Blackberry Muffins

Its a great year for blackberries in Ireland!  The past two days I've been out picking.  This year they are big fat and juicy but also sour.  I've been playing around with a low sugar/low fat muffin/cake recipe for a few weeks. Using my all time fav zucchini muffin recipe I replaced almost all of the oil with that old standby of apple sauce.  Also cut down the sugar (hey apples are Sweet!!!).

Blackberry Muffins
For 12 Muffins
2 apples
2 eggs
1/4 cup of sugar (If you want a sweeter use 1/2 cup instead)
1/8 cup of rapeseed oil
1 orange (the zest and juice)
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups self rising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 cups blackberries

 Oven 170c.  Peel and chop the apples.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and cook till soft about 5 min.  Blend or mash.  Cool a bit.  Mix with wet: eggs, sugar, oil, orange and vanilla.  Add the dry: flours, spice, salt.  Mix and add blackberries.  Fill the muffin tin and into the oven for about 30 min. 

These are a great breakfast muffin.  Most and not very sweet.  If you are used to  white flour, oil and sugar you may need to add 1/4  cup more sugar the first time you try this recipe.  The blackberries are soar this year so I'm going to add it next time!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Teddy Bear Pancakes

My Dad alway used to make me pancakes shaped like Micky Mouse.  Joe doesn't know about Micky yet but  he did like these teddy bear pancakes.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Teddy Bear Pancakes
for 4

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 tbs honey
 oil for frying.
Blueberries

Mix the dry, add the wet. Heat a pan with a little oil.  Make baby sized bears by using 1/4 cup of batter for the head and 1 tsp for each of the ears.  Add blueberry eyes and nose.  Cook until the little bubbles pop flip and cook for about a min more.  Joe loved them with cream cheese.

Low Fat Baba Ganoush

Baba Ganoush or eggplant dip is one of my childhood favs.  I posted a recipe two years ago for was I thought was my mom's recipe.  But now I found out she also adds onions.  I've changed up my old recipe and now I'm using less olive oil.

Baba Ganoush
make jut over a cup

1 eggplant (or 2 smaller ones)
1 onion
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic
1 tsp rapeseed or olive oil
1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp salt

Roast the eggplant in the oven. (I just pop it in when I'm cooking something else so the time and temp depend on whatever else I'm cooking.  The eggplants with puff up.  Cool and peel.

Fry the onion in the oil and cumin.

Mash the garlic in the salt to make a paste.

Blend the onion, eggplant and garlic. Add the lemon juice to taste. No need to add extra oil!

Zucchini Pancake or Kadoo Kookoo

I first had Kadoo Kookoo when an Iranian woman made it for me. She used zucchini, walnuts, mint and eggs to make her pancake.  Over the past two years I've played with her recipe and have added one small potato, flour, cumin and feta or goats cheese.  What I'm left is the perfect light lunch or even tart filling (if more eggs are added).

Zucchini Pancake or Kadoo Kookoo
makes 6 slices

2 cups grated zucchini
1 small grated potato
1 egg
1 Tbs flour
1 Tbs walnuts
1/2 tsp dried mint
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs feta or goats cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp oil for frying

Heat the oil in a pan on med heat.  Mix the the zucchini, potato, egg, flour, walnuts, mint, cumin, cheese, salt and pepper.  Pour into the pan to form one large pancake. Cook for about 5-7 min or until the bottom of the pancake is browned. Flip the pancake and cook the other side for 5-7 min or if you are like me and have trouble flipping large hot food than just finish cooking the pancake under the boiler.

Cucumber and Radish Yogurt

 Simple and refreshing.  A fast salad great for any rice dish.

Cucumber and Radish Yogurt

3 inches English cucumber

2 radishes

1 spring onion

fresh mint

1 cup of plain yogurt

salt and pepper

Cut up the veg.  Mix with yogurt.  Season.

 Yummy!

Zucchini Ribbon Strawberry Salad

Just a simple salad from my garden.

Zucchini Ribbon Strawberry Salad

1 small zucchini 

4 strawberries

mint

balsamic vinegar and olive oil

salt and pepper

Using a veg peeler ribbon the zucchini.  Cut up the strawberries and mint.  Top the zucchini with the strawberries and dress with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Finish with salt and pepper.

Spaghetti Bolognese

 As an Italian American I never ever had Spaghetti Bolognese.  My family isn't from Bologna or we would have had Ragu alla Bolognese.  But Spaghetti Bolognese isn't from Bologna either...it's English.  In Bologna they eat it with tagliatelle not spaghetti.

Ragu alla Bolognese has no garlic, basil or oregano.  Just a bay leaf!

Spaghetti Bolognese

serves 4

1 lb of minced beef

1 onion chopped

3 carrots grated

3 sticks celery chopped

1 bay leaf

1 cup passata (sieved tomatoes or just use a can of tomatoes)

1/4 tsp of vinegar

1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper

500 gm spaghetti

 Brown the minced beef with the onions on a med heat. Add the carrots and celery and cook till soften. Add the bay leaf, tomatoes and vinegar. Cook for 30min on a med low heat until the sauce is thickened. Add the milk. Boil the pasta.  Check the seasoning.

 

Top the pasta with the sauce and Eat!