When the Moon Hits Your Eye, Like A Big Pizza Pie...

I think it was The Glutton who mentioned homemade pizza on Thursday afternoon.  I had a huge longing for that exact thing earlier that day but as it was Thursday and as I try to eat healthy meals on weekdays I banished all such yummy thoughts from my head.  Then she just had to go and dangle it in my face again.  A little discussion arose on Beaut.ie with some of the lovely ladies advising that as it was homemade it couldn't be all that bad for a person and to go on ahead and indulge myself.  I held my resolve though and decided no, not a morsel of pizza would pass my lips before the officialdom of the weekend.  A request was then submitted for a pizza base recipe which I duly posted and on Friday morning I was informed by Emz that she had made said pizza and twas yum and munched with great appreciation from her Mr. I caved and decided that instead of waiting until Saturday night as I had resolved to do I would have to, HAVE TO, have pizza on the menu for Friday instead.  It was gorgeous, so much nicer than any shop bought, frozen or takeaway options. Which brings me smoothly on to the best pizza I have ever eaten.

We are gonna have to take a little stroll over to New York for this one peeps, so pop on your most comfortable walking shoes.  On our first trip stateside, Mr. Boo and I, travelled with a group of friends, one of who is a professional holidayer (it is a word before you go off and check, well maybe not, but it is now).  He researches everything, checks out all of the best restaurants and bars and does a little map recy so he knows exactly how to get everywhere with minimum hassle and time.  This is the best type of person to make a virgin voyage to New York with in my humble opinion.  It is such an overwhelming place that an out of towner could feel a little intimidated by it's size and pace and miss out on so much.  So with our tour guide at the helm we were bound to find some greats whilst there.

On our 1st night, weary from travel and time zone changes we decided to ease ourselves in with his recommendation, John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village.  We ordered 3 pizzas between 8 and in all my life as a little Irish cailin I had never seen pizzas as big, well except in Friends and the like.  They were mahoosive, and oh so yummy.  We filled our tummies and were reenergized for the rest of our holiday.  Almost as good as the pizza themselves is the atmosphere that is always present.  The place is a hive of activity, always, and the graffitied wooden wall panels fit it just perfectly.  John's has remained our 1st night haunt every time we have visited since.

We started our honeymoon in New York and as always had planned a trip to John's on arriving.  We were both pretty whacked; understandably, we had just planned a wedding and had the most hectic week of our lives.  I decided a quick shower to freshen up was the order of the day and then a little 'rest' on the bed while Mr. Boo showered.  When he emerged form the shower I was out cold and no amount of prodding or poking from him could wake me.  We both woke the next morning, me feeling completely refreshed, him feeling a little off colour.  That evening he was still not 100% but would not hear any suggestions from me that we head back to the hotel and order room service so he could rest. No, he couldn't come to New York and NOT visit John's so off we went.

We were seated in a booth along the wall.  Next to us was a long table with a large group of friends, and we both remarked how it was reminiscent of our own group on that first trip.  Our pizza was delivered to the table and perched atop one of those stands usually reserved for an order of two pizzas.  We both ate a slice but it was clear Mr Boo would not be able for anymore.  He reached for his drink and as he did so he knocked the pizza from it's stand and sent it flying through the air.  We both looked on open mouthed as it flew up into the air and then came crashing to the floor with a very large bang, smearing it's toppings down the jacket of the man sitting with his back to us.  Not good.

At this stage everyone was looking at us, except one person who was looking at his jacket.  Oh no, I was wrong, now he's looking at us too.  Crap!  Our waiter was at our side in a jiffy, cleaning up the mess and apologising.  We were blushing horrendously and apologising.  Your man was attempting to clean his jacket and scowling.  Our waiter then declared he would be back shortly with a replacement and would not take no for an answer.  We just wanted to leave.  Mr Boo could not face eating another bite and now he was going to have to eat at least two slices to be polite.  Your man was still scowling and making exaggerated attempts to clean his jacket.  OK, OK we know we just destroyed it, we're sorry.  A couple of pitchers of beer sent to their table by means of an apology and it would seem we made a friend for life, no more scowling and a very warm goodbye as he left.  Phew!  Now we just had to worry about how we would get through a fresh pizza.  We managed it, we ate enough to be polite, left a very generous tip for our kind waiter and have returned since to enjoy the hospitality and our pizzas, event free, thankfully.  So there you have it, my favourite pizza ever comes courtesy of John's Pizzeria, but the ones that are made in my own kitchen are definitely my second favourite, hands down.

Yeast Free Pizza Base

425g Flour
1tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
200mls milk
80mls olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
2. Combine all of the ingredients and knead the dough for 3 mins.
3. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film and rest for 20 mins.

4. Divide the dough in half.
5. Roll out the dough to 5mm thickness.

6. Place on a baking tray.
7. Dress with toppings of your choice.
8. Place in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Tomato Sauce
(this recipe will yield enough to cover the 2 pizza bases from the above dough recipe)
This recipe is not from a book, it is just one that I have made to accompany the base and is to my taste.  Feel free to make any adjustments to suit your own tastes.

2tbsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
2tsp Dried Rosemary
350ml Tomato Passata
1tsp Sugar
Salt and Black Pepper to season

1.  Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and when it is warm add the garlic and rosemary.
2.  Allow the garlic to cook for a couple of mins to release it's flavour and then add the tomato passata.
3.  Add the sugar and stir to ensure it is evenly distributed.
4.  Turn up the heat and allow the passata to bubble, reduce the heat again and leave to simmer for at least 5 mins.
5.  When the sauce has thickened slightly taste and season with salt and pepper if required.
6.  When ready to dress the pizza base spoon on some of the tomato sauce and spread evenly over the dough stopping approx 5mm short of the edge.

I dressed my pizza with buffalo mozzerella, parma ham, black olives, green olives stuffed with pimento paste, capers and sundried tomatoes.  You can choose toppings of your choice.

Stay tuned peeps as I plan a follow up to this post over the next few days.  I'm sure you just can't wait.

Bord Bia Irish Food Bloggers Event Part Trois

I am entering this tart into English Mum's Big Bake Off due to some bullying, yes blatant bulling from The Glutton and of bit of Gluttony egging on from English Mum herself.  Wish me luck peeps.

I may have mentioned once or thrice that I recently attended a Food Bloggers Event in Bord Bia.  Well, for those of you who missed that I did.  As part of the days events the lovely people at Bord Bia fed and watered us very nicely indeedy.  Much to everyone's delight, having stuffed us full of delicious Irish Pork and various accompaniments, dessert followed in the form of a beautiful strawberry tart.  The room filled with 'oohs' and 'aahs' of appreciation as it was delivered to tables and I heard more than one person express an interest in receiving the recipe after lunch.  Now, as if the people of Bord Bia had not been good enough to us already they happily said they would make the recipe available to anyone interested, and they did.  Having put them to the trouble of emailing me with said recipe it would have been positively rude of me not to post about it, so here you go peeps, get ready to drool.  This is a deliciously light tart, perfect for summer entertaining.  I made it last night and it is no more this morning.  Mr. Boo and myself had a very generous slice each and my neighbours were the lucky and very grateful recipients of the rest. So go on, off to the kitchen with you and whip up this little lovely.  Go on, shoo!

White Chocolate and Strawberry Tart

Serves 12

250g Plain Flour
25g Icing Sugar
65g Cold Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
250g Mascarpone
200g bar of good quality white chocolate
145ml cream
400g Strawberries

1) Sieve the flour and icing sugar into a food processor. Add the butter and whiz until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add just enough egg to bring the mixture together.
2) Shape pastry into a disc and wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
3) Roll out the pastry and shape into a 20.5cm (8”) fluted pastry tin. Prick all over. Cover with a large circle of baking parchment and top with baking beans. Chill until firm. Preheat the oven to 190°C(170°C fan)/374°F/Mark 5.

4) Bake for 12-15 minutes until the pastry has set. Remove the beans and parchment and continue baking for 5-10 minutes until the pastry is dry and slightly sandy to the touch. Cool in the tin on a wire rack.
5) Melt the mascarpone and chocolate together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base the of bowl doesn’t touch the water. Don’t stir; otherwise the mixture will thicken into a sticky mess.
6) Remove bowl from the pan and set aside to cool completely. Meanwhile, lightly whip the cream. Fold the chocolate mixture into the cream. Spoon the filling into the pastry case and chill.
7) To serve, top with strawberries cut in half and dust with icing sugar.

I have added some notes after the pics.

Notes: 

I forgot to dust it with icing sugar at the end as I was a tad over excited at the prospect of getting stuck into it!

I added the egg a couple of tablesppons at a time (I broke it into a small bowl and gave it a little whisk) until I had enough, rather than add it all at once and find I had too much.

I used my grease proof paper trick to line the pastry case but cut it a little big so that I could gather up the edges to remove the baking beans easily.

If you have neither the time nor the energy to bake your own pastry buy a ready made tart case from a supermarket and just make the filling. (I'm all for the easy life so don't worry I won't judge you, promise)

I know it says DO NOT STIR up there, but I just couldn't resist.  When I removed the chocolate mixture from the heat I did give it a quick stir to mix the chocolate and mascarpone as I was afraid they would not mix when added to the cream once chilled.  Sorry, but that was like asking Dougal NOT to press the big red button, it just wasn't going to happen.

OK lesson over, now off with yiz!

Bord Bia Irish Food Bloggers Event Part Deux

I posted earlier in the week about the truly excellent event I attended last week in Bord Bia.  I left that day armed with an arsenal of new recipes and the first one I wanted to try out was demonstrated by Lorraine Fitzmaurice of Blazing Salads.  I had seen Lorraine many times on RTE's The Afternoon Show, where she regularly appears as their guest chef, but never formed any strong opinion on her either way.  Having seen her demonstrate in person though I have to say I have developed a bit of a girl crush on her.  She is totally lovely, very warm and extremely personable.  Her relaxed manner while demonstrating and talking about preparing food and the merits of choosing healthy, high quality ingredients would lead even the biggest can't cook/won't cook affiliate straight into the kitchen to test their culinary skills.

On the day Lorraine whipped up the following bread in the blink of an eye (honest to God, cross my heart and hope to die) so I decided to give it a whirl last night.  Mr. Boo is a bit of a health freak, when he is not shovelling chocolate into his gob that is, and is mad for a nice bit of brown bread.  I, on the other hand, could not really be described as a health freak, not with a straight face anyway.  I do however steer clear of bread as I know it is neither good for me or my waistline.  Now, when I say I steer clear of bread I mean the horror that is mass produced white sliced pans that fill the bakery aisles of supermarkets countrywide.  I am also not a fan of those really dry, crumbly 'it's good for ya' farmhouse style brown loaves. 

Good for me!  A rogue Sahara like crumb always, ALWAYS, finds it way to the back of my throat in an attempt to choke me everytime I eat a slice so, to appease my insurance company I avoid them at all costs.  You can imagine the horror that struck me when Lorraine very kindly passed around slices to sample last week.  'Ah crap' I thought, if I refuse it I will look rude, if I choke I will look weird, what to do, what to do?  I decided I didn't want to be rude so I politely took my slice and passed them on down the line.  The relief of it.  It was a lovely light, not dry, not crumbly, not chokey (it's a word ok) slice of deliciously healthy bread. 

Result!  Mr. Boo will love me (even more) everytime I whip up a loaf of this baby, and I can indulge in a nice slice of bread whenever the fancy takes me without the dreaded bloat taking over.  The recipe below will yield to loaves (using 2 x 1b loaf tins), it is a cinch to make and your tummy will most definitely thank you for it.

Blazing Salads Bread Co. Organic Spelt Soda Bread

This recipe is for 2 x 680g loaves

Ingredients:
510g Organic Wholemeal Spelt Flour
105g Organic Fine Oatmeal + a little extra to sprinkle on top
14g (2 level tsp) Sea Salt
12g (2&1/2 tsp) Bicarbonate of Soda
20g (3/4 tbsp) Organic Blackstrap Molasses
350g Organic Whole Milk
350g Organic Whole Yoghurt

Note: In Blazing Salads they use Moon Shine Organic non homogenised full fat milk from which they make a thin yoghurt to react with the bicarbonate of soda. For the purpose of this recipe they have replaced this with half and half organic milk and organic yoghurt. They have tried this recipe and it works well.

1. Preheat oven to 220°C.

2. Oil 2 x ½ pound rectangle baking tins.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl sifting in the salt and bicarbonate of soda making sure they are well distributed.

4. Whisk together the Molasses and Milk, this will ensure the molasses is uniformly missed through the loaf.

5. Whisk yoghurt into the milk/molasses mix.

6. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.

7. The ingredients should be well mixed together but only enough to bind the ingredients and not to strengthen the gluten in the flour. This should ensure a lighter crumblier texture.

8. The mixture will seem quite wet.

9. Weigh 680g into each tin.

10. Sprinkle a little oatmeal on top of each loaf.

11. Make a deep cut the length of each loaf.

12. Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes at 220°C, turn the oven down to 200°C and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes.

13. Check that the loaf is cooked by inserting a clean skewer that should come out clean.

14. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.

Notes:

If you don't have fine oatmeal to hand simply blitz some regular oatmeal in a food processor until fine, and if you don't have a food processor grind it in a pestle and mortar.

Bord Bia Irish Food Bloggers Event

Last Thursday I attended Bord Bia (Irish Food Board) for the Irish Food Bloggers Event following an invitation from Donal Skehan.  The event offered a great opportunity for food bloggers from all over the country to meet for the first time. Now, I have to admit, I am quite new to this whole blogging lark having only started last year and as I am a novice in both the culinary and journalistic fields I was mighty surprised to be considered for the event.  As the say, never miss a genuine opportunity, so off I toddled on the first true summers day of the year.

On entering Bord Bia I was greeted by the lovely Klara Golez, Klara played a huge role in making the day happen, who presented me with a name badge and a folder.  The room was already a buzz with clusters of excited people as I entered.  Having met no one in person prior to this occasion I made my way towards the lovely Babaduck, whom I had had many online conversations with via Beaut.ie.  Some other beaut.ies in attendance included Reindeersp, Gee Gee and TrulyMiss all looking stunning as would be expected.

Once seated Maeve Desmond, Bord Bia Marketing Services, welcomed us all and introduced David Owens who spoke about the Bord Bia Quality Mark and its importance for Irish pork.  Next up, Lorraine Fitzmaurice of Blazing Salads, demonstrated a quick and easy recipe for some delicious Organic Spelt Soda Bread (the ingredients for which have been purchased and a recipe should appear later this week).  Slices of the bread were passed around for the group to sample and from what I could see all devoured it.  In addition Lorraine spoke about Miso and its importance in vegetarian diets as a rich source of protein.  A Migu Miso Pesto was prepared and tossed with some tagliatelle and again a sample was sent around for everybody to try.  It is something else that I will be trying out this week as it offers a healthier, low fat alternative to regular pesto, without any compromise on taste.

Following on from Lorraine the hilarious Pat Conway, GMIT, demonstrated his skill in butchering a pork loin.  Let me tell ya, don't for the love of Jesus cross this fella in a dark alley if he happens to be brandishing a saw cos he is pretty nifty with the aul cutting clean through flesh and bone!  Pat sliced the loin into it's various cuts and gave some wonderful tips on how to ensure that you always cook a beautifully tender piece of pork by following some simple steps and guidelines.

Maire Dufficy, a Bord Bia Food Advisor, took over from Pat to demonstrate some quick and healthy recipes using pork.  The aromas that wafted their way through the room from her cooking had us all drooling and she armed us with a myriad of recipes to try at home.  Maire also gave out her top tip, and it is one of the best cooking tips I have heard yet.  If you are buying meat from your butcher to marinade, bring the marinade to the butcher and ask them to vacuum pack it with the meat.  Vacuum packing will completely seal in both the flavours and the aromas of the marinade so no longer will I have to spend the day worrying that the smell of my main course is permeating my dessert!

While lunch was being prepared, Damien Mulley spoke about blog marketing.  As with all who spoke before him Damien shared some great advice on networking and how to improve blog readership.  Lunch followed and was delicious; yes you guessed it, pork.  I had some yummy pork belly, complete with crackling, accompanied by roast vegetables, salsa and noodles.  Once that lot had been scoffed plates appeared before us baring the most wonderful light strawberry tart (if I track down a recipe it will be posted without fail).  As time was running over slightly Eoin Purcell spoke on the process of transitioning from blog to book as we licked our plates clean.

Following lunch Erica Ryan and Jocasta Clarke spoke about food styling and photography and doled out some indispensable tips.  Erica spoke about the use of glycerine, super glue, WD40 and many other unlikely items you would never even contemplate using with food.  Jocasta advised on the ideal light to use for photographing dishes and also about how to arrange displays to maximise visual impact.  I hope to put these tips to good use and produce a higher standard of pictures for the blog.  I desperately wanted an upgrade on my camera prior to the event, having listened to Jocasta I now desperately NEED one, so I shall be throwing all of my spare euros into Percy for the foreseeable future. 

Now, you would think that all of that would be enough for one day but oh no.  We had been told in advance to bring a bag for some swag and boy were they needed.  Once the day's talks had drawn to a close we were invited to mingle and to load up with lots of scrummy freebies.  I did things in the wrong order so missed out on what I hear was some top notch cheese but none the less I left with a bag heaving full of yummies.  Below is a list of what I nabbed:

Mint plant courtesy of Living Flavour
Alfalfa, Broco Shoots & Smart Seeds Sunflower Mix courtesy of Good4U
Chutney for Cheese courtesy of Sheridan's (as I said I missed out on the cheese also)
Biltong Beef
Smoked Trout courtesy of Goatsbridge
Pu-Erh & South African Rooibos Tea courtesy of Barry's
A Macroom Oatmeal Ginger Biscuit courtesy of Lilly Higgins
A melon salad, the name of the supplier I have since forgotten, soz.

Most of the above has been sampled already.  The melon was eaten when I returned home from the event and was exactly what was required on such a sticky day.  Lilly's scrummy biscuit was practically inhaled the following morning and the rest was dipped into over the weekend.  On Saturday and Sunday numerous mojitos were mixed up using Living Flavours mint plant.  On Sunday whilst relaxing in my back garden with my hubby, his brother and his wife I rustled up a salad with some spinach, all of the goodies from Good4U and the lovely Goatsbridge Smoked Trout.  To accompany this I made a honey mustard dressing, sweet potato wedges and a salad of mozzarella, tomato and basil. Yum yum yum!  Below is a snap of the trout salad but as I had hungry people waiting to be fed I was only granted permission for one quick snap.

Thank you to Donal Skehan, Bord Bia (especially Klara and Maeve), all of the guest speakers and all who provided swag for a truly wonderful day.  Looking forward to the next one already, and to meeting more lovely food bloggers as I really only skimmed the surface this time.  To those of you that I did manage at least a quick hello, it was lovely to meet you.  To those that I did not have a chance to meet, I hope to meet you in the future.

P.S. I didn't take too many photos on the day as my camera felt a little shy and intimidated when it saw all of it's bigger, shinier cousins around.  See, I really do need a new super dooper camera.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary Part Deux

Last Tuesday I planted a selection of herbs. Everyday since I have been fussing over them, checking they have enough water, ensuring they have enough sun and allowing them a couple of hours fresh air out of their miniature hot house. You can imagine my delight on Saturday when I saw signs of life sprouting from a couple of the little pots.

Just look at my rocket plant, it is already 3 or 4 cm high

and my basil has 3 or 4 shoots coming through (they are kind of hard to make out in this photo)

I will keep you updated on their progress and hopefully I can make some delicious breads with them soon.

I've got the measure of you

Quick post today peeps as I haven't had time to bake yet.  Enjoyed a great day at the Irish Food Bloggers event in Bord Bia organised in conjunction with Donal Skehan.  Will write some more about that next week.  Will also post at least one yummy recipe over the weekend so keep your peepers peeled.

For now I am going to share some knowledge that I forgot I had.  I often stumble upon some yummy recipes and think, oooo I can't wait to make that, and then when I read through the recipe I see it is American and I get a bit confused about the conversion of cups to grams or ounces.  A couple of years ago I was flicking through my latest copy of Ideal Home magazine and they had conveniently printed a conversion table for this situation.  I snipped it out and stuck it into the back of my pretty little recipe journal and then forgot all about it until the other night when I was having a little looksie in said journal.  So here it is, which means you have no excuse now if you want to bake a stateside recipe. Print this post if you like and stick it somewhere so that you always have it to hand when you just HAVE to bake that chocolate cake or peach cobbler. Enjoy.

 AMERICAN                                  IMPERIAL                           METRIC


1 cup flour                                       5oz                                       150g

1 cup caster and granulated sugar     8oz                                       225g

1 cup brown sugar                           6oz                                       175g

1 cup butter/margarine/lard              8oz                                        225g

1 cup sultanas/raisins                        7oz                                        200g

1 cup currants                                   5oz                                        150g

1 cup ground almonds                      4oz                                        110g

1 cup golden syrup                           12oz                                      350g

1 cup uncooked rice                         7oz                                        200g

1 cup grated cheese                          4oz                                        110g

1 stick butter                                     4oz                                       110g

Sorry, had issues inserting a table.  Will try again or take a pic of the original to insert instead.  The info is all here though so that's more important than aesthetics now isn't it.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

I decided to finally plant some herbs this summer having procrastonated for the past 4 years since having the garden landscaped.  I had to pay a visit to my local garden centre at the weekend to pick up some terracotta pots for my popover post so, decided to kill two birds with one stone and pick up some herb seeds while there.  I started some mint plants last year which grew really well but following a weekend stay in my brother in laws house following a Mojito emergency the poor things were in a pretty sorry state.  But, I have managed to revive them with weekly doses of some tar like tea.  I'm hoping for some similar success with this new batch of seeds so have my fingers well and truly crossed.

I purchased a starter pack that contained 12 different varieties as follows:
Oregano
Parsley Envy
Rocket
Bush Basil
Thyme
Lovage
Chives
Lemon Coriander
Sage
Rosemary
Coriander
Mint

I also bought another pack of Basil (I kinda love Basil) and some Dill.

I am looking forward to some nice breads later in the summer with various herb flavours, and they will also make a nice addition to salads, meats and fish.  Now all I have to do is to remember to water them!

I pity the fool!

I remember pots of rhubarb stewing on the hob at home for my dad when I was growing up.  I even remember my dad growing some in our back garden (if you saw the size of our garden you would be impressed by this achievement) for a few years.  But I never actually tasted it back then.  My dad would have a bowl of it swimming in custard but something about it just never really appealed to.  I spotted some bunches of rhubarb on Sunday while I was buying some fruit and knowing that Mr Boo enjoys all things fruit related I picked up a bunch to try.

I started with a basic rhubarb fool recipe and then made a couple of additions and the result was pretty good if you ask me.  You didn't?  Well, I'm telling yiz anyway so whist.  The fool recipe I used required double cream to be whipped but both himself and myself were in agreement (for once) that this was a little too heavy so I am going to use single cream for the recipe below. 

Rhubarb Fool with Custard Crunch
(Serves 4)

5 or 6 Stalks of Rhubarb
300g Caster Sugar
500g Tub of Single Whipped Cream
150g Ginger Nut Biscuits
500g Tub of Custard

1.  Preheat the oven to 190°C/374°F/Gas 5.
2.  Roughly chop the rhubarb and put into an ovenproof dish.
3.  Scatter the sugar over the rhubarb and cover the dish with foil (you do not need to add any water to this mix).

4.  Place the rhubarb and sugar into the preheated oven for between 45-60 mins until the rhubarb is nice and soft.
5.  Once the rhubarb is cooked remove the dish from the oven and strain the resulting syrup from the dish into a jug.  Set the syrup aside to cool but do not refrigerate it as it may crystallise and loose it's colour.

6.  Puree the rhubarb until smooth and set aside to cool.

7.  Place the ginger nut biscuits into a zip lock bag and pound with a rolling pin to crush.

8.  Once the rhubarb and the syrup have cooled place the whipped cream into a bowl.
9.  Add the rhubarb and half of the syrup (retain the other half for serving if people require more) to the cream and gently fold through to give a raspberry ripple effect, don't combine completely.
10. In a sundae glass or similar serving dish place a good dollop of custard into the bottom.
11. Place a layer of the crushed ginger nut biscuits on top of the custard.
12. Place a layer of rhubarb fool on top of the biscuits followed by another layer of biscuits.
13. Continue this pattern until the glass is full.
14. Garnish with a small sprinkling of biscuits and a drizzle of the reserved syrup.

This would make an ideal summer dessert for dinner or even Sunday lunch.  The prep work can be done in advance and assembly prior to serving to save time.

If you yield a very large amount of syrup from this recipe you could try adding some to some Champagne or Prosecco for a nice summer cocktail.

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.

BLT Prime Popovers

On our last trip to New York, in August of last year, myself and Mr Boo had a very indulgent time altogether.  We were there alone so had no one but ourselves to please and could follow our own schedule and abandon it at will if the fancy took us.  We made reservations for dinner for each night of our stay at least a month in advance of travelling and had decided on suitable eateries for lunch.  We planned our days activities around our luncheon venue so as to find ourselves in the vicinity just about the time our tummies would start to rumble and mapped out bars to stop at on our travels should an unmerciful thirst take hold (we were thirsty enough to mark approx 80% of them off our list).

The days flowed by in a swirl of champagne bars, scrummilicious restaurants, cocktails sipped on hotel rooftops and copious amounts of cupcakes and ice cream.  The day the evil red wine struck was no different.  We started off with a Frappucino in Starbucks as we strolled from our hotel to Grand Central Station.  From there we took the subway to Canal Street where we disembarked and climbed the stations steps to emerge again into the glorious sun.  We strolled around China town to soak up the wonderful atmosphere and the hustle and bustle of all of the 'designer' shop fronts.  A little turn off and we were on Mulberry Street and transported to the heart of Little Italy, restaurant after restaurant bustling with tables full of families settling down for lunch.  A couple of blocks in we stopped at a restaurant with a bakery for some mouth-watering cannolis and on we travelled happily munching our sweet delights.

Before turning from Mulberry Street to East Houston we always like to duck into The Market NYC and this time was no different.  As well as picking up some quirky pieces made by emerging fashion designers it also offered some welcome respite from the stifling midday heat.  With my new jewellery in hand we continued on our way, turning onto East Houston and walking the few blocks to Katz's deli (the venue of the famous "I'll have what she's having" scene from When Harry Met Sally).  We took our tickets at the door and then entered the mayhem of meat cutters shouting, waiters shouting, bus boys shouting, customers shouting, there always seems to be a lot of shouting in here.  We joined a queue and when we reached the counter the giant behind promptly carved some slices of corned beef for us to sample before ordering.  While he was making up our order he made a very crude comment to Mr Boo that made the crowd behind us howl with laughter and me blush uncontrollably.  Good job I am not easily offended, but that's New York baby, and it is best to just roll along with it.  Once suitably stuffed we headed out in search of liquid refreshment.  An afternoon of bar hopping and shopping led us back to our hotel to shower off the heat of the day and fabulise ourselves for the evening.

A quick cab ride brought us to our first destination of the evening, the Rose Bar in the Gramercy Park Hotel, for a couple more mojitos, and then we ventured around the corner to BLT Prime.  Once seated we ordered a bottle of bubbles and a steak each (you don't visit BLT Prime and not order steak).  Our champagne was poured and popovers were brought to the table to tide us over whilst the cow was being wrangled out back.  I had never had a popover before and OMFG they were scrumptiously, mouth-wateringly I could happily cancel my order and just eat these all night, delicious.  Smothered in butter and sprinkled with some sea salt we both devoured them and expressed our longing for some more.  Our steaks were soon delivered to the table and the Somellier promptly followed with the red wine we had ordered to accompany our meat course.  It was a beautiful red.  Velvety smooth, full berry flavuors that went down very easily, oh how easily it was guzzled.

The most amazing steak of my life and one glass of red wine later and I was finished.  No good to anyone.  A giggling, bleary-eyed vision in fuchsia, sitting like a mischievous child on a bold step.  I giggled my way through dessert and spoke a little too loudly about the NBA player and his squeeze at the next table that had never heard of garlic and asked for an explanation from their very patient waiter (seriously, they were only short of asking him to explain what water is).  We finished our dessert and bubbles and Mr Boo very wisely decided it was time to get me home to bed.  I insisted I was fine as I didn't want to cut short a night of our holiday, but after trying and failing to pose outside for a photo with the beautifully lit Chrysler building in the background I conceded it was indeed time for bed.

Sleep came very easily to me that night once Mr Boo managed to steer me to the bed and stopped me from giggling uncontrollably.  Alas, it was not to last.  At approximately 4am I found myself in the dark and kneeling on the floor in front of the mini bar in nothing but my undies trying to decipher which bottle was water and which was JD, not my finest moment I admit.  15 minutes later and I had it sussed and retrieved the 2 teeny weenie bottles of aqua from amongst the melee of alcoholic beverages.  A further half an hour sprawled across the vanity in the bathroom praying for death and I managed to crawl back to bed only to be woken the next morning by a disgustingly chirpy (and highly amused) Mr Boo, rearing to go and completely unsympathetic to my plight.  A while later a very delicate me emerged into the baking heat, sunglasses on, and vowing never to drink again.  Two hours later having consumed litres of water and cranberry juice and still praying for death I caved and asked the very nice barman in Cipriani in Grand Central Station to make me a Bellini.  It was akin to the elixir of life and instantly stopped the world from swaying so nauseatingly.  Our holiday regained it's momentum and I have since declined all offers of el Diablo's nectar and will continue to do so.

I learnt some very valuable lessons on that trip:
1)  I can drink bubbles and mojitos in vast quantities without any adverse affects.
2)  Red wine is the work of the devil and is not my friend.  Bold, bold vino rouge. Bold.
3)  The hair of the dog really is much better than rehydrating with water and trumps alka seltzer with ease.
4)  Red wine is evil and is not to be consumed by me EVER again.
5)  BLT Prime makes the best steak I have ever tasted.
6)  Red wine is the devils nectar.
7)  I love popovers.

The following recipe is American and so is measured in cups and not grams/ounces.

BLT Prime Popovers
(Makes 6 but recipe can be doubled to yield 12)

For this recipe you will need a popover tin, something I haven't managed to acquire in Ireland even though I have tried kitchen supply stores in Dublin, stalked the kitchen aisle of my local TK Maxx every weekend in the hope they might magically appear and googled to no avail.  They are available on Amazon but I bypassed that option and visited my local garden centre and purchased 6 small glazed terracotta pots and saucers. *

2 cups of Milk, warmed
4 Eggs
2 cups of Flour
2tsp Salt
1 cup of grated Gruyere or Cheddar Cheese

1.  Place the popover pan or terracotta pots into the oven and preheat to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 (if using terracotta pots line with greaseproof paper.  Pictures posted below).
2.  Gently warm the milk over a low heat and set aside.
3.  Whisk the eggs until frothy and slowly whisk in the milk (do this slowly so as not to cook the eggs).
4.  Sift in the flour and the salt and combine until mostly smooth.
5.  Once the mixture is combined, remove the popover pan from the oven and brush each pan with a little oil.  If using terracotta pots brush the greaseproof paper with a little oil.
6.   While the batter is still warm transfer to a jug and pour into the popover pan/terracotta pots until 3/4 full.

7.  Sprinkle approx 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of each popover and place in the oven for 50 mins, rotating the pan a half turn after the 1st 15 mins.

6.  After 50 mins remove from the oven, if a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean they are cooked.  If not return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
7.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, then serve immediately with some butter and freshly ground sea salt.

To serve popovers for breakfast leave the cheese out and serve with butter and jam.

*As with all new kitchen utensils wash terracotta pots in warm soapy water before using to ensure all garden centre dwellers have been washed away.  Line with greaseproof paper as the batter will stick to the sides when baking.

To line terracota pots with greaseproof paper:

Cut a square of greaseproof paper

Fold the square in half

Then in half again to form a smaller square

Now fold in hald diagonally to make a triangle

Place point side down into one of the pots and mark a point approximately 1" above the rim

Cut off any excess above this point

Fold in half again to make a skinny triangle

(these fold lines will make it easier to place into the pots)

Open out the paper and stuff it into the pot, use the fold lines to flatten it inside the pot

Turn the top down over the edge of the pot

Brush some oil on the greaseproof paper before pouring in the batter.

Peanut Butter Cups (GF)

Probably my favourite place in the world (aside from home) is New York.  I have been every year since 2004 and think were I confined to one holiday in a year that it would be my destination of choice everytime.  I don't think I could sum up it's attraction in one word or even 20 for that matter, it just has a hold over me that draws me back time and time again. 

The excitement at the moment the shiny black limo emerges from the tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan has yet to fade.  Stepping from the car to the pavement and taking that first glimpse of the sky high buildings all around, and being greeted by name by the hotels concierge, as though you are an old friend returned, fills me with a great sense of belonging to a city so far from home.  The city just intoxicates me.  Invades every ounce of my being and assaults each of my senses.  From the blinding lights of Times Square, the smell of pretzels wafting from the carts of street vendors, the noise of a million (well maybe not a million but close) honking horns emanating from yellow cabs, the heat rising from street vents above the subway and the (imagined) taste of delicious confections lined up in bakery windows as I pass by (we usually save sampling the wares for Billy's Bakery in Chelsea). 

I love to walk the streets of New York hand in hand with my gorgeous man, pounding the concrete of familiar block after block and spotting new little gems that have evaded our sight on past visits.  I have been in both the depths of winter, -15°C, and the height of summer, 28°C, but I cannot say which I prefer as both have their merits.  I love the ritual of layering up in winter before venturing out to snowy sidewalks, entering a bar or restaurant for some much needed heat rosy cheeked, stripping off the 50 million layers and savouring the warmth of the room and the people all around.  Equally, I love the freedom of waking in the morning during summer and slipping on a delicate flowing summer dress before venturing out into the stifling heat (serioulsy, not a breath to be had) and walking the streets frappucino in hand or braving the oven like temperatures (and rather unsavoury smell) of the subway.  The antidote to such extreme temperatures, an ice cold mojito guzzled on a roof top bar enjoying the cities skyline from a birds eye view.

Each visit is planned with much anticipation at the prospect of visiting favourite haunts yet again and also trying new eateries and bars and seeing the city from a slightly different angle.  One favourite haunt that is never snubbed in favour of a new and shiny upgrade is the Hershey store in Times Square.  Now, I'm not the biggest fan of American chocolate.  I know, I know, I'm sorry to any stateside readers, but it is not to my liking.  It is a bit on the sweet side and doesn't possess that deliciously rich creamy luxury of it's European counterparts.  I am however, rather partial to a box of Milk Duds and a mountain or 3 of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I know these are available in Ireland now but I still can't step foot back on the plane without at least a months stash safely stowed in my suitcase.  Between visits to tide me over sometimes, there is nothing else for it other than to whip up a batch with my very own hands.  For the know how keep on reading.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

for the base:

50g Soft Brown Sugar
200g Icing Sugar
50g Soft Butter
200g Smooth Peanut Butter

for the topping:

200g Milk Chocolate (chopped)
100g Dark Chocolate (chopped)

also required 45-50 paper petit-four cases (teeny tiny cup cake cases in other words)

1.  In a bowl, mix together the brown sugar, icing sugar, butter and peanut butter using an electric whisk until the mixture is the consistency of a sandy paste.

sorry, forgot to take a picture of this mixed together

2.  Using clean hands place a teaspoon size disc of the paste into the bottom of the petit-four cases (I used a melon baller and a teaspoon to do this instead.  You should have enough mixture to fill between 45 and 50 cases).  Press the mixture down to form a smooth layer in the bottom of the case and place the cases into the indentations of a mini muffin tin (if you don't have a mini muffin tin place the cases onto a flat baking sheet).

3.  Melt both chocolates in a heat proof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water (do not allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water).

4.  Stir the melted chocolate together to combine and set aside to allow to cool slightly.
5.  Spoon 1 teaspoon of the chocolate mixture into the petit-four cases covering the sandy base.

6.  Place in the fridge to set for 30 minutes before devouring.