Camellia japonica 🌸 Also known as the winter rose, this evergreen shrub flowers in late winter and early spring, adding colour when little else is in bloom.
Freshly picked for a natural, seasonal touch on cakes and desserts.
When she’s not exploring the jungles of Central America or following the great migrations across the plains of Africa, Liz Bonnin finds her true escape on Ireland West Coast in the rugged beauty of County Clare.
After Liz asks Anna to join her in the Burren is easy to see why!
Watch Anna and Liz as they explore the food and landscape that this corner of Ireland has to offer.
Anna Haugh’s Big Irish Food Tour BBC One Northern Ireland Tonight – Fri 18 Apr, 19:3021h
Enjoy protein and fiber packaged in a nutritious, cool and creamy shake with this vegan recipe from wellness chef Jim Perko.
Ingredients
3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1 whole banana (8 to 10 inches long), peeled, frozen
1 1/2 tablespoons of almond butter, unsweetened
2 teaspoons vanilla
Directions
Place all ingredients into a blender.
Process until well-blended.
Serve immediately.
Chef’s note: Create your own version by adding soy milk to make it creamier and other nut butters to explore different flavors.
Ingredient health benefits
Almonds: Packed with perks, almonds are rich in calcium and other nutrients that support your bones, like magnesium and vitamin K. Natural compounds called flavonoids and vitamin E are antioxidants that promote healthy skin and a happy heart. These antioxidants also fight free radicals and oxidative stress, which can damage your cells and lead to disease. And heart-healthy unsaturated fats help your body absorb certain vitamins in your food (like vitamin E) and help lower your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol. As a dairy alternative, almond milk is still high in vitamin E, and as a spread, almond butter has more unsaturated fats than peanut butter, plus a little more calcium.
Banana: There are so many ap-peel-ing reasons to add these tropical fruits to any smoothie or shake! Bananas are a good source of fiber, and unripe bananas are double as prebiotics, meaning they nurture good gut bacteria that help to keep your digestive tract healthy. Potassium and magnesium are essential minerals for regulating your blood pressure and other vital systems, like nerves and muscles. But that’s not all bananas are good for: Even your immune system and metabolism can benefit from the vitamin C and vitamin B6.
Nutrition information (per serving)
Makes 2 servings
Calories: 160 Saturated fat: 0.5 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Fiber: 3 g Carbohydrate: 19 g Protein: 4 g
Place the flour, powdered sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 8-10 times.
Add the egg and the almond extract and pulse until dough ball just starts to form.
Remove from the bowl and form into a disc. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-inch circle and place in a 9-inch tart pan. Flatten crust on the bottom and mold excess crust along the sides of the pan. Poke holes all over with a fork and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool crust completely.
Filling Instructions:
Place the mascarpone cheese, whipping cream and powdered sugar in a bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form. Stir in almond extract.
Spoon mixture over cooled crust and smooth the top.
Arrange the fruit on top of the filling as desired and refrigerate for 2 hours.
When ready to serve, slice into wedges and garnish with fresh mint sprigs, if desired.
These are perfect for Mother’s Day and amazing for kids lunchboxes or as healthy toddler snack AND they freeze really well.
For Mums on Mother’s Day, it is so lovely for your little one to bring you up one of these in bed, served with fresh cream and strawberry jam. Mine always included their little homemade card and flower from our garden. It’s so simple but to them and me, it meant everything 💛
All of the ingredients are from @dunnesstores and comment RECIPE and I’ll DM the ingredients straight to your inbox.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Flatten out the ball into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
Place in the fridge to chill for at least two hours and up to a week.
To prepare the galette:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place a piece of parchment paper on a sheet pan.
Combine the almond meal, ¼ cup sugar, vanilla, and half of the beaten egg in a small bowl into a pasty consistency.
In a separate bowl, combine the cherries, remaining ¼ cup sugar, cornstarch, booze, and zest. Set aside.
Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out onto a floured surface into a 12” circle.
Spread the almond mixture in the center of the circle, leaving a 2” border around the perimeter of the circle.
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.
Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the remaining beaten egg on top of the dough.
Sprinkle the dough with the turbinado sugar and sliced almonds.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
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.
Allow to cool and set prior to slicing and serving with ice cream!
1 packet of shortcrust pastrythawed if bought frozen
1 tbsp flour
1 eggbeaten
Handful flaked almonds
Directions
1
Place raspberries in a medium sized bowl then sprinkled over caster sugar and squeeze over some lemon juice. Stir with a fork so that some of the raspberries are broken up, but still maintaining plenty of whole ones. Set aside.
2
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan assisted and place a flat baking sheet or overturned tray in the oven to pre-heat.
3
Roll out chilled shortcrust pastry on a floured surface to about 5mm thick then transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into a large heart, discarding the trimmed pieces of pastry.
4
Sprinkle the flour over the middle of the pastry, this will help thicken the juices while baking, then tip out the raspberries on top and spread out over the pastry in an even layer, but keep a 4-5cm border around the edges.
5
Fold the pastry border up and over the filling, shaping the galette into a heart as you fold the edges over, until you’re back where you started, crimping the pastry together where the folds meet to help them stick.
6
Brush the pastry border with beaten egg and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
7
Place the tray directly on top of the hot tray already in the oven and bake until pastry is golden, 30-35 minutes.
8
Remove from the oven and leave to stand for about 5-10 minutes before serving with scoops of ice-cream or dollops of whipped cream while still warm.