Recipes of the Year & Menu Planning Monday

*Scroll down for Menu Plan Monday*

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful and peaceful Christmas. We certainly enjoyed ourselves, as did the children. The house looks as if Santa threw up in it - toys everywhere - but I suppose it could be worse! Dinner was a bit of a let down I have to say, but it would appear I'm the only one who thought that way.

I thought a fun way to lead into the new Year would be to go over my top favourite recipes of 2007! Having this blog has made me try lots of new recipes and experiments, some successes, others dismal failures such as my cr-apple pie I made last night! ;-) So here are some of my favourites!

10. Ruth's Easy As Pie Banana Bread - This is an amazing Banana Bread recipe. With only two tablespoons of butter and no eggs, it's quite low in fat and relies on nothing but the bananas for flavour and moistness. It's so easy for the kids to make too as all they have to do is mash away. A definite favourite in this house and beyond, as they make great gifts too!

9. Lemon Meringue Tart - A delightfully tasty lemon meringue tart - it's soft and dainty and would be a perfect addition to any brunch or romantic meal. It took a little work to make the lemon curd and pastry from scratch, but well worth it!

8. Brazilian Black Beans and Rice - A tasty and frugal meal, this brought back childhood memories to me. Easy to make and even easier to eat!

7. Five Spice Duck and Bacon Fried Rice - I made this again a couple of weeks ago and remembered how much we loved it. It's really simple to make and ends up being quite the dramatic meal for minimum effort. Very tasty and unique!

6. Barbara's Baked Ziti - This is truly a classic. I have made it many times since, and three times for company - it never fails to impress. This is now officially one of the husband's favourite meals of all time. How I wish Italian sausage was more readily available here!

5. White Wine Chicken Pomodoro - This is a delightfully fresh meal that is wonderful for families or a romantic dinner for two. I've made this a few times since and we are always impressed!

4. Ella's Meatballs with "Garlicky" Rice - Although not authentic Italian meatballs in any way shape or form, these have got to be one of the best meatballs out there. I get more traffic to this page and more emails about this recipe than any other. Kids love it, adults love it, it's cost effective - everybody wins.

3. Sicilian Bonata - This pizza bread type delight is amazing. As you slice it you see coils of gooey mozzarella interspersed with roasted red peppers, prosciutto and whatever other delights you enclose in it! A delicious meal hot or cold and perfect for picnics.

2. Creamy Bacon and Thyme Chicken - This recipe is simply divine. Rich, creamy and elegant, no one will ever know how simple it was to prepare! Whilst usually reserved for an adult dinner in this house, the kids mop it up as well.

1. Potato Borek - I just discovered this recently and I have to say it is my favourite recipe of 2007. It's just such a unique and different recipe that it's got me hooked! Again, it is quite a frugal recipe, but full of goodness and varied flavours! A real winner!

So what do you think? Would you agree? What are your favourite recipes of 2007? Discuss!

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Menu Planning Monday

One of my big New Years resolutions is to plan a weekly menu religiously. The amount of money I save when I do this is incredible and I for one am sick of being broke. I am going to focus on cooking more sensibly, making the most out of my ingredients and working with leftovers. I have designed an Excel template to use for this purpose. It has spaces for all three meals, as well as a spot for baking and reminders for things that need to be prepared the night before or in the morning. I also have a check box in front of each meal, which I will check if my husband will be with us for the meal. He works irregular hours, so this helps me decide what to cook. If he's not there I will make something that will reheat well later on when he gets home. To see this week's menu in the template, click here. Feel free to edit and use!

Here is this week's menu. Am doing something a little special for New Years Ever. We'll all have yummy venison medallions for dinner, but closer to midnight I will bake some Camembert cheese in it's wooden box with white wine, shallots and black pepper and serve with a crusty baguette and champagne!

Monday:
Breakfast - Cheerios, Milk, Fruit, Homemade Yoghurt
Lunch - Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
Dinner - Prosciutto Wrapped Venison Medallions with Dauphinois Potatoes and Asparagus
Baking - Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Buttermilk Pancakes, Milk, Fruit
Lunch - BLT Sandwiches and Butternut Squash Soup
Dinner - Mrs Geraldine's Ground Beef Casserole

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Homemade Honey Granola, Homemade Yoghurt, Fruit, Milk
Lunch - Leftover Casserole
Dinner - Chicken Enchiladas
Baking - Make White Bread for AM

Thursday:
Breakfast - Cinnamon Toast, Homemade Yoghurt, Fruit, Milk
Lunch - Potato Borek
Dinner - Garlic Chicken, Broccoli and Rice
For Tomorrow - Make Pizza Dough

Friday:
Breakfast - Leftover Potato Borek
Lunch - In Dublin, will probably eat out
Dinner - Pizza
Reminder - Soak beans overnight for dinner tomorrow

Saturday:
Breakfast - Cheerios, Homemade Yoghurt, Fruit, Milk
Lunch - Thai Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup
Dinner - Pinto Beans, Brazilian Rice and Cornbread
Baking - Cornbread
Reminder - Double rice for breakfast tomorrow

Sunday:
Breakfast - Rice Pancakes, Applesauce, juice
Lunch/Dinner - Drunken Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Glazed Carrots
Reminders - Roast in Crockpot upon waking.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Christmas Plans

I apologise for my lack of posts of late - some medical issues in the family. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, what with an era ending as I watched Paul lug the baby crib (cot) mattress up to the attic, to the drama of doctor and hospital visits to just long hours all around. But thankfully all is resolved and over with for now so it's time to get ready for Christmas!

This will be my first time hosting Christmas and I am super excited. I have to say that after Thanksgiving I am quite calm about Christmas. It will be just us four, my parents and my brother and his girlfriend. They are all coming in the afternoon, which gives us the morning to ourselves to see the girls delight in Santa and head to Mass. I am going to do some very light hors d'oeuvres throughout the afternoon with dinner itself at around seven. The girls will nap for a couple of hours before dinner, allowing the adults to exchange gifts and giving us some extra time with them after dinner.

In Ireland we traditionally eat a Turkey and Ham dinner for Christmas. It's very similar to American Thanksgiving meals, just minus the sweet potatoes, green beans and corn! Traditionally there would be a large stuffed roast turkey, a large boiled then glazed ham, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, and other vegetable side dishes.

I've been hearing about turkey brining for years, but never really saw the point as my turkey always comes out fine. However this year, my sweet mother-in-law brought me a turkey brining mix from the luscious Williams-Sonoma and I tried it. Wow! I did everything else how I always did, but brined it for twenty-four hours first and what an incredible difference it made. I will never go back! I also felt I overcooked it a tiny bit, but because of the brine, you couldn't tell. See for yourself, doesn't she look good? We named her Tina Turkey! ;-)


You can find some turkey brine recipes here, here and here. After the brining period I rinse
my turkey and let her hang out at room temperature for about an hour before stuffing her. Some people are nervous about stuffing the bird, due to bacteria and what not, but it's never been a problem for me. I always line the cavities with foil, both top and bottom to minimize any risk, if there is any in the first place. I stuff her as full as possible in both ends (Sorry Tina) and then either sew her up with twine, or use toothpicks / skewers. Then it's time for the herb butter.

I make a compound butter using fresh parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and softened butter. I mix it all together and slide it betweent the skin and meat of the turkey. Dig your fingers in to separate the skin from the meat and then slather it with butter, focusing on the breast area, but if possible, getting in towards the legs as well. Any remaining butter is then rubbed all over the outside of the skin.

I then lay streaky bacon all over the bird, covering her up. If you want to be fancy, you can do this in a lattice pattern, but I rarely bother, since I remove it before the final browning. This gives the bird and gravy a lovely flavour and helps in browning. I then cover her very loosely in foil, creating a tent to allow steam to build up and in she goes! I won't presume to tell you how long to cook your bird, as everyones ovens are so different. Some people prefer to roast all day in a low oven, whereas I start it off in a very high oven, lower the heat down for a couple of hours, then give her a final high heat blast at the end.

About forty minutes before she's due to come out I remove the foil and bacon. At this point we have a wee "cooks treat" as Nigella says, which is the bacon. It is the strangest phenomenon, because the bacon tastes just like turkey and gives your palette a nice taste of what's to come!

At this point I add about a cup of chicken stock to the roasting tin, turn up the heat and begin basting. I also check the internal temperature in a few different places. Once she's done, I cover her with foil and allow her to sit while I make the sides and roast potatoes.

The Menu this year consists of the following:

Pre-Dinner Nibbles

• Smoked Salmon and Brown Soda Bread
• Crab Cakes with Red pepper Aioli
  
• Veggies and Dip
• Curried Devilled Eggs

Dinner

• Turkey
• Ham
• Roast Potatoes
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Mom's Stuffing
• World's Best Brussel Sprouts*
  
• Maple Mustard Glazed Carrots
• Sautéed Garlic Mushrooms
• Orange Spiced Cranberry Sauce
• Caramelised Onion Gravy **

Dessert

• Christmas Pudding w/ Vanilla Cream
• Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (courtesy of Heather)
  
• Mince Pies (courtesy of Tesco, damned if I'm making the dreadful things DAD! ;-))

* - Yes, pretentious claim, I know, but seriously, these are phenomenal. People who hate brussel sprouts love these. It's my adaptation from one of those ghastly seventies microwave cookbooks! Basically you prep your brussel sprouts (I put a criss cross on the bottom with a knife, for even cooking) and add a tbsp of butter to a microwave safe casserole dish. Add the sprouts and nuke for a few minutes until slightly cooked, but not close to done. Dice a large red apple, leaving the peel on. Add to sprouts. Add about 1/4 cup brown sugar and a few gratings of nutmeg. Add another tablespoon of butter for good measure and toss. Cover with clingfilm and microwave again until sprouts are done to your liking. This is so yummy and is festively coloured as well. It doesn't take up any space on your stove or in your oven which makes it a perfect addition to any big roast!

** - Lisa referred me to this recipe for Thanksgiving. It was sublime! I will be using it all the time from now on. My husband actually made the base for me the day before Thanksgiving. He moaned and complained that it took too long, but once he tasted the result he was instantly silenced.

So that's the plan for Christmas. Always open to comments and suggestions! ;-)



On another note, I have once again had the honour of being shortlisted in a rather exciting Irish web awards, the Digital Media Awards. Other finalists include usual suspect Grandad, fellow foodies, Ice Cream Ireland, the Limerick blogger and the very pregnant Feebee from The Waiting Game! Congratulations to all of them! Do you think the judges might have been hungry when they were coming up with the list? Two food blogs! ;-)

I hope to be back with some unique turkey leftover ideas before the day itself, but if not, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas! I WILL be back before the new year though, with the best recipes of 2007! Stay tuned!

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Potato Borek (Patates Boregi)

Living in Belgium for a good portion of my youth introduced me to the continental tradition of Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas' feast day. Children usually leave out their socks or shoes and Sinterklaas, assisted by his friend, the politically incorrect Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) fills them up with goodies like Speculaas biscuits, sweets and fruits. Always one for sharing other cultures I decided that we would do this too with the girls. They are a little young yet for me to introduce the concept that this is where Santa really comes from, but they enjoyed the concept and some of the stories I told them.

Since St. Nicholas was actually a Catholic bishop in the now Turkish town of Myra, I decided to try a Turkish recipe I'd been hankering over for awhile now in his honour. It was in a copy of The King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet magazine and I remember just loving the look and sound of it when it came in the door!

It was a roaring success and would make a great light lunch or breakfast or a side dish for a main meal. I expected more of a quiche like texture, but was surprised by the pleasant density it possessed - no "egginess" at all. Other than omitting the dried mint, of which I had none, I followed the recipe exactly and would not change a thing and that's despite me having some hesitation about the yoghurt! Delicious! This is such a wonderful recipe and one I know I will make again. Both husband and kid approved!

• 3/4 cup sunflower oil
• 1 cup yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 4 1/2 cups diced raw potatoes
  
• 3 cups white onions, diced
  
• 3/4 cup diced carrot
  
• 3/4 cup thawed frozen peas
  
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups flour
  

Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Mix oil, yoghurt, eggs and spices in large bowl. Fold in vegetables until evenly distributed. Pour into pan and smooth out.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until top is browned and potatoes are cooked. Mine took about half an hour with a fan oven.

This makes a lot!!!

Reminder 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces for my European friends! Break out your pyrex measuring jug for this one!

Enjoy!

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Remedy for the cold...

This weekend has seen the weather here get really cold. It drives my husband nuts because he thinks he wants snow. I remind him that snow is nice for the first day or two and when skiing, otherwise it's a constant drudgery of getting up first thing to shovel the driveway and clear the cars all whilst freezing one's proverbial butt off! Not fun, at all. I think he just feels a bit cheated that it is as cold here as it is in Michigan but with no snow show for it.

I, on the other hand, tend to enjoy the cold, not being out in it, but rather the prospect of enjoying hot cocoa around the fire with Christmas lights twinkling on the tree. Nothing beats a rich luscious hot cocoa in the winter. It can be dressed up with a myriad of goodies - marshmallows, peppermint, cinnamon - even liqueur if that's your thing. Below is a simple, but very rich version that we love!

For two mugs you will need:

• 1 1/4 cups whole milk + additional 1/4 cup
  
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder (I use Green and Black's Organic Cocoa)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Sweetener of choice

Mix the cocoa powder with the 1/4 cup milk, set aside.

Gently heat cream, vanilla and milk to desired temperature. Whisk in cocoa paste.

Sweeten to your taste. I use organic cane sugar for the kids and hubby, but stick to Splenda for myself.

If you like add some peppermint extract, or marshmallows or whipped cream. You could also add a liqueur like Baileys or Grand Marnier for an Orange Version, Kahlua for coffee, and so on. It will really warm you up!


For another Winter Warmer meal, you might want to try Baked Potato Soup. I made this yesterday as we'd eaten out for lunch and just wanted a light supper. We were surprised at how heavy it turned out to be. It really is an entire meal and a frugal one at that! My aim in making this was, sadly, to re-create Bennigan's Potato Soup which is just divine. We both agree that it was very accurate, lacking only the sour cream, which neither of us felt like braving the weather for! This was a hit with the kids too who have both been under the weather lately.

Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 6-8 Rooster Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 pound streaky bacon, diced
• 1 large sweet onion, diced*
• 2 tbsp butter
  
• 2 tbsp flour
  
• 2-3 cups milk
• salt
• white pepper
• 3 scallions, sliced
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• sour cream, to serve

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water until done. Strain and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a large pot/Dutch oven until crispy. Drain, reserving fat and set aside.

Saute the onions in the bacon fat over a medium heat until golden brown and caramelized, about 15-20 minutes.

Add the butter and allow to melt. Add flour. Stir for a few minutes to create a very light roux. Slowly whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil. Don't worry if it looks thin as the starch from the potatoes will thicken it up. If it appears too thick, thin it out by adding more milk.

Use an immersion/stick blender to puree, making sure the onions are dissolved. Add the potatoes and puree slightly, leaving a few chunks. Add 3/4 of the bacon and allow to simmer for a few minutes until thickened and at desired consistency.

Serve with remaining bacon, scallions, cheddar and sour cream on the table for people to add to their soup as desired.

* If you hate or think you hate onions, please give this step a chance. It really is the flavour base of the soup, and without it you'll basically just have potatoes in milk - once you puree you'll never know they were there! TRUST me! Yes, Amy, I'm talking about you! ;-)

And finally to round things up I made some fresh rolls. My moither-in-law sent me this recipe from Alanna Kellogg's Kitchen Parade. They are no-knead, no-rise rolls. They still have some yeast in them, but I suspect this is to attain the flavour of yeast bread as opposed to being used as a rising agent. The one thing I would say about the rolls is that they were a little bitter, which I assume is due to the large amount of baking powder used. They rise quite substantially, so I will definitely ease back on the baking powder next time in the hopes I can reduce that acidic taste. It's nothing bad, just something I noticed - something that is easily outweighed by the fact that you did not need to knead or allow proving time for home made rolls!

Kitchen Parade's Easy Weeknight Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 4 cups bread flour (Irish Cream flour is fine)
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• Chopped fresh/dried herbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 220C/425F. Grease a 12 muffin tin with standard sized cups.

Stir together yeast and water, set aside.

Whisk together sugar oil and egg in large bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk dry ingredients. Add flour mixture a cup at a time to wet ingredients, adding the yeast mixture as you go.

Stir in herbs, if using.

Fill muffin tray with mixture (mine filled all twelve to the very top) and bake for twenty minutes or until golden.

Now... off to do some market research on Christmas presents!

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Gastronom.ie

I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to the newly launched Gastronom.ie. This cleverly titled site is a blog aggregator for all Irish food and drink blogs. It's another great idea by Damien Mulley. It looks very svelte and should be an excellent resource for the Irish food scene! Head on over and take a peek!

Fisherman's Pie and Homegrown Mushrooms

I've mentioned before that I am pretty hopeless at gardening, having to buy new fresh herb plants on an almost monthly basis! The only thing I can keep alive is my little bay leaf tree. Of late however though, I have been having more success. I have had a little orange tree since July, an amaryllis that just opened and an orchid that is just gorgeous. Given this stroke of good luck I decided to try my hand at growing mushrooms. Why mushrooms? Well, my kids just love them. My older daughter eats them with everything. It's one of the few vegetables (fungi really, I know) that I can get into them. I've been reading up on mushrooms and had no idea how amazing they were. I stumbled across an article on iContact explaining some of the medical benefits of certain types, which might even be banned soon. Who knew? Click here to read the article.

Anyhow, I bought a little kit from Bakker to grow some nice French mushrooms in the hopes that I would end up buying less. I thought it would be a neat lesson in horticulture and mycology for Ella, who really is eager to learn about plants and gardening. I followed all the instructions to a tee and began to worry that it wasn't going to happen when a few weeks ago I noticed tiny little white spots emerging from the soil. These little spots quickly blossomed into beautiful chestnut mushrooms.
Ella and her Dad picked a few from the first harvest so we could try them. I wanted to use them in a dish that would allow their flavour to come out as well as just sauteeing them in some butter.

I elected to use them in a simple Fish pie, as the fish I was using was mild and would compliment the mushrooms well. The flavour from the mushrooms was incredible. A real earthy flavour, with a lovely meaty texture left us feeling quite satisfied!

This is a simple recipe and a good way to get seafood into kids. You can use whatever fish you have on hand. Normally I like to add at least one smoked variety, usually haddock, to add a nice smoky flavour. For this particular batch I added some leftover smoked salmon I had from the other morning, some regular salmon, cod and a lobster that had been hanging out in my freezer for much too long!

To feed six you would be looking at about 1.5 pounds of seafood. Kids love this recipe for some reason, even my two who swear they hate F-I-S-H! I tend to mash the fish into the potatoes for the younger one and she doesn't even know it's there. The sauce is rich and tasty and seems to be enough to disguise the fish for them.

You can also make these as individual pies, which are great for kids or dinner parties, or if you have picky eaters who don't like a certain fish your using, or maybe you have kosher guests and need to leave the seafood out of some of them.

Fisherman's Pie

Ingredients:

• 6-8 peeled russet or rooster potatoes
• 1/2 cup cream, warmed
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• salt and pepper

• 2 cups fish stock
  
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 shallots, finely diced
• 1 cup heavy cream
  

• 1 lbs fish of your choosing
• 1/2 lb seafood of your choosing, prawns, lobster, crayfish etc.

• 8 oz, mushrooms thickly sliced
• 1 large leek, sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  

First make the mashed potato:

Boil your peeled potatoes in salted water until cooked. Mash with the cream and butter. Set aside. Note - If you are planning on piping the potato, use a ricer, as any lumps will not go through your tips.

Then make the veloute:

Saute the shallots in the butter until translucent. Add the wine and allow to reduce until there is very little liquid left. Add the stock and allow to reduce by half. Then add the cream and again reduce by half or until slightly thickened. If you like you could strain at this point, but I like the shallots in the veloute.

Gently poach the fish in the veloute until just undercooked.

Saute the mushrooms and leeks in the butter until just underdone.


Arrange the fish in the bottom of your buttered pie dish. Scatter around the raw seafood (this will cook in the oven - if you cook first it will become rubbery) and then scatter the mushrooms and leek mixture on top. Add the veloute. You may not need it all, but be your own judge. Sprinkle with parsley. My pie is pictured above without the topping.

Pipe or spoon the mashed potato on top. You can use and egg wash or some grated parmesan if you would like a more browned crust.

Bake in a 350F/180C oven for twenty minutes or so until potato has firmed up and slightly browned. Allow to stand for a few minutes and serve.

You really don't need a side dish, but a salad and some crusty bread to soak up the sauce would not go amiss.

These directions sound complicated, but really, this only takes a little while to put together and it is very elegant. Enjoy!


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