Nutrition key to sound health
Chad Byrne repliedFood & Travel Girl • jillianbolger.com@JillianBolger·Twitter,
what’s your favourite cookbook by an Irish author? Maybe it’s one you cook from regularly, one whose narrative you love or one with a few brilliant recipes that are now part of your repertoire. Feel free to mention more than one! RTs welcome.
Wild garlic and gooseberries by @denis_cotter
Forgotten skills of cookery by Darina Allen
May not be all trendy but deffo my two favourite
In a large bowl, toss the sliced bananas, the chopped nectarines or peaches, whichever you are using, and the quartered strawberries with one tablespoon of the caster sugar and the lemon juice. Divide between individual bowls, adding a few blobs of the mascarpone or whipped cream, whichever you’re using, to each one.
Next, make the caramel to go on top. Place the 100g (3ƒoz) caster sugar in a small to medium saucepan on a medium heat and stir. It will begin to look lumpy and sandy, but don’t worry – just keep stirring. Eventually, it will become viscous, turning from golden to a rich caramel colour. Altogether, this can take up to about 12 minutes.
Using a spoon, carefully drizzle all the caramel over the mascarpone or whipped cream, whichever you’re using, and over the fruit. Set aside for about five minutes, just to allow the caramel to cool and set hard, then serve.
Just waiting for
to turn on the bbq
I absolutely adore this pudding from Bill’s book, Simply Bill. He made this when I appeared with him on Great Food Live, and as soon as I tasted it I was hooked. I have adapted the recipe slightly to fit the pie dish that I have. To make this for 12 people, double this recipe and cook in a 10-inch square gratin dish for 55 minutes.
FOR THE PUDDING:
1 cup (4 oz) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup (4 oz) superfine sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 banana, mashed
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp (3/4 stick) Kerrygold Butter, melted
FOR THE TOPPING:
1/2 cup (4 oz) light brown sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2/3 cup boiling water
Softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
TO SERVE:
Preheat the oven 350°F (180°C). Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar. Mix together the beaten egg, mashed banana, milk, vanilla extract and melted butter. Pour mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour this wet dough into a 9-inch pie dish and place the dish on a baking sheet.
To make the topping, put the brown sugar, corn syrup and boiling water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then drizzle over the pudding. Bake for 30–40 minutes, or until it feels slightly firm in the center. Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you’re not going to serve the pudding immediately, keep it somewhere warm until you are ready—it sits quite happily.
Celebrity Chef
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
I am never quite sure if I should be calling this a cake or a tart but in any event, it is delicious and quite easy to make.
The origins of the recipe are from Tuscany in Italy but I like to use highly perfumed Irish dessert apples when in season. Look out for some lesser known but very delicious Irish dessert apples such as Irish Peach and Ardcairn Russet.
Serves 8
Foodaware 
Ingredients
(serves 4)
2 bananas, peeled and cut at an angle into 5mm (ªin) thick slices
4 nectarines or peaches, stones removed and flesh cut into wedges 5mm (ªin) thick
16 strawberries, hulled and quartered
100g (3ƒoz) caster sugar, plus an additional tablespoon of caster sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons mascarpone or whipped cream