Everyone loves pizza. For my money, it’s the best hangover food. It’s made using a regular yeast bread dough. This recipe yields enough dough for two large pizzas, or three smaller ones. I like to split the dough into three balls as I can vary my toppings more, but you can please yourself.
Toppings are only limited by your imagination. If you’re short on inspiration, have a look at Darina’s suggestions in the excellent Ballymaloe Cookery Course.
Ingredients
- 340g strong white flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp (heaped) sugar
- 5g dried yeast (I use McDougall’s)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 210 ml tepid water
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients. Sieve together the flour, salt, sugar and dried yeast into a large mixing bowl.
- Add your wet ingredients. Rub in the olive oil and add the tepid water. Ensure the water is not too hot.
- Mix to a loose dough (add a little extra water or flour if necessary) and turn out onto a clean work surface, lightly dusted with flour. Cover the dough with the bowl and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
- Now, time for a workout. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes until the dough is smooth. Use a food processor with a dough hook, if you have one.
- Clean your mixing bowl with hot water, then lightly brush the bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with cling film. Place the bowl in your airing cupboard or beside a radiator. Prove the dough for about 1.5 to 2 hours. The dough should have doubled in size.
- Pre-heat your oven to 250C. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and “knock back”. This means kneading the dough for a minute to knock some of the air out of it. Split the dough into 2 or 3 balls.
- Roll or stretch each ball into a pizza shape and place onto a pre-heated baking sheet. Lightly coat with tomato sauce and add your toppings. Cook each pizza for 12-15 minutes.
Serve with cold beer, and a sloppy, self-satisfied grin … 
Any dish that contains chillis and coconut milk is good enough for me. This recipe uses butternut squash as it’s base, enhanced by Thai spices and coconut milk. Spicy and absolutely delicious. I like to add some chopped green beans and peas to add some body to the soup, but you can leave these out if you wish.
I like to serve this with a blob of créme fraiche and some toasted pumpkin seeds.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 medium size butternut squash, about 1kg in total, cubed
- 1 tbsp Thai curry paste
- piece of ginger, minced
- 750 ml chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- nam pla (fish sauce)
- 1 can coconut milk
- salt & pepper
- 1 lime
- green beans, finely chopped
- fresh coriander
Method
- Gently fry the onion and celery until tender and lightly coloured.
- Add the curry paste and fry to release it’s flavour; then add the butternut squash and minced ginger. Turn well to coat the squash with the spice mixture.
- Add the chicken stock, sugar and fish sauce, then bring to the boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes until the squash is tender.
- Pureé the soup using a stick blender then add the can of coconut milk and the green beans if you’re using them. Bring gently back to a simmer then season with salt, pepper and juice from half of the lime. Adjust the seasoning, it may need more lime juice.
- Add a good handful of chopped, fresh coriander and serve.
Serves 4.
This dish is great for a Sunday lunch. Prepare the dish and leave to cook slowly in a low oven for two and a half hours. Eat with plenty of floury spuds, a glass of good red wine, or a pint of the black stuff.
I’m not sure how Irish “Beef in Stout” actually is. Certainly, the British have been braising beef in ale for donkey’s years. And stout certainly isn’t an Irish invention, despite popular belief.
If this recipe seems like too much effort, you can always just drink the stout. Notice I haven’t used the “G” word in this recipe! You can use any Irish (dry) stout you have to hand.
Ingredients
- 125g bacon or pancetta, cubed
- 1kg stewing beef (such as round steak), cubed
- 2 tbsp flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 500 ml stout
- 2 onions, sliced
- 3 celery sticks, sliced
- 3 large carrots, cut into large chunks
- 250ml beef stock
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp tomato pureé (optional)
- 2 tsp light muscovado sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- salt & black pepper
Method
- Pre-heat your oven to 160°C (140°C if you have a fan-assisted oven).
- Add a little oil to a frying pan and brown the bacon or pancetta. Fry the bacon until golden. Transfer to a large casserole.
- Brown the beef. Toss the beef in the seasoned flour. Add a little more oil to the frying pan and fry the beef in batches until caramelised. Make sure you do this in batches so as not to overload your pan. Transfer the browned beef in the casserole.
- Add a little more oil and gry the onions until caramelised. Add to the casserole.
- Pour some stout into the hot frying pan to de-glaze it. As the stout bubbles, scrape at the bottom of the pan to remove any caramelised juices from the bacon and the beef. Add the stout and de-glazed juices to the casserole.
- Now, assemble the rest of the dish. To the casserole, add the celery, carrot, tomato pureé, Worcestershire sauce, stock, herbs and the rest of the stout. Season well with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper. Stir well and place the casserole on your hob. Bring the casserole to a gentle simmer and place in the oven for between two and two and a half hours. Check after an hour that there’s no beef drying out on top of the casserole; if there is, just give it a quick stir.
Notes
- I like to thicken the sauce using a little “beurre manie”. Mix a tablespoon of plain flour with a tablespoon of softened butter. Stir the resulting paste gently into the sauce and simmer for a few minutes until thickened.
- You could use shin beef for this. Just trim some of the fat from the meat and add at least an hour to the cooking time to allow this tough meat to tenderise. The extra far in the meat will melt out, giving a rich and unctuous sauce.
Serves 4.
