Category: recipes

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Molly Malone’s cockle and mussel chowder

molly malones chowder

Info:

Serves 4–6
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp sunfl ower oil
  • 110g (4oz) smoked bacon, diced
  • 25g (1oz) butter
  • 110g (4oz) leek, trimmed and very finely diced
  • 110g (4oz) carrot, very finely diced
  • 275g (10oz) potato (about 1 medium), peeled and finely diced
  • 1kg (2lb 2oz) mixed cockles and mussels
  • 300ml (11fl oz) dry white wine
  • 200ml (7fl oz) milk
  • 200ml (7fl oz) single or double cream
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley

Molly Malone was a beautiful girl who sold cockles and mussels and died tragically of a fever while still young, or so the song goes. Molly may not have been a real girl, but since at least the 17th century, there have been fishmongers on the streets of Dublin who sell ‘Cockles and Mussels, alive, alive, oh!’

Cockles, with their distinctive flavour and lovely curved shell, are traditionally eaten in Ireland with Oatcakes. If you can only find mussels, this chowder will be just as good.

Serve either as a substantial starter or with chunks of crusty bread as a meal in its own right.

Heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and sauté for about 1 minute, until crisp and golden. Add the butter to the pan and melt. Then add the leek, carrot and potato. Reduce the heat to low and sauté gently for 4–5 minutes, until soft but not browned.

Meanwhile, prepare the cockles and mussels. Scrub the shells clean and discard any that remain open when you tap them against a hard surface. Remove the beard – the little fibrous tuft – from each mussel. Bring the wine to a boil in a large saucepan and add the cockles and mussels. Cover with a tight-fi tting lid and cook for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until the shells have opened.

Remove from the heat, drain the shellfi sh in a colander, reserving the cooking juices, and discard any shells that remain closed. Return the shellfi sh to the empty pan to keep warm. Place a fine sieve over a measuring jug and strain the cooking liquid. You should have at least 600ml (1 pint); if not, add water to make up that quantity.

Add the pan juices and the milk to the bacon and vegetable mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6–8 minutes, until the potato is tender. Add the cream and simmer for another 2–3 minutes, until the soup is reduced and thickened slightly. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, remove half of the cockles and mussels from their shells and add them with the remaining cockles and mussels still in their shells to the chowder. Stir in the parsley and serve at once.

http://www.rachelallen.com/post/molly-malones-cockle-and-mussel-chowder

 

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Gillian Hegarty’s Home-made Pasta by Rachel Allen

 wild-garlic-pasta_0

Makes approx. ¾lb (350g) fresh pasta, feeds approximately 3-4.

You will need:

300g (10oz) ’00’ flour

25g (1oz) semolina flour and extra for dusting

A good pinch of salt

1 whole egg and 3 large egg yolks

1 dessertspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon cold water

Sift the ’00’ flour, 25g (1oz) of the semolina flour and the pinch of salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour, break in one whole egg and two egg yolks into the centre, together with the extra-virgin olive oil and the cold water and mix everything together.

When the dough is at a crumbly stage (before you form it into a ball) check to see if there is enough moisture in it. If there is not, add the remaining egg yolk and maybe even an extra egg white. It is difficult to be exact with the quantity of liquid, as it depends on the size of the eggs and the brand of flour.

Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until it is really smooth and silky, see my Tip, above left. Wrap it well in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes before rolling. Divide the dough into three pieces – keep two covered in cling film while you roll the other piece into a length that is 1-2mm (about 1/8in) thick. As a guide, you shouldn’t be able to read the lettering on a matchbox through the pasta. If the pasta is rolled too thinly it will be too sloppy and won’t be strong enough to hold the sauce.

Using a knife or pizza wheel, cut into ¼in (5mm) strips for noodles or tagliatelle. Pappardelle are the widest of the noodles, they should be cut to a width of 15mm (about »in) with a crimped-edge cutter. Toss the cut pasta in the extra semolina flour and then place them on a tray that is also sprinkled generously with semolina flour. Repeat with the remaining pasta dough.

The pasta is best if the strips are allowed to dry out for at least an hour in the fridge or cool place.

It can be kept for up to three days in the fridge.

http://www.rachelallen.com/post/gillian-hegartys-home-made-pasta

 

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Clodagh McKenna‏, My Carrot Cake with Orange Blossom frosting recipe

Makes 1 Cake (10 portions)

INGREDIENTS:

3 eggs

140ml/5floz vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

220/7oz light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

350g/12oz grated carrots, (grated weight)

100g/3½ oz golden raisins

100g/3½ oz walnuts, chopped

200g/7oz self-raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the orange blossom frosting 

300g/10½ oz cream cheese, chilled

70g/2½ oz butter, at room temperature

300g/10½ oz icing sugar, sifted

1 orange, zest only

2 teaspoons of orange blossom water

METHOD:

1.          Preheat the oven to 180°C and oil and line a 13 x 23cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper.

2.        For the carrot cake: beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add the oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, grated carrot, raisins and chopped walnuts.

3.        Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients and bring the mixture together using a wooden or large metal spoon until well combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the surface and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If you’re using a ceramic baking dish then you’ll need to add 15 minutes to the cooking time.

4.       Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for about five minutes before removing. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

5.        For the orange blossom frosting: beat the cream cheese and butter together in a bowl until well combined. Add the icing sugar, orange blossom water and finely grated orange zest and mix until the frosting is smooth and thick. Using a palette knife, spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake, dipping the knife into a bowl of hot water if the icing is hard to spread out.

6.       Decorate with orange zest on top of the frosting.

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Dairygold Avocado Breakfast Bake

dgold break bake mar 16

For a protein-packed brekkie, made with just three ingredients, try this tasty avocado breakfast bake.

Ingredients

  • 2 large avocados
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 rashers

Instructions

First, fry the rashers, allow to cool and set aside. (For a healthy option, place your rashers under the grill and cook to your liking)

De-stone and cut the avocados in half, scooping out a little of the flesh so the eggs have room to sit.

Crack an egg into the centre of each avocado half.

Carefully place onto a baking tray so that the eggs dont spill out of the centre.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 205°C/400°F for about 15 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

Top each one with two rashers, and season with salt and pepper.

Who said eating healthy had to be boring! – See more at: http://www.yourdairygold.ie/food-made-better/Avocado-Breakfast-Bake-