Carrot, tomato & Orange soup

This soup was in this week’s Sunday Independent, under the title ‘Hello Sunshine’. I made it today – all in the house loved it. Definitely a sunny and warming comfort soup.

Ingredients:

40g butter
1 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
1 medium onion, chopped
500g carrots, peeled & chopped
200g potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
900ml chicken stock
400g chopped tomatoes (tinned are fine at this time of year)
Juice of 2 oranges (3 if you prefer)
3 tbsps chopped chives
200ml creme fraiche – or use cream to finish

1. Put butter & oil into a heavy pan. Add chopped onion and saute without browning. Add chopped carrots, potatoes and celery.
2. Season with salt & pepper. Add sugar and cook very gently with lid on to sweat the veg for about 5 mins. Stir occasionally.
3. Stir in the cumin, chicken stock and chopped tomatoes. Bring to the boil, lower heat and cover the pan with a lid.
Cook until the veg are tender, about 20-30 mins.
4. Blitz the soup in a blender and return to the pan.
5. Add the orange juice and reheat.
6. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Stir in 2 tbsps of the chives and some of the creme fraiche.
7. To serve, sprinkle with a little chives and creme fraiche or cream.

Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter

Parsnip & Pancetta Tagliatelle with Parmesan & Butter

Thanks to Kathy for this recipe – it is a great combination of sweet parsnip with salty parmesan and bacon, and is a very child friendly supper.

12 slices of pancetta of dry cured streaky bacon (smoked optional)
1 handful fresh rosemary
4 good knobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 parsnips, peeled, halved and finely sliced lengthways
450g/1lb dried tagliatelle
3 good handfuls of grated parmesan
Sea salt & grated pepper

In a large, non-stick frying pan fry the pancetta/bacon and herbs in half of
the butter for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and parsnips. Cook for a
further 3 minutes on medium heat, until pancetta is slightly golden and the
parsnips have softened nicely.

Cool pasta, drain, reserving a little of the cooking water. Mix the pasta
with the parsnips and pancetta and stir in the rest of your butter and the
Parmesan. Adding a little of the cooking water to loosen the mixture and
make it creamy and shiny Season to taste.

Recipe index – season by season

At this time of year it can seem that the range of Irish produce is limited by comparison with the endless possibilities of mid summer, but there are loads of varied and really tasty recipes using winter produce. It just requires a bit of thought to break out the habits that we can fall into when we think of a particular ingredient and how it can be used.

With this in mind I am working on an index of recipes that I have come across in various books and from customers and friends that use ingredients in season in Ireland during that season. I will break it into each of the four seasons and hope to add to the index as I find new ideas over the year. You can see the index under it’s own heading on the website subject list.

Please send on any ideas that you would like included. Some of the recipes are already detailed on the website – if you see a recipe that you would like, but I haven’t yet added the detailed instructions please feel free to contact me – it will prompt me to type up the full recipe!

Ithaca pie

Ithaca Pie

This recipe was given to me by one of our customers – thank you Kathy! I have made a smaller version of this, using ready made puff pastry and making it into a roll. It worked out very well and was delicious. Ideal to serve sliced for parties, with a side salad.

1 cup = 8 oz

Adapted from In Season by Sarah Raven
Serves 12-15 (as a main course)

This recipe is for 12-15 people. You can halve it and make the pie in a standard 9″ x 13″ pan. If you do this, check the pie at 30-45 minutes.)
Ingredients:
For the crust:
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 eggs, beaten
Ice-cold water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
For the filling:
2 pounds spinach, chard, kale (one, or a mixture of all, of these greens)
Large bunch of dill, finely chopped
4 tablespoons chopped mint
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup olive oil
4 scallions, finely chopped
2 leeks, finely chopped
1/2 cup long-grain rice (or brown rice or bulgur)
6 ounces feta (optional)
Salt and pepper
Procedure:
1. Sift the flour with the salt and rub in the butter or pulse in a food processor until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Add enough beaten eggs and ice water to bring the dough together in a ball. Wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (can be done a day in advance).
2. Remove the tough stalks from the spinach, chard, and kale. Coarsely chop the leaves and mix with the finely chopped herbs. Saute the onion and garlic in a little oil in a large pan until tender. And add all the greens, including the scallions and leeks. Mix well with most of the remaining oil. Incorporate the uncooked rice (or bulgur) and take off the heat. Season well with salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough in two (one piece slightly larger than the other) and allow it to warm up for a minute or so. Roll out the dough–on a floured surface–as thinly as you possibly can.
4. Roll the larger piece around a rolling pin and transfer it to the base of your baking pan. Make sure that there is some pastry hanging over the side of the pan.
5. Add the filling and crumble the feta over it (if using). Cover with the other layer of dough. Crimp the two layers together by brushing with a little water and pinching around the edge.
6. Brush a little oil over the top and scatter with sesame seeds (if using). Prick the surface with a knife. Bake the pie in the preheated oven for just over an hour, until the top crust is golden brown.
This is delicious once it has cooled a little and is perhaps even better eaten cold the next day. It’s also excellent for feeding lots of people at a picnic.
A note on cutting chard. When cooking chard, you want to be able to enjoy both the leaves and stem, however, the problem can be that they cook at different rates. Instead of winding up with perfectly cooked leaves and undercooked stems, or well-cooked stems and over-cooked leaves, try separating them so they can both be cooked properly.
First, remove the leaves from the stem:

Then, stack all the leaves on top of each other and roll them up:

Next, cut through the roll so that you wind up with thinly shredded pieces
Lastly, dice up your stems as you would celery:

When you go to cook the chard, cook the stems first. Once they are almost done, add the leaves and cook until tender. This way, both parts will be cooked perfectly.
After sauteing the filling, you roll out the dough, assemble the pie, and bake.
The result is a deliciously flaky crust, chock full of chard (or whatever other greens you may decide to use), accented by pungent dill and salty feta.

Courgette Cake

from ’100 great recipes – Farmers Market’

A variation of the more familiar carrot cake – the courgette adds sweetness and a moist texture. A half and half mixture with carrots is also an option.

Ingredients:
3 free range eggs
75g golden caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
225g courgettes, trimmed and grated
25g butter, melted
25g sultanas

Icing:
175g full-fat cream cheese (eg Philadelphia)
1tbsp lemon or orange juice
75g icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180c,350f or gas mark 4.
2. Lightly oil and line the base of an 8inch round cake tin.
3. Place the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk until very pale and thick.
4.Fold in the courgettes. Carefully fold in the flour. Drizzle over the melted butter and fold in. Add sultanas.
5. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 25-35 mins or until springy to the touch. Cool in the tin for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
6.Beat together the cheese, lemon juice and icing sugar until just combined. Spread over the top of the cake.

variation – substitute 25g ground almonds for 25g of the flour.

Spiced potato & bean salad with roasted red peppers

from Avoca Salads

A substantial salad to have on its own or with barbequed meat or fish. Easy to prepare ahead of time.

Ingredients:
3 red peppers, seeded and cut into thick strips
8 tbsps olive oil
500g new potatoes, washed and halved
2 tsps powdered cajun spice
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 chillies, finely chopped
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Preheat to oven to 180c.
Toss the red pepper strips in 2 tbsps olive oil and roast for 10-15mins, turning occasionally. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover with clingfilm. Peel when cool enough to handle.

Toss the potatoes in the cajun spice and remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 30-40 mins or until tender. You need to toss the potatoes once or twice during this time.

When the potatoes are cooked, combine with the beans, scallions, garlic, chilli and roasted peppers. Toss so everyting is well coated. Allow to cool and add the parsley, salt and pepper and toss again.

Roast parsnip soup with apple crisps

from ‘Avoca cafe cookbook 2′

‘Perhaps the sweetest of all the root vegetables, parsnips are an integral part of winter eating, their nutty robust flavour making them as good with roast meats as they are on their own’.

A perfect autumn warmer for a cold evening…

3 parsnips, diced
3 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 potato, finely diced
50g butter
600ml light chicken stock
4 tsps creme fraiche
4 tsps chestnut puree
1 tbsp snipped chives
1 eating apple

Make the apple crisps well ahead, preheat the oven to 140c, core the apple and thinly slice. Lay the slices out on a baking tray and place in the oven for 2 hours, or until dried and crisp.

Preheat the oven to 200c. Toss the diced parsnips in the olive oil, season well and roast in the oven for 20 mins or until well coloured.

Gently saute the onion and potato in the butter over a low heat for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the roasted parsnips and the stock and simmer for 20 mins, or until all the veg are soft. Allow to cool slightly, liquidise, then reheat and check the seasoning.

Garnish each bowl with a tsp of creme fraiche, a tsp of chestnut puree and the apple crisps, along with a few snipped chives.

Traditional teatime sponge cake

Traditional Sponge Cake
From ‘Avoca Tea time’

Although this is a recipe that everyone is familiar with I am including it for a couple of reasons: It has no butter, so is low fat (even with cream filling) which reduces cake related guilt… it needs no raising agent, which I think is amazing, considering how light it turns out… and it shows off how good duck eggs are for baking. Duck eggs have more albumen in the white, which means that they are better than hen eggs for any recipe that needs them to thicken and lift (eg meringues, buns and particularly – sponge cake). And – it really is an old fashioned treat.

Ingredients:
5 large v fresh eggs (hen are fine, but duck are better)
150g caster sugar
150g plain flour, sieved

Filling:
Strawberry jam
200ml whipping cream, whipped

1.    Preheat oven to 170c. Line 2 x 16cm, lined with parchment paper
2.    Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk until the thick ribbon stage is reached – takes about 10mins. Very gently, with a metal spoon, fold in the sieved flour.
3.    Spread the mix evenly between the two tins, bake for 20-25 mins, until firm to the touch. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
4.    When totally cold top the first cake with jam, then cream. You could also add sliced fresh berries. Place the second cake on top. Dust with sieved icing sugar and decorate with berries/flowers if wished.

Broccoli, cherry tomato, hazelnut & feta salad

Broccoli, cherry tomato, feta & hazelnut salad
From ‘Avoca Salads’

This is a great combination of sweet, salt and the crunchiness of the broccoli and nuts. Lovely as a side dish with green salad and fresh boiled potatoes.

Ingredients:
110g hazelnuts
400g broccoli florets – bite sized
110g feta cheese, bite sized chunks
225g cherry tomatoes, halved
200ml French dressing

Toast the hazelnuts in a hot oven, until skins brown. Tip into a tea towel and rub off the skins. Allow to cool, then  put the hazelnuts in a bowl with the broccoli and cherry tomatoes. Gently toss with the dressing and season with pepper. Salt may not be needed, as the feta is usually salty enough. Top with the feta.

Courgette & Almond soup

Courgette & Almond soup
From ‘Avoca Soups’

This is a delicious soup – I got the recipe and a bowl from a trader at UL farmers market (Sarah at Chilli loco) – it’s creamy, mild and really tasty.

Ingredients;
50g butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 potato, peeled and chopped
600ml veg stock
3 courgettes, finely chopped
25g ground almonds
125ml double cream, plus extra to serve (could be single if fat conscious…)
125ml milk
Flaked almonds to serve

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and potato and cook over a very low heat for 5 mins. Add the stock, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins or until the potato is cooked. Add the courgettes, bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 mins. As soon as the courgettes are cooked, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the almonds, cream and milk. Puree in a blender, then reheat gently and season to taste. Serve topped with a few toasted flaked almonds and a swirl of cream.

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