AuthorDarina Allen

This week, a more personal column. I’m somewhat incapacitated at present, recovering from a knee replacement. As I write it’s been three weeks to the day since my operation. Fortunately, I sailed blissfully into it without realising that it is in fact a major operation – how naive can you be?
In many ways, that was a bonus because I didn’t fret too much ahead of time, just delighted to remedy my banjaxed constantly aching knee. After three days, I arrived home from hospital with a bag of painkillers and reams of physio instructions. I HATE Physio but know it must be done and certainly must be worth persevering, because everybody tells me cheerfully that I’ll be a ‘new woman’ with a new lease of life in three or four months’ time, I certainly hope they’re right…
So I’ll continue to work on my 90° bends (Ouch) and give fervent thanks that we can now get ‘spare parts’ when our old joints wear out. I believe that my ‘bionic knee’ was actually manufactured locally. How fortunate are we?
So lots of healing to be done. The urge to sleep all day long is irresistible but apparently, NO I must get out of bed and walk to get those joints working! My physio, who is lovely but determined, taught my daughters how to help me. And I’m deeply grateful to all who repeat ‘Mar-vell-ous’ over and over again to encourage my painful efforts and to those who make me laugh and suggest programs like the Durrells that are easy on the nerves and take my mind off the aches and pains.
It’s slow but I definitely think that I’m making progress – who knew that there is a whole crutch lingo, bad leg, good leg, crutch and different colour crutches!
Mine are Kingfisher blue which coincidentally match my blue corduroy dress which means that I get lots of compliments for my stylish but none-the-less, totally accidental coordination!
I now know that this major op takes time to heal so I’ve been practising what I preach using food as my medicine…
I’ve been drinking lots of bone broth with thick-slices of buttered bread immersed in the nourishing liquid, so comforting that it should be good for my bones.

Lots of natural yoghurt and honey too with a scattering of crunchy ashura over the top. This is a delicious Middle Eastern breakfast cereal made from puffed rice, dried fruit, and toasted nuts. Brilliant stuff to start the day as is tangy milk kefir made from our own Jersey milk.

Macroom oatmeal porridge is another wonderful way to add pep to your step, full of vitamins and minerals, they contain unique antioxidants called avenanthramides – there’s a mouthful!

I went out of my way to find organic, chemical-free, free-range, pasture fed, beef, lamb, pork and liver.

The shrimp season has just opened in Ballycotton. For just a few months in the year we can get these little grey shrimps which turn bright pink when cooked in boiling salted water (1 heaped tablespoon of salt to 1.2 litres of water). They too have lots of omega-3 and calcium, particularly if one eats the shells as I do. The heads are too prickly, so I don’t eat them but still suck out the delicious contents from the head.

Carrageen Moss is another favourite with soft brown sugar and Jersey cream, lots of iodine, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
One of my best treats was this blackberry and sweet geranium posset made from the wild blackberries (high in Vitamin E, K and C and lots of dietary fibre. They are dripping off the brambles in hedgerows all over the countryside at present.
Pick as many as you can. Use them in every way possible, from breakfast cereals to smoothies, crumbles, tarts, jams, jellies and best of all they freeze brilliantly. Just tray freeze first, then pour the frozen berries into bags or plastic boxes to enjoy during the winter.
The combination of sweet geranium, (Pelargonium Graveolens) and blackberries are a marriage made in heaven. If you don’t already have a plant, look out for them at your local garden centre or we have them here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School Farm Shop in Shanagarry (telephone in advance 021 4646785).

Ashura Cereal

Ashura is a traditional Turkish dessert known as Noah’s Ark pudding.  The legend goes that, running low on supplies in the Ark, Noah boiled together everything they had – dried wheat, beans, fruit, nuts, spices and honey. Can be served for breakfast (minus the beans) with yoghurt, jam and fresh fruit but is also great with just milk or even on its own as an addictive nibble.  This recipe was given to us by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich from Honey & Co Restaurant in London.

 
Ingredients

95ml sunflower or coconut oil
110g honey
110g dark soft brown sugar
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground mahleb seeds or replace with freshly ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom pods
1 x packet puffed rice (160g)
85g pecans, roughly chopped
40g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
30g sesame seeds
85g almonds, very roughly chopped

Method
Preheat the oven to fan 170°C/Gas Mark 4.

Line a couple of large flat baking trays with baking parchment.

Combine the oil, honey and sugar in a medium saucepan and set on a high heat. Mix well and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to avoid it burning on the base.

Place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

Once the honey syrup is bubbling, carefully pour it over the dry ingredients in the bowl.  Use a large spoon to stir, turning the contents of the bowl over a few times until everything is well coated with the syrup.  Transfer the mixture to the baking trays and flatten it out a little so that there is an extra there is an even layer of cereal.

Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Carefully remove one tray at a time and mix the cereal around to make sure everything is getting roasted and crispy.  Return the trays to the oven for an additional 5-6 minutes, then remove and leave the ashura to cool entirely on the trays before breaking into large clusters.

Once the cereal is cold, transfer it to an airtight container.  This keeps for well over 2 weeks, if you don’t get addicted and eat it all before then!

Macroom Oatmeal Porridge

Virtually every morning in Winter I start my day with a bowl of porridge.  Search out Macroom stoneground oatmeal which has the most delicious toasted nutty flavour.  It comes in a lovely old-fashioned red and yellow pack which I hope they never change.

Serves 4

Ingredients

155g Macroom oatmeal

1.4 litres water

1 level teaspoon salt

obligatory accompaniment!

soft brown sugar

Method

Bring 6 cups of water to the boil, sprinkle in the oatmeal, gradually stirring all the time.  Put on a low heat and stir until the water comes to the boil.

Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the salt and stir again.  Serve with Jersey cream or whole (preferably raw) milk and soft brown sugar melting over the top or any other favourite toppings of your choice.

Leftover porridge can be stored in a covered container in the fridge – it will reheat perfectly the next day but will need some extra water added.

Note

If the porridge is waiting, keep covered otherwise it will form a skin which is difficult to dissolve.

Rory O’Connell’s Blackberry and Sweet Geranium Posset

Make these delightful little possets with the freshly picked wild blackberries now in season.

Rory likes to serve them in little cups or glasses. The portions should be quite small as this is quite a rich little dish, but as Rory says, it’s better to be longing for one more spoonful rather than being faced with too much food. Frozen blackberries work remarkably well during the Winter months.

Serves 8

Ingredients

400ml cream

90g caster sugar

5 leaves of rose or lemon scented geranium

100g blackberries

50ml lemon juice

Method

Place the cream, sugar, geranium leaves and blackberries in a small saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Stir the saucepan occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Maintain that bare simmer for 5 minutes. If the cream boils hard the texture and consistency of the posset will be spoiled.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. You will notice the colour of the cream improving dramatically as soon as the lemon juice goes in. Now strain the cream through a sieve to remove the geranium leaves and at the same time push as much of the blackberries through as possible.

Pour the strained cream into 8 little cups or glasses and allow to cool before placing in the fridge for 3 hours to set. The posset will keep perfectly in your fridge for several days. I like to cover them to protect the delicate flavour.

Serve with a little softly whipped cream and if you have them, a fresh or crystallised rose petal and a nougatine biscuit from Rory O’Connell’s The Joy of Food published by Gill Books.

I’m a bit like a broken record but here I go again – I’m super proud of so many of our Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni who are making a difference in food and farming in a myriad of different ways all round the world. They find all sorts of ways to use their food knowledge for the betterment of mankind, not just in the restaurant, café and hospitality business.

How about Sophie Morris?
Perhaps, you are already one of her 500,000 plus followers on Instagram, if not, she’s definitely one to watch…particularly now, as we all become increasingly confused and desperate to find real food to feed to ourselves and our children. How do we avoid calorie dense, nutrient poor, ultra-processed food that leaves us over fed and under nourished.
Sophie who comes from a family who love to cook, did a 12 Week Cookery Course here in 2008.
She loved the super delicious food and really understood the value of sourcing really good quality chemical-free produce to cook with.
Seeing is believing, she saw with her own eyes the increase in her friends energy, vitality level and ability to concentrate and was convinced of the of the life enhancing quality of real food.
Sophie is an entrepreneur through and through. After she graduated, she set up a cookie dough business which was wildly successful not just here in Ireland but was also exported to the UK, France and the United Arab Emirates. Having turned down an offer of a €70,000 investment on Dragons’ Den. She was approached by one of the major multinationals to produce an ‘own brand’ Kooky Dough. Soon there was pressure to dumb down her original delicious cookie dough.
The subsequent, behind the scenes experience gave her a deep understanding of what goes on in the food industry to produce ever cheaper, hyper palatable, addictive food often at the expense of our health. She saw firsthand the pressure on producers to reduce costs by using ever cheaper ingredients and the huge power that the multinational food brands have. She gained an industry level insight into the skill of food labelling language, misleading health claims and strategic marketing.
The time she spent immersed in the food industry made her determined to help others to make sense of our current food system.
Eventually, the constant pressure to make the Kooky Dough cheaper was too much, as it is for many who are really passionate about the flavour and quality of the product they create. She was fortunate to sell the business to a large bakery, unfortunately, not the outcome for every small producer, many of whom give up in frustration and disillusionment as their product becomes more and more dumbed down to produce ever cheaper food.
She went on to help launch Cool Beans with friends, completed two diplomas in nutrition and fulfilled her dream to write her first cookbook, the bestseller, Sophie Kooks. Sophie was named Image magazines Young Businesswoman of the Year in 2012.
Fast forward to now…
In the meantime, Sophie has earned extraordinary trust among Irish consumers which in turn has drawn significant interest from the retailers who approached Sophie to work exclusively with them. However, Sophie made the decision to stay independent. She turned down all the opportunities in order to create change within the food industry. She is best known for scanning and highlighting ingredients in products on the shelves of our supermarkets, translating the labelling into plain English and highlighting the ingredients not found in a normal home kitchen- colourings, emulsifiers, preservatives….
Best of all she identifies less processed alternatives, often cheaper and better quality.
In her newly published cookbook, aptly named Sophie’s Swaps, she shares her top product tips from the five biggest supermarket chains in Ireland and 50 of her favourite recipes for fuss free family cooking at home, how about that?
What a contribution? This book may well change the way you shop, inspire you to cook and hopefully start a food revolution, one trolley at a time.
Sophie’s Swaps published by Gill Books is widely available in all good local bookshops.
Here are a few recipes to whet your appetite.

Miso Creamy Mushroom on Toast

Miso in another great fermented food that will keep your gut bacteria happy! I love to mix miso paste with butter and keep it in the fridge as a quick topping for things like potatoes or steamed veggies: it tastes amazing and you’re getting your fermented food in – win-win!

Miso and mushrooms complement each other so well with their umami flavour, and this makes a delicious, speedy lunch you can whip up in less than 15 minutes! You can leave out the cream cheese if you prefer.

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

large handful of mushrooms of your choice, finely sliced

½ tbsp white miso paste (Fused)

1 large slice of good-quality sourdough

1 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Method

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. When it is hot, add the mushrooms to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.

Next add the miso paste with a splash of water. Turn the heat down and cook for a few more minutes until you’re left with a thick glaze around the mushrooms.

Meanwhile, toast the sourdough and spread the toast with cream cheese. Top the toast with the miso mushrooms and the chopped chives. Season with pepper, if you wish (there will already be enough saltiness from the miso).

Sophie’s Tip

I like to use a combo of chestnut mushrooms and shiitake for this recipe.

Salted Chocolate Berry and Peanut Butter Bark

Bark recipes like this are my favourite way to prepare delicious treats. Not only do they taste INCREDIBLE, but they’re also so quick and easy to make. With no baking or any need to roll the mixture into individual balls. The measurements don’t need to be too exact, either – you can messily throw it together, place it on a baking tray in one single layer, and it will always turn out perfectly! You can also easily swap out ingredients – if you don’t like peanut butter, try almond or cashew butter, or swap the raspberries with blueberries.

This bark is also a really nutritious treat as it’s high in fibre and other important nutrients like magnesium. I guarantee it will become one of your staples once you try it, and it’s also a showstopper to offer to guests who come round for tea.

Makes about 16 Squares

Ingredients

230g dark chocolate, broken into squares

1 tsp coconut oil

80g raspberries

1 tbsp 100% nut peanut butter (Nutshed or Lidl’s 100% nuts peanut butter)

sprinkle of ground cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

Method

Put the chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with a few centimetres of water (making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water). Turn on the heat and let the water come to the boil and then turn off the heat. Leave the chocolate to melt, stirring gently now and again to help it along.

Grease a 20cm square baking dish using butter or coconut oil and line it with baking parchment.

When the chocolate has melted, pour half of it into the base of the baking dish and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle an even layer of raspberries over the chocolate. Drizzle the peanut butter on top of the raspberries. Add a sprinkling of cinnamon and then top with the remaining half of the melted chocolate, coating everything in an even layer. Finish by sprinkling a pinch of sea salt flakes on top.

Put the baking dish in the freezer for about 45 minutes to set.

Remove from the freezer and cut into whatever sized squares you wish! Store them in the fridge and they will keep well for 5-6 days.

Three-Ingredient Mango Ice Cream

When deciding on what recipes to include in this book, I asked my oldest son, Wrio, what his favourite recipe was and he said straight away, ‘mango ice cream!’ So that will tell you just how popular this recipe is with both my boys! So much so that I really wanted them to be in the photo for this recipe, which I know will be such a treasured memory.

This recipe is technically frozen yogurt, so it’s a really nutritious swap from ice cream, and it’s really simple to make! You can buy frozen mango in most supermarkets, and I prefer using mango to other fruits in this recipe before frozen mango makes the most perfect texture for ice cream. You can of course try it with other frozen fruits too, and it would also be gorgeous.

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients

320g frozen mango

220g full fat Greek yogurt

1 tbsp honey

Method

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz together. Leave the food processor on for a few minutes, as it takes time to break down the mango and get rid of all lumps. Be patient at the start – it might look like it needs more liquid to blend, but don’t be tempted to add any as it will start to break down and come together.

Taste and add more honey if you prefer it sweeter.

Enjoy this as a soft-serve style ice cream or smoothie bowl, or transfer to a container and allow to harden in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Once frozen, it scoops perfectly, just like ice cream!

It wasn’t until Lou Robbie had her first child that she really realised how fortunate she was being able to cook. Having learned basic cooking skills, she was more than capable of feeding the family real, affordable, wholesome homemade food.

She attended catering college and cooked as a professional chef for many years.
Many of her friends with very successful careers were struggling while she could easily whip up purées, finger foods and ‘weaning dinners’ from scratch. Lou had an irresistible urge to help others to find the confidence to do the same. She grew up in rural Ireland in the 80’s, one of six children in a typical household. The weekly menu was predictable, there was always fish on Friday’s and a roast dinner on Sunday.
Her mum made brown bread, apple tarts, sponge cakes…Treats like chocolate were rare enough and school lunch was always a cheese or ham and cheese sandwich on white bread.
In her 20’s she donned her backpack and headed off to see the world. During her travels in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, she was exposed to a whole new world of exciting flavours.
When the pandemic hit, she, like so many others, found herself trapped at home, cooking just for her family. She started to share tips and recipes online, the response was phenomenal. In 2021, Little Lou Cooks was born to give online cooking classes to both adults and children.
It gathered momentum fast, thousands of parents wanted to swap shop-bought meals for healthier, homemade food that they could make in advance and perhaps freeze.
A video of batch baking homemade snacks suitable for freezing for her kids’ school lunches went viral and now Lou has over 1 million followers across her social media platforms. The feedback she gets from grateful parents is touching and inspired her to write MAKE AND FREEZE.
Here’s just one from Jennifer…
‘Hi there! I just wanted to say thanks for your school lunchbox recipes and the stew one too! We’re all well fed here today. The kids help bake over midterm, so we have lovely family time too. I was buying flapjacks and pancakes, but now we’re stocked for a few weeks of delicious homemade snacks and I know exactly what’s in them!’
There are lots more which shows how this book has helped to change so many people’s lives.
Chapters include hearty energy packed breakfasts, savoury and sweet lunchboxes, slow cooked dinners, air fryer (as you know I’m not a fan, but many are). Family pies, stews, weekday and weekend favourites, bread and sneaky sweet stuff…
All homely and delicious with lots of clever tips and riffs on favourite dishes. This may well be the book you wished you had years ago.

All recipes are from Make & Freeze Cookbook by Lou Robbie published by Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House UK)

Nut Free Energy Balls

There are some recipes in this book that were stepping-stones to get to where I am today! In November 2023 I shared a montage reel of me making snacks for the lunchbox. That reel was a viral hit and brought me a huge number of new followers. These energy balls played a starring role, and they have been made for thousands of kids’ lunchboxes across the world! So cool to see.

Makes 12

Storage:

Keep these in the fridge for up to 7 days.

To Freeze:

Freeze in a labelled ziplock bag for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost in an airtight container on the worktop overnight.

TIP: To change up the flavour, add ½ teaspoon of orange zest to the blended mix.

Ingredients

115g pitted dates

40g rolled oats

60g mixed seeds

20g desiccated coconut, plus 20g extra to finish

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

Put the dates into a bowl, cover with boiling water, leave to soften for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the oats, seeds, coconut and cocoa powder in a processor – the texture should be coarse and not too fine.

Drain the dates and add them to the blender, then blend until it looks like a thick paste. If it looks dry and won’t clump, add a dash of boiled water and blend again.

Roll the mixture into balls, big or small – whichever you prefer.

To finish, pour the extra desiccated coconut into a wide bowl. Lightly wet your hands to help the coconut stick, then roll the balls again and toss them in the coconut. Put the balls into a container and pop them into the fridge to firm up.

‘Cowboy Supper’ Sausage & Bean Casserole

This a hearty, tasty and comforting dish, ideal for the cowboys and cowgirls in your life! Beans and sausages are the perfect pair for a tasty midweek supper, and it’s also a budget-friendly meal if you’re trying to keep food costs low. Imagine a cold wintry Wednesday when it’s damp and dreary and everyone’s coming home to a warm house with a cosy fire. The first smell they get as they open the door is this comforting slow-cooker casserole . . . perfect.

Serves 4

Storage:

Once cooked and cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To Freeze:

To save space in your freezer, portion the cooked and cooled bean casserole and freeze in labelled ziplock bags for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a pot or in the microwave until piping hot.

Ingredients

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

6 sausages, cut into quarters (450g)

2 onions, finely chopped

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 bay leaf

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato purée

600ml hot beef stock

1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans, drained

chopped fresh parsley, to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the sausages all over, then put them into the slow cooker. This step is important because the sausages won’t brown in the slow cooker. If you have time, brown the onions in the frying pan too, as this will give a better flavour to the finished dish.

Add all the rest of the ingredients except the cannellini beans and parsley to the slow cooker and cook either on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours.

Add the drained beans 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Creamy Garlic & Lemon Chicken with Buttery Mash and Veg

To me this is pure comfort food, and it makes a great Sunday family dinner without any of the fuss. Lemon chicken reminds me of a weekend we once had in Paris, before we had kids. I ordered it in a little restaurant in St Michel, and it was served with boiled potatoes and green beans, cooked with few ingredients but full of flavour. I love to cook dishes for my family that I’ve had on my travels. It always evokes lovely memories and interesting conversations with the kids.

Serves 4

Storage:

Once cooked and cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To Freeze:

To save space in your freezer, portion the cooked and cooled chicken and sauce and freeze in labelled ziplock bags for up to 3 months.

To Defrost:

Defrost overnight in the fridge. Reheat in a pan or in the microwave until piping hot.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp oregano oil, for cooking

zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

100ml hot chicken stock (use ½ a stock cube)

2 tbsp cornflour

½ tsp Dijon mustard

250ml double cream

To Serve

mashed potato

green beans

carrots

lemon wedges

chopped fresh parsley

Method

Warm a large frying pan on a medium heat. Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and oregano, add some oil to the pan, and sear for about 5 minutes, until brown all over. Put the chicken breasts into the slow cooker, add the lemon juice, lemon zest and garlic, and pour in the chicken stock. Cook on low for 4 hours, or on high for 2 hours.

After the cooking time, remove the chicken breasts to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Make a paste by mixing the cornflour, mustard and a tablespoon of water in a small bowl and pour this into a small pot. Put 2 ladles of the juices from the slow cooker into the pot of paste and whisk on a medium heat for a few minutes to cook out the cornflour, then add the cream and the rest of the juices and let it bubble and cook for a few minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed, then pour back into the slow cooker and put the chicken back too for a final 10 mins.

Serve with creamy mashed potato, green beans and carrots. Garnish with a lemon wedge and a sprinkle of chopped parsley.

As soon as Lily Mae Cox was old enough, her Mum, Jolene, propped her up in a highchair so she could watch her cook. Just like me, Jolene believes that the kitchen is definitely the heart of the home where all the fun begins. She’s super enthusiastic about encouraging kids to get hands-on with cooking and they love it.
In 2020, she launched the Family Cooking Club, a weekly online Cook – A – long for children to learn the skills of how to prepare delicious meals that they (even fussy eaters) want to eat.
Seeing Lily Mae enthusiastically talking and cooking on camera got thousands of kids hooked, Her enthusiasm is infectious and now there’s the book, NOW YOU’RE COOKING!
It’s got 70 recipes, carefully chosen for kids from 5 to 12.
There have been a myriad of books for children but many ‘talk down’ to kids, NOW YOU’RE COOKING seems different to me. Jolene and Lily Mae  speak directly to kids,  sharing tried and tested recipes that provide them with the skills and confidence to cook real food that they really love to eat.
And yes, five-year-olds can cook, this book introduces children to the simple basics,, how to use knives safely, grate cheese, garlic and onions, lemon zest and ginger without grating your fingers, how to make carrot ribbons, diced peppers, how to chop fresh herbs and test to make sure your chicken is cooked.
Starting with perfectly cooked simple classics, like rice, potatoes and pasta, Joeleen and Lily Mae bring everyone along, gently and steadily, sharing recipes like a brilliant energy boosting crunchy granola for breakfast, simply delicious recipes for lunch and after school fuel, one pot wonders, tray bakes, ‘can’t wait to tuck into’ dinners and the sort of sweet treats every kid will enjoy.
Well, Lily Mae affectionately known as Lils, didn’t ‘lick it off a stone’  as we say in Cork,  her mother Jolene, is an award winning food writer and a content creator who has been featured on national TV as well as newspapers and magazines.
Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in NOW YOU’RE COOKING, published by Nine Bean Rows.

Crunchy Granola

Making your own crunchy granola is like stepping into history if you use a pestle and mortar – it’s one of the oldest kitchen tools there is. The mortar is the heavy bowl and the pestle is the stick. (Even grown-ups still forget which one is which.) You use the pestle to smash and crush the nuts inside the mortar, just like cavemen and cavewomen did with their food. It’s a fun way to mix things up, literally!

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

100g mixed nuts (try almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans,

pistachios and/or walnuts)

300g jumbo oats

50g desiccated coconut

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt

180ml maple syrup or honey

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

100g mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas and/or dried

cranberries)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C for a conventional oven or 180°C for a fan oven.

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

To crush the nuts, put them in a pestle and mortar. Press and twist the pestle (the stick) to break them into smaller pieces, but not too small – you still want some chunky pieces. If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, put the nuts in a Ziplock bag, seal it closed and gently bash them with a rolling pin, which is still fun!

Put the crushed nuts, oats, coconut, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir together.

Put the maple syrup or honey, oil and vanilla in a separate small bowl or measuring jug and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir everything together.

Spread the mixture evenly onto the lined baking tray, then press it down firmly with a spatula.

Put the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Using oven gloves, carefully remove the tray from the oven and put it on a wooden chopping board or on the hob to protect your countertop. Use a spatula to stir the granola, then spread it back out in an even layer and put it back in the oven to cook for 10 more minutes.

Use oven gloves again to remove the tray from the oven and put it on a wire rack. Let the granola cool completely, then add the mixed dried fruit. Use clean hands to break up any big clumps of granola and mix in the fruit.

Put your granola in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for up to two weeks.

Tropical Berry Smoothie Bowl

Our smoothie bowl recipe is just a guide, so get creative. Add your favourite fruits, nuts, seeds or even chocolate chips. Scatter, drizzle and dollop as much as you like. Just grab a bowl, and remember, the more colour, the more flavour. Like all good art, nothing is out of bounds (within reason, of course!).

Serves 2 to 4

Ingredients

300g frozen berries

100g frozen mango

200g natural Greek yogurt

1 tbsp milk

Topping suggestions:

fresh raspberries and/or blueberries

sliced strawberries and/or sliced bananas

hazelnuts, pecans, flaked almonds and/or walnuts

a handful of granola (see recipe)

a handful of raisins or chocolate chips

a handful of desiccated coconut

maple syrup or honey, to drizzle

Method

Put your frozen fruit, yogurt and milk in a blender (ensure there is an adult present to help). Make sure the lid is on tight, then blend until smooth. Wait until the blender stops before taking the lid off and keep your hands away from the blades. Pour the smoothie into cereal bowls.

Now it’s time to have fun! Add your favourite toppings, like fruit, nuts, granola, raisins, chocolate chips or coconut, then drizzle a little maple syrup or honey on

top. And remember, the more colour, the better!

Meatball Subs

With the perfect blend of herbs, these meatballs turn into flavour bombs. Stick those flavour bombs into a sub (which is a bread roll to you and me), smother them in tomato sauce and top it with melty cheese, and just like that, you’ve got the ultimate after-school feast. Or make a batch of the classic tomato sauce and cook a packet of spaghetti and put it all together to make spaghetti and meatballs.

Makes 4

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

500g beef mince (at least 8% fat)

50g Parmesan cheese

1 garlic clove

a few sprigs of fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp dried chilli flakes

salt and pepper

For the subs:

4 hot dog rolls or mini baguettes

1 x 125g ball of fresh mozzarella

150g classic tomato sauce (see recipe)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C for a conventional oven or 180°C for a fan oven.

Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

To make the meatballs, put the beef mince in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.

Grate the Parmesan, then add it to the well. Peel the garlic, then grate it straight into the bowl.

Pick the basil leaves off the stems, then tear the leaves into the well (or add the dried basil if you’re using that). Add the oregano, onion powder, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper, then mix everything together using your clean hands.

Divide the mixture into four equal portions, then divide each portion in three to make 12 portions in total. Roll each one into a ball, then put the meatballs on one of the lined baking trays.

Put the tray in the preheated oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the meatballs are fully cooked. To check, cut one in half to make sure there is no pink meat in the middle. If there is, put them back in the oven and cook for 5 more minutes, then check again.

Put your rolls or baguettes flat on your chopping board and put your hand on top to steady the bread. Use a serrated bread knife in a gentle sawing motion to cut each one horizontally through the centre, going all the way through. (Some hot dog rolls and mini baguettes come pre-sliced, so keep an eye out for those.) Put the split rolls on the second baking tray, cut sides facing up.

Tear the ball of mozzarella into pieces, then put one-quarter of the cheese on the top half of each roll. Spread some tomato sauce on the bottom half of each roll. Put the tray in the oven for the last 5 minutes of the meatballs’ cooking time to warm the rolls and melt the cheese.

Using oven gloves, carefully remove the tray of meatballs and the tray of subs. Put one tray on a wooden chopping board and one tray on a clean tea towel to protect your countertop.

To serve, put three meatballs on the bottom half of each roll, then sandwich together with the top half.

Classic Tomato Sauce

A good tomato sauce is the base for so many dishes that we always have the ingredients for it in the kitchen. That’s why when I’m hungry, it’s one of my favourite things to rustle up. We always add a little sugar to our tomato sauce because it helps to balance out the natural acidity in the tomatoes, which can sometimes make them taste bitter. But did you know that many jarred sauces are packed with sugar? By making your own, you control exactly how much goes in. And the best part? A classic tomato sauce not only tastes amazing, but it also counts as one of your five a day!

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes

a big handful of fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil

½ tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

Peel and grate your garlic.

Method

Put the olive oil in a saucepan, then put the pan on the hob on a low heat to let the oil warm up. Add the garlic and cook for just 1 minute, until you can smell it. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper and stir everything together.

With the pan still on a low heat, let the sauce simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then. You want the sauce to get a little thicker and all the flavours to get to know each other.

Your sauce is now ready to use, but you can put it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. Or you can let it cool down, then put it in a freezer proof bag in the freezer for up to six months.

Not sure about you but we have a fantastic crop of apples this year, both cookers and eaters, this is definitely not an annual occurrence. The weather must have been perfect for pollination during the apple blossom in May.

I don’t take this wonderful bounty for granted so I’m doing my utmost to use as many as possible. We’ve been picking up the windfalls both sour and sweet to make apple jelly. No need to peel but give them a wash first under the cold tap. Cut off any bruises, then quarter and pop into a deep saucepan, pips and all. They include lots of pectin which will help the apple jelly to set. This is a brilliant master recipe, the version I remember from childhood was dripped overnight in a jelly bag or an old pillow slip and always flavoured with cloves, a rich translucent orange coloured jelly gleaming through the glass jars.

Throughout the years, I realised that one could add a myriad of other flavours to make it sweet or savoury. Of course, chopped spearmint or rosemary to serve with lamb and pork or slathered on crumpets warm off the griddle. Fresh sage and apple jelly with pork.

Sweet geranium is another of our favourites, delicious on scones or with meats.

We’re right into early autumn foraging at present – plump juicy blackberries are also in abundance this year. Elderberries are ripe already, weeks earlier than usual as are sloes. If you are up the mountains or even hills, rowanberries are dripping off the bushes. All of these can be added to windfall or crab apples to make apple jellies, either individually or add a fistful of this and that for forager’s jelly. Delicious with game, terrines or many of the aforementioned meats.

If like us, you have more windfall apples than you can cope with, just cook in water until soft, drip and then freeze the juice so you can make more apple jelly when the ‘humour comes on you’ maybe in winter or for Christmas presents. We freeze the juice in plastic litre or gallon containers.

The other brilliant standby is stewed apple or windfall purée or a simple compote.

Use it for apple sauce, base for a crumble or apple snow. Little tubs in the freezer, defrost quickly even in a bowl of hot water. If you too have more apples than you can eat or share with your friends, maybe drop a basket or two into a homeless shelter or direct provision centre. Penny Dinners in Cork are always glad of any contributions.

Meanwhile, here’s a recipe for Apple Charlotte which I suddenly got a longing for. Serve it with custard and oodles of softly whipped cream.

Sorrel and Apple Juice

A clean fresh-tasting drink that’s packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

Makes 2-3 glasses

225g sorrel, weighed after stalks have been removed

approx. 4-6 dessert apples, depending on size

Destalk the sorrel and juice in a juice extractor; 225g sorrel should yield 125ml sorrel juice.

Cut the apples into quarters or eights and juice (makes approx. 225ml juice).

Mix the two juices together.

Taste and enjoy as soon as possible, served chilled in small glasses.

Nana Dennehy’s Apple Pie

Another everlasting favourite.

Ingredients

225g butter

200g caster sugar

4 organic, free-range eggs

325g self-raising flour

1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

2 good sized cooking apples

2 tbsp caster sugar for sprinkling

22.5cm round tin

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Grease the tin with a little butter.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in colour. 

Add the eggs one at a time incorporating a little sifted flour each time and optional cinnamon. Beat well between each addition. (If the butter and sugar are not creamed properly and if you add the eggs too fast, the mixture will curdle, resulting in a cake with a heavier texture).  Pour the mixture into the tin.

Peel and core the cooking apples and slice into 1cm slices.  Arrange overlapping in a concentric circle on top of the mixture.  Sprinkle with caster sugar.  Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and springy to the touch.

Serve warm with whipped cream or lashings of custard!

Apple Charlotte

This is the scrummiest, most wickedly rich apple pudding ever. A friend, Peter Lamb, makes it as a special treat for me every now and then. It’s also a brilliant and delicious way to use up bread and apples. I make my Apple Charlotte from old varieties of eating apples – my favourites are Egremont Russet, Charles Ross, Cox’s Orange Pippin or Pitmaston Pineapple. It’s sinfully rich but gorgeous.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

225g butter, for clarifying

1kg dessert apples

2-3 tbsp water

175g caster sugar, plus extra to dust

2 organic, free-range egg yolks

good-quality white yeast bread

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.

To make the clarified butter, melt the butter gently in a saucepan or in the oven. Allow it to stand for a few minutes and then spoon the crusty white layer of salt particles off the top of the melted butter. Underneath this crust there is clear liquid butter, which is the clarified butter. The milky liquid at the bottom can be discarded or used in a white sauce. Clarified butter is excellent for cooking because it can withstand a higher temperature when the salt and milk particles are removed. It will keep covered in the fridge for several weeks.

Peel and core the apples. Melt a little of the clarified butter in a stainless steel saucepan, chop the apples into cubes and add to the saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of water and the sugar. Cover and cook over a gentle heat until the apples break into a thick pulp. Beat in the egg yolks one by one – this helps to enrich and thicken the apple purée. Taste and add a little more sugar if necessary.

Melt the remaining clarified butter and use a little of this to brush the inside of a 13 x 20cm loaf tin (or an 18cm round springform tin) then dust it with caster sugar. Cut the crusts off the bread and cut into strips about 4cm wide and 13cm high and quickly brush them with the clarified butter. Line the sides of the tin with butter-soaked bread. Cut another strip to fit tightly into the base of the tin. Brush it on both sides with butter and tuck it in tightly. Fill the centre with the apple pulp. Cut another strip of bread to fit the top. Brush with melted butter on both sides and fit it neatly to cover the purée.

Bake for 20 minutes then reduce the heat to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 for a further 15 minutes or until the bread is crisp and a rich golden colour.

To serve, run a knife around the edges in case the bread has stuck to the tin. Invert the Apple Charlotte onto a warm oval serving plate. It won’t look like a thing of beauty, it may collapse a bit, but it will taste wonderful. Serve with lots of softly whipped cream.

Did you know that tomatoes are a mood boosting food – perhaps you have already noticed but there are tomatoes and tomatoes…literally hundreds of varieties and some are definitely more mood enhancing than others!
We usually grow about 25 different types, red, green, yellow, wine coloured, stripy, black…
This year we have fewer, because as some of you may know, we dismantled our old greenhouse before Christmas. We were very, very sad, it had fed us deliciously for over 56 years, but we could no longer ignore the cost of the upkeep and leaks, creaks and drips!
At present the finishing touches are just being put to a brand new acre block of glasshouses for organic production. We are super excited and look forward to using it as a protected garden from Autumn onwards – if you are in the Shanagarry area, come and see it – it’s impressive!
Meanwhile, we have been growing a variety of tomatoes in a tunnel.
We’ve got an abundance right now, many shapes, sizes and colours so we’re tucking into tomatoes in various guises for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Many are heirloom varieties with intriguing names like Bocati, Cindel, Yellow Perfection, San Marzano, Green Zebra, Sakura, Sweet Aperitif, Iris…Lots of sweet little cherry tomatoes like Yellow Submarine, Black Cherry and Sungold. Some of the large varieties like Brandywine weigh as much as 450g and are a meal in themselves.
If you haven’t managed to grow some of your own this year, go along to your nearest Farmers’ Market and seek out a stall selling homegrown tomatoes that have been ripened on the vine. As I mentioned in last week’s article, they’ll have extra flavour and their full complement of the all-important lycopene, an antioxidant which boosts our immune systems and helps lower cholesterol as well as being packed with vitamins, minerals and the all-important mood enhancing properties.
With a few rare exceptions, tomatoes in our supermarkets will have been picked off green and underripe to facilitate transportation. They gradually ripen in transit rather than on the vine, soaking up the rays of the sun. The latter is what provides the WOW factor and boosts the nutrient density.
A brilliant cooks tip that may sound counter intuitive, always season both raw and cooked tomatoes, not just with flaky sea salt and fresh cracked pepper but also a generous sprinkling of sugar to counter the acidity and make them sing…. 
Real as opposed to faux honey is also delicious on a tomato salad, I love the version dressed with freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil and a generous drizzle of local wildflower honey.
Don’t forget the classic Caprese with slices of tender buffalo mozzarella interspersed, with slices of super ripe tomato and lots of fresh basil leaves. That Italian summer classic is at its best right now.  You might also like to try pairing ripe tomatoes with juicy peaches or nectarines and fresh mint leaves – so good!
Chilled cubes of watermelon and tomato are another irresistible combination, add some wispy thin slices of red onion and a few mint leaves and maybe a little crumbled feta for extra protein.
Even the simple combination of tomato, ripe but still firm avocado and crispy cucumber is a permanent favourite. I’d add some fresh basil leaves to that and maybe toss in some small, hand torn, cubes of yesterday’s bread to soak up the juices, then you have a variation on a Mediterranean bread salad such as Fattoush or Panzanella. 
Ripe tomatoes cooked into a melting fondue, piperonata or ratatouille are super versatile and can indeed be frozen for a winter feast.
Towards the end of the season in late August, early September, buy a few chips of sweet, perfectly ripe, soft tomatoes and turn them into purée for winter soups and stews. They can also be frozen whole, literally just throw them into a container in the freezer. But for now, enjoy the juicy ripe Irish tomatoes at every opportunity…

Fresh Summer Tomato Juice

This is only worth making when you have very well flavoured vine ripened tomatoes, we made it from mid-August until about the end of September when our tomatoes have really developed intense flavour. 

Serves 5 approximately

Ingredients

450g peeled, halved, very ripe tomatoes

1 spring onion with a little green leaf or

1 sliced onion 5cm diameter and 5mm thick

3 large basil or mint leaves

2 tsp Forum white wine vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

110ml cold water

1 level tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

a few grinds of black pepper

Method

Liquidise the ingredients together, then strain through a nylon sieve. Taste and correct the seasoning.  Best when freshly made and better not kept for more than a few hours.  Serve unadorned in tall glasses with a sprig of mint. 

Tomato Granita

Make as above but add more sugar, it should taste sweeter than you reckon it should – use a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon of sugar because it will lose some of its sweetness during freezing…

We love to serve it with crab mayonnaise or even a few slices of ripe avocado and a leaf or two of fresh basil – delicious!

Warm Smoked Mackerel with Heritage Beef Tomatoes, Red Onion and Dill

One of my favourite ways to serve the large juicy heritage tomatoes, a delicious flavour combination with freshly smoked mackerel now that they’ve arrived in Ballycotton Bay at last.

It’s super easy to smoke your own fish inside a biscuit tin with a few tablespoons of sawdust. Lay the fish fillets, flesh side up on a tray, sprinkle the fish with pure salt as though you were seasoning generously.  Careful it’s easy to over salt if the fillets are thin.

Depending on the thickness of the fish, leave for at least an hour but not more than 3 hours. Dry the fillets with kitchen paper, place on a wire rack and allow to dry in a cool, airy place for 30 minutes approximately.

Put a wire rack into the biscuit tin and lay the fish, flesh side up on top. Put the box on a gas jet over a medium heat for a minute or so until the sawdust starts to smoulder. Cover the box.

Reduce the heat and smoke for 4-7 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.  Turn off the heat and allow to sit in the tin/smoked unopened for 5 minutes – remove from the tin and use as you fancy.

Serves 4

Ingredients
450g ripe heritage tomatoes
flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 fillets of freshly smoked mackerel drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small red onion or shallot, thinly sliced
dill sprigs

Method
Slice the tomato into 5mm rounds, season well with flaky salt, freshly ground black pepper and maybe a pinch of sugar. Put three slices on each plate, lay some chunks of smoked mackerel on top.
Slice the onion or shallots into paper thin rings, sprinkle some over the mackerel.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, a generous squeeze of lemon juice.  Sprinkle some dill sprigs over the top and serve.

Heirloom Tomato and Ricotta Tart

This gorgeous tart was inspired by a photo on the cover of a food magazine a number of years ago, it’s now one of our summer favorites. The ricotta and pecorino filling is uncooked, so be sure to assemble the tart close to the time of eating. Best made in late summer or early autumn when the tomatoes are exquisitely sweet. I use the delicious buffalo ricotta made in West Cork for this dish.

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the Pastry

150g plain white flour

75g cold butter

a little water, to bind

1 beaten organic, free-range egg, to seal

For the filling

250g buffalo ricotta

100g pecorino cheese, grated

2 tbsp double cream

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp chopped basil, thyme and marjoram, plus extra leaves to garnish

zest of ½ organic lemon

flaky sea salt

¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

650g mixed heritage and cherry tomatoes, including striped zebra (green), red and yellow cherry tomatoes, if available

Method

First make the pastry. All the ingredients should be cold. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes. Toss the cubes into the flour and then proceed to lift up a few cubes of butter at the time in each hand. Using your thumbs, rub the cubes of butter across the middle three fingers, towards the index fingers.

Allow the flakes of floured butter to drop back into the bowl, then pick up some more and continue until all the butter is rubbed in. As you rub in the butter, hold your hands well above the bowl and run your fingers through the flour to incorporate as much air as possible to keep the mixture cool. This whole process should only take a minute or two – careful not to rub the butter in too much, or the pastry will be heavy. The pieces should resemble lumpy breadcrumbs. If you are in doubt, shake the bowl and any larger pieces will come to the top. Add salt if using unsalted butter.

Using a fork, toss and stir the pastry as you add just enough water to bind, 2-3 tablespoons should do the trick. If you are in doubt, discard the fork and collect up the pastry with your hand as you will be able to judge more easily by feel if it needs a little more water. Careful not to make the pastry too wet or it will shrink in the oven. If the pastry is too dry, it will be difficult to roll out.

When the pastry has come together, turn it out onto the work surface and flatten it into an approx. 30cm round. Cover with greaseproof paper and, if possible, set aside in the fridge to rest for at least 15 minutes to allow the gluten to relax. The pastry will then be less likely to shrink in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Roll out the pastry to a circle approx. 25cm in diameter. Lift the pastry over a 23cm greased tart tin and press down gently around the sides. Trim around the edges with a sharp knife and prick the base gently with a fork. Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.

Transfer the pastry case to the oven and bake ‘blind’ for about 25 minutes until pale and golden. Remove the baking beans and paper. Brush the part-baked pastry case all over with a little beaten egg and pop it back into the oven for 5-10 minutes until pale golden brown all over. Set aside to cool.

To make the filling, combine the ricotta and pecorino in a bowl. Add the double cream, extra virgin olive oil, honey, herbs, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Mix gently together. Taste a little dollop of the filling with a slice of tomato and correct the seasoning, if necessary. It might need a little more honey.

Slice the larger tomatoes and cut the smaller cherry ones in half lengthways or crossways, as you prefer.

Not long before serving, spoon the ricotta filling into the cooked pastry case and arrange the tomatoes on top. I like to arrange the sliced, bigger ones, including the green zebra over the base and top with the smaller cherry tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, a little drizzle of honey (about ½ teaspoon) and lots of thyme and marjoram leaves. Garnish with a few little basil leaves and serve soon.

Yesterday evening, just as I was about to tuck into supper, I had a moment …Suddenly I thought of the incredible amount of work that actually went into growing and rearing the produce on my plate, not to mention cooking it.
Silently, I gave thanks for my nephew Darren who had put so much work into rearing the free range heritage pigs on his farm at Ballymaloe House.
For our local butcher, Frank Murphy and his son Brian in Midleton who cured the bacon for the succulent slice of glazed bacon on my plate (see recipe in my Examiner Column of June 28^th on Summer Picnics).
For the team of gardeners on the farm who had sown the seeds for the juicy roast tomatoes back in February, transplanted them at the end of March, tended and watered them for over four months for me to enjoy. The deep red tomatoes were ripened fully on the vine for maximum flavour, packed with lycopene, lots of other minerals and vitamins and super tasty.
Remember, scientists now understand that flavour equates to nutrient intensity – nature’s way of tempting us to eat healthy wholesome food. The tomatoes were halved, seasoned with flaky sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, a good sprinkling of sugar and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Fifteen minutes or so in a good hot oven and then a scattering of fresh herbs while still warm. You can’t imagine how delicious it was because the tomatoes were so good to start with.

The red and yellow peppers for the piperonata came from Caitriona Daunt at Organic Republic but the new season’s onion, tomatoes and basil were also from here.
The colcannon made from freshly dug potatoes, new season onions and cabbage took close to five months to grow too, a blight resistant variety called Kelly cultivated organically without a spec of glyphosate, just rich fertile soil enriched with compost and seaweed from the local strand.
Once again, special thanks to the gardeners for those and for the flat pod French beans. This is a brilliant variety called Hilda, they crop and crop and when the beans swell in the pods at the end of the season, they can be dried for winter soups and stews.
I also need to thank Billy for looking after the cows who produce the rich Jersey milk, the basis for the simple parsley sauce, a favourite from my childhood, soooo unctuous and delicious.
Next,  I thought of Maria, our Dairy Queen or was it Tiffin and gave thanks for the dollop of homemade butter melting over the beans and into my colcannon.
So much work and love went into producing the simple feast on my plate. Once again, in the Quaker tradition, I silently gave thanks to Mother Nature et al for every nourishing bite.
I don’t hanker after an expensive Prada handbag or a pair of Gucci shoes…For me to sit down to a plate of food where everything on the plate comes from the farm, gardens or local area is luxury indeed. How blessed am I.
Afterwards a bowl of Loganberry fool, accompanied by a couple of Jane’s biscuits, the name that Myrtle Allen gave these delicious little shortbread biscuits that the children made over and over again on wet afternoons.
Every bite has a story, that’s what memories are made of…

Colcannon

Songs have been sung, and poems have been written about Colcannon – one of our most traditional potato dishes. This comfort food at its very best has now been ‘discovered’ and is often a feature on chic restaurant menus in London and New York.

Did you ever eat colcannon

When ’twas made with yellow cream

And the kale and praties blended

Like a picture in a dream?

Did you ever scoop a hole on top

To hold the melting lake

Of the clover-flavoured butter

Which your mother used to make?

Serves 8-10 approximately

Ingredients

1.8kg ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

700g Savoy or spring cabbage

450ml approximately boiling milk or more if needed

salt and freshly ground pepper

50g approximately butter

Method

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

Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Boil in a little boiling water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter.

When the potatoes are just cooked, bring the milk to the boil. Pull the peel off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy purée. Then stir in the cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning.  For perfection, serve immediately in a hot dish with a lump of butter melting in the centre – the texture should be soft but not quite flowing.

Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point, covered and reheated later in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes approx. Add the butter just before serving

Note

Cover closely while reheating so it doesn’t get too crusty on top.

Piperonata

This is one of the indispensable trio of vegetable stews that we always reckon to have to hand. We use it not only as a vegetable but also as a topping for pizzas, as a sauce for pasta, grilled fish or meat and as a filling for omelettes and pancakes.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

225g onion, sliced

a clove of garlic, crushed

2 organic red peppers

2 organic green peppers

6 large organic or chemical-free tomatoes (dark red and very ripe)

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

a few leaves of fresh basil

Method

Heat the olive oil in a casserole, add the onion and garlic, toss in the oil and allow to soften over a gentle heat in a covered casserole while the peppers are being prepared. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds carefully, cut into quarters and then cut the pepper flesh into 2-2 ½cm squares.  Add to the onion and toss in the oil; replace the lid and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile peel the tomatoes (scald in boiling water for 10 seconds, pour off the water and peel immediately). Slice the tomatoes and add to the casserole, season with salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar and a few leaves of fresh basil if available. Cook until the vegetables are just soft, 30 minutes approx.

Variations

Spicy Piperonata

Add 1 tsp smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli flakes (the quantity will depend on aroma and pungency of spices – add more to taste if you like it a little spicier) to the onions and garlic and proceed as in the master recipe. 

Piperonata, Bean and Chorizo Stew

Add a can of rinsed haricot beans, black-eyed beans or chickpeas to the piperonata, with 110g sliced chorizo sausage, continue to cook for about 10 minutes or until the chorizo is fully cooked.

Loganberry Fool with Jane’s Biscuits

If you can’t lay your hands on loganberries, raspberries are pretty delicious too – so easy.

Serves 6

Ingredients

450g loganberries

175-225g caster sugar

25-600ml softly whipped cream

Method

If the loganberries are fresh just whizz the berries in a blender with the sugar.  Push the purée through a nylon sieve, fold in the softly whipped cream to taste.  Serve with shortbread biscuits. 

Should the fruit be frozen just scatter the berries in a single layer on a plate.  Sprinkle with the sugar and allow to come back to room temperature.  When almost defrosted, liquidise and proceed as above.

Jane’s Biscuits – Shortbread Biscuits

*This recipe was originally in imperial measurements, to get best results, weigh in oz.

Makes 25

Ingredients

6oz white flour or Spelt

4oz butter

2oz castor sugar

Method

Put the flour and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter as for shortcrust pastry. Gather the mixture together and knead lightly. Roll out to 7mm thick.  Cut into rounds with a 6cm cutter or into heart shapes.  Bake in a moderate oven 180°C/Gas Mark 4 to pale brown, 8-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the biscuits. Remove immediately and cool on a wire rack.

Delicious biscuits to nibble but we also serve with fruit fools, compotes and ice cream.

Note: Watch these biscuits really carefully in the oven. Because of the high sugar content, they burn easily. They should be a pale golden – darker will be more bitter.

However, if they are too pale, they will be undercooked and doughy.  Cool on a wire rack.

Gluten Free: Swap the flour for Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour for a delicious gluten-free alternative

The word JIBRIN may not mean anything to you but mention Izz Café on George Quay in Cork city and people’s eyes light up.

This little café, serving traditional Palestinian food was originally opened in 2019 by Izzeddeen Alkarajeh and Ema Aburabi.

They sought asylum in Ireland from a variety of challenging situations. After a spell in Direct Provision, they eventually got their papers processed and were determined to contribute to the country that gave them refuge.

Through the Society of Friends in Cork, they were introduced to Rupert Hugh-Jones who operates Farmers’ Markets in both Mahon Point and Douglas. With much encouragement and goodwill, they eventually set up a stall selling manaeesh za’atar (flatbread), hummus and moutabal. The response was overwhelmingly positive. On the first day, they sold out in just 2 hours.

This encouraged them to follow their dream of opening a café.

Izz, who has a bachelor’s degree in computer science, is particularly passionate about coffee. He longed to roast and blend and introduce customers to the Palestinian coffee they are now famous for. Izz Café was opened a year to the day later on George’s Quay in Cork city.

Eman, who holds a diploma in interior design, cooked from scratch, the hauntingly delicious traditional Palestinian dishes that she had learned from her mother and grandmother’s kitchen.

Word spread, Corkonians flocked to get a taste of Eman’s rich and comforting food, perfumed with fresh spices – za’atar, sumac, citrus and extra virgin olive oil. Both they and Izz Café have become a beloved part of the Cork restaurant scene. They have since expanded their space in response to the growing demand. Such a lovely story and now Habib, a talented, young refugee from Gaza who loves to cook has also joined Izz Café.

They are actively involved in community driven initiatives including fundraisers such as ‘Coffee for Palestine’ and ‘One Plate for Palestine.’

But the most recent excitement is the publication of their first cookbook in which they share many of the Izz Café favourites. It’s published by Blasta Books (#15 in the series) and entitled ‘JIBRIN’ named for both Izz and Eman’s now abandoned family homeland, Beit Jibrin in Palestine, how poignant is that…

I’m hoping to do an East Cork Slow Food event here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School with Izz Café in the near future (they have recently been awarded the Best Middle Eastern in Ireland), I’ll keep you posted but meanwhile, seek out the original. Izz Café on George’s Quay in Cork city.

Here are three recipes from the JIBRIN cookbook to whet your appetite.

Nabulsi Knafeh

Nabulsi knafeh is a sweet, cheesy pastry layered with kataifi pastry, then soaked in aromatic sugar syrup. This dessert is from Nablus in Palestine and is a festive favourite for special occasions. The story goes that one of the caliphs was depressed and asked his chef to come up with something to impress him, and this was the result.

Serves 10

Ingredients

200g Nabulsi or Akkawi cheese, diced small, or grated mozzarella

500g frozen kataifi pastry

225g ghee or unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

2 tsp caster sugar

FOR THE SYRUP:

400g caster sugar

240ml water

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp rosewater or orange blossom water (optional)

TO DECORATE:

finely chopped pistachios

Method

The Nabulsi or Akkawi cheese needs to have the salt removed, so put the diced cheese in a bowl, cover with cold water and soak for 15 minutes, then drain. Repeat this process every 15 minutes for 4 hours to remove the salt. Squeeze the diced cheese into even smaller pieces and set aside. Skip these steps if you’re using grated mozzarella.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. This works best in a conventional oven, using the top and bottom heat. Grease a 30.5cm cake tin generously with melted ghee or butter. Knafeh is traditionally made in a copper tray because it conducts the heat so well, but this will work too.

Chop the frozen kataifi pastry into small pieces to make it easier to blend. Add it in batches to a food processor and pulse until it’s a fine powder.

Put the pastry in a large bowl with most of the melted ghee or butter and the sugar. Use your hands to combine into a dough. Add more ghee or butter if needed to bring it together – it should hold together when you squeeze it.

Spread half of the dough over the base of the greased tin, making sure there are no gaps and pressing it down in a firm, even layer.

Scatter the cheese over the pastry base, keeping the edges clear. Scatter the rest of the dough on top, pressing it gently to flatten the surface.

Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the top is golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, to make the syrup, put the sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until thickened. Stir in the

rosewater or orange blossom water (if using). Set aside to cool.

Remove the knafeh from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup over it, then scatter over the pistachios to decorate. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Sumagiyya (Palestinian Sumac Stew)

Sumagiyya is a tangy Palestinian stew from Gaza, featuring slow-cooked meat with Swiss chard, tahini and subtle spices in a sumac-infused broth, which is what gives the stew its signature tartness. Especially popular in Gaza City, sumagiyya is often served during festivities.

Serves 6

Ingredients

FOR THE SUMAC WATER:

100g whole dried sumac berries

720ml cold water

FOR BOILING THE MEAT:

500g stewing beef or lamb, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, quartered

2 bay leaves

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE STEW:

120ml olive oil, plus extra to serve

3 medium onions, finely diced

500g Swiss chard, finely chopped

1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tsp mixed spice

60g plain flour

120ml tahini

FOR THE DAQQA

(SPICE MIX):

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp dried dill

1 tsp salt

TO SERVE:

warm pitta

Method

Put the sumac berries in a bowl, cover with the cold water and soak for 2 hours.

Put the meat, onion and bay leaves in a large pot and cover with plenty of cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and skim off any foam that appears on the surface. Add a little salt and pepper and simmer for 40 minutes, until the meat is cooked. Strain the broth into a bowl, then set the meat aside and keep the broth.

Pour the sumac berries and their soaking water into a separate saucepan and bring to a boil, then cook for 15 minutes. Strain the berries through a fine mesh sieve. Discard the berries and keep the sumac-infused water.

For the stew, heat the olive oil in a large pot on a medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook for 10 minutes, until completely soft.

To make the daqqa (spice mix) while the onions are cooking, crush the garlic, chilli flakes, dill and salt together until smooth. Stir the daqqa into the onions and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the Swiss chard and stir until wilted, then add the boiled meat, chickpeas and mixed spice. Pour over the strained sumac water, making sure all the ingredients are fully covered. Stir well and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes.

Gradually add the flour while stirring continuously until the mixture thickens, then stir in the tahini. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To serve, ladle the sumagiyya into serving bowls and let it cool completely. We leave it in the fridge overnight and eat it cold the next day, but it’s often served at room temperature.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of each bowl and serve with warm pitta.

Basbousa (Middle Eastern Semolina Cake)

Basbousa is a semolina cake drenched in sweet syrup, commonly infused with rosewater or orange blossom water and topped with almonds. Originating from the Eastern Mediterranean, basbousa is cherished in Palestine, Egypt and beyond. The subtle floral notes honour a tradition of incorporating aromatic essences into Middle Eastern sweets.

Makes 15 pieces

Ingredients

tahini or butter, for greasing the tin

200g caster sugar

240ml sunflower oil

240ml natural yogurt or sour cream

3 large eggs

1 tsp rosewater, orange blossom water or vanilla

extract

360g medium semolina

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

a small pinch of salt

270g desiccated coconut

FOR THE SYRUP:

300g caster sugar

240ml water

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp rosewater or orange blossom water (optional)

TO DECORATE:

15 blanched almonds or desiccated coconut, dried

rose petals, flaked almonds and finely chopped pistachios

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.

Brush the base and sides of a 23cm x 33cm baking tin with tahini (or grease with butter if you don’t have tahini).

Put the sugar, oil, yogurt and eggs in a large bowl with the orange blossom water, rosewater or vanilla and whisk to combine.

Add the semolina, baking powder, baking soda and a small pinch of salt and whisk again. Finally, add the coconut. I like to use my hands to mix in the coconut to make sure it’s really well combined.

Transfer to the prepared tin, then tap the tin on the counter a few times to make sure the batter is evenly distributed. Let it sit for 15 minutes to allow the semolina to absorb the moisture, which will help to firm up the cake.

Using the tip of a sharp knife, score the top of the batter into 15 diamond or square shapes.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until the cake has risen and turned golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile, to make the syrup, put the sugar and water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a boil and add the lemon juice. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and add the rosewater or orange blossom water (if using). Set aside and keep warm – you don’t want it to thicken as it cools.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, cut it all the way through along the score lines, then pour the syrup all over the top. Let it sit for 30 minutes to soak up the syrup.

It’s traditional to put a whole almond in the middle of each portion of cake, but in the café, we omit this and instead decorate each slice with desiccated coconut, dried rose petals, flaked almonds and finely chopped pistachios.

The Ballymaloe Cookery School was rocking last week, with great excitement when the 12 Week students cooked their Pop-Up Dinner.
This is a highlight on every term, they plot and plan and have many get-togethers to choose a theme, this year it was Ambrosia. They divide responsibilities, create a menu, allocate different jobs and do everything from scratch.
It’s a brilliant learning experience for them, they have so much fun planning every single aspect of the event from the welcome cocktails to the little goodie bags of homemade treats for guests to take home. We’ve been doing these pop-ups for a number of years now. They sell out like a U2 concert. It’s a fantastic learning experience for the students and gives them an understanding of just how much thought and hard work goes into planning an event.
Tabby from London, took on the role of head chef. Five canapés were chosen to reflect what was in season in the gardens and on the farm and the produce they could source in the local area.
Sorrel and mead glazed pork meatballs; using mead from the Fermentation HQ made from a recipe in the Forgotten Skills book. Crunchy new season cucumber coins with fresh herb labneh, hot smoked mackerel and pickle sea fennel. The wild fennel was foraged along the seashore in Shanagarry, then pickled for the perky garnish. Nettle, green onion and goat’s cheese croquettes with saffron honey and whipped lemon ricotta and a sedum leaf with ricotta, mint and peas.
The succulent sedum leaves came from the borders in the flower garden. Ricotta was made in the dairy from the milk of the little Jersey herd on the farm.  In the interest of full disclosure, the peas were the well-known frozen brand, but the end result was absolutely delicious and has become one of our favourites bites. They had hoped to catch the mackerel themselves but there has scarcely been a mackerel caught in Ballycotton so far this summer so they bought the fish from Ballycotton Seafood and hot smoked it themselves.
The students absolutely love making bread and of the many types they learn, they chose to make little loaves of Guinness bread and sourdough focaccia from the organic heirloom wheat variety grown on the farm last year, to serve with the hand churned Jersey butter.
I adore crudo, but one must have super fresh fish which it has to be said is more and more of a challenge these days, but Lucca managed to get some spanking fresh haddock to make the whitefish crudo with golden beetroot, nasturtium and a lemon honey reduction. He put little dots of homemade nasturtium oil from the herb garden on top, a deliciously fresh tasting combination.
Eve butchered and boned the lamb for the roast loin of lamb with saffron mashed potatoes, salsa verde, dukkah and roast vegetable crisps.
The vegetarian option was spiced aubergines with st. tola goat’s cheese, rocket and dukkah and of course there was a Ballymaloe Cookery School garden salad with lots of edible flower petals sprinkled on top.
They had fun digging the potatoes, picking and harvesting the organic vegetables from the kitchen garden and tunnel.
For dessert, there was cultured panna cotta, nougatine, poached apricots, lemon verbena and a little glass of Sauternes.
For those who had a little space left, a whole array of delicious, irresistible petit fours.
Honey-soaked vanilla sponge with Jersey yoghurt and honeycomb, every element lovingly homemade. Raspberry pistachio macarons, whiskey ganache millionaire’s shortbread, chocolate dipped shards of honeycomb and as if that wasn’t enough, a rosewater infused chocolate strawberry.
A phenomenal amount of work went into the meal and the guests seemed to love every mouthful. The students were thrilled with the response and gained considerable experience and confidence from the exercise.
Rory O’Connell, guided the kitchen on the night, while senior tutor Richard Healy headed up the ace team in the dining room.
Money raised was divided between three charities, The Slow Food educational project. Mustard Seed Communities Ireland, a charity dedicated to caring for the most vulnerable members of society in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Ripple Effect, an inspirational NGO working with subsistence farmers in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Ethiopia and Burundi.
Special thanks to the students for sharing their recipes. Hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we did.

Sedum Leaf with Whipped Lemon Ricotta and Peas

70 fresh sedum leaves – makes 70 canapés

Whipped Ricotta

Ingredients

450g approx. of ricotta cheese

4 – 5 tbsp cream

drizzle of olive oil

zest of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Peas

Ingredients

a whole bag of frozen petit pois

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

rind and a little freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon

a few fresh mint leaves, finely sliced

flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Method

Whip ricotta in food processor with cream and a little olive oil. Season with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. Fold in the lemon zest. Fill the mixture into a piping bag.

Cook the peas in boiling water for 45 seconds. Take out and plunge into ice cold water.

Dress the peas with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice and season to taste. Careful not to put lemon juice on too early or the peas will discolour.

Pipe the ricotta onto sedum leaves. Spoon 6-8 peas on top of each and garnish with mint and sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt.

White Fish and Golden Beet Crudo with Nasturtium, Lemon Vinaigrette and Honey Drizzle

Crudo

Ingredients

1 whole spanking fresh white fish (haddock or pollock Preferred)

1 fillet yields 20 slices

Serves 4 with 5 slices per serving

Method

Keep the fish as chilled as possible and descale if necessary.

Filet the fish keeping skin attached, place skin side down on a chopping board.

Cut 1cm thick slices straight down until you are about to touch the skin, slide the slice off the skin towards the tail.  Continue until there is no fish left on the skin.

Arrange slices on parchment paper on a tray in the fridge till ready to serve.

Golden Beet

Ingredients

2 Golden beetroot (possibly 4 depending on size)

Method

Boil the beets in boiling water from 30-50 minutes (small beets 3 minutes) (medium 40 minutes) (large 50 minutes) – reserve the cooking water for the reduction.  Remove the beetroot from the water, allow to cool and rub off the skin.

Allow to come to room temp then chill. On a mandolin, cut to a 3mm thickness.

Lay out on a tray and refrigerate until ready to serve

Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

6 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

a generous pinch of caster sugar

a generous pinch of salt

a generous pinch of chilli powder

In a bowl, whisk all the ingredients until combined.

Golden Beet Water and Honey Reduction

Ingredients

100ml of reserved golden beet cooking water

1 dsp of honey

zest of ½ lemon

2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method

Combine the beet water with honey then reduce on a high heat until it becomes syrupy, 8-15 minutes approx.

Add the lemon zest and juice to the reduction.

Nasturtium Oil

Ingredients

150g of nasturtium leaves

325ml of a neutral oil such as sunflower

2 level tsp of salt

muslin cloth

Method

In a blender add 150g of Nasturtium and add three-quarters of oil, blitz till combined. if it is not running fluidly add the rest of oil till it is running without interruption.

Blend until fully combined (1-2 minutes).

Line a glass bowl with muslin.

Pour the oil mixture into the muslin/bowl.

Pull four corners together and tie then hang muslin over the glass bowl in a fridge for at least 3 hours (best overnight).

Put the strained mixture into the freezer and freeze until the water has separated from the oil.

Pour this mixture into a container and refrigerate until you are ready to garnish.

To plate.

Place five slices of beetroot on the serving plate.

Place five slices of fish on top of each beetroot slice.

Pour 1 tablespoon of the lemon vinaigrette on top of the plate (avoiding covering the fish so that it doesn’t cook).

Drizzle the honey reduction around the plate, a dab near each piece.

To garnish the dish.

Green Oil – dot the green oil around the plate making sure to put some near the fish.

Leaves – take 3 small Nasturtium leaves and scatter around the plate.

Flowers – take 3 petals off a flower and scatter on top of the plate.

Maldon salt – sprinkle a sparse amount of Maldon salt on top of each fish (around 3 flakes of possible).

Serve immediately once plated.

Raspberry Pistachio Macarons

Makes 30

Ingredients

175g icing sugar

115g ground almonds

60g green pistachios

50g egg whites

100g egg white at room temperature

200g caster sugar

Buttercream Filling

Ingredients

110g butter

225g icing sugar

¼ tsp pure vanilla extract

2 punnets of raspberries

Method

Draw 5cm circles on the back of the baking parchment. 

Mix the icing sugar, ground almonds and pistachios in the Magimix until fully blended, add to a bowl with the 50g egg white and mix completely.

Using an electric hand mixer, whisk the 100g egg whites until soft peaks form.  Place this over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the bottom, add the caster sugar, and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens and almost doubles in volume.  Remove from the heat and whisk until cool.

Mix one quarter of this meringue mixture into the ground almond paste, folding until it is completely mixed.  Then add the remaining meringue, folding gently until combined.  DO NOT overmix at this stage.

Put half the mixture into the piping bag and quickly pipe onto the prepared baking trays keeping within the 5cm outlines.  Repeat with the rest of the mixture onto the other tray. 

Leave at room temperature (not too hot as heat is the enemy) to form a skin for 30-60 minutes depending on temperature.

Preheat the oven to a fan 150^oC/Gas Mark 2.

Bake the macarons for 11 minutes.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray.

Next, make the buttercream filling.

In a bowl, cream the soft butter and icing sugar together, add a very small drop of pure vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

To Finish

Spread a little buttercream on each macaron, pop 1-2 fresh raspberries on top and sandwich together.

Enjoy!

Tasmanian food activist Matthew Evans from The Fat Pig Farm has been on my radar for a very long time but until recently our paths had never crossed. Well, blow me away, if he didn’t walk into the hall of the Ballymaloe Cookery School the other day. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was over this side of the world to attend Groundswell, the regenerative farming conference in Hertfordshire in the UK and decided to swing by Ireland where some of his ancestors hailed from.
Matthew has had a fascinating life, originally the restaurant critic for the Sydney Morning Herald, he became a chef, restaurateur, food writer, TV broadcaster and now is also a farmer.
His seventy acre mixed farm is in the beautiful Huon Valley, south of Hobart, right down on the southern end of Tasmania.
He grows vegetables and fruit, makes cider, fattens a few heritage pigs and milks a couple of house cows to have beautiful fresh milk, the subject of MILK, one of his fifteen books. Another simply entitled SOIL is a hymn to the underappreciated three or four inches of earth below our feet on which our very existence depends.
He, just like me, is passionate about the importance of rich fertile soil. After all, the only reason we have life on earth is topsoil, crucial for the health of the planet and our ability to grow food.
Matthew came to farming from the kitchen. As a chef, he became intrigued by flavour and super curious about why some vegetables and fruits and herbs were so much more delicious than others. What was it that made a simple ingredient like carrots for example, taste so much more intensely sweet than others?
This inevitably led him to the soil. Richer, more fertile organic soil, usually produces better tasting and more nutrient dense food – Surprise, surprise!
And so he has become a feisty advocate for regenerative, ecological farming – growing food in a way that replenishes the soil and ecosystems and keeps us healthy.
Groundswell on Lannock Farm, now in its tenth year, creates a forum for farmers, growers, anyone interested in food production and the environment to come together to share ideas and learn about the theory of practical applications of regenerative farming systems.
A series of brilliant speakers entice thousands of people from all over the world. www.groundswellag.com
(There was quite a contingent from Ireland and NOTS – National Organic Training Skillnet). www.nots.ie  
There is a consensus that we urgently need a global metric to measure outcomes on our farms. Polluters need to pay for the damage to the environment and farmers who deliver positive climate, nature and social outcomes, should be rewarded financially. These actions would be a game changer…
One of the many inspirational sessions I attended was entitled, Farming: Our Health Service. There is a growing concern that our current food system is broken but farming has the potential to be our natural health service so what do we need from food production to regenerate public health?
They explored how whole health agriculture is needed to realign farming with both human and environmental health and wellbeing.
Regenerative Farming or ‘Regen’ is the great new buzzword, but it is already being commandeered by the multinational food companies in their marketing and labelling.
Thus far, however there is no definition so there is considerable confusion amongst the general public and a definite possibility of greenwashing….
Regen is an admirable way to embark on a journey towards less artificial inputs, pesticides, herbicides and ultimately organic farming, however many ‘regen ‘ farmers are still using glyphosate, albeit less, to kill weeds but it also damages life in the soil. Without a strict definition this inspirational movement runs the risk of being discredited.
Matthew Evans gave me a present of his latest book, ‘The Real Food Companion’ published by Murdoch Books, a lifetime’s worth of food knowledge, from the soil (where it all begins) to the table.
Difficult to pick just three recipes from the hundreds in this inspirational tome, but enjoy these to get started.

All recipes are from ‘The Real Food Companion’ by Matthew Evans published by Murdoch Books.

Crab and Chilli Omelette

Rich egg, sweet crab and the spice of chilli combine to make this one hell of an omelette.

Ingredients

100g cooked crab meat

2 small red chillies, seeded and finely sliced

3 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

1 tsp fish sauce

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 large garlic clove, crushed

Serves 1-2

Method

Mix the crabmeat in a bowl with the chilli, coriander, and fish sauce, then add the remaining sauce to the eggs.

Heat the peanut oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat and quickly fry the garlic until starting to colour. Add the egg and stir until it is half cooked. Scatter the crab mixture over the top and press gently into the egg. When the egg is nearly cooked, fold the omelette over, and tip onto a plate.

Halve the omelette and serve with steamed rice.

Wild Strawberry Salad with Vanilla Drained Yoghurt

I love strawberries as much as I love Hobart on a sunny Sunday afternoon. And that’s a lot. Unlike Hobart, however, I only love fresh strawberries in summer.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g Greek-style yoghurt

1 tsp natural vanilla extract

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

500g strawberries

3 peaches or nectarines, stones removed, cut into chunks

2 bananas, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks

1 tbsp lemon juice

5 basil leaves, finely sliced

Method

Place the yoghurt in a strainer lined with muslin (cheesecloth) or strong, clean, absorbent paper. Cover the yoghurt, place
a bowl underneath the strainer, and place the whole lot into the refrigerator to let the whey drain out overnight. The next day, put the thickish yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the vanilla extract.

In a large frying pan, heat the honey and zest over medium heat. Add the strawberries, peaches and bananas and toss to warm through. Add the lemon juice and basil and serve warm with the yoghurt.

Honeyed Anzac Biscuits  

I like my Anzac biscuits (cookies) chewy, and it may take a couple of attempts to get them just right. Honey makes a nice change from the golden syrup that is used in most traditional recipes.

Makes 25

Ingredients

100g rolled (porridge) oats

135g plain flour, sifted

200g caster sugar

70g shredded coconut

125g butter, cubed

2 tbsp honey

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Mix the oats, flour, sugar and coconut together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

Heat the butter and honey in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted and combined. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda to combine (it will foam up, this is normal).

Pour the honey mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. If it seems too stiff, add 1-2 teaspoons of water. Place dessertspoon-sized blobs about 5cm
apart on the prepared trays, allowing room for them to spread.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden. They will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.