Limoncello loaf

I love a nice simple lemon loaf and this morning I set out to do my usual recipe which you will find here:

http://paulaskitchentable.blogspot.ie/2012/04/old-fashioned-lemon-loaf.html

However I couldn't resist the bottle of limoncello looking out at me from the cupboard. It seemed a little early to be drinking liqueur so I simply replaced the lemon juice with a tablespoon of limoncello. I used icing sugar mixed with limoncello to decorate it and a sprinkling of lemon zest. Perfect!

Happy Birthday Mr Ryan!

Wonderful husband, wonderful dad, wonderful man. Count my blessings everyday. He has put up with a lot over the last 15 years and still manages to love me. Happy birthday Raymond!

This is Raymond's favourite thing in the world to eat! Not wildly exotic but traditional and a little bit naughty, quite similar to his wife really!

http://paulaskitchentable.blogspot.ie/2012/01/paula-prodigious-pavlova.html

Showstopper Birthday Cake

I always measure the success of a recipe by the amount of leftovers. This cake was a huge hit as there were mere crumbs scattered over the cake stand soon after the candles were blown out and the wishes were made. I often wonder what children wish for over their birthday flames. New soccer boots, nintendo games and pretty dolls would probably be on the top of my children's lists. On top of mine would be good health, happy home and continued contentment! Will be blowing out 34 candles on my next birthday so will ensure I have a fire blanket beside me following my recent run of bad luck!

For Halle's cake yesterday I used Nigella's Devil Food Cake recipe and you will find it here;

http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/DEVILS-FOOD-CAKE-5310

To decorate;

3 packets of Cadburys chocolate fingers
20 meringue kisses (2 egg whites, 150g caster sugar, 1tsp cornflour, 1/2tsp white wine vinegar. Whisk egg whites till in soft peaks, add sugar a spoon at a time while whisking, add cornflour and vinegar and give a final whisk. Spoon into a piping bag with a Wilton 22 nozzle, pipe onto a baking sheet lined with parchment. Place in a preheated 150 degree oven for 1 hour or until crisp, allow to cool in oven. Store in an airtight container for up to four days. Makes more than enough but watch them disappear!)
Some pretty ribbon

Once the cake is made and you have covered it in the choclate covering, place the fingers all around the edge before securing it with a length of pretty ribbon. To make things easier, use a knife to smear a little of the icing onto the chocolate finger before sticking it to the side.
Top the cake with the meringue kisses, place on a cake stand and enjoy the compliments!

I have always loved Nigella Lawson and this recipe was so gorgeous. I have tried so many different chocolate cake recipes but this is going to be on the birthday cake list for the forseeable. So many different ways to decorate it, I would love to try it with some edible flowers next time.

I might have fibbed a little about my birthday wishes, one of my top ones would be to have a cookbook of my own! I am so thrilled to be included in the Goodalls Modern Irish Cookbook that is being launched in October, I am looking forward to seeing my recipe in print and to meeting all the other contributors. It's for a great cause with all the proceeds going to Cork Penny Dinners & Crosscare, how exciting to be involved! I have a busy month coming up when I will be cooking for Derry Clarke as part of the Tesco Fresh Factor competition, how nerve wracking and exciting at the same time! Will be keeping you all up to date with what's happening and thanks so much for all of your encouragement and kind words over the past while.

To pass on some of my good luck I have a copy of Nigella's latest offering "Nigellissima" to give away. It's only just been published and is full of wonderful Italian recipes to keep you busy in your kitchen. To enter all you need to do is leave a comment below! Best of luck!

Competition closes Sunday the 23rd September at 6pm!

*Drumroll
The competition is now closed!
The winner is Rosaleen Fitzgerald aka clonrf! Thanks all so much for the lovely comments, much appreciated!

Sit long, talk much, laugh often & love.....

So my darling daughter is two tomorrow and much joy is in the house. The two nannies, the grandad and two uncles will be joining us to celebrate with a special birthday dinner and a very special cake.

Each birthday that comes around is a reminder to me that time is precious and as my mother once said about me I now say about my children, we only get a loan of them. I hope my husband and I together are doing a good job raising these three precious little beings and this is the advice that I hope they will follow.....

Try your best no matter what. If you always try your best you will never be disappointed in yourself.

Take good care of yourself. Life is precious. Eat well, exercise and look after your mind.

Always be happy for others good fortune and you will find more joy in your own.

Your siblings are the ones whom you will have the longest relationship with. Treasure them.

Create happy memories that will give you pleasure in years to come.

If you believe, you can do anything.

Make time for friends. When living away from home they will be your family but choose them carefully.

It is fantastic to be loved but even more pleasurable to love.

Take everything in.

Sit long, talk much, laugh often. Make it even more pleasurable by doing this around a kitchen table surrounded by people you love.

So those are my words of wisdom on the eve of my daughter's birthday. Would love to hear what you would like to pass down to your loved ones. xx

Lime pie....

I love watching The Great British Bake Off, I think it's great television and without fail makes my mouth water! This week one of the contestants made a key lime pie and it looked absolutely beautiful. This is the poor mans version as unfortunately key limes are nowhere to be found on our emerald isle.......

For the biscuit base you will need;

16 digestive biscuits
60g caster sugar
1tsp ground ginger
180g unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Place the biscuits, sugar ginger and melted butter into a processor and whizz until it resembles sand.
Pat down into a pie dish and also up the sides.
Place in the oven for 15 mins or until golden brown.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

For the filling;

4 egg yolks
Juice of 5 limes (reserve the zest)
397g tin of condensed milk

Beat the egg yolks until creamy.
Gradually add in the condensed milk and combine well.
Pour in the lime juice and stir in.
Pour onto the biscuit base and place back in the oven for 15 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack before refrigerating overnight.

For the topping;

Once again I turn to my fail proof meringue topping from Nigella!

2 egg whites
150g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until soft peaks form.
Add in the sugar a spoonful at a time and whisk till glossy.
Add in the cornflour and vinegar and give it one final whisk.
Spoon into piping bag.

Once the lime pie has been chilled to perfection in your refrigerator overnight it's time to decorate! I used a Wilton icing nozzle tip number 22 to pipe little meringue kisses around the edge of the pie. Place under a preheated grill for seconds just to slightly darken, keep an eye on it as it can burn in nanoseconds!
Sprinkle the reserved lime zest around the edge to give it a perfect finishing touch.

Low & slow oxtail stew

A couple of months ago I attended a very interesting butchery demonstration in James Whelan butchers in Avoca, Monkstown. Pat Whelan is a fantastic passionate butcher with superior knowledge and fantastic respect for animals. He said something during the evening which has stuck with me and made me reconsider my approach to meat. Basically he said that these animals we eat were sacrificed for us and deserve to be shown huge respect. Don't dismiss the pieces of meat that might be tougher than the more expensive ones but just learn how to cook with them. When I spotted an oxtail in the butchers yesterday, Pat's words came back to me and I decided to buy it. After a bit of research on the internet it seemed the way to go was low and slow. One of the great advantages of low and slow is the fantastic aroma that emanates from the kitchen, the poor dog is drooling here all morning.

This recipe is quite similar to a stew that I make, very warming and perfect for heating up cold bodies and souls.

You will need;

3lb oxtail, cut into large slices
3tbsp flour
Salt & pepper
3tbsp rapeseed oil
4 carrots, in batons
2 onions, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
2 bay leaves
5 sprigs of thyme
300ml red wine
500ml beef stock
2tbsp tomato purée

Preheat oven to 150 degrees.
Place a large pan on a high heat and add the rapeseed oil.
Coat the oxtail in the flour which has been seasoned with salt & pepper.
Add to the frying pan and turn until all sides are browned, transfer to a casserole dish.
Add the carrots, onions and garlic to the pan with a little more oil if required.
Fry until lightly browned over a low heat.
Add the vegetables to the meat in the casserole dish.
Add the thyme, bay leaves and tomato purée to the casserole dish.
Cover with the red wine and the beef stock and stir.
Place in oven and cook for at least three hours or until the meat is coming away from the bone.

Oxtail is quite a gelatinous meat, this dish is best prepared a day in advance so that the fat can be skimmed off the top of the casserole before reheating.

Absolutely gorgeous served with creamy mash potatoes, fresh peas, root vegetables, braised cabbage or anything else that takes your fancy.

The world of a food blogger is a funny old world. Everything has to be just right with the picture before hitting publish. I have been busy with my blog for the last while so have taken on a photographic assistant to add the finishing touches whom you may spot in the pictures. Thankfully it's an intern role so I only need to provide food and board for her.......

Chocolate, caramel & meringue muffins

So Autumn is most definitely here. Cooler temperatures, leaves turning brown, temptation of turning on the heating and school starting all signals the end of summer. I use the word "summer" in very loose terms this year, the wettest one for 26 years in Ireland apparently! In our local boy's school Friday is treat day and I know there would be crestfallen faces if there wasn't a tempting morsel in the boy's lunch boxes. Today is Isaac's first long Friday in school so I thought I would make a variation of one of his favourites, the chocolate muffin!

For 12 muffins you will need;

4oz butter
4oz caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3oz self raising flour
1oz cocoa powder
1tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and place muffin cases into your muffin tin.
Cream the butter and sugar together until creamy.
Add half of the beaten eggs and incorporate.
Add a tablespoon of flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
Add remaining eggs.
Sieve in the flour and cocoa powder and gently mix.
Add the milk and stir gently for a final time.
Spoon equal amounts into muffin cases, I find using an ice cream scoop very handy.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until fully cooked.
Leave on a wire rack to cool.

For the meringue;

I always use Nigella's meringue recipe as it has yet to fail me. Meringue is possibly one of my favourite things to both make and eat and this one is foolproof!

2 egg whites
150g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar

Whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until soft peaks form.
Add in the sugar a spoonful at a time and whisk till glossy.
Add in the cornflour and vinegar and give it one final whisk.
Spoon into piping bag.

To finish;

6tsp caramel (you can also use strawberry sauce, raspberries, banana or anything else that takes your fancy!)

Using a melon baller scoop a little of the chocolate muffin out of the centre and fill the hole with caramel.
Pipe on the meringue in large swirls before placing under a preheated grill.
Watch carefully as they literally take seconds to brown.
So hey presto, delicious little treats for your little darlings and you to indulge in!