Home sweet home

BY NOW, I hope you have had time to tune in to my lovely daughter-in-law Rachel’s Favourite Food at Home on Wednesdays at 7.30pm on RTÉ 1.

Rachel’s recipes are easy and delicious and the book that accompanies the series has a great mix of international and ethnic recipes, classic regional fare and good old-fashioned family favourites such as macaroni cheese, homemade sausages and banana butterscotch pudding.

The 10 chapters are enticingly titled Easy Family Food, Sweet Celebrations, Picnics and Days Out, Food for Children, Extended Family, Dining Alfresco, Home Cinema, Big Celebrations, Edible Gifts and Just like Mum Used To Make.

Each section has a selection of recipes accompanied by Peter Cassidy’s beautiful photos and the equally stunning location shots were taken by Cristian Barnett.

Rachel is a busy mother with two boisterous boys. She encourages her contemporaries to bring the children into the kitchen to let them help with the peeling, chopping and cooking — and to hell with the mess.

It’s all about having fun and whetting the children’s appetite, not only for food but also for cooking and the simple pleasure of sitting down around the kitchen table to share some good food with family and friends.

Rachel’s Favourite Food At Home is published by Collins and is available in hardback at €22.95.

Upside-down apple and cinnamon cake

Serves 8

50g (2oz) butter

250g (9oz) brown sugar

3 eating apples, peeled, cored and sliced 5mm (¼ in) thick

200g (7oz) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 generous tsp ground cinnamon

2 eggs

200ml (7floz) buttermilk or sour milk

75ml (2¾ floz) vegetable or sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), gas mark 4.

Melt the butter in a medium-sized ovenproof frying pan (measuring 25cm (10in) in diameter).

Stir in half the sugar and cook over a gentle heat for about 2 minutes. Add the apple — there’s no need to stir — and remove from the heat and set aside.

Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk the eggs in a measuring jug or small bowl and add the remaining sugar, buttermilk and oil. Mix together, then pour into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine into a liquid batter.

Pour this over the apple in the pan. Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cake feels firm in the centre.

Cool for 5 minutes before turning out by placing an inverted plate over the top of the pan and turning pan and plate over together in one quick movement.

Serve warm or at room temperature with softly whipped cream.

Bill Granger’s banana butterscotch pudding

Serves 4-6

This recipe originally came from Bill’s book, Simply Bill, and he cooked it when Rachel appeared with him on Great Food Live. She adapted it slightly to fit her pie dish; to make it for 12 people double the recipe and cook in a 25cm (10in) square gratin dish for 55 minutes.

For the pudding:

125g (4½oz) plain flour

3 level tsp baking powder

125g (4¼oz) caster sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 banana, mashed

250ml (8floz) milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

85g (3¼oz) butter, melted

For the topping:

100g (4oz) soft brown sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

150ml (5floz) boiling water

To serve:

Softly whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), gas mark 4. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the caster sugar. Mix together the beaten egg, the mashed banana, milk, vanilla extract and melted butter. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir to mix until combined. Pour this wet dough into a 1.25-litre (2¼ pint) pie dish and place the dish on a baking tray.

To make the topping: Put the brown sugar, golden syrup and boiling water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then drizzle it all over the pudding. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until it feels slightly firm in the centre.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream. If you are not going to serve the pudding immediately, keep it somewhere warm until you are ready — it sits quite happily.

Parmesan chicken goujons

Serves 6-8

Use good-quality free-range chicken and you’ll have a delicious and nutritious meal the little ones will adore. Rachel’s children love dipping these goujons into homemade tomato ketchup or mayonnaise or sometimes a mixture of the two.

600g (1lb 6oz) boneless and skinless chicken

50g (2oz) plain flour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 eggs, beaten

100g (4oz) breadcrumbs

50g (2oz) Parmesan cheese, or something similar, such as Grana Padano, finely grated

3 tbsp sunflower oil

These can either be cooked on the hob or in the oven. If using the oven, preheat to 200C (400F), gas mark 6, and place on a baking tray in the oven to preheat.

Cut the chicken into goujons the size of a big finger (1x10cm or ½x4in). Place the flour in a mixing bowl or in a plastic bag with some salt and pepper.

Place the beaten eggs in another bowl. Mix the breadcrumbs and finely grated cheese together and place in a bowl or bag as well.

Toss the goujons in the seasoned flour, making sure they do not stick together, then remove. Shake off the excess flour and dip them in the beaten egg.

Remove from the egg, letting the excess drip off, and toss into the breadcrumb cheese mix. Shake off the excess and lay the goujons on a plate.

To cook on the hob: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. When the oil is hot, add the goujons in a single layer, cook on one side for about 3 minutes until golden, then turn down the heat and flip the pieces over. Cook on the other side for about 4 minutes, until cooked through and golden.

To cook the goujons in the oven: Drizzle the base of the preheated tray with the oil and lay the floured and seasoned goujons in a single layer. Bake in the oven for about 12-18 minutes, turning the goujons over halfway through, or when golden on one side. When they are completely cooked, remove from the oven and serve.

Lamb samosas

Makes 20

Samosas are the ultimate finger food, which makes them the ultimate telly food. Use filo pastry as a faster alternative to the traditional samosa pastry. For a vegetarian version, replace the lamb with an equal quantity of boiled, skinned and chopped potato.

2 tbsp sunflower or olive oil

300g (11oz) finely chopped or minced lamb

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

100g (4oz) peas (fresh or frozen)

1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

5 sheets of filo pastry, measuring 25x50cm (10x20in)

1 egg, beaten

Heat a frying pan, add the sunflower or olive oil, then toss in the lamb, onion and ground spices. Season and cook for about 10 minutes without a lid until the lamb is just cooked and the juices have evaporated. Add the peas and toss. Take off the heat and add the chopped coriander and season again to taste. Set aside for a minute to let the lamb cool.

Meanwhile, lay the filo pastry out on a board and cut into half lengthways, then into half widthways, so you have four rectangles from each whole sheet.

Cover all the pieces of filo with a barely damp tea towel (to prevent them from drying out).

Place one sheet lengthways in front of you and pile a dessertspoon of the lamb mixture at the end closest to you. Roll the pastry from the end closest to you once, then fold in both the long sides and roll over and over, away from you, into a little parcel. Brush the finishing edge with a little of the beaten egg to seal and then place on a baking tray. Brush the finished samosa with beaten egg and repeat with all the remaining pastry and meat.

These can be prepared earlier in the day up to this point and chilled in the fridge. To cook, place the baking tray into an oven preheated to 220C (425F), gas mark 7, for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Foolproof food

Popcorn Paradise

Serves 4

It’s difficult to have a home cinema night without popcorn, so why not try this recipe and all its variations? Serve the popcorn in a big bowl or in paper cornets for each person.

Plain popcorn:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

75g (3oz) popcorn

25g (1oz) butter

Pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan. Add the popcorn and swirl the pan to coat the popcorn in oil. Turn down the heat to low, cover, and the corn should start to pop in a couple of minutes. As soon as it starts popping (after 5-7 minutes), take the saucepan off the heat and add the butter and salt. Put the lid back on the pan and shake to mix. Pour out into bowls and leave to cool a little.

Variations

Toffee Popcorn:

Cook the popcorn as for the plain popcorn recipe, but while the corn is popping, make the toffee coating by melting 25g (1oz) butter in a small saucepan. Then add 25g (1oz) brown sugar and 1 generous tablespoon golden syrup and stir over a high heat for ½-1 minute until thick. Pour the toffee over the popcorn, put the lid on the pan and shake to mix. Pour out into bowls and cool a little before serving.

Spiced Popcorn:

Cook the popcorn for the plain popcorn recipe as far as removing the pan from the heat. In a bowl, mix 1½ teaspoons each of ground cumin and coriander seeds with ½ teaspoon each of medium-strength curry powder and ground paprika and ¾ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons sunflower oil in a frying pan, add the spices and stir for about 30 seconds until lightly toasted. Throw in 25g (1oz) caster sugar and ¾ teaspoon salt, stir, then add all of this into the prepared popcorn in the saucepan, toss and empty into a big bowl.

Hot tips

Herb tour and talk at Airfield Gardens, Dundrum, Dublin 14, tomorrow at 2.30pm. Cost €10. Tel [phone] or email [e-mail].

North West Food Fest continues: today, McNean Food Trail, — 1-7.30pm; tomorrow, Family Fun Fungus Forage, 10am-5pm. Tel Alex at 071-9643963.

The Organic Fair is at the Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim. Tel [phone].

Louth Food Group: Nine local producers have come together to promote, develop and grow their business.

More details from Michelle O’Brien, tel [phone]; email [e-mail].

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group resumes its meetings on Thursday at 7.30pm, at the Crawford Art Gallery Cafe, Emmet Place, Cork.

Derek O’Brien, head of the National Bakery School, Dublin, will give a talk on homemade breads, Irish traditional breads, — old and new bakeries and their products.

Admission is €6 and includes tea, coffee and tastings.