Chocolate is inextricably linked with the Easter celebration, so in this weekend’s column I’ll focus on chocolate, one of the most exciting ingredients in the chef and cook’s repertoire.

Gone are the days when ‘scotchoc’ was our only option, unlike many other ingredients the quality and availability of chocolate seems to get better and better. As the consumer gets rapidly more sophisticated, the demand for dark chocolate has for the first time outstripped milk chocolate. Specialist chocolatiers are sourcing quality cocoa beans from around the world, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Chocolate is now talked about in the same way as fine wines.

The botanical name for the cocoa tree is Theobroma Cacao meaning ‘food of the gods’.

It grows in a narrow band around the world, 20º on either side of the Equator. The cocoa pods begin life as tiny white flowers emerging directly from the trunk and lower branches of the tree.

They gradually swell and ripen to form beautiful large pods which contain 30-40 seeds or beans nestled into white pulp.

Criollo, Forastro and Trinitario are the main varieties, each has its own unique and distinctive flavour. Virtually no other food has such a variety of complex flavours – a mind blowing 300 chemical compounds and 400 aromas have been identified in the cocoa bean.

Apart from its addictive flavour, the health-giving benefits of chocolate have been recognized for centuries and more recent research has proved beyond doubt that really good quality chocolate not only alters the mood and evokes happiness, but also gives an adrenalin rush more potent than coffee or tea. Not only is chocolate high in minerals – magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, iron and calcium, but it is high in antioxidants which we are told help to reduce heart disease and cancer.

Seek out a good brand of chocolate and preferably Fair Trade also – there are lots of names- Valrhona, Green & Black, Menier, Suchard, Lindt, Callebaut, Leonidas….. Choose chocolate with a high cocoa butter content. Milk: at least 10% cocoa mass and at least 12% milk solids. Dark: 50-70% cocoa solids. White Chocolate is not strictly speaking a chocolate, it contains no cocoa mass and is merely a mixture of cocoa butter, sugar and flavouring, buy the best quality otherwise it will be difficult to melt.

Melting chocolate

Good chocolate melts beautifully but be careful not to overheat.

Chocolate needs to be melted with great care. It burns easily and is then irretrievable. White chocolate is particularly sensitive.

Below is the method that we use: Break the chocolate into even-size pieces. Put into a pyrex bowl over a saucepan of water and bring slowly to almost simmer­ing point. Turn off the heat immediately and allow the bowl to sit over the saucepan. The water must not boil as the chocolate softens. Stir occasionally. Do not allow even a drop of water to get into the chocolate or chocolate will block or seize. If this happens no amount of stirring will remedy the situation however if a few drops of vegetable oil or clarified butter are added it will loosen the mixture to the extent that it can be blended with other ingredients.

Note: If you need a large quantity of chocolate, do it in batches.

Chocolate may also be melted in the microwave in a pyrex or plastic bowl. Different brands melt at different rates.

A new book for chocolate lovers called ‘101 Best Loved Chocolate Recipes’ has just been published by Hotel Chocolat – it includes favourite recipes from some well known chefs worldwide. Here is a selection from the book.

No-bake Chocolate Slice – Australian Women’s Weekly

24 slices

90g butter, in pieces, plus extra to grease

200g white marshmallows

1 tbsp water

200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

125g digestives or rich tea biscuits, coarsely chopped

125g glacé cherries, halved

75g roasted hazelnuts, halved

50g walnut halves, broken into pieces

Topping:

200g dark chocolate

60g butter

Grease two shallow 8cm x 25cm oblong baking tins (or plastic containers with similar dimensions).

Line the bases and sides with baking parchment, allowing the paper to extend 2cm above the long edges.

Put the marshmallows, water and butter into a medium saucepan and stir constantly over a low heat until the marshmallows have melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the biscuits, cherries and nuts, and stir gently until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture between the baking tins and spread evenly (do not crush the biscuits). Cover and chill for 1 hour.

For the topping, melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan over simmering water. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly. Spread the mixture evenly over the no-bake slices and chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Lift the chocolate slices out of the tins, using the paper, then peel off the lining paper. Cut each slice into 12 pieces.

Jane Suthering’s Chocolate Mud Pie

Serves 10-12

Pastry:

125g plain flour

15g cocoa powder

40g icing sugar

75g unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

Filling:

175g dark chocolate

175g unsalted butter

175g light or dark muscovado sugar

2 tsp instant coffee powder

3 eggs, plus 1 egg white

142ml carton whipping cream

100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Whiz all the ingredients for the pastry in a food processor to make a firm dough. Roll out thinly and use to line a 25cm fluted flan tin – use all the pastry and don’t worry if you have to patch it! Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas5

Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the filling, slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a pan over a very low heat. Take off the heat and beat in the remaining ingredients.

Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for about 25 minutes until lightly risen and just firm. Leave to go cold before serving, sliced into wedges.

Alastair Hendy’s Swiss Chocolate Cake

8-12 slices

180g butter, plus extra to grease

210g shelled, skinned hazelnuts

20g plain flour

280g, dark, bitter chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), in pieces

200g caster sugar

6 medium eggs, separated

To serve:

Icing sugar

Whipped whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Grease a 24cm springform cake tin. Scatter the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 8 minutes until they smell lightly toasted. Tip onto a plate and allow to cool, then grind the nuts to fine crumbs and mix with the flour.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (making sure the water isn’t in contact with the bowl) and leave until melted, then take off the heat.

Beat 130g of the sugar with the butter and egg yolks until pale and creamy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff. Mix the melted chocolate with the egg yolk and sugar mixture, then gently mix the hazelnut flour mixture through this. Finally fold through the beaten egg whites.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for around 60-70 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin a little, then transfer to a wire rack and dust with icing sugar – don’t fret if the cake sinks a little and cracks, its all part of the charm. Eat slices tidal-waved with whipped cream.

Anne Willan’s Chocolate Tartlets

With candied orange

Candied orange zest and a luscious dark chocolate ganache form the filling for these stunning tartlets. Serve them within a few hours of making – for afternoon tea or as in indulgent dessert.

Makes 8

Pastry:

175g plain flour, plus extra to dust

½ tsp salt

100g caster sugar

3 medium egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g butter, in pieces, slightly softened

Filling:

4 oranges

150g sugar

250g dark chocolate (about 60% cocoa solids), chopped

125ml double cream

90g butter

2 tbsp Grand Marnier

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a mound on the work surface and make a well in the centre. Put the salt, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and butter into the well and work these ingredients together with the fingertips of one hand until thoroughly mixed and the sugar is partially dissolved. Gradually draw in the flour until the dough comes together, then knead lightly until smooth. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Pare the zest from the oranges with a swivel peeler and cut into fine julienne strips, using a large knife. Put the orange zest strips in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.

Squeeze the juice from the oranges and pour into a saucepan. Add the sugar and heat gently until dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the julienne zest and lower the heat. Simmer very gently, without stirring, until the zests are translucent and very tender, and almost all the liquid has evaporated; this will take 30-40 minutes. If the pan appears to be becoming a little dry before they are done, add a little water. Lift out the julienne with a slotted spoon, spread them on a sheet of baking parchment and leave to cool and dry. Strain the syrup and set 2 tbsp aside in a small pan.

Heat the oven to 190C/gas 5 and butter eight 8cm tartlet tins. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape each one into a ball, roll out to a 10cm round and trim the edges with a 10cm pastry cutter. Line the tartlet tins with the pastry rounds, pressing well into the base. Prick the bases with a fork and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

If you have more tartlet tins, place a second one in each pastry case, so it keeps its shape during baking. Otherwise, line the cases with greaseproof paper and dried beans or rice to weight it down. Set the tins on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes until the cases are golden brown and cooked. Leave to cool in the tins, then carefully remove.

To assemble, reserve about 2 tbsp of the orange zest julienne for decoration. Chop the rest, and spread evenly in the tartlet cases.

For the ganache filling, tip the chocolate into a small bowl. Put the cream, butter and reserved 2 tbsp orange syrup into a pan and heat gently until the butter is melted. Bring just to the boil, then pour onto the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute until melted. Stir the mixture until smooth, then stir in the Grand Marnier.

Pour this ganache into the tartlet cases, covering the orange zest completely and filling the cases almost to the rim. Tap gently on the work surface to level the ganache. Leave the tartlets at room temperature until set, about 30 minutes, but don’t refrigerate. Just before serving, top with the reserved candied orange zest.

Foolproof food

Rose Elliot’s Berry Skewers with White Chocolate Sauce

Makes 20

200g mixed berries (such as small strawberries, large blueberries, raspberries)

White Chocolate Sauce:

100g white chocolate, in pieces

120ml double cream

To make the sauce, melt the chocolate, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Put into a small serving bowl and set aside to cool.

Spear one or two berries onto each of 20 small wooden skewers or cocktail sticks – enough for a mouthful. Arrange the skewers around the bowl of dip and serve.

Hot Tips

Joy Larkcom, renowned vegetable gardener, horticulturist and garden writer will be the Guest Speaker at the next meeting of Ladysbridge & District Flower & Garden Club at Garryvoe Hotel, Garryvoe, Co Cork on Monday 31^st March at 8pm – all welcome, non-members €10 – come and see how to grow vegetables and salad crops creatively – slides will be shown.

EUROPAIN 2008, the International trade show for the bakery, patisserie and ice cream industry, will open its doors from March 29th to April 2nd at PARIS PORTE NORD VILLEPINTE. With an overall exhibition area of 80 000 m2, EUROPAIN 2008 will bring together more than 600 exhibitors from 32 countries. Register on-line www.europain.com

Feale Valley Slow Food Convivium

A celebration of Food through Literature on Sunday April 6^th from 2-5pm at the Seanchai Centre in The Square, Listowel, where the lives of North Kerry’s most famous writers are celebrated. Drinks reception and tour of the centre followed by a buffet lunch featuring locally-sourced food and the best of local entertainment in song and story. Tickets Members €30, non members €35

From San Diego to Stuttgart, Sydney to Wales, there seems to be a growing focus on using local produce. Local is no longer a derogatory term, it’s the coolest word in the foodie’s dictionary.
In California, top restaurants are vying with each other to source the freshest local produce for their menus. Some are proudly highlighting that the salad greens, vegetables or fruit were picked just 5-6-7 hours earlier. Dan Barber at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, has a greenhouse beside the restaurant, he regularly serves tiny raw vegetables as s starter, miniscule carrots, beets, fennel… plucked from the soil in the minutes earlier, specially to thrill his guests.
On my last trip to the West Coast everyone seemed to be talking about sourcing the ‘food of their neighbourhood’. Farmers Markets are thriving and most have a very strict local food policy, the wonderful climate during the growing season ensures abundance and a wide variety of produce. Everyone seemed to be talking about food, not just the latest restaurant, but where to source the best heirloom tomatoes, beets, artichokes, free range chickens, rare breed pork, day boat fish. … Everywhere, restaurants, delis, food shops were highlighting local, seasonal produce and educating their customers about variety and breed. There seemed to be a hunger to learn more about how food was grown and produced and at last the farmers’ and food producers’ names are coming to the fore and they are getting the long overdue credit for producing quality. Restaurants are serving their local food proudly, a rare enough occurrence here in Ireland where we have plenty to be proud of.
As I travel around the country I despair that so few country hotels and restaurants highlight any local food or producers on their menus. On a recent trip to Kilkenny, I ate in a city centre hotel, the menu gave me no clue where I was, I could have been in Italy, Thailand or Sydney. There was certainly no indication that I was even in Ireland, where was the meat from the local farmers, is there any fish in the Nore any longer, or even Dunmore East? How about a little Irish soda bread instead of the ubiquitous par-baked bread and doughy rolls. When I asked about the provenance of the meat there seemed to be confusion, and the waiting staff didn’t seem to even recognize the word Lavistown when I asked if I might have a little piece of the farmhouse cheese made just a few miles outside the city by Roger and Olivia Goodwillie.
In the Farmer’s Diner in Vermont in the US, the menu says ‘Food from here’ – How wonderful it would be to travel around the country and taste the food of that place, the hinterland of Abbeyleix, Ballina, Enniscorthy, Tullamore … Most chefs now, virtually buy all their food from a central distribution system, most of it pre-packed and portioned, even vegetables come peeled and packed in a chemical solution. This is not only for economic reasons but also because it means less hassle with HACCP paperwork to satisfy the health inspectors.
Those of us who are in the hospitality business depend on our local customers to support us throughout the year, why should we expect them to support us if we don’t put at least some money back into our own community and buy the produce of our local farmers and food producers and support local butchers and bakers.
Time for all of us to become proactive and ask more questions about the menus. Each and every one of us can make a difference to the Irish economy, by how we choose to spend our euros.
Patrick Walsh 021-4646836, Bill Casey 021-4646955, Frank Hederman 021-4811089
James Veale 021-4661362, James Howard, Sunnyside Fruit 025-36253, Siobhan Barry, Midleton Farmers Market – 021-4883034, Ballycotton Seafood, 021-4646522, Cuthberts Bread widely stocked in East Cork – 021-4634181
Hot Tips
Nautilus Restaurant at the Inn by the Harbour, Ballycotton
Leo and Nessa Babin are serving delicious food on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from 6.30-9.00 and lunch on Sunday from 12.30-5pm – overlooking the harbour in Ballycotton – Steak and Chips, Boeuf Bourgignon, Fish and Chips, Butternut Squash Risotto, Indian Lamb Curry …. Crème Brulee, Chocolate Brownie, Apple Tart –
Booking recommended Tel 021-4646768, 087-6135897

Good Things Café, Durrus, Co Cork
Carmel Somers at Good Things in Durrus received great praise in the 2008 Bridgestone Guide for her delicious ham sandwich – made with local ham and crusty bread – one of the restaurants around the country that does highlight local. Congratulations also to Good Things for having been recognised with a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award for the third year in a row, only one of twelve restaurants in Ireland to receive the award which recognises ‘good food at moderate prices’. Tel: 027-61426 www.bridgestoneguides.com

Lafont Porcelain Enamelled Cast Iron Cookware available from URRU shops in Mallow and Bandon – Round French oven, Oval au Gratin , Buffet Casserole, Skillet, Pan Grill – in wonderful colours with hardwood knobs. Mallow – 022-53192, Bandon 023-54731 – nip in for a look and enjoy a delicious coffee and sweet bite or a light lunch.

Pangrilled Ballycotton Herrings with Grainy Mustard Butter

Serves 6 as a starter
Herrings have been scarce this year but I keep hoping for a delicious feast.

6 fresh herrings, gutted, scaled and washed

Seasoned flour

Grainy Mustard Butter
1 teaspoon grainy mustard eg. Moutarde de Meaux
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
3 ozs (85g) melted butter
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

First make the Mustard Butter. Cream the butter in a bowl, add the mustards and the finely chopped parsley, a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. Form into a roll in pure clingfilm or greaseproof paper and allow to harden or make into pats. Refrigerate until needed.
Preheat a cast iron pangrill over a medium heat until quite hot. Slash the herrings at an angle in three places on each side. Coat with well seasoned flour, spread a little soft butter over one side of each herring. Lay the herrings butter side down, not touching on the hot pan, they should sizzle. Reduce the heat immediately and cook for approximately 3 minutes on that side before turning over. Continue to cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately on hot plates with two slices of Grainy Mustard Butter per fish. Garnish with a sprig of flat parsley and a segment of freshly cut lemon.

James Veale’s Roast Guinea Fowl with Potato and Parsnip Crisps and Sunnyside Farm Red Currant Sauce

Serves 4

1 Guinea fowl

Stuffing:
45g (1½oz) butter
85g (3oz) chopped onions
65 g (generous 2½oz) breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon freshly chopped herbs, e.g. parsley, thyme, chives, marjoram
salt and freshly-ground pepper

Potato and Parnsip Crisps
Redcurrant Sauce

Gut the Guinea fowl if necessary and remove the ‘crop’ which is at the neck end; wash and dry well.
To make the stuffing: Melt the butter and sweat the onions until soft but not coloured, then remove from the heat. Stir in the soft white breadcrumbs and fresh herbs, season with salt and freshly-ground pepper and taste. Unless you are about to cook the bird right away, allow the stuffing to get quite cold before putting it into the bird. Season the cavity with salt and freshly-ground pepper and stuff the guinea fowl loosely. Smear the breast and legs with soft or melted butter. Roast in a preheated moderate oven, 190C/375F/gas mark 5, for 1¼ hours approx. Test by pricking the leg at the thickest point: the juices should just run clear.
Meanwhile make the Redcurrant Sauce and the Potato and Parsnip Crisps.
Spoon off any surplus fat from the roasting pan (keep it for roasting or sautéeing potatoes). Deglaze the pan with game or chicken stock. Bring it to the boil, and use a whisk to dislodge the crusty caramelized juices so they can dissolve into the gravy. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper, taste and boil until you are happy with the flavour. Pour into a hot gravy boat.
Carve the guinea fowl into four portions giving each person some brown and white meat. Spoon a little gravy over the meat. Pile some Potato and Parsnip Crisps over the top. Garnish with large sprigs of watercress and serve with Redcurrant Sauce .

John Howard’s Sunnyside Farm Redcurrant Sauce

Serves 4-6

A simple, delicious sauce which is unbelievably quick to make. It goes well with lamb, guinea fowl, ham and pate de campagne. Frozen redcurrants may be used.

150g (5½oz) sugar
125ml (4fl oz) water
140g (5oz) redcurrants

Remove the strings from the redcurrants if necessary.
Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Toss in the redcurrants, bring back to the boil, cook uncovered for 4 or 5 minutes or until the redcurrants burst. Serve hot or cold.

Tip: Keeps for several weeks in a covered jar in the fridge and may be reheated gently.
Redcurrants freeze brilliantly, just pop them into the freezer in the punnet or a plastic bag. If you shake the bag when frozen the berries will fall off the strings – much easier then painstakingly removing the stings when they are fresh. Discard the strings before using the berries.

Gratin of Patrick Walsh’s Potatoes with Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smoked Salmon

Serves 4-6

There are really two recipes in one here, the basic recipe is a particularly good version of the classic French potato dish Gratin Dauphinoise which is delicious served with a simple roast or grill. Here we’ve added little strips of Bill Casey’s smoked salmon to make a favourite supper dish. Serve with a green salad.

2 lbs (900g) even sized ‘old’ potatoes, eg. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
salt and freshly ground pepper
9 fl ozs (275ml) milk
9 fl ozs (275ml) double cream
small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
freshly grated nutmeg
4-6 ozs (110-170g) Irish smoked salmon
1 tablesp. parsley, chopped
1 tablesp. chives, chopped

4 small ovenproof gratin dishes 4½ inch (11.5cm) bottom and 6 inch (15cm) top

Peel the potatoes with a potato peeler and slice them into very thin rounds (one-eight inch/3mm thick). Do not wash them but dab them dry with a cloth. Spread them out on the worktop and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, mixing it in with your hands. Pour milk into a saucepan, add the potatoes and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Add the cream, garlic and a generous grating of fresh nutmeg, continue to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes do not stick to the saucepan. Just as soon as the potatoes are cooked put a layer into 4 ovenproof gratin dishes, sprinkle each with some parsley and chives, add 1-1½ ozs (30-45g) smoked salmon cut into 3 inch (5mm) strips, cover with another layer of potato.
Reheat in a bain-marie in a preheated oven, 200C/400F/regulo 6, for 8-10 minutes or until they are bubbly and golden on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and chives.
Note: You could substitute the smoked salmon for some of Frank Hederman’s Smoked Mackerel.

Siobhan Barry’s Kale Colcannon

Serves 8 approx.

Songs have been sung and poems have been written about Colcannon. It’s one of Ireland’s most famous traditional potato dishes. It’s comfort food at its very best and can be made with cabbage or kale. Terrific for a party.

450g (1lb) kale or Savoy or spring cabbage
1.35kg (3lb) ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
250ml (8fl oz) boiling milk approx.
30g (1oz) scallion or spring onion, optional
salt and freshly ground pepper
55g (2oz) butter approx.

Scrub the potatoes, put them in 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 onto a gentle heat and allow the potatoes to steam until they are cooked.

Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter. If using kale, remove the central rib. Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. This may take 8-10 minutes, depending on the type and maturity of the kale. Curly kale is sweetest after it has been mellowed by a few night frosts.

When the potatoes are just cooked, put the milk, and the finely chopped scallions into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the skin off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy puree. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes in the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Then stir in the cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning. For perfection, serve immediately in a hot dish with a lump of butter melting in the centre.
Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point and reheated later in a moderate oven 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4, for 20-25 minutes approx. Cover while reheating so it doesn’t get too crusty on top.

Cuthbert’s Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

Serves 6-8

This is a variation on basic bread and butter pudding. If you like, leave out the marmalade and serve plain, or add chopped rhubarb, chopped chocolate, grated lemon or orange zest, raisins, sultanas, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. This is a great way to use up stale bread, and in fact is better if the bread is stale.

12 slices of good –quality white bread, eg Cuthberts from Midleton, crusts removed
50g (1 3/4 oz) soft butter
3 tablespoons marmalade
450ml (16fl.oz) cream
225ml (8fl.oz) milk
4 eggs
150g (5 1/2 oz) caster sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

To Serve
softly whipped cream
marmalade sauce

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Butter the bread and spread marmalade on each slice. Arrange the bread in the gratin dish or in individual cups or bowls (cut the slices if you need to). I like to have overlapping triangles of bread on the top layer.
Place the cream and milk in a saucepan and bring to just under the boil. While it’s heating up, in a separate bowl whisk the eggs and the sugars, then pour the hot milk and cream in with the eggs and whisk to combine. Pour this custard over the bread and leave it to soak for 10 minutes. Place in a bain marie (water bath) and cook in the preheated oven for 1 hour. The top should be golden and the centre should be just set. Serve with softly whipped cream and marmalade sauce (see below).

Note: If you want to make this a day ahead of time, don’t heat up the milk and cream, just pour it cold over the bread.

Marmalade Sauce

1 jar (400-450g/14ozs – 1lb) 3 fruit or homemade marmalade
60ml (2 1/2 fl ozs) water
juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon

Put the marmalade into a saucepan. Add the water and the juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon to taste. Heat all the ingredients gently. Place in a jug and serve with the bread and butter pudding.

When I was an eager little scholar at the village school in Cullohill, Co Laois,  in the mid 1950’s, we all learned a variety of life skills, Miss Carroll showed generations of girls how to knit and sew, turn the heels of socks, do meticulous buttonholes and delicate embroidery.  Where oh where is the little gingham apron I made and the dirndl skirt which was my pride and joy. 
When Spring came around we were brought out into the field behind the school which served as a playground to learn how to sow potatoes. While the boys helped to dig the ground, the girls learned how to cut the ‘scoláns’ (seed potatoes) so there was an eye or sprout on each piece.   We planted them into the ground and heaped up the drills, then got on with our school work.  We kept an eye out and they sprouted and grew.
Nowadays academic skills are valued much more than life skills, most adults, not to speak of children, have totally lost track of how food is produced and where it comes from.   How fortunate are the kids who go to schools that have a garden patch.  I dream that every school will have a vegetable patch so children can learn the excitement of sowing a seed and watching it grow.
This week, Minister for Food and Horticulture, Trevor Sargent, launched a terrific initiative to celebrate the ‘Year of the Potato’.   A potato growing kit has been sent (courtesy of An Post) to every national school in the country, a brilliant idea dreamed up by Agri-Aware.     It was a huge logistical operation.   Can you imagine delivering sixty tons of compost, two tons of seed potatoes, eight thousand growing bags and classroom wall charts to almost 4,000 primary schools across the country.

Pupils and their teachers all over the country have by now been challenged to sow the seed potatoes in February and are hoping to harvest their crop in June.  The pupils will create a class scrapbook and monitor the potato plant’s progress with diagrams, photographs and written observations. The harvested crop will then be washed and weighed and the scrapbook sent for assessment.  Participating schools have the chance to win over €10,000 to develop a school garden. 
The aim of the ‘Meet the Spuds’ initiative is to educate primary pupils on how potatoes grow and their nutritional, historical and cultural importance in Ireland.  Pupils from three Dublin schools, Gael Scoil Balbriggan, Pope John Paul’s School, Malahide and St. Brigid’s in the Coombe,  arrived at the Jeanie Johnston Famine ship on 5th February 2008 for a spud voyage to learn about the importance of the potato in Irish life over the last 150 years.  They were entertained by Darragh McCullough of ‘Ear to the Ground’, Paula Mee, Nutritionist and Michael Hennessey of Teagasc.     They got the kids all excited about the potato and the importance of this magic tuber in Irish life over the last 150 years. 
The potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world, the Irish consume more spuds per head than any other country in Europe.  ‘Meet the Spuds’ is an excellent opportunity for teachers to encourage healthy eating among their pupils and educate them about Irish farming in a practical and hands-on manner.  Agri-Aware Chairman, Mairead Lavery and Padraig Walsh, President of the IFA were also very excited about the project.
Let’s hope this sows the seeds for a love of gardening in our kids and young people – lets have cooking classes in all our schools next Minister!

Baked Potatoes
 

Serves 8
 

Better not to wrap baked potatoes in tin foil as this softens the skins and spoils the flavour; it can even make them wet and soapy.
 

8 x 225g (8oz) old potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
sea salt and butter
 

Choose large potatoes. Scrub the skins of the potatoes very well. Prick each potato 3 or 4 times and bake in a preheated hot oven 2001C/4001F/gas mark 6 for 1 hour approx. depending on the size. When cooked, serve immediately while skins are still crisp and make sure to eat the skins with lots of butter and sea salt.
 

There are so many good things to eat with baked potatoes, here are just a few suggestions.
 

1.         Garlic mayonnaise with tuna fish
2.         Garlic butter with crispy rasher
3.         Creme Fraiche with smoked salmon and chives
4.         Creme Fraiche with roast pepper and a drizzle of pesto
5.         Creme Fraiche with hot crispy chorizo and chives
 

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup
 

Serves 6

 

Most people would have potatoes and onions in the house even if the cupboard was otherwise bare so one could make this simply delicious soup at a moment’s notice.

 

55g (2oz) butter

425g (15oz) peeled diced potatoes, one-third inch dice

110g (4oz) diced onions, one-third inch dice

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

1-2 tablespoons in total of the following; parsley, thyme, lemon balm and chives

900ml (1½pints) home-made chicken stock or vegetable stock

120ml (4fl oz) creamy milk

 

freshly chopped herbs and some chive or thyme flowers in season

 

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes and onions and toss them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover with a butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes approx. Meanwhile bring the stock to the boil, when the vegetables are soft but not coloured add the freshly chopped herbs and stock and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning. Thin with creamy milk to the required consistency.

Serve sprinkled with a few freshly-chopped herbs and some chive or thyme flowers in season.

 

Potato and Roast Red Pepper Soup

 

Serves 6

 

Basic recipe as above, omit the herbs.

 

4 red peppers

sprigs of flat parsley

 

Roast or chargrill the pepper, peel and deseed, save the sweet juices carefully puree the flesh with the juices. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Make the soup as in the original recipe.

Just before serving swirl the red pepper puree through the soup or simply drizzle on top of each bowl. Top with some snipped flat parsley you might try adding one or two roast chilli to the pepper for a little extra buzz – Serrano or Jalapeno are good.

 

Potato and Parsley Soup

Omit herbs in the soup.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley to the soup just before blending.

 

Potato and Mint Soup
Omit herbs in the soup.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of spearmint or bowles mint to the soup just before blending. Sprinkle a little chopped mint and a swirl of soft cream over the soup before serving.

 

Potato and Tarragon Soup
Add 1½ tablespoons of tarragon to the soup with the stock. Puree and finish as in the master recipe. Sprinkle a little freshly snipped tarragon over the top of the soup before serving. A zig zag of soft cream is also delicious.

 

Potato, Chorizo and Parsley Soup
We love Fingal Ferguson’s Gubbeen chorizo, so much that we dream up all sorts of ways of using it. The strong hot spicy taste adds lots of oomph to the silky potato soup.

 

18 Slices of chorizo

snipped flat parsley sprigs

 

Omit the herbs in the original recipe. Just before serving cook the slices of chorizo for a minute or two on each side on a non stick pan, oil will render out of the chorizo.

Serve three slices of chorizo on top of each bowl, sprinkle a few flat parsley sprigs on top,  drizzle a little chorizo oil haphazardly over the soup and serve immediately.

 

Potato and Melted Leek Soup

Serve a spoonful of melted leeks on top of each helping of soup. Scatter with snipped chives and chive flowers in season.

 

Potato Soup with Parsley Pesto

One of Rory O’ Connell’s way to embellish potato soup. Drizzle a little parsley pesto  over the top of each bowl just as it goes to the table.

 

 

Ulster Champ

 

Serves 8
 

1.8kg (4 lbs) ‘old’ potatoes eg. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
450g (1 lb) young peas, shelled weight
8 tablespoons chopped parsley
600ml (1pint) milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
50-110g (2-4ozs) butter (traditionally, strong country butter would have been used)
 

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, drain well, dry over the heat in the pan for a few minutes, peel and mash with most of the butter while hot. Meanwhile bring the milk to the boil and simmer the peas until just cooked, 8-10 minutes approx. Add the parsley for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Add the hot milk mixture to the potatoes. Season well, beat until creamy and smooth and serve piping hot with a lump of butter melting in the centre.

 

Potato Wedges with Sweet Chilli Sauce & Sour Cream

 

 

Serves 4
 

1½lbs (680g) rustic roast potatoes (see recipe below)
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Sour cream
 

To Serve
When the rustic roast potatoes are crisp and golden.  Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.  Season with salt.
Serve immediately in a deep bowl with a little bowl of sweet chilli sauce and sour cream on each plate.
 

Note: Deep-fried cooked potato may be used instead.
 

Rustic Roast Potatoes

Serves 4-6

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 230C/450F/regulo 8.   Scrub the potatoes well, cut into quarters lengthways or cut into thick rounds ¾ 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.

Rustic Roast Potatoes with Rosemary

6 – 8 rosemary sprigs

Add a few sprigs of rosemary or some coarsely chopped rosemary with the olive oil and proceed as above.  Serve garnished with fresh sprig of rosemary.

Rustic Roast Potatoes with Garlic Cloves

18 garlic cloves

Proceed as above, add the garlic after the potatoes have been cooking for 10 – 15 minutes. Toss in the oil.  Keep an eye on the garlic cloves, they will probably be cooked before the potatoes, if so remove and keep warm in a serving dish.    

Press the soft sweet garlic out of the skins and eat with the crispy potatoes
 

Hot Tips
 

Samhlaíocht 2008 Easter Arts Festival, Tralee, Co Kerry
Samhlaiocht is actively involved in community based arts projects that involve working with individuals, groups and schools in the organization of cultural and artistic events.

This year’s theme is ‘Planet Earth’ – the festival will include a Multicultural Slow Food Event on Saturday 22/23 March at KDYS, Denny St. Tralee, Co Kerry.  They are seeking food vendors to take stands at the event – for more details contact June Carey or Karen Maunsell, Samhlaiocht, The Old Presbytery,

20 Lower Castle St.

, Tralee, Co Kerry, Tel. 066-7129934

 

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group
Anyone who would like to receive notice of forthcoming Cork Free Choice Consumer Group meetings please contact – Helen McGonigal at hcmg@eircom.net  – unfortunately the email addresses have all been lost due to a computer crash – so those who have been on the mailing list in the past also need to contact Helen.

 

Fairtrade Fortnight 25 February – 9^th March 2008
Recent years have seen a huge growth in support for, and availability for FAIRTRADE Mark products. Much of this support is driven by the activities of volunteers and voluntary groups around Ireland. At the moment there are 61 Fairtrade Towns Committees in Ireland and 31 of them have met the criteria to become Fairtrade Towns.During  Fairtrade Fortnight 2008 many of these groups are organising events in their areas and welcoming producers from developing countries to their towns.  Look out for events in your local area – www.fairtrade.ie 
 

Every restaurant in Ireland will be booked out for dinner on Thursday next, Valentines Day – everyone wants a romantic table for two.  Thousands of courting couples dining a deux, sipping elegant glasses of fizz and staring deeply into each other’s eyes. This causes considerable difficulties for many restaurateurs who have a variety of table sizes.  By the law of averages at least one of the couples will be hoping that the question is popped.   Recalcitrant chaps not eager to take the plunge, may well be dreading this evening’s close encounter, because remember girls this a Leap Year, so if he’s been happily chugging along ‘having his cake and eating it’, well this is your big chance to call his bluff.
Takes quite a bit of courage ‘to propose’, what if he says no, are you ready for the gnawing feelings of rejection?

Such a dilemma but the opportunity won’t come around again for another four years, so if you are desperate to know where you stand, grasp the opportunity, but make sure you enjoy your dinner first!.

For those who can’t swing a prime time restaurant booking there’s another option, if you really want to impress, why not invite your partner around for a simple supper.   Nothing will bring on a proposal faster than the prospect of coming home to a delicious supper every evening.   The aroma of freshly baked bread wafting towards you when you open the hall door is a darn sight more appealing than the smell of charred hamburgers.   Doesn’t matter how ‘drop dead gorgeous’ you are, the way to a man’s heart is through his tummy, as it always was and always will be.   The Africans have a saying that sums it up ‘kissin don’t last, cookin’ do!’.   Sounds a bit corny but there could be something in it.   So whatever about your career, your cool dress sense and make-up skills, allocate a little time to learn to lay a table and cook a few yummy delish comforting dishes.  They don’t have to be fancy and are better not to be too extravagant, otherwise he might decide you’ll be far too expensive to keep!.

Start a little folder and gradually add a few recipes for favourite starters, main courses and puds, easy bread, a few bikkies and one or two cakes.

Choose a reliable cookbook where the recipes are well tested and easy to follow.  Nothing more frustrating than trying a recipe that doesn’t work.

Here’s a nice easy menu that can be prepared ahead so that you can spend maximum time sitting at the table rather than sweating over the stove – after all it must appear effortless and taste sublime.

Bon courage and happy St Valentine’s Day.

 

Hot Tips

 

 

Slow Food and Slow Food Dating presented by Slow Food Limerick and Region

-         choice of two unique gourmet dining evenings.

Gourmet Slow Food Dinner Thursday 21st February and Slow Dating Gourmet Evening Friday 22nd February @ Aubars, Thomas St. Limerick, in partnership with Aubars, Limerick-SpeedDating.com,  Febvre Wines and Limerick now.  Book with Niall and Alex at Aubars 061-317799 or check out www.slowfoodireland.com – Limerick home page or email slowfoodlimerick@gmail.com

 

 

Farming for Conservation Conference – BurrenLIFE

Major International Conference will take place in the Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, Co Clare from 24-27 February 2008.  The Conference which is titled  ‘Farming for Conservation – Supporting the Future’ is the first ever farming for conservation conference in Ireland and will include speakers from Ireland and a number of other European countries.

Full details available on www.burrenlife.com  Limited number of heavily discounted places available to local farmers and 3rd level students.  Bookings through Conference Connections 065-6825200/6825201  info@conferenceconnections.ie

 

Mint Restaurant

Ireland’s best kept secret – Dylan McGrath Chef Patron of Mint Restaurant Awarded Prestigious Michelin Star in 2008 Michelin Guide

In just over one year, 30 year old Belfast born chef, Dylan McGrath of Mint restaurant has pushed all culinary boundaries and gained a reputation for his highly distinctive, signature approach.   Mint Restaurant, 46 Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Tel 01-4978655 info@mintrestaurant.ie

Foolproof Food

Ballymaloe Cheese Fondue

Myrtle Allen devised this Cheese Fondue recipe made from Irish Cheddar cheese. It’s a great favourite at Ballymaloe and even though it’s a meal in itself it may be made in minutes and is loved by adults and children alike. A fondue set is obviously an advantage but not essential.

Serves 2

2 tablesp. white wine

2 small cloves of garlic, crushed

2 teasp. Ballymaloe Tomato Relish or any tomato chutney

2 teasp. freshly chopped parsley

6 ozs (170g) grated mature Cheddar cheese

Crusty white bread

Put the white wine and the rest of the ingredients into a small saucepan or fondue pot and stir. Just before serving put over a low heat until the cheese melts and begins to bubble. Put the pot over the fondue stove and serve immediately with fresh crusty French bread or cubes of ordinary white bread crisped up in a hot oven.

Buttermilk Scones

These scones only takes 2 or 3 minutes to make and 20 minutes to bake.

1 lb (450g) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon  breadsoda

Sour milk or buttermilk to mix – 12-14 fl ozs (350-412 ml) approx.

First fully preheat your oven to 230ºC/450ºF/regulo 8.

Sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre.  Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured worked surface.  WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS.  Tidy it up and flip over gently.  Pat the dough into a round about 1½ inches (2.5cm) deep and cut into scones.  Bake in a hot oven 230C/450F/regulo 8 for 20 minutes approx. 

If you prefer you can leave it whole to make a loaf of white soda bread,  pat it into a round as before and cut a cross on it to let the fairies out! Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure of this. Bake in a hot oven, 230ºC/450ºF/regulo 8 for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/regulo 6 for 30 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

French Peasant Soup

This is another very substantial soup – it has ‘eating and drinking’ in it and would certainly be a meal in itself particularly if some grated Cheddar cheese was scattered over the top.

Serves 6

6 ozs (170g) unsmoked streaky bacon (in the piece)

Olive or sunflower oil

5 ozs (140g) potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch (5mm) dice

2 ozs (55g) onions, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic (optional)

1 lb (450g) very ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced or 1 x 14 oz (400g) tin of tomatoes and their juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½-1 teasp. sugar

1¼ pints (750ml) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

2 ozs (55g) cabbage (Savoy is best), finely chopped

Garnish 

Chopped parsley

Remove the rind from the bacon if necessary. Prepare the vegetables and cut the bacon into ¼ inch (5mm) dice approx. Blanch the bacon cubes in cold water to remove some of the salt, drain and dry on kitchen paper, saute in a little olive or sunflower oil until the fat runs and the bacon is crisp and golden. Add potatoes, onions and crushed garlic, sweat for 10 minutes and then add diced tomatoes and any juice. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Cover with stock and cook for 5 minutes. Add the finely chopped cabbage and continue to simmer just until the cabbage is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Sprinkle with lots of chopped parsley and serve.

Mediterranean Peasant Soup

Add ½ Kabanossi sausage thinly sliced to the soup with the potato.  ¼ lb (110g) cooked haricot beans may also be added with the cabbage at the end for a more robust soup.

Spiced Chicken with Almonds

Serves 6-8

2 lbs (900g) boned chicken, cut into finger-sized pieces (use brown meat)

1 tablesp. coriander seeds

1 tablesp. cumin seeds

2 teasp. ground turmeric

Good pinch cayenne pepper

2 teasp. salt

1 teasp. sugar

4 ozs (110g) onions, roughly chopped

1 inch (2.5cm) piece of fresh ginger root, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 oz (30g) blanched almonds

12 ozs (340g) red pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

5 tablesp. sunflower oil

5 fl ozs (140ml) water

2 tablesp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

First prepare the chicken.  (Remove the skin).

Warm the coriander and cumin seeds separately in a dry pan careful, not to burn (cumin burns more easily)

Grind  in a pestle and mortar. Mix with turmeric, cayenne, salt, sugar, onions, ginger, garlic, almonds and peppers. Whizz in a food processor until smooth. Heat the oil in a saute pan and cook the paste for about 10 minutes until reduced, add the chicken, water and lemon juice. Cover and cook gently for 15 – 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender*.  Serve with pilaff rice.

Note: If you would like a hotter curry, increase the amount of cayenne to 2 teaspoonful.

Brown meat takes longer to cook then white meat. 

Orzo with Fresh Herbs

Orzo looks like fat grains of rice but is in fact made from semolina.   Serve as an accompaniment to a main course or as a base for a pasta salad.

Serves 4

7 ozs (200g) orzo

4 pints (2.3 L) water

1½ teaspoons salt

½ – 1 oz (15-30g) butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)

Bring the water to a fast rolling boil and add the salt. Sprinkle in the orzo, cook for 8-10 minutes* or until just cooked. Drain, rinse under hot water, toss with a little butter. Season with freshly ground pepper and garnish with some chopped parsley.

*Time depends on the type of Orzo.

Green Salad with Honey and Mustard Dressing

Honey and Mustard Dressing

6 fl ozs (150ml) olive oil or a mixture of olive and other oils, eg. sunflower and arachide

2 fl ozs (50ml) wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teasp. honey

2 heaped teasp. wholegrain honey mustard

2 cloves garlic

Mix all the ingredients together and whisk well before use.

Green Salad

You will need a mild lettuce (eg. the common Butterhead) as the basis of the salad and as many of the following as you care to or can put in:

finely chopped Parsley, Mint or any herbs of your fancy, spring onions, dice of cucumber, Mustard and Cress, Watercress, the white tips of cauliflower, tips of purple sprouting broccoli, Iceberg lettuce, Cos, Raddichio, Oakleaf, Chinese leaves, Rocket, Salad burnet, and any other interesting lettuces available.

Wash and dry the lettuces and other leaves very carefully. Tear into bite sized pieces and put into a deep salad bowl. Cover with cling film and refrigerate, if not to be served immediately. Just before serving toss with a little French Dressing – just enough to make the leaves glisten. Serve immediately.

Note: Green Salad must not be dressed until just before serving, otherwise it will be tired and  unappetising.

Passionfruit and Mango Fool with Boudoir Biscuits

1 medium ripe mango (about 11oz/300g flesh after peeling)

4 passion fruit

1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1-2 tablespoons castor sugar

½ pint (300ml) softly whipped cream

Peel the mango, chop the flesh and puree in a food processor.  Put into a bowl, add the passion fruit seeds and juice, add freshly squeezed lime juice and sugar to taste.  Fold in some softly whipped cream to taste.

Serve in a pretty white bowl or martini glass with Boudoir biscuits to dunk.

Jerusalem artichokes are a ‘wonder winter vegetable’. If you plant one you will be rewarded with a terrific crop of 10-15 small misshapen tubers that look a bit like knobbly potatoes.

They are in season from November to late February-early March and if you have a few in your garden you can just dig, wash and cook immediately. If they are out of the earth for longer they usually need to be peeled for soups or purees. They spread like mad and can be left in the ground until March or early April when they begin to soften. The name is somewhat confusing because it is neither an artichoke nor does it come from Jerusalem, its roots are in North America, and according to Jane Grigson in her timeless classic ‘The Vegetable Book’, “ French explorers saw them first in 1605 in Massachusetts, a crop grown by Indians at Nausett Harbour, Cape Cod. One of the party was the great Samuel Champlain, founder of Quebec, who described them in writing of his journeys, as roots ‘with the taste of artichokes’, ie. bottoms of the globe artichokes of Europe. That accounts for the artichoke in the name, though I wouldn’t say the likeness in taste was strong, unless they are dug and eaten immediately.

This new vegetable, held by some to be more suitable for pigs than men, was soon grown abundantly in France, and was recognized as a relative of the sunflower (which had been introduced from the New World some thirty years before), it was another of those plants whose flowerheads twist around with the sun. In 1617 a French merchant in London, John de Franqueville, who was greatly interested in plants and gardens, gave ‘two small rootes’ of artichoke to the English botanist John Goodyer. Goodyer planted them in his garden at Buriton, under the high Hampshire downs), and the two tubers flourished and gave him a peck of roots, ‘wherewith I stored Hampshire’, Goodyer said.

Can’t you imagine de Franqueville telling Goodyer that of course the plant was a girasol (a French as well as an English word), a heliotropium, a turnsol, whose flowers, if it produced any, would turn with the sun; and can’t you imagine Goodyer’s Hampshire neighbours discovering from him in turn that it was a ‘girasol artichoke’ they were planting, a name they quickly changed to ‘Jerusalem artichoke’, which at least sounded satisfactory and intriguing in a vague way, heliotropism and Indians across the water not meaning much to them?”

So why a wonder food, well Professor Cassells of UCC’s Dept of Plant Science, once explained to me that artichokes have the highest inulin content of any vegetable. Inulin helps to keep a healthy gut flora, balances blood sugar and introduces the good bacteria into our systems, it is particularly important after we’ve had a course of antibiotics which kill off all the beneficial bacteria as well as the baddies. They also contain Vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium and are a very good source of iron.

They unquestionably cause flatulence in some people, hence their nickname ‘fartichokes’, but its all to the good!

Now how to prepare and cook them. Jersusalem artichokes can be boiled, baked, stewed, braised, roasted, pan fried or deep fried. Some of the newer varieties like fuseau are quite smooth, but I’m very partial to an old variety that we’ve grown at Ballymaloe for ions. I’ve no idea of the name but the flavour is superb. They can be boiled like potatoes in boiling salted water but take less time. Drain and eat with a little butter or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.

They also roast beautifully, just scrub, split lengthwise or cut into half inch rounds. Toss in a little extra virgin olive oil or duck fat and roast – they’ll take about 20 minutes.

Braising is another delicious way of cooking this versatile root. Peel and slice and pop them into a heavy casserole with just a little melted butter to toss the slices in, season, cover and cook on a gentle heat for 15 minutes or so, then turn off the heat and allow them to continue cooking in the residual heat.

Jerusalem artichokes cook unevenly so this is a good method.

They also make a terrific soup, gratin and of course puree, mash either on their own or mixed with potatoes or other root vegetables. They have a particular affinity with game but are also divine with shellfish, particularly scallops.

Jerusalem artichokes, like parsnips, also make delicious chips but they are very high in sugar so deepfry at 150-160C rather than 200C otherwise they will burn quickly.

From the gardener’s point of view, they grow to a height of five feet and have sunflower like flowers which twist to follow the sun. They can be used to create a hedge or some have used them to make a summer maze or labyrinth.

They are a favourite of pheasants so they are grown as food crops on many estates where they rear birds for shooting.

Interestingly they are complementary flavours – see pheasant with artichokes.

How to prepare – scrub well, peel with a swivel top peeler and drop into acidulated water (water with a dash of vinegar or lemon juice.) Like celeriac, salsify, scorzonera and globe artichokes they tend to discolour as you peel. Cook as soon as possible to preserve the vitamin content.

Roast Jerusalem Artichokes
The winter vegetable is particularly good with goose, duck or pheasant.
Serves 4 to 6

1lb (450g) Jerusalem artichokes, well scrubbed.
2 tablespoons sunflower 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. Leave the artichokes whole or cut in half lengthways, if large. Toss the Jerusalem artichokes with the oil. Season well with salt. Bake in a shallow gratin dish or roasting tin for 20 to 30 minutes. Test with the tip of a knife – they should be mostly tender but offer some resistance. Sprinkle with thyme or rosemary. Season with pepper and serve.

Artichoke Soup with Rosemary – from Grow and Cook by Johann and Tom Doorley
Serves 4

2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
15 Jerusalem artichokes
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
3 tbsp olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
850ml (1½ pints) chicken stock or water
Salt and pepper

Pour the lemon juice or vinegar into a big bowl of water. Quickly peel the artichokes and add to the water and lemon juice to prevent them from turning grey. Gently crush the garlic with the flat of a knife and remove the skin. Peel and slice the onion.

Pour the oil into a wide pot and put it on a medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, rosemary and artichokes. When the contents of the pot start to sizzle, cover with a lid and turn the heat to low. Let them cook away in their own steam, shaking the pot and stirring every 5 minutes or so. If during this time the onion starts to get too dark, add some of the water or stock; you need to let the vegetables colour a little, but not burn.

When the vegetables begin to soften, add half the water or stock and bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until the artichokes are soft. Let the soup cool a little, or add some more of the water or stock. Fish out the rosemary sprigs and puree the contents of the pot.

Return the puree to a clean pot and taste, seasoning as necessary. Thin the soup with the rest of the water or stock, bring back to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Pheasant with Jerusalem Artichokes
Pheasant adore Jerusalem Artichokes, most of the large estates plant a patch specially as a treat for them. It seemed logical to cook them together, and indeed it turns out to be a very good marriage of flavours. Casserole roasting, the cooking method used here is a particularly good way to cook pheasant especially if its not in the first flush of youth.

Chicken or guinea fowl may also be cooked in this manner.

1 plump pheasant
25g (1oz) butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
900g (2lb) Jerusalem artichokes

Garnish
chopped parsley or flat parsley sprigs

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

Smear a little butter on the breast of the pheasant and brown it in the casserole over a gentle heat. Meanwhile, peel and slice the artichokes into 1cm/½ inch pieces, remove the pheasant. Add a little butter to the casserole toss the Jerusalem artichoke slices in the butter. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle maybe a tablespoon of water over the top. Then replace the pheasant tucking it right down into the sliced artichokes so they come up around the sides of the pheasant. Cover with a butter wrapper and the lid of the saucepan.

Cook for a further 1-1¼ hours.

Remove the pheasant as soon as it is cooked, strain and de-grease the cooking liquid if there is need but usually there’s virtually no fat on it. The juices of the pheasant will have flavoured the artichokes deliciously. Arrange the artichokes on a hot serving dish, carve the pheasant into 4 portions and arrange on top.

The artichokes always break up a little – that is their nature. Spoon some juices over the pheasant and artichokes and serve scattered with chopped parsley or flat parsley sprigs.

Braised Jerusalem Artichokes
Serves 4

1 ½ lbs (675g) Jerusalem artichokes
1 oz (30g) butter
1 dessertsp. water
Salt and freshly-ground pepper
Chopped parsley

Peel the artichokes thinly and slice ¼ inch (5mm) thick. Melt the butter in a cast-iron casserole, toss the artichokes and season with salt and freshly-ground pepper. Add water and cover with a paper lid (to keep in the steam) and the saucepan lid. Cook on a low heat or put in a moderate oven, 180°C/350°F/regulo 4, until the artichokes are soft but still keep their shape, 15-20 minutes approx. (Toss every now and then during cooking.)

Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

If cooking on the stove top rather than the oven turn off the heat after 10 minutes approx. – the artichokes will continue to cook in the heat & will hold their shape.

Foolproof Food

Fluffy Lemon Pudding
This is an old fashioned family pudding which separates into two quite distinct layers when it cooks; it has a fluffy top and a creamy lemon base. This is a good time of year for lemons and other citrus fruit so make the most of them.
Serves 4-6

1 ½ ozs (40g) butter
9 ozs (250g) castor sugar
3 ozs (75g) flour
3 eggs (preferably free range)
2 unwaxed lemons
10 fl ozs (300ml) milk

Decoration
icing sugar

1 x 2 pint pie dish

Cream the butter well. Add the castor sugar and beat well. Separate the egg yolks and add one by one, then stir in the flour. Grate the rind of 2 lemons, squeeze and strain it’s juice and add. Lastly add the milk. Whisk the egg whites stiffly in a bowl and fold gently into the lemon mixture. Pour into a pie dish and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4, for 40 minutes approx. Dredge with icing sugar.

Serve immediately with softly whipped cream.

Hot Tips

Cookery Classes at Snugboro 2008

Rory O’Connell teaches Intensive 1 day classes at his home near Ballycotton, Co Cork, private classes or workshops for groups or individuals can of course be organized – corporate groups, friends, hen parties! All will be catered for.

www.rgoconnell.com rory@rgoconnell.com Tel 086-8516917

For anyone who wants to grow organically Bob Flowerdew provides the answers in a brilliantly accessible way in his new book Going Organic published by Kyle Cathie.

His commonsense, practical approach and easy to read style has endeared him to gardeners for over 20 years. He takes the readers through basic gardening techniques, common pitfalls, pest and disease problems and companion planting. A gem to get people started on the magic of growing your own – so get going and I’ll provide the cooking and salad ideas.

The organisers of Slow Food Limerick & Region are planning to offer monthly Slow Food events in 2008, starting on January 26th with Slow Food for Babies. Slow Food for babies will explore the Slow Food options available to young babies and toddlers, with a strong focus on local, fresh produce. How to best answer the nutritional requirements of babies and toddlers and what effect food can have on a child’s development will be the central issues looked at.

The event is kindly sponsored by the Hunt Museum and will take place in the Hunt Museum at 3pm – 4.30pm on Sunday January 27th and all are welcome.

For further information or bookings contact Josephine Page 087 9460490 or josephinepage@hotmail.com

The speakers are Dr Moya Stout, Psychologist and Julie Dargan, Nutritionist.

“Vegetable growing is addictive, what starts as a few herbs on a window sill can end up as a full-blown allotment habit” – so write Tom and Johann Doorley in the foreword of their new ‘Grow and Cook’ cookbook. Just what I want to hear in the first weeks of 2008. One of my many New Year resolutions is to incorporate a ‘grow some little thing’ of your own into each of my columns for 2008. As all good cooks know really yummy food is all about really fresh ingredients, beautiful crinkly Savoy cabbages, earthy carrots and celeriac, curly kale, knobbly Jerusalem artichokes, hardy Swiss chard, are all in season know. There are still a few Brussels sprouts around. Sprats and herrings should be in our waters about now. Look for them and treat yourself and your family to a top up of Omega 3 and anti-oxidants. Tom and Johann Doorley love their live in the country. This book is a diary of what they grow and eat through the months, their successes and learning curves. “Just as there are pessimists and optimists, there are two schools of thought about the month of January. Some of us find it a bit of an anti-climax as life returns to its more mundane rhythms after the excitement of Christmas. Others see the New Year as a fresh start bursting with opportunities”. Tom and Johann often find themselves somewhere in between. January is a month for curling up by the fire with seed catalogues, a time for planning and making lists. We all crave simple comfort food as an antidote to Christmas feasting, maybe chicken noodle soup made with some rich good broth from the turkey carcass. The recipe in Grow and Cook sounds irresistible. By now the Seville and Malaga oranges are in the shops so this is the time of year to make real marmalade. Tom and Johann have included a step by step guide which should be invaluable to those who are making marmalade for the first time. Winter is the citrus fruit season so this is the time of the year to make best use of all that family so you may want to try Tom’s Orange Cake and homemade orangeade. As already mentioned, root vegetables are at their best and cheapest right now so we use them often. The beetroot cake sounded intriguing so you may want to try that if you still have some beetroot. If not, substitute grated carrot in the recipe. Many people complain to me that their children won’t eat vegetables, I guarantee that if they help to grow, chop and cook them there is a much higher chance that they will tuck in. Tom and Johann have succeeded in bringing their kids into the garden and the kitchen, and several delicious recipes in this ‘labour of love’ including the Beetroot Cake and Amy’s Cheesy Bake, have been introduced by the children – quite a feat at a time when a growing number of adults, not to mention children have little or no idea or interest in how their food is produced – is it any wonder that obesity is our fastest growing health problem. ‘Grow and Cook’ by Tom and Johann Doorley is published by Gill & Macmillan.

Up to a couple of years ago those of us who were even mildly concerned about global warming and the environment were considered to be eccentric and alarmist – how could a vast planet be affected by our lifestyles. Sounds incredible, but it unquestionably is, and we are all part of the problem. In the words of Al Gore, ‘it is an inconvenient truth’!How quickly this attitude is changing, one virtually can’t pick up a newspaper or magazine nowadays without being made aware in a myriad of worrying ways of the impact of global warming on our lives – Freak weather, water shortages, melting glaciers, rising sea levels, extinction of species……No matter how blasé one is, we can no longer ignore the scientific evidence. Now that I’m a granny I’m concerned not only about our children’s but also our grandchildren’s future.

Instead of living with gay abandon we would do well to emulate the philosophy of the native Iroquois people of North America who demand of their elders that they only take important decisions after considering the impact it may have on the seventh generation yet to come.

We can all make a difference in our own lives, we need to learn how to live within nature’s limits. Consumer demand for alternatives has meant that retailers, local councils, even governments, are starting to provide alternatives.

The demand for organic food is skyrocketing in the US and the UK and is fast being looked on not as a luxury but as a necessity. Waiting lists for allotments are at an all time high. Sales of herbs and vegetable seeds reached record levels last year as more and more people discover the joy and satisfaction of growing some vegetables or even a few herbs.

Its not just the food business that is responding to the challenge, top clothing designers and some of the world’s best known make-up companies are racing against time in a bid to ‘out-green’ their rivals. Almost overnight its becoming essential for politicians to show leadership on environmental issues.

So what can we do apart from recycling and changing to more energy efficient light bulbs. Well, we can make a decision to buy as much local food as we possibly can. It’ll be fresher, in season and healthier for us. There’s also the feel good factor of putting money back into our local economy, and the knowledge that we are contributing to reversing the decline of rural communities. This will reduce our carbon footprint and have the knock on effect of reducing emissions from ‘food miles’.

Not everyone will be persuaded of course but already young and old are discovering the joy of growing some of their own food, keeping a few hens, the food scraps from the house can be fed to the hens and come back as gorgeous eggs a few days later. The hen manure can go onto the compost to make the soil more fertile to grow healthy nutritious vegetables. How can throwing a ‘ready meal’ into the microwave compare with the joy and satisfaction of preparing a meal made from even some of your own home grown ingredients.

There is already a significant shift in attitude at grass root levels – five young couples in this area are keeping 2 free range pigs again, as well as growing vegetables and keeping hens, others are keeping bees. None are farmers but all are passionate about the food they feed to their families and have a strong desire to create an alternative life style that not only enriches their lives but also has a light carbon footprint.

Those of us who have a lawn or even a window box can grow something if we so choose. After all, 80% of the food grown in the city of Havana is grown within the city of Havana in an urban agriculture system. Cuba was of course forced into that situation initially by the political situation, but we are all, whether we like it or not, going to have to find a way to wean ourselves off our dependence on expensive fossil fuel and explore ways to relocalise our food system.

The enormity of the problem can seem overwhelming but even a small change in how we shop and eat can have profound and far-reaching implications – depending on how we use our energy and spend our food euro, we really can made a huge difference to the planet, our farmers and food producers – lets make this our resolution for 2008.

Happy New Year to all our readers.

Hot tips for a Greener New Year.

Buy ‘LOAF’ – local, organic, animal friendly and fairly traded.

Buy fresh local food rather than imported or processed food.

Avoid buying packaging which cannot be recycled or composted

If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.

Minimise your car journeys – keep yourself well supplied with milk, sugar or whatever you find yourself driving to the shop for.

Only boil as much water in the kettle as you need. (Eco shop stock special kettles for this purpose – see below)

Check out www.ecoshop.ie (currently at Glen of the Downs Garden Centre, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow but moving to Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow early this month) Tel 01-2872914 Email: contact@ecoshop.ie www.ecoshop.ie
Eco friendly and fairly traded, food and drink, babywear, clothes, home and garden needs ,toiletries, cleaning products, pet food, books, stationery and much, much more.

Buy seeds to grow your own –

Brown Envelope Seeds, Ardagh, Church Cross, Skibbereen, Co Cork – 2008 catalogue now available – Tel 028 38184,email: madsmckeever@eircom.net www.brownenvelopeseeds.com

Buy fruit and nut trees –

Irish Seed Savers Association, Apple and Pear Catalogue and seed catalogue available from Irish Seed Savers, Capparoe, Scariff, Co Clare Tel 061-921866 email:

info@irishseedsavers.ie www.irishseedsavers.ie

Woodkerne Nurseries, Gortnamucklagh, Skibbereen, Co Cork – specializing in fruit and nut trees – Tel 028-23384 email:woodkernenurseries@eircom.net

Bareroot trees available at Skibbereen Farmers Market (Saturdays 10-1) Bantry Farmers Market (Fridays 10-3)

Look up The Organic Centre, Rosinver, Co Leitrim for courses and training programmes www.theorganiccentre.ie Tel 071-9854338 info@theorganicentre.ie

Carrot and Cumin Soup

Serves 6 approx.

A little freshly toasted and ground cumin adds a Moroccan flavour to carrot soup.

2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds

45g (1½oz) butter

110g (4oz) onion, chopped

140g (5oz) potatoes, chopped

560g (1lb2oz) carrots, preferably organic, chopped

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

1.1l (2 pints) homemade chicken or vegetable stock

150ml (¼ pint) creamy milk, (optional)

Garnish

A little whipped cream or yoghurt

Freshly ground cumin

Coriander leaves

Heat the cumin seed on a frying pan, just for a minute or two until it smells rich and spicy. Grind in a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan, when it foams add the chopped vegetables and cumin seed. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar and toss until coated. Cover with a butter paper and a tight fitting lid. Allow to sweat gently on a low heat for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables have softened slightly. Remove the lid. Add the boiling stock, increase the heat and boil until the vegetables are soft. Pour into a liquidiser add and puree until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add a little creamy milk if necessary.

Garnish with a blob of whipped cream, natural yoghurt, crème fraiche or sprinkle with a little ground cumin and coriander leaf.

Note: If you would like a more pronounced cumin flavour, increase the amount of cumin seeds to three teaspoons.

Carrot and Coriander Soup

Substitute coriander for cumin in the recipe above.

Curly Kale and its Cousins

Kale is a wonderful vegetable and at this time of year is readily available in the Farmers Markets. Many people are nervous about buying it as they’re not quite sure how to cook it. It is highly nutritious and has cholesterol reducing properties.

Serves 4 approx.

450g (1lb) Curly kale, destalked (290g /10oz approx.) without stalks)

6 pints (3.4 L) water

3 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground pepper and a little grated nutmeg

55g (2oz) butter

125ml (4fl oz) cream

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, (6 pints (3.4L) to 3 teaspoons salt). Add the curly kale and boil uncovered on a high heat until tender; this can vary from 5-10 minutes depending on the weather.

Drain off the water, puree in a food processor, return to the saucepan, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little nutmeg if you fancy.

Add a nice lump of butter and some cream, bubble and taste.

Serve hot.

Potato Tortilla – Tortilla de Patatas

Serves 6-8

In Spain you must understand, Tortilla is not just a dish it’s a way of life. Tortillas or flat omelettes not to be confused with the Mexican tortillas which is a flat bread, are loved by Spaniards and tourists alike. You’ll be offered them in every home, in the most elegant restaurants and the most run down establishments – no picnic would be complete without a tortilla and every tapas bar will have appetising wedges of tortilla on display. People even eat it at the cinema.

Tortilla de Patatas sounds deceptively simple but its not as easy to make to perfection as you might think.

8-9 eggs, free range and organic

14ozs (400g) diced potato (1.5cm)

6ozs (175g) diced onion

3fl oz (75ml) extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

The secret of success is to use enough oil. Put a generous (2.5cm) 1 inch of olive oil into a frying pan. Fry the potatoes and onions in the hot oil for about 5-7 minutes. Add the crushed garlic and cook until the potatoes are golden on the outside and soft in the middle. Drain off the excess oil from the potatoes.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl, add a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the potato and onion mixture. Put 2 tablespoons of oil back into the pan, when it begins to sizzle pour in the egg mixture then lower the heat, when the egg begins to cook, loosen around the edge continue to cook shaking the pan occasionally. When the tortilla is well set and golden underneath, cover the pan with an oiled plate and turn it out, be careful not to burn your hand. Add a little more oil to the frying pan if necessary. Slide the tortilla back in cooked side uppermost. Cook until firm but still slightly moist in the centre. Serve hot or at room temperature cut into wedges.

Yoghurt

Why would you bother to make yoghurt? Well the yoghurt one makes at home with full cream milk is infinitely more delicious, unctuous and nutritionally complex than virtually anything you can buy plus it works out at about half the price and then there is the buzz you get from making your own!!

Yoghurt can be made from fresh milk but it must be thoroughly boiled first, and allowed to cool to lukewarm before use. The boiling is to destroy unwanted bacteria in the milk which could interfere with the bacterial action of the yogurt bacillus.

1pt milk (boiled or sterilized)

2 teasp. Plain yogurt

Warm the milk until lukewarm (or cool it to lukewarm if it has been bottled). Stir in the yogurt. Pour into a bowl or dish and put into a warm draught-free place until set. This usually takes about 14 hours. The cooler the temperature, the slower the yogurt will take, but too great a temperature will kill the bacillus and the yogurt will not form.

Yogurt can be set in a warm airing cupboard or boiler room, a very cool electric oven (set as low as possible) a vacuum flask with a wide neck or an insulated ice bucket. Or it can be made in a bowl set in a in a larger bowl of warm water, standing in the sink with the hot tap dripping steadily into the outer bowl

To keep the water warm, an earthenware pot with a lid, wrapped up in a warm blanket and put near a radiator will also do the job. The simple aim is to provide steady even warmth to allow the bacillus to grow. Remember to keep back 2 teasp. of your bowl of yogurt as the starter of the next lot.

Yoghurt with Honey and Toasted Hazelnuts

This is my favourite dessert when I eat at Isaacs Restaurant in Cork, its so popular they can never take if off the menu. Its delicious for breakfast also.

Home made yoghurt or best quality natural Greek style yoghurt

strongly flavoured local Irish honey

toasted hazelnuts, sliced

Serve a portion of chilled natural yoghurt per person. Just before serving drizzle generously with really good honey and sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts.

Yoghurt with dates, bananas and honey.

Add some chopped dates and sliced banana to the yoghurt and drizzle with honey.

Yoghurt with Honey and Cinnamon

Substitute freshly ground cinnamon for hazelnuts in the above recipe – simple and delicious.

Yoghurt with fresh fruit

Crush some fresh berries in season and fold into homemade or good quality natural yoghurt. Just before serving- you may want to add a little honey or sugar to taste.

Its always a bit of an anti-climax when Christmas is over again for yet another year.  After a few simple suppers around the telly you may feel like blowing away the post-Yule blues by asking a few friends around for nibbles.  Choose 6 or 7 easy bites. Buy a few bottles of Prosecco to add some fizz and sparkle to the evening.  If you are one of the growing number who find they can longer drink the sulphite and chemical laden plonk, you may want to seek out organic wines which spare one the gnawing headache and hangover.  Not all organic wines are memorable either but there are a growing number of really good ones including some of the premier wines where it doesn’t necessarily say on the label that the grapes are grown organically or biodynamically.

Talk to your local wine merchant or contact Mary Pawle at info@marypawlewines.com

Now for the food – it doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious and think tiny portions of your favourite food.    Look into the fridge and see what you can put into a frittata – an 8 egg one will make about 40 squares.  Top each tasty morsel with a half cherry tomato and a fresh mint or basil leaf, filling and delish.

Frank Hederman’s smoked mussels or a fat prawn on little rounds of brown bread with a rosette of mayo and a sprig of flat parsley will also disappear in double quick time.

Cherry tomato lollipops on satay sticks are fun, so easy to make.

Icky sticky chicken wings are cheap and cheerful and moreish.  Provide lots of finger bowls and napkins.   Crispy Yorkshire puds with rare roast beef, horseradish cream and rocket leaves will vaporize off the serving platters.   Prosciutto wrapped grissini are easy as pie and will keep people nibbling.

Slow toasted almonds sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.  Roasted hazelnuts with thyme or chilli nuts are also irresistible.
Its also a terrific idea to serve soup, you’ll need lots of espresso cups that hold two or three mouthfuls, serve the soup early on so it lays down a good foundation.  Virtually anything can be served as a canapé provided you have suitable vehicle to serve it on.  Chinese teaspoons are perfect for mouthfuls of stew, tagine, or other saucy concoctions.

Shot glasses are perfect for oyster shooters or cold soups.  Pacific oyster shells make perfect receptacles for other tasty morsels.

Marks & Spencers have pastry spoons that are fun to use as bases and little tartlets are widely available.  There are a myriad of tasty fillings one can use, both sweet and savoury.  Experiment, taste and when you and your friends go ‘wow’ stick to that.

Variety and balance are essential.  If the situation allows, serve both hot and cold canapés, and balance meat dishes with vegetarian.

Attractive serving platters make serving easy and look good – you can use china, plastic, rushes, baskets, sushi and split cane mats, slate and galvanized tin plates.  Be careful that they are not too heavy or you’ll will be exhausted from carting them around.  Balsa wood circular boxes that large bries are sold in are also terrific. Virginia creeper leaves, vine leaves and even fig leaves are also very effective.  Now that we have a banana tree in the garden, we love to serve finger food on its shiny, green leaves.

Don’t forget to provide cocktail sticks, serviettes and suitable containers for your guests to discreetly deposit their used cocktail sticks, bones and pips into.

At a drinks party, start by serving savoury canapés with your cocktails, wine or champagne.  About two-thirds of the way through the evening, you may want to switch to a good dessert wine and replace your savoury selection with sweet canapés such as petits fours, little lemon tartlets and glazed strawberries.

There are always the delicious if predictable, goat cheese, sundried tomato, olive and basil leaf or pesto, but why not be a little more adventurous, cold scrambled egg with chives and a sliver of smoked eel or smoked mussel with mayonnaise and rocket leaves, Medjool date with cream cheese and pancetta……..

Don’t forget to serve lots of sparkling water and a home made lemonade, apple juice or elderflower cordial with sparkling water.  The bubbles will compensate for the lack of alcohol.   Have fun!

Thai Chicken on Chinese Spoons with a Leaf of Fresh Coriander

 

Makes 30

 

Serve on Chinese porcelain spoons

 

450g (1lb) skinless and boneless chicken breasts

50g (2oz) butter

40g (1 1/2oz) fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 teaspoon green peppercorns

1 stalk of lemon grass, finely chopped

2 red chillies, finely chopped

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

400ml (14fl oz) coconut milk (we use Chaokoh brand)

2 teaspoons freshly chopped coriander leaves

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

30 Chinese spoons

 

Cut the chicken in 30 even sized cubes. Heat 25g (1oz) of the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the chicken pieces until lightly browned on all sides.

Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan, sauté the ginger, garlic, peppercorns, lemon grass and chillies. Add the lime juice and ground coriander. Gradually stir in the coconut milk, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the chicken pieces, continue to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the coriander leaves and season to taste. *

Serve on porcelain Chinese spoons with a coriander leaf on top of each one.

 

* May be prepared ahead to this point.

 

 

Tomato and Coconut Milk Soup with Coriander Leaves

 

Tinned tomatoes and coconut milk are must have store cupboard ingredients. This soup can be made in a few minutes or well ahead and frozen

 

Serves 6

 

1 small onion, finely chopped

10g (1/2oz) butter

850ml (1.5 pints) homemade tomato purée or 2 x 400g (14oz) tins of tomatoes, liquidized and sieved

1 x 400g (14oz) tin of coconut milk (we use Chaokah brand)

250ml (9fl oz) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander leaves

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

 

Garnish

crème fraîche

fresh coriander leaves

 

Sweat the onion in the butter on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured.  Add the tomato purée (or chopped tinned tomatoes plus juice), coconut milk and homemade chicken or vegetable stock.  Add the chopped coriander, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.  Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Liquidize, taste and dilute further if necessary. Bring back to the boil and correct seasoning.  Garnish with a tiny blob of crème fraîche and some coriander leaves.

*Tinned tomatoes need a surprising amount of sugar to counteract the acidity.

* Fresh milk cannot be added to the soup – the acidity in the tomatoes will cause it to curdle

Note: This soup needs to be tasted carefully as the final result depends on the quality of the homemade purée, stock etc.

For a drinks party serve in espresso cups with tiny bread sticks.

 

 

Peppered Beef Yorkshire Puds with Rare Roast Beef and Horseradish Sauce and Rocket Leaves

 

We use Maldon or Halen mon sea salt

 

Makes 28 approx.

 

4oz (110g) plain flour

2 eggs, preferably free-range

½ pint (300ml) milk

½ oz (15g) butter, melted

 

Horseradish Sauce 

 

2 x 5 ozs (150g) sirloin steaks

 

black peppercorns

sea salt

extra virgin olive oil

 

Rocket or flat parsley leaves

1 tray of 1¾ inch (4.5cm) bun tins

 

Sunflower oil for greasing tins

 

Sieve the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre of the flour, drop in the eggs.  Using a small whisk or wooden spoon, stir continuously, gradually drawing in flour from the sides, adding the milk in a steady stream at the same time.  When all the flour has been incorporated whisk in the remainder of the milk and cool melted butter.  Allow to stand for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/regulo8.  Heat the patty tins in the oven, grease with sunflower oil and fill a – 2 full with batter.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until crisp, golden and bubbly. 

Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

 

Heat the pan grill.  Crack the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar.  Drizzle the steaks with extra virgin olive oil.  Dip each side in the cracked peppercorns.  Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt.  Cook the steaks to medium rare, allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

 

To Serve

Warm the Yorkshire puddings if necessary.  Fill each with a tiny blob of Horseradish Sauce.  Top with a thin sliver of rare to medium rare peppered beef. 

Garnish with a sprig of flat parsley or a rocket leaf.  Serve soon – best freshly cooked.

 

 

 

 

Cherry Tomato Lollipops

 

Fun, delicious and easy to make

 

Makes 20

 

20 sweet cherry tomatoes

Tapenade – about 4 tablespoons

Or

Basil Pesto

 

Fresh basil leaves

20 bocconcini

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

 

20 satay sticks

 

Cut a slice off the top of each tomato.

Scoop out the seeds with a melon baler.  Turn upside down to drain.

Drain the bocconcini.

Put into a bowl.   Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.   Drizzle sparingly with extra virgin olive oil and add some freshly chopped parsley.

 

To assemble:

Spoon a little tapenade or pesto into each cherry top.

Top with a drained bocconcini.

Secure the two by sticking a cocktail stick up from the base of the tomato.  They are easy to serve and look great.

Stand in a tall glass or galvanized flower pot.

Provide paper napkins for drips.

 

 

Smoked Salmon, Leek and Dill Frittata

 

Makes 40 servings for nibbles  or will serve 6-8 as a main course.

 

1 oz butter

2 medium leeks, thinly sliced

8 free range eggs

2-3 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

(25g)1 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

1 teaspoon salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

175-225g (6-8 ozs) smoked salmon, cut into dice

 

1  x 9” (23cm) non-stick pan

 

Melt the butter in a sauté pan.  Add the finely sliced leeks, toss.  Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 4-5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave to continue cooking while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Whisk the eggs, add the chopped dill and grated cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked leeks.  Melt a little more butter

in the non-stick frying pan.  When it foams, add the egg mixture, reduce the heat to minimum.  Sprinkle the smoked salmon over the top and allow to sink into the egg mixture.  Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes until almost cooked.

Meanwhile preheat the grill.  Flash under the grill until the top is puffed and golden.  Turn out onto a warm plate and serve hot, warm or at room temperature with a good green salad.

 

Foolproof Food

 

Smoked Mussels with Home-made Mayonnaise

 

Brown Soda Bread or Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread

Butter

Lollo rosso or rocket leaves

Home made mayonnaise

 

Smoked mussels

 

Stamp out 1½ inch (4cm) rounds of bread.  Spread with a little butter, put a little Lollo rosso or rocket on top and a blob of home-made Mayonnaise.  Sit one or two smoked mussels on the Mayonnaise and garnish with a sprig of chervil. 

 

 

Roasted Almonds

Whole unpeeled almonds

 

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

Put the almonds dry onto a baking sheet, and roast until golden and crisp, 10-15 minutes.  Toss in olive oil and sea salt, cool.  Try not to the eat lot!

 

Lemon Curd Starlets

 

Makes 24

 

Sweet shortcrust pastry

 

Home-made Lemon Curd  (see recipe)

 

1-2 shallow non-stick bun trays.

2½ inch round or 3½ inch star-shaped cutter

 

Make the pastry as directed in the recipe.

Cover and chill for at least one hour, better still make the pastry the day before.

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

 

Roll the pastry out thinly and stamp into rounds or star shapes. Use to line the bun trays.

Put a small teaspoon of lemon curd into the tartlets and bake for 14-18 minutes until the pastry is just lightly golden.

Or alternatively you may bake the empty tartlets (no need to use beans). Allow them to cool. Then put in a spoon of lemon curd.

They are delicious both ways, see which you prefer.

 

Lemon Curd

Makes 2 jars

 

Tangy delicious lemon curd can be made in a twinkling, use it to fill tartlets, smear it over a sponge, or onto fresh bread, buttery scones or meringues.

 

2 ozs (55g) butter

4ozs (110g) caster sugar

Finely grated rind and juice of 2 good lemons, preferably organic

2 free-range eggs and 1 egg yolk (keep white aside for meringue)

 

On a very low heat melt the butter, add castor sugar, lemon juice and rind and then stir in the well beaten eggs. Stir carefully over a gentle heat with a straight ended wooden spoon until the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Draw off the heat and pour into a bowl or sterilized jar (it will thicken further as it cools.)

Cover when cold and store in the refrigerator.  Best eaten within a week or a fortnight.

 

Glazed Strawberries

To be served as a petit four or as a garnish on dessert plates or cakes.

 

 

Strawberries  (unhulled) or

you could also any of the following -cherries with their stalks, grapes, segments of tangerine or clementine or physalis  (cape gooseberry)

 

8 ozs (225g) sugar

4 fl ozs (125 ml) water

 

This amount of syrup would glaze about 1lb of fruit – eg 8oz (225g) strawberries, 4oz (110g) physalis and 4oz  (110g) grapes.

 

Dissolve sugar in the water in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Bring to the boil and cook to a light caramel. Carefully dip the fruits into the caramel to glaze them lightly. Put them immediately onto silicone paper or onto an oiled surface where the glaze will set hard. Keep in a dry place and serve in individual petit four cases within an hour.

 

 

 

Hot Tips

 

Centre for Adult Continuing Education, University College Cork

For full 2008 course programme contact Tel 021-4902301 or email: ace@ucc.ie www.ace.ucc.ie

One of the courses being offered will be a unique course in Ireland’s food culture –

A Little History of Irish Food – a 10 week course delivered by Regina Sexton, food historian, journalist and lecturer.

 

Baileys Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year 2007 –

Congratulations to Ian Ussher, chef de partie at Bank Café on Dublin’s Merrion Row – the 21-year old chef from Tallaght beat four other finalists to win Ireland’s toughest and most prestigious culinary competition which took place recently at Dublin’s Four Seasons Hotel.   Now in its 18^th Year, the Baileys Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year competition represents the best establishments and emerging chefs in the country, open to chefs under the age of 25.

 

Good Things Café and Cookery School, Durrus, West Cork

Course programme for 2008 now available –

Tel 027-61426, info@thegoodthingscafe.com   www.thegoodthingscafe.com

How about a little Christmas Eve supper around the fire, something light and delicious and not too time consuming to make. Just one course of something comforting to soothe frayed nerves. Wouldn’t it be lovely to tuck into a pie – I adore Ballycotton Fish Pie, or a Shepherd’s Pie with a blob of garlic butter melting onto the crispy potato topping, or maybe Babotie, the spicy South African version of Shepherd’s Pie. Easier still, a bubbly Macaroni Cheese with lots of Dan Hegarty’s mature cheddar cheese melting into the sauce.

Quesadillas are really quick to make, this recipe has a pumpkin filling but you can use whatever you like or have to hand.

A good green salad made up of winter greens like Arctic green lettuce, curly kale, finely shredded Savoy cabbage and watercress, with a honey and mustard dressing would be so welcome. A plate of green salad has the magical effect of making you feel less full so you have room for pudding or a piece of delicious Irish farmhouse cheese.

Membrillo or quince paste is one of my favourite accompaniments with cheese, Medjool dates and those plump Turkish figs on raffia string also make irresistible nibbling. Lots of sweet clementines, a Panforte di Siena, and a Panettone (the light Italian Christmas confection) are worth having as a standby, as is a Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese.

If you just feel like a snack and a glass of wine, this unctuous creamy cheese hidden under the rumpled crust, is heaven on a cracker and totally stress-free.

I had this wonderful light Christmas pudding at a friend’s house the other night, the recipe comes from ‘Delia Smith’s Christmas’, trust Delia to come up trumps again. You may not wish to eat it on Christmas Eve if you are having Plum Pudding again next day, but if you haven’t got around to making a pudding it would fit the bill!

We wish you a peaceful and convivial Christmas.

Hot Tips

 

Vacherin Mont d’Or – available from Iago and On the Pigs Back in Cork’s English Market, Sheridans Cheesemongers in Dublin and Galway, Peter Ward in Nenagh, Urru in Bandon and Mallow.

 

Greatfood2buy.com – new fine food shop opened in every town in Ireland –

Gourmands countrywide now have access to a well stocked, specialist ingredients outlet and gift food online shop which delivers direct to their door anywhere in Ireland.  It explains what each item is like and even suggests how it may be used.  They also do gift vouchers.

 

Morrin O’Rourke Farm Foods, Kilcock, Co Kildare

Certified organic farm foods – beef, lamb and vegetables.   Delicious meat pies,(nicest bite I’ve had in a long time), breads, jams, chutneys, sauces and other seasonal treats.  Their philosophy is ‘the best life for all involved’ – humans and animals.   Tel 086-3208940 or email morrinoh@yahoo.ie

 

Quesadillas with Pumpkin,Wicklow Blue and Rocket Leaves

 

 

Serves 8

 

 

16 flour tortillas

750g (1¾lb) pumpkin or butternut squash

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teasp. fresh thyme leaves

100g (3½oz) mature cheddar, grated

125g (4½oz) soft blue cheese, eg Wicklow Blue, crumbled

125g (4½oz) mozzarella, grated

 

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas6

 

 

 

Halve, deseed and peel the pumpkin, dice the flesh.   Transfer to a baking tray, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a teaspoon of thyme leaves.

Roast in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Heat a wide heavy iron or wide non-stick pan on a medium heat, pop a flour tortilla into the pan.  Sprinkle on a little grated cheddar.  Top with a layer of roasted pumpkin and a liberal scattering of crumbled blue cheese and mozzarella.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Top with some fresh rocket leaves.   Press the other tortilla down, the underneath should be lightly browned by now, so turn over and continue to cook for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to ooze.   Slide onto a timber board, cut into quarters or eighths and pass around immediately.  

 

Babotie

 

Serves 8-10

 

This South African recipe was given to us by Alicia Wilkinson from Silwood Kitchens in Capetown.

 

generous 30ml (1fl oz) oil

4 tablespoons butter

450g (1lb) lamb, freshly minced

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

110g (4oz) grated carrot

 

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2½ teaspoons ground ginger

3 teaspoons finely chopped fresh herbs

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cinnamon

sugar to taste – 1 teaspoon approx.

a piece of red chilli

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

15g (½oz) almonds, chopped

some lemon leaves or 2 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind

generous 15ml (2½fl oz) wine vinegar

2 x 2.5cm (1inch) slices of sandwich loaf, soaked in water, drained and squeezed dry

 

Topping

250ml (9fl oz) buttermilk

2 large eggs, free-range and organic

salt and freshly ground pepper

2½ teaspoons turmeric

seasoning

 

Heat the butter and oil, add onion and garlic and cook until soft.  Add mince and stir well, add grated carrot, spices, chilli, seasoning, chopped almonds and lemon rind.     Stir well and continue to cook until the flavours mingle.   Stir in the soaked and squeezed bread, and the wine vinegar.  Mix well, taste and correct seasoning.

Put the meat into a shallow rectangular baking dish and smooth over.  

Whisk all the ingredients together for the topping, check the seasoning and strain over the meat.  Bake at once in a pre-heated oven 180C/350F/gas 4 until topping is set and golden.

 

 

Ballycotton Fish Pie 

Serves 6-8

 

Many different types of really fresh fish may be used for a fish pie, so feel free to adapt this recipe a little to suit your needs. Periwinkles would be a good and cheap addition and a little smoked haddock is tasty also.

 

2½ lbs (1.25kg) fillets of cod, haddock, ling, hake, salmon or pollock or a mixture, skinned

 

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pint (600ml) full cream milk and a very little cream (optional)

1-2 slices onion

3 or 4 slices of carrot

1 small bay leaf

a sprig of thyme

3 peppercorns

 

18 cooked mussels (optional)

roux made with 1 oz (30g) butter and 1 oz (30g) flour

 

4 hard boiled eggs

½ oz (15g) butter

4oz (120g) onion, chopped

6 ozs (170g) sliced mushrooms, preferably flat

2 tablesp. chopped parsley

2 lbs (900g) fluffy mashed potato or Champ

 

Accompaniment

Parsley and anchovy or Garlic butter (optional)

 

Cut the fish into 5-6 oz (140-170g) chunks.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Put the onion, carrot, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns into the milk, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. Strain.  (This step is optional but adds extra flavour to the milk).

Wash the mussels (if using), put into a shallow pan in a single layer, cover and cook over a medium heat just until the shells open – 3 or 4 minutes approx. Cool.

Meanwhile, hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes in boiling salted water, cool and shell.

Sweat the onion in a little melted butter on a gently heat until soft but not coloured, remove to a plate.

Increase the heat, sauté the sliced mushrooms in the hot pan, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add to the onions. Put the fish into a wide sauté pan or frying pan, in a single layer, cover with the flavoured or plain milk.

Don’t use more than 4 ozs of smoked haddock unless you want the smoky flavour to predominate. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and simmer gently until the fish is just cooked – no more than 3-4 minutes.

Remove the fish carefully with a slotted spoon, carefully removing any bones or skin.

Bring the liquid to the boil and thicken with roux  (see recipe), add a little cream (optional) and the chopped parsley, roughly chopped hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, onions, chunks of fish and the mussels. Stir gently, taste and correct the seasoning.

Spoon into 1 large or 6-8 small dishes and pipe fluffy mashed potato or Scallion Champ on top.    The pie may be prepared ahead to this point.

To reheat, put into a moderate oven 180C/350F/regulo 4 for 10-15 minutes approx. if the filling and potato are warm, or 30 minutes approx. if reheating the dish from the cold. Flash under the grill if necessary to brown the top.

Serve with Garlic butter or Parsley butter.

 

Roux

 

4 ozs (110 g) butter

4 ozs (110 g) flour

 

Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.  Use as required.  Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred.  It will keep at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.

 

Foolproof Food

Parsley Butter

 

2 ozs (55g) butter

4 teasp. finely chopped parsley

Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

Cream the butter, then stir in the parsley and a few drops of lemon juice at the time. Roll into butter pats of form into a roll and wrap in greaseproof paper or tin foil, screwing each end so that it looks like a cracker. Refrigerate to harden.

To serve: Remove the tin foil and cut into 3 inch (5mm) slices.

 

Garlic Butter

 

2 ozs (55g) butter

4 teaspoons parsley, finely chopped

2-3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

 

Cream the butter, stir in the parsley and a few drops of lemon juice at a time.  Add the crushed garlic.  Roll into butter pats or form into a roll and wrap in greaseproof paper or tinfoil, screwing each end so that it looks like a cracker.  Refrigerate to harden.

 

Winter Green Salad with Honey and Mustard Dressing

For this salad, use a selection of winter lettuces and salad leaves, e.g. Butterhead, Iceberg, Raddichio, Endive, Chicory, Watercress, Buckler leaf, Sorrel, Rocket leaves and Winter Purslane Mysticana.  Tips of purple sprouting broccoli are also delicious and if you feel like something more robust, use some finely-shredded Savoy cabbage and maybe a few shreds of red cabbage also. 

 

 

Honey and Mustard Dressing

 

6 fl ozs (150ml) olive oil or a mixture of olive and other oils, eg. sunflower and arachide

2 fl ozs (50ml) wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teasp. honey

2 heaped teasp. wholegrain honey mustard

2 cloves garlic

 

Mix all the ingredients together and whisk well before use.

 

Wash and dry the lettuces and other leaves very carefully in a large sink of cold water.  If large tear into bite sized pieces and put into a deep salad bowl.  Cover with cling film and refrigerate if not to be served immediately.  Just before serving toss with a little dressing – just enough to make the leaves glisten.  Serve immediately.

 

Note:  Green Salad must not be dressed until just before serving, otherwise it will be tired and unappetising.

 

Macaroni Cheese

 

Serves 6

 

Macaroni cheese is one of my children’s favourite supper dishes. We often add some cubes of cooked bacon or ham to the sauce with the cooked macaroni.

 

8 ozs (225g) macaroni

6 pints (3.4L) water

2 teaspoons salt

 

2 ozs (55g) butter

2 ozs (55g) white flour, preferably unbleached

1½ pints (850ml) boiling milk

3 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon  freshly chopped parsley, (optional)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

5 ozs (145g) grated mature Cheddar cheese (We use our local Cheddar which is made at Mitchelstown and matured at Imokilly Creamery)

 

1 x 2 pint (1.1L) capacity pie dish

 

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the salt. Sprinkle in the macaroni and stir to make sure it doesn’t stick together. Cook until just soft, 10-15 minutes approx. drain well.

Meanwhile melt the butter, add in the flour and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes.  Remove from the heat. Whisk in the milk gradually; bring back to the boil, stirring all the time. Add the mustard, parsley if using and cheese, season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Add the cooked macaroni, bring back to the boil, taste, correct seasoning and serve immediately.

Macaroni cheese reheats very successfully provided the pasta is not overcooked in the first place, it is very good served with cold meat particularly ham.

 

Top Tip: Macaroni soaks up an enormous amount of sauce.  Add more sauce if making ahead to reheat later.

Macaroni Cheese with Smoked Salmon

Add 4 ozs (110 g) of smoked salmon pieces to the macaroni cheese.

 

Macaroni Cheese with Mushrooms and Courgettes

Add 8 ozs (225 g) sliced sautéed mushrooms and 8 ozs (225 g) sliced courgettes cooked in olive oil with a little garlic and marjoram or basil and add to the Macaroni cheese.  Toss gently, turn into a hot serving dish and scatter with grated cheese – delish.

 

Light Christmas Pudding

 

Serves 8

 

6oz (175g) self-raising flour, sifted

Pinch of salt

4oz (110g) butter, softened

4oz (110g) soft light brown sugar

1 medium cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped small

2 eggs, size 1

3 rounded tablespoons mincemeat

â…“ teaspoon ground mace

1 teaspoon lemon juice

The grated zest of 1 small orange

The grated zest of 1 small lemon

2 pieces whole candied orange peel

2 pieces whole candied lemon peel

1 piece candied citron peel

 

2 pint (1.2litre) pudding basin – rounded-based sort is best

 

 

Prepare the basin by buttering it lightly and arranging the candied peel in the base.  First snip the citron peel into ½ inch (1cm) strips and arrange these in an overlapping circle in the centre of the base of the basin; you need something that resembles a flower.  Then, using a sharp pair of scissors, snip the whole candied peels lengthways into strips, but leaving the end intact.  Imagine five fingers attached to a hand and you’ve got it.  Now arrange these around the ‘flower’, spreading out the strips as much as possible.

Now, for the pudding, simply beat the sugar and butter with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is pale and creamy and drops off a spoon easily with a sharp tap.  Then beat the eggs in a jug and add these a minute amount at a time, whisking well after each addition.  When all the liquid egg is incorporated carefully fold in the sifted flour, mace and salt, followed by the lemon juice, grated lemon and orange zest, chopped apple and finally the mincemeat.

Now spoon the mixture into the basin, being careful to leave your artistic arrangement intact.   Tie a double piece of pleated foil on to the basin, place it in a steamer over boiling water and steam for 2½ hours.

If you are not using it immediately, allow it to get completely cold. Turn it out, wrap it well and freeze till needed.  Take it out of the freezer the night before you want to use it.

Re-steam for 1½ hours and serve with Brandy butter, Mrs Hanrahan’s Sauce, softly whipped cream or Hot Punch Sauce as Delia suggests.

 

Hot Punch Sauce

 

This sauce can be made well in advance, as long as you re-heat it gently and don’t let it boil.

 

10fl.oz (275ml) water

2oz (50g) caster sugar

The thinly pared outer rind of ½ medium orange

The thinly pared outer rind of ½ large lemon

The juice of 1 medium orange

The juice of 1 large lemon

6 fl.oz(175ml) dry sherry (or medium would do)

2 tablesp. rum

2 tablesp brandy

1 rounded dessertspoon plain flour and 3oz (75g) unsalted butter worked together into a paste.

 

Measure the water into a small saucepan, then cut the thinly pared orange and lemon rind into tiny shreds.  Add them to the water along with the sugar, then gently bring the mixture up to simmering point and simmer gently for 20 minutes.   Meanwhile, squeeze the orange and lemon juice into a bowl, and measure out the sherry, rum and brandy to join it.  As soon as the 20 minutes are up, whisk the butter and flour paste into the contents of the saucepan.  Bring back to simmering point, still whisking until the sauce has thickened.

Now, keeping the heat very low, add the alcohol and fruit juices and, stirring gently, allow everything to become very hot without coming to the boil.

Serve some sauce spooned over each portion of pudding and hand the rest around separately.