Posted on Aug 29, 2009 in Food Events | 7 comments

Irish pork at the Mitchelstown Food Festival

A mixture of stories and demonstrations around the theme of Irish pork made up the afternoon workshop at the Mitchelstown Food Festival on Friday. Carol O’Brien spoke about her pig farming family’s experiences of the dioxin scare and how this incentivised them to become involved with the setting...
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Posted on Aug 27, 2009 in Bake, Grow | 6 comments

A few blueberries: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

A few blueberries: Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
My Clonmel Cousin has been getting into the gardening gifts lately – and I’ve been the lucky recipient, getting a cheerful pink petunia and fuschia pot for my birthday and a Christmas present of a hazel tree with a pair of blueberry bushes. We had tried blueberries in the garden previously but...
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Posted on Aug 24, 2009 in Food Events | 5 comments

Mitchelstown Food Festival

Mitchelstown Food Festival
The Mallow Food Festival may be over, but the local focus on food continues. This year’s Mitchelstown Food Festival will take place this coming weekend, Friday 28, Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August and the theme is, very appropriately after last year’s pig-meat debacle, Bringing Home the...
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Posted on Aug 24, 2009 in Food Events | 0 comments

Mallow Food Festival

Mallow Food Festival
Despite the weather, there was a good turn out at the Mallow Food Festival on Sunday, plenty of people around to eat at the stalls that lined the main street. Our pick of the lot was the fresh fish and chips from West Cork, fish caught that morning and battered as we watched, decent chips and homemade...
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Posted on Aug 22, 2009 in Food Events | 2 comments

Don’t forget…

…Mallow Food Festival on tomorrow, Sunday 23 August, from 12pm to 3.30pm. See you there!
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Posted on Aug 20, 2009 in Cookery Books, Read | 0 comments

Flavour by Vicky Bhogal

Flavour by Vicky Bhogal
Growing up in a household where Punjabi rotia and English casseroles each had their own places, Vicky Bhogal revels in placing ingredients from different cultures side by side. In the introduction to Flavour, she talks about making the most of imported as well as local foods, explaining her own democratic...
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Posted on Aug 19, 2009 in Kitchen, Life, Lovely Lunches, Travel | 5 comments

Have spork, will travel

Have spork, will travel
Last year, on a trip to London, I picked up a spork – a light plastic utensil which features a spoon at one end, fork at the other and serrated knife edge on the fork side – in a kitchenware shop and I’ve rarely been without it since. The last quarter of 2008 was taken up with train trips...
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Posted on Aug 15, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends | 4 comments

Student treats: Caramel Squares

When we were in college, the Brother’s Housemate came from a catering household. His mother used to make hundreds of superb Christmas cakes and puddings each year, cook for parties and events and, most importantly to us, make the best Caramel Squares known to students. Living on an unbroken biscuit...
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Posted on Aug 10, 2009 in Food Events | 3 comments

Mallow Food Festival – Sunday 23 August

I wrote last week about the smoked trout from Old Millbank Smokehouse in Buttevant. If you’re interested in picking some up, Geraldine will have her stall at the Mallow Food Festival on Sunday 23 August with plenty of trout, salmon and some of her fantastic pates and fishcakes. Many of my favourite...
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Posted on Aug 8, 2009 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 0 comments

Old Millbank Smokehouse Smoked Trout and Lemon Pasta Salad

Old Millbank Smokehouse Smoked Trout and Lemon Pasta Salad
When we had the Mallow Farmers’ Market taking place outside Urru last summer, I never missed the chance to pick up a pack of Old Millbank Smokehouse hot smoked trout from Geraldine Bass. Saturday mornings in work were always busy so I had to watch for a gap between customers to make a dive out of the...
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Posted on Aug 4, 2009 in Cookery Books, Read | 0 comments

Black Pudding and Foie Gras by Andrew Pern

Black Pudding and Foie Gras by Andrew Pern
From Burdass-Reared Wold’s lamb to Ampleforth Abbey Apple Tart Tatin, Andrew Pern’s Black Pudding and Foie Gras is as firmly rooted in the food of Yorkshire as his Michelin-stared establishment is embedded in the village of Harome. Andrew’s Star Inn is a 14th century country pub in North...
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Posted on Aug 1, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends | 6 comments

The best chocolate cake: Chocolate Orange Spice Cake

The best chocolate cake: Chocolate Orange Spice Cake
I’ve always liked to bake. As soon as I was old enough to co-ordinate reading recipes and using a wooden spoon, I was anxious for any cake-making excuse – and most of them involved copious amounts of chocolate. Over the years there have been many good chocolate cakes, from my early attempts...
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