Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Turkey Breast
Ingredients
- 200 g Sausage meat
- 100 g Breadcrumbs
- 4 tbsp sage chopped
- 2 tbsp. Parsley chopped
- 2 Onions chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 100 g smoked mature cheddar grated
- 16 pieces dry cured smoked streak bacon
- 1 turkey breast approx 1.2 kg
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp butter softened
For the gravy ( see next recipe)
- 1 carrot cut lenghtway
- 1 onion slcied
- 1 bulb garlic
- 300 g chicken wings
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- To make the Sausage meat stuffing, in a bowl, combine the sausage meat, breadcrumbs, herbs, onion, garlic, mature cheddar. Check the seasoning and set aside until needed.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on a work surface. Line the pieces of streaky bacon side by sides so it should fit to cover the turkey breast and add a second layer of parchment of paper. Using a rolling pin, roll the bacon to flatten and spread them until it reach about a double in length.
- Add the butterflied turkey breast over and add the stuffing.
- Roll the bacon and turkey piece up to form a long roll. Tie every 2 inches with kitchen twine. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Tuck rosemary branches along the top of the roll under the twine.
- Weigh the joint and calculate the cooking time, allowing 15 minutes per 450g plus 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200ËšC.
- Place the turkey joint into a roasting tin with a carrot, garlic and sliced onion as a raft.
- Spread some softened butter over the bacon on the turkey and season well with salt and pepper.
- Place the turkey into the oven and roast it for about 1hour 40 minutes or until the juices run clear.
- Lift the turkey joint onto a board, cover with foil like a tent and leave it to rest for 10 minutes, before carving and serving! In the meantime prepare the gravy!
The tastiest Prawn Cocktail
How many times has this dish reinvented itself and each time it comes back stronger than ever. There is something about it that always draws my mind to it on a menu and as much as I try I just can’t resist. This is my version or my twist on the classic dish. Firm prawns, crisp lettuce, tangy sauce-just what could be better?
This makes a great starter or light main course option.
Ingredients
- 16 wild Atlantic prawns
- 1 small head of iceberg lettuce-Finely shredded
- 2 shallots-thinly sliced
- Lemon wedges-for garnish
- 1 bay leaf
- Marie-rose Sauce:
- 150 ml mayonnaise
- 4 teaspoons of tomato ketchup
- 1 pinch paprika
- Dash of Tabasco sauce
- 30 ml brandy
- 2 tbsp whipped cream
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the sauce.
- Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, paprika together and stir until well combined.
- Stir in the Tabasco and the brandy to suit your own tastes. Proceed with caution with the Tabasco as it can give excessive heat to the dish.
- Retain the sauce in the fridge. Fold the whipped cream last minute.
- Meanwhile bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil.
- Prepare the prawns by cracking them at the base and just pulling off the tail-to revel part of the flesh of the prawn. Try to remove the inner intestine of the prawn in this manoeuvre. Alternatively, your friendly fish monger will do this for you
- Add a piece of lemon and a bay leaf to the boiling water and plunge the prawns in.
- The water will immediately cool down so you must allow the water to come to the boil again and then once the water re boils leave the prawns to cook for between 60-90 seconds or until they are firm to the touch.
- Have a large bowl of iced water standing by and once the prawns are cooked, plunge them into the water for 4-5 minutes to cool them rapidly before they become over cooked.
- The boiled water in which you cooked the prawns can be chilled and/or frozen and used as a simple fish stock for other recipes.
- To Serve:
- Choose a deep bowl or large martini glass.
- Mix the shredded lettuce with the thinly sliced shallots and arrange it at the bottom of the bowl or glass.
Cauliflower & blue Cheese Soup
This is a classic combination of flavours. This is quite a filling soup recipe so a little goes a long way. For a varied flavour why not try adding in a little curry powder when cooking the soup for a mild curried alternative or go bolder and add some strong cheddar cheese.
Ingredients
- 50 g butter
- 1 large onion chopped roughly
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 large head cauliflower chopped
- 750 ml vegetable stock
- 200 ml cream
- 75 g Cashel blue cheese
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add in the chopped onion and garlic.
- Sweat the vegetables off for approximately 2 minutes over a gentle heat until they are softened down. Add in the cauliflower pieces, and continue to cook a further moment or two. Season the mixture lightly at this stage.
- Now pour in the warm chicken stock and the cream and allow the entire mixture to come to the boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have softened.
- Remove from the heat, stir in half of the cheese and blend the soup with a hand blender adding additional stock if you desire. Correct the seasoning of the soup and reheat it gently.
- Serve the soup garnished with some additional crumble of cheese on top.
Orange Marmalade Glazed Ham
Ingredients
- 1.4 kg dry cured Irish Ham or gammon about 3pounds
- 1 onion studded with 3 cloves
- 1 carrot
- 1 bay leaf
glaze
- 4-5 tbsp. Whiskey Orange marmalade
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- 4 tbsp. honey
Gremolata:
- 2 tbsp. parsley
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Place the ham in a large heavy based saucepan, add the studded onion, carrots, bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the ham completely. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for about 1hour approx. (20-25 min / 500g or pound) Remove from the heat and allow the ham to cool in the cooking liquor.
- In a bowl, combine the marmalade, brown sugar with honey.
- Preheat the oven to 160ËšC/ 325ËšC.
- Place the boiled ham on a roasting tray. Using a sharp knife carefully remove the skin from the ham, then gently score the fat.
- Spread the glaze over the ham with a spoon.
- Place into the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown then remove from the oven. Using a pastry brush, brush any missing spot of the ham and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Next, prepare the gremolata. in a bowl, combine the parsley, garlic, lemon zest and juice with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Carve the ham and sprinkle the gremolata over. Serve immediately with vegetable and a side of colcannon mash.
Notes
The gremolata is added at the last minute and will bring a kick of spring freshness on the ham.
Honey Glazed Carrots
This is my version of Vichy-style carrots. When cooking, make sure you shake the pan occasionally to prevent the bottom catching and the glaze caramelizing. I find that they reheat very well so can be made well in advance. Just popped in a pan until warmed through. Adding some cranberry sauce for a touch of Christmas flavour
Ingredients
- 450 g baby carrots halves
- 25 g butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 300 ml vegetable stock or water Vichy water for the purist!
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp Cranberry sauce
Instructions
- Place the carrots in a single layer in a wide saucepan with the butter, honey, garlic clove, rosemary and enough stock or water to just cover the carrots. Add the cranberry sauce. Season to taste.
- Cover with a cartouche or a lid and bring to the boil, then cook over a moderate to high heat for about 12 minutes until the carrots are tender and all of the liquid has evaporated, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Remove from the heat and set aside to keep warm until needed. Alternatively, set aside to cool and keep refrigerated for 2 days in a tight container.
MUM’S ROAST POTATOES
This is my Mum’s recipe and they’ve never failed me. There’s no doubt that the fat from the roast meat makes the best roast potatoes. Alternatively if you ever roast a goose or duck save every drop of the fat and freeze it down in ice cube trays, then bag it to use at your leisure – even a couple added to your oil will help the flavour.
Ingredients
- 675 g floury potatoes cut into large even-sized chunks (such as Rooster or Golden Wonder, preferably all similar in size)
- duck fat or vegetable oil, dripping, goose fat
- Salt to season
- 1 sprig rosemary or other fresh herbs
- 2 garlic cloves optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7. Place the potatoes, garlic, and herb in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes until the outsides have just softened. Drain and return to the pan for a minute or two to dry out.
- then, preheat a roasting tin with a 4 tbsps of oil, or dripping, duck or goose fat for a few minutes until just smoking. Put the lid back on the potatoes and shake vigorously to break up and soften the edges or roughly prod the outside of the potatoes with a fork. Carefully tip them into the hot oil, basting the tops.
- Place the roasting tin with the potatoes back in the oven and cook for 40 minutes, then pour off the majority of the fat before turning the potatoes over. Season to taste with the salt and cook for a further 20 minutes until crispy around the edges and golden brown.
Brussels sprouts with Caramelised Chorizo
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100 g chorizo sausage diced into 2 cm chunks
- 2 shallots chopped
- 50 g day-old sourdough bread cut into 2cm pieces
- 80 g butter diced
- 50 g dried cranberries
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp Rivesci .ie cashew Chilli crush
Instructions
- Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the Brussels sprouts and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, Heat the olive oil and butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add the chorizo and shallots and cook shaking the pan frequently to colour and caramelise the chorizo. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bread croutons now and continue cooking for 1 minutes until the crouton absorb some of the cooking juices.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer Brussels sprouts to the wok and fry for 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the brussels sprouts until coated with the butter.
- Transfer the Brussels sprouts to a platter and serve immediately.
Chocolate Brownie Trifle
Ingredients
Vanilla Custard
- 400 ml milk
- 200 ml cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 6 egg yolks
- 75 g sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
Brownie
- 350 g dark chocolate
- 350 g butter-chopped into pieces
- 5 large eggs
- 350 g demerara sugar
- 150 g self raising flour
To Decorate:
- 300 ml raspberry jelly set
- 350 g Raspberries
- 250 ml freshly whipped cream
- A Selection of Chocolate Truffles or Easter eggs – optional
Instructions
- Firstly, prepare the custard. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon, add the seeds to the milk and cream and pour into a large saucepan, bring to the boil.
- Meanwhile in a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and corn flour together until light and creamy. Pour half of the boiled cream mixture onto the eggs and mix well. Return all the mixture to the saucepan and cook over a low heat until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. It is important to stir the mixture at all times to prevent it from curdling. Remove from the heat and pass through a fine sieve into a bowl. Set aside until cool.
- Then prepare the brownie. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
- Grease and line a 12 inch baking tray with parchment paper.
- Melt the dark chocolate and butter together in a bowl set over simmering water.
- Beat the eggs and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Fold in the melted chocolate and mix well.
- Sieve the self raising flour and gently fold it into the chocolate and egg mixture.
- Fold in the chopped chocolate with the flour and mix well.
- Do not over mix as the air will be knocked out of the mixture.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared cake tin and cook for 35-40 minutes until the centre of the cake feels firm on the surface.
- Allow the cake to cool slightly in the baking tray then cut into even sized squares.
- Place a layer of the chocolate squares in the base of the bowl, top with some jelly cubes and fresh raspberries, then pour over some custard and repeat until all the brownies and custard have been used.
- Set aside to cool, the decorate with some chocolates and raspberries. Before serving spoon some whipped cream on the top and top with some more fresh berries.