Rhubarb & Red Onion Compote

During the week I went to a food blogger event in Dublin held by Bord Bia and organised by the brilliant Donal Skehan of The Good Mood Food Blog. Klara and Maeve from Bord Bia were there making sure everything went perfectly and the week before the event the lovely Klara sent out massive pieces of pork to everyone that was attending the event! I got a huge loin of pork and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. There really are so many possibilities with pork. But I decided it was such a beautiful cut I didn't want to mess with it too much!

So I gave it an old school roasting. Just scored the fat, poured a kettle of boiling water over it, patted him dry with kitchen roll and rubbed sea salt into the fat. Then into a scorchio oven of about 230 and turned it down after a while. It took about 2 1/2 hours to roast and I just did a load of roast potatoes with duck fat (I know, I'm terrible.) Then served it with a huge mixed green salad, the garden is really taking off, loads of rocket, lettuce, mustard leaves and mizuna. Peppery lemony salad. Yum. There's also a load of rhubarb vying for my attention so I had to involve it somehow. So I made rhubarb and onion compote.

Miss Prim Pram Prum...

I'm after getting my hands on a new camera lens so excuse the ridiculous amount of photos in this post! x

This week when I was making cakes for a little girls 8th Birthday party I knew just what to top them with: crystallised primroses!

Gorgeous delicate petals encased in sugar, sparkling and shimmering on a bed of snowy white. I just had to. The garden is covered with primroses this year. These are so easy and cheap to make, they're a little time consuming and you have to be gentle but it's a very relaxing way to spend an hour!

Pacific Pea Soup

I was a major fan of Band of Brothers, the World War II miniseries. I loved it. Then I was delighted to hear about The Pacific. A new show about the US Marine Corps fighting the Japanese. But it's just not the same. Maybe I haven't given it enough time. The writing is poor, the characters aren't as likeable as in Band of Brothers. I want more Band of Brothers basically. More of the same please HBO. No changes.

I'm still going to watch it though.

Anyway I was eating this gorgeous soup as I watched the marines trek their way through the jungle. This is one of my all time favourite soups. So quick and easy. And you can throw it together from stuff you have in the house normally. All you need is a bag of frozen peas! I've made this with mint before too and it was lovely.

Hey Pesto!

I know I was only saying a few weeks ago how dated pesto is. And I still think it's more 90's than Cindy Crawford but Parsley Pesto? Yeah! Parsley Pesto is gorgeous! I was given a whole load of normal curly parsley and was trying to think of a way to preserve it. So I decided pesto would be the best bet.

Handsome Chester Cake

Last weekend we got a taxi home from Cork city and after my few glasses of Sticks pinot noir ( really a nice wine) I was hanging over the passenger seat quizzing the taxi driver on his favourite food. What does he love to eat? I just had to know. Anyway he told us that his friend regularly gives him two rabbits and he 'sticks 'em in a stew and bubbles 'em away with a few carrots and onions and two hours later tis handsome'.

Now I just can NOT stop saying that everything is handsome. Your new baby girl is handsome. That wedding dress is pure handsome on you. A cup of tea: Handsome.

But little did I know that late night heart to heart with Joe le Taxi supplied me with the perfect adjective to describe Chester cake. A huge slab of highly spiced cake studded with plump sultanas, encased in buttery pastry and lovingly drenched in thick white icing. The cake of my childhood. So filling, so comforting. Handsome.

Cakes make me happy

I love cake. I really do. I love the whole theatre of it. And a cake with candles? And Easter chicks? Sweet.

Gold & Green

Happy Saint Patricks Day! Yay! I was going to make something traditional but then decided no, I'll just make something with pistachio nuts. I love pistachios. I decided to make biscotti and thought I had an original idea but it turns out loads of people have made chocolate & pistachio biscotti, never matter. I decided to use Martha Stewart's recipe here.

Ma Meringue

I'm actually more of a savoury person than sweet. I know you wouldn't think it but I'd prefer lamb meatballs and tzatziki any day over a cream cake. What I love about desserts is that they have a wow factor and are so gorgeously attractive! Cakes make brilliant gifts so this Mothers Day I made meringues for my bestest Mammy.

All hail the Queen!

NOTE: Last Saturday I wrote this post then couldn't find the recipe anywhere, how frustrating! Then I posted the post by mistake instead of saving it, then the tricksy recipe turned up. Anyway I'm such a goose, some of you have had a sneak preview of todays post. Get ready to feign excitement...

My youngest sister Daisy works part time at The Alternative Bread Company stall in The English Market in Cork. She's a girl that knows a bloomer from a chleb at 50 paces. She gave me a huge loaf of sour dough recently and it took us a week to get through half of it and I wanted to make something with the rest. So I went recipe hunting!

Give this girl a swirl!

This book ‘Full and Plenty’ by the talented food journalist Maura Laverty belonged to my late grand aunt Peggy. Nearly all of my memories of Peggy feature crusty white bread, slices of butter and real ham. Not a lady that messed about with food. She has loads of recipes written all over the inside cover in her beautiful handwriting and has mass cards and newspaper cuttings marking her favourite pages.

The Cats get lucky

One of the most comforting dishes for cold weather is Fish Pie. So gorgeous. I really wanted to get to The English Market in Cork city this weekend and stock up at O'Connells amazing fish stall but I was working so I just went to my local shop. Wah.

Anyway they had some fairly nice fish but not the amazing display of maritime beauties that the market offers.

Pop over for breakfast...

I love having a big breakfast. Its supposed to be the most important meal of the day. On weekdays I just about make it out the door to work with a yogurt on board and, if I'm organised, porridge. The story is the same on Saturdays, as I run The Creativity Club, so Sundays are my only opportunity for breakfasting like a king! Not that I need an excuse.

This Sunday I made Blueberry Popovers.

Old School Coffee Cake

There's nothing like coffee cake. A slice of this with a cup of coffee is absolutely gorgeous and inexplicably nostalgic (I never ate it as a child!). It's very easy and if you are going to bake a cake for someone as a present then this is the one to make!





Ingredients
225g (8oz) butter
225g (8oz) caster sugar
4 free range eggs
200g (7oz) self raising flour
1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder
5tsp instant coffee granules
dissolved in 5tbsp water

Icing:
225g (8oz) soft butter
450g (16oz) icing sugar
4tsp instant coffee dissolved in 4tbsp water
toasted almond flakes
walnut halves

Serves 10-12

• Method
  Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
  Alot of people just throw the butter and sugar into the bowl and beat like mad. The key to this cake is to have the butter so soft it's almost melting.
  If you’re using a mixer then mix the butter for a while on its own just to soften it up. Then gradually add your sugar. Once beaten with the caster sugar the mixture becomes incredibly light.


• Next add your eggs one by one. Mix it really well after each addition.


• Then fold in the sifted flour and cocoa powder. When its half mixed add the coffee and then continue folding the flour and egg mix together gently. A flexible spatula is good for this.


• Put this glorious smelling mix into two well greased and floured 8 inch sandwich cake tins. Bake until you press the top with your finger and its springs up to say "I’m done!". Usually around 30 minutes.


• Cool on a wire tray. When cold cut in half through the centre, horizontally.


• Beat the butter, sugar and coffee together till thick and creamy.


• Sandwich the 4 layers together with half the butter icing. Spread some icing on the sides of the cake. Layer the almonds around the sides. Spread a thin layer of icing on top and then place the remaining icing into a piping bag and pipe a lattice design across the top of the cake. Decorate with walnuts.
  Gorgeous!

Lilly x