http://dinnerdujour.org/ - A new Irish blog that sold me on the cookbook graphic selection alone!
http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/barefoot-contessa-kitchen-of-the-year - Ina Garten's 50 ideas for a better kitchen, lovely illustrations!
http://www.bestinseason.ie - A big thanks to Bord Bia for their lovely harvest hamper, this site is great as it outlines which fruit and vegetables are in season.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027P8GLQ/- A really cool ginger peeler from OXO, very clever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zrMCY2W5s- Barbara Walters attempts to tackle Paula Deen's fatty foods!
Winter is coming so quickly this year, but I want to make sure I hang on to the best of the summer in my cooking during the coming cold months. How you ask? The answer- home dried herbs!
If you've been growing herbs in your garden all summer like me, this is probably one of your last chances this year to make the most of them. Plus home drying herbs is so simple and fun and they also make a great Christmas pressie for fellow food lovers!
Drying herbs can really bring out some intense flavors, which can often be even tastier than there fresh counterparts. They are a fantastic addition to recipes and I love using them to intensify the flavors of soups, stews, and sauces. Hardy herbs like Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, Bay, and Sage, are perfect for drying and in most cases the natural oils are not depleted during the process. Try to harvest the herbs on a dry day, mid morning just after the dew has dried, this will ensure the herbs are at their freshest when you pick them.
Here are my tips for harvesting and drying herbs! :
Snip the herbs at the stem.
Choose nice long branches and pick off any dead leaves.
Give the stems a gentle shake to remove any insects or dirt. (You can choose to give the herbs a quick wash, but make sure to dry on kitchen paper, as moisture can cause rot.)
Bundle a good handful of the stems together and tie at the bottom with twine tightly. (As the herbs dry, you may need to tighten the knot)
Hang the herbs in a warm dry place, I hang mine in a small room just over the water heater, so they're kept nice and warm!
The time it takes to dry the herbs will depend on their moisture content, but in most cases when the stems crack and no longer bend, they are ready to be stored.
Store the dried herbs in an airtight container and leave the leaves uncrushed until you're ready to use them.
Enjoy the herbs right through the winter, and give your dishes some extra flavor!
Most people find this time of year a little depressing, the nights becoming longer, the days becoming shorter, but for foodies this is harvest season, when all the hard work in the garden during the summer really pays off. Vegetables like, carrots, cabbages, and parsnips which have benefited from the long summer days are all now fully formed, heavy and begging to be plucked from the ground.
I received a fantastic seasonal vegetable hamper from Bord Bia to promote there brilliant new best in season website, which highlights the huge range of fresh veg which is on offer throughout the year. The hamper included a great selection of parsnips, carrots, leeks, celery, cabbage, and potatoes. I have been a bit busy so didn't get to cook as many dishes as I had hoped but managed to knock up a big batch of vegetable soup!
Wholesome Vegetable Soup
Soup season is definitely upon us, and as much as I love experimenting with new flavours, and different combinations, I always come back to a good old homemade vegetable soup. This is the one I normally stick to but add whatever vegetables you have at hand, they certainly won't go astray here.
Serves 6-8
1 tablespoon of butter 1 onion, chopped 1 leek, sliced 2 potatoes, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 1 parsnip, chopped bunch of celery, chopped 2 litres of vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste
Place the butter in a large pot and place over a medium high heat. When butter is melted and foamy, add the onion, potato, and leek. Fry for 2 minutes, then cover and sweat for 8 minutes. Add the stock, carrots, parsnip, celery, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender when you insert a fork. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste and then either serve as a chunky vegetable broth or blitz with a hand blender to form a silky smooth soup.
There's a huge list of delicious ingredients coming into season this month, so now really is the time to check what your local supermarket, butcher, fishmonger or farmers market has to offer. As the season changes, bringing with it a nip in the air and beautiful crisp golden leaves, kitchen habits inevitably begin to sway a little more towards those more comforting and warming dishes.
Personally, as much as I love nice quick meals, if I have the time, delicious slow cooked meats, warm healthy soups and bubbling autumn fruit desserts always beat them hands down on a cold evening. Of course it's very important to keep active during the colder months, but nothing can be better than spending an afternoon cooking up a storm in a warm cosy kitchen, safe in the knowledge that you have a feast bubbling away in the oven. October has lots of fantastic produce coming into and already in season, including mussels, pumpkins, nuts, celeriac and blackberries.
This week's recipes are part of my Big Harvest Feast; creamy mussels steamed in cider, delicious slow cooked lamb shanks with colcannon mash, and a cosy little dessert of rustic apple and blackberry galettes. I think they make the most of what's in season right now and after devouring it all after taking these photographs, I can promise you it tastes darn good!
Mussels in Irish Cider Mussels have a reputation for being difficult to cook, but this is just not true. The hardest part in reality is the washing. Place them in cold water (they should close, if they don't you should throw them away). Scrub any dirt off the surface of the mussels and remove the beard with a small knife. If you can get this down you will have no trouble and they take minutes to cook, so they're the perfect little starter. I love serving the pot straight to the table from the stove and clunking large spoonfuls of the cooked steaming mussels onto guest's plates. Make sure to serve with some chunky bread to mop up the juices!
Serves 4 1.5kg mussels, washed and the beards removed 1 medium onion, finely chopped 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed 200g of pancetta pieces. A good knob of butter 400ml good Irish cider 4 tablespoons of cream A good handful of freshly chopped parsley, Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Discard any mussels that are open before cooking and any that stay closed after cooking. Place a large pot over a high heat and brown the pancetta pieces until just golden and sizzling. Add in a knob of butter, allow it to melt and then add the onion and garlic. Cook gently for three minutes until the onion is soft. Add in the cider and allow to bubble away for a few minutes so all the flavours mingle in together. Tumble in the mussels, cover with a lid and allow them to steam for about four minutes until they open, making sure to give the pot a good shake once or twice during the cooking time. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream and parsley and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Serve with some crusty bread to mop up the liquid!
