Cooking for friends can be nerve-racking, especially if they'll be watching you at the stove. A simple recipe will get you over any nerves, writes Catherine Cleary
Some historian yet to be born may look back on this era and see it all through the prism of the Irish kitchen. If the economic boom has a temple, it is this once-humble room. But for all the money we lavish on our kitchens, the time we spend cooking in them has declined considerably since the days of the "back kitchen" where the daily dinner was knocked out with little ceremony. Many soft-close drawers in new kitchens house a dozen or more takeaway menus. What these kitchens have in common is that they are big places where the cooking and the eating happen together.
Now the boundary between diningroom and stove has dissolved, the idea of cooking as performance is born. Having an audience while you cook might be too much for all but the showiest home chefs. A simple pouring-and-stirring recipe, such as risotto, gets over any first-night nerves. The basics of a risotto are a 20-minute slow cook with all the action at the end, as you add fresh ingredients to release their flavours into the creamy rice. It is perfect for a casual summer dinner party, to cook while your guests sit on stools, sip wine and get gossipy. This seafood version is delicious with salad and something cool and crisp in a glass.
For dessert there is something decadent about a strawberry chocolate roulade. You'll wow your guests when you bring this out of the fridge, yet it is an easy dessert to master once you lose any fear about the whole rolling business. Probably best to do the first one in the privacy of your empty kitchen.
Serves four
PRAWN, LEMON AND DILL RISOTTO
50g butter
Two shallots
400g good risotto rice
125ml (a small glass) of dry white wine
A handful of dill
600g prawn tails (uncooked if possible)
juice of ½ lemon
1.5-2l vegetable stock
Put your stock in a pot and bring it to a simmer. While it is heating up, melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed pan on a medium heat. Chop the shallots as finely as you can and cook them gently in the melted butter until they are softened but not coloured. Add the rice and stir well to coat it in the butter. Add the glass of wine and keep stirring until it is absorbed. Add the hot stock to the rice a ladle at a time, letting the rice absorb each ladleful before you add the next one. Keeping adding stock until the rice is nicely cooked and creamy but still has a bit of bite. This will depend on your rice, so taste as you go. After about 20 minutes you should be there. Stir in the raw prawn tails and lemon juice and cook for a further five minutes. Just before serving chop the dill finely and stir it through.
Serves eight
STRAWBERRY MERINGUE ROULADE
5 egg whites
200g caster sugar (plus some for dusting)
75g dark chocolate
4 tbsp skimmed milk
400g strawberries
Cocoa powder for dusting
Heat the oven to 150 degrees/gas two. Cut a sheet of parchment paper into a rectangle and place on a large baking tray. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, then gently whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, until the mixture is glossy. Spoon this mixture on to the baking parchment and spread it out with a large flat knife to about a two-centimetre thickness. Bake for 40 minutes, until the surface is just starting to feel crisp. Set it aside to cool. Chop the chocolate into chunks and put it in a pan with the milk. Heat the mixture gently until the chocolate has melted, stirring to make a smooth sauce. Set this aside to cool and thicken. Slice your strawberries into thin slivers.
On a new sheet of parchment paper sprinkle some caster sugar over the surface. This has the double benefit of adding a nice sugaring to the outside and avoiding any stickiness. Place the meringue on to it, top down.
Remove the baking parchment from the bottom and spread the cooled chocolate sauce over this surface. Sprinkle the strawberry slices evenly over the chocolate sauce, then loosely roll up your meringue, lifting it off the paper, starting at one of the two shorter ends. Don't worry about small tears or breakages.
Place it on a plate with the join on the bottom. Dust it with cocoa powder and put it in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Serve in slices with a sprig of fresh mint.