We Love Cooking! [Search results for brocolli] 

Well I am just up after travelling to Gothenberg via Copenhagen last night, and I have a certain sense of accomplishment (and relief!!!) about myself today. For the last 4 weeks I have been keeping my head down busy writing recipes for the new book and in between all the writing I got the amazing and slightly nerve wracking opportunity to give cooking demonstrations at two of Ireland's leading foodie festivals, something this time last year I couldn't even imagine! Thankfully both went extremely well and it's funny how things like that can make you nervous before hand but when it comes down to actually doing them, they are thoroughly enjoyable. I suppose in life there is always goals you lead up to, things that are ahead of you that you know you have to achieve in order to go on to the next step. The last few weeks have been for me the next step and now on sunny morning in Sweden, it feels great to know that I only have a handful of recipes to write to complete the new book!

I have to admit writing the first book was a bit of a disaster because I was extremely disorganised and generally did not know what I was doing, but having learned from mistakes things have run a lot smoother this time around, I have a set recipe list which was chosen a few months ago and it is just a case of writing in a set format, which makes it both easy for me and everyone else working on it. I'm dying to give you more details about it and hopefully in the next few weeks when everything is submitted I can give you a bit more info about behind the scenes! For now though, enjoy this quick and simple creamy broccoli pasta recipe! Make it a good one! :)

Creamy Broccoli Pasta
I am huge fan of simple pasta dishes which are easy to throw together in a matter of minutes and this one definitely hit’s the spot. There is a wealth of in season vegetables at the moment and you can easily replace broccoli with asparagus or cauliflower and maybe some broad beans thrown in for good measure. If you can’t your hands on parpadelle pasta, tagliatelle will do just fine.

Serves 4
250g of papardelle pasta
1 head of brocolli, broken into florets
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced finely
200g of crème fraiche
Juice of 1 lemon
A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

Cook the pasta according to the packet.
Steam or boil the broccoli until tender when pierced with a fork, drain and place in a bowl filled with cold water.
Fry the garlic in a large frying pan over a medium heat, for about 1 minute, then add in the crème fraiche and bring to a steady simmer. Add in the lemon juice and season with sea salt and black pepper.
When the pasta is cooked, drain the water and place back into the pot. Pour in the garlic crème fraiche and broccoli and stir through gently until everything is combined.
Serve straight away with an extra sprinkle of black pepper.

I absolutely love this combination of flavours, it's sticky and sweet and everything I want on my roast duck!

Sesame Honey Duck with Broccoli
With just a few simple ingredients this is an easy dish to create and is really tasty.

Serves 2 portions
1 head of brocolli chopped into florets.
2 duck breasts.
1 teaspoon of sesame oil.
2 tablespoons of sesame seeds.
5 tablespoons of soya sauce.
3 tablespoons of honey.

In a small bowl, mix the soya sauce, sesame oil and the honey until combined. Place two duck breasts in a small roasting tray and brush over half the soya honey marinade. Place in the oven at 200°C for 25-30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of the cooking time brush over the rest of the soya honey marinade, sprinkle with half the sesame seeds and finish cooking. When the duck is ready, remove from the roasting tray and allow to rest on a chopping board. Keep the roasting tray which should still be full of tasty duck flavours as this makes a great dressing for the broccoli, try to spoon off as much fat as possible. While the duck is cooking steam the broccoli for 4-5 minutes and remove from the heat. Tumble the broccoli florets into the roasting tray and toss gently until they are completely coated. Slice the duck thinly and serve with the broccoli. Sprinkle over some extra sesame seeds and enjoy!

Soups are one of the healthiest and versatile meals you can produce, not only that, they can be frozen and reheated for a quick and simple lunch! There are so many soups that I love, that this post could be extremely long, but as I said already making soup is so versatile and once you have the basic recipe you can adapt it however you wish.

Quick Basic Soup Recipe

1. 4 tsp Vegetable Bouillon powder (I use this but stock cubes can be used or you can make your own)
2. 1 and half litre of boiling water
3. 2 cloves of garlic
4. 1 Large onion
5. A good pinch of salt and pepper

STEP 1-> Boil the water in a kettle, pour into a jug, add the bouillon powder and mix. In a large pot fry the onion and garlic in some oil till they soften and brown.

STEP 2-> This where you can experiment, add the rest of your ingredients, I'll include some suggestions at the end of this post, and mix with the onion and garlic mix. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and allow to soften for about a minute.

STEP 3-> Then add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for approx 20 mins.

STEP 4-> If you have a good quality stick blender you can stick it straight into the hot mixture and whizz away! At this point I normally add different spices and herbs to my taste so I encourage you to experiment! Serve immediately or leave to cool and refrigerate or freeze!

Add the following ingredients at Step 2 for different soup types:

Leeks and Brocolli (frozen or fresh).

2 large tins of tomatoes.

1 Large squash, coriander and cumin.

6 Large carrots and 1 tablespoon of chopped ginger.

1 pound of peas (frozen or fresh) and a good handful of mint. (Thanks to michael for the reminder he is having it for lunch today!)

I'm sure everyone has a favourite soup so feel free to make suggestions!