I had one of my most enjoyable days last Saturday at the Home Economics Conference in Athlone. I have always been proud to be an ambassador because I believe it is a very important school subject and life skill. I am delighted that our twins are doing this subject in their school.
It was fantastic then to do a one-hour demo with an audience of over 100 Home Economics teachers at the event. On the menu was a warm steak salad with Cashel blue cheese followed by a cajun salmon with red pepper dressing. Next it was chicken satay skewers, and finally, a lemon posset with berries. All meals that you might like to try at home.
As usual, I had two of the audience with me on the stage to taste things as we went along, and I think they went home happy, as I did. And that was even before Manchester United continued on their winning ways. It is early days, but I am keeping my fingers crossed and looking forward to the next time I get a chance to see them in action at Old Trafford. As you know, I am always a fan, but it is that bit nicer with a few wins under our belts!
Sunday lunch is a great tradition and one that I have been enjoying since we decided some time back not to open on Sundays. People often ask when we are going to open for Sunday lunch again, but the answer is that we won’t be. The staff love it, and after a busy Saturday night and a long week, we look forward to the break.
My two recipes for you today are ideal for a lunch or dinner. The stuffed pork fillet is a bit of work, but well worth the effort. Apples and sage are two flavours that go very well with pork. Always look out for the Bord Bia Quality Assured mark on your pork. Most butchers make their own black pudding, and every single one is different.
I filmed some years ago with Colette Twomey from Clonakilty Black Pudding. I was blown away by the set-up, the staff and the way Clonakilty businesses work together.
Clonakilty Black Pudding is an iconic Irish food that has come down the generations, and I believe Colette is the only person who knows the secret recipe today! You can bulk up this meal with any roasted vegetable like red onions or carrots. Or you could just cut the fennel into thick wedges.
This meal is a nice treat and ideal with some buttery mash. For the sauce, Dijon mustard and honey are a classic combination, and I sometimes add a little ginger and soy, which makes a lovely sauce on chicken or turkey breasts.
This sticky ginger and date pudding is like one that my mother, Vera, used to make. It is very similar to a traditional sticky toffee pudding, but the addition of ginger gives it a lovely warmth. It can all be made the day before and drizzled with a little of the butterscotch sauce, then left to cool and chill, covered with cling film until needed.
What’s for Pudding, based in Kilmessan, Co Meath, makes a wonderful award-winning sticky toffee pudding. Catríona Flaherty and her son Rory have mastered this dish to perfection, and it is available in supermarkets nationwide.
There’s a little twist to this dessert with ginger and pecan nuts. Look out for Medjool dates. They are worth getting, and are so deliciously sweet with that treacle and caramel taste.
The butterscotch sauce keeps it moist, and Achill sea salt, which is harvested from the Atlantic in Keel Bay on Achill Island, is so good. This sauce will keep for a week in the fridge.
This dessert reminds me of a treat my father, Joe, used to make for us. He called it Butterscotch Bonanza, and it used this sauce with vanilla ice cream, sliced bananas and toasted pecan nuts. I still make it at home.
Stuffed pork
fillet feast
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
2 x 350g pork fillets, trimmed well
16 dry-cured rindless streaky bacon rashers
225g black pudding, casing removed and roughly crumbled
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
1 fennel bulb (fronds reserved), trimmed and cut into wedges
4 small eating apples, cored and quartered
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage, plus a handful of small sprigs
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tbsp honey
For the glaze:
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°c (400°F/gas mark 6). Cut a slit about three-quarters of the way into the pork fillets, along their full length, then use a rolling pin to flatten them out enough to fill this pocket with the black pudding.
Place two large pieces of cling film on your work surface and line up half of the streaky bacon side by side on each piece. Place a slit pork fillet on top and fill with the crumbled black pudding.
2. Close up each fillet bit by bit, stretching the bacon and using it to seal the pork over the stuffing. try to get the join underneath each fillet to keep it closed.
Do this all the way along until each pork fillet is wrapped up like a big parcel, then wrap tightly in the cling film. This can be made in advance or frozen.
3. Put the parsnips, fennel, apples, sage, vinegar, oil and honey in a large bowl. Season generously and mix gently until evenly coated. Tip into a large roasting tin lined with parchment paper, put the stuffed pork fillets on top and roast for 35 minutes, then remove from the oven and give everything a good toss.
4. Brush the stuffed pork fillets with the mustard and drizzle over the honey for the glaze. Scatter over the sage sprigs and drizzle them with a little extra oil. Roast for another 5 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the pork fillets are cooked through and tender.
5. Carve the pork on a small chopping board and serve on plates with the vegetables and apples, spooning over any juices from the tin. Garnish with the fennel fronds.
Sticky ginger and date pudding with butterscotch sauce
Neven's sticky toffee and date pudding with butterscotch sauce. \ Janine Kennedy
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
250g pitted dates, chopped
400ml boiling water
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g light brown sugar
150g butter, plus extra for greasing
3 large eggs
25g stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
350g self-raising flour
100g toasted pecan nuts, chopped
1 tbsp treacle
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
For the butterscotch sauce:
175g light brown sugar
100g butter
250ml cream
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp treacle
½ tsp sea salt flakes
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Put the dates in a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside to soak for 10 minutes. Butter a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish.
2. Using an electric hand-held mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Add the stem ginger and ground ginger along with the flour, pecans, treacle and date mixture and beat until evenly combined.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared ovenproof dish and bake for 45–50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If you think it’s becoming too brown close to the end of the cooking time, simply cover with foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, to make the butterscotch sauce, put the light brown sugar into a heavy-based pan with the butter, cream, golden syrup and treacle. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then allow to bubble for a couple of minutes, until you have achieved a smooth sauce. Stir in the salt.
4. Pour some of the butterscotch sauce over the warm pudding and put the rest into a jug to serve alongside. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each portion to serve.
I had one of my most enjoyable days last Saturday at the Home Economics Conference in Athlone. I have always been proud to be an ambassador because I believe it is a very important school subject and life skill. I am delighted that our twins are doing this subject in their school.
It was fantastic then to do a one-hour demo with an audience of over 100 Home Economics teachers at the event. On the menu was a warm steak salad with Cashel blue cheese followed by a cajun salmon with red pepper dressing. Next it was chicken satay skewers, and finally, a lemon posset with berries. All meals that you might like to try at home.
As usual, I had two of the audience with me on the stage to taste things as we went along, and I think they went home happy, as I did. And that was even before Manchester United continued on their winning ways. It is early days, but I am keeping my fingers crossed and looking forward to the next time I get a chance to see them in action at Old Trafford. As you know, I am always a fan, but it is that bit nicer with a few wins under our belts!
Sunday lunch is a great tradition and one that I have been enjoying since we decided some time back not to open on Sundays. People often ask when we are going to open for Sunday lunch again, but the answer is that we won’t be. The staff love it, and after a busy Saturday night and a long week, we look forward to the break.
My two recipes for you today are ideal for a lunch or dinner. The stuffed pork fillet is a bit of work, but well worth the effort. Apples and sage are two flavours that go very well with pork. Always look out for the Bord Bia Quality Assured mark on your pork. Most butchers make their own black pudding, and every single one is different.
I filmed some years ago with Colette Twomey from Clonakilty Black Pudding. I was blown away by the set-up, the staff and the way Clonakilty businesses work together.
Clonakilty Black Pudding is an iconic Irish food that has come down the generations, and I believe Colette is the only person who knows the secret recipe today! You can bulk up this meal with any roasted vegetable like red onions or carrots. Or you could just cut the fennel into thick wedges.
This meal is a nice treat and ideal with some buttery mash. For the sauce, Dijon mustard and honey are a classic combination, and I sometimes add a little ginger and soy, which makes a lovely sauce on chicken or turkey breasts.
This sticky ginger and date pudding is like one that my mother, Vera, used to make. It is very similar to a traditional sticky toffee pudding, but the addition of ginger gives it a lovely warmth. It can all be made the day before and drizzled with a little of the butterscotch sauce, then left to cool and chill, covered with cling film until needed.
What’s for Pudding, based in Kilmessan, Co Meath, makes a wonderful award-winning sticky toffee pudding. Catríona Flaherty and her son Rory have mastered this dish to perfection, and it is available in supermarkets nationwide.
There’s a little twist to this dessert with ginger and pecan nuts. Look out for Medjool dates. They are worth getting, and are so deliciously sweet with that treacle and caramel taste.
The butterscotch sauce keeps it moist, and Achill sea salt, which is harvested from the Atlantic in Keel Bay on Achill Island, is so good. This sauce will keep for a week in the fridge.
This dessert reminds me of a treat my father, Joe, used to make for us. He called it Butterscotch Bonanza, and it used this sauce with vanilla ice cream, sliced bananas and toasted pecan nuts. I still make it at home.
Stuffed pork
fillet feast
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
2 x 350g pork fillets, trimmed well
16 dry-cured rindless streaky bacon rashers
225g black pudding, casing removed and roughly crumbled
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into batons
1 fennel bulb (fronds reserved), trimmed and cut into wedges
4 small eating apples, cored and quartered
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage, plus a handful of small sprigs
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 tbsp honey
For the glaze:
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp honey
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°c (400°F/gas mark 6). Cut a slit about three-quarters of the way into the pork fillets, along their full length, then use a rolling pin to flatten them out enough to fill this pocket with the black pudding.
Place two large pieces of cling film on your work surface and line up half of the streaky bacon side by side on each piece. Place a slit pork fillet on top and fill with the crumbled black pudding.
2. Close up each fillet bit by bit, stretching the bacon and using it to seal the pork over the stuffing. try to get the join underneath each fillet to keep it closed.
Do this all the way along until each pork fillet is wrapped up like a big parcel, then wrap tightly in the cling film. This can be made in advance or frozen.
3. Put the parsnips, fennel, apples, sage, vinegar, oil and honey in a large bowl. Season generously and mix gently until evenly coated. Tip into a large roasting tin lined with parchment paper, put the stuffed pork fillets on top and roast for 35 minutes, then remove from the oven and give everything a good toss.
4. Brush the stuffed pork fillets with the mustard and drizzle over the honey for the glaze. Scatter over the sage sprigs and drizzle them with a little extra oil. Roast for another 5 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the pork fillets are cooked through and tender.
5. Carve the pork on a small chopping board and serve on plates with the vegetables and apples, spooning over any juices from the tin. Garnish with the fennel fronds.
Sticky ginger and date pudding with butterscotch sauce
Neven's sticky toffee and date pudding with butterscotch sauce. \ Janine Kennedy
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
250g pitted dates, chopped
400ml boiling water
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g light brown sugar
150g butter, plus extra for greasing
3 large eggs
25g stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
350g self-raising flour
100g toasted pecan nuts, chopped
1 tbsp treacle
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
For the butterscotch sauce:
175g light brown sugar
100g butter
250ml cream
3 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp treacle
½ tsp sea salt flakes
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/gas mark 4). Put the dates in a heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda and set aside to soak for 10 minutes. Butter a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish.
2. Using an electric hand-held mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Add the stem ginger and ground ginger along with the flour, pecans, treacle and date mixture and beat until evenly combined.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared ovenproof dish and bake for 45–50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If you think it’s becoming too brown close to the end of the cooking time, simply cover with foil. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, to make the butterscotch sauce, put the light brown sugar into a heavy-based pan with the butter, cream, golden syrup and treacle. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved, then allow to bubble for a couple of minutes, until you have achieved a smooth sauce. Stir in the salt.
4. Pour some of the butterscotch sauce over the warm pudding and put the rest into a jug to serve alongside. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to each portion to serve.
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