food geek

Restaurants, recipes, rants.

curried goat

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>One of the great things about living in London and having so many Caribbean friends is the food. Curried goat is by far my favourite dish and even though it is fairly easy to make, it always seems to taste better if someone else makes it.

Aletha is the one who makes the best curried goat in my opinion!

Ingredients
2 lbs goat meat
1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Half tsp cayenne pepper
1 spring onion, finely chopped
Half tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
3 tblsp curry powder (medium, yellow-coloured curry powder)
2 cups water
2 tbsp desiccated coconut (optional)

Method

Cut the goat meat into bite-sized pieces and place in a large dish.

Mix the seasoning, herbs, garlic and onion together and rub into the meat, then cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.

Boil the water in a large, heavy saucepan, add the seasoned meat and remains of marinade, and mix together.

Cover the pot and cook slowly over a medium heat until the meat browns, adding water if necessary.

Simmer for 1 ½ -2 hours until the meat is tender.

chickpea and spinach curry

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>This is proper fast food – delicious, healthy and ready in about 15 minutes.

1. Fry one medium-sized diced onion

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and cook in

3. Add a teaspoonful of harissa and one can chopped tomatoes

4. Add one can of chick peas and cook 10 mins

5. Add spinach and cook 5 mins

6. Add 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala

7. If the curry is too sweet from the tomatoes, add 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee to tone it down

8. Serve with yoghurt, naan or rice

pork vindalho

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>Pork vindalho is a Goan dish with a distinctive hot and sour flavour. It has its roots in Portugese cooking but has strong Indian influences too. It is unusual to see pork in Indian cooking but as many Goans are Catholics, it is quite popular in this small state.

This is one of my favourite Indian dishes and is well worth the effort to make it. If you cannot find genuine vindalho masala in your local Indian grocery, use the ingredients below to make the paste.

1kg/2¼lb boneless pork from the shoulder, cut into 5cm/2in cubes
1½ tsp salt
6tbsp red wine vinegar

For the Spice Paste: (or use vindalho masala)

4-10 dried hot red chillies
1 tbsp bright red paprika
½ tsp cumin seeds
6cm/3in cinnamon stick, broken up into smaller pieces
10-15 cloves
½ tsp black peppercorns
5-6 cardamom pods
10-12 garlic cloves, peeled
2.5cm/1in piece of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsley chopped
½ tsp ground turmeric

You also need:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
3 meduim-sized onions (250g/9oz), peeled and finely sliced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
6 fresh hot green chillies, sliced lengthways in half
1 tsp sugar

Method
1. Sprinkle the pork with 1 tsp of the salt. Add 3 tbsp of the vinegar. Rub in well and set aside for 2-3 hours.

2. Make the spice paste: Combine the red chillies, paprika, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns and cardamom pods in a clean coffee grinder and grind as finely as possible. Put the 10-12 garlic cloves and the ginger in the container of an electric blender a;long with 2 tbsp of the vinegar and the turmeric. Blend well. Add the dry ground spices to the garlic mixture and blend again to mix. Rub the pork cubes with half of the spice paste, Cover and refrigerate overnight. Cover and refrigerate the remaining spice paste.

3. Heat the 3 tbsp oil in a wide, preferably non-stick pan over meduim-high heat. When hot, put in the 3-4 garlic cloves. Stir and fry until they begin to pick up a little colour. Put in the onions and continue to fry until browned. Now add the tomatoes and 3 of the green chillies. Stir for a minute. Add the remaining spice paste, the sugar and the remaining 1 tbsp vinegar. Stir and fry until the paste begins to marinate the meat and all the spice paste clinging to it. Turn the heat to a meduim-low and cook, stirring, until the pork begins to exclude its own liquid. Add 300ml/10fl oz/1¼ cups water and the remaining salt and bring to the boil. Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer gently until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened somewhat, about 40 minutes.

4. If necessary, raise the heat to reduce the sauce to a meduim-thick consistency towards the end. Add the remaining 3 green chillies and stir once.

mummum’s tea brack

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>Mummum’s tea brack is one of my mother’s specialities. She is a plain cook but a wonderful baker. This traditional Irish cake is not too sweet and – unsurprisingly – uses tea to moisten it. It would often be served sliced like bread and buttered.

1 lb of sultanas or raisins
1 cup of cold tea
1 egg
3/4 lb flour

1. Steep fruit in tea for at least one hour (preferably overnight).

2. Add egg and swirl around.

3. Sieve in flour and mix well.

4. Pour into 9 inch square tin.

5. Put in oven in middle shelf at Gas Mark 4 for 45 minutes.

6. Cover with tin foil and cook for a further 45 minutes and Gas Mark 3.

7. Test with a knife to make sure centre is cooked.

fill up on bread

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

My mother was raised in a fairly poor family in a small town in County Dublin, but there was always enough to eat. Vegetables grew in the back garden, there was lots of floury potatoes, fish on Fridays and maybe some Hafner’s sausages as a treat on Saturdays.

In our family food and love are interchangeable. As a result most of what we eat, and who serves it, is laden with symbolism.

The rituals of Christmas included the formal post-mortem of the turkey/ham/Christmas cake/Christmas pudding of other family members: my mother and our Auntie Molly being the two main culprits:

“Maggie, your ham is much nicer than mine. Mine is very salty.”
“No, Molly, mine is very dry. Yours is better. And your cake is beautiful.”
“Yes but the pudding didn’t come out very well.”
“Ah, Molly, your pudding is gorgeous. Give us another bit.”

Christmas dinners were rushed to make sure we had enough time to sit down again at six o’clock for tea. It wasn’t much different the rest of the year, and even when the food being served was more modest than Christmas dinner, there was always the exhortion to “fill up on bread”. For the families of post-war children, it was always important to “eat loads”.

My mother has served the same dishes for dinner since she got married. Now, 52 years later, I can tell you which she will have for dinner this week:

Monday
left-over roast meat from Sunday with a salad

Tuesday
Egg and chips (she used to serve us mince, beans and chips but we didn’t notice for years that she didn’t eat the meat herself)

Wednesday
Beef stew, except for Lent and summertime when fried fish, mashed potatoes and white sauce is served

Thursday
Pork chops, gravy, boiled potatoes and turnip

Friday
Fish and chips and peas

Saturday
A mixed grill

Sunday
Traditional roast dinner – chicken, beef, pork or lamb
or
Corned beef or boiled bacon, cabbage and boiled potatoes

Over the years, and miles from home now, food still conjures up many emotions and associations.

My mother lists reading restaurant menus as one of her more serious hobbies, and it is always a big highlight to have as many family members around the table for dinner – difficult when we are spread across two continents.

This blog is an attempt to pull together all the recipes from my lifetime, food served to me with love by family, friends and strangers.

Many have a story attached and some speak for themselves.

Little Bay

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>Little Bay, 171 Farringdon Road, London EC1

This little restaurant is a true find. Situated close to the Exmouth Market area, it offeres incredibly good value and excellent.

The décor is simple and the basement not to be recommended due to the loud echo effect, but if you are looking for beautifully prepared fresh ingredients with a good wine list to boot, this is the place for you.

I can recommend the chips which are cooked in duck fat in true south of France style.

There are branches in Battersea and Kildurn/Belsize Park too!