tea time!

herbal tea, that is... self picked during my walk...

smells divine, tastes great and is sooo good for you!

lemon drizzzzzzzzle

Love, love love lemon drizzle cake! I made it few days ago and gave a slice of it to my friend. She liked it so much next morning she was at my door asking for MORE.. The yoghurt makes this cake extra moist and the syrup makes sure it's lemony and tangy. For all you lemon lovers, it's the "want it all" kind of cake...

Super Moist Lemon Drizzle Cake

Ingredients
Cake
4 ounces butter at room temperature
1 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Greek style yoghurt  or creme fraiche

Lemon Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lemon Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Method
Cake
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees (350 F) Grease an 8 inch tin (the bread loaf one..)

Using electric mixes cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, followed by the lemon zest.
Add yoghurt, vanilla extract and lemon juice.
In a separate bowl mix the flour and baking powder and slowly add to the batter, mix for another minute or so until ingredients combine fully. Pour the batter into the baking tin, smooth the top, and bake for approx 35 minutes,  until a toothpick comes out clean.
Take the cake out of the oven, let chill in the tin for 10 mins. - Make your lemon syrup
combine the sugar and lemon juice in a pan over low heat until sugar dissolves completely. Take your cake out of the tin, prick it with a toothpick and drizzle the lemon syrup over it. Let chill for another 15mins. To make the lemon glaze, mix lemon juice with  icing sugar and lemon zest, glaze the cake with it. Enjoy!!!

perfect addition to the picnic basket...

I love Fridays. Especially Cookalong Fridays! This time "party and picnic food" is the theme and my addition to the picnic basket are these delicious savoury cornmeal muffins. They are always a big hit at parties and gatherings, anything that doesn't require cutlery is the perfect picnic food. 

The recipe can be made vegan using soy milk and use of rice flour makes sure the muffins are gluten free. It takes no longer than 10 mins to prepare the batter. So simple and soooo tasty!

Savoury Cornmeal Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients
1 &1/2 cup cornmeal flour (use the finer variety..)
1/2 cup rice flour (or normal flour)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
good pinch of salt
1 cup milk or soy milk
your choice of spices/fillings (anything can do, some pesto, chopped herbs, a cup of sweetcorn, chopped chilli, greated cheese, seeds and nuts, etc...I have used chopped roasted peppers and sunflower seeds this time)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390F) and grease your or line your muffin tray. Put all ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with a spatula (no need to use mixers), if your batter is too dry, add more milk or water. Distribute your batter into the muffin forms and bake for 15-18 mins until golden brown. You might want to experiment with the proportions of ingredients and also amount of milk you're using, I sometimes use more rice flour than cornflour and twice the amount of milk and they turn out much smoother, perfect breakfast muffins..)

 Enjoy warm or cold, with a bit of Sour Cream or chilli  relish... or just as they are! mmmmm....ah, and let me know how you liked them!

the recipe marathon...

I'm working on a few exciting projects at the moment, one of them involves our local Farmers Market so watch this space. But I've also been busy cooking... (I mean I do cook almost every day... ) Most of the times I was lucky enough to get as far as photographing whatever I cooked, there just wasn't enough time to write down and post the recipes... and since I have never followed a recipe fully, it makes it even harder to remember what I put into the dishes... 

I did cook a yummy Thai-inspired noodle stir fry. With sweet potatoes, butternut squash, celery and courgette, yellow curry paste, coconut milk, lime juice and a dash of soy sauce. Here the result: It was very yummy and was cooked in no time.

I also got inspired by this recipe and made my own garlicky pull-apart pizza bread. However, I went for a slightly healthier option and only used 1/3 of the butter the recipe called for...

Last but not least would be the Chicken with Dijon Cream Sauce:

I know, picutre isnt' great (It was a quick snap just before I devoured the portion) So it might not look like million dollars but it tasted great! The recipe can be found here. I used Tarragon instead of Rosemary for this one... Highly recommend this one too. Go try it. And let me know how you liked it!

Chocolate Overdose Cake for my Irish Foodies Cookalong

If you have recently decided to live healthy and avoid chocolate, sweets and work on your cholesterol level you should probably stop reading now....

This month's  Irish Foodies Cookalong theme was "chocolate", there could not be a better theme for my very first cookalong. I decided to go the traditional route and to make a Chocolate Cake. A decadent (1lb of chocolate...), moist, melt-in-your-mouth-succulent cake, which wont take hours of slaving in the kitchen... I think this 3 ingredients (no flour :)) Chocolate Overdose Cake will please even the biggest Chocaholic, and it's so simple to make.

 Ingredients

• 450g Chocolate (broken into pieces - I used half dark/half milk- It's down to your own preference
• 225g Butter (cut into pieces)
• 8 large eggs (cold)

Method
Grease an 8inch round cake tin and preheat your oven to 160degrees.

Whisk the eggs until they're very, very fluffy, about 5mins. Melt the butter and chocolate together .

Slowly fold in the melted butter-chocolate mix into the whisked eggs, trying to keep as much air in as possible

(If you feel that your batter is too runny at this stage you can add a bit of cocoa or flour, but I didn't need to).

Scrape the mixture into the  prepared form, fill a roasting tin with water and place your cake tin in the water bad. Bake for approx 25-27mins, the cake should have a crust like a brownie, but still look quite wobbly in the middle. Leave it in the tin to cool, once cool cover it and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

Take the cake out of the fridge 30mins before serving. Sprinkle with icing sugar. 

This cake is so decadent, I dare you to ask for another piece... Enjoy!

lazy sunday breakfast...

I know there might be people who call it blasphemy calling something that contains flour "an omelette" but I could not come up with a better description for my little recipe. It might seem like a pancake but since it doesn't contain milk or butter milk it's technically not a pancake either... Whatever you want to call it, here's a little recipe for a quick (flour) omelette with rhubarb-raspberry compote drizzled with Highbank Orchard Syrup

Makes 2 omelettes (approx 10inch pan)
For the compote
2-3 rhubarb stalks- chopped
1 cup raspberries
4 tbs sugar

Combine all in a pan and simmer until soft. The rhubarb will release enough juices so no extra liquid necessary. You might feel it needs an extra bit of sugar...go for it if you feel so...set aside.

For the omelette
4 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
4 tbs plain raising flour (or any other flour)
2 tbs sugar
1 pinch salt

Whisk the egg whites with sugar and salt until stiff. Gently fold in the yolks and flour. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and bake the omelettes (moderate heat-be careful, my first one was a disaster...) for approx 2 mins each side, until golden brown.

Serve drizzled with orchard syrup and compote. Enjoy!

out and about on Trail Kilkenny with KETTOW

I spent yesterday out and about with the KETTOW group of Ladies exploring the food and craft businesses around Trail Kilkenny. Trail Kilkenny is an organisation which develops, maintains and promotes a range of leisure trails around the beautiful County Kilkenny. From cycling and walking trails, through food to craft, there is something for everyone; tourists and residents alike.

We started our "road trip" with a visit to the Jerpoint Glass This family run studio has been producing beautiful glass pieces of excellent quality for over 30 years. You may also have a chance to watch the glass blowers in action as the workshop itself is open to visitors. Adjacent to the studio is the Jerpoint shop and gallery where you can see their whole collection of skillfully crafted glass as well as paintings and pottery work by other artists. The visit to this picturesque place is truly a unique experience.

Next stop was Thomastown and Blackberry cafe - an award winning eatery owned by Jackie Hoyne located in a beautifully restored 18th century building. Jackie is very passionate about local food produce and traditional recipes, which can easily be seen in Blackberry's menu- we loved the freshly baked scones and tarts she welcomed us with and will definitely be back for more!

Just across the road from Blackberry Cafe is the Design Studio and Gallery of Karen Morgan an amazing ceramist renowned for her distinctive hand thrown porcelain work. I have been admiring Karen's work for several years and it was great to finally meet her in person.

I was also so absorbed talking to Karen that I forgot to take a picy of the new Gallery, so here at least an image of her work (taken from here)

It wouldn't have been a perfect trip without chocolate and cheese, therefore we made a little stop at Truffle Fairy to taste their fine truffles and fudge (tequila, salt and lemon praline. Yum!) before we headed off to Knockdrinna Cheese - producers of award winning farmhouse cheeses from cow's, goat's and ewe's milk. We got a mini-tour of the farm by the owner Helen Finnegan and made new friends

The latest addition to the farm is the Farm Cafe serving great food prepared using mainly the own farm produce- see the Knockdrinna Goat's Cheese and sundried tomato tart below. You should taste it yourself at Knockdrinna Farm in Stoneyford!

Followed the lavish food and truffles we had no choice but to join Eoin Hogan from Trail Kilkenny for a brisk walk along one of many Kilkenny trails.

The day was truly inspiring and another showcase of how lucky we are living in this beautiful county full of scenic walks, amazing crafts and great food. For all those who think that "the grass is always greener" and travel the world in search of beautiful things, I highly recommend a walk alongside River Nore followed by a cup of coffee at the Blackberry Cafe....mmmmm....

Sugar free nutty oatmeal cookies with cranberries

I thought I'd share with you this simple recipe for my favourite sweet evening snack -(almost) sugar free cookies. They are packed with nuts and cranberries instead and I'm just finishing my 5th one this evening :)  

(please pardon the bad picture quality, I need some better light in my kitchen for sure...)

Ingredients

• 1 cup Ready Brek (or oatmeal as fine as you can get it)
• 1 cup flour (rice flour or plain flour...whichever)
• 1 cup mixed nuts (I use almond flakes, chopped hazelnuts, walnuts etc- it's really up to you )
• 1/2 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
• 2 cups milk or soya milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp honey (or more if you wish)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup jumbo oatflakes

Method

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients (bar the jumbo oatflakes) in a mixing bowl, once smooth add the oatflakes.

Your dough should be quite dry really, slightly falling off the spoon and look more or less like this:

You can now leave it for about 5 mins, before you form walnut-sized cookies onto a baking tray.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 mins depending on the size, they should be golden brown on top and bottom and look more or less like this:

The recipe should make you 15-20 cookies, depending on the size.
Once ready and cooled down (if you can wait that long...) sprinkle with icing sugar and enjoy! And there is only one cup and one bowl for washing up :)