Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The excellent ely Wine Bar

The excellent ely Wine Bar
When the folks at Dublin’s ely Wine Bars  go home to Clare they collect most of their meat from the family farm and get the lamb from the farm next door on Craggy Island. In Ely Place (Dublin), we had some of that lamb last evening and it was a highlight, slow cooked and superb. And a huge choice of well priced wines to choose from.
We had started with a glass of sherry and were soon into our starters. Mine was a delightful Roast Cauliflower and Parmesan while CL tucked into the family farm beef:  Organic Burren beef carpaccio with artichoke and radish. 
We had been going through the extensive wine and decided on the Chateau Fongaban Puisseguin St Emilion biodynamic and it proved a superb wine and a superb match. The lamb was something else, slow cooked and served with sun-dried tomato pesto, goat cheese mousse, shaved fennel, a big bowl of lovely lamb’s lettuce and jus.
 Amazingly, there was room for dessert. And some pretty amazing desserts, I might add. CL went for the Poached Rhubarb served with vanilla ice cream and ginger crumble and that went down well with the recommended Chateau des Fesles, Bonnezeaux Chenin ‘05.

My pick was the 70% Chocolate Truffle Tart and Raspberry Sorbet. This was divine. Didn't take the recommended Banyuls but was very happy with my choice the Chateau Haut Mayne, Sauternes ‘09.

And that was it, a lovely end to a very satisfactory meal indeed, Time then to walk it off with a round or two (well, half a round really) of Stephen’s Green.



 44 Hours in Dublin. Accommodation, lunch, dinner, more. Details all here

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Amuse Bouche

They were extremely poor. The wretched little shop, with its window blocked with packages of Coleman’s Mustard, Cadbury’s Cocoa, etc., did not realize it its stock these splendid advertisements. A few red herrings hung from the ceiling, and a few strings of onions. There was a make believe of two or three gorgeous canisters, on which “Tea” was printed in crimson and gold letters.

From Glenanaar by Canon PA Sheehan.

Now for Level 3: Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits


                                                                                



WSET Level 3: Advanced Certificate in Wines & Spirits (15 weeks)
·       Thursdays 7.00-9.00pm from 6th March – 19th June (1 week break midcourse)



This course will run for 15 weeks and is open only to those who have completed Level 2 Certificate in Wines & Spirits

The course is €695 with a payment plan available to those interested.

To register please contact Deirdre - deirdre@odonovansofflicence.com , info@odonovansofflicence.com or 021 4296060

Monday, February 24, 2014

Dinner From Just One Stall. Market Meal #7

One Stall Dinner
Market Meal #7
This is the latest in a series of Market Meals. The difference here is that the meal comes from just one stall and that is the relatively new Fresh from West Cork initiative in the English Market, just opposite the renowned Chicken Inn.

And another difference is that I’ve had a  bit of fun matching the four courses to beers. Since four beers is hardly enough for a growing boy, I’ve done it twice. Match One is with Cork beers while Match Two is with Porterhouse Beers.

Thanks to the ever patient Michael Creedon of Bradley's Off Licence for his knowledgeable help with selecting the beers but the final pick was mine! Don't want you  going into North Main Street and blaming Michael if your local favourite is not on the list.

Back now to Fresh from West Cork. Walter Ryan-Purcell is the face behind this “cooperative” effort from the west and close to forty producers are represented so it wasn't that difficult to get enough for a four course dinner. Indeed there were many options.

It just illustrates that you can do all your food shopping in the English Market. Maybe not all at Fresh from West Cork - they don't do fresh fish, for example - but you’ll be spoilt for choice if you wander around the wider market

Starter: Union Hall Smoked Salmon with Lemon Labneh by McCarthy’s Natural Dairies.
Cork Beer: Green Bullet Ale (Mountain Man).
Porterhouse: Hersbrucker Pilsner.

The smoked salmon, served with a little salad, was quite rich and the creamy Labneh added to the texture. Might have been better served on a Ryvita cracker or similar. Both beers worked well though in different ways. The Ale added more flavour while the Pilsner, not lacking in flavour, provided a nice cutting edge, a contrast against all the creaminess. One up to the Porterhouse team!
Mains: Gubben Traditional Dry Cured Smoked Bacon with vegetables from Peter Ross.
Cork Beer: Blacks Black IPA (Blacks, Kinsale).
Porterhouse: An Brain Blásta Strong Ale.

The Gubbeen bacon, smoked and lightly peppered, was sensational, the star of the night. With its fantastic texture and flavour, it was out on its own. The beers were both good matches; the Black perhaps best taken with bacon on the palate, the PH between bites! An Brain Blásta (even at 7%abv) doesn't mean brain blaster. It is Irish for The Tasty Drop.

Cheese: Loughbeg Farm hard Goat Cheese with Yellow Zucchini Relish also by Loughbeg.
Cork Beer: Friar Weisse (Franciscan Well).
Porterhouse: Red Ale.

The gorgeous crumbly cheese didn't seem to be getting on too well with the spiced up relish. Until the Friar Weisse was introduced. The local wheat beer transformed the potential discord into a very edible treat. A terrific match. Porterhouse don't make a wheat beer and through no fault of its own their Red Ale couldn't quite replicate the feat of the Friar here. Still, it was a nice way to pass the longish interval to dessert. That makes it 1.5 each for the beer teams.

Dessert: Yummy Tummy’s Brownies with Glenilen Clotted Cream.
Cork Beer: Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees).
Porterhouse: Oyster Stout.

Let me get this straight. Yummy Tummy’s Brownies are ace. Glenilen Clotted Cream is ace. You're on a winner. Now, add Knockmedown Porter (Eight Degrees) and you have a jackpot combination! Irresistible! That gave the edge to the Cork beer team, 2.5 to 1.5. The Oyster Stout, a gem in its own right, didn't have quite the same impact in the sweet finale to a smashing West Cork dinner.





Cool Cornstore

Cool Cornstore 
It is just past 6.30pm on a Friday evening and Cork’s Cornstore restaurant is already abuzz. But still time for a warm welcome and soon we are at our table studying the various menus. I asked the waiter was he expecting a busy night. “Ah, not too bad,” he said. “About two hundred.” Cool or what? But he and the rest of the Cornstore crew sure know how to run the popular Cornmarket Street venue with equal measures of efficiency and friendliness.

The Cork restaurant, they also have one in Limerick, prides itself on its steaks and seafood. The aged steaks here are top notch but we turned our attention to the fish on Friday night. I went straight to the water with their Haddock Mussels (€10.50), a delectable balance of textures and flavours and a spoon (didn't have to ask!) available to scoop up the sauce.

Meanwhile CL was tucking in, enthusiastically, to a favourite of hers: Goats cheese tart
with fig jam, roast red pepper and sun dried tomato pesto (9.50). The pastry was beautifully crispy, packed with flavours.

From left: Hake, Sea Bass, Cheese.
So we were off and running and getting into the wine. They have something of a “sale” at the moment and we got the Chilean Crucero (Chardonnay) for thirty euro instead of the normal forty. Aromatic, fruity, with refreshing acidity and with a good finish, it turned out to be a very enjoyable bottle indeed.

Of course, if you are at the Cornstore, you  must check out their extensive cocktail menu. We had a couple at the end. Mine was High Society: Beefeater gin, peach schnapps, Campari
and grapefruit juice - light, bright and lovely! CL picked the Balsamicotini (try saying that quickly at the end of the night!) and this serious mix consists of Grey Goose vodka, fresh strawberries, balsamico, fresh basil, fresh lime juice, cranberry juice and strawberry syrup.

By that time, we had dispatched the mains. Hers was the Pan seared seabass on a potato rosti with roast organic pumpkin, spinach, and a carrot and orange reduction (€22.95) while I picked the Oven roast hake on braised fennel, potatoes, pappardelle of carrot, lemon beurre blanc and a prawn oil (€19.95). Both were superb. We didn't quite finish off the plates (you get vegetables on the side as well) but portions are Irish size here!


No dessert as such but we did share a well picked Cheese Platter (including Cashel Blue) with chutney, apple, celery and grapes. Nice and tasty finish. Cocktail time!
Some of the cool crew at the Cornstore (pic by Cornstore)

About the Cornstore
The Cornstore Restaurant offers delicious award-winning menus over 2 floors in a lively, Manhattan style surrounding. We specialise in premium Steaks & quality Seafood, award winning cocktails, new world beers & a vast wine selection.


Phone
(021) 427 4777


Email
cork@cornstore.com


Website

Hours
Mon - Sat: 12:00 pm - 10:30 am
Sun: 1:00 pm - 9:30 pm



Friday, February 21, 2014

Cahill's Cheese off to Paris with Bord Bia

Cahill's Cheese off to Paris with Bord Bia
A selection of Cahill's cheese
Cahill’s Farm Cheese from Newcastle West, County Limerick, are one of the Irish cheesemakers being hosted by Bord Bia at Salon du Fromage, the leading cheese trade fair.

Helen Cahill is looking forward to the Paris event: “Participation in Salon du Fromage affords us the opportunity to showcase our quality Irish cheeses to international buyers. We have been supplying the renowned Rungis food market, outside Paris, with our Porter and Whiskey cheeses for sometime. We are really looking forward to meeting existing customers, as well as hoping to make new connections during the course of the show.”

It is a first for Bord Bia who will host fourteen Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers. Bord Bia will showcase one of the only two non-French national pavilions at the show by exhibiting up to forty artisan cheeses from the 23rd to the 26th February. The well-established Salon du Fromage,  will be held alongside the Salon de l’Agriculture, the international agricultural show, where more than 170 exhibitors and over 6,000 visitors are expected to attend.
The Irish Farmhouse Cheese sector is a contributor to the dairy industry’s high quality and sustainable reputation, with over 50 farmhouse cheese makers producing in excess of 150 types of cheese. The total Irish artisan cheese sector is currently valued at more than €12 million per annum at farm gate level since growing from a small base in the 1970’s. Exports have become a focus for the sector in recent years due to the upcoming abolition of milk quotas in 2015 which is expected to increase milk supply by up to 50% in Ireland by 2020 and the number of dairy farms adding value on farm in the form of Irish Farmhouse Cheese.
According to Bord Bia’s French Market Manager, Noreen Lanigan, “The recent growth in exports of Irish artisan cheese to approximately €4.5 million is an invaluable endorsement of the quality of Irish artisan cheese internationally. Europe, and of course France, the acclaimed epicenter for cheese, have become a priority for Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers in their export targets.”
She added, “In Ireland, as each cheese is unique to each producer, this allows for innovation and creativity while respecting the values of traditional cheese making. This differs greatly to cheese available on the Continent where they are made by many farms and dairies under strict guidelines to ensure consistent standards such as Camembert. Our European counterparts see it as unique and unusual that each cheese is the result of the passion and dedication of one farm and family.”

List of Participating Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers:
1.       Ardrahan
2.       Bellingham Blue
3.       Cahill's Cheese                                                            
5.       Cashel Blue Cheese     
6.       Cooleeney Farm                                                           
8.       Durrus Cheese
12.   St. Tola
13.   The Little Milk Company                                                
14.   Wicklow Blue


Five Star Night in Bridge Street

 Five Star Night in Bridge Street
Star Anise*****
Clockwise from top left: Duck, Terrine, Turbot, Apple trio.
Six plates presented. Six sent back without a scrap on them. A vote of confidence or what? It is always the same high standard at Star Anise, one of the very best restaurants in Cork. Don't know how Virginie and her team come up with winners all the time. Long may the magic last.

The temptations, for Bridge Street passers-by, start with the lovingly decorated window and the display on the sill. The inside too is full of charm, including art works for sale. And, a warm welcome, of course.

Soon you are at your table, with menus, water and bread and any aperitif you fancy. The A La Carte has about seven starters to consider. On the night, CL choose the Terrine of Chicken and Jack McCarthy’s Black Pudding with Piccalilli and Crostini, a perfect combination of flavours and textures and it didn't look too bad either. Cool on a cold night, but a warmly received winner.
  
My pick was the nicely presented Irish Venison Sausage and, with the classic roasted beetroots and mustard jus, it was a flavoursome delight, intense and delicious. Virginie herself was keeping the tables going on quite a busy Tuesday night but she still had time for a chat now and then and told us the sausages came from O’Flynn’s in Marlboro Street and you know they make them good there!

Now for the main event. I went for the first on a list of seven: Barbary Duck Breast with carrot and cardamom puree, duck risotto croquettes with roast potato and jus. Cooked to perfection, this was another five star dish and those tasty croquettes were a bonus.
Our other mains was the evening’s fish special: Pan Fried Turbot with a saffron cream sauce, crisped potatoes, glazed carrots, parsnips, broccoli and roast potato. Bring out the superlatives again, sublime, divine…. And those potatoes caught the eye and better still kept the taste buds very happy as well. Terrific dish.

Time for dessert now and the eye catcher here was the Trio of Apples (Tarte Tatin, Apple posset and Apple Sorbet). A delight on the palate also. Stylish as well and a great alternative to the ubiquitous apple tart. A lovely sorbet also featured on my special: the Strawberry cheesecake served with a mix of juicy black and red currants.  Happy out!
Star Anise
Phone(021) 455 1635
Emailstaranise@eircom.net
Websitehttp://www.staranise.ie

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Amuse Bouche

‘I was swimming this morning at six....
In the sea. I went down alone. There was no one there at all. I slipped into the water. It was wonderful. Then I went home,’ she said, banging the car door on her side, and taking off with a little whoosh of sand from the roadside, ‘and I ate some strawberries and cream. Katherine Mansfield describes a woman in one of her stories as eating cream with a “rapt inward look”. That is so good. It is exactly like that.’

From On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Taste of the Week

Taste of the Week

Jurancon, Ballet d'Octobre, Domaine de Cauhape, France 2009

Been celebrating this week and finished off a gorgeous midweek meal in Star Anise with a glass of this lovely wine from the Basque country.

My first experience of Jurancon was the very good dry white from the area and that is what I thought I was getting when, in a rush to stock a Dordogne gite, I put my hand into a carton marked Jurancon on the floor of a Lidl in Sarlat and pulled out a bottle.


It was only when unpacking at the gite that I noticed the deeper colour. But no problem. It is a lovely medium sweet (moelluex) wine and quite versatile. It may be used as an aperitif, with some patés and foie gras and with certain cheeses and fruits desserts. And why not have a glass after the meal as we did in Star Anise. Certainly, worth a look and an ideal first step into the world of dessert wines. Very Highly Recommended.


Available at Star Anise and via James Nicholson Wines

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Say Hello to Ruby Kraut

Say Hello to Hayley’s Ruby Kraut
The ancient art of food fermentation was highlighted at last year’s Ballymaloe Literary Festival when Sandor Katz was one of the stars of the event. Known as a “fermenation fethisihist” and also as “Sandorkraut” (for his love of Sauerkraut), he wrote the Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods (Chelsea Green, 2003) which Newsweek called "the fermenting bible".

Sandor talks the talk and walks the walk and in Skibbereen you’ll find another who is making a name for herself in the field. This is Hayley Milthorpe of The Cultured Food Company and I am loving her Ruby Red Raw Sauerkraut at the moment. Her aim is to make “Hand crafted raw fermented foods - reviving the ancient tradition of natural food preservation through fermentation. Real foods with real culture!!”. She makes the Ruby Red, available at the Fresh from West Cork stall in the English Market and other outlets in West Cork itself, with red cabbage, cumin seeds and sea salt.

I know, from experience, that Sauerkraut is not everyone’s cup of tea. Once, on a trip in Austria, I tried it in the restaurant in the monastery at Melk. It had enough vinegar to discourage. But a couple of days later, in a wine-tavern in the Vienna Woods, I tried it again and hit the jackpot. Indeed, the people with me thought I was mad but, in the end, they were looking for tasters! The lesson is to keep trying.

If you haven't tried it before, I recommended that you ease yourself into it. I did this today. Get a roll or better still some sourdough. I added a sausage and a rasher and just a little of the sauerkraut for a start. It was there, a background player.

Then I repeated (the rolls were small), adding a little more of the sauerkraut this time. Very nice and this time the sauerkraut played more of a role (forgive the pun), adding some lovely spice to the rasher and sausage.

You’ll find lots of articles on the internet, including on Hayley’s site here  about the benefits of fermented foods and saurkraut in particular. Indeed, I haven't found any article against. A few excerpts follow.

Red cabbage is rich in compounds called anthocyanins that give the vegetable its distinctive dark color. They are also powerful antioxidants which are believed to have anti inflammatory properties. Lacto fermentation naturally boosts the antioxidant content. So red sauerkraut has some serious antioxidant power!

Do you suffer from wind & bloating? Did you know that these are signs of inadequate digestion? Eating raw fermented foods such as sauerkraut with meals can help support your digestion to help you overcome these embarrassing symptoms! Tip: to stimulate digest eat a spoonful of sauerkraut 20 mins before meal.


On its own, the Skibbereen Ruby is a crunchy bite, full of tart flavours. Add to sandwiches and salads, use with grilled sausages or even a burger.  Kraut is served with roast turkey, fresh pork roast. Some like it on hot dogs; others with any pork product and mashed potatoes; also on spare ribs and with apple sauce. Perhaps Hayley will get a few pointers up on her Facebook page soon!

Monday, February 17, 2014

Mountains, Football, Nutella and Good Wine!

Stars of Northern Italy

One well known, the other not so.

“The haunting Nebbiolo has no rival as the first red grape of Northern Italy,” says the current World Atlas of Wine. But, you do have to wait for it, according to the authors of Vino Italiano:  “Nebbiolo is more about complexities revealed over time”. Difficult to grow too and often late.

Both wines below come from Piedmont, famous not just for its wines but for its mountains, its football (Juventus), its Nutella! Red wines are mainly produced but the Roero area is the home of the little known Arneis, a fragrant pear scented old local white.
Bosio’s Boschi dei Signora, Nebbiolo D’Alba 2009, 14%, €16.99 Curious Wines
The fruit of 40 year vines is used for this wine. Vineyard practice encourages a low yield and a final thinning means that only the best grapes make it through. The wine-making uses a mix of modern and traditional methods and the product is refined in Slovenian and French oak barrels before a wine that befits the noblest Piedmontese vine is released.
Colour is ruby and there are aromas of red fruits, even blackberries and indeed some floral elements. It is full bodied, velvety with some spice but generally mellow with a very pleasant mouthfeel, and is further enhanced by a long dry finish. This one would be a good sub for a more expensive Barolo and is Very Highly Recommended.




Fontanafredda Pradalupo, Roero Arneis 2010 (Piedmont, Italy), 12.5%, €18.36 Karwig Wines
I don’t come across the Arneis variety very often but, going by this bottle, it is well worth looking out for.
Colour is that of a light honey, invitingly clean and bright. It has beautiful aromas, both floral and fruity. On the palate it is vibrant and full of flavour with an almost creamy mouthfeel, yet it possesses a lively acidity that gives a beautiful balance and a very pleasant clean finish. Very Highly Recommended.


Friday, February 14, 2014

Amuse Bouche

Obviously, I couldn’t avoid Farrow anymore once shooting started... He started right in on me. At night, after filming, Farrow would show up at our home with gourmet dinners from the Brown Derby. He even brought the waiters with him. Mammy would be there alone when he arrived. The director and crew always leave the set before the actors do, as we have our makeup removed and hair set for the next day, so he always beat me home. When I saw that he was at my house, I refused to go in, and instead had to drive around the neighborhood for hours, waiting for him to leave..... I never ate a single meal with him.

From ‘Tis Herself, a memoir by Maureen O’Hara.