:: Christmas Mince Pie Star Slices

The blog and book got a great mention in today's Irish Independent LoveFood magazine.  This recipe was used and I have been saving it especially until the piece was published!  So here to get you in the Christmas spirit, is my Christmas Mince Pie Star Slices!

Christmas Mince Pie Star Slices

These mince pie slices are a wonderful alternative to the traditional mince pie. Use your own mince meat recipe here if you have one, if not most supermarkets stock handy jars of the stuff!

Serves 4-6
For the pastry:
170g flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
100g cold butter, cut into small chunks
1 tablespoon of caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of water

For the filling:
420g jar of mince meat
1 large cooking apple, peeled and cored
A sprinkle of brown sugar

Place the flour and cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
Add the butter and rub in using your finger tips until you have a rough breadcrumb like mixture. Don't worry it will come together!
Add the sugar and the egg yolk and mix through with a spoon.
Add the water slowly until a dough comes together.
Form a ball with your hands, cover in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for at least 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
Chop the apple into small rough slices and combine in a bowl with the mince meat.
Roll the pastry dough out to about half a centimetre in thickness and line a fluted tart tin with it. Make sure to cut out little stars from the pastry to decorate with later!
Prick the base with a fork and fill with baking paper and ceramic baking beans. Place in the oven and blind bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Fill the pastry base with the apple and mincemeat mixture and top with the pastry stars and a sprinkle of brown sugar.
Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the pastry turns golden brown.
Serve cut into slices with a drizzle of cream!

:: Back To School Food Demonstration!

Last week I went along to do a cookery demonstration at an all girls school, after being asked by the lovely home economics teacher Breda who came to the book launch a few weeks ago.  Now I'm fairly relaxed when it comes to demo's and I've done a few school cookery demonstrations before, but never to an all girls school!  The funniest part of the whole day was when Breda revealed that she had sent me a text saying "Hi Donal, I hope you're ready for 40 screaming girls this afternoon, they're already excited about you!", but instead of sending it to my phone, she sent it to her plumber whose name is also Donal!  As you can imagine she got a text back straight away saying "who is THIS!", I think she was far to embarrassed to even text back to try and explain herself!  My Aromatic Duck Salad was on the menu, and the girls were really great, I had lots of volunteers to chop, peel, and grate!  They were all really enthusiastic, everyone tried the salad and I didn't even have to wash up! I had a brilliant time and thoroughly enjoyed it!  Check out the pics below!

If you want a food demonstration at your school or event pop me an email and we can have a chat!

:: Clodagh Mckenna Love Aprons Competition!

Another fab apron up for grabs today! It's the lovely green one in the photo above and I think you'll agree it pretty cute! :)

Clodagh's aprons are stocked in selected Irish shops, a list of which can be found at www.clodaghmckenna.com, where you can also purchase aprons online, they would make a really great Christmas pressie for the favourite foodie in your life!

So to be in with a chance of winning the green apron in the photo above simply answer the following question:

What is the name of Clodagh's most recent cookbook?
A: Supper For A Song
B: Forgotten Skills Of Cooking
C: Fresh From The Sea

Your First Name
Your Email Address
Your Answer

A winner will be chosen at random from all the entries, one entry per person, and the competition closes 4th of December at 9pm! Check back on Saturday to see if you've won and for a chance of winning Clodagh's brand new apron! Best of luck! :)

:: Winner of Clodagh Mckenna's Black Apron!

Thanks for the 144 entries in to the competition but a big congrats to Sara who has won herself one of Clodagh's lovely red aprons! If you weren't lucky enought to win, you can purchase the aprons online via www.clodaghmckenna.com or in selected shops across Ireland!

Stay tuned next apron competition coming up! :)