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kilkennyobserver.ie
The Kilkenny Observer Friday 04 February 2022
Food & Drink
Dine Me Come
With
Easy classic lasagne Prep: 15 mins Cook: 1 hr Serves: 4 to 6
Children will love to help assemble this easiest ever pasta bake with streaky bacon, beef mince, a crème fraîche sauce and gooey mozzarella. Ingredients • 1 tbsp olive oil • 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon • 1 onion , finely chopped • 1 celery stick, finely chopped • 1 medium carrot , grated • 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped • 500g beef mince • 1 tbsp tomato purée • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes • 1 tbsp clear honey • 500g pack fresh egg lasagne sheets • 400ml crème fraîche • 125g ball mozzarella , roughly torn • 50g freshly grated parmesan • large handful basil leaves, torn (optional)
Method STEP 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Use kitchen scissors to snip the bacon into small pieces, or use a sharp knife to chop it on a chopping board. Add the bacon to the pan and cook for just a few mins until starting to turn golden. Add the onion, celery and carrot, and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, until softened. STEP 2 Add the garlic and cook for 1 min, then tip in the mince and cook, stirring and breaking it up
Slow cooker mulled cider Prep: 5 mins Cook: 1 hr Serves: 10 Planning a party? Let guests help themselves to this mulled cider – simply plug the slow cooker in and ladle into heatproof glasses. Ingredients • 1.5 litres dry cider • 500ml apple juice • 75g light brown soft sugar • 1 orange, sliced • 1⁄2 lemon, zest pared into strips • 5 cloves • 10 allspice berries • 3 cardamom pods, bruised using a rolling pin • 2 bay leaves • 2 cinnamon sticks • 100ml calvados, apple or regular brandy Method STEP 1 Put all the ingredients except the calvados in a slow cooker and cook for 1 hr on high or up to 4 hrs on low. STEP 2 Just before serving, stir in the calvados. Ladle into heatproof glasses or cups to serve.
with a wooden spoon, for about 6 mins until browned all over. STEP 3 Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 min, mixing in well with the beef and vegetables. Tip in the chopped tomatoes. Fill each can half full with water to rinse out any tomatoes left in the can, and add to the pan. Add the honey and season to taste. Simmer for 20 mins. STEP 4 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. To assemble the lasagne, ladle a little of the ragu sauce into the bottom of the roasting tin or casserole
dish, spreading the sauce all over the base. Place 2 sheets of lasagne on top of the sauce overlapping to make it fit, then repeat with more sauce and another layer of pasta. Repeat with a further 2 layers of sauce and pasta, finishing with a layer of pasta. STEP 5 Put the crème fraîche in a bowl and mix with 2 tbsp water to loosen it and make a smooth pourable sauce. Pour this over the top of the pasta, then top with the mozzarella. Sprinkle Parmesan over the top and bake for 25–30 mins until golden and bubbling. Serve scattered with basil, if you like.
Chicken, leek & blue cheese pilaf Prep: 10 mins Cook: 35 mins Serves: 2 Enjoy our gluten-free chicken dinner with blue cheese, leeks and walnuts. Ready to eat in 45 minutes, it’s healthy too, containing three of your five-a-day. Ingredients • • • • • • • • • •
75g brown basmati rice 2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder 1 bay leaf 1 tsp rapeseed oil 2 skinless chicken breast fillets (about 300g), chopped 1 leek (about 190g), thinly sliced 2 courgettes (about 215g), thinly sliced 160g frozen peas 4 walnut halves, broken 25g gorgonzola, chopped
Method STEP 1 Tip the rice into a large pan with 600ml water, the bouillon powder and bay. Cover, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 mins. When the rice has been cooking for 10 mins, heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok, and stir-fry the chicken for a couple of minutes over a medium-high heat until just cooked. Remove from the pan, then fry the leek until starting to colour. Add the courgette, stir-fry for a few minutes more, then add the peas. STEP 2 When the rice is cooked, tip it into the vegetables along with any liquid from the pan. Return the chicken to the pan or wok, then cover and cook for 5 mins more. Stir in the walnuts and cheese, and serve hot.
Gooseberry gin Prep: 10 mins plus steeping Makes 1 x 700ml bottle Make the most of those gooseberries you’ve been growing and turn them into gooseberry gin. Drink neat, with tonic, or mix with sparkling water and mint. Ingredients • 400g gooseberries • 150g-250g caster sugar • 700ml bottle gin • You will also need • 1l wide-mouthed, flip-top jar, sterilised Method STEP 1 Wash, then top and tail the gooseberries, discarding any leaves or stalks. Cut each berry in half, then put the fruit into the sterilised 1-litre jar. Add the sugar – 250g for green gooseberries, 150g for sweeter, red gooseberries, then pour over the gin. Seal the lid and shake until most of the sugar dissolves. Reserve the emptied gin bottle for later. STEP 2 Keep in a cool dark place, and give the jar a shake every day if you can, or every couple of days. The gin will be ready after three weeks, but can be kept for up to three months with the fruit in for a stronger flavour. Don’t keep the gooseberries in the gin for any longer than three months or the flavour will start to deteriorate. STEP 3 Decant a little into a glass, and taste. When you’re happy with the flavour, discard the fruit, and strain through a fine mesh cloth or muslin, back into the original, or another, clean bottle. The flavour will keep developing over time, store in a cool dark place. Drink on its own, mix with tonic or drink with sparkling water and mint for a refreshing summery cocktail.
