OMG I love a spud (maybe it’s my Irish DNA). Just when I thought roast potatoes were practically perfect in every way. I discovered these.
Potatoes roasted with garlic and herbs in olive oil and lemon juice, are little flavour bombs. I could eat a bowl of these on their own. However, they’re also fantastic with chicken or fish. I have also been known to fry up left over ones (the only reason there were left overs was because I was physically incapable of eating any more) the next day and topping with a fried egg, yum!
Ingredients
750 Grams Potatoes
1 Lemon (juice only)
50ml Olive oil
1 Tsp Dried thyme
1 Tsp Dried oregano
1 Bulb of garlic
Salt
Par boiled potatoes, ready for the oven
Method
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees
Peel the potatoes, and cut into 3-4 cm chunks. Par bowl in salted water for 5 minutes
Put an oven proof dish in the oven
In a bowl, add the oil, herbs and lemon juice. Cut the bulb of garlic into four
Drain the potatoes, add the garlic, and oil mixture then transfer to the preheated dish
Put in the oven and bake for about 1 hour, mixing roughly every 20 minutes, until golden and crispy
I’ve always steered away from cooking fish. The honest reason is that I was never really sure how to. Growing up, my dear sainted mother was an awful cook (sorry Mo, but you are). She would cook fish until it had no flavour and was like a piece of cardboard.
I’m lucky enough to live on an island with amazing sea food, which it turns out we mostly export. I’m convinced the reason for this is that most of us don’t know how easy it is to cook, so we avoid it.
Workbenches at the cookery school.
As a birthday present, I was given a voucher for Belfast Cookery School. They have a fantastic range of classes, but I decided to up my fish skills.
The class cost £60 for 3-4 hours, and is in central Belfast with about 10-12 people in each class. Staff are friendly and welcoming and the class includes a welcome drink and tea/coffee throughout the class.
Demonstration of how to fillet flat fish.
Once settled in, Ian our chef expertly demonstrated how to fillet and skin both flat fish (brill), and round fish (salmon). He also gave members of the class a chance to try this as well.
Salt and chilli squid, with aoli and chilli jam
I love squid/calimari in restaurants, but they always looked a bit like aliens in the fish market, (I’ll admit I was intimidated). We were shown how to prepare squid, and make one of my all time favourite seafood dishes, salt and chilli squid. Which once you know how to deal with squid, is surprisingly straight forward.
Brill cooked with capers and beurre noisette.
We all got to sample some of the demonstrated dishes, the brill cooked in a beurre noisette (browned butter), and salmon with caponatta (slow roasted red pepper, onion, tomato and garlic).
Salmon with caponatta.
After trying all these we were shown the the dishes we would be cooking by ourselves. First was mussels cooked with fennel, cream and white wine. Again, super delicious and pretty straight forward once you know what to do.
Mussels with cream and fennel
The second dish was cod topped with herbed breadcrumbs, served on top of a shellfish ragu (fancy name for a stew), topped with a Dublin Bay prawn. It turns out they aren’t prawns at all, but micro lobster, 90% of which are shipped abroad.
Cod cooked with herb crumb, served with a shellfish ragu.
The whole class was excellent, and I have now faced my fear of fish. I may even break out my newly gained fish skills at a future supper club. Everything we ate and cooked was beyond delicious and I left unable to eat another bite and in serious danger of slipping into a food coma. I’ll definately go back to the school, but they are currently so popular they’re booked up months in advance. It’s definitely worth the wait, so check them out.
Sorry this event is now sold out – We still have places available at our 21st March Supper Club
Christmas is over, January is the longest month ever, and it seems like a long time until anything good is going to happen again. The Supper Club costs £25 per person, for 3 delicious courses, as well as a welcome drink and some extra treats, (drinks are BYO). Details of how to book are shown below, and all payments are protected by PayPal.
February Supper Club
Welcome drink, and 3 courses meal (plus a couple of treats)
£25.00
Why not come along to the Sunnyside Supper Club, and try something new
This month’s theme will be Greek food. Our ethos of the supper club is simple, good food, great craic and the chance to meet new people. Mainly because we were sick of the sight of all the people we already knew.
Previous supper club guests have been a mix of couples, solo diners, and friends who wanted to try something different. We get an eclectic mix of people from the very young at heart 60s, through to foodies in their 20s
October’s Supper Club.
Everyone eats at a communal table, and shares the menu shown below. We’ll meet you in front of a roaring fire with a welcome drink, and we’re BYO. Details of how to book via PayPal are shown below.
February Supper Club
Book now to secure your place at February's Supper Club
£25.00
1st February 2020, Supper Club Menu
Starter – Greek meze (small sharing plates of dips, salads and flat breads).
Main Course – Beef stifado, (vegetarian option moussaka), herbed rice, and roast vegetables
Dessert – Flourless orange and almond cake, poached oranges, Greek yoghurt or ice cream.
Let us know in advance if you are gluten intolerant, or vegan and we can be sure to have something delicious for you.
Christmas eve is a strange day, and kids especially are over excited and bored. A bit of Christmas baking keeps them occupied. Even if you don’t have kids, it’s a nice way to get into the Christmas spirit, and your house will smell fabulous.
Snickerdoodles, the crack cocaine of cookies.
Many years ago I lived in Germany, where I was introduced to the crack cocaine of all Christmas baking, the snickerdoodle.
These are soft, chewy, buttery little cookies that are rolled in sugar and cinnamon before going to the oven. While in the oven the sugar and cinnamon melts and crisp up around the already delicious cookie.
I sincerely apologise in advance for any weight gained as a result of these cookies. I know there is a lot of butter and sugar, but it is Christmas after all ( these are delicious at any time of year though, and work really well as a base for a scoop of vanilla ice cream too)
Little balls of cookie dough are rolled in cinnamon and sugar before baking.
Please do try them though, they smell absolutely heavenly, and you can always off load the extras (as if), on friends and family. These live very happily in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Ingredients
For the cookies
370 Grams Plain flour
2 Tsp Baking powder
230 Grams Butter
1/2 Tsp Salt
300 Grams Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
For the coating
50 Grams Caster sugar
1 Tbsp Ground cinnamon
Method
Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a bowl
In a separate bowl beat the softened butter, and sugar for 2 minutes or until light and sluff
Add the eggs one at a time, and the vanilla, then add the flour mix gradually.
When all the ingredients have been thoroughly combined, chill in the fridge for an hour to allow the dough to firm up
After an hour take mix out of the fridge, and mix the sugar and cinnamon for the coating together in a small bowl
Make small balls of cookie dough about the size of a walnut. Roll in the sugar mix
Ball of cookie dough about to be rolled sugar and cinnamon.
Place the balls if cookie dough on baking parchment on a cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Make sure to give them plenty of room to spread od else they stick together
Remove from the oven and allow to sit on the baking sheet for another 10 minutes
I love shortbread, but I had horrendous flashbacks of trying make it in Home Economics class in school. It was a nightmare to roll out, stuck to the counter top, and was impossible to cut out and transfer to the tin neatly.
All this changed, when I discovered this recipe from the amazing women who run the The Edible Flower, in Ballyinahinch. This recipe is incredibly easy, doesn’t need to be rolled out, and is easy to cut into neat fingers for serving. These also make lovely little gifts if you fancy them up in a nice bag, or tin.
Who doesn’t love someone who turns up with a sweet treat.
Ingredients
315 Grams Butter
350 Grams Self raising flour
120 Grams Caster sugar (plus a little extra to dust the finished shortbread with)
120 Grams Corn flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tsps Cinnamon (optional)
If you’re a complete neat freak you can use a ruler to make sure all your shortbread is cut to the same size. As you can see, mine aren’t quite perfect.
Method
Preheat your oven to 140 degrees
Melt the butter in a pam over a low heat, or in a microwave in short bursts
Weigh out all your other ingredients in a bowl and add the melted butter
Mix until it is a soft dough, making sure there are no floury bits
Press the dough into a 20cm x 30cm Swiss roll tin. You can smooth the top with a palette knife if you want it completely smooth, but don’t worry if you don’t
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes. Once cooked, cut into fingers, while still warm. Sprinkle lightly with a little caster sugar
Makes 28 large or 56 small fingers of shortbread. This shortbread freezes really well, and also makes really nice gifts for people
Great salad, bread and olives start most meals. Efes the local beer is also very easy to drink.
Food in Istanbul is relatively cheap and fantastic. Because of its location there is plenty of good seafood available. I expected there to be alot of street food, but it seemed limited to roast corn on the cob, or roast chestnuts.
Barbecued Sea Bream
Similar to Greek cuisine, lamb is also popular, and different types of kebab abound. Istanbul is a city where you could still eat really well if you’re vegetarian. Cheese and yoghurt dishes are popular, but your choices might be limited if you’re vegan.
Lamb and pistachio kebabs with cracked wheat salad.
Most restaurants also offer a meze (mixed starter of different dips and salads).
Meze starter with different dips and salads
One of my favourite things about the food, was the delicious bread served everywhere. Many places would make traditional flatbread in front you when you ordered. I’m not ashamed to say I’m a carb junkie.
Freshly made flatbreads were amazing.
I love coffee, but found the tar like Turkish coffee too strong for my taste.
Turkish coffee is like rocket fuel, but will get you going in the morning.
What I did discover is that I actually don’t hate tea after all. Most meals are finished with a little glass of tea, and is usually pretty sweet, and comes in different flavours.
Turns out apple tea is delicious.
Istanbul has some amazing markets not least the spice Bazaar.
Different herbs and spices sold loose in the spice bazaar
The spice bazaar sells all sorts of food stuffs, including cheese, fish and olives. Its a foodie heaven.
Nuts and seeds for sale.
No matter which district you go to in Istanbul you’ll find amazing bakeries and sweet shops.
Rolls of baklava
The Turkish people it seems have an incredibly sweet tooth.
Sweet stall in the spice bazaar
Baklava, nougat and Turkish delight come in endless varieties.
Sweets are massive thing in Turkey
If you’re nervous about buying sweets, spices etc. loose, every shop seemed to have professionally produced and packaged versions. These also make great gifts. I did have to talk myself out of buying Turkish tea glasses, spice grinders, copper coffee pots.
You’ll never be very far from some amazing bakeries.
Honestly, if you going to the bazaars and you like to cook, only bring a set amount of money with or else you’ll go nuts. I still came home with tea glasses, and more baklava and Turkish delight than my waistline needs.
Have all your new year resolutions fallen by the wayside. Have you already back slid into the same old routines. If so, give yourself a shake and get out of that rut and try something new
October’s Supper Club
Nights are starting to stretch, and hopefully the need to hibernate during the cold dark winter months is lifting.
The Sunnyside Supper Club has a max of 6-8 people, so it’s easier to chat and because the house is, well lets call it compact and bijou.
Come out and enjoy some good food and great craic. The ethos of the Sunnyside Supper Club is simple. Everyone eats the same 3 course menu (plus a few little extras), at a communal table. We’ll meet you with a welcome drink, and then you can get a chance to meet and get to know the other guests.
21 March Supper Club
Try something new, enjoy fantastic food with new people.
£25.00
Menu is to be confirmed, but we’re open to suggestions for themes. February’s Supper Club will feature food inspired by Greece, but let us know what you’d like to see. (i.e. French, Persian, Spanish, comfort food etc). We also welcome for vegetarian/vegans, just let us know in advance so we can be sure we have something delicious for you. This menu is also mainly gluten free (and we can adapt things if you have problems with gluten, just let us know before hand).
Hagia Sophia, originally built as a Christian Church by the Emporer Constantine, it was later rededicated as a mosque. Grand Bazaar – this place has everything, the only problem will be carrying it all home.Grand Bazaar – a historic setting selling everything from traditional rugs to electronics
A little bit of history
Istanbul wasn’t super high on my list of places to visit. But, I was lucky enough to meet and have dinner a few months ago, with the super lovely Angie Ibarra, an experienced travel blogger, https://travelmoments.net During a great night with maybe too much wine I asked her, up to that point where was the favourite place she had visited. Her immediate answer was Istanbul. Since then, loads of people have told me the same thing, you have to go.
I’m a total history nerd, (I’m not even sorry) and Istanbul has oodles of it. Dating back nearly 3000 years, the city has been seat to the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Istanbul is unique in that it is split between two continents (half the city sits in Asia, the other in Europe, and the two halves are separated by the river Bosphorus). Being in such a sweet spot, Istanbul has been a meeting point of countless cultures. The city has trading links with Egypt and China going back two millennia and is still a major trading hub. Sites such as the Topkapi Palace, Grand Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, and Blue Mosque are within walking distance of each other. The first two could easily take a day each, if you wanted to take your time.
A city split across two continents
This prime location has also meant it has changed hands various times. The Roman emperor Constantine when he converted to Christianity set up the city as his “new Rome”, and you can still see examples of Roman architecture and engineering throughout the city. Istanbul then became centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and seat of the new Byzantine empire.
Galata Tower, take the funicular railroad to visit the bohemian Galata district.
The 15th century saw the rise of the Ottoman empire. Ahead of it’s time in relation to architecture, medicine and the arts, Istanbul continued to be a thriving multicultural metropolis.
The Blue Mosque, decorated with thousands of beautiful hand painted tiles.
Modern times
I was really impressed by the modern Istanbul, but given political tensions in the area there was a heavy security presence in popular areas. When out shopping in one of the modern shopping areas near Taksim Square (think Oxford Street in London), I was a bit alarmed when I saw police unloading riot shields (being from Belfast, this usually doesn’t bode well). However I was pleasantly surprised, when the demonstration that started was a large, pretty energetic and good natured Feminist rally. Turkey is a secular state, but the country is still mainly Muslim and quite traditional.
Lots of bars serve hookah pipes, you can share between friends with flavoured tabacco.
Depending on how much time you have, try to visit different neighbourhoods like Galata, or take the ferry across the Bosphorus to Kadikoy. Each has a different personality and great places to shop and eat.
The Sultanahmet District has great seafood restaurants
Istanbul is still a cultural melting pot and draws in people from outside. I met people from Azerbaijan, Morocco and Armenia who for various reasons have decided to live there. By my second day I kept seeing guys with hairbands and surgical dressings taped to the back of their heads. Totally perplexed as to the reason, the penny finally dropped. Apparently Istanbul is the place to go for guys wanting hair transplants at a fraction of the price they’d pay in Europe.
Waiters are usually good fun and are keen to get you stay, this one set off fireworks for my birthday!
The city has a good cheap public transport network, and it’s worth investing in the IstanbulKart (a multi use card that can be topped up in various location). You’ll see astonishing places, and meet great people. In the interests of good travel karma if you have credit left, and aren’t planning on returning very soon, be nice and pass it on to a local or fellow traveller, same goes for your museum card. Give Istanbul a try, you’ll love it.
Anyone one who follows this blog will probably have guessed that I usually don’t do dainty.
But trapped in the house on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I decided to rustle up something different . Macarons are cute little almond meringue cookies, and can have a variety of fillings including butter cream or jam. I have used chocolate ganache, which sounds fancy but is basically just cream and chocolate.
If you’ve seen macarons for sale they can come in a variety of rainbow colours, and can be eye wateringly expensive. This is a bit of a rip off considering that while they might be a bit fiddly they’re not especially difficult to make. They also make great gifts.
Always handy for gifts.
Ingredients
For the mcarons
210 Grams Icing sugar
95 Grams Ground almonds
3 Egg whites (at room temperature)
50 Grams Caster sugar
1/2 Tsp Vanilla paste
Food colouring (this is optional, but it does help them look nice. I would recommend using gel or powdered food colouring)
For the ganache
100 Grams Dark chocolate
150 Grams Double cream
Method
Add the icing sugar and ground almonds to a food processor and whizz for a couple of minutes
Sieve the sugar and almonds into a bowl, and discard any bits of almond that don’t go through the sieve
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until they form soft peaks Gradually add the caster sugar, vanilla and food colouring until you have stiff peaks (you’ve probably saw on cooking shows when the cook holds the bowl over their head and nothing moves)
Start to fold in the sugar and almond mix with a spatula or large metal spoon in small batches
When fully combined, transfer the batter into a piping bag
On a sheet of baking paper, mark out circles about 3cm each. Put a dot of the batter on the four corners of a baking sheet and lay the baking paper on top (this will help it stay in place)
Pipe a blob of the batter on the pre drawn circles until you have used up all the mix. I ended up using 2 baking trays
Once you have piped all the mcarons, lift the trays a couple of inches and tap it down on the counter to get out any air bubbles. If you have any little tails of batter sticking up after piping, wet you finger and flatten them (it will stop them burning)
Allow the macarons to sit out for 30 minutes, this helps them set and forms a skin
Bake in an oven preheated to 150 degrees for 17 minutes, cool before filling
To make the ganache, break the chocolate into small bits and put in a microwave bowl. Melt the chocolate in the microwave (blast for 30 seconds at a time, be sure not to burn)
When the chocolate is melted, add the cream and stir until properly combined, allow to cool
When the ganache is cool, take a palette knife and spread the filling on the underside of a macaron the sandwich with another. Continue until all the macaron halves have been sandwiched together
This is a great easy to make cake that will make your kitchen smell great. More importantly it tastes really good. I mean apple and cinnamon, of course it going to taste fantastic.
One of the ingredients is yoghurt, which helps keep the cake moist and light. The crunchy sugar and cinnamon topping makes it extra delicious.
Dry ingredients and apple chunks
Ingredients
1 Large eating apple (peeled, cored, and cut into 1.5 cm chunks
2 eggs
2 Tsp Baking powder
1/2 Tsp Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
200 Gram Caster sugar
210 Gram Plain flour
120ml Vegetable oil
120ml Natural yoghurt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Melted butter
Cake batter sprinkled with the sugar and cinnamon mix.
Method
Set you oven to heat to 180 degrees, and line a 9in baking tin with grease proof paper
In one bowl, add all your dry ingredients (except the cinnamon), and the chopped apple. Hold back 2 tablespoons of sugar in a separate bowl
In a separate bowl add the yoghurt, oil, and eggs. Mix the ingredients, this will look like it’s split but don’t panic it’s fine
Pour the cake batter into the baking tin
You should still have 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. Add the melted butter, and cinnamon to this and mix
Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mix over the top of the cake batter, and bake for 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean from the cake
Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen 