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!

Pork and Chorizo Hash

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Triple Pork Breakfast

Well it's not a fry - which is the traditional way of eating three types of pork first thing in the morning, I guess we could bill this as slightly healthier alternative, just! 

Ingredients

Serves 6

1 large white onion - Roughly diced
4 streaky rashers - thinly sliced
Fresh thyme
3 inches of chorizo - cubed finely
Left over pork - diced
1 red pepper - cubed
1 green pepper - cubed
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
4 large potatoes - cubes and cooked
3 cloves of garlic - finely sliced
left over corn

eggs for frying should you so desire!

In a hot pan - fry up your rashers some olive for a few minutes, then add in chorizo, cook until your rashers and chorizo are both a little crispy. Drain and put aside. Fry onion in a little of the oil left in the pan - which should have a nice red colour from chorizo. After two minutes add in the garlic, then fry until the onion is starting to turn transparent. Then add in your peppers and thyme, cook for another few minutes until they start to go tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients - and allow to re-heat. Gently turn the mixture every so often to ensure it all gets heated through properly. I like to allow it to stick to the pan a little producing nice little caramelised parts (others may call this burnt - I call it yummy!)

We served this with a fried egg on top - and some freshly chopped chives, and a nice apple chutney on the side. This is a great brunch/lunch/supper dish, really filling and satisfying. You could use any kind of left over pork, ham or chicken or corned beef, as well as combining with any left over cooked veg that you have.

This used up the leftover pork that the lovely Bord Bia sent us, Lola made it into the delicious Roast French Rack of Pork with Apple and Prune Stuffing  My mum used to make bubble and squeak - any recipes for that would be greatly appreciated!

Oven Baked Lamb Burgers in Mediterranean Sauce

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Maybe more of stew than a sauce

This recipe was started off by catching a wiff of barbecued burgers in town whilst having a drink. So it was decided - some juicy tasty burgers for dinner - oh yes! We picked up all we needed on Mary Street, from the Asian food company - one of my favourite shops in town.

IngredientsFor the burgers
3/4 pound of minced lamb
1 white onion - finely diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
 a good grate of fresh nutmeg
2 tablespoons of ketchup
1 slice of bread - crumbed

For the sauce
3 mini aubergines (cause they're cute) finely sliced
1 white onion diced
3 cloves of garlic sliced finely
1 large green chili - seeds removed
1/2 red pepper - diced
1/2 yellow pepper - diced
1/2 courgette - diced
8 large tomatoes roughly chopped
1/2 litre vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Start by making the burgers. Basically mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl - you’ll have to use your hands for sure. Then form into 6 burger shapes, and place in an oven proof dish and refrigerate while you make the sauce.

For the sauce fry the aubergine in a  little olive oil until it starts to colour a little - add in the onion and some more oil if needed and cook for another few minutes before adding the garlic and chilli. After another few minutes add in the peppers and courgette. Cook these until the soften ever so slightly - then add in all your chopped tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover until the tomatoes begin to beak apart. Then add in about 1/2 little of vegetable stock. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, then remove from the heat and pour over your burgers in an oven proof dish - the sauce should cover the burgers - remember it will cook down in the oven.

Bake at gas mark 6 for about an hour. Serve with a sprinkle of parsley and some oven baked chips (ours turned out tasting of lemons, so Delo ran to the chipper - weekend boldness!) 

The burgers came out wonderfully moist and the vegetable mixture cooked down to produce a rich, sweet and dense sauce. I don’t want my burgers any other way! They would be equally as tasty with beef mince, I’d have added some harissa to the mixture if I’d had some to hand for sure. Endless variations possible here - with different vegetables and meats.  Tonight I’ll eat the leftovers in a fresh floury bap - looking forward to it already.

Roast rack of Pork with Apple and Prune stuffing

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Free Bia!

After a whole year of food blogging we have finally gotten our first free thing! The lovely people at Bord Bia delivered this amazing french rack of pork straight to Lu's office. It was actually enough for 8 people so I cut it in half, knocked up this roast and Colm and I ate half of that for dinner. the other half was left over, so Lu and I made an amazing roast pork hash with it on Sunday morning (recipe up next!). The other uncooked half lived to fight another day and is in the freezer for the foreseeable future. This is a really delicious and unusual cut of meat that I would never think of buying so thanks Bord Bia!

Recipe:

stuffing

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

6 prunes

1 small apple

250g breadcrumbs

1 tbsp chopped thyme, or parsley or sage

Chop the onion and garlic and saute in a large knob of butter and a big glug of olive oil. Saute until translucent. Chop the prunes and apples and add to the onion and garlic with the herbs. when the apples have softened slightly, add in the breadcrumbs and stir them around so that they soak up all the oils. Season and leave to cool

Take the rack of pork and arrange on an oiled roasting tin so that the ribs interlock and the two sides hold themselves up. Using your hands, make a tennis ball sized ball from the stuffing and place it in the cavity between the two sides of the rack. Using paper towels, dry the skin on the outside of the pork, score the skin with a sharp knife and rub it with salt. Pour about a half a glass of apple juice in to the roasting tin, wdd some parboiled potatoes and place in a pre heated oven, roast at 190c for 1 and a half hours.

when done, remove the meat and potatoes from the tin and place on a plate to rest. Stir a tablespoon of flour into the pan juices, place on your hob and add some madera or some sherry (a couple of tbsps). Stir it all in andand add a cup of apple juice and a cup of water or stock. Simmer to thicken and serve!

Cut between the ribs to serve, one 'chop' will be more than enough per person.

Leek & Bread Pudding

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Twice Baked Bread

I saw this recipe mid-week and just knew I had to make it. One of my favorite things is bread and butter pudding, and this is a savory version including a rich conte cheese and gently carmelised leeks. This recipe comes from the super blog - based out of NYC - Smitten Kitchen. I love her recipes its one of m favorite blogs - so be sure and check it out. She has  a book in the due out in the next few, which is def on my Christmas list (oh hint, hint!)

I followed the recipe exactly at this link. I served it with some fresh - uncoloured smoked haddock, from the fishmonger at the Saturday food market in Temple Bar - I hadn't been there in a while and had forgotten how great it is, for an morning wander and a nibble. 

To prepare the fish - simply poach in milk for 5 minutes, flake over a slice of this bread pudding hot from the oven - it's Saturday lunch heaven. Give Delo an extra large slice cause he bought you a lovely bunch of flowers!!! My pictures don't really convey the texture of the bread too well, it was crispy and crunchy on top, whilst soft, spongy and creamy inside - this is a well recommended recipe and the possibility of endless variations.

Grilled Endive with Cumin & Lavendar Oil

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While wandering around the Temple Bar Food Market on Saturday, I browsing through a selection of oils, when I came across a small bottle of cumin oil. Cumin is one of my favourite spices, so I was intrigued immediately. The friendly guy running the store seemed pleased I'd picked it up - as they had just got it in as new stock. He had given it to some food critics to sample duriing the week and said they'd been impressed. If it's good enough for the critics well then. I was a little scared when he described it as medicinal, though he assured me it was fine for cooking.

I paired it with some grilled endive - and let the few drops I applied do the talking.

Ingredients

3 heads of Endive/Chicory

a drizzle of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

3 drops of cumin oil per piece of endive

3/4 teaspoon of dark brown sugar

Lay the head of endive on your grill pan - drizzle with olive oil, add the drop of cumin oil and season well. Sprinkle over a little sugar. Pop under a hot grill for 10 minutes, turning once, the heads should be a rich caremlised brown on the edges, soft through witha little bit left in the centre.

I served these with some leek and bread pudding, and topped with a poached egg - delicious! There was a camera emergency while I was trying to cook this causing me to over cook the egg - damn - was still good though. Recipe for leek bread pudding to follow - now I'm going to bed!

Very Full Tart - by Yotam Ottolenghi

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Very Full Tart - by Yotam Ottolenghi

Yotam Ottolenghi write the 'new vegetarian' in the Observer on Sunday, I love his recipes, they always full of flavor and colour. This recipe was good if a little time consuming - not quite sure why it took me so long! Maybe roasting the veg for differing amounts of time did it. The blind baking the case, the baking the whole thing.

I've just included the link to the recipe as I followed it pretty much to the T - except I used a large yellow squash that came in our Fruitfellas box - in place of the aubergine - either would be great I'm sure.

This tart was bursting with flavor - the thyme is essential to the overall flavor - and the nice mixture of the ricotta and feta is wonderful with a crumbly pastry casing. Perfect  to bring along to an outdoor Sunday spring/summer lunch. This pie once baked - it was carried bicycle style across the city to Delo who had been working hard on a college project all weekend - mobile dinner - could turn that into a business maybe - what do you reckon?