December/New Year Nosh

Yes, I am paying the price for all this gorgeousness and calorificness as I pound the roads trying to claw back a pound or two but you know what - it was worth it and I enjoyed every morsel - so there!!!!!

My lovely Yule Log

covered in marzipand and dark chocolate, filled with a sweetened chocolate chestnut puree.

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Our delicious and attractive Christmas day breakfast, lovely creamy scrambled eggs with eggs from my brother, strips of smoked salmon and rye toast, washed down with some prosecco with fresh orange juice.

Christmas Dinner starter, Oysters Rockefeller and Oysters Kilpatrick - I will post the recipes for these divine bites later! For anyone who doesn't like the texture of raw oysters (like me!) these are a revelation.

Our Christmas dinner dessert - a Christmas pudding bombe, the Italian meringue encased a vanilla ice cream enriched with Christmas Pudding, dates and brandy. The base of the pudding was a disc of sponge and just before serving some hot chocolate sauce was inserted with a squeezy bottle under the meringue. Oh. My. God!

Stephen's day dinner was kept light, gently poached lobster, some Dublin Bay Prawns, smoked salmon and Marie Rose sauce. 

This was followed with a selection of gorgeous cheeses enhanced by serving them on the lovely slate cheeseboard I won on a fellow food blogger's site - Mona's blog is fab! Check it out here . The slate cheeseboard and knife were coutesy of Slated.ie

A light lunch over Christmas - Scallops with Jack McCarthy's black pudding and a drizzle of Highbank  Orchard Apple Syrup and a few slivers of fried chilli on top - nom!

And we had a wee bit of dining out, with a couple of Billy's colleagues and their other halves we went to Chapter 40 in Killarney and had a fantastic meal, really top notch nosh, flavour and presentation were faultless! These guys produce art on a plate!

My starter - Crab - potted,doughnut, cone!

My main course - Seafood - Vegetable Tempura, Crab and Grapefruit  Salad (Oh MOMMA!!!!!)

My Dessert - Doughnuts - Pistachio Ice Cream, Cappuccino Mousse  

The following night was New Year's Eve and we were at the Station House in Blennerville which is our favourite local restaurant in Tralee. We had a lovely night there, great food for superb value. An amuse bouche, starter, sorbet, mains, dessert, tea/coffee and a bottle of wine thrown in for €49 per person, AND a magician on tap between courses to keep diners amused!

I had the confit duck leg served on a bed of sublime red cabbage which I totally enjoyed - I'm a divil for going for seafood when I'm dining out so it was nice to try this for a change.

And to end 2011 we bought a new table and chairs - looking  forward to getting the new kitchen to match them in 2012 - fingers crossed!!!!

It's here.....

Lots of happy dancing here today ....

Look what arrived by courier this morning ...

Cannot wait to use it!
So why am I on the net then....... ??? Cos I had to tell the world about my new arrival! Insert proud new kitchen appliance Momma moment here!!!

Dining out in November

November saw a nice bit of dining out for me, first off myself and 4 of the lovely ladies I work with took ourselves off to The Old Convent in Clogheen for a night of fine dining, chat and craic.

Here's "the Girls" Kate, Mary, Phil & Sheila.

Dermot's food as usual was superlative and I was so glad that the girls enjoyed it as it was their first visit to The Old Convent. I adored the the course that started our meal - Ummera Smoked Duck Breast with Parmesan toast, and High Bank Orchard Apple Syrup. (So much so that I tracked down said syrup once I got home, managed to get it at the local farmer's market here in Tralee. Superb stuff!) The ladies and I are planning our return visit for 2012!

 Dermot's second dessert - chocolate heaven!

Then Billy and I went to the Tom Doorley event at The Brehon in Killarney, a lovely night where we were regaled with some fun and informative wine related anecdotes by Tom, while sampling the lovely food offered by Danú restaurant at The Brehon. The main was lovely lamb wellington, with roasted shallot, potato fondant, broad beans and a wine jus.

The night was unbelievable value at €45 per person and that included an amuse bouche, a starter, a veloute, the mains, a goats cheese panacotta and then a deliciously chocolately dessert and petit fours and tea/coffee and 3 very generous glasses of wine and a glass of port.Amazing value!

The following night we were off to Killarney again, this time to Treyvaud's restaurant for their annual game night, we were looking forward to this and trying a few new tastes. The Santa-esque gent here in Mr Treyvaud Senior who comes out of retirement for this event every year. The buffet table was laden down with all types of terrines, pates, sausages, salamis, salads etc, and it was from this we helped ourselves to the starter.

Then we had a Wild game consomme.

From the menu for mains Billy chose Roast Breast of Pigeon and I went with the Pheasant, loved my pheasant, Billy's pigeon I could live without but he ate it happily.

The meal ended with Xmas pud with a divine Brandy sauce.

The cost of this was a very reasonable €50 per person.

I saw somewhere that they also do a seafood night, will be checking that out in 2012!

Parmesan Tartlets with Red Onion Marmalade

These little tartlets are lovely as a starter or a light lunch and the accompanying red onion marmalade is gorgeous and keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge. It would make a great addition to a hamper of homemade goodies for Christmas.

The original recipe is by Jenny Bristow and appeared in the Irish Independent supplement Weekend one Saturday and was promptly torn out and has been used many times

Here's what you'll need: This makes 6 tartlets.

For the pastry
225g flour, sieved
125g butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
2-3 dessert spoons cold water

For the filling

25g butter

½ small onion, finely sliced
Small bunch watercress, lightly steamed - Now I do find it difficult to get watercress but I get mixed salad bags that have watercress, baby spinach and rocket in them and I use that mix.
3 eggs, lightly beaten
275ml double cream
110g Parmesan
½ tsp paprika

Red onion marmalade
25g butter
2 red onions, finely sliced
3-4 dessertspoons water
4 dessertspoons red-wine vinegar
50g soft brown sugar
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Here's what you'll need to do:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees fan/190 degrees regular oven.

Place the ingredients for the tartlets in a food processor and whiz until they bind together to form a soft dough or you can do it by hand - rub the butter into the pastry till it resembles breadcrumbs, add in the egg and a little of the water so that a dough forms.. Roll out the pastry, then, using a pastry cutter, cut it into six rounds of approximately 5in in diameter. This of course depends on your tartlet tins size, so you're as well to put your tin down and cut around giving it about an inch extra all round.

Line individual, lightly greased moulds or tins with the pastry and lightly prick each base with a fork. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Remove from the fridge and cover with a layer of greaseproof paper and a layer of ceramic baking beans to prevent the pastry cases rising in the centre. Bake in the oven at 190°C/Gas Mark 5 for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the baking beans and the paper and set to one side to cool.

Tip: If you haven't got baking beans you can always use some rice, lentils or dried beans in their stead. When you're done pop them into a clean jar and keep them for further use in blind baking.

For the filling, melt the butter in a small pan. Add the onion and cook lightly for one minute. Add the watercress and remove the pan from the heat. Leave to cool.

Beat together the eggs and cream, then mix in the Parmesan, paprika, onion and watercress. Pour the mixture into the pastry shells and bake in the oven at 160° fan/180° regular for approximately 25 minutes until the tarts are golden and firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, make the red onion marmalade.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onions, water, vinegar and sugar. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced and the onions have softened. Season to taste and set to one side to cool slightly.
Remove the tartlets from the moulds.
Serve warm or cold, with a little red onion marmalade.

In other news I am anxiously waiting on the delivery of my new baby - this fabby kitchenaid - should have it this week and I can't wait! It's colour is Boysenberry and ain't it so CUTE!!!

AND.... I won,( hip hip! Jump up and down excitedly!!!) a lovely slate cheeseboard and knife from Slated Ireland courtesy of the lovely Mona Wise's blog giveaway. Mona's blog is great, I've laughed and cried in equal measure while reading it, always a sign of a good story that it will invoke emotions like these.Mona is in the process of writing a book which will be out next year, there will be stories from Mona, recipes from her chef husband and I'm sure a few pics of their delightful children. Mona has the right philosophy - "she writes, he cooks and they all eat it"!

Many thanks to Mona & Slated!

Chocolate Truffles

These babies are seriously divine, they're easy to make, you don't need to scour the shops for any special ingredients or equipment (which is the absolute bane of my cooking life!!!), they look impressive to serve up to your friends and family after a meal or to give as a gift wrapped in some simple cellophane and tied with a pretty ribbon or a nice little box lined with tissue paper or a pretty paper napkin.

Ok there has to be bad news, per truffle we're talking serious calories and for anyone doing Weightwatchers (like moi) they work out at 3 whole propoints each - eek!!! Nonetheless .....they are worth it!! Hehe!!!

A tip : The ones coated in cocoa powder wold be very slightly less calorific than the vermicelli coated truffles!

The following recipe makes about 21 truffles, yes, yes I am painfully aware there are 18 on the plate in the picture above - I gave himself ONE and shur I had to make sure they tasted okay myself! If one didn't taste the mixture as it was cooling etc one might have got 24 truffles

Here's what you'll need:

120mls cream

30g icing sugar

100g Dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids broken into small pieces

50g Milk chocolate, broken into small pieces

25g butter

30 mls Baileys Irish Cream or other liqueur of your choice (Tia Maria, Creme de Menthe, Cherry Brandy, Malibu, whatever floats your boat!)

Chocolate vermicelli and cocoa powder for rolling the finished truffles in.

Re the chocolate - I do a mix of dark and milk chocolate, but if you prefer use all dark, 'tis up to you!

Here's what you'll need to do:

Put the cream and icing sugar in a saucepan and gently heat, do not let it come to a boil!

Take off the heat.

Put the chocolates in a bowl, pour the hot cream/icing sugar mix over it.

Stir well until the chocolate is melted.

Add the Baileys or liqueur of choice, stir well.

Cover and put in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours until set.

Use a teaspoon scoop out amounts of the mixture similar in size to a Ferrero Rocher, roll into balls with your hands.

A tip: Try to have your hands cold for this part and the kitchen ideally wouldn't be meltingly warm either!

Have a couple of plates ready with chocolate vermicelli and cocoa powder and roll the truffles in these as desired.

If liked you could dip them in some melted and cooled chocolate instead.

These will keep in a container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Next time I'm going to try some White Chocolate and Limoncello Truffles so watch this space!

Jack McCarthy's Rose veal chops

Jack McCarthy - Ireland's finest artisan butcher - put the call out last week on Twitter that he had ten month old rose veal in stock. We were mega excited! Jack and his son Tim have a fine butcher's shop in Kanturk, Co Cork, with not just the usual fare but also their award winning puddings and sausages.

We have eaten veal many times but never actually cooked it ourselves, mainly because we could never source it. So after work last Friday I headed to Kanturk and as well as the fabulous Rose veal I came home with black puddings, white puddings, nitrate free rashers, air dried pork, Ardrahan cheese & smoky bacon sausages and Apple & Pork sausages. We'll be well fed for a good while!

The dish that was planned for Saturday night was ditched in favour of the veal, cookery books were scoured and it was between a Gordon Ramsay recipe and one we found online by Matt Tebbutt, the fennel in the latter one swung it for us as it's one of our favourite veg.

Here's what you'll need:

2 Rose veal chops

Olive oil for frying

2 cloves garlic crushed

White wine

For the fennel gratin:

2 fennel, cut into batons, green fronds finely chopped

A knob of butter, plus extra for greasing

300 ml double cream

1 cloves garlic, crushed

70 g emmental cheese, grated

For the crispy onions

½ onion, finely sliced

Milk, for soaking

Cornflour, for coating

Vegetable oil, for frying

Here's what you'll need to do:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. For the fennel gratin: bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the fennel batons and blanch for 1 minute.
Drain immediately and, while still warm, toss the batons with a knob of butter and the finely chopped fennel fronds. (If your fennel had no tops, you can use finely chopped dill instead.)
Transfer the fennel to a buttered ovenproof dish. 

Put the cream into a medium saucepan with the garlic, bring it to a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.
Pour the cream over the fennel, top with the grated cheese and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. While the gratin is cooking, prepare the veal chops.

Season the veal chops with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan until hot and cook the chops until golden and brown on each side.

When the veal is almost cooked, add the garlic and a splash of wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Add a good knob of butter, spoon this over the chops, then remove the pan from the heat and leave to rest, covered with foil, in a warm place for about 10 minutes.

For the crispy onions cover the sliced onions with milk and leave to soak for 10 minutes to remove some of the strong flavour.

Drain and pat dry, discarding the milk.
Season a little cornflour with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dip the onion rings in the seasoned cornflour and shallow fry in hot oil until nice and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.

To serve, put the veal chops on plates and drizzle with the pan juices. Accompany with the fennel gratin and crispy onions.

We made some very chunky chips to go with the dish. It was lip smacking gorgeous - the veal was juicy, tender and tasty, scrummy!

And we teamed it with this wine which was quite nice, not too heavy with the Rose veal. And best of all we have 2 chops in the freezer so Gordon's recipe will get an airing one of these days!

More of Jack McCarthy's produce graced the table for Sunday's brunch along with great brown bread also from Kanturk (Philpott's) and all teamed with eggs from my brother's farm in Portmagee. The nitrate free rashers are great, just like rashers used to taste when I was a child! ( I was going to say in the old days but we won't go there!!!)

Lamb Sausages with Lentils and Braised Pears

I'm afraid after the last few posts showing the gorgeousness of the food we consumed for our birthday feasting ye're now going to be left with my food for a while.

We headed to Limerick's Milk Market last Saturday as we'd heard great things about it. We got some gorgeous nosh - basil Gouda cheese, Parmesan, Brie- these from The Flying Cheese Brigade, squid and undyed smoked haddock from O'Driscoll bros, lamb sausages from Castlegregory's Wild Side, great bread, corn on the cob, chocolate and fudge - FEAST! Oh and some great plants for the winter window boxes too.

We decided on doing something with the lamb sausages the other evening and thank goodness for Google - a recipe was found here. It was for 6 so I tweaked it for just the 2 of us. I never used to use recipes with cups till the last couple of years when I got a set of cup measurements in Tescos I think and shur it's easy peasy since to  do any recipe.

Lamb sausages are also known as Merguez sausages and very popular in North African cuisine which probably explains the harissa flavouring in them.

Lamb sausages with lentils and Braised Pears

Here's what you'll need - this is a generous serving for 2, so generous that Billy had leftovers for his lunch box the following day.
As ye can see I'm getting good at this blogging craic - a pic of the ingredients!
(We attended a cookery demo at the Dingle Food fest hosted by Mark Murphy and one of his suggestions was to get all the ingredients for a dish out and prepped and put in suitable containers, great tip - seems like a wee bit of bother to start but really keeps me tidy.)

1 cups brown lentils 

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 carrots, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery rib, diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 roasted red peppers  cut into thin strips (As I love roasted red pepper I might do two the next time)

5 or 6 lamb sausages - 2 is loads per person 

1 ripe Bartlett pears, cored and cut into eighths



Here's what you'll need to do:

In a large heatproof bowl, cover the lentils with the boiling water and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain.

In a large saucepan, heat half of the olive oil.

Add the diced carrots, onion and celery and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes.

Add the lentils and about a cup of water and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook over low heat until the lentils are just tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon olive oil, the cider vinegar and the roasted red peppers and season with salt and pepper. Divide lentil mixture between hot plates and keep warm.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan. Add the lamb sausages and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Arrange the sausages around the lentils and pour over any accumulated juices.

Return the pan to high heat. Add the pears and cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Serve up and enjoy!