Whipped Pea dip with Quick Dukkah

Here are my recipes from today’s demo at John and Ann Coughlan’s farm in Buttevant. It was a fantastic day with glorious sunshine and fantastic support from the local community with approx. 1500 people attending. Thanks so much to Agriaware for organizing such a great day and to the Coughlan family for opening the gates to their fantastic farm and welcoming us all!

Whipped Pea Dip with Quick Dukkah 

Serves 2-6

250g peas, fresh or frozen

10g basil leaves

10g mint leaves

Zest and juice of ½ lemon

Salt

For the dukkah:

50g hazelnuts, toasted and skins removed

25g toasted sesame seeds

1 tsp nigella seeds

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp dried mint

To serve: Chili oil, raw vegetables like carrot, radicchio, peppers, radish etc.

If the peas are frozen then pour boiling water over them and leave to defrost for a minute or two. Drain over the sink. Place the peas, basil, mint, lemon zest and juice into a food processor or high speed blender. I use the nutribullet. Blitz till quite smooth but still retaining some texture. Season to taste.

To make the dukkah simply chop the toasted hazelnuts quite finely and place in a jar. Add the sesame  and nigella seeds, salt, pepper, cumin and mint. Place the lid on and shake well to combine.

Drizzle the hummus with a little chili or olive oil, scatter with the dukkah and serve with fresh raw vegetables and crusty bread.

Beef with Sesame and Oyster Sauce

Beef with sesame and spinach

Serves 4

600g minced beef

200g baby spinach leaves

30g coriander

4tbs oyster sauce

2tbs sesame seed oil

Olive oil

Method

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan or wok.

Add the minced beef and cook on a high heat until browned and starting to crisp up on the edges.

Add the oyster sauce and the spinach leaves. Cook for another minute or so until the leaves start to wilt.

Remove from the heat and drizzle with sesame seed oil. Season to taste.

Serve with boiled rice or noodles.

Chai Rice Pudding with Roast Rhubarb 

500g rhubarb, chopped into 3” pieces

120g sugar

1 orange, thickly sliced

100g toasted flaked almonds or pistachio nuts

75g pudding rice

375ml milk

2 chai tea bags

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp. orange blossom water

Prehat the oven to 180C. Place the rhubarb into an oven proof dish. Pour over the sugar. Place the orange slices on top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with the orange blossom water and leave to cool.

Place the rice, milk, chai tea bags and sugar in a saucepan.

Bring to the boil on the hob. Turn down to simmer slowly for 30 – 40 minutes, only leave the tea bags in the milk for ten minutes before removing.

Stir occasionally to ensure it doesn’t catch on the bottom.

Spoon the rice pudding into bowls, top with some rhubarb and scatter with toasted almonds. Serve right away.

Happy New Year! I hope 2018 has kicked off to a great start for you!

I’m going to be taking part in two up coming events in February. The first is Mum Talks on February 13th. There’s a brilliant lineup with Sian Horn, founder of Elite Pilates and Gina Cassidy, founder of Purcell and Woodcock. Mum Talks are events for women looking to be inspired, learn something new and make new friends.  I’m delighted to be taking part and sharing my story of what I do and how I do it!  Tickets are available here.

Then on Sunday February 25th Ballymaloe Good Living Day is taking place in Ballymaloe, Co.Cork.  It promises to be another vibrant, fun filled & informative day of engaging and inspiring health and wellness events for the whole family. I’ll be doing a cooking demo all about Kids Lunchbox ideas. I’ll be talking about the way my kids refuse to eat sandwiches so I’ve had to think up countless ways to cram goodness into their school lunchbox! I’ll be sharing loads of tips, tricks and ideas. Tickets are available here.

Hope to see you there!

Lilly x

As I mentioned in my previous post I’ve partnered with EU Lamb again this year to promote it as being the modern, convenient, versatile and tasty meat for everyone. The 2017 Lamb campaign runs from July- September so expect to see plenty more tasty, easy and fun lamb recipes online. I chose two recipes from a creative list of many over on www.tastyeasylamb.ie.

This lamb shank dish is divine and incredibly easy to put together. The slow cooking process does all the work in making this a melt in the mouth midweek winner of a dish. The orange gremolata adds a fresh pop of flavor to the finished dish. The kids particularly loved this one. I served it with herb laden couscous and toasted almond flakes. There was more than enough in this recipe for two adults and three kids. The first time I made this I cooked it as is and it was delicious but the second time I made it I let it simmer for an extra hour and only added the carrots half an hour towards the end. We ate this outside with big bowls of couscous but I imagine it will taste amazing during colder months with mashed sweet potato and a hint of cinnamon! I regularly get asked for slow cooker recipes. The slow cooker is your best friend when it comes to quick and easy dinners. This lamb shank dish is THE perfect recipe for the slow cooker. Just spend a few minutes assembling it the night before or that morning then turn it on low. By the time you come home that evening it will all be perfectly cooked and ready to serve. There’s no reheating involved with a slowcooker, just lift the lid and serve. I just soak some couscous for ten minutes and whip up the gremolata. It’s couldn’t be easier.

I bought my lamb shanks in The English Market here in Cork. The butcher said they are hugely popular on restaurant menus and should be cooked at home more often as they’re so cheap and, in his opinion, the tastiest cut. Having made this a few times now I think he’s right and this is something I’ll make again, especially with the citrus twist.

This is a sponsored post promoting how undeniably delicious lamb is to cook and eat! See #tastyeasylamb on Twitter and Instagram for more recipes or visit www.tastyeasylamb.ie

Braised Lamb Shanks with Orange Flavoured Gremolata

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients for 4 people:

4 lamb shanks

2 tbsp. olive oil

a knob of butter

salt and pepper

3 carrots, cleaned and sliced into batons

6 shallots, peeled

2 tbsp. plain flour

1 bouquet garni

500 ml stock or water

Gremolata:

Handful of flat-leaf parsley 1 clove of garlic
 orange

• Heat the oil in a large hob-proof casserole dish then add a knob of butter. Add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides. Season with salt and pepper.
• Remove the meat and add the carrots and shallots to the casserole dish. Allow to brown for a couple of minutes then sprinkle in the flour. Mix this for 1 minute then return the lamb shanks to the dish along with the bouquet garni and the stock or water. Cover and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Leave to simmer on a very low heat for at least 11⁄2 hours, turning the shanks occasionally. The meat should be very tender after this time.
• To make the gremolata: Finely chop the parsley leaves, crush the garlic clove and grate the orange zest, then mix together.

Serve the shanks with vegetables and scatter the gremolata over the top. Tip: You can replace the orange zest with lemon zest.

I’m proud to be a lambassador again this year, discovering how tasty, easy and fun lamb is. The campaign shows what a modern, convenient, versatile and tasty meat lamb is. I’m sharing one recipe with you today but there are loads more at www.tastyeasylamb.ie to show just how cooking with lamb can be a fun and creative experience.

The first recipe I’ve chosen is the Roast lamb with tapenade and Spring Onions, mainly because I seem to be stuck in a ‘roast leg of lamb on a Sunday’ rut and thought it would be fun to roast a different joint midweek. My butcher, I went to O’Farrells in Midleton, gave me plenty of options for joints that I could roast. There were some with a bone in for more flavour and others with no bone so that slicing it up would be super easy.

I used new season spring onions for this and they were delicious. Along with sun ripened cherry tomatoes this is one easy dinner to rustle up. I served it with some hot buttered orzo one night and made it a few days later and served it with potato wedges. It’s got that special Sunday roast feel to it but with none of the hassle. The salty tapenade is delicious with the lamb, definitely a combination I’ll repeat again.

This is a sponsored post promoting how undeniably delicious lamb is to cook and eat! See #tastyeasylamb on Twitter and Instagram for more recipes or visit www.tastyeasylamb.ie

Roast Lamb with Tapenade and Spring Onions

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 45 to 55 minutes

Ingredients for 4 people:

A small lamb joint (750 to 800 g)

A knob of butter

salt and pepper

120 g black olive tapenade

2 tbsp. breadcrumbs

400 g cherry tomatoes

3 bunches of spring onions or baby leeks

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 sprigs of rosemary

• Take the lamb out of the fridge 1 hour in advance.
• Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F.
• Melt a little butter in a large frying pan. Then brown the lamb on all sides. Season with a little salt and pepper. Place in a large oven dish and cook for 25 to 35 minutes.
• Take the dish out of the oven, spread half the tapenade over the joint then sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. Surround the joint with the cherry tomatoes and onions/leeks. Mix the olive oil with the rest of the tapenade and spread over the vegetables. Add the sprigs of rosemary and place back in the oven for 20 more minutes.
• Remove from the oven, cover the dish with tin foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• Slice the meat and serve with steamed vegetables and roast potatoes 
Tip: You can also use two racks of lamb for this recipe (around 400 g per piece). In that case, the first time they go in the oven they will only need cooking for 10 to 15 minutes.

I’m a big fan of edible flowers. They make everything look more beautiful and give a sense of nature to a dish, celebrating the seasons and adding a touch of Mother Nature’s magic.  I’m so delighted to see so many edible flowers popping up everywhere in the garden. Whilst some flowers are more for decoration than eating there are others that actually add to the flavour too. My favourites are peppery nasturtium petals, little chive blossoms, wild garlic and three cornered leek flowers. For cakes I love all types of primrose, primula and pansy. Apple blossoms are incredibly pretty too. They make even the healthiest breakfast feel like a treat! My borage is finally flowering and destined for eye catching ice cubes to jazz up my gin & tonics.

Recently I discovered Bumblebee Flower Farm in West Cork. Their website is beautiful and I love spotting their gorgeous creations on my Instagram and Twitter feed. Instagram is just the perfect place to find a small family run business like this with such a passion for what they do. Recently I’ve spotted them making amazing floral headpieces too, if you’re looking for a wedding florist look no further! They have the most amazing edible flower selection, they sent me a few boxes a few months ago and I had great fun putting them on absolutely everything!! I put some pansies on the rhubarb frangipan I made on The Today Show on RTE. The allium flowers went on a roast vegetable dish, the camelias went on my favourite Paleo chocolate cake, the recipe is from Elanas Pantry. I fill and frost it with an avocado chocolate mousse from my second book, Dream Deli. I made a raspberry and rosewater chia jam for it too. Incredible.

I bought loads of edible flower seeds from Sarah Ravens website and they’re doing great or Irish Seed Savers have some lovely edible ones like Sweet William and Marigold too.

Here’s a list of edible flowers and there are photos too so you can easily identify them.

There are so many fun and creative ways to use edible flowers, my favourite has to be using them to decorate cakes instead of using sugary fondant or multicoloured sprinkles. There’s nothing prettier than a few locally grown blossoms. Get in touch on Instagram or Twitter and let me know how you use edible flowers!

Lilly x

PS. This post isn’t sponsored or anything, it’s just a few links to people and things that I love!