Weekend food

FOR many of us with busy lives Monday to Friday whizzes past in a buzz of activity by the time we get home from work in the evening.

It is so tempting to flop in a comfy chair, put up the feet and nibble a ready meal. Michelle Darmody comes to the rescue with her new column on page 26 with lots of exciting suggestions for easy, week-day meals.

But how about an extra special meal at the weekend when there is a bit more time for shopping, chopping and cooking with family and friends around the dining table.

Yummy food is all about good ingredients, they don’t have to be expensive but they do need to be fresh and in season. Local seasonal food can be difficult to find in large supermarkets and affiliated shops, so part of the fun can be grabbing a shopping bag and heading for your local farmers’ market. Why not set yourself a challenge — that the main ingredients should all come from within a 25 mile radius of your home. Obviously salt, pepper and spices will need to be imported but it should be possible to find a good free range or better still organic chicken locally. Choose a fine plump one with giblets so you can make a nice pot of chicken broth with the carcass and that can be the basis of a delicious soup, stew or chicken pie.

The hens are all laying well at the moment so there are lots of lovely free range eggs at the market or you could go one better and bring home a few lively hens from farmers markets and have the pleasure of collecting freshly laid eggs every day (almost!). There are gorgeous crinkly Savoy cabbages around at present — they only cost a couple of euro and make a delicious salad as well as buttered cabbage.

The pudding has to be new season’s rhubarb. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love a rhubarb pie, tart, crumble or cake. I’ve got lots and lots of recipes but I’ve chosen a rhubarb crumble cake that everyone loved when they tasted it recently.

Happy cooking.

Chicken and Bacon Pie

Serves 6 — 8

850ml (1½ pints) homemade chicken stock or water

2 large carrots, cut into chunks

2 large unpeeled onions, quartered

2 celery sticks, cut into small chunks

6 black peppercorns

1 bouquet garni

1 large free-range, organic chicken or boiling fowl

1 sprig of tarragon (optional)

16 small flat mushrooms

25g (1oz) butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

16 button onions, peeled

450g (1lb) streaky bacon in a piece, cooked

110g (4oz) peas — frozen are fine (optional)

500g (1lb 2oz) puff pastry

egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk)

green salad, to serve

For the sauce:

150ml (1/4 pint) dry white wine

110g (4oz) roux

250ml (9fl oz) single cream

500g (18oz) puff pastry

Egg wash

1 large or 6-8 small ovenproof pie dishes

Put 5cm (2 inches) of water or chicken stock in a heavy casserole and add the vegetables and bouquet garni. Lay the chicken on top. Add a sprig of tarragon if available and cover with a tight fitting lid. Bring to the boil and then transfer to a moderate oven, 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Cook for 1-2 hours, depending on the size of the bird. Watch that it does not boil dry. The water should be deliciously rich and may be a little fatty.

Meanwhile, fry the whole or sliced flat mushrooms depending on size in a little butter on a hot pan, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sweat the onions in butter in a small, covered casserole until soft. Cut the cooked bacon into cubes. When the chicken is cooked remove from the casserole onto a large platter and carve the flesh. De-grease cooking liquid. Arrange the sliced chicken in layers in a deep pie dish, covering each layer with bacon, onions and mushrooms, add peas if using (no need to cook).

Next make the sauce. Put 600ml (1 pint) of the strained and de-greased cooking liquid and the dry white wine into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whisk in the roux. Cook until thick and smooth. Add the cream. Bring to the boil again. Taste and correct the seasoning. Allow to cool, put in one large or eight small individual pie dishes and cover with puff pastry.

Refrigerate until required.

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8. Just before cooking brush the top with egg wash and cook for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 for a further 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with a good green salad.

Cabbage, Sultana and Fennel Salad

Serves 4 – 6

450g (1lb) cabbage, thinly sliced

1 small fennel bulb, diced

4 tbsp (5 American tablespoons) fennel or dill leaves chopped

75g – 110g (3 – 4 oz) yellow sultanas

110ml (4oz/½ cup) yoghurt

110ml (4oz/½ cup) mayonnaise

1-2 tsp runny honey

Freshly squeezed juice of 1-2 limes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the thinly sliced cabbage into a bowl, add the chopped fennel and fennel herb and sultanas. Mix the yoghurt/mayonnaise with the honey and lime juice.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle over the cabbage, toss well.

Taste and correct the seasoning.

Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Can be served as a pudding or a cake.

Makes a 20cm cake — Serves 10

Crumble topping

75g (3oz) self raising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

75g (3oz) sugar *

50g (2oz) cold butter cut into cubes

70g (2 ½ oz) flaked almonds

Cake mixture

1kg (2¼lb) red rhubarb, chopped

125g (4 ½ oz) light muscovado sugar — plus 2 tbsp extra

125g (4 ½ oz) butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

½ tsp vanilla extract

100g (3 ½oz) self raising flour, sifted

½ tsp baking powder

100g (3 ½oz) ground almonds

2 tbsp milk

Icing sugar

1 x 20cm loose-bottomed tin greased and lined with a circle of baking parchment.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Mark 4.

First make the crumble. Sieve the flour and cinnamon together into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and rub in the chilled butter with your fingertips. It should look like very coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the flaked almonds and keep to one side while you make the cake.

Cut the rhubarb into 5cm lengths, put in a stainless steel saucepan with 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 5 — 6 minutes, until the rhubarb is just beginning to soften.

Cream the butter with 125g sugar until light and fluffy. Mix the eggs with the vanilla, then beat into a butter mixture a splash at a time, making sure each bit is well incorporated before adding the next. Add a tablespoon of the flour if it threatens to curdle. When all the egg has been added, stir in the sieved flour, baking powder and ground almonds until everything is well mixed. Add the milk to give a smooth, uniform batter.

Spread the mixture over the base of the cake tin, then add the strained rhubarb. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top. Bake for 1 hour, covering the top with foil after 45 minutes if there’s any risk it might burn. It should be set in the centre, although the rhubarb layer makes it a bit squidgy, so it may sink as it cools. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before removing. Sprinkle with icing sugar and eat warm with lots of softly whipped cream.

Hot tips

Rude Health Week is from Monday, April 11, to Saturday, April 16, and is organised by the Irish Association of Health Stores. Participating shops will have promotions, tastings and treats all week, and will introduce therapists from their local communities. Ballymaloe nutritionist Debbie Shaw will talk about Bean Power — with samples in Well and Good Health Food Shop, Midleton on Wednesday, April 13 from 11am to 1.30pm. See www.irishhealthstores.com

We’re always very proud of our Ballymaloe babies. Yet another of our 12 Week Certificate Course students has been making waves recently — Ivan Varian and his partner Ellie Balfe have started the Dalkey Food Company. Ivan starts at 5.30am, makes soups and bread and delivers them to local businesses for the lunch hour rush. Check out www.thedalkeyfoodcompany.com