Grannymar

Tea Time Fruit Cake
Preheat the oven to 175°C

7 ozs Self Raising flour
5 ozs caster sugar
4 ozs butter
2 eggs (large)
grated rind of an orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 ozs sultanas
2 ozs mixed peel

Place the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor.  Break in the eggs and process for 5 seconds.  Add the orange rind and juice and process for 3-5 seconds.  Add dried fruit and peel and mix.  Turn into a greased and lined 1 lb loaf tin.  Bake for 45 - 60 minutes.  Test with a metal skewer, if it comes out clean the cake is done. Cool in tin on a wire rack.

Braised Orange Celery
Preheat the oven to 180°C

4 large sticks of celery, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
300 ml stock
rind & juice of 1 orange
5ml coriander
25g butter
seasoning
Dice celery, onion and carrot. Heat the butter in a pan, add the vegetables, cover with a layer of greaseproof paper and sweat for about five  minutes.  Add the stock, orange rind & juice, coriander and seasoning.
Place all the ingredients in a casserole dish and braise for 45 minutes or until tender.

Tiddly Fruit Crumble

Preheat the oven to 200°C
Serves 4

500g Bramley Apples peeled and chopped
2 fluid ounces of whisky *
Grated lemon and orange rind to taste
4 tablespoons Demerara sugar
1 teaspoon of mixed spices

For the Topping:
200g All-purpose flour
20g Ground almond (optional)
100g Light brown sugar  1/2 Tsp Sea salt
100g Unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

Grease four ramekin dishes or a 2-pint pie dish.
Place the prepared fruit into the ramekins or dish.
Mix the lemon and orange rind, mixed spice and Demerara sugar and spread evenly over the fruit.  Then sprinkle the whiskey over the fruit.
Leave to soak in while making the crumble.

For the Topping:
In a medium bowl, mix all the dry topping ingredients together and rub in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs.
Spread it evenly over the fruits in each dish.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the fruits are cooked and the top is golden brown.
Serve with whipped fresh cream or ice cream.

* Orange Juice can be used in place of the alcohol.

Elly shared this recipe with me a few weeks ago and I loved it.  There is only one problem….
One taste and I keep coming back for more!

Caramelised Red Onion Hummus

2 medium red onions
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (or any dark brown sugar)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 x 220g can of chickpeas
1 garlic clove
3tbsp Greek yoghurt
1 tsp olive oil

Peel and thinly slice the red onions.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat and gently soften the onions for 10 minutes.
Raise the heat to medium and add in the balsamic vinegar and muscovado sugar, stir well and cook for 3 to 4 minutes and set aside.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and place in a mini chopper or food processor.
Add the crushed garlic and 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt with 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Add the red onion mixture in on top and blitz well until smooth.

Today I take a trip down memory lane..  It is a very long lane.
52 years ago this week, I had my very first official cookery lesson.  I had been cooking and helping in the kitchen at mammy’s side for many years before that.

This first lesson was at school.  Today I reproduce that recipe.

Rock buns.
Preheat the oven to 200°C

225g self raising flour
Pinch salt
100g butter
75g mixed dried fruit
25g mixed candied peel
50g caster sugar
1 egg size 3
Milk to mix

Mix the flour and salt and rub in the butter.
Stir in the dried fruit, mixed peel and sugar.
Mix to a stiff dough with egg and milk.
Place in rough spoonfuls on a greased baking sheet
Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Do you have an early memory of cooking?

Back to work on cold mornings in this corner of the world?  Why not make a batch of soup and fill a flask for a warming office lunch.  It is certainly cheaper and more healthy than fast food.

Sweet Potato Soup with Coconut Cream

1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1large red onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon grass, chopped
1 pint vegetable stock
1 pint coconut cream
1½ pounds sweet potatoes diced
Salt & Black Pepper
2 limes, zest and juice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes until tender. Add the sweet potatoes and lemon grass and cook for a further 3 minutes.   Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.   Cool the soup slightly, then liquidise with half of the coconut cream and process until smooth.
Return the soup to the saucepan, add the remaining coconut cream. Season with salt and pepper. Heat through without allowing the soup to boil, and add the lime juice.   Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the lime zest.

Duck Parcels
Preheat the oven to 200°C

1 shallot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon dill
4 slices bacon or pancetta, chopped
2 duck breasts
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cooked beetroot (not pickled)
375g puff pastry *
A little beaten egg.

Place the chopped shallot, celery, carrot, dill and bacon or pancetta in a bowl and mix together.
Slice the beetroot and set aside.
Remove the skin from the duck breasts and discard.  Wash &dry the meat and season with salt & pepper.
Cut the pastry into four pieces a little larger than a duck breast.  Brush two pieces of the pastry with beaten egg and divide the vegetable mixture between them leaving  a border round the edge, place a duck breast on top of each. Divide the beetroot slices between them, placing them on top of the duck.  Brush the other two pieces of pastry with the egg and place egg side down on top to form a parcel. Seal round the edges with a fork. Brush over the top of each parcel with egg and put a couple of slits along the top.
Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until dark golden in colour.
Serve with a spicy sauce, fantail roast potatoes and a green salad.

This spicy sauce recipe came with a bottle of Cassis and works well with the parcels.

Spicy Sauce

1 teaspoon butter
1 shallot
50 ml cassis
150 ml red wine
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
50g butter chilled

Melt a teaspoon of butter over low heat and add the chopped shallot. Stir gently for about 5 minutes to soften, add the cassis and simmer to reduce to about 1 tablespoonful.  Add the wine, bay leaf and cinnamon stick and simmer again until reduced by half.  Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick.  Cube the butter and add to the sauce a little at a time, stirring constantly.
Season and serve immediately.

* I use ready rolled

I am running behind time, so a short, but tasty recipe today.  I’ll make up for it next week.  I promise.

Roasted Butternut Squash
Preheat the oven to 200°C

Medium sized Butternut squash
Sunflower oil to drizzle
Chilli flakes
Tub of Greek yogurt
Pine nuts, toasted
Lemon juice

Slice a butternut squash in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with chilli flakes, then roast in the oven until soft.
Fill the cavities with Greek yogurt, toasted pine nuts and a squeeze of lemon juice.

These tasty little numbers look festive and disappear quickly.
Bake ahead and store UNfilled in an air tight container until you need them.

Cranberry stars
Preheat oven 180°C

100g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon rind
2 egg yolks, medium size
225g plain flour

3 tablespoons Cranberry Jam *
Icing sugar to dust

Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

Beat the butter, caster sugar and lemon rind in a bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the egg yolks then stir in the flour and mix to a fairly stiff dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.  If the dough is very soft, chill it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 6mm or ¼ inch.  Cut into 24 rounds with a fluted cutter, re-rolling the trimmings to make up the number.  Cut the centres from half the rounds with a small star shaped cutter. (bake these little stars too, children love them!)
Place the rounds on the baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes until pale golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack until they are cold.
Spread the jam on the plain biscuits, dust the star biscuits thickly with icing sugar. Sandwich together. Eat on the day the jam is added, if not they will become soggy.

* I bought a small jar of Cranberry and Port in Lidl recently, (I think it was with the sauces) I use it to fill the biscuits. Yum yum! I see it won a Silver Award at Blas na hÉireann.

I had a request on Twitter the other day for a Christmas cake recipe.  I have used a wedding cake recipe for this purpose since 1960.  I have also made at least three, 3 tier wedding cakes with it over the years.

3 Tier Wedding Cake

Cake size               12 inch           9 inch         6inch

Mixed Fruit*                50ozs                30ozs            10ozs
Mixed Peel, chopped   10ozs                6ozs              2ozs
Prunes**                      5ozs                  3ozs              1oz
Dates                           5ozs                  3ozs              1oz
Cherries                       5ozs                  3ozs              1oz
Cooking Apple, diced    1                       ½                  ½ (small)
Nuts***                        5ozs                   3ozs             1oz
Ground Almonds         5ozs                   3ozs             1oz
Nutmeg                       ½ tsp                   ¼ tsp             ¼ tsp
Mixed Spice                 ½ tsp                  ¼ tsp             ¼ tsp
Grated Lemon rind       1                        ½                   ¼
Butter                          15ozs                  9ozs             3ozs
Caster Sugar                15ozs                 9ozs             3ozs
Eggs                            10                       6                   2
Plain Flour                   19ozs                  11ozs           4ozs
Whiskey                       9tblsps                6tblsps         3tb tblsps

* I use Sultans & Raisins
** Try glazed pineapple, mango or papaya
*** I use Almonds, walnuts, pecans or a mixture of all three

Preheat oven to 100°C

Grease and double line each baking tin.  Wrap a double layer of brown paper around the outside of the tin, securing it with string.
Clean the fruit; add the nuts, cherries and peel.
Sift flour and add the spices.
Beat the eggs.
Cream the butter and sugar add a little of the egg and a spoonful of the flour and mix well.  Repeat until all the egg and flour have been added.
Add the ground almonds and mix through, then add the chopped cooking apple.
Mix in the fruit a handful at a time.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, making a slight depression in the centre.  Bake for the required time.

Bake 12 inch cake for 6 hours
Bake 9 inch cake for 4-5 hours
Bake 6 inch cake for 1hour 45 minutes

Towards the end of cooking time, test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre.  When it comes out clean, the cake is ready.  If the top of the cake starts to become too brown, cover it with a double thickness of greaseproof paper.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin on a wire rack.
Prick top or cake and pour over the whiskey, wrap in greaseproof paper and then a layer of foil.  Store in a tin with half an apple.  The apple will need replacing after a couple of weeks.