Prawns, oysters, lobsters are all highly prized on the shellfish popularity stakes but it baffles me why mussels don’t seem to be revered in the same way. This week, at my local fishmonger, Ballycotton Seafood, a 1 kilo net bag of spanking fresh Glenbeigh mussels for €5.00. So few euros for such a burst of deliciousness plus mussels have the most impressive nutrient profile of all shellfish.

They boost our immune system and are properly sustainable. They are cultivated on ropes suspended from floating rafts in the clean waters of various bays around the Irish coastline. They appear to be environmentally benign and some research seems to indicate that their cultivation has a beneficial effect on the marine eco system.

Of course there are wild populations too, but for most, the sweet plump cultivated mussels are easier to come by. Cheap and super easy to cook, plus they take on flavours from every continent around the globe. Mussels are the quintessential fast food; from fridge to table in less than 5 minutes…..A simple supper of warm freshly steamed mussels with a bowl of mayo and some brown soda bread is one of my all-time favourites. I still dream of those large green tipped mussels I enjoyed over and over again in New Zealand.

But first a few basics…

Mussels must be fresh – each shell should be tightly shut, if it is open, tap the mussel lightly on the worktop. If it reacts and begins to close it is obviously still fresh and alive – “but if in doubt throw it out”. Mussels like clams, roghans, cockles, palourdes are all bivalves they filter the water so the water needs to be unpolluted. All mussels you buy will have been purified as a precaution, so no need to be apprehensive. Store them in your fridge and enjoy while they are fresh and plump.

How to cook….

Pick over the shells, if there are any open ones that don’t close after a gentle tap, discard. Run under cold water, drain, at it’s most basic put in a sauté or a heavy frying pan or a  saucepan in a single layer over a medium heat. One can add a dash of white wine, chopped shallots and herbs, depending on the recipe. Cover with a lid, in two or three minutes the mussels will start to open. Lift out with a perforated spoon. Remove the beard, the beard is the little tuft of tough hair that attaches the mussel onto the rock or rope that it grows on, it’s not good to eat but is not dangerous. The mussels will exude lots of delicious briny juice which can be the basis of a sauce or chowder.

In Belgium, moules frites are the ‘must have’ dish in every bistro. Sitting around a table, tucking into crispy chips with a big bowl of freshly opened mussels and some mayo is a quintessential Belgian experience. In France, Moules Marinière in a richer sauce are equally irresistible. Moules Provençal or garlic mussels in English are universally loved by everyone from toddlers upwards.

Mussels take on Asian flavours deliciously so here is a recipe for Thai mussels in a spicy coconut broth – completely irresistible. And then how about mussels in the Goan style from South India and how about  mussels with Mexican flavours that will include Jalapeno, chorizo and maybe tequila. Chinese mussels will be steamed open with Shaoxing wine, soy sauce with lots of ginger, chillies and spring onions and maybe oyster sauce. Japanese mussels will also be teased open in Saki, but try Dynamite mussels which seem to pop up everywhere in Japan. The name refers to the burst of flavour from the topping. These suggestions are just the tip of the iceberg. Pick up some Irish mussels next time you go shopping and start to experiment with recipes from around the world. Here are a few to get your started.

Moules Mariniere

Serves 4

Curnonsky, France’s Prince of Gastronomes, declared that Brittany is a paradise for concylliophages. Apparently that unpronounceable word means shellfish eaters. Ever since I discovered the word I’ve been longing to use it but haven’t managed to get my tongue around it yet! The legendary mussel dish, Moules Mariniere can now be found not only in this area but all over the world – anywhere mussels are produced.

1.8kg (4 lbs) scrubbed mussels, weighed in their shells

2 teaspoons chopped parsley

2 teaspoons chopped spring onions

1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves

1 teaspoon chopped chives

2 teaspoons chopped fennel

225ml (8 fl ozs) dry white wine

4 tablespoons (5 American tablespoons) Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe)

Garnish

freshly chopped parsley

Check that all the mussels are tightly closed and wash well in several changes of water. Steam open on a medium heat with the wine, herbs. and spring onions. Take the mussels out of the pan just as soon as the shells open. Remove the ‘beard’ and one shell from each.  They can be kept at this stage for some time, even for a day or two in the fridge, as long as they sit in the cooking liquid.

To Serve

Heat the cooking juices. When boiling, add the mussels, allowing them to heat through but not to cook any more. Remove from the heat and stir in the Hollandaise Sauce. Serve at once in deep old-fashioned soup bowls, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley.

Mussels in the Goan Style

This is a great recipe in that most of the work can be done early in the day or even the day before.

The mussels can be replaced with clams, shrimp or monkfish and a combination of fish and shellfish may be used. Thick pieces of pollock also work well as do salmon and mackerel.

Plain boiled rice can be served with this dish or just crusty bread to mop up the delicious broth.

Serves 6

72 mussels

a 2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

8 cloves of peeled garlic

110ml (4fl oz) of water

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil

200g (7oz) onion, peeled and chopped

1-2 fresh chilies, sliced into fine rounds

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1 1/2 tins (1 pint/600ml) of coconut milk

salt

fresh coriander leaves

Wash the mussels, removing any loose beards. Put the ginger, garlic and water into a blender and blend to a smooth purée.

Heat the oil in a large pot and add the onions. Cook until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic purée, chillies, turmeric and cumin. Stir and cook for a minute. Add the coconut milk and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. This broth can now be put aside for later.

When you want to serve the dish, put the mussels into the pan with the broth. Cover and place on a moderate heat and allow to come to the boil. Shake the pan occasionally and cook for approx.6 minutes. Check to see that all the mussels have popped open. Serve immediately with lots of fresh coriander leaves.

If using monkfish, bring the broth to the boil and add the collops of monkfish.  If using any of the other suggested fish, cut into 5cm (2 inch) pieces. Cover and simmer gently for approximately 5 minutes or until the fish is just cooked. It will no longer look opaque but will have a white and creamy appearance.  Serve in deep bowls garnished with coriander leaves.

Moules Provençale

Mussels are a perennial favourite; don’t skimp on the garlic in this recipe or they will taste rather dull and ‘bready’.

Serves 6-8

48 mussels, approx. 600g (1 1/4lbs)

Provençale Butter

75g (3oz) soft butter

2 large cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon olive oil

fresh, white breadcrumbs

Check that all the mussels are closed. If any are open, tap the mussel on the work top, if it does not close within a few seconds, discard. (The rule with shellfish is always, ‘If in doubt, throw it out’.) Scrape off any barnacles from the mussel shells. Wash the mussels well in several changes of cold water. Then spread them in a single layer in a pan, covered with a folded tea towel or a lid and cook over a gentle heat. This usually takes 2-3 minutes, the mussels are cooked just as soon as the shells open. Remove them from the pan immediately or they will shrink in size and become tough.

Remove the beard (the little tuft of tough ‘hair’ which attached the mussel to the rock or rope it grew on). Discard one shell. Loosen the mussel from the other shell, but leave it in the shell. Allow to get quite cold.

Meanwhile make the Provençale Butter. Peel and crush the garlic and pound it in a mortar with the finely chopped parsley and olive oil. Gradually beat in the butter (this may be done either in a bowl or a food processor). Spread the soft garlic butter evenly over the mussels in the shells and dip each one into the soft, white breadcrumbs. They may be prepared ahead to this point and frozen in a covered box lined with parchment paper.

Arrange in individual serving dishes. Brown under the grill and serve with crusty white bread to mop up the delicious garlicky juices.

Mussels with Thai Flavours

We love this recipe.   Use some of your precious fresh lime leaves to enhance the flavour.   Cockles, clams or collops of monkfish can also be used.

Serves 4 – 6

2 kg mussels

2 tablespoon sunflower oil

6 cloves garlic

1-2 Thai red chillies

1 stalk lemon grass, chopped

3 kaffir lime leaves

1 tablespoon fish sauce, nam pla

3-4 tablespoons chopped coriander

Check the mussels carefully, discard any broken or open shells.  Wash well, drain.  Crush the garlic and chop the chillies finely.  Heat a little oil on a medium heat, add the garlic and chilli and lemon grass and fry for a minute or two.

Add the nam pla and kaffir lime leaves and then the mussels.  Cover with a folded tea-towel or the lid of the pan.  The mussels will open in just a few minutes.

Add the chopped coriander to the mussel juices.  Divide the mussels between four hot plates, pour the hot juices over the shellfish and serve immediately.

Gok’s Chinese Mussels with Black Bean Sauce

Serves 4

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

2 sticks of celery, finely sliced at an angle

3 spring onions, finely sliced into rounds

1.5kg fresh mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

75ml Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

2 tablespoons black beans, soaked in water for 10 minutes and drained

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

Heat the groundnut oil in a wok or saucepan with a tight fitting lid over a medium heat. When hot, add the garlic, celery and spring onions. Stir-fry these vegetables for 1 – 2 minutes until they are soft and beginning to colour.

Increase the heat to maximum and add the mussels, stirring so they are coated with the rest of the ingredients. Once they are combined, pour in the Shaoxing rice wine and immediately cover the wok with a lid.

Leave the mussels to cook for 4 – 5 minutes. Mussels are cooked when they have opened to reveal the coral-coloured flesh on the inside. Do not eat any that remain closed. As soon as they mussels are opened, tip the entire contents of the wok into a sieve set over a bowl, shaking they mixture to make sure all the liquid has drained through.

Place the wok back on the heat over a low flame, then pour the sieved liquid back into the wok and bring back to the boil. Once it’s bubbling, add the black beans, oyster and soy sauce. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes to reduce the mixture by a quarter.

Put the mussels back in the wok, along with all the other ingredients gathered in the sieve. Heat through and serve immediately.

Recipe from Gok Wan’s Gok Cooks Chinese Published by Penguin)

I’ve just been re-reading my Examiner column for St Patrick’s Day 2020. There was general consternation around the country because parades were cancelled …. Not in our wildest dreams did we imagine that a year later the possibility of St Patrick’s Day parades wouldn’t even be discussed…..

I had just cancelled my annual trip to New York to promote Ireland and Irish food. This year despite the Covid 19 pandemic , there have still been numerous interview requests from radio, TV and print media. The continuing interest is due to Tourism Ireland and Bord Failte, who over the years have very successfully used St Patricks Day to focus the world’s attention on Ireland.  Whenever I get the opportunity, I love to wax lyrical about the creativity of Irish chefs and cooks to the Americans who heretofore had certainly not associated Ireland with a vibrant contemporary food scene.

Friends who live in New York tell me that there has actually been a construction boom there recently – No, they are not building more sky scrapers….. But thanks to the Mayor’s decision to allow the cities restaurants to remain open for outdoor dining, architects and designers are putting their energy into creating a combination of street dining options, restaurants have scrambled to keep going in novel ways despite the cold. Dotted all along the sidewalks are a combination of canvas or plastic tents,  wooden sheds, yurts, booths and Kotatsus (Japanese heated tables) and a variety of heaters.

Not an option here at present, the restaurants who have managed to ‘pivot’ to offer take-outs and/or meal kits for collection will hopefully be able to capitalise on St Patricks Day, to entice us to mark our national feast day make the day and celebrate at home.

 Every sector is hurting but a huge thank you to all of you who are making a determined effort to support the local businesses and small shops, farmers markets, butchers, bakers, fish smokers, cheesemakers… who are still open. Each and every decision we make,  can manage to sustain someone in our community for another few weeks, every euro really matters at present…

So what shall we cook for St Patricks Day? I feel drawn to something comforting and traditional. Personally I just love boiled bacon, cabbage and parsley sauce followed by a juicy rhubarb tart (see previous articles for these recipes) but I have chosen a gorgeous riff on a Kerry Pie for you to enjoy. It can certainly be made ahead and reheats and freezes brilliantly.

If the weather is still a bit frosty how, about Irish Scallion Champ soup – a hug in a bowl and of course some little soda bread shamrocks with crunchy oatmeal tops…how naff is that but sure it’s just a bit of fun and they are properly delicious.

For dessert it has to be carrageen moss pudding with Irish whiskey sauce or how about this St Patrick’s Day cake.  I’ve been out picking wood sorrel…the delicious shamrock shaped leaves have a tart lemony flavour and are just the thing to decorate my special convection.

For the past 11 years Tourism Ireland have worked to ‘Green’ iconic buildings around the World from Sydney Opera House to the Pyramids, to focus attention on Ireland. At home in Ireland, an increasing number of us including, Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School have been enthusiastically joining in and will continue to do so for the 4^th year in 2021. Why not join in, and share the images with friends worldwide to encourage them to think about planning a post Covid visit to Ireland but meanwhile Happy St Patricks Day and spread the love.

Irish Scallion Champ Soup with Shamrock Scones

Serves 6

Most people would have potatoes and onions in the house even if the cupboard was otherwise bare so one could make this simply delicious soup at a moment’s notice. While the vegetables are sweating, pop a few white soda scones or cheddar cheese scones into the oven and wow, won’t they be impressed.

50g (2oz) butter

550g (20oz) peeled diced potatoes, one-third inch dice

110g (4oz) diced scallion, use green and white parts of the plant

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 litre (2 pints) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

100ml (4fl oz) creamy milk

freshly chopped herbs and herb flowers, optional

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes and scallions and toss them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cover with a butter wrapper or paper lid and the lid of the saucepan. Sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes approx. Meanwhile bring the stock to the boil, when the vegetables are soft but not coloured add stock and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning. Thin with creamy milk to the required consistency.

Serve sprinkled with a few freshly-chopped herbs and a few wild garlic flowers of available.

Shamrock Soda Scones

The soda bread dough only takes 2 or 3 minutes to make and 20 – 40 minutes to bake depending on how you decide to serve it.. It is certainly another of my ‘great convertibles’. We have had the greatest fun experimenting with different variations and uses.

Makes 12 approx. depending on size of cutter

1lb (450g/4 cups) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoonsalt

1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda/bread soda

sour milk or buttermilk to mix – 12-14fl oz (350-400ml) approx.

4oz (110g) grated mature Cheddar cheese and/or flaked oatmeal

A Shamrock ‘cookie’ cutter. Mine is roughly 7cm long and 6cm wide.

First fully preheat your oven to 230ºC/450ºF/Gas Mark 8.

Sieve the flour into a large bowl. Carefully measure the salt and bicarbonate of soda. Sieve into the bowl. Make a well in the centre.  Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. 

WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS. 

Tidy it up and flip over gently.  Pat the dough into a round about 1 1/4 inches (3cm) deep. Dip the cutter in flour in between cutting each scone to avoid the mixture sticking. Stamp out shamrock shaped scones.

Brush the top with buttermilk or egg wash and dip in oatmeal or a mixture of rolled oats and grated Cheddar cheese.

Bake in a hot oven, 230ºC/450ºF/Gas Mark 8 for 5 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 for 10 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the scones: when they are cooked they will sound hollow.

Kerry Lamb Pie

Serves 6

450g (1lb) boneless lamb or mutton (from the shoulder or leg; keep bones for stock)

250g (9oz) chopped onions

250g (9oz) chopped carrots

2 good teaspoons cumin seed (the amount will depend on how fresh the seeds are)

300ml (10fl oz) mutton or lamb stock (or even chicken stock)

2 tablespoons flour

salt and freshly ground pepper

Stock

lamb bones from the meat

1 carrot

1 onion

outside stalk of celery

a bouquet garni made up of a sprig of thyme, parsley stalks

a small bay leaf

Pastry

350g (12oz) white flour

175g (6oz) butter

110ml (4fl oz) water

a pinch of salt

Egg Wash

1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt to glaze

1 tin – 18cm (7 inch) in diameter, 2 1/2 cm (1 inch) high with a pop up base.

If no stock is available, put the bones, carrots, onions, celery and bouquet garni into a saucepan.  Cover with cold water and simmer for 3-4 hours to make a stock.  Cut all the surplus fat away from the meat and then cut the meat into small, neat pieces about the size of a small sugar lump.  Render down the scraps of fat in a hot, wide saucepan until the fat runs.  Discard the pieces.  Cut the vegetables into slightly smaller dice and toss them in the fat, leaving them to cook for 3-4 minutes.  Remove the vegetables, set aside, and toss the meat in the remaining fat over a high heat until the colour turns.

Heat the cumin seed in a dry frying pan, stir for a minute or two until it smells aromatic, careful not to burn.  Stir the flour and cumin seed into the meat.  Cook gently for 2 minutes and blend in the stock gradually.  Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.  Add back the vegetables, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and leave to simmer in a covered pot until tender.  If using young lamb, 30 minutes will be sufficient; an older animal may take up to 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, make the pastry.  Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.  Dice the butter, put it into a saucepan with the water and bring to the boil.  Pour the liquid all at once into the flour and mix together quickly; beat until smooth.  At first the pastry will be too soft to handle but as soon as it cools it may be rolled out 3mm (1/8 inch) thick, to fit the tin.  The pastry may be made into individual pies or one large pie.  Keep back one-third of the pastry for lids.

Fill the pastry-lined tins with the cool meat mixture.  Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash and put on the pastry lids, pinching them tightly together.  Roll out the trimmings to make pastry leaves or twirls to decorate the tops of the pies; make a hole in the centre, egg-wash the lid and then egg-wash the decoration also.

Bake the pies for 40 minutes approx. at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 until golden on top and bubbling hot in the centre.  Serve with a good Green Salad.

Myrtle Allen’s Carrageen Moss Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce

Carrageen moss is a little seaweed that grows on rocks all around our coast, collecting it after Spring tide is part of our traditional food culture. Many people have less than fond memories of Carrageen Moss, partly because so many recipes call for far too much carrageen. It is a very strong natural gelatine so the trick is to use little enough. Because it is so light it is difficult to weigh, we use just enough to fit in my closed fist, a scant 8g (1/4oz). 

This recipe given to me by Myrtle Allen is by far the most delicious I know. Nowadays more chefs are using carrageen, but often they add stronger flavours such as treacle or rosewater, which tend to mask the delicate flavour of the carrageen itself. When Ballymaloe House is open Carrageen Moss pudding is served on the famous Ballymaloe Sweet Trolley every evening.

Serves 6

8g (1/4oz) cleaned, well dried carrageen moss (1 semi-closed fistful)

900ml (1 1/2 pints) milk

1 vanilla pod or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, preferably free-range

1 tablespoon caster sugar

To Serve

Irish Whiskey Sauce (see recipe)

Soak the carrageen in tepid water for 10 minutes. Strain off the water and put the carrageen into a saucepan with the milk and vanilla pod, if using. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently with the lid on for 20 minutes. At that point, and not before, separate the egg and put the yolk into a bowl. Add the sugar and vanilla extract (if you are using it) and whisk together for a few seconds. Pour the milk and carrageen through a strainer on to the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time. The carrageen will now be swollen and exuding jelly. Rub all this jelly through the strainer and beat it into the liquid. Test for a set in a cold saucer: put it in the fridge and it should set in a couple of minutes. Rub a little more through the strainer if necessary. Whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form and fold it in gently; it will rise to make a fluffy top. Leave to cool. Serve with Irish lots of softly whipped cream and Irish Whiskey sauce.

Irish Whiskey Sauce

Makes 8 floz (1 x 230ml jar)

8 ozs (225g) castor sugar

3 fl ozs (80ml) cold water

3- 4 tablesp. Irish whiskey

4 fl ozs (120ml) hot water

Put the castor sugar into a saucepan with water, stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves and syrup comes to the boil. Remove the spoon and do not stir. Continue to boil until it turns a nice chestnut-brown colour. Remove from the heat and immediately add the hot water. Allow to dissolve again and then add the Irish whiskey. Serve hot or cold.

St Patrick’s Day Cake with Wood Sorrel

Wood sorrel with it’s tart lemony flavour and resemblance to shamrock makes the perfect decoration for our celebration cake.

Serves 8-10

175g (6oz) soft butter

150g (5oz) castor sugar

3 eggs, preferably free range

175g (6oz) self-raising flour

To Decorate

Lemon Icing (see below)

Wood sorrel Leaves (oxalis acetosella)

1 x 20.5cm (8 inch) sandwich tin, buttered and floured.  Line the base of the tin with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Put the soft butter, castor sugar, eggs and self-raising flour into the bowl of a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds to amalgamate and turn into the prepared tin – make a dip in the centre so it rises evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes approx. or until golden brown and well risen.

Cool in the tin for a few minutes, remove and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile make the icing (see recipe). Once the cake is cool, pour the icing onto the top and spread gently over the sides with a palette knife.

Decorate with the lots of wood sorrel leaves.

Serve on a pretty plate.

Lemon Icing

225g (8oz) icing sugar

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

2-4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Edible green colouring (optional)

Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl.  Add a few drops of green food colouring (optional) Add the lemon zest and enough lemon juice to make a softish icing.

International Women’s day is a global celebration of the social, cultural, and political achievements of women. It’s also a “call to action” to accelerate women’s equality.

Every year, thousands of women and their supporters courageously gather in cities across the world, often risking their lives to protest for women’s rights and protection against violence. They are often met with riot police and counter demonstrations.

This year events are, of course, virtual. But I found a list of over 300 events on www.internationalwomensday.com .  

How fortunate are we to have been born into a society where overall, women are considered equal to men and a girl child is welcomed with the same joy as a boy.

It has certainly taken a while…..

When I was a child I distinctly remember overhearing ‘shocked’ conversations about some man in the parish who was spotted pushing a pram, with several of his own children….. it was almost a scandal – that was considered women’s work…

My father had an innate respect and admiration for women. He was so proud of Mummy, a mother of nine by any standard a wonderful homemaker, who dedicated her early life solely to looking after all of us and my father whom she adored. (I don’t use that term loosely). Looking back she was a totally liberated woman. How fortunate were we that she loved cooking and saw it not only as a way of nourishing us all, but bringing joy and excitement into our lives on a daily basis. Later, when my father died she took over the running of the business despite having no training.

Looking back, her skill set was pretty awe-inspiring. She made most of our clothes, wonderful dresses for me, serge dungarees for all of us boys and girls for after school play. I always remember a tartan circular skirt she made for one of my birthdays. I was the envy of all my school friends…

And then there were the fluffy angora boleros, doubt if any if you know what I am talking about! She taught me how to sew and embroider, lazy daises, French knots and chain stitch onto tray cloths, how to use a sewing machine, how to sow seeds and fill hanging baskets. The kitchen garden produced vegetables year round, currants and berries in summer, and several varieties of apple in the Autumn. Daddy made sure she had help in both the house and garden. I remember, local people spoke about how lucky those girls and lads were to be working alongside Mummy.

As a child this was my norm. We also had a flock of hens, chickens were reared for the table and a Kerry cow produced raw milk for the house. I’ve just remembered that she also made hand-made floor rugs, did tapestry fire screens and candlewick bed-spreads which were all the rage at that time. Even though there was no TV, I still marvel at how she did it. In the midst of all this, she taught me how to knit Aran patterns, diamond, blackberry, zig zag, honeycomb, multiple cable and basket stitches.

A wonderful trip down memory lane, as I write, I realise how fortunate I was not only to have my own mother as a role model but to marry into a family with an innate respect and appreciation of women and a culture of encouragement and ‘can do’!  I’ve never experienced a ‘glass ceiling’, the idea abhors me. I feel so proud that so many women have broken through in recent years, both in Ireland and internationally, so much so that a friend recently said to me “You’d almost begin to feel sorry for the men”.

It’s certainly not about either /or, it’s about equal opportunity. But watch out, cultural attitudes can be very deep seated. If your partner thinks that sexist remarks are hilariously funny, be wary, very wary… Though you may be able to laugh it off, it may not really be a joke, but may be a hint of a hidden but deeply held cultural belief which would not bode well for the future.

Covid has resulted in a huge increase in domestic violence- a very worrying situation. In Ireland today, there are numerous examples of gender imbalance and women being paid less for identical work.

As parents, we can all play our part by our example, encouraging our children to reach their full potential with their unique talents. Our educational system would do well to emulate the Finnish Model Vihti where both boys and girls learn essential life skills- basic carpentry, first aid, how to wire a plug, sew, grow, cook, save seeds…

Since the 1960’s here in Ireland, our educational system has primarily focused on a set of academic skills, often to the detriment of practical skills. Consequently, several generations have left school with top grades, but without the basic skills to feed themselves properly and a mis-guided notion that practical skills are of lesser value than academic skills.

During this pandemic, thousands of hugely competent women who could ‘run the country’ found themselves feeling utterly out of their depth and helpless in the first Lockdown when they were confined to home with no backup and a family to feed- 7 days a week, 3 meals a day….

Once again, it’s not either/or, it’s as well as and remember in the end the way to everyone’s heart in through their tummy…!

It could be said that some early feminists did women a grave dis-service by making them feel that cooking was beneath them- drudgery to be avoided at all costs. Learning cooking skills is not a sign of weakness, but it is a sign of strength and self-sufficiency.

Happy International Women’s Day, a celebration of all women particularly those who succeed against the odds in every area of life!

Here are some of Mum’s favourite recipes:

Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread

Makes 1 loaf

340g (3/4lb) wholemeal flour (Howard’s-one-way)

110g (1/4lb) plain white flour

15g (1/2 oz) butter

Barely rounded teaspoon bread soda

Level teaspoon salt

1 egg and 415ml (14fl oz) buttermilk

OR

470ml (16fl oz) buttermilk *

Add two tablespoons of cream if the buttermilk is low fat

Preheat the oven to 230ºC/445ºf/gas mark 8.

Mix the flours in a large bowl, rub in the butter. Add the salt and sieved bread soda. Lift the flour up with your fingers to distribute the salt and bread soda.

Add the beaten egg (if using) to the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre and pour in all the liquid. With your fingers stiff and outstretched, stir in a circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl in ever increasing concentric circles. When you reach the outside of the bowl seconds later the dough should be made.

Sprinkle a little wholemeal flour on to the worktop.

Turn the dough out onto the flour. WASH and dry your hands. (Fill the bread bowl with cold water so it will be easy to wash later.)

Sprinkle a little flour on your hands. Gently tidy the dough around the edges and flip onto the flour. Tuck the edges underneath with the inner edge of your hands, gently pat the dough with your fingers into a loaf about 4cm (1 ½ in) thick.

Cut a deep cross into the bread (this is called ‘Blessing the bread’ and then prick it in the centre of the four sections to let the fairies out of the bread).

Transfer to a floured baking tray.

Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes then reduce the temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 for the remaining 25-30 minutes. Turn the bread upside down after approximately 30 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Scalloped Potatoes with Beef and Kidney

Serves 4-6

This filling and economical dish often cooked by my mother was one of our favourites for a cold Winter’s evening. We all loved beef kidney and it was excuse to eat lots of butter on the scalloped potatoes.

3 1/2 lbs (1.5 kg) ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonder, or Kerrs Pinks

1 lb (450g) stewing beef

1 beef kidney

1 lb (450 g) chopped onions

2 ½ -3 ozs (70-85 g) butter

13-15 fl ozs (375-450ml) stock or water

salt and freshly ground pepper

seasoned flour

1 oval cast-iron casserole (4 pint/2.3 l) capacity

Wash the beef kidney, remove the core and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) cubes, sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water.

Cut the stewing beef into 1/2 inch (1 cm) cubes.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/4 inch (5mm) thick slices, put a layer of potato slices on the bottom of the casserole.  Drain the kidney pieces and dry with kitchen paper, toss the beef and kidney in seasoned flour and scatter some over the potatoes with approx. one-third of the chopped onions and a few knobs of butter, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add another layer of potatoes, then meat, onions, and so on up to the top of the casserole, putting some knobs of butter between each layer and ending with a neat layer of overlapping slices of potato.  Season each layer carefully otherwise it may taste bland.  Top with a few knobs of butter, pour in the boiling stock, cover and cook in a low oven, 150C/300F/regulo 2 for 2 ½  hours approx.   Serve on hot plates.

This reheats very well.

Marmalade Pudding

For almost a week during the cold January days the whole house smells of marmalade as we lay down our store for the coming year.  My father-in-law, Ivan Allen adored marmalade pudding.

Serves 6

110g (4oz) plain white flour

110g (4oz) minced beef suet

110g (4oz) breadcrumbs

110g (4oz) sugar

1 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg, preferably free range

2 tablespoons homemade Marmalade chopped

Marmalade Sauce

2 tablespoons water

450g (1lb) homemade Seville Marmalade

freshly squeezed juice of 2-3 lemons

To Serve

softly whipped cream

bowl – capacity (5 inches/12.5cm)

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Add beaten egg, marmalade and a little milk to moisten if necessary (the mixture should have the consistency of plum pudding.)  Fill into a pudding bowl.  Cover with a double sheet of greaseproof paper with a pleat in the centre.  Tie firmly and steam in a covered saucepan for 2-3 hours.  Check regularly and top up with hot water if necessary (the water level should be 3/4 ways up the bowl).

To make the Sauce

Put the water and marmalade into a saucepan.  Warm gently, boil 2 – 3 minutes.  Add the lemon juice.  Taste.

To Serve

When the pudding is fully cooked, turn out onto a hot plate.  Spoon some sauce over and around the puddings.  Serve on very hot plates with lots of softly whipped cream and the remaining sauce.

Mum’s Victoria Sponge

This buttery sponge, the best you’ll ever taste is still my favourite to serve with afternoon tea. The best sponge cake you’ll ever taste. It keeps brilliantly and it’s even more delicious if you add some softly whipped cream and fresh raspberries in season as well as the jam.

4 1/2oz (125g) butter

6oz (175g) castor sugar

3 eggs, organic and free-range

6oz (175g) flour

1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder

1 tablespoon milk

Filling

4oz (110g) homemade Raspberry Jam

10fl oz (300ml/1/2 pint) whipped cream

castor sugar to sprinkle

2 x 7 inch (18cm) sponge cake tins

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.

Grease the tin with melted butter, dust with flour and line the base of each with a round of greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and gradually add the castor sugar, beat until soft and light and quite pale in colour. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well between each addition. (If the butter and sugar are not creamed properly and if you add the eggs too fast, the mixture will curdle, resulting in a cake with a heavier texture). Sieve the flour and baking powder and stir in gradually. Mix all together lightly and add 1 tablespoon (1 American tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) of milk to moisten.

Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins, hollowing it slightly in the centre. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked – the cake will shrink-in slightly from the edge of the tin when it is cooked, the centre should feel exactly the same texture as the edge.  Alternatively a skewer should come out clean when put into the centre of the cake. Turn out onto a wire tray and allow to cool.

Sandwich the two bases together with homemade raspberry jam and whipped cream. Sprinkle with sieved castor sugar. Serve on an old fashioned plate with a doyley.

Queen of Puddings

Another pud that conjures up child-hood memories. Mummy loved to cook this Queen of Pudding’s for us as an occasional treat when we came home from school.

Serves 6

600ml (1 pint) whole milk

50g (2oz) butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

150g (5oz) white breadcrumbs

grated zest of 1 lemon

25g (1oz) caster sugar

3 organic eggs, separated

110g (4oz) caster sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for sprinkling

3 tablespoons raspberry jam

1 x 1.2 litre (2 pint) pie dish

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4 and grease the pie dish.

Put the milk and butter into a saucepan, bring almost to boiling point, and add the vanilla extract. Mix the breadcrumbs with the lemon zest and sugar. Stir in the hot milk, leave for about 10 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks one by one. Pour into the pie dish and bake for about 25 minutes or until just set.

Remove from the oven. Whisk the egg whites in a spotlessly clean, grease-free bowl. When it is just becoming fluffy, add half the sugar. Continue to whisk until it holds a stiffish peak. Fold in the rest of the sugar. Warm the jam slightly. Spread very gently over the surface of the custard. Pile the meringue on top in soft folds. Sprinkle sugar over the top. Return to the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until the meringue is pale gold and crisp on top. Serve with pouring cream.

I’ve just had my first rhubarb of the year, a sublime bowl of roast rhubarb drizzled with Jersey pouring cream – 

Every year in January and February, I crave the flavour of the first rhubarb after the ‘fruitless’ winter months…. Yes, I know that the shops are full of fruit but most apart from beautiful citrus, are under ripe, out of season fruits from the other side of the world with a fraction of the flavour they have in Summer, I certainly can’t be bothered to spend money on strawberries in February…?

I used to be frightfully ‘sniffy’ about the early forced rhubarb but this year when I found some in the brilliant Village Green Grocer in Castlemartyr, I fell on it and practically whopped with delight. 

I scooped up the pale pink petioles…. I’ve just learned that beautiful word petioles, apparently it’s the correct term for what you and I call stalks…. 

 Despite Brexit it had come all the way from the Rhubarb Triangle in Yorkshire where it is lured out of its natural Winter hibernation in long dark forcing sheds, principally around Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell. 

In the pitch dark warm atmosphere the stalks grow faster than usual as the plant searches for the light it desperately needs to make chlorophyll. The sweet glucose produced in the plant, normally used to grow those large rhubarb leaves remains in the stalks resulting in a less sour flavour and a tender less fibrous texture than their semi feral cousin that is still struggling, valiantly to emerge from the cold winter soil in my garden.  

I am looking forward to that too, but it’ll be at least a month before the stalks are mature enough to harvest.  

Meanwhile, I’m loving the delicate less assertive flavour of forced rhubarb, grown in darkness and hand harvested by candlelight as they leaves unfurl in long low barn like sheds, often by families who have passed the skill from one generation to another since the early eighteen hundreds.  

Rhubarb is not the only vegetable (yes technically it is a vegetable), to benefit from early forcing, white asparagus, sea kale, chicory, and even dandelions are other examples. 

Too late for this year, but you can actually do this in your own garden, by covering a couple of rhubarb ‘stools’ with a black plastic dustbin to exclude the light when the plant starts to emerge from the ground in December. Either way if you don’t have a rhubarb plant, order a couple from your local garden centre and pop them into your garden or even your flower bed, or a half barrel…. 

Back to the kitchen again, so what to do with this beautiful rare treat?

Roast rhubarb is a revelation, super easy and super delicious. Remember this Winter rhubarb is sweeter, and I also think it cooks faster than the main crop, so you can reduce both sugar and cooking time.  

I’ve also included a winter rhubarb crumble recipe, my favourite rhubarb pie, rhubarb muffins, rhubarb and custard tart with a scattering of pistachio nuts. 

Roast rhubarb also makes a delicious filling for scones or a sponge with lots of softly whipped rosemary flavoured cream or how about a rhubarb Eton mess, with chunks or meringue, roast rhubarb and lots of rosewater cream, and then there’s rhubarb fool… Too many suggestions for one article – almost need to do another piece. Perhaps when my garden rhubarb is ready to pick… 

Meanwhile, dash out and buy some Winter rhubarb while the season lasts.  

Roast Rhubarb with Jersey Cream

Serves 6 

 Years ago. I always just stewed rhubarb but I’ve become a huge fan of the sweet and intense flavour of roast rhubarb plus there’s less chance of ending up with a pot of rhubarb sauce if you overcook it…

900g (2lb) rhubarb 

200-250g (7-8oz) sugar  

Jersey Cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200ËšC/400F/Gas Mark 6. 

Slice the rhubarb into 2 1/2cm (1 inch) pieces and arrange in a single layer in a medium size oven proof dish or sauté pan.  Scatter the sugar over the rhubarb and allow to macerate for a little while until the juice starts to run. Cover with the lid or a sheet of  parchment and roast in the pre-heated oven for about 10 min, remove the covering and continue to roast for a further 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the stalks – until the rhubarb is just tender, careful it doesn’t overcook.  

Serve alone or with thick Jersey cream……

Rhubarb and Custard Tart with Pistachios

Serves 10-12 

Pastry 

225g (8ozs) plain flour 

175g (6oz) butter 

pinch of salt 

1 dessertspoon icing sugar 

a little beaten egg or egg yolk and water to bind 

Filling 

600g (1 1/4lb) or a little more rhubarb, cut into small pieces 

1-2 tablespoons castor sugar 

300ml (10fl ozs) cream 

2 large or 3 small eggs 

3 tablespoons caster sugar  

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Garnish

45 grams, 1.1/ 2 ozs coarsely chopped pistachio nuts

1 x 12 inch (30.5cm) tart tin or 2 x 7 inch (18cm) tart tins 

Make the shortcrust pastry in the usual way (see recipe) and leave to relax in a fridge for 1 hour. Line a tart tin (or tins), with a removable base and chill for 10 minutes. Line with paper and fill with dried beans and bake blind in a moderate oven 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, paint the tart with a little egg wash and return to the oven for 3 or 4 minutes.   

Arrange the cut rhubarb evenly inside the tart shell.  Sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons caster sugar.  

Whisk the eggs well, with the 3 tablespoons sugar and vanilla extract, add the cream. Strain this mixture over the rhubarb and bake at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 35 minutes until the custard is set and the rhubarb is fully cooked. Scatter with coarsely chopped pistachios.  Serve warm with a bowl of whipped cream. 

Cullohill Rhubarb Pie

This is a gem of a recipe – a real keeper. The pastry is made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from ‘hot hands’ don’t have to worry about rubbing in the butter.

Serves 8-12

Pastry

225g (8oz) soft butter

50g (2oz) castor sugar

2 eggs, preferably free range

350g (12oz) white flour, preferably unbleached

Filling

900g (2lbs) sliced red rhubarb (about 1cm thick)

370g (7 – 12oz) granulated sugar depending on whether you are using forced or garden rhubarb

egg wash-made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk

castor sugar for sprinkling

To Serve

softly whipped cream

Barbados/ soft dark brown sugar

tin, 18cm x 30.5cm x 2.5cm (7 x 12 x 1 inch) deep

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs one by one and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour slowly. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.

To make the tart

Roll out the pastry 3mm (1/8 inch) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Place the sliced rhubarb into the tart, sprinkle with sugar. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with castor sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and Barbados sugar.

Rhubarb Crumble

Serves 6-8

Crumbles are everyone’s favourite comfort food, vary the fruit according to the season.

1 1/2 lbs (700g) Rhubarb

4ozs (110g) granulated sugar

1-2 tablespoons water

Crumble

4 ozs (110g) white flour, preferably unbleached

2 ozs (50g) cold butter

2 ozs (50g) castor sugar

1 oz (25g) chopped almonds or hazelnuts (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

2 pint (1.1L) capacity pie dish

Slice the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces, place into a pie dish and sprinkle with the sugar.

Rub the butter into the flour just until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, add the sugar and cinnamon and chopped nuts if using. Sprinkle this mixture over the rhubarb in the pie dish. Bake in a preheated moderate oven 180°C/350°F/regulo 4, for 30-45 minutes or until the topping is cooked and golden. Serve with whipped cream and soft brown sugar. 

Rhubarb Polenta Muffins 

Makes 20 – 22 muffins 

Half Roasted rhubarb… 40  -44 pieces in 2 in lengths.. see recipe 

250g (9oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature 

440g (15 3/4oz) almond paste or marzipan broken into pieces

125g (4 1/2oz) caster sugar 

zest of 1 orange 

3 eggs 

1 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

225g (8oz) polenta flour 

Preheat the oven to 190ËšC/375ËšF/Gas Mark 5 

Double line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper cases. (Use two cases per muffin because the fruit makes these particularly juicy.) 

In an electric mixer, cream the butter, almond paste, sugar and orange zest until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt and polenta flour. Add this to the butter mixture and mix well. Scoop into the paper cases filling 2/3 full and gently press the pieces of fruit on top of the muffins. 

Bake the muffins for about 30 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean and tops of the muffins spring back to the touch. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing from tray. These keep well for up to 4 days in an airtight container. 

Doesn’t this Lockdown seems like an eternity – even the most resilient of us are really struggling to keep our spirits up and remain positive and optimistic for the sake of those around us.

Like many of you, I SOO miss travelling….

I have had to content myself with skimming through photos and little videos on my iPhone, reliving and experiencing heady trips down memory lane.

I miss so many things – the blast of heavy spicy air that greets me as I disembark after a long haul flight to India. Walking out of the airport a riot of colour everywhere, the crazy traffic, honking of horns and the frenzy of cars, tuk tuks, rickshaws, bikes, scooters and cows ambling nonchalantly through the mix .

I miss my trips to London, and silly little things like sitting in the Quiet Zone in the Paddington Express on my way into the city, drawing up my list of restaurants, cafés, Farmers Markets, theatre and exhibitions that I’m hoping to squash into two or three days.

I‘m LONGING to sit sipping a glass of wine at a café table on a sidewalk in Paris, Rome or Barcelona watching the glamorous world go by. I’m aching, to wander around Union Square Farmers Market in Manhattan and feeling the irresistible buzz of New York under my feet. Or once again experience the craziness of Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakesh after sunset.

Most of all, I MISS THE FOOD…..

New flavours, new ingredients, the flutter of excitement generated by a new discovery, the comforting feeling of revisiting old haunts…

And how I MISS STREET FOOD!

Hainanese chicken and rice or a steaming bowl of Laksa from a hawker stand in Singapore. A fatty pork stew from an open air eatery in Myanmar, a glass of frothy turmeric latte, a flaky samosa or pakora from my favourite ‘hole in the wall’ in Maheswar….A handmade, masa harina quesadilla from an indigenous Mayan woman in an exquisitely embroidered blouse on a street stall in the zocala (zocala really stands for central square) in Oaxaca.

I can but dream, travel is still out for virtually all of us at present, and there is no end in sight. There is a relentless sameness to most of our days. So many, are either Zoomed out working from home, out of work altogether or demented by home schooling.

Some of us are crazy busy, others are creeping up and down the walls from boredom – not much in the way of a happy medium.

So difficult to make an effort to keep motivated, to resist the lure of the sofa but we CAN’T have that…

I found a clump of snowdrops and crocuses under the mulberry tree in the garden, and then joy of joys a few spindly stalks of rhubarb to cheer me up. Apart from getting super excited, my personal solution is to ‘travel’ in my own kitchen. I’ve been doing just that through favourite recipes from my reconnaissance trips around the world. It prompts me to forget the misery and give thanks for how fortunate I’ve been to have had the opportunity to travel as much as I did.

So, here are some favourite dishes that my happy memories are made of, to cheer us all up until we can travel once more.

Keep safe and well and meanwhile Happy Cooking!

Singapore Chicken and Coconut Laksa

Serves 6-8 as a starter

150g (5oz) fine rice noodles (eight of an inch/3mm)

2 red chillies, chopped with seeds

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2,5cm (1 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

150g (5oz) fresh coriander, leaves and stalks coarsely chopped

juice of 1-2 limes

50ml (2fl ozs) toasted sesame oil

1 chicken breast, free range (cut into very thin shreds) (250g/8oz)

2 x 400ml (2 x 14ozs) tins coconut milk

generous 700ml (1 1/4pints) homemade chicken stock

1 tablespoon Nam Pla, fish sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 spring onions, finely sliced at an angle

Fresh coriander leaves

Pour boiling water over the bowl of rice noodles and allow to soak until soft – 10 minutes approximately. Drain and cut into 5cm (2 inch) lengths. Put the chilli, garlic, ginger, coriander and juice of one lime into a food processor and pulse to a coarse paste.

Cut the chicken breast in half lengthwise and then thinly slice at an angle (1/8 inch wide) and set aside.

Heat the sesame oil in a large saucepan and fry the chilli paste for 3 minutes. Add the whisked coconut milk and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the thinly shredded chicken, bring back to the boil and barely simmer for a further 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the fish sauce (Nam Pla) and taste and add more lime juice, salt and pepper if necessary.

Divide the noodles into serving bowls, ladle in the hot soup and garnish with spring onion and coriander leaves.

Note

Do not allow the soup to boil once the chicken is added, otherwise the meat may toughen. 

David Tanis’ Pakistani Potato Samosas

If you don’t have the inclination or you can’t spare the time to make the dough, filo pastry could be used though it’s not traditional!

Makes 20 small samosas approximately

Samosas are popular snacks in Pakistan, India and elsewhere. The delicious fried parcels are often sold on the street, but the best ones are made at home. You can make the flavourful potato filling in advance if you wish. The highly seasoned potatoes can be served on their own as a side dish. Ajwain seed, a spice with a thyme-like flavour, is available from south Asian groceries or online spice merchants.

Dough

300g (10oz) plain white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ajwain or cumin seeds

50ml (2fl oz) vegetable oil

110ml (4fl oz) cold water

Filling

700 (1 1/2lbs) russet potatoes, peeled, in 1-inch cubes

3 medium carrots, chopped, optional

2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus about 3 cups more for frying

1 chopped onion, about 1 cup

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon grated garlic

1 teaspoon grated ginger

2 Serrano chillies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup chopped cilantro, tender stems and leaves

Make the dough: Put flour, salt and ajwain seeds in a medium bowl. Drizzle in oil and work into flour with fingers until mixture looks mealy. Add water gradually, stirring until a soft dough has formed. If dough seems too dry, add a tablespoon of water; if it seems wet, add a tablespoon of flour. Knead for 1 minute and form into a ball. Wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Make the filling: Simmer the potatoes and carrots in well-salted water until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool. Put 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a deep, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Put 3/4 tablespoon oil in a very small saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add cumin and mustard seeds. When seeds are fragrant and beginning to pop, stir in garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric and garam masala. Allow to sizzle for a minute, then add the contents to the onions.

Add reserved potatoes and carrots and stir well to coat. Check seasoning and adjust salt. Remove mixture to a bowl and let cool to room temperature. When cool, add lemon juice and chopped cilantro. Mix well, smashing the potatoes a bit in the process.

Make the samosas. Portion the dough into 20 pieces, each weighing 40g (1 1/2oz). Form each piece into a ball and place on a large plate. Cover with a damp napkin.

Roll each dough ball into a thin disc about 15cm (6 inches) in diameter, as if rolling out pie dough. Cut each disc exactly in half, leaving 2 pieces with a straight side and a round side.

Form each half-disc into a cone by folding it over and pinching the straight sides together. Put 2 1/2 tablespoons filling in the opening on the round side, then pinch closed to make a stuffed triangle. Form the rest of dough balls into samosas.

Heat about 5cm (2 inches) of oil in the bottom of wok over medium-high heat. Adjust heat to maintain the oil at 350 degrees. Slip samosas 4 at a time into the hot oil and let fry on one side until golden, a minute or so, then flip and cook other side. Lift from oil and drain on paper towels. Serve samosas hot or at room temperature, accompanied by your favourite chutney.

Burmese Pork and Potato Curry   

Serves 4-6

We found a version of this dish in virtually every local eatery in Burma, the pork was always fat and succulent.   I found this version at a cooking class at the Thiripyitsaya Bagan Sanctuary Resort, in Myanmar.  The chef used water and included a teaspoon of ‘chicken seasoning’ but I have substituted some homemade chicken stock instead.   I have also reduced the chilli powder from 1½ teaspoon to ¾ of a teaspoon over all, but you can use the maximum amount if you like it super hot.

The sauce is packed with flavour, it reheats brilliantly and even a little will electrify a bowl of rice.

450g (1lb) fat streaky Heritage pork with rind on.

Marinade for pork

½ – 1 teaspoon chilli powder

2 teaspoons fish sauce, Nam Pla

½ teaspoon Indian masala (see recipe below)

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon white sugar

350g (12oz) potato, peeled and diced (1 large potato)

Marinade for potato:

½ teaspoon turmeric

¼ teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

110g (4oz) onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2.5cm (1in) piece of ginger peeled and grated – (1 dessertspoon)

1 large ripe tomato, or 6 cherry tomatoes, chopped

½ teaspoon turmeric

½-1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon Indian masala (see recipe below)

125ml (4fl.oz) homemade chicken stock

1.2 l (2 pints) homemade chicken stock

Indian Masala

Makes 1 dessertspoon

2 bay leaves,

2.5cm (1 inch) piece cinnamon

1 whole star anise

3 cloves, crushed

To make the Indian Masala – whizz the ingredients together in a spice grinder or crush in a pestle and mortar and mix together.

Pork:

Cut the fat streaky pork into 2cm (¾in) strips.   Mix the marinade ingredients and rub all over the pork with your fingers.  Leave to marinade for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Potato:

Cut the potato into 2cm (¾inch) cubes.

Put into a bowl and add turmeric, chilli powder and fish sauce.     Toss to mix.  The turmeric stops the potato from blackening.

To cook:

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or sauté pan.   Add the chopped onion, cook for 3-4 minutes, add the crushed garlic, grated ginger, chopped tomatoes, turmeric, chilli powder, fish sauce and Indian masala.  

Stir well, add 125ml (4fl.oz) chicken stock.   Cook until all the liquid has evaporated – 2 -3 minutes.   Add the pork pieces and enough of the remaining chicken stock to almost cover.   Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1½ hours until the pork is almost tender. 

 Remove the lid and add the cubed potatoes, cook uncovered, for a further 20-30 minutes.    Taste and add a little more salt if necessary.

Serve with sticky rice or Basmati rice.

Note:  The cooking time will depend on the type of pork and may be much less for the heritage pork we use.

Moroccan Harira Soup

In Marrakesh steaming bowls of Haria are ladled into large bowls every evening in Djemaa el-Fna. It is also an important part of the festivities of Ramadan. It’s the traditional soup to break the fast.  My brother Rory O’Connell shared this particularly delicious version with us and everyone loves it.

Serves 6-8

110g (4oz) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and drained

110g (4oz) Puy lentils

450g (1lb) leg or shoulder of lamb, diced into 7mm (1/3 inch) cubes

175g (6oz) onion, chopped

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger, saffron strands and paprika

salt and freshly ground pepper

50g (2oz) butter

110g (4oz) long grain rice

4 large ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

4 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

lemon quarters, to serve

Tip the chickpeas and lentils into a large saucepan. Add the lamb, onion, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, saffron strands and paprika, then pour in 1.5 litres (2 1/2 pints) water. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Bring to the boil, skimming all the froth from the surface as the water begins to bubble, then stir in half the butter. Turn down the heat and simmer the soup, covered, for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until the chickpeas are tender, adding a little more water from time to time as necessary – it can take up to 900ml (1 1/2 pints) more water or stock, it should be soupy in texture.

Towards the end of the cooking time, prepare the rice. Bring 850ml (scant 1 1/2 pints) water to the boil in a saucepan, sprinkle in the rice, the rest of the butter and salt to taste. Cook until the rice is tender. Drain, reserving 3 tablespoons of the liquid.

To Finish

Cook the chopped tomato in the reserved rice cooking water, seasoning it with salt, pepper and sugar. It should take about 5 minutes or until the tomato is “melted”. Add this and the drained rice to the pot and simmer for a further 5 minutes to allow the flavours to mix. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper and perhaps a pinch of salt. Add the chopped herbs, stir once or twice and serve accompanied by lemon quarters.

Tumeric Latte

One serving

350mls (12floz) whole milk or almond milk

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

sugar or honey to taste

a grind of black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a heavy saucepan and whisk constantly over a gentle heat until it comes to the boil. When hot, pour the frothy latte into a heavy glass and enjoy. 

This year, Valentine’s Day and Shrove Tuesday almost coincide so let’s have some fun with both. It’s unlikely that young lovers will be able to celebrate in restaurants, so how about a ‘pancake party’ at home? Rather than staring into each other’s eyes and whispering sweet nothings over a glass of bubbles, let’s make pancakes ….you can still sip fizz!

Show me anyone young or old who doesn’t love pancakes? All my children adore them. When they were little, they queued up by the Aga waiting for the speckled pancakes to come off the pan. They brushed them with melted butter, sprinkled on some caster sugar, then a squeeze of lemon, rolled them up and ate them out of their hands as they joined the end of the queue for the next one.

Pancakes or crepes (as they are now more grandly called) were always my ‘go-to’ recipe when we arrived home from a drive with a car full of squabbling hungry children.  I’d dash into the kitchen, put the pan on the Aga, the batter was made in minutes in a blender, melt a bit of butter, grab a bowl of caster sugar and a couple of lemons.

Add a couple tablespoons of the melted butter to the batter so the pancakes wouldn’t stick annoyingly to the pan. Start to film the base of the hot pan with some batter, run a palette knife around the edge, flip over and hey presto, the first was off the pan and onto a hot plate in seconds. Soon peace was restored, as they gradually filled up with yummy pancakes, all those protein filled eggs, milk and butter….so nourishing.

My grandchildren love them too, but more often than not, they ‘pooh pooh’ lemon and sugar in favour of chocolate spread or banana and jam or peanut butter….

They also love buttermilk pancakes for breakfast or tiny silver dollars with honey or maple syrup. Bramley apple slices dipped in batter are also a hit. They are fritters really, but my granddaughter Ottilie christened them ‘Scary little monsters’ because of the funny weird shapes they assume as they cook on the pan, and I have to tell you that it is not just the kids who love all these treats. We all love them, and the best thing about batter is that it really is the great ‘convertible.’ A trillion variations can be made on the theme with ingredients you will virtually always have to hand, and who is to say it wouldn’t bring on a proposal just as fast as hot buttered lobster (too extravagant) or chocolate mousse cake (too fattening). After all, someone who can whip up something tasty, delicious and nutritious in minutes, that doesn’t cost a fortune is worth having around!

If you really want to go all out, try these Japanese soufflè pancakes, they definitely take much more effort and tweaking than ordinary crepes, but Boy are they good plus, they are so ‘on trend’. Can’t wait for someone to start making them over here. So get started and let me know if it brings on a proposal….meanwhile, Bon Appetit…..

Shrove Tuesday Pancakes – Comfort Dish of the Week

Pancakes/crepes can be rolled, folded into fan shapes or slathered or stuffed with your favourite filling.

Serves 6 – makes 12 approximately

6oz (175g) white flour, preferably unbleached

a good pinch of salt

1 dessertspoon castor sugar

2 large eggs and 1 or 2 egg yolks, preferably free range

scant 15floz (450ml) milk, or for very crisp, light delicate pancakes, milk and water mixed

3-4 dessertspoons melted butter

Castor sugar and lemons to serve

8 inch (20.5cm) non-stick crêpe pan

First, make the batter. Whizz all the ingredients together in a blender or a food processor.

Alternatively, sieve the flour, salt, and sugar into a bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the lightly beaten eggs. With a whisk or wooden spoon, starting in the centre, mix the egg and gradually bring in the flour. Add the liquid slowly and beat until the batter is covered with bubbles. (If they are to be served with sugar and lemon juice, stir in an extra tablespoon of castor sugar and the finely grated rind of half a lemon).

In an ideal world allow the batter stand in a cold place for an hour or so – longer will do no harm, but if you are in a hurry start to cook the pancakes straight away.

Just before you cook the crêpes, stir in 3-4 dessertspoons melted butter. This will make all the difference to the flavour and texture of the crêpes and will make it possible to cook them without greasing the pan each time.

Serve immediately on hot plates with butter, castor sugar and lemon or your favourite topping.

Posh Crêpes with Orange Butter

This crêpe recipe is very nearly as good as those Crêpes Suzette they used to serve with a great flourish in posh restaurants when I was a child. These crêpes are half the bother and can be made for a fraction of the cost.

Pancake Batter as above.

Orange Butter

6oz (175g) butter

3 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

6oz (175g) icing sugar

freshly squeezed juice of 5-6 oranges

First make and rest the batter. Cook the pancakes and stack one on top of another.

Next make the orange butter.

Cream the butter with the finely grated orange rind. Then add the sifted icing sugar and beat until fluffy.

Make the crêpes in the usual way. Heat the pan over a high heat until really hot.  Grease lightly with butter and pour in just enough batter to cover the base of the pan thinly.

* A small ladle can also be very useful for this, loosen the crêpes around the edge, flip over with a spatula or thin egg slice, cook for a second or two on the other side, and slide off the pan onto a plate. The crêpes may be stacked on top of each other and peeled apart later.  The greasing of the pan is only necessary for the first two or three crêpes.

Good to Know: Crêpes will keep in the fridge for several days and also freeze perfectly. If they are to be frozen it’s probably a good idea to put a disc of silicone paper between each for extra safety.

To Serve

Melt a blob of the orange butter in the pan, add some freshly squeezed orange juice, toss the crêpes in the foaming orange butter. Fold in half and then in quarters (fan shapes). Serve 2 or 3 per person on warm plates.  Spoon the buttery orange juices over the top. Repeat until all the crêpes and butter have been used.

Scary little monsters

Funny how one sometimes forgets a recipe; we hadn’t had these apple fritters for ages, but I remembered them recently and they taste just as good as ever. As children we particularly loved fritters because they used to fry into funny shapes, which caused great hilarity and many squabbles. These can also be shallow-fried in a pan. You can add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar to toss the apples in for extra flavour.

Serves 6–8

Batter

110g (4oz) plain white flour

pinch of salt

1 organic egg

150ml (5fl oz) milk

450g (1lb) cooking apples (about 4), Bramley’s Seedling or Grenadier

good-quality vegetable oil, for frying

Cinnamon Sugar

4oz (110g) granulated or Demerara sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Whizz all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Alternatively, sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the centre and drop in the egg. Use a whisk to bring in the flour gradually from the edges, slowly adding in the milk at the same time. Leave the batter in a cool place for about 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer to 190°C (375°F).

Peel and core the apples. Cut into rings, no thicker than 1cm (1⁄3 inch). Dip the rings into the batter and lift out with a skewer, allowing the surplus batter to drain off a little. Drop a few at a time into the hot fat. Fry until the batter is golden brown and the apple is tender.  Drain well on kitchen paper. Toss each fritter in caster sugar or cinnamon sugar. (Note: Eat immediately while still crisp. If the fritters are left sitting around they will soften and become less delicious). Serve immediately on hot plates with softly whipped cream.

Fritters can also be cooked on a frying pan in about ¾ inch hot oil.

 

American Buttermilk Pancakes with Crispy Bacon and Maple Syrup

Serves 4-6 depending on the size or helping

Makes 14 – 3” pancakes

We love to cook American pancakes on my ancient Aga for Sunday brunch – it’s so difficult to know when to stop!

250ml (8 flozs) buttermilk

1 free-range egg, preferably organic

15g (1/2 oz) butter, melted

150g (5oz) plain white flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon bread soda

To Serve

butter

12-18 pieces crispy bacon

Maple syrup or Irish honey

Mix the buttermilk, egg and melted butter in a large bowl, until smooth and blended.  Sieve the flour, salt and baking soda together, stir into the buttermilk until the ingredients are barely combined, don’t worry about the lumps. Do not over mix or the pancakes will be heavy.

Heat a heavy iron or non-stick pan until medium hot.  Grease with a little clarified butter.  Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of batter onto the pan, spread slightly with the back of the spoon to a round about 7.5cm (3inch) across.  Cook until the bubbles rise and break on the top of the pancake (about a minute).  Flip over gently.  Cook until pale golden on the other side.  Spread each with butter.

Serve a stack of three with crispy streaky bacon and maple syrup.

OR:

Loganberry jam, sour cream and sausages

Serve pancakes with loganberry jam, sour cream and sausages

Cornmeal Pancakes

Substitute 25g (1 oz) of cornmeal for 25g (1 oz) of flour in the above recipe.

 

Crêpes with Chocolate Spread, Toasted Hazelnuts and Cream

Spread a little chocolate spread in the middle of the crêpe, top with a blob of cream and sprinkle with chopped toasted hazelnuts. Kumquat is also a delicious addition.

Silver Dollars

Makes 50 – 60 – enough to have real feast!

4 Eggs

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

30grams (1oz) plain white flour

475mls (16 flozs) sour cream

2 – 3 tablespoons castor sugar

Icing sugar for dusting

Whizz all the ingredients in a blender. Alternatively, put the eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk until blended. Add the salt, baking soda, flour, sour cream and sugar. Mix well. Heat a frying pan until it is good and hot, add clarified butter to the pan and drop small spoonfuls of batter onto the pan – just enough to spread to an approximately 2 ½ inch round. When a few bubbles appear on the top of the pancakes flip them over and cook briefly.

Enjoy with a dusting of icing sugar.

Japanese Soufflè Pancakes with Peanut Butter Cream

Makes 5 – 6

Soft, pillowy and delicious….the batter for these soufflé pancakes need to be cooked in moulds so they are contained as they rise.

8 – 9 cm rings are fine.

2 large free range eggs

A generous pinch of salt

60g plain white flour, sieved

1tbsp of cream

1 tbsp of milk

60g castor sugar, sieved

Melted butter to grease the pan

Raw runny honey, maple syrup or peanut butter cream

Peanut Butter Cream

100ml cream

35g smooth peanut butter

10 – 15g dark soft brown sugar

5 – 6  8cm-9cm rings (Darina is it cm or inches? See above). We use a 10” sautè pan but use whatever you have and cook in batches if necessary.

First, make the peanut butter cream. Put 70ml of cream into a saucepan with the peanut butter and sugar. Stir over a low heat until combined. Cool, then add the remaining cream and whisk until light and fluffy. Transfer to a bowl.

Put a heavy cast iron frying pan, sautè pan or griddle on the lowest heat.

Separate the eggs, put the yolks into one bowl, add a pinch of salt. Whisk in the cream, milk, then the sieved flour the make a smooth paste.

Whisk the egg whites with the sieved castor sugar in another spotlessly clean, dry bowl, until light and fluffy. Carefully stir a third of the whisked egg whites into the egg yolk mixture then fold in the remainder a third at a time until fully combined.

Arrange the rings on the preheated pan. Brush the inside and the base underneath each ring evenly and generously with melted butter.

Divide the mixture between the rings, it should come about two thirds of the way up the sides. Cook for about 6 minutes, still over a low heat.

Meanwhile, preheat a grill to a medium heat and continue to cook the soufflé pancakes, not too close to the elements for a further 5 minutes approximately or until fully risen and golden brown on top.

To serve: carefully, run a knife around the edge of the rings.  Turn a soufflé pancake onto a warm plate. They will sink a little but don’t worry, they will still be delicious. Serve drizzled with honey, maple syrup or this delicious peanut cream –Enjoy immediately.

This week, let’s take a break from Covid 19 and the dawning realisations of the unexpected implications of Brexit on our lives. Life seems to be full of ‘Aaaaaah’ and ‘Ah Ha’ moments at present….

So, I thought I’d concentrate on the Chinese New Year coming up on Friday February the 12^th 2021.  Festivities have already begun to celebrate the beginning of a New Year on the traditional lunar calendar. In China and East Asian countries the festival is commonly referred to as Spring Festival . Chinese New Year marks the transition between zodiac signs but this year, 2021 is the Year of the Ox. 2020 was the year of the Rat and 2022 will be the year of the Tiger.

It’s a fantasticly colourful and flamboyant festival with lion and dragon dances, fireworks, family gatherings and special foods.

Red is the auspicious colour. The Nian Dragon doesn’t like red so look out for lots of red lanterns to scare him away. Red envelopes are another endearing part of the celebrations, these have a monetary gift inside and are also gifted for special occasions such as weddings and graduations. Have you heard of Chunlian couplets? Me neither, I have no idea but Google came to my rescue. They are Chinese decorations ‘fai chun’, that people frequently hang in doorways during Chinese new year “to create a jubilant festive atmosphere”.

Celebrations last up to 16 days, the first seven are considered a public holiday where Chinese travel home to their families – not much chance of that this year! If they truly can’t travel home, a spot will be laid and left empty for them at the New Year’s Eve dinner.

Chinese New Year officially begins on February the 12^th 2021 and ends on February the 22^nd 2021. Then guess what…..preparations start for Lantern Festival on February 26^th – enough festivities to distract minds from Covid 19.

There are a myriad of customs and taboos to be taken into consideration. Words with negative connotations are forbidden, they could jinx your good fortune, including death, pain, empty, poor, sick and presumably Covid 19 is added to the list this year. Avoid breaking glass or ceramic, it shatters your chance of prosperity and good fortune. However, a handy tip, immediately wrap the shards in red paper and throw them into a lake or river after Chinese New Year.

Sweeping during the actual day of celebration apparently also causes problems, so only on the designated cleaning day otherwise you may sweep away or throw out your good luck. No showering on Chinese New Year’s day either…

Sharp objects can cut your streams of wealth and success. In olden times this was to give women a well deserved break from chopping, cooking and sewing …..Hair cutting is also taboo and forbidden till festivities are over – double Covid 19!!!!!

Don’t borrow money or demand debt repayment or you could end up having to borrow all year long. No fighting or crying otherwise there could be a turbulent year ahead!

Try not to take medicine during the Spring festival. Not sure about that, could be wiser to follow your doctors instructions….and there is also a taboo about giving people a blessing in bed – allow them to get out of bed first otherwise they could be bedridden. There are a myriad of taboos about gift giving – it’s a mindfield but this is a cooking column so back to the kitchen.

Chinese take enormous pride in their food – it is after all one of the great cuisines of the world. Each family will have their own traditions but there are some dishes that may be found on virtually every table.

Spring rolls – to celebrate the coming of Spring.

Dumplings – many different types, apparently they are shaped like ancient Chinese silver and gold ingots. After eating these you will live a wealthy and prosperous life. I adore Chinese dumplings and the tradition that all members of the family must participate in making them.

Noodles – for Chinese New Year people like to eat long noodles, the longer the noodle the longer the life – this calls for a lot of slurping!

Steamed fish, chicken, rice cakes, vegetable stir frys, hot pots….all are symbolic, and bring luck and good fortune, are truly delicious and nourishing and comforting. Just what we need to cheer us up during this super challenging time. Keep safe and well and enjoy.

Siu Mai Pork, Bacon and Ginger Dumplings

Makes about 20

500g fresh prawn meat

250g streaky pork, minced

3 cloves garlic, crushed finely

1 x 5cm piece ginger, grated

2 eggs whites

2 teasp. cornflour

Juice of half lemon

1 tablesp. Oyster sauce (optional)

1 tablesp. Soy sauce plus extra for dipping

1 tablesp. Sesame oil

¼ teasp. salt, approx.

¼ teasp. freshly ground pepper

Hong Kong style, round wonton wrappers

Oil for brushing the steamer

Cabbage leaves for lining the steamer

25cm Bamboo steamer

Put all the ingredients into a wide bowl. Season well and evenly with salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix very thoroughly, better still pulse in a food processor, it shouldn’t be too smooth, a little texture is perfect.

Next assemble the dumplings. Hold the wonton wrapper in your hand between your thumb and cupped fingers. Dip a spoon into cold water, then drop a blob about (2 teasp.) into the centre of each wrapper. Gather the edges of the wrapper up around the filling and squeeze the sides slightly with your fingers, leaving the filling slightly exposed, the sides pleat a little.

Tap the base on the worktop so the bottom will be flat and the dumplings won’t topple over in the steamer. Continue until all the filling is used up. Cook or cover and keep refrigerated.

To Cook:

Brush the slats of the steamer with a little oil. Line the base loosely with cabbage leaves. Arrange the dumplings in a single layer with a little space between each one to allow the steam to circulate – 12 siu mai should fit comfortably into a 25cm bamboo steamer. Cover.

Bring approx. 5cm of water to boil in a pot or wok. Place the steamer over the pot, cover with the lid and steam for 10-12 minutes or until the filling feels firm to the touch and is fully cooked through. Serve the dumpling immediately in the steamer with a bowl of soy sauce for dipping.

Good to know: I like to steam just one or two at first to test the seasoning. Excess dumplings will freeze brilliantly for 2-3 weeks.

Chinese Garlic Chive Omelette

We love this simple omelette, super tasty and easy to make. I’ve been using the chopped leaves of the early wild garlic called Snowbells (see Wild food of the Week last week, allium triquetrium). The pretty white flowers as a garnish.

Serves 2

5 organic eggs

40-50g Chinese or garlic chives or wild garlic

¼ teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon fish sauce

½ – 1 teaspoon oyster sauce

Generous tablespoon olive oil or peanut oil

Accompaniment

Soy sauce, optional

Slice the chives into 5mm pieces. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl with the other ingredients. Add the chopped chives and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Heat a wok or a 25cm frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the base. Drop in a teaspoon full of the mixture to test the seasoning. Taste and tweak if necessary.

Pour the egg mixture into the hot wok or pan, swirl to coat the base evenly.

Cook for a couple of minutes to brown the base lightly. Flip over to cook the other side. When almost set, – 2-3 minutes slide out onto a hot serving plate. Divide into quarters sprinkle with garlic chive flowers and serve with soy sauce.

Alternatively make 2 smaller omelettes.

Stir Fried Pork and Ginger Noodles with Peanuts.

Serves 4 – 6

200g Egg noodles

1tbsp olive oil (More usual to use peanut oil but I prefer a light olive oil)

450g pork fillet , cut into strips

2cm of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

2 cloves of garlic peeled and freshly grated

1 tbsp shrimp paste

1 tbsp soy sauce

D1 tbsp fish sauce

2 – 3 tbsp water

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

60g toasted peanuts (optional)

1 carrot (approx. 5oz) cut into fine julienne

2 spring onions sliced at an angle into ‘horses ears’

1 – 2 tsps Chinese sesame oil

First prepare the carrots and onions. Then cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, they should still have a slight bite.

Ready to Eat….

Line up all the ingredients beside the cooker. Heat a wok over a medium/ high heat. Add a dash of oil and the pork strips. Stir and fry for a minute or two, careful it’s really easy to overcook the pork. Turn out onto a plate.

Increase the heat, add another dash of oil if necessary, Toss in the peanuts, ginger and garlic, stir and fry to 20 – 30 seconds. Next add the shrimp paste, stir and fry for another 30 seconds until aromatic, then add the soy and fish sauces and a couple of tablespoons of water to create steam.

Toss in the well-drained noodles and pork. Toss to coat, sprinkle over the sesame oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, taste and correct if necessary.

Turn out onto a hot serving plate or plates. Sprinkle with some grated carrot julienne and spring onions. Serve immediately.

Gok’s Magic Chicken and Leek Pot Stickers

Not sure if you know about Gok. My daughters are huge fans but I’ve only ‘discovered’ him recently. He is super cool and does a TV series on Channel 4 on fashion as well as food. First I borrowed his book, Gok Cooks Chinese from my daughter and then ordered my very own copy. Published by Penguin and Michael Joseph – full of fabulously simple Chinese dishes.

Serves 2 – 4

200g minced chicken

2 tbsps leek, very finely chopped

1 spring onion finely chopped

1-2cm piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 egg separated

Cornflour, for dusting

12 round white wonton wrappers

Tablespoon of groundnut oil

For the Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons of runny honey

1 tablespoons of light soy sauce

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

150ml water

Put the chicken, leek, spring onion and ginger into a bowl or on to a board, and mix together well, adding the sesame oil, Shaoxing rice wine and a pinch of salt and pepper. Add a little egg white if the mixture needs binding together.

Dust a work surface with cornflour and lay out the wonton wrappers. Place a small spoonful of the chicken mixture in the middle of a wrapper and brush the outside rim lightly with egg white.

Fold over the wrapper to make a half-moon shape, enclosing the filling inside. Press out any air bubbles and seal the join, pinching the ends to shut at the rim. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and chicken mixture.

Heat a non-stick frying pan with deep sides, or a wok, over a medium to high heat. Add a glut of oil and place the dumplings in the pan. If using a wok, arrange them around the bottom and lower sides. Cook for 30 – 60 seconds over a medium heat until crisp and dark golden on the base. Then pour in enough water to create steam around the dumplings (about 200ml) at the base of the wok or pan. Cover the pan and steam the dumplings for 5 – 8 minutes (topping up the water if the pan is drying out) or until the filling is cooked through.

To make the dipping sauce mix together the honey and soy sauce in a small bowl. Sprinkle with the chives to garnish.

Remove the pot stickers from the pan and serve coloured side up with the dipping sauce on the side. Serve immediately.

 The 1st of February is just around the corner…..

Time to celebrate a very special day in the Irish calendar, the feast day of our beloved patron Saint Brigid….

La Feile Bride also marks the beginning of Spring, the season of seed sowing when nature begins to spring back into life and hope is renewed, all the more reason to celebrate this year…..

Saint Brigid’s Day also coincides with the start of the festival of Imbolg, one of the four major ‘Fire’ festivals. The other three festivals in Irish folklore are Beltaine, Lughnasadh, and Samhain.

Imbolc/ Imbolg is celebrated by Neopagans with a variety of Celtic rituals.

Surely its high time to elevate St Brigid to her rightful place, to give her equal billing with Saint Patrick as our female patron saint and to declare St. Brigid’s Day a national holiday.

Depending on who or what you read, St. Brigid is the patron saint of cattle farmers, dairy maids, bee keepers, midwives, babies, blacksmiths, sailors, boatmen, fugitives, poets, poultry farmers, scholars, travellers. For me, Bridget was the original feminist, a trail blazer, a strong woman’s voice in a male dominated world, a feminine role model, a force to be reckoned with…. She was one busy saint!

She is still widely venerated and many lovely traditions still endure around the country. Possibly best known is the  tradition of weaving St.Brigid’s Crosses from reeds.  Bridget, we are told was the founder of the first Irish monastery in Kildare in the fifth century. According to the legend, she was called to the bedside of a dying pagan chieftain. While she watched over him, she bent down, picked up some rushes from the floor and wove a cross to explain the Christian story, whereupon the chieftain was promptly converted to Christianity.

Just as the shamrock is associated with St. Patrick, the little woven cross is associated with St Brigid.

Typically, it has four arms with a woven square in the centre but three armed crosses are traditional in some counties as explained to me by Saint Brigid’s Day cross maker extraordinaire Patricia O’Flaherty, whom I met at La Feile Bride celebrations at the Irish Embassy in London a number of years ago.

As I write this, I particularly remember Eileen Cowhig, a wonderful local lady who came to the Ballymaloe Cookery School for years to pass on the tradition of how to weave the St. Brigid’s Cross to students from all over the world. We would then hang a newly woven cross in both the dairy and the hen house to bless the hens and to protect our little herd of Jersey cows who produce the most delicious rich milk. She died last year and is fondly remembered by all of us. 

The St.Brigid’s Cross was proudly chosen by newly launched Telifis Eireann in 1961 as its logo and continued until 1995 when it was dropped in favour of ‘a clean striking piece of modern design’.

 Another endearing tradition is to leave a piece of cloth, a scarf or a ribbon on a bush outside  on St. Brigid’s Eve to be blessed by the saint as she passes. This is known in Irish Folklore as Bratog Brid and will cure headaches and sore throats. 

In Kerry particularly, a  Bridog doll, sometimes woven from corn was taken from house to house as this refrain was recited

‘This is Brigid dressed in white,

Give her something for the night,

She is deaf, she is dumb,

Give her money if you have some,’ ( Ref: duchas.ie)

Over the past decade, St.Brigid’s Day celebrations have been gathering momentum around the globe.

Since 2018, the achievements of Irish women from all walks of life have been celebrated on La Feile Bride at the Irish Embassy in London. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the celebrations have gone online.

From a virtual afternoon tea in Luton to a women’s festival of female literary creativity in Berlin, and a weeklong virtual event in Vancouver.

So, how about special foods to mark St. Brigid’s Day……..

Apparently, Brigid was a wonderful butter maker, so here’s how to make a batch of homemade butter in minutes to slather over floury winter potatoes. Also a recipe for St.Brigid’s Day oatcakes.

Colcannon is another traditional favourite….. At this time of the year, I often make it with parsnips and potatoes mixed with kale – a tip from the late Gay Byrne who insisted that it was the Dublin way of making it and  the way his mother always made it. I am indebted to Gay for sharing this and remember him fondly every time we enjoy it.

Look out for the early wild garlic, tri cornered leek or snowbells 

(allium triquetrem) which romps along the roadsides at this time of the year. It resembles white bluebells but has a distinct garlic smell when the thin leaves are rubbed between the fingers. It’s also delicious added to colcannon, but here I am sharing my brother Rory O’Connell’s recipe for Wild Garlic broth, I could imagine St Brigid might have made a similar version at this time of the year. After all, it’s likely that she would have been a knowledgeable forager and was no doubt well acquainted with both the flavour and medicinal benefits of many wild plants.

La Feile Bride Cake has become a new tradition in our extended family, all of whom love to celebrate and perpetuate Irish traditions and festivals. Happy St. Brigid’s Day to each and every one. Perhaps you too can have a virtual afternoon tea and celebrate and raise awareness of our female patron saint.

How to make Homemade Butter

Everyone should be able to make butter. Let’s face it, most of us have over whipped cream from time to time, don’t dream of throwing it out, whisk for a minute or two more and you’ll have your very own butter. If there are butter bats in the house it makes it easier to shape the butter into blocks or balls but they are absolutely not essential. They’re more widely available than you might think, in kitchen shops, but also keep an eye in antique shops and if you find some, snap them up. A good pair will bring you butter luck!

Unsalted butter should be eaten within a few days, but the addition of salt will preserve it for two to three weeks. Also, you can make butter with any quantity of cream but the amount used in the recipe below will keep you going for a week or so and give you enough to share with friends (though not in my house!). Remember, sunlight taints butter (and milk) in a short time, so if you are serving butter outdoors, keep it covered.

Butter (Salted)

Makes about 1kg (2 1/4lb) butter and 1 litre (1 3/4 pints) buttermilk

2.4 litres (4 pints) unpasteurised or pasteurised double cream at room temperature

2 teaspoons dairy salt (optional)

pair of butter bats or hands

Soak the wooden butter bats or hands in iced water for about 30 minutes so they do not stick to the butter.

Pour the double cream into a cold, sterilized mixing bowl. If it’s homogenised, it will still whip, but not as well. If you’re using raw cream and want a more traditional taste, leave it to ripen in a cool place, where the temperature is about 8°C (46°F), for up to48 hours.

Whisk the cream at a medium speed in a food mixer until it is thick. First it will be softly whipped, then stiffly whipped. Continue until the whipped cream collapses and separates into butterfat globules. The buttermilk will separate from the butter and slosh around the bowl. Turn the mixture into a cold, spotlessly clean sieve and drain well. The butter remains in the sieve while the buttermilk drains into the bowl. The buttermilk can be used to make soda bread or as a thirst quenching drink (it will not taste sour). Put the butter back into a clean bowl and beat with the whisk for a further 30 seconds to 1 minute to expel more buttermilk. Remove and sieve as before. Fill the bowl containing the butter with very cold water. Use the butter bats or your clean hands to knead the butter to force out as much buttermilk as possible. This is important, as any buttermilk left in the butter will sour and the butter will go off quickly. If you handle the butter too much with warm hands, it will liquefy.

Drain the water, cover and wash twice more, until the water is totally clear. Weigh the butter into 110g (4oz), 225g (8oz) or 450g (1lb) slabs. Pat into shape with the wet butter hands or bats. Make sure the butter hands or bats have been soaked in ice-cold water for at least 30 minutes before using to stop the butter sticking to the ridges. Wrap in greaseproof or waxed paper and keep chilled in a fridge. The butter also freezes well.

 

 

St Brigids’ Day Oatmeal Scones

I’m taking a bit of poetic licence here…These oatmeal scones are cooked in the oven but one can also cook them on a griddle, on the stovetop or over an open fire if you really want to be authentic.

450g (1lb) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda/baking soda)

sour milk or buttermilk to mix – 350-375ml (12-13fl oz) approx. egg wash

2ozs oatmeal

First fully preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8.

Sieve the dry ingredients.  Make a well in the centre.  Pour most of the milk in at once.  Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary.  The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky.  When it all comes together, turn it out onto a floured board, knead lightly for a second, just enough to tidy it up.  Pat the dough into a square about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deep, brush with egg wash, cut into 12 square scones.  Dip the top of each scone into the oatmeal, place on a baking sheet.  Bake in a hot oven for 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8 for 10 – 15 minutes.  Serve slathered with your homemade butter.

Dublin Parsnip Colcannon

Several Dubliners have spoken to me about a parsnip colcannon that ‘the Mammy used to make’. Threepenny or sixpenny bits were sometimes hidden in the colcannon at Hallowe’en for the children to find. The proportion of parsnips to potato varied.

Serves 8 (approximately)

450g (1lb) old potatoes e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

450g (1lb) parsnips

450g (1lb) curly kale

250–300ml (9–10fl oz) creamy milk

2 tablespoons approx. chopped scallions

55g (2oz) approx. butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

Scrub and peel the potatoes and parsnips, put them into a saucepan, cover with cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When the potatoes and parsnips are cooked, strain off the water, replace the lid on the saucepan, put on a gentle heat and allow to steam for a few minutes, then mash.

While the potatoes and parsnips are cooking, bring a pot of well salted water to
the boil, remove the central rib from the kale and cook the leaves until tender. Drain and chop finely.

When the potatoes are almost cooked, put on the milk and bring to the boil with the scallions. While the potatoes and parsnips are still warm, stir in the chopped kale and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy purée. (If you have a large quantity, use the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Add the butter and taste for seasoning. Stir over the heat and serve immediately in a hot dish with the butter melting in the centre.

Note: Colcannon may be prepared ahead and reheated later in a moderate oven (180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4) for about 20–25 minutes.

Rory O’Connell’s Wild Garlic Leaf and Flower Broth

The key to the success of this recipe is the addition of the wild garlic to the broth just a few minutes before you are going to eat it. This way the garlic will still be bright green in colour and vibrant in taste when it arrives at the table. Some times the little flowers, which I urge you to use, will float to the surface of the hot broth and sit there like little water lilies or lotus flowers. Now that’s a bonus.

Serves 6

The ingredients

• The wild garlic when in season is readily available for those who live in the countryside and for urban dwellers is increasingly available in vegetable shops and farmers markets. Every part of the two different varieties can be used, bulbs below the ground and leaves and flowers above.
• An optional addition of grated parmesan cheese is delicious here. Allow your guests to sprinkle a light dusting on each bowl of poured soup rather than you adding it to the cooking pot. It will taste sweeter and fresher this way. One teaspoon of parmesan is plenty on each serving.

 50g butter

 175g potatoes, peeled and cut into neat 1cm dice

 175g onions, peeled and finely chopped into ½ cm dice

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed to a paste

1.2l chicken stock

Salt and pepper

 600ml of finely chopped garlic leaves, tightly packed into the measure

 50ml garlic flowers.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and allow to foam. Add the potatoes, onions and crushed garlic. Coat in the butter and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook on a very low heat to allow the vegetables to sweat gently until barely tender. This will take about 10 minutes. Don’t overcook and allow the diced potato to collapse. Add the stock, stir gently and bring to a simmer and cook gently for a further 10 minutes. The broth should be barely bubbling. If it cooks too fast at this stage, the delicacy of flavour of the chicken stock will be lost. Taste and correct seasoning. This is the base and can be put aside until later.

To finish, bring the base back to a simmer. Add the garlic leaves and allow to just wilt. This will only take a couple of minutes. Taste and correct seasoning. Finally sprinkle in the flowers, watch and marvel as they float on the surface. Serve immediately.

St Brigid’s Day Cake

We love this super delicious cake which we created especially for St Brigid’s day, green white and gold – how naff is that…..

Serves 8

175g (6oz) soft butter

150g (5oz) castor sugar

3 eggs, preferably free range

175g (6oz) self-raising flour

To decorate:

lemon glace icing see below

8 pieces of kumquat compote – drained

8 wood sorrel leaves

1 x 20.5cm (8 inch) sandwich tin, buttered and floured.  Line the base of the tin with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

First make the kumquat compote, see below for recipe.

Put the soft butter, castor sugar, eggs and self-raising flour into the bowl of a food processor. Whizz for a few seconds to amalgamate and turn into the prepared tin – make a dip in the centre so it rises evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes approx. or until golden brown and well risen.

Cool in the tin for a few minutes, remove and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile make the icing, once the cake is cool, pour the icing over the cake and spread gently over the sides with a palette knife.

Decorate with the candied kumquats and wood sorrel leaves.

Serve on a pretty plate.

Serves 8 to 10

Lemon Glacé Icing

160g (6oz) icing sugar

finely grated rind of 1/2 lemon

2-3tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl.   Add the lemon rind and enough lemon juice to make a softish icing.

Decorate with 8 pieces of drained kumquat compote.

Kumquat Compôte

A gem of a recipe, this compôte can be served as a dessert or as an accompaniment to roast duck, goose or glazed ham.  Also delicious with goat’s cheese or yoghurt.

Serves 6-20 depending on how it is served

235g (8 1/2 oz) kumquats

200ml (7fl oz) water

110g (4oz) sugar

Slice the kumquats thinly into four or five round slices depending on size.  Remove the seeds.  Put the kumquats into a saucepan with the water and sugar and let them cook very gently, covered, for half an hour or until tender.  If they accidently overcook or become too dry, add a little water and bring back to the boil for one minute – they should be crystallised but slightly juicy

Serve warm or cold.

Note: This compote keeps for weeks in the fridge.

Wild Food of the Week – Wild Garlic

So love that moment when I suddenly realise that – Wow, Winter is over. One can practically hear the excitement underneath the ground. Rhubarb and chives are pushing their way up through the soil, everything is stirring. We’ve already found some wild garlic to add to salad and flavoured butters – so head how about a bit of foraging in the open air this weekend. There are two varieties allium ursinum or ramps a broad leaved bulbous plant which grows in moist woodland and allium triquetrum also known as three cornered leeks which often grows along the roadside verges. The latter has a flower that resembles ‘white’ blue bells, and pointy narrow leaves. I find that the leaves of allium ursinum are best for wild garlic pesto so wait a couple of weeks for those.  

What is it about an oyster that makes so many people scrunch up their faces when offered one of those delicious bivalves? Why do so many instantly decide – “No, I don’t or won’t like them”. Come on, surely you are brave enough to try an oyster, try one and then another, maybe a third, then you are hooked – a dozen isn’t enough. Those of us who like oysters don’t just like them, we really, really love them.

Oysters are a brilliant source of zinc and vitamin D and the good news is that we are smack bang in the middle of the oyster season. There are two main varieties, the indigenous Irish oyster, Ostrea edulis and Crassostrea gigas. The latter are often referred to as Pacific, Portuguese, or Rock Oysters. They have curvy shells and are less expensive because they mature in 2 to 3 years as opposed to the much prized native Irish oyster which takes at least 4 to 5 years to mature and is only in season when there is an ‘R’ in the month – September to April.

You’ll find your fresh oysters in the English Market in Cork and at several Farmers Markets in the Cork area e.g. Douglas and Mahon where you can eat freshly shucked Rossmore oysters right there and then. Rock oysters can be enjoyed all year round, ‘au naturel’ or cooked. ‘Natives’ are such a delicacy that there’s no need to ‘faff’ around with hot sauces and dressings, best enjoyed just as they are. All they need, if anything is just a little squeeze of fresh lemon. Not sure if we fully realise how much delicious and exquisite, Irish oysters are prized the world over. Nothing apart from the tiny Olympians from the North Pacific coast of America can even come close in terms of flavour. So seek them out for a real gastronomic experience but it’s also worth mentioning that Irish oyster fishermen need and would deeply appreciate our support because the restaurant industry and their overseas markets have been so severely affected by the Covid 19 pandemic and the Brexit delays at the ports.

If you can get your hands on some large gigas oysters, there’s a super variety of cooked oyster recipes. Try English Market in Cork City or contact Oyster producers around the country, Harty’s in Dungarvan, Kelly’s in Galway, Irish Premium Oysters to name a few…. Many will courier a panier of fresh oysters direct to your door overnight.

Ballymaloe House guests will fondly remember Myrtle’s, Hot Buttered Oysters on toast and the exquisite Oysters in Champagne sauce. Oysters Kilpatrick or Oyster Rockerfeller are two other classics you might like to try.

I also love crispy oysters with Wasabi Mayo and the warm oysters with Horseradish cream that I first tasted in New York.

HOW TO OPEN AN OYSTER

You will need an oyster knife.

It’s wise to protect your hand with a folded tea towel when opening oysters.  Wrap the tea towel round your hand, then lay the deep shell on the tea towel with the wide end pointing inwards.   Grip the oyster firmly in your protected hand while you insert the tip of the knife into the hinge, twist to lever the two shells apart; you’ll need to exert quite a lot of pressure, so it’s foolhardy not to protect your hand well.   Then, slide the blade of the knife under the top shell to detach the oyster from the shell. Discard the top shell, then loosen the oyster from the deep shell, flip over to reveal the plump side, don’t lose the precious briny juice. 

Hot Buttered Oysters on Toast

Delicious on toast but if you choose to serve these wonderfully curvaceous oysters in their shells they tend to topple over maddeningly on the plate so that the delicious juices escape.  In the restaurant we solve this problem by piping a little blob of mashed potato on the plate to anchor each shell.

12 Pacific (Gigas) oysters

25g (1oz) butter

1 teaspoon parsley, finely chopped (for second option)

To Serve

4 segments of lemon

4 ovals or rectangles of hot buttered white toast

Sprigs of fresh chervil, if available.

Open the oysters, remove from the shell and keep aside. Melt the butter in a pan until it foams.  Toss the oysters in the butter until hot through – 1 minute perhaps.  Spoon the oysters onto the hot buttered toast. The toast will soak up the juices, serve immediately with a wedge of lemon and a sprig of chervil on top. Simply delicious!

Hot Buttered Oysters in their Shells

Alternatively, open the oysters and detach completely from their shell, disgard the top shell but keep the deep shell and reserve the liquid. Put the shells into a low oven to heat through. Melt half the butter in the pan until it foams. Toss the oysters in butter until hot through – 1 minute perhaps. Spoon a hot oyster into each of the warm shells. Pour the reserved oyster liquid into the pan and boil up, whisking in the remaining butter and the finely chopped parsley. Spoon the hot juices over the oysters and serve immediately on hot plates with a wedge of lemon.

Hot Oysters with Champagne Sauce

Don’t just fip over this recipe. The flavour is sublime – a real treat and worth the effort.

Serves 4

16 Rock or Japanese Oysters

Champagne Sauce

This sauce is also excellent with baked fish, i.e. turbot, black sole and brill.

Half bottle of Champagne or sparkling white wine

1oz (25g/1 tablespoon) chopped shallot

4 large egg yolks

8ozs (225g) of butter

1/2 pint (300ml) whipped double cream

First make the champagne sauce.

Boil the champagne with the shallot, reducing to 1 tablespoon (1 American tablespoon + 1 teaspoon).  Remove from the heat and beat in the yolks.  Return to a very low heat and add the butter bit by bit as for Hollandaise sauce. When all the butter has melted fold in the whipped cream.

Scrub the oysters well.  Just before serving put into a hot oven 250°C/475°F/regulo 9 until they just start to open and release their juices. Using an oyster knife remove and discard the top shell, place a little champagne sauce on top of each oyster and put under a hot grill until golden.  Serve immediately and garnish with fennel and a lemon wedge.

Da Fiore Crispy Oysters

This recipe comes from my favourite fish restaurant in Venice.

Serves 6-8

24 Pacific Oysters

Tempura

Hollandaise Sauce (see recipe)

Bamboo Cocktail sticks

Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks, preferably free-range and organic

125 g (5ozs) butter cut into dice

1 dessertspoon cold water

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, approx.

Tempura Batter

4 tablesp flour

1 tablesp cornflour

 Â½ teasp gluten free baking powder

800 ml ice cold water

1 large egg white

pink pepper corns

roughly chopped chervil sprigs

Oil for deep frying

First make the Hollandaise Sauce.Put the egg yolks in a heavy stainless saucepan on a low heat, or in a bowl over hot water.  Add water and whisk thoroughly.  Add the butter bit by bit, whisking all the time.  As soon as one piece melts, add the next piece.  The mixture will gradually thicken, but if it shows signs of becoming too thick or slightly scrambling, remove from the heat immediately and add a little cold water if necessary.  Do not leave the pan or stop whisking until the sauce is made.  Finally add the lemon juice to taste.  If the sauce is slow to thicken it may be because you are excessively cautious and the heat is too low.  Increase the heat slightly and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens to coating consistency. 

It is important to remember that if you are making Hollandaise Sauce in a saucepan directly over the heat, it should be possible to put your hand on the side of the saucepan at any stage.  If the saucepan feels too hot for your hand it is also too hot for the sauce.

Another good tip if you are making Hollandaise Sauce for the first time is to keep a bowl of cold water close by so you can plunge the bottom of the saucepan into it if becomes too hot.

Keep the sauce warm until service either in a pyrex bowl over hot but not simmering water (do not have gas jet on).  A thermos flask is also a good option.

Open the oysters and save and strain the liquid and the shells. Make the tempura batter. Sieve the flour, cornflour and baking powder into a bowl.  Add the water and whisk just enough to barely combine, don’t over-mix.  Whisk the egg white in a separate bowl; fold into the batter with a little salt.

To serve: warm the oyster shells in the oven. Heat the oil in a deep fryer. Whisk the 4 tablespoons of oyster liquid into the hollandaise, taste and add more if necessary. Dip the oysters one at a time into the batter, fry for a minute or two until crispy. Meanwhile put a generous teaspoon of sauce into each shell, spear each crispy oyster with a bamboo stick and lay one on top of each shell. Garnish with a little chervil and sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt and some roughly ground pink peppercorns on the plate.

Tempura Oysters with Wasabi Mayo

Follow the recipe above but serve with Wasabi Mayo rather than Hollondaise.

Wasabi Mayo

125g (4 1/2oz) homemade Mayonnaise

1 – 2 tablespoons wasabi paste or to taste

coarsely chopped parsley

Simply mix all the ingredients together to make your mayonnaise and serve with crispy tempura oysters.

Warm Oysters with Horseradish Cream and Chervil

Serves 6-8

24 Gigas oysters

Horseradish Cream (see recipe)

Garnish

sprigs of chervil

First make the horseradish cream (see recipe), cover and chill.

To Serve

Preheat the oven to 250ËšC/500ËšF/Gas Mark 10. 

Put the oysters into a baking tray on a bed of coarse salt.  Pop into the oven and cook until the shells just pop open.  Lift off the top shell.  Spoon about a dessertspoon of horseradish cream over the oyster.  Top with a sprig of chervil and serve immediately.  The oyster should be hot and the horseradish cream cold and fluffy.  Serve immediately on a bed of seaweed or coarse salt.

Horseradish Cream

Serves 8 – 10

3 – 6 tablespoons freshly grated horseradish

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

110mls (4fl oz) cream

110mls (4fl oz) milk

Put the grated horseradish into a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard powder, salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.  Fold in the cream and milk. Whisk to froth up.

Wild Food of the Week

Alexander, horse parsley (Smyrnium olusatrum)

Time to go foraging again….Alexander’s grow in profusion along the cliffs, roadsides and hedges near the sea in the south of Ireland. For the purpose of identification, they are an umbelliferous plant so they look a bit like cow parsley but with paler green leaves. They are in season now and are brilliant to pick from now until March or April when they begin to flower, depending on the weather. It’s a Mediterranean plant that was introduced to these islands by the Romans and was originally planted as a vegetable. The flavour is delicate and delicious; in fact the taste is slightly like sea kale. The young leaves are good in salads and the peeled stalks make a tasty vegetable. They are best harvested just before the buds burst into flower. Otherwise, like many plants, they become bitter.

As I write this column Covid 19 numbers are escalating in leaps and bounds. We’re back in strictest Level 5 lockdown and virtually everyone’s life is on hold. We have postponed the start of our Spring 12 Week Course. Students who have been looking forward to joining us are biting their nails wondering when they will be able to start the course they have so looked forward to, in some cases for several years. C’est la vie at present….

Little Christmas has come and gone….this year the women of Ireland could not get together to celebrate but those of us who are fortunate to be still well can concentrate on counting our blessings and focus on boosting our gut biome, mental health and immune systems with nourishing, wholesome food.

Many factors affect our immune system, our lifestyle, sleep habits, stress levels, environment, genes….

We can’t do anything about our genes, we are what we became at the moment of our conception. Exercise helps, adequate sleep does too, we all know how much easier it is to pick up a cold or flu when we are exhausted after a long period of stressful work.

But like any army our immune system marches on it’s stomach, scientists acknowledge that those who live in poverty and are malnourished are more likely to succumb to infectious diseases. Despite that there are still relatively few studies on the effect of nutrition on the immune system of humans.

You don’t have to be a doctor or nutritionist to know that the type of food we eat impacts on our wellbeing.  Covid 19, particularly this mutant strain is unquestionably highly contagious. One certainly can’t say for sure that lots of nutritious food will protect us but it can’t hurt to eat delicious vitamin and mineral rich food. Vitamin A and D are known to support our immune systems and work together like twins. Vitamin D comes from sunlight, so dash out and lap up as much winter sun as you can – it’s much more effective than taking Vitamin D pills.

Vitamin A comes principally from liver and pure fermented cod liver oil but also egg yolks and unpasteurised dairy products. Each and every one of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements are crucial in their own particular way.

I’m a big believer in the power and the nourishment of broth. Any bone broth really but particularly chicken broth so soothing and restorative. It’s super easy to make particularly if you have a slow cooker.

Making bone broth is a way of working, instead of chucking things out, collect all the vegetable peelings, herb stalks poultry carcasses, bones and giblets in a ‘stock box’ in your freezer. When it’s full to the brim, make a celebration pot of stock. Then strain and degrease if necessary, cool and refrigerate or freeze to enjoy the next time you feel like a pick-me-up.

Broth is concentrated stock, the French word for stock is Fond which means foundation in English. Chicken broth is probably the most useful but fantastic broth but can also be made from beef, lamb and game bones.

A turkey carcass also makes a delicious stock but no doubt that’s long gone now so if you didn’t use it this time make a mental note to make fine big pot of broth next time round. It’s well worth reminding ourselves that back as far as the mid 400’s BC, Greek Physician Hippocrates (who apparently lived to the ripe old age of 90) stated “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.

At the APC (Alementary Pharambotic Centre) microbiome Institute at UCC Professor Cryan & Professor Dinan and their team have been investigating the link between gut health and mental health for almost a decade now, with fascinating results.

Not surprisingly, heavily processed foods, sweeteners and emulsifiers have a negative effect on the biodiversity of our gut biome. It may sound boring and passé but all we need is real living food, lots of fibre and green vegetables and if you fancy some green tea and dark chocolate. Fermented foods are super important also so seek out natural sourdough bread (beware there’s a lot of faux sourdough around), sauerkraut, kimchi, water and milk kefir, better still make it yourself. Here are some easy recipes to get you started, virtually nothing you buy will be as good and I guarantee you’ll feel the better of it.

Chicken Stock

This recipe is just a guideline. If you have just one carcass and can’t be bothered to make a small quantity of stock, why not freeze the carcass and save it up until you have six or seven carcasses and giblets (if you can get chicken feet, they will add lots of collagen and flavour). Then you can make a really good-sized pot of stock and get best value for your fuel.

Stock will keep for several days in the refrigerator. If you want to keep it for longer, boil it up again for 5–6 minutes every couple of days; allow it to get cold and refrigerate again. Stock also freezes perfectly. For cheap containers, use large yogurt cartons or plastic milk bottles, then you can cut them away from the frozen stock without a conscience if you need to defrost it in a hurry!

Makes about 3.5 litres (6 pints)

2–3 raw or cooked chicken carcasses or a mixture of both giblets from the chicken (neck,         heart, gizzard – save the liver for a different dish)

1 onion, sliced

1 leek, split in two

4 outside celery stalks or 2 lovage leaves

2 carrot, cut into chunks

a few parsley stalks

sprig of thyme

6 black peppercorns

Chop up the carcasses as much as possible. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and cover with about 3.4 litres (7 pints/17 1/2 cups) cold water. Bring to the boil. Skim the fat off the top with a tablespoon. Simmer very gently for 3–4 hours. Taste, strain and remove any remaining fat. Do not add salt.

BROTH

For a more intense flavour, boil down the liquid in an open pan until it reduces to about half of the original volume. Taste and add salt.

PHEASANT OR GUINEA FOWL STOCK

Pheasant or guinea fowl stock is also made on the same principle as chicken stock. Use appropriately in game dishes.

GOOSE OR DUCK STOCK

Goose or duck stock may be made in the same manner as chicken stock. However, some chefs like to brown the carcasses first for a richer flavour and darker stock. Use for goose and duck recipes such as Duck, Ginger and Noodle Broth

Duck, Ginger and Noodle Broth

Serves 6 – 8

350-450g (12 – 16ozs) cooked duck meat, shredded

1.8 litres (3 pints) duck stock

2 1/2 inch (6cm) piece ginger, thinly sliced

3 star anise

4-6 spring onions, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

100g (3 1/2 ozs) rice noodles

2 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce)

4ozs (110g) Chinese cabbage, thinly sliced or 8ozs (225g) sprouting broccoli

6 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves

OR Thai basil leaves

2 red chillies, thinly sliced

crispy shallots

Bring the duck stock slowly to the boil with the ginger, star anise, spring onions and peppercorns.  Simmer gently for 30 minutes.  Strain the broth.  Add the fish sauce to the strained broth.

Pour the boiling water over the noodles. Bring the stock to the boil, add the cabbage or broccoli and simmer for 3 or 4 minutes.  Strain the noodles.  Divide them between the serving bowls, top with the duck pieces.  Taste and correct seasoning of the broth.  Ladle the broth and cabbage or broccoli over the noodles and duck.  Top with coriander leaves or Thai basil leaves.  Scatter with thinly sliced chilli and crispy shallots if you can find them.

Serve as soon as possible.

Kimchi

Thank you @pennyportous for these delicious kimchi and sauerkraut recipes from The Fermentation HQ at Ballymaloe Cookery School.

Makes 2 litres approx.

1kg (2 1/4lbs) Chinese cabbage, roughly chopped

1 carrot, chopped

12 spring onions

8 garlic cloves

5 chillies

6 tablespoons ginger

1 tablespoon fish sauce

2 Litre Kilner Jar

Make a brine of 2 litres of water with 8 tablespoon sea salt.  Cover the cabbage and carrots with the brine in a big bowl and put a weight on top to keep them submerged.  Leave overnight or for a few hours at least.

Put the spring onions, garlic, chillies, ginger and fish sauce into a food processer and chop finely. 

Drain the cabbage, keeping some of the bring solution. 

Mix the onion paste into the cabbage.  Stuff tightly into a 2 litre (3 1/2 pints) Kilner jar.  Use a small jar to weigh everything down the mixture.  Top up with small bit of brine to keep submerged. 

Ballymaloe Sauerkraut

At its basic sauerkraut is chopped or shredded cabbage that is salted and fermented in its own juice.  It has existed in one form or another for thousands of years and sailors have carried it on ships to ward off scurvy because of its high Vitamin C content.  Try to use organic vegetables if available.

800g (1 3/4lb) of cabbage

Or

500g (18oz) of cabbage plus

300g (10oz) of mixture of any of the following: grated carrot, turnip, celeriac, onion

3 level teaspoons sea salt

1 x 1 litre Kilner jar or similar

Small jam jar to act as a weight inside the lid of the 1 litre jar

Wash the cabbage if it’s muddy. Take off any damaged outside leaves. Quarter the cabbage, core it and then finely shred each quarter.

Mix the cabbage and the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Using your hands, scrunch cabbage and other vegetables with the salt until you begin to feel the juices being released.  Continue for a few minutes. Pack a little at a time you’re your Kilner jar and press down hard using your fist – this packs the kraut tight and helps force more water out of the vegetables.  Fill the Jar about 80% full to leave room for liquid that will come out of the vegetables as it starts to ferment.

Place a clean weight on top of cabbage (a small jar or container filled with water works well).  This weight is to keep the vegetables submerged under the brine. This is the most important thing to get your ferment off to the right start. (Under the brine, all will be fine!)

Sit the jar on a plate just in case some brine escapes while it is fermenting. Place on a counter top and allow to ferment for at least 5 days. Ideally leave it for 10 days to 2 weeks.  As you eat the kraut make sure the remainder is well covered in brine by pushing the vegetables under the brine and sealing well.  It will keep for months, the flavour develops and matures over time. Once you have opened it, it’s best to keep it in the fridge where it will last for months.

Penny Allen’s Water Kefir

Water kefir is a superfast fermented drink made using a starter culture or “grains”. These grains are essentially a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). These cultures convert sugar water into a probiotic, enzyme-rich refreshing drink filled with friendly microorganisms that can help bring balance to your microbiome. It’s very easy to make at home and at its most basic it’s just fermented sugar and water, ready to drink in just a couple of days!

120g (scant 4 1/2oz) water kefir grains 

70g (scant 3oz) organic sugar – the less sugar you add the quicker it will take to ferment

2 organic apricots or equivalent of other dried fruit – such as figs, dates, prunes, raisins

1 litre (1 3/4 pints) of water – filtered or dechlorinated  

slice of organic unwaxed lemon or lime

1 x 1 1/2 litre (2 1/2 pints) Kilner jar 

Making Water Kefir for the first time

Put the sugar into the 1.5 litre Kilner jar. Pour in the filtered or dechlorinated water and stir well with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved into the water. 

Now strain your starter jar of water kefir, catching the grains in a sieve and discard the liquid they have been in. 

Tip these grains into the sugar water in the Kilner jar. Add the dried fruit and slice of lemon and secure the lid.

Leave out on a countertop to ferment at room temperature for 2-4 days. After day 2 start to taste the kefir to see if it’s to your liking – you decide when it’s ready – the longer it ferments, the less sweet it will be, the sugar being converted into beneficial organic acids.

When the kefir acquires the flavour that suits you, lift out the dried fruit and lemon (which should be floating on the surface). Strain the liquid through a sieve, catching the kefir grains in the sieve. Pour the liquid into a bottle – secure with a lid and store in the fridge – it will carbonate nicely in the fridge – just be careful when opening! The kefir can be enjoyed as is or you might choose to flavour it – we call this the second fermentation – see below.

Now make your next batch.

Water kefir wants to be made over and over again. You have your grains in a sieve so just put more sugar into the 1.5 litre Kilner jar and add 1 litre (1 3/4 pints) of filtered/dechlorinated water. Stir once again until the sugar has dissolved into the water and add grains to jar. Add a new slice of lemon and 2 pieces of dried fruit. Secure the lid and leave to ferment once again on the countertop for 2-4 days, tasting each day until it’s to your liking.

Grains might gradually multiply over time. You can divide them and give some away or you can make larger quantities of water kefir in larger jar. 

If you want to take a break from making water kefir you can feed the grains extra sugar- perhaps double the amount you usually add and then it can be left on the counter for a week – maybe two. Some people put the jar into the fridge to really slow down fermentation but I would suggest that a week in the fridge is the most you should do cos the grains will become too dormant and difficult to revive.

Second Fermentation

After transferring your water kefir into a bottle add a handful of one of the following to your taste.

fresh or frozen raspberries/blackberries

fresh or frozen strawberries

mango, pineapple and lime 

3-4 small pieces of Crystallised Ginger sliced thinly

several crushed mint leaves and juice of 1 lemon

splash of rosewater and some crushed cardamom seeds

1/2 tablespoon elderberries, 1 tablespoon rosehips and zest from 1 orange

1 vanilla pod (which can be reused many times)

Milk Kefir – Penny Allen

Milk kefir is a probiotic drink, a bit like a slightly effervescent yoghurt.

It is made with kefir grains and milk. The grains can be used again and again and will multiply if well looked after. The grains are not related to cereal grains and neither are they related to water kefir grains. The grains are  a bio-matrix made by yeasts and bacteria. There are many ways to enjoy kefir. It can be added to smoothies, used as you would buttermilk, great as a marinade to tenderise meat or add spices to make lassi.

Basic Recipe

1 tablespoon milk kefir grains

250ml (9fl oz) milk

Put your grains into a glass jar.

Add the milk and stir gently with a non-metal spoon.

Cover the jar with a clean cloth and put somewhere out of direct sunlight.

Let it sit for 12-24 hours until it reaches the desired sourness.  Stir from time to time. This helps it to ferment evenly. Taste it after 12 hours.

When the kefir has reached the desirable taste, strain the kefir through a plastic sieve into a bowl. You might need to help it through with a plastic spoon. You will be left with the kefir grains in the sieve, ready to be reused. Don’t be tempted to wash them.

You can now make the basic recipe again. As the grains multiply you can make larger batches.

To the strained kefir you can now add something like a vanilla pod and honey or spices to add flavour.

If you want to take a break from brewing kefir just put the grains into a fresh cup of milk and put it in the fridge. This will slow down fermentation for a few days.

Coconut Milk Kefir

Use 2 tablespoons of milk kefir grains and replace the milk with 1 can of coconut milk and proceed as in master recipe. 
Note: The original grains need to be feed with milk every week or every three or four batches as they need lactose to keep active.  The lactose is digested by the kefir so it’s still suitable for those intolerant to lactose.