Roast Tomato & Garlic Soup with a Basil Mascarpone Topping

For my mam and dad's 14th wedding anniversary, I decided that I would make dinner for them as an anniversary treat. I chose this recipe from my mam's book, Apron Strings, & I added some cooked spagettii and used the soup as a pasta sauce. This soup is full of flavour and it turned out really well.

Roast Tomato & Garlic Soup with a Basil Mascarpone Topping

Ingredients

850g fresh tomatoes, quartered

10 garlic cloves, peeled & cut in half

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 teasp sugar

salt & pepper

600mls chicken/vegetable stock

handful basil leaves

150g mascarpone

To Serve

100g mascarpone

2 tbsp basil pesto
small basil leaves

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
2. Put the chopped tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion in an over proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle over the sugar and season with a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper.

3. Wash your hands and massage all the ingredients together until the tomatoes and onion are well combined with all the other ingredients.

4. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes. 

5. Meanwhile in a large saucepan heat the stock, stir in the cooked roasted tomato mix and add the basil. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.
6. Blend the soup until smooth with a liquidiser or hand blender.

7. Return to the heat and stir through the mascarpone.

8. To make the topping, combine the 100g of mascarpone with the basil pesto in a bowl.

9. Serve the soup in a bowl or teacup with a dollop of the basil mascarpone and a few small basil leaves to garnish.

Rachel Allen's Macaroni Cheese

Often at the weekend, I cook something nice for my family. While I was looking through Rachel Allen's Favourite Food At Home, I came across this recipe. I've always been a fan of Macaroni Cheese and when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. This tastes delicious with salad.

Rachel Allen's Macaroni Cheese
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
75g (3oz) butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
75g (3oz) plain flour
900ml (1½ pints) boiling milk
1-2 tsp Dijon mustard
225g (8oz) cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
300g (11oz) macaroni pasta

Method

1. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the chopped onions and cook gently until soft.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for minute, then add the milk gradually, whisking all the time, and the mustard.
3. Whisk in three-quarters of the cheese and allow to melt into the sauce, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta with a teaspoon of salt, until just soft.
5. Drain the pasta, and then toss into the cheese sauce and transfer into a gratin dish, about 25cm (10in) square.
6. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and pop under a grill for a few minutes to brown the cheese on top, or if you wish, put the aside for later.
7. Put the dish into an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 to reheat. Leave in for about 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.

Knickerbocker Glory

Today my Mam went to my parent/teacher meeting and she came home delighted with my report. To celebrate, my Mam made me this super duper extra special treat.

Knickerbocker Glory

Ingredients

3 scoops of your favourite ice-cream per cup

4 mini marshmallows per cup

caramel sauce

hundreds and thousands

any chocolate bar of your choice, crushed

Chocolate Sauce

50ml cream

50g milk chocolate bar

Method

1. For the chocolate sauce, put the chocolate and cream into a saucepan over a low heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth sauce.
2. Assembly your Knickerbocker Glory by putting scoops of ice-cream into a bowl or a sundae glass.
3. Spoon the melted chocolate sauce and the caramel sauce over the ice-cream and sprinkle hundreds & thousands and the crushed chocolate bar on the top.
4. Enjoy!

Donal Skehan's Raspberry Goddess Pie

I always love Donal Skehan's recipes so when I saw him making this on Kitchen Hero: HomeCooked, I had to try it! It was very easy to make. I used our own freshly picked raspberries loganberries and it was extremely delicious!

Raspberry Goddess Pie

Ingredients 
225g plain flour
125g caster sugar
125g cold butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
250g raspberries
200ml crème fraîche
Handful of raspberries, to decorate
Small handful of mint sprigs, to decorate
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Method

1. Whizz together the flour, sugar, butter, vanilla extract and baking powder in a food processor until it forms a dough.
2. Press the dough into a lined baking tin with a removable base. Pop in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 225˚C.
4. Mix together the raspberries and creme fraiche in a bowl and then spread over the base of the pie dough.
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the heat to 150˚C and bake for a further 15 minutes.
6. Allow to cool and serve slices with vanilla ice cream.
7. Enjoy

Pentagon Pizza

Recently, I've been really craving pizza. But one night, we had nothing to make pizzas with so I tried to use a tortilla wrap as a base. Surprisingly, it worked perfectly and it was delicious!

Pentagon Pizza

Ingredients
1 plain tortilla wrap
50ml passata
grated cheese
ham (optional)
onion (optional)
tomato (optional)

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to fan 180C/200C/gas mark 6
2. Make a circle of passata on the outline of the tortilla wrap.

3. Place some grated cheese on the passata. Place in the microwave for 50 seconds.

4. Fold in the edges with passata and cheese on them.

5. Spread passata on the rest of the tortilla wrap.

6. Cover the passata with the toppings of your choice.

7. Place the pizza in the oven for 7-9 minutes.

Bernie's Basic Bun Mixture

This bun mixture is my granny, Bernie’s, recipe. These buns are extremely easy to make and they are very delicious too.

Bernie’s Basic Bun Mixture

Ingredients

225g (8oz) Flora Light/butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 free range eggs

280g (10oz) self-raising flour (sieved)

30mls milk

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/390°F/gas mark 6.

2. Place the flora, sugar and vanilla extract into a bowl and cream together until it is a pale yellow colour.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time with a little flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix well.

4. Add the flour little by little then mix well. Stir in the milk. If it drops off easily in a dollop then it is ready.

5. Take a spoonful of mixture, with a dessert spoon and scrape into the bun case using a teaspoon. Don’t fill the case to the top.

6. Bake in the oven for 20 mins or until golden brown in colour. Cool on a wire tray.

Enjoy!

Ready for the oven

Cooling on the wire tray

Jamie Oliver's Pancakes

In times gone by it was traditional on Shrove Tuesday to make pancakes to use up flour, butter and eggs. This pancake recipe is based on Jamie Oliver's recipe. There are a lot of toppings that are very tasty on pancakes such as Nutella, maple syrup or even just a knob of butter. 

Jamie Oliver's Pancakes

Ingredients

150g (1 cup) self-raising flour
200ml (1 cup) milk
1 egg
pinch of salt

Method
1. Put the flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Add the egg and combine with the flour.
3. Very slowly add the milk, whisking well with a hand whisk or fork.
4. When the batter is nice and smooth, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least an hr. (The batter can be used straight away but tends to have a better consistency when left to rest)
5. Heat the frying pan and add a little sunflower oil.
6. Either pour a thin coating of batter or thicken ones into the pan. When golden, turn the pancake over and brown the other side.
7. Add topping of your choice and enjoy!!

Movie Night Popcorn

 The Late Late Toy Show is tonight and I'm really excited. Hopefully I'll decide what I want for Christmas. My Mam made some treats for us tonight, but I wanted to make something myself.






Movie Night Popcorn

Ingredients

50g popcorn
handful of M&M's
50g milk/white chocolate
handful of smarties

Method

1. Put the popcorn and the sweets into a bowl.
2. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Pour the chocolate over the popcorn mix and stir.
4. Spoon the the mixture into a large container and place in a fridge for a hour.
5. Remove for the fridge and enjoy

Darina Allen's Potato & Fresh Herb Soup

We are just back from an astonishing family holiday in East Cork. There was so much to do, from bowling to cinemas, from beaches to cliff walks together with all my family and my cousin Caoimhe. On one of the nights, my Mam and Dad went to Ballymaloe for their 11th Anniversary (I really wanted to go too!). My Mam and Dad's starter was this soup and they both loved it. My Mam found this recipe in Darina Allen's Book "Ballymaloe Cookery Course" and decided to make it.  I helped my Mam to make it but first I had to dig the potatoes in the garden and pick the herbs. It's very filling and full of flavour.

Potato & Fresh Herb Soup

Ingredients

50g (2oz) butter

425g (15oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm (⅓in) cubes

110g (4oz) onions, cut into 1cm (⅓in) cubes

1-2 tbsp of Parsley, Thyme, Sage and Chives

900ml (1½ pints) Chicken or Vegetable stock

125ml (4fl oz) Creamy Milk

1 tsp salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams add the onions and potatoes, and toss in the butter until well coated.
2. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover with butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Sweat over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes
3. Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil. When the vegetables are soft but not coloured, and the freshly chopped herbs and stock, and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft.
4. Purée the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Thin with creamy milk to the required consistency. Garnish and Serve.

Banana Shake

At last, its Summer and the weather is getting a lot warmer. This milkshake is a perfect drink for a hot day like this and it's so easy to make. Just get some help with the hand blender from an adult.

Banana Shake


Ingredients
650ml milk
3 ripe bananas
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp glenisk organic yougurt
1 tbsp honey


Method

1.           Blend all the ingredients together in a large jug with a hand blender until smooth.

2.           Pour and enjoy.

Polka Dot Cookies

This cookies are from Rachel Allen's Food for Living. They are remarkably straightforward to make. They are crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle . Cookies would absolutely be one of my favourite treats.

Rachel Allen's Polka Dot Cookies

Ingredients
225g (8 oz) Butter
375g (15 oz) Soft Brown Sugar (or light muscovado sugar)
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Eggs, beaten
350g (14 oz) Plain flour
½ tsp Salt
1 Level tsp Baking Powder
1 Level tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
150g (5 oz) Smarties / Chocolate Chips

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 ̊C / 350 ̊F / Gas Mark 4 /
2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add in the vanilla extract and eggs.
3. Mix the flour and salt into a bowl. Sift in the Bicarbonate of soda and Baking Powder and mix well.
4. Add the dry ingredients into the wet.
5. Add the smarties last.
6. Roll into little balls (walnut size if you want small ones or golf ball size if you want larger ones. I pressed in a smarty on the smaller ones so that there would definitely be a smarty on the top of each cookie.
7. Bake for 12 – 16 mins. If you want chewy cookies, bake until the edges are turning brown but the middle is still pale. If you want crunchy all the way through then bake until golden all over.
8. Cool on a wire rack.

Donal Skehan's Dig-In Beef Fajitas

A few weeks ago, my Mam got Donal Skehan's new book, Kitchen Hero. When I was flicking through the book I found these beef fajitas and they sounded delicious so I made them for dinner. Then last night Donal's show Kitchen Hero was on RTÉ 1 and he made these fajitas also!! The first episode was great and if you missed it you can watch it on Donal's Website.

Donal Skehan's Dig-In Beef Fajitas

Ingredients
400g (14oz) striploin steak, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
3 peppers (red, green and yellow), sliced into strips
A small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Sea salt
8 wholemeal tortilla wraps

To Serve
Guacamole
Salsa
Soured cream
100g (31/2oz) Cheddar cheese, grated


Method
1. In a large bowl, combine the garlic, lime juice, Worcestershire sauce, chilli powder, oregano, cumin and black pepper then add the beef and toss until coated. Cover and place in the fridge.
2. Heat half the sunflower oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and peppers and fry for 3-4 minutes until caramelised. Set the vegetables aside in a dish.
3. Add an extra drizzle of oil to the pan and fry the marinated beef for 3 minutes until cooked but still tender. Make sure the pan is hot before cooking the beef.
4. Add the reserved onions and peppers and the coriander and stir through then season with salt to taste.
5. Heat the tortilla wraps in the microwave for 40 seconds and cover with foil to keep warm.
6. To assemble, spread a little guacamole on a tortilla, add some steak, peppers and onion and then top with soured cream and cheese.