AuthorDarina Allen

I’ve just learned the secret of how to give a totally stress free dinner party! So here’s how it’s done. On a recent trip to San Francisco Mary Risley invited eleven mutual friends around in my honour. It was to be an early dinner. The guests were invited for 6:30, I arrived in around 5:30, Mary was having tea – totally relaxed and there was absolutely no sign of any activity, not to mention food.

As six approached, I tentatively enquired whether I could help in any way, maybe lay the table, how about food! Mary remembered the Ballymaloe Bread with some of Bill Casey’s Shanagarry Smoked Salmon that I’d brought over – “let’s have that for starters.” I took the loaf out of the freezer and hastily popped it into the oven and as per instructions I laid the table, then ran out into the garden to pick a Meyer lemon from the tree (yes, literally!.) The doorbell rang and the guests started to arrive. Mary was totally unfazed, lots of hugging “The glasses are in the cupboard, here’s the bottle opener, Jim you open the wine”

By now the ingredients for the main course, a San Francisco Fishermen’s Stew, were on the island counter, not sure who got those out of the fridge, I was busy slicing salmon and buttering warm semi frozen bread one slice at a time then popping it back into the oven to thaw another few centimetres just enough to cut another slice.

“Paula, can you chop the onions and that fennel bulb and Kiki can you open that can of tomatoes?”  We all followed instructions, everyone was having a hilarious time plus an impromptu cooking lesson on how to make this classic San Francisco Fishermen’s Stew.

The onion, chilli, garlic, fennel, and fresh marjoram was bubbling away in a big Le Crueset Casserole. Not sure who got the job of cracking the crabs claws.

Everyone loved the smoked salmon, “Open another couple bottles of wine”, add the fish to the tomato, next the crab and clams. Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Taste, maybe a bit more salt, “Who’s chopping the parsley; scatter it over the top of the pot!”

“Frances and Darina, you are in charge of the pudding – there’s a couple of (defrosted) discs of Lady Baltimore’s cakes and some raspberries over there, sandwich them together with cream and lemon curd.”

We did as we were bidden and produced an impressive looking confection in a couple of minutes, decorated with lemon balm from the garden and sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar.

By then the Cioppino was being ladled from the big red skillet into wide shallow bowls and we all tucked in, some of us even had second helpings. A green salad emerged from somewhere, not sure who or where that came from and then Frances and I produced our masterpiece to lots of appreciative noises. There was coffee, more wine and lots more convivial chat.

The washing up somehow seemed to be effortlessly done and a fantastic evening was had by all – so now we all know how to give a stress free dinner party – thank you Mary.

 

Mary Risley’s Cioppino

 

Every country has its version of a fishermen’s stew–I understand the origin of this recipe is Genoa – it’s a San Francisco tradition!

 

Serves 8-10

 

24 well-scrubbed live clams or cockles

extra virgin olive oil

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped

1.1kg (2lbs 8ozs) fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

(or 3 x 400g (14oz) cans Italian plum tomatoes)

1 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)

450ml (16floz) dry white wine

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 3/4 tablespoons fresh marjoram, chopped

900g (2 lbs) fresh white fish (sea bass, rock cod, halibut or monkfish)

450g (1lb) sea scallops (optional)

450g (1lb) raw shrimp (or prawns), peeled

meat from 1 large cooked crab, (optional)

25g (1oz) fresh parsley, chopped

 

To Serve

 

Sourdough Bread
To steam the clams or cockles, place them in a heavy bottomed pot with 2.5cm (1 inch) of water.  Cover and cook over high heat, shaking occasionally, until the clams are open.  Keep covered until ready to use.

 

To make the soup base, put the onions with half a teaspoon of salt in a large casserole with a generous splash of olive oil and cook, stirring from time to time, until the onions are softened.  Stir in the garlic and continue to cook and stir another minute or two.  Stir in the fennel, then the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, red pepper flakes, and marjoram.  Then add the broth from the steamed clams leaving the last tablespoon in the pot since it probably has sand.  Bring this mixture to the boil, stirring, and let simmer gently for 20 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, cut the white fish into large chunks, coat with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

 

Remove the little tough part from each scallop.  Remove the shells from the shrimp.  Place these on another plate and coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

 

To make the cioppino, fifteen minutes before you are ready to serve, bring the soup base to the boil, stirring, and stir in the fish.  Cover and let simmer 5 minutes.  Next, stir in the scallops and the shrimp and let simmer another 5 minutes.  At this point stir in the steamed clams and the crab meat, if desired.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Cover and let sit a minute or two. Sprinkle with lots of fresh parsley and serve in warmed bowls with sourdough bread.

 

 

Mary Risley’s Pear, Gorgonzola and Walnut Salad

 

Serves 6

 

This salad is a contrast in colour and texture: the pears are sweet and soft, the cheese is soft and salty, and the walnuts are hard strongly flavoured when toasted. To decide whether or not to peel the pears, taste the skin to see if it is acceptable. The best pears for this salad are French Butter pear, d’Anjou, or Comice.

2 heads butter or leaf lettuce, or a mixture of red and green lettuces, washed, dried and torn into 1 inch pieces

 

4 pears, such as French butter pear, d’Anjou, or Comice, peeled and cut into ¼ inch wide slices

225g (8oz) Gorgonzola, broken into ½ inch chunks

55g (2 ½ oz) walnut pieces, lightly toasted

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard

125ml (4fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil

coarse salt

freshly ground pepper

 

Put lettuces in a large salad bowl. Add the pears, cheese and walnuts. To make the vinaigrette, combine the vinegar, mustard and salt in a measuring cup. Stir to dissolve the salt. Mix in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well with a small spoon. To serve, mix the vinaigrette again and pour over the salad, tossing gently with your hands. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mound the lettuces in the centres of salad plates. With your hands arrange the pears, Gorgonzola and walnuts on top. Serve with French bread.

 

Lady Baltimore Cake with Raspberries and Lemon Curd

 

This is Mary, Frances and my adapted recipe for Lady Baltimore’s cake.

 

Yields two 8 inch cakes

 

200g (7oz) white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

110g (4oz) butter, softened

275g (10oz) caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

180ml (6fl oz) milk

3 egg whites

 

450g (1lb) raspberries

lemon curd (see recipe)

 

300ml (10fl oz) whipped cream

fresh mint or lemon balm leaves

 

2 x 8-inch round cake tins

 

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

 

Grease and flour two 8-inches round cake tins. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and sieve them together onto a piece of parchment paper.  Put the soft butter and sugar in a mixing bowl, and beat until smooth and well blended.

Stir the vanilla extract and the milk together and add to the butter-sugar mixture in two stages alternately with the flour mixture, beating until the batter is well blended and smooth after each addition.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but moist.

Gently stir one-third of the beaten whites into the batter, then scoop up the remaining beaten whites, drop them onto the batter, and fold them in.

Divide between the prepared cake tins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick or straw inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then turn them out of the tins onto a rack to cool completely.

Spread a layer of lemon curd on each cake base, sandwich together with softly whipped cream and raspberries. Spread a little cream and lemon curd on top and pile on some fresh raspberries. Decorate with a few fresh lemon balm or mint leaves and dust with a little icing sugar.

 

Lemon Curd

 

110g (4 oz) castor sugar

50g (2oz) butter

finely grated rind and juice of 2 good lemons, preferably unwaxed organic

2 eggs and 1 egg yolk (keep white aside for meringue)

 

On a very low heat melt the butter, add castor sugar, lemon juice and rind and then stir in well beaten eggs. Stir carefully over a gentle heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Draw off the heat and pour into a bowl (it will thicken as it cools.)

 

Hottips

 

Today, tomorrow and Monday many of my food heroes will converge on Ballymaloe for the first ever Literary Festival of Food and Wine and the free fringe events in the Big Shed beside the Grainstore. Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden, David Thompson, David Tanis, Thomasina Miers, Camilla Plum, Stevie Parle, Rachel Allen, Sandor Katz … will all do cookery demonstrations at Ballymaloe Cookery School. It’s being described as the Glastonbury of Food and Wine Festivals, let’s hope the weather’s better but actually it doesn’t matter because virtually all the events are indoors – apart from the treasure hunts and GIY gardens – check out www.litfest.ie

 

Charity Vintage Tea Rooms at Saint Mary’s Church of Ireland, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. Afternoon tea as it used to be, sipped out of antique tea cups with homemade cakes and dainty sandwiches to the sounds of Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole – and all for a good cause. Every Saturday from 2 – 5pm.  Email Ria charitytearooms@gmail.com

 

Polytunnel Gardening Course at The Hollies, Enniskeane, Co Cork. Learn how to get the most from your poly tunnel year round, grow summer crops including sweet corn, tomatoes and peppers and extend the growing season to have fresh greens even during the winter period.  Sunday 12th May 9.30-4.30. €60.00 lunch included – 023 88 47001 or 0860883116 – info@thehollies.ie

 

Don’t miss Saturday Pizzas and Sunday Roasts at Ballymaloe Cookery School during the Literary Festival of Food and Wine 3^rd – 6^th May 2013

 

Sandor Katz described himself as a DIY food activist and fermentation revivalist. He has a global cult following – so what exactly is all that all about? Well I met and heard him speak recently at the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conference in San Francisco and I have to say it was an inspirational experience.

I’ve been following his trail and becoming more and more intrigued and fascinated since I bought the Art of Fermentation in a book shop in Skibbereen a couple of years ago.

I have felt for some time that our Western diet is seriously deficient in fermented foods and the paranoia around food hygiene and food safety has led to a lowering of immune systems. A growing body of research seems to indicate that children who are totally protected from bacteria seem to have higher rates of allergies and asthma. Sanitising the world can be counterproductive. The overuse of antibiotics has produced resilient bacteria more lethal than those we’ve managed to kill.

How arrogant and naïve are we who imagine that we can win the war against bacteria – over and over they out-evolve us, the battle is futile and in many cases counterproductive. We need to learn to work with bacteria and nature to re-establish healthy gut flora and guess what, they really like fermented foods like sauerkraut.

For the majority of us making fermented foods is an unknown or forgotten skill, unfamiliar names like sauerkraut and kimchi sound scary – we have no idea where to start. Nowadays most people are convinced that bacteria are all bad not realising that the majority of bacteria are beneficial and benign. Bacteria are everywhere, we are all made up of different types of bacteria and of course there are some pathogenic bacteria but the healthier we are the most resistant we are to dangerous bacteria. Ironically the more sterile our environment and more processed out diet the lower our resistance, so challenge your system with lots of live food, organic produce, natural cheeses and fermented foods.

So where do we start, whatever about bacteria the population at large is totally terrified of moulds – again people are convinced they are all scary and bad. Apparently the growing ignorance and paranoia about moulds is adversely affecting the growth of the cheeses, so people are missing out on that brilliant penicillium roqueforti.

In the past decade or two as food has become more and more processed, we’ve lost faith in our own judgment and become increasingly deskilled and put our faith in food manufacturers and sell-by dates.

We need to take back power over our own diet and re-learn forgotten skills, shake off our fear and learn to trust our instincts once again. As soon as I read the Art of Fermenting I googled Sandor Katz for his contact and invited him to speak at the inaugural Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine – 3^rd to 6^th May 2013.

My pantry larder is now full of bottles, crocks and jars full of experiments and ferments, I’ve been empowered by Sandor Katz who spoke so eloquently of his fascination with fermentation – and told us that there have been no recorded instances of food poisoning from fermented foods in the US so just scrape off that mould and enjoy the sauerkraut underneath.

Fermentation is the hottest new interest for many top chefs particularly in the US. I visited several during my visit to the West Coast. Apart from sauerkraut they are also and making pickles of all kinds. Kefir is now widely sold in supermarkets, so soon you’ll see fermented foods coming mainstream. At present Environmental Health Officers and food inspectors in the US are having difficulty coming to terms with this revolution. This new development, though time honoured, is unfamiliar and can be scary territory.

Sandor Katz is leading the way in our rediscovery of the ancient art of fermentation. His book the Art of Fermentation is the most definitive do-it-yourself guide to homemade fermentation ever published. There are two opportunities to meet Sandor at the Ballymaloe Lit Fest of Food and Wine – he and Ben Reade of the Nordic Food Lab will speak about The Art of Fermentation on Saturday 4^th May at 11:30am in the Grainstore and a Practical Fermentation Demonstration at 9:00am on Sunday 5^th May 2013 www.litfest.ie

 

Sandor Katz Sauerkraut

 

Timeframe: 1-4 weeks (or more)

Special Equipment:

Ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket, one-gallon capacity or greater

Plate that fits inside crock or bucket

One-gallon jug filled with water (or a scrubbed and boiled rock)

Cloth cover (like a pillowcase or towel)

Ingredients (for 3 3/4 litres)

2.2kg (5 lbs) cabbage

3 tablespoons sea salt

Process:

Chop or grate cabbage, finely or coarsely, with or without hearts, however you like it. I love to mix green and red cabbage to end up with bright pink kraut. Place cabbage in a large bowl as you chop it.

Sprinkle salt on the cabbage as you go. The salt pulls water out of the cabbage (through osmosis), and this creates the brine in which the cabbage can ferment and sour without rotting. The salt also has the effect of keeping the cabbage crunchy, by inhibiting organisms and enzymes that soften it. 3 tablespoons of salt is a rough guideline for 2.2kgs (5lbs) of cabbage. I never measure the salt; I just shake some on after I chop up each cabbage. I use more salt in summer, less in winter.

Add other vegetables. Grate carrots for a coleslaw-like kraut. Other vegetables I’ve added include onions, garlic, seaweed, greens, Brussels sprouts, small whole heads of cabbage, turnips, beets, and burdock roots. You can also add fruits (apples, whole or sliced, are classic), and herbs and spices (caraway seeds, dill seeds, celery seeds, and juniper berries are classic, but anything you like will work). Experiment.

Mix ingredients together and pack into crock. Pack just a bit into the crock at a time and tamp it down hard using your fists or any (other) sturdy kitchen implement. The tamping packs the kraut tight in the crock and helps force water out of the cabbage.

Cover kraut with a plate or some other lid that fits snugly inside the crock. Place a clean weight (a glass jug filled with water) on the cover. This weight is to force water out of the cabbage and then keep the cabbage submerged under the brine. Cover the whole thing with a cloth to keep dust and flies out.

Press down on the weight to add pressure to the cabbage and help force water out of it. Continue doing this periodically (as often as you think of it, every few hours), until the brine rises above the cover. This can take up to about 24 hours, as the salt draws water out of the cabbage slowly. Some cabbage, particularly if it is old, simply contains less water. If the brine does not rise above the plate level by the next day, add enough salt water to bring the brine level above the plate. Add about a teaspoon of salt to a cup of water and stir until it’s completely dissolved.

Leave the crock to ferment. I generally store the crock in an unobtrusive corner of the kitchen where I won’t forget about it, but where it won’t be in anybody’s way. You could also store it in a cool basement if you want a slower fermentation that will preserve for longer.

Check the kraut every day or two. The volume reduces as the fermentation proceeds. Sometimes mould appears on the surface. Many books refer to this mould as “scum,” but I prefer to think of it as a bloom. Skim what you can off of the surface; it will break up and you will probably not be able to remove all of it. Don’t worry about this. It’s just a surface phenomenon, a result of contact with the air. The kraut itself is under the anaerobic protection of the brine. Rinse off the plate and the weight. Taste the kraut. Generally it starts to be tangy after a few days, and the taste gets stronger as time passes. In the cool temperatures of a cellar in winter, kraut can keep improving for months and months. In the summer or in a heated room, its life cycle is more rapid. Eventually it becomes soft and the flavour turns less pleasant.

Enjoy. I generally scoop out a bowl- or jarful at a time and keep it in the fridge. I start when the kraut is young and enjoy its evolving flavour over the course of a few weeks. Try the sauerkraut juice that will be left in the bowl after the kraut is eaten. Sauerkraut juice is a rare delicacy and unparalleled digestive tonic. Each time you scoop some kraut out of the crock, you have to repack it carefully. Make sure the kraut is packed tight in the crock, the surface is level, and the cover and weight are clean. Sometimes brine evaporates, so if the kraut is not submerged below brine just add salted water as necessary. Some people preserve kraut by canning and heat-processing it. This can be done; but so much of the power of sauerkraut is its aliveness that I wonder: Why kill it?

Develop a rhythm. I try to start a new batch before the previous batch runs out. I remove the remaining kraut from the crock, repack it with fresh salted cabbage, then pour the old kraut and its juices over the new kraut. This gives the new batch a boost with an active culture starter.

 

Asian Prawn Salad

 

Poached monkfish, scallops or squid (see recipe) also work well with this recipe.

 

Serves 4 – 6

 

 

500g (18oz) – peeled, freshly cooked Dublin Bay or organic prawns (see recipe)

 

 

Asian Dressing

 

 

1 tablespoon nam pla fish sauce

1 teaspoon caster sugar

juice of one lime

2 – 5 Thai green chillies finely sliced

1 stalk lemon grass finely sliced

2 kaffir lime leaves finely shredded

2 red shallots or 1 small red onion finely sliced and refreshed

1 scallion or spring onion cut at an angle

lots of fresh mint leaves or fresh coriander

½ – 1 cucumber cut in half and then in diagonal chunks

 

Whisk the fish sauce, freshly squeezed lime juice and sugar (you may need more) together. Add the other ingredients, toss gently, taste and correct seasoning and serve immediately with lots of coriander sprigs and a wedge or two of cucumber.

 

Hot Tips

The Burren Slow Food Festival in Lisdoonvarna is on from 17^th to 19^th May and showcases the best elements of food culture in County Clare. Visit the largest indoor and outdoor market in County Clare. Attend a food symposium, gala dinner, cookery demonstrations from local and celebrity chefs, and food and nutrition talks. There is also a range of events and demonstrations for children to enjoy. www.slowfoodclare.com/festival/

 

Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine 3^rd – 6^th May – In addition to the main program, there will be a Fringe festival in “The Big Shed” with a host of other food and wine related activities for young and old alike. Gardeners will rub shoulders with cooks, foragers with food historians, critics with musicians, artisan producers with bloggers – a melting pot -of eating, drinking, speaking and thinking. A place to be quiet or to make noise. A place for new ideas, words old and new, inspiration, learning and fun.

This is a unique event being staged in a special place – a gathering for all who love food and wine – www.litfest.com

 

Check out the new Fish Bar at the Electric on the banks of the River Lee – 41 South Mall, Cork City, it takes its inspiration from the simple Portuguese fish shacks and San Sebastian’s taverns. They serve the freshest fish, simply cooked – half a dozen oysters, grilled sardines, crab and crayfish salad – how delicious does that sound! +353 21 4222 990

Down here in Ballymaloe we are all so excited about the first ever Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine.

It’s taking place in Ballymaloe House and at the Grain store and Ballymaloe Cookery School.

We have a fantastic line up of speakers – many of my food heroes from all over the world said yes to the invitation to come to Ireland for a gathering of cooks and chefs and food writers over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

This is your chance to meet and mingle and chat to the icons whom we never imagined we’d meet face to face.

And it’s not just food, every wine buff’s hero Jancis Robinson MW and her husband Nick Lander restaurant critic for the Financial Times will give a presentation on the wine book, “Wine Grapes – A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours”,   of which she is the co-author with a wine tasting to illustrate her presentation.

We’ll have a whiskey tasting and Ger Buckley from Midleton Distillery will give a cooperage demonstration and we have a number of iconic craft beer brewers (West Kerry, White Gypsy, Metal Man, 8 Degree…) They will all be part of the fringe events in the Big Shed at Ballymaloe. Madhur Jaffrey is coming from New York to teach a class at the cookery school on Saturday 4^th May and on Sunday 5^th May she will also do a talk in the Grainstore about our love affair with curry – based on her new book The Curry Nation. You can’t see her anywhere else in the world, she just doesn’t give classes.

Same with Claudia Roden, much loved author of over 18 cook books including A Book of Middle Eastern Food, considered to be the standard work on Eastern food. Claudia was awarded a Lifetime Achievement in 2012 by the Guild of Food Writers. She’ll demonstrate recipes from her new book ‘Food of Spain’ on Saturday 4th May.

For those of you who love Asian food, David Thompson chef owner of Nahm restaurant is coming from Bangkok to show us some of his favourite Thai street food. He’s a super guy and we’ll choose recipes you can reproduce at home.

The new voices in food – Stevie Parle from Dock Kitchen in London, Thomasina Miers from Wahaca and Claire Ptak of Violet Cakes and our own Donal Skehan will strut their stuff.

Alice Waters – author of ten books – of Chez Panisse in Berkley CA, started the Edible School Yard project in California. Bill Yosses, pastry chef at the White House will tell us about Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden. And Stephanie Alexander, bestselling author of 14 books and whose project the development of a primary school kitchen garden program the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation is supported by the Australian government and has resulted in 295 Australian schools having gardens and kitchens for the children to learn how to grow and cook. Those interested in the education of our children, both parents and teachers, will find this session totally inspirational.

Budding writers and food bloggers will find much food for thought in sessions like Lucy Pearce’s Workshop, Food Writing for the Digital Generation (with  Aoife Carrigy, Caroline Hennessy and Michael Kelly) on Saturday 4th May. John McKenna In Conversation, Evolution of Food Writing (with Matthew Fort) on Sunday 5^th May and In Conversation, How to Get the Best from a Restaurant (with Nick Lander, Tom Doorley and Hazel Allen) on Sunday 5^th May.

Michelle Darmody who self-published her Cake Café Cookbook is also happy to share her secrets of how it’s done.

The centre of the gastronomic world has moved from Spain to Copenhagen in the past couple of years. Co-founder of Noma the best restaurant in the world will tell us how this Nordic food revolution came about. Are there lessons for Ireland here?

This session will be particularly fascinating for chefs and cooks, food writers and those involved in the hospitality industry.

Alys Fowler – who was the editor of the Landscape Review and has also presented her own successful TV series, The Edible Garden in 2010. She has published four books including The Thrifty Gardener, The Edible Garden and the Thrifty Forager – will do a foraging master class with Micheal Kelly of GIY (Grow it Yourself). The growing number of people, me included, who are interested in food issues should not miss Joanna Blythman’s workshop Digesting Unsavoury Truths with Ella McSweeney and Suzanne Campbell on Sunday 4^th May. Joanna has won numerous awards and accolades including five Glen Fiddich Awards, a Caroline Walker Media Award for Improving the Nation’s Health by Means of Good Food, a Guild of Food Writers Award. Bring your questions… Food historians will be thrilled with the opportunity to hear Regina Sexton – Literary Conversation, The Early Food Writing of Myrtle Allen on Monday 5^th May.

And then there are the fringe events in the Big Shed and farmers market and honestly there’s much more but not enough room to tell you about it. We reckon to have many exciting events for all the family, so check out the website www.litfest.ie for details and deals.

Meanwhile here are some of my favourite recipes from the guests chefs to whet your appetite.

 

David Thompson’s Nahm Sweet Pork

 

This sweet pork is addictive.  The sugar balances the heat of the chillies.  It is eaten as an accompaniment to Nam Priks (Relishes).

 

Serves 4 as a nibble

 

10 ozs (300 g) pork shoulder or neck

4 ozs (125 g) sugar

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons water

10 shallots, sliced, dried and deep-fried until golden

 

Cook the pork in boiling water until cooked, then cut into ½ cm (¼ inch) cubes.  In a small pan combine the sugar and water and cook until it caramelises.  Add the pork, fish sauce, soy sauce and extra water.  Simmer for 5 minutes until sticky.  Mix in the deep-fried shallots and serve.

 

Thomasina Mier’s Green Chilli Vinaigrette

 

This is a delicious, bright salad dressing that is perfect for simple green salads.

 

2 green chillies
1 small clove of garlic
3 tablespoons water

100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

a teaspoon castor sugar

a handful of chopped coriander

Roast the chillies and garlic in a dry frying pan until they are blackened, blistered and soft (5-10 minutes approximately).  Remove the garlic skin and de-stem and de-seed the chillies.  Check the heat of the chillies with the tip of your tongue.  If they are hot you may only want to use one.  Roughly chop them and put in a blender with the garlic and the rest of the ingredients.  Blitz to a smooth-ish vinaigrette and serve at once (this dressing does not keep).

 

Madhur Jaffrey’s Rogan Josh

From  “Foolproof Indian Cookery”

 

Serves 4-6

 

5cm (2 inch) piece of fresh root ginger, chopped

7 garlic cloves, chopped

6 tbsp olive or groundnut oil

10 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

2½cm (1 inch) piece of cinnamon stick

2lb (900g) boneless lamb from the shoulder, or beef cut into 2½-4cm (1-1½ inch) cubes

7oz (200g) onions, finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1½ tbsp sweet, bright-red paprika

2 tsp tomato purée

1¼ tsp salt

10fl oz (300ml) water

 

Drop the ginger and garlic into a food processor or blender, add 4 tablespoons of water and blend to a paste.  Put the oil into a wide pan, preferably non-stick, and set it over a medium-high heat.  When it is hot, put in the cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon stick.  Quickly put in the lamb pieces – only as many as the pan will hold easily in a single layer and brown on all sides.  Remove with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl.  Brown the remaining meat in the same way.

 

Add the onions to the oil left in the pan.  Cook, stirring, until they turn brown at the edges.  Add the paste from the blender and stir for 30 seconds.  Add the cumin, coriander, cayenne and paprika, stir once and then add the tomato purée.  Stir for 10 seconds.

 

Add the meat and any whole spices that are still clinging to it, plus the salt and water.  Stir well and bring to the boil.  Cover the pan, turn the heat to low and simmer gently for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.

 

* If using beef, cook for 1½ hours rather than 1 hour.

 

Claudia Roden’s Medjool Date and Coconut Chutney

 

Claudia Roden introduced me to this Jewish recipe when she taught a class at the school in 2007. It’s a gem, keep some in your fridge and you’ll find yourself eating it with everything.  Serve with everything or as part of a plate of mezze.

 

Makes 3 x 200ml (7fl oz) jars

 

150ml (5fl oz/1/4 pint) water

125g (4 1/2oz) desiccated coconut

50g (2oz) coriander leaves

juice of 2 limes or lemons

2 garlic cloves crushed

10 Medjool dates, stoned

1 tablespoon tamarind paste dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 tablespoons water

 

Pour the water over the desiccated coconut and allow to sit about 15-20 minutes until the water is absorbed. Chop the coriander in the food processor, then add the lime juice, crushed garlic, dates, coconut and the tamarind paste dissolved in 2 tablespoons boiling water.  Season with sea salt and a good pinch of cayenne, and blend to a paste.  Add 1-2 tablespoons of water if necessary to make a soft creamy paste.  Fill into small jars, cover with non-reactive lids and store in the refrigerator.

 

25g (1oz) block of tamarind soaked for 20 minutes in 50ml (2fl oz) boiling water makes 1 tablespoon of tamarind purée.

 

Claudia Roden’s Fruit Salad with Honey and Orange Blossom Water

From “The Book of Jewish Cooking”

 

For this delicately scented fruit salad, have a mix of fruit chosen from three or four of the following: peaches, nectarines, apricots, bananas, plums, grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, mangoes, melon, pineapple, dates, and pomegranate seeds.

 

Serves 4

 

Juice of 1 large orange

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

750g mixed fruit

To garnish: a few mint leaves

Mix the orange juice, honey and orange blossom water straight into a serving bowl. Wash or peel the fruits, core or remove stones and drop them in the bowl as you cut them up into pieces so that they do not have time to discolour.

Leave in a cool place for an hour or longer before serving, garnished with mint leaves.

 

Hottips

Slow Food International and Sandbrook House are hosting the second International Slow Food Grandmothers Day Celebration on Sunday 21st of April 11am-6pm.  There will be a celebration of Forgotten Skills and a series of workshops and demonstrations from some of Ireland’s most passionate Slow Food experts.

Darina Allen, Pamela Black, Florence Bowe and Niall Murphy and Sophie Morris of the Kookie Dough company…. will do cookery demonstrations. Sign up for a hands on sausage making sessions with Ed Hick and a series of workshops and demonstrations on topics including butter, cheese and chocolate making, preserving, foraging, cooking bastible bread over the open fire will be free to attend.  Grandmothers are invited to bring along a favourite recipe that they would like to pass onto their grandchildren to include in a Slow Food Grandmother’s scrapbook.

Admission is €10 with free entry to all children with one adult, free car parking and free entry to all workshops.  Cookery demonstrations are €10.00-15.00 and are on a first come, first served basis. See www.grandmothersday.ie  for more details.

Wine events at the Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine 3rd – 6th May 2013.

The inaugural Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine, 3rd – 6th May 2013 will include well known wine & drinks writers Jancis Robinson MW, Mary Dowey, Tom Doorley, John Wilson, to name but some of the 40 national and international speakers attending. www.litfest.ie

Two Herbal Health Talks in May by Herbalist Kelli O’Halloran at Ballyseedy Garden Centre – Carrigtwohill.

The Sneezing Season! Saturday 4th May – 10:30am – 11:30am – How to prevent and alleviate the symptoms of hayfever with herbal medicines.

Happy Heart Weekend Saturday 11th May 10:30am – 11:30am To coincide with the Irish Heart Foundation’s ‘Happy Heart Weekend’, Kelli looks at the natural herbal and dietary approach to preventing and reducing high cholesterol. Both talks cost €10, Slow Food Members €8, a cup of herbal tea included. Phone 087 965 2822 to book.

 

Cooking is the very best way to show special love to your family and friends’ – Jacob Kenedy’s sentiments as he cooked one beautiful dish after another at the Ballymaloe Cookery School recently. Jacob, whose mother came from Rome, owns one of my favourite restaurants in London, Bocca di Lupo. He feels that there is something particularly alluring about Italian food; it nourishes not only the body, but also the soul, mind and heart.

Jacob has been cooking with his Italian mama since he was very little. When he graduated from Saint Johns in Cambridge, he was already a chef at Moro in London and he continued to flit between the kitchens there and Boulevard in San Francisco before taking a year out to travel around Italy.

He opened Bocca di Lupo in a hidden back street in Soho in 2008 and it has since been  named Best Restaurant of the Year twice. In 2010 he opened Gelupo just across the road selling possibly the very best homemade ice cream in London.

As soon as I ate there, I loved the food and wanted to entice Jacob over to the Ballymaloe Cookery School to teach a guest chef course – difficult enough because Jacob is on the stove at Bocca di Lupo almost every day.

The restaurant has received all sorts of accolades and awards for its stripped down, honest regional Italian cuisine. Everything is made from scratch with superb ingredients much of which comes directly from Italy. Jacob and his chefs make all their own pasta, breads, sausages, salami, pickles, mostardo and sublime gelato and granitas.

If you are planning a trip to London, book ahead. Bocca di Lupo is also brilliant for pre-theatre or after theatre bites.

Here are some of the dishes Jacob cooked for us but this is just a taste of what’s in the Bocca Cookbook published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

 

Bocca di Lupo’s Shaved Radish Salad

 

Serves 4 as a starter

 

1 bunch, or about 8 radishes breakfast radishes

1/2 a black radish (approximately 150g/5oz) (available from Turkish shops), or 5cm (2 inches) green mooli (Chinese greengrocers) or mooli

a chunk of celeriac (approximately 50-50g/2 – 2 1/4oz) – about 1/4 of a very small bulb – peeled

a little chunk of pecorino Romano – about 50g (2oz)

1/4 pomegranate, picked – or 6 tablespoons picked seeds

a few sprigs flat leaf parsley, leaves picked

 

Dressing

 

1 tablespoon white truffle oil

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

juice of 1/4 lemon (or 2 more teaspoons white balsamic)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Make a dressing with the oils, vinegar, lemon, salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning.

 

Do the following just before you serve as radishes dry out, and celeriac blackens with time. Wash the radishes (both red and black, don’t peel either), and shave thinly – best on a mandolin. Use a potato peeler to shave the celeriac and pecorino. Toss the lot with the pomegranate seeds and parsley, and dress lightly.

 

Serve in haphazard but tall piles on individual plates, or in a bowl to share from.

 

Jacob Kenedy’s Fagioli all’uccelletto – Cannellini Beans cooked ‘like little birds’ with Tomato and Sage

Serves 4 as a side

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
12 sage leaves, roughly chopped
a tiny pinch of crushed dried chilli flakes

800g cooked cannellini beans, plus a little of their liquor

100ml (3 1/2fl oz) light tomato sauce or passata

Fry the garlic in the oil until it looks like it’s thinking of colouring, but hasn’t quite started to. Add the sage and chilli, then quickly follow with the beans, a small ladleful of their liquor, and the tomato sauce. Season to taste and boil for a few minutes, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the beans.

 

Jacob Kenedy’s Honey-Grilled Pork Chops

 

Serves 4

 

4 good pork chops (preferably from the shoulder, or neck end of the loin) – 200-250g (7-9oz) each and 1.5-2cm (1/3 – 3/4 inch) thick

4 tablespoons runny honey

salt and freshly ground black pepper

a couple of sprigs of rosemary

 

6 hours to 2 days before you cook, smear the pork chops with half the honey, and about half the salt and pepper you’d use to season them if you were cooking them now. Pick the leaves off one sprig rosemary and sprinkle over the chops. Wrap them up with cling film and refrigerate. This is a kind of quick brine, to partly cure the meat and keep it super-juicy when cooked.

 

An hour before you’re ready to eat, take the meat from the fridge to come to room temperature. Have ready, blazing hot, a griddle pan or barbecue. Season the chops with a touch more salt and pepper and grill them until gloriously charred on the outside, using the remaining rosemary branch as a brush to anoint them with extra honey as you go. They should be served still a little pink inside, and be given a minute or two to rest and release their honey-sweet juices before serving with braised greens and perhaps some cannellini beans.

 

Jacob Kenedy’s Escarole Salad

Serves 4–8 as a side, or after a main

1 head escarole

Dressing

 

1 1⁄2 tablespoons lemon juice
1⁄2 garlic clove (optional)

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

The escarole is best washed whole, by immersing it upside-down in a sink-full of water and moving it around a little, then shaking dry. Remove any damaged outer leaves, then separate all the rest from the stem and tear into generous pieces.

My grandmother rubs a wooden salad bowl with the garlic, then discards the clove. My mum makes the dressing in advance, and leaves the garlic to steep in it for half an hour or more before discarding it. I sometimes make the salad without any garlic at all. In any case, dress the escarole moments before you serve, seasoning with salt and pepper. The sodden bits of salad left at the bottom are best eaten with a crust of bread, also used to mop the bowl.

 

 

Jacob Kenedy’s Caramelised Blood Oranges

 

This used to be Jacob’s mum’s signature dessert, which he has adopted as his own now!

 

Serves 4

 

6 blood oranges

50g (2oz) caster sugar

 

Pare the skin and pith from the blood oranges, and slice across into 5mm (1/4 inch) thick pinwheel discs. Arrange these on a serving dish.

 

Cook the sugar to a dark caramel. There’s no need to add any water – just put the sugar in a small, heavy pan and cook over a high heat until it’s a dark brown, volcanically hot liquid. Drizzle this over the oranges and refrigerate for 6-24 hours. Most of the caramel will dissolve into a ridiculously tasty sauce, leaving just a few crunchy nuggets for variety.

 

Hot Tips

 

Hake is one the most delicious white fish in our waters and is far superior to cod in my opinion – the Spanish love them yet many Irish people have never tasted Hake. Bord Bia have recently published some great recipes to try – www.bordbia.ie/aboutfood/recipes/fish/

 

The Good Things Café Cookery School brochure makes me want to jump into the car and head for Durrus in West Cork right away – check it out! www.thegoodthingscafe.com

 

In one simple afternoon practical cookery session at Ballymaloe Cookery School get stuck in and Just Cook It!  In this short class you will get some practical experience on preparing and cooking a delicious three course meal. Just Cook It -  Friday 17th May 2013 – 2:00pm to 5:30pm Price: €165.00 – www.cookingisfun.ie

Dublin Bay Prawn Festival – Howth, County Dublin from 25th – 28th April 2013. Savour the taste of the sea with local fresh seafood on offer and enjoy an interesting mix of local food, music and entertainment with plenty of walks, talks and Dublin Bay seaside fun. http://www.fingaldublin.ie/interior-pages/about-fingal/culture/cultural-events/dublin-bay-prawn-festival

The IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) EU Group is organising “Sustainable Rural Development Training Days” between the 23th and 25th April in Dublin. The event is targeted at organic farming organisation other interested civil society groups and will focus on new rural development and innovation policy. They are also interested in getting ARC members involved in our event particularly those who have an interest and expertise in the implementation of EU rural development programmes. IFOAM EU brings together more than 160 organisations, associations and enterprises from all EU-27 and EFTA countries. IFOAM´s goal is the worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sound systems that are based on the principles of Organic Agriculture.

For more information and a link to registration can be found at Sustainable Rural Development Training Days http://www.ifoam-eu.org/events/CAP/RD-Training-Days.php.

 

Sri Lanka (originally Ceylon) is the largest producer of real cinnamon in the world. A beautiful gentle spice which has been used both for cooking and medicine since ancient times – lots of references in the bible and in Egypt cinnamon was used for embalming.

When buying cinnamon much of what is sold as cinnamon is an inferior product called cassia which is less expensive but has a much stronger and more acrid flavour.

There are four commercial spices all sold as cinnamon, only one is true cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) produced from the inner bark of a small evergreen tree of the laurel family.

Cassia which is frequently sold as cinnamon comes from three related species, Cassia Burmannii (Indonesian) Cassia Aromaticum (Chinese) and Cassia Loureiroi (Vietnamese).

True cinnamon is native to the lush tropical forests of lovely Sri Lanka, a country formerly known as Ceylon, hence the name  Ceylon cinnamon. The gentle coastal hills in the south of Sri Lanka are especially suited to the growth of cinnamon. Wars have been fought over this spice. In 1505 the Portuguese came to this part of the world in search of cinnamon so they could cut out the Arab middlemen. In those days it was gathered from wild trees but when the Dutch succeeded the Portuguese the first plantations were sown and cinnamon has been flourishing ever since.

On a recent trip to Sri Lanka I wanted to see the process of cinnamon production for myself so I visited Mirissa Hills a working Cinnamon Estate with 360 degree views over Weligama Bay. Thilak the general manager, showed us around the estate which grows both cinnamon (35 acres) and galangal (15 acres) We passed the little temple to Pathini, The Buddhist God of cinnamon on our way to the plantation, the air was filled with the scent of cinnamon. Thilak explained the whole process from the saving of the seed, the production of the seedlings to the cultivation and harvesting and finally peeling and drying. The trees are planted at a spacing of 3 x 4 feet; the two year old plants are pruned drastically which prompts the tree to produce lots of new shoots. Harvesting begins in the third year and every eight months thereafter, as opposed to tea which has to be harvested every seven days.

The cinnamon is still harvested and peeled in the same time honoured way by the skilled Salagama caste. It cannot be mechanised and the process has survived virtually unchanged since the era of the ancient kingdoms, through colonial domination right down to present times.

The cinnamon peelers go early to the fields in the morning to harvest the cinnamon. They choose twigs about 5 feet long and about 1 ½ inches thick.  The straighter they are the easier they will be to peel.  Next, any shoots or leaves are trimmed with a sharp curved machete. The peelers sit cross legged on hessian sacks on the floor in the peeling shed with their bundle of sticks by their sides. They need just three tools, a curved peeler, a brass rod and a small sharp knife called a kokaththa.

First the outer dark leathery layer is shaved off; this is returned to the cinnamon fields for compost. Next the cinnamon peeler picked up the brass rod, about 12 inches in length and begins to massage the surface of the peeled stick. After a couple of minutes when the inner bark loosens and becomes more flexible, he takes the kokaththa and with a surgeons precision cuts two parallel slits in the bark, then in one deft movement he eases the thin layer of cinnamon free from the stick. Nothing is wasted; the latter is used for firewood.

When he (the peelers are all male) has several layers of precious inner bark he carefully layers them inside each other, over lapping them to create a four foot quill.

These were carefully laid on strings of coconut coir hanging beneath the tin roof – it will take eight days, away from sunlight to curl and dry. Then they will be rolled tightly, and allowed to dry for a further ten days. The cinnamon quills are then tied into large bundles to sell in the market where they will be precisely cut into the cinnamon sticks we know.

I wanted to buy some but Thilak advised me to wait until after the monsoon in May when they have Ellba, the best quality, which sells for between 1,800 and 2000 rupees a kilogram, whereas Hamburg sells for 1,500 rupees.

So how can you judge? True Ceylon cinnamon is pale tan in colour, softer in texture, with a sweet citrus flavour. Cassia has a harder bark that is much more difficult to grind. Ground cinnamon is invariably ‘cut’ with cassia so is darker in colour and stronger and more acrid in taste.

In the US cassia is very often sold as cinnamon although better spice companies are now differentiating between the different types of cinnamon – so read the label carefully – there will be a considerable difference in price. So be sure to buy cinnamon sticks and grind them yourself in a spice or coffee grinder. True cinnamon grinds easily into a powder and fine splinters. Cinnamon is used in a myriad of ways in SriLankan cooking, in tea, curries, cakes, biscuits, drinks and medicinally.

One of the most impressive health benefits of cinnamon is its ability to improve blood sugar control, just ½ teaspoon a day has been shown to significantly reduce blood sugar levels, triglycerides, LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes, but make sure it’s real cinnamon.

 

Beef Stew with Cinnamon, Thyme and Shallots

 

Try this rich good gutsy beef stew, made with shin of beef, from one of my favourite London gastro pubs, the Eagle in Farringdon Road.

 

Serves 6-8

 

 

100g (4oz) streaky bacon, chopped

100g (4oz) salt pork fat, washed and chopped (this would be sold as lardo salato in Italian grocers. Alternatively use all streaky bacon.

1.5kg (3¼ lb) shin of beef cut into 3cm (1¼ inch) cubes

½ glass of red wine vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

10 shallots or baby onions peeled but left whole with the root intact (you may find it easier to peel them if they are soaked in cold water first)

5 fat garlic cloves, peeled but left whole

1 tablespoon tomato puree

a handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus extra to garnish

2 fresh bay leaves

a large sprig of thyme

2 strips of orange peel

2 cinnamon sticks

2 glasses of strong red wine

water or beef stock

salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Slowly melt the streaky bacon and pork fat in a wide, heavy casserole.  Take the bacon out and put it in a warm bowl.  Brown the beef in the pan – in batches if necessary – then add it to the bacon in the bowl. Pour the red wine vinegar into the hot pan and stir to deglaze, letting it bubble until slightly reduced. Pour it over the meat.  Heat some olive oil in the pan, add the shallots and garlic cloves with some salt and a generous amount of black pepper and fry for a few minutes over a moderate heat.  Stir in the tomato puree and chopped parsley and cook for a minute longer, then return the meat to the pan with any resulting juices.

Make a bouquet of the bay, thyme and orange peel and bury it in the pot with the cinnamon sticks.  Heat the red wine, then pour it over the meat and add enough water or stock to bring the level of the liquid to no more than an inch below the surface of the meat.  Cover the meat with an inner lid made of foil and then a close-fitting pan lid.  Turn the heat to very low or place in a slow oven (150C/Gas Mark 2).  It will take around 3 hours to cook, but I would cook it for 2 hours one day, refrigerate it and then finish it the next. Remove any congealed fat, re-heat gently on the top of the stove. Garnish with lots of roughly chopped parsley and serve with a big bowl of mash.

 

Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger and Star Anise

 

 

This is a deliciously rich and unctuous dish from A Year in my Kitchen by Skye Gyngell. She likes to serve it with braised lentils, but it is also very good with lightly cooked Asian greens, such as pak choi.

 

Serves 6

 

2kg piece belly of pork (organic, free-range)

2 cinnamon sticks

3 star anise

1 tsp cloves

1 red chilli

3cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled

6 garlic cloves, peeled

2 tbsp chopped coriander, roots and stems

100ml tamari (or soy sauce)

75ml maple syrup

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp sunflower oil

 

To serve:

Braised lentils

 

 

Put the pork belly into a large cooking pot (or pan) in which it fits quite snugly and add cold water to cover.  Bring to the boil, then immediately turn off the heat and remove the pork from the pan.  Drain off the water and rinse out the pan.

One-third fill the pan with cold water and place over a medium heat.  Add the pork, this time along with the spices, chili, ginger, garlic and chopped coriander roots and stems.  If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the meat, add some more water.   Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer very gently for 1½ hours until the meat is cooked and very tender.   If you have the rib end, the meat will have shrunk back to expose the tips of the bones.   With a pair of tongs, carefully remove the meat from the pan and set aside.

Turn the heat up under the pan to high and add the tamari and maple syrup.  (If you don’t want the sauce to taste ‘hot’, remove the ginger and chili at this point.)   Let the liquid bubble until reduced by half, this will take about 20 minutes.   As the sauce reduces, the flavours will become very intense, forming, a rich, dark sauce.

In the meantime, slice the pork belly into individual servings – one rib should be enough per person.   Season the ribs with a little salt and pepper.  Place a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and add the oil.  Heat until the pan is starting to smoke, then add the pork ribs and brown well on both sides until crunchy and golden brown on the surface.  Strain the reduced liquour.

To serve, lay a rib on each warm plate (or soup plate) and spoon over the reduced sauce and warm braised lentils.  Serve at once.

 

Sri Lankan Toast with Cinnamon

 

 

Serves 4

 

4 free range eggs

175ml (4flozs) whole milk

1 teaspoon of freshly ground cinnamon

 

4 slices white bread

4 tablespoons clarified butter

 

sesame seeds

honey

 

Whisk the eggs, milk and cinnamon together until well blended.  Strain the mixture into a shallow bowl in which you can easily soak the bread.  Dip both sides of each slice of bread in the egg mixture. Melt 2 tablespoons of the clarified butter in a frying pan.  Fry the bread over a medium heat until very lightly browned, turning once.  Serve warm sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. Drizzle with honey and serve.

 

Cinnamon Ice Cream

 

Serves 6

 

Serve this delicious ice-cream with an Apple Tart or with a compote of pears.

 

1/2 cinnamon stick (1- 1 1/2 inches (2 1/2 – 4cms) in length)

8 fl ozs (225ml) milk

8 fl ozs (225ml) cream

5 egg yolks

4ozs (110g) sugar

 

Grind the cinnamon stick coarsely in a coffee grinder.  Put the milk in a saucepan, add the ground cinnamon, bring slowly to scalding point, add the cream then allow to cool.  Leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes.

 

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until white and fluffy, then whisk in the warm infusion.  Pour back into the saucepan and cook over a gentle heat stirring all the time until the mixture just coats the back of a spoon.

 

Sieve it, then cool quickly and freeze in an ice-cream maker or sorbetiere, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Alternatively pour in a plastic box, cover and put into the freezer, whisk once or twice during freezing.

 

 

Cinnamon Biscuits

 

Use any cutter you fancy but these are completely delicious.

Makes 24 biscuits (3 inch x 2 inch)

Or

Makes 48 (3 inch x 1 inch)

 

115g (4 ¼ oz)  butter

115g (4 ¼ oz)  pale golden brown sugar

50g (2 oz) caster sugar

1 free range egg

150g (5oz)  flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon powder (we grind the cinnamon sticks in a spice grinder)

 

 

Cream the butter, add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy.  Add the egg. Beat well again and then fold in the flour and cinnamon.   Cover with parchment paper and chill for at least an hour.

 

Roll out and cut into chosen shapes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Mark 4.

 

Bake for 10 minutes approximately until golden but still softish.  They will crisp as they cool.

Store in an airtight box.

 

 

Hot Tips

 

The 6th West Waterford Festival of Food takes place from Thursday 11^th to Friday 14^th April. There’s a packed programme of free and ticketed events, some held indoors while many unfold in the great outdoors. Marie Power ‘The Sea Gardener’ will host seaweed seminars on  Clonea Beach while botanist Paul Green will lead ‘crude food’ trails in Colligan Woods. There’s a ‘Raw Food Revolution’ going on too with nutritionists, chefs and food entrepreneurs demonstrating the huge value and great taste of raw foods.  Children get to do cookery classes alongside their parents and mini- buses take festival goers on tour to visit local producers, bakers, brewers, juice and cheese makers. The legendary nose to tail UK chef Fergus Henderson will be at The Tannery on Friday April 12th while on stage in Dungarvan’s town hall theatre to cook their favourite dishes will be Ross Lewis, Rachel Allen and Garrett Byrne. www.westwaterfordfestivaloffood.com

 

The Intensive 12 Week Certificate course at the Ballymaloe Cookery School is looked on as an investment. Students learn the skills to earn their living from their cooking. Summer course begins on 22^nd April 2013 – seewww.cookingisfun.ie

Here I am in Sri Lanka wading out through the warm sea to the tiny island of Taprobane off Weligama on the South Coast. There’s no other way to get there, it’s just a 100 yards off the coast, palm fringed of course. I’d been invited to cook dinner for a Saint Patrick’s Day Ball. Irish stew and Champ in 35 degrees!  Cooking at the other side of the world is a challenge in all kinds of unexpected ways. The most mundane ingredients at home can be the most exotic here, it’s difficult to predict.

Lamb is not a common SriLankan meat; it has to be imported from New Zealand so the Irish Stew had to be made from mutton which is actually goat. It’s got tons of flavour, makes a great stew but does take hours to cook to melting tenderness. I found lovely little young leeks in the local market so we tossed those in butter and served them on top. The meal started with Spiced cabbage soup, a fusion of Irish and SriLankan cultures, then some fat sweet local prawns cooked in their shells then tossed in salt, freshly crushed black pepper and chilli powder and served with cucumber pickle and mustard and dill mayonnaise. If you want cucumber that resembles ours ask for a Japanese cucumber

We used a mixture of pale SriLankan kekiri and Japanese cucumber and used the angular cut so familiar to Asian chefs, rather than rounds. There were beautifully fresh red scallions in the market so they perked up our Champ to serve with Irish Stew.

Apart from ingredients, basic kitchen equipment is quite different and some seemingly similar ingredients behave in a different way in a tropical climate. Fresh cream simply isn’t available. UHT cream which I hate with a passion is the only option.

Meringues are not that easy to pull off either in an area of high humidity yet people love them, so I decided to have a go at Coffee Meringue with Irish Whiskey Sauce, what a mission! Fortunately I’d brought a food mixer from Ireland, how ridiculous does that sound but I was certainly glad of it when I discovered there was no operational whisk in the kitchen. Icing sugar is not a problem; I also brought instant coffee and parchment paper. The meringues whipped up ok, I dolloped them out in blobs on the baking tray and slid them into the oven hoping for the best in temperature terms. Virtually all cooking is done on the stove top so ovens can be a bit unpredictable – anyway they peeled beautifully off the parchment paper within 30 minutes or so.

Meanwhile I made a dark caramel sauce and laced it liberally with Paddy whiskey – it was dark and bitter and very good. Next I whipped the cream but it simply wouldn’t stiffen, in fact the more we whipped the looser it got – guests are waiting up stairs, deep breath, let go of our pre-conceived notions and compromise fast, so I sweetened the cream a little and added some more Paddy. We now have Irish Whiskey Soup, where are the soup bowls? A dollop of that in the base of each wide soup bowl, a coffee meringue blob on top, a drizzle of Paddy caramel et voila! Send it upstairs to the unsuspecting guests and now it’s a hit!  Lots of compliments, So amazing, so delicious, great combination of sweet and bitter – love the whiskey…

We survive to fight another day, try it for Easter.

However, the biggest hit was the piece of home-made cheddar cheese from our herd of three Jersey cows and some home-made crackers and a loaf of Ballymaloe bread that we brought as a present from Ireland. Cheese is virtually unavailable here, so it was a major treat for the SriLankan guests.

Happy Easter to all our readers.

 

Spiced Cabbage Soup 

 

Serves 6

 

55g (2oz) butter

140g (5oz) chopped potatoes

115g (4oz) onions, chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper

900ml (1½ pints) homemade chicken stock

250g (9oz) chopped cabbage leaves (stalks removed) chopped

50-125ml (1½-4 fl oz) cream or creamy milk

 

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoons whole black mustard seeds

4 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped

½-1 hot, dried red chilli, coarsely crushed in a mortar

½ teaspoon sugar

freshly ground pepper

 

Garnish

crème fraiche and fresh coriander leaves

 

Melt the butter in a heavy pan. When it foams, add the potatoes and onions and turn them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the stock (heat it if you want to speed things up) and boil until the potatoes are soft. Add the cabbage and cook, uncovered, until the cabbage is just cooked Рa matter of 4 or 5 minutes. Keeping the lid off retains the green colour. Pure̩ immediately and add creamy milk.

 

Now heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium flame.  When hot, put in the mustard seeds.  As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, put in the garlic.  Stir the garlic pieces around until they turn light brown, (be careful not to burn or it will spoil the flavour). Put in the crushed red chilli and sugar and stir for a few seconds.  Add this spice to pureéd soup to correct seasoning.   Serve piping hot with perhaps a blob of crème fraiche and a few coriander leaves.

 

Sri Lankan Goat Stew with Baby Leeks

 

Serves 4–6

 

1.3kg (3lb) goat shoulder chops not less than 2.5cm (1 inch) thick

6 medium or 12 baby onions

6 medium or 12 baby carrots

freshly ground pepper and salt

850ml (1 1⁄2 pints) lamb stock or chicken stock (see recipe) or water

12 potatoes or more if you like (Golden Wonder or Kerr’s Pink are excellent)

sprig of thyme

about 1 tablespoon roux, optional

 

Garnish

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives

 

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

 

Cut the goats meat in 50g (2oz) pieces and trim off some of the excess fat.

Set the pieces aside and render down the fat on a gentle heat in a heavy frying pan (discard the rendered down pieces). Peel the onions and scrape or thinly peel the carrots (if they are young, leave some of the green stalks on the onions and carrots).

Cut the carrots into large chunks, or if they are young leave them whole.

If the onions are large, cut them small, if they are small they are best left whole.

Toss the meat in the hot fat until it is slightly brown. Transfer the meat into a casserole, and then quickly toss the onions and carrots in the fat. Build the meat, carrots and onions up in layers in the casserole. Season each layer generously with freshly ground pepper and salt. Deglaze the frying pan with lamb or chicken stock and pour into the casserole.

 

Peel the potatoes and lay them on top of the casserole, so they steam while the stew cooks. Season the potatoes. Add a sprig of thyme and bring to the boil on top of the stove.

Then cover and transfer to a moderate oven or allow to simmer on top of the stove until the stew is cooked, about 1 ½ to 2  hours.

 

When the stew is cooked, pour off the cooking liquid, degrease and reheat the liquid in a saucepan. If you like slightly thicken the juices with a little roux. Check the

seasoning, then add chopped parsley and chives and pour it back over the stew. Bring it back up to boiling point and serve from the pot or in a large pottery dish.

 

Melted Leeks

 

Serves 8-10

 

2lbs (900g) leeks (once prepared)

2 ozs (50g) butter

2 tablespoons water if necessary

salt and freshly ground pepper

chopped parsley or chervil

 

Cut off the dark green leaves from the top of the leeks.   Slit the leeks about half way down the center and wash well under cold running water.   Slice into 1/3 inch (5mm) rounds.   Melt the butter in a heavy casserole; when it foams, add the sliced leeks and toss gently to coat with butter.   Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.    Cover with a paper lid and a close-fitting lid.   Reduce the heat and cook very gently for 8-10 minutes approx., or until semi soft and moist.   Check and stir every now and then. Turn off the heat and allow to continue to cook in the heat.   Serve on a warm dish sprinkled with chopped parsley or chervil.

 

Note: The pot of leeks may be cooked in the oven at 160ºC/325ºF/gas mark 3 if that is more convenient.

 

Taprobane Coffee Meringue with Paddy Caramel

 

Serves 6 – 8

 

2 egg whites

4 1/2 ozs (125g) icing sugar

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder (not granules)

 

1/2 pint (300ml) very softly whipped cream

2 tablespoons approx. Paddy whiskey

 

Parchment paper

 

Paddy Caramel

8 ozs (225g) castor sugar

3 fl ozs (80ml) cold water

4 tablesp. Irish Paddy whiskey

22 fl ozs (60ml) hot water

First make the meringue. Put the egg whites into a spotlessly clean and dry bowl. Add all the icing sugar except 2 tablespoons. Whisk until the mixture stands in firm dry peaks. It may take 10-15 minutes. Sieve the coffee and the remaining icing sugar together and fold in carefully.

Pre-heat the oven to 150°C\300°F\Gas Mark 2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Scoop 8 blobs of meringue onto the parchment. Cook for 30 – 40 minutes or until the meringues will lift easily off the paper.

Meanwhile make the sauce. Put the castor sugar into a saucepan with water, stir over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves and syrup comes to the boil. Remove the spoon and do not stir. Continue to boil until it turns a dark chestnut-brown colour.  Remove from the heat and immediately add the hot water. Allow to dissolve again and then add the Irish Paddy whiskey.

Allow to get cold. To serve, choose shallow wide soup bowls, put a scoop of softly whipped whiskey cream in the base, top it with a meringue blob and drizzle with a little Paddy Caramel, so good…

Hot Tips

 

Darina Allen and Rachel Allen will do a cookery demonstration to raise funds for the ICA (Irish Countrywomen’s Association) in the Grainstore at Ballymaloe House on Wednesday 17th April 2013 at 7:30pm. Tickets €25.00, available at the Ballymaloe Cookery School shop or book online www.thegrainstoreatballymaloe.com Everyone is welcome. Great raffle and door prizes.

 

Good Food Ireland recently launched a new Food and Travel page on their website, the first of its type in Ireland to target food lovers from around the world. It includes a tempting online artisan food shop where people can buy gourmet Irish artisan foods, gift hampers or vouchers and a facility called My Food Trip that allows users to book accommodation, restaurants and cookery classes with Good Food Ireland members – www.goodfoodireland.ie/topfoodtrips or www.goodfoodireland.ie/foodshop

 

Glenilen Farm artisan dairy products have wooed many people since Alan and Valerie Kingston began to experiment in their dairy and farmhouse kitchen in 1997. They started by selling homemade cheesecakes, yoghurt, beautiful traditional cream, creme fraiche, clotted cream, handmade butter and eventually lemon posset and lemonade. Originally just at the local Farmers’ Market and a couple of local shops, using milk from the their dairy farm in Drimoleague. Now widely available in supermarkets also. Look out for the new Glenilen Farm range of blue Glenilen aprons, tea towels, wooden spoons and recipe book stands – a new development for artisan producers – www.glenilenfarm.com/product/tea-towel/

 

Book of the Week: Buy a few copies of the new Recipes from the English Market – published by University Press; it’s the best pressie for visitors who come for The Gathering and for all the rest of us as well. It’s also a potted history of the market established in 1788 through the eyes of its charismatic stall holders. Author Michelle Horgan who describes herself as a ‘market anorak’ manages to tease favourite recipes from everyone from Donogh O’Reilly, third generation tripe seller to Pat O’Connell who will be eternally remembered for making the Queen of England laugh heartily during her visit to the Market in May 2011.

 

Wild and foraged foods are once again becoming part of chic restaurant menus as well as family meals. Beware; once you get on the foraging groove it becomes totally addictive. Every walk whether in the woods or the countryside turns into a foraging expedition and it’s free. Even more important wild foods still have their full complement of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, unlike much of the food we now have access to.

People usually associate an abundance of wild foods with late Summer and Autumn but we forage throughout the year. Even in depths of Winter there’s always something to nibble on or add to a salad. At present Alexanders (Smyrnium olusatrum) are growing in profusion along the roadside, peel the stalks, cook the pieces gently in well salted water, then toss in a little melted butter or olive oil, the delicate flavour is delicious with fish or scallops.

Young nettles (urtica dioica) the cure for so many ailments, are already springing up. Use them in pesto and soups or add the wilted leaves to champ or colcannon. We’ve got tons of chickweed (Stellaria media) in the greenhouse; you’ll pay $10.00 a pound for it in the Union Square market in New York but here it’s the bane of gardeners’ lives – just eat it, it’s delicious in a green salad. Pennywort (Centella Asiatica), another of my favourite wild foods, grows with wild abandon out the stone walls and stony ditches, sometimes called navel wort or ‘bread and butter’, it is thirst quenching and a favourite nibble for hill-walkers. We use it in salad and as a garnish. Bittercress (Cardamine hirsute) grows in little clumps in gravel paths or in damp places – we love its peppery taste. The Queen had it included in the starter for her 90^th birthday feast. Watercress (Nasturtium officinal) too is lush and abundant at present, it grows side by side with wild celery also called fools watercress (Apium nodiflorum) but the top leaf of the watercress is always the biggest.

The shamrock shaped leaves of wood sorrel (oxalis) lend a clean lemony taste to starters and salad, there’s also lots of sheep’s tongue sorrel (Rumex acetosella) and buckler leaf sorrel ( Rumex scutatus) in the orchard, sea beet (beta vulgaris) down by the strand and the ramsoms or wild garlic (allium ursinum) are bushy and green at present. We’ve been making lots of pesto and adding it to everything from pasta sauce, to flavoured butters and mashed potatoes and even soda bread.

Our Spring Foraging, the first foraging course of the year (at Ballymaloe Cookery School) will be on Saturday 27^th April 2013.  But if you want to get going yourself there are now several good illustrated field guides to help you including Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle’s excellent new field guide and cookbook Wild Food Natures Harvest: How to Gather, Cook and Preserve published recently by O’Brien Press. This book was born out of the Slow Food Wild and Slow Festival held at Macreddin Village in Co Wicklow every year, but both Biddy and Evan have been seasoned foragers since childhood. Evan showcases wild food on his menu at the Strawberry Tree Restaurant at Macreddin Village. All the chefs are trained to forage and have a bountiful wild food pantry beside the restaurant to store jars of pickles, chutneys, cordials, preserves and infusions. Evan Doyle employs one person whose sole job is to forage for the restaurant.

This field guide and cook book combined also includes a charter for sustainable harvesting of wild foods, a foragers calendar and a whole chapter on preserving wild foods. It’s a must have for any wanna-be forager.

 

Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle’s Wild Garlic, Leek and Potato Bake

30 leaves of fresh wild garlic, roughly chopped

125ml organic chicken or vegetable stock

150ml carton of organic cream

150ml organic milk

a knob of organic butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 organic leeks, thinly sliced

175g real ham, chopped

500g last year’s organic potatoes peeled, sliced thinly

90g organic cheddar, grated

 

How it Goes

Pour the stock, cream and milk into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Season well.

Butter a one-litre gratin dish. Layer the potatoes, leeks and ham together in the dish, and spread out in even layers with the chopped wild garlic leaves. Pour over the seasoned liquid. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 180°C.

How to Finish

Remove the foil, sprinkle with the cheese and bake for another 30–40 minutes, spooning stock over occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.

What you Get

Well, the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday roast chicken, or as the first touch of spring to the last of the winter spuds or a great TV snack, when you have the munchies …

 

The Strawberry Tree’s Wild Sea Beet and Crab Tart

Two handfuls of sea beet, stalks removed, leaves washed, roughly chopped

 

300g fresh wild crabmeat

1 organic onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped

juice of one lemon

50g Parmesan, grated

250ml organic cream

4 organic egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg

Sea salt and pepper

Organic olive oil

 

Your favourite recipe for savoury pastry, blind baked in a 20-22cm tart dish

How it Goes

In a large frying pan, fry onions until soft. Then add chilli, garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Add the sea beet, and when soft, toss in the crabmeat. Fry together and mix thoroughly, then add the coriander, lemon juice and Parmesan. Lightly beat together the egg and cream and season.

How to Finish

Spoon the sea beet mixture into your baked tart case. Pour over your egg and cream. Bake, for 30–40 minutes at 140°C, or until set.

What you Get

Is a quiche-style seafood pie that oozes the sea and that can be served cold, warm or hot, all the way through the summer. We like to serve it warm, with a baby leaf salad and mayonnaised baby new potatoes.

 

 

Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle’s Wild Nettle Beer

 

5 litres of water

Wild young nettle leaves, enough to fill a 5-litre bowl by volume

500g sugar

10g root ginger

30g cream of tartare

1 lemon, rind and juice

30g beer yeast

30g dried hops (optional)

 

Place sugar and cream of tartare in a lidded fermentation vessel.

In a very large pot boil the nettle leaves, ginger, lemon rind and hops (if using) for 10–15 minutes.

Strain the liquid through a sieve into the vessel. Stir and allow cool to room temperature. Stir in the lemon juice and sprinkle the yeast on top. Cover with a cotton or muslin cloth and allow ferment for four days. Carefully skim the surface to remove any scum or froth. Using a siphon, rack the liquid into bottles with a swing action beer lid or, if you prefer, into a demi-john and cap with a rubber bung.

Store for a week in a very cool place. Then it is ready to drink. Take care when you open the bottles as, depending on the success of the fermentation, it may be very fizzy indeed.

 

Biddy White Lennon and Evan Doyle’s Chowder with Dillisk and Carrageen

 

600g fresh pollock or similar inshore fish, skinned and cubed

500g shellfish (mix of mussels, cockles, clams, winkles, prawns)

125g hot-smoked fish (eg pollock, haddock or mackerel), skinned and cubed

50g smoked dry cured bacon, cut into lardoons

30g butter

7g dried dillisk

7g dried carrageen

500ml fish stock or water

600ml milk (or milk and cream mixed)

1kg mixed vegetables in equal quantities (waxy potatoes, onion, leek, carrot, celery), peeled and finely chopped

A handful of chopped parsley, or parsley and chives mixed

 

Lightly cook and peel the prawns if using (or peel them while raw). Scrub clean the shellfish.

Cook bacon in butter until crisp; add all the vegetables except the potatoes. Season and cook over a gentle heat for 4–5 minutes. Add stock or water and the crumpled seaweeds and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and milk and simmer until potatoes are soft. You may set it aside at this point and finish off just before serving.

Add the cubed fish and shellfish and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring. Serve with plenty of chopped herbs. Good with dillisk-flavoured bread, scones, or oatcakes.

 

The Strawberry Tree’s Pickled Wild Rock Samphire

 

500g wild rock samphire

300g organic caster sugar

Small organic onion, sliced finely

1 organic celery stick, chopped finely

2 organic bay leaves

½ tsp organic pink peppercorns

½ tsp organic fennel seeds

1 tsp organic mustard seeds

½ organic red chilli – chopped finely

zest of 1 lemon

500ml organic red wine vinegar

How it Goes

Twice wash the wild rock samphire and set aside in a large container. In a large pot, place sugar, onion, celery, bay, seeds, chilli, lemon zest and pour over the vinegar. Put on the heat and stir until everything is mixed. Bring to boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Let cool a bit, then pour the pickle over the rock samphire in the large container.

How to Finish

Pack the warm rock samphire into sterilised Kilner jars, then pour in the strained pickle, filling the jar right to the top. Put the lids back on and it will keep up to 3 months in a cool, dark place.

What you Get

Pickled samphire works well with all shellfish, but it is also perfect to keep for when flatfish are caught after September. It is also a treat with honky-heady Irish blue cheese or really well-matured Irish hard cheeses and, finally, is a cool pickle that works really well with slow-cooked winter Irish Hill Hogget.

 

Gorse Syrup

500g gorse flowers

a few tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, or to taste

1 litre water

500g sugar

Boil the flowers and water together for 10 minutes. Strain through a jelly bag. Place sugar and strained juice in a pot and cook slowly, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Then boil for about five minutes, skimming any froth from the surface. Cool before bottling in small sterilised bottles. Best stored in a fridge.

 

Hot Tips

 

Brown Envelope Seeds – Gardening Workshop – Propagating from Seed on Saturday 6^th April 2pm-4pm, cost €20.00. Madeline McKeever is happy to tailor-make gardening courses for groups and if you are in West Cork why not arrange to have a tour around the farm at Church Cross, Skibbereen. You can buy your seeds, see how they propagate, enjoy a cup of tea in the barn and you can even take your own picnic – contact Madeline on 028-38184 – www.brownenvelopeseeds.com

Rachel Allen has a passion for baking. Join her for ‘Cake with Rachel Allen’ a two and half day hands-on baking course Monday 15^th to Wednesday 17^th April at Ballymaloe Cookery School. Learn how to make special cakes for every occasion. Phone 021 4646785 to book – www.cookingisfun.ie

Leading figures from the world of gastronomy will converge on East Cork for the first Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine, to be held at Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Co Cork, 3-6 May 2013.  Among those flying in to participate are: Madhur Jaffrey, world-renowned for her books and television programmes on Indian food. Claudia Roden, acclaimed expert on Middle Eastern and Spanish food. Alice Waters, trailblazing founder of the famous Californian restaurant Chez Panisse. David Thompson, restaurateur, author and eloquent ambassador for Thai food. Stephanie Alexander, one of Australia’s best known and best loved cooks. Claus Meyer, co-founder of Copenhagen’s Noma, voted No 1 restaurant in the world. David Tanis, prominent American chef and New York Times cookery writer. Joanna Blythman, leading British investigative food writer and broadcaster. Stevie Parle, dynamic head chef at London’s Dock Kitchen and Jancis Robinson MW, one of the world’s most respected wine writers. Tickets for all events are available on www.litfest.com  – box office 021 4645777 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday.

How fortunate we are in Ireland to have a national feast day that is known and celebrated all over the world. St Patricks Day brings not only the Irish but the friends of the Irish, descendants of the Irish and the ‘wanna be’ Irish onto the streets and into the pubs to eat, drink, sing and be very merry on the 17^th of March every year.

Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative will light up iconic buildings in over 30 sites all over the world on every continent to focus attention on the Emerald Isle.

For months before St Patricks Day every year I get requests for traditional Irish recipes from travel and food writers filing their copy for the March issue of their magazines and newspapers. Often they are looking for the old favourites but I use every opportunity to tell people not just about our traditional food culture but about the vibrant Irish food scene and to remind them that we don’t actually live on corned beef and cabbage in Ireland.

Sad fact is in Ireland most Irish people don’t really believe we have a food culture – try asking the people around you now to name ten Irish dishes, most will make an enthusiastic start with Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, corned beef and cabbage, maybe colcannon and champ perhaps soda bread but after that the stuttering starts.

I recently gave a prize during a lecture in one of our catering colleges for any student who could spontaneously name ten dishes, one person did but with difficulty – I gave them a present of my Irish Traditional Cooking book!

We’ve got tons to be proud of, there’s no point in arguing that Ireland has one of the great cuisines of the world.  There’s a wealth of information out there, from medieval times to the present day – food of farmers, fishing communities, the islands and monasteries. Food of the small houses, food of the great houses all reflecting our food heritage, through the ages. Over the years I’ve collected and researched traditional food. My first Irish Traditional Food  book was published in 1995 and the revised edition came onto the shelves in 2012.

More recently we have started a website of Irish recipes, a resource for those you want to find and rediscover some of our traditional foods, share with family and friends or particularly showcase Irish food on their menu in the year of The Gathering. The web address is www.irishrecipes.ie check it out and have fun. If you have family recipes that you would like included or food memories we’d love to hear them, send them to darina.bcs@gmail.com.

Here are some recipes from our rich baking tradition for you to share with family, friends and customers not only on St Patrick’s weekend but throughout the year.

Spotted Dog

 

At times of the year when the men were working particularly hard in the fields, the farmer’s wife would go out of her way to reward them with a richer bread than usual for tea. According to her means she might throw in a fistful of currants or raisins, some sugar and an egg, if there was one to spare. The resulting bread, the traditional Irish ‘sweet cake’, had different names in different parts of the country – spotted dog, curnie cake, railway cake and so on. Currant bread was not just for haymaking and threshing, but was also a treat for Sundays and special occasions.

 

Makes 1 loaf

 

450g (1lb) plain white flour

1–2 tablespoons sugar

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda), sieved

75–110g (3–4oz) sultanas, raisins or currants

300ml (10fl oz) sour milk or buttermilk

1 egg, free-range if possible (optional – you may not need all the milk if you use the egg)

 

Preheat your oven to 230ºC/450ºF/Gas Mark 8.

 

Sieve the dry ingredients, add the fruit and mix well. Make a well in the center and pour most of the milk in at once with the egg. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out on to a floured board and knead it lightly for a few seconds, just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round, about 4cm (1 1/2 inch) deep and cut a deep cross on it. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 and continue to cook for approximately 30 minutes. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom: if it is cooked, it will sound hollow.

 

Serve spotted dog freshly baked, cut into thick slices and generously slathered with butter. Simply delicious!

 

 

Porter Cake  

 

Porter cake, made with the black stout of Ireland, is now an established Irish cake, rich and moist with ‘plenty of cutting’. Either Guinness, Murphys, Beamish or some of the fine stouts from the growing number of new artisan breweries can be used, depending on where your loyalties lie.

 

450g (1lb) plain white flour

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

225g (8oz) caster or brown sugar

½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon mixed spice

225g (8oz) butter

450g (1lb) sultanas

55g (2oz) chopped peel

55g (2oz) crystalized cherries

300ml (10fl oz) porter or stout

2 eggs, free-range if possible

 

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. Line the bottom and sides of a 20cm (8in) cake tin, 7.5cm (3in) deep, with greaseproof paper.

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar, freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice. Rub in the butter. Add the fruit, then mix the porter with the beaten eggs. Pour into the other ingredients and mix well. Turn into the lined tin and bake for about 2½ hours. Cool in the tin, then store in an airtight tin.

Traditional Porter Cake

 

This recipe is adapted from the manuscript cookbook of Eliza Helena Odell.

 

350g (12oz) butter

450g (1lb) flour

300ml (10fl oz) porter

1 tablespoon bread soda

450g (1lb) currants

450g (1lb) raisins

450g (1lb) brown sugar

225g (8oz) citron

4 eggs, broken into the cake, not beaten

rind of 1 lemon

half 1 package of mixed spice and some nutmeg
Rub the butter into the flour. Heat the porter and pour over the soda, then pour the
porter mixure over the butter and flour. Add the remaining ingredients, mix by hand for
15 minutes then transfer to a tin and bake as for the Christmas Cake on pages 284–285.

 

 

Seedy Bread

 

Many Americans are convinced that Irish soda bread traditionally contains caraway seeds. I was baffled by this assumption until I discovered that seedy bread was certainly made in Donegal and Leitrim. The tradition of putting caraway seeds in bread must have been taken to the United States by Irish emigrants.

 

50g (1lb) plain white flour

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

55g (2oz) butter (optional)

300–350ml (10–12fl oz) buttermilk

 

First fully preheat your oven to 230ºC/450ºF/gas mark 8.

Sift all the dry ingredients and add the caraway seeds. Rub in the butter, if using. Make a well in the centre and pour in most of the milk at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be softish, but not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, turn it out on to a floured board and knead lightly for a second, just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into a round about 2.5cm (1in) deep and cut a cross on it to let the fairies out! (Let the cuts go over the sides of the bread to make sure of this.) Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, then turn down the heat to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6 for 30 minutes or until just cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread: if it is cooked it will sound hollow.

 

Kerry Treacle Bread

 

This recipe was described to me by Mrs. McGillycuddy from Glencar in Co. Kerry, who still makes it occasionally. A richer treacle bread, closer to gingerbread, was and still is widely made in Ulster.

 

1–2 tablespoons treacle

1 egg (optional), free-range if possible

300ml (10fl oz) approx, sour milk or buttermilk to mix

450g (1lb) white flour, preferably unbleached

1 level teaspoon salt

1 level teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate of soda)

 

First fully preheat your oven to 230ºC/450ºF/Gas Mark 8.

 

Heat the treacle until it begins to run. Whisk the egg, if you are using it, add to the treacle and mix well. Then add the buttermilk.

 

Sieve the dry ingredients. Make a well in the centre. Pour in most of the liquid all at once. Using one hand, mix in the flour from the sides of the bowl, adding more liquid if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. When it comes together, turn it out on to a floured board. Tidy it up and flip over the edges with a floured hand. Pat the dough into a round about 2.5cm (1 inch) deep and cut a cross on it. The cuts should go over the sides of the bread. Bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread, it will sound hollow if cooked. Cool on a wire rack.

 

Cooking ‘from scratch’ is the hottest food term in the restaurant world in the US, the UK and among the greater food cognegentsia around the world at present. Add seasonal, local and artisan and you are right on the button.

Imagine that, talk about things coming full circle. Chefs are boasting about cooking everything ‘from scratch’ for their menus, doing in-house butchery, making house-cured bacon and charcuterie, homemade tomato ketchup, pickles, relishes…

My son-in-law just back from Portland Oregon tells me that there are over 400 food trucks and 40 artisan breweries in a city with a population of less than 600,000. The micro-distillery movement has also taken off. Chefs are infusing alcohol with wild foraged herbs, berries and fruit and using them in cool house cocktails.

A whole counter-culture to Fast Food is gaining momentum – a virtual revolution at grassroots level and not just among young chefs and cooks, it’s a whole generation of educated young and not so young people who are on a mission to find the best tasting naturally produced food with a story. Provenance is important to them. They want to know the variety, the breed, the feed… They are flocking back to butchers shops learning about meat cuts, dry aging hanging and pasture-raised.  New butcher shops are opening, butchery classes are oversubscribed. They are really enjoying learning how to cook and grow and pickle and forage.

It is beyond cool to be part of this scene, to be able to do all these things and to rediscover lost or almost forgotten skills which were certainly not part of the last generation’s experience. On trips to the US, during the past decade, I have also become increasingly aware of the young agrarians in the US, and the Greenhorns movement – a growing band of passionate, energetic young farmers and ‘wannabe’ farmers whose voice is growing louder and more persistent.

Many of the top chefs have vegetable and herb gardens and are growing at least some fresh produce on the roof or balcony or in a variety of containers – they are desperate to source really fresh organic produce for their menus. Of course it also adds to the story. Several chefs including April Bloomfield are buying farms upstate New York in order to have a trustworthy supply of fresh home produced food – it’s unlikely to be cheaper but it provides ingredients with impeccable provenance and a great story.

There’s a deep craving and a growing market for this kind of food and this kind of story. Food you can trust, from small production systems.  Interestingly, there’s a growing realisation that food from small production is distinctly different from intensively produced food and chefs are highlighting this on their menu. At Noma in Copenhagen, Rene Redzepi tells us that the butter comes from a herd of just five goats on a small farm in Sweden. I suppose I could boast that our Jersey butter comes from a herd of just three cows!

When people know the story they understand why they need to pay a little more but they must be able taste a difference otherwise why would you?

 

April Bloomfield shared these delicious recipes from her brilliant cookery book A Girl and Her Pig, published by Canongate Books.

 

April Bloomfield’s Sausage Stuffed Onions

 

Serves 4

 

4 medium red onions (about 225g each) peeled, stem ends trimmed but left intact

About 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Maldon or other flaky sea salt

1 head garlic

Small handful thyme sprigs, plus 1 teaspoon leaves

125g homemade sausage (see recipe)

Or shop bought, removed from casing if necessary

225ml double cream

 

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put the onions in a medium casserole or other ovenproof pot with a lid. Drizzle some olive oil into your hand and rub it on the onions. You’ll probably end up using about 2 tablespoons. Grab some salt and crush it between your fingers as you sprinkle it all over each onion, turning the onions to make sure the salt adheres to all sides. Put them in the pot.

Tear off the outermost layers of peel from the garlic head so the cloves are exposed. Put it in the middle of the onions and drizzle on a little olive oil. Scatter the thyme sprigs over the onions, and pour 75ml water around the onions and garlic. Cover the pot and put it in the oven. Cook just until the onions are lightly browned and soft enough that you can insert a knife into the centre with barely any resistance, 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your onions. Let them sit, covered, on the top of the stove until they’re cool enough to handle, so they get even softer (leave the oven on.)

Carefully transfer the onions to a plate or cutting board, leaving the liquid behind in the pot. Use a small spoon to scoop out a few layers of the insides of each onion and stuff each one with about 2 tablespoons of the sausage. Add the scooped-out onion bits to a 30cm ovenproof pan or small baking dish. (when you add the cream and water, the liquid should come a little less than half way up the sides of the onions.) Squeeze the soft flesh of the garlic cloves into the pan and add the thyme leaves, cream and 225ml water and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring the mixture to a full boil, add the stuffed onions, sausage side up, and baste them with the liquid for a minute or so.

Pop the pan into the oven, uncovered, and cook, basting the onions every ten minutes or so, until the sauce is thick but not gloopy, about 40 minutes. Taste the sauce and add a little more salt, if you’d like. Bring the pan to the table, spoon a little of the sauce over the top of each onion and dig in.

 

April Bloomfield’s Simple Sausage

 

This is  a simple recipe, using  a loose sausage mix, which you can form into patties (for a lovely breakfast sausage, just leave out the fennel and chillies) and brown in a pan. Or try tossing browned chunks with orecchiette and broccoli rabe (also called rapini), or use it to make

 

Sausage-Stuffed Onions (see recipe). makes 1.1kg

 

675g boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2.5cm pieces

450g pork backfat, cut into 2.5cm pieces

2 tablespoons sea salt

½ nutmeg, grated

2 teaspoons fennel seeds, ground

10 dried pequin chillies, crumbled, or pinches of red pepper flakes

Special Equipment

Meat mincer or meat mincing attachment of a stand mixer

 

Combine the shoulder and pork backfat in a large mixing bowl and toss well.

Cover the bowl with Clingfilm and pop it in the freezer until the edges of the meat get crunchy, about 1 hour.

Use a meat mincer (or the mincing attachment of a stand mixer) to mince the mixture coarsely into a bowl. Add the salt, nutmeg, fennel, and chillies, then mix with your hands, folding over and pushing down on the mixture, for a minute or two. You’re trying to

get the fat and meat and seasoning evenly distributed, but you’re also mixing it so it gets a bit sticky. This will help the sausage stay firm and hold together.

If you’d like, make a little patty and fry it up to test the seasoning. You can add a bit more fennel, nutmeg, chilli, and/or salt, if you’d like. Use it straightaway, or cover with Clingfilm and keep it in the fridge for 2 to 3 days or the freezer for up to a month.

 

April Bloomfield’s Jerusalem Artichoke Smash

 

Jerusalem Artichokes have a slightly sweet flavour and a nutty aroma. For this recipe, smash them, rather than mash them, keeping them pretty chunky and adding just a bit of cream, so you don’t mask their flavour. Consider Jerusalem Artichokes any time you’re thinking of serving mashed potatoes.

 

serves 4

 

900g Jerusalem artichokes

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Maldon or another flaky sea salt

2 tablespoons double cream

Freshly ground black pepper

A five-fingered pinch of parsley leaves

 

Fill a big bowl with cold water. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes as best you can. They’re a bit knobby, so it’ll take some time, but it’s worth it. It’s okay if you can’t get every last bit of skin. As you peel each one, drop it in the water to prevent browning. Once you’ve peeled all the artichokes, drain them and chop them into rough 2.5cm pieces. Add the pieces to a medium pot that has a lid, along with the olive oil, the salt, and 50ml water. Give a good stir, cover the pot, and set it over medium-high heat. Cook at a steady simmer, stirring once in a while, until the chunks are just barely crunchy, about 25 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat. Stir and smash the chunks a bit with a sturdy whisk or spoon, then add the cream and stir and smash to incorporate it. Keep stirring and smashing until you have a rough mash, some of it smooth and creamy and some of the chokes in medium and small chunks. Add a few twists of black pepper and a sprinkle of parsley. Serve piping hot.

 

April Bloomfield’s Rhubarb Fool with Cardamom Cream and Pistachios

The rhubarb’s earthy flavour and sharp tartness balance the floral cardamom whipped cream. Layer the fool in small clear jars, so you can see the pink and white, pink and white. Well chilled, it’s wonderfully refreshing. And not too sweet.

 

serves 4

 

For the Cardamom Cream

6 green cardamom pods

3 tablespoons caster sugar

225ml crème frâiche

225ml double cream

 

For the Rhubarb

550g rhubarb (about 3 fat stalks), topped and tailed, then sliced crosswise into 4cm pieces

50g caster sugar

100ml dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2½ teaspoons rose water

To serve the fool

75g shelled salted roasted pistachios

Pistachio Brandy Snaps for scooping

Make the cardamom cream: Use the flat of your knife to smash the cardamom pods one by one. Discard the greenish husks. Pound the cardamom seeds to a powder in a mortar, then add the sugar and pound briefly.

Put the creme fraiche and double cream in a large mixing bowl and stir in the

sugar mixture. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate it while you cook the rhubarb.

 

Make the rhubarb: Toss together the rhubarb and sugar in a bowl. Put the

mixture in a medium pot and add the white wine. Use a knife to scrape the seeds

from the vanilla bean into the pot; discard the pod. Set the pot over medium-low

heat, bring to a very gentle simmer, and cook, tenderly stirring occasionally, until the liquid is a little creamy and the rhubarb is very tender but the pieces are still more or less intact, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. (To cool it quickly, scrape the mixture into another bowl, set it over a larger bowl filled with ice, and stir gently.) Once the rhubarb is completely cool, stir in the rose water.

Make the fool: Use a whisk or handheld electric mixer to whip the cream mixture until it’s fluffy and full, with semi-stiff peaks. Grab four approximately 225g serving containers or one large bowl for a family-style presentation. It’s nice if they’re clear, so you can see the layers. Spoon some of the rhubarb mixture into the bottom of each glass (or into the large bowl), top with a layer of cream, and sprinkle on some pistachios. Keep layering this way until you’ve used everything up, making sure you finish with a layer of rhubarb.

Cover and pop into the fridge until well chilled, at least 1 hour.

 

Hottips

 

Calling all Food Writers. At last, an invaluable insight into a food editors mind…How to Write About Food – the Top 50 Writing Bloopers to Cross an Editors Desk – straight from the horse’s mouth – one of Ireland’s longest standing restaurant critics and editor – Ross Golden-Bannon.

Ross has written a handy short eBook that covers the top fifty issues, mistakes and problems which have crossed his desk over the previous twelve years.

You’ll also find top-tips on style, logic, legal issues and syntax as well as some examples of the profoundly stupid. Available on Kindle, Amazon and www.howtowriteaboutfood.com for $3.68. If you do not own a palm book or Kindle you can download eBook reader apps and software onto your desktop and read it there.

 

If you have dreams of opening your own teashop or café you might consider attending the week long Start Your Own Café or Teashop practical cookery and business course at Ballymaloe Cookery School.  The course starts on Monday 8th April to Friday 12th April, 2013 and costs €895.00 for the week. See www.cookingisfun.ie or phone 021 4646785 for more details.

 

Date for the diary…Galway Food Festival – 28th March – 1st April 2013

www.galwayfoodfestival.com

As the horsemeat scandal continues to gain momentum what amazes me more than anything is why we are surprised. How exactly do we explain the incredibly low price of many processed foods? For those of us who are farmers and food producers we know it cannot be done without resorting to deeply unsavoury practices. Furthermore, what is going on behind the scenes has been well known in food circles for a long time.

It is a global issue and unlikely to be the only area of scary adulteration that comes to light. All the more reason for the Government, The Department of Agriculture and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to encourage and support artisan food producers in farmers markets, country markets, small shops, local butchers, abattoirs, fish mongers…

Over the past few weeks there has been much discussion among food producers who have ‘been put through the wringer’ or ‘constantly hassled’ as one woman put it.

Beef farmers are justifiably very, very angry. Could this be the time for farmers to take back control and start the co-ops all over again?

This whole affair which has resulted in a multimillion dollar recall is shining a bright and for some, deeply uncomfortable light on areas of a bewilderingly complex food chain that is very rarely scrutinised. Investigations have revealed an international criminal conspiracy and a tangled web where it would appear that rules and laws are constantly broken.

On the other hand, local food producers are known in their own area and their neighbours invariably know exactly how the food is produced and whether they operate to a high standard. Invariably they are passionate about quality and are acutely aware that their reputation and the success of their business depends on maintaining the highest standard.

“It’s easy to hassle the small people, let them prove to us that they are prepared to tackle the multinationals before they hassle me about labelling jam made from my own home-grown fruit and black berries from the ditches around me,” said another irate jam maker who was told under EU regulations that her jam needed to be labelled the same as the pots in the supermarket. Surely there needs to be a procedure to differentiate between these two very different production systems.

So it becomes more and more obvious that if we want food we can trust, we need to source as much as possible close to home from people we can trust, and where better to start than our own back yard.

In the midst of all this we can be justifiably proud of the FSAI who flagged up the problem in the first place and our Minister of Agriculture Simon Coveney who, despite the criticism levelled at him has dealt with a difficult situation in a carefully measured manner.

Meanwhile back to the kitchen for a weekend menu.

 

Watercress, Blood Orange and New Seasons Toonsbridge Mozzarella Salad

 

A few beautiful fresh ingredients put together simply to make an irresistible starter.

Serves 4

2 – 3 balls of fresh Toonsbridge Mozzarella

2 blood oranges

a bunch of fresh watercress

2 – 3 tablespoons Irish honey

a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

some coarsely ground black pepper

Just before serving, scatter a few watercress leaves over the base of each plate, slice or tear some mozzarella over the top. With a sharp knife remove the peel and pith from the blood oranges, cut into ¼ inch thick slices, tuck a few here and there in-between the watercress and mozzarella. Drizzle with honey and really good extra virgin olive oil. Finally add a little coarsely ground fresh black pepper and serve.

 

Braised Neck of Lamb with Wild Garlic Mash

 

Wild garlic is back in season so let’s feast on it for the next few weeks. Lamb neck or scrag end is ‘cheap and chips’ and really sweet and juicy.

Serves 9-10

 

6 half lamb necks (scrag ends) on the bone

extra virgin olive oil or trimmed lamb fat

4 medium onions, quartered

2 large carrots, cut in chunks

1/2 head celery, coarsely chopped

5 bay leaves

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

8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled

4 sprigs of rosemary

500ml (18fl oz) lamb stock or water

62ml (2 1/2fl oz) white wine

 

chopped parsley

 

Trim the excess fat off the necks. Cut into cubes, render out the liquid fat in a large sauté pan over a medium heat.

Season the lamb necks with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove the pieces of lamb fat from the pan and discard (alternatively you can use extra virgin olive oil).  On a high heat seal the meat for a couple of minutes on all sides turning until nicely browned.  Remove from the pan.  Add the coarsely chopped root vegetables, to the pan and toss and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.  Lay the lamb necks on top; add the herbs, white wine, chopped tomatoes, garlic and enough stock to come 2/3 of the way up the meat.

 

Bring to a simmer on top of the stove and then transfer into a preheated oven  250°C/500°F/Gas Mark 10, to start with and when it’s simmering gently, cover the lamb loosely with the lid or parchment paper.  Reduce the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and cook until completely tender – 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat should be almost falling of the bones.

Cool and pop into the fridge until next day (alternatively skim off every bit of fat)

 

To Serve

 

Remove and discard the solidified fat and warm through uncovered in a hot oven. Taste and correct seasoning before serving.  Scatter with lots of chopped parsley.

 

Serve with Wild Garlic Mash (see recipe)

 

Wild Garlic Mash

 

Serves 4

 

2 lbs (900g) unpeeled potatoes, preferably Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks

½ pint (300ml) creamy milk approx.

1 whole egg

1-2 ozs (30-55g) butter or extra virgin olive oil

6 tablespoon freshly chopped wild garlic leaves

 

Garnish

 

Wild Garlic Flowers (Alium ursinum)

 

Scrub the potatoes well. 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, 15 minutes approx. 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. Peel immediately by just pulling off the skins, so you have as little waste as possible, mash while hot (see below). (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes into the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade).

 

While the potatoes are being peeled, bring about ½ pint (300ml) of milk to the boil. Add the egg into the hot mashed potatoes, and add enough boiling creamy milk to mix to a soft light consistency suitable for piping, add the freshly wild garlic and then beat in the butter or olive oil, the amount depending on how rich you like your potatoes. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.  Scatter with wild garlic flowers.

 

Note: If the potatoes are not peeled and mashed while hot and if the boiling milk is not added immediately, the potato will be lumpy and gluey.

 

Rhubarb and Custard Tart

 

Serves 10-12

 

Pastry

8 ozs (225g) plain flour

6 ozs (175g) butter

pinch of salt

1 dessertspoon icing sugar

a little beaten egg or egg yolk and water to bind

 

Filling

 

1lb (450g) or a little more rhubarb, cut into small pieces

6-8 tablespoons castor sugar

300ml (10fl oz) cream

2 large or 3 small eggs

2 tablespoons castor sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 

1 x 12 inch (30.5cm) tart tin or 2 x 7 inch (18cm) tart tins

 

Make the shortcrust pastry in the usual way (see recipe). Line a tart tin (or tins), with a removable base and chill for 10 minutes. Line with paper and fill with dried beans and bake blind in a moderate oven 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 for 15-20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, paint the tart with a little egg wash and return to the oven for 3 or 4 minutes.

Arrange the cut rhubarb evenly inside the tart shell.  Sprinkle with 6-8 tablespoons castor sugar.

Whisk the eggs well, with the 2 tablespoons sugar and vanilla extract, add the cream. Strain this mixture over the rhubarb and bake at 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 35 minutes until the custard is set and the rhubarb is fully cooked. Serve warm with a bowl of whipped cream.

 

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

 

This is almost the most versatile of all the pastries. Use at least 1 part butter to 2 parts flour.  The higher the proportion of butter, the more delicious the pastry, but the more difficult it will be to handle.

 

Makes enough pastry to line a 23cm (9 inch) flan ring

 

175g (6oz) plain white flour

75g (3oz) butter

40g (1 1/2oz) caster sugar

1 large organic egg, whisked

 

Dice the butter and leave to soften at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Sift the flour onto a work surface and rub in the butter.  Add the sugar.  Make a well in the centre and break in the egg, adding a little water if necessary.  Use your fingertips to rub in, pulling in more flour mixture from the outside as you work.  Knead with the heel of your hand, making three turns.  You should end up with a silky smooth ball of dough.  Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using.  It will keep for a week in the fridge and also freezes well.

 

Hottips

 

Neven Maguire, one of the nicest guys on the whole Irish food scene is coming to Trabolgan to do a cookery demonstration in aid of the Aghada GAA on Tuesday March 5th.  Doors open at 8pm. Cheese and Wine reception, craft and artisan food producer stalls. Tickets €20 per person. Tel: 021 4661223 Day’s Spar, Whitegate, East Cork.

The Organic Centre Rossinver, Co Leitrim, Complete Organic Garden Day at the Organic Centre on Saturday 9^th March will focus mainly on soil fertility management, composting, sowing in the polytunnel. The course costs €75.00 and starts at 10am to 4:00pm. Spring into the Garden incorporating the annual Potato Day is on Sunday 10^th March from 11am to 5pm – there will be gardening demonstrations, walks and talks with lots of brilliant advice on sowing, soil preparation, seed choice…don’t miss the Langford Lissadell Potato Collection  -that has over 150 distinct varieties – that will be on display.  www.theorganiccentre.ie

Cooking for Baby – Natural and Wholesome Recipes half day course at Ballymaloe Cookery School Friday 8^th March 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Learn the best ways of feeding your baby healthy food, Darina Allen who is a mother of four and grandmother of eight, is happy to pass on the tips and advice gleaned over years of feeding her healthy children and sturdy grandchildren totally without packets, cans or jars! – 021 4646785 – www.cookingisfun.ie