Darina’s Saturday Letter

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India

On a recent trip to India we travelled right into the central province of Madhya Pradesh to try to catch a glimpse of the famous Bengali tiger before it disappears entirely.   It was quite a mission – A flight from Mumbai to Nagpur, followed by a two hour jeep drive to Baghvan, a cc Africa game lodge on the edge of Pench National Park.

On the day of our arrival all the Indian newspapers carried headlines berating the  government for exaggerating tiger numbers. The latest Wildlife Survey of India indicated that numbers are less than 50% of the last survey.  This didn’t augur well for our chances yet every morning we struggled out of bed before dawn full of anticipation. We were picked up by a game warden and driven in an open jeep through the jungle tracks for 3-4 hours, our eyes peeled, ears pricked to pick up alarm calls.  We saw lots of spotted deer, langur monkeys, black buck, sambar, jackal, a herd of gaur and even a jungle cat, but not a whiff of a tiger or leopard.    The nearest we came to it were several sightings of fresh pok marks. Nonetheless there were compensations, the food at the Baghvan Game lodge was delicious.  Virtually every hotel and household in India makes homemade curd.  At Baghvan they serve it for breakfast in glasses with fresh pomegranate seeds and syrup on top.  Slices of ripe papaya embellished with coriander sugar, fresh pineapple was served with a perky chilli syrup.

There’s also a crunchy muesli made with cashew nuts, honey and sesame seeds, jugs of fresh orange or sweet lime juice.  Lots of fresh fruit, the most delish muffins, and a lassi of the day.  There was always an Indian speciality of course .   The chef made parathas and masala, omelettes with chopped chilli, onion, tomato, coriander and cheese added to the eggs from the local village.    All the other ingredients came from the organic vegetable garden in the grounds of the lodge.    The gardener Sunil makes compost which grows fresh herbs and vegetables in tiny sunken beds which can be flooded to save every drop of precious water.  Growing here is a real challenge, not just water shortages but one can’t rule out attacks from elephants, marauding monkeys or a hungry nocturnal porpoise.

The stuffing for the parathas varied daily, one day it was crushed fresh peas with chilli, cumin and coriander, the next a spicy mashed potato mix, the third, grated cauliflower with coriander and ginger.

They are eaten fresh off the griddle with a lime pickle which is definitely an acquired taste, but this was the most delicious I’ve tasted in India.

When we arrived in from the game trail the chef would be cooking some tasty snack in the open kitchen to tempt us. One day it was spinach pakoras, on another occasion it was paneer grilled over a lump of charcoal.   There were also sweet sticky jalabas for us to nibble.

The staff spent all their time planning little treats.  Every evening, guests had a new surprise, dinner by the pool in the moonlight, a barbecue under a giant neem tree, a romantic rose petal strewn table on the veranda, always delicious food, soup, a rice pilaff, a paneer dish, meat, fish or prawn curry, mixed vegetables, salad and of course daal.

Then kulfi, or gheer with pistachio nuts or a little carrot halva, which takes four or five hours of dedicated effort to make.

It was like one big house party, it is rare to have such good food even in the best hotels.  I avoid hotel buffets like the plague and in fact much of the best food I’ve eaten in India has been in street stalls and dhabas and of course in multi-generational private houses where the cooking skills are still passed down from grandmother to grandchild in the time- honoured way – a tradition that is all but lost in this part of the world.

Rata who manages Baghvan was kind enough to hand write some of the recipes for me to share with you.

www.ccafrica.com  www.tajsafaris.com

Baghvan Lodge is situated on the edge of Pench National Park in Central India, in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh.   Dominated by hills, forests and valleys, this national park derives its name from the Pench river, which meanders its way through the entire stretch of the 757 km² park.

Indian Paratha Bread

 

Makes 16

 

These roughly triangular breads get eaten all over India. Easy to make at home, all you need is a cast iron frying pan. In India ghee is used instead of oil.

 

175g (6oz) sieved wholemeal flour (weigh the flour after sieving, add the bran to the remainder in the bag)

185g (6 1/2oz) plain flour plus some extra for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or clarified butter

200ml (7fl oz) water

Oil for frying and brushing

 

Put the wholemeal, white flour and salt into a bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of oil over the top.  Rub the oil in with your fingertips. The mixture will resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Add the water and gradually mix them together to form a softish ball of dough. 

Knead on a clean work surface for about 10 minutes. Rub the ball with dough with a little oil put into a bowl, cover with cling film and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 

Heat a cast iron frying pan on a medium-low flame. Knead the dough again, shape into a roll and cut into 16 equal pieces. 

 

Variations:

 

Potato Paratha

 

Basic paratha dough –as above

 

Potato filling:

450g (1lb) mashed potato

2 green chillies, chopped

4 tablesp. chopped coriander

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 teasp. cumin

1 teasp. grated ginger (optional)

Mix the mashed potato and other ingredients together to make a filling.

 

Make a batch of paratha dough as above. Roll out a ball of dough, dipping regularly in flour.  Roll it into a round about 5 inches (12.5cm) diameter.   Place 2 small tablespoons of potato filling on top.   Pinch the edges together. 

Heat a griddle or heavy iron pan.   Cook dry first on the hot griddle or pan, then rub a little butter on top, turn over and cook for a minute or two.   Spread a little butter on the other side.  Serve with pickles and raita.

 

Cauliflower Paratha

 

Paratha dough – as above

 

1 small cauliflower grated (raw)

Salt

Green chilli

Ginger

Roasted cumin powder

 

Mix the ingredients for the filling together and proceed as in potato paratha.

 

Green Pea Paratha

 

Blanched green peas

Oil

Cumin seeds

Salt

Ginger

Chopped green chilli

 

Make the filling and proceed as above.

 

 

Parathas may be reheated wrapped in tin foil in a moderate oven 180C/350F/gas mark 4, they take 5-10 minutes.

 

 

Khadi Paneer

 

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main course

 

3 tablespoons peanut oil

4 tablespoons coarsely grated unpeeled ginger

2 sliced red onions (medium)

1 sliced green pepper (small)

3-4 ripe tomatoes

110g (4oz) peas, fresh or frozen

salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

200g (7ozs) paneer (diced into 3/4 inch dice)

2 teaspoons Chana masala – available from Asian food shops

 

Put 3 tablespoons of peanut oil in a kadhi or wok over a medium heat.  Add the grated ginger, stir, add the sliced red onions, green pepper, tomatoes and peas.  Add salt to taste and a good 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.  Finally add the diced paneer.  Stir and allow to cook on a low heat for 3-4 minutes.  Add 2 teaspoons of chana masala.  Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes.   Taste and serve with chapatti, naan or parathas.

 

Cabbage Thoran (Kerela) Fogath (Karnataka) Poriyal (Tamilnadu)

 

I first came across this dish in Kerela but was interested to find it is also a much loved dish in Bengal.

 

Serves 4-6

 

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

a pinch of freshly ground cumin (jeera)

a pinch of turmeric powder

15 curry leaves, fresh or frozen

2 dry red chillies

200g (7ozs) grated fresh coconut

1 cabbage, washed and finely chopped/diced

 

 

Heat the oil in a wok or sauté pan to smoking point. Add the mustard seeds, cumin (jeera), turmeric, curry leaves, chilli.  Stir, add the coconut and cabbage and continue to stir-fry on a low heat (fire).  Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked.  Taste and correct seasoning.

 

Tomato Khata

 

Serves 5-6

 

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

20g (3/4 oz) crushed garlic

2-3 green chillies, thinly sliced

10-15g (1/2 oz) mango ginger or ordinary fresh ginger, peeled and grated

500g (18ozs) chopped tomato

2-3 bay leaves

salt to taste

sugar

coriander leaf

 

Put oil into a wok, heat, add the mustard seed, garlic, chilli, ginger and chopped tomatoes and bay leaf.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes stir every now and then.  Add salt and sugar.  Taste and add fresh coriander.

 

 

Masala Baby Corn

 

Serves 4

 

1 tablesp. vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon cumin (jeera)

50g (2ozs) onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ginger, chopped

1/4 teaspoon green chilli, chopped

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

salt to taste

100g (3 1/2 ozs) tomato, chopped

300g (11ozs) baby corn, diced

a pinch of garam masala

 

Garnish

1/2 teaspoon green coriander, chopped

 

Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin (jeera) and fry until it crackles and add the onion and ginger.  Fry until golden brown and add the chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric and salt.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes and baby corn, cover and cook for a few minutes.  Add a pinch of garam masala.  Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

 

 

Hot Tips

Enjoy A Taste of India with Darina Allen on Wednesday 17th September 2008

9.30- 12.30 – Tel 021-4646785 www.cookingisfun.ie  info@cookingisfun.ie 

 

Cork City has at last recognised the importance of the great tradition of the crubeen and Katty Barry with the opening of An Crubin .A food and drink emporium with hosts Paul Lewis and Frank O Connell.

Together with An Crubin and Beamish, Cork City Slow Food Convivium is holding a traditional evening of pigs trotters,tails,ribs and cheek, with Arbutus artisan handmade breads and creamy pints of cool Beamish.

Venue   An Cruibin, on Thursday April 17th, members €10, non-members €15

 

 

Slow Sausage Sunday –Sunday 27th April 2008

Wicklow Slow Food – The Garden Convivium

Venue: Rear 15A, Georges St Upper, Dún Laoghaire. Time 11.00am-14.00pm

This workshop will be aimed at children (ably assisted by an adult!). We will be making sausages from scratch, focusing on taste. The children will be mixing, filling and linking their own sausages by hand, in 1 kg batches, which they will all get to take home and cook.  As this event takes place in a real sausage kitchen, it will be cold and wet! So be sure to wear nice clean wellies and warm clothes You will also need an apron and a sense of fun! Booking is essential as places are limited. Please email to confirm by 24th April. hick.edward@gmail.com Space at Hick’s is also limited… foldable buggies only please!

Cost: € 20.00 per child for members and €30.00 per child for non-members.

(Accompanying adults are free)

Special Offer  – Any non member who joins up on the day will get to attend for free!! Annual membership is €50 per person more info on www.slowfoodireland.com

India

The perception of the city of Calcutta , or Kolkatta as it is now called, is changing fast. At last it is beginning to acquire an image other than that of destitute poor and the Black Hole of Calcutta.

The economic boom in India means that third world meets first world on every street, Mercs glide alongside belching tuc tucs, glitzy shopping malls spring up in the midst of the roadside food stalls and dhabas.  Yet Calcutta is unique in India in retaining its trams, and is the only metropolis in the world to still have hand-pulled rickshaws.   You take your life in your hands every time you attempt to cross the street with a sea of honking yellow ambassador taxis, bicycles, tuc tucs and motorbike riders, some with funny helmets from World war two.

Unimaginable loads are carried on Honda heroes and old Enfield motorcycles, two adults and two children, sheets of glass or plywood propped up between the rider and the pillion passenger, building materials, crammed baskets, vegetables, live chickens, fish. ….  We once saw a water buffalo with feet tied squished into a tuc tuc.  Of course there are vibrant markets, fruit, vegetables and spice markets where vendors sit crossed legged on the ground calling to attract passers-by to their wares, which might be just a handful of vegetables or a couple of fish.   We rose at dawn to go outside to explore Calcutta ’s wetlands, not normally on a tourist itinerary, but this unique eco-system,  2000 hectares of lakes and marshland, an extraordinary eco achievement where the night soil of the city is piped out through a natural reed bed system.    This not only purifies the water but leaves it rich in mineral deposits and plankton, making it a prime producer of some of the world’s most sustainable fish on a massive scale – over 10,000 tons of fish a year is produced.    Furthermore a series of market gardens have been created on the rich fertile soil between the ponds, these produce lush vegetables and leafy greens, spinach, oracle, coriander, mustard greens, squash blossoms, coriander…..

We arrived in the little village of Bantala about 15 kilometres from the centre of Calcutta  soon after 7am just in time to catch the end of the fish auction.  Fishermen on bicycles, with saddles made from old tyres, arrived from the surrounding area with tin vessels called decki, covered with wet sacking attached to their carriers, these were full of live fish.  The fish merchants were waiting, sitting cross-legged in their latticed bamboo huts.  The fishermen cycled up, they upended their bicycles, front wheel in the air to tip the wriggling fish into the plastic barrels so the auctioneer could assess the quality of the catch.   The fish was weighed on huge balance scales, the bidding started, 46-48 rupees a kilo seemed to be the going rate that morning.  The fishermen, dressed in traditional dhoti would have waded knee deep in the shallow ponds for hours catching the fish with little nets and sometimes with their bare hands.

After the transaction, the fish is transported still live into the fish market in Calcutta , but they go along to a tea shack to enjoy a glass of chai, hot sweet spiced tea, swap fishy yarns before picking up some fresh vegetables from the roadside market to take home to make a simple stew.   Although many people are very poor the basic food is still very nutritious.

On the outskirts of the village we came upon an entire family on the roadside making chals kumar from gram flour mixed with ginger and chilli powder.   Three generations passing the skills from grandparents to grandchildren.   They picked off balls of dough and left it to dry in the sun on a sheet of canvas.    These provide little sundried nuggets, a nutritious staple to eat with gravy or daal.   In the city they are dried on the roof, but this skill is fast disappearing as more people become affluent and buy them ready made in packets, even though they are a vastly inferior product according to Ankur, our guide.

Back in the city, later in the morning, we headed for the bustling office district where the street food is at its most riveting.  Each stall has its own speciality.  There under makeshift awnings are charcoal stoves with kadhi full of oil to cook pakoras and shungara, the Bengali names for samosas. Little stalls piled high with biryani pots, mutton stew, daals, chow mein ( Calcutta has the oldest Chinatown outside China .)    Each stallholder offers up a puja (prayer) to the Gods before they start and there is always an auspicious symbol of limes and chillies strung together, hanging from the stall for good luck.

Several stalls were rolling out dough for a variety of breads, chapatti and luchi,  others slapped paper thin rounds of dough onto red hot upturned metal kadhi (wok like pot) to make romali roti (handkerchief bread) in seconds.   In fact some of the best food I’ve tasted comes from street stalls and dhabas in India .   It is freshly cooked and hot, and in my experience a much safer bet than lukewarm hotel buffets.  The complexity of the food and traditional cooking skills are mesmerizing.  The flavour of every thing I tasted was truly delicious – nourishing complex food.  The number of people that these and other street stalls feed every day is staggering, not just thousands but millions in Calcutta alone.

Eggy toast is another speciality, a sustaining snack for just 5 rupees,   Thick slices of partly toasted white bread were piled high.  There’s a shallow griddle pan on a kerosene stove. A little groundnut oil goes in, quick as a flash he whisks a fresh egg in a tin bowl, adds chopped onion, chilli, fresh coriander leaves, a good pinch of salt, straight onto the pan. The stack of toasted bread is dipped into this sizzling omelette like mixture, first one side is cooked on the smoking hot griddle, then the other – its done.  Cut in quarters, scatter on some rock salt and pepper, wrapped in newspaper 5 rupees, next please – so good and filling.   A glass of sweet spicy tea from a chai wallah and then a sweetmeat or two.  Bengalis have a compulsive love of sweets made from chana and jaggery, an acquired taste for a visitor.  Don’t leave Calcutta without tasting rosagulla and my favourite cooked yoghurt at Kewpies Restaurant, famous for serving Bengali home cooking.

The Calcutta Kitchen written by Simon Parkes, presenter on BBC 4’s Food Programme and Udit Sarkhel, of the best known Bengali chefs in Britain – has delicious recipes for Bengali cooking  and snapshots of the fish ponds, markets, artisan food producers, restaurants, clubs, cooks, gourmet, and street foods that play a part in the Calcutta’s rich culinary culture.  Here are some recipes from the book, published by Mitchell Beazley.

.

Aloo Makallah – Crusty potatoes

 

These potatoes serve as an accompaniment to almost every Jewish meal.  You can never make enough of them, so when cooking, use at least 4-5 per head! Ideally, use small potatoes and cook them whole; but if you use large ones, cut them in half or into quarters.  Try not to use new-season potatoes, as you need a bit of starch. 

 

Serves 4

16-20 small potatoes

1tbsp turmeric

salt

vegetable oil for deep frying

 

Peel the potatoes and place in a pot with cold water to cover.  Add the turmeric and salt to taste, and parboil for about 8-10 minutes.  Drain, dry and pierce at random with the tines of a fork.

Place the potatoes in a Karai or heavy wok, cover with cold oil, then bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer gently, moving the potatoes around, for about 20 minutes.  At this point, the potatoes can be removed and kept until almost ready to serve, if you wish. 

Simmer for another 8-10 minutes.  Once the potatoes start turning light golden, turn up the heat slightly and fry until they are a darker gold and crisp on the outside.

Drain well and serve immediately.

 

 

Bhapa Doi – Steamed Sweetened Yoghurt

 

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

 

Serves 4

 

800g (1lb 12 oz) natural yoghurt

300g (10½oz) sweetened condensed milk

seeds of 6 green cardamon pods

powdered in a mortar and pestle

8-10 saffron strands

 

Garnish

Sliced pistachio nuts

 

Heat some water in a steamer.  If you do not have a steamer, upturn a small, metal, flat-bottomed bowl inside a lager 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 yoghurt and other ingredients in a cool glass bowl and aerate it rapidly with a hand whisk.  Do not over-whisk for fear of the whey separating.  Pour it into 4 individual 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. 

 

 

 

 

Roast bhetki Portuguese

 

Bhetki is highly prized by Bengalis for its flavour and lack of bones.  This recipe uses fillets, and most all fishmongers in Calcutta will fillet the fish for you.  The “Portuguese” connection is in the use of peppers and tomatoes.  Portuguese cooks were found in Park Street restaurants, and came from Portuguese settlements around Calcutta in places such as Bandel (famous for its many beautiful churches). 

 

Serves 4

 

1 large piece bhetki, or cod or halibut fillet, about 800g (1lb 12oz)

 

juice of 1 lemon

salt

1cm (½in) piece fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed

2 tbsp vegetable oil

a few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely chopped

 

Sauce

50g (1¾oz) butter

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of granulated sugar (or, more interesting, 2 tbsp port)

1 green sweet pepper, seeded and diced

1 red sweet pepper, seeded and sliced

2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped

200g can chopped tomatoes

 

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4

 

Wash the fillet of fish and pat dry.  Use, whole or, depending on the size of your oven and your dish, cut in half.  Sprinkle with the lemon juice and salt to taste.  Make a paste in the blender with the ginger, garlic and black peppercorns, and rub this into the fish.  Leave to marinate, covered, for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the garlic and onion, and cook for 2 minutes, until translucent.  Add the turmeric, chilli powder and sugar (or port), and fry for a minute.  Add the green and red peppers and sauté for a minute.  Add the fresh and canned tomatoes and stir.  Cook on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.  Taste for seasoning. 

 

While this is cooking, heat the oil in a large ovenproof pan or casserole.  Brown the fish briefly on both sides, taking care not to break it while turning.  Top the fish with the thickened sauce, and put the dish into the oven for about 15 minutes, covered.  Turn up the heat to 190C/375F/gas mark 5, and cook the fish for another 3-4 minutes, uncovered.  Serve immediately with some crusty Portuguese-type bread. 

 

 

 

Kuku – Spicy Spinach and Herb Omelette

 

This is an Armenian dish, normally eaten as a precursor to a meal, not a starter, or as a late-morning light meal, served with crusty Armenian bread.  This bread is a bit like ciabatta or country rolls, with a crust created by wood-fired ovens (there are quite a few wood-fired Armenian bakeries in Calcutta ).

 

Serves 4

250g (9oz) fresh spinach leaves

250g (9oz) fresh coriander

250g (9oz) spring onions with green stalks

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp Madras curry powder

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp vegetable oil

 

Wash, drain well, and chop the spinach, coriander and spring onions.  Sprinkle with salt and leave for an hour.  Gently squeeze out as much liquid as possible, using your hands (you don’t want to break up the leaves too much).

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and add the baking powder, curry powder, flour and greens, flour and greens.  Mix together. 

Heat the oil in a large omelette pan and pour in the egg mixture.  Scramble it lightly, then allow it to set, covered with a dinner plate, for about 2 minutes.  The top should set fully.

The omelette can be folded over and then sliced, or left whole like quiche and cut into wedges or quarters.

 

Foolproof Food

Chai

 

250ml (9fl oz) full fat milk

2-3 cardamom pods

2.5cm (1inch) piece of cinnamon

3 peppercorns

3 teaspoons loose tea leaves

500ml (18fl oz) boiling water

sugar

 

Put all the ingredients except the tea leaves and the sugar into a saucepan, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.  Bring back to the boil, add the tea leaves, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1-2 mins.  Turn off the heat and allow the leaves to settle.  Serve in tea cups.

 

Hot Tips

Slow Food for Kids at Hosfords Garden Centre in West Cork on Sunday 6th April

Official opening by Denis Cotter of Café Paradiso,  market, cookery demonstration, worm composting demonstration, clown, demonstrations on growing vegetables and much, much more Tel 023-39159, www.hosfordsgardencentre.ie  www.slowfoodireland.com  

 

Mallow’s First Farmers Market, today 5th April at Bank Place – between Mallow Travel and O’Flynn’s Furniture outside URRU Culinary Store 10.30am – 1pm

Leading Irish farmhouse cheeses like Ardrahan, Hegarty’s Cheese, Fermoy Natural Cheese Company, organic fruit and vegetables…. The market will run on alternate Saturdays to the Kilavullen Farmers Market, offering a weekly market option for the region.

 

Spring Gardening Workshop At Country Choice, Nenagh, Co Tipperary with Jim Cronin from 7.00-10.00pm – Planning and Planting, Sowing Tips, Container Gardening, Natural Pest and Disease Control – Grow your own vegetables!

Contact Country Choice at 067-32596 to book place or email peter@countrychoice.com

 

Conference 18 & 19th April – The Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists –

The Complexity of Herbal Medicine and the Implications for Research – at Cork Institute of Technology – enquiries to Frances.Lynch@cit.ie Tel 021-4326885

Chickens

Hugh Fearnley -Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver’s recent campaign to highlight the fate of intensively produced chicken has helped to focus attention on the real price of cheap food in health, socio-economic and animal welfare terms. It doesn’t make easy viewing but the quality of the food we eat and feed our families is such an important issue that we simply cannot justify shrugging our shoulders and saying – we don’t care two tuppenny hoots as long as the end result is cheap food. It is difficult to justify putting animals or birds through unnecessary stress and suffering just to shave another few cents off the price. A free range organic chicken will cost you anything between 13 and 16 euros, whereas two intensively produced chickens, particularly those produced ‘off shore’ can be bought two for the for price of one for about €5.99 depending on size . By now many readers will be muttering ‘its all very fine for her’ – the perception is that I can afford it, but the reality is not about being able to afford it, its about priorities – we all make time and money for what we perceive to be important. Think about it, how much did you spend on booze or even magazines last week? How much did that mobile phone or those fancy runners cost? When we ask ourselves these questions we realize that it is all about our sense of values.

Every culture around the world has similar sayings about the importance of food to our very existence. “We are what we eat”, “Your health goes in through your mouth”, “Our food should be our medicine”….

Yet nowadays many of us do not connect the food we eat with how we feel and perform.

We shovel any kind of old rubbish into ourselves and then wonder why we aren’t feeling full of energy and vitality. We can’t do anything about our genes but we can certainly do something about the quality of the ‘fuel’ we put in the tank to keep ‘the machine’ ticking over.

An equally important question which neither Hugh nor Jamie posed, was what exactly is in the feed the birds are fed which enables them to grow at such astonishing speed?

Chicken is by far the cheapest and most popular meat, yet when I was a child, chicken, even though we reared our own, was a rare and truly delicious treat.

At that time farmers’ wives all over the country had a few laying hens and many reared birds for the table. The introduction of the deep litter and intensive production systems, in combination with stricter health and safety regulations, hastened the demise of the small flocks around the country. This time-honoured system had provided pin money and superb free range chicken and eggs for people in virtually every parish in Ireland .

I personally regret the loss of this type of production. It was, and can be again, part of our traditional food culture and our rural skill base.

Those of us who are part of the growing Farmers Market network, experience at first hand the deep craving and growing numbers of people who are seeking out this kind of food, and more importantly are prepared to pay for it.

The skill of rearing poultry is still in folk memory and I’ve been battling for some time now for a simple set of regulations that are proportionate to the risk involved and that would encourage and facilitate the re-establishment of this kind of local food production around the country.

Now that Minister Trevor Sargent is chairing the Artisan Industry Committee, I am hopeful that this vision can become a reality.

The older generation are the guardians of the traditional food production skills, lets learn from them before its too late.

If you would like to be able to rear birds in this way or have access to truly free range or free range organic birds, please log onto www.soilassociation.org

We also have a course on ‘How to keep a few chickens in the garden’ on Saturday 19th April 2008.

Pan Grilled Chicken breasts with Parsley salad and Sundried tomatoes

Separate the fillet from the underneath side of the meat, cook separately or slice thinly at an angle and quickly stir-fry. The chicken breast cooks more evenly when the fillet is removed.

Serves 8

8 Chicken breasts

olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

Basil Dressing

175ml (6fl.oz) extra-virgin olive oil

50ml (2fl.oz) white wine or rice wine vinegar

Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

1 garlic clove

10-15 basil leaves

1 finely chopped shallot (optional)

Parsley Salad

4 handfuls destalked Italian and curly parsley

Worcester sauce

8 chopped sundried tomatoes

slivers of Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)

First make the dressing, whizz the basil with the oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic and seasoning in a liquidiser or food processor. Keep aside.

Just before serving cook the chicken breasts.

Heat a cast iron grill pan until quite hot. Brush each chicken breast with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the chicken breasts on the hot grill for about a minute, then reverse the angle to mark attractively, cook until golden

Brown on both sides. The grill pan may be transferred to a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4. Be careful not to overcook the chicken breasts, they will take approx. 15 minutes in total.

To Serve

Put a pan-grilled chicken breast on each plate. Toss the parsley in a little of the basil dressing, sprinkle with a little Worcester sauce. Put a portion of parsley on each plate, sprinkle with a few pieces of sundried tomato and slivers of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with Rustic roast potatoes or Buffalo chips.

Thai Chicken, Galangal and Coriander Soup

Serves 8

A particularly delicious example of how fast and easy a Thai soup can be. Serve in Chinese porcelain bowls if available. The kaffir lime leaves and galangal are served but not eaten. The chilli may of course be nibbled. Prawns and shrimp can be substituted for chicken in this recipe with equally delicious results.

900ml (32fl oz) homemade chicken stock (see recipe)

4 fresh lime leaves

2 inch (5cm) piece of galangal, peeled and sliced or less of fresh ginger

4 tablespoons Fish sauce ( Nam pla)

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

225g (8oz) free range organic chicken breast, very finely sliced

230ml (8fl oz) coconut milk (use CHAOKOH brand)

1-3 Thai red chillies

Fresh coriander leaves – about 5 tablespoons

Put the chicken stock, lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce and freshly squeezed lemon juice into a saucepan. Bring to the boil stirring all the time, add the finely shredded chicken and coconut milk. Continue to cook over a high heat until the chicken is just cooked 1-2 minutes approx. Crush the chillies with a knife or Chinese chopper add to the soup with some coriander leaves, cook for just a few seconds. Ladle into hot chinese bowls and serve immediately.

Note: We usually use one red Thai chilli – number depends on your taste and how hot

the chillies are.

Blanched and refreshed rice noodles are also delicious added to this soup – hey presto, you have a main course. Serve in wide pasta bowl with lots of fresh coriander scattered over the top.

Top Tip: Fresh lime leaves are not available in every village shop so buy them anytime you spot them and pop them into a bag in your freezer.

Foolproof Food

Roast Chicken Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms and Pancetta

Serves 8

Bubbly super chef Merrilees Parker did this yummy recipe when she came to teach at the school in April 2004, we have adapted it somewhat but it really was her idea. A great recipe for using up delicious morsels of roast chicken – be sure to include the crispy skin. Alternatively use pan-grilled chicken breasts.

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

225g (8oz) pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, rind removed and cut into 1cm (¼ inch) lardons

500g (16oz) spaghetti or linguine

150ml (½ ) pint double cream

225g (8oz) sliced Portobello or field mushrooms

12oz (¾lb) leftover roast chicken or pangrilled chicken breast, coarsely shredded

2 tablespoons thyme leaves (preferably lemon thyme) or annual marjoram

110g (4oz) mixed salad leaves – rocket or baby spinach leaves would be terrific, roughly chopped

110g (4ozs) freshly grated Parmesan

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring 5.7 litres (10 pints) of water to the boil in a large saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of salt. Then curl in the pasta, stir gently. Bring back to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Cover with a tight fighting lid and leave the pasta to cook for 5 minutes approximately until al dente.

Meanwhile heat a wok or a large heavy frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and then the bacon lardons. Cook over a high heat for 4-5minutes until really crispy. Remove to a plate. Add the remaining oil and the sliced mushrooms. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper and cook for a further 3-4 minutes over a high heat.

Drain the pasta. Tip into the wok or frying pan on top of the mushrooms. Add the crispy bacon, thyme leaves or marjoram and coarsely shredded chicken and toss really well. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour the cream into the pan, bring to the boil. Taste and correct the seasoning then toss thoroughly again.

Finally add the fresh leaves and half the Parmesan, mixing gently. Give the dish one last toss and serve immediately in warmed deep bowls with the remaining Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Sticky Chicken Thighs with Soy and Ginger sauce

Serves 10

Marinade:

225ml (8fl oz) soy sauce

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1-2 chillies finely chopped

10 free range and organic chicken thighs

Accompaniment:

Cucumber wedges

Spicy green salad (see recipe)

Sweet chilli sauce

Lime wedges

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl or pie dish. Slash the skin of the chicken thighs. Put into a pie dish, cover with the marinade and turn well to coat. Cover and keep refrigerated for at least an hour or even overnight.

To serve:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. Drain the chicken pieces and save the marinade for basting. Arrange skin side up in a roasting tin. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes approximately and then baste every 10 minutes or so with some of the extra marinade.

Serve with cucumber wedges about 6cm (2 1/2 inches) long and cut at an angle, spicy green salad, lime wedges and a bowl of sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

Spicy Green Salad

Sweet and sour dressing:

2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

2 tablespoons castor sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons Nam pla (fish sauce)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 handful fresh coriander leaves

1 handful flat parsley leaves

1/2 handful mint leaves

4 spring onions, white and green part, sliced at an angle

4 finely shredded kaffir lime leaves (optional)

1-2 large red chillies thinly sliced

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and stir to dissolve. Continue to boil for 1-2 minutes, or until it becomes liquid. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce and freshly squeezed lime juice. Pour into a jam jar or small bowl.

Put the coriander, parsley and mint leaves into a bowl, add the sliced spring onions, shredded kaffir lime leaves and thinly sliced chilli.

Just before serving toss with enough dressing to make the leaves glisten. Serve as soon as possible.

Hot Tips

First Waterford Festival of Food

Will take place from 11-13th April in Dungarvan. Friday opening ceremony with Minister Cullen in Town Hall, followed by food trails in local restaurants, special menus featuring local producers.

Saturday will have seminars with top chefs and food writers – Richard Corrigan, Paul Flynn, Regina Sexton, Biddy White-Lennon, Eunice Power. Workshops and story telling for younger food fans. Sunday – Farmers Market Extravaganza in Grattan Square launched by Darina Allen. www.waterfordfestivaloffoodcom for further information or tel 058-21104

Wild Garlic is now in Season

Pick it in the wild or at the Farmers Market in Mahon Point on Thursday or Midleton on Saturday.

Look out for the heritage Blue Potatoes exclusive to Superquinn for a limited period

First grown in Scotland a century ago, these potatoes were re-introduced in a limited edition recently by Peter Keogh & Sons Cream of the Crop, a Dublin potato growing and packaging company. The have a dark purple skin and deep indigo-blue flesh and retain their colour when cooked. They have a nutty taste and steam and fry well.

Chocolate

Chocolate is inextricably linked with the Easter celebration, so in this weekend’s column I’ll focus on chocolate, one of the most exciting ingredients in the chef and cook’s repertoire.

Gone are the days when ‘scotchoc’ was our only option, unlike many other ingredients the quality and availability of chocolate seems to get better and better. As the consumer gets rapidly more sophisticated, the demand for dark chocolate has for the first time outstripped milk chocolate. Specialist chocolatiers are sourcing quality cocoa beans from around the world, each with its own distinctive characteristics. Chocolate is now talked about in the same way as fine wines.

The botanical name for the cocoa tree is Theobroma Cacao meaning ‘food of the gods’.

It grows in a narrow band around the world, 20º on either side of the Equator. The cocoa pods begin life as tiny white flowers emerging directly from the trunk and lower branches of the tree.

They gradually swell and ripen to form beautiful large pods which contain 30-40 seeds or beans nestled into white pulp.

Criollo, Forastro and Trinitario are the main varieties, each has its own unique and distinctive flavour. Virtually no other food has such a variety of complex flavours – a mind blowing 300 chemical compounds and 400 aromas have been identified in the cocoa bean.

Apart from its addictive flavour, the health-giving benefits of chocolate have been recognized for centuries and more recent research has proved beyond doubt that really good quality chocolate not only alters the mood and evokes happiness, but also gives an adrenalin rush more potent than coffee or tea. Not only is chocolate high in minerals – magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, iron and calcium, but it is high in antioxidants which we are told help to reduce heart disease and cancer.

Seek out a good brand of chocolate and preferably Fair Trade also – there are lots of names- Valrhona, Green & Black, Menier, Suchard, Lindt, Callebaut, Leonidas….. Choose chocolate with a high cocoa butter content. Milk: at least 10% cocoa mass and at least 12% milk solids. Dark: 50-70% cocoa solids. White Chocolate is not strictly speaking a chocolate, it contains no cocoa mass and is merely a mixture of cocoa butter, sugar and flavouring, buy the best quality otherwise it will be difficult to melt.

Melting chocolate

Good chocolate melts beautifully but be careful not to overheat.

Chocolate needs to be melted with great care. It burns easily and is then irretrievable. White chocolate is particularly sensitive.

Below is the method that we use: Break the chocolate into even-size pieces. Put into a pyrex bowl over a saucepan of water and bring slowly to almost simmer­ing point. Turn off the heat immediately and allow the bowl to sit over the saucepan. The water must not boil as the chocolate softens. Stir occasionally. Do not allow even a drop of water to get into the chocolate or chocolate will block or seize. If this happens no amount of stirring will remedy the situation however if a few drops of vegetable oil or clarified butter are added it will loosen the mixture to the extent that it can be blended with other ingredients.

Note: If you need a large quantity of chocolate, do it in batches.

Chocolate may also be melted in the microwave in a pyrex or plastic bowl. Different brands melt at different rates.

A new book for chocolate lovers called ‘101 Best Loved Chocolate Recipes’ has just been published by Hotel Chocolat – it includes favourite recipes from some well known chefs worldwide. Here is a selection from the book.

No-bake Chocolate Slice – Australian Women’s Weekly

24 slices

90g butter, in pieces, plus extra to grease

200g white marshmallows

1 tbsp water

200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

125g digestives or rich tea biscuits, coarsely chopped

125g glacé cherries, halved

75g roasted hazelnuts, halved

50g walnut halves, broken into pieces

Topping:

200g dark chocolate

60g butter

Grease two shallow 8cm x 25cm oblong baking tins (or plastic containers with similar dimensions).

Line the bases and sides with baking parchment, allowing the paper to extend 2cm above the long edges.

Put the marshmallows, water and butter into a medium saucepan and stir constantly over a low heat until the marshmallows have melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the biscuits, cherries and nuts, and stir gently until evenly combined.

Divide the mixture between the baking tins and spread evenly (do not crush the biscuits). Cover and chill for 1 hour.

For the topping, melt the chocolate and butter together in a pan over simmering water. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly. Spread the mixture evenly over the no-bake slices and chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Lift the chocolate slices out of the tins, using the paper, then peel off the lining paper. Cut each slice into 12 pieces.

Jane Suthering’s Chocolate Mud Pie

Serves 10-12

Pastry:

125g plain flour

15g cocoa powder

40g icing sugar

75g unsalted butter

1 egg yolk

Filling:

175g dark chocolate

175g unsalted butter

175g light or dark muscovado sugar

2 tsp instant coffee powder

3 eggs, plus 1 egg white

142ml carton whipping cream

100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Whiz all the ingredients for the pastry in a food processor to make a firm dough. Roll out thinly and use to line a 25cm fluted flan tin – use all the pastry and don’t worry if you have to patch it! Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas5

Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the filling, slowly melt the chocolate and butter in a pan over a very low heat. Take off the heat and beat in the remaining ingredients.

Pour the filling into the pastry case and bake for about 25 minutes until lightly risen and just firm. Leave to go cold before serving, sliced into wedges.

Alastair Hendy’s Swiss Chocolate Cake

8-12 slices

180g butter, plus extra to grease

210g shelled, skinned hazelnuts

20g plain flour

280g, dark, bitter chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), in pieces

200g caster sugar

6 medium eggs, separated

To serve:

Icing sugar

Whipped whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Grease a 24cm springform cake tin. Scatter the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 8 minutes until they smell lightly toasted. Tip onto a plate and allow to cool, then grind the nuts to fine crumbs and mix with the flour.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (making sure the water isn’t in contact with the bowl) and leave until melted, then take off the heat.

Beat 130g of the sugar with the butter and egg yolks until pale and creamy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar until stiff. Mix the melted chocolate with the egg yolk and sugar mixture, then gently mix the hazelnut flour mixture through this. Finally fold through the beaten egg whites.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for around 60-70 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin a little, then transfer to a wire rack and dust with icing sugar – don’t fret if the cake sinks a little and cracks, its all part of the charm. Eat slices tidal-waved with whipped cream.

Anne Willan’s Chocolate Tartlets

With candied orange

Candied orange zest and a luscious dark chocolate ganache form the filling for these stunning tartlets. Serve them within a few hours of making – for afternoon tea or as in indulgent dessert.

Makes 8

Pastry:

175g plain flour, plus extra to dust

½ tsp salt

100g caster sugar

3 medium egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g butter, in pieces, slightly softened

Filling:

4 oranges

150g sugar

250g dark chocolate (about 60% cocoa solids), chopped

125ml double cream

90g butter

2 tbsp Grand Marnier

To make the pastry, sift the flour into a mound on the work surface and make a well in the centre. Put the salt, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract and butter into the well and work these ingredients together with the fingertips of one hand until thoroughly mixed and the sugar is partially dissolved. Gradually draw in the flour until the dough comes together, then knead lightly until smooth. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Pare the zest from the oranges with a swivel peeler and cut into fine julienne strips, using a large knife. Put the orange zest strips in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then drain.

Squeeze the juice from the oranges and pour into a saucepan. Add the sugar and heat gently until dissolved, then bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the julienne zest and lower the heat. Simmer very gently, without stirring, until the zests are translucent and very tender, and almost all the liquid has evaporated; this will take 30-40 minutes. If the pan appears to be becoming a little dry before they are done, add a little water. Lift out the julienne with a slotted spoon, spread them on a sheet of baking parchment and leave to cool and dry. Strain the syrup and set 2 tbsp aside in a small pan.

Heat the oven to 190C/gas 5 and butter eight 8cm tartlet tins. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Shape each one into a ball, roll out to a 10cm round and trim the edges with a 10cm pastry cutter. Line the tartlet tins with the pastry rounds, pressing well into the base. Prick the bases with a fork and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.

If you have more tartlet tins, place a second one in each pastry case, so it keeps its shape during baking. Otherwise, line the cases with greaseproof paper and dried beans or rice to weight it down. Set the tins on a baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes until the cases are golden brown and cooked. Leave to cool in the tins, then carefully remove.

To assemble, reserve about 2 tbsp of the orange zest julienne for decoration. Chop the rest, and spread evenly in the tartlet cases.

For the ganache filling, tip the chocolate into a small bowl. Put the cream, butter and reserved 2 tbsp orange syrup into a pan and heat gently until the butter is melted. Bring just to the boil, then pour onto the chocolate and let it stand for 1 minute until melted. Stir the mixture until smooth, then stir in the Grand Marnier.

Pour this ganache into the tartlet cases, covering the orange zest completely and filling the cases almost to the rim. Tap gently on the work surface to level the ganache. Leave the tartlets at room temperature until set, about 30 minutes, but don’t refrigerate. Just before serving, top with the reserved candied orange zest.

Foolproof food

Rose Elliot’s Berry Skewers with White Chocolate Sauce

Makes 20

200g mixed berries (such as small strawberries, large blueberries, raspberries)

White Chocolate Sauce:

100g white chocolate, in pieces

120ml double cream

To make the sauce, melt the chocolate, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream. Put into a small serving bowl and set aside to cool.

Spear one or two berries onto each of 20 small wooden skewers or cocktail sticks – enough for a mouthful. Arrange the skewers around the bowl of dip and serve.

Hot Tips

Joy Larkcom, renowned vegetable gardener, horticulturist and garden writer will be the Guest Speaker at the next meeting of Ladysbridge & District Flower & Garden Club at Garryvoe Hotel, Garryvoe, Co Cork on Monday 31st March at 8pm – all welcome, non-members €10 – come and see how to grow vegetables and salad crops creatively – slides will be shown.

EUROPAIN 2008, the International trade show for the bakery, patisserie and ice cream industry, will open its doors from March 29th to April 2nd at PARIS PORTE NORD VILLEPINTE. With an overall exhibition area of 80 000 m2, EUROPAIN 2008 will bring together more than 600 exhibitors from 32 countries. Register on-line www.europain.com

Feale Valley Slow Food Convivium

A celebration of Food through Literature on Sunday April 6th from 2-5pm at the Seanchai Centre in The Square, Listowel, where the lives of North Kerry’s most famous writers are celebrated. Drinks reception and tour of the centre followed by a buffet lunch featuring locally-sourced food and the best of local entertainment in song and story. Tickets Members €30, non members €35

Trish Deseine

Trish Deseine has taken France by storm.  In just six years she has scaled the heights of culinary endeavour in France with a series of lavishly illustrated books that have captured the imagination of food fans and critics alike.    She has been described as a “phénomène editorial” by French Elle and “the new queen of French cookery book publishing” by L’Express.
In France, the ultimate chauvinistic country, it is highly unusual for a woman to have such a dramatic effect on domestic cooking especially when not even French.  Trish is Irish – in other words, an outsider has taken on the most sophisticated, competitive and macho field, and won over a nation with a simple no-nonsense approach to everyone’s most basic need.
The appeal of Trish’s cooking is that it is like real life – she admits to shifting from triumph to disaster all the time.  She knows that not everyone owns a Magi-mix, few have the time or inclination to make stock from scratch, and fewer still have a garden bursting with herbs.  It’s these ‘limitations’ that Trish works around.  No one suffers from cooking crises of confidence while reading Trish Deseine.  But everyone swoons as she describes the joys of cooking with huge pats of butter and full cream.
Trish Deseine was born in Belfast in 1964 and went on to read French and Linguistics at Edinburgh University.  Trish moved to Paris in 1987 where she worked with the fashion retailer French Connection.  She married in 1990 and worked for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board as Southern European Marketing and Press Executive for eight years.
In 2000, she set up Au Comptoir des Chefs, a business to sell her favourite product – chocolate.  So successful was this venture, that publishers Marabout commissioned her to write a book, the result, Petits plats entre amis (2000) won the prestigious Ladurée and Seb prizes, sold over 100,000 copies and has since been translated into five languages.
Her second book Je veux du chocolat (2002) now translated into 7 languages, won a World Gourmand Award and sold over 300,000 copies.  Subsequent books including Fêtes Maison (2003) about ultra-modern party food themed by colour; J’en veux encore (2004) on food for children; and Du caramel plein la bouche (2005) a celebration of all things caramel, have all been best sellers.   Her small format books – Trifles, Best of Chocolate – and Bonbons Forever have become hip that they sell alongside clothes by Nicholas Ghesquière and Alexander McQueen in Paris’ most fashionable boutique – Colette.
Her latest book has instructive chapters such as ‘Shops Wisely’, ‘Knows her Classics’, ‘Steals from chefs’ and ‘Rises to the Occasion’, this book will both charm and inform.  Trish teaches us how we can take a feuille out of the archetypal French woman’s livre  from the classic dinner party recipes to the latest trends as well as how to tackle difficult ingredients such as truffles and lobster.   An affectionate but unsentimental, irreverent but non-patronising cookbook – a fresh new talent who deserves to be better known in her home country , now that I’ve found one of her books I’m desperate to find the others.
Coincidentally Trish called in to the school recently and I’ve managed to persuade her to come and teach a course here in September.   Here are some recipes I’ve enjoyed.

Lamb Spare Ribs with Méchoui flavours – Travers d’agneau façon méchoui

 

Le méchoui, or kharouf machwi in Arabic, is a traditional North African way of slowly roasting a small animal (goat, sheep or lamb), flavoured with spices and basted constantly, over a wood fire on an open spit.   It is a popular way of feeding the multitudes at large French summer gatherings.  This is my quick-fix version.

For 4-5

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pinch of saffron strands, optional

Harissa Paste, to taste

Salt

I kg of lamb ribs

Grind together all the ingredients except for the lamb ribs, using a pestle and mortar or in a mini food-processor.  Smear the paste all over the lamb and leave it to absorb the flavours for an hour or so.

Heat the grill of your oven to hot or set up your barbecue, and cook the meat for 20-30 minutes, turning it regularly.

Serve with fresh salad vegetables or taboulé

Baby Leek and Reblochon pie – Tarte au poireaux et reblochon

 

This also works well with baby red onions or spring onions

For 4

About 20 baby leeks

4 squares of ready-rolled puff pastry – about 15 x 15 cm each

1 ‘ ripe’ reblochon cheese (or you could use camembert, or saint nectaire or anything creamy or pungent

4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

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

Blanch the leeks in boiling water for about 5 minutes.  Drain and cool.

With the tip of a sharp knife, but without cutting through the pastry completely, score a square about 2cm in from the edge of the pastry for each piece.  This will make the sides puff up more when cooking.

Slice the cheese finely and set the slices in the centre of each pastry square.  Spread the crème fraîche over the cheese and then set the leeks on the cream, lining them up evenly – cut off their tops if they are untidily reaching over the edge of the pastry.  Season with salt and pepper and bake for 10-15 minutes, until the pastry is golden and the cheese bubbling into the cream.

Serve with a crisp salad.

Pigs cheeks braised in cider – Joues de porc braises au cidre

 

For 6-8

 

 

2 tablesp olive oil, plus extra for frying

50g butter

1 kg pig’s cheeks

4-5 shallots

750ml dry cider

200g button mushrooms

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas mark 3

Heat the oil and butter in a heavy-based casserole with a lid.  Brown the meat with the shallots for a few minutes, then pour over the cider and scrap the bottom of the pan to deglaze, bring to the boil and cover.  Transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Some 20 minutes before serving, fry up the mushrooms in a little olive oil and add them to the casserole.

Serve with fresh ribbon pasta.

 

 

Nougat and honey ice cream – Nougat glace au mile

 

For 6

 

50g whole blanched almonds

30g whole hazelnuts or walnuts

30g pine nuts

50g candied fruit, such as cherries, orange and lemon peel, and angelica, plus extra for decoration

3 egg whites

2 tablespoons runny honey, preferably a flavoured one such as lavender, rosemary or thyme

300ml very chilled whipping cream or whippable double cream

For the coulis:

300g fresh or frozen raspberries

75g sugar

Roughly chop the nuts and the candied fruits.  Try to vary the size of the pieces, and leave some whole.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

Heat the honey in a saucepan until it caramelises slightly.  Pour it hot onto the egg whites then whisk for a further 2 minutes.

Whip the cream until it is stiff, add the nuts and fruit and fold the mixture gently into the beaten egg whites.

Pour the whole lot into a small loaf tin or a silicone mould and freeze for at least 12 hours.

Cook the raspberries with the sugar to a jam-like consistency.  Cool completely before serving with the nougat.

Exotic Fruit Crumble – Crumble aux fruits exotiques

 

For  8-10

 

 

1 pineapple

40g butter, cold and cut into cubes

3 bananas

2 mangoes (frozen and peeled)

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons rum

For the crumble:

125g plain flour

125g cold butter

125g brown sugar

80g dessicated coconut

 

Peel the pineapple, take out the hard middle part and cut it into chunks.   In a saucepan, melt the butter and cook the pineapple for about 10 minutes.   Add the bananas and mangoes, cut into thick slices.  Add the vanilla seeds,the sugar and a little water if the fruit looks a bit dry.  Generally the moisture from the mangoes is enough.

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

Put the flour, butter, brown sugar and coconut in the bowl of your food-processor.  Mix until the crumble forms.  It should look like coarse breadcrumbs.  Keep an eye on it in case it becomes lumpy.  Put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Mix the rum into the fruits.

Butter a gratin dish and sprinkle some sugar into it.  Put the cooked fruit in and cover with the crumble.   Cook for about 30 minutes until the crumble is golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Foolproof Food

Chocolate Pizza – Pizza au Chocolat

For 6

 

 

1 ready-made round pizza base

Dark chocolate spread, or Nutella

Dried and sugared fruit (candied orange peel, dates, candied pineapple…..)

Fresh fruit (clementines, pineapple, apple……)

Pine nuts, toasted

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6

Unroll the pizza base onto a baking tray and cook it for about 5 minutes until it starts to crisp up.

Remove from the oven and spread with chocolate.   Dot the candied and fresh fruit over the pizza.   Sprinkle with pine nuts and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until the chocolate and fruit are hot.   Serve the pizza straight from the oven.

Hot Tips

Trish Deseine will be Guest Chef at Ballymaloe Cookery School for a 1 day Course on Monday 15th September – Tel 021-4646785  www.cookingisfun.ie

 

 

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight and to highlight Midleton’s move to become a Fairtrade town, two cocoa bean farmers from Ghana will visit Midleton today – the growers are members of a cooperative whose cocoa beans end up in the Divine chocolate range. The Fairtrade producers will be at the entrance to Hurley’s Super Valu from 10.30-12.00 today Sat 8th March.   Sample some of the best chocolate with a clear conscience and enjoy the festival atmosphere with attractions for children and ‘real’ bananas walking through the Farmer’s Market. fairtrademidleton@eircom.net 

 

 Patrick’s Day Dinner at La Fromagerie in London

Thursday 13th March 2008 at 7.30pm Moxon St.

We thought we would start the celebrations a few days early in preparation for the St Patrick’s Days parade The evening begins at 7.30pm with aperitifs including Black Velvets, followed by a dinner of fine Irish fare including Irish smoked salmon with Potato Pancake & Ryefield fresh goats cheese, followed by Irish Spring Lamb Stew with Colcannon. For dessert we will be making Irish whiskey soaked Portercake Icecream. Finishing with a tutored tasting of Irish cheeses with Patricia. If you still have space after all that, maybe an Irish coffee to finish? Tickets to this four course supper incl. wines £70.00 pp.
Please telephone the shop to make a reservation: 0207 9350341 or download a booking form

Local Food

From San Diego to Stuttgart, Sydney to Wales, there seems to be a growing focus on using local produce. Local is no longer a derogatory term, it’s the coolest word in the foodie’s dictionary.
In California, top restaurants are vying with each other to source the freshest local produce for their menus. Some are proudly highlighting that the salad greens, vegetables or fruit were picked just 5-6-7 hours earlier. Dan Barber at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, has a greenhouse beside the restaurant, he regularly serves tiny raw vegetables as s starter, miniscule carrots, beets, fennel… plucked from the soil in the minutes earlier, specially to thrill his guests.
On my last trip to the West Coast everyone seemed to be talking about sourcing the ‘food of their neighbourhood’. Farmers Markets are thriving and most have a very strict local food policy, the wonderful climate during the growing season ensures abundance and a wide variety of produce. Everyone seemed to be talking about food, not just the latest restaurant, but where to source the best heirloom tomatoes, beets, artichokes, free range chickens, rare breed pork, day boat fish. … Everywhere, restaurants, delis, food shops were highlighting local, seasonal produce and educating their customers about variety and breed. There seemed to be a hunger to learn more about how food was grown and produced and at last the farmers’ and food producers’ names are coming to the fore and they are getting the long overdue credit for producing quality. Restaurants are serving their local food proudly, a rare enough occurrence here in Ireland where we have plenty to be proud of.
As I travel around the country I despair that so few country hotels and restaurants highlight any local food or producers on their menus. On a recent trip to Kilkenny, I ate in a city centre hotel, the menu gave me no clue where I was, I could have been in Italy, Thailand or Sydney. There was certainly no indication that I was even in Ireland, where was the meat from the local farmers, is there any fish in the Nore any longer, or even Dunmore East? How about a little Irish soda bread instead of the ubiquitous par-baked bread and doughy rolls. When I asked about the provenance of the meat there seemed to be confusion, and the waiting staff didn’t seem to even recognize the word Lavistown when I asked if I might have a little piece of the farmhouse cheese made just a few miles outside the city by Roger and Olivia Goodwillie.
In the Farmer’s Diner in Vermont in the US, the menu says ‘Food from here’ – How wonderful it would be to travel around the country and taste the food of that place, the hinterland of Abbeyleix, Ballina, Enniscorthy, Tullamore … Most chefs now, virtually buy all their food from a central distribution system, most of it pre-packed and portioned, even vegetables come peeled and packed in a chemical solution. This is not only for economic reasons but also because it means less hassle with HACCP paperwork to satisfy the health inspectors.
Those of us who are in the hospitality business depend on our local customers to support us throughout the year, why should we expect them to support us if we don’t put at least some money back into our own community and buy the produce of our local farmers and food producers and support local butchers and bakers.
Time for all of us to become proactive and ask more questions about the menus. Each and every one of us can make a difference to the Irish economy, by how we choose to spend our euros.
Patrick Walsh 021-4646836, Bill Casey 021-4646955, Frank Hederman 021-4811089
James Veale 021-4661362, James Howard, Sunnyside Fruit 025-36253, Siobhan Barry, Midleton Farmers Market – 021-4883034, Ballycotton Seafood, 021-4646522, Cuthberts Bread widely stocked in East Cork – 021-4634181
Hot Tips
Nautilus Restaurant at the Inn by the Harbour, Ballycotton
Leo and Nessa Babin are serving delicious food on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings from 6.30-9.00 and lunch on Sunday from 12.30-5pm – overlooking the harbour in Ballycotton – Steak and Chips, Boeuf Bourgignon, Fish and Chips, Butternut Squash Risotto, Indian Lamb Curry …. Crème Brulee, Chocolate Brownie, Apple Tart –
Booking recommended Tel 021-4646768, 087-6135897

Good Things Café, Durrus, Co Cork
Carmel Somers at Good Things in Durrus received great praise in the 2008 Bridgestone Guide for her delicious ham sandwich – made with local ham and crusty bread – one of the restaurants around the country that does highlight local. Congratulations also to Good Things for having been recognised with a Michelin Bib Gourmand Award for the third year in a row, only one of twelve restaurants in Ireland to receive the award which recognises ‘good food at moderate prices’. Tel: 027-61426 www.bridgestoneguides.com

Lafont Porcelain Enamelled Cast Iron Cookware available from URRU shops in Mallow and Bandon – Round French oven, Oval au Gratin , Buffet Casserole, Skillet, Pan Grill – in wonderful colours with hardwood knobs. Mallow – 022-53192, Bandon 023-54731 – nip in for a look and enjoy a delicious coffee and sweet bite or a light lunch.

Pangrilled Ballycotton Herrings with Grainy Mustard Butter

Serves 6 as a starter
Herrings have been scarce this year but I keep hoping for a delicious feast.

6 fresh herrings, gutted, scaled and washed

Seasoned flour

Grainy Mustard Butter
1 teaspoon grainy mustard eg. Moutarde de Meaux
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
3 ozs (85g) melted butter
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

First make the Mustard Butter. Cream the butter in a bowl, add the mustards and the finely chopped parsley, a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice and freshly ground pepper. Form into a roll in pure clingfilm or greaseproof paper and allow to harden or make into pats. Refrigerate until needed.
Preheat a cast iron pangrill over a medium heat until quite hot. Slash the herrings at an angle in three places on each side. Coat with well seasoned flour, spread a little soft butter over one side of each herring. Lay the herrings butter side down, not touching on the hot pan, they should sizzle. Reduce the heat immediately and cook for approximately 3 minutes on that side before turning over. Continue to cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately on hot plates with two slices of Grainy Mustard Butter per fish. Garnish with a sprig of flat parsley and a segment of freshly cut lemon.

James Veale’s Roast Guinea Fowl with Potato and Parsnip Crisps and Sunnyside Farm Red Currant Sauce

Serves 4

1 Guinea fowl

Stuffing:
45g (1½oz) butter
85g (3oz) chopped onions
65 g (generous 2½oz) breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon freshly chopped herbs, e.g. parsley, thyme, chives, marjoram
salt and freshly-ground pepper

Potato and Parnsip Crisps
Redcurrant Sauce

Gut the Guinea fowl if necessary and remove the ‘crop’ which is at the neck end; wash and dry well.
To make the stuffing: Melt the butter and sweat the onions until soft but not coloured, then remove from the heat. Stir in the soft white breadcrumbs and fresh herbs, season with salt and freshly-ground pepper and taste. Unless you are about to cook the bird right away, allow the stuffing to get quite cold before putting it into the bird. Season the cavity with salt and freshly-ground pepper and stuff the guinea fowl loosely. Smear the breast and legs with soft or melted butter. Roast in a preheated moderate oven, 190C/375F/gas mark 5, for 1¼ hours approx. Test by pricking the leg at the thickest point: the juices should just run clear.
Meanwhile make the Redcurrant Sauce and the Potato and Parsnip Crisps.
Spoon off any surplus fat from the roasting pan (keep it for roasting or sautéeing potatoes). Deglaze the pan with game or chicken stock. Bring it to the boil, and use a whisk to dislodge the crusty caramelized juices so they can dissolve into the gravy. Season with salt and freshly-ground pepper, taste and boil until you are happy with the flavour. Pour into a hot gravy boat.
Carve the guinea fowl into four portions giving each person some brown and white meat. Spoon a little gravy over the meat. Pile some Potato and Parsnip Crisps over the top. Garnish with large sprigs of watercress and serve with Redcurrant Sauce .

John Howard’s Sunnyside Farm Redcurrant Sauce

Serves 4-6

A simple, delicious sauce which is unbelievably quick to make. It goes well with lamb, guinea fowl, ham and pate de campagne. Frozen redcurrants may be used.

150g (5½oz) sugar
125ml (4fl oz) water
140g (5oz) redcurrants

Remove the strings from the redcurrants if necessary.
Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, stir over a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil. Toss in the redcurrants, bring back to the boil, cook uncovered for 4 or 5 minutes or until the redcurrants burst. Serve hot or cold.

Tip: Keeps for several weeks in a covered jar in the fridge and may be reheated gently.
Redcurrants freeze brilliantly, just pop them into the freezer in the punnet or a plastic bag. If you shake the bag when frozen the berries will fall off the strings – much easier then painstakingly removing the stings when they are fresh. Discard the strings before using the berries.

Gratin of Patrick Walsh’s Potatoes with Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smoked Salmon

Serves 4-6

There are really two recipes in one here, the basic recipe is a particularly good version of the classic French potato dish Gratin Dauphinoise which is delicious served with a simple roast or grill. Here we’ve added little strips of Bill Casey’s smoked salmon to make a favourite supper dish. Serve with a green salad.

2 lbs (900g) even sized ‘old’ potatoes, eg. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
salt and freshly ground pepper
9 fl ozs (275ml) milk
9 fl ozs (275ml) double cream
small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
freshly grated nutmeg
4-6 ozs (110-170g) Irish smoked salmon
1 tablesp. parsley, chopped
1 tablesp. chives, chopped

4 small ovenproof gratin dishes 4½ inch (11.5cm) bottom and 6 inch (15cm) top

Peel the potatoes with a potato peeler and slice them into very thin rounds (one-eight inch/3mm thick). Do not wash them but dab them dry with a cloth. Spread them out on the worktop and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, mixing it in with your hands. Pour milk into a saucepan, add the potatoes and bring to the boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Add the cream, garlic and a generous grating of fresh nutmeg, continue to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the potatoes do not stick to the saucepan. Just as soon as the potatoes are cooked put a layer into 4 ovenproof gratin dishes, sprinkle each with some parsley and chives, add 1-1½ ozs (30-45g) smoked salmon cut into 3 inch (5mm) strips, cover with another layer of potato.
Reheat in a bain-marie in a preheated oven, 200C/400F/regulo 6, for 8-10 minutes or until they are bubbly and golden on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and chives.
Note: You could substitute the smoked salmon for some of Frank Hederman’s Smoked Mackerel.

Siobhan Barry’s Kale Colcannon

Serves 8 approx.

Songs have been sung and poems have been written about Colcannon. It’s one of Ireland’s most famous traditional potato dishes. It’s comfort food at its very best and can be made with cabbage or kale. Terrific for a party.

450g (1lb) kale or Savoy or spring cabbage
1.35kg (3lb) ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
250ml (8fl oz) boiling milk approx.
30g (1oz) scallion or spring onion, optional
salt and freshly ground pepper
55g (2oz) butter approx.

Scrub the potatoes, put them in a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When the potatoes are about half cooked, 15 minutes approx. for ‘old’ potatoes, strain off two-thirds of the water, replace the lid on the saucepan, put onto a gentle heat and allow the potatoes to steam until they are cooked.

Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter. If using kale, remove the central rib. Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. This may take 8-10 minutes, depending on the type and maturity of the kale. Curly kale is sweetest after it has been mellowed by a few night frosts.

When the potatoes are just cooked, put the milk, and the finely chopped scallions into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the skin off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy puree. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes in the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Then stir in the cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning. For perfection, serve immediately in a hot dish with a lump of butter melting in the centre.
Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point and reheated later in a moderate oven 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4, for 20-25 minutes approx. Cover while reheating so it doesn’t get too crusty on top.

Cuthbert’s Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding

Serves 6-8

This is a variation on basic bread and butter pudding. If you like, leave out the marmalade and serve plain, or add chopped rhubarb, chopped chocolate, grated lemon or orange zest, raisins, sultanas, cinnamon, nutmeg etc. This is a great way to use up stale bread, and in fact is better if the bread is stale.

12 slices of good –quality white bread, eg Cuthberts from Midleton, crusts removed
50g (1 3/4 oz) soft butter
3 tablespoons marmalade
450ml (16fl.oz) cream
225ml (8fl.oz) milk
4 eggs
150g (5 1/2 oz) caster sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

To Serve
softly whipped cream
marmalade sauce

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Butter the bread and spread marmalade on each slice. Arrange the bread in the gratin dish or in individual cups or bowls (cut the slices if you need to). I like to have overlapping triangles of bread on the top layer.
Place the cream and milk in a saucepan and bring to just under the boil. While it’s heating up, in a separate bowl whisk the eggs and the sugars, then pour the hot milk and cream in with the eggs and whisk to combine. Pour this custard over the bread and leave it to soak for 10 minutes. Place in a bain marie (water bath) and cook in the preheated oven for 1 hour. The top should be golden and the centre should be just set. Serve with softly whipped cream and marmalade sauce (see below).

Note: If you want to make this a day ahead of time, don’t heat up the milk and cream, just pour it cold over the bread.

Marmalade Sauce

1 jar (400-450g/14ozs – 1lb) 3 fruit or homemade marmalade
60ml (2 1/2 fl ozs) water
juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon

Put the marmalade into a saucepan. Add the water and the juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon to taste. Heat all the ingredients gently. Place in a jug and serve with the bread and butter pudding.

Potatoes

When I was an eager little scholar at the village school in Cullohill, Co Laois,  in the mid 1950’s, we all learned a variety of life skills, Miss Carroll showed generations of girls how to knit and sew, turn the heels of socks, do meticulous buttonholes and delicate embroidery.  Where oh where is the little gingham apron I made and the dirndl skirt which was my pride and joy. 
When Spring came around we were brought out into the field behind the school which served as a playground to learn how to sow potatoes. While the boys helped to dig the ground, the girls learned how to cut the ‘scoláns’ (seed potatoes) so there was an eye or sprout on each piece.   We planted them into the ground and heaped up the drills, then got on with our school work.  We kept an eye out and they sprouted and grew.
Nowadays academic skills are valued much more than life skills, most adults, not to speak of children, have totally lost track of how food is produced and where it comes from.   How fortunate are the kids who go to schools that have a garden patch.  I dream that every school will have a vegetable patch so children can learn the excitement of sowing a seed and watching it grow.
This week, Minister for Food and Horticulture, Trevor Sargent, launched a terrific initiative to celebrate the ‘Year of the Potato’.   A potato growing kit has been sent (courtesy of An Post) to every national school in the country, a brilliant idea dreamed up by Agri-Aware.     It was a huge logistical operation.   Can you imagine delivering sixty tons of compost, two tons of seed potatoes, eight thousand growing bags and classroom wall charts to almost 4,000 primary schools across the country.

Pupils and their teachers all over the country have by now been challenged to sow the seed potatoes in February and are hoping to harvest their crop in June.  The pupils will create a class scrapbook and monitor the potato plant’s progress with diagrams, photographs and written observations. The harvested crop will then be washed and weighed and the scrapbook sent for assessment.  Participating schools have the chance to win over €10,000 to develop a school garden. 
The aim of the ‘Meet the Spuds’ initiative is to educate primary pupils on how potatoes grow and their nutritional, historical and cultural importance in Ireland.  Pupils from three Dublin schools, Gael Scoil Balbriggan, Pope John Paul’s School, Malahide and St. Brigid’s in the Coombe,  arrived at the Jeanie Johnston Famine ship on 5th February 2008 for a spud voyage to learn about the importance of the potato in Irish life over the last 150 years.  They were entertained by Darragh McCullough of ‘Ear to the Ground’, Paula Mee, Nutritionist and Michael Hennessey of Teagasc.     They got the kids all excited about the potato and the importance of this magic tuber in Irish life over the last 150 years. 
The potato is the fourth most important food crop in the world, the Irish consume more spuds per head than any other country in Europe.  ‘Meet the Spuds’ is an excellent opportunity for teachers to encourage healthy eating among their pupils and educate them about Irish farming in a practical and hands-on manner.  Agri-Aware Chairman, Mairead Lavery and Padraig Walsh, President of the IFA were also very excited about the project.
Let’s hope this sows the seeds for a love of gardening in our kids and young people – lets have cooking classes in all our schools next Minister!

Baked Potatoes
 

Serves 8
 

Better not to wrap baked potatoes in tin foil as this softens the skins and spoils the flavour; it can even make them wet and soapy.
 

8 x 225g (8oz) old potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
sea salt and butter
 

Choose large potatoes. Scrub the skins of the potatoes very well. Prick each potato 3 or 4 times and bake in a preheated hot oven 2001C/4001F/gas mark 6 for 1 hour approx. depending on the size. When cooked, serve immediately while skins are still crisp and make sure to eat the skins with lots of butter and sea salt.
 

There are so many good things to eat with baked potatoes, here are just a few suggestions.
 

1.         Garlic mayonnaise with tuna fish
2.         Garlic butter with crispy rasher
3.         Creme Fraiche with smoked salmon and chives
4.         Creme Fraiche with roast pepper and a drizzle of pesto
5.         Creme Fraiche with hot crispy chorizo and chives
 

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup
 

Serves 6

 

Most people would have potatoes and onions in the house even if the cupboard was otherwise bare so one could make this simply delicious soup at a moment’s notice.

 

55g (2oz) butter

425g (15oz) peeled diced potatoes, one-third inch dice

110g (4oz) diced onions, one-third inch dice

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper

1-2 tablespoons in total of the following; parsley, thyme, lemon balm and chives

900ml (1½pints) home-made chicken stock or vegetable stock

120ml (4fl oz) creamy milk

 

freshly chopped herbs and some chive or thyme flowers in season

 

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

Serve sprinkled with a few freshly-chopped herbs and some chive or thyme flowers in season.

 

Potato and Roast Red Pepper Soup

 

Serves 6

 

Basic recipe as above, omit the herbs.

 

4 red peppers

sprigs of flat parsley

 

Roast or chargrill the pepper, peel and deseed, save the sweet juices carefully puree the flesh with the juices. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Make the soup as in the original recipe.

Just before serving swirl the red pepper puree through the soup or simply drizzle on top of each bowl. Top with some snipped flat parsley you might try adding one or two roast chilli to the pepper for a little extra buzz – Serrano or Jalapeno are good.

 

Potato and Parsley Soup

Omit herbs in the soup.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley to the soup just before blending.

 

Potato and Mint Soup
Omit herbs in the soup.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of spearmint or bowles mint to the soup just before blending. Sprinkle a little chopped mint and a swirl of soft cream over the soup before serving.

 

Potato and Tarragon Soup
Add 1½ tablespoons of tarragon to the soup with the stock. Puree and finish as in the master recipe. Sprinkle a little freshly snipped tarragon over the top of the soup before serving. A zig zag of soft cream is also delicious.

 

Potato, Chorizo and Parsley Soup
We love Fingal Ferguson’s Gubbeen chorizo, so much that we dream up all sorts of ways of using it. The strong hot spicy taste adds lots of oomph to the silky potato soup.

 

18 Slices of chorizo

snipped flat parsley sprigs

 

Omit the herbs in the original recipe. Just before serving cook the slices of chorizo for a minute or two on each side on a non stick pan, oil will render out of the chorizo.

Serve three slices of chorizo on top of each bowl, sprinkle a few flat parsley sprigs on top,  drizzle a little chorizo oil haphazardly over the soup and serve immediately.

 

Potato and Melted Leek Soup

Serve a spoonful of melted leeks on top of each helping of soup. Scatter with snipped chives and chive flowers in season.

 

Potato Soup with Parsley Pesto

One of Rory O’ Connell’s way to embellish potato soup. Drizzle a little parsley pesto  over the top of each bowl just as it goes to the table.

 

 

Ulster Champ

 

Serves 8
 

1.8kg (4 lbs) ‘old’ potatoes eg. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks
450g (1 lb) young peas, shelled weight
8 tablespoons chopped parsley
600ml (1pint) milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
50-110g (2-4ozs) butter (traditionally, strong country butter would have been used)
 

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender, drain well, dry over the heat in the pan for a few minutes, peel and mash with most of the butter while hot. Meanwhile bring the milk to the boil and simmer the peas until just cooked, 8-10 minutes approx. Add the parsley for the final 2 minutes of cooking. Add the hot milk mixture to the potatoes. Season well, beat until creamy and smooth and serve piping hot with a lump of butter melting in the centre.

 

Potato Wedges with Sweet Chilli Sauce & Sour Cream

 

 

Serves 4
 

1½lbs (680g) rustic roast potatoes (see recipe below)
Sweet Chilli Sauce
Sour cream
 

To Serve
When the rustic roast potatoes are crisp and golden.  Drain on absorbent kitchen paper.  Season with salt.
Serve immediately in a deep bowl with a little bowl of sweet chilli sauce and sour cream on each plate.
 

Note: Deep-fried cooked potato may be used instead.
 

Rustic Roast Potatoes

Serves 4-6

6 large ‘old’ potatoes eg. Golden Wonder or Kerrs Pinks

Olive oil or beef dripping (unless for Vegetarians)-duck or goose fat are also delicious

Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/regulo 8.   Scrub the potatoes well, cut into quarters lengthways or cut into thick rounds ¾ inch (2cm) approx.   Put into a roasting tin, drizzle with olive oil and toss so they are barely coated with olive oil.   Roast in a preheated oven for 30-45 minutes depending on size.  Sprinkle with sea salt and serve in a hot terracotta dish.

Rustic Roast Potatoes with Rosemary

6 – 8 rosemary sprigs

Add a few sprigs of rosemary or some coarsely chopped rosemary with the olive oil and proceed as above.  Serve garnished with fresh sprig of rosemary.

Rustic Roast Potatoes with Garlic Cloves

18 garlic cloves

Proceed as above, add the garlic after the potatoes have been cooking for 10 – 15 minutes. Toss in the oil.  Keep an eye on the garlic cloves, they will probably be cooked before the potatoes, if so remove and keep warm in a serving dish.    

Press the soft sweet garlic out of the skins and eat with the crispy potatoes
 

Hot Tips
 

Samhlaíocht 2008 Easter Arts Festival, Tralee, Co Kerry
Samhlaiocht is actively involved in community based arts projects that involve working with individuals, groups and schools in the organization of cultural and artistic events.

This year’s theme is ‘Planet Earth’ – the festival will include a Multicultural Slow Food Event on Saturday 22/23 March at KDYS, Denny St. Tralee, Co Kerry.  They are seeking food vendors to take stands at the event – for more details contact June Carey or Karen Maunsell, Samhlaiocht, The Old Presbytery,

20 Lower Castle St.

, Tralee, Co Kerry, Tel. 066-7129934

 

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group
Anyone who would like to receive notice of forthcoming Cork Free Choice Consumer Group meetings please contact – Helen McGonigal at hcmg@eircom.net  – unfortunately the email addresses have all been lost due to a computer crash – so those who have been on the mailing list in the past also need to contact Helen.

 

Fairtrade Fortnight 25 February – 9th March 2008
Recent years have seen a huge growth in support for, and availability for FAIRTRADE Mark products. Much of this support is driven by the activities of volunteers and voluntary groups around Ireland. At the moment there are 61 Fairtrade Towns Committees in Ireland and 31 of them have met the criteria to become Fairtrade Towns.During  Fairtrade Fortnight 2008 many of these groups are organising events in their areas and welcoming producers from developing countries to their towns.  Look out for events in your local area – www.fairtrade.ie 
 

Valentine’s Dinner

Every restaurant in Ireland will be booked out for dinner on Thursday next, Valentines Day – everyone wants a romantic table for two.  Thousands of courting couples dining a deux, sipping elegant glasses of fizz and staring deeply into each other’s eyes. This causes considerable difficulties for many restaurateurs who have a variety of table sizes.  By the law of averages at least one of the couples will be hoping that the question is popped.   Recalcitrant chaps not eager to take the plunge, may well be dreading this evening’s close encounter, because remember girls this a Leap Year, so if he’s been happily chugging along ‘having his cake and eating it’, well this is your big chance to call his bluff.
Takes quite a bit of courage ‘to propose’, what if he says no, are you ready for the gnawing feelings of rejection?

Such a dilemma but the opportunity won’t come around again for another four years, so if you are desperate to know where you stand, grasp the opportunity, but make sure you enjoy your dinner first!.

For those who can’t swing a prime time restaurant booking there’s another option, if you really want to impress, why not invite your partner around for a simple supper.   Nothing will bring on a proposal faster than the prospect of coming home to a delicious supper every evening.   The aroma of freshly baked bread wafting towards you when you open the hall door is a darn sight more appealing than the smell of charred hamburgers.   Doesn’t matter how ‘drop dead gorgeous’ you are, the way to a man’s heart is through his tummy, as it always was and always will be.   The Africans have a saying that sums it up ‘kissin don’t last, cookin’ do!’.   Sounds a bit corny but there could be something in it.   So whatever about your career, your cool dress sense and make-up skills, allocate a little time to learn to lay a table and cook a few yummy delish comforting dishes.  They don’t have to be fancy and are better not to be too extravagant, otherwise he might decide you’ll be far too expensive to keep!.

Start a little folder and gradually add a few recipes for favourite starters, main courses and puds, easy bread, a few bikkies and one or two cakes.

Choose a reliable cookbook where the recipes are well tested and easy to follow.  Nothing more frustrating than trying a recipe that doesn’t work.

Here’s a nice easy menu that can be prepared ahead so that you can spend maximum time sitting at the table rather than sweating over the stove – after all it must appear effortless and taste sublime.

Bon courage and happy St Valentine’s Day.

 

Hot Tips

 

 

Slow Food and Slow Food Dating presented by Slow Food Limerick and Region

-         choice of two unique gourmet dining evenings.

Gourmet Slow Food Dinner Thursday 21st February and Slow Dating Gourmet Evening Friday 22nd February @ Aubars, Thomas St. Limerick, in partnership with Aubars, Limerick-SpeedDating.com,  Febvre Wines and Limerick now.  Book with Niall and Alex at Aubars 061-317799 or check out www.slowfoodireland.com – Limerick home page or email slowfoodlimerick@gmail.com

 

 

Farming for Conservation Conference – BurrenLIFE

Major International Conference will take place in the Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, Co Clare from 24-27 February 2008.  The Conference which is titled  ‘Farming for Conservation – Supporting the Future’ is the first ever farming for conservation conference in Ireland and will include speakers from Ireland and a number of other European countries.

Full details available on www.burrenlife.com  Limited number of heavily discounted places available to local farmers and 3rd level students.  Bookings through Conference Connections 065-6825200/6825201  info@conferenceconnections.ie

 

Mint Restaurant

Ireland’s best kept secret – Dylan McGrath Chef Patron of Mint Restaurant Awarded Prestigious Michelin Star in 2008 Michelin Guide

In just over one year, 30 year old Belfast born chef, Dylan McGrath of Mint restaurant has pushed all culinary boundaries and gained a reputation for his highly distinctive, signature approach.   Mint Restaurant, 46 Ranelagh, Dublin 6. Tel 01-4978655 info@mintrestaurant.ie

Foolproof Food

Ballymaloe Cheese Fondue

Myrtle Allen devised this Cheese Fondue recipe made from Irish Cheddar cheese. It’s a great favourite at Ballymaloe and even though it’s a meal in itself it may be made in minutes and is loved by adults and children alike. A fondue set is obviously an advantage but not essential.

Serves 2

2 tablesp. white wine

2 small cloves of garlic, crushed

2 teasp. Ballymaloe Tomato Relish or any tomato chutney

2 teasp. freshly chopped parsley

6 ozs (170g) grated mature Cheddar cheese

Crusty white bread

Put the white wine and the rest of the ingredients into a small saucepan or fondue pot and stir. Just before serving put over a low heat until the cheese melts and begins to bubble. Put the pot over the fondue stove and serve immediately with fresh crusty French bread or cubes of ordinary white bread crisped up in a hot oven.

Buttermilk Scones

These scones only takes 2 or 3 minutes to make and 20 minutes to bake.

1 lb (450g) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon  breadsoda

Sour milk or buttermilk to mix – 12-14 fl ozs (350-412 ml) approx.

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

Sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre.  Pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well floured worked surface.  WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS.  Tidy it up and flip over gently.  Pat the dough into a round about 1½ inches (2.5cm) deep and cut into scones.  Bake in a hot oven 230C/450F/regulo 8 for 20 minutes approx. 

If you prefer you can leave it whole to make a loaf of white soda bread,  pat it into a round as before and cut a cross on it to let the fairies out! Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure of this. Bake in a hot oven, 230ºC/450ºF/regulo 8 for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/regulo 6 for 30 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

French Peasant Soup

This is another very substantial soup – it has ‘eating and drinking’ in it and would certainly be a meal in itself particularly if some grated Cheddar cheese was scattered over the top.

Serves 6

6 ozs (170g) unsmoked streaky bacon (in the piece)

Olive or sunflower oil

5 ozs (140g) potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch (5mm) dice

2 ozs (55g) onions, finely chopped

1 small clove garlic (optional)

1 lb (450g) very ripe tomatoes, peeled and diced or 1 x 14 oz (400g) tin of tomatoes and their juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

½-1 teasp. sugar

1¼ pints (750ml) homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

2 ozs (55g) cabbage (Savoy is best), finely chopped

Garnish 

Chopped parsley

Remove the rind from the bacon if necessary. Prepare the vegetables and cut the bacon into ¼ inch (5mm) dice approx. Blanch the bacon cubes in cold water to remove some of the salt, drain and dry on kitchen paper, saute in a little olive or sunflower oil until the fat runs and the bacon is crisp and golden. Add potatoes, onions and crushed garlic, sweat for 10 minutes and then add diced tomatoes and any juice. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Cover with stock and cook for 5 minutes. Add the finely chopped cabbage and continue to simmer just until the cabbage is cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Sprinkle with lots of chopped parsley and serve.

Mediterranean Peasant Soup

Add ½ Kabanossi sausage thinly sliced to the soup with the potato.  ¼ lb (110g) cooked haricot beans may also be added with the cabbage at the end for a more robust soup.

Spiced Chicken with Almonds

Serves 6-8

2 lbs (900g) boned chicken, cut into finger-sized pieces (use brown meat)

1 tablesp. coriander seeds

1 tablesp. cumin seeds

2 teasp. ground turmeric

Good pinch cayenne pepper

2 teasp. salt

1 teasp. sugar

4 ozs (110g) onions, roughly chopped

1 inch (2.5cm) piece of fresh ginger root, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 oz (30g) blanched almonds

12 ozs (340g) red pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

5 tablesp. sunflower oil

5 fl ozs (140ml) water

2 tablesp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

First prepare the chicken.  (Remove the skin).

Warm the coriander and cumin seeds separately in a dry pan careful, not to burn (cumin burns more easily)

Grind  in a pestle and mortar. Mix with turmeric, cayenne, salt, sugar, onions, ginger, garlic, almonds and peppers. Whizz in a food processor until smooth. Heat the oil in a saute pan and cook the paste for about 10 minutes until reduced, add the chicken, water and lemon juice. Cover and cook gently for 15 – 30 minutes or until the chicken is tender*.  Serve with pilaff rice.

Note: If you would like a hotter curry, increase the amount of cayenne to 2 teaspoonful.

Brown meat takes longer to cook then white meat. 

Orzo with Fresh Herbs

Orzo looks like fat grains of rice but is in fact made from semolina.   Serve as an accompaniment to a main course or as a base for a pasta salad.

Serves 4

7 ozs (200g) orzo

4 pints (2.3 L) water

1½ teaspoons salt

½ – 1 oz (15-30g) butter

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)

Bring the water to a fast rolling boil and add the salt. Sprinkle in the orzo, cook for 8-10 minutes* or until just cooked. Drain, rinse under hot water, toss with a little butter. Season with freshly ground pepper and garnish with some chopped parsley.

*Time depends on the type of Orzo.

Green Salad with Honey and Mustard Dressing

Honey and Mustard Dressing

6 fl ozs (150ml) olive oil or a mixture of olive and other oils, eg. sunflower and arachide

2 fl ozs (50ml) wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teasp. honey

2 heaped teasp. wholegrain honey mustard

2 cloves garlic

Mix all the ingredients together and whisk well before use.

Green Salad

You will need a mild lettuce (eg. the common Butterhead) as the basis of the salad and as many of the following as you care to or can put in:

finely chopped Parsley, Mint or any herbs of your fancy, spring onions, dice of cucumber, Mustard and Cress, Watercress, the white tips of cauliflower, tips of purple sprouting broccoli, Iceberg lettuce, Cos, Raddichio, Oakleaf, Chinese leaves, Rocket, Salad burnet, and any other interesting lettuces available.

Wash and dry the lettuces and other leaves very carefully. Tear into bite sized pieces and put into a deep salad bowl. Cover with cling film and refrigerate, if not to be served immediately. Just before serving toss with a little French Dressing – just enough to make the leaves glisten. Serve immediately.

Note: Green Salad must not be dressed until just before serving, otherwise it will be tired and  unappetising.

Passionfruit and Mango Fool with Boudoir Biscuits

1 medium ripe mango (about 11oz/300g flesh after peeling)

4 passion fruit

1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1-2 tablespoons castor sugar

½ pint (300ml) softly whipped cream

Peel the mango, chop the flesh and puree in a food processor.  Put into a bowl, add the passion fruit seeds and juice, add freshly squeezed lime juice and sugar to taste.  Fold in some softly whipped cream to taste.

Serve in a pretty white bowl or martini glass with Boudoir biscuits to dunk.

Jerusalem artichokes are a ‘wonder winter vegetable’

Jerusalem artichokes are a ‘wonder winter vegetable’. If you plant one you will be rewarded with a terrific crop of 10-15 small misshapen tubers that look a bit like knobbly potatoes.

They are in season from November to late February-early March and if you have a few in your garden you can just dig, wash and cook immediately. If they are out of the earth for longer they usually need to be peeled for soups or purees. They spread like mad and can be left in the ground until March or early April when they begin to soften. The name is somewhat confusing because it is neither an artichoke nor does it come from Jerusalem, its roots are in North America, and according to Jane Grigson in her timeless classic ‘The Vegetable Book’, “ French explorers saw them first in 1605 in Massachusetts, a crop grown by Indians at Nausett Harbour, Cape Cod. One of the party was the great Samuel Champlain, founder of Quebec, who described them in writing of his journeys, as roots ‘with the taste of artichokes’, ie. bottoms of the globe artichokes of Europe. That accounts for the artichoke in the name, though I wouldn’t say the likeness in taste was strong, unless they are dug and eaten immediately.

This new vegetable, held by some to be more suitable for pigs than men, was soon grown abundantly in France, and was recognized as a relative of the sunflower (which had been introduced from the New World some thirty years before), it was another of those plants whose flowerheads twist around with the sun. In 1617 a French merchant in London, John de Franqueville, who was greatly interested in plants and gardens, gave ‘two small rootes’ of artichoke to the English botanist John Goodyer. Goodyer planted them in his garden at Buriton, under the high Hampshire downs), and the two tubers flourished and gave him a peck of roots, ‘wherewith I stored Hampshire’, Goodyer said.

Can’t you imagine de Franqueville telling Goodyer that of course the plant was a girasol (a French as well as an English word), a heliotropium, a turnsol, whose flowers, if it produced any, would turn with the sun; and can’t you imagine Goodyer’s Hampshire neighbours discovering from him in turn that it was a ‘girasol artichoke’ they were planting, a name they quickly changed to ‘Jerusalem artichoke’, which at least sounded satisfactory and intriguing in a vague way, heliotropism and Indians across the water not meaning much to them?”

So why a wonder food, well Professor Cassells of UCC’s Dept of Plant Science, once explained to me that artichokes have the highest inulin content of any vegetable. Inulin helps to keep a healthy gut flora, balances blood sugar and introduces the good bacteria into our systems, it is particularly important after we’ve had a course of antibiotics which kill off all the beneficial bacteria as well as the baddies. They also contain Vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium and are a very good source of iron.

They unquestionably cause flatulence in some people, hence their nickname ‘fartichokes’, but its all to the good!

Now how to prepare and cook them. Jersusalem artichokes can be boiled, baked, stewed, braised, roasted, pan fried or deep fried. Some of the newer varieties like fuseau are quite smooth, but I’m very partial to an old variety that we’ve grown at Ballymaloe for ions. I’ve no idea of the name but the flavour is superb. They can be boiled like potatoes in boiling salted water but take less time. Drain and eat with a little butter or a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.

They also roast beautifully, just scrub, split lengthwise or cut into half inch rounds. Toss in a little extra virgin olive oil or duck fat and roast – they’ll take about 20 minutes.

Braising is another delicious way of cooking this versatile root. Peel and slice and pop them into a heavy casserole with just a little melted butter to toss the slices in, season, cover and cook on a gentle heat for 15 minutes or so, then turn off the heat and allow them to continue cooking in the residual heat.

Jerusalem artichokes cook unevenly so this is a good method.

They also make a terrific soup, gratin and of course puree, mash either on their own or mixed with potatoes or other root vegetables. They have a particular affinity with game but are also divine with shellfish, particularly scallops.

Jerusalem artichokes, like parsnips, also make delicious chips but they are very high in sugar so deepfry at 150-160C rather than 200C otherwise they will burn quickly.

From the gardener’s point of view, they grow to a height of five feet and have sunflower like flowers which twist to follow the sun. They can be used to create a hedge or some have used them to make a summer maze or labyrinth.

They are a favourite of pheasants so they are grown as food crops on many estates where they rear birds for shooting.

Interestingly they are complementary flavours – see pheasant with artichokes.

How to prepare – scrub well, peel with a swivel top peeler and drop into acidulated water (water with a dash of vinegar or lemon juice.) Like celeriac, salsify, scorzonera and globe artichokes they tend to discolour as you peel. Cook as soon as possible to preserve the vitamin content.

Roast Jerusalem Artichokes
The winter vegetable is particularly good with goose, duck or pheasant.
Serves 4 to 6

1lb (450g) Jerusalem artichokes, well scrubbed.
2 tablespoons sunflower or olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A few rosemary or thyme sprigs, optional

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/ gas mark 6. Leave the artichokes whole or cut in half lengthways, if large. Toss the Jerusalem artichokes with the oil. Season well with salt. Bake in a shallow gratin dish or roasting tin for 20 to 30 minutes. Test with the tip of a knife – they should be mostly tender but offer some resistance. Sprinkle with thyme or rosemary. Season with pepper and serve.

Artichoke Soup with Rosemary – from Grow and Cook by Johann and Tom Doorley
Serves 4

2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
15 Jerusalem artichokes
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
3 tbsp olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
850ml (1½ pints) chicken stock or water
Salt and pepper

Pour the lemon juice or vinegar into a big bowl of water. Quickly peel the artichokes and add to the water and lemon juice to prevent them from turning grey. Gently crush the garlic with the flat of a knife and remove the skin. Peel and slice the onion.

Pour the oil into a wide pot and put it on a medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, rosemary and artichokes. When the contents of the pot start to sizzle, cover with a lid and turn the heat to low. Let them cook away in their own steam, shaking the pot and stirring every 5 minutes or so. If during this time the onion starts to get too dark, add some of the water or stock; you need to let the vegetables colour a little, but not burn.

When the vegetables begin to soften, add half the water or stock and bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes, until the artichokes are soft. Let the soup cool a little, or add some more of the water or stock. Fish out the rosemary sprigs and puree the contents of the pot.

Return the puree to a clean pot and taste, seasoning as necessary. Thin the soup with the rest of the water or stock, bring back to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Pheasant with Jerusalem Artichokes
Pheasant adore Jerusalem Artichokes, most of the large estates plant a patch specially as a treat for them. It seemed logical to cook them together, and indeed it turns out to be a very good marriage of flavours. Casserole roasting, the cooking method used here is a particularly good way to cook pheasant especially if its not in the first flush of youth.

Chicken or guinea fowl may also be cooked in this manner.

1 plump pheasant
25g (1oz) butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
900g (2lb) Jerusalem artichokes

Garnish
chopped parsley or flat parsley sprigs

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4.

Smear a little butter on the breast of the pheasant and brown it in the casserole over a gentle heat. Meanwhile, peel and slice the artichokes into 1cm/½ inch pieces, remove the pheasant. Add a little butter to the casserole toss the Jerusalem artichoke slices in the butter. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle maybe a tablespoon of water over the top. Then replace the pheasant tucking it right down into the sliced artichokes so they come up around the sides of the pheasant. Cover with a butter wrapper and the lid of the saucepan.

Cook for a further 1-1¼ hours.

Remove the pheasant as soon as it is cooked, strain and de-grease the cooking liquid if there is need but usually there’s virtually no fat on it. The juices of the pheasant will have flavoured the artichokes deliciously. Arrange the artichokes on a hot serving dish, carve the pheasant into 4 portions and arrange on top.

The artichokes always break up a little – that is their nature. Spoon some juices over the pheasant and artichokes and serve scattered with chopped parsley or flat parsley sprigs.

Braised Jerusalem Artichokes
Serves 4

1 ½ lbs (675g) Jerusalem artichokes
1 oz (30g) butter
1 dessertsp. water
Salt and freshly-ground pepper
Chopped parsley

Peel the artichokes thinly and slice ¼ inch (5mm) thick. Melt the butter in a cast-iron casserole, toss the artichokes and season with salt and freshly-ground pepper. Add water and cover with a paper lid (to keep in the steam) and the saucepan lid. Cook on a low heat or put in a moderate oven, 180°C/350°F/regulo 4, until the artichokes are soft but still keep their shape, 15-20 minutes approx. (Toss every now and then during cooking.)

Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.

If cooking on the stove top rather than the oven turn off the heat after 10 minutes approx. – the artichokes will continue to cook in the heat & will hold their shape.

Foolproof Food

Fluffy Lemon Pudding
This is an old fashioned family pudding which separates into two quite distinct layers when it cooks; it has a fluffy top and a creamy lemon base. This is a good time of year for lemons and other citrus fruit so make the most of them.
Serves 4-6

1 ½ ozs (40g) butter
9 ozs (250g) castor sugar
3 ozs (75g) flour
3 eggs (preferably free range)
2 unwaxed lemons
10 fl ozs (300ml) milk

Decoration
icing sugar

1 x 2 pint pie dish

Cream the butter well. Add the castor sugar and beat well. Separate the egg yolks and add one by one, then stir in the flour. Grate the rind of 2 lemons, squeeze and strain it’s juice and add. Lastly add the milk. Whisk the egg whites stiffly in a bowl and fold gently into the lemon mixture. Pour into a pie dish and bake in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4, for 40 minutes approx. Dredge with icing sugar.

Serve immediately with softly whipped cream.

Hot Tips

Cookery Classes at Snugboro 2008

Rory O’Connell teaches Intensive 1 day classes at his home near Ballycotton, Co Cork, private classes or workshops for groups or individuals can of course be organized – corporate groups, friends, hen parties! All will be catered for.

www.rgoconnell.com rory@rgoconnell.com Tel 086-8516917

For anyone who wants to grow organically Bob Flowerdew provides the answers in a brilliantly accessible way in his new book Going Organic published by Kyle Cathie.

His commonsense, practical approach and easy to read style has endeared him to gardeners for over 20 years. He takes the readers through basic gardening techniques, common pitfalls, pest and disease problems and companion planting. A gem to get people started on the magic of growing your own – so get going and I’ll provide the cooking and salad ideas.

The organisers of Slow Food Limerick & Region are planning to offer monthly Slow Food events in 2008, starting on January 26th with Slow Food for Babies. Slow Food for babies will explore the Slow Food options available to young babies and toddlers, with a strong focus on local, fresh produce. How to best answer the nutritional requirements of babies and toddlers and what effect food can have on a child’s development will be the central issues looked at.

The event is kindly sponsored by the Hunt Museum and will take place in the Hunt Museum at 3pm – 4.30pm on Sunday January 27th and all are welcome.

For further information or bookings contact Josephine Page 087 9460490 or josephinepage@hotmail.com

The speakers are Dr Moya Stout, Psychologist and Julie Dargan, Nutritionist.

Grow and Cook

“Vegetable growing is addictive, what starts as a few herbs on a window sill can end up as a full-blown allotment habit” – so write Tom and Johann Doorley in the foreword of their new ‘Grow and Cook’ cookbook. Just what I want to hear in the first weeks of 2008. One of my many New Year resolutions is to incorporate a ‘grow some little thing’ of your own into each of my columns for 2008. As all good cooks know really yummy food is all about really fresh ingredients, beautiful crinkly Savoy cabbages, earthy carrots and celeriac, curly kale, knobbly Jerusalem artichokes, hardy Swiss chard, are all in season know. There are still a few Brussels sprouts around. Sprats and herrings should be in our waters about now. Look for them and treat yourself and your family to a top up of Omega 3 and anti-oxidants. Tom and Johann Doorley love their live in the country. This book is a diary of what they grow and eat through the months, their successes and learning curves. “Just as there are pessimists and optimists, there are two schools of thought about the month of January. Some of us find it a bit of an anti-climax as life returns to its more mundane rhythms after the excitement of Christmas. Others see the New Year as a fresh start bursting with opportunities”. Tom and Johann often find themselves somewhere in between. January is a month for curling up by the fire with seed catalogues, a time for planning and making lists. We all crave simple comfort food as an antidote to Christmas feasting, maybe chicken noodle soup made with some rich good broth from the turkey carcass. The recipe in Grow and Cook sounds irresistible. By now the Seville and Malaga oranges are in the shops so this is the time of year to make real marmalade. Tom and Johann have included a step by step guide which should be invaluable to those who are making marmalade for the first time. Winter is the citrus fruit season so this is the time of the year to make best use of all that family so you may want to try Tom’s Orange Cake and homemade orangeade. As already mentioned, root vegetables are at their best and cheapest right now so we use them often. The beetroot cake sounded intriguing so you may want to try that if you still have some beetroot. If not, substitute grated carrot in the recipe. Many people complain to me that their children won’t eat vegetables, I guarantee that if they help to grow, chop and cook them there is a much higher chance that they will tuck in. Tom and Johann have succeeded in bringing their kids into the garden and the kitchen, and several delicious recipes in this ‘labour of love’ including the Beetroot Cake and Amy’s Cheesy Bake, have been introduced by the children – quite a feat at a time when a growing number of adults, not to mention children have little or no idea or interest in how their food is produced – is it any wonder that obesity is our fastest growing health problem. ‘Grow and Cook’ by Tom and Johann Doorley is published by Gill & Macmillan.

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