Letters on Lunches

Overtime, Notice & Leftovers

I’ve had a really busy week at work and will be working for the next couple of weekends which is a major pain. It means that I can’t go to my beloved market for the next two Saturdays (himself will be given a list) and do all my bits around the house or cook any long slow dinners. That’s what I love about weekend & days off; meals are planned during the week and great enjoyment is made from putting them together and savouring them at the weekend. Unlike many of my friends, I love food shopping. I like to take time to stroll among the aisles and see what’s new. Himself enjoys the liquor section; he spends ions gazing at foreign ales and selecting one or two bottles of high octane import to be drank out of an oversized red wine glass after dinner. The only thing I don’t really like is the fact that I don’t have a trolley to bring around the market with me; I think I’m going to have to invest in one of those plaid trolleys you see grannies pulling behind them, well, maybe not.

            Another event that took place at work this week was me handing in my notice. I was a bit inspired by Eddie Hobbs of all people last year when I watched his program about how to spend your SSIA. The number one thing to do was to change. your. life which really rang home. I had spent a good chunk on home improvements but went through all my finances, made a spreadsheet to outline a savings plan and sent a deposit off to Ballymaloe Cookery School to hold a place on their certificate course beginning in April. Most friends and family weren’t too surprised, even at work, many people thought it was something I’d go into eventually as all I seem to talk about is food. But handing in my notice made it so much more real. I was awake all that night in a bit of a panic; what will I do after? What if I can’t find a job? What if I can’t pay my mortgage? What if I’m not good? What if I can’t handle a kitchen? Questions raced around in my head until I eventually nodded off and I’m sure I spent the night grinding my teeth in my sleep. That’s just me stressing about what might happen, of course, everything will probably be fine and I’ll be happy out working somewhere nice before setting up my own fabulous business (;o)) but Sarah’s a stresser and that’s just the way it goes.

            I cooked Sunday lunch for the family last weekend which was roasted sea bream served with roast potatoes and a caprese salad on the side. That was followed by rhubarb crumble and custard. I had to improvise with the crumble as my big dishes were going to be used for the fish & potatoes so I just baked the crumble on a baking tray & stewed the rhubarb in a saucepan. What a way to go. The crumble came out so crunchy, it was fantastic. I made the custard using up a Green Saffron vanilla pod which was perfect with it. Anyway, there were a few roasties left over which I used up during the week in a frittata. I used up two egg whites from the freezer to be mixed with one whole egg which made a really light supper. Here it is…

Bacon & Potato Frittata

with a green & mango salad

Serves 1

What You Need

1 small onion sliced

Some bacon bits (I used leftover bacon from a bacon & cabbage dinner)

2 cooked potatoes sliced pretty thick

1 whole egg (or 3 if you don’t have spare egg whites)

2 egg whites

A splash of milk

Juice of half a lemon

100ml olive oil

Half a mango

Some salad leaves

What You Do

·        In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk & seasoning.

·        Heat some oil in a small pan and gently fry off the onions and add the bacon & potatoes after a few minutes.

·        Pour in the egg mix and allow them to cook for about five minutes. Finish the frittata under the grill until the top is a golden brown colour.

·        Mix the lemon & oil in a jar & dress the leaves. Chop up the mango & add to the salad. The zingy salad is great with the frittata.

Saturday Sports

The lad & I are pretty big rugby fans but sometimes, the Saturday marathons are a bit too much to spend in a crowded pub so we opt to watch the matches in my place, cook a nice dinner and head into town to savour the craic later on in the night. Last Saturday was no different so we decided to cook up some burgers and chips to enjoy with a beer or two during the rugby.

            Not any ordinary burgers & chips, we went for pork & pudding burgers with red onion jam & goats cheese served with home-made wedges and a side of market salad. Perfect. Himself whipped up the burgers and I did the rest, including cooking the burgers – he’s only getting partial credit for this one. The recipe made 4 burgers so I’d one for my dinner after work yesterday with leftover mash from Sunday and fabulous purple kale which I stir-fried with some garlic & bacon. Who said cooking for one is boring?

            The goats cheese we used was a hard goats cheese from the Dutch guy in the market. It’s great on a pizza with black pudding (if you like BP you should try out this combo but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea) or on a cracker with some spicy chutney. The red onion jam recipe is the one used previously with bangers & mash and the wedges are from a previous recipe served with mussels but this time, we used Spanx ketchup instead of aioli.

            On a completely different note, for anyone who doesn’t buy The Observer, they have a fantastic food supplement on, I think, the last Sunday of the month. This month’s edition can be read on-line if you’re interested but we’re buying it religiously these days. The recipes are great but I’m most interested in the articles; this week has a feature on Delia Smith who’s returning to the screens with a series to accompany her new book on finding cheats in the kitchen. To be honest, I’m not one for buying pre-prepared vegetables (she recommends sliced onions in olive oil as well as smash among many others) so I probably won’t be splashing out but OFM did ask some top chefs for some tips & tricks which was pretty interesting. Atul Kochhar advises to make up large quantities of garlic & ginger paste to freeze in ice-cubes which can be removed to freezer bags when frozen and Michel Roux of Le Gavroche has a very easy version of mac & cheese that uses Laughing Cow triangles & goes down well with kids. It’s well worth getting; now, back to the recipe…

Pork & Pudding Cheeseburgers

with red onion jam, salad & wedges

Serves 2

What You Need

500g of pork mince (this will yield 4 burgers so freeze 2 for another day)

1 handful of breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 onion chopped

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

Salt & Pepper

50g black pudding (we got Athy BP from Ray Conlon’s)

25g hard goats cheese thinly sliced

Wedges

Red onion jam

Some salad – get some good organic leaves and make up a salad of whatever’s in the fridge / fruitbowl to make up your 5-a-day. Dress with some balsamic & olive oil.

What You Do

• Mix the first 7 ingredients in a bowl with a fork and shape into patties when fully combined.
• Allow the burgers to sit in the fridge for about 30 mins before cooking.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200C and heat some olive oil in a pan. Gently brown the burger on both sides for about 3 minutes each side and transfer to the oven for 15mins. After 10mins have elapsed, place the goats cheese on the burgers & return to the oven for the final 5 minutes.
• Plate up with the wedges, jam, salad & a cold beer.
• Kick back & enjoy the game!

This One's For You, Paulo

Well if you hadn’t guessed it, the dish I was referring to in my previous post was of course a carbonara less the cream. I often make it as a quick supper as it takes about two minutes plus the time to cook the spaghetti. If you buy the pre-cut pancetta, there isn’t even anything to chop, so easy! The key to carbonara is that you get the best ingredients possible, there’s only a few so go all out. This recipe is adapted from the version Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers of The River Cafe did on Saturday Kitchen last year and it’s a triumph. I must warn you, it tastes of more and more and more….

            On to a separate topic for a minute or two, we treated ourselves to dinner in Los Amigos on Georges Quay on Saturday night. I wasn’t going to bother booking but decided at 3pm on Saturday I would and they were completely booked out from 7-9! I thought to myself, jeez, isn’t everyone supposed to be broke in January? (Myself & himself pretty much stayed in for the month with the exception of a few dinners out). Anyway, we got a table at 6.30 which suited fine as we weren’t staying out and there were a few other diners there when we arrived so weren’t forced to eat in a soulless empty restaurant. The décor is simple, white walls, wooden floors and a wooden bar set up to the back of the restaurant with fresh white linen on the tables.

            The menu had a good selection for both veggies & carnivores; tacos, fajitas, Argentinean steaks, fish, pork, chicken and a selection of tapas as appetisers. I went for the pollo con mole (pronounced mole-ay) and himself opted for pork-steak and we ordered nachos between us to start. The bread came out first which was like the Mexican version of crostini; re-fried beans & cheese on toasts with assorted condiments – sour cream, jalapenos, spicy onions & relish – on the side. Very tasty bites to get us started. Then the nachos arrived which were devoured. They were served with a savoury mince and two types of cheese oozing over the top, delicious.

            The first time I ever saw a mole was on an episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (remember that?) a few years ago. The straight guy was a good cook so they got him to cook outside of his comfort zone and make something pretty difficult – a mole. I’ve never seen it on a menu here so had to try it out. It’s a pretty complex sauce with 10 different chillis and chocolate added to thicken it. It was quite sweet bordering on sickly but was given more bite with the spicy onions (the waiter’s suggestion) & sour cream from the condiment tray.

            We really enjoyed the meal and with coffees, the total came to €50 which ain’t bad for a Saturday night. I’d definitely recommend it and will be back for sure. It’s a great place for a gang as they have an extensive cocktail menu and offer a bucket (5) of

Corona

’s for €18. I’ll have an update on the cocktails very soon.

            Now, back to business, here’s the recipe for the carbonara as promised. I’m off to

Paris

pour le weekend avec mon amour so won’t have any recipes for you on Monday but may have an anecdote about a fondue restaurant that serves it’s wine in baby’s bottles. You’ve been warned!

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

Serves 2

What You Need

Some good dried spaghetti (I usually use de Cecco but tried out Bunalun for this)

2 best quality egg yolks (I always allow one per person)

2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan

A glass of white wine

Some pancetta or really good bacon

Pepper and maybe salt

Olive oil

What You Do

• Get your spaghetti cooking and once it’s in the water, start on the sauce.
• Mix the egg yolks with the parmesan, a little olive oil & pepper in a bowl.
• Sautee the pancetta with the oil in a pan and once cooked, add the wine and reduce.
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain off the water (reserve some in a bowl in case the sauce is too thick) and add the egg mix and pancetta (not the wine) to the pasta. Mix this around and if you find it’s too thick add a tablespoon of the reduced wine until you get a nice ‘creamy’ consistency. If you use up all the wine, you may need to add some of the pasta water which as been reserved in a bowl.

NB: make sure the heat on the hob is OFF as the residual heat from the pot and the spaghetti will cook the egg.

• TASTE the spaghetti for seasoning. I used a salty bacon and parmesan is salty so didn’t need to add any salt, this may also be the case for you.
• Plate up, enjoy and try to stop yourself from making it again straight away!!!

Spanish Sunday

The boyfriend & I went to Spain for a holiday in the Summer – it was his idea really, he was mad to go to La Tomatina (tomato fight) so we decided to Ryanair it to Barcelona for three days, then head to Valencia for the festival and then to Madrid for two days sight-seeing.

            The festival was, well, different - I’ll try and set the scene. According to the guide books, La Tomatina kicks off in a quaint town called Bunol about 40km’s from Valencia at 11am on the last Wednesday in August. Tomatoes are released into the streets after the hooter sounds, which marks the start of the tomato fight and ends with the second hooter about 40 minutes later. All the revellers then descend on the local river to clean off and party into the night. Within 2 hours, you wouldn’t know La Tomatina even took place and the only rule is that the tomato is crushed before it is thrown.

            Now for what really happened. We arrived at Valencia train station at approx 7am along with about 5000 other people who had the same idea and managed to squeeze on to a train to Bunol. Talk about the longest journey of my life – not because of the duration, because of the drunken MEATHEADS we had to endure on the trip. I won’t say what nationality they were as we met some other lads of the same nationality on the way home who were lovely.

Anyway, we arrived in Bunol and there was a brilliant party atmosphere, music pumping out of cars, loads of stalls selling cheap beer and good fun all round. We made our way down to the main street which is a narrow street with old flats lining the sides. There was a real air of anticipation all around with everyone waiting for the hooter to sound. There were a few tv cameras up high and all sorts of things were being thrown, flip-flops, t-shirts, shorts, cans, etc. The locals were throwing buckets of water on the crowd from high which was quite nice and refreshing in the heat, it helped to add to the excitement.

Then the hooter sounded; and nothing happened. A few minutes later, the stench of over ripe tomatoes hit us and a dump truck slowly made its way though the crowd & dumped it’s load at the end of the street. The truck drove up past us and everyone had to push in against the wall (think Heysel stadium), then the next truck arrived up and released it’s load by us.

Now, remember back to the rule – you must crush the tomato before you throw it. That rule applies for the first 3 minutes, after that, all tomatoes are reduced to a river of sludge on the ground, handfuls of which are dumped on your head (most people wear goggles). By the time the fifth truck began to make its way through the street, I’d had enough. I was beginning to panic (I’m a little claustrophobic as it turns out) and needed to get to a quiet side-street. I saw the opening, grabbed the boyfriend & went for it. Not my finest idea I have to say as we got caught in a scrum and were hauled from side to side by the crowd, and then, thankfully, the hooter sounded and everything calmed.

We all walked to the “river” to wash off the sludge. The "river" was basically the run off from a pipe in the side of a wall perforated with holes which became a make shift shower so we gave the river a skip & managed to get a hole in the pipe to clean ourselves under. We binned our t-shirts, bought new ones and went for a drink while drying out in the sun.

Bunol isn’t really quaint, it’s just a small town with a lot of flats and doesn’t really have a whole pile to offer in the form of bars / restaurants. Once we dried off, we made our way to the train station to scrummage on to the next train out of there. Once back in the hotel, I hopped into the shower and stayed there for at least 40 minutes but the stench of tomatoes didn’t leave my memory for weeks – shudder.

You’re probably wondering what this has to do with my Sunday lunch? Well it’s my blog & I’ll write what I want to, only kidding, I thought it was a good holiday story and leads to my love of tapas.

While in Barcelona, we had some of the best food I’ve ever had (maybe second to Cinque Terre in Italy). We had the most delicious tapas every day and even ate in a restaurant that Picasso & Gaudi used to frequent in their hay day so since then, any excuse and I’m doing tapas for dinner. It doesn’t have to be difficult, just use up what you have. I used up some leftover mash potatoes for cheesy croquettes, ham & peas and cod fritters. I usually cook patates bravas (brave potatoes) but that recipe wouldn’t have used up the mash so you’ll have to wait for next time.

Spanish Tapas

What You Need

Cheesy Croquettes

Mash potato

Cheddar cheese

Breadcrumbs

2 eggs, 1 separated & 1 beaten with the leftover egg white

Flour

Ham & Peas

Some pancetta, bacon of Serrano ham chopped up

Some shallots or an onion finely sliced

Peas

Salt

Cod Goujons

A piece of cod cut into strips

What You Do

Cheesy Croquettes

• Mix the mash with the yolk from the separated egg, add the cheese and season if not already done (if using leftovers, the mash will be seasoned).
• Take a spoonful of mixture & shape into a croquette.
• First, dip the croquette in the flour, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs.
• Gently fry in a pan until golden on all sides.

Ham & Peas

·        Sweat the onion in a pan for about 5 minutes and add the pancetta.

·        When the pancetta is cooked, add the peas and salt.

·        Stir until the peas are cooked & ready to serve.

Cod Fritters

• Dip the cod in the flour, egg & breadcrumbs.
• Gently fry until golden brown.
• Serve with aioli (I’ll give the recipe for this another time)

Just so you know…. I’ve used red onion with the peas – they looked burned in the pic but they’re not. My pics need a lot of work!!!!

The Goat That Got The Beet

The silly season is definitely underway and I found myself out for dinner twice last week. The first was to my friend Maeve’s which I’ve already written about and on Saturday night, I met some other like minded people (bloggers) for dinner in La Piccola Italia. I’m quite lucky to be a neighbour of Maz’s whose boyfriend is great for collecting & dropping to & from the blog events. We were dropped right outside the door and met Mary T inside who is just back from her travels in Asia & Australia. Poor Lorraine had to cancel due to work commitments but she made sure she was there in spirit, or rather wine as she organised a bottle of prosecco for us to enjoy with our meal. It was delicious, a perfect treat to accompany the food.

I went for the antipasto starter as I wanted something nice and light. It came with olives, parma ham, salami, another cold meat which I was a bit dubious about (reminded me of sandwich meat from the 80’s) and chargrilled, pickled aubergines which were delicious. Maz went for the fresh mussels which were fantastic and Mary T ordered garlic bread but cancelled when informed by the waitress that a basket of bread and complimentary bruschetta would be brought out for us.

For main, I ordered sole on the bone with a side salad which is always a good choice in La Piccola and I wasn’t let down. The sole was cooked perfectly and full of flavour and the salad didn’t leave me feeling bloated afterwards. Mary T went for a pasta dish in a creamy tomato sauce and Maz went for the fillet steak which melted in the mouth. We didn’t bother with dessert, just a few espressos to give us a kick start and we were on our way. All in all a great night, we must do it again soon.

            Doing an inventory on the fridge contents on Saturday morning before the market, I noticed some beetroot begging to be used up so I decided on Rachel Allen’s beetroot & goats cheese salad less the hazelnuts (I forgot about them). I picked up a bag of leaves from the organic stall out on the road beside the antiques stall. If you buy your leaves in the supermarket, I must urge you to change your habits and pick up a bag at the market on a Saturday morning; you wouldn’t believe the difference in flavour and there isn’t much difference in price. He charges €2.50 a bag with the supermarkets charging €2 for the chopped & pre-washed variety. I got my goats cheese from the cheese stall inside near Lazio’s, he has a huge variety and his wife makes a great selection of pates. So here it is…

Warm Beetroot & Goats Cheese Salad

Serves 2

What You Need

4 beetroot, un-peeled with about 2 inches of stalk left on

200g goats cheese

Salad Leaves

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

·        Heat the oven to 190C and cook the beetroot for 1 hour

·        Peel the beetroot and chop into small cubes

·        Assemble the dressing by putting the oil, vinegar, salt & pepper into a jam jar and shaking

·       Dress the salad leaves, put on a plate, add the beetroot and break the goats cheese over the top.

·        Enjoy!