Chana Masala

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Guest Chef No 10 - Ferdia McLoughlin

Let me present the glorious Ferdia McLoughlin who catered for up to 80 people using only beer kegs, an open fire and his manly prowess.  Well I lie, there was a gas hob as well as an open fire.


Ferdia catered for the staff and crew of Vantastival, which is a great family and campervan friendly festival located on Dunanny Estate in Co Louth. The sun was splitting the rocks all weekend, and a great time was had by all. There was music, dancing, bouncy castles, a campervan cook-off (post on this to follow) a scrap heap challenge and hidden midnight surprises in the woods.


Ferdia kept the crew well fed all weekend. I popped my head in to say hi and chop the occasional onion. His cooking gear was manufactured by the creative crew from old beer kegs - sure why not! Even including the big stirring spoon.

One outstandingly tasty dish that made it's way out of this multicoloured tent was Chana Masala. Ferdia spent a year in travelling/cycling in India. He makes some amazing Indian dishes with a great understanding of all the spices and ethnic nuances.


This recipe was written for 80 portions - Ferdia kindly scaled it down to serve 6

Ingredients
2 onions - diced
1 clove of garlic
3 teaspoons of corriander seeds
2 teaspoons of cumin
1/2 tsp of paprika
1 teaspoon of turmeric
200g of tinned tomatoes
800g of tinned chickpeas - drained
1 teaspoon of tamarind paste disolved in cup of water
3 teaspoons of amchoor powder
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1.2 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
3 teaspoons of lemon juice
1 chili
1 teaspoon ginger
100 ml of cream

Method
1) Fry onions.
2) Add in corriander, cumin, paprika & turmeric.
3) Add in tomatoes, cook for a few miutes before adding in the chickpeas, tamarind including the water.
4) Add in the rest of the spices, bring to simmer cover and cook for 10 mins.
5) Uncover and cook for a further 30 mins
6) Remove from the heat and stir in the cream before serving over boiled rice.
7) Enjoy in the County Louth sun
For a lighter option use low fat yogurt instead of cream

What a guy!

Carrot, Chickpea & Harrisa Soup

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A Thoroughly Super Soup

So I spent a lovely weekend at home with my parents and visiting my friends and all of their little babies! Cute the lot of them. My mum cooked a great soup which she got from the BBC Food magazine. It was delicious, spicy filling soup, with a hearty consistency. A real winner and super healthy of course, thanks mum!

Ingredients
Olive oil
1 onion dices
50g of carrots
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of cumin seed
1 tsp of coriander seed
1 tsp of caraway seed
1 tbsp of harrisa paste
1 litre of vegetable stock (or chicken of you like)
a small bunch of parsley
410g can of chickpeas
To serve – plain Greek yogurt

In a large pan cook the onion in some olive oil on a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until translucent and soft. Next add in all the carrots and the garlic and cook uncovered for another 5 mins.

Meanwhile grind all the whole spices in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder. Tip this mixture into with the carrots and onion long with the harissa. Stir well to mix and then add in all of your stock. Bring to a nice simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until the carrots are soft.

Then add in the drained chickpeas, and allow these to heat through. Remove one cup full of the mixture and blend the remaining with a stick blender. Add back in the cup and stir before serving with a big dollop of yogurt.

This soup sounds pretty simple – but it’s pretty spectacular. It must be the harissa – seriously make it – it’s great!

I went a bit crazy with this photo – but I like it.

Thick Minestrone Soup

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Mammy Minestrone

Yup so this is a minestrone I made with my mum while home over the bank holiday. I decided to make it when I saw how much lovely homegrown spinach that they had in their cupboard. Then I forgot to add it in - whoops- well it was still a great soup and a nice filling lunch that got me the whole way back to Dublin in the car without any belly rumbles.

Ingredients

 1 white onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
6 fresh tomatoes (chopped, skinned if you like)
3 carrots diced
3 sticks of celery finely sliced
big bunch of green beans cut into whatever size pieces you like
1 tin of mixed beans
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
3 handfuls of dry pasta (whatever shapes you like)
1 sprig of thyme
1 bunch of parsley
1 pint of vegetable stock
A couple of handfuls of basil leaves

To Garnish 

freshly grated Parmesan
basil leaves
 
Fry your onion over a medium heat for two minutes before adding in the garlic. Cook until the onion begins to soften, then add in the diced carrots and celery. Cook for a further 5 minutes. Then add in the sprig of thyme, the bay leaf, tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes begin to soften. Then stir in all the other ingredients, except the basil, mix well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for about 12-14 minutes until the pasta shapes are cooked. Stir in the fresh basil just before serving and garnish with a few leaves and a generous grating of Parmesan. Enjoy with some nice brie and a glass of good red wine.

I only used about 1/2 litre of stock in this and it turned out very thick, so I recommended more stock in the recipe to make for a more liquid soup. I love cooking with my mum, she ways things like 'what'll I chop next?' and 'I'll get that from the garden' the perfect cooking partner

Thanks Mum!

Mexican Chilli Soup with Black Beans & Corn

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Blacker than the Fires of Hell

Look at these - they're pasilla chillies, yes they're black, they're the size of your head, and they're the main ingredient of this soup. I did take the seeds out. As me and Lola learned at the Mexican Embassy in August of last year, in real Mexican cooking they use chillies, like we use tea - everywhere and all the time - oh yes! I found these chillies in Fallon & Byrne, and snapped them up as I've no idea where else to get the in Dublin.

This is a genuine Mexican meal, unlike my interpretations of other Mexican dishes. This soup is amazing, not as hot as you'd think, though it does pack a punch. It's a whole range of taste that is new to me, which is very exciting

Ingredients

4 large pasilla chillies

4 large tomato - quartered

1 large red onion

1 teaspoon of dried garlic (there was no fresh - the shame!)

1 pint of chicken stock

1 can of corn

1 tin of black beans

1 red onion

1/2 teaspoon of paprika

2 flour tortillas - cut into strips

Some vegetable oil

Grated cheddar

Over a flame - hold your chilies, until they become a little bit more pliable, like leather. Break them apart and remove the seeds and stem. Cover them in a bowl with a little boiling water. allow to steep for 10 minutes or so. 

Cook your onion over a medium heat until translucent. Add in the garlic and paprika, cook for another minute or two. Then stir in the stock, tomatoes, chillies and soaking water along with the black beans, retaining a few of these for garnish. Cook for 35-40 minutes at a very gentle simmer.

Remove from the heat and liquidise. Then stir in the corn.

In a frying pan - heat up 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil and when hot, fry the tortilla strips until golden brown. Garnish the bowls of soup with a few of these strips and a little grated cheese (none for you vegans). Divine, I do highly recommend trying this soup, also good served with some chopped avocado or fresh coriander. Or spring onions, feic I had them in the fridge and all - oh well, cooks regret ...

Vegan Veggie Burritos

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Yup you heard that right - veganNow that's true until you top it with cheddar - but burritos are a handy option if you ever have to feed a mixture of Vegan/Veggies and Carnivores all at once. Throw lots of stuff into little bowls - give people tortillas and let them build their own.

Lola braved the outside world to get the ingredients for our dinner tonight - so I had these ready when she got back (by ready I mean shouting down the stairs at her to check the rice when she came in wet and cold!) Sorry honey I love you really.

Now I bought some black turtle beans which are super good for you, they were on my list of superfoods back in May. Unfortunately they require soaking for 24 hours and then boiling for 45mins - so I put them on to soak yesterday - super organised me, so super organised I mis-read a 24 hour clock and was an hour early meeting my friends for a gig - how the bouncers laughed. The place wasn't even open!

Ingredients
Tortilla wraps
For the re fried beans
I cup of black turtle beans
I onion
2 cloves of garlic
Big slurp of olive oil
sprig of rosemary
Salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
big pink of chili flakes
1 teaspoon paprika

For the 'slaw
1 big leaf of cabbage finely sliced
1 large carrot grated
2 teaspoons of sesame seeds
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil

Other toppings
beetroot
pickled chillies
Tomatoes with coriander
Grated cheddar (not for the vegans)
Brown rice
Avocado or guacamole
sour cream
Cucumber
anything that tickles you fancy

Soak your beans overnight, then cover with water and bring to the boil with the sprig of rosemary. Simmer for 40 mins. Drain and then add salt after cooking, this helps reduce the unwanted side effects of eating beans, and stops the skin on the beans from hardening - you want to be able to mush your beans up.

In a frying pan - fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil till translucent and fragrant. then add in your three spices (add some ground cumin to if you have it -but I'd run out - damn) Cook for a minute before adding in your beans. Stir it all up and then give the beans a mush with the back of your spoon - break them up as much as you like - you can even use your potato masher.

For the healthy coleslaw - combine all the ingredients in a bowl - and leave to stand for a while if you have the time - it's nice sometimes to toast the sesame seeds under the grill until they're golden and crispy.Serve all your sides in little bowls and get building your burrito

Spicy Bean Quesadilla

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The Happy Mexican

There’s no accounting for cravings now is there? Mushed up kidneys beans, yeah that’s pretty much what I want right now, oh yes. So I decided upon a Mexican quesadilla with a nice spicy bean mixture in. It satisfied my craving nicely - even if it refused to photograph well - so I went photoshop crazy on it - sorry the photos are a state - but I didn't want to do them twice.

Recently I have been using fresh tomatoes in sauces when I can, instead of tinned, which really gives the flavour a nice edge. They cook down faster than you think. Cooking tomatoes actually increases their anti-oxidant levels unlike most veg, which is great news. Lycopene the anti-oxidant found in tomatoes, is specifically known for decreasing the risk of heart-disease, happy Mexicans.

Ingredients
5 fresh tomatoes
4 spring onions
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh thyme
1 tin of kidney beans drained
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 peppers roasted/grilled and skinned see here for instructions
Grated Cheese
Flour tortillas

Fry up your onion and garlic in a little oil until translucent. Add in your thyme and cayenne pepper, stir for about 1 min before adding in the chopped tomatoes and beans, stir until the tomatoes begin to cook down a little. Season. Turn down, cover and leave to cook for a 10 minutes or so. It’s done when the tomatoes are cooked down nice - it’ll be pretty thick, because you want a nice paste texture. Squish down the beans with the back of the spoon.

In a clean frying pan place one tortilla, add on top a layer of beany mush, a few roasted peppers, spring onions and some grated cheese. Top with another tortilla and give it a bit of a squash down. Place over a medium head - cook for 2/3 minutes, turn over (carefully) and give the next side 2/3 mins. Keep your eye on it or it’ll burn (not looking at anyone in particular here!) Serve with sour cream with chives or guacamole (neither of which I had sadly) but it was still really good.

This would be great to use up some leftover chicken, or chili. Throw in whatever beans you like or have to hand, some courgette and corn would also work well. Fresh chilli's would also be great in the sauce or de-seeded as a topping

Spicy Roast Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup/Dal

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Soup? Dal? whatever, its delicious

You know sometimes you just get it right? I wanted to make butternut squash soup and for some reason decided to use lentils to pad it out instead of potatoes or whatever. I go through phases of having cravings for rice and dal, and making industrial quantities of both, so it made sense to me to make this soup in the way that I would make dal: cooking the onions and spices separately and adding everything together at the end. I seriously hit on a winner. It looks beautiful as all the ingredients are yellow and the turmeric just increases the intense colour. Also, this was the tastiest soup ever (not counting my Nana's chicken soup, which I will blog come winter). Fenugreek and Asa foetida are new spices for me, I added them on Lu's recommendation, you could leave them out but I think they really gave it an extra kick and an authentically indian flavour. I don't think I will ever make butternut squash soup any other way again.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash

200 grams red or yellow lentils (I used a mix of both)

1 onion

4 cloves garlic

3/4 pint vegetable stock

4 tablespoons Ghee (or 3 tblsp veg oil, 2 tbsps butter, but flavour will not be as good)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 3cm thick slice of ginger

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1/4 teaspoon fenugreek powder

1/4 teaspoon asa foetida powder

Begin by cutting the squash in half, removing the seeds, and placing an unpeeled clove of garlic into each of the cavities. Sprinkle with oil and season, and roast in a very hot oven for about 3/4 of an hour or until soft enough to scoop the flesh out with a spoon. Meanwhile,

wash the lentils well, place in a pot, cover and simmer them in about 3 times as much water along with the turmeric and ginger.

When the lentils are totally soft, discard the ginger. Remove the cooked squash from the oven, scoop out all the flesh and add it to the pot with the lentils and their remaining cooking water. Peel the roasted garlic cloves and add them in too. pour in the hot vegetable stock (you might not need the full amount of stock, depending on how much of the cooking water evaporated when you were cooking the lentils. It also depends on how thick you like your soup. I prefer mine a little on the thin side) Using a hand held stick blender, whizz up the lentil and squash mixture until it is smooth

Finely chop your onion and the two remaining garlic cloves. Heat the ghee in a small pan until really hot. Add the seeds first, and remove from the heat. They will darken and fill the kitchen with a wonderful aroma. Then add the rest of the spices, followed by the onion and garlic. Cover the pot and gently saute the mixture until the onions are totally soft.

Bring the soup mixture to simmering point, and add the hot onions and spices infused oil. Stir until everything is incorporated, and serve.

Shepherds Pie

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Beef up the Security Pie

Right so long story short - a bad man got into our house, Delo saw him off. He didn't get anything. Then he came back again. Then Delo saw him off again.

So while the girls and Delo beefed up the security and I beefed us up a pie to calm our poor nerves. When our neighbours heard they brought us over a bottle of wine, so it all ended well.

Thanks Delo and thanks Shelia.

I added in some extras like leeks, carrots and a tin of broad beans, as pie for 2 became pie for 4 and then 5, and there was enough to go around. The beans really added an extra dimension, complemented well by the beef and the cheesy potato topping.

Ingredients

1 pound of beef (from Madina on Parnell St - where they minced it freshly before your eyes, nice to see it's fresh, not nice to hear the sound of it going through the mincer - eugh)
2 medium onions
3 cloves of garlic - crushed
2 tablespoons flour
2 carrots - cubed
1 leek - sliced 1 cm rings
1 tin of beans - whichever kind you think would work - I used broadbeans (red ones not green)
Stock/Stock Cube
5 large potatoes - boiled
Some milk
Some grated cheese (I used cheddar)
Salt & Pepper

Boil your carrots along with the skins until tender - remove carrots, discard skins and keep water for later.

Fry up the onion with the garlic for a few minutes until it starts to go tender. Then add in the leeks cook until the onions are translucent and the leeks are getting soft. Then add in the beef and cook until it all goes brown. Then add in the flour mix well, then sprinkle over your stock/stock cube, and add a dash of Lea & Perrins. Combine the carrots and beans with the meat.

Use the water from the carrots to make the sauce - add a little at a time until you achieve your desired consistency. then simmer for a few minutes, making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pan. Mash your potatoes with some milk, salt & pepper and half the cheese.

In a oven proof dish - layer the meat mixture on the bottom - top with the potato and then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at Gas Mark 7 for about 30-45 mins until it looks golden and crispy and wonderful. Serve with some green veg - to balance out the colours of your plate. Your break in worries will be a thing of the past...... ahhhh

Tomato Dahl

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Tomato on your Roll Dahl?

Dahl is wonderfully satisfying served on top of rice as an accompaniment to curries. I've always had trouble reproducing a good one at home, they seem to vary widely in consistency. From a liquid to something thick and curry like. Because I love lentils I always tend to put too many of them in. This recipe I used only half a cup and this seemed to give a nice consistency, you could add more water if you wanted to serve it poured over the rice.

1 onion chopped
1 carrot small cubed
1-2 green chillies
4 tomatoes cubed (some recipes ask for peeled, but my life is too short to peel tomatoes)
½ cup of red lentils
2-3 garlic cloves crushed 1
inch ginger grated
¼ cup grated coconut (see previous post)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 bay leaves
some coriander to serve
1-2 tablespoons of toasted almonds (mmmm)
Ghee /Veg Oil

In a pan heat up the oil, when hot throw in the mustard seeds, cumin & chillies. Cook until the mustard seeds start to go ‘pop’ and then you can add in the onions, tomatoes and carrots, as well as some salt and turmeric. Saute them until the onions and tomatoes are soft.

Add in the lentils and cook gently while stirring for 3 mins. Then add in two cups of water and some bay leaves. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 mins till the lentils are soft and falling apart. You may need to add in some more water if the lentils start to stick to the bottom – so just keep an eye on it.

After 15mins or so - add the coconut simmer for another 4-5 mins. Sprinkle with coriander and toasted almonds. Serve with spiced rice for warm and satisfying meal, and mango chutney of course. Or as a side dish to accompany butter paneer masala and toasty hot naan breads.

Apologies for the terrible title - I just had to

Chilli roasted chickpeas

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Chickpeas – not just for hummous

More often than not – our tins of chickpeas are destined to become hummous – or maybe an addition to stew, so I felt the time had come to re-dress this balance. I ate these delicious chickpea dish with Farrah and Pam in New York a few years back – and since created my own version. I’ll dedicate this one to Farrah and also to wish her best of luck with the wedding preparations, we can’t wait!

Chili roasted chickpeas

I can of chickpeas rinsed
1 tablespoon of gram flour (any flour will do)
salt & pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 large red chili finely sliced – leave out seeds if you prefer it less hot
½ teaspoon of mixed spice
1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Toss everything together and spread onto a lightly greased baking tray – roast at the top of the oven for 20-30 mins at gas mark 7 until golden and toasty looking – serve with a some yogurt and freshly chopped parsley. Makes an excellent side dish for Eastern, Greek or Spanish style tapas food.

Where’s me Rioja?

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

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Eastern Feastern

This one is especially for Holly who called me at work to ask her to post some veggie recipes - here you go Holly!!

I,ve cut out sugar wheat and dairy for a few weeks in order to fit into last years summer dresses for the big trip to Venice. I'm actually finding it surprisingly pleasant and I'm no where near as hungry as I thought I would be. I think the secret is a nice breakfast (I make my own muesli) then you don't feel too short changed over not being allowed have lovely buttery toast and milky sweet coffee in the morning. Anyway, Lucy sent me a recipe for sweet potato falafel from
Allegra McEvedy's Leon restaurants today, perfect for my silly diet as it has no bad things in it at all. I have changed around the recipe a bit to include white beans and chopped fresh coriander to make it more authentically falafely. I think this might be the ultimate in gluten free, wheat free, sugar free, dairy free food, and best of all, they are baked, not fried. Normal falafel (made with just chickpeas) will be really dry and fall apart if you try to bake it, so this is definitely the ultimate in healthyness, and still most delicious dinner ever. It actually doesn't take that long to make either.

So here goes:


Baked Falafel
1 large sweet potato,
1/2 tin white beans such as butter beans or canellini
1 big handful fresh coriander
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
100g Gram Flour (a flour made from lentils available from all good middle eastern shops)
Juice of 1 lemon
glug of olive oil
sesame seeds for garnish

Bake the sweet potato in its skin in a hot oven for about an hour until it is totally soft throughout. mash the beans in a bowl with your fingers, take the cooked sweet potato out of its skin and add to the bowl. Add add the chopped coriander, followed by the rest of the ingredients mix well.


Use two spoons to shape each falafel piece, depositing each one onto a baking sheet covered with greased baking parchment. Sprinkle over some sesame seeds.

Bake in oven preheated to gas 7/220 degrees Celsius for 15 mins or until golden on the bottom and they feel solid to touch. This photo makes them look weird - I'm sorry


We served with:
*Hummus (see previous post) with added harrisa paste
*Natural yogurt with lemon juice, fresh parsley and coriander, salt & pepper
*Cyprus salad (see recipe)
*Chopped beetroot
*Ajvar (Turkish veggie spread made from red peppers great in sandwiches)
*Flat bread (although I didn't have any of this, how good am I?!)

wow! I just saw this video over on Icanhascook - it's brilliant.

Pulse Heavy Vegetarian Chili

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Veggie Chili – pulse racing stuff

I saw a post on yesterday 101 Cookbooks and as I had just found some pearl barley the week before I was keen to put it to good use. Also I love a big bowl of chili, very satisfying. I love my pulses, especially when they’re accompanied by a good kick of chili

1 huge onion (1cm squares)
Several carrots
3 sticks of celery – finely sliced
1 cup of brown lentils
1 cup of bulghur wheat
1 cup of pearly barley
1 big red chili
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
Several bay leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
Cayenne pepper
1 tin tomatoes
Veg stock
4 cloves of garlic - minced
1 ½ inch of ginger finely grated

Soften the onion and garlic in some oil along with the chili. Then stir in the spices, after 1 min or so, then add in the carrots. Fry off for about two mins before adding the lentils, barley, and tin tomatoes and bulghur wheat, mix thoroughly then add in enough stock to cover entirely.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 35-45 mins until the lentils are tender. Add in some cayenne pepper to taste.

If I was making this again – I’d like to add in a cup full of orange lentils – and maybe reduce the pearl barley a little to possibly ¾ of a cup. Maybe substitute red peppers for the carrots –but alas I had none. This actually produces a HUGE amount of chili – so possibly half the ingredients if you‘re not feeding a small army. The above amounts serves around 6/8

Serve with some grated cheese and baked tortilla chips like these babies

1 minute Hummus

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1 minute is all it takes (if you have a hand-blender that is) and yes we did time it!

Hummus

1 can of chickpeas - retain some of the brine
2 cloves of garlic
Good quality olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Juice of one lemon
Dripping tablespoon of Tahini

Put all ingredients into blender - blend - viola - add in a little of the chickpea brine if it's too thick. Sprinkle with paprika and add more olive oil if desired to serve. I used to use a potato masher to do the blending, and produces a coarser hummus which has equal charms.

To serve - pittas, falafel, cous cous, bulgar and roasted veg, sandwiches, add to vinaigrette to make a tasty salad dressing, carrot sticks, celery salad.... any more suggestions welcome.

I made a very tasty variation a few months back - adding in some roasted red peppers and harissa (a North African hot red sauce or paste made from chili peppers & garlic) - possibly the best hummus ever, quite possibly. The variations are numerous and delicious - yum!