Last week, I embarked on my first adventure since I acquired my new ‘bionic’ knee over eight weeks ago.
I’ve been invited by Richard Corrigan, the wild and wonderful and deliciously unpredictable Irish chef, patron of several London restaurants including Bentley’s and Lindsey House to participate in ‘Homegrown’,
A super exciting weekend to celebrate the Autumn harvest with workshops, talks and sensational live music – How could I refuse…
There were master classes, foraging walks and many delicious seasonal meals hosted by Richard and his guest chefs. All held at Virginia Park Lodge, Richard’s Irish country house hotel and estate in County Cavan. Over 150 guests and many of his chef friends including Jeremy Lee, Mark Hix, Robin Gill, Angela Hartnett who love to work hard and play hard were over from London and beyond to participate and have fun. Throughout the weekend, a brilliant lineup of food related events, demos and talks ran concurrently. Long table dinners in the greenhouse under the vines, piggy feasts in the piggery, foraging for wild mushrooms, taco making with Lily Ramirez, kombucha with Daphne Shackleton, oysters galore and how about Mary Coughlan and Liam Ó Maolí for after dinner entertainment that well into the night and early morning – magical stuff. Be sure to check out next year’s Homegrown dates – www.virginiaparklodge.com
We called into Sheridan’s shop close by, what a selection of farmhouse cheese, artisan and specialist foods. A real gem, hidden in the countryside at Virginia Road Station.
Then onto Belfast, at this time of the year, it can be difficult to find somewhere to stay or eat on Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday nights. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at James Street South and a breakfast bap at Established on Hill Street in the Cathedral District.
Lunch at Capparelli at the Mill, the new place everyone’s talking about in a beautifully restored 18 Century watermill in the heart of County Down, chef Carlos Capparelli worked with Ottolenghi in London for many years,
On up to the Antrim coast to find Ursa Minor, an artisan bakery in Ballymena. I’ve been wanting to taste their sourdough and viennoiserie for several years and it was certainly worth the journey.
Just a few miles ‘out the road’ we found Broughgammon farm where Charlie and Becky Cole make a range of artisanal charcuterie. We arrived as kids from the local school were learning firsthand how food is produced. The farm tour was in full swing, kids were enthusiastically digging potatoes to bring home for supper, picking pumpkins and decorating scarecrows. Other farms please copy…
Along the north Antrim coast, past the Giants Causeway, and the Mussenden Temple, over to Breac House just outside Dunfanaghy in County Donegal. A bed and breakfast with memorable breakfasts owned by Niall Campbell and Cathrine Burke with only four bedrooms on the Horn Head Penninsula overlooking Killahoey Strand, Sheephaven Bay and Muckish Mountain. Booking well ahead is essential and so worthwhile.
I’d forgotten how utterly beautiful Donegal is, even under grey autumn skies. If you want to eat at the Olde Glen Bar in Glen Village, you’ll also need to book well ahead for the dining experience. As always, I was anxious to visit local farmers and food producers. Joanne Butler at Ourganic Gardens showed us round their garden and fruit orchards and tunnels, where amongst many other activities, she teaches how to grow food to sustain a family of five throughout the year.
We loved the beautiful hand cut local slate on the roof of the old buildings.
Next onto Mulroy Bay to hear the story of Donegal Sea Salt from John Slater. It’s fascinating how the flavour and texture of sea salt varies from one part of the country to another, a unique taste of Mulroy Bay.
Then on to check out The Blue Goat in Ramelton – an excellent speciality and local food shop, definitely worth making a detour for, say Hi, to Shelley and to Des on the cheese counter.
Sadly the Bridge Bar was closed, everyone on holdiays – another time. We were also delighted to discover past Ballymaloe Cookery School student, Pauline Sugrue giving cooking classes in Wild Garlic School in the beautiful Old Bank House in Ramelton.
From there, a pilgrimage to Portnoo to meet charismatic gardener and natural soap maker, Barry Quinn in his Market Garden, Barry’s got over 1 million avid Instagram followers of which I am one.
He’s planning to be down this way in May 2026 for the Ballymaloe Food Festival and he’ll bring his Duck Street Jam Band to play in the Grainstore.
Then a dash over to the Cove restaurant in Dunfanaghy for a delicious dinner where we found another one of our past students Siobhan Sweeney.
And finally on the way home we called into Rossnowlagh Farmers’ Market, where Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni, Faye Dinsmore and her friends Lisa McCorley and Jaime Leigh Meade started a Farmers’ Market in the Friary Hall almost a year ago. A wonderful eclectic mix of locally grown produce and beautiful craft. I particularly loved the get-together area where the local community gather for weekly tea and chats.
How about that for a week of adventures? I need to get back home to put my knee up!!
Thank you everyone for the warm welcome to the many places we visited, often unannounced.
Capparelli at The Mill’s Kale Borani
Loved this delicious riff on borani at Capparelli at The Mill. Thank you to Carlos for sharing the recipe.
Serves 6
Ingredients
500g Greek yoghurt
125g kale
125g spinach
50ml olive oil (about 3 tbsp)
5 garlic cloves, minced
salt, to taste
Method
Strain the
yoghurt.
Line a colander with a clean J-cloth or muslin and place it over a bowl. Add
the yoghurt and let it strain for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge to
remove excess moisture.
Prepare the
greens.
Blanch the kale and spinach in salted boiling water until wilted, then refresh
in ice-cold water.
Drain thoroughly. Once cool, squeeze out as much water as possible from the greens.
Cook the
greens.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the minced
garlic and cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the drained greens and
cook for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. Season lightly with salt and
let cool completely.
Once cool, mix the greens into the strained yoghurt and adjust seasoning if needed. Set aside.
VADOUVAN BUTTER
Ingredients
60g unsalted butter
5g vadouvan spice mix
½ garlic clove, minced
zest and juice of ¼ lemon
5g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
Melt the butter over a medium heat until it starts to brown slightly and smell nutty.
Combine the vadouvan spice mix, garlic, lemon zest and juice, and parsley in a small metal bowl.
Pour the
browned butter over the spice mixture, stir gently, and keep warm until
serving.
PICKLED GOLDEN RAISINS
Ingredients
50g sugar
50g white wine vinegar
25g (25ml) water
¼ bay leaf
¼ star anise
250g golden raisins
Method
Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, bay leaf and star anise in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil until the sugar dissolves.
Pour the hot pickling liquid over the raisins. Allow to cool and infuse for at least an hour (overnight is best).
To Serve
Spread the
kale borani mixture over a serving plate. Spoon over the warm vadouvan butter
and scatter the pickled golden raisins on top. Serve immediately with toasted
bread/ flatbread.
Mark Hix’s Steamed Marmalade and Kingston Black Pudding
I love a good old fashioned steamed pudding and there’s lots of different recipes floating around but I use this one all the time these days with various flavours from classic treacle to this delicious marmalade one. You don’t have to use Somerset Kingston black you could use whisky or any dregs you have in your cocktail cabinet.
Serves 4
Ingredients
80g melted butter, plus extra for greasing
200g marmalade, softened
2 medium eggs, beaten
100g fresh white breadcrumbs (including crusts)
80g light muscovado sugar
20g self-raising flour
½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
50ml Kingston Black cider (Mark used Red Breast whiskey)
To Serve
softly whipped cream
Brush 4 individual pudding basins with some of the butter and spoon a tablespoon of marmalade into the base of each.
In a mixing machine or by hand, mix half the remaining marmalade with the butter then gradually add the eggs until well mixed then fold in the breadcrumbs, sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 (180°C fan) or use a steamer if you have one.
Spoon the mixture into the moulds, cover with foil and place in a pan with boiling water halfway up the moulds. Cover and cook in the oven or steamer for 45 minutes.
To serve, heat the rest of the marmalade with the Kingston black and spoon onto the puddings once turned out.
Serve with lots of softly whipped cream.
Lemon Posset with Gorse Flowers
This little gem was inspired by a gorse flower posset served in tiny glasses as a treat on the breakfast tray at Breac House – it can also be flavoured with lemon scented geranium or just lemon zest. Breac House also serves a little gorse jelly on top of the posset if you happen to have some in your cupboard.
Serves 8
Ingredients
400ml double cream
90g caster sugar
a fistful of gorse flowers
50ml lemon juice
6 x 75ml individual serving bowls or shot glasses
Garnish
gorse flowers
Method
Place the cream, sugar and gorse flowers in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low and cook very gently, stirring often, for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Strain out the gorse flowers and pour the posset into serving bowls of choice. Cool, cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Garnish with a few gorse petals.
