Crab & Asparagus Tagliatelli
Late spring into early summer you'll want to revel in two things. Firstly, our gloriously short asparagus season. Secondly, brown crab season. Frankly, these two ingredients when used at their peak are seductive bedfellows. Earthy versus sweet, the two taste profiles couldn't be more different and yet opposites attract.
The idea for this salad came one Sunday morning when I was out walking the dogs. A bright sunny and warm morning was reflected in the hedgerows showing off their display of colours and every shade of green imaginable.
A couple of weeks ago, I placed an order with the Wild Irish Foragers and Preservers for some of their amazing syrups: Gorse Flower, Rosehip (excellent for everything including keeping away the sniffles) and Elderberry Syrups. As with many things like this that I buy, I am purchasing more out of curiosity than anything else! A phase of experimentation will always follow with much excitement!
I may be slightly biased but I like to think that I do holidays really well (yes, that may be the sound of distant horns blowing). Recently Mr Flavour and I set sail to Barcelona for the first time and we had a really great time. Famed for its shopping and eating opportunities, Barcelona is a busy bustling city packed with art, culture and a love of eating and socialising but sadly also a troubling propensity for petty crime.
Here's a thing you should know about me. I LOVE custard, in any shape or form it may come in. Crème Anglaise; proper custard; custard slices, Portuguese custard tarts; banana's and custard (favourite comfort food ever) or just simply a beautiful egg custard tart. Anyway it comes to me, I will happily devour.
Does anyone actually know what the name of the song is that tells us she likes Piña Colada and getting caught in the rain? Much less who sings it? But we all know it, well the chorus anyway, majestically sung out when someone orders it at a bar.
As it happens, I’ve never been a massive fan of potatoes. Shock horror. I blame my childhood. Endless evenings watching mum peeling and boiling spuds – the floury kind that stuck to the roof of your mouth. The worst kind being the “first earlies” that would be steamed and eaten in their skins with only butter making them palletable.
In January every year we ditch the heavy sauces, rich dishes and heavy carbs for a much lighter way of dining altogether. It's a month that is screaming out for cleansing, fresh, zingy flavours. Reducing the meat (or using lighter alternatives) and really packing in the fish. Plenty of veggies, raw and cooked and swapping spuds for rice and noodles. Each time we do this, we try something new.
Well, Christmas is almost upon us but maybe you are planning more than just the Christmas dinner when it comes to dining this year? A pre Christmas party maybe? Or a bracing walk on St Stephen's / Boxing Day? Tasty ways to use up delicious leftovers maybe?
It's not often that I can get my hands on the tantalising wild venison hand cured salami from the amazing Gubbeen Farmhouse, expertly made by the hands of Fingal Ferguson in the sleepy West Cork village of Schull (pronounced Skull). I remember the first time I came across it.
I fear I can barely contain my excitement about the fact that it is finally full-blown squash season once more! Yes, yes I know…it's all a bit "drama, drama" but genuinely, if autumn is my favourite food season, then the Squash is sitting pretty, right at the top of my pile of food loves, wearing a crown and winking!
Drive around the highways and by-ways this time of year around any part of Ireland and you'll spy fields bursting with sweetcorn ripening. No truer herald for the end of summer and the start of autumn is there than the start of sweetcorn season.
