Irish Foodies November Cookalong - Winter Warmers

Last Friday was the first Friday of the month and as an Irish foodie that meant just one thing, cookalong time.  The theme this month was winter warmers and I didn't have to think twice about what I wanted to cook.  When winter sets in and comfort food cravings sky rocket the dish at the very tippy top of my list is stew. 

As a child I lived on stew for the best part of 2 years or so.  I was obviously going through a picky eating phase and my mam rather than force things on me would religiously have a pot of my favourite stew on the stove so that everyday I would eat a proper dinner.  My mams stew was one of her makey up dishes, based on a packet of oxtail soup with the softest veg and the perfect thick consistency.  It was the most delicious stew I have ever had and sadly for me I have never been able to recreate it.  My sister makes a pretty good dupe, and even though she has given me instructions on how to make it, it has never tasted even remotely like mam's.  When my dad enquired on the phone on Friday night what I was having for dinner and I replied with stew he immediately recalled my love for it as a child. 

I think this is why I love it so much as an adult, and why it brings so much comfort on cold dark nights.  Each bowl that I ate as a child was made with love, just for me and to make sure I had a nourishing dinner every day.  Not just any old dinner because it was convenient for my mam, but one that would be eaten with gusto, the delicious flavour in every spoonful savoured.  My mam with cook 4 separate meals every day if it meant each member of the family ate something they enjoyed and sometimes, after all of that, a slice of toast or a cup of tea and a lemon puff would do for her.  You see there was no one to make sure her favourite meal was cooked and handed to her.  None the less, she did it everyday and not one day did she complain.  Her husband and her children were happy and that was sustenance enough for her.  I'm not sure I ever told her that her stew was the best in the world, but it was mam, so thanks so much for the endless pot. x

This is my version of stew, it is roughly based on a Jamie Oliver recipe.  The 2 constants are the red wine and beef stock from his recipe but I have a tendency to change the other elements depending on whats in the kitchen.  On Friday I used the following.

Beef Stew
(serves 4)

4tbsp Oil and a knob of Butter
A handful of Sage Leaves
2 small Red onions, peeled and diced
1lb of steak pieces
2tbsp flour
Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
2 Carrots, washed and sliced(not too thinly as you don't want them to disintegrate while slow cooking)
2 small Potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Parsnips, peeled and sliced as per the carrots
2 small Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
2tbsp fresh Rosemary, stalks removed
2 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and sliced
2tbsp Tomato Puree
285ml/0.5 Pint of Beef Stock
1/2 Bottle of Red Wine

1.  Preheat the oven to 160C/300F/Gas Mark 2.
2.  Place the oil and butter into a casserole dish and set over a medium heat.
3.  Add the onion and sage leaves and fry for a couple of minutes.
4.  Place the flour in a bowl and season with some salt and pepper.  Add the meat and toss to coat evenly.
5.  Add the meat to the casserole and seal.
6.  Add all of the vegetables, tomato puree, stock, wine, rosemary and garlic.
7.  Cover with the lid and bring to the boil.  Transfer to the preheated oven for 3-4 hours until the meat is tender. (the longer you leave it the better as the flavours develop with time and it thickens up beautifully)
8.  Serve with crusty bread smothered in lashing of butter, the real deal, not the cholesterol friendly stuff.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Crumble - Irish Foodies Vegetarian Cookalong

Apologies for the worse than normal picture quality in

this post but crumbles are quite tricky to photograph.

The last Irish foodies cookalong theme was vegetarian.  While I love vegetables and would eat them until they come out of my ears this made me very aware that I never conciously cook an entirely vegetarian meal.  I set my little brain to thinking and settled on a vegetable crumble.  If I remember correctly the night in question was a little chilly and so I fancied something comforting.  My first attempt while nice didn't really float my boat.  It seemed quite flour heavy and lacked the lovely crunch of the traditional sweet crumbles so I decided to give it another bash this week and was very impressed with the end result. 

I found the original recipe online, I can't even remember which site now, but I knew when flour and butter and some seasoning were the only ingredients that it maybe wouldn't be up to much.  As usual I should have trusted my instincts.  So I set my brain to thinking and decided that if I reduced the flour content and added a savoury 'granola' type thingy ma bob that I could be onto a winner.  This is what I came up with.

For the 'granola'
(I just measured everything very roughly but the below worked well for me)

3 handfuls of Porridge Oats
2 Handful of chopped Mixed Nuts
1tbsp Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and a little Brown Sugar to season

1.  Place the porridge oats and mixed nuts into a bowl and give them a little mix.
2.  Add the oil and mix again.  If you feel the mix is too dry add a little more oil.  You really just want to lightly coat the mix in the oil.
3.  Season with the salt, pepper and sugar and place on a baking sheet and spread them out evenly.

Vegetable Crumble
Serves 4-6 as a side dish

1 Sweet Potato, peeled and diced
1 small Butternut Squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
1 large Onion, peeled and diced
2 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
2-3tbsp of Olive Oil
1tsp ground Cumin
1tsp ground Coriander
1tsp ground Tumeric
1tsp Brown Sugar
A pinch of Sea Salt
A pinch of freshly ground Black Pepper
229ml/7.5floz Single Cream
100g/3.5oz Plain Flour
75g/2.5oz Butter, diced
Savoury 'Granola' (see above)
2 handfuls of Grated Cheese (optional)

1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
2.  Place the diced vegetables and garlic in an oven proof dish.
3.  In a bowl mix the olive oil, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground tumeric and brown sugar.  Pour over the vegetables and mix to ensure they are evenly coated.
4.  Place into the preheated oven and roast for 45 mins, mixing occasionally to stop the tops caramelising too much.

5.  Place the butter and flour into a seperate bowl and rub together to form a coarse, bread crumb like consistency.

6.  Add the granola and mix well with your hands to distribute evenly.
7.  Remove the vegetables from the oven and add in the cream.  Give it a little stir to coat them all.

8.  Pour over the crumble mixture and spread evenly over the vegetables.  Scatter with the grated cheese if you are using.  Return to the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cream is bubbling around the edges.

9.  Serve and enjoy.

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.