Hummus!

I am a real fan of hummus. It's easy, healthy, low-fat, convenient and cheap to make.

The only drawback is that it doesn't really keep well. That is not a big deal in my house however as it doesn't last long before it is eaten.

I have messed around with various different recipes for hummus over the past few years and I think this version is my favourite. It is totally subjective so when you do find the one that suits you, write it down!!

Robyn loves hummus, as do I and to an extent so does Declan my husband. Daniel is not convinced at all however. For the most part hummus is liked by kids, they tend not to be too afraid of it, and the beauty is that raw veg and pitta bread are by far the tastiest delivery systems. Great for lunchboxes.

I really think it would be difficult to make this recipe without a hand blender or food processor of some kind. It would be tough to get the consistency otherwise. I use a hand blender with the chopper attachment. It looks like a little food processor on the end, but it is handier to clean

Into the bowl of the chopper/processor, add

1 tin chickpeas drained,

1 1/2 tablespoons of light tahini,

4 tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil,

small/medium clove of garlic (depends on your taste),

juice of a lemon,

teaspoon of salt and black pepper,

teaspoon of cumin,

teaspoon of hot chili powder (also to taste)

Whizz up until creamy and not too nutty in texture.

Sometimes I add a tablespoon of water, sometimes a tablespoon of sour cream, but it all depends on how you like your hummus. I would suggest you have a few swings at it until you hit on one that you are happy with.

I usually use the organic epicure chickpeas, but recently I have used the Sainsbury's brand and they are easier to blend, the others are a little nuttier.

You will get Tahini in good supermarkets, but if not, health food shops will have it. ( it is sesame seed paste)

It is nice served with chopped up veg, celery is my favourite.

It really only keeps for two days, three at a push if covered up with cling film.

I have not tried to freeze it, so I am not sure if would split. If you try it, let me know how it worked out.

Fried Chicken and Pasta

We were having a discussion about what to have for dinner and couldn't agree. I really wanted a roast chicken dinner, roast potatoes and the whole bit, Declan was in the humour for a light pasta dinner and the kids wanted something so long as it involved breadcrumbs.

Hmmmm?

So we needed a compromise.

I have an app on my iPhone called Jamie's 20 minute Meals that I have only used a couple of times, but the intentinn was that if I was on the way home and inspiration was failing me, I would have a portable cookbook. The recipes in it are lovely, and quite adaptable, but I was sure that there would be none that would keep us all happy.

I was wrong!

I followed the recipe to the letter. The application even gives you step by step instructions starting with heating the plates in the oven.

The recipe was for Fried Chicken with Spaghetti and Tomato sauce. I had all the ingredients except chicken breasts and the herbs, so shopping wasn't even a chore.

Serves 4

First you put on 300g of spaghetti or linguini in a large pot of boiling salted water. I prefer linguini.

In the meantime, slice 2 cloves of garlic and fry lightly in a splash of olive oil until just starting to colour and add the chopped stalks of a small bunch of parsley and basil. (about 2 teaspoons ) Reserve the leaves for later .

Fry for a minute and add a tin of chopped tomatoes. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Then slice 4 chicken breasts into three equalish sized pieces, lay them on a board and cover with a piece of cling film and (the fun part) wallop them with a frying pan or rolling pin until flattened to about a cm thick.

Dip the chicken first into seasoned flour then a beaten egg and breadcrumbs.

(You will need about a cup of flour 2 beaten eggs and 300g of crumbs)

Fry them in a splash of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes each side, while the sauce is simmering and the pasta is cooking.

Drain the pasta when cooked and coat with a little olive oil to keep it from getting sticky.

Serve the pasta with sauce on top and the parsley and basil leaves on top, and the chicken on top.

What I love about this is the chicken cooks nice and quickly as it is thin and stays juicy.

I put a fair bit of seasoning into the flour as it could be very bland without it.

Grated Parmesan in the crumbs would also be nice here.

It was all eaten up. Success!!

Autumn vegetables in springtime.

I have made a few versions of this but never this combination, and I love the sauce, mainly because it is simple! The kids love the sweetness of the veg, usually I would roast butternut in maple syrup but the honey is yum too.

Parma wrapped Cod with Autumn Veg

Serves 6

Ingredients highlighted in green.

Chop a butternut squash, 5 carrots and 4 Parsnips into the same size chunks, about 1/2 inch cubes.

Put them in a shallow oven tray, and drizzle with enough olive oil just to coat them (you don't want them sitting in a pool of oil) and season well with salt and ground black pepper. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup, about two tablespoons worth.

Toss together with your hands, and make sure they are in a single layer not too cramped.

Put in an oven heated to 200c for about 40 mins.

After 20 mins, wrap 6 pieces of cod fillet (you could use any meaty white fish here. ) in a slice of proscuitto or serrano ham each. Use skinless fillets and make sure there are not too many bones.

Lay on a rack in a tray ( you could use the grill tray here ) and pop into the same oven for the last 15 mins of cooking.

Turn off the oven and leave the fish and veg in while you make the sauce.

Melt 125 g butter in a pot with a couple of sprigs of rosemary. Heat until the butter just starts to colour, and the rosemary looks like it is browning a little. Take out the rosemary and squeeze in the juice of two lemons.

Serve veg and fish and pour a little sauce over each fillet of fish.

Enjoy!!

Our favourite recipe books

I find it hard to go into a bookshop and come out without a cookery book. I therefore have quite a large collection. All are read, and I have made a good amount of recipes from each, although some more than others. My rationale for buying again and again is that I do use cookery books and will frequently sit down with a few and read for an hour or two. ("Anorak" I hear you cry!). I feel confident that I have road tested them enough tell you all about them

What I look for in a cookbook is legible text, delicious looking photography and recipes that use accessible ingredients. When more than one ingredient from the same dish is too exotic and not readily available, it is unlikely I will ever make it. 

There are plenty of books out there for the home cook at the moment. It is such a trendy thing in food right now; homely, comforting, family style food, you will find all the celebrity chefs at it. 

My favourites are pictured above, these are the ones I use all the times. My dependable go-to bibles if you will.

Darina Allen and her mother-in-law Myrtle have been cooking home style food long before it was as trendy as it is now. Darina champions local and high quality ingredients and freshness above all else. You can't argue with that.

I grew up with Darina Allen on TV and in her books you can hear her talking. I have a couple of her older books from the early 90's and you can see some of these recipes pop up in Rachel Allen's books these days. They are absolutely well worth repeating.

The Ballymaloe Cookery Course is quite a large book and is a great general reference book as well as a source of ideas. She has basics like white sauce and mayonnaise and every variation of bread, as well as more advanced  techniques like filleting a fish and  making sushi. It is not laden with pictures, if it was it would need to come on wheels, but it has the important ones and is easy to navigate. 

I have made so many things from this book, I cannot imagine having a kitchen without it. The Carbonnade of Pork is the one that the book falls open on. Delicious and easy.

Ina Garten is an American cook we discovered on TV. She uses the name Barefoot Contessa after her speciality food store in the Hamptons I have a strong feeling that Nigella Lawson gets lots of her ideas from her, I can see it in her style. I doubt it is the other way around! She is a bit of an institution over there and only a little known over here, so it is not easy to find her books. Amazon would be your best bet. I have two of them Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Her books are a pleasure to read. The pages are sumptuous, the pictures full of colour and texture and the text is clear and direct. More importantly her food is gorgeous. I have not made anything of hers that is not simple and delicious. She almost always favours the 'make-ahead' option and tells you what you can do in advance and how long food can sit in the fridge. I have made Meatballs, Chicken Pot Pie, Beef Bourguignon, Parmesan Chicken, Potato Basil Frittata..... the list is endless. The kids love her too. No pretentious ingredients and manageable methods. 

Her recipes use American cup measures and I find them really convenient. Although I do find the liquid measures take a bit of getting used to, if you have a measuring jug that does pints and litres you are ok. (For the record, a stick of butter is a quarter pound, or 125g) 

A couple of years ago, Robyn got a present of Star Cooks Cookbook for Kids. It is a real little star. Because it is designed for children, it is simple and clear and has not too many ingredients in each dish. The difference between this book and other kids cookbooks is that is not dumbed down. Everything does not end up star shaped and with happy faces on them. (Although there are a few) Most of the recipes are full of flavour and grown-up ingredients. I find kids are not fooled by the distractions, they prefer honesty. This book treats the kids with dignity and assumes they are intelligent and sophisticated.

Our fish cake recipe is from this book. There is also a yummy butternut squash soup in there that I have made a few times. The kids have made the brownies too and there are lots of nice desserts.  I have bought this book a couple of times since for kids birthday presents. It is a little beaut. 

The penultimate choice is Rachel Allen. Really anything by Rachel is a winner. She has taken up where Darina left off, and has made it all very trendy. She has capitalised on the cupcake culture, but really understands the plight of the working mother. Although I really don't believe that she eats all her own food and maintains that figure. That would truly be a metabolic miracle!

Her last three books are excellent. Rachels Favourite Food for Living and Bake and Home Cooking (pictured above). She has some great cook ahead tips and truly everything I have cooked by her is delicious. The only one I have not liked was her pannacotta, but there is a very reasonable chance I messed up somewhere, so don't take my word for it. 

All of these books contain family-friendly recipes. The kids can read them and follow the instructions easily. The ingredients are not too exotic, or expensive. They are really good value books to buy for the kitchen. 

I am adding a little note about the Lunchbox book. It is a lovely little book for the kids to read and to come up with their own suggestions for their lunchboxes. If nothing else, they can see for themselves how important it is to bring healthy food to school. It is also a good one for kids parties. All the food can sit around and is finger food size. 

If the kids are involved in making party food, there is a much greater chance it'll be eaten. They are far better at force feeding their own peers than us!!

Happy Reading!

Trifle and Meatballs (not necessarily in that order)

So, a new one.

I have made meatballs before, but this recipe is the best so far, not to mention cheap.

It originated in the famous Italian restaurant in New York called Rao's and I got it from Ina Garten's book 'Family Style'. A book well worth having if cooking and eating together as a family is important to you. I haven't seen it in bookshops but it's available on Amazon.

Anyhow. We made the trifle first.

This is not an Irish Sherry trifle with jelly etc. Although I do love a nice jelly trifle, this is an English trifle and you can eat it pretty much straight away.

You need

2 shop bought Madeira cakes

Jar of Raspberry jam

1 or 2 punnets of raspberries. 

2 cartons of custard

2 tubs of whipped cream

Of course you could use home made custard and whip the cream yourself and use a nice homemade orange or lemon pound cake, but this is as easy as it gets as far as pudding is concerned, it's quick and the kids can do the whole thing. 

Slice the madeira cake into 2 cm slices and spread thickly with the jam. Layer 3 or 4 slices on the bottom of a glass dish, jam side up, and sprinkle on a handful of raspberries. Pour on some custard and dollop on a few tablespoons of whipped cream. Repeat the process again, putting another 4 slices of jam laced cake, raspberries, custard and cream. 

Continue until you fill the bowl or run out of ingreadients. Try and spread the raspberries out so you can throw a few on top. Finish off with a layer of cream and put in the fridge until ready to serve. (if it lasts that long!)

If you like you can lace the sponge with a little booze;  Cointreau, Sherry or raspberry liqueur.  Although, that is not the most kid friendly option!

Spaghetti and Meatballs 

Serves 6 adults and 4 kids with leftovers!

(Having cup measures here makes it quicker and easier)

For the meatballs, 

In a bowl, mix 500g minced pork and 500g minced beef with 2 cup/250g of breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, 1 cup /200g of  finely grated parmesan (use fresh stuff) pinch of grated nutmeg, 2 eggs beaten, 4 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon of pepper. Then add the magic ingredient, 100ml / 1/2 cup of warm water.

Fork the mixture until combined, this keeps it light, as opposed to mixing it with your hand which would make the meatballs quite dense. Form them into golf ball sized balls, I use a tablespoon measure to make sure they are about the same size.

Fry the meatballs in batches of 4 or 5 in a pot, in a fairly deep layer of oil. It needs to be about a cm deep anyway.  I used half and half olive oil to sunflower. Heat the oil on a high medium heat and just fry the meatballs until browned but not cooked through. you should need to turn them after 30 secs, 1 min at the longest. Be careful with them as they are delicate. Use a tongs that is cupped or use a fish slice.

Leave on a plate to one side until the sauce is cooked.

Drain off the oil, but keep the bits in the bottom for flavour.

Sauce

Saute a  chopped onion and 6 cloves of garlic crushed, in the same pot with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and scrape off the bits on the pot as you do. When they are softened a little, add 1 cup / 250ml red wine and cook on a high heat until the wine boils off. Add then, 4 tins of chopped tomatoes, 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley and oregano (fresh, don't bother with the dried stuff) salt and pepper and a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

Allow to simmer and add the meatballs back in. Gently cover the meatballs with the sauce, cover the pot and cook on the lowest heat for 25 minutes.

Serve with spaghetti or linguini  (500g serves 6) and sprinkle with parmesan

When I say use fresh parmesan, I really mean it. It's like the difference between frozen burgers and fillet steak. There is not much of a difference price wise and fresh parmesan lasts for ages. 

Also, fresh herbs are really crucial here. I always think the dried stuff is like the contents of a hoover. Growing parsley has not always been successful for me, but it is possible. Anyhow it's available everywhere, and if you have basil or chives, or any other leafy herb combo, it'd do the trick here. 

I have discovered, in the salad section of the supermarket, little tubes of schwartz fresh herbs. They are minced and liquidy, but i've used them twice and they are not bad. It is a good alternative if you are stuck. Expensive for what you get, but at least there is no waste.

I best go now and enjoy the lemon sponge Daniel has made for Mother's day! I'll let you know how it went. It looks delish!!

Veggies and Kids

Other that perhaps Potty training, I'd put money on the fact that this is an area of parenting that can level any confident parent. No matter how much of a grasp you feel you have on the whole Mommy Daddy  thing, kids have a habit of making  it very clear that when it comes to veg, they are going to make you pay!

I do remember as a child being aware of how not eating my greens used to raise the blood pressure of the adult provider. Not necessarily my folks, but I didn't get why it was such a big deal. I on the other hand as a parent have made it abundantly clear to my kids as to why it is a big deal, but that didn't work either. 

As it happens, the less of deal I make of it, the more chance I have of getting the good stuff in the little darlings' bloodstream! Not so easy. 

I have read in lots of places that it is not worth ruining dinnertime by starting a vegetable debate,  and I did that for a while, but instinct kept kicking in.

Anyhow, the kids are eating enough veg now to keep the worry at bay. 

I have to point out that Robyn has always been a good veg eater and generally quite adventurous. Daniel is a newcomer to the club. I have to credit the 'Food Dudes' programme in school for this. The school were sent daily parcels of raw fruit and veg, individually wrapped per child, and prizes for each child consuming their portion. It made Daniel try these foods, something I couldn't get him to do at home. He would make his mind up without so much as a bite. He surprised himself and would come home saying things like... " Mam, peppers are actually ok. Kind of sweet." I would try to avoid the temptation to sob and congratulate his bravery!

Broccoli, Cabbage, Spinach are still not accepted, but I put them in some dishes sometimes just to test the water. The objections have stopped and the kids will just move what they don't want to the side of their plate. That'll do me. 

This dish is one in which I add broccoli, for my delectation, but it is big enough to be removed without infecting the rest of the dish. It's easy too.

I get the kids to chop the veg, with the exception of the carrot which is too hard for an ordinary butter knife. ( I don't give them sharp knives.)

Vegetable Fried Rice.

Boil some Basmati Rice in Chicken stock (follow the packet instructions for quantities, I just guess and always get it wrong!)

Chop all the veg into little cubes, about the size of a pea (except the broccoli)

2 Carrots

a head of broccoli cut into really little florets. 

6-8 spring onions 

a red and/or a yellow pepper 

3 sticks of celery 

These are the vegetables I can get past the gauntlet easily. If it was for myself I would also add a few mushrooms and courgettes at the last minute

I try to go for colour as much as possible. They say it helps digestion when the food looks nice, and the kids get accustomed to variety.

Next, beat 4-5 eggs and have them in a bowl.

When the rice is cooked, drain it in a sieve and leave it ready.

Prep done!

In a large pan or wok, heat up a tablespoon or thereabouts of sunflower oil and throw in the eggs. Mix around with a wooden spoon until scrambled and cooked through, but not rubbery. Take them off the pan back into a bowl.

Another 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and chuck in all the veg together. Stir fry for a few minutes until hot through. You are not going for cooked, just hot. Crunchy veg is the best part of this dish!

Add the rice and egg back into the veg and stir fry until they are coated a little in oil, you want the rice to be loose and not clumpy.

Season with light Soy sauce. About 2 tablespoons I would use, but taste it as you go and add what you want. 

Serve.

I would often put some little strips of chicken (the little fillet bit) into an oven proof dish with hoi sin sauce and bake at 200c for 10-15 mins and serve with that.

The kids can scramble the egg and add in the veg, in fact apart from cooking the rice (cos of the boiling water) they can make all of this.

Try it. You won't be disappointed, I promise!!!