Bolognese recipe

ooh the aromas filling my kitchen and mu subsequent senses are tantalising to say the least! My bolognese has been on the stove no for, oh .... 40 mins or so. One of my favourite slow cook dishes, especially for large batches as it's just so versatile to use, spaghetti bolognese, shepards pie (well a beef version), stir in some dark chocolate (yes I said it!) and some kidney beans and serve with nachos or simply eaten with flat bread over a bottle of fully bodied red wine with friends :)

Everyone has their own version of this great classic and here's mine, in bulk version of course - it's a great dish to freeze and use later.

some ingredients;

2 big carrots (finely chopped)

2 large onions (finely chopped)

3 celery sticks (finely chopped)

2 bay leaves

a glass or 2 of red wine ;)

1.2kg mince beef

1.6kg chopped tomatoes (I prefer this to passata)

ooh and a nice big knob of butter

Now, in a big pot over a medium heat melt the butter

add the onion and let it soften, almost translucent

add the carrots and celery and stir over the heat for 3/4 mins

turn the heat up high!

break in the mince beef and seal it all over

In goes the tomato and your wine - give it a good stir and then some

in with the bay leaves

pinch of salt to enhance those

another big stir, lid on, reduce the heat to a low

the longer the better but a good 3 hrs will do ...... if you're anything like me you'll be nibbling away throughout so have some bread :)

Oh, don't forget to remove the bay leaves when you're done! :) 

Honey glazed duck breast recipe

Family celebrations are one of my favourite of occasions. Though my roots are across the Irish sea and therefore I miss many of them, mainly because I'm just not that strong of a swimmer, I'm lucky to have half my family hear with me in London and we more than make up for it here! Recently we celebrated my eldest brothers finest hour of leaving behind his thirties and entering into his glorious forties! :) What better way to note this special moment than to have a dinner party. The initial idea was to have a conventional dinner party at his house, where I was going to cook dinner with the strong assistance of my wonderful sister in law Maria, whom shares my love of food and cooking. This idea was quickly thrown from the hot pan into the fire when my youngest brother, with his adventure seeking nature, suggest we all cook separate dishes in the style of a cook off!! So a cook off it was, with each guest sampling 3 different starters and 3 different mains. Surprisingly enough it all went very smoothly in the kitchen that evening, with 3 chefs cooking 3 different meals, creating an array of beautiful dishes.


To start I served a salmon tartar in cucumber with rocket, as shown

and for main I served honey glazed duck breast, potato puree (it is an Irish family after all) and roasted plums on oat cakes - the flavours were just divine!! Now the following recipe was for 8 guests however because of the cook off, each dish was a small portion so this is more accurate for 4 guests.


You'll need;
for the duck
3 Gressingham duck breasts - roughly 240g each
2 Tbs honey
200ml port wine
50ml beef stock
for the potato puree
3 large potatoes, peeled and halved
knob of butter
milk
for the plums
8 plums
1 tsp sugar
pinch of cinnamon
for the oat cakes
100g oats
100g plain flour
130g sugar
140g butter (softened)
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon


Prep'
Start with the potatoes, putting them in a large pot of lightly salted water, bring to the boil and simmer


Now, turn to the duck. Place a frying pan on a low heat. 
Season the duck breasts with salt then place skin-side down in the dry pan. 
Allow the fat to slowly render off, tipping off the excess a couple of times. 
Cook until the skin has browned and the majority of the fat has rendered off (this should take around 15 minutes).

Pour off the fat, then add the honey to the pan with the duck and allow to brown. 
Turn the breasts on to the flesh side for around four minutes then remove and set aside to rest.

For the oat cakes - preheat oven to 160C

Mix all the ingredients together so they are fully incorporated.

Spread mixture out on a parchment lined baking tray, it should be biscuit thin.

At the same time prepare your plums by halving them, removing the stones and on a baking tray sprinkling them with some sugar.

Bake the oat cakes on the middle shelf and the plums on the lower shelf in the oven for 15 mins.

Bring the duck back over a low heat
Add the port wine and slowly cook until port is reduced
Add the beef stock and again reduce it to really concentrate the flavour
I like to thicken my sauce by adding a good knob of butter


Now everything should come together.
Remove the biscuit and plums from the oven, cutting the biscuit into squares whilst still hot.
Drain and mash the potatoes, when you think you've mashed them enough, mash them some more - add a knob of butter and mash that in - only after all this can you add a dash of milk and mash it through. Never add the milk to your potatoes before you add the butter when mashing - It's a serious Ciaran's Kitchen sin!! :D


Then we assemble the dish and are ready to serve, et voila!!

Lamb Ragout recipe

The rain starts to fall, a drop at a time but before long it's bucketing down as if gods sink had blocked and in a desperate attempt not to flood the heavens he's got every saint and sinner chucking buckets of water on to earth - so I cook and let him get on with it.

Lamb is, it has to be said one of my favourite meats. I wasn't too keep on it as a child but I can still remember where and when I feel in love with it. For those who know me and have dined with me know I love small, quirky, independent restaurants, especially French ones. It was in one such restaurant on Berwick street in London where the love affair began and in no better format than that of a shank. Lamb is at it's best around early summer, after giving them time to graze (at their on pace), allowing their meat to develop flavour. So when it's "out of season" slow cooking is my preferred method as it really draws out the full flavour. My executive decision of the day, there has to be one in every day, was to have lamb on the menu. This is a great winter warmer, simply yet full of flavour and mmmm oh so moreish!!

You need;
1kg lamb shoulder
4 medium onions
small glass of white wine - keep the rest for dinner ;)
4 garlic gloves
2 large tomatoes
400g white beans (or similar)
1pt water
bouquet garni - I like to use it fresh from my herb garden but I also have the bought version in my cupboard for the winter months when my herb garden has wilted - which I used today
olive oil

Prep
Tim the lamb of excess fat and cut meat up into chunks
Slice up the onions
Chop the garlic cloves
Peel, seeded and chop the tomatoes - if you want to know the best way to do this check out instructions on my post "homemade pasta with sausage and chili tomato sauce"

Heat 2 Tsp of oil in a large pot then add the chunks of lamb and brown all over
Remove lamb for pot, reduce heat and throw in the sliced onions
cook onions until they are soft, stirring regularly - 10 mins or so
Add the wine and water (sounds like something from the bible)
Add the chunks of lamb again, with the bone - this helps give a great flavour and it's also a special treat for my dog :)
Add the garlic, bouquet garni and tomatoes and season with salt and pepper
Sit back with a glass of wine and let it simmer for an hr or so.
Then add the beans and again leave to simmer for another hr or so.
Remove the bouquet garni and your ready to serve.

This is great with rice or mashed potatoes but equally as good on it's own

Why January is not the month for dieting and extreme detoxing

After weeks of celebrations - work do's full of over indulgent nights of festive meals and copious alcohol - time with friends, utilising the season of goodwill to celebrate what we should all year round, with shopping, shots, suppers and for those who are inclined or profusely drunk, singing galore, and this is all before we get to sit down with family for what includes 3 days of none stop drinking, eating and for most fighting. Then with the week build up to new years we continue the indulgence in part because the country seems to come to a halt with the exception of the same heart-beat increasing activity of exercise; January sale shopping!!!Then comes the ultimate in celebrations, the end of one and the beginning of a new year. A night that is celebrated to the max - though whether this is for a fantastic year just gone, a year best left behind or the beginning of something new, a new beginning, a new start, a once in a year chance to start to follow our dreams and live a happier existence - is purely dependant on the individual. No matter what the reasons, the celebrations are just as extravagant and indulgent.

Though, in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day has been and gone - 21st December, which in 2010, due to the lunar eclipse, was the shortest day in nearly 400 years - spring is far from here. The cold wintry days of northerly winds and icy rain will undoubtedly continue through January and into February. With no "reason" to celebrate, the self induced pressure to change for the new year and the continued darkness in the days it is now that we need to love our bodies more than ever. Tiredness, lack of motivation, extra weight and forms of depression or SAD are all too common. Starving our bodies or putting them through extreme changes in diet is a recipe for disaster. January is a month of re balance and nourishment, both for our bodies, which have gone through weeks of debauchery, and our minds, which with the continued lack of sun light, rolling bills, vast drop in celebrations, increase in VAT, etc, need essential nutrients to cope. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming the cure for depression or financial pressures, I'm just sharing, from personal experience, how food plays an important role in helping us cope through.
February, for all those who wish, with the longer days and warming sunny mornings, is a better and albeit more likely to succeed time to alter your diet.
So for now, let's re balance our bodies and fuel our minds with some good wholesome food recipes for January

On Sunday I roasted a chicken for dinner, stuffed with chunks of onions and whole garlic gloves and plugged with an apple which was accompanied with mango rice - I was a bit over the veg after the Christmas feasting and there was a mango sitting in my fruit bowl staring at me for days, wondering if I was ever going to take any notice of her. Well I did and she married very well with the rice :)

As if by magic, Monday morning I wake with the sniffles!! I had watch over the previous month as everyone close to me fell foul to one bug or another, sympathising with their pain but not daring to empathise for fear of tempting faith! Alas, it had caught me but really at no better time, as the chicken carcase was still fresh and on the verge of chucking to be made into a wholesome heart chicken soup. As much as I love home made chicken soup and swear by it's miraculous powers of well being I was wanting for something different. Without a further thought out came some pine nuts, which I began to roast in my big boiling pot, as they were I quickly chopped up some onions in large chunks and just as the nuts began to golden and their sweet nutty aroma filled the room in went the onions on top, where I allowed them to soften, almost caramelise, a little bit of water added to deglaze the pot and lock in those flavours and them the chicken carcase which was then covered with water and seasoned, lowering the heat I left it to simmer away for a few hours. After a few hours, with the carcase fallen apart I began the rather boring task of "de-carcassing" the broth. So with my delicious chicken soup base which I brought back to a simmer I added what was left of some frozen veg (which I always have in the freezer in case I ever get snowed in) and noddles which I had a the back of my cupboard - even I get surprise at what I find back there sometimes!! 5 minutes later I was serving up the final dish, with it's subtle nutty flavour it  was divine, totally wholesome and ultimately body loving - Perfect January food!!