Food and Cooking from an Irish Family

I'm a home cook from Belfast in Northern Ireland and there can be nothing that I enjoy more than sitting down with a cook book and a wee cup of tea.

I'm also glad to say that I have passed on my love of tea to my son but I was recently amazed to see him making a cup of tea by popping the tea bag into the cup, pouring on water and squeezing the tea bag against the side of the cup with a teaspoon until it was at the required strength!

You see I'm the type of person who can tell with one sip how the tea has been made - whether or not a teapot was used; if the teapot is metal or china; if the water was freshly drawn and of course if the tea is my favourite brand. My son, on the other hand has been away at university in England for a year and his tea making habits have slipped!

So how do I like my tea made? It's really very simple:

• Empty the kettle and fill with just enough fresh water, from the tap, for the tea and boil.
• Have your teapot ready - china or ceramic - and half fill it with hot water to warm it.
• When the kettle has boiled, empty the warming water from the teapot. Put one tea bag ( some may be horrified at this but our tea bags are good) into the pot and add the right amount of boiling water. You will get to know your teapot as to the correct amount of water.
• Let the tea stand for several minutes before pouring.
• Meanwhile select your cup or mug - for me it is preferably china - add milk to taste.
• Now pour out your tea.

Simply perfect - this is the way I start my day.

So tonight we had Beef Casserole for dinner - and of course this takes too long to make when you come home from work so I made it on Sunday.

Sunday was a productive day so far as cooking was concerned. My husband had gone off for his usual Sunday golf match and I had enjoyed a quiet hour reading a few chapters of 'Eat, Pray, Love'. My teenage daughter was still in the land of nod and it was time for me to get stuck in - I'd had several weeks of not having proper lunches for work - being a hater of sandwiches!

So down to the kitchen and job 1 was 'Roasted vegetables.'

• Put some olive oil in a roasting tray.
• Cut up red pepper, yellow pepper and or green peppers. As well as a courgette, onion, carrots and celery. Finish off by quartering some tomatoes and adding to the mix.
• Then season and add crushed garlic and herbs - from my garden; thyme this time!
• All the vegetables are mixed together with a little olive oil to top then roasted in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes.

I then cooked some pasta - for lunches I use all the small amounts of pasta left in bags in the cupboard that are never enough for a meal by themselves. Then get some plastic boxes and fill with cooked pasta then spoon over some of the roasted vegetables. Each box is a meal. I managed to make 4 boxes. I then cooked up some long grain rice and popped that into 2 more boxes and again toppped those with roasted vegetables.

I now have 6 lunches in my freezer that I can lift out in the morning and pop in the microwave at lunchtime in work - a good healthy and tasty lunch.

So what about today's dinner, what about the beef casserole ? - well that was my second cooking task:

• This serves 4 - toss 3/4 lb of stewing steak in well seasoned flour and brown in the pot. Remove and set aside. I use a large cast iron pot that I can use on the hob and put into the oven.
• Now in the same pot add 1 chopped onion, chopped carrots, 1 stick of celery sliced and finally 2 cloves of garlic, crushed. Cook gently in the pot for about 10 minutes.
• Return the meat to the pot and add some stock. I used a stock cube. Bring to the boil.
• Now transfer the pot to the oven and cook for about one hour.
• After that time add some potatoes to the pot that have been peeled and quartered. Check the amount of stock in the pot and if required add some hot water - not cold and not too much! REturn the pot to the oven for about 45 mins by which time the potatoes should be cooked.
• Beef casserole shoul now be ready - at this stage I let it cool and refridgerate overnight.
• When I come in from work it is a case of removing from the fridge and reheating on the hob gently.

And yes - the family enjoyed it - not a bit left over for lunch tomorrow so it's just as well I have my 'lunch boxes' prepared:)