Sophie Morris’s Asian Mango Salad
Set up a pretty stall, then offer your customers a taste of your creation with a smile — watch the reaction, if they buy, great, but more importantly wait and see if they come back for more next week.
This is by far the best market research — it’s free and better still you get lots of direct feedback and suggestions for ways to tweak it and maybe some new flavours.
Young food entrepreneurs Sophie Morris and Graham Clarke started this way with their Kooky Dough, they mixed, chopped and wrapped ’til the early hours, took a deep breath and set up a stall at the Stillorgan Farmers Market.
The reaction was instantly positive. Two years later their cookie dough is made in large quantities and sold not only across Ireland but also in Tesco and Waitrose in the UK, Monoprix in France and at Spinney’s Supermarkets in the United Arab Emirates.
Sophie, an energetic and beautiful 28-year-old is another of ‘my babies’. She did a 12 Week Certificate Cookery Course at Ballymaloe in April 2008.
After she’d studied economics and social studies at Trinity, she met Graham Clarke, her boyfriend and business partner. They famously turned down the investment offers on Dragon’s Den and decided to go it alone.
They both work like crazy to keep on top of their business which had gone into orbit. Despite the work pace Sophie is determined to make a nourishing home cooked meal every day which she believes is the key to staying on top of her hectic lifestyle and in her precious ‘spare time’ she has written her first cookery book with people just like herself in mind — busy people who love food and are determined to pull together a nutritious satisfying meal using basic ingredients which are in season and are readily available at the corner shop.
Most of Sophie’s meals can be cooked in half an hour or so and they are super fresh and fun. How about some of these ideas to whet your appetite?
¦ Sophie Kooks – Quick and Easy Feelgood Food is published by Gill and Macmillan.
This is such a colourful salad and it looks really gorgeous on the plate. It’s a great starter to pair with an Asian main course, as it leaves you wanting more of those yummy Asian flavours. The crunchy, sweet, tangy, spicy combination in this salad is simply amazing.
Juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
75g ((3oz) raw cashew nuts
2 ripe mangos, peeled and cut into thin strips
A handful of French beans, tailed and halved lengthways
1 red pepper, finely sliced
½ red onion, finely sliced
a handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside.
Heat a small pan over a medium heat and add the cashews. Toast them for a few minutes, tossing regularly, until golden. Remove the cashews from the pan, leave them to cool, and then roughly chop them.
Place the mango, French beans, pepper and onion in a serving bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss well to coat evenly. Just before serving, sprinkle over the mint and cashews.
Kofta is the word for meatballs in the Middle East and South Asia. This beef kofta recipe with its warming curry sauce is a really simple one and is so quick to prepare. Lamb kofta is also really nice, so you can swap the beef for minced lamb if you like.
700g (1 ½ lb) lean minced beef
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons chilli powder
salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
600ml (1 pint) passata (crushed, sieved tomatoes) or 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 heaped tablespoons medium curry powder (or mild, if you don’t want much spice)
½ teaspoon sugar
Place the minced beef in a bowl along with the ginger, garlic and chilli powder. Season and mix with your hands until well combined. Roll the mixture into rounds about the size of golf balls and set aside.
Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for 4–5 minutes, until softened. Add the passata, curry powder and sugar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, season and leave the sauce to simmer over a low heat while you fry the koftas.
Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the koftas for 2–3 minutes, turning them until lightly browned all over. You might need to do this in batches. Carefully place the cooked koftas into the passata sauce and simmer very gently for 15–20 minutes, turning the koftas occasionally during cooking, until they have set and the sauce has reduced nicely.
Serve on warmed plates with basmati rice and a dollop of natural yogurt.
My mum taught me this variation on traditional shepherd’s pie years ago and it is absolutely delicious. I’ve cooked it for many people who were initially sceptical but later won over and in total agreement that you definitely don’t miss the meat when eating it. Lentils are filling, nutritious and economical – a must-have for your store cupboard. This pie freezes really well so you can make a big batch and keep the leftovers.
Olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 carrots, grated
1 celery stick, finely chopped
400g (14oz) puy lentils, rinsed and drained (green or red lentils also work well)
1 x 400g (140z) can chopped tomatoes
2 heaped tablespoons tomato purée
600ml (1 pint) chicken or vegetable stock, simmering
1 teaspoon chilli powder or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
a sprig of thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.2kg (1 ¾ lb) floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled and halved
50g (2oz) butter
50ml (2fl oz) milk
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Heat a lug of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook gently for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato purée, stock, chilli powder and thyme. Stir well and season. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40–50 minutes, until the lentils are softened. You may need to add more stock (or boiling water) throughout cooking if all the liquid is absorbed before the lentils are cooked.
Meanwhile, make the mash. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with just enough cold water to cover them. Add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Boil for 15–20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and easily broken with a fork. Drain them in a colander and leave for 2–3 minutes, until the steam has evaporated. Always drain potatoes really well or you’ll end up with watery mash. Put the drained potatoes back into the dry saucepan and mash thoroughly with a potato masher. The harder you work the mash, the fluffier it will become. Once the lumps are gone, add the butter and mash again. Add the milk, stirring until combined. Season to taste.
Once the lentils are cooked, remove the sprig of thyme and pour the mixture into a deep ovenproof dish, leaving room for the mash topping. Arrange the mash evenly on top of the lentil mixture and bake the pie in the oven for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Serve on warmed plates, with a green salad on the side.
¦ Some of you may be familiar with Bob Flowerdew a presenter on BBC 2 Gardener’s World and a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. A set of his excellent gardening books Bob’s Basics published by Kyle Cathie has just arrived at the Garden Shop at Ballymaloe Cookery School.
¦ The Field Kitchen run by Clancy Potts and Mick Hayes at the Blackbird Pub in Ballycotton, East Cork serve really delicious American style burgers. We asked Clancy what makes the burger ‘American’: “Caramelised grilled onions and loads of cheddar or blue cheese with a slather of mayonnaise, oh and really good quality meat.”
They get their meat from Clifford’s Butcher in Castlemartyr and their pan-fried fresh fish straight from Trevor MacNamara’s boat in Ballycotton, served with fresh hand cut chips. Open from 6pm Friday and Saturday and 5pm on Sunday. Contact Clancy Potts — 086 230 8193.
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