CategorySaturday Letter

My friend Camilla Plum from Copenhagen has been staying with me for the past few days. She lives about forty five minutes outside the city on a beautiful organic farm called Fuglebjerggaard. Apart from vegetables and soft fruit orchards they have 160 sheep, grow their own wheat barley and rye, and the freshly milled flour is used for bread and the barley malted to make beer. Both are sold in the farm shop on the farm as well as the preserves, herb salts and sugar and spice mixes that Camilla makes.

Over 100 different varieties of chilli are grown, seeds are saved and Camilla, who is a beautiful natural cook, writes cookbooks and also does TV series. Don’t ask me how they do it all but while she’s been staying with me I got a glimpse, she wanders through the farm and gardens and into the greenhouse and comes back into the kitchen with baskets and bags of herbs, vegetables and fruit and turns them into delicious ‘totally Camilla’ things. When we went for a drive through country lanes to the beach, we stopped to pick white fluffy meadowsweet for cordial; she found me another plant called Houttuynia Cordata. It has distinctive variegated green, red and yellow splashed leaves and is delicious in salads or used as herb – it tastes a bit like coriander.

When we drove through Shanagarry village midmorning on Sunday, we bought some freshly picked redcurrants from the GIY (Grow it Yourself) and OOOBY (Out of Your Own Backyard) members selling their surplus fresh produce along the wall close to the Shanagarry Design Centre. It’s a brilliant idea and greatly welcomed by the local community who are delighted to be able to buy garden produce and some preserves, freshly baked cakes and spotted dog at very reasonable prices.

Back in the kitchen once again Camilla popped the redcurrants into a glass jar, stirred in sugar and gave me a taste of what is called ‘Shaken Fruit’ in Denmark. It was so fresh and delicious and keeps for months or longer, I can imagine it is delicious with lamb or venison but also with goat cheese, rice pudding, carrageen…

For supper, she spatchcocked a couple of chickens early in the afternoon, sprinkled with lots of chopped tarragon, lemon thyme, elderflower and chilli salt and extra-virgin olive oil over the skin. They were simply roasted and served with roast new potatoes with capers and goats cheese – divine.

A foray into the greenhouse produced lots of little misshapen but very ripe tomatoes, so these were squished into Kilner jars with a couple of sprigs of basil and a glug of extra-virgin olive oil. Camilla makes hundreds of jars of these preserved tomatoes at home and uses them in sauces, salads and on bruschetta and pizzas all winter. They cooked slowly in the cool oven of my ancient aga overnight.

Camilla makes it all look so simple, like so many natural cooks she scarcely measures but judges by eye and feel and taste. I did my best to record and measure as she cooks and here are the results.

 

Camilla’s Preserved Tomatoes

 

Makes 2 Kilner jars

 

675g (1lb 8ozs) approximately very ripe tomatoes

5-6 basil leaves

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of Maldon sea salt

2-3 cloves of garlic

 

2 x 2 pint sterilised Kilner glass jars with lids.

 

Cut the big tomatoes – leave small ones whole. Stuff them in the Kilner jars and press tight. Add the extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon herb or Maldon sea salt, cloves of garlic and a sprig of basil. Close and seal the jars and bake at 110ºC/225°F/Gas Mark 1/4 until tomatoes are soft (3-4 hours) or until the tomatoes have softened and are cooked.

Keeps forever!

 

Fresh Bay Leaf Salt

 

Camilla Plum used coarse grey salt from Trapani

 

125g (4 1/2oz) Sel de Guérande (1/2 packet of Maldon sea salt)

young fresh bay leaves – 2 fistfuls – stalks removed

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

 

Destalk the bay leaves; transfer the leaves to a food processor.  Whizz with the crushed garlic and half the salt.  When juicy and green turn out onto a plate. Add the remainder of the salt. Dry on a flat platter – 4-5 days.  Store in a glass jar or jars.

 

Use with beef, roast potatoes, either add at the beginning with extra virgin olive oil or sprinkle over at the end for a fresh bay taste.

 

Nordic Cucumber and Dill Salad

 

Makes enough for 6-8

 

2 large fresh cucumbers

5 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 fistfuls of dill plus soft stalks chopped

 

Slice the cucumbers thinly –put into a bowl, add the cider vinegar, sugar, salt and chopped dill.

 

Toss well, leave for at least an hour.  Taste and correct the seasoning if necessary.

 

Serve with fish, lamb, chicken…

 

 

Shaken Berries

 

A Nordic way of preserving Summer fruits.

 

Redcurrants, blackcurrants, lingonberries, white currants, ripe gooseberries…are delicious preserved in this way. They keep forever!

Eat with cheese, venison, pork, melon…

 

Fresh ripe redcurrants (preferably organic)

60% fruit to 40% sugar or more to taste.

 

Put the fruit into a glass Kilner jar or jars, add sugar and stir well so the berries are bruised. Cover and keep in a cool place or refrigerator.

 

Strawberry and Rose Petal Jam

 

Makes 2 -3 pots

 

1kg (2¼lb) strawberries

1 litre (1¾ pints) of rose petals from fragrant old roses

450g (1lb) sugar

Freshly squeezed juice of ½ to 1 lemon

 

Put the strawberries in a wide stainless steel saucepan and cook over a brisk heat until the juices run and the fruit breaks down. Add the rose petals and hot sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar, bring back to the boil and continue to cook for 5 – 8 minutes until it reaches a set. Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice. Test for a set by putting about a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate, leaving it for a few minutes in a cool place. It should wrinkle when pressed with a finger. Remove from the heat immediately. Pour into sterilised jars and store in a cool place.

 

Verbena, Chilli, Ginger and Lemon Thyme Sugar

 

1 handful Moroccan mint

3 big handfuls fresh lemon verbena, leaves stripped off the stalks

1 inch knob of ginger chopped

2 tablespoons lemon thyme

2-3 Kaffir lime leaves if available

1/2 chilli

1 fistful of lemon basil

250-450g (9oz – 1lb) sugar

 

Put the leaves into the food processor; add ginger and lemon thyme leaves plus a couple of kaffir lime leaves if you have them. Add 110g (4oz) of sugar, whizz until blended, add rest of sugar and whizz another second, one can add less or more sugar.

 

Spread out on a tray or platter.  Leave to dry for 5-6 days even a week or use immediately.

 

For a hot drink

Pour boiling water over about a tablespoon of the Verbena Sugar in a glass, add lemon juice to taste.

 

For a cold drink

Add flat or sparkling water and lemon juice, add some rum if you fancy.

 

Hottips

 

Darina’s Book of the Week

No Need to Knead – Handmade Artisan Breads in 90 Minutes by Suzanne Dunaway. Suzanne uses no preservatives or additives of any kind, her ingredients are simply flour, water, yeast and salt – and, passion.You’ll find recipes for focaccia, ciabatta, pane rustico and pizza as well as breads from around the world such as baguette, sourdough flapjacks, blini, muffins, corn bread, brioche, African Spiced bread, kulich and kolaches. In addition many of the basic bread doughs are fat-free, sugar-free and dairy-free making then perfect for people on strict dietary or allergy regimes. Published by Grubb Street Press.

Charity Event – The Ballymaloe Cookery School Gardens will be open in aid of The Lismore Music Festival on Thursday, 9th August from 2.30pm – 5.30pm – Tickets are €12.50, includes afternoon tea – children and OAP’s half price. www.lismoremusicfestival.com

 

Learn how to prune your Apples, Pears, Plums, Cherry trees into Ornamental Fans and Espaliers with with Susan Turner at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Monday 13th August 9:00am to 2:00pm. Both decorative and functional – it’s a great way to grow a wide variety of fruit in a limited space. You’ll learn how to grow apples and pears as cordons, espaliers and step-overs. Fan trained peaches, plums, cherries, apricots and figs. 021 – 4646785 or www.cookingisfun.ie

Gastronomic science students doing a masters in marketing now have a list of evocative terms guaranteed to resonate with consumers who are seeking a more authentic wholesome product or eating experience – local artisan handmade, farmhouse, traditional, hand crafted… As a result there’s an epidemic of chefs and producers who are talking the talk but often with little understanding or respect for the real meaning of the word.

Evocative labels use the clever images and the jargon but often completely fail to deliver what that image promises. The menu of the CIE train promises ‘delicious, local, handmade sandwiches, hot snacks and pastries’ – I don’t think so – they are what they are but why try to pass them off as homemade. There are ‘Artisan’ restaurants and cafes without a single artisan item on the menu, artisan sweets and chocolates where as far as I can gather the only artisan element in the entire production system is to put the chocolates by hand into the moulded plastic trays in the slick packaging.

This ‘passing off’ is grossly unfair to the growing number of real artisan producers who has done so much to offer an alternative to mass produced option and to change the image of Irish food both at home and abroad.

Watertight definitions are notoriously difficult to nail down. Several of the farmhouse cheese makers and artisan producers – including Ballymaloe Country Relish – who started production on their kitchen tables has now morphed into a million euro businesses with a significant export market, no longer small but still with strong artisan values and philosophy – Cashel Blue Cheese and Glenilen in West Cork are brilliant examples. I asked John McKenna (Bridgestone Guides) what his definition of artisan might be – “a person who makes a product form beginning to end, and who makes it by hand, it’s easy to mechanise food production, artisans originate the product, produce it, and ideally sell it at market. Twenty years ago we came up with ‘The four ‘P’s’ person, place, (sense of place), product (original start from scratch) and passion and have found that has stood the test of time”

The  Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSA) are working on it but as yet there is still no legal definition of local or regional in the EU despite a recognition of the urgent need to define. In the US the word ‘house-made’ is now being substituted for hand-made which no longer had credibility. At present there are several court cases pending because of restaurants passing off an imported product, particularly goat cheese, as Irish. If you come across cases of blatant ‘passing off’ do please contact Slow Food Ireland or Cáis. www.slowfoodireland.com

 

The Encarta dictionary definition of artisan: a person or company that makes a high-quality, distinctive product in small quantities, usually by hand…

 

A Plate of McGeough’s Cured Meats

 

James McGeough is a second generation master butcher in Galway, Ireland. For the past number of years he’s been experimenting with curing and drying meats using traditional meats to produce dried, smoked meats and salami. I tasted them at the Food Village during the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway and was mightily impressed.

Telephone 353 (0) 91 552351 for stockists.

 

Serves 4

 

8 slices each of air dried beef, pork, lamb and ham

Cucumber pickle

Horseradish crème fraiche (see recipe)

a salad of rocket leaves and fresh herbs

 

Arrange 2 ruffled slices of each cured meat on each serving plate, add some cucumber pickle, horseradish crème fraiche and a little bouquet of rocket leaves and fresh herbs.

 

Horseradish Crème Fraiche

 

Horseradish grows wild in many parts of Ireland and looks like giant dock leaves.  If you can’t find it near you, plant some in your garden.  It is very prolific and the root which you grate can be dug up at any time of the year.

 

Serve with roast beef, smoked venison or smoked mackerel.

 

Serves 8 – 10

 

1 1/2-3 tablespoons grated horseradish

2 teaspoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of freshly ground pepper

1 – 2 teaspoons sugar

8 fl ozs (250 ml) crème fraiche

 

Scrub the horseradish root well, peel and grate on a ‘slivery grater’.  Put the grated horseradish into a bowl with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.  Fold in the crème fraiche but do not overmix or the sauce will curdle.  It keeps for 2-3 days: cover so that it doesn’t pick up flavours in the fridge.

 

This is a fairly mild horseradish sauce.  If you want to really clear the sinuses increase the amount of horseradish!

 

Courgette Flower, St Tola Goats Cheese and Local Honey

 

Anyone who planted courgettes this year will have lots of courgette blossoms. Use the male flowers raw in salads or make them into fritters.

 

Serves 2

4 courgette blossoms

250g (9ozs) St Tola goats cheese (or other good quality goats/sheep cheese)

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

2 teaspoons Irish honey

 

Tempura Batter

 

200g (7ozs) rice flour

20g (3/4oz) corn flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

cold sparkling water

 

First make the batter.

Mix the flours with a little water, it should be of a thickish consistency and can be used immediately.

 

Mix the cheese with the thyme leaves. Half fill each courgette flower.  Twist the ends to seal.  Dip the courgette flowers into batter.  Deep-fry at 190°C/375°F for 1 minute.  Drizzle with honey and serve, immediately.

 

Genaro’s Crespelle con Ricotta e Rucola

 

Crespelle are the Italian equivalent of pancakes. Everything sounds better in Italian – a recipe from Gennaro Contaldo’s Easy Italian cookery book, published by Headline UK.

                                                     

250g (9oz) plain flour

4 eggs

500ml (18fl oz)

40g (1 ½ oz) butter melted, plus extra for greasing and dotting

20g (3/4 oz) Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

½ quantity of Tomato sauce, using onion (see recipe)

Salt

 

For the filling

 

300g (10 ½ oz) ricotta – we use Toonsbridge Ricotta

100g (3 ½ oz) rocket, finely chopped, plus some un-chopped for garnishing

50g (1 ¾ oz) Parmesan cheese freshly grated

salt and pepper

 

1 x 16cm ( 6 ¼ inch) non-stick frying pan

 

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas 5.

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl, add the eggs and stir. Gradually whisk in the milk, ensuring no lumps are formed, until you obtain a smooth runny batter, then stir in the melted butter.

Place the frying pan on the heat, grease with a little butter, then add a ladleful of the mixture in the centre of the pan. Swirl the pan around so that the mixture runs to all sides. Fry until the bottom is golden, then flip over to cook on the other side. Remove and set aside. Continue to do this until your mixture has finished – you should be able to make 8 pancakes.

To make the filling on to each pancake, then fold each one in half and half again, ending up with a triangle. Place on a greased ovenproof dish so that they slightly overlap each other, dot with knobs of butter and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Remove and top with a spoonful of tomato sauce on each pancake. Garnish with some rocket and serve.

 

Genaro’s Salsa di Pomodoro – Tomato Sauce

 

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, or ½ medium onion, finely chopped

2 x 410g tins plum tomatoes, chopped

handful of fresh basil, finely chopped

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sweat the garlic or onion over a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and use immediately, or leave to cool and place in the fridge or freezer for later use.

 

Rose Cottage Strawberry Ice Cream

 

Rose Cottage Fruit Farm in Co Laois grows a variety of soft fruits and sells at Midleton, Mahon Point, Coal Quay and Douglas Farmers Markets – 0578732666

 

 

Serves 6-8

 

2 lbs (900g) very ripe strawberries

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 orange

8ozs (225gcastor sugar

300ml (300ml) water

150ml (5floz) whipped cream

 

Dissolve the sugar in the water; boil for 7-10 minutes, leave to cool. Purée the strawberries in a food processor or blender, sieve. Add the freshly squeezed orange and lemon juice to the cold syrup. Stir into the purée, fold in the whipped cream. Freeze immediately preferably in a sorbietere.  Store in a covered plastic box in the freezer. Store in a fridge.

 

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

400g (14 ozs) strawberries

50g (2 ozs) icing sugar

lemon juice

 

Garnish

Fresh mint leaves

 

To make the strawberry sauce, clean and hull the strawberries, add to the blender with sugar and blend. Strain, taste and add lemon juice if necessary. Pour over scoops of strawberry gelato and garnish with some fresh mint leaves.

Hot Tips

Date for your diary.

The Slow Food event Terra Madre in Italy is a life changing event. This year’s theme is ‘The future of food is the future of the planet. Slow Food International Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre’  Five days of extraordinary diversity of food across all continents held in Turin, Italy from Thursday 25th to Monday 29th October 2012 – for full details of the rich program http://www.slowfood.com

Food Festival in Castlemartyr, East Cork. The Village Greengrocer Food Festival are preparing for their second annual festival. There will be lots of food stalls, a pig on the spit and live music on Friday 10^th and Saturday 11^th August – 021-4667655.

Great new food magazine ‘West Fork’ celebrates the wonderful diversity of ‘food production’ and ‘food culture’ in West Cork. Look out for it. www.westfork.ie

Darina’s Book of the Week

Picnics and Other Outdoor Feasts by Claudia Roden, The new edition of Picnics reveals a whole world of simply prepared delicious foods and whets our appetites and the imagination with tales from far and near. From the street food of the Middle East and Mediterranean, the festivals of the high grassy plains of Mexico to the English traditions of picnicing in parks, at Glyndebourne and shooting-lunches on the grouse moors. Something for every season and any climate, perfect for our Irish Summer. Published by Grubb Street Press.

Darina recently gave a demonstration at the food festival in Cork, recipes are available below.

Recipes from Darina Allens Demonstration at the -Food-Festival

Sports lovers are in a frenzy of excitement at the prospect of a sports fest for the next couple of weeks. You’ll want to spend as much time as possible in front of the telly rooting for our national heroes. Even if sport is food and drink to you, some sustenance will improve your stamina and give you the energy to cheer even louder.

Interestingly this is the first Olympics that has had a food policy, Jan Whelan who is in charge of the initiative says “Sustain is very keen to ensure that Olympic food promotes health and sustainability, wins new business for sustainable producers, and creates a fabulous food legacy. We want London 2012 to showcase the very best of healthy, ethical and sustainable food and to communicate this to a local and global audience.

Sustain sees the London 2012 Games as a tremendous opportunity to help transform the food system.”

It’s worth cooking up a few filling, yummy and easy to eat dishes so you can relax and enjoy the spectacle. A frittata is a terrific idea, easy to make and a 10 inch one will feed 6 hungry lads or 8 less ravenous guys with a nice bowl of salad leaves and a few of the new season Irish cherry tomatoes. You can even pop it in the oven and dash back to the telly while it cooks at a gentle heat. Left overs make a great sandwich tucked into a crusty baguette with some rocket or watercress leaves.

A nice piece of cooked ham or a slab of good Irish bacon or kassler is a terrific standby, eat it hot or cold and any leftover scraps can be used to fill an omelette or tossed into a savoury tart or pasta sauce.

Better still buy a few ham hocks, they’ll only cost you a couple of euro. Put then into a deep saucepan, cover them entirely with warm water and boil gently for a couple of hours until the meat is almost falling off the bones. Then you can eat the meltingly tender meat in a variety of ways. On a chilly evening a ham hock would be fine and comforting on a bed of colcannon or champ with lots of parsley sauce or in a bean stew with a high tea salad.

If the weather suddenly turns summery, a roast chicken salad with lots of crusty bread will also have everyone smacking their lips, make a big bowl of mayonnaise and then flavour it in a couple of different ways. Handy to have in the fridge to make some sandwiches, get some decent bread in – maybe a few Arbutus loaves and make some pickled cucumbers.

A few smoked mackerel are a brilliant standby – I love the moist smokies from Frank Hederman’s Smoke House at Belvelly near Cobh and of course Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Organic Salmon, Then there’s Ummerra, Woodcock Smokery…all unique and delicious in their own way. A selection of artisan charcuterie is another must have for quick snacks, seek out Fingal Ferguson’s cured meat to perk up your sandwiches and baguettes, you could wash it all down with a few artisan beers, and there is such a choice from the Franciscan Brewery in Cork, the Dungarvan Brewery, Eight Degrees Brewery in Michelstown and Metalman Brewing in Waterford.

 

Smoked Mackerel, Leek and Dill Frittata

 

Serves 6-8

 

1 oz (25g) butter

2 medium leeks, thinly sliced

8 free range eggs

2-3 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

1 oz (25g) Gruyere cheese, grated

1 teaspoon salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

6-8 ozs (175-225g) smoked mackerel, cut into dice

 

1 “x 9” non-stick pan

 

Melt the butter in a sauté pan.  Add the finely sliced leeks, toss.  Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 4-5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave to continue cooking while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

 

Whisk the eggs, add the chopped dill and grated cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the cooked leeks.  Melt a little more butter in the non-stick frying pan.  When it foams, add the egg mixture, reduce the heat to minimum.  Sprinkle the smoked mackerel over the top and allow to sink into the egg mixture.  Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes until almost cooked.

 

Meanwhile preheat the grill.  Flash under the grill until the top is puffed and golden.  Turn out onto a warm plate and serve hot, warm or at room temperature with a good green salad.

 

Ham Hocks with Haricot Bean and Tomato Stew

 

Visit the English market in Cork city to find ham hock they are delicious with so many things – a bean stew as well as cabbage and champ. They are also great on a bed of lentils or shredded into a broth with diced vegetables or in a split pea soup.

Serves 4

 

2 fresh or smoked ham hocks

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

1 carrot, thickly sliced

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

 

Haricot Bean and Tomato Stew

This is great on its own or with a few chunks of chorizo, cabanossi or even breakfast sausages.

 

1 cup dried haricot beans

bouquet garni

1 onion

1 carrot

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 ozs (175g) chopped onion

4 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 14 oz (400g) tin tomatoes

1-2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

 

Garnish

lots of flat parsley or rosemary

 

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.

 

Next Day.

Cook the ham hocks. Put the ham hocks into a deep saucepan, add the vegetables and seasonings.  Cover well with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 – 21/2 hours or until the meat is virtually falling off the bones.

 

While the ham hocks are cooking, 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 (bunch of fresh herbs) 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, cook for 6-8 minutes, add the cooked beans, and chopped rosemary and cook for a further 5 minutes.

 

Remove the meat from the ham hocks, include the skin.  Add to the bean stew.

Simmer for another 3 or 4 minutes, add some of the bean liquid if necessary and season well with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.  The mixture should be juicy but not swimming in liquid.

Sprinkle with lots of flat parsley and serve or alternatively for a more rustic presentation for hungry chaps, keep the ham hocks whole (you need to cook four).  Spoon some bean stew over and around the ham hocks.  Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.

Ham Hock and Bean Soup

 

Add 2 pints of chicken stock and some bean water to the stew – for a delicious robust soup.

 

Roast Chicken Salad with Avocado and Caesar Dressing

 

Crisp leaves of little Gem lettuce provide the perfect scoops for chunks of tender chicken drizzled with creamy Caesar dressing.  Everything can be prepared a little ahead to eat.

 

Serves 12

 

1 large or 2 smaller organic chickens

1 large or 2 small lemons

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 tablespoons clear honey

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Caesar Dressing

2 egg yolks, preferably free-range

2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 x 2 ozs (50g) tin anchovies

1 clove garlic, crushed

a generous pinch of English mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2-1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

1/2-1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

6 fl ozs (175ml) sunflower oil

2 fl ozs (50ml) extra virgin olive oil

2 fl ozs (50ml) cold water

 

6 little Gem lettuces and lots of watercress

6 hass avocados

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.

 

Season the inside of the chickens with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Prick the lemons all over with a skewer, then put inside each chicken.  Tie the legs together, place in separate roasting tins.  Drizzle each chicken with 2 tablespoons (2 1/2 American tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil.  Roast for 1 – 1 1/2 hours in the preheated oven then brush the skin with honey and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Roast for a further 15 minutes or until the chickens are well-cooked and golden brown.  Remove from the roasting tin and allow to cool.  They can now be wrapped in tin foil and stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

 

Meanwhile, make the dressing. I make it in a food processor but it can also be made very quickly by hand. Drain the anchovies and crush lightly with a fork. Put into a bowl with the egg yolks, add the garlic, lemon juice, mustard powder, salt, Worcester and Tabasco sauce. Whisk all the ingredients together.  As you whisk, add the oils slowly at first, then a little faster as the emulsion forms. Finally whisk in the water to make a spreadable consistency. Taste and correct the seasoning: this dressing should be highly flavoured.

 

To Serve

Separate the leaves from the lettuces, arrange the leaves over 2 platters.  Remove each breast coarsely from the chicken in one piece.  Pull the meat from the legs and wings and shred it.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Cut each breast in to 6pieces each with a little skin attached.  Put a little brown meat in each lettuce leaf, then top with a slice of breast.

Half, stone, peel and quarter the avocados, tuck a few segments in between the leaves and sprinkle with Maldon seasalt.

Just before serving, drizzle a little dressing over each piece of chicken.  Garnish with watercress sprigs and marigold petals.

(Save the remainder of the dressing for another occasion. Refrigerate until needed).

 

Roast Kassler

That delicious German speciality, Kassler, is actually fresh loin of pork marinated with pepper, cloves and juniper berries for 12-24 hours and then oak-smoked for a further 12 hours.  It used to be quite difficult to find but is now becoming more widely available as many pork butchers produce their own.  It is best roasted rather than boiled.  It may be served hot, warm or cold.

1 x 5 lbs (2.25 kg) Kassler

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4

Weigh the joint and calculate 20 minutes per 1 lb (450g).  Put the piece of Kassler onto a roasting tin; during cooking, baste once or twice with the fat which will render out.  Test the meat.  The juices should run clear.  When cooked, turn off the oven or set to a very low heat; leave the meat to relax for 20 minutes approx. before carving.  De-grease the pan and serve the sweet juices with the Kassler.  Keep the pork fat to roast or sauté potatoes.

 

Hottips

Join Slow Food East Cork for a walk around Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm and Gardens on Saturday 28th July, 2012 at 3:30pm to 5:30pm. Bring appropriate weather-proof clothing and footwear. Donations to the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. Booking is essential for this event, please phone 021 4646785 or email slowfoodeastcork@gmail.com

Food Festival Dates for your diary

Achill Island Seafood Festival / Feile Bia Na Mara, Thursday 19th- Sunday 22nd July  www.feilebianamara.ie Doonbeg SeaFood Festival, Friday 20th – Sunday 22 July www.doonbegseafoodfestival.com Schull Country Market at Schull Show, Sunday 29th July Ardmore Pattern Festival Food & Craft Fair , Friday 27th – Sunday 29th July www.ardmorepatternfestival.ie Ardmore Farmers Market Food Fair Sunday 29th July Cork Gourmet Trail, Monday 30th July  www.corkgourmettrail.com Westport Food Festival, Tuesday 31st July to Thursday 2nd August  www.destinationwestport.com

Gubbeen Garden and Farmhouse Lunches – I was so excited to read that Clovisse Ferguson – who has created a little ‘Garden of Eden’ on the family farm just outside Schull, West Cork – is offering a morning tour of the farm, dairy, smokehouse and organic vegetable garden followed by lunch in the Gubbeen farmhouse kitchen, how enticing is that! www.gubbeen.com

My editor asked me to write a piece on Summer food this week! What on earth am I supposed to write? This would normally be so easy, lots of salads, a few sizzling barbecue dishes, homemade ice creams, granitas, jugs of fresh lemonade and big bowls of Summer berries.

Maybe a picnic by the beach or in a wildflower meadow on the old tartan rug, what a lovely image that conjures up. The reality this year would probably be sodden food and a miserable picnic even for hardy adventurers like me who like to picnic though out the seasons.

Well nothing for it but to look on the bright side and you never know, perhaps the sun will be scorching the stones as you read this.

Even if it is drizzling you can light the barbecue in the garage doorway, hang up a bit of bunting, open some fizz and just have fun.

Here are some of my favourite Summer recipes for the barbie, a butterflied leg of lamb or a boned out shoulder (cheaper) doesn’t take more than 45 minutes to cook and will feed 12-15 people with lots of salads and a few tasty relishes. You can embellish it with generous quantities of gutsy fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary or anoint it with a spice mix and a generous drizzle of extra Virgin olive oil.

Lamb chops, ask for chump chops (they are meatier) chicken thighs (they are tastier) steaks (flank is both cheaper and tastier by far) and sausages all cook in minutes and can be tarted up with flavoured butters, mustards and a few complimentary sauces.

A good big gratin of potato is a brilliant idea for a barbecue; I particularly love a gratin of potato with some Ballyhoura mushrooms or this version with rosemary.

They both go brilliantly with grilled food and can be made the day before and reheated until the top is bubbly and golden.

Make a great big bowl of green salad and look out for those beautiful misshapen, multi-coloured heirloom tomatoes, make sure they are really ripe and then make a beautiful tomato and cucumber salad with lots of fresh mint or basil.

And for pudding- Summer fruit salad with sweet geranium leaves, It’s the perfect time of the year to make this when all the berries are ripe and blackcurrants and red currants just burst deliciously in your mouth. This recipe was in my very first Simply Delicious book when I had brown hair and red glasses, its ‘just as delicious as ever and one of our very favourite Summer puds, light and fruity, it will slip down perfectly after you’ve over indulged.

 

Mexican Spiced Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa

 

Serves 8

 

8 free-range and organic pork loin chops with a nice layer of fat (2.5cm (1 inch) thick)

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon runny honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

 

Salt, black pepper

 

Pineapple, Chilli and Lime Salsa (see recipe)

 

Mix the garlic, marjoram, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, vinegar, orange juice, honey and olive oil together in a Pyrex measuring jug.  Pour mixture over chops, turning several times to coat thoroughly.  Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Season the chops with salt. Grill pan or barbecue over medium-hot coals until fully cooked but still juicy, 8-10 minutes per side.  Season the chops with salt. Serve hot with Pineapple, Chilli and Lime salsa.

 

Pineapple, Chilli and Lime Salsa

 

Serves 8

 

1/2 fresh pineapple, cored and finely diced (use less canned if you are in a hurry)

1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander or mint

grated zest of 1 lime

3 tablespoons lime juice

salt and sugar

 

Mix the pineapple with the chilli, onion, coriander or mint, lime zest and lime juice in a bowl.  Add salt and sugar to taste.  Cover and let stand for 30 minutes at room temperature to allow flavours to blend.  Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Gratin of Potatoes with Rosemary and Bay Leaves

 

Serves 4

 

about 300ml (10fl oz) each of single cream and milk

2 sprigs rosemary and a couple crushed bay leaves

900g (2lb) potatoes, peeled and fairly thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

20cm (8in) square gratin dish

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6

 

Put the milk and cream into a heavy saucepan, add the scrunched bay leaves, finely chopped rosemary and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Bring to the shivery stage on a medium heat,  turn off the heat and allow to infuse.

 

Meanwhile peel and slice the potatoes into 3mm (1/8 inch) thick slices approximately.  Rinse the potato well to remove some starch, add to the herby infused liquid with the crushed garlic.  Bring to the boil on top of the stove (to take the rawness away).

 

Then pour into a buttered gratin dish, cover with parchment paper.

 

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes. Uncover and brown before serving in a hot oven or under the grill.

 

Butterflied Leg or Shoulder of Lamb with Moroccan Flavours

 

We make this amazing recipe at the cookery school – this will feed 10 people easily, if they are having no other meat or fish.  But with a selection of accompaniments it would probably feed 25.  You can, of course, halve the recipe.  Leg or shoulder or pork works well for this too.

 

1 leg of lamb, about 3kg (6 3/4 lb) in weight, butterflied

Or a shoulder of lamb boned

 

Marinade

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoons harissa

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic or white wine vinegar

3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed

 

Cucumber and Radish Raita (see recipe)

 

Heat a pan.  Add the cumin seeds, and cook for a few seconds, then add the peppercorns and cardamom seeds.  Remove from the heat and crush coarsely.  Mix with all the other marinade ingredients.  Place the lamb in a large shallow dish or in a clear plastic bag.  Pour the marinade over and rub into the meat.  Leave for 24 hours if possible, rubbing the marinade into the meat every so often.

 

Drain the lamb from the marinade and place quite far (20cm (8in)) from the coals.  It will take about 55–60 minutes to cook.  Baste with the marinade a few times while it’s cooking.  Rest the meat for 10 minutes, then carve.  You can also roast this, in all its marinade, in an oven preheated to 200C/400F/gas 6.  It will take about 1–1½ hours.  Baste it with the marinade regularly.  Again, rest the meat before carving.

 

Cucumber  and Radish Raita

 

Makes 16fl oz (450ml)

10fl oz (300ml) yoghurt

½ cucumber, deseeded and finely diced

2 tbsp chopped coriander or mint

salt and pepper

6 – 8 sliced or quartered radish – depending on size.

 

Put the yoghurt into a bowl, add the cucumber, coriander and some salt and pepper to taste. Add the sliced radish and taste and correct seasoning

 

Note: You could also grate the whole cucumber for this, but first sprinkle it with a pinch of salt and let it drain sitting in a sieve over a bowl for 10 minutes to get rid of excess juices.

 

 

 

Bananas wrapped in Streaky Bacon

 

Kids love to make these and people of every age seem to enjoy them.

 

Bananas

Thin streaky rashers.

 

Peel the bananas and cut into chunks about 2 – 2 1/2 inches (5cm – 6.5cm) long (depending on the width of the rasher).

 

Wrap each piece in bacon and secure with a ‘soaked’ cocktail stick, toss the bananas in fresh lemon juice if prepared ahead. Cook on a grid on the hinged barbecue 4 – 6 inches (10cm – 15cm) from the hot coals for 6-10 minutes depending on the size, serve immediately.

 

Summer Fruit Salad with Sweet Geranium Leaves

 

Sweet geranium (Pelargonium Graveolens) and many other varieties of scented geraniums are every present on our windowsills here at Ballymaloe.  We use the delicious lemon scented leaves in all sorts of ways, occasionally we use the pretty purple flowers also to enliven and add magic to otherwise simple dishes.  The crystallized leaves, all frosty and crinkly are wonderful with fresh cream cheese and fat juicy blackberries.

I discovered this recipe which has now become a perennial favourite quite by accident a few Summers ago as I raced to make a pudding in a hurry with the ingredients I had at that moment.

 

Serves 2-4

 

1 oz (30g) Raspberries

1oz (30g) Loganberries

1 oz (30g) Red currants

1 oz (30g) Black currants

1 oz (30g) small Strawberries

1 oz (30g) Blueberries

1 oz (30g) Fraises du bois or wild strawberries

 

Syrup

 

14 oz (400g) sugar

16 fl oz (450ml) water

6-8 large sweet geranium leaves

 

Put all the freshly picked berries into a white china or glass bowl.  Put the sugar, water and sweet geranium leaves into a stainless steel saucepan and bring slowly to

the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Boil for just 2 minutes.   Cool for 4-5 minutes then pour the hot syrup over the fruit and allow to macerate for several hours.  Remove the geranium leaves.  Serve chilled, with softly-whipped cream or Vanilla Ice-cream or alone.  Garnish with a few fresh sweet geranium leaves.

 

Summer Berry Jelly with Sweet Geranium Leaves

 

Sometimes when we have a berry salad left over, particularly if there is more juice than fruit we make it into a jelly.  Use 1 teaspoons of gelatine to each 150ml/¼ pint of liquid.  Pour into glasses or white china bowls, serve with softly whipped cream and decorate with geranium leaves.

 

 

Hottips

Don’t miss this Summer’s Long Table Dinner in the Ballymaloe Cookery School glasshouse on Thursday 2^nd August (last year it was a sell-out) Hosted by Darina Allen and Mme.Véronique Guibert de La Vaissière of Mas de Daumas Gassac Wines. Menu from the organic farm and gardens by Rory O’Connell inspired by ‘Savours and Flavours of Mas de Daumas Gassac’ matched with the Grand Cru wines of Mas de Daumas Gassac. Proceeds will go to East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. www.cookingisfun.ie  Advanced booking essential.

Kilcolman Rectory is a charming little Georgian B&B in Enniskeane West Cork, they do really good breakfast with homemade breads and preserves, fruit from the garden and locally sourced produce. If you are just passing through you can visit their gardens, they serve cream teas too – www.kilcolmanrectory.com – +353 (0)23 – 8822913

Irish Examiner Food Festival – Darina Allen is doing a free cookery demonstration followed by a book signing in Fitzgeralds Park at 2:30pm on Saturday 21^st July.

Darina has started a weekly Blog.  Why not follow the link and check it out.

Every term my 12 Week Cerificate cookery students and I pile into a bus and head off on our School Tour to visit food related businesses. Our day started at Mahon Point Farmers Market, plenty of inspiration there and good ideas to add value to produce – Una’s Pies, Annie’s Roast Chicken, Just Nuts, Volcano Woodfired Pizzas, Pure Sushi and Sashimi, Old Millbank Smokehouse Fish Cakes, Kinsale Crab Cakes, Lolo’s steak sandwiches, fresh spices and aromatic curries from Green Saffron,  Glan Gluten gluten free cakes and tarts, Glenilen farm butter, yoghurt and pasteurised milk in glass bottles, several cake and cookie businesses including Regale, fresh and smoked fish from Ballycotton and West Cork, Cork Coffee Roasters and Golden Bean coffee, Daunt’s organic fruit and vegetables, free range and organic fowl from Tom Clancy in Ballycotton and Dan Ahern in Midleton, on and on. It’s a cracker of a market, wonderful atmosphere everyone is having fun, chilling at the central tables, listening to the music from Sean and Colman Kelleher and filling their shopping bags with local produce.

From there we cruised along in the Shanagarry express to North Cork. Next stop – the little village of Toonsbridge, now firmly on the foodie map since Toby Simmonds and Sean Ferris started to make cheese from the beautiful rich milk of Johnny Lynch’s herd of water buffalo. What a surprise to see a herd of these beautiful docile animals grazing contentedly in a field in North Cork a million miles from in Italy.

Thousands of tonnes of Italian Mozzarella is imported into Ireland every year so the original plan was to make an Irish Mozzarella and to contribute to the economy with import substitution – however Toby and his wife Jenny Rose bought the old creamery in Toonsbridge, made a state-of-the-art dairy having spent some years in Italy learning their craft, the boys started to experiment – at first it was Mozzarella but now they also make a beautiful feta, a tender ricotta and a Grana type cheese to age. The cheese grates beautifully and can also be used in their homemade pesto to sell at Toby’s Real Olive Company stalls familiar to many farmers markets’ customers.

Recently they have opened up a little shop beside creamery and there are plans to open a café before too long. The shop sells the fresh cheese but also a range of beautiful cured meat relishes, oils and carefully selected delicatessen products, chic and stylish it wouldn’t be out of place in Knightsbridge.

The students were fascinated by the process and after they’d stocked up we sped off to Macroom to pay a surprise visit to fifth generation miller Donal Creedon in the last stone grinding mill in Ireland. Porridge made from his nutty stone ground Macroom oatmeal has delighted visitors to Ballymaloe House for over 40 years.

The Gaeltacht area of Ballyvourney was our next stop – Jimmy Allen and family and the many neighbours, friends and well-wishers were launching the traditional De Roiste black and white pudding in their new factory space in Ballyvourney.

Jimmy Allen and Anthony Staunton use fresh pigs blood to make their black pudding based on a recipe passed down through the De Roiste family, it’s very encouraging to see an increasing number of butchers going down this route rather than using imported dried blood

On the way home spirited shopkeeper, Ruth Healy of Urru in Bandon gave the students an insight into the challenges and rewards of running a food shop/deli in a country town, yet another option in the food business. Artisan producer, Frank Krawczyk was making a delivery of his sausages – now made in collaboration with local craft butcher Martin Carey – so he gave us an insight into the life of artisan producers. Lots of food for thought and just a taste of the huge variety of opportunities in the food business in Ireland today.

 

De Roiste Pudding with Glazed Apples and Grainy Mustard Sauce

 

Serves 4

 

Allow 3-4 x 1/2 inch (1cm) slices of De Roiste black pudding per person

 

Glazed Apples

 

2 dessert apples, Cox’s Orange Pippen or Golden Delicious

juice of 1/4-1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon castor sugar

1 oz (25g) butter

 

Mustard Sauce

8 fl ozs (250ml) of cream

1 dessertspoon of Lakeshore smooth mustard

1 tablespoon of Lakeshore Honey Mustard

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Peel, core and neatly slice the apples into even 1/4 inch (5mm) slices.  Melt butter in a sauté pan and when it is foamy add the apple slices and coat in the butter.  Add the sugar and lemon juice and cook slowly for 5 minutes approx. until the apples are glazed in a shiny syrup.

 

To make the Mustard Sauce, simply place the cream and two mustards in a small saucepan and bring slowly to the boil, stirring occasionally. Taste and season if necessary.

 

To assemble the dish.

 

Melt the butter in a sauté pan and sauté the puddings until heated through.  Don’t allow to get too crusty on the outside.  Arrange the warm apple slices on one large serving dish or individual plates.  Arrange the slices of black pudding on the apples and sauce carefully with the Mustard Sauce, garnish with flat parsley and serve immediately.

 

 

Skye Gyngell’s Nectarine and Tomato Salad with Parma Ham and Buffalo Mozzarella

 

Another one of my favourite Summer salads.  This recipe is taken from Skye’s book “My Favourite Ingredients”.

 

Serves 4

 

4 ripe nectarines

10 perfectly ripe and sweet cherry tomatoes

a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

we use a ‘biggie’ from Arbutus Artisan Bakery

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 balls of fresh buffalo mozzarella

12 purple basil leaves, shredded

8 fine slices of Parma ham

2 tablespoons basil oil

aged balsamic vinegar, to drizzle (optional)

 

Cut the nectarines in half along their natural division, remove the stones, then cut each half into 3 wedges.  Halve the tomatoes.  Place the nectarines and tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice.  Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil and season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

Tear the mozzarella balls in half with your fingers and lay 2 halves on each plate.  Now build your salad, alternating the nectarine slices and tomatoes with basil and Parma ham, spooning a little basil oil between the layers and seasoning delicately as you go.  Finish with a restrained drizzle of balsamic vinegar if you like.

 

Serve at once, preferably with some really good chewy peasant-style bread drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

 

Basil Oil

 

Whiz the leaves from 3 large bunches of basil in a food processor with a 1 peeled garlic clove and a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper until the basil is finely chopped.  With the processor still running, slowly add in 200ml (7fl oz/scant 1 cup) extra virgin olive oil through the funnel and blend until you have a beautiful green purée.  Let stand for a few minutes, then taste and adjust the seasoning.  Store in a jar in the fridge – it will keep for up to a week.

 

Summer Fruit Salad with Pea-Shoots and Broad Beans with Ricotta

 

A friend Barney Haughton shared this with us. Seek out Toonsbridge Ricotta for this delicious summery salad.

 

Serves 4 people

 

1/4  a cucumber, peeled, halved longways, de-seeded and thinly sliced

a little salt

juice of 1 lemon

500g (18oz) mix of fresh raspberries, strawberries and redcurrants

400g (14oz) broad beans, podded, blanched and peeled

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

a large handful of peashoots or rocket

100g (3 1/2oz) fresh ricotta

a little pepper

 

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

 

 

Toss the sliced cucumber in a little salt and the lemon juice. Refridgerate for 30 minutes.

 

Make a dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and seasoning.

 

Drain the sliced cucumber of any water. Gently mix the fruit together with the broad beans and mint.

 

Arrange the fruit mixture, cucumber, pea-shoots and ricotta on a serving dish anddrizzle with balsamic dressing. Finish with a little black pepper.

 

Macroom Oatmeal Crackers

 

Virtually every morning I start my day with a bowl of Macroom oatmeal porridge which has the most delicious toasted nutty flavour.  It comes in a lovely old-fashioned red and yellow pack which I hope they never change, with a brilliant recipe on the side. Here is another recipe using Macroom oatmeal which makes the most delicious biscuits to nibble with farmhouse cheese.

 

 

Makes 25-30 biscuits

 

 

1oz  (25g) Macroom oatmeal

75g (3oz) brown wholemeal flour

115g (4oz) white flour, preferably unbleached

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

25g (1oz) butter

5-6 tablespoons cream

 

 

Mix the oatmeal, brown and white flour together and add the salt and baking powder. Rub in the butter and moisten with cream, enough to make a firm dough.

Roll out very thinly – one-sixteenth inch thick approx.  Prick with a fork. Cut into 2 inch (5cm) squares.  Bake at 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and quite crisp. Cool on a wire rack.

 

Hottips

 

Learn how to make Homemade Butter, Yoghurt and Several Cheeses with Giana Ferguson of Gubbeen Cheese and Darina Allen on Friday 27^th July 9:00am to 5:00pm – This busy one day course will take the mystery out of cheese making and introduce you to the magic of milk and the numerous possibilities. You will learn how to make a range of dairy products including homemade butter, yoghurt, cottage cheese, Labneh, paneer, and a couple of simple farmhouse cheeses. You’ll also discover how added flavour can be achieved with fresh herbs, fruit, spices and smoke. Phone 021 4646785 to book or online www.cookingisfun.ie

 

Slow Food Farm Walk at Dan Ahern’s Born Free Organic Poultry Farm on Tuesday July 17th 2012 at 6:30pm – Meet the family and see the farm where our favourite organic chickens are reared. Bring appropriate weather-proof clothing and footwear – light refreshments. Contact Dan for directions to Ahern’s Farm, Ballysimon, Midleton, Co Cork

086 1659 258.  Donations to support the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project www.slowfoodireland.com

 

The weather is so extraordinarily unpredictable that it’s difficult to know what to cook – should we make a stew or a salad? When the sun shines there’s a desperation to maximise the opportunity so barbeques are being wheeled out and back into the garage with monotonous regularity.

Let’s face it, we so need something to cheer us up. The positive response of the Irish football supporters despite defeat in the European Championship shows that as a nation we seem to be hard-wired to look on the bright side and make the very best of every challenging situation, no matter what.

The number of new micro businesses starting up all over the country are an example of the determination and the creativity that bubbles to the surface when we are forced to think outside the box. There are a myriad of opportunities in Irish food from artisan to manufacturing level, from farmers markets, farm shops, pop up restaurants to truck food.

Foraging is all the rage – what a fun thing to do.

Dr Barbara Duff is doing sea shore foraging courses in Clonea Co Waterford (see Hot Tips)

Close to home here, Philip Dennhardt’ s Saturday Pizzas at the Ballymaloe Cookery School is a favourite weekend treat for parents and kids of all ages who look forward to tasting the wood fired Pizza of the Week with toppings that reflect the season on the farm and in the gardens. Of course there’s always a classic margarita, marinara and peperoni with  homemade tomato sauce and a perky chilli oil for those who like to liven up their pizza– open for just four hours every Saturday from 12:30 to 4:00pm.

The latest option on the fun East Cork dining scene is the ‘pop-up’ on Friday nights at the Café at the End of the Shop at Ballymaloe House. Dervilla O’Flynn takes over the kitchens and offers a short menu of little plates and a platter of hand carved Iberico at a fraction of the price of London restaurant.

The food comes as its ready, the atmosphere is easy and convivial, terrific wines and superb sherries by the glass – I love it.

 

Pizzetta Bianca with Red Onions and Thyme Leaves

(makes 12 pizzetta)

Easy Pizza Dough

1 x 7g sachet fast action yeast

300ml (10floz) tepid water

500g (18oz) strong white flour, (we use Italian 00)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Topping

1 piece pizza dough

25g (1oz) grated block mozzarella

5g (¼ oz) grated Parmesan

½ thinly sliced red onion

enough thyme leaves to sprinkle over the top

thyme flowers if available

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

 

Put the flour, salt and fast action yeast with the olive oil and the tepid water into a bowl and mix into a dough. Rest for 3 or 4 minutes then form the dough into a roll. Knead the dough on a floured work surface until smooth and springy – about 10 minutes. Put in a bowl and cover with oiled Clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.  Ideally it should double in size. Divide the dough into pieces. Roll each one into thin 20cm discs.

Top with chosen topping and cook.

If you want to use the dough later, arrange the balls of dough on a tray, cover with a damp cloth and keep in the fridge for up to 12 hours. Remember to take them out 30 minutes before you’re ready to use them so they can come back to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to the highest temperature 250C/ gas mark 9 or better still 275C. Pizza will benefit from being placed directly on to a hot baking sheet or pizza stone within the pre-heated oven. Our pizzas cook in 4 or 5 minutes but yours may take about 6 or 8 minutes. At 250C/gas mark 9, yours will take about 6 – 8 minutes.

Roll the pizza base into a 20cm round. Don’t fuss too much about getting your pizzetta bases totally round. In fact it’s much better if they are not; you’ll get some lovely bubbling and occasional charring at the edges.

Sprinkle the cheeses over the top, top with some thinly sliced onion rings and a sprinkle thyme leaves. Use less rather than more topping – if you use too much, the base won’t be crisp. It will take 4 – 8 minutes depending on your oven. Grind on some pepper, drizzle a little olive oil and scatter some thyme flowers over the top and enjoy immediately.

Broad Bean, Blue Cheese, Parsley and Lemon Pizza       

 

Makes 1

 

150g (5oz) pizza dough (see recipe)

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of Maldon sea salt

150ml (5fl oz)

20 blanched broad beans

8 sugar cubed sized pieces of blue cheese

big handful of grated mozzarella

 

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 lemon cut into wedges

 

Preheat the oven to 250ºC/475ºF/gas mark 9.

 

Roll out pizza dough to 25.5 cm (10 inch) disc.  Sprinkle a little semolina all over the surface of the pizza paddle and put the pizza base on top.  Drizzle the olive oil over the base of the pizza and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt.  Spread the fennel sauce over the pizza base.  Gently place the toppings over the fennel sauce so that they are evenly distributed.    Finally, sprinkle the Mozzarella over the top of the pizza.

 

Bake in the fully preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until the base is crisp and the top is bubbly and golden. Scatter the chopped parsley over the pizza and serve immediately.

 

Place one wedge in the centre of the pizza for the guests to squeeze over the top to taste.

 

Fennell Sauce

 

5 bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 onions, thinly sliced

25ml (1fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

600ml (1 pint) water

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and sweat the onions and garlic together until soft.  Add the sliced fennel, olive oil, water and season with salt and pepper. Cook for approximately 25 minutes or until soft.  Blend until smooth.  Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Store in a jar in the fridge.

 Sicilian Roast Chicken Salad

 

You might want to serve this salad with a bowl of homemade mayonnaise and some crispy greens – I particulary love Little Gem lettuce and rocket leaves.

 

Serves 6-8 people

 

1 x  1.5kg (3lb 5oz) freshly roasted organic chicken

 

12 waxy freshly cooked potatoes, new if in season

a little olive oil

 

Dressing

150ml (6fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

25ml (1fl oz) red wine vinegar

25ml (1fl oz) Balsamic vinegar

zest of 1/2 lemon

 

4 tablespoons sultanas or raisins

4 tablespoons pinenuts

3 tablespoons capers

 

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

a small fistfulof flat parsley sprigs

 

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

 

While the chicken is roasting, put the sultanas or raisins into a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to plump up.  Spread the pine kernels on the base of a dry frying pan, stir over a gentle heat until toasted on all sides.  This will greatly enhance the flavour, allow to cool.

 

Peel and slice the potatoes while still warm. Whisk the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegar together.  Add the finely grated lemon zest.  Spoon some of this dressing evenly over the warm potato salad and toss gently

 

 

When the roast chicken is cooked, cool.  Cut into chunky pieces (reserve the chicken carcass for stock).  Arrange the pieces over the top of the salad, don’t remove the crispy skin – it’s delicious.  Sprinkle the drained sultanas, toasted pinenuts and drained capers over the top.  Drizzle with a little more dressing.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and scatter with lots of flat parsley sprigs.  Serve at room temperature with a green salad and a bowl of homemade mayonnaise.

 

Note

A few broad beans or fresh peas, blanch them quickly in boiling salted water and add to the salad.

 

Fattoush

 

Serves 6

 

 

There have always been delicious ways of using up bread, particularly in the Asian, South American, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. Sumac flakes give this Syrian bread salad a characteristic slightly sour taste. If you can’t get Sumac, the salad will still taste delicious but not so authentic.

 

2 stale pitta bread or 2-3 thick slices of stale sour dough or good country bread

a little bunch of rocket or purslane

2-3 teaspoons Sumac if available

1 mild sweet red pepper, optional

1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped

4 ripe, vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into quarters and then into half crosswise

3 spring onions, sliced at an angle

2-3 tablespoons  parsley, freshly chopped

2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves

2-3 tablespoons fresh mint

 

Dressing

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic crushed

salt and freshly ground pepper, maybe even a pinch of sugar or a dash of Balsamic vinegar

 

If the bread isn’t stale toast the bread until crisp. Cut into uneven sized pieces. Chop the rocket or purslane coarsely. Cut the sweet red pepper into or rounds or dice. Put both into a salad bowl with the tomato, cucumbers and spring onions, herbs and bread. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

 

Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Spoon over the salad, toss gently, taste.

Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes, better still an hour before serving, so the bread soaks up lots of yummy dressing and juice.

 

Ottolenghi Radish and Broad Bean Salad

 

A simple lunch dish, with the Tahini sauce and bread, it makes a modest meal in itself, without them, a colourful salad – light refreshing and wholesome.

 

 

Serves 4

 

500g (1lb 2oz) shelled broad beans fresh or frozen

350g (12oz) small radishes

1/2 red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

30g (1 1/4oz) preserved lemon, finely chopped

juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

200ml (7fl oz) Green tahini sauce

4 thick pita breads

salt and black pepper

 

Cook the broad beans in a pan of boiling salted water for 1 – 2 minutes, depending on size. Drain through a large colander and rinse in plenty of cold water to refresh them. Remove the beans from their skins by gently squeezing each one with your finger tips.

 

Cut the radishes into 6 wedges each and mix with the broad beans, onion, coriander, preserved lemon, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil and cumin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

To serve, pile a mound of salad in one corner of each serving plate, pour tahini sauce into a small bowl and stand it next to the salad. Set a pita bread next to them.

 

 

Salmon Pad Thai Noodle Salad

 

A yummy salad for the week.

 

Serves 6-8

 

375g (12oz) packet medium rice noodles

75g (3oz) peanuts, roasted and sprinkled with salt

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 large red or white onion, finely sliced

2 red chillies, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

300g (11oz) fresh salmon, ½ inch cubes

3 tablespoons fish sauce

juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoons spring onions, sliced at an angle

40g (2oz) fresh coriander leaves

 

 

Put the rice noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water, toss well and allow to soak for 5 minutes. Chop the roasted peanuts (10 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6) coarsely.

 

Heat 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a wok, add the onion, chopped chilli, garlic and ginger. Cook on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, add the salmon and toss for 1 minute. Add 3 tablespoons of spring onions cut at an angle and toss. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and noodles, toss well. Add half the coriander, taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

 

Serve immediately with the remainder of the coriander and peanuts scattered over the top.

 

 

Hottips

Seashore Tours – often wondered whether you can eat the seaweed you find on the strand or how to identify the shellfish or sea urchins? Dr Barbara Duff a marine biologist is doing sea shore tours at Clonea Beach near Dungarvan in Co Waterford, she does an illustrated talk before- hand at Clonea Hotel – contact tel: 087 4149949 – www.seashoretours.com

Mulberry Gardens in Donnybrook offers dinner just three nights a week, 3 courses, two choices on each course, reflecting the season and the best of Irish artisan produce. You’ll need to book well ahead despite the recession – that says it all – +353 (1) 2693300.

Pop-up Banquet – one night only – in aid of Midleton Hospital and The Laura Lynn Foundation at the Granary Foodstore, Midleton on Friday 6th July 2012. Outdoor drinks reception starts at 7.45pm followed by a seven course, no choice, tasting menu, using local Irish ingredients. Vegetarians will be catered for. The price is €50, bring your own wine. Contact Jack O’Sullivan 021 4613366 to book.

When life is a bit hectic it’s brilliant to get away for even one night, doesn’t have to be very far away just a change of scene so you can flop onto someone else’s sofa and have a ‘phew’ moment.

Bring along your passport so it feels exotic but ideally it should be within an hour’s driving distance so you can make the most of your short break.

We checked into Perryville House B&B in Kinsale recently – what a lovely spot that is right in the centre of Kinsale overlooking the harbour – an oasis of calm run by the Corcoran family. We arrived mid-afternoon and wandered into the little Garden Tea Room for afternoon tea – so stylish with a pretty vintage feel.

Hannah had a lovely selection of homemade cakes and they really were homemade – coffee cake, passion fruit cake, several types of scones, sultana, white chocolate and raspberry and her strawberry shortcakes and iced lemon curd cake were unbearably delicious. But we were in holiday mode so we started with little finger sandwiches, cucumber and mint, egg and chive, Umerra smoked chicken with mayonnaise and salad leaves, freshly made and delicious like they so seldom are. There were 10 or 12 types of Lov Organic tea to choose from and hand roasted Pónaire coffees from Limerick.

Kinsale is the prettiest town with lots of little winding streets with gaily coloured shops and a myriad of cafes, restaurants and pubs to choose from.

We had a one year old grandchild with us, good humoured and smiley, but nonetheless we managed an early dinner at Fishy Fishy Restaurant and then an amble through the fun fair and a walk by the harbour.

Breakfast at Perryville was just what you hope a breakfast will be but so seldom is, freshly made bread, I particularly loved the spotted dog with fat sultanas and orange and Glenilen yoghurt, homemade granola, a citrus fruit salad and lots of fresh berries and a huge honeycomb from Hannah’s dad’s bees which I spread lavishly on toasted Arbutus bread.

The rashers and the sausages were well sourced by Barrett’s butchers in Kinsale and the eggs from Ruth Wright’s free range hens (she does all the baking).  The dining room was full and I think I wasn’t alone in eating far too much but it’s good to leave space for lunch in one of the many tempting cafes in Kinsale.

Don’t miss the Kinsale Arts Festival from Saturday 7^th to Sunday 15^th July http://kinsaleartsfestival.com/

 

Radish and Anchovy Sandwich

 

A delicious open sandwich from Alice Water’s Vegetables book.

 

 

fresh baguette

unsalted butter

radishes

anchovy fillets

pepper

 

Choose a very fresh baguette.  Cut in half lengthwise and spread liberally with unsalted butter.  Wash and trim the radishes, leaving on their tender leaves.  Cut the radishes in half lengthwise and place them on the buttered baguette.  Garnish with anchovies fillets and ground black pepper.

 

 

Blue Cheese, Walnut and Candied Peel Sandwich

 

A delicious combination.

 

Serves 4 – makes 12-16 finger sandwiches

 

50g (2oz) butter

225g (8oz) blue cheese e.g. Cashel Blue, Crozier Blue, Bellingham Blue, Roquefort, Stilton….

50g (2oz) chopped fresh walnuts, fairly finely chopped

35g (1 1/2oz) candied orange and lemon peel, finely chopped

thin slices of white bread

 

Cream the butter, add the crumbled blue cheese, beat well.  Stir in the chopped walnuts and candied peel.

 

Spread on thin slices of lightly buttered good white bread, sandwich together.  Trim off the crusts, cut into fingers and serve.

Scones with White Chocolate and Raspberries

 

Makes 18-20 scones using a 7 1/2 cm (3inch) cutter

 

900g (2lb) plain white flour

175g (6oz) butter

3 free-range eggs

pinch of salt

50g (2oz) castor sugar

3 heaped teaspoons baking powder

100g (4 oz) raspberries

100g (4 oz) chopped white chocolate

 

450ml (15floz) approx. milk to mix

 

Glaze

egg wash (see below)

granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of the scones

 

For crunchy tops

50g (2oz) granulated sugar for top of the scones

 

First preheat the oven to 250°C/475°F/gas mark 9.

 

Sieve the flour into a large wide bowl; add a pinch of salt, 3 heaped teaspoons of baking powder and the castor sugar.  Mix the dry ingredients with your hands, lift up to incorporate air and mix thoroughly.

Cut the butter into cubes, toss well in the flour and then with the tips of your fingers, rub in the butter until it resembles large flakes.   Make a well in the centre, then add the white chocolate and raspberries. Whisk the eggs with the milk; pour all at once into the centre. With the fingers of your ‘best hand’ outstretched and stiff, mix in a full circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl.  This takes just seconds and hey presto, the scone dough is made.

 

Sprinkle some flour on the work surface.   Turn out the dough onto the floured board.  Scrape the dough off your fingers and wash and dry your hands at this point.

Tidy around the edges, flip over and roll or pat gently into a round about 1 inch (2½ cm) thick.   Stamp into scones with a cutter or a knife.  Brush the tops with egg wash  (see below) and dip the tops only in granulated sugar.   Put onto a baking sheet.    Gently gather the extra pieces of dough together, flatten and repeat as above.

Bake in a preheated hot oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

Serve, split in half with home-made Raspberry jam and a blob of whipped cream.

 

Scones are best served freshly baked.

 

Egg Wash: Whisk 1 egg, thoroughly with about a dessertspoon of milk.  This is brushed over the scones to help them to brown in the oven.

 

Fluffy Sponge with Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote

 

Serves 8–10

 

3 organic eggs

225g (8oz) caster sugar

75ml (3fl oz) warm water

150g (5oz) plain white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

 

For the Filling

Green gooseberry and elderflower compote (see recipe in my column Irish Examiner Saturday 16th June, 2012.)

or

Sliced fresh strawberries, raspberries, loganberries and maybe frosted redcurrants or kumquats or homemade jam and softly whipped cream

 

2 x 20cm (8 inch) sandwich tins

 

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

 

Separate the egg yolks from the whites. In a food mixer, whisk the yolks with the caster sugar for 2 minutes and then add in the warm water. Whisk until light and fluffy, this will take about 20-30 minutes. The mixture will have greatly increased in volume and should hold a figure of eight for a few seconds.

 

Gently fold the sieved flour and baking powder into the mousse in batches. Then whisk the egg whites until they hold a stiff peak. Fold them in very gently.

 

Divide the mixture between two greased and floured sandwich tins and bake for 20 minutes.

 

Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

 

When cool, sandwich the two together green gooseberry and elderflower compote or another filling of your choice and whipped cream.

 

Sprinkle a little caster sugar or icing sugar over the top before serving. Serve on a pretty plate with a doily.

 

Soda Bread with Sultanas and Fennel Seeds

 

Good for breakfast or school lunches, or as a snack at any time of the day – best eaten fresh.

 

Makes 1 loaf

450g (1lb) plain white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 level teaspoon salt

I tablespoon sugar

75g (3oz) sultanas (or more if you’d like)

zest of ½ an orange

1 -2 teaspoons fennel seeds

1 organic egg

about 350 – 425ml (12-14fl oz) buttermilk

 

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.

In a large mixing bowl, sieve in the flour and bicarbonate of soda; then add the salt, sugar and sultanas, orange zest and fennel seeds. Mix well by lifting the flour and fruit up in to your hands and then letting them fall back into the bowl through your fingers. This adds more air and therefore more lightness to your finished bread. Now make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Break the egg into the base of a measuring jug and add the buttermilk to the 425ml (14fl oz) line (the egg is part of the liquid measurement). Pour most of this milk and egg mixture into the flour.

Using one hand with the fingers open and stiff, mix in a full circle drawing in the flour mixture from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, but not too wet and sticky.

The trick with this bread like all soda breads is not to over mix the dough. Mix it as quickly and gently as possible, thus keeping it light and airy. When the dough all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. Wash and dry your hands. With floured fingers, roll the dough lightly for a few seconds – just enough to tidy it up. Then pat the dough into a round, about 6cm (2 1/2 inches) deep. Transfer to a baking tray dusted lightly with flour. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross on it, letting the cuts go over the sides of the bread. Prick with knife at the four triangles. Put into the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Cook for 35-40 minutes. If you are in doubt about the bread being cooked, tap the bottom: if it is cooked it will sound hollow. This bread is cooked at a lower temperature than soda bread because the egg browns faster at a higher heat.

 

Serve freshly baked, cut into thick slices and smeared with butter and jam. Spotted Dog is also really good eaten with Cheddar cheese.

Hottips

Do you long to make your own homemade ice-cream? The exciting news is that Kitty Travers of La Grotta Ices Sorbets the UK’s ice-cream queen is coming to Ballymaloe Cookery School from Wednesday 25^th to Thursday 26^th July 2012. Kitty and Darina will teach you  the secrets of making mouthwateringly delicious ice creams and sorbets with fresh ingredients like white peach and tarragon… sweet chestnut… apple and blackberry… pear, bergamot… and fig, chocolate and hazelnut. Everything is natural and seasonal and the flavours are amazingly bright and intense. Kitty has worked in New York, Naples, Rome, Iceland and Russia to master her art. She only makes small batches and sells her ice creams and sorbets from the back of her Piaggio scooter at London’s Maltby Street. To book +353 21 4646785 or www.cookingisfun.ie

 

EatGalway has been awarded Bord Bia’s Just Ask! Restaurant of the Month for June 2012.  This is the first time that the award goes not to a restaurant, but to a group of establishments, all based in Galway city, as a result of their dedication to sourcing ingredients locally – for a list of restaurants visit www.eatgalway.ie

 

Darina Allen will be giving a cookery demonstration in association with Euro-toques at the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway on Saturday, 7th July from 12.30 to 1.15pm. – www.volvooceanracegalway.ie    

Date for your diary – Kenmare Food Carnival Friday 13^th to Sunday 15^th July 2012.

Smoky chipotle peppers, artisan corn tortillas, and dried corn husks which you can use to make your own tamales are some of the food on offer on ‘My Mexican Shop’ a new website run by Lily Alan Foran which delivers authentic Mexican cuisine to Irish homes. For details on how to order see www.mymexicanshop.ie

The artisan milk and handmade butter movement is really gathering momentum, it is still minute but boy is it causing a stir.

Many top restaurants are now featuring handmade butter proudly on their tables and at last a growing number of dairy farmers are putting milk back into glass bottles and selling organic milk and butter. I sense the same passion as in the artisan brewing movement and as with the brewers there’s a generosity of spirit and room for many more.

Tom and Sheila Butler have been making Cuinnéog Irish country butter and buttermilk In Shraheens, Balla, Co Mayo since 1990. They won a coveted Great Taste Award in 2011.

Alan and Valerie Kingston from Glenilen Farm in Drimoleague, West Cork are also trail blazers, adding value to their beautiful milk from their Friesian and Jersey cows in a myriad of ways, yoghurt, butter, traditional and clotted cream, strawberry smoothies, cheese cakes, lemon posset and of course freshly pasteurised milk in litre glass bottles.

At Mahon Point Farmers Market, devotees fill their bottles with chilled pasteurised milk or melt chocolate lollipops in hot milk – how fun and gorgeous is that! Using the milk from their herd of fifty five cows in 1997 started to make cheesecakes for the local country markets what started as a hobby continued to grow and has transformed their small farm into a hive of activity which now employs thirty four people.

Alan and Valerie Kingston truly know that it all starts with the quality of the milk so “we treat our cows kindly allowing them to roam, keeping them warm in Winter and never ever over milk them” – a simple but crucial factor in their success.

And like Cuinneog when Bord Bia wanted to give Queen Elizabeth a taste of our most delicious and best, Glenilen Farm milk, butter, cream and crème fraiche was on the menu.

 

Mark Kingston of Golden Bean uses Glenilen milk for his superb lattes and cappuccinos. The newest enterprise I’ve discovered is Ballymore Farm Organic Dairy near Ballymore in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in County Kildare.  Aidan Harney and his wife Mary Davis are the energy and inspiration behind this enterprise. From the milk of their Jersey, Ayrshire and Friesian cows they produce raw organic milk, handmade butter, buttermilk, yoghurt and cream. The graphics reminiscent of Zingermans in Ann Arbor in Michigan or fun and catchy and once again the demand for their products is skyrocketing. At the recent Bord Bia Food promotion in Selfridges in London they were one of many artisan producers who sold out well before the end of the promotion. Contact www.ballymorefarm.ie   for stockists. Organic Mossfield Farm near Birr in Co Offaly have been selling pasteurised organic milk since November last and Ralph Haslam tells me that sales are building all the time.

This growing interest in handmade artisan food products gives farmers the opportunity to add value to their raw material and create much needed local employment.  Linking food with tourism is an obvious growth opportunity for Ireland’s farmers, fishermen, and artisan food producers. Restaurants and food businesses that feature local foods on their menu already experience an increase in business and benefit from the goodwill it generates when they support their local producers.

This was clearly illustrated in the recent Grant Thornston report commissioned by Good Food Ireland on opportunities to link food to tourism.

Sheridans Cheesemongers have experienced a 800% increase in demand for unpasteurised milk since they started to stock it in November 2010.

 

 

Yoghurt and Cardamom Cream with Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote

 

Serves 8-10

 

425ml (15 fl ozs) natural yoghurt

225ml (8 fl ozs) milk

150g (5 ozs) castor sugar

200ml (7 fl ozs) cream

1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds, freshly ground – you’ll need about 8-10 green cardamom pods depending on size

3 rounded teaspoons powdered gelatine

 

Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote (see recipe)

 

Put the milk, sugar and cream into a stainless steel saucepan with the ground cardamom, stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch. Remove from the heat and leave to sit to infuse while you dissolve the gelatine. Sponge the gelatine in a small bowl with 4 tablespoons of cold water. Put the bowl into a saucepan of simmering water until the gelatine has melted and is completely clear. Add a little of the infused milk mixture and stir well and then mix this into the rest. Beat the yoghurt lightly with a whisk until smooth and creamy, add into the cardamom mixture.

 

Pour into a well oiled ring mould or 8 individual moulds. Allow to set for several hours, preferably overnight.

 

To Serve

* To crush cardamom seeds, remove the seeds from 6 or 8 pods and crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar or between 2 sheets of silicone paper with the bottom of a saucepan.

 

Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote

 

When I’m driving through country lanes in late May or early June, suddenly I spy the elderflower coming into bloom.  Then I know its time to go and search on gooseberry bushes for the hard, green fruit, far too under-ripe at that stage to eat raw, but wonderful cooked in tarts or fools or in this delicious Compote.

 

Elderflowers have an extraordinary affinity with green gooseberries and by a happy arrangement of nature they are both in season at the same time.

 

Serves 6-8

 

2 lbs (900g) green gooseberries

2 or 3 elderflower heads

1 pint (600ml/2 1/2 cups) cold water

1 lb (450g/2 cups) sugar

 

First top and tail the gooseberries.   Tie 2 or 3 elderflower heads in a little square of muslin, put in a stainless steel or enamelled saucepan, add the sugar and cover with cold water.  Bring slowly to the boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes.   Add the gooseberries and simmer just until the fruit bursts.  Allow to get cold.  Serve in a pretty bowl and decorate with fresh elderflowers.  Serve with elderflower cream (see below).

 

N.B.  The tart green gooseberries must actually burst otherwise the compote of fruit will be too bitter.

 

 

Lemon Posset with Rose Scented Geranium

 

Serves 4

 

400ml (14fl oz) double cream

100g (3 1/2oz) caster sugar

5 leaves rose-scented geranium

2 fl oz (50 ml) lemon juice

 

Garnish

tiny rose geranium leaves

 

Place the cream, sugar and rose geranium leaves in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low and cook, stirring often, for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, squeeze in the lemon juice, strain and allow to cool. Serve in small tall glasses each garnished with a tiny rose geranium leaf.

 

Bhapa Doi – Steamed Sweetened Yoghurt

 

So maybe this isn’t exactly a traditional recipe, but steamed puddings are certainly a forgotten skill and I ate the most sublime steamed yoghurt at Kempies restaurant in Calcutta. This isn’t exactly the same, but it is delicious also. I found it in The Calcutta Kitchen by Simon Parkes and Udit Sarkhel.

 

The sweetness of the condensed milk works wonderfully with the acidity of the plain yoghurt. This creamy, sliceable textured pudding is similar to a crème caramel – one of my favourites.

Serves 8

 

800g (1lb 12 oz) natural yoghurt

300g (10 1/2oz) sweetened condensed milk

seeds of 6 green cardamom pods

powdered in a mortar and pestle

8-10 saffron strands

 

Garnish

Sliced pistachio nuts

 

Heat some water in a steamer. You could use a bamboo over a wok, but any multi-tiered steamer will work. If you do not have a steamer, upturn a small, metal, flat-bottomed bowl inside a larger pot with a fitting lid. Pour water into this and bring to a simmer. Put the item to be steamed into a suitable dish, cover with clingfilm, and place on the upturned bowl to steam.

 

Mix the natural yoghurt and other ingredients in a bowl and whisk to incorporate some air but don’t overdo it or the whey will separate. Pour it into 8 small serving bowls. Cover with clingfilm and put in the steamer or on to the upturned bowl. Cover with the lid and steam on a steady simmer for 35-40 minutes.

 

Carefully remove the bowls and leave to cool. Remove the clingfilm and chill.

Serve chilled, sprinkle with the sliced pistachio nuts.

 

Crème Caramel with Caramel Shards

 

Serves 6

 

Caramel

8oz (225g/1 cup) sugar

5 fl ozs (150ml) water

 

Caramel Sauce

2 1/2 fl ozs (60ml) water

 

Custard

1 pint (600ml) milk

4 eggs, preferably free range

2 ozs (50g) castor sugar

vanilla pod or 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

 

Caramel Shards (see recipe)

 

1 x 5 inch (12.5) charlotte mould or 6 x 3 inch (7.5cm) soufflé dishes

 

First infuse the milk. Put the cold milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla pod if using.  Bring to just under boiling point, cool. Whisk the eggs, castor sugar and vanilla extract (if used) until thoroughly mixed but not too fluffy. Whether you are using a vanilla pod or vanilla extract, the milk must be brought to just under boiling point first.

 

Allow to cool and infuse for 6-10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the caramel.  Put the sugar and water into a heavy bottomed saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is fully dissolved.  Bring to the boil, remove the spoon and cook until the caramel becomes golden brown or what we call a “chestnut” colour.  Do not stir and do not shake the pan.  If sugar crystals form around the side of the pan, brush them down with cold water.  When the caramel is ready for lining the moulds, it must be used immediately or it will become hard and cold.  Coat the bottom of the charlotte mould or soufflé dishes with the hot caramel. Dilute the remainder of the caramel with the 2 1/2 fl ozs (60ml/generous 1/4 cup) of the water, return to the heat to dissolve and keep aside to serve around the caramel custard.

 

Pour the slightly cooled milk onto the egg mixture, whisking gently as you pour.  Strain and pour into the prepared moulds, filling them to the top.

 

Place the moulds in a bain-marie of simmering water, cover with a paper lid and bake in a moderate oven 150C/300F/regulo 2, for 35 minutes approx., for individual dishes, 1 hour approx. for a charlotte mould.  Test the custard by putting a skewer in the centre, it will come out clean when the custard is fully cooked.

 

Cool and turn out onto a round, flat dish or individual plates, put the remaining caramel around.  Serve with a little softly whipped cream.  Decorate with caramel shards (see recipe).

 

 

** Please remember to allow the milk to cool before whisking onto the egg yolks otherwise the eggs will curdle.

 

Caramel Shards

 

Boil sugar and water to the caramel stage – “chestnut” colour, cool slighty, spoon onto an oiled baking sheet or onto silicone paper.  When cold and crisp, use to decorate the crème caramels.  Bigger pieces may be splintered into shards.

 

Alternatively, put 4-6 ozs (110-150g/1/2 – 3/4 cup) sugar either granulated or castor into a low sided stainless steel saucepan. Stir continuously over a medium heat until the sugar melts and caramelizes. When it has almost reached the “chestnut” stage, turn off the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes.

 

Then spoon into shapes as above.

 

Hottips

 

Artisan Charcuterie – Robbie Krawczyk whose food is delighting guests at the Chop House Restaurant in Lismore has another string to his bow. He’s carrying on the Polish charcuterie tradition he learned from his father Frank – enjoy this at the Chop House – look out for his cured meats at the Schull and Skibbereen Farmers Markets. Email Frank for the details of his ‘Pig Out’ charcuterie courses – westcorksalamis@gmail.com  – +353 (0)28 28579

 

Debbie Shaw returns this year with her Feel Good Food for Summer Part 2 one day cookery course at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Saturday 23^rd June from 9:30am to 5:00pm “Feel Good Food” courses are designed for anyone who would like to feel more energetic, youthful, healthy and happy. With simple delicious recipes that can be easily introduced into any daily cooking routine – 021 4646785 www.cookingisfun.ie

What could be nicer than having a flourishing herb garden outside your kitchen door? Susan Turner is teaching a Garden Workshop – Designing a Herb Garden at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Monday 18^th June 2012 from 9:00am to 2:00pm – the price of €95.00 includes lunch – phone 0214646785 to book www.cookingisfun.ie

New Farmers Market at Killruddery House, Bray, Co Wicklow on the first Saturday of every month from 10am to 4pm until September. Exciting list of stall holders including Riverview Farm Fresh Meats, Eat East, Bray based company Garden Produce, Malone’s Fruit Farm, George’s Patisserie, Hamburger Marys, Croi Scripts, Moonwave Nursery, Little Delights… www.killruddery.com/whats-on/june-farm-market