Sticky Toffee Pudding

225 g dry & pitted dates
1 tsp baking soda
200 ml boiling water

1/2 c butter, softened
3/4 c brown sugar
2 large eggs

1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp Ovaltine

2 Tbsp buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter and sugar 10 ramekins

Put dates in a bowl with the baking soda, and cover with 200 ml of boiling water. Leave to stand for a few minutes. Whiz dates, gradually adding water from bowl until you have a puree.

Meanwhile, cream butter and sugar, add the eggs, then dry ingredients. Fold in puree and buttermilk.

Fill ramekins, bake for 30 minutes.



For the Toffee Sauce:

1 c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 c cream

Cook together over low heat for approximately 10 minutes until thickened and darkened in colour.



(adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Irish Lamb Stew

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced 6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 large onion, chopped

1 can beef consumme, 1 can beef broth 4 cups diced carrots 2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces 6 potatoes 1 teaspoon dried thyme 2 bay leaves 1 cup white grape juice

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2.	Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat.
3.	Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with grape juice and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, and beef stock. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
4.	Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender. (allrecipes.com) I used 2 Costco packages of lamb chops, cooked them with bone on, then removed meat from bone at the end. I found this actually was a little thin, and at the end I added a roux of flour, butter, and broth to get it to the thickness I wanted in a stew.

Irish Brown Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup white flour 1/3 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten 2 1/2 cups buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.
2.	In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, white flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt. Gently mix in the buttermilk until a soft dough is formed. Knead very lightly. Divide dough into 4 pieces; form into rounded flat loaves. Mark each loaf with an 'X' and place on prepared baking sheets.
3.	Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. (allrecipes.com)