Tag: Darina Allen

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Darina Allen’s Sea Spinach Soup @ballymaloecookeryschool

 

darina allen sea spinach soup

Sea Spinach Soup

Sea spinach is at its sweetest and most delicious at present…. I absolutely love it and really want you to know about it so if you live near a rocky strand, look out for it – the shiny green leaves are unmistakable. It is, in fact, the ancestor to most cultivated varieties of beet, from beetroot to spinach beet. It can be cooked exactly like garden spinach and used in the same way, for example, try serving it in Middle Eastern style with raisins and pine kernels and a touch of cinnamon. Not surprisingly, because sea spinach is washed by the tides, it is full of iodine, minerals and other trace elements and it has an addictive salty tang. Sea spinach is tougher and slightly stronger in flavour than garden spinach, so it takes a little longer to cook.

The trick with these green soups is not to add the greens until the last minute, otherwise they will overcook and the soup will lose its fresh taste and bright green colour.

50g (2oz/1/2 stick) butter

110g (4oz/1 cup) onion, chopped

150g (5oz/1 cup) potatoes, chopped

600ml (1 pint/2 1/2 cups) homemade chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

425-600ml (3/4-1 pint/2 – 2 1/2 cups) creamy milk (1/4 cream and 3/4 milk)

salt and freshly ground pepper

225-350g (8-12oz/3 cups) sea spinach, destalked and chopped

Freshly ground nutmeg

‍

Garnish

2 tablespoons (2 American tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) whipped cream (optional

Freshly chopped parsley

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it foams add the onions and potatoes and turn them until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the boiling stock and milk, bring back to the boil and simmer until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the sea spinach and boil with the lid off for about 3-5 minutes, until the sea spinach is tender. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh green colour.

Liquidise and taste and add some freshly grated nutmeg.  Serve in warm bowls garnished with a blob of whipped cream and some chopped parsley

Ballymaloe Cookery
@BallymaloeCS

 

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Darina Allen: One-Dish Roast Chicken Supper with Thyme and Rosemary @ballymaloecookeryschool

One-Dish Roast Chicken Supper with Thyme and Rosemary

Another lip-smackingly delicious dish that family and friends love me to cook for them. A whole roasting tray of crispy chicken, bacon and potatoes, perfumed with rosemary and thyme leaves.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
500g streaky bacon lardons
2kg free-range, organic chicken thighs (drumsticks and wings can also be included)
2-3 tbsp thyme leaves
1-2 tbsp chopped rosemary
1.1kg (about 10 large) potatoes
250g onions, sliced
60-110ml hot chicken stock
Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
Green salad/Tomato fondue/Piperonata

You will need:
1 roasting tin
37 x 31cm or 2 small tins – 30 x 20cm

Method:
1 Preheat the oven to 230°C/Gas Mark 8.

2 Heat the olive oil in a roasting tin, add the bacon and toss over a high heat until it is beginning to colour. Remove to a plate with a perforated spoon.

3 Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.

4 Put into a large bowl and scatter with most of the thyme leaves and chopped rosemary, reserving some for the potatoes. (I sometimes add a sprinkling of chilli flakes or smoked paprika – it gets a brilliant reaction).

5 Toss well.

6 Peel the potatoes and cut into 1cm thick chips. Dry and season well with salt, pepper and the reserved herbs. Add to the bowl with chicken.

7 Drizzle with the bacon fat and olive oil from the pan and toss once again.

8 Scatter the onions and bacon over the base of the roasting tin(s). Arrange the chicken and potatoes haphazardly on top, making sure that the potatoes are popping up. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.

9 Roast for 45 minutes–1 hour or until the chicken is cooked through (the juices should be running clear if pricked with a knife) and the chips are crispy at the edges. (Organic chicken pieces are larger, so cooking time can be up to 1¼ hours.)

10 Add the chicken stock at the end if the dish needs a little more juice.

11 Serve from the tin, family style, with a good green salad and vegetables of your choice, such as tomato fondue or piperonata if you wish.

See more online:
https://www.irishexaminer.com/food-columnists/arid-41796485.html

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.@darina_allen @maxrocha_ @smmsaleh cookery demo #learnatballymaloe

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  • ballymaloecookeryschool's profile pictureballymaloecookeryschool
  • Guest chef Max Rocha cookery demonstration with past student Sarah assisting this afternoon with Sage and anchovy fritti, Confit lamb salad, Mussels and tomatoes on toast with aioli, Guinness Bread and Deep-Fried Bread and Butter Pudding — which the students loved it.
    John Wilson from the Irish times and Colm McCan also joined us this morning for the wine class, (with Pam getting ready for Halloween) 🎃
    Sonya picking the beetroot for our farm shop, Maria milking the Jersey cows, Gary and the team with the ‘Just Cook It’ course and then extra curricular butchery, charcuterie and baking this evening.

    📸 @danielcfilms
    #learnatballymaloecookeryschool #ballymaloecookeryschool #cookingisfun #100acreorganicfarm5d
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This morning on the homesteading course at Ballymaloe Organic Farm School 🐄🐓

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  • This morning on the homesteading course at Ballymaloe Organic Farm School 🐄🐓

    Milking the Jersey cows, learning how to milk by hand, tasting the warm fresh milk and cream straight from the dairy, and spending the morning learning all about keeping hens.

    We covered breeds, feeding, laying, raising chicks and keeping chickens for both eggs and the table. A good laying hen can produce around 250 eggs a year, and hens will often lay for several years with proper care.

    Darina always says that if people can keep hens at home, they should. They turn kitchen scraps into eggs, provide excellent compost material for the garden, and are one of the best ways to connect with where food comes from. 🥚