Ulster Crab Risotto

Ulster Crab Risotto

Serves: 10

Ingredients

  • 2 large Portrush Brown Cock Crabs
  • 4 litres pre-prepared crab stock
  • 500g Lakeland Dairies Butter
  • 400ml Millac Dairy Whipping Cream
  • 1kg arborio rice
  • 8 banana shallots
  • 200g wild rocket
  • 300g Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Regianno)
  • micro red amaryth cress and parsley to garnish
  • 4 red peppers
  • 50ml aged balsamic vinegar
  • 100ml olive oil

Method

In a large, flat-bottomed pan melt 250g of Lakeland Dairies Butter. Add the shallots and braise before stirring in the rice.

Pour in the crab stock, a little at a time, until the rice is half cooked. Remove from the heat.

Place 2 red peppers in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. When they have blistered all over, remove them from the oven, cool and deseed. Remove skins with a small prep knife and cut into thin strips (equal lengths).

Deseed the remaining 2 red peppers and blend before passing through a fine chinoix or muslin. Discarding the pulp, transfer the juice into a small pan, adding the balsamic vinegar and reduce to a thick consistency. Allow to cool, before whisking in olive oil to make a pepper dressing.

Purée the brown crab meat and pass through chinoix to remove any shell. Set aside.

Pick out the white crab meat, ensuring there are no pieces of shell remaining. Mix together with the brown meat.

Place the remaining 250g Lakeland Dairies Butter into a large pan and add the half-cooked rice mixture. When it is almost cooked, add the Millac Dairy Whipping Cream, Parmesan and crab meat and simmer gently.

Season to taste. Add the rocket and stir until soft.

Serve the risotto as 2 or 3 quenelles in the centre of a suitable bowl.

Arrange slices of red pepper around the risotto and drizzle the red pepper dressing on top before garnishing with the amaryth and parsley.

 

Molly Malone’s cockle and mussel chowder

molly malones chowder

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

 

Cherry Almond Galette @KerrygoldUSA

A classic combo, with a crunch. This Cherry Almond Galette is a must try. kerrygoldusa.com/grazings/cherr

Ingredients For the pie dough

1-1/4 cups (175 gm) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (113 gm) cold

Unsalted Butter

¼ cup ice water

For the filling

¾ cup (90 gm) almond meal

½ cup (100 gm) sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg, beaten

4 cups (1-1/4 lbs) stemmed, pitted, and halved cherries

1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or bourbon

1 teaspoon orange zest, optional

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, optional

2 tablespoons sliced almonds, optional

To prepare the dough:

  1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut the Kerrygold butter into the dry ingredients until they are reduced to pea-sized clumps.
  2. The remainder of the mixture should look like a sandy consistency. Pour in the ice water and use the pastry cutter or a large fork to bring the dough together into a shaggy mixture.
  3. Then dump the contents of the bowl out onto a clean counter and work it into a ball of dough. Do not overwork the mixture.
  4. Flatten out the ball into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
  5. Place in the fridge to chill for at least two hours and up to a week.

To prepare the galette:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
  3. Combine the almond meal, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla, and half of the beaten egg in a small bowl into a pasty consistency.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the cherries, remaining ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, booze, and zest. Set aside.
  5. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out onto a floured surface into a 12” circle.
  6. Spread the almond mixture in the center of the circle, leaving a 2” border around the perimeter of the circle.
  7. Dump the cherry mixture on top of the almond filling. Fold the edges of the pie dough up and over the cherries, gently pressing the dough to seal on top of itself as you fold.
  8. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the remaining beaten egg on top of the dough.
  9. Sprinkle the dough with the turbinado sugar and sliced almonds.
  10. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
  11. If you notice you crust is getting dark and the inside juices aren’t bubbling at all you can make a little aluminum foil shield to cover the dough around the perimeter of your galette.
  12. Allow to cool and set prior to slicing and serving with ice cream!

https://www.kerrygoldusa.com/recipes/cherry-almond-galette/

Sweet And Moist Greek Honey Cake

greek-honey-cake-1-w450h450

A sticky Greek cake that tastes a little like the much more complicated Greek dessert Baklava

Thanks to Angela for this simple cake recipe that kids just love.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of plain flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of orange zest
  • 3/4 cup of butter
  • 3/4 cup of white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup of milk
  • 1 cup of chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup of Haughton Honey
  • 1 cup of white sugar
  • 3/4 cup of water
  • 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 175c/350F. Grease and lightly flour a 9″ square cake tin. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and orange rind. Set this to one side.
  2. In a large bowl mix together the butter and the sugar with a whisk until light and fluffy. Then blend in the eggs one at a time. Gently blend in the flour mixture prepared earlier with the milk and stir in the walnuts.
  3. Pour the batter in to the prepared tin. Place in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes and then cut the cake into diamond shapes before pouring the honey syrup over. Decorate with lemon zest if you wish.
  4. To make the honey syrup combine the honey, 1 cup of white sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Bring slowly to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes. Keep warm before pouring on to the cake.

Notes for the cook: if you have a fan-assisted oven then reduce the specified temperature in the recipe by about 15% ~ 1 teaspoon = 5ml and 1 tablespoon = 15ml ~ some ingredients are measured in cups and some equivalents are; 150g, 6oz (1/2 cup) = 120ml, 4fl oz

http://www.haughtonhoney.com/our-honey/recipes/sweet-and-moist-greek-honey-cake