Showing posts with label Taste of the Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taste of the Week. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Taste of the Week. Bandon Honey

Taste of the Week
Bandon Honey
Ruth Healy has long been an unofficial champion of local food and, in recent years, she’s actually an official food champion, a Failte Ireland Food Champion.


Failte say: Ruth Healy brings people together – shopkeepers, sellers, producers, restaurateurs, eaters – and she champions the food of West Cork by providing the link. A pivotal member of Slowfood West Cork, a founder of Bandon Farmers Market and Bandon Food Trail, the centre of all her activity is her ‘Culinary Store’ URRU.

Ruth’s shop in Bandon, URRU, is well stocked with the best of Irish, the best of local. So it was no surprise when I picked up a jar of honey, it was from Bandon and produced by Robert McCutcheon and his bees. Can’t get more local than that!

It is marked with the seal of the Federation of Irish Beekeepers Associations and it is pretty good stuff, full of flavour with a great viscous texture, and is our Taste of the Week.



URRU
Culinary Store
McSwiney Quay
Bandon
Co. Cork

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Stonewell Seasonal Ciders. Taste of the Week. Taste of the Summer!


Stonewell Seasonal Ciders
Taste of the Week. 
Taste of the Summer!

Stonewell Apple & Cucumber Limited Edition Craft Cider 2017, 5.5%, 330ml bottle.



In 2016, Stonewell won the Supreme Champion Award at the Blas na hEireann Awards in Dingle with their Rós, an apple and rhubarb cider, and their current seasonal is this medium dry Apple and Cucumber.

First thing you notice is the huge difference in colours, the cucumber one looking more like a white wine (with hints of green), though with lots of bubbles. The cucumber comes through, gently, on the nose and on the palate. 

Flavours are probably lighter than the Rós but, if anything, are even more refreshing. A light and moreish flavour, as they say themselves, from this combination of Royal Gala apples and a subtle twist of cucumber.


Rós Apple and Rhubarb Limited Edition Craft Cider 2017, 5.5%, 330ml bottle

The Supreme Champion is an all local amalgam. The rhubarb juice is extracted from the produce of Robbie Fitzsimmon’s East Ferry Farm in Cork and blended with the “soft caressing” flavours of the apple juice.

This new batch has a gorgeous mid-gold (no pink!), with fountains of bubbles. Rhubarb comes through on the palate but its tartness is more than balanced by those soft caressing flavours of the apples. An engaging mix indeed from the small but highly innovative team at Nohoval and you can taste why it won a surprise overall gold at Blas.

Both ciders are vegan and coeliac friendly and each should go well with food. Thinking of a salad in the garden with a bottle of the Apple and Cucumber while the Rós should be ideal with the strawberries. Must set that one up while the sun is out!

Stockists
Stockists for both ciders: Bradley’s Cork; 1601 Kinsale; Blackrock Cellar, Co. Dublin; Gibney’s of Malahide, Co. Dublin; No 21 Lismore, Co.Waterford; Paddy Blues, Gorey, Co. Wexford; Redmond’s of Ranelagh, Dublin; Lilac Wines, Dublin 3; Supervalu Kinsale and Clonakilty; Riney’s Bar, Sneem, Co.Kerry. Matson’s Wine Store, Grange and Bandon, Cork.

You may get the Apple and Cucumber at the following O’Brien’s Wines locations:
Ardkeen, Co. Waterford; Beacon, Dublin; City West, Dublin; Blanchardstown, Dublin; Douglas Court, Cork; Dun Laoghaire, Dublin; Glasnevin, Dublin; Malahide, Dublin; Naas, Kildare; Rathgar, Dublin; Rathmines, Dublin; Templeogue Village, Dublin.

Nohoval
Belgooly
Kinsale
Co. Cork.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Pork Steak Wellington


Taste of the Week
Davidson’s Pork Steak Wellington

Montenotte based butchers Davidson’s have been serving up some great meat in the area for the past four years or so. And it’s not just the locals saying that. Chris Davidson has led the team here to more than their fair share of awards in national competitions. And our Taste of the Week is one of them.

This delicious Pork Steak Wellington has been a national runner-up and they have a national champion in the equally delicious Crusted Rack of Lamb.

The Pork Steak is our Taste of the Week. Absolutely top notch meat and the stuffing, walnut and apple, is superb as well. Well worth checking this one out. By the way, it comes with full cooking instructions!

Davidson's Craft Butchers
7 St Christopher's Dr, Montenotte, Cork, T23 KV96
Open Monday-Friday· 8a.m.–6:30p.m.
Saturday: 8a.m. - 6.00p.m.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Taste of the Week. Ballymaloe CS Sour Cherry Amaretti


Taste of the Week
Ballymaloe CS Sour Cherry Amaretti

The humble apple may have lost us paradise. But it is simply regained. Just go to Midleton Farmers Market on Saturday and call to the Ballymaloe Cookery School Stall.

There are many palate pleasing delights here: banana bread, Tunisian orange cakes, homemade meringues, and Ashura (Turkish) cereal. 

But this is not quite what you’re searching for. Check in among the Chocolate Toffee Squares and those massive Gingerbread Cookies. What you need, and what I bought on my recent visit, was the their pack of Sour Cherry Amaretti.

Put one of these beauties in your mouth and just press gently with your teeth. Savour. Delight in that amazing texture and flavour. Paradise found, at least on the palate.

Our heavenly Taste of the Week is produced using cherries, egg whites, almonds, sugar, lemon, honey and lots of enthusiastic love.

Shanagarry
Co. Cork


Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Taste of the Week. Maura’s Kitchen Spicy Beetroot Chutney


Taste of the Week
Maura’s Kitchen Spicy Beetroot Chutney

Found my current Taste of the Week during a pleasant visit to Killavullen Farmers Market last Saturday week. Stopped at Maura’s Kitchen Stand and spotted her Spicy Beetroot Chutney. 

It is great with cheese, particularly cheddar. And Maura herself says it really livens up what could otherwise be a rather mundane meat sandwich.

It is packed with beetroot and other ingredients include onion, eating apples, zest and juice of orange, yellow mustard, red wine vinegar, sugar and ginger. Recommended, well worth a try.

Maura also has some terrific jams here and, as with the beetroot, is quite generous with the fruit. Watch out for her Wild Plum and Raspberry jar in particular. And watch out for this lovely market which will be on again next Saturday.



Maura’s Kitchen, 
Derryvillane,
Glanworth,
Co. Cork


Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Taste of the Week. Killahora Rare Apple Ice-Wine

Taste of the Week

Killahora Rare Apple Ice-Wine
Barry (left) and Dave
show their amazing ice wine.

This superb drink, particularly with its aromas and finish, speaks very much of the orchard, maybe even a touch of warm apple tart. Mostly, there is on the palate a well-balanced tension between the dry and the sweet, a sweetness that is not at all sticky. “A bittersweet symphony,” they say themselves. Not a bad summing up of our Taste of the Week.

There was a lot of love expressed for it on Twitter when it made its public debut recently. One enthusiast was so impressed that she cancelled her standing order for importing Canadian Ice Wine!

How do they make it? The juice of their rare apples (114 varieties growing here on south facing slopes) is concentrated using freezing temperatures and slowly thawed. The resulting beautiful deep and rich must is slowly fermented for a year and stopped before completion, leaving half of the apple sugars intact…nothing is added, so the abv is a low 10.8%.

I came across this a few months back as a matching drink for the superb cheese menu at SpitJack. Beautiful and rich, it was perfect with the cheeses that we had and with the Ardsallagh Ash Pyramid in particular. More recently, I got the same magnificent result with the St Tola Ash Log, the two premium products mutually enhancing.

And where is Killahora? You might well ask. If you are lucky enough to get a bottle of the Ice Wine you’ll see a corner of an ordnance survey map from 1837 showing an orchard here on these warm slopes close to the village of Glounthaune just east of Cork City. Well over a hundred types of rare apples growing here now and it is here too that the bittersweet cider Johnny Fall Down is produced.

Killahora
Glounthaune
Co.Cork
PHONE 021 486 8177

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Taste of the Week. Burren Smokehouse Oak Smoked Organic Irish Salmon with Honey and Dill


Taste of the Week
Burren Smokehouse Oak Smoked Organic Irish Salmon with Honey and Dill

Our Taste of the Week comes from the Burren Smokehouse via the Simply Better section of Dunnes Stores. You’ll find it difficult to find the Burren Smokehouse on the label (back). I really don't know why supermarkets don’t sell local products with the producer’s proper name highlighted on the front. Would make shopping a lot easier.

But, in this case, it is well worth it. Birgitta Curtin is the smokehouse owner and her smoking technique plus the addition of the dill and honey makes for a gorgeous rich texture and flavour, a flavour that is both deep and long.

You need very little else. Indeed, it's probably best to follow the simple serving suggestion on the back label: separate the slices of salmon 20 minutes before serving to allow it reach room temperature and then simply serve, with lemon wedges, on some fresh brown bread (preferably homemade, as was the case here, thanks to the official blog chef!).

If you want something a bit more complex, then get your hands on the current edition of Simply Better with Neven Maguire; he has a tempting recipe there for Eggs Benedict using Birgitta’s salmon.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Taste of the Week. Claire’s Homemade Seville Marmalade


Taste of the Week
Claire’s Homemade Seville Marmalade


This is going to be short as I have very little information on Claire Trihy, the producer of our Taste of the Week, an outstanding Seville Orange Marmalade.

I was in Mahon Farmers Market the week before last and realised I was running out of marmalade when I saw this pot on a stand - can't even remember which stand! 

But I bought it straightaway. When I opened it up a few days later and tried it on some Arbutus sourdough, I just had to stop and savour the magnificent tangy flavour - lots of peel in here! It is one of the very best Seville marmalades I've ever come across and just had to make it Taste of the Week!

The small label attached to the jar gives the ingredients and little else. The address though is there: Whitfield, Butlerstown, Waterford. Might be easier to find the marmalade in Mahon next Thursday.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Taste of the Week. Red Strand Coffee


Taste of the Week
Red Strand Coffee

I’ve been tending towards South America, especially Columbia, when I buy coffee nowadays and tending towards local roasters for a long time. So when I saw Columbia and a new local roaster in Bradley’s, I took a closer look and left with a bag of Red Strand’s Rio Magdalena Oporapa. 

The beans are grown at a height of between 1600 and 1650 metres in the Huila department of Columbia and roasted by Shane Kelleher in Clonakilty, West Cork. It has that recognisable Columbian profile of sweetness (Caramel) and acidity, rich and mild with a medium body. The label notes indicate Milk Chocolate, Caramel, and Orange and it is certainly a very drinkable, very satisfying coffee, now appearing in some local restaurants as well as local markets.

Shane was inspired by these markets and the producers around him to start the Red Strand Coffee Roastery. “My ethos is to only roast coffee I want to drink myself. Life's too short for bad coffee!”

If you would like to sample the coffee, please look for the Red Strand Coffee vans in Kinsale, Clonakilty, Bantry, Skibbereen and Schull markets. They’ll be serving up Lattes, Cappuccinos, Flat Whites, Mochas, Espressos, Americanos, Hot Chocolate, even tea!


Red Strand Coffee
Cois Fern, Fernhill
Clonakilty, Ireland
Tel: 087 656 6800

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Taste of the Week. Tender Stem Broccoli, Dockland Style

Taste of the Week
Tender Stem Broccoli Dockland Style
Not often we make a restaurant dish our Taste of the Week but this moreish  “Bite” from the newly opened Dockland is a worthy exception. Very impressed when I bit into this one on a recent visit to Beth and Harold’s makeover of what was previously their Club Brasserie.

Starters here range from small bites, all around the fiver, all the way to bigger ones at eleven and thirteen euro. The full description for this one is Chargrilled Tender Stem Broccoli Caesar Salad, toasted hazelnut and Parmesan Crumble. Terrific tastes, fresh flavours and crunchy textures. A bite of delight, all for a fiver and Taste of the Week.

See full review of visit here.

Dockland
City Quarter
Lapps Quay
Cork
T: 353 (0)21 427 3987


See full post on Dockland visit here

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Taste of the Week. Carrigaline Dillisk Cheese


Taste of the Week
Carrigaline Dillisk Cheese

I’ve long been an admirer of the cheese made by the O’Farrell family at the Carrigaline Cheese Company and I’m wondering now why I took so long to make their Dillisk Seaweed Cheese my Taste of the Week as they have been producing it for over five years. 

The Dillisk seaweed from the Atlantic combines with the milk from the local limestone soil to give the cheese a “must taste” combination. The creamy milk and the subtle tang of the ocean combine superbly.

Sometimes, when an extra like this is added to cheese, you can hardly see it, barely taste it. But here the Dillisk is easily seen, generous bits of it throughout the disc of cheese. Well worth a try.

Carrigaline cheeses are widely available and you can see the list of stockists here 

The Rock
Carrigaline
County Cork
Tel: (021) 437 2856

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Taste of the Week. Cantabrian Anchovies from the Real Olive Co.


The Deli's on the right!

Taste of the Week
Anchovies from the Real Olive Co.

If ever you are lucky enough to be in Getaria, on the Basque coast between San Sebastian and Bilbao, be sure and call to the Salanort deli and get your hands on the local anchovies. I thought that was my only way of getting these beauties but I found out the other day, they are much closer to home and are my Taste of the Week.

All you have to do is to call to the Real Olive Stall in the English Market and get yourself a few tins of the Cantabrian anchovies caught off Getaria and other nearby towns, in particular the can marked Cantara. The little fish are caught and the treated in a traditional way and are of the very finest quality.
Anchovies with grilled onions at Nerua in Bilbao's Guggenheim

What is so different about these anchovies? Well for a start, they are cold water as distinct from the anchovies of the warmer Med. But, maybe because of that, they have a fantastic flavour, pleasant and mild (not as salty as those from the Med) and texture is almost creamy. By the way, they have some delicious sardines at the Real Olive as well - I like the ones in the spicy tomato sauce but there is quite a choice and I'm told that those in Extra Virgin Olive Oil are amazing!
This is the tin you want!


Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Taste of the Week. Skellig Milk Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

Taste of the Week
Skellig Milk Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

Wasn't expecting too much from this pack but, with Skellig Chocolates involved, I should have known better. It is a delightful delicious combination and our current Taste of the Week.

By the way, the chocolate is the main ingredient here at 83%, smothering the marshmallow at 17%. You bite in through the chocolate cover on the irregular sized treats and find the soft tasty marshmallow in the middle. It is quality all the way from the gorgeous chocolate to the soft yielding marshmallow, a terrific flavoursome packet. 

They go well together as I found out when I visited last year and enjoyed a hot chocolate in their cafe, a café with a splendid view out to the magic islands, the hot chocolate topped with a generous helping of marshmallow!



The Glen
Ballinskelligs
County Kerry

066 9479119

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Taste of the Week. Gubbeen Marinated Pork Ribs

Taste of the Week
Gubbeen Marinated Pork Ribs



The Gubbeen stall at the Thursday Mahon Point Farmers Market is always worth a call. Recently, we got a wheel of their delicious cheese, an Irish classic. Fingal Ferguson’s smokehouse and charcuterie in general is always there in abundance and we spotted these ribs there, now our Taste of the Week.
We got enough for three, maybe four, for a tenner. And advice on how to cook them: low and slow, with a tray of water underneath to keep them moist during the process.

The Blog Chef followed the instructions, added a simple salad, and it proved to be a delicious flavoursome main course. Thank you Fingal and company!

And, of course, we had some of the cheese later on.


Gubbeen
Gubbeen House,
Schull, Co. Cork.
Ireland.
Cheese Telephone:
00 353 (0)28 28231
Smokehouse Telephone:
00 353 (0)28 27824

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Taste of the Week. Wild Irish Hot Crabapple Pot

Taste of the Week
Wild Irish Hot Crabapple Pot

This versatile Crabapple jelly with a Chilli kick is brought to you by the Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers  from Millhouse Farm in County Offaly. Our Taste of the Week is just one of a series of their marvellous products. 

This is delicious with lamb, pork and cold meats. You may add it to sauces or enjoy it with ice-cream. Put it on your pancakes as a spread.

I did try it with lamb and it worked a treat. Cheese is not mentioned on the jar but it did go very well with St Tola’s Goats Ash Roll, even better with the original Gubbeen.

Stockists


Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers
Millhouse Farm
Clonlisk
Shinrone
Birr
Co. Offaly

085 - 7476761

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Taste of the Week. St Tola Ash Roll

Taste of the Week

St Tola Ash Roll
I know this has been mentioned here before but it is such a superb product that I just couldn't resist putting it up again. Bought half a roll recently in Iago (Princes Street, Cork) and enjoyed it no end.

It is an amazingly creamy cheese from the tough fields of St Tola in County Clare. The cheese has been rolled in traditional food grade ash when fresh. The ash slows down the development and maturation of the cheese and after a few weeks of careful handling, an elegant, smooth textured and full flavoured cheese emerges.

Take your time as you savour the special flavour and that smooth creamy texture; you might even notice the slightly grittier texture of the ash. Enjoy it on its own or pair it with either of these two delicious Irish products: Killahora Orchards Rare Apple Ice Wine or the Hot Crabapple Pot (if you don’t fancy the heat - it is mild - then try their Elderflower and Crabapple Pot) by Wild Irish Foragers and Preserves.

Gortbofearna,
Maurice Mills,
Ennistymon,
Co. Clare,
Ireland V95 XA9C.
GPS: 52.903140300  -9.178353600 

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Taste of the Week. Kinnegar’s Crossroads American Style IPA

Taste of the Week
Kinnegar’s Crossroads American Style IPA

Had a bit of an American IPA duel recently with Kinnegar's Crossroad and California’s Lagunitas (lag-goo-KNEE-tus) the protagonists, both bought from Bradley’s of Cork. 

Thanks to the US guys for the pronunciation guide. Their Indian Pale Ale was superb as was indeed their 12th of Never Pale Ale.

There were two rounds, both level going into the second. I had brought in one of Donegal diaspora for this one but my islander couldn't split them. 

That left it up to me and I gave the nod to the aromatic citrusy crisp Crossroads, our Taste of the Week, and its nicely bittered finish. Close-run thing tough. Might have to call for a replay! 

K2, Ballyraine Industrial Estate,

 Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Taste of the Week . Butter Shortbread by Cookies of Character

Taste of the Week
Butter Shortbread by Cookies of Character

The Cookies of Character stand at the Mahon Point Farmers market every Thursday is well worth a call and it was there that I found these delicious Butter Shortbread, with Pistachio and Cardamom, our current taste of the week.

This is a fragrant and unusual combination of flavours in a chunky all-butter shortbread. It is outstanding, a different level entirely to most of the imported shortbread. The Cardamom is ground and provides a mild flavour and pleasant aroma. The little flakes of Pistachio also play a part in the overall experience as the buttery biscuit dissolves on the palate. Hugely enjoyable.

I got a box at the stall, and a welcome smile, in Mahon for €2.50. Great value. And they have even better value in the bargain corner of the stand. Here, you can get a variety of tempting flavours for just €1.50.

The Cookies are produced by the Régale Biscuit Company in Dunmanway and are widely available. Check for stockists here

Dunmanway, Co. Cork

Tel: 023 88 95 1 55
Mob: 086 086 81 83, email info@regale.ie

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Taste of the Week. Oriel Sea Salt

Taste of the Week
Oriel Sea Salt

Taste of the Week comes from County Louth and is the Oriel Kiln Dried Sea Salt. It’s Irish, it’s natural, nothing has been added. And it is top class.

 I’ve had the chance to sample the Oriel salts over the past six weeks or so and this particular one, free flowing and fine grained, has appeared on the table non-stop. This mineral rich sea salt has a powerfully smooth taste and allows you to use up to 25% less with no compromise on flavour. It has been endorsed by some of Ireland's top chefs, Ross Lewis of Chapter One among them.

This totally Irish salt has a deeper richer flavour yet is doesn't overpower your dish. Even if you add a little too much, it means more flavour, not saltier. Ed O’Donnell of O’Donnell Crisps: “..the taste profile of Oriel Sea Salt was supreme..”. 

It dissolves and disperses rapidly in recipes. No wonder the country’s chefs are praising it. The chefs will be also be happy with Oriel’s Whiskey Smoked Sea Salt. This has been smoked over Teeling Irish Whiskey freshly emptied 90 year old Nicaraguan Oak barrels to produce a “smokiness that is simply spectacular”. Read Joe McNamee’s hymn to it here.

The third product, all three are available in 250 gram tubs, is their Mineral Sea Salt Natural. This is slightly moist with a powder like grain. “For those who like to pinch.”

Whether you use the Oriel as a finishing or as an ingredient, you’ll be moving on up the flavour scale. It’s a little like changing from mainstream beer to craft - you’ll never go back!

Port Oriel, Clogherhead,
Drogheda, County Louth,
A92 V97C, Ireland.


Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Taste of the Week. Dark Chocolate Apple Crisp Thins

Taste of the Week
Christmas Special
Dark Chocolate Apple Crisp Thins


Lismore Food Company, who make these beauties, say that “Seven days without Chocolate makes one Weak“. I say seven days with chocolate makes my week.

These divine crisp apple thins, air dried and wrapped in the finest dark Belgian chocolate, are an epicurean delight. They have a delicious contrast between the richness of the chocolate and the tartness of the apple and are our Taste of the Week.

All week, that is. With the morning coffee, with the afternoon cuppa. And other occasions I won't mention in case someone is counting. Taste of the Week and very handy to have in the coming weeks. You might even consider dishing them out as presents. I didn’t! 
Stockists here.

The Summerhouse
Main Street
Lismore
Co. Waterford.