Goings On

Well what a weekend! It was fantastic. I got loads done, won two card competitions, won a prize in the raffle, met some great people and learned lots of new things.

I missed the girls a lot, but they were happy with Daddy. I've been letting the TV babysit a bit today as I am so anxious to finish all the projects I started! I've got the Wonderpets and Dora themes in my head, God help me! I suppose it could be worse... a few more years and we'll be following the Hannah Montana tour!

The husbands birthday was on Friday, so before I went and left him on his birthday I whipped up one of his favourite breakfasts - potato pancakes and bacon! This is such a simple and delicious way to use leftover pancakes. I assume everyone knows how to cook bacon (rashers)! ;-)

Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups leftover mashed potato
• 1 granny smith apple, grated
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 scallions, chopped
• butter and oil for frying

Mix the potato, apple, eggs, flour and scallions together in a bowl. You may need to season with salt and pepper depending on how seasoned your mash was.

Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Form the potato mixture into patties as big or small as you wish. Fry until golden brown on one side. Flip and repeat. They should have a bit of a crunch and a nice golden colour.

Serve with Creme Fraiche or sour cream. Delicious!

P.S. Am testing a new ad system, so if you notice funny keyword links within my posts, that's what it is! Thanks for bearing with me until I figure it out!

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Last of the Summer Food

Internet access is still sporadic, so forgive me if I haven't been by your blog as often as usual or haven't been online as much!

Well, as often happens in Ireland, the weather picks up in September. We've been blessed with some beautiful sunny days of late and I've made the most of it by cooking some lighter Summery foods.

On Tuesday my Grandma, her sister and brother-in-law and my parents stopped by for lunch. I had it on good authority that Nana loved coleslaw. I planned on picking some up at the store, but when I saw all the chemicals that €3.99 would buy me along with the cabbage I said forget it - I can probably make my own for about a Euro. So I did - and it was incredible. Now, ordinarily I am not a fan of coleslaw at all, but I have to admit - this was good. I for one, will never buy the stuff again.

Ingredients:

1 head Savoy Cabbage*

3 carrots, shredded

3-4 scallions, diced

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup white wine vinegar / white balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

salt and pepper to season

* You can use regular white cabbage too, I just think Savoy has more flavour and texture

Core and slice the cabbage into thin strips. Mix in shredded carrot and scallions. In separate bowl, whisk together mayo, vinegar and sugar. Season to your taste and mix into the vegetable mixture.

Allow to sit chill for a few hours or overnight. Easy right?

Next up is classic "oh crap I have nothing for dinner food!"

Chicken, Tomato, and Mozzarella Penne

1 ball mozzarella, cubed

3-4 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

8oz penne

3-4 basil leaves

1 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to season

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add some salt and the penne.

Cube your mozzarella and pop it into the freezer. This prevents it from getting gooey when added to the pasta.

Make a chiffonade from the basil leaves.

When the pasta is ready, drain it, reserving a few tablespoons of the water.

Add the butter, water and other ingredients back into the pasta pot and toss. Serve immediately.

How easy is that? The butter and pasta water make a light sauce and the flavours are simple, but tasty. Enjoy! I'll be submitting this idea to Ruth for Presto Pasta Night.

I am off for a Scrapbooking weekend again! Do I have the best husband ever or what? See you Monday! My brother is also gone to American with our Samsonite luggage in tow - hopefully it will be filled with good stuff like Kool-Aid, Ziplocs and Halloween Costumes on his return!

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Homemade Mushroom Ravioli

I've blogged before about the joys of making your own pasta.  It is time consuming, but it's something the whole family can enjoy and get in on.  My three year old gets so excited when she sees the machine come out and is actually able to crank the handle with a little guidance.  Don't go spending a fortune on a pasta machine either! I got mine at Aldi for €9.99 and it works just as well as the $100 one I had from Williams Sonoma when we lived in the states!

The pasta recipe itself is very simple.  100g of '00 or pasta flour to every large room-temperature free-range egg, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

 

Just make a mountain of flour.  I have 400g here.  I put it on a glass board, which has a damp tea towel under it so it won't slip.

 

 

Whisk your eggs, olive oil and salt together.

Make a well in the center and slowly pour in the egg mixture.  You can also crack each individual egg into the flour if you prefer, but if you get a bad one, you'll have to start over!

Work it carefully into the flour until it's all incorporated and then start to knead

Knead for about ten minutes until the dough is very smooth.  

Pat into a flat disc and refrigerate for about fifteen minutes.  Then it's time for your pasta machine.   There is a good tutorial here.

 

For the mushroom filling the recipe is as follows:

• 25g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in boiling water (optional)
• 1 packet chestnut / cremini mushrooms
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 shallots finely diced
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2-3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and chopped
• 2 tbsp white wine
• 2 tbsp mascarpone
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• Salt and Black Pepper

Chop soaked porcini mushrooms very finely, if using.  Chop cremini mushrooms into small dice as well. 

Saute shallots in the butter until translucent.  Add in mushrooms.  Cook for a minute or two then add wine.  Allow to reduce for another minute then add in cream and thyme.  Cook for another minute or two until reduced so that the mixture is thick. 

Remove from heat and stir in mascarpone and parmesan.  Season to taste.  Allow to cool before filling pasta.

Fill the ravioli by laying a scant teaspoon on the pasta sheets and covering them with another sheet.  Use egg wash to seal and cut using a ravioli cutter. 

Allow the ravioli to rest/dry for about half an hour.  Turn them over and allow them to rest for another fifteen minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Boil the ravioli for 1-2 minutes or until al dente. 

Serve drizzled with some truffle oil and fresh shavings or gratings of parmesan.

You could make a veloute sauce, but the filling is quite rich, so I opted to stay simple.  The truffle oil really enhances the mushroom flavour and the parmesan brings out the earthiness of them.  The husband and I couldn't get enough of these! ;-)

Note that the ravioli recipe only uses about half of the pasta dough.  I made spaghetti with the rest!

I will be submitting this to Ruth for Presto Pasta tomorrow!

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More Family Secrets

I'm back, albeit sporadically, and we are moved in! We are settling in to our fabulous new house and love it!!! The best part was that the landlord wasn't able to get any plasma tv lifts so they left us the biggest TV I've ever seen! Henry VIII looks good enough on regular TV, can't wait to watch the Tudors this big!!! Internet is a bit iffy right now, but I'll be around. Apologies for being so behind in both posting and reading all my other blogs. Hope to be back up to scratch by early next week! Thank you for all the lovely birthday wishes!

I gave up one of my husband's family recipes a few weeks ago, but today it's time for one of mine! This is a variation of a recipe my Mom makes from time to time. It's an ideal replacement for the traditional Sunday Roast and is also great to serve for guests.

I apologize for the picture, I had about two seconds to take it and the results prove it. You'll have to trust me that this is a wonderful hearty dish that all the family will love!

Mom makes this with her normal stuffing, which is divine, but I like to add the apple as I think it goes really well with the pork and bacon. Mom also thinks pork needs to be cooked to grey, which is not the case at all. Sure, it shouldn't be blood pink, but a very little pink in the middle is the perfect temperature. This is a very forgiving dish though, as if it is overcooked, the moisture from the stuffing keeps the pork moist.

If you're in a time crunch, you could use boxed stuffing, but at least try and doctor it up a bit with some apple and fresh herbs! I did this once, and although not nearly as tasty, it turned out ok. Right Diane? ;-)

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin in Pastry

Ingredients:

• 2 long pork tenderloins, butterflied
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• a granny smith apple, finely chopped
• 1 large bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 10 sprigs of thyme, leaves chopped
• 1/2 cup mashed potato
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup sausage meat (optional)
• 1 chicken bouillon cube, dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water (if not using meat)
• 3 cups white breadcrumbs
• Black Pepper
• 1 packet streaky bacon or prosciutto
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F

First prepare the stuffing.

Chop parsley and thyme and add to the bread crumbs. Chop onion and apple and add in. Mix in the mashed potato, first egg and sausage meat, if using. If not using meat, add the bouillon cube dissolved in water to add some flavour. It should all bind together, but not be sticky. If you need to, add some more breadcrumbs. Season liberally with black pepper.

Lay out the first pork tenderloin. If your butcher hasn't butterflied it for you, go ahead and do that. Just make a couple of slits all along the meat in order for it to flatten out. Layer the stuffing on top. Butterfly the other tenderloin and place on top.

Wrap the meat with the prosciutto or bacon and tie up. Use some twine and tie in maybe 6-7 different places along the meat. This ensures a nice tight package and that the stuffing remains in place. I did not tie the meat in this picture and as a result it was messy when slicing and was hard to wrap in the pastry. I couldn't find the twine in the chaos of moving, but I would not recommend you do the same! ;-)

Put in an oven-proof dish and bake for 40 minutes.

Just before the time is up, roll out the pastry. You want a rectangle, that will allow you to cover the meat entirely. You can save any scraps for decoration.

Remove meat from the oven and remove twine. It should hold together well after the initial cooking.

Cover in the pastry and seal the edges with your egg wash. Decorate as you wish with any scraps and brush all over with egg wash.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. This cooking time usually allows for the pork to be cooked perfectly, just very slightly pink towards the middle.

Serve sliced with mashed or roast potatoes and whatever vegetables you prefer.

If you have a big crowd, you can make more stuffing and add a third tenderloin so you have a triple decker! Just remember to adjust the cooking time on the initial bake so that your middle piece of pork is cooked properly.

Sounds weird, but this makes a great sandwich the next day and is also yummy cold!

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