Baked Mediterranean Chicken

 

 

I caught this recipe from chef Kevin Dundon on RTE’s Afternoon Show. You can also watch a video of how to make the recipe – click here.

Ingredients

4 portions of chicken legs/thighs
1 tin chopped plum tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
6-8 mushrooms
½ large onion
1 parsnip-chopped
350ml chicken stock
Pinch cayenne pepper

Method

Season the chicken with salt and cayenne pepper.

Pan fry the chicken on both sides until golden brown and transfer to a casserole dish.

Dice all the vegetables in uniform patterns and add these to the frying pan with the crushed garlic and sauté gently for 3-4 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes and the chicken stock at this stage and bring the entire mixture to the boil.

Correct the seasoning.

Pour the sauce over the chicken in the casserole dish and transfer to the oven (180C/350F/Gas Mark 4) for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the chicken is coming away easily from the bone or when the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the chicken.

Serving suggestion: Serve with fluffy long grain rice.

Baked Bananas

 

I simply love bananas and this recipe makes for such a simple dessert idea.

Ingredients

 4 large, ripe, unpeeled bananas

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

A few teaspoons of rum (optional but adds great flavour)

Ice Cream, for serving

Method

Peel the bananas and halve lengthways. Sprinkle half the lemon juice and sugar into a shallow baking-dish. Lay the bananas on top in a single layer. Pour on the rest of juice, the rum if using it, and add the remaining sugar. Put in an oven preheated to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7 and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bananas are soft. Stick the dish under a hot grill until bubbling. Drizzle on more rum and serve immediately with ice cream.

Ballymaloe Rhubarb Meringue Tart

This recipe from the kitchen of Darina Allen features rhubarb which is coming into season now, so it is the perect time to start dusting down all those rhubarb recipes. There are so many delicious pies and crumbles to be made with this versatile ingredient. When buying rhubarb, choose nice plump firm stalks with that vibrant pink colour. Make sure when cooking it, that you don’t use an aluminium pot as this will taint the flavour and remember that the leaves are poisonous, although you would probably have to eat a lot of leaves for it to take any real effect.  Rhubarb keeps well in the fridge for up to a week or even two and it also freezes very well both in its raw and cooked forms.

Rhubarb Meringue Tart

Filling

500g (18oz) trimmed weight Irish rhubarb, cut into 2cm chunks

 Juice of ½ orange

25g (1oz) butter

150g (5oz) caster sugar

2 large free-range organic egg yolks

2 tbsp plain flour

2 dessertspoons cornflour

Meringue Topping

2 large egg whites

110g (4oz) caster sugar and extra for sprinkling

Method

Put the rhubarb into a large sauté pan with the orange juice and heat gently to take the rawness out of the rhubarb — leave for around 4 to 5 minutes.

Melt the butter in another pot off the heat, add caster sugar and whisk in the egg yolks and flour — mixing to a “roux” type consistency.

Strain the rhubarb, reserving the juices. Toss rhubarb gently in cornflour and then place in a tart tin.

Add a little rhubarb juice to the butter, sugar and flour mix and then spoon this over the rhubarb.

Bake at 170°C, 325°F, gas mark 3, for 25 minutes or until set.

To make the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form, gradually adding half the caster sugar, continuing to whisk until shiny. Gently fold in the remaining castor sugar with a metal spoon. Spread the meringue on top of the still hot rhubarb; sprinkle a little caster sugar on top and bake for a further 15 minutes at 170°C, 325°F, gas mark 3. Allow to cool slightly before removing from tin.

This recipe appeared in the Irish Examiner.

Hot Cross Buns

A traditional Easter treat, particularly associated with Good Friday.

Ingredients

Dough:

• 14g active dry yeast
• 100ml water
• 200ml milk 
• 100g sugar 
• 57g softened butter or margarine
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg 
• 830-895g all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs 
• 75g sultanas 
• 75g raisins

Glaze:

• 2 tbsp water
• 1 egg yolk

 

Icing:

• 128g icing sugar
• 4 tsps water
• pinch salt (if desired)
• ¼ tsp vanilla essence  

Method

1. Warm the water and milk in a microwave or saucepan. It should be warm to touch, not hot – water that is too hot will kill the yeast cultures instead of activating them.
2. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and milk.
3. Add in sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, and half the flour.
4. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer or by hand until smooth. Mix eggs by hand in a separate bowl then add them into the blend.
5. Stir in the currants and sultanas and enough of the remaining flour to make the dough soft.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about six to eight minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place in a greased bowl and flip the dough over once to grease both the top and bottom.
7. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.
8. Knead the dough down and shape into 30 balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets.
9. Cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes or until doubled. Using a sharp knife, score a cross on the top of each roll.
10. Beat the water and egg yolk together and brush over the rolls. Discard any unused egg glaze.
11. Bake at 190°C for 12 to 15 minutes.

Icing

Method

1. Combine the icing ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Stir until smooth, adjusting sugar and water to form a smooth consistency that flows easily. When the rolls are baked, cool on wire racks for about 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Drizzle icing over the top of each roll, following along the lines of the cut cross.

This recipe taken from Safe Food

Creamy Rice Pudding

Ingredients

120g pudding rice

750ml milk

 60g sugar

2tsp vanilla essence

1 large can evaporated milk

15g butter

Jam, to serve

Method

1. Place the rice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir frequently until the sugar has dissolved and the rice is slightly swollen.

2 Add the evaporated milk and vanilla essence and give it a good stir. Then pour into a buttered baking dish.

3 Cook in a 150C oven for about an hour and a half until golden but still slightly wobbly.

4 My favourite way to serve is with a blog of strawberry jam.

You can also add some raisins to the pudding mix before baking and recently when in the US watching the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten cook rice pudding, she added the raisins and a dash of rum.

Baked pears with ginger and cardamom

Image from Sunday Times Online

4 pears, peeled, halved and cored

75g dark brown sugar 

4 tbsp runny honey 

1½ tsp ground ginger 

Juice and finely grated zest of ½ lemon 

4 tbsp unsalted butter

8 cardamom pods, squashed

 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Put the pear halves in a small roasting pan, cut side down and in a single layer, so they fit relatively snugly. Sprinkle with the sugar, honey, ginger, lemon juice and zest. Dot with the butter and tuck in the cardamom pods. 

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, turning the pears cut side up and basting halfway through, until the fruit is tender and the sauce is bubbling and sweet. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then serve with cream, ice cream or yoghurt.

Source: Times Online