Get in the festive spirit with ,my Christmas Cook-Along Classes. Whether you would like to join alone, with the family or with your corporate or private group, this year’s Christmas Classes will give you lots of ideas for the festive season.
From Canapes and Mulled Wine to Christmas Dinner made simple to vibrant vegetarian dishes and fun family feasts, there’s lots to choose from.
For the first time this year, I am offering class bundles so you can join all 4 classes for €70 or 3 for €60.
Recipes, ingredient and equipment sheets as well as any instructions and Zoom link are sent a week in advance or upon booking if you book closer to the day.
If the time doesn’t suit for some or all of the classes, recordings will be made available afterwards.
Step-by step Cook-Along Classes are a great way to improve your skills in the kitchen and to gain lots of inspiration to make your cooking more interesting!
Online virtual classes have become very popular over the last 9 months! Why is this? Because people are learning to cook new dishes in the most practical way possible-in their OWN kitchens. Missing a certain piece of equipment? No problem-I will give you alternative methods to get to the same end point! Want to use alternative ingredients? We EMBRACE that!
Once you have cooked something once at home, you will add it to your regular repertoire of recipes so much quicker than simply looking up a recipe.
From A Taste of Spain featuring Tasty Tapas, Perfect Paella and mouth-watering Creme Catalan with Almond Biscuits to Super Simple, Super Tasty Summer Suppers and 3 BBQ Classes for beginners and pros as well as Heathy BBQ recipes, there’s a class for everyone!
Check out the upcoming schedule for some lovely summer classes here.
Start by making the shortbread. Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the icing sugar & salt.
Rub the butter into the mixture with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs
Knead the dough on a floured surface for a couple of minutes and leave to rest for 10 mins.
Roll out the dough, it should not be sticky so you will not need to flour the surface.
Cut out the biscuit shape you want, and bake for 8-12 mins. Allow to cool.
Chantilly Whipped Cream:
Ingredients:
100 mls fresh cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, vanilla powder or vanilla paste
Method:
Whisk the cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl until soft peaks form. The cream
should hold its shape but still be satiny in appearance.
To Serve:
1 punnet Strawberries, washed and sliced
A couple of sprigs of Mint
Assemble by placing a piece of shortbread on the serving plate, top with a dollop of cream, add a few slices of strawberry, then top with another piece of shortbread. Garnish with the mint and a dusting of icing sugar.
Cut the puff pastry into a circle with the centre price cut out to match the tin. This will be the top layer. Use the rest of the pastry in strips to line the tin about have way up.
Place tomatoes, onions and goats cheese into the pastry and top with the lid. Brush with the egg.
Bake for approx 20-25 mins or until golden.
Carefully remove from the tin and garnish with a few cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.
A great healthy and delicious dish! With the clip here and see the recipe below:
Fish Taco with Guacamole and Salsa
These tacos are crunchy, a little spicy and a little zingy! This recipe is also a budget-friendly way of eating healthily!
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 fillets of salmon/hake/cod
1 portion tomato salsa (see below)
1 portion guacamole (see below)
For the taco shells (makes 8):
8 mini wraps. Folded over an oven shelf and baked at 180˚C for 5-10min. Keep an eye on them!
For the spice mix:
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil Method Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas mark 4
Place the wraps on an upside-down muffin tin to create a cup shape and bake for 15 minutes or until crispy.
Combine all the ingredients for the tomato salsa in a bowl (see above) at least 10 minutes before serving.
Mix together all the ingredients for the spice mix in a bowl.
Brush an oven proof dish with a little oil and place the fish into the dish. Drizzle the spice mix over, making sure the salmon is well coated. Place in the oven for 15 to 20 mins or until cooked through.
Flake the fish and place it into the taco cups. Top with the guacamole and the salsa and dig in!
For the Tomato Salsa:
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ a red onion,
1 tsp sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
A handful of fresh coriander chopped
Pinch of Sea Salt
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl
Guacamole
1 avocado, ripe & chopped roughly
1 garlic clove, minced
Juice of ½ a lime
Small handful of fresh coriander
Red chilli, deseeded & chopped finely. How much is up to you!
A pinch of sea salt flakes
Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl until all are combined. Taste of seasoning and adjust the balance if necessary
To garnish: fennel fronds and/or flat leaf parsley.
Optional: Serve with Garlic Bread for extra indulgence!
Method:
Toast the fennel seeds in a large dry frying pan with a lid. Grind down in a pestle and mortar. Add the oil to the pan over a medium heat and add the garlic with a pinch of salt. After a minute, add the fennel, chilli flakes and paprika. After about two minutes, add the tomato puree and cook out for a moment or two. Next, add the wine to deglaze the pan and allow to evaporate.
Add the tin of tomatoes, sugar, stock or water and the cream. Simmer for about 20 minutes to allow the flavour to intensify. Add the non shellfish and allow to cook for a minute or two before adding the prawns and mussels.Replace the lid and cook for a further two minutes or until the mussels have opened.
Serve by tossing the linguine through and and topping with the herbs.
Venison Sausages braised in Red Wine, Shallots & Button Mushrooms
1 lb (450 g) venison sausages
About 10 Shallots, peeled but left whole
About 10 button mushrooms, cleaned off and left whole
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon of flour
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon tomato puree
A knob of butter
10 fl oz (275 ml) red wine
A plug of Rapeseed oil
1 teaspoon Juniper berries
2 bay leaves
Optional Garnish : Fresh thyme and parsley, chopped
Method:
Heat the oil in the casserole then, with the heat at medium, brown the sausages evenly all over.
Remove them to a plate while you brown shallots with a pinch of salt. This takes a few minutes on a medium heat, covered. When the shallots are golden, add the mushrooms and the knob of butter. Brown the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic. After another moment or so, add the tomato puree, flour and mustard powder, stirring.
Now crush the juniper berries very slightly without breaking them – just enough to release their flavour and add them to the casserole.
Return the sausages to the casserole, pour in the wine and add the bay leaves. Now season lightly, bring it all up to a gentle simmer, put a lid on the casserole and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce has reduced slightly. You might want to add a cup or two of water to ensure the liquid half covers the sausages.
Garnish with the fresh herbs and serve with mashed potato.
Venison Tagliata (Serves 2) I really love this recipe as the venison is so tasty but low in fat so it feels indulgent but isn’t really!
Ingredients:
2 venison steaks
1 clove of garlic
10 juniper berries
A good glug of rapeseed oil
A large handful of Rocket Leaves, washes
French dressing to drizzle. Method:
Place the juniper berries and garlic in a pestle & mortar and bash until combined, then pour the olive oil in
Place the venison steaks on a plate and rub the rapeseed oil mixture in to the meat
Heat a griddle pan until very hot and place the venison steaks on it
Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the steaks and the level of doneness you like. Venison really is served rare or at least medium rare.
Place on a warmed dish to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing very thinly.
Place the rocket leaves on a large shallow plate and drizzle the dressing over.
