Men.... It's Mothers Day!

Easy Sunday Roasts

Ok,  so Mothers Day is on this Sunday 19/3/2012 and women all over will deserve a relaxing day without having to even consider cooking. Now I'm sure there are plenty men out there that do their fair share of cooking so I'm not going to generalise, but it is mothers day so mum's all around deserve to be treated.

I have made these roast dinners as easy as possible but they turn out with a great result. Timings shouldn't really be an issue here and while your lady is watching some TV in front of the fire you can be following this easy guide, but don't forget to make noise and pretend you are doing a lot of work!!

Cooking doesn't have to be a chore for us men, stick on some music, take a deep breath and be in control... after all apparently men are the dominant species (my god its hard to keep both sexes sweet doing this).

And lastly for those men who thinks 'cooking is for women and any man who cooks needs to catch himself on', I would say this... Grow a pair, it takes more of a man to carry out household duties and split the everyday running of a house than it does to go out to work then come home and laze around expecting to be hand fed! 

The one tip I would give anyone cooking is to be prepared. Read a recipe and understand it before diving in. So if a recipe says to put carrots cut into batons into a wok... don't be standing with a full carrot in your hand at that point. Make sure all your prep work is done first, like veg peeled and cut where asked, stock measured out, fish skinned etc etc etc... what ever the recipe calls for, if you can do it in advance then do so, it will save time and panic and possibly a finger in the long run!

So here are 2 simple ideas for roast dinners, for both the side dishes are the same because they are idiot-proof.

The Perfect Roast Chicken

Serves 4:

1x 1.6kg (affordable) chicken

1 medium onion

1 carrot

2 sticks of celery

1 bulb of garlic

1 lemon

Olive oil

Sea salt & black pepper

Method

Ø  Remove the bird from the fridge a half an hour before you start. Preheat oven up at max. Wash and chop the veg roughly, no need to peel them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves and give them all a bit of a smack with the flat of the knife.

Ø  Throw all the veg into a suitable sized roasting tray minus 3 cloves of garlic. Cut the string that ties the chicken so it ‘relaxes’; push a sharp knife down the inside of the leg beside the breast, as this is the last place to cook fully. Prick the lemon all over with a knife and stuff it into the cavity along with the 3 cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil and rub with salt and pepper. Wash your hands well.

Ø  Pop the bird on top of the vegetables and place in the hot oven. Keep it up max for 15 minutes then turn it down to 190ºc for 1 hour 15 minutes, baste it a few times during that time, spooning the juices over the top. Add a little water to the veg if it’s looking dry but there should be enough juices coming from the bird.

Ø  After the cooking time is up skewer the meatiest part of the leg with a fork insuring the juices run clear. If not then put it back into the oven for 10 minutes.

Ø  Set the cooked chicken on a clean chopping board and cover with foil and a clean tea towel. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. Resting just means that the meat relaxes after being in a hot oven and becomes more juicy. 

     

Ø  Carving: Pull off the wings (these can be used as flavouring in your gravy) cut down between the leg and the breast, cut through the joint and pull the leg off. This can be cut again between the thigh and the drumstick to give you 4 leg pieces. Angle your knife along the breastbone (this is easier done with wishbone removed) and carve the whole side off, you can them proceed to slice this. Repeat on other side them get stuck in pulling the remainder of meat off with your fingers, especially on underside. Serve all on a platter in the centre of the table.

       To make a quick gravy, pour most of the liquid from the roasting tray into a separate bowl (which will be discarded) then pour a glass of wine into the oven dish. with a wooden spoon scrape all around the dish and pop back into hot oven for 10 mins. remove from oven and sieve into a pot on a hot hob. add in a cup and a half of stock and let this bubble down by a third, season well, add a splash of soy sauce and its good to go.

                                                                  Roast beef

 For the best accompaniment to Roast beef why not try the simplest Yorkshire puddings

Serves 4-6:

1.5kg roasting joint (of your choice)

1 small onion

1 carrot

2 sticks of celery

Small bunch of rosemary and thyme

1 bulb of garlic

2 tablespoons of honey

Sea salt and black pepper

Olive oil

Method

Ø Take the beef joint out of the fridge about a half hour before u plan to start. Preheat oven up to max. Chop the vegetables roughly no need to peel them as they are for flavour purposes only.

Ø Toss them into a suitable sized roasting tray along with the herbs and the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil. Now drizzle olive oil over the roasting joint and rub it all over.

ØPlace a pan on a hot hob and when it is screaming hot seal all sides of the beef joint then place on top of the veg in the tray. With the pan still on the heat; pour in the red wine vinegar and honey. Stir around and reduce by half. Pour the reduction over the beef.

Ø Place the tray in the hot oven and turn heat down to 200ºc and roast for 1 hour 10 mins for medium beef. If you prefer it a little rarer or a little more well done give or take 10-15 minutes accordingly. Take it out of the oven half way through and baste it.

Ø When cooked to your liking remove from the roasting tray and place on a clean chopping board, cover with tin foil and a clean tea towel. if making gravy, refer to the roast chicken recipe.

Ø Carving: Remove the string and with a long sharp carving knife cut in thin clean slices, holding it in place with a fork.

            Roasted vegetable mix... A one dish wonder

Serves 4:

1-1.5kg baby potatoes

3 carrots

3 parsnips

2 courgettes

2 red onions

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 green pepper

5 cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

Olive oil

Sea salt & black pepper

Method

Ø    Preheat the oven at 200ºc. Peel and par-boil the potatoes for about 10 mins. in the meantime peel the carrots and parsnips and cut into batons. Wash the courgettes and but into batons also, peel the onions and cut into wedges. De-seed and slice the peppers. Bash the cloves of garlic.

Ø  Drain the potatoes in a colander and give them a toss around fluffing the surface of them up them pour them and all the prepared veg into a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and give a generous amount of seasoning. Place in oven for 30 minutes.

Ø    Remove from oven and drizzle the maple syrup over the veg mix and give a good toss around. Then back into oven for 10 minutes.

Ø    Serve hot and remove the garlic cloves if desired.

Here is a choice of very easy to follow desserts if you fancy the challenge:

Malteaser Cheesecake

Berry Crumble

Eton Mess

One Year Old Today!

Happy Birthday To Me

One year ago today I started this blog site and I gotta say that it has been one hell of a year. I have made a lot of new friends through the wonders of blogging, Facebook and Twitter. Everyone has been so supportive and friendly which is a huge help when you dive into the unknown.

In the past year I have been on national radio station 2FM Chatting to Hector a few times, have had a few different regular slots on Clare FM (with a new one starting tomorrow morning) and been on Limerick 95FM. I also had 2 monthly pages with West Limerick based magazine Insight Magazine and was a taste tester for Easy Food Magazine.

Cooking a BBQ breakfast for 35 at Lahinch Surf Club with Stephen from Clare FM

I also done a few cookery demonstrations along with making video recipes on YouTube. Now I know it may sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet but.... Toot Toot, its my blogs first birthday, I'm allowed!!!

Cookery demonstration

And as for the next year I have my sights set on... it's gonna be a whopper. With a drive of motivation and the passion I have for what I love doing, this next year is going to be very exciting and rewarding... but as for now my head is down and the hard work continues!

Get Growing Twenty 12

2-3-2012 And So It Begins

Ready for action (I ain't afraid of no ghost!)

So the start of the year has started of quite wet and has  really cut down the amount of time one can spend working in the garden. However this past week has been dry enough and gave me a chance to get the grass cut which really opened up the place again and made it look half respectable. And so with the first cut came the want to get back out and start to prepare the ground for this years growing.

Beds looking rough and over grown

Tidying the edges

I hadn't reaslised how over grown the beds had got over winter as it was very mild compared to recent years and because my regular maintenance of the garden in the latter part of last year was very limited due to the wash-out weather.

I had plans this year to section off all the ground level beds with 7x1 timber as it makes it a lot easier to cut the lawn around them and prevents the grass and weeds from creeping into the bed edges but being honest I just can't afford it at the moment so I will just make do with re-shaping the bed outlines and keeping them as neat as possible until next year. Just because something is out of your reach financially doesn't mean you should forget about it, just thing of an alternative and plough on... in this case, literally!

Strawberry bed getting a makeover

A welcomed guest in ant veg garden

All the strawberry plants dug out, some planted in tubs, the rest to
re-plant  and give away.

Ciara got stuck into the strawberry bed as it had become totally over grown. We had stripped it back last year removing about 30 runners leaving 10 plants in, this time around Ciara removed over 50. We are going to move some to a new bed and the rest will be given away in Crop Share to family and neighbours to plant out themselves and have a fresh supply of strawberries this year.

My raspberries had started to spread too and the roots went right into one of my beds and started to shoot there so I carefully dug out the new canes and will also give them away. As long as you keep control of the spread, strawberries and raspberries are wonderful to grow, you can start off with just a few plants and then reap the benefit of root spread and runners.

Spare raspberry canes dug out to re-plant elsewhere

Bed re-shaped and dug over

2 down, 4 to go!

The best way to ensure straight lines when digging is to use garden line on a reel or a length of timber and just keep an eye on the measurements to make sure you keep it square or rectangle, sometimes running your eye along it might not be enough, and the phrase 'Should have went to Specsavers' may pop up!

Using a length of timber to ensure straight lines.

Well it was only a start, still plenty more to be done but it is enjoyable work and is very rewarding in a number of ways.

Give It A Grow II

I really gotta stop using these cheesy titles but they just keep coming to me!!
Anyway... I have a feeling that a lot of people would like the idea of 'growing their own' but somehow feel that they cant... whether it be a lack of time, a lack of knowledge or a lack of space. the thing is that anyone and I mean anyone can grow something. Everyone has got a windowsill right??? Well that is a great starting point... get yourself a window box or a few pots, fill up with multi-purpose compost and sow some seeds into it!! herbs is a great starting point, they are a great accompaniment to any meal, look lovely and smell great so they are ideal for a windowsill inside or out! i have one on the go in my kitchen windowsill and have just planted a new one to keep the supply coming as I use them a lot...

They should be up and coming in just a few weeks time.

If you wanted to go a step further and have a little space outside then there is a lot that can be grown in patio pots, old buckets, even an old wellington boot can provide a great growing area for a strawberry plant!!

I have successfully grown herbs, any salad item, courgettes, peas, runner beans, carrots, garlic, onions, shallots, tomatoes, chilli and  peppers in growing containers or old buckets or even more convenient... ready to use grow bags.

A sunny spot and some regular routine care is all it takes and you could be heading out in the summer evenings to harvest fresh home grown produce for your dinner right from your back yard. Now when i say 'regular routine care', I mean the bare minimal effort... a little thinning out at the start and some watering a few times a week... and to pull the occasional weed if it is cheeky enough to grow!!

Honestly folks give it a go, once you have picked the first of your selected choice you'll get that feeling that I get every time I pick something... its a pretty good feeling trust me. And get the kids involved let them look after a plant and it may very well change how they feel about eating vegetables if they were anything like I was growing up... spuds was my veg intake and that was it!! 

When i started growing 2 years ago i had never tasted a courgette until I was given some surplice plants by a neighbour... Ive never looked back since!

If you dont have a greenhouse you can start the seeds of inside, again on a windowsill... you can even make home-made pots which can be planted right into the ground/container. These pots are made from old newspapers... and this is how:

get a small tumbler and fold a sheet of newspaper to a little taller than its size

then fold the excess paper into the tumbler

remove the tumbler and the paper should hold its shape (you can use a little tape if you like)

turn the pot over, now scrunch up another page 

stuff the other page into the bottom of the pot to form the base

fill with multi-purpose compost and its ready for the seed

I spoke on local radio station Clare FM today on The Today Show about making use of all these ideas.

If anyone wants to ask anything feel free to leave a comment and I will respond to all, or alternatively contact me on Facebook or Twitter!! If you dont ask you wont know!!

And That's A Wrap

Spicy Beef Wrap

This is a great simple lunch that will blow your socks off. It packs a super flavour punch. Alternatively it can be made with chicken or pork, even chicken dippers for a really easy option.

Serves 2:

2 medium sirloin steaks-fat trimmed

Olive oil

Paprika

Dried oregano

Cumin seeds

1 small red pepper

2 scallions

4 tablespoons of sour cream

1 tablespoon horseradish sauce

2 low-fat tortillas wrap

Sweet chilli sauce

Fresh rocket

Method

Take the steaks out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking, massage in a drop of olive oil and season both sides with the paprika, oregano and cumin seeds.

De-seed and finely slice the red pepper and the scallions, set aside. In a small bowl combine the sour cream and horseradish sauce and use as a dip.

On a screaming hot griddle pan place the steaks, 2 mins either side should suffice for medium steak, then remove and wrap in foil to rest for a few minutes (ideally 10-15 minutes) but as long as u wish.

Heat up the tortilla wraps as instructed by the packaging. Carve the steak into thin slices and arrange on the wrap how you wish, I spread on some sweet chilli sauce, top with peppers, scallions and fresh rocket. Serve with some low fat crisps and most of all.... Enjoy!

Awa's Potato&Leek Soup

Beautiful Potato and Leek Soup

This is my sister Andrea's recipe and every time I go up home I look forward to having it for lunch. Served with some crusty loaf this as a tasty and filling dish, simple comfort food at its best!

Serves 6:

4 large leeks

2 medium potatoes

1 large onion

1 clove or garlic

50g butter

850ml chicken stock

275ml skimmed/ semi-skimmed milk

Method

• Roughly chop the onion, garlic and leeks. Peel and cube the potatoes.
• In a large saucepan over a medium heat sweat off the onion and garlic in the butter for 5 mins then add the leek and sweat for a further 10 mins stirring occasionally to stop it catching.
• Add the stock, milk potatoes and season well, bring to the boil for 5 mins then simmer for another 5 mins.
• Allow to cool slightly then blitz with either a hand blender or a jug blender until silky smooth.
• Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche and some crusty bread.

Low Fat Bacon, leek and Pea Risotto

Bacon, leek and Pea Risotto

This is quite a healthy risotto as I use low fat spray instead of butter and low fat soft cheese instead of Mascarpone which is quite heavy on the calories. But the main change is the rice… or lack of it. Instead of using the traditional Arborio rice, I’m using Pearl barley instead. Barley is a lot less carbs and a lot more fibre.

The sweetness of the leeks and peas really make this mouth-watering! Risottos have an air of intimidation about them but really all they take is some attention, but that attention will lead to a wonderful meal.

Tip: keep the stock warm in a separate saucepan on a low/medium heat. It cuts cooking time and makes the risotto come together better.

Calories 1033

517 calories per portion for 2

258 calories per portion for 4

Serves 2 as dinner, 4 as starter:

100g bacon lardons

2 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

3 medium leeks finely

Low fat spray

200g pearl barley

700ml chicken stock

A handful of frozen peas

1 tablespoon of low-fat soft cheese

Crushed black pepper

Method

Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic, wash and finely slice the leeks.

Spray some low fat oil into a large saucepan and fry off the bacon lardons, crisping them up. Then add another spray of oil and gently fry off the shallots and garlic for 2 minutes, add the leeks and sweat for 3-4 minutes.

Pour in the barley and stir around for a minute to gently toast then add in a ladle and a half of the warm stock. Stir around frequently. When this has absorbed pour in another ladle of stock in and the peas continue adding the stock ladle by ladle, each time it’s fully absorbed, until all the stock is used up.

When all the stock is used up in the risotto remove it from the heat, add in the low-fat soft cheese and season with cracked black pepper and stir well. Serve immediately.