We Love Cooking!:
hazelnuts

Strawberries a true sign of summer and the ones in my garden are just about to burst with their mouthwatering red colour! A few weeks ago I was invited to the launch of National Irish Strawberry Week in Bord Bia which is runnung all this week and a fantastic strawberry recipe demonstration by the equally fantastic Catherine Fulvio. Catherine will be known to many Irish food fans for her series "Catherine's Italian Kitchen" which is shown on RTE One. Catherine also owns the Ballyknocken Cookery School in Wicklow and guided us through some really fantastic strawberry recipes which I will be posting this week. Here is the first!

Quick Millefeuille with Toasted Hazelnuts, Cointreau and Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling
To toast the hazelnuts, purchase the hazelnuts without skins if possible, then lightly chop and toast in a preheated oven 180C / gas 4 until lightly browned, about 15 minutes

Serves 4 (makes 2 millefeuille, each serves 2 persons)
1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (approx. 200g)
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
300g strawberries, hulled and sliced
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped and toasted
Mint leaves for decorating
For the filling
250g mascarpone
60ml cream
50g icing sugar
Zest of 1 orange
For the jam
5 tablespoons of strawberry jam
2 tablespoons of cointreau (or orange juice)

Open out the sheet of pastry on a floured surface, roll it out a little thinner, to a 30 x 32cm rectangle. Divide into 3 equal rectangles.
Then place the pastry on a floured baking sheet. Prick all over with a fork and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180ºC.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, brush with egg wash. Place in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Combine the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and orange zest.
Mix the jam with the cointreau (or orange juice).
To assemble the mille-feuille, place one pastry strip on a board or serving plate, brush with half the strawberry jam, spread over a third of the cream mixture, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and cover with a layer of strawberries. Place the second piece of pastry on top. Brush with the remaining strawberry jam, spread over half of the remaining cream, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and a layer of strawberries. Place the last piece of pastry on top and spread over the cream and then a layer of strawberries and sprinkle on the remaining hazelnuts. Chill for 30 minutes.
Decorate with mint leaves and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Yesterday, I spent the day getting a tour of Lamb farms in Co. Kerry an hours drive from where we were staying the night before in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Michael Gottstein and Dennis Carrol from Ring Of Kerry Quality Assured Lamb were my guides for the day and we saw lots of great things which I will save alongside some pics for my next post!

After the great reaction to the video of the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough, I persuaded her to share with me her secret recipe for her favourite homemade cookies. Now there has been A LOT of discussion over the perfect cookies, but for me it's all about making them homemade with a decent recipe and with a little bit of love! Sorry I'm feeling very loving today! :)

Sophie's Chocolate & Hazelnut Chip Cookies
Sophie spend a lot of time creating the perfect cookie recipe for her Kooky Dough, but she has given me this, her secret (not for long!) recipe for Chocolate and Hazelnut Chip cookies. The cookies are delicious and the dough can be frozen if you wanted to make a few ahead of time.

Makes about 12-15 cookies
225g butter
375g muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
350g plain flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g good quality chocolate, chopped
100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in, then add the chocolate and hazelnuts.
Form the dough into a round, wrap in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator for 30 mins.
When ready to bake, simply cut the dough into slices and lay on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for approx 10-12 minutes or until pale golden brown.

Variation: White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
Substitute white chocolate and dried cranberries for the chocolate and hazelnuts above.

Everyone has their favourite way of enjoying pancakes, personally I love them nice and simple with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice, sweet and fresh! Generally the more simple ideas seem to work when it comes to serving up really tasty pancakes and to be honest nothing gets more simple than a spread of nutella and scattering of chopped toasted hazelnuts. To make life easy zap the nutella in the microwave for about 30 seconds and it will be much easier to spread or drizzle! I posted this basic pancake recipe I use all the time last year but in case you're looking for one today here it is again. If you're not a chocolate fan, why not try these caramel apple pancakes!

Basic Pancake Recipe
You can easily make this batter the night before to save time in the morning. Have a little melted butter in a bowl and some kitchen paper so you can wipe the pan before adding a ladle of the batter.

Makes 12-14 pancakes
110g of plain flour.
A pinch of salt.
2 large eggs.
200ml of milk.
75ml of water.
2 tablespoons of melted butter.

Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and with a spoon make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and using a whisk slowly incorporate them with the flour. Don't worry too much about lumps as they should disappear when you add the rest of the liquid. Gradually add the milk and water until you have a light batter. Heat a little butter in your frying pan over a hot heat, and add 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the batter, stir through to combine. Add a ladle full of the batter to the hot pan and move from side to side until it evenly covers the surface of the pan. Reduce the heat and cook for about a minute each side or until the batter begins to take a nice golden colour. Feel free to try your hand at flipping half way through!
Serve straight away with your filling of choice, or try the classic filling of lemon juice and sugar. You can cook all the batter off and save the pancakes for later. Simply layer the crepes on top each other, cover with some cling film and store in the fridge. They should heat up well in a microwave.