Cooking with Paula McIntyre

Recipe
Lemon Crunch Pie with blueberries
Base
200g oaty or digestive biscuits
75g butter
Crush the biscuits to a fine crumb either in a food processor or place in a bag and bash with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix with the crumbs. Line a 20cm springform cake tin or 6 individual tins, with parchment paper. Press the biscuit mixture into the tin and press down. Chill in the fridge.
Filling
Zest and juice 2 lemons
150ml condensed milk
300 ml double cream, whipped
Fold the condensed milk, lime zest and juice into the cream. Spoon onto the base and allow to chill in the fridge for a few hours.
Blueberry compote
250g frozen blueberries
35g honey
Mix in a pan and cook for 5 minutes. Cool.
250ml whipped cream ( optional)
Remove the tin from the pudding and spoon the blueberries on top.
Pipe the cream on top and serve.

Shepherd Pie Jackets with fennel and feta salad
Shepherd Pie Jackets
4 large baker potatoes, scrubbed
250g lamb mince
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 small tin chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
250ml beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
50ml milk
125g finely grated cheddar
Bake the potatoes in a 180oc oven for about 45 minutes or until cooked through.
Heat a pan until smoking hot and add the lamb mince. Cook until sealed off well. Drain off the fat and add the onion, garlic and celery to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the tomato puree, tomatoes, stock and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 20 minutes. Check seasoning.
Cut the potatoes in half while warm and scoop out the flesh. Mash the flesh with the milk and season to taste. Place the shells in a baking tray and spoon the mince. Spoon or pipe the potato on top and then sprinkle with the cheese.
Bake in a 180oc oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Fennel and feta salad
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
75ml olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bulb fennel
1 little gem lettuce
75g crumbled feta
Whisk the vinegar, mustard and oil together with the honey and season to taste. Cut the fennel in half and remove the core. Slice as thinly as you can and toss into the dressing. Toss in the feta. Shred the lettuce and mix in.

Pastry
225g plain flour
100g chopped cold butter
Pinch salt
1 egg
Rub the flour and butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Mix in the salt. Mix in the egg to dough, wrap in cling and chill.
Filling
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Oil for brushing
25g butter
1 large leek, split, washed and chopped
25g plain flour
150ml chicken stock
1 tablespoon cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Brush the chicken with oil and cook on a hot grill pan for about 4 minutes each side or until cooked through. Allow to rest.
Heat the butter in a pan and add the leeks. Cook until wilted down and mix in the flour well. Add the stock and mix to a stiff smooth sauce. Add the cream and mustard and check seasoning. Add any resting juices from the chicken and then cool and chill. Chop the chicken and mix into the sauce.
To assemble
1 egg yolk.
Divide the pastry in half and roll to fit a buttered pie dish. Trim off the edges and keep in cling.
Line with foil and fill with baking beans. Chill for an hour then bake in a 180oc oven for 12 minutes. Remove beans and foil and bake for another 5 minutes. Fill with the chicken mixture. Roll out the remaining pastry and cover the chicken mixture. Crimp the edges and brush with egg yolk. Roll out the ends of pastry and make leaves. Place on pie and cover with more egg yolk. Bake in a 180oc oven for 30 minutes.
Broccoli with pickled shallot
2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
25ml white wine or cider vinegar
25ml water
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
Salt to taste
350g tenderstem broccoli
1 tablespoon oil
Place the vinegar, water, sugar, turmeric and mustard seeds in a pan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Check seasoning and pour over the shallots. Leave for an hour to pickle.
Blanch the broccoli in salted boiling water for a minute and then drain, place on kitchen paper and top with kitchen paper.
Heat the oil in a frying pan until smoking add the broccoli. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the shallots ( not the liquid) and warm through.

Buttermilk breadrolls
450g bread flour
7g dried yeast
190ml buttermilk
60ml local rapeseed oil
1 heaped tablespoon castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Egg yolk for brushing

Stir yeast and 35ml of lukewarm water in a large bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Warm the buttermilk to blood temperature gently and add to the yeast mixture with the oil and sugar. Mix in the flour and baking powder to a soft dough and transfer to a floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes and place in a clean bowl rubbed with oil.
Cover with cling or a damp tea towel and leave at room temperature for an hour. Knock back and divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll into balls and place on baking trays lined with baking paper - don’t have them too close together as they’ll rise. Leave for 30 minutes. Set oven to 200°c. Brush rolls with egg yolk and then bake for about 20 minutes or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Cook on a wire rack.
500g rump steak
1 tablespoon oil for rubbing
Seasalt
Freshly ground black pepper
150g mayonnaise
2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon finely chopped gherkin
200g raclette slices or thin slices of cheddar
Rub the oil all over the rump and season with salt. Heat a pan until smoking and seal on both sides for two minutes. Lower the heat and cook to desired temperature. Season with pepper and rest for 5 minutes and slice thinly.
Mix the mayonnaise with the mustard and gherkins
Split the rolls and spread the mayo on to the surface.Arrange the beef over the top and then cheese. Bake in a 180oc oven until cheese has melted – about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Caramel pecan pancakes
3 large eggs
1 dessertspoon golden syrup
200ml buttermilk
300g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
50ml bannoffee toffee
75g chopped pecans
Oil for cooking
Whisk the eggs, syrup and buttermilk in a bowl.
Sift in the flour and baking soda. Whisk to a thick batter.
Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Wipe a medium hot pan with oil and add a tablespoon of batter – don’t over crowd the pan. Drizzle some of the bannoffee toffee and add a sprinkle of pecan nuts on the surface. Spread over some more pancake batter to enclose the nuts and sauce. When bubbles appear, flip over and cook on the other side for a couple of minutes to cook through. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Rum candied bananas
50g butter
50g soft brown sugar
50ml rum
Pinch cinnamon
4 bananas, peeled and chopped
Heat the butter and sugar in a large pan and spread to fill the surface. Add the rum and toss for a minute. Flame carefully with the rum, add the cinnamon and serve with the pancakes.