FLAWLESS Flourless PANCAKES

THE RECIPE

This is a really simple and quick pancake recipe for you to make for breakfast this coming weekend. Would you believe No flour, No milk, No sugar! The secret ingredient is banana. They taste great!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 ripe bananas
4 eggs
8 pieces of bacon
Butter or sunflower oil

To Serve:
Blueberries
Maple syrup

Spicy EGG and MEATBALLS with CAULIFLOWER Rice

THE RECIPE

This is a simple and delicious dish of onions, tomatoes with spicy little meatballs and eggs, served with cauliflower rice. I was initially skeptical about cauliflower rice, but I was more than pleasantly surprised, it is really tasty and goes really well with this dish.

INGREDIENTS:

MEATBALLS:
2 tbsp Olive oil
450g Minced beef
2 tbsp Chopped parsley
1 tsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Paprika
Salt and Black Pepper

HERB crust CHICKEN and GREENS

INGREDIENTS:

CHICKEN:
2-4 Plump chicken thighs, skin on
1 tsp Finely chopped basil
1 tsp Finely chopped parsley
1 tsp Finely chopped rosemary
1 tsp Finely chopped sage
1 tsp Finely chopped thyme
1 Garlic clove minced
4 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
Salt and Black Pepper

ASIAN MEATBALLS in LETTUCE Cups

THE RECIPE

This is a perfect starter or light lunch for serving when your time is short, this is healthy and really delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

Meatballs:
1 tbsp sunflower oil
250g minced turkey
250g minced pork
1 garlic clove (finely chopped)
1 red chilli (de-seeded and finely chopped)
2 tsps fresh ginger (grated)
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 egg (beaten)
Salt and Black Pepper

CELERIAC and BROCCOLI soup (V)

INGREDIENTS:
                      
Large white onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of Garlic, minced
1 Celeriac,peeled and grated
1 Broccoli, grated
1200ml Vegetable stock
2 tbsp Olive oil
Grated Nutmeg
Salt and black pepper
Chives to garnish

Serves 4

EAT REAL FOOD

There has been so much about obesity in the media recently, adult and child obesity rates are on the rise. Today people are getting fatter and fatter, whose fault is that? As an adult it’s your fault. I can’t imagine that there is anyone out there who wants to be obese. Being overweight or obese makes lives harder and is one of the major causes of illness and death. Being overweight is bad for our health. So, if we had a choice, would anyone really choose to be obese? I believe not. We as adults have a choice, but our children do not as they are dependent on us, as providers, as teachers, as guardians we are responsible for shaping their lives.

So let's give our children the best and lead by example. What our children eat will determine their future health and well-being. Research in Ireland shows approximately one in four primary school children are now overweight or obese, with 6% of three-year-olds classed as being obese.

BLACK MAGIC

I spent the past weekend putting a nice layer of garden compost on my raised beds. As vegetables grow, the plants take nutrients from the soil, so it is important every autumn to add garden compost which provides organic matter to return the nutrients and improve your soil for the growing season ahead. Compost is decomposed kitchen and garden waste, including teabags, coffee grains, eggshells, old potting compost, cardboard, shredded paper and grass clippings. You can make homemade garden compost by simply heaping the materials up in a corner, using a plastic compost bin or for the more hardcore composter there are timber compost bins or bays.

a FONDNESS for FISH

I really do enjoy eating all seafood, fish and shellfish, but where did this fondness for fish come from, it wasn't always that way. Growing up, I didn't live terribly far from the coast, but my only introduction to fish was fish fingers or some whiting on Fridays and in early adulthood occasional fish and chips from a takeaway. A generalisation I know, but it certainly appears Irish people are for some strange reason predisposed not to eat fish and don't even suggest shellfish. Why is this when one of the greatest resources we have in Ireland is a bountiful supply of fish and shellfish. In a country that is surrounded by fish in the sea, the fish consumption is unusually low and most of our fish is exported to other countries. Understandably we export most of our seafood because there just isn't a market for it here.

PEA and MINT Soup (V)

INGREDIENTS:
                         
Large white onion, peeled and finely chopped
Medium Potato,peeled and chopped
50g Butter
900ml Vegetable stock
300ml Milk
350g Peas (frozen)
Large bunch of Mint, finely chopped
Salt and black pepper

Serves 4

GROW your own PEA SHOOTS

I have seen pea shoots in restaurant dishes, very posh but I have never seen them for sale in supermarkets or elsewhere, so I thought I would try growing my own. Pea shoots are the tiny, tender leaves and vines of young pea plants. They are tasty and when you grow your own they will be on hand for use in a recipe or as a garnish.

Everybody has a windowsill, whether you live in a city or the country. This is a very simple and quick way of growing your own pea shoots, unlike others where I have seen them grown mainly in a compost I have simply grown them using kitchen paper, which is a much cleaner approach altogether.

MUSSELS with PESTO

THE RECIPE

This is a perfect starter or light lunch for serving when your time is short, as both the pesto and the mussels can be prepared in advance, and the dish assembled and cooked just before serving.

INGREDIENTS:

24+ Fresh mussels
100ml Water
2 tbsp Breadcrumbs
2 tbsp Grated cheddar cheese
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Small jar of pesto
Salt and Black Pepper

MUSSEL TIELLA

THE RECIPE

This is my take on a dish that originates from Puglia in southern Italy.

INGREDIENTS:

675g Mussels
250ml water
5 tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, thinly sliced
6 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
400g can of chopped tomatoes
Salt and Black Pepper
4 medium potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
450g courgettes, thinly sliced
75g Grated Parmesan cheese
2 Garlic Cloves, minced
225g Large red tomatoes, thinly sliced
Salt and Black Pepper

EASY peasy PORK BELLY

THE RECIPE

Many people are intimidated by the thought of cooking pork belly. But, slow roasted for Sunday lunch, perfectly cooked pork belly yields beautiful soft flesh and crisp crackling and is always worth the wait. It is really not difficult, give it a try! Serves 6.

INGREDIENTS:

1kg Piece of Pork Belly
6 tbsp Olive oil
3 Large red onions, cut into eights
4 Large Potatoes, cut into wedges
4 Garlic gloves, finely chopped
1 heaped tbsp Fresh Thyme
600ml Vegetable stock
300ml Cider
250g Mushrooms, halved
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp freshly ground Black Pepper

Steamed Broccoli to serve

MICK and the BEANSTALK

Once upon a time a man called Mick was tired of poor food choice at his local supermarket, imports of highly-processed and unseasonal produce. One day Mick discovered some garlic he was about to buy in his local supermarket had been imported 10,000 miles from China. He quickly resolved to grow his own magic beans (garlic). However he quickly realised that he was seriously lacking in skills and growing knowledge and needed to hook up with other Beanstalk growers to learn more. So in 2009, GIY, Grow it Yourself (the Beanstalk) was founded by Michael Kelly with the very first meeting in Waterford, it grew and spread quickly throughout Ireland. It grew into a giant beanstalk and through people coming together in groups to support each other and share tips, expertise and encouragement a Golden egg (knowledge) was realised. The Beanstalk helps reach the Golden egg through GIY programmes, events and projects to inspire and support people who want to learn about and grow their own food. The Beanstalk journey to the Golden egg is not always a straight one, with the Giant (Large Companies control of food production) limiting food choice and food misguidance through marketing and advertising, people have lost their way!