Heart of the home
Hearty wholesome dishes that will fill the kitchen with the smell of delicious home cooking. The sort of food that everyone will want to tuck into around the kitchen table.
A few weekends ago, when I was down in Kerry at the Listowel Food Fair, I popped into see Mary Keane in JB Keane’s pub in Church Street. Mary is a hugely entertaining woman with a lyrical Kerry lilt and a no-nonsense approach to life — she loves her food and some time ago brought me into her own kitchen to teach me how to make proper Listowel pies.
When we were chatting away about food, Mary reminded us that “the kitchen table is a fierce important thing in every home”. How right she is and how quickly many of us have abandoned it for the sofa in front of the telly. So perhaps this is the time for a New Year resolution to ban the ‘damn telly’ from the kitchen or at least have an unbreakable rule that it doesn’t get switched on at mealtimes. Even if people are arguing it keeps the lines of communication open. Better still, cook together — peeling and chopping really can be fun when everyone is chatting, squabbling and having a laugh. It helps to share the workload and best of all, it passes on cooking skills in an effortless easy way.
While times were good many didn’t reckon it was worth bothering to learn how to cook but boy, have we had a wake-up call. In changed circumstances we now realise the value of being able to scramble a few eggs or whip up a spontaneous pasta. So how about a delicious bubbly cauliflower cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken and broccoli gratin or a strata, a savoury version of bread and butter pudding. My current favourite is butternut squash and sage strata from Alice’s Cookbook — published by Quadrille — by Alice Hart, a name to watch. Alice serves it with garlic toast but on New Year’s Day it would be good with a big green salad of winter leaves with a new season’s olive oil dressing.
Follow it up with a steamed pudding, apple fritters, or an old-fashioned rice pudding with a golden skin on top — perfect for a chilly January day.
If you’d prefer, the minced beef mixture can be shaped into a burger, fried and tucked into a soft bun.
Serves 6
Meatballs:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
900g (2lbs) freshly minced beef
2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs, such as marjoram, or a mixture of parsley, chives and thyme leaves
1 organic egg, beaten
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tomato sauce:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
225g (8oz) onion, peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
900g (2lbs) ripe, peeled and chopped tomatoes or 2 x 400g (14ozs) tins chopped tomatoes
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar
To serve:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
150g (5ozs) cheddar cheese or a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan, grated
450g (1lb) spaghetti
Garnish:
Flat parsley leaves
First, make the meatballs. Heat the olive oil in a heavy, stainless-steel saucepan over a gentle heat and add the chopped onions and garlic. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 8-10 minutes until soft and slightly golden. Allow to cool.
Put the freshly minced beef into a bowl, add the cold sweated onion and garlic, then add the herbs and the beaten egg. Season the mixture to taste.
Fry a tiny bit to check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Divide the mixture into about 24 round meatballs. Cover and refrigerate.
Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the oil in a casserole or a stainless-steel saucepan. Add the sliced onion and crushed garlic, toss until coated, cover and sweat over a gentle heat until soft. Add the peeled and chopped tomatoes, mix and season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sugar (tinned tomatoes take more sweetening). Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, uncover and continue to cook for 15-20 minutes or until thick and unctuous.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Cook the meatballs for 8-10 minutes turning from time to time. When they are cooked, transfer to an ovenproof serving dish. Add to the hot tomato sauce, turn gently to cover. Pop into a preheated oven at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling water. Drain and turn into a hot serving dish. Spoon the meatballs and tomato sauce over the top, sprinkle with grated cheddar or a mixture of mozzarella and parmesan. Sprinkle with lots of flat parsley leaves.
This is one of those dishes that can be mouth-watering or a complete disaster. Its success depends on the broccoli being carefully cooked so that it is bright green and just tender.
Serves 4-6
1 x 1.5kg (3lbs 5ozs) chicken, free range if possible
2 carrots, sliced
2 onions, sliced
Sprig each of thyme and tarragon
A few peppercorns
300ml (½ pint) homemade chicken stock
450g (1lb) broccoli florets
110g (4ozs) mushrooms, sliced
Knob of butter
175ml (6fl ozs) milk
150ml (¼ pint) cream
2 tsp tarragon or annual marjoram roux
25g (1oz) buttered crumbs (see recipe)
1-2oz (25-50g) grated mature cheddar cheese
Lasagne dish (25.5 x 20.5cm) 10 x 8 inch
Put the chicken into a saucepan or casserole with the onions and carrots, add a sprig of thyme, tarragon and a few peppercorns. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1¼ hours or until the chicken is tender.
Meanwhile cook the broccoli florets in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold water, keep aside. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter on a hot pan season with salt and freshly ground pepper and keep aside also.
When the chicken is cooked remove the meat from one side and carve into bite-sized pieces.
Keep the rest for another recipe or double the rest of the ingredients.
Strain and degrease the cooking liquid. Add the cream and milk, bring to the boil. Add the tarragon or annual marjoram, simmer for a few minutes, thicken to a light coating consistency with roux, then add the chicken to the sauce. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Butter an ovenproof lasagne dish, put a layer of broccoli on the base, scatter the mushrooms on top and cover with the creamy chicken mixture.
Mix the buttered crumbs with the grated cheese and sprinkle over the surface. Reheat in a moderate oven 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes and flash under the grill until the top is crunchy and golden. Serve immediately.
2 ozs (50g) butter
4 ozs (110g) soft white breadcrumbs
Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the breadcrumbs. Remove from the heat immediately and allow to cool.
4 ozs (110 g) butter
4 ozs (110 g) flour
Melt the butter and cook the flour in it for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. Use as required.
Roux can be stored in a cool place and used as required or it can be made up on the spot if preferred. It will keep at least a fortnight in a refrigerator.
The name is a bit misleading, because we use golden syrup instead of treacle. It’s sweet and sticky, and lovely.
Serves 4–6
7g (¼oz) soft butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons white breadcrumbs
110g (4oz) butter
110g (4oz) golden caster sugar
2 organic eggs
150g (5oz) self-raising flour
Grated zest of 1 organic lemon
2 tablespoons milk
For the sauce:
3 tablespoons golden syrup
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
600ml (1 pint) pudding bowl
Brush the bottom of the bowl with soft butter. Mix the syrup with the lemon juice and breadcrumbs. Spoon around the base of the bowl. Cream the butter, add the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the flour and grated lemon zest, add enough milk to make a softish mixture. Spoon into the bowl. Cover and steam for 1¼ hours.
After steaming, carefully remove from the pan and let sit for five minutes. Remove paper. Carefully turn it upside down onto a warm serving dish (the syrup will be scalding hot).
Serve with lightly-whipped cream or homemade custard.
To steam a pudding: Choose a deep saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Fill about halfway with water and bring to the boil. Lower the pudding into the saucepan. Cover and boil gently for required time. Keep checking the water level regularly — it needs to remain at least halfway up the bowl.
To cover a pudding bowl: Take two layers of silicone, or greaseproof paper, or tin foil, and pleat in the centre to allow for expansion.
Lay flat on top of the bowl — there should be enough to come down over the sides. Secure the ledge with cotton string. Make a handle for ease of lifting.
Funny how one forgets a recipe. We hadn’t had these for ages, but I remembered them recently and they taste just as good as ever. As children, we particularly loved fritters, because they used to fry into funny shapes, which caused great hilarity. These can also be shallow-fried in a pan. You can add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar and toss the apples in for extra flavour.
Serves 6–8
110g (4oz) plain white flour
Pinch of salt
1 organic egg
150ml (5fl oz) milk
Good-quality vegetable oil, for frying
450g (1lb) cooking apples (about 4), Bramley’s Seedling or Grenadier
225g (4oz) caster sugar
Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and drop in the egg. Use a whisk to bring in the flour gradually from the edges, slowly adding in the milk at the same time.
Leave the batter in a cool place for about an hour.
Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 180C (350F). Peel and core the apples. Cut into rings, no thicker than 1cm (¼inch). Dip the rings into the batter and lift out with a skewer, allowing the surplus batter to drain off, then drop into hot fat, a few at a time. Fry until golden brown, drain well on kitchen paper.
Toss each fritter in caster sugar. Serve immediately on hot plates with softly whipped cream.
A creamy rice pudding is one of the greatest treats on a cold, winter’s day. You need to use short-grain rice, which plumps up as it cooks. This is definitely a forgotten pudding and it’s unbelievable the reaction we get to it every time we make it at the cookery school. It’s always the absolute favourite pudding at my evening courses.
Serves 6–8
100g (3½oz) pearl rice (short-grain rice)
50g (2oz) sugar
Small knob of butter
1.2 litres (2 pints) milk
1 x 1.2 litre (2 pint) capacity pie dish
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Put the rice, sugar and butter into a pie dish. Bring the milk to the boil and pour over. Bake for 1–1½ hours. The skin should be golden, the rice underneath should be cooked through and have soaked up the milk, but still be soft and creamy. Time it so that it’s ready just in time for pudding. If it has to wait in the oven for ages, it will be dry and dull and you’ll wonder why you bothered.
Three good things to serve with rice pudding: softly-whipped cream and soft brown sugar; or compote of apricots and cardamom; or compote of sweet apples and rose geranium.
- ART STUDENT Eileen Hutton studied at the Burren School of Art. The nest she built at Ballymaloe Cookery School, from hazel twigs and moss, was responsibly removed from Slieve Carron Nature Reserve as part of the Burren Conservation Volunteers’ effort. The nest will be on public view, from 9am to 6pm, in the conservatory at Ballymaloe Cookery School until the end of January. www.eileenhutton.com.
- THE Cook’s Book of Ingredients, published by Penguin, is the ultimate visual reference guide to ingredients, enabling cooks to learn how to choose top-quality produce, and get great results in the kitchen. The book features 250 classic recipes, from basil pesto to fruity jams, helping readers to get the most out of each ingredient, and create dishes they will enjoy.
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