Meat Pie in a Jar

I love traditional meat pies, but sometimes getting them to keep their shape can be a pain. This method is perfect for both keeping the shape and storing in the freezer for another day. I've used a beef stew to fill mine, but you can use whatever filling you'd like. It works well with chicken or pork too. To make the pie crust I use a basic lard pastry recipe, this give you a really nice crunchy outside to your pie.

To make the pastry:

200g lard

220g water

575g flour

pinch of salt

1 beaten egg (to finish)

In a small sauce pan bring the water and lard to a simmer (or until all the lard has melted) sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and carefully pour in the water, lard mixture. combine together with a wooden spoon and set aside until the mixture is cool enough to handle this pastry needs to be worked warm so do not allow it to cool too much. Roll out on a floured surface and cut to fit your mason jars. oil and lightly flour your jars and begin to assemble your pies. Fill with your meat stew mix, lay a pastry lid on top and brush with the beaten egg, before cooking pierce a hole in the pastry top to allow the steam to escape. Bake @ 375f for 35 minutes, allow to cool slightly before turning them out of their jars or if you're like me, eat them straight out of the jar.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes:

¾ Cup unsweetened Cocoa Powder

¾ Cup all purpose flour

½ Tsp baking Powder 

¼ Tsp Salt

¾ Butter (softened)

1 Cup Sugar 

Zest of 1 orange

3 Large Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

½ Cup Plain yogurt 

¾ Cup of Chocolate chips

Mix together the cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl (or mixer) mix the butter and sugar until fluffy then add the yogurt and zest. Add the eggs in slowly while mixing. Mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. Put into a muffin tray about ¾ full, lick the bowl. Bake in a preheated oven @ 350f for 25 minutes. 

Buttercream Icing:

½ Cup of Butter (softened) 

½ Cup of Goats cheese

4 cups of Powered Sugar 

¼ Cup Milk

1Tsp Vanilla Extract

Cream together the Butter and goats cheese until smooth. Keep mixing and add in half the sugar, the milk and vanilla, and then the remainder of the sugar.  Mix until soft and fluffy.

Put into a piping bag and pipe onto the cool cupcakes. Add a garnish to decorate, or some sprinkles for some cupcake bling. 

Pizza oven

              

My cousin back in Ireland has built a wood fired pizza oven in her back yard, so on a recent trip when she invited me up for an evening of pizza and beer with a few friends, she didn't have to ask twice!  

Using the ancient method of hut building using straw and clay, she constructed this amazing wood fired oven, or cob.  It is highly durable, easy and fun to make (it requires getting dirty, but who doesn’t like to get a little dirty).

As the fire crackled and began to die down to the perfect glowing embers needed to cook the pizza without burning, we prepared all our toppings everything from our homemade tomato base sauce to olives, onions, peppers and even black pudding. Everyone made their own specialty pizza and within minutes (this over get seriously hot and can cook a pizza in 4 minutes) we were enjoying perfectly cooked pizzas, the way they were meant to be baked! 

Total Crab!

Sitting here looking out a wet Canadian winter has me thinking about summer. Growing up with the Atlantic coastline on my door step, gave my summers the idea place to harvest what I could from the sea. Watching the tides rise and fall wondering what was going on under the water. My favourite pastime has to be searching through all the cracks and crevices in the rocks for crabs at low tide. Our European rock crabs are similar in size to the Dungeoness crab, with the one stand out difference being the claw size. The huge pincer claws on the European rock crab are full of delicious sweet meat. As with any hunting gathering you always have to have a back up plan for when you don't find any crabs, ours was to also have a baited crab pot with us to put in a deep pool over night and see what crawled in. We would usually be guaranteed at least some spider crabs who's meat is equally delicious. There's something about the fresh sea air and the thought of crab meat that gets my stomach rumbling.

The cooking is a simple process of placing the crab in cold salted water, bring them to the boil and cook for 8 minutes. Remove them from the water allow to cool and crack the shells to reveal the succulent meat inside (I find a small hammer the best tool)

You can either eat the meat as it is or you can dress it with aioli, tabasco and lemon juice to give it that professional touch. It also goes really well with brown bread but what ever way you choose.. enjoy it!

                                             

                                                                 

 

  

Drunken Chicken Curry

When people think curry the think spicy…then it's usually associated with beer to reduce the spice heat. So I thought to myself why not combine the two?! So I came up with my drunken chicken curry! Perfect for those of you who can't quiet take the heat!

Ingredients:

1 x onion

1 x red pepper

1 x green pepper

1 x clove of garlic (crushed)

1 x chili (deseeded and finely chopped)

1 x inch of ginger (grated)

1 x chicken breast (cut into strips)

1 x lime (zest and juice)

2 cups of lager

1 cup of double cream

cilantro

Method;

Finely slice your onion and peppers and put in a pan on medium heat, add your garlic, chili, ginger and zest, sweat for 6-8 minutes without colouring. Remove the onion mix from the pan, reheat your pan to medium-high and sear your chicken strips until golden brown. Add your lime juice, beer and onion/pepper mix at this point, bring to a simmer before adding your cream, reduce by halt or until sauce thickens. add cilantro, check seasoning and you're ready to go! Perfect with egg noodles or fluffy basmati rice.

The Humble Spud

Agh the humble spud, the most versatile, under appreciated member of the vegetable kingdom. Time you give it the respect it deserves and out it back on top where it rightly belongs!
Everyone has there own way of baking potatoes, but I find the most effective was is to spike it with a sharp knife into the centre, sit it on layer of salt in a baking tray and bake it for 2hrs in a preheated oven @ 405f. The salt draws the moisture out of your potato and leave you with a crispy jacket and a light fluffy potato centre. It is the ultimate in versatile snack food, that you can fill with whatever you like!

This version is my favourite...

Caramelised onion, blue cheese and bacon
Bake your potato- scoop out the insides, mix with caramelised onions, bacon, a bit of cream cheese, blue cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Put back in the oven until warm and gooey.

Irish Brown Bread

 Soda bread is an important part if Irish culture, and it's a fantastic partner for Irish stew. So on a cold Canadian winters night the best way of warming up, and tasting a little piece of home is with a warm bowl of peasants soup and slices of brown bread. Yes, this is the same bread in the background of the peasants soup recipe, because it's such a perfect pair.

 

7 oz rolled oats 

7oz wheat bran

10 oz plain flour 

1 3/4 tsp baking soda 

1 1/4 tsp salt 

1 3/4 cups buttermilk 

1 tbsp treacle 

mixed seeds (optional)

Grind oats in blender. Add all dry ingredients together. Combine treacle and buttermilk and add them to the dry ingredients to form a dough. Place dough in a  greased 1 lb loaf tin or form into round loafs. Score the top of the loaf with a knife and brush with the buttermilk. Sprinkle with mixed seeds if you'd like. Put in a pre-heater 205c oven for 40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap on it.

 Slice and eat with butter or as a delicious tool for soaking up soup or stew.