ArchiveFebruary 2025

Mary Jo McMillin, our lovely American friend from Chicago returned again this year to spend a few weeks here with us in Ireland. She has been coming for over 40 years. It’s scarcely the best time of the year to holiday in Ireland but she loves this country in hail, rain or snow, even during the crazy storms. 

Mary Jo loves to cook and came originally to learn from Myrtle Allen at Ballymaloe House. She loved Myrtle and her philosophy of writing a menu everyday depending on what food was in season and at its best in the walled garden and local area.

Later, she started her own restaurant ‘Mary Jo’s Cuisine’ in the University town of Oxford in Ohio. Now in her 80s, she still loves to cook, continues to test and develop recipes and is an example to all of us in how she can create so many utterly delicious dishes from bits and bobs from the fridge and sometimes a selection of leftovers. We look forward to every bite she cooks and there’s zero waste.

She’s an example to all of us in how she thinks of ways to use up scraps of this and that.

This Boston baked beans and the choucroute garni were cooked in the time-honoured way in the bread oven as it gradually cooled down after the morning bake, maximising the heat. You can’t imagine how unctuous and delicious they tasted.

The Egyptian recipe for Mujadarah was also a gem but I’ll share that another time. Both these comforting Winter dishes reheat brilliantly and are perfect to share with friends for a kitchen supper.

The tuiles were made from leftover egg whites – you absolutely must make them, they keep well and are irresistible,

The redcurrant panna cotta was made from the end of a bag of last season’s redcurrants from the freezer.

Mary Jo also tested this recipe with blackcurrants, it too was delicious, but we liked this redcurrant version best and it can of course be made a day or two ahead if you are having friends around. Thank you, Mary Jo, for the joy you bring to all of us by sharing your recipes.

Mary Jo’s Choucroute Garni

A whole meal in a pot, one of the most comforting and delicious cold weather recipes

Serves 4

450g fresh sauerkraut

2 thick strips bacon, smoked if possible

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

1 stick celery, diced

1 small cooking apple, peeled and diced

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

branch thyme

bay leaf

110ml white wine

225ml chicken stock as needed

Assorted chunky sausages, perhaps saucisse de Toulouse or Tuscan sausages, even a little scrap of chorizo and a piece of smoked pork or a pork shoulder chop if available.

Drain the sauerkraut and rinse only if very salty. 

Dice the bacon into 1cm pieces and melt off the fat in a heavy Le Creuset dish. Remove the bacon and in the pork fat, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, apple and garlic until softened. Stir in the sauerkraut, add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the smoked pork, shoulder chop; cover with parchment paper and lid and gently simmer or bake in a slow oven at 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for an hour.

Brown the sausages and add to the dish and continue to slowly cook covered for another 25-60 minutes.  Serve with boiled potatoes.

Mary Jo’s Boston Baked Beans

THE very best baked beans you’ll ever taste and such a joy to tuck into on a chilly day.

Serves 6-8

225g haricot or other small white beans

1 clove garlic

¼ tbsp olive oil

110-150g streaky bacon, smoked if possible and diced into 1cm pieces

1 small onion chopped 

1 clove garlic chopped

25g dark brown sugar

¾ tbsp molasses OR 2 teaspoons of treacle

¾ tbsp cider vinegar

pinch cayenne

1 tsp dry mustard

110g tomato purée (blitzed tinned tomatoes may be used if you don’t have tomato purée in your freezer)

salt

Wash and soak the beans overnight. Drain and discard the soaking water, place in a saucepan or pressure cooker with fresh water, add the garlic and olive oil. Cook until almost tender, 10-15 minutes. Reserve the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, gently sauté the bacon; add the onion, garlic and sauté until tender.

Combine the bacon, onion, garlic, brown sugar, molasses or treacle, cider vinegar, cayenne, mustard and tomato purée plus salt. This should be a soupy mixture. Place all in a deep baking dish. Cover and slowly cook in the oven at 150°C/Gas Mark 2 for 3-4 hours. Uncover for the final hour. (Mark sure the beans are meltingly tender before removing the cover). 

Mary Jo’s Redcurrant Panna Cotta

Mary Jo made this for a little bag of frozen redcurrants she retrieved in the freezer, but of course fresh redcurrants would be delicious even if they have come from as far away as South America at this time of the year!

Serves 6 small portions

225g redcurrants or blackcurrants (may use frozen)

80g caster sugar

225g cream

1 ½ gelatine sheets softened in cold water

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp kirsch (optional)

Combine the currants and sugar in a bowl and allow to macerate for 30 minutes. 

In a medium saucepan. Add the cream and macerated currants and heat to the ‘shivery’ stage or until the mixture feels hot to your little finger (60°C) – crush a little with a potato masher.   Add the strained, softened gelatine leaves, stir and set aside for 30 minutes. 

Press through a sieve pushing through most of the berries. Stir in the vanilla extract and optional teaspoon of Kirsch and chill in a glass bowl. Serve with Almond Tuiles (see recipe).

Mary Jo’s Almond Tuiles

Makes 120-140 approx. depending on size

110g butter

110ml egg whites

375g caster sugar

75g plain flour

225g sliced almonds (flaked almonds)

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan)/Gas Mark 6.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Cool slightly. Stir in the egg whites, sugar and flour, add the sliced almonds and fold in to combine.

Drop by half teaspoons onto Silpat mats or parchment lined baking sheets.

Make sure the cookies are well separated. Bake in the preheated oven (180°C fan preferably) for 8-10 minutes or until golden. The cookies will be very thin and crisp.

Recently I was invited to speak at an event called ‘Mother Earth: A Food Symposium’. The panel included chair Ali Dunworth, Cass McCarthy of Lúnasa Farm, Laurann O’Reilly (nutritionist) and Maggie Roche of the Little Acorn Cafe and was entitled ‘Fab Food and Nourishing Nutrition’, but the main focus was how to encourage children to eat and enjoy nourishing wholesome food. The session was held at the Kildare Innovation Campus to celebrate St. Brigid’s Day was well attended. It was followed by a session on Caring for your Pets which ironically had a much larger audience.

Several speakers on my panel highlighted the challenges faced by young parents who have to try to juggle all the balls in the air. Both parents working full time to pay for childcare and the mortgage. The reality of darting into the supermarket on the way home from work to grab some ingredients or a ready meal. Then dashing home to cook something for the family more often than not with few cooking skills, doing their very best but endlessly feeling guilty.

We talked about the importance of sitting down around the kitchen table and the family eating together and the thorny issue of phones or no phones.

Cass stressed and others agreed that sourcing real food, not ultra-processed food must be a priority. But the reality is that for many, sourcing cheap food is the main priority and cooking chemical-free food is a long way down our list of priorities. Coincidentally, the following session about feeding dogs nutritious food had almost twice the audience. I rest my case!

Here in Ireland, we spend less of our income than ever before on healthy wholesome food.

Many people argue they can’t afford to spend more for fresh food every week, yet we have no qualms about spending lavishly on our nails, mobile phones, magazines…According to EU research, the reality is, that here in Ireland, we spend the highest percentage of our weekly food budget (46.9% as opposed to 10% in Portugal) on ultra-processed food. This is worrying to say the very least, a growing body of research confirms that UPF causes obesity and is connected to an increasing number of health conditions. So, it is undeniably a question of priorities.

Several of the panel stressed that parents need to start as they mean to continue, no cereals, snacks or sliced pan in the house, no phones or other devices during meals at the table.

Family meals at the kitchen table are not just about eating, we learn social skills, table manners, how to lay a table, share, how to chat to each other, even if we are arguing, it keeps the lines of communication open.

Mothers are worried about picky children and what to do but I remembered my father-in-law saying, ‘children will not starve as long as there’s food in the house, but we need to make sure that it’s nourishing, wholesome real food not addictive edible food like substances’.

There is undoubtedly a crisis. Parents are doing their best, but the odds are stacked against them as long as ultra-processed foods are cheaper and addictive and the constant advertising to children continues. I don’t know the answer, but we have an epidemic of obesity and health issues amongst children. Japan is making children’s health a priority…Ireland please follow. 

A comforting Roast Chicken Dinner with Gravy and Julia’s Roasties

A traditional roast stuffed chicken with lots of gravy, a roast dinner is always a family favourite…. a forgotten flavour for many people, partly because unless you have access to a really good bird the smell and flavour will be quite different to one’s childhood memory.  People often feel that making stuffing is too bothersome but if you keep some breadcrumbs in the freezer, it can literally be made in minutes.  Should I cook the stuffing inside the bird or separately?  The best place for the stuffing is inside the bird where it absorbs lots of delicious juices as it cooks.  Do not overfill the bird otherwise the heat may not penetrate fully.  This is particularly important if you are using an intensively reared bird which may be infected with salmonella and/or campylobacter.

Serves 6

1.5 – 2.3kg free range chicken, preferably organic

Giblet Stock (optional)

giblets (keep the liver for a chicken liver pâté), and wishbone

1 thickly sliced carrot

1 thickly sliced onion

1 stick celery, sliced

a few parsley stalks and a sprig of thyme

Stuffing

45g butter

75g chopped onion

75-100g soft white breadcrumbs

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs e.g., parsley, thyme, chives and annual marjoram

salt and freshly ground pepper

a little soft butter

Gravy

600-900ml of stock from giblets or chicken stock

Garnish

sprigs of flat parsley

To Serve

Julia’s Roasties (see recipe)

First, sprinkle the chicken lightly all over with pure dairy salt (2 rounded teaspoons) for 20 minutes approx.

This seasons the meat, enhances the flavour and firms the texture of the flesh.

Next, prepare the chicken.

Remove the wishbone from the neck end of the chicken, this is easily done by lifting back the loose neck, skin and cutting around the wishbone with a small knife – tug to remove, this isn’t at all essential, but it does make carving much easier later on. Tuck the wing tips underneath the chicken to make a neat shape. Put the wishbone, giblets, carrot, onions, celery and herbs into a saucepan. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, skin and simmer gently while the chicken is roasting.  This is the basis of the gravy. Alternatively, use homemade chicken stock.

To make the stuffing, sweat the onions gently in the butter in a covered saucepan until soft, 10 minutes approx. then stir in the white breadcrumbs, the freshly chopped herbs, a little salt and pepper to taste. Allow it to get quite cold unless you are going to cook the chicken immediately. Fill the cavity with stuffing but not too tightly. Dry the chicken with kitchen paper. Smear the breast and legs with a little soft butter.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Weigh the chicken and allow about 20 minutes to 450g (1lb) and 20 minutes over – put on middle shelf in oven. Baste a couple of times during the cooking with the buttery juices. The chicken is done when the juices are running clear.

To test, prick the thickest part at the base of the thigh, hold a spoon underneath to collect the liquid, examine the juices – they should be clear.

Remove the chicken to a carving dish, keep it warm and allow to rest while you make the gravy.

To make the gravy, tilt the roasting tin to one corner and spoon off the surplus fat from the juices and return the roasting pan to the stove. Alternatively, use a maigret to degrease*. Deglaze the pan juices with the fat free stock from the giblets and bones (you will need 600 – 900ml) depending on the size of the chicken). Using a whisk, stir and scrape well to dissolve the caramelized meat juices in the roasting pan. Boil it up well, season and thicken with a little roux if you like (the gravy should not be thick). Taste and correct seasoning, serve in a hot gravy boat.

If possible, serve the chicken on a nice carving dish surrounded by crispy roast potatoes and some sprigs of flat parsley then arm yourself with a sharp knife and bring it to the table. Carve as best you can and ignore rude remarks if you are still practicing but do try to organise it so that each person gets some brown and some white meat. Serve with gravy and Julia’s roasties (see recipe).

*Use the cooked carcass for stock. 

Note

*A maigret, though not essential, is a very useful piece of kitchen equipment – it simplifies the task of separating the fat from juices.

Julia’s Roasties

8 potatoes, unwashed Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

Choose medium to large potatoes of even size. Scrub and peel. Put into a saucepan, cover with cold salted water and bring to the boil. Drain thoroughly. Lightly scratch the surface with a fork and season with salt.

Put the potatoes into smoking hot fat or olive oil. Baste occasionally. Cook until soft in a hot oven 230°C/Gas Mark 8 for 30-45 minutes depending on the size. Drain well on kitchen paper. Serve immediately.

Alternatively, put the potatoes into smoking hot fat in the same tin as the meat, 40-45 minutes before the meat is fully cooked and baste well. Cook until soft. (Baste the potatoes when you baste the meat and turn them over after 25 minutes). Drain on kitchen paper and serve immediately.

Carrot and Parsnip Mash

Sunshine and Green, White and Gold are some of the evocative names given to this popular vegetable combination, still widely made in Ireland.

Serves 4-6

225g carrots

350g parsnips

50g butter

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

Garnish

chopped parsley

Wash and peel the carrots and parsnips. Slice the carrot into 5mm slices. Cook in a little boiled salted water with a pinch of sugar until soft.

Cook the parsnips separately in boiling salted water.

Strain both, mash or purée together and add butter, salt and freshly ground pepper.

Country Rhubarb Cake 

This traditional rhubarb cake, based on an enriched bread dough, was made all over Ireland and is a treasured memory from my childhood. It would have originally been baked in the bastible or ‘baker’ over the open fire. My mother, who taught me this recipe, varied the filling with the seasons – first rhubarb, then gooseberries, later in the autumn, apples and plums.

Serves 8

340g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt

½ tsp bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

55g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

85g butter

1 organic, free-range egg, if possible

165ml milk, buttermilk or sour milk

680g rhubarb, finely chopped

170-225g granulated sugar

beaten organic, free-range egg, to glaze

softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar, to serve

1 x 25cm enamel or Pyrex pie plate

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4

Sieve the flour, salt, bread soda and caster sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter. Whisk the egg and mix with the milk, buttermilk or sour milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in most of the liquid and mix to a soft dough, add the remaining liquid if necessary.

Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface. Turn out the soft dough and pat gently into a round. Divide into two pieces: one should be slightly larger than the other; keep the larger one for the lid.

Dip your fingers in flour. Roll out the smaller piece of pastry to fit the enamel or Pyrex pie plate. Scatter the rhubarb all over the base and sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the other piece of dough until it is exactly the size to cover the plate, lift it on and press the edges gently to seal them. Don’t worry if you have to patch the soft dough.  Make a hole in the centre for the steam to escape. Brush again with beaten egg and sprinkle with a very small amount of caster sugar.

Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour or until the rhubarb is soft and the crust is golden. Leave it to sit for 10-15 minutes before serving so that the juice can soak into the crust. Sprinkle with caster sugar. Serve while still warm, with a bowl of softly whipped cream and some moist, brown sugar.

The London food scene is ‘insane’ at present. Despite the challenging climate over there as well as here in Ireland for the restaurant industry, new places continue to open, the choice is mesmerising, and the standards seem to continue to rise and rise.

I spent a couple of days whizzing around London recently and didn’t miss a meal slot. The raison d’etre for the trip was to attend a lunch to celebrate 10 years of Portland on Great Portland Street, co-owned by a past student, Daniel Morgenthau. The original chef, Merlin Le Bron Johnson of Michelin starred Osip in Bruton (Somerset) came back for the day to cook up a super delicious lunch for a group of invited guests and friends of the ‘farm to table’ restaurant which now also has a Michelin star.

We were treated to the most delicious lunch. We started with six ‘Nibbles’ including macaron of mushroom and Parmesan; crispy chicken skin, liver parfait, candied walnuts, Muscat grapes; sausage roll and clementine; smoked cods roe and crudités; Flourish Farm brassicas, smoked egg yolk emulsion, black winter truffle; heritage carrots, salsify, tunworth custard and carrot brioche, one more delicious than the next.

The main course was a game pithivier of layers of wild duck and guinea fowl encased in puff pastry crust with a delicious green pepper gravy and a salad of winter leaves including my favourite speckled Castelfranco and several types of radicchio.

Pudding was Portland Trifle sprinkled with frosted pistachios made with the first of the new season’s forced rhubarb directly from the growers in the famous Yorkshire triangle. Daniel served it with one of my favourite ‘stickies’ – a sweet Chateau de Chantegrive, Cerons, France (from 2015, the year Portland opened). It was so, so good. I had several helpings. 

Can you imagine that I went for dinner after that to another restaurant you need to know about – Mountain located at 16-18 Beak Street. Welsh Tomos Parry and his team cook up delicious simple dishes with superb ingredients. I loved having a table near the open kitchen where I could watch the chefs cooking over fire in the wood burning oven and conventionally, it’s just like having a personal cooking class.

We loved the crunchy pumpkin and sage leaf fritters in the lightest tempura batter, all were delicious, but the mutton chops blew me away. An almost forgotten flavour – go there especially to taste them.

A variety of unusual homemade ice creams including Jalapeño and honey to clear the palette or artisan cheeses in perfect condition if you’d rather. 

My non-foodie highlight was a trip to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to see the Vincent van Gogh exhibition, I made sure to arrive early, I was third in the queue so managed to get close to the extraordinary paintings, so grateful and moving to see his ‘Self portrait’, Starry Night over the Rhône, ‘Irises’, ‘Sunflowers’, ‘The Poets Garden’ in real life. 

Lunch that day was at Canteen, located at 310 Portobello Road which opened its doors in November last. They don’t take bookings, but it was packed on a grey and drizzly Wednesday. The vibrant young team with no one looking a day over 25 were properly impressive, the menu was hopelessly tempting.

Once again, the food was super fresh and super delicious.

We loved the starter salad of radicchio (two types), slivers of Pecorino and toasted walnuts, pomegranate seeds and another of shaved fennel, blood orange and mint. 

We also had to taste the gutsy ribollita drizzled with Fèlsina extra virgin olive oil, a meal in itself and the fettuccini ragu dusted with Parmesan.

For the main course, we shared a butterflied mackerel with agretti (monk’s beard) and anchoïade – a delicious combination.

Can’t wait to get some Ballycotton summer mackerel to try that inspired dish.

Despite being totally full, I had to taste a quenelle of the lightest and most exquisite chocolate mousse I’ve ever tasted – you might have to make a detour to taste that too. Also very good wine choices including a selection of low and alcohol-free beverages and cocktails.

While I was there, I met five past students, two of whom Beth O’Brien and George Williams are planning to open a restaurant The Fat Badger upstairs over Canteen in a few weeks’ time, so watch that space too. Apparently, they’re planning to do lots of pies and baked Alaska – a blast from the past, how cool does that sound?

A special thank you to Daniel Morgenthau of Portland (www.portlandrestaurant.co.uk) and Jessica Filbey of Canteen (Instagram: @canteen.310) who shared recipes for our Examiner readers to enjoy.

Portland’s Whipped Cods Roe

Silky and morish, eat as a dip or as part of a mezze…

Serves 8 approx.

Ingredients

2 slices white bread (crusts removed and soaked in milk)

200g smoked cods roe

2 garlic cloves

35g lemon juice

100g extra virgin olive oil

100g water

10g rapeseed oil

Method

In a food processor blend together the bread, cods roe, garlic and lemon juice until smooth.

With the food processor running firstly add the water followed by the oils in a slow steady stream as if making mayonnaise. Season with salt to taste.

Portland’s Rhubarb Trifle

Oh, my good goodness, this was so irresistible, I couldn’t help myself, I had three helpings…it takes time to make but is so worth it!

Serves 8 approx.

Components

Rhubarb Jelly

Genoise Sponge Discs

Grand Marnier Syrup

Vanilla Custard

Rhubarb Compote

Syllabub

Frosted Pistachios

orange zest

For the rhubarb jelly

Ingredients

zest of 1 orange

zest of 1 lemon

1 vanilla pod, scraped

120g strawberries, chopped

600g rhubarb, chopped

75g elderflower cordial, diluted

120ml dessert/sweet wine

120ml water

15g grenadine

150g caster sugar

Method

Place all the ingredients in a metal bowl and cover with a lid. Place the bowl on top of a pan of gently simmering water and cook for around 1 hour until all the liquids have been released and the rhubarb is very soft. Strain off the liquid by pushing through a fine sieve. Measure the liquid and add 4 leaves of bloomed gelatine per 1 litre of boiled liquid to set the jelly.

For the genoise sponge

Ingredients

20g milk

40g butter

6 eggs

180g caster sugar

180g plain flour (sieved)

Method

Firstly, gently melt the milk and butter together. Meanwhile whip together the eggs and sugar (ideally in a stand mixer) until light and fluffy. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture bit by bit, followed by the milk/butter. Transfer the mixture to a baking parchment lined baking tray and spread out evenly to around 2cm thick. Bake at 170°C/Gas Mark 3 for around 14 minutes until cooked through.

For the Grand Marnier syrup

Ingredients

50g grand Marnier

100g water

75g sugar

Method

Place all the above into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Chill

For the vanilla custard

Ingredients

750g double cream

2 vanilla pods

225g egg yolk

130g caster sugar

15g cornflour

Method

Place the cream in a saucepan, scrape out the vanilla seeds and add to the pan along with the pods. Bring to the boil. Separately whisk together the egg yolk, sugar and corn flour until light in colour. Once the cream has boiled pour over the egg yolks and whisk well together. Return to the pan and cook out to 83°C whilst whisking constantly. Once cooked pass through a fine sieve and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours and then whisk again.

For the rhubarb compote

Ingredients

325g roughly chopped rhubarb

50g butter

75g sugar

1 x vanilla pods

400g nicely diced rhubarb

Method

Place everything except the diced rhubarb into a saucepan, cook until soft and blend in a blender until smooth.

Place the purée into a pan and add the diced rhubarb, cook gently on a low heat until the diced rhubarb is just cooked. Chill

For the syllabub

Ingredients

325g cream

juice of ½ orange

75g sherry

30g Grand Marnier

75g sugar

Method

Whisk the cream to a stiff peak and gently fold in the remaining ingredients.

For the frosted pistachios

Ingredients

300g caster sugar

75g water

2g ground cardamom

175g green pistachio

Method

Place the sugar and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by half until just starting to change colour. Take off the heat and throw in the ground cardamom and pistachios and keep stirring until the sugar crystalises. Scrape out the pan onto baking paper and let cool.

To build the trifle

Take your preferred trifle bowl and pour in a layer of the rhubarb jelly until it comes one-fifth of the way up the side of the glass. Place in the fridge until completely set (ideally overnight).

Cut out the genoise sponge into discs the same circumference as your trifle bowl. Place this on top of the set sponge (it should be the same thickness as the jelly). Generously spoon over the Grand Marnier syrup until the sponge is thoroughly soaked. Now spoon over the custard and spread out, again it should be the same thickness as the previous two layers. You may not need it all. Next repeat the process with the rhubarb compote and then add a generous dollop of the syllabub. Lastly, sprinkle over a liberal amount of frosted pistachios and finish with a few gratings of orange zest.

 Enjoy… 

Canteen’s Ribollita

A delicious, comforting meal in a bowl, make a big pot as it reheats brilliantly.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 carrots, 180g approx.

1 heart of celery, 80g approx.

1 red onion, 175g approx.

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic

a few sprigs rosemary

a few sprigs sage

a few sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

400g tinned tomatoes

1 big bunch Cavolo Nero (kale)

800g cooked borlotti beans

500ml chicken stock

½ sourdough loaf

extra virgin olive oil

Parmesan to finish

Method

Chop the carrots, celery heart and red onions finely and fry in a heavy based pan with a good glug of olive oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the garlic and herbs and add this to the sofrito mixture and fry for another 2 minutes.

Break up the tinned tomatoes with your hands and add to the base, cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Shred the Cavolo Nero from its stalks, roughly chop and add to the base, fry for a further 4 minutes.

Take half the borlotti and blitz in a food processor until smooth. Add the blitzed beans and the whole borlotti beans to the base.

Heat the chicken stock and add to the vegetables, add the bay leaf and season again to taste with salt and pepper.

Take the crusts off the sourdough loaf and slice.

Place the slices over the top of the soup, add a good glug of oil all over and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t catch on the bottom, until the cavolo is soft and the bread has soaked up the soup.

Stir the bread through the soup until it is broken up.

Serve with another good glug of oil and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Canteen’s Chocolate Mousse with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

This was truly the lightest, silkiest and most delicious chocolate mousse I ever ate, thank you to Jessica Filbey at Canteen for sharing the recipe but do go and taste the original.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

400g good quality dark chocolate (Callebaut 54%)

210g good quality extra virgin olive oil

230g egg yolks with 90g caster sugar

200g cream

360g egg whites with 60g caster sugar

pinch Maldon sea salt

Method

Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie and stir in the olive oil.

Whisk the egg yolks and 90g caster sugar until pale and very thick.

While this is happening, whisk the double cream by hand until very soft peaks form.

Carefully fold the whisked egg yolks into the chocolate and oil mixture in three increments, until incorporated.

Take two large spoons of the chocolate mixture and fold it into the whipped double cream. Set this aside.

Whisk the egg whites, 60g caster sugar and the salt, until firm peaks form. In thee increments, fold in the whipped egg whites to the chocolatey, egg yolk mixture until incorporated. Finally fold in the double cream. Pour into a large serving bowl and put in the fridge to set for a few hours.

Scoop and serve with a drizzle of your finest olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.

As promised, this week’s column is completely devoted to what is probably my favourite but most underrated winter vegetable – Jerusalem artichokes. Despite their name, they’ve got nothing to do with Jerusalem and aren’t even related to artichokes. The flavour is reminiscent of globe artichoke hearts – sweet and nutty. The name appears to be an adaptation of girasole, the Italian word for sunflowers.

They wouldn’t win any prizes in a veggie beauty contest. They resemble misshapen, knobbly potatoes and can be white, pale purple or yellow depending on the strain.

The variety we grow has been passed down from generation to generation in the Allen family. They are ridiculously easy to cultivate, just pop into the soil like potatoes once the weather is dry from the end of February/early March, allowing about 9-12cm between each one. Next winter, you’ll be rewarded with at least 8 or 10 plump rhizomes where you planted a single Jerusalem artichoke.

In the US, they are called Sunchokes, they are in fact a species of the sunflower family. The foliage grows about 8-10 feet tall and the yellow flowers in August resemble small sunflowers and are loved by bees. You could plant them at the back of an herbaceous flower bed to give height and colour. Some folks have had fun creating an annual maze with them – how fun is that?

The leaves are frost tender, but the tubers are hardy and can stay in the ground throughout the winter – we harvest from November right through to the end of February even into March depending on the weather. They begin to sprout if it’s particularly mild.

Choose the largest rhizomes and replant in a different location so the next harvest will be healthy and fulsome too.

Some supermarkets are now selling Jerusalem Artichokes, you’ll also find them at Midleton and Mahon Point Farmers’ Market and the English Market in Cork city.

If you haven’t already got some growing in your garden, jump into the car and make a pilgrimage to our Farm Shop in Shanagarry, I’ll give you a present of a few artichokes. Where you plant one artichoke, you’ll have ten next year – it’s like magic! 

By the way, Jerusalem artichokes have the highest inulin content of any vegetable, super important to stimulate the microbes in your gut biome, so here’s a really valuable hot tip…

If you’ve recently been on a course of antibiotics, go out of your way to get some Jerusalem artichoke, I love the flavour but for some they can be a little difficult to digest, hence the nickname ‘fartichokes’ but that’s just an indication that they are definitely stimulating your gut biome!

So now what to do with this ugly vegetable.

They are wonderfully versatile, of course they make a wonderful soup which I sometimes scatter with chorizo crumbs or add a topping of avocado and hazelnut salsa. We love to roast them until the edges are caramelised, they’re delicious hot or cold, as a side or as a basis for a salad.

Slice them thinly and fry until crisp for artichoke chips, crunchy and gorgeous to nibble with a drink or scattered on salads.

Slice and cook to melting tenderness in butter or extra virgin olive oil, whizz to a purée and mix with mashed potato – so good!

They also work brilliantly in a gratin layered up with potato and maybe celeriac or parsnip. That can be an entire meal, maybe with a few bacon or pancetta lardons added. It’s good to know that they can cook a little unevenly but that’s part of their charm.

Crunchy raw Jerusalem artichokes are also irresistible but if sliced ahead, they need to be kept in acidulated water to prevent them from discolouring. Just put a teaspoon of vinegar into the water, strain and discard the liquid before cooking.

We also love these fermented Jerusalem artichokes with even more nutrients – try these as a nibble or delicious crunchy accompaniment.

A simple purée makes an irresistible accompaniment to scallop, and a dice of caramelised Jerusalem artichoke raises a simple risotto to a new level – try it.

Now you see why I am so passionate about raising awareness of probably the most underrated of all winter vegetables!

Here are a few recipes to whet your appetite.

Roast Jerusalem Artichoke, Avocado and Hazelnut Salad

Everyone loved this delicious combination – a recent addition to our repertoire. The winter salad is particularly good with goose, duck, pheasant or as a starter.

Serves 4-6

450g Jerusalem artichokes, well-scrubbed.

2 tbsp sunflower or extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

Avocado and Roast Hazelnut Salsa

1 ripe avocado, halved, stone removed, peeled and diced into neat scant 1cm dice

3 tbsp of hazelnuts, roasted, skinned and coarsely chopped

3 tbsp of hazelnut or olive oil

1 tbsp of chopped flat parsley

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Garnish

sprigs of flat parsley

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.

Leave the artichokes whole or cut in half lengthways, if large. Toss the Jerusalem artichokes with the oil.  Season well with salt.  Bake in a shallow gratin dish or roasting tin for 20 to 30 minutes until soft and caramelized at the edges.  Test with the tip of a knife – they should be mostly tender but offer some resistance.  Season with pepper and serve.

Meanwhile, make the avocado and roast hazelnut salsa.

Mix the ingredients for the avocado and hazelnut garnish. Taste and correct seasoning. This mixture will sit quite happily in your fridge for an hour as the oil coating the avocado will prevent it from discolouring.

To Serve

When the artichokes are cooked, allow to cool, sprinkle with avocado and hazelnut salsa.

Toss gently, taste and tweak the seasoning if necessary.

Scatter with sprigs of flat parsley.

Jerusalem Artichoke Crisps

We serve these delicious crisps on warm salads, as a garnish for Roast pheasant or Guinea fowl and as a topping for Parsnip or root vegetable soup.  Delicious crisps may be made from other vegetables apart from the much loved potato.  Celeriac, beetroot, leek and even carrots are also good.  Careful not to have the oil too hot or the crisps will quickly turn and be bitter.

Serves 6-8

3-4 Jerusalem artichokes

sunflower oil

salt

Heat good quality oil in a deep fryer to 150°C. 

Scrub the Jerusalem artichokes well and peel if necessary. Slice in wafer thin rounds.  Allow to dry out a little on kitchen paper.

Drop a few at a time into the hot oil, they colour and crisp up very quickly.  Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle lightly with salt.

Pan-grilled Scallops with Jerusalem Artichoke Purée and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Serves 8

8 super fresh scallops

sea salt

Jerusalem Artichoke Purée

450g Jerusalem artichokes (weighed after peeling)

450g potatoes, scrubbed clean

4 tbsp cream

25g butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)

To Serve

extra virgin olive oil

flakes of sea salt

little sprigs of chervil

First make the artichoke purée.

Cook the artichokes and potatoes separately in boiling salted water until tender and completely cooked through.  Peel the potatoes immediately and place them with the hot artichokes in a food processor.  Add the cream and butter and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Blend until a silky consistency is achieved.  Taste and correct seasoning.

To serve, reheat the artichoke purée if necessary. Heat the pan on a high heat, dry the scallops well, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with a little salt. Pan-grill for a few minutes on both sides, put a generous tablespoon of artichoke purée on each small plate, top each one with a pan-grilled scallop, drizzle with extra virgin and sprinkle each plate with a few flakes of sea salt.

Top with a little sprig of chervil.