Summer Kids Cooking

Summer is time to spend with children so why not give them a simple cooking lesson. They might even get to like it and start preparing mid-week dinners for the family (as well as rice crispie buns).

Begin with simple recipes of things the kids like to eat. Home made cheese burgers is an obvious example – make the burger from quality mince meat with salt and pepper (no need for binding agents).

To make chicken nuggets; whiz some cornflakes and salt in a food processor or pestle and mortar and roll pieces of chicken breast in the crumbs. Both the chicken and corn flakes are sticky so should be easy. Shallow fry in a little melted butter mixed with sunflower oil.

Home made fish fingers are also easy. Take strips of fresh cod or haddock and dip in beaten egg, roll them in fine breadcrumbs, sprinkle with salt, and fry in butter and oil as above.

For dessert this chocolate biscuit cake cannot be beaten.

Rich Chocolate Biscuit Cake
Make this into an adult cake by adding a glass or two of whiskey. Children will expect milk chocolate but I use a mix of good quality dark chocolate and standard dairy milk. The proportions below are guidelines, feel free to improvise.

2 Eggs, 100g Butter, 3 tbs of Sugar, 2 tbs of Golden Syrup, 2 tbs of Cocoa Powder, 300g Biscuits (Digestives, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Hob Nobs etc.) broken roughly with your hands, 250g Chocolate (dark, milk or a mix), 50-100g Smarties (for decoration).

Break the eggs into a food processor, add the butter and sugar and blend until smooth and fluffy (or do this by hand). Add the golden syrup, broken biscuits, golden syrup and cocoa powder and mix thoroughly.

Break the chocolate into a bowl and place the bowl in a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted. Adding a little milk (or whiskey) will speed the process and decrease the risk of the chocolate separating.

Add half the melted chocolate to the biscuit mix and stir. Scrape the mix into an 8 inch square cake tin lined with greaseproof paper. Scrape the remaining melted chocolate evenly over the top and sprinkle with Smarties or chocolate pieces for decoration. Set in the fridge for 2 hours.

Cauliflower

The Cauliflower is rarely treated with the respect it deserves.

While it is available in Ireland all year round, I think they are at their best in early summer.

Cauliflower is also a particularly rich source of vitamins and minerals such as folic acid, iron and calcium.

Always choose the firmest, freshest one you can find and look for tight outer leaves. Cook the cauliflower for just a few minutes and serve it while still firm - overcook it and it can taste rancid.

The glorious shape of a whole cauliflower deserves to be maintained if possible, but you can of course cut it into florets.

To cook a whole cauliflower remove the outer leaves and cut across at the stalk end without damaging the structure. Bring a large pot of salted water (at least 6cm deep) to a rolling boil, drop in the cauliflower (stalk up) and cover with a lid or tin foil.

Cook for about 8 minutes until a sharp knife will penetrate the flesh easily. Remove with a large slotted spoon and place triumphantly on a plate with some melted butter or grated cheese oozing all over.

Cauliflower likes herbs such as parsley, coriander and mint, and works surprisingly well with Indian sauces using tomatoes, turmeric, cumin and ginger.

Alternatively make a good old-fashioned Cauliflower au Gratin (Cauliflower Cheese):

Cook the cauliflower as described above, plunge into cold water and carefully cut into florets.

For the cheese sauce; melt 2tbs of butter in a pan and fry a chopped onion until translucent. Add 2tbs of flour and stir for at least 90 seconds to allow the flour to cook. Gradually add 100ml of milk, followed by 100ml of the cauliflower’s cooking water (or use all milk). Stir and cook for 2 min., then add a handful of grated gruyere or farmhouse cheddar (e.g. Mount Callan), and stir until thick.

Pour a quarter of the sauce into an ovenproof dish and add the florets. Pour over the remainder of the cheese sauce, sprinkle on lots more grated gruyere followed by breadcrumbs followed by grated parmesan. Drizzle with melted butter and bake in a hot oven (200o C) for ten minutes until browned.

Seasonal Cheese

Most of us are unaware that Cheeses have a season.

To find seasonal cheeses you need to visit a decent cheese shop like Sheridans on South Anne St. (also Galway and various farmers markets).

The milk from cows, sheep or goats fed on winter hay will never provide as good a flavour as the rich grass and wild flowers available in the springtime.

You can particularly taste the difference in a fresh goats cheese made from spring milk such as St. Tola (Co. Clare), Sainte Maure (Loire) or Roves de Garrigues (Provence).

Washed rind cheeses can be eaten all year but summer is also the best time to eat the likes of Reblochon, Durrus and Ardrahan

Tartiflette is a modern classic from the Savoy although only around since the 1980s (created by the reblochon promotion board).

This is a popular dish with winter skiers in the French Alps but is even better in summer. Feel free to swap the bacon bits with spinach or cress to make this vegetarian.

Tartiflette

175g streaky rashers or lardons
2 medium onions
1.5kg Potatoes
240-250g very ripe Reblochon, Durrus or Ardrahan
200g Crème Fraiche
50g Butter

De-rind and chop the rashers and fry with the chopped onions until the bacon has begun to crisp slightly and the onions have begun to colour ever so slightly. Remove from the heat.

Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into thick slices. As you cut them add them to a large pot of cold water. Bring the pot slowly to a boil and cook the potatoes gently until they are soft but not cooked through. Drain and run under cold water to allow to cool a little.

Rub the butter around a large ovenproof dish and add a layer of sliced potatoes, followed by some bacon and onion, followed by some thin slices of cheese. If the rind on the cheese is hard you should remove it but if it is soft you can leave it on. Continue until you have filled the dish and topped with the last of the cheese. Pour the crème fraîche over the top and sides and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with a green salad and some crusty bread.

Pea Season?

Why don’t we have a pea season anymore? On a visit to Helsinki last summer I was amazed to find stalls heaving with peas on every corner – we ate them almost every day.

Prices were fairly high for that day’s peas but the previous day’s peas could be bought for a fraction of the price (and were still miles better than most of what you will find in shops in Ireland).

The frozen pea must have seemed like a miracle when it was first introduced but the novelty wore off a long time ago.

Who over the age of 12 looks forward to eating frozen peas any more than they would fish fingers?

The very best fresh summer peas should be eaten within a few hours of picking so you will have to grow your own or find a farmer selling his own produce to taste them at their best.

If you do find perfectly fresh peas just pod them and boil them for a few minutes in salted water, drain and add some butter and mint and serve decorated with some pea shoots (the curly bits from the pea plant).

If the peas are very young you can even cook them in their pods and eat them whole.

If you are buying from your supermarket or greengrocer, choose the firmest, youngest looking pods and try the recipe below which is my favourite way to deal with peas of uncertain age and is far nicer than anything that Captain can produce.

Peas à la Francaise
To turn this recipe into Peas Bonne Femme simply fry some bacon lardons and add to the recipe.

Ingredients: 1 baby Cos Lettuce, 1tbs Chopped Parsley, 4 Chopped Spring Onions, 1tsp Salt, 1tsp Sugar, 40g Butter, 1 Diced Carrot, 400g Fresh Peas (approx 1kg in their pods), 6tbs water.

Line the saucepan with the lettuce leaves and add the other ingredients in the order above. Cover the saucepan with a tight lid and place on a hot ring for 30 seconds, turn the heat to low and allow the peas to steam for approx. 15 minutes. Serve with some grilled or barbecued lamb or steak.

Quick Summer Food

Quick Kebabs
Trim and cube 1kg of round steak purchased from a butcher that ages his meat (to ensure tenderness) - Ennis Butchers in Rialto is one example but there are many all over the country.

Rub the steak with salt, pepper, mild chilli powder (Aleppo Chilli MIx if you can find it), allspice, nutmeg and dried oregano. Add a splash of olive oil and some lemon juice, mix well and allow to marinate for at least an hour. Push onto skewers and grill on the barbecue.

Trim and cube 4 chicken breasts and place in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped chilli pepper (optional), fresh coriander or other herbs. Allow to marinate and push onto skewers and grill.

Couscous Salad
Pour 300g of couscous into a dish and pour on 300ml of hot water containing ½ - 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir the couscous vigorously so that the water is absorbed evenly and leave it to swell for ten minutes. Add 100ml of extra virgin olive oil and rub the couscous between your fingers to break up any lumps and to ensure it is light and fluffy. This last step is the most important so spend a few minutes lifting and separating the grains with your fingertips. Finally add a chopped red pepper, chopped red onion, black pepper and lots of fresh mint.

Grill some merguez or lamb sausages (available in halal and fancier butchers) and add to the couscous cold or warm.

In Season...

Anyone reading this column in the past will have noticed my emphasis on seasonality. I’ll say it one more time for anyone that missed it: locally grown food in season tastes better and costs less.

If you are unsure about what is in season the Bord Bia site: www.bestinseason.ie has a very useful chart.

The best way of dealing with seasonal produce is to do as little as possible with it to preserve the natural flavours, and one of the best ways to do this is to make a salad, the ultimate summer food.

Salad doesn’t have to contain leaves but there is a good reason for eating sweet young leaves at this time of year when they reach their peak of flavour. You still have time to plant some “cut and come again” lettuce that will give you continual supplies over the coming months.

Fresh herbs are at their best in summer so liberally add any that you have to hand.

Warm salads (where hot cooked ingredients are added) are useful to avoid accusations of serving rabbit food. Thinly sliced rare steak, fried bacon lardoons and shellfish work well; as does offal such as lamb kidneys, sweetbreads and even black pudding (add some apple).

Flowers can add a decorative element but also flavours, particularly nectar sweet Violets or pungent peppery Nasturtiums. Herb flowers such as chive or rosemary work well and jasmine, primroses and even fuscia are all worth trying. Beware of poisonous flowers such as potato or sweet pea.

French Dressing
3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1tbs Sherry or Wine Vinegar, 1tsp Dijon Mustard, Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper.

Add the ingredients to a jam jar and shake vigorously to emulsify.

Variations: replace the vinegar with twice as much lemon or grapefruit juice; replace the olive oil with hazel or walnut oil; for salads containing shellfish add a half teaspoon of Thai fish sauce and some chopped lemongrass; for meat based salads add the deglazed juices from the pan.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Irish strawberries are well and truly in season now and the price has finally begun to drop.

The tunnel grown fruits are being replaced with the outdoor fruit which always seems to taste sweeter.

Strawberries are rich in Vitamin C and naturally sweet, though I usually add a light sprinkle of caster sugar and let them sit for a few minutes to macerate.

Strawberries and cream is one of the great indulgences of the Irish summer and Glenilen double cream (from specialist supermarkets and delis) is the finest I have found, usually containing large globules of cream that are just begging to be scooped off with your finger.

Dip the strawberries in melted chocolate and refrigerate for an hour for the perfect TV snack.

Stuff some warm pancakes with strawberries, and perhaps some chocolate, and serve with vanilla ice cream and a strawberry coulis (strawberries blended with some sugar and lemon juice).

Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar and drizzle with top quality balsamic vinegar for a surprising Italian twist that really seems to intensify the strawberry flavours.

The simple strawberry ice cream below gets made at least a dozen times every summer in my house and is delicious on its own, with chocolate sauce or served with fruit tarts.

You will get best results with an ice cream maker but if you don’t have one simply follow the still-freezing instructions below.

Strawberry Ice Cream
400g Strawberries
75g Caster Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1tbs Strawberry Syrup (optional)
240ml Cream (Glenilen double cream for preference)

Buzz the strawberries and sugar in a food processor until they form a smooth pulp (or mash and stir them vigorously with a wooden spoon). Add the vanilla and strawberry syrup and mix well. Beat the cream until it forms soft peaks and mix well with the pulped strawberries.

Freeze for 90 minutes, remove and mix in the frozen bits at the edges until you have a smooth mix. Repeat this process a couple of times over the next few hours to prevent ice crystals. Alternatively pour the mix into an ice cream maker and churn until stiff.