Courgette & parmesan fritters

A fancy take on my old friend the courgette



Some friends of mine and I are partaking in a 'Come Dine With Me' style cooking challenge, in which each couple take turns in hosting a dinner party and then the guests give anonymous scores out of 10 for the evening. Myself and Martin went first, and this was our chosen starter for the evening. We served the fritters hot with cold couscous salad on the side.

Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1 large courgette
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 or 3 slices of bread, whizzed up into breadcrumbs
- 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
- 1 egg, beaten


Method:
- Grate the courgette onto a clean tea towel, then gather up the sides and squeeze the courgette to release the excess water. Once this is done, put the courgette in a bowl and mix in the parmesan, garlic and breadcrumbs.
- Grab a handful of the mixture and work it with your hands to test the consistency. It needs to be wet enough for you to be able to mould it into patties without falling apart, yet dry enough so that it doesn't stick to your hands in a globby mess. If your mixture is too dry at this stage and won't hold together, add a little of the beaten egg to help it bind. If too wet, add more breadcrumbs.
- Form the mixture into about 8 patties and fry them over a medium-low heat in some olive oil for approximately 4 minutes on each side, until golden.



- For the couscous, cook it according to the instructions on the packet. Saute some shallots or finely diced onion slowly in some butter until soft and translucent. Add this to the cooked couscous, with some chopped flat leaf parsley, salt and black pepper. Using a dry frying pan, toast some pine nuts quickly until they start to brown and mix them into the couscous too.



My co-chef plating up the couscous:

Ginger and cinnamon cookies

Chewy and sweet, these spiced biscuits are little comforting gems.



I spotted a recipe for these cookies on a blog called Gimme Some Oven earlier this week, and immediately knew I had to try it out. These are very different to the type of biscuits we generally get in Europe, as they are not crunchy but instead are incredibly sticky and chewy.

I have adapted the original recipe for a couple of reasons. Firstly, their recipe makes (and I am approximating here) about seven billion kajillion cookies. I have halved this recipe, and yet still you will get a yield of about 50 - 60 cookies. I also changed the recipe as I couldn't get a hold of molasses and discovered that black treacle (my first idea for a substitute) is absolutely and positively vile. I had never tasted it before, and it turned out to be like sticky sludgy out-of-date cough medicine. My old friend golden syrup turned out to be the perfect substitute.


Ingredients:

6oz butter, softened
7oz caster sugar
1 generous tablespoon golden syrup
1 egg
10oz flour
2 tsp bread soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees (this is for a fan oven - if using a conventional oven, try 180). Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until it becomes paler in colour and thick in consistency. Add in the egg and beat well until combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, bread soda, salt and spices in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the butter, sugar and egg mixture. I tried combining all the ingredients using a wooden spoon but really the only way to do it properly is to stick your hands in and get messy. Press the goo through your fingers to mix it really thoroughly; this is ridiculously good fun and kids would love to help at this stage. Once all the ingredients are fully combined, you will have a thick moist dough to work with which will emit the most wonderful of smells.

Get a shallow bowl and chuck in a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar. Add in a pinch of ginger and of cinnamon and mix.

Using wet hands, grab a small piece of dough and roll it in your hands to form a ball. Each ball should be approx 1 inch in diameter. Roll the ball in the sugar to coat it, and pop it on the lined baking tray. Repeat. Leave plenty of space in between each cookie, as they will flatten and expand in the oven - a gap of 3 inches or so should do the trick. If your cookies are joining together when they bake, widen the gaps between them and they will stay separated.

I baked these in the oven for 5 minutes and they were perfect. The timing will depend on your oven, but try a test batch and see if 5 minutes is long enough for your cookies. I knew mine were done as the edges were turning brown and any more heat would have burned them. Bake these in batches and cool them on a wire rack. Be careful removing them from the baking trays as they will not be hard when they come out of the oven; rather they are quite fragile and a bit sticky. They will harden once they cool - which they do rather quickly as they are so thin.

Store in an airtight container and serve with a lovely big cup of tea and a grin.

Banana bread

Moist and sweet, a slice of this is a great accompaniment to a cup of tea.



Ingredients:

8 oz self-raising flour
8 oz caster sugar
3.5 oz soft margarine
3 eggs
16 oz bananas (slightly old ones are best, that have black speckles on the skin)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Method:

Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the sugar. Mix in the margerine and add the eggs one at a time. Mix until the ingredients are just combined - you should have a very thick heavy batter.

Mash the bananas (16oz is around 6 bananas) until properly mushy and as smooth as you can manage and stir in the cinnamon. Add the bananas to the batter and stir in.

Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin. Put into the oven at 160 degress (fan oven) for approximately 20 minutes until the top of the bread has risen and turned golden brown. Cover with tin foil and return to the oven for another 40 - 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Turn out to cool on a wire rack and serve in lovely thick slices with afternoon tea. This will keep well for 3 - 4 days in an airtight container.

Chilli Lime Scallops

Bitesize pieces of meaty fishy heaven.



A really excellent fish shop, Kish Fish, opened up in Coolock recently and I have been eager to get my mitts on some scallops for the past week. I finally made it over today and had these bad boys for my lunch. They cook in less than 5 minutes, and here I've just served them with a simple salad.

Ingredients (serves 1):

4 - 5 fresh scallops
Salt, pepper
Fresh chilli, finely chopped
Lime juice

For the salad:
Butterhead lettuce, washed and torn
Tomato, cut into wedges
Bell pepper, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Splash of balsamic vinegar

Method:

First thing to do is to remove the orange part of the scallop with a sharp knife (you can ask the fishmonger to do this for you if you prefer). Season the scallops with a touch of salt and pepper, and put them into a small plastic bag. Add a generous dollop of lime juice and as much or as little chilli as you would like. Seal the bag and shake the ingredients around to ensure that each scallop is coated. Put this aside and let it marinade while you prepare the salad.




Chuck together your salad on a big plate, and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar.

Put a frying pan on the stove on a high heat with a touch of olive oil. When the pan is good and hot, in go the scallops. Cook for 2 minutes on each side and serve immediately with the salad. This makes a good hearty lunch, or you can downsize the dish and serve as a starter for dinner.

Cinnamon banana porridge

Creamy spiced oats to make your belly sing




Porridge is easily the healthiest breakfast a body can have, but it took me a while to make peace with it's gloopy texture and grey pallor. This recipe turns sludgy old porridge oats into a warm and flavoursome breakfast that will keep you full and content for ages. It's also incredibly cheap and quick to prepare.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

2 oz porridge oats
Just a little over 1/4 pint water
1/4 pint milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large / 2 small bananas, chopped

Method:

I always make this in the microwave, as it is easy and fast and less difficult to clean up afterwards, but you can make it in a saucepan over a medium heat too.

For the microwave option, get a pudding bowl which is nice and deep. Put in the cinnamon and oats and shake them together. Add the milk and water, stir, and put in the microwave on full power for 45 seconds. Stir well and turn it on again for 45 seconds. Repeat, then put back in the microwave until you can see the oats bubbling up to the top of the bowl.

Spoon into bowls and add the chopped banana. Serve immediately, and happily.