Archive2012

My new book Irish traditional Cooking was launched in New York over St Patrick’s Weekend, a busy few days, lots of interviews with food editors, radio and television including an early morning appearance on CBS on St Patricks Day. In between I was batting for Ireland as ever and spreading the news at every possible opportunity about the artisan renaissance in food production, farm house cheeses and farmers and country markets. Many Irish products are now widely available in the US, including Kerrygold butter, Irish Cheddar cheese, Odlums flour, Barrys tea, Kilbeggan porridge… The prestigious Manhattan store Dean and Deluca has increased its list of Irish products from two in 2011 to eleven in 2012, while I was there I was delighted to see that they were doing a brisk trade in Ballymaloe Country Relish, Dubliner cheese and Burren smoked salmon. Sarah Grubb was over to promote the launch of Cashel Blue Cheese in the US and Sean Hyde was charming everyone with her irresistible smile and a spoonful of country relish.

The head buyer from Dean and Deluca was high in her praise of Bord Bia and the Market place event they organised for food buyers last year which she insisted was the best she ever attended. However she was quite alarmed to learn that there was a possibility that Ireland was considering doing trials of genetically modified potatoes which if passed would mean the loss of Ireland’s GM free status. The perception of Irish produce in the US as in many other countries is of wholesome, clean food they can trust. Why would we want to lose our precious clean green image on which so much depends when there are already several varieties of blight resistant potatoes that could be further developed instead?  With GM, if something unexpected goes wrong and there are already numerous examples of unintended consequences with GM crops, it’s not a question of product recall, once the ‘genie is out of the bottle’ there’s no going back- you only lose your virginity once!

 

Spring is well and truly here, so this weekend I’ll include a few more recipes from my new Traditional Irish Cooking book.

We’ve been enjoying the sea kale from the garden for the past few weeks – it’s a deliciously delicate plant that has been growing around our coast for centuries. People learned that if they excluded light it became pale and tender, each plant was jealously guarded and hidden and eventually it was domesticated in walled gardens of the great house. Potters were commissioned to make tall terracotta pots with lids to cover the plants so the plant could grow and blanch inside.

The season is almost over so you’ll need to be fast, alternatively plant a few plants for next year, it’s not easy to find in the shops but Farmers Markets occasionally sell it.

Nonetheless the Irish asparagus season is just beginning, we have five tiny spears peeking out of the ground, and this is another perennial plant that is well worth growing. It’s one of life’s real luxuries and again the season is short so its heaven to be able to have a few little feasts of asparagus.

 

Traditional Irish Cooking by Darina Allen is published by Gill and MacMillan.

 

Asparagus on Grilled Bread with Hollandaise Sauce

 

Both asparagus and seakale have long associations with country house cooking in Ireland, when they were grown in the kitchen gardens of the ‘big house’. Hollandaise sauce or melted butter was the preferred accompaniment, rather than French dressing, which is a more recent accompaniment.

 

Serves 4

 

16–20 spears of fresh asparagus

4 slices of bread – we use Arbutus Biggie from Declan Ryan’s artisan bakery

 

 

Garnish

sprigs of chervil

 

Trim the asparagus and cook in boiling salted water until a knife tip will pierce the root end easily. Meanwhile, make the Hollandaise Sauce (see below). Toast or chargrill the bread, butter it and remove the crusts. Place a piece of toast on a hot plate, place 4 or 5 pieces of asparagus on top and spoon a little Hollandaise sauce over it. Garnish with a sprig of chervil and serve immediately.

 

Seakale with Melted Butter

 

Serves 4-6

 

450g (1lb) seakale

55-75g (2-3oz) butter or Hollandaise Sauce – see recipe.

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Wash the seakale gently and trim into manageable lengths – about 10cm (4 inches).  Bring about 600ml (1 pint) water to a fast rolling boil, add one teaspoon salt.  Pop in the seakale, cover and boil until tender – 5 to 15 minutes depending on thickness.

 

Just as soon as a knife will pierce the seakale easily, drain it and then serve on hot plates with a little melted butter and perhaps a few small triangles of toast.  At the beginning of its short season in April we serve it as a first course on hot toast with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce (see recipe).

 

Hollandaise Sauce

 

2 egg yolks, free-range

1 dessertspoon cold water

110g (4oz) butter, cut into dice

1 teaspoon lemon juice (approximately)

 

Put the egg yolks into a heavy stainless-steel saucepan on a low heat, or in a bowl over hot water. Add the water and whisk thoroughly. Add the butter bit by bit, whisking all the time. As soon as one piece melts, add the next. The mixture will gradually thicken, but if it shows signs of becoming too thick or of slightly ‘scrambling’, remove from the heat immediately and add a little cold water if necessary. Do not leave the pan or stop whisking until the sauce is made. Finally add the lemon juice to taste. If the sauce is slow to thicken it may be because you are excessively cautious and the heat is too low. Increase the heat slightly and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens to a light coating consistency.

 

Wild Garlic Champ

 

Potatoes could be relied on to satisfy hearty appetites, and in farming households, milk and butter would usually have been plentiful.  One of the best-loved ways of cooking potatoes was (and is) to mash them with boiling milk, add chopped scallions or chives and serve this creamy.  Champ was economical as well as nutritious and tasty.  Also, no shopping was required, since all the ingredients were to hand.  I came across many regional variations on the champ theme, some called by different names.  Champ is best made with the traditional main crop potato varieties, like Golden Wonder and Kerr’s Pinks.  Leeks, nettles, peas and brown crispy onions are all delicious additions.

 

Serves 4

 

6–8 unpeeled ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

55g (2oz) scallions or spring onions, (use the bulb and green stem)

55g (2oz) wild garlic

350ml (12fl oz) full-cream milk

55-110g (2-4oz) approximately, butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Scrub the potatoes and boil them in their jackets.  Chop finely the scallions or spring onions and the wild garlic.  Cover the scallions/spring onions and wild garlic with cold milk and bring slowly to the boil.  Simmer for about 3-4 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse.  Peel and mash the freshly boiled potatoes and, while hot, mix with the boiling milk and onions/wild garlic.  Beat in some of the butter.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

 

Serve in one large or 4 individual bowls with a generous knob of butter melting in the centre.

 

Note: Champ may be put aside and reheated later in a moderate oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.  Cover with tin foil while it reheats so that it doesn’t get a skin.

 

Poached Leg of Mutton with Parsley Sauce

 

Kay Harte, from the much-loved Farmgate Café upstairs in Cork City’s English Market, shared this recipe with us. Kay constantly features local produce on her menu, if possible from the market downstairs. The corned mutton is supplied by Paul and Alan from Coughlan’s Butchers in the market. They bone the leg of lamb and open it out, then corn it for about 36 hours and it is absolutely mouth-watering. Any leftovers can be converted, very simply, into a mutton pie the next day.

 

Serves 6–8

 

1 leg of corned mutton – around

2½kg (5lb 8oz)

2 bay leaves

2 onions, quartered

2 carrots, cut into chunks

2 leeks, cut into chunks

900g (2lb) potatoes

 

Parsley sauce (See Irish Examiner Saturday 31st March)

 

Put the leg of mutton into a large pot and add enough water to cover. Add the bay leaves, onions, carrots and leek (Kay says she just chops the onions into quarters and adds them ’skin and all’); these are to flavour the cooking water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer very slowly with the lid on for 1½–2 hours – depending on how big the piece of mutton is. When cooked, turn off the heat and leave to rest in the cooking liquid until ready to carve. Put well-scrubbed local potatoes into a steamer; they usually take about 30 minutes, depending on size. When cooked, remove the lid and put a damp tea towel on top while you are waiting to serve. This helps the ‘floury’ process! Make the Parsley Sauce while the potatoes are cooking. Kay says that either mashed turnip or mashed carrot and parsnip are lovely served with this dish. You can cook the vegetables in the mutton broth for added flavour. Mash them with salt and pepper and a teaspoon of local honey. Creamy mash or scallion champ are good with this too.

 

Traditional Irish Sherry Trifle

 

Serves 8–10

2 layers of homemade sponge cake or 450g (1lb) bought trifle sponges (trifle sponges are lighter so you will need less custard)

225g (8oz) homemade raspberry jam

150–175ml (5–6fl oz) best quality sweet or medium sherries – don’t spare the sherry and don’t waste your time with cooking sherry

 

Egg Custard

 

5 eggs, free-range if possible

1¼ tablespoons caster sugar

¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

750ml (1¼ pint) rich milk

 

Decoration

 

600ml (1 pint) whipped cream

8 glacé cherries or crystallised violets

8 diamonds of angelica

Sandwich the rounds of sponge cake together with homemade raspberry jam. If you

use trifle sponges, sandwich them in pairs. Next make the egg custard. Whisk the eggs

with the sugar and vanilla extract. Heat the milk to the ‘shivery’ stage and add it to the

egg, whisking all the time. Put into a heavy saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the

custard coats the back of the wooden spoon lightly. Don’t let it boil or it will curdle.

Cut the sponge into 2cm (¾in) slices and use these to line the bottom of a 1.7 litre

(3 pint) glass bowl, sprinkling generously with sherry as you go along. Pour in some

of the homemade egg custard and then add another layer of sponge. Sprinkle with the

remainder of the sherry. Spread the rest of the custard over the top. Cover and leave for

5–6 hours, or preferably overnight, to mature.

Before serving, spread whipped cream over the top, pipe rosettes if you like, and

decorate the trifle with glacé cherries or crystallised violets and diamonds of angelica.

 

Hottips

 

Darina Allen will celebrate the launch of her new book with a cookery demonstration of  recipes from Irish Traditional Cooking in Arnotts Department Store, Dublin at 1.30pm on Friday 20th April – all welcome.

 

The Café at the End of the Shop at Ballymaloe House is now opening on Friday evenings from 7pm to 9:30pm for Spanish style small plates – the menu changes weekly – might be, plates of hand-cut Iberico de Bellota Jamon, Woodside Farm pork ribs, borlotti bean curry… wine and cava served by the glass. Contact Dervilla O’Flynn for details – 086-8136928 or 021-4652032.

 

Handmade knives from Gubbeen – If you have a few bob spare think of investing in one of Fingal Ferguson’s handmade knives – believe me they’ll be collectors’ items before too long – phone 028-27824.

 

Join nutritionists Debbie Shaw and Linn Thorsstenson for their new 1-day course “Healthy Eating on a Budget for all Ages”  on Saturday April 21st, Ambassador Hotel, Cork City, from 10am to 4.30pm – visit www.straightforwardnutrition.com, email: info@straightforwardnutrition.com or tel: 086-7855868.

 

Tart Anglo Irish Bakery Great new little Café in Portobello Docks, Kensal Road in London – next door to the Dock Kitchen – don’t miss it – 00447747723812.

We’ve have just hatched out a clutch of fluffy chicks in time for Easter. A few weeks ago, we put a batch of fertile eggs into the incubator, plugged it in and hoped for the best. Twenty one days later we heard faint cheeping and eventually a few damp little chicks pecked their way out of the eggs. After several hours they fluff up and get perky enough to be moved out under the infra red lamp in the Palais des Poulets. After a few weeks they’ll grow pinfeathers and eventually proper plumage. Well have to wait to see which grow little tails, those will grow into fine cockerels and the others will mature into
hens. We’ll fatten up the cockerels for the pot and the hens will keep us supplied with beautiful eggs. A few weeks ago I was in New York and guess what were the coolest new hobbies- keeping chickens in your backyard and bees on your roof, can you imagine?
Public demand is such that the by-laws have changed in many areas to enable people to keep their own fowl. At one dinner party in Brooklyn, guests spent over half an hour comparing notes on how to keep chickens!

 

At the Farmers Market in Union Square they were selling eggs from several different types of rare breeds of hens, the beautiful blue-green eggs of the arucanas were selling at several dollars a dozen more than the others and at Dean and Deluca in Manhattan, beautiful duck eggs sell individually for two or three dollars each.

Eggs were starring on restaurant menus too; at the Green Table in Chelsea Market I had a beautiful plate of devilled eggs on a bed of peppery watercress, with crusty bread from Amy’s Bakery next door. Scotch eggs were everywhere with even quails eggs wrapped in a succulent mix of heritage pork sausage meat. Expensive heritage meats from traditional breeds are the hottest thing and the mantra ‘eat less but better meat’ is gaining momentum as is ‘meat free Monday’

At Buvette a chic little French café on Grove street in the West Village I had a bowl of slow cooked kale topped with a poached eggs and some grilled bread with crumbly pecorino, for breakfast and Ino in Bedford Street serve truffled egg in toast that worth flying over for.

Like many people who keep their own hens, I’m frightfully fussy about eating eggs away from home but nowadays in New York there are actually places where you can trust the quality of the eggs, they may even come from someone’s backyard or the roof garden in the neighbourhood.

Happy Easter to you all.

 

A Selection of Devilled Eggs

 

 

Serves 8

 

 

4 free range eggs

2-3 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped chives

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

Lower the eggs gently into boiling salted water, bring the water back to the boil and hard boil the eggs for 10 minutes in boiling water, drain and put immediately into a bowl of cold water.  (Eggs with a black ring around the yolk have been overcooked). When cold, shell, slice in half lengthways. Sieve the yolks, mix the sieved egg yolk with mayonnaise, add chopped chives and salt and pepper to taste. Fill into a piping bag and pipe into the whites. Garnish with a sprig of parsley or chervil and serve on a bed of wild watercress leaves.

 

 

Country Relish Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

As above, add 1 tablespoon of sieved Ballymaloe Country Relish to the sieved egg yolk with the mayonnaise. Season well taste for seasoning. Decorate with a sliver of gherkin and a cheeky chive.

 

 

Kalamata Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

As above and add 4 black Kalamata olives stoned and finely chopped to the sieved egg. Continue as above. Decorate with a sliver olive and a sprig of chervil.

 

 

Anchovy Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

As above – add 2 – 4 finely mashed anchovies and 2 teaspoons of finely chopped parsley to sieved yolk and proceed as above. Garnish with a sprig of fennel and a fennel flower if available.

 

 

Wasabi Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

Add ½ teaspoon of wasabi mustard to the sieved egg yolk with the mayonnaise, taste and correct the seasoning. Garnish with salmon roe and wild garlic or chive flowers in season.

 

To Serve

 

Choose rectangular plates if available. Arrange a few wild watercress leaves on the plate and top with four devilled eggs of different flavours. Garnish each and serve with brown yeast bread.

 

Fried Eggs with Sage

 

Simple but so delicious.

 

Serves 1

 

2 freshly laid organic eggs

clarified butter or extra virgin olive oil

4-6 sage leaves

sea salt

 

Sourdough toast

 

Heat 3-4 tablespoons of clarified butter or extra virgin olive oil in a heavy frying pan over a high heat.  Crack the egg one at a time into the pan and allow to sizzle for a minute or two.  Baste with the hot butter or olive oil or flip them over. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Transfer to a warm plate, add the sage leaves to the pan and allow to sizzle for a couple of seconds in the butter or oil.  Pour the contents of the pan including the sage leaves over the eggs. Serve with lots of sourdough toast.

 

 

Scotch Eggs with Tomato and Chilli Relish

 

 

Serves 6

 

 

Scotch eggs are having a huge revival.  As ever the flavour depends on the quality of the sausage meat and the eggs.  One can add lots of exciting ingredients to the sausage meat to introduce new flavour – ginger, sweet chilli sauce, freshly roasted coriander and or cumin, lots of fresh herbs, grainy mustard…They are best served warm but can also be reheated.  Great for a picnic, lunch or food served with a little salad of organic leaves and herbs.

 

450g (1lb) best-quality sausage meat (or homemade sausage meat)

6 hard-boiled or semi-hard boiled eggs (preferably free-range)

1 tablespoon freshly chopped herbs, eg. parsley, chives, thyme

1/2 teaspoon English mustard

1 beaten egg

seasoned flour

dry, white breadcrumbs (but not too fine)

best-quality oil for deep frying

 

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and put in the eggs carefully, one by one.  Bring back to the boil and simmer for 5-7 minutes. (The eggs should be covered with water.) Pour off the water and cover with cold water.  The time depends on whether a runny or hard boiled yolk is required.

 

Mix the fresh herbs and mustard thoroughly through the sausage meat.  Divide the sausage meat into 6 even-sized pieces.  Put a piece of sausage meat onto a floured board and flatten it with your hand into an oval shape, large enough to cover an egg.  Shape the sausage meat around the peeled egg with your hands, making sure that the egg is evenly coated and there are no cracks.  Cover the rest of the eggs in the same way.

 

Roll the eggs in seasoned flour, beaten egg and finally coat them with dry, white breadcrumbs.  Coat all the eggs in the same way.  Heat the oil for deep-frying, making sure it is deep enough to cover the eggs.  The fat should be a medium heat, 180C\350F, because if it is too hot, the outside will be brown before the inside is hot.  Put the Scotch Eggs into the basket (a few at a time) and lower them into the fat.  Fry them for 5 or 6 minutes, then lift them out of the pan and drain on kitchen paper.

 

Serve warm with a good Green Salad and perhaps a Tomato and Basil Salad.

 

Alternative Suggestion

Split the scotch eggs in half and serve with a green salad and a little bowl of Dijon mayonnaise and tomato and chilli jam (see recipe).

 

Scotch Egg Salad

Serve the scotch eggs on a salad of mixed leaves – Rocket, Watercress, whole cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and chunks of cucumber.

 

Tomato and Chilli Relish

 

 

Makes 2 x 200ml (7fl oz/) jars

 

900g (2lbs) tomatoes, chopped

400ml (14fl oz) white wine vinegar

200g (7oz) caster sugar

1-2 red chillies, depending on heat, chopped

10 allspice berries, crushed

 

First chop the tomatoes into 7mm (1/3 inch) dice, no need to skin.  Put the chopped vinegar, sugar, chilli and crushed all spice berries into a stainless steel saucepan.  Bring to the boil then simmer stirring regularly until it reduces and thickens to a jam-like consistency (about 20 minutes approximately).  Pour into sterilised jars, cover and allow to mellow for 4 or 5 days at least before.

 

Crispy Deep-fried Eggs

 

This technique takes a bit of practice but the crispy white is irresistible.

 

extra virgin olive oil, sunflower or peanut oil

really fresh organic eggs

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

croutons

 

Tomato and Chilli Jam (see recipe)

rocket leaves

 

Heat the oil in a deep sided frying pan.  It should be really hot, test by dropping in a tiny cube of bread – it should brown in seconds.

 

Break an egg into the hot oil. Tilt the pan immediately so the egg slides down into a pool of oil.  Use a tablespoon to lift the white over the yolk so the yolks is completely enclosed between two layers of white.  This will prevent the yolk from overcooking and allow the white to get deliciously crisp and slightly golden. Cook for a minute or two more.

 

Lift the egg out of the oil with a perforated spoon, drain well on kitchen paper.  Serve on warm crisp croutons with tomato and chilli jam and some rocket leaves.

 

Rachel’s Baked Eggs with Creamy Kale

Taken from Rachel Allen’s Entertaining at Home

 

Serves 6

 

These are delicious for brunch or a casual supper. If you can’t get kale, use  spinach. I love to use the Irish farmhouse cheese Glebe Brethan for its  delicious flavour and melting texture, but you could use Gruyère instead.

 

 

25g (1oz) butter

900g (2lb) kale with stalks removed before weighing

Salt and ground black pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

350ml (12fl oz) single or regular cream

6 eggs

350g (12oz) Glebe Brethan or gruyère cheese, grated

Six 100ml (31⁄2 fl oz) ramekins or ovenproof dishes

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°f), Gas mark 4. Add the butter to a large wide frying pan and place over a medium heat. Add the kale and season with salt and pepper. As

soon as the kale wilts and becomes tender, add the cream and nutmeg, then allow to bubble for 3–5 minutes until thickened. Divide the kale between the ramekins or dishes, placing it around the inside of each dish and leaving a small well in the

centre. Break one egg into each dish and sprinkle (50g) 2oz of the grated cheese over the top. Bake in the oven for 8–10 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling around the edges. Scatter over a little pepper and serve immediately with a little toast on the side.

 

 

Hot Tips

 

Easter Egg Painting Competition at Midleton Farmers Market today at 10:30am with yummy chocolate prizes from O’Conaills Chocolate – rabbit lollypops, chocolate nests, Easter bunnies… 021-4373407

 

Biccies for farmhouse cheese – the best new product I have tasted for a while is Sheridans Irish Brown Bread Crackers – made in Ireland with stone-ground wholemeal flour, butter and buttermilk from Cronin’s family dairy in Belgooly, Co Cork. Sheridans Cheesemongers Dublin – Tel 01 6793143 – dublinshop@sheridanscheesemongers.com

Spring Foraging course at Ballymaloe Cookery School – you’ll learn how to identify and use over forty wild food, plants, wild flowers, nuts, berries, fungi, seaweeds and shellfish depending on the season. Suitable for chefs or for anyone with an interest in foraging for pleasure or to earn a living.Saturday 28^th April 9am to 5pm 021 4646785.

 

Food for the Gods – The Chocolate Shop at the English Market stocks chocolates from Valrhona, Amedei, Cluizel and Pralus. The 10 inch high 1kg solid Easter Eggs from Skelligs Irish Chocolate will keep you going until next Easter!. Niall Daly also has Easter Eggs from French chocolatier Michel Cluizel. So difficult to choose from such a mouth-watering range of flavours  – strawberry, champagne and vanilla ganache, caramel, hazel nut praline, mint… The Menakao 100 Per Cent Chocolate is a bold choice. Tel: 021 4254448 Email: info@chocolate.ie – www.chocolate.ie

In the weeks preceding St. Patricks Day we get a myriad of enquiries from food and travel writers from all over the world who are honing their copy for the 17^th March edition, everything from the New York or LA Times to the Sydney Morning Herald. After the preliminary questions about traditional Irish food and a request for recipes for their readers the question I dread – “Where can visitors to Ireland find these dishes?”

Mention any Irish city or town and rack your brains – What are we like that so few of our chefs are serving our traditional dishes proudly. Of course there are a few exceptions but as I write this I’m at a loss to remember any (hopefully I’ll have a flood of emails to tell me otherwise).

Eighteen years ago I wrote to the editor of the Farmers Journal and several regional newspapers – from the Kerryman to the Leinster Express, Tipperary Star to the Sligo Champion appealing for older people to share memories of the food of their childhood or their area – didn’t matter if the recipes weren’t written down – I would come and watch them making it and stand with a notebook in one hand and a weighing scales in the other.

I travelled all over the country from the Beara Penninsula to the Giants Causeway. Others came to meet me and show me how their grandmother made goose neck pudding or rhubarb pie.  People sent me letters and recipes from all over the country. The book was published and won several awards and has been in print ever since. Now a new revised edition of Irish Traditional Cooking has just been published which includes over 100 extra recipes. This time we spent time in the manuscript room of the national gallery where a treasure trove of manuscript cook books from many Irish great houses including those of Mary Ponsonby, Marianne Armstrong, The Bruen Papers of Oakpark, The Kitchen Book of Clonbrock and the history of Loughrynn.

I also spent many happy hours carefully pouring over the pages of the Birr manuscript cookbook which has been added to by several generations of the Parsons family since mid-17^th Century.

There is so much material out there. Our traditional food is not just the clichéd Irish Stew or Champ and Colcannon, there was the simple nourishing food of the modest homesteads, the wholesome fare of the strong farmers, the varied diet of the coastal and island communities and the often forgotten food of the great houses, almost all of which had their own kitchen gardens, orchards, game larders, icehouses and dairies. The food was very diverse and sophisticated and includes a wide variety of spices, herbs and aromatics.

We have much to be proud of, so let’s gather our friends around and celebrate by cooking some of our traditional Irish dishes.

Irish Traditional Cooking by Darina Allen is published by Kyle Books.

 

Irish Nettle Soup

 

Nettles made their appearance in Ireland almost 6,000 years ago as the first farmers started to cut down forest trees to clear the ground for their crop cultivation. In the Saints Lives from the Book of Lismore there is a story of how St Colum Cille came upon a woman cutting nettles to make herself a pottage. She explained that this was her diet until her cow calved, when of course she would have milk, cream, butter and perhaps some cheese. Stinging nettles still grow in great profusion throughout the Irish countryside. Use gloves when you are gathering them so as not to roast yourself! Maura Laverty in Kind Cooking describes how people would draw ‘old footless black woolen stockings’ over their hands for protection. With their high iron content nettles were prominent in Irish folk medicine, and helped in some small measure to alleviate hunger during the Famine.

 

Serves 6 (approximately)

 

45g (1½oz) butter

275g (10oz) potatoes, chopped

110g (4oz) onion, chopped

100g (3½oz) leeks, chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 litre (1¾ pints) homemade chicken stock

150g (5oz) young nettles, washed and chopped

150ml (¼ pint) cream or creamy

Milk

 

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. When it foams, add the potatoes, onions and leeks and toss them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover with a paper lid (to keep in the steam) and the lid of the saucepan, then sweat on a gentle heat for approximately 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft but not coloured. Discard the paper lid. Add the stock and boil until the vegetables are just cooked. Add the chopped nettle leaves. Simmer uncovered for just a few minutes. Be careful not to overcook or the vegetables will discolour and also lose their flavour. Add the cream or milk and liquidize. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary. Serve hot.

 

 

Ham Hock with Colcannon and Parsley Sauce

 

One ham hock for just a few pence – a few Euros nowadays, but they are still inexpensive – would feed a hungry man. Cook the ham hocks as above until the meat is almost falling off the bones. Serve with a generous helping of Colcannon and Parsley Sauce.

 

Colcannon

 

There are many regional variations of colcannon – Ireland’s best-known traditional potato dish. In some areas green cabbage was added, in others kale was preferred. In parts of Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford, parsnip was added, and onions or scallions are featured in several of the versions.

 

Serves 8 (approximately)

 

900g–1.3kg (2–3lb) old potatoes e.g. Golden Wonder or Kerr’s Pinks

1 small spring or Savoy cabbage

250ml (9fl oz) approx. milk

55g (2oz) approx. butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Scrub the potatoes. Put them into a saucepan of cold water, add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil. When the potatoes are about half cooked (about 15 minutes for old potatoes), strain off two-thirds of the water. Replace the lid on the saucepan, put on to a gentle heat and allow the potatoes to steam until they are fully cooked.

Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut each quarter finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter. When the potatoes are just cooked, put on the milk and bring to the boil. Pull the skin off the potatoes, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy purée. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes in the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Then stir in about the same volume of cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning. Serve immediately in a hot dish, with a lump of butter melting in the center.

 

Note: Colcannon may be prepared ahead and reheated later in a moderate oven (180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4), for about 20–25 minutes. Any leftover colcannon may be formed into potato cakes or farls and fried in bacon fat until crisp and brown on both sides – a cousin of bubble and squeak.

 

Parsley Sauce

 

Serves 6–8

 

4 tablespoons finely chopped

fresh parsley leaves (retain the stalks)

600ml (1 pint) fresh whole milk

30–45g (1–1½oz) roux

salt and freshly ground pepper

Put the parsley stalks into a saucepan with the cold milk, bring slowly to the boil, then remove the stalks. Whisk the roux into the boiling milk until thickened and add the chopped parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Simmer for 5–10 minutes on a very low heat, then taste and correct the seasoning before serving

 

Country Rhubarb Cake

 

This delicious juicy rhubarb cake, based on an enriched bread dough, was made all over the country. Originally it would have been baked in the bastible or ‘baker’ beside an open fire. My mother, who taught me this recipe, varied the filling with the seasons.

 

Serves 8

 

340g (12oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

pinch of salt

½ teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

55g (2oz) caster sugar

85g (3oz) butter

1 egg, free-range if possible

165ml (5½fl oz) milk, buttermilk or sour milk

680g (1½lb) rhubarb, finely chopped

170–225g (6–8oz) granulated sugar

beaten egg, to glaze

caster sugar, for sprinkling

 

to serve

softly whipped cream

soft brown sugar

 

25cm (10in) enamel or Pyrex

pie plate

 

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

 

Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and caster sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter. Whisk the egg and mix with the milk, buttermilk or sour milk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in most of the liquid and mix to a soft dough; add the remainder of the liquid if necessary.

Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface. Turn out the dough and pat gently into a round. Divide into two pieces: one should be slightly larger than the other; keep the larger one for the lid.

Dip your fingers in flour. Roll out the smaller piece of pastry to fit the pie plate. Scatter the finely chopped rhubarb all over the base and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the other piece of dough until it is exactly the size to cover the plate, lift it on and press the edges gently to seal them. Make a hole in the center for the steam to escape. Brush again with beaten egg and sprinkle with a very small amount of caster sugar.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the rhubarb is soft and the crust is golden. Leave it to sit for 15–20 minutes before serving so that the juice can soak into the crust. Sprinkle with caster sugar. Serve still warm, with a bowl of softly whipped cream and some moist, brown sugar.

 

Potato and Caraway Seed Cakes

 

 

The following description by Flurry Knox in Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. (Somerville and Ross – 1899) made my mouth water and inspired this recipe, now one of our favourites. ‘While I live I shall not forget her potato cakes. They came in hot and hot from a pot-oven, they were speckled with caraway seeds, they swam in salt butter, and we ate them shamelessly and greasily, and washed them down with hot whiskey and water.’

 

 

Serves 6 (approximately)

 

 

700g (1½lb) old potatoes e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks (about 4–5 large potatoes), scrubbed

45g (1½oz) butter

55g (2oz) onion finely chopped

1–2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground pepper

55g (2oz) flour

butter, for frying

 

Cook the potatoes in their jackets in boiling salted water. Meanwhile, melt the butter and sweat the onion in it over a gentle heat until soft but not coloured. Peel and mash the potatoes while still hot. Add the onion and butter with the caraway seeds and chopped parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, add the flour and mix well. Knead a little until smooth, roll out and stamp into potato cakes with the top of a glass or a cutter. Alternatively, divide the dough into 2 rounds and cut into farls. Fry in melted butter on a hot pan until golden on both sides. Serve hot.

 

 

Hottips

 

Niall Daly’s Chocolate Shop at the English Market stocks chocolates from Valrhona, Amedei, Cluizel and Pralus. The 10 inch high 1kg solid Easter Eggs from Skelligs Irish Chocolate will keep you going until next Easter!. Niall also has Easter Eggs from French chocolatier Michel Cluizel. So difficult to choose from such a mouth-watering range of flavours  – strawberry, champagne and vanilla ganache, caramel, hazel nut praline, mint… The Menakao 100 Per Cent Chocolate is a bold choice. Tel: 021 4254448 Email: info@chocolate.ie – www.chocolate.ie

 

O’Conaills Chocolate Shops on French Church Street and Princes Street in Cork have some delectable little treats for Easter… chocolate rabbit lollypops, chocolate nests, Easter bunnies in milk, white and 70% dark chocolate…These are also available at Casey O’Conaill’s Chocolate stall at the Midleton Farmers Market every Saturday, he makes the best hot chocolate too!  Tel:  021-4373407 oconaillchocolates@eircom.net

 

Bandon Farmers Market is celebrating their 6^th birthday on Easter Saturday 7^th April. Since opening in 2006 they have eighteen regular quality stallholders. Pick up a last minute Easter treat from Katie Buckley’s Real Chocolate Stall or for the friend who doesn’t have a sweet tooth a treat from the Real Olive Company or Gubbeen Farmhouse Product stall. Why not meet up with friends for a coffee from the Golden Bean Stall. The Market is situated in the Post Office car park every Saturday from 9:30am to 1:00pm.

Tel: 0877921103 – www.bandonfarmersmarket.com

Much has changed on the Irish food scene since I started the Ballymaloe Cookery School in September 1983. There is a much greater appreciation of the produce of local farmers, fishermen and artisan food producers. Local and seasonal are the sexiest words in food and Farmers Markets have created an alternative to the supermarket. Virtually every night, there’s a choice of at least one and often several cooking programs on the various widely available TV channels, yet it’s doubtful whether people are doing more home cooking.

From the start I invited a couple of guest chefs to come to teach a class so my students could have the opportunity to meet and learn from iconic cooks and chefs from around the world, many like Jane Grigson, Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden, Rick Bayliss, Maggie Beer were known to curious cooks, others like our own John Desmond from Heir Island and Mickael Viljanen from Gregans Castle were not so well known but were brilliant teachers. Even if students hadn’t previously heard of the guest chef they trusted that if I had included them on the Ballymaloe Cookery School course schedule they would unquestionably be worth coming to see.

However in the era of the celebrity chef it’s much more difficult to fill a guest chef course unless the person has a TV series or a strong media presence which certainly doesn’t guarantee that they will be good teachers or for that matter that their recipes will work. Once they are on TV, the agent comes into the equation so in many cases the numbers become unrealistic not to mention uneconomic. Nonetheless we continue to have several guest chefs every year.  This month Mary Jo McMillin – a beautiful cook from Chicago, known only to a handful of people over here – delighted us with a carefully chosen selection of the recipes she has honed over a lifetime of cooking both at home and in her restaurant and catering business ‘Mary Jo’s Cuisine’. She is a particularly brilliant ‘Slow Cook’ and by that I mean that over the years she has perfected among other things a repertoire of easy slow cooked dishes using less expensive cuts of meat that can also be prepared even days ahead and served in a variety of ways. She packed a phenomenal amount into the day …

We particularly loved her butternut squash soup, pulled lamb shoulder with pomegranates seeds and pickled onions and American chocolate cake with a dark shiny icing. She also did several great salads based on grains, rice and pasta. I’ll choose just one; this delicious lentil salad was bursting with flavour. Mary Jo has a food blog too http://mjcuisine.wordpress.com/

 

Butternut Squash Soup

 

Serves 6-8

 

800-900g (1 3/4-2lbs) butternut squash or other orange-fleshed winter squash should give

600g (1 1/4lbs) peeled, cubed squash (a generous quart)

25g (1oz) butter

1 1/2 inch (4cm) Ceylon cinnamon, canela or 1cm (1/2 inch) stick cinnamon

175g (6oz) onion, peeled and sliced (1 medium onion)

75g (3oz) carrot, peeled and sliced (1 medium carrot)

75g (3oz) celery, sliced (2 ribs)

1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh red chilli, or pinch crushed red pepper

2-3 whole cloves garlic, smashed

25g (1oz) fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (2 tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon garam masala* (see below)

3/8 teaspoon turmeric

350ml (12fl oz) chicken stock

600ml (1 pint) water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

freshly grated nutmeg

125ml (4 1/2fl oz) cream, half-and-half or whole milk

 

To prepare the squash, cut off the ends, slice into 1 inch (2.5 cm) circles. Scoop out the seeds, peel off the rind with paring knife, and cut the squash into large cubes. Set aside.

 

Heat the butter in a large soup pot; add the cinnamon, then toss in sliced onions, carrot, celery, chili and garlic. Cover with butter papers and sweat the vegetables over a gentle heat 10-20 minutes or until carrots are limp and tender, but not brown.

 

Add the grated ginger, garam masala, turmeric, and stir until fragrant. Mix in the prepared squash; add the chicken stock, water, salt, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer steadily until the squash and carrots are very tender, 15-20 minutes.

 

Cool slightly, remove the cinnamon sticks, and add the cream. Purée the soup in small batches at a time in a blender and use a small ladle to swirl the soup through the strainer to remove the celery strings and chilli seeds. Correct the seasonings, adding salt, pepper, sugar and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Thin to desired consistency with water, stock or milk.

 

* Garam Masala (an Indian spice blend)

 

Makes approximately 25g (1oz)

 

l small nutmeg, broken with side of chef’s knife

1 tablespoon whole green cardamom, including husk

1 1/2 tablespoons crumbled Ceylon cinnamon or l broken cinnamon stick

3/4 tablespoon whole cloves

1/4 tablespoon black peppercorns

 

Roast the spices in a dry iron skillet until fragrant. Cool slightly and grind to a powder in a spice grinder, sift and store in small jar with tight fitting lid.

 

Lentil Salad

 

Serves 4-6

 

200g (7oz) French Puy lentils or regular brown lentils

700ml (24fl oz) water

1 teaspoon salt

3-4 1/2 tablespoons Strong Vinaigrette (see recipe)

a small bunch of chopped green onion

3/4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or parsley

finely chopped chili or freshly ground pepper to taste

 

Cover the lentils with the water, bring to boil and simmer, covered for 12-15 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Add the salt and remove from the heat. Allow to stand with salt for 5 minutes.

 

Drain the lentils shaking off the cooking liquid. Place in a bowl and add the vinaigrette, chopped onion. Allow to stand l5 minutes to absorb seasoning. Add fresh herbs, chili or pepper and more salt if necessary.

 

Note: It is important to get the dressing on the lentils while they are still hot for the flavor to be absorbed. Feel free to add mint, coriander, basil, or chervil in season. The salad may be extended with diced tomato, sweet peppers, cucumber or sliced, blanched green beans. A generous sprinkling of crumbled feta and a few olives make the lentil salad a full meal.

 

Strong Vinaigrette

 

Makes approximately 475ml (16fl oz)

 

This vinaigrette has more vinegar. Use for all pasta, rice, chicken, vegetable and potato salads.

 

1 teaspoon garlic paste

175ml (6fl oz) red wine vinegar

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon salt

225ml (8fl oz) sunflower oil or a combination of olive and vegetable oils

 

Prepare using the method above.

 

 

Pulled Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate Molasses

 

Serves 4-6

 

800g (1 3/4lbs) boneless lamb shoulder (a 1.3kg (3lb) square-cut bone-in shoulder will provide this amount and the added bones make a better sauce.)

1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

l large onion, peeled and diced

1 carrot peeled and diced

1/4 – 1/2 fresh chilli, sliced (optional) or 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

4cm (1 1/2 inches) canela (cinnamon) coil or several large shards

1 tablespoon fresh ginger thinly sliced and julienned

4-5 cloves garlic chopped

large sprig of fresh thyme

4-5 peeled fresh tomatoes chopped or 1 cup tinned tomatoes

225ml (8fl oz) red wine

salt and pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

3/4 tablespoon lime or lemon juice

 

If possible trim and salt the lamb the night before cooking.

 

Film a heavy frying pan with 3/4 tablespoons oil and quickly brown the lamb chunks and the bones. Place in a heavy enameled iron casserole. Distribute the bones around the edges and the meat chunks in the center.

 

Pour off any fat left in the frying pan. Add a little more olive oil and sauté the onion and carrot until limp and lightly browned. Add the chili, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, a bit more salt and pepper and continue to sauté until the seasonings smell fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes, wine; bring to a boil and pour over meat in the casserole.

 

Cover tightly and simmer on the stovetop or braise in a preheated oven 150ºC/300ºF/Gas Mark 2 oven for 2-3 hours or until fork tender. Remove the meat and bones from the braising dish when cool enough to handle. Carefully strip any bits of meat from the bones and pull the lamb chunks removing all bits of fat. Return the bones and odd bits to the braising pan, add a little stock or water and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes, if time allows. Stain the stock, allow the fat to rise to the surface. Chill until the fat hardened so it may be removed totally.

 

Reduce the meat stock to almost a demi-glace (around 110ml (4fl oz). Season the meat glaze with 2 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses and 3/4 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice plus salt if needed.

 

Fold the room temperature sauce into the room temperature meat. Serve garnished with pickled red onion, pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves.

 

Pickled Red Onions

 

450g (1lb) red onions, peeled and thinly sliced on a mandolin

225ml (8fl oz) white vinegar

110g (4oz) sugar

pinch of salt

3 whole cloves

broken cinnamon

dried chilli

 

Bring the white vinegar and sugar to a simmer with a pinch of salt and 3 whole cloves, broken cinnamon bits, dried chili, etc. Add the onions to the simmering liquid one-third at a time. As soon as the onions are pink and wilted, lift them out into a clean jam jar. Continue until all onions have been wilted. Cover the onions in jars with the brine. The onions should be pink and crunchy. Store in fridge when cool.

 

American Chocolate Layer Cake

 

A 10-inch cake will make 20 slices.

 

100g (3 1/2oz) cocoa powder

300ml (10fl oz) boiling water

50ml (2fl oz) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

235g (8 1/2oz) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

225g (8oz) very soft unsalted butter

200g (7oz) soft brown sugar

200g (7oz) caster sugar

4 eggs

 

Cut parchment circles to line the bottoms of 2 x 25.5cm (10 inch) by 5cm (2 inch) cake tins, or 3 x 20.5cm or 23cm (8 or 9 inch) by 5cm (2 inch) tins. Butter and flour tin inside edges and paper lining and set aside.

 

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325°F/Gas Mark 3.

 

In small bowl whisk the cocoa and boiling the water until smooth, add the milk and vanilla. In another bowl sift flour, salt and baking soda.

 

In a deep mixing bowl, cream the butter adding both sugars (make sure to rub out any lumps in brown sugar) and whip until light. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Alternately blend in the flour and cocoa mixtures in three additions.

 

Divide the batter into the prepared tins and bake in a preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until the cake pulls from sides of the tin and feels springy. To remain moist as it cools, the chocolate cake may seem slightly undercooked.   Allow to cool 5 minutes in the tins. Turn out onto cooling racks, remove the parchment paper intact. Top with a  second rack and reverse the layers, leaving the cakes upright to cool.

 

Note: To make a smaller cake – 2 x 20.5cm (8 inch) layers – use 40g (1 3/4oz) cocoa, 150ml (5fl oz) boiling water, 1 1/2 tablespoons milk, 120g (4 1/4oz) cake flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3/8 teaspoon soda, 110g (4oz), 80g (3 1/2oz) each white and brown sugars and 2 eggs.

 

Cream Filling

 

225ml (8fl oz) heavy cream

3/4 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Sandwich the cake layers, both tops facing the filling with whipped cream. Press you hand around the edges of top of cake to insure the filling levels out to the sides, even the edge with palate knife. To crumb-coat the cake, use some softened ganache (left from previous batch), butter cream, or apricot glaze and spread thinly over the sides and top of cake. Chill the filled cake before pouring over ganache.

 

Ganache

 

150ml (5fl oz) heavy cream

1 teaspoon honey or corn syrup (optional)

175g (6oz) chopped bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, preferably discs.

 

In a small saucepan scald the cream and honey almost to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate is evenly melted. Cool slightly and pour over the cold, filled layer cake, evenly spreading the ganache around the sides. (A turntable cake stand is helpful for this step.)  Once icing begins to set, use the bottom of the tart tin to lift the cake onto a plate. The iced cake may be held at cool room temperature for an hour or chilled. To cut in even slices, use a thin knife dipped in very hot water and wiped dry.

 

Hot Tips

 

Dates for the Diary – Spring Food Festivals

Galway Food Festival, Friday 6th- Sunday 8th April 2012, http://www.galwayfoodfestival.com
Waterford Festival of Food, Dungarvan, Thursday 12^th to Sunday 15th April 2012

 

www.waterfordfestivaloffood.com

For those who find recipe measures and conversions difficult, Shirley Bond has self-published a brilliant and simple to use handbook ‘How do you Measure Up? All Your Measuring and Weighing Questions Answered’ which deals with tricky questions like…”can you convert Imperial measures to and from metric measures and cup capacities so you can enjoy any recipe regardless of how it is written?” or “How long will a turkey take to defrost and then cook?” There are handy shopping, labelling and storage guides too. Published by Woodlands Publishing www.woodlandpublishing.co.uk

Wow, I just long to return to Bangkok and not just for a few days en route to another destination in Asia., That’s what I did this time but it just whetted my appetite for more . I was just beginning to get the hang of it when it was time to leave. The frenzy of the traffic and the street life, the swirling colour, bustle, noise and the intoxicating kaleidoscope of tastes and smells. The markets and street food alone would be quite enough to bring me rushing back not to speak of the glittering Royal Palace complex which left me totally gobsmacked.
Don’t miss Tor Kor Market and just across the road is the unmissable Chatuchak Weekend Market ,a labyrinth of about 8,000 stalls selling not just the usual tourist souvenirs but it’s now morphed into a starting ground for young talent and entrepreneurs trained in Thailand, New York, London and Toyko. There’s an abundance of handcrafts from around the world, antiques, clothes, accessories, pets, plants, furniture, books, utensils…You need a ton of energy and an empty container!

The variety of street food in Bangkok simply cannot be matched anywhere else. Snacking is a way of life in Thailand.  Every day, millions of people from all walks of life eat at roadside stalls or food markets. To meet the demand an army of street vendors work day and night 24/7 chopping, wokking, grilling, cleaning…… These make shift-kitchens, carts, food stalls, mobile restaurants are all over the city, on pavements, street corners, underneath flyovers, in the park, on the beach, in railway stations….it feels like one is never more than a few minutes away from your next tasty morsel. There are even floating kitchens – in boats at the food markets on the Mekong River and canals. Many of the most famous Thai dishes actually originated on these street stalls before they appeared on menus in Thai restaurants. For me the best place to really taste the food of any country is on street stalls.

The setups are varied and ingenious, most are mobile. Those attached to bicycles can be pedalled from place to place; meals on wheels in every guise from side car motorcycles to customize pick up trucks. The  most basic and traditional  and one of the oldest forms of selling and transporting street food is the Haph a flexible wooden pole with woven basket on either side which resembles a large balance scales. Some vendors even carry small plastic tables and chairs to seat their customers or set up a little roadside restaurant.

The main cooking methods on street stalls are boiling; grilling, steaming, wokking or frying could be on a flat griddle, stir frying or deep frying in a big wok of oil. Each stall specialised in one kind of food, sometimes just one dish which their reputation depends on. They have specialised equipment and utensils for preparing their noodle soup, stir fry, satay, dumplings, salad, relishes or fruit.

The fruit seller ‘pon la mai sod’ only sells beautiful seasonal fruit. Rose apples, green mango, pineapple, watermelon, guava…… Big blocks of ice are used to keep the fruit cool. The fruit is expertly sliced. Two dips are offered in puffed up plastic bags, a mixture of salt, crushed chilli and sugar or a sweet spicy dip with fish sauce. The latter is especially eaten with finger slices of green mango.

Street foods give you the real flavour of a country. I know it’s an anathema to many people to encourage them to eat street food in this era of food hygiene paranoia.  But believe me you are more likely to have a ‘gippy tummy’ from a dodgy hotel buffet that goes in and out of the kitchen over and over again. “The food hawkers take pride in the quality of their dishes. They shop daily in the food market to buy the fresh ingredients. Usually they pack up the stall and finish work when everything is sold out.” Often the food is cooked while you wait, so pick up courage and enjoy.

 

Chicken and Banana Flower Salad – yam hua pli

 

Banana flowers are also known as Banana Blossom, they are sometimes available in Asian shops but if you can’t find, Belgium endives make a very good substitute. Shrimps make a good substitute for chicken.

 

Serves 2

 

1 banana flower

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Water

 

250g (8 ozs) chicken breast

 

Dressing

230ml (8 fl ozs) coconut cream

1 tablespoon roasted chilli paste

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 stalk of lemon grass – white part sliced finely

1-2 ozs (25-50 g) toasted cashew nuts

1 handful fresh coriander leaves

2 kaffir lime leaves – shredded very finely

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

 

Remove the outer leaves of the banana flower. Quarter lengthwise and remove the core. Slice very finely and leave to soak for at least an hour in a mixture of water and lime juice to reduce the bitter flavour. Poach the chicken on a low heat in the coconut cream for 8-10 minutes until just cooked.  Remove the chicken, save the coconut cream to make the dressing. When the chicken is cool, slice into very fine shreds.  Mix the coconut cream with chilli paste, fish sauce, sugar and freshly squeezed lime juice. Drain the banana flower well. Mix with the lemon grass, toasted cashew nuts and chicken. Drizzle with dressing and mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, shredded  kaffir lime leaves and sliced chilli.

 

 

Grilled Chicken Satay – satay gai – moo

 

 

Satay is always served with peanut sauce and spicy cucumber relish.

Pork may also be served in this recipe.

 

Makes 10 approx

 

 

450g (1 lb) chicken breast or pork fillet

2 teaspoon coriander seeds

½ teaspoon cumin

2 garlic cloves

4 red Asian shallots or 2 Irish shallots, chopped

2.5cm (1 inch) piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

2.5cm (1 inch) piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped or ½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoon caster sugar

 

10 wooden or bamboo skewers

 

Spicy Cucumber Relish (see recipe)

Satay Sauce (see recipe)

 

 

Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 1 hour; this will prevent burning while grilling. Cut the chicken or pork into ¼ inch (5mm) strips.

Dry roast the coriander and cumin seed. Pound the coriander seeds, cumin, garlic, shallots, ginger and turmeric in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Add salt, oil and sugar. Marinate the chicken or pork in this mixture for at least 1 hour. Thread the strips of meat onto the skewers. Push the meat right to the top, the skewer should be hidden in the meat otherwise it will burn during cooking.  Grill, turning regularly. Serve with Cucumber Relish and Satay Sauce.

 

 

Cucumber Relish – naam jim taeng-gwa

 

Ingredients

 

4 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 pinch of salt

½ teaspoon chilli powder or large red chilli, julienned

4 tablespoons cucumber, julienned

2 tablespoon, shallot, sliced

1 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped

 

 

Bring water with sugar, vinegar and salt to the boil. Turn off the heat when sugar has dissolved. Cool. Add chilli, cucumber and shallot. Finish with coriander leaves.

 

 

Peanut Sauce

naam satay /naam jim thua

 

2 large dried chillies, chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 stalk lemongrass, chopped

1 tablespoon turmeric, chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

450ml (16fl oz) coconut milk

1 tablespoon tamarind water

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons ground roasted peanuts

 

Pound the chilli, garlic, lemongrass and turmeric in a mortar until smooth. Heat oil in a wok on a low heat and fry the paste until fragrant. Add coconut milk and bring to the boil. Keep boiling for 7 minutes. Add tamarind water, sugar, salt and peanuts. Keep on boiling for 5 minutes.

 

Grilled Pork – moo yang – moo ping – Taken from Bangkok Street Food

 

10 wooden or bamboo skewers

400g pork fillet, cut into strips

2 garlic cloves, chopped

6 coriander roots, scraped and chopped

½ teaspoon white ground pepper

4 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

125ml coconut cream

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon castor sugar

 

 

Soak the skewers in water for 1 hour to prevent from burning. Combine all the ingredients but the pork in a large mixing bowl, mix well. Let the pork strips marinate in this mixture for at least half an hour. Weave the strips of pork on the skewers and grill over charcoal for about 5 minutes, until cooked. Turn regularly.

 

Coriander cilantro is a very versatile. Here we are familiar with the use of stalks and leaves but in Thai cooking the root is very often used. Wash and scrape it and chop it finely. If you can’t find it in Asian supermarket, you can use the stalks of coriander instead. It won’t be exactly the same thing but it’s the next best option.

 

 

Stir Fried Noodles with Pork and Soy Sauce

 

kuaytiaw phat sii iew sai moo

 

Serves 4

 

2 tablespoons oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

450g (1lb) pork cut in strips

1 handful wide rice noodles, soaked and drained

4 stalks of Chinese broccoli, cut diagonally

2 eggs beaten

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

150ml (5 fl oz) chicken stock or water

lots of white pepper

 

 

Heat oil in a wok on a medium heat, add garlic and pork and stir fry until coloured. Add the noodles and Chinese broccoli. Stir in the beaten egg and mix well. Add the soy sauces, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add stock or water bring to the boil. Season it with white pepper. Taste.

 

Hottips

 

Just Nuts

People are coming up with all sorts of exciting ideas to start a food business. Recently I came across a stall called Just Nuts at Mahon Point Farmers market and loved it. A new idea from Fiona Buckley who recognised there was an opportunity for import substitution when she realised all the roasted, spiced party nuts were imported. She now sells 8 different homemade flavours including sweet spiced nuts with cinnamon and nutmeg, New York nuts with fresh rosemary and cayenne and three sugar free options.  Phone 0872430519 –email: justnutscompany@gmail.com or find her on on FaceBook.

 

Good Things Cafe

Lots of tempting options on Carmel Somer’s 2012 Good Things cookery course schedule. You’ll have the added bonus of spending time in lovely West Cork. Don’t forget to seek out Jaffa Gill’s Durrus Farmhouse Cheese –http://www.thegoodthingscafe.com/ and  http://www.durruscheese.com/

 

Slow Food and GIY Event at Ballymaloe Cookery School

Trevor Sargent will speak on how to feed your family and make some money from a small organic plot on Tuesday March 20th 2012 at 7pm. €6.00 Slow Food and GIY members and €10.00 non Slow Food and GIY members. All proceeds to the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. Phone 021-4646785 for more details.

 

Wild Food

Wow! It’s so exciting how everything is bursting into life – plenty of wild food there for the foraging. Lots of wild garlic and Alexanders on the road side, the peeled stems are delicious lightly cooked and served with melted butter or Hollandaise sauce.

Everyone I know is baking again, it’s become quite a phenomenon, and suddenly it’s the coolest, hippest thing to be able to whip up a Victoria Sponge or a sticky gingerbread. Grans suddenly find themselves in demand to teach us how to make a few fluffy crumpets or transform fairy cakes into butterfly buns.

Old fashioned cakes are making a big comeback, people are tiring of slick fondant covered confections and elaborate gateaux that look impressive and luscious but rarely deliver on flavour. Too many disappointments have made people increasingly distrustful of dramatic presentations and more hopeful when they encounter old fashioned chocolate or coffee cakes such as one might find at the County Agricultural show with a proudly displayed bright red rosette.

Funny how the pendulum swings, I even notice in cookbooks that the food stylists often make a point of creating a homesy look rather than an intimidatingly perfect professional look. Perhaps it’s something to do with these changing times that we find the distinctly homemade look comforting and less intimidating to achieve if one is starting to bake. To celebrate Mothers’ Day this year let’s bake a few old favourites and have a special tea party for Mum. Lay a pretty table use that flowery china that’s been languishing in the sideboard in the parlour for years. If not, see what you can find in a charity shop, rummage until you find some pretty napkins and pile things high on the tiered cake stand, don’t forget the doylies and sugar lumps!

Here are some suggestions that bakers of all ages can enjoy making and sharing.

Happy Mothers’ Day for Sunday 18^th March.

 

Gingerbread

 

Gingerbread can be baked in a loaf tin, like bread, and cut it into thick slices that we butter. This one is particularly good when it’s fresh, so eat it quickly!  Alternatively bake in a 22cm x 7.5cm (9 x 3 inch) square brownie tin for 40-45 minutes, serve cut into 12 x 7.5cm x 10cm (3 x 4 inch) squares with a blob of cold apple puree and cream or with crystallised ginger cream.

 

Makes 1 loaf

 

225g (1/2 lb) white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

110g (4oz) soft brown sugar

75g (3oz) butter, cut into cubes

175g (6oz) treacle

150ml (5fl oz) milk

1 very small or 1/2 organic egg

50g (2oz) sultanas

25g (1oz) chopped crystallised ginger (optional)

 

1 x 23cm (9inches) x 12.5cm (5inches) x 6.5cm (2 1/2 inches) loaf tin lined with silicone paper

 

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

 

First line the loaf tin with silicone paper.

 

Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Gently warm the brown sugar with the cubed butter and treacle. Then add the milk. Allow to cool a little and stir into the dry ingredients and make sure that there are no little lumps of flour left (I use a whisk for this). Add the beaten egg and the sultanas and ginger if desired. Mix very thoroughly and. Bake in a lined loaf tin for approximately 1 hour in a moderate oven.  Cool in the tin.  Serve with butter.

 

Coffee Cake

 

This is a splendid recipe for an old-fashioned coffee cake – the sort Mummy made – and we still make it regularly. Everyone loves it. I’m a real purist about using extract rather than essence in the case of vanilla, but in this cake, I prefer coffee essence (which is actually mostly chicory) to real coffee.

 

Serves 10–12

 

225g (8oz) soft butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

4 organic eggs

225g (8oz) plain white flour, preferably unbleached

1 teaspoon baking powder

scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

 

Coffee Butter Cream

50g (2oz) butter

110g (4oz) icing sugar, sieved

1–2 teaspoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

 

Coffee Icing

450g (1lb) icing sugar

scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

about 4 tablespoons boiling water

 

To Decorate

toasted hazelnuts or chocolate-covered coffee beans

 

2 x 20cm (8in) round sandwich tins

 

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

 

Line the base of the tins with circles of greaseproof or silicone paper. Brush the bottom and sides with melted butter and dust lightly with flour.

 

 

Florence Bowe’s ‘Crumpets’

 

Another great standby, ‘Crumpets’ can be made in minutes with ingredients you’d probably have in. My children make them and cook them directly on the cool plate of the Aga. They are also the ideal solution if you’ve got nothing in the tin when a friend drops in for tea, because they only take a few minutes to make. The problem is one always eats too many!

 

Makes 15 approx.

 

1/2 lb (225g) white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon. bread soda

1
teaspoon Bextartar (cream of tartar)

2 eggs, preferably free range

8 fl ozs (250ml) milk

2 ozs (55g) castor sugar

1 oz (30g) butter

 

To Serve

Homemade jam or apple jelly

or

lemon juice and castor sugar

 

Sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl and rub in the butter. Drop the eggs into the centre, add a little of the milk and stir rapidly with a whisk allowing the flour to drop gradually in from the sides. When half the milk is added, beat until air bubbles rise. Add the remainder of the milk and allow to stand for one hour if possible. *  Drop a good dessertspoonful into a hottish pan and cook until bubbles appear on the top. It usually takes a bit of trial and error to get the temperature right. Flip over and cook until golden on the other side. Serve immediately with butter and homemade jam or better still apple jelly.  Alternatively crumpets can also be served with warm lemon juice and sprinkled with castor sugar.

 

* They are usually lighter if the batter is allowed to stand but I’ve often cooked them immediately with very acceptable results!

 

 

 

Beat the soft butter with a wooden spoon, add the caster sugar and whisk until pale in colour and light in texture. Whisk the eggs. Add to the mixture, bit by bit, whisking well between each addition.

 

Sieve the flour with the baking powder and stir gently into the cake mixture. Finally, add in the coffee essence and mix thoroughly.

 

Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared sandwich tins and bake for 30 minutes. When the cakes are cooked, the centre will be firm and springy and the edges will have shrunk from the sides of the tins. Leave to rest in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Remove the greaseproof paper from the base, then flip over so the top of the cakes don’t get marked by the wire rack. Leave the cakes to cool on the wire rack.

 

To make the coffee butter cream, whisk the butter with the sieved icing sugar and add the coffee essence. Continue to whisk until light and fluffy.

 

To make the coffee icing, sieve the icing sugar and put into a bowl. Add coffee essence and enough boiling water to make it the consistency of a thick cream.

 

When cold, sandwich together the bases of the cakes with the coffee butter cream and ice the top with the coffee icing. Decorate with the toasted hazelnuts or chocolate-covered coffee beans.

 

Variations

Coffee Butter Cream Icing

If you would prefer to ice the cake with Coffee Butter Cream, use 225g (8oz) butter, 450g (1lb) icing sugar and 1–2 tablespoons of Irel or Camp coffee essence and make as above.

 

Beautiful Butterfly Buns

 

Makes 12

 

4 ozs (110g) butter, chopped

4 ozs (110g) castor sugar

5 ozs (145g) white flour

2 eggs, preferably free range

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 x 12 bun tray

Raspberry jam

Freshly whipped cream

Icing sugar

 

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

Chop up the butter into small dice, it should be reasonably soft. Put all the ingredients into the food processor and whizz for about 30 seconds. Clear the sides down with a spatula and whizz again until the consistency is nice and creamy, 15 seconds approx. Put into greased and floured bun trays or paper cases and bake in the hot oven. Reduce the temperature to 190C/375F/gas mark 5 as soon as they begin to rise.  Bake for 20 minutes approx. in total. Cool on a wire rack and decorate as desired.

Cut the top off the buns, cut this piece in half and keep aside. Meanwhile put a little homemade raspberry jam and a blob or cream on to the bottom part of the bun. Replace the two little pieces, arranging them like wings. Dredge with icing sugar and serve immediately.

These buns may be iced with dark chocolate icing or coffee icing. They are also delicious, painted with raspberry jam or redcurrant jelly and dipped in coconut.

 

 

Coffee Icing

8 ozs (225g) icing sugar

scant 1 tablespoon Irel coffee essence

2 tablespoon approx. boiling water

 

Sieve the icing sugar and put into a bowl. Add coffee essence and enough boiling water to make it the consistency of thick cream.

 

 

Hottips

 

All Island Cookery Competition – St Angela’s College and Safefood are hosting the Take Away my Way All Island Cookery Competition Finals on Monday 12^th March and Tuesday 13^th March in St Angela’s College.  Phone 071-9135662.

 

Cooking for Baby at Ballymaloe Cookery School – as a mother of four and grandmother of eight, I am happy to pass on the tips and advice gleaned over years of feeding children and grand-children totally without packets, cans or jars! Everyone wants to feed their babies nourishing and wholesome food, learn how on this Half Day Course on Friday 23rd March 20122:00pm to 5:00pm €85.00 – tel: 021 464675 or www.cookingisfun.ie

 

A Date for the Diary… International Slow Food Grandmother’s Day celebration at Sandbrook House, Ballon, Co Carlow – a special two-day event on 21^st & 22^nd April – see more details at www.slowfoodireland.com/index.php/media/grandmothers-day.html

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Luang Prabang is an enchanting little city in northern Laos located in a valley at the confluence of two rivers- the Mekong and the Nam Khan.

Partly because of its isolation it has retained its centuries old culture and strong Buddhist spirituality. Visitors flock there to visit the temples ( thirty four still survive) and  meander through the French colonial streets or take a leisurely boat trip along the Mekong stopping off here and there to visit little fishing villages where they supplement their income gathering and drying  a nutritious river weed or spinning, dying and hand weaving beautiful Lao textiles.

Another village is famous for Lao Lao, a lethal home brewed rice whiskey and if you fancy you can buy a snake preserved in whiskey as a souvenir!

Luang Prabang also has possibly the most tranquil Night Market in Asia. Hundreds of people from local villages sell handcrafts, Hmong appliqued blankets, bamboo lamps, silver jewellery, handmade paper, embroidered bags and lots more but for the purpose of this article I’m going to concentrate on the food.

Lao food is unique, a wonderfully diverse cuisine that incorporates the Lao taste for sweet, sour, bitter and salty.

It’s very rare to see someone eating alone in Laos, eating always seems to be a very convivial affair with everyone gathered around the table to enjoy the meal however simple, together, Low woven  bamboo tables are still popular, family and friends sit on the ground and squeeze up so everyone fits and can reach and dip into the selection of dishes on the table.

This will always include lots of sticky rice, (known in the West as glutinous rice) noodles and a soup usually based on chicken, fish and pork, a variety of vegetables and fresh herbs. The concept of starter, main course and dessert doesn’t exist.

Laos is a very poor country so in order to get enough protein into their diet, people have had to eat anything that walks, slithers, flies or swims. The protein supply often comes from river fish though in the mountainous north they have had to adapt to eating such ‘delicacies’ as rats, moles, bats and frogs. Even the larvae of wasps and flying and crawling insects, bugs, ants, and ant eggs don’t escape the wok. Absolutely, no part of any animal killed for food is wasted, every single scrap of pig, chicken and fish is used and the head of a chicken or a fish is considered to be a great delicacy in a soup.

The offal is used in all sorts of inventive ways, often in noodle soups or barbecued over charcoal in the little clay outdoor cooking stoves that are still widely used.

The dishes are all shared and everybody dips in with their spoons, forks or hands.

Chopsticks are only used for noodle soups and dishes.

Several uniquely Lao flavours are a bit of an acquired taste, a Luang Prabang speciality called Jeo bong is a very popular chilli dip where the recipe calls for 50 dried red chillies to start with!

The locals love to dip everything from barbecued vegetables to dried buffalo skin in this perky paste.

Pa Dak is another distinctive flavour, it’s made from rotting fish and anchovies with salt and water added, most households would have had an earthenware jar with this pungent mixture rotting away by their front door-step but nowadays many people just buy it or shrimp paste from the Pa Dak ladies in the Market, just follow your nose to find them!

Pa Dak is not only a brilliant flavour enhancer but also another vital source of inexpensive protein.

Wild foods like bamboo shoots, fern fronds, fungi and wild honey, foraged from the hills and forests are also incorporated into the menu in season and then there are the delicious fruits, mangoes, papaya, pineapple, ramboutan jackfruit, bananas…

There are several cooking school options in Luang Prabang, The highly recommended Tamarind was full so I booked into the Tamnak Lao Cooking school for a day course .We started at 10am with a  fascinating tour of the Market to learn about Lao ingredients. On our return to the timber and rattan cooking school, our teachers Leng Lee and Phia Yang taught us two dishes, Luang Prabang Salad and Feu Khua, sticky rice noodles with chicken and vegetables which we then cooked ourselves and ate for lunch, both were delicious and easy to reproduce at home.

At the beginning of the afternoon session, Leng and Phia demonstrated five dishes for us plus how to cook sticky rice in the traditional bamboo steamer. We could choose three each to cook for dinner, I had never made banana leaf salad before so I chose to make that plus the fried aubergine and pork dish with the unpronounceable name – do try it, it’s totally delicious and the chicken and chilli casserole which is really more like a casserole than a soup, We had a terrific day and I was delighted to learn a variety of Lao dishes that I can easily reproduce to make a little Lao feast at home…

Those of us who haven’t got a banana tree in our garden can substitute chicory instead, it works surprisingly well.

 

Luang Prabang Salad

 

This salad is always served at all special occasions. Learn how to make delicious but very easy mayonnaise that never curdles.

 

This recipe serves one or two people if eaten alone. If eaten with other dishes, the salad would be enough for three or four people.

 

 

a mixture of Salad Leaves

fresh Watercress sprigs

1 sliced tomato

1 sliced medium cucumber

1 tablespoon crushed unsalted peanuts

1 tablespoon mince pork (optional)

2 hardboiled eggs

1 sliced hardboiled egg (if unable to slice, quarter the egg)

 

2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon white pepper – finely ground black pepper can also be used ¼ teaspoon salt coriander for garnish (cilantro)

 

First, prepare the mayonnaise. Take two of the hardboiled egg yolks and place in a food processor, blender or pestle and mortar Add the oil, vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt slowly Blend until smooth.

 

Make the Salad

 

Spoon half the mayonnaise onto the salad leaves and watercress and mix well. Place the salad leaves/watercress on a plate or in a bowl in a pyramid shape. Place the sliced cucumber around the bottom and the sliced tomato above it. Place the sliced egg on top of the cucumber and tomato. If the egg has been cut in quarters, place them around the bottom of the salad. Use any left-over egg white to garnish the salad.

Sprinkle the crushed peanuts and some of the coriander on the top of the salad.

If using the pork, fry it in a little oil and when cooked place it over the top of the salad

TIP: if you like the flavour of mint you can add it to this salad, we did and it was delicious.

 

 

 

Feu Khua – Fried Sticky Rice Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables

 

A great tasting dish to learn how to cook with rice noodles which are so popular throughout Asia.

 

This recipe serves one person.

 

100g (3½oz) chicken breast cut into pieces*

150g (5oz) rice noodles**

1 egg

2 cherry tomatoes

Or 1 large tomato***

¼ onion quartered and sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic (crushed in a mortar or use a garlic crusher)

120g (4 ¼ oz) Asian green vegetables ****

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 ½ tablespoons oil

 

½ cup (4 fl ozs) water

1 teaspoon corn flour mixed with enough water to make a thin paste ½ teaspoon soy sauce

1 lime or lemon

1 chilli

 

mix together

½ teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

 

Place the rice noodles in a bowl with cold water for 30 minutes or for 4-5 minutes in hot water.  Swirl with a spoon so they separate. Drain well. Place the 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok, and heat. Put the noodles in the wok and stir for several minutes until the noodles are well cooked (beginning to turn golden) Break the egg onto the noodles and spread all over the top,  until the noodles are coated with egg. Turn and continue to cook until crisp on both sides. Place the noodle/egg mixture onto a plate, cut into pieces. Place the remaining oil into the wok with the crushed garlic and stir until the garlic begins to change colour. Add the chicken and stir fry until cooked through. Add the green vegetables and ¼ to ½ cup of water (this helps cook the vegetables) keep stir frying until the water begins to reduce.

Add corn flour, a little water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, tomatoes, salt pepper, sugar and mix well. Add the onion – shouldn’t be overcooked

Keep stir frying quickly and when the onion is cooked and the ingredients are well mixed, add the rice noodle/egg mixture and stir fry well together. Place on a plate to serve.

As side dishes, quarter the lime or lemon and slice a chilli thinly.

Put both in a small dish. You can also put a tablespoon of soy sauce in a small dish with quarter sliced chilli added.

 

*Chicken, pork or beef can be used

**If fresh rice noodles are not available, use any other type of noodle as long as they are not too thin. If using dried noodles, before use, soak them until they soften.

*** If using cherry tomatoes, cut them in quarters. If using large tomatoes, cut into six pieces.

**** Use any Asian green vegetables or other available green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, rocket (arugula) and carrots – a great way to use up those vegetables that sit in the fridge.

TIP: Use more or less garlic, oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and chilli to your taste.

 

Hicken Larp (Chicken Salad)

 

Very delicious traditional Lao cold salad – the same recipe can also be made from fish, tofu or pork

 

This recipe serves one person or three or four if served with other dishes.

 

 

200g (7oz) chicken mince – no fat (1 large chicken breast with skin removed)

1 chicken/pork cube or ¼ teaspoon powdered stock, mixed with 2 tablespoons of hot water

1 medium lime/lemon – juiced

2 tablespoons hot water

2 tablespoons banana flower finely sliced, rinsed well in water and drained (optional)*

2 kaffir lime leaves – sliced thinly

1 spring onion (long green onion) – sliced thinly

2 shallots (or quarter of a purple Spanish onion) – sliced thinly

2 garlic cloves – finely sliced

1 bunch of coriander cut up finely – green part only (ciltrano)

2 stalks of lemon grass thinly sliced – white part only

6 saw tooth leaves or large rocket (arugula) leaves – thinly sliced ¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon rice powder**

1 teaspoon chilli powder or fresh chillies to taste if you like it hot ¼ teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon fried garlic

1 tablespoon fried shallots

 

Put the chicken stock or pork stock, chicken mince, half the lime juice and water in a wok.

Place over a low heat and keep stirring until the mince is cooked through and the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and place in a bowl. Add the banana flower. Mix well.

Add the kaffir lime leaves, spring onion, shallot, garlic, coriander, lemon grass and rocket leaves. Mix well. Add salt, rice powder, chilli powder, fish sauce, fried garlic and fried shallot. Mix thoroughly. Finally when the salad is thoroughly mixed, pour the remainder of the lime/lemon juice over the salad, give it a quick stir through and serve with a garnish of coriander leaves.

 

*If you cannot buy banana flower, you can replace it by using burghul (Middle Eastern cracked wheat) – or you can leave it out altogether and just add a bit more chicken. Keep in mind that most Lao who live overseas make larp without the banana flower and it tastes the same.

Banana flower only adds texture not flavour, Just add a bit more chicken, pork, etc. to the dish while cooking.

 

**Rice powder can be purchased in any good Asian supermarket and comes in small cellophane bags. If you cannot buy rice powder, it can be made by dry-frying raw sticky rice or long grain rice until it begins to turn golden – approximately 10 minutes – Then whizz it in a kitchen blender or pound in a mortar until a fine powder forms. Store in an airtight glass jar.

 

***You can usually buy deep fried onion and garlic in Asian supermarkets, but you can make your own by slicing Asian shallots (small brown or purple onions) and garlic very finely and deep frying them in a wok until they turn golden in colour. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

Khua Maak Kheua Gap Moo – Fried Eggplant with Pork

 

Very easy dish to make and very delicious too.

 

This recipe serves one person.

 

Ingredients

 

60g pork

3 large onions (if small use three extra)

1 Asian eggplant – long eggplant*

2-3 garlic cloves – depends on your taste

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

2 ½ tablespoons oil

 

Cut the spring onions into 2cm lengths. If the white part is large, also cut in half lengthways. Cut the eggplant into 3cm lengths, then cut each piece in half lengthwise. (if using European eggplant cut into cubes) Crush the garlic in a mortar or use a garlic press.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wok, add the eggplant and stir fry until it begins to soften and turn a golden colour. Do not overcook and make the eggplant too soft. Note if you want to use less oil, use 1 tablespoon oil and add extra water so the eggplant softens and is highly golden in colour. Place the cooked eggplant in a dish, sieve and set aside. Place the remaining oil into the wok with the crushed garlic and stir until the garlic begins to change colour. Add the pork and stir frying until cooked. Add the salt and sugar.

Keep stir frying and add the oyster sauce, onion and cooked eggplant.

Keep stir frying until the onions begin to soften – it must be cooked but still firm. Taste and add more salt if required.

 

*Asian eggplants have many names, such as Chinese or Japanese eggplants. Asian eggplants do not need to be salted before cooking. If you get one with lots of black seeds, throw it out as it cannot be made edible.

 

The Asian eggplant can be replaced with 1 medium European eggplant (aubergine). If you are using a European eggplant and it is full of black seeds, salt it before use. To salt sprinkle the cut eggplant with salt and leave for 20 minutes until the moisture is drawn out of the eggplant then wash, dry and use per recipe. You can now buy aubergine (eggplant) without black seeds which does not require salting.

 

Hot Tips

 

Freedom From Hunger

 

Soup for Life – Gorta’s annual fundraising campaign was launched at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Friday 13^th February. Food entrepreneurs Cully and Sully are supporting ‘Soup for Life’ for the second year in a row; they have pledged to donate 5c per carton of soup during National Soup Week from Monday 5^th to Sunday 11^th March, 2011. Across Ireland 250 restaurant will donate €1 for each bowl of soup sold see  www.soupforlife for list of participating restaurants.

If you want to get involved why not make a delicious pot of soup and invite some friends around, ask your guests to make a small donation to Gorta -  for details of how to do this email soup@gorta.org  or phone  1850 80 80 80

Mary Jo Mc Millin’s name may not be familiar to many but her restaurant and catering business in Oxford, OH, USA had a cult following and those who attended her classes gained a repertoire of delicious dishes and recipes that really worked.  She in turn loves Ireland and has been visiting for over 30 years. Mary Jo was particularly famous for her braises and slow cooked dishes and of course her baking. She will be teaching a one day cookery course at Ballymaloe Cookery School next Saturday 10th March. Learn two fool-proof menus and the secrets of several of Mary Jo’s sought after cakes and pastries and French bread. Phone 021 4646785 to book or online www.cookingisfun.ie

 

A table at Noma restaurant in Copenhagen is one of the hottest most sought after meal slots in the whole world. Curious chefs and food lovers from all over the world fly into Copenhagen to eat at this simple restaurant which has defined the gastronomy of a whole nation and established a flow of food tourism that benefits not only Noma but a growing number of other restaurants in Copenhagen and the hinterland. So why is Noma causing such a sensation.  Well, chef Réne Redzepi and his team cook and serve Nordic ingredients proudly. The food is fresh, seasonal and much is foraged from the wild. The food is incredibly delicious. But Noma is not just about the food, the whole experience challenged many of our concepts of how food should taste and be served.

On arrival at Noma, a converted herring warehouse, you walk down three or four steps, the kitchen is directly ahead – you are greeted by several of the chefs, then shown to your table, the room is simple yet incredibly sophisticated and then the feast begins. Lots of little snacks in quick succession, then the pace slows down, the dishes are slightly larger, virtually all are vegetarian. In an exquisite meal of virtually 20 courses, we had meat just twice, tiny medallions of bone marrow in one and paper thin slices of duck breast in another.

I hadn’t even noticed the absence of meat until someone mentioned it in passing. A beautiful celebration of vegetables and wild foods. At Noma the chefs not only plate the food in the kitchen but also help to serve the food to the guests, such a simple brilliant concept, the chefs normally hidden behind closed doors get to experience the guests reaction to their food and Noma has simply one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had. There are three Irish chefs in the kitchen, one of whom is a past student of the Ballymaloe Cookery School. Louise Bannon who did a 12 Week Certificate Course in 2002 bakes bread and does many of the delicious desserts. The bread was delicious, served warm in a little felt nest with the most incredibly delicious butter I have ever tasted in my entire life and that’s high praise coming from someone who makes butter virtually every day from our own Jersey cream.

When I enquired, another one of the young chefs came to the table to tell me all about it. It’s made by a Swedish couple who have just five goats. They stop the butter just when the cream is starting to split, drain and wash it and serve the curdled butter fat at that stage, completely delicious, I want to go and visit them.

Rene Redzepi had recently published his Noma Cookbook in English – a beautiful tome published by Phaidon.  The photograph’s are amazing and give you an idea of the presentation.  There are also several interviews with Rene on YouTube to whet your appetite.  Noma is really worth the trip to Copenhagen but there’s tons more, don’t miss Hermann in Tivoli, Manfred’s, Aamanns, Meyers Deli and great coffee in Coffee Collective.

 

 

Smoked Quail Eggs

From Noma – Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine – Rene Redzepi

 

10 quail eggs

20g hay

50g birchwood chips

200g water

100g rosehip vinegar

 

Hay to serve

 

Eggs

 

Blanch the eggs for one minute 30 seconds and cool them in ice water. Blanch them again for 50 seconds, cool and peel them. Take care not to break them – eggs cooked for such a short time are very soft and fragile. Finally smoke the eggs for around 20 minutes on a slotted gastro tray in a smoker by heating it slowly with hay and chips.

 

Pickle

 

Mix the water and vinegar, and pickle the eggs in a vacuum-bag for 10 minutes. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

 

 

Serving

 

Cut the hay into short lengths and use it to fill the base of an oval serving dish. Make a small incision in the bottom of each egg and lay them on the hay. With a hand held food smoker burn hay into the serving dish and cover quickly, trapping the smoke in the dish.

 

 

Grilled Lamb Shank and Ramsons Leaves, Yellow Beetroot and Elderflowers

From Noma – Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine – Rene Redzepi

 

 

4 small lamb shanks

50g lamb glace (reduced lamb stock)

25g large ramsons (wild garlic) leaves

30 small yellow beetroots (beets)

350g large yellow beetroot (beet)

salt

apple balsamic vinegar

1 bunch elderflower blossom (optional)

60g elderflower cordial (syrup) available at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Shop

a little butter

lamb glace, to serve

 

Lamb Shank

 

Vacuum-pack the shanks with the lamb glace and ramsons (wild garlic leaves) and cook them at 63°C (145°F) for 24 hours.

 

Beetroot

 

Divide the beetroot into 2 groups by size. Cook the smaller group in water until tender and then peel. Peel the bigger group and slice finely on a mandolin. Keep in ice water for 10 minutes to crisp them, and then dry.

Sauce

Peel the beetroot, juice in a juicer and then reduce the juice to one third. Pour all the juices from the bags containing the cooked lamb shanks into a bowl and add a few tablespoons of the reduced beetroot juice. Season with salt and vinegar.

 

Garnish

 

Cut the flowers into smaller sprigs and keep refrigerated until serving.

 

Serving

 

Char-grill (charbroil) the lamb shanks and glaze in a few tablespoons of warm lamb glace. Place a portion of meat in the centre of each plate. Heat the cooked beetroot in a little butter and a few drops of cordial. Drop the raw beetroot into the rest of the cordial for a few seconds to sweeten. Add the raw and cooked beetroot to the plate; add the elderflowers and finally the sauce.

 

Potato Crisps with Anise and Chocolate

From Noma – Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine – Rene Redzepi

 

 

2 Bintje potatoes (Golden Wonders or any floury potato)

800ml grapeseed oil

 

400g couverture chocolate

20g powdered cocoa butter

4g green anise seeds

4g fennel seeds

 

Potatoes

 

Peel the potatoes and slice them finely into cold water. Leave the slices in the cold water until the starch has rinsed out and then pat dry. Heat the oil carefully in a deep fryer to approximately 170°C (340°F) and fry the potatoes until crisp. Cool on grease absorbent paper.

 

Covering and Serving

 

Melt the chocolate and the cocoa butter and bring to 50°C (120°F). Temper it to 27°C (80°F) and then increase the temperature back up to 30°C (85°F). Pull the potatoes through the tempered chocolate to cover them completely, and then cool on a tray. Sprinkle the anise and fennel seeds over the potatoes before they have cooked completely.

 

Hottips

 

The Herring Gull Restaurant at Inn by The Harbour in Ballycotton is open again after a short winter break for weekends only until April. Book a table with a view of the island and lighthouse and enjoy spanking fresh fish straight from the boats – try the Hot Buttered Oysters with Asparagus on Toast and the Roast Cod with Ballycotton Shrimp Risotto, really good! Phone 0214646768 to book.

 

Garden Workshop at Ballymaloe Cookery School – Creating a Soft Fruit Garden with Susan Turner on Monday 5^th March 9am to 2pm – lunch included. In this intensive course, Susan will guide you on the choice of fruit varieties, designing the fruit garden layout, looking at aspect spacing and plant training structures, as well as protection from birds and understanding the general principles behind pruning. Creating fans, cordons and bushes with gooseberries, red currants, white currants and jostaberries. Understanding the general principles behind pruning blackcurrant bushes, loganberries and tayberries. Propagation of soft fruit.

Phone 0214646785 to book.

From time to time we invite a chef whose food we admire and enjoy, to come to the school to teach a guest chef course.

Last weekend a Finnish chef who has been making waves in Co Clare for the past few years bounced into the school to share his skills, techniques and boundless enthusiasm for food.

Mickael Viljanen took over the kitchen at Gregans Castle on the edges of the Burren in 2007 and soon began to cause a stir.  In 2011 he was awarded Best Chef in Ireland by both Food & Wine Magazine and the RAI (Restaurant Association of Ireland). People travelled far and wide to taste his food often falling in love with Co Clare in the process.

Like all good chefs he is passionate about the quality of his raw materials, but he is also fascinated and intrigued by technology and the possibilities of the many new and gadgets that can extend his range of textures, flavours and the impact of his food.

The audience at his course was a mixture of keen amateurs, chefs and students, so Mickael chose a variety of dishes that could be cooked either by traditional or more avant-garde methods. He demonstrated the advantages of the sous vide technique. He cooked a crown of chicken in a vacuum pack in a water bath at 63º for two and half hours. This produced moist succulent chicken which he then seared off before serving to crisp and caramelise the sweet skin. This was served on a bed of lentils with Gubbeen pancetta and fresh tarragon.

Rosé veal cheeks were also cooked slowly for four hours and served with a quenelle of rich mashed potato, pickled herb stalks and puffed rice –a delicious combination.

To make the puffed grains we needed a dehydrator but could also have been done in a very low oven. They were then popped in hot oil to create long grain rice, spelt,  quinoa or wild rice crispies.  The contrast of flavours and textures was delicious and like many talented chefs, he teased the flavour out of inexpensive cuts of meat (order beef cheeks ahead from your butcher) and with long slow cooking transformed them into a triumph.

For several other dishes he added pinches of Trimoline, Methocel and Ultratex.  These products were totally unfamiliar with but after this course we can have fun experimenting. A siphon originally used to aerate cream can be used in a myriad of ways to add lightness to both sweet and savoury dishes.

Mickael oomphed up a Jerusalem artichoke soup with cepes (dried mushrooms) sabayon and some micro greens. Even a Bamix (stick blender) can be used to produce a cheffy foam and lots of bubbles and fizz.

We all know chefs who do lots of tricksy stuff on plates, but the end result doesn’t necessarily deliver on flavour but Mickael’s food certainly does.

Dinner at Gregans Castle is a special treat, one can choose 3 – 5 or 7 courses with lots of little extras thrown in but if you are in the area don’t miss the simple and delicious lunch food served in the bar also (you’ll need to book)

Here are a few of the recipes that Mickael wowed us with.

 

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

Mickael Viljanen Gregans Castle

 

Jerusalem artichokes have an affinity with thyme.

 

100g (3 1/2oz) butter

700g (1 1/2lb) Jerusalem artichokes, peeled, diced and vac-packed to prevent discolouring

150g (5oz) finely sliced shallots

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

2 sprigs of thyme

150g (5oz) Riesling

1.5 kg (3lb 5 oz) white chicken stock

600g (11/4 lb) cream

salt and freshly ground white pepper

 

Soften the shallots in the butter.  Add the garlic and cook for 3 minutes.  Add the artichokes and sprigs of thyme and cook without discolouring for a further 4 minutes. Add the Riesling and reduce to a syrup, add the stock and simmer for 5 minutes.  Pour in the cream and cook until artichokes are fully softened, remove the thyme and purée in a blender.  Taste and correct the seasoning.

 

 

Pickled Herb Stems

100g of long herb stems eg: dill, fennel, chervil or even parsley (use the leaves for another use)

200ml (7floz) white wine vinegar

200g (7oz) castor sugar

salt

Mix the white wine vinegar with the sugar and salt. Vac pack the herb stems in 5 separate bags, add 2 – 3 tablespoons of pickle to each bag and vacuum on full pressure. Alternatively lay the herbs in a non-reactive dish overnight, cover with the pickle. Infuse for 24 hours.

A totally delicious way to use up herb stems – serve with roasts, stews, braises…

 

 

Roast Chicken, Lentils and Bacon Stew

Mickael Viljanen Gregans Castle

 

Serves 8

 

4 x 1.2 kg (2 1/2lb) chicken crowns (we used Dan Ahern’s chicken)

200g (7oz) butter and sunflower oil

4 sprigs of tarragon

4 sprigs of thyme

Maldon salt

freshly ground white pepper

 

To Serve

Lentil and Bacon Stew (see recipe)

 

Season the chicken inside out.  Place the chickens in individual vac-packs with 50g (2oz) of butter and a sprig of each herb and vac-pack on full pressure. Put in a 63°C/145°F water bath for 1 3/4 hours. Dan Ahern’s organic chicken which we used are larger so they took 2 ½ hours to poach (2 served 8 people.) Take out and cool to room temperature, remove from the bag. Brown the skin side of the chicken in oil until caramelised, carve and serve with Lentil and Bacon Stew.

 

Lentil and Bacon Stew

Mickael Viljanen Gregans Castle

 

Serves 10-12

 

500g (18oz) Puy lentils

100g (3 1/2oz) butter

8 shallots finely diced

250g (9oz) carrot cut into ¼ inch dice

250g (9oz) celeriac cut into ¼ inch dice

250g (9oz) celery cut into ¼ inch dice

2 sprigs of thyme

10 pieces dry cepes in muslin bag

300g (11oz) smoked Gubbeen bacon lardons

2.5 litres (4 1/2 pints) chicken stock

600g (11/4lb) cream reduced slowly to 300g (11oz)

salt and freshly ground pepper

3 tablespoon tarragon, freshly chopped

 

Soak the lentils overnight, change the water and bring to a simmer. Rinse lentils again.  Melt the butter and sweat vegetables with the cepes and bacon. Add rinsed lentils and the chicken stock. Simmer until just cooked. Drain extra liquid if there is any left, remove the muslin bag. Stir in the reduced cream. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and cover for 10 minutes. Fold in freshly chopped tarragon and serve as desired.

 

 

Hazelnut Shortbread

Mickael Viljanen Gregans Castle

 

600g (1 1/4lb) flour

400g (14oz) salted butter

200g (7oz) icing sugar

seeds of 2 vanilla pods

 

Topping

toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped

grated orange zest

sprinkling Maldon Sea salt

 

To Serve

castor sugar

 

Preheat the oven to 140°C/275°F/Gas Mark1 fan oven

 

Put the flour, butter, icing sugar and vanilla pod seeds in a food processor. Whizz until it begins to clump together (alternatively mix in a bowl until the mixture forms a dough.)  Shape into a log. Roll out the mixture between two sheets of greaseproof paper to the thickness of a €1 coin. Transfer to a baking tray. Sprinkle the top with toasted finely chopped hazelnuts, grated orange zest and a sprinkling of Maldon sea salt.

 

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until light golden in colour. Once cooked cut into fingers whilst still warm. Sprinkle with castor sugar and serve.

 

 

Hot Chocolate Mousse

Mickael Viljanen Gregans Castle

I reckon it’s worth considering investing in a siphon bottle just to make this super quick chocolate mousse.

 

Serves 10

 

400g (14oz) dark chocolate (70%), finely chopped (Mickael used Opera  but you could use a less bitter chocolate if you prefer)

300g (11oz) egg white

300g (11oz) cream

 

Scald the cream and pour on to chocolate, mix with a hand blender. Add the egg whites and blitz until smooth. Put into siphon bottle – don’t fill more than ¾ – charge with C02 gas and keep at 45°C/113°F.

Serve in little glass pots with a little crème fresh, crystallised orange peel, frosted mint leaves, fresh raspberries…

 

Hottips

 

Gregans Castle re-opened on Friday 10^th February 2012 www.gregans.ie

 

Source some Trimoline, Methocel and Ultratex at Vanilla Ventures in Co Kildare, ask for Rocky  Or try MSK Food Ingredients for all these food products – www.msk-ingredients.com

 

Have fun drying banana, orange, beetroot, mushroom slices, we bought our dehydrator from Liam Lennon at Enhancing Health and Wellness – 01 4429958 – orders@juicers.ie – www.juicers.ie

 

If you want to oomph up your food Siphon bottles and CO2 gas capsules can be bought from catering suppliers or mail order from Nisbets www.nisbets.ie 021 4946777

 

One of my granddaughters celebrated her 10^th birthday recently; her most exciting birthday present was a one day fashion course for children to learn how to stitch, sew and dress make with Fashion Designer Mia O’Connell – how cool is that? www.dublinfashionclub.com

 

Never before or since does Valentine’s Day create so much excitement as when I was a boarder at the Dominican Convent in Wicklow in the 1960s. I can still feel the nail biting anticipation – would I get a Valentine card? The suspense was excruciating as we waited for the postman to arrive. There was so much at stake, it was incredibly important to one’s image and standing in the class – even one card would ’do the trick’ but some girls managed to get three or four. On one memorable occasion a ‘Dublin girl’ got a record six – talk about envy and jealousy. It kept us guessing and giggling for weeks trying to interpret cryptic messages. Was it from a ‘real’ boy or just your parents or a kindly aunt or uncle making sure you didn’t lose face – hope sprang eternal!

Well thank goodness to we have outlived and survived all that but every time I see a rack of Valentines cards it all comes flooding back and the sweetness of getting a card from a genuine secret admirer – bliss!

It’s still just as much fun to celebrate and giggle and little gestures and surprises are as potent as ever. Don’t fret if you find that your favourite restaurant has booked out well ahead. How about an early or slightly late celebration – just as much fun and you’ll get an even bigger welcome from the maître d’. Meanwhile you can plan and cook up a delicious Valentine’s Day dinner; maybe it’ll be a fancy feast with lots of bells and whistles or if you and your hubby have been jogging along for years how about their favourite comfort food. Maybe it’s rice pudding and or something bizarre like chocolate carrageen moss – in fact I know a chap who hankers after that even though it doesn’t do it for me!

My ultimate treat would be two dozen native Irish oysters with a glass of smooth Dungarvan or Eight Degrees Stout from Mitchelstown.

I also love guinea fowl for a treat, they have a mild gamey flavour and are delicious roast – one bird is ample for two hungry people and it marries perfectly with all of the winter vegetables. If you’d rather a substantial but inexpensive winter warmer try lamb shanks with butternut squash, chickpeas and spinach with couscous.

You’ll need a green salad before this delicious chocolate tart. It makes more than even two greedy people can eat but you can always continue celebrating and enjoy it again next day.

 

Two Dozen Oysters and a pint of Artisan Stout

 

 

What could be easier or more delicious than a couple of dozen freshly shucked oysters with Irish soda bread and a pint of creamy Irish artisan stout.

 

Serves 2

 

 

2 to 4 dozen native Irish oysters

Black Rock Dungarvan Stout or Eight Degrees Knockmerldown Porter

seaweed or sea salt

brown soda bread

 

 

It’s wise to protect your hand with a folded tea towel when opening oysters.  Wrap the tea towel round your hand, then set the deep shell on it with the wide end on the inside.   Grip the oyster firmly in your protected hand while you insert the tip of the knife into the hinge and twist to lever the two shells apart; you’ll need to exert quite a lot of pressure, so it’s foolhardy not to protect your hand well.   Then slide the blade of the knife under the top shell to detach the oyster from the shell. Discard the top shell, then loosen the oyster from the deep shell, flip over to reveal the plump side, don’t lose the precious briny juice.

 

Arrange on two plates on a bed of seaweed or sea salt.

 

Serve with segments of lemon, some brown soda bread and a couple of glasses of stout.

 

 

Aromatic Lamb Shanks with Butternut Squash, Chickpeas and Spinach

 

Serves 6

 

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 lamb shanks

2 medium onions sliced

2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 teaspoon each of freshly ground coriander and fenugreek

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

450g (1lb) of ripe tomatoes peeled and chopped or 1 x 400g (14oz) tin of chopped tomatoes

salt and freshly ground pepper

1lt (1¾ pints) of lamb or chicken stock

1 butternut squash 2 ½ lbs – deseeded and cut into chunks 1 ½ inches

2 x 400g (14oz) tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

200g (7oz) spinach or sliced Swiss chard

lots of fresh coriander leaves

 

Accompaniment

 

couscous

natural yoghurt (optional)

 

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat; brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Transfer to a casserole, then add a little more oil and the chopped onions to the pan and toss and fry gently for a couple of minutes over a low heat until softened. Add the garlic and continue to cook for a minute or two. Stir in the tomato puree, freshly ground spices and chilli flakes, fry for two minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of sugar. Stir, add the hot stock, bring to the boil then pour over the lamb shanks in the casserole – it should almost cover the meat. Put a tight fitting lid on the casserole, transfer to a pre heated moderate oven 180°C/350°F/Mark 4. Continue to cook for 1 ½ to 2 hours until the lamb shanks are tender, add the squash cubes and return to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes until everything is cooked through. Remove the lamb shanks to a warm serving dish with a slotted spoon, taste the broth, reduce a little to concentrate the flavour if necessary. Add the chick peas to the casserole, bring back to the boil, add the spinach and allow it to wilt in the sauce, taste, correct the seasoning. Serve each lamb shank with lots of sauce and some couscous. Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves and add a dollop of natural yoghurt to each helping if you wish.

 

 

Pan Roasted Guinea Fowl with Parsley Sauce

 

 

Many pheasant and chicken recipes work really well for guinea fowl, too. But if you want to really enjoy the mild gaminess, don’t mask it with an overpowering sauce. Try this delicious recipe, kindly given to me by Skye Gyngell when she came to teach at the cookery school.

 

Serves 6

 

6 guinea fowl supremes (whole breasts with a little bit of wing attached)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

a little light olive oil, for cooking

 

For the Parsley Sauce

150g (5oz) curly parsley, stems removed, plus extra for serving

500ml (18fl oz) double cream

freshly grated nutmeg

11⁄2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, or to taste

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

First make the parsley sauce. Put a pan of well-salted water on to boil (it should be as salty as the sea).

Plunge the parsley into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and refresh in iced water (to keep your parsley a beautiful, bright colour). Drain and set aside.

Pour the cream into a heavy-based pan and bring almost to the boil. Turn down the heat and leave it to bubble and reduce by about one-third, until it has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Add the blanched parsley and boil for a moment longer. Remove from the heat and purée in a blender until you have a beautiful fine texture.

Add a generous grating of nutmeg and the lemon zest, then season well with salt and a good grinding of pepper. Your sauce is now ready; keep it warm.

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas mark 7.

Season the guinea fowl generously with salt and freshly ground pepper all over. Place a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat and heat until smoking. Pour in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Then brown the guinea fowl in batches by laying 2 supremes in the pan, skin-side down, and leaving to colour for 3 minutes (resist the temptation to play with them). Transfer the supremes to a baking tray (without turning them) and brown the rest of them in the same way.

Finish cooking the guinea fowl in the oven for 8 minutes, until the skin is crisp and crunchy and the breast meat is succulent, moist and cooked through. Leave to rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.

Arrange the guinea fowl supremes on warm plates, on a bed of swede purée if you like, and ladle the warm parsley sauce generously over the top. Scatter chopped parsley on top and serve.

 

Chocolate Valentine Tart

 

This tart is best made the night before if possible.

 

Sweet Pastry (line 1 x 9 1/2 tin)

 

175g (6ozs) plain flour

75g (3ozs) butter, cold and cubed

25g (1oz) castor sugar

15g (1/2 oz) icing sugar

1/2 large egg, beaten

 

In a food processor, pulse together the butter, sugar and flour to give coarse, ‘flat’ breadcrumb texture.   Add egg and pulse again until the pastry comes together.  Tip onto a sheet of cling film, form into a roll and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

 

To line tin

Roll the pastry between 2 sheets of Clingfilm.  Invert into the tin and mould into ring.  Cover with cling film and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes or freeze until needed.

 

To blind bake, preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4, remove cling film, line the pastry case with baking parchment and beans and bake for 20-25 mins approx. Remove from the oven and brush with egg wash. Return to the oven for 2-3 minutes further to dry off. The tart base should be fully cooked.  Let case cool, patch any cracks.

 

Filling

200g (7ozs) dark chocolate

150g (5ozs) butter

3 organic, free-range egg yolks

2 organic, free-range eggs

40g (1 1/2 ozs) castor sugar

 

Melt chocolate and butter together – either over a bain marie or carefully in a heat proof bowl in the oven.  With electric beaters, beat the eggs, yolks and sugar until pale and thick – about 5 minutes.  Fold in chocolate and beat briefly to amalgamate.  Pour into blind baked case and bake at 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5 for 6 minutes. It should still be slightly molten.  Cool completely and serve.

 

 

Chocolate Carrageen Moss Pudding

 

Serves 4-6

 

½ oz cleaned, well-dried carrageen moss (2 semi-closed fistfuls)

900ml (1 1⁄2 pints) whole milk

1 vanilla pod or 1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 organic egg

2 tablespoons caster sugar

 

To Serve

 

soft brown sugar and softly whipped cream or a compote of fruit in season

 

Soak the carrageen in a little bowl of tepid water for 10 minutes. It will swell and increase in size. Strain off the water and put the carrageen into a saucepan with the milk and the vanilla pod, if using. Bring to the boil and simmer very gently, covered, for 20 minutes. At that point and not before, separate the egg, put the yolk into a bowl, add the sugar and vanilla extract, if using, and whisk together for a few seconds, then pour the milk and carrageen moss through a strainer onto the egg yolk mixture, whisking all the time. By now the carrageen remaining in the strainer will be

swollen and exuding jelly. You need as much of this as possible through the strainer and whisk it into the egg and milk mixture. Blend cocoa with a little of the milk and add to the hot strained carrageen. Test for a set in a saucer as one would with gelatine.

Whisk the egg white stiffly and fold or fluff it in gently; it will rise to make a fluffy top. Serve chilled with caster sugar and cream.

 

 

Old Fashioned Rice Pudding

 

A creamy rice pudding is one of the greatest treats on a cold winter’s day. You need to use short-grain rice, which plumps up as it cooks. This is definitely a forgotten pudding and it’s unbelievable the reaction we get to it every time we make it at the Cookery School. It’s always the absolute favourite pudding at my evening courses.

 

Serves 6–8

 

100g (31⁄2oz) pearl rice (short-grain rice)

50g (2oz) sugar

small knob of butter

850ml (1 1/2 pints) milk

 

1 x 1. 2 litre (2 pint) capacity pie dish

 

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

 

Put the rice, sugar and butter into a pie dish. Bring the milk to the boil and pour over. Bake for 1–1 1/2 hours. The skin should be golden, the rice underneath should be cooked through and have soaked up the milk, but still be soft and creamy. Time it so that it’s ready just in time for pudding. If it has to wait in the oven for ages it will be dry and dull and you’ll wonder why you bothered.

 

Serve with softly whipped cream and soft brown sugar.

 

 

Hottips

 

Native and Gigas Oysters are available from K. O’Connells in the English Market. Meet the O’Connell brothers Pat and Paul at the Market who charmed the Queen of England when she visited their fish stall last year – www.koconnellfish.com

Gardening Courses at Ballymaloe Cookery School

Building a Willow Structure with Norbert Platz on Monday 20th February 2012, 9:00am to 2:00pm. On this intensive course you will learn how to harvest and prepare willows and the basic techniques needed to create a variety of willow structures in your own garden.

Compost Making and Soil Management with Susan Turner on Monday 19th March 2012, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Whether you are interested in making compost for a small garden, a small holding or larger, this course will teach you the most important aspects of how to tackle it correctly. Both courses cost €95.00 – lunch included. 021 4646785 – www.cookingisfun.ie