Like it or not, its on its way...

For more reasons than I care to go into here, this Dinnerlady hasn't been having the best of months. I'm putting it down to November blues, and the probably more relevant December-is-coming blues... But then, one too-dark-too-early evening this week, I received our new DinnerLadies Christmas logo and within seconds I could feel the fog lifting...

Christmas is coming folks and love it or loathe it, there's definitely no avoiding the oncoming season of goodwill...

At Dinnerladies HQ, we have lots of plans for the next few weeks.

We want to share our traditions (and test out some new ones) in addition to helping anyone who might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thoughts of what is, essentially, only a meal involving a rather large chicken. And you know, thats all it is, whatever else you want to add is completely up to you. Starters, vegetables, desert and leftovers... we'll share our thoughts and you pick whats relevant.

On that note, please don't be afraid to contact us with any questions you might have, we have a trained chef on retainer so we can practically guarantee that nothing we suggest we lead to you killing the in-laws (unless you want to, of course...!!)

 There will be talks of timetables, planners, notebooks and a clip board (from me) and probably a million types of desert options (from Sarah) but most of all, we hope to have a bit of craic.  

Christmas can be stressful for loads of reasons. We can't guarantee that you won't fight over the remote control, or that Auntie Pauline won't get merry on the sherry trifle, but we can certainly try to take the stress out of the food element and maybe even save you a few bob at the same time...

Its just a dinner folks, stick with us...

Margaret

xxx

Plain and Simple Sponge Cake

Cake.

A scaled up birthday cake

I've covered this before, when I posted about my coffee cake in the post "Yet More Cake", but I was honestly recently surprised by some friends who are both very good cooks and confident bakers mentioning that they were not sure with this type of sponge cake, and never really make it - but a basic, straight forward cake is one of the easiest things in the world. It is so gorgeously old fashioned that you really do feel like a domestic goddess for being able to rustle it up, so I URGE YOU ALL to give it a go. And I thought a post on ordinary, honest to goodness sponge cake was required.

The first thing you need to know is that a sponge cake is massively simple. The simplest cake to make is the one using the "all-in-one" technique, and; as the name implies; it couldn't be simpler. You literally bung everything into a bowl and mix it and that's pretty much that.

Now of course, there are couple of secrets. But they're neither that hard nor that secret. I know you might know some of it already, so sorry for the repetition, but it's worth repeating anyhow. Here goes:

1. You must preheat the oven, even if (like me) you normally shove stuff in regardless. For cake (and baking), it must be preheated. Not so bad with the frozen pizza, but for baking you preheat.
2. Secondly, ALL the ingredients need to be at room temperature. I don't even bother storing eggs in my fridge, I just leave them out all the time. Think about it - when you buy them in the shop, are they on the shelf or in the fridge? The shelf, correct. They will be fine and do not need to be refrigerated. Take the butter out of the fridge the night before or, if you forget or decide on the spur of the moment (me, again!) then weigh it out, cut it into smallish cubes and leave somewhere warm. In my house, the window sill above the radiator is perfect, or the table in front of it. DO NOT stick it on the rad or into the microwave, if it melts it is too oily and greasy and not what you want at all. If the recipe says melted butter, then fine; but if not, then don't.
3. You need the right tins. Two round 8 inch tins. That's 8 inches. NOT 7 and not 9 - they would need either less or more ingredients.
4. Line the bottom of the tins with parchment paper (also called baking paper).
5. DO NOT open the oven while it's cooking. Stand firm, it will be fine. DO NOT check until the time is up. If you really really must, then check it 5 mins from the end - BUT NO SOONER!

That's pretty much it. Oh, one thing - although I usually use the metric measuring system, for cake I always use imperial (pounds and ounces) coz it's so so simple; literally 6-6-6-3. That's 6oz each of flour, butter and sugar and then 3 eggs; then beat them together for 1 minute with an electric mixer, and that's more or less it! After that, you can flavour it - a bit of vanilla for a plain sponge, cocoa powder for a chocolate cake, a bit of coffee and a few walnuts for a coffee cake.... 

So, here goes (see below for variations):

All-In-One Sponge Cake

• 6oz caster sugar
• 6oz self-raising flour
• 6oz butter, at room temperature
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp vanilla extract (for a plain cake)
• 2 tbsp milk (optional)
• Preheat the oven to 170C

1. Put all the ingredients except the vanilla and milk in a large mixing bowl, and then go in with your electric hand mixer (or Kenwood Chef or Kitchenaid, if you have fancier kitchen equipment than me - kitchen envy, **sigh**) and mix for about one minute, til all the ingredients are well combined
2. Beat in the vanilla extract, and then give the beaters a sharp tap off the edge of the bowl - if it drops off, then this is called a good "dropping consistency", and your mix is ready. If not, add a tablespoon or two of milk, and beat in
3. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins (level out with a knife) and pop in the oven for 30 mins at 170C, the cakes are done when they feel springy to the touch in the centre
4. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 5 mins, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely (removing the paper from the bottom)

Once cool, you can ice them. If it's a plain sponge, then cream and jam and the corresponding fruit to match the jam is the perfect filling, just dust the top with icing sugar. If it's fancier cake - well then, the sky's the limit. I usually make a buttercream icing, which is pretty easy

Buttercream Icing

• 150g butter, at room temperature
• 250-300g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp milk

1. Beat the butter til creamy, then beat in the sugar. It will often be all lumpy - so add the liquid, the vanilla and milk, and beat again til you get a cohesive mixture.

Don't ice the cakes til they are fully cool (this only takes a half hour or so) as they will disintegrate on you.

Variations are easy - for a chocolate cake, keep the vanilla extract in both the cakes and icing, but just remove a spoon of flour and add a tablespoon of good cocoa powder instead. For the icing, also leave in the vanilla, and again add a spoon of cocoa powder. You can add melted chocolate for a more intense chocolatey hit, but I prefer this milder one, and then to ice the top with chocolate ganache icing, that's a great chocolate hit!
For coffee cake, leave out the vanilla and add a tablespoon of Irel chicory essence to the cake mix, and instead of the milk and vanilla in the icing, just add two tablespoons of Irel. You could also add in about 3oz / 60g of chopped walnuts - seriously good. See my original coffee cake post here.

Chocolate Ganache Icing

Chocolate ganache, with Smarties and paper for drips

• 150ml whipping or double cream
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp butter
• 150g of best, darkest chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1. Bring the cream, vanilla and butter to a slow boil over a low heat (a non-stick pan is best), remove it from the heat as it starts to boil (you can spot this as the bubbles around the edge form a ring)
2. Add the chocolate, chopped into small pieces (best done with a kitchen scissors, I find, but whatever works for you) and stir in - you need the chocolate to be chopped small, so it will melt as you stir it in
3. Allow to cool slighty before use, but obviously not to harden, you want it still liquid enough to use
4. If you sit the cake on a few strips of greaseproof paper, you can remove them later to have a clean base to your cake

Coffee Cake, my own favourite

Once you are confident, you can upscale the recipe, as I have done with the square birthday cake, or new ideas - add some lemon and orange zest to the cake, and a small bit of juice, and the same to the icing, or try fillings / icings made with mascarpone cheese, or colour the icing pink by adding a couple of strawberries to the icing instead of milk, or whatever takes your fancy.

Whatever you like - just know that your mother-in-law will be SO impressed with a lovely, light, fluffy freshly homebaked sponge cake... and so will you!

PS - it really is at it's best on the day it is made, although of course it will last beautifully for a few days in a tupperware style container. But if it is to be for some one's birthday or to impress some one, then make it fresh that day.

Enjoy, 

Sarah xx

Snickerdoodles

Apparently, these are quite well known in the US. But I first came across them in my beloved introduction to baking that is Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess". After some research on the internet, it appears that the "proper" US snickerdoodle is something slightly different - something much more biscuity and flatter. However,  it's very own Wikipedia page page seems to concur with the Nigella version.

Many hands make light work?!

Anyhow, whatever, we make them regularly. My kids can be fussy and often prefer shop-bought commercial products (the little horrors - they will learn, in time!) but for some reason, they love these snickerdoodles. Which is odd enough, as they include nutmeg, which is not usually something that appeals massively to small children. Whatever, these are great - the girls love to help make them; rolling them between their palms and dipping in cinnamon sugar, a perfect occupation (Mum needs EAGLE EYES though, to stop too much dough going into their little mouths!). But when cooked, they have the bonus of being a brilliant biscuit/cakey hybrid thing. Small, the perfect size to have with a cuppa in the afternoon, they are also grown up (for that, read "less sweet") enough to be served with coffee after a dinner party.

So, the elder of the DinnerBabies (5½) is having a friend over for a playdate. I don't want to make cake - that's too grand, and anyhow, I want to make a fresh one in the morning for the weekend, so what to do to entertain the girls and be nice for the mums to have with a coffee before hometime? I had a brainwave and remembered the snickerdoodles. Perfect! There is also something evocative of Christmas about them, I think it's the nutmeg and cinnamon that make them slightly Germanic and therefore lends that Christmassy air (and Wikipedia tells me that the name is thought to come from the German "Schneckennudlen", describing a snail-like shape). Whatever, I like to eat them any time of the year.

I am sorry to report that only TWO solitary snickerdoodles survived the night, and as Friday is "treat day" in school, these were duly dispatched in lunchboxes this morning. But what better accolade can a cook have, than an empty plate?

So bake and enjoy - here's the recipe.

Snickerdoodles
From Nigella Lawson's "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", page 58

• 250g plain flour
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 100g caster sugar, plus 2 extra tablespoons for dipping
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 2 baking sheets, lined or greased
• Preheat oven to 180°C

1. Combine the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and salt, and set aside for a moment
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter with the 100g of sugar, until light in texture and pale in colour, then beat in the egg and vanilla
3. Now stir in the dry ingredients until you have a smooth, coherent mixture
4. Spoon out the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugae and the cinnamon onto a plate or shallow bowl
5. Now, with your fingers, squidge out pieces of dough and roll between the palms of your hands into walnut-sized balls
6. Roll each ball in the cinnamon-sugar mixture and arrange on your prepared baking sheets
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, by which time they should be turning golden brown
8. Rake out of the oven and rest for about 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool
   makes about 32

Nigella also suggests a variaton that I haven't tried so far - replace 25g of the flour with cocoa to make what she calls "chocodoodles".

Anyhow, it's something new to try for your weekend.

Sarah xx

Christmas is coming....

... And the goose is getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat,
If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha'penny, then God bless you!

That was our childhood Christmas rhyme, and in these recessionary times it rings true. So, in the spirit of Christmas and saving a bit of money, this year, I decided not just to make my own mince pies, but also the mincemeat with which to fill them - a few jars of luxury mincemeat with added brandy and apple and lemon juice is definitely more expensive that a few packets of raisins and things.

For those of you having paroxysms because I mentioned the dreaded "C" word let me remind you that, as per our rhyme above, Christmas is indeed coming and this day 6 weeks is the very day - so it is time to start at least thinking about it, and if you are into baking, it's time to start the Christmas baking.

For most of us, Christmas is a time of tradition, both old and new (there is a lot of fun to be hand in creating your own traditions for your own family and cherry-picking what works for you and ditching those that don't). For me, I like to have the tree up relatively early as my birthday is in early Dec, and I like to have it up around then (the 8th by the way, and it's a very significant one this year, so if anyone wants to buy me a present, far be it from me to stop you!). I have a fresh tree though, and it's been getting a bit droopy by the end of the season, so I think I might wait a week longer this year.

Our biggest family tradition is that we spend Christmas with my Dad, at my family home in Ahascragh, Co. Galway. It's a big house, there are lots of siblings and grandchildren now too - not all will be there for Christmas Day, but they will be there for a day or two at some stage, and it's great for the little DinnerBabies to spend some time with their cousins.

When it comes to the food, we all do our bit. Dad made the puddings last night, and my job is the mince pies. These are A HUGE DEAL in our house - every year, there was so much discussion about my mother's homemade mince pies and how far superior they were to any shop bought creation and all that jazz. So, after my mother's untimely death ten years ago, it became my job to do the mince pies, as I was the baker in the family and also the one that could make mum's pastry. Turns out that the pastry was really the key, for us anyhow - the sweetened, thick and extremely buttery pastry of the shop bought versions are what the family object to the most, it seems. So, I consulted my sources (Nigella Lawson and company) and felt confident. I know that my own mother hadn't made her own mincemeat in years, and Nigella's Christmas chapter in her book "How to be a Domestic Goddess" had very practical advice - if you are using shop bought mincemeat, turn it into a bowl and grate over a good bit of sharp cooking apple (at least one cooking apple), a good squeeze of tart lemon juice (the juice of at least one lemon) and add a good slug of cooking brandy. This sharpens up even the sweetest and most cloying mincemeat and makes the world of difference.

A word on pastry - I just use regular, shortcrust pastry. Nothing fancy, just plain old hardworkin' shortcrust. It's my favourite and I think it works the best here; not just because it's the way my mother made them; but also because the mincemeat filling, although scant, is so sweet and intense that you don't need anything fighting with them. Heavy, buttery pastry just totally overwhelms the poor little pie and all you taste is the chewy case, not the Christmassy filling.

I do like an "aide-memoire"!

I've covered pastry before here, so just a quick note on quantities. As you can see from the picture, I like to make notes in my cookery books! But it makes sense, I only make mince pies once a year, I always check out this book, so where better to make my notes and ensure they don't get filed somewhere obvious that I'll never find again? So my notes tell me that pastry made with ½lb of flour and 2oz each of butter and lard would make about 24 mince pies if I roll the pastry thinly enough (also key, you don't want too much pastry, just "enough"), so I usually use 1lb of flour and get about 46 mince pies out of it.

I actually thought I might make my own mincemeat last year, as Nigella Lawson always suggested you could make an easy, suet-free mincemeat and then I read a recipe by Eunice Power in a Saturday edition of the Irish Times around this time of year that seemed to tally with that, so I thought - why not?! But I never quite got round to it. However, in the spirit of the true "Recessionista" that I have become though, I decided this year was THE year and I was going to go for it. So, I did my shopping and gathered my ingredients, and got going this weekend.

Eunice Power's Christmas Mincemeat Recipe
"Many mincemeat recipes don't involve cooking, however, when it is cooked it makes it much more digestible, so no seasonal heartburn. You can of course substitute cranberries, diced glacé cherries or diced ready-to-eat apricots for any of the dried fruit. I tend to use smaller raisins and sultanas in my mincemeat, especially if I want to make tiny mince pies. You would be surprised how much room a jumbo raisins takes up.

A motley collection of jars, but makes LOADS

• 350g raisins (I used 300g raisins & 50g dried cranberries)
• 350g sultanas
• 100g currants
• 450g grated apple (this was about 3 to 4 cooking apples)
• 150g brown sugar
• 175ml brandy
• 100g butter
• Juice and rind of 2 lemons
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• 50g chopped almonds
• 50g chopped walnuts
• 100g mixed peel (I added in an extra 50g diced glacé cherries too)
• 2 tbsps marmalade

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large saucepan
2. Simmer for 30 minutes, then store in sterilised jars for up to one year

And it really is that simple! I found that it got a bit dry, so I added more brandy and a little water as I went, but the recipe made LOADS, which is just as good as I've offered to make the mince pies for the school coffee morning that the Parent's Association is running before Christmas - eek!

The fantastic thing about mince pies is that you can make them all up now, cook them off and freeze them. Yes, sure - they defrost on the car journey down to my Dad's, but they usually get eaten in about 2 or 3 days anyhow, so I just leave them in the back kitchen and reheat as required - I'm sure you have a utility room or somewhere else that is cooler, especially this time of year. 

Just a quick last note about the actual pies themselves. I make small ones. I think that is the perfect size; just a bite or two and they should be gone. Mine are quite "rustic", but that is part of their charm, so to that end I don't glaze them with egg-wash or milk - feel free, if you wish. I make mine in my regular bun trays, no need to grease them out as the pastry is buttery enough to stop them sticking. 

I also usually use a smaller size cutter to cut out the lids. A little brush of water helps to stick the lids on, and then I pierce the top with a fork, to let the steam escape. Cook in a hot oven - about 220C - for about 15 minutes. Use up the leftover pastry scraps by making a freeform pie ... collect all the scraps and roll out together, use a slightly larger cutter and fill one side with mincemeat, then fold over and crimp in the fashion of a Cornish pasty or similar.

Mince pie pictures will be added when I get round to making them - for now, mincemeat is enough Christmas prep for this house!

**EDIT** I found a picture of last years mince pies - as I say, rustic, but all the more charming for that, no?!

Sarah xx

More Vegetables - this is NOT a beige dinner!

Hmm... am definitely on a veggie kick at the moment! There's a couple of reasons for this - firstly, there's that recession thing - we blame everything on it, but honestly, we have a five week month in this house this month (who in the hell invented that evilness?!) and you can get a whole load of veggies for the price of a couple of chicken fillets. Secondly, it's winter and there is something warming and hearty about these dinners, they are lovely. And lastly - what could be healthier? I am definitely on a little health buzz at the moment; Christmas is rapidly approaching and I want to be able to eat what I want over the festive season, so that means keeping an eye on things in October and November. And then there's that "Significant Birthday" in early December... I want to look as good as possible (and, to that end, I will be attempting my first ever 10km race the week before - gulp! I can't tell you how big a deal this is, as I am easily the least sporty girl in Ireland... I remember once persuading my PE teacher that I couldn't do PE that day because my friend had an ingrown toenail removed and needed looking after!).

Gorgeous vegetables

So last night, it was time for a veggie crumble. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to it. I even had so much fun shopping for my vegetables - Lidl came up trumps on most fronts (and it really helps that my DinnerBabies really love the local Lidl; the underground carpark is extrely echo-ey, so it's known as "echo-Lidl" in our house, and then there's the added lure of the freshly baked croissant they get to walk around the shop with - they are a bit disgusted there are no Bavarian pretzels in the last few weeks!) and then our local greengrocer topped up the things I forgot / couldn't get.

Nearly there - crumble mix to the rear

The recipe comes originally from a book called "Cranks Recipe Book", via my Welsh friend Fiona - apparently it was a staple of hers in university (undoubtedly again because it is cheap). This is a great recipe, because you can adapt it to what you have or what you fancy. I didn't bother with peppers, I didn't think that would work, and forgot to add the potatoes even though they were sitting beside me on the counter, as you can see from the photo. It really could've done with something green too - Himself suggested leek, but that's only because he really dislikes broccoli, I think broccoli would have been perfect. It would also make a good side dish with a roast dinner - particularly a rich beef. But it is a very filling meal in itself (even more so if you remember the spuds!).

Anyhow, here's the master recipe, you can add what you like. The main recipe serves 6 - we did a small one for two last night, so I'll give you the veg quantities for that in brackets as well. And again, crumble topping freezes easily and can used more or less from frozen, so it's handy to make a large amount and keep the excess in the freezer for another occasion. 

Vegetable Crumble

For the topping:

• 100g butter
• 175g 100% wholemeal flour (I use white or mix or white & wholemeal, as I find all wholemeal too heavy)
• 100g grated cheddar cheese
• 50g chopped mixed nuts (I only had hazelnuts last night, it was perfect)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

For the base:

• 675g mixed root veg, chopped into cubes (for 2 of us last night, I used 2 carrots, 1 parsnip, 400g butternut squash, 400g turnip, 2 smallish onions - diced, 3 cloves of garlic - crushed, I meant to add 2 potatoes and also a handful of mushrooms - 5 or 6)
• 50g butter
• 25g wholemeal flour (again, I used white)
• 300ml vegetable stock
• 140ml milk
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Begin by making the crumble topping - rub (or grate) the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the cheese, nuts and seeds and leave to one side
2. Chop the vegetables - you want them all to be in similar sort of cubed size. Dice the onion and finely chop the garlic
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté the onion gently, til translucent. Add the chopped vegetables and cook over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes
4. Stir in the flour, then add the remaining ingredients, then bring the whole thing to the boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender
5. Transfer everything to an ovenproof dish, cover with the crumble topping and press in loosely (you don't want it too compacted)
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 180º C for about 30 minutes, until golden

I would think that you could also easily flash-fry the vegetables, then stick them in the oven with a generous amount of fresh thyme and rosemary (good strong robust flavours) to roast for 20 minutes at 180º C until tender, and then proceed to make the sauce with the roasted veg - so step 3 above, melt the butter and add all the veg, without the need to either cook the veg for 10 minutes in the pan nor simmer it for 15 minutes after, just bring to the boil and then transfer to an ovenproof dish, top and bake and it would be even more delicious.

Ready for the oven

Out of the oven

And the best news is, there is even a small portion left over my lunch today - yum... And it keeps me away from the bread / dreaded carbs. I guess I shouldn't have finished off with a toffee square, then?!

Ready to eat!

Enjoy - and enjoy that slightly smug feeling you get from knowing you've hit your five-a-day.

Sarah xx

"Proper" Veggie Dinners

In light of my frankly half-baked attempts to write a post about vegetarian dinner (I think the inclusion of bacon lardons makes a bit of a mockery of the whole thing!) The DinnerLadies have invited our good friend, fellow "Rollercoaster Mum" and proper, dedicated vegetarian to do some guest posts for us. She regularly has us drooling at the frankly amazing vegetarian meals she throws together (especially lunch - as I sit down to another unappealing limp ham sandwich, and make the mistake of asking "what's for lunch" to be met by some mouth watering list of fresh ingredients and complex flavours). So I'd like to introduce Abina to you all...

Here’s a quick & easy veggie curry put together from items most of us would have in the cupboard.  Some veggie recipes can have an endless list of vegetables but I like this one as it’s so quick & easy.  This is a well balanced meal with plenty of protein and fibre from the chickpeas and calcium and iron in the spinach.

PS - Coconut oil should be available from your local supermarket, I get mine locally, €5 for a 500ml jar of organic virgin coconut oil. I use it mainly for the flavour and health benefits, I find it's great for frying and really doesn't let food stick to the pan. Personally, I prefer not to use olive oil (although of course you can, if you wish) and would use rapeseed oil in general instead, when not using coconut oil. As a matter of interest, it is also a great moisturiser (I use it at night time) and great for your skin in general. I use it also as a nappy cream for the baby (a separate jar, of course!).

Chickpea and Spinach Curry, with Tortilla Crisps

Patak's paste, and coconut oil

• Coconut oil (for frying)
• 1 onion
• 200g frozen spinach or a bag of fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed & drained
• 1 can of coconut milk
• ½ Jar of Patak's curry paste (I used tikka masala here, as you can see, but I use whatever is in stock)
• A good squeeze of tomato purée

1. Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in pan & add chopped onion, then reduce heat, cover & allow to cook for 5 mins
2. Add frozen spinach and cook until any water has been cooked off
3. Add Patak's curry paste and cook for 3 mins
4. Add chickpeas and stir
5. Add in coconut milk, tomato puree, sprinkle of chopped coriander and leave to simmer for 20mins

Tortilla Crisps

• Tortilla wraps
• Hot paprika or chilli powder
• A small bit of oil

1. Cut tortilla wraps into 8 triangles, brush with oil and sprinkle with paprika or chilli powder
2. Bake in the oven for a couple of minutes, until golden crisp.  Serve warm, with the curry & rice

I've also listed below some other useful recipes I use frequently; handy for lunch and / or dinner

Lunch

Homemade Beans on Toast:  Mix a tin of haricot beans with equal amount of passata, 1 tsp of black strap molasses, bay leaf and some fresh thyme. Mix the ingredients in an oven proof dish, cover with tin foil and bake at 180C in the oven for 90 minutes.  Any leftovers can be frozen.  I served it with toasted crusty brown bread from the most delicious bakery, Boulangerie la Francais in Applewood, but any good crusty bread would work!

Dinner

Chilli sin Carne:  
Recipe from Mexican Cooker, Chancellor Press 

• 5 dried red chillies
• 3 tablespoons of boiling water
• 1 tin tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 3 onions (roughly chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
• 3 tablespoons of tomato purée
• 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1½ tablespoons of white wine or cider vinegar
• 1 tsp of sugar
• ½ pack of Quorn mince
• 1 tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1. Blitz the chillies and water in a blender
2. Heat the oil in a pan and gently sauté 2 of the onions and the garlic with the tomatoes, tomato purée, spices, vinegar and sugar til soft
3. Put into the blender and with the chillies and water, then blitz til smooth
4. Sauté the 3rd onion in 1tbsp oil, add the quorn mine and sauté for a minute more, then stir in the kidney beans and the chilli-tomato mixture from the blender
5. Simmer for 20 minutes on a gentle heat
6. Serve with rice, or in wraps or tacos with avocado and creme fraiche / sour cream

Root Vegetable Bake:
I like this dish and usually have it during the winter, when the rest of the family are having a roast. They would usually have a small portion to accompany their meat. Any combination of root veg can be used; if you don't have a particular one either leave it out or substitute if for something you prefer - it's a very versatile dish. The recipe is from the BBC "Good Food" book 

• 100g butter
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp fresh thyme
• 3 oz gruyere cheese, grated
• 1 lb waxy potatoes, peeled
• 8 oz celeriac, peeled
• 1 lb carrots, peeled
• 1lb parsnips. peeled
• Veggie gravy to serve
• Preheat oven to 190C

1. Use 1 oz of the butter to grease an 8in tin
2. Mash the remaining butter with the lemon zest, garlic, thyme and cheese
3. Thinly slice the veg and layer one third of the spuds, then celeriac, then carrots, then parsnips in the tin and dot with some butter.  Repeat the layers, then season the whole thing with black pepper and dot with butter
4. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes  
5. Remove foil and bake for further 45 minutes until veg are tender
6. Serve with some veggie gravy poured over

Lentil Shepards Pie:

• 1 tin of puy lentil, rinsed & drained
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots
• ½ courgette
• 1 red pepper
• 1 carton passata
• 1 veggie stock cube
• 1lb potatoes, peeled

1. Saute the onion in a little oil, then add a little water and the carrots, letting them cook for a few mins before adding the pepper and courgette, then cover and simmer for a few mins until tender
2. Add the carton of passata and veggie stock cube and season to taste (I sometimes add some balsamic vinegar, fish free Worcestershire sauce and honey to flavour or a drop of soya sauce)
3. Then blend it all until smooth (to hide the veg from fussy eaters, not always necessary if serving only to well-behaved adult types!)
4. Add the puy lentils and leave to simmer
5. Boil spuds and mash
6. Pour lentil mix into an ovenproof dish and cover it with the mash and bake for 30 minutes at 180C

Please feel free to request any specific veggie requests you might have, and we'll do our best to accommodate! 

Abina, Sarah and Margaret

A New Venture

Hi there DL fans,

I wanted to share with you a new venture that I am - hopefully - embarking on. While my lovely partner Margaret has some exciting ventures of her own bubbling away (see what I did there?!), I have been out of work since then end of 2010.

Now, at the time, redundancy seemed like a great idea, but if you'd told be then that I'd still be out of work nearly 2 whole years later, I'd have probably laughed. I suppose, when you are working, it's easy to ignore how bad the recession is as it is not really affecting you that badly...

Anyhow, 2 years on and it's biting HARD. The cleaning lady went pretty much straight away, but have since been followed by all sorts of things that I used to consider necessities - Estée Lauder make up (Rimmel is quite good, actually!), expensive highlights in my hair - all the usuals.

My usual field of work is customer service, but as I working in quite a niche area (somewhere between customer service, training, support and sales, but yet none of those things, exactly) I thought I had loads of experience and would be snapped up. Instead I find that employers today are so spoiled for choice with candidates that they can pick and choose a candidate with almost spot on experience, and unfortunately that's never me.

I have also loved being at home with the mini DinnerLadies, bringing my eldest daughter to school everyday is a luxury, really.

So I've been trying to think laterally - if I can help it, I don't really want to go back to the grind of 9 to 5, 5 days a week (before I left, I was doing three days, it's very hard to back to full time when you have small children and I guess that probably came across in interviews too).

As you know by now, I LOVE food and cooking and baking. I also have a strong background in training, and I do love helping people - as you can see from some of my "step by step" posts on here.

So, after a disappointment with the HSE and their food training programme, I decided that maybe I'd branch out on my own. I started by investigating children's parties and classes, and while I am still pursuing that option, it is going to take a long time - the Garda vetting process alone will take a long time (even though I've already been through it to join the school Parent's Association... You need to re-submit for each venture, who knew?!)

So, after listening to the Ray D'Arcy show on TodayFM last week and hearing all the tales of people who left home unable to cook (as I did, myself - I was interested, and tried and had a bit of a notion from watching my Mum, but I never did "domestic science" and didn't even know how to boil an egg, really), I thought that maybe ADULTS might like a cookery class.

Young people starting out, leaving home for the first time (maybe starting college and away from home for the first time) and unsure of the basics - give me a call! Nutritious, budget-savvy meals are at your fingertips.

Ladies - are you fed up cooking every night and do you long for your other half to surprise you with an even halfway edible meal some night, for your birthday or just a Saturday night "date night" at home? Send him along!

Unsure where to start with baking? I could tailor a lesson to cakes, or sponges, or pastry, or buns, or simple desserts, or whatever you like.

Flummoxed by what to plan when having friends over for dinner? Again, a "dinner party" themed lesson might suit.

Classes would be small - a couple of hours, 2 or 4 people max (my kitchen is small!) here in my house, or alternatively I could do a lesson in your own kitchen... It's up to you.

While away a winter's evening, or squeeze something super-productive into that couple of hours while the little ones are at school - I really am open to what suits the client and my diary, at this stage, is completely empty.

I have my insurance quotes in and I am now good to go - if people are interested! So please email to sarah.hassell@hotmail.com or just give me a call on 086 9795054.

Many thanks,
Sarah xx