Giant Turbot

Turbot! 

This fish was heavy! Ordered fresh from Howth, the turbot was amazing and fed nearly ten people! It is a serious fish. Stuffed with lots of herbs and roasted in the oven on a bed of chicory, celery, shallots, tomatoes and fennel and lemon.

Humble Pie

In light of the fact that Brian Cowen resigned the day we cooked and ate this we chose to call this post and this pie...Humble Pie 

ingredients for the pie
chicken, leeks, onions, fresh herbs (tarragon is good), a clove of garlic, mushrooms, fresh chili and ready made or homemade pastry for the top

for the indulgent beetroot and avocado salad
fresh beets, avocados, lemon juice and roasted garlic (yum) 

for the dessert
chocolate and fruit

Pie

• cook the diced chicken and set aside
• cook the leeks, onions, mushrooms, chili, garlic and herbs
• add the chicken and after a bit pile the lot into a pie dish and cover with the rolled out pastry
• in this case make the 'f's' and stick em on
• bake in the oven for half an hour or so

Salad

• chop fresh beets up and roast with some thyme, olive oil and lemon and 2 whole garlic cloves
• roughly chop a ripe avocado
• when the beets are cooked take them out and let them cool a bit, then toss with the avocado
• squeeze out the roast garlic and mix it in to the beets and avocado and throw in juice of half a lemon

Chocolate fruit

• melt the chocolate, dip in the fruit and let cool

Pimped

Short Marinated Chicken Salad with Pimped up Raspberry Ripple Twist!


Beat the hell out of a couple of chicken breasts (butterfly them) and marinate in apple cider vinegar, dash of olive oil, bit of garlic, pepper, lime juice. Slice a red pepper, pour some olive oil on and chargrill and put aside. Toast some pine nuts (yum) until they taste a bit like popcorn!


Prepare some salad

• Chopped Beetroot and sliced apple
• Diced tomato and slices of mozzarella
• Chopped lettuce, watercress, rocket, whatever takes your fancy
• Scallions
• Grated or Leanne style carrot done with a potato peeler

Grill/bake/chargrill/fry the gorgeously marinated chicken after at least 45 minutes marinating and then toast some cornbread.


Stacking the Salad...

• Cornbread with dash of Olive oil
• Lettuce, carrot, onion
• Handful of pine nuts
• Chicken
• Roasted peppers
• Balsamic vinegar or any salad dressing
• Apple and Beetroot on the side
• Mozzarella and tomato on the side

EAT


For dessert a favourite, raspberry ripple ice-cream but sliced and arranged in layers - ice-cream, fresh squashed up raspberries, ice-cream etc. Back in freezer for a while, melt some great quality chocolate, pour over and enjoy.......

Gorgeous Tuna Salad

   

Ingredients

• ice - berg lettuce
• scallions
• juicy tomatoes
• a ripe avocado
• a large beetroot
• tin of butter beans
• tuna
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• olives
• celery

Dressing  apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, lemon and black pepper

Sauce Forever

Recipe to make life easier and it tastes great (also the perfect excuse to try my new hand blender)

A GIANT pot of pasta sauce that you can freeze in little freezer bags until you need it, take one out, leave to defrost for a hour or two or speed it up if you need to.

makes approx 10 portions with each feeding 2-3 people

Ingredients 

• 5 tins of tomatoes (2 of cherry to sweeten it up, no sugar in this recipe)
• 4-5 stalks of celery
• 2 carrots
• 2 big handfuls of mushrooms
• a courgette or two
• 4 onions
• 15-20 cloves of garlic (you really can't have enough)
• herbs like basil, oregano, whatever takes your fancy
• star anise (leave this in for an hour of simmering and then take it out)
• bit of fresh chili or dried chili flakes if you want a bit of spice 
• handful of anchovies (put them in even if you don't like anchovies. it will be ok i promise)
• black pepper at the end
• ...................there's something else.........i know it.......
• .................
• oh yes, at least half a bottle of wine, red or white will do

How to

Cook up the onions in olive oil til nice and soft, chop the garlic roughly and toss it in. In another pot cook the chopped up celery, courgette, chopped or grated carrots, diced mushrooms until a bit soft too. 

Throw the onions, garlic and veg together in a big pot, add herbs, star anise and tomatoes. Cook on a low heat for about 20 mins and add half of the wine and the anchovies. Add the rest of the wine whenever you feel like it. 

Give it all a good stir occasionally and take out the star anise after about an hour. Leave it for about another 20 mins on a low heat and then let it cool a good bit before you attack it with a hand blender! 

When it's completely cool...and blended to whatever consistency you like it, spoon it into small sized freezer bags (about 2 ladles makes a good portion for 2-3 people), freeze and there you go....sauce forever (or until you eat it all)

This is perfect on its own with wholewheat sketti (spaghetti) or throw in some tuna if you like. You can even eat it as soup or use it as a sauce for chicken or something. 

Food for January

Simple Sunday Brunch.......without the bacon

This is what it looks like, exactly what it looks like. A very healthy and simple and tasty breakfast or brunch (depending on when you eat it....well I'm not sure how to define brunch actually...does it count as brunch if you've eaten breakfast...no it can't.....but then why isn't is late breakfast?)

Grapefruits really appeal to me when I'm in a supermarket. I've often bought a grapefruit and felt damn good about it and then it's sat in the fruit bowl for a long time until it stops looking so appealing....i am not good at eating fruit but I'm determined to make the effort. Apples genuinely stress me out though! I'm not a fan of apples really. I can't understand them. Ruby red grapefruit.....gorgeous and sweeter than normal ones.

Muesli? love/hate relationship going on there but lovely and good for you! Natural yoghurt, straightforward and good. You can put it on the muesli too.

Coffee......

Although this blog is intended primarily to be a centre for reviews, critiques, praise and general commentary on the joys and pitfalls of food, of restaurants, of home cooked feasts, and despite the fact that I had intended the first post to contain valuable information and advice on some exquisite menu or delicious recipe I am instead compelled to discuss the simple happiness of today's lunch......

An Eimear and Karen special

not particularly happy to be in work today, also not very happy with the weather and the general state of the country when it's wet and yukky and miserable I ventured out to purchase some cheap comforting food in the local tesco supermarket (not a very inspiring supermarket!) and returned with a tin of sweetcorn, some tuna (the ring pull version because I am too lazy and too miserable to even use a tin opener), some coleslaw (always a sign of miserableness!) and 2 pre cooked baked potatoes...comfort food? I think so. Upon my return Eimear, who can always be relied on to make lunch a happy and more interesting affair, produced 2 lovely tomatoes, hummus and some black pepper and so resulted a combination lunch....

Baked spuds with black pepper, ripe tomatoes, sweetcorn, coleslaw and hummus..... a truly mood boosting comforting and filling midday meal :o)

I am full, perhaps a little too full....but satisfied