Dinner party for the girls Saturday night.

Just putting this up here so's I'll know what we had for dinner.
It was blimming lovely even if I do say so myself!

Billy has been off work following a minor operation for the last couple of weeks and has been declaring that he's bored outta his skull - well I can assure you there were no such pronouncements on Saturday - mwahhahahaha!!!

Our menu was divine, and a little inspired to our visit to The Old Convent where the girls and i enjoyed a version of the starter last October (Plans afoot for our next visit real soon,,,yes!!!!)

This was the menu:

Amuse bouche

Quail Scotch Egg

Starter

Ummera Smoked Duck Cream -Candied Nuts - Highbank Orchard Apple Syrup - Parmesan Toast

Soup

Butternut Squash & Chili - Brown Seeded Soda Bread

Sorbet

Basil & Lime

Main Course

Roast Canon of lamb - Red WineJjus - Celeriac Puree - Potato Fondant - Balsamic Roasted Shallot - Broad beans

Pre Dessert

Lemon Posset - Sugared Blueberries

Dessert

Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart - Raspberries

Petit Fours

Bailey's Chocolate Truffles

(The Bailey's truffles recipe can be found here on the blog)

Recipes will follow soon for the Ummera Duck Cream starter, the Butternut Squash Chili Soup, the Lemon Posset and the sinfully decadent Chocolate Salted Caramel Tart, and I'll link them as I get them written up.

Quail Skewers with Asian Spices

These quail skewers with Asian Spices from Jason Atherton's cookbook "Maze" are totally scrumdumbtious, and you will definitely make them again and again! I've used the "Maze" cookbook quite a lot actually and his recipes do not disappoint. he has the book presented in an interesting way, Recipes are in sets of 3 and each recipe leads to another where elements of the former dish are used in the next one. We made his apple trifle with cider granita and apple compote doughnuts one weekend, OH.MY.GOD!!! Amazing! But that's a recipe for another day and we'll motor on with the Quails now!

This makes a light meal for 4 when served with some noodles and the salad, if having it as a main course maaybe only 2 servings?! It's supremely light and tasty!

To serve 4 people you will need the following:

 You will need 8 wooden skewers which will be soaked for about 20 mins in water, to prevent them burning under the grill later.

4 quails - I got these in Lidl a couple of times, Spanish quail and then I got some fresh Irish ones at the English market in Cork - NO COMPARISON! Our own quail were far superior, plump, juicy birds. Now whenever I'm in Cork I bring home a few for the freezer.

To prepare the quail you will have to spatchcock them. To do this get a kitchen sissors and cut along both sides of the back bone of the quail to remove it. take out the giblets and any other loose "stuff".  I like to trim up the wing tips and the legs a little and if the neck is longish I cut it off.

Now rinse them and pat dry.

Open out a quail on the chopping board and press down on the breast bone with the palm of your hand.

Cut the quail in two so each piece has a breast and a leg.

Push a skewer through going in thru the leg and coming out at the top of the breast.

Marinade Ingredients

100ml sesame oil

2tablespoons Mirin (Japanese rice wine) available in Tescos.

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 garlic clove peeled and finely chopped

2cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 red chili, deseeded and chopped

Mix all  together and put half of it to one side. Brush the remainder over the quails.

Rub ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon of Szechaun peppercorns

sea salt

1 teaspoon five spice powder

Lightly toast the Szechaun peppers in a dry pan till fragrant. Put in a mortar and pestle  with a pinch of salt and grind till finely crushed, mix with the five spice powder and rub over the quails.

At this stage the aromas will have you drooling but carry on and cover with some cling film and put in the fridge for a few hours.

When the time is up preheat the grill on high, Put the marinated quails on a baking tray in a single layer. Place under the grill for ten minutes, turning halfway till the skins are turned golden brown and the quails feel firm and are cooked through.

Leave to rest for a few minutes while you make the following tasty salad.

Asian salad:

About a dozen radishes or half a mooli if you can track it down - for me that was a no no!

1 mango.

Handful of coriander leaves

Handful of baby salad leaves or Jason's recipe calls for Shiso leaves (not on your Nelly in Tralee!!!)

Toss all of these with the remaining marinade.

We enjoy our quails and salad with some noodles with chopped spring onion, a splash of sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce mixed through.

Jamie Oliver's Empire Chicken

I'm not a great one for watching TV but I will watch cookery shows ad nauseum, Billy tells me the only things I'll watch are Cookery programs and things like The Biggest Loser and Operation Transformation - no shock to me that one of these leads to the other! But anyway moving swiftly along....

I was watching Jamie Oliver's Great Britain one night and I loved the look of his Empire Chicken recipe which was right up my street as I love spicing things up.This recipe which combines your traditional roast chicken, spuds and gravy with some eastern spices truly sizzles. We;'ve made it a couple of times now once just for ourselves and another time we doubled everything up as we had some people coming for Sunday lunch a few weeks ago, they loved it as much as we did.

Ideally start the chicken marinading the day before.
Slash the chicken’s legs a few times right down to the bone. Get a roasting tray slightly bigger than the chicken, then add all of the marinade ingredients and mix together well. Put on a pair of clean rubber gloves, then really massage those flavours over and inside the chicken so it’s smeared everywhere. If leaving overnight cover and put in the fridge.

For the chicken and marinade• 1.4kg free-range chicken
• 1 heaped tablespoon each finely grated garlic, fresh ginger and fresh red chilli
• 1 heaped tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 heaped teaspoon each of ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala and ground cumin
• 2 heaped teaspoons natural yoghurt
• 2 lemons, one to be stabbed in a few places and placed in the chicken.
• 2 level teaspoons sea salt    

For the Bombay Style Potatoes

 800g new potatoes
• sea salt and ground pepper
• 1 lemon
• 2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
• a knob of butter
• 1 heaped teaspoon each
of black mustard seeds,( I couldn't get black mustard seeds so used regular ones), cumin seeds, garam masala and turmeric
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander

 

For the Gravy:

 1 stick of cinnamon
• 3 small red onions, peeled
• 10 cloves
• 3 tablespoons each of white wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce
• 3 level tablespoons plain flour
• 500ml organic chicken stock
• optional: natural yoghurt,to serve



Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and organize your shelves so the roasting tray can sit right at the bottom, the chicken can sit directly above it, right on the bars of the shelf, and the potatoes can go at the top. Halve any larger potatoes, then parboil them in a large pan of salted boiling water with a whole lemon for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Drain the potatoes then let them steam dry. Stab the lemon a few times with a sharp knife and put it right into the chicken’s cavity. Move the chicken to a plate.

Roughly chop the onions and add to the roasting tray along with the cinnamon stick, cloves, vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, then whisk in the flour. Pour in the stock or water, then place this right at the bottom of the oven. Place the chicken straight on to the bars of the middle shelf, above the roasting tray. Cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.

Put another sturdy roasting tray over a medium heat and add the olive oil, a knob of butter, the mustard and cumin seeds, garam masala and turmeric – work quickly because if the fat gets too hot the mustard seeds will pop everywhere. Halve a bulb of garlic and add it straight to the pan, with the sliced chilli and chopped tomatoes. Add your drained potatoes to the tray, mix everything together, then season well. Finely slice and scatter in the coriander stalks, and keep the leaves in a bowl of water for later. After the chicken has been in for 40 minutes, put the potatoes in.

Once the chicken is cooked, move it to a board and carefully peel off the dark charred bits to reveal perfect chicken underneath. Pass the gravy through a coarse sieve into a pan, whisking any sticky goodness from the pan as you go. Bring to the boil and either cook and thicken or thin down with water to your preference. Put it into a serving bowl and drizzle over a little yoghurt. Get your potatoes out of the oven and put them into a serving bowl, then serve the chicken on a board next to the sizzling roasties and hot gravy. Sprinkle the reserved coriander leaves over everything.

We had it with some corn on the cob and green beans and it was absolutely scrummy!

Oysters two ways.

I'm not good at eating oysters au naturel, just can't swallow the damned things - ugh! But give me an oyster wrapped in a rasher of bacon and grilled and I'm in heaven. A light cooking really changes the texture and,  for me, enhances the sea-y-ness of them.

Sometime late last year we were watching Masterchef the Professionals and Michel Roux was doing his classics on which the contestants would later be tested. We really liked the look of the oysters and decided to have them as our Christmas day starter being as this year it was just the two of ourselves for dinner and no one else's tastes had to be taken into consideration. Whilst we had them for Christmas they would be perfect for Valentine's day either, after all oysters are aphrodisiacs.

Billy got the job of shucking the oysters, the job made all the easier with an oyster shucking knife we got down town in my fave kitchen shop - Utensils.

When you're shucking your oysters take care! An oyster knife really is an essential bit of kit for the job.

Using the oyster knife, pry open the oyster shells, then remove the oysters. Discard the top shells; scrub and dry the bottom shells. Drain the oysters, reserving the oyster liquor.

My recipes are for 6 of each of the Rockefeller and the Kilpatrick. I couldn't find Michel's recipes online but watched the show again on You tube here to get an idea of what was what!

Oysters Rockefeller

6 fresh oysters on the half shell

1 tablespoons finely shallot

1 tablespoon Pernod
Approx 150ml cream

150g Spinach

Fresh nutmeg.

1 Egg Yolk

In a large saucepan, gently heat the oysters in their juices for a minute or so. Remove the oysters. Strain the juice through a fine sieve. set aside.

To a pan add the shallot, and the Pernod. Heat for a couple of minutes so that the alcohol is burned off and the wonderful aniseed flavour of the pernod remains, add the cream. Heat and allow to reduce a little.

Wilt the spinach in some hot water, drain, squeeze out excess water and chop finely. grate in some nutmeg. Add some of the cream/pernod mix to the spinach to loosen it.

Divide the spinach between the 6 oyster shells Place the oysters on top. Michel's tip was to place the oysters back in the shell in the way they came out.

Add the egg yolk to the cream/pernod mixture and whisk in. Pour over the 6 oysters.

Grill under a hot grill till browning and bubbling.


Oysters Kilpatrick

6 Oysters shucked.
Couple of rashers of bacon, very finely chopped
6 tablespoons fine breadcrumbs.
Tabasco.
Worcestershire sauce
Some soft butter.

Fry the bacon till crispy, add the breadcrumbs to the bacon. Put about 2/3 of this aside in a bowl.
To the remaining third add a couple of splashes each of tabasco and worcestershire sauce.
Divide this mixture between the 6 oyster shells.
Place the oysters on top.
Cover this with the reserved crumb mixture.
Add a knob of butter on top.
Place under a hot grill until browned.

To stabilise the oysters on the plate I put a very generous sprinkling of sea salt which I dampened slightly.

And enjoy!!

Lamb shanks with chick peas and Moroccan spices.

We're talking serious comfort food here, hearty, tasty, delicious, spicy - did I say DELICIOUS!

If you can get lamb shanks in your butcher's generally you will only pay about €2.50 each. The weekend I wanted to make this the butcher was out of them and I paid €9 for 2 in Tesco's which I was a tad cross about but I so wanted them that I paid the dosh over!

This is not an after work recipe as it takes hours to slowly cook, well maybe if you want your dinner at midnight you might cook it after work!

Here's what you'll need: (To serve 4)

• Tin Chickpeas, approx 400g
•  2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 lamb shanks (medium)
• 2 medium onions , chopped
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh root ginger
• 3 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 2 fresh green chillies , seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 large tomatoes , peeled, seeded and chopped
• pinch of saffron strands
• 2cm/0.25in piece of cinnamon stick
• 450g carrots , cut into thick slices
• 140g ready-to-eat dried apricots
• 1 tsp clear honey

TO SERVE

• 50g blanched almonds , fried in butter until browned ( I only had flaked almonds in the cupboard so that was what I used.
• chopped fresh coriander

Here's what you'll need to do:

Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown the lamb all over. Remove and set aside. Pour off most of the fat, leaving 1 tablespoon in the dish, add the onions and fry for 8-10 minutes until soft.

 

Preheat the oven to fan oven 140C.

 

Mix together the ginger, garlic, chillies, cumin, coriander, pepper and paprika. Add half of this to the onions, tip in the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes.

 

Put in the lamb, cover generously with water (about 450ml), bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

 

Cover and cook in the oven for 11⁄2-2 hours

 

Remove from the oven and stir in the remaining spice mixture, the tinned chick peas, saffron and cinnamon, carrots, apricots, honey and salt. Cover and return to the oven for 45 minutes-1 hour until the lamb is tender and the vegetables cooked.

 

 Scatter the almonds and coriander on top.

We usually eat this with some cous cous flavoured with lemon and coriander, just a little cos the main dish is so filling!

The original recipe I have is torn from an old Good Food magazine.

December/New Year Nosh

Yes, I am paying the price for all this gorgeousness and calorificness as I pound the roads trying to claw back a pound or two but you know what - it was worth it and I enjoyed every morsel - so there!!!!!

My lovely Yule Log

covered in marzipand and dark chocolate, filled with a sweetened chocolate chestnut puree.

.

Our delicious and attractive Christmas day breakfast, lovely creamy scrambled eggs with eggs from my brother, strips of smoked salmon and rye toast, washed down with some prosecco with fresh orange juice.

Christmas Dinner starter, Oysters Rockefeller and Oysters Kilpatrick - I will post the recipes for these divine bites later! For anyone who doesn't like the texture of raw oysters (like me!) these are a revelation.

Our Christmas dinner dessert - a Christmas pudding bombe, the Italian meringue encased a vanilla ice cream enriched with Christmas Pudding, dates and brandy. The base of the pudding was a disc of sponge and just before serving some hot chocolate sauce was inserted with a squeezy bottle under the meringue. Oh. My. God!

Stephen's day dinner was kept light, gently poached lobster, some Dublin Bay Prawns, smoked salmon and Marie Rose sauce. 

This was followed with a selection of gorgeous cheeses enhanced by serving them on the lovely slate cheeseboard I won on a fellow food blogger's site - Mona's blog is fab! Check it out here . The slate cheeseboard and knife were coutesy of Slated.ie

A light lunch over Christmas - Scallops with Jack McCarthy's black pudding and a drizzle of Highbank  Orchard Apple Syrup and a few slivers of fried chilli on top - nom!

And we had a wee bit of dining out, with a couple of Billy's colleagues and their other halves we went to Chapter 40 in Killarney and had a fantastic meal, really top notch nosh, flavour and presentation were faultless! These guys produce art on a plate!

My starter - Crab - potted,doughnut, cone!

My main course - Seafood - Vegetable Tempura, Crab and Grapefruit  Salad (Oh MOMMA!!!!!)

My Dessert - Doughnuts - Pistachio Ice Cream, Cappuccino Mousse  

The following night was New Year's Eve and we were at the Station House in Blennerville which is our favourite local restaurant in Tralee. We had a lovely night there, great food for superb value. An amuse bouche, starter, sorbet, mains, dessert, tea/coffee and a bottle of wine thrown in for €49 per person, AND a magician on tap between courses to keep diners amused!

I had the confit duck leg served on a bed of sublime red cabbage which I totally enjoyed - I'm a divil for going for seafood when I'm dining out so it was nice to try this for a change.

And to end 2011 we bought a new table and chairs - looking  forward to getting the new kitchen to match them in 2012 - fingers crossed!!!!

It's here.....

Lots of happy dancing here today ....

Look what arrived by courier this morning ...

Cannot wait to use it!
So why am I on the net then....... ??? Cos I had to tell the world about my new arrival! Insert proud new kitchen appliance Momma moment here!!!

Dining out in November

November saw a nice bit of dining out for me, first off myself and 4 of the lovely ladies I work with took ourselves off to The Old Convent in Clogheen for a night of fine dining, chat and craic.

Here's "the Girls" Kate, Mary, Phil & Sheila.

Dermot's food as usual was superlative and I was so glad that the girls enjoyed it as it was their first visit to The Old Convent. I adored the the course that started our meal - Ummera Smoked Duck Breast with Parmesan toast, and High Bank Orchard Apple Syrup. (So much so that I tracked down said syrup once I got home, managed to get it at the local farmer's market here in Tralee. Superb stuff!) The ladies and I are planning our return visit for 2012!

 Dermot's second dessert - chocolate heaven!

Then Billy and I went to the Tom Doorley event at The Brehon in Killarney, a lovely night where we were regaled with some fun and informative wine related anecdotes by Tom, while sampling the lovely food offered by Danú restaurant at The Brehon. The main was lovely lamb wellington, with roasted shallot, potato fondant, broad beans and a wine jus.

The night was unbelievable value at €45 per person and that included an amuse bouche, a starter, a veloute, the mains, a goats cheese panacotta and then a deliciously chocolately dessert and petit fours and tea/coffee and 3 very generous glasses of wine and a glass of port.Amazing value!

The following night we were off to Killarney again, this time to Treyvaud's restaurant for their annual game night, we were looking forward to this and trying a few new tastes. The Santa-esque gent here in Mr Treyvaud Senior who comes out of retirement for this event every year. The buffet table was laden down with all types of terrines, pates, sausages, salamis, salads etc, and it was from this we helped ourselves to the starter.

Then we had a Wild game consomme.

From the menu for mains Billy chose Roast Breast of Pigeon and I went with the Pheasant, loved my pheasant, Billy's pigeon I could live without but he ate it happily.

The meal ended with Xmas pud with a divine Brandy sauce.

The cost of this was a very reasonable €50 per person.

I saw somewhere that they also do a seafood night, will be checking that out in 2012!

Parmesan Tartlets with Red Onion Marmalade

These little tartlets are lovely as a starter or a light lunch and the accompanying red onion marmalade is gorgeous and keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge. It would make a great addition to a hamper of homemade goodies for Christmas.

The original recipe is by Jenny Bristow and appeared in the Irish Independent supplement Weekend one Saturday and was promptly torn out and has been used many times

Here's what you'll need: This makes 6 tartlets.

For the pastry
225g flour, sieved
125g butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
2-3 dessert spoons cold water

For the filling

25g butter

½ small onion, finely sliced
Small bunch watercress, lightly steamed - Now I do find it difficult to get watercress but I get mixed salad bags that have watercress, baby spinach and rocket in them and I use that mix.
3 eggs, lightly beaten
275ml double cream
110g Parmesan
½ tsp paprika

Red onion marmalade
25g butter
2 red onions, finely sliced
3-4 dessertspoons water
4 dessertspoons red-wine vinegar
50g soft brown sugar
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you'll need to do:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees fan/190 degrees regular oven.

Place the ingredients for the tartlets in a food processor and whiz until they bind together to form a soft dough or you can do it by hand - rub the butter into the pastry till it resembles breadcrumbs, add in the egg and a little of the water so that a dough forms.. Roll out the pastry, then, using a pastry cutter, cut it into six rounds of approximately 5in in diameter. This of course depends on your tartlet tins size, so you're as well to put your tin down and cut around giving it about an inch extra all round.

Line individual, lightly greased moulds or tins with the pastry and lightly prick each base with a fork. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and cover with a layer of greaseproof paper and a layer of ceramic baking beans to prevent the pastry cases rising in the centre. Bake in the oven at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the baking beans and the paper and set to one side to cool.

Tip: If you haven't got baking beans you can always use some rice, lentils or dried beans in their stead. When you're done pop them into a clean jar and keep them for further use in blind baking.

For the filling, melt the butter in a small pan. Add the onion and cook lightly for one minute. Add the watercress and remove the pan from the heat. Leave to cool.

Beat together the eggs and cream, then mix in the Parmesan, paprika, onion and watercress. Pour the mixture into the pastry shells and bake in the oven at 160° fan/180° regular for approximately 25 minutes until the tarts are golden and firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, make the red onion marmalade.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onions, water, vinegar and sugar. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced and the onions have softened. Season to taste and set to one side to cool slightly.
Remove the tartlets from the moulds.
Serve warm or cold, with a little red onion marmalade.

In other news I am anxiously waiting on the delivery of my new baby - this fabby kitchenaid - should have it this week and I can't wait! It's colour is Boysenberry and ain't it so CUTE!!!

AND.... I won,( hip hip! Jump up and down excitedly!!!) a lovely slate cheeseboard and knife from Slated Ireland courtesy of the lovely Mona Wise's blog giveaway. Mona's blog is great, I've laughed and cried in equal measure while reading it, always a sign of a good story that it will invoke emotions like these.Mona is in the process of writing a book which will be out next year, there will be stories from Mona, recipes from her chef husband and I'm sure a few pics of their delightful children. Mona has the right philosophy - "she writes, he cooks and they all eat it"!

Many thanks to Mona & Slated!

Chocolate Truffles

These babies are seriously divine, they're easy to make, you don't need to scour the shops for any special ingredients or equipment (which is the absolute bane of my cooking life!!!), they look impressive to serve up to your friends and family after a meal or to give as a gift wrapped in some simple cellophane and tied with a pretty ribbon or a nice little box lined with tissue paper or a pretty paper napkin.

Ok there has to be bad news, per truffle we're talking serious calories and for anyone doing Weightwatchers (like moi) they work out at 3 whole propoints each - eek!!! Nonetheless .....they are worth it!! Hehe!!!

A tip : The ones coated in cocoa powder wold be very slightly less calorific than the vermicelli coated truffles!

The following recipe makes about 21 truffles, yes, yes I am painfully aware there are 18 on the plate in the picture above - I gave himself ONE and shur I had to make sure they tasted okay myself! If one didn't taste the mixture as it was cooling etc one might have got 24 truffles

Here's what you'll need:

120mls cream

30g icing sugar

100g Dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids broken into small pieces

50g Milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

25g butter

30 mls Baileys Irish Cream or other liqueur of your choice (Tia Maria, Creme de Menthe, Cherry Brandy, Malibu, whatever floats your boat!)

Chocolate vermicelli and cocoa powder for rolling the finished truffles in.

Re the chocolate - I do a mix of dark and milk chocolate, but if you prefer use all dark, 'tis up to you!

Here's what you'll need to do:

Put the cream and icing sugar in a saucepan and gently heat, do not let it come to a boil!

Take off the heat.

Put the chocolates in a bowl, pour the hot cream/icing sugar mix over it.

Stir well until the chocolate is melted.

Add the Baileys or liqueur of choice, stir well.

Cover and put in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours until set.

Use a teaspoon scoop out amounts of the mixture similar in size to a Ferrero Rocher, roll into balls with your hands.

A tip: Try to have your hands cold for this part and the kitchen ideally wouldn't be meltingly warm either!

Have a couple of plates ready with chocolate vermicelli and cocoa powder and roll the truffles in these as desired.

If liked you could dip them in some melted and cooled chocolate instead.

These will keep in a container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Next time I'm going to try some White Chocolate and Limoncello Truffles so watch this space!

Jack McCarthy's Rose veal chops

Jack McCarthy - Ireland's finest artisan butcher - put the call out last week on Twitter that he had ten month old rose veal in stock. We were mega excited! Jack and his son Tim have a fine butcher's shop in Kanturk, Co Cork, with not just the usual fare but also their award winning puddings and sausages.

We have eaten veal many times but never actually cooked it ourselves, mainly because we could never source it. So after work last Friday I headed to Kanturk and as well as the fabulous Rose veal I came home with black puddings, white puddings, nitrate free rashers, air dried pork, Ardrahan cheese & smoky bacon sausages and Apple & Pork sausages. We'll be well fed for a good while!

The dish that was planned for Saturday night was ditched in favour of the veal, cookery books were scoured and it was between a Gordon Ramsay recipe and one we found online by Matt Tebbutt, the fennel in the latter one swung it for us as it's one of our favourite veg.

Here's what you'll need:

2 Rose veal chops

Olive oil for frying

2 cloves garlic crushed

White wine

For the fennel gratin:

2 fennel, cut into batons, green fronds finely chopped

A knob of butter, plus extra for greasing

300 ml double cream

1 cloves garlic, crushed

70 g emmental cheese, grated

For the crispy onions

½ onion, finely sliced

Milk, for soaking

Cornflour, for coating

Vegetable oil, for frying

Here's what you'll need to do:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the fennel gratin: bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the fennel batons and blanch for 1 minute.
Drain immediately and, while still warm, toss the batons with a knob of butter and the finely chopped fennel fronds. (If your fennel had no tops, you can use finely chopped dill instead.)
Transfer the fennel to a buttered ovenproof dish. 

Put the cream into a medium saucepan with the garlic, bring it to a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Pour the cream over the fennel, top with the grated cheese and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. While the gratin is cooking, prepare the veal chops.

Season the veal chops with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan until hot and cook the chops until golden and brown on each side.

When the veal is almost cooked, add the garlic and a splash of wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Add a good knob of butter, spoon this over the chops, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest, covered with foil, in a warm place for about 10 minutes.

For the crispy onions cover the sliced onions with milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes to remove some of the strong flavour.

Drain and pat dry, discarding the milk.
Season a little cornflour with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dip the onion rings in the seasoned cornflour and shallow fry in hot oil until nice and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.

To serve, put the veal chops on plates and drizzle with the pan juices. Accompany with the fennel gratin and crispy onions.

We made some very chunky chips to go with the dish. It was lip smacking gorgeous - the veal was juicy, tender and tasty, scrummy!

And we teamed it with this wine which was quite nice, not too heavy with the Rose veal. And best of all we have 2 chops in the freezer so Gordon's recipe will get an airing one of these days!

More of Jack McCarthy's produce graced the table for Sunday's brunch along with great brown bread also from Kanturk (Philpott's) and all teamed with eggs from my brother's farm in Portmagee. The nitrate free rashers are great, just like rashers used to taste when I was a child! ( I was going to say in the old days but we won't go there!!!)

Lamb Sausages with Lentils and Braised Pears

I'm afraid after the last few posts showing the gorgeousness of the food we consumed for our birthday feasting ye're now going to be left with my food for a while.

We headed to Limerick's Milk Market last Saturday as we'd heard great things about it. We got some gorgeous nosh - basil Gouda cheese, Parmesan, Brie- these from The Flying Cheese Brigade, squid and undyed smoked haddock from O'Driscoll bros, lamb sausages from Castlegregory's Wild Side, great bread, corn on the cob, chocolate and fudge - FEAST! Oh and some great plants for the winter window boxes too.

We decided on doing something with the lamb sausages the other evening and thank goodness for Google - a recipe was found here. It was for 6 so I tweaked it for just the 2 of us. I never used to use recipes with cups till the last couple of years when I got a set of cup measurements in Tescos I think and shur it's easy peasy since to  do any recipe.

Lamb sausages are also known as Merguez sausages and very popular in North African cuisine which probably explains the harissa flavouring in them.

Lamb sausages with lentils and Braised Pears

Here's what you'll need - this is a generous serving for 2, so generous that Billy had leftovers for his lunch box the following day.
As ye can see I'm getting good at this blogging craic - a pic of the ingredients!
(We attended a cookery demo at the Dingle Food fest hosted by Mark Murphy and one of his suggestions was to get all the ingredients for a dish out and prepped and put in suitable containers, great tip - seems like a wee bit of bother to start but really keeps me tidy.)

1 cups brown lentils 

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery rib, diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 roasted red peppers  cut into thin strips (As I love roasted red pepper I might do two the next time)

5 or 6 lamb sausages - 2 is loads per person 

1 ripe Bartlett pears, cored and cut into eighths



Here's what you'll need to do:

In a large heatproof bowl, cover the lentils with the boiling water and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain.

In a large saucepan, heat half of the olive oil.

Add the diced carrots, onion and celery and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes.

Add the lentils and about a cup of water and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook over low heat until the lentils are just tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon olive oil, the cider vinegar and the roasted red peppers and season with salt and pepper. Divide lentil mixture between hot plates and keep warm.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan. Add the lamb sausages and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Arrange the sausages around the lentils and pour over any accumulated juices.

Return the pan to high heat. Add the pears and cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Serve up and enjoy!