Eggs Benedict with a Twist

Its Lunch Time!

I visited my Local Farmers Market today, were I purchased some Fresh and local produce for my lunch.After some taught i decided to make a classic Eggs Benedict But with a twist, simple and quick but delicious for Lunch, this Dish literally take minutes and has a lot of flavour, texture, colour and is perfect for Lunch..Basically this dish contains a poached Egg, with a Hollandaise sauce, Asparagus, New Baby potatoes tossed in a Dill and Lemon Vinaigrette.

Ingreds: (Serves 2 )

• Asparagus x 2
• Eggs x 2
• Egg yolks x 2
• Butter x 200g (melted)
• White wine vinegar x 2 teaspoons
• New Baby Potatoes x 6
• Dill x 100g (finely chopped)
• Rapeseed oil x 100ml
• half a lemon (juice)
• salt + pepper
• 3  medium size pots of boiling water

Method:

1. Boil potatoes, Drain, add Rapeseed oil and dill, season, mix well. keep potatoes luke warm.
2. Whisk egg yolks with 1 teaspoon of vinegar till emulsified, then place in a bowl on a bain marie and whisk melted butter slowly, season (use white pepper) and keep at room temperature.
3. Boil asparagus for 4 to 5 mins till soft, Drain, season.
4. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to a pot of boiling water, stir water and add your eggs for 1 min,Drain.
5. Plate Time= place potatoes first in the middle of the plate. then add your poached egg,pour hollandaise sauce over your egg, then place asparagus on top. For decoration purposes drizzle some Irish Rapeseed oil around the plate for colour.
6. Then grab a fork and Enjoy.

New years Breakfast (award winning)

As it is the first day of 2012, you might as well start the day off right with a beautiful breakfast. Its not very often i eat breakfast cause i m always in such a rush in the morning to get to collage for 8, but when i do have time i try to make it special/ and epic, So this would be my favourite breakfast recipe. You might ask why i wrote award winning, ill explain last year 2011 in febuary i entered a competition called chef ireland in the Rds in Dublin, and i competed in the breakfast competition which was called ”alternative to the irish breakfast” and thats what i produced after hours of training weeks before hand and of course with the help of my chef  Noel who trained me for the competition. I received a Bronze medal for tthis breakfast as i only just turned at the 18 at the time i was delighted, anyways with out further ado hers the recipe, Enjoy:

Recipe: for 4 people

• 1 puff pastry sheet (frozen) thaw before use
• Smoked salmon (4 slices)
• cream chesse (tub philli)
• egg wash (1 egg + drop milk whisk)
• banana, pineapple,kiwi, (i just used banana, glazed with honey)
• 200 grms mixed raspberrys (fresh, or frozen)
• caster sugar 30grms
• natural yoghurt (100grms)
• shot Glass 4

Method:

1. cut the sheet of puff pastry into 4 even rectangular pieces, With the back of your office knife make a border about 10 mm in from the pastry (if you look at the photo you ll understand better) does this with 4 of them (this is so you can make a lid from the pastry and open it) if you want you can make a design with your knife on the lids.
2. then egg wash the  pastrys sit in the fridge for 10 mins
3. place in the oven @200 degrees celcius for 10 mins
4. place your mixed berry in pot on a medium heat add sugar, let the berrys liquidise in the pan (melt) then sieve berrys and cool. place berrry juice into shot glass’s evenly, then add yoghurt on top of the glass’s
5. chop fuit into cubes, place in a pan on a medium heat for 1 min each side with a tiny bit of butter. plate your fruit and brush/glaze with honey
6. take the puff pastry out of  the oven. cut the lids off  place your smoked salmon inside the puff pastry cases place a spoon full of cream chesse at the side of the pastry case then place the lid over and plate

Hope ye enjoy this Breakfast it is really simple to make you should definrtly try it for a change.

Apple Chutney

This chutney is perfect for cold meats, pates, scotch eggs etc. This recipe will come in very handy for new years eve if your hosting a party, Enjoy

you will need:

• 1.5 kg cooking apples
• 375 ml vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic (diced)
• 450 grams brown sugar
• 1 tspn ground ginger
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. peel, take the core out, and slice apples
2. add the apples vinegar into a pot on a high heat till pulpy
3. then add all the other ingreds stir
4. cook for another 20 mins on a medium heat
5. cool and serve or place in a jar at room temperature

White Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding

Its been a while since iv posted a recipe, due to me being very busy with my culinary studies, but know that i m on holidays for the christmas i hope to blog more and share some exciting recipes that i have currently learned in collage. My bread and butter pudding is a lovely dessert on a cold day and it is so easy to make, Enjoy.

Serves 4 people.

What you will need: 

•  4 ramekins
• Deep oven tray
• 200 ml milk
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 150 grams white choc
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 grams caster sugar
• 2 slices white bread (cut crusts off)
• 60 grams of sultanas or raisans

Method:

1. Boil the milk, add white choc and stir till melted
2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar and vanilla well
3. Add the white choc milk to the egg sugar and vanilla mix and stir well (sauce anglaise)
4. Place sultanas into your ramekins, place a round slice of white bread on top of the sultanas
5. Pour the sauce anglaise over the bread. place the ramekins into your tray, half fill the tray with boiling water
6. Place the tray into the oven @ 150 degrees for 1 hr and 40 mins
7. Optional=after puddings are cooked, sprinkle sugar over ramekins place under the grill on a medium heat for a couple of seconds to brown 

Curry bread

          You will need :

• 500 g plain white bread dough (you can use my white bread recipe)
• 100 g curry powder
• 20 ml of water

         Method:

• Add the water to the curry powder mix well until you have a nice paste
• Then place your dough and curry paste in a kitchen aid or food processer and mix well
• Prove bread over night in a large bowl covered then place in a small bread tin let rise (double) in size
• Egg wash (egg yolk + milk) bread.cook for 20 mins in tin and 20 mins out of tin @200 degress celcuis

Short bread meringue biscuits

You will need

For biscuit dough=

• 225g butter
• 112g caster sugar
• 340g flour (plain)

for meringue=

• 2 egg whites
• half a cup of caster sugar
• whisk egg whites first till white then gradually add sugar till stiff and shiny

1. add the all the ingredients into a food processer/mixer and mix well then add a pinch of water
2. all the ingredients should form  a dough ball.take the dough out of mixer shape it into a ball and cling film let rest in fridge for 1 hr
3. roll out dough shape in to circles add to a floured tray
4. place in oven @ 150 degrees for 7 mins
5. take out of oven pipe meringue  back into oven for another 5 mins
6. let cool and enjoy

Homemade White Bread

Basic white bread ingredients =

Makes 2 tin loafs 500g each OR  2 round loafs 350g each +2 baguettea 150g each

• 1kg flour
• 20g yeast
• 20g salt
• 700ml luke warm water
• Egg wash =1 egg yolk + a drop of milk (whisk)

Method:

• Mix dry ingredients,flour+salt+pinch of sugar in a large bowl.
• Then rub in yeast.
• Add the luke warm water.
• Flour work surface,fold + knead bread,shape into around ball place into a large bowl and let the bread rise in a warm area for an hour or until the bread has almost doubled in size.Also known as = Proving.
• Then oil and flour your bread tin or tray,place your bread onto your bread tin or tray,Brush egg wash on bread,then place your bread into your pre heated oven @ 200 degrees celcius for 20 mins on tray/tin.
• Then cook bread for another 20 mins without bread tray/tin.
• Once cooked place on cooling rack to cool.
• ENJOY.

 

 

 

cherry chessecake

             you will need:

• 1 can of condesened milk
• 1 cartoon of philli chesse
• 250 ml cream (whipped stiffly)
• 1 can of stoneless cherrys

             for the base:

• 200g of ginger nut biscuits
• 50 ml of melted butter
• 1 standard size  23cm/9inch springform or flan tin.

METHOD:

•  Roughly chop/crush biscuits with your knife/rolling pin/food processer etc in a bowl, add melted butter mix place evenly in to your tin and  refrigerate for a half an hour
• Bring 50 ml of water and 50 ml of caster sugar to the boil = this is called stock syrup
• Add your philli condensened milk and stock syrup into a meduim sized pot,put pot on hob on a meduim heat mix ingredients well till smooth take off heat let cool.then fold in cream.
• place mixture in tin on top of biscuit base.refrigerate for 3 hours
• once set.drain cherrys keep juice.place the juice in a pot bring to boil let simmer,let juice reduce almost half.add 100 ml of stock syrup bring to boil,let cool.place cherrys back in juice for 5 mins.then spread on chesse cake
• then grab a fork and ENJOY

Red Pepper & chorizo, Salad

This would have to be my favourite salad, espically on a lovely sunny day.

What you  will need =

1. iceberg lettuce
2. chorizo sausage
3. 2 x red pepper
4. half a yellow pepper
5. 1 x beetroot
6. 200 ml of olive oil
7. 1 desert spoon of white wine vinegar
8. half a lemon
9. 1 x spring onion
10. 1 x cherry tomatoe

METHOD:

• Wash your lettuce and dry.
• Dice your chorizo into cubes, then fry in a hot a pan with oil for 1 minute.strain and keep the chorizo and the juice separate
• Then cut the 1 red and yellow pepper into julienne (which is thin long slices)
• With the beetroot  slice into thin circles, do the same with the spring onion
• DRESSING(sauce) = with the red pepper dice it into cubes then add to a food processer then add the olive oil and blend once done, add the the vinegar and the chorizo juice and the 1 spoon of lemon juice and blend it all till liquidised.then put it into a bowl or add it to a sauce bottle.

to plate:

• If this a  garnish to a main course you can present it in a big bowl.
• But what i did was i got one leaf of lettuce added some pepper and chorizo to the middle of the lettuce and wraped it up then i  got clingfilm and wraped the lettuce in clingfilm really tightly and put it to the fridge for 20 mins once ready take cling film off
• I then got my plate added a line of the sauce to the middle of the plate then the lettuce parcel, then to one side of the plate i added my beetroot circle and put a tomatoe on top.Then to the otherside of my plate i added red pepper yellow peppers and spring onion.

I hope you all enjoy that dish its a really simple dish but it tastes amazing and looks beautiful when presented right

Apple Meringue Tart

First Make your sweet pastry.You will need=

•  EGG -1
• Sugar -50g
• Butter – 125g
• Flour (Soft) – 200g
• Salt – pinch

1. Sieve the flour and salt.Lightly rub in the butter to achieve a sandy texture.
2. beat the sugar and eggs in a bowl with a whisk
3. then add to the flour/butter/salt,and mix well with your hands
4. once complete shape your pastry into a ball and wrap with cling film and keep refrigerated for an hour or two
5. once your pastry is rested roll it out into 2milometre s thick.butter your tartlet moulds and cut pastry to size.Once pastry are in the moulds blind bake them
6. blind bake=is baking beans + baking paper.put baking paper on top of pastry add beans push down gently and bake for 20 mins at 200 degrees C

for the apples=

1. peel  3 cooking apples,wash, take the cores out, and slice
2. be quick because they oxidise fast so put them in to cold water with lemon juice once peeled
3. then straight on to your  hot pan with butter and 3 dessert spoons of sugar and two dessert spoons of water this makes ur apples very sweet it almost carmalises your apples which is delicous
4. once your apples are nice and soft take them off the heat,into a bowl and fridge to allow cool

for Meringues=

• Egg white x 3
• three quaters of a cup filled with caster sugar

1. With a hand mixer whisk your egg whites till they have almost doubled
2. then gradually add sugar whilst whisking keep mixing till very stiff
3. to check if your meringues are ready place the bowl over your head and if you stay clean you have suceeded well done

Last part=

1. when your pastry is cooked take the beans out and add the cooked apples
2. then with a piping bag or a spoon add your meringue mix add plenty you want to give it plenty of height
3. then when your ready put the tarts in the oven at 200 degrees C for 5 mins to brown
4. Garnish with icing sugar and cream serve hot/warm
5. that recipe makes 6 tarts. I HOPE YOU ENJOY