Dublin Coddle for St. Patrick´s Day

Over the St.Patrick´s Day weekend,I decided to make something typically Irish and despite never having heard of or having tried Dublin Coddle, thought it sounded pretty tasty and since I had all the ingredients to hand, went ahead and made it.

Although maybe not the healthiest meal, it is certainly a very tasty one and it is a pretty easy and fairly quick meal to prepare. It is also suitable for toddlers and my daughter really enjoyed it, particularly the sausages, which she wolfed down. This is yet another dish that I will be adding to my monthly repertoire (the only reason  it won´t make a more frequent appearance is due to it not being the healthiest of meals!)

I adapted the recipe from the book Cocina Irlandesa by Anne Wilson and tried to make it a little healthier.  
I´m not sure how traditional this version of the recipe is!Apparently, it was traditionally eaten on a Saturday night.

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)
 7-8 pork sausages
4 rashers of bacon (I used smoked bacon)
1 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 medium-sized potatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp dried sage
a pinch of ground black pepper
3/4 cup of chicken stock
2 tbsp frozen parsley
olive oil

Method
1. Cook the sausage and bacon on a non-stick griddle pan,brushed with a little olive oil,till a golden brown colour.
2.Fry the onion and garlic until tender and add the bacon,cut into strips.
3.Place the potatoes in a shallow casserole dish and add a layer of garlic,onion and bacon.
4.Sprinkle the pepper and sage over it and then pour the chicken stock over everything.
5.Place the sausages on top and add the parsley.
6.Cook in a preheated oven at 180ºC for an hour until potatoes are cooked through and serve warm.Enjoy!

Cooking Spain Region By Region: Andalusia: Polea or Gachas Dulces (Andalusian Sweet Porridge?)

When doing a little bit of research into typical dishes of Andalusia in order to choose which ones to try and cook, I came across this dessert, Polea,which I´d never heard of before. I decided to have a bash at making this dessert as it seemed unusual,what with having croutons in it etc plus it piqued my curiosity. I was a little bit apprehensive at the same time too as I wasn´t sure whether I´d like it because I´m not too keen on  savoury gachas. However, I´m soooooooo glad I decided to make it as it is absolutely delicious, even if I do say so myself! ; )

It has a lovely lemony, milky,cinnamon flavour with a hint of aniseed and is surprisingly light. I served it warm but I think it´d be nice both hot and cold. I´m so pleased I found this dessert as it has quickly become one of my favourite Spanish desserts and I prefer it to flan,natillas or crema catalana. I really don´t know why this isn´t on more restaurant menus for dessert!!I will definitely be making this on a regular basis...in fact I am thinking of making it for a Father´s Day meal for my hubby as he really enjoyed it too but unfortunately my daughter didn´t get round to trying it...maybe next time!!It is really quick and easy to make too, despite being  a fairly easy dish to prepare for some reason,it didn´t thicken up and was still quite thin and liquidy...probably because I didn´t mix the flour in the milk.I ´ve adapted the recipe from the original recipe from Gallina Blanca.

Ingredients (for 2)
 1/2 litre of milk
1 tbsp mild (suave) olive oil
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp of dried aniseed or fennel seeds (I didn´t have aniseed so used fennel seeds as they still have that aniseed flavour)
ground cinnamon
ready made or home made croutons (I used ready made croutons,just to save time)

Method
1. Heat the olive oil and add the aniseed or fennel seeds and cook for a couple of seconds over a low heat, making sure they don´t burn.
2. Dissolve half of the flour in the milk and then add to the pan.
3.Add the sugar,the rest of the flour,the grated lemon rind,the cinnamon stick and a pinch of cinnamon and cook over a low heat till it starts to thicken, stirring the whole time.
4. Once thickened, remove from heat and pour into serving dish and add the croutons and sprinkle with ground cinnamon according to your taste.
5.Serve and enjoy!

Traditional Queen of Puddings

 I´ve been on a bit of a baking roll lately, trying to hone my skills and bring a taste of home to my kitchen so Sundays have now become dessert day!!

I´ve never tried Queen of Puddings before and had planned to make one of my favourite desserts,Sticky Toffee Pudding, but as I didn´t have enough soft brown sugar and I had all the ingredients on hand for this dessert,Queen Of Puddings it was!!I really enjoyed it too as the sponge has a lovely lemony kick to it and it is quite a light pudding. Plus it meant I got to practice my piping skills a little!!

                                                     The recipe is taken and adapted from the book, The Dairy Book of Home Cookery. I halved the original recipe so that it only served two.

Ingredients (for 2)
37g fresh white breadcrumbs
12g caster sugar
grated lemon rind of 1/2 lemon or about 1/2 tsp
225ml of cold milk
12g butter
Yolk of one large egg
1 tbsp warmed raspberry jam
White of one large egg
                                                      25 -37g caster sugar
                                                     
Method
1.Place breadcrumbs,sugar and lemon rind in a bowl and mix.
2.Place butter and milk in a pan and cook over a low heat until the butter has melted.
3.Pour onto breadcrumb mixture and stir till well combined and leave to stand for 30 mins,then beat in the egg yolk.
4.Place in a small glass bowl and place in preheated oven  at 160ºC/325ºF and bake for around 30 mins until sponge is a light golden colour.
5.Prepare the meringue topping while sponge is cooking by whisking egg white until stiff and peaky and when the bowl is placed upside down,it doesn´t fall out.Fold in the caster sugar gently and spoon into a piping bag.
6. Pipe meringue peaks on top of the pudding,then return to the oven and bake for a further 30-40 mins or until meringue is a pale golden brown colour.