Fri 29th June - Pan Fried Long Ray with Mushroom Risotto and Brown Butter

Pan Fried Long Ray with Mushroom Risotto and Brown Butter
Ingredients
4x200g Long Ray
200g Risotto Rice
750Ml Vegetable or Chicken Stock (using cube)
200g Sliced Mushrooms
1 Medium Sized Diced Onion
1Tablespoon Olive Oil
100g butter
50g Grated Parmesan Cheese
Flour for dusting
Sea salt/Pepper

Method
Heat the olive oil in a thick bottom pot
Add in the mushrooms and onion
Sweat off for 2 mins
Add in the washed rice and stir through veg
Pour in half of the heated stock
Reduce to simmer and stir occasionally
Add in more stock and continue cooking
After 20 mins cooking add in the cheese
Keep warm
Dry the fish with kitchen paper, season and dust with flour
Heat some olive in a pan with a knob of butter
Place the ray onto the pan
Cook until golden brown
Turn over and reduce the heat
Continue cooking for a further15mins approx
Place the cooked risotto on to the centre of serving plate
Place ray on top
Add the butter on to a small frying pan
Place on to a high heat
Cook in butter melts to golden brown
Pour over ray and serve.

Thursday 28th June - Healthy Burger

Healthy Burger
Ingredients
500g Lean minced beef
1 Medium sized onion finely diced
75 g Grated carrot
75 g Grated cheese
75 g Wheaten breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 Egg

Method
Sweat off the diced onion in a little oil and allow to cool
Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl
Mix very well together to form a paste
Shape into 4 burgers
Grill or barbecue to the required taste
Serve in a wheaten bap
Garnish with sliced onion and lettuce
Serve with sliced fried or baked potatoes
Sprinkle with rock sea salt

From Yesterday 26th June - Baked Crusted Salmon

Baked Crusted Salmon

Ingredients
4x200g Fillets of Salmon
200g Wheaten Breadcrumbs
100g Finely diced onion
100g Finely diced mushroom
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Toasted Sesame Oil
Soya Sauce

Method
Heat the olive in a sauce pot
Add in the onion and mushroom
Sweat off for 2 mins
Add in the breadcrumbs and mix through
Leave on side and allow to cool
Place the fillets of salmon onto a greased oven tray
Pack breadcrumb mixture on top of salmon
Place into a pre heated oven 175c
Bake for 10 mins
Remove from oven and place onto heated plates
Drizzle with toasted sesame oil and soya sauce
Serve boiled new potatoes and green vegetables

Wed 27th - Grilled Gamonn Steak with Fresh Asparagus, Poached Egg, Hollandaise Sauce

Grilled Gamonn Steak with Fresh Asparagus,Poached Egg, Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients
4x200g Gammon Steaks
2 Bunches Fresh Asparagus
4 Free range eggs
Hollandaise Sauce
2 Egg Yolks
120g Melted Butter
Salt, Pepper,Lemon to taste
Or
1 Pkt Knorr Creamy Hollandaise (a lot easier and in my opionion just as nice)

Hollandaise Sauce( If you decide to make from scratch)

Place the egg yolks into a food processor
Add in salt and pepper and lemon to taste
Turn on processor at full speed
Pour in the hot melted butter
Correct sea zoning and serve
Or
Make Knorr sauce as directed on pack

Method
Trim and wash the Asparagus
Cook in simmering salted water (al dente) 4 mins approx
Grill the gammon steaks until cooked through
Bring some water to the boil
Add in 1 Teaspoon of white vinegar
Reduce heat to simmer
Break in the eggs and cook to the required taste
Drain off the asparagus place on top of gammon steak
Place eggs on the asparagus
Coat eggs with Hollandaise Sauce and serve

My Background

Just to give you an idea of my background and what I have done.
I began my career at the age of 14 in The Royal Hibernian Hotel, Dublin, It was here I began my classical training. As part of this I was sent to complete my training in the South West of France. I spent 17 years in the Hibernian .
After 17 years in the Hibernian I moved onto the Abbot Hotel in Monkstown where I was head chef.
In 1980 I became a Chef Lecturer in Cert (The Irish Training Board). At this stage I was a member of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland and 10 years after this I became a member of the Worlds Master Chefs' Society.
In 1990 I started with CPC (Now Unilever) where I worked as their Executive Chef in Ireland (Sales/ Product Development).
Throughout my career I represented The Irish Culinary Team as a team participant and later as a team Manager at theCulinary Olympics in London, Frankfurt and Chicago
Over my career I have cooked for many Dignitaries from Princess Grace to Irish Presidents such as Childers, De Valera, Patrick Hillary to name but a few.

I retired in January 2011 and the idea of this blog is to share to you how easy it is to cook classic food. In my opinion the process of cooking has become over-rated. Classic healthy meals should be simple and easy to make.
I hope you can follow along and enjoy trying out some of these receipes. Please feel free to ask me any questions at any stage. If I can point you in the right direction I will.

Introduction

Thank you for checking out my blog.
The main purpose of this is to share my knowledge with you when it comes to cooking Simple Quality Food. When you look at Celebrity Chefs and cooking programmes today you sometimes would need a degree in culinary arts to follow along and try them at home. After 50 years in the business I can tell you that this is not the case. Fresh and healthy food can be simple to prepare and make and I am hoping that this blog will prove to you that the processed options available to you in the Supermarkets are not the way to go. For a much more valuable, wholesome and healty option please follow along.