Mary Sheehan Coming Home To Cook

Eat Healthy and Feel Good! That’s the theme of my new cookery class at the Boghill Ctr. in Kilfenora. Roll up your sleeves and put on your apron for this class, it’s hands on and promises to be a lot of fun. It runs on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9, starting 13th of October for 5 weeks. No class 27th October. We will be using Boghill’s organic garden vegetables and herbs and a varied assortment of whole foods to make complete meals with optimal nutritional value. I will show you how to make many recipes, some from my book – Coming Home To Cook. There will be wheat/gluten and dairy free options and lots of discussion and ideas for those of you cooking for picky eaters and kids. All equipment, supplies and food will be provided. All this for only 125 euro. You don’t have to be a Vegetarian to take this class. A desire to try something different and an interest in cooking is all you need! Contact me thru facebook or at mary_sheehan@comcast.net

Spuds, turnips, parsnips and carrots are what comes to mind when you think of vegetables grown and consumed in Ireland. I love the traditional vegetables, especially the variety of potatoes here but I want more options in my diet. Small farmers around Clare are experimenting with a variety of plants which you will find at the local farmers markets. One farmer in West Clare who sells her produce at the Milltown Malbay Farmers market on fridays at 4 and at a roadside stand in front of her cottage in Creegh has beautiful gardens full of colorful edibles. To see what’s in season, friend her business page on facebook – Biddy O’Dea. Fabulous Beefsteak Tomatoes shared a row with roma and the sweetest little yellow tomatoes in her polytunnel. But, ouside were radiccio lettuce, red cabbage, corn and amaranth, an ancient grain from Mexico with leaves that are used as spinach and seeds that are highly nutritious. One plant produces 40,000 seeds! And, all this outside in the Irish weather! Gotta go make a salad! Radiccio and tomato with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and fresh squeezed lemon, a little Irish sea salt and cracked black pepper sprinkled with toasted amaranth seeds. Fresh, organic, clean and simple, heaven!

It’s the time of the season for courgettes (or zucchini) as some of us call them. In all shapes and sizes, they are everywhere! Stuff them, steam them, stir fry them, and bake them in a cake or bread. This sweet option for courgettes is just catching on here in ireland and I pulled out my zucchini bread recipe and made it into a cake topped with cream cheese icing from Coming Home To Cook. This is a good option for those courgettes that grow a little too big. The texture is like carrot cake and the ingredients are similar. It’s dairy free and can easily be converted to gluten free by using a gf white bread flour. Enjoy!

Courgette Cake

Grease and flour a 9″ cake pan or springform pan. Heat oven to 350f or 180c. Beat together 3 large eggs, 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Fold in 2 cups of grated, raw courgettes. Sift together 2 1/2 cups of white flour, 2 tsp. baking (bread) soda, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon. Pour batter into the cake pan and bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Icing In a food processor add 8 oz. of soft cream cheese to 2 Tbl. soft butter and blend until smooth. Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla axtract and 1 lb. of powdered sugar. Ice cake when it is cool.

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