Cauliflower soup with a hint of cheese 'n' onion

Wowzers. This is seriously good soup.




Some mornings I wake up and my body immediately tells me what I want to eat that day. Today I arose from slumber thinking 'cauliflower'. Odd perhaps, but I listened and made this soup and it was incredible. I used both a red and a white cheddar, both really mature and flavoursome, and finished it with finely chopped scallions for a bit of extra oomph. A winner.

Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 onion
- 1 large clove garlic
- 1 potato
- Chicken stock
- Milk
- Cheddar cheese
- Couple of scallions

Method:

- In a large pot, throw in a good glug of olive oil and a knob of butter. Chop the onions and garlic and add them in. Cook for a few mins until softened.
- Meanwhile, chop the cauliflower into small florets and peel and dice the potato. Add them both into the pot and season with salt and pepper.
- Add chicken stock, enough to cover the vegetables, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, put a lid on and cook for 15 - 20 mins until all the vegetables are tender and cooked through.
- Use a stick blender to whizz up the soup until smooth, then add in a good splosh of milk (you can see its important to be exact here) and 2 good handfuls of grated cheese (as much as you like really).
- Cook through until soup is hot and cheese has melted. Taste for seasoning (I needed more salt at this point) and then add in the chopped scallions. No need to serve with bread as this gorgeous soup will keep you full all on its own.

Chicken liver pate

Rich, mouth-watering pate which only gets better with time



This was also made for our starter on Christmas day. We had quite an assortment of different breads and chutneys and this pate fitting in perfectly. I was inspired to make this by the rather brilliant Lola-Lu's Kitchen, which is run by my friends Lucy and Rayne, both of whom are a dab hand in the kitchen (to put it mildly). I'd never made a pate before and had always assumed it must be difficult, as it tastes so damn good. However it was really easy and fairly quick, the only unpleasant part is preparing the raw livers at the start. I drafted in some help for that bit!

Ingredients:
- 6.5 oz butter
- 1 onion or a couple of shallots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 lb chicken livers
- Zest of 1 orange
- 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
- 2 tbsp brandy

Method:
- Heat half of the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat, and cook the onion genty until soft; it takes about 8 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minutes and then transfer the whole lot to a food processor.
- Now, to the livers. You need to check the livers for any sinewy bits or gristley bits and remove them with a knife. This isn't a nice job but it's worth it in the end so keep that in mind.
- Add the livers to the frying pan with the orange zest and cook for a couple of minutes until browned.
- Add the brandy and orange juice for 1 minute, then put all of this into the food processor with the onions and garlic. Add the rest of the butter and process really well until it is as smooth as possible.
- Scrape into a nice serving dish and place it in the fridge after it has cooled. It will be quite runny when just cooked, but it will set quite quickly in the fridge.
- This is good to eat for about 3 days, and in fact it tastes better as the days go on. Ridiculously delicious stuff, this.

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:

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.