Summer Beans on Toast

Summer Beans on Toast

I love broad beans. If, by some miracle I was to turn vegetarian, they would form a large part of my diet. I'm unsure as to why I don't eat them more often but I've decided the time has come for change: this will be the summer of the broad bean in Kinneagh! In Ancient Egypt, broad beans were considered dirty and only fed to slaves - how times have changed! 

In November I posted a recipe for 'beans on toast' using cannellini beans. I've reworked the recipe for summer, using fresh broad beans and ripe cherry tomatoes. 300g of broad beans may seem like a lot for one person but once they're podded, only about 100-130g remain. To pod the beans, snap off the top, tear along the seam and open to reveal the individual beans. You can pop them out of their skin but I only bother doing this with the bigger ones.

Serves 1

1 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
300g Fresh Broad Beans (podded)
1 slice of Prosciutto di Parma (cut into pieces)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Red Chilli (finely chopped)
12 ripe Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
Mixed Seeds (Sunflower, Pumpkin etc.)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the prosciutto. Cook for 2 minutes before adding the garlic and chilli. Season well and cook for 5-6 mins until softened but not coloured. Add the tomatoes, oregano and a good glug of boiling water. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Meanwhile add the broad beans to a pan of boiling water and cook for a minute and a half. Strain and set aside. If you do this too early, then run the beans under cold water to stop them cooking. Ideally have the beans ready to come out of the pan when the sauce is ready.

3. With a potato masher or fork, mash the tomatoes to make a rich sauce and add the cooked beans. Cook for another 2 minutes before checking for seasoning, adding more salt/pepper if required. Sprinkle some of the seeds on top and serve with crusty bread or toast.

Eggs in Hell!

Eggs in Hell

A few weeks ago I had a message on my Facebook page recommending me to try 'Eggs in Purgatory'. A basic recipe was included with the tip that it makes a great hangover cure. Never one to shy away from a couple of glasses of red, I put it to the test! It worked a treat and I have been adapting it to my tastes ever since. 

After changing a few things I decided to call it 'Eggs in Hell' as the chilli should set your tongue alight, while the chorizo (or prosciutto) adds a slightly salty hit to balance the dish. Don't use pre-sliced chorizo: buy a stick of hard chorizo, remove as much of the casing as you need and chop off a piece. Cover with cling film and keep it in the fridge, it'll last quite awhile!

Serves 2

2 Tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Clove Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Green Chilli (finely chopped)
1 Inch of Hard Chorizo/Prosciutto (finely chopped)
1/2 Tsp Dried Oregano
150g Tomato Passata
1/2 Tsp Sugar
3 Medium/Large Eggs
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
Caciocavallo/Pecorino/Parmesan to Serve

1. Add the oil to a frying pan over a medium heat and add the garlic, chilli, chorizo and oregano. Season and stir. Cook for 7-10 mins until softened but be careful not to burn the garlic.

2. Add the passata and sugar and bring to the boil before gently cracking in the eggs. Cover the pan and cook until the whites set but the yolks remain runny. Sprinkle the top with plenty of pepper. Finish with a good grating of the cheese of your choice. Serve with plenty of good crusty bread. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Adrienne M. Bolger for mailing me the recipe for 'Eggs in Purgatory'!

BBQ Season!!

BBQ Season

My favourite time of year is finally here! Although I relish the coziness of dark evenings in front of the fire, I particularly love the al fresco nature of summer and barbecue season. Nothing beats the whole family sitting outside in the (hopefully) sun enjoying good food and a few beers. For my birthday this week we took a chance, we decided to have a small family barbecue and hoped that the weather held up (it is the middle of May after all!). Thankfully the sun shone, the rain stayed away and we had a great evening together. 

Even though it was my birthday, I decided I'd take care of the cooking and with €50 to feed 12 people (including 2 fussy kids) I knew I had my work cut out! First thing to sort were the salads:

Egg Salad - Hard boil 10 eggs, peel and roughly chop. Mix with plenty of mayonnaise, finely chopped chives and season well. Sprinkle a little paprika on top.

Potato Salad - Boil 1kg of baby potatoes until tender, drain and put into a large bowl. Add plenty of extra-virgin olive oil and season well. Add some dried oregano and some finely chopped chives. Mix well.

Pasta Salad - Boil 500g fusilli pasta in salted water until cooked, drain and put into a large bowl. Add lots of extra-virgin olive oil, plenty of halved cherry tomatoes, chopped basil and season well. Mix thoroughly and squeeze in the juice of 1/2 lemon just before serving.

Spicy Rice Salad - Saute some garlic, chilli, onion and chopped red pepper over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add some turmeric and stir well. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes before adding 250g of rice. Add 500ml of vegetable stock and allow to simmer. Add more stock as necessary until cooked.

With the salads complete and in the fridge, I moved onto meats. For me, the most important piece of equipment for a BBQ is an instant digital thermometer. It allows you to get everything cooked perfectly without having to overcook for safety's sake I prefer to cook chicken in the oven first and then finish off on the BBQ. This method ensures they are cooked through without burning:

For the dry rub mix together; 1tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2tsp white pepper, 1tsp thyme, 1/2tsp smoked paprika, 1/2tsp dried oregano and 1/2tsp salt.

Lightly oil a large baking tray and lay out 15-20 chicken drumsticks. Sprinkle over 3/4 of the dry rub and massage it all over the drumsticks. Put into a 150 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until just cooked through. Char on the BBQ for a couple of minutes to add a bit of life. You can also brush some of your favourite BBQ sauce onto the drumsticks before they go on the BBQ for an extra hit of flavour.

Next I made burgers: spicy lamb for those of us keen on a bit of heat and plain beef for the more conservative!

Saute 1 onion, 1 red chilli and 2 cloves garlic (all finely chopped) in plenty of extra-virgin olive oil with some salt and pepper for 10 minutes until soft but not coloured. Allow to cool. Put 500g of lamb mince into a mixing bowl and add the onion mix, including the oil. Season well and add in half a beaten egg. Mix well. Lightly oil a large plate and with wet hands, shape the lamb mix into five patties. Lay on the plate, cover with cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for an hour or two. Season each side and cook on the BBQ, brushing with BBQ sauce if you like.

You can make the beef burgers the same way but I just mixed 500g of mince with salt, pepper and half a beaten egg and continued as above.

The last bit of cooking was some Nolan's of Kilcullen sizzler and plain pork sausages which were brushed with BBQ sauce and placed on the BBQ until cooked through.

The small amount of cash left over was spent on 12 cans of San Pellegrino orange and lemon and Ali baked a beautiful orange and almond cake for dessert (and to hold the birthday candles).

 I'll have plenty of BBQ posts up over the summer, it's good to take advantage of whatever little sun we get!

Ragu Pie

Leftover Ragu Pie

A good ragu is a beautiful thing; different meats stewed for hours with a little tomato to create a rich and delicious sauce. In Ireland this isn't usually the case. Here we tend to put in a bit of beef mince, a jar or two of (insert your favourite brand here) bolognese sauce and give it a half hour on the stove. We then add it to overcooked spaghetti and because spaghetti can't hold a thick sauce, we're left with a giant puddle of something that tastes like a very sweet tomato sauce with a little mince going through it. Try this instead:

Heat a good glug of extra-virgin olive oil over a medium heat and add a finely chopped onion. Cook for 2 minutes before adding a finely chopped carrot, a finely chopped chilli and a finely chopped stick of celery. Season well and cook for 5-7 minutes until soft but not coloured. Add 400 g of beef mince, 200 g of lamb mince, 200 g of pork mince and 2 finely chopped lamb kidneys. Season and brown all over before adding a glass of good red wine. Cook for 5 minutes and add 500 g of tomato passata and a teaspoon of dried oregano. Cover, reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 hours.

This will give you a delicious and deep flavoured ragu. Serve with tagliatelle or some penne pasta that will hold the sauce. Italians reckon 100g of pasta is enough per person but they generally have a couple of courses so I think for safety, if its the only course, I'd allow 120g per person.

Invariably, no matter how many have to be fed, I'm always left with plenty of leftover ragu. It's so filling that you don't need to serve massive portions; enough to coat the pasta is perfect. I've been thinking of ways to use up leftover ragu and a somewhat obvious Shepherd's Pie came to mind. It's not the same as the lamb filling but I thought it might be a nice change and it would create another substantial dish to feed many. If you only have a little ragu left don't worry; even a thin layer will be sufficient.



Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Peel as many sweet potatoes as you need and boil in lightly salted water until tender. Drain, season well and mash adding about half a glass of milk (or cream if you prefer) as you do so. Check for seasoning and add extra salt/pepper if required. Lightly oil a baking dish (one that you'd use for a Lasagna or a Shepherd's Pie will be perfect) and spread the ragu evenly over the base. Add a layer of Parma ham/prosciutto on top of the ragu and spread the sweet potato mash over the prosciutto. Flatten with a fork, creating little peaks as you go. Sprinkle plenty of pepper over the top and place in the oven to cook for 30-40 mins. Serve with good crusty bread.

This pie can be adapted to your own taste. Feel free to add a layer of Parmesan cheese after the prosciutto or swap the sweet potatoes for normal potatoes if you prefer. I didn't give exact quantities here as it depends how much ragu you have left. A thick layer is great but as I said above, a thin layer of ragu is fine, the rest can be made up with the sweet potato; its probably healthier!