comfort food

Corn Bread

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Like everyone else I’m trying to limit how much I go out at the minute. Also because some people are being eejits and stripping supermarket shelves, I’m trying to work with ingredients I already have at home.

While having a look around the cupboard I found some polenta. I bought it to try a recipe for the Italian supper club and was not really a fan of how the Italian’s use it. However, it works well in the Soul Food staple of corn bread. The American version is too sweet for my taste, so I reduced the amount of sugar.

The recipe also calls for butter milk, which I didn’t have. No problem, just add a good squeeze of lemon juice to ordinary milk for the same effect (the acid in the butter milk/lemon juice helps the chemical reaction that makes the bread rise)

I serve this with chilli, but it’s also good served alongside soups. An American friend of mine also uses left over corn bread, crumbled up over casseroles to make a crunchy topping when baked in the oven. This also freezes really well.

115 Grams Cornmeal/fine polenta

150 Grams Plain flour

1 Tsp Sugar

1 Tsp Salt

1.5 Tsp Baking powder

0.5 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2 Eggs

350 ml Butter milk (or semi skimmed milk, with a good squeeze of lemon)

50 Grams Butter

1 Onion (finely sliced)

Extra butter to grease the baking tin

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 210 degrees, grease a round 23cm cake tin
  2. Melt the butter in a frying pan, and fry the onion until translucent, and allow to cool
  3. Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl
  4. In a separate bowl combine the the eggs, butter milk, and fried onions (including the butter the cooked in)
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir well until any large lumps are gone. It’s quite a wet mixture so don’t panic
  6. Pour the mix into your greased baking tin, and bake for 25-30 minutes. Check with a skewer or toothpick and when it comes out clean, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes

Sausage and Apple Pie

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In my quest to stop food hoarding I’m trying to work through stuff hiding in my freezer. I found a pack of sausage meat that had been been hanging about the freezer since Christmas.




I don’t usually buy sausage meat but the addition of caramelised onions and sweet apples make a scrumptious combination. I’ve included details of home made pastry, but you can use ready made short crust pastry if you prefer.

Ingredients

Pastry

255 Grams Plain flour

100 Grams Butter (cut into small cubes)

Cold water

1 Egg (beaten)

For the filling

450 Grams Sausage meat

2 Apples (cores removed, and cut into small chunks)

2 Onions (finely sliced)

1Tsp Dried thyme

1 Tbsp Oil

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Add the flour and butter to a food processor and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs (you can use the po”rubbing in method”, but a food processor is quicker
  2. Gradually add cold water to the mix until it comes together to form a ball. Wrap in cling film, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes
  3. Add oil to a frying pan, add the onions and fry over a medium heat for 10 minutes until browned. Allow to cool
  4. Add the fried onions, thyme, chopped apples, salt, pepper and sausage meat to a bowl. Combine the mix with you hands until all the ingredients are evenly distributed
  5. Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut approximately a third off and set to one side. On a floured surface, roll out the remaining two thirds.
  6. Grease a loose base pie tin, and then line the tin with the rolled out pastry
  7. Add the filling, and then roll out the remain third of the pastry to form a lid
  8. Brush the edges of the pastry lining the dish with the beaten egg. Lay the pastry lid on top and trim any pastry hanging over the edge of the tin with knife. Crimp the edges of the pie with a fork
  9. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg, and cut some slices in the lid to allow steam to escape
  10. Pre heat your oven to 190 degrees, and add a baking sheet to heat as well. Put the pie dish into the baking sheet and bake the pie for 50 minutes.
  11. Allow to cool on the tin for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin

Keema Curry

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Serve will rice or flat breads.

It was the week before payday, and I was scanning round the kitchen for what I could make for dinner. I was lucky enough to find some minced lamb and frozen peas in the freezer.

This is may not be 100% authentic, but tasted great. It was even better the next day. A good spice cupboard can transform anything into a brilliant meal.

Serves 4-6

500 Grams Lamb mince

400ml Tin of tomatoes

250 Grams Frozen peas

1 Onion (Finely sliced)

2 Cloves of garlic (Minced)

4cm Piece of ginger (Grated)

1Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Cumin

1Tsp Chilli powder (optional)

1 Tsp Ground Coriander

1 Tsp Gram Masala

1 Tsp Nigella (onion) seeds

1 Tbsp Oil (flavourless, like sunflower)

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced onion, cook for about 15 minutes, stir as needed until caramelised (this adds loads of flavour)
  2. Take onions out of the pan and set to one side. Add the Nigella seeds to the pan cook for a for 2 minutes or until you hear them popping. Take care not to let them burn. Remove from the pan and a side with the cooked onions
  3. Add the lamb to the pan along with the other spices, and continue cooking and stirring until the lamb is browned
  4. Add the peas, tomatoes and onion and Nigella seeds to the pan
  5. Simmer for 15 minutes, adding some water if it’s getting too dry.
  6. Serve with rice or flat breads

Rumbledethumps

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Rumbledethumps fresh out of the oven.

This recipe comes from one of my co-workers Ruth. She knows I love a good recipe and was kind enough to share this. It’s one of the things I like about food. Everyone needs to eat, and everyone has a favourite food. Many of my recipes come from people who just wanted to share something they really enjoyed.

This is a traditional Scottish recipe, and was probably developed to use up left over vegetables. I wasn’t that organised so I made this from scratch, but if you plan ahead and have left over veggies then this can be really quick to make. The name supposedly comes from the fact that cabbage and turnip can make some people a bit “windy”. Rumbledethump refers to the noises they may make. Thankfully this wasn’t my experience.

Rumbledethumps are traditionally fried, I oven baked these to make them a little healthier.

Yummy as a meal in itself.

These make a great side dish or are delicious served with a fried egg.

Makes 8

Ingredients before being combined.

Ingredients

500 Grams Potatoes (peeled and cubed)

200 Grams Turnip (peeled and cubed) – in England this is known as swede, but in NI we call it turnip)

1/2 Onion (finely sliced)

125 Grams Cabbage (finely sliced)

1 Egg yolk

50 Grams Cheddar cheese (grated)

2 Tbsps Oil

Salt and pepper

Ready for the oven.

Method

  1. Cook the potatoes and turnip until soft, drain and mash roughly before allowing to cool
  2. Add 1 Tbsp of oil to a pan and gently fry until soft, allow to cool
  3. Combine all the ingredients (except the remaining oil), in a bowl. Check the seasoning, I found this recipe needed quite a lot.
  4. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Get your hands into the mixture, and make 8 equal sized patties.
  5. Set the patties onto a greased baking sheet. Brush with the remaining oil and bake for 25-30mins

Triple Chocolate Verrine

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Rich and deliciously unctuous

This is a little teaser of the dessert for this week’s Supper Club. I like to test recipes before hand and this is a chocoholics dream.

I’m a total fan girl of Eric Lanlard (Cake Boy), his recipes are amazing. I wanted to try this for a while and eventually had a free day to try it. It’s not especially difficult, but it does take a while as you have to wait for the different layers to set.

I made mine in little jam jars. This is a really rich dessert, so you can make smaller versions in shot glasses if you don’t have an especially sweet tooth.

Top with some grated chocolate for a final flourish

Makes 4-6 jam jars, more if you’re using smaller glasses

Ingredients

Dark chocolate layer

75 Grams Dark chocolate

1 Tsp Caster sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

Milk chocolate layer

75 Grams Milk chocolate

1/2 Tsp Caster sugar

2 Eggs (separated)

White chocolate layer

2 Egg yolks

2 Tbsp Caster sugar

150 Gram White chocolate

250ml Double cream

Method

  1. Melt the dark chocolate and sugar in a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat
  2. Separate the eggs, and whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they reach the stiff peak stage
  3. Quickly stir the egg yolks into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture
  4. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until fully combined. Pour into glasses making sure there is an equal amount in each glass. Put into the fridge to set for 2 hours
  5. For the milk chocolate layer, break into small pieces and melt along the sugar in a heat proof bowl over a simmering water. Remove from the heat once melted.
  6. Separate the eggs, whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage.
  7. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate and mix well
  8. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Top up the glasses that already have the dark chocolate and put back in the fridge to set
  9. For the white chocolate layer, add the sugar and egg yolks to a heat proof bowl and heat over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until the mix looks light and creamy
  10. In a separate heat proof bowl, break up the chocolate and melt over a pan of simmering water.
  11. In another bowl (yes I should have mentioned that you’ll have a lot of washing up, but it totally worth it), whip the cream with an electric whisk until it forms soft peaks
  12. Add the melted chocolate to the egg and sugar mix and combine well
  13. Fold the mix into the whipped cream, and then add to the glasses. Chill for another 3-4 hours

I would recommend not serving this pregnant women, or very young children.

Pear and Ginger Upside Down Cake

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Sticky delicious caramel, soft juicy pear, and a light sponge with a gentle hum of ginger.

It’s that time of year, frosty mornings, long dark nights and cravings for comfort food.

This cake is perfect with custard as a dessert, or just enjoy a slice along with a cup of tea or coffee.

Use pears that are not too soft and mushy, so they will stay in tact during baking.

Yummy as a tea time treat.

Ingredients

For the caramel

1 Orange (juice, keep the zest for the sponge)

60 Grams Butter

330 Grams Brown sugar

For the cake

4 Pears

1 Tsp Ground ginger

3 Eggs

375 Grams Plain flour

2 1/2 Tsp Baking powder

220 Grams Sugar

250 ml Vegetable oil

125 ml Milk

Method

  1. Add the sugar, butter, and orange juice to a pan. Bring to boil, ans simmer for 2-3 minutes until caramel begins to thicken. Allow to cool slightly
  2. Add the sugar, oil, orange zest, eggs to a bowl and with an electric whisk until throughly combined
  3. Then add the flour, baking powder, and groung ginger gradually. Half way through adding the other ingredients add the milk.
  4. Whisk until the batter is thoroughly combined
  5. Peel and core the pears, cut into thick slices or quarters . Arrange in the bottom of a well greased 9 inch spring form cake tin
  6. Cover the pears with the caramel, then add the cake batter on top.
  7. Bake in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 180 degree and bake for a further 55 minutes, or until a skewer comes cleanly out of cake.
  8. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin

Date and Walnut Wheaten Bread

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Tell me whats not to like about bread still warm from the oven, and smeared with butter.

One of my favourite places to visit in Northern Ireland is Newcastle Co. Down. There are lots of things to love, breathtaking scenery, amusement arcades, seaweed baths, a lovely promenade, and the world class Tollymore forest Park. I visited recently and tried to find a little bakery that used to sell the most amazing date and walnut wheaten bread. Sadly the shop is gone but the visit inspired me to come up with a version of it which isn’t half bad.

The perfect mix of sweet and savoury.

This bread is great just sliced and slavered in butter/jam. It’s also savoury enough to taste great when topped with cheese, or along side soup. You can also devide the bread mix into eight to make little wheaten rolls.

Ingredients

275 Grams Plain flour

200 Grams Wholemeal flour

175 Grams Dates (chopped)

75 Grams Walnuts (chopped)

50 Grams Butter (melted)

1 Egg

1 Tsp Baking soda

1/4 Tsp Salt

250ml Buttermilk (I didn’t have buttermilk, so you can improvise as I did. I used normal milk and added 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and left it to sit for 10 minutes)

Simple round loaf with a cross cut across the centre

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees
  2. Add the flours, walnuts, dates, salt and baking soda to a bowl and combine
  3. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, add the egg, and melted butter. Add the milk a little at a time until you have quiet a moist dough.I like to use my hands to mix the ingredients, but you can also use a wooden spoon.
  4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and shape into a circle, around 14-16cm in diameter
  5. Put the loaf onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut a cross across the loaf, about a third of the depth of the loaf
  6. Bake for 45 minutes, check the loaf is ready by tapping the bottom to makes it sounds hollow

Potato, Sausage, and Apple Skillet

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I love a quick dinner after a long day when standing cooking holds little appeal. If you can be organised enough to cook extra potatoes for dinner the day or two before this makes this even quicker.

My sort of comfort food

Nothing says comfort food to me like spuds. Crispy fried potatoes, meaty pork sausages and hot sweet apples makes a really dreamy combination. On a chilly Autumn evening this makes a perfect dinner, it’s also really good with fried egg on top.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500 Grams Cooked potatoes cut into chunks (I like to leave the skins on)

8 Pork sausages (cut into chunks)

2 Red onions (thinly sliced)

2 Dessert apples (cut into chunks)

2 Tbsps Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet or heavy frying pan
  2. Add the cut up sausages and onions, and stir occasionally until browned
  3. Remove from the pan and set to one side. Add the other tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the potatoes, cooking until brown
  4. Add the sausages, onions, and apple to the pan, cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and if you’re feeling really fancy you could sprinkle over some chopped herbs like parsley, or sage

Garlic Bread Vegetable Bake

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I did the thing I normally do when I go to a farmer’s market. I bought way too much random stuff because I thought it looked good. I got it home and then had to think what I was going to do with it.

Note to self, stop buying too much stuff at the market.

This is a scrummy mix of colours and textures. Delicious Autumn vegetables in a creamy sauce, with a little bit of heat from smoked paprika, topped with crunchy, cheesy garlic bread.

Who doesn’t like garlic bread (weirdos, that’s who). You can use any combination of vegetables you like, pumpkin, butternut squash, or green beans also work well.

Crunchy Cheesy Perfection

I tried this recipe on one of my oldest friends. I was nervous because she owns a steak restaurant and is a confirmed carnivore and got two enthusiastic thumbs up (still sorry I forgot to send you home with a doggy bag Mags, but here is the recipe as promised). Go get your comfort food on.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp Olive oil

250 Grams Brussels sprouts

150 Grams Cavelo Nero (or Kale)

1 Pepper

1 Onion

175 Grams Mushrooms

2 Courgettes

400 Grams Cream cheese

250ml Vegetable stock

1/2 Tsp Smoked paprika

Handful of parsley

25 Grams Butter

2 Cloves of garlic

50 Grams Cheddar Cheese

1 Baguette

Method

  1. Cut the bottoms of the Brussels sprouts and halve. Remove the stalks from the cavelo nero and slice. Cook the sprouts and cavelo nero in the vegetable stock for 5 minutes, until just tender
  2. Slice the courgettes, onions, mushrooms and pepper, and fry in the olive oil in a large frying pan for about 5 minutes until soft
  3. Add the sprouts, cavelo nero and vegetable stock to the frying pan. Sprinkle the smoked paprika over the vegetables, and add finely chopped parsley and cream cheese
  4. Mix until thoroughly combined
  5. Crush or mince the garlic and combine with butter
  6. Slice the baguette into 2cm slices, and spread with the garlic butter
  7. Put the vegetable mix into an oven proof dish and top with the slices of buttered baguette
  8. Top with grated cheese and bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees, for 30 minutes until golden brown

Caramelised Onion Sausage Rolls

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Savoury and satisfying

I love a sausage roll, add some sweet dark caramelised onions and these are hard to resist.

I use shop bought pastry because its quick. The only thing that takes any effort (and it’s not much) is browning the onions.

Caramelised Onion, the best smell in the world

Makes 6 large sausages, 18 cocktail sausage rolls.

Ingredients

1 Sheet of ready rolled short crust pastry

6 Tennis ball sized onions

1 Tsp Balsamic vinegar

1Tbs Olive oil

6 Sausages (I used pork and leek, but use what you prefer)

1 Egg (to brush the pastry with)

1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (optional)

Method

  • In a frying pan, add the olive oil and heat
  • Peel and slice the onions before adding to the pan (it looks like a lot of onions, but this cooks down quite a lot)
Don’t worry if it seems like a mountain of onions, it cooks down
  • Stir onions occasionally and cook over a medium heat for around 30 minutes over a medium heat. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
  • Devide the pastry into 6, and place a sausage (I leave the skin on the sausage, some people prefer to remove it), and 1/6 of the onion mixture onto the square of pastry
  • Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg
  • Fold the pastry over until the edges meet and crimp with a fork
Sprinkle with sesame seeds for some extra texture.
  • When you have made all 6 sausage rolls, brush with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sesame seeds
  • Transfer to a baking sheet, and bake 20 minutes in an oven heated to 200 degrees until golden brown