Goat's cheese tart

Line a 9in / 22cm tin with shortcrust pastry (buy the pastry). Keep in the fridge while waiting to make the filling.

Chop 6 large onions and saute slowly in oil for 30mins until you have a jam-like consistency. Do not burn or brown - hence the slow cooking. Leave aside.

Filling:

340g goat's cheese garlic 'n herbs
240ml cream
3 eggs
Fist of fresh basil

Whizz all four filling ingredients in a food processor or liquidiser.

Now assemble your dish. Put saute'd onions into the tin on top of the pastry. Pour cheese filling on top. Bake 180 celcius for 30-40mins until filling is slightly brown on top and not runny to the touch.

Enjoy as a special treat.

Brownie Cheesecake

Brownie mix:
          
200g dark choc melted
200g butter
250g icing sugar
3 eggs
110g plain flour

Cream tog. butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating each one and add flour after each egg until it is finished. Add melted chocolate and mix in.

Put mix in a tin 33 x 23 x 5cm (approx).

Cheesecake topping:

400g cream cheese
150g icing sugar
1/2 tsp.vanilla extract
2 eggs

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla tog. Add beaten eggs slowly.
Spoon into tin on top of brownie mix.

Bake 170 deg. for 30-40 mins.

This is a rich and delicious dessert, not in the healthy category but worth putting on my blog. I don't have a picture of it but I'm sure you have an imagination. Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream.

Lentil soup with beef

This is just gorgeous. I found it in a cook book but have adapted it to my own taste buds. I used 2 ribs of beef, available from a butcher. Only buy lean ribs. You only have a little meat but you have the rib bones which are steeped in flavour. They are cheap too €3.50 for the two ribs and you get four or five good servings from the pot. Definitely worth a try.

Ingredients:

1 tblsp. oil
2 ribs of beef
2 onions
4 carrots
4 large sticks of celery
6 garlic cloves
Punnet of cherry tomatoes
1/3 head cauliflower
Carton of Passata (liquid strained tomatoes, in Aldi for 69c, great value)
1 tblsp each of rosemary and oregano or any herbs you have
Beef stock or any stock
2 fists of lentils
Salt + pepper

Method:

Heat oil very hot and brown the ribs on both sides, remove and put on a plate. Reduce heat a little and add chopped onions. Cook for a few mins till golden. Add chopped carrots, celery and cauliflower and cook for 5 mins. Add chopped garlic, tomatoes, stock, passata and herbs.

Add the meat on top. Spoon some liquid on the meat. The level of liquid should come to the meat. Season. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add small potatoes or chopped larger ones on top of the meat and get your carbs. in the one pot.

Add lentils and cook for a further 30 mins. or cook them separately and add, it's faster.

It's an easy dish but you have to give the allotted time to the cooking, that's what brings out the flavour.

Also it's just as good with pasta or rice. I have tried all three. Go for it, you'll make it more than once!

Cranberry cookies

Ingredients:

150g butter
150g pl. flour
1/2tsp. bread soda
50g ground almonds
50g porridge oats
50g cranberries   
100g white chocolate
80g brown sugar (use less if you like, I used 50g, the recipe says 100g)
1 egg

Chop cranberries and white choc roughly. Use a bare 1/2 tsp. bread soda or you’ll taste it in the biscuits. Melt the butter but only melt 1/2 the amount given first as I didn't use as much as the recipe suggested.

Just mix everything together. The mix must stick together when you make it into walnut size balls. Put on a tray and press each ball gently down with a fork. Bake at 180 for 10 mins. Leave to cool in the tin as they will be very soft when you take them from the oven. This is the way they should be but the will harden as they cool.

Bean Soup

This is a one pot meal, delicious and nutritious.

Ingredients:
 
2 tblsp. oil
200g chunks bacon
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 carrots, diced
4 sticks of celery, chopped
2 cartons of cherry tomatoes
2 tblsp. tomato puree
1/2 cabbage, shredded
1 courgette, chopped
1 litre of beef stock
200g steeped beans (any kind)
Thyme, chopped

Method:

Fry the oil, bacon and onions together for a few mins. Add all the other ingredients. Bring to the boil, then reduce it to a simmer and cook for 30 mins. Serve with a little grated cheese on top.

The following sandwiches accompany the soup very well. Use any bread you like. I like to use sourdough and cut in thick slices. Grate a fist of cheese into a bowl. Add 1 tblsp. dijon mustard, a knob of soft butter and 1 mashed garlic clove. Spread the mix on both slices of bread, sandwich the slices tog. and grill both sides.

Savoury potato roulade

Ingredients:

700g mashed potato

55g soft cheese low fat with garlic and herbs

1 egg

Pepper and salt

Method:

Combine the above 3 ingredients and spread on a sheet of greaseproof paper in a square 30cm by 40cm. Have the overall size of the paper 35cm by 60cm approx.

Filling for roulade:

350g mince beef

115g chorizo chopped thinly

1 small onion chopped finely

2-3 cloves garlic sliced

1/2 red pepper chopped

55g mushrooms chopped

1 tblsp. tomato puree

Basil or parsley

Pepper and salt

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and spread on potato. Hold one end of the paper and roll gently in a swiss roll shape. Place on a tin big enough to hold the size of the roulade. Leave the paper on the roll. Bake in the oven at temp. 180 for one and a half hours.

You will get 3 good portions from this recipe. You can get the soft cheese for the potato in Lidl or Super Valu. Buy your organic mince and chorizo sausage and veg. in Lidl, they’re great value. You can freeze any left over portion, but I don’t think you’ll leave much on the plate.

Leek 'n potato soup

Ingredients:

1 tblsp oil

500g chopped clean leeks

400g chopped peeled potatoes

3 cloves garlic

3 bay leaves

Pepper

1 litre stock (any kind will do)

100g gorgonzola (or any blue cheese)

Method:

Heat oil in a large saucepan, add leeks and potatoes, stir on high heat for 5 mins. Add bay, garlic, pepper and stock. Cover and bring to the boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 20 mins or until veg is tender. Take off the heat, remove bay. Add 80g gorgonzola. Use a blender to liquidise soup.

Serve with a little chopped gorgonzola on top and some parsley. Have a roll or wholemeal bread with the soup.

This recipe makes 2/3 servings. You can vary it for the second day by adding some brocolli steamed in boiling salted water. Serve on the soup.

Another variation: Steep a fist of beans the night before (any beans will do e.g. chickpeas, haricot). Put in fresh water the next day and cook for 10 mins or so. Serve on the soup.

It's a yummy soup. Try it and enjoy.