We Love Cooking! [Search results for halloween] 

The race is on to get the decorations up, the pumpkins carved, the costume sorted and the treats and goodies all laid out! Yes, Halloween is literally two days away. I've just moved into a new house so despite the fact that we've been carting furniture in and out I have found time to pick up some pumpkins, although carving them is still on the 'to do' list. I'm planning to make a velvet pumpkin soup served in the pumpkin itself, some roasted savoury pumpkin seeds and an all American pumpkin pie if I get a chance over the weekend, but this week I've been busy baking up barmbrack! I had planned to include the recipe in last week's Cork News Menu pages but unfortunately it was eaten up before I got a chance to take a picture!

Barmbrack is a big part of Halloween tradition here in Ireland, with objects baked in the dough signifying different things. In most shop bought barmbracks you'll find a ring, which if you're lucky enough to receive it in a slice means you should be wed within one year! My mother recently told me the story of when she lived in Finland as a child and my grandmother generously baked a barmbrack for their Finnish neighbours, only to be berated by the lady next door after her child nearly choked on the ring! Needless to say they moved back to Ireland not long after! In keeping with tradition, I cheekily asked the baker at our local supermarket if he could give me a ring to put in my barmbrack, and he had no problem handing over a few, so don't be afraid to ask! This is a really easy recipe but it does take a bit of time, so if you want to enjoy it on Halloween night, make sure to get cooking today!

Halloween Barmbrack
This recipe makes a really beautiful moist loaf which is packed with flavour from the mixed spice and dried fruit, which sits overnight in cold tea and whiskey to soak up all the goodness. You can drop the whiskey if you wish but I think it adds another flavour kick...

Makes one 900g loaf
225g cream flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
375g packet of fruit mix
250ml cold tea
50ml of whiskey
125g light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
A ring to place inside

Place the fruit mix in a bowl and pour over the whiskey and cold tea. Allow to soak up the liquid overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170oC/Gas Mark 3 and grease and line a 900g loaf tin
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice in a mixing bowl.
Make a well and break in the egg, using a wooden spoon, mix the egg with the dry ingredients. Add a little bit of the liquid the fruit mix is sitting in and mix it through. You may not need all the liquid, you are looking for a wet dough.
Then stir through the fruit mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Add in the ring and stir through.
Spoon the wet dough into the lined loaf tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the loaf tin and placing on wire rack.
Cover in cling wrap and tin foil and allow to sit for 1-2 days before cutting into it.
Serve in slices spread with a little butter and good cuppa!

Who knew writing a book would actually take a bit of work! I've been meaning to post something over the last few weeks, but every spare minute has been focused on the writing and taking pictures. But more importantly I'm here and I have a recipe!

This is Sofie's very first Halloween, as they don't celebrate the night as much in Sweden. She was working late last year and was less than impressed when I tried to introduce her to the fun of the event by jumping out of the wardrobe with a mask on! With the big night landing on a friday this year, we're getting into the spirit of things and have been busy carving pumpkins. Sofie has named our two "The Dark Knight" and "Darth Wader" (I think she meant "Darth Vader", must be the Swedish pronounciation!).

Hope you like our's, we'd love to see your pumpkins, so if you have pictures post a link in the comments section!

I had planned to post this recipe since the start of the month, so I'm glad I'm finally getting around to it. Just in the nick of time too! It's Halloween this Friday, so if you haven't got a pumpkin just yet, here's a great little snack you can put together with the reminants of the gutted vegetable.

Nacha's Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

My parents are in the fruit and vegetable business, this meant we always had two massive pumkins every Halloween, when my brother and I were growing up. Carving pumpkins became an annual tradition and everyone had a role. My brother and I would draw the faces, my mom would gut the pumpkins, and my dad would carve them. There was always huge arguements over choosing the right pumpkin and even more competition when it came to drawing the best and most scary face!
I picked this recipe up from our first au-pair from France, Nacha, who taught us never to throw away any of the precious seeds. They are so tasty toasted with butter and sea salt. Here's the simple recipe.

The seeds of 2 large pumpkins.
4 tablespoons of melted butter.
A generous pinch of coarse sea salt.
A generous pinch of ground black pepper.

Cut off the top of the pumpkins. Using your hands, separate the seeds from the gooey insides and transfer to a colander.
Rinse the slippy seeds under cold water and pick out any remaining stringy orange flesh. Transfer to a few sheets of kitchen paper or a dry tea towel and pat dry.
Tip the seeds into a large roasting dish and spoon over the melted butter. Toss the seeds so they are all coated in the butter and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Toast in the oven at 200oC/390oF/Gas 6, for 20 minutes or until nice and golden.

I'm in Sweden until Monday and I had planned a few more Halloween recipes to stick up on the blog, unfortunately the combination of loosing my power adaptor and lots of travelling meant that I didn't get round to actually posting them. Sweden doesn't really celebrate Halloween and it is seen mainly as an American holiday but seeing as I grew up with the tradition of carving pumpkins, I thought it was high time my Swedish friends got their carve on!

Sofie and I spent the day yesterday searching for the perfect pumpkins to bring over to her little cousins who were very excited at the idea of gutting the pumpkins! In fairness to Sweden they have a great selection of pumpkins on offer and it's not all the generic ones we get in the supermarket in Ireland.

After a lot of searching and mini breakdown from Sofie, we finally found two big fat orange pumpkins! It was lots of fun carving the pumpkins with Niklas and Jonas but my favourite part of the whole process is making these delicious toasted seeds!

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

These seeds are my perfect little alloween snack and they are far more healthy than your average Halloween treats! Try experimenting with flavours, I have yet to make a sweet version of these but I'm pretty sure they would work good too.

Serves about 4 people as a snack
The seeds of 2 pumpkins
3 tablespoons of melted butter
2 teaspoons of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of sea salt

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin, place in a colander and rinse with water until they are clean.
Shake off any excess water and place the seeds on a dry tea towel and pat dry.
Place the seeds in a large roasting tray and pour over the melted butter.
Sprinkle the seeds with the chilli powder, cayenne pepper and sea salt.
Toss the seeds until they are all thoroughly coated.
Place in the oven to toast for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool, though to be honest sometimes they taste the best straight out of the oven! Just watch out for burned fingers!

I have been procrastinating over getting the garden together since my last post, I kept putting it off, the weather wasn't good, I didn't have the seeds, I hadn't decided what I wanted to to grow, it was too much work, my feet hurt, Brothers and Sisters was on etc etc etc! The good news is I finally got around to it this week, thanks to the fantastic weather we've been having, I had no excuse but to get out there and get things started.

I have kind of made it sound like I have been doing absolutely nothing, but my little mini greenhouse already has some savoy cabbages, purple broccoli, and chili peppers which are sprouting and looking great! I think the breakthrough in terms of movement has to be the work I did in the garden on Monday. Since Sean installed the raised veg boxes, the layout has changed around a bit so I figured it was time to give the layout a little change around. As you can see from the photo above, I have added a little more structure by breaking the plot in two, which will hopefully mean I can make it a bit more pretty rather than the boring rows which left me with 25 cabbages last year!

The other exciting part of the garden is of course the fantastic raised veggie boxes! I decided to take Sean's advice and break the boxes up into square feet which will all be filled with different veg. I even marked it out with some string and thumb tacks to make it a little more visible until a little bit of growth starts. I did cheat a little by picking up some already grown seedlings of pak choy and some tender purple sprouting broccoli, from the garden centre just to add a little bit of colour at this early stage.

Apart from the ready sprouted stuff, I have sown, beetroot, rainbow carrots, red apache spring onions, spinach, and radishes all in the raised boxes, and some rooster potatoes, broad beans and peas in my newly established ground plot. The whole garden is really starting to take shape and I can't wait till things start sprouting out of the ground! On the other side of the garden I have some more space I'm prepping which is hopefully going to by a big pumpkin patch, with the hopes that were going to be able to pick our own pumpkins to carve for Halloween. Very exciting stuff! I went in to a fantastic little garden shop in the heart of Dublin on Capel St. the other day called Hacketts and they have a great selection of seeds, so I'm going to head in again tomorrow to pick up some Jerusalem artichokes and some more seeds to get going in the mini green house. Apparently Lidl have some great garden equipment at the moment so you might be able to pick up some good deals. April definitely is the month to get sowing, so if you are contemplating growing, do it sooner rather than later for some of the major veg. Also if you are interested in getting some raised veggie boxes yourself make sure to check out Sean's website patchworkveg.com, where he has lots of top tips for growing! Oh and if you have grown you're own veg garden before, what are you growing, and do you have any suggestions for interesting veggies I should be growing?

I have well and truly given up on the summer and with October just around the corner I suppose it's about time really. I have been busy pulling out my cookbooks and magazines all filled with more appropriate winter warming recipes as the season begins to get really cold. It is very comforting that there is so many fun recipes to be cooking my way through the winter months that really I have nothing to complain about. Plus with Halloween around the corner there is lots and lots of pumpkin and sweet inspired recipes to keep a home cook busy! This recipe and the recipes I will be posting this week are all from the Student cooking spread I wrote and shot for the Irish Independent a few weeks ago, when I had to take over yet another persons kitchen to cook up a storm (thank you David and Geraldine!) and get the piece sent! This is not just a one pot wonder for students but it is a perfect family meal too- Enjoy!

Tasty Chicken Hotpot
This is the dish you can make when you invite the parents around to show them you really can make it on your own, and that you don't need your mother to wash your socks anymore! Chicken thighs are a good, cost-effective cut of meat and will hold really well in the freezer, so pick up a few packs.

Serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
8 chicken thighs
2 red onions, sliced into thick slices
5 carrots, cut into rough chunks
3 celery sticks, cut into rough slices
400g tin chopped tomatoes
600ml chicken stock
2 tsps English mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large, high-sided pot until it's really hot. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. There should be enough oil and fat left in the pan, but if not just add another little drop.
Add the red onions and fry until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook for three to four minutes, stirring every now and then.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock and stir though with the mustard and oregano. Add in the browned chicken and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and place the lid on and simmer gently for 45-55 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve in deep bowls with some thick, crusty bread to soak up the juices.

The funny thing about the food writing biz is that you end up preparing things way in advance of certain events and Christmas is one of the major ones which editors and researchers panic about and will have you cooking turkeys and hams even before Halloween has passed! However it was very refreshing yesterday to be shooting lots of leftover Christmas dinner recipes for RTÉ's 4Live in the middle of the Christmas season with snow on the ground outside. We thrashed through 6 great festive dishes including, cranberry and white chocolate muffins, leftover ham pies, and a Christmas cheesecake. A big thanks to the lads, Robin, Mark, Niall and Tony who left the house last night stuffed... or so they told me! I'll post some of the recipes from the day during the next weeks but for now just in case you have been suffering from Christmas overload, how about some real food?

Roast Garlic Shepherd's Pie
I was never really a big fan of shepherd's pie growing up, mainly because it was churned out most weeks (sorry mom!) so we became far too used to it, which realistically is a terribly ungrateful complaint, but it's only in the last few years I have fallen in love with this classic little dish all over again. I make mine with a twist by stirring mashed roast garlic through the potato, to be honest I normally make it with two bulbs of garlic because I'm a bit of a garlic fiend, but if you are pushed for time skip the garlic and just make the mash, it will taste just a good. Another handy tip to remember is that once you have assembled the shepherd's pie to the point just before you put it in the oven you can actually freeze the pie and cook from frozen if you fancy prepping a few in advance!

Serves 4
1 garlic bulb
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion , chopped
2-3 medium carrots , chopped
500g pack minced lamb
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
400ml beef stock
800g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
75g butter
50ml milk
Sea salt and ground black pepper to season

First things first, get the garlic in the oven! Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
Slice the top off the garlic bulb just enough so that each of the cloves is exposed and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with a some sea salt. Place in the oven to roast for 40 minutes or until soft and tender. When the garlic is cooked, remove the roast cloves from their skins and mash with the back of a fork.
While garlic is roasting, add the potato chunks to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
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 is up to you! Add in the mashed garlic and season with sea salt and ground black pepper, stirring to combine.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat and soften the onion and carrots for 5-6 minutes. Turn up the heat and allow the pan to get hot before you add the minced lamb. Using the a fork break up the meat and allow to brown and cook through for 3-4 minutes. Stir through the tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce until combined and then pour over the beef stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then partially cover and cook for 45 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.
When the lamb is ready, season with sea salt and ground black pepper and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish and top with the roast garlic mash, using a fork to make a nice topping. Give the topping an extra sprinkle of ground black pepper and bake in the oven for 25 mins until the top is starting to brown and the mince is bubbling up around the edges.
Serve straight away for a delicious and comforting supper!