Christmas Gift Ideas

Once black Friday hits, I tend to automatically go into stress mode over Christmas shopping. As much as I swear every year to be organized and original, it usually ends up the same as every other year - PJ's for Dad, perfume for Mum, clothes for the brothers and beauty products for little sister. But it's often not your nearest that are the most difficult? I'm often the most stuck on gifts for people such as my boyfriends Mum and sisters, a close neighbour or perhaps the hostess of a festive dinner party.

I, for one, go a little nuts for a personalized gift - anything with my name on it, a pigsback.com birthday card or even a photo collage on Facebook for my birthday. So I know that if someone put together a mini basket of homemade Christmas goodies for me, it would really go down a treat.




Here are a few of my favourite Christmas gift ideas.

Cranberry Sauce

• 200g Fresh Cranberries
• 45ml water
• 200g of sugar

Put all the ingredients into a pot and bring to the boil. Reduce temperature and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure that the mixture is not sticking. After the 30 minutes are up, whip furiously with a whisk to ensure that all the berries are burst. This quantity should make 2 small jars of cranberry sauce.








Apple and Cranberry Chutney

• 700g of Granny Smiths apples peeled and cored
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 250g fresh cranberries
• 350ml apple cider vinegar
• 200g sugar
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp ground coriander

Slice the apples into halves. Slice the halves lengthways into smaller pieces. Place the apple pieces and finely chopped onion into a saucepan with all the other ingredients and 2 tsp salt. Heat the mixture until it is simmering quickly. Cook the mixture for 45 minutes, or until the chutney has thickened slightly and the fruit has become soft.  Spoon the mixture into sterilized jars and screw the lids onto the jars tightly. Allow to cool before storing in a cool, dark place.


Mulled Wine Flavoured Caramelized Onions

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 4 finely chopped red onions
• 1 finely chopped white onion
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp of Mulled Wine Spice
• Half tsp of Caraway Seeds

Sautee the onion in a heavy based pan in the oil. When the onion are soft add the vinegar and sugar and leave until they are a stick caramelized goo. Turn town the heat to a gentle simmer and then add the seasoning. Leave to simmer for a further 15 to 20 minutes before leaving to cool and then placing in jars.

For hygiene purposes, heat your oven to 140°C/120°C fan/gas mark 1. Wash the jars in hot, soapy water, then rinse well. Place the jars on a baking sheet and put them in the oven to dry completely. For jams and chutneys, it’s important that mix is still hot when filling the jars. Place a waxed disc directly over the surface to create a seal, then add a lid or secure on a cellophane lid with an elastic band.

I generally tend to use recycled jars as buying jars for the purpose of gifts can be quite expensive. Also using a mis-match of interesting shaped jars with different colour lids can add character to your gift. Soak the jars in warm soapy water until the labels start to lift off. These jars can be decorated using usual gift decorations, gift tags ribbons etc.

Happy Gifting!!!!! :)

Lunch Date

So I'm cooking lunch for a friend on Saturday and it's definitely obvious that I'm going to be inspired by my trip to Mannings Food Emporium in Ballylickey last Sunday. Mannings, set in the wilderness of gorgeous West Cork, is a little café/deli/artisan gourmet foodstore (with a wine list) that would be easily missed except for it's reputation - and thankfully, Google maps! As breakfast was included in our hotel deal, we dragged ourselves passed what looked like a delicious brunch menu and made our way to the deli counter, where we found some of west Corks finest goodies, Durrus, Gubbeen and Mileens cheeses to name but a few. After browsing the selves and fridge cabinets, I treated myself to the following,

Rasberry Vinegar from Rearour Orchard, Sheepshead, famous Durrus Farmhouse Cheese, probably even more famous Gubbeen Chorizo and Mannings Emporium own brand Cheese and Wine Chutney.

So to start with, crusty fresh bread with some of the pesto and black olive tapenade that I brought from holidays in France back in September.

For main course, I used my Gubeen Chirizo in a chorizo, carmelized red onion and goat's cheese quiche.

Shopping List:
4 oz flour
Pinch of salt
2oz butter

1 1/2 Red Onions, cut into half moons,
2 teaspoons of Brown Sugar
One tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
One desert spoon of olive oil

Gubbeen Chorizo Sausage
5-6 2cm slices of goats cheese

4 eggs
A sprinkle of finely chopped parsley,
A small handful of fresh basil leaves to garnish,
Salt and Pepper to season

For the pastry, I just used a very simple traditional short crust pastry recipe. Before you start, put a glass or a small jug of water into the fridge to chill. Sieve your four and salt into a bowl and while roughly mixing, chop your margarine into small pieces and add to the bowl. Without melting the margarine, use the tips of your fingers to crumble the margarine and flour into 'breadcrumbs'. To keep your pastry light, make sure your keep your hands and all other implements as cold as possible so that the margarine doesn't melt. Hold you hands high wile doing this to incorporate as much air as possible into the mix. When your flour and butter finally resemble breadcrumbs, very gradually add the cold water, while continuously mixing. Stop adding water when the breadcrumbs have been incorporated into a soft dough ball. When your pastry is ready, tip onto a sheet of cling film, wrap tightly and put it in the fridge.

For the filling, in a large frying pan, I heated the oil over a medium heat. I added the red onions, stirred them until coated in the oil and fried them gently for about 15 minutes, until they were soft and slightly translucent. I added the balsamic vinegar and sugar and stirred until evenly coated.  I left it to simmer for about a further 15 minutes, until the onions were sweet and sticky. I then placed these in a bowl to one side and left to cool.

I sliced the Chorizo and sautéed it gently in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes to soften, hence why it appears a little black in the pictures. I wouldn't repeat this step if I was making this again. The flavour would probably be a little more distinctive if just added as is.

My 4 eggs, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and parsley were added to a blender/smoothie maker and turned it on to full power for approx 3 mins.

With the tart tin greased and ready to go and my oven preheating at 180oC, I flattened my pastry, lined my tin with it and then add an even as possible layer of caremelized onion. Then I evenly spread the chorizo and poured the beaten eggs. Don't worry if your ingredients aren't fully covered. Your eggs should have enough air incorporated for the eggs to rise during baking. Place in the oven for approx 10 mins.

After about 10 mins, I gently arranged the goats cheese and basil leaves and placed the quiche back in the oven for a further 10 mins. This stops the goats cheese from sinking to the bottom, so they should be nice and golden on top of the tart.

I keeping with the spanish/chorizo theme, I oven baked some patients wedges with a strong sprinkle of smoked paprika. We ate some rocket and cherry tomatoes with the beautifully fragrant Rasberry Vinegar drizzled over.

Stay tuned for desert- warm apple and blackberry  with oatmeal crumble!!!

Go-Go Green Smoothies

Go-Go Green Smoothies

My very first blog post is going to be about the first and most important meal of the day. It’s a meal that I have battled with for most of my life, mainly because I am not a morning person and seem to be perpetually running late. With this particular recipe, I think I’m fitting all of the food groups that I should be eating in the morning, but in a form that I can start into while I’m packing my lunch and sometime even finish off while I’m checking my mails once I get to my desk. 

Ingredients:

• 2 dessertspoons of low fat natural yoghurt
• Half a juiced lemon
• 1 Cup full of melon chunks
• 1 Cup full of pineapple chunks
• 1 Handful of Blueberries
• Half a thumb sized piece of peeled ginger, chopped roughly
• Quarter of a cucumber, chopped with skin on
• Half a large or 1 small avocado
• 2 handfuls of spinach leaves
• 1 Teaspoon of milled Chia seed, Goji berry and Flaxseed
• 2 Tablespoons of oats
• 1 Tablespoon of whole Sunflower Seeds
• 1 Dessertspoon of local honey

This smoothie is also delicious – possibly even more so – without the natural yoghurt. I’ve have just always included natural yoghurt in my diet due to the benefits of probiotics on my slightly sensitive stomach.

I always chop about 3 days’ worth of ingredients (except for the spinach and avocado) in advance because nobody has time to make a fresh smoothie every morning before work. Store everything in airtight containers in the fridge. To speed yourself up in the morning have your avocados halved and wrapped tightly in cling film and have your porridge, seeds etc all stored in order of use to speed yourself up even more.

If you can get your hands on local honey, it’s so much better for you. You should find some in your local farmer’s market, even if there’s no-one selling any – ask around!! If your family is from the countryside, your grandparents are likely to know someone.

Honey isn’t as refined or High-GI as white sugar but don’t forget that excessive consumption will have some effect on your blood sugars so just because it’s healthier, doesn’t make it healthy.

That is unless your using honey that is local to your area. Different varieties of honey for sale in supermarkets tend to be a blend of EU and non-EU honey. Honey that is local to your area will provide you with a wealth of immunoboosting benefits. Local honey is produced by bees that that feed off pollen that is present only in your local environment. Therefore it's tailored to the needs of people who live nearby.

Happy Blending J