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Pancake Tuesday / March 4th 2014

Perfect Pancakes

Can be enjoyed on Pancake Tuesday (also know as Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras) on at any time of the year. A foolproof batter recipe and plenty of tips on how to make pancakes with flair, whether sweet or savory.

NOTE: This recipe is for the thin, almost crepe-like pancakes and not those thick heavy pancakes you get in the US (sorry US, no offence intended).

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 300ml semi-skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil or vegetable, plus extra for frying
• pinch salt
• variety of fillings of your choice
• Lemon Juice & Sugar
• Bananas and strawberry jam (jelly if you're in the US)
• Nutella

Directions:

1. Blending in the flour: Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the middle, then pour in about 50ml milk and 1 tbsp oil. Start whisking from the centre, gradually drawing the flour into the eggs, milk and oil. Once all the flour is incorporated, beat until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add a little more milk if it is too stiff to beat.
2. Finishing the batter: Add a good splash of milk and whisk to loosen the thick batter. While still whisking, pour in a steady stream of the remaining milk. Continue pouring and whisking until you have a batter that is the consistency of slightly thick single cream. Traditionally, people would say to now leave the batter for 30 mins, to allow the starch in the flour to swell, but there’s no need.
3. Getting the right thickness: Heat the pan over a moderate heat, then wipe it with oiled kitchen paper. Ladle some batter into the pan, tilting the pan to move the mixture around for a thin and even layer. Quickly pour any excess batter into a jug, return the pan to the heat, then leave to cook, undisturbed, for about 30 secs. Pour the excess batter from the jug back into the mixing bowl. If the pan is the right temperature, the pancake should turn golden underneath after about 30 secs and will be ready to turn.
4. Flipping pancakes: Hold the pan handle, ease a fish slice under the pancake, then quickly lift and flip it over. Make sure the pancake is lying flat against base of the pan with no folds, then cook for another 30 secs before turning out onto a warm plate. Continue with the rest of the batter, serving them as you cook or stack onto a plate. You can freeze the pancakes for 1 month, wrapped in cling film or make them up to a day ahead.
5. Eating: Serve warm, rolled with a filling of your choice. Enjoy!

Power Bites

Get Running - Eat Right

Pumpkin Pie Power Bites

We're at the start of (another) new year and full of resolution that this is the year that will finally see those pounds roll off, the fitness increase and maybe, yes maybe, a marathon.

With all that exercise planned (not yet executed!) you need to think about the nutrition to drive this new found motivation. Here you go!

 Ingredients: Commentary here

• 1 cup pitted Medjool dates (about 8 large)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (can use almond or sunflower seed butter)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 1/2 cup ground oats (processed in food processor or in a coffee grinder)
• 2 tablespoons ground flax-seed
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (optional)

Directions:

Place dates in the bowl of a food processor and process until the dates form a sticky ball. Add the pumpkin puree, honey, peanut butter, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and sea salt. Process again until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. When well combined, transfer mixture to a large bowl and add both ground and rolled oats, ground flax seed and chocolate. Stir until everything is combined. Cover and chill mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Roll mixture into bites using about 1 tablespoon of dough and place on parchment or waxed paper. Cover and refrigerate. Power bites will keep for a week in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer if stored in an airtight container or food storage bag.

Meringue Gelato Cake

Ingredients

For the for the meringue gelato cake
300 ml double cream
30 gram(s) dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
1 tablespoon(s) coffee liqueur (and/or rum)
1 packet(s) meringue nests (approx. 100g in total)
250 gram(s) raspberries (to serve, optional)
1 450g/1lb loaf tin (18 x 12 x 8.5cm or similar capacity)
For the for the chocolate sauce
250 ml double cream
125 gram(s) dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), finely chopped
2 tablespoon(s) coffee liqueur (and/or rum)



Method

For the Meringue Gelato Cake:
Line your loaf tin with clingfilm, making sure you have enough overhang to cover the top later.
Whip the cream until thick but still soft.
Chop the chocolate very finely so that you have a pile of dark splinters, and fold them into the cream, along with the liqueur.
Now, using brute force, crumble the meringue nests and fold these in, too.
Pack this mixture into the prepared loaf tin, pressing it down with a spatula as you go, and bring the clingfilm up and over to seal the top, then get out more clingfilm to wrap around the whole tin. Freeze until solid, which should take around 8 hours, or overnight.
To serve, unwrap the outer layer of plastic wrap, then unpeel the top and use these bits of long overhanging wrap to lift out the ice-cream brick. Unwrap and unmould it onto a board and cut the frozen meringue cake into slabs to serve. I like to zig-zag a little chocolate sauce over each slice, and sprinkle a few raspberries alongside on each plate.

For the Chocolate Sauce:
Pour the cream into a saucepan and add the tiny bits of chocolate.
Put over a gentle heat and whisk as the chocolate melts, taking the pan off the heat once the chocolate is almost all melted. If the mixture gets too hot, the chocolate will seize, whereas it will happily continue melting in the warm cream off the heat.
Add the liqueur, still off the heat, and whisk again to amalgamate the sauce completely. Pour into a jug, whisking every now and again until it cools to just subtly warm.

Soft White Dinner Rolls

Softness like a little pillow!

Recipe adapted from Nigella

Ingredients:
For the dough:-

• 500-600g plain flour
• 1 sachet rapid rise, bread machine or other instant yeast
• 1/2 tablespoon salt [I actually less but I'm fanatic about keeping salt to a minimum]
• 1tablespoon caster sugar
• 375ml milk
• 20-25g butter

Optional for toppings:-

• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1 teaspoons poppy seeds

Directions:

Serves: Makes 30

1. Combing 500g of the flour with the instant yeast, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. Put the milk and butter into a saucepan and heat until the milk is warm, and the butter is beginning to melt.
3. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix with a fork or a wooden spoon to make a rough dough, adding more of the remaining flour if the dough is too wet. Then either using your hands or the dough hook on an electric mixer, knead the dough until it is smooth and silky.
4. Put the ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover the top with clingfilm, then leave in a warm place to rise for an hour by which time it should be double the size. Punch the air out of the dough with your fist and then turn it out on to a floured surface.
5. Pull pieces of dough the size of walnuts off the dough and form them into small round rolls, like ping pong balls, placing them as you go on to a greased or lined baking sheet. The balls of dough should be about 5mm apart so that once they have sat to prove they will be just about touching. I get 30 balls of dough, and I arrange them in six lines of five.
6. Cover them with a tea-towel and leave to rise again in a warm place for about half an hour, preheating the oven to gas mark 7/220°C, while they sit. When the buns have puffed up, beat together the egg, milk and a pinch of salt and paint them with the glaze. Scatter alternate lines of buns with sesame and poppy seeds, leaving plain rows in between. (A teaspoon of seeds should decorate two rows.) That's to say, a row of poppy-topped, then a row of sesame-topped, then one row of plain and then repeat again.
7. Bake the buns for 15 minutes by which time they should be golden brown and joined together in a little batch. Remove them to a cooling rack or serve immediately. 

Enjoy warm with real butter!

Warm Goat's Cheese Salad with Red Onion Marmalade

Warm Goat's Cheese Salad with Red Onion Marmalade

This is an appealing starter to the senses - sight, smell and taste.  Warmed goat's cheese on a bed of wild rocket and drizzled with warm red onion marmalade. 

Ingredients:

For the red onion marmalade

• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 kg red onions, finely sliced
• 250 g soft brown sugar
• 75 ml red wine 
• 75 ml balsamic vinegar

For the salad

• Wild rocket leaves
• Goat's cheese

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onions and cook over a low heat until soft and translucent - about 7-8 minutes.
 
Add the sugar and stir as it melts. Add the wine  and vinegar and simmer until it reaches a sticky jam consistency. This should take about 45 minutes, but all you need to do is stir it occasionally.

To serve, warm the goat's cheese and arrange on the rocket; drizzle (generously) with the marmalade.

TIP: This marmalade is a delicious accompaniment with cheese and crackers.

No-cook Summer Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Summer in a bowl

Another tres simple recipe from Domini Kemp which is great for summer; in fact if summer had a taste, this would be it.  Make sure  to use cherry tomatoes, full of sweetness.

Ingredients: The sauce needs an hour to marinade at room temperature so give yourself time.

• 400g Cherry tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• Glug of balsamic vinegar
• Black pepper
• Teaspoon of sugar
• Two cloves of garlic, chopped as finely as you can manage
• Shake of coarse sea salt
• Several large glugs of olive oil
• Surprise ingredient
• Okay, what the hell is meant by "surprise"? Well, it's just that - use whatever you have to hand and you feel like adding.  Domini's original recipe used olives but I must profess to a strong dislike of olives.  I've used Cherry Peppers which work well; also tried crab meat which is delicious. So, you use your imagination and if that fails, just use whatever you have to hand - by the way, if you don't have anything to hand (old mother Hubbard syndrome) then it's just fine as is.
• Torn basil leaves

Directions: Now the complicated bit - bung everything together in a bowl, mix well and rest for an hour at room temperature.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions, drain and immediately add the sauce.  Mix well, cover and leave for a minute or two to allow the heat from the pasta permeate throughout.  Serve with freshly grated parmesan and season to taste.

Lemon Posset

The taste of summer in a pot

Wonderfully citrus - a summer pleasure

Ingredients: 

• Juice and zest of four emons
• 500ml double cream
• A few basil leaves
• 125g caster sugar

Directions: Put the lemon juice in a heatproof bowl.  Meanwhile, heat the cream, lemon zest, basil leaves and sugar in a non-stick saucepan until the cream just starts to boil.

Remove from the heat and slowly add the cream to the lemon juice (make sure you do it this way around) whisking slowly as you go.  The mixture will start to thicken.

Remove the basil leaves by pasing through a sieve or if you're not that fussy just pick them out.

Allow to cool then pour into ramekins, or small jars, and set aside in the fridge for at least three hours.

Serve with strawberries.

Fat Tuesday

Mardi gras........ pancakes today!!! Lent starts tomorrow so make the most of today.

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Yuk?

Added "reactions"..... how do ou spell Yuk / Yuck / Yuch ?

Dinner Party Menu........help

Ok, so it seemed like a good idea at the time (back in cold, dark January) to have a dinner party around St. Valentine's day..... that was then.

Now we're right upto it and still no plans for what to serve.  Any suggestions ??? Leave a comment please.

PS. It's only for eight people :) What, eight people, oh HELL.......

Easy Granola ** Updated **

Now Cholesterol Lowering too!

I'm constantly changing how I make things - improving each time I hope.  My original Granola was big on taste and less about health, the second version was better, last year's version was pretty good too.

Now finally I think I have it, this recipe is the best tasting, most healthy and helps lower cholesterol.

Yummy Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup of wheatgerm
• 1/2 cup of mixed seeds [sunflower, flax, sesame, poppy]
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries or raisins if you prefer
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinammon

• 1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup
• 1/4 cup of light sunflower oil
• Splash of orange juice [optional]

Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 120c/250f.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Combine the honey, water and oil and pop into the microwave for 1 minute - don't worry too much about the exact measurements but you should have about 3/4 of a cup of liquid. The mixture is much easier to handle when it's warm and the honey is a lot less sticky.

Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir well until everything is well coated.

Spread out evenly on a baking tray and pop into the oven for 50 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool before storing in an air-tight jar; as it cools it will get crunchy. It should hold for quite a while but I'll bet it doesn't last that long.

Enjoy with natural yoghurt.


Variations:
Use a splash of apple juice instead.
Try different fruit, delicious too!

Crunchy or fine?
If you want large nuggets of granola, then follow the steps above when cooking but however if you prefer a finer granola with smaller/less nuggets then remove from the oven every 15 minutes and give it a stir through with a fork to break the mixture up.

TOP TIP!
For extra crunchy, leave the granola in the oven to cool overnight.  As the oven cools slowly the granola will crunch up much more than allowing it to cool on the counter top.

Fishing for Mackerel

Summer time fishing for Atlantic Mackerel!

There's nothing quite like a fresh mackerel, under a grill or on a BBQ with lots of real Irish butter.  So, with that in mind there was a trip to the attic to retreive the rods and tackle, last year's success lingered slightly in the tackle box!

Still, you can't beat the excitment of the first cast - youthfully anticipation abounds... and as it happens was all around as my boys were with me [managing multiple children, rods, hooks - that's another story].

Thankfully we managed to lose all that old tackle, wasn't upto much anyway, and as the tide started to turn the number of bites intensified.  Surely soon we'd have the makings of our meal.  Alas, as the tide ebbed so too did our anticipation.  It wasn't our day.

The rods will be out again tomorrow and we'll catch our mackerel, the tug on the line and flash of silver will make the heart leap.

As for How we'll cook them? Let's catch the little buggers first.

Just add butter and a hot grill!

Pan fried corn on the cob

 Corn on the cob - with a twist

Ingredients:

• 4 cobs of sweetcorn
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g butter
• 10g chopped rosemary, finely chopped

Directions:
Place the cobs in a pan of lightly salted boiling water and cook until tender.  Remove from the water and allow to cool slightly so you can safely handle them.  With a very sharp knife, slice each cob into rings about 1" thick.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the corn rings.  As the cobs turn golden add the butter and rosemary - as the butter melts, spoon it over the cobs and allow to become a wonderful nutty colour.

Transfer to a warmed plate and spoon over any remaining butter/rosemary.  Serve warm.

You cold also do this on the BBQ using foil.

Blackberry Ice-cream

A summer delight and a childhood reminder

Ingredients:

• 450g / 1lb blackberries (freshly picked are best but nit always available)
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 50g / 2oz caster sugar
• 1 x 400ml can evaporated milk
• 150 ml double cream, whipped
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

Place the blackberries, honey and sugar in a medium pan over a low heat of 10-15 minutes until the berries are soft and mushy.  Transfer to blender a whizz until smooth.  Pass through a sieve to remove the pips and allow to cool.

Meanwhile whip the evaporated milk until it starts to thicken  Fold in the cream, lemon juice and the blackberry puree.

Transfer to a container suitable for the freezer and pop into the freezer for 45 minutes, or when it starts to freeze around the edges.  Remove and give it a good beating to break up any ice crystals.  Repeat this freezing / beating several times to ensure a smooth result.

Kick back and enjoy.

Tarragon Mayonnaise

Spruced up mayonnaise- great on burgers.

Ingredients:  Use home-ade os hop bought mayonnaise.

• 200lm mayonnaise
• 1-2 tablespoons freshly chopped herbs
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions: Mix all the ingredients together and set aside in the fridge.  Delicious on bbq burgers.

Tomato & Mozzarella Crown Loaf

A delicious variation of the COURONNE loaf - super for picnics.

The name COURONNE comes from the French for Crown - shaped in a circle so it could be easily carried on your arm.


Ingredients:

For the bread: 

• 500g Strong White Flour
• 1tsp salt
• 2 tsp dried active yeast
• 175ml warm water
• 200g natural yoghurt

For the filling:

• 100g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 ball (approx 100g) mozzarella drained and diced
• Hand full of fresh basil, torn.

Directions:

Create the dough in the traditional way - add the yeast to the warm water and allow to activate, then mix in the yoghurt.  Add to the flour and salt and mix into a soft dough.  Kneed for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Set aside for ~1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Knock back the dough and kneed for another few minutes.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle (approx 10 x 13in).  Cover the dough with the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.  Roll it up from the long side until it resembles a Swiss roll.  At this point, you can bring the two ends together to form a circle or for a more interesting bread, cut length ways along the roll and not quite to one end.  You will have two long pieces joined at one end; plait them together.  Twist into a circle shape pressing the ends together to join.

Place the dough on a greased baking tray and place a small bowl over the dough to help it keep the shape. Leave to rise for ~30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated over at 220c for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.  Best eaten when still slightly warm.  Not my picture, but this is what you should get - looks nice!

Variation: You could also use this to make rolls -divide the dough into twelve balls.

Updated Blogsite

We've moved our blog to theirishbakers.blogspot.com - small but subtle change, same great content!

Lemon-Oil Dressing

Come back sunshine... I've had a chance to try this out yet!!!!

Ingredients:-

• 1/2 cup Olive OIl
• Juice and zest of one Lemon juice
• Black Pepper to taste
• [Optional] Fresh herbs (Basil is good)

Directions:-
Mix everything together, chill. Serve. Now really, could it be any simpler?

Rasberry & Lime Ice-cream

A real summer favourite, or if its not summer where you are now, then just a real favourite.

Ingredients:-

• 250g raspberries (fresh of course if you can get them but from frozen will do too)
• 100g sugar
• 50ml lime juice
• 50ml cream
• 500ml Greek yoghurt

Directions:-
Heat the fruit and add the sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Gently mash the fruit with a potato masher and add the lime juice. Allow to cool then add the cream and Greek yoghurt.

Stir well and transfer to a plastic container and into the freezer. Remove from the freezer and mix well every few hours until the ice-cream is set. To enjoy the ice-cream at its best remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for ~30 minutes before lashing into it!