recipes

nat’s baked beans recipe from bill granger

~ maireaddoyle ~ 1 Comment

>We met some friends at a Sunday lunch a few weeks ago, at Ann’s house where everybody brought a dish. Nat kindly gave me her recipe for home-made baked beans, this one from Bill Granger.

Ingredients:
2 tbs olive oil
2 x 400g (14oz) cans cannellini beans
1 garlic clove, sliced
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
250 g (1 punnet) cherry tomatoes

To Serve
1 tsp olive oil
8 slices prosciutto
1 Tbs fresh oregano leaves

Method
Preheat the oven to 200◦C (400◦F/Gas 6).
Place the olive oil, beans, garlic, chilli flakes, onion and tomatoes in a small baking dish and stir to combine.
Loosely cover with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the onion is tender and the tomatoes slightly shrivelled.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of olive oil in large frying pan over a medium to high heat and cook the prosciutto until lightly crisp.
Remove and place on paper towels.
Serve the baked beans sprinkled with fresh oregano leaves and the crisp prosciutto.
Serves 4.

Nat used bacon instead of prosciutto and just sliced it and threw it in with the beans to all cook together and it worked well, too.

katharine’s Lentil Soup

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>Ingredients
225g split red lentils
25g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 carrots, scrubbed and finely diced
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1150ml light vegetable stock
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Pick over the lentils and remove any stones. Rinse well.
2. Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the diced celery and carrots and let the vegetables sweat for 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in the lentils, add the lemon rind, stock and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
6. Roughly blend the soup in a liquidiser or food processor. It should not be too smooth.
7. Check the seasoning and reheat gently.

Enjoy!

mairead’s vegetable curry

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>POINTS® Value: 2
Servings: 4

A tasty filling dinner – serve with boiled rice (rown is best).

Use whatever vegetables you like, but the chickpea/spinach combination is particularly good. The instant coffee is used to cancel out some of the sweetness of the vegetables, especially the tinned tomatoes. Add cooked potato and/or chicken if you wish, but don’t forget to count the extra points.

1 medium onion
400 g canned chickpeas
200 g mushroom
400 g canned tomatoes
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/2 medium head of cauliflower
3 cloves garlic
1 whole fresh red chilli
1 tsp chilli powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
150 g frozen spinach
2 tsp instant coffee

Instructions
Fry onion and garlic and chilli
Add rest of vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes
Add rest of ingredients
Simmer for an hour

(tastes better made the day before!)

christmas pudding ice cream

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>A colleague of mine at work gave me this recipe because he heard I was a foodie.

Ingredients

375g packet mixed fruit
¼ bottle brandy
2 oz dark chocolate
4 egg whites
150g icing sugar
600ml cream
1 level tbsp mixed spice
1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon
1 level teaspoon nutmeg
2 oz slivered almonds, toasted

Soak the fruit overnight in the brandy. Next day beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add sugar into the egg whites, slowly so the mixture holds its air.

Melt the chocolate and fold carefully into the egg white mixture.

Whip the cream until it holds its shape, adding the spices. Fold the egg white and dream and fruit together, adding the almonds at the end.

Freeze in a covered metal or plastic container for at least three hours before serving.

Keeps up to three months in the freezer.

azy mince pies

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>It is the Christmas season, and time for mince pies. But when you are busy there is no time for finesse, and if you (like me) dare to bake when it is 37C outside, you need to be as quick as possible.

I hate the mince pies you get from the supermarket, or even the local bakeries. They seem to be heavy on the pastry and light on the fruit mince. So I make my own every year, using shop-bought ingredients.

In Australia they sell shortbread pastry already rolled out so the work is even easier.

My three tips are:

1. Lace the fruit mince with a generous quantity of rum, sherry or brandy before starting.

2. Don’t bother with lids. Just cut out circular shapes for the shells, fill with the fruit and bake.

3. Decorate afterwards with chopped glace cherries and blanched almonds.

Finally, dust the baked pies with Splenda or any other granulated sugar substitute instead of sugar. It gives you a reason to eat more than one at each setting!

jerk seasoning

~ maireaddoyle ~ Leave a comment

>

The very best jerk seasoning in the world is a wet marinade called Walkerswood, which is fairly easily available in many London stores including Tescos. If you can’t get access to this, make your own. It’s easy, and you will find your own style with trial and error. Here is a starter recipe to get you going.

Ingredients

1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon all spice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 6 hot chilli peppers, finely chopped
2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Add a little water to the mix to form a paste. Rub onto your chicken, pork or fish and marinate for up to 24 hours before cooking.