Letters on Lunches

A Story about a Risotto

Risotto is something I shied away from for a long time; I’m not sure what was wrong with me, was it the horror stories about how easily it can go wrong? Was it the thoughts of eating a plate of rice on its own? Was it the texture? I don’t really know.  While out in the – now reduced to ashes – Avoca shop in Bunratty a few months ago, I spotted a box of  DeCecco Arborio rice and decided it was about time I grew up and tried cooking risotto. My first offering was a roasted pumpkin & sage version but that didn’t quite cut the mustard so, the other night, I had another go with much better results. I decided on a mushroom risotto as I’d some dried porcinis sitting in the press unused for the past few months, along with some other goodies that required using up.

I stopped using stock cubes a while back as I’m not crazy about the flavour and real stock is so easy to make. For this recipe, I chopped up two carrots, two sticks of celery, an onion, a sprig of thyme and added them to a pint & a half of water and got it boiling. It needs about ½ an hour or more depending on how strong you want it so get it on the hob before you begin chopping the vegetables for the risotto. I got a good tip before on stock; if you’re making a big batch and plan on freezing it, reduce the stock right down to about 1/6 of what it should be and freeze in the ice cube tray, once frozen, transfer to a freezer bag so you always have a ‘stock cube’ at hand. Just add water and voila, fresh stock in an instant. This method saves on valuable real estate in the freezer, especially if, like me, you own a fridge freezer and are often stuck for space.

Back to the risotto; like a needy boyfriend, this dish requires a lot of attention. You need to sweat the onions, garlic & mushrooms in batches, then add the rice and tease it around the pan until it’s begging for liquid. When the pan is completely bone dry and the rice has taken about all the torture it can, add the wine which will be guzzled back in seconds. Now inebriated, the risotto will begin begging again so you’ll need to sober it up with some stock from the pot as well as the liquor used to re-hydrate the mushrooms, ladle by ladle, only adding more when the previous ladle has been absorbed. This gentle foreplay goes on for about half an hour until the rice is cooked through and then a handful of fresh parmesan is added to complete the dish. Thankfully I was on my own for this event – did I mention that risotto is a perfect meal for one? Now go on, treat yourself!

Mushroom Risotto

Serves 1

What You Need

About ½ a cup of risotto rice

About a pint of stock (see above)

A glass of white wine

1 clove of garlic

1 onion chopped

About 10 mushrooms sliced (You can use wild, I just got button mushrooms from my local shop)

Some re-hydrated porcini mushrooms with the liquid reserved

2 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

• Sweat the onion in a medium sized pan until translucent and transfer back into a bowl.
• Cook the fresh mushrooms until the water comes out, and is evaporated again. Return the onions to the pan with the garlic & cook for another minute.
• Add the rice and stir for a few minutes – see description above.
• Add the wine, stir, cook for a few minutes and add the porcini liquor, stir, cook and add a ladle of stock, stir & cook. Repeat until rice is fully cooked.
• Stir in the porcinis, salt, pepper & parmesan.
• Enjoy!

Market Musings

I’d a busy weekend just gone. I’d to get my windscreen repaired on Saturday morning which meant spending three hours in town which wasn’t all bad as the weather was cold and dry; perfect for an amble around the Milk Market followed by breakfast and coffee with friends.

            There was a real bustle about the market square with many of the stalls that had taken much deserved time off in January back on the scene along with some new-comers. Arun from Green Saffron was back laden down with Indian goodies so we bought some cardamom seeds as well as a pack of chai tea off him. The seaweed guys were around so I got a big lump of the most delicious trout pate ever tasted as well as some salmon tartare. The Real Olive Oil Company have new purple garlic in stock and let me tell you, it really packs a punch; if the recipe calls for one clove, use half!!!

A newcomer to the market is Piog Pies, all the way from Dingle or An Daingean, I’m not quite sure what the official name is these days. What is undisputed though is that these pies are great. I decided to try out the Kerry pie which was packed with organic carrots, potatoes, onions & roast lamb pieces and encased in a thin pastry which was light, crumbly and rolled out paper thin, well, not as thin as paper but thin as a thin thing! I was advised to heat the pie in the oven for about 25 minutes – just enough time to cook a side of creamy mash and perfect for a hungry person just home from work on a cold day. From the picture, you can see half the pie on the plate along with some mash; I polished off the other half once the first was eaten! I just couldn’t resist, it was so moist and delicious and of course, I went for a long jog after to burn off all the extra calories (snigger). Piog also do a veggie lentil pie, a beef & Guinness pie, a fish pie and a shepherds pie and attend markets in the Limerick, Cork & Kerry areas so check them out.

I have a bit of a thing for pies to be honest and love making them myself but I like trying out good, high end versions. Cully & Sully are doing a fantastic job marketing their range of pies, ready meals & soups. The prices are a bit higher than regular shop bought offerings but no apology is made due to the quality of ingredients used not to mention technique and delivery. The pies & meals are cooked sous vide which basically means they are vacuum packed and gently poached which serves in locking in more flavour than conventional cooking. The pies are served in a little ceramic bowl and Cully & Sully have set up the FBA (free bowls association) for any pie addicts looking for other uses of the spent bowls. Check out their brilliant website for lots of fantastic recipes and anecdotes.

I don’t have a recipe for you today as I completely forgot to take a picture of Sunday’s Beef Bourguignon with diced potatoes. It was just unctuous and the plates were licked clean all around so if you’re wondering about the recipe, drop me a line and I’ll pass on some tips. It’s a recipe I always go back to so it’ll be up again at some stage.   

I’m off to the Slow Food Event in Aubars on Thursday with himself which we’re both very excited about it so hopefully I’ll have something to write about on Friday. If I don’t, you’ll know that I drank too much wine the night before and my head is still hurting!!!!

Spicy Spaghetti

I worked for a company in Cork a few years ago and I have to say, it was one of the best times of my life. The company was new to the city with a young & enthusiastic workforce some of which, I’ve the pleasure to say, have become very close friends of mine and I look forward to sharing many more happy times with them in the future. I threw myself into the move and got involved in a whole load of new sports & activities such as sugar craft, yoga, orienteering, kickboxing as well as really picking up my golf game (I befriended a few lady golfers my own age).

            One person that really surprised me in my first year there, was my then boss. He was an unbelievably friendly & approachable guy who always made time for everyone and really looked after his staff. The day of our Christmas break-up, he pulled me aside and handed me a beautifully wrapped gift. I was intrigued as previous gifts from bosses were bottles of something or other but this was a book, and what a book – The Concise Gastronomy of Italy by Anna del Conte. I was blown away as he’d taken in every word uttered by his staff and chose a book to fit each of them; Jeremy Clarkson’s book for the car lover, a book on surfing for the chick from Bundoran, Mohammed Ali biography for the sports nut and the list went on. It was such a nice way to finish up and what was more, I didn’t even mind going back after the holidays!

            The Concise Gastronomy of Italy is really excellent if you’re interested in Italian food and I probably wouldn’t have chosen it myself as it doesn’t have pictures. I know that’s pathetic but it’s nice to see what the end result should look like. The book is broken into three sections; regions, recipes & ingredients. The regions section gives a little culinary history and lists the local specialities of that area. Any time either I or a friend of mine is going to Italy, I refer to the book and find out what to try when there.

            The recipes are great, they give the English translation to the recipe, a little tid-bit of information about the recipe and how to make it – Paulo will love this – authentically. The ingredients list gives the name and history of pretty much every food stuff that can be found and is traditional in Italy – the list is huge!

            One dish that I go back to again and again is Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca. Anna informs us that ‘puttana’ is the Italian word for prostitute which makes me wonder how the dish got its name, but that’s another day’s googling! Anyway, back to puttanesca; it’s a spicy tomato based dish with real gutsy flavours, not really what you expect from an Italian dish but well worth the experiment. I’ve tried this with fresh anchovies in olive oil and tinned anchovies and I have to say, for this, stick with the tinned ones. The fresh ones are fabulous served as an anti-pasti but don’t work well in this dish.

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Serves 2

What You Need

Enough good dried spaghetti for two people

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (I used half a jar of Bunalun crushed tomatoes)

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 red chilli chopped and de-seeded (I left some of the seeds in as I like it a bit spicy)

2 Tbsp capers

1 handful of black olives sliced

1 small tin of anchovy fillets chopped up small

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large handful of flat leaf parsley finely chopped 

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do   

• Cook the spaghetti per the instructions on the packet until al dente.
• Heat the oil in a pan and add the anchovies and stir until almost dissolved.
• Add the garlic, chilli, olives & capers and stir for another minute.
• Add the tomatoes, parsley and pepper then check the seasoning.
• Add salt if you think it needs it (the anchovies, capers and maybe olives will be salty), add the parsley and cook on low until the spaghetti is done.
• Stir the sauce into the spaghetti and serve.

My Favourite Things - Part 2

If you remember my first post, you’ll know that one of my favourite dinners is bangers & mash and here’s another favourite, moules frites served with aioli. That translated is mussels, chips and garlic mayonnaise, homemade garlic mayonnaise.

            I absolutely love mussels, can’t get enough of them, and they’re so good for you & low in fat. I cook mine in a tomato based sauce as opposed to the traditional cream based moules mariniere and have recently started accompanying them with a bowl of wedges & aioli (I went for the baguette & butter option in the past).

            They’re so easy but a couple of tips, the first is to make sure the mussels are spick and span before they go near a pan. Every single mussel must be individually cleaned; any barnacles on the shell should be scraped off with a knife, the hairy bit at the ‘hinge’ should be ripped off (this is called de-bearding) and any mussels that don’t close tightly when tapped should be discarded. I find it good to let the mussels sit in a bowl of clean water for about an hour before cooking and change the water at least once which helps to get rid of most of the grit from the closed mussels.

            The second tip is for the aioli or any cold emulsion sauce; add the oil a little at a time and ensure it is completely incorporated into the egg yolks before adding anymore which will prevent the sauce from splitting. It’s a lot easier than people make out and is definitely worth a try. So here’s the recipe.

Moules Frites – Sarah Style

Serves Two

What You Need

2 Tbsp olive oil

Enough mussels for two people (ask your fishmonger)

1 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1 glass of white wine

1 handful of parsley finely sliced

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (I use half a jar of Bunalun crushed tomatoes)

1 chilli if you’d like the dish to have a kick (this is optional)

2 egg yolks

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tsp Dijon mustard

½ Tsp salt

1 clove garlic grated

5 fl oz oil (I mix grape seed oil with olive oil)

2 baking potatoes cut into wedges

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 handful of rosemary

Sea salt & pepper

What You Do

·        Par boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, strain out the water, add olive oil, rosemary, sea salt & pepper and transfer to the oven on a baking tray.

·        Cook for 30 minutes at 200C.

·        For the aioli, put the egg yolks, vinegar, mustard, garlic and salt in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the oil a drop at a time, fully incorporating all the time until all the oil is used up.

·        Gently fry the onion & garlic in a pan until soft and remove to a bowl when translucent.

·        For the mussels, heat some olive oil in a large pan to a very high temperature and add the mussels. Straight away, add the cooked onions & garlic, tomatoes, wine, parsley, chilli and put the lid on.

·        Stir the mussels every now and again and remove the mussels from the pan when all are opened (this won’t take long – only a few minutes).

·        Cook the sauce on high with the lid off for a few minutes and reduce by about half then pour over the mussels when ready to serve.

Ooh La La – Escargots, Fondue & Other Stuff

We went to Paris for the weekend which was just brilliant. It was my third visit & himselfs second. It should have been my fourth & his third but due to a passport mix up in December ’06, that scheduled trip was, unfortunately, de-scheduled and we spent the weekend in a very cold but dry and sunny Ballybunion - not the worst way to spend a weekend in December as it turned out.

            So what did we eat? We were told by a friend to try out a fondue place in Montmartre that serves its wine in babies’ bottles and was good fun. We were in the area on Friday night so we said we’d give it a go. The restaurant was small, narrow with a row of tables pushed together at either side and I was helped up on to a chair, over the table and back down into my seat on the other side. There was no menu; we were asked to choose meat or cheese fondue and red or white wine. We chose a cheese fondue and red wine but the meat would have been a better choice in hind-sight. A plate of anti-pasti came out first which was devoured as we were pretty hungry after a long day walking (not to mention some pre-dinner aperitifs). Then a pot of molten cheese accompanied with a bowl of stale bread and a couple of babies bottles filled with wine arrived. I don’t know, I might be getting old but I’m not one for gimmicks anymore - it just wasn’t nice. I’m a big fan of cheese but a pot of it as a main meal is just wrong; I shudder at the thoughts of it.

             Saturday night was better. We headed to the St. Germain area and found a lovely little restaurant - La Brasserie St. Benoit - on a side street off the main street. The décor was a bit 70’s but the atmosphere made up for that. We were shown to a table about an inch away from the table beside us occupied by a middle aged English couple who turned out to be great company.

I decided to try snails to start and was pretty impressed. They didn’t blow me away or anything but they were a nice light starter for the meal. How can I describe them? They’re like a tough, garlicy, salty mussel but tasty at the same time. Himself ordered the onion soup which had about a pound of cheese in it (too much for me after the previous nights offering) but the broth itself was delicious, packed with onion goodness.

We both chose the fillet steak with a béarnaise sauce for the main course which was brave considering the country we were in. Now, I’ve never been a fan of well done meat, and I’d always request medium-rare to rare depending on the restaurant but in France, I go for medium as a good vet could get their rare meat back on legs. Medium was perfect, a lovely juicy steak with a rich and creamy béarnaise. We’d ice-cream for dessert, a bottle of wine with the meal and the whole lot came in at €100 including a good tip for the excellent waiters.

It was great to watch the French go about their daily foodie chores. They buy bags of fruit and veg at the markets & supermarkets, queue up for their French sticks (I wonder do they just call them sticks) and breakfast pastries in the bakeries, pick up the fancy meats in the charcuteries and so on and so on. Agreed, they have the huge hyper-markets in the suburbs but the customers are just as discerning there. I can’t wait to go back for my next pain au chocolat, they’re just not the same here!!!

Quick Post on Pancakes

Tomorrow's pancake Tuesday and I'm planning on a bit of a pancake party. When you're single, it's not a good idea to make a big batch of pancake batter for yourself.... Very bad idea!!! Anyway, I've a few friends calling around and they're going to bring some fillings (i'll let them know in advance - nutella, ice-cream, maltesers, lemons and I already have plenty of jam & sugar). I'll cook the pancakes in advance and keep them warm in the oven between sheets of greaseproof paper (they keep really well, just make sure it's not for too long & the temp is nice & low). Here's a lovely recipe that'll make 6/8 crepes.

Pancake Tuesday Party Crepes

What You Need

6oz flour

2 large eggs plus 1 extra egg yolk

a pinch of salt

3/4 pint of milk

1-2 Tbsp of melted butter

an 11inch crepe pan /non stick pan

What You Do

• Seive the flour & salt into a bowl, make a well in the centre and beat in the lightly beaten egg mix.
• Add the milk bit by bit and mix well (I pour it into the liquidizer for a minute once all the milk is added).
• Put the mix into the fridge for at least an hour to rest and add the melted butter before using (adds a richness and also helps prevent the pancakes from sticking).
• Heat your pan and pour a small ladle of batter into the pan; when the mix begins to come away from the sides and set on top, flip using a fish slice.
• Repeat until the batter is completely used up and serve how you like it. I love the traditional sprinkling of caster sugar with a good squeeze of lemon... Yum!

These crepes freeze well (just make sure you separate them with greaseproof paper) and keep well for a few days in the fridge so don't be afraid of making too many, they won't go to waste ;o)

My First Tag!

OK, I’ve been tagged by Rachel so I’m going to fill in my details and skip rule 4 as I don’t really know any bloggers that haven’t already been tagged well enough to tag them…. This is going to be a short post and I’ll tell you all about Paris and the skanky fondue tomorrow!!!

So first, the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

Here we go:

2a. I love playing golf, it’s one of my favourite things do on a sunny day and am pretty competitive so it suits me as I’ve no one to blame but myself if anything goes wrong.

2b. I’m a spread-sheet nerd and make up spread-sheets for everything. A spread-sheet checklist was used to choose Woodbury Common over Jersey Gardens for a recent shopping expedition. Very sad I know but there’s nothing wrong with being organized.

2c. Cider & vodka make me loopy, so I don’t drink them anymore. My favourite drink is a GnT made with Bombay Sapphire.

2d. I’m claustrophobic so you’ll never find me in the mosh pit at a rock concert.

2e. I cry very easily – soppy movies, documentaries, the news, hearing bad / good news. I’m a big softie really!!!

3a. Iceland – I’ve never been and I’ll get there some day for definite. Myself & himself have been talking about it since we started going out four-years-ago! It’s supposed to be super expensive so we’re going to wait to go until we can afford to splurge and enjoy it properly (no time soon though).

3b. The Golf Beach in Ballybunion or any of the big beaches in Kerry - Glenbeigh, Castlegregory, Ballyheigue. Nowhere like them in the world.

3c. Paris – I’ll go again, and again, and again! I love it there, the architecture, the food (not fondue though), the people (yes, they are friendly), the language, the super chic men & women, the surprises around every corner!!!

3d. Cinque Terre in Italy. I was there about three years ago with some friends and will be going back this year with himself en route to a wedding in Lake Garda. I’m really looking forward to it. It’s basically five small villages on the Ligurian coast linked by a railway and a narrow path through the olive groves. Amazing food, amazing people and amazing scenery.

3e. This list is too difficult; there are so many places I haven’t visited and so many that I have and would love to return to but I’ll say Canada. I’ve never been and would love to see it. A good friend of mine has moved to Vancouver so I’d like to go visit her.

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!!!

Sunny Days Are Back

I think my rant last week may have paid off as whoever was reading by blog ‘upstairs’ switched the lights back on and we had the loveliest weekend so far this year. To make the most of it, we headed out to Curragh Chase with the dog on Sunday with a stop made to Caroline Rigney’s on the way home. I picked up some home cured bacon & 6 eggs from some of her rare breed pigs & hens. I was trying to think of what to do to celebrate such good produce on the way home when the proverbial light-bulb went off and I knew what to make… I’ll give you a hint, it’s a ‘creamy’ dish but certain critics freak out when it’s served to them with cream added; any guesses??? Check back later in the week for the recipe.

            Back to today’s recipe; I picked this thai curry out of the Channel 4 website during the week for something nice to use up some of the squash from the market. It was delicious but if I was to do it again (and I will) I’d probably add another chilli, a red pepper and some sugar snap peas for some variety of texture. I also added a small bag of salted peanuts for extra crunch. It was nice and light and I’d enough to freeze an extra portion for another day so can’t complain about that. And here it is…

Pumpkin & Peanut Curry

Serves 2

What You Need

400g of pumpkin, peeled & deseeded

1 red onion sliced

1 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter

100ml hot water

1 Tbsp soy or fish sauce

1 tsp tomato puree

Zest & juice of a lime

1 tsp sugar

A handful of coriander with the stalks (could also add a pepper & sugar snap peas at the end also)

2 cloves of garlic

1cm piece of fresh ginger

1 chilli (I’ll add an extra one next time)

1 can of coconut milk

2 tbsp sunflower oil

Rice to serve

What You Do

• Dissolve the peanut butter in the hot water and add the tomato puree, lime juice & zest, soy sauce and sugar.
• Finely chop the chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok and add the red onion, cook briskly for a few minutes before adding the pumpkin. After a minute or two, add the garlic, coriander, chilli, ginger mix and cook for another minute before adding the peanut butter liquid & coconut milk.
• Cook for 20 / 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the pumpkin is tender.
• Add the coriander and other veggies if you wish and plate up with the rice.

Hairy Bikers Update – My boyfriend made the Dulce de Leche cheesecake from the Hairy Bikers cookbook at the weekend. It was ridiculous it was so good. We donated some to my parents, some to his and kept two slices each for ourselves. There are two more slices in the fridge which I’ve been warned to donate to one of my friends & her boyfriend. I guess I’d better do as I’m told…. Hadn’t I???

Meatball Monday

As you can gather from my previous post,

Limerick

was miserable at the weekend - even the market, which is usually full of happy people enjoying their Saturday morning, was miserable. Many of the regular stalls were absent (probably due to some variation of SAD syndrome) and it wasn’t fun queuing in the rain so I took refuge in the organic fruit & veg shop by Lazio’s and the Adare Farm Products Shop.

            I picked up a nice squash and some lovely swedes in the fruit & veg shop. The swedes were fantastic so I decided to do a variation on The Wild Onion’s hash browns with them to try and maintain as much of the flavour as possible and I’m going to make a spiced pumpkin soup with the squash. I’ve one swede left so I think I’m going to try some healthy wedges with it – I’ll let you know how that goes.

            We picked up the meat for the ‘blind finches’ in Relihans Farm Shop which is newly located in the market square beside Marie’s Cheeses. The meat there is really fantastic, real gutsy flavours and the staff are very friendly and accommodating. They also do a range of ice-creams which I have yet to try but I believe the vodka & red bull sorbet is a winner!

            There was enough pork stuffing left over from the ‘blind finches’ for two meatballs for dinner on Monday night accompanied with swede & potato hash browns and beer gravy. It was soooo goooood…. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Pork Meatballs

with farm shop hash browns & beer gravy

Serves 2

What You Need

½ lb pork mince

A small handful of breadcrumbs

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp

Dijon

mustard

1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1 Tbsp finely chopped sage

1 Tbsp finely chopped shallots

Sea salt & pepper

1 Tbsp flour

½ bottle of Belgian beer

2 small swedes cut in 1” dice

6 baby potatoes cut in 1” dice

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

A dash of

Tabasco

What You Do

·        First, mix the first 8 ingredients together in a bowl and shape into meatballs.

·        Heat some olive oil in two frying pans, one small & one large.

·        Gently place the meatballs in the small pan and brown the meatballs on all sides.

·        Gently fry the onion & garlic in the large pan.

·        Par-boil the potatoes & Swedes for about 8 minutes & transfer to the onion / garlic pan when ready. Cook on a medium heat, tossing constantly until cooked.

·        Transfer the meatballs to a pre-heated oven at 200C for 10 minutes.

·        To make the gravy, add the flour to the pan which contained the meatballs & stir in using a wooden spoon. Slowly add the beer and incorporate fully before adding the next dash – this ensures lump free gravy.

·        Plate up & enjoy!