Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

I finally finished off the last of the Easter eggs last week and found I was getting some withdrawal symptoms from the chocolate! There was only one thing for it and I decided to whip up these seriously easy chocolate cupcakes this morning which are so chocolately that they were guaranteed to do the trick. I haven't been very creative with my cupcake recipes in the past and am always amazed at all the unique and exotic cupcake recipes people come up with on 'Cupcake Wars' on the Food Network Channel. I just love that show but am yet to try any of the crazy combinations; blue cheese and beetroot cupcakes anyone??!!

This Chocolate cupcake recipe is my favourite type to make and part of the reason is that they are just so easy.....and ridiculously chocolately! One baking rule I always forget is to leave the butter out of the fridge to soften before creaming with the sugar, so make sure you do this as soon as you even think of making these as it is essential. You will probably want to dive in and eat these chocolate treats as soon as they are cooked but make sure you let the cupcake cool fully before icing or else it will just melt, sounds obvious to most but I have made this mistake in the past!!

Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12
Ingredients
125g butter
125g caster sugar
100g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder
2 medium eggs, beaten
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 tblspn milk

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 celcius and place 12 muffin cases into a muffin tin
Cream the softened butter together with the caster sugar with an electric beater until combined and creamy
Continue beating and gradually add in the eggs.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a seperate bowl and then fold into the egg mixture.
Once combined add the milk until all combined.
Spoon the mixture into each of the muffin cases, about half way.
Cook for approx 18 minutes.
While they are cooking, make the icing

Icing Ingredients
225g softened butter
375g icing sugar
2 tspns vanilla essence
2 tblspns cocoa powder

Method
Simply mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
Place in a piping bag and decorate the cupcakes once cooled.
Top with sprinkles of your choice. I used a peeler to shave off chocolate curls from a bar of chocolate.

Waterford Festival of Food

I had the pleasure of attending the Waterford Festival of Food last weekend for the first time and it didn't disappoint! The festival programme was jam packed with tons of events for foodies and non-foodies alike. Some of the events were ticket only and all were very reasonably priced, there were also lots of free events on offer too. We attended the bar-b-que in Lawlors Hotel on the Friday night and for €20 we had a delicious big plate full of fresh local pork, lamb and chicken. It was slow cooked over a large bbq and served with beautiful salads and finished off with scoops of local farmers ice cream and tasty hot brownies! As the dance floor became packed we made a quick exit and hit my favourite bar in Dungarvan, Merrys Gastropub. There was great craic in Merrys and we heard all the news from people spilling in from across the road in The Tannery (my favourite restaurant in Dungarvan) where Michelin Star Chef Angela Hartnett was guest Chef for the evening.

On Saturday we had booked ourslves on the 'Bia Bus' tour which was a fantastic experience. We all piled on to our minibus where a local school teacher was our tour guide for the day. He was full of really interesting stories about the many townlands we passed through as we headed through the beautiful scenery of West Waterford and along the Blackwater river. Our first stop was Eamon Lanergons farm where he produces Knockanore Irish Farmhouse Cheese. We got to meet Eamon as he brought us on a tour of his cheese making facility and we leant all about the history of his farm which finished with an opportunity to taste the wonderful cheese he produced in his farm. My favourite was his Oakwood Smoked Semi Soft Cheese. From there we headed to a neighbouring farm ran by Thomas Baldwin where he produces Baldwins Farmhouse Icecream. Even though it was a cold day, we couldn't resist the tub of tiramisu ice cream Thomas gifted us on our departure form his farm and it was fabulous! The final stop on the Bia Bus Tour was at Lismore, a really beautiful heritage town overlooked by the beautiful Lismore Castle. After a stroll around the small farmers market we had a well deserved cup of tea in the local tea rooms before our bus took us back to Dungarvan. We really enjoyed the bus tour and I even had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger,the lovely Ailbhe from  www.simplysplendiferous.com

Saturday night we attended the most unique and exciting event of the weekend, The Pop Up Restaurant in the local Civic Offices. The event was called 'The Brewer, The Baker, The Blogger' and was ran by three local Dungarvan ladies;Claire Dalton (Dungarvan Brewing Company), Eunice Power (Cooking for You) and Niamh Shields (Eat Like a Girl). They transfomed the atrium of the civic offices into a top notch restaurant and I have to admit that the food was better than a lot of restaurants I've eaten here in Dublin. My favourite was the duck terrine starter (above) and I also loved Niamh Shields bacon jam. For main course I had a beautiful monkfish and mussels dish and I finished off the meal with a scrumptious chocolate mousse. The evening was a great success and we really enjoyed all of the fantastic food, wine, local beer and entertainment.

Sunday saw the main event of the festival as the town square was turned into a wonderful Farmers Market displaying all the best produce Waterford and the surrounding area has to offer. It was by far the best and laregst farmers market I have been to in Ireland and what made it special was that every single stand had high quality local produce on offer. We came away with tons of goodies, including local honey, chutneys, cheeses, pork produce and eggs. We were entertained througout the afternoon by local musicians as we made our way through all of the stalls tasting the produce on offer.

I am a regular visitor to Waterford but this was my first time at The Waterford Festival of Food and I have to say it was one of my most enjoyable weekends away in a long time. The festival was really well organised and it had a very local feel to it. I got to see parts of Waterford on the Bia Bus tour that I hadn't previously seen and as always Waterford never fails to surprise me with its diverse beauty. I can safely say that The Waterford Festival of Food will be an annual event for me and I am looking forward to 2013 already!     

Chicken Pad Thai Noodles

As previoulsy blogged, I am a big fan of Asian food, particularly Thai. Thai food is full of flavours and can be very versatile. One of the best Pad Thai dishes I have ever eaten was from a food stall on the streets of Bangkok when I visited Thailand a number of years ago. I just loved the flavour of the chillis mixed with the crushed roast peanuts and the aroma of the coriander. I have tried various different Pad Thai recipes over the years and no matter which one I use it is always very easy to make and it is very quick! I have previously blogged a recipe for PadThai which I learnt during my cooking classes with http://www.cookingwithjackie.ie/ but I have recently wanted to try Neven Maguires recipe from his cookbook Homechef which claims to be inspired by his trip to Bangkok.

This recipe was very similar to the one I previously blogged but the sauce in this Pad Thai recipe had some different ingredients and I have to say it worked really well. I found the overall flavours of this dish to be very tasty and I particularly liked the flavour the sauce gave it. I followed Neven's recipe and used Chicken but this could be also be substituted with prawns. This recipe is very quick and delicious and I would highly recommend it for a quick midweek family meal or a casual dinner with friends.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp dried shrimps
100g (4oz) roasted peanuts
175g (6oz) flat rice noodles
Juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp palm sugar or light muscovado sugar
2 tsps rice vinegar
2 tsps dark soy sauce
3 tbsps Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1--2 red bird's-eye chillies, finely sliced
3 tbsps peanut oil
2 skinless chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
200g (7oz) beansprouts
4 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tbsps roughly chopped coriander, plus sprigs of coriander, to garnish
Lime wedges, to serve

Method:
Place the shrimps in a small bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to soak for 10 minutes. Blend the roasted peanuts in a mini food processor or roughly grind them using a pestle and mortar.

Cook the noodles in a saucepan of boiling water according to the packet instructions then drain well. Mix the lime juice, sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, Thai fish sauce and chillies together in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and set aside.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wok until very hot, then stir-fry the chicken for six to eight minutes until cooked through and just turning golden. Remove from the pan and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Pour in the beaten eggs and quickly swirl the wok so that the egg sticks to the sides in a thin layer. Leave for about 30 seconds until the egg is just set, then break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Remove and set aside with the chicken.

Wipe the wok with kitchen paper and return it to a medium heat, adding the remaining tablespoon of oil. Stir-fry the shallots and garlic for two to three minutes until softened and just beginning to brown. Drain the dried shrimps and add them to the wok, stir-frying for 30 seconds. Pour the lime juice mixture into the wok and simmer for one to two minutes until it has reduced and thickened slightly.

Add the noodles, beansprouts, spring onions and coriander to the wok, toss for one minute to wilt the beansprouts, then return the cooked chicken and egg to the pan and toss everything to combine.

Serve the Pad Thai noodles in warmed bowls, garnish with sprigs of coriander and place the lime wedges and a little pile of the ground peanuts to one side.

Instant Chocolate Mousse

It's a New Year and one of my (many!) New Years resolutions is to get back to blogging once a month and to try lots of new recipes as often as I can. Life is very busy these days and I am finding it harder to find time to cook new recipes. So recently I have been keeping a look out for some new and tasty recipes that are quick and convenient. I have recently got the food network channel at home and I am loving watching all of the exciting new cooking shows. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Nigella Lawsons show 'Nigella Express' recently. I was never a huge fan of Nigella Lawson in the past so had never watched any of her shows but I recently flicked on to her show while she was making this easy chocolate mousse and I just had to try it. This recipe is super fast and takes approximatley 10 minutes to make and approx 10 mins in the fridge. It can easily be used for a light dessert for friends or else kept in the fridge as individual little treats for all the family.

Unlike traditional mousse recipes this mousse sets really quickly as it uses marshmallows so it's also a great recipe to use if you want to make a last minute dessert. The first time I made this I put them into little pots in the fridge and we ate them as treats after dinner and they were devine! The next time I made this recipe was when I had visitors at short notice and I made a quick fruit compote with a scoop of vanilla icecream to accompany the mousse which was topped with shavings of chocolate (see photo) and my guests loved it. This wouldn't be a dessert for anyone watching the calories in the new year but I would highly recommend it for all you chocolate lovers!!!

Ingredients:
675g mini marshmallows
55g unsalted butter, softened
255g good-quality milk chocolate, chopped into small pieces
60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
225ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

 
Method:
Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Put the saucepan on the stove, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.


Meanwhile whip the cream with the vanilla until thick and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. Pour or scrape into 4 or 6 glasses or small dishes and chill until you want to eat.

Fish Pie with cheesy mash

I am a big fan of seafood and one of my favourite seafood dishes is fish pie. I always choose this dish when eating in one of my favourite local restaurants Wrights Angler's Rest  located in the strawberry beds in Dublin. This dish is a particular favourite of mine during the winter. I have tried various fish pie recipes over the years but recently I made Neven Maguire's Fish Pie with Cheesy Mash from his new ipad app. There is a lot involved in this fish pie recipe and you would find much simpler fish pie recipes elsewhere, however the extra ingredients and time required for this recipe is well worth the effort as the result is an extremely tasty seafood dish.

The fish listed in this recipe can easily be substituted with any other types of fish of your choice.

Ingredients:

150gm cooked prawns

350gm cod fillets

350gm salmon fillets

350gm smoked haddock fillets

100gm mature cheddar cheese

225gm leeks

800gm potatoes

3 tblspns toasted breadcrumbs

salt and pepper

900ml milk

300gm brocolli

1 tblspn fresh flat leaf parsley

2 tblspns creme fraiche

1 onion

50gm butter

1 bay leaf

2 tblspns plain flour

150ml dry white wine

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160degrees.

Remove any stray bones from the fish and season generously, then place in a roasting tin with the bay leaf and milk.

Poach in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a knife.

Remove the fish from the tin and take off any remaining skin. Flake the flesh, checking for bones that might have been overlooked.

Strain the leftover milk into a measuring jug until you have 600ml. Discard the bay leaf.

Increase the temperature of the oven to 180 degrees.

Cut the potatoes into even-sized pieces and place in a  large pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender.

Drain and return to the pan and dry out a little.

Mash well and beat in half the butter and the grated cheese. Season well.

Thinly slice the leeks and onon, melt the remaining butter in a small pan and gently cook for about 5 minute.

Pour in the white wine and reduce by half. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.

Gradually pour in the reserved poaching milk and stir until you have a smooth sauce. Season and reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stiring occasionally.

Lastly chop a tablespoon of parsley and toss together with the prawns, flaked fish and creme fraiche and cook for 2 minutes.

Be careful not to boil the mixture because the fish will break up and the sauce will go mushy.

Spoon the fish mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish that is about 20cm square and 6cm deep and top it with the cheesy mash and sprinkle over breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until top is golden.

To serve, divide among warmed plates and add some steamed brocolli to each one. 

Salted caramel millionaire’s shortbread

Chocolate, caramel and shortbread are a fantastic combination and I watched Simon Rimmer make these morish treats a few weeks ago on one of my favourite weekend shows: Something for the Weekend on BBC. The shortbread in this recipe worked perfectly and although there is a bit of an effort in putting this together, it is well worth it! I used a fairly deep baking dish for this recipe and the result was a fairly thick layer of shortbread. If I was making this recipe again I would use a larger and more shallow dish. Apart from this the recipe worked well for me. I don't normally like extremely sweet things but I absolutley loved these!

Ingredients
For the shortbread
175g/6oz unsalted butter
75g/2½ oz caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
225g/8oz plain flour

For the caramel
200g/7oz unsalted butter
1 x 397g/14oz can condensed milk
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp sea salt

For the topping
350g/12oz milk chocolate

Preparation method
1.Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square cake tin.
2.Rub the butter, sugar, vanilla seeds and flour together in a bowl to make rough dough. Press the dough into the cake tin and prick all over with a fork.
3.Bake the dough in the oven for five minutes, then reduce the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and bake for a further 35 minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool in the tin.
4.Meanwhile for the caramel, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil for 10 minutes
5.Pour the caramel mixture over the shortbread. Chill in the fridge until the caramel has cooled and hardened slightly.
6.For the topping, melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, pour the chocolate over the caramel. Chill in the fridge again until the chocolate has set, then cut into 9 squares.

Chicken Casserole with Sweet Potatoes

A casserole is a really heart warming meal for a winters evening and the weather we've been getting lately in Ireland tells me that it's time to start making more wintery recipes. Some casserole dishes I've made previously have left me unsatisfied and I've often found them boring and similar in taste to each other. This recipe is from Neven's ipod application which I downloaded recently and it can be downloaded from itunes or you can find out more from his website. It uses chicken thigh pieces which if you can purchase from your butchers already boned, it will save you a lot of time (I learned that the hard way!). This dish is relatively straight forward and easy to make if you don't need additional time to bone the thighs. I had the left overs the next day and I loved it even more. The flavours in this dish are slightly sweet and full of taste. The redcurrant jelly adds a lovely fruity and sweet flavour. It's the type of meal that would put you in good form on a cold winters evening.

The fact that the flavour improved further on the second day makes it ideal for a midweek dinner as you can make a large pot which will do for two days. As per Neven's recipe I served it with mash potatoe which is my ultimate comfort food! The sauce is in this dish is more like a broth than a creamy sauce which I was slightly apprehensive about as I normally prefare thicker creamy  sauces but I have to admit that it was perfect for this recipe. This dish is going to be a regular in our home throughout the winter and I'm already looking forward to making it again...although next time I will make sure that I buy the chicken thighs already boned!!! 

Ingredients:
(serves 6)
120ml red wine
1 tblspn toasted flaked almonds
600ml Chicken stock
Pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
mashed potatoes
2 tblspns redcurrant jelly
2 medium sweet potatoes
3 tblspns olive oil
12 rindless streaky bacon rashers
1 tblspn fresh flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
2 medium onions
12 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless

Steps:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Stretch each rasher with the back of a knife and then use to wrap around a chicken thigh.
Heat the oil in a large casserole with a lid and cook the wrapped chicken thighs in batches until lightly browned all over. Arrange on a plate and set aside.
Cut the peeled onions into wedges and peel and cut the sweet potatoes into cubes and reduce the heat and add to the casserole, then saute for 5 minutes until golden.
Crush the garlic and add it and cook for 1 minute, stirring to prevent the mixture sticking.
Add the redcurrant jelly and then pour in red wine and stock.
Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and return the chicken to the casserole.
Cover and cook for 1 hour or until the chicken is completley tender and the sauce has thickened slightly. Season to tase
To serve, sprinkle the casserole with a teaspoon each of chopped parsley and flaked almonds, then place directly on the table with a large bowl of mash.