Mark Doe of the Just Cooking school in Co Kerry has just launched his first cookbook, featuring over 40 foolproof recipes.
Prior to setting up his cookery school in Firies, near Killarney, Mark worked in some of Europe and Ireland’s leading hotels, including The Ritz and The Four Seasons, London, and his new book, Just Cooking, draws together the flavours of that experience, with recipes including roast rack of lamb with peperonata, smokey fish pie, pear tarte tatin and Baileys and Malteser cheesecake, explained in Mark’s down-to-earth style.
Just Cooking costs €14 and is available to buy through
www.justcooking.ie as well as local bookshops in Kerry and Tralee farmers’ market.
Starter: Pan-fried
scallops with
black pudding
This is an impressive restaurant-style starter. The key to perfect scallops is to buy them very fresh, use a hot pan and cook them for just two to three minutes on each side.
Serves four
150g of black pudding, cut into six slices (we use locally-produced Sásta black pudding)
Rapeseed or olive oil for cooking
12 fresh scallops, orange roe removed
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
100g of rocket leaves, washed
Balsamic, mustard and honey dressing (see below)
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark six.Place the black pudding on an oiled tray and bake in the oven for five minutes.To cook the scallops, place a heavy non-stick pan over a medium heat and heat it until it’s almost smoking. Add enough oil to lightly cover the base of the pan. Cook the scallops on one side until they are golden and caramelised (for two to three minutes). It is important not to move the scallops around the pan.Turn the scallops over and cook the other side until golden (again, two to three minutes). To test the scallops, press them with your finger – they should feel springy. Remove the pan from the heat and season the scallops with salt and black pepper.Place the rocket in a bowl and dress with a little balsamic, mustard and honey dressing.Place three scallops on each plate. Remove the black pudding from the oven and crumble it around the scallops. Dress with rocket leaves, drizzle dressing around the plate and serve.Tip: You need a good quality, heavy non-stick, frying pan to cook scallops. It needs to be heated until smoking and a cheap non-stick pan will scorch.
Balsamic, mustard and honey dressing
Makes 150ml
½ tbsp of honey
1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp of mayonnaise
½ tbsp of balsamic vinegar
150ml of olive or rapeseed oil
A little boiling water
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Place the honey, mustard, mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the oil a little at a time. This dressing will become quite thick.To thin the dressing, whisk in boiling water, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a creamy consistency. Season with salt and black pepper. You can store the dressing in the fridge, in an airtight jar, for up to 10 days.Main: Fillet of Beef, Surf ‘n’ Turf
Serve with garlic potato gratin or roast potatoes with rosemary. The garlic prawns make a fantastic starter on their own.
Serves four
For the steak
4 fillet steaks, weighing 175g each
2 tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil
Steak seasoning rub (see below)
For the prawns
2 tbsp of olive oil
16 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
50g of butter
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley
Red onion marmalade to serve
Remove the steaks from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Heat a griddle pan over a high heat until smoking hot. Once the pan is hot, rub the steaks with a little oil and season on both sides with the steak seasoning rub.
Sear the steaks on one side for three minutes without moving them. Sear on the other side for three minutes. This will give you a medium-rare steak. For a medium steak, cook for four-five minutes on each side. For a well-done steak, sear the steaks for three minutes on each side and place the steaks on a baking tray in a hot oven (220°C/fan 200°C/gas mark seven) and cook for eight to nine minutes.
Once the steaks are cooked, remove them from the griddle pan or oven and rest, lightly covered with tinfoil, while you cook the prawns.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and fry the prawns for three minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the butter and garlic and cook for one minute. Season the prawns with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley.
Serve the steak with the prawns, drizzle over the garlic butter and serve with red onion marmalade.* Steak cooking temperatures
Rare: 45°C to 50°C
Medium rare: 53°C to 58°C
Medium: 60°C to 65°C
Well done: 70°C plus
Steak seasoning rub
This Cajun-inspired rub adds a lovely flavor to steaks and chicken breasts – use smoked paprika and it will give them a smoky barbecue flavor. This recipe makes enough to season four steaks or four chicken breasts.
2 tbsp of paprika or smoked paprika
1 tbsp of dried garlic granules
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of dried thyme
1 tsp of freshly-ground black pepper
Place all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix well and store in an airtight jar for up to six months. Massage the rub into the meat or chicken just before cooking.Dessert: Baileys and Malteser cheesecake
This is a light-as-air cheesecake and, in my experience, no one can resist it. You need a 22cm flan ring with a removable base.
Serves eight
For the base
220g of digestive biscuits, crumbed
140g of unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
300g of cream cheese
220ml of cream (double cream is best, although single cream is fine)
50g of caster sugar
4-5 tbsp of Bailey’s Irish Cream
4 gelatine leaves
2 small bags of Maltesers, crushed
Chocolate shavings to decorate
Lightly brush the flan ring with a little oil. Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press into the base of the tin and chill for 20 minutes.Place the cream cheese, cream and caster sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until it resembles thickly whipped cream. Whisk in the Bailey’s Irish Cream.Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl, cover with cold water and leave for five minutes until the gelatine has softened. Remove the gelatine from the water and put it in a small saucepan.Add three tablespoons of water to the gelatine. Place over a medium heat and, stirring all the time, heat until the gelatine dissolve. Quickly, and in one go, whisk the gelatine into the cheesecake mixture. Add the crushed Maltesers.Pour the mixture over the biscuit base, cover with cling film and chill for at least four hours.
To serve, cut into slices, top each slice with chocolate shavings and serve with chocolate sauce.Easy chocolate sauce
Boil 100ml of single cream, remove from the heat and whisk in 50g of good quality, chopped chocolate until melted. Serve hot or cold.
Mark Doe of the Just Cooking school in Co Kerry has just launched his first cookbook, featuring over 40 foolproof recipes.
Prior to setting up his cookery school in Firies, near Killarney, Mark worked in some of Europe and Ireland’s leading hotels, including The Ritz and The Four Seasons, London, and his new book, Just Cooking, draws together the flavours of that experience, with recipes including roast rack of lamb with peperonata, smokey fish pie, pear tarte tatin and Baileys and Malteser cheesecake, explained in Mark’s down-to-earth style.
Just Cooking costs €14 and is available to buy through
www.justcooking.ie as well as local bookshops in Kerry and Tralee farmers’ market.
Starter: Pan-fried
scallops with
black pudding
This is an impressive restaurant-style starter. The key to perfect scallops is to buy them very fresh, use a hot pan and cook them for just two to three minutes on each side.
Serves four
150g of black pudding, cut into six slices (we use locally-produced Sásta black pudding)
Rapeseed or olive oil for cooking
12 fresh scallops, orange roe removed
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
100g of rocket leaves, washed
Balsamic, mustard and honey dressing (see below)
Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark six.Place the black pudding on an oiled tray and bake in the oven for five minutes.To cook the scallops, place a heavy non-stick pan over a medium heat and heat it until it’s almost smoking. Add enough oil to lightly cover the base of the pan. Cook the scallops on one side until they are golden and caramelised (for two to three minutes). It is important not to move the scallops around the pan.Turn the scallops over and cook the other side until golden (again, two to three minutes). To test the scallops, press them with your finger – they should feel springy. Remove the pan from the heat and season the scallops with salt and black pepper.Place the rocket in a bowl and dress with a little balsamic, mustard and honey dressing.Place three scallops on each plate. Remove the black pudding from the oven and crumble it around the scallops. Dress with rocket leaves, drizzle dressing around the plate and serve.Tip: You need a good quality, heavy non-stick, frying pan to cook scallops. It needs to be heated until smoking and a cheap non-stick pan will scorch.
Balsamic, mustard and honey dressing
Makes 150ml
½ tbsp of honey
1 tsp of wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp of mayonnaise
½ tbsp of balsamic vinegar
150ml of olive or rapeseed oil
A little boiling water
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Place the honey, mustard, mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar in a bowl. Whisk together until smooth. Whisk in the oil a little at a time. This dressing will become quite thick.To thin the dressing, whisk in boiling water, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a creamy consistency. Season with salt and black pepper. You can store the dressing in the fridge, in an airtight jar, for up to 10 days.Main: Fillet of Beef, Surf ‘n’ Turf
Serve with garlic potato gratin or roast potatoes with rosemary. The garlic prawns make a fantastic starter on their own.
Serves four
For the steak
4 fillet steaks, weighing 175g each
2 tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil
Steak seasoning rub (see below)
For the prawns
2 tbsp of olive oil
16 large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
50g of butter
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp of lemon juice
2 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley
Red onion marmalade to serve
Remove the steaks from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Heat a griddle pan over a high heat until smoking hot. Once the pan is hot, rub the steaks with a little oil and season on both sides with the steak seasoning rub.
Sear the steaks on one side for three minutes without moving them. Sear on the other side for three minutes. This will give you a medium-rare steak. For a medium steak, cook for four-five minutes on each side. For a well-done steak, sear the steaks for three minutes on each side and place the steaks on a baking tray in a hot oven (220°C/fan 200°C/gas mark seven) and cook for eight to nine minutes.
Once the steaks are cooked, remove them from the griddle pan or oven and rest, lightly covered with tinfoil, while you cook the prawns.
Heat a heavy frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and fry the prawns for three minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the butter and garlic and cook for one minute. Season the prawns with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with lemon juice and parsley.
Serve the steak with the prawns, drizzle over the garlic butter and serve with red onion marmalade.* Steak cooking temperatures
Rare: 45°C to 50°C
Medium rare: 53°C to 58°C
Medium: 60°C to 65°C
Well done: 70°C plus
Steak seasoning rub
This Cajun-inspired rub adds a lovely flavor to steaks and chicken breasts – use smoked paprika and it will give them a smoky barbecue flavor. This recipe makes enough to season four steaks or four chicken breasts.
2 tbsp of paprika or smoked paprika
1 tbsp of dried garlic granules
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of dried thyme
1 tsp of freshly-ground black pepper
Place all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix well and store in an airtight jar for up to six months. Massage the rub into the meat or chicken just before cooking.Dessert: Baileys and Malteser cheesecake
This is a light-as-air cheesecake and, in my experience, no one can resist it. You need a 22cm flan ring with a removable base.
Serves eight
For the base
220g of digestive biscuits, crumbed
140g of unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
300g of cream cheese
220ml of cream (double cream is best, although single cream is fine)
50g of caster sugar
4-5 tbsp of Bailey’s Irish Cream
4 gelatine leaves
2 small bags of Maltesers, crushed
Chocolate shavings to decorate
Lightly brush the flan ring with a little oil. Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter. Press into the base of the tin and chill for 20 minutes.Place the cream cheese, cream and caster sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until it resembles thickly whipped cream. Whisk in the Bailey’s Irish Cream.Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl, cover with cold water and leave for five minutes until the gelatine has softened. Remove the gelatine from the water and put it in a small saucepan.Add three tablespoons of water to the gelatine. Place over a medium heat and, stirring all the time, heat until the gelatine dissolve. Quickly, and in one go, whisk the gelatine into the cheesecake mixture. Add the crushed Maltesers.Pour the mixture over the biscuit base, cover with cling film and chill for at least four hours.
To serve, cut into slices, top each slice with chocolate shavings and serve with chocolate sauce.Easy chocolate sauce
Boil 100ml of single cream, remove from the heat and whisk in 50g of good quality, chopped chocolate until melted. Serve hot or cold.
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