considered by Helen James

 Well its been a long time but I have not been idle 

Things have been so hectic......... and are due to continue along that path 

but I did want to pop back here and say hello and let you know,

 in case you hadn't heard,

that my new range launched at Dunnes Stores (Ireland's largest retailer)

"Considered by Helen James" 

is a range of bakeware, textiles and food

that I have designed and developed 

All of the food is made in Ireland and I have also worked with local producers to create bespoke wooden chopping boards and wooden furniture which is made in my local village in Westmeath.

Also made in Ireland are a range of candles that I designed to be burned in your kitchen, with scents like Basil & Fennel leaf and Lemon Balm.

This collection is a culmination of a dream to bring my love of design

and passion for food and baking together
I hope you like it 

crispy and chewy chocolate chip cookie

 I am constantly searching for a perfect choc chip cookie 

I found an amazing one 

which i posted about here 

and i still think that is a keeper 

but a girl likes to explore and discover 

and my quest means I must constantly test, tweak and eat 

tough eh?

anyway today I lifted these ladies out and i knew i was on to something special 

crispy on the outside with a slight chew in centre 

very light and utterly more'ish

RECIPE

11ozs/320g flour

1 tspn baking soda

8ozs /220g butter melted and still warm

5ozs/140g sugar

5ozs/140g dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 large eggs

4ozs/100g semi sweet chocolate chopped into chunks

4ozs/100g milk chocolate chopped into chunks 

METHOD

makes 30-40 cookies

melt butter ( I always melt mine in the microwave, so easy, just keep an eye on it)

add sugars and stir to combine

add 2 eggs and stir well

add in dry ingredients flour, bak soda and salt, make sure you have combined them first (i just spoon bak sod and salt onto weighed flour and combine with a fork)

stir in dry ingredients until almost fully incoporated

add chocolate 

stir until combined but do not over mix 

chill for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hrs (or longer)

when you are ready to bake 

preheat oven to 375f/ 190c

place round cookie balls on lined cookie sheet each ball should be walnut size 

space 2-3" apart 

bake for 9-11 minutes 

allow to cool 

adapted from Alice Medrichs chocolate chip cookie recipe

Lemon drizzle cake with a twist

The thing is I have been so busy 

It's not that I am neglecting this blog 

It's just that I am working on a very exciting new project 

which really came about in many ways because of this blog

I can't tell you about it until September 

but it's VERY exciting

wish me luck 

Meanwhile Ireland is in the midst of storms 

windy, rainy, sleety wetness

when your window looks like this 

light the fires

snuggle up with something comforting like

Lemon drizzle cake - a classic 

why mess with it ?

well why not 

I added some Jasmine green tea 

and the resulting combination is quite delicious

The earthiness of the tea cuts through the sharp lemon and grounds it 

perfect with steaming hot tea on a day like today

JASMINE TEA LEMON DRIZZLE CAKE 

RECIPE

2 tablespoon jasmine tea 

5 tablespoon boiling water

125g butter

175g sugar

2 large eggs

zest of 1 lemon

175g self raising flour

pinch of salt

SYRUP

juice of 1 lemon

100g icing sugar

2 tablespoons jasmine tea

METHOD

place tea in a shallow dish and add 5 tablespoons of boiling water

set aside

cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

add eggs 1 at a time

add lemon zest and s.r. flour and combine

add salt

pour in jasmine tea and tealeaves fold into mixture

spoon into lined loaf tin

bake for 45mins or until cake skewer comes out clean 

while the cake is baking make your syrup 

add juice of 1 lemon to 2 tbspn jasmine tea and icing sugar in a small pan

heat slowly

leave to infuse

when cake is done remove from oven and skewer with holes 

pour syrup onto hot cake 

(you can strain the syrup or leave tea leaves to sit on top of cake I chose to strain it)

leave to cool slightly

eat

yum

x

CHOCOLATE DIGESTIVES

 Homemade Chocolate Digestive biscuits

............no argument from me 

Who doesn't love a chocolate digestive

RECIPE

100g medium size oats*

50g wholewheat flour

50g plain flour

100g cold butter 

50g light muscovado sugar

pre heat oven to 190c 

If you have medium oats place in food processor along with flours

*if you only have jumbo oats (as I did) place them in the food processor

and blitz for a few minutes to reduce their size

add butter and blitz

add sugar

blitz until it comes together in a dough

turn out onto lightly floured surface

roll to 5mm thick and cut with 7cm cookie cutter

(makes 14-16 biscuits)

bake for 16-20 mins 

cover in chocolate if desired 

they are honestly nice either way 

 

recipe adapted from country homes and interiors

unwind christmas time

Since we last spoke I have been in New York, Hong Kong, Bang Kok, Shanghai........

needless to say I am looking forward to some quiet family time over the holidays 

I predict I will be spending a lot of time here  

 

 

(image from pinterest source unknown)

 wearing something like this

image and pyjamas from Sleepy Jones

and well, if i must arise then maybe i will throw this on

 

lounge robe Zara 

I may even wander here 

and do a little of this 

no knead bread

whatever you are up to this Holiday season

I hope it is wonderful 

see you on the new year 

x Helen 

ROSE CUPCAKES

I bought my first piping bag last week 

While I have been an avid baker for more years than I would like to mention

For some reason piping bags intimidated me

But now I feel like we are going to become best friends 

What could be better than combining two of my favourite things 

Cakes and Flowers

 

Vanilla cupcakes with Vanilla icing

All photos by Helen James 

Copyright Helen James

LEMON POLENTA COOKIES

Lemony, Buttery, Sugary

............. no more explanation needed 

LEMON POLENTA SHORTBREAD COOKIES 

100g sugar

200g flour

100g fine polenta (cornmeal)

zest 1 lemon
pinch salt

200g cold butter

If you have a food processor

dump all ingredients and whizz for approx 5 minutes until mixture clumps

otherwise put all of the dry ingredients in to a bowl 

add butter and rub in until mixture clumps together

tip mixture out on to a sheet of cling film (seran wrap)

bring together into a large sausage shape

wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour

remove from fridge and slice into 1 cm discs

if the mixture crumbles you can just squidge it back together 

but a few more minutes in the fridge will make it easier 

bake for 30 minutes

until edges are just turning

turn oven off and allow cookies to cool in the oven with door ajar

(this makes them really crisp and crumbly)

HEARTY WINTER SOUP AND BROWN BREAD

As the garden offers up her final fruits

The days are that beautiful autumnal crisp and heavy with the scent of damp leaves

Fire is now a ritual every evening as opposed to an occasional occurance

The seasons are vivid in the Irish Countryside

 and so much of the season is about what we eat 

 

and right now hearty soups with warm brown bread feel just about right

The thing about soup is, to me it feels a little contradictorary to offer a recipe 

as really soup, in this house, is usually about what is available or waiting to be used up 

So the following "recipe" is a guide and you should substitute the contents of your own larder

HEARTY WINTER SOUP

2 onions chopped 

A 1" piece of fresh ginger

2 large carrots

2 sticks celery

2 cups red lentils

1 tsp salt

1 stock cube 

METHOD

put onion in pan and sprinkle with salt, sautee until soft, 

add chopped carrots, celery and finely chopped ginger

sautee for 5 mins

add 2 cups of lentils 

add 3 pints of cold water and stock cube

simmer for 45 mins until everything is soft 

Blend until smooth

serve as is or with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkled with chive flowers 

(sweet potato, butternut squash and parsnip would all be welcome additions)

This was one of those occassions where I didn't have everything the recipe called for,

made some substitutes and the results were better than the original

BROWN BREAD

225g coarse wholemeal flour

100g whole spelt flour*

150g plain flour

1 tspn salt

1 tspn bread soda

25g butter

1 tbspn dark brown sugar

300 ml milk

100ml plain yoghurt

1 egg

seeds (optional)

*if you do not have spelt flour simply divide the 100g between the other 2 making it 

275g wholemeal and 200g plain

METHOD

Pre heat oven to 200c

line a loaf pan with a sheet of grease proof paper

Place flours, salt, bread soda into bowl

add cold butter 

rub in 

sprinkle in brown sugar

put the egg, milk and yoghurt in a jug and combine

add the wet to the dry mix and combine 

add a handful of seeds if desired, pumpkin, sunflower, poppy all work well

pour mixture into loaf pan

Bake for 40-45 mins 

allow to cool completely before cutting

 

Falling into Autumn

Autumn has well and truly wrapped her temperate hands around Ireland 

The balmy days of summer are a distant memory 

Although the days are shorter 

There is something wonderful about the onset of this new season 

This was a bumper year for our Apples

If you happened to visit me in the last few weeks no doubt you were sent 

home clutching a paper bag of these beauties

The excess were carefully wrapped in newspaper and stored in the outhouse 

I do foresee quite a few Apple crumbles, pies, tarts in our future 

were you surprised when you took a bite and the pink tinged flesh revealed itself

The name of this Apple is 

"Discovery"

The menu has changed 

From Tarts and salads to 

Steak and Guinness Pie

made for a visiting Brother 

With an Autumnal Pavlova to finish 

Honeycomb, chocolate Pavolva with toasted almonds and toffee sauce

On the weekends

Planting Spring bulbs 

or maybe a walk in the woods 

Spiderman costume optional 

So many mushrooms around right now 

Unfortunately I am not a confident Mushroom connoisseur 

Not a risk worth taking !

Conkers, on the other hand provide little danger 

and we filled our pockets 

Hope you are enjoying the new season too

x 

Salted Butter Ice Cream

Ice Cream + Butter + Sea Salt = AAAHHH DELICIOUS

Salted Butter Ice Cream 

Recipe 

400 ml milk 

320 ml double cream 

100g butter

4 egg yolks 

130g sugar

big pinch sea salt

METHOD

heat milk and cream,

In a mixing bowl whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale

remove milk and cream from the heat and add butter 

let stand for 2 minutes until butter has melted

pour mixture slowly over eggs stirring continuosly

pour mixture back into pan and heat until thickened

leave to cool completely

preferably in the fridge overnight (but ok to just leave for a few hours)

Pour into ice cream machine 

or freeze in a container and remove every hour to whisk away ice crystals 

 

enjoy 

x

Tartine @Ballymaloe

A couple of months ago I was pondering my Bread making skills

I am a massive fan of Jim Laheys No Knead Bread

and make it every week 

But I felt like I wanted to push things up a notch 

After a little bit of a web trawl I was amazed and delighted to discover that 

Chad Robertson from Tartine in San Francisco 

was teaching a workshop at Ballymaloe

Chad Robertson in cork!!! teaching a workshop that I can attend!!

I have been a massive fan of Tartine for some years and have dabbled in his country bread

although I must admit I found the prospect of starters and leavens a little intimidating 

I literally felt like a 5 year old waiting for Christmas 

And finally the day came last week 

Firstly this was my first visit to Ballymaloe

and most certainly will not be my last 

The Weather was not on my side but I still managed a stroll around the impressive gardens

Now that is a herb garden !! (below)

 

I ate dinner at Ballymaloe house on the first night 

(the cookery school is about 2 miles away)

Local, fresh, they make their own butter and cheese and of course bread 

and grow their own vegetables

Each day the menu is designed around what is fresh and available 

 Mackerel to start 

and then slices of sirloin with spinach and Ballymaloe potatoes

Heaven...

The following morning after eating a delicious breakfast 

Day 1 began 

Darina introduces Chad

Chad talks us through the process as Richard his right hand man 

gets busy mixing the doughs

I would say the message of the morning was pay attention to your environment

Your starter and leaven are living things 

they react to room temperature drafts etc 

be aware of what is going on with your dough

Chad is an intuitive baker

and talked more about look, feel, smell 

than measurements and scales

I am not going to post the recipe for the bread as if you are familiar with Tartine 

then you have the book

and if you are not and you want to make the best bread of your life then buy it 

The recipe in the book is 38 pages long

and I will not do it the injustice of writing a synopsis

Chad talked about the autolysse (initial resting of the dough) 

and the resting and turning of the dough

and the hydration (water percentage)

This dough is WET!

after resting and turning for about 3 hours 

and leaving for a bench rest 

Richard and Chad got to the shaping 

Chad shaping the dough

Chad makes it look very easy ......

In the afternoon the discussion was about Chad's new book (available end of November)

and how his travels to 

Denmark and Sweden had influenced his baking 

He is looking at darker breads 

and using a lot of sprouted grains

I look forward to getting it 

Richard cuts the Rugbrod for tasting

Me the groupie with Chad and Richard

The real highlight came though on the second day 

when we actually got to go into the kitchen with Chad and Richard and mix a dough 

What an honour

and Richard and Chad were so gracious and patient

as the attendees ranged from the experienced chef 

like Skye Gyngell to the complete novice 

Me and Skye

At 2 o'clock I left Ballymaloe

with 2 doughs in plastic bags nestled around a 2 litre of cold milk 

to try and stall the fermentation process while i drove home 

then when i got home, 4 hours later, I tipped them into bread baskets 

left them for 2 hours and baked 

and without a doubt the BEST bread I have ever made 

a light crust 

a chewy centre

complex flavour

This bread has no equal 

 

So Thank you Richard and Chad 

It was a privilege

x