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Dine Me
The Kilkenny Observer Friday 12 November 2021
Food & Drink
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Fish mappas Preparation and cooking time
Creamy, vibrant and full of flavour, this Keralan fish curry dish is a great way of incorporating fresh and nutritious ingredients into your cooking. It’s ready in 35 minutes, perfect for impatient hungry mouths. Prep: 15 mins Cook: 20 mins Serves 4 Ingredients • 300g basmati rice • 1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil • 2 large onions, sliced • 2 garlic cloves, chopped • 450g tomatoes, cut into chunks • 3 tbsp tikka curry paste • 400g can coconut milk • 4 skinless, boneless pollock fillets (about 150g/51/2oz each), or other sustainable white fish, cut into 4cm/11/2in chunks • ½ small pack coriander, roughly chopped
Method STEP 1 Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and cook the rice following pack instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, wide saucepan over a medium heat and add the onions. Cook for 5-10 mins until softened and starting to colour. Add the garlic and tomatoes, and fry for 2 mins. Add the curry paste, fry for 2 mins more, then pour in the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
Hot chocolate is glorious on its own, especially on a cool and crisp evening, but, include it in one of these hot cocktail recipes and you’ll get a double comfort hit via the warm chocolate and booze. Hot chocolate cocktail recipes are more than just throwing in a splash of Bailey’s or dark rum in your mug of instant cocoa; you deserve something even better. Think complimentary flavours like coconut and chocolate as well as suitable spirits like rum and fruity liqueurs. Hot chocolate may seem like a kid thing (and drinking it should, by all means, make you feel like one), but you can give it the bona fide adult treatment in style. Get the marshmallows ready and stoke the fire, these are the best hot chocolate cocktails to take the sting out of the cold. COCONUT HOT CHOCOLATE This blend uses white chocolate as its base. If that sounds tooth-numbingly sweet, take note, a splash of coconut rum and a touch of dark chocolate with luscious whole milk make it perfectly balanced. Ingredients • 150ml whole milk • 25g white chocolate, chopped • 25ml coconut-flavoured rum (we used Malibu) • 1 tsp finely grated dark chocolate • 1 tsp coconut flakes, toasted (optional) Method STEP 1 Pour the milk into a small pan and then place over a medium heat until simmering, stirring so it doesn’t scorch. Remove the pan from the heat then add the white chocolate and stir. Once the chocolate has melted, place the pan back on the heat to warm through. Add the coconut-flavoured rum and pour into a mug. STEP 2 Garnish with the dark chocolate and a few toasted coconut flakes if you like. SALTED CARAMEL RUM HOT CHOCOLATE This alcoholic blend is made with dulce de leche - a thick caramel. Add salt to your liking then serve up a mug of pure boozy bliss.
STEP 2 Add the fish to the pan and simmer gently for 5-8 mins until just cooked through. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the coriander over the curry and serve with the rice.
Ingredients • 25ml dark rum • 2 tsp dulce de leche or thick caramel • 150ml whole milk • 50g milk chocolate, chopped
Flu-fighting smoothie AT a time when we know it’s so important to stay healthy and keep ourselves out of doctor’s offices (and hospitals), during another winter of Covid, you might be tempted to take whatever precautions you can. Elderberries have been used to fight the flu, colds and even upper respiratory infections for hundreds of years. The berries and flowers of elderberry are packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that may boost your immune system and help fight inflammation. Although studies are not yet conclusive if you’d like to give a little extra boost to your immune system, many doctors say it’s safe to take elderberry as part of an otherwise healthy diet that includes nutrient rich foods. This flu-fighting elderberry smoothie recipe not only contains immune-boosting elderberry juice, but vitamin-C rich citrus, berries and even mango.
Hot Choc-tail recipes
Prep Time: 5 minutes Ingredients • 1/2 cup elderberry juice (available in health-food stores) • 1 large grapefruit or 1 large orange, juiced • 1 cup frozen blueberries • 1/2 cup frozen raspberries • 1/2 cup frozen mango • 1 cup ice cubes Method Put all the ingredients into a blender. Pulse until smooth. Serve.
Method STEP 1 In a small bowl, mix together the rum and the dulce de leche until smooth then set aside. STEP 2 Warm the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and stir until melted. Pop the pan back on the heat until warm then add the rum mixture and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Pour into a mug and serve. CHOCORANGE HOT CHOCOLATE Enjoy the heavenly combination of citrus and chocolate in sumptuous drink form by whipping up this double cream-based dream. Ingredients • 150ml milk • 50ml double cream • zest of 0.5 orange • 50g dark chocolate, chopped • 25ml orange liqueur Method STEP 1 Heat the milk, cream and orange zest together in a saucepan until simmering then remove from the heat and pour through a sieve into a jug to remove the orange zest. Pour the infused milk mixture back into the pan and add the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate has melted and is really smooth. STEP 2 Put the pan back on the heat to warm through then add the orange liqueur. Pour into a mug and serve.
