Cooking – Page 4 – Hey Pesto!

Catering, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating, Vegetarian

New Ventures in Cooking

January 8, 2014November 14, 2014 heypesto

My Father was a teacher. My Grandmother was a teacher. In fact I’m sure my Great Grandmother was one too. It was assumed that I would be one too – a maths teacher to be precise.

But I decided engineering would be a better option – 200 males to 40 females as opposed to a practically all female teacher training college…..and the job prospects were more lucrative too. No contest.

So that was the end of the teacher hopes…until a few years ago my friend Kay asked me would I be interested in teaching her and a few others how to cook. I baulked. I have never been comfortable speaking in front of a group. However after a lot of persuasion I agreed to give it a shot. I cannot honestly remember what I talked about or even cooked that first night but the feedback was great and I was hooked 🙂

My Father was passionate about his teaching and I could never understand how he went to the same job for 40 years. His answer was that he had a fresh intake of pupils every year with whom to share his love of English.
I wish I could tell him that I now have a much better understanding of what he was talking about. Mind you I’m not sure what he’d say about my move from engineering to food 😉

Since that first series of classes in Kay’s lovely kitchen I did more classes in various locations including a series in Lynch’s pub – ironically my Father’s favoured watering hole. I did some in my old kitchen as well – great fun but to say it was cramped would be kind! And all the while I was planning my perfect dream kitchen.

Then the opportunity arose to move house , home to be precise . I took over our family home in Tullamore and after a lot of building (and a few tears) I now have not one but two kitchens!
I converted the garage to a small catering kitchen and then I got MY kitchen – a bright red one complete with my Rangemaster and with large glass doors opening out onto my Mum’s lovely garden.

In fact I love my dream kitchen so much that I’m prepared to share it with anyone who wants to learn about cooking!

I did a few classes towards the end of last year just to see how it worked – what a difference space makes!
We even had two great days doing Christmas cooking where everyone sat down to a family style turkey dinner .

So now it’s onwards and upwards . I have devised a list of classes for Spring kicking off on January 14th with a short course on Healthier Cooking. There won’t be calorie counting but it will be good food cooked from quality ingredients and I promise to cut down on my use of butter and cream. We’ll be doing dishes like healthy soups, tasty stir fries, hearty casseroles and may even be fish and chips .
Other upcoming courses include Cupid’s Cooking; a Taste of the World and Easy Entertaining

The classes are demo based (so far…) and then at the end you all get to taste and share the dishes prepared and then go home armed with your recipe booklet. Sometimes there’s even a glass of wine though obviously not with the Healthy Eating Course!

I’m thinking of another Saturday course for Easter and a vegetarian class has been requested. The plans are endless!

I also do dinner party classes in your home – I cook you learn and eat; as well as group and individual classes. Please contact me if you would like more details on any of these.

Happy Cooking !

Catering, Chef, Cooking, Food, Recipes

Pasta Bake for Supper ?

January 4, 2014January 5, 2014 heypesto

Way back when I didn’t cook – well career women didn’t – my idea of a cooked dinner was either a Marks & Spencer ready meal or, if I was feeling very adventurous, a pasta bake. And yes to my shame I used packet sauce – well I did add in the tuna and the sweetcorn and make the salad 😉 Actually thinking about it I feel sorry for my partner at the time – thankfully his Mother always invited us for Sunday lunch so he was guaranteed one decent meal a week!

Now thanks to Darina Allen, my time in Ballymaloe and in particular my friend Nicola, I can now make my own pasta bake . I promise no packet sauces have crossed my threshold for years 🙂

This is a variation on my standby recipe and as such I have to apologise as all quantities are approximate. I know – this used to drive me mad when I was learning to cook and it’s taken me a long time to be confident with ‘a bit of this and a handful of that’. I blame it on my scientific background.

I also wanted to blog this today to help you use up any Christmas leftovers still lurking in your fridge before Twelfth Night. Last night’s supper was to use up mine before the new year’s resolutions kick in on Monday ………

Thankfully the turkey and ham are long gone and all I had left was Smoked Salmon,Camembert and Cream ?

So what do you do?

Cook and drain some pasta – I estimated enough for 2. The general guideline is 75g dried pasta per person. I’d have preferred to use penne but hey, the choice was between fusilli or animal shapes. The fusilli won
Sauté a shallot and some chopped peppers in a butter/oil mix. Add some chopped smoked salmon (I used 2 long slices) , a handful of frozen peas and somecapers.
Cook for 2-3 mins then add a good glug of vermouth(or white wine if you’ve a bottle open). Allow to reduce for few minutes.
Pour in cream (I had about half a large carton left , approx 250ml) and a teaspoon of my ‘secret’ ingredient – Ikea‘s dill mustard. Trust me you need a jar of this in your fridge!
Then add in the cooked pasta and transfer the mix to a casserole dish.
Top with panko breadcumbs and chunks ofcamembert.
Bake for 15-20 mins at 170 C Fan until golden and bubbling.
Serve with a nice big glass of wine……….and a green salad

Happy Cooking !

The health kick starts Monday I promise………… I’ll be researching recipes for my lighter cooking course which starts 14th January

Catering, Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegetarian

Happy New Year and all that …..

January 1, 2014January 3, 2014 heypesto

Happy New Year! I’m full of good intentions this morning – well who isn’t? 😉

2013 was exciting, if a tad stressful – the best bit being moving house and installing not one but two kitchens – one for me and one for Hey Pesto!
Now I have no excuses so it’s time to start making plans for the year ahead……..

I want to :

concentrate on the ‘cookery school side’ of the business – starting with my lighter cooking course on 14th January. I’ve been blown away by the feedback from my classes so far and I can’t believe how much I love doing them.
continue to grow my catering business. I can’t believe it’s 9 years since I started Hey Pesto!
blog more – I know, I know, I said that last year but there were far too many distractions. I also want to finally get round to creating a website (Stop laughing – yes you!)
cook more for pleasure – now that I have a library for my cookery books I need to use them! (I shall also be looking for ‘guinea pigs’)
enjoy lots of good food in the company of good friends and loved ones.

Another thing that I am very conscious of is the amount of food that is wasted. I tried to cut down last year but bad habits crept back in… So since Christmas I have trying to use up everything – I haven’t been food shopping since Christmas Eve and have managed to produce a number of tasty meals – ok I know we all overstock before the holidays but………

Of course I’m also going to be “super” healthy in 2014….well maybe I should start with healthier…….I even got a birthday present of gym membership (a less than subtle hint perhaps!)

So my first meal of 2014 is going to be a Vegetarian Crumble to use up all the sad vegetables still lurking in the pantry.

Spiced Vegetable Crumble

No Servings: 4 -6

Oven: 180ºC/ gas 4

What you need:

1 – 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1-2 cm fresh ginger, grated
1/2 jar passata
Approx 750g mixed root vegetables, chopped
500ml vegetable stock
75g flour
75g Kilbeggan Porridge Oats
50g butter
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

What you do:

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion for approx 5 mins. Meanwhile dry fry the cumin nad coriander seeds and roughly grind in a pestle and mortar (Okay you can use a spice grinder but think of the exercise!)
Add the garlic, spices and ginger to the onions, cook for another minute then add in 2 tbsps of passasta. Cook for another minute then add in the rest of the passata.
Add in the chopped vegetables – I used carrots, celery(not a root veg I know but it was in the basket), sweet potato and parsnips. I also threw in the half packet of chestnuts that were languishing in the fridge since I made turkey & leek pie.
Transfer the mix to a casserole dish and pour in your vegetable stock.
Make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter into the flour and oats. Add in the cayenne pepper – both for colour and seasoning. You could use paprika if you prefer.
Top the vegetables with the crumble mix and bake for 30-40 mins. until the top is golden and bubbling.

My dish is ready to go into the oven but as it has stopped raining I may even attempt to go for a walk! Looking forward to dinner later with a nice glass of red wine – well it is still Christmas ….

Happy Cooking and Happy New Year!

PS What are you planning for 2014?!

This is how the Crumble turned out and if I do say so myself it was rather tasty!

Catering, Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

Vegetarians deserve Christmas too!

December 20, 2013March 12, 2015 heypesto

When I was in college and living away from home for the first time I decided I would become a vegetarian. I have to to say it was more from economic than altruistic reasons … that and the fact I had a major aversion to handling raw meat!
This ‘phase’ lasted for about 14 years – and ended abruptly 3 days into my time studying in Ballymaloe Cookery School when I decided that if I was going to cook for a living I needed to know what everything tasted like And yes it was a rasher sambo that ‘brought me back’ 😉

During my years as a vegetarian I drove my poor Mum mad every Christmas by refusing point blank to touch turkey or ham and insisting on cooking my own dinner down to the vegetarian gravy!

Over the years this nut roast became a Christmas favourite tradition and even my very carnivorous brother gave it his seal of approval.

So if you’re looking for a veggie option for Christmas Day then your search ends here……….

Best Ever Cashew Nut & Mushroom Roast

No Servings: 6

Oven: 180ºC/ gas 4/350ºF

What you need:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
8 oz/225g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
4 oz/110g breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 medium parsnips, cooked and mashed
1 tsp each fresh rosemary & thyme
¼ pt/ 150 ml vegetable stock
Good knob of butter
8 oz/ 225g mushrooms, sliced.

What you do:

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté onion for few mins, Making sure to add a pinch of salt. Add the garlic then cook until soft
In a large bowl mix nuts and breadcrumbs together with the beaten egg.
Add in the mashed parsnips and the herbs, followed by onion and garlic. Make sure you add all the cooking juices in to avoid any dryness in roast
Stir in the stock and season to taste. Set aside
In your pan sauté mushrooms in butter until soft. I always add a little sherry or vermouth at this stage…. it gives a lovely flavour!
Butter and line 2 lb loaf tin. Put a line of your best mushroom pieces down the middle of the base – this will be the top of your roast when you turn it out so make sure they look good!
Then press in half the nut mixture. Cover with a layer of mushrooms and top with rest of nut mixture.
Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. When cooked remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 mins before turning out.
Serve it hot with all the usual Christmas accompaniments or have it cold with salad and chutney.

Note: You can half the recipe and use a 1 lb loaf tin if you want to cook this for 2-3 people

And if you’re looking for a delicious vegetarian gravy …….. all you need to do is put 1 pt/500ml water, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the jelly. Blend 2 tbsp cornflour with 2 tbsp orange juice and 1 tbsp sherry. Stir a little of hot liquid into cornflour mix, then add back into saucepan, whisking well to ensure no lumps! Simmer over gentle heat until slightly thickened. Season to taste.

Enjoy!

Happy Cooking and Happy Christmas!

Christmas, Cookery Classes, Cooking, Recipes

Tips for the Perfect Turkey

December 15, 2013December 15, 2013 heypesto

It’s that time of year again. Time to plan the Christmas Feast – turkey, ham and all the trimmings.

I don’t know about you but I’ve always found turkey rather dry despite trying all sorts of methods including cooking it in buttered muslin, breast side down, basting………….Then last year on our Fáilte Ireland food trip to Canada I had my eureka moment when we were treated to a Thanksgiving dinner in the lovely Elmhirst Resort – Brining!

This is so easy to do and you won’t believe the difference this will make to your bird – ask anyone who’s been to one of my Christmas Cookery Classes 🙂

What you need:

¾ cup salt
¾ cup sugar
1 carrot
1 large onion
¼ cup diced celery
2 large sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. black peppercorns
¼ tsp. chilli flakes
¼ tsp. fennel seeds
7 litres of water

What you do:

Bring the salt, sugar and 1 litre of water to the boil, stir until dissolved, turn off the heat and add the remaining ingredients and 6 litres of cold water.
Add the turkey to your brine mixture and leave to brine for 24- 72 hours (make sure bird is fully submerged, place a plate on top to help)
Remove the turkey and pat dry
Cover the skin with softened butter
Cook as normal

This brine mix will work for up to a 16 lb. turkey.

I’ve changed the ingredients occasionally to suit what I have to hand. I did two turkey breasts last week using rosemary and pink peppercorns instead of thyme and black pepper and they were gobbled up (sorry I couldn’t resist!)

This year we’re having turkey wellington for Christmas Dinner . I’m going to brine a turkey breast for 48 hours, then remove it from the brine, split it in half (not going quite the way through ) and fill the ‘pocket’ with stuffing.
Then I’ll spread two sheets of puff pastry with cranberry sauce ; place turkey on one sheet and top with the second – sealing the edges together. To finish I’ll brush the pastry with beaten egg and cut a little cross in the top to allow steam to escape. My rule of thumb for cooking this is 20 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes.

This is one I prepared earlier !

I’m still deciding on which stuffing to use on the ‘Big Day’ but at the moment hazelnut & apricot is looking good:

What you need:

1 large onion, finely chopped
50 g butter
50 g hazelnuts, chopped
140g dried ready-to-eat apricots, chopped
200g breadcrumbs
Handful parsley, chopped
Juice & zest of 1 orange

What you do:

Melt butter in frying pan and sauté onions until soft but not coloured (about 5-10 mins).
Add hazelnuts and fry until golden
Stir in apricots, breadcrumbs, zest, juice and parsley. Remove from heat.
Allow to cool completely before using to stuff your bird.

Happy Cooking and Happy Christmas!

P.S. Here’s a few tips for safe cooking this Christmas

Make sure when you’re brining your bird to keep it in the fridge or somewhere cold.
Take turkey out of fridge an hour or two in advance – it will cook more evenly from room temperature
Cooking time depends on size and type of bird – see link below for cooking chart
Use a meat thermometer if you have one, and test thickest part of breast and leg. You want the temperature to hold at 70 C for at least 2 minutes
If you don’t have a meat thermometer use a skewer in the thickest part leg and breast – make sure juices run clear.
Allow the turkey to rest – will stay warm under foil for up to 2 hours. Use this time to cook vegetables
Save yourself time and prep your veg day before!

You can get more safe cooking tips here:

http://www.safefood.eu/Publications/Consumer-info/Have-a-healthy,-happy-Christmas.aspx

Baking, Cooking, Recipes

Wild Garlic Soda Bread

October 8, 2013October 8, 2013 heypesto

I know , I know. I said I was going to get back to blogging earlier in the year but between moving house, setting up a new kitchen for Hey Pesto! and my involvement in the inaugural Harvest Offaly Food Festival it just didn’t happen.

So here it is – my first blog post in months and I’m starting with an easy one! Earlier in the year Helen from Failte Ireland asked the food champions for an Irish recipe with a ‘modern twist’ and this was mine.

My Nana was famous for her soda bread, well within our family anyway and there’s enough of us! Everyday she made two loaves in her Aga . Always two, never any more than two and to paraphrase an ad ‘when it was gone, it was gone’.

I asked her once for the recipe and she told me ‘a handful of this and a handful of that’. If I’d had the sense at the time I’d have measured the size of her hands! I’m still trying to recreate the taste of her bread and apparently I have come close once or twice though I think the real difference is that she used unpasteurized milk straight from the cow that my great uncle kept in the orchard, that was allowed to go sour naturally (the milk not the cow!)

The great thing about soda bread is that you can add flavours – such as pesto or sundried tomatoes or even chocolate chips for a sweet cake.

In this version of soda bread I have added wild garlic pesto and dried wild garlic leaves to give the taste of summer. I also use spelt flour, an ancient relative of modern wheat, which I think gives a better, lighter loaf

What you need:

450g/1 lb. white spelt flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1 level teaspoon bread soda
340-400 ml / 12-14 fl.oz approx buttermilk
1 tbsp wild garlic pesto
1-2 tsp dried wild garlic leaves

What you do:

Preheat oven to 230ºC/Gas 8
Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl, making sure that you sieve in the bread soda.
Add in the wild garlic pesto and the dried leaves if you have them ( dry them overnight in a very low oven when in season and store in an airtight jar).
Make a well in the centre and pour in most of the buttermilk at once. The exact amount of buttermilk can vary, even according to the weather!

Stir in the liquid until completely mixed but be very careful not to overmix.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board and gently form into long ‘loaf’ shape. I know a circle is more acceptable but this is the shape my grandmother always used and it makes cutting the bread much easier!

Place the loaf on lined baking sheet. Score a deepish line down the centre and prick the sides to let the fairies out.
Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 180ºC/Gas 4 for another 15-20 mins, or until just cooked.

Tap the bottom of the bread; if it is cooked it will sound hollow. Cool on wire rack and eat as soon as possible!

Perfect with soup or with as a base for bruschetta

I’m not sure if Nana would approve of the garlic but it went down very well here.

If you don’t have wild garlic pesto or if you just fancy a plain white soda then leave it out.

Give it a try – you’ll be amazed at how quick and easy it is to make your own bread.

Happy Cooking!

Baking, Cakes, Christmas, Cooking, desserts, Food

Extremely Chocolatey Christmas Wreath

December 9, 2012December 9, 2012 heypesto

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here – the tree is up, the lights are on and I’m doing up my Christmas menus which will include this Christmas Wreath Cake as an alternative to the traditional fruit cake

I may have mentioned that I’m not really a dessert person – give me savoury any day – but I love making desserts and watching others enjoy them! I came across this wreath cake a few years ago – in a copy of Good Housekeeping I think – and have been using it every Christmas since.

I should warn you that this is a cake for serious chocoholics and not for the fainthearted, but it makes a great centrepiece on Christmas Day!

It’s an easy cake to make and it freezes well (un-iced ) so you can make it in advance and take it out to decorate on Christmas Eve.

The only special piece of equipment you will need is a ‘wreath’ tin i.e. a 23cm spring form cake tin with a but missing in the middle! I use one I bought in Ikea but I know my local shop ‘Kit Your Kitchen‘ now stock similar .

Turn your oven to 180 C or Gas 4 before you start and grease your tin with butter.

What you need:

1 * 400g tin of pears (in natural juice)
50 ml milk
1 tbsp. espresso coffee
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
175g cocoa (I use Green & Black ‘s)
125g plain flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
340g caster sugar
6 egg whites
250g crème fraîche
175g dark chocolate (I use 70% )
Christmas decorations

What you do:

Drain the tin of pears and whizz in food processor to a purée.
Mix the pear purée with the milk, espresso granules, oil and vanilla extract.
In another bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Whisk the egg whites and the sugar together at high speed until stiff and glossy
Add in the pear purée mix to the eggs and whisk slowly to blend
Finally fold the flour mix into egg and pear mix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake in your preheated oven for 30 mins or until firm to touch
Allow cake to cool slightly in tin before turning out onto rack.

As I said, if you’re making this ahead of time , you can freeze it at this point. Just make sure you wrap it carefully!

The icing is very simple : heat the crème fraîche in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Then remove from heat and add in chocolate. Allow to melt and then mix in until smooth.
Place pieces of parchment paper under the cake to protect your cakeboard/plate. Then using a palette knife spread icing over the cake . Remember you want it to look like a wreath so it doesn’t have to be smooth

Then it’s time for your (or your children’s ) imagination to take over…..

You can make chocolate leaves …..

…. use sprinkles ….Santas…..Robins….Snowmen……..

……whatever you like!

But whatever you decide please be warned that this cake is INCREDIBLY rich and a little goes a long way!

Happy Cooking!

PS I have been known to make this into an Easter Cake by covering it with flowers and mini eggs – you see a cake’s not just for Christmas!

Cookery Classes, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegetarian

Where’s the beef – an alternative burger

November 26, 2012November 26, 2012 heypesto

When I left college (a few years ago….) I could barely boil water – I though pizza and coleslaw were major food groups and takeaways were essential! So when I found myself in paid employment I decided in the interests of survival to sign up for a cookery class, vegetarian of course.

The class was hands-on, given by a lovely girl in Ballsbridge. It was great fun and I learned lots – you have no idea how basic my knowledge of all things culinary was at that time.

My memories of the course include the couple who read 3/4 lb carrot as 3 to 4 lbs and then spent a class doing nothing but peeling carrots; my ‘landlady’ Siobhan waiting for me to come home with Wednesday night dinner and a realisation that I did not like kidney beans!

One of the recipes from this course that I still use is one for Black-eyed Bean Burgers . In fact we serve them as a vegetarian barbecue option.

Last Saturday I wasn’t really in the mood for cooking (I know, hard to believe) so I was delighted to find a few of these burgers in the freezer and I paired them with the mango and pomegranate guacamole leftover from Friday’s book club – happy days!

The recipe was requested after I posted a photo of the dish on facebook . I know the original recipe included sautéed mushrooms but I omitted those and from memory for this batch I added in some oyster sauce and used mixed nuts. Thinking about it I might try adding red peppers and chilli sauce the next time……..

What you need:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
400g tin black-eyed beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp tahini paste
1 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
50g/2 oz brazil nuts (or mixed nuts)
100g/4 oz breadcrumbs (I prefer the panko ones)

What you do:

Sauté the onion in 1 tbsp rapeseed oil until softened but not coloured. Add the garlic after about 5 mins and cook for another minute
Pulse the beans in food processor with the nuts and approx 3/4 of the breadcrumbs (that’s 75g not 3 breadcrumbs!)
Add in the tahini paste (or peanut butter if you prefer) and the oyster sauce and the cooked onion and whizz together
If the mix seems dry add a little stock.
Using a chefs ring form into burgers, then ‘top and tail’ with the remaining breadcrumbs.
Bake in the oven (180 C/ Gas 4) for 10 mins until breadcrumbs crisp or if you prefer shallow fry them.

The original accompaniment to these was Sweet and Sour Sauce and Brown Rice – well it was the nineties! I serve them with a home-made coleslaw for barbecues but the guacamole really worked as well. It was a recipe from Gourmet magazine that I picked up in Canada – it’s already in the favourites folder!

I hope you like them !

Happy Cooking !

PS The Chief Taster has requested that I point out he is not in favour of these vegetarian posts and could I please do a carnivore dish for the next one.

Catering, Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegetarian

Comforting Vegetarian Cuisine

November 18, 2012 heypesto

As I may have mentioned not only do I collect cookbooks I also collect recipes…. Also did I mention that I was a vegetarian for about 14 years?

I was talking to the guys in my local vegetable shop, The Farmer’s Gate, about recipes we could give their customers that use produce from the shop. So I went back through my recipe notebook for inspiration and came across this one for Savoury Vegetable Crumble. I think the original came from a vegetarian magazine way back when I was dedicated to the cause. It’s been adapted a bit over the years and here’s the latest version.

You can use any mix of vegetables for this dish but winter root vegetables work really well. Tonight I used leeks, celery and carrot as they were in my vegetable rack. I also added a red pepper for colour.

What you need:

1 onion, diced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 cm ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
Mix of vegetables – such as 2-3 carrots, few sticks celery, 2 parsnips…..
500 ml vegetable stock
1 400g tin cannelloni beans
75g/3 oz spelt flour
50g/2 oz butter
75g/3oz Kilbeggan Porridge Oats

What you do:

Sauté the onions and the chilli until soft but not coloured.
Dry fry the cumin and coriander seeds for a minute then grind in pestle and mortar with the other spices. Then add to the onions and chilli and cook for a few mins.
Add in the purée, cook for another minute, add vegetables and toss to coat in the spice mix.
Finally add in the stock and the beans. Bring mix to the boil and then simmer over a low heat for 15-20 mins.

Make the crumble by rubbing the butter into the flour and then add in the oats.

Transfer the vegetable mix to a casserole dish and scatter the crumble over the top.

Bake the dish at 190 C/Gas 5 for 25 mins until crumble is cooked

I served the dish with some minted yoghurt – a perfect warming dish for a dark winter’s evening!

Happy Cooking !

And yes, before you ask – it was the rasher sandwich that ‘brought me back’!

Baking, Cakes, Catering, Christmas, Cooking, Food, Recipes

When is a recipe a family recipe?

November 11, 2012December 21, 2020 heypesto

When is a recipe a family recipe? Does someone in your family have to develop the recipe from scratch or can it be a recipe that is used a few times and then becomes a family favourite?

I’ve been involved in several conversations on this topic and my maths brain tells me that there has to be a finite (albeit large) number of recipe combinations so there are bound to be duplicates making it harder to credit the original originator of a recipe!

I believe that recipes evolve through sharing and experimentation. I have scraps of paper from family and friends glued into my recipe notebook including a very precious one dictated by my late Grandmother for her famous brown bread – once I figure out how much is in a ‘handful’ I’m sure it will work…..

I have a ‘to try’ box filled with recipes cut from magazines and papers that I want to try …..someday

I have a vast collection of cookbooks that I love to cook from – but more often than not I’ll change something as I’m going along.

Don’t you hate it if you ask somebody for a recipe and they refuse to share it as it’s a ‘family secret’?

I make a lot of Chocolate Roulades – in fact it’s one of my main desserts. I love making a mini version to go on a mixed dessert plate. I was given the recipe by the lady who owned the catering company I used to work for. I changed the quantities slightly to make it work in a bigger tin., and added the brandy! Years later I came across practically the same recipe in one of the Avoca books – so does the recipe belong to the person who first gave me the recipe, to the author or to me ???

I hate to think of myself as possessive so I’m more than willing to share this wonderful recipe, whoever it actually ‘owns’ it. I hope you like it.

What you need:

6 large eggs, separated
6 oz/175g dark chocolate
6 oz/175g caster sugar
3 fl oz/ 75 ml brandy
½ pt /300ml cream, whipped

What you do:

Melt the chocolate with the brandy, either slowly in the microwave or in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until you get to the ‘ribbon stage’ – you really need an electric whisk for this unless you have really strong arms!
Fold in the melted chocolate into the egg mix. Then in a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff (the egg whites not your arms!)
Using a metal spoon fold the egg white in stages into the chocolate mix. Then pour into a lined large Swiss roll tin
Bake at 180 C/Gas 4 for 12-15 minutes, until firm to touch.

This is the important bit – cover with a damp towel and leave to cool completely
Dust the top of roulade with icing sugar and invert onto parchment paper.