Pate ai Fegatini; 5th April

Chicken Liver pate

Ingredients

150g butter
450g chicken livers
1/2 onion sliced
6 fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons of Marsala or Madeira
1 tablespoon of brandy
2 tablespoons of double cream, whipped
salt and white pepper

Melt 100g of butter in a bowl over simmering hot water
Remove and leave aside to cool. Add the other butter to a pan, add the livers, thyme and onions and cook over a medium heat for two minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with the Marsala, season with salt and pepper and cook for three minutes. Remove from the heat, chop the chicken liver mixture finely and place in a bowl, stir in the cooled melted butter add brandy and fold in the cream. Place in a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least six hours.

Beef Stroganoff; 4 April

Beef Stroganoff

Serves 6

Ingredients

4 onions thinly sliced
120g butter
120g mushrooms, sliced
juice of a lemon
25g plain flour
250ml double cream
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon of strong mustard
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 kilo of thinly sliced sirloin steak
salt and pepper

Melt 100g butter in a large pan add the onions and cook over a low heat for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are golden brown
Add the mushrooms and the lemon juice cover and cook and shake occasionally for ten minutes. Leave to one side.

In a saucepan melt 20 g butter add the flour and cook for 2 minutes stir in the cream and cook for 6 minutes, season with salt and pepper remove from heat and stir in the mustard. Clean the frying pan and heat the oil in the pan, fry the steak for 5minutes or so until browned and tender. Stir the onion mixture into the pan, mix and pour into a bowl, heat the sauce, add more cream if needed. Pour the sauce over the meat and serve.

Serve with boiled long grain rice

Chicken Curry; 2 April

Chicken Curry

serves 4

Ingredients

4 breasts of chicken or 1 chicken cut into pieces
25g butter
2 tablespoons of madras curry powder
2 onions chopped
1 apple peeled,cored and chopped, squeeze some lemon juice over the apples to keep them from browning
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons double cream

Melt the butter in the pan if using the chicken breasts add 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Add the chicken and cook until brown
Stir curry powder into 150ml of boiling water and add to the pan. Add the onions and the apple. Cover and cook over a low heat for 40 minutes, a little less for the chicken breasts. Add a little hot water if it is drying out.
Pour in cream and cook for 10 minutes more.

Serve with boiled rice

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Pecan Pie; 14 March 2008

Pecan Pie

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 cup of pecan nuts

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup golden syrup

4 tablespoons butter

defrosted shortcake pastry

Instructions

Roll out the pastry and butter and line a 10 inch round dish with the pastry. Bake blind for 25 minutes at 180c.

Boil the sugar and syrup for 3 minutes. Beat eggs and mix slowly with the syrup. Stir in butter, vanilla and pecans. Keep some pecans for decoration. Pour mixture into the cooked shortcake base. Bake for 40 minutes at 180c or until set. Top with the pecans and leave to cool. Dust with icing sugar and serve with creme fraiche.

Baked Ham; 10 March 2008

Baked Ham

Heat Oven to 250c

Score a ham of any size across the skin in a diamond pattern

Mix sea salt and black pepper together

Rub into the skin of the ham especially in the cut areas.

Put half a bottle of white Lambrusco or any sweet sparkling wine in a tin with 250ml of water

Place the tin in the oven. Place the ham on a rack over the tin and cook for 15 minutes at 250c, lower the heat to 150c and cook for 3 hours, checking and adding more water if required.

Serve with sauteed cabbage and a baked potato with sour cream.

Recipes

Recipes

All of the recipes are well tested recipes. This is the food eaten in this household during the week. Most are adapted recipes from classic dishes and from a range of cook books including The Cork Cook Book, The Silver Spoon, a Airport Society Jeddah Cookbook from 1990, a Middle Eastern Cookbook bought in Dubai Airport in 1999 as well as recipes created and cooked at home, with experimentation from my sisters, my wife and other family members.

Inspiration has been gained from two years living in the Middle East where we were exposed to food from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Philippines, five star hotels, Hilton, Marriott, Movenpick, Intercontinental and many more. Favourite dishes from this time was Afghani Roast Chicken marinated in tomato juice with boiled rice and fried chopped carrot, onion and sultanas served with warmed Afghani Bread. Fillet steak in a fruity sauce served in a restaurant in the Filipino Souk where you were locked in during prayer call. They served the cutlery in a glass with boiling water which was hygienic and comforting when temperatures outside were 34c at night. Other delights were the perfect Felafels cooked in boiling vats of oil in the same souk served with warmed flat bread and a garlic sauce. The chicken shwarma served on Makarounah Street was the best we ever ate. Other highlights were dinner parties hosted by expats from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, India, Pakistan and other parts of the globe. Many dips were tasted as well as experimental alcoholic drinks, Jeddah Gin and the famous 90 proof golden Siddiqii honed by an Australian/Philippino consortium. Invites by parents to the various 5 star hotels for their theme nights were appreciated, eat as many prawns and fillet steaks as you wanted was an eye opener from a couple from the depressed middle and late eighties Ireland. The highlight though was the famous whole roasted large lamb in the Pakistani restaurant served outside around a large table with a group of ten or so.

During holidays in Thailand and Malaysia we enjoyed street food and particulary enjoyed Chinese New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpar. Other visits to Europe gave us Moule Marniere with pommes frites in France, Argentinian Steaks in Estepona, Spain, tapas in Sotogrande.

Afterwards inspiration was Italy. They revere food. After a Granny gently slapped our boy's hand for handling fruit without the required plastic glove, we realised that in Italy, food was very very important. The arguments you would hear regarding the choice at the fish or butcher's counter, the quality of the produce in all shops. Food is always cooked to perfection. The Steak Florentine we ate in San Gimignano, the twenty tapas type dishes we ate in Turin, the porcetta sandwich in Castel Gandolfo, the wafer thin pizza in Turin, the 1988 chianti classico with grilled steaks in Greve in Tuscany, the squid and octopus in Lucca and many other memorable dishes.

Taste in food develops and taste changes. When we first fried eggs in extra virgin olive oil we found it too strong, now it tastes normal. The Vindaloo we ate in London before we went to Saudi burned the mouth off us, now we eat raw chilis.

We eat and learn and live.