Grannymar

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.

Last week Nancy asked for a sugar rush, so here goes….

Chestnut Meringue Cake
Preheat oven to 180ºC

8 egg whites
1lb caster sugar

For the filling
14oz unsweetened chestnut puree
3ozs dark chocolate, melted in 1 tsp water
3ozs dark brown sugar
½ pint cream whipped
Icing sugar to sprinkle

Cover two baking sheets with parchment and mark into 12in rounds – I often use an oval shape.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and then add the caster sugar one spoon at a time.  Continue whisking after each addition.  Spoon the mixture onto the prepared trays to fill the circle or oval shapes.
Bake for 20 minutes or until light brown.  Cool.

Beat the chestnut purée, melted chocolate and brown sugar in a bowl and, when smooth, fold in the whipped cream.  Remove the meringue from the paper and place one layer on a serving plate.  Spread with the chestnut filling, then put the other on top.  Sprinkle on icing sugar and serve chilled.
Serves 8-10

A few weeks ago Marianna Paulson, also known as Auntie Stress tempted my taste buds with these ginger biscuits made with grated root ginger.  They are just right for this time of year.

Marianna’s Ginger Biscuits
Preheat oven to 180°°C

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon ground ginger
3/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses/treacle or golden syrup
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
Sugar for tossing

Sift flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves & ground ginger into a bowl.
Cream butter and sugar and add egg, molasses/treacle or golden syrup & grated ginger, I did this in food processor. Add the flour to the creamed mixture and pulse to mix thoroughly.
Chill dough in the fridge to for 30 minutes.

Form dough into small balls and toss in white sugar.   Marianna suggested putting the sugar in a food bag and tossing the dough balls a few at a time, it is faster and cleaner.
Place on greased cookie sheet and press each one with a fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Check after 10 minutes, under-bake slightly, then leave on cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Try not to eat them before they are cold. 

Red-Onion Relish

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound of red onions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of sherry, port or red wine

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat for 1 minute, then add olive oil.  When oil is hot add sliced onion.  Stir the onion to coat in the oil and reduce the heat slightly.  Place a layer of greaseproof on top of the onion (this prevents the moisture evaporating and reduces the cooking time) and cook 15 minutes or until very soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in sugar, cider vinegar, alcohol and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes longer. Transfer onion relish to medium bowl; cover and keep warm.
This makes enough for four.

* I like to double the quantity and save any unused relish in a sterilised screw-top jar, for adding to sandwiches, or serving with cheese when I have guests.

This is my hat tip to the day that is in it.  When I was a child Halloween celebrations consisted of a dish of mixed nuts, extra fruit, Tea Brack with a ring in it, and these pin-wheel biscuits.

Chocolate Orange Pinwheels
Preheat the oven to 200ºC
100g butter, chilled and cubed
225g plain flour
150g caster sugar
1 egg, size 3, beaten
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Sieve the flout into a large bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.  Stir in the sugar and egg and mix to form a dough.  Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
Divide the dough in two.  Knead the orange rind into one half and the cocoa into the other.  Wrap separately in greaseproof paper or film wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the orange dough in a rectangle 9 x 11 inches approx.  Roll the chocolate dough to the same size and place on top of the orange dough.  Roll both together from the long edge to form a sausage.  Wrap and chill again for a further 30 minutes – this makes it easier to slice the pinwheels.
Lightly grease two baking sheets and cut the dough into 24 circles.  Place on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until pale golden.  Transfer to a cooling rack and leave until cold (if you can! ).