Archive2012

The word lovely comes up over and over again in the Ard Bia cookbook. Lovely extras to serve with cheese or lovely extra to serve with the perfect steak. Perfect poached egg and lovely extras, it’s got a comforting homely ring to it which I love – in fact I really loved a lot about the new Ard Bia cookbook. The zany photos, the clean layout and design, the line drawings, and the eclectic collection of Ard Bia classics that so many of Aoibheann Mac Namara’s loyal fans will love to have. Yet, I doubt it will keep them at home, they’ll still want to go to Ard Bia one of Galway’s most enduring and best loved restaurants.

The cookbook represents a day in the life of Ard Bia, favourite breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snacks, supper and dinner dishes. The book also includes some thoughts on a cheese course – the secret of some of Ard Bia’s much hankered after juices and finally the Pantry section. I particularly loved these chapters (there are 4) with herb sugars, pickles, vinaigrettes, a variety of hummus, chutneys, relishes, pickles, cordials, jellies and some thoughts on foraging.

I only ate once at Nimmos but I have never forgotten the beautifully simple but truly lovely food, a celebration of fresh local produce, spiced up with imagination and a sure hand.

Here are some of the dishes and juices we’ve enjoyed so far.

 

Buttermilk and Poppy-Seed Pancakes

 

Our poppy-seed pancakes are legendary. The secret is the buttermilk –

a much under-rated natural ingredient which gives a nice tartness. It also

helps to plump them up, providing the natural acids needed to kick-start

baking soda into releasing carbon dioxide gases. You could try replacing the

poppy seeds with fresh seasonal berries – juicy ripe blackberries work

well in the autumn, or try frozen berries at any time of year.

 

2 eggs

80ml / 2.7fl oz milk

350ml / 12fl oz buttermilk

350g / 14oz plain flour

35g / 1.2oz caster sugar

2 tbsp poppy seeds

1 heaped tsp baking soda

120g / 5oz melted butter

(plus extra knobs of butter to cook,

depending on the pan)

 

Tastes great with:

syrup of choice (we love Highbank Orchard syrup)

seasonal fruit compote

honey-nut yoghurt

 

Serves 4–6

 

Beat the eggs, milk and buttermilk together. Combine the flour, sugar, poppy seeds and baking soda, and mix thoroughly into the egg mix. To do this you can beat in a blender or food processor until incorporated. If you’d rather do it by hand, make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in half the liquid, stirring with a wooden spoon to draw in the flour until it is well combined, before adding the remaining liquid. Finally, stir the melted butter through

the batter. Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or until ready to use.

Heat a decent-sized griddle or non-stick pan over a high heat. If you have a pancake pan, all the better. Depending on the quality of your pan you may or may not need to add a knob of butter – try it without first to test it out. Spoon a ladleful of pancake batter into the middle of the pan and allow it to form a drop-scone shape. Cook on the first side for three to four minutes or until the base of

the pancake turns golden brown. Flip to cook the second side until a nice golden brown; the pancake should be cooked through at this stage.

You can either serve each pancake when it is ready, or stack them in a just-warm oven until ready to serve. We like to serve these with honey-nut yoghurt and elderberry syrup, but you could serve them with any kind of fruit and yoghurt, crème fraîche or even ice-cream, if that’s the kind of breakfast your morning is calling for!

 

Torn Lamb Shoulder with Sumac and Pomegranate

 

Sumac is a Middle Eastern spice with a lemony tang, traditionally used when lemons are out of season. It brings a high note to the slow-cooked lamb deep base flavours and the earthy artichoke purée.

 

600g / 1½lb shoulder of lamb (off the bone),

trimmed and chopped into large pieces

3–4 tbsp oil (vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed)

1 litre / 2 pints stock (lamb stock is ideal – ask your butcher for bones, or use beef, chicken or even vegetable stock)

2 lemons, juice and zest

5 spring onions, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sumac

1 pomegranate, seeds only

1 tbsp rose salt (optional)

To serve:

flatbread

tabouleh, quinoa or couscous flavoured yoghurt

Tastes great with:

Jerusalem artichoke purée (in the winter)

Serves 6 as a starter, or 4 as a

main course

Preheat oven to 180°C/350ºF/gas mark 4.

 

In a hot pan, brown the pieces of lamb in batches with a little oil and place in a deep baking tray. Add the stock, spring onions, lemon juice and zest. Braise for at least 90 minutes, until the meat is falling apart. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the stock. Tear the meat apart into small chunks. You can prepare the lamb in advance, as it will keep in the fridge for a day or two. Be sure to retain the rich stock. You will need a little of it to reheat the lamb and you can use the remainder as

a base for other rich wintry dishes, such as the lamb tagine or venison stew or reduce it down to make a gravy or jus to serve with a Sunday roast Prepare the artichoke purée When ready to serve, preheat a grill to hot. Sprinkle sumac over the torn lamb and drizzle with a little stock to keep it moist. Heat through under the grill.

To serve, place a generous spoonful of artichoke purée into each serving bowl and place the lamb on top. Finish each serving with a scattering of plump pomegranate seeds and a pinch of rose salt, if using. If serving as a main course, you could accompany it with flatbreads, tabouleh, quinoa or couscous and a flavoured yoghurt.

 

Ricotta Tart

A Paolo classic and a favourite amongst the staff, who have been known to eat it for breakfast.

 

You need to make this tart.

 

225g / 9oz plain flour

150g / 6oz soft butter

75g / 3oz caster sugar

1 lemon, zest only

1 egg (optional, for a richer shortbread)

For the tart filling:

250g / 10oz fresh ricotta cheese

1 egg

30g / 1oz sultanas

30g / 1oz pistachios, chopped

1 orange, zest only

50g / 2oz sugar

2 drops vanilla extract

Fills a 24cm tart tin

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. Lightly grease a

24cm tart tin with a removable base.

 

To make the shortbread pastry, combine the flour, butter, sugar, zest and egg, if using, and beat with a wooden spoon or in a food processor until it forms a soft dough. If opting for the egg-free version, a few drops of water may help bind the dough, depending on the condition of the flour. Take care not to overwork the dough. Lay out a piece of parchment on your work surface and dust sparingly with flour. Form the dough into a ball, flatten and roll out with a lightly floured rolling pin to a thickness of about 6mm, turning the parchment to move the dough.

Carefully transfer the pastry to the greased tart tin, pressing down into the corners and edges. If the pastry breaks, just press it back together and patch with an extra piece of pastry to ensure a good seal. Line with a piece of parchment, fill with baking beans and bake blind for about 10–15 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the filling, beating the ricotta, egg, sultanas, pistachios, orange zest, sugar and vanilla together to combine well. Once the pastry has baked to a light golden brown, remove the parchment and beans, and pour in the ricotta filling. Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool before gently easing the tart out of the tin.

 

Beetroot Hummus

500g / 1lb beetroot

salt and pepper

olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1–2 tbsp pomegranate molasses, to taste

1 tbsp tahini

½ lemon, juice only

Preheat oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6.

 

Rinse the beetroot and trim the leaves if still on (but don’t be tempted to top and tail the bulb or the colour will leach). Pat dry and toss in oil in a large baking tray. Season and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or

until the beets are soft but not shrivelled. Allow to cool before peeling (the skin should rub away easily), trimming the root and stalks and chopping roughly. In a food processor, blend the beetroot, garlic and cumin to a smooth paste. Add a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses along with tahini and lemon juice, stirring or pulsing to combine thoroughly. Check the seasoning, adding more pomegranate molasses, lemon juice or salt if you feel it’s needed.

 

Muhumara is a hot pepper dip originally from Aleppo, Syria. It is served as a dip with bread, as a spread for toast and as a sauce for kebabs, grilled meats and fish.

 

Muhumara

250g / 9oz roasted red peppers

1 red chilli

50ml rapeseed oil

75g / 3oz toasted walnuts

2 garlic cloves

25g / 1oz dried breadcrumbs

20ml pomegranate molasses

1 tsp ground cumin

½ lemon, juice only

chopped fresh coriander, to taste

 

Combine everything except the oil in a food processor and blend whilst slowly adding the oil. The final consistency should be like hummus, so more or less oil may be needed.

 

Beetroot, carrot, apple and ginger juice

1 medium carrot, washed and/or peeled

1 medium apple, cored

2cm piece of ginger, peeled

1 small beetroot, washed (optional)

½ lemon (optional)

 

Juice the carrot, apple and ginger. This alone is delicious (and looks gorgeous) or you can add a small beetroot for extra oomph. If you find all those vegetables a bit intense, squeeze in the juice of half a lemon to cut through it. Drink immediately.

 

Cucumber, Apple, Mint and Lime Juice

This refreshing juice is light and zingy and the perfect thirst quencher after a Summers walk.

 

2 apples, cored

1 handful of mint

½ cucumber

1 lime

 

Juice the apples, mint and cucumber. Squeeze a lime and mix it in. Drink immediately.

 

Hottips

Congratulations to Barron’s Bakery in Co Waterford for their book Our Daily Bread, a History of Barron’s Baker which got second place in the international Gourmand World Cookbook awards in the bread section.

 

Courses at Nano Nagle Centre, Ballygriffin, Mallow –

Organic Kitchen Garden Course with Noreen O’Brien starts on Wednesday 19^th September from 10am to 1am – a series of ten mornings up to April 2013 – the subjects covered include plant rotation, mulching, seed sewing, organic pest control…

Thursday 4^th October from 10am – 1pm – Preserving Course – Come and Make and Take Home – jams, jellies, chutneys…022 26411 to book – www.nanonaglebirthplace.ie

Kitty Travers loves ice cream. When she was little, her mum found her rummaging in a bin at the circus licking ice cream wrappers totally oblivious of the clowns and trapeze.

Now Kitty sells her exquisite hand-made ice creams, sorbets and granita from a little refrigerated ice cream van in London. Her company La Grotta Ices was named Best of the Best in the British Street Food Awards.  More recently Kitty was chosen by Ferguson Henderson as one of the young culinary stars of the future in the uber-cool Coco Cookbook published by Phaidon where 10 chefs including Ferran Adria, Gordon Ramsay, Alice Waters and Rene Redzepi choose their most exciting up and coming chefs. Not bad for someone who doesn’t even own a restaurant, but then again the list of places she’s worked reads like a Who’s Who of the foodie world.

She started her career in London at the French bakery Poilaine and at Villandry, not as a cook but as a waitress and learned French from the Gallic brigade. As luck would have it, when her Gran died she left her some money so she forked out 10 grand for a six month professional chef programme at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. This led to a stint at one of Mario Batali’s restaurant Otto in New York under the pastry chef Meredith Kurtzman, where she learned to make ice cream from the super fresh ingredients from Union Square Green Market and later she worked with Gabrielle Hamilton at Prune in the East Village who advised her to go back to London and get a job with St John, she landed a job at a St John Bread and Wine with head baker Justin Piers Gellaty where she had the dream job of choosing (and making) the daily dessert menu.

Throughout it all, she continued her quest for best, always tasting and experimenting at every possible opportunity, she couldn’t pass an ice-cream parlour anywhere.  She travelled all over Italy and France and while she was at  the American Academy in Rome, she’d cycle her little bike around gelaterias in her spare time, she found a little bar doing little pots of espresso granita with Chantilly cream on top – divine.

That summer she came back to London, bought a little van and La Grotta ice cream was born. She sells at Maltby Street Farmers Market in Bermondsey – that’s where I first met her -and at festivals and society weddings.  She spreads the word on twitter and facebook.

I was enchanted by her bewitching personality as well as her sublime ice-creams, granitas, and sorbets. Last time I was in London I visited her Ice Cream Shed where she hand makes all her products.  More recently she came to teach a course at Ballymaloe Cookery School, it was fantastic – if you missed it this year watch out for her name on our brochure next year or check out Welbeck Estate School of Artisan Food where she teaches regular classes. There’s one on the 15^th September and another on 21^st October, check the details on the website www.schoolofartisanfood.org

Here are some of the ice cream and granitas that Kitty made while she was with us – a portable Kenwood Sorbetiere works brilliantly and costs up to €85.00.

Kitty aged several of her ice creams in a fridge overnight, the difference in texture and flavour was dramatic.

 

 

Kitty Travers Corn Flour Ice-Cream

 

This ice cream is inexpensive to make and sounds dull but it was delicious and is one of the best recipes to take on flavours. Kitty also made a tarragon and lovage and celery leaf ice cream, both delicious.

 

Makes about 800mls/1 litre (1 3/4 pints) when churned.

 

Makes 10 Scoops

 

750ml (25fl oz) milk

1 vanilla pod

3 tablespoons corn flour

100g (3 1/2oz) sugar

 

Heat the milk and split vanilla pod together in a saucepan until it is barely breaking a simmer. Mix the corn flour and sugar in a bowl, whisk in the hot milk in a steady stream then return all the mixture to the saucepan and continue cooking over a low heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a temperature of 85°C/185°F.

 

Plunge pan into a bath of ice water and cool to 10°C/50°F within 30 minutes – stirring occasionally.  Refrigerate the mixture for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.

 

Strain through a chinois, pressing with the back of a ladle to remove the vanilla pod, emulsify for 30 seconds with an immersion blender and churn in ice-cream machine until frozen.

 

Scrape the ice-cream into a freezer box, cover with waxed paper and a tight fitting lid, and freeze hard to keep for up to 1 month.

 

Variations

This recipe can be adapted and made with any number of culinary herbs or flowers eg Tarragon/Spearmint/Rose Petals/Marigold/

Honeysuckle/Cherry Blossom…

 

Simply replace the vanilla pod with 40-50g (1 1/2 – 2oz) fresh herbs or 20g (3/4oz) dried herbs such as lavender or thyme.

 

Bring the milk to a simmer and add the herbs, submerge and cover with cling film then allow to steep for 10 minutes (dried herbs) or 20 minutes (soft herbs and flowers) before straining and continuing with the recipe from the start, using the perfumed milk and omitting the vanilla.

 

Kitty Travers Sunrise Sorbet

 

Makes about 1 litre/Serves 10

 

350g (12oz) strawberries

1 unwaxed orange boiled for 1 hour & cooled

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

200mls (7fl oz) sugar syrup (see recipe)

 

Dip the strawberries in a big basin of cold water to wash, then lay on clean tea towels or paper towel for a few minutes to dry.

 

Place the strawberries in large mixing bowl and cover with the sugar syrup and lemon juice for 1 hour and allow to macerate (this can also be done overnight.

 

Quarter the orange; add it to the strawberries and purée altogether with a stick (immersion) blender. Sieve through a fine mesh chinois to remove pips. Push the purée through sieve with the back of a ladle with a lunging motion.

 

Check the BRIX and if necessary adjust to 20% either by adding more sugar syrup – 1 tablespoon at a time to bring it up – or extra water to bring it down.  Allow to chill.

 

Churn in an ice-cream maker or sorbetiere for 35-45 minutes then scrape the sorbet out into a freezer box, cover with waxed paper to minimize exposure to air and freeze.

 

Sugar Syrup

 

The basic sugar syrup below can also be used for homemade lemonades as well as for fruit salads and compotes. It keeps for months in a fridge, or a shorter time if unrefrigerated.

 

Makes 825ml (28fl oz)

 

450g (1lb) sugar

600ml (1 pint) water

 

Dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then leave it to cool. Store in the fridge until needed.

 

Kitty Travers Raspberry and Rose Geranium Ice-Cream

 

Makes about 1 litre or 10 big scoops

 

300g (10oz) raspberries

180ml (6fl oz) whole milk

180ml (6fl oz) double cream

6-8 Rose Geranium leaves

4 egg yolks

100g (3 1/2oz) sugar

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

In a saucepan, heat the milk and cream together to a simmer.  Rinse the geranium leaves and drop them into the simmering milk to submerge, then remove pan from the heat.  Cover with cling film and leave to steep in a basin full of cold water for about 15 minutes.

 

Meanwhile cook the raspberries very lightly with a tablespoon of water for about 5 minutes or until they collapse when stirred.  Push them through a fine sieve or chinois to remove all the pips.  Chill the purée until later.

 

Re-heat the perfumed milk and cream until barely simmering.

 

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together vigorously until pale and creamy.

 

Pour hot milk over yolks in a steady stream to temper, whisking constantly and then return all mix to pan.

 

Cook out over a low heat stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 85°C/185°F.

 

Plunge the saucepan into an ice bath, stir every now and again to cool to room temperature (within half an hour)

 

Mix with the raspberry purée & refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and whizz with a stick (immersion) blender for 30 seconds to emulsify before churning.

 

Once frozen scrape into a lidded freezer box, cover with a piece of waxed paper or cling film to limit exposure to the air and hard freeze.

 

Kitty Travers Peach and Basil Sorbet

 

Makes about 1 litre or 10 scoops

 

4 large ripe peaches

150mls (5fl oz) simple sugar syrup (see recipe)

30mls (1 1/4fl oz) water

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon

40-50g bunch of basil

 

Bring the sugar syrup and water to a simmer. Rinse the basil. Submerge the basil in the syrup the moment that it breaks into a boil.  Remove the saucepan from the heat instantly, cover the pan with cling film and place in a sink full of cold water. Allow the basil to steep in the liquid for about 12-15 minutes.

 

Strain the basil from syrup, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.  Reheat the syrup bringing back to a simmer.  Slice the peaches in half over the saucepan (so any juices drip into the syrup).  Carefully drop the peach halves into the simmering syrup and allow to poach lightly until tender for about 8 minutes.

 

Allow peaches to cool then slip off the skins and purée the flesh along with the lemon juice using a stick (immersion) blender until very smooth.

 

Push puree through a fine sieve or chinois to remove any fibres, then churn in an ice-cream machine until frozen.

 

Scrape out sorbet into a lidded container, cover with waxed paper and store in a deep freeze until required.

 

 

 

Kitty Travers Nectarine Leaf Ice-Cream

 

Makes 10 Scoops

 

4 ripe nectarines

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon, unwaxed if possible

250ml (9fl oz) milk

250g (9fl oz) double cream

200g (7oz) sugar

4 egg yolks

20 nectarine leaves

 

Halve the nectarines, collecting any juice.  Remove the pit, and quarter them, then cook them lightly with a tablespoon of water for about 8 minutes or until just tender.  Cool then purée with the lemon juice; push the purée through a fine sieve or chinois to remove the skin and any fibres. Keep aside until later.

 

Bring milk and cream to a simmer in a stainless steel saucepan and stir occasionally to avoid scorching.  Pick the nectarine leaves from the branch, rinse them then as soon as the milk hits a simmer, submerge the leaves in the hot liquid.  Cover the saucepan with cling film and then put it in a sink full of iced water and allow the leaves to steep for exactly 10 minutes before straining.

 

Re-heat the milk and cream mixture to a simmer. As it heats, whisk the sugar into the egg yolks to combine.  Pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture to ‘temper’ the yolks, then return all the mixture to the pan and slowly cook out to 86°C/186°F stirring constantly and briskly.

 

As soon as mixture reaches 86°C/186°F, plunge pan into a sink full of iced water. Cool until ice-cream base reaches room temperature. Stir in the nectarine purée then cover and refrigerate overnight to ‘age’ the base.

 

Blitz the base with a stick (immersion) blender to emulsify then pour the mixture into an ice-cream machine and churn until frozen. Scrape out into a suitable lidded container.  Cover with waxed paper to avoid exposure to air and store in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Variations

The nectarines in this recipe can be substituted for 600g of any other soft fruits, or a different herb.  Puree the fruit first then strain to remove any pips.

Interesting flavor combinations might include the following:

Raspberry + Lemon Verbena/ Blackberry + Rose Geranium/ Apricot + Almond/ Gooseberry + Elderflower/ Blackcurrant + Mint/ Mango + Lime Zest/ Nectarine + Basil…

 

 

Hottips

 

Isaac’s Restaurant on McCurtain Street in Cork are now serving Brunch every Saturday from 10:30am to 2:30pm. Their ala carte menu includes Bloody Marys, freshly squeezed orange juice, homemade granola, Kilbegan Organic Oats Porridge with soft brown sugar and cream, organic yoghurt, fresh seasonal fruit, Irish Farmhouse cheeses, Eggs Benedict, Full Irish…021 450 3805 – www.isaacsrestaurant.ie

 

Date for Your Diary

 

A Taste of West Cork Food Festival – Skibbereen – West Cork – Monday 10^th to Sunday 16^th September, 2012. www.atasteofwestcork.com

 

Summer Theatre

Homemade crisps, summer fruit popsicles, praline ice cream cones, at the interval in the Grain Store. Rave reviews for Tuesdays with Morrie last week so don’t miss 47 Roses written and performed by Peter Sheridan. Early dinner 6pm at Ballymaloe House and play €65.00. Theatre tickets €20.00 – Booking 021 4652531.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Camilla’s Preserved Tomatoes

 

Makes 2 Kilner jars

 

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

5-6 basil leaves

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon of Maldon sea salt

2-3 cloves of garlic

 

2 x 2 pint sterilised Kilner glass jars with lids.

 

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

Keeps forever!

 

Fresh Bay Leaf Salt

 

Camilla Plum used coarse grey salt from Trapani

 

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

young fresh bay leaves – 2 fistfuls – stalks removed

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

 

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

 

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

 

Nordic Cucumber and Dill Salad

 

Makes enough for 6-8

 

2 large fresh cucumbers

5 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 fistfuls of dill plus soft stalks chopped

 

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

 

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

 

Serve with fish, lamb, chicken…

 

 

Shaken Berries

 

A Nordic way of preserving Summer fruits.

 

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

Eat with cheese, venison, pork, melon…

 

Fresh ripe redcurrants (preferably organic)

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

 

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

 

Strawberry and Rose Petal Jam

 

Makes 2 -3 pots

 

1kg (2¼lb) strawberries

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

450g (1lb) sugar

Freshly squeezed juice of ½ to 1 lemon

 

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

 

Verbena, Chilli, Ginger and Lemon Thyme Sugar

 

1 handful Moroccan mint

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

1 inch knob of ginger chopped

2 tablespoons lemon thyme

2-3 Kaffir lime leaves if available

1/2 chilli

1 fistful of lemon basil

250-450g (9oz – 1lb) sugar

 

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

 

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

 

For a hot drink

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

 

For a cold drink

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

 

Hottips

 

Darina’s Book of the Week

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

A Plate of McGeough’s Cured Meats

 

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

Telephone 353 (0) 91 552351 for stockists.

 

Serves 4

 

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

Cucumber pickle

Horseradish crème fraiche (see recipe)

a salad of rocket leaves and fresh herbs

 

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

 

Horseradish Crème Fraiche

 

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

 

Serve with roast beef, smoked venison or smoked mackerel.

 

Serves 8 – 10

 

1 1/2-3 tablespoons grated horseradish

2 teaspoons wine vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon mustard

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of freshly ground pepper

1 – 2 teaspoons sugar

8 fl ozs (250 ml) crème fraiche

 

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

 

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

 

Courgette Flower, St Tola Goats Cheese and Local Honey

 

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

 

Serves 2

4 courgette blossoms

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

2 teaspoons thyme leaves

2 teaspoons Irish honey

 

Tempura Batter

 

200g (7ozs) rice flour

20g (3/4oz) corn flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

cold sparkling water

 

First make the batter.

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

 

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

 

Genaro’s Crespelle con Ricotta e Rucola

 

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

                                                     

250g (9oz) plain flour

4 eggs

500ml (18fl oz)

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

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

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

Salt

 

For the filling

 

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

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

50g (1 ¾ oz) Parmesan cheese freshly grated

salt and pepper

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Genaro’s Salsa di Pomodoro – Tomato Sauce

 

4 tablespoons olive oil

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

2 x 410g tins plum tomatoes, chopped

handful of fresh basil, finely chopped

salt and pepper

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

 

Rose Cottage Strawberry Ice Cream

 

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

 

 

Serves 6-8

 

2 lbs (900g) very ripe strawberries

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 orange

8ozs (225gcastor sugar

300ml (300ml) water

150ml (5floz) whipped cream

 

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

 

Fresh Strawberry Sauce

400g (14 ozs) strawberries

50g (2 ozs) icing sugar

lemon juice

 

Garnish

Fresh mint leaves

 

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

Hot Tips

Date for your diary.

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

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

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

Darina’s Book of the Week

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

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

Recipes from Darina Allens Demonstration at the -Food-Festival

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Smoked Mackerel, Leek and Dill Frittata

 

Serves 6-8

 

1 oz (25g) butter

2 medium leeks, thinly sliced

8 free range eggs

2-3 tablespoons freshly chopped dill

1 oz (25g) Gruyere cheese, grated

1 teaspoon salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

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

 

1 “x 9” non-stick pan

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Ham Hocks with Haricot Bean and Tomato Stew

 

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

Serves 4

 

2 fresh or smoked ham hocks

1 onion

4 garlic cloves

1 carrot, thickly sliced

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

 

Haricot Bean and Tomato Stew

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

 

1 cup dried haricot beans

bouquet garni

1 onion

1 carrot

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 ozs (175g) chopped onion

4 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 14 oz (400g) tin tomatoes

1-2 tablespoons chopped rosemary

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

 

Garnish

lots of flat parsley or rosemary

 

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water.

 

Next Day.

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

 

While the ham hocks are cooking, strain the beans and cover with fresh cold water, add a bouquet garni, carrot and onion, cover and simmer until the beans are soft but not mushy – anything from 30-60 minutes. Just before the end of cooking, add salt. Remove the bouquet garni (bunch of fresh herbs) and vegetables and discard.

 

Meanwhile sweat the chopped onion gently in olive oil in a wide saucepan until soft but not coloured, approx. 7-8 minutes add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, add the chopped tomato and their juice, cook for 6-8 minutes, add the cooked beans, and chopped rosemary and cook for a further 5 minutes.

 

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

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

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

Ham Hock and Bean Soup

 

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

 

Roast Chicken Salad with Avocado and Caesar Dressing

 

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

 

Serves 12

 

1 large or 2 smaller organic chickens

1 large or 2 small lemons

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 – 2 tablespoons clear honey

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Caesar Dressing

2 egg yolks, preferably free-range

2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1 x 2 ozs (50g) tin anchovies

1 clove garlic, crushed

a generous pinch of English mustard powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2-1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

1/2-1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

6 fl ozs (175ml) sunflower oil

2 fl ozs (50ml) extra virgin olive oil

2 fl ozs (50ml) cold water

 

6 little Gem lettuces and lots of watercress

6 hass avocados

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

To Serve

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

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

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

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

 

Roast Kassler

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

1 x 5 lbs (2.25 kg) Kassler

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

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

 

Hottips

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

Food Festival Dates for your diary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Mexican Spiced Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa

 

Serves 8

 

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

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon runny honey

4 tablespoons olive oil

 

Salt, black pepper

 

Pineapple, Chilli and Lime Salsa (see recipe)

 

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

 

Pineapple, Chilli and Lime Salsa

 

Serves 8

 

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

1 fresh red chilli, seeded and finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander or mint

grated zest of 1 lime

3 tablespoons lime juice

salt and sugar

 

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

Gratin of Potatoes with Rosemary and Bay Leaves

 

Serves 4

 

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

2 sprigs rosemary and a couple crushed bay leaves

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

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

20cm (8in) square gratin dish

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Butterflied Leg or Shoulder of Lamb with Moroccan Flavours

 

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

 

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

Or a shoulder of lamb boned

 

Marinade

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

2 tablespoons harissa

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic or white wine vinegar

3 garlic cloves, grated or crushed

 

Cucumber and Radish Raita (see recipe)

 

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

 

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

 

Cucumber  and Radish Raita

 

Makes 16fl oz (450ml)

10fl oz (300ml) yoghurt

½ cucumber, deseeded and finely diced

2 tbsp chopped coriander or mint

salt and pepper

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

Bananas wrapped in Streaky Bacon

 

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

 

Bananas

Thin streaky rashers.

 

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

 

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

 

Summer Fruit Salad with Sweet Geranium Leaves

 

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

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

 

Serves 2-4

 

1 oz (30g) Raspberries

1oz (30g) Loganberries

1 oz (30g) Red currants

1 oz (30g) Black currants

1 oz (30g) small Strawberries

1 oz (30g) Blueberries

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

 

Syrup

 

14 oz (400g) sugar

16 fl oz (450ml) water

6-8 large sweet geranium leaves

 

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

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

 

Summer Berry Jelly with Sweet Geranium Leaves

 

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

 

 

Hottips

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

De Roiste Pudding with Glazed Apples and Grainy Mustard Sauce

 

Serves 4

 

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

 

Glazed Apples

 

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

juice of 1/4-1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon castor sugar

1 oz (25g) butter

 

Mustard Sauce

8 fl ozs (250ml) of cream

1 dessertspoon of Lakeshore smooth mustard

1 tablespoon of Lakeshore Honey Mustard

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

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

 

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

 

To assemble the dish.

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

Serves 4

 

4 ripe nectarines

10 perfectly ripe and sweet cherry tomatoes

a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice

extra virgin olive oil

we use a ‘biggie’ from Arbutus Artisan Bakery

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 balls of fresh buffalo mozzarella

12 purple basil leaves, shredded

8 fine slices of Parma ham

2 tablespoons basil oil

aged balsamic vinegar, to drizzle (optional)

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Basil Oil

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Serves 4 people

 

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

a little salt

juice of 1 lemon

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

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

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

a large handful of peashoots or rocket

100g (3 1/2oz) fresh ricotta

a little pepper

 

Vinaigrette

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Macroom Oatmeal Crackers

 

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

 

 

Makes 25-30 biscuits

 

 

1oz  (25g) Macroom oatmeal

75g (3oz) brown wholemeal flour

115g (4oz) white flour, preferably unbleached

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

25g (1oz) butter

5-6 tablespoons cream

 

 

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

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

 

Hottips

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Pizzetta Bianca with Red Onions and Thyme Leaves

(makes 12 pizzetta)

Easy Pizza Dough

1 x 7g sachet fast action yeast

300ml (10floz) tepid water

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

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Topping

1 piece pizza dough

25g (1oz) grated block mozzarella

5g (¼ oz) grated Parmesan

½ thinly sliced red onion

enough thyme leaves to sprinkle over the top

thyme flowers if available

freshly ground black pepper

extra virgin olive oil

 

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

Top with chosen topping and cook.

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

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

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

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

Broad Bean, Blue Cheese, Parsley and Lemon Pizza       

 

Makes 1

 

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

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of Maldon sea salt

150ml (5fl oz)

20 blanched broad beans

8 sugar cubed sized pieces of blue cheese

big handful of grated mozzarella

 

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 lemon cut into wedges

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Fennell Sauce

 

5 bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 onions, thinly sliced

25ml (1fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

600ml (1 pint) water

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

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

 Sicilian Roast Chicken Salad

 

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

 

Serves 6-8 people

 

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

 

12 waxy freshly cooked potatoes, new if in season

a little olive oil

 

Dressing

150ml (6fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

25ml (1fl oz) red wine vinegar

25ml (1fl oz) Balsamic vinegar

zest of 1/2 lemon

 

4 tablespoons sultanas or raisins

4 tablespoons pinenuts

3 tablespoons capers

 

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

a small fistfulof flat parsley sprigs

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

Note

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

 

Fattoush

 

Serves 6

 

 

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

 

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

a little bunch of rocket or purslane

2-3 teaspoons Sumac if available

1 mild sweet red pepper, optional

1/2 cucumber, coarsely chopped

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

3 spring onions, sliced at an angle

2-3 tablespoons  parsley, freshly chopped

2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves

2-3 tablespoons fresh mint

 

Dressing

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic crushed

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

Ottolenghi Radish and Broad Bean Salad

 

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

 

 

Serves 4

 

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

350g (12oz) small radishes

1/2 red onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

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

juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

200ml (7fl oz) Green tahini sauce

4 thick pita breads

salt and black pepper

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

Salmon Pad Thai Noodle Salad

 

A yummy salad for the week.

 

Serves 6-8

 

375g (12oz) packet medium rice noodles

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

4 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 large red or white onion, finely sliced

2 red chillies, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

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

3 tablespoons fish sauce

juice of 2 limes

3 tablespoons spring onions, sliced at an angle

40g (2oz) fresh coriander leaves

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

Hottips

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

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

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