All posts tagged: oven

Kale and Rasher Stuffed Mushrooms

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You can’t just eat good food. You’ve got to talk about it too. And you’ve got to talk about it to somebody who understands that kind of food. – Kurt Vonnegut, Jailbird A couple of weeks ago, there was a three-day weekend starting on the Friday. As a result, I invited some of my teacher school-friends to come for dinner on Thursday—no school the next day meant I could be lazy with the clean up! I decided to introduce them to some Irish food, and some Irish inspired food. For starters, I had a cheese board with Edam, Smoked cheese and Brie (I know, I know none of those cheeses are Irish but we DO love cheese!).  I made that quintessentially Irish dish, Shepherd’s pie, using beef as the main ingredient and I chose to serve some side dishes using traditional ingredients of rasher, kale, cabbage, celery, onion and leek. I made my Kale Baked Beans and Stuffed Mushrooms. Everything was a hit with my friends, but the Stuffed Mushrooms stood out as a clear favourite! Mushrooms are one of those …

Kale Baked Beans

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Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart                                                              -Schoolyard chant So, I’ve mentioned before how I love baked beans on toast. Everytime I have them, whether they are jazzed up on some fantastic bread or just a tin of Batchelors on Brennans‘, they evoke memories of staying with my Granny during World Cup 1990 while my mom was away. At night when my dad got home, we’d drink really sweet, milky tea and feast on beans on toast. Maybe we didn’t have them everyday, but I was under 8 years old at the time, and that’s what my memory is telling me! While the bread is certainly important, for example, a nice Vienna Roll or Brennan’s Batch loaf would do the trick, getting such high quality bread in Korea sadly doesn’t equate to a quick and easy meal. I’d have to trek to Daejeon, which is 30 …

Chicken Rice Salad

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He that sups upon salad, goes not to bed fasting -Thomas Fuller While I love winter and winter eats like hearty soups to rich curries, there is something about spring and summer that makes my heart sing. Spring also tends to alter my desire for making Shepherd’s Pie into cravings of salads, avocados and black olives. Consequently, I made a Chicken Rice Salad this week which spanned those three criteria. Truth be told, years ago, when I was on holiday in Nebraska visiting my mother’s family, one of my aunts made a Chicken Orzo Salad. That salad had black olives and scallions and was dressed in garlic mayonnaise. I don’t have the recipe, nor do I know what cookbook it is from, but the below recipe is inspired by my memory of that tasty dish. Light and fresh, it pairs well with my Kale Baked Beans (coming soon). Chicken Rice Salad Serves 6-8 Ingredients 2 cups uncooked rice, washed and rinsed 4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breast, chopped into bite-size chunks 1 yellow pepper, washed and diced 15-20 scallions/spring onions, peeled, washed …

Courgette and Aubergine Stuffed Mushrooms

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Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom – Thomas Carlyle Growing up, everyone in my family always ate the exact same thing for dinner, whether it was shepherd’s pie or lasagna. The only exception to this was mushrooms. I’ve two sisters who absolutely detest them. As a result, my mother would end up making two pizzas or two stuffings. Over the years, I’d gotten used to having a few less mushrooms in my life than I would like; however, once I moved away from home and started cooking for myself, I’d find myself adding mushrooms to salads, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, etc. You name it, I probably added mushrooms to it. So it may surprise you to learn that I’ve never before made stuffed mushrooms. Well, I had a ton of mushrooms recently and I was trying to figure out what to make with them. A little bit of research later (here, and  here), and I knew the basics of making stuffed mushrooms. Since then, I’ve been experimenting and I’ve come up with some lovely choices. This recipe is the first …

Roasted Pork Chops and Sweet Potato

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“If you want a subject, look to pork.”   – Great Expectations, Charles Dickens I have been trying to prepare my food in advance. On Saturdays, Sundays and/or Mondays, I tend to do a ton of cooking (vegetables, salads, soups and curries) to get me through the week. However, the very first week I tried this I had a huge appetite. I had demolished all my tuna for the week by Monday (I made it Sunday night!) and all my veggies by Wednesday. This was annoying because I ate out on Tuesday and I’d made 5 days worth of food. I wish I could say that I only ate healthy that entire week but unfortunately I also supplemented every little gap with something sweet like cake and chocolate! So, come Thursday, I needed to cook something else. I had some pork in the freezer which I’d defrosted the night before. A glance around the kitchen, and next thing I knew I had created a lovely, simple midweek meal. I liked it so much that I made …