The Cook's Belly

Oh my word this is the first time I have made eggnog and its all kinds of yum. This drink is like nectar of the god for a custard fanatic, its very much like a spicy boozed up custard drink.. GLORIOUS. Before I give you the recipe Homer Simpson summed up how good egg nog really is, enjoy my friends!

Marge: Homer, didn't you get any milk? All I see is egg nog.
Homer: 'Tis the season, Marge! We only get thirty sweet noggy days.
Then the government takes it away again. [pours some on his cereal] Lisa: [chokes on her cereal] I think I'm having chest pains.

Egg Nog ( courtesy of Alton Brown )
4 egg yolks
43g sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
500ml whole milk
230ml heavy cream
85ml ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 egg whites

Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 43g sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and br…

These cookies are my new favourite and they come courtesy of Mr Dan Lepard the judge of the Great Australian Bake Off and resident food writer for the Guardian. Dan's food and baking recipes are my favourite to read and I especially love his book "Short & Sweet", its one of the best books I have got this year. Also if you have not seen the Great Australian Bake Off then you need to check it out on Youtube, its my personal favourite of all the bake off incarnations. I know you are gonna love these cookies, they are truly scrumptious.
*Picture courtesy of Foodie Bugle

Ingredients Makes about 15.
125g butter 125g soft brown sugar 125g caster sugar 2 tbsp cocoa 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 egg white
150g rye flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250g raisins

Method Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Using an electric mixer, whisk the butter, sugars, cocoa and vanilla with the egg white until smooth and fluffy, then switch to a wooden spoon and beat in the flour and bicarbonate of soda un…

That picture above fills me with great joy because for me that's one of the nicest shepherds pies I have eaten in this country. This weekend myself and Joanne were staying in Kinsale at the Blue Haven which I will be reviewing over the coming days. However when you mention Cork to Joanne or me we both know within an instant where we will be eating lunch that day. Farmgate is one of those places we always return to and it just so happens that it is in the English Market, which is excellent in itself. There is so much good food on sale there, I would go as far to say its my most favourite thing about Cork,  even the Queen of England loves it!

I love Farmgate though, its always packed with diners and has such a lovely buzz about the place. In fact knowing its always packed we made sure to book a table this time round which turned out to be a very wise stroke on our behalf. I also inquired was the shepherds pie on the menu as we had been down in Cork in the summer and it wasn't o…

I am in love with chocolate fondants, they always look and taste incredible but up until last week I had never even attempted making them. Guess what they are absolutely easy to make especially with the recipe below.
Ingredients(adapted from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman)
114g butter, more for greasing
114g 70% chocolate
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
50g sugar
2 teaspoons flour

Method
Grease and lightly flour 4x120ml dariole moulds and tap out the flour.In a bowl set over simmering water, heat the butter and chocolate together until completely melted. Beat together the eggs, yolks, and sugar with a whisk or electric beater until it leaves a trail in the mixture.Whisk together the melted chocolate and butter, it will be quite warm. Pour in the egg mixture, then quickly beat in the flour, until combined.Divide the batter into the molds. Refrigerate for 20 mins.Preheat the oven to 230c/210c Fan/450°F and bake the molds on a tray for 8 minutes. The centre will be quite soft, but th…

Yesterday evening I decided to make some mince pies in practice for a class I am teaching in a few weeks. This recipe is an amalgamation of something I saw over on the BBC Goodfood site. I would love to say they taste lovely but I am on a diet and couldn't taste them, which for me was like torture as I love mince pies, they are my favourite. Least the smell last night in our apartment was amazing :)
Makes 12 
Ingredients
Pastry 200g very cold butter, cubed 400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 100g ground almonds 100g golden caster sugar zest 2 oranges 2-3tbsp of milk
Filling  400g of good mincemeat
For the crumble topping 25g ground almonds 25g flaked almonds pinch ground cinnamon 25g unsalted butter, melted 25g soft light brown sugar
Method
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4Mix the butter, flour and ground almonds in a food processor until the butter has disappeared. Add in the sugar and the orange zest. Add the milk a tbsp at a time and keep blitzing until a rough dough comes toget…

As a child I absolutely despised fruit cake I found it horrible. My favourite part of the Christmas cake was the icing and marzipan. However as the years went on my taste buds changed and started to appreciate fruit cake more, this opened me up to absolutely adoring the likes of Christmas Pudding or a good old fashioned Oxford lunch. Recently however I had porter cake as part of an afternoon tea and god was it good. Oh so very moist and full flavoured. This Saturday past I decided to put out a request online to my twitter pals asking did anyone have a good recipe, and they duly obliged. Karie Murray & Rosanne Hewitt Cromwell ( Like Mam Used To Bake ) both sent me pics of  their fave recipe out of the McDonnell's cookbook from the early 80's. Also Siobhan Cullen  hooked me up with her Aunty Mary's recipe which also is very similar to the recipe below, in fact Siobhan's 93yr old aunty has been making it a lot longer than the McDonnell's recipe. Its fantastic hav…