I'm playing "come dine with me"....?!
Answers: Me and my housemates are playing "Come dine with me". I'm thinking rather than make a couple of dishes, I should come up with a theme to win the cash. Any ideas?
you could have an irish theme to your night i have added some recipes for you to ponder over
Starter: Smoked Salmon and Cheese Noisettes
4 ozs thinly sliced smoked Irish salmon
4 ozs Vintage/mature Irish cheddar cheese.
Brown Irish soda bread and Irish butter.
To bake the bread you will need:
?lb wholemeal brown flour, ?lb course white flour, ? pint of buttermilk or soured milk,
2 ozs butter/margarine, 1 level teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons bread soda, 1 oz brown sugar, pinch salt.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Rub in the butter until all is well mixed. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk/sour milk, mixing with the hand or a wooden spoon. The mixture should be wet and sticky. Turn out onto a floured board or marble baking slab and kneed gently for a few minutes. Don't over-do it or the bread will be tough. Shape the dough into a plate-sized round mound. Place on a buttered/greased baking tray and score the bread from edge to edge with a cross, cutting half-way into the mix. Bake at 400F for 30 - 40 minutes. Test its readiness by tapping the base - it should sound hollow.
Butter the bread and cut into slices about ?" thich and 2" square. Place slivers of smoked salmon on each slice and top them off with thin slices of the cheese. Place under the grill until the cheese has melted. Serve warm.
Main Course: Pig & Smuggage
2 ? lb Collar of bacon (See our Foodhall Deli Counter for real Irish bacon)
Medium-sized cabbage
In Ireland, "bacon" can mean any cut of salted pork except ham. North Americans call bacon what we in Ireland call "rashers" or "streaky rashers". You want any thick cut of pork, with or without bones, about four inches by four inches by four or five inches. It does not have to have been salted first, but if you want to approximate the taste of the real Irish thing, put it down in brine for a day or two, then (when ready to cook it) bring to a boil first, boil about 10 minutes, change the water, and start the recipe from here:
Place the joint in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil, Remove the scum that floats to the surface. Cover and simmer for 1? - 2 hours (or 30 minutes per pound). Cut cabbage into thin shreds and add to pot after about 1? hour. Cook gently for about ? hour, or until cabbage is cooked to your liking. (Test constantly: don't overdo it!) Drain, and serve with potatoes boiled in their jackets and a knob of butter in the centre cut. Add a sharp sauce -- mustard or (if you can get it) HP sauce.
We like to dress our bacon with a white onion sauce. Chop up a medium onion finely. Cook till clear in colour in an ounce of butter. Thicken the mix to a roux with a good tablespoonful of flour. Pour on 1 pint of milk, mix well and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir until a thick runny sauce.
Dessert: Apple Crumble
1 lb Cooking apples, tart*
6 oz Brown Sugar
4 ozs sultanas
3 ozs white flour + 3 ozs brown wholemeal flour
4 ozs margarine/butter/shortening
1 teaspoon baking powder
Peeled, core and thinly slice the apples. Make a breadcrumb pastry mix by rubbing the shortening into the flour until it resembles large breadcrumbs. Add 3 ozs of brown sugar to the mix. Layer the apples, the sugar and the crumble in a buttered overproof dish, alternating a tablespoon of sugar and a layer of apples and finally a layer of crumble. Sprinkle the top with the remaining suger. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes. Serve with custard or whipped double cream.
Irish Coffees:
1 fl oz good Irish whiskey per person (Paddy or Jameson makes great Irish coffee)
1 teaspoon of brown sugar per serving (or more to taste)
? pint double cream whipped to a thick running consistency.
Hot coffee.
Pour the whisky into each of the heated glasses then pour the hot coffee over the back of a spoon to avoid cracking the glass. Mix in the sugar. Holding a clean spoon at the inside edge of the glass pour the cream slowly until a ?" white head sits on top of the coffee solution.
Have a 'Lets Fondue it' party. Traditional cheese fondue w/ bread, perhaps the hot oil w/ meat & seafood chunks fondue and melty chocolate w/pound cake pieces and fruit.
use some really unique recepies like a lamb stew with fresh mint and mango - things they would not expect to find in the dishes that work really well - for desert peaches stuffed with triffel sponge and soaked with brandy then baked until soft they are really nice you could even set them on fire as you take them to the table- good luck hope you win
I like the Fondue idea but, why not visit a country non of oyu have ever been to liek Egypt, Spain, France, Italy and see if you can decorate to resemble the country some. But have fun
Good idea. I try to cook using themes also. Mexican, Italian, seafood... there's all kinds of things you could do. Country cooking is one I'm learning now since I just recently moved to Virginia. Bar-be-que! Have fun and hope you win!