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!!