Caitriona Redmond: How to make soda farls and one-pot ham soup great for freezing

This ham soup with dumplings is a great one-pot meal.

It’s almost the New Year. 2022 was another challenging year for most of us, and I’m not sorry to see it end.

It’s a time for celebrating new beginnings, but also a time for reflection, and if you’re finding things tight, it’s a time for reviewing your Christmas gifts, because those gifts could be the difference between having something extra to put on the table or not.

The person who gave you the gift intended the present for you with all the best intentions because they want you to have something for yourself. Therein lies the problem, you can’t, because you’ve got a bill to pay and not enough cash to cover it. What do you do?

Understand that once the gift is received, the giver has expressed their intentions but has no choice about what you do with it. The same goes for the gifts we’ve all ‘regifted’ or sent to the charity shop, because they just didn’t hit the mark.

Should you feel guilty about exchanging a gift for store credit to buy essentials, or using a gift card for the same purposes? You shouldn’t, but I know that there is regret. I’ve experienced it too. I’ve used money intended as a gift to pay the bills, and it simultaneously feels like a weight lifting and a cloud of unfairness settling. I understand the unfairness of it all. Having to go without to pay bills, especially when you have a lovely gift (or maybe several) dangled in front of you is a rotten feeling.

From the gift-givers perspective, they want you to have a gift to cherish or enjoy spending on yourself. Equally, they certainly don’t want you to live in hardship for the sake of retaining the gift. Use what you have to pay the bills; all the shopping trips in the world won’t make up for no heat or food on the table.

If you take any advice from me this week, it’s not to get caught up in what you have to sacrifice. I realise that’s easier said than done, but the resentment can consume you and turn the food in your mouth to dust.

I promise you that when things get better, you will be able to treat yourself and appreciate it all the more for the sacrifices you’ve made.

Money Saving Tips 

You might be familiar with Olio, the food waste-sharing app, which is a clever way to share food that is past its sell by date. The food is still perfectly usable and the Olio Food Waste champions in your area volunteer to assist in redistribution.

What you may not know is that Olio also functions on a much more micro level. If you have half a jar of relish left over from Christmas that you may not use, you can share it with local Olio users. Not only is this a handy way of clearing out the presses and cupboards of food that would otherwise go to waste but you may also pick up a few coveted ingredients for free.

Soda Farls

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

Soda farls are nicest when freshly made with a runny egg on top and maybe a couple of bits of crispy bacon too

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour

• 165ml buttermilk

• 1 tsp baking soda

• Pinch of salt

• Flour for dusting

Method

1. Place a non-stick frying pan on the hob on a medium heat.

2. Put the flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl and mix together until you have a loose dough. I normally do the mixing with the back of a knife or a fork. The key is not to overwork the dough.

3. Pull the dough together into a ball with your hands and place on a well-dusted chopping board. Dust more flour over the top. Pat the ball down so that you get a flat, round shape, about 2cm in height. Cut the dough into quarters.

4. At this stage the frying pan should be at a constant medium heat. Put the four pieces onto the pan and allow them to cook until golden brown on the bottom.

5. At this stage flip the farls and cook again on the other side. You will notice that the sides may appear a little raw. Once the two big sides are cooked, turn all the farls on their side and rest against one another, turning until every edge is cooked.

6. Serve immediately.

Ham soup with dumplings

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

This ham soup with dumplings is a great one-pot meal. You could even freeze the cooking water a ham and reheat it to make the soup later

Servings

5

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 litre ham cooking liquid/stock

• 1/2 turnip/swede, peeled and chopped

• 4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

• 100g of dried soup mix

• 300g plain flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 2 spring onions/scallions finely chopped

• 30g melted butter

• 70ml cold water

• 400g shredded, cooked ham

Method

1. Take a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan with a firm lid. Pour in the stock, soup mix and chopped vegetables and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, scallions and melted butter. Then slowly pour in the cold water in quarters. Stir the mixture with a fork and stop adding water when you have a stiff dough.

3. Once the vegetables in the pot are cooked and tender, stir in the shredded ham. Shape the dough into small ping-pong-sized balls. Sit them on top of the soup. Put the lid back on the pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Using a large spoon, gently turn the dough over and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

4. Serve in large soup bowls and eat with a spoon.