Raspberry Meringue Roulade

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

This is honestly one of the easiest desserts you could ever make, I don’t know why I don’t make it more often. Such simple ingredients too, egg whites, sugar, cream and raspberries. It is so light, perfect for having at the end of a meal and it looks the part too. You could use strawberries or a mixture of both if you like. I used raspberries this time as I was making it for my Mum who is allergic to strawberries! Continue reading →

26Jun2016

Feta Stuffed Butternut Squash

Posted in Dinner, Fit Food by Niav Halpin

It’s all about green, white and gold today given the day that is in it, it feels like the right thing to do and an appropriate way to show support for our ‘boys in green’ as they play France in the Euros. This dish is another one to put on your list for your meat-free dinner day. It is easy to make as well as healthy, wholesome and really tasty as it contains a great combination of flavours. Many of the ingredients are ones that you can have in your store cupboard. Butternut Squash for example has a great shelf life – this particular one was in my vegetable drawer for at least a month! Feta cheese is also something you can have in your fridge as it has a long shelf life once unopened. To use the rest of a packet of feta you could make this Green Pea & Feta Cheese Omelette the next day. The other ingredients i.e. onions, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes in oil would always be staples in my kitchen with the only ingredient that I might need to buy being the fresh mint.

Serves 2

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 40/50 minutes

Ingredients

1 small butternut squash
½ – 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled & finely chopped
80g / 3oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained & roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
100g / 4oz feta cheese, lightly crumbled
2 tablespoons of fresh mint, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 200°C / 400° F / Gas 6

Prepare the butternut squash by cutting it in half lengthways and scooping out the seeds with a spoon
Place the squash on a non-stick baking tray (or a tray lined with baking paper)
Roast in the oven for approx 30 minutes or until the butternut is soft, cooked through and has a slightly coloured surface (a larger squash will take longer to cook)
While the squash is in the oven heat the oil in a pan and add the onions.
Sweat over a low heat for 4-5 minutes until they are soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes
In a bowl, mix the sun-dried tomatoes, pumpkin seeds, crumbled feta, mint, cooked onions and garlic together.
Remove the butternut squash from the oven when cooked and scoop out some of the flesh to make space for the filing. (Keep the flesh for another dish). Fill the squash with the stuffing mixture, then return to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve with some green veg.

PS – this reheats very well so you can enjoy it the next day as well !

19Jun2016

Gluten Free Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

I have been dying to share this recipe with you and to urge you to give it a try – it’s delicious, moist, gooey, chocolatey flavour will beat many brownies and because it doesn’t contain any flour, it is super light. When I made this recently it disappeared so quickly I couldn’t believe it – it was voted right up there along with the Oreo Brownies from a previous post. This is saying quite something. Did I mention also how quick and easy it is to make? So what are you waiting for?!

The recipe was one published by Domini Kemp in her weekly section in the Irish Times Magazine and because she said it was voted one of her most popular recipes I decided that I needed to check it out. I was not disappointed, I guarantee you won’t be either, enjoy.

Serves 8

Preparation time : 15 mins

Cooking time : 30 minutes

Ingredients

50g / 2oz cocoa powder
150g / 5oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
50ml / 2fl oz boiling water
150ml / ¼ pint olive oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g / 7oz soft brown sugar
3 eggs
150g / 5oz ground almonds
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
Pinch salt

Equipment : 22inch spring-form tin

Method

Line the tin with parchment paper
Turn oven on to 170° C / 325° F
Mix / blitz cocoa powder and dark chocolate in a food processor into little shards of chocolate
Add the boiling water and blitz again
Add the olive oil and vanilla extract
In a separate (large) bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with a beater until nice and thick – for at least 5 minutes
Add the chocolate mixture to it and beat until well mixed in
Fold in the dry ingredients (ground almonds, bicarb of soda and salt)
Pour into the tin and bake for 30 minutes

26Feb2016

Tortilla de Patatas

Posted in Fit Food, Lunch by Niav Halpin

This picture represents my perfect Friday night feast! Feet up, glass of something red and full bodied in hand, let the weekend begin! (I suppose if I tried hard I could manage to enjoy this too at lunchtime somewhere sunny and warm !) There is a Spanish theme going on here – I may have mentioned before that I go to Spanish classes every week so trying out the food is all part of the homework! Someone has to do it. In the photo along with the olives, sundried tomatoes, manchego cheese(my absolute favourite of all cheeses) and serrano ham, there is some Spanish tortilla or Spanish omelette. Continue reading →

21Feb2016

10 minute Energy Balls

Posted in Fit Food, Lunch, Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

It is no coincidence that this week’s recipe is quick, easy, with ingredients to give you an energy boost! My weekly post is later than usual this week due to work pressures however worth the wait I hope! These energy balls are delicious, made in minutes and quite addictive. They are full of good things and contain only natural sugars. I have been trying to cut down on sugar over the past year and I get my ‘sweet fix’ now from dark chocolate (74% cocoa solids), these energy balls and these sugar-free chocolate chip cookies from a previous post. (I am sure any goodness is negated however once you eat more than 4 of them in one go!).

Continue reading →

12Feb2016

Divine chocolate mousse cake

Posted in Sweet Treats by Niav Halpin

A slightly later than usual blog post this week which almost didn’t happen as I have just gone back to work after a wonderful year off. This has upset my routine (just a little!) and trying to get this dish made and photographed after a day’s work has given me a few headaches. (Think it’s a bit too soon to ask for time off during the day to take my food pics!) However, I just had to share this absolutely divine chocolate recipe with you – just the delicious chocolatey smells coming out of your oven when it is cooking will have you and anyone else in your house drooling and waiting impatiently to dig in when it comes out. Dark, moist, delicate, pure chocolate heaven. It is unbelievably light as there is no flour in it so gluten-free as well. I normally wouldn’t recommend sharing this under any circumstances but given the weekend that is in it share it with someone very special if you must but only if you absolutely have to! So go on and indulge yourself – a glass of something bubbly with it and life won’t get much better.

The recipe is really really simple – equal quantities i.e. 150g of dark chocolate, butter and sugar and 3 eggs. That’s it!

Serves 6 (or one big serving!)

Ingredients

150g dark chocolate (60/70% cocoa solids)
150g softened unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing)
150g caster sugar
3 eggs separated
Icing sugar for dusting

Pre-heat the oven to 160° C / 325°F or Gas 3.

Grease a 20cm / 8in springform cake tin (an ordinary cake tin will work as well once it is well greased) and line the base with greaseproof paper.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl isn’t touching the water. Leave to cool.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, then fold in the melted chocolate.
In another bowl whisk the egg whites until they stand in soft peaks.
Stir 2 large spoonfuls into the chocolate mixture to loosen it slightly and then gently fold in the remainder.
Put the mixture into the tin and bake for 1 hour or until a crust has formed on top and there is no ‘wobble’ in the middle.
The cake will rise up dramatically during the cooking but will sink once you take it out of the oven. It will also crack and this is perfectly normal.
Leave to cool on a wife rack, and remove from the tin.
Serve the cake dusted lightly with icing sugar and cream, ice-cream, raspberries and / or chocolate sauce.