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Posts Tagged ‘Celery’

Lettuce & Celery Salad and Blue Cheese Dressing

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 29 August 2024| 1 Comment »

We love a blue cheese dressing – the perfect thing for crunchy lettuce and super fresh celery.

Lettuce and blue cheese dressing – serves 4

  • 1 large butterhead, cos, or little gem lettuce
  • 1 head of tender celery
  • a small handful of chives, thinly sliced
  • a handful of pumpkin seeds

FOR THE DRESSING:

  • 150g soft blue cheese
  • ½ a small clove of garlic, finely grated
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 2 tsp runny honey, plus extra to taste
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 2 tbsp good mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Make the dressing first by crumbling the blue cheese into a large bowl, then add the garlic, mustard honey, and vinegar and season with black pepper. Use a fork to mash to the cheese and mustard to a coarse paste, then work in the crème fraîche and mayonnaise. Stir in the olive oil and taste – add a bit of salt if you think it needs it or a bit more honey or vinegar.

Cut the base from the lettuce and separate the leaves. Wash and dry thoroughly.

Trim the base of the celery and separate the stems. Wash, dry thoroughly and trim the ends, then slice into 1-2cm pieces at an angle.

Tear the salad leaves into a large bowl. Add the celery and spoon over half the dressing. Turn the leaves and celery in the dressing, then sprinkle over half the chives. Arrange the leaves over a large platter and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and spoon over the rest of the dressing. Sprinkle with the remaining chives and season lightly with black pepper and salt, then serve.

(Original recipe from Outside by Gill Meller, Hardie Grant: Quadrille, 2022.)

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Lamb & Pearl Barley Broth

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Lamb, Soup, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 6 September 2022| Leave a Comment »

A delicious soup for leftover roast lamb and perfect for chilly weather.

Lamb & pearl barley broth – serves 6-8

  • 25g butter
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  • 1 bay leaf
  • a sprig of rosemary
  • 200g leftover cooked lamb, sliced or shredded
  • 1 medium parsnip, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 100g pearl barley
  • 1.25 litres of chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Put the butter and oil into a large saucepan over a medium heat. When the butter is foaming, add the onions, celery, bay leaf and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper, then turn the heat to low, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes, or until softened.

Add the lamb, chopped parsnip and carrot, the pearl barley and the stock. Turn the heat up and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the barley and vegetables are tender.

Remove and discard the bay and rosemary. Stir in the chopped parsley, season to taste, and serve.

(Original recipe from Soup Broth Bread by Rachel Allen, Michael Joseph, 2021.)

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Pot-roast Beef

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 14 November 2021| Leave a Comment »

We don’t cook roast beef too often, because we’re lucky enough to have good friends who do! However we liked the look of this one as it all cooks in one pot and so thought we’d give it a go. It’s a very forgiving dish to cook – easy to get right and with loads of veg cooked in the same dish. Some greens on the side is all you need.

Wine Suggestion: A good, honest Bordeaux blend is what works here. For us it was the Chateau Monconseil Gazin from Blaye which always over-delivers in panache and lovely fruit for the value pricing.

Pot-roast beef – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 12 shallots, peeled
  • 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • 2 large carrots, cut into chunks
  • 400g baby potatoes, halved
  • 2 tsp mustard powder
  • 1kg silverside or beef topside, extra fat removed
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 150ml red wine
  • 600ml beef stock
  • 2 tsp butter
  • 2 tsp plain flour
  • 1-2 tsp redcurrant jelly

Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 3.

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the shallots, celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook over a high heat until everything is starting to brown, then remove from the dish with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the mustard powder with salt and pepper, then use this to dust the beef. Add the beef to the casserole and brown on all sides, you can add a little more oil if needed.

Arrange the browned vegetables around the beef, then add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil and allow to bubble for a few minutes, then add the stock and bring to the boil again.

Cover the dish with the lid and place in the oven to 2 hours, turning the beef over halfway through. Remove the beef from the oven and check that it’s tender, then transfer the beef and vegetables to a warm platter and cover loosely with foil.

Knead the butter and flour together to make a paste, then whisk this into the cooking liquid, a little at a time, until thickened. Taste for seasoning, then stir in the redcurrant jelly, to taste. Serve the gravy with the meat and vegetables.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials 2019.)

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BBQ Bream with a Smoked Potato Salad

Posted in Barbecue, Fish, Food, Potato, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 3 September 2021| Leave a Comment »

Don’t pack the barbecue away yet, you really should make this first. The smoky potato salad is good even if the fish is not your thing.

Wine Suggestion: a new find from Portugal: the Companhia de Vinhos Invencival “Natural Mystic”. An Alvarinho, Arinto, Loureiro blend from the far north, this is light and fresh and yet rounded and full flavoured standing up to the barbecued fish flavours and adding it’s own extra bit of pizzazz for a great combo.

BBQ Bream with Smoked Potato Salad – serves 2 (with salad leftover)

  • 2 whole bream, gutted and fins and other sharp bits removed
  • 1 lemon, halved

SPICE RUB FOR THE FISH:

  • 3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp flaky sea salt
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly ground
  • 1 ½ tsp garlic powder

FOR THE SMOKED POTATO SALAD:

  • 800g cooked new potatoes
  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 3 tbsp crème fraîche
  • 6 celery sticks, finely chopped
  • 50g cornichons, sliced
  • 2 tbsp dill, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

You will need to get a charcoal barbecue nice and hot to cook on.

Prep the fish first by placing on a board and slashing through the skin a few times on both sides.

Put all of the spice rub ingredients into a shallow dish, big enough to hold the fish, and mix together. Put the fish on top and rub the spice rub all over the fish and and into the cuts you made.

Lay the fish onto a hot barbecue and leave for 5-6 minutes to allow the skin to crisp up. Turn carefully and repeat on the other side.

Carefully remove the fish from the barbecue and leave to rest for a few minutes. Squeeze over the lemon halves.

Put the potatoes directly onto the cooling embers. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the potato salad ingredients together in a a large bowl and season. Add the smoked potatoes and toss to coat.

Serve the fish with the warm potato salad.

(Original recipe from Outdoor Cooking by Tom Kerridge, Bloomsbury Absolute, 2021.)

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Blue Cheese Slaw

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 5 July 2021| Leave a Comment »

This is good with some spicy barbecued chicken, it’s a bit like the celery sticks and blue cheese sauce you get with chicken wings.

Blue Cheese Slaw – serves 4 as a side

  • 75g hard blue cheese
  • 100g sour cream
  • 50g mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp English mustard
  • a squeeze of lemon juice
  • 4-6 celery sticks, shredded
  • 1 green pepper, finely sliced
  • ½ a red onion, finely sliced
  • a few chives, finely chopped

Crumble the blue into a large bowl. Stir in the sour cream, mayonnaise and mustard.

Season and add a squeeze of lemon juice. You can whizz until smooth if you like at this stage but we didn’t bother.

Fold in the celery, pepper and onion and scatter over the chives to serve.

(Original recipe by Adam Bush and Anna Glover in Olive Magazine, June 2021.)

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Mince

Posted in Beef, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 9 January 2021| 2 Comments »

Growing up in Northern Ireland Jules often had mince and potatoes for dinner. The “mince” was minced beef with carrot and onions in gravy and it was served with boiled potatoes. We saw this recipe recently in a book of ‘British Classics’ where it was served with dumplings. Dumplings definitely did not feature on Jules’ childhood dinner table, so we left these out and served it with champ. A huge hit with the 7 year old and much more economical than many of our other weekend recipes.

Wine Suggestion: Keep it simple and choose a Grenache & Syrah blend like a Côtes du Rhône or similar. Rich enough but generally easy drinking with lovely bramble and spice flavours. Our current “find” is Jean-Paul Daumen’s version which balances this ease with a good dollop of class.

Mince – serves 6

  • 2 tbsp veg oil
  • 1 large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, finely sliced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 500g beef mince
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 450ml beef stock
  • a pinch of caster sugar
  • 1 bay leaf

Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion, garlic, celery and carrots for 15 minutes or until softened and lightly browned.

Add the beef mince and cook for another 5 minutes, until it starts to brown. Break the mince up with a wooden spoon as it browns.

Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, beef stock, sugar and bay leaf. Season with salt and black pepper, then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover with a lid if it reduces too much but you want it to be nicely thickened.

Serve with green veg and potatoes.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ British Classics by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials, 2018.)

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Chicken with Agrodolce Sauce

Posted in Chicken, Food, Healthy, Italian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 10 April 2018| 2 Comments »

Chicken with an agrodulce sauce

A quick and healthy Italian-style sweet & sour dish for midweek. We weren’t completely sure about the celery but it smells amazing in the pan with the red onions and tastes perfect in the finished dish. Serve with new potatoes and a green salad or steamed tenderstem broccoli.

Wine Suggestion: We served this with a fuller Italian white, the l’Insolito by Michele Biancardi from Puglia. This is made from Minitolo which used to be thought of as a sub-variety of Fiano. Honeysuckle and white flower aromatics are tempered by a good citrus twist … sort of like the agrodulce.

Chicken with Agrodolce Sauce – serves 2

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 tbsp flour, well-seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • a small handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally. Cover the 4 pieces of chicken with baking paper and flatten gently with a rolling pin. Dust the chicken pieces with the seasoned flour shaking off any excess.

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and brown the chicken really well, then remove from the pan. Throw the onion and celery into the pan now and cook for about 3 minutes, then season. Add the tomatoes and cook for another few minutes or until they start to break down, then add the vinegar and sugar.

Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until cooked through, then stir in the parsley.

Serve with green salad or steamed broccoli and some new potatoes if you like.

(Original recipe by Jennifer Joyce IN: BBC Olive Magazine, April 2009.)

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Crispy Potato Skins

Posted in Cheese, Food, Potato, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 16 November 2015| 3 Comments »

Crispy potato skins

These super tasty bacon & blue cheese stuffed potato skins work well as a starter or a side dish. Probably best not to count the calories!

Cheesy Baked Potato Skins – serves 4

  • 4 baking potatoes
  • olive oil
  • 8 rashers of thick-cut pancetta
  • 2 cos lettuces, leaves separated and roughly chopped
  • 4 celery sticks, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp chopped celery leaves
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives
  • smoked paprika for dusting (optional)

FOR THE CHEESY DRESSING:

  • 250g crème fraîche
  • 200g Roquefort cheese, crumbled
  • 100g mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • few splashes of Tabasco sauce

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas Mark 4.

Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for around 1 hour 15 minutes or until soft in the middle and nice and crispy on the outside.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the flesh but be careful not to break the skins. Keep the scooped out potato to make something else with.

Put the potato skins back onto the baking tray, drizzle with oil and put back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until really crisp and brown.

Meanwhile, gently fold the crème fraîche, Roquefort and mayonnaise together for the dressing. Stir in the mustard and Tabasco and season.

Cook the pancetta slices under a hot grill until crispy.

Mix the lettuce and celery together in a large bowl then add the cheesy dressing. Put the bacon rashers into the baked potato skins and spoon the cheesy stuffing over the top. Garnish each one with some of the chopped celery leaves and chives and dust with paprika.

(Original recipe from Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes, Absolute Press, 2014.)

 

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Celery & Blue Cheese Soup

Posted in Food, Soup, tagged , , , , on 6 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

Celery and blue cheese are the type of things we often have lurking in the back of the fridge. Here’s one of our favourite recipes for using it up.

Enough soup for 4 people:

  • Chop a large head of celery, peel and roughly chop an onion and half a head of celeriac.
  • Melt a thick slice of butter in a big pot, add your chopped veg and cook for around 20 minutes, until soft.
  • Pour in 1 litre chicken stock and add a bay leaf. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for half an hour, stirring now and then.
  • Blend until smooth and check the seasoning (you probably won’t need much salt as you’ll be adding salty cheese). We like to pass through a sieve too for a smooth, silky consistency.
  • Serve with blue cheese crumbled over the top.

You could probably add a swirl of cream too if you’ve some of that.

Original recipe from one of our favourite cookbooks: Nigel Slater’s Tender Volume I.

 

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Winter soup

Posted in Food, Soup, tagged , , , , , , on 13 November 2010| Leave a Comment »

Dublin’s now officially cold and Wintery, so we thought we’d cook some soup for the week ahead 🙂

Winter cannellini bean soup

  • Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a big saucepan and tip in 4 finely chopped shallots, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, a finely chopped carrot, 2 finely chopped celery sticks, 2 finely chopped leeks and 140g finely chopped streaky bacon.
  • Cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, until softened but not browned.
  • Pour in 1.4 litres of vegetable or chicken stock (we use Marigold), then add 2 bay leaves and 1/2 tsp dried oregano or marjoram.
  • Season and bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
  • Add 2 tins of drained and rinsed cannellini beans and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Credit to BBC Good Food:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1148/winter-cannellini-bean-soup

Jono

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