Oven 180 C.

Thinly slice the red cabbage, chop the onion and cube the apple. Then layer it into the dish add the stock, herbs and put it into the oven. The fennel adds a slightly different flavour at this time of year which I think works very well with the dish and turkey.

If you are cooking a turkey put it in the same oven 30 minutes before the bird is schedule to be finished cooking. If there is no room in the oven this dish can also be simmered slowly in a pot on top of the cooker hob.
Check 10 minutes to end of cooking and stir – sometimes when I make this I include 2 cloves of crushed garlic at this stage but its an extra the dish does not really need. I include it at this cooking point the flavour is fresher.

My Cookmakebake festive baked red cabbage  and cranberries dish reheats really well the next day which means you can cook it a day ahead or its a great one for left overs. Plus yeah I like it in a turkey sandwich too!

Its very easy to make this a vegetarian option by not using turkey stock.

Note: There is no fat or oil used in the recipe, it does n’t need it.

The apples in this recipe were from the bottom of the fruit bowl, a great way to use em up! But I think apples and red cabbage are a match made for each other. Don’t peel the apples the extra dietary fibre is useful in the diet at this time of year.  

2 fillets Monkfish
2 Garlic cloves
1 Lemon
Fresh Ginger
2 Scallions
1 Teaspoon of rapeseed oil
2 Tablespoons of stock (fish or vegetable)
2 Teaspoons of Oyster Sauce

Cut the fillets in half. place in a shallow bowl. Roughly chop the garlic, slice the ginger and scatter over the fish. Squeeze a half a lemon over the fish and season with salt and 4 grist’s of pepper. Scatter the scallions over the fish. Leave to marinate.

Put a pot on the hob and heat the oil till its very hot.

Mix the fish in the marinade. Place the fish pieces in the oil and seal them.

Add the marinade. Stir and place the lid on. Heat up the stock and add it after 4 minutes. Stir in the oyster sauce, place the lid back on and cook for another 4 minutes.

Depending on the thickness of the fish they should be cooked.
I served this with rice, steamed green beans and side salad.

Sorry no photo it was devoured too fast by my husband.

a different sort of vegetable salad side dish

a small red onion

1  a yellow pepper

3 large juicy plump tomatoes

3 stalks of celery

1 garlic clove

Juice of half a lemon

¼ teaspoon of hot mustard

a glug of Irish rapeseed oil (okay use Olive oil if you need to)

1 tablespoon Capers (optional)

1 green chilli (optional)

Salt

Pepper

A pinch of hot paprika

Take the bowl you are going to serve the salad, chop the garlic clove in half and run it around the bowl, it adds a hint of garlic and is a wonderful technique to add an extra layer of flavour.
Chop the onion finely and place it in the bowl season it with salt and pepper, mix and add the lemon juice.  this wilts the onion slightly. Add the mustard and mix.
Chop the yellow pepper and celery finely add to bowl.
Keep the tomatoes  large add to bowl. Pour the glug of rapeseed oil over the salad – sparingly it does not need much.

Chop the chilly finely add to bowl and use as much as you want. I liked this salad with a kick.

Add the capers to bowl. If you are using salted ones wash them and dry them off on kitchen paper.

Mix and leave to sit. Sprinkle the paprika over it before you bring it to the table and toss nce again before serving.

I made this to accompany crab claws and some left over monkfish that was served cold. I had a little mature cheddar on the side too. It was delicious and think it would go great with BBQ meat, roast chicken and steak too.

I suppose it is an unconventional way to make a salad dressing making it in the bowl as you go along. But it works and I will make this again.

Hope you try it, if you do let me know what you like about it.

Happy making!

Raspberry whizz

Frozen Raspberries a small handful per person
1 frozen banana* (one per 3 handfuls of berries)
100ml milk or juice

Put everything in a deep container and whizz. Scoop and serve. It really is that fast.
It is a cross between and ice cream and a sorbet.

I think the frozen banana makes this sweet enough but add honey if you think it needs it.

This is perfect for those over ripe bananas at the end of the fruit bowl. *Peel the banana’s and slice them before freezing them. If you don’t slice them they are tougher to whizz through and you can’t make smaller quantities.

This is also good with any frozen berries.

Enjoy.

1 lemon
5 chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon French mustard
2 tablespoons soya sauce
2 tablespoon marmalade

1 large onion
3 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 teaspoon cornflour
water

Pick a container with a lid that will take all the chicken. I like to use a long flat plastic container with a lid.

Squeeze the lemon of all its juice into the container. Add the chicken and coat them in the lemon juice. Sprinkle the cumin and paprika on top. Pour in the soya sauce. Mix well. Add the marmalade and mustard mashing them into the liquid with a fork and coating the chicken. Chop the garlic and sprinkle over the chicken. Put the lid on the box and shake. Then live in the fridge for several hours. I did this step at lunchtime for an evening meal. Shake the box every time you open the fridge or get the kids to do this.

When you marinate chicken like this it takes on a soft delicate flavour and texture. You could swap out the lemon for cider vinegar but use half the suggested amount.

When you are ready to cook the chicken take it out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan use olive oil or rapeseed oil. Slice the onion and fry it off don’t let it go brown. When it has become translucent add the chicken, cook until the underside is sealed. Turn the chicken over and continue to cook. After the chicken is cooked both sides six minutes or so add the carrots and the marinade and about a cupful of water. Cook bring the pot to the boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook for a further 20 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked taste it to see do the flavours need adjusting. Remove the chicken from the pan along with half the carrots. Whiz the remaining liquid, onions and carrot in the pan to create a smooth sauce. Mix the cornflour in a small container with water to make a paste and add this to the sauce, you will see it thicken but do cook out the cornflour. Stir the sauce well and keep the heat on it. You can choose to slice the chicken before adding it back into the sauce but I added the chicken and carrots back in to the sauce. Then I broke up the chicken with the wooden spoon.

This was served with basmati rice.

This dish did not need any salt as the soya sauce provided plenty of flavour.

Everyone ate it… okay son#3 the seven year old wanted the sauce on his rice and the chicken without sauce. I had kept one chicken breast without sauce. I know my kids!

I had cooked myself some lovely short grain brown rice the night before and put an extra portion in the fridge. I thought yes some nutty brown rice and egg like a stir fired rice but no eggs did not appeal. Tofu did. The plainness of tofu oft deters me but I love that it is like a blank canvas and it holds flavours well. I had not cooked with the delicious nutty Happy Heart Rapeseed oil, I had been savouring it in an unheated state. But I reckoned the tofu would pick up the flavour well and compliment the nutty rice.

So I sliced up the tofu and marinated it for about ten minutes in soya sauce, lemon juice, sambal (an Indonesian shop bought hot salty chilli condiment) and then I added a surprising element marmalade.

I heated the oil in a small frying pan, the smell of the rapeseed oil filled the kitchen, when it was good an hot I placed the tofu slices in to fry them. They quickly browned and I turned them over adding the rice then gently mixing so as not to brake up the tofu. I added the marinade and cooked it off. Two sliced scallions were added at the end. The result a surprisingly delicious tofu and twice cooked rice.

Serves 4

1 medium onion
1 large garlic clove
1 large red pepper
Olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon parsley
1 Bay leaf
Basmati rice (1 mug of rice x 1.5 mugs water)
4 slices of salmon (can be frozen)
2 stalks of celery
Squeeze of lemon juice.

Slice the onion. Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the onions and reduce the heat to soften them, add the garlic and stir. Slice the pepper and add it also. Continue to sauté the vegetables. Add the rice and mix well. Stir in the paprika and thyme. Measure out the water for the rice and add to the pot. Turn up the heat.  Sprinkle the dried parsley over pot and stir for the last time, add the bay leaf. Cook for five minutes and reduce heat right down to a bare simmer.

Add the four fillets of fish. These can be marinated or straight from the freezer.

Dice the celery and put in on top of the fish. Cook for another 5 minutes then turn the pot off but leave it on the ring for an additional 8 minutes. Both the fish and the rice should be cooked. Finish off with a squeeze of lemon juice.

This is surprisingly filling. Note no salt in the rice the flavours carry it without the dish needing salt.

It would benefit from a light crisp salad with a simple lemon dressing.

WHITE SODA BREAD

1lb white flour
3/4 teaspoon bread soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
360ml buttermilk (or more often I’ll use plain yogurt mixed with milk)

Set the cooker to 220 C.
Mix all the dry ingredients together. You can sieve it if you like but I don’t. Have a floured tray ready to go in the oven.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredient and pour in the buttermilk. Mix until just brought together. Knee the dough three or four times only. The less handling the better. Flour the surface and tip the dough on to it. You can roll it flat and using cutters make scones*. Remember the size of the cut shape will influence the cooking time. The bread will make a hollow sound when tapped underneath when it is cooked. Cool on a wry rack. Be warned eating the bread hot from the oven with melted butter and homemade jam is delicious but can induce stomach cramps.

This is a great recipe to let children help with. They really enjoy getting the ingredients, weighing, mixing, getting the dough rolled out and using different cookie cutters to shape out scones. The more they play with it the tougher it becomes but in my experience they are so happy to eat their creations it won’t matter to them.

*I used to do that now I make into a long narrow loaf shape keeping it tall and narrow so I get two rows on the tray.Then using a good knife I cut the dough 3/4 of the way down to make smaller rolls. They cook together but are marked so are easy to break off and give nice open white bread sides with a nice soft crust on top and bottom.  These take about 12 minutes to cook in the oven. I usually turn them after 9 minutes. But you will start to smell them being cooked and filling the kitchen with the wonderful aroma of fresh bread.

I had forgotten how much the whole family love fresh white soda bread. It also solved some school lunch box dilemmas.

This is a great recipe for variations here are some I make:

∂ Soda bread pizza. Before you mix the dry & wet ingredients have the following ready to go. Your choice of tomato sauce, grated cheese, oregano. You can use a passata about 250ml, add salt, pepper, 1tsp mixed herbs, large crushed clove of garlic and  mix well. Otherwise I recommend Bunalun, Tomato and Vegetable Sauce is excellent and tastes pretty much like my homemade tomato sauce. As a rule I don’t buy ready made pasta sauces as I find them too sweet or too oily. For the cheese my kids prefer cheddar but for grown up pizza soft goats cheese has featured. Make the soda bread, roll out flat, place on a floured tin tray. Using a spoon cover the base with tomato sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese over and finally some oregano. Put in the oven and set the timer for 7 minutes. Turn the pizza and set for another five minutes. When cooked the smell is delicious and it lifts off the tray easily. Remove to a rack. Slice, serve and enjoy.
This is a great recipe for children’s parties and teenage hangout sessions.

∂ Herby bread scones. Add 1 teaspoon of a mixed herbs into the dry ingredients and mix well then continue as above. Would be excellent severed with soup or some nice hard cheese like an Ardsallagh.

∂ Olive flat bread. Add 2 tablespoons of sliced black olives into the weighed wet ingredients and mix well. Add to the dry and continue as above. Roll this out flat to fill the tray and bake in one piece as a tear and share bread or cut into squares. Start to check after six minutes.

∂ Cheats focaccia. Roll the white soda bread out flat about 2cm think. Impress your thumb print on it and put sprigs of fresh rosemary into each. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Drizzle olive oil over the dough. Pop into the oven. I love this with a bowl of spinach soup.

So what do I do? Son #3 seven years clearly announces “I don’t like lasagna” as I finish the layers and am about to put the dish in the oven! He has been off his food lately. I know there is a lump of bacon left in the fridge. I remember a great Nigella Lawson Pizza Rustica in ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’ that I have made before and he has enjoyed. But will it be left on the plate?
Have you experienced this? How do you deal with the different foodie preferences in your house?

Son#1 who is now in fully fledged teenage mode started an interesting discussion a few weeks ago

what if we had to pay Mum for dinner?

We had some discussion on menus and what all three of them would like to see on their ‘pay Mum for dinner’.  Perhaps I need to raise that conversation again.

You will need per serving:
Coffee
Cinnamon Stick (or if you can find cassia bark use that it provides a better flavour)
Whipped cream (optional)
Sprinkle of nutmeg

Make a pot of strong filtered coffee enough for as many cups [or mugs lets face it Coffee Rum Hot Mug does not sound right] add the cinnamon stick to the coffee as you are making it and leave it sit for 10 minutes. Press the coffee.
Get your mug add 1 tablespoon of rum and top up with coffee. Heat in a microwave at 80% for 1 minute. If you don’t have a microwave it works well heated in a pot. Add whipped cream. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

I like this without the cream the nutmeg is crucial though it melds the flavours together.
This is an nice option instead of Irish Whiskey or Hot Port.