Showing posts with label Mahon Farmers Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mahon Farmers Market. Show all posts

Monday, December 6, 2010

MAHON MARKET DINNER

DINNER FROM MAHON 

Felt good after Saturday night’s dinner, assembled at Thursday’s Mahon Point Farmer’s Market. Felt even better when I read this tweet from Martin Conroy of Woodside Farm : London's New Economics Foundation found £10 spent at local business is worth £25 locally, compared with just £14 when spent in supermarkets.

Well, I reckon I spent about a hundred euro in Mahon. Money makes the world go round so let’s starts the revolution locally. My tenner (I don’t always spend a 100!) and yours goes a long way.

The dinner? Great start with a Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup, put together on Wednesday night by Flynn's Kitchen. Well suited to the current weather, indeed gorgeous in any weather. Cost: 3 euro for one, five for two. Great soup, great value.

Main Dish was Whey Fed Pork from Gubbeen, along with roasted parsnips and carrots from Ballycurraginny Farm. Great feeling to be able to wash the East Cork soil off the veg, rather than have them sweating when you slit open a plastic bag.

The pork was absolutely fantastic, perhaps the best I’ve tasted in years and went so well with the veg and the potato cakes. The meat, delicious in flavour and so moist, had a ring of fat around it and some of that went to feed the birds Sunday morning, the first “customer” being our regular wren, followed by blackbird, robin, sparrow, finch and the lively tit (who never lingers for long in any one spot).

No dessert as such but enjoyed finishing off the Tipperary Brie, another Mahon purchase. And still there are some bits and pieces left, not least an inviting chunk of bacon from Woodside Farm!

Shop local and eat well. And make the world go round
Another version of this post here at Ireland Online

Thursday, December 2, 2010

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

Click on image to enlarge

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

Got a little shock when I looked down on the normal site of the Mahon Point Farmers Market  and saw nothing. Then the iced-up brain crawled into action and a look inside the ground floor of the car park indicated that all was well and that the weather had not beaten the market as there was a goodly supply of stalls and customers doing business away from the slippery surfaces outside.

First business was a hot mouthful and that was a delicious mulled apple juice from Ballyhoura Apple Farm. Impressed and bought myself a couple of bottles.
A bit of a delay then at next stall: McNamara’s Ballycotton Fresh Fish. Quite a few customers here and most were ordering bagfuls. Patience was rewarded and off we went with some enticing fresh hake.

The Gubbeen stall was close at hand and choices here included a chunk of whey fed pork and a pack of venison burgers. A bit of banter and some cooking instructions were also thrown in.

Ballycurraginny Farm is a mustn’t miss stall, both in Midleton and Mahon, and here they had their veg laid out, loads of frosty dirt still clinging to it. Five parsnips for a euro, ten carrots for two. Beat that for goodness and value.

Marks Cheese is another regular call and after a couple of tastings, I picked a brie from Tipperary.

Buttevant’s Old Millbank Smokehouse is a class act and, with the season in mind, we bought a pack of their smoked salmon. It has an early January date but may well be gone before then, may well be gone before Christmas.

Woodside Farm specialises in the pig and gives you loads of info on the product and how to get the best out of it. We lingered a while here before heading off with some of their flavoured sausages and a big piece of bacon.

Man does not live by bread alone but you gotta have some and Arbutus provided an inviting round sourdough. This producer never disappoints.

Hot stuff is the order of the day as the cold tightens its grip and so it was an easy decision to buy a couple of soups from the award winning Flynn's Kitchen. Of course, they do much more than soup and that leaves us with an excuse to go back again. Not that I ever need much of an excuse to visit Mahon Point Farmer’s Market.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

Dull morning in Mahon today but the Farmers Market was as lively as ever. Reached the venue just around opening time and started with a five euro bag of mackerel from O’Driscoll’s of Schull.
Passed Una Poynton’s jam and cake stand and realised I had finished the last of the marmalade at breakfast. Una wasn't there but hubby was and my jar of thick cut was wrapped neatly in a fancy bag.
Headed then for Green Saffron and decided to try it out by buying a meal in a tub: lamb, rice and bread for two. Instructions of course came with it, generously detailed by the man himself.
Then called to the Gubbeen Smokehouse  spot to buy the five star Chorizo. That will be served with our favourite Spanish rice recipe.
A trip around here could take all day, so we had to be somewhat selective but couldn't resist the Old Millbank smoked fish stall where we bought some of their delicious salmon pate.
Also made a stop at the Natural Foods Bakery  where a round of a terrific organic white bread set us back €2.65.
Don't normally shop at Tesco’s but since we were there.... we filled up the trolley, yoghurts from Glenilen and some Czech beer buried deep in the load.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Rebel Chilli in Cork



REBEL CHILLI
Picked up some jars of Rebel Chilli on a recent visit to the Mahon Point Farmers’ Market.

Quite a tasty and versatile product, with different degrees of spiciness. Main uses are to liven up cheeses and hot and cold meats.

The two jars I bought were on the lower end of the “hot” scale and the Jalapeno and Raspberry went particularly well with hard cheese.

Check out my review of Rebel Chilli - I am cork - on Qype

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Mahon Point Farmers Market in Cork


MAHON POINT FARMER’S MARKET
Been a regular visitor to the Mahon Point Farmers Market but it continues to surprise. It was very frosty today, the start of a 3 day market stint up to Christmas Eve.
Some of the Thursday regulars were missing. Ballycotton Fish were there with some fine fresh fish. Moved on then to the nearby cheese stall and settled on the cheddar by Hegarty’s of Whitechurch. Picked up some gorgeous smoked sausages from Gubbeen Smokehouse and some chilli products (in jelly form) from Rebel Chilli before finishing with some inviting veg from the Burns Farm stall.

Despite the fact that a few of the regulars were missing, there was much more to see and buy here. The people serving at the various stalls are invariably in good form and helpful. For a full listing of stalls and products and updates go to http://www.mahonpointfarmersmarket.com/#/stalls/4532446411

Check out my review of Mahon Point Farmer's Market - I am cork - on Qype

Thursday, December 3, 2009

O'Driscoll's Fresh Fish in Cork


O’DRISCOLL’S FRESH FISH
The first thing that always strikes me in the Mahon Point farmer’s market, at least if I come to it via the shopping complex, is the queue at O’Driscoll’s Fresh Fish (who today had four on duty, two filleting like mad). The Schull based outfit seem to thrive while nearby Ballycotton Fish, offering the same fish at the same prices, seem to be much quieter. Location! Location!
They sell the fish by the bag, fiver for a bag of whiting, a fiver also for a big bag of hake or haddock. Looks good value but I’d prefer price per kilo written up. Got some hake and John Dory. Next time though, I’ll weigh up the queue, maybe head for the rivals. Time is precious.

Check out my review of O'Driscoll's Fresh Fish - I am cork - on Qype