Cheesy Onion Tart.....

.......with a little rocket salad & spiced pear chutney.

The marriage of cheese and onion is another 'made in heaven' .....just ask Mr TAYTO!
and as far as I'm concerned anything with cheese in it is good!

This tasty concoction is great as a simple lunch dish, adequately filling to have as an evening meal, and can even be made as individual tarts or in canape size suitable for a party.

The cheese I use is Sperrin Blue made by Dart Mountain Cheese as it's made just up the road from me in Derry...to find out more on their fabulous cheese range and other products....click HERE!
The Sperrin Blue is crumbly yet creamy with just the right amount of that distinctive blue cheese tang to marry well with the sweetness of the onions.

you can find the recipe for Spiced Pear Chutney HERE!

Spiced Pear Chutney.....for a Cheesy Onion Tart!

When I recall the pears of my childhood, I am invariably reminded of school dinners where tinned pears were served atop a pool of creamy semolina or rice pudding, or indeed on what seems to be everyone's pet hate, that delectable white 'frogspawn' otherwise known as TAPIOCA...personally I am rather fond of it...the way I make that is!

As a child, at home for a Sunday luncheon we would occasionally have a tinned pear trifle and a bit of whipped 'Dream Topping' on top with those rainbow strands 100's and 1000's.....well it was the 1970's after all and kitsch reigned supreme along with the psychedelic geometric turquoise and burnt sienna wallpaper!

Rocking Roast Potatoes!

 At this time of year the flowers are beginning to appear on the potato plants in the nearby fields and within another week it will be time to dig those first potatoes of the season. These delicious new potatoes require a simple quick wash to remove any soil, and then they can then be steamed or lightly boiled in their skins, dollop on a lump of real...and I mean REAL butter, a dash of sea salt and away you go....one of the most Irish of Irish dishes, and quite divine it is too!

But we all love a roast potato too yet it it not the done thing to roast a newly dug spud, sacrilege at it's worst! There are many schools of thought out there on how to achieve the perfect roast potato and every chef and home cook has their own philosophy about how it should be done.....I am no different....so don't act surprised!

It's a hard Blog life!

The busy summer season has taken over my life and writing this latest post is like going to confession!....most Irish native will know what I'm talking about....so bless me 'blog' father for I have been rather naughty....it has been ahem!...4 weeks since my last blog post...I really should be ashamed of myself!

Yesterday was my birthday and I suddenly realised the month of July had flown faster than you can burn a saucepan, and, with even more shame I realised I only did 2 lousy blog posts during the month of July....what was happening to me I asked myself? 

Yes during the summer season when everyone else is out tanning themselves my work load tends to double or even triple but still, I am cooking at home on a daily basis....I do have a family to feed after all......but as every busy parent knows, you can easily get stuck into a rut of the same old same old, run home to mamma, dishes. I could tell you our weekly menu right off the top of my head and believe me it hasn't changed in weeks, we have a curry every monday...usually chicken, on Tuesdays it's meatballs with spaghetti or if I'm in a real hurry and can't be bothered to roll meatballs it will be straight forward spaghetti bolognese, Wednesday it's usually a casserole, either, pork, chicken or tuna....Thursday, it's gammon or bacon and cabbage...home grown of course, our sweetheart cabbages are fabulous this year!, Friday it is fish....well duh!...Saturday tends to be pizza night, home made of course! and Sunday will be the old faithful Sunday roast......meals I could cook with my eyes closed.

Tuseday Treat! - Old School Rice Krispy Treats

Any child who has been raised in Ireland will know the joy of the rice krispy bun....always a favourite at birthday parties...... for any parent who is not in the least skilled at baking they are the easiest thing to make and well worth it to see the pride on that little face when they say my mammy or my daddy made these......even if it means you are picking rice krispies off the floor for the next month!
Kids can also get involved in the making process as all you are doing is melting chocolate and stirring in rice krispies then scooping it into paper cases and chucking some hundreds and thousands over the top or even mini marshmallows....easy peasy for anyone! However, we can take the classic rice krispie treat a step further and make it something altogether more luxurious!

This recipe results in a krispie treat that is rich and sweet from the caramel but with a delish bitter chocolate top to counteract that sweetness. I don't advise letting the kids help you with this one as lethally hot sugar and kids are NOT a good combination! BAKER BEWARE!

Scarborough Fair Chicken

I am a Simon & Garfunkel fan, a child of the 70's and 80's, and who couldn't resist the delectable, young, Dustin Hoffman in 'The Graduate' ! I found the movie unusually funny in places...and at the time I thought the story beyond absurd....am I alone in thinking this?.....or maybe I had been leading a very naive and sheltered Irish existence and didn't understand that these things actually went on in the real world and not just in the movies!

The sound track to the movie was by the wonderful Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel who introduced me, not personally I might add, to the glories of traditional folk music. One of my favourites from the movie is  'Scarborough Fair'. which is an ancient folk balled from the late 1600's to the mid 1700's, no one seems quite sure which. Scarborough itself is a seaside town on the east coast of England, in Yorkshire to be precise, and a lovely little town it is too with a fortified castle overlooking the sea that is well worth a visit. Sadly Scarborough Fair no longer exists as this momentous fair...it was held for 45 days!...ended in 1788...there has been some effort at reviving the tradition on a somewhat smaller scale of course and it's usually held in September.

Traditionally a 'fair' or 'fayre' was a place where traders and farmers would gather to buy and sell livestock, wares and any excess of home produce not specifically needed by the family such as eggs, butter, cheese, wool and livestock. Back then all homes were pretty much self sufficient but one of the things housewives would buy at the fair would be chickens, albeit live ones! which she would take home and either raise them to produce eggs for either eating or to provide more hens.

This is a very tasty way of cooking a chicken and is an extremely simple dish, but packed with maximum flavour from the assorted herbs which blend so well with the orange. If you can roast a chicken you can master this and it's a perfect Sunday lunch meal.

If you can't get flat parsley you can substitute with curly and a stalk of celery for added flavour.

You will need......feeds 4 - 6 people

1.5 - 2kg whole, oven ready chicken
3 medium oranges....try and get really juicy ones
50 - 80g butter plus an additional 100 g which you should dice and keep well chilled
4 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme
6 - 8 sage leaves
small handful of flat parsley with stalks attached
500mls water
sea salt, fresh black pepper
1 shot of Cointreau if you can get it

How to....

There is one simple rule when working with chicken...have a sink or bowl filled with hot soapy water, anytime you touch the chicken you must scrub your hands before handling anything else.... also you must scrub anything that touches the raw chicken like the chopping board or knives etc. I always try to do any work to the chicken in the actual roasting tray rather than use a chopping board.

Back In The Saddle! More tasty Goodness On The Way!

Having a physical affliction slows you down somewhat and certainly puts a dampener on ones enthusiasm for certain things, and as I have been suffering for a few weeks with a painful leg it has meant that I have spent little time standing at my stove for any length and indulging in my favorite pastime....cooking! But thank goodness things have turned the corner and the old bones are getting back on track and I feel re-energized and ready to light the fires under the pots once more.

Having to stay off my feet for the majority of the time has had its advantages in that I have dragged down from the shelves groaning with cookbooks, some old classics that I haven't read through in many moons and discovered some old recipes that I haven't cooked in a few years and some that have never seen the inside of a saucepan or an oven!

New discoveries can stimulate the imagination and can develop wonderfully into something new and exciting and copious notes have been made for future meals and recipes which I will share with you over the coming months.

Soon to follow will be a sweet paprika and pork casserole, 'Scarborough Fair Chicken'...and if you know the song you will know it will include parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme! there will also be a delicious 'breakfast on the run'...a running out the door healthy breakfast...and so many other delights to get the taste buds watering...so until then, check back soon....later on today in fact!

Summertime and the living ain't easy! - Little Pots of Chocolate

Yes the Irish summer has hit us with a bang which means rain, rain and more rain with the occasional sunny spell...don't blink or you'll miss it!, but at least it's warm.

Having hurt my left knee two weeks ago, I have been hobbling about all over the place and suffering!...take pity on me because I have had to continue on at work. The hobbling has prevented me from really doing any interesting cooking and the poor kids are lucky they're getting fed at all!
I have even taken to getting my groceries delivered...really why have I not done this before?? it's going really well and I can't fault the service so far, mille grazie to Tesco! who have saved my bacon over the last fortnight!

I'm still sticking to my keto eating style and can I just say once more....I know I'm repeating myself, there is a danger I may actually become boring on this subject if I continue to harp on about it so much,...how utterly fab it is and how easy it has been....energy is sky high and hunger pangs seem to be a thing of the past, it does take time but hey, what else would I be up to, I feel great so keep it coming and I have yet to feel I am being denied anything...take this little recipe from september last year....dispense with the tablespoon of sugar in the recipe and you're keto ready and after all, chocolate always makes one feel better!

get the recipe here... Little Pots of Chocolate

Manna from heaven? - Low carb & gluten free crepes / pancakes

Mention the word pancake and immediately my stomach is all a flutter as my taste-buds go into overdrive in anticipation. I envision deep, fluffy layers of spongy goodness drowning in an ocean of that wonderful nectar, maple syrup, and to top it all off a grand old dollop of whipped cream or even ice-cream......mm I can taste it now.
But when I embarked on this low carb eating style as a means of obtaining, not a new me, but a healthier me, I thought I had waved good by to the wonderful pancake, and with American blood running through my veins you would understand what a hardship that was....a life without pancakes? unendurable in my opinion!

When I first discovered the recipe for these I thought to myself...no way is this possible!...but after almost 30 years of working with food I should have known better...when it comes to cooking the sky is definitely not the limit!

These luscious, heavenly beauties are startlingly like a pancake, make these and you won't miss the regular kind at all! They can be adapted to suit a sweet or savoury use. Make them deep like an American style pancake or have them thin like a French crepe. For this recipe I chose to make them thin and savoury as I was rustling some up for my lunch.
The key when making these is patience! patience! and some more patience! if you try to cook them too fast they will burn on the bottom before the tops are anyway near done, they will be impossible to flip and you will end up not only with a 'egg on your face' but an eggy mess all over the place!
Make a large batch of them as they keep well in the refrigerator and freezer.

Mediterranean Vegetable & Ham Hock...... Frittata.....Quiche.....Bake......You Decide!

This little recipe is easy peasy to make, contains all those elements that make it a perfect keto style meal, and can be enjoyed hot or cold for a lunch or supper / evening dinner.
Baked just like a quiche or frittata, it is filled with vegetables, eggs, cheese and for this one I added some ham hock.... there is an interesting addition of thin slices of aubergine to give a sort of base to the quiche / frittata.

You will need.......gives 8 good portions
                                                                                           
1 large aubergine
olive oil
salt / pepper

50 g white onion
1 small red chilli
50 g red pepper
50 g yellow pepper
50 g white mushrooms
1 large clove garlic
50 g grated cheese of your choice
1 large tomato
80 g cooked ham hock
6 eggs
2 tablespoons of cream

How to.....

• preheat the oven to 170oC
• slice the aubergine lengthways as thinly as you can
• brush the slices with olive oil and season on each side
• bake the slices in the oven until they begin to soften, this takes about 10 mins....then remove them from the oven and leave to cool while you prepare the other vegetables
• remove the seeds from the chilli then dice with the onion, peppers and mushrooms
• saute the vegetables gently in a little olive oil until they begin to soften, remove from the heat and add the crushed garlic
• dice or shred the ham hock quite small and grate the cheese
• beat the eggs with the cream, season with a little salt and pepper and set aside
• line a quiche pan or a suitable ceramic baking dish with the aubergine slices
• scatter on the cooked peppers and mushroom mix, add the ham hock, then top the whole lot with your grated cheese
• pour the egg and cream mix gently over the top of everything    
• lastly, slice some tomato quite thin and decorate the top
• bake in the oven 170oC until set in the centre and beginning to brown a little at the edges
• remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes
• serve straight from the dish or turn out onto a serving platter

I serve this with a simple green salad with lots a baby spinach leaves and a little French dressing.

You can let your bake cool then cover and refrigerate. Enjoy it the next day as a cold lunch.

Cream of Leek & Mushroom Soup......Boletus Magnificus!

The sweltering heat has gone to my head! I can hardly believe I am talking soup when the thermometer is touching 25 degrees and we have just had a thundery downpour.......but soups do not have to be a prerequisite of a chilly winter's day, they can not only be thick and comforting but light, and satisfyingly suitable for a summer snack or full blown meal.

We are at the end of the leek season which usually tops off at the end of May, and you will notice, if
you are still buying leeks, that their cores tend to be much firmer and solid compared to earlier in the growing season.

Mushrooms, thanks to all those eerily dark and musty polytunnels, are available all year round. The flavour of these pearl white beauties can be less mushroomy than that of wild mushrooms so you may have to make do with whatever you can get in the supermarket......but it is a lot of fun to join a foraging group and hunt out your own on misty autumn mornings, and it's hard to beat the flavour of freshly picked wild mushrooms with their woody forest scents.
There are many foraging groups out there and you are best to seek advice from someone who knows their mushrooms before picking any yourself as they can be dangerous little moulds and make you very ill if you eat the wrong one....or you could end up having an unusual experience!....if you get my drift.

A June evening salad...keto style with classic French vinaigrette

Today is the first of June and we have been enjoying very fine weather for the last few days.
It is 8pm and the temperature gauge in the garden reads 20oC....amazing!
With the aromas of rosemary and thyme and my newly potted acquisitions of French lavender on the patio, one could almost believe they were in the south of France......almost!

On fine summer days and even lovelier evenings, if we are not firing up the BBQ, then a salad is on the cards, and when following the keto style of eating, well then there's nothing like indulging in my favourite thing.......CHEESE!
How do I love cheese?.....let me count the ways!.....was the title of a previous post on cheese, you can read it here!

This delightful salad makes the best of what is so readily available at this time of year....crisp salad leaves freshly picked from the garden, tiny leaves of baby spinach, ripe tomatoes warmed by the days sun, cucumber....so refreshing after a warm day, and some celery and peppers for added crunch.
My preferred cheese of the evening is that favoured by the Greeks.... the wonderfully crumbly salty feta...and for strength in flavour, a well aged parmesan finely grated over the top at the last minute.

No salad is complete without a really good dressing and although I do enjoy the newer tastes of balsamic, honey mustard or pesto dressing, I am a traditionalist at heart and always go back to the classic French dressing....home-made of course.

French dressing or vinaigrette, although prolific in France of course, is very hard to come by in any of the restaurants I visit here in Ireland. Everyone seems to want to invent new dressings and that's all very well, but if you are heading out for a simple steak with a salad on the side, you can't beat a classic dressing.

For a classic vinaigrette dressing to suit any salad you will need.......

dijon mustard......please don't try to use English or even wholegrain, the result is not the same

white or red wine vinegar...whichever you like....I tend to stick to red...love my red wine after all!

olive oil....try to get a good quality oil, extra virgin preferably.....try to get hold of French oil but if you can't I suppose Italian will have to do or even Greek oil.....did you know that the best olive oil should only be sold in a darkened glass bottle or in a tin drum? check out your supermarket to see how they sell theirs!

a little fresh lemon juice....optional
sea salt & fresh black pepper

How to......

• place 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard in a round bottomed ceramic or stainless steel bowl....you may find it easier to use a food processor or blender if you have one
• add 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• whisk the two together well
• measure into a jug, approx 200mls of olive oil
• slowly add the olive oil while whisking the vinegar and mustard furiously
• continue until all the oil has been added
• do a taste test....this should be done with a knuckle of fresh baguette for authenticity....but tasting with a teaspoon is fine too!
• season to taste with a little salt and pepper
• add a little fresh lemon juice if desired

Some people like a bland oilier dressing whereas I like my dressings to be quite sharp and acidic...if you like less bite then add a little more oil until it suits your taste....same for the vinegar, add more if you like or add plenty of fresh lemon juice for a really fresh tasting acidity.

A word of warning....when making your salad, the dressing should not be added until the last minute as the vinegar will make your leaves wilt and loose their crispness......bon appetit!