Back to School Lunch-boxes

(c) Joanne Murphy

My back to school lunch box ideas are packed with ideas for interesting packaging and fun flavor combinations for nutritionally balanced kiddie feasts! Check them out in this months issue of AIB bank magazine. Thanks to cutie model Oscar for holding the pasty-saurus rex so perfectly!

Paddy's Day Pie

(c) Harry Weir

I made and styled these pie's for Superquinn's cookbook A Passion for Food. Beef and stout are a classic Irish combination so they would make the perfect lunch or dinner for St. Patrick's Day! Enjoy!

Beef, Mushroom and Stout Pie

Serves 6

4 tbsp sunflower oil
1kg (2 1/4 lb) round steak, well trimmed
2 onions, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely sliced
4 celery sticks, finely chopped
600ml (1 pint) stout
1 litre (1 3/4 pints) beef or chicken stock
250g (9oz) flat breakfast mushrooms, stems removed and chopped
600g (1lb 6oz) self raising flour, plus extra for dusting
300g ( 11oz) shredded vegetable suet
Sea salt and ground pepper

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pan with a lid and sauté half of the beef until it is well coloured. Transfer to a plate and repeat until all the beef is cooked.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and sauté the onions, carrots and celery for 10 minutes without colouring.

Pour in the stout and simmer gently until reduced by half, scraping the bottom of the pan to remove any sediment. Return the beef to the pan with the stout, stock and mushrooms. Season and cover and simmer over a gentle heat for 1-1.5 hours until the beef is just tender but still holding its shape.

Strain through a colander set over a bowl, reserving the liquid and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 220 C ( Gas mark 7/ 425 F).

To make the pastry crust, sieve the flour into a bowl, stir in the suet and add just enough cold water to make a firm dough - 400 ml (14 fl oz) is about right.

Rest for 5 minutes, then cut into six pieces and roll out each one on a lightly floured board to a circle that is about 1cm (1/2 in) thick.

Divide the meat among individual pie dishes that hold about 450 ml (3/4 pint) and pour over enough of the gravy to come almost to the top. Do not overfill. Cut any superfluous strip off each pastry circle, dampen the rim of each dish and press the pastry strip firmly into place around the rim. Dampen the pastry strip in turn and lay the pastry lids on top. Press down to fit the lid and then press all around with a fork and then transfer to baking sheets.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown.

Serve set on plates and straight to the table.

Banana Breakfast Booster!

(c) Cliona O'Flaherty

A delicious recipe from a recent recipe booklet shoot for Naturalife's Udos Oil.

BANANA BREAD SUNSHINE TOASTIE

This is a great energy booster in the morning. It is really tasty,very easy to make and will keep you going until lunch.

1 thick slice of wholemeal bread

1 large banana

sesame seeds

15ml of Udo's Choice Oil

Mash up the banana and spread it over the bread Scatter the sesame seeds on top and place under a warm grill for a few minutes or until it has toasted a light golden brown. Remove the toast from the grill and let it cool slightly before drizzling the oil evenly over the top.

A picnic with House & Home Mag

I am thrilled to announce I am now the new food feature writer & stylist for House & Home Magazine. My three page feature gives me a chance to combine my love of food, props & homely top tips. My first feature is all about picnics and is currently out in the May / June issue. Watch out for BBQ's up next in July.

Fab photographer Elisha Clarke took the gorgeous food snaps, Paul Sherwood took my mug shot & Hilary O'Hagan was a great help with the food (particularly as I was a week off my due date & could only waddle about out of breath!). Typically we were challenged by the elements and were actually sliding around in mud & with brollies but that's what picnics are mostly like anyhow don't you think?!

Have a 'Merry' Christmas

Here's my donation to your consumpton of a tipple or two this Christmas....My Jewelled Mulled Wine Jellies....why stop at drinking the stuff when you can eat it too?!

Find the recipe here as it appeared in The Time's Magazine last weekend.

Snowy Supper

So it's a snow work day! Sounds great in principle and brings back amazing memories of being sent home from school because of burst pipes, but in reality missing work because of it now means for me the diary being thrown into all sorts of disarray. I'm furiously trying to get work done for upcoming jobs so that I can free future days up to give back to the postponed jobs.

Anyhow, at least it's all happening in the comfort of my PJ's and bed hair (something I never normally do when working from home, promise!). It also means I can sneek some time to catch up on some blogging (once and for all) and most importantly cook lots of comforting snowy suppers. Here's a favourite recipe from the new Superquinn cookbook (which is now reduced instore to about E15 I think and so makes an excellent christmas pressie!) as promised. This is delicious just on it's own even!

Irish stoved potatoes with vintage Cheddar

This is a variation on the traditional way of cooking potatoes in a cast-iron frying pan over an open fire. They’re delicious on their own with just a salad or try serving simply with grilled fish or a steak.

(c) Harry Weir

Serves 4

675g (1 1/2lb) potatoes

knob of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

100g (4oz) vintage Cheddar cheese, grated

maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly on a mandolin or with a very sharp knife.

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-based frying pan that is about 20cm (8in) in diameter and about 5cm (2in) deep. Remove from the heat and cover the base with a layer of the potatoes.

Add a layer of onions over the potatoes and another of grated cheese, seasoning generously as you go. Continue these layers, finishing with a layer of potatoes and a sprinkling of cheese.

Cover tightly with tin foil and cook over a very low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour until potatoes on top are just cooked through with pierced with a sharp knife.

Preheat the grill. Uncover the stoved potatoes and place straight under the grill for 2-3 minutes to brown. Serve straight from the pan.

Chef’s top tip –Choose firm-fleshed potatoes for this recipe such as Roosters or Maris Piper as they will keep their shape during cooking and don’t break up. Of course this recipe could also be baked in the oven if you’d prefer.

For the Love of Pork

I'm very excited about the food bloggers event coming up this Thursday. The fabulous Donal Skehan has organised it on behalf of Bord Bia - you can read all about it on his blog. An army of food bloggers and tweeters will be attending so it will be exciting to put faces to names. I am also really looking forward to catching up with food photographer Jocasta Clarke and meeting fellow food stylist Erica Ryan for the first time.

Bord Bia sent out pork packs to the first of the attendees who have been busy cooking, eating, blogging and tweeting about Pork since the weekend. Here is my offering from a feature I styled for Food & Wine Magazine. Recipe by Hugo Arnold & Shot by Cliona O'Flaherty.

Homemade Jammy Dodgers

Uuummmmm...This is Neven Maguires recipe for Homemade Jammy Dodgers. I tested them for his latest book and got to make them again recently for a Country Living magazine shoot.

JAMMY DODGERS

Makes about 16-18

FOR THE SHORTCAKE

73g (3oz) plain flour plus extra for dusting

25g (1oz) icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

Finely grated zest of 1 lime 50g (2oz) butter, softened

FOR THE FILLING

100g (4oz) raspberry or strawberry jam

Quarter tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp crème de cassis

To make the shortcake, sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Stir in the lime zest. Then beat in the butter with a wooden spoon to give rough crumbs. Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a soft, smooth dough. Wrap in Cling flm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the jam flling, place the jam, vanilla extract and crème de cassis in a small saucepan and simmer over a low heat for eight to 10 minutes, until melted and slightly thickened. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3mm (one eighth inch). Stamp out about 32- 36 circles using a 4cm (1.5 in) fluted cutter and arrange on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper. Using a 1cm (half in) plain nozzle (metal is best) stamp out holes in the centre of half of the circles. This will allow the jam to show through later. Bake the biscuits for eight to 10 minutes, until crisp and lightly golden.

To assemble, spoon a teaspoon of the jam mixture onto the centre of each unstamped shortcake. Dust the remaining shortcakes with icing sugar and then place on the jam-topped biscuits, pressing down lightly so that the jam squeezes out just a little bit through the hole. Arrange on plates to serve.

me making shortbreads.

photographer jack caffrey shooting the boxed up jammy dodgers.

Death by Easter Feasting

If you are not already keeling over from all the Easter Feasting then these chocolate squares are sure to tip you over the edge. This recipe is a great way to use up all that Easter chocolate (if there is even any left at this stage!). Mind you, definitely a heart attack warning on this one with 6 small Mars Bars melted in all that butter AND another 250g of chocolate on top. Sooooo naughty but soooo nice.

MARS BAR SQUARES

6 x 65g Mars Bars

200g butter

200g Rice Krispies

250g milk chocolate

Cut the Mars Bars and butter into small chunks and place in a saucepan. Put over a low heat, and stir with a balloon whisk until melted. Add the Mars Bar mixture to the Rice Krispies in a large bowl. Stir well, until all the ingredients are combined. Put into a lined tin and press down with the palm of your hand, until firm. Melt the chocolate. Pour over the rice Krispies, spread evenly and leave to set. When set, turn out onto a board and cut into squares.

Photo: Jack Caffrey

Recipe: Neven Maguire for Country Living Magazine

Styling & Eating: Sharon Hearne-Smith

More Easter Feasting

Photography: Cliona O'Flaherty

Styling: Sharon Hearne-Smith

Assistant: Aoife Herrity

Recipe: Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine

I hope you're having a fun and food filled Easter Weekend. Here is a really delicious recipe for melt in the mouth lamb....

STEAMED LAMB WITH WHITE WINE AND ROSEMARY

1.5kg leg and shouler of lamb (Ask the butcher to bone out the shoulder part)

olive oil

12 garlic cloves

3 sprigs rosemary

200ml white wine

salt and pepper

Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large casserole dish and brown the meat evenly. Add the garlic cloves and rosemary to the hot oil. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the white wine.

Season the meat with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat to very low and cover. Cook slowly for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. You will need to turn the meat occasionally. If the liquid looks like drying out, add a glass of water. When the meat is cooked allow to rest, and pour any juices in the pan over the meat.

Easter Feasting

Photography: Cliona O'Flaherty

Food & Prop Styling: Moi

Model & Assistant: Aoife Herrity

Recipe: Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine

I hope you have a super Easter weekend. So, being Good Friday we shouldn't be indulging in meat or booze. I can't commit to either I'm afraid. If you're being more saintly than me then this fresh and healthy vegetarian recipe is a good start....

GRILLED COURGETTE SALAD WITH FETA, MINT AND BROAD BEANS

1 kg broad beans

6 courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways

1/2 tsp picked thyme leaves

zest and juice of 1 lemon

olive oil

150g feta

bunch mint

Peel the broad beans and plunge into well-salted boiling water for two minutes. Drain, allow to cool and peel. Set aside.

Chargrill the courgettes until just marked, transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper and toss with the thyme, lemon juice and zest and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Fold the courgettes on to plates. Scatter over the broad beans, feta and mint and serve.

Spring Greens

Lets just ignore the snow on the daffoldils today shall we? Here's a recipe by Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine. Shot by Cliona O'Flaherty and styled by yours truely x

WILTED SPINACH WITH LEMON ZEST & CRISPY CAPERS

2 tbsp olive oil

1 kg spinach

2 lemons

2 tbsp salted capers, well soaked

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan or wok.

Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and toss in the hot oil until just wilted.

Scoop out of the pan onto a serving plate and sprinkle the lemon zest over.

Gently squeeze the capers and saute briefly in the remaining oil until just coloured and crispy. Sprinkle over the spinach and serve.

Blueberry Pie Business Cards

(c) Jack Caffrey

I forgot to let you know last year about the new Blueberry Pie business cards. There are six different cards (to collect?!) each with a different recipe written by your's truly and also the relevant snap shot (thanks to photographer Cliona O'Flaherty). You can check out the recipes in the recipe section of the Blueberry Pie website also. The website also has extra tips for each recipe too. And the recipe theme?....take a guess and go and see for yourself...

Festive Blueberry Pies

We are coming over all Christmassy at Blueberry Pie....Here's a recipe for my signature Blueberry Pies with a festive twist...

Makes 24

SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

225g plain flour

150g cold unsalted butter

75g icing sugar

1 egg

BLUEBERRY FILLING

150g blueberries

25g caster sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp cornflour

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

1 egg, beaten

icing sugar for dusting

2 x 12 hole mini muffin tins, lightly greased

To make the pastry, blitz the flour and butter in a processor to fine crumbs. Whiz in the icing sugar for a second and then add the egg in. The mixture will come together into a dough ball within a few seconds. Shape it into a smooth, flat disc. Cover & refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Tip the blueberries into a pan with the sugar and cinnamon and allow to cook gently for 6-8 minutes until they begin to pop. Blend the cornflour to a smooth paste with a tablespoon or two of water and stir through. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until jammy and then remove and leave to cool and thicken.

Back to the pastry, I usually divide the dough in half (one for each tray) to make it easier to manage and roll. Then from each piece cut out 12 discs with a 6.5cm straight sided cutter and 12 stars with a cutter measuring 4.5cm from point to point. Refrigerate the pastry pieces for about 10 minutes until they firm up a little.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Use the pastry discs to line the muffin tins, fill each one with a teaspoonful of the blueberry filling and then top with a star to decorate. Brush the tops with the beaten egg to glaze and bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Leave to cool a little in the tin before easing out gently and leaving to cool completely (or not, if you can't wait!) on a wire rack. Dust with plenty of snowy icing sugar before serving.

TIP

Obviously, you can make the full recipe and then refrigerate or freeze half of it to make some fresh pies another time.

Neven Maguire - HOMECHEF

Ok, so it was exciting to be away last week but unfortunately I missed Neven Maguire's new cookbook launch, HOMECHEF (published by HarperCollins). It was such a shame as it would have been lovely to clink glasses with all the team who worked on it and generally have a good old catch-up (not talking too much about work)! Anyhow, I hear everyone had a lovely evening where Neven cooked up a storm as usual.

Homechef is out now so I can now start showing you some recipes to tempt you. The rain is pelting down outside and the wind is blowing a gale so I'm thinking comfort food (& follower Deborah was looking for some wintery recipes so hopefully this will do the trick)! Use any stewing meat in place of the venison if preferred.

VENISON BOURGUINON

Serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil

25g butter

25g plain flour

2 tsp paprika

1kg venison haunch or shoulder, trimmed & cut into 1cm cubes

225g baby shallots, peeled & halved (keeping roots intact)

100g rindless smoked bacon, finely chopped

1 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp tomato puree

100ml red wine

900ml beef stock

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

100g carrots, diced

75g button mushrooms, wiped clean

salt and freshly ground black pepper

mashed potatoes, to serve

chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F / Gas 4). Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and half the butter in a heavy based casserole with a lid. Season the flour and place in a shallow bowl with the paprika, mixing to combine. Use to lightly dust the venison, shaking off any excess, then add to the heated casserole in small batched and cook over a fairly high heat until well browned. Transfer to a plate until all the meat has been sealed, then set aside.

Add the remaining oil and butter with the shallots to the casserole with the smoked bacon and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are lightly browned and the bacon is golden. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds. Pour the red wine in and allow to bubble down a little for 1-2 minutes, while scraping the sediment from the bottom. Pour in the beef stock and tomato puree. Return the meat and juices to the casserole and bring to the boil, then add the thyme and bay leaves. Season to taste, cover with the lid and transfer to the oven for 2 hours until the venison is almost tender and cooked through.

Remove the casserole from the oven, stir in the carrots and mushrooms and return to the oven to cook for another 30 minutes or until the venison and vegetables are completely tender. Season to taste.

Spoon the mashed potatoes into the centre of wide-rimmed bowls and spoon the venison bourguignon on top. Garnish with the parsley and serve at once.

pasta feature

(c) Jack Caffrey

The husband made me a really yummy smoked salmon pasta for my tea last night and it reminded me of this delicious recipe of Neven Maguires in Country Living magazine (styled by yours truely)...just need to get the secret recipe out of Mart now!

Trout & Baby Spinach Linguini

Serves 4

300g trout fillets
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
50g baby spinach
6 spring onions, finely sliced
400g linguini
2 tbsp chopped dill
DRESSING
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
100ml orange juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp chopped chives
1 tbsp finely diced red onion
crusty bread, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the grill on a high heat. Brush the trout with the oil, squeeze the lime juice over and season. Grill for 6-8 minutes and then leave to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin and any bones. Then flake the fish into large pieces and mix with the spinach, spring onions and half of the dill.

Next, cook the linguini in a large pan of boiling, salted water for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain well.

In the meantime, prepare the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and season to taste.

Toss the dressing through the pasta and then gently toss the trout mixture through also.

Arrange the linguini on serving plates, garnish with the remaining dill and serve with crusty bread.

In Season...cod & beetroot

Uuuummm... Baked Cod & Beetroot. From Food & Wine Magazine...recipe by Hugo Arnold, shot by Cliona O'Flaherty, food & prop styled by moi...

8 small-sized beetroot
Olive oil
1kg prime cod fillet (ask for four thick
pieces, avoiding the tail end if possible)
4 tablespoons chopped dill
1 lemon, quartered

Pre-heat oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Peel and quarter the beetroot, toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place on a shallow roasting tray in the top of the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until just tender.

Push the beetroot to one end of the tray, coat the fish in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place at the other end. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.

Toss the beetroot with the dill. Serve the baked fish and beetroot with a piece of lemon.

BBQ Halloumi

(c) Hugh McElveen

Well, it looks like we might actually be having the summer weather we dreamed of (don't speak too soon though eh?!). We're definitely planning on getting the barbie out and as I totally love Halloumi we will have to include some amongst all that meat. This is a recipe from the Cooks Academy Cookbook, which I food & prop styled two summers ago. I remember it as being totally yummy so am looking forward to making and eating it again...

Halloumi Cheese Skewers

Serves 4

You can prepare these in advance indoors; fry them in a very hot pan until golden on the outside and then quickly reheat over the BBQ for that gorgeous smoky flavour.

250g halloumi cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
10 mint leaves, finely chopped
CAPER DRESSING
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lime, zest and juice
1 tbsp capers
2 small pickled gherkins, sliced finely into discs
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1. Mix the dressing ingredients together, season to taste and add more oil if necessary. Set aside.
2. Slice the halloumi into 2cm thick slices. Brush both sides with oil.
3. Heat the BBQ until it's very hot and grill the halloumi slices for 1 minute on each side (remove them the halloumi starts to melt). Once grilled, allow to cool slightly before cutting (or tearing) the halloumi into large bite sized pieces and tossing in the dressing.
4. Just before serving, thread pieces of the halloumi onto skewers. Place on a platter and garnish with chopped mint.

Happy Father's Day!

(c) Jack Caffrey

Go on, make him Bangers & Mash!

The Big Noodle

Oh I'm coming over all asian recently so here's a noodle recipe written by Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine mag, shot by Cliona O'Flaherty and styled by your's truely...

Chicken fried noodles

400g boned chicken thighs, roughly chopped
1 dessertspoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
450g noodles
sesame oil
vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
8 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
250g beansprouts
1 cucumber, deseeded and thinly sliced
bunch coriander, roughly chopped
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced

Combine the meat with the sherry, soy and cornflour. Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, drain , plunge into cold water and drain. Toss in a tablespoon of sesame oil and set aside.

Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok and add the garlic, ginger and mushrooms, stir-fry for 30 seconds and then add the meat mixture. Stir fry for two minutes and then add the noodles and a tablespoon or two of chicken stock or water. Stir-fry for a further two minutes, or until the chicken is cooked. Add the beansprouts and cucumber, heat through and serve on four plates with a sprinkling of coriander, scallions and chilli.