Mary Jo McMillin, our lovely American friend from Chicago returned again this year to spend a few weeks here with us in Ireland. She has been coming for over 40 years. It’s scarcely the best time of the year to holiday in Ireland but she loves this country in hail, rain or snow, even during the crazy storms.
Mary Jo loves to cook and came originally to learn from Myrtle Allen at Ballymaloe House. She loved Myrtle and her philosophy of writing a menu everyday depending on what food was in season and at its best in the walled garden and local area.
Later, she started her own restaurant ‘Mary Jo’s Cuisine’ in the University town of Oxford in Ohio. Now in her 80s, she still loves to cook, continues to test and develop recipes and is an example to all of us in how she can create so many utterly delicious dishes from bits and bobs from the fridge and sometimes a selection of leftovers. We look forward to every bite she cooks and there’s zero waste.
She’s an example to all of us in how she thinks of ways to use up scraps of this and that.
This Boston baked beans and the choucroute garni were cooked in the time-honoured way in the bread oven as it gradually cooled down after the morning bake, maximising the heat. You can’t imagine how unctuous and delicious they tasted.
The Egyptian recipe for Mujadarah was also a gem but I’ll share that another time. Both these comforting Winter dishes reheat brilliantly and are perfect to share with friends for a kitchen supper.
The tuiles were made from leftover egg whites – you absolutely must make them, they keep well and are irresistible,
The redcurrant panna cotta was made from the end of a bag of last season’s redcurrants from the freezer.
Mary Jo also tested this
recipe with blackcurrants, it too was delicious, but we liked this redcurrant
version best and it can of course be made a day or two ahead if you are having
friends around. Thank you, Mary Jo, for the joy you bring to all of us by
sharing your recipes.
Mary Jo’s Choucroute Garni
A whole meal in a pot, one of the most comforting and delicious cold weather recipes
Serves 4
450g fresh sauerkraut
2 thick strips bacon, smoked if possible
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1 stick celery, diced
1 small cooking apple, peeled and diced
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
branch thyme
bay leaf
110ml white wine
225ml chicken stock as needed
Assorted chunky sausages, perhaps saucisse de Toulouse or Tuscan sausages, even a little scrap of chorizo and a piece of smoked pork or a pork shoulder chop if available.
Drain the sauerkraut and rinse only if very salty.
Dice the bacon into 1cm pieces and melt off the fat in a heavy Le Creuset dish. Remove the bacon and in the pork fat, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, apple and garlic until softened. Stir in the sauerkraut, add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the smoked pork, shoulder chop; cover with parchment paper and lid and gently simmer or bake in a slow oven at 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for an hour.
Brown the sausages and add
to the dish and continue to slowly cook covered for another 25-60
minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes.
Mary Jo’s Boston Baked Beans
THE very best baked beans you’ll ever taste and such a joy to tuck into on a chilly day.
Serves 6-8
225g haricot or other small white beans
1 clove garlic
¼ tbsp olive oil
110-150g streaky bacon, smoked if possible and diced into 1cm pieces
1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
25g dark brown sugar
¾ tbsp molasses OR 2 teaspoons of treacle
¾ tbsp cider vinegar
pinch cayenne
1 tsp dry mustard
110g tomato purée (blitzed tinned tomatoes may be used if you don’t have tomato purée in your freezer)
salt
Wash and soak the beans overnight. Drain and discard the soaking water, place in a saucepan or pressure cooker with fresh water, add the garlic and olive oil. Cook until almost tender, 10-15 minutes. Reserve the cooking liquid.
Meanwhile, gently sauté the bacon; add the onion, garlic and sauté until tender.
Combine the bacon, onion, garlic, brown sugar, molasses or treacle, cider
vinegar, cayenne, mustard and tomato purée plus salt. This should be a soupy
mixture. Place all in a deep baking dish. Cover and slowly cook in the oven at
150°C/Gas Mark 2 for 3-4 hours. Uncover for the final hour. (Mark sure the
beans are meltingly tender before removing the cover).
Mary Jo’s Redcurrant Panna Cotta
Mary Jo made this for a little bag of frozen redcurrants she retrieved in the freezer, but of course fresh redcurrants would be delicious even if they have come from as far away as South America at this time of the year!
Serves 6 small portions
225g redcurrants or blackcurrants (may use frozen)
80g caster sugar
225g cream
1 ½ gelatine sheets softened in cold water
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp kirsch (optional)
Combine the currants and sugar in a bowl and allow to macerate for 30 minutes.
In a medium saucepan. Add the cream and macerated currants and heat to the ‘shivery’ stage or until the mixture feels hot to your little finger (60°C) – crush a little with a potato masher. Add the strained, softened gelatine leaves, stir and set aside for 30 minutes.
Press through a sieve pushing through most of the berries. Stir in the vanilla extract and optional teaspoon of Kirsch and chill in a glass bowl. Serve with Almond Tuiles (see recipe).
Mary Jo’s Almond Tuiles
Makes 120-140 approx. depending on size
110g butter
110ml egg whites
375g caster sugar
75g plain flour
225g sliced almonds (flaked almonds)
Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan)/Gas Mark 6.
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Cool slightly. Stir in the egg whites, sugar and flour, add the sliced almonds and fold in to combine.
Drop by half teaspoons onto Silpat mats or parchment lined baking sheets.
Make sure the cookies are well separated. Bake in the preheated oven (180°C fan preferably) for 8-10 minutes or until golden. The cookies will be very thin and crisp.