Our little grey home in the west!

This is where we'll be spending our Christmas - our very own little corner of God's country (!), a place called Doogra (originating from 'black garden' apparently) in the bogs in the west of Ireland.
On the food front it may be a challenge as facilities are limited but it'll be great!
My favourite butcher Ciaran has required I call him to remind him that I want 'jaws,' as he says,
for the Christmas dinner - otherwise known as 'Ox Cheeks' - a firm favourite in our house!
The recipe is based on one from Yannick of Le Petit Bourg..

Ox cheek –joues de bœuf

For 20 people :
4 kilos meat
700g onions
4 carrots
2 sticks celery
½ bulb of garlic, sliced
Thyme
2/3 bay leaves
10g pepper, ground
1 kilo tomatoes (tinned will do!)
½ pot Blackberry jelly
3/4litres decent wine (not plonk)
2 litres veal stock**
Marinate the meat for 2 days with everything except the jelly.
Separate meat form veg and strain, keeping the liquid marinate. Heat this slowly and skim anything that comes to the surface very carefully.
In a large pan heat a little olive oil and add meat to seal the flavors.  Add the veal stock and the wine.  Reheat and cover well.  Place in oven (150°C) for 4 - 6 hours or in a slow cooker.
Serve with seasonal mash......

Veal stock
2 kilos veal bones
4 litre water
½ kg veg – onions,carrot, celery, leek
12 peppercorns
Roast bones, place in stock pot, add water and boil. Skim, and simmer gently.  Add washed vegetables, bouquet garni and peppercorns. Simmer for 6 – 8 hours uncovered. Skim and strain.

Freezes beautifully!

Christmas Morning in Doogra - note the blue skies !!

Beef on the bone for the Wildes of Turloughmore !

Definitely one our favourites when in the west of Ireland. Ciaran, our butcher, (who swears that we knew eachother in a previous life!)has the best beef I've ever tasted and has these steaks off to a fine art. Usually in Ireland this is the traditional Sunday roast - boned, rolled and tied and roasted (usually for ages! )
So ask you butcher not to bother boning and rolling -  a great alternative Christmas dinner.
 (Also called Châteaubriand)

So good that Ciaran, my brother, when tasting these babies said ' Oh man, if you told me this was human I'd still have to eat it Sinéad'....wow, what a compliment!

You'll need:

•  1 ribeye steak - fairly thick - one does 4 French people - 3 Irish!! **
•  Coarse unrefined sea salt. Place some salt all over the meat and leave (out of fridge) for   about an hour before cooking over very hot coals - rhis ensures that the meat cooks evenly throughout.

** 2 Australien as one guest pointed out :)

• 10 mins.each side for medium rare, 
• 15 for medium and so on

Leave to 'rest' wrapped in foil for at least 10 mins. before removing bone and slicing.
Serve with Garlic butter and Gratin Dauphinois (garlic potatoes) aswell as a few greens.
Our girls love Yorkshire Puddings with this too.

  Garlic butter (beurre d’escargot)

•  2 large cloves garlic, crushed
•  100g/4 ozs. unsalted butter, at room temp. 
• 25g/ 1 oz. chopped parsley
•  Black pepper
•  A little lemon juice 

 Crush the garlic cloves on a board under the blade of a large kitchen knife. Add a pinch of salt and work into a smooth paste. Scrape the paste into a bowl and add the butter, lemon juice, parsley and black pepper. Mix together well and then spoon onto a sheet of cling film and shape into a log about 3cm thick. Wrap in more cling film and chill or freeze until needed.

  GRATIN DAUPHINOIS

•  1 kg/2 ½ lbs potatoes (150-200g/5 – 7 ozs. per person approx.)
•  3 cloves of garlic, crushed 300ml/1
•  ¼ cups double cream/crème fraîche
•  300ml/1 ¼ cups milk s/p nutmeg (optional) 

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F Gas 2 Butter a large gratin dish. Peel and finely slice the potatoes. Rinse in cold water to wash off the starch. Dry with kitchen paper. Arrange the potatoes in the gratin dish with the garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix the cream and milk together and pour over the potatoes. Bake in the oven for a little over an hour.

Lapin à la Moutarde

Rabbit in mustard sauce:
Don't be fooled if you come to France and see numerous people on market day wandering around with cute little, live rabbits in their cute, little wicker baskets....they're for 'la casserole' and admittedly, do taste great!
Here's a recipé that I've tried and tested time and time again and believe you me it's simply delicious!

Serves 4
4 large/8 small thighs of farmed rabbit
1 tablsp. Dijon mustard (or a mix of whatever mustard you have
2 tablsp. olive oil
Black pepper
300ml white wine/cider
2 bay leaves
2 tablsp. full-fat crème fraîche

Wash the rabbit and dry well. Mix mustard, oil and season well with pepper. Smear this all over the rabbit pieces and leave for at least 30 mins. (or overnight)

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F
Place rabbit in casserole and roast for 5 mins.
Add wine/cider and bay leaves and cook for 30 - 40 minutes until tender, basting occasionally.

Reduce oven to 150°C/300°F and wrap rabbit pieces in foil. Pour the juice into a pan and boil to reduce. Add the crème fraîche and cook gently for a few minutes.
Put rabbit back into sauce and test for seasoning.

Serve with basmati rice.

Poule au Pot
Chicken in the pot


Henri IV of France wanted all households in his kingdom to be able to relish in this great dish every Sunday... There are lots of variations on this recipe, I imagine stemming from whatever products were available locally. This one uses the best Normandy has to offer – chicken (or traditionally, hen) leeks, carrots, turnips and, bien sûr, crème fraîche.


Ingredients Serves 4 - 6
1 broiler, about 2 kilos (chicken will do but tends to fall off the bones quicker) r
2 onions, studded with cloves
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
3 leeks, chopped and thoroughly washed (usually full of sand!!)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
3 turnips, peeled
2 sticks of Celery, cut into long batons
Bouquet garni – Bay leaves, parsley, thyme etc...
Salt and pepper
Water
Tub of crème fraîche


Place broiler/chicken in a large saucepan and cover with water. Add onions, garlic and bouquet garni. Season well. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours (1 hour for chicken).

Meanwhile, prepare vegetables.
Add to chicken and continue simmering until vegetables are soft – about 45 mins.
Add a little of the water from the chicken pot to crème fraîche and heat gently.

Serve the meat from the broiler (minus the skin) on a large platter surrounded with vegetables. Pour the crème fraîche into a sauceboat and place all in the centre of the table.

(Basmati rice works well with this one.)


Bon appétit!