Grannymar

Today’s recipe has been well tried and tested for many years. I never remember anyone not liking it. I first tasted it at a friend’s house and she kindly shared the recipe with me.

Garlic Chicken with a Lemon Sauce

Serves 6

Preheat oven to 220°C

4 Chicken Breasts

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 Bunch of Springs Onions

1 dessertspoon Honey

1 dessertspoon Sunflower Oil

12ozs Mushrooms

1 dessertspoon Tarragon Vinegar

A few drops Soy Sauce

Lemon Sauce

½ cup Lemon Juice

2 Chicken Stock Cubes

2 tablespoon Cornflour

2 tablespoon Honey

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Grated Ginger

375mls Water

Rind of 1 Lemon

225g Filo Pastry

Sesame Seeds

A little beaten egg or oil to brush

Cut the chicken into strips them marinate in the crushed garlic, oil, tarragon vinegar, honey and soy sauce. Leave covered for 1-2 hours (longer if possible). Heat the olive oil in a pan and quickly fry the chicken for 9-10 minutes until golden brown. Pour into an ovenproof dish. A few wild mushrooms could also be added.

To make the lemon sauce, combine the lemon juice crumbled stock cubes, cornflour, honey, brown sugar, ginger, water and lemon rind in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sauce boils and thickens. Cut the spring onions into 1inch pieces and add to the sauce and pour it over the chicken pieces. Cut the filo pastry into squares and fold into triangles arrange them on top of the chicken & brush with a little beaten egg or oil or melted fat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 25-30 minutes.

This recipe has been around since Elly’s first term in Home Economics. Adding the nuts was the only change I made.

Banana Loaf

Preheat oven to 190°C

150gr plain flour

50gr wheaten meal (Wholemeal)

100gr sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

100gr butter or margarine

2 eggs beaten

2 Bananas mashed.

A few walnuts chopped (optional)

Sift all the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, butter or margarine and banana and nuts.

Mix well. Pour into a prepared 2lb loaf tin.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

This recipe takes me back. I first tasted it when Jack brought me to meet his extended family in Co Durham, England. I have made it regularly over the years and it proved very popular.

Date & Walnut Cake

Preheat oven to 160°C

8ozs Dates chopped

4ozs Caster Sugar

1level tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2ozs Butter or Margarine

Pinch Salt

1 Egg, beaten

6 fluid ozs Water

2ozs Walnuts

8ozs Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Vanilla essence

Place dates, sugar, salt, soda and margarine in a mixing bowl. Boil water, pour over dates etc. and mix well to melt the margarine. Cool a little. Add beaten egg, walnuts, flour & vanilla essence. Mix to a smooth batter type consistency. Pour into a greased & lined 2lb loaf tin. Bake for 1½ hours. Cool in tin.

Variation: Try apricots and almonds instead of the dates and walnuts.

Summer Fools

Fold any one of the following fruit mixtures (cooled and liquidised if you wish) into ½ pint each custard and cream mixed or custard and Greek yogurt.

1 lb gooseberries (cooked) with 2 tablespoons Elderflower cordial.

Cook 1 ½ lb Rhubarb with rind of 1 orange and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Sweeten with a little honey.

Mash 12ozs raspberries with a fork and swirl into the custard mixture and a tablespoon Crème de Cassias.

Halve and stone 2lb red-skinned plums and cook gently with 3 tablespoons Sloe Gin.

Peel and cook 1½ lbs cooking apples to a puree with ½ teaspoon ground ginger and the grated rind of 1 lemon. Put a crushed ginger biscuit in the base of each serving glass and spoon over the fruit fool.

UPDATE

Simple home made custard

500ml milk

25g caster sugar

4 eggs

Warm the milk but DO NOT let it boil. Beat the eggs and sugar and slowly add the warm milk. Strain the custard into a saucepan or into a heat-proof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Cook over a very gentle heat for 15-25 minutes, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens to the consistency of single cream. Stir well around the sides as well as the base of the saucepan to prevent lumps forming. Do not let the custard boil.

As soon as the custard thickens, pour it into another bowl to stop further cooking.

Oriental Salmon Fillets

Serves 4

4 salmon fillets skinned

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce

Juice of a Lime

2 teaspoons freshly ground Black Pepper

Bunch Spring Onions shredded

Bunch Coriander

Place the salmon fillets in a shallow dish. Mix soy sauce, lime juice and black pepper and pour over the fish. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Remove salmon & grill for 5 minutes basting with the marinade during cooking. Transfer the fish to warmed serving plates and scatter over plenty of shredded spring onions & sprigs of fresh coriander.

These cookies are a combination of sweet and savoury flavours. I like to nibble them with coffee. They are equally nice served with pate with an aperitif.

Roasted Pepper Cookies (savoury)

Makes 34 approx Preheat oven to180ºC

125g Unsalted Butter

100g Icing Sugar sifted

200g Plain Flour

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Pinch of salt

100g Roasted Peppers chopped*

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment paper. Cream butter until soft & mix in the sugar until blended then drizzle in the olive oil & mix until combined. Add the flour & salt and mix gently but thoroughly until smooth, then add the peppers & mix until thoroughly incorporated into the mixture. Cut 2 sheets of parchment paper and spread a sheet out on the work table, place the dough in the centre and cover with the other sheet. Roll out the dough until it is about ¼inch thick (the dough is very sticky thus the parchment). Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or overnight. Cut into 2” rounds and place them ½” apart on prepared baking sheets. Form trimmings into a log, cut into rounds. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

* Variation: use pitted olives instead of Roasted Peppers

Cold Beetroot Soup

Serves 4-6

12ozs Beetroot cooked

5 fluid ounces Soured Cream

1 pint Chicken Stock

Put the beetroot and half the soured cream in a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the chicken stock. Chill well. Pour into individual bowls and stir in the remaining soured cream.

We all have days where we are rushed off our feet or unexpected visitors arrive for coffee and forget to go home when it is time to make dinner.. So what do you do? Let Grannymar come to the rescue with this magic dish from the fridge and store cupboard. Even Paddy Bloggit could make this one

Grannymar’s Emergency Chicken Crumble

Serves 6 190°C

4 large Chicken breasts chopped*

Onion chopped

Tin of Peach slices well drained

2 tablespoons milk

Tin Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Soup

Black Pepper

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

Pinch of mixed spice

Dash Worcestershire sauce

Dash Sherry or wine

Mixed Veg.- Baby corn, Carrots, Beans &Mange-tout.

Ready made stuffing for topping.

Drain peaches of all moisture. Fry the onion until soft & remove from pan. Fry chicken for a few minutes until sealed. Blanch the vegetables. Mix soup with the remainder of ingredients. Spread chicken, onion, vegetables and sliced peaches in a casserole dish and cover with soup mixture. Sprinkle a thick covering of stuffing on top. Cook in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Serve with new potatoes, rice or champ.

* Cold precooked chicken may be used.

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I hear the chorus already…. What is CHAMP?

Champ is a very popular potato dish here in Northern Ireland, but since it contains a dairy full of milk and butter I never make it!

Champ
125g spring onions, or 40g chives, chopped
300ml milk
6-8 potatoes
salt and pepper
75g butter

If using onions, simmer these in the milk until soft. Boil the potatoes in salted water until just cooked, then mash. Add the onions and their milk or the chives, if used, together with the milk which you have heated separately. Season to taste.

Let the butter melt over the finished dish.

When a Toyboy asks, how can I refuse?

Conor asked for more vegetarian recipes so today I have a simple nut loaf. I do have another more elaborate one but will keep it until later in the year.

Lazy Nut Loaf

Preheat oven to 180°C

1 Small Onion

8ozs Mixed Nuts

1 Stick Celery

1½ lbs Potatoes (Cooked and Mashed)

¼ teaspoon Nutmeg

1 tablespoon Tomato Puree

Salt & Pepper

1 teaspoon Herbs of your choice

1 Beaten Egg

½ teaspoon Sesame Seeds

Chop onion and nuts finely. Chop celery finely. Work into mashed potato, adding nutmeg, tomato puree and seasoning and herbs. Bind with egg. Pour into greased lined 1lb loaf tin, sprinkle with Sesame Seeds and bake for 1 – 1½ hours.

Sauce:

1 Can Campbell’s celery soup

Pepper & Salt

½ teaspoon Paprika

Dash Soy Sauce

Dash Sherry

Mix all together and heat

Confession time: Grannymar is a disaster when it comes to making pastry. My only success is the version used a couple of weeks ago for the quiche. Now when I need to use pastry for a recipe I buy frozen. At the moment Fillo is my favourite. I use oil or egg white to brush it.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Preheat oven to 190°C

100g Pastry of your choice

Line a 18cm (7”) flan tin with pastry and bake blind.

for the filling

2 eggs, medium, separated

225g caster sugar

1 lemon, juice & grated rind

150ml boiling water

25g cornflour

Reduce the oven to 150°C.

Place egg yolks with 100g sugar, lemon juice, grated rind and boiling water in a saucepan and mix well. Blend cornflour with a little cold water and add to the lemon mixture stirring all the time. Bring to the boil and pour into the baked flan case.

Whisk Egg whites stiffly and gradually beat in remaining sugar. Spread over the flan and bake for about 25 minutes until crisp and pale golden.