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Tom Doorley: Chips

Category: Food
For the truly hungry it's an aroma that's right up there with the smell of sausages frying on a camp fire. I'm talking about the alluring scent of the chipper, especially as I remember it from childhood.   It's part of what we are, this devotion to fish and chips and we have been putting the stuff away in vast quantities for well over a century now. But we didn't invent it ourselves, nor did we import it from next door.   The closest thing to fish and chips you will find in the Italian kitchen is fritto misto - which is various bits and]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMTJump for crepes Category: Food
Jump juice bars, known for their delicious juices and smoothies, have recently introduced crepes onto their menu.  There are ten tempting crepes in the range which includes favourites like a plain crepe with lemon and sugar and the nutella crepe as well as various fruit filled options. As with all items available at Jump juice bars the calorie information for all the crepes is listed on the menu so customers can make an informed decision.  The crepes, which are made to order, are served in a custom designed holder which allows the crepe to be eaten conveniently on the go or can be eaten on site where there is seating.]]>Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Curious about wine?

Category: Food
If you're curious about wine but know for sure that you adore a good night out, check out the latest event in the Cornstore's packed autumn / winter calendar. Following successful fashion events, the award-winning restaurant and cocktail bar is teaming up with local wine merchant Curious Wines to provide a gourmet wine-matching night for Cork oenophiles. Curious Wines will host an evening of wine and chat with Gavin Quinney, a wine producer from Chateau Bauduc in France.  Chateau Bauduc produces red, white, and rosé, and is best known for being the white wine of choice for Gordon Ramsey's restaurant.]]>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMTTom Doorley: Simpler times, simpler biscuits Category: Food
As far as I know, there’s only one company – and it’s a small one – making biscuits in Ireland these days. It’s not as if we’re eating any less of them, surely? The biscuit has been central to Irish life for well over a century.   When I was a lad there was always a certain frugality about plain biscuits, the sort you got during the year rather than at Christmas. And the plainest of them all was Marietta, which can still be bought. Before they invented the rather less tasty H2-receptor antagonists Marietta was, in combination w]]>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Bia Sásta: Canapés

Category: Food
In the first of a 12 week series of articles teaching you how to cook the perfect Christmas dinner, Elke O'Mahony serves up the simplest of canapés, stuffed mushrooms with garlic. Ingredients  1 onion, finely chopped Unsalted butter 20 medium mushrooms 20g dried porcinis (soaked in warm water) 1-2 crushed garlic cloves 3/4 cup fresh breadcrumb 1 egg Chopped fresh parsley & thyme Salt & pepper Strips of Parma ham Method Method - Pre-heat oven to 160c- Heat 3 tbsp butter in a frying pan]]>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:55:00 GMT

Roast chicken the easy way

Category: Food
Want to make the perfect roast chicken? Why not give yourself a break and buy a pre-stuffed Irish chicken from O'Sullivan's Poultry in the English Market. Priced at €7, O'Sullivan's guarantee that their stuffed chickens are Irish, grain-fed and free of antibiotics, growth promoters and other nasties. Pair it with this simple gravy and serve with traditional sides of roast potatoes and boiled or steamed broccoli and carrots, or roast some root vegetables of your choice with a glaze of honey and some sea salt.]]>Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:29:00 GMT

Smoked haddock and leek risotto

Category: Food
If you're afraid to try making risotto, and love fish but are unsure how to approach cooking it, this recipe from BBC Good Food is a wonderful starting point. It's extremely simple to make and provides a very impressive but warm and hearty dinner that will keep everyone happy. You can use low fat milk, and we did use dyed haddock - it adds some colour apart from anything else! Ingredients - small knob of butter- 1 ]]>Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Cook off sees Irish win

Category: Food
The 2012 Celtic Cook Off was won by Irishman Gary O'Hanlon at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen this week.   An audience of over 200 food enthusiasts packed the ballroom of the West Cork Hotel and watched as six top chefs representing Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, the Isle of Man, Wales and Cornwall used local West Cork produce to create their favoured dish for six judges.   Each chef prepared three plates of their chosen dish within a half hour time limit using West Cork food plus one wild card ingredient of their own choosing.]]>Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMTTom Doorley: Too sweet for some Category: Food
When I was a child I used to take 3 teaspoons of sugar in my tea. My mother used to try to persuade me that this was more than would dissolve in a cup of liquid but I, of course, knew better. My tea was very sweet, but not a saturated solution. Thankfully, I got sense eventually. By the time I was in my teens I was down to one teaspoon in a whole mug of tea. And when I was an undergraduate I gave up sugar altogether in coffee, which rather surprised me. In my mid-twenties, I gave up sugar in tea too.]]>Thu, 20 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Celebrate organic week with the best of Irish produce

Category: Food
Organic Smoked Salmon and Cheese Frittata Serves 4   Ingredients 8 organic eggs 2 tablesp chives, chopped ]]>Thu, 13 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMTTom Doorley: My goodness, my Guinness Category: Food
Because I was just about legally entitled to buy alcohol when the alco-turkey that was Guinness Light burst upon an unsuspecting world, I am perhaps more aware than many people that the black stuff from St James's Gate is one hell of a brand.   And this, of course, is the Age of the Brand. From cars to watches, soap to computers, a vast industry creates, nurtures and monitors The Brand. In some cases, like Haagen-Dazs, the brand was created out of thin air and very recently but it feels and looks as if it has heritage.]]>Thu, 13 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Johann's back to school sausage rolls

Category: Food
We made these all through the summer at the Brennan's cooking camps and they went down really well, not just with the kids, but with the parents too. A great in lunch box treat, with a handful of cherry tomatoes or some cucumber salad you have a good lunch.  The pastry is a very simple short crust and dead easy to make, but you could always buy a 500g block instead. ]]>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMTThe best of bia Category: Food
Foodies, prepare for one of the highlights of the Irish food calendar; the Blas na hÉireann awards takes place as part of the Dingle Peninsula Food Festival during the weekend of 4 - 7 October and will be a delight for the senses.  The awards celebrate and reward the best of Irish produce and the passionate, driven individuals behind it.  The weekend's line up features taste trails, charity cookout, wine tastings, foraging walks, cookery demonstrations and food workshops. Farmers' markets will line the streets of Dingle from Friday right through until Sunday.]]>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMTTom Doorley: We get what we pay for Category: Food
One grim fact stands out amongst all the statistics about current consumer behaviour. We now spend less on food than at any other time in history. And we get what we pay for.   Kevin Thornton, the celebrity chef, went a little far, a few years back, when he described intensively reared chicken as “poison”. But cheap chicken is bad food in the sense that it tastes of nothing. It has become a kind of animal tofu, a mere vehicle for other flavours.   Of course such food, flavourless as it is, does provide nutrition for those of us on ver]]>Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

What is modern Irish food?

Category: Food
Goodall's are on a mission to find out what is modern Irish food and, through local cook Margaret Smith, they are looking for help from foodies and bloggers throughout the country to help put together a cookbook that reflects this. Has Ireland got its own identifiable cuisine or are we just a melting pot of influences from Europe, America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean?  Margaret wants to know what 'Irish food' means at this very moment in time. Gone are the days when Irish stew ended up on the plates twice a week, and is boiled bacon and cabbage still the mainstay of Irish family dinners? She is looking for recipes which can be submitted through the website ]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Tom Doorley: An apple a day

Category: Food
Those houses, the semi-detached three and four bedroomed houses that created the suburbs in the years just after World War II, very often seem to have come ready equipped with a couple of apple trees. In the late 1940s, there must have been a boom in sales of two of the most famous apple tree varieties, Cox's Orange Pippin and the big, greasy skinned sour Bramley's Seedling. The latter is our favourite - almost our sole - cooking apple in Ireland, its tart flesh sweetened with plenty of sugar and encased in puff pastry.]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Rabbit casserole

Category: Food
Food blogger Elke O'Mahony, who blogs as Bia Sásta, was recently given a gift of a rabbit by a local farmer who was ridding his land of pests. She produced a wholesome family dinner for next to nothing with this recipe.  Ingredients 1 rabbit (jointed into 5 pieces) olive oil butter 1 large onion 3 cloves of garlic 250g button mushrooms 300ml chicken stock a glass of white wine 200ml cream fresh parsley Preheat oven to 180C (fan 160C). Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan and fry the rabbit ]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMTVeggie delight Category: Food
Denis Cotter's roast courgette, green bean and fennel salad with puy lentils, zhoug, minted yoghurt and cumin crispbreads This dish sounds complex but each constituent part is quite simple to make up.  Ingredients Zhoug: 10 fresh green or red chillies 200g fresh coriander 20 cardamom pods, finely ground 1 clove garlic 200ml olive oil Cumin crispbreads: 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 slices day old bread Salad: 100g puy lenti]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Take a punt on Fenn's

Category: Food
Executive Chef at Fenn's Quay Kate Lawlor has created an array of new scrumptious items available for just €2 each in what the restaurant is calling its new 'PuntSaver' menu. Each day, she now offers several items on the €2 ‘PuntSaver’ taster menu based onwhat is available fresh from the local producers. Taster items include: Rosscarbery white pudding and shellfish de la mer scallops, Goatsbridge trout caviar, Ardsallagh goat's cheese and crispy wild rock samphire, or Ballyhoura mushrooms with wild sea samphire.]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMTO'Herlihy's get convenient Category: Food
O’Herlihy’s Bacon has been a family business in Cork since 1961. Based in Ballincollig, and employing over 30 people, this family owned business is introducing two new meat products for Cork consumers. O’Herlihy’s specialise in curing, cooking, slicing, packing all pigmeat products and delivering to supermarkets, shops and hotels along with catering institutions and hospitals. The two new products being introduced by O’Herlihy’s are Sliced Cooked Ham and Best Corned Beef, both in easy to use packets.]]>Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT