We Love Cooking!:
thyme

Well we're two rooms down on the house and surprisingly after 3 days in a row in IKEA, I'm still ready for more! We have just got in the door from sorting out the bedroom, with a bed and wardrobe set for delivery tomorrow. I have to admit that with all the rushing around, we have ended up in the cafe twice and I have to confess that I have munched my way through 30 meatballs in the last two days, with copious amounts of mashed potato, gravy and lingonberry jam! But then again when you are lugging your life around there is most definitely a need for some serious comfort food. Speaking of which today's recipe is one of my ultimate comfort foods- Slow cooked lamb shanks for many need absolutely no introduction as you will know just how delicious, slow-cooking this off-cut of meat is. If you haven't tried them before, give this recipe a go it's perfect for the cooler evenings.

Lamb Shanks with Colcannon Mash
I really am a sucker for a good lamb shank, with it's melt-in-the-mouth texture, which literally falls off the bone, it truly is a thing of beauty! The key is to slow cook it at a low temperature. This transforms the gnarly piece of meat into a rich and juicy piece of deliciousness. You can serve it on normal mash, sweet potato mash, or with lentils, but I love colcannon and seeing as it is the season, it makes perfect sense!

Serves 4
30ml/2 tbsp of olive oil
4 lamb shanks
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely sliced
350ml/12 fl oz of red wine
A few sprigs of thyme, tied in a bunch with string
650ml/1 ½ pts of stock (vegetable or beef)
2 tablespoons of cornflour
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

In a large casserole dish, heat the olive oil and add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Fry the onions for two to three minutes until soft but not browned. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and fry for another couple of minutes. Pop in the thyme and stir through.
Add the red wine and bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
Place in the browned lamb shanks and pour over the stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and place in the oven at 150oC/300oF/Gas Mark 2.
Cook the lamb shanks very slowly, for three hours, turning them half way through the cooking time, until the meat is extremely tender and almost falls off the bone. Toward the end of the cooking time, taste and season.
If you want to serve the lamb shanks with its juices, I remove a few ladles of the juices and place them in a small saucepan. Then place two tablespoons of the juices in a bowl and stir through the cornflour until you have a smooth mix, pour this back into the saucepan and bring to a steady simmer, cooking down until you have a thick gravy.
Serve in large deep bowls with the colcannon.

For the colcannon:
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
250g cabbage, finely sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
75ml of milk or cream
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Add the peeled and diced potato to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
Place a metal steamer into another pot, add a little water and bring to the boil. Place the cabbage into the steamer and steam cook until it is tender.
When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, drain into a colander, then add back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may want to add a little bit more or less milk and butter, it's up to you!
Add in the spring onion, steamed cabbage, sea salt and black pepper and stir through with a spoon until evenly combined.
Serve with the lamb shanks.

Of all the dishes we prepared for Foodstock, I am pretty certain that the Irish Seafood Chowder was the biggest success. I am told that the French absolutely love their seafood which is probably why! The chowder we made had a great selection of fish, haddock, cod, smoked fish, and prawns which the amazing chefs at the Chalet meticulously prepared for us. I have to admit that cooking on such a large scale can be quite daunting in terms of producing a similar end product to that of a smaller quantity, but that said between the whole team we served up some damn tasty chowder!

For about an hour on the Wednesday night I did feel like I was in a soup kitchen and there was a high chance of some sort of repetitive strain injury after ladling the chowder 350 times! Luckily we had the lovely ladies from Bord Bia to help us out, one of whom was out on her first assignment with them, though I’m pretty sure she is well inducted after Foodstock.

Irish Seafood Chowder
This is the kind of soup that if you put a lot of love and time in you will get the best results. The key is to add the fish at the very end leaving just enough time to let them cook. Cook the fish pieces too long and you will be left with an Irish seafood mush rather than a chunky creamy chowder!

Serves 8 (Makes 3.15 litres)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
100g salt pork diced (or pancetta/bacon bits)

2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 kg of peeled and diced potatoes
1.125 litre of fish stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.25kg of cod (or similar white fish)
750g of fresh salmon
500g of mussels
500g of smoked haddock
330ml of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped finely
100g of smoked salmon, cut into fine strips for garnish

In a large pot, heat the butter and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes.
Add the salt pork and continue to fry until it colours.
Add in the fresh thyme, bay leaves and potatoes and cook gently for 2-3 minutes before adding the fish stock.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender yet firm. (Some of the potato will break down and help thicken the chowder).
Add the haddock, salmon, cod and mussels and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit before finally and gently stirring in the parsley and cream.
Serve with the strips of smoked salmon as a garnish on top.

I had planned to post both the chicken recipe and the roast beetroot starter but the terrible weather means low light conditions which in turn means terrible photos, so I will be shooting the starter recipe for the twinnerparty tomorrow morning and posting it before 12!

Yesterday both Market Kitchen and Nationwide aired and although I wasn't nervous doing them, having sit through them was another story! But thankfully it went quite well and everyone I have spoken too has been only complimentary, so I am relieved. I don't think you can see Market Kitchen online but the Nationwide interview can be seen here and here.

Herby Roast Chicken and Honey and Thyme Parsnips

Normally I make this herb paste for a full roast chicken, but I find pre-portioned chicken legs and thighs are perfect for entertaining as you don't have to fuss around with carving. The great thing about this dish is that you can prepare the two trays a few hours ahead of your guest arriving and pop them in the oven just before they arrive! If you don't grow your own herbs you can pick up little packets for about €1 in most supermarkets which are really handy for one off dishes. I love roasting whole garlic bulbs but if it's too much garlic for you just leave these out.

Serves 6
6 Chicken legs and thighs
4 red onions, peeled and quartered
2 bulbs of garlic,with the top sliced off
4 cloves of garlic
40g or a large handful of fresh herbs, basil, rosemary, thyme
6 medium sized parsnips, peeled and quartered
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of honey
A good drizzle of olive oil
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

In a pestle and mortar or a food processor, blitz the mixed herbs, garlic cloves, and a little olive oil. Add a little more olive oil until you have a loose paste.
Place the parsnips on a large roasting tray with the thyme, drizzle with honey and oil and spoonful of the herb paste. Toss together until everything is combined.
On another roasting tray arrange the chickens pieces, garlic bulbs and red onion. Add the rest of the herb paste and toss everything together until the the chicken and onions have a nice coating of herbs.
Place both roasting trays in the oven at 190°C/Gas Mark 5, for about 45-50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked right through. The parsnips will cook slightly quicker than the chicken so you may need to take them out of the oven before the chicken.
Serve the chicken straight away, with the parsnips, red onion, garlic and an little drizzle of the juices.

This is another one of my favourite dishes from the book. Food that is full of flavour for only a tiny amount of effort is ideal for entertaining. Most of the time all you need is the basic ingredients in order to create wonders! Although chicken on the bone is a little bit more effort on the plate, I truly believe there is far more flavour going on than plain old chicken breasts. Not only that but it is cheaper to buy thighs, wings and legs it's far tastier! More often than not you can get them at special offer also. To be honest if you buy whole chickens and get your head around learning to cut them up into thighs, drumsticks, wings and breast pieces you will save a fortune. Stick the meat you don't need in freezer bags and pop them in the freezer and dinner will never be too far away! Chicken thighs are a handy ingredient and this recipe really makes the best of them. It's a hearty dish packed with mouth watering flavours!

Chicken Thigh Supper

This is a super dish for a big group of people, served with a tasty salad; it’s perfect for weekday entertaining. If you can’t get a hold of chicken thighs, you can use any other cuts as long as they’re on the bone. This gives the meat a really great flavour.

Serves 4
6–8 chicken thighs
200g pancetta, diced, or bacon bits
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
75ml/3fl oz red wine
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 red onion, chopped in half moons
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
2 teaspoons of English mustard powder
2 tablespoons of olive oil

In a large deep frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and brown the chicken and pancetta, until you get a nice colour on the thighs. Set aside on plate covered with kitchen paper.
In the same pan, add the rest of the oil and fry the garlic, onion, rosemary and thyme for 2 minutes. Sprinkle over the mustard powder and stir through.
Add the tinned tomatoes and red wine, and bring to the boil. Add the chicken and pancetta pieces back to the pan, turning the chicken pieces to coat.
Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes over a low heat or until the chicken is cooked through. You may need to extend the cooking time depending on the size of the chicken thighs. I don’t add salt to this recipe as the pancetta can be quite salty, but make sure to taste it and add seasoning if needed.
Serve with a tasty salad and some hearty wholemeal bread.

I remember first tasting duck confit on a family holiday in the south of France, which is where my love for this deliciously tender dish first sprang from. The dish is prepared in an age old traditional method by salting the duck meat and then poaching it in its own fat. By salting the meat the duck is preserved, before it is cooked extremely slowly at a low temperature for up to 10 hours. The duck is cooled and then transferred to jars or cans. It is then topped up with duck fat and some jars and cans can be stored for up to several years!

Duck Confit and A Tasty Bean Stew

I absolutely love duck confit and this little dish is a perfect compliment. If you don't order online you should be able to pick up some in most gourmet food stores, but beware they can be pricey so do shop around.

Serves 4
1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans
4 Confit Duck Legs at room temperature
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 large carrots, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme
1 litre of chicken stock
1 x 250g tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 glass of white wine
A handful of freshly chopped parsley

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat and add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and cloves, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are soft and tender, about 8 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, white wine and tomatoes and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the stew has reduced a little. Stir every few minutes and spoon off any froth that bubbles to the top. 5 minutes before you serve add the beans and stir through.

Place the duck confit legs on a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes at 200˚C/Gas Mark 6 or until the skin is sizzling.

Serve the duck confit on top of the bean stew and sprinkle with a little parsley! Serve straightaway!