September 2008 Archives

Sadly URRU missed out at last night's Good Food Ireland Awards – we were nominated in the Top Regional Member category for the south of the country, along with The Blue Geranium Café at Hosfords Garden Centre, Café Paradiso, The Farmgate, Hayfield Manor Hotel, QC's Seafood Bar & Restaurant, The Poacher's Inn, The Tannery and the eventual winner – The Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore.

Still, there was more than enough good food, wine and company to keep us entertained in the Shelbourne Hotel and I got to catch up some old friends, including Anthony from Ummera Smokehouse – his award-winning organic gravadlax was on the menu, alongside Geraldine Bass' (Old Millbank Smokehouse) rich smoked salmon pâté – and Louise from Sowan's Organics, with her new spelt brownies. More information on the nominees and winners, highlighted in bold, below.

It's into the West for me this weekend as I'm heading out the door on Friday after work in URRU and straight down to Kerry with the Husband for this year's Dingle Food Festival. It all kicks off that night with a launch at the Dingle Bay Hotel from 10pm. If you're about on Saturday and Sunday there are a series of cookery demonstrations, taste trails (watch out for the Mexican Fiesta at Murphy's Ice Cream!) and farmers' markets throughout the town. And don't forget – at 5pm on Sunday the inaugural Blas na hÉireann/National Irish Food Awards ceremony will take place at Benner’s Hotel. Now, just got to make sure that my accomodation is sorted out!

Have you ever been to Dingle? Despite the best of intentions over the years – and the Husband visiting there regularly since he moved to Ireland – it's taken me quite a while to get round to visiting. But, when there's a pot of Murphys' Ice Cream at the end of the trip, how can you resist?

The sun shone for our drive there as we toasted pleasantly in the car, admiring the strand at Inch and the fact that we could see right across Dingle Bay. Scenary looks much more pleasant in sunlight, somehow. The tourists that wandered around the town had an air – not often seen this summer – of satisfaction, of being perfectly happy to briefly visit a few shops before getting back to the wilds and views, unlike last week's bedraggled lost-looking wanderers in Kenmare. And everywhere you walked there was someone eating ice cream. Ice cream in cones, ice cream in small blue tubs, groups of people standing outside Murphys' Ice Cream shop, swapping tastes of their chosen scoops, old couples walking on the sea front, making sure they didn't lose any last drops of their ice cream and ice cream all over babies' faces.

So, you make your way to the distinctively blue and white shop for your own ice cream – but which one? Will you go for an old-school classic like Vanilla or Chocolate, something with a bit more texture – Honeycomb, Cookies and Cream, perhaps? - or will you have to go straight for the latest unusual flavour that's arrived behind the counter: Guinness and Chocolate, anyone? Maybe the best way of deciding is to try them all – and then there's the small matter of figuring out which coffee or hot chocolate to drink, whether you actually need to buy a slice of one of the delectable cakes on offer and how many different bars of Valrhona chocolate you need to take home with you when you reluctantly leave. Whole days can be lost here.

Kieran Murphy – for the man who makes the ice cream is always the best judge of how to eat it – persuaded me, not with too much difficulty, into trying an Affogato al Caffè. A shot of espresso over a scoop of chocolate whiskey ice cream: can you think of a better way of getting a caffine hit? It's a sophisticated take on an ice cream float, just for grown-ups, as long as the kids don't see it while you're gobbling. And then a little later, to finish, it's time for an Extreme Hot Chocolate. Kieran told me it was very healthy, not at all heavy, made with cocoa, and served wth a dollop of cream on the top to balance it all out. Try it – and then see if you can leave without the Ghirardelli cocoa that they use to make it. See? I'm a sucker. And Kieran is a bad influence. One large 1lb tub of the cocoa – after all they do have a Chocolate Frosting and a Brownies recipe on the back – and a box of 70% chocolate (for cooking with, I swear!) and I finally tear myself away. But I'll be back – after tasting a few of Mexican ideas in production for the Dingle Food Festival I'm not sure I could stay away.

I came across a post on Rose Levy Beranbaum's baking blog about her baking essentials and it got me thinking. This is her list on the left in bold, with my additions on the right.

A hand-held mixer – which I have and use regularly, although I do love and use my KitchenAid a lot too!
A weighing scale – after years of using regular scales, I have become an electronic devotee. It's small, it's slim, it takes up no room on my worktop and I can use it to measure everything, normally in the pan that I will mix or melt it in (saves on washing up too) in either grams, ounces, fluid ounces or mililitres. I don't know how I lasted so long without it.
A set of measuring cups – essential if you do a lot of cooking from American or New Zealand/Australian recipes. Remember that those cup sizes are different, however.
A cup for measuring liquids – I normally use my electronic scales but I do find my pyrex jug very useful for any ingredients that need to get melted in the microwave.
A set of measuring spoons – always in use.
A sifter or strainer – I have the one that I bought about ten years ago, a green plastic thing that has seen me through many house moves and refuses to die.
A 9 inch by 2 inch cake pan – I'm not entirely sure what she's talking about here. I have a 9-inch springform tin that I use for all cakes.
A 10 cup fluted tube pan – I have one of these but I rarely use it. I've found that it's too easy to overbake a cake in the pan, especially if you are stuck with a fan oven, as I am.
Two wire cooling racks – I can and have managed with one, using the grill tray from the cooker or a cooker shelf if a second one is necesary. These days, since joining my Dublin and cottage kitchens together, I've two for those days that I get fits of baking and one is just not enough.
An instant read thermometer such as a Thermapen or CDN – not yet and I'm not bothered.
A silicone spatula reserved for baking – I had two lovely red spatulas and used them all the time but since one broke I'm doing fine with just the small little one that's left.
A baking spray containing flour – not something I find necessary when I can just dip my hand in the bag and sprinkle.
A reliable recipe – always! Sometimes this cook is not entirely reliable, though...

And, if you're as into making Flapjacks and tray bakes as I am, you need at least two 23 x 30cm/9 x 12in Swiss roll tins. Mine are ancient battered old things that I picked up for a couple of quid years ago in Dunnes or Tesco. They have been used so much at this stage that the patina of age that has developed does duty as a non-stick layer but it's always best to do a considerable amount of greasing if you're cooking anything that might stick in them.

With this list to hand, I think I could certainly start going through my kitchen cupboards and seeing what excess I do have in there. But everybody needs some antique rabbit and tortoise jelly moulds, don't they?

A short trip to Kenmare earlier this week unearthed plenty of good food. Dinner at the Lime Tree was worth waiting for, as we arrived late, stepping into the lively, convivial atmosphere of the restaurant from a cold, damp night. There was plenty to choose from on the menu but my eye didn't go too far and I gladly devoured a dish of the sweetest Kilmackillogue mussels, steamed open in a in a lemon, garlic, ginger and corriander broth. Tempted though I was by the Kerry lamb on offer, I stuck with the seafood and enjoyed the monkfish instead. A portion of well-flavoured pea and chorizo risotto surrounded medallions of the fish, in a rosemary butter sauce, topped with long, curly parsnip crisps. There wasn't a lot left on the plate by the time the friendly waiting staff came to clear and I didn't even get to touch the, for me, superfluous side dishes of vegetables and potatoes. After all that, desert didn't even get a look in and I finished with a pot of peppermint tea.

Next morning, after breakfast, I took a quick trot into town to check out the farmers' market. The stall holders seemed to be busy, despite another rotten day and lots more rain. I just had enough time to pick up a bottle of olive oil from Toby's Olive Stall, along with a couple of purple-streaked heads of French garlic. Ever since the garlic that I brought home from France ran out, I've been desperately trying to find French, or at least European, garlic but most of the bulbs on offer seem to be sad old imports from China so I was delighted to come across garlic in Kenmare. I also grabbed some 2008 Wild Beara Honey and a chunk of honeycomb from a laid-back Californian who had all the time in the world to tell me about his wares. Unfortunately, I didn't have quite as much time to spend there – this time – so I had to grab the honey and go!

After a trip to Kilmackillogue pier, I ended back in Kenmare before heading home. Anxious to grab a bite to eat, I went into Jam and got a bowl of their Carrot and Ginger Soup. In the wrong hands this could have been disastrous but who ever was in the kitchen had a sure hand with the spicing and the soup was delicious, the perfect antidote for the miserable day outside. On my way out I couldn't resist one of the Chocolate and Nut Flapjacks – it's a self-service counter so you are totally tempted by a range of cakes and slices ever before you get to see what's on offer in the savoury side of things. I resisted initially but I was no sooner back in the car than half the Flapjack disappeared.

On my brief wander around town, I also liked the look of the Kenmare Food Company – great coffee smells and lovely books to browse through in the back – the mixture of fine wines, greeting cards, newspapers and quality chocolates in Vanilla Grape and the range of foods available at Truffle Pig. Plenty to investigate next time!

It's food festival season at the moment in North Cork with Mitchelstown holding its own festival this weekend, kicking off with a gala evening with Clodagh McKenna at the Firgrove Hotel tonight. You can see the menu below – it's got fantastic Clonmore Goat's Cheese from Tom Biggane, Nano Nagle organic eggs and apples, Araglin trout and David Lee’s honey, fresh from the bees that spent the early summer buzzing around our cottage garden. There's also a market taking place on Sunday from 12pm at the Mitchelstown Business Park.

After I had been busily extolling the virtues of slices and bars available in New Zealand cafés while at work last week, my German Colleague asked if I had a recipe for Lemon Bars. Tan Slice and Ginger Crunch are things that I bake regularly but I had to admit that I had never tried to make the ubiquitous Lemon Slice as a lot of recipes involved separating eggs (I'm a lazy cook, I don't do separated eggs given half a chance or another recipe) or condensed milk or too many lemons at a time when I didn't have them.

Monday morning, after four eggs arrived back from the girls and I realised, post-cold recovery, that I had a bowl of lemons in the house, I decided to try out Julie Biuso's recipe for Sticky Lemon Slice. This fitted all the criteria – easy to make, uses up plenty of eggs from my stash and I had enough lemons, although next time I may add an extra lemon-worth of zest. If you're cooking this in a fan oven, I would recommend that you cook it about 20°C lower than the regular oven temperature as mine was a little dried out on top and I would have preferred more luscious lemon-ness. Also, if you have some of the topping left over as I did, pour it into a couple of expresso cups, and sit them in a bain-marie in the same oven for approximately 20 minutes until set – it makes a fantastic cheat's desert, especially served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

* Ice Cream Ireland have a video of Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini talking at the Organics Conference.

* (The elusive) Martin Dywer tells of his experiences at
Terra Madre Waterford 2008 on martindwyer.com - watch out for him on Nationwide next!

* John McKenna, involved in the hotel food forum on Friday, writes about some of the suggestions posed to the Ministers on the Bridgestone Blog.

* Amanda Bankert of La Petite Pâtissière (and pastry chef at my favourite Cake Café in Dublin) writes about an eventful trip down to Waterford and her attendance at the Edible School Garden workshop with her three-year-old.

* Trevor Sargent's speech to Terra Madre Ireland 2008.

* Fishermen's Federation leaders at Waterford Terra Madre Slow Food conference from BYM Marine & Maritime News.

Also, more updates on the Terra Madre site, including:
Gourmet Food And Education At Terra Madre Ireland 2008
Terra Madre All Island Policy Conference A Huge Success
Launch of Terra Madre 2008
Harvesting Our Thanks to Nature - Irish Times

While the morning may have been clear and cool, with early arrivals dressed in fleeces and jeans, by lunchtime at the Terra Madre Farmers' Market in Waterford it was strappy frocks and sandals all the way as the crowds took to the streets in the sunshine. Stalls stretched up and down John Roberts Square, taking off into the side streets when they ran out of room. We arrived early, as the stallholders were setting up, and went in search of coffee but to no avail. Where are Cork Coffee Roasters when you need them?!

Desperate, I grabbed a cup of instant from the Coolanowle Organics stall, while the Husband decided that his breakfast was to be one of their large organic sausages in a roll. I didn't get to see much of that before it – and he – disappeared. He headed to the beach to enjoy the sunshine while I wandered around, bumping into Ballymaloe classmates and fellow foodies. I grabbed a handful of sweet, ripe cherry tomatoes from Rupert Hugh-Jones's Ballycotton Organics stall, before hitting pay-dirt at the eye-catching Cookie Jar stall nearby. American by birth and now based near Clonmel, Cate McCarthy makes the kind of homemade cookies that kids adore. Giant, five-inch Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin (my choice!) or Monster Cookies were sitting temptingly in the jars on the table, alongside her Boston Brownies and slices of New York Style Cheesecake. An enthuastic Richard Auler was handing out samples of his meaty organic beefburgers, made on the Ladybird Organic Farm near Cahir, Co Tipperary, along with plenty of information on the value of organic growing and their dry-aged Angus beef.

I headed straight to the well-stocked Gubbeen stall to pick up food for a market supper at home – a slice of chicken and lemon terrine, Gubbeen cheese crackers, chunks of Gubbeen cheese and chorizo – along with a chunk of smoked ham for the freezer and a catering pack of their streaky bacon, ready for chopping up into lardons to flavour autumnal soups and stews. I also stopped at the Ardsallagh stall to pick up one of Jane Murphy's pepper-coated soft goat's cheese from her colourful selection.

I missed out on the blaas – a white, floury bap that is a unique Waterford speciality – at Barron's Bakery but managed to get my fix at the Irish Country Markets marquee in Jenkins Lane Car Park, where they were serving brunch in a blaa, complete with rocket (important to get the greens in there) rasher, sausage, black pudding, fried egg and relish. A quick stop at the well-laden Malone Fruit Farm table to grab a bottle of their homemade blackcurrant cordial and it was time to go. The Husband was back from the beach, people were settling down around the big screen in the square to watch the match and I couldn't carry or eat much more food!

More reports of the weekend, including reports from the conference and workshops, will be online at the Terra Madre website.

For anyone interested in food, particularly Slow Food, it cannot have escaped your attention that Terra Madre Ireland will take place this week in Waterford.

It all kicks off on Thursday, with a National Organic Food Conference, then on Friday there are a series of workshops – from Irish Food Production: Post EU Quota, WTO and Peak Oil to GMOs and Food Tourism, Edible School Gardens, Food Miles and Routes to Market for Local Producers. You can have your say in advance on the discussion forum. This is the really serious business of the weekend as the information from these workshops will then be fed back to both Trevor Sargent, Minister of State for Food and Horticulture, and his counterpart in Northern Ireland, Farming Minister Michelle Gildernew.

On the lighter side of things, cookery demonstrations from Irish chefs have been scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Being a huge fan of Café Paradiso, I'd definitely be at the Denis Cotter demo given half a chance. I've also been enjoying An Irish Adventure With Food so would love to go along to see Paul Flynn (of The Tannery) cooking with pork (both on Friday). My former teacher, Rachel Allen, is also participating, cooking for an Autumn Dinner Party on Saturday morning. Clodagh McKenna, Eunice Power (Powersfield House), Neven Maguire, Sheila Kelly (Bord Bía), Nick Price (Nick's Warehouse in Belfast) and Richard Corrigan are the other chefs taking part. There are also a selection of different food tours, taking in East Cork, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary and Wexford on Saturday morning (the itineraries are all here) – I'm sure the Husband, with his new-found interest in brewing, would love the opportunity to join the Carlow tour and see around the Carlow Brewing Company!

Of course, all this is taking place – and I'm going to be working in Mallow. Only one person from URRU can attend and my boss definitely has first dibs. I'm heading off to Waterford after work on Saturday, however, so I can be there bright and early for the mother of all Farmers' Markets, which will take place on John Roberts Square from 11am to 3pm.

There is more information below from Slow Food Ireland on Terra Madre Ireland and the website is at terramadreireland.com

RTÉ Cork had one of the stands at the Mallow Food Festival, handing out flyers and application forms for a new Irish food show called Recipe for Success. During the six-part series, home cooks will compete to see their recipe go into supermarket production. Could be interesting! You can see the flyer here and more information, along with an application form, is available on the RTÉ website.

Glorious sunshine, lots of people (especially before the match kicked off) and stalls well-laden with a large variety of good food meant success all the way for yesterday's Mallow Food Festival. URRU had a stall there so the Mallow Girl and I were kept busy, filling and selling pottles (note use of Kiwi term!) of URRU nibbles – paper cups filled with slices of Gubbeen chorizo, salami, chunks of their extra mature and oak smoked Gubbeen cheese, topped with a Gubbeen cheese biscuits. We were also selling a selection of afternoon cakes – lemon drizzle, flourless chocolate and almond and carrot loaf cakes – from Richard Graham-Leigh who, with his wife, Jane, supplies URRU with all variety of tarts, café bars, cookies and cakes. All of the cakes were pre-wrapped, fortunately, as the wasps were also attending in force and the Natural Foods Bakery next to us were inundated by black and yellow-striped fans of their sweet offerings.

Being so busy – hence no photos! – I didn't get much of a chance to look around until much of the food was gone but at least I managed a coffee from John Gowan's Cork Coffee Roasters, a selection of apple juices, crisp crunchy eating apples and chunky cookers from Philip across at the Little Irish Apple Company, and a few seed-laden pitta breads from the Natural Foods Bakery. Fellow organisers Essink and Lucey Butchers looked to be doing a great trade in lunches, cakes and vegetables, Arun was kept very busy at the Green Saffron stand and our usual Mallow Farmers' Market traders were happily selling out of their smoked fish, cheese, pots of herbs and organic vegetables. It was great to meet Elke from the Dine and Wine Club and fortunately she called by to say hello at a time when we had a little lull so I had a few minutes to talk to her.

Now, back to normal life in URRU!