Wed 30 Nov 2011

Bill Cooks: Inspired by sweet potatoes

Posted by Bill under Blog
[4] Comments

I love sweet potatoes. Baked, roasted as wedges, souffled and topped with pecan praline, simmered in a soup–it’s all good. And if you haven’t topped roast sweet potato wedges with chili, well, you haven’t lived. So when I saw this dead simple recipe for baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar and black pepper in the November 2011 issue of Saveur Magazine I knew I had to try it.

My first thought was to have them with a rocket salad for a light veggie dinner. But seeing as I had three packs of free-range boneless chicken breasts in the fridge (courtesy of a sale at Tesco–I’ll never see these again, I’m certain) I thought I should use a couple. I also had half a savoy cabbage and some lime-thyme compound butter leftover from Tuesday’s dinner so it was “clear out the fridge night.”

This technique for cooking boneless chicken breasts is pretty foolproof. They were tender and juicy with a good crust. The compound butter added just the right amount of fat and herby goodness. Buttered cabbage is also a favorite of mine and a tiny bit of chicken broth gives it savor.  Sweet potatoes topped with brown sugar and butter are intrinsically delicious, but the black pepper  adds intriguing spicy and aromatic flavors. Oh, and do all three components contain butter? Score.

Sautéed chicken breast with lime-thyme butter, butter-braised cabbage and roast sweet potato with brown sugar and black pepper

I’ve intentionally not included measurements so you can feel free to experiment and play with the recipes.

Sautéed Chicken Breasts

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
Flour
Butter
Oil

Pour some flour onto a plate. About 1/4 cup is good for four breasts. Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. It’s important they be completely dry. Sprinkle both sides of each breast with salt and pepper. Be generous. Press both sides of each breast into the flour. You can leave each on the plate as you go or set it aside.

Heat some butter and oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the butter in the skillet as it heats. After the foaming subsides shake the chicken breasts to rid them of the excess flour and lay them in the skillet, tenderloin side down.

Sauté the chicken until browned on one side, about four minutes. The fat should be sizzling but not burning. Turn with tongs and sauté another four to five minutes. The chicken should be firm to the touch and nicely browned. Remove to plates and top with slices of lime-thyme butter.

Notes

  • The flour is important here because it prevents the outside of the chicken from getting hard. It also helps with browning.
  • Use any oil you like: olive, rapeseed, vegetable, what-have-you.
  • Use all oil instead of butter, but the chicken won’t brown as well.
  • Instead of the thyme-lime butter, swirl the fat in the pan with these combinations and pour over the chicken
    • Capers, lemon juice and parsley
    • Chopped olives, lemon juice, thyme and chile flakes
    • Chopped tomatoes (fresh or sundried) and basil
    • Minced garlic, cilantro (fresh coriander) and lime juice

Lime-thyme Compound Butter

Unsalted butter, softened
Fresh thyme, minced
Lime
Salt

Microwave the butter in a bowl for 10-20 seconds to soften, if necessary. Don’t let it melt. Stir in the thyme, zest, a bit of juice and a pinch of salt. Spoon onto one end of some cling film. Lift the end of the cling film and use it to roll the butter into a log. Wrap the butter log in the film and refrigerate until firm.

Notes

  • You can top all manner of things with a compound butter: poached or sautéed fish, steaks, pork chops.
  • Instead of lime use lemon or orange
  • Instead of thyme use parsley, cilantro, dill or fennel fronds

Butter-braised Cabbage

Cabbage
Butter
Salt and pepper
Chicken stock

Cut the cabbage into quarters lengthwise and cut out the core. If the cabbage is large cut the quarters in half again. Cut crosswise into fine shreds. Rinse in a colander but don’t shake the water off.

Melt the butter in a sauté pan (a frying pan with straight sides) or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the cabbage and salt and pepper to taste, stir and cover. Cook until tender, about ten minutes, stirring occasionally and finish with a few spoons of chicken stock.

Notes

  • If you don’t have chicken stock handy use a bit of boullion powder and water. I love a product called Better Then Boullion but I don’t think it’s available in Europe. Marigold Boullion is a great vegetarian option.
  • Savoy cabbage is great but any will do. Green or white cabbage will take longer to cook and sweetheart or york cabbage will take less time.

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Brown Sugar and Black Pepper
(Inspired by Saveur Magazine)

Sweet potatoes (large ones)
Unsalted butter
Dark brown sugar
Fresh-ground black pepper
Kosher or flakes sea salt

Heat oven to 425F, 220C, gas mark 7. Place sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until soft, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Split potatoes open and put a knob of butter and spoon of sugar into each potato. Season liberally (seriously, go nuts here, and I forbid you to use pre-ground) with black pepper. Finish with salt to taste.

Notes

  • Please, please use freshly-ground black pepper.
 

Sun 13 Nov 2011

Blessed are the Cheese Makers

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[7] Comments

We were very happy when Sheridans Cheesemongers starting bringing a stall to our local market in St. Anne’s. We chatted to the monger frequently enough to learn his name, and then one day a new guy starting coming whom I call Tim, but is possibly named Tom, or even Sebastian. “Tim” is always handy with the samples and suggestions. One day he gave me a taste and asked what I thought. The cheese was little crumbly and bold flavored, but in the moment my mind emptied of all cheese varietals save one. “Is it cheddar?” I said, and as I spoke those words I felt any food cred fall away, and saw a small shadow darken Tim’s eyes. He was a gentlemonger of course, and kindly told me non-cheddar cheese’s name, but I can’t remember exactly what happened after that. I think I just bought some Haloumi and slinked away before I started declaring all the cheeses “Swiss” (which I probably did anyway. I can never say Emmental).

Before you go all Wisconsin on me, I know cheddar is a perfectly fine cheese with varying provenances and pedigrees, it’s just not the only cheese.

In October, Bill and I spent four Wednesday evenings nestled among fellow cheese lovers in Dax Cafe Bar, participating in a class presented by Elisabeth Ryan from Sheridans. Each week we learned about the different kinds of cheeses, and the factors that influence each cheese’s flavor. I had never realized that hard cheese is made in the summer when milk is more plentiful, and soft cheeses are from winter milk. Also, there is no such thing as one “room temperature” and you shouldn’t let your cheese sweat. And the “flavor crystals” Bill and I used to comment on are a real and desirable thing.

Most importantly, we ate cheese. We sampled some Big Hit cheeses from a variety of regions, including the luscious Epoisses from France, seductive Manchego from Spain, and bold Stilton from England, but we spent a lot of time talking about Irish Cheeses. If you haven’t already heard, Ireland is truly embracing its inner curds and whey.

Lovely

One evening Kevin Sheridan led us through a tasting of Irish Cheeses that had recently won medals at the Irish Cheese Awards. Kevin explained that Ireland’s cattle are predominately grass fed which differentiates Irish milk from other European countries. Ireland’s unique milk creates spectacular cheeses, because, as Kevin said, Cheese is Grass. Ireland also produces lots of goat’s milk cheese and several sheep’s milk varieties as well. Sheep’s milk cheese are more rare because sheep are low milk producers, but the fat content in the milk creates very creamy cheese.  Helen Finnegan’s Knockdrinna Meadow that won Gold Medal in the Cheese awards is just that, a creamy bite of meadow. Bill and I are also fans of Crozier Blue, which won the Sheep Silver. We like that it’s richer than the cow’s milk varieties. [I'm a huge fan of blue cheese though, from crumbly to oozing, from blushing blue to blue in the face. And how cool is it that the bacteria for Cabrales come from the walls of the cheese cave rather than being injected. Another tip from cheese class!]

Mmmm...grass.

 

Ireland’s fantastic milk and perfect cheesemaking climate–”Ireland is one big cheese cave” Kevin said–allow Irish cheesemakers to borrow traditional cheesemaking methods, but make cheese that uniquely Ireland’s own. On our third evening of cheese class, David Tiernan of Glebe Brethan, spoke to us of his journey from dairy farmer to dairy farmer who makes award winning Gruyere-type cheese. Making cheese allows David to benefit more directly from the care he puts into producing his milk, and he enjoys seeing the end consumer. He says he loves the moment when a customer has picked up a bite and walked away, only to stop and turn around when the taste comes through. He does have to frequently explain that it is not cheddar. As a matter of fact, a slogan for Glebe Brethan could be, “It’s not effing cheddar.”

David has a farmer’s practicality and says to pay attention to the traditions that come before you. If cheeses makers in France say to mature the cheese on spruce planks cut when the moon is waxing, there is probably a pretty good reason to do that, because they’ve been doing it for centuries.

David shared that maturing cheese is the real skill in cheese making. David and Elisabeth told us of magical cheese tasters that can predict the exact time that a cheese will reach perfection. One element of our tastings was trying two maturity levels of a few cheeses, including Glebe Brethan, to contrast the flavors.

Our last evening of cheese class was about wine and cheese pairings, and the basic message was eat cheese and drink wine that you like. When putting together a cheese plate, it is unlikely one wine will work wonders with each cheese, so the goal is to choose a wine that can be a graceful accompaniment. But some wine and cheese combos create amazing new flavors, like a pairing we tried of Cratloe Hill Sheep cheese with Il Casolare Rosso.

If there is any doubt that we are in the Age of Irish Cheeses, check out the new book by Glynn Anderson and John McLaughlin, Farmhouse Cheeses of Ireland – A Celebration.  This beautiful book will tell you everything you need to know about Farmhouse cheese in Ireland. I met Glynn’s wife Lucy at the Savour Kilkenny Food Market, and she invited me to a book launch reception with Feargal Quinn, a senator and the founder of SuperQuinn.  At the reception I chatted with Eugene Carr, who had started working with cheese makers in the 1980s to provide marketing support and help build up a retail presence. He said he would take 15 cheeses to a meeting and folks would say, So, tell me about all these cheddars. (They weren’t all cheddar!)

Eugene told me that SuperQuinn’s  early interest in Irish Cheese was important to the developing industry. So, it was fitting that Feargal Quinn spoke, and “christened the baby,” as they said at the launch. In his talk, Feargal said this book would influence future food traditions of Ireland. A wonderful part of food culture in Ireland is that any food producer is no more than a half day’s drive away. Bill and I have met several producers like the lovely Anna Laveque of Triskel cheese, and when on the Beara Pennensula, we called out to the home of Milleen’s and chatted with Norman Steele. He told us the amazing story of how their cheese grew in popularity on the power of its flavor alone (and possibly the power of its aroma!). I loved the part where they started getting telegrams with orders, as they didn’t have a phone. As Norman pointed out, the postman had to ride his bike up a very large hill. I can’t imagine a more lovely place to live and make cheese.

The view down the Steele's drive

A great part about a book launch for a cheese book is the eating of the cheese at the reception. Even better we were given takeaway boxes to take home samples, so I took some Triskel pyramid, a lovely Loire-valley style goats cheese. Back at work that afternoon, I wanted to share the Triskel love, so I served up a good slather on some brown bread and offered it to a coworker. He took a bite, and was viscerally reminded that he doesn’t happen to like goats cheese. I saw him heading to the bin with the uneaten portion and I shrieked, Don’t throw it away! Don’t throw it away! So he returned the remaining bit to me, and I ate it, and it was glorious.


When I’m peckish a little bite of nice cheese usually sorts me out.
November 9, 2011 3:50 pm via BrizzlyReplyRetweetFavorite
@tulanian
Bill Gunter

 

Mon 31 Oct 2011

Savour Kilkenny Food Camp: The Story Continues

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[2] Comments

I recently heard a definition of authentic that I like: if something is authentic, it has a story.

It helps with a little debate about authentic cuisine that’s been bouncing around in my head for many years, after once being questioned about whether any post-new-world cuisine could be considered authentic. My response seemed unscientific, like, um, it’s about what people eat? And left me wondering, how long until a new thing becomes a traditional thing?  Bill and I like to create traditions. For us, repeating an event three times brings it into tradition territory.  But of course, societies work on a grander scale, so how long in terms of cuisine? A hundred years? Hundreds of years?

This question applies to the current debate on Irish cuisine, part of which I witnessed at Savour Kikenny. At the end of Food Camp, six food passionistas engaged in a rousing and entertaining debate, otherwise known as Food Fight! Regina Sexton, the UCC food historian, spoke last and made the statement above about authenticity (among many other statements) that gave me a little ribbon to tie together my foodie day.

Regina wasn’t the only person talking about story. The whole day was about story, starting with the open attitude of Food Camp. Any attendee is invited to present a session, on any food-related topic. In other words, tell us a story!

From Colin Jephson of Ardkeen in Waterford and John McCarthy of Kilkenny Eurospar, I learned the key to selling artisan products in a retail establishment is putting the producer in front of the customer. The customer loves that connection and responds to the story behind the product. In turn the customer becomes part of the story.

Real Bread from Bretzel Bakery

William Despard of Bretzel Bakery described how simple ingredients create the bakery’s various breads, and demonstrated his opinion of industrially produced sliced pan by knocking a few pieces into the wall with a hurling stick. [That has to be the most indelible image from the weekend, or is it Regina's amazing halo of hair?] For William, the story of bread, its reputation, needs to be reclaimed and people educated about real bread.

Freelance wine consultant Susan Boyle spoke about Ireland’s wine heritage, including the Irish Wine Geese–the Irish families that emigrated to France and founded influential wineries (such as Château Lynch-Bages). A daughter of several generations of publicans, Susan is curious about how Ireland’s wine DNA could be more fully expressed in Irish wine culture.

Journalist Suzanne Campbell is co-creator of the documentary What’s Ireland Eating? and her stories are cautionary tales of a vertically integrated food industry where a few corporations own the ranches, processing and distribution, and therefore hold sway over retail. (All of her scary stories are about a large country to the West, from which we happen to hail.)  Ireland still has many family farms, which many believe are being preserved by the EU farm subsidy. If we want the subsidies to end, then Ireland needs structure in place to protect the food production system. And consumers have to shop accordingly, and consider the hidden cost of cheap meat.

When the food bloggers convened to discuss the first year of the Irish Food Bloggers Association (IFBA),  it was clear that the members feel the strength of the IFBA is not speaking as one voice, but in encouraging the multitude of voices. The IFBA is a brilliant forum to share information, and foster connections. What I heard in the session was an enthusiasm to actively support the founders Kristin and Caroline and allow the IFBA to do more to encourage food blogging in Ireland, including a possible food blogger conference. I vote Yes!

In the greatly anticipated Food Fight, the six appointed foodies discussed the topic Traditional Irish Cuisine – an embarrassment of riches or just an embarrassment? All parties agreed that Ireland is bursting with natural food resources. The question is how well has Ireland used these resources to create a cuisine.  The room was full of folks who have chosen to create, sell, promote or write about food in Ireland, so we cheered the pro camp represented by Seamus Sheridan, Birgitta Curtin, and Catherine Cleary, but the comments from Suzanne Campbell, Regina Sexton and Colman Andrews were not so much an indictment, but a call to excellence. Irish cuisine is a story still being written, and we are certainly in the exciting chapters. Seamus’ memory of his grandmother rolling pie pastry with a deft hand.  Catherine’s collection of new food memories, including black pudding and rhubarb at L.Mulligans and dining on Irish abalone.  Colman’s offerings of historical recipes from the finest Irish kitchens of the 19th Century.  Suzanne’s account of a food culture that has lost its way, stumbling from the austerity of the church,  to the convenience food of the 80s, to the image-consciousness of the Celtic Tiger. Birgitta’s enthusiasm for Irish food, and her desire to bring the world to Ireland and feed them. Regina’s admonition to end comparisons with other cultures, and to embrace an independent food identity.  Wherever Ireland is on its food journey–looking back to old traditions, looking forward to new ones–all these voices are forming the story of Ireland’s authentic cuisine. (Although Regina says we shouldn’t use the French word cuisine!)

As I roamed the food market the next day, I thought to myself, the story continues.

Ireland's food identity develops a little further at Savour Kilkenny Food Market

Producers like Prue of Prue and Simon are celebrating Ireland's pudding traditions

Highbank Orchard Syrup: totally Irish and totally new

Many thanks to Keith Bohanna and Mag Kirwan, all the speakers and many others who made the day possible and brought tasty things for lunch.

 

Thu 27 Oct 2011

A Kale Recipe Roundup

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[9] Comments

In the shops of Dublin right now you’ll find plenty of kale. In a few weeks you may not be so lucky. Kale availability surges in October for the Halloween tradition of eating colcannon.

But there’s more to kale than colcannon. Loads more.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of kale is stew. Kale and its cabbagey cousins hold up well in soups and stews.

Bill made the white bean stew the other day and I tweeted about it and our friend Lisa replied.


@ love kale and white beans. and kale and most things, really.
October 16, 2011 7:42 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite
@lisaiscooking
lisa lawless

Lisa happens to be a food blogger and I asked her for some kale suggestions:

Spaghetti Squash. Kale Salad. We’re already miles away from colcannon.

Bill and I have been curious about eating kale in a salad for a while. Kale can be tough, so before serving it raw, the leaves are massaged with the dressing for the salad. Bill says it’s like pre-chewing. I prefer to think of it more like wagu beef massage.

Bill put his Brassica-massage skills to work, and created a tasty raw kale salad.

Kale Salad with Asian Dressing

200g kale, ribs removed, torn into bite-sized pieces
Juice of 1 clementine
Juice of 1 lime
soy sauce
toasted sesame oil
3 spring onions, sliced thin
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup chopped coriander
1 green chile, halved, ribs removed and sliced thin
1 T sesame seeds, toasted

  1. Wash and dry the kale.
  2. Toss in a large bowl with juices, a splash of soy sauce and several drops of sesame oil.
  3. Massage together for several minutes until the kale is tender.
  4. Add remaining ingredients.
  5. Add more soy and/or sesame oil to taste.

We ate the salad with some Asian-glazed salmon. Delicious. Bill declared the kale salad to be one of the best things he’s eaten in a long time.

I was having a kale chat with a co-worker, and she said she would be interested in kale recipes…if she could substitute spinach. Funny one Fi! But in truth, most kale recipes probably would be great with mature spinach. And thinking about spinach recipes might be a good way to come up with dishes that could handle a bit of Kale. Caryna of Caryna’s cakes told me about making a quiche with Kale, Chard and Emmental cheese. A hit at the Dublin Co-op where she caters the Thursday cafe. And Aoife of I Can Has Cook declares kale to be one of her favorite brassicas in this post about Kale and Anchovy pasta.

In our kale fever, Bill and I decided to try something we’d read about–kale chips. Bill washed and spun dry a bag of kale, tossed with some olive oil and placed the leaves flat on some baking sheets. After 15 minutes in the oven, the much smaller kale leaves were tossed with salt, lime zest and chile powder. The entire bowl of this weird, but addictive snack was then consumed by Bill and me.

Obsessing on kale recently, I’ve been like an FBI agent who scans the air waves, listening for chatter about X Factor or what have you. I jumped when I saw the following on Twitter.


Love it when a dinner plan comes together – kale pesto is served http://t.co/cqxYQSp7
September 27, 2011 7:57 pm via InstagramReplyRetweetFavorite
@DailySpud
Daily Spud

Kale Pesto! Daily Spud’s post provoked a few replies, and she responded with the basic recipe: About 3:2 steamed kale to toasted pine nuts, grated Parmesan 2 taste, glug of olive oil, Maldon salt.

That’s a kale lover I thought, and I asked her if she had any more Kale recipes. Indeed she did: Lentil and Kale stew with smoked fish.

I sent a call for kale recipes out into the twitterverse, and uncovered a recipe for kale and scallops:


@ I used this recipe but kept the kale a bit crunchy! http://t.co/2E5vhKwA
October 9, 2011 9:07 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@HeyPestoie
Yvonne

 

Also on Twitter had a conversation with Mark about cooking kale and he told me his parents used to hide money in kale. Is that a tradition, I asked?


@ Yup, tradition. Wrapped in tin-foil, it’s a cheap way to make kids eat their vegetables.
October 9, 2011 9:29 pm via Twitter for AndroidReplyRetweetFavorite
@MarkAylward1
Mark Aylward

Money in the colcannon? Mark’s comment led us to survey those who sit near us in work. 35% of respondents observed this Halloween tradition as children. Our study also identified a high correlation between finding money in kale as a child and loving kale as an adult. Something to keep in mind, parents! We also discovered a vein of kale revulsion running through the public. To those haters I can only say, this post is for you. And read Daily Spud’s post about rediscovering kale in colcannon.

Yep, ain’t nothing wrong with colcannon.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our Kale round up, and now have a place to come when in this situation:


@ I bought kale on Saturday. Yet to decide what to do with it. Any suggestions?
October 11, 2011 4:30 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite
@lauriegeorge
Laurie George

 

 

 

Sat 22 Oct 2011

Ideas for lunch

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[13] Comments

Hey Internet,

Here are few quick recommendations for places to grab lunch, as captured in recent weeks by my phonecam.

Fafie’s Creperie

 

A CityDeal led us to Fafie’s Creperie on Lower Kevin Street (along with every other patron on a recent Sunday near the voucher expiry date). I’m so glad it did. Fafie’s makes Brittany-style buckwheat galettes which are nuttier and heartier than the um, non-buckwheat variety. My crepe with Emmental cheese, ham, organic spinach and sundried tomato was delicious–the spinach and cheese are such a perfect pair and worked well with the nutty crepe. Bill had the Montagnard, an impressive sounding galette with Reblochon cheese and bacon lardons. A rich mouthful indeed, which really needed the nutty flavor of the crepe. (I am at a loss for a synonym for nutty.)

Fafie’s is a cozy and pleasant place, which will serve you dessert crepes even if you’ve just eaten a savory galette. Can you eat both in one meal? I asked. Why not, I was told, it’s Sunday. And so I can assure you that the Caramel Breton and Chocolate and Pear crepes are also delish.

The Counter

 

If you’re going to pay upwards of €11.00 for a burger, and in Dublin chances are that you will, it may as well be a good one. I was surprised in my early Irish days that I didn’t like many burgers in Dublin, and have determined the problem is typically the burger patty itself. The trend in Ireland is to use a very low fat mince which creates hard, on-the-dry-side burgers. (This problem also extends to meatballs.) Bill has the butcher grind mince from rib steak/chuck, as the mince on sale maxes out at 10% fat.

Now, about that lunch.  The Counter on Suffolk street serves soft and juicy burgers, but we were most impressed by the available toppings, including roasted green chiles. You can build a really tasty burger. Go for the sweet potato fries; the regular fries are so-so. And don’t get too excited when they bring you a decent-sized diet coke with a lemon. You’re still in the land of no refills.

If you can rein in your options and choose one of the set Signature Burgers, a burger and a drink is around €8.00. A great lunch deal.

La Cucina

 

While not exactly handy to Dublin City Centre, La Cucina is absolutely convenient and worth a stop if you are anywhere near Limerick. On our way to Dingle last month we saw some tweets from icanhascook about stopping by, so I used my fancy phone to look up the location and determine we would be in the vicinity right at lunchtime. Since we were on the road, we popped in for a couple ciabatta sandwiches to go: the grigliatia with roasted peppers and aubergines/eggplant,  mozzarella, rocket/arugula and pesto (pictured); and the salumi with parma ham, salami, and buffalo mozzarella. Yum. Terrific sandwiches–a steal at €5.00. In addition to loads of lovely sandwiches, La Cucina serves pizza (I’m still regretting not getting a slice for “starter”) and pasta with tantalizing ingredients. We’ll be visiting the next time we’re nearby, even if it isn’t lunchtime!

 

 

Mon 17 Oct 2011

Stories from the Dinglefest

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[3] Comments

Three great words: Dingle. Food. Festival.

And three more: We. Were. There.

Fabulous time meeting producers, eating wonderful food, and hanging out with food bloggers at the Dingle Food and Wine Festival from 30 September to 2 October. Here are some highlights from the markets, Dingle Producer Showcase and Taste Trail:

Cloudberry Bakery won Best New Emerging Food Producer from Kerry at the Blas na hEireann National Irish Food Awards. Sam from Cloudberry is delightful, and not just because she gave us a sample box which contained red velvet cake, among other delights. I claimed the red velvet cake as my birthday cake. Cloudberry puts raspberry coulis in their red velvet. I probably wouldn’t have guessed that, but I would have thought it was a luxuriously flavored cake. In addition to being delicious, many of Cloudberry’s cakes are sparkly.

Marie Charland makes Dingle Fudge and a line of chutneys and pickles called Pickled in Dingle. She uses home grown produce in her pickled products, except for fruits that don’t grow in Ireland, like citrus. Marie is French, and passionate, and fun. And we were on TV* together! You can contact Marie at mhcharland at hotmail dot com.

Marie says something hilarious!

We laugh! And simultaneously love Dingle-produced food!

We chatted with Orla Gowen of Bácús Bhréanainn about the attention she gives to the finishing on her bread, which is evident in these gorgeous loaves. When asked, she said her favorite is the seeded loaf located in the center of the pic. It was German-inspired I believe, and very tasty.

 

We came home with cupcakes from Little Miss Cupcake: a Ginger and Lime and a Black Forest Gateau. The Black Forest cupcake was lusciously delish, and I loved the combo of gingerbread and lime. Sharon from Little Miss Cupcake blogs at Foodie Fancies.

Dingle Brewing Company, a new brewery, launched their Crean’s lager last summer. It’s refreshing, not too hoppy. Goes great with fish, which is good news in Dingle.

On Saturday and Sunday, over 60 business hosted stops on the Taste Trail. These oysters at Lord Bakers were one of my favorite nibbles (or slurps I should say). The Taste Trail integrates the festival with Dingle town, giving the festival a unique personality.

The Taste Trail stop at Goat Street Cafe. A fun stop because they served a pairing of tart with dessert wine. I liked this sweet Jurançon from Chateau de Navailles. And that we got to sit down.

I had read about the traditional Dingle pie served in mutton broth in The Examiner, so I kept my eye out for a taste. Reminded us of chicken and dumplings. Definitely would take the chill off in winter.

The Dingle Food Festival was a fantastic opportunity to chat with producers, like Veronica from Crossogue Preserves, and her fellow Tipperarian and stall neighbor, Cate from The Cookie Jar. We came home with jam and cookies, needless to say! Enjoyed Cate’s American-style oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, and am looking forward to cracking open a jar of Crossogue. Start with the Quince Chilly, or the Apricot, Pear & Grand Marnier? Decisions!

We loved Eva’s marshmallows and teacakes made with carrageen moss instead of gelatin. Using the carageen moss creates a great Irish connection, and these confections truly melt in your mouth, with none of the chalkiness of industrially made marshmallows. And they’re vegetarian. You can contact Eva at thelifesweet at gmail dot com.

We knew the food festival was truly magical when we found a Texas BBQ serving brisket. A Texan and her Irish husband own The Courthouse Bar, and they were serving brisket. Smoked brisket. This is a day I’ve long dreamed of in Ireland. Actually, I know of two other pit BBQers in Ireland. I follow them on twitter: @The_BBQ_Team and @pitmastermick. An exciting time for meat lovers.

*I’d say you’ve arrived when you appear on RTE’s Nationwide. Oh, and don’t be mad about the screen grabs RTE.

 

Sun 9 Oct 2011

Gone Fishing

Posted by Sharon under Blog
[4] Comments

Last weekend we were in County Kerry for the Dingle Food and Wine Festival. (So much about that sentence makes me happy.) On Sunday morning we were invited to join some fellow foodies on a fishing trip, so six of us found ourselves gathered in the marina on a foggy morning. We were uncertain. We were wearing layers. Can you fish in the fog, we wondered, such landlubbers were we. This is brilliant weather for fishing, our skipper assured us, sounding nothing like a pirate. (Bill and I had hoped he’d sound a little like a pirate.)

Heading out to sea

We boarded the Sarah Ellie and headed off across the glassy water. We could see the mouth of the bay in the mist, but in a few minutes we were lost in the fog. Our skipper, Paul, killed the engine and gave us a two minute lesson on sea fishing–Let her out, keep your thumb on the spool, then reel her back in a little. Out. In. Keeping her moving.

From the moment the first lure hit the water, our day turned magical. Within seconds Ollie had reeled in a 6kg pollock. It was a stunner of a fish. We were all amazed. Even Paul was amazed. The fish went into the blue fish bucket, and we all set ourselves to fishing, hoping to match Ollie’s catch. In. Out. Keep her moving. A few more pollock came on board. I caught one that weighed few kilograms. We caught lots of mackerel. They all went into the fish bucket, gasping a bit, but shining silver, the mackerel’s backs covered in green and black tiger stripes.

Ollie's prize winning catch

Paul moved the boat to a new location. We all hit twitter with our fish tales. Fishing is fun! Then we fished some more. We threw back tiny mackerel. We sang sea shanties. (Not really, but we should have.) We caught a load of fish.

Bill reels in few mackerel

Gathered around our bucket of fish, we snapped pics of our catch like they were celebrities. That’s deadly, Niall said. Irish slang for great. It was deadly, the deadliest catch! All thanks to our excellent skipper, and some mad, foodie fishing skills. Great job Bill, Ollie, Niall, Aoife, and Ross!

Our catch

We both have fishing in our genes

Back at the marina Paul filleted the fish. Slice in behind the gill, down along the bone. On the mackerel, flip over and repeat, to create a butterfly. On the larger pollocks he cut separate fillets on each side. Ollie’s fish was almost too large for the knife. You can feed ten people off that fish, Paul said. He bagged the fish for us and send us over to the Marina Inn and told us to ask for Darcy.

Paul fillets a mackerel

Fillets of fish

Darcy is the chef at Marina Inn and she prepared some of our fish for lunch. We washed the scales from our hands, and restored ourselves with post-voyage pints of Guinness and Crean’s lager (from Dingle Brewing Company). We shared a starter of tasty mussels in cream sauce. Darcy played a blinder* and served us three fish dishes–fried, beer-battered pollock; pollock with Parmesan cheese crumb; and mackerel with chorizo, potatoes and sun-dried tomatoes. Everything about the fish was great–the texture, the flavor. Eating fish that had been swimming in the ocean not more than 90 minutes before is incredible. I think the mackerel was a favorite–it has a bit more flavor that the pollock. A lunch to remember.

Freshest fish I'll ever eat

Many thanks to Aoife for organizing, and to Paul of Dingle Bay Charters and Darcy at the Marina Inn.

*I’m using Irish slang! It means, performed excellently.

 

 

Thu 6 Oct 2011

Four Years: Looking back

Posted by Sharon under Blog
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Today marks our fourth year in Ireland. To commemorate this anniversary, I’ve collected a few of my favorite posts about life on the auld sod.

We arrived with seven suitcases, and shipped four boxes of books. (Three of which arrived.) We just moved house, and I’d say we’re at 50 suitcases worth of belongings now. Seven suitcases were filled with my clothes alone!

6 Oct 2007–We made it

 

4 Feb 2008 Behold the ground hog

Isn’t Groundhog Day a day when everything happens over and over again?

 

19 April 2008 Busy, Busy Week

Can you cross the United States driving only through states that start with a vowel?

 

18 April 2008 Fiesta!

Our weapons: Pork Tamales and homemade corn tortillas with three taco fillings– Pork and Potato, cold chicken salad with chipotle vinaigrette, and shrimp in garlic lime butter.

 

29 May 2008 Tea vs Brown Water

My brewing time is 36 times that of the typical brewing time in my office.

 

25 May2008 Saturday in the Park

…we walked back to the Green, found a sunny spot and lay in the grass.

 

8 June 2008 Long days of summer

In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.

 

10 Oct 2009 116 Things We Know Now

Number 108–We like mushy peas.

 

20 Feb 2010 Saturday in the Kitchen with Bill 

James [Martin] is a polarizing force in the world of television hosting…

 

3 Jul 2010 Tastes of Home

So, I talk about meat.

 

28 Aug 2010 The Question

We sold a bunch of stuff and gave away stuff and threw away stuff and sent our dog to live in Indiana.

 

27 November 2010 Thanksgiving Distilled

 But cooking a Thanksgiving meal does not Thanksgiving make.

 

3 Dec 2010 Provisions

We’re out of onions now, so Bill says we definitely need to make it to the store tomorrow.

 

 

Sun 25 Sep 2011

Our Journey to Morcilla

Posted by Sharon under Blog
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On our first trip to Spain we visited Barcelona. We came home raving about grilled squid.  Next we went to Grenada and Malaga and were introduced to Tinto de Verano. Last year we visited Galicia and experienced Padrón peppers. Common to all our trips was an increasing appreciation for bacalao, an immediate addiction to jamon iberico, and the lovely refrain of “Dos más caña, por favor.”

We were in Madrid for a week at the beginning of the month, and again Spain rocked our culinary world. This time it was the morcilla. Spain’s black pudding.

A morcilla bocadillo

We’ve been on a slow journey toward black pudding. Americans are squeamish about it. I think somewhere in our cultural heritage black pudding was used to separate us from our British overlords forebears. Young children were rocked to sleep at night to their mothers cooing, Aren’t you glad you’re independent of the British Empire, with all that cricket, and royalty, and heavens, they even eat pudding made of blood! As a kid my images of blood pudding were disturbing indeed; knowing only American pudding, I would imagine bowls of cold, congealed, bloody goo.

Those thoughts hadn’t fully left me when we arrived in Ireland, but of course I wanted to engage in the Full Irish Breakfast experience, so I tried the round of black pudding on my plate. It was okay. More like a breakfast sausage patty than a hematoma. Not disgusting, a little bitter. Nothing special. So I ignored black pudding for a while and Bill would buy only white pudding for our (only occasional) fry ups.

Sometimes Bill ordered dishes with black pudding in restaurants–chicken stuffed with French Black pudding at Restaurant 1014; a chorizo, potato, and black pudding starter at The Winding Stair. Those were both tasty dishes, so I decided that black pudding was nice as an ingredient. It was fine in a group of friends, but you wouldn’t really want to hang out.

Then it seems that everyone on twitter started talking about black pudding and I heard tale of creations such as black pudding with chocolate and pistachios. Fellow expats who had once spit out a black pudding canape happily attended a dinner hosted by Clontakilty, a name synonymous with pudding. A black pudding renaissance was underway.

At the O’Brien Chop House in Lismore last Spring, I ordered a black pudding dish, the classic combination of scallops with black pudding. An absolutely perfect pair–the earthiness of the pudding meeting the sweet sea of the scallop. The next thing I knew I was at Sheridans Irish Food festival watching the three big names in Irish black pudding–Jack McCarthy, Ed Hick and Tom Doherty–make black pudding from scratch. I even tasted the black pudding before it was cooked. When it was still red. I had crossed over.

I ate that!

We brought home some Tom Doherty’s terrific pudding, we really like his spicing, which Bill prepared using a Nigel Slater recipe for Black pudding with mustard cream sauce. Since then we’ve tried every variety of black pudding we’ve come across, including a lovely, mild loaf of black pudding from Inch House.

Black pudding with mustard cream sauce

And so we found ourselves on a warm evening in Madrid, on our second bottle of cider at the Asturian Sidrería down the street from the apartment (the cider ritual was another new experience), having already consumed a plate of charcuterie with the most ruby red jamon and a pile of  Padrón peppers, when we were enticed by a plate passing by to the next table. “Huevos,” I said dreamily. “With Morcilla, I think,” Bill said, “black pudding.” Moments later we had our own plate, and we found yet another Spanish food to love. We think it’s the cumin that makes this black pudding delectable. It’s crumbly, and made with rice. Served with fried eggs and fried potatoes, this dish is killer. We ate morcilla at every opportunity, in bocacillos, in pinxtos, and even returned to the Sidrería to eat their huevos rotos con morcilla one more time.

The eggs may appear to be the star, but the morcilla is what blew us away.

The pintxo version

“How can we have been to Spain three times and never had morcilla?” I asked, amazed and a little indignant. But then I understood what Spain had known all along: We hadn’t been ready.

 

Sat 17 Sep 2011

Our Veg Guy

Posted by Sharon under Blog
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On a recent Sunday, Bill and I drove to South County Wicklow to visit our veg guy. That’s right, we don’t have a local–that pub where everybody knows your name–but we do have a veg guy.

His name is Duncan Healy, and he’s at the Red Stables Market in St. Anne’s park every Saturday. I’ve mentioned before that the market is part of our favorite Saturday routine, and after a bunch of Saturdays of chatting over chard or tomatoes, Bill and I started referring to Duncan by name and saying things like, oh, if Duncan has some nice kale today I’ll make a kale and white bean stew. Well, Bill would say those things.

And then one day there were tomatillos.

The way I remember it, I was at work on a Saturday, and I received a single-word text from Bill: Tomatillos! I let out a yelp and raised my phone over my head like large-haired Joan Cusack at the end of Working Girl.

While my recollection may be altered by the mists of time,  we did indeed find tomatillos in Ireland and we were stoked! If you’re unfamiliar with the tomatillo, it is like a cross between a tomato and a pepper and is in the gooseberry family. Tomatillos are common in Mexican cuisine, frequently used in salsas and sauces.

My favorite use for tomatillos is to toss a few  into a blender along with a clove of garlic, a serrano chile (or jalapeno or bird chile), and an avocado. Blend. Then enjoy a bright, perfect marriage of creamy and tangy. It’s great as a dip, or served with Rick Bayless’ potato and pork tacos. (See right.)

Bill likes to roast tomatillos. For a fresh salsa, throw a few tomatillos, a clove of garlic, and chiles into a roasting pan and roast about ten minutes until blackened. Blend these ingredients to a puree, and then add some diced onions and cilantro. The roasting mellows the flavor of the tomatillo and adds tasty charred bits. You can also freeze the puree of roasted tomatillos, garlic and chiles. This base can be added to browned onions to make a salsa verde, which is excellent with pork (see below) or add onions and cilantro for salsa as above.

We were delighted to be invited to visit the Healy farm. Duncan grew up on the farm, and returned a few years ago to work with his father, Denis. The farm operates as Organic Delights, providing produce to restaurants and through stands at many markets including Temple Bar and Dun Laoghaire. We’re really happy that our local market sells so many veggies grown right down the road in Wicklow. What they can’t grow in Ireland, they will import, so the Organic Delights stall is always bursting with selection.

After feeding us homemade pizza, salad and blueberry crumble, Duncan led us and a contingent of kids and other family members around the farm to visit the pigs and see all the baby veggies growing big and strong. We snacked on plums, apples and raspberries as we explored the greenhouses with onions drying, tomatoes blushing to red, and pea tendrils climbing their trellises.  We collected a few veggies to bring home, including two round, green squash that when cut open looked like a cross between the seedy pulp of a crookneck squash and the stringy spaghetti squash, and tasted better than that description indicates. In fact, they were lovely stuffed with quinoa, beef mince, onion, tomato, and a couple tomatillos, and topped with cheese.

Thanks to Duncan and Cindy and family for a great day on the farm.

Petting a pig

A pocket full of watercress

Raspberries (still not used to berries being an Autumn fruit)

Tomatillos!

 

From the market this morning. Oh what goodness lies in store!

 

 

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