ArchiveSeptember 2024

Not sure how many of you have been to Derry, I hadn’t been either but recently we went on a ‘wee dander’ around the walled city courtesy of Tourism Northern Ireland.
For me and other members of the Guild of Irish Food Writers, it was a deeply moving experience to walk around the city on top of the old walls, past the now peaceful Bogside and the Free Derry Wall. We had our photos taken in front of the wonderful Derry Girls mural, visited the Tower Museum, it was also full of memorabilia from the brilliant Channel 4 TV series of the same name. There was a replica of Mary’s beloved kitchen, the wire chip pan and deep fry, the sofa and cushions, a school uniform from Our Lady Immaculate College and a café actually serving the same cream horns made famous in one of the episodes when Grandpa Joe was busted after he was spied in Doherty’s bakery buying a cream horn when he only went in for an apple turnover!

We walked across the Peace Bridge, opened in 2011 over the River Foyle. We heard the story from Angela Heaney, our deeply knowledgeable guide of how for centuries, the river divided the communities who now, at last, walk freely backwards and forwards over the bridge.

Next day we were treated to a full-on Derry by Fork, food and drink tour. We met numerous chefs, restaurants and café owners and visited Brendan at the iconic Moore on the Quay fish stall and Pyke n Pommes Café tucked into an old double-decker bus on the riverbank. After delicious fish tacos, we had a selection of Asian fusion appetisers at Umi, and a taste of a delicious Austrian wine made by a young winemaker Andy.

Put it on your Derry list along with Phelim O’Hagan and Serina Macari, his lovely restaurant Artis where we tucked into dinner later. The tear and share brioche with whipped beef fat and marmite butter was worth the detour alone.

We had so many delicious tastes of local food but also exceptional local beverages – Rough Brothers Beer, Walled City Brewery and Gin School, Earhart Gin and the cult style Northland Beer.
Paula McIntyre, the entertaining and much loved radio, TV chef and food writer accompanied us on the tour. We met many farmers, artisans, and cheesemakers, including Kevin Hickey from Dart Cheese in the Sperrin mountains who supplied the memorable Sperrin Blue to accompany the Moyletra Moilie heritage beef cooked over fire at the long table dinner in the walled garden at Brooke Hall Estate. I also loved the nettle seed crisps from Noreen Vandervelde with ripe fig and cheese.
More good things at Browns in Town, little mini burgers and a juicy cube of streaky pork with burnt apple sauce. We popped into Yum, the multi award winning bakery close to the lovely Ebrington Hotel to sample their brownies and The Cottage Craft Gallery where we had tea and the famous scones. 

Bet you are feeling full even reading this, so were we but deliciously so and so looking forward to spreading the word about the cool culinary delights of Londonderry/Derry affectionately known as stroke city! Might just have to go back soon for the barbecue school at Brook Hall or another long table dinner in the walled garden….

‘Artis’ Brioche with Whipped Beef Fat and Marmite Butter

Thank you to Artis for sharing this super delicious recipe.

Although not a traditional bread recipe, this is our ‘quick’ brioche we use, as it doesn’t need to be made the evening before, and we use melted rather than cold butter.

A bread recipe from Martijn Kajuiter from my time at the Cliff House Hotel that we’ve made our own.

500g strong flour

10g salt

10g sugar

175g milk

125g melted butter

3 eggs

12g dried yeast ‘or’ 25g fresh yeast

herbs/caramelised onion/seeds – whatever you choose to flavour your breads.

Add all the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl including your choice of flavouring.

Take 75g milk and heat until lukewarm to activate the yeast, (20-30°C), add the yeast and stir.

In a food processor, blend together the rest of the wet ingredients, add to dry ingredients gradually whilst mixing.

Let the mixer knead the bread for 5-10 minutes.

Prove in a greased cover container for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Knock bread back by turning onto a lightly floured surface and kneading the dough gently until nice and smooth.

Weigh dough into 60g balls (for individual breads) or 12 x 15g balls (for tear and share style) and roll into smooth balls.

Brush rolled balls lightly with egg wash.

For individual bread loaves, bake for 8 minutes at 175°C.

For tear and share, arrange all the small balls into a large circle on a non-stick pan and bake for 12 minutes at 175°C.

Serve with Whipped Beef Fat and Marmite Butter (see recipe).

Whipped Beef Fat and Marmite Butter

200g rendered beef fat

150g unsalted Irish butter

35g marmite

In a food processor, whip all the ingredients together until almost double in size.

Serve with sea salt and crispy onions on top

Note: Replace the beef fat with butter if you prefer or alternatively for chicken butter, use chicken fat and for bacon butter, use bacon fat.

‘Lo and Slo’s’ Butter Braised Potatoes

This delicious recipe was generously shared by Lo and Slo.

We also greatly enjoyed mussels and tomahawk steaks cooked over a fire pit in the walled garden at Brook Hall just outside the city.

New potatoes are perfect for maintaining their shape and creating a sweet, velvety interior. Floury potatoes will break down during the cooking process, these are also delicious but risk burning. Keep an eye on them and give them a gentle, extra little stir.

These can be cooked in the oven if desired.  Seasonal herbs and garlic may be added.

Serves 6-8

2kg seasonal potatoes (any variety)

250g salted butter

a good glug of vegetable or rapeseed oil (neutral flavour with a high smoke point)

flaky sea salt

chilli flakes

Light your BBQ fire.

You want your coals glowing with a white ashy coating, not leaping flames.

Slice your potatoes into 4cm pieces and place into a large baking tray.

Divide the butter into large pieces evenly on top of the potatoes.

Add a glug of the oil.

Sprinkle a handful of flaky sea salt on the potatoes. Add chilli flakes to taste and stir to distribute.

Allow the potatoes to simmer over the coals, stirring occasionally.

Top up with oil if they are looking too dry.

When the potatoes become golden brown and toasted, remove from the grill.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Cream Horns

These delicious flaky cornets will, for many folks, be forever associated with the Derry Girls TV series, but for me, they bring memories flooding back of two cafés in Kilkenny city in the 1960’s where Mummy took us for occasional treats at Mulhall’s and Marie’s Café on High Street.
We would fantasise and argue all the way from Cullohill about whether we would order a cream horn or a chocolate éclair.

Makes 18 to 20

puff pastry, homemade with butter
egg wash
icing sugar

homemade raspberry jam

softly whipped cream

cream horn moulds
pastry wheel, optional

Roll the chilled puff pastry into a rectangle, 35cm long and 3mm thick. Cut into strips, 2-2.5cm wide. Keep chilled.
Starting at the tip, roll a strip of pastry around the pointed end, rotating around the mould so the pastry overlaps by 3mm down to the wider end.
Arrange on a baking tray, sealed side downwards.
Brush lightly with egg wash. Transfer to a fridge and chill.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven, lift off the tray and detach from the mould when cool enough to handle.

When cold, spoon some raspberry jam into the interior of the cornets, fill with a swirl of whipped cream. Arrange on a doyley on a pretty china plate and enjoy.

At present, driving through the countryside, particularly in the west of Ireland is like meandering through the Garden of Eden.

The roadsides are ablaze with fuchsia, orange montbretia, purple loose strife and willow herb, lots of cream fluffy meadowsweet, knapweed, bright yellow ragwort, wild carrot and swards of wild sorrel and beautiful, lush watercress in the streams.

Wildflower meadows have all but disappeared over the past couple of decades, but wildflowers and grasses are alive and well along roadside verges in many areas.

All around the country, councils have responded to local people’s request to stop spraying glyphosate, (a known carcinogen) and have resisted cutting the verges which enhances biodiversity, except in essential places where visibility is impaired by enthusiastic growth.

Strolling through the lanes, one can’t help noticing that plants are alive with bees, hoverflies and other pollinating insects. Butterflies have been scarce this year but there were several common blue butterflies on the yellow trefoil and lots of cinnabar moths on the ragwort which we were initially told was a weed that would poison cattle. However, the reality is they don’t bother to eat it unless it is accidentally included in silage.

The brambles are laden with fat juicy blackberries so despite the thorns, I couldn’t resist picking several bowls to make a few pots of blackberry and crab apple jam. They take ages to pick so my few jars felt even more special and looked like good deeds on the shelf. I added a few sweet geranium leaves to impart a haunting lemony flavour.

We picked lots of orange and scarlet rowanberries to add to crab apple jelly, all free for the gathering and so, so good.

I fantasised about all the delicious dishes I could make from the hedgerows – pestos, pasta sauces, frittatas…

Where someone else might see weeds, I saw dinner and lots of fun in the kitchen and I picked a big bunch of wildflowers to adorn the kitchen table.

I love to make a foragers salad or a silky foragers soup from a mixture of wild leaves, flowers and herbs like wild thyme.

It’s not just the leaves that are delicious but the flowers too, scatter some knapweed petals, montbretia, fuchsia blossoms, wild rose petals, cornflowers and watercress flowers to embellish your dishes.

There’s masses of fluffy cream meadowsweet blossoms along the roadside too, they’ll last well into September so make the most of their distinct aroma to flavour ice cream, panna cotta, homemade custards, infuse in vinegar, vodka…How about an apple and meadowsweet tart. The wild carrot flowers can be battered and deep-fried.

There will be sloes, damsons and elderberries before too long but that’s for another column.

Meanwhile, have fun with the early autumn bounty and there are lots more recipes and ideas in my cookbooks, Forgotten Skills of Cooking and Grow, Cook, Nourish or email me if you have a specific request and I’ll do my best (www.cookingisfun.ie)

Sorrell and Watercress Soup

Wild watercress has much more flavour than farmed versions, gather some in a flowing stream.  This soup has been a favourite on the menu of Ballymaloe House since it opened in 1963.

Wild sorrel grows all over the place, there are several varieties, common sorrel, buckler leaf sorrel and lambs’ tongue sorrel which prefers acid soil – it’s super good for you!

Serves 6-8

45g butter

150g peeled and chopped potatoes

110g peeled and chopped onion

salt and freshly ground pepper

900ml water or homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock

300ml creamy milk (75ml cream and 225ml milk)

200g chopped watercress (remove the coarse stalks first)

25g wild sorrel

Melt the butter in heavy bottomed saucepan.  When it foams, add the potatoes and onions and toss them until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the watercress and sorrel. When the vegetables are almost soft but not coloured add the hot stock and boiling milk.  Bring back to the boil and cook until the potatoes and onions are fully cooked. Add the watercress and sorrel and boil with the lid off for 4-5 minutes approx. until the watercress is just cooked. The sorrel will discolour but the watercress will keep its colour. Do not overcook or the soup will lose its fresh green colour. Puree the soup in a liquidiser. Taste and correct seasoning.

Enjoy with some crusty bread.

Foragers Salad

A selection of wild leaves such as:

Dandelion leaves

wild watercress

wild landcress

bittercress

chickweed

wild sorrel

oxalis

pennywort also known as Bread and Butter

Dressing

3 tablespoons cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon apple balsamic vinegar or Forum chardonnay vinegar

pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Allow 1 handful of the wild leaves per person. Wash carefully in cold water and dry in a salad spinner. Keep chilled until ready to use.

To make the dressing.

Whisk the oil, vinegar and salt to mix. Taste and correct the seasoning. Toss the dried leaves in just enough of the dressing to make the leaves glisten. Taste a leaf to check that the seasoning is well balanced.

Serve immediately.

Apple, Blackberry and Sweet Geranium Tart with Sweet Geranium Sugar

The pastry is made by the creaming method so people who are convinced that they suffer from ‘hot hands’ don’t have to worry about rubbing in the butter.  It can be made and frozen ahead.

Serves 8-12

Pastry

225g butter

50g caster sugar

2 eggs, preferably free range

350g plain flour, preferably unbleached

Filling

600g Bramley Seedling cooking apples

110g blackberries

6 sweet geranium leaves, torn

150g sugar

egg wash-made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk

Sweet Geranium Sugar

2-4 sweet geranium leaves

50g caster sugar

To Serve

softly whipped cream

1 x 23cm x 2.5cm deep round tart tin

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

First make the pastry.

Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.

Meanwhile, make the Sweet Geranium Sugar.

Whizz the sweet geranium leaves with the caster sugar in a food processor. Spread over a baking tray and set aside at room temperature to dry out.

To make the tart.

Roll out the pastry 3mm thick approx. and use about two-thirds of it to line a suitable tin. Peel, quarter and dice the apples into the tart, add the blackberries and torn sweet geranium leaves, sprinkle with sugar. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When cooked, sprinkle lightly with Sweet Geranium Sugar and serve with softly whipped cream.

This week a column for students heading off to college with a limited budget and even more limited batterie de cuisine or ‘kitchen kit’.
First a list of basic essentials if you’re to rustle up anything at all in your kitchen. Hopefully you’ll have an oven but I’m not taking this for granted, but I am assuming that you’ll have some sort of hob or a couple of gas jets. I’m also assuming that you’ll have basic cutlery and crockery.
So here we go…
a frying pan and egg slice
a wok
a 22.5cm saucepan and/or a casserole with lid
a nest of three Pyrex or stainless steel bowls
a coil whisk
a couple of wooden spoons, one with a round and the other straight ended
A few 20.5 or 23cm pasta bowls that can also be used for breakfast cereal, soup, stew, risotto or pudding…
I’m not a fan of the Instant pot. But many people are so I’ll leave that up to you but be very wary of the Teflon lined versions which are causing considerable anxiety in some areas. Check it out yourself.
With the few basics I’ve listed above you could make a myriad of dishes in a very short time. If your parents cook, badger them into giving you a couple of lessons before you leave for college and down a few of your favourite family recipes.
A few basics like tomato fondue – a gem, easy peasy to make, an all-rounder as a sauce, a topping for pizza or flatbread, a basis for all kinds of additions like mince, a fillet of fresh fish, a few mussels, a chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs. Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for several days or can be popped into the freezer at the top of your fridge.
Collect some recyclable containers and tubs to take with you.
Plain boiled rice or pilaf rice can of course be an accompaniment to something else but also a base for lots of tasty bits and bobs. A few little cubes of chorizo deliver so much bang for your buck in flavour terms, always worth having in your fridge to jizz up dishes from scrambled egg to a 30 second French omelette, a frittata or even a dish of pasta. Look out for Gubbeen chorizo, made by Fingal Ferguson in West Cork.
Another brilliant standby is a piece of nice fat streaky bacon which can be used in a similar way and also cut into skinny lardons to crisp up and sprinkle over a salad with a generous sprinkling of grated cheese.
Try to always have a few fresh eggs, a brilliant and inexpensive source of protein and it’s so easy to whip up a myriad of satisfying dishes, I could write a whole book on egg dishes alone.
Make friends with a local butcher and ask to buy scraps of inexpensive meat. Learn how to make one basic stew with lots of added root vegetables and a layer of potatoes on top so you’ll have a fine nourishing pot of comforting goodness.
A slow cooker would be another brilliant bit of kitchen kit, perhaps your grandparents might like to gift one to you before you leave for college. Then you could have a stew bubbling and ready to eat when you arrive back to your digs in the evening.
I don’t care how tired or stressed you are, try not to ever buy any ultra processed food and definitely avoid anything that is labelled low-fat, light or healthy, it usually means it isn’t…
Make it a priority to look after your tummy, there’s tons of research now to highlight the importance of a healthy gut biome which hugely affects both our physical and mental health. In other words, our energy level and ability to concentrate and achieve.

Tomato Fondue

Tomato fondue is one of our great convertibles, it has a number of uses, we serve it as a vegetable or a sauce for pasta, filling for omelettes, topping for pizza…It will keep for four or five days in the fridge and freezes perfectly.

Serves 6 approx.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

110g sliced onions

1 clove of garlic, crushed

900g very ripe tomatoes in summer, or 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes in winter, but peel before using

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar to taste

1 tbsp of any of the following;

freshly chopped mint, thyme, parsley, lemon balm, marjoram or torn basil

Heat the oil in a stainless steel sauté pan or casserole.  Add the sliced onions and garlic toss until coated, cover and sweat on a gentle heat until soft but not coloured – about 10 minutes. It is vital for the success of this dish that the onions are completely soft before the tomatoes are added.  Slice the peeled fresh tomatoes or chopped tinned tomatoes and add with all the juice to the onions.  Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar (tinned tomatoes need lots of sugar because of their high acidity).  Add a generous sprinkling of herbs. Cover and cook for just 10-20 minutes more, or until the tomato softens, uncover and reduce a little.  Cook fresh tomatoes for a shorter time to preserve the lively fresh flavour. 

Tinned tomatoes need to be cooked for longer depending on whether one wants to use the fondue as a vegetable, sauce or filling.

Variations

Tomato Fondue with Chilli

Add 1-2 chopped fresh chillies to the onions when sweating.

Penne with Tomato Fondue

Toss 450g of cooked penne or spaghetti with Tomato and Chilli Fondue.

Tomato and Chorizo Fondue 

Add ½-1 sliced or diced chorizo to the tomato fondue five minutes before the end of cooking, great with pasta.

Tomato, Bean and Rosemary Stew

Add 1 x 400g can of haricot beans or black-eyed beans and 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary to the above.

Tomato Fondue with Aubergines

Cut 450g Slim Jim aubergines into 7mm slices, sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.  Dab dry with kitchen paper. 

Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan on a high heat, toss the aubergines in batches and cook until golden on both sides, transfer to a bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons of chopped marjoram.  Season with freshly ground black pepper.  Add to the tomato fondue, taste and correct the seasoning. 

Tomato Fondue with Courgettes

Cut 450g courgettes into 1cm dice.

Heat some extra virgin olive oil in a pan on a high heat, toss the courgettes in batches and cook until golden, transfer to a bowl.  Add 2 tablespoons of chopped marjoram.  Season with freshly ground black pepper.  Add to the tomato fondue, taste and correct the seasoning. 

Pilaf Rice

Although a risotto can be made in 20 minutes, it entails 20 minutes of pretty constant stirring which makes it feel rather laboursome. A pilaf on the other hand looks after itself once the initial cooking is underway. The pilaf is versatile – serve it as a staple or add whatever tasty bits you have to hand but don’t be tempted to use it as a dustbin…!

Leftovers will keep in a covered box in the fridge for several days

Serves 4

15g butter

1 tbsp finely chopped onion or shallot

200g long-grain rice (preferably Basmati)

475ml homemade chicken stock

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp freshly chopped herbs e.g. parsley, thyme, chives: optional

Melt the butter in a casserole, add the finely chopped onion and sweat for 4-5 minutes. Add the rice and toss for a minute or two, just long enough for the grains to change colour. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, add the chicken stock, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a minimum and then simmer on top of the stove or in the oven 160°C/Gas Mark 3 for 10 minutes approx. By then the rice should be just cooked and all the water absorbed. Just before serving stir in the fresh herbs if using.

Note

Basmati rice cooks quite quickly; other types of rice may take up to 15 minutes.

Other good things to add to pilaf

Fresh spices, cubes of cooked chorizo, ham or bacon, freshly cooked chicken, sautéed mushrooms, tomato fondue, Parmesan and basil leaves, red and yellow pepper. 

Lamb or Beef Stew with Bacon, Onions and Garden Herbs

Chicken can be substituted for lamb or beef if desired, use brown meat preferably (legs/thighs).

Serves 4

175g green streaky bacon

900g should of lamb chops not less than 2.5cm in thickness, or stewing beef from the shin

seasoned white flour, preferably unbleached

a little butter or oil for sautéing

225g onions

175g carrot, peeled and thickly sliced

375ml approx. lamb or beef stock or water

4-6 ‘old’ potatoes (optional)

sprig of thyme

freshly chopped parsley

Cut the rind off bacon and cut into approx. 1cm cubes.

Cut the meat into large cubes and roll in flour well-seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sauté the bacon until crisp, remove and put in a casserole. Add the meat to the pan and sauté until golden then add to the bacon in the casserole. Heat control is crucial here, the pan mustn’t burn yet it must be hot enough to sauté the meat. If it is cool the meat will stew rather than sauté and as a result the meat may be tough. Then quickly sauté the onions and carrots, adding a little butter if necessary, and put them into the casserole. Degrease the sauté pan and deglaze with the stock, bring to the boil and pour over the meat.

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

When the casserole is just cooked, strain off the cooking liquid, degrease and return degreased liquid to the casserole and bring to the boil. Add back in the meat, carrots, onions and potatoes, bring back to the boil.

The stew is very good served at this point. Serve bubbling hot sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Variations

Lamb or Beef Stew with Haricot Beans

Add 225g of precooked haricot beans to the stew about two-thirds of the way through cooking, omit the potatoes.

Lamb or Beef Stew with Haricot Beans and Tomatoes

Add 225g of precooked haricot beans to the stew about two-thirds of the way through cooking, omit the potatoes. Make x 1 recipe of Tomato Fondue and fold half of it into the stew just before serving, taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. You will have quite a different but equally delicious stew.

Lamb or Beef Stew with Spices

Add 1 teaspoon each of freshly roasted cumin and coriander seeds in with the carrots and onions and proceed as in the master recipe.