AuthorDarina Allen

There’s a butcher shop in Moxon Street in London called The Ginger Pig, it’s one of five branches which have opened in the greater London area since 2007.

Like many of the new generation of butcher shops they only sell meat from rare and traditional breeds, grass-fed, naturally reared, dry aged and well hung.

The meat costs considerably more than the perfectly trimmed meat in the local supermarket but customers for the Ginger Pig are for looking for a different thing. They are the growing number of people who want to eat less but better meat and are prepared to pay for it even in a recession. They are also seeking out the cheapest cuts and really enjoy cooking them in the time honoured way, some slowly but others like bavette very fast, this cut is the new ‘lamb shank’ and is featured on virtually every cool menu in London – sometimes called onglet. It is usually marinated, then pan grilled very fast and cut across the grain while still rare and juicy, it has a fantastically beefy taste so often missing from the supposedly choice cuts like fillet or tenderloin.

 

In New York, new butcher shops continue to open, on my last visit I popped into Dickerson’s Butcher Shop in Chelsea Market, Meat Hook and Marlow and Daughters in Brooklyn, the same ethos run through them all, humanely raised, pasture fed, free range meat

.

The butchers also have the skills to make p̢t̩, terrines, pies, rillettes, salumi so they can use every single scrap of the animal which every butcher knows is virtually the difference between profit and loss Рthe jam on the sandwich.

 

Beef dripping and lard are sold proudly and believe me lard and not just any old lard is the next big thing but the pigs must be the traditional breeds, Red Duroc, Gloucester Old Spot, Tamworth and Saddleback with a decent layer of good nourishing fat.

 

Most of these butcher shops also offer butchery classes all of which are oversubscribed. They also sell free range organic chickens, reared for at least seventy five days and often over a hundred days depending on the breed. No dodgy chicken fillets of no fixed abode tossed in sweet and sour sauce or patent spices heightened with flavor enhancers. In Ireland we can produce outstanding meat but we need to separate the wheat from the chaff, tell the story and have the courage to charge more.

 

On top of the counter of the Ginger Pig in Moxon Street there were three ribs of beef; one dry aged and hung for 35 to 40 days, a second for 30 days and the third for 27 to 28 days.

Each had a dark crust on the cut side as well-aged meat naturally has and Ginger Pig customers understand and are happy to pay extra for because of the flavor.

The beef comes from Tim’s own farm in Yorkshire, Longhorn, Shorthorn and Belted Galloway.

 

Tim Wilson and others like him are leading us ‘back to the future’ and it’s no bad thing.

 

Here are three recipes taken from the Ginger Pig Meat Book by Tim Wilson and Fran Warde, published by Octopus Books UK.

 

 

Ginger Pig Hungarian Pork Goulash

 

It’s important to add some belly of pork to this dish, as the fat is needed to add moisture and richness to the sauce.

 

Serves 6

 

Takes 3 hours

 

1 tbsp olive oil

1.25kg (2lb 12oz) shoulder of pork, diced

300g (10½oz) belly of pork, skinned and diced

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp caraway seeds

freshly ground black pepper

sea salt

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

320g jar peeled, roast peppers

1 bunch of chives, snipped

4 tbsp soured cream

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof

pan and fry the meat until brown on all sides, then add the onion and garlic and sauté

for 3 minutes. Add the paprika, cayenne, caraway and seasoning, mix well and cook for a

further 4 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and top up with just enough water to cover the

meat. Bring to a boil then place in the oven to cook for 2 hours.

Drain the jar of peppers, cut them into thin strips and add to the goulash, stir through

and cook for a further 30 minutes. Add the chives and serve the goulash topped with

soured cream and bulgur wheat or rice.

 

Ginger Pig Rillettes of Pork

 

In the past a whole pig would be killed by a smallholding and all the meat was butchered, cooked or cured. Rillettes are a great way of using some of the belly. Compressed into a jar, then covered and sealed with hard fat, they will keep for months. Before refrigeration, this was a very popular method of preserving part of the pig.

 

Serves 4–6

 

Takes 5 hours

 

50g (1¾oz) pork or goose fat

1kg (2lb 4oz) skinless pork belly, cut into cubes

300ml (½ pint) white wine

2 garlic cloves

2 sprigs of thyme

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 onion, chopped

 

Melt the fat in a heavy-based pan, add the pork and cook over a very low heat for 15

minutes; do not allow the meat to brown. Drain off and reserve the excess fat. Add the

wine, garlic, thyme, seasoning and onion to the pan, cover and simmer very gently for

4½ hours, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if needed. Cool a little, then mash with a fork, breaking up all the meat (if you prefer a smoother result, place in a food processor). Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon and compress very tightly into an earthenware or glass pot, which has been scrupulously cleaned with boiling water. Melt the reserved fat and pour it over the top, completely sealing the meat. This is best left to improve for at least a week and can be kept for up to 6 months if it is well sealed with fat and contains no air pockets. Enjoy with crusty bread, piquant cornichons and crunchy lettuce.

 

Ginger Pig Sausage Roll

 

A real, good British sausage roll is hard to find so we decided to make our own. We sell an awful lot at lunchtime.

 

Makes 8

 

Takes 2 hours, plus chilling

Place the minced pork and pork fat in a bowl and mix together, then add the

breadcrumbs, 125ml (4fl oz) water, the herbs and seasoning. Mix with your hands until

evenly blended. Set aside. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Melt 50g (1¾oz) of the butter and mix with the salt, vinegar and 230ml (8fl oz) ice-cold water. Add to the flour and mix to a smooth dough. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

Place the remaining butter between two sheets of Clingfilm and roll out to the thickness of your finger. Roll out the pastry to a rectangle just over twice the size of the butter. Place the butter in the middle and wrap by making an envelope with the pastry, totally encasing it. Roll out again to a rectangle the same size as it was before the butter was added, then fold 3 times, like a letter. Roll out once more, turn 90 degrees and fold 3 times again. Wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. Repeat the rolling and folding four more times, adding a light dusting of flour each time, and chilling after each repetition. (In total, the process should be performed five times.) Leave to rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Roll the pastry out to approximately

41x26cm (16x10in). Work the sausage meat into an even, long roll and place along the

length of the pastry. Brush the exposed pastry with egg, then roll over and crimp the

join together with a fork. Cut into 4 sausage rolls. Brush the outside with egg, place on a

baking sheet and cook for 50 minutes.

 

 

Hot Tips

 

The Art of Running A Restaurant – a new class at the Good Things Café & Cookery School, Durrus, Co. Cork,– 6 days of hands-on training in a restaurant environment. Monday 11th to Saturday 16th June, 2012. Cost: €1,500 including accommodation, knives and personalised chef’s jackets. To book, contact Carmel Somers Tel: 00 353 27 61426 Email: info@thegoodthingscafe.com

 

Riesling is the new Chardonnay!  On Thursday 17^th May there’s a one-off opportunity to meet three famous Riesling winemakers: Tim Adams – Clare Valley, Australia, Carl Ehrhard, Rheingau, Germany and Severine Schlumberger, Alsace, France at Ballymaloe House. The session will be chaired by wine writer John Wilson.

After the wine-tasting, enjoy a Slow Food Summer Plate from local food producers. This is priced separately from the wine-tasting and all proceeds will go to East Cork Slow Food Educational Project. Phone 021 4652531 to book.

 

A great little find in Dublin – Just popped in to a cute little café called Brother Hubbard at 153 Capel Street last week. Garrett Fitzgerald and Jim Boland opened only at the end March.  They make everything themselves even their own homemade orange and lemon barley water and raspberry, apple and rose lemonades. Beautiful quality cakes and biscuits, tempting lunch time salads and sandwiches, a short menu with carefully chosen produce. Lino Olivieri supplies the extra virgin olive oil, teas from Wall Keogh, direct trade coffee from 3SE, Dan Hegarty’s Farmhouse Cheddar…Contact 01-441 11 12 hello@brotherhubbard.ie

I love the sound of seagulls calling, squalling, squabbling and chasing each other for fun or a wriggly fish – reminds me of holidays in Tramore as a tiny child, ice-cream cornets, sand buckets, little fishing nets, picnics by the Metal Man…

I’m in Cornwall for a few days, staying in an enchanting little fishing village called Mousehole, which we quickly learned is pronounced ‘ Mousel’ after we asked directions to Mouse Hole and got the same sort of amused looks that tourists to these parts get when they ask for cob (Cobh) or Yoo-gal (Youghal).

Cornwall is an enchanting place, I love any excuse to meander through the narrow lanes or lie on the beaches or potter through the pretty villages.

This time we were on a mission – to christen our part Cornish grandson, now a feisty two year old. The christening of a spirited two year old is no mean feat at the best of time so much to our immense relief, the ceremony went off almost without incident apart from three distinctly audible ‘NOs’ during the sprinkling of water from St Levan’s Well ‘in the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost’.

After the ceremony we sipped a little fizz to celebrate and then drove down the hill to Porth Curno beach, one of many truly beautiful beaches in Cornwall – rock pools, golden sand, clear blue sea with little waves, lots of seashells to decorate sandcastles.

I decided to walk along the National Trust path on the cliff top to Penberth, a little secluded cove where a celebration lunch awaited.

Cornwall is still fiercely nationalistic, the Cornish pasty is alive and well and much loved. Cafés and tea shops and farm shops vie with each other to serve the best cream teas. Rodda’s clotted cream with its thick crust on top is to die for and in Cornwall is eaten at every excuse, spread on toast underneath marmalade or slathered on saffron bread and of-course as part of the famous cream teas.

Bridget Hugh-Jones Jasper’s paternal Grandmother makes the best Bakewell tart I have ever tasted; she served it warm, of-course with clotted cream – divine. She sweetly gave me the recipe which I share with you. Her chocolate and ginger bombe, scattered with crunchy praline was the pièce de résistance of the christening luncheon.

This is one the loveliest times of the year to visit Cornwall.  The countryside is beautiful; the Maybush is already in flower, lots of wild garlic, bluebells, raggedy robin and gorse in full bloom, but the thousands of summer visitors have not yet descended. Mousehole, a few miles from Penzance is one of the most enchanting fishing villages, a labyrinth of narrow laneways and passages, higgledy-piggeldy houses, with casement and dormer windows, half slated, white washed walls with little gardens full of geraniums and pink valerians and daisies growing out of the crevices. Lots of B&Bs, cafés, galleries, English pubs, fish and chippers, ice-cream parlours and gift shops to explore. We stayed in the Coastguard Hotel overlooking the bay, a new acquisition of Charles Inken and his team who own Gurnards’ Head, a pub with rooms just twelve miles away on the other side of the peninsula. We had a fantastically good dinner there one evening.  One of the highlights was vichyssoise of alexanders with horseradish cream and pea-shoots and mackerel with new seasons asparagus, tri-cornered leek (allium triquetrum) and pennywort (umbilicus rupestris).  When I saw the blackboard outside which says ‘Can you forage or grow for us?’ I knew I was on the right track. The head chef Bruce Rennie and his team make full use of local wild food in season.

Cornwall is still looked on as a disadvantaged area but as in other challenged areas people are immensely creative and entrepreneurial.

As you drive through the country side, many farms and cottages have a little stand outside with an honesty box selling plants, cut flowers, jam and preserves or home baking. I bought a lovely little bunch of exquisitely scented violets for fifty pence, pinned them to my lapel for the christening and sprinkled them into the green salad  later – delicious, waste not want not!

 

Bruce Rennie of Gurnards’ Pub Grilled Mackerel with English Asparagus, Three Cornered Leek and Pennywort

 

Serves 6

 

6 fresh mackerel fillets, pin-bones removed

18 spears asparagus, prepped

salt

extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon

stems and flowers of three cornered leek (allium triquetrum)

pennywort leaves (umbilicus rupestris), washed

 

 

Season each side of the mackerel with salt and place on a lightly oiled tray skin side up.

Drizzle the top of the fish with a little olive oil and place under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until the fish is just cooked and the skin has started to get crisp. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Meanwhile, cook the asparagus in boiling salted water until just tender.

Remove the asparagus from the water and divide between 6 plates.

Place the mackerel on top of the asparagus. Chop the three cornered leek (allium triquetrum) stalks into small batons and dress the plates with these, the flowers and the pennywort leaves (umbilicus rupestris),

Drizzle the mackerel cooking juices around the plate and serve immediately

 

Bridget Hugh-Jones’ Bakewell Tart

 

Serves 8

 

75g (3oz) butter

175g (6oz) plain white flour

30g (1 ¼ oz) caster sugar

1 beaten egg with a couple of tablespoons water mixed (you won’t need all the water)

 

4 to 6 tablespoons of homemade raspberry jam

3 eggs

the weight of 3 eggs in caster sugar, butter, ground almonds

a few drops of almond extract

 

 

25g – 35g (1 – 1 ½ oz) flaked almonds to scatter over the top

 

9 inch tart tin, preferably with removable base.

 

First make the pastry.  Sieve the flour and the sugar into a large bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour, rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with 2 teaspoons of cold water and add enough to bind the mixture. But do not make the pastry too wet – it should come away cleanly from the bowl. Flatten into a round and wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes. Roll out thinly on a lightly floured worktop and use it to line a 9 inch (23cm) tart tin. Line with kitchen or greaseproof paper and fill to the top with dried beans. Rest for 15 minutes in the fridge.

 

Line the tart tin with short crust pastry and spread the base generously with raspberry jam.  Cream the butter, add the caster sugar and continue to beat until soft and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs one at a time and then stir in the ground almonds and a few drops of almond extract. Spread this mixture evenly over the jam in the tart tin. Sprinkle the top with flaked almonds and bake in pre-heated oven at 180°C/350°F/Mark 4 for about 40 minutes. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then remove to a wire rack and serve with preferably Cornish clotted cream or softly whipped cream.

 

 

Bridget Hugh-Jones Chocolate and Ginger Bombe

 

Serves 10 – 12

 

 

1 jar of ginger conserve

450ml (16 fl oz) double cream

50g (2oz) dark chocolate

 

Praline

 

50g (2oz) caster sugar

50g (2oz) flaked almonds

 

Chocolate Icing

 

100ml (3 ½ fl oz) double cream

100g (4oz) dark chocolate

 

2 lt Pudding bowl and plastic bag

 

Cut open a large plastic food bag and use it to line the pudding basin.

Tip a jar of ginger conserve into a bowl and stir to break it up a bit, then lightly whip the cream and chop 50g (2oz) dark chocolate, gently fold both into the ginger conserve until the mixture is evenly flecked.  Tip into the lined bowl and smooth over the top.  Cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.

Put the caster sugar into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and cook on a gentle heat without stirring until it caramelises to the colour of a conker.  Remove from heat and quickly stir in the flaked almonds.  Tip out onto a lightly oiled baking tray or a piece of foil. Leave to cool. When cold and set, break the almond caramel into unevenly sized small pieces with a rolling pin.

 

Pour 100ml (3 ½ fl oz) double cream into a small sauce pan over gentle heat, add 100g (4oz) dark chocolate broken into pieces, stir gently until the chocolate has melted.  Then leave to cool until thickened to a spreading consistency.

 

When the ice-cream bombe is frozen, turn onto a chilled plate and quickly spread  the chocolate icing over the top and sides as evenly as possible – it will set as soon as it touches the ice cream. Scatter the almond praline over the bombe and press lightly to make it stick on then return to the freezer until needed.  Remove to the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving otherwise it will be difficult to slice.

 

Dust with a little icing sugar and serve in thick wedges.

 

Hot Tips
Learn how to make your own cheese. Spend the day on Corleggy Farm, Belturbet, Co Cavan. with Silke Cropp on Sunday 6^th May 2012.  Learn the art of cheese-making and take home your very own kilo of cow’s milk cheese. Full day including lunch €150 or €250 for two people. Contact Silke at corleggy@gmail.com to book.

A Slow Food Celebration of Local Food at Marco’s Pizzeria, Midleton on Tuesday 22nd May at 7.30pm. Meet local food producers, taste their produce, hear their story. Dinner €35.00. To book phone Marco and Caoimhe Brouwers – 021 463 30 30

All proceeds to the East Cork Slow Food Educational Project.

 

Date for your diary – Coffee Morning at Ballymaloe Cookery School in in Aid of Self Help Africa on Friday 25^th May 2012 – hosted by Darina Allen 021 4646785.

 

Wine Event at Ballymaloe House on Thursday 17^th May – Riesling wine presentation with three winemakers from Riesling growing regions of the world – Tim Adams – Clare Valley, Australia, Carl Ehrhard, Rheingau, Germany and Severine Schlumberger, Alsace, France and chaired by wine writer John Wilson. €25.00. Stay on after the wine-tasting to enjoy a Slow Food Summer Plate from local food producers at €35.00 a head. This is priced separately from the wine-tasting and all proceeds from this will go to the Slow Food East Cork Education Project. Phone 021 4652531 to book.

Two terrific cookbooks written by two crazily busy Mums came my way this week. Both were published in Cork.  My Goodness by Liz Nolan from On Stream Publications and the other by Shiela Kiely with the catchy title of ‘Gimme the Recipe’ was pub by Mercier Press.

Blonde, beautiful mother of six Sheila Kiely’s intro will resonate with many multi-tasking modern mums who are trying to constantly keep a myriad of balls in the air – “If you are like me, then most days you are running around like a mad thing playing catch up with everything. Shower, dress and eat. Wash on, wash out, wash up. Kids up, kids fed, kids out. Work, sleep and repeat. Somewhere in between you have to manage the school run, housework and grocery shopping, and what were you thinking when you invited people over for dinner at the weekend?” On and on it goes, every sentence will resonate and we recognise the pressure, six shiny energetic faces asking expectantly yet again – ‘what’s for dinner mum?’

Well, over the years Sheila has built up a repertoire of recipes that nourish and delight her energetic household and friends, I particularly loved the chapter on planning family gatherings and parties at home.

Sheila stresses that she’s a long way from being a professional chef but that makes the book all the more accessible.

Liz Nolan developed her passion for healthy and nutritious food at the Wholemeal Cafe in London.  Her book ‘My Goodness’ concentrates on the most important food groups, vegetables and grains. Her recent work as a nutritional therapist at Health and Herbs in Galway has helped many people to improve their health by making simple changes in their diet and lifestyle.

Once again, mother of five children shares her must-have recipes enjoyed by all the family, friends and cookery students. The timing of this book is perfect. Researchers from Harvard School of Medicine recently found that simply cutting the amount of red and processed meat in peoples’ diets to the equivalent of one large steak a week could prevent almost one in ten early deaths in men and one in thirteen  in women. The study found that replacing it with poultry, fish or vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods cuts the risk of dying prematurely by up to one fifth. A few days of tasty vegetarian food could go a long way.

 

Sheila Kiely’s Completely Cheating Pitta Pizzas

 

Round pitta breads – 1 per person

Sun-dried tomato paste or red pesto

Cheddar cheese

1 tsp oregano

Toppings: chorizo, salami, red onion, cooked ham, cooked chicken

Preheat the grill.

Sprinkle the pitta with water and heat in the toaster for a couple of minutes so it puffs up. Slice each pitta bread open into two halves. Spread each half with a thin layer of the sun-dried tomato paste or red pesto. Top with whatever you fancy and grated cheddar cheese, sprinkle with oregano and grill until the cheese has melted. Serve with a scattering of chopped fresh herbs if you have them or black pepper.

Liz Nolan’s Spiced Roast Cauliflower

 

This is a great way to maintain the attractive shape and flavour of cauliflower. You can get black sesame seeds in Indian grocery shops.

 

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 heaped tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp sesame seeds, black or brown

½ heaped tsp salt

1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets

2/3 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil

Sprinkle crushed chillies

 

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

Mix all the spices, seeds and salt in a small bowl. Put the cauliflower into a large bowl, add the oil and toss together. Add the spices to the cauliflower mix a little at a time and toss to coat. Lay on a large flat baking tray and cook for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to blacken very slightly.

 

Nutritional information

Cauliflower is part of the brassica family and, like broccoli, contains cancer fighting compounds.

 

Liz Nolan’s Chickpea and Red Lentil Curry with Aubergine and Spinach 

 

This is a delicious curry – aromatic rather than spicy

 

Serves 6

 

200g red lentils

1 medium green chilli

2–3 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 medium aubergine

2 carrots, sliced

2 ½ cm piece ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 heaped tsp ground turmeric

1 x 400g tin chickpeas in unsalted water

2 tbsp tamari

1/2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

½ bag washed baby spinach

 

To clean the red lentils put them into a bowl and pour cold water on them. Set aside.

 

Prick the chilli all over with a fork. In a large pan, heat the oil to a medium heat and add the chilli, onion and the cumin seeds. Let them heat up and sizzle for a couple of minutes to release their oils. Reduce the heat. Slice the aubergine into 3 lengthways and chop into small cubes. Add the aubergine and carrots to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Peel, grate and finely chop the ginger and add to the pan with the garlic, ground cumin, coriander and turmeric. Stir well, cover and cook for a few minutes on a low heat to cook the spices a little, making sure the mixture doesn’t burn.  The aubergine will act like a sponge and soak up the oil but gently press down on it with the spatula to release the oil. You shouldn’t need to add any more. Drain the red lentils in a sieve over the sink, discarding the water. Add to the pan with the chickpeas including the water from the tin. Top up with about a pint and a half of water. Stir well to combine and then cover. Cook slowly on a low heat until the red lentils become mushy and lighter in colour and the vegetables are softened. Add the tamari and the salt and pepper. Check the seasoning. Stir in the spinach and leave for a minute or two until just wilting.

Serve with brown rice or quinoa

Nutritional information

Red lentils provide protein and the mineral silica for strong bones, nails and hair. They are also high in antioxidants which protect our cells from damage. Chickpeas contain protein, especially tryptophan for balancing the mood and soluble fibre for healthy bowels. Spinach is a wonderful source of minerals iron, magnesium and potassium, vitamins C and A, folic acid for healthy blood cell formation, along with antioxidants for healthy cells.

 

Sheila Keily’s Moroccan Meatballs

serves 6

1 large red onion

3cm thumb-width piece of ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

800g minced lamb

1 tbsp olive oil

2 x 400g cans of plum tomatoes

250ml chicken stock

Handful of fresh coriander to garnish

 

Peel and roughly chop the red onion, ginger and garlic, and blitz together with the deseeded chopped chilli, cumin and cinnamon in a mini chopper or food processor to create a spicy paste. Use a fork or your hands to mix the lamb with half of the spicy paste in a bowl and then shape them into meatballs the size of golfballs. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and brown the meatballs.

Push the meatballs to the sides of the pan and cook the rest of the spicy paste in the centre of the pan for 1 minute. Add the plum tomatoes to the centre of the pan and roughly chop them with a knife. Add the chicken stock and stir to combine with the tomatoes, paste and meatballs. Bring to the boil then reduce to simmer for 25–30 minutes. (Test the centre of a meatball to check that it is cooked through.)

Serve with a sprinkling of chopped fresh coriander and Moroccan couscous or rice.

 

Shiela Keily’s Sticky Pear and Apple Crumble

 

2kgs fruit – roughly 4 to 5 medium-sized cooking apples and 4 to 5 small ripe pears

50g caster sugar (for cooking the fruit)

100g plain flour

50g wholemeal flour

50g porridge oats

100g unsalted butter

200g light golden brown sugar

Butter to grease dish

 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170ËšC/Gas Mark 5.

Peel and chop the fruit into smallish pieces and cook in a saucepan with a splash of water and the caster sugar over a medium heat until softening (still with a bit of bite and not a pulp). This takes about 5 minutes. Put the plain and wholemeal flours and the oats into a mixing bowl and chop in the butter. Use your fingertips to crumble the flour, oats and butter together until it starts to resemble breadcrumbs. Add the brown sugar and mix well with a fork.

Place the cooked fruit in a large greased baking dish and scatter the crumble mixture on top – press it down lightly but do not over-compact it.

Bake for 35–40 minutes.

Delicious on its own, even better with custard or vanilla ice-cream.

 Hot Tips

The Parents Association from Kilbarron National School in Terryglass, Nenagh have produced a delighful recipe book called ‘Our Favourite Recipes!’ each of the sixty one students of the school cooked their favourite recipe and was photographed for the book. Peter Ward wrote the forward and launched the book at his Country Choice Shop in Nenagh – contact Kathy Slattery 0863475921.

Twenty one food service businesses in West Cork joined forces to create the Bandon Food Trail which maps places to eat, shop and stay from Ballineen to Enniskeane, Timoleague to Courtmacsherry, Ballinspittle to Ballinadee, Kinsale to Bandon – don’t make a trip to West Cork without it – you can download a copy on Facebook.com/ bandon-food-trail or contact Ruth Healy at Urru in Bandon 0214613366.

Last year John and Sylvia McCormack from Aghada East Cork did some experimental baking of ‘Cake Pops’ a popular American idea and now bake over 300 a day and supply the Granary Food Store in Mildeton, Roasted and Idaho Cafes in Cork City, Café du Journal in Monkstown Dublin, Café Libro in Naas and Swords and at Mahon Point Farmers every Thursday – 0872415513 John McCormack – Facebook.com/treatpetite

This weekend, I’m heading to Sandbrook in Co Carlow to celebrate International Slow Food Grandmother’s Day. Grannies, grandpas, nanas, mamas, dadas and children of every age can come along to Ballon have fun, learn and share their experience on Sunday 22^nd April, 2012.

Food producers, chefs, farmers and artisans will come together to celebrate good clean and fair food, the Slow Food way, with almost 30 different exhibitors, terrific treats to sample, interesting stories to hear, talents to admire and skills to learn.

There will be lots of workshops, cookery demonstrations, talks on passing skills, everything from how to make homemade butter, Ballymaloe Balloons,  to lemonade to raspberry buns, the first thing I ever learned how to cook. Auntie Florence will show us how to crystallise flowers and the secret of her crumpets. You can learn how to knit, sew and plant and grow how to hatch out chicks, keep hens, forage for wild food, weave willows, make candles, keep bees…

Bring along your favourite recipe that you would like to pass onto your children or grandchildren and we’ll make a scrap book and publish them on the Slow Food Ireland website www.slowfoodireland.com . So many family recipes are lost because we forget to ask or to record them until it’s too late so why not bring a copy book today and write the favourite family recipes for your children.

There are also fun things for children of all ages to do – from face painting to arts and crafts competitions, petting zoo and a games area.

Charismatic Dublin pork butcher, Ed Hicks will do a two hour sausage making class for kids on a first come first served basis.

Slow Food International Grandmothers Day at Sandbrook House, Ballon, Co Carlow is from 11am to 6pm on Sunday 22^nd April – Tel: 0599159247 – www.sandbrook.ie

 

Myrtle Allen’s Balloons

 

Children’s tea at Ballymaloe House is a jolly carefree affair which holds happy memories for generations of children. Myrtle Allen whips up these balloons in a matter of minutes, they taste just like doughnuts – the problem is to stop the grown-ups stealing them from the children!

 

5 ozs (140g) plain white flour

2 teasp. castor sugar

pinch of salt

1 level teaspoon baking powder

milk

extra caster sugar and a little ground cinnamon

 

Makes 10 balloons.

 

Heat good quality oil in a deep fry to 190C/375F. Sieve the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix the batter to a thick dropping consistency with milk. Take a dessertspoonful of the mixture and push it gently off with your finger so that it drops in a round ball into the fat. Repeat. Fry until golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Roll the balloons in castor sugar or castor sugar and cinnamon mixed. Serve at once.

 

Raspberry Buns

 

As far as I can remember, these buns were the very first thing I helped my Auntie Florence to bake. My grandchildren love filling the holes with jam, just as I did.

 

Makes about 10

 

200g (7oz) self-raising flour and 25g (1oz) ground rice

OR

225g (8oz) self-raising flour

75g (3oz) caster sugar

75g (3oz) butter diced

1 organic egg

1 tablespoon full cream milk

homemade raspberry jam

egg wash

caster sugar

 

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

Put the flour and ground rice, if using, into a bowl and add the caster sugar. Add in the diced butter and toss it in the flour. Then rub it into the dry ingredients with the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with the milk and then use a fork to mix it with the dry ingredients until you have a softish dough.

Divide the mixture in two, roll each half into a thick rope and then divide each into five pieces. Form each piece into a round, dip your thumb in flour and make an indentation in the centre of each bun.

Drop a little spoonful of raspberry jam into the hole, and then pinch the edges of dough together to cover the jam.

Transfer to a baking tray, brush the top of each raspberry bun with egg wash and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, sprinkle with caster sugar and eat while nice and fresh.

 

 

Great Grandmother’s Victoria Sponge

 

A buttery sponge cake was standard fare to serve with afternoon tea in my Grandmother’s house at Donoghmore. When it was taken out of the oven of the Aga it was cooled on a wire rack by the window in the back kitchens. Thick yellow cream spooned off the top of the milk in the dairy was whipped and as soon as the cake was cool it was sandwiched together with homemade jam from the raspberries picked at the top of the haggard.

 

6 ozs (170g) flour

6 ozs (170g) castor sugar

3 eggs

4½ ozs (125g/1 stick, plus 1 level tablesp.) butter

14g/1 tablesp. milk

1 teasp. (5g) baking powder

Filling

4 ozs (225g) home-made raspberry jam (see recipe)

10 fl ozs (285g) whipped cream

 

castor sugar to sprinkle

2 x 7 inch (18cm) sponge cake tins

 

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/regulo 4.

Grease and flour the tins and line the base of each with a round of greaseproof paper. Cream the butter and gradually add the castor sugar, beat until soft and light and quite pale in colour. Add the eggs one at a time and 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). Sieve the flour and baking powder and stir in gradually. Mix all together lightly and add 1 tablespoon of milk to moisten.

Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins, hollowing it slightly in the centre. bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked. Turn out onto a wire tray and allow to cool.

Sandwich together with homemade Raspberry Jam and whipped cream. Sprinkle with sieved castor sugar. Serve on an old fashioned plate with a doyley.

 

Aunt Alice’s Raspberry Jam

 

 

Makes 3 x 1 lb (450g) pots

 

Raspberry jam is the easiest and quickest of all jams to make, and one of the most delicious.  Loganberries, Boysenberries or Tayberries may also be used in this recipe.

 

2 lbs (900g) fresh raspberries

2 lbs (900g) white sugar (use 1/4 lb (110g) less if fruit is very sweet)

 

Wash, dry and sterilise the jars in a moderate oven 180°C/350°F/regulo 4, for 15 minutes. Heat the sugar in a moderate oven for 5-10 minutes.

 

Put the raspberries into a wide stainless steel saucepan and cook for 3-4 minutes until the juice begins to run, then add the hot sugar and stir over a gentle heat until fully dissolved. Increase the heat and boil steadily for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Test for a set by putting about a teaspoon of jam on a cold plate, leaving it for a few minutes in a cool place. It should wrinkle when pressed with a finger. Remove from the heat immediately. Skim and pour into sterilised jam jars. Cover immediately.

Hide the jam in a cool place or else put on a shelf in your kitchen so you can feel great every time you look at it! Anyway, it will be so delicious it won’t last long!

Hot Tips

On the Wild Side – Oliver Beaujouan – well known artisan food producer from Kilcoummin near Castle Gregory in Co Kerry has been exciting us about the possibilities of the variety of sea weeds around our coasts for many years. Look out for his kelp pickled a la Provencal and Sea Spaghetti pickled with fresh chilli – delicious with stir fried pork fillet or in salads and bouncing with nutrients. Available at the Little Cheese Shop in Dingle, the Limerick Milk Market and at the Cheese Stall at the Midleton Farmers Market every Saturday. Tel: 0877922468

 

Robbie Fitzsimmon’s 75 day old chickens grow slowly, range freely and have twice the flavour and are twice the size of their intensively farmed cousins – one chicken will feed the entire family with left overs for next day’s sandwiches and carcass and giblets for chicken broth – at €10.00each they are a genuine bargain. East Ferry Free Range – 0862056020 – info@eastferryfreerange.com

 

Farmers Market Lunch – Chef owner Kevin Aherne of Sage Restaurant in Midleton is one the first customers into Midleton Farmers Market each Saturday to source the pick of the produce from the stalls to showcase on his lunch menu, a brilliant example of a business supporting local farmers and fishermen and serving local food proudly to his eager and appreciative customers. Tel: 021 4639682 – www.sagerestaurant.ie

 

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

Asparagus on Grilled Bread with Hollandaise Sauce

 

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

 

Serves 4

 

16–20 spears of fresh asparagus

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

 

 

Garnish

sprigs of chervil

 

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

 

Seakale with Melted Butter

 

Serves 4-6

 

450g (1lb) seakale

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

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

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

 

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

 

Hollandaise Sauce

 

2 egg yolks, free-range

1 dessertspoon cold water

110g (4oz) butter, cut into dice

1 teaspoon lemon juice (approximately)

 

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

 

Wild Garlic Champ

 

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

 

Serves 4

 

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

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

55g (2oz) wild garlic

350ml (12fl oz) full-cream milk

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

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Poached Leg of Mutton with Parsley Sauce

 

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

 

Serves 6–8

 

1 leg of corned mutton – around

2½kg (5lb 8oz)

2 bay leaves

2 onions, quartered

2 carrots, cut into chunks

2 leeks, cut into chunks

900g (2lb) potatoes

 

Parsley sauce (See Irish Examiner Saturday 31st March)

 

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

 

Traditional Irish Sherry Trifle

 

Serves 8–10

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

225g (8oz) homemade raspberry jam

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

 

Egg Custard

 

5 eggs, free-range if possible

1¼ tablespoons caster sugar

¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

750ml (1¼ pint) rich milk

 

Decoration

 

600ml (1 pint) whipped cream

8 glacé cherries or crystallised violets

8 diamonds of angelica

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Hottips

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Happy Easter to you all.

 

A Selection of Devilled Eggs

 

 

Serves 8

 

 

4 free range eggs

2-3 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon finely chopped chives

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

 

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

 

 

Country Relish Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

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

 

 

Kalamata Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

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

 

 

Anchovy Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

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

 

 

Wasabi Eggs

 

Makes 8 halves

 

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

 

To Serve

 

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

 

Fried Eggs with Sage

 

Simple but so delicious.

 

Serves 1

 

2 freshly laid organic eggs

clarified butter or extra virgin olive oil

4-6 sage leaves

sea salt

 

Sourdough toast

 

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

 

 

Scotch Eggs with Tomato and Chilli Relish

 

 

Serves 6

 

 

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

 

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

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

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

1/2 teaspoon English mustard

1 beaten egg

seasoned flour

dry, white breadcrumbs (but not too fine)

best-quality oil for deep frying

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Alternative Suggestion

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

 

Scotch Egg Salad

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

 

Tomato and Chilli Relish

 

 

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

 

900g (2lbs) tomatoes, chopped

400ml (14fl oz) white wine vinegar

200g (7oz) caster sugar

1-2 red chillies, depending on heat, chopped

10 allspice berries, crushed

 

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

 

Crispy Deep-fried Eggs

 

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

 

extra virgin olive oil, sunflower or peanut oil

really fresh organic eggs

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

croutons

 

Tomato and Chilli Jam (see recipe)

rocket leaves

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Rachel’s Baked Eggs with Creamy Kale

Taken from Rachel Allen’s Entertaining at Home

 

Serves 6

 

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

 

 

25g (1oz) butter

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

Salt and ground black pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

350ml (12fl oz) single or regular cream

6 eggs

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

 

Hot Tips

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Irish Nettle Soup

 

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

 

Serves 6 (approximately)

 

45g (1½oz) butter

275g (10oz) potatoes, chopped

110g (4oz) onion, chopped

100g (3½oz) leeks, chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 litre (1¾ pints) homemade chicken stock

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

150ml (¼ pint) cream or creamy

Milk

 

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

 

 

Ham Hock with Colcannon and Parsley Sauce

 

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

 

Colcannon

 

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

 

Serves 8 (approximately)

 

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

1 small spring or Savoy cabbage

250ml (9fl oz) approx. milk

55g (2oz) approx. butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

 

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

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

 

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

 

Parsley Sauce

 

Serves 6–8

 

4 tablespoons finely chopped

fresh parsley leaves (retain the stalks)

600ml (1 pint) fresh whole milk

30–45g (1–1½oz) roux

salt and freshly ground pepper

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

 

Country Rhubarb Cake

 

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

 

Serves 8

 

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

pinch of salt

½ teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

55g (2oz) caster sugar

85g (3oz) butter

1 egg, free-range if possible

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

680g (1½lb) rhubarb, finely chopped

170–225g (6–8oz) granulated sugar

beaten egg, to glaze

caster sugar, for sprinkling

 

to serve

softly whipped cream

soft brown sugar

 

25cm (10in) enamel or Pyrex

pie plate

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Potato and Caraway Seed Cakes

 

 

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

 

 

Serves 6 (approximately)

 

 

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

45g (1½oz) butter

55g (2oz) onion finely chopped

1–2 teaspoons caraway seeds

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground pepper

55g (2oz) flour

butter, for frying

 

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

 

 

Hottips

 

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

 

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

 

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

Tel: 0877921103 – www.bandonfarmersmarket.com

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

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

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

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

 

Butternut Squash Soup

 

Serves 6-8

 

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

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

25g (1oz) butter

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

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

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

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

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

2-3 whole cloves garlic, smashed

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

1/2 teaspoon garam masala* (see below)

3/8 teaspoon turmeric

350ml (12fl oz) chicken stock

600ml (1 pint) water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)

freshly grated nutmeg

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

* Garam Masala (an Indian spice blend)

 

Makes approximately 25g (1oz)

 

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

1 tablespoon whole green cardamom, including husk

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

3/4 tablespoon whole cloves

1/4 tablespoon black peppercorns

 

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

 

Lentil Salad

 

Serves 4-6

 

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

700ml (24fl oz) water

1 teaspoon salt

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

a small bunch of chopped green onion

3/4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill or parsley

finely chopped chili or freshly ground pepper to taste

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Strong Vinaigrette

 

Makes approximately 475ml (16fl oz)

 

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

 

1 teaspoon garlic paste

175ml (6fl oz) red wine vinegar

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3/4 teaspoon salt

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

 

Prepare using the method above.

 

 

Pulled Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate Molasses

 

Serves 4-6

 

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

1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

l large onion, peeled and diced

1 carrot peeled and diced

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

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

1 tablespoon fresh ginger thinly sliced and julienned

4-5 cloves garlic chopped

large sprig of fresh thyme

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

225ml (8fl oz) red wine

salt and pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

3/4 tablespoon lime or lemon juice

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Pickled Red Onions

 

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

225ml (8fl oz) white vinegar

110g (4oz) sugar

pinch of salt

3 whole cloves

broken cinnamon

dried chilli

 

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

 

American Chocolate Layer Cake

 

A 10-inch cake will make 20 slices.

 

100g (3 1/2oz) cocoa powder

300ml (10fl oz) boiling water

50ml (2fl oz) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

235g (8 1/2oz) plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

225g (8oz) very soft unsalted butter

200g (7oz) soft brown sugar

200g (7oz) caster sugar

4 eggs

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Cream Filling

 

225ml (8fl oz) heavy cream

3/4 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

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

 

Ganache

 

150ml (5fl oz) heavy cream

1 teaspoon honey or corn syrup (optional)

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

 

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

 

Hot Tips

 

Dates for the Diary – Spring Food Festivals

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

 

www.waterfordfestivaloffood.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Chicken and Banana Flower Salad – yam hua pli

 

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

 

Serves 2

 

1 banana flower

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Water

 

250g (8 ozs) chicken breast

 

Dressing

230ml (8 fl ozs) coconut cream

1 tablespoon roasted chilli paste

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 stalk of lemon grass – white part sliced finely

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

1 handful fresh coriander leaves

2 kaffir lime leaves – shredded very finely

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

 

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

 

 

Grilled Chicken Satay – satay gai – moo

 

 

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

Pork may also be served in this recipe.

 

Makes 10 approx

 

 

450g (1 lb) chicken breast or pork fillet

2 teaspoon coriander seeds

½ teaspoon cumin

2 garlic cloves

4 red Asian shallots or 2 Irish shallots, chopped

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

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

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoon caster sugar

 

10 wooden or bamboo skewers

 

Spicy Cucumber Relish (see recipe)

Satay Sauce (see recipe)

 

 

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

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

 

 

Cucumber Relish – naam jim taeng-gwa

 

Ingredients

 

4 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons vinegar

1 pinch of salt

½ teaspoon chilli powder or large red chilli, julienned

4 tablespoons cucumber, julienned

2 tablespoon, shallot, sliced

1 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped

 

 

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

 

 

Peanut Sauce

naam satay /naam jim thua

 

2 large dried chillies, chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 stalk lemongrass, chopped

1 tablespoon turmeric, chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

450ml (16fl oz) coconut milk

1 tablespoon tamarind water

2 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons ground roasted peanuts

 

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

 

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

 

10 wooden or bamboo skewers

400g pork fillet, cut into strips

2 garlic cloves, chopped

6 coriander roots, scraped and chopped

½ teaspoon white ground pepper

4 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

125ml coconut cream

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon castor sugar

 

 

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

 

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

 

 

Stir Fried Noodles with Pork and Soy Sauce

 

kuaytiaw phat sii iew sai moo

 

Serves 4

 

2 tablespoons oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

450g (1lb) pork cut in strips

1 handful wide rice noodles, soaked and drained

4 stalks of Chinese broccoli, cut diagonally

2 eggs beaten

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

150ml (5 fl oz) chicken stock or water

lots of white pepper

 

 

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

 

Hottips

 

Just Nuts

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

 

Good Things Cafe

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

 

Slow Food and GIY Event at Ballymaloe Cookery School

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

 

Wild Food

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Mothers’ Day for Sunday 18^th March.

 

Gingerbread

 

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

 

Makes 1 loaf

 

225g (1/2 lb) white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

110g (4oz) soft brown sugar

75g (3oz) butter, cut into cubes

175g (6oz) treacle

150ml (5fl oz) milk

1 very small or 1/2 organic egg

50g (2oz) sultanas

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

 

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

 

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

 

First line the loaf tin with silicone paper.

 

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

 

Coffee Cake

 

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

 

Serves 10–12

 

225g (8oz) soft butter

225g (8oz) caster sugar

4 organic eggs

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

1 teaspoon baking powder

scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

 

Coffee Butter Cream

50g (2oz) butter

110g (4oz) icing sugar, sieved

1–2 teaspoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

 

Coffee Icing

450g (1lb) icing sugar

scant 2 tablespoons Irel or Camp coffee essence

about 4 tablespoons boiling water

 

To Decorate

toasted hazelnuts or chocolate-covered coffee beans

 

2 x 20cm (8in) round sandwich tins

 

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

 

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

 

 

Florence Bowe’s ‘Crumpets’

 

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

 

Makes 15 approx.

 

1/2 lb (225g) white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon. bread soda

1
teaspoon Bextartar (cream of tartar)

2 eggs, preferably free range

8 fl ozs (250ml) milk

2 ozs (55g) castor sugar

1 oz (30g) butter

 

To Serve

Homemade jam or apple jelly

or

lemon juice and castor sugar

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Variations

Coffee Butter Cream Icing

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

 

Beautiful Butterfly Buns

 

Makes 12

 

4 ozs (110g) butter, chopped

4 ozs (110g) castor sugar

5 ozs (145g) white flour

2 eggs, preferably free range

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 x 12 bun tray

Raspberry jam

Freshly whipped cream

Icing sugar

 

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

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

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

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

 

 

Coffee Icing

8 ozs (225g) icing sugar

scant 1 tablespoon Irel coffee essence

2 tablespoon approx. boiling water

 

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

 

 

Hottips

 

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

 

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

 

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

.