Recipies

BBQ Steak with Mushroom & Potato Salad

bbq-steak-blackened-sweet-potato-carrot-cauliflower-mushroom

BBQ Steak with Blackened Sweet Potato, Carrot & Cauliflower

Summer time is nearly here, the sun is shining in Ireland and all the white legs are out! What better way to enjoy a steak in the evening or at the weekends than to cook it on the BBQ. I always enjoy the smell of a BBQ wafting through the air with the smell of freshly cut grass and sea air while lazing in the garden after a long walk on the beach.

Ingredients:
for the steak:
4 Sirloin steaks
Bunch fresh thyme
Pinch Salt & black pepper
2 Tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil
4 Large Flat cap mushrooms

for potato salad:
4 New Potatoes
Pinch of salt & black pepper
2 Tablespoons of light mayonnaise
3 scallions sliced
Finely chopped fresh parsley

for the coleslaw:
1/4 Coleslaw cabbage sliced thin and fine
2 Carrots grated
1 small white onion finely chopped
2 Tablespoons of light mayonnaise
1 squeeze of lemon
Finely chopped fresh parsley

Steak

Preparation of Steak

To Cook:
Marinade the steak for a few hours in all the ingredients. Coat the Mushrooms with a little rapeseed oil, salt and pepper. Prepare your potato salad by boiling the potatoes until just cooked, wait for them to cool, chop into quarters, or if the potatoes are large into bitesize pieces. Mix the scallions and mayo through and sprinkle with fresh parsley. To make your coleslaw, slice the coleslaw cabbage finely and add the grated carrots (Press down with some kitchen paper to take out the moisture). Add the finely chopped onion and a little fresh parsley and mix through the mayo and a squeeze of lemon. Prepare your salad, I used baby gem lettuce and cherry tomatoes cut in half and dressed it with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and grated parmesan. Then you are ready to cook your steak and mushrooms.

For the steak and mushrooms you can either use a hot BBQ or griddle pan (insure you coat the griddle with oil to stop the food sticking). Cook the steak for a couple of minutes on each side until the fat has rendered out and they are nice and charred on the outside, and slightly pink in the middle (medium rare). If you like it (well done) just cook for a couple of minutes longer. Put the mushrooms on the grill at the same time and turn once. As soon as the mushrooms are golden and cooked through they are ready, this should only take about 4 minutes.

Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Creamy Chicken & Wild Mushroom Carbonara

creamy-chicken-Wild-Mushroom-carbonara

Creamy Chicken & Wild Mushroom Carbonara

Ingredients:
200g Free from pasta
1 large chicken fillet
2 thick streaky bacon
1 large wild mushroom sliced
1 large red onion
1/2 cayenne chilli (orange ones)
1 hand full of fresh parsley chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon of parmesan

For the sauce:
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 squeeze fresh lemon

To Cook:
Boil the pasta in water for 12 minutes. While the pasta is cooking. Whisk the egg, olive oil and lemon in a jug. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large pan. Put in the bacon and chicken and cook until slightly golden, add the onions, mushrooms and garlic and chilli and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the parsley. Drain the pasta, put the cooked ingredients into the pasta and stir, then stir in the egg mixture. The residual heat from the pasta will cook the egg, keep stiring and it will become creamy white. Add the parmesan cheese and stir through. Top with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

Enjoy!

Banoffee Pancakes

banoffee-pancakes

Banoffee Pancakes

Ingredients:
100g Doves Farm Gluten-free white self-raising flour
2 medium eggs (beaten)
250ml (1/2 pint) milk
A Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon brown castor sugar

Topping:
1 tin of carnation ready made caramel
1 Banana sliced tossed in a squeeze of fresh lemon
Lactose free cream whisked

To Cook:
Place the Gluten-free flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. Beat the eggs, add the milk in a jug. Beating them well ensures a smoother batter. Gradually add the wet mixture to the dry and mix beat until there is a smooth consistency, if more milk is required you can add at this point, if you feel the mixture is too wet you can add more flour.
Heat a small knob of butter in a hot frying pan, pour in two dollops of mixture. Cook for a minute until golden then flip and cook for another minute on the other side.

pancakes

Pancakes

Serve hot, spread a spoonful of carnation ready made caramel, top with sliced banana (coated in a squeeze of lemon to prevent from going brown) and a dollop of whipped cream. To make it extra special you could finely grate some gluten-free chocolate over it.

If you want to keep it more traditional:

Serve with Fresh lemon halves to squeeze over, then a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of sugar.

For non gluten-free pancakes replace the Gluten Free Flour with 125g self raising flour. For Blueberry pancakes just add an additional handful of blueberry’s to the mix.

Lentil & Smoked Bacon Soup

Lentil-smoked-bacon-soup

Lentil & smoked bacon soup

Ingredients:
1 thick slice of bacon cubed with fat
1/2 cup red split lentils (soaked for 15 minutes)
1/2 cup green lentils (soaked for 30 minutes)
1 tin gluten-free chopped plum tomatoes
1 onion finely chopped
3 small parsnips cubed
3 small carrots cubed
1 stick of celery finely sliced
A large handful of baby spinach leaves
2 pints water
2 gluten-free chicken stock cubes
1/2 fresh lemon squeezed
bunch of fresh parsley chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
pinch of salt
pinch of thyme
crushed black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of paprika
2 fresh bay leaves
1 fresh red chilli finely chopped
Drizzle of rapeseed oil
Pinch of salt & cracked black pepper

Serves 5 (freezes well)

To Cook:
Place the cubed carrots and parsnips in a oven proof dish and drizzle with a small amount of rapeseed oil and a pinch of salt and cracked black pepper and place in the oven at 220c until slightly golden, depending on the size it should take anything between 20 -30 minutes, make sure not to overcook. Boil the green lentils for about 25 minutes until just cooked through. Fry the bacon in a large deep dish on a high to medium heat until all the fat is rendered and it is golden colour, add the onion and sweat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs and drained red lentils, and cooked green lentils. Add the stock and tomatoes and cook for a further 8-10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, remembering to add the roasted vegetables and spinach and parsley last. Cook for a further 2 minutes, and then you are ready to serve.

A hearty meal for winter, but equally delicious for the Ireland’s spring weather.

Seafood Paella

seafood-monkfish-king prawn- mussles-paella

Monkfish Paella

Ingredients:
2 whole monkfish chopped into large cubes
1kg mussles washed
300g of fresh or fresh frozen King prawns (make sure to defrost fully)
250g Arborio rice
1 tin gluten-free chopped tomatoes
1 onion finely chopped
1 sweet red pepper diced
1 small red chilli
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
3 cloves of fresh garlic finely chopped
I bunch of fresh parsley
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon
2 gluten-free vegetable stock cubes
1 3/4 pints of boiling water
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil

Serves 4 people

To cook:
Heat the oil in a large deep dish pan, sweat the onions for 2 minutes, add the garlic and peppers, red chilli, paprika, smoked paprika and turmeric and stir for 1 minute, then add the rice and stir through. Pour in the stock bring to the boil, after 6 minutes, turn down the heat to a high simmer for a further 3 minutes and then add the fish. Cook for a further 5 minutes and cover. Add the fresh parsley and serve.

Perfect for that extra special dinner party!

Gluten-free turkey burger

gluten-free-turkey-burger

Gluten-free turkey burger

Ingredients:
300g of Turkey breast mince
5 drops of Tabasco
2 drops of Worcestershire sauce (optional as this is not gluten free)
A pinch of salt
A pinch of white pepper
A dash of garlic salt
1 tablespoon of rapeseed oil

Inside the gluten-free Bun:
4 thin slices of cucumber
2 cherry tomatoes
1 teaspoon of ballymaloe jalapeno pepper relish
1 teaspoon of light mayo or dairy free mayo (optional)
1 slice of port salut or lactose free cheese (optional)

To Cook:
Mix all of the ingredients with the turkey mince and split in two parts, pat each part into the shape of a reasonably sized burger. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until fully cooked through and the outside has a nice golden colour. Cut the bun in two, spreading the jalapeno relish on one side and mayo on the other, put the burger on top, then the cheese and salad.

Not only is this low fat, it tastes so good that you think it’s bad.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Frittata

Vegetable-Fritata

Vegetable Frittata

Ingredients:
6 Free Range Eggs whisked
1/2 Courgette Sliced
1 leek sliced
4 Cherry Tomatoes halved
6 Button mushrooms scliced
4 Broccoli florets, quartered
1 tablespoon of Rapeseed Oil

2 people

Frittata-Step-by-step

To: Cook
Heat the Rapeseed Oil in a deep dish pan. Add leeks and sweat for 2 minutes until soft, then add Sliced Courgette, mushrooms and brocolli floretts, stir fry on a medium to high heat for a further 2 minutes, then add tomatoes on top and pour in whisked eggs. Cook on a medium heat for about one minute making sure to slightly agitate the bottom so that the egg starts to cook halfway through. Then put under a grill oven at 200c and cook until egg is cooked through and its just starting to puff up. Turn out onto a plate and scatter grated parmesan.

Buffalo Mozarella & Tomato Salad

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Buffalo Mozzarella & Tomato Summer Salad

Simple summer salad made with sliced Buffalo Mozzarella and ripe sliced beef tomatoes with fresh basil leaves and drizzled with a balsamic reduction.  Wonderful as a starter or an addition to a Gluten Free pasta dish or Pizza.