The Fruity Cook

Twitter for Cooks

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:20:00 +0000

Over the past few months, Twitter has been an increasingly lively forum for keeping up to date with reading, recipes and the usual palaver of everyday life.

Following the

#foodies

thread there leads to recipes I would never have thought of.

Today's find is Chicken Chili Verde with Beans from Honestcooking.

Hit the title bar and it will lead you there.

Happy Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Happy Christmas and Happy Eating for 2011

Making Mincemeat

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:12:00 +0000

My husband spends many meals singing the praises of Neven Maguire.

All his recipes work and there is always some surprise element that keeps the diners guessing and buoys up conversation on a cold evening in December.

In the title bar is Neven's recipe for mincemeat. I tend to wait until the few days before Christmas and make this delicacy fresh. Some prefer to start some batches off earlier in the month and lay it down like a fine port.

Whatever your preference, nothing beats homemade mincemeat.
Proportions can be adjusted to individual taste.
Spices can be very carefully balanced and add to the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen.

One trick I find always pleases visitors...
Make a Tarte Tatin, carmelising the apples in the usual way, but adding a goodly jar of mincemeat spread over the fruit before you add the pastry crust.

It's wonderful...

Baking Up a Storm

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:53:00 +0000

The Irish Budget 2010 has shocked me into action.
"Operation Home Baking" will start as from now...

Last year an encounter with "Industrial Food" in an Irish hospital was so disturbing I decided to focus on photography and keep spirits up with colourful images of the pleasant aspects of life in Ireland. It is a beautiful country and our home produce is of a very high standard indeed. Why this is sometimes not reflected in our institutions is a subject for sociologists, not for the home cook, so I'll stick to what I know.

Here's a recipe from the past for a rich, pastry-like

Apple Crumble

I once found it listed at a restaurant in Paris as
"Apple Grumble", which seems apt for these wintery days.

Setting up the Tracking Code

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Here's hoping to find who reads this blog, and why.

Tracking is always fun...

Slow as Molasses in January...

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 12:41:00 +0000

... is probably the best description of my food blogging over the past few months.

I've been spending so much time on serious eating that the thought of writing it all down is definitely "de trop".

Today's news, which is certainly not new, is that Italian Foodies is now to be found on the Wordpress platform.

One of my favourites... please to hit the title bar and enjoy.

I've Started Roaming the Net Again

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:19:00 +0000

... in search of lively Foodie Blogs.

The Irish Blog Awards 2009 Nominations
have been posted and I'll get round to
making a link to the nominees in time.

The best way to get to know another country is
to try the food.

Marsfoodblog is interesting, as I have never been to Canada
and there are so many European influences still there;
the dishes are both recognisable and not.

Soft, Yet Flinty

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:02:00 +0000

The happiest holiday we ever spent in France was in

Burgundy

Damsons Make the Best Pies

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:17:00 +0000

Fruity Wafer Thins

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:01:00 +0000

The "Wafers" are made with organic crisped rice, which are like pale, unsweetened rice crispies.

Beat 1 egg and add 1 grated apple and some cinnamon.
Add some oil, just enough to make a bit of flavour but not enough to have the result too heavy.
Then some freshly squeezed orange juice.

Add enough crisped rice to absorb the liquids quickly and about 2 oz self raising flour.
None of this was measured exactly, so just make your own proportions.

Put onto an oiled Swiss roll tin and spread out very thinly.

Bake, starting at about gas 6 and putting down to 4 after about five minutes.
I put the temperature up and down a bit during baking, so that the wafers got a bit of colour.
They could end up a dull and unappetising buff shade otherwise.

Hope you all like this.

WBD

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:30:00 +0000

Thanks, Davimack, for steering me in the
right direction for World Bread Day links.

I missed the deadline of 16th October,
but find that there are plenty of
baking ideas in the Flickr site
dedicated to this year's Roundup.

The link is in the Title Bar here.
Months, if not years, of baking
happiness to come...

World Bread Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:19:00 +0000

I cannot find a link to The World Bread Day Round Up
for 2008, so perhaps it does not yet exist.

Last year, thanks to Kochtopf.twoday.net I spend a
merry few hours baking and photographing with enthusiasm
and managed to represent the Irish facet of Bread Making.

This year, after a hum-dinger of a Summer, I had so much
work in the garden to catch up with that I had to let this
pleasure lie.

It would have been interesting to choose a fashionable
bread or cake for the event.
Now that I have a moment to think,
I wonder if a Brioche might have been a good idea.
It is not often seen in Irish bakeries, but many
people make it at home and serve it as an easy-going
breakfast treat in Winter.

Brioche in a Hurry

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:12:00 +0000

Brioche is a hold-all for all sorts of ingredients,
sweet and savory.

It is easy to make and,
in the title bar,
you will find a technique for
speeding the process up.

It is one of the most enjoyable breads to make,
I find.

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:44:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Raspberries and Chocolate...

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:46:00 +0000

... a Marriage Made in Heaven...

Oatmeal Bread

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:49:00 +0000

Brushing Up on French Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:26:00 +0000

Now that we can eat French food in Dublin and are no longer
obliged to travel in order to savour new dishes, it's worth
trying a little virtual exploration in the World of
"Haughty Cuisine".

Some nice tips and much information in the Book linked to here.

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:32:00 +0000

Not Only is the World Not Settled, It May Even be in a State of Chassis...

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:55:00 +0000

The blogs that addressed every aspect of
Saint Patrick's Day are now rolling round
in Cyberspace, full of bombast, and, if you're lucky,
very unusual insights into cross-cultural thinking.

Hit the Title Link here and be prepared to be
amazed.

Guinness and politics?

Odd bed-fellows indeed...

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Happy Saint Patrick's Day 2008!

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:54:00 +0000

English posts that contain Saint Patrick's Day per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

You can chart activity around the Planet
by linking to this page.

Guinness Cake for the Day That's In It...

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:56:00 +0000

If you make your favourite fruit cake, it can
be turned into a suitable Irish Celebration Confection
by adding Guinness.

I have not tried the recipe in the Title Bar here,
but it has a good combination of flavours, including orange
and chocolate.

For a more classic cake, add walnuts to the mixture
and when the cake comes out of the oven, souse it in
a goodly amount of stout while it is still very hot.

A Green Apple for Saint Patrick's Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:51:00 +0000

The Bramley is one of the largest and greenest
cooking apples known in Britain and Ireland.

A reminder on Saint Patrick's Day to check out
our apple trees and think of a feeding programme
that will ensure good fruit this Autumn.

Have a Great Day!

Saint Patrick's Day,
Monday 17 March, 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (The Fruity Cook) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:50:00 +0000