Dear Old Barley!

I hated it in stews, those little squishy blobs that would stick to my teeth, I couldn't stomach Barley at all unless it was mixed with sugar, rolled to an inch of its life, wrapped in plastic and sold for tuppence in the local chemist...

Then I kept seeing it pop up in the modern recipes, everyone was raving about it, everyone loved it... Barley, Barley, Barley!

So I thought, Okay, it must be good, it must have something to offer.

Nope.

I came, I ate, I didnae likey!

I'm sure... I know...  Its definatley up some peoples alleys, just not mine.  There is a musty smell from it that I dislike, it lingers in my nose too long... and the texture?  Yack yack! Its rubbery, its smooth, like a mouth full of tiny balloons.

Before you mail me wailing about how I mustn't have cooked it correctly, how it is truely the most wonderful thing... Don't bother, really I did do it the justice it probably deserves! How do I know? Because everyone else in the house absolutley LOVED it! Bar me, the whole family are now barley addicts, going through cold turkey mind because I am never putting myself through that again!

For the Barley lovers out there... here is my recipe for Creamy Barley Risotto... Serve with white fish if you can, or topped with pickled quails eggs!... and Enjoy!

You'll need (serves 4 as a side dish)

250gms pearl barley 

A glass of white wine

1 large onion, chopped finely

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 stick of celery, chopped finely

Some olive oil

500mls chicken stock

100gms creme fraiche

100gms parmesan cheese, ground

Method

Fry the onions, celery and garlic lightly in the oil and add the barley.  Allow the barley to colour slightly before adding a glass of white wine and about a quarter of the stock.  The good thing about barley vs rice is that it doesn't need constant stirring because there is little starch.  

Keep adding the stock, as normal with risotto, until its gone, then test the barley between your teeth, you should be able to bite it in half with effort, it shouldn't smush.  If its not ready, top up with hot water.  

When you are happy with the barley, add the cheeses and serve!!!

Lentil Health!! ;-)

Italians like to eat lentils with sausages on New Years Eve, here in this house we don't need an occasion, it really makes for the most hearty winter meal, full of goodness (watch the ingredients in those sausages, go for 70+% pork!!) and is a nice change from rice, pasta and potatoes which our dinners usually revolve around!! 

Here is my recipe for Italian style Lentils, serve with your favorite sausage!

You'll need

350gms of green or brown lentils (I use tinned)

1 large onion, chopped small

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

100gms bacon lardons

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

A sprig of rosemary

Method

Fry the onion, garlic and celery in olive oil until soft, add the bacon and the rosemary.  Fry until pretty much cooked before adding the tomatoes and the lentils.

Simmer for about ten minutes and serve!

For a spicy version add a pinch of chilli powder with the tomatoes!

 

Abbey Road....

I didn't realise what it looked like as I was snapping... 

SCOIL DUNTA!

We were thrilled to be woken by a text message reading "Scoil Dunta - Isteach is amach ro-danseaireach" (School Closed - Access too dangerous)!! Looking outside we could see why...Having a landrover comes in very handy sometimes, we ploughed along where other cars were stuck, and clung to roads that other cars were sliding off... heading for my mothers house and the field beside it, where the snow lay unmarked and glistening in wait.  

What a great day! Lets hope for more snow tomorrow!!

Did I or Didn't I?

I was I had posted this little four minute video, of our grand trip last year, but it appears I never did! 

The wonderful music is by wonderful Chequerboard... 

A little treat!

If you want a treat... and you have a minute... pop over to Honeybee and have a look at this...

Wonderful...

Forgotten Posts!

I was flicking back through some recent photos and I realised I never told you about the cake I made for my brother Eamons birthday recently (yes my whole family are all winter babies!) and so if its okay I will tell you about it now!

Firstly here is my brother... he always does this eejit face when we try to take his photo...

And now here is the cake...!

I couldn't stop laughing the whole time I was making this... it just looked so much like him! 

The cake itself was a Lemon and Almond cake, recipe below and it was really delicious... My brother said it was a different experience, slicing up his own face and passing it around so we could all eat it... but great fun altogether!!

Lemon and Almond Birthday Cake

(Great for fondant icing!)

You'll need

225 g soft unsalted butter225 g castor sugar4 large eggs50 g plain flour225 g ground almonds1/2 teaspoon almond essencezest and juice from 2 lemons

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream together the butter and sugar until almost white. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a quarter of the flour after each addition. When all the eggs and flour have been incorporated, gently stir in the ground almonds, then the almond essence, lemon zest and juice.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 1 hour. Cover with foil after about 30 minutes, once the top is lightly browned. The cake is ready when the top is firm, and a skewer, inserted, comes out cleanish - you want dampness, but not gooey batter. Take the cake out and let it stand for 5 minutes or so in the tin. Then turn it out on a wire rack and leave till cool.

P.S. I think you can safely assume ALL my cake recipes to be from Nigella Lawson unless I say otherwise!!! xx

Happy Birthday Little M!

-I'll post the recipe for this Malteser cake soon, after I get up off the floor where I am still lying after it dawned on me that next year I will be the mother of a TEENAGER!!! ;-) Sure am I not one of them meself still? -

Forragers food...

"We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,

Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door. "

Taken from Mushrooms by Sylvia Plath 

Wild Mushroom and Walnut Soup

You'll need
4 cups of wild mushrooms
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 cup walnuts, shelled
300mls chicken/vegetable stock
75mls double cream
A drizzle of walnut oil

Method
Saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft.  Add the stock and bring to a simmer.  In your food processor blitz the walnuts with the cream.  When ready to serve the soup add the walnut cream. Serve with fresh bread and a dribble of walnut or truffle oil...

A little nutty...

One of my favorite bars as a child was the good old "Marathon" (now renamed as Snickers),and  pocket money from my great grandfather, of one pound, would buy me a Supercan of coke, a marathon bar and my weekly copy of "the Mandy"... Thems were the days... 

So now, but only on very sunny days, I will often treat myself to a snickers bar, keep it in my pocket until its soft, sit on a wall somewhere and then eat it very carefully, enjoying every bite...

Marathon Muffins 

(aka Snickers Muffins from guess who? Yep Nigella Lawson... I really must branch out and buy another baking book!!)

You'll need

250g Plain Flour

100g Golden Caster Sugar

1.5 tablespoons baking powder

Pinch Salt

6 tbsp Crunchy Peanut Butter

60g Melted Butter

1 Beaten Large Egg

175 ml Milk

3 Snickers Bars, chopped into small pieces

Method

Preheat your oven to 200c and line your muffin tray with muffin cases.  Stir together flour sugar, baking powder and salt. Add peanut butter and mix until you have a bowl of crumbs, then in a seperate bowl, add the melted butter and egg to the milk and mix.  Mix the wet ingredients gently into peanut butter mix

and stir in the chopped snickers bars.  Divide mixture between 12 muffin cases and bake for 20-25 minutes.

A Muse or two...

Those of you who follow this blog will know that we spend most of our summers in Italy, down south in the middle of the most glorious teal green mountains, and beside a meandering river known as the Melfa.  

The first time I ever ate a bean, barring baked beans from a tin, was in this valley, and I could not believe how delicious beans could be! Since then I have been a bean addict, not a week goes by when I don't cook the famous Beloveds or some other concotion!  This evening with all the ingredients for my favorite dish, I set about making some... to go with some inspired chicken!

With Christmas over and done, I am starting to look to the summer and those glorious mornings, with the sound of geese as they pass in a gaggle, the afternoons with the low hum of worker bees and the smell of honey in the air, and those warm evenings with the crickets chirrupping in the trees and the smells of what we're cooking wafting across as we sit in the dimming sun...

Melfa Chicken...
You'll need

1 Large chicken

50gms butter

1 tsp maldon salt

3 tbs honey

3 tbs milk

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 onion

Parsley to garnish

Method

Preheat your oven to 190c.

To prepare the chicken, pop it into the roasting tin and,using a spoon, seperate the skin on the breast from the flesh.  Slice the butter and place the slices under the skin.  Pop the onion into the cavity.  In a cup mix the milk, honey, and garlic together and brush onto the bird.  Sprinkle with the salt and pop into the oven.  Its usually 1 hour 10 minutes per kilo.  

When cooked, the juices will run clear when you skewer between the thigh and the leg.  Leave to rest for ten minutes before serving.

Serve with Beloveds... (I put fresh coriander in these tonight, not strictly italian but delicious all the same!)

Happy Birthday Joe...

Perfect Birthday Cake (from How to be a Domestic Goddess)

This quantity will fill a 12" square tin!

You'll need

500gms plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

.5 tsp salt

400mls buttermilk

3 tsp vanilla extract

250gms unsalted butter

400gms caster sugar

6 eggs

Method

Mix the flour, salt, bicarb, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Then in a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs, one by one, with a spoon of flour, into the mix while mixing all the while.  Add the rest of the flour and buttermilk and blend to a smooth batter.

Bake at 180c for about 40 minutes or until a cake skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin, and then turn out onto a wire tray.

When the cake is cool, run a serrated bread knife through lengthwise to create a top layer and a bottom layer.  Don't worry if it breaks a bit, icing covers all tracks! 

Draw a template onto a sheet of parchment, which you have cut out using the cake tin as a guide.  Then cut out the template and lay on top of the cake, cut around it using a bread knife.

Fill the cake with freshly whipped cream and strawberry jam.  Ice using egg white icing, prebought is just as good, I go for Supercook White Frosting!

Ten on ten... January....

If its okay, I'm going to do this ten on ten from my own archives, ten of my favorite photos from our amazing year! Hope you enjoy them!

Happy New Year!

ITS STILL ME!!!

Wait! Wait! It is me! With a new look for 2009!

I've also decided to branch out a bit, broaden our scope, look over other walls other than the kitchen wall!

2008 was wonderful, getting to know the world of blogging, and meeting all the amazing and dedicated bloggers out there in cyberspace!  I have made some good friends!

So here is a new road for a new year, and I hope you will all come with me while I find out where this new road will take me!

A big ole bowl...

...of steamin' hot chilli...please...

Thats the order as I got it down the telephone wire two evenings ago.  A very tired and fluey man arrived home, with an inability to say the letter 'M' and a desperate need for some TLC.  So I set about making him some chilli, with enough pep to clear his head and fill his belly!

Here is my own recipe for Chilli con carne, enjoy!

You'll need

400gms mince beef

100gms mince pork (optional)

2 chilli peppers (chopped finely)

1 onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tbs cumin

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2/3 tbsp tomato puree

1 tin of baked beans

1 tin of chilli beans

1 tin of sweetcorn

3-4 drops of worcestor sauce

1 tbsp of flour (dissolved in about 50mls water)

Method

Fry the onion, celery, peppers and garlic in oil for about two minutes, stir in the cumin and then add the mince.  Brown through.  Add the tomato puree and tomatoes.  Stir. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir over a low heat until thick. Serve with rice, guacamole and corn chips or celery sticks!

Mayoneasy...

I have always avoided making mayonnaise, which incidently is probably my favorite thing on earth, because it always gave off that edge of being more hassle than it was worth!

Since making some myself, I have of course changed my mind, although still have yet to make regular mayonnaise, my foray into the flavoured mayo front is a successful one.

It isn't hassle, it isn't difficult, its well worth it and guarantees lots of those invaluable Mmmmms from loved ones! 

Tarragon Mayonnaise for Steak

You'll need

2 Egg yolks, beaten

1 tbs White wine vinegar

200mls Sunflower oil

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp pepper

A handful of tarragon, chopped finely.

Method

Whisk the eggs and the vinegar together, I use an electric whisk for this.  Add about a teaspoons worth of oil and whisk like mad, until it begins to thicken and then drizzle the oil in while whisking away. The mixture will begin to mayonnaise-ify, get thicker and paler.

When you are happy with the consistency, taste it, add your salt and your pepper.  Add the garlic and the tarragon and if you have it handy, a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve dolloped on hot steak slices in a baguette!! Delish!

A trifle amusing!

I've never been a huge trifle fan... although I will admit those I have trifled with have been "old school" with tinned fruit, birds custard and buckets of sherry! However after a disastrous attempt at a trifle last christmas, which left mouths like smoking guns and sent most of us over the limit, I decided to think of something new for this years attempt.  With some inspiration from Emily over at Honeybee I decided on this!

It worked out well, subtle and not too rich, and certainly one for the recipe notebooks to make again and again!

Raspberry and Almond Trifle

You'll need

3/4 Raspberry Muffins

1 bar white chocolate, grated

1 carton of devon custard

1 carton of whipping cream

1 tin of raspberries

A few fresh raspberries

Chopped almonds

100mls of Amaretto

Method

Roughly break the muffins into chunks, place into a seperate bowl from the trifle bowl, and sprinkle with all of the ameretto.

Leave for a few minutes and then take half the chunks and line the trifle bowl. Top with some tinned raspberries, grated white chocolate and a sprinkle of chopped almonds.  Top that with a thin layer of custard.  Repeat until all the muffin is laid and finally top with softly whipped cream, almonds and the fresh raspberries... Grate some chocolate on top and serve within a day.

Happy Christmas!

Well I've been up to my eyes in the Christmas run-up, this is the first minute I've had to get online!

I will have plenty of recipes and posts after the festivities, but for now I will just post a bit about the wedding cake I put together for my brother and his now wife, for their wedding which was held in Markree Castle last weekend... 

Here it is!

Thankfully it all went smoothly, metaphorically and literally, with only a few bumps in the icing! The tiers were all different, with the brides mothers famous fruit cake on the bottom, and then I made a chocolate orange cake for the top tier and a chocolate biscuit cake using my own recipe for the middle! All went down a treat! 

I will post the chocolate biscuit recipe soon, I'll need to make it again to see how much of everything I put in, its my own recipe that I put together as I always find other biscuit cakes too buttery and sickly sweet... 

But for now you'll have to make do with a picture!  Happy Christmas Everyone!!!!

And of course BEST WISHES TO MY LOVELY BROTHER FERGAL AND HIS GORGEOUS NEW WIFE CAT!!

Ten on ten.... December

Woooooo! I'm actually posting this ON TIME!!!

Here it is... my contribution to the Ten on ten project for December...

Betty Spaghetti!

I had some pastry left over last week after a gorgeous Sunday lunch that I will tell you about soon.  I also had some cooked spaghetti in my fridge. So hoping to use up one or the other I then suddenly remembered a post I'd seen over at Michelles brilliant blog !

It was for something called Spaghetti Pie, which looked really delicious, done in the oven encased in cheese and sauce! With my leftover pastry though, I thought "I wonder if I could wrap spaghetti in pastry?" for an actual Spaghetti Pie! Only one way to find out... 

Needless to say it was delicious, pasta - good, pastry - good, cheese - good, I mean whats not to like! The leftovers the next day were even better and I would make this again for a picnic to have cold with salad, which is how I ate the leftover slice and it was delicious.

Here is the recipe in case you ever fancy a slice of Spaghetti Pie.  Take it as a rough guide only, you can do this with any combination you like!

Spaghetti Pie

You'll need

300gms cooked spaghetti

400gms minced meat

150gms chopped tomatoes

1 chilli pepper, chopped finely

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 onion, chopped

125gms parmesan

125gms Philidelphia cheese

125gms grated cheddar

Leftover Pastry, either puff or shortcrust is fine

Method

Heat the pan and add a dash of olive oil.  Fry the onions, chilli and garlic with the meat until nice and brown,  add the tomatoes and the puree.  Add the parmesan.

Remove from the heat. 

With a scissors, chop the spaghetti into small pieces, maybe 4cms.  Stir into the sauce.

Line your pie dish with pastry and spread the philidelphia cheese thickly on the bottom, cover with the spaghetti mix and top with the cheddar.  

Brush milk around the sides of the pie and cover with more pastry.  Prick this top and decorate if you wish. Brush with beaten egg and bake until golden brown.  

Yawn!

Ooh I have been asleep! So I shall get back into what may turn out to be a flurry of posts by playing a quick game of Tag... I have stolen this from my friend Lisa on Facebook, but sure its all in the name of fun!!

Rules:
* Grab the book closest to you. Now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write that sentence as your status.
* Copy these instructions as a comment to your status.
* Don't go looking for your favourite book, or the coolest one you have -- just grab the closest one.

*Post your sentence to your blog and reference back to me! 

My offering is "Name association was big, as were my presumed interests in vaudeville and politics"

Come on - PLAY!!!

If anyone knows what that is a quote from they get extra kudos!!! ;-)