We went for dinner last night - it was a last minute thing as due to one thing and another (lost shoe and bad hair day) we missed our dinner reservations on saturday. So instead we took the kids to our fav family restaurant La Paloma which is in Temple bar.
We had one of our first dates there and it has become an old favorite, a comforter, a home from home. So in we went, in the lashing rain, and grabbed one of the little booths set into the wall at the back of the restaurant.
We spoke with the manager as we paid our bill and he told us he didn't think they'd last much longer... I have to agree, the interior is gorgeous, the restaurant very welcoming and the location handy for all but the standard of food has slipped big time. It seemed like they were just going through the paces, their location becoming more and more a drinking and dancing arena more than a place to hunt out a good restaurant. Temple bar used to be where you'd find gems no matter what you were looking for, food, clothes, music - it was where you'd go for the 'alternative'... now its rife with stag and hen parties and tourists looking for a pint of the black stuff in some sham Irish pub.
La Paloma has suffered because of it, and seems to have already left the building...I used to dream of the food and talk highly of the restaurant to my friends - now I am hoping none of them take the recommendation...
Hughes and hughes is a really nice book shop, its huge and complete and has chairs placed about for you to sit and browse, there is a nice cafe with huge windows overlooking the town centre and an amazing travel section which I love love browsing through... weird since I don't do flying so most of the destinations are not in my league.
There is something lovely about a cafe within a book shop, it is such a relaxed atmosphere. So we popped our bums on some lovely cosy couches long enough to enjoy a latte and an iced raspberry bun! 
As I was rooting to pay I was overjoyed to discover a long forgotten gift of a voucher for my favorite homeware shop Meadows and Byrne and so we made a quick stop and I got a new pan, long needed, and I've always wanted a really really good one, but I would never have gone for it without the voucher! A couple of other bits needed to come home with me too, like a new egg poacher, a proper metal sieve and some cute molds for sweet making (for mary!)
If you still have lamb left, which we did - I really did buy enough for a small army - there is the must do inevitable cliche... at christmas, easter... it is inevitable....
Leftover Curry
You'll need
Leftover meat
Leftover vegetables if any
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 onion
1 chili
1 clove garlic
handful of coriander
1 tsp curry powder
100mls cream
Method
Fry the onion until soft. In a mini chopper (or on a mezzaluna) chop the herbs, chili and garlic together until in tiny pieces. Add to the onions. Pour on the tin of tomatoes. Stir in the curry powder.
Add the cooked meat and vegetables to the sauce. Simmer on low heat for about five minutes.
Stir boiled rice with boiled couscous and serve with the curry.
So that was our lamb used up! Nothing left but some gristle and some bone! And I can tell you there was someone else who was very very glad of it!
This is what greeted us in our kitchen when we came down this morning. It is the result of my daughter Marys huge family - two nanas, a greatnana, a granddad, eight uncles and two aunts!!
Even poor Mary groaned under the weight of all that chocolate and so we set about making a list of things we could do with it, other than eat it as it is! We decided first that the bars and sweets contained within the eggs should be kept in a jar and thought about at another time. The eggs would, over the next week, become a confection of home made sweets to give to loved ones, and a myriad of chocolate cakes. She squealed with delight when I told her that yesterdays Raspberry Mmmms could be done with milk chocolate as well!
But for starters I handed her the bain marie and we set about making a nice cup of chocolate milk!
In a bain marie melt a half an easter egg, when melted mix in a cup of cold milk, stir like mad until its melted - Enjoy!
So everyone tucked in, this soup really appeals to all!
Main course time, so we opened a bottle of our favorite special occasion wine...
Order from a butcher, he will give you the right size for the amount of bellies!
You'll need
Leg of Lamb
Olive oil
Sea salt
Rosemary sprigs
Clove of garlic
Method
Rub your lamb with the olive oil. Halve the clove of garlic and rub the oiled meat with it. Spear the leg all over with a sharp knife and stick the rosemary sprigs into the holes.
Roast at 190c/210c until the juices run clear-ish! (My oven took 2 and a half hours)
Serve with roasted potatoes (add them to the roasting tin about a half an hour after the lamb, but par boil them first and shake them around a bit to be sure of crispy edges!) and cabbage! I always add cream and a bit of onion puree to cabbage on special occasions, ! Don't forget the mint sauce and of course the gravy - I made todays with the juices from the lamb, a cup of boiling water, two tsps redcurrant jelly and a tbsp of bisto which may not appeal to the food snobs out there but I really think bisto makes the best gravy!
So the tums were almost full, the lamb had turned out perfectly, just pink in the middle and crispy on the outside.
All we needed now was dessert!
Lets call these,
Raspberry Mmmms....
You'll need
200gms white chocolate (use green and blacks organic if you can)
200mls double cream
200mls creme fraiche
handful fresh raspberries
chocolate flake.
Sit the white chocolate in a bain marie until melted. Take it off the heat then and stir in the creme fraiche, the chocolate may seize but keep stirring - it'll be fine. Add the cream.
Plop into serving glasses (looks gorgeous in any wine glass) and refridgerate.
Just before serving pop in a few raspberries and sprinkle with crumbled flake.
Mmmmmmm....
Aren't I lucky!
Very 'Gosford Park'!
x
The 'tweeners
It was lovely to breathe in the strong sea air, watching the floats and chatting about anything and everything.
Then we walked up through the seaside town, to net our young folk, red cheeks from their first taste of independance and as C put it "an inch taller" from it.
There was a smell of chips in the air so we were all hungry by the time we got back to C's for tea and a spot of lunch.
Talk about hitting the spot! Tea, lots of bread and butter, and sausages! A few tempters for idle hands, olives, tortillas, nuts... and a gorgeous caesar salad! Just perfect! C always finds the nicest olives, the best bread - even tea tastes nicer in her house! The sausages were Quorn, something I haven't tried before, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised - very tasty considering they never spent any time on four legs, they were like mild hotdogs. Nice to know it is possible to be a veggie without having to forgoe the sausage sandwich which has to be one of the nicest things known to man, and the only sure hangover cure.
The older kids grabbed sausages in hunks of bread and headed out into the garden which is endless due to being parked on the edge of a nature reserve, while I enjoyed the delicious spread and good genuine conversation, intermittant with seeking out my adventurous toddler from his travels.
A lovely lovely day! Thanks to Ciara, Ru, Finn, Ed, and Billy!
You learn to distinguish the faff from the finds recipe wise with food magazines I find! However it is an amazing magazine if you enjoy finding inspiration in food articles or pictures, if you, like I, look through cookbooks for hours but rarely follow the recipe to the letter, Olive mag is for you!
You'll need:
A heavy based pan, I have a paella pan which is a good investment and doubles up as a frying pan, it also makes killer crepes!
Ingredients:
300gms paella rice (or short grain)
1 Red pepper, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
Handful frozen peas
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 breasts chicken
1 small chorizo sausage
8 prawns
Some squid rings (I cook these before hand so they don't get too rubbery!)
1 litre chicken/fish/vegetable stock
Glass of sherry/madeira
Half teaspoon saffron.
Method:
Soften the onion and peppers in the hot oiled pan and add the crushed garlic and the chicken. When the chicken is almost cooked stir in the rice, when has become translucent-ish add the madeira and the peas.
Add some of the stock now and the saffron and watch as it turns a lovely yellow!Keep adding the stock until the rice is cooked, I like it with a slight bite but its all personal preference. When it is just cooked add your prawns, when they are pink take the paella off the heat and stir in the squid and the chorizo!
Serve in the pan and allow your guests to help themselves!
Ingredients:
250gms Unsalted Butter
200gms Darkest chocolate (I love M&S darkest chocolate, which by the way is made from peruvian coco beans so is perfect for Paddington Bear!!)
300gms Caster sugar
4 eggs
450 gms Marmalade
300gms Self raising flour (add a pinch of salt!)
Melt the butter in a heavy based pan, and remove it from the heat when its melted. Stir the chocolate through until melted. Add the sugar. Add the eggs. Stir through half the marmalade until completely melted, then add the flour. Then take the other half of the marmalade and stir it through but not completely, try and leave clots of it through the batter.
Pour into a lined brownie tray and cook for approx 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin, then turn out and cut into squares.
Eat with a hot cup of milky coffee when toddlers are sleeping for maximum enjoyment.
I also use this recipe to make individual little cakes for dinner parties, but I add a teaspoon of rose water which makes them taste like turkish delight! They always go down very well served hot with a peach coulis and a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!
Serves 4
250 grams basmati rice
2 good sized smoked haddock fillets
1 onion, chopped
1 fresh chilli, thinly sliced or 1 tsb of pickled jalepeno
2 Tsp mild curry powder
250mls milk
2 boiled eggs
Cook the rice according to the packet.
In a pan, fry the onion along with the chili until soft. Take the pan off the heat and add the milk, leave to infuse. Place the haddock into a deep bowl and pour just boiled water over it. Leave until the flesh has turned white and flakes easily from the bone.
Fluff the rice in its pan and add the cooked onion, pepper and milk and stir through. Put back onto the heat and sprinkle the curry powder and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the fish through.
This is nicest if let go cold and then stirred over a heat when needed! Chop the boiled eggs up finely, its best if you can get the yolk to crumble. Place on the table in a bowl as you would parmesan to sprinkle on the top. We put creme fraiche on ours sometimes instead, which is really good!!
I made two lovely cakes, with fresh flowers for decoration and I am pleased to say they both turned out very well...! They both went down very well too, with a nice hot cup of tea and good company!
