Mince Meat

I have mentioned a time or twenty on the blog that I am not a huge fan of dried fruit.  As a child I was always repulsed at the thought of mince pies at Christmas time.  My mam would heat some up in the oven for my dad or guests and they would be served with a nice dollop of fresh cream or maybe some custard.  Cream and custard with mince?! Bleugh. 

Then one year we made them in school and I was confused to find that there was no meat mixed in with the sweet mixture.  When I tasted the fruits of my labour I was pleasantly surprised and since then I have enjoyed many a mince pie over the festive season.  They are usually a last minute thought for me that I pick up with the final grocery shop before the big day but this year I decided to make my own, completely from scratch, including the mince meat.

I looked at many recipes but didn't find any that I liked so I decided to come up with my own.  I had a good understanding of the basics from reading so many other recipes and so set about it with my pen and trusty note book in hand.  I haven't used either butter or suet in the recipe as I wanted to cut out any unnecessary fat or heaviness.  The mixture gave off the most amazing fragrance as it simmered in the hob and looks beautiful today in it's jar.  I will do another post about mince pies closer to Christmas including a pastry recipe and an assembly how to.  For now you can mix up a batch of mince meat and leave the flavours to mature for a couple of weeks.  Enjoy!

Mince Meat
(makes approximately 800ml)

60ml/2floz Port
150g/5.3oz Dark Brown Sugar
Zest & Juice of 1 Orange
Zest & Juice of 2 Lemons
75g/2.65oz Raisins

75g/2.65oz Currants

75g/2.65oz Sultanas

75g.2.65oz Dried Cranberries
75g/2.65oz Chopped Almonds
4 Apples, peeled and grated
1tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Mixed Spice
1tsp Nutmeg
1oz Brandy
2tbsp Honey
1tsp Vanilla Extract

1.  Dissolve the sugar in the ruby port in a pot over a gentle heat.

2.  Add in the orange and lemon juice and zest, dried fruit, grated apple and spices.

3.  Simmer for 20 minutes or until the fruit has plumped up and absorbed most of the liquid.

4.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.  Add the brandy, honey and vanilla extract.  Stir well to incorporate.
5.  Spoon into sterilised jars and seal.

This will keep for a few weeks once stored in a cool dry place in the unopened sterilised jars.  Once opened refrigerated and use within a couple of weeks.

To sterilise jars:

Wash in warm soapy water or put through a hot cycle in the dishwasher.  Place into a preheated oven at 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2 for 15 minutes and fill and seal while the jar and contents are still warm.

Lemon Sugar Cookies & Chocolate Orange Cookies

Last Friday I participated in a #twookieparty (a cookie bake off on Twitter) with some other Irish foodies.  I promised recipes would follow so here are the first two.  I am lumping these two together as I used the same basic dough recipe for both.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Yields approx 36
(I divided the dough in 3, baked 1 dozen and froze 2 rolls of dough for later use)

450g/15oz Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Soda
1/4tsp Salt
395g/14oz granulated sugar
44g/1.5oz packed light-brown sugar
Grated Zest of 1 Lemon
1tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
220g/8oz Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Large Eggs
Granulated Sugar, for sprinkling

1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.   Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper. (if you are baking the full quantity of dough you will need 3 lined baking sheets or you will have to bake in 3 seperate batches)
2.  Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3.  Put the sugars and lemon zest in a seperate bowl and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute.
4.  Mix in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then the lemon juice.
5.  Reduce the speed and gradually add the flour mixture; mix until just combined.
6.  Using a tablespoon sized measuring spoon or a regular tablespoon place dough 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.
7.  Flatten the cookies slightly with a fork and sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar, then lightly brush with a wet pastry brush and sprinkle with more granulated sugar.
8.  Bake the cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
9.  Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Chocolate Orange Cookies

Yields approx 36

(I divided the dough in 3, baked 1 dozen and froze 2 rolls of dough for later use)

450g/15oz Plain Flour
1tsp Baking Soda
1/4tsp Salt
395g/14oz granulated sugar
44g/1.5oz packed light-brown sugar
Grated Zest of 1 Orange
2tbsp Fresh Orange Juice
220g/8oz Unsalted Butter, softened
2 Large Eggs
100g Plain Chocolate, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper. (if you are baking the full quantity of dough you will need 3 lined baking sheets or you will have to bake in 3 seperate batches)
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. Put the sugars and orange zest in a seperate bowl and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and mix until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Mix in the eggs, 1 at a time, and then the orange juice.
5. Reduce the speed and gradually add the flour mixture; mix until just combined.

6. Using a tablespoon sized measuring spoon or a regular tablespoon place dough 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheet.

7. Flatten the cookies slightly with a fork.
8. Bake the cookies until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on baking tray for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
9.  Once they are cool melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave (if you do not bake all af the cookie dough simply reduce the amount of chocolate accordingly ie. if you bake 1/3 of the cookie dough melt 1/3 f the chocolate)
10. Using a teaspoon drizzle lines of chocolate across the cookies to form a pattern.  I drizzled in different directions but you can do it which ever way you prefer.

11.Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Lemon Curd (GF)

The weather has been glorious this week in Dublin and so I have been pushing heavy chocolatey recipes to the back of my mind in favour of zesty, fruity flavours perfect for the sun.  (Although I might sneak in a light chocolate something or other at the end of the week.)  Anyhoo, having enjoyed the delicious pineapple and mint concotion I made the other day I decided something similarly fresh and zesty would be very welcome while temperatures remain in the high teens.  I wanted something quick and easy to make that I can keep in the fridge to whip up simple desserts while the sun keeps us company.  This hit the spot perfectly, it was made in 15 mins and only required one pot so there was minimal washing up required.  Serve with scones, pancakes, ginger cake, meringue, mix into some icecream, smear on some brioche or biccies.  The possibilities are endless. Enjoy.

Lemon Curd
Makes 3 x 1lb/350ml Capacity Jars

Grated Zest & Juice of 4 large, juicy Lemons
4 Large Eggs
12oz/350g Caster Sugar
8oz/225g Unsalted Butter, at room temp and cut into small pieces
1 Heaped tbsp Cornflour

1.  In a medium sized saucepan whisk the eggs with a balloon whisk.
2.  Add the rest of the ingredients and place over a medium heat.
3.  Use the balloon whisk to whisk continuosly until the mixture thickens.
4.  Turn the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for a further minute, continue to whisk.
5.  Remove from the heat and immediately pour into the hot sterilised jars.*
6.  Cover with waxed discs (you can buy these in baking supply stores but if you don't have any use some greaseproof paper), seal while still hot and allow to cool before labelling.

7.  Store in a cool place and this will keep for weeks.

* Wash the jars in hot water and then dry out in an oven at 100°C/212°F/Gas Mark 1/4 for 15 mins, fill and seal while hot to create a sterile vacuum seal.  Alternatively wash on a hot cycle in the dishwasher without detergent.

I halved the above recipe without a problem and used 1 jar, I did mean to fill the jar with water and measure it's capacity but forgot in my excitement and only remembered after I had sterilised it.  I was too lazy and impatient to sterilize the far again so didn't take the measurement, sorry.  I am going to give this jar to my dad as part of his Fathers day presents as I know he will love it, so I will make another half quantity of the above recipe to live in my fridge for a few weeks.

Bord Bia Pork Pack

I have been invited to attend a food blogger event by Donal Skehan of the Good Mood Food Blog  this coming Thursday, and as a result Klara from Bord Bia sent me an Irish pork pack in advance of the event.  I say a pork pack, it was a loin of pork to be precise.  As there are only the two of us in the house I knew we would not get through the beast in one sitting so decided to spread it out over two meals.  On friday night Mr Boo carved off two steaks and trimmed them of any excess fat.  They were cooked as follows:

Lemon, Thyme and Garlic Pork Steaks

1 handful of thyme, picked
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove of garlic
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pork steaks or chops

(the marinade recipe will stretch to 4 cuts of meat)

1.  Pound the thyme in a pestle and mortar with 1tsp of salt.
2.  When the thyme is pulped add the garlic and 1tsp of black pepper and pound again.
3.  Stir in the lemon zest, juice and olive oil.
4.  Smear the mixture over the meat and leave to marinade for at least 10 minutes or longer if you have time.
5.  Heat a pan to a very high heat and fry on both sides for 4 minutes each.  They should be golden and nicely charred but be careful not to burn them.
6.  Remove from the heat and rest for 4 minutes.

I served these with Donal Skehan's Zingy Purple Potato Salad (obviously I didn't have purple potatoes) and some rocket.

Last night the remaining pork was roasted, and two very hung over people received a welcome invitation to come and help us eat it.  The recipe is as follows:

Before this we all got stuck into some popovers from my previous blog post

Rosemary, Thyme and Garlic Roast Loin of Pork

2 tbsp of Salt and some fresh black pepper
3 large cloves garlic, sliced finely
8 stalks rosemary, stripped
1 handful thyme, picked
4tbsp Olive oil
Pork loin

1.  Place the salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme and olive oil in a bowl and stir until well mixed.
2.  With a sharp knife pierce the pork all over.
3.  Pour the oil and herb mixture onto the pork and rub all over, pushing the herbs and garlic into the pierced holes.
4.  Heat some oil in a pan and brown the meat all over on a medium heat to seal.
5.  Place in a roasting dish and roast fat side down for 30 mins.
6.  Turn the meat and roast for another 20-30 mins until cooked through.
7.  Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10 mins before serving.

I served this with a creamy potato gratin and some roasted carrots. Yum.

I have no pictures of this as my camera had died, sorry.