Bring the unique experience and flavours of one of Ireland’s most loved food and lifestyle destinations – Foxford Café – into your home.
Since starting with a small café nearly 20 years ago, head chef Kathleen Flavin has turned Foxford into a top food destination.
Her recipes are easy to prepare but pack a real punch, from nourishing salads and vibrant soups to indulgent bakes and breads.
Now, you can bring the distinctive taste of Foxford Café into your own kitchen with her new book Foxford Café Cookbook. Kathleen’s recipes are designed to be approachable yet full of flavour. These dishes reflect her belief that good food should both nourish and delight.
Carrot, ginger and coconut soup
Carrot, ginger and coconut soup.
Carrot and ginger is a delicious soup in its own right, but the addition of coconut milk really elevates it, while being delicate enough not to dominate.
Ingredients: Serves 6
1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5cm piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
700g carrots, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 litre vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
3 tbsp coriander, chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Method
1. Prepare your onion, garlic and ginger.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, ginger and garlic, and cook until they begin to soften but not brown – keep the heat low. It should take 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally.
3. Add the chopped carrots to the saucepan, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the ground turmeric, stir to coat the carrots, and allow the spice to cook for 1-2 minutes to release its flavour.
4. Add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the carrots soften.
5. Remove from the heat and blend using a hand blender until smooth. (You could cool and freeze at this stage if you wish).
6. Add the coconut milk and gently reheat the soup.
7. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the chopped coriander and a pinch of chilli flakes, if using, and leave for a minute to allow the flavours to infuse. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve.
Brown sugar
meringue roulade
Brown sugar meringue roulade.
Brown sugar gives meringue a delicious caramel flavour. It’s so different from the usual white one. It makes a super-light dessert.
Ingredients: Serves 6
Butter, for greasing
125g egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
250g soft dark brown sugar
1 large or 2 small Bramley apples, washed, peeled and chopped
½ tbsp water
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
250ml cream
1 orange to make dehydrated orange slices, to garnish
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4. Grease a shallow rectangular baking tray (32 x 21cm), then cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the tin. Using your scissors, cut a 6cm slit towards the centre from each corner. When you place it in your tin, the paper should sit into it perfectly.
2. Using a hand-held or stand mixer, whisk the egg whites for the meringue. This will take some time depending on your mixer. The egg whites should resemble a fluffy cloud, and the whisk should leave stiff peaks in the mix when lifted up.
3. Slow the mixer, add a fifth of the dark brown sugar, then turn it up to full speed again until the meringue whips right back up to full peaks. It is important to make these additions gradually. Continue like this, whisking back up for 2-3 minutes between each addition, until all the sugar is incorporated.
4. Scoop the meringue onto the tray using a rubber spatula. Spread evenly, finally running your palette knife lengthways back over the meringue to leave tracks.
5. Bake for 8 minutes. Open the oven to release the heat, turn the temperature down to 140°C fan/160°C/gas 3, then bake for a further 10 minutes.
6. Place the tray on a wire rack to cool.
7. Meanwhile prepare the apples.
8. Place them in a small saucepan with the water, sugar and cinnamon over a medium heat, stirring regularly until the apple begins to break down. Leave some chunks – don’t cook it to a purée. Scoop it out onto a flat dish and allow it to cool. I prefer to leave this quite tart, as the meringue is so sweet, so don’t be tempted to add too much sugar, even if the apples are sour.
9. Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
10. Place a piece of parchment on a tray of similar size to the one the meringue is in, and turn this on top of the meringue, then flip over the trays. Hold the edge of the paper under the meringue and carefully remove the tray, so your meringue is now upside down in front of you on the clean parchment. Pull away the parchment paper the meringue was baked on.
11. Spread most of the whipped cream over the meringue, leaving 2.5cm free on all sides. Spoon the cooled compote lengthways along the centre.
12. Roll the meringue up from the long end, as tightly as possible, using the paper underneath to help. Wrap in parchment and refrigerate.
13. When you are ready to serve, decorate the top with the reserved cream (use a spoon dipped in hot water to make little quenelles, but you could also pipe some rosettes). Then zest the orange, using a microplane, directly on top and garnish with dehydrated orange slices.
Foxford Café Cookbook by Kathleen Flavin, published by O’Brien Press, €24.99.
See foxford.com
Foxford Cafe Cookbook.
Bring the unique experience and flavours of one of Ireland’s most loved food and lifestyle destinations – Foxford Café – into your home.
Since starting with a small café nearly 20 years ago, head chef Kathleen Flavin has turned Foxford into a top food destination.
Her recipes are easy to prepare but pack a real punch, from nourishing salads and vibrant soups to indulgent bakes and breads.
Now, you can bring the distinctive taste of Foxford Café into your own kitchen with her new book Foxford Café Cookbook. Kathleen’s recipes are designed to be approachable yet full of flavour. These dishes reflect her belief that good food should both nourish and delight.
Carrot, ginger and coconut soup
Carrot, ginger and coconut soup.
Carrot and ginger is a delicious soup in its own right, but the addition of coconut milk really elevates it, while being delicate enough not to dominate.
Ingredients: Serves 6
1 medium white onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5cm piece of fresh ginger, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
700g carrots, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 litre vegetable stock
400ml coconut milk
3 tbsp coriander, chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Method
1. Prepare your onion, garlic and ginger.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, ginger and garlic, and cook until they begin to soften but not brown – keep the heat low. It should take 5-6 minutes. Stir occasionally.
3. Add the chopped carrots to the saucepan, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the ground turmeric, stir to coat the carrots, and allow the spice to cook for 1-2 minutes to release its flavour.
4. Add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the carrots soften.
5. Remove from the heat and blend using a hand blender until smooth. (You could cool and freeze at this stage if you wish).
6. Add the coconut milk and gently reheat the soup.
7. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the chopped coriander and a pinch of chilli flakes, if using, and leave for a minute to allow the flavours to infuse. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve.
Brown sugar
meringue roulade
Brown sugar meringue roulade.
Brown sugar gives meringue a delicious caramel flavour. It’s so different from the usual white one. It makes a super-light dessert.
Ingredients: Serves 6
Butter, for greasing
125g egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
250g soft dark brown sugar
1 large or 2 small Bramley apples, washed, peeled and chopped
½ tbsp water
½ tbsp sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
250ml cream
1 orange to make dehydrated orange slices, to garnish
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas 4. Grease a shallow rectangular baking tray (32 x 21cm), then cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than the tin. Using your scissors, cut a 6cm slit towards the centre from each corner. When you place it in your tin, the paper should sit into it perfectly.
2. Using a hand-held or stand mixer, whisk the egg whites for the meringue. This will take some time depending on your mixer. The egg whites should resemble a fluffy cloud, and the whisk should leave stiff peaks in the mix when lifted up.
3. Slow the mixer, add a fifth of the dark brown sugar, then turn it up to full speed again until the meringue whips right back up to full peaks. It is important to make these additions gradually. Continue like this, whisking back up for 2-3 minutes between each addition, until all the sugar is incorporated.
4. Scoop the meringue onto the tray using a rubber spatula. Spread evenly, finally running your palette knife lengthways back over the meringue to leave tracks.
5. Bake for 8 minutes. Open the oven to release the heat, turn the temperature down to 140°C fan/160°C/gas 3, then bake for a further 10 minutes.
6. Place the tray on a wire rack to cool.
7. Meanwhile prepare the apples.
8. Place them in a small saucepan with the water, sugar and cinnamon over a medium heat, stirring regularly until the apple begins to break down. Leave some chunks – don’t cook it to a purée. Scoop it out onto a flat dish and allow it to cool. I prefer to leave this quite tart, as the meringue is so sweet, so don’t be tempted to add too much sugar, even if the apples are sour.
9. Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
10. Place a piece of parchment on a tray of similar size to the one the meringue is in, and turn this on top of the meringue, then flip over the trays. Hold the edge of the paper under the meringue and carefully remove the tray, so your meringue is now upside down in front of you on the clean parchment. Pull away the parchment paper the meringue was baked on.
11. Spread most of the whipped cream over the meringue, leaving 2.5cm free on all sides. Spoon the cooled compote lengthways along the centre.
12. Roll the meringue up from the long end, as tightly as possible, using the paper underneath to help. Wrap in parchment and refrigerate.
13. When you are ready to serve, decorate the top with the reserved cream (use a spoon dipped in hot water to make little quenelles, but you could also pipe some rosettes). Then zest the orange, using a microplane, directly on top and garnish with dehydrated orange slices.
Foxford Café Cookbook by Kathleen Flavin, published by O’Brien Press, €24.99.
See foxford.com
Foxford Cafe Cookbook.
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