Eggs 3 Ways! ........ Classic Crespéou, Tomato Compote

This simple and classic dish is a multi-layered and multi-flavoured concoction that brings instantly to mind one of my favourite places in the world. Provence.

Crespéou comprises thin layers of fresh herb and vegetable omelettes built up to form a cake.
There are no strict rules as to what each omelette layer should be, but when in Provence.....one does as thee Provencal do!

Eaten chilled with a fresh tomato sauce and a glass of crisp rose wine, you are instantly transported to the sunshine of southern France. It is a dish perfect for a hot summers day lunch under a plane tree, or  in our case, a brunch in the midst of an Irish winter.

To save a lot of fiddly pre-preparation, and I'm all for speedy things along, a quick trip to your local deli store or a cruise along the deli-counter in your supermarket might be a good idea as you can find loads of anti-pasti vegetables all ready cooked and prepared for you....how convenient!, but if you have the time and the inclination, you can of course prepare and cook everything yourself from scratch.

To keep it simple we will cook 6 layers for our crespeou, but just have 3 flavors.......roasted peppers......aubergine & tapenade......and baby leaf spinach & celery

Roasted sweet peppers are readily available from deli counters already cooked and with the skin removed, you can also buy them in jars.
Tapenade is a puree of black olives, anchovies, capers, garlic & olive oil and you can buy it ready made in small containers or jars.
Spinach and celery together may sound a bit odd but celery leaves are delicious combined with spinach.
To help set the top of each omelette layer so we don't have to worry about trying to flip or turn them, have your grill set on high heat... you can then pop your pan under for a moment et voila, a perfectly done omelette.

you will need: feed 6 people.....or 4 greedy ones!

12 eggs..... (2 eggs per layer)

2 handfuls of baby leaf spinach free of stalks and chopped quite fine

4 tablespoons finely chopped celery leaves

2 small crushed cloves of garlic

200 g cooked peppers cut into strips....use a single or a variety of colours e.g. red, green & yellow
fresh basil

200 g aubergine, diced and pre-cooked in a little olive oil

2 teaspoons tapenade

sea salt & fresh black pepper

olive oil or butter
cream

you will make 2 layers of each flavour beginning with the spinach, so divide each amount listed above by 2   e.g. for the first spinach layer you will use.... 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon of cream, 1 handful of chopped spinach, 1 clove garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves

how to:

layer 1........ 

• Beat 2 eggs with a tablespoon of cream and season lightly
• In a small omelette pan, heat a little olive oil/butter and lightly cook the crushed garlic
• add the chopped spinach and celery and cook until it begins to soften, be careful not to overcook it, we want it to retain that vibrant green colour
• pour in the beaten eggs and cook as for an omelette until the eggs are just set, finish under the grill if needed
• slide the omelette onto a shallow sided bowl

layer 2......

• heat a little oil / butter, add the strips of peppers and cook gently
• pour in beaten eggs as before,  sprinkle over some chopped fresh basil leaves and cook as usual
• Slide this layer onto the spinach layer

layer 3......

• beat the eggs and cream, whisk in the tapenade, do not add any salt or pepper, believe me there is enough salty flavour in tapenade!
• heat a little oil / butter, add the cooked aubergine and heat a little
• pour in the egg and tapenade mi, cook as usual
• slide this layer onto the peppers layer 

Repeat each layer once more. 

When all layers are complete, cover the whole 'cake' with a piece of grease proof paper or cling film, then place a small plate or saucer on top to add a little pressure. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until really cold....it's a good idea to leave this overnight or at least for a few hours.
As the omelette layers cool they will settle into each other, when it is time to serve you will turn the Crespéou upside down onto a serving plate and you will have an omelette 'cake'.
Portion your crespeou into wedges just like a cake.

Crespéou is usually served with a coulis or puree of fresh tomatoes but I find this tomato compote is a delicious accompaniment and just adds to the sunshine flavors

For the Tomato compote

200 g tomatoes

1 red onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

fresh black pepper

seas salt

olive oil

• remove the core of the tomatoes then blanch, cool, remove the skins and roughly chop
• heat a little olive oil in a saucepan, add the chopped onion, cook for a moment, cover with a lid and sweat for a few moments until soft
• add the crushed garlic and cut tomatoes, cover with the lid again and cook gently until the tomatoes begin to soften and the juice begins to seep out
• remove the lid and cook over a fast heat to reduce the liquid and make a chunky sauce
• when thick enough to your liking, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped basil and season with some fresh pepper
• taste for flavor and add some sea salt if necessary
• allow to cool then chill until needed

There are a variety of items that could be used to flavor the layers. Try a layer studded with nuggets of goats cheese, blue cheese or a good strong cheddar

Try grated beetroot or grated carrot, grated courgette and fennel for variety of colour, but remember, any firm vegetables will need to be cooked in advance.

Try some shredded smoked ham with mushrooms of your choosing or even on their own are very tasty, you could try some spicy chorizo sausage or peppery salami, chicken, fish or shellfish.

The permutations for crespeou are endless and experimenting will be fun and tasty......bon appetit!

Posh Bacon & Cabbage with Cider Cream - A simple Sunday Lunch

Boiled bacon and cabbage with 'Shamrock' or parsley sauce and boiled or mashed potatoes, is probably the most popular dish here in Ireland, and will no doubt remain so for many years to come! We just love it.

It is a dish full of flavour, but it is more likely that it came to be popular among the 'natives' due to financial reasons, rather than for taste alone!

Pork or cured pork known as 'bacon' was the cheapest meat available to laboring folk for many years, with the pigs head being the most affordable part of all.
It is ironic that the most tender and tastiest part of the pig, the cheeks, were destined to be eaten by those who could not afford the more expensive and supposedly finer cuts of meat!
Pig cheeks were only one of the many parts of the pig that the financially well off would never have dreamed of eating!...they didn't know what they were missing!

But now those 'better off' are less snobbish about their eating habits when it comes to the lesser well known cuts of pork, and 'brawn' made from the pigs head, pork cheeks, pork belly and even the trotters will be seen on the menus of the very best restaurants........how times have changed!

Fancy Frikadellen

When it comes to thinking about German food, I summon up images of plump Vienna and bratwurst sausages with copious amounts of fried onions, big jars filled with home made sauerkraut or huge pickled gherkins, the ginger spiced Lebkuchen that is a Christmas tradition in our house, spatzle noodles with a rich wine soaked venison casserole and chilled bottles of sweet Riesling damp with perspiration, perfect for washing down slices of stollen.

But one of my favourite German dishes has to be 'frikadellen', a sort of meat patty resembling what most people would consider a burger. Made properly frikadellen are deliciously moist and full of flavour.
For my version of the traditional recipe which I call....'Fancy Frikadellen' I have drawn on a few of those German 'traits' that help give wonderful flavour and moistness to this dish.

Deep South Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

 using spice blend 1                                    

you will need:

1.5 - 2 kg boneless pork 

2 carrots
1 large white onion
3 stalks celery
1 large garlic bulb

water

• Use a whole piece of boneless pork loin, pork shoulder or pork butt......you could also try pork fillet, just trim any excess fat and sinew from the meat.
• Scatter some spice blend on the bottom of a deep sided container big enough to hold your piece of meat
• Coat the piece of meat all over in the spices and rub them in, lay your meat in the container
• Cover with cling film or a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours, even 2 days is good, let those spices sink in and the flavour develop....you can also freeze your meat raw in it's spicy crust
• Take a deep saucepan, roasting tin or casserole pot that can be covered with tin foil or that has a lid that is really tight! 
• Add the holy trinity of vegetables.....carrot, onion & celery....roughly chopped, add garlic if you wish, I add 1 large bulb, add your piece of meat with it's spices still intact then add cold water about halfway up the joint. 
• Cover tightly with a lid or tin foil and slowly cook in a pre-heated oven at 160oC for approx 2 hours

When the meat has finished cooking it will be so tender that it will literally fall apart, but will be moist rather than dry and overcooked as you might expect.....and it will be full of smoky, sweet yet spicy, bar-be-que flavour!

You can strain off the cooking stock, chill and skim to remove any fat. Re-heat the stock and thicken with cornflour to make a delicious gravy. It is equally tasty if you just shred the meat and enjoy it cold as a sandwich filling, try it in a wholemeal wrap or pitta pocket with some crisp Asian style slaw....no mayonnaise needed!

For an Asian slaw........shred some white cabbage, red cabbage and carrot, add some chopped fresh red chilli, grated fresh ginger, some sliced spring onions, rice wine vinegar and a little olive oil if you like but the rice vinegar on its own is fine........toss around and there you have an Asian slaw!

A party in your mouth! - Ceili Chicken. Spring Onion Boxty Potato Cakes

So what exactly is a 'Ceili'? and why are the Irish so fond of them?

A Ceili is an Irish dance.. a big party where there's lots of dancing in the traditional folk style with groups of people jumping about all over the place, swinging each other around by the arms and stomping their feet on the floor..... and if you have ever even been lucky enough to go to an Irish Ceili you'll know how much fun it is and how the Irish enjoy a good party!......and the same goes for my Ceili Chicken......it's a party in your mouth and you will enjoy it!

The chicken fillets or thighs are left to marinade in spices, at least overnight, in the refrigerator, or I store them coated in spices, in the freezer, for a later date....which means they could be in there for a few weeks, and all the while those delicious flavors are developing.

Creamy Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup with Red Thai Spices

'Red Curry' is a Thai dish that usually consists of spices (red curry) cooked in coconut milk with the

addition of meat, fish or tofu and occasionally vegetables like squash.

Red curry paste is made by crushing a long list of spices and herbs (get the list here!) using a pestle and mortar. 

Because the list of ingredients is so extensive, there is little to be gained by going through the whole expense and effort of making it fresh at home, especially when there are so many excellent branded products on the market! 

You can buy tins or jars of paste if you use it regularly but for occasional use you can buy sachets or teeny tubs for 1 or 2 uses.

Thai red spices lend themselves to more than just the likes of a chicken or vegetable curry, and I have experimented and discovered new and very tasty uses!

A thing of beauty is......a home made pizza!

I love a good pizza, but it is one of those extremely addictive foods that should be eaten in extreme moderation! especially when store or restaurant bought, because honestly, you really have no idea what went into it! From processed plastic cheese toppings to doughy bases made with flour so refined there's little nutrition remaining, to sauces and meats that are loaded with salts sugars, additives and chemical coloring's.

So how do we make our beloved pizza more 'body' friendly so we can enjoy it more often.....the answer is to make your own, and making a home made pizza is as easy as pie......pizza pie!

Using a home made dough base topped with a tomato sauce of your own making, lots fresh vegetables and good quality cheese in sensible amounts of course, a pizza can be a complete and very nutritious meal!

The Rewards of Buying Local......A Delicious Lunch for Two!

 It is especially important at this time of year when the post Christmas slump is upon us that we make it our business to get out and support our artisan producers at the local farmers market. You will be surprised at the range of local produce that is available even in the depths of winter! when you may think that little is growing, and we should by rights encourage and support these people and commend them for the hours they put in standing about in the cold plying their lovingly handmade wares!

I have the convenience of having two artisan markets nearby, one is literally only a ten minute walk from my home at Harry's Restaurant in Bridgend county Donegal, the other is a short drive away, Letterkenny Artisan Market in Letterkenny also in county Donegal, both are held weekly on a Saturday......get their early!

(There is also the Walled City Market in Derry on the Guildhall square held on the first Saturday of every month beginning on the first Saturday in February)

My market trip was a bit later this morning as I had to work, so it was almost one by the time I got to Harry's. Their fishmonger in residence with the latest fresh catch from Greencastle, had only a few items left.......some delicious mussels, monk-fish, a little squid and some haddock and cod.....I opted for some naturally smoked cod which will find it's way onto our dinner plates tonight!
see recipe HERE!

Positively Porridge

When I think about porridge, three things come to mind........that hilarious comedy set in a prison with the fabulous Ronnie Barker and the wonderful, taken too soon from this world, Richard Beckinsale.......the second is 'Oliver Twist'....that poor downtrodden child suffering under enforced enslavement in a work house and fed on nothing but gruel......I'm not really sure what gruel is but it looked just like porridge made with dirty water to me....all grey and lumpy and definitely not appetizing, you would wonder how anyone survived at all!...and the third would be...BREAKFAST!

I was never really a fan of porridge, and when I talk about porridge I mean porridge made from oatmeal, but as I have matured in years my tastes have matured and now it is one of my favourite breakfasts!

Apart from being delicious, when made correctly, eating porridge is one of the healthiest and most nutritious ways to begin your day. It is full of fibre and complex carbohydrates that absorb slowly during digestion keeping you fuller for longer and preventing an attack of the mid-morning munchies!

Many view porridge as a very difficult thing to cook when in actual fact it is one of the simplest! 

When it comes to cooking porridge my mantra is......'LOW & SLOW'..... people seem to want to boil it to death and if you're making it with milk you risk burnt porridge, and believe me there is nothing worse in the world or more disgusting in flavour than burnt porridge!

A Cheesy New Year Achievment

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am a cheese fanatic. I could never have too much of the stuff and would quite happily eat it at every meal, if not every day, which I nearly do!
I enjoy my cheese any way, from hard mature, to smelly blue, to camembert soft, to smoked or aged, from creamy to cottage, or ricotta to mascarpone, I love it in all it's forms, that is except for the hideous mass produced 'plastic fantastic' that is foisted on an uneducated consumer and dares to call itself 'cheese'! and anyone who has ever tasted a true cheese made with love and care in the artisan fashion could not possibly tolerate such travesties!

I have always toyed with the idea of making my own cheese at home. Sadly in the past, time never gave me the opportunity, but for this new year I decided that it was something I should make a serious attempt to achieve!

After doing much research online, reading various articles and excerpts from my myriad of cheese books, and watching YouTube videos, there is a great one here.... click here for Alison Brien's fun and informative cheesy channel!
I came to my first cheese making attempt via a recipe from....would you believe it.....a Hare Krishna cookery book! Yes, it's true, no word of a lie!
It never ceases to amaze me where the inspiration for my next recipe can come from, but there you go, the Hare Krishna's have got it going on when it comes to making a quick soft cheese at home!

'Creole Style' Crab, Prawn & Avocado Bake

Avocado and shellfish are one of those matches made in heaven, and no matter how 1970's you think the combination of these two is, the plain fact of the matter is, they are delicious when eaten together especially with a good dollop of marie-rose sauce on top!

In staying with my Spice themed month, Creole cooking is all about the heat of spice.
This style of cooking originated in the southern American state of Louisiana and is influenced by the cultures of Spain and France. Louisiana is one of the states that encircle the Gulf of Mexico whose warm waters supply an abundance of seafood.

Spelt-acular Sexy Pancakes!

Spelt is one of the new super-foods when in reality it's as old as Methuselah! It is one of the oldest cultivated grains tracing is roots back more than 6,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia.
Spelt has many nutritional and digestive properties which if you're really interested in you can research HERE!  But for now I'll just tell you that it is one of the most easily digested grains....spelt and our human systems were MFEO! made for each other!

The grain is easily digested, more so than our everyday wheat flours, has anti-inflammatory qualities and tastes simply delicious with its sweet nutty flavour.

As we are a household of pancake lovers I am always on the look out for new and healthier ways to indulge our passion, and ways that are not syrup or sugar laden. Having tried spelt as a bread I decided to give it a go as pancakes with delicious results! These pancakes are light and wholesome with a range of healthy ingredients so feel free to spoil yourself......just add fruit!

Speltacular! Breakfast Pancakes

you will need: to make 8-12 pancakes depending on how big you like them!

200 g organic spelt wholemeal flour

pinch salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 medium eggs

125 g natural yogurt

3 tablespoons honey

100 mls soy or almond or coconut milk

1 tablespoon olive oil...not extra virgin!

how to:

• in a large bowl beat the eggs well then whisk in the yogurt and honey
• add the baking powder and salt to the spelt flour and mix well
• slowly add the spelt to the egg mixture stirring gently until all the flour is incorporated
• add the olive oil
• add the milk....add more if you want a thinner crepe-like pancake, add less if you want a thick pancake
• cook your pancakes on a non stick griddle

You can serve these straight away but they also keep really well if you want to make a big batch to enjoy as a snack or for another breakfast.

Like any other pancake these spelt pancakes can be enjoyed with that old faithful, maple syrup and are deliciously decadent with that well known chocolate hazelnut spread! but we try to be 'good' and eat them with some fresh fruit to start the day off correctly....enjoy with some sliced banana, a compote of red fruits and a dollop of yogurt, or just on their own with a cup of green tea.

You can always add some fruit to the uncooked pancake mix, try adding some fresh blueberries...about 150g...or some dried cranberries, sultanas, raisins or prunes...about 100g..., either way make sure you enjoy them, breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all!

Treacly Chocolate Muffins

Following on from my previous post, I am still in 'recycle' mode and furiously using up the bits and pieces left from christmas and whatever happens to be lying around in the larder. Spring cleaning has come a tad early!

A fellow chef once said to me that I was the only person he had ever known that could make something out of nothing......he was too kind! but what he meant really was, he needed 4 desserts, 5 starters and vegetables for that nights menu, then he would point me in the direction of the storeroom and cold-room and tell me to just use whatever there was on hand and then I was to tell the other chefs what to do!

Sometimes the task would seem impossible especially near the end of the month when dry stock was running low, and I would be in a complete panic, but by conscientiously reading practically every new cook book that came on the market, and back in the late eighties and early nineties there weren't that many! and scouring the women's magazines in waiting rooms and food magazines while standing in the actual newsagents, I built up a store of ideas that could be dragged out and adapted when needed.
This same method applies to my cooking today, the knowledge is stored in my head or ideas are scribbled down and I have note books filled with lists, ideas for this and that, and recipes that have actually come to fruition. After many years in the kitchen you do get a sense of what flavours work well together and which ones simply just won't, not in a million years!

This next recipe came about while cleaning out my 'baking' cupboard. There were the makings of chocolate muffins but not enough sugar for the full recipe. Then I came across a tin of treacle kindly donated by my mother, and I began to think of sticky treacly chocolate gooeyness... hash-tag YUM!

Sugar and Spice.....makes all things nice! - fruity spice cupcakes

I have designated January as 'spice month', just for myself you understand, I don't know if anyone else will jump on my spice wagon!

Spices are wonderful and I am continually discovering the world of spices as more and more exotic varieties hit our market shelves and I bravely venture to adapt their use to my repertoire of dishes and even invent some new ones!

As Christmas is almost a distant memory I am slowly using up any bit and pieces that have lain undisturbed in the darkest recesses of my refrigerator, like the last remaining jar of spiced cranberry compote (see recipe HERE) and some ginger preserve.  I also discovered a couple of bananas in the fruit bowl that are practically beyond ripeness! My kids do love their fruit but seem to go through 'fruit fads' eating nothing but bananas or apples then looking for melon and melon and maybe even more melon while the bananas turn to mush.

Sometimes when you experiment with leftover bits and bobs it can be a disaster but then there are the times when you come up with something that is delish! and these spicy and fruity cupcakes are one of those times.
As these cupcakes are to be used in the kids lunch-boxes this coming week I have left them in the nude, frosting is just not practical when flung around in a tupperware box!

The Life-giving Variety of Spice

There is an old nursery rhyme....rub a dub dub, three men in a tub.....my version is rub a dub dub, six spices in the tub!

Spices do not necessarily mean palate destroying heat! spices can be about imparting new flavours in a mild or fierce-some way, whichever is your pleasure, but most of all they are about adding new and exciting flavour dimensions to otherwise simple and dare I say it 'bland' foods.


If you like many others at this time of year, are making strides towards changing your style of eating to a much healthier one, spices can be a life saver.

We know how healthful and nutritious a plain steamed piece of fish or chicken is for us, but after a while it will get boring and there's nothing like boredom to make your revert to old habits! Having a blend of spices mixed and on hand ready to go can jazz up many a piece of otherwise boring meat and this 6 spice blend can be used as a marinade, a rub or as a dusting to any meat or fish you have a mind to use it on!

Blend 1.....for a smoky, almost bar-be-que type flavour....good with pork, beef, lamb, fresh tuna, salmon or other oily fish

1 tablespoon garlic granules
2 tablespoons onion granules
1 level teaspoon sea salt
2 level teaspoons ground black pepper
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons chinese 5 spice


Blend 2......for a mild Asian flavour....good with chicken, veal, pork, white fish

1 tablespoon garlic granules
1 level teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon asafoetida powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne

you can add 1 teaspoon of chilli powder to either of these blends if you want heat!

Mix the spices together in a bowl then store in a jar with a screw top lid, it's a good idea to label and date your spice blends for future reference!
You can rub the spices all over a piece of meat and let it marinade overnight or in the freezer, you can dust a piece of chicken or fish just before grilling or baking in the oven, or you can even add the spices to some olive or peanut oil with additional herbs and then add meat or chicken pieces for a stir fry.

As my American roots veer more towards the northern states you are more likely to find 'Yankee Pot Roast' on the menu when it comes to 'down home cookin'  but click HERE! for my take on a deep south staple using spice blends......pulled pork!

A Weighty Issue

'Diets' are boring! Even the word 'diet' itself is surrounded by negativity and we humans seem to be psychologically geared to have a negative reaction any time the word is uttered!

We perceive a period of 'dieting' as a time of misery and self denial which for the majority will result in nothing but failure and a return to former habits....... a vicious circle of self loathing and yo-yoing ensues and we end up putting those excess pounds back on and then some!

Every 'new year' we are bombarded with ads for this slimming club, that new weight management programme, gym memberships discounts here and 'boot camps' there, and of course the television is riddled with plenty of 'famous' people who can tell us where it all went wrong....but don't ask them about the liposuction, the tummy tuck or butt lift they had, or the personal chef, trainer and nutritionist who makes sure they never even have to think about their next meal never mind shop for it or cook it!......and don't forget to buy the book or the workout dvd....of course!.....but never mind, by the time Easter and the annual festival of chocolate worship comes around all will be forgotten, but according to media sources, by the 17th of January most people will have lost the will to continue anyway as normal life takes over once more and we revert to 'business as usual'.

Happy New Year!

I am on the road to recovery after a prolonged and extremely annoying chest infection that sapped me of all energy and occasionally the will to live!
Last evening was the first time since christmas eve that I could truly motivate myself to cooking, so that gives you some idea of how sick I have been!

For my return to the kitchen I rustled up that much love family favourite and mainstay, vegetable soup. After the carcass from the christmas day turkey had been denuded by the family vultures, I sent it to sleep in the freezer until needed. Having always on hand a variety of vegetables and pulses required for making different soups, I was able to rustle up said vegetable soup with minimal effort and maximum flavour!

Storing carcasses from roasted fowl joints in the freezer is a great idea, you may not always have the time to make and freeze a stock the day you roast your bird but it's so easy to just make a soup base using a carcass straight from the freezer......just add the frozen bones and vegetables to the pot, add cold water and bring to the boil then leave the stock to simmer in the usual way....easy peasy!

click HERE! for the full vegetable soup recipe and making the stock

I am so looking forward to getting back into the cooking swing of things as I got a new camera for christmas and can't wait to play about with some seductive food photography, until then you can follow me on twitter, facebook and I'm now on pinterest too!