Posts in: 'Featured Post'
Feliz Cumplanos, Eamann!
Posted: 10 May '10 by Niall
Making Crema Catalana for Eamann's birthday
Kelly and I wanted to celebrate fellow Chilli and Chocolatier Eamann’s birthday in style this year, but couldn’t decide on which restaurant to book. It was then that inspiration struck – we’d throw a Spanish tapas party!
We both love the tapas bars in Barcelona (although the Catalans call tapas “pintxos”) – the dishes are small and easy to eat, just perfect for a party. With great timing we also noticed that we were being followed on Twitter by Orce Serrano Hams, a business run by ex-pats Iain and Gayle from their home in Andalucia where they source and export Spanish delicacies. After a few quick emails we had our centre-piece – a whole fore-leg of Serrano ham!
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After whetting our appetites with some salted almonds and chilled sherry earlier in the day, we all sat down and stuffed ourselves silly with the tapas dishes in very un-Spanish fashion. Kelly and I served:
- Wafer-thin slices of Serrano ham
- Salt cod croquettes
- Chorizo and manchego tortilla
- Spinach tortilla
- Meatballs in tomato sauce
- Morcilla and fried pepper on baguette
- Mushrooms and aioli on baguette
- Chilli and garlic prawns
- Chorizo braised in red wine
We finished the party with individual Crema Catalanas – very similar to Creme Brulee, but with a hint of orange in the custard. With a fire extinguisher to hand we all had a go with the blowtorch, searing the sugar-topped custard to produce a crunchy layer of toffee.
You can download the Chilli and Chocolate tapas recipes here.
Feliz Cumplanos, Eamann!
Other information
We bought our fore-leg of Serrano ham and a sweet Chorizo Redondo from Orce Serrano Hams. You can click here to visit the Orce Serrano Ham website.
I managed to find a chef’s blowtorch in The Cook Stop on Bruce Street in Belfast. You can click here to visit The Cook Stop website.
Categories: Featured Post > Recipes > Spanish Food > Starter Course
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Pasta with a creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce
Posted: 04 May '10 by Ciara
Pasta with a creamy bacon and pea sauce
With my sister and her 3 kids visiting at the weekend i thought that I’d search through www.channel4.com/food for a few recipes. I decided upon the pasta with creamy smoked bacon and peas sauce for the kids.
They loved it – and with very little cooking required, so did I!
Ingredients:
- 10 slices smoked streaky bacon or pancetta
- A small bunch of fresh mint, chopped finely
- 150g Parmesan cheese
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 400g dried or fresh pasta
- Olive oil
- A knob of butter
- 300g frozen peas
- 2 heaped dessertspoons crème fraîche
- 1 lemon
Method:
- Finely slice the bacon.
- Pick the mint leaves and discard the stalks.
- Finely grate the Parmesan.
- Cook the pasta according to the packet Instructions.
- Add olive oil and knob of butter to a large frying pan over a medium heat.
- Add the bacon and pepper and fry until golden and crisp.
- Finely chop your mint leaves.
- When bacon is cooked, add frozen peas and give the pan a good shake.
- After a minute, add crème fraîche and mint to the bacon and peas.
- Drain the pasta reserving some of the cooking water.
- Add the pasta to the frying pan.
- Half your lemon and squeeze the juice over the pasta.
- When it begins to bubble, remove from the heat.
- If the sauce is too thick for you, add a splash of the reserved cooking water to thin it out a bit.
- Add the grated Parmesan and give the pan a shake to mix it in.
- Plate up and server.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes
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Build a better burger!
Posted: 02 April '10 by Niall
Homemade beef-burgers with onion relish
There are times when only a juicy, meaty beef burger will do..
This is a slightly more upmarket take on the basic burger though, with a zingy onion relish and wholegrain mustard mayonnaise.
I saw Oliver Dunne’s recipe on RTE’s “The Afternoon Show” and, apart from a few minor additions, thought that it was pretty close to perfection.
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Ingredients
The burgers
- 500g Lean mince
- 2 slices of granary bread (made into breadcrumbs)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1/2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 splash Worcestershire sauce
- Few drops of Tabasco
- Salt and pepper to taste
- A glug of olive oil
- 1 tsp of thyme leaves
The Onion Relish
- 2 red onions, finely cut into long slices
- 50g butter
- 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
The Wholegrain Mustard
- A few spoonfuls of mayonnaise
- 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
To serve
- 4 soft Burger baps
- 1 ripe beef tomato
- 4 slices of Monterey Jack cheddar cheese
- 1 red onion, finely sliced into rings
- 1 head Baby gem lettuce
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C
- To make the burger quickly fry the chopped red onion and the garlic in some olive oil for 1-2mins until translucent.
- Add to the rest of the burger ingredients and mix thoroughly.
- Shape into even size patties and allow to set in the fridge for about an hour.
- Add a small amount of olive oil to a frying pan and brown your burgers on both sides for 3-4 minutes.
- Place the partially cooked burgers on an oven tray and place in the oven as you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Sweat the sliced onions on a low heat until they become soft and translucent.
- Add the sugar and balsamic and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated and you’re left with a thick, sticky relish.
- Place your mayonnaise in a bowl and add the wholegrain mustard, mixing thoroughly.
- Place a slice of Monterey Jack cheese on top of each burger and return to the heat of the oven.
- Toast the burger buns and remove the fully cooked burgers from the oven.
- Finally, assemble your burger!
Enjoy!
Other information
If it helps speed things up, you can make the patties the day before and leave them in the fridge overnight, ready to be cooked when you come home from work.
Categories: Beef > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes
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Pappardelle with Chestnut Mushrooms
Posted: 25 March '10 by Niall
Pappardelle with chestnut mushrooms
Here’s another quick and tasty recipe that’s a mid-week favourite of ours: Pappardelle with chestnut mushrooms.
Admittedly, it doesn’t sound that exciting – but you’ll be surprised just how tasty and filling the dish it. While you can substitute other types of pasta (tagliatelle would also be good), I really wouldn’t try using white/button mushrooms in place of the chestnut mushrooms – they just don’t have the earthy flavour that the recipe needs to make it worthwhile.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4
Serves 2-4
Ingredients
- 200g of chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
- 500g of fresh Pappardelle
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 50g of butter
- A good glug of olive oil
- Parmesan (to grate over the finished dish)
Method
- Heat a saucepan of water to boiling point and add the fresh Pappardelle.
- In a separate saucepan melt the butter over a low heat, adding the olive oil to prevent burning.
- When the butter has melted add the garlic and allow to soften.
- When the pasta has cooked, drain and return to the same saucepan.
- Add the sliced mushrooms and mix through the pasta.
- Add the garlic butter and mix through the pasta.
- Allow to stand for 5 minutes, so the mushrooms “cook” in the residual heat.
- Serve the pasta with a good grating of parmesan and season to taste.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Pasta > Recipes > Vegetables
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Broccoli & Pasta Bake
Posted: 23 March '10 by Ciara
Broccoli and Pasta Bake
This is a great crowd-pleasing dish in our house. You can make it as a vegetarian dish or alternatively add bacon, pancetta or chicken.
It’s also quite quick and easy to make.
Ingredients
- 400g Penne Pasta
- 1 red onion
- 250g Broccoli florets
- 2 chicken/vegetable stock cubes
- 1 tablespoon of french mustard
- 200g creme fraiche
- 100g gruyere cheese
- 1 tablespoon of parsley
- 2 handfuls of breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon of mixed herbs
- 50g parmesan cheese
Method
- Heat the grill.
- Boil pasta and chopped onion in salted boiling water for 7 minutes then add florets and boil for a further 3 minutes.
- Reserve 400mls of water, then drain pasta and vegetables.
- Return reserved water to the pan and dissolve vegetable/chicken stock cubes. Whisk in mustard and creme fraiche and season to taste.
- Add pasta, vegetables, gruyere cheese and parsley to the stock, mustard and creme fraiche mixture. Stir until melted.
- Tip pasta and vegetables into ovenproof dish.
- Mix the parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and mixed herbs together, then scatter on top of the pasta and vegetables.
- Place under the grill for 3 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes
