Bailey's Crème Brûlée

As today is St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to produce something indulgent and delicious to eat but something that was ultimately simple to make and could be prepared beforehand. Ultimately, I wanted something that was Irish. This crème brûlée really fitted the bill and everyone thought it was amazing. I served it with a few thin shortbread biscuits on the side – the buttery crunch was just perfect with the creamy richness of the brûlée.

Many people think that brûlées are highly technical and difficult to make, but to be honest, once you remove them from the oven when they still have a very lightly ‘wobble’ in the centre and then ensure that they are well chilled before you finish with the caramel topping, success will be guaranteed.

In my ignorance, I thought that Bailey’s had been around for many years, but the Irish whiskey and cream based liqueur was only developed in the 1970s by Gilbeys of Ireland for the international market. It quickly became popular and is a well-established brand at this stage. I love to use it in homemade, ice-creams, cheesecakes and truffles. I also sometimes add a generous splash of it to my homemade rice pudding just before serving… lovely!!!

I have adapted the basic crème brûlée recipe that I have been using for years and have substituted Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur for some of the double cream that would normally be used. As the custard sets at a low heat in its bain marie in the oven, the alcohol in the liqueur does not ‘burn off’. I don’t consider this a problem but you might want to be aware of it if you had been planning on serving the brûlées to children.

I think that if you asked most non-Irish people what food they would associate with Ireland, the overwhelming response would be POTATOES!

Yes, the Irish love their potatoes, but over the past few decades we have developed a wide ranging agri-food sector with many quality food producers emerging and establishing themselves and their products in a challenging marketplace where the multi-national supermarkets hold such power. It is testament to the quality of the foodstuffs being made and the dedication of the producers that these businesses manage to survive and their excellence recognised abroad. I believe that Ireland has the best dairy product best beef in the world. Our smoked salmon is second-to-none. My husband has a sheep farm and the lamb that he produces is so delicious. I see on a daily basis the love and care he gives to his animals and the hard work he puts in to produce the sweetest, tastiest lamb.

On this St. Patrick’s Day I think we should celebrate and rejoice in the wonderful produce available in this beautiful country of ours, brought to us by the many devoted farmers and food producers around this country.

Crème brûlée is one of the classic desserts and this is my version, with an Irish twist in honour of the day that’s in it!

 

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks
75g caster sugar

400ml double cream

200ml Bailey’s Irish Cream liqueur

To finish:

Demerara Sugar
 

Method:

1. Gently whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a fairly large bowl. Put the cream and Bailey’s into a saucepan and bring to boiling point. Remove from heat and pour onto the egg yolks mixture in the bowl, whisking it continuously.
2. Pour this mixture into six ramekins or as I have done, 6 coffee cups and then place in a fairly deep roasting tray. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting tray to come half way up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and place in the preheated oven for approximately 45 minutes until just set but with a very slight wobble in the centre.

3. Allow to cool and then refrigerate until they are fully chilled.

To finish:

4. Sprinkle the top of each brûlée with a thin layer of Demerara sugar and using a blowtorch heat the sugar until it melts and caramelizes on top of each brûlée. Serve immediately.

 
Serves 6.  
   

Cherry Scones

A couple of friends rang me at short notice a few days ago and said that they were going to pop in on their way to Galway. As I hadn’t seen them for a while, I was delighted that we would get to meet up and was looking forward to a chat about life, love and the meaning of it all!

They had said that they wouldn’t want a meal to eat; but casually commented that they were sure that I had something freshly baked hanging around to be enjoyed with a cup of tea. Whilst this is invariably the case in my house (because I love cooking and baking and trying out new recipes) I have to admit that I actually had nothing freshly baked on this occasion.

I considered rushing off and quickly buying something pre-made from the bakery in town but then I realised that it would actually be quicker and far tastier to whip up a batch of scones. This is the great thing about scones; the dough can be made, baked on ready to eat in under half an hour.
 

That day I made both plain and sultana scones, but the recipe that I present here is for cherry scones. You can choose to add whatever you like or leave out the fruit – basically whatever takes your fancy.

There is a wealth of advice available about how to make the perfect scone. I think that this recipe is extremely reliable and provided you follow a few simple rules, it should work perfectly.

Rule 1: Rub the butter in with your fingertips and not the palms of your hands.

Rule 2: Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients do not over-mix or overwork the dough, because that will create a heavy scone. Once it has all come together in the bowl, I tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work-surface and knead it very briefly. I then flatten it gently with my hands (not a rolling pin) before stamping out the scones with a round cutter.

Rule 3: do not flatten/roll out the dough too much. It should be about 4cm high.

Rule 4: Do not twist the cutter when stamping out the scones as this can make them rise unevenly.

Rule 5: Make sure the oven is well preheated before baking the scones.

I love cherry scones simply spread with tasty Irish butter, but they are also fabulous spread with a little jam and served with a generous splodge of whipped/clotted cream.

 

Ingredients:

350g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder

A generous pinch of salt

85g of very cold butter

30g caster sugar

50g glace cherries, halved

175ml buttermilk (or ordinary milk with a couple of drops of fresh lemon juice)

To finish:

1 egg, beaten
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220C/Fan Oven 200C/Gas Mark 7. Line a baking tray with some non-stick baking parchment and set aside.
2. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together, into a large mixing bowl. Take the butter and grate it using a large holed coarse grater, into the flour. Mix through the rated butter and then rub briefly with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and halved cherries.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk. Mix briefly with a blunt knife until the mixture just comes together.

4. Tip out on to a lightly floured work-surface and knead very briefly. Flatten the dough with your hands until it is about 4cms thick and then using a 6cm round cutter, stamp out rounds of the dough. Bring any excess dough together and stamp out further rounds but try not to overwork the dough.

5. Brush the top of each scone with a little of the beaten egg and immediately place into the oven to bake for 12-14 minutes until the scones are well risen and golden brown.

Makes 6 scones.
      

Cherry Shortbread Biscuits

These are relatively plain little shortbread-like biscuits, but they are absolutely delicious and incredibly easy to make.

The biscuits are simply decorated with half a glacé cherry impressed into the centre of each biscuit prior to baking. You can of course use natural un-dyed glace cherries, but these madly pink coloured ones seem to add an extra childish frivolity to the finished biscuits which I find particularly appealing and which reminds me of when I was a child, squabbling with my brother over who would get the cherries that were used to decorate the iced buns that my grandmother only ever made for special occasions.

 

Because this recipe is so straightforward, it is a great one to get the children to help with – I know that my three love any opportunity to cook and bake and I think that if you can learn to tolerate the mess that they inevitably always seem to make, it is great to let them assist in making the foods and meals that they eat. I do think it is interesting, that their favourite things to make seem to be chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake! Anything that includes chocolate seems to be a sure-fire winner in our house.
 

These biscuits don’t contain chocolate, but they are another firm favourite and I make them regularly to satisfy the hungry vultures, AKA children in my house. I’m not going to suggest that I only ever eat home-baked biscuits, because that wouldn’t be true; there are quite a few mass-produced biscuits that I am rather partial to and which I buy from time-to-time, but I do love making my own and mostly I think that the taste is far superior.

These biscuits keep incredibly well if stored in an air-tight container or biscuit tin after they have cooled. As with most of the biscuits I regularly make, I think that these ones are lovely with a cup of tea, but I have also been known to serve them alongside ice-cream as I think the short texture coupled with the bright pink of the slightly chewy glacé cherry perfectly complements the cool creaminess of the ice-cream!

 

Ingredients:

115g butter, softened140g caster sugar

2 large egg yolks, separated

300g self-raising flour

To finish:

2 large egg whites, gently beaten

40g caster sugar

15-18 glacé cherries, halved
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.
2. Using a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks together until light and fluffy. Work the flour into the creamed mixture using a wooden spoon to create a dough.

3. Take walnut sized pieces of the dough and roll gently in your hands to form little balls. Place each little ball on the parchment lined trays, leaving at least 4-5cms between each to allow for spreading while baking. Flatten each ball slightly.

To finish:

4. Brush each flattened biscuit with a little of the lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar. Press half a glacé cherry (cut side down) into the centre of each biscuit.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 17-20 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes before removing to a wire-rack to finish cooling completely.

Makes approximately 30 biscuits.
 

     

Cottage Pie

This was standard fare when I was growing up and one of the meals that I used to most look forward to. It was filling, comforting to eat and so incredibly delicious. I just love food like this. When I think of my childhood and the wonderful meals that my grandmother used to cook, this is the one that I always remember.

It probably sounds completely uncouth, but I particularly love to eat it with a mound of simply cooked frozen peas and a splodge of ketchup on the side. Cottage pie represents, in food terms, all that family means to me.

There is often confusion about the difference between cottage pie and shepherd’s pie and often the two names are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. In my mind there is a clear distinction between the two; cottage pie includes beef and shepherd’s pie includes lamb – hence it is called shepherd’s pie.

Traditionally cottage pie was made with left-over cooked meat from the weekend family roast. This was minced up and cooked in a tasty gravy, before being topped with mashed potatoes and baked in the oven. These days, it is most often made with freshly minced beef.

Although homely fare, the principles behind cottage pie have been adopted and refined by many top chefs and included on their menus in fine dining restaurants. I have seen cottage pie made with slow-cooked oxtail and also beef-cheek which has been served as part of beef tasting plates. I have also come across cottage pie made with duck and other meats. For so long dining in high-end restaurants seemed to be all about the experience and how the food looked rather than the primary focus being on the flavour of the food presented.

 

In recent years, top-chefs have been re-visiting some of the basic recipes that we all grew up with and that provoke warm feelings of nostalgia within us and have been using them in updated and exciting ways. I am all for this, because it helps to remove some of the snobbery and affectation associated and focuses on the fantastic taste of simple food prepared in a sympathetic way with lots of love, care and attention thrown in.

      

Ingredients:

3tblsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped,
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

900g lean minced beef

2tblsp plain flour

1tblsp tomato purée
1 tin of chopped tomatoes

400ml beef stock

3tblsp Worcestershire sauce

Sprig of thyme

2 bay leaves

For the mashed potatoes:

1.5kg Rooster potatoes, peeled and chopped into large even-sized chunks

150ml milk, warmed

50g butter

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

1. Heat half the vegetable oil in a large saucepan and fry the onions, celery and garlic over a moderate heat until beginning to soften but not colour. Add the carrots and allow sweat over a gentle heat for about ten minutes, again without colouring.
2. Add the rest of the oil and turn up the heat, and add the minced beef, breaking it up as it fries. Stir the meat regularly until it is evenly browned. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Reduce the heat and sprinkle in the flour. Allow to cook out for about two minutes, stirring continuously. Add the tomato pure and allow this to cook out for a further minute, stirring continuously.

4. Add the chopped tomatoes followed by the stock and Worcestershire sauce and stir everything together. Add the sprig of thyme and the two bay leaves. Reduce heat and allow the mixture to blip away for about 1½ hours. The sauce will reduce during this time and become slightly thickened.

5. While the sauce is cooking, make the mashed potatoes.

Mashed potatoes:

6. Put the potatoes in large saucepan and cover with cold water and a teaspoon salt. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat and allow simmer until tender. Tip the potatoes into a colander and allow to drain well. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer back into the saucepan in which they were cooked.

7. Add the butter, followed by the milk and mix well together to create a smooth mash. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To finish:

8. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4.

9. Spoon the meat sauce into a 40cm x 26cm x 6cm (approximately) oven-proof dish and spread out evenly over the base. Spoon the mashed potato on top of the meat sauce and spread out, or as I have done, pipe out evenly.

10. Place the dish on an baking tray and cook in the pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes until the potato is golden brown and the meat sauce is bubbling up around the edges.

Serves 6.     

Pistachio Cake

Pistachios are extremely versatile and like most nuts can be used in a range of both sweet and savoury dishes. I love them. With their fresh, pale green colour, beautiful sweetness and distinctive taste, they add something unique to the dishes in which they are used.

This is a really simple cake that can be served at room temperature to be enjoyed with a large mug of tea or slightly warmed with a scoop of ice-cream or a dollop of whipped cream and some poached fruits on the side, as a dessert. I have served it here with some fresh segmented oranges and some pomegranate seeds on the side. The fruits really complement the cake and when eaten with some softly whipped cream, it truly makes an elegant but delicious dessert.

 

If you like you can use blanched and skinned pistachios, but they can be difficult to get your hands on and believe me, it is a thankless task to do it yourself. That said, there is no denying that the resulting pale green colour that skinned nuts lend to the finished cake is extremely attractive. To be honest, I tend to buy the nuts and process them to a fairly finely ground powder myself, but don’t bother with skinning them as it makes little difference to the end taste of the cake.

 

I have always loved the combination of orange and pistachio, so I have included finely grated orange zest, but if you would prefer, you can use lemon zest instead. When I don’t have oranges to hand, I sometimes use a little orange-flower water instead and this really gives the cake an air of the exotic.

This is a beautiful, moist and simply a very tasty cake and I urge you to try making it if you get the chance.

 

Ingredients:

100g shelled pistachios
4 eggs
175g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange

150g pot plain yoghurt

75ml melted butter

100g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Butter a 24cm round spring-form tin and line with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.
2. Grind the pistachios fairly finely in a food processor, but do not over process or they will become oily.
3. Put the eggs in a large mixing bowl with the caster sugar and orange zest and using a hand-held electric mixer, beat together until pale and creamy and almost doubled in volume. Gently mix in the yoghurt and the melted butter. Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold into the egg mixture along with the ground pistachios.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes approximately or until the cake is well risen and golden brown and a thin skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

5. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes and then turn out and allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

6. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Serves 8-10.