Chefs Recipes
Here’s just a taste of some of the delicious recipes we were treated to, Live on Stage, at the 2009 FOOD&WINE magazine Christmas Show in the RDS.
Crimbo ain’t Crimbo without ham of some description but many home cooks wonder if a giant turkey and a giant ham are absolutely necessary. That’s why we love Derry’s clever recipe using value-cuts of ham that are packed with flavour. You’ll also find this dish in his new book, Keeping it Simple (Gill & MacMillan: €30).
Honey-glazed ham hock with green cabbage
Serves four
4 ham hocks
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 bay leaves
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
50g English mustard
150ml honey
50g brown sugar
1 tablespoon cloves
1 large head green cabbage, shredded
2 tablespoons grain mustard
100ml cream
1. Soak the ham hocks overnight in water to remove excess salt. Strain, cover with fresh water and bring to boil. Strain again and add enough fresh water to cover the hocks.
2. Add the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary and simmer very gently for 1½ hours.
3. To check when the ham hock is cooked, look for the little bone at the end of the hock; if you can remove this bone easily, the hock is cooked.
4. Preheat the oven to 160ºC / gas mark 3. Remove ham from the cooking broth, strain broth and retain. Remove the outer skin from the ham. Score the inner skin, pierce with cloves, brush with honey and scatter over a light sprinkling of sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until golden, basting once or twice while cooking.
5. Using some of the cooking broth, boil the cabbage until tender.
6. In a small pot, simmer a little of the cooking liquid with the grain mustard and cream. Season lightly and serve with the ham hock and cabbage.
What a lucky lot the Maguire family are – this is what they have for Christmas dinner cooked by Neven Maguire himself. Don’t forget to drain off the fat for heavenly crispy roast potatoes. Don’t miss his latest book either, Home Chef (Collins: €25), available in shops now.
Stuffed roast goose with cranberry stuffing
Serves eight
For the goose
6kg oven-ready goose, at room temperature
2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon ruby red port or red wine
Finely grated zest of one orange
Salt and pepper
Sprigs of thyme, to garnish
For the stuffing
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
350g quality sausage meat
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
100g dried cranberries
100g walnut halves, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C / gas mark 6. To make the stuffing, heat olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the apple slices and sauté for three to four minutes until soft and golden. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Once cool, add the thyme, sausage meat, breadcrumbs, cranberries and walnuts, stirring gently to evenly mix. Season with salt.
2. Place the goose on a rack set over a roasting tin (so any fat drains off during cooking). Pour a kettleful of boiling water over the goose (this helps loosen the fat from the skin), then drain off the water from the tin.
3. To stuff the goose, start at the neck end where you’ll find a flap of loose skin – gently ease this up and away from the breast to open a triangular pocket. Pack two-thirds of the stuffing in as deep as possible and pat into a neat round shape on the outside, then fold the neck flap back down over the stuffing. Tuck it under the goose and secure with a small skewer. Rub the goose all over with salt.
4. Press the remaining stuffing into a 225g loaf tin and set aside. Weigh the goose and calculate the cooking time, allowing 15 minutes per 450g, plus 15 minutes. This goose should take about three and a half hours.
5. Place the goose (on the rack, over the tin) in the preheated oven to roast, draining off the excess fat every 30 minutes. After an hour, reduce the oven temperature to 180°C / gas mark 4. Continue to cook, still draining the fat off every 30 minutes.
6. Remove goose from the oven 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Warm the redcurrant jelly and balsamic vinegar together with the port or wine and orange zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until the jelly dissolves, and then cook for four to five minutes until syrupy.
7. Brush all over the goose. Return goose to the oven, along with the reserved tin of extra stuffing, and cook for the final 30 minutes until the goose is completely tender. Transfer the goose to a serving platter and cover with foil, then allow to rest for 20 minutes.
8. Remove stuffing from the goose, using a spoon, and transfer to a warmed bowl. Turn out the tin of extra stuffing into the same bowl. To serve, garnish the roast goose with the thyme and bring to the table.
9. Carve the goose into slices and arrange on warmed plates, discarding any excess fat. Add some of the stuffing to each plate, and serve with your favourite festive vegetables.
Seamus Commons of the famed La Fougère Restaurant in Knockranny House Hotel, Westport, Co Mayo presented quite the menu at his demonstration including wild Irish pheasant served with sage and shallot bread sauce and game jus, and our seasonal side-favourite of Brussel sprouts purée with bacon and chestnut. His dessert should perk you up – cranberry vodka jelly with orange sorbet and organic yoghurt foam, topped with a nut crumble. Here’s his bread sauce recipe.
Sage and shallot bread sauce
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh sage leaves, chopped
20g butter
100ml milk
100ml cream
1 bay leaf
50g white dry bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
1. Sweat off banana shallot, garlic and sage in butter without colouring. Add the milk and cream and bay leaf, bring to boil slowly. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for an hour.
2. Strain through a sieve. Add the breadcrumbs, season to taste. Keep warm until serving.
Fans of the TV show Saturday Kitchen will know that Kevin Dundon is no stranger to the big stage, and yet his style of cooking is rooted in authenticity rather than artifice. You need only visit the beautiful Dunbrody House and its grounds to see where he gets his inspiration. Kevin shares his take on the festive season including glazed loin of bacon and the Dunbrody Kiss (a chocolate confection that is more chased than chaste). Try serving the bacon cold with this superb pear and sultana chutney.
Pear and sultana chutney
8 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
200g brown sugar
2 cooking apples, diced
2 onions, finely chopped
110g sultanas
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
225ml white wine vinegar
8–10 pears, diced and chopped
1. Combine all ingredients in a large thick bottomed pan. Stir and continue to simmer until the pears are gently cooked and the consistency is thick and pulpy.
2. Simmer uncovered for approximately one hour. It needs to be stirred often to prevent sticking to the base of the pot. Do not boil or it will discolour. If it gets burned slightly at the bottom, transfer chutney to another pot, discarding the spoiled chutney.
3. Transfer to clean sterilised jars and cover immediately. To sterilise jars wash them (ensuring water is clean) and then place on shelves in the oven (without anything else in the oven) at 140ºC for 20 minutes. Once filled place the lids on the jar immediately.
Rozanne Stevens has made quite a name for herself as a stylish but accessible cook; you’ll find her sizzling away on the Pat Kenny Show on RTÉ and at the Miele Gallery. We love her quirky take on a festive menu and figure it would be great as a New Year’s Eve dinner.
Chinese five-spice duck salad
Serves four
2 Barbary duck breasts
2 tablespoons Chinese five-spice
150g baby salad leaves
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
6 spring onions, finely chopped
100g Brocco shoots
Juice of two limes
1 mango, cubed
1 pomegranate, seeds
A few drops toasted sesame oil
1. Trim any excess fat from around duck breasts. You can score the fat in lines as shown or in a diamond pattern. Rub well with the Chinese five-spice. Lay fat-side down in a medium-hot pan and render out the fat until a thin crispy layer is left. Turn up the heat and seal the breast from the other side.
2. Mix baby leaves together with half each of the coriander, spring onions and Brocco shoots. Arrange on a large platter or individual plates.
3. When duck breast is cooked to almost medium rare, remove from the pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Thinly slice and return to the pan. Squeeze the lime juice over and stir over a medium heat until cooked to your liking (duck breast is best served medium rare).
4. Arrange duck on the bed of salad, scatter over the mango and pomegranate seeds. Pour over the juice and toss gently.
5. Garnish with the rest of the coriander, spring onion and Brocco shoots. Sprinkle over a few drops of sesame oil and serve.
Ross Lewis presided over the rise of Chapter One to the heady heights of a Michelin star. Ross and his team make regular appearances at the F&W Restaurant of the Year Awards, scooping the top accolade this year – and you’ll know why when you try his special take on the traditional Cork spiced beef, such an important part of Christmas in Munster. On stage Ross prepared a twist on this, using beef cheeks and serving it with a cauliflower gratin.
Slow cooked spiced daube of beef cheeks
Serves four
4 Ox cheeks
1 bottle red wine
600g mirepoix (finely diced onion, carrot, celery and leek)
1 bunch thyme
4 tablespoons black treacle
For the spice mix
5 pinches allspice
1 pinch ground black cardamom (or substitute green cardamom)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground ginger
4 pinches ground juniper
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground mace
5 pinches ground black pepper
1. Marinade ox cheeks in the red wine with the mirepoix and thyme for 24 hours. Take out the cheeks, pat dry, season and brown in hot oil.
2. Mix the ground spices together. Cover meat with treacle and roll in the spice mix.
3. Preheat the oven to 90ºC / gas mark 1/4. Place the spiced beef back in the marinade and add a cup of water. Cover with tinfoil and cook for 12 hours.
4. To serve, cut into two or three pieces and reheat in the cooking liquid with some butter.
Winner of FOOD&WINE Magazine Edward Dillon Chef of the Year 2009, Sunil Ghai is the executive chef of the Jaipur chain of new-wave Indian restaurants, which have made such an impact on the Irish dining scene. He has brought ethnic dining to a new level for Irish diners as one of the first chefs to introduce us to the real diversity of regional Indian cooking. At the show he delighted us with his take on a celebratory meal with duck ka tikka (duck breast with star anise and chilli charred in a tandoor and served with grilled figs and passion fruit chutney). He also showed us his spiced roast sea bass from Fish Indian Style (Absolute Press: €16) which he co-wrote with Atul Kochar.
Spice roasted sea bass
Serves two
2 whole clean sea bass
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
½ teaspoon freshly crushed ground black pepper
Juice and zest of one lemon
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Sea salt
1. Preheat oven to 220ºC / gas mark 7.
2. Make three slashes on each side of the fish. Mix garlic paste with one teaspoon of oil plus the spices, lemon zest, lemon juice and some salt. Rub this marinade on the fish.
3. Place fish in a shallow baking dish, brush with melted butter and place in the oven. Roast for 15–20 minutes, turning the fish halfway through.
4. Transfer fish to a platter and drizzle the remaining oil and lemon juice. Serve with oven roasted tomato salad with balsamic and cumin.
Paul Flynn has long been a favourite of F&W Magazine (he won Best Munster Chef 2009) and it seems that whatever he turns his hand to has a touch of gold to it, a bit like his great idea for a fuss-free turkey and ham. As he says himself the recipe for caramelised ballotine of turkey and ham will not suit the traditionalists who love the sight of a golden bird, plump with stuffing sitting on the table. But it’s a great twist on the original and takes all the fuss out of carving.
Iced meringue cake with seasonal berries
A little rapeseed or sunflower oil
500ml cream
1 tablespoon sieved icing sugar
2 drops vanilla extract (or even better the scraped seeds from one vanilla pod)
8 meringue shells (shop-bought or homemade)
Seasonal berries
Whipped cream
1. Lightly oil a large plastic pudding basin or similar ceramic bowl. Whip the cream in a large bowl until soft peaks form, then fold in the icing sugar and vanilla. Break each meringue shell roughly into three pieces and add to the bowl. Stir just enough to mix.
2. Fill the pudding basin with the meringue mixture up to the brim. Cover with cling film or a lid and freeze overnight.
3. To serve the cake, you’ll need to turn it out onto a plate and put back into the freezer. To do this, simply run a knife along the edge of the bowl and then sit it into a larger bowl of hot water for a few seconds. Place a flat plate on top and invert. Return to freezer until ready to serve. Serve with seasonal berries and more whipped cream, or the roast figs and plums in Amaretto.
Thomas Haughton wowed us all when he created a sublime F&W Readers’ Evening menu at the First Floor Restaurant at Harvey Nichols. There’s a happy mix of smart styling with a love of Irish ingredients and tradition too as you’ll see when he demonstrates his roast loin of Glenmalure venison with caramelised chestnut gnocchi and bitter chocolate and star anise essence. We love this night-before salmon starter too.
Salmon rillettes
300g fresh salmon, no skin or brown flesh
1 sprig of thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
25ml white wine
150g smoked salmon
2 shallots, finely diced and lightly fried (but not browned)
½ teaspoon chopped chervil
½ teaspoon chopped fennel fronds
½ lemon, zest and juice
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons clarified butter
1 tablespoon crème fraîche
1 tablespoon good quality mayonnaise
1. Preheat oven to 170°C / gas mark 3. Place salmon on a sheet of grease-proof paper with the thyme, a tablespoon of olive oil and white wine. Fold into a parcel, wrap in tin foil and place on baking tray.
2. Cook in preheated oven for six to eight minutes. The salmon should still be pink. Remove and allow to cool.
3. In a bowl flake salmon, add shallots, herbs and zest and check for seasoning. Mix the mayonnaise and crème fraîche and season.
4. Place in kilna jar and chill. Melt clarified butter, allow to cool, pour over and allow to set. Serve with toast, capers and crème fraîche.
Ed Cooney of The Cellar Restaurant at The Merrion Hotel in Dublin likes a challenge, as we discovered when we asked him to reproduce a dinner from 1764 for FOOD&WINE Magazine back in October 2008. However, he’s canny enough to know that most people aren’t willing to deliver a similar feat on Christmas Day and has come up with the ultimate in chic-Christmas turkey without the trouble of a whole bird. He’s matched his wild turkey escalope with sage and Parmesan with a good old-fashioned stuffing in case you do decide to go the whole way with a bird. He’s also created a stunning dessert: a white chocolate and orange snowman for children of all ages.
Wild turkey escalope with sage and Parmesan
200g turkey breast
2 eggs, beaten
20g flour
Salt and pepper
50g Parmesan, grated
4 sage leaves, chopped
1. Cut turkey breast into four equal parts. Place between two sheets of cling film and beat until about 1cm thick. Dredge through the flour. Dip in egg, then coat in Parmesan and sage.
2. Heat a non-stick pan with some oil and cook turkey on both sides until golden brown. Serve with green salad, cous cous salad or potato salad.
2009 Pictures
