Taste of the Week. Lucy’s Granola

Taste of the Week

Lucy’s Granola

Back in the middle of the summer, I was staying in Glenbeigh and called into the attractive Emilie’s, a deli cum bakery and more, in the village. I never go shopping without a bag and one of the items I spotted was Lucy’s Granola.

I’ve been enjoying this Taste of the Week since. I know a person who visits Glenbeigh regularly and tops up my supply and, in any event, it is also available online from the producers O’Donnell’s Bakery in Killorglin.

Lucy’s Granola is packed with delicious Irish oats, nuts, fruit, seeds and locally produced honey. Every small batch is hand blended and packed to keep it fresh and full of goodness. Next on my list is Molly’s Muesli!

Taste of the Week. Ardsallagh Goats Cheese

Taste of the Week. 

Ardsallagh Goats Cheese

A totally unexpected gift from a travelling salesman started Jane Murphy’s long term love of goats and led to the beautiful Ardsallagh cheese that so many people know and love today.

Back in the late 70s, that insurance salesman in County Carlow wasn’t getting the best of receptions from Jane. During the conversation, he noticed, “couldn't help but notice”, that her children had eczema and said that goats milk would be a help. Jane said thanks very much for the tip and sent him on his way.

An hour or so later, she sighed as he returned. This time with a gift. He lifted a goat out of the boot, presented her to Jane and carried on his way. She never saw that salesman again but the goat led to greater things.

For a start, the eczema cleared up and "since then we have always had goats in the garden and following years of experimenting this has grown into something wonderfully and tasty." Ardsallagh has now been making cheese for over 20 years.

Ardsallagh cheese keeps popping up on restaurant menus and not just in Cork. It is one of the most popular and one of the very best goats cheeses in the country. It is widely stocked in shops and supermarkets, various farmers markets and in delis such as On the Pig's Back. I got this particular piece via On the Pig's Back on Neighbourfood.

Ardsallagh soft goats cheese is a white cheese with a creamy texture. This cheese has a gentle flavour as it is made daily from fresh goats milk. It is delicious and very handy these warm days as a lunchtime treat. I just added some beetroot from the garden (not a great crop this year), a few juicy cherry tomatoes, also via Neighbourfood, and a few leaves of basil.

* Luke was one of her toddlers with the eczema and he is now the Dairy Manager at Ardsallagh.

Read all about Ardsallagh Goats Cheese.

Taste of the Week. Clafoutis, with Plums from the Apple Farm

Taste of the Week. 

Clafoutis, with plums from the Apple Farm  

Clafoutis, that easy and classic French dessert, is usually made with cherries. We missed out on the recent cherry harvest at The Apple Farm.

But we weren't going to miss out on their plums. Con Traas and his team grow Opal plums and you can now get them at their farm shop on the road between Cahir and Clonmel. We called up last week and packed our bags with fruits and juices and included plenty of those plums of course.

So what do you do with a lot of plums aside from popping them into your mouth one at a time? Clafoutis, of course. You'll find many recipes on the internet. Ours turned out very well indeed, a superb Taste of the Week.

Time for a trip to Tipp?

All the details  (directions, opening times) here at The Apple Farm

Taste of the Week. St Tola's Goats Cheese Ash Log

Taste of the Week.

St Tola's Goats Cheese Ash Log

The St Tola Ash Log is a premium product so no wonder that it features in  our Taste of the Week every now and then. It is in the spotlight again this week with a bit of enhancement from other local products.

I bought my cheese at Iago in Princes Street last Saturday morning. A few minutes later, in the English Market, I purchased a bunch of pears from Margo Ann of Roughty Foodie, having no idea at all that both would end up together on the same plate.

The coming together happened on Tuesday evening, following a day trip to Tipperary where I bought a bottle of the Highbank Organic Orchard (Apple) Syrup (the 3rd leg of the amalgamation) at the Apple Farm.

Back from Tipp, and after a satisfying lunch in Mikey Ryan's, we weren't exactly hungry in the early evening but were thinking of a little snack. Say no more. Sliced one of those delicious pears very thinly, sliced the cheese (not very easy to do, it's very crumbly) and layered them in a not very precise way. Then, gently squeezed on a few drops of the syrup and, bingo, we had a superlative Taste of the Week.

The three parts are easy to obtain around Cork city. You can get the Highbank syrup in both Roughty and Bradley's and probably in quite a few other outlets. Just realised there as I was typing that Sean Calder-Potts of Iago is a brother of Rod from Highbank! Small world, but a tasty one!

Taste of the Week. St Tola Goats Greek Style Cheese

Taste of the Week

St Tola Goats Greek Style Cheese

To give it its full title our Taste of the Week is St Tola Gold with Newgrange Chili and Garlic Rapeseed oil. They also add peppers and dried thyme. This delicious new product is, like all their cheeses, produced from the pasteurised milk of their renowned herd of goats looked after on their Inagh farm in County Clare.

I spotted it on the extensive cheese offering from On The Pig's Back as detailed on the Neighbourfood site and got it in last week's delivery. So what would I do with it? Just thought of checking their website and they had a few answers: Great as a pizza topping, in salad or just straight from the jar!

As it turned out, pizza was on the menu. We made up the dough from the regular Gozney recipe and the first addition was the outstanding pizza sauce from the West Cork Food Company. Some Kalamata olives and semi sun-dried tomatoes were then added before the chunks of the St Tola were generously scattered around.

A few minutes later, we were tucking into a couple of superb pizzas, our Taste of the Week playing a starring role. We haven't made that many yet on the Gozney but, as novices, we were extremely happy with this one, with its combination of outstanding flavours, and the recipe will be repeated!

As it happened, there was still some left in theSt Tol jar and that went down well with a salad on the following day.

St Tola Irish Goat Cheese

Taste of the Week. West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce.

Taste of the Week.

West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce.

Did a bit of a supermarket blitz on a recent morning, on the hunt for semi-sundried tomatoes but not a packet nor a jar to be had in the local SuperValu or Aldi. But what I did spot (in Aldi) was this jar of West Cork Food Company Pizza Sauce and that turned out to be a winner later that evening. No bother in nominating this as Taste of the Week.

We used it on a pizza made on the Gozney, using the Gozney dough recipe, adding this sauce, some of Johnny Lynch's Macroom Mozzarella, olives (Kalamata from Olives West Cork via Neighbourfood), a few dabs of the Ballyhoura Mushrooms Garlic Scapes Pesto along with (instead of the sundried version) some tomatoes to which we had added oregano and a few drops of Balsamic vinegar. One of best yet and that sauce was key!

They say: At the West Cork Food Company we believe that what makes our food unique is the people and land the produce it. Our classic pizza sauce is made of tomatoes with a pinch of herbs and a hint of onion, that's it! Enjoy on your favourite pizza or add to pasta to create an authentic Italian Neapolitan dish.

Can't find any internet presence for West Cork Food Company, aside from one post (a blank map of West Cork on Instagram).

The address on the jar is:

Unit 15 Údarás Industrial Estate

Ballymakeera, Macroom, Co. Cork.

Taste of the Week. On The Double. Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms: Garlic Scape Pesto & Wild Irish Samphire

Taste of the Week.

Samphire

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms' Garlic Scape Pesto

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms' Irish Marsh Samphire

Always worth taking a punt on Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms, even when it's not a mushroom on offer. These two terrific recent examples are very highly recommended indeed.

First up is their seasonal Garlic Scape Pesto produced with "Ireland's finest garlic scapes" that they source from @westcorkgarlic. The scape is the long flower stem from bulb garlic. We bought a little jar through Neighbourfood and the flavour packed in there is amazing, really gets those taste buds up and running. We tried it in a ham and salad sandwich on the local Arbutus sourdough. Leaves and onions from the garden, the ham from Supervalu's signature range plus this superb pesto.

Garlic scapes. WikimediaImages via Pixabay 

Look out for the pesto on your local Neighbourfood or at markets where Ballyhoura trade such as the Milk Market and Mahon Point. They are very happy with it themselves: "a Garlic Pesto more akin to a tapenade made with Ireland's Finest Garlic Scapes".

The Irish Marsh Samphire is another seasonal gem - no air miles attached - and again I bought a box of it via Neighbourfood. Ballyhoura say: Delicious salty and succulent seasonal Wild Irish Samphire aka sea asparagus. Delicious with any fish dish, mushrooms, potatoes, or simply sautéed in butter."

Tried it with a nice piece of salmon and new potatoes, butter and not a whole pile more. Superb. There's certainly a salty tang from it but there is something clean and fresh about it, not as sharp as your normal salt. Another local product well worth a try!

Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms

Taste of the Week. Black Castle Irish Craft Soda

Taste of the Week

Black Castle Irish Craft Soda

During last week's trip to Clare, I picked up a bottle of this delicious dry and refreshing Irish soda in Hugo's in Lahinch (around the corner from the beach carpark). Just polished it off there now and the jury here makes it our current Taste of the Week.

Hand-made in Wicklow, it is a well balanced fruity melange of Blackberries and Stinging Nettles. A really excellent soft drink. Recommended best serve is over ice and with a slice of lemon.

Can't tell you how much my 330ml bottle costs. I bought a bunch of stuff and didn't pick up the receipt. They also do a Ginger Beer version. They are stocked pretty widely including in SuperValu, Ardkeen QFS, JJ O'Driscoll's Cork, Baggot Street Wines and 64 Wines. Full list here.

Black Castle Drinks

A refreshing mix of fragrant Blackberries and stinging Nettle using Demerara sugar to create a fruity and sophisticated sparkling soft drink that'll bring you back to early autumn walks down country lanes. 

• Hand-made in Co. Wicklow

• Non-Alcoholic

• Allergen Free

Best served over ice with a slice of lemon!

Taste of the Week Malay Kitchen Spring Rolls

Taste of the Week

Malay Kitchen Spring Rolls

While on holidays in the Loire a few years back, I regularly bought Spring Rolls (wrapped in rice paper) from a Vietnamese stall in the twice weekly market in Chinon. They were large, delicious and amazing value. Never seen the likes of them here.

Malay Kitchen are new suppliers to Neighbourfood in the city and my attention was immediately on full alert when I spotted "Summer Rolls (Vietnamese-inspired)".

This is their description: Malay Kitchen Summer Rolls (Vietnamese-inspired)- a salad packed into an edible container. If you are not familiar with these little delicacies-then, you’ve got a treat! They’re just about the freshest thing we can imagine: a jumble of crunchy raw vegetables, soft, aromatic herbs, cool, squidgy rice noodle, all stuffed snugly into a featherlight rice wrapper.  Serve with homemade mild, sweet, sour and tangy dipping sauce-a hints of garlic, lime juice, sprinkle of crushed chillies and splash of sesame oil/seeds. This rolls are a refreshing and healthy change from usual fried variety, great as a cool summertime appetizer. The slightly bland, crunchy rolls are balanced with this punchy dipping sauce!"

A very fair description indeed and they are our current Taste of the Week. Malay Kitchen was founded in Cork in 2014 by Elle and Norza, with their first little restaurant in Kinsale and branching out in Cork City few months after.

"Food is a huge part in Malaysian culture and both of us have channelled this and our professional expertise as chefs into Malay Kitchen brand. Both of us are professional and qualified chefs, been working in Ireland since 2002 before venturing into business."

They have quite a range of products and you may see more on Neighbourfood.

Taste of the Week. Ballymaloe Cider.

Taste of the Week. 

Ballymaloe Cider.
 

Ballymaloe Cider 2020, 5.2%, available at Ballymaloe

Did you know that cider is made in Ballymaloe? It's a beauty, delicious and refreshing with unique flavours,  and our Taste of the Week.  I got mine recently at the Saturday afternoon pop-up wine shop at the Grainstore in Ballymaloe; opens at 2.00pm. Lots of wine of course and also the Ballymaloe Garden Gin.

They make the cider with apples grown on the farm, including Dabinett, Crimson Bromley, Santana, Topas, Delles Bell and Dellinquo. Other old varieties are grown across the farm, in the walled garden, and beside the aptly named Orchard Cottage. This is an unusual blend of apples that gives the cider its rich and refreshing flavour.

Taste of the Week. A Local Salad, Boy

Taste of the Week.

A Local Salad, Boy

The sun may not be as constant as we would like, but these are certainly salad days. And it so easy to put a good one together, just like this very local combination, our Taste of the Week.

The main player here is perhaps the Ardsallagh Goats Cheese, a renowned East Cork product that is readily available. Also in there is a terrific Spiced Apple and Carrot Chutney from On The Pig's Back. And those tasty little red salad onions come from Kilbrack Farm in North Cork. The leaves and radishes from the back garden!

As you know, I'm a big fan of Neighbourfood and virtually everything (cheese, onions, chutney, tomatoes) above came through my delivery so that made it even easier for me! 

Enjoy and continue to support local.

Taste of the Week. On The Pig's Back Couscous Salad

Taste of the Week

On The Pig's Back Couscous Salad

Couscous has become very well-known here over the past few decades. You can use it as an accompaniment to meat dishes. Tagine is a regular example.Or you may enjoy it as a standalone salad.

Either way, you'll find it hard to top the fresh and spicy Couscous salad with carrots, peppers, raisins and almonds, and Moroccan spices that On The Pig's Back produce. It is our current Taste of the Week.

We ordered it (€5.50) via Neighbourfood and paired it with those very tasty Skeaghanore duck confit legs (widely available, including via Neighbourfood). A superb result!

On The Pig's Back

Neighbourfood

Taste of the Week. Golden Bean's Capim Branco

Taste of the Week.

Golden Bean's Capim Branco

Lots of new coffee roasters on the block these days but our current Taste of the Week comes from one of the longest standing, the Golden Bean who are based at Ballymaloe.

Bought a bag of the beans from Bradleys (North Main Street) last week and was immediately struck by the excellent quality of this relatively sweet and fruity Brazilian variety Yellow Catuai (not that I know much at all about the different varieties). 

But I can rely on the judgement of Golden Bean owner/roaster Marc Kingston whose "goal has always been to source, roast and supply the most ethically produced beans from around the world". Well worth a try!

Pic via Golden Bean.

For the Geek!

Varietal: 100% Yellow Catuai

Processing: Natural and dried on Patios

Owner: Andrade Brothers (Ismael & Eduardo Andrade)

Altitude: 1,100 metres above sea level

Town / City: Carmo do Paranaiba

Region: Cerrado Mineiro

Taste of the Week. The Big Cork Salad with Jack McCarthy, ORSO, Olives West Cork, Purple Squirrel, On the Pig's Back, Neighbourfood.

Taste of the Week. 

The Big Cork Salad.

Salad with Jack McCarthy, ORSO, Olives West Cork, Purple Squirrel, On the Pig's Back, Neighbourfood.

How many hands does it take to make a lively tasty salad at the start of spring. Quite a few as it turned out last weekend. But it turned out very well indeed. Quite a Taste of the Week!

The leaves, a lovely mix, came from Purple Squirrel Farm. There was Sweet Pickled Onion from ORSO, adding a delicious kick. From Olives West Cork came Freshly Marinated Koroneiki Olives (big plump and superb) and Semi Sundried Tomatoes (big juicy Sicilians that had to be cut down to size with a scissors). 

The main star of the dish was Jack McCarthy's Pastrami (left), all the way from Kanturk, and supplied to Neighbourfood via On the Pig's Back. Indeed all the ingredients came via Neighbourfood, illustrating once again how this organisation is helping small producers and at the same time giving customers the chance to taste the very best around.

Taste of the Week. Irish Pie's Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie

Taste of the Week 

Irish Pies Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie

 

Up to a few weeks back, I'd never heard of the company called Irish Pies. But then they, like many more excellent producers, popped up on the NeighbourFood offerings. I ordered the Smoked Bacon and Colcannon Pie.

They described it as "A delicious creamy pie filled with smoked bacon, cabbage, leeks and cheddar cheese". Quite an accurate account as it turned out and we enjoyed our new Taste of the Week no end. Every last bite, including those delicious bacon chunks, vanished. Now I need to look up the other choices which include Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Beef & Stout Pie and Vegetable Pie. Each, aside from Veggie (7.00), costs eight euro. Well worth it!

Irish pies are a Cork based food company. "We dedicate ourselves to producing artisan savoury pies for food markets in the Munster area. Our focus is on Irish cookery and we use recipes that date back generations to produce a home cooked pie just like mammy would make. All our pies can be frozen. This is a large meal for one person and very satisfying! Our ingredients are kept local, just like our pies."

As always, I'm very happy to support local!

Irish Pies

Cork

Tel: 0899532807

Taste of the Week. Ballylisk "The Triple Rose"

Taste of the Week

Ballylisk "The Triple Rose"

I came across this Ballylisk Triple Rose cheese, more or less by accident. It was part of a Christmas Feast pack that I bought Click & Collect from The Glass Curtain, an exciting top notch restaurant less than 5km away from me. There was also a big chunk of aged Ballinrostig Gouda. Quite a double.

This single herd, bloomy rind cheese is outstanding. Triple Rose is a triple cream brie (hence the name) which means that additional cream is added to the milk. Our Taste of the Week is full of flavour, highlighted by a tangy citrus-y note that make those taste buds sit up and take notice. There is also a Smoked version of the Triple Rose but I haven't tried that yet.

It won 2 stars at the Great Taste Awards in 2019 and Silver at the Blas na hEireann Irish Foods Awards in 2018. It's also got the thumbs up from two very good judges indeed, Brian owner/chef of the Glass Curtain and Johnny of Indie Fude (great food-store) in Comber and Belfast.

Ballylisk say: Ballylisk cheese is part of a food chain which begins and ends in Ballylisk. The grass is eaten by the cows. Their milk makes the cheese. There is much more we are going to do with that milk and its by–products.

Ballylisk of Armagh 

Taste of the Week. Stone Valley Coffee

 Taste of the Week

 Stone Valley Coffee

You get music notes with your coffee notes when you buy from Stone Valley Coffee Roasters. 

I've a preference for Central and South American coffees so when I saw the selection at their stall in Mahon Farmers Market, I bought a pack of their "Some Day You'll Return", the name of their coffee from Peru, the pack illustrated with a guitar, the well-known (?) 1937 14-fret National Style "O" Resonator. 

Well, I might be able to tell one end of a guitar from another - just! So that pic didn't impress me much but the coffee, with notes of Caramel, Orange and Castillo certainly did and it quickly became our Taste of the Week.

Stone Valley have a shop in Clonakilty so you can get your fix there. They'll talk to you about music and coffee - anything it seems except decaf! By the way, I didn't remember (or maybe never knew) that Some Day You'll Return is a Dire Straits tune.

Don't know either who did One Last Drag or if it was even a song but hey do have a whole choir mentioned on the pack. The coffee though is as they say "something special" with all the "classic Ethiopian flavours but without too much of the floral notes" (which suits me very well indeed). This would do equally well as Taste of the Week.

So just take your pick! And do check out their full range  - they (John and Tom) have even snuck in a decaf! They also do wholesale and a subscription service.

They say: We roast small batches of high quality single origin coffees in our micro-roastery in West Cork. We focus on sourcing the highest quality beans and through every step of the process we focus on flavour, traceability and sustainability.

Stone Valley Roasters

35 Ashe St, Clonakilty

Co. Cork P85 N286

info@stonevalleyroasters

Taste of the Week. Woodside Farm Pork

 Taste of the Week. 

Woodside Farm Pork

We've missed out on the Farmers Markets over the past few months before a quick visit to the one at Mahon Point (Cork) recently.

A few days later, at the weekend, we realised what we had been missing when the slow-cooked pork shoulder landed on the table. The pork, raised free-range by Woodside Farm in East Cork, is incomparable. Packed with amazing flavour, juicy and tender, it is Taste of the Week.

The Woodside pigs live outdoors all of their lives where they root and forage. They sleep in movable arks on straw bedding."We don't feed our pigs commercial ration, instead they are fed mainly rolled wheat and we also grow Kale and Swede Turnip.They are rotated onto fresh pasture regularly."

Woodside Farm

Oldcourt

Ballincurrig

Leamlara

Co. Cork

Taste of the Week. Spiced Apple & Carrot Chutney by On The Pig's Back

Taste of the Week

Spiced Apple & Carrot Chutney

by On The Pig's Back

The quality of the produce available from On The Pig's Back - Cheese, Meat, Deli, Pantry, Wine - is consistently good. Always worth a gamble, though in truth, it is never a risk. This is underlined with their Spiced Apple and Carrot Chutney, our current Taste of the Week.

We got it in one of our Neighbourfood orders and soon found it does what it says on the tin, and so much more.  Over a couple of lunches we paired it with local cheeses and it enhanced them each time. Shouldn't be surprised really as everything that we've tasted from their kitchen, has always been premier class. So there you are, another one for your shopping list.

On The Pig's Back

Unit 26, St Patrick's Mill Douglas, Cork, T12 E952

Tel: 021 4617832

Andd, of course, you'll also find them in the English Market.

Taste of the Week. Sage in a Pot

Taste of the Week. 

Sage in a Pot. Pork Pot.

Midleton chef Kevin Aherne has been one of those restaurant owners doing a bit of pivoting recently! With his popular Sage closed, he has been selling his skills in different ways via pots, pies and sides. These are now available on Neighbourfood and in many stores - keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates.

I found a selection in Bradley's recently and the superb Pork Pot is our Taste of the Week. Bascially, this is slow-cooked pork, stroganoff style with Lemon and Sage. The addition of the lemon and sage is genius, enhances the pork no end without in anyway overwhelming it. The pots cost €7.50 each and for that we got a delicious main course for two. Well, we did add rice!

Looking forward now to my second pick, the Vegan Pot (red dahl with lentils, chickpeas, potatoes, cumin and coriander). Wonder what we'll add to this medium hot dish.

Sage2Go 

The Courtyard
8 Main St
Midleton
Cork
Ireland

 021 463 9682