Recipe – One for the Heart

Xanthoula Sunni O’Connor 23 October at 12:16

The recommended diet to help prevent, slow the progression of, and possibly even reverse atherosclerosis and heart disease is low in saturated fats, cholesterol, trans-fats, and processed foods, and high in whole foods. According to current medical research, the most important dietary actions you can take to reduce your risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease are:

Consume a healthy foods diet high in:

whole fruits, grapes, cranberries, kiwifruit and grapefruit
seeds, especially sesame, pumpkin, sunflower and flaxseeds
legumes (all beans, peas and lentils)
olive oil
cold-water fish
Organically grown fruits, especially grapefruit, grapes and vegetables
Soybeans and other soy products
Garlic and onions
Tomatoes and tomato products
Cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
Cold water fish including salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel and halibut for their beneficial omega 3 fatty acids ..some research shows eaten 3-4 times a week is greatly beneficial
Whole grains
Oats for their high fibre content and unique antioxidants
Antioxidant compounds unique to oats, called avenanthramides, help prevent free radicals from damaging LDL cholesterol, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease,

Nuts, especially walnuts, almonds and peanuts
Sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds
Cranberries
Drink more

Tea
Tomato juice
Avoid foods high in cholesterol and saturated fats.

15 Minute Salmon with Tomato Salsa

Tasty recipe that also provides over 100% of the daily value for hard-to-find omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D,. It only takes 15 minutes and you will have a meal you’ll want to share with your best friends. Enjoy!.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs salmon filet cut into 4 pieces, skin and bones removed
1 large fresh ripe tomato, seeds and excess pulp removed, diced small pieces, about ¼ inch
3 TBS finely minced onion
3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
1-2 TBS minced jalapeno pepper (or to taste)
1 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 TBS coarsely chopped pumpkin seeds
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
2+1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste

Go cook
preheat broiler on high and place an all stainless steel skillet (be sure the handle is also stainless steel) or cast iron pan under the heat for about 10 minutes to get it very hot. The pan should be 5 to 7 inches from the heat source.
Rub salmon with 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. (You can Quick Broil with the skin on; it just takes a minute or two longer. The skin will peel right off after cooking.)
Using a hot pad, pull pan away from heat and place salmon on hot pan, skin side down. Return to broiler. Keep in mind that it is cooking rapidly on both sides so it will be done very quickly, usually in 7 minutes depending on thickness (10 minutes for every inch of thickness). Test with a fork for doneness. It will flake easily when it is cooked. Salmon is best when it is still pink inside.
Salsa

Combine all salsa ingredients.
Spoon over salmon.
Garnish with mint and a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil.
Serves 4 Serving Suggestion: Serve with Calabacitas and Brown Rice

Healthy Cooking Tips:

The ingredients of the salsa blend together better if you chop them fine. Also, it is best to add just a little jalapeno at a time, so you can get it to your personal preference of chili heat, without making it too hot.

15 Minute Salmon with Tomato Salsa
1.00 serving
264.40 grams
392.59 calories
Nutrient Amount %DV Nutrient
Density World’s Healthiest
Foods Rating
This is rating for above recipe

tryptophan 0.41 g 128.1 5.9 excellent
vitamin D 493.29 IU 123.3 5.7 excellent
omega 3 fatty acids 2.49 g 103.8 4.8 excellent
selenium 63.07 mcg 90.1 4.1 excellent
vitamin B12 (cobalamin) 5.09 mcg 84.8 3.9 excellent
protein 36.47 g 72.9 3.3 very good
vitamin B3 (niacin) 13.91 mg 69.5 3.2 very good
phosphorus 579.47 mg 57.9 2.7 very good
magnesium 201.85 mg 50.5 2.3 very good
vitamin C 26.45 mg 44.1 2.0 good
vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 0.81 mg 40.5 1.9 good
vitamin A 1441.74 IU 28.8 1.3 good
potassium 911.49 mg 26.0 1.2 good
World’s Healthiest
Foods Rating Rule
excellent DV>=75% OR Density>=7.6 AND DV>=10%
very good DV>=50% OR Density>=3.4 AND DV>=5%
good DV>=25% OR Density>=1.5 AND DV>=2.5%

Little Miss Lingard’s Cherry Mallow Slice!

Little Miss Lingard’s Cherry Mallow Slice!
Kirsty Lingard 22/10/09

Perhaps the best thing I ever learned in maths, thanks to SPMG primary 6 weights and measures…brilliant on tour snack;

What you need:

• 80g Glacier Cherries
• 120g Marshmallow (big proper ones!)
• 230g Digestive Biscuits
• a small tin of Condensed Milk
• Chocolate Vermicelli

1. Chop Cherries and Marshmallows up (scissors are best used for the marshmallows I find!)

2. Crush the Digestives (in a wee plastic bag, and smash using a rolling pin)

3. Into a large bowl, put the Cherries, Marshmallows, Digestive biscuits and the tin of Condensed Milk, and mix (if you like licking a spoon, this is a divine time to do so!)

4. After mixing, and licking the spoon clean, take some of the mixture and roll it into a cylinder/sausage shape

5. Then roll in the Chocolate Vermicelli

6. Repeat with rest of mixture

7. Wrap the rolled mixtures in tin foil, and put in a cool place for about 2hours (fridges are best)… also a good time to lick the bowl clean in anticipation.

8. Then….Enjoy!!!

Margaret Stewart’s Ceann Cropaig (Stuffed Cod’s Head)

Margaret Stewart 22 October at 10:29

This is a very traditional recipe from my home island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. It is a delicacy which I would travel miles to eat. My mother makes the most delicious Ceann Cropaig I’ve ever tasted and here is our family recipe. Wear a disposable glove if you cannot bear to handle the liver !

cod livers
Cod head
flour
porridge oats
salt and PLENTY of white pepper
1 small onion – very finely chopped
a pan of cold water.

Clean the cod heads, opening the cavity. The eyes must be removed gently from the outside inwards, taking care not to break the membrane so that the contents will not leak.

Put your liver in a bowl (as one witty lady from Back used to say) and squeeze until you are able to pull the membranes out of the liver. It will finally be of a mushy consistency.

Then mix this liver paste, salt, plenty of white pepper and the finely chopped onions with some of the flour and porridge oats (more of the oats than the flour).

Consistency should not be too dry or too fluid. Stuff the heads with the mixture and pat the top with flour to seal it off. It can, in this modern age, be placed into a cone of tin foil, but I have a preference for the delicious soup which is created by some of the juices leaking into the cooking water. Place the stuffed heads into the water, ensuring that the water level is below the top of the fish heads.

The heads can be cooked along with the fish – this is most delicious. Simmer gently for twenty minutes to half an hour. Remove carefully, with a slotted spoon and place on plate. Share the stuffing between two or three people and eat with the fish, new potatoes and a glass of milk.

This recipe depends very much on the size of the livers and the cod heads and it is therefore very difficult to give precise measures.

Recipe – Colcannon

Alan Cameron 21 October at 20:21

Colcannon:

Peel potatoes – floury old spuds, not waxy posh ones. Put on to boil at a furious pace.

Wash and finely cut cabbage.

Clean and chop spring onions.

When the spuds are nearly cooked, sling cabbage into boiling water for a wee minute – don’t overcook it, or we’re into school dinners. Just blanch, really.

And place spring onions in a pan with milk, set on heat, simmer VERY gently for 10 mins.

Add all to the spuds. Mash. Add salt as you need. And pepper if you like, although my Irish mum will curse you from the skies if you do.

As for quantities – experiment. You’ll get it right, and it will be heavenly when you do.

Eigg Rowan Jelly

Lucy Conway 21 October at 16:02
Eigg Rowan Jelly
http://islandsgoinggreen.org/2009/09/28/septembers-seasonal-recipe/

Autumn is a time when everything we associate with summer is coming to an end. Leaves are falling from the trees and the birds have left for warmer climates. Here on Eigg there is nothing as nice seeing a Rowan tree’s vibrant display of red berries which can be put to good use as a jelly, which is especially good for eating with venison or lamb.
Ingredients; 4lbs rowan berries , 3/4lbs sugar, water, jellypan or large pot
Method; Cover the berries with the water and boil for about ½ an hour. Strain through a jelly bag or piece of muslin after mashing them well to get all the last juices out. Into a pan add 1lb sugar to every pint of liquid and stir gently until sugar has dissolved. Boil rapidly for 10/15 minutes until point of set has been reached .You can test this by taking pan of the heat and putting some jelly on a cool saucer if the skin wrinkles when you gently push it then you have a set ,if it does not then boil fast again testing after a few minutes. Ladle jelly into warm jars, cover and seal when cold.

Moules Mariner

Moules Mariner

Elaine Langlands 21 October at 11:06

Mussels, Clams, Razor Fish ect , clean seafood. Chop 3 cloves Garlic, pour in 1/2 Bottle of White wine and simmer for a few mins, add Double Cream to thicken and season, serve immediately with warm crusty bread or Ciabiatta, this takes 5mins and is great if your sitting on someone’s boat in the Scottish Summer.

Recipe – Courgette & Brie Soup

Rachel Aisling Smith 17 October at 13:03
Unbelievably easy Courgette & Brie Soup:
5 wee courgettes,
3 medium tatties,
one onion,
all roughly chopped,
chuck into 2 pints veg stock and bubble away for 15 minutes.
Chop up a 225g slab of brie and chuck it in at the end (15 minutes really is the end!).
buzz the lot. take it up a hill in a flask and marvel at its wondrousness. xxxxx

Bacalao al Pil-Pil

Begonya Plaza 16 October at 23:19
www.begonyaplaza.com

As a child of Euskadi, I live for cooking, eating, friends, music, knowledge, nature, living a virtuous life, and good wine. But oh, especially cooking and eating.

This is one of my all time favorite meals that I need to have every time I arrive to the Basque country.

1. Bacalao al Pil-Pil, a wonderful Basque Cod Fish dish, um so yummy! I will give you the recipe that I remember my parents using at home. Ingredients: Salted Cod (to desalt you will need to leave it in water for a day or two, on the second day you must change the water again) With 3 pounds – Olive oil (always have lots of olive oil in the kitchen) – Garlic lots of it, say 5 cloves thinly sliced – a hot dried chile, or a little paprika, my parents would use paprika on almost everything (just a pinch). You will start by draining the cod fish and drying it with paper towels, then you cut it into slices, warm up the frying pan, my parents use a cazuela made of clay, makes all the difference in the world, let me tell you. So you pour a nice amount of olive oil (2 cups or a little less) over medium heat, you then throw in the garlic and the dried chiles and when nice and roasted you take it them out, but leaving the oil inside the pan, then you place the cod fish pieces into the pan over low heat, (very important) to simmer for about 12 minutes, move them around to get golden, then you take them out, put them aside in a plate, and pour the oil also to another bowl to cool. When the cod fish is cooled off, try to take out as many bones as you can without disturbing the cod fish. Then you pour back the olive oil cooled down, and place the cod fish skin face up into the pan, or preferably the cazuela. Now when the olive oil starts to zizzle you begin to feed the cod with the olive oil over it, over and over again and move the pan in circles continuously as you see that the olive oil begins to thicken, and become a white bubbly texture. Continue to rotate the pan and spoon the fish every so often, until you see the entire sauce turn white thick sort of like mayonnaise. This stops only when all the olive oil has become one thick emulsified sauce. The skin is what creates this special combination! You must be patient for this process usually takes 30 minutes or more. When ready, each piece of cod-fish is served with the garlic and chile on top.

If you want to learn more about the Basques, their history, and rich culture, visit me at: www.begonyaplaza.com, and check out my documentary films “The Real Gernika” and “Gernika Lives”. Osasuna! Begotxu

RECIPE – ATHOLL BROSE!

Simon McKerrell 16 October 2009 09:07
how about my favourite new year drink: ATHOLL BROSE!

5 table spoonfuls of rough oatmeal
1 bottle of whisky (any blend will do)
1 large tub of single cream
2 tbs. liquid heather honey

• Put oatmeal into bowl, mix with all the whisky.
• Stand overnight with clingfilm on top.
• Strain mixture through fine strainer into another bowl.
• Press with back of spoon to extract all liquid, throw away oatmeal (or have it for breakfast (at the weekend!)).
• Mix liquid with cream and honey, stir with silver spoon until well-blended.
• Pour back into bottle and put extra in another bottle (or consume during preparations).
• Drink the whole damn lot with friends (good at Hogmanay (new year)).
all the best,

Simon.

RECIPE – Margo’s Secret Recipe Sausage Rolls

Margo Harkin 15 October at 13:40

Margo’s Secret Recipe Sausage Rolls – Not a Healthy Option

I lb best sausagemeat or your favourite sausage de-skinned
I small onion – finely chopped
I large green cooking apple- such as Armagh Bramleys – finely chopped
Good handful of dried apricots – finely chopped (avoid the ones preserved with sulpher)
I packet ready made puff pastry (or make your own if preferred)
Seasoning: salt and pepper
Good pinch of finely chopped Sage (or Rosemary/thyme (optional)
Beaten egg to glaze pastry

Cook the onion until it turns slightly golden
Mix together with the sausage meat and all the other ingredients
Roll out the pastry into a wide oblong
Form the sausage meat into a long roll on top of the pastry
Wet the edge nearest you with cold water
Roll the other edge over so that the sausage -meat is encased in a long sausage roll
Seal the pastry edges together
Glaze the pastry with beaten egg (I usually add a drop of milk to help it bind)
Cut into evenly sized large or mini sausage rolls
Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 15-25 mins according to your oven. (Check at 15 mins)
Tip – do not make sausage part hugely thick as it has to cook through without the pastry getting burnt.
Double or triple the quantities according to need. They freeze well.

People always get a surprise when they bite into these as they look the same as ordinary home made sausage rolls but have the most delicious taste. I am often asked to make them for parties and have fun getting people to guess what’s in the filling.

END X