Guinness, Walnut & Raisin Rye Bread - and baking bread at the Firehouse Bakery

In the past year, I have clocked up quite a few miles driving around the country going to different food fairs and events and in broad sense, discovering more about food culture here in Ireland. I have met so many people who are passionate about Irish food and have made some great new friends along the way. Sometimes I moan about the fact that there are not enough hours in the day to fit it all in, but every moment has been filled full of fun AND loads of delicious things to eat.

At a very fundamental level I think that, here in Ireland, we have one of the best food industries in the world. We are all far more educated about the food we eat and where it comes from and thankfully increasing numbers of us prefer to buy food locally and in season. We also seem to be becoming more experimental in what we cook at home and as far as I’m concerned this is to be welcomed. I’m a competent amateur cook, ready to give anything a go but I’ve never really baked much homemade bread and was keen to learn more about it.

The Firehouse Bakery located on Heir Island in Cork and also in Delgany, County Wicklow runs day-long and evening-courses on bread making. I have wanted to go on one of these courses for ages, but as they book up incredibly quickly, you have to get in early to secure a place. I finally managed to get a spot on one of the evening courses run up in Delgany, so I left work early, hopped into my car and headed off along the motorway (within the speed limit of course) to Wicklow. I arrived just as the class was starting and quickly donned my apron and rolled up my sleeves ready for an evening’s bread making.

 

Oh what fun it was!

 

The classes are run by Firehouse founder Patrick Ryan, whose passion for artisan bread making is palpable. Class numbers are deliberately kept small with no more than eight people on each course. The other participants were extremely nice and very friendly and we all enjoyed the evening tremendously. We were shown how to make a simple white loaf, tear-and-share bread rolls, focaccia plus 8 different variations on the soda-bread theme. Words cannot express the sense of achievement I felt when I saw my first loaf emerging from the oven! There is something so fundamentally satisfying about baking your own bread; kneading it and feeling it come alive in your hands.

 

Patrick’s enthusiasm is infectious and during the evening he taught us a lot about technique and the science behind bread-making. Perhaps the very best piece of advice Patrick gave us was not to overthink it… and really, when you think about it, this is good advice for so much more than just bread-making.

 

I would strongly recommend the course to anyone and I am now determined to book one of the day-long courses down on Heir Island. The four hours went by in a flash because we were having so much fun and I thought it was well worth doing. I travelled home armed with a large quantity of bread, all of which I had baked during the evening – the smell of the freshly baked bread in my car as I drove was heavenly.

 

Inspired by what I learnt on the course, I decided to experiment with different flours and flavour combinations at home. This is the first loaf I baked in my own oven and I was delighted with the results. I used the trick that Patrick gave us whereby you throw some icy water into a roasting tin placed on the bottom of the hot oven, just before you bake it, to create steam and thus produce a better and more even crust on your bread.

 

Patrick’s first book Bread Revolution is a great read with loads of bread recipes and suggestions for using the bread that you bake. It has a lot of practical advice on achieving the best results and would make a great gift for anyone who’s keen to start baking their own bread at home.
 

Ingredients:

400g strong white flour
100g rye flour
7g fine sea salt

10g fresh yeast or 1 x 7g packet of fast-action yeast

300ml Guinness

75g whole walnuts, lightly broken

50g raisins
 

Method:

1. Place both flours and the salt in a bowl and agitate everything together with your hands so that everything is well distributed. Crumble in the yeast or sprinkle in the dried yeast. Pour in the Guinness and start mixing either with your hands, which I find easiest, or using a plastic dough scraper. After a couple of minutes, everything should come together into a dough.
2. Turn the dough out onto a clean work-surface and knead for approximately 10 minutes until you reach the windowpane stage. To do this take a lump of the dough and stretch it between your hands, easing it gently. You should be able to stretch it enough so that you can see light through it, without the dough tearing when you hold it up to a window or light source.
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowled and cover with cling film or a clean damp tea towel. Leave to prove for about 1 hour or a little longer until doubled in size.

4. Turn the dough out onto a clean work-surface and knock it back by gently punching the air out. Knead in the walnuts and raisins until they are evenly distributed. Shape the dough into a loaf and place it (with the underside uppermost) into a proving basket dusted with flour or a lightly oiled 900g loaf tin. Allow to prove for a further 1 hour until the dough has risen just below the rim of the tin.

5. Preheat the oven to 230C/Fan Oven 210C/Gas Mark 9 and put an empty roasting tray in the bottom of the oven. When the oven has heated up, place the bread in the oven. If using a proving basket tip upend the dough onto a parchment-lined baking tray and if using a loaf tin, just place the whole tin in the oven. Pour some iced water into the roasting tray to create steam. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 200C/Fan Oven 180C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 20-25 minutes. When ready the bread should be deep golden brown and should sound hollow when tapped on the base. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 large loaf.
 

The yummiest slow-cooked Pulled Pork!

Now… this is my type of food!!! Simple ingredients cooked with love and care to create a dish that just tastes so incredibly delicious. Pulled Pork is very popular at the moment and can be seen on many menus, both in casual- and in fine-dining restaurants… and it’s easy to understand why, as it has a depth of flavour that makes it addictive and leaves you wanting more.

I tend to be a little bit suspicious of food trends and dishes that suddenly become fashionable. Whilst pulled pork has only recently become popular in the mainstream in Ireland and the UK, it has long been popular in the USA, particularly in the southern states of Tennessee and in North and South Carolina. In many instances, the pork is cooked by slowly barbecuing it for a long time to create meat that falls away from the bone and can be easily ‘pulled’ into shreds which can be then served with barbecue sauce or gravy in a bread bun as a sandwich/‘burger’.

 

I wanted to make my own pulled pork at home and was keen to create a version that possessed that crucial smoked flavour, but without the need for long, complex barbecuing. I also think that pulled pork is real comfort food and perfect for eating not only during warm summers but also during colder weather like we are experiencing at the moment. I didn’t fancy getting the barbecue out on a cold wintry day to satisfy my desire for pulled pork and was convinced that you could recreate a tasty version by oven-cooking the meat.

I did a little research and came across a number of recipes for pulled pork that briefly barbecued the meat to create the smoky flavour, before cooking it slowly in a moderate oven for a number of hours. I tried this out, but the smoky flavour was negligible and I wasn’t happy with the results. For my second attempt I used smoked paprika and whilst happy with the smokiness, I wasn’t happy with the other balance of spices and aromatics I used – so I did some more experimenting!

My third attempt produced amazing results and I was absolutely thrilled with how it tasted. I upped the quantity of smoked paprika and also included a good amount of ground cumin and a little ground cinnamon. My earlier attempts had used fresh thyme but I replaced this with dried oregano and got the flavour that I was looking for. You have to try it! If I say so myself, this is an fabulous tasting dish. I also added a can of Guinness to the braising sauce, along with a small amount of beef stock, which then formed the basis for the barbecue sauce that I then made and in which I coated the pulled meat. Stout is amazing for cooking with… I use it in stews and in fruit cakes all the time as it creates a richness that balances out any sweetness perfectly.

The ingredients list looks a little daunting but honestly, this is an incredibly easy dish to make… You’ve got to try it! YUMMY!

Ingredients:

2kg piece of pork shoulder (I used it with bone in)
2tblsp smoked paprika
2tblsp ground cumin
1tblsp ground cinnamon

1tblsp ground coriander

2tblsp English mustard powder

1tsp sea salt

1tsp freshly ground black pepper

For braising the pork:

3 large onions, sliced thickly

3 carrots, chopped into large chunks

3 sticks of celery roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 bay leaves

1 tblsp dried oregano

2 x 400g chopped tomatoes

500ml beef stock

500ml Guinness

For the barbecue sauce:

200g dark brown muscovado sugar

250ml cider vinegar

250ml fresh orange juice
 

Method:

The day before:

1. Mix the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, coriander, mustard powder, salt and pepper together in a small bowl, Rub the spice mix into the pork and then place into a dish, cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight to give the spices a chance to penetrate the meat.

To cook the meat:

2. Preheat oven to 230C/fan Oven 210C/Gas Mark 8.

3. Place the chopped vegetables into a large ovenproof casserole dish or large and deep roasting pan. Place the meat on top and roast for 60 minutes uncovered. After this time, remove the pork from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 160C/Fan Oven 140C/Gas Mark 2or 3. Add the bay leaves, oregano, tomatoes, stock and Guinness. Cover the dish with a lid or cover well with tin foil. Allow to braise for 5 hours. The braising juices will not need topping up if you have the dish well covered, but you can check half way through the braising time.

4. Remove the pork from the oven, place the meat on a large dish and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Pass the braising juices through a sieve into a large saucepan and set aside.

5. Once cool enough to handle pull the meat into shreds using two fork or your fingers. Discard any bones.

Barbecue sauce:

6. Add the sugar, vinegar and orange juice to the reserved juices in the saucepan. Bring up to the boil stirring occasionally and allow to reduce by just over a half by which time the sauce should have thickened. Pour the sauce onto the pulled pork making sure that the meat is well coated. Serve warm with a selection of salads or in brioche burger buns with coleslaw and salad leaves.
 

Serves 10-12 generously (but you can also store leftovers very successfully by covering with cling film and storing in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat by heating gently in a small saucepan over a moderate heat, adding a little water if necessary).

Mini Gateaux Paris-Brest

These little pastries are amongst the most delicious things I have ever made or eaten! That may sound a little over- the- top and quite a claim to make, but I am not kidding you. They are absolutely heavenly.

A Gateau Paris-Brest is a little French pastry made up of a ring-shaped choux pastry filled with praline flavoured crème patissière/mousseline. I know this sounds quite simple but words cannot properly describe how good it tastes. Traditionally, it would be made as one large cake/dessert which is then apportioned out in single servings.

The dessert was first created in the early 20^th century to commemorate the Paris to Brest bicycle race which was first held in 1891. It remains one of the most popular French pastries to this day and it’s not hard to see why; it’s rich tasting but with a wonderfully light texture and the crisp choux pastry is perfect against the creamy sweet mousseline filling.

Many people find choux pastry a little daunting to make, but trust me…  once you get the hang of it you will be making all manner of delicious pastries and desserts such as éclairs, profiteroles and gougères  (little savoury cheese puffs). I have been making choux pastry for years, so I would feel quite confident and really I think that with most cooking and baking, confidence is the key to success. It is only fairly recently that I have started using bread/strong flour when making choux pastry because I do think it gives a slightly crisper finish, but you will still get good results using only plain flour.

Some recipes for Paris-Brest suggest filling the choux rings with coffee flavoured mousseline, which is also very tasty, but my favourite is definitely hazelnut mousseline. The mousseline is made up of a hazelnut crème patissière which is enriched with extra butter when cooled – this stuff is ADDICTIVE and could also be used to sandwich a layer cake together. I have been toying with the idea of making a chocolate and hazelnut bûche de Noël, using this mousseline, for Christmas and will of course post the recipe at a later date. This recipe makes more mousseline than you will need... so a wonderful excuse to experiment and try using it in other recipes as a filling etc. (N.B. if covered and refrigerated, the finished mousseline will keep for up to a week).

This recipe is based on one given by Edd Kimber - the first ever winner of the Great British Bake Off - in his book Patisserie Made Simple. For anyone who loves baking and in particular loves patisserie, this book is an absolute must and I have no hesitation in recommending it! Edd also has a great blog/website called the The Boy Who Bakes where he shares a lot of his recipes gives great baking hints and loads of step-by-step instructions, so do check it out if you get the chance.

The finished pastries can either be served as a delightful and delicious treat to be enjoyed with a good cup of tea or coffee, but they also work well served as a dessert – the choice is up to you. To be honest, I think they are absolutely delicious and would have no problem eating them for breakfast if they were put in front of me! I used hazelnut praline paste which I purchased from an online special catering supplies shop, but you can try making it yourself. Don't be afraid to have a go and I promise you that you will be rewarded with one of the yummiest pastries you will ever eat!

Ingredients:

Hazelnut mousseline:
400ml milk

100ml cream

2tsp vanilla paste/extract

2 large eggs

4 egg yolks

175g caster sugar

75g cornflour

250g butter, softened

75g hazelnut praline paste

Choux pastry:

120ml water

60g butter, cubed

50g strong white flour

25g plain flour

3 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

30g flaked almonds for sprinkling on the choux rings

To finish:

A little icing sugar for dusting
 

Method:

Hazelnut mousseline:

1. Pour the milk and cream into a medium sized saucepan and add the vanilla paste/extract.  Bring the mixture up to the boil, over a moderate heat. Separately, place the eggs, yolks, caster sugar and cornflour into a bowl and whisk together until smooth and everything is completely mixed together. Slowly pour in the boiling milk, whisking all the time.

2. Return the mixture to the saucepan (over a moderate heat again) and whisking all the time, allow to cook until the mixture thickens and becomes very stiff. This should take 4-5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add 125g butter, whisking it in so that it is fully incorporated.

3. Pour the mixture into a clean bowl and cover the surface directly with some cling-film to prevent a skin forming. Allow to cool completely and then refrigerate for at least an hour.

Choux rings:

5. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line two large baking trays with non-stick baking parchment, onto which you have drawn 8 x 10cm circles, and set aside.

6. Place water and butter in a medium sized saucepan over a moderate heat. Allow the butter to melt and just come up to the boil. Remove from the heat and immediately add all the flour to the saucepan and using a wooden spoon beat well until well combined.

7. Place the saucepan over a low heat and allow to cook, beating constantly until the mixture begins to form a ball and come away from the sides of the saucepan. This will take approximately 60-90 seconds. Remove from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

8. Add the eggs gradually to the flour mixture, beating vigorously so that it is well incorporated. (You may not need all the egg, so do add bit-by-bit). The mixture should fall from the spoon, but still be relatively stiff and still hold its shape.

9. Place the mixture into a disposable piping bag filled with a 1cm star nozzle. Using the circles you previously drew on the baking parchment as a guide, pipe out rings of the choux pastry. Using a pastry brush lightly brush the choux rings with a little extra beaten egg and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.

10. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes and then turn off the oven but do not remove the choux rings. Let cool in the oven for a further 30 minutes and then remove and allow to finish cooling completely.

To finish:

11. Remove the mousseline from the fridge. Using a hand held electric mixer beat the remaining 125g butter in a mixing bowl until softened. Gradually add the chilled mousseline mixture, making sure that it is fully combined. Add the praline paste and also mix this in well.

12. Place a quarter of the mixture into a disposable piping bag filled with a 1cm star nozzle. Separately, slice the choux rings horizontally in half and then pipe some of the mousseline on the bottom half of each ring. Replace the top half of each ring on top of the mousseline and lightly dust with icing sugar.

Makes 8.

 

 

Chocolate Concorde Cake

People always seem to go weak at the knees for meringues… and who can blame them? Meringues and pavlovas are a beautifully light but sweet way to finish a meal and provided you follow a few basic rules they are incredibly easy to make. At their very simplest meringue is made using beaten egg whites and sugar, but once you understand how they are made you can add other flavours and ingredients to create the most fabulous confections. I have been making pavlovas to the same basic recipe for many years and it never fails to surprise me how much people seem to like them because, as I have said, they are so simple to make!

 

Macarons – those brightly coloured little bite-sized delights which look so frivolous and inviting are also essentially meringues (with added ground almonds or other nuts) and although a little tricky to make are absolutely delicious to eat! Once you have mastered them, you will be churning them out by the dozen at a fraction of the price you pay for them in bakeries and up-market delicatessens!

 

The golden rule when making meringue is to ensure that you use scrupulously clean utensils and that you don’t allow anything contaminate the egg white until you have whisked them until they stand in peaks. Any lingering grease, fat or moisture will hinder their ability to whisk up to the required volume or texture; you also have to be very careful that no egg yolk creeps into the egg whites when you are separating the eggs. If you follow this rule, success is more-or-less guaranteed!

Anyway, it is very easy to get stuck into a cooking or baking rut, and whilst this is understandable because it makes sense to revisit recipes that have worked and taste good, sometimes it is nice to extend your culinary horizons. In many ways, I forced myself to do this by entering this year’s MasterChef Ireland, where I was constantly challenged and put under extreme pressure to try out new ingredients, flavour combinations and techniques that, as an amateur, I wouldn’t necessarily have tried out! The following recipe is an example of one that before, I would have thought too complicated or fussy to make but it is actually very simple and has an intense chocolate flavour that will satisfy the cravings of any chocoholics out there.

 

Chocolate Concorde Cake is made up of chocolate flavoured meringue filled with a light, but rich chocolate mousse. I think it’s amazing! There are conflicting opinions on where the cake got its name; some people believe it was created to celebrate to supersonic passenger jet plane Concorde, but others including Pierre Hermé the renowned French pâtissier claim that it is, in fact, named after the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Either way, this is a stunning-looking and heavenly-tasting cake, which looks far more complicated than it actually is to make. Dusted with icing sugar, this meringue cake has a very festive feel to it and in my opinion would make a stunning Christmas dessert.

 

Ingredients:

Meringue:
5 large egg whites

125g caster sugar

150g icing sugar

40g cocoa powder

Chocolate mousse:

150g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

150g butter (preferably unsalted)

3 large egg whites

75g caster sugar
 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 90C/Fan Oven 70C. Draw three 15cm circles onto three sheets of non-stick baking parchment and use to line three large baking trays. Set aside.

2. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, whisk together until they have almost reached the stiff peak stage. Gradually add the caster sugar, mixing well after each addition.

3. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder together and fold into the meringue mixture with a large metal spoon, making sure that no pockets of the dry ingredients remain.

4. Spoon the meringue into a large disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Using the circled you previously drew on the baking paper, pipe out three 15cm spirals of the meringue mixture, starting at the centre of the circle and working your way out.

5. Separately, using the remaining meringue mixture, pipe out 8- 10 x 15cms long thin strips of meringue. You should be able to fit 3 or 4 of these strips beside each spiral on each respective paper lined baking tray.

6. Place in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the meringue for a further 30 minutes after which time you can remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Mousse:

7. Place the butter and sugar in a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.

8. Whisk the egg whites to the stiff peak stage and add the caster sugar, whisking until it is completely incorporated. Fold 2 tablespoons of the meringue into the melted chocolate and butter to ‘loosen’ it little and then fold in the remaining meringue. Make sure everything is well, but gently mixed together.

To finish:

9. Place one of the meringue spirals on your serving plate and spread with a thin layer (about 2cms thick) of the chocolate mousse. Place another meringue spiral carefully on top and also spread this with a layer of the mousse. Place the final meringue spiral on top.

10. Cover the sides and top of the assembled cake with the remaining mousse and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the mousse to set.

11. Remove the cake from the fridge and using a sharp knife, cut the meringue strips into 3-4cm pieces and embed them in the mousse in a random fashion, all around the tops and sides of the cake. Serve.

 

Serves 8-10.