Category: Health & Wellbeing

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Hearty and zingy, this Thai rice soup is perfect for in-between weather. Donal Skehan @RTEfood

Donal Skehan’s Thai rice soup

Donal Skehan

By Donal Skehan

Celebrity Chef

Ingredients

Serves: 4

Time: 35 minutes

  • 1.5ltrs good chicken stock
  • 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 lemongrass stalks
  • 1 lime, juice and peeled zest
  • 2 – 4 Thai Birds Eye chillies – depending on your spice tolerance!
  • 50ml fish sauce, plus extra to season
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • pinch ground turmeric
  • 6 chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 500g cooked white rice
  • pinch white pepper
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 red onion
  • Sesame oil, to serve
  • Handful of coriander leaves
  • Handful of mint

Method

  1. First, get the chicken stock into a pan. Slice half of the ginger, chilli and lemongrass and add to the pot. Peel the zest off a lime then bring to a boil, and season with the 25ml of the fish sauce. Turn down to a simmer whilst you prepare the rest of the dish.
  2. Finely chop the remaining ginger, chilli and lemongrass and place into a bowl. Grate in the garlic and add the remaining fish sauce. Chop the chicken thighs into inch pieces and add to the bowl along with a pinch of turmeric and mix everything together.
  3. Get a wok over a high heat and add the oil followed by the chicken pieces. Cook, stirring, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
  4. Scoop the aromatics from the broth and discard then add the rice to the broth and warm through for at least 5 minutes.
  5. To finish, slice the red onion finely and season the broth with some white pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and some extra fish sauce if needed.
  6. Add the rice and broth to your bowls then top with the chicken, followed by the sliced onions. Garnish with extra sliced red chillies, if you can handle them!, and lots of coriander and mint.

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Neven Maguire’s Irish Stew and Mary Flahavan’s Oatmeal Cookies – Marty in the Morning @rte lyricfm

I never tire of a bowl of steaming hot stew. It’s the attention to detail that makes this dish one of the world’s great classics. This is my version that I have developed over the years. It’s a meal in itself, but for a special celebration, try serving it buffet style with bowls of turnip mash, colcannon and maybe even some glazed parsnips and carrots and watch your guests’ faces light up!

SERVES 6–8

  • 900g (2lb) boneless lamb neck or shoulder, trimmed and cut into cubes
  • 900ml (1½ pints) lamb or chicken stock
  • 50g (2oz) pearl barley, washed
  • 225g (8oz) potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 225g (8oz) carrots, thickly sliced
  • 225g (8oz) leeks, well trimmed and
  • thickly sliced
  • 225g (8oz) pearl onions, peeled
  • 100g (4oz) rindless piece of smoked
  • bacon, diced
  • 2 fresh thyme sprigs
  • sea salt and freshly ground
  • black pepper
  • chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley,
  • to garnish
  • turnip mash with crispy bacon and onion, to serve (optional)
  • colcannon, to serve

1 Place the boneless lamb pieces in a large heavy-based pan or flameproof casserole and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil, then skim off any scum from the surface and then stir in

the barley. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 50 minutes, until slightly reduced and the lamb is almost tender.

2 Add the potatoes to the lamb with the carrots, leeks, pearl onions, smoked bacon and thyme and simmer for 30 minutes, until the lamb and vegetables are completely tender but still holding their shape. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3 Put the stew straight onto the table and scatter over the parsley. Serve dishes of the turnip mash with crispy bacon and onion and colcannon alongside and allow everyone to help themselves.

Oatmeal, Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

This recipe was given to me by Mary Flahavan. I like it so much that we now make it up in batches and keep them in Kilner jars in our rooms for guests in case they’re feeling a bit peckish after a long journey but don’t want to ruin their dinner.

  • 275g (10oz) Flahavan’s
  • Progress Oatlets
  • 225g (8oz) butter, at room
  • temperature
  • 150g (5oz) caster sugar
  • 100g (4oz) plain flour, plus a little
  • extra for dusting
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 100g (4oz) dried cranberries,
  • roughly chopped
  • 100g (4oz) white chocolate,
  • finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/gas mark 6). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Blend the oatlets in a food processor until quite fine. Add the butter, sugar, flour and baking soda and blend again until the dough just comes together.

Tip into a bowl and beat in the cranberries and white chocolate. Shape into 12 even-sized balls and arrange on the lined baking sheets well spaced apart, then squash them down with the palm of your hand to about a 4cm (1 ½in) thickness. Bake for 15–20 minutes, until they are a pale golden colour and soft to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and harden on the sheets for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for a few minutes before tucking in with a nice cup of tea.

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Eunice Power’s cranberry and orange cake 🍊 😋

Eunice Power

By Eunice Power

Celebrity Chef

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Irish Yoghurt Clonakilty Cranberry and Orange Cake.

Ingredients

Cake

  • 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • ½ orange zest and juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 heaped tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp mixed spice
  • 100g Irish Yoghurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yoghurt, plus extra to serve
  • 150g fresh cranberries

Topping

  • 150g fresh cranberries
  • ½ orange, juice
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 150g icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 23cm springform round tin with baking parchment.
2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. In a jug, combine the beaten eggs, orange zest, orange juice and vanilla.
4. Add this mixture to the creamed butter in 3–4 additions, fully incorporating each before adding more.
5. Fold in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice.
6. Fold in the Irish Yogurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yogurt until the batter is smooth.
7. Transfer ¼ of the batter to the tin. Scatter a handful of cranberries in a line over this layer.
8. Fold the remaining cranberries into the rest of the batter and spoon into the tin.
9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
10. Leave the cake in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.


Topping

1. Heat the cranberries, orange juice and caster sugar in a small pan for about 5 minutes until half the berries have popped and the rest are softened.
2. Strain through a fine sieve, reserving the softened fruit.
3. Mix 2–3 tablespoons of the strained liquid with the icing sugar to make a thick icing.
4. Stir the softened fruit into the remaining strained liquid.
5. Pour and spread the icing over the cooled cake and allow it to drip slightly down the sides.
6. Top with the softened fruit.

Serving suggestion: Serve with a spoonful of Irish Yogurt Clonakilty Greek Style Yogurt.

Chefs’ tips:

  • If the batter begins to curdle while adding the egg mixture, add a spoonful of the flour mixture — it stabilises the batter and keeps the cake light.
  • Scatter a little orange zest over the icing for a bright, fragrant finish.
  • For a decorative flourish, add a few candied rosemary stalks on top. To make these, dip fresh rosemary sprigs lightly in sugar syrup, then toss in caster sugar and allow to dry — they look frosted and pair beautifully with the cranberry flavour.
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Rachel Allen’s Divine Rich Chocolate Cake recipe #Ballymaloe  😋 😍  🇮🇪


rachelallencooks
Verified
Happy Sunday!
This Divine Rich Chocolate Cake recipe is from my 2nd cookbook, Rachel’s Favourite Food For Friends (published in 2005), that I come back to time & time again. This is a super quick to make and completely delicious cake that’s a bit brownie-like, a bit moussey-like, and can be made using ground almonds or flour, so super versatile. And, it keeps for ages, if you can keep it!
I made 2 this morning, one for home and one for a friend’s (belated) birthday!
Here’s the recipe below!
Serves 6-8
A little soft butter, for greasing the tin
150g dark chocolate, chopped
125g butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs, whisked to break up
50g ground almonds or plain flour

For the Chocolate Glaze:
110g dark chocolate , chopped
2 tbsp milk or cream
50g butter

Preheat the oven to 160’C/Fan 145.
Butter the sides of a 20cm round cake tin (or spring form tin ) and line the bottom with grease proof or parchment paper.
Place the chocolate, butter and sugar in a bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water, and melt. Stir until smooth then beat in the eggs and fold in the ground almonds or sifted flour. Feel free to add orange zest, vanilla, sea salt, cardamom, ginger etc!
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until the centre feels just set in the centre, but it will still be gorgeously moist. Allow to cool in the tin .
To make the chocolate glaze , melt all the ingredients together and stir until smooth, allow to cool a little until it has thickened slightly ( about 10 minutes) but do not place in the fridge as it will lose it’s glossy sheen .
Take the cooled cake out of the tin and place on a plate or cake stand , and pour the glaze over the top , letting it drizzle down the sides.
#baking #rachelallencooks #chocolatecake #glutenfree1d