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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.

Luleh Kabab, Iranian, 7 March 2008

Ground lamb on skewers

Ingredients

500g finely ground lean lamb

1 onion chopped finely

teaspoon salt

black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

5 egg yolks

melted butter

5 small tomatoes

Instructions

Mix the first 6 ingredients together until you have a fine paste. Divide into 12 portions and shape sausage like onto metal skewers. Brush with melted butter and cook under a hot grill turning frequently and brushing with the butter. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.

Put tomatoes on a skewer brush with butter and grill for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with hummus and tabbouleh.

Tabouleh; 7 March 2008

Tabouleh

Ingredients

1/2 cup burghul wheat

water

3 cups chopped parsley, flat leaf if possible

1/4 cup of spring onions

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of fresh mint

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

2 peeled and deseeded plum tomatoes

1/4 cup of lemon juice with 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Cover burghul with cold water and leave for 40 minutes. Drain in a sieve and squeeze until dry. Chop up parsley, mint, spring onions and tomatoes. Mix with the burghul in a large bowl. Mix olive oil with the two tablespoons of lemon, add to the salad season with salt and pepper. Chill for 1 hour in the fridge. Mix the lemon juice with the salt, put it in a jug and add according to taste.

Hummus Bi Tahini, 7 March 2008

Hummus

Ingredients

225 can of chick peas drained and rinsed

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 crushed cloves of garlic

salt

For serving

olive oil

cayenne pepper

Instructions

For best effect peel the chick peas. Add all the ingredients but only half the lemon juice, in a food processor until smooth. Taste the hummus and add more lemon juice if required.

Place on a saucer circle the top with a fork and top with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and dust with the cayenne pepper. Serve with warmed pitta bread or raw vegetables.

Silq; 7 March 2008

Silq, Beans with Spinach, Syrian

Ingredients

2 bunches of spinach

1 onion chopped

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dried coriander

2 tomatoes peeled and chopped

juice of 1 lemon

2 cans black-eyed peas

6 minced garlic cloves

1 can of tomato puree

1/2 cup of water

salt

Instructions

Chop spinach, heat olive oil in a pan, cook onion and garlic until soft, add coriander, pinch of salt and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Add spinach and cook for 2 minutes, add beans, tomatoes, tomato puree and water. Cook for ten minutes until quite thick. Add lemon juice stir and cook for 3 more minutes.

Chill and serve cold with fresh vegetables, carrots, radishes, green onions, red peppers,fresh mint, pickles and warmed pitta bread.

Tarte au Citron, 6 March 2008

Tarte Au Citron

Ingredients

Pastry

500g flour

250g unsalted butter

150g sugar

1 egg

Cut butter into cubes add flour and rub to a crumb consistency, beat in the egg and add sugar, blend with some water until you have a firm round ball. Leave in the fridge for an hour or so. Remove and roll to fit in a 12 inch round tray. Butter tray and bake blind for 20 minutes at 200c

Allow to cool.

Filling

Juice of six lemons

zest of 3 lemons

500g of caster sugar

300g of double cream, only double cream will suffice

10 free range eggs

Instructions

Beat eggs and sugar, add lemon zest and lemon juice, fold in double cream gently until fully mixed. Apply a light touch to keep it light and full of air.

Pour into the pastry case until full. Bake for 40 minutes at 140c. Leave in oven until brown on top. Remove carefully from oven. the filling will not set until cooled.

Dust with icing sugar

Serve with creme fraîche

Sogliole con Gamberi; 6 March 2008

Sogliole con Gamberi

Ingredients

75g butter
8 raw prawns, Dublin Bay prawns or tiger
8 fillets of Black Sole
5 tablespoons of dry white wine
150ml of cream
juice of a lemon
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Instructions

melt half of the butter in a pan
add prawns and cook for three minutes, season and leave to one side to cool slightly
place a prawn on each fillet, roll the sole and tie with cooking strings
add the rest of the butter to the pan and fry the sole rolls for 8 to 10 minutes, turning frequently, until brown all over.
add the white wine and cook until the liquid has reduced. Remove the sole rolls.
Add the chives, cream and lemon juice to the pan heat gently.

Serve sole rolls on couscous with chopped peeled and deseeded cherry tomatoes
Pour over the cream and chive sauce.

Chili con Carne New York Style; 5 March 2008

Chili con Carne New York Style

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small can of tomato puree
1 jalapeno pepper deseeded and chopped
1 cup green pepper chopped
1 cup carrots chopped
1 cup celery chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
500g mince meat
1 tin kidney beans drained

Seasoning

5 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8th teaspoon ground cloves
5 teaspoons mild chili powder
1 tablespoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Coriander
1/8th teaspoon Allspice

Instructions

In a deep pan saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft
Add meat brown it and pour off excess oil
Add tomato puree and all the seasonings. Heat mixture until it bubbles. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add kidney beans, pepper,green peppers, carrots and celery, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes. Serve with long grain rice and top with sour cream.

Chicken with Mascarpone; 4 March 2008

Chicken with Mascarpone and Ham

Ingredients

4 free range chicken breasts

2 slices of blacky ham

200g mushrooms

1 lemon

1 clove of garlic

150g of mascarpone

tomato

salt and pepper

50g butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220c

Rub butter on the inside of a tin

Chop mushrooms

Fry the clove of garlic in the one tablespoon of oil and 20g of butter until it turns hazel

Turn off heat and throw out the garlic clove

Add the mushrooms and the juice of the lemon and cook at a high heat for 4 to 6 minutes season and cook for another 1 minute or so until all juices have reduced. Leave the mushrooms to one side

Take the breasts of chicken and open up with a knife sideways. Put clingfilm on chicken and pound out with a mallet or rolling pin. Season the chicken.

Place half a slice of blacky ham on the breast, divide the mascarpone onto the ham, put mushrooms on the mascarpone.

fold the chicken tightly and tie with cooking string

Brush on some olive oil and butter on the chicken and put in the oven covered with tin foil for 25 minutes. Heat the grill. Cut the tomato into slices and place 2 onto each chicken breast. Brown the chicken breasts under the grill

Serve with tagliatelle and a cream sauce

Cream sauce

Simply saute half an onion and a chopped clove of garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft

Add 250ml of cream and reduce to half, add 25g of butter and cook gently until the consistency of custard. Put the sauce through an sieve, add sauce to the pan heat slowly and season with salt and pepper.

Bruchetta con Pomadoro; 3 March 2008

Bruschetta con pomadoro

Ingredients

Ciabatta sliced

2 garlic cloves

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

chopped tomatoes

Basil leaves

Instructions

Rub olive oil on a griddle pan

Using a high heat toast ciabatta slices on both sides

Peel and deseed the tomatoes, chop the tomatoes

Put the tomatoes in a bowl and mix with some olive oil and some balsamic vinegar

Take slices of the pan and rub with the peeled garlic cloves

dip slice in olive oil and top with tomato mixture and some torn basil leaves

Tornedos Rossini, potatoes and spinach 2 March 2008

Saturday 1st March 2008

Tornedos Rossini with creamed potatoes and baby spinach.

For 4 people

Ingredients

4 fillet steaks
75g Butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoon white wine
6 medium potatoes
200ml of cream
baby spinach, 4 hand fulls
nutmeg
Madeira
Truffles (optional)

Instructions

Peel and cut up potatoes, boil for 30 minutes.

heat a large pan, add 50g butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil heat until light brown colour
Add the steaks at medium high heat for 1 minute on each side. Lower heat and cook for 7 minutes for rare or 10 minutes for medium. Add 4 tablespoons of white wine allow to burn off.

Leave steaks aside keep warm

Add four tablespoons of Madeira to the pan that the steaks were in. Light the Madeira allow the flame to burn off, add 100g of cream mix and leave on a low heat, add more cream if too thick.

Add boiled water to spinach allow to wilt drain and add grated nutmeg and a dash of cream.

Drain potatoes add 25g butter and 100g of cream mash and season.

Put mash on the centre of the plate put steaks on top add sauce arrange spinach separately.

Top steaks with truffles if required.