Coleslaw

Crunchy, tasty and healthy; the perfect side dish




Ingredients:

1/2 a head of white cabbage
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 tablespoon mayonaisse
1 tablespoon natural yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:
- Finely shred the cabbage, grate the carrot and slice the celery. Place them in a big bowl together.
- Mix together the mayo, yogurt and lemon juice and add to the vegetables. Mix well and taste; add more lemon juice if desired, or some salt if preferred.
- Serve as part of a salad platter or on the side of your dinner.

Bran muffins with sunflower seeds and honey

Healthy, hearty, happy muffins




I got a set of American cup measures for Christmas and have been looking for an opportunity to use them without using a recipe choc full of butter or refined sugar. These bran muffins are very quick and easy to throw together, and are great as a snack or as part of a good breakfast.

Ingredients: (makes 12)
- 1 cup bran
- 1 cup brown flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/4 cup milled seeds (I used a mix of linseed and pumpkin seeds)
- 3/4 cup low-fat milk
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 egg

Method:
- Heat the oven to 160 degrees if using a fan oven; 180 if not.
- Stir together the bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sunflower seeds and milled seeds
- In a bowl, mix together the egg, milk, honey and olive oil.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Spoon into bun cases in a muffin tray and bake for 15 minutes, when a skewer should come out clean and the muffins have risen.
- For a sweeter muffin, add a mashed banana or a cup of dried fruit.

Valentine's Day brunch

Hot guinness pancakes with mature cheddar and crispy smoked bacon



Martin has been telling me about his famous guinness pancakes for a long time now, so we decided to try them for a decadent Valentine's treat. They turned out incredibly light and fluffy, and the guinness lent them a wonderful tang. Paired with the smoked bacon and salty cheddar, it was an amazing combination and cured our hangovers almost immediately. Thumbs up!

Ingredients:
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 3/4 can guinness
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper
- A few slices of smoked bacon
- Some mature cheddar

Method:
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
- In a mug, mix together the egg and some guinness and gradually add this to the flour, whisking all the time. Keep adding liquid until the guinness can is 3/4 empty. You should have a lovely smooth batter that looks like molten milk chocolate.
- Leave the batter to rest for a few minutes while you slice some cheese and put the bacon under a hot grill.
- Put a frying pan on a high heat with a glug of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add a ladleful of batter; we made quite small pancakes but make them as big as you like.
- It's time to turn them over when the tops of the pancakes become full of tiny air bubbles, a bit like this:




- Cook for another couple of minutes on the other side until lightly browned.
- Make a small stack of a couple of pancakes, top with the cheddar and pop under the grill until the cheese has melted. Add the cooked, crispy bacon and serve with a big mug of hot hot tea.

Cheesey basil hotpockets

Hot melty cheesey treats.




I had some filo pastry leftover from yesterday's chicken pie (recipe to follow) and didn't want it to go to waste. There was some feta lurking about in the fridge that wasn't going to last much longer, so I combined the two with a few other bits and pieces and came up with these goodies. Eat hot from the oven.


Ingredients (makes 8):

- 2 sheets filo pastry (you can buy this frozen in the supermarket quite cheaply)
- 1/2 block feta
- 1 packet mozzerella, cut into small pieces
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 a courgette, finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- Handful fresh basil

Method:

- In a frying pan, sweat together the onion, courgette and garlic in some olive oil until all soft (about 10 mins). Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a bowl, mash the feta and mix in the mozzerella. Chop the basil finely and mix it in.
- Add the contents of the frying pan and mix all ingredients together well.
- Cut each sheet of filo pastry into 4 pieces; first slice lengthwise along the sheet, then cut widthwise.
- Take one piece of the filo and place a spoonful of the cheese mixture on the left-hand side, leaving about 1/2 inch border. Brush the filo with a little olive oil and fold the pastry over the cheese, sealing the edges well. Fold the filo over twice more, sealing with olive oil, until you have a fully sealed triangle. See this brilliant recipe for better instructions with pictures.
- Repeat with the rest of the filo and cheese and bake them in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, until golden brown and making your kitchen smell like heaven.
- Eat hot!

Flourless chocolate cake

Chocolatey, rich, achingly good cake



My lovely friends Frank & Mary were kind enough to host a New Year's Eve party, so I thought it would be nice to bring along a big fat chocolate cake as my contribution. This is an incredibly decadent cake, which is somewhat truffle-like in the middle and incredibly moist. It takes a little longer to make than a traditional chocolate cake but it's absolutely worth it. Thanks Jimjim for snapping a picture before it got scoffed.


Ingredients:
- 10.5 oz good quality dark chocolate
- 5 oz margarine
- 6 eggs
- 2 oz caster sugar

Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan oven). Grease a 20cm round cake tin really well and line the bottom of it with greaseproof paper.
- Break up the chocolate and melt it with the butter.
- Beat the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons of the sugar with an electric beater until pale in colour and bigger in volume. Mix this in to the cooled melted chocolate.
- Whisk the egg whites until they have soft peaks and add in the remaining sugar.
- Using a metal spoon or a spatula, gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until combined. Add the rest of the whites and mix gently so as not to deflate the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 20 minutes, until the top of the cake is slightly firm to the touch and is starting to crack slightly. Don't bother sticking a skewer in to check if it's done as you would with a regular cake, as the inside of this badboy will still be slightly gooey and fudgy.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack. The cake will sink slightly but don't worry, this is normal.
- When cooled, dust with a generous teaspoon of icing sugar and cut into big lovely fattening slices. It would be really really good served with a dollop of thick whipped cream and an Irish coffee.