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Probably where it all began…

Posted on March 20, 2015July 2, 2020 by flavourie

I was gutted that I didn’t have the nerve to get up on the platform and tell everyone there about my first cookbook and how it probably was where my love of cooking first began. But then it occurred to me that I could just as easily tell everyone about my first cookbook from the comfort of my very own blog!

This is my first ever cookbook…just look at those…erm “graphics”!….

…well, I say mine but it actually belonged to my sister who was given it as a Christmas present in 1980 by a lady called Eileen. At some point ownership passed to me as I had scrawled inside the front cover that the book was now the property of Katy Giles, in all my backward-facing-letters handwriting. I’ve come a long way in the past six months!

I have some very distinct memories associated with cooking and spending time in the family kitchen, and none more so than the memory of my sister walking me through the recipe for making “Fruit Jelly” (buy jelly, add hot water and tinned fruit; leave by an open window to cool and set….woah, difficult or what?!) or disparing at my lack of knife skills which meant that I always made a complete hash of taking the tops off of the small sponge cakes that would be transformed into Fairy Cakes – my sister doing it perfectly every time, but then she is six years older than me! Or the feeling of utter accomplishment at making my first ever Spanish Omelette and it tasty pretty darn tootin’ – even though today I would make sure it had generous amounts of picante chorizo, lashings of fresh flat leaf parsley and topped off with manchego cheese – none of which were readily available in 1980’s south Bristol!

As soon I returned home from litfest, I took my lovely book from the book shelf and rummaged through the pages and as I did so I was struck by just how many distant memories came flooding back. All books have the power to evoke nostlagic memories but to me, no book genre is more evocative than a cookbook and the memories it can attach to food; a place or time. I also noticed that on re-reading the recipes most of them sound god awful now and I wouldn’t ever be making them again; but that doesn’t mean that I will ever be letting go of this book! Instead I shall place it proudly back on its shelf nestled in amongst the other really rather grown up and serious cookbooks. It made me think that my “My Fun to Cook Book” is quite a lot like me really: quite silly but nestled all in amongst the grown ups!

Before I leave you to ponder your own first / worst / favourite cookbooks and the memories that will come with, I will share with you the most used recipe of all (judging by the condition of the pages): Fruit Jelly….

Enjoy!

Super Quick & Tasty Chicken Goujons

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

Mondays hey….who’d have ’em? Well it turns out no matter what, there’s no avoiding them so we may as well just tackle them head on!

I am always looking for something tasty and quick to eat on a Monday, mainly because my tastebuds are still hungover from the weekend but I generally am lacking motivation to cook anything too taxing. So on Monday’s I raid my memory for a quick and tasty treat. On this particular Monday I went for good old Chicken Goujons! But not the cheap and nasty ones ready made from the chiller cabinet, but rather homemade from scratch with only a fraction of the calories of the shop bought ones by substituting oil thirsty breadcrumbs with a light dusting of semolina grain instead. Aside from the benefits of less fat and of course knowing exactly what you are putting on your dinner plate, there is also the added benefit of being able to change the flavours in the semolina mix to whatever you fancy or to go with whichever accompaniements you choose. The recipe below is for the classic combo of chicken with lemon and tarragon.

Please note: I am most definitely NOT talking about the wet semolina you get out of tin, but rather the grain form which can be found in the baking ailse!

Ingredients (serves 2 people):
Two skinless chicken breasts
A handful of semolina powder/grain
Freshly ground black pepper; sea salt flakes (to taste)
1 tsp of dried tarragon
Zest of one lemon
1 egg whisked (optional)
1 tblsp of olive oil.
Method:
Slice the back piece off of the chicken fillet, and then slice the rest of the fillet in three strips lengthways, and then slice each piece diagonally across. This should result is apx 7 goujon pieces per fillet.
Mix the semolina, tarragon, lemon zest, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Whisk the egg in another bowl on its own (optional, you can do this without the egg – the coating will be thinner but will still taste great – personally I switch between using the egg and not!)
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat until very hot. Don’t put it on max high heat otherwise the chicken pieces will burn when you put them in the pan before cooking in the middle.
When the oil is hot enough, take the chicken and (if you are using the egg) dip the chicken in the egg mix and then coat in the semolina mix.
Place each piece in the pan – do this quickly in succession so that the chicken will all cook and be ready at the same time.
Do not move the chicken in the pan for the first 2 – 3 minutes or until when turning the semolina turns a nice golden colour. Turn and cook for the same amount of time on the other side.
After 6-7 minutes in total, give all chicken pieces a good shake in the pan to take up as much colour as possible.
Turn out onto some kitchen towel to take off any excess oil – although this will be minimal.
Serve up on a warmed plate with whichever accompaniements you wish, and Enjoy!

Tumbler Desert #1 – Peach & Strawberry, Amaretto & Cream

Posted on March 20, 2015April 16, 2020 by flavourie

It’s amazing what you’ll come up with when you really want something sweet for after a mid-week dinner but you want it to be quick, tasty and naughty enough that you feel as though you really have had a treat! It was in this vein of thought that I started creating various different “Tumbler Deserts” and I come back to them time again.

They are so easy you can make them alongside your dinner, and the flavour combinations and possibilities are endless, not to mention a great way of using up leftover fruit from the fruit bowl! The only rule I have for making Tumbler Deserts is that they have a variety of textures and taste: a bit of crunch, a bit of sweetness and a bit of unctious loveliness usually supplied by cream or custard.

They are called Tumbler Deserts because they are served up in a standard tumbler glass – simple! Below is a recipe for a Tumbler Desert I made for after last nights’ dinner. It made me remember how lovely they are, and decided that now was a good time to introduce the world to them! Every time I make one, I’ll post it up with a number – I wonder how many I’ll get to?!

Ingredients (serves 2):
Two small handful of amaretti biscuits
Small slug of Amaretto liquer
A single square of Green & Blacks Maya Gold (spiced orange and dark chocolate)
Half a punnet of strawberries
4 very ripe peaches
1 tsp of Vanilla Bean paste
2 tblsp of brown demerara sugar
Some water
Single cream
Method:
Put the amaretti biscuits in the bottom of each tumbler (a small handful per glass) and using the bottom of a rolling pin, crush them to a fine crumb (very satisfying!)
Put a small slug of Amaretto onto of the biscuits – be careful, not too much; just enough so that when you stir the biscuit and liquer together with a spoon it gently comes together but does not melt away.
Grate the Maya Gold over the Amaretti biscuit and liquer mix – as much as you like really! Set aside.
De-stone the four peaches and place them in a small non-stick pan along with the vanilla bean paste and the brown sugar.
Cover the saucepan and put on a medium low heat. Cook gently for about 7 mins until the peaches start to break down, but still hold their shape a little.
Make sure that the caramel that will be produced from the peaches and the sugar doesn’t catch. After about 7 minutes, add in a little drop of water to the pan to deglaze the caramel and stop it from burning and add the hulled and halved strawberries.
Turn the heat down a little, and cook for another 3 minutes uncovered.
Once done, spoon the peach and strawberry mix over the amaretto biscuit mix along with the caramelised juices.
Pour over the top some single cream which should float on top of the fruit mixture, and finish off with a final flourish of grated Maya Gold.
Serve immediately, and Enjoy!

My Mum’s “Not Very Macaroni Cheese” Macaroni Cheese

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

I spent most of my childhood arguing with people that macaroni cheese wasn’t in fact just macaroni pasta and cheese sauce. Vehemently did I protest that there was meat in it and something calle “rattatoo-ee”, whatever the hell that was. It wasn’t until I was well into my 20’s that I had my first taste of what the rest of the world understands to be “Macaroni Cheese” and to be honest I didn’t rate it much at all against my mum’s version!

So over all these years I have stuck pretty darn close to my mum’s traditional recipe – wherever she got it from. The only change I have made is that I make my own cheese sauce to go on top rather than the packet Schwarz mix mum used, but to be honest for this particular dish, I would quite happilly use a three-cheese packet mix – just for the pure nostlagia of the dish.

Ingredients (serves 4 – 6 depending on appetite):
350g of organic lean minced beef
1tsp of olive oil
Half a red onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
400g tin of ratatouile (I like the Epicure brand, or of course you could make your own if you have the time)
1 green pepper, 1cm diced pieces
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bay leaf
Small bunch of fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt
Apx 200g of any kind of pasta – doesn’t have to be macaroni: Conchiglie or Fusilli work well as well.
For the cheese sauce make a basic roux and add plenty of strong cheese.
Method:
In a frying pan, brown off the beef without adding any extra oil. When browned, turn out onto some kitchen paper.
Put the pan back on the heat and add the olive oil, onion and garlic and fry until onion is soft.
Add into the pan the peppers and cherry tomatoes, bay leaf and thyme, cook for a minute or so.
Add the tin of ratatouille and the chopped tomatoes, stir and then add the beef back into the pan.
Season well with plenty of black pepper.
Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to low and cook through, stirring occassionally for about 15 minutes.
Season with a small pinch of salt at the end. You don’t need much if you are using the tinned ratatoille as there will be plenty of salt in that.
Meanwhile, put the pasta on to cook remembering to season the boiling water well. Drain when the pasta is just a little over al dente.
Make the roux, add milk and cheese and stir until combined and thickly coats the back of the spoon.
Put the grill on to high.
Pour the pasta and the meat mix into a lasagne / casserole dish and mix through.
Pour the cheese sauce on top and grate a little more cheese over the top.
Place under the grill and cook until the cheese starts to brown – personally the more “burny bits” the better! Should take about 5-8 mins.
Dish out a portion on each plate and serve with a fresh salad of salad leaves with cracked black pepper and a spritz of lemon juice.
Delve in hungrilly and Enjoy!

Green & White Veg & Goats Cheese Soup

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

Soup is great, isn’t it! It’s the perfect way of getting rid of any left over bits in your fridge whilst at the same time give you a realy boost of vitamins and flavour. They can be as gourmet, comforting, zen, healthy (or not) as you choose them to be!

The recipe below came as an idea when I had friends over for a sunday roast and had, as usual, made way too much! I had quite a lot of left over broccoli, green cabbage, cauliflower and peas. As the thought of throwing away this pefectly usable vegetable mix was beyond comprehension, I set about having a think about what I could do with it to turn it into something even tastier!

There are always lots of options with left over veg; bubble and squeak being the most obvious of course. But I decided instead to go for a soup and add the twist of a mild goats’ cheese to go with it to excite the taste buds. If you have loads of leftover cooked veg, this recipe will take you all of about 10 minutes to make. Add on another 10 if you have to steam the veg from scratch – but even so, this is not a time extensive exercise at all and if you love veg and cheese you will thank me for this recipe!!

Ingredients:
Apx 1 kilo of steam cooked veg. (Quantities vary: less veg = less cheese and so on).
150g of mild goats cheese (choose something with a smooth texture and milky flavour; you don’t want too much sourness coming from the cheese)
1 gelly vegetable stock cube made up with 1 ltr of hot water
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
If you haven’t some left over veg; prepare your veg and steam cook for 10-15 minutes until very tender. Don’t boil the veg otherwise you will lose flavour and it will taste watery.
Meanwhile, boil the kettle and make up the 1 ltr of vegetable stock from the gelly.
When the veg is cooked, place into a blender and give it a quick wizz just to break it down to make room for the other ingredients.
Add in the 1 litre of stock and crumble in the goats cheese.
Blitz under very smooth. If the consistency is too thick, add more water.
Add lots of freshly ground black pepper to your own personal taste.
No need to add extra salt as there will have been plenty during the cooking of the veg and the stock gelly.
If eating immediately, transfer into a pan and heat through til bubbling.
Serve with a garnish of crumbled goats cheese and a parsley leaf.
If freezing, portion off into bags or tubs and allow to cool completely before placing in the freezer. This soup will happily keep in a freezer for a couple of months.
When eating from frozen, take it out of the freezer and place in a fridge to defrost for max 24 hours. Place in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Simmer for a few minutes until piping hot and serve immediately.
…and Enjoy!

Beetroot and Feta Salad

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

This is a lovely summery salad that accompanies BBQ meats and fish equally well. It’s really quick and simple to put together but tastes aromatic from the fennel seed and zingy from the chilli. There is a very obvious nod to the greek and turkish food traditions here.

Ingredients (serves 4-6 as an accompaniement):
1 pack of pre-cooked beetroot, cut in 1cm cubes
200g of good quallity Feta cheese, cut into 1cm cubes
1tsp of fennel seeds, roasted and crushed
Half a red chilli (seeds taken out)
1 tblsp on sunflower seeds
A good handful of parsely
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Malden smoked sea salt
Method:
Cut the Feta into 1cm cubes and place in a serving bowl.
Cut the beetroot into 1cm cubes and add to the feta.
Toast the fennel seeds lightly in a dry pan, crush them in a pestle and mortar and add to the dish.
Finely chop the chilli and add.
Sprinkle over the sunflower seeds.
Finely chop the parsely and add.
Grind fresh black pepper and add the smoked sea salt to taste.
Add a lug of extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly.
Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Tip:

Toasting the fennel seeds before crushing helps to release the beautiful oils in the seed and therefore add to the depth of flavour in the dish.
Store in an airtight container and this salad will last max two days in a fridge.

What to do with Leftover BBQ Sausages?

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

We’ve all been there…a great BBQ was had by all, but there was too much food bought/brought and nobody ate as much as they thought they could handle, and as a result you have been left with a load of cooked sausages. What to do with them? There’s only so many sausage sandwiches one can eat after all! Well, I can help you out of your conundrun!

The recipe below is a variation of a “Pasta al Forno” dish that was published in Olive Magazine in 2013. I have included a note after this recipe on how to make the original which is also yummy and appears regularly in my repertoire for fast, tasty weekday food!

Ingredients (serves 2-4, depending on appetite!):

Cooked sausages (enough for two per adult) cut lengthways and quartered
1tsbp of fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic
2-4 dried chilli pods (depending on your need for heat!)
2 tblsp of tomato puree
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 large / 2 small red bell peppers
1 tblsp of fresh chopped rosemary (if you only have dried use 1/2 tblsp)
50g pasta per person
Some cheese for grating over: Pecorino / Parmesan / Gran Padano etc
Freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt to season
Method:

Place a pan of salted water on the heat for the pasta.

Dry roast the fennel seeds slightly for a few minutes, careful not to burn them.
Pop the fennel seeds, chilli pods and garlic in a pestle and mortar and bash together.
Heat a small lug of olive oil in a frying pan to a medium heat and pop in the fennel/chili/garlic mix. Cook off for a couple of minutes.
Add the tomato puree and mix in with the aromatics; cook out for a minute or two.
Add in the tinned tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile prepare you red peppers by deseeding, taking out the pith and cutting into roughyl 2cm pieces. Add to the pan and stir.
Add in your chopped sausages, turn the heat down and cook through until bubbling.
If the sauce becomes a little dry, add some water a little at a time. I use the tomato tin to get any left over tomato juice as well.
Place the pasta in to the boiling water. In the picture below I have used wholewheat pasta, but any pasta you have will do as long as it’s not the miniature stuff!
Chop the rosemary and add to the sausage mix along with a decent grind of fresh black pepper and some sea salt to season. Stir and cook through.
Drain the pasta. Check the sausage mix for seasoning and adjust if necessary.
Pour the sausage mix into the pasta; mix together and serve immediately on warmed plates.
Grate over a generous amount of the cheese and serve with a simple leaf salad with lemon dressing to freshen the palate.
And Enjoy….!

NOTE:

The original recipe in Olive Magazine is for Rigatoni al Forno. Using pretty much the same ingredients but with fresh, high meat content sausages (I like to use Gubeen Italian Sausages to enhance the fennel seed and garlic flavours) and rigatoni pasta the following method would apply:

Deskin the sausages and place into a medium hot pan, cooking and breaking down the sausages as you go with the wooden spoon.
Then add the aromatic mix above with the rosemary; tinned tomatoes and puree, cook through. Add salt and pepper at the end.
Cook the rigatoni. Mix the pasta and meat mix together and place in a lasagne disj (or similar).
Grate 100g of Gran Padano over the top and then grill until the cheese melts and browns.
Al Forno literally means “from the fire” and this is where this dish is served straight from the grill / oven etc straight to the table still all hot and bubbling. People then help themselves!

Allison and the Chocolate Factory

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

There are many lovely things about living in West Cork. As a food-obsessed “blow-in” all my Christmases come at once living here, every day of the year! So imagine my utter delight to hear how Allison Roberts, founder and master chocolatier of Clonakilty Chocolate ( www.clonakiltychocolate.com ), was launching a crowd-funding initiative to open the first ever Irish Bean-to-Bar fully fairtrade and ethical chocolate factory right here in Clonakilty! If ever there was a band-wagon worth jumping on, this was it right here for me!

So off I went to her IndieGoGo page and made my contribution/donation. A day later I received an invitation by e-mail to her official launch party to be held at one of my favourite spots in Clonakilty right now, The Winery, in Asna Square. An invitation that included no less, a free glass of prosecco and some of her wonderful hand made truffles. With the summer surprising everyone and finally arriving at full volume, the thought of imbibing some fizz and indulging in chocolate with friends as the sun went down after work was just the kind of vision of heaven I was willing to grab and run with.

“Hi Allison, I’m Kate” I said nervously – something I didn’t need to be as she herself was clearly bubbling with a mix of nervous excitement that made me look positively zen! “Hi Kate” she said, “drink some prosecco, have a read of this and enjoy”. Awesome.

Asking if she had a site in mind, she told me that the funding was for equipment mainly and that she was in the process of building a purpose built extension at the back of her house where she currently handmakes all her own chocolates. “After that, we will see how things go. I have lots of sites in mind – there are plenty of options which is great because one of my main things is that I want to be able to either walk or cycle to my place of work. I really want it to be in the heart of Clonakilty; it has to be authentically local. With Clonakilty Black Pudding announcing that they are also ‘coming home’ it seems like the time is right to finally begin putting Clonakilty on the map as a proper foodie town”.

I said that this was the most exciting prospect for Clonakilty I had heard for a while, and that she must be buzzing with excitement at the prospect. “It’s like Allison and the Chocolate Factory” I said.

At which point I hastely took a couple of snappy snaps and was handed a plate of truffles. The queue behind me for fizz, chocolate and donations was growing to I retreated outside to the sunshine and to eat some chocolate – it was, afterall, why I had come! Mmmmm, sea salted rich dark chocolate pieces…..MMMmmmmm cinnamon dusted dark chocolate truffles….MMMMMMMMmmmm dark chocolate dipped locally grown strawberries, beautiful in all their bumpy, juicy loveliness. The wine was good too…hic!

What a success. What a continued success it should be. It has, literally, all the right ingredients including and most importantly, a vehemently passionate artisan food producer…and she’s right here on our doorstep.

So go on, click on the link below and donate to her fund. You can even choose a perk to be delivered in 2015 when the factory is up and running. It is the quintessential win-win situation. Money for Chocolate – makes sense to me.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/clonakilty-chocolate-is-going-bean-ananas

Street Feast 2014 : Waking up a Sleepy Village

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

Last Sunday 15th June 2014 was national Street Feast day. Local communities and groups coming together for a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon as a way of reconnecting in a fun and relaxing way with their immediate neighbours.

We are all guilty of it I am sure. Too busy and caught up in the hurly burly of every day life to stop and chat with our neighbours for very long. It never used to be this way, if we are to believe the stories of the older generations; and if so, why and when did it all change and, more importantly, why did we let the change happen?

I am not a native to the village that I live in. The poetic Irish term for this is “blow-in”. I happen to like this description of my origins as this makes me sound like a wandering traveller from far distant lands. I’m not; I’m from Bristol, but I still like to hold onto this romantic vision. However, when you are not originally from a place it can be difficult to connect with the people around you, and as we get older it becomes more difficult to make new friends and connections that have some kind of permanency about them.

I heard about Street Feast three years ago but, despite my experience of organising events, I felt too daunted by the prospect of putting myself out there to talk to people I didn’t know about this event and get the interest up. I was shy. And I got stage fright. Fast forward three years later, and via a friend, Street Feast came into my consciousness again. My next door neighbour (a fellow “foreigner”) also said she would like to get involved. Afterall, seven years in the village and she knew just a very small handful of people.

We gave ourselves two months to organise the event, which in typical West Cork fashion, meant we got everything sorted in the last two weeks – nothing like an impending deadline to give you a kick up the backside!

We spent almost nothing. Everything was donated or loaned: tables, brighly coloured oil cloths; chairs, gazebo’s, first aid kits; hand sanitizer; plastic cups, cutlery and plates; traffic cones, bunting and balloons. The DJ lent us his time and his kit for free. Everyone brought their own BBQ for our BYOBBQ Zone. We had a kids play area. And, most importantly, everyone brought something to eat, drink and to share.

Is it not a truth universally acknowledged that nothing brings people together more than food? Food and drink? Food, Drink and Fire (especially Fire if you are a man; with a beer in hand).

The range of food on offer was exceptional. Everyone went to such effort bringing homemade cakes, pastries, pizza’s; beautifully marinaded chicken; sausages, burgers; fresh bread and zesty salads. It was a delight to see that there was such effort given to the preparation of the food to share. Care and attention; wanting to provide something tasty and enjoyable. The power of our sense of taste is undeniable – if our mouths are happy then so are we; and so we chat and we make friends and arrange play dates for the kids and schedule a night to pop round with a bottle of wine and a catch up.

In the end, it wasn’t so difficult afterall. We made time for each other, and the rest followed naturally. Everyone wants the Street Feast to return next year; and more events during the year for the benefit of the people in the village too.

“Why didn’t we do this sooner?” “This was a great idea!” “I didn’t know what to expect, but I love it!” “This is what the community needs.”

And that was how the sleepy village of Ballygurteen woke itself up again one sunny, happy Sunday afternoon.

Oh, Give me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

Sometimes I get a whimsical thought in my head and when I do I hop in my car and off I drive. I always have a destination in mind, but I’m never particularly bothered about how long I’m going to be or what route I’ll take to get there. I figure that there may be something else to see along the way. Sunday just gone, I decided to head off to Toonsbridge Dairy. Or is that Toon’s Bridge or just Toons Bridge. I don’t know. But I felt I needed to go and anyway they sold coffee and cake so anything else was going to be a bonus!

Actually, Toonsbridge (I’ll stick with this version of the spelling) is a mere 25 minutes drive door to door. What bliss! This means that if I miss the market in Clonakilty on Friday, I can pop over to Toonsbridge which is closer than going to the English Market in Cork City. Also, what I didn’t expect is what could be the world’s smallest delicatessen shop. It is tiny, barely fits 5 people and two of those are staff! The kinda place where browsing is a luxury so you should either do one of two things; 1. prepare a list of things you want or 2. ask. I went with Option 2 and was rewarded with a lovely cappuccino and a slice of gluten free ginger and lemon drizzle bundt cake – made with ground almonds. It had it all going on.

Now, I went in knowing that I wanted cake and a coffee – bingo. I also purchased some of their dolmades, their devine sun blushed tomatoes and a packet of Bresaola. Now, let us talk cheese.

Toonsbridge Dairy is of course part of The Real Olive Co; but what they are renowned for is their Buffalo Mozzarella. This devine milky mouthful of unctiousness was where it all started, with properly fresh Buffalo milk. In order to do this, one must have a herd of Buffalo to hand. “But, you’re in West Cork” I hear you cry; “We’re not Home on the Range, you know”. All of which are true, but if you drive over Toon Bridge (see another spelling, tut!), hang a left and drive for about a kilometer, there they are in all their horned glory.

They are magnificent creatures; munching on West Cork grass in West Cork as opposed to jungle, serengeti or whatever. A strange site to behold and yet they look very much at home. I conclude that they must be the world’s happiest Buffalo. How else can it be that the cheese that is produced from their rich and creamy milk tastes so darn-tootin’ fabulous.

And there is more good news. The Dairy have been busy expanding their range of Buffalo milk cheese. The Mozarella is king; but I would highly recommend their Feta and Haloumi. If you are put off by either of these cheeses from the tangyness (which I personally love), then try them made from Buffalo milk and I guarantee you will convert. I purchased some of their Buffalo milk Ricotta for a dish I am making in the week and if their other cheeses are to go by then this will be a treat too. The latest addition to the range is their Buffalo Blue. It is not a powerful knock-you-off-your-feet kind of blue but more of a rub-down-with-a-feather-duster. It is smooth, rich, creamy and milky and it is finished off beautifully by the familiar blue tang at the end. It’s a Barely Blue but tastes all the better for it because it keeps the characteristics of the Buffalo milk at its core.

As a serving suggestion, I ate a good chunk of it on rosemary crackers with some of the Bresaola and a little dribble of Filligans Spicy Plum Chutney – a little mouthful of pure heaven that I would highly recommend.

Try some. As little as a couple of Euro will get you a little slice of cheesy bliss! And, if you head down to Toonsbridge during the summer on a Friday and Saturday you might get the opportunity to try one of their new wood-fired pizza’s from the BEAST that is lurking in their garden.

As I sat there on Sunday in the sunken garden, listening to flamenco music, taking in the scent of the wood-fired oven and eating my cake and drinking my coffee, I realised that my little whim had been a fruitful one!

Warm Smoked Duck, Pomegranate and Carrot Salad

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

Summer equals salads. But then it rains a bit, and the wind starts coming from the North. But then the sun comes out again and its 100% humidity. The weather doesn’t know what it’s doing and it makes you feel like you’re not quite sure whether you should be eating something to cool you down or warm you up. A warm salad is the perfect solution!

This particular salad has a pretty special main ingredient. It’s not any old duck breast (even though that would be lovely too). Oh no, this is THE best duck meat you will get anywhere. Local? Yes. Hand reared? Yes. 100% all natural diet? Yes. Happy Ducks? Yes, yes and thrice yes! They have a better llife than me, you or most of us I’d say. Skeaghanore West Cork Duck is a delight of an ingredient. This salad is an oak-smoked duck breast which technically you can eat cold from its happy wrapper, but a gentle spice rub and a warming turns it into, I think, something extra special. It’s not the cheapest ingredient on the planet so it is to be used conservatively, but is no less packed with flavour. And anyway, I like to think that my duck has had the best possible life!

Ingredients (serves 2):
1 Skeaghanore West Cork Oak-Smoked Duck Breast
http://www.skeaghanoreduck.ie
1 tsp of ground Mixed Spice
1 tsp of ground cayenne pepper
2 medium carrots
zest of 1 orange
1 tbsp of chopped coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper and smoked sea salt
1 pomegranate
1 bag of mixed salad leaves (ideally watercress, rocket, and herby aromatic salad leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salad potatoes
Method:
Take the duck breast out of the packet and with a very sharp knife, make a criss-cross of cuts along the duck breast skin side (not deep, just enough to slice through the skin).
On to the duck breast, rub the mixed spice and cayenne pepper all over and into the knife marks.
Place the breast skin side down into a cold frying pan, and turn on the heat to medium-low.
Place the salad potatoes onto boil in some salted water.
Grate the two carrots. Set aside into a bowl and grate into it the zest of the orange and add in the ground cumin, chopped coriander, a good grinding of black pepper and season with the smoked sea salt. Pour over 1tsp or so or Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Mix well together (I find its best using my hands); taste to check seasoning and adjust according to your pallet.
On two dinner plates, arrange the salad leaves.
Check the duck breast. If there is colour on the skin, turn it over to heat through from the other side too.
Cut the pomegranate into quarters. Take one quarter for each plate and knock out the seeds with a spoon (or pop them out using your hands) over the salad leaves.
Arrange the carrot salad in a rough line through the centre of the salad on each plate.
Check the duck again, and turn it over again for final colouring of the skin. Turn the heat down slightly (if cooking with gas) or off altogether (if cooking with electric) so the duck continues to warm through without buring the skin.
Check that the potatoes are cooked and drain. Set aside.
Take the duck out of the pan, and slice it in thin diagonal strips. The duck should not be hot, merely warmed through. Arrange the strips on each plate on top of the carrot salad.
Take the last two quarters of the pomegranate for each plate, knock a few more seeds out over the duck and then squeeze the pomegranate for the juice. It doesn’t need to be swimming in juice, but you want to be able to tell it’s there too!
Finally finish off the dish with a final flourish of black pepper and about 1tsp of extra virgin olive oil over each salad plate.
Place a few salad potatoes on the side of the salad, so as not to wilt the leaves, and serve immediately!

Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote

Posted on March 20, 2015April 17, 2020 by flavourie

As a child, I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where we made the best possible use of our garden. This included quite a large fruit and vegetable garden that was about 50ft long by the width and a little bit more of our 1950’s end of terrace house. This meant that all year round we had access to fresh and seasonal fruit and veg.

My sister and I were taught how to know when things were ripe for picking – a cunning way to deploy child labour. We learned early on what it meant to have a “glut” of something and also that this meant learning to be very creative to disguise the fact that we were having different versions of the same thing every day!

One such fruit that we always had a ridiculous glut of was gooseberries. Or, if you are blessed with a Bristolian accent like me, Guzbrizz. Small, round, green, hairy and tart. I feckin loathed them by the time I moved out of our family home. Never really touched a gooseberry since; except for recently when, as part of my #foodieproject2014* I find myself searching everywhere for green gooseberries. They have fallen a tad out of fashion apparently, and so this is why they are difficult to come by, unless of course you grow your own. But I had to get some because I also had spotted a load of wild growing Elderflower and in the spirit of keeping going with my #foodproject2014 I had to make Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote and defeat was not an option!

Cue panic buying gooseberries in the one place I could find them locally followed by a spot of ditch climbing and tree jostling to be able to harvest the Elderflower. Having just the right amount of both in my possession I made the compote. Quite a lot of it as it turns out and, contrary to my childhood memories, actually really quite delicious! It was clear I was going to have to think about what I could do with it all! So below is the very very easy recipe for Green Gooseberry and Elderflower Compote (courtesy of “The Festive Food of Ireland”, by Darina Allen) and some suggestions below for what to do with it all once you’ve made it – all delicious options!

Ingredients:
900g / 2lb green gooseberries, topped and tailed and washed.
3 Elderflower heads (decent size).
450g / 1lb white granulated sugar
575ml / 1pint of cold water
Method:
Put the elderflower head in a stainless steel pan, add the sugar and cover with water.
Bring slowly to the boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes.
Add the gooseberries and simmer just until the fruit bursts.
Remove the Elderflower heads.
Either decant into sterilised jars or set aside to cool for use straight away in any of the following ways.

Cakes
Mix the compote with whipped cream and use as an alternative filling in a sponge cake.
Fool
Mix the compote with lightly whipped cream and vanilla custard.
Decant into a serving glass / bowl and grate good quality white chocolate over the top (I suggest Green & Blacks)
Mess
Mix the compote with whipped cream, a little vanilla bean paste and crushed meringue nests.
Serve with a dusting of crushed ginger nut biscuits over the top.
Pavlova Topping
Use the compote mixed in with whipped cream, icing sugar and a little vanilla bean paste and spread over the top of a cooked meringue. Reserve a little of the compote to dot on the top of the whipped cream mixture.
Crumble Filling
Decant the compote filling into either one large pie dish or several smaller ramekins.
Make a crumble topping using oats and chopped pecan nuts mixed with a little ground ginger, muscovado sugar and some unsalted butter. Drizzle maple syrup over the top.
Bake in the oven until the fruit is piping hot and the topping is toasted and golden brown.
As an Accompaniement to Oily Fish
The sweet tartness of the gooseberries will cut through the rich oilyness of fish such as Mackerel and Herring.
It would also be a great accompaniement with fresh poached River / Rainbow Trout, served hot or cold.
Serve the compote cold with these dishes.

*#foodieproject2014 is my attempt at cooking my way through a book of Irish traditional dishes and their link to the seasons and festivals in Ireland. It is a book I picked up a couple of years ago from a second hand bookshop in Clonakilty. I’m about a third of the way through it and this recipe above is actually in relation to May Day but is delayed due to the fact that the gooseberries were not available to buy anywhere until now!

Probably where it all began…

Kate Ryan