The Rack of Lamb is a thing of beauty, the herb crust its crowning glory.  I just love this cut of meat but it is not without its hazards when cooking.  Over cooking and under cooking being the main problems.

Here is a guide to allow you to achieve the perfect result.  I recommend two racks of lamb for 4/5 servings.  Ideally 2 or 3 cutlets per person.

Ingredients

2 racks of lamb, french trimmed (ask your butcher to do this for you)
50g (2oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
Small bunch fresh rosemary, thyme and parsley, stalks removed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp olive oil
25g (1oz) butter (melted)

salt and pepper

teaspoon of minced garlic (optional

I am fed up with the usual food that gets trotted out for the feast of St. Paddy.  I am guessing the man himself was a bit of an adventurer and would approve wholeheartedly of me doing something a little different in his honour.

I am doing something that should go down well with kids and adults alike and is mighty delicious I might add!

Pistachio Milkshake

3 scoops of Icecream

75ml of milk

20g Kulfi or pistachio butter

Handful of pistachio nuts chopped

2 drops of Goodalls green food colouring

Put all the ingredients in a blender except for the chopped pistachio nuts and blended until completely smooth.  Pour into a nice tall glass and sprinkle the chopped nuts to decorate.

Put all the ingredients in a blender except for the chopped pistachio nuts and blended until completely smooth.  Pour into a nice tall glass and sprinkle the chopped nuts to decorate.

Kulfi is usually available in Indian or Oriental supermarkets and shops.  Its like a pistachio dessert not unlike fudge.

Here is an up close pic of the top.  

I am a little bit of a prude when it comes to my pancakes.  I like them with just sugar and lemon.  No fancy bits or funny fillings.  no toppings, sprinkles or other abominations.

I am a solid fan of the old fashioned classic cos my motto is if it aint broke, don’t fix it!!

A few tips with your pancakes – add a knob of melted butter to the mix just before cooking and only cook them in a frying pan with butter.  Smear just enough butter on the pan that its not too greasy.  Heat your pan well before the first pancake but I find after the first one or two you may need to turn the heat down to a medium to maintain the golden brown effect.  Add a new little knob butter to the frying pan after each pancake.

My tried and tested recipe comes from Delia Smith – It has never done me wrong!  So here it is!

110g plain flour

pinch of salt

2 klarge eggs

200ml milk

75ml water

50 g butter

First of all sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with the sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets an airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs – any sort of whisk or even a fork will do – incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.

Next, gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don’t worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the butter in the pan. Spoon 2 tablespoons of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl and use it when needed to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you’re using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tablespoons about right for a 7 inch (18 cm) pan and 3 tablespoons for an 8 inch (20 cm) pan. It’s also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it’s tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife – the other side will need a few seconds only – then simply slide it out of the pan on to a plate.

Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.

When I was asked to write a guest blog post about foods from my childhood that conjure up distinctive emotions my mind was awash with ideas… Deciding upon just one to share was challenging to say the least!

Foods and meals that immediately sprang to mind included an array, ones which I treasured and conjure up comforting and contented emotions, and those that I now have a strong appreciation for and can’t imagine ever having not cherished.

The list looked a little like this:

Ones that were and some that are still much loved…

Mum’s Apple Pie – the smell of freshly stewed apples; nothing beats it

Spaghetti Bolognaise – my all time favourite dinner as a child

Melted Cheese on Toast – the simple things never fail to disappoint

Pancakes – I longed for Pancake Tuesday to come around more often quicker

The avoided/misunderstood and now cherished…

Cauliflower – from boiled to roasted…I’m now a true cauliflower convert!

Parsnips – who knew they could make such delicious “fries”

Spinach – all it was once good for was  Popeye…

Pumpkin – oblivious to the fact there was so much more to this wonderful vegetable than scooping out seeds and carving facial features

Seen as the next foodie date in the calendar is in fact Pancake Tuesday I felt it was my duty to get ahead of the supermarkets commercial attack and supply you with some alternative pancake options to try out!

Pancakes for me as a child were more comparable to the French Crepes; a thin pancake topped with a sprinkling of lemon and sugar, a scraping of jam or if we were going all out stewed apples with ice cream…

I happily made my way through 3, 4 or 5 of them, always managing to keep up with the men in the house even after having consumed a mighty dinner. We always saved our pancake feast for the evening, my mum having made the batter earlier on in the day, though I do remember one occasion were we whipped up a few in school. The overly thick and slightly lumpy batter resulted in an equally thick and lumpy pancake which was far from what could be described as edible; one was enough on this particular occasion.

Now I have pancakes almost every weekend for breakfast; it’s either a Saturday or Sunday morning treat and I make it my business to come up with a different spin on them; there have been some interesting ones of late, experimentation’s which culminated in a welcome surprises.

The most recent of which were my cranberry and orange vegan spelt pancakes, piled high and serve with fresh cranberry sauce, dried cranberries and a sprinkling of flaked almonds… you can view the full post here or quickly get the recipe from my recipage.

My most exciting pancake revelation combines one of the foods I plainly avoided as a child…spinach.

Seen as it works so well in smoothies I figured it wouldn’t be any harm to give it a go in pancakes and to my surprise the stack turned out to be the most incredible I’ve ever had the pleasure of consuming.

The dark chocolate chips, desiccated coconut, pistachios and raspberries also had a lot to do with them being such a taste sensation. The pancake batter itself thickened up nicely with the inclusion of copious amounts of spinach resulting in a slightly thicker than normal pancakes. Far from what I was raised on; pancakes that I now make are much more comparable to traditional American pancakes though they are completely vegan friendly.

I do occasionally take a step back in time and whip up something akin to what I used to enjoy as a child…a thin apple pie buckwheat pancake with all the trimmings!

If you like what you see be sure to check out my other healthified recipes over on the blog, follow me on twitter or find me on facebook to keep up to date with all the latest! All questions, comments, feedback and general meanderings are always welcome.

Vegan Spinach Spelt Pancake Stack (view the printable version)

Servings – 1 (5 small pancakes)

Preparation Time – 5 minutes

Cooking Time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 60g (1/2 cup) spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 125ml (1/2 cup) soy milk
• 1 medium pear + 1 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 handfuls of spinach (add more and less for a thicker or thinner batter)

Toppings

• 2 tbsp fresh raspberries
• 1 tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
• 1/2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp plain soy yoghurt
• 1 heaped tsp desiccated coconut
• 1/2 tbsp maple syrup to drizzle

Directions

1. Blend together all pancake batter ingredients and set to one side for about 5 minutes.
2. Place 1/4 cup measures (65ml / 1/5 of the batter) in to a non stick pan over a medium heat (I make two at a time).
3. As the pancakes cook set to one side or keep warm in a preheated oven on a low heat; however the pancakes are delicious served cold!
4. Layer up pancakes and top with soy yoghurt and all other goodies.

These are amazing cupcakes for making a bit of an impression!  They have that dramatic look  that gets your attention.  They are a little bit more fiddly that normal cupcakes but the result is worth it.

Here is the recipe I use                                                    

250g Self raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

120g Butter

300g of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1tsp  Vanilla extract

240ml Buttermilk

2 tblsp  Red food colouring

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Icing

450g cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

120 icing sugar

320ml double cream

These are really easy to do and quick to put together.  It’s amazing how you forget that good old jam is sooo tasty!

Try them and create a little romance in your house tomorrow!!

Ingredients   

100g  sugar

50g butter

1 small egg

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon Goodalls vanilla extract

135g plain flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 heart cookie cutters of different sizes

To decorate

Raspberry jam

Early in the day or the day before:

In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs, extract, and milk.  In a medium bowl mix the dry ingredients with a wire whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl. Mix with mixer until well combined. With hands, shape dough into a ball. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 200degrees C. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Roll half or 1/3 dough at a time, keep the rest refrigerated. For crisp cookies, roll dough, paper thin. For softer cookies, roll 1/8 ” to 1/4″ thick. With floured cookie cutter, cut into shapes. Re-roll trimmings and cut.  Once you have made several of the large hear cookies them make another batch and using the smaller heart cookie cutter cut a heart shape in the middle to create your window for the jam later.

Place cookies 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheets.  Bake 8 minutes or until very light brown. With a spatula, remove cookies to racks; cool..

When the cookies are cool you can spread approximately a teaspoon of jam on the middle of the full heart cookies and place the window on top.  press down firmly and repeat until all your sweethearts are made.

Enjoy!!

By Niamh O’Connor BSc Dip MINDI

Dietitian & clinical nutritionist

11^th Jan 2012.

The intense media coverage of healthy eating and weight management issues every January is enough to bring up my Christmas dinner! None of the radio programmes or print media pieces that I’ve listened to so far this month have been written by or presented by qualified dietitians! I’ve had to listen to umpteen so called experts over the past few weeks and I’ve about had my fill at this stage. Even Operation transformation on RTE has crossed the proverbial line by introducing their weight loss expert as a dietitian. It only took me a mere 5 years in TCD to achieve this, yet she can seemingly be bestowed this new professional title by an over enthusiastic script writer. A bit Irish for my liking I’m afraid.

AS WITH MOST OF MY COLLEAGUES ON THE ISLAND OF IRELAND, WE HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH TIME (UNPAID!) OVER THE YEARS TO SUCH INTERVIEWS, AND THE SEEMINGLY ASTUTE INTERVIEWER ALWAYS ENDS UP SUMMARISING THE TOPIC OF WEIGHT MANAGEMENT AND HEALTHY EATING AS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PEARLS OF WISDOM…..!

1. It’s not rocket science!

• or

1. It’s all just common sense!

Or

1. Everything in moderation!

Indeed I’d have to commend any journalist for figuring out that there is indeed no relationship between nutritional science and rocket science (or aeronautical engineering), except perhaps a ‘Mars’ bar being the exceptional link between the two topics!

Neither can nutritional science be pawned off as just ‘All Common sense’! If it were just all common sense we wouldn’t have such a significant decline in the health of the nation, particularly in relation to the obesity epidemic in adults (67%) and obesity in children (up to 33%), and an impending diabetes epidemic which will certainly cripple an already overstretched health service.

And as for the ‘Everything in Moderation’ approach! This has got to be most people’s favourite phrase, because there are absolutely no scientific parameters whatsoever to be achieved (eg 5 portions of fruit & vegetables every day) or to be avoided or to be limited (e.g. sodium & saturated fat) or indeed to be accurately measured (eg cholesterol), ever! It’s like the Xbox Kinect 360 which my kids got from Santa – YOU are the controller! What may seem moderate to you in relation to one food or another may be extremely excessive as far as the scientific facts are concerned.

So no, my dear friend, the ‘Everything in moderation’ approach is not a good one to follow in order to achieve lasting health or wellness, or prevention of chronic diseases.

I have never known any other subject to cause so much discussion and confusion amongst adults, children, patients and health professionals, family friends and work colleagues than diet & nutrition. No one seems to agree on anything! Everyone has their own expertise to add to the argument, and everything is confident that their opinion is based on fact! One obvious reason for this might come from the fact that in Ireland we obtain our nutritional information from a range of unusual and potentially unreliable sources – such as radio, print media (usually written by journalists), the internet (scary place to learn about your health), family (usually female members who are authoritarian in their approach to their knowledge of the subject matter and will not be argued with… see next paragraph on Married Milk!), friends, food writers, food retailers… then add the magic ingredient  – Advertising! For every euro that the World Health Organisation spends on promoting healthy eating, €500 is spent by the world’s biggest fast food & beverage companies (sending out pretty much the opposite messages!), and the most worrying statistic is that 75% of such advertisements are aimed at our children.

I WONDER HOW MANY GENTLEMEN READING THIS BLOG ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE PRODUCT THAT I LIKE TO CALL “MARRIED MILK”?….. LET ME EXPLAIN…. WELL IT’S MORE OF A RHETORICAL QUESTION REALLY. HOW MANY MEN USED TO DRINK REGULAR FULL-FAT ‘NORMAL’ WHOLE MILK UNTIL THEY MOVED IN WITH A SIGNIFICANT OTHER (FEMALE FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS EXAMPLE) AND ALL OF A SUDDEN SKIMMED MILK TAKES UP PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN THE FRIDGE WITHOUT THEIR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE, CONSENT OR ANY FORM OF DISCUSSION REGARDING THEIR PERSONAL PREFERENCE? FULL FAT MILK, WHICH SEEMS TO GIVE RISE TO ENDLESS SCARE MONGERING BY SLIMMING CLUBS, IS ONLY 3.5% FAT ANYWAY, SO IS NATURALLY A VERY LOW-FAT FOOD, AND NEED NOT BE BANNED FROM YOUR LIFE, MARRIED OR NOT!

Misinterpreting food labels is another common denominator, particularly among females again (sorry ladies!). I generally recommend that people avoid reading labels unless they are 100% sure of how to interpret what they are reading, otherwise what’s the point? Food labelling is governed by strict legislation but we are still being bombarded by mis-leading and confusing health claims. E.g. If a biscuit is labelled 85% fat free, some of us automatically put it in the basket, but in actual fact it contains 15% fat which is NOT a low fat food at all. Similarly Olive oil is seen as low fat food, but it is 100% pure fat and we continue to use it liberally in cooking! The argument about the different types of fat in such products a different discussion, as the main priority is to reduce the total amount of fat in our diet, which remains well above recommended levels. A food which is seen as an enemy (such as full fat milk) is only 3.5% fat yet the media & non-qualified ‘nutrition advisors’ often encourage us to avoid these foods when trying to lose weight. Research clearly shows that people on a weight reducing diet who consume 3 servings of dairy products per day will lose more weight per week than those slimmers who avoid dairy products, even if they all consume the same number of calories per week!

Even after a few simple examples, are you still confident that you are correctly interpreting food labels? Are you confident that it’s not rocket science, that it’s still all just common sense, or that everything in moderation is the key to healthy eating?

To know about nutrition ask a REAL dietitian! To find one, check out www.indi.ie

To find me, check out www.corknutrition.ie !

Bye for now,

Niamh

One of my favourite food memories is of cooking with my Nan as a child.

She loves to bake and every Saturday our kitchen was filled with the smells of pastry and apples as she baked tarts for the weekend. Our kitchen table would be covered in flour and spilled egg wash and I would get in trouble for stealing slices of apple!  I love sour flavours so I adore Bramley apples! Yum!

Late summer and autumn was a time for making jam in our house, I grew up in the country so me and my cousins would get sent out with buckets, empty lunchboxes or whatever was to hand to go and pick blackberries. We would all be racing about to find the best berries! Then my Nan would make delicious jam and homemade bread to go with it! Mouth watering… Nan always encouraged me to cook as well, with left over pastry she showed me how to make little jam tarts which I loved! I was always so proud seeing them come out of the oven, golden and delicious. Looking back, there is really no mystery as to why I was a chubby kid!

Like most households, Christmas was always a special time for food in our house. Nan always baked a Christmas cake for each of her daughters (that’s seven cakes). The preparation started in September. Each week with the groceries she would buy some of the ingredients for each cake. Then towards the end of October the baking would begin, over the course of weeks the cakes would take shape! Our kitchen smelled like a Christmas wonderland! My favourite part of the process was helping to mix those fabulous rich cake mixes, the smells of the Guinness, fruits and spices… There is really nothing like it! The icing part was fun too but I was not allowed help with that because Nan was a perfectionist when it came to the lovely white royal icing! I did get to lick the spoon after though and really that’s the most important thing!

My Nan is nearly eighty now and is not able to cook as much as she used to. I have inherited her love of cooking and when I am back in Waterford I take over as head chef in the house! She loves trying new foods so I always try to make new things for her! She loves curries and different cheeses so I always try bring home a selection from the English Market for her to sample!

I have also inherited my Nan’s recipe collection. She has a folder stuffed with recipes, with clippings from magazines that date back to the seventies, I turn to it when I want to make something traditional like a hearty soup, a stew or soda bread. It never lets me down!

I think everyone who enjoys cooking has had a cooking role model and my Nan is mine. Who is yours?

Chantelle Wallace

http://thelifeandtimesofchantelle.blogspot.com/

My fondest memory is that of an energetic and vibrant lady, hands knuckle deep in dough, a flour dusted apron, and fingers like a seasoned magician. As kids we had the pleasure of having our Grandmother stay with us for a good few years before she died. An enigmatic force of common sense, mind full to capacity of every necessary recipe imaginable.

A particular favourite of hers was her mother’s Brown Bread. Each morning without fail, the oven would be full to capacity with little loaf tins, timed to deliver piping hot rich malty offerings. Simple in its entirety, but most memorable not just for the bread itself, but because it was the very first recipe I learned from her.

To this day it never ceases to amaze me how she managed to measure the exact amounts of ingredients without the use of scales or measures. I’m certainly at a loss, and am pernickety to the point of insanity. I have to have the right quantity to begin with. I would collapse with shock if I were to take 2 handfuls of different dry ingredients and bind together with an unspecified amount of liquid. It just cannot be done.

It could however be magically arranged, and with a pinch of knowledge and experience, baked to a specific time that only she seemed to know.

It is simple I know. I should be writing about what ‘food’ means to me. But stripped bare, this is what food in its entirety does mean to me. Food that is handled with care, baked with passion and served with love. Ok, clichéd I know, but I cannot express how much I enjoyed that time spent with her.

I carry this perception with me today. If there is care and attention devoted to every facet of a meal, regardless of its simplicity, I am duty bound to enjoy it. Automatically brings me back to those days in that kitchen, slightly cooled loaves on wire racks, rich in buttermilk and wheat-germ, sliced inch thick and generously buttered. A kiss on the cheek, a hug and a squeeze, my legs dangling carelessly beneath the kitchen table left to enjoy what will always remain my fondest foodie memory.

Michael Wall

This is the dish which will make your house smell like Christmas.  Spiced beef adds another layer of Christmas too.

Ham fillet of around 2kg  (will feed 4/5 people)

1 onion peeled

2 bay leaves

handful of cloves

Two tablespoons of Wholegrain mustard

75g of Soft brown sugar.

Firstly you need to soak your ham for at least 5 or 6 hours or overnight preferably.  You can empty out the water a few times and replenish it.

When I come to cook the ham I bring it to the boil and pour off all the water and fill up the saucepan with more water again then add the bay leaves and the onion with a few cloves stuck into it.  Once its boiling let it simmer for close to two hours.  Leave the ham to cool in the pot of water it boiled in to preserve its moistness.

Once cooled you can then take the top layer of fat off with a knife but leaving a thin layer on the top of the ham.  Then its time to create the diamond effect by scoring the fat.  Use your knife to score several lines going in one direction and then going back across the ham scoring more lines in the opposite direction.  Place a clove at each corner of the diamonds created.

Mix your mustard and sugar together to form a thick paste and smear it all over the diamond design.

Put it in a hot oven at around 220 degrees C for about 25/30 mins.  You can baste it with some of the topping which may run off the meat during its cooking time.  Ideally you want the joint of meat to look lovely and brown and caramelised.

Remove and leave to cool.

WARNING – This is so popular you may be well advised to do two of them as in my house the ham disappears as soon as its cooked and rarely makes it to Christmas Day.!!