Chocolate sauce - simple

 You have ice-cream in the freezer, (because there's always ice-cream in a freezer) and there it is for a simple weekday dessert. But it's very plain.

And you haven't got a chocolate sauce at the ready. And no actual chocolate?
Fear not, this recipe is rich, dark, sweet, chocolatey, and only takes a couple of minutes to knock up from store-cupboard ingredients!

Read on for luscious happiness...

You'll need a measuring scoop of some sort, and a sieve, ideally.

Ingredients for 4 servings

milk 30ml (2 tablespoons)

butter 30ml (about 1 oz or 28 g)

icing sugar 60 ml

cocoa powder 60 ml

vanilla. half teaspoon

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder together onto a sheet of paper or a plate, etc

Melt the butter and milk together in a small saucepan over a low heat. When butter is melted, add the cocoa/icing sugar mixture, and the vanilla. Turn up heat a little, stir and cook for a minute or so to take the "raw" taste away from that cocoa powder. Taste a tiny dot to make sure.

It is now ready to use. Pour over ice cream or anything else. Eat any that's left - you made it, so enjoy it!

You can use block margarine instead of butter, but not anything too watery or "light".

Enjoy!

Raspberry Buns

 Raspberry Buns

Now here's a little blast from the past, and the first real nod in this whole blog to my Donegal grandmother.

Old-fashioned raspberry buns, made from simple store-cupboard ingredients; quick, tasty, and quite thrifty too: you don't need very much sugar or butter, or even much jam!

But you should use the very best raspberry jam that you can find. (Apply the tastebud test 😜 )

 

Ingredients:

 6 oz plain flour

pinch salt

2 oz butter (or block margarine)

2 oz caster sugar, (or ordinary granulated sugar.)

1 teasp baking powder

1 large egg 

3 Tablespoons milk.

Some good raspberry jam, and some extra table sugar for the tops,

Method:

Turn oven on to 200C and put 12 paper bun cases out on a bun tin or oven tray.

Sift together 6 oz of plain white flour and a pinch of salt.

Rub into this 2 oz of butter (or block margarine.)

Sift into this, 2oz of caster sugar with a teaspoon of baking powder.

Mix together in a cup, one large egg and three tablespoons of milk.

Gently but thoroughly mix in the liquid to form a soft dough: slacker than scone dough, but still malleable. (You might need a little more milk, but do not make it too wet) Keep back a wee drop of the liquid for finishing.

Turn dough out on to a floured surface and gently knead to form into a thick roll. Cut this into ten or twelve even sized pieces.

Roll lightly between your palms and drop each ball into a paper case.

Use the handle of a wooden spoon (dipped in flour) to poke a deep and fairly wide hole into the top of each bun.

Fill this with about one teaspoon of best raspberry jam. Not more, or it spills all over the place when cooking.

Pinch the edges together with your floury fingers to almost hide the jam - a rough, "rocky" appearance is typical, and correct. Brush each bun with the last bit of the egg wash or a little milk, and sprinkle a good pinch of sugar onto each.

This gives the typical crunchy top.

Pop into the oven for about 13 minutes.

When done, the dough is golden brown and there is usually a little bit of the jam appearing through the cracks.

You can eat them hot or cold; enjoy!

Christmas mincemeat

Christmas mincemeat

 

(Quantities are necessarily imprecise - adjust as needed, for a spoonable consistency)

In a large bowl or saucepan, mix together in the order named:

2 lbs of mixed vine fruits - raisins, currants and sultanas, in any ratio that pleases you

 -- Chop some of these to a smaller texture which also releases some juice

  -- NB Currants do add a more "winey" flavour

1small apple chopped into small cubes

grated rind of an orange and ditto of a lemon (wash them first)

2 Tablespoons of dark marmalade 

A teaspoon of  ground cinnamon plus any other spices that you like - allspice, cloves etc

2 tablespoons of whiskey 

3 ounces of lard, melted over low heat in a small pot, stir in when liquid

The melted lard should be stirred well in; if the mixture is dry, add some juice from the orange and the lemon that were grated.

Stir very thoroughly together and taste carefully; it may need a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper, a little brown sugar etc but the effect should be rich and aromatic.

Keep covered in the fridge until needed.

Superlative when made into mince-pies with flaky pastry.

Turkey Tetrazzini

Coping with leftover turkey...

an annual challenge:

Over the years of cooking for a large family I've collected a small number of good recipes for using up that festive bird.

The best follow:

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Turkey Tetrazzini

You’ll need these ingredients...quantities given at the end of recipe

Cooked turkey meat, cubed or chopped to spoon-size pieces

Some of the gravy, if possible: otherwise, stock or soup, etc.

Mushrooms

cream

sherry

spaghetti

butter for frying mushrooms and for making sauce.//also a little flour

Method:

Boil the spaghetti or macaroni until just tender: Drain:

Meanwhile in another pan, saute the mushrooms (whole if small, halved or quartered etc as needed) in butter until brown.

Place the pasta in a large casserole and mix the mushrooms into it. (Turn on your oven to 180C)

Now make a cream sauce:

melt butter, stir in flour, add half a pint or more of good turkey broth (or a substitute: soup, or stock from a cube, etc: but the real thing is best)

Stir and heat until smooth and savoury.

Add to this a cup of cream and a dash of sherry.

Pour HALF of the sauce over the pasta/mushroom mix in the casserole, stir to blend.

Mix REST of the sauce with leftover cubed turkey meat. (Put the meat into the sauce, is easiest)

Make a hollow on top of pasta mix and pour the turkey mix onto this. Level off with spoon.

Sprinkle Parmesan thickly on top: Bake - uncovered - for 15 or 20 mins at around 180C

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Footnotes

Since this is a “leftovers” dish, quantities are necessarily approximate:

However the following is a very rough guide:

To feed 8 people

500 g pasta

150 g mushrooms

sauce - 2 tablesp butter, 2 tablesp flour, 400 ml of turkey gravy or stock. [APPROX]

salt, pepper, 200 ml cream, 1 or 2 tablespoons sherry. (dark sherry is best)

500 ml cut-up turkey meat

100 ml grated Parmesan

Postscript: don’t cheat and leave out the sherry - it may sound strange but it's totally worth it. White wine may be used instead.

Colcannon

Colcannon

Seasonal food for Hallowe'en (or Patrick's Day).

Of course you can make Colcannon at any time of year. But it is hallowed by tradition to this night of all nights.
It is really a very simple dish: a mixture of mashed potato and cooked shredded greens, flavoured with onion and served with melted butter.  Sounds too plain to be interesting? Follow these instructions for a really delicious Irish experience.

Tastebud testing: kale or cabbage?
Undoubtedly the most authentic and traditional ingredient is Curly Kale. But it can be tough and coarse and bitter, taking a long time to cook. Conversely, it can also sometimes be very light and collapse completely like spinach.
For these reasons, tender green cabbage is frequently chosen, .

How much to use? about two-thirds mashed potato to one-third cooked greens.
[I put out a survey question on Facebook to  establish public preference. Kale or cabbage? And in what proportion?]
The answers were well tilted in favour of the above, though the traditional kale has a loyal following still.

Here's how you do it:

Make Mashed Potatoes:
Peel and boil enough spuds for your family (plus a few guests, if you think the doorbell may ring) Allow about 2 potatoes per head.
Cover with plenty of cold water, bring to the boil, reduce heat a little and simmer briskly until tender. Drain immediately, and leave under a folded dry cloth with a saucepan lid on top, to dry off.
Meanwhile wash a head of cabbage; remove the large outer green leaves, wash them, remove the midrib with a knife, and shred.
The remaining "head" may be just quartered and chopped.
Boil it all until just barely tender, don't use too much water and don't cook until soggy. Drain very well.
And meanwhile, heat half a pint of milk in a saucepan.
Finely chop half an onion and add to the milk while it heats. Also add salt and pepper, maybe a very little nutmeg.

When the milk is hot, just below boiling, mash the potatoes adding the milk to achieve a tender but firm mash (not wet!)
Mix in the chopped cooked cabbage in about the proportion of 1/3 cabbage to 2/3rds mashed potato.
Combine carefully and thoroughly, than taste for seasoning.
It should taste savoury and look pleasantly speckled with green; if the cabbage was very pale, you may like to add chopped scallions or chives, at this stage, to get the correct appearance.

Traditionally, some people add charms, the kind of little tokens that are also hidden by some in the brack or in Christmas puddings; eg, a ring for marriage, etc.
In my family the only tradition is for a coin; if you get the coin in your portion, you'll win money during the coming year.

Pile the Colcannon in a dish and smooth the top with a fork: make a hollow on top and in this place a generous chunk of butter (good salty Irish butter is a must, of course)

The butter will melt into a golden pool, and each person should get some of this in their serving.
Almost always served with boiled bacon
Ah, good times!

NOTES
Often eaten on St Patrick's Day, too.
The hot milk can be further enriched by adding cream, and the classic onion seasoning can be enriched by adding garlic (mash thoroughly), or leeks (probably the original form of the recipe)

Vegetable Soup

Vegetable Soup

Deceptively plain-sounding, this is a very good method for soup.

I'm indebted to Staunton Nutrition for the excellent  soup recipe, as well as sage advice on many other topics.

https://www.facebook.com/stauntonnutrition/

You start, as so often, with a large pot and a glug of olive oil, and a chopped onion.

You also need...

A variety of vegetables: use whatever you have in the kitchen but be attentive to the balance of flavours; not too sweet or too peppery - though of course it is a matter of your own taste, too.
Some stock, or water,
A can of coconut milk - light or full-fat as you prefer -
Some flavourings and spices: salt, pepper, chilli flakes, turmeric and herbes de Provence are my own favourites.

Let us imagine that you have an onion or two, a few sticks of celery, a carrot, a sweet potato, a courgette, a few tomatoes, half a pepper and the last of the rather old mushrooms. This would be a typical end-of-week fridge in my house, and about the right quantity for this recipe.
I might also add a potato and some garlic.

Proceed as follows:

Peel any veg that need peeling and wash any that don't.

Heat a dollop of good oil in your large pot. Say 2 or 3 tablespoons.

Chop the onion and commence to fry it, not too fast.
Meanwhile cut up the other vegetables into rough chunks, slices or cubes: add them to the pot, stir it so they don't scorch.

Add the hardest ones first, and the softest ones last. Stir from time to time until they begin to soften and smell good.

Then add a pint or two of the best stock you have, or water. Salt and pepper.
Bring up to the boil, reduce heat, and let simmer for twenty minutes or more until all the vegetables are cooked.

Take off the heat, and blend with a stick blender.

You can also put the soup into a traditional blender goblet and purée in batches, but this is much messier and creates more washing-up!

When the vegetables are reduced to a smooth creamy texture, add the can of coconut milk and the spices: taste as you go and season carefully to your own preference.

I often add a teaspoon of soy sauce, or Worcestershire sauce: a little lemon juice or a pinch of sugar to bring up the flavour: or butter, cream etc if you like those.

Reheat, stir and taste until it pleases you.

Cool and pot into tubs for fridge or freezer. Delicious!

NOTES
The use of sweet potato gives a very good texture and colour, and is recommended. 
For extra protein, you can add some cooked or tinned chickpeas, beans or lentils before the pureeing stage.
Tofu can be used and the fine texture blends very well.
I am advised by one reader who uses this recipe that adding too many sulphurous vegetables can cause the soup to smell and taste a bit strong; so, don't add too much of broccoli, cabbage or Brussels sprouts etc. A handful is probably enough, of this plant family,.

Home-made Yogurt

I've been doing this for at least twenty years in the same wide-mouthed Thermos flask.
I've had it so long that the plastic screw threads for the lid have all broken off. :-)
But you can make yogurt in an ordinary, narrow-necked flask too, it's just a bit more awkward to wash.
And failing Thermos flasks, I have often made yogurt in a thick pottery bowl with a plate or saucepan lid as cover.

Anyway, on to the method: this is for one litre (my flask holds a litre, as do many containers, so it is a handy size.)

Heat a litre of milk in a saucepan until it is just below boiling point.

"Nearly-boiling"  - the surface gets bubbles and shakes or shivers as if threatening to rise, but it does not.

This is easily the trickiest bit: over the years I have scorched pans and boiled over milk.
A large pan with a fairly heavy base works best: I usually rinse it out with cold water first - some kind of magic, LOL
I also use one of those milk-boiler disks - I don't even know why but the milk has not burnt or boiled over on me for years so something is working!

Of course, you can nearly-boil the milk in a bowl in the microwave too.

And if you dread the thought of the nearly-boiling, you can buy UHT milk which has been already scalded. Warm slightly, then use as is.

Back to the saucepan; watch it until at the nearly-boiling point, count to thirty as it shivers, and take off the heat.
Cool for about 45 mins until lukewarm.
How lukewarm is lukewarm? About 40C, if you care to test, or 100F, or less than this: not more.
You can test with a thermometer, if you have one - even a clinical thermometer as used for sick children, will do.

but I usually just stick a clean finger in.
If the milk is too hot, it may kill the bacilli. That feels like, a tang of hotness. Hot enough to wash hands in = too hot.
If stone cold, the bacilli will be slow to work and may not breed very much.
Any lukewarm kind of tepidness is right. Soup that is far too cool to drink? (Recipes often say "blood heat" but I can't tell blood temperature by feel)

Add to this lukewarm milk 2 good tablespoons of Glenisk Low-fat yogurt. Natural, organic. Say 30 or 40 ml.

Many other kinds of yogurt will work as a "starter" but I'm naming one here, that is very reliable and that I am pretty sure will work every time.

Whisk the yogurt into the lukewarm milk.
Preheat your flask by swirling a little hot water round in it, (pour this away); pour in the yogurt/milk mixture. Cover closely. Wrap in a few layers of woolly blanket or similar - I use sleeves cut off old woolly jumpers.
Place in a not-too-cold spot and DO NOT MOVE IT FOR AT LEAST FIVE HOURS. (Or overnight)

When the time is up, uncover and test to see if it has set: shake the container slightly, it should be jellyish.
If there is a little watery liquid visible at the edges, you may carefully pour off this whey. You don't have to, but the yogurt is a little thicker if you do. Be careful not to spill the whole batch down the sink if you do this delicate operation #voiceofexperience

Pour into a bowl, and whisk or stir thoroughly: it may appear quite thin and runny, or grainy, but should amalgamate and get smooth.
Cover and place into fridge and chill thoroughly. It is inclined to thicken as it cools, but may not "set firmly" in the manner of commercial yogurt.

Enjoy!

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Footnotes:

Yogurt is made from tiny living creatures so of course it can be unpredictable.
I have made yogurt using quite acid-tasting starter but the yogurt came out tasting bland and custard-like. In fact this is one of the commonest results, and not one that pleases me much, though children may like it.
My own taste is for yogurt that is not very sharp or sour but still has a "tang" - one that can be pleasantly paired with a little honey or fresh fruit: or alternatively, used in savoury cooking such as Indian food or salads.
Experiment with different cultures as starters - sometimes the result comes out tasting quite different than the starter - I don't know why but there are always surprises.
If you have no flask, you can use a pudding bowl: a thick one that will hold the warmth is best. Cover it with a warm plate or lid, and wrap carefully in a few layers of insulation.
Many people put this in eg an airing cupboard or near the boiler, to be sure it stays just warm enough. This is fine, though it really is important to NOT MOVE IT during the setting time. Five hours or more undisturbed in a warm spot.
With a flask it stays warm inside anyway, so that doesn't matter so much - I leave mine on the kitchen counter with a note pinned to it giving the finishing time and the warning "Not to be moved before 7.30!"

I took a stack of photos to illustrate this but most are currently inaccessible. These are the things I use.

Will answer all questions.