Old-Fashioned Almond Macaroons

This is such a simple recipe using only egg whites, caster sugar and almonds!

You don't even have to whisk the egg whites; you literally just mix the other ingredients into them. There is no denying that the biscuits are sweet - they are. But they are also delicious!

Whilst these biscuits use practically the same ingredients as French macarons and obviously have a similar taste profile, they are actually very different creatures. Compared to the frivolous, "look-at-me" character of French macarons with their sometimes garish colours and often bizarre flavour combinations, these biscuits are confident in their unfussiness and at most only tolerate the addition of a single blanched almond by way of decoration. I love French macarons, but sometimes I just crave the honest simplicity of these biscuits. Bit like life really.
 

I use a piping bag to pipe the mixture out onto the parchment lined baking trays prior to cooking, but in the interests of simplicity, you can of course use a spoon to pile blobs of the macaroon mixture onto the baking trays instead. Traditionally, rice paper would have been used to line the baking trays and excess removed from the biscuits after they had finished cooking. Rice paper is not that easy to come by these days, so I use baking parchment or silpat lined trays.

You don't have to place a blanched almond on top, but I like to do so because they toast slightly in the oven and add a different texture to the finished biscuits.

These are an old-fashioned type of biscuit; there are no airs and graces about them - they simply taste of almonds and are comfortingly crispy and chewy at the same time. They are quick to make and unless some self-restraint is shown (and I think I have none where these biscuits are concerned) quick to eat! One is never enough.

Do try to use almond extract as opposed to almond essence. I find that there is a distinct flavour difference between the two.
   

Ingredients:

150g ground almonds
200g caster sugar
2 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract
12-16 blanched almonds

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C/Fan 140/Gas Mark 3.
2. Place the ground almonds and caster sugar into a large bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Add the egg whites and almond extract and mix well together so that everything is well incorporated. You should have a thick past like mixture.
3. Put the mixture into a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe out 12-14 mounds of the macaroon mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place a single blanched almond onto the top of each mound.
4. Put into the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes but look at them after 15 minutes to check that they are not browning too much. They should be light golden colour and still look a little soft in the centre – they will harden up further when they cool.
5. Take out of the oven and once they are cool enough to handle remove them from the baking trays and leave to cool on a wire rack.
 
Make 12-14 biscuits.

Raspberry Eton Mess

Eton Mess is a traditional English dessert consisting of strawberries, broken-up meringues and whipped cream.

There are many conflicting stories on where the dessert got its name, but one thing that is not in doubt is how delicious it is in its simplicity. The dish has been known as Eton Mess since the 19^th Century, named after Eton College where it was served at the school’s annual cricket game against Harrow College.

I have a particular fondness for fresh raspberries, so that is what I tend to use, but it goes without saying that there are loads of variations to the basic dessert. It is most famously made using strawberries but Autumn blackberries are also delicious.

You can use shop-bought meringues, but I regularly have home-made meringues lurking around the place, so that’s what I use. Essentially what I am trying to show you is that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to making Eton Mess. Basically, I recommend experimenting using different fruits and whatever is in season! You can also ring the changes by including a splash of alcohol such as brandy or use some fruit flavoured liqueurs. A few toasted nuts are also a nice addition.

I have kept it simple here and just used raspberries, meringues and some softly whipped cream. Don’t overwork the mixture when combining everything.  You want to achieve a “messy” appearance where the different elements retain some of their individual qualities!

Ingredients:

250mls single cream
1 punnet of raspberries
3 or 4 meringues
 

Method:

1. Whisk the cream until it holds its shape in soft peaks. Do not over-whisk it.
2. Roughly crush the meringues into bite sized pieces. Crush a few of the raspberries but leave some whole as well.
3. Fold the raspberries and broken meringues into the cream and pile into individual glass serving bowls. Do try to use glass bowls because then you see the full “messy” effect.

Serves 4

Chicken with a Chestnut & Cider Sauce

I am constantly on the quest to find new things to feed my gang.

Without a doubt their favourite meal is a Roast Chicken Dinner with all the trimmings which most importantly (from their points of view) must include roast potatoes. These have to have a crispy exterior, but fluffy on the inside.

The next on their list of favourite dinners is chicken curry! In fact chicken would probably be the main ingredient in the majority of the dishes that they enjoy eating. In this way, we're probably not that different from most families as statistics show that each year we consume a phenomenal amount of chicken per capita.

The challenge for me is to come up with new ways of cooking chicken that incorporate different flavours and ingredients.

 

The great thing about chicken is that it can easily take on so many different flavours. In my opinion, this is also the problem with chicken as it is so often served; the flavours introduced too often swamp the actual taste of the chicken meat. I am not going to get into the arguments for and against free-range versus battery-reared chicken. Yes, I tend to buy free-range chickens, but I honestly believe that people should make their own decisions and buy the best that they can afford.

The recipe that I give here uses chicken breasts, because that is what I had to hand on the day I made the dish, but it could easily be made using chicken joints. I do think that it is important to get joints that still have the skin on as this adds to the overall flavour, but if you're not a fan of skin, remove it before consuming.

 

This is a recipe that I developed using ingredients that I had in the fridge and store cupboard and if I say so myself, it was very tasty. My eldest daughter was "traumatised" by the fact that it included cider and chestnuts, but even she had to admit that it was delicious! I served it with mashed potato which was ideal for mopping up the sauce.

Ingredients:

2 tblsp of vegetable oil
large knob of butter
6 chicken breasts (skin on)
4 rashers of streaky bacon cut into this strips
50g cooked whole chestnuts, sliced
2 crisp eating apples, peeled, core and cut into wedges
500ml can of dry cider
4tblsp crème fraiche
Salt and pepper to season

Method:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large, wide sauté pan until hot. Season the chicken breasts and add to the pan skin-side down and cook until the skin is nicely browned. Turn the chicken breasts over and add the bacon, chestnuts and apple wedges.
2. Continue to cook until the bacon, chestnuts and apples are lightly caramelized. Add the cider and allow simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for approximately 20 minutes. Remove the lid for the last ten minutes of cooking time to allow the sauce to reduce by about a half.
3. Add the crème fraîche and stir through. Allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Serve.

 

Serves 6.

Meringues

I love the decadent frivolity of meringues!

Meringues have a reputation of being difficult to make, but provided you follow a few simple rules, they are actually incredibly easy to make.
 
So what should the perfect meringue taste like? It should be crisp on the outside, but still soft and slightly chewy in the centre.

The recipe that follows is made with Italian meringue where the egg whites and sugar are gently heated in a bowl suspended over a pan of simmering water until the sugar is dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, the egg whites are whisked with a hand-held electric mixer for about ten minutes until the meringue is fluffy and holds its own shape and has cooled down. This is a very stable meringue when made and creates the most delicious meringues. The pavlova that I make and which is one of my fail-safe desserts is not made using Italian meringue, but employs the more traditional method of whisking the egg whites to the soft peak stage and then gradually whisking in the sugar - I will post that recipe separately.

I like to pile the mixture onto baking parchment lined baking trays in large blobs to create pretty looking clouds of sugary delight! A few flaked almonds sprinkled on top prior to baking do not go amiss and give a very pleasant nutty crunch.

Once the basic meringue mixture is made, you can adapt the recipe slightly to ring the changes. For example you can fold in some finely chopped nuts, or add a few drops of food colouring to make coloured meringues. Imagine a mountain of meringues casually piled up on a plate in a range of pastel colours… Beautiful!

Finally, I should mention that I have found that weighing the egg whites creates more accurate results, so that’s what I do here, but 115g egg whites equates to roughly three large egg whites.

Rule 1: All your equipment must be scrupulously clean. If there is even a speck of grease, your egg whites will be much more difficult to whisk. Some cooks recommend rubbing the mixing bowl with the cut side of half a lemon to get rid of any grease. I’ll be honest, I don’t do this, but if you are in at all anxious that there is some grease present, do it.

Rule 2: Use a large metal or glass mixing bowl to whisk the egg whites as plastic bowls are far more inclined to retain fat or grease. Using a large bowl, allows more space for air to be whisked into the egg whites. Again I will stress, make sure that the bowl is spotlessly clean.

Rule 3: When separating the eggs, make sure that is absolutely no trace of egg yolk in the egg whites. I always separate the egg whites individually into a small bowl first of all and when reassured that there is no hint of egg yolk, I then empty it into the mixing bowl. The reason that I do this is because, if some egg yolk gets into the mixture, I only have to discard one, rather than the whole batch.

Rule 4: Use caster sugar for the meringues. Granulated sugar does not dissolve correctly in the foamy egg whites when whisked and creates a grainy meringue. Some recipes use icing sugar, but I think that it creates a powdery meringue.

Rule 5: Bake the meringues in a pre-heated oven at a low temperature for the specified time. At the end of the cooking time, turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool completely in the oven. For this reason, when making meringues or pavlova, I usually make them the night before they are needed and let them cool in the switched off oven overnight.

Ingredients:

115g egg whites

225g caster sugar
A handful of flaked almonds
    

Method:

1.                  Pre-heat the oven to 110C/Fan 100C/Gas 1/4.
2.                  Put the egg whites and caster sugar in a large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water directly. Stir with a clean spoon until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are slightly warm to the touch. This will take about ten minutes.
3.                  Using a hand-held electric mixer, whisk the egg white and sugar mixture for about ten minutes until a stiff meringue has formed and the mixture has cooled. The meringue should be quite stiff and hold its own shape without collapsing.
4.                  Using a large tablespoon, pile large blobs of meringue onto parchment lined baking trays. Scatter a few flaked almonds over the top of each meringue.
5.                  Place the trays into the pre-heated oven for 1 hour and then switch off the oven and let them cool completely.

Makes 8-10 meringues.

Guinness Brown Bread

You have got to try making this bread. There is very little to it, other than weighing and measuring out the ingredients and popping it in the oven to bake.

The bread is slightly sweet because of the sugar and syrups that are used, but this is countered by the nuttiness of the wholemeal flour and also the bitter edge that the walnuts and Guinness contribute.

Given my great love for butter, it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I recommend having a liberally buttered slice (or two) whilst it is still warm from the oven. Delicious! Well… it is important to check that it tastes OK!

The bread stays moist for two or three days and is lovely toasted. It is particularly nice thinly sliced when cold and topped with some Irish smoked salmon, with a squeeze of lemon juice, a small spoonful of crème fraîche and a sprinkling of some finely chopped chives.
 

Like traditional brown soda bread, this bread uses bicarbonate of soda as the leavening agent. However, there is no buttermilk and the liquid that is used is Guinness. Like a lot of beers and ales, Guinness has many uses in cooking and baking. I use it in my Christmas puddings and also do a beef stew where the main ingredient in the sauce is Guinness.

Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in 1759 at the St. James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin. Guinness is a stout – a type of dark beer made from water,  roasted barley and malt extract, hops and brewer's yeast.  The roasted barley gives Guinness its characteristic dark colour and bitter taste. Guinness is also colloquially known as “the black stuff” and a “pint of plain”. Interestingly, although Guinness appears to be black, it is in fact a very dark shade of red.

Other stouts can be used in this recipe but personally I like the “tang” that the Guinness gives to the finished bread.

 

Ingredients:

315 g stoneground, wholemeal flour
150 g plain flour
30g caster sugar
1 level tsp salt
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
60g porridge oats
375ml milk
60g roughly chopped walnuts
55g golden syrup
110g black treacle
35g melted butter
100ml Guinness
 

Method:

1.                  Pre-heat oven to 140C/Fan 130C/Gas 1.
2.                  Sieve the plain flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Add the wholemeal flour,  sugar, salt, oats and walnuts. Mix well with a wooden spoon to evenly distribute the ingredients.
3.                  Form a well in the centre and add the milk, golden syrup, black treacle melted butter and Guinness.
4.                  Mix well together, making sure that there are no pockets of dry flour. The mixture will be quite wet and a porridge like consistency.
5.                  Grease a large 2lb loaf tin and lightly flour. This is to ensure that the bread does not stick. You can also baseline it with a little greaseproof paper.
6.                  Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes and then increase the temperature to 180C/Fan 170C/Gas 4 and cook for a further 25 minutes.
7.                  To test whether the bread is cooked, remove it from the tin and tap it. It should sound “hollow”.
8.                  When cooked, remove from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf.
 

The Workman’s Friend

When things go wrong and will not come right,

Though you do the best you can,

When life looks black as the hour of night -

A pint of plain is your only man.

 

When money's tight and hard to get

And your horse has also ran,

When all you have is a heap of debt -

A pint of plain is your only man.

 

When health is bad and your heart feels strange,

And your face is pale and wan,

When doctors say you need a change,

A pint of plain is your only man.

 

When food is scarce and your larder bare
And no rashers grease your pan,

When hunger grows as your meals are rare -

A pint of plain is your only man.

 

In time of trouble and lousy strife,

You have still got a darling plan

You still can turn to a brighter life -

A pint of plain is your only man.

 

Flann O'Brien (Brian O’Nolan)