking for children.

Simon Hopkinson’s Cheese-crusted fried Parsnip Strips with Romesco Sauce

Serves 2

350g parsnips, peeled

Oil for deep-or shallow-frying (a neutral-flavoured oil, such as sunflower or groundnut)

40g white breadcrumbs made from semi-stale bread

75g parmesan, freshly grated

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Salt

1 large egg, beaten

Flour for coating

For the Romesco sauce

40 g skinned almonds

4 tbsp olive oil

1 large garlic clove, peeled and chopped

1 small dried chili

75g oven-dried tomatoes from a jar, drained

75g piquillo peppers from a jar, drained

1 tbsp sherry vinegar

1 tbsp hot water

salt

For the romesco sauce, gently fry the almonds in 1 tsp of the olive oil until golden. Allow to cool, then tip them into a food processor and add the garlic, chili, tomatoes, peppers, vinegar and hot water. Grind to a nubbly puree and then add salt to taste. Adjust the quantity of vinegar if you wish for a sharper flavour.

Cut the parsnips into finger lengths, about 6cm long, and steam until only just tender, then set aside to cool on a plate.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the cheese, cayenne and salt in a shallow dish. Have the beaten egg ready in a similar dish, and the flour in another one. To coat the parsnips, first dip the strips in flour, then in the egg and finally turn them through the breadcrumb/cheese mixture.

To fry parsnips strips, either use a deep-fat fryer or a deep frying pan containing a 2cm depth of oil. Heat the oil to 170°C in the deep-fryer or, if using the frying pan method, until a small cube of bread turns golden in a minute or so.

Fry the parsnips in the hot oil in batches until crisp and golden, then briefly drain on kitchen paper. Serve at once, with the sauce alongside.

Simon Hopkinson’s Swede and Potato Cakes With Black Pepper and Cream Sauce

Serves 4

500g swede

300g potatoes

25g butter

1tsp Maldon salt

2 tsp agar flakes

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp freshly grated parmesan

1 tsp chopped spring onion

Flour for coating

Olive oil for frying

For the sauce

250 ml double cream

2 tsp black peppercorns, cracked or coarsely crushed

Salt, to taste

30g butter

2 tsp smooth Dijon mustard

To garnish (optional)

Watercress sprigs

Preheat oven to 160º C/ gas mark 3. Peel the swede and potatoes and cut them into chunks. Melt the butter in a lidded, roomy pot over a low heat and add the swede, potatoes and salt. Stir together and gently cook for about 5 minutes; more then anything else, this is to coat the vegetables with butter and to get the pot hot. Put on the lid, transfer to oven and cook for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until the vegetables are tender.

Now return the pot to a very low heat on top of the stove and stir the vegetables around to try and rid them of extra moisture; it does not matter if they colour very slightly, or if they break a little, either. Mash the vegetables coarsely (an old fashioned manual masher is best, here) and, if uncertain about wetness, now is the time to sprinkle over the agar flakes and mix them in. Tip into a bowl and allow to cool completely before mixing in the egg yolk, Parmesan and spring onion. Spread on a flat tray and put in the fridge to firm up.

Meanwhile make the simple sauce. Whisk all the ingredients together in a small pan and bring to a simmer. Cook until slightly thickened and pour into a hot jug or sauceboat.

Form the swede and potato mash into 8 small cakes and roll in flour to coat all over. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the swede and potato cakes on both sides until golden; drain on kitchen paper.

Serve and garnish with sprightly sprigs of chilled watercress, if desired, handing the sauce around separately.

* The addition of agar flakes is an option here, to help firm up a mixture that can veer towards wetness. However, if you can achieve a thorough drying out of the cooked vegetables, agar flakes should not be necessary.

Fool Proof Food

Simon Hopkinson’s Onion and Blood Orange Salad with Olive Oil

Serves 2

4 blood oranges

1 or 2 small sweet white onions peeled

extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground black pepper

Cut the tops and bottoms off the oranges ans using a small, very sharp knife, further slice off the skins of the oranges cutting close to the flesh and removing all traces of pith. Slice thinly (removing any pips) and arrange neatly, slightly overlapping on a beautiful plate.

Thinly slice the onions and lay on top of the oranges. Spoon enough olive oil onto the assembly to suit you, and then grind over some pepper. Eat it all on its own, and with someone you like very much.

^Hottips

New Seniors Lunch at O’Connells in Ballsbridge – January 18^{th to March 18th – Monday to Thursday. Sit between noon and 1.00pm and select from a multi-choice Menu of The Day. One course €7.50; Two Courses € 9.50; Three Courses €11.50. All prices include a Pot of Tea or Coffee. Tel 01 66 55 940 Email info@oconnellsballsbridge.com
Website www.oconnellsballsbridge.com}

^{The Farmers Markets are back in full swing around the country after the Christmas break. Look out for the wonderful winter vegetables like Jerusalem artichokes and kale at Midleton Farmers Market. You can also buy game in season, home cured bacon and local cheese. Join the queue for a steaming cup of freshly ground coffees or hot chocolate from O’Connaill Chocolate stall.}

^{www.midletonfarmersmarkets.com Make the most of the winter evenings by planning your vegetable and herb patch for the coming year. This is the time to order seeds and sprout a few potatoes on your windowsill to plant before St Patrick’s Day. Sounds exotic believe me its not, you’ll never taste a better spud. If you don’t know where to begin why not start a GIY (Grow it Yourself) Ireland Group in your area. This will take the ‘I’ out of Grow it Yourself when neighbours and friends help each other and share both knowledge, seedlings and produce. Check out http://www.giyireland.com/home.php where you can network with other growers. Get off to an easy start by getting Patrick Beausang to install a raised vegetable bed in your garden made from heavy larch beams – that are not chemically treated. He fills the beds with good quality top soil from Ladysbridge ready for planting. Telephone 0878372928.}

Simplicity, even in winter is everything and nothing hits the spot quite like a hearty bowl of thick, chunky vegetable soup. A well flavoured with a few fat lardons of bacon or generous cubes of chorizo to add extra oomph. How delicious does that sound?
I’ve got lots of recipes for winter bean and lentil soups. They are all easy as pie to make and full of inexpensive protein so they taste deeply satisfying. If you do decide to roll up your sleeves to make some, double or triple the recipe, it’ll take exactly the same length of time to cook but you’ll have a fine big pot of soup that will last for several days or can be frozen in batches for another time. The trick is to freeze it in small portions rather than huge icebergs which are a nightmare to defrost if you are in a hurry. I have lots of small containers that hold generous helpings for two people. This is always a good plan, it doesn’t matter what size your family or circle of friends because small containers can be defrosted quickly even in an emergency,  so you are never in a pickle when unexpected guests turn up or if you get caught up in a traffic jam on the way home.

There are also lots of inexpensive ways of making a bowl of soup into a pretty substantial meal. Buy a ham hock or a couple of lamb shanks, cook them long and slowly and when the meat is virtually falling off the bones cut it into shreds and add it to the soup. Noodles also add bulk and there are lots of bits that can be added as an edible garnish. Crunchy potato crisps or tortilla chips, grated cheese and lots of freshly chopped herbs add excitement and extra nutrients. Fish soups, although delicious are often less popular; we occasionally salt some fish, cod, haddock, hake, ling and pollock all work well.

Just scatter it lightly with high quality salt and allow it to sit for 8-12 hours then soak it overnight in cold water. Cook in fresh simmering water for just a couple of minutes until the flesh turns from translucent to opaque. Flake the flesh and add to a chunky soup─ also delicious.

Those who pop up and down to Belfast regularly will no doubt know Nick’s Warehouse on Hill Street in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter. Nick Price follows the Slow Food philosophy of sourcing terrific, often local, ingredients and cooking them simply. He’s just published his first cook book—‘The Accidental Chef’ where he shares many favourite recipes from his menu. Try his recipe for Minestrone and if possible add a little ham hock as he suggests.

Nick Price’s Minestrone

Serves 10

Oil
100g bacon chopped (if using instead of ham hock, if veggie, ignore)
2 onions sliced
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 potatoes cubed
½ cauliflower in florets
¼ drumhead or hard cabbage sliced
2 tblsp tomato purée
2 courgettes sliced into sticks
2 carrots sliced
1 tblsp chopped fresh basil
2 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 celery sticks peeled to remove stringy bits and cut into baton
400g tin of white beans, cannellini are good
Basil and Parmesan to garnish
2 litres chicken or veg stock depending on your preference. If you want to be a real star you have to boil a ham hock and make a stock that way, i.e using the water you have cooked the hock in.
I add some ingredients after I have made the soup as they deteriorate in colour and texture if cooked in the soup-green beans trimmed and lightly cooked peas, fresh ideally, but frozen are fine.
Cooked pasta like farfalle or some other small attractive shape.

Put the oil in a deep saucepan and warm up over a moderate heat. Cook bacon, if using, then add onions and garlic until softened.
Next add the cabbage, cauliflower, celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook for 5 mins and then add the tomato purèe. Cook 2-3 mins.
Now add the tomatoes, the beans and stock. If you have a cooked ham hock it goes in now. Simmer for about 20-25 mins or until the potatoes are cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Remove the ham hock and shred the meat, put it back into the pot to serve.
Add the peas, green beans and cooked pasta. Warm them through. Put a portion into a deep bowl and sprinkle with chopped basil. Serve with a side of parmesan. Just don’t expect your guests to eat anything else.

Tojo’s Lentil Soup

Serves 6

Tojo cooked in the Garden Café one summer, and his food was memorable. Tojo says that he uses no stock for his soups since many of his guests are vegetarian or vegan.  This is the simplest soup to make – very nutritious and delicious.  One could also add crispy bacon lardoons or shredded ham hock to make the soup− more substantial for carnivores.

120ml (4fl oz) extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil
6 large onions, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
120ml (4fl oz) soya sauce
salt and pepper to taste
500g (18oz) Lentils du Puy
2.3L (4pints) water
Garnish
flat parsley or fresh coriander
extra virgin olive oil

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium size pot; add the chopped onions, garlic, soya sauce, salt and pepper.  Put on a fairly high flame for about 10 minutes, then lower the heat and let simmer until the onions are cooked and have a slightly sweet taste.  Add water and lentils and cook for 15-30 minutes. When the lentils are cooked, taste and correct the seasoning.  Be careful not to let the lentils get mushy, it’s nice if there is a slight bite to them.  Serve in wide soup bowls with some snipped flat parsley and a little extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top.
Chunky Vegetable and Bean Soup with Spicy Sausage

We make huge pots of this in the Winter, I usually keep some in the freezer. Kabanossi is a thin sausage now widely available, it gives a gutsy slightly smoky flavour to the soup which although satisfying is by no means essential.

Serves 8-9

225g (8ozs) rindless streaky bacon, cut into ¼ inch (5mm) lardons
2 tablespoons olive oil
225g (8ozs) onions, chopped
300g (10½ozs) carrot, cut into ¼ inch (5mm) dice
215g (7½ozs) celery, chopped into ¼ inch (5mm) dice
125g (4½ozs) parsnips, chopped into ¼ inch (5mm) dice
200g (7ozs) white part of 1 leek, ¼ inch (5mm) slices thick approx.
1 Kabanossi sausage,* cut into one-eight inch (3mm) thin slices
400g (1 x 14ozs) tin of tomatoes
Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar
1.7L (3 pints) homemade chicken stock,
225g (8ozs) haricot beans, cooked * (see recipe)

Garnish
2 tablespoons parsley, freshly chopped

Blanch the chunky bacon lardons, refresh and dry well. Prepare the vegetables. Put the olive oil in a saucepan, add bacon and sauté over a medium heat until it becomes crisp and golden, add the chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cover and sweat for five minutes next add the parsnip and finely sliced leeks. Cover and sweat for a further 5 minutes. Slice the Kabanossi sausage thinly, and add. Chop the tomatoes and add to the rest of the vegetables and the cooked beans. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar, add the chicken stock. Allow to cook until all the vegetables are tender, 20 minutes approx. Taste and correct the seasoning. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with lots of crusty brown bread.

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.  Next day, strain the beans and cover with fresh cold water, add a bouquet garni, carrot and onion, cover and simmer until the beans are soft but not mushy – anything from 30-60 minutes.  Just before the end of cooking, add salt.  Remove the bouquet garni and vegetables and discard.

Winter Root Vegetable Soup

Serves 12 approx.

125g/ 4½oz celeriac
250g/84oz parsnips
250g/84 oz Jerusalem artichokes
or whatever combination of vegetables you fancy or have to hand.

1.1kg (2 1/2lb) carrots, preferably organic, chopped
90g (3oz) butter
225g (8oz) onion, chopped
275g (10oz) potatoes, chopped
salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar
sprig of spearmint
2.4L (4 pints) homemade light chicken or vegetable stock
124ml (5 fl ozs) creamy milk, (optional)
6 teaspoons freshly chopped spearmint
1 teaspoon thyme leaves

Garnish
a little lightly whipped cream or crème frâiche
sprigs of spearmint

Melt the butter and when it foams add the peeled and chopped vegetables, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add thyme leaves, cover with a butter paper (to retain the steam) and a place with a tight fitting lid. Leave to sweat gently on a low heat for about 10 minutes approx. Remove the lid, add the boiling stock and cook until the vegetables are soft, alternatively add 3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a little creamy milk if necessary.

Garnish with a swirl of lightly whipped cream or crème frâiche and some parsley sprigs.

Salt Cod, Tomato, Potato & Parsley Soup

Serves 10

30g/1oz butter
175g/6oz onion chopped
1 kg potatoes peeled and diced 1’’ cubes
1 ½ lbs sa1
pint fish stock or water
Salt cod (see recipe)
600ml/1 pint milk
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs fennel
1 bay leaf
75 ml/3 fl oz cream
Lots of dill and flat parsley springs
20 cherry tomatoes

Melt the butter in a heavy stainless steel saucepan, when foaming add the chopped onion and sweat gently until soft but not coloured, add the potatoes and toss. Cover and continue to cook for 4 or 5 minutes more. Add the fish stock. Season with freshly ground pepper, bring to the boil and continue to simmer for 10-15 mins until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, cut the salt cod into 2 or 3 pieces and put into a sauce pan. Cover with milk; add the thyme, fennel and bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes until the fish is opaque rather then translucent. Strain the milk into the soup, (discard the herbs). Add the cream and halved tomatoes. Bring back to the boil for 4-5 minutes, add the flaked salt cod. Taste and correct the seasoning. Ladle into hot bowls and garnish with sprigs of fennel and flat parsley.

Hottips

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group presents ‘Produce your own Fruit’. Learn how to grow all types of fruit with Con Traas from The Apple Farm in Cahir and John Howard from Sunnyside Fruit Farm. Thursday 28th January, 7:30pm. Crawford Art Gallery Café, Cork. The €6.00 entrance fee includes tea or coffee.

Salmon Watch Ireland will be holding a seminar ‘What is the Future for our Spring Salmon?’ at Limerick Strand Hotel on the Ennis Road, Limerick on Saturday 30th January at 2:30pm. If you would like to attend this important event please contact Bob Wemyss at 087 2512562 or email wemyss.bob@gmail.com.

Kinsale Health Food Store – 129 Market Street Kinsale – stocks a good range of gluten free cereals, flours, biscuits, and sauces. Boost yourself against winter colds and flu and get some West Cork Echinacea grown in West Cork by Bandon Medicinal Herbs. They also do Ecover refills and eco-nappies. Telephone 021 4773521.

Learn how to cook delicious gluten free meals for coeliacs with Rosemary Kearney. Two one day courses at Ballymaloe Cookery School -  Friday 22nd  1:00pm to 5:00pm and Saturday 23rd  at 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Telephone 021 4646 785 or email susan@cookingisfun.ie

Ardrahan Lullaby Milk – good news for the growing number of people who like to able to source non-homogenised milk. Lullaby Milk from Ardrahan in Kanturk is available in most branches of supermarkets around the country www.ardrahancheese.ie/lullaby.htm

Food fads come and go but the craving for Italian food still continues to endure; a few really simple pasta recipes are a must in everyone’s repertoire and where better to seek them out than in Giuliano Hazan’s books. Giuliano’s first book ‘The Classic Pasta Cookbook’ sold over half a million copies world wide, so it obviously hit the spot for many people. He went onto write several others including ‘Every Night Italian’ and ‘How to Cook Italian’ but I found several more new gems in his last book ‘Thirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and Easy Recipes’
There are many types and shapes of pasta in Italy; some pasta is made with wheat flour others with buckwheat, chickpea, chestnut flour or farro, the latter is an ancient Etruscan grain similar to spelt which is gaining in popularity.
The most common however is made from flour and eggs or flour and water, the latter tends to be made from durum wheat, a harder flour which results in a firmer sturdier pasta best suited to oil based and more robustly flavoured sauces – e.g. those with anchovies, olives, capers or fiery red chillies.
Tender homemade egg pasta is wonderful but not necessarily better than good bought pasta, it is simply different. The Italians just use them for different recipes. Its not difficult to make a simple pasta sauce yourself it can be made in a fraction of the time it would take to you to go to the shops to buy it so why not snap up a few packets of good Italian or organic pasta from Noodle House Organics and whip up a little spontaneous meal for family and friends, after all, as Giuliano says
‘Cooking for someone is one of the most loving gifts you can bestow, because you are giving a little of yourself’ enjoy!

Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty Minute Pasta: 100 Quick and Easy Recipes is published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

Giuliano Hazan’s Cannellini Bean and Pasta Soup
Minestra di Cannellini e Pasta

Minus the pasta, this soup spans at least three generations. My mother learned it from her father. Then it became one of my father’s favourites. He is particularly fond of beans, and this is a thick soup of all beans and very little else. The little else though, is garlic and parsley, which give cannellini beans an immensely satisfying flavor. I’ve added pasta to make the soup substantial enough for a meal.

S e r v e s 4

1 large clove garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups (2 15-ounce cans) canned
Cannellini beans, drained
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3–4 springs flat-leaf Italian parsley
1 large beef bouillon cube
4 ounces dried egg noodles,
such as tagliatelle or pappardelle

Peel the garlic and finely chop it. Put it with the olive oil in a 4- to 6-
quart soup pot and place over medium-high heat. After the garlic begins to sizzle, add the cannellini beans and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. While the beans are cooking, finely chop enough parsley to measure 1 tablespoon. After the beans have cooked for 5 minutes, add 2 cups water and the
bouillon cube and cover the pot. Once the soup has come to a boil, break the egg noodles into approximately 1-inch pieces and add them to the soup. Lower the heat to medium, add the parsley, and cook, covered, until the pasta is al dente. Serve hot.
Minus the pasta, this soup spans at least three generations. My mother learned it from her father. Then it became one of my father’s favorites. He is particularly fond of beans, and this is a thick soup of all beans and very little else. The little else though, is garlic and parsley, which gives cannellini beans an immensely satisfying flavor. I’ve added pasta to make the soup substantial enough for a meal.

Giuliano Hazan’s Tagliatelle with Chickpeas
Tagliatelle coi Ceci

One of the restaurants we enjoy going to when we are in Valpolicella, the wine country outside of Verona, is Alla Rosa Alda, in the tiny hilltop town of San Giorgio. One of their specialties is a pasta dish they call “Tagliatelle Embogonè” in the local dialect. It is homemade egg noodles with a sauce of fresh cranberry beans. When I was growing up, my mother made a soup with chickpeas, tomatoes, and rosemary that I loved. I’ve adapted it here, taking inspiration from Alla Rosa Alda’s dish, into a pasta sauce that is now one of our favorites at home.

S e r v e s 4

½ medium yellow onion
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive
oil, plus a little extra for drizzling
at the end
1 medium clove garlic
1–2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 pound fresh tomatoes
Salt
1½ cups canned chickpeas,
drained
Freshly ground black pepper
10 ounces dried egg tagliatelle

Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat,
and bring to a boil. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Put it and the olive oil in a 12-inch skillet and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a
rich golden color, about 5 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, peel the garlic and finely chop it. Finely chop enough rosemary to measure 1 teaspoon. Peel the tomatoes and coarsely chop them. When the onion is ready, add the garlic and rosemary. Sauté for 10 to 15 seconds, then add the tomatoes. Season lightly with salt and cook until
most of the liquid the tomatoes release has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas, season with pepper and again lightly with salt, and cook for 5 more minutes. Scoop out about half the chickpeas and puree them. A food mill will produce a smoother texture, but if you don’t have one you can use a food processor. Mix the pureed chickpeas into the sauce and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Once the pureed chickpeas are back in the pan, add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the tagliatelle, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente.
After the pasta has cooked about 2 minutes, mix 2 tablespoons of the pasta water into the sauce. When the pasta is done, drain well and toss with the sauce. Drizzle a little olive oil and grind some black pepper over each portion and serve at once.

Giuliano Hazan’s Penne with Radicchio
Penne al Radicchio Rosso

S e r v e s  4

½ large sweet yellow onion
3 tablespoons butter
3 ounces pancetta, sliced
1⁄8 inch thick
1 pound radicchio
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3–4 sprigs flat-leaf Italian parsley
1 pound penne (fusilli is also good)
¾ cup heavy cream
½ cup grated freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano

Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Put the butter in a 12-inch skillet, add the chopped onion, and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, cut the pancetta into narrow strips about 1 inch long. Remove any bruised leaves from the radicchio, cut it in half lengthwise, and cut off the bottom of the root. Finely shred the radicchio. When the onion is ready, add the pancetta and cook until it loses its raw color, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the radicchio and season with salt and pepper. Add about ½ cup water, lower the heat to medium, and cover the pan. Cook until the radicchio is very tender, about 20 minutes. Check it periodically and add more water if the liquid evaporates before the radicchio is tender. While the radicchio is cooking, finely chop enough parsley to measure about 1 tablespoon. After the radicchio has been cooking for at least 15 minutes, add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the penne, and stir well. Cook until al dente. When the radicchio is tender, uncover the pan, raise the heat, and let any remaining moisture evaporate. Add the cream and parsley and cook until the cream has thickened and reduced by about one-third. When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and serve at once.

Radicchio adds a refreshing, slightly bitter flavor to salads. When it is cooked, it loses some of its bitterness and makes a rich, luscious sauce. The Veneto region of Italy is known for the many varieties of radicchio grown there. The one from Treviso is the radicchio most often used in cooking. It is elongated and shaped a little like Romaine lettuce. The most prized is the one available in late fall called tardivo. It is distinguished by how the tops of its leaves curl in toward the center and by its rich, deep flavor.

Giuliano Hazan’s Tagliatelle with Peas
Tagliatelle ai Piselli

One of my favorite restaurants in Verona is Il Pompiere. They make a pasta dish when peas are in season that is thoroughly infused with their sweet flavor. Marco, the chef/owner, was kind enough to share his secret with me. It’s actually very simple. Once the peas are tender, half are pureed until creamy and mixed back into the sauce.
When the pasta is tossed with the sauce, it absorbs all that delicious pea flavor, which is why I like using the wider tagliatelle noodles. Although you could make this with premium frozen peas, the sweet flavor of fresh peas is worth the extra time it takes to shell them.

S e r v e s 4

½ medium yellow onion
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1¾ pounds fresh peas
(or 12 ounces frozen peas)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
10 ounces dried egg tagliatelle or pappardelle

Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat,
and bring to a boil. Peel and finely chop the onion. Put the olive oil in a saucepan or deep 8-inch skillet, add the chopped onion, and place over medium heat. Sauté
until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, shell the fresh peas, if using. When the onion is ready, add the peas and season generously with salt and pepper. Stir the peas well, then add about ½ cup water. Cook over medium heat until the peas are tender, adding water if it evaporates completely before they are done. It should take 15 to 20 minutes for the peas to become tender. (If using frozen peas, add water only once and cook for 6 to 8 minutes). When the peas are tender, remove from the heat, take out about half the peas, and puree them. A food mill will make the smoothest puree, but
if you don’t have one you can use a food processor. Put the pureed peas back in the pan with the whole peas. Add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the tagliatelle, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente. After the pasta has cooked for about 2 minutes, add ¾ cup of the pasta water to the pan with the peas and stir well. When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce, and serve at once.

Giuliano Hazan’s Tagliatelle with a Quick and Simple Meat Sauce
Tagliatelle al Ragù Veloce

I recommend using beef chuck, which is about 20 percent fat, to keep the sauce moist. If you will be using a leaner cut, add a tablespoon of butter.

S e r v e s 4

½ medium yellow onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 pound fresh tomatoes
¾ pound ground beef chuck
Salt
10 ounces dried egg tagliatelle
or pappardelle (or 1 pound rigatoni or shells)
1⁄3 cup freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano

Fill a pot for the pasta with about 6 quarts of water, place over high heat,
and bring to a boil. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Put the olive oil and butter in a 12-inch skillet, add the chopped onion, and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes. While the onion is sautéing, peel the tomatoes and coarsely chop them. When the onion is ready, add the ground beef, season with salt, and cook, stirring, until it has lost its raw color and just begins to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, season them with salt, and cook over medium heat until the liquid the tomatoes release has almost completely evaporated,
10 to 12 minutes. Add about 2 tablespoons salt to the boiling pasta water, add the tagliatelle, and stir until all the strands are submerged. Cook until al dente. When the pasta is done, drain well, toss with the sauce and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and serve at once.

Text copyright © 2009 Giuliano Hazan. Photographs copyright © 2009 by Joseph De Leo

Fool Proof Food

Pesto

Homemade Pesto takes minutes to make and tastes a million times better than most of what you buy.  The problem is getting enough basil.  If you have difficulty, use parsley, a mixture of parsley and mint or parsley and coriander – different but still delicious.

Serve with pasta, goat cheese, tomato and mozzarella.

4ozs (115g) fresh basil leaves
6 – 8 fl ozs (175 – 250ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 oz (25g) fresh pine kernels (taste when you buy to make sure they are not rancid)
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 ozs (50g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiana Reggiano is best) salt to taste

Whizz the basil with the olive oil, pine kernels and garlic in a food processor or pound in a pestle and mortar.  Remove to a bowl and fold in the finely grated Parmesan cheese. Taste and season.

Pesto keeps for weeks, covered with a layer of olive oil in a jar in the fridge. It also freezes well but for best results don’t add the grated Parmesan until it has defrosted. Freeze in small jars for convenience.

Thrifty Tip

Pick up a couple of those growing pots of basil in the supermarket, pick off the leaves and whisk up a little pesto – add to a bowl of pasta and maybe some chopped crispy bacon or ham for a taste of summer in dreary January!

Hot Tips

Great Italian Food at Dunne & Crescenzi at the Arnotts Project in Dublin’s Jervis Centre  Stroll down Henry Street for a bit of sales shopping, delicious pit stop at Dunne & Crescenzi – brunch, lunch, coffee or a Prosecco with the girls while browsing for the bargains!    Take home some pasta, olive oil, coffee, chocolate …….and other goodies.

The Noodle House Organic Pasta was established by Ingrid and Alois Basler in 1998 in Curry, Co. Sligo. To find out where you can purchase their organic pasta, sauces and jams Tel: 071 91 85589, email: nhorganicpasta@eircom.net or visit www.noodlehouseorganics.ie

Darina Allen’s new book ‘Forgotten Skills of Cooking’ has been shortlisted for the André Simon Food and Drink book awards. The winners will be announced in the spring.

Learn how to cook the perfect romantic meal for Valentine’s Day on the one day Culinary Cupid Course on Saturday 6th February 2010 at Ballymaloe Cookery School. Phone 021 4646785 to book.

On the sixth of January, the feast of the Epiphany, the French enjoy 50 million Galette des Rois to celebrate the Festival of Kings. The flaky pastry cake has a soft filling of delicious frangipane – inside is hidden a Feve, originally it was a broad bean but nowadays it is more likely to be a tiny porcelain or hard plastic figure.
The ‘Kings’ being celebrated to are Balthazar, Gaspar and Melchior who came on the Epiphany- to the manger to shower baby Jesus with gifts. But what is the significance of the broad bean – well apparently this legume is similar in shape to the human embryo and is the first to emerge from the ground after winter. It represents the gift of the earth, fertility and new life.
The ceremony of the Galette des Rois dates back to the middle ages but I first came across the tradition when I au-paired in France in the 1960s. Madame asked me to pop around to the local Boulangerie to collect a special galette. It resembled a gateau pithivier but was accompanied by a gold paper crown.
The children couldn’t wait for dinner to be over that evening. The flaky pastry cake was cut into neat slices. Then right on cue the youngest child climbed under the table and hid beneath the tablecloth. Madame then pointed at a portion and asked ‘Who is this piece for?’ The child called out the name of each in turn. The lucky person who finds the Feve in his or her slice is the king and has the crown ceremoniously placed on his or her head. Then a consort is chosen and as the king puts the glass to ‘his’ lips, everyone choruses ‘the king drinks, the king drinks’
Galette des Rois is one of my favourite cakes of the year, it’s easy to make at home and I’m sure some of the children can produce a golden crown.
In Ireland On 6th January – the 12th day of Christmas – we celebrate Women’s Christmas or Nollaig na Mban. This was the day when women made ‘little dainties’ and enjoyed some time off after pampering the men during the busy festive season. The tradition still lives on but nowadays many get together with friends to go out for dinner or kick up their heels in a club. If that’s not an option how about a gorgeous afternoon tea? Here are a few of my favourites.

Galette des Rois

Serves 8

1 lb Puff Pastry

Filling

3ozs (75g) ground hazelnuts toasted, freshly ground
1oz (25g) ground almonds
4 ozs (110g) castor sugar
1½ ozs (45g) melted butter
2 egg yolks, preferably free range
2 tablesp.  double cream
1 dessertsp. rum (optional)
egg wash made with 1 beaten egg and a tiny pinch of salt
glaze
icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/regulo 6.
Put the hazelnuts onto a baking tray.  Bake until the skins loosen.
Remove nuts from oven and place in a tea towel.  Rub off the loose papery skins.  Let cool.  Grind the nuts in a nut grinder or chop in a food processor.

Increase oven temperature to 230°C/450°F/regulo 8.

Divide the pastry in half, roll out just less than ¼ inch thick, and cut into 2 circles approx. 10 inch (25.5cm) in diameter.  Put one onto a damp baking sheet, chill and chill the other piece also.
Mix all the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl until smooth. Put the filling onto the pastry base, leaving a rim of about 1 inch (2.5mm) free around the edge. Wrap a broad bean in a piece of silicone paper and tuck into the filling. Brush the rim with beaten egg or water and put on the lid of puff pastry, press it down well around the edges.
Make a small hole in the centre brush with egg wash and leave for 5 minutes in the refrigerator. With the back of a knife, nick the edge of the pastry 12 times at regular intervals to form a scalloped edge with a rose petal effect. Mark long curving lines from the central hole outwards to designate formal petals. Be careful not to cut through the pastry just score it.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, then lower the heat to 200C/400F/regulo 6 and bake for 30 minutes approx. While still hot dredge heavily with icing sugar and return to a very hot oven or pop under a grill (Do Not Leave the Grill) – the sugar will melt and caramelize to a dark brown glaze. Serve warm or cold with a bowl of softly whipped cream.
Note: Galette des Rois is best eaten warm, but it also keeps well and may be reheated

Little Pecan Puffs

Makes 48

110g (4oz) pecan nuts
110g (4oz) butter, softened
50g (2oz) castor sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
110g (4oz) plain flour
25g (1oz) icing sugar sifted onto shallow bowl or plate

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF/gas mark 2.

Place the pecan nuts in a food processor and grind until quite fine.

In a bowl cream the butter, then add the sugar and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the ground pecan nuts and flour and bring together to form a dough.  Roll into small marble size balls of dough between the palms of your hands, then flatten slightly using the palm of your hand and place on a baking tray.  Bake for 40 minutes.
Allow to cool for 2 minutes, then carefully remove from the tray and while they are still hot roll them in the sifted icing sugar.  Cool on a wire rack, and when cooled sift with icing sugar again.

Coconut Macaroons

Makes 30 approx

2 egg whites
4 1/2ozs (125g) vanilla castor sugar
3ozs (75g) desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/regulo 2.

Cover 2 or 3 baking sheets with silicone paper.  Whisk the egg whites with the vanilla sugar until very stiff and fold in the desiccated coconut gently.  Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking sheets and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes approx.

Cool on a wire rack.

These biscuits may be stored in an airtight tin for 3-4 weeks.

This mixture also makes two 7inches (18cm) meringue discs which can be sandwiched together with chunks of fresh pineapple and cream.

Moroccan Orange and Almond Cake

Serves 8

Claudia Roden gave us this recipe when she taught at the school in October 1985.

2 large organic oranges
6 free range eggs
250g (8oz) ground almonds
250g (8oz) sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

9 ” springform tin round tin, buttered and floured

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F /Gas Mark 5.

Wash and boil the oranges (unpeeled) in a little water for nearly 2 hours (or 1/2 hour in a pressure cooker).  Let them cool, then cut them open and remove the pips.  Turn the oranges into a pulp by putting them in a food processor or an electric blender.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Add all the other ingredients, mix thoroughly and pour into a buttered and floured cake tin with a removable base if possible.  Bake in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5 for about 1 hour.  If it is still very wet, leave it in the oven for a little longer.  Cool in the tin before turning out. Dredge with icing sugar.

This is a very moist cake that may be served as a dessert.

Almond, Hazelnut or Praline Cake

Serves 10 approx.

6 ozs (175g) flour
6 ozs (175g) sugar
3 eggs
5 ozs (150g) butter
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons praline powder (see below)

Praline
6 ozs (175g) sugar
6 ozs (175g) skinned hazelnuts or unskinned almonds

Praline Butter Icing
7 tablespoons water
9 tablespoons sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 lb (225g) unsalted butter (softened and creamed)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 tablespoons praline powder (sieved praline)

2 x 7 (18cm) inch cake tins

First make the praline.
Combine the sugar and nuts in a heavy saucepan. Put over a low heat until the sugar turns caramel colour. Do not stir, carefully rotate the pan until the nuts are covered with caramel. When the nuts go “pop” pour the mixture on to an oiled marble slab, cool. Crush to a gritty powder.

Brush the cake tins with melted butter and line the base of each with a round of greaseproof paper. Brush the paper with melted butter also and dust the base and edges with flour.

Cream the sugar and butter and add in the eggs one by one.  Beat well between each addition.  Sieve the flour and baking powder and stir in gradually. Add two tablespoons of praline powder. Mix lightly adding milk to moisten if the mixture is a little stiff.

Divide equally between two prepared tins.  Bake for 25 minutes at 190°C/350°F/regulo 5. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and cooling on a wire rack. Reinvert after a few moments so as not to mark the top of the cake.

Meanwhile make the butter cream.
Bring the water and sugar to the boil stirring only until the sugar dissolves. Let the syrup boil to the thread stage (115°C/238°F). Beat the yolks for one minute with an electric beater, add hot syrup very gradually. Continue beating until the syrup has all been added and the mixture is cool.  The mousse should be stiff and hold a “figure of 8”.  Still whisking, add butter in small batches. Add pure vanilla extract. Stir in 4 tablespoons (4 American tablespoons + 4 teaspoons) powdered praline.

To Assemble
Split each cake in half. Spread with praline butter icing. Sandwich together.
Ice the top and sides with the remaining icing. Sprinkle crushed praline all over the top surface of the cake.

Coffee Cake
This is a splendid recipe for an old-fashioned coffee cake – the sort Mummy made – and we still make it regularly. Everyone loves it. I’m a real purist about using extract rather than essence in the case of vanilla, but in this cake, I prefer coffee essence (which is actually mostly chicory) to real coffee.

Serves 10–12

225g (8oz) soft butter
225g (8oz) caster sugar
4 organic eggs
225g (8oz) plain white flour, preferably unbleached
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

Coffee Butter Cream
50g (2oz) butter
110g (4oz) icing sugar, sieved
1–2 teaspoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

Coffee Icing
450g (1lb) icing sugar
scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence
about 4 tablespoons boiling water

To Decorate
toasted hazelnuts or chocolate-covered coffee beans

2 x 20cm (8in) round sandwich tins

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/ gas mark 4.

Line the base of the tins with circles of greaseproof or silicone paper. Brush the bottom and sides with melted butter and dust lightly with flour.

Beat the soft butter with a wooden spoon, add the caster sugar and whisk until pale in colour and light in texture. Whisk the eggs. Add to the mixture, bit by bit, whisking well between each addition.

Sieve the flour with the baking powder and stir gently into the cake mixture. Finally, add in the coffee essence and mix thoroughly.

Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes. When the cakes are cooked, the centre will be firm and springy and the edges will have shrunk from the sides of the tins. Leave to rest in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Remove the greaseproof paper from the base, then flip over so the top of the cakes don’t get marked by the wire rack. Leave the cakes to cool on the wire rack.

To make the coffee butter cream, whisk the butter with the sieved icing sugar and add the coffee essence. Continue to whisk until light and fluffy.

To make the coffee icing, sieve the icing sugar and put into a bowl. Add coffee essence and enough boiling water to make it the consistency of a thick cream.

When cold, sandwich together the bases of the cakes with the coffee butter cream and ice the top with the coffee icing. Decorate with the toasted hazelnuts or chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Thrifty Tip
Make lots of comforting soups which are economical and filling for this time of year with store cupboard ingredients, potatoes, leeks, carrots, onions…

Hot Tips

Resolve to start growing your own by subscribing to Irish Seed Savers. When you pay for a year’s subscription you get five free packets of organic heritage vegetable seeds, including three varieties of heritage potatoes (when available) and a 10% discount on organic heritage apple trees and workshops that run almost every weekend. Creating a Native Fruiting Hedge is on Saturday 6th February. Contact Irish Seed Savers on 061 921866 or email info@irishseedsavers.ie or www.irishseedsavers.ie

Allclad and Demeyere stainless steel saucepans last a life time and are on sale at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Farm Shop with a 20% reduction on the price. 021 4646785.

Sassy’s on Northmain Street in Youghal East Cork, sell old fashioned boiled sweets displayed in big glass jars, weighed out into stripy paper bags for a taste of the past. Telephone 024 91643.