It’s Pancake Day!

Or, as it is traditionally known, Shrove Tuesday.

Sweet Potato Fries

Superbowl 50, eh?

I must admit that American Football isn’t my favourite American sport, but I do have to say that food plays an integral part in the Superbowl half time show, alongside the usual mess ups.

Today, in honour of Superbowl Sunday, I give you my favourite snack of all, Sweet Potato Fries!

Get the pom poms out!

Ingredients

• 4 Sweet Potatoes
• 1tsp Smoked Paprika
• 1tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1tsp Cinnamon
• 1tsp Nutmeg
• 1tsp Garam Masala
• Olive Oil

Directions

1. Cut up the sweet potatoes into wedges and place in a baking tray.

2. Cover them in oil, until completely covered.

3. Spread the spices over the potatoes, again making sure they are well coated.

4. Put in the oven and cook them for 45mins.

Enjoy with coleslaw or a dip, they are delicious!

Nutritional Information

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are a root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens.

• Sweet potato is one of the high calorie starch foods (provide 90 calories/100 g vis a vis to 70 calories/100 g in potato). The tuber, however, contains no saturated fats or cholesterol, and is rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals than potatoes.
• Its calorie content mainly comes from starch, a complex carbohydrate. Sweet potato has higher amylose to the amylopectin ratio than that in potato. Amylose raises the blood sugar levels rather slowly on comparison to simple fruit sugars (fructose, glucose etc) and therefore, recommended as a healthy food item even in diabetes.
• The tuber is an excellent source of flavonoid phenolic compounds such as beta-carotene and vitamin-A. 100 g tuber provides 14,187 IU of vitamin A and 8,509 µg of ß-carotene, a value which is the highest for any root-vegetables categories. These compounds are powerful natural antioxidants. Vitamin A is also required for the human body to maintain integrity of mucus membranes and skin. It is a vital nutrient for healthy vision. Consumption of natural vegetables and fruits rich in flavonoids helps protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• The total antioxidant strength of raw sweet potato measured in terms of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) is 902 µmol TE/100 g.
• The tubers are packed with many essential vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5), pyridoxine(vitamin B-6), and thiamin (vitamin B-1), niacin, and riboflavin. These vitamins are essential in the sense that the human body requires them from external sources to replenish. These vitamins function as co-factors for various enzymes during metabolism.
• Sweet potato provides good amount of vital minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium that are very essential for enzyme, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism.
• Sweet potato top greens are indeed more nutritious than the tuber itself. Weight per weight, 100 g of fresh leaves carry more iron, vitamin C, folates, vitamin K, and potassium but less sodium than its tuber.

Nutritional information courtesy of Nutrition and You.

Corned Beef

Recently, I have become very interested in the method of brining meat, in order to make it as juicy as possible.

The reason I choose corned beef, is because it was staple in our household when I was growing up.

Whether it was in sandwiches, mixed into mash or simply served with peas and gravy, it was a much loved treat.

This one takes a while to make, but it is definitely worth it.

Ingredients

• 4 Pints of Water
• 1 cup of sea salt
• ½ cup of Sugar
• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder
• 1-2 tbsp of black peppercorns
• ½ tsp whole cloves (about 8-10 individual cloves)
• 1\4 tsp All Spice
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• ½ tsp dried ginger powder
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• 2-3 bay leaves, crushed
• 1 0,7kg piece of Brisket
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Sticks of Celery
• 2 Onions

How to make the Corned Beef

1. Put everything but the brisket into a large pan. Boil until the salt and sugar disappear.

2. Take the brine off the heat and leave to cool completely.

The brine must be very cool, before it hits the meat.

3. Cut the brisket up into pieces, and put them in a container that can be covered.

4. Cover entirely with the brine. It must be completely covered for this to work.

5. Put the lid on, then put in the fridge for 5 days. Yes, it does take that long, so get ahead of yourself. Turn the meat over once every single day.

Now we wait…

6. Chop up some Carrots, celery and onions and add to a large saucepan.

7. Put in the brisket, once you have rinsed off the brine.

8. Cover with water, and bring to the boil.

9. Simmer for 2 hours.

Now its done, pull apart or slice to your liking. Don’t worry if it isn’t red, like corned beef usually is.

That’s because we used sea salt instead of pink pickling salt. The outcome is the same no matter how you cook it.

Loads of new recipes coming soon to use this bad boy!

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Turkey Tagine

On the second meal of Christmas a beauty gave to me, a Moroccan dinner for the world to see!

This is a doozy, and even if you don’t have a Tagine, it is really easy to put together, assuming you get the spicing right.

Its a Christmas cracker!

Ingredients

• 3tbsp olive oil
• 1 Turkey Breast Steak
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 Carrots, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1tsp ground ginger 
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 10 ready-to-eat dried apricots, cut into quarters
• 1 tin of Chickpeas
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2tbsp honey 
• Small handful chopped Coriander
• 300ml (½pt) stock

How to make the Tagine

Heat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3

1. Put the onions into a large frying pan, and cook until translucent. Add the spices, and get them mixed with the onions.

2. Add to a casserole dish (or Tagine if you have one) with the other vegetables and garlic.

3. Chop the turkey into cubes and fry until they have cooked on each side. Add to the casserole dish.

4. Chop up the apricots and add to the dish along with the chickpeas.

5. Mix the stock with the lemon juice and honey. Pour over the mixture in the casserole dish.

6. Put into the oven and cook for one and a half hours.

Enjoy with some Cous Cous and a drop of my Brussel Sprout coleslaw.

Apple Pancakes

Due to a few diabetics in my family, I spend a lot of time trying to reduce the amount of sugar in my recipes, in order for them to enjoy too, without it causing any issues.

I find it easy to substitute sugar for fruit, and these pancakes are lovely and sweet, yet there is only the natural sugar of Apples in there.

Apple Turnovers

To say I would be a massive fan of the bakery across the road from my house would be a slight understatement.

Although these days, this bakery defines a perception on non equality, which goes against my wish for all things to be equal .

But, nevertheless, it has the greatest Apple Turnovers I have ever had.

Apple & Pear Upside down Cake

I first started making upside down cakes very early on in my baking development.

I mean, how easy is it to put everything in a tin and bake it off, flipping it over when done, to reveal a beautiful creation?

I started with Pineapple as most people do, but I created this recipe to use up some leftover Apples and Pears.

Moroccan Chicken Rub

It is nearly the season that men like me almost die for, two months of non stop barbecue!

However, living in Ireland, we get it for about 3 days a year, so it pays to be organised.

April is Rub month (that’s what she said) and today we have a delicious one for Chicken.

Apple Crumble

Who can deny this as we go into the winter months, one of the best warm desserts ever conceived.