Sometimes a broody hen hatches out a clutch of chickens secretly in the ditch and arrives in proudly with them all clustered around her. So far none this year, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. This week we’ve just had some little chicks hatch out in the incubator in the shed. Twenty one days ago we filled it with a mixture of fertilized eggs from a variety of fowl – Marans, Araucana, Rhode Island Red, Light Sussex. Three weeks later it’s not just the kids who are excited when they start to cheep and peck their way out of the shells.
Everyone clusters around cooing and snapping shots of the cute little chicks, some still damp and scraggly from the shells. After 24 hours they are transferred to the Palais des Poulets, where they keep warm under a lamp until they are hardy enough to be able to scratch and forage for themselves outside. After about five months they’ll be starting to lay a variety of different coloured eggs – the marrans produce deep brown speckledy eggs, light Sussex – white, the araucana lay true blue eggs which are always a kitchen talking point.
No eggs will ever taste better or be fresher than the eggs from your own hens and there’s also the feel good factor – food miles are non –existent and the food scraps from the house can be fed to the hens who return the compliment by rewarding you with eggs a few days later, a delicious holistic system.
For anyone with a tiny garden with even a scrap of lawn, space shouldn’t be a problem. Hens come in two sizes, large fowl and bantams which are quarter of the size and they can be decorative as well as functional.
Provide as much space as is feasible, a mobile ark is a good idea. There are a variety of houses available from the tiny Eglu hen houses and movable arks to larger portable hen houses.
If you move the ark and run around every few days, three or four hens will be happy on even a small patch of grass. Don’t worry about annoying the neighbours, your hens will be quite happy without a cockerel , they will also lay eggs but they won’t produce chicks.
It takes less than ten minutes a day to look after your poultry and can provide hours of pleasure watching their antics. Don’t forget to give your neighbours a present of a few of your beautiful eggs from time to time, so they will be happy to look after your flock when you are on holiday!
From the cook’s point of view, the quality of the eggs makes an enormous difference to one’s cooking. Sponges and scones are lighter and more delicious, homemade mayonnaise emulsifies in seconds, even boiled eggs are different. For many they taste like a forgotten flavour, a simple hard-boiled egg becomes like a gourmet experience. Eggs are enormously nutritious and still incredible value at €3 – €3.50 for 6. Two or three boiled or poached for supper with some good soda bread will leave you feeling full and satisfied and cost a fraction of some of the other proteins.
This week I’m suggesting a few of my favourite egg recipes, many of which are dinner party fare, including a couple of delicious summery salads.
For eglu hen houses – www.omlet.co.uk

Canice Sharkey’s Rocket, Chorizo and hard-boiled egg salad

Serves 6

A delicious combination, good as a starter or main course for a summer lunch.

6 freshly laid organic eggs
6 tiny or 3 medium beetroots, cooked, peeled and quartered.
6-8oz (175-225g) chorizo, sliced
Extra virgin olive oil

A piece of aged Coolea, Desmond or Gabriel cheese
A mixture of salad leaves, cos, little gem, purslane, rocket leaves.

Home made mayonnaise

Vinaigrette made with:
3 tablesp extra virgin olive oil
3 tablesp red wine vinegar
A little Dijon mustard
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Boil the eggs in well-salted water for 6-7 minutes. Drain, cover with cold water to stop the cooking.

To prepare the beetroot, leave 5cm (2 inch) of leaf stalks on top and the whole root on the beet. Hold it under a running tap and wash off the mud with the palms of your hands, so that you don’t damage the skin; otherwise the beetroot will bleed during cooking. Cover with cold water and add a little salt and sugar. Cover the pot, bring to the boil and simmer on top, or in an oven, for 1-2 hours depending on size. Beetroot are usually cooked when the skins rub off easily and when they dent when pressed with a finger. If in doubt test with a skewer or the tip of a knife.

Meanwhile, whisk the ingredients for the vinaigrette together in a bowl.

Just before serving, heat a little olive oil in a pan, over a medium heat cook the slices of chorizo for a minute or two until they warm through and the oil begins to run.
Meanwhile toss the salad leaves in a little dressing and arrange on the base of the serving plate. Peel the eggs and cut lengthways, the centres should be still soft (they will be best if still warm). Arrange haphazardly on top of the leaves. Tuck beetroot quarters in between the leaves and sprinkle the slices of chorizo over the salad. Grate some hard cheese over the top. Drizzle the salad with the chorizo oil from the pan and serve immediately with lots of crusty sour dough bread and some homemade mayonnaise.

Classic Parmesan and Gruyère Cheese Soufflé

Serves 8-10
Guests are always wildly impressed by a well risen soufflé and believe me its not rocket science so don’t imagine for one moment that you can’t do it – a soufflé is simply a well flavoured sauce enriched with egg yolks and lightened with stiffly beaten egg. Soufflés are much more good humored than you think and can even be frozen when they are ready for the oven. The French do infinite variations on the theme, both sweet and savoury. I love to make this recipe with some of the best Farmhouse cheese eg: Desmond or Gabriel or a mature Coolea

For the moulds:
Melted butter
Souffle
15g (½ oz) Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano is best) – optional
45g (1½ oz) butter
30g (1 oz) flour
300ml (½ pint) milk
4 eggs, preferably free range and organic
55g (2 oz) Gruyere cheese, finely grated
55g (2 oz) freshly grated Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground pepper

8 individual soufflé dishes, 7cm (2¾ inch) diameter x (4cm)1½ inch high or one large dish 15cm (6 inch) diameter x 6.5cm (2½inch) high.

First prepare the soufflé dish or dishes: brush evenly with melted butter and if you like dust with a little freshly grated Parmesan.
Preheat the oven to 200º C/400º F /gas mark 6 and warm a baking sheet. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir in the flour and cook over a gentle heat for 1-2 minutes. Draw off the heat and whisk in the milk, return to the heat, whisk as it comes to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Separate the eggs and put the whites into a large copper, glass or stainless steel bowl, making sure it’s spotlessly clean and dry. Whisk the yolks one by one into the white sauce, add the cheese, season with salt, pepper, cayenne and a little freshly ground nutmeg. It should taste hugely seasoned at this because the egg whites will dull the seasoning. Stir over a gentle heat for just a few seconds until the cheese melts. Remove from the heat. (can be made ahead up to this point)
Whisk the egg whites with a little pinch of salt, slowly at first and then faster until they are light and voluminous and hold a stiff peak when you lift up the whisk. Stir a few tablespoons into the cheese mixture to lighten it and then carefully fold in the rest with a spatula or tablespoon. Fill the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish or dishes (if you fill them ¾ full you will get about 10 but if you smooth the tops you will have about 8). Bake in a preheated oven for 8-9 minutes for the individual soufflés or 20-25 minutes. For the large one you will need to reduce the temperature to moderate, 180ºC / 350º F /gas mark 4, after 15 minutes and a bain marie is a good idea.
Serve immediately.

Top Tip: If you fill the soufflé dishes to the top smooth off with a palette knife then run a washed thumb around the edge of the dishes before they go into the oven to help to get the ‘top hat’ effect when the soufflé is well risen.
Individual frozen soufflés can be baked from the frozen but they will take a few minutes longer to cook.

Cheese Soufflés with salad leaves:
Just before the soufflés are cooling, toss a mixture of salad leaves and divide between the plates.

Son-In-Laws Eggs Khai Loog Kheoy

Wasinee Beech, the lovely Thai cook who has taught at the Ballymaloe Cookery School gave me this family recipe.

Serves 6

6 free range eggs
5 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
100g (3 ½ oz) minced free-range pork
5 fresh shitake or dried Chinese mushrooms, sliced.
2 tablespoons palm sugar or soft brown sugar
2 tablepoons nam pla fish sauce
5 tablespoons tamarind juice (see below)
125ml (4floz) of water
1 tablespoons lemon juice
3 spring onions, sliced into lcm (½ inch) long pieces
8 shallots, sliced thinly and fried with crispy in oil
2 dry red chillies, fry in a little oil or roast until fragrant but do not burn

To serve: Arjard Thai Cucumber Salad (see recipe)

Cook the eggs gently in boiling salted water for 7 minutes. Drain and cover with cold water. When cool, shell and set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a wok, add the cooked and shelled eggs and fry until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the crispy fried eggs to a serving dish. Cut each egg in half and arrange nicely.

Clean the wok and heat the rest of the oil. Stir-fry the garlic until golden.
Add the minced pork and sliced shitake or Chinese mushrooms. Stir and fry until the pork is cooked.

Add the palm sugar, nam-pla, tamarind juice and freshly squeezed lemon juice. If more liquid is required, add a little bit of water from soaking the mushrooms.

Taste and correct seasoning. Add the spring onions, give a quick stir and spoon the sauce over the arranged eggs. Top with crispy shallots and chillies. Serve with plain boiled rice and Arjard.

Note: If using dried mushrooms, put into a bowl, cover with warm water and allow to soak for 15-30 minutes. Cut the shallots lengthwise as they do in Asia.

Tamarind juice: Put a 2oz lump of tamarind in a small bowl. Cover with 125ml (4floz) of warm water. Allow to soak for a minimum of 15 minutes and squeeze the stones from the bulb with your fingers. Then press through a sieve into another bowl.

Arjard Thai Cucumber Salad

Serves 4-6

1 cucumber, quartered and sliced thinly
2 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise
1 red chilli, seeded and ringed thinly, sliced into rings
1 green chilli, seeded and sliced into rings

Marinade
3-4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt

Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes. When cool, pour the marinade over the cucumber.

Soft Hard-Boiled Eggs with Lettuce and Anchovies

I recently came across this recipe of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s in the Guardian Weekend – delicious and simple – A pared-down version of the classic niçoise, which places a bit more emphasis on the eggs.

Serves 4

2-4 lettuces (ideally a combination of cos/romaine and butterhead)
6 eggs, at room temperature
Olive oil
Vinegar
A pinch of sugar
Mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6-8 anchovies

Wash and gently dry the lettuce. Tear the larger leaves in half and put them in a salad bowl. The eggs should be what I call soft hard-boiled, ie, the whites completely set but the yolks just a bit runny in the middle. I achieve this pretty reliably by putting the eggs in a pan of hand-hot water, bringing it quickly to the boil and cooking them for exactly four minutes (five if they are extra large). Then I run them under the cold tap and peel them as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

Mix the oil and the vinegar in a ratio of 5:1, adding a pinch of sugar, a dab of mustard and some salt and pepper. Shake it up in a jar. Roughly chop the still-warm eggs and put them on top of the lettuce. Chop the anchovies and scatter over the eggs, then drizzle over the dressing. Serve at once.

Foolproof Food
Egg white Omelette

Calorie free!!
Serves 1

4 egg whites preferably free range organic
salt and freshly ground pepper (careful with the salt)
2 tbs of freshly chopped herbs eg parsley, chives, tarragon, thyme or rosemary.
Your chosen filling (optional)

1 dessertspoon clarified butter or olive oil
.
omelette pan, preferably non stick, 23cm (9 inch) diameter

Warm a plate in the oven. Whisk the eggs whites in a bowl, just enough to break up the albumen with a fork or whisk. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Put the warm plate beside the cooker.

Heat the omelette pan over a high heat – add the clarified butter or oil, it should sizzle immediately. Pour in the egg mixture. It will start to cook instantly so quickly pull the edges of the omelette towards the centre with a metal spoon or spatula, tilting the pan so that the uncooked mixture runs to the sides 4 maybe 5 times. Continue until most of the egg is set and will not run any more, the centre will still be soft and slightly under cooked at this point but will continue to cook on the plate. If you are using a filling, spoon the hot mixture in a line across the centre at this point.

To fold the omelette: Flip the edge just below the handle of the pan into the centre, then hold the pan almost perpendicular over the plate so that the omelette will flip over again, then half roll half slide the omelette onto the plate so that it lands folded in three. (It should not take more than 30 seconds in all to make the omelette, perhaps 45 if you are adding a filling).

Hot Tips

This weekend the West of Ireland’s favourite family festival is back: Féile na Tuaithe – Turlough Park takes place at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May 2008. Now in its fourth year, this free festival has proved itself to be a favourite with all members of the family attracting up to 12,000 visitors over the two days. Artisan food has been a part of the festival since the beginning, but this year there is a dedicated marquee with more stalls to meet demand and interest. E-mail: bbyron@museum.ie www.museum.ie

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group – next meeting Thursday 29th May 7.30pm
At Crawford Gallery Café, Cork -€6 including tea, coffee etc.
Allotments and Community Gardens – What is the present situation? Is there more demand? Where can more allotments be located? What is the Council’s role? What is their future? – speakers Mick Mack of Cork Greenmap, Councillor Chris O’Leary Green Party, Elinor Rivers of Mandala Gardens and Zweena McCullough of the Hydro Allotments – all welcome.

Darina Allen is going to Castlefarm, near Athy, Co Kildare to celebrate a year of great local food. She will attend Castlefarm Shop’s first birthday barbeque on Sunday afternoon June 1st. This local food celebration feast will include an organic pig on a spit and a smorgasbord of Castlefarm and locally produced food. There will also be cheese and cream making demonstrations and for the competitive a welly throwing competition. On the day local cheesemaker Elizabeth Bradley will demonstrate cheese making and we will be making cream from our own milk. Tickets are available at €20 per person and can be booked by calling Castlefarm Shop at 059-8636948 or email jenny@castlefarmshop.ie. www.castlefarmshop.ie

We were at a wonderfully convivial but unconventional wedding recently. The church service was utterly beautiful with music and readings and hauntingly beautiful hymns, but I’m not going to dwell on that because after all this is a food column.
The groom was one of Ireland’s most innovative young artisan food producers, the bride a brilliant fund manager from the ‘City’ in London. Both have a huge eclectic circle of friends. They grappled with the usual dilemma – where to draw the line on the guest list and the ultimate challenge of how to provide so many cherished relatives, neighbours, and colleagues with a delicious feast.
The groom is a stalwart of the Farmers Market movement, so they decided to invite many of their market friends to bring their beautiful produce so wedding guests could wander from stall to stall nibbling and tasting, filling and refilling their plates.
The event was held in Robert Putz’s pristine horse arena overlooking Dunmanus Bay. There were little posies of bluebells on the white linen covered tables, hunks of Gubbeen cheese made specially for the occasion, cheese biscuits and pots of relishes.
As guests arrived, pink and white fizz was served from Febvre’s white French Citroen van, Barry and Ian of The Alchemists Cocktails were whipping up cool Caipirinhas and pressed apple juice and elderflower Collins. The Sam Hudson Quartet played jazz as the guests filtered into the arena.
John Pettersen, a favourite at Schull Country Market was ladling out his homemade lemonade and John Gowan of Cork Coffee Roasters who specializes in small batch roasting was dispensing steaming shots of freshly brewed coffee.
A traditional saddleback pig specially reared for the wedding, stuffed with Clovisse’s herbs was cooking on the spit since the early hours, Barry Tyner was in charge of the Hog Roast. He cooked it for 7-8 hours over wood flames until the flesh was juicy and succulent and the crackling to die for.
Farmers Market stalls were set up all around the perimeter of the inside of the arena so guests could help themselves. We started with Stephen and Sarah Canty’s sushi with wasabi and pickled ginger. There was a selection of Gubbeen pates, terrines, salami, ham, tapas, oysters, mussels, lots of fat prawns in the shell, and great big bowls of organic salad leaves. Clovisse, the groom’s sister had grown all the organic greens and herbs in her beautiful Garden of Eden for the big bowl of salad.
Arun Kapil and the team from Green Saffron were ladling out delicious spicy rogan josh, chicken korma and red lentil dahl.
The Spanish tortilla de patatas were made from fresh Gubbeen eggs and came with a dollop of chipotle pepper salsa, this and the Paella were made by Stephen Canty to Giana Ferguson’s Andalucian family recipes,
The breads came from bakers Pagan and Jim Cruit from Ballydehob, who must have been baking all night to produce the huge basket of bread and little pigs for the guests.
Chris Hedges created the dessert, a Grand Marnier bavarois, with macerated oranges. He also baked the delicious chocolate genoise wedding cake. When it was safely enrobed in a thin coating of marzipan he passed it on to Lynn Wright who painted the most beautiful West Cork landscape on top, with Mount Gabriel clearly recognizable in the distance, so beautiful.
The groom had also made delicious homemade icecream for the occasion, guests argued about their favourites, pistachio, fresh mint, coconut, dulce de leche with mango or lemon sorbet. Of course there was lots of wonderful Irish farmhouse cheese and Gubbeen Oatcake biscuits.
When the jazz band slipped off to Ballydehob to play at the International Jazz Festival, The Glorified Jam took over, a band made up of some farmers, fishermen, market boys and their musical friends. The guests boogied and danced and nibbled into the wee hours and continued to enjoy the convivial slow food wedding.
The Farmers Market concept was an inspired way to entertain a large number of guests in an easygoing and truly delicious way.
Here are the contact details of some of the participants.

Stephen Canty, Food for Thought Tel 087-7528945 www.foodforthought.net
John Pettersen 086-0767970
Barry Rogerson The Alchemists Cocktails – 086 3423522

John Gowan, Cork Coffee Roasters 087-7766322 www.corkcoffee.com
Barry Tyner 087-6306761
Pagan & Jim Cruit 028-38961
Chris Hedges, Free-lance chef 086-8245984
Lynny Wright, ceramicist and artist 028-21889 wrighton@eircom.net
Gubbeen Cheese and Cheese Oatcake Biscuits 028-28231 www.gubbeen.ie
Arun Kapil, Green Saffron 086-8331030
Clovisse’s Gubbeen Greens 086-3991415
Febvre & Co. Wine Merchants 01-2161400 www.febvre.ie

Peter Luke’s Paella Valenciana

Giana Ferguson shared her Dad’s recipe for his favourite paella.

1 chicken, preferably free range and organic, jointed, deboned and chopped
2 dozen mussels in their shells
1lb (450g) prawns in their shells
1lb (450g) squid
4-6 soft Spanish Chorizo
1 cup per 2 people of round Spanish rice
green and red peppers
garlic
tomatoes
bay leaves
saffron
white wine
onions
stock

Brown the chicken pieces and put aside.  Clean, chop and lightly fry the squid, put aside with chicken.
Sweat onions and garlic with pepper, add the bay leaves and reserve.
Take one box of saffron and add to warm water and leave to infuse.
Fry the rice in the paella dish in olive oil until the oil is hot and the rice translucent and not quite browning.
In a proportion of approx. ⅔ cup of good stock to one cup of rice, flood the rice in the paella dish and add the saffron liquid – it is a bad idea to stir as the rice becomes glutinous so shake the paella to keep it from sticking and to help it absorb the stock.
Meanwhile sweat the mussels in white wine and shelling some, leave a few in their half shells as garnish.
The chorizo can be lightly fried at this time too (or done much earlier – keep some for tapas.)
Add the prawns (again leaving some with their coats and whiskers on for garnish)
Add the prawns, first, then the mussels which mustn’t overcook then as the rice swells with the absorbed stock, tomatoes in quarters, the chicken, chorizo and squid.  Allow to heat thoroughly through while the rice absorbs the rest of the stock without becoming tight.
Season with generous amounts of pepper and salt (unless your stock is already salted) and garnish with the half mussels, the whiskery prawns, some loosely chopped flat parsley and a few nasturtium flowers – add a good few quartered lemons and serve hot in the paella – Salut.

Tortilla de Patatas

Serves 6-8

Tortilla de Patatas sounds deceptively simple but its not as easy to make to perfection as you might think.

8-9 eggs, free range and organic
14ozs (400g) diced potato (1.5cm)
6ozs (175g) diced onion
3fl oz (75ml) extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper

The secret of success is to use enough oil. Put a generous (2.5cm) 1 inch of olive oil into a frying pan. Fry the potatoes and onions in the hot oil for about 5-7 minutes.  Add the crushed garlic and cook until the potatoes are golden on the outside and soft in the middle.  Drain off the excess oil from the potatoes.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl, add a teaspoon of salt and freshly ground pepper.  Add the potato and onion mixture. Put 2 tablespoons of oil back into the pan, when it begins to sizzle pour in the egg mixture then lower the heat, when the egg begins to cook, loosen around the edge continue to cook shaking the pan occasionally. When the tortilla is well set and golden underneath, cover the pan with an oiled plate and turn it out, be careful not to burn your hand. Add a little more oil to the frying pan if necessary. Slide the tortilla back in cooked side uppermost. Cook until firm but still slightly moist in the centre. Serve hot or at room temperature cut into wedges.

Fingal and Ciara’s Wedding Cake

A Chocolate Genoese Sponge:
16 free range eggs
8 oz (225g) butter
1lb (450g) caster sugar
12oz (350g) plain flour, sieved
4 oz (110g) Green and Black’s or Fairtrade cocoa powder

Praline:
8oz (225g) hazelnuts
8oz (225g) almonds
1lb (450g) castor sugar

Praline Butter Cream:
1lb (450g) butter
3 eggs
1lb (450g) caster sugar
5 fl.oz (150ml) water
Praline paste to taste (see recipe above)

Almond Paste:
2lb (900g) ground almonds
2lb (900g) caster sugar
2lb (900g) icing sugar
12 oz (350g) egg yolks, approx.
2fl.oz (50ml) brandy

Baking tray 16 inch x 20 inch, lined with silicone paper.
Preheat the oven to 375F/180C/gas 4.

To make the cake:
Sieve the flour and cocoa together with a pinch of salt.
Whisk eggs and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and doubled in bulk, showing the signs of the whisk (ribbon stage).
Gently fold in the sieved flour and cocoa, and finally the melted butter.
Pour into the lined baking tray.  Bake for approx. 30 minutes, it should feel firm to the touch.
When cooked turn out onto a cooling rack and remove the lining paper.
Make 2 of these ‘sheets’ of cake, using the above quantity for each.

To make the praline:
Carefully roast the nuts in a hot oven.  If using nuts with skin on, rub skin off in a sieve.
Boil sugar with a small amount of water until it reaches the caramel stage.
Add the warm nuts and stir to coat in the caramel.  Use a slightly oiled wooden spoon to flatten.
Grind two thirds of the mix to a paste.   Chop the remaining into chunky pieces.
Use to add to butter cream.

To make the  praline butter cream:
Put the sugar and water into a saucepan over a medium heat.  Stir to dissolve the sugar and continue to cook until it reaches 240F/115C (soft ball stage).  Pour the hot syrup onto the well whisked egg.   Continue to whisk until cool.  Beat in the well creamed butter and praline paste to taste.
Fold in chopped praline to taste.

To make the almond paste:
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl, add the egg and brandy and mix to a pliable paste.

To assemble the cake:
Place one sheet of sponge on a suitable board, ie. ½ inch/1cm  plywood.
Spread buttercream over sponge and then place second sheet on top.

Roll out the almond paste into length to run down side of cake, dusting with ground almonds to prevent sticking to work top and rolling pin.  Cut to size.   Brush with heated apricot jam and attach to side of cake.  Do this to all sides, finally roll out piece for the top.  Brush heated jam on top of the cake.  Place almond paste on top.  Decorate as desired or ask Lynn Wright to paint a picture on top.

Orange and Grand Marnier Bavarois with Crystallised Orange Peel

This classic dessert can be made at least a day ahead.   Christ Hedges served it with orange slices and Grand Marnier.

Serves 8

½ pint (300ml) milk
2 free-range eggs
1-2oz (25-50g) castor sugar
Vanilla pod or pure vanilla extract
Grated rind of 1 unwaxed orange and 2 tablespooons Grand Marnier
¼ oz/4 teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 4 tablespoons water (if you like it a bit more wobbly use 3 teaspoons of gelatine and 3 tablespoons water.
¼ pint (150ml) cream, softly whipped

To decorate: crystallised orange peel

1 pint (600ml) mould or 8 small moulds

Prepare the moulds by brushing evenly with sunflower oil and drain.
Infuse the vanilla pod and orange rind in the milk.   Separate the eggs.
Cream the egg yolks and sugar, and pour the flavoured milk on to them.  Return to the saucepan and cook over a gentle heat until the custard thickens.
Put 4 tablespoons of water in a little bowl, measure the gelatine carefully and sprinkle over the water.  Leave to ´sponge´ for a few minutes until the gelatine has soaked up the water and feels spongy to the touch.  Put the bowl into a saucepan of simmering water and allow the gelatine to dissolve completely.  All the granules should be dissolved and it should look perfectly clear.  Add the dissolved gelatine to the custard mixture and stir gently until mixed in.  Strain and cool to setting point.  Fold in Grand Marnier and the softly whipped cream.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.    Mix a little of the whites into the custard and then fold in the remainder carefully.
Pour into the prepared mould or moulds and allow to set.
Unmould onto a flat dish or individual serving plates and decorate with crystallised orange peel.

Crystallized Orange Peel

We always have lots of crystallized orange, lemon and lime peel in a jar to decorate tarts, scatter on mousses or just to nibble.

2 oranges
16 fl oz/450 ml cold water

Sugar syrup (see recipe)

Peel 2 oranges very thinly with a swivel top peeler, be careful not to include the white pith.  Cut the strips into fine julienne.  Put into a saucepan with the cold water and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, cover with fresh water and repeat the process

Put the julienne into a saucepan with the syrup and cook gently until the lemon julienne looks translucent or opaque (10-15 mins approx.).  Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool on bakewell paper or a cake rack.  When cold toss in castor sugar and allow to dry in a cool airy place.
Can be stored in a jar or airtight tin for weeks or sometimes months.

Sugar Syrup

Makes 28 fl.oz (825ml)

1lb (450g) sugar
1 pint (600ml) water

To make the sugar syrup:  dissolve the sugar in the water and bring to the boil.  Boil for 2 minutes then allow it to cool.  Store in the fridge until needed.

Hot Tips

Summer at Country Choice in Nenagh, on Friday 23rd May Languedoc Wine Barbecue Supper – guest Catherine Wallace, one of the best winemakers in the South of France where she and her husband make an amazing biodynamic and organic red wine on their farm in St Chinian.  Evening starts at 8pm with new rosé tasting, followed by informal barbecue supper with tutored talk and tasting with Catherine.   Pre-booking essential – peter@countrychoice.com                 087-7931113         or call Anne Marie                067-32596

Farmers Market at Castlehyde Courtyard, Fermoy on Sunday 25th May 12-4pm
– The Brothers of Charity Southern Services are hosting an Open Day – Alongside the market there will be childrens’ workshops, entertainment, jazz band and art exhibition – a true family day out for a worthy cause.

Slow Food Ireland in Association with Irish Natural Forestry Foundation presents The Slow Food Forest Feast  ‘The Munch at the Manch’ to celebrate Bio Diversity Week –A great family day out not to be missed – there will be special workshops, competitions and games for children and teenagers with trained environmental teachers, knife making, hedge laying and basket making for the dads,  guest chef cookery demonstrations, guided woodland walks, traditional crafts demonstrations, workshops and lots of music – a day of Slow Fun –in the wonderful setting of the 300 acres of the Manch Estate, Ballineen, Co Cork also on Sunday 25th May – noon to 6pm
Tickets €25 adults €12 children, available from Lynn @ INFF Tel                023-22823         or email
lynn@inff.ie or info@slowfoodireland.com

Cookery Demonstration by Darina Allen at Garryvoe Hotel on Tuesday 27th May at 7.45pm in aid of Shanagarry Playground Fund.  Pre-booking essential.
Tickets €25 available from Garryvoe Hotel, Mahon Point Shopping Centre (Customer Services),  Ballymaloe Cookery School Shop, Brodericks Shanagarry, Stephen Pearce Gallery and Mark Doyle                087-6749503        , mark@processsolutions.ie   Great spot prizes –100% of money raised will go to the playground fund.

I regularly get requests for special diet recipes, gluten free, low sugar and dairy free are top of the list.
Dairy free is easy, to change to extra virgin olive oil is no great sacrifice. There are many delicious cake and pastry recipes where oil can be substituted for butter and we’ve also got lots of terrific wheat free and gluten free recipes.
Those of you who must have reduced sugar recipes seem to have a deep and constant craving for something sweet and yummy. They feel deprived of one of the greatest pleasures in life.
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson discovered a few years ago that he was a prime candidate for diabetes, his resistance to insulin, a hormone that helps the body to process sugar and use it as a fuel, was so high that his doctor ordered him to take drastic steps to reduce his weight and sugar intake. Antony took on the challenge with characteristic enthusiasm but still hankered after a bit of pud and some cookies every now and then. He began to experiment with artificial sweeteners, most of which got the thumbs down, but then he started to test recipes with one called Splenda. He got terrific results and still managed to dramatically reduce his family’s calorie intake.
With his usual exuberance he wanted to spread the word so he wrote ‘The Sweet Life’, 101 indulgent recipes with less sugar for those who want to reduce their sugar consumption and calorie intake. If you are a diabetic, a little sugar can be fine but you will need to check with your doctor or nutritionist for advice on your particular condition.
Splenda is suitable for people with diabetes to use as part of a healthy balanced diet. Sucralose, the sweetening ingredient in Splenda, is not metabolized by the body. As a result, Splenda has an insignificant effect on insulin or blood glucose levels. This means that by replacing sugar with Splenda, even people with diabetes can enjoy sweet dishes and baked treats.
Antony has also written a book on ‘Healthy Eating for Diabetes’ which I have recommended to diabetics on several occasions. Here is a selection of sweet treats from
‘The Sweet Life’ by Antony Worrall Thompson, published by Kyle Cathie.

Fresh Strawberry Sponge
Serves 8

This cake uses a Genoise sponge as a base – a light and airy whisked sponge- with the addition of melted butter that adds extra flavour and moisture, and makes it keep slightly longer. Its delicious served as it is here, in a single layer with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, or you can sandwich the cream and fruit between the two layers.
Try this cake with the first of the new season’s Irish strawberries.

40g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing.
25g caster sugar
4 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener
5 eggs
100g plain flour

For the topping:
400g strawberries, hulled
1 tablespoon Splenda granulated sweetener
200ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease and base line two 20cm loose base sandwich tins.
Put the sugar, sweetener and eggs in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and whisk with a hand-held electric whisk until the whisk leaves a trail when lifted from the bowl. Remove from the heat ad whisk for a further 2 minutes.
Pour the melted butter around the edges of the mixture. Sift half the flour into the bowl and fold in with the butter, using a large metal spoon. Sift the remaining flour into the bowl and fold in. Divide between the tins and spread gently to the edges.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until pale golden around the edges and just firm to the touch. Loosen the edges and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Meanwhile, make a sauce by blitzing half the strawberries with the Splenda in a food processor. Pass through a sieve into a little bowl. Slice the remaining strawberries.
Whisk the double cream until it forms soft peaks. Spread over the cake , and top with sliced strawberries and the sauce.

Raspberry and Banana Muffins

Makes 8

Antony used frozen raspberries in this recipe as he feels they have a more intense flavour than fresh ones.

200g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener
100g frozen raspberries, briefly thawed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g butter, melted
100ml semi-skimmed milk
1 ripe banana, mashed

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Place 8 paper muffin cases into a muffin tray, or use squares of greaseproof paper.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sweetener and raspberries.
Beat together the egg, vanilla extract, melted butter and milk. Stir into the dry ingredients with the mashed banana until just combined. Avoid overmixing and do not beat. The mixture will be quite lumpy, but there should not be any traces of dry flour. Spoon into the paper cases.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Brownies

Makes 15

Everyone loves chocolate brownies – they don’t stay on the plate for long!

250g plain chocolate, chopped
175g unsalted butter
3 eggs
25g Splenda granulated sweetener
60g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g walnuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Grease and line a shallow 27x18cm baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and rest it over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Leave until melted, stirring frequently. Alternatively melt in the microwave for 2 minutes at maximum power.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl, gradually whisking in the sweetener until combined. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Add the walnuts and stir the ingredients together until just combined.
Turn into the tin and spread the mixture into the corners. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the surface is set but the mixture feels very soft underneath.
Leave to cool in the tin. Cut into squares and store in an airtight tin.

Apple Pie

Serves 6

This is a double crust apple pie that’s best made on a metal plate so the bottom has a chance to crisp up. If you don’t have a metal pie plate, use a small shallow pie dish and line the sides and top of the dish only.

50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 large Bramley apple, peeled, cored and sliced
4 dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener
10 cloves
1½ teaspoons mixed spice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
375g sweet shortcrust or puff pastry
Flour, for dusting
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6, adding a baking sheet to heat through. Grease a 22cm pie plate.
Melt half the butter in a large frying pan. Add the apples and sweetener and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the apples start to soften. Stir in the spices and lemon juice and leave to cool.
Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured board and use to line the pie plate. Scatter the apples and juices over the top, piling them up in the centre. Dot with the remaining butter. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg.
Roll out the remaining pastry and use to cover the pie. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork to seal. Trim off any excess pastry and use to decorate if desired. Make a few slashes in the top with a sharp knife – this will allow the steam to escape. Brush the top with more beaten egg and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until pale golden.

Apricot Jam

Makes about 600g

This delicious, tangy fruit spread technically isn’t a jam – without sugar used in the method, it doesn’t have the same preservative qualities a ‘real’ jam would have. Its therefore best made in small quantities and it keeps in the fridge for up to three weeks.

1½ teaspoons gelatine powder
500g fresh apricots, stoned and roughly chopped
200ml apple juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
8 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener

Put 2 tablespoons water into a bowl and stir in the gelatine. Leave to soak whilst you cook the apricots.
Put the apricots into a saucepan and pour in the apple and lemon juice. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the apricots are soft. Skim off any foam that collects on the surface using a slotted spoon.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sweetener. Add the gelatine and stir again until dissolved. Ladle into sterilised jars and cover with discs of greaseproof paper and lids whilst still hot.

Fruit, nut and seed bars

Makes 12

175g butter, plus extra for greasing
175g set honey
6 tablespoons Splenda granulated sweetener
200g porridge oats
Pinch of salt
200g fruit and nut mix (dried apricots, raisins or sultanas, cashew nuts and coconut shavings are nice)
50g dried cranberries
75g mixed seeds (like sunflower, pumpkin and linseeds)
50g desiccated coconut

These yummy energy bars are just the thing for a mid-morning boost, and they’re a perfect fit for a packed lunch or picnic.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Grease a 20cm square baking tin and line with greaseproof paper, leaving an overhang to make it easier to remove the bars later.
Melt the butter and honey in a large saucepan over a gentle heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
Mix together the sweetener, porridge oats, salt, fruit and nut mix, cranberries, mixed seeds and coconut. Add to the saucepan and stir together until thoroughly mixed. Tip into the prepared tin and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin and cut into bars. Cool completely on a wire rack. Keep in an airtight container, or wrap in greaseproof paper.

Hot Tips

All-Ireland Farmers Market Competition
Enniscorthy Farmers Market will host an all-Ireland Farmers Market Competition on Saturday 28th June and Sunday 29th June in the Abbey Square Enniscorthy. The competition will take place during the weekend of the Strawberry Fair and all markets are invited to get involved. Closing date 30th May – contact Anne Jordan, Enniscorthy Town Council, Market Square, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford for application form. Tel 053-9233540 or anne.jordan@enniscorthytc.ie

Driving the Industry Forward –
The must-attend 2008 BIM Seafood Event ‘Fish Ireland 2008’ – Conference on Innovation and Sustainability – Thursday 26th June – Solis Lough Eske Castle Hotel, Donegal.
Online registration and latest information are available on the BIM website at www.bim.ie/killybegsconference Tel 01-2144204 killybegsconference@bim.ie

Debenhams ban Unhealthy Ingredients from Cafes and Restaurants
Department store chain Debenhams has announced that it has banned a number of unhealthy ingredients in all of the food products served at its restaurants and cafes –
The group has removed all hydrogenated fats, genetically modified ingredients and artificial colours from the menus at the dining outlets at its 166 stores across the UK and Ireland. The move came after Debenhams launched a £5m overhaul of its instore restaurants earlier this year, including the update of interiors and menus.
‘Banning hydrogenated fats, GM and azo colours has been on our agenda for some time but the logistics involved in banning every product which contains them are extensive’ a spokesman stated.

How to Keep a Few Chickens in the Garden – this course at Ballymaloe Cookery School has been rescheduled to Saturday 21st June (due to the death of Darina Allen’s mother it was cancelled on an earlier date) 9.30- 5 Tel 021-4646785 info@cookingisfun.ie

It seems like an eternity since I wrote my last column. In those seven days I lived through a whole lifetime of emotions -joy, helplessness, gratitude, guilt, relief, loneliness, deep sadness, not necessarily in that order.
During those seven days my eight siblings and I sat by our mother’s bedside, taking turns to watch over her and hold her hand, as she gradually slipped in and out of consciousness and finally passed away gently in her sleep as dawn broke on April the 17th.
Mummy was in her early eighties and had been a widow for 45 years. She was a woman of strong faith and was so looking forward to being with Daddy once again. She consoled us all by whispering that she was not frightened of death. As she lapsed into a coma we longed for her to open her eyes just one more time, until my sister reminded us of how disappointed she was likely to be if she woke up to find us all peering anxiously at her, rather than meeting Daddy with his arms open wide. During the long week with my brothers and sisters, there were several other comic moments, and even some laughter interspersed with sadness and grief as we reminisced and swapped memories.
With hindsight those seven long days and nights were some of the most precious of my entire life. How fortunate were my brothers and sisters and I to be able to spend that time uninterrupted, with the extraordinary woman of courage and fortitude who brought us into the world, and whose wonderful cooking brought joy and solace to family and friends for over eighty years.
Our home was always full of the delicious smells of cooking. Among many things, Mummy taught each and every one of us how to bake and roast, braise and stew and the joy of sharing food and sitting around the kitchen table with family and friends.
Her spirit lives on in every picnic we share and every skill she taught us, and in the smell of Cullohill Apple Tart and Mummy’s Sweet Scones.

Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread

I’ll never forget the flavour and texture of Mummy’s Bread. For years Mummy baked several loaves of soda bread every single day, and even after her stroke she continued to make bread with one ‘good hand’ on a regular basis. When I was little she would give me a little piece of dough to make a ‘cistín’, which I proudly baked alongside her loaf in the Esse.

Makes 1 loaf

225g (1/2lb) white flour
225g (1/2lb) wholemeal flour (Howard’s-one-way)
1 level teaspoon bread soda
1 level teaspoon salt
450ml (13floz-16fl oz) buttermilk (depending on consistency of buttermilk)

Preheat the oven to 230ºC/450ºF/gas mark 8.

Mix the flour in a large wide bowl, add the salt and sieved bread soda. Lift the flour up with your fingers to distribute the salt and bread soda.

Make a well in the centre and pour in all the buttermilk. With your fingers stiff and outstretched, stir in a circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl in ever increasing concentric circles. When you reach the outside of the bowl seconds later the dough should be made.

Sprinkle a little flour on the worktop. Turn the dough out onto the floured worktop. (Fill the bowl with cold water so it will be easy to wash later.)
Sprinkle a little flour on your hands. Gently tidy the dough around the edges and transfer to oven tray. Tuck the edges underneath with the inner edge of your hands, gently pat the dough with your fingers into a loaf about 4cm (1 ½ in) thick. Now wash and dry your hands.

Cut a deep cross into the bread (this is called ‘Blessing the bread’ and then prick it in the centre of the four sections to let the fairies out of the bread).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 for a further 15 minutes. Turn the bread upside down and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until cooked (the bottom should sound hollow when tapped). Cool on a wire rack.

Farmhouse Chicken

Serves 8

This was a favourite family supper in our house, a whole meal in a dish. Originally Mummy reared the chickens herself and she always served it in the big black roasting tin.

1 x 4 lb (1.8kg) free-range chicken
Seasoned flour
1¼ lb (560g) streaky bacon in one piece
2 tablesp sunflower or arachide oil
14 oz (400g) finely sliced or chopped onions
12-16 ozs (350g-450g) thinly sliced carrots
5 lbs (2.3kg) large ‘old’ potatoes approx.
salt and freshly ground pepper
2 pints (1.1L) chicken stock, made from the giblets and carcass

Garnish:
1 tablesp. freshly chopped parsley

Deep roasting tin 15” (38cm) square approx.

Preheat the oven to 230C/450F/gas 8

Joint the chicken into 8 pieces; separate the wing joints so they will cook evenly. Cut the rind off the bacon; cut 8ozs (225g) into ½ inch (1cm) lardons and the remainder into ¼ inch (5mm) thick slices. If salty, blanch, refresh and dry on kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan and cook the lardons until the fat begins to run and they are pale golden; transfer to a plate. Toss the chicken joints in seasoned flour, sauté in the bacon fat and oil until golden on both sides, remove from the pan and put with the bacon. Finally toss the onions and carrots in bacon fat for 1-2 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and slice a little less than half into ¼ inch (5mm) rounds. Arrange a layer of potato slices on the base of a deep roasting tin. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle the carrots, onions and bacon over the potatoes and arrange the chicken on top. Season again with salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour enough hot stock over to almost cover. Cut the remaining potatoes into thick slices lengthways, 1½ inches (4cm) approx. and arrange cut side up on top of the chicken (the whole top of the dish should be covered with potato slices). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour approx. After 30 minutes put the strips of bacon on top so they get deliciously crisp with the potatoes. Test after one hour – it may take a little longer. If its getting too brown, cover loosely with greaseproof paper or foil near the end of the cooking. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve at the table followed by a good green salad.

Mummy’s Scalloped Potato with Steak and Kidney

Serves 4-6
We used to ask Mummy to make this comforting and economical dish when we came home from college on winter weekends. One can do lots of variations on the theme; streaky bacon is particularly good and shoulder of lamb would also be delicious.

450g (1lb) well-hung stewing beef (I use round, flank or even lean shin)
1 beef kidney
salt and freshly ground pepper
1.1-1.35kg (2½-3lb) ‘old’ potatoes – Golden Wonders or Kerr’s Pinks
340g (¾lb) onions, chopped
50-70g (2-2½oz) butter
water or homemade stock
Garnish
Freshly chopped parsley

I use a large, oval Le Creuset casserole, 2.3 litre (4 pint) capacity.

Remove the skin and white core from the kidney and discard; cut the flesh into 1cm (½inch) cubes, put them into a bowl, cover with cold water and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt. Cut the beef into ½cm (¼inch) thick slices. Put a layer of potato slices on the base of the casserole. Drain the kidney and mix with the beef, then scatter some of the meat and chopped onion over the layer of potato. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper, dot with butter, add another layer of potato, more meat, onions and seasoning and continue right up to the top of the casserole. Finish with an overlapping layer of potato. Pour in the stock, 375ml (13floz) approx. Bring to the boil, cover and cook in a preheated slow oven, 150C/300G/gas mark 2, for 2-2½hours or until the meat and potatoes are cooked. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve from the casserole.
We eat this in deep plates with lots and lots of butter
You can remove the lid of the saucepan near the end of the cooking time to brown the top slightly for a more appetising appearance.

Cullohill Apple Tart

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

Serves 8-12

Pastry
8 ozs (225g) butter
2 ozs (55g) castor sugar
2 eggs, preferably free range
12 ozs (340g) white flour, preferably unbleached

Filling
1½ lbs (675g) Bramley Seedling cooking apples
5 ozs (140g) sugar
2-3 cloves
egg wash-made with one beaten egg and a dash of milk
Castor sugar for sprinkling

To Serve
Softly whipped cream
Barbados sugar

tin, 7 inches (18cm) x 12 inches (30.5cm) x 1 inch (2.5cm) deep

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

First make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food mixer (no need to over cream). Add the eggs and beat for several minutes. Reduce speed and mix in the flour. Turn out onto a piece of floured greaseproof paper, flatten into a round wrap and chill. This pastry needs to be chilled for at least 2 hours otherwise it is difficult to handle.
To make the tart
Roll out the pastry 1/8 inch (3mm) thick approx., and use about 2/3 of it to line a suitable tin. Peel, quarter and dice the apples into the tart, sprinkle with sugar and add the cloves. Cover with a lid of pastry, seal edges, decorate with pastry leaves, egg wash and bake in the preheated oven until the apples are tender, approx. 45 minutes to 1 hour. When cooked cut into squares, sprinkle lightly with castor sugar and serve with softly whipped cream and barbados sugar.

Rhubarb Tart
Make in exactly the same way but use approx. 2lbs (900g) sliced red rhubarb (about ½ inch thick) and approx. 13 ozs (370g) -14ozs (400g) sugar.

For years Mummy cooked delicious pub food in our family pub The Sportsmans Inn in Cullohill, Co Laois. So many of your letters of support mention calling on the way to or from Dublin for Mummy’s Apple Tart or Scones with Apple Jelly, so I’m delighted to share the recipe to bring back happy memories.

Mummy’s Crab Apple or Bramley Apple Jelly

Makes 2.7-3kg (6-7 lb)

2.7kg (6 lb) crab apples or wind fall cooking apples
2.7L (4¾ pints) water
2 unwaxed lemons
sugar

Wash the apples and cut into quarters, do not remove either peel or core. Windfalls may be used, but make sure to cut out the bruised parts. Put the apples into a large saucepan with the water and the thinly pared rind of the lemons, cook until reduced to a pulp, approx. 2 hour.
Turn the pulp into a jelly bag* and allow to drip until all the juice has been extracted – usually overnight. Measure the juice into a preserving pan and allow 450g (1lb) sugar to each 600ml (1pint) of juice. Warm the sugar in a low oven.
Squeeze the lemons, strain the juice and add to the preserving pan. Bring to the boil and add the warm sugar. Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and boil rapidly without stirring for about 8-10 minutes. Skim, test and pot immediately and eat with scones.

Mummy’s Sweet White Scones

The smell of freshly baked scones coming out of the oven was one of my earliest memories, and then there was the squabbling over the sugar tops with my brothers and sisters!

Makes 18-20 scones using a 72 cm (3inch) cutter

900g (2lb) plain white flour
170g (6oz) butter
3 free range eggs
pinch of salt
55g (2oz) castor sugar
3 heaped teaspoons baking powder
450ml (15floz) approx. milk to mix

Glaze
egg wash (see below)
granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of the scones

First preheat the oven to 250C/475F/gas mark 9.

Sieve all the dry ingredients together in a large wide bowl. Cut the butter into cubes, toss in the flour and rub in the butter. Make a well in the centre. Whisk the eggs with the milk, add to the dry ingredients and mix to a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board. Knead lightly, just enough to shape into a round. Roll out to about 22cm (1inch) thick and cut or stamp into scones.* Put onto a baking sheet – no need to grease. Brush the tops with egg wash and dip each one in granulated sugar. Bake in a hot oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown on top. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve split in half with home made jam and a blob of whipped cream or just butter and jam.

Egg Wash
Whisk 1 egg with a pinch of salt. This is brushed over the scones and pastry to help them to brown in the oven.

* Top Tip – Stamp them out with as little waste as possible, the first scones will be lighter than the second rolling.

Fruit Scones
Add 110g (4oz) plump sultanas to the above mixture when the butter has been rubbed in. Continue as above.

Useful Tip
Scone mixture may be weighed up ahead – even the day before. Butter may be rubbed in but do not add raising agent and liquid until just before baking.

Hot Tips

Congratulations to Jacques Restaurant
This much loved Cork restaurant has been awarded the best restaurant in Munster by their peers at the Restaurant Association of Ireland restaurant awards in Mayo. Jacques is now in its 28th year and still run with passion by Jacque and Eithne Barry along with their team Eileen Carey and John Kelly. They also won the 2008 Georgina Campbell award for best Natural Food in Ireland in recognition of their commitment to using only local food, showcasing all that is best in Cork. Jacques, Phoenix Street, Cork, Tel 021-4277387

Burren Slow Food Festival 23-25 May, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare.
Slow Food Lunches and Dinners, Talks, Markets, Food Exhibitions, Supper Theatre and much, much more. Contact Birgitta Hedin-Curtin, 087-822 4173 info@burrensmokehouse.ie or slowfoodclare@hotmail.com

Third Annual StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress – A Kitchen without Boundaries – September 14-16, 2008 New York City
www.starchefs.com

 I have lived through a whole lifetime of emotions in the last seven days -joy, helplessness, gratitude, guilt, relief, loneliness, deep sadness, not necessarily in that order.  

During those seven days my eight siblings and I sat by our mother’s bedside, taking turns to watch  over her and hold her hand, as she gradually slipped in and out of consciousness and finally passed away gently in her sleep as dawn broke on April the 17th.

Mummy was in her early eighties and had been a widow for 45 years.   She was a woman of strong faith and was so looking forward to being with Daddy once again. She consoled us all by whispering that she was not frightened of death.   As she lapsed into a coma we longed for her to open her eyes just one more time, until my sister reminded us of how disappointed she was likely to be if she woke up to find us all peering anxiously at her, rather than meeting Daddy with his arms open wide.    During the long week with my brothers and sisters, there were several other comic moments, and even some laughter interspersed with sadness and grief as we reminisced and swapped memories.  

With hindsight those seven long days and nights were some of the most precious of my entire life.  How fortunate were my brothers and sisters and I to be able to spend that time uninterrupted, with the extraordinary woman of courage and fortitude who brought us into the world, and whose wonderful cooking brought joy and solace to family and friends for over eighty years. 

Our home was always full of the delicious smells of cooking. Among many things, Mummy taught each and every one of us how to bake and roast, braise and stew and the joy of sharing food and sitting around the kitchen table with family and friends.  

Mum loved to cook and was determined to feed us all lots of nourishing, wholesome food.  For many years she had a thriving kitchen garden ….she kept hens, fattened chickens for the table, we even had a house cow, an ill-tempered black Kerry who produced wonderful milk which we drank by the glassful.   The cream that rose to the top was poured over tarts and pies and the sour milk used for soda bread.  Mum had a wonderfully ‘light hand’ and baked brown soda bread virtually every day until recently.  Even after she had a stroke about five years ago, she would still make bread with her ‘good hand’.  One of my earliest childhood memories is of watching Mum baking bread, she tied on my little apron (which she had made for me), I’m sure I was much more of a hindrance than a help, but she always would give me a little piece of dough to make a little ‘cistín’ which I proudly baked beside her traditional loaf in the old Esse cooker.   When my brothers and sisters and I ran up the hill from the village school, particularly on Winter days, we’d be trying to guess what Mum might have for lunch (we called it dinner then!)   Would it be Scalloped potato with bits of kidney, a bubbly Beef or Lamb Stew, Bacon and Cabbage with Parsley Sauce, Stuffed Pork Steak with lots of Apple Sauce, or if it was Friday, a big bowl of Colcannon or Smoked Haddock.  If the CIE bus from Dublin to Cork had dropped off ‘fresh fish’ at Nancy Freeman’s shop in the village, it might even be our favourite – a fillet of plaice.   Roasts were a Sunday treat.   No matter how modest the meal there was always ‘sweet’, stewed fruit from the garden, rhubarb, gooseberries, blackcurrants, apples …. With Birds Custard or cream,  but would she have made a bubbly rice pudding with a golden skin on top, or a pie or most thrilling of all, a steamed sultana or jam pudding?.   I only hope that we hugged her enough or at least stopped to stay thank you for the many long hours she spent making and baking and sewing and growing for us.She and my eldest brother William brought me down to Ballymaloe in June 1967, to start my first real job.   She loved Ballymaloe and was so happy that I had found another mentor in Myrtle Allen, whose philosophy she so admired.I was 14 and at boarding school in Wicklow when my father Dick O’Connell passed away.  My youngest sister Elizabeth was posthumous, born a month after my father died.    One can but imagine what it must have been like to have been on one’s own with nine children at the age of 36.    Mum who adored my father, was heartbroken, but eventually picked up the pieces and began to learn about the business, put all of us through school and university and when we had flown the nest, started to cook in our own family pub The Sportsman’s Inn in Cullohill, Co Laois.   So many people looked forward to stopping off on the Cork to Dublin road, for her chicken pies, scones and crab apple jelly, apple or rhubarb tart with soft brown sugar and cream.   On her 70^th birthday she decided to ‘hang up her apron’ in the pub to do some things she hadn’t had time to do in her busy life.   She took woodwork classes, joined a literature group and started to paint in oils and watercolours under the tutelage of Jock Nichols.  She also got to play more golf and at 74 years of age won the Captain’s Prize in Abbeyleix, she also won Irish Independent golfer of the month in the Druid’s Glen, earning her the title of Tiger Lily in the Irish Independent.

Mum loved to picnic, there was always a picnic basket in the boot of the car, we picnicked for breakfast, lunch and tea, at home and abroad, and on one famous occasion we had Christmas dinner on top of Cullohill mountain.  She loved that mountain and greatly enjoyed hill walking.  At 70 years of age she climbed to Cnoc an Aifrinn, the highest peak of the Comeragh mountains, with the rest of us puffing and panting behind her.

Her spirit lives on in every picnic we share and every skill she taught us, and in the smell of Cullohill Apple Tart and Mummy’s Sweet Scones. Elizabeth O’Connell, nee Tynan, born  October 18^th 1925 – died April 17^th 2008.  

 

The Holy Communion and Confirmation season will soon be in full swing. A very special family day where three and sometimes four generations join together to celebrate the occasion. Grannies, grandpa’s, aunties, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters and special friends all dressed to the nines and laden with presents congregate far and wide. After the ceremony is over, it’s an opportunity for the kids to play together, teenagers to hang out and for grown-ups to catch up on each other lives.

Restaurants are booked up weeks ahead and entertaining extended families can run into many hundreds or even thousands of euros very quickly. So it is worth considering inviting them back to your place. Entertaining a crowd at home is nothing like as scary as you might think provided you plan ahead and choose the menu carefully. Friends and other family members are often delighted to be asked to help with the cooking and organisation. Of course a beautiful scalloped marquee in the garden is wonderful but if you need to spill out into the garden a couple of those cotton pergolas from a local discount store can be an inexpensive option. Creative kids and their pals can embellish the basic structure with ribbons and bows, tissue paper and tin foil and have lots of fun in the process.

Friends love to be involved and many will be happy to bring a dish if asked – this may take a bit of choreography. So suggest a starter, main course or pudding. Have a big bowl of salad leaves with a good dressing and a big plate of Irish farmhouse cheese with some crusty bread. If you have a really good deli or a Farmers Market close by, you will be able to get a selection of artisan cured meats, pâtes and salmon, as well as olives and smoked fish. It’s so easy to do an appealing array with Frank Hederman’s smoked mackerel, eel, salmon, haddock and mussles, a bowl of pickled cucumber, a bowl of homemade mayonnaise and a bowl of horseradish sauce. Guests could just help themselves. How delicious would that be? If you don’t feel like cooking at all, order a few delicious apricot frangipane tarts from Richard Graham Lee (023 55344) or if you are in the Bandon area pick them up at the Urru Culinary Store (022 53192) over-looking the river.

The first of the New Season’s fresh strawberries are now being harvested, how gorgeous and easy would it be to pile them up in bowls and serve them with caster sugar and thick Glenilen cream.

Don’t forget to make big jugs of homemade lemonade for the children and adults. A little Prosecco (sparkling Italian wine) for the adults will add even more bubble to the party. But if like me, you love to cook then here’s a simply delicious menu which can be made ahead.

Top Tips
Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, Co Waterford with beautiful view over the bay has recently reopened after extensive renovations. It’s managed by Adrian Bartells, The young Dutch chef Martin Kajuiter is passionate about fresh, local produce and is serving some of the most delicious food I’ve tasted for as many a long day. The word is already out so book soon. Telephone: (024) 87800
– Celebrate your Local Artisan Food Producers with dinner at Nautilus Restaurant, Ballycotton – Wednesday May 7^th, seating at 7pm dinner 7.30pm – local cheese, free range chicken and mackerel will be featured on the menu – Members €45, non-members €55 – booking essential. Telephone: (021)-4646768 or 087-6135897 slowfood@cookingisfun.ie

Molecular Gastronomy – the latest developments between the kitchen and the laboratory 2-5pm Wednesday 7^th May 2008
At Dublin Institute of Technology, Cathal Brugha St. in conjunction with the Institute of Food Science and Technology of Ireland (IFSTI)
Molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline involving the study of physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking – for anyone interested in the science of food, chefs and caterers looking to spice up their menus. Manufacturers and retailers looking for ideas for product development and anyone who likes to experiment at home.

Details from IFSTI – Telephone: (01) 8171338 ifsti@hotmail.com

Rillettes of Fresh and Smoked Salmon with lots of serving suggestions

This is a terrific standby recipe that can be tarted up in all sorts of ways or simply slathered on hot thin toast or crusty bread.
The texture of this pate should be coarse and slightly stringy – it should resemble that of pork rillettes, where the meat is torn into shreds with forks rather than blended. Don’t be spooked if the amount of butter you use – you’re not going to eat it all yourself! Serve as a canapé piped on thick slices of cucumber or for a posh starter you can line little moulds with a slice of smoked salmon and serve with cucumber pickle.

Serves 12-16

340g (3/4 lb) freshly-cooked salmon

340g (3/4 lb) smoked wild or organic Irish salmon

340g (3/4 lb) softened butter

salt and freshly ground pepper

a good grating of nutmeg

lemon juice to taste

For the Smoked Salmon

30g (1oz) butter

28ml (1/2 fl oz) water

clarified butter (optional)
Melt 30g (1 oz) butter in a small saucepan; add the smoked salmon and 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until it no longer looks opaque. Allow it to get quite cold.
Cream the butter in a bowl. With two forks, shred the fresh and smoked salmon and mix well together. Add to the soft butter still using a fork (do not use a food processor). Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and lots of freshly gratede nutmeg. Taste and add lemon juice as necessary, and some freshly chopped fennel if you have it.
Serve in individual pots or in a pottery terrine. Cover with a layer of clarified butter or cling film. Serve with hot toast or hot crusty white bread. Salmon rillettes keeps perfectly in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days or can be frozen for 3 – 4 weeks provided it is well sealed.

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Gratin of Chicken with Broccoli, Cauliflower or Zucchini

Serves 8-12

This is one of those dishes that can be mouth-watering or a complete disaster. Its success depends on the broccoli being carefully cooked so that it is bright green and just tender.

1 x 1.5kg (3 1/2 lb) chicken*, free range if possible

4 carrots, sliced

4 onions, sliced

sprig each of thyme and tarragon

a few peppercorns

600ml (1 pint) homemade chicken stock

900g (2 lbs) broccoli florets

250g (8ozs) mushrooms, sliced

scrap of butter

350ml (12fl ozs) milk

350ml (12 fl ozs) cream

4 teaspoons tarragon or annual marjoram

60g (2ozs) Buttered crumbs (mix 1ozs of melted butter with 2ozs bread crumbs)

50-100g (2 – 4ozs) grated mature Cheddar cheese

2 x lasagne dish (25.5 x 20.5cm) 10 x 8 inch

Put the chicken into a saucepan or casserole with the onions and carrots add a sprig of thyme, tarragon and a few peppercorns. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1- 1 1/4 hours or until the chicken is tender.

Meanwhile cook the broccoli florets in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and refresh under cold water, keep aside. Sauté the mushrooms in the butter on a hot pan season with salt and freshly ground pepper and keep aside also.

When the chicken is cooked remove the meat from the carcass, carve into bite-sized pieces.

Strain and degrease the cooking liquid, add the cream and milk, bring to the boil, add the tarragon or annual marjoram, simmer for a few minutes, thicken to a light coating consistency with roux, then add the chicken to the sauce. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Butter an ovenproof lasagne dish, put a layer of broccoli on the base, scatter the mushrooms on top and cover with the creamy chicken mixture.

Mix the Buttered Crumbs with the grated cheese and sprinkle over the surface. Reheat in a moderate oven 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 15-20 minutes and flash under the grill until the top is crunchy and golden. Serve immediately.

Gratin of Chicken with Courgettes/Zucchini

Substitute 900g (2 lbs) buttered courgettes cooked al dente for broccoli.

Gratin of Chicken with Cauliflower

Substitute cauliflower florets for broccoli in the above recipe.

Piperonata

This Mediterranean vegetable stew can be made in large quantities. It keeps in a fridge for several days. It freezes brilliantly and reheats perfectly.

Serves 8-10

1 onion, sliced

2 red peppers

2 green peppers

1 x 400g (14ozs) tin chopped tomatoes or 6 large tomatoes (dark red and very ripe)

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

a clove of garlic, crushed

a few leaves of fresh basil

Heat the olive oil in a casserole, add the garlic and cook for a few seconds, then add the sliced onion, toss in the oil and allow to soften over a gentle heat in a covered casserole while the peppers are being prepared. Halve the peppers, remove the seeds carefully, cut into quarters and then into strips across rather that lengthways, alternatively cut the pepper flesh into 3/4 – 1″ squares. Add to the onion and toss in the oil; replace the lid and continue to cook.

Meanwhile, add the tin of tomatoes to the casserole. (If using whole tomatoes, peel them by putting them into a bowl and scald them in boiling water for 10 seconds, pour off the water and peel immediately, slice and add to the casserole). Season with salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar and a few leaves of fresh basil if available. Cook until the vegetables are just soft, 30 minutes approx.

Colcannon

Serves 8 approx.

Songs have been sung and poems have been written about Colcannon. It’s one of Ireland’s most famous traditional potato dishes. It’s comfort food at its very best and can be made with cabbage or kale. Terrific for a party.

Did you ever eat colcannon

When ’twas made with yellow cream

And the kale and praties blended

Like a picture in a dream?

Did you ever scoop a hole on top

To hold the melting lake

Of the clover-flavoured butter

Which your mother used to make?

450g (1lb) kale or Savoy or spring cabbage

1.35kg (3lb) ‘old’ potatoes, e.g. Golden Wonders or Kerrs Pinks

250ml (8fl oz) boiling milk approx.

30g (1oz) scallion or spring onion, optional

salt and freshly ground pepper

55g (2oz) butter approx.

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

Remove the dark outer leaves from the cabbage. Wash the rest and cut into quarters, remove the core and cut finely across the grain. Cook in a little boiling salted water or bacon cooking water until soft. Drain, season with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little butter. If using kale, remove the central rib. Cook the kale in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender. This may take 8-10 minutes, depending on the type and maturity of the kale. Curly kale is sweetest after it has been mellowed by a few night frosts.

When the potatoes are just cooked, put the milk, and the finely chopped scallions into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pull the peel off the potatoes and discard, mash quickly while they are still warm and beat in enough boiling milk to make a fluffy puree. (If you have a large quantity, put the potatoes in the bowl of a food mixer and beat with the spade.) Then stir in the cooked cabbage and taste for seasoning. For perfection, serve immediately in a hot dish with a lump of butter melting in the centre.

Colcannon may be prepared ahead up to this point and reheated later in a moderate oven 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4, for 20-25 minutes approx. Cover while reheating so it doesn’t get too crusty on top.

Honey and Mustard Dressing

Use to dress a large bowl of salad leaves.

6 fl ozs (150ml) olive oil or a mixture of olive and other oils, eg. sunflower and arachide

2 fl ozs (50ml/ cup) wine vinegar

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 teasp. honey

2 heaped teasp. wholegrain honey mustard

2 cloves garlic

Mix all the ingredients together and whisk well before use.

Lemon Meringue Roulade

V C

Serves 8-10

4 egg whites

8 ozs (225g) castor sugar

1/2 pint (300ml) whipped cream

Lemon Curd

4 ozs (110g) castor sugar

2 ozs (55g) butter

grated rind and juice of 2 good lemons

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

Garnish

sprigs of Mint, Lemon Balm or Sweet Cicely

Swiss roll tin 12 x 8 inch (30.5 x 20.5cm)

Preheat the oven to 180C\350F\regulo 4. Put the egg whites into a spotlessly clean bowl of a food mixer. Break up with the whisk and then add all the castor sugar in one go. Whisk at full speed until it holds a stiff peak 4 – 5 minutes approx. Meanwhile line a swiss roll tin with tin foil, brush lightly with a non-scented oil (eg. sunflower or arachide). Spread the meringue gently over the tin with a palette knife, it ought to be quite thick and bouncy. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Put a sheet of tin foil on the work top and turn the roulade onto it, remove the base tin foil and allow the meringue to cool.

Meanwhile make the lemon curd.

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).

To Assemble

Spread the whipped cream and lemon curd over the meringue roll up from the narrow end and carefully ease onto a serving plate. Pipe 6 rosettes along the top of the roulade, decorate with mint leaves or lemon balm or sweet cicily leaves. Serve cut into slices about 1 inch (2.5cm) thick accompanied by a little more lemon curd if desired.

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Homemade Lemonades

We always keep some chilled ‘stock syrup’ in the fridge so its simplicity itself to make a variety of lemonades. They contain no preservatives so they should be served within a few hours of being made. Many different types of citrus fruit and flavoured syrups may be used.

To make the Syrup:

1 lb (450g) sugar

1 pint (600ml) water

Dissolve the sugar in water and boil together for 2 minutes. Store in a covered jar in the refrigerator until needed.

Oranges and Lemonade

Makes 2.7l (4 1/2 pints)

4 lemons

2 orange

500ml (16fl oz) approx. stock syrup

1.5l (2 1/2 pint) approx. water

Garnish

Sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm

Juice the fruit and mix with the stock syrup, add water to taste. Add ice, garnish with sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm and serve.

Limeade

Makes 1.2l (2 pints)

5 limes

700ml (1 1/4 pint) water

300ml (1/2 pint) stock syrup

Garnish

Sprigs of fresh mint or lemon balm

Make and serve as above. Taste and add more water if necessary.

Ann Mulligan has wanted to run a B&B in Ireland as long as she can remember.   As a child in Wenatchee in Washington State, she was surrounded by family who loved to cook.   Ann’s grandmother’s cooking was legendary and her dad was a chef for many years.  He too encouraged her to cook with stories of the kitchens where he worked.  Mum was an especially good baker who welcomed an extra pair of hands in the kitchen.

By the age of eight Ann could make a mean scrambled egg, when her baby brothers gobbled it up appreciatively she was hooked.   Cooking became a creative outlet.  Soon she was making jams,  preserving fruit and vegetables and cooking dinner for the family.

Ann’s husband Jim is originally from Dublin but lived in the US.  He and Ann came on holidays to Ireland every year since 1975 and fell in love with Dungarvan and the surrounding area.  They decided they wanted to live here and searched for a site on which to build.

During one of the holidays in Ireland she had chanced upon the Ballymaloe Cookery School and eventually enrolled in January 2000.  After three busy months she was ready to open her B&B near Dungarvan,  in Co Waterford.

Ann and Jim have just four rooms but their guests return over and over again for the warm welcome and for Ann’s delicious food, so last winter she put pen to paper and wrote the Irish B&B Cookbook, a charming collection of the favourite recipes that have delighted guests at An Bohreen.  Lots of breakfast and dinner ideas which let others into the secret of why this little guesthouse is so successful. www.anbohreen.com

They have received the AA 4 diamonds award and the AA Super Supper, their accommodation is listed in Bridgestone’s 100 best places to stay in Ireland.

Ann uses local ingredients with a dash of ingenuity such as fish from Helvic Head, Irish Farmhouse Cheese and Murphy’s stout – to give her visitors a genuine taste of Ireland.     She believes that cooking seasonal food is essential for flavour – no amount of spicing or splashing with sauces can replace fresh taste.

Here are some of Ann’s tempting breakfast dishes.

The Irish B&B Cookbook by Ann Mulligan, published by Mercier Press.

 

An Bohreen Nut Granola

 

Makes about 1350g /50oz

 

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)

 

300ml /12 fl oz honey

200ml/8 fl oz sunflower oil

455g/16oz oat flakes

200g/7oz barley flakes

200g/7oz wheat flakes

115g/4oz rye flakes

140g/5oz raisins

140g/5oz toasted and chopped hazelnuts

225g/8oz toasted sunflower seeds

225g/8oz toasted pumpkin seeds

55g/2oz chopped dried apricots

115g/4oz chopped dates

115g/4oz  of either pecans or walnuts (or some of each) toasted

225g/8oz  combination dried cranberries, dried blueberries, dried cherries

 

 

 

Combine the honey and oil in a small saucepan – warm just enough to melt the honey.  Whisk the honey and oil together. 

Combine the flakes in a large bowl.  Pour the honey-oil onto the flakes and stir well to mix.

Spread the flakes onto 2 or 3 baking sheets.  Bake in an oven at 180C (350F) for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently.    Toast the grains but do not roast the grains.   Cool, stirring frequently to evenly mix the grains.   When cool add the fruit and nuts.   Store in an airtight container.

 

 

Brown Bread

 

Makes 1 loaf

 

Preheat oven to 200C (400F)

 

285g /10oz coarse wholemeal flour

170g/6oz strong white flour

2 heaped tbsps oat bran

1 tsp salt

½ tsp bread soda, sieve into flour

2 tsps soft brown sugar

375ml/15fl.oz buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsps sunflower oil

 

 

Oil a 9x5x3-inch bread tin.   Place all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.  Whisk together the buttermilk, sunflower oil, and egg.  Pour the mixture into the well and mix thoroughly.   The mixture should be wet and sloppy.  Pour it immediately into a prepared bread tin.   Cut a deep slit down the centre of the batter – this lets the evil fairies out.

Bake for approximately 60 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Cool on the wire rack.   If a softer crust is desired wrap the bread in a clean kitchen towel when removed from the oven, then cool on a wire rack.

 

Whiskey Seville Orange Marmalade

 

Makes 2-3 litres/64-96 fluid oz

 

 

900g/32oz Seville Oranges

1600ml/64 fl.oz water

1 lemon

1800g/64oz granulated sugar

50ml/2 fl.oz Irish whiskey

 

Wash the oranges and lemon to remove any wax.   Cut in half and squeeze out the juice.  Remove the pulp with a dessertspoon.  Combine the pulp and pips in a muslin cloth and tie into a ball.   Place the ball in a large bowl and cover with water.  Let stand while cutting rinds.

Cut each rind in half, then place on a cutting board and slice thinly.   Put into a bowl with the pulp ball, add the remainder of the water and soak overnight.

Pour the contents of the bowl into a large pan and bring to a boil.   Simmer for 2 hours or until the peel is soft when squeezed gently between your fingers.

Squeeze the liquid from the muslin ball into a pot.    While cooking, warm the sugar and jars in the oven.   Add the warmed sugar to the pot and stir well to dissolve.

Bring the mixture to a boil, and cook until the marmalade is set.  Add whiskey if desired.

Test the jam by dropping a bit of jam onto a chilled saucer, popping it into a freezer for a minute, removing it and pushing the jam with your finger.   If it is set, the jam will wrinkle when it is pushed.  If not, cook it gently for a few minutes and then re-test.

 

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

 

Makes 2-3 litres/64-96 fl.ozs

 

900g/32oz strawberries

900g/32oz rhubarb

1350g/48oz granulated sugar

 

Cut the rhubarb into ½ inch pieces.   Place these pieces in a large bowl, cover with 455g/16oz of sugar and let stand for 2 hours.

Crush the berries and place them in a large pot.   Add 455g/16oz of sugar and stir to combine.   Add the rhubarb mixture, then cook over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring the mixture to a rapid boil and cook until it is thick.  Test the jam by dropping a bit of jam onto a chilled saucer, popping it into the freezer for a minute, removing it and pushing the jam with your finger.  If it is set, the jam will wrinkle when it is pushed.   If not, cook it gently for a few more minutes and then re-test.

Pour the jam into clean hot jars.  Wipe the top of each jar with  a clean wet cloth to remove any splatters.  If you are using lids, place them in a saucepan with boiling water, boil for one minute and then place onto the jars.   Tighten the lids and leave to rest.  The jars should make a popping sound as they seal.

 

Store in a dark, cool place.

 

 

Foolproof Food

Irish Rarebit

 

 

Serves 3-4

 

455g/16oz aged Irish cheddar cheese

1 tbsp butter

200ml/8 fl oz Murphy’s stout, or a pale stout of your choice

½ tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Pinch of cayenne

2 vine ripened tomatoes

Brown bread, sliced and toasted

 

 

Grate the cheese.

Over a low heat melt the butter in the top of a bain-marie or double boiler.   Add the cheese, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon.   As the cheese begins to melt, slowly add the stout.   Again, stir constantly to obtain a creamy texture.  Add the dry mustard, Worcestershire, and cayenne.   Remove from the heat and keep warm.

Toast the bread, place some tomato slices onto it and spoon the cheese sauce over the top.  Garnish with finely minced chives or parsley.

 

If bain-marie or double boiler is not available place a glass bowl over pan of boiling water and proceed.   Do not allow bottom of bowl to touch hot water; or mixture will cook, not melt.

 

Sausage Breakfast Bread Pudding

Serves 8

 

Preheat oven to 180C (350F)

 

455g/16oz bulk sausage meat

6 eggs

400ml/16 fluid oz milk

1 tsp dry mustard

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced fine

1 tsp rubbed sage

6 slices white bread, crust removed and cut into 1 inch pieces

4-6 mushrooms, diced

170g/6oz grated cheddar cheese

 

 

Cook the sausage meat in a frying pan, and use a wooden spoon to break the sausage into smallish pieces.   Drain the pieces on a paper towel and set aside.

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Add the milk, mustard and sage.  Whisk to combine.

Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish.   Cover the bottom with bread cubes.  Sprinkle the sausage meat over the bread, then the apple, mushrooms and finally the grated cheddar cheese.   Pour the egg mixture over the contents of the baking dish.  Cover the mixture with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the mixture from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature.  Bake uncovered at 180C/350F for 40-50 minutes or until the centre tests done, when a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Garnish with a grilled tomato.

 

Cheese Blintzes with Apple Sauce

 

Serves 4

 

 

 

Batter for blintz:

 

140g/5oz flour

Pinch of salt

75-100ml/3-4 fl oz milk

40g/1½ oz butter, melted

3 eggs

 

Cheese filling:

 

455g/16oz cottage cheese

1 egg, beaten

¼ tsp cinnamon

55g/2oz caster sugar

Pinch of salt

½ tsp lemon zest, finely grated

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

 

Apple Sauce:

 

455g/16oz cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped

55g/2oz sugar, or to taste

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp water

 

 

Place all the ingredients for the cheese filling into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.   Keep in a refrigerator until needed.

Place the apples, sugar, cinnamon and water into a saucepan.  Cover with a lid and cook on low temperature until the apples cook into sauce consistency.   Check to prevent sticking.   Chill until needed.

Place the flour and salt into a food processor.   Combine the egg, milk, and butter in a mixing jug, then pour into a processor with the motor running and process until the mixture is smooth.

Heat a crepe pan over medium heat, and then brush with a few drops of oil.  Pour 55g/2oz of the batter into the pan (or enough to cover the bottom).  Tilt the pan to evenly distribute the batter.  When the blintz looks solid and pulls away from the edges of the pan (blintz will not be totally cooked, just solid enough to handle), turn it out onto parchment.   Place 1 tbsp of the cheese filling into the centre and fold over the opposite sides, repeat with the other two sides.  The blintz should look like a rectangular envelope.   Set them aside, cover with damp tea towel, repeat cooking process – the batter mixture should yield 8 blintzes.

To complete cooking – heat 150ml/6 fluid oz of oil in a deep-sided pan, oil should cover blintzes and fry them until they are golden brown.  Drain the blintzes on kitchen paper and serve with apple sauce on the side.

 

 

 

Hot Tips

 

Cork Free Choice Consumer Group next meeting on Thursday 14^th April at 7.30pm at Crawford Gallery Café, Emmet Place – Fresh Indian Spices and other Indian Foods with Arun Kapil of ‘Green Saffron’ – Learn how to use them in authentic, traditional family recipes.    €6 admission including tea & coffee.

 

Corned Mutton –

If you’re tiring of the usual meats, how about some corned mutton for a change.  The tradition is alive and well in the English Market in Cork – go upstairs to the Farm Gate Café where Kay Harte serves the most delicious corned mutton – Kay poaches the mutton and serves with caper sauce.     Traditional butchers, Paul and Alan Murphy, a father and son duo in the Market, corn the mutton specially for her.  Congratulations to both Kay and the Murphys for reviving a Slow Food tradition.

 

 

Launch of Slow Food Bantry –

To celebrate the launch of Slow Food Bantry join An Afternoon Tea Party at Organico Café on Sunday 20 ^th April from 3-5pm – Guest speakers Myrtle Allen, Giana Ferguson and Martha Cashman.  Tickets €10 (concessions for children), available from Organico Café, O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant, Westlodge Hotel and Val Manning’s Emporium.   For more information contact Organico Café, Glengarriff Road, Bantry, 027-55905, www.slowfoodbantry.com

 

 

Crossed Grain is the members magazine of Coeliac UK

The magazine is distributed 3 times a year and contains news and views about gluten-free living and includes regular features such as product news    www.coeliac.co.uk

On a recent trip to India we travelled right into the central province of Madhya Pradesh to try to catch a glimpse of the famous Bengali tiger before it disappears entirely.   It was quite a mission – A flight from Mumbai to Nagpur, followed by a two hour jeep drive to Baghvan, a cc Africa game lodge on the edge of Pench National Park.

On the day of our arrival all the Indian newspapers carried headlines berating the  government for exaggerating tiger numbers. The latest Wildlife Survey of India indicated that numbers are less than 50% of the last survey.  This didn’t augur well for our chances yet every morning we struggled out of bed before dawn full of anticipation. We were picked up by a game warden and driven in an open jeep through the jungle tracks for 3-4 hours, our eyes peeled, ears pricked to pick up alarm calls.  We saw lots of spotted deer, langur monkeys, black buck, sambar, jackal, a herd of gaur and even a jungle cat, but not a whiff of a tiger or leopard.    The nearest we came to it were several sightings of fresh pok marks. Nonetheless there were compensations, the food at the Baghvan Game lodge was delicious.  Virtually every hotel and household in India makes homemade curd.  At Baghvan they serve it for breakfast in glasses with fresh pomegranate seeds and syrup on top.  Slices of ripe papaya embellished with coriander sugar, fresh pineapple was served with a perky chilli syrup.

There’s also a crunchy muesli made with cashew nuts, honey and sesame seeds, jugs of fresh orange or sweet lime juice.  Lots of fresh fruit, the most delish muffins, and a lassi of the day.  There was always an Indian speciality of course .   The chef made parathas and masala, omelettes with chopped chilli, onion, tomato, coriander and cheese added to the eggs from the local village.    All the other ingredients came from the organic vegetable garden in the grounds of the lodge.    The gardener Sunil makes compost which grows fresh herbs and vegetables in tiny sunken beds which can be flooded to save every drop of precious water.  Growing here is a real challenge, not just water shortages but one can’t rule out attacks from elephants, marauding monkeys or a hungry nocturnal porpoise.

The stuffing for the parathas varied daily, one day it was crushed fresh peas with chilli, cumin and coriander, the next a spicy mashed potato mix, the third, grated cauliflower with coriander and ginger.

They are eaten fresh off the griddle with a lime pickle which is definitely an acquired taste, but this was the most delicious I’ve tasted in India.

When we arrived in from the game trail the chef would be cooking some tasty snack in the open kitchen to tempt us. One day it was spinach pakoras, on another occasion it was paneer grilled over a lump of charcoal.   There were also sweet sticky jalabas for us to nibble.

The staff spent all their time planning little treats.  Every evening, guests had a new surprise, dinner by the pool in the moonlight, a barbecue under a giant neem tree, a romantic rose petal strewn table on the veranda, always delicious food, soup, a rice pilaff, a paneer dish, meat, fish or prawn curry, mixed vegetables, salad and of course daal.

Then kulfi, or gheer with pistachio nuts or a little carrot halva, which takes four or five hours of dedicated effort to make.

It was like one big house party, it is rare to have such good food even in the best hotels.  I avoid hotel buffets like the plague and in fact much of the best food I’ve eaten in India has been in street stalls and dhabas and of course in multi-generational private houses where the cooking skills are still passed down from grandmother to grandchild in the time- honoured way – a tradition that is all but lost in this part of the world.

Rata who manages Baghvan was kind enough to hand write some of the recipes for me to share with you.

www.ccafrica.com  www.tajsafaris.com

Baghvan Lodge is situated on the edge of Pench National Park in Central India, in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh.   Dominated by hills, forests and valleys, this national park derives its name from the Pench river, which meanders its way through the entire stretch of the 757 km² park.

Indian Paratha Bread

 

Makes 16

 

These roughly triangular breads get eaten all over India. Easy to make at home, all you need is a cast iron frying pan. In India ghee is used instead of oil.

 

175g (6oz) sieved wholemeal flour (weigh the flour after sieving, add the bran to the remainder in the bag)

185g (6 1/2oz) plain flour plus some extra for dusting

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or clarified butter

200ml (7fl oz) water

Oil for frying and brushing

 

Put the wholemeal, white flour and salt into a bowl. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of oil over the top.  Rub the oil in with your fingertips. The mixture will resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Add the water and gradually mix them together to form a softish ball of dough. 

Knead on a clean work surface for about 10 minutes. Rub the ball with dough with a little oil put into a bowl, cover with cling film and allow to rest for 30 minutes. 

Heat a cast iron frying pan on a medium-low flame. Knead the dough again, shape into a roll and cut into 16 equal pieces. 

 

Variations:

 

Potato Paratha

 

Basic paratha dough –as above

 

Potato filling:

450g (1lb) mashed potato

2 green chillies, chopped

4 tablesp. chopped coriander

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 teasp. cumin

1 teasp. grated ginger (optional)

Mix the mashed potato and other ingredients together to make a filling.

 

Make a batch of paratha dough as above. Roll out a ball of dough, dipping regularly in flour.  Roll it into a round about 5 inches (12.5cm) diameter.   Place 2 small tablespoons of potato filling on top.   Pinch the edges together. 

Heat a griddle or heavy iron pan.   Cook dry first on the hot griddle or pan, then rub a little butter on top, turn over and cook for a minute or two.   Spread a little butter on the other side.  Serve with pickles and raita.

 

Cauliflower Paratha

 

Paratha dough – as above

 

1 small cauliflower grated (raw)

Salt

Green chilli

Ginger

Roasted cumin powder

 

Mix the ingredients for the filling together and proceed as in potato paratha.

 

Green Pea Paratha

 

Blanched green peas

Oil

Cumin seeds

Salt

Ginger

Chopped green chilli

 

Make the filling and proceed as above.

 

 

Parathas may be reheated wrapped in tin foil in a moderate oven 180C/350F/gas mark 4, they take 5-10 minutes.

 

 

Khadi Paneer

 

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main course

 

3 tablespoons peanut oil

4 tablespoons coarsely grated unpeeled ginger

2 sliced red onions (medium)

1 sliced green pepper (small)

3-4 ripe tomatoes

110g (4oz) peas, fresh or frozen

salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

200g (7ozs) paneer (diced into 3/4 inch dice)

2 teaspoons Chana masala – available from Asian food shops

 

Put 3 tablespoons of peanut oil in a kadhi or wok over a medium heat.  Add the grated ginger, stir, add the sliced red onions, green pepper, tomatoes and peas.  Add salt to taste and a good 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.  Finally add the diced paneer.  Stir and allow to cook on a low heat for 3-4 minutes.  Add 2 teaspoons of chana masala.  Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes.   Taste and serve with chapatti, naan or parathas.

 

Cabbage Thoran (Kerela) Fogath (Karnataka) Poriyal (Tamilnadu)

 

I first came across this dish in Kerela but was interested to find it is also a much loved dish in Bengal.

 

Serves 4-6

 

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

a pinch of freshly ground cumin (jeera)

a pinch of turmeric powder

15 curry leaves, fresh or frozen

2 dry red chillies

200g (7ozs) grated fresh coconut

1 cabbage, washed and finely chopped/diced

 

 

Heat the oil in a wok or sauté pan to smoking point. Add the mustard seeds, cumin (jeera), turmeric, curry leaves, chilli.  Stir, add the coconut and cabbage and continue to stir-fry on a low heat (fire).  Cover with a lid and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked.  Taste and correct seasoning.

 

Tomato Khata

 

Serves 5-6

 

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

20g (3/4 oz) crushed garlic

2-3 green chillies, thinly sliced

10-15g (1/2 oz) mango ginger or ordinary fresh ginger, peeled and grated

500g (18ozs) chopped tomato

2-3 bay leaves

salt to taste

sugar

coriander leaf

 

Put oil into a wok, heat, add the mustard seed, garlic, chilli, ginger and chopped tomatoes and bay leaf.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes stir every now and then.  Add salt and sugar.  Taste and add fresh coriander.

 

 

Masala Baby Corn

 

Serves 4

 

1 tablesp. vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon cumin (jeera)

50g (2ozs) onion, chopped

1/2 teaspoon ginger, chopped

1/4 teaspoon green chilli, chopped

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

salt to taste

100g (3 1/2 ozs) tomato, chopped

300g (11ozs) baby corn, diced

a pinch of garam masala

 

Garnish

1/2 teaspoon green coriander, chopped

 

Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin (jeera) and fry until it crackles and add the onion and ginger.  Fry until golden brown and add the chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric and salt.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes and baby corn, cover and cook for a few minutes.  Add a pinch of garam masala.  Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

 

 

Hot Tips

Enjoy A Taste of India with Darina Allen on Wednesday 17^th September 2008

9.30- 12.30 – Tel 021-4646785 www.cookingisfun.ie  info@cookingisfun.ie 

 

Cork City has at last recognised the importance of the great tradition of the crubeen and Katty Barry with the opening of An Crubin .A food and drink emporium with hosts Paul Lewis and Frank O Connell.

Together with An Crubin and Beamish, Cork City Slow Food Convivium is holding a traditional evening of pigs trotters,tails,ribs and cheek, with Arbutus artisan handmade breads and creamy pints of cool Beamish.

Venue   An Cruibin, on Thursday April 17^th, members €10, non-members €15

 

 

Slow Sausage Sunday –Sunday 27th April 2008

Wicklow Slow Food – The Garden Convivium

Venue: Rear 15A, Georges St Upper, Dún Laoghaire. Time 11.00am-14.00pm

This workshop will be aimed at children (ably assisted by an adult!). We will be making sausages from scratch, focusing on taste. The children will be mixing, filling and linking their own sausages by hand, in 1 kg batches, which they will all get to take home and cook.  As this event takes place in a real sausage kitchen, it will be cold and wet! So be sure to wear nice clean wellies and warm clothes You will also need an apron and a sense of fun! Booking is essential as places are limited. Please email to confirm by 24^th April. hick.edward@gmail.com Space at Hick’s is also limited… foldable buggies only please!

Cost: € 20.00 per child for members and €30.00 per child for non-members.

(Accompanying adults are free)

Special Offer  – Any non member who joins up on the day will get to attend for free!! Annual membership is €50 per person more info on www.slowfoodireland.com

The perception of the city of Calcutta , or Kolkatta as it is now called, is changing fast. At last it is beginning to acquire an image other than that of destitute poor and the Black Hole of Calcutta.

The economic boom in India means that third world meets first world on every street, Mercs glide alongside belching tuc tucs, glitzy shopping malls spring up in the midst of the roadside food stalls and dhabas.  Yet Calcutta is unique in India in retaining its trams, and is the only metropolis in the world to still have hand-pulled rickshaws.   You take your life in your hands every time you attempt to cross the street with a sea of honking yellow ambassador taxis, bicycles, tuc tucs and motorbike riders, some with funny helmets from World war two.

Unimaginable loads are carried on Honda heroes and old Enfield motorcycles, two adults and two children, sheets of glass or plywood propped up between the rider and the pillion passenger, building materials, crammed baskets, vegetables, live chickens, fish. ….  We once saw a water buffalo with feet tied squished into a tuc tuc.  Of course there are vibrant markets, fruit, vegetables and spice markets where vendors sit crossed legged on the ground calling to attract passers-by to their wares, which might be just a handful of vegetables or a couple of fish.   We rose at dawn to go outside to explore Calcutta ’s wetlands, not normally on a tourist itinerary, but this unique eco-system,  2000 hectares of lakes and marshland, an extraordinary eco achievement where the night soil of the city is piped out through a natural reed bed system.    This not only purifies the water but leaves it rich in mineral deposits and plankton, making it a prime producer of some of the world’s most sustainable fish on a massive scale – over 10,000 tons of fish a year is produced.    Furthermore a series of market gardens have been created on the rich fertile soil between the ponds, these produce lush vegetables and leafy greens, spinach, oracle, coriander, mustard greens, squash blossoms, coriander…..

We arrived in the little village of Bantala about 15 kilometres from the centre of Calcutta  soon after 7am just in time to catch the end of the fish auction.  Fishermen on bicycles, with saddles made from old tyres, arrived from the surrounding area with tin vessels called decki, covered with wet sacking attached to their carriers, these were full of live fish.  The fish merchants were waiting, sitting cross-legged in their latticed bamboo huts.  The fishermen cycled up, they upended their bicycles, front wheel in the air to tip the wriggling fish into the plastic barrels so the auctioneer could assess the quality of the catch.   The fish was weighed on huge balance scales, the bidding started, 46-48 rupees a kilo seemed to be the going rate that morning.  The fishermen, dressed in traditional dhoti would have waded knee deep in the shallow ponds for hours catching the fish with little nets and sometimes with their bare hands.

After the transaction, the fish is transported still live into the fish market in Calcutta , but they go along to a tea shack to enjoy a glass of chai, hot sweet spiced tea, swap fishy yarns before picking up some fresh vegetables from the roadside market to take home to make a simple stew.   Although many people are very poor the basic food is still very nutritious.

On the outskirts of the village we came upon an entire family on the roadside making chals kumar from gram flour mixed with ginger and chilli powder.   Three generations passing the skills from grandparents to grandchildren.   They picked off balls of dough and left it to dry in the sun on a sheet of canvas.    These provide little sundried nuggets, a nutritious staple to eat with gravy or daal.   In the city they are dried on the roof, but this skill is fast disappearing as more people become affluent and buy them ready made in packets, even though they are a vastly inferior product according to Ankur, our guide.

Back in the city, later in the morning, we headed for the bustling office district where the street food is at its most riveting.  Each stall has its own speciality.  There under makeshift awnings are charcoal stoves with kadhi full of oil to cook pakoras and shungara, the Bengali names for samosas. Little stalls piled high with biryani pots, mutton stew, daals, chow mein ( Calcutta has the oldest Chinatown outside China .)    Each stallholder offers up a puja (prayer) to the Gods before they start and there is always an auspicious symbol of limes and chillies strung together, hanging from the stall for good luck.

Several stalls were rolling out dough for a variety of breads, chapatti and luchi,  others slapped paper thin rounds of dough onto red hot upturned metal kadhi (wok like pot) to make romali roti (handkerchief bread) in seconds.   In fact some of the best food I’ve tasted comes from street stalls and dhabas in India .   It is freshly cooked and hot, and in my experience a much safer bet than lukewarm hotel buffets.  The complexity of the food and traditional cooking skills are mesmerizing.  The flavour of every thing I tasted was truly delicious – nourishing complex food.  The number of people that these and other street stalls feed every day is staggering, not just thousands but millions in Calcutta alone.

Eggy toast is another speciality, a sustaining snack for just 5 rupees,   Thick slices of partly toasted white bread were piled high.  There’s a shallow griddle pan on a kerosene stove. A little groundnut oil goes in, quick as a flash he whisks a fresh egg in a tin bowl, adds chopped onion, chilli, fresh coriander leaves, a good pinch of salt, straight onto the pan. The stack of toasted bread is dipped into this sizzling omelette like mixture, first one side is cooked on the smoking hot griddle, then the other – its done.  Cut in quarters, scatter on some rock salt and pepper, wrapped in newspaper 5 rupees, next please – so good and filling.   A glass of sweet spicy tea from a chai wallah and then a sweetmeat or two.  Bengalis have a compulsive love of sweets made from chana and jaggery, an acquired taste for a visitor.  Don’t leave Calcutta without tasting rosagulla and my favourite cooked yoghurt at Kewpies Restaurant, famous for serving Bengali home cooking.

The Calcutta Kitchen written by Simon Parkes, presenter on BBC 4’s Food Programme and Udit Sarkhel, of the best known Bengali chefs in Britain – has delicious recipes for Bengali cooking  and snapshots of the fish ponds, markets, artisan food producers, restaurants, clubs, cooks, gourmet, and street foods that play a part in the Calcutta’s rich culinary culture.  Here are some recipes from the book, published by Mitchell Beazley.

.

Aloo Makallah – Crusty potatoes

 

These potatoes serve as an accompaniment to almost every Jewish meal.  You can never make enough of them, so when cooking, use at least 4-5 per head! Ideally, use small potatoes and cook them whole; but if you use large ones, cut them in half or into quarters.  Try not to use new-season potatoes, as you need a bit of starch. 

 

Serves 4

16-20 small potatoes

1tbsp turmeric

salt

vegetable oil for deep frying

 

Peel the potatoes and place in a pot with cold water to cover.  Add the turmeric and salt to taste, and parboil for about 8-10 minutes.  Drain, dry and pierce at random with the tines of a fork.

Place the potatoes in a Karai or heavy wok, cover with cold oil, then bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer gently, moving the potatoes around, for about 20 minutes.  At this point, the potatoes can be removed and kept until almost ready to serve, if you wish. 

Simmer for another 8-10 minutes.  Once the potatoes start turning light golden, turn up the heat slightly and fry until they are a darker gold and crisp on the outside.

Drain well and serve immediately.

 

 

Bhapa Doi – Steamed Sweetened Yoghurt

 

This creamy, slice-able, textured pudding is similar to a crème caramel – one of my favourites.  The sweetness of the condensed milk works wonderfully with the acidity of the plain yoghurt.

 

Serves 4

 

800g (1lb 12 oz) natural yoghurt

300g (10½oz) sweetened condensed milk

seeds of 6 green cardamon pods

powdered in a mortar and pestle

8-10 saffron strands

 

Garnish

Sliced pistachio nuts

 

Heat some water in a steamer.  If you do not have a steamer, upturn a small, metal, flat-bottomed bowl inside a lager pot with a fitting lid.  Pour water into this and bring to a simmer.  Put the item to be steamed into a suitable dish, cover with clingfilm, and place on the upturned bowl to steam. 

Mix the yoghurt and other ingredients in a cool glass bowl and aerate it rapidly with a hand whisk.  Do not over-whisk for fear of the whey separating.  Pour it into 4 individual serving bowls, cover with clingfilm and put in the steamer or on to the upturned bowl.  Cover with the lid and steam on a steady simmer for 35-40 minutes. 

Carefully remove the bowls and leave to cool.  Remove the clingfilm and chill. 

Serve chilled, sprinkle with the sliced pistachio nuts. 

 

 

 

 

Roast bhetki Portuguese

 

Bhetki is highly prized by Bengalis for its flavour and lack of bones.  This recipe uses fillets, and most all fishmongers in Calcutta will fillet the fish for you.  The “Portuguese” connection is in the use of peppers and tomatoes.  Portuguese cooks were found in Park Street restaurants, and came from Portuguese settlements around Calcutta in places such as Bandel (famous for its many beautiful churches). 

 

Serves 4

 

1 large piece bhetki, or cod or halibut fillet, about 800g (1lb 12oz)

 

juice of 1 lemon

salt

1cm (½in) piece fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed

2 tbsp vegetable oil

a few sprigs of fresh parsley, finely chopped

 

Sauce

50g (1¾oz) butter

2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp red chilli powder

a pinch of granulated sugar (or, more interesting, 2 tbsp port)

1 green sweet pepper, seeded and diced

1 red sweet pepper, seeded and sliced

2-3 medium tomatoes, chopped

200g can chopped tomatoes

 

Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4

 

Wash the fillet of fish and pat dry.  Use, whole or, depending on the size of your oven and your dish, cut in half.  Sprinkle with the lemon juice and salt to taste.  Make a paste in the blender with the ginger, garlic and black peppercorns, and rub this into the fish.  Leave to marinate, covered, for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the garlic and onion, and cook for 2 minutes, until translucent.  Add the turmeric, chilli powder and sugar (or port), and fry for a minute.  Add the green and red peppers and sauté for a minute.  Add the fresh and canned tomatoes and stir.  Cook on a medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick.  Taste for seasoning. 

 

While this is cooking, heat the oil in a large ovenproof pan or casserole.  Brown the fish briefly on both sides, taking care not to break it while turning.  Top the fish with the thickened sauce, and put the dish into the oven for about 15 minutes, covered.  Turn up the heat to 190C/375F/gas mark 5, and cook the fish for another 3-4 minutes, uncovered.  Serve immediately with some crusty Portuguese-type bread. 

 

 

 

Kuku – Spicy Spinach and Herb Omelette

 

This is an Armenian dish, normally eaten as a precursor to a meal, not a starter, or as a late-morning light meal, served with crusty Armenian bread.  This bread is a bit like ciabatta or country rolls, with a crust created by wood-fired ovens (there are quite a few wood-fired Armenian bakeries in Calcutta ).

 

Serves 4

250g (9oz) fresh spinach leaves

250g (9oz) fresh coriander

250g (9oz) spring onions with green stalks

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp Madras curry powder

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp vegetable oil

 

Wash, drain well, and chop the spinach, coriander and spring onions.  Sprinkle with salt and leave for an hour.  Gently squeeze out as much liquid as possible, using your hands (you don’t want to break up the leaves too much).

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and add the baking powder, curry powder, flour and greens, flour and greens.  Mix together. 

Heat the oil in a large omelette pan and pour in the egg mixture.  Scramble it lightly, then allow it to set, covered with a dinner plate, for about 2 minutes.  The top should set fully.

The omelette can be folded over and then sliced, or left whole like quiche and cut into wedges or quarters.

 

Foolproof Food

Chai

 

250ml (9fl oz) full fat milk

2-3 cardamom pods

2.5cm (1inch) piece of cinnamon

3 peppercorns

3 teaspoons loose tea leaves

500ml (18fl oz) boiling water

sugar

 

Put all the ingredients except the tea leaves and the sugar into a saucepan, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.  Bring back to the boil, add the tea leaves, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1-2 mins.  Turn off the heat and allow the leaves to settle.  Serve in tea cups.

 

Hot Tips

Slow Food for Kids at Hosfords Garden Centre in West Cork on Sunday 6^th April

Official opening by Denis Cotter of Café Paradiso,  market, cookery demonstration, worm composting demonstration, clown, demonstrations on growing vegetables and much, much more Tel 023-39159, www.hosfordsgardencentre.ie  www.slowfoodireland.com  

 

Mallow’s First Farmers Market, today 5^th April at Bank Place – between Mallow Travel and O’Flynn’s Furniture outside URRU Culinary Store 10.30am – 1pm

Leading Irish farmhouse cheeses like Ardrahan, Hegarty’s Cheese, Fermoy Natural Cheese Company, organic fruit and vegetables…. The market will run on alternate Saturdays to the Kilavullen Farmers Market, offering a weekly market option for the region.

 

Spring Gardening Workshop At Country Choice, Nenagh, Co Tipperary with Jim Cronin from 7.00-10.00pm – Planning and Planting, Sowing Tips, Container Gardening, Natural Pest and Disease Control – Grow your own vegetables!

Contact Country Choice at 067-32596 to book place or email peter@countrychoice.com

 

Conference 18 & 19^th April – The Irish Institute of Medical Herbalists –

The Complexity of Herbal Medicine and the Implications for Research – at Cork Institute of Technology – enquiries to Frances.Lynch@cit.ie Tel 021-4326885

Hugh Fearnley -Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver’s recent campaign to highlight the fate of intensively produced chicken has helped to focus attention on the real price of cheap food in health, socio-economic and animal welfare terms. It doesn’t make easy viewing but the quality of the food we eat and feed our families is such an important issue that we simply cannot justify shrugging our shoulders and saying – we don’t care two tuppenny hoots as long as the end result is cheap food. It is difficult to justify putting animals or birds through unnecessary stress and suffering just to shave another few cents off the price. A free range organic chicken will cost you anything between 13 and 16 euros, whereas two intensively produced chickens, particularly those produced ‘off shore’ can be bought two for the for price of one for about €5.99 depending on size . By now many readers will be muttering ‘its all very fine for her’ – the perception is that I can afford it, but the reality is not about being able to afford it, its about priorities – we all make time and money for what we perceive to be important. Think about it, how much did you spend on booze or even magazines last week? How much did that mobile phone or those fancy runners cost? When we ask ourselves these questions we realize that it is all about our sense of values.

Every culture around the world has similar sayings about the importance of food to our very existence. “We are what we eat”, “Your health goes in through your mouth”, “Our food should be our medicine”….

Yet nowadays many of us do not connect the food we eat with how we feel and perform.

We shovel any kind of old rubbish into ourselves and then wonder why we aren’t feeling full of energy and vitality. We can’t do anything about our genes but we can certainly do something about the quality of the ‘fuel’ we put in the tank to keep ‘the machine’ ticking over.

An equally important question which neither Hugh nor Jamie posed, was what exactly is in the feed the birds are fed which enables them to grow at such astonishing speed?

Chicken is by far the cheapest and most popular meat, yet when I was a child, chicken, even though we reared our own, was a rare and truly delicious treat.

At that time farmers’ wives all over the country had a few laying hens and many reared birds for the table. The introduction of the deep litter and intensive production systems, in combination with stricter health and safety regulations, hastened the demise of the small flocks around the country. This time-honoured system had provided pin money and superb free range chicken and eggs for people in virtually every parish in Ireland .

I personally regret the loss of this type of production. It was, and can be again, part of our traditional food culture and our rural skill base.

Those of us who are part of the growing Farmers Market network, experience at first hand the deep craving and growing numbers of people who are seeking out this kind of food, and more importantly are prepared to pay for it.

The skill of rearing poultry is still in folk memory and I’ve been battling for some time now for a simple set of regulations that are proportionate to the risk involved and that would encourage and facilitate the re-establishment of this kind of local food production around the country.

Now that Minister Trevor Sargent is chairing the Artisan Industry Committee, I am hopeful that this vision can become a reality.

The older generation are the guardians of the traditional food production skills, lets learn from them before its too late.

If you would like to be able to rear birds in this way or have access to truly free range or free range organic birds, please log onto www.soilassociation.org

We also have a course on ‘How to keep a few chickens in the garden’ on Saturday 19th April 2008.

Pan Grilled Chicken breasts with Parsley salad and Sundried tomatoes

Separate the fillet from the underneath side of the meat, cook separately or slice thinly at an angle and quickly stir-fry. The chicken breast cooks more evenly when the fillet is removed.

Serves 8

8 Chicken breasts

olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

Basil Dressing

175ml (6fl.oz) extra-virgin olive oil

50ml (2fl.oz) white wine or rice wine vinegar

Salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar

1 garlic clove

10-15 basil leaves

1 finely chopped shallot (optional)

Parsley Salad

4 handfuls destalked Italian and curly parsley

Worcester sauce

8 chopped sundried tomatoes

slivers of Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)

First make the dressing, whizz the basil with the oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic and seasoning in a liquidiser or food processor. Keep aside.

Just before serving cook the chicken breasts.

Heat a cast iron grill pan until quite hot. Brush each chicken breast with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Place the chicken breasts on the hot grill for about a minute, then reverse the angle to mark attractively, cook until golden

Brown on both sides. The grill pan may be transferred to a moderate oven, 180C/350F/regulo 4. Be careful not to overcook the chicken breasts, they will take approx. 15 minutes in total.

To Serve

Put a pan-grilled chicken breast on each plate. Toss the parsley in a little of the basil dressing, sprinkle with a little Worcester sauce. Put a portion of parsley on each plate, sprinkle with a few pieces of sundried tomato and slivers of Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately with Rustic roast potatoes or Buffalo chips.

Thai Chicken, Galangal and Coriander Soup

Serves 8

A particularly delicious example of how fast and easy a Thai soup can be. Serve in Chinese porcelain bowls if available. The kaffir lime leaves and galangal are served but not eaten. The chilli may of course be nibbled. Prawns and shrimp can be substituted for chicken in this recipe with equally delicious results.

900ml (32fl oz) homemade chicken stock (see recipe)

4 fresh lime leaves

2 inch (5cm) piece of galangal, peeled and sliced or less of fresh ginger

4 tablespoons Fish sauce ( Nam pla)

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

225g (8oz) free range organic chicken breast, very finely sliced

230ml (8fl oz) coconut milk (use CHAOKOH brand)

1-3 Thai red chillies

Fresh coriander leaves – about 5 tablespoons

Put the chicken stock, lime leaves, galangal, fish sauce and freshly squeezed lemon juice into a saucepan. Bring to the boil stirring all the time, add the finely shredded chicken and coconut milk. Continue to cook over a high heat until the chicken is just cooked 1-2 minutes approx. Crush the chillies with a knife or Chinese chopper add to the soup with some coriander leaves, cook for just a few seconds. Ladle into hot chinese bowls and serve immediately.

Note: We usually use one red Thai chilli – number depends on your taste and how hot

the chillies are.

Blanched and refreshed rice noodles are also delicious added to this soup – hey presto, you have a main course. Serve in wide pasta bowl with lots of fresh coriander scattered over the top.

Top Tip: Fresh lime leaves are not available in every village shop so buy them anytime you spot them and pop them into a bag in your freezer.

Foolproof Food

Roast Chicken Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms and Pancetta

Serves 8

Bubbly super chef Merrilees Parker did this yummy recipe when she came to teach at the school in April 2004, we have adapted it somewhat but it really was her idea. A great recipe for using up delicious morsels of roast chicken – be sure to include the crispy skin. Alternatively use pan-grilled chicken breasts.

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

225g (8oz) pancetta or smoked streaky bacon, rind removed and cut into 1cm (¼ inch) lardons

500g (16oz) spaghetti or linguine

150ml (½ ) pint double cream

225g (8oz) sliced Portobello or field mushrooms

12oz (¾lb) leftover roast chicken or pangrilled chicken breast, coarsely shredded

2 tablespoons thyme leaves (preferably lemon thyme) or annual marjoram

110g (4oz) mixed salad leaves – rocket or baby spinach leaves would be terrific, roughly chopped

110g (4ozs) freshly grated Parmesan

Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring 5.7 litres (10 pints) of water to the boil in a large saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of salt. Then curl in the pasta, stir gently. Bring back to the boil and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat. Cover with a tight fighting lid and leave the pasta to cook for 5 minutes approximately until al dente.

Meanwhile heat a wok or a large heavy frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and then the bacon lardons. Cook over a high heat for 4-5minutes until really crispy. Remove to a plate. Add the remaining oil and the sliced mushrooms. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper and cook for a further 3-4 minutes over a high heat.

Drain the pasta. Tip into the wok or frying pan on top of the mushrooms. Add the crispy bacon, thyme leaves or marjoram and coarsely shredded chicken and toss really well. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Pour the cream into the pan, bring to the boil. Taste and correct the seasoning then toss thoroughly again.

Finally add the fresh leaves and half the Parmesan, mixing gently. Give the dish one last toss and serve immediately in warmed deep bowls with the remaining Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Sticky Chicken Thighs with Soy and Ginger sauce

Serves 10

Marinade:

225ml (8fl oz) soy sauce

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry

1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1-2 chillies finely chopped

10 free range and organic chicken thighs

Accompaniment:

Cucumber wedges

Spicy green salad (see recipe)

Sweet chilli sauce

Lime wedges

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl or pie dish. Slash the skin of the chicken thighs. Put into a pie dish, cover with the marinade and turn well to coat. Cover and keep refrigerated for at least an hour or even overnight.

To serve:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. Drain the chicken pieces and save the marinade for basting. Arrange skin side up in a roasting tin. Season with salt and pepper. Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes approximately and then baste every 10 minutes or so with some of the extra marinade.

Serve with cucumber wedges about 6cm (2 1/2 inches) long and cut at an angle, spicy green salad, lime wedges and a bowl of sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

Spicy Green Salad

Sweet and sour dressing:

2 tablespoons soft brown sugar

2 tablespoons castor sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons Nam pla (fish sauce)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 handful fresh coriander leaves

1 handful flat parsley leaves

1/2 handful mint leaves

4 spring onions, white and green part, sliced at an angle

4 finely shredded kaffir lime leaves (optional)

1-2 large red chillies thinly sliced

Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and stir to dissolve. Continue to boil for 1-2 minutes, or until it becomes liquid. Remove from the heat and add the fish sauce and freshly squeezed lime juice. Pour into a jam jar or small bowl.

Put the coriander, parsley and mint leaves into a bowl, add the sliced spring onions, shredded kaffir lime leaves and thinly sliced chilli.

Just before serving toss with enough dressing to make the leaves glisten. Serve as soon as possible.

Hot Tips

First Waterford Festival of Food

Will take place from 11-13^th April in Dungarvan. Friday opening ceremony with Minister Cullen in Town Hall, followed by food trails in local restaurants, special menus featuring local producers.

Saturday will have seminars with top chefs and food writers – Richard Corrigan, Paul Flynn, Regina Sexton, Biddy White-Lennon, Eunice Power. Workshops and story telling for younger food fans. Sunday – Farmers Market Extravaganza in Grattan Square launched by Darina Allen. www.waterfordfestivaloffoodcom for further information or tel 058-21104

Wild Garlic is now in Season

Pick it in the wild or at the Farmers Market in Mahon Point on Thursday or Midleton on Saturday.

Look out for the heritage Blue Potatoes exclusive to Superquinn for a limited period

First grown in Scotland a century ago, these potatoes were re-introduced in a limited edition recently by Peter Keogh & Sons Cream of the Crop, a Dublin potato growing and packaging company. The have a dark purple skin and deep indigo-blue flesh and retain their colour when cooked. They have a nutty taste and steam and fry well.