My Greek Salad

I haven't been feeling great the last few days, the flu was beginning to take hold so major amounts of drugs were required and food wasn't really a priority. But last night I felt I could just about handle a salad. I'd bought some feta during the week so that led me to a Greek salad.  I used the following:

Little Gem lettuce, chopped up
Sliced red onion, soaked in water for 10-15mins then rinsed and dried with kitchen paper

A boiled egg, cut into 8

Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Feta cheese, cut into bite-sized cubes

Dressing:

1 part cider vinegar to 3 parts olive oil

Pinch of dried oregano, crumbled finely

Garlic clove, halved

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Put all the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake well until combined. Let it sit for a half hour or so, out of the fridge, to let the flavours mingle.  Put all the salad ingredients except for the egg into a bowl, pour over the dressing and then place the egg on top. Then eat!

Buffet Pictures

I didn't manage to get photos of all the food at the buffet but I did manage to get pix of the main courses I prepared. They give you an idea of quantity of food that was available.

The Boxes of Makhani & Spanish stew

The Chicken Makhani

The Spanish Chicken Stew

Buffet Time

The last couple of days have been mad busy for me and she who lives in the Manor!! Party time had come and we'd decided that we'd share the buffet duties. This involved working out how to feed 50plus people. The kids were easy to feed throw em a few cocktail sausages, chicken wings and slices of pizza and they're happy. For the adults we'd decided on some pickages to start with followed by a full meal with sides.  It went something like this:

Picky Things

Prawn Cocktail Lettuce Cups * Salami & Roasted pepper skewers * Bread sticks wrapped in Prosciutto & Serrano Ham * Bruschetta * Homemade Brown Breads

Main Event

Chicken Makhani (Mamta's Kitchen recipe) * Spanish Chicken Stew * Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce * Crispy Layered Potatoes * Basmati Rice * Buttered New Potatoes *

Other kind people brought Apple & Rhubarb tarts, pavlova (which I love but didn't get to taste) and other stuff. The wine was beginning to kick in so I wasn't paying enough attention.

Mrs. Manor had treated herself to a chaffing dish and I performed the dinner lady duties serving the masses. I can't forget Miss C who was a fantastic help and I couldn't have managed without her during the day!! The night and food were a success thankfully. Any night that ends with you singing 'Rio' on Band Hero with your 12 year old nephew on guitar, can't be a bad one!

Roasted Baby Potatoes

Who doesn't love potatoes? And who doesn't love roast potatoes? If you don't, then I'm sorry I've lost all respect for you.  My cheap bag of baby potatoes needed using up so I decided that roasting them was the only option. I sliced them lengthways fairly thinly and threw them in the oven for 25-35mins until crispy and slightly blackened on the edges. I put a little bit of cheese on each of them for the last 5mins or so just for the hell of it! I defy you not to eat every single one of them.

Prawn Cocktail

Everyone loves prawn cocktail, it may be very 1980s but it has had a renaissance in recent years if TV chefs are anything to go by.  I didn't put mine in a fancy glass as its intended purpose is to be part of a buffet. I also don't go to the bother of making mayonnaise so purists might get offended.

I mix mayonnaise with tomato ketchup, some pepper, pinch of paprika and some lemon juice.  Then you add prawns and stir ensuring that every prawn is completely coated with the sauce. Spoon a little of the prawn mix onto a Little Gem lettuce leaf which doubles as the serving plate.  I also chopped up a shallot very finely and sprinkled a little on each leaf before I added the prawns.  You can then sprinkle a dusting of paprika on top of each little mound of prawns to make it pretty.

Steak Stuffed with Mushrooms & Asparagus

The weekend is lovely and there's nothing I love more than cooking on a Friday night listening to 80s music on the radio. I treated myself to a piece of sirloin steak and decided that I'd stuff it; thanks for the inspiration 'you-know-who'.
I quickly seared off a few asparagus spears until almost done, they should still have a decent amount of crunch.

Then I finely chopped up a few chestnut and button mushrooms and fried them gently in a little olive oil with crushed garlic, finely chopped shallot and plenty of seasoning. Allow these and the asparagu to cool before putting them into the steaks.

Lay the steaks between two sheets of cling film and flatten out as thin as possible. Then you lay the asparagus into the middle of the steak and spread the cooled mushrooms across the top. Fold either side of the steaks over to seal and put seal side down in a baking dish. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the meal.





There was a bag of baby new potatoes on offer yesterday so I decided they'd be nice roasted in their skins. Slice them lengthways and rinse them well to get rid of the starch. Pat them completely dry with kitchen paper. I preheated the baking tray then sprayed it with spray oil added the potato slices, sprayed them with more spray oil and generously seasoned with sea salt and black pepper. These take approximately 25-35mins in a preheated oven at 180C/fan 170C. Turn them every ten mins to ensure they go brown and crispy on both sides.

I char-grilled some asparagus spears on the griddle until nicely marked but still with a bite. I left some button mushrooms whole and griddled them as well.  Once the potatoes have been cooking for around 15mins add the steaks to the oven. You want them to be still juicy and pink in the centre.  Once they are cooked remove and let sit for a few minutes while you reduce down the juices they released to make a sauce. The sauce can then be spooned over the steaks just before you serve them.

Assignment Week

It has been quiet on the food front for me this week as I had an assignment due for my Arts course on Friday. Let's just say that after this current assignment experience I just wish more people had agreed with Socrates and that Mr. Plato had less time on his hands to be thinking about the virtues of courage!!

What did get discussed a lot is a future project involving cooking for many people but more on that next week!!

Dinners were rudimentary and quick unlike the assignment. Pressure was off yesterday so it was back to a nice dinner and an enjoyable cooking experience.

Bruschetta

I love tomato bruschetta and I'd be lying if I said mine was an authentic version. I base it on a similar dish that was served in a restaurant now long gone from Limerick city 'La Romana'. It was a lovely little place that served delicious pizzas and pasta dishes and it was here that I tasted chorizo for the first time.

What I do is chop up large tomatoes in medium-sized chunks, mix them with some crushed garlic, olive oil, salt & black pepper, some balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar. I let this warm gently in the oven and spread it over toaste ciabatta loaf. This is nice for lunch, with salad for dinner or as a dinner party starter.

Lunch - Toasted Wrap

I firmly believe there is nothing more satisfying than gooey, melting cheese. Today is my last day on a short work week and so a long and relaxing lunch was in order before I tackled some housework.  It was very simple really:

All you need is a flour tortilla, a couple of slices of ham, sliced onion and grated cheese. I also slathered some English mustard on. Wrap it up tightly and fry it fold side down in a little olive oil for a few mins until nice and golden. Turn it over and let it get nice and golden. I find that if you keep the heat fairly low the cheese will be nicely melted!

Spicy Prawn Spaghetti

Sunday more often than not involves something spicy usually a curry. But this Sunday I went down the Italian route, this recipe has very few ingredients:

Spaghetti
Cooked prawns
Chilli Flakes
Crushed clove of garlic
Olive Oil
Sea salt & black pepper

Cook the spaghetti for the required length of time.  For the last couple of minutes heat a couple of teaspoons of olive oil in a frying pan add as big or as small a pinch of chilli flakes as you like. Stir it around for a minute or so then add the garlic and prawns keeping the heat moderate, you don't want burned garlic because it'll just give a bitter taste. Throw in the drained spaghetti with a little of the cooking water and add the salt and pepper. Mix everything together using two large spoons to combine the prawns with the pasta.  I ate this with a garlic pitta bread. Delish!

Quesadillas

These are another quick dinner when you're rushing and lovely with a side salad.  All you need is a couple of flour tortillas and then you can add whatever you want. This week, I made mine with some Parma ham, grated cheese and red onion.  Sit your tortilla on a cold fry pan, no need to add oil, then add your ingredients, cheese first then scatter the ham and onion around, more cheese on top and a grinding of black pepper. Place the other tortilla and top and then sit it over a gentle heat. You want them between soft and very crispy. Turn it over once the bottom side is done, it should be nice and golden and repeat the process until both sides are cooked and the cheese is melted and gooey in the centre. 

These are nice for lunch as an alternative to sandwiches and you can add whatever you like to them really!

It's been a Long Week

Been hectic this week. What with working long days and then having to come home and study so my dinners were quick and pretty repetitive. Probably the nicest dinner I had this week was last night's. We were going out for a few drinks with friends so it had to be cooked fast, and what's faster than pasta? Forgot to take a picture but hey I had to get ready!!

Mushroom & Bacon Macaroni

Thickly sliced mushrooms, as much as you like, I used three quarters of a carton!
2 rashers, chopped into little pieces
2 shallots, finely sliced
Garlic clove, left whole but kinda smashed
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Lashings of black pepper
Sea salt
Macaroni or any other small pasta

While the macaroni simmered on the hob, I quickly dry-fried the rashers until really crispy. I removed them to drain the fat off on kitchen paper. Then I added the sliced mushrooms to the pan, let them sizzle for a minute or two and then sprayed them with low-fat spray oil. Once they were beginning to turn golden, I added the whole garlic clove and the shallots and let the whole lot cook for a minute or two until the onion had softened slightly. Then returned the rasher to the pan and a couple of tablespoons of the pasta water, the black pepper and a little pinch of salt (this depends on the saltiness of the rashers). Then I quickly grated over some parmesan. The net effect of this is that the parmesan binds everything together with the pasta water. You can let the majority of the water boil out. If you're feeling decadent (I wasn't!) add a splash to white wine and bubble it down until the alcohol is cooked out.

Add the cooked pasta to the pan, another grating of parmesan and give the whole lot a good stir. Before you chow down, grind some more black pepper over and another grating of parmesan. Don't forget to remove the garlic clove before you serve, you only need a hint of it in the background. In total, this dinner only takes as long as the time needed to cook the pasta so definitely good when you're in a hurry.

For Jackie: Stuffed Mushrooms

I had a party at a flat I lived in a few years ago and Jackie was staying with me for a few days. We decided to share the cooking between us. I remember I did some Indian chicken skewers but the thing that stands out is that Jackie did stuffed mushrooms with a rocket salad and I think I recall there was a balsamic dressing on the salad. I could be wrong but that doesn't happen too often!

Tonight I've had the house to myself and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do some mushrooms. Mr. Chops hates them and everything about them.

• I dry fried 2 rashers and when really crispy I broke them up into little pieces.
• Meanwhile, I'd roasted some red pepper until blackened to remove the skin, then sliced it into thin strips.
• In the meantime, I crushed a small clove of garlic and mixed it into some light cream cheese.
• I removed the stalks from some medium sized mushrooms and placed them on a baking tray.
• I then sprinkled the bacon bits into the mushrooms.
• Spooned on the cream cheese.
• Sprinkled on lashings of black pepper, a pinch of dried parsley and covered with a couple of slices of red pepper.

They were cooked in the oven for approximately 30mins at moderate heat. Leave them sit for a minute before you eat them it gives the cheese a chance to tighten up. These are nice served with a mixed salad or some rocket like the beautiful Jackie would do.

The First Bite

Smoked Salmon Mousse

This is my simplified version of what I have discovered can be a complicated dish. There's versions of it with gelatine and creme fraiche etc. I decided to make it more suitable for my needs, that is, a bit healthier.

Line a ramekin with a few slices of smoked salmon.

Mix the following together vigorously:
- A couple of tablespoons of light mayonnaise
- A couple of tablespoons of light cream cheese
- A couple of slices of finely chopped smoked salmon
- Finely chopped capers
- Tablespoon of lemon juice
- Pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

Spoon the mixture onto the salmon slices, pressing it down firmly as you go. Then cover with the overlapping salmon.

Put in the fridge for a couple of hours and hey presto! A fairly decent, quick and easy Smoked Salmon Mousse.

This would be nice served as a lunch or light dinner with homemade melba toast or Irish soda bread.  This would also make a really nice starter for a fancy pantsy dinner party, if you serve it with some peppery rocket salad and a couple of pieces of granary toast.