Letters on Lunches

Leftovers, What Leftovers?

I have many friends who don’t cook in the evenings as they don’t want to cook for one, they get home too late, they don’t know what to cook among other various reasons. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and I’d often make a lasagne / shepherds pie / stew just for myself. What a greedy little pig I hear you say, well no actually, I divide them into portions and stick them in the freezer so there’s always a dinner at hand with 5 minutes notice. I also have a vast arsenal of store cupboard & freezer essentials which means there’s always something to eat in my house if anyone ever pops by with a hunger (mainly the boyf).

From my last post, you’ll know that I cooked a chicken for my family on Sunday so on Monday I had the pickings on the chicken left over as well as a big fat leg. So I decided on a very simple pasta dish for Monday night to get rid of the pickings and a chicken salad for Tuesday night to finish it all off. Yes yes, I know that’s a lot of chicken but it really was delicious so I didn’t mind the OD at all. From this recipe you’ll see how easy it is to prepare a proper meal for yourself in the evening after work so try it out before getting a roll from your local filling station!!!

Roast Chicken & Pasta

with pine nuts & parmesan

serves 2

What You Need

Enough pasta for 2 – tagliatelle is good but I was all out so used orecchiette

Some cooked chicken, you can cook a couple of chicken breasts if you like but I was using up chicken from the day before

Juice of a lemon

Olive oil for drizzling

A handful of pine nuts toasted

Some parmesan shavings

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

• Cook you pasta per the instructions on the pack until al dente (with a bite) and when it’s done, drain out the water and put the pasta back into the pan.
• Add the olive oil, lemon juice, chicken, half the pine nuts, salt & pepper and mix well.
• Transfer to serving bowl, put the rest of the pine nuts on top, then the parmesan and serve. How easy was that???

Note: If you’re tired of turkey sambos on St.Stephen’s Day, try this out!

Never in a Month of Sundays

I had my family over for Sunday lunch yesterday which consisted of mum, dad & two very tall, very hungry brothers. It’s Winter, it’s cold, it’s dreary so what could be better than a good roast with all the trimmings???

I called to the Milk Market on Saturday morning to stock up; I decided on a stuffed chicken with roast potatoes, maple roasted parsnips & beetroot crisps, all followed by spiced apple & blackberry crumble with ice-cream (I had some blackberries stashed away in the freezer since September).  The Market was busy as always on Saturday morning, but this Saturday saw the arrival of Adare Farm Foods which is nestled in between the bean bag store & Marie’s Cheeses. They have a fantastic range of beef & pork products from their own farm as well as an ice-cream & sorbet stand which sold, among others, vodka & red bull sorbet!

Outside the shop, I noticed a bit of a bustle with a group of men & their buggies standing around waiting for something; I was intrigued. There was a lady cooking sausages & leaving them out as samples but the men weren’t interested in that. Then I spotted a large stainless steel cylindrical container with a window at the top. I peered in the window to discover a pig turning on a spit inside – brilliant! I didn’t hang around for the carving as I had to get back to O’Connor’s on Little Catherine Street to collect an organic chicken for the dinner but I’m sure it wasn’t long being scoffed. I might try it out next weekend for brekkie - watch this space… 

Stuffed Roast Chicken

with Maple Roasted Parsnips, Roast Potatoes, Beetroot Crisps & Gravy

Serves 6

What You Need

1 whole chicken – try and get organic or at least free range, it does make a difference.

About 4 handfuls of breadcrumbs

150g Butter

1 chopped onion

1 bunch of sage leaves

1kg parsnips

100ml maple syrup

150ml vegetable oil

300g fresh beetroot

1 tbsp Flour

500ml stock (I prefer beef but you can use chicken)

1kg potatoes, cut small for roasting

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

• Melt the butter in the pan, add the onions & cook gently until translucent. Don’t let the onions go brown. Add this mixture to the breadcrumbs, chopped sage & season. You may need to add more butter depending on how wet / dry you want the mixture.
• When the stuffing is cold, stuff the chicken and add to an oven pre-heated at 180C. I had quite a large chicken so it took 1hr 45mins plus 15 mins resting time out of the oven before carving.
• Par boil the potatoes for 10 mins and when there’s an hour of cooking left, add the potatoes to the roasting tin (I sat the chicken on a grill over the roasting pan so the juices fell down on to the potatoes – be sure to drain off enough for the gravy).
• Cut the parsnips into thick sticks and add the maple syrup & oil. With 50 mins cooking time left, add the parsnips to a lower shelf in the oven.
• Slice the beetroot thinly, cook in a deep fat fryer until crisp and sprinkle with sea salt – these can be served hot or cold.
• To make the gravy, add the flour to the juices from the chicken and gradually add the stock until you have the consistency you require and there are no lumps.
• Carve the chicken, add a spoon of stuffing, some veg, gravy & serve. 

My Favourite Things

This being my very first post as a blogger - I’ve been a long time “blogspotter”- I’ve decided to start with one of my favourite dishes of all, Bangers & Mash with onion gravy & red onion jam. I don’t always use onion gravy but the lovely sausages I bought from Caroline Rigney at her farm shop in Curragh Chase are quite meaty & low in fat (for sausages) so need some gravy to accompany. I always make red onion jam as the sharpness of the jam is perfect for a bit of extra bite. It seems like a lot of work but I normally make a big batch of red onion jam to serve with future bangers & mash, pork burgers, quiche or even goats cheese. It’s delicious and keeps really well in the freezer!

I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible with weights & measures but I’m a devil for adding & tasting, adding & tasting when it comes to savoury dishes. I’m better when baking; honest!

Also, I know the picture posted isn’t the best but you’ll just have to bear with me while I figure everything out (and find some flood lights lying around somewhere).

Anyway, here goes…. Enjoy!!!

Bangers & Mash

with onion gravy & red onion jam

Serves 2

What You Need

About 4 medium potatoes for mashing, peeled & washed

1kg red onions

1 medium white onion

4 large butchers sausages, the best you can afford

120ml balsamic vinegar

4 Tbsp soft dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp flour

½ pint beef stock

A splash of milk or cream

A large knob of butter

Salt & Pepper

Oil for frying

What You Do

• Put potatoes into a pan of water, bring to the boil & simmer with the lid on until cooked through. Strain the water, mash the potatoes, add the cream, butter, salt & pepper until you’re happy with the taste / texture.
• While the potatoes are boiling, cook the sausages as you like. Mine were quite thick so I browned them in a frying pan until  some of the fat oozed out and then transferred them to a preheated oven at 180C for 25 mins.
• Gently sweat the sliced white onion in the sausage fat until soft, mix in the flour and add the stock slowly, incorporating every bit of stock before adding the next dribble. Tip: This prevents lumpy gravy and all roux based sauces may be done in the same way. Season and add a dash of “Wooster” sauce if you like it.
• For the onion jam, slice all the red onions into rings and sweat in a large pan until very soft. Then add the sugar & vinegar and cook for another 20 minutes or so until you’re happy with the taste. You may need more or less sugar or vinegar depending on the onions & your own personal taste – I can’t tell you what you like!
• Assemble the dish – first, a good dollop of mash on each plate, then two bangers on the mash, then a few spoons of gravy & finally, a spoon of the red onion jam. Viola!

Note: If you want to leave out the gravy, a few tablespoons of freshly grated parmesan is delicious in the mash.