ITALIAN FOODIES

When we were in Italy this summer this was our new drink of choice, I love it as an aperitif as it’s so light and refreshing. We had friends over for dinner last week so we decided to try it at home, we couldn’t get any Aperol so we used Campari instead which was a perfect substitute. I don’t like Campari on it’s own but it really works in this cocktail but I do think you have to like bitter drinks so all you G&T lovers will probably love it. I haven’t seen it in Ireland before but I read recently that a new restaurant in Dublin called Juniors has it on it’s menu and are using Aperol so times are changing.

what you need:

• 1 part Aperol or Campari
• 2 parts Prosecco or sparkling wine, chilled
• Sparkling mineral water or club soda
• ice
• Lemon or orange slice

I’m in a really good mood today as the sun is shining, we’re just back from Killaloe where we had lunch and brought the princess to feed the ducks. This week the builder has also come back with a rough price for changing La Cucina around and putting in seating for 26 people and surprise, surprise it’s actually affordable - I LOVE THE RECESSION:)! We just have to sort out a few things with the landlord and the bank of course and then it’s all systems go, I can’t wait as we have wanted to do this for ages but couldn’t as everything was too expensive in relation to building work but with the downturn it is now possible. 

My sister also had her baby this morning by c-section as he was completely breached and everything went perfect, he was 8lb 1 oz, big babies run in this family, it must be our love of pasta:) I’m so relieved as she had a really rough pregnancy and they didn’t think she would make it at 21 weeks, she threatened miscarriage about 3 times so he is a little angel in disguise. They are both doing great and I hope to get over to see them both next week as they live in Canterbury.

I love pasta dishes without an actual sauce and I’ve mentioned before that one of my favourite pastas is spaghetti alio olio which is one of the most simple pastas you can make. This one is quite similar and just as easy and as tasty, I think the difference without the sauce is that you can taste the actual ingredients. I find this recipe great for using leftover courgette and garlic, you could also replace it with spinach for a change.

what you need for 2:

 - 1 large courgette

 - 1 garlic clove

 - olive oil

 - 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

 - 350g pasta - I use orecchiette but you could also use linguine, fettucine, tagliatelle.

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - grated Parmesan

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - grate your courgettes with a cheese grater and chop your garlic.

 - fill the base of your frying pan with olive oil, heat and add your garlic and chilli and cook for a couple of minutes until golden but not too brown.

 - add your courgettes and cook until soft, make sure you stir them constantly.

 - season with salt and pepper, drain your pasta reserving some of the water.

 - add your drained pasta and Parmesan to your pan with courgettes, toss well and add water as needed.

 - serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

buon appetito!!

p.s. I’m having terrible problems answering your comments, I reply to all your comments, then press submit and everything dissapears, so annoying. Please don’t think I’m ignoring you because that’s not the case so keep commenting as I am reading all of them and do appreciate every comment)

I have never been so interested in politics or the news as I have been this week which would account for why I have abandoned the blog over the last few days but the “budget” took precedence. It’s anxious times for everybody as we really are venturing into the unknown, it’s a strange place for us to be as business owners as up until now our focus was always on how to grow the business, what our next business venture would be etc etc but now it’s just focusing on what we have and try to keep costs to a minimum and basically “hold our own”. We have had to cut back all of our staff and are basically running on skeleton staff which means doing the work of 4 people ourselves with a couple of others. To be honest we don’t mind as we did the enjoy the “celtic tiger” years so it’s back to normality now I suppose, all work and no play!!

It’s interesting though as we’ve obviously put opening a second place on hold for the moment and are talking with a builder to change La Cucina around and put in seating for about 25 but the big question now is “will the bank give us the money”???, this would never have been an issue before but now everything has changed. The strange thing is we have wanted to go into the city centre for the last 3 years but could never find the right place with affordable rent and now  2 different developers contacted us(unheard of) this week with fabulous developments that are scheduled to be finished in 2010 and wanting us to take units in both, before we would have jumped at the chance but we’re not deciding on anything now until we see what happens with the economy.

The one thing I do hope that comes out of this recession is the growth of small local business, hopefully commercial rents will become more affordable (our rent review has been postponed), the number of franchises will probably slow down as the volume won’t be there anymore and people might become more frugal with their spending and support local businesses and producers, fingers crossed!!

The princess still won’t eat fish so I tell her these are chicken nuggets and it works every time:) I don’t have exact  measurements but they are simple to make so I’m sure you will manage without.

what you need:

 - cod fillets cut into goujons

 - breadcrumbs ( I buy the fresh 200g bag in Superquinn)

 - 1 tbsp chopped flat parsley

 - zest of 1 lemon

 - plain flour

 - 100g grated Parmesan

 - oil

 - sea salt and black pepper(for mammy and daddy)

 - 2 beaten eggs

what to do:

 - season your goujons and  roll in flour.

 - mix together your breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon zest and Parmesan in a bowl.

 - fill a frying pan with lots of oil and heat.

 - dip your goujons into the beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs mix and cook until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

 - serve with Parmesan mash and fried eggs - YUM!!!! Fast food at it’s best!

buon appetito!

I was driving past my local butchers Jim Flavin last week and spotted his sign for leg of spring lamb for just €20. I would never notice anything like this but I really have become more aware of my spending since this recession went into overdrive. I don’t think anyone expected it to get this bad so fast! La Cucina is still doing fine but is definitely down a bit but we are lucky in that we can just work a little bit more ourselves - about time I hear some people say;) To be honest we’re probably lucky that the new restaurant didn’t work out as this is not the time to be opening something new. I know we would have still done well but we would have needed to be packed out every night just to cover the bills and the cost of setting it up but that’s not guaranteed in this climate.

After seeing the sign for the lamb I went home and had a look through the Silver Spoon and found this recipe which sounded delicious, I had all the herbs required in the garden(best thing ever) so I popped back down and picked up my lamb and some potatoes. The recipe called for the lamb to be cut up into pieces which I would never be able to do myself so I asked the butcher to do it and he even carried my bags to the car - now that’s service. I also picked up 2 free range chickens as we had friends coming over for dinner the next day and they were only €8.95 each! I do go to my local butcher regularly but sometimes I do take the easy option and just buy meat and chicken in the supermarket but there is no comparison in those prices, I’ve paid up to €30 for a leg of lamb and €15+ for chickens so I know where I will be going every time now regardless of convenience or not.

what you need:

 - leg of lamb cut up into pieces. I only used half of it and have the rest in the freezer.

 - plain flour for dusting

 - olive oil

 - 3 fresh rosemary sprigs - you won’t get fresher than my garden.

 - 4 sage leaves

 -1 garlic clove finely chopped.

 - 175ml white wine

 - 5 tbsp white wine vinegar

 - 4 potatoes sliced as thin as you can.(note to self)

 - salt and pepper

what to do:

 - pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

 - dust the pieces of lamb with flour and season.

 - heat the oil in a roasting tin, add the lamb and cook over a high heat until browned all over. Keep turning the pieces.

 - season again and add the garlic, sage and rosemary and cook for about 5 mins.

 - add your wine and vinegar and cook until evaporated.

 - add 150ml boiling water and put the potatoes on top.

 - cover and roast for 30 - 40 mins or until tender.

 - if the gravy dries out just add a little more water.

 - when cooked transfer the lamb to a serving dish and EAT!!!

I loved this recipe, the dish was bursting with flavour and so tasty, I think I prefer to eat the leg cut up rather than whole so this will be on the italian foodie table a lot this winter:)

buon appetito!

My little sis, I have 3, is pregnant and due her baby in a few weeks. She’s had the toughest time but has been so strong and positive, we’re all really proud of her. She’s in the nesting period and pottering around the house cooking and cleaning like a little housewife and I’m getting texts everyday about what she’s cooked off the blog and how her ”chicken eating simpsons and cops loving hubby” has loved everything she’s cooked. I got a request for this recipe to be posted today as she is craving it since I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and another regular reader bigtree asked for it too so here it is:

what you need:

 - 1 litre meat stock, I used Kallo stock cubes. Meat stock does make a big difference to the taste of this soup but veg is fine too.

 - 1 onion chopped finely

 - 1 carrot chopped finely

 - 1 celery stick chopped finely

 - 250g spinach washed and chopped

 - 1 400g can chickpeas

 - 100g soup pasta (fine without if you can’t get any but it really makes the soup lovely and filling)

 - salt and pepper

 - olive oil

what to do:

 - heat some olive oil in a pot and cook your celery, carrot and onion over a low heat until softened for about 10 mins. Do not let them colour so stir regularly.

 - add the spinach, season generously and cook until softened for about 5 mins.

 - add the chickpeas and stock and let simmer for about 30 mins.

 - add the pasta and cook until al dente.

 - serve with Parmesan cheese.

I have to say this was one of the nicest soups I’ve made and I’ve made a lot:) It was bursting with flavour and really comforting,  perfect for the wintry day that is out there today.

buon appetito!

I’ve mentioned before that our breakfast isn’t the healthiest in the Italian foodie house. It always consists of a creamy cappuccino and something sweet on the side, hey we’re “ee- tal -ien”, well everyone else is except the one writing the blog:) We’re getting a bit sick of the croissants from the local shop and I’m even beginning to tire of my favourite Italian biscuits so I’m making a big effort to bake a bit more. Nothing fancy just something simple to have with coffee in the morning. I’ve made this lemon cake a few times and everyone loves it so it’s a keeper, I made choc chip cookies the other day and they were nice but not Italian foodie standard so I’m looking for the best choc chip recipe there is so let me know if you have one.

what you need:

 - 200g unsalted butter

 - 150g golden caster sugar

 - zest and juice of 1 lemon

 - 3 eggs beaten

 - 200g plain flour

 - 2 tsp baking powder

 - 50g ground almonds

 - 2 tbsp milk

what to do:

 - heat the oven to 180 degrees

 - line the base of a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment

 - cream the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy.

 - add the lemon zest.

 - gradually add the beaten egg and mix between each addition.

 - sift the flour and baking powder together and then fold into the cake mixture with the ground almonds.

 - add the milk and lemon juice and mix with a spatula until smooth.

 - spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 1 hour or until golden brown, stick a skewer or knife into the centre and if it comes out clean it is done.

 - serve with coffee, tea or cappuccino:)

The SIL makes a really good panettone but she adds vegetable oil to the mix which makes it really moist, I’m going to replace the milk with oil the next time and see how it comes out, I didn’t have any this time so it’s in my press now ready for duty. Up this week is a simple apple cake so stay tuned:)

Every morning myself and Bru disagree on how we like our cappuccinos, Bru is the official “cappuccino maker” as I make latte so I’m told so I’ve been fired(the cheek). He does make a great coffee but it’s always too cold for me and I have to put it into the microwave to heat it up, he drinks it a lot cooler like they do in Italy and I know this is the way it’s supposed to be drank but I prefer it hot. I think this is an Irish thing after all those years of drinking tea so just wondering how do you drink yours?? 

buon appetito!!

My herb garden is coming on very well if I say so myself:)