Refried Beans Pita

Refried Beans Pita

It's dark, so very dark. Darker than I thought it would be at this time. Too dark. The pictures are going to be terrible! I made a decision about a year ago to try to always take my pictures in natural light. I much prefer it, it's cleaner and (surprisingly!) more natural. I had planned to do just that last evening. I would make my delicious refried beans, stuff them into warmed pita bread, spread over some sour cream and parmesan and take some beautiful pictures with the light flooding through my kitchen window. What do you do when it doesn't happen the way it should? You plough on regardless and pretend that you were going for the unappetising, unnatural look....

pic of the list, with one glaring mistake!

Makes 4 pita breads

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Chilli (finely chopped)
pinch of Dried Oregano
1 tsp Hot Paprika
1 Tomato (finely chopped)
1 Tin of Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tbsp finely chopped Parsley
4 Pita Breads
2 tbsp Sour Cream
1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion. Season well and cook for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the garlic, chilli and oregano and continue to cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomato and cooking for a minute more. Add the beans and parsley and cook for 5 minutes before mashing with a fork or potato masher. Check for seasoning, set aside and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile toast the pita breads before filling with the beans mixture. Cover with the sour cream and parmesan. Alternatively you can cut all the way around the pita and layer the beans, sour cream and parmesan. Serve and take some better pictures than me!

Pork Hock with Lentils and Beans

Pulled Pork Hock with Lentils and Beans

Aggressive, rude and manly. The three words that come to my mind when I think of ham hocks. They're full of flavour and extremely versatile, great at enhancing any soup or stew. I hadn't come across their unsalted cousin before buying a butchered half pig last year. It had been left languishing in my freezer while all the trendier cuts were cooked months ago. I hadn't even planned on cooking it this week. Yesterday was meant to be a day for spicy lamb meatballs, but after pulling the freezer apart and realising it was lamb-less, this little bundle of skin, bone, fat and flesh was smiling at me...."please give me a chance?"

The hock needs to be cooked for a long time to break down all the muscle fibres. The three hours here does it well while the sticky sauce cuts through the rich flesh. Lentils are the perfect partner to any pork dish with this being no exception. Cooked this way, an 800g - 1Kg hock, should feed 2 people so feel free to double the recipe if you're serving 4.

Serves 2

1 Pork Hock (about 800g-1Kg)
2 Onions (roughly chopped)
2 sticks of Celery (roughly chopped)
2 Carrots (roughly chopped)
3 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
1 Bay Leaf
10 Red Peppercorns
2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
150g Lentils
1 Tin of Butter Beans
150ml Apple Juice
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Put the hock in a pot and cover completely with cold water. Bring to the boil and discard all of the frothy water in the pot. Again, cover the hock with cold water and add 1 onion, 1 stick of celery, 1 carrot, 2 cloves of garlic, the bay leaf and red peppercorns. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 2 hours, topping up with more water if necessary.

2. Remove the hock from the pot and strain the cooking liquid, reserving it for cooking the lentils and sauce. You can discard the vegetables. Put the remaining onion, celery, carrot and garlic onto the bottom of a roasting tray. Dry the hock with kitchen paper and place ontop of the vegetables. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of the oil and season well. Put into a 170 degree preheated oven for 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile cook the lentils. Set aside 250ml of the hock cooking liquid for the sauce and pour the remainder into a saucepan. Cook the lentils according to packet instructions in this liquid (adding boiling water if necessary) and add the beans for the final few minutes.Drain and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Season well and set aside.

4. Remove the hock from the roasting tray and set aside to rest for a few minutes. Add the apple juice and the 250ml reserved cooking liquid, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan. Put on the hob and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before straining the sauce (discard the veg) and adding back to the pan.

5. Remove the skin from the hock and pull all the flesh from the bone with a fork. Season lightly and add to the sauce. Put the pan on a high heat and reduce the sauce until it is thick and sticky. Serve the pork on a bed of the lentils and beans.

World Cup, Quarter Finals

World Cup, Quarter Finals

Day 20 & 21

The quarter finals provided a return to normality as the bigger teams eventually came through. Both nights I celebrated countries who were knocked out but the dishes were a great success!

World Cup, Day 20 - Colombia

Salmon with Hogao Sauce

While researching Colombian cuisine, I found several mentions of 'hogao' sauce. The mix of spring onion, tomato and coriander intrigued me, so I decided to base my dish around it. I was unsure as to what the sauce should accompany but after passing Nick's Fish in Newbridge, I noticed some Irish organic wild salmon. I'm not sure if it's served this way in Colombia but I couldn't pass it up. Wanting to stick to a healthy meal, I served the fish with quinoa (cooked as per packet instructions in a light vegetable stock) and stir fried vegetables - sugar snaps, mini sweetcorn and broccoli, boiled for 2 mins, drained and stir fried for 5 minutes with rapeseed oil. Add a splash of soy sauce for the final minute for an extra blast of flavour. This was my favourite dish of the World Cup so far, it just about overtook the Brazilian Shrimp Stew of Day 1.

Serves 2

For the Hogao Sauce:

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
5 Spring Onions (white and green parts, finely chopped)
300g Cherry Tomatoes (halved)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp Cumin Seed
12g Fresh Coriander (stalks included, finely chopped)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

For the Salmon:

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 fillets of Fresh Salmon (enough for 2, skin on)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Quinoa and Stir Fried Veg to serve (see above)

1. To make the sauce, heat the oil over a medium heat and add all of the ingredients except the coriander and seasoning to the pan. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the coriander and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Stir and crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon as it's cooking. Add a little boiling water if it gets too dry (depending on tomatoes). Check for seasoning and set aside until needed.

2. For the salmon, heat the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the salmon, skin side down and season the top with salt and pepper. You will see the fish change colour as it cooks. Allow it to cook like this until the colour changes almost to the top. Flip it over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove the skin from the top with a knife. Serve the salmon on a bed of quinoa and top with the hogao sauce. Surround with the vegetables.

World Cup, Day 21 - Costa Rica

Roasted Fish, Costa Rican Style

I love my fish dishes! I was researching Costa Rica when I came across some recipes for roasted fish. I wasn't particularly looking for fish recipes after the salmon the previous night, but the style really grabbed me. I found it interesting to marinade the fish in orange and lime juice. I had never tried it and yet it made perfect sense. It was delicious! The cooking times may vary depending on how thick your fish is. Any white fish can be used here, I used haddock as it was cheap and available when I was in Naas.

Serves 2

200g Rice
300-400g White Fish Fillets
juice of 1 Orange
juice of 1 Lime
2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
12g Fresh Coriander (finely chopped)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
350g Fresh Broad Beans (podded)
2 Tomatoes (chopped)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Cook the rice in plenty of salted boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Pour the orange and lime juice, oil, coriander, garlic and some seasoning into a baking dish and add the fish. Coat the fish and set aside for 20 minutes.

3. Blanch the podded beans in plenty of salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes and drain. Run the beans under the cold tap for a minute or two. This will make it very easy to remove their tough outer skins. The bean itself is dark green, the skins are much paler. Remove all the skins and set the beans aside.

4. Put the baking tray with the fish and marinade into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees. Allow to cook for 10 minutes and remove. Carefully lift the fish out of the tray and pour in the cooked rice. Stir well to coat in the marinade and juices. Place the fish back on top of the rice and top with the beans and chopped tomatoes. Season well and place back in the oven for another 7-10 minutes. Serve.

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.

Beans on Toast

Beans on Toast has got to be the saviour of Irish Mammies! What's simpler than heating a tin of beans and spreading over some well buttered toast? Kids and adults alike tend to love it and in my house growing up, beans could accompany any dinner imaginable. Admittedly I was never a big fan of Baked Beans, I always found them a little too mundane and boring so I decided to come up with a Bean recipe that would allow me to enjoy these little beauties.


This recipe is slightly spicy but is delicious as a snack on its own or (as in our house) as a side dish with almost anything else! The Prosciutto imparts its lovely flavour on the beans and really lifts the dish, dont be tempted to use standard ham, it wont be the same!





Serves 3 as a snack or 5 as a side


2tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Large Onion (finely chopped)
1 Red Chilli (deseeded and finely chopped)
1 Clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
2 Slices of Parma Ham/Prosciutto (torn)
500g Tomato Passata
1 Tin Cannellini Beans (drained)
1/4tsp Paprika

1/4tsp Cayenne Pepper
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

3 White Baps





1. Add the Oil to a pan over a medium heat and add the Onion, Chilli and Garlic, season well with Salt and Pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes until soft. Add the Parma Ham/Prosciutto and cook for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the Passata, Beans and Spices, season and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until beans are tender.

3. Meanwhile, cut the baps in half and brush the inside with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, sprinkle with a very small amount of salt and place cut side down on a very hot griddle pan for 4-5 minutes until toasted.

4. Butter the Baps and serve with the Beans.

Variations:

Dont be afraid to try any different herbs/spices that take your fancy and really tweak this dish to your own taste. Although the Prosciutto is one of the main flavours of this dish it could be swapped out for some smoked rashers for an extra flavour burst. Finely Chopped Carrots, Celery or Courgette could also be added at the start to add to the Veg count. Make this one your own!