All posts by Kristin

Beef, Cakes, Irish food

Steak, Guinness and Cheddar Pie and Chocolate Guinness Cake

I have a confession to make — I don’t like Guinness. When I first moved to Ireland, I tried to like it, I really did. At my first publishing job in Temple Bar in Dublin, the five of us who worked there would often go to the pub for lunch together, and the man from Manchester who I worked with would sometimes skip food altogether and only have a pint of plain for his lunch. My husband tells the story of how the doctor even told his Irish grandmother to drink it when she was pregnant, saying it would help keep her iron levels up — Guinness is good for you and all that. My first six months here I kept ordering pints of it in the pub in the hopes that it might be an acquired taste, but I could only ever get halfway through them. I officially gave up when I was out with the same publishing crowd at the Stag’s Head in Dublin and one of my co-workers suggested I order it with a shot of blackcurrant syrup, saying a lot of girls drank it that way. I thought it tasted even worse and could only take one sip before pushing away the glass, and it’s been ales and lagers for me ever since.

While I don’t like to drink it straight up, I do like to cook with it. Beef and Guinness go together like bread and butter, and this steak, Guinness and cheese pie from Jamie Oliver gives my favorite beef and Guinness stew a run for its money. You would probably never think of baking with beer, much less in a chocolate cake, but Nigella Lawson pulls it off. I made it for my father-in-law’s birthday back in January and it’s become one of Kelly’s favorites. So all these years later, I’ve started buying Guinness again — though in a roundabout way for the likes of stews and cakes. Sláinte!

Looking for more Irish recipes for St. Patrick’s Day? Try beef and Guinness stew with champ, Irish soda bread or Guinness gingerbread.

Steak, Guinness and Cheddar Pie
adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

Jamie Oliver’s original recipe calls for lining the bottom of the pie dish with the puff pastry as well, but I simplified it to just cover the top with a puff pastry lid. He also says to add enough water just to cover the beef — I found that I didn’t need to add any at all because the beef was covered enough using only the Guinness, which also meant the pie filling was the perfect consistency and wasn’t too runny. If you don’t have a Dutch oven or an ovenproof casserole with a lid, you can just simmer the beef on the stovetop instead over a low-medium heat.

olive oil
3 medium red onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
4 large mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 lb (1 kg) brisket of beef or stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped (or you could substitute thyme)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (500 ml) Guinness
2 heaped tablespoons flour
2 cups (200 g) grated Cheddar cheese
2 sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry
1 large egg, beaten
freshly cooked peas, to serve

Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190°C). In a large ovenproof pot, heat a generous splash  of olive oil on a low heat. Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes with a pinch of salt so that they don’t brown too much. Turn the heat up, add the garlic, butter, carrots and celery and scatter in the mushrooms. Mix everything together before stirring in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoon of pepper.

Fry fast for 3 or 4 minutes, then pour in the Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover (I didn’t need to add any water at all, see note above). Bring to a simmer, cover the pot  with a lid and place in the preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and give the stew a stir. Put it back into the oven and continue to cook it for another hour, or until the meat is very tender and the stew is rich, dark and thick. A perfect pie filling needs to be robust, so if it’s still quite liquid, place the pot on the stovetop and reduce, uncovered, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in half the cheese, then season carefully and leave to cool slightly. Tip the stew into a pie dish or individual dishes and even it out before sprinkling over the remaining cheese.

Cut the ready-rolled sheet of pastry to fit the top of the pie dish (or individual dishes), rolling it out a little on a lightly floured countertop with a rolling pin if you need to in order for it to cover your dish. Criss-cross the pastry lightly with a sharp knife. Place it over the top of the pie and tuck it down around the stew. Brush the top with beaten egg, then bake the pie in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked, puffed and golden. Delicious served simply with peas on the side.

***

Chocolate Guinness Cake
adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

Serves 12

Nigella Lawson likes to ice the top of the cake so that it resembles the famously frothy head that sits on top of a pint of stout, but she says it also tastes perfectly good if you leave it uniced and plain.

for the cake:
1 cup (250 ml) Guinness
9 oz (250 g) unsalted butter, cubed or sliced
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa
2 cups (400 g) sugar
3/4 cup (or 1 x 142 ml pot) sour cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (275 g) flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

for the topping:
11 oz (300 g) Philadelphia cream cheese
1 1/4 cups (150 g) confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
1/2 cup (125 ml) heavy cream (double or whipping cream)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and butter and line a 9 inch (23 cm) springform tin.

Pour the Guinness into a large pot. Add the butter cubes or slices and heat until the butter melts, then whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla, then pour into the beer and butter mixture. Lastly, whisk in the flour and baking soda. Pour the cake batter into the greased and lined tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a cooling rack, as it’s quite a damp cake.

When the cake is completely cold, sit it on a flat platter or cake stand to ice it. Lightly whip the cream cheese until smooth, sieve over the confectioners’ (icing) sugar and then beat them both together. (Alternatively, you can do this in a food processor, putting the unsieved icing sugar in first, and blitz to remove lumps before adding the cheese.) Add the cream and beat again until it’s a spreadable consistency. Ice the top of the black cake so that it resembles the frothy top of the famous pint.

French food, Pork, Soups and stews

French Onion Soup and Croque Monsieur

“How easily happiness begins by / dicing onions”, writes William Matthews in his poem, “Onions”. This is never more true than when making French onion soup. And surely there can be no higher calling or better end for an onion than to be sauteed in butter, then doused in a boozy broth of brandy, sherry and wine. As an easy midweek soup-and-sandwich dinner goes, you could do worse than one that makes you wish you were sitting in a Parisian café.


French Onion Soup
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Serves 4 to 6

2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg) yellow onions, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 lb (110 g) unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup (125 ml) medium-dry sherry
1/2 cup (125 ml) brandy or Cognac
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) good dry white wine
8 cups (2 liters) beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

Melt the butter in a large stockpot on a medium heat. Saute the onions with the bay leaf and a pinch of salt (to stop the onions from browning) for 20 minutes, until the onions turn a rich golden brown color. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and brandy and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for 15 more minutes. Add the beef stock plus salt and pepper (but not too much salt because your stock is liable to be salty already). Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, adjust the seasoning and serve hot with grated Parmesan on top.

***

Croque Monsieur
adapted from How to Cook: Book One by Delia Smith

Serves 1

A croque monsieur is really just a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. It originated in France as a kind of fast food snack served in cafés and bars. A croque madame is a version of this sandwich with a fried or poached egg on top. I was tempted by the Barefoot Contessa’s version of this classic, which she smothers in a béchamel sauce, but I opted to keep things simpler (and less calorific) with Delia Smith’s recipe. I did use Ina’s tip though to add some Dijon mustard to the sandwich.

2 large slices good-quality white bread, buttered
Dijon mustard (optional)
1/2 cup (50 g) Gruyère, finely grated
2 or 3 slices of cooked ham, Parma ham or wafer-thin ham
2 tablespoons (30 g) butter, melted
1 rounded tablespoon finely grated Parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper

On one slice of the buttered bread, add a thin smear of Dijon mustard (option). Sprinkle over half the grated Gruyère, then cover that with the slices of ham, folding them if need be to fit the size of the bread. Now sprinkle the rest of the Gruyère on top of the ham, season with salt and pepper, then press the other slice of bread on top of that and press it down firmly. Now brush the top side of the sandwich with some of the melted butter, sprinkle it with half the Parmesan and press it into the bread. Transfer the sandwich to a baking sheet and grill it in the oven for about 2 minutes, 2 inches from the heat, making sure to keep a close eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. When it’s golden brown, turn it over, brush the other side with melted butter, sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan all over and grill for another 2 minutes. Remove it from the grill, cut it into halves or quarters and eat it while it’s still warm and crunchy.

Desserts, Poultry, Rice

Homemade Parmesan Chicken Fingers and Rice Pudding

It was bound to happen sometime — we had our first trip to the emergency room with one of the kids last weekend after my five-year-old daughter fell off the slide at home and fractured her collarbone. She spent the week propped up on the sofa watching DVDs, and after letting her eat ice cream for dinner on the day it happened, I spent the rest of the week making all her favorite foods — spaghetti Bolognese, roast chicken, risotto, banana bread — and these Parmesan chicken fingers and a rice pudding full of milk to help that bone heal.

Homemade Parmesan Chicken Goujons
adapted from Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home by Rachel Allen

Serves 4

In most pubs or restaurants with a kids menu you’ll see chicken goujons on the menu — it took me awhile after moving to Ireland to figure out it was a fancy way of describing what we call chicken strips or chicken fingers in the US. I served the goujons with ketchup for the kids and a quick lemon mayo for the grown-ups (made by mixing in some lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper), but a sweet chili sauce would also be good for dipping. When making breaded chicken, you might find that you’ll need some extra flour, eggs and/or breadcrumbs.

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup (120 g) flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup (100 g) breadcrumbs or panko
1/2 cup (50 g) finely grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons sunflower oil

Cut the chicken into strips the size of a big fingers. Place the flour in a bowl or a large shallow plate and add in some salt and pepper. Place the beaten eggs in another bowl/plate. Mix together the breadcrumbs and Parmesan in a third bowl/plate.

Toss each chicken strip first in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Dip into the beaten egg, letting the excess drip off, then roll in the breadcrumb mix until it’s evenly coated. Shake off the excess breadcrumbs and place the coated strips on a plate.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken strips in a single layer, making sure you don’t crowd the pan (cook the chicken in batches). Cook on one side for 3 or 4 minutes, until golden, then turn down the heat and flip the pieces over. Cook on the other side for a further 4 minutes, or until cooked through and golden. Place on a baking sheet and keep the finished strips warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining chicken.

***

Rice Pudding
adapted from How I Cook by Skye Gyngell

Serves 4 to 6

Skye Gyngell serves this rice pudding with stewed prunes. I made this dried fruit compote to spoon on top and the leftovers are equally as good on granola and porridge for breakfast.

1 1/2 cups (250 g) risotto rice, such as Arborio
4 cups (900 ml) whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
zest of 1 lemon
small pinch of salt
1 1/4 cup (150 g) sugar
3/4 cup (200 ml) cream

Rinse the rice well under cold running water, then tip it into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the milk, vanilla pod, lemon zest and salt and bring almost to a simmer over a medium heat. Now turn down the heat as low as possible and put the lid on, placing it slightly off center so it isn’t quite covering the pan. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is cooked but still retains a slight bite. When it’s al dente, stir in the sugar and cream and cook for a further 10 minutes. The pudding should be soft and creamy and should easily drop from a spoon. Allow to stand for 5 to 10 minutes and serve warm.

Miscellaneous, Poultry

The Barefoot Contessa’s Turkey Meatloaf with Caramelized Onion Gravy

When I was growing up, my mom would cook us whatever we wanted for dinner on our birthday. The only thing I remember asking for a few years in a row when I was a kid was pineapple ham. This was in the days before it became a derided pizza topping combo, and I’m sure I thought it was something fancy and special — at any rate, I loved it. Carrying on the tradition, I now cook special requests for my family on their birthdays too, and almost every year for the past 13 years that I’ve known him, my husband has requested an even more unglamorous dinner — meatloaf. Is there an uglier dish than meatloaf? Once or twice he’s gone more upmarket and asked for steak au poivre, but the humble meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy will always be his favorite. Kelly has already shared Mark Bittman’s basic meatloaf recipe, but I like this one because it’s made with turkey mince instead, which makes it a little lighter than meatloaf made with beef. It might not win any beauty pageants (which doesn’t stop Nigella Lawson from waxing poetic about it), but I have to admit it’s really good and the kids love it too, so everyone wins.


Turkey Meatloaf
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Serves 4

I’ve modified this a bit to decrease the amount of meatloaf made. I also prefer to cook it in a loaf tin instead of free forming it on a baking sheet. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes go together like bread and butter — just add your favorite veg dish to round out the supper.

olive oil
2 onions, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup (50 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup (125 ml) chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste (or you could just use ketchup)
2 lb (1 kg) ground turkey breast
1 to 1 1/2 cups (100 to 150 g) plain dry breadcrumbs
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (125 ml) ketchup

Preheat the oven to 325° F (160°C). Line a loaf tin with parchment paper or foil so that it hangs over the sides, which will make it easy to remove the meatloaf from the tin after it’s cooked.

Heat a splash of olive oil in a medium saute pan over a medium-low heat. Cook the onions with a generous amount of salt and pepper and the thyme for about 15 minutes, until translucent but not browned. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, 1 cup (100 g) bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Add in the extra 1/2 cup (50 g) of breadcrumbs if you think the mixture looks too wet (alternatively, if you think it looks too dry, add another splash of stock). Mix well and place into the lined loaf tin. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature is 160°F (70°C) and the meatloaf is cooked through. (A pan of hot water in the oven under the meatloaf will keep the top from cracking.) Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold in a sandwich.

***

Caramelized Onion Gravy
adapted from How to Cook: Book One by Delia Smith

Delia’s original recipe is for a roasted onion gravy, but since I was making this at the same time as the meatloaf, which needs a low temperature, I couldn’t roast the onions and decided to caramelize them instead. You can caramelize the onions ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.

2 teaspoons groundnut or other flavorless oil
a knob of butter (optional)
2 large onions, thinly sliced
a generous pinch of sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 level teaspoon mustard powder, such as Colman’s
15 fl oz (425 ml) vegetable stock
1 rounded tablespoon plain flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Coat the bottom of a wide pan with olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and butter (about 1 teaspoon per onion). Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and allow them to cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Sprinkle some salt over the onions and add a pinch of sugar to give the carmelization process a boost (optional). Cook for around 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Keep an eye on the temperature — you may need to lower it if the onions look like they’re on the verge of burning, not browning — and add a little more oil if they’re sticking to the pan too much. As the onions cook down, you may find you need to scrape the pan every minute instead of every few minutes. As the sugar in the onions caramelizes, they’ll go from light tan to golden to deep brown. Don’t cook past a mahogany color, because then they might burn.

When the onions are ready, add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard powder to the stock. Add the flour to the onions, stir them together and cook for 1 minute. Gradually add the stock mixture to the pan, whisking all the time, until it’s all incorporated. Bring it up to a simmer and let it gently bubble away for 5 minutes. Taste to check the seasoning, then pour into a warmed serving jug.

Beans, Desserts, Pork, Soups and stews

White Bean and Sausage Soup and Almond and Candied Bacon Bark

The first time I ever tried black pudding (a.k.a. blood pudding), I spit it out. I had only been living in Ireland for a few weeks and was at a fancy book launch for my new publishing job. One of the canapés being passed around was circles of pan-fried black pudding with a fancy relish on top, and not wanting to lose face in front of my new colleagues, not to mention my boyfriend, I was determined to try some. When in Rome, right? But I just couldn’t get over the fact that it was made from blood and I couldn’t even bring myself to chew it. Growing up in suburban Illinois, where an egg roll from the Chinese takeout was the most exotic thing I’d ever eaten, it was too much of a culture shock.

I was telling this story to my friend Caroline a few hours before we were due to go to the Clonakilty by Candlelight dinner last week. “Are you sure you want to go?” she asked, looking worried. “You know they’re bound to serve it there.” “Oh, I’m over it now,” I said. “I even ordered a black pudding and goat cheese tart at a restaurant last year.”

I was lucky to get a place at the free dinner on its second night, which was run as a pop-up restaurant by Clonakilty Blackpudding for only six nights. The location was kept secret until the day before, which turned out to be a Georgian house on Dublin’s north side. Caroline and I were the first to arrive (fellow food blogger Aoife was there that night as well) and we were handed a glass of Prosecco and directed towards the biggest turf fire I’ve ever seen, stacked eight briquettes deep at least. We also got a sneak peek of the room next door that we’d be eating in – along with 2,000 creepy china dolls crammed into floor-to-ceiling shelves that lined the room – and a look at the menu, which did indeed include a main course of black pudding with scallops and a carrot puree.

Because I’d won some Clonakilty black and white pudding, sausages and bacon by correctly answering the question “What is entomophagy the consumption of?” (insects), I made this white bean and sausage soup, an old cheap and cheerful stand-by. And feeling inspired by the chocolate-covered bacon, bacon praline and 12-year-old Jameson whiskey with a bacon and rosemary twist that we were served, I made this almond and candied bacon bark. This dessert seems to divide people firmly into two camps – people who have never heard of such a thing and think it sounds downright weird (they must have somehow missed the bacon mania boat), and people who think it sounds delicious and can’t wait to make it themselves. If you’re the former, then all I can say is don’t knock it till you’ve tried it – and then once you’ve tried it, try to stop yourself from eating all of it.

White Bean and Sausage Soup
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

Serves 6

I’ve adapted the Barefoot Contessa’s original recipe to add sausages, but I make it just as often without them for a vegetarian version.

1 lb (450 g) dried white cannellini beans
olive oil
6 to 8 good-quality sausages
3 large onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large branch fresh rosemary
2 quarts (2 liters) chicken or vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, cover the beans with water by at least 1 inch and leave them in the refrigerator for 6 hours or overnight. Drain.

In a large stockpot over a low to medium heat, heat some olive oil and cook the sausages for about 10 or 15 minutes, until they’re browned on all sides and cooked through. Remove the sausages to a plate and set aside. Add the onions to the pot and saute for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the drained white beans, rosemary, chicken stock, and bay leaf. Cover, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the beans are very soft. Remove the rosemary branch and the bay leaf. Pass the soup through the coarsest blade of a food mill or place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until coarsely pureed. Return the soup to the pot over a medium heat. Slice the sausages and add to the soup to reheat. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve hot.

***

Almond and Candied Bacon Bark
adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz says it’s best to make the candied bacon the same day you plan to use it. If you want to play around with flavors (though this almond and candied bacon combo is insanely addictive), check out this list of top 10 chocolate bark mix-ins from the Big Girls, Small Kitchen blog for some inspiration.

1 1/4 lb (565 g) good-quality chocolate, broken into pieces
1/2 cup (50 g) flaked almonds, toasted
5 pieces of bacon, pancetta or streaky rashers
3 tablespoons brown sugar
flaky sea salt, such as Maldon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and line a baking try with foil (shiny side down) or parchment paper. Place the strips of bacon on the tray and sprinkle each strip with about 2 teaspoons of brown sugar. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, turning the strips over halfway through baking and dragging them through the melted sugar on the tray. They’re done when they’re mahogany colored. Cool on a wire rack until crisp, then crumble or roughly chop. Set aside.

While the bacon cools, place a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray or stretch a piece of cling film taught across a baking tray instead. Add the chocolate to a large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir often until the chocolate is almost melted.

Remove the bowl from the heat, wipe off the bottom, then continue to stir the chocolate until it’s all melted and smooth. Mix in two-thirds of the toasted almonds and two-thirds of the bacon.

Scrape the mixture onto the prepared baking tray and use a spatula to spread it to the desired thickness. Add the remaining almonds and bacon to the top of the chocolate, pressing them in lightly so they’ll adhere. Sprinkle bits of salt, if using, across the top. Refrigerate the baking sheet until the chocolate sets. Once the bark is firm, break it into pieces. Store the bark in the fridge, where it will keep for 3 days.

Mexican food, Pork, Slow cooker

Slow Cooker Smoky Pork Tacos with Avocado and Feta

Feeling frazzled from the demands of two young children after a long month, I fired off an email to Kelly on Friday evening asking if I could hop on a plane and join her in Mexico, where she was spending the weekend for work. “I’m sitting on my balcony watching the waves crash on the beach, a little tipsy from my margarita. Wish you were here!” she wrote back. “I’m making a Rick Bayless recipe on Sunday, which is about as close as I’m likely to get to Mexico anytime soon,” I replied. As compromises go, at least it was a tasty one — I just wish I’d had the makings of a Rick Bayless margarita on hand too.

Slow Cooker Smoky Pork Tacos with Avocado and Feta
adapted from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless

Serves 8

Rick Bayless calls this Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos in his book and says you can vary the recipe by replacing the pork with 2 lb (1 kg) of boneless, skinless chicken thighs or cubed boneless beef chuck (stewing beef). I picked up a couple cans of chipotle chilies on my trip back to the US this summer and have been rationing them for the past 5 months, but if you can’t get them, you should still try this recipe, perhaps using 1 or 2 chopped red chilies or using more chorizo, though you won’t get the same smoky taste. You can also buy dried, crushed chipotles from Seasoned Pioneers in the UK. Or if you don’t like spicy food, you can just leave out chilies altogether.

4 medium (1 lb/450 g) boiling potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2‑inch cubes
1 onion, cut into 1/4‑inch slices
2 lb (1 kg) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1‑inch pieces
1 x 28 oz (or 2 x 400 g) cans of chopped tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted if you can get them)
3 or 4 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon chipotle canning sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 oz (100 g) chorizo, cut into small pieces (optional)
flour or corn toritllas, to serve
feta cheese, crumbled, to serve
2 large avocados, pitted and cubed, to serve
sour cream or natural yogurt, to serve
fresh cilantro, chopped, to serve

Spread the potatoes over the bottom of a slow cooker* and top with the sliced onions, then the pork. In a large bowl, mix the undrained tomatoes with the chillies, chipotle canning sauce, Worcestershire, oregano, garlic and salt. Pour the mixture evenly over the pork, onions and potatoes (don’t stir — keep everything in layers). Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours.

When you’re ready to eat, fry the optional chorizo in a skillet over a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Uncover the pork tinga and spoon off any fat that might have accumulated on top. Add in the chorizo, then stir everything together, breaking the pork into small pieces that are suitable for tacos. Serve with warm corn tortillas, feta cheese, avocados, sour cream or yogurt and a sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro to make soft tacos.

*Note: If you don’t have a slow cooker, lay the pork in a medium-large heavy pot, preferably a Dutch oven, and top with the potatoes and onions. Pour over the tomato mixture, cover with a lid and braise in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the pork is completely tender.

Fruit, Pork

Sausages Braised in Cider with Apples and Juniper

There’s been a lot of bad news about Ireland in the world media these past few months, but I’m determined to focus on the positives about my adopted country and there are plenty of them, including the vibrant food scene. One such Irish success story is L. Mulligan Grocer, a gastropub started by another food blogger, Seáneen of 9 Bean Row, in 2010 with her two partners. Open only since July, it’s already been named one of the top 100 restaurants in Dublin, got a great review in the Sunday Tribune and from Tom Doorley in the Daily Mail and has become the meeting place of choice for food bloggers in Dublin. Caroline and I didn’t have to think twice about where to have a dinner out to celebrate the launch of the Irish Food Bloggers Association — it was practically just assumed it would be Mulligan’s. At the IFBA launch dinner back in November, our menu — with a matching craft beer menu to complement each course — included potted crab with sourdough soldiers; bangers and mash with TJ Crowe’s free-range sausages with wholegrain mustard mash and O’Hara’s stout gravy; and toffee apple sundae with Cuinneog butterscotch, spiced apple, Kilbeggan cream and Murphy’s sea salt ice cream. In short, it’s the kind of place you wish was your local. Feeling inspired by the dinner at Mulligan’s and my orchard apple tour in October, I pulled out this recipe. Made with sausages from my local butcher, Irish cider and Irish apples, it was a perfect reminder of some of the things I love best about Ireland — good food made by good people.

Sausages Braised in Cider with Apples and Juniper
adapted from Delia’s How to Cook Book One by Delia Smith

Serves 4

Delia calls for Bramley and Cox’s apples, but if you can’t get those, use one each of any cooking apple and eating apple. And if you can’t find juniper berries, don’t worry about leaving them out, this is still worth making without them.

olive oil
8 to 10 large pork sausages, weighing about 1 lb (450 g)
2 onions, peeled and sliced into rings
8 oz (225 g) lean smoked bacon, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Bramley apple, cored and sliced into rings (unpeeled)
1 Cox’s apple, cored and sliced into rings (unpeeled)
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 cups (500 ml) dry cider (hard cider)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
a few springs of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed slightly in a pestle and mortar or with the back of a spoon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
mashed potatoes, to serve

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. As soon as it’s hot, fry the sausages until they are nicely browned on all sides, then transfer them to a plate and set aside. Add the onions and bacon to the frying pan and cook for about 10 minutes, until the onions have softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.

Meanwhile, place a casserole pot (a.k.a. Dutch oven) or large heavy-bottomed pot onto a medium heat. Add a splash of olive oil, and when it’s hot, add the apple rings and brown them on both sides, which will take 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sausages, followed by the bacon, onion and garlic, then sprinkle the flour in to soak up the juices, stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Next add the cider and cider vinegar a little at a time, stirring after each addition. Add the thyme, bay leaves and crushed juniper berries and season with salt and pepper, but not too much salt because of the bacon. Put the lid on and simmer very gently on the lowest possible heat for 1 hour. Serve with mashed potatoes.

30-minute meals, Desserts, Italian food, Pasta and noodles

Penne alla Vodka and Ice Cream with Blonde Mocha Sauce

Did you hear about the snowstorms in Europe that were wreaking havoc on people’s Christmas travel plans? Well, that was us. Our hearts sank as the snow built up at Dublin airport on December 23, which shut the runway while we watched the plows go back and forth for hours (meanwhile, tractors were plowing the snow around the gates — an Irish solution to an Irish problem?). To make a long story of snowstorms, mechanical failures and missed connections short, it took us three days, two hotels and four airports (Dublin, Philadelphia, Charlotte, NC and Tampa) to finally reach my mother’s house in Florida at 8:30 p.m. on Christmas Day. After that ordeal, a stiff drink was in order — plus some boozy food for good measure and an easy, espresso-infused ice cream sauce to perk up weary travelers.

Penne alla Vodka
adapted from Catherine’s Italian Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio

Serves 4

For a twist on this Roman dish, Catherine Fulvio suggests adding smoked salmon or cooked prawns at the last minute and heating through, while in Nigella Lawson’s version of this recipe, she suggests adding cubed bacon. For a stronger vodka hit, I like to use Nigella’s method of adding the vodka to the drained pasta along with a knob of butter, then adding the boozy pasta to the sauce. This method has the added advantage that if you’re serving children, you can set aside a plain portion of pasta for them before adding the vodka to the rest.

1 lb (450 g) penne
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 or 2 red chillies or 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) water
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) vodka
1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmesan
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in plenty of boiling salted water.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan that’s big enough to also hold the cooked pasta. Add the chillies and saute over a medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and the water. Simmer over a low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to prevent it from sticking to the pan and burning. If need be, add more water. Stir the cream into the chili and tomato mixture. Add the vodka and simmer for about 3 minutes more. (Alternatively, add the vodka to the drained pasta for a stronger sauce — see the note above.)

Drain the pasta and transfer to the pan with the sauce, then add the Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly, taste for seasoning and serve.

***

Blonde Mocha Sauce
adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

Serves 10

While I now prefer Catherine Fulvio’s vodka alla penne recipe to Nigella Lawson’s, this blonde mocha sauce is part of Nigella’s Supper alla Romana menu for easy entertaining from Feast (which is comprised of the pasta, this ricotta and pine nut salad and ice cream with this blonde mocha sauce). Nigella vows that even people who don’t like white chocolate like this sauce.

8 oz (225 g) white chocolate
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
ice cream, to serve

Break the chocolate into chunks and put into a heavy-based saucepan on the lowest heat possible with all the other ingredients. When the chocolate has melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk vigorously to thicken the sauce. Pour the blonde mocha sauce into a pitcher or glass measuring cup, cover the surface directly with a thin skin of plastic wrap and when cool, stick it into the fridge for 4 to 6 hours to allow it to thicken and firm up. When you’re ready to pour it over the ice cream, take it out of the fridge, give it a good stir and use it straight from the pitcher.