Croque Madame- and a stroll around around Dublin

Although I live in the country, I recently stayed overnight in Dublin as I had a foodie function to attend. The night went well, was great fun and the following morning I arose relatively early and decided to go for a stroll. Rambling along Grafton Street on that beautiful crisp and bright morning, I really felt as if all was right with the world. The shop windows were full of Christmas decorations and quite a few people were out and about getting some early Christmas shopping done. I had no schedule to keep to and really enjoyed the freedom of just wandering aimlessly as the fancy took me. It was a real luxury to have the opportunity to do this as most of the time I am dashing and racing from one place to the next!

As I turned off the end of Grafton Street and walked along Wicklow Street I passed by a shop window filled full of the most beautiful looking pastries and breads. There were loaves of brioche and sourdough bread, baguettes, sandwiches and little tarts adorned with beautiful, glazed fresh fruit and soft cream. I had to go in.

Stepping inside the doors of Le Petit Parisien is like being transported back in time and across seas to 1920s Paris. There are small marble-topped tables and an eclectic mix of bentwood chairs on which to sit.  The café is exceedingly small, but there is something very quaint and appealing about it despite the lack of space.

I took a seat and a waitress, attired in a vintage maid’s uniform, handed me a menu to peruse. As it was early in the morning, breakfast was still being served (it finishes at 11.30am and the lunch menu then starts) so I ordered French Toast made with Brioche served with Crispy Bacon and Maple Syrup. With this, I asked for a pot of tea which came in an adorable china teapot and out of which I easily got three cups of tea.

French toast is divine when made with slightly stale brioche which serves to soak up all the eggy custard without disintegrating. This was very good French toast; soft, slightly sweet and very comforting to eat. The classic accompaniments of crispy bacon and maple syrup were just perfect and I was more than happy with my choice.

On leaving, I bought a tarte au citron, a pain au raisin and an almond croissant to enjoy later at home. These were also absolutely delicious. The breakfast, lunch and afternoon menus have quite a few options on them so it’s not difficult trying to find something to suit most palates. Yes... there are plenty of places serving similar fare, but with Le Petit Parisien, it’s as much about the surroundings as anything else.

Looking at the menu, I noticed that one of the dishes on offer was a Croque Monsieur – a toasted sandwich made with ham and a cheesy béchamel sauce; when topped with a fried egg it becomes a Croque Madame! An authentic Croque Monsieur is not merely a toasted sandwich… as far as I am concerned; it must include the rich béchamel sauce! I absolutely love them when properly made; served with some salad, they make such a satisfying meal.

Prompted by my visit to Le Petit Parisien and with my head full of memories of past eaten Croque Madames, I decided to cook myself one for lunch a couple of days later.

As I have already said, this is not your run-of-the-mill toasted cheese sandwich. Key to its success is good quality ham, a generous smear of Dijon mustard and a béchamel sauce with plenty of gruyère included. Words cannot describe how something containing such humble ingredients – bread, ham, and cheese - could taste so good. I always serve a home baked ham along with the turkey for Christmas dinner, and this would be a lovely dish to make with any leftovers and is a great way of elevating the humble ham sandwich to something a little bit more luxurious. Here’s my recipe…

Ingredients:

50g butter
4 slices of white sourdough bread
20g plain flour
100ml milk

75g gruyere, grated

A little Dijon mustard

2 slices of good quality ham (good quality)

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

To finish:

A little extra gruyère, grated

2 eggs

A little vegetable oil
 

Method:

1. Preheat your grill to a moderate heat.  Place the slices of bread on a baking tray lined with foil.
2. Place the butter in a small saucepan over a moderate heat and allow to melt. When melted, use a pastry brush to brush a little butter over the topside of each piece of bread. Place under the grill and toast until the bread is just turning golden brown (do not allow to burn). Remove and set aside.
3. Add the flour to the rest of the melted butter and stir with a small whisk. Allow to cook for one minute to get rid of the raw flour taste. Gradually add the milk, whisking all the time, to create a smooth sauce. Allow to simmer gently for a few minutes, until it starts to thicken.

4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add half the grated gruyère and stir until it has melted into the sauce. Taste and season as necessary. Set aside.

5. Spread the untoasted sides of two of the slices of bread with some Dijon mustard and lay a slice of ham on each, followed by the remaining cheese, dividing it equally between the two sandwiches. Place under the grill and allow to cook until the cheese has melted.

6. Top each sandwich with the rest of the bread, making sure that the toasted side is facing upwards. Dividing it equally, spread the béchamel sauce on top of each sandwich and sprinkle over a little extra grated gruyère.  Grill for about 5 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and has turned a rich golden colour.

To finish:

7. If liked you can top the finished sandwich with a fried egg. Heat a little oil in a small frying pan and fry an egg to your liking. Place on top of the cooked sandwich and serve immediately.

 

Le Petit Parisien 17 Wicklow Street, Dublin 2.

 

Serves 2.
 

Cherry Buns - and memories of my grandmother

Food can be such a nostalgic thing… and the taste of a particular food or ingredient can transport you rapidly back in time so that you could almost believe that you were living through that particular moment again. I often remember people or events by the foods that I ate at specific time and I am reminded of them when I taste those flavours again.

There are many foods that I associate with my grandmother who was a huge influence on me and who was also a great and adventurous home cook. I loved everything that she cooked and feel that I have her to thank for my inquiring palate and eagerness to try new foods and flavours. I was her only granddaughter and also the eldest grandchild and even though she loved all her grandchildren, I think that I was just that little bit more spoilt than the others.

I would often accompany her on her daily trips to the local shops to pick up the Irish Times newspaper and to get fresh meat from the butchers. The shops were located down the road from where we lived in Dundrum, a suburb of Dublin. Although from Castlebar, County Mayo originally, she had lived all her married life on the outskirts of Dublin and remembered Dundrum when it had been out in the country and not the busy and densely populated suburb that it eventually became. She insisted on calling Dundrum, the ‘Village’ and enjoyed the ten minute walk to go and get her ‘messages’ each day. Along the way she would bump into neighbours and friends and this meant that naturally, we would have to pause on our journey so that she could have a good chat about the various issues of the day!

Sometimes, as a special treat, she would bring me into the Bewley’s Café located in Dundrum Village and we would sit down and have a cup of tea together… along with a sticky bun or donut from the selection that they had on offer. Sometimes I would choose a chocolate-covered ring donut or an almond bun, but my absolute favourite were the sticky cherry buns! These were made from an enriched yeasted dough, were studded with chopped glacé cherries and covered in the most addictive sticky and sugary glaze. I loved to split them and slather them in butter… HEAVEN!

Unfortunately, only the Grafton Street branch of Bewley’s Café remains open today and they no longer make and sell the cherry buns that I used to love so much, so I decided that I would experiment a little and see if I could recreate them and come up with my own version.

In the end my version was easier to make than I had anticipated. I used a basic enriched dough which included added eggs and butter and to this I added washed and chopped glacé cherries. The dough is quite sticky to work by hand, so feel free to use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment.

When the buns emerged from the oven and whilst they were still warm, I brushed each with a simple sugar syrup and then let the buns cool. I was so delighted with how the buns turned out and most importantly they were so evocative of the many happy times that I spent with my grandmother.

 

Ingredients:

500g strong white flour
75g caster sugar

5g fine sea salt

15g fresh yeast

275ml milk

1 large egg

75g butter, softened

125g glacé cherries, washed and chopped

Egg wash:

1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

To glaze:

75g caster sugar

75ml water
 

Method:

1. Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (you can also knead this dough by hand, but it is sticky and you will have to keep working it, without adding any extra flour and persevere – it will eventually come together).
2. Crumble the yeast into the milk and stir with a fork until it has all dissolved. Add the milk and egg to the flour and start kneading the dough using the mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. You will need to mix it for approximately 6 or 7 minutes at a medium speed until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl.

3. Add the butter gradually; making sure that it is well incorporated after each addition. The dough should be very soft but have a silky texture. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl and allow to prove for 90 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

4. Turn the dough out onto a clean work-surface and knock back gently punching out all the air. Scatter over the chopped glacé cherries and knead them gently into the dough. Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and roll each one into a smooth ball. Place onto a large baking tray lined with non-stick baking parchment, spacing them about 5cms apart. Cover with a damp cloth/cling-film and allow to prove a second time for about 90 minutes until almost doubled in size.

5. About 15 minutes before you bake the buns, preheat the oven to 190C/Fan Oven 170C/Gas Mark 5. Then, just before baking them, brush with a little of the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 17-20 minutes until golden brown all over. Transfer to a wire rack and brush over a little of the glaze (see below) whilst they are still warm. Allow to cool.

To make the glaze:

6. While the buns are baking you can make the glaze. Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat a little and bring up to simmering point and allow to bubble for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside until ready to brush on the baked buns.

Makes 10.     

Cranberry & Lemon Traybake

Although I love traditional Christmas cakes and puddings laden with booze-soaked dried fruit, I appreciate that not everyone is a fan and that sometimes what is preferred is something a little lighter, especially after all the feasting and excess of the festive season.

I remember with fondness the Christmases of my childhood… My grandmother would cook and bake the most fantastic food and the whole family would spend Christmas together, eating, laughing, exchanging gifts, squabbling over games of Scrabble and watching television. I distinctly remember watching The Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Wizard of Oz MANY times over the years!

The culinary highlight was dinner on Christmas day, but in many ways what I always loved most was the tin of homemade treats that my grandmother had stored away for any unexpected guests who would arrive. Hidden in this tin were her mince pies made with homemade mincemeat and loads of her rich and buttery shortbread biscuits. I absolutely loved them! The tin had to be kept away from me because, in the face of such delicious temptation, I found it impossible to limit myself to just one pie or just one piece of shortbread! To this day, I always make a big batch of shortbread and also mince pies using my grandmother’s mincemeat recipe.

 

My grandmother also made her own cranberry sauce as an accompaniment for the traditional roast turkey. She used fresh cranberries and gently flavoured the sauce with some orange zest and although this was delicious, it never occurred to us to try using the cranberries in any other way. In recent years, I have experimented with cranberries quite a bit and have used them in a lot of my cooking and baking. They are quite sharp, so do need some sweetening, but don’t overdo it as you don’t want to mask their distinctive taste. I especially like popping them whole into cake and muffin batters and love the way that they burst as they bake to release their ruby red juices – they look so Christmassy!

 

I was delighted with how this traybake turned out… it is an easy recipe and when baked easily cut into slices/bars which are a great alternative to many of the richer bakes on offer at this time of year. The finished slices can be stored in an air-tight tin or container for up to 5 days.
 

Ingredients:

450g plain flour
1tsp baking powder

225g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

225g butter, cubed

1 large egg, lightly beaten

50ml water

Filling:

350g cranberries

115g caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

2tblsp cornflour/arrowroot
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line a 30cm x 23cm shallow baking tin (I used a shallow roasting tray) with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

2. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and add the caster sugar and lemon zest. Mix together so that everything is evenly distributed.

3. Add the cubed butter and using the tips of your fingers, rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and using a fork mix everything together to form a soft dough.

4. Evenly press two-thirds of the dough onto the base of the prepared tin and set aside, reserving the remaining dough.

5. Mix all the ingredients for the filling together in a small bowl and then scatter over the dough lined tin. Take the reserved dough and break of little pieces and scatter evenly on top of the cranberries. There is no need to level or press the filling down.

6. Once you have used up all the dough, place the tin on a baking tray in the preheated oven. Bake for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown and the cranberries have started to pop and release their juices. Allow to cool in the tin and then cut into slices/bars and serve still slightly warm or at room temperature, dusted with a little icing sugar.

Makes 20-24 slices/bars.
 

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.