Two things happened in the last couple of days.
First I watched Nigella Lawson on some channel on my newly connected Sky TV (well reconnected as my TV went kaput about 18 months ago and I cancelled my Sky contract then obviously... and haven't had TV since - until a friend recently loaned me a small one).
And second I have been invited to a New Year's Eve party/dinner and I have agreed to do a couple of desserts to help my friend out.
So, having watched the gorgeous Nigella (thank gawd I'm not male or I'd never have remembered this recipe) whip up a super fast and yummy chocolate mousse, I decided to use this recipe for my friend's dinner party.
Hmmm if you are reading this and have also been invited - SHHHHHHHHHHH - Don't you dare tell !
Nigella Lawson's Express Super Fast Chocolate Mousse
150 g Marshmallows (Mini ones are easier and faster if you can get them)
50 g Unsalted Butter (softened)
250 g Dark Chocolate chopped (preferably over 70% cocoa solids content) (chocolate drops or callebaut is faster, rather than chopping a bar of chocolate)
60 ml Hot Water (from a recently boiled kettle)
284 ml Double Cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1. Cut up all the marshmallows into a heavy, good saucepan. If you bought mini marshmallows they can go in whole.
2. Add the softened butter and the chocolate pieces.
3. Add the water from the kettle.
4. Put the saucepan on a ring to heat, gently. Stir it now and then to make sure that everything is mixed smoothly.
5. Take the saucepan off the heat.
6. Whip the double cream with the vanilla extract until it is nice and thick.
7. Add the whipped cream to the chocolate mix in the cooling saucepan, folding it in gently so as not to loose too much of the volume, until its nice and smooth again.
8. Spoon into the serving dishes.
9. Place in the fridge for 3 hours to set.
Another advantage of this recipe is that it has no raw eggs and is therefore very safe for certain groups, such as pregnant mothers.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Curried Parsnip Soup
Loads of parsnips left after Christmas ?
Here is an easy and tasty recipe for using them up. It doesn't matter if they are raw or cooked (steamed, boiled or roasted), you can throw them into this soup.
Adjust the quantities to use what ever amount you have left over...
Curried Parsnip Soup
4 Parsnips (chopped or sliced)
2 Onions (chopped)
8 tablespoons of Butter
2 tablespoons of Plain Flour
2 teaspoons Curry Powder (use a mild to medium one)
1 teaspoon Turmeric
4 pints (UK pints not US) Vegetable Stock
1/2 pint Cream
Sea Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2. Add the chopped onions and the chopped parsnips. Cook gently with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
3. Next add the flour, curry powder and turmeric, and stir it in well to coat the veggies.
4. Cook this for 1 or 2 minutes.
5. Next pour in the prepared stock and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, (or until the parsnips are nice and soft if they are already cooked).
6. Allow the soup to cool for 10 minutes and then blend it to a smooth texture with a hand blender.
7. Taste and add the appropriate salt and pepper.
8. If you are going to use the soup straight away, add the cream at this stage and gently re-heat the soup until it's ready to eat.
9. If you want to freeze the soup, it's best to not add the cream. Add it when you use it at a later date.
Here is an easy and tasty recipe for using them up. It doesn't matter if they are raw or cooked (steamed, boiled or roasted), you can throw them into this soup.
Adjust the quantities to use what ever amount you have left over...
Curried Parsnip Soup
4 Parsnips (chopped or sliced)
2 Onions (chopped)
8 tablespoons of Butter
2 tablespoons of Plain Flour
2 teaspoons Curry Powder (use a mild to medium one)
1 teaspoon Turmeric
4 pints (UK pints not US) Vegetable Stock
1/2 pint Cream
Sea Salt
Freshly ground Black Pepper
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
2. Add the chopped onions and the chopped parsnips. Cook gently with the lid on for about 10 minutes.
3. Next add the flour, curry powder and turmeric, and stir it in well to coat the veggies.
4. Cook this for 1 or 2 minutes.
5. Next pour in the prepared stock and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, (or until the parsnips are nice and soft if they are already cooked).
6. Allow the soup to cool for 10 minutes and then blend it to a smooth texture with a hand blender.
7. Taste and add the appropriate salt and pepper.
8. If you are going to use the soup straight away, add the cream at this stage and gently re-heat the soup until it's ready to eat.
9. If you want to freeze the soup, it's best to not add the cream. Add it when you use it at a later date.
Sunday, 13 December 2009
Yummy Eggnog Nibble Squares (Advocaat Nibbles for the adventurous)
Eggnog, or rather its alcoholic version Advocaat, is one of my favourite drinks. Advocaat is just heaven in a glass as far as I am concerned !
And it has to be Warninks Advocaat - no other comes close.
MMmmmMMmmmm
Shame I can't drink alcohol now ! Well not often...
Being English, I was naturally raised with eggnog and advocaat. Eggnog is a very old English medieval traditional drink which has now spread around much of the world. It was an upper class drink which often also had brandy or rum added (hence the later development of advocaat). The lower classes could not have even afforded the milk, let alone the rest of the ingredients.
It crossed the Atlantic in the 18th century and is now part of American traditions also.
Many years ago a friend (knowing how much I have a fetish for cookery books) sent me a very special book called Cookies For Christmas. It is a huge book devoted entirely to festive biscuits, tiny cakes and cookies ! A very fun book.
I got the idea for this recipe in that book and have used it since. I changed a couple of the ingredients and with just a couple of tweeks and changes I had something delicious to suit my tastes...
Eggnog or Advocaat Nibble Squares
2 cups Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
2 cups Plain Flour
1/2 cup ground Almonds
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2/3 cup Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground Nutmeg
1. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and melt them together, on a medium heat only. Stir whilst it is melting.
2. Once it is melted and combined - stir for 2 more minutes.
3. Cool the saucepan and its contents for 10 minutes off of the stove top.
4. After the 10 minutes, use a wooden spoon to stir in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Next stir in the flour, the baking powder and then nutmeg, until it is all well mixed in.
7. Now stir in the ground almonds.
8. Spoon the mixture into a greased 13" x 9" pan, which is 2" deep (" is inches).
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F or gas 4) for 25 or 30 minutes (until the edges of the cake/slices start to pull away from the edge of the pan).
10. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
This should make roughly 36 bars or squares.
And it has to be Warninks Advocaat - no other comes close.
MMmmmMMmmmm
Shame I can't drink alcohol now ! Well not often...
Being English, I was naturally raised with eggnog and advocaat. Eggnog is a very old English medieval traditional drink which has now spread around much of the world. It was an upper class drink which often also had brandy or rum added (hence the later development of advocaat). The lower classes could not have even afforded the milk, let alone the rest of the ingredients.
It crossed the Atlantic in the 18th century and is now part of American traditions also.
Many years ago a friend (knowing how much I have a fetish for cookery books) sent me a very special book called Cookies For Christmas. It is a huge book devoted entirely to festive biscuits, tiny cakes and cookies ! A very fun book.
I got the idea for this recipe in that book and have used it since. I changed a couple of the ingredients and with just a couple of tweeks and changes I had something delicious to suit my tastes...
Eggnog or Advocaat Nibble Squares
2 cups Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
2 cups Plain Flour
1/2 cup ground Almonds
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2/3 cup Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground Nutmeg
1. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and melt them together, on a medium heat only. Stir whilst it is melting.
2. Once it is melted and combined - stir for 2 more minutes.
3. Cool the saucepan and its contents for 10 minutes off of the stove top.
4. After the 10 minutes, use a wooden spoon to stir in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Then stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Next stir in the flour, the baking powder and then nutmeg, until it is all well mixed in.
7. Now stir in the ground almonds.
8. Spoon the mixture into a greased 13" x 9" pan, which is 2" deep (" is inches).
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F or gas 4) for 25 or 30 minutes (until the edges of the cake/slices start to pull away from the edge of the pan).
10. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
This should make roughly 36 bars or squares.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Baked Ham with Honey & Mustard Glaze
This is a traditional and very versatile part of the Irish Christmas Dinner. Although the honey and mustard glaze is my preference, traditionally it would more likely have been just honey or brown sugar, if anything.
The really great thing about cooking a ham at Christmas, is that you also have loads of cold ham for sandwiches, for salads, to serve with cabbage and white sauce, for on pizzas, for almost anything in the days after the Big Dinner.
Here in Ireland (and in the UK) we have our Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day, usually around 1.30pm to 3.30pm. It lasts all afternoon and then in the evening we eat cold meats, cheeses, pickles, anything we have left over and we fancy !
I'm English living in Ireland for a good while now. I have noticed that basically the traditions are the same, but with a few interesting differences. Turkey and ham as the dual meats in the Christmas Dinner is one of them. In England we would have had just turkey (well we did in the part I come from).
So here is my baked ham recipe for this Christmas...
Christmas Baked Ham with Honey & Mustard Glaze
6 lb (2.5 kg) unsmoked best prime Ham Joint (this is from the hind legs)
Vegetable Stock Cube (I use Kallo organic stock cubes, but Knorr aren't bad either for taste. I really don't like Oxo cubes for cooking)
1 Onion
1 Carrot
2 Bay Leaves
Whole Peppercorns
2 tablespoons grainy Mustard (good quality)
3 tablespoons clear Honey
Water
150ml Apple Juice
Fresh Black Pepper
1. Put the whole ham (gammon) joint into a large saucepan and cover it with cold water. Leave the skin etc on it at this stage.
2. In a bowl dissolve the stock cube in 300ml of hot water.
3. Add the apple juice to the dissolved stock cube, as well as the onion (in large chunks), the carrot (large slices), the bay leaves and 12 whole peppercorns. Stir a small bit to mix.
4. Pour the stock, juice and veg mixture into the sauce pan with the ham.
5. Place the lid on the saucepan and bring it to the boil on the hob (top of the stove).
6. Once it is boiling, turn down the heat so that it simmers lightly. Simmer like this for 2.5 hours. Make sure you skew the lid slightly, so that the steam can escape.
7. After the 2.5 hours, cover it again and bring it to the boil slowly.
8. Once boiling, again reduce it to a simmer and gently cook it for another 1.5 hours.
9. Now allow the ham to cool in its liquid in the saucepan for 40 minutes.
10. Remove the ham from the liquid. Using a very sharp narrow knife (a fish filleting knife works), remove the skin and most of the fat underneath, leaving only a thin layer of fat.
11. With a sharp knife, cut a lattice (checkered) pattern into the ham (through the fat and into the meat).
12. Put the ham into a roasting dish, tray or pan.
13. In a small bowl mix together the honey, the mustard, and some freshly ground black pepper.
14. Spread this mix evenly over the exposed surface of the ham.
15. Cook the ham in the oven now for 30 minutes at a preheated 200C (gas mark 6), when it should be light brown on the surface and caramelised.
You can also bake a ham like this and use the meat cold.
You will be left with a ham and vegetable stock. You can use this as a stock base for soups and other dishes. I would skim off as much fat as possible from the stock, remove the bay leaves and freeze it in small portions ready for use.
The really great thing about cooking a ham at Christmas, is that you also have loads of cold ham for sandwiches, for salads, to serve with cabbage and white sauce, for on pizzas, for almost anything in the days after the Big Dinner.
Here in Ireland (and in the UK) we have our Christmas Dinner on Christmas Day, usually around 1.30pm to 3.30pm. It lasts all afternoon and then in the evening we eat cold meats, cheeses, pickles, anything we have left over and we fancy !
I'm English living in Ireland for a good while now. I have noticed that basically the traditions are the same, but with a few interesting differences. Turkey and ham as the dual meats in the Christmas Dinner is one of them. In England we would have had just turkey (well we did in the part I come from).
So here is my baked ham recipe for this Christmas...
Christmas Baked Ham with Honey & Mustard Glaze
6 lb (2.5 kg) unsmoked best prime Ham Joint (this is from the hind legs)
Vegetable Stock Cube (I use Kallo organic stock cubes, but Knorr aren't bad either for taste. I really don't like Oxo cubes for cooking)
1 Onion
1 Carrot
2 Bay Leaves
Whole Peppercorns
2 tablespoons grainy Mustard (good quality)
3 tablespoons clear Honey
Water
150ml Apple Juice
Fresh Black Pepper
1. Put the whole ham (gammon) joint into a large saucepan and cover it with cold water. Leave the skin etc on it at this stage.
2. In a bowl dissolve the stock cube in 300ml of hot water.
3. Add the apple juice to the dissolved stock cube, as well as the onion (in large chunks), the carrot (large slices), the bay leaves and 12 whole peppercorns. Stir a small bit to mix.
4. Pour the stock, juice and veg mixture into the sauce pan with the ham.
5. Place the lid on the saucepan and bring it to the boil on the hob (top of the stove).
6. Once it is boiling, turn down the heat so that it simmers lightly. Simmer like this for 2.5 hours. Make sure you skew the lid slightly, so that the steam can escape.
7. After the 2.5 hours, cover it again and bring it to the boil slowly.
8. Once boiling, again reduce it to a simmer and gently cook it for another 1.5 hours.
9. Now allow the ham to cool in its liquid in the saucepan for 40 minutes.
10. Remove the ham from the liquid. Using a very sharp narrow knife (a fish filleting knife works), remove the skin and most of the fat underneath, leaving only a thin layer of fat.
11. With a sharp knife, cut a lattice (checkered) pattern into the ham (through the fat and into the meat).
12. Put the ham into a roasting dish, tray or pan.
13. In a small bowl mix together the honey, the mustard, and some freshly ground black pepper.
14. Spread this mix evenly over the exposed surface of the ham.
15. Cook the ham in the oven now for 30 minutes at a preheated 200C (gas mark 6), when it should be light brown on the surface and caramelised.
Serve with the dinner !
You can also bake a ham like this and use the meat cold.
You will be left with a ham and vegetable stock. You can use this as a stock base for soups and other dishes. I would skim off as much fat as possible from the stock, remove the bay leaves and freeze it in small portions ready for use.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
The Foods the Food Safety Experts Won't Eat
I found this article/blog post this evening and though that as it was so clearly written and full of proven accurate information, that I would share it will you all.
I already knew most of it - but I didn't realise about the canned tomatoes.
And don't think it is exaggerated scaremongering - it most definitely isn't. I have drank organic milk for years, and eat organic fruit and veg as much as I can.
I wouldn't touch farmed salmon with a bargepole - I used to see what they were fed... And I have a friend who gets very sick within a few minutes every time she eats farmed salmon.
However, there is an organic salmon farm off the coast of Galway - but I seem to only be able to find the smoked organic salmon in local stores - not fresh organic farmed salmon.
Meat is another biggie - If I can't afford the organic version, then I buy local meat I know has been grass fed and has had an outdoor life. But I try and stick to organic - or simply eat wild caught fish.
Here is the link - The foods the food safety experts won't eat
I already knew most of it - but I didn't realise about the canned tomatoes.
And don't think it is exaggerated scaremongering - it most definitely isn't. I have drank organic milk for years, and eat organic fruit and veg as much as I can.
I wouldn't touch farmed salmon with a bargepole - I used to see what they were fed... And I have a friend who gets very sick within a few minutes every time she eats farmed salmon.
However, there is an organic salmon farm off the coast of Galway - but I seem to only be able to find the smoked organic salmon in local stores - not fresh organic farmed salmon.
Meat is another biggie - If I can't afford the organic version, then I buy local meat I know has been grass fed and has had an outdoor life. But I try and stick to organic - or simply eat wild caught fish.
Here is the link - The foods the food safety experts won't eat
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Creative Things to do with Cucumbers
I always grow a few cucumber plants every summer in my polytunnel and it always bugs me that there isn't more I can do with them.
I don't much like them pickled and what else is there one can do with a cucumber, apart from eat it raw in salad etc ?
Hmmm ?
Here are a few ideas:
(Please feel free to send in any of your own and I will add them)
1. Slug Repellent
Put a few slices in an aluminium tin of some kind. The cucumber somehow reacts chemically with the aluminium and gives off some kind of chemical odour or signal. Slugs and snails apparently hate it and run far away.
OK slide...
2. Hangover Cure
Eat a few slices of cucumber before bed after a night out drinking. By the morning you will feel refreshed and headache free ! They contain sugar, vitamin B and electrolytes, in enough quantities to replace those lost drinking. Your body stays balanced.
3. Cellulite and Wrinkle Removal
Rub some slices of cucumber on your thighs or on areas with wrinkles. Do this for a few minutes, 5 is plenty. The photochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, giving a totally firmer looking upper layer of skin. The same applies to your wrinkles (always supposing you have some - like me).
4. Fogged Up Bathroom Mirror
Use a cucumber slice and rub it over the steamed up bathroom mirror. This will not only keep the mirror clear - but will scent the bathroom too !
5. Squeaky Hinges
A slice of cucumber rubbed along a squeaky hinge can work as well as a squirt of WD40 !
Any more weird and wonderful ideas ?
I will have to test and prove any that are sent in however... so please be kind...
I don't much like them pickled and what else is there one can do with a cucumber, apart from eat it raw in salad etc ?
Hmmm ?
Here are a few ideas:
(Please feel free to send in any of your own and I will add them)
1. Slug Repellent
Put a few slices in an aluminium tin of some kind. The cucumber somehow reacts chemically with the aluminium and gives off some kind of chemical odour or signal. Slugs and snails apparently hate it and run far away.
OK slide...
2. Hangover Cure
Eat a few slices of cucumber before bed after a night out drinking. By the morning you will feel refreshed and headache free ! They contain sugar, vitamin B and electrolytes, in enough quantities to replace those lost drinking. Your body stays balanced.
3. Cellulite and Wrinkle Removal
Rub some slices of cucumber on your thighs or on areas with wrinkles. Do this for a few minutes, 5 is plenty. The photochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, giving a totally firmer looking upper layer of skin. The same applies to your wrinkles (always supposing you have some - like me).
4. Fogged Up Bathroom Mirror
Use a cucumber slice and rub it over the steamed up bathroom mirror. This will not only keep the mirror clear - but will scent the bathroom too !
5. Squeaky Hinges
A slice of cucumber rubbed along a squeaky hinge can work as well as a squirt of WD40 !
Any more weird and wonderful ideas ?
I will have to test and prove any that are sent in however... so please be kind...
Monday, 7 December 2009
More Floods & Sunday Market
These floods were on the way from my place to Kinvara - I had to drive via Kilcolgan to get there ! 
The photos are taken from the road. I couldn't go straight to Kinvara as the area between my place and there is under water.
This is one of the witches made by Helga Pikal. You can see how big she is by the man stood just behind her !
Looking down the stalls...
An original first lino print of a Celtic dragon design by Peter (Roshan's husband and I can't remember his surname !)They are selling this, mounted, for just €10.
This photo doesn't do it justice.
If anyone's interested in them you can obtain them through me - I can ring Roshan etc.
If anyone's interested in them you can obtain them through me - I can ring Roshan etc.
Another original first lino print by Peter. Very evocative...
Boxes for everything by Roshan & Peter.Their prices are from around €50, up to €150 for the biggest. All are handmade with recycled timber and painted by them both. All are unique.
This is the inside of one of the bigger ones - in fact it's my favourite one !
More boxes - sorry but I like them !
And more.....
This is the inside of one of the bigger ones - in fact it's my favourite one !
More boxes - sorry but I like them !
And more.....Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Syrupy Oat Crunchy Biscuits
I made these biscuits (cookies to my friends across the water) on Tuesday as I was very fed up with being marooned without a car.
They are based on a very old recipe used both in England and Ireland for generations, and are truly yummy if you like a subtle syrup taste. They are also great for children to make as they are fairly easy (not young children as they need to heat a saucepan and stir it).
Of course they are healthy too as they contain oats...
Well kinda - the oats are healthy...
Syrupy Oat Crunchy Biscuits (Cookies)
4 ozs Oat Flakes
5 ozs Butter
5 ozs plain Flour
3 ozs Caster Sugar
2.5 tablespoons Golden Syrup
1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1. Put the butter, the golden syrup and the sugar into a saucepan and heat on a low heat.
2. Keep stirring the mixture gently until the sugar has totally dissolved and the mixture is smooth and syrupy.
3. Put the flour, oats and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Mix them in together.
4. When your syrup, butter and sugar mixture is as syrupy as the photo below, pour it into the dry mix in the bowl.
5. Mix it all in together well, until it is stiff but soft (if that makes sense) - malleable. If it is too dry or stiff - add a very small amount of milk (not much) to help it mix.
6. Form the mix into small walnut sized balls.
7. Flatten then slightly and place them well apart on greaseproof paper on a baking tray.
8. Bake in the oven at 160C (325F or Gas Mark 3) for about 30 minutes, but check them at 20/25 minutes just in case. You don't want them too brown, just a nice light brown.
8. Bake in the oven at 160C (325F or Gas Mark 3) for about 30 minutes, but check them at 20/25 minutes just in case. You don't want them too brown, just a nice light brown.
9. Allow them to cool before moving. Keep them in an airtight tin or container if you want them crispy - otherwise if you want soft cookies, leave them out for a few hours before eating.
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