Letters on Lunches

Meatball Monday

As you can gather from my previous post,

Limerick

was miserable at the weekend - even the market, which is usually full of happy people enjoying their Saturday morning, was miserable. Many of the regular stalls were absent (probably due to some variation of SAD syndrome) and it wasn’t fun queuing in the rain so I took refuge in the organic fruit & veg shop by Lazio’s and the Adare Farm Products Shop.

            I picked up a nice squash and some lovely swedes in the fruit & veg shop. The swedes were fantastic so I decided to do a variation on The Wild Onion’s hash browns with them to try and maintain as much of the flavour as possible and I’m going to make a spiced pumpkin soup with the squash. I’ve one swede left so I think I’m going to try some healthy wedges with it – I’ll let you know how that goes.

            We picked up the meat for the ‘blind finches’ in Relihans Farm Shop which is newly located in the market square beside Marie’s Cheeses. The meat there is really fantastic, real gutsy flavours and the staff are very friendly and accommodating. They also do a range of ice-creams which I have yet to try but I believe the vodka & red bull sorbet is a winner!

            There was enough pork stuffing left over from the ‘blind finches’ for two meatballs for dinner on Monday night accompanied with swede & potato hash browns and beer gravy. It was soooo goooood…. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Pork Meatballs

with farm shop hash browns & beer gravy

Serves 2

What You Need

½ lb pork mince

A small handful of breadcrumbs

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp

Dijon

mustard

1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1 Tbsp finely chopped sage

1 Tbsp finely chopped shallots

Sea salt & pepper

1 Tbsp flour

½ bottle of Belgian beer

2 small swedes cut in 1” dice

6 baby potatoes cut in 1” dice

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

A dash of

Tabasco

What You Do

·        First, mix the first 8 ingredients together in a bowl and shape into meatballs.

·        Heat some olive oil in two frying pans, one small & one large.

·        Gently place the meatballs in the small pan and brown the meatballs on all sides.

·        Gently fry the onion & garlic in the large pan.

·        Par-boil the potatoes & Swedes for about 8 minutes & transfer to the onion / garlic pan when ready. Cook on a medium heat, tossing constantly until cooked.

·        Transfer the meatballs to a pre-heated oven at 200C for 10 minutes.

·        To make the gravy, add the flour to the pan which contained the meatballs & stir in using a wooden spoon. Slowly add the beer and incorporate fully before adding the next dash – this ensures lump free gravy.

·        Plate up & enjoy!

It's a Ramen Thing

I’m feeling a little sensitive today as I was out at my friend Maeve’s house for dinner last night. She cooked the most amazing curry and it was perfect for such a dreary night. The recipe came from - what I refer to as ‘The Bible’ – Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery Course. I was given that book as a gift a few years ago and it’s brilliant; I’ve a pretty serious collection of cookbooks but this one always gets referred back to for everything.

Anyway, I was on naan duty for the meal so called into Indira in Ballinacurra to pick them up (I’d say they’re sick of me buying nothing but naans & raita). The owner wasn’t there but the really nice guy that always answers the phone was and informed me they had two spaces left in their cookery class this coming Tuesday night so give them a call at 467888 if you’re interested. I won’t be going myself as I attended a few months ago and the dishes will be pretty much the same. They’re going to be changing after Christmas to vegetarian dishes so I’ll definitely be going back then. I can’t explain how great the class is and how valuable it is for anyone who likes Indian food but doesn’t know much about it. Eight people attend and it’s done in the kitchen of the Indira where everything is prepared in front of you. It costs €20 a head and wait for this, all the money goes to the new windows fund for Scoil Mhathair De (he even had the receipts to prove it). This guy runs a busy take away, teaches a cookery class once a week where all the fees go to the local school AND drives a taxi in his spare time.

So I’ll stop my rambling and get on to the recipe…. It’s essentially a noodle soup and is so easy and so delicious that you must try it out – it’s perfect for these cold & dreary evenings. Veggies can replace chicken stock with veg stock and use tofu (or extra veg) instead of meat. It also works very well with chicken.

Pork Chilli Ramen

Serves 2

What You Need

2 pork chops

1 courgette

1 pepper (any colour you like)

Noodles

1 pint chicken stock

1 clove of garlic

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

• Grind the soy sauce, chilli flakes, garlic, oil & seasoning in a pestle & mortar and transfer to a bowl. Then add the pork and leave it sit for about 15 minutes if you have the time.
• Chop the vegetables into thin slices and coat with the left over marinade when you’ve taken the pork out.
• Cook the pork chops on a hot griddle pan until cooked through and add the veg when the pork is done. Don’t cook the veg for too long, you want it crunchy.
• Cook the noodles in the stock until done and transfer to a bowl. Then add the veg, followed by the sliced pork and finally pour the noodle liquor over to fill the bowl (if you do this at the start, the bowl might overflow).

Tip: I go to the oriental supermarket on Henry St.for my noodles, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and any other chinesey bits I need. It’s much better value than the supermarkets and they’ve a far better selection.

Dhal Do!

I cook most evenings but sometimes I don’t feel like a big dinner after work, I want something comforting, filling but not too substantial. Enter dhal! Dhal is an Indian lentil curry which is quite easy to make and it can be adapted any way you like. I’ve tried The Green Saffron’s version which would be quite nice to serve if you were having company as it includes coconut milk so is therefore a bit more luxurious but I just go for a very simple version myself. It calls for two types of curry powder; why? That’s what’s in my cupboard and the mix tastes great but you can adapt as you like. Also, if I want to make a real meal out of it, I collect a garlic, onion & coriander naan from my local Indian (the Indira) and keep it warm in the oven until the curry is ready. I know that’s cheating but really, it’s the tandoor oven that makes the naan properly & I don’t have one. We’ll call it improvising!

Dhal

with optional naan bread

Serves 2

What You Need

A cup of red lentils, washed

1 medium onion

1 clove of garlic

1 thumb sized piece of ginger

1 Tbsp mild korma curry powder

1 Tbsp hot madras curry powder

6 tomatoes

1 pint of veg stock or water

A handful of fresh coriander

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

• Chop the onion, garlic & ginger finely and sweat in some vegetable oil until soft.
• Add the curry powders & lentils and stir until everything is coated with powder.
• Slowly, add the stock, mix with a wooden spoon and clean the bottom of the pan – there will be curry powder stuck to the bottom of the pan which comes off when you add the liquid slowly while rubbing.
• Chop the tomatoes and add to the curry and season. Cook the lentils until tender, which will take about 20 mins & stir regularly. You may need to add more water / stock.
• When the dhal is ready, add in the chopped coriander and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

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!