A simple Gooseberry Pie

I am a massive fan of gooseberries as is evident by the amount of recipes that I have on the blog which use them.  Often when I’m thinking of recipes to post, I try to think of new and different ways to use my favourite ingredients but, by doing this I don’t get to share some of the recipes that I have been using for years and which are tried and tested favourites.

Part of my reason for starting this blog was to collect all my favourite recipes together in one place so that my children would have an easily accessible database of the dishes and meals that I cooked for them. I genuinely hope that as they approach adulthood and start rearing their own families that they will use these recipes from time-to-time and will remember me with fondness through my love of food and cookery.

 

Many of my favourite things to eat were dishes cooked by my grandmother when I was a child and it is a huge regret of mine that I did not write them down and take more notice of where she originally got them from. Each family has their own unique history when it comes to the foods that they eat and this is something that should be cherished and preserved. Our attitudes to food, in this collective context, say so much about who we are and our attitudes to life. Many key family events happen around meals or are celebrated by coming together to eat and for me it is something of fundamental importance.

 

This is a very simple pie, made using fresh gooseberries picked from bushes growing in my garden. Gooseberries can be very tart, so I have sweetened them with a little more sugar than I would use when making an apple pie and have added nothing else. This is a straightforward, no-nonsense pie which is all about the flavour of the gooseberries.

 

The pastry is incredibly simple to make. Very cold butter is grated directly into the flour and loosely mixed through without being further worked in. A splash of water helps to bring everything together into a dough, which is then refrigerated to allow the pastry to rest before it is rolled out and used to make the pie. The resulting pastry is flaky when baked with a buttery taste which goes perfectly with the gooseberries!
 

Ingredients:

Pastry:
225g plain flour
160g cold butter (I place it in the freezer for 30 minutes)

3-4tblsp cold water

To fill the pie:

500g gooseberries, topped and tailed

75g caster sugar

To finish:

1 egg, beaten
 

Method:

Pastry:

1. Place the flour into a large mixing bowl. Using a coarse grater, grate the butter directly into the flour, mixing it gently through so that it is evenly distributed, but do not rub in. Sprinkle the water over the flour/butter mixture and mix in using a fork until it starts to come together into a dough.

2. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly and then shape into a ball. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to give the pastry a chance to rest.

To make the pie:

3. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas mark 4. Lightly grease a Pyrex pie plate with some butter and place on a large baking tray. Set aside.

4. Divide the pastry in half and roll each into a circle slightly bigger than the pie plate.

5. Place one pastry circle on the buttered pie plate with any excess pastry slightly hanging over the edge.

6. Tumble the gooseberries into the centre of the pastry-lined pie plate and sprinkle over the caster sugar, leaving a 2cm pastry edge free around the outside.  Moisten the exposed edge of the pie with a little of the beaten  egg and top with the remaining circle of pastry.  Seal the pie around the edge by pressing the top and bottom pastry edges together to enclose the fruit.

7. Trim the excess pastry from around the edge of the pie, using a small sharp knife. Brush the pie with the remaining beaten egg and cut a cross in the centre of the pastry top to let steam escape as the pie bakes.

8. Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and the gooseberry juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving warm. The pie is wonderful served with some vanilla ice-cream or some lightly whipped cream.

 

Serves 8.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Macarons

At their simplest, macarons are made using three ingredients; egg whites, ground almonds and sugar so they should be really easy to make? You might think so, but in all honesty, I tried a number of recipes and had some complete disasters before I found one that worked for me on a consistent basis and here it is!

As with a lot of baking, you don’t absolutely have to use specialist equipment in order to guarantee success, but I do think that a piping bag fitted with a ½cm plain nozzle is a necessity as using one ensures that all your macarons are of a uniform size. I also use a silicon mat which has the macaron circles pre-printed on it. Again, this helps ensure uniformity, but you can use baking parchment and draw little circles on the reverse side.

Once you have piped out the macarons, it is crucial that you leave them aside for at least 30 minutes to form a ‘skin’, which means that the macaron mixture should not stick to your finger when gently touched. Allowing this ‘skin’ to form encourages the development of the thin wavy ‘foot’ which is a characteristic of properly made macarons.

I have been experimenting with peanut butter recently and trying out loads of different sweet and savoury recipes which include it. It was therefore inevitable that I would try making Peanut Butter & Jelly Macarons and believe me if you are a fan of peanut butter you will love these.
 

Ingredients:

125g ground almonds
150g icing sugar

100g caster sugar

3 large egg whites (110g in total)

A drop of brown gel/paste colouring

25g salted peanuts, chopped

To finish:

50g smooth peanut butter

30g raspberry jam, sieved to remove seeds
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Cut a sheet of baking parchment to size, to fit a large (approximately 30cm x 40cm) baking tray. Draw 50 x 3cm circles, spaced about a centimetre apart on the sheet of baking parchment and flip over so that the side you drew the circles on is against the surface of the baking tray. (Alternatively use a silicon macaron mat). Set aside.

2. Mix the ground almonds and icing sugar together and then place in a metal sieve. Use the back of a metal spoon to work the mixture through the sieve into a large mixing bowl. Discard any solids that you can’t work through – there should only be a small amount. Set the mixture aside.

3. Place the egg whites in a separate large mixing bowl and then, using a hand-held electric mixer, whisk them until they form stiff peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar to create a smooth and glossy meringue. Add a drop of brown gel/paste food colouring and mix again to fully incorporate the colour.

4. Fold the meringue into the ground almonds mixture. Don’t worry if you knock some of the air out of the meringue as you don’t want the mixture to be too stiff. The consistency you are aiming for is one where the macaron mixture just holds it shape but any peaks settle and merge smoothly into the rest of the mixture.

5. Spoon the macaron mixture into a piping bag fitted with a ½cm plain nozzle. Using the circles you drew on the parchment paper as a guideline, pipe out equal sized discs. The easiest way to pipe the macarons is to place the tip of the nozzle in the centre of each circle and keep squeezing the piping bag until you reach the edge of the circle and then move on to the next one.

6. Once you have piped all the macarons, lift up the baking tray and with one sharp tap bang the tray against your table/work surface. This gets rid of any large air bubbles in the macarons and helps prevent them cracking as they bake. Sprinkle a few chopped salted peanuts over the top of each macaron.

7. Set the macarons aside for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. During this time the unbaked macarons will form a skin. You will know they are ready as when you touch them lightly no mixture will stick to your finger.

8. Place the macarons in the preheated oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 150C/Fan Oven 130C/Gas Mark 1. Bake for 13-15 minutes but do not allow them to brown. You will know they are ready if you gently try to wiggle one and it doesn’t come apart from its ‘foot’. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before attempting to move them from the baking parchment.

To finish:

9. Place the smooth peanut butter in a disposable piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle. Pipe a circle of peanut butter on the underside of half the macarons. Spoon a tiny blob of jam inside each of these circles and then top with an unfilled macaron shell to create a ‘sandwich’.

 

The macarons can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Makes 25-30 sandwiched pairs.

Review: Neven Maguire Cookery School, County Cavan

Set in a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and picturesque lakes, Blacklion is a tiny village in County Cavan close to the Fermanagh border and is home to the extraordinarily popular MacNean House & Restaurant owned by Neven Maguire – chef, cookery book author, television host and champion of Irish food and producers.

 

In 2014 Neven realised a lifelong ambition and opened his own Cookery School; a place where he could share his enthusiasm for and knowledge of food and cookery with the aim of getting more of us into our kitchens cooking! Located beside the restaurant in Blacklion, there are a number of courses on offer at the school and definitely something to suit everyone irrespective of age or cooking ability.

 

Courses on offer include the half day Parent & Child cookery course with full day courses on Summer Entertaining, Cooking for Friends & Family and Christmas Made Easy, amongst others. A two day Home Chef course is also available and was the one that I decided to attend, using the two days away as an excuse to stay overnight in the MacNean House accommodation!!!

 

Some people idolise actors or pop stars but I go weak-at-the-knees for famous chefs and as such, I will admit that I was a little star-struck meeting Neven for the first time! Managing (probably not that successfully) to retain some level of composure, I joined the rest of the class, who had arrived before me.

 

Classes are kept deliberately small with no more than ten or twelve participants. As a result, not only is there great camaraderie within the group but the small numbers mean that you really have the chance to get stuck in and cook everything yourself without feeling cramped. The kitchen is beautifully decorated in grey and muted green tones and has every mod-con that you could possibly want during the course. Induction hobs are fitted in the kitchen and even after only two days using them, I am converted and WANT one!

 

Neven demonstrates each dish first, giving you plenty of tips along the way including useful suggestions on alternative ingredients that can be used. Booklets of all the recipes covered over the two days are distributed but Neven is on hand at all times to answer questions and offer guidance.

 

Ably assisted by the wonderful Claire and Olivia, all the ingredients are weighed out and ready, so that you can get straight down to cooking but you still prepare your meats, vegetables and practice your knife skills and other cooking techniques along the way.

 

We cooked in pairs, each having a work station, hob and oven to ourselves with each duo making the decision on how to divide the various tasks involved in making each dish. During the two days, we baked breads and pastries, made soups and sauces and cooked an astonishing array of starters, main courses and desserts. Lunch on both days consisted of dishes that we had cooked ourselves, washed down with a glass or two of wine.

 

The first dish that Neven demonstrated to us was his Kaitafi Prawn Salad but this was only the beginning. During the two days we also made Vietnamese Chicken Salad, Braised Pork Belly, Gratin of Hake, Duck with Creamed Cabbage & Sweet Potato Fondants as well as Pear Frangipane Tart, Lemon & Passion Fruit Posset with Macerated Berries, Chocolate Truffles and many other sauces, breads etc. We all found making the sugar cases for our possets great fun, if more difficult than we initially thought and couldn’t understand how Neven made it look so easy!

 

To say that the Home Chef course is only about cooking would be inaccurate. In the afternoon on the first day, we were treated to a Wine & Cheese Tasting delivered by Blaithín, the restaurant’s highly experienced Sommelier. Sitting on the veranda behind the Cookery School on a heavenly summer’s day, it really felt as if life couldn’t get any better! I found the tasting session very informative and learnt some very interesting things.

 

On the second day, we were given a tour of the gardens by Kevin, who grows and tends to the plants, herbs and vegetables many of which are used to supplement ingredients used in the restaurant.

 

We also visited the restaurant kitchen; where under Head Chef Glenn Wheeler a brigade of chefs was busy at work preparing the food prior to that night’s service. I was mesmerised by the amount of work and attention to detail that goes into preparing dishes for a fine-dining menu, so to get a glimpse of life behind-the-scenes was fascinating.

 

The course is relaxed, informal and tremendous fun. Neven speaks fondly about his family and in particular his wife Amelda and their twins Connor and Lucia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, as he comes from a large family, you really get the feeling that, for him, food and cooking are very much about a sense of community and showing your love for those closest to you. This may sound rather hackneyed in this cynical old world of ours, but all things considered, it’s not a bad philosophy; food certainly has the ability to bring people together!

 

Neven wants to give participants a culinary experience to remember and I can truly say that this is one of the best cookery courses that I have ever been on. Given the amount of dishes you cook, the Home Chef course is intensive but you never feel stressed or harried. Although I would be an enthusiastic and fairly experienced home cook I still learnt so much and, over the two days, made dishes that I know will become mainstays in the cooking I do for my family.

 

The Home Chef course was one of the most enjoyable things that I have ever done and I would strongly recommend it to anyone. At €495 for two days, it may initially seem like a whack of money to pay but all the ingredients are provided, you learn so much and most importantly you have great fun. I felt that it was worth every cent and I genuinely believe that there are few people who would come away disappointed after the two days.

 

Everything that you make and don’t consume on the course is packaged up for you to bring home when leaving. It’s not an exaggeration to say that my car was packed full of tasty treats which my family and I feasted on over the next few days! Amongst other things, each of us was also given a bag containing an apron, some Donegal Rapeseed Oil and a choice of any one of Neven’s cookbooks which he signed and personalised for us.

 

This was such a memorable experience and who would have thought that two days cooking in County Cavan could be such great fun?
 

Neven Maguire Cookery School

Main Street

Blacklion

County Cavan

 

Telephone: 0719853022

 

For information on courses: www.nevenmaguire.com

 

This review first appeared in TheTaste.ie

Restaurant Review: #BrunchofChampions, San Lorenzo's, Dublin

Somebody should have warned me…

 

In retrospect, it might not have been the best idea to arrive ravenously hungry to brunch in San Lorenzo’s on Dublin’s South Great George’s Street. My eyes were bigger than my stomach and fuelled by hunger, I may have over-estimated the amount I could eat. They don’t call this the #BrunchofChampions without reason but that didn’t mean that I had to look upon it as a challenge!

 

Arriving at 10.30am on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning just as the restaurant opened its doors, I was astonished to see how quickly the tables filled up. Granted, the surroundings are stylishly trendy and have an air of urban chic about them but the enthusiasm of the prospective diners to place their brunch orders indicated that this was somewhere that was about more than just being seen in the latest fashionable spot.

 

Zombie

San Lorenzo’s has a 75 minute seating time limit which I was informed about when booking my table. This didn’t present a problem as I had another appointment immediately afterwards and in fact, I considered this further evidence of the apparent popularity of the brunch menu – a good sign!

 

Brunch is one of my favourite meals; it smacks of rising late and dining in a leisurely fashion with all manner of sweet and savoury goodies to tempt the taste buds! Experts tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and we all know the benefits of eating a balanced diet but sometimes you yearn for something extravagant and a little bit naughty to eat, especially if suffering the after-effects of over-indulgence from the night before!
 

Lobster Benedict

After being seated we ordered breakfast cocktails to sip on as we decided on what to eat; a Zombie, made with rum, pineapple juice, passion fruit and Angostura bitters for me and an Espresso Martini for my friend Eithne. The Zombie, despite being very boozy was a perfect brunch drink with lovely fruity and refreshing elements but the Espresso Martini? Well… this was in a league of its own! It was absolutely superb and with my tendency towards hedonistic excess I find it amazing that I have never tried one before. It was delicious, easy to drink and a great pick-me-up; strongly recommended for anyone who loves coffee and even those who don’t.

 

The menu has many tempting dishes on it and we found it hard to choose just one each to order. I was determined to try the Lobster Benedict but was also finding the allure of the intriguing sounding Coco Pops Crunchy French Toast hard to resist. In the end, I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I unleashed my inner glutton and ordered both! Not to be outdone, Eithne decided to go for the Baked Ham followed by the French Toast Stack.

 

Baked Ham

At €23.95, the Lobster Benedict is not cheap but for the quality of the perfectly cooked lobster alone, this was a dish that was worth every cent. Lobster has a natural sweetness when cooked well and the accompanying tomato/pepper sauce accentuated this. Topped with a marie-rose like hollandaise sauce and with some grilled spears of asparagus, this was a truly decadent dish. Although I’m more used to eggs benedict served on split and toasted English muffins, I loved the toasted plain bagels on which the lobster was placed. The chewy texture of the bagels stood up far better to the wonderfully runny poached ages and the other elements of the dish than toasted muffins would have. Heavenly!

 

Eithne’s Baked Ham consisted of a generous portion of warm sliced baked ham topped with two poached eggs coated in a buttery hollandaise sauce. Along with some peppery watercress and grilled asparagus, this was a dish that excelled because of its simplicity – a dish using quality ingredients which had been flawlessly prepared and cooked.

 

French Toast Stack

The French Toast Stack was made using 4 slices of thickly-sliced rich and buttery brioche which soaked up the eggy custard in which it was soaked before being fried off. Presented with 6 slices of crispy, lightly smoked bacon and a plentiful amount of maple syrup, this dish was a winner.

 

My When Harry Met Sally moment came upon taking my first bite of the much anticipated Coco Pops Crunchy French Toast. All I can say is… OH… MY… GOD…! It was unbelievable! I dread to think how any calories it contained but it tasted so good. Again brioche (two slices this time) had been soaked in eggy custard to which Coco Pops had been added before being fried. The bottom layer was smeared with peanut butter which gave a wonderful nutty saltiness that was completely addictive. A large blob of lightly whipped cream and some sliced bananas may have been overkill to some, but I was in a state of profound ecstasy… oh, and did I mention the chocolate sauce…? The extravagance of this dish was something to behold, but I loved it – every single mouthful.

 

Coco Pops French Toast

Needless to say, after all this excess, I was unable to eat a full meal for nearly two days, but it was worth it. Lighter dishes are available, but every now-and-again it’s nice to give in to temptation.

 

This is not the place to come to if you want a lazy and languorous meal to ease you into the day. The music is loud, the tables are placed close together and everything is a little fast-paced… but the waiting staff are friendly and attentive and the food was wonderful. I can’t wait to return.

 

Brunch is served in San Lorenzo’s on Saturdays, Sundays and most Bank Holidays; 10.30am-3.00pm

 

San Lorenzo’s

South Great George’s Street

Dublin 2

 

Tel: 014789383

Web: www.sanlorenzos.ie

 

This review first appeared in TheTaste.ie

 

Espresso Martini