As the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to change, there’s something undeniably magical about the arrival of autumn. It’s a season that beckons us indoors, where the warmth of the kitchen and the aroma of comforting dishes offer solace and joy. Here, we’ll dive into the heart of autumn cuisine through 3 recipes from the Created In Cavan Recipe Book, celebrating the abundance of flavours and ingredients that this season has to offer.
Cavan Crystal Curry Sauce
A very versitile curry sauce that you can add vegetables, chicken, beef, prawns or even lightly poached fish to. Brought to you by Cavan Crystal Hotel.
Serves 4!
Ingredients:
800ml coconut milk
1 large tablespoon medium curry powder
1 tablespoon green curry paste
1 tablespoon red curry paste
30g fresh ginger (peeled & sliced)
1 stick of lemon grass
2 thinly sliced carrot
2 diced mixed peppers
2 tablespoons mango chutney
250ml vegetable stock
250ml cream (for dairy free use coconut milk)
50ml cooking oil
100g cornflour
Seasoning to taste
Method:
- Sauté onions, ginger & lemon grass in a large pan with the cooking oil until soft. Turn down the heat and add the curry powder, stir for 3 minutes then add the curry paste. And repeat for 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, cream, and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
- Strain this liquid to remove the onion, ginger, and lemon grass. Bring the liquid back to the boil, then add the carrots, after 6 minutes add the peppers and the mango chutney
- Taste the sauce to check the flavours are balanced, add seasoning if needed.
- Mix the cornflour with water to form a paste and whisk the paste into the curry sauce until you reach the desired consistency.
Chef Tips: Not all Thai red curry pastes contain shrimp, be sure to check the label. To make the sauce dairy free double up on coconut milk. For less spice reduce the curry paste by half.
Air Fryer Honey Chilli Chicken
Crafted by Chef Adrian Martin for your next Friday night Fakeaway. He uses the Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer with Smart Cook System.
Ingredients:
3-4 chicken fillets cut into pieces
2-3 tablespoons soya sauce
100g cornflour
100g self-raising flour
For the sauce:
3 cloves of garlic chopped
1/2 red pepper sliced
1/2 green pepper sliced
1 banana shallot sliced
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of half a lemon
Method:
- Stir the chicken in a bowl with the soya sauce
- Mix the two flours together
- Coat the chicken in the flour and then add into the air fryer with some spray oil at 220°C for 15 mins.
- In a frying pan sweat the shallot, garlic and peppers in some oil until softened.
- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and reduce the heat to simmer lightly.
- Add the chicken to the sauce to coat it and make it sticky. The cornflour on the chicken will thicken this nicely.
- Serve it up on some cooked rice and sprinkle with the spring onions and chillies.
Homemade Gooey Deliciously Fudgy Chocolately Brownies
An amazing brownie recipe brought to you by Dinkin’s Bakery!
Ingredients:
185g unsalted butter
185g dark chocolate (70% ideally – e.g. Áine’s Handmade Chocolate)
85g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
100g milk chocolate (e.g. Áine’s Handmade Chocolate)
3 large eggs
275g golden caster sugar (ideally but white caster will work well)
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Prepare your tin using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to link the base. Tip: a smear of butter or margarine will work here if you don’t have non-stick parchment.
- Cut all the butter and dark chocolate into small cubes and put into a bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with cling film and put in the microwave for 1 minute. Using a metal spoon, stir the chocolate & butter mixture and put on again for another minute or until all the chocolate has melted. Leave the melted mixture to cool to room temperature.
- Put the plain flour and the cocoa powder into a sieve and sieve them together to get rid of any lumps.
- Chop the remaining milk chocolate into chunks.
- Break 3 large eggs into a bowl and add in your caster sugar. Using an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mixture becomes pale and about double its original volume. Take your time here as it takes a while depending on the power of your whisk.
- Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse, then gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Tip: Be very gentle and slow here.
- Sieve the cocoa and flour mixture into the chocolate and egg mixture. Gently fold in this flour and cocoa mixture until it looks gooey and fudgy. Tip: Stop just before you feel you should, as you don’t want to overdo this mixing.
- Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chunks until they’re dotted throughout.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it.
- Put in the oven on a middle shelf and set your timer for 25 mins. When the buzzer goes check your brownies by gently shaking the tin. If the brownie wobbles in the middle, it’s not quite done, so slide it back in and bake for another 5 minutes until the top has a shiny crust and the sides are just beginning to come away from the tin. Take out of the oven. TIP: Be careful not to overcook for maximum gooey fudginess.
- Leave the whole thing in the tin until completely cold. Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into four squares and finally into triangles.
- Enjoy eating our delicious brownies. We recommend serving with good quality vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream (but probably both!). They’ll keep in an airtight container for a good two weeks and in the freezer for up to a month.
As we conclude this delightful journey through these mouthwatering autumn suited recipes, we hope you’re inspired to bring the flavours of the season into your own kitchen. These recipes are just a taste of the culinary creativity that thrives within the Created in Cavan network.
For more information on the recipe book or the Created in Cavan brand, just visit our website on www.createdincavan.ie . To enquire about membership contact food@cavancoco.ie .