Roast duck with red cabbage
Golden-skinned, pan-roasted duck breast served with cider and honey red cabbage Serves 4 8 small or 4 large Irish duck breast fillets, skin on Chinese Five Spice powder 4 tbsp oil 1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced 11 /2 small red cabbage, trimmed, cored and thinly sliced 2-3 drops of Tabasco® Red Pepper Sauce 2 tsp sugar 150ml/1 /4 pt dry cider Watercress for decoration Rub duck breast on both sides with Chinese Five Spice powder. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry duck breasts skin side down first, pressing down with a spatula, so skin becomes crisp and golden - about 4 minutes. Repeat on other side but keep the meat bouncy to the touch to ensure they are pink in the middle. At the same time heat remaining oil in a wok or pan, cook onion to soften. Add red cabbage and toss around with sugar - until cabbage is heated through but still crisp. Add cider and Tabasco® and continue cooking until it almost evaporates and cabbage is cooked, but still with a bite. Serve duck breasts with red cabbage on the side, decorated with watercress.
Essence of tomato
A sunset coloured consommé of fresh tomatoes and red pepper, flavoured with Tabasco® which brings out the rich sweetness of the tomatoes for a fabulous flavour burst. Prawns or strips of chicken can be stirred in - but it is delectable as it is.
Serves 4 3 tbsp sunflower oil 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped 900g/2lbs ripe tomatoes 2 red peppers, seeded and in chunks 850ml/11 /2 pts chicken or vegetable stock Salt and freshly ground white pepper Around 10 drops of Tabasco® 2 red chillies sliced across for decoration Heat oil in a pan and fry onion over gentle heat to soften but not brown. Add tomatoes and pepper and continue cooking gently to soften these as well. Pour over stock and bring to bubbling.Turn down to simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on - or until all vegetables are soft. Place a nylon sieve over a large bowl and carefully spoon vegetables into the sieve. Shake them a little, then leave for the essence to drain through. Do not push the vegetables through the sieve or the soup will become cloudy. Season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Shake in Tabasco. Bring back to bubbling to reduce by a quarter. Serve in soup bowls decorated with slices of red chilli. Coq au Vin
Chicken cooked with button mushrooms, celery and chopped ham and flavoured with Tabasco® which adds a special flavour explosion, served with crushed new potatoes. Serves 4 600ml/1pt dry white wine 1.6kg/31 /2 lb chicken in 8 pieces 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped 2 sticks celery chopped Flat leaf parsley stalks (reserve leaves for crush) 2 tbsp seasoned flour 3 tbsp sunflower oil 1 thick sliced ham, diced 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed 2 sticks celery, sliced across 100ml/4 floz chicken stock 175g button mushrooms, wiped and sliced 10 drops Tabasco® Salt and freshly ground black pepper 450g/1lb new potatoes 25g unsalted butter 1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley Pour wine into a bowl and add chicken pieces with roughly chopped onion, chopped celery and parsley stalks. Leave to marinate for an hour. Remove chicken pieces and blot on kitchen paper. Dip chicken pieces in seasoned flour and shake off excess. Heat oil in a pan and fry chicken pieces to brown all over.Transfer to a flameproof casserole.Add ham to pan and fry to brown, then add finely chopped onion, garlic and sliced celery and toss around to soften. Transfer all to casserole. Pour over strained wine from marinade and chicken stock and bring to bubbling.Turn down to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on. Add mushrooms to casserole and Tabasco. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes with the lid half on until chicken is tender and sauce is reduced. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. For the crush, cook new potatoes in lightly salted boiling water. Drain, then roughly mash with butter. Stir in parsley and season. Serve with chicken.
Apple and blueberry crumbles
Exotically coloured crumble filling with fabulous flavours from the spiced poached Cox apples and blueberries, crunch from the crusty oat crumble topping
Serves 4 6 large Cox apples, peeled, cored and in chunks 4 tbsp water 1 tbsp light brown sugar 1 /2 tsp cinnamon 1 clove 175g/6oz blueberries 8 tbsp Flahavan's Irish Porridge Oats 25g/1oz softened butter 50g/2oz light brown sugar Place apples in a pan with water, 1 tbsp light brown sugar, cinnamon and clove. Bring to bubbling for 1 minute, then remove from heat - this is just to soften them slightly. Drain, reserving liquor and remove clove. Transfer fruit to a bowl, add half blueberries and mix well. Divide between 4 dessert bowls. Place oats in a bowl and add butter. Fork through, then add brown sugar and mix. Spoon over the top of fruit in each bowl and press down. Place in a preheated oven Gas 5 375ºF 190ºC for around 15 minutes, until oats are browned and purple juice from the blueberries is oozing up the sides of the bowls. Meanwhile, place remaining blueberries in reserved apple liquor and bring to bubbling for no more than 2 minutes, so they keep their shape. Remove crumbles from oven and top with poached blueberries before serving.
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