Weekend food

Back to school is a busy and expensive time for so many families around the country and now there’s the challenge of school lunches. This week I’ll concentrate on packed lunches and in future columns I’ll have suggestions for college students.

Meanwhile, invest in a copy book or folder and gradually compile a collection of your kids’ favourite comforting recipes so they can leave home armed with a useful survival kit. But back to school lunches, the bane of so many parents’ lives, yet phenomenally important not only to nourish our kids physically but to feed their brains and to help with concentration.

Most school lunches seem to be bread based so if we agree with the fundamental fact that our food should be our medicine rather than doing us damage we need to ditch the squishy sliced pan from our shopping basket.

One of the very best things one can do for our families is to make a daily loaf of bread. There are masses of easy ‘stir and pour’ recipes to make a grand little loaf that can be sliced easily and topped with many good things. I know sandwiches are a relatively easy option but try to keep bread to the minimum.

I did a quick whizz around my grandchildren to get an idea of what they like to find in their lunch boxes. A flask of hot soup in chilly weather or a chilled smoothie in warm weather are definitely favourites. One grandchild loves to have a gluten-free wrap with lots of salad leaves and some scraps of chicken, bacon or smoked fish with a creamy yoghurt dressing and maybe some slices of ripe tomato. Chicken and cranberry sauce is also a favourite.

Several of our grandchildren love brown meat so roast drum sticks or chicken wings are easy to munch and are great with a little garlic mayo or Ballymaloe Country Relish as a dip. Raw batons of fresh cucumber or carrot (not those little pre-washed packs) with a little tub of hummus also got the thumbs up. Pickled carrot and pickled cucumber have also become favourites. Home-made potato crisps as an occasional treat score high on the ‘yum-yum’ scale.

Water, apple juice or fruit kefirs seem to be the drinks of choice, a piece of quiche or frittata also goes down well, and some fruit is obligatory — banana, apple, peach, nectarines, a few cherries, whatever is in season. There’s also dried fruit, peaches, figs, dates, prunes, cranberries or even a raisin, nut mixture; that’s if your school isn’t a nut-free zone, which many now are. A little tub of salad, lentils, cous cous, quinoa, chick peas, pearl barley or freekah was surprisingly popular with dried cranberries, fresh herbs and maybe some diced cheese added.

Understandably, variety is important — cheese croquettes or cheddar chunks with whole cherry tomatoes was another favourite combo and half an avocado with a little sea salt to scatter over the top is an easy peasy option full of nourishment that will provide lots of energy. Our grandchildren love Ballycotton shrimps in the shell with homemade mayo to dip but not having anything that your friends consider weird in your lunch box is also a consideration.

Keep the sweet things to a once or twice a week treat if at all possible. Here’s a recipes for Penny’s Coconut and Chocolate Bars and lots of other simple wholesome suggestions.

Penny’s Coconut and Chocolate Health Bars 

8 ozs (250g) dessicated coconut

1 heaped tablespoon tahini (optional)

5 ozs (150g) dried dates

2 ozs (50g) butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

2 rounded tablespoon cocoa powder

2 large free-range eggs

3 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/regulo 4.

8in (20.5cm) square tin, lined with parchment paper

Makes 12 — 16 bars

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until the mixture comes together. Put into the tin and smooth the top. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Leave to cool slightly and then cut into bars.

A little white soda bread loaf  

1 lb (450g/4 cups) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon/½ American teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon/½ American teaspoon breadsoda

sour milk or buttermilk to mix — 15 fl ozs (425 ml) approx

oatmeal, sesame seeds or kibbled wheat (optional)

You can make it in the round traditional way or like this in a loaf tin which is more convenient for slicing or sandwiches

First fully preheat your oven to 230C/450F/regulo 8.

Sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding milk if necessary. The dough should be softish but not too wet. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured worked surface. Scoop it into the oiled tin, sprinkle with oatmeal and sesame or kibbled wheat seeds if you enjoy them. Place in the hot oven immediately turning down the oven to 200C/400F/regulo 6 for 45 minutes. Remove from the tin and return the bread to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes or until fully cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

Hummus 

170g (6oz) chickpeas, cooked

Save the cooking liquid or 1 x 14 oz can freshly squeezed juice of 2-3 lemons, or to taste 2-3 large or small cloves garlic

crushed 150ml (5fl oz/generous 1/2 cup) tahini paste (available from health food shops and delicatessens)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt

Accompaniment pitta bread or any crusty white bread

Hummus has become a new basic — inexpensive and bursting with goodness. If you are pressed for time, it’s best to start with tinned dried chickpeas and cook them yourself. I often cook two or three times what I need because they freeze perfectly and can be used for salad or soups as well as a dip.

Serves 4-8 (depending on how it is served). Drain the chickpeas and save the cooking liquid. Whizz up the remainder in a food processor with the freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little cooking water if necessary. Add the crushed garlic, tahini paste, cumin, and salt to taste. Blend to a soft creamy paste. Taste and continue to add lemon juice and salt until you are happy with the flavour.

Homemade Potato Crisps 

450g (1lb) large, even-sized potatoes

extra virgin olive oil or beef dripping for deep-fat frying

salt

Making crisps at home is definitely worthwhile — a few potatoes produce a tonne of crisps and nothing you buy in any shop will be even half as delicious. A mandolin is well worth buying for making crisps — but mind your fingers! Just in case of any misunderstanding these are very nutritious as well as delicious and can also be used with a dip.

Serves 4

Wash and peel the potatoes. For even-sized crisps, trim each potato with a swivel-top peeler until smooth. Slice them very finely, preferably with a mandolin. Soak in cold water to remove the excess starch (this will also prevent them from discolouring or sticking together). Drain off the water and dry well.

In a deep-fat fryer, heat the oil or dripping to 180C/350F. Drop in the dry potato slices a few at a time and fry until golden and completely crisp. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat until they are all cooked.

Pickled Carrots

2lb (900g) baby carrots, well-scrubbed, peeled and trimmed or long batons

Pickling Solution: 16fl ozs (450ml/2 cup) hot water

8fl ozs (225ml/1 cup) rice vinegar

9 tablespoons (11 American tablespoons) sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons dairy salt

Raw carrots are of course brilliant but for a change — these carrots are deliciously tangy and crunchy. We also pickle fennel and beets — don’t automatically assume your kids won’t like these, remember they learn their eating habits and prejudices from our reaction!

Makes 1 quart

First make the pickling solution. Put all the ingredients into a bowl. Stir until the sugar and salt is dissolved. To pickle vegetables choose quart size pickling jars, with sealable lids, wash, dry and sterilize. Pack the whole carrots or batons into the jar tightly. Cover with the brine. Refrigerate and mature for 2-3 days before eating. They will keep for about a month.

Willow’s Cous Cous Salad

12 ozs (340g) couscous

16 fl ozs (450ml/2 cups)

homemade chicken stock or water

2 ozs (50g) dried apricots cut into 5mm (1/4 inch) dice (optional)

2 ozs (50g) pistachio nuts (or toasted almonds) halved, optional

Dressing salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Willow loves to discover little cubes of diced cucumber, tomato and feta as well as freshly chopped herbs in her cous cous salad. The basic cooked cous cous can be kept in a sealed box in the fridge for several days.

Serves 8

Put the couscous, apricots and pistachio nuts into a Pyrex bowl. Pour over the boiling water or stock, cover with clingfilm and allow to soak for 15 minutes. Stir with a fork and season with salt and freshly ground pepper and add some olive oil.

Additions and variations: Instead of apricots and pistachio nuts stir in 2 tablespoons (2 American tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) of freshly chopped fresh herbs just before serving, eg. mint or coriander, parsley and chives, dried cherries, cranberries or raisins.

A little grated orange rind or lemon rind and freshly squeezed juice is also delicious.

Hot tips: From food festivals to foraging in the country

Both the Midleton Food & Drink Festival and the Waterford Harvest Festival are on Saturday, September 13.

In Midleton there will be more than 60 stalls this year in the open air food and drink market. Enjoy the carnival atmosphere with street performance artists, craft exhibitions, whiskey and wine tastings and a full programme of food and cookery demonstrations. See www.midletonfoodfestival.ie

Visit the Waterford Harvest Festival at www.waterfordharvestfestival.ie to see the incredible line up of events. Rory O’ Connell and I are both doing a cookery demo on the Saturday at Grow HQ in the Blackfriars Ruins in Waterford city centre.

Game: The game season will open again in September. Premier Game Limited in Cahir, Co Tipperary has a pretty amazing selection of game from September to February. Tel: [phone] 4700.

Wild food: This is a fantastic year for damsons and sloes. Go foraging in the countryside, then have fun making damson or sloe gin, jam, jellies or tarts. Check out Forgotten Skills of Cooking for lots of recipes.