AuthorDarina Allen

Let yourself dream of your absolutely favourite dinner…What might it be?
Which dishes would you ask your mum to cook specially for you when you’re coming home from abroad or from college at the weekend?
Chances are, for many of us it’s a roast dinner and an apple tart.
Roast stuffed chicken with all the trimmings is right up there, lots of crispy roasties, maybe glazed carrots and tons of tasty gravy. Or maybe it’s roast lamb, a deliciously burnished leg of lamb, sprinkled with flaky sea salt or maybe spiked with little tufts of rosemary and slivers of garlic. I particularly love a shoulder that’s roasted slowly to melting tenderness so the meat can be lifted gently in tender chunks off the bone with tongs. Lots of gravy too and mint chutney, mint jelly or a simple mint sauce. Made with freshly chopped mint, about 25g, add 1 tablespoon sugar, 110ml of boiling water and 25ml of white wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice – made in a twinkling and so good with lamb. Redcurrant jelly is another favourite accompaniment.
I’m very partial to a gratin of potatoes and mushrooms with lamb, a brilliant dish which can be made ahead and reheats beautifully, the perfect stand-alone dish for a vegetarian also.
Who doesn’t love a roast loin or succulent belly of pork with irresistible crunchy crackling.
Bramley apple sauce is my favourite with this, comforting and old-fashioned but so good. Just peel and core the apples (450g) and chop coarsely, add 1-2 dessertspoons of water and 50g of sugar (or more depending on the tartness of the apples), cover and pop onto a medium heat. The apples will break down into a fluff, all you’ve got to do is stir. Hey presto – apple sauce!
Bramley apples, now in season are best, with their bittersweet flavour, perfect to cut the richness of the pork.
While you are at it, cook a big potful of apples, if you have some leftover, change the name and you have old-fashioned stewed apples, enjoy it for pudding with a dollop of softly whipped cream and soft dark brown sugar, a simple feast. And the ultimate roast rib of beef with three sauces – garlic mayo, béarnaise and horseradish sauces – a very, very special treat for a celebration.
A roast dinner tastes best when it’s shared around the kitchen table with family, maybe gran and grandad and a few grandchildren too. Even if you’re only amicably arguing, you’re keeping the vital lines of communication open, this is what memories are made of.
If possible, carve at the kitchen table so you can give everybody their favourite piece. Mine is the outside slice of the roast or the knuckle of the leg of lamb.
A roast dinner takes quite some time and considerable love and effort to get onto the table so don’t forget to lend a hand, enjoy the process while you discover the secrets. Organise some help with the washing up too while you enjoy the chats.

Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Gratin of Potato and Mushroom

The hard working and muscular shoulder has marvellous flavour but needs long and slow cooking to gently tenderize it so that the flesh becomes sweetly succulent. The cooked lamb in this dish should be soft and melting and will be gently pulled apart for serving rather than being carved.  This recipe needs time. You can’t rush the cooking of a shoulder of lamb, but once it is in the oven, there is plenty of time to prepare sauces and vegetables to accompany it.  The shoulder is cooked whole with just a sprinkle of sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. If the shoulder is excessively fatty, as may be the case later on in the lamb season, trim some of it off, or ask your butcher to do it for you.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

1 whole shoulder of lamb on the bone, weighing 3.6kg

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Place the lamb shoulder in a wide roasting tin or oven tray with the skin side up. Score the skin several times to encourage the fat to run out during the cooking and to crisp up the skin. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes before turning the temperature down to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 for a further 3 ½ hours.

To test if the lamb is cooked to a melting tenderness, pull the shank bone and it and some of the meat should come away easily from the bone.

When the lamb is cooked, remove from the oven. There will be plenty of fatty cooking juices. Strain these off the roasting tin through a sieve into a bowl. Keep the lamb warm in the oven with the temperature reduced to 100°C/Gas Mark ¼.

When the fat has risen to the surface of the lamb cooking juices, skim off the fat carefully and thoroughly with a large spoon.

Bring the juices to a simmer and taste and correct seasoning.

To serve the lamb, a tongs or serving fork and spoon is the best way to remove the meat from the bones.  Prise largish pieces off the bones and serve on hot plates with some of the hot cooking juices.

Serve with a gratin of Potato and Mushroom.

Gratin of Potato and Mushroom

If you have a few wild mushrooms e.g. chanterelles or field mushrooms, mix them with ordinary mushrooms for this gratin. If you can find flat mushrooms, all the better, one way or the other the gratin will still be delectable. This gratin is terrifically good with a pan-grilled lamb chop or a piece of steak.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1kg ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

225g flat mushrooms

butter

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

200ml cream

100ml milk

3 tbsp mixture of grated Parmesan AND Irish mature Cheddar cheese

ovenproof gratin dish 25.5cm x 21.5cm

Method

Slice the mushrooms. Peel the potatoes and slice thinly into 3mm slices.   Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.  Add the potato slices to the boiling water.  As soon as the water returns to the boil, drain the potatoes.  Refresh under cold water.  Drain again and arrange on kitchen paper or a clean tea towel. 

Grease a shallow gratin dish generously with butter and sprinkle the garlic over it. Arrange half the potatoes in the bottom of the dish, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cover with the sliced mushrooms. Season again and finish off with a final layer of overlapping potatoes.

Bring the cream and milk almost to boiling point and pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 1 hour approx. at 180°C/Gas Mark 4, until the gratin becomes crisp and golden brown with the cream bubbling up around the edges.

Roast Belly of Pork with Bramley Apple and Sweet Geranium Sauce

Streaky pork makes the sweetest and juiciest roast of pork; make sure to buy it with the skin on to get the crackling.  Seek out pork from heritage breeds, e.g. Gloucestershire Old Spot, Saddleback, Tamworth, Red Duroc, Berkshire, Mangalica…

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1 x 2.3kg joint of streaky pork

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Gravy

600ml homemade chicken stock

roux (optional) (made with equal quantities of flour and butter, cooked for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally)

Method

Score the skin at 5mm intervals – let your butcher do this if possible because the skin is quite tough. (This will also make it easier to carve later).

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Put the joint skin side down on the work top sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Rub into the cuts.  Roast on a rack, allowing 28-30 minutes per 450g.

Pour off the pork fat and save in a bowl – this is delicious lard.  Then just before the end of cooking turn up the temperature to very hot, 230°C/Gas Mark 8, to get crisp crackling.

To make gravy, de-grease the roasting pan and add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan. Bring to the boil. Season and thicken with a little roux if desired.  Serve with Bramley Apple Sauce (see method in my column).

Mummy’s Apple and Blackberry Pie

Apple pie is virtually everyone’s favourite pudding. My famous break-all-the-rules pastry taught to me by my mother is made by the creaming method, so people who are convinced that they suffer from ‘hot hands’ don’t have to worry about rubbing in the butter.  I make this pie year-round with whatever fruits are in season: pears, plums and damsons are also in season now…

We are coming to the end of the blackberry season so get out into the countryside and pick the last of the berries before they disappear for another year (they freeze brilliantly too).

Enjoy with a blob of softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar, it’s obligatory!

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

Break-all-the-Rules Pastry

225g butter, softened

40g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

2 organic, free-range eggs

350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 organic, free-range egg, beaten with a dash of milk

Filling

600g Bramley cooking apples, peeled and cut into large dice

110g wild blackberries

150g granulated sugar

To Serve

softly whipped cream

dark soft brown sugar

1 x 18cm x 30.5cm x 2.5cm deep square tin or 1 x 22.5cm round tin

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

To make the pastry, cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food processor.  Add the eggs one by one and beat for several minutes. Reduce the speed and mix in the flour slowly.  Turn out onto a piece of floured baking parchment, flatten into a round, then wrap and chill.  This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle – better still, make it the day before.

Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick, then use about two-thirds of it to line the tin.

Fill the pie to the top with the apples and blackberries and sprinkle with the sugar – brush the edges with water.  Cover with a lid of pastry, press the edges together to seal.  Decorate with pastry leaves, brush with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour until the apples are tender.  When cooked, sprinkle lightly with caster sugar, cut into pieces and serve with softly whipped cream and sugar.

In this article, we celebrate garlic, the beautiful bulb prompted by our excitement on receiving a recent delivery of gorgeous fat bulbs of new seasons’ garlic from a local farmer here in East Cork.
Traditionally, the bulbs were planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest day of the year, then dried and cured. Garlic, native to Central Asia, can withstand temperatures of down to -15° and drought. It doesn’t need any special care and adapts to almost all types of soil.
For us, it’s so brilliant to have a local supply of beautiful chemical-free, garlic cloves. This initiative is the result of a collaboration between us and an entrepreneurial young farmer Matthew Fitzgerald, whom we commissioned to grow several varieties of chemical-free garlic for the Ballymaloe Cookery School. His farm is just outside Shanagarry village, so it is super local to us. He grows two varieties at present (Messidrome and Gerimidour) but is still experimenting.
Can you imagine life without garlic?
Well, I certainly remember a time, it doesn’t seem so long ago either, when garlic was considered to be very exotic and somewhat weird. Something the French were crazy about, but according to popular belief, it was a malodorous compound that made their breath smell rank.
I first came across garlic when I was an au pair in France in the mid-60s. When I came to Ballymaloe House in 1968, Myrtle was already incorporating garlic deliciously into her dishes.  She showed me how to use it judiciously, so it perfumed rather than overwhelmed, we crushed it finely with a few grains of salt to make it into a soft paste to transform a homemade mayo into a fragrant Aioli. She showed us how to spike a leg of lamb with slivers of garlic and tiny sprigs of rosemary before roasting it to melting tenderness in the oven. I learned how a simple garlic butter could perk up so many dishes, not least Moules Provençale. We have confit, roasted and sautéed the versatile bulb, even poached whole garlic heads and individual cloves to tease out different levels of flavour.
A garlic press was an impressive gadget in any home kitchen but It has to be said that garlic was not an instant hit in Ireland.
When I started the Ballymaloe Cookery School in September 1983, many cooks were still deeply suspicious of garlic at that stage, convinced that garlic didn’t agree with them and of course chilli was an even bigger challenge but as folks travelled more, our palettes developed and now we can’t get enough of hot spicy food and even specify the difference types of chilli and varieties of garlic we enjoy.
Apart from culinary uses, garlic has many medicinal uses, it’s known to be antiviral, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory and it frightens away vampires, so altogether worth having.
Garlic is steeped in folklore and myth and associated with all kinds of legends. Apart from warding off evil spirits and bad luck, it was also used in folk medicine to cure sickness and stave off the common cold, it was considered a symbol of strength and helped to ensure fertility. Garlic was worn as an amulet by soldiers going into battle and was hung over doorways to ward off the evil eye. It can even be found on paintings in some Egyptian pyramids, an illustrious history.
It’s good to know that there are several other very good Irish garlic growers (seek out one local to you) but remember it’s really easy to grow your own garlic too.  Just plant the bulbs, root end down in dry ground in mid-December, about 8-9 inches apart in your garden or through your flower bed. But be aware that if the garlic is planted in very wet ground, it will rot.  
I’ve chosen three garlic infused recipes, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

Portobello Mushrooms with Garlic and Parsley Butter

A super simple recipe, delicious on its own as a starter or for supper but also makes a great accompaniment to a steak, lamb chop or chicken breast and are of course vegetarian.

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 large, flat portobello mushrooms (about 400g in total)

85g approx. soft butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 heaped tbsp parsley, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. 

Wipe the mushrooms and cut off the stalks with a sharp knife. 

Mash the butter in a bowl with the crushed garlic and finely chopped parsley, season with flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  

Pour 1 tablespoon of the extra virgin olive oil in a roasting tin large enough to take the mushrooms in a single layer.  Arrange the mushrooms, stalks upward. 

Divide the garlic butter between the mushrooms, spreading it evenly inside the surface.  Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the edges of the mushrooms. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until they are cooked through and enjoy as soon as possible.

Chicken Roast with Whole Cloves of Garlic

If you ask what ingredient immediately springs to mind when one French food is mentioned, the spontaneous reply of many people will be garlic.  We often start by using it timidly, perhaps rubbing a cut clove over the salad bowl just to give a hint of garlic to a salad, but garlic has many different flavours depending on how you use it. Here we go to the other extreme and seemingly throw caution to the wind, roasting our chicken with lots and lots of plump garlic cloves. They will cook long and slowly, and the flavour of the garlic will be transformed to a mellow sweetness which is quite addictive – a classic French recipe.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 free range chicken, 1.5-1.8kg

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 sprig of thyme (or rosemary)

55g peeled plump garlic cloves

15g soft butter

a good drizzle of olive oil

450g unpeeled plump garlic cloves

Gravy

450ml homemade chicken stock or two-thirds stock and one-third dry white wine

cotton string

Method

Season the cavity of the chicken with the salt and freshly ground black pepper, then put in the sprig of fresh thyme (or rosemary) and the peeled garlic cloves.  Smear the breast and legs with some soft butter, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Truss lightly with cotton string.

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

Put the chicken breast side down into the roasting tin and drizzle with a little olive oil.  Roast for 30 minutes, then turn breast side up and continue to roast. After about 15 minutes add the unpeeled garlic to the roasting tin – toss in the oil and chicken fat and add a little more olive oil if necessary.  Continue to roast until the chicken is golden and fully cooked.  Watch the unpeeled garlic cloves to make sure they don’t overcook – the garlic inside the skins should be soft and sweet. 

When the chicken is cooked, remove to a serving dish. Surround with the unpeeled garlic, spoon out all the garlic from the cavity and test to make sure the cloves are cooked. I often find that they need a little longer, so I put them into a saucepan with a little chicken stock and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes more or until they are soft, then add them to the carving dish.

Meanwhile make the gravy. Degrease the roasting tin, add the homemade chicken stock to the juices, bring to the boil and whisk gently to help to dislodge and dissolve the caramelised juices on the tin. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you like, thicken slightly by whisking in a little roux but I usually serve it just as it is. Serve the gravy and whole garlic cloves with the chicken.

Oven-Roasted Garlic Confit

Long slow cooking transforms garlic cloves into soft golden brown nuggets. We love to spread them over toast or crostini, serve them whole with grilled meat, vegetables, fish or scatter over a dish of pasta.

Ingredients

400g garlic, cloves peeled (5 heads of garlic approx.)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 sprigs thyme

1 tsp salt

5 peppercorns

400ml olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/Gas Mark 3.

Place the garlic cloves, herbs, salt and pepper into a low sided stainless-steel saucepan. Pour the oil on top. The garlic should be at least 75% submerged in oil. If it’s not, switch to a smaller container or add more oil. Bring to a gentle simmer, do not boil. Cook the garlic uncovered, for 45 minutes or until the cloves are soft and golden in colour. Allow to cool completely before serving or storing.

Store in sterilised jars in the fridge, making sure the garlic is submerged in the olive oil.  The confit garlic will keep for one month approximately and is a brilliant standby.

Jess Murphy’s vibrant presence fills the room wherever she goes, her energy, vitality and sense of deliciously irreverent fun enliven everyone around her.

Jess is a powerhouse of ideas and empathy – a force of nature.

She grew up in a rural township in Wairoa in New Zealand, where she learned first-hand what it meant to live in a community that cherishes and looks after each other, making the most of what the land has to offer. Butchering, preserving, fishing, honouring and passing on Māori traditions were a way of life. These values shaped Jess’s culinary career, she travelled to the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia where she met her now husband Dave, before moving onto work in restaurants in Wales, Dublin and finally Galway.

The dream of opening her own restaurant was never far from her mind so five years later despite a downturn in the economy, a premises came on the market and with a massive overhaul and a lot of help from their friends. Jess and Dave’s dream became a reality.

The word indomitable comes to mind.

‘Kai’, proudly named after the Māori word for ‘food’ flung open its doors in 2011 with a wild and wonderful menu of locally sourced produce with influences from dishes Jess encountered all over the world.

Jess is a bold, hugely creative cook, not afraid to mix metaphors and the result has won her many awards, a super loyal following of locals, visitors and Instagram followers alike from all over the globe.

‘Kai’ is now and has been for ever so long, a much loved star on the Galway culinary scene with the only Michelin Green Star in Ireland. Jess is a recent recipient of the Parabere Care Award, an award that recognises best practice in business, including fair and ethical conditions, and ensuring wellness across teams. By working to build up the community around her, Jess’s impact is insurmountable and is highly valued by everyone she encounters.

An ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, her work with the UNHCR has been transformative for people directly affected by war and those forcibly displaced from their communities. By using food as a powerful force for good, Jess continuously and openly advocates for those who need it most.

Considering how much this dynamo has achieved, where did she get the time to write the new long-awaited ‘Kai’ Cookbook?

The Kai Cookbook/A Love Letter to the West of Ireland by Jess Murphy published by Nine Bean Rows is packed full of recipes that have made ‘Kai’ an iconic destination!

Don’t quite know how she managed it but I’m so glad she did. Here are some recipes from the cookbook to whet your appetite.

Venison with Pickled Blackberries and Horseradish Cream

I use venison haunch for this and soak it in Buckfast, sriracha, onions, ginger and brown sugar for three days. You might think I’ve lost my mind, but it’s amazing. Buckfast is a real West of Ireland thing. We even have a Buckfast negroni on the night-time menu – we are always looking for the next sophisticated way of drinking it. My pal Eoin Coyle makes a fantastic fresh pomegranate and Buckfast cocktail, shaken, served over ice and garnished with fresh mint in the summer.

As for the horseradish cream, one time David and I were sitting next to my cooking hero, Rory O’Connell, at a dinner at Ballymaloe and a lady at our table set her menu on fire trying to read it. Rory put it out quickly; this wasn’t his first rodeo. We had Ballycotton scallops in the shell, followed by venison and braised red cabbage, but what really stood out was the horseradish cream. I cheekily asked Rory what was in it, then made my own riff on it.

Serves 5-6

Ingredients

500ml Buckfast

200ml sriracha sauce

50ml rice wine vinegar

40g dark brown sugar

4 garlic cloves, smashed

a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1kg venison haunch, sliced into steaks

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pickled blackberries:

75g light brown sugar

150ml apple cider vinegar

400g fresh blackberries

For the horseradish cream:

200ml cream

20g fresh horseradish, grated on a Microplane

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp English mustard powder

a pinch of ground white pepper

Method

Whisk together the Buckfast, sriracha, vinegar and sugar, then stir in the garlic, ginger and seasoning. Add the venison steaks, cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge for 24 hours.

To make the pickled blackberries, put the sugar and vinegar in a bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved, then add the blackberries. Cover the bowl and let it sit out overnight – at this time of year it’s usually cool enough to leave them out on your countertop. The next day, transfer to a clean jar and keep them in the fridge for up to two weeks to use with roasted meat or melty cheese.

To make the horseradish cream, whip your cream until it’s on the stiff side. (I love using raw cream for this – it adds a farmyard funk like a good butter would.) Stir in the grated horseradish, honey, mustard powder and a pinch of ground white pepper – you don’t want to over whip it at this point. Keep in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Ideally, you want to cook the venison on a super-hot barbecue (we use a Japanese charcoal grill for this in Kai). Otherwise, you can pan-fry the steaks by heating the olive oil in a large frying pan, then adding the steaks and cooking for 2-3 minutes on each side. You have to remember that venison has no fat, so I cook it until it’s medium-rare, then let it rest for 15 minutes and use the pan juices as a dressing.

Serve with pickled blackberries and horseradish cream. A side of sweet potato mash and fried onions is never a bad idea. You could also pop this in a bowl with sticky rice and serve it with a fried egg. Or try it in a sandwich – there is room for all God’s creatures between two slices of bread.

Salt Community Hall Fatteh

I was on a mission with the UNHCR (the UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Oman, the capital of Jordan, and we’d arranged to meet some Syrian and Jordanian women who were running a school lunch programme for the local Syrian refugee community in a small town called Salt. We cooked up a feast in the Salt community hall to celebrate us coming together as women and feeding at least 800 kids a week on a very limited budget. One of the dishes we served that I’d never heard of was fatteh. I saw the ladies dry roasting pittas and got really excited. In a restaurant, your main waste most of the time is bread, so we are always coming up with economical ways of using it – as breadcrumbs, croutons, picada or crostini or in a treacle tart. Now I could add fatteh to our repertoire. In my opinion, it’s the most underrated salad in the world.

Serves 4

Ingredients

5 large pittas

extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle

500ml Greek yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced

juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp ground cumin

2 x 400g tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

100g pine nuts, toasted

1 bunch of fresh mint, chopped

1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped

1 bunch of fresh coriander, chopped

1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

3 tbsp pomegranate seeds, plus extra to garnish

2 tbsp finely diced preserved lemon (skin only)

a pinch of sumac

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Cut the pittas into bite-sized pieces and spread them out on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toast in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until crisp.

Mix the yogurt with the garlic, lemon juice, dried mint, cumin and a pinch of salt.

Toss together your chickpeas, pine nuts, fresh herbs, pomegranate seeds and diced preserved lemon. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon a generous amount of yogurt into a serving bowl. Add your chickpea mix on top, then some crispy pittas, then repeat the layers. Garnish with more pomegranate seeds and a pinch of sumac, then drizzle more extra-virgin olive oil on top.

Chocolate and Olive Oil Mousse with Almond Praline

If you don’t like mousse, we can’t be friends anymore. Like, that’s it, I’m taking the houseplants and leaving.

This recipe comes from Niamh Fox, from when she worked at Café Paradiso in Cork in the early 2000s. We’ve adapted it slightly, so thank you, Denis Cotter (don’t sue me, you’re the best!). I adore this with blood orange segments in the winter, with fresh cherries in the summer or with the praline at any time of year.

Serves 6

Ingredients

10 eggs, separated

130g caster sugar

375g 70% dark chocolate, chopped

280ml olive oil

For the praline:

200g caster sugar

50ml water

100g flaked almonds

Method

Whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean, dry bowl to stiff peaks.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale.

Put the chocolate and olive oil in a large heatproof bowl set on top of a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir constantly so the chocolate melts as quickly as possible and doesn’t get too hot. Remove the bowl from the pan and put it on the counter. Add a small amount of the egg yolk and sugar mixture to the melted chocolate and mix it in fully, then add the rest of the mixture and gently fold it in.

Add two large spoonfuls of the stiff egg whites and mix it in fully – this will make it easier to fold in the remaining whites one-third at a time, gently folding until you can no longer see any white.

Spoon the mousse into six serving bowls or glasses, then pop them in the fridge for at least 6 hours to set.

Meanwhile, to make the praline, line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook on a medium heat without stirring until the sugar dissolves and hits 116°C on a candy thermometer. Continue to cook until the sugar turns golden brown. As soon as it does, stir in the flaked almonds, then immediately pour them out onto the lined baking tray. Allow to cool completely, then break the praline into bite-sized shards.

Serve the mousse with a few pieces of praline scattered on top.

This week, a more personal column. I’m somewhat incapacitated at present, recovering from a knee replacement. As I write it’s been three weeks to the day since my operation. Fortunately, I sailed blissfully into it without realising that it is in fact a major operation – how naive can you be?
In many ways, that was a bonus because I didn’t fret too much ahead of time, just delighted to remedy my banjaxed constantly aching knee. After three days, I arrived home from hospital with a bag of painkillers and reams of physio instructions. I HATE Physio but know it must be done and certainly must be worth persevering, because everybody tells me cheerfully that I’ll be a ‘new woman’ with a new lease of life in three or four months’ time, I certainly hope they’re right…
So I’ll continue to work on my 90° bends (Ouch) and give fervent thanks that we can now get ‘spare parts’ when our old joints wear out. I believe that my ‘bionic knee’ was actually manufactured locally. How fortunate are we?
So lots of healing to be done. The urge to sleep all day long is irresistible but apparently, NO I must get out of bed and walk to get those joints working! My physio, who is lovely but determined, taught my daughters how to help me. And I’m deeply grateful to all who repeat ‘Mar-vell-ous’ over and over again to encourage my painful efforts and to those who make me laugh and suggest programs like the Durrells that are easy on the nerves and take my mind off the aches and pains.
It’s slow but I definitely think that I’m making progress – who knew that there is a whole crutch lingo, bad leg, good leg, crutch and different colour crutches!
Mine are Kingfisher blue which coincidentally match my blue corduroy dress which means that I get lots of compliments for my stylish but none-the-less, totally accidental coordination!
I now know that this major op takes time to heal so I’ve been practising what I preach using food as my medicine…
I’ve been drinking lots of bone broth with thick-slices of buttered bread immersed in the nourishing liquid, so comforting that it should be good for my bones.

Lots of natural yoghurt and honey too with a scattering of crunchy ashura over the top. This is a delicious Middle Eastern breakfast cereal made from puffed rice, dried fruit, and toasted nuts. Brilliant stuff to start the day as is tangy milk kefir made from our own Jersey milk.

Macroom oatmeal porridge is another wonderful way to add pep to your step, full of vitamins and minerals, they contain unique antioxidants called avenanthramides – there’s a mouthful!

I went out of my way to find organic, chemical-free, free-range, pasture fed, beef, lamb, pork and liver.

The shrimp season has just opened in Ballycotton. For just a few months in the year we can get these little grey shrimps which turn bright pink when cooked in boiling salted water (1 heaped tablespoon of salt to 1.2 litres of water). They too have lots of omega-3 and calcium, particularly if one eats the shells as I do. The heads are too prickly, so I don’t eat them but still suck out the delicious contents from the head.

Carrageen Moss is another favourite with soft brown sugar and Jersey cream, lots of iodine, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
One of my best treats was this blackberry and sweet geranium posset made from the wild blackberries (high in Vitamin E, K and C and lots of dietary fibre. They are dripping off the brambles in hedgerows all over the countryside at present.
Pick as many as you can. Use them in every way possible, from breakfast cereals to smoothies, crumbles, tarts, jams, jellies and best of all they freeze brilliantly. Just tray freeze first, then pour the frozen berries into bags or plastic boxes to enjoy during the winter.
The combination of sweet geranium, (Pelargonium Graveolens) and blackberries are a marriage made in heaven. If you don’t already have a plant, look out for them at your local garden centre or we have them here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Farm Shop in Shanagarry (telephone in advance 021 4646785).

Ashura Cereal

Ashura is a traditional Turkish dessert known as Noah’s Ark pudding.  The legend goes that, running low on supplies in the Ark, Noah boiled together everything they had – dried wheat, beans, fruit, nuts, spices and honey. Can be served for breakfast (minus the beans) with yoghurt, jam and fresh fruit but is also great with just milk or even on its own as an addictive nibble.  This recipe was given to us by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich from Honey & Co Restaurant in London.

 
Ingredients

95ml sunflower or coconut oil
110g honey
110g dark soft brown sugar
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground mahleb seeds or replace with freshly ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom pods
1 x packet puffed rice (160g)
85g pecans, roughly chopped
40g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
30g sesame seeds
85g almonds, very roughly chopped

Method
Preheat the oven to fan 170°C/Gas Mark 4.

Line a couple of large flat baking trays with baking parchment.

Combine the oil, honey and sugar in a medium saucepan and set on a high heat. Mix well and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to avoid it burning on the base.

Place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Once the honey syrup is bubbling, carefully pour it over the dry ingredients in the bowl.  Use a large spoon to stir, turning the contents of the bowl over a few times until everything is well coated with the syrup.  Transfer the mixture to the baking trays and flatten it out a little so that there is an extra there is an even layer of cereal.

Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove one tray at a time and mix the cereal around to make sure everything is getting roasted and crispy.  Return the trays to the oven for an additional 5-6 minutes, then remove and leave the ashura to cool entirely on the trays before breaking into large clusters.

Once the cereal is cold, transfer it to an airtight container.  This keeps for well over 2 weeks, if you don’t get addicted and eat it all before then!

Macroom Oatmeal Porridge

Virtually every morning in Winter I start my day with a bowl of porridge.  Search out Macroom stoneground oatmeal which has the most delicious toasted nutty flavour.  It comes in a lovely old-fashioned red and yellow pack which I hope they never change.

Serves 4

Ingredients

155g Macroom oatmeal

1.4 litres water

1 level teaspoon salt

obligatory accompaniment!

soft brown sugar

Method

Bring 6 cups of water to the boil, sprinkle in the oatmeal, gradually stirring all the time.  Put on a low heat and stir until the water comes to the boil.

Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the salt and stir again.  Serve with Jersey cream or whole (preferably raw) milk and soft brown sugar melting over the top or any other favourite toppings of your choice.

Leftover porridge can be stored in a covered container in the fridge – it will reheat perfectly the next day but will need some extra water added.

Note

If the porridge is waiting, keep covered otherwise it will form a skin which is difficult to dissolve.

Rory O’Connell’s Blackberry and Sweet Geranium Posset

Make these delightful little possets with the freshly picked wild blackberries now in season.

Rory likes to serve them in little cups or glasses. The portions should be quite small as this is quite a rich little dish, but as Rory says, it’s better to be longing for one more spoonful rather than being faced with too much food. Frozen blackberries work remarkably well during the Winter months.

Serves 8

Ingredients

400ml cream

90g caster sugar

5 leaves of rose or lemon scented geranium

100g blackberries

50ml lemon juice

Method

Place the cream, sugar, geranium leaves and blackberries in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Stir the saucepan occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Maintain that bare simmer for 5 minutes. If the cream boils hard the texture and consistency of the posset will be spoiled.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. You will notice the colour of the cream improving dramatically as soon as the lemon juice goes in. Now strain the cream through a sieve to remove the geranium leaves and at the same time push as much of the blackberries through as possible.

Pour the strained cream into 8 little cups or glasses and allow to cool before placing in the fridge for 3 hours to set. The posset will keep perfectly in your fridge for several days. I like to cover them to protect the delicate flavour.

Serve with a little softly whipped cream and if you have them, a fresh or crystallised rose petal and a nougatine biscuit from Rory O’Connell’s The Joy of Food published by Gill Books.

I’m a bit like a broken record but here I go again – I’m super proud of so many of our Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni who are making a difference in food and farming in a myriad of different ways all round the world. They find all sorts of ways to use their food knowledge for the betterment of mankind, not just in the restaurant, café and hospitality business.

How about Sophie Morris?
Perhaps, you are already one of her 500,000 plus followers on Instagram, if not, she’s definitely one to watch…particularly now, as we all become increasingly confused and desperate to find real food to feed to ourselves and our children. How do we avoid calorie dense, nutrient poor, ultra-processed food that leaves us over fed and under nourished.
Sophie who comes from a family who love to cook, did a 12 Week Cookery Course here in 2008.
She loved the super delicious food and really understood the value of sourcing really good quality chemical-free produce to cook with.
Seeing is believing, she saw with her own eyes the increase in her friends energy, vitality level and ability to concentrate and was convinced of the of the life enhancing quality of real food.
Sophie is an entrepreneur through and through. After she graduated, she set up a cookie dough business which was wildly successful not just here in Ireland but was also exported to the UK, France and the United Arab Emirates. Having turned down an offer of a €70,000 investment on Dragons’ Den. She was approached by one of the major multinationals to produce an ‘own brand’ Kooky Dough. Soon there was pressure to dumb down her original delicious cookie dough.
The subsequent, behind the scenes experience gave her a deep understanding of what goes on in the food industry to produce ever cheaper, hyper palatable, addictive food often at the expense of our health. She saw firsthand the pressure on producers to reduce costs by using ever cheaper ingredients and the huge power that the multinational food brands have. She gained an industry level insight into the skill of food labelling language, misleading health claims and strategic marketing.
The time she spent immersed in the food industry made her determined to help others to make sense of our current food system.
Eventually, the constant pressure to make the Kooky Dough cheaper was too much, as it is for many who are really passionate about the flavour and quality of the product they create. She was fortunate to sell the business to a large bakery, unfortunately, not the outcome for every small producer, many of whom give up in frustration and disillusionment as their product becomes more and more dumbed down to produce ever cheaper food.
She went on to help launch Cool Beans with friends, completed two diplomas in nutrition and fulfilled her dream to write her first cookbook, the bestseller, Sophie Kooks. Sophie was named Image magazines Young Businesswoman of the Year in 2012.
Fast forward to now…
In the meantime, Sophie has earned extraordinary trust among Irish consumers which in turn has drawn significant interest from the retailers who approached Sophie to work exclusively with them. However, Sophie made the decision to stay independent. She turned down all the opportunities in order to create change within the food industry. She is best known for scanning and highlighting ingredients in products on the shelves of our supermarkets, translating the labelling into plain English and highlighting the ingredients not found in a normal home kitchen- colourings, emulsifiers, preservatives….
Best of all she identifies less processed alternatives, often cheaper and better quality.
In her newly published cookbook, aptly named Sophie’s Swaps, she shares her top product tips from the five biggest supermarket chains in Ireland and 50 of her favourite recipes for fuss free family cooking at home, how about that?
What a contribution? This book may well change the way you shop, inspire you to cook and hopefully start a food revolution, one trolley at a time.
Sophie’s Swaps published by Gill Books is widely available in all good local bookshops.
Here are a few recipes to whet your appetite.

Miso Creamy Mushroom on Toast

Miso in another great fermented food that will keep your gut bacteria happy! I love to mix miso paste with butter and keep it in the fridge as a quick topping for things like potatoes or steamed veggies: it tastes amazing and you’re getting your fermented food in – win-win!

Miso and mushrooms complement each other so well with their umami flavour, and this makes a delicious, speedy lunch you can whip up in less than 15 minutes! You can leave out the cream cheese if you prefer.

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

large handful of mushrooms of your choice, finely sliced

½ tbsp white miso paste (Fused)

1 large slice of good-quality sourdough

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Method

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When it is hot, add the mushrooms to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Next add the miso paste with a splash of water. Turn the heat down and cook for a few more minutes until you’re left with a thick glaze around the mushrooms.

Meanwhile, toast the sourdough and spread the toast with cream cheese. Top the toast with the miso mushrooms and the chopped chives. Season with pepper, if you wish (there will already be enough saltiness from the miso).

Sophie’s Tip

I like to use a combo of chestnut mushrooms and shiitake for this recipe.

Salted Chocolate Berry and Peanut Butter Bark

Bark recipes like this are my favourite way to prepare delicious treats. Not only do they taste INCREDIBLE, but they’re also so quick and easy to make. With no baking or any need to roll the mixture into individual balls. The measurements don’t need to be too exact, either – you can messily throw it together, place it on a baking tray in one single layer, and it will always turn out perfectly! You can also easily swap out ingredients – if you don’t like peanut butter, try almond or cashew butter, or swap the raspberries with blueberries.

This bark is also a really nutritious treat as it’s high in fibre and other important nutrients like magnesium. I guarantee it will become one of your staples once you try it, and it’s also a showstopper to offer to guests who come round for tea.

Makes about 16 Squares

Ingredients

230g dark chocolate, broken into squares

1 tsp coconut oil

80g raspberries

1 tbsp 100% nut peanut butter (Nutshed or Lidl’s 100% nuts peanut butter)

sprinkle of ground cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Method

Put the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with a few centimetres of water (making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water). Turn on the heat and let the water come to the boil and then turn off the heat. Leave the chocolate to melt, stirring gently now and again to help it along.

Grease a 20cm square baking dish using butter or coconut oil and line it with baking parchment.

When the chocolate has melted, pour half of it into the base of the baking dish and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle an even layer of raspberries over the chocolate. Drizzle the peanut butter on top of the raspberries. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon and then top with the remaining half of the melted chocolate, coating everything in an even layer. Finish by sprinkling a pinch of sea salt flakes on top.

Put the baking dish in the freezer for about 45 minutes to set.

Remove from the freezer and cut into whatever sized squares you wish! Store them in the fridge and they will keep well for 5-6 days.

Three-Ingredient Mango Ice Cream

When deciding on what recipes to include in this book, I asked my oldest son, Wrio, what his favourite recipe was and he said straight away, ‘mango ice cream!’ So that will tell you just how popular this recipe is with both my boys! So much so that I really wanted them to be in the photo for this recipe, which I know will be such a treasured memory.

This recipe is technically frozen yogurt, so it’s a really nutritious swap from ice cream, and it’s really simple to make! You can buy frozen mango in most supermarkets, and I prefer using mango to other fruits in this recipe before frozen mango makes the most perfect texture for ice cream. You can of course try it with other frozen fruits too, and it would also be gorgeous.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

320g frozen mango

220g full fat Greek yogurt

1 tbsp honey

Method

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz together. Leave the food processor on for a few minutes, as it takes time to break down the mango and get rid of all lumps. Be patient at the start – it might look like it needs more liquid to blend, but don’t be tempted to add any as it will start to break down and come together.

Taste and add more honey if you prefer it sweeter.

Enjoy this as a soft-serve style ice cream or smoothie bowl, or transfer to a container and allow to harden in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, it scoops perfectly, just like ice cream!

It wasn’t until Lou Robbie had her first child that she really realised how fortunate she was being able to cook. Having learned basic cooking skills, she was more than capable of feeding the family real, affordable, wholesome homemade food.

She attended catering college and cooked as a professional chef for many years.
Many of her friends with very successful careers were struggling while she could easily whip up purées, finger foods and ‘weaning dinners’ from scratch. Lou had an irresistible urge to help others to find the confidence to do the same. She grew up in rural Ireland in the 80’s, one of six children in a typical household. The weekly menu was predictable, there was always fish on Friday’s and a roast dinner on Sunday.
Her mum made brown bread, apple tarts, sponge cakes…Treats like chocolate were rare enough and school lunch was always a cheese or ham and cheese sandwich on white bread.
In her 20’s she donned her backpack and headed off to see the world. During her travels in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, she was exposed to a whole new world of exciting flavours.
When the pandemic hit, she, like so many others, found herself trapped at home, cooking just for her family. She started to share tips and recipes online, the response was phenomenal. In 2021, Little Lou Cooks was born to give online cooking classes to both adults and children.
It gathered momentum fast, thousands of parents wanted to swap shop-bought meals for healthier, homemade food that they could make in advance and perhaps freeze.
A video of batch baking homemade snacks suitable for freezing for her kids’ school lunches went viral and now Lou has over 1 million followers across her social media platforms. The feedback she gets from grateful parents is touching and inspired her to write MAKE AND FREEZE.
Here’s just one from Jennifer…
‘Hi there! I just wanted to say thanks for your school lunchbox recipes and the stew one too! We’re all well fed here today. The kids help bake over midterm, so we have lovely family time too. I was buying flapjacks and pancakes, but now we’re stocked for a few weeks of delicious homemade snacks and I know exactly what’s in them!’
There are lots more which shows how this book has helped to change so many people’s lives.
Chapters include hearty energy packed breakfasts, savoury and sweet lunchboxes, slow cooked dinners, air fryer (as you know I’m not a fan, but many are). Family pies, stews, weekday and weekend favourites, bread and sneaky sweet stuff…
All homely and delicious with lots of clever tips and riffs on favourite dishes. This may well be the book you wished you had years ago.

All recipes are from Make & Freeze Cookbook by Lou Robbie published by Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House UK)

Nut Free Energy Balls

There are some recipes in this book that were stepping-stones to get to where I am today! In November 2023 I shared a montage reel of me making snacks for the lunchbox. That reel was a viral hit and brought me a huge number of new followers. These energy balls played a starring role, and they have been made for thousands of kids’ lunchboxes across the world! So cool to see.

Makes 12

Storage:

Keep these in the fridge for up to 7 days.

To Freeze:

Freeze in a labelled ziplock bag for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost in an airtight container on the worktop overnight.

TIP: To change up the flavour, add ½ teaspoon of orange zest to the blended mix.

Ingredients

115g pitted dates

40g rolled oats

60g mixed seeds

20g desiccated coconut, plus 20g extra to finish

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

Put the dates into a bowl, cover with boiling water, leave to soften for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the oats, seeds, coconut and cocoa powder in a processor – the texture should be coarse and not too fine.

Drain the dates and add them to the blender, then blend until it looks like a thick paste. If it looks dry and won’t clump, add a dash of boiled water and blend again.

Roll the mixture into balls, big or small – whichever you prefer.

To finish, pour the extra desiccated coconut into a wide bowl. Lightly wet your hands to help the coconut stick, then roll the balls again and toss them in the coconut. Put the balls into a container and pop them into the fridge to firm up.

‘Cowboy Supper’ Sausage & Bean Casserole

This a hearty, tasty and comforting dish, ideal for the cowboys and cowgirls in your life! Beans and sausages are the perfect pair for a tasty midweek supper, and it’s also a budget-friendly meal if you’re trying to keep food costs low. Imagine a cold wintry Wednesday when it’s damp and dreary and everyone’s coming home to a warm house with a cosy fire. The first smell they get as they open the door is this comforting slow-cooker casserole . . . perfect.

Serves 4

Storage:

Once cooked and cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To Freeze:

To save space in your freezer, portion the cooked and cooled bean casserole and freeze in labelled ziplock bags for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a pot or in the microwave until piping hot.

Ingredients

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

6 sausages, cut into quarters (450g)

2 onions, finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato purée

600ml hot beef stock

1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

chopped fresh parsley, to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages all over, then put them into the slow cooker. This step is important because the sausages won’t brown in the slow cooker. If you have time, brown the onions in the frying pan too, as this will give a better flavour to the finished dish.

Add all the rest of the ingredients except the cannellini beans and parsley to the slow cooker and cook either on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.

Add the drained beans 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Creamy Garlic & Lemon Chicken with Buttery Mash and Veg

To me this is pure comfort food, and it makes a great Sunday family dinner without any of the fuss. Lemon chicken reminds me of a weekend we once had in Paris, before we had kids. I ordered it in a little restaurant in St Michel, and it was served with boiled potatoes and green beans, cooked with few ingredients but full of flavour. I love to cook dishes for my family that I’ve had on my travels. It always evokes lovely memories and interesting conversations with the kids.

Serves 4

Storage:

Once cooked and cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To Freeze:

To save space in your freezer, portion the cooked and cooled chicken and sauce and freeze in labelled ziplock bags for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a pan or in the microwave until piping hot.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp oregano oil, for cooking

zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

100ml hot chicken stock (use ½ a stock cube)

2 tbsp cornflour

½ tsp Dijon mustard

250ml double cream

To Serve

mashed potato

green beans

carrots

lemon wedges

chopped fresh parsley

Method

Warm a large frying pan on a medium heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and oregano, add some oil to the pan, and sear for about 5 minutes, until brown all over. Put the chicken breasts into the slow cooker, add the lemon juice, lemon zest and garlic, and pour in the chicken stock. Cook on low for 4 hours, or on high for 2 hours.

After the cooking time, remove the chicken breasts to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Make a paste by mixing the cornflour, mustard and a tablespoon of water in a small bowl and pour this into a small pot. Put 2 ladles of the juices from the slow cooker into the pot of paste and whisk on a medium heat for a few minutes to cook out the cornflour, then add the cream and the rest of the juices and let it bubble and cook for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, then pour back into the slow cooker and put the chicken back too for a final 10 mins.

Serve with creamy mashed potato, green beans and carrots. Garnish with a lemon wedge and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

As soon as Lily Mae Cox was old enough, her Mum, Jolene, propped her up in a highchair so she could watch her cook. Just like me, Jolene believes that the kitchen is definitely the heart of the home where all the fun begins. She’s super enthusiastic about encouraging kids to get hands-on with cooking and they love it.
In 2020, she launched the Family Cooking Club, a weekly online Cook – A – long for children to learn the skills of how to prepare delicious meals that they (even fussy eaters) want to eat.
Seeing Lily Mae enthusiastically talking and cooking on camera got thousands of kids hooked, Her enthusiasm is infectious and now there’s the book, NOW YOU’RE COOKING!
It’s got 70 recipes, carefully chosen for kids from 5 to 12.
There have been a myriad of books for children but many ‘talk down’ to kids, NOW YOU’RE COOKING seems different to me. Jolene and Lily Mae  speak directly to kids,  sharing tried and tested recipes that provide them with the skills and confidence to cook real food that they really love to eat.
And yes, five-year-olds can cook, this book introduces children to the simple basics,, how to use knives safely, grate cheese, garlic and onions, lemon zest and ginger without grating your fingers, how to make carrot ribbons, diced peppers, how to chop fresh herbs and test to make sure your chicken is cooked.
Starting with perfectly cooked simple classics, like rice, potatoes and pasta, Joeleen and Lily Mae bring everyone along, gently and steadily, sharing recipes like a brilliant energy boosting crunchy granola for breakfast, simply delicious recipes for lunch and after school fuel, one pot wonders, tray bakes, ‘can’t wait to tuck into’ dinners and the sort of sweet treats every kid will enjoy.
Well, Lily Mae affectionately known as Lils, didn’t ‘lick it off a stone’  as we say in Cork,  her mother Jolene, is an award winning food writer and a content creator who has been featured on national TV as well as newspapers and magazines.
Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in NOW YOU’RE COOKING, published by Nine Bean Rows.

Crunchy Granola

Making your own crunchy granola is like stepping into history if you use a pestle and mortar – it’s one of the oldest kitchen tools there is. The mortar is the heavy bowl and the pestle is the stick. (Even grown-ups still forget which one is which.) You use the pestle to smash and crush the nuts inside the mortar, just like cavemen and cavewomen did with their food. It’s a fun way to mix things up, literally!

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

100g mixed nuts (try almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans,

pistachios and/or walnuts)

300g jumbo oats

50g desiccated coconut

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

180ml maple syrup or honey

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and/or dried

cranberries)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C for a conventional oven or 180°C for a fan oven.

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

To crush the nuts, put them in a pestle and mortar. Press and twist the pestle (the stick) to break them into smaller pieces, but not too small – you still want some chunky pieces. If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, put the nuts in a Ziplock bag, seal it closed and gently bash them with a rolling pin, which is still fun!

Put the crushed nuts, oats, coconut, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir together.

Put the maple syrup or honey, oil and vanilla in a separate small bowl or measuring jug and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir everything together.

Spread the mixture evenly onto the lined baking tray, then press it down firmly with a spatula.

Put the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Using oven gloves, carefully remove the tray from the oven and put it on a wooden chopping board or on the hob to protect your countertop. Use a spatula to stir the granola, then spread it back out in an even layer and put it back in the oven to cook for 10 more minutes.

Use oven gloves again to remove the tray from the oven and put it on a wire rack. Let the granola cool completely, then add the mixed dried fruit. Use clean hands to break up any big clumps of granola and mix in the fruit.

Put your granola in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to two weeks.

Tropical Berry Smoothie Bowl

Our smoothie bowl recipe is just a guide, so get creative. Add your favourite fruits, nuts, seeds or even chocolate chips. Scatter, drizzle and dollop as much as you like. Just grab a bowl, and remember, the more colour, the more flavour. Like all good art, nothing is out of bounds (within reason, of course!).

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

300g frozen berries

100g frozen mango

200g natural Greek yogurt

1 tbsp milk

Topping suggestions:

fresh raspberries and/or blueberries

sliced strawberries and/or sliced bananas

hazelnuts, pecans, flaked almonds and/or walnuts

a handful of granola (see recipe)

a handful of raisins or chocolate chips

a handful of desiccated coconut

maple syrup or honey, to drizzle

Method

Put your frozen fruit, yogurt and milk in a blender (ensure there is an adult present to help). Make sure the lid is on tight, then blend until smooth. Wait until the blender stops before taking the lid off and keep your hands away from the blades. Pour the smoothie into cereal bowls.

Now it’s time to have fun! Add your favourite toppings, like fruit, nuts, granola, raisins, chocolate chips or coconut, then drizzle a little maple syrup or honey on

top. And remember, the more colour, the better!

Meatball Subs

With the perfect blend of herbs, these meatballs turn into flavour bombs. Stick those flavour bombs into a sub (which is a bread roll to you and me), smother them in tomato sauce and top it with melty cheese, and just like that, you’ve got the ultimate after-school feast. Or make a batch of the classic tomato sauce and cook a packet of spaghetti and put it all together to make spaghetti and meatballs.

Makes 4

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

500g beef mince (at least 8% fat)

50g Parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove

a few sprigs of fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp dried chilli flakes

salt and pepper

For the subs:

4 hot dog rolls or mini baguettes

1 x 125g ball of fresh mozzarella

150g classic tomato sauce (see recipe)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C for a conventional oven or 180°C for a fan oven.

Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

To make the meatballs, put the beef mince in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.

Grate the Parmesan, then add it to the well. Peel the garlic, then grate it straight into the bowl.

Pick the basil leaves off the stems, then tear the leaves into the well (or add the dried basil if you’re using that). Add the oregano, onion powder, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper, then mix everything together using your clean hands.

Divide the mixture into four equal portions, then divide each portion in three to make 12 portions in total. Roll each one into a ball, then put the meatballs on one of the lined baking trays.

Put the tray in the preheated oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked. To check, cut one in half to make sure there is no pink meat in the middle. If there is, put them back in the oven and cook for 5 more minutes, then check again.

Put your rolls or baguettes flat on your chopping board and put your hand on top to steady the bread. Use a serrated bread knife in a gentle sawing motion to cut each one horizontally through the centre, going all the way through. (Some hot dog rolls and mini baguettes come pre-sliced, so keep an eye out for those.) Put the split rolls on the second baking tray, cut sides facing up.

Tear the ball of mozzarella into pieces, then put one-quarter of the cheese on the top half of each roll. Spread some tomato sauce on the bottom half of each roll. Put the tray in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the meatballs’ cooking time to warm the rolls and melt the cheese.

Using oven gloves, carefully remove the tray of meatballs and the tray of subs. Put one tray on a wooden chopping board and one tray on a clean tea towel to protect your countertop.

To serve, put three meatballs on the bottom half of each roll, then sandwich together with the top half.

Classic Tomato Sauce

A good tomato sauce is the base for so many dishes that we always have the ingredients for it in the kitchen. That’s why when I’m hungry, it’s one of my favourite things to rustle up. We always add a little sugar to our tomato sauce because it helps to balance out the natural acidity in the tomatoes, which can sometimes make them taste bitter. But did you know that many jarred sauces are packed with sugar? By making your own, you control exactly how much goes in. And the best part? A classic tomato sauce not only tastes amazing, but it also counts as one of your five a day!

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

a big handful of fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

Peel and grate your garlic.

Method

Put the olive oil in a saucepan, then put the pan on the hob on a low heat to let the oil warm up. Add the garlic and cook for just 1 minute, until you can smell it. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper and stir everything together.

With the pan still on a low heat, let the sauce simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then. You want the sauce to get a little thicker and all the flavours to get to know each other.

Your sauce is now ready to use, but you can put it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Or you can let it cool down, then put it in a freezer proof bag in the freezer for up to six months.

Not sure about you but we have a fantastic crop of apples this year, both cookers and eaters, this is definitely not an annual occurrence. The weather must have been perfect for pollination during the apple blossom in May.

I don’t take this wonderful bounty for granted so I’m doing my utmost to use as many as possible. We’ve been picking up the windfalls both sour and sweet to make apple jelly. No need to peel but give them a wash first under the cold tap. Cut off any bruises, then quarter and pop into a deep saucepan, pips and all. They include lots of pectin which will help the apple jelly to set. This is a brilliant master recipe, the version I remember from childhood was dripped overnight in a jelly bag or an old pillow slip and always flavoured with cloves, a rich translucent orange coloured jelly gleaming through the glass jars.

Throughout the years, I realised that one could add a myriad of other flavours to make it sweet or savoury. Of course, chopped spearmint or rosemary to serve with lamb and pork or slathered on crumpets warm off the griddle. Fresh sage and apple jelly with pork.

Sweet geranium is another of our favourites, delicious on scones or with meats.

We’re right into early autumn foraging at present – plump juicy blackberries are also in abundance this year. Elderberries are ripe already, weeks earlier than usual as are sloes. If you are up the mountains or even hills, rowanberries are dripping off the bushes. All of these can be added to windfall or crab apples to make apple jellies, either individually or add a fistful of this and that for forager’s jelly. Delicious with game, terrines or many of the aforementioned meats.

If like us, you have more windfall apples than you can cope with, just cook in water until soft, drip and then freeze the juice so you can make more apple jelly when the ‘humour comes on you’ maybe in winter or for Christmas presents. We freeze the juice in plastic litre or gallon containers.

The other brilliant standby is stewed apple or windfall purée or a simple compote.

Use it for apple sauce, base for a crumble or apple snow. Little tubs in the freezer, defrost quickly even in a bowl of hot water. If you too have more apples than you can eat or share with your friends, maybe drop a basket or two into a homeless shelter or direct provision centre. Penny Dinners in Cork are always glad of any contributions.

Meanwhile, here’s a recipe for Apple Charlotte which I suddenly got a longing for. Serve it with custard and oodles of softly whipped cream.

Sorrel and Apple Juice

A clean fresh-tasting drink that’s packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Makes 2-3 glasses

225g sorrel, weighed after stalks have been removed

approx. 4-6 dessert apples, depending on size

Destalk the sorrel and juice in a juice extractor; 225g sorrel should yield 125ml sorrel juice.

Cut the apples into quarters or eights and juice (makes approx. 225ml juice).

Mix the two juices together.

Taste and enjoy as soon as possible, served chilled in small glasses.

Nana Dennehy’s Apple Pie

Another everlasting favourite.

Ingredients

225g butter

200g caster sugar

4 organic, free-range eggs

325g self-raising flour

1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

2 good sized cooking apples

2 tbsp caster sugar for sprinkling

22.5cm round tin

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Grease the tin with a little butter.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in colour. 

Add the eggs one at a time incorporating a little sifted flour each time and optional cinnamon. Beat well between each addition. (If the butter and sugar are not creamed properly and if you add the eggs too fast, the mixture will curdle, resulting in a cake with a heavier texture).  Pour the mixture into the tin.

Peel and core the cooking apples and slice into 1cm slices.  Arrange overlapping in a concentric circle on top of the mixture.  Sprinkle with caster sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and springy to the touch.

Serve warm with whipped cream or lashings of custard!

Apple Charlotte

This is the scrummiest, most wickedly rich apple pudding ever. A friend, Peter Lamb, makes it as a special treat for me every now and then. It’s also a brilliant and delicious way to use up bread and apples. I make my Apple Charlotte from old varieties of eating apples – my favourites are Egremont Russet, Charles Ross, Cox’s Orange Pippin or Pitmaston Pineapple. It’s sinfully rich but gorgeous.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

225g butter, for clarifying

1kg dessert apples

2-3 tbsp water

175g caster sugar, plus extra to dust

2 organic, free-range egg yolks

good-quality white yeast bread

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.

To make the clarified butter, melt the butter gently in a saucepan or in the oven. Allow it to stand for a few minutes and then spoon the crusty white layer of salt particles off the top of the melted butter. Underneath this crust there is clear liquid butter, which is the clarified butter. The milky liquid at the bottom can be discarded or used in a white sauce. Clarified butter is excellent for cooking because it can withstand a higher temperature when the salt and milk particles are removed. It will keep covered in the fridge for several weeks.

Peel and core the apples. Melt a little of the clarified butter in a stainless steel saucepan, chop the apples into cubes and add to the saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of water and the sugar. Cover and cook over a gentle heat until the apples break into a thick pulp. Beat in the egg yolks one by one – this helps to enrich and thicken the apple purée. Taste and add a little more sugar if necessary.

Melt the remaining clarified butter and use a little of this to brush the inside of a 13 x 20cm loaf tin (or an 18cm round springform tin) then dust it with caster sugar. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into strips about 4cm wide and 13cm high and quickly brush them with the clarified butter. Line the sides of the tin with butter-soaked bread. Cut another strip to fit tightly into the base of the tin. Brush it on both sides with butter and tuck it in tightly. Fill the centre with the apple pulp. Cut another strip of bread to fit the top. Brush with melted butter on both sides and fit it neatly to cover the purée.

Bake for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for a further 15 minutes or until the bread is crisp and a rich golden colour.

To serve, run a knife around the edges in case the bread has stuck to the tin. Invert the Apple Charlotte onto a warm oval serving plate. It won’t look like a thing of beauty, it may collapse a bit, but it will taste wonderful. Serve with lots of softly whipped cream.

Did you know that tomatoes are a mood boosting food – perhaps you have already noticed but there are tomatoes and tomatoes…literally hundreds of varieties and some are definitely more mood enhancing than others!
We usually grow about 25 different types, red, green, yellow, wine coloured, stripy, black…
This year we have fewer, because as some of you may know, we dismantled our old greenhouse before Christmas. We were very, very sad, it had fed us deliciously for over 56 years, but we could no longer ignore the cost of the upkeep and leaks, creaks and drips!
At present the finishing touches are just being put to a brand new acre block of glasshouses for organic production. We are super excited and look forward to using it as a protected garden from Autumn onwards – if you are in the Shanagarry area, come and see it – it’s impressive!
Meanwhile, we have been growing a variety of tomatoes in a tunnel.
We’ve got an abundance right now, many shapes, sizes and colours so we’re tucking into tomatoes in various guises for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Many are heirloom varieties with intriguing names like Bocati, Cindel, Yellow Perfection, San Marzano, Green Zebra, Sakura, Sweet Aperitif, Iris…Lots of sweet little cherry tomatoes like Yellow Submarine, Black Cherry and Sungold. Some of the large varieties like Brandywine weigh as much as 450g and are a meal in themselves.
If you haven’t managed to grow some of your own this year, go along to your nearest Farmers’ Market and seek out a stall selling homegrown tomatoes that have been ripened on the vine. As I mentioned in last week’s article, they’ll have extra flavour and their full complement of the all-important lycopene, an antioxidant which boosts our immune systems and helps lower cholesterol as well as being packed with vitamins, minerals and the all-important mood enhancing properties.
With a few rare exceptions, tomatoes in our supermarkets will have been picked off green and underripe to facilitate transportation. They gradually ripen in transit rather than on the vine, soaking up the rays of the sun. The latter is what provides the WOW factor and boosts the nutrient density.
A brilliant cooks tip that may sound counter intuitive, always season both raw and cooked tomatoes, not just with flaky sea salt and fresh cracked pepper but also a generous sprinkling of sugar to counter the acidity and make them sing…. 
Real as opposed to faux honey is also delicious on a tomato salad, I love the version dressed with freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil and a generous drizzle of local wildflower honey.
Don’t forget the classic Caprese with slices of tender buffalo mozzarella interspersed, with slices of super ripe tomato and lots of fresh basil leaves. That Italian summer classic is at its best right now.  You might also like to try pairing ripe tomatoes with juicy peaches or nectarines and fresh mint leaves – so good!
Chilled cubes of watermelon and tomato are another irresistible combination, add some wispy thin slices of red onion and a few mint leaves and maybe a little crumbled feta for extra protein.
Even the simple combination of tomato, ripe but still firm avocado and crispy cucumber is a permanent favourite. I’d add some fresh basil leaves to that and maybe toss in some small, hand torn, cubes of yesterday’s bread to soak up the juices, then you have a variation on a Mediterranean bread salad such as Fattoush or Panzanella. 
Ripe tomatoes cooked into a melting fondue, piperonata or ratatouille are super versatile and can indeed be frozen for a winter feast.
Towards the end of the season in late August, early September, buy a few chips of sweet, perfectly ripe, soft tomatoes and turn them into purée for winter soups and stews. They can also be frozen whole, literally just throw them into a container in the freezer. But for now, enjoy the juicy ripe Irish tomatoes at every opportunity…

Fresh Summer Tomato Juice

This is only worth making when you have very well flavoured vine ripened tomatoes, we made it from mid-August until about the end of September when our tomatoes have really developed intense flavour. 

Serves 5 approximately

Ingredients

450g peeled, halved, very ripe tomatoes

1 spring onion with a little green leaf or

1 sliced onion 5cm diameter and 5mm thick

3 large basil or mint leaves

2 tsp Forum white wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

110ml cold water

1 level tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

a few grinds of black pepper

Method

Liquidise the ingredients together, then strain through a nylon sieve. Taste and correct the seasoning.  Best when freshly made and better not kept for more than a few hours.  Serve unadorned in tall glasses with a sprig of mint. 

Tomato Granita

Make as above but add more sugar, it should taste sweeter than you reckon it should – use a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon of sugar because it will lose some of its sweetness during freezing…

We love to serve it with crab mayonnaise or even a few slices of ripe avocado and a leaf or two of fresh basil – delicious!

Warm Smoked Mackerel with Heritage Beef Tomatoes, Red Onion and Dill

One of my favourite ways to serve the large juicy heritage tomatoes, a delicious flavour combination with freshly smoked mackerel now that they’ve arrived in Ballycotton Bay at last.

It’s super easy to smoke your own fish inside a biscuit tin with a few tablespoons of sawdust. Lay the fish fillets, flesh side up on a tray, sprinkle the fish with pure salt as though you were seasoning generously.  Careful it’s easy to over salt if the fillets are thin.

Depending on the thickness of the fish, leave for at least an hour but not more than 3 hours. Dry the fillets with kitchen paper, place on a wire rack and allow to dry in a cool, airy place for 30 minutes approximately.

Put a wire rack into the biscuit tin and lay the fish, flesh side up on top. Put the box on a gas jet over a medium heat for a minute or so until the sawdust starts to smoulder. Cover the box.

Reduce the heat and smoke for 4-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.  Turn off the heat and allow to sit in the tin/smoked unopened for 5 minutes – remove from the tin and use as you fancy.

Serves 4

Ingredients
450g ripe heritage tomatoes
flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 fillets of freshly smoked mackerel drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small red onion or shallot, thinly sliced
dill sprigs

Method
Slice the tomato into 5mm rounds, season well with flaky salt, freshly ground black pepper and maybe a pinch of sugar. Put three slices on each plate, lay some chunks of smoked mackerel on top.
Slice the onion or shallots into paper thin rings, sprinkle some over the mackerel.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, a generous squeeze of lemon juice.  Sprinkle some dill sprigs over the top and serve.

Heirloom Tomato and Ricotta Tart

This gorgeous tart was inspired by a photo on the cover of a food magazine a number of years ago, it’s now one of our summer favorites. The ricotta and pecorino filling is uncooked, so be sure to assemble the tart close to the time of eating. Best made in late summer or early autumn when the tomatoes are exquisitely sweet. I use the delicious buffalo ricotta made in West Cork for this dish.

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the Pastry

150g plain white flour

75g cold butter

a little water, to bind

1 beaten organic, free-range egg, to seal

For the filling

250g buffalo ricotta

100g pecorino cheese, grated

2 tbsp double cream

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp chopped basil, thyme and marjoram, plus extra leaves to garnish

zest of ½ organic lemon

flaky sea salt

¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

650g mixed heritage and cherry tomatoes, including striped zebra (green), red and yellow cherry tomatoes, if available

Method

First make the pastry. All the ingredients should be cold. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes. Toss the cubes into the flour and then proceed to lift up a few cubes of butter at the time in each hand. Using your thumbs, rub the cubes of butter across the middle three fingers, towards the index fingers.

Allow the flakes of floured butter to drop back into the bowl, then pick up some more and continue until all the butter is rubbed in. As you rub in the butter, hold your hands well above the bowl and run your fingers through the flour to incorporate as much air as possible to keep the mixture cool. This whole process should only take a minute or two – careful not to rub the butter in too much, or the pastry will be heavy. The pieces should resemble lumpy breadcrumbs. If you are in doubt, shake the bowl and any larger pieces will come to the top. Add salt if using unsalted butter.

Using a fork, toss and stir the pastry as you add just enough water to bind, 2-3 tablespoons should do the trick. If you are in doubt, discard the fork and collect up the pastry with your hand as you will be able to judge more easily by feel if it needs a little more water. Careful not to make the pastry too wet or it will shrink in the oven. If the pastry is too dry, it will be difficult to roll out.

When the pastry has come together, turn it out onto the work surface and flatten it into an approx. 30cm round. Cover with greaseproof paper and, if possible, set aside in the fridge to rest for at least 15 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. The pastry will then be less likely to shrink in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Roll out the pastry to a circle approx. 25cm in diameter. Lift the pastry over a 23cm greased tart tin and press down gently around the sides. Trim around the edges with a sharp knife and prick the base gently with a fork. Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.

Transfer the pastry case to the oven and bake ‘blind’ for about 25 minutes until pale and golden. Remove the baking beans and paper. Brush the part-baked pastry case all over with a little beaten egg and pop it back into the oven for 5-10 minutes until pale golden brown all over. Set aside to cool.

To make the filling, combine the ricotta and pecorino in a bowl. Add the double cream, extra virgin olive oil, honey, herbs, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix gently together. Taste a little dollop of the filling with a slice of tomato and correct the seasoning, if necessary. It might need a little more honey.

Slice the larger tomatoes and cut the smaller cherry ones in half lengthways or crossways, as you prefer.

Not long before serving, spoon the ricotta filling into the cooked pastry case and arrange the tomatoes on top. I like to arrange the sliced, bigger ones, including the green zebra over the base and top with the smaller cherry tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, a little drizzle of honey (about ½ teaspoon) and lots of thyme and marjoram leaves. Garnish with a few little basil leaves and serve soon.

Yesterday evening, just as I was about to tuck into supper, I had a moment …Suddenly I thought of the incredible amount of work that actually went into growing and rearing the produce on my plate, not to mention cooking it.
Silently, I gave thanks for my nephew Darren who had put so much work into rearing the free range heritage pigs on his farm at Ballymaloe House.
For our local butcher, Frank Murphy and his son Brian in Midleton who cured the bacon for the succulent slice of glazed bacon on my plate (see recipe in my Examiner Column of June 28^th on Summer Picnics).
For the team of gardeners on the farm who had sown the seeds for the juicy roast tomatoes back in February, transplanted them at the end of March, tended and watered them for over four months for me to enjoy. The deep red tomatoes were ripened fully on the vine for maximum flavour, packed with lycopene, lots of other minerals and vitamins and super tasty.
Remember, scientists now understand that flavour equates to nutrient intensity – nature’s way of tempting us to eat healthy wholesome food. The tomatoes were halved, seasoned with flaky sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, a good sprinkling of sugar and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Fifteen minutes or so in a good hot oven and then a scattering of fresh herbs while still warm. You can’t imagine how delicious it was because the tomatoes were so good to start with.

The red and yellow peppers for the piperonata came from Caitriona Daunt at Organic Republic but the new season’s onion, tomatoes and basil were also from here.
The colcannon made from freshly dug potatoes, new season onions and cabbage took close to five months to grow too, a blight resistant variety called Kelly cultivated organically without a spec of glyphosate, just rich fertile soil enriched with compost and seaweed from the local strand.
Once again, special thanks to the gardeners for those and for the flat pod French beans. This is a brilliant variety called Hilda, they crop and crop and when the beans swell in the pods at the end of the season, they can be dried for winter soups and stews.
I also need to thank Billy for looking after the cows who produce the rich Jersey milk, the basis for the simple parsley sauce, a favourite from my childhood, soooo unctuous and delicious.
Next,  I thought of Maria, our Dairy Queen or was it Tiffin and gave thanks for the dollop of homemade butter melting over the beans and into my colcannon.
So much work and love went into producing the simple feast on my plate. Once again, in the Quaker tradition, I silently gave thanks to Mother Nature et al for every nourishing bite.
I don’t hanker after an expensive Prada handbag or a pair of Gucci shoes…For me to sit down to a plate of food where everything on the plate comes from the farm, gardens or local area is luxury indeed. How blessed am I.
Afterwards a bowl of Loganberry fool, accompanied by a couple of Jane’s biscuits, the name that Myrtle Allen gave these delicious little shortbread biscuits that the children made over and over again on wet afternoons.
Every bite has a story, that’s what memories are made of…

Colcannon

Songs have been sung, and poems have been written about Colcannon – one of our most traditional potato dishes. This comfort food at its very best has now been ‘discovered’ and is often a feature on chic restaurant menus in London and New York.

Did you ever eat colcannon

When ’twas made with yellow cream

And the kale and praties blended

Like a picture in a dream?

Did you ever scoop a hole on top

To hold the melting lake

Of the clover-flavoured butter

Which your mother used to make?

Serves 8-10 approximately

Ingredients

1.8kg ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

700g Savoy or spring cabbage

450ml approximately boiling milk or more if needed

salt and freshly ground pepper

50g approximately butter

Method

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. Boil in a little boiling water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter.

When the potatoes are just cooked, bring the milk to the boil. Pull the peel off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy purée. 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 – the texture should be soft but not quite flowing.

Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point, covered and reheated later in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes approx. Add the butter just before serving

Note

Cover closely while reheating so it doesn’t get too crusty on top.

Piperonata

This is one of the indispensable trio of vegetable stews that we always reckon to have to hand. We use it not only as a vegetable but also as a topping for pizzas, as a sauce for pasta, grilled fish or meat and as a filling for omelettes and pancakes.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

225g onion, sliced

a clove of garlic, crushed

2 organic red peppers

2 organic green peppers

6 large organic or chemical-free tomatoes (dark red and very ripe)

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

a few leaves of fresh basil

Method

Heat the olive oil in a casserole, add the onion and garlic, toss in the oil and allow to soften over a gentle heat in a covered casserole while the peppers are being prepared. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds carefully, cut into quarters and then cut the pepper flesh into 2-2 ½cm squares.  Add to the onion and toss in the oil; replace the lid and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile peel the tomatoes (scald in boiling water for 10 seconds, pour off the water and peel immediately). Slice the tomatoes and add to the casserole, season with salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar and a few leaves of fresh basil if available. Cook until the vegetables are just soft, 30 minutes approx.

Variations

Spicy Piperonata

Add 1 tsp smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli flakes (the quantity will depend on aroma and pungency of spices – add more to taste if you like it a little spicier) to the onions and garlic and proceed as in the master recipe. 

Piperonata, Bean and Chorizo Stew

Add a can of rinsed haricot beans, black-eyed beans or chickpeas to the piperonata, with 110g sliced chorizo sausage, continue to cook for about 10 minutes or until the chorizo is fully cooked.

Loganberry Fool with Jane’s Biscuits

If you can’t lay your hands on loganberries, raspberries are pretty delicious too – so easy.

Serves 6

Ingredients

450g loganberries

175-225g caster sugar

25-600ml softly whipped cream

Method

If the loganberries are fresh just whizz the berries in a blender with the sugar.  Push the purée through a nylon sieve, fold in the softly whipped cream to taste.  Serve with shortbread biscuits. 

Should the fruit be frozen just scatter the berries in a single layer on a plate.  Sprinkle with the sugar and allow to come back to room temperature.  When almost defrosted, liquidise and proceed as above.

Jane’s Biscuits – Shortbread Biscuits

*This recipe was originally in imperial measurements, to get best results, weigh in oz.

Makes 25

Ingredients

6oz white flour or Spelt

4oz butter

2oz castor sugar

Method

Put the flour and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter as for shortcrust pastry. Gather the mixture together and knead lightly. Roll out to 7mm thick.  Cut into rounds with a 6cm cutter or into heart shapes.  Bake in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4 to pale brown, 8-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the biscuits. Remove immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Delicious biscuits to nibble but we also serve with fruit fools, compotes and ice cream.

Note: Watch these biscuits really carefully in the oven. Because of the high sugar content, they burn easily. They should be a pale golden – darker will be more bitter.

However, if they are too pale, they will be undercooked and doughy.  Cool on a wire rack.

Gluten Free: Swap the flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour for a delicious gluten-free alternative