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Profiteroles

These decadent balls of choux pastry, filled with vanilla cream and drizzled with chocolate ganache are so much easier than many think.

Choux pastry is one of the easiest pastries to make. There is very little skill and no pastry knowledge required. My sort of pastry! 

The kids at my cooking and baking class made these recently and I had to wrestle with them to ensure Mums & Dads got some brought home.

Ingredients – Makes 18 large or 36 small

120g strong plain flour – sieve this onto a piece of greaseproof paper
2 teaspoons castor sugar – add this to the flour mound
300ml cold water
100g butter – cut into small cubes
4 eggs – use a fork to mix them together in a bowl
(See below for filling and ganache ingredients)

Method:

Melt the butter with the water over a medium heat
As soon as the butter is melted and the liquid starts to bubble turn off the heat
Add all the flour & sugar and beat it together until it forms a thick dough
Add the egg in 3 stages, mixing into dough completely before adding the next bit
Dough is now ready
Prepare 2 baking sheets (for large ones) by greasing them and then run under the cold water tap
Remove excess water (the water droplets will help to make pastry crisp as it cooks)
Using 2 teaspoons, one to gather the dough the other to push it off onto the baking sheet, drop teaspoons of the mixture onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 1” space between each one, they will rise
Cook at 200⁰C/Gas Mark 6 for 10 minutes and 220⁰C/Gas Mark 7 for a further 17- 20 minutes until pastry deep golden brown.
Remove from oven and let sit for 5 mins on trays before using a palette knife to slide the profiteroles off and onto a wire rack.

Filling:

Whip some fresh cream and add a little vanilla essence to taste for the filling. Slice the profiteroles lenthways and add a teaspoon of cream to each one.

For the ganache, heat 240ml of cream and pour over 225g of milk chocolate. Mix this together until chocolate has melted, and then dip the top of each profiterole into the ganache, let it set a little before adding another coat if you like.

Nutella Bread

makes one loaf

185g plain flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
225g butter, room temperature
160g sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
One 400g jar Nutella

Preheat the oven to 325⁰/160⁰C/140⁰Fan/Gas Mark 3. 

1. Lightly grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.

2. Sieve the flour ,baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

4. With the mixer at medium-low speed, add the eggs, making sure each one gets incorporated before adding the next one.  

5.  After each egg add 1/3 of the flour mix, this will happen 3 times.

6.  Add the vanilla extract.

7. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.

8.  Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top. 

Note: I find it helps to microwave the Nutella to soften it and make it a little runnier

9. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not overmix.

10. Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut the cake into slices and serve.

11.  You can make mini loaves aswell, these take a shorter time in the oven. It does depend on the size of the mini loaf pan but certainly it would need at least 30 – 40 minutes before checking to see if it has cooked by placing a skewer in the middle of the cake and checking it comes out 'clean'. (i.e no uncooked cake batter on it)

This cake can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be wrapped tightly and frozen.

Ham & Leek Pastry Pie

This delicious pie is perfect to serve this time of year. The gorgeous pastry crust is homemade shortcrust pastry, the recipe for which you will find on my blog here -
http://jillskitchen2012.blogspot.ie/2012/08/storecupboard-apple-pecan-caramel-tart.html         
but you can top it with mashed potato and it works just as well!
Change it up by adding shredded chicken along with the ham (half the portion of ham in this recipe and add same amount in chicken).

Feed a family of 4 /6

Ingredients:

For the white sauce:
50g butter
25g flour
340ml milk
(Optional - 100g grated cheddar cheese)
Fresh black pepper & salt

For the pie filling:
1/2 a leek, washed and sliced
480g ham, chopped into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard


Method:

1. Over a medium heat saute the leeks in a little butter & oil until just turning brown. Set aside
Make the white sauce:
2. Melt the butter in a heavy based saucepan
3. Add the flour and cook it through, on a low heat to make sure it doesn't burn
4. Add the milk in 3 stages, mixing all the time after each addition
NOTE: The mixture will get thicker when you add the milk at first and then will start to resemble white sauce as you add more milk and cook it through.
5. Add the cheese if using at this point and stir into the white sauce
6. Season with fresh ground black pepper and salt.
7. Add the chopped ham & leeks
8. Stir in the wholegrain mustard
9. Place the pie filling into your pie dish, mine is about 9" x 7" / 23cm x 18 approx
10. Roll out your shortcrust pastry to a 1/2" or 1cm thickness and place over the pie in one piece.
NOTE: The easiest way to do this is to roll the pastry out to the size of the dish and place the pastry over the rolling pin, this way you can use the rolling pin to help you lay the pastry on top of the pie
11. Press the pastry down along the top of the dish on the outside rim to seal it.
12. Use the yolk of an egg to egg-wash the pastry. That means using a pastry brush, paint the pastry with the egg yolk. This helps to give it a golden, glossy finish when cooked.
12. Using a knife, add 3 or 4 small holes into the top of the pie to all the air to escape and the pastry to become crispy.
13. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4 for approx 40 minutes until the pastry topping is golden brown.

Serve with lots of in season vegetables or a crisp colourful salad. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

Butternut Squash & Coconut Milk Soup

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

50g thinly sliced shallots

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

240ml water

125ml canned coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

680g fresh cubed butternut squash

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

METHOD:

1.      Heat a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.

2.      Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.

3.      Add shallots; sauté 3 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally.

4.      Add garlic and ginger; sauté 1 minute.

5.      Add 2 cups water, coconut milk, salt, red pepper, and squash; bring to a boil.

6.      Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until squash is tender, stirring occasionally.

7.      Place squash mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender.

8.      Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Stir in juice.

Garnish with additional pepper and some coconut shavings

Tips to get Kids to eat Healthier

1. Lead by example. If you are making healthy food choices and offering them to your children they are much more likely to follow suit.
2. They won’t starve: Ensure the food they eat isn’t just ‘kids food’ in other words your plate and theirs looks the same, just smaller. They may turn their noses up the first few times, but if nothing is offered in place of it you will surprised how a child will come round. A hungry child becomes a lot less fussy, believe me it works!
3. Educate yourself: Get to know what healthy eating is. It’s very hard to ensure your children are getting the right food if you don’t know yourself. There are lots of websites and forums which give you information, but a good rule of thumb is, the closer the food is to it’s original state (e.g an apple is in it’s original state, processed square chicken nuggets look nothing like a chicken!) the better it is for you. Processed, ready meals – even when labelled ‘low fat’ or ‘healthy’ are usually very far removed from this. These should be used sparingly if at all. Making food from scratch is not as time consuming as people think. You can email me at jillskitchen 2012@gmail.com for some great family favourites meal recipes, that are budget conscious and easy to do (they also freeze great so you can be extra prepared!)
4. Get them involved. Don’t panic, but including children in shopping trips to supermarkets has proven to get them more interested in the food they consume.You can choose age appropriate tasks for little ones. If they are sitting in the trolley, hand them the produce naming it as you do and let them put it in the trolley..best not to do this with eggs and such like! Older kids can have their own shopping lists and tick off items as they go or it can even be a game to see who completes their list first. Get kids to help unpack bags at home and then set them age appropriate tasks to help with prep too.
5. Grow your own. Studies have shown and my experience in my home and cooking classes has bore fruit(excuse the pun!) to this, when children are involved in growing fruits and vegetables there is a better chance that they will then be interested in eating it. Whether you have a balcony or an acre plot grow your own has become a lot easier in the past few years. I have found the people at www.quickcrop.ie extremely knowledgeable and helpful and they have some pretty funky tools on their website that make it easy even for someone like me!
6. Work with their tastes. If you and your family lean towards sweeter items then work with rather against this by purchasing (or growing) some sweeter produce—such as strawberries, sweet peas, corn, oranges and similar foods—to make this trait work in your favor.
7. Make it a game. There are arguments for and against this, but if you’ve ever dealt with a fussy eater you’ll try anything and in the scale of things this isn’t a bad one. Let children arrange fruits in snacks into faces or animals and engage their creative side.
8. Discerning palates: Children have double the taste buds that adults have so they can be more susceptible to subtle tastes or changes in food. But this is not a reason to shy away from mild spices or herbs and seasoning. Each child is different and some will find the texture of new food are what turns them off. Continue offering a child something they have turned their nose up at in the past, a good way of doing this is offering it to them when a friend is over, competiveness amongst their peers can be a powerful tool!
9. Positive Reinforcement: Focus on using positive talk around food choices. E.g tasting new foods, even if they don’t eat them is something to be encouraged.
10. Don’t give up. It can be a battle, but it’s one worth winning. Keep at it, and soon your family will be asking for seconds!

Asparagus

 

We are getting close to the very short season of the wonderfully elegant Irish asparagus. This short season, only 5 or 6 weeks in May and early June belies the fact that we see asparagus in our shops year round. 

 The thin spears of Irish asparagus, called sprew, can be eaten fresh from the ground, dreamily covered in a glossy hollandaise or as an accompaniment for soft boiled eggs. 

The slightly plumper ones can be quickly cooked, in a special asparagus pot if you are lucky enough to have one, or in a regular pot of boiling water for a few minutes and served as a side to many beautiful dishes or finished on a griddle pan for a crisper outer shell. Add it to a risotto for extra body, cover with a poached egg and serve with crispy pancetta or bacon pieces or steam and serve with some garlic butter.

Whatever way you enjoy your asparagus, be sure to get hold of some of our home grown goodness before the season is out and we are back to getting our green goddess’ from foreign shores.

A wonderful way to enjoy this incredible, nutritious vegetable is below. As it’s a good source of magnesium, iron, fibre and zinc as well as low in cholesterol and sodium enjoy asparagus in the full knowledge that you are adding to your daily nutritional store.

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon Butter Sauce

This light dish works great as a side dish at any time of the day. It also address the issue that some people have with asparagus , some find it slightly bitter. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in this vegetable so it’s another alternative way of cooking it.

There really is very little need for a separate ingredient list or method section here.

Place a bunch of asparagus on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar (optional). Roast for 10 -15 in a high oven, until the asparagus starts to get crisp and slightly browned.
Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a pan and add 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice to this. Add ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard and season to taste.

Once you remove the asparagus from the oven place on a serving dish and drizzle with sauce.

Serve and enjoy!