CategorySaturday Letter

Midway through every 12 Week Certificate Course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, we all pile onto a bus and go on a foodie tour. It’s not just a gastronomic foodie skite, the object of the exercise is to introduce the students (11 nationalities) this time, to as many inspirational food producers, restaurateurs, artisan brewers, cheese makers and great ideas as possible in one fun and action packed day. We start early. This time we began at 8am sharp with a short foraging walk through the farm down to Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smokehouse. Bill started to smoke fish almost 30 years ago when he was made redundant from Cork Marts.  Ever since he’s been concentrating on smoking salmon.  “Keep it simple, do one thing and do it right” was Bill’s council to the students. Originally he sourced wild salmon from Ballycotton but nowadays he uses Irish organic farmed salmon which he smokes with a mixture of beech and oak chippings. Over the years he has built up a loyal clientele of local and overseas customers. The students tucked enthusiastically into slivers of salmon, fresh from the smoker before they piled on to the bus en route to Mahon Point Farmer’s Market.

Plenty of ideas here, over 40 forty entrepreneurs selling a fantastically good selection of fresh locally produced foods – home grown vegetables, fresh herbs and plants, farmhouse cheese, a variety of breads and home baking to make your mouth water. Then there was Glan Gluten for Coeliacs and those who have wheat intolerance. Fresh fish from Ballycotton and Schull being filleted at the speed of light, organic and free range chickens both fresh and roasted, heritage pork, cured meats, sausages and salamis. Homely meat pies flying off the stall, smoked fish and fish cakes, local honey, hand-made butter, cheese and thick unctuous yoghurt, and beautiful fresh milk (un- homogenised). Cake pops, cupcakes, macaroons and on and on.

The smell of freshly ground coffee pervades the market. My multi ethnic batch of students were mighty impressed, there’s also lots of tasty ready to eat food so I gave them a meal ticket to present to the stall of their choice.

If they fancied a steak sandwich with rocket and mushroom on crusty Arbutus bread, they headed to Lolo’s stall “Boeuf A Lolo”. Alternatively, they could order a wood fired pizza from Volcano Pizzas or a selection of curries or a bowl of steaming porridge with a decadent spice infused fruit topping from Green Saffron.  How about that for a choice. Later I found two new arrivals since my last visit, Jack Crotty, the Rocket Man with a selection of gorgeous salad and raita and a tantalizing drink called Rocket Fuel and Ian Browne with irresistible tiramisu and gooey chocolate fudge or sticky toffee pudding.

And there’s much, much more of beautiful quality and local and fresh and exceptional value.

It was pretty hard to entice everyone back on the bus but we needed to be at Fermoy Farmhouse Cheese by 12 noon. Here Frank Shinnick and his Swiss wife Gudrun have been adding value to their milk and making exceptional raw milk cheeses for over 15 years.

Slow Food created a presidia around St. Gall in 1992 and it was one of the most sought after of the Irish farmhouse cheese at the Salone del Gusto in Turin recently. Frank and Gudrun and their team continue to innovate and now make six different cheeses and a small quantity of yoghurt. Their natural yoghurt with elderberry puree is one of the most delicious new products I’ve tasted this year.

Next stop, Eight Degree Brewery. As mass produced beers have got more and more dull in recent years, craft brewing has really taken off in response to the deep craving for beers with character. The boys from Eight Degree Brewery on the outskirts of Mitchelstown are producing some terrific bottles and I can tell you the students liked it a lot and so did I, difficult to decide which we liked best.

Sunburnt Irishman, Howling Gale or Knockmealdown Porter made by an Aussie and a Kiwi, Cameron Wallace and Scott Baigent who are having the best fun producing some really terrific beer and they can scarcely keep up with the demand – ask your local pub to stock it.

From there our jolly bunch went over the Knockmealdown mountains to visit the Old Convent in Clogheen, Dermot and Christine Gannon have created a romantic retreat with just seven bedrooms and a restaurant where they serve a seven course dinner menu made up almost entirely of locally produced foods. Christine had sweetly invited three of their suppliers, Kitty Colchester from Urlingford who makes my favourite organic rape seed oil. Julie Finke from Ballybrado Organic Farm who gave us a taste of her new organic spelt brown bread mix (with wonder food ceci included) and her “Little Bakers” Kid’s cake mix. Both these girls are second generation farmers again adding value to their raw materials. Alan of Baldwin’s ice cream had no difficulty encouraging people to taste; I particularly loved the caramel fudge ice cream and still feel guilty that I finished a whole tub.

Finally we whizzed over to the Apple Farm just outside Cahir owned by another young entrepreneur and second generation farmer Con Traas. In the 18 years since he took over from his Dad, Con has built up a brilliant apple juice business and farm shop. Visitors can also camp under the apple trees and local people can have their surplus apples juiced and bottled for the winter. We send ours up to be pressed by Con every year – that’s when we have a good harvest – this year was an exception. We barely had enough apples to make an apple tart. Look out for Apple Farm sparkling apple juice – light, bubbly and non- alcoholic.

Time to head for home with our heads swirling with ideas and full of hope for the future of artisan food and drink in Ireland.

St Gall Raclette

A Raclette evening is one of the easiest ways to entertain friends and have lots of fun. St Gall cheese works brilliantly. If you do a lot of impromptu entertaining a Raclette stove is really worth having.

St Gall cheese – allow about 175g (6oz) per person

freshly boiled potatoes – 3 – 4 per person

lettuce – 3 – 4 leaves per person

cornichons or slices of dill pickle 3 – 4 per person

fresh radishes

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

little gem lettuce, cut in half lengthwise or a good green salad

Raclette Stove

Put the Raclette stove in the center of the table and turn on the heat. Cut the cheese into scant 5mm (1/4 inch) thick slices and put a slice onto each little pan.

Meanwhile serve freshly boiled potatoes and crisp little gem lettuce or a green salad on hot plates to each person. Just as soon as the cheese melts, each guest spoons it over their potatoes and puts another piece on to melt. Serve with pickles and radishes and maybe a few tiny spring onions as an accompaniment.

A Raclette party is so easy and such fun; just provide cheese, boiled potatoes and pickles. Guests do their own cooking and there’s a minimum of washing up.

 

Cabbage Salad with Raisins and Mint

 

Serves 8 approx.

 

If you are tiring of the ubiquitous coleslaw, then you might like to try this fresh tasting cabbage salad with rape seed oil and honey.

1/2 white cabbage with a good heart

2-3 large dessert apples, grated – we like Cox’s orange pippin

2 tablespoons raisins

4 tablespoons freshly chopped mint

1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives

4 tablespoons pure Irish honey

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons Second Nature Rape Seed Oil

Cut the cabbage into quarters.   Wash it well and discard the coarse outer leaves.  Cut away the stalks and shred the heart very finely with a very sharp knife.  Put it into a bowl with the grated apple, raisins, freshly chopped mint and chives.  Mix the honey, vinegar and rape seed oil together.  Toss the salad in the dressing until well coated.  Taste and correct seasoning and serve soon.

Jane’s Brown Bread with Knockmealdown Porter and Walnuts

Jane Hodson who loves to bake and loved Knockmealdown Porter devised this recipe which got an enthusiastic response from everyone who tasted it.

400g (14oz) strong whole meal flour

50g (2oz) strong white flour

60g (2½oz) walnuts (roughly chopped)

330ml    (11fl oz) Knockmealdown Porter brewed by 8 Degrees (at blood temp)

100ml    (3 ½ fl oz) water (at blood temperature)

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

20g (3/4 oz) fresh yeast

sesame seeds

sunflower oil

Loaf Tin 13cm x 20cm (5” x 8”)

Preheat oven to 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8

Sift the flours and salt into a large mixing bowl, adding in the wholemeal chaff left in the sieve.  Add in the walnuts and mix well.  In a bowl/Pyrex jug put the water and honey and crumble in the yeast. While the yeast is working, grease the tin with the oil and sprinkle lightly with sesame seeds.  The yeast is working when a creamy and slight froth rises to the surface.  If this is not happening after a few minutes, put your ear to the jug and you should be able to hear it fizzing. When ready, pour the yeast mixture and the warmed Porter into the flours and mix to form loose wet dough.  Pour the dough into the tin, sprinkle to top with sesame seeds and leave, covered with a tea towel (to prevent drying out), in a warmish place until the dough has risen to the top of the tin.

Place in the middle of the oven at 230C/450F/Gas Mark 8 for 20 minutes.  Then turn it down to 200c/300F/Gas Mark 6 for another 40 minutes.

Remove from tin and if the sides and base are still soft, return the loaf to the oven for another 10 minutes until it looks nicely browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the base.

Allow to cool on a wire rack

Double Chocolate Cupcakes and a Raspberry on Top

Makes 18 cupcakes

8oz (225g) soft butter

8oz (225g) caster sugar

3 large free-range, organic eggs

8oz (225g) self-raising flour

1 dessertspoon honey or golden syrup

1 tablespoon milk

18 pieces chopped chocolate or chocolate buttons

Chocolate Icing

 

5 ozs (140g) icing sugar

2 ozs (55g) soft butter

2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

2 cupcake trays, lined with paper cupcake cases

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

Cream the butter well, add the caster sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, adding a teaspoon of flour with each addition. (Beat the mixture well before adding the next egg). Beat in the honey or golden syrup, and then gently stir in the remaining flour. Stir in the milk and mix thoroughly.

Divide ½ the mixture between the cupcake cases. Pop a piece of chocolate or a good quality chocolate button on top. Divide the remainder of the mixture between the cases. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 mins, or until cooked and lightly golden. Remove cupcakes from the tray and place on a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Cream the soft butter with the icing sugar and cocoa.  Add a little hot milk or water to achieve spreading consistency.

Spoon the icing onto the cupcakes and decorate with a juicy raspberry and a fresh mint leaf.

Hottips

 

Where do I find a well reared bird? They are scarce so never too early to get your order in; we’ve been hearing good things about Mary Walsh’s free range geese from Shellumsrath, Kilkenny – 056 – 7763426 – www.kilkennyfreerange.com

Find of the Week… Kilree Goats Cheese – another superb goat cheese from Helen Finnegan of Knockdrinna in Stoneyford Village, Co Kilkenny (0)56 7728446 www.knockdrinna.com

Arbutus Night in Isaacs Restaurant, MacCurtain Street, Cork on Friday 30th November. Tasting Menu €70.00

Booking Essential 021 4503 805. Proceeds to Penny Dinners – www.corkpennydinners.ie

 

Darina’s Book of the Week – Clarissa’s Comfort Food. I’ve always loved the ‘Two Fat Ladies’ now sadly just one – Jennifer Paterson passed to her eternal reward and is doubtless now rustling up good things for all the hungry angels in paradise. Clarissa however  is still very much with us and her latest book Clarissa’s Comfort Food  published by Kyle Books, does exactly what it ‘says on the tin’ People are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of homemade simple food that will nourish friends and family instead of choosing a takeaway or buying ready meals that are often full of preservatives. There is a desire to go back to basics and cook food that is delicious and comforting as well as inexpensive and easy to make.

Get this book for Christmas or give it to a friend, Clarissa’s other books The Game Cookbook recently revised, A Greener Life and Sunday Roast are also favourites in my cookbook library.

Andrew and Leonie Workman from Dunany in Co Louth are unique; they grow, mill, pack and distribute their organic spelt, rye and wheat from their farm. They’ve only been selling their produce for a year and a half and already it has developed quite a following and their fan club’s growing. Recently they came down to Ballymaloe Cookery School to tell their story at a Slow Food event. Andrew and Leonie met at agricultural college in the UK and then returned to Ireland to their family farm where they farmed conventionally for 23 years. Gradually it became more challenging as the cost of fertilisers increased and they became increasingly aware and concerned about the damage they were doing to the environment and the land.

In 2004 they embarked on a tour of organic farms in Ireland and the UK and after much soul searching, eventually picked up courage to convert to organic. They went into conversion in 2004. A couple of tough years ensued, their yields dropped by two thirds but they were still getting conventional prices and couldn’t charge the organic premium until 2006 when they were fully certified with the Organic Trust. Gradually the wildlife and birds returned to the farmlands and now there are kites, kestrels, buzzards, barn owls, sea otters and they have even spotted a pole cat once again and a natural harmony has returned to the landscape.

Initially they grew organic grain for animal feed but then prices fell in the UK so understandably their customers started to import the cheaper grain. A new direction was needed so they decided to grow rye, spelt and wheat for flour; traditionally rye was grown for thatching in Ireland, it grows 5ft tall and a field of willowy rye rippling in the breeze is a beautiful sight.  Initially it was milled in the local White River watermill in Dunleer.

However when the river was low, milling became problematic so they eventually sourced a stone mill through connections in Poland and Germany and now have a mill on the farm which grinds 50kgs an hour. Andrew and Leonie employ a couple of WOOFERS and now supply up to fifty outlets around the country. The demand is increasing as more people who have wheat intolerance find they can tolerate spelt without ill effects. Coeliacs however cannot eat spelt.  Try these easy bread recipes from Dunany.

Dunany’s Irish Soda Bread

275 g (10oz) Dunany wholemeal flour

80g (3oz) strong plain flour

1 teaspoon bread soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 egg

280ml (1/2 pint) buttermilk

50g (2oz) mixed seeds – linseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds

You will need 1 well-greased 450g (1lb) loaf tin.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5, 190ºC/375ºF.

Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then beat the egg and buttermilk together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together well until you have a wet consistency. Transfer the dough into the tin, level the top, sprinkle with seeds and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 – 60 minutes.

Turn it straight out onto the wire rack to cool.

Dunany’s Spelt Bread

700g (1 ½ lb) Dunany’s organic spelt flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 teaspoon bread soda

1 egg

400ml (14fl oz)  buttermilk

200ml (7fl oz) water

You will need 2 well-greased 500g loaf tins.

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 200ºC, 329ºF

Combine all the dry ingredients together. Beat the egg into the buttermilk and water and mix into the dry ingredients to a dropping consistency.

Divide the mixture into the loaf tins and put into the pre-heated oven. After 15 minutes turn down the heat of the oven to gas mark 4, 150ºC, 302ºF and bake for a further 30 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Dunany’s Rye Bread

500g (18oz) Dunany organic rye flour

200g (7oz) strong white flour

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons bread soda

1 egg

350ml (12 fl oz) buttermilk

300ml (12fl oz) water

You will need two well-greased 500g (1lb) loaf tins

Preheat oven to gas mark 7, 220ºC- 478ºF. Mix all dry ingredients together. Beat egg into the buttermilk and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together to make a dropping consistency.

Divide mixture into 2 x 500g (1lb) loaf tins and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Place in a pre-heated oven and bake for 35 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Rye and Caraway Seed Bread

 

Make 1 loaf or 3 small loaves

 

12 ozs (350g/3 cups) strong white flour

5 ozs (150g/generous 1 cup) dark rye flour

3/4 oz (20g) caraway seeds

1 teaspoon salt

1 oz (25g) fresh yeast

1 1/2 ozs (45g) butter

warm water

1 loaf tin 5 x 8 inches (13 x 20cm) approx. (optional)

Crumble and mix the yeast with 1/2 pint (300ml/1 1/4 cups) lukewarm water. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add the liquid yeast with extra warm water if necessary to make a good soft but not sticky dough.  Add butter and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place. Punch down and shape into 2 or 3 loaves. Cover and rise again.  Alternatively bake in a well-oiled loaf tin.

Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with poppy seeds and slash the top in a cross with a sharp knife.

Bake at 230°C/450°F/regulo 8 for 40-45 minutes approx. or until the bread sounds hollow when knocked underneath. For small loaves 25 mins for a loaf in a tin.

Cool on a wire rack.

Rye and Caraway Bread Sticks

1 batch of rye and caraway dough (see recipe)

Preheat the oven to 250°C/500°F.

Divide the dough in 12g (1/2 oz) or 7.5g (1/4 ozs) balls.  Roll each piece into a 25cm (10 inch) or 12cm (5 inch) long piece.  Scatter some extra caraway seeds and Maldon sea salt on the worktop and roll the bread stick lightly.  Transfer to a heavy baking tray and continue until the tray is full.  Spray lightly with a water mister and bake for 7 – 8 minutes or until crisp and golden.  Transfer the bread sticks to a wire rack and continue until all the bread sticks are baked.

Debbie Shaw’s Beetroot and Walnut Cake

Walnuts are a great source of omega 3 and omega 6 essential fats. Beetroot is a powerful liver and gall bladder detoxifier and can assist in the elimination of kidney stones. In addition it helps build healthy blood and keeps it clean. It has a high mineral content including calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium and manganese. The leaves are also very nutritious and can be put in salads.

Serves 8-10

125g  (4 ½ oz) fine wholewheat Dunany spelt flour
125g (4 ½ oz) white Dunany spelt flour
1 generous rounded teaspoon of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground allspice
125g (4 ½ oz) of Xylo Sweet (available in Ballymaloe Cookery School Farm Shop)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
260g (9 ½ oz) of beetroot, peeled and coarsely grated (wear plastic gloves)
50g (2oz) of walnuts, chopped
200ml (7floz) sunflower oil
4 free range organic eggs

Crème Fraiche icing (optional)

225g (8oz) Low fat crème fraiche (or low fat cream cheese if unavailable)
50g (2oz) sieved icing sugar
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gasmark 4.  Oil and line an 20.5 cm (8”) round or square tin, on the base and the sides with parchment paper.

Sift the flours, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir in the ground cinnamon, allspice, Xylo Sweet and grated beetroot.  Next stir in the chopped walnuts. Beat the eggs, maple syrup and oil together and stir gently into the dry ingredients until they are combined.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the pre-heated oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer when inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool and make the icing.  Whisk the crème fraiche and icing sugar together with an electric beater. Add the lemon juice and rind and spread on top of the cake with a palette knife.

 

Darina’s Book of the Week

The Food Children Eat by Joanna Blythman. Recent announcement that advertising junk food is banned during children’s programs on TV is to be welcomed but it’s only part of the solution to the drastic deterioration in the national diet and the overall cost to the exchequer and tax payer of the growing obesity problem. And it starts with our children so how can we produce children who prefer a mandarin to a gummy bear? The avalanche of clever marketing of supposedly healthy food causes a nightmare scenario for parents who want to escape the junk food treadmill. Despairing parents of new-borns and toddlers will find award winning journalist Joanna Blythman’s book The Food our Children Eat inspiring, informative and best of all empowering.  It’s published by Harper Perennial for Circa and in my opinion is a ‘must have’

Follow Joanne’s excellent food blog http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/joannablythman

Hot Tips

Savour Kilkenny Food Festival is on until Monday 29^th October. Lots of really exciting and interesting events to attend and participate in including Café Challenge today at 4.15pm in the Demonstration Marquee. Watch a café being built before your eyes and learn what it takes to make a really good café. Blathnaid Bergin is the Restaurant Advisor www.restaurantadvisor.ie and she will challenge teams led by Kilkenny’s own restaurant industry superstars to build a café in 60 minutes. Will it be more Fawlty Towers than the Ritz? To see all the cookery demonstrations and events www.savourkilkenny.com

Without question Farmers Markets are one of the very best places to trial a food product. Set up a pretty stall, then offer your customers a taste of your creation with a smile– watch the reaction, if they buy, great but more importantly wait and see if they come back for more next week. This is by far the best market research – it’s free and better still you get lots of direct feedback and suggestions for ways to tweak it and maybe even some new flavours.

Young food entrepreneurs Sophie Morris and Graham Clarke started this way with their Kooky Dough, they mixed, chopped and wrapped till the early hours, took a deep breath and set up a stall at the Stillorgan Farmers Market. The reaction was instantly positive, now two years later their cookie dough is made in large quantities and sold not only right across Ireland but also in Tesco and Waitrose in the UK, Monoprix in France and at Spinney’s Supermarkets in the United Arab Emirates – another brilliantly successful fresh food story.

Sophie, an energetic and beautiful 28 year old is another of ‘my babies’ she did a 12 Week Certificate Cookery Course here at Ballymaloe Cookery School in April 2008.

After she’d studied economics and social studies at Trinity, she met Graham Clarke her boyfriend and business partner, they famously turned down the investment offers on Dragon’s Den and decided to go it alone.

They both work like crazy to keep on top of their business which had gone into orbit. Despite the work pace Sophie is determined to make nourishing a home cooked meal everyday which she believes is the key to staying on top of her hectic lifestyle and guess what, in her precious ‘spare time’ she has written her first cookery book with people just like herself in mind busy people who love food and are determined to pull together a nutritious satisfying meal using basic ingredients which are in season and are readily available at the corner shop. Most of Sophie’s meals can be cooked in half an hour or so they are super fresh and fun. How about some of these ideas to whet your appetite.

Sophie Kooks – Quick and Easy Feelgood Food is published by Gill and Macmillan.

Sophie Morris’s Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

My mum taught me this variation on traditional shepherd’s pie years ago and it is absolutely delicious. I’ve cooked it for many people who were initially sceptical but later won over and in total agreement that you definitely don’t miss the meat when eating it. Lentils are filling, nutritious and economical – a must-have for your store cupboard.

This pie freezes really well so you can make a big batch and keep the leftovers.

Serves 4–6

olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 carrots, grated

1 celery stick, finely chopped

400g (14oz) puy lentils, rinsed and drained (green or red lentils also work well)

1 x 400g (140z) can chopped tomatoes

2 heaped tablespoons tomato purée

600ml (1 pint) chicken or vegetable stock, simmering

1 teaspoon chilli powder or 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

a sprig of thyme

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Mash

1.2kg (1 ¾ lb) floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled and halved

50g (2oz) butter

50ml (2fl oz) milk

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Heat a lug of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, carrots and celery and cook gently for about 10 minutes, until softened. Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato purée, stock, chilli powder and thyme. Stir well and season. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 40–50 minutes, until the lentils are softened. You may need to add more stock (or boiling water) throughout cooking if all the liquid is absorbed before the lentils are cooked.

Meanwhile, make the mash. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan with just enough cold water to cover them. Add a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Boil for 15–20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and easily broken with a fork. Drain them in a colander and leave for 2–3 minutes, until the steam has evaporated. (Always drain potatoes really well or you’ll end up with watery mash.) Put the drained potatoes back into the dry saucepan and mash thoroughly with a potato masher. The harder you work the mash, the fluffier it will become! Once the lumps are gone, add the butter and mash again. Add the milk, stirring until combined. Season to taste.

Once the lentils are cooked, remove the sprig of thyme and pour the mixture into a deep ovenproof dish, leaving room for the mash topping. Arrange the mash evenly on top of the lentil mixture and bake the pie in the oven for 20 minutes or until nicely browned.

Serve on warmed plates, with a green salad on the side.

Sophie Morris’s Easy Kofta Curry

‘Kofta’ is the word for meatballs in the Middle East and South Asia. This beef kofta recipe with its warming curry sauce is a really simple one and so quick to prepare. Lamb kofta is also really nice, so you can swap the beef for minced lamb if you like.

Serves 4–6

700g (1 ½ lb) lean minced beef

a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 teaspoons chilli powder

salt and freshly ground pepper

olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

600ml (1 pint) passata (crushed, sieved tomatoes) or 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

2 heaped tablespoons medium curry powder (or mild, if you don’t want much spice)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Place the minced beef in a bowl along with the ginger, garlic and chilli powder. Season and mix with your hands until well combined. Roll the mixture into rounds about the size of golf balls and set aside.

Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for 4–5 minutes, until softened. Add the passata, curry powder and sugar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, season and leave the sauce to simmer over a low heat while you fry the koftas.

Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the koftas for 2–3 minutes, turning them until lightly browned all over. (You might need to do this in batches.) Carefully place the cooked koftas into the passata sauce and simmer very gently for 15–20 minutes, turning the koftas occasionally during cooking, until they have set and the sauce has reduced nicely.

Serve on warmed plates with basmati rice and a dollop of natural yogurt.

Sophie Morris’s Sirloin Steak Salad with Asian Greens

Asian flavours work really well in salads, making them very refreshing. The dressing used in this salad is so tasty – it’s one that works really well in lots of other salads, too.

Serves 4

For the Dressing

2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons soy sauce

juice of 1 lime

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons sugar

a handful of raw peanuts (optional)

4 x 150g (5oz) sirloin steaks, removed from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking

salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive oil

1 bunch of asparagus (about 12 spears)

1 head of broccoli, broken into small florets

100g (3 ½ oz) French beans, tails removed

4 handfuls of mixed baby salad leaves

a handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly torn

a handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly torn

First prepare the dressing. Mix the chillies and garlic in a small bowl. Add the soy sauce, lime juice, olive oil and sugar. Mix well, taste, tweak the flavours to your liking and set aside.

Now roast the peanuts, if using. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and add the peanuts to the dry pan. Stir them for about 5 minutes, until they’re roasted. They will start to turn brown and the red skins will turn crisp and start to come away from the nuts. Empty the nuts into a clean tea towel, wrap it around them and rub the towel with your hands to remove the skins from the nuts. When most of the skins are gone, roughly chop the nuts and set aside.

Now cook the steaks. Heat a grill pan or frying pan over a high heat. Lay the steaks on a chopping board and trim off any excess fat. Sprinkle pepper on both sides of each steak, rub lightly with olive oil and, just before placing in the pan, sprinkle both sides with salt. Cook for 2–3 minutes each side for rare. Allow to rest on a plate for 5–10 minutes, then slice the steaks thinly.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Bend each asparagus stalk until it snaps. Each stalk will break in a different place, giving you different lengths of spears. Keep the spears and discard the woody ends. Add the asparagus spears, broccoli and French beans to a large pan of boiling salted water, ensuring they are completely submerged. Boil rapidly for 4–5 minutes, until the vegetables are just cooked and retain a little bite. Drain in a colander.

Arrange the salad leaves and herbs in a large serving dish. Just before serving, add the cooked vegetables, drizzle over the dressing and toss well. Scatter the steak slices on top and sprinkle with the peanuts. Serve immediately.

 

Sophie Morris’s Asian Mango Salad

 

This is such a colourful salad and it looks really gorgeous on the plate. It’s a great starter to pair with an Asian main course, as it leaves you wanting more of those yummy Asian flavours. The crunchy, sweet, tangy, spicy combination in this salad is simply amazing.

Serves 4

For the dressing

juice of 2 limes

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

a handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

75g ((3oz) raw cashew nuts

2 ripe mangos, peeled and cut into thin strips
a handful of French beans, tailed and halved lengthways
1 red pepper, finely sliced
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
a handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped

Place all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside.

Heat a small pan over a medium heat and add the cashews. Toast them for a few minutes, tossing regularly, until golden. Remove the cashews from the pan, leave them to cool, and then roughly chop them.

Place the mango, French beans, pepper and onion in a serving bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss well to coat evenly. Just before serving, sprinkle over the mint and cashews.

Sophie Morris’s Hazelnut Swirl Cookies

At Kooky Dough, we spend a lot of time experimenting with fun recipes using cookie dough. It’s such a versatile ingredient and you can use it to make some really extravagant baked treats and desserts.

This recipe is probably my favourite thing to do with cookie dough. The Nutella oozes out of the warm cookies and they’re just irresistible! The cookies are super-quick to make if you cheat and use ready-made cookie dough; but if you want to make them from scratch, this recipe shows you how.

Makes 10–12 big cookies
300g (10 ½ oz) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)
225g (10oz) butter, at room temperature
225g (10oz) caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a jar of Nutella

Sift the flour, salt and bread soda into a bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric beater, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix until combined. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture a little at a time, until it’s fully combined and the mixture becomes a soft dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and shape it into a rough square. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the fridge, discard the cling film and tip the dough onto a large sheet of lightly floured parchment paper. Lay a fresh sheet of cling film on top of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rough rectangular shape of 1–2cm thickness. If you don’t have a rolling pin, you can shape the dough using your hands over the cling film. Once the dough is shaped, discard the cling film.

Dip a knife into a mug of hot water, then into the jar of Nutella (this will help loosen the Nutella). Spread Nutella generously on top of the dough, leaving a 1 cm edge untouched all around.

Using the parchment underneath the dough as a guide, roll the dough into a tight log (ensuring the parchment paper doesn’t catch). Cut the log into 1 cm slices (or thicker if you like).

Arrange the cookie dough slices on the lined baking sheets. Ensure they are well spaced, so that they have room to spread out in the oven.

Bake for 10–12 minutes, until lightly golden. The Nutella swirls will look amazing at this stage!

Leave the cookies to cool on the trays for a few minutes, before transferring them to a wire rack.

Enjoy with a cup of tea, or dig out the vanilla ice cream for a yummy dessert!

Hottips

 

Some of you may be familiar with Bob Flowerdew a presenter on BBC 2 Gardener’s World and a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time. A set of his excellent gardening books ‘Bob’s Basics’ published by Kyle Cathie have just arrived at the Garden Shop at Ballymaloe Cookery School. You can buy the entire attractive set of six hard back books – practically a complete organic gardening reference library – or just one. Also available in the shop are organic vegetables, picked fresh every day from the glass house, fresh free range organic eggs and delicious, unctuous Ballymaloe Cookery School yoghurt – Don’t forget Saturday Pizza’s…021 4646785.

The Field Kitchen run by Clancy Potts and Mick Hayes at the Blackbird Pub in Ballycotton, East Cork serve really delicious American style burgers – we asked Clancy what makes the burger ‘American’…“caramelised grilled onions and loads of cheddar or blue cheese with a slather of mayonnaise, oh and really good quality meat”. They get their meat from Clifford’s Butcher in Castlemartyr and their pan-fried fresh fish straight from Trevor Macnamara’s boat in Ballycotton served with fresh hand cut chips. Open from 6pm Friday and Saturday and 5pm on Sunday. Contact Clancy Potts – : 086 230 8193.

Ever since Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden on the South Lawn of the White House in March, 2009 she has been a big hero of mine.  This action has sent a really strong message about the importance of fresh food and the joy of growing your own to families across America.  It has raised the profile and awareness of local and sustainable food both at the White House and nationally to an unprecedented level.

In a country where 2/3 of the population are either over-weight or obese and 1 in 3 children (1 in 2 if your skin colour happens to be black) have diabetes, this message is particularly badly needed. In the US a country of 210 million people, 40 million have no health care so it’s a timely reminder that ‘our food can be our medicine’ but not if it’s mass produced and denatured.

On a recent trip to Washington DC, I had the opportunity to visit the vegetable garden. We had an early start on Monday morning to be at the gates of the White House by 9.30am. First, I forgot my passport so we had to whizz back for that, then when we arrived our names didn’t appear to be on the list, and there was NO chatting up the security guys! Frantic texting and phone calls, eventually we discovered the time had been changed to 10.15am.

After several other dramas, we managed to contact Hannah, private assistant to the First lady. Chef Bill Yosses came and rescued us and we were admitted, phew! It would have been such an anti-climax to get that far and then be turned away politely but VERY firmly.

The vegetable garden is great, much smaller than I had imagined, for some reason I thought it was several acres but in fact it’s just 980 square ft.

Beautiful soil, a very impressive selection of really healthy produce, they even had a sea kale plant and several heirloom varieties of seed from past President Thomas Jefferson’s Garden at Monticello including a beautiful purple flowering hyacinth bean that I’d love to grow. No beets though – President Obama doesn’t care for them.

Bill Yosses who is pastry chef and Cris Comerford executive chef of the White House showed us around, I was tagging along with a group of food writers who were having a conference in Washington DC that weekend. No sign of the first family, everyone was at the Democratic conference in Charlotte where Michelle gave a cracker of a speech.

It’s definitely not just a PR exercise. According to Bill, the main raison d’être for the veggie patch was that Michelle really wanted to have fresh nourishing food for the family and it is also used as an educational tool for local school kids, but Michelle herself also gets her hands in the soil from time to time and insists on hands-on assistance from the family – how great is that?

They have an impressive composting system and a bee hive but not a hen in sight, so I was trying to encourage Bill Yosses to get hens, lots of great food scraps from the White House kitchens to feed them, the manure could go on to the compost heap to make the soil more fertile, a brilliant holistic system, kids would love them…plus the President could ‘go to work on an egg’ every day!

He’s totally on for it but it not that simple at the White House apparently…

Here are a few recipes inspired by the produce in Michelle Obama’s garden.

Broad Bean, Mint and Ricotta Bruschetta

 

For 2 bruschetta

110 – 175g (4 – 6 oz) podded broad beans

extra-virgin olive oil, about 4 tablespoons

zest of 1 lemon and a little juice, freshly squeezed

10 fresh mint leaves roughly chopped

flaky Maldon sea salt and black pepper

2 thick slices sour dough bread

a small garlic clove

3 tablespoons fresh ricotta

Put the broad beans into boiling salted water for 3 – 4 minutes, remove and plunge into cold water, then drain and skin them. Put the beans in a small bowl and dress them with extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest, a little freshly squeezed lemon juice and most of the chopped mint. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Toast or grill the slices of bread on a hot pan grill. Rub each slice with the cut side of a garlic clove. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil. Season the fresh ricotta with salt and pepper to taste, then spread on to the hot, garlicky bread. Top the broad beans with the remaining chopped mint and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

 

José Pizzaro’s Crisp Deep Fried Aubergine Fritters with Honey

This is another really good, easy tapas dish. The delicious subtle flavour of the soft aubergines comes through the crispy coating and the sticky honey make this a heavenly dish.

Serves 4 – 6

300g (10 ½ oz) aubergines, cut into 7 – 8mm thick slices

110g (4oz) plain flour

5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for deep-frying

150ml (5fl oz cold water

2 free-range eggs whites

clear honey, for drizzling

fine sea salt

Sprinkle the aubergine slices lightly on both sides with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the oil and the water. Gradually beat together to make a smooth batter. Set aside to rest, along with the aubergines.

Pat the aubergine slices dry with kitchen paper. Pour 1cm of olive oil into a large deep frying pan and heat it to 180°C/350°F/Mark 4.

Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks and fold them into the batter. Dip the aubergine slices, a few at a time, into the batter, add them to the hot oil and deep-fry for one minute on each side until crisp and golden. Leave to drain briefly on kitchen paper and serve immediately while they are still hot and crisp, drizzled generously with honey.

José Pizzaro’s Roasted Squash with Dried Chilli, Honey, Cinnamon and Pine Nuts

 

This can be a side dish for any grilled fish or meat. I serve it with Iberico pork cheeks or any game stew. It’s also delicious on its own.

Serves 4 – 6

1.5 kg (3lb 5oz) unprepared squash (butternut, onion or kabocha)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped

½ teaspoon crushed dried chillies

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

25g (1oz) pine nuts

50ml (2fl oz) clear honey

sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Mark 6. Halve the squash through the stem end, scoop out the seeds, peel and then cut into 2.5 – 3cm (1in to 1¼in) thick wedges.

Put the oil into a roasting tin with the garlic, crushed dried chillies, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Mix well together. Add the wedges of squash to the tin and turn them over a few times in the oil mixture until well coated. Sit them on their curved edges and roast them in the oven for 20 minutes.

Spread the pine nuts onto a baking tray and roast them in the oven alongside the squash for 5 – 6 minutes, giving them a stir now and then until they are all golden. Remove and set aside.

Remove the squash from the oven and brush the wedges with some of the honey. Return to the oven and toast for a further 15 minutes, brushing with more of the honey and then the caramelised juices every five minutes until the squash is tender and slightly caramelised. Brush one last time with the juices from the pan, pile onto a serving plate and scatter over the pine nuts.

 

Honey Mousse with Lemon Verbena Peaches

Serves 6 – 8

2 eggs

3 teaspoons of gelatin

3 tablespoons of water

1 pint of whipping cream

175g (6oz) of best quality honey

1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier

 

For the Lemon Verbena Peaches

4 large ripe and juicy peaches

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon verbena or lemon thyme leaves

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Beat the eggs in a small bowl until it froths slightly. Sponge the gelatin in the cold water and then dissolve gently over a low heat.

Whip the cream to the soft peak stage. Add the honey to the dissolved gelatin and stir until smooth, if necessary keeping the gelatin over a low heat. Cool this mixture until it starts to thicken slightly. Add the beaten egg to the cream and then mix with the honey mixture. Finally add the Grand Marnier to taste. Chill for a couple of hours to set.

Shortly before serving, peel the peaches.

Put the peaches into a Pyrex bowl. Cover the peaches with boiling water and leave for 30 seconds, then remove and drop into iced water. The skins should now peel away easily, halve them, remove the stones and cut the flesh into thin slices. Put them into a bowl with sugar, lemon verbena or lemon thyme leaves and lemon juice and mix together gently. Allow to macerate for at least 15 – 20 minutes.

Serve with honey mousse.

Hot Tips

 

Broken Crow Theatre Company bring Madame Chavelle back to Ballyvolane House Friday 26^th and Saturday  27^th  October 2012 at 7.30pm. Susan who works in the office, went to this performance in 2010 and pronounced it one of the most entertaining and enjoyable evenings she’d experienced. Guests enjoy a delicious three-course meal and watch the play that takes place right in front of you in the dining room.  The play is set in 1919 when three lost souls arrive at Ballyvolane House. They seek an audience with the mysterious Madame Chavelle – played by Paula McGlinchey. Each one has a tale to tell and an answer to find, but can she really do all she claims? Can she really speak with the dead? Stay the night after the play if you dare… to book phone 025 36349 email info@ballyvolanehouse.ie.

Glamorous Secret Pop Up Suppers with Gillian Hegarty and Sarah Gornall at Kilcolman Rectory. Gillian will cook a delicious four course meal for a maximum of 24 people so it will be very special, she uses fresh vegetables and fruit from the garden and can cater for coeliac and vegetarians.  Kilcolman Rectory is situated between Bandon and Clonakilty, just off the main road. Booking is essential, phone 0238822913 – www.kilcolmanrectory.com

Learn to make soda bread in Caroline Rigney’s kitchen. Don’t miss the Curraghchase Slow Food Celebration tomorrow Sunday 14th October 2012, 12.00 noon till 5pm. Events include – pig and poultry keeping walk and talk, bee keeping demo and talk, reaping, binding, threshing and bailing – saving the harvest – the old way. Corn and wheat grinding, organic vegetable growing advice from Manna Organics, cookery demonstration by Andrew Carey and a butter making demonstration, (with Jo Flynn of Free Range Kids) Two Tamworth pigs will be roasted over aged beech wood on the front lawn. 087 2834754  Email:  info@rigneysfarm.com

www.darinasblog.cookingisfun.ie

I’m in Florida, it’s hot on Longboat Quay – over 27 degrees centigrade – even though it’s late afternoon. The long white sandy beach is almost deserted, there’s a pleasant breeze which the locals tell me is the tail end of hurricane Isaac. It’s whipping up little waves on the warm sea, a few people are bathing but I’m lying back enjoying the cormorants and pelicans diving for supper. Every now and then there’s a terrific racket obviously a shoal of tiny fish under the water. Along the shore are sandpipers, terns, allies, oystercatchers and avocets all lined up in the same direction like gentlemen in tuxedos. Two white egrets are hopping along the water’s edge snaffling up sand hoppers. The birds are so tame one can walk up close to them and they scarcely move.

I’m here in Florida to keep a long overdue promise I made almost a decade ago to Marcella Hazan the doyenne of Italian food  and her husband Victor before they left Italy to spend their retirement in Florida. Years can pass quickly full of good resolutions, life intervenes but real promises can haunt you until they are fulfilled, so here I am and what a joy to find Marcella and Victor a little older of course but just as beautiful as ever. Marcella has been a huge influence on my life. I went to her cooking classes in Bologna in the late seventies before I opened Ballymaloe Cookery School and later brought back a TV crew to film Simply Delicious in Italy at her apartment in Venice. Her books Classic Italian Cookbook and The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking are the yardstick by which others are measured.

Last night we met for supper in a local restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, we chatted and reminisced and today Marcella cooks me lunch in her apartment overlooking the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Marcella is in the kitchen when I arrive –frying tiny quartered artichoke hearts slowly in extra virgin olive oil, there’s a bowl of shelled and deveined white Gulf shrimps close to the cooker. When the artichokes are tender they are spread on the base of a gratin dish, next a layer of white shrimps, then slices of mozzarella and little dabs of butter. The little crispy bits of artichokes scraped from the pan are sprinkled over the top, “all flavour” – Marcella speaks despairingly of those who fail to see the flavour in sediment juices and crispy bits. I see glimpses of the grumpy teacher with the twinkle in her eye that we all so loved.  Of course it’s super delicious and followed by strawberries dressed at the table with a little 25 year old Aceito Balsamico and I remember, it was Marcella who over 30 years ago introduced me to balsamic vinegar and its magical powers to transform something mundane into something altogether exquisite.

Florida was not high on my list of must see places but I’m so glad I eventually made it to Longboat Quay to see the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico and to keep my promise to two of the most inspirational people with whom my path has crossed in life.

Marcella Hazan’s Chicken Roast with Two Lemons

This is the simplest most delicious roast chicken recipe I know – no fat, no basting, no stuffing.

Serves 4

1 x 3-4 lb (1.35-1.8kg) free range chicken

salt salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 small lemons

Trussing needle and string

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/regulo 4.

Wash the chicken thoroughly with cold water. Remove any bits of fat from around the vent end. Drain the chicken well and dry thoroughly with a tea towel or kitchen paper.

Rub the salt and freshly ground black pepper with your fingers over all the body and into the cavity. Wash the lemons well and dry them with a tea towel, roll on the counter and prick each of the lemons in at least 20 places with a cocktail stick or skewer.

Put both lemons in the cavity. Close up the opening with cocktail sticks or with a trussing needle and string. Don’t make it absolutely airtight or the chicken may burst!

Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast side down. Do not add cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so don’t worry it won’t stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven. After 30 minutes, turn the chicken breast side up. Be careful not to puncture the skin.

Cook for another 30-35 minutes then increase the heat to 200C/400F/regulo 6, and cook for a further additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20-25 minutes total cooking time for each 1 lb (500g). There is no need to turn the chicken again.

Bring the chicken to the table whole, garnished with sprigs flat parsley and leave the lemons inside until it is carved. The juices that run out are perfectly delicious, so be sure to spoon them over the chicken slices. The lemons will have shrivelled up but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze, they may squirt.

Serve immediately.

Marcella Hazan’s Penne with Cauliflower, Garlic and Oil

One of the basic mother sauces for pasta is aglio e oilio, garlic and oil. From it has been spawned a multitudinous brood of sauce where we find most varieties of vegetables. An example is this one, featuring cauliflower.

In this family of sauces additional flavourings such as parsley, hot pepper, and anchovies may be used, although not all need to be present. They are almost invariably sughi in bianco, ‘white’ sauces – that is, without tomato. They are supposed to be served without grated cheese, and that is how I prefer them. But one may do as one pleases, and choose to have either pecorino or Parmesan cheese, depending upon whether one wants the sauce more or less sharp.

For four to six

1 head cauliflower (about 680g (1 ½ lb)

8 tablespoons olive oil

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine

6 flat anchovy fillets, chopped

¼ teaspoon chopped red pepper

salt

450g (1lb) penne or other macaroni

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Strip the cauliflower of all its leaves except for a few of the very tender inner ones. Rinse it in cold water, and cut it in two.

Bring 4 – 5 litres (7 to 8 ¾ pints) water to the boil, and then put in the cauliflower. Cook until tender, but compact – about 25 to 30 minutes. Test it with a fork to know when it’s done. Drain and set aside.

Put the oil, garlic and chopped anchovies into a medium-sized sauté pan. Turn on the heat to medium, and sauté until the garlic becomes a golden brown colour. Stir from time to with a wooden spoon, mashing the anchovies.

Put in the boiled cauliflower, and break it up quickly with a fork, crumbling it into pieces no bigger than a peanut. Turn it thoroughly in the oil, mashing part of it to a pulp.

Add the hot pepper and a liberal amount of salt. Turn up the heat, and cook for a few minutes more, stirring frequently. Then turn off the heat.

Bring 4 – 5 litres (7 – 8 ¾ pints) water to the boil, add a liberal amount of salt, and as soon as the water returns to the boil, put in the pasta. When cooked al dente, tender but firm to the bite, drain it well and transfer it to a warm serving bowl.

Very briefly re-heat the cauliflower and pour all the contents of the pan over the pasta. Toss thoroughly. Add the chopped parsley. Toss again, and serve at once.

 

Italian Apple Fritters

 

3 apples of any firm but not sour, cooking variety

50g (2oz) caster sugar

2 tablespoons rum

the peel of 1 lemon grated without digging into the white pith beneath

250ml (8fl oz)

75g (2 ½ oz) plain flour

vegetable oil

Peel and core the apples, and cut them into slices about 1cm/ (3/8 in) in thick.

Put the caster sugar, rum and grated lemon peel into a bowl together with the apple slices. Turn the slices once or twice and let steep for at least 1 hour.

Use the flour and water to make a pastella batter. Put 250ml (8fl oz) water into a soup plate and gradually add the flour, shaking it through a strainer and with a fork constantly beating the mixture that forms. When all the flour has been mixed with water the batter should have the consistency of sour cream. If it is thinner add a little more flour, if it thicker, a little more water.

Pour enough oil into a skillet to come 1cm (1/3 in) up the sides and turn the heat to high.

Take the apple slices out of the bowl and pat them dry with kitchen paper. When the oil is very hot, dip them in the batter and slip as many of them into the skillet as will fit loosely. Fry them to a golden brown on one side, then turn them and do the other side. Transfer them to a cooling  rack to drain or to a platter lined with kitchen paper. Repeat the procedure until all the remaining slices are done. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve while hot.

 

 

Marcella Hazan’s Strawberries in Balsamic Vinegar

Serves 6

Marcella Hazan first introduced me to this unlikely sounding combination, it takes a certain amount of courage to try it but believe me it makes strawberries taste exquisitely intense. Aceito Balsamico the aristocrat of Italian vinegars varies enormously, it is precious and expensive, buy the best one you can find and use it sparingly.

2 lbs (900g) strawberries

3-5 tablespoon castor sugar

1-2 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar (Aceito Balsamico)

Shortly before serving, remove the hulls from the berries and cut in half lengthways. Sprinkle with sugar and toss gently. Just before serving add the balsamic vinegar and toss again. Serve immediately.

N.B. this recipe is not successful with wine or malt vinegars.

 

 

Hot Tips

Great salads – everyone seems to be talking about the delicious Middle Eastern style salads at Jack Crotty aka Rocket Man’s stall Mahon Point Farmers Market. Also yummy takeaway breakfasts – granola and fruit salad with sumac, honey and thyme yoghurt, all homemade – how about that.

www.facebook.com/therocketmancork

www.mahonpointfarmersmarket.com

Slow Food Event – Artisan Millers Leonie and Andrew Workman from Dunany Farm, County Louth will tell the story of their organic flour milling and heritage wheat varieties. There is also a short cookery demonstration using spelt flour. At Ballymaloe Cookery School on Tuesday 9th October 7pm. Slow Food Members €6.00 Non Slow Food Members €8.00.  Booking Essential 021 4646785 or E: slowfoodeastcork@gmail.com- All Proceeds to support the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. www.slowfoodireland.com

Dates for your Diary

 

Wild & Slow 2012, a unique Slow Food festival that celebrates everything that is good about Irish food: fresh, local, traditional and wild. It’s a yearlong event – follow this on their website – culminating in November at Brooklodge, Macreddin Village, Co Wicklow 11- 12th November 2012. http://wildandslow.com/

Savour Kilkenny Festival of Food – Save the days – 25^th – 29^th October 2012 – lots of interesting and exciting events planned http://savourkilkenny.com/

Here on our farm in Shanagarry, we milk three docile Jersey cows every morning, (they remain with the calves in the evening) The milk is separated from the rich yellow Jersey cream in a brilliant new electric separator which replaced the old hand cranked Alfa Lavel.

As a family we love fresh unpasteurised milk, the flavour and mouth feel is so wonderful – like many of you I was reared on raw milk.  Twice a week we make thick unctuous yogurt (just milk and a live yogurt culture – no milk powder or additives needed) and cheese, usually a cheddar type in little 1kg truckles that take at least 3 months to mature.

Every day except at weekends we made beautiful butter from the cream, rich golden butter reminiscent of what my great Aunt Lil in Co Tipperary made when I was a child though not with such a ripe flavour.

We serve thick pouring Jersey cream with pudding; it also makes the most sublime homemade ice-cream.

More recently we’ve been experimenting with making ricotta from the whey left over from cheese making. Ricotta means ‘re-cooked’.

According to Wikipedia, ‘Ricotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep (cow, goat, or buffalo) milk whey left over from cheese production. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein. Rather, it is made by coagulating other milk proteins, notably albumin and globulin, left over in the whey that separates from the milk during the production of cheese. In fact, ricotta is safely eaten by individuals with casein intolerance.’ The latter is brilliant news for the growing number of people who are dairy intolerant.

To make the ricotta we leave the whey to settle overnight, then in the morning simply bring the whey back up to 94º in a large heavy stainless steel bottomed saucepan (don’t boil). Allow to settle for at least two hours, the ricotta ‘curds’ are tiny, so we strain them through a sterilised jelly bag or double thickness of sterilised cheese cloth. The resulting ricotta is fine and tender.

Depending on what you plan to use it for, it can continue to drip overnight; the ricotta will be firmer and brilliantly versatile.  We use it in a myriad of ways. For breakfast, we serve it with local honey drizzled over the top. When we fold in a little cream and sugar, it tastes exactly like the French Petit Suisse, irresistible on its own or with Summer berries.

I also love it with a dice of candied citrus peel folded through and maybe some dark chocolate grated on top.

Ricotta is also delicious with pasta, in ravioli, tortellini or cappelletti; Italians also love it in lasagne as a filling for Sicilian cannoli.

Bill Granger uses it to make his famous ricotta hot cakes which I enjoyed for brunch at Granger and Co in London on my last trip.

For those of you who don’t have your own, seek out Toonsbridge Buffalo Ricotta – made by Sean Ferris and Toby Simmonds, available at Farmers Markets and from their newly opened little shop beside their warehouse and buffalo dairy in the old creamery near Macroom, West Cork – 021 4270842.

Ricotta, Tomato and Thyme Tart

 

Serves 8

 

2 – 3 ripe tomatoes, finely sliced

sea salt

225g (8oz) puff or savoury short crust pastry

450g (1lb) ricotta

2 free range eggs, lightly beaten

50ml (2 fl oz) cream

150g (5oz) finely grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

freshly ground black pepper

1 cup finely chopped rocket (arugula)

glaze

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Mark 6. Slice the tomatoes in a colander, sprinkle with salt and allow to drain on a wire rack. Roll pastry dough into rounds about 35cm (14in) in diameter and 3mm (1/4 in) thick. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured baking tray.

Whisk the eggs and cream and add the ricotta and ½ the thyme leaves, season with a little salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the chopped rocket, mix well.

Spread this ricotta mixture in the centre of the dough leave a 5cm (2in) border around the edge. Fold the border onto the filling. Arrange ripe tomato slices over the top of the filling. Brush the pastry with whisked egg yolk. Sprinkle the remainder of the thyme leaves over the top. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Serve with a good green salad.

Rory O’Connell’s Ricotta and Lemon Cake

 

Serves 6 -8

175g (6oz) butter at room temperature

175g (6oz) caster sugar

3 lemons, zested

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, separated

250g (9oz) ricotta

125g (4 1/2oz) self-raising flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

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

Butter and flour an 18cm (7 inch) cake tin and line the base with a disc of parchment paper.

Beat the butter and sugar until pale light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest, vanilla, egg yolks and ricotta and mix gently. Mix in the sieved flour and baking powder. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into the ricotta mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes until risen, firm and golden in colour. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove from the tin and peel off the parchment paper.

Serve the cake with fresh or poached fruit, caramel sauce and cream or yoghurt.

Bill Granger’s Ricotta Hotcakes with Honeycomb Butter

 

Serves 6 – 8

 

300g (10 ½ oz) ricotta

180mls (6fl oz) milk

4 eggs, separated

110g (4oz) plain white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

A pinch of salt

50g (1 ½ oz) butter

To Serve

Banana

Honey comb butter, sliced (below)

Icing (confectioners’) sugar for dusting

Place ricotta, milk and egg yolks in a mixing bowl and mix to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add to the ricotta mixture and mix until combined.

Place the egg whites in a clean dry bowl and beat until still peaks form. Fold egg whites through batter in two batches, with a large metal spoon.

Lightly grease a large non-stick frying pan with a small portion of the butter and drop 2 tablespoons of batter per hotcake into the pan (don’t cook more than 3 per batch). Cook over low to medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hotcakes have golden undersides. Turn hotcakes and cook on the other side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and quickly assemble with other ingredients.

Slice one banana lengthways onto a plate; stack 3 hotcakes on top with a slice of honey comb butter. Dust with icing sugar.

Note: hotcake batter can be stored for up to 24 hours, covered with a plastic wrap in the refrigerator.

Honeycomb Butter

 

250g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

100g (3 ½ oz) sugar honeycomb, crushed with a rolling pin

2 tablespoons honey

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Shape into a log on a plastic wrap, roll, seal and chill in a refrigerator for 2 hours. Store leftover honeycomb butter in the freezer – it’s great on toast.

JR Ryall’s Honeycomb

 

JR, head pastry chef at Ballymaloe House shared this recipe with us.

400g (14oz) caster sugar

100ml (3 ½ fl oz) Irish honey

2 tablespoon liquid glucose ( use the same amount of powdered glucose if liquid is not available)

11/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (sieved)

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

Place the sugar, glucose and honey in a heavy bottom saucepan with 100ml (3 ½ fl oz) water.

Place the saucepan on a medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Once dissolved stir no more! Simply swirl the pot to ensure the mixture heats evenly. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature. Allow the boiling sugar solution to reach 160C in temperature; then quickly whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and tip the molten honeycomb onto the lined tray. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container.

Ricotta with Candied Citrus Peel and Grated Chocolate

 

Serves 4

225g (8oz) ricotta

30ml (1 fl oz) cream

25g – 50g (1 – 2 oz) diced homemade candied peel

caster sugar (optional)

1 -2 oz grated dark chocolate

6 – 8 mint leaves

Fold cream and diced candied peel into the ricotta. Taste and add a little sugar if necessary, when the grated chocolate is sprinkled on top, it’s usually nicely balanced. Top with shredded mint leaves and serve.

Hottips

 

There are still a few places left on half day course How to Make Homemade Butter, Yoghurt and Several Cheeses at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Wednesday 3rd October. This morning course (which includes a light lunch after the demonstration) will also teach you how to make a long list of delicious dairy products including cottage cheese, labneh, paneer, ricotta and a simple farmhouse cheese. Phone 021-4646785 or www.cookingisfun.ie

 

Kinsale’s 36th Gourmet Festival in association with the Kinsale Good Food Circle will take place from Friday 12th to Sunday 14th October – Saturday 13th October 2012
Don’t miss ‘The Mad Hatters Taste Of Kinsale.’on Saturday where you can join Alice and friends for an escorted tour of the 10 Members of Kinsale’s Good Food Circle and sample dishes from their kitchens that show the culinary skills of the chefs of Kinsale.  – for tickets and more details – www.kinsalerestaurants.com

Kilcolman Rectory in Enniskeane, Clonakilty are running gardening classes throughout the Autumn – some interesting guest teachers lined up…phone +353 (0)23 – 8822913 for details.

Autumn Food Festivals
Galway International Oyster Festival, 28th to 30th September. Tipperary Harvest Food Festival, Clerihan, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, 30th September. Leenane Autumnal Festival, Leenane, Co. Galway, 29th to 30th September. Macroom Food Festival, 28th – 30th September 2012. OktoberBeerFest, Dublin Docklands, 20th Sept – 7th October

Something needs to be done about what’s happening to our food. The number of people who have food intolerances or full blown allergies is nothing short of alarming. Those in the food business now, see the ‘free from’ market as the fastest growing opportunities and this is not niche more main stream. A list of food allergies were recently sent to restaurant owners to look out for by the FSAI (Food Safety Authority of Ireland)

What research is being done into the cause of this escalating problem? Several times a week I get requests for gluten free, for diary free and egg free recipes.

People are in desperation, a growing number of people have not one but multiple allergies, it’s like as if the ‘cocktail’ effect of eating a variety of additives, preservatives and colourings plus a ton of other strange stabilizers and enzymes over a number of years has suddenly kicked in.
I don’t know the answer but this I do know, fresh naturally produced local food in season is much less likely to cause problems. Follow Michael Pollan’s advice ‘Avoid food containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry’ ‘Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients’ ‘Avoid foods that contain more than five ingredients’ ‘Buy your snacks at the Farmers Market’ and  ‘Eat only foods cooked by humans’

And steer well clear of anything that makes health claims, you’ll find it rarely delivers. Buy fresh, of course there are exceptions and eat soon. I personally avoid food with sell by dates and best before dates as much as possible that eliminates most processed food and a ton of packaging. If you are fortunate enough to have a good country or farmers market near you, patronise them, it’s a myth that farmers markets are more expensive – check it out for yourself, plus you’ll often actually meet the farmers or food producers. Invest in a chicken coop – get a few hens – move them around your lawn, they’ll eat the food scraps from the house and at least you’ll know how and where your eggs come from. A growing number of people can’t eat eggs – it’s definitely time to examine our conscience – the cost of cheap food is too high in health terms and socio economic terms.

Irish people on average now spend 7 per cent of their income on food – how much do we spend on medicine?

Debbie Shaw, a teacher at Ballymaloe Cookery School and Naturopathic Nutritionist has shared some of her recipes using spelt flour with us. She will teach a cookery course Feel Good Food for Winter in October (see Hot Tips)

Debbie Shaw’s Wholemeal Brown Spelt Health Loaf

 

This little loaf packs a powerful energy-giving punch. It is full of B vitamins and, essential fats, with oats for slow release energy and oat bran for lowering cholesterol. Nutritious and delicious, this bread keeps very well for several days and is also great toasted.

Makes 1 loaf

400g (14oz) stone ground brown spelt flour

75g (3oz) white spelt flour, preferably unbleached

1 teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon bread soda, sieved (Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda)

1 egg, preferably free range

1 tablespoon oat bran

2 tablespoons oats

1 tablespoon sunflower oil, unscented

1 teaspoon honey

425ml (15fl ozs) buttermilk
2 tablespoons Linnwoods mixed ground seeds
2 tablespoons of mixed pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds for the top

Loaf tin 23×12.5x5cm (9x5x2in)

Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6.

Put all the dry ingredients including the sieved bread soda into a large bowl, mix well. Whisk the egg, add the oil and honey and most of the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in all the liquid, mix well and add more buttermilk if necessary. The mixture should be soft and slightly sloppy, pour into an oiled tin. Sprinkle the mixed seeds on top. Bake for 60 minutes approximately or until the bread is nice and crusty and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

 

Debbie Shaw’s Banana Bread

This is a lovely, moist loaf and a great way to use up over-ripe bananas, especially at this time of the year.

 

Vitality Statistics: Bananas are a great source of potassium and energy booster. They are however very high in natural sugar and are best eaten as a snack accompanied by a few seeds or 3-4 nuts to slow the sugar release.Cinnamon is a natural blood sugar balancer, excellent in helping to combat sugar cravings.

Serves 10-12

110g (4oz) white spelt flour
110g (4oz) brown spelt flour (Ballybrado)
1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
1 teaspoon of salt
75g (3oz) Billington’s unrefined caster sugar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1 large egg, beaten
75ml (3fl oz) of sunflower oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
65g (2 1/2oz) pecan nuts or walnuts, chopped
4 large ripe bananas, well mashed

Place the flour, salt, finely sieved baking powder and caster sugar into a large bowl. Lightly mix the egg, oil, vanilla and maple syrup together and add to the dry ingredient mixing very gently. Fold the pecan nuts and mashed bananas into t this mixture with a fork being careful not to over beat or mix. Place in a lined and oiled 900g (2lb) loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 1 hour. Allow it to cool in the tin before turning out.

For a Sugar Free Version:
I have also made this bread very successfully omitting the 75g (3oz) of caster sugar and ensuring that the bananas are very, very ripe and it is very tasty.

Debbie Shaw’s Spiced Pear and Ginger Crumble with Pecan Nut Topping

Because of their grainy texture and high pectin content pears are a natural diuretic and help de-toxify the body. They are also high in iodine, which helps to promote good thyroid function. Ginger is a super immune booster with potent expectorant and anti-septic properties. In addition its active compound “gingerol” helps fight cancer, improves circulation and soothes a nauseous stomach. It is a power-packed pharmacy all of its own. Ginger and pears are a match made in heaven!

Serves 6-8

8 large ripe pears, peeled and cored and cut into 1” slices lengthwise
1 scant tablespoon of dark brown Muscavado sugar
1 tablespoon of finely grated, peeled fresh root ginger
finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon

For the Crumble Topping

3oz (75g) white spelt flour
2oz (50g) of oats
1 heaped tablespoon of dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
25g (1oz) of cold butter
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
2 tablespoons of coarsely chopped pecan nuts

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

First make the crumble topping. Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the cold butter and the coconut oil. Add the sugar, cinnamon, whole oats, maple syrup and chopped pecans, mix and chill.

Place the sliced pears tossed with the brown sugar, grated ginger, lemon zest and lemon juice into an oven proof dish and sprinkle with the crumble topping loosely. Bake the crumble in the preheated oven until the topping is toasted and the pears are tender, 20-30 minutes.

Debbie Shaw’s Cinnamon and Buckwheat Buttermilk Pancakes with Noel’s Toffee Bananas

Cinnamon not only smells and tastes wonderful, it is also a great natural blood sugar balancer. Buckwheat, despite its name is gluten-free. It is not strictly a grain but the seed from a plant related to the Dock family. It is an excellent source of protein and fibre and high in rutin, which promotes circulation in the body. These pancakes are lovely for breakfast but also make a quick and tasty dessert with the chocolate drops and toffee bananas, adding extra decadence.

 

Makes 8-10 pancakes

100g (3 1/2oz) buckwheat flour
125g (4 1/2oz) organic white spelt flour
2 small free-range organic eggs
2 generous teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 generous tablespoon of unrefined caster sugar or honey
1 1/2level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
175mls (6floz) of buttermilk
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil for cooking
Maple syrup for drizzling over the pancakes (optional)
2 tablespoons of chocolate drops (for special treats or desserts)

Sieve the flours and baking soda and place them in a bowl with the ground cinnamon, the caster sugar and the salt. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten eggs (whisk the honey into the eggs if using instead of sugar). Whisking continuously, add the buttermilk a little at a time, ensuring you whisk out the lumps before adding more buttermilk. The batter should not be runny.

Heat a non-stick frying pan and when it is hot add 1/2 tablespoon of sunflower oil and drop 1 tablespoon of the batter for each pancake into the hot pan. When bubbles appear on one side flip to the other side. Before flipping the pancakes you can plant a few chocolate drops in each one, flip and cook. Serve with fresh mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries) and natural yoghurt and drizzle with a little maple syrup or serve the pancakes with Noel’s Toffee Bananas.

 

Noel’s Toffee Bananas

 

Serves 5

4 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of soft brown sugar
juice of 2 oranges
a few knobs of butter

My Dad used to make these for my sister and I when we were kids (when we were good!) and they are yum. Juice the orange. Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise and then in quarters on an angle. Heat a non-stick frying pan and place the bananas flat side down in the pan. Allow the bananas to caramelise on one side and turn over. Add the knob of butter, the honey and the fresh orange juice and allow to reduce and thicken. Serve hot with the pancakes and a dollop of natural probiotic yoghurt. Serve the pancakes with the bananas and some low fat natural yoghurt. Drizzle with a little maple syrup.

Hottips

Look out for Michelle and Philip Mansuy’s Bakery stall at Midleton Farmers Market and Glan Gluten at Mahon Point Farmers Market – 0862339519 – both sell superb gluten free food that any cook would be proud to serve. www.midletonfarmersmarket.com and www.mahonpointfarmersmarket.com

Two courses at Ballymaloe Cookery School

Debbie Shaw will teach a one day Feel Good Food for Winter course at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Saturday 13th October 2012 from 9:00am to 5:00pm. Debbie has worked as a chef at Ballymaloe House and as a teacher and cookery demonstrator at the Ballymaloe Cookery School for the past 10 years. She qualified as a Naturopathic Nutritionist in 2010. She’ll teach you how to cook delicious recipes using fresh, healthy ingredients to help build up good strong immunity for the winter and will show you that whole, natural foods have the power to heal and bring vitality, happiness, and well-being.

Gluten Free Cooking with Rosemary Kearney Saturday 6th October 2012
2:00pm to 5:00pm. Rosemary has been a coeliac – and a food lover – all her life and has a keen understanding of the challenges coeliacs face.  In this course a wide range of brand new and exciting gluten-free recipes will be demonstrated promising to tantalize the taste buds of coeliacs and non-coeliacs alike.  – To book both courses phone 021 4646785 or www.cookingisfun.ie

Slow Food Event at the Ballymaloe Cookery School – Frank Murphy second generation local butcher from Midleton will give a talk on the forgotten cuts of beef, breed and feed, hanging times on Thursday September 27th at 7pm. Proceeds to support the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. Booking Essential to 021 4646785 or emailslowfoodeastcork@gmail.com

For many families around the country, these are frantically busy not to mention expensive weeks. Kids of all ages starting or going back to school or college. Both parents and students excited and apprehensive in equal measure.

Mums of college kids tell me their main worry is “How will they feed themselves?”. This week I’ll dedicate my column to easy nourishing inexpensive dishes. In order to cook one must have some basic equipment so perhaps I’ll include a ‘Student wish list’ – the equivalent of a wedding list that could be circulated to grandparents and aunties and uncles who may want to give a little present but not sure what would be useful. Some items, for example a whisk only cost a few euros others like a good cast iron casserole will cost over €150.00 but will be invaluable for making a fine pot of stew and can also double up as a cake tin and ultimately be part of their ‘bottom drawer’

A Bamix will puree soup, whip cream, make mayonnaise, whizz up a smoothie, it’s a brilliant electrical gadget that makes short work of otherwise laboursome tasks.

A couple of decent knives, a knife sharpener and a good chopping board are also essential and if there is a gas cooker, a wok from an Asian shop is the ultimate multipurpose cooking utensil. Stir fry, boil, steam, poach, scramble, one can even make an omelette in a wok.

Then there is the Store Cupboard List. No one can rustle up a meal if the cupboard is totally bare but some basic foods are so much more nourishing than others. Porridge (cheap and brilliantly satisfying) lentils, chickpeas and haricot beans – (buy them dry and when soaked they double in volume.)  Tinned tomatoes are invaluable for pasta sauces, soups, stews. Potatoes, filling, cheap nourishing. Cabbage, great cooked or in salads. Onions, garlic –  the basis of everything. Pasta is ok – cheap, cheerful and handy but fairly empty calories. What they’ll miss most is home cooking so try to send them off with a little copy book of hand written easy to follow family recipes that can be gradually added to – it will soon become a treasured possession.

Macroom Oatmeal Porridge

Michael Pollan wrote in his Food Rules an Eaters Manual ‘ Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognise as food’. She certainly would not approve of some of the weird breakfast cereals on offer nowadays, but she’d agree that a bowl of cheap and cheerful porridge is a perfect start to any day.

Serves 4

5 1/2 ozs (155g) Macroom oatmeal

32 fl ozs (950 ml) water

1 level teaspoon salt

Obligatory accompaniment!

Soft brown sugar

Bring 4 cups of water to the boil, sprinkle in the oatmeal, gradually stirring all the time.  Put on a low heat and stir until the water comes to the boil.

Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the salt and stir again.  Serve with single cream or milk and soft brown sugar melting over the top.

Left over porridge can be stored in a covered container in the fridge – it will reheat perfectly the next day.

French Toast with whatever you have.

 

Great with bacon, maple syrup, bananas, berries…

Serves 1

1 egg, free range if possible

2 tablespoons milk

1 – 2  teaspoons sugar

2 slices decent white bread

A little clarified butter

Whisk the egg in a bowl with the milk.  Add the sugar. Pour onto a plate and dip both sides of the bread in it.  Melt a little clarified butter in the pan; fry the bread on a medium heat, when golden on one side turn over onto the other.  Put on a hot plate, top with sliced banana and a blob of chilled yogurt, drizzle with maple syrup or honey and scatter with a few chopped walnuts. Serve immediately.

 

Indian ‘French toast’

Omit the sugar and finely chopped onion and add some chopped chilli and coriander season with salt and freshly ground black pepper – perky and delicious. 

 

Haricot Beans with Tomato and Rosemary

 

A brilliant multipurpose dish that can be vegetarian but also delicious with cubes of streaky bacon, belly of pork or a few slices of chorizo sausage.

Serves 4-6

1 cup dried haricot beans

bouquet garni

1 onion

1 carrot

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 ozs (170g) chopped onion

4 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 14 oz (400g) tin tomatoes

1 large sprig rosemary chopped, approx 1 tablespoon

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Next day, strain the beans and cover with fresh cold water, add a bouquet garni, carrot and onion, cover and simmer until the beans are soft but not mushy – anything from 30-60 minutes. Just before the end of cooking, add salt. Remove the bouquet garni and vegetables and discard.

Meanwhile sweat the chopped onion gently in olive oil in a wide saucepan until soft but not coloured, approx. 7-8 minutes add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, add the chopped tomato and their juice, add the cooked beans, and chopped rosemary. Simmer for 10-15 minutes add some of the bean liquid if necessary and season well with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.

Note: The mixture should be juicy but not swimming in liquid.

Gratin of Haricot Beans with Tomato and Rosemary

Put the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish.  Scatter a mixture of buttered crumbs and grated cheese over the top and put into a hot oven or flash under a grill until crisp and golden on top.

Haricot Beans with Tomato and Rosemary with Chorizo

Add 1 chorizo, sliced, to the tomato base with the beans and rosemary.

Cabbage Salad with Raisins and Mint

 

Serves 8 approx.

 

If you are tiring of the ubiquitous coleslaw, then you might like to try this fresh tasting cabbage salad, bursting with vitamins and minerals.

1/2 white cabbage with a good heart

2-3 large dessert apples, grated – we like Cox’s orange pippin

2 tablespoons raisins

4 tablespoons freshly chopped mint

1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives

4 tablespoons pure Irish honey

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

Cut the cabbage into quarters.   Wash it well and discard the coarse outer leaves.  Cut away the stalks and shred the heart very finely with a very sharp knife.  Put it into a bowl with the grated apple, raisins, freshly chopped mint and chives.  Mix the honey and vinegar together.  Toss the salad in the dressing until well coated.  Taste and correct seasoning and serve soon.

Mammy’s Lamb Stew

Great to have an all-purpose recipe for stew. Beef, chicken thighs or shoulder of pork can be substituted for lamb. Ask the butcher for neck of lamb chops, they are cheapest but still sweet and succulent.

The word stew is often associated in these islands with not very exciting mid-week dinners. People tend to say almost apologetically, oh its only stew, no matter how delicious it is.

Well, let me tell you they smack their lips in France at the mere mention of a great big bubbling stew and now these gutsy, comforting pots are appearing on many of the smartest restaurant menus.

Serves 4-6

4 lb (1.8kg) neck or gigot or rack chops from the shoulder of lamb not less than 2.5cm (1 inch thick)

12 ozs (350g) green streaky bacon (blanch if salty)

seasoned white flour, preferably unbleached

a little butter or oil for sautéing

1 lb (450g) onions, (baby ones are nicest)

12 ozs (350g) carrot, peeled and thickly sliced

1 3/4 pints (750ml) approx. lamb or chicken stock

8-12 ‘old’ potatoes (optional)

sprig of thyme

roux – optional, Mushroom a la Crème (optional) For this recipe see Darina’s Letter of the Week http://letters.cookingisfun.ie/2009/02/28/burger-culture/

Garnish

1 dessertspoon freshly chopped parsley

Cut the rind off bacon and cut into approx. 1/2 inch (1cm) cubes blanch if salty and dry in kitchen paper. Divide the lamb into 8 pieces and roll in seasoned flour. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the bacon until crisp, remove and put in a casserole. Add the lamb to the pan and sauté until golden then add to the bacon in the casserole. Heat control is crucial here, the pan mustn’t burn yet it must be hot enough to sauté the lamb. If it is cool the lamb will stew rather than sauté and as a result the meat may be tough. Then quickly sauté the onions and carrots, adding a little butter if necessary, and put them into the casserole. Degrease the sauté pan and deglaze with the stock, bring to the boil, pour over the lamb.

Cover the top of the stew with peeled potatoes (if using) and season well. Add a sprig of thyme and bring to simmering point on top of the stove, cover the pot and then put into the oven for 45-60 minutes, 180C/350F/regulo 4. Cooking time depends on how long the lamb was sautéed for.

When the casserole is just cooked, strain off the cooking liquid, degrease and return degreased liquid to the casserole and bring to the boil. Thicken with a little roux if necessary. Add back in the meat, carrots, onions and potatoes, bring back to the boil.

The casserole is very good served at this point, but it’s even more delicious if some Mushroom a la Crème is stirred in as an enrichment. Serve bubbling hot sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Apple Crumble

 

Everyone loves a comforting crumble. The fruit can vary with the seasons, plums, blackberries, rhubarb and strawberry, gooseberry.

Serves 6-8

Crumbles are comfort food; vary the fruit according to the season.

1 1/2 lbs (675g) Bramley Seedling cooking apples

1 1/2-2 ozs (45-50g) 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

Peel the apples, cut into quarters, remove the core and cut into large cubes.

Turn into a pie dish. Sprinkle with 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 apple 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

A Store Cupboard List

Onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, eggs, free range if possible. Flour, e.g. plain, self raising, strong brown, strong white, coarse brown. Oatmeal, pasta/noodles/spaghetti/macaroni/shells/penne etc…grains, couscous, bulgar, long grain Basmati rice.

Tinned tomatoes, mature Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, chicken stock/cube

Butter, extra virgin olive oil and sunflower oil

Some whole spices eg. coriander, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, cloves, chilli flakes

Dried Fruit and Apricots, Homemade jam, Irish honey, marmalade

Tortillas – and pitta bread

Soy Sauce, Nam pla – (fish sauce), sweet chilli sauce, salami, chorizo

 

Hottips

Discovery of the Week - Luke Murphy’s goat cheese, an Irish chévre log with a furry white coat, ready to eat after three weeks. Luke’s Mammy, Jane Murphy who makes the Ardsallagh goat cheese is very proud of this new addition and so she should be – look out for it – 021 – 4882336

 

A Date for Your Diary – Slow Food Ireland Apple and Craft Cider Festival, Cahir, Co Tipperary – 22^nd– 23^rd September - Since 2011 there has been resurgence in interest in craft ciders and this is a rare opportunity to sample many of the new ciders from around Ireland under one roof. You can compare and contrast the various styles and as a rare treat you can try some specially commissioned traditional Irish cider, made to Dick Keating’s recipe and guaranteed to lift the fur off your tongue, at 13 per cent volume it’s not for the faint hearted, and much much more

www.slowfoodireland.com/ciderfest

Waterford Harvest Festival – 10th to 16th September – a week-long festival with an extraordinary variety of options, Slow Food Tours, Artisan Beer, Cookery and Forgotten Skills demonstrations…The fourth annual GIY (Grow it Yourself) gathering is on today Saturday 15th and tomorrow Sunday 16th in the Theatre Royal in Waterford–www.waterfordharvesfestival.ie

Fancy having a few hens – choose form a brilliant selection of chickens and fancy fowl, Marrrans, Blackrock, Light Sussex, Aracuna, Buff Orpington, Bantams…first and third Sunday of everymonth, beside Two Mile Inn between Midelton and Castlemartyr.