Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

Lots of Garlic, and I permit you to have a snog afterwards

I actually love the name of this bold recipe. Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic sounds quite straightforward and to the point, but rest assured you won't be wearing eau de garlic for days afterwards. Something dreamy happens the garlic cloves. They turn into little nuggets of sweet meltiness that spread like velvet on crusty bread once eased out of their jackets. That bread which will mop up the liquor from the pot that once held the lightly perfumed chicken. When I hear the term 'French classic' I think it's going to be an arduous sweat in the kitchen involving lots of pots and pans and work. Not so, this is a super easy although the results taste like labour intensive food love slavery.

Roast Chicken is one of my favourite dishes and I have to say, I detest 'all the trimmings' I prefer roast chicken, nice gravy and one veg. The traditional way to eat a roast, in my experience, is to have a plate piled high with 4 different vegetables, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, stuffing and gravy. That's not for me. I prefer to savour one or two flavours and enjoy them without confusing my taste buds. So this dish needs nothing more than one veg, (I chose glazed carrots) and some crusty bread. I believe sourdough seems to be a popular choice, but all I had was regular French loaf which sufficed perfectly fine.

I browned the chicken for the purposes of the photo, next time,
I'll prob place the chicken into the pot, breast down,
my favourite way to cook chicken.

I researched a few recipe so here's my take on roast chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

Ingredients

40 cloves of garlic....d'oh (about three bulbs, jackets in tact, papery excess removed)

One free range chicken

bouquet garni (I used fresh parley, sage, thyme, Rosemary and a bayleaf tied with a string)

wedge of lemon

2 tablespoons of brandy

one cup of white wine

one cup of chicken stock

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

The finished product, so delicious and fun to eat too.

Method

 In a large cast iron pot, heat a decent glug of olive oil and brown the breast side of the chicken, this isn't necessary, but is nice for the purpose of aesthetics and crispy skin lovers. Once the chicken is browned, lift out with a tongs and stuff with a bouquet garni and a wedge of lemon and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper and set aside. In the same pan, add two tablespoons of brandy, the wine and stock and bring to the boil, scraping the bits on the bottom left from the chicken. Turn off the heat and add in the garlic cloves and place the chicken on top. Cover with a lid and put it in the oven for 60 mins. After that time, remove lid and cook for a further 15 minutes. Lift out the chicken and allow to rest for a few minutes. Scoop out the garlic and thicken the liquor with one heaped teaspoon of flour, whisk like mad until the lumps disappear. This gravy, without doubt, is the best gravy I've ever tasted. Serve the chook in the centre of the table and make it a messy but fun food event using the bread as a host to the amazing flavours this dish has to offer.

Chorizo, sage & white bean pasta (€2.70 per portion)

I'm in Tesco, I'm at the till, I've just keyed in my pin number and I'm waiting with bated breath for 'transaction complete'. The receipt processes....phew!  I heave a sigh of relief and think of all the things I can cook with my purchases. Food buying has had to take a hit amongst other things. I won't compromise on quality but I have had to compromise on certain ingredients. But this has forced me to move out of my comfort zone and look for new tasty recipes that don't cost the earth. What I ADORE about this dish, depth of amazing flavours aside, is that I priced is as €2.70 per portion approx

This has become a favourite with my family. In fact I cooked a big pot for my parents last night. It's the least I can do as they are the best parents in the world. The addition of sage brings a lovely wintery dimension and the chorizo is almost nutty and sweet. It's superb. Try it tonight.

NB: Try adding a pint of stock in the sauce to make what I call a 'Stoup' (not quite a stew, not quite a soup)

Ingredients

1 chorizo ring, chopped into slices 1/2 inch thick

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic chopped

One big bunch of sage, finely chopped

1 bayleaf

1 glass of red wine

1 500ml carton of passata 

salt & pepper to season

1 teaspoon of sugar

1/2 oz dark chocolate (70% min)

2 oz grated Parmesan

1 tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.

toss through your preferred fresh pasta

Method

On a heavy pan, heat a little drizzle of olive oil. Fry the chorizo on both sides until nicely browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer chorizo to separate dish

Allow the pan to cool slightly before adding the shallot and garlic. The chorizo will have left a lovely red oil in which to sweat the vegetable. Sweat on a very low heat for about 10 minutes

Turn up the heat and add the chopped sage a bayleaf and cook for a minute

Add the wine and bubble for a couple of minutes to take away the harsh winey taste

Add the tomatoes, and sugar and allow to reduce by 1/3, or to your favourite consistency.

Finish by adding the chocolate, parmesan, seasoning and beans, and toss through freshly cooked fresh pasta.

I promise you once you cook this, it'll will inevitably become a weekly fixture in your house....

Linguine with tiger Prawns, garlic, lemon and chili

Barefoot Contessa and her appreciative
 and affectionate husband

I first saw this dish prepared by Ina Garten on her cooking programme "Barefoot Contessa". I love watching her cook and and am always amused by her husband Jefferys consistent surprise by her fabulous food creations, which almost always ends up in some cringeworthy smooching. But, this jolly gyrating cook has some fabulous recipes and this one stood out for me. 

It has been adapted slightly of course. I love the contrast of flavors, the sweetness of the prawns against the citricy lemon, coupled with the fiery heat from the chili, softened by the luscious butter. And then of course, lots of garlic, which makes everything good. It's a winner of a dish and genuinely one of my favourite meals to cook (incidentally it takes about 8 minutes)

Linguine with tiger Prawns, garlic, lemon and chili

Ensure it's raw prawns you use

Ingredients
Serves 4

Enough Linguine for 4

4oz butter (it might seem like a lot, but this will 
essentially make up the sauce for the dish)


6 fat garlic cloves, crushed

1lb Raw Tiger prawns

1 heaped teaspoon of dried chili flakes

Juice and grated zest of a lemon 

Handful of Parmesan, grated

Fresh chopped parsley, chives or dill to serve 




Method
Melt the butter on a very low heat and add the crushed garlic. Cook on a very low heat until translucent.

Turn up the heat and add the raw prawns, lemon zest and juice and chili and cook until prawns have turned opaque. This only takes a minute or two.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to packet instructions. I love the fresh stuff, flavour aside, it takes two minutes.

Add one ladle of cooking water from the pasta and allow to bubble for a minute or two, add the Parmesan, this will make the sauce creamy.

Toss cooked linguine through the sauce and topped with chopped herbs and another sprinkling of Parmesan and possibly more chili flakes if you like the heat, which I do.
Serve with tossed green salad and/or crusty bread. 

Smoked Mackerel & Chive Scrambled Eggs

 
You may or may not know that I am fantatical when it comes to eggs.

I'm afraid I don't keep to the  recommended "an egg a day is ok" For me, an egg a day just doesn't cut it. I gave up fags so I'm entitled to my vices. Mines eggs, it could be worse in all fairness. 

The pairing of smoked mackerel and eggs is an oldie but a goodie. Have a read of my recipe. Everyone cooks scrambled eggs arseways in my opinion. I've never enjoyed scrambled eggs until about two years ago when I discovered how it's meant to be done. Believe it or not, scrambled eggs are not meant to be rubbery and sweaty. This dish is a sophisticated twist which turns the humble scrambled egg into a cheffy creation 


Served 2 as a big breakfast/supper/midnight feast 

Ingredients 
2 smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed & chopped (mine had a pepper coating) 
4 large free range eggs. 
1 tablespoon of snipped chives, the smaller you snip, the better. The food's got to be pretty. 
1oz butter 
1 oz grated Parmesan (just coz) 
A squeeze of lemon juice to serve. 

Method
On a cold pan, crack in the eggs (no need to pre whisk) add in the butter 

Turn on to a medium/low heat, and using a spatula, keep the eggs moving slowly, no need to over mix 

Add in chopped mackerel and chives and continue until the eggs are almost set, turn off the heat and the eggs will continue cook 

Consistency should be soft, but lightly set, add in Parmesan and a squeeze of lemon. It would be at this point you would season the eggs, but mine needed none, as the mackerel had enough salt in it and they were peppered too. 

Served on toasted brown bread a cuppa tea. I think this could be classed as comfort food, creamy, delicious, heart and belly-warming. 

Cheese & Thyme Soufflé

ALL RISE- well that's the goal

Prepare the ramekins with butter and a dusting
 of finely grated Parmesan

I'm a girl on a mission. It's the whole 'feel the fear and do it anyway' approach. Of course there's no fear as such, I'm tackling recipes that to most of us, are deemed difficult and should be left to the experts. I'm far from an expert and am under no illusions as to my weaknesses in the kitchen (the biggest being food). But one recipe I'd never even researched or attempted to consider was soufflé. Notoriously renowned for being finicky and sinky. Nope, let me dispel your fears. It's actually earned an unfair rep. Essentially, its a thick béchamel with folded egg whites. It's a puffy omelette in fairness. Give it a go and impress your friends.

I did my usual gig of reading a dozen recipes before creating my own.

Serves 6

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees-prepare 6 ramekins with butter and dust with finely grated Parmesan

Did I mention Thyme is my fav herb?

Ingredients
1 oz butter
1 oz flour
1/2 pint of milk infused with one sliced onion, a couple of peppercorns, a few thin slices of carrot, a bay leaf and sprig of thyme.
2 oz of grated Gruyere (all recipes seemed to use this, but all I had was a strong market bought cheddar, so used that)
2 oz grated Parmesan
freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper
a couple of sprigs of Thyme leaves, leaves picked
salt & pepper
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites





Method
Firstly, put the milk and the ingredients listed above on the hob under a medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and when it begins to foam, add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes over a medium heat.

Add the milk (strained) and stir using a balloon whist until a thick smooth consistency is achieved. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and add the cheese, grated nutmeg, thyme leaves, cayenne pepper and season well. Remember the flavour needs to be concentrated as it will be diluted with the egg whites. Add the egg yolks and whisk well.

Transfer the mixture to a big bowl that will eventually host the egg white folding exercise.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean dry bowl (I feel I have to say that as all recipes harp on about clean bowls with egg whites-I've yet to whisk mine in a dirty bowl) until stiff peaks are formed

Transfer a couple of tablespoons into the silky cheese mixture and fold in. Don't be heavy handed but don't be scared either. Add the remainder of the egg whites in two batches. I used a spatula and turned the bowl to help fold as lightly as possible. It's all about keeping the air in, and not over mixing. Don't over think it.

Working swiftly, transfer the mixture into the 6 ramekins, filling almost, but not quite to the top.

With a clean finger, wipe around the top of the ramekin to leave a groove around the mixture, which will help them rise well.

Place on a baking tray and cook for about 8-10 mins, or until golden brown on top. Serve immediately with a tossed salad, and a round of applause from your guests...

Creamy Tomato, Chilli & Prawn tagliatelli

Prawns and chilli are as good together as tomato and basil, so fuze the four ingredients and you've got a serious taste sensation that packs a punch.This delivers, there's no doubt in that but I'd suggest you discover your chilli tolerance by adding in half what I've suggested, and taste before adding the rest, or more if your palate likes it. I sprinkled mine with more flakes before serving, as I love the kick.

I've potentially two dishes in one here, as the base sauce for this is a simple tomato sauce, which, when tossed through pasta, mozzarella, and torn basil is just such a wonderfully simple clean dish.  It's like pasta was invented for it.

Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the basic tomato sauce:
Knob of butter and splash of olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 fat garlic cloves, crushed
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
I dessertspoon of muscavado sugar
2 tins of chopped plum tomatoes
I teaspoon of dried basil (or if you can get it fresh, even better- 3 tablespoons, chopped)
Season to taste

2 tablespoons cream (or creme fraiche)
500g  raw prawns
1 heaped teaspoon dried chilli flakes

Method
Over a very low heat, sweat the onions and garlic in the oil & butter until soft. Turn up heat and add balsamic and stir continuously until reduced by half.

Add sugar and tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce for about 15 mins. Add in basil and season.

This is my basic tomato sauce as I mentioned above.

Continue the dish by adding in the chilli, cream and prawns. Cook for a couple of minutes until the prawns turn pink.

Toss through freshly cooked tagliatelli and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Busy people- why not double the tomato basic sauce recipe and freeze it? Healthy fast food. Can't beat it with a big stick! 

I tell you what I want what I really really want.....

"Chilli con Cronin" 

aka

Chilli Con Carne

"Feel my breath mammy" says my 4 year old as he breaths on me like the fiercest dragon in Limerick. Yeah, our chilli is spicy and we love it! 
When I was weaning him as a baba, I slowly introduced the mildest curries to his diet, determined that I wouldn't spawn a fussy eater. It worked. (kinda) Tj's favourite food, hands down is Chilli Con Carne, or Chilli Con Cronin as I named it years ago, (my maiden name, but that's another story) and I dont scrimp on the chilli, Theres little point, there's creme fraiche or a dollop of Greek yogurt for the bantom weights. My Chilli's got punch. I guess everyone's got their own version, mines evolved quite considerably from my teens when my version of chilli was leftover bolognese with tabasco and kidney beans thrown in. This IS perfected, if I urge you to try any recipe from My blog, try this. It will be the best you've ever tasted. A bold statement, but then again, I'm very bold. 

I've loads of oregano growing in my garden,
you could use dried or fresh coriander would
be good too.

Ingredients
500g of best quality round mince
1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 fresh big red chillis, deseeded and chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1 dessert spoon of dark brown muscavado sugar
2 tins of plum tomatoes chopped
1 tin of kidney beans, drained
1 large bunch of fresh oregano, chopped
1 oz of dark chocolate 70% min (don't ask, it works)

** Use big heaped teaspoons of the spices

Method

Heat a splash of oil in a heavy saucepan and gently fry onions, chili and garlic until soft. Turn up heat and add mince and cook until nicely browned. Add salt, sugar and spices and keep stirring for about 2 minutes to cook off the spices.

Inhale. Its something else. 

Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil, reduce heat and allow to reduce to your liking. I don't like to reduce too much, about 20 mins is fine for me. 

Finish with beans, chopped oregano and chocolate. The chocolate to me is nearly as important as the chilli, it brings a depth to the dish that I can't articulate. Just do it. You'll note the difference but it won't taste chocolatey.

Serve with rice, tortilla chips, a sprinkle of cheddar and a dallop of creme fraiche or Greek yogurt. 

If you're not happy, take it up with tj.

Nachos-Cinema style

Processed cheese is key

As we are on the mexican theme, I thought I'd throw in a wild card. Some of you may be disgusted, others intrigued. But this is unadulterated Food Goo pleasure. I did a few food experiments to try and perfect the nacho sauce, but I couldn't figure out how putting a bucket full of cheddar just didn't seem to give it punch. It wasn't 'plasticky' enough. And therein lies the answer. Plastic cheese! Ok, obviously not literally, but processed cheese is the key to this sauce. TJ goes bananas for it, but due to it's obvious calorific and processed qualities, this is a guilty pleasure and rare treat. The tumeric is purely for colour as it needs to be vibrant to imitate those cinema night indulgences. 

It's bright and silky

Gooey Nacho sauce (makes enough for about 6-8 people)

2 oz butter

2 ox plain flour

1 teaspoon of tumeric

1 pint of milk

200g of processed cheese. (I used Charleville slices)

salt & pepper to taste (surpringly, I needed quite a bit of salt)

Method

Melt the butter, add the flour and tumeric and stir for a couple of minutes until the flour has cooked. add the milk and stir continuously with a baloon whisk until the sauce thickens. Add the cheese and season to taste.

Preheat the oven to about 200 degrees. Put the torilla chips in the hot oven for a couple of minutes to warm through. Serve with the Gooey Nacho sauce.I like it with firey jalapenos, Tj likes it with some salsa. You could also serve it with sour cream and guacamole, refried beans or a cold beer and a sombrero if the mood takes you.