Brandy butter cookies recipe - an excellent solution to using up this Christmas leftover

Every year after Christmas I discover a tub of brandy butter lurking in the back of my fridge.  And every year I end up throwing it out, as it has gone rancid.  This year I left the bowl out to remind myself to think of something to do with it.  Then on Twitter last night several people mentioned that they too end up throwing their brandy butter away.

I started thinking about recipes and Googled a few including brandy snaps but being a lazy cook they didn't appeal.  Then I saw a recipe for brandy butter cookies.  When I woke next morning someone had actually tweeted me the same idea.  But I was ahead and had already bookmarked a recipe.

I have probably mentioned that I never follow a recipe verbatim. I always feel I have to make it mine and change something.  So here is my take on the recipe I found.

Brandy butter is usually a 50:50 mix of butter and icing sugar so weigh how much you have left over.

Brandy Butter Cookie Recipe

200g butter in total (so if you have a 100g of brandy butter use 150g of plain butter and add to your brandy butter)
180g golden granulated sugar (or 130g minus your 100g of leftover brandy butter consisting of 50g icing sugar)
2 large eggs
250g plain flour
35g dried cranberries
50g dark chocolate pieces or drops

Beat your butter and sugar and brandy butter together.  Add in eggs one by one and continue to beat.  Sieve in flour and stir into mixture.  Add cranberries and your chocolate.

Cut a large square of greaseproof paper and spoon the cookie mixture out onto it.

Roll up dough in the greaseproof like a Christmas cracker and twist the edges as in picture.  Refrigerate until it has hardened.

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C and line a baking tray and grease.  Slice the dough to required thickness and place on the baking sheet.  Bake in oven for about 10 minutes or until golden.  Remove and cool on a wire rack.

I used ordinary dark chocolate which burnt slightly so it would be better to use chocolate drops.  There was very little taste of brandy so if you prefer a kick then add some and increase the quantity of flour if necessary. 

Yield 2 dozen cookies.

The cookie dough can be frozen and it will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Bûche de Noël - delicious Christmas recipe for a chocolate Yule log

Chocolate Bûche de Noël

Bûche de Noël is traditionally made in France for Christmas.  When I managed a French artisan bakery it was Christophe's specialty and he used to make three flavours, chocolate, coffee and a white chocolate and raspberry.  Hotels and restaurants loved to order them for a centre piece.

I have to be honest and admit I had never made one until now but I used to watch Christophe making them. 

Chocolate Bûche de Noël

The first thing to make is the crème au beurre or buttercream.

Crème au beurre

125g unsalted butter
1 egg and 1 egg yolk (reserve the white)
87g sugar
25g water
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of rum

Soften and whisk the butter in one bowl.  In another bowl whisk the eggs and stand aside.
Measure out the sugar and water accurately and place in a small pan with a sugar thermometer. Dissolve the sugar and then heat until you reach 121 degrees C.  If you are using a heavy based Le Creuset pan for example remove from heat when you hit 120 degrees as the temperature will continue to rise.  Cool to 110 degrees.  Continue to whisk the eggs adding the cooled sugar syrup in a steady stream.  Continue whisking for another few minutes.  Add this mixture to your whipped butter.  Add in cocoa powder and rum and place in fridge to stiffen up.

For the sponge

4 eggs and the reserved egg white
140g sugar
100g flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Line a swiss roll tin with baking parchment and grease it with a knob of melted butter. Mine was 36 x 25cm or 14 x 10 inches but you can use a bigger one to get a thinner sponge which makes rolling it easier. 

Pre-heat your oven to 170 deg C or 160 if fan assisted.

Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and place over a saucepan of water.  Put the heat on under the pan and bring to a gentle simmer all the time whisking the eggs and sugar.  When it turns thick and creamy and you can write on the mixture with your whisk and it remains visible for a few seconds it is done. 

Sieve in your flour and cocoa powder and gently fold in with a metal spoon.  Pour the mixture into the tin and tilt the tin to move the mixture into the corners. 

Place on the bottom shelf in the oven and bake until it springs back to a gentle touch for 25-35 minutes.  Place a damp tea towel on a board and slide the sponge out of the tin onto it.  Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to cool.

When it is cool spread the buttercream gently all over it with a pallet knife or a spatula.  Cut a line about 1cm in along the shorter side and fold this over and start to roll from here using the greaseproof paper to guide it into a tight roll. 

Set aside and prepare your ganache to cover the log.

Ganache
250g dark chocolate or half and half dark and milk if you don't like it too bitter
100ml cream

Break up the chocolate pieces into the cream in a heavy based pan and put on a gentle heat until the chocolate starts to melt. Stir until it all melts and then set aside to cool.  When it is the right consistency to spread cover the sponge and make marks in it to resemble a log.  Decorate and serve.

For the coffee flavour replace the cocoa powder with 2 teaspoons of coffee liquid extract.  For the white chocolate add 75g of melted white chocolate to the buttercream and make a white chocolate ganache as above to cover.

Candied peel - making your own to give those warm citrus notes to your Christmas baking

Candied peel

Candied peel is what gives Christmas baking it's warm citrussy notes. What you buy rarely compares to what you can make yourself at home and it's really easy.

Last year I made loads and put it in pretty jars and gave to family and friends as an early Christmas present.  I juice oranges every morning for breakfast and to build up a supply of peel I save the orange shell and put in a plastic bag in the fridge.  You can use lemon and lime as well and just freeze the juice if you don't want to waste it.

Read more Christmas stories here

Recipe
Orange, lemon and lime peel
Sugar syrup made of 2:1 ratio sugar to water. (600mg sugar : 300ml water)

When you have a decent quantity of peel, usually 8 oranges and 4 lemons and limes. Remove the skin of the orange or fruit leaving a decent amount of pith (the soft white spongy stuff).  Put in a saucepan with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and water to just cover.  Bring to boil and simmer until the peel is tender.   Be careful as they will soften at different times. Just whip out the ones cooked first with a tongs.  Drain and cool. 

Make up your sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water and bringing to the boil.  Place the peel pieces in and lower heat to simmer until almost all of the sugar syrup has been absorbed.  Lift out your pieces of peel and place on a wire rack on top of a flat metal tray covered with foil or baking paper.  Place in a warm, dry place overnight until dry.  Do not throw out the rest of your sugar syrup.  Next day re-heat syrup and dip peel into it and place back on rack for more drying.  When completely dry, store in jars in a warm dry place.

When you want to use it, just cut to size and add to mincemeat, puddings and fruit cakes.  The taste is spectacular and really noticeable in a Christmas cake in particular.

Her shell - Sausage the pig's journey from the farm to the butchers

Rasher getting to know little pig

The day came I was dreading and to be honest I didn't know if I could go through with it. Sausage the pig had reached weight far quicker than I had anticipated.  The decision was made, the help organized, the abattoir arranged and the butcher lined up.

This is what I had traipsed up and down the lane for; everyday, in wind and rain and that was just the summer; to feed her.  She had been fed the best - rolled barley, fruit and vegetables and potatoes.  She had had fresh air, space to run and root and a lovely big deep bed of straw to sleep in when it was cold or wet.  She had a better life than the vast majority of pigs on the planet.

I had the help of a neighboring farmer and a friend who is also a farmer. Neither had any experience of pigs, just cattle and sheep.  They assured me we would load her easily. In the end we did, but I think they were surprised at her strength when she knocked the gate out of their hands they were holding onto, to block her escape.  The trailer was pushed into the shed beside her sister and she was left overnight to calm down.

The next day I followed the trailer in my car. I felt as if I was part of a funeral procession.  In a way I was.

Read more news and stories on Irish food here

The abattoir is a small one and he had almost finished a consignment of pigs when we arrived.  The smell was all embracing - it seemed to settle in a gelatinous layer on me.   The screams of the pigs were blood curdling and I glanced at Sausage who had shrunk down into the corner of the trailer, fear in her eyes. 

She was unloaded and pushed into the shoot.

I was heartbroken.

I drove home and decided to go and pick up the other pig immediately to get the experience out of my mind.

Little pig is a an eight week old male Saddleback.  He has settled in now, but initially he wouldn't eat as he was scared of a bucket.

Next day I went back to the abattoir to collect the carcass and take it to the butcher.  To my surprise I didn't feel anything. What was carried out was her shell, Sausage was gone.  The relief was enormous and I know now I will have no difficulty eating her.

Everyone said to me it will get easier but I hope it never does.  It should be difficult.

Days in November and baking for Christmas - mincemeat recipe for perfect traditional mince pies

Delicious Christmas mince pies

A typical November day, cold but not freezing, some sprinkles of rain after a deluge the night before, slightly grey but with a hint of sun trying to squeeze through. Christmas baking and lots of past November days floated into my mind.  Funny what acts as a trigger.

Memories of stirring the pudding in one of those big mustard yellow ceramic bowls with the creamy interior.  The youngest in the family stirred last, made a wish and was sworn to secrecy.

The smell of the cake baking, the newspaper wrapped around it singeing and giving off that distinctive smell. (Both my mother and grandmother did this to stop the cake burning at the edges and not baking evenly.)

A warm kitchen slightly steamy but full of glorious promise.  The excitement of the countdown.

I continued on the tradition with my children in the hope that they will continue it with theirs.

Most of the joy of Christmas is the anticipation; but why have all the Christmas baking for just one day or just the week?  Why not enjoy it when you will really appreciate it?  Make some mince pies with delicious homemade mincemeat.


Mincemeat Recipe 

75g dates stoned and chopped
250g currants
250g raisins
250g sultanas
75g cherries
100g candied peel
75g chopped almonds
75g unsulphured dried apricots chopped
4 tablespoons of brandy
150g butter
1 large cooking apple grated
zest and juice of an orange and lemon
150g muscovado sugar
some freshly grated nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves

Mix all the ingredients with the melted butter and cover. Leave in a large bowl overnight somewhere cool.  Next day spoon into clean jam jars and cover tightly.

If you don't like a particular ingredient leave it out or substitute with something else. 

This quantity will give you 3-4 large (500g) jars, enough to keep a couple for next year.
 
Using a sweet shortcrust pastry, cut out discs of pastry and fill with some mincemeat, cover with another disc. Dip your finger into a bowl of water and run it around the inside perimeter of the top disc. This helps seal the pastry.  Brush with beaten egg and bake in a hot oven at 180 deg until browned.  Cool and dust with icing sugar.

Everybody Cooks - cookbooks should be about real cooks and not stylized photography

Lovely photo but what IS the cake?

When R.E.M wrote their hit Everybody Hurts they could equally have called it everybody cooks judging by the amount of celebrity cook books on the market.  This market never appears to reach saturation point.  Any visit to a book shop is proof of this. 

All of these cookbooks have one thing in common - stunning, highly stylized photography.  Yes, the food is photographed, but it is in a setting with ribbons, roses and artfully placed props in the frame. Does it actually show you the food or the finished dish? Invariably not or if it does, it does so in soft focus.

I love food and I love cooking and baking but these cookbooks do nothing for me?  I have a few of them, mostly given to me as gifts.  They line a bookcase in my kitchen attracting grease and dust, never admiring glances.  Sometimes I try to find the information I require but more often than not I fail.  Instead I prop up my laptop on the work surface and find what I require on the internet or revert to my tried and trustable old favourites.

Ingredients and equipment

When I use a recipe, I use it as a guideline only, very often substituting ingredients and changing quantities depending on what's available.  I always like to see how the finished product is supposed to look.  For baking this means the texture, the bake, the finish.  For a dish, the consistency - is the sauce thick or thin, what the balance is between meat and vegetables. A picture of the ingredients or the equipment necessary can be useful or step by step photos of the methods used.


Two of my old trustables were published over forty years ago and I still frequently use and reference them.  One has no photos just some little ink sketches, the other has a few photos.  Both use imperial measures.  The recipes always work and I wonder is this because they were written by cooks who knew what they were talking about.  

I wish publishers would start to publish cook books again, written by real cooks and not celebrity chefs, and I use the word chef in the loosest sense of the word. Many of these so called chefs would run screaming out of a professional kitchen. I yearn for a real book written by a real cook and not a celebrity famous for what they look like or who their spouse is.

Ireland's Brighton -- The fashionable seaside resort of Bray filled with bars and culinary treats

Bray

Less than 13 miles from the centre of Dublin is Ireland's original seaside resort.  Bray is a fine town straddling the Dublin Wicklow border. In 1854 the railway was built out as far as, what had been up to this, a sleepy market town and thus sparked a building boom.

The town was transformed into a fashionable seaside resort and it became known as the "Brighton of Ireland".  Today there are still magnificent terraces of houses along the sea front and a lovely promenade with views up to Bray Head.  On a sunny day there is no where better to blow the cobwebs away.

Bray has really become a destination in it's own right with lots to do and see and has some fantastic bars and restaurants.  The Lonely Planet recently listed The Harbour Bar the best bar in the world.  It's cosy, quirky and full of character.  It is also a great live music venue.

There is almost a little Italy developing with restaurants, cafes, gelaterias and even a risto-market selling Italian cheese, charcuterie and coffee as well as pizza, panini, Italian breads and baked goods to eat in or take away.

Pastries and biscuits in the
risto-market

We had a lovely lunch here, the-day-after-the-night-before, a panino and a glass of  "hair of the dog" whilst watching a chef prepare ravioli for the newly relocated restaurant across the road.  Campo di fiori was originally located where the risto-market is now.  It is owned and run by an Italian couple, Marco and Laura from Rome.

There is a Farmers' market in the town every Saturday which is small, but there is an excellent vegetable and fruit stall selling all organic produce from a farm run by the Dominicans in Wicklow town.  They also sell some of their own free range organic pork, lamb and beef.

We bought really fresh fish from a selection of sea bream, hake, langoustines and sole amongst many more while bantering with the Chinese owner.  He supplies a lot of the restaurants in the town and loves to talk.

Bray has lots of little gift and coffee shops perfect for a Saturday morning browse. There are some real gems down the side streets and also some great boutiques. 

When I was a child Bray had degenerated into somewhere slightly seedy and run down. It's former grandeur reduced to has-been status.  My memory of it were dodgems and one armed bandits.  Today it has been transformed into a sophisticated, multi-cultural and cosmopolitan town and I really love spending the weekend here and return feeling as if I have really been away.

Waste not want not - throwing out food in a culture of fear

The best before on this is August 2003

Apparently we consumers throw out on average 30% of the food we buy in supermarkets to the value of €1000 a year. A pretty staggering statistic if it is multiplied by the 1.6 million households in the country. And that is just in Ireland.

I heard a discussion on the radio last evening about the subject.  The most memorable comment was that food is now viewed as something that is dangerous.  Food can poison us, make us fat, give us heart disease or diabetes.  New food safety legislation enforces this belief amongst consumers who have developed a real fear of food. 

Dates on processed food are inspected and if not compliant then the item is binned.  What has happened to common sense and instinct? How did the human race survive before refrigeration and "best before"?


The multiples sell two items for the price of one or buy two - get one free.  The one free is a cost if you end up throwing it out. 

When I was a child I grew up in a household where nothing was wasted and very little food was ever binned.  I remember my mother and grandmother casually scraping mould off jars of homemade jam and marmalade and then passing it around.  Cheese was treated similarly and items in the fridge were sniffed and then pronounced fine. 

Another comment made was that consumers don't plan.  They go grocery shopping when hungry, with small kids in tow, or race around the supermarket after work before collecting the children from the childminder.  Sorry, but having being there and done that, I don't appreciate that comment.  I was never superwoman and most people are not.  Plus it is very difficult not to be swayed by the cunning marketing of two for the price of one, especially when you are on a tight budget.

What is needed is common sense and to trust your instinct. Believe it or not the human race has evolved over time to know instinctively if something is good to eat or is potentially dangerous.  Trust your senses. Use "best before dates" and "use by" dates as a guideline.  Don't buy extra unless you can freeze it or store it. 

€1000 per household per annum is a lot of waste.

I plan on opening the can of soup pictured in August 2013 10 years after it's best before......

The "Eye" in Pig - looking your free range pig in the eye before they land on your plate

Rasher and Sausage, two rare breed Middle White pigs

"A cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal."
(Winston Churchill)

Meet Rasher and Sausage, two rare breed Middle White pigs.  They are six months old sisters.  I decided I would like to rear pigs a long time ago but it was only last June I took the plunge.  I had never reared anything to eat, although I have had hens and ducks for a good number of years and some of them found their way into a pot.

They are free to range having a walled garden to root about in.  It began as a grassy paddock but it is now mud and stones.  They have a stable to sleep in and can come and go as they please.  They are fed rolled barley, potatoes, fruit and vegetables.

Pigs remind me of small children in that they are alternately fun-loving or petulant and have very particular likes and dislikes when it comes to food.  They have a real "sweet tooth" loving strawberries, melons and grapes in particular.  This pair dislike broccoli, cabbage and turnips, kicking them out of the way.

I know it's not feasible to rear a large number of pigs like this.  They do considerably more "damage" to land than cattle or sheep.  Damage in that they root and rotate the soil so grass does not last long.  However the damage to actual soil structure is minimal and probably aids it ultimately.  In the past they were used to rotivate and fertilize a plot in advance of planting a crop.

Nowadays they are reared intensively, confined in concrete structures with no access to outdoors and unable to root.  Under EU regulations they are not allowed bedding such as straw in order to prevent the spread of disease.  Sows are confined in farrowing crates to prevent them lying on their young.

Intensively reared pork is also fed with genetically modified maize and soy.  The bacon is produced by wet curing, injected with nitrites to prevent spoilage and phosphates to absorb and retain water.  When you fry bacon and foamy white water appears on the pan this is the reason.  The meat is produced from a special breed of pig called a Landrace. The Landrace converts feed to muscle much quicker and more efficiently than the rare breed varieties.  The meat is lean and relatively tasteless due to the low fat content.

Rare breed free range pigs produce a darker coloured, richer tasting meat which contains more fat meaning it has more flavour.  They also grow more slowly taking eight to nine months to reach kill weight as opposed to five and a half for the Landrace.

When I first tasted free range pork and bacon I decided I didn't want to buy meat from intensively reared pigs anymore.  I am lucky that I have the space and the capacity to rear pigs. Because, lets face it. unless you rear your own, it is virtually impossible to buy.

I will have the satisfaction of knowing exactly what my pigs have eaten, the comfort of knowing they had a good life - living it as nature intended.  When the time comes for killing and curing, I intend to do so without phosphates and with a lower salt content than that traditionally used.

For this reason I can look my pigs in the eye.

Put the kettle on - never underestimate the importance of tea to an Irishman

Put the kettle on.  A phrase used every day in every house in Ireland.  Everyone knows it means make a cup of tea.

Are you a Barry's family or a Lyons one?  Or the new kid on the block - Campbell's?

Tea covers all ails - sympathy, encouragement, a little chat, family crises, bereavement or celebration.  What would we do without it? 

Our emigrants ask that Barry's tea is sent to them in their new homeland  but then complain it tastes different.  "It's the water" is the usual explanation. 

But tea tastes different whether you use tea bags or tea leaves.

Whether it's Barrys or Lyons or Campbells.

Whether you put the milk in first or last.

Whether you drink from a china cup or a mug.

Whether you use a tea pot or not.

The Irish drink a higher grade of tea than our neighbours in the UK.  This apparently is because, during the war the British had to make do with a cheaper blend which they then grew accustomed to, and so never changed back once the war was over.

An old favourite is a tea brack.  Often enjoyed by non-tea drinkers.  Try it out - after all it's the time for brack, coming up to Halloween.

Irish Tea Brack

Using a small loaf tin (an old fashioned 1lb tin)

1 mug of hot tea poured over 1 mug full of dried fruit (sultanas, California raisins mixed)
A handful of unsulphured dried apricots chopped (unsulphured are much nicer than the orange ones and are usually available in health food shops)
A handful of whole almonds chopped
A handful of dates chopped
Some grated nutmeg

Soak the fruit, nuts and spice in the hot tea for an hour or until the fruit has absorbed most of the liquid.  Melt 100g butter and add to the tea and fruit.  Add 75g of  brown sugar and two eggs beaten.

Fold in 150g of sieved flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.  Pour the mix into the greased tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160C for an hour approximately or until a skewer comes out clean when put in center of the cake.

This is the most forgiving cake to make, so you don't have to stress over measurements.  I often measure by eye and it always works.

Cut a big slice, butter generously and enjoy with your favorite cup of tea.

The old tradition of the Irish town butchers -- Judge your butcher on the selection of "cheap" cuts and food knowledge

Lean and red meat only in the butcher's shop

The local butcher shop used to be an integral part of every town and village in Ireland and there was usually more than one.  In Northern Ireland very often there was one for each section of the community - The Protestant butcher and the Catholic one. The butcher shop was a monitor of how affluent the town and hinterland was. 

This changed somewhat with the arrival of big multinational supermarkets, particularly in more urban areas.  When I moved to a small rural village in county Meath over 20 years ago, virtually all meat was purchased in the local butcher shops.  I live equidistant between two small villages with a border dividing them.  Despite this the butchers were brothers-in-law and shared an abattoir.   Their meat was second to none.  Then along came all the EU regulations with the subsequent abolition of local abattoirs and the meat changed beyond belief.

Carcasses arrived into the shop all but cut. Suddenly they had no feet, hocks, heads or offal. In many cases it was almost impossible to get bones.  The butcher counter became "lean" literally. The cheaper cuts disappeared.  On display were diced up uber-lean round steak pieces in place of stewing beef, strip loins at the expense of sirloin, mince without an ounce of fat, chicken breasts, loin lamb chops etc.  Fat was banished and the counter was red.

I judge the quality of a butcher shop by the selection of "cheap" cuts available and by this you have a fair idea of the food knowledge of the locals as well.  In a complete turn around, the butcher counters servicing the more affluent/food savvy populations have a better selection of cuts and it is here you will find hocks, shanks, skirts, cheeks and tongues. In "the country" you will also find them in areas where there are large immigrant populations.

In the English Market in Cork, the selection of every cut of every animal is second to none.  Tripe and drisheen are on display in almost every butcher counter.  As well as the English Market, the butcher shops in Moore Street in central Dublin have an amazing display of many old and forgotten cuts and even sell goat for the large African community.

Old cuts nestle with the battered

Cooking the cheaper cuts (it is only in Ireland they are cheap - in France they are the more expensive), requires a bit more skill, time and energy so when you analyze it in more detail they are probably not cheap.  However, they have the most flavor, the best texture and are deliciously moist.  You need to add more vegetables and herbs to make the meal, making them much more healthy than just slapping a load of protein on a barbeque.

I wish my now local butcher shops were not so boring.  I want meat with fat and bone and personality. After all it's time people woke up to the fact that fat is not the enemy we have all been led to believe.  We were rightly led up the garden path by the big food cartels in cahoots with government and even the medical profession.  We need to go back and open granny's old recipe book because in her day there was not half as much obesity, diabetes and heart disease.  They ate meat with personality because the butcher was a butcher and not a slicer.

Loving Languedoc - the Irish foodie falls for delicious tastes of France

Jarret de veau

If someone asked me to close my eyes and describe the Languedoc region of France, this is the image which comes to mind.

Plane trees (Platanus occidentalis) growing along roadsides with their very distinctive mottled cream and grey patterned bark.

In the Languedoc, roads are most likely to be flanked with fields of vines.  The primary grape varieties grown - Carignan, Mouevedre, Cinsault and Syrah amongst others.

They all combine to create some of the most magical wines, two of which I really enjoyed this trip - Picpoul de Pinet and Pic St. Loup. 

The iconic cassoulet is the dish of the region.  It's hearty, filling and oh so tasty combining haricot beans with pork, duck and sausage.  Wandering around the Cité of Carcassonne I came across this poster on a wall.

This trip I had lunch in the two star Michelin restaurant Le Parc in Carcassonne.  The lunch was a set menu although it was possible to dine à la carte. For the quality of food we received it was incredibly reasonable for €35 with a complimentary glass of wine.

I was staying in the lovely old medieval town of Pézenas, In peak season this town is thronged with tourists, but in late September it is a much more pleasant experience.  My son works here as a chef and it is really a small village where all the locals know each other.  For this reason you get a very different perspective on what life is like than if you breezed in on a day trip. 

Aubergines of every variety

What I love most about towns like Pézenas is that even though the buildings and infrastructure are ancient, they are still used and loved.  There is no sense that you need to modernise or try to improve.  The old city remains as it was hundreds of years ago.  Time moves on, but it remains; solid and immutable.

The produce from the region is fresh and tastes of sunshine.  Fish - dorade (sea bream), loup de mer (sea bass) and morue (cod).  Try brandade de morue which is a salt cod dish mixed with mashed potato, garlic and olive oil.  Aubergines (egg plant) in season with their purple hues nestle between every variety of peach, tomatoes and then later figs and mangos in the market every Saturday.

It would be difficult to say that the Languedoc is better than any other region in France, but it is special and well worth a visit.  I'm loving exploring and getting to know the area a little bit more on every trip.

Moroccan lamb stew with an Irish twist - a perfect warming recipe for fall

Irish lamb stew Maroc style

Fall has arrived here after a dismal summer.   The days are shortening rapidly and the evenings have a definite chill in the air.  So after a day of relentless rain when it feels colder than it actually is, the mind and stomach turn to comfort food.  I love long, slow-cooked dishes and like to experiment with recipes and ideas.  I am not very regimental about following a recipe and like to improvise depending on what ingredients I have or can get hold of.

I worked with a French Moroccan pastry chef some years back and visited him and his parents in Brittany, France.  His mother made a traditional lamb stew and this is my adaptation of her recipe.

Irish lamb stew Maroc style

450g (approx 1lb) lamb shoulder cubed

1 large onion diced

1 leek sliced

3 stalks of celery chopped

2 fat cloves of garlic crushed

1 heaped teaspoon of cumin and coriander seeds lightly crushed

450 ml/1 pint lamb or beef stock

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 aubergine cut into chunks

6-8 unsulphured dried apricots chopped

Handful almonds sliced finely lengthways

1 preserved lemon cut into small pieces

Method:

Toss the lamb pieces in a tablespoon of flour seasoned with salt and pepper.  Fry pieces until browned in a pan.  Set aside and deglaze pan.

In your stew pot (or large deep pan with a lid) soften the onions, leeks, celery and garlic.  Add in the spices and season.

Add the meat back into the onion spice mix. Pour in the stock and the tinned tomatoes, the apricots and the almonds and simmer for about an hour with the lid on. I simmered on the stove top but it can be done in an oven equally well.

About 15 minutes before serving and in a separate pan fry the aubergine in some oil until just beginning to colour and soften and add into the stew.

Finally chop the preserved lemon.  If you buy the really tiny ones then add a few to taste, but do taste as you add them.

Check seasoning.

This quantity will serve 4-6 depending on appetite.

Serving suggestion:

200g/7oz couscous with same volume of boiling water added

2 teasp. ground cumin

2 teasp. turmeric

1 red onion and 1 small courgette sautéed in some olive oil

Stir boiling water into couscous and stir vigorously with a fork until the water is absorbed and the grains remain separate. Cover with cling film or a plate to allow the steam to cook the couscous.  Soften the onion and courgette and add in the spices.  Add the vegetable mix into the couscous.

Cork on a fork - an epicurean journey through Ireland food capital

Room with a view

When the September sun shines, is there anywhere else better to be than in the foodie capital of Ireland - Cork?

And by Cork I mean the city and the county. This trip though, was just the city.  Possibly one of the best breakfast selections to be had in Ireland, is here, in the River Lee Hotel.
 
Kicking off with fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, yoghurts, homemade muesli, porridge. Delicious preserves, huge selection of breads, pastries, cold meats and cheeses.  Followed by the full Irish and you are set up for the day.

Farmgate Cafe Menu

After a stroll around the city in the autumn sunshine and a spot of window shopping in this bustling city, we were ready for lunch in the Farmgate Cafe upstairs in the English Market.  The menu showcases many of the artisan ingredients available downstairs.

The English Market is acknowledged as one of the best in the British Isles.  It's buzzing with shoppers and gawkers like me.  It's impossible to resist the temptation to get completely carried away.  I bought Toonsbridge Mozarella having sampled some in the cafe at lunch and a big piece of Cork's finest spiced beef as well as a local Chorizo.

Entrance to the English Market

All this food shopping is thirsty work and the craft beers served in Mutton Lane were calling.  Friar Weisse is brewed by the Franciscan Well brewery in Cork city and is just the job to sooth frazzled nerves.  Mutton Lane is a charming, cozy little pub down a medieval lane just off St. Patrick's Street.  It would be very easy to perch on a high stool for the afternoon and work your way along the taps.

A very special dinner celebration was booked later that evening in Fenn's Quay restaurant - as if we hadn't eaten enough fabulous food already.  And with characteristic Cork charm they pulled out all the stops and turned it into a very memorable evening with some pretty slick cooking to boot.

What more can I say about Cork? Only that it is possibly one of the most charming cities I have visited in Ireland.  The people are friendly, helpful and witty.  The food is amazing.  There are some of the best and most progressive artisan food producers in this region and many are showcased in the English Market and in the restaurants and cafes.  Cork is on the Lee but the best way to sample it, is on a fork.

Honest2Goodness - Dublin's new food market could rival English Market in Cork

The clattery cafe

James Joyce was known to be fond of a trip to Bewley’s Oriental Cafe and referred to it as “the Lofty Clattery Café“.  For some reason this came into my head when I stood on the steps looking down into the cafe in the Honest2Goodness farmers' market in Glasnevin, Dublin.

Up to this Dublin hasn't had a dedicated covered food market which could rival the English Market in Cork; but now it does.

Honest2Goodness is that rare gem of a market where you can do your entire food shop.  Then when you have trawled the stalls and filled your boots, you can sit down in the clattery cafe and eat freshly produced food from the very market stalls you have shopped at.  Or, if you just want to relax and enjoy a coffee and a browse through the Saturday papers that's fine too.  There is an area for the children to amuse themselves on comfy couches with books and toys provided.


There is a terrific atmosphere in the market as stall holders banter with the regulars and amongst themselves.  The stalls include a bakery producing a real "kick ass" sourdough and variations there of and a superb spelt Irish soda loaf.  Arun Bakery is run by an Irishman and a Czech masterbaker duo.

 Breads from Arun Bakery

The Whole Hogg sells their own rare breed, free range pork and bacon from their farm in Slane, Co. Meath.

Ryan's Farm sell beef, lamb and pork from their farm in Co. Meath.

There is a fine selection of Irish cheese in The Pantry and "store cupboard" items and then beside this, to tempt you, are a superb selections of wines, sourced primarily from small European producers and very keenly priced. 

For the sweet-toothed amongst you there is the most eye-watering display of baking at Wild Flour Kate's market stall.  I have tried her raspberry, pistachio and rose cakes and can confirm that they are beyond divine. 

So much temptation here

Lily's Mexican food stall selling everything you need to make authentic Mexican food and from Lily, the help and advice to be successful.  I am hoping she will write the definitive Mexican Irish cookbook as she is a marvelous cook and a passionate foodie.

This is only a flavor of the stalls in the market.  There are much, much more including a lovely selection of dried pastas and other Italian basics; fresh olives, beautifully made jams and chutneys.  A colorful display of fruit and vegetables including very many organic and locally grown.

It is time that there are more options open to people to do their food shopping away from large multi-national supermarkets and to support locally grown and home produced Irish food.  Honest to goodness, it really is!

Color, carnival and crowd mingles with smells of food and farmyard at the Mullagh Fair Day - PHOTOS

Courtesy of Mullagh Fair Day Committee

PHOTOS - Mullagh Fair Day slideshow

A sense of color, carnival and crowd hits you when you crest the hill that rises above the town. Followed closely by the smells of food and farmyard intermingling.  It's that time of year again, when Mullagh showcases it's magnificent self.

Mullagh is a small town in the south-east corner of Co. Cavan on the border with Co. Meath.  Mullagh (An Mullach in Gaelic means The Mound).


The fair day is held annually on the second Sunday in September.  It is an attempt to recreate the traditional fair day that was held here from 1828. In 1837, Mullagh had a market and fair for the sale of cattle and pigs, oats, butter and flax several times a year. By 1870 the fair was held on the last Friday of every month.  The traditional fair was one of the best and biggest in the north east, its proximity to the Virginia Road railway station ensured that cattle purchased in Mullagh could easily be transported to ports in Dublin and Drogheda.

The Mullagh Development Committee re-established the Fair Day in 1997 to ensure that the present population kept in touch with their rich historical past.  And to date they have done a fantastic job, organizing it and working to ensure it is a hugely enjoyable day out for families.  Even in rural Ireland there is a sense of remove from our agricultural tradition and many children from the neighboring towns rarely get so up-close-and-personal with farm yard animals.

The fairground attractions are a huge draw, in an age when childhood is dominated by iPads, wiis and game consoles.  To see a small child laugh with delight as they waltz in a giant Alice in Wonderland teacup reminds you that sometimes - the simple, old fashioned things are still the best.

Food plays a huge part of every festival now in Ireland and Mullagh Fair is no different.  A pig is roasted on a spit and the smell of it draws you in while at the other end of the town a sign advertises kangaroo, crocodile and wild boar burgers.   There are stalls selling cakes, buns and soda bread, and the now ubiquitous cupcakes, chocolate, cheese and vegetables.  Others are selling boxty potato cakes cooked over a turf fire.  

Traditional crafts are represented and this year there were forging, knitting and basket weaving demonstrations.  An old style gypsy wagon was on display complete with fortune teller installed.  Accompanying all this activity were a group of traditional musicians.

Remembering the past while embracing the future makes the annual fair day in Mullagh such an enjoyable event.  And surprisingly almost every year the weather obliges and the rain stays away.  After all it would not be Ireland if there was not at least a nod to the weather.

Special thanks to Liam Daly and Tommy O'Reilly of the Fair Day Committee who gave me the historical information and photo.  All other photos not acknowledged are my own.

PHOTOS - Mullagh Fair Day slideshow 

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'Every fault is a fashion' - what my grandmother would have thought about modern restaurant serving trends

Serving with kilner jars on a slate
(Photo: Yvonne Carty @heypestoie)

"Every Fault is a Fashion."

I remember my grandmother saying this when I was a child. To be honest I never really understood it then. But recently it has popped into my head a lot.

I follow a lot of foodies on Twitter and many of them tweet photos of food, or of meals they have eaten, or are currently eating out. The most recent was a picture tweeted where a starter was served in a Kilner jar. For those of you who don't know what a Kilner jar is - it is a jar traditionally used for preserving fruit, chutneys, jams et cetera. You know the type with the flip top lid and a rubber seal?

Another photo I saw was of homemade lemonade and iced tea being served in jam jars. The jam jars had a straw popped in them. I really can't get excited about drinking out of a jar but customers love their "retro" feel.

Drinking from jam jars
(Photo: Lily Ramirez-Foran
@MexicancookEire)

The food industry is no different to any other in that fashions come and go. Using slate to serve food is very "in" at the moment. Now slate looks great - it really shows off the color, the texture of food and is the perfect matte backdrop. However, do you remember the teacher scraping her nails on the blackboard in school? Well that's what cutlery sounds like when it is used on these "plates". Imagine a restaurant dining room full of people scraping their cutlery on slate plates? Actually I would rather not.

My grandmother's saying went through my head when I saw all of the images and I wondered what she would have made of it. She wouldn't have gone out to eat very much as in her day as money was not very plentiful. But knowing her as I did - I know that when she did go out, she would have wanted the whole fine dining experience.

To a woman like her, Kilner jars and jam jars were the tools of her trade, as she preserved fruit and vegetables my grandfather had grown for their family to eat in the long cold winters. The idea of being taken out for a treat and being served up her food or drink in a jar. Or even on a slate.....

I can still hear her say "every fault is a fashion". But I think she would have laughed.

Follow Margaret's Twitter feed here.