2- Ingredient Chocolate Mousse

This recipe is inspired by All About Home Economics by Deirdre Madden, which has been my faithful companion since my first year in secondary school, so that would make it erm (counts on fingers)....25 years old...oh that's a shock....I need to sit down.... no wonder my copy is in tatters!
When my mother went to buy a copy of this text book, she couldn't buy it secondhand (yes we had hand-me-down school books, very pre-boom times). Everyone kept their copies, it was such a brilliant comprehensive text book packed with recipes, sewing basics, how iron a shirt, basic nutrition and everything in between. As it happens this text book has been reprinted in the last few years and is available to buy again, nothing like a little nostalgia and a good cause.

Chocolate and Vanilla Tart

As chocolate plays an intricate part of romance and being wooed in general I thought that this was the perfect dessert for a romantic meal for two. Last year I posted this recipe and a vegetarian meal of Butternut Squash and Feta Filo Parcels as the main course. I thought that I should spruce up the photography for this decilate and fingerlicking of dessert in order to it justice. I think that no romantic meal is complete without chocolate and this is my pièce de résistance for any meal..... a dark chocolate and vanilla pie served with soft whipped cream and a dusting of icing sugar....perfect!

Pumpkin Traybake with Cream Cheese Icing

I have a fascination with all things pumpkins and squashes in general, they are one of those ingredients that really surprise me, especially in baking, they are really, really tasty.

Growing My Own Vegetables

There is little in life more satisfying than growing your own food, a deep seeded need in me for some years now, however, this is the first year that I have successfully grown food. 

My father is a brilliant gardener, he can make the most forlorn looking raspberry bush burst forth with a bumper crop, it all seems effortless to him. I just assumed that the "green fingers" gene skipped me, instead I was the cook in the house, everyone has something, don't they? 

My first breakthrough came in the form of growing my (actually just keeping them alive) own herbs, I bought the ones you see in the supermarket, already potted and fully grown. Perfect for a cook, all I have to do is keep them alive. Now you'd think anyone could do that, isn't that what they are there for, nothing to do but water them. Well for the first few hundred (a slight exaggeration, but only slight) pots, I failed at even that. So much so that a snicker could be heard and murmurs of "another victim" when I would arrive home with another pot. So I was right, I'm not a gardener, I can cook but not grow. Until at last I was successful, my parsley lasted for months instead of days.

Lorraine Pascale's Oreo Brownies

These Brownies are sooo good!! Okay so I thought that some spoil me baking was required and sure why not have a Brownie Bonanza!! I tell you the hardship of food blogging knows no limits (cheeky!!)
My last post was the fudgy and perfect Donal Skehan Super Brownies, which are amazing. To be perfectly honest, these are both really good recipes to have in your repertoire, however I feel they are slightly different animals.
Donal's brownies are what I call an everyday recipe, *sigh* if only! Easy to make using mostly store cupboard ingredients, whereas Lorraine's recipe takes a bit more preparation, skill and effort. Totally worth it if you are out to impress, their (extremely) gooey texture will melt any heart.

Broccoli and Parmesan Soup

There is nothing nicer than a warm bowl of soup after school, it's warming and nourishing goodness just feels so good after a busy day of learning. Because broccoli is a good source of fibre and as a result takes longer to digest it will make concentrating on homework that bit easier too. This soup is quick to make and freezes perfectly so it is the ideal midweek snack.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1.5ltr Chicken stock
700g Fresh broccoli (about two medium heads)
1 Clove of garlic, peeled
Rind (or heel) of parmesan or grana padano cheese (or any hard cheese)
Seasoning

Method
Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a large saucepan.

Cut the broccoli into florets and roughly chop the stalk, everything will cook at the same time if the stalk is chopped smaller than the florets. Bash the garlic clove with the heel of your hand so that it breaks apart slightly. Gently tip all the broccoli, bashed garlic glove and the rind of the parmesan cheese into the boiling chicken stock, bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer with the lid partially on for 8-10 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Remove what is left of the parmesan rind from the soup and discard.

Liquidise the soup with a hand blender until smooth. Taste and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Reheat if needed and serve immediately.

Serve with some brown bread or with warmed ciabatta and perhaps a splash of cream.

Simple Blackcurrant Jam (My Parents' Recipe)

This was a whole family effort, children, parents and grandparents together picked these juicy blackcurrants. My children were thrilled when they found yet another fruit laden branch, of which there were many! We filled an old saucepan to the brim with the large purple blackcurrants, from there they were weighed, bagged and carefully nursed home. My father ran through the recipe quickly and with a final wave we left them to their own jam making. Their recipe only calls for 1kg of fruit at a time as they believe it impairs the flavour if the batches are too big.
I think that they could easily sell their jam at the local farmers market, what we took home was only a fraction of the fruit on the branches. Our back garden blackbirds are the best fed in the country!

With some of the remaining blackcurrants I made a Frangipane Tart, which I adapted from my Blueberry Frangipane Tart, I added 300g of the blackcurrants instead of the blueberries, it has a much sharper taste but it is perfect with some sweetened cream or creme fraiche.

Yield 4 x 454g Jars

Ingredients
1kg Fresh blackcurrants, washed and stalks removed
1kg Granulated sugar
125ml Water
Knob of butter

Method
Wash the blackcurrants in cold running water to remove any grit or grime.

Remove the stalks and any unripe (green) blackcurrants. Place the blackcurrants in a large saucepan, add the sugar, water and the butter (my fathers tip: the butter will stop the jam from bubbling up too much).

My mother's tip is that by placing the blackcurrants first in the pan it will prevent the sugar from burning into the bottom of the pan.

Bring the mixture slowly to the boil. Skim the scum from the top.

Allow the jam to come to a roiling boil for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Meanwhile place a saucer in the freezer and sterilise your jars. Keep the sterilised jars warm in the over at 110ºC/225ºF/ Gas Mark ¼ until needed, this will prevent the jars from cracking when pouring in the jam.

When the 20 minutes have elapsed, place a teaspoon of jam on the frozen saucer, leave on the counter for 1 minute, run your finger through the jam, if the skin wrinkles or the track left by your finger stays in place, your jam is ready. If not continue to boil for another 5-10 minutes test again.

Remove the jam for the heat, ladle into the warmed jars, seal and label.

Cherry Pie!

I remember the last really hot summer here in Ireland, it was in July of 2006. My abiding memory is sitting out on our decking early one morning eating our breakfast and watching the sun stream through the fencing. It was the start of what my mother calls an Indian Summer!! 

There is nothing like a good cliche to describe the weather here at the moment, I think it would be fair to say that the sun is splitting the rocks and that you could fry an egg on a stone (has anyone ever tried that here in Ireland?). 

I however, am not a creature who enjoys the sun, well that's not exactly true, I love the sun it just hates me! Instead of turning as brown as a nut (another favourite saying of my Mother) my fair Irish skin just sizzles...ouch! 

So, as a result I retreat indoors away from the midday heat and somewhat unwisely turn on the oven. So far this week I made a sumptuous Black Forest Gâteau and now continuing in that vein I decided this beautiful cherry pie would be my next worthy project. The recipe can be found on Zoom Yummy, a witty blogger who take some excellent photos, especially on how to create this lattice topping. Enjoy!

I did cheat and use 340g of shop bought pastry, but I did pick out the punnets (500g) of fresh cherries by myself!

 My daughter and I destoned the cherries by hand, a very satisfying job indeed.

A note on the original recipe, I recommend mixing the cornflour and sugar together before adding to the cooked cherries, this will save the cornflour going lumpy over the heat.

I left 2cms of pastry around the edge of the pie dish.

It's really important to let the filling cool before adding the lattice, my pastry disintegrated into the hot filling (I've no patients for stuff cooling!!) also, thicker and wider strips than I cut out would be easier to work with.

Zoom Yummy lattice tutorial is excellent, well worth pinning for again.

I folded the 2cm pastry over the tails of the lattice and pinched with my fingers and thumb.

Ready to go into the oven, I didn't brush my pie with an egg wash but I will the next time.

50 minutes later this beauty came out of the oven all bubbling and gooey. Allow to cool to room temperature before eating.

A tasty treat for a beautiful summer's evening.

Cool Ice Lollies

There is nothing nicer than a cool ice pop on a hot day, especially if you've made them yourself. There is no special skill or equipment needed to make these tasty treats. If you have the molds (that are no doubt languishing at the back of your cupboard!), then root them out and have a crack at these quick and easy ice lollies. 

I have become somewhat of a fan of frozen yogurt recently, because it is so easy to work with. Just add the flavour or fruit of your choice, pour into molds and then freeze. That's it! In fact the only tricky bit is the weather!!    

*Recipe adapted from Kirbie's Cravings

Makes 6-8 depending on your molds

Ingredients

250ml Fresh pomegranate juice (about 2 pomegranates)

250g Greek yogurt

60g Caster sugar

A few drops of red food coloring

Hungry for more?

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt 

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

Method

Squeeze the juice from the pomegranates through a sieve into a large bowl.

Add the greek yogurt and sugar and stir.

If necessary add the food coloring for a deeper shade of pink.

Pour the mixture into the molds and freeze for 3-4 hours or until firm. This frozen yogurt can be made with an ice-cream machine if you prefer, but the mix should be chilled overnight if possible beforehand to get the best results.

  

Modelling Clay (Rainy Day Projects)

Argh!!! It's raining. No need to panic, I have the perfect solution here, this will make for a peaceful afternoon and maybe even carry through until tomorrow *fingers crossed* for the final painting and decorating. Now if the sun is shining where you are then I suggest you bookmark the page for later use :)
Here in Cavan, however, it is a cold wet day so this is how were are spending the day....crafting. I am making pendants for a spot of macrame later and the children and busy making all sorts of beautiful models.

This clay is very nice to work with, it so soft and very easy to mould. It has a smooth brilliant white finish, delicate enough to be admired but robust enough that it can be enjoyed without fear of breakage. Now to be perfectly honest, this is better suited to smaller less complex pieces, we found that the bigger the finished piece was the slower it was to dry (if at all) and that noses etc fell off. So with that in mind you can steer your children in the right direction  and save tears later.

This clay doesn't have to be air dried, it will keep in an airtight container like play dough, but for how long I'm not sure. If you have very young children (that age where everything goes into their mouths!!), you might prefer my Playdough recipe, it keeps for months in an airtight container and requires no cooking (it will air dry but has a rougher texture). I still make copious amounts of it in this house :) Enjoy!!

Yield 860g

Recipe
500g Bicarbonate of soda
90g Cornflour (extra for dusting)
375g Cold water

Method
Place the ingredients in a medium sized saucepan, you could add food colouring at this stage.

Whisk together to remove any lumps, place over a medium heat and continue to stir.

Small bubbles will appear on the surface, the mixture will begin to thicken. Keep stirring otherwise the mix will stick to the bottom the saucepan. Eventually the mix will begin to come together (like mash potatoes)

This is the consistency you are looking for, soft but not sticky.

Tip into a bowl and cover with a damp tea towel, as the clay cools it will dry on the surface so be sure that the towel remains damp. Knead the clay until smooth, if it is still a bit sticky then sprinkle your work surface with cornflour until smooth (we didn't need any cornflour).

We had great fun making all sorts of creatures, the larger animals didn't dry completely and were prone to breakages, the simple projects worked best.

Lay your creations on a baking tray and bake at 110ºC/225ºF/Gas Mark ¼  for about an hour or until the pieces are dry. Alternatively you can air dry the pieces overnight, this is best for smaller pieces.

Now there were some casualties of the drying process, either by curious children or in some cases (especially the bigger pieces) large cracks developed. These cracks were fatal so the compost bin was their final resting place ;)

Those that did survive were carefully painted  and will soon be varnished. We painted the pieces with normal paint but if you want a shinier finish then Acrylic paint would work very well. The glitter glue was also out in force, it worked a treat.

Instruction on how to make the Owl are right here (4 Crazy Kids is a brilliant blog for craft ideas). 

If you are familiar with Jolly Phonics might recognise this snake!!

Some more ideas........

If your children (or us adults!!) want a more sophisticated look, these stamped pendants are very easy to make and air dry in no time. I think they are perfect for adding to Macrame jewellery, Christmas ornaments or threaded with a pretty piece of ribbon.