Mother’s Day always brings to my mind an image of daffodils and primroses in abundance and the promise of longer evenings and warmer days. In reality, it is often bright but extremely cold outside, so the recipes I have chosen reflect a need for lighter food coming out of the long, dark winter, but still with an element of comfort to them.
These recipes are a lovely treat if you have invited your mum over for lunch or dinner, but equally are lovely for mums and kids to cook together. Happy Mother’s Day!
Tara Walker runs East Coast Cookery School in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, and is the author of Good Food, No Stress. For further information on upcoming classes and courses for adults and children, click here.
Cheese scones. \ Ramona Farrelly
Cheese scones
Makes 12-16 depending on the size you cut them
For some reason, I have noticed that kids just seem to love using cookie cutters even if it’s not for sweet treats! Feel free to let the kids have a bit of fun cutting out different shapes. Just make sure to keep an eye on them if they are all different shapes and sizes as some may cook faster then others!
Leave the cayenne out of the scones if anyone has an aversion to spice, but it really does complement the cheesiness of these little bites!
450g plain flour
1 level teaspoon bread soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
50g cold butter, cubed
Rapeseed oil
110g cheddar or parmesan, grated or a mix of both
One egg, beaten
375ml buttermilk
1 Preheat oven to 220°C (fan 200°C or gas mark 7). 2 Brush a baking sheet with a small amount of the oil. 3 Sift the flour, bread soda, salt and cayenne into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 4 Add most of the egg to the buttermilk, keeping just enough egg back to brush the remainder over the scones – half a teaspoon should suffice. Mix this into the dry ingredients and add the cheese. 5 Combine well but gently, using your open fingered hand or a spatula until a soft dough is formed. 6 Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead as little as possible, just enough to bring it all together. 7 Press out to a thickness of 2cm. Use a floured cookie cutter to cut circle shapes or a floured knife to cut into squares or triangles. Brush the tops of the scones with a little of the egg that you held back. 9 Place on the baking tray, brush with a beaten egg and bake for about 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack. 
Baked white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. \ Ramona Farrelly
Baked white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake
For this cheesecake, kids love bashing up the biscuits – a great way to spend any extra energy!
Base:
250g digestive biscuits, crushed
100g butter, melted
Filling:
350g cream cheese (eg Philadelphia)
85g caster sugar
Three large eggs
185g white chocolate
150g raspberries (fresh when in season otherwise frozen) If using fresh raspberries, save about 10 of the best ones for the top
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g tub sour cream
Optional: some icing sugar to sprinkle over and some fresh mint leaves
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan 150°C or gas mark 2).2 Grease a 20cm spring release tin with a little of the melted butter.3 Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter in a bowl and press into the bottom of the tin. Chill in the fridge while making the filling.4 Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla extract and the sugar together until smooth. 5 Add the eggs, beating after the addition of each one.6 Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water or in the microwave, stirring regularly.7 Add the sour cream to the melted chocolate, stirring until smooth.8 Add this to the cream cheese mixture and combine well.9 Pour half the filling on to the biscuit base, sprinkle the raspberries over the mixture. You can use them straight from frozen. Then, spread the other half of the mixture over the top.10 Bake for an hour in the oven. Allow to cool and then carefully remove from the tin and serve at room temperature or cover and chill in the fridge (I sometimes eat this warm but it can crumble a little). 11 To garnish, place some of the raspberries around the edge of the cake and sprinkle with the icing sugar.
Chicken parmigiana. \ Ramona Farrelly
Chicken Parmigiana
Serves four
Get the kids grating the cheese here. It’s a job they love, but just try to make sure they don’t eat all the parmesan – it’s hard to resist!
The tomato sauce here is a great child-friendly option. Make a double batch and use it for Cheatzas; a great after-school snack of pizza made from wraps. Or you could add some stock and a glug of cream to turn it into a tomato soup – another great after-school option.
Four chicken breast fillets
One egg, lightly beaten
100g plain flour
100g breadcrumbs
50g grated Parmesan cheese and 50g mozzarella
Salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil
Basil
1 quantity of tomato sauce - see below
1 Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls. Add about a third of the cheese to the breadcrumbs.2 Dip the chicken into the flour and shake to remove excess, then place into the egg, followed by the breadcrumb and parmesan mix.3 In a shallow pan, heat a good glug of oil until very hot.4 Place the chicken on to the pan and fry on each side for about three minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Place in an ovenproof dish. You could also just crisp the chicken up in the pan and finish the cooking of the chicken in a preheated oven at 200°C (fan 180°C or gas mark 6) if your frying pan is too small to hold four breaded chicken breasts. 5 Place a little of the tomato sauce (see below) on the chicken pieces, top with some mozzarella and parmesan and place under a hot grill to melt the cheese. Garnish with the basil and serve with spaghetti.Tomato sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
One garlic clove, crushed
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1 Heat the oil in a saucepan, gently cook the onion with a pinch of salt to prevent it from catching. Then add the garlic until soft (not coloured, about two minutes). 2 Stir in the tomatoes and sugar. 3 Bring to a simmer, cook gently for 15-20 minutes 4 Season with salt and pepper if needed.5 Whiz in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth. Read more
Tara Walker of The Tasty Tart shares favourite recipes for catering for a crowd
The Tasty Tart's crowd-pleasing chicken curry and melt in the mouth lamb
Mother’s Day always brings to my mind an image of daffodils and primroses in abundance and the promise of longer evenings and warmer days. In reality, it is often bright but extremely cold outside, so the recipes I have chosen reflect a need for lighter food coming out of the long, dark winter, but still with an element of comfort to them.
These recipes are a lovely treat if you have invited your mum over for lunch or dinner, but equally are lovely for mums and kids to cook together. Happy Mother’s Day!
Tara Walker runs East Coast Cookery School in Termonfeckin, Co Louth, and is the author of Good Food, No Stress. For further information on upcoming classes and courses for adults and children, click here.
Cheese scones. \ Ramona Farrelly
Cheese scones
Makes 12-16 depending on the size you cut them
For some reason, I have noticed that kids just seem to love using cookie cutters even if it’s not for sweet treats! Feel free to let the kids have a bit of fun cutting out different shapes. Just make sure to keep an eye on them if they are all different shapes and sizes as some may cook faster then others!
Leave the cayenne out of the scones if anyone has an aversion to spice, but it really does complement the cheesiness of these little bites!
450g plain flour
1 level teaspoon bread soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
50g cold butter, cubed
Rapeseed oil
110g cheddar or parmesan, grated or a mix of both
One egg, beaten
375ml buttermilk
1 Preheat oven to 220°C (fan 200°C or gas mark 7). 2 Brush a baking sheet with a small amount of the oil. 3 Sift the flour, bread soda, salt and cayenne into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 4 Add most of the egg to the buttermilk, keeping just enough egg back to brush the remainder over the scones – half a teaspoon should suffice. Mix this into the dry ingredients and add the cheese. 5 Combine well but gently, using your open fingered hand or a spatula until a soft dough is formed. 6 Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead as little as possible, just enough to bring it all together. 7 Press out to a thickness of 2cm. Use a floured cookie cutter to cut circle shapes or a floured knife to cut into squares or triangles. Brush the tops of the scones with a little of the egg that you held back. 9 Place on the baking tray, brush with a beaten egg and bake for about 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Baked white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake. \ Ramona Farrelly
Baked white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake
For this cheesecake, kids love bashing up the biscuits – a great way to spend any extra energy!
Base:
250g digestive biscuits, crushed
100g butter, melted
Filling:
350g cream cheese (eg Philadelphia)
85g caster sugar
Three large eggs
185g white chocolate
150g raspberries (fresh when in season otherwise frozen) If using fresh raspberries, save about 10 of the best ones for the top
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g tub sour cream
Optional: some icing sugar to sprinkle over and some fresh mint leaves
1 Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan 150°C or gas mark 2).2 Grease a 20cm spring release tin with a little of the melted butter.3 Mix the crushed biscuits and melted butter in a bowl and press into the bottom of the tin. Chill in the fridge while making the filling.4 Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla extract and the sugar together until smooth. 5 Add the eggs, beating after the addition of each one.6 Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water or in the microwave, stirring regularly.7 Add the sour cream to the melted chocolate, stirring until smooth.8 Add this to the cream cheese mixture and combine well.9 Pour half the filling on to the biscuit base, sprinkle the raspberries over the mixture. You can use them straight from frozen. Then, spread the other half of the mixture over the top.10 Bake for an hour in the oven. Allow to cool and then carefully remove from the tin and serve at room temperature or cover and chill in the fridge (I sometimes eat this warm but it can crumble a little). 11 To garnish, place some of the raspberries around the edge of the cake and sprinkle with the icing sugar.
Chicken parmigiana. \ Ramona Farrelly
Chicken Parmigiana
Serves four
Get the kids grating the cheese here. It’s a job they love, but just try to make sure they don’t eat all the parmesan – it’s hard to resist!
The tomato sauce here is a great child-friendly option. Make a double batch and use it for Cheatzas; a great after-school snack of pizza made from wraps. Or you could add some stock and a glug of cream to turn it into a tomato soup – another great after-school option.
Four chicken breast fillets
One egg, lightly beaten
100g plain flour
100g breadcrumbs
50g grated Parmesan cheese and 50g mozzarella
Salt and pepper
Rapeseed oil
Basil
1 quantity of tomato sauce - see below
1 Place the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls. Add about a third of the cheese to the breadcrumbs.2 Dip the chicken into the flour and shake to remove excess, then place into the egg, followed by the breadcrumb and parmesan mix.3 In a shallow pan, heat a good glug of oil until very hot.4 Place the chicken on to the pan and fry on each side for about three minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Place in an ovenproof dish. You could also just crisp the chicken up in the pan and finish the cooking of the chicken in a preheated oven at 200°C (fan 180°C or gas mark 6) if your frying pan is too small to hold four breaded chicken breasts. 5 Place a little of the tomato sauce (see below) on the chicken pieces, top with some mozzarella and parmesan and place under a hot grill to melt the cheese. Garnish with the basil and serve with spaghetti.Tomato sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
One garlic clove, crushed
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1 Heat the oil in a saucepan, gently cook the onion with a pinch of salt to prevent it from catching. Then add the garlic until soft (not coloured, about two minutes). 2 Stir in the tomatoes and sugar. 3 Bring to a simmer, cook gently for 15-20 minutes 4 Season with salt and pepper if needed.5 Whiz in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth. Read more
Tara Walker of The Tasty Tart shares favourite recipes for catering for a crowd
The Tasty Tart's crowd-pleasing chicken curry and melt in the mouth lamb
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