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Rocket and Bresaole Salad

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Thursday, September 22nd, 2016

Rocket and Bresaola Salad

 If you are lucky enough to have traveled to Italy and eaten in any restaurants there, you will have seen or maybe eaten this salad. It is a mainstay on any menu. So simple yet absolutely delicious. Now I hear you on the Bresaola (cured beef) thing…. where oh where do you pick it up here in Ireland. Believe it or not I got the meat in the picture in Lidl but I have seen it in good supermarkets and delicatessens regularly. You could always improvise and use prosciutto or salami or, as I have said before, your flipping imagination (the roast potatoes pictured are me using mine)
 What you need:
200-250g Bresaola
1 x packet of fresh rocket leaves (arugula/ruccola for Americans/Italians)
A large piece of Parmesan cheese – No excuses here, we only use Parmigiano Reggiano
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
What you do:
Put the rocket on a big plate, scatter shavings of parmesan on top and arrange the Bresaola in an attractive way. Don’t be whinnying about not being able to display food artistically, of course you can, have confidence and it will do the work for you. Sprinkle with oil and salt and grind the pepper all over. Simple.
I have added many things to this salad to make it my own, examples being semi-sundried tomatoes, yesterdays roast potatoes sliced and crisped in butter or coconut oil or olive oil on a pan, olives etc. Be adventurous.
Eat and enjoy.
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Categories : cookery

Indonesian Marinade for Pork Ribs

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Saturday, July 2nd, 2016

Indonesian Pork Ribs

Summer has finally established itself so it’s time to break out the bar-b-que/grill. Now I know some of you get the horrors when it comes to cooking over a naked flame, but worry not. Here’s the trick, do NOT leave it’s side. Whoever is doing the grilling must commit. So grab a drink and stay put.

Keep the temperature on medium and grill away, flipping often. When you think it’s done, move it up to the higher bit. If the whole grill takes on a life of it’s own through a manifestation of hell, i.e. goes up in flames due to drippy fat, stand back a bit and throw a little beer at it. Be careful as it can spit or put out the burners. Re-ignite if necessary and carry on as if you know exactly what you are doing.  Believe me it works and doubles as extra moisture for the food.

Baby-backs on the grill with Indonesian marinade

Sticky Baby-backs cooked to perfection

The big decision is what to cook. Don’t go mad and do seventeen different things. If you do the poor sucker doing the cooking will be at it all evening. Pick a theme and stick to it. One of the best and easiest is several different types of gourmet sausages (Gubbeen and Caherbeg in Ireland) served with a gorgeous gratin of potatoes with Cashel Blue or Roquefort cheese and a big green salad. But if you want to go a little crazy, try ribs. Very quick to cook as you start them in the oven. Here is the most delicious recipe for pork ribs.

happily marinating....

Marinate for at least three hours

Indonesian Marinade for Pork Ribs

What you need:

4 cloves of garlic minced

1 inch of ginger peeled and minced

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup dry sherry (Marsala, brandy or white wine will also work)

1/4 cup of orange flavour liqueur (or use juice and zest of one orange and double up on the sherry)

1 medium onion finely chopped

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons hot salsa (yep, from a jar!)

3 teaspoons lemon juice (nope, not from a bottle…..squeezed from a real lemon)

 

What you do:

Combine the lot and marinate the ribs in it for at least three hours, overnight is best. Cover with foil and cook in 160-180 degree oven for 45-50 minutes then grill to perfection as described above. Eat and enjoy.

delicious sticky ribs

The finished item

 

 

 

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Greek Salad

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Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

Greek Salad with Feta and Olives

So you’ve been to Greece and you can’t believe while you were there that you loved olives. For the first time in your life you didn’t go Yuk!

feta olive salad

Mixing things up with a beautiful Mediterranean salad

Olives are an acquired taste and in our house we call the process ‘aversion therapy’. Start with the lightly flavoured greens and move up to the robust black, slowly over time mind you. It was that Greek Salad that made you change your mind about the little oval jewels wasn’t it? Well here is a way to re-capture that flavour and remind you of those heat soaked heady days of holiday. Lets face it anything even resembling summer is a bonus at the moment.

What you need:
Good feta cheese made with sheep or goats milk.
1 cucumber.
1 red onion.
Vine ripened tomatoes.
Pitted Kalamata black olives.
Red wine vinegar.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Salt and pepper.

What you do:
Cut the feta into large rough cubes and set to one side. Cut tomatoes into half moons. Slice onion thinly (but not so thin that they are floppy). Cut cucumber into cubes.

Now put half the vegetables into your serving dish top with some feta and olives (if you are concerned about presentation be careful because the feta will smudge the lovely veg, so place carefully). Top with the rest of the veg then feta and olives.
Just before serving sprinkle first with oil and then vinegar, then salt and pepper.

mediterranean salad

Served with EVOO and Alentejo-Portugal red wine vinegar

Enjoy.

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Caprese Salad, or Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil

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Monday, June 13th, 2016

 Caprese Salad, otherwise known as Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil

tomato, basil, mozzarella

The perfect summer salad

This salad has become a staple on the Irish bbq spread. It’s tasty, attractive and so easy to make. But you can make a complete ham of it by using cheap and nasty ingredients. So take my word for it, use only the best. Excellent vine ripened tomatoes (from your own vine, ha ha.) Tomatoes taste like they smell. If there is no smell there will be sod all taste. Buffalo mozzarella, yes, made from the milk of the water buffalo. And now we even have our own home produced one, Toons Bridge from North Cork. The basil must be fresh and fragrant. Don’t bother making this salad without it. And to top the lot, good balsamic vinegar (little trick to make cheap balsamic taste like aged, add half a teaspoon of sugar to a cup of the vinegar, bring to the boil and simmer until reduced by one third, cool to room temp), extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. It’s a summer must.

What you need:

1 lb. of vine ripened tomatoes
1  Toons Bridge buffalo mozzarella or other buffalo mozzarella
handful of fresh basil
Aged balsamic vinegar (or as above)
Good extra virgin olive oil
Maldon sea salt
Black pepper grinder (full of peppercorns of course)

What you do:

Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella thinly (3-5mm thick) and arrange in circles
Rip the larger basil leaves gently in half, leave smaller ones whole and sprinkle over the top. Save one basil head for decoration.
Drizzle the oil first as it will stop the vinegar from running and staining, drizzle the vinegar and then season at will.

Enjoy.

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Oat Crunch and Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Friday, April 1st, 2016

Crunchy Oat Cookies and Guilt Free Chocolate Chip Cookies 

As you probably noticed I do a good deal of baking. So my favourite recipes are those which take the least time and the result is delicious.

oat biscuits

Oat cookies…they’re even a bit healthy!

I came across these on a sheet from the National Dairy Council many years ago. They of course are promoting butter. So pleeeeease do not attempt this with anything but. I have doctored the ingredients somewhat so now the recipes are mine all mine. The guilt-free refers to the fact that they have oats in them. Come on, any excuse to feel good about gorging on butter and sugar (unrefined brown!)

Now, while we are on the subject of chocolate, there is something you should know. Your baking will taste as cheap as the chocolate you use. Therefore I forbid you to use “cooking chocolate”. It is not chocolate. It is oil and flavourings and that’s about it. If nothing else at least use Cadburys or Bourneville. But the best is chocolate with at least 52% cocoa fat. If you really insist on milk chocolate use either the aforementioned Cadburys (hard to melt without clagging) or a milk chocolate with a minimum of 30% cocoa fat. If you are going to indulge you might as well be sure to do it in style. Enjoy……

Oat Biscuits

Before…after! Now to restrain myself…

Crunchy Oat Cookies

What you need:

300g white spelt flour (you can use plain flour, but remember spelt is an excellent source of protein)

150g of whole oats

150g of unrefined brown sugar

150g sliced almonds

1 x teaspoon baking powder

300g butter

2 tablespoons honey

What you do:

Melt the butter and add the honey. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add in the oats, sugar and almonds. Pour in the melted butter mix and blend. Now take a handful of dough about the size of a golf ball (or bigger if you are like me and require a large sized cookie!!) roll it around in your hands quickly then flatten onto a cookie tray to about a half inch thick. Do the same with the remaining dough and then bake in a 180 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

 

Oat and chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

What you need:

200g brown sugar200g butter (at room temp)

2 free range eggs

300g white spelt flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

150g porridge oats

200g chocolate chips (remember, GOOD stuff)

What you do:

About now you are rummaging around in the fridge because you forgot you needed soft butter. Panic not. You can melt the butter if you need to. Put it in a large bowl and add the sugar. Mix and then beat in the eggs one at a time. Sieve the flour and baking powder in to a bowl. Add the oats and chocolate chips. Then add in the liquid mixture. Blend and roll in to balls as above. It might be an idea to grease the cookie tin as the chocolate is inclined to stick, as I learned to my detriment and ended up with chocolate chip crumble. Bake at 180 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

If you stare at the basil long enough, it’s almost like you’re eating healthy!

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Ballydehob,
West Cork.
Tel: +353 (0)28 38893
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