KARWIG FOR DESSERT WINES (even Olive Oil)

KARWIG FOR DESSERT

Looking for something to drink with your festival dessert? Then, I suggest you call down to Karwig Wines  in Carrigaline as they have quite a large selection, featuring wines from Germany, Hungary, France, Australia....

I was there for that very purpose this morning and got a warm welcome and advice, not to mention a tasting or two, from busy Emily and later met Joe Karwig himself and wife Betty, always in great form. Must say though the first friendly greeting was from the family dog!

My to-get list included a German Eiswein and that box was ticked with the purchase of a Dexheimer Sonnenberg Scheurebe Eiswein 2004, ABV 9.5%. The grape variety here is the Scheurebe and the wine has a golden colour, showing layers of apricot, pineapple and passion fruit. The sweetness and fruit is beautifully balanced by crisp acidity. An ideal companion for fine desserts and blue cheeses or simply on its own.

This Eiswein, much lower in alcohol, is nowhere near as heavy or as “sticky” as your Sauternes or Tokaji. It has its own admirable lighter qualities and indeed may be better with the dessert than some of the “stickies” which can sometimes overpower the dessert and are often best drunk on their own, maybe just after the pudding!

We did get to taste one of

MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET

CHARITY TO BENEFIT AS MAHON POINT FARMERS MARKET LINKS ON LINE WITH LOCAL MARKETS.IE

Food connoisseurs of Cork now have access to Ireland's best Farmers Market 24 hours a day, 7 days a week thanks to www.localmarkets.ie.  

For foodies with a passion ­ the website even has links providing up to date information about the news and events taking place at the market. 

To mark the launch of the

SUPERB SOUP

  Colum O'Regan, Horizon Organic Farm, Supplier to Just Food

BLESSED BE THE SOUPMAKERS 

Three cheers for our artisan soupmakers. They make us full. They make us warm. Especially these cold days.

I’m thinking of three in particular: Just Food , Flynn's Kitchen and Cully & Sully. And they don't stop at soup. They also make other delicious products – just click on their sites to check it out.

I recently picked up a

BUYING IRISH

BUYING IRISH

NEED TO BE AWARE & AWAKE

Must admit I don't always have the green flag wrapped around me when I’m shopping, even for food. But If the Irish product has the quality and is price competitive, then I’ll

FIRST SWEET STEPS

Never know what you'll see in an Austrian field!

FIRST SWEET STEPS    

Unless you can get yourself to a tasting, you’ll have to fund your first steps into sweet or dessert wine. And quite a few of these can be

NASH 19

NASH 19

Always a pleasure to visit Nash 19 and yesterday’s lunch time date with two colleagues was no exception as a warm welcome was followed by some top notch food and service, including a drop or two of mulled wine.

Quite a few of you will have seen Tipperary’s Crowe's Farm  featured in RTE’s Ear to the Ground earlier in the week. And their bacon was the main feature of my lunch. It was served with, among other things, an apricot chutney, and the combination was first class.

Will be watching out for

KNOW YOUR PINEAU FROM YOUR FLOC

PINEAU DE CHARENTES 

Pineau de Charentes is a traditional regional drink, made from Cognac eau de vie and grape juice. It is usually about 17 per cent.

There are two types of Pineau des Charentes produced today, white and rosé (looks like a red). To be able to call the produce Pineau des Charentes, the cognac eau de vie and grape juice must come from the same property, and be aged in oak casks for a minimum period of 18 months.

The colour is amber with golden tints; it has a powerful aromatic palate, with subtle hints of ripe yellow fruits like apricot, honey and raisins. It is pleasantly sweet and refreshing.

Always served chilled, the Pineau is a wonderful aperitif, and you will see it in restaurants in the area, listed alongside the Kir and Campari. It is also excellent with meals and desserts and very good with cheese too.

In the

WINE TIPS FROM TWITTER

WINE TIPS FROM TWITTER

Followed a couple of recent wine tips on Twitter and came up trumps each time. Blake Creedon (@blakecreedon) had recommended Villa Maria’s reduced price Sauvignon Blanc while Tom Doorley (@tomdoorley) had highlighted Macon Villages.

Picked up the Villa Maria SB in Tesco Mahon. Colour is light strawy and the nose is aromatic. On the palate it is fruity, yet dry and tangy, and generously flavored on the long finish.

Villa Maria is New Zealand’s largest family owned company in the wine business and this bottle, from their Private Bin, is their third series wine.

Found the Macon Village 2009 in Aldi as Tom suggested and noted it that it is a Decanter Bronze medal winner. Again, the colour of this Chardonnay is pale straw and the nose is aromatic, moderately so. In the mouth, it is crisply fruity (apples, I think) but with a stony acidity and a rewarding finish. Lovely stuff at the price, as Tom says.

Villa Maria Private Bin Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010, 13%, Tesco €8.00 (down from over 12). PR: 88

Macon Villages (Chardonnay) Henri de Lorgere, 13%, Aldi €6.95. PR: 90. Tom also recommended Aldi’s Bushland’s Gewurz but it wasn’t available at my local Aldi.

THE WEEKEND CATCH

A bumper Weekend Catch, fresh from the Net.

THE WEEKEND CATCH

Restaurant Wine & Food Scene

via Twitter & Facebook

Control and click to follow the links and find out more.

Hayfield Manor Hotel

Check out the first of our festive tips from our kitchen team!

Brandy Sauce for Christmas Puddings

www.hayfieldmanor.ie

This Brandy sauce recipe is so easy to make and can also be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated then simply reheating when the pudding is ready. Prep Time: 5 minutes, Cook Time 15 minutes and Total Time: 20 minutes!

Barry's Tea Online Shop

Girls of the world came together to celebrate the launch of Barry's Tea's brand new Online Tea Shop. Now tea fans and ex pats all across the globe can order their favourite blends and even Barry's Tea merchandise and have it delivered direct to their door from our home in Cork.http://www.barrysteashop.ie/

libertygrill Liberty Grill 

New Brunch / Lunch specials for December http://j.mp/eryMA7 Pic of the Irish Benedict http://yfrog.com/0zd2x0j

kinvara_salmon Kinvara Salmon 

This week's recommendation for Kinvara Organic Smoked Salmon comes from the BBC's Good Food magazine http://bit.ly/exgwG3

Cafe Paradiso

We will be open for lunch as well as dinner in the week before Christmas - Tuesday 21st to Friday 24th December, with a special set menu available as well as the usual a la carte.
 After lunch service on Christmas Eve, we will be closed for a short break until Wednesday 29th. For the full Christmas schedule, check the website -

Cafe Paradiso: Christmas Opening Times

www.cafeparadiso.ie

Blairs Inn

Now you might say, it's too early ... but we say, no it's a perfect time for some Christmas cheer. Take it away Louis!

Merry Christmas! from us all in Blairs Inn, Blarney

youtu.be

 Electric Lunch being served in the Restaurant from 12.30 today!! Dont forget to Post a pic of Electric to be in with a chance of winning FREE Lunch for 2 in Electric's Restaurant Next Weekend!!!

Our Classic menu is such good value! Check out www.jacobsonthemall.com for more details on our Christmas Lunch and Evening menus. Get booking, it looks like December is gonna be a busy one! 

Nash19Cork Nash19 Ho Ho Ho. Open Saturday 27th November and all the following Saturday till Christmas. 8.30 am to 4.30pm Food Shop till 5pm

Augustine's Restaurant Augustine's will be open for Christmas Lunch from 14 Decto 24 Dec inclusive. Book in for a lovely lunch after shopping in town and enjoy a really special time with your mum, your sisters, your family and friends or your business colleagues and partners.
From 12:30-2:30, and for just €27 for 5 divine courses, it'll be the best money ..

THE BOARDWALK BAR & GRILL CORK.

LATE BAR & LIVE MUSIC...Every Friday and Saturday till Christmas. Warm welcome of mulled wine awaits you. Enjoy our wonderful Christmas spirit with friends and family. See you here this Friday and Saturday with The Roaring 40's!!!

Cafe Paradiso

Three weeks to Christmas seems like a good time to remind you about our little online shop, where - as well as our very handsome gift vouchers - you can buy all three cookbooks, signed by Denis Cotter, and gift-wrapped if you so desire. (Gift-wrapping is not by Denis Cotter, who is notoriously useless with paper and tape). And finally, in the spirit of the season, we've cut the price of the books. Check it out...

bridgestoneEd Bridgestone Guides 

Foodie tweeters tweet your Xmas food traditions. RT to pass the word, use #bridgestoneguides #foodtraditions or reply to @BridgestoneEd

Control and click to follow the links and find out more.

We search the net, via Twitter and Facebook, each Thursday evening and early Friday morning, for the latest from the Cork restaurant and bar scene. If you don't have either of the above, reach us a tcork.billy@gmail.com. Deadline 9.00am Friday.

JUNK MAIL HITS TARGET

JUNK MAIL HITS TARGET

This morning’s leaflet drop was more interesting than usual; three in all, two food and one wine. Targeted advertising?

Really interested in the Mabel Crawford’s, Cork’s newest restaurant. This is in the Vienna Woods Hotel, where I once worked but such a long long time ago.

This new bistro, at least the room, could well have been there then as it is in a newly discovered room in the old part of the Glanmire Hotel.

An extensive menu covered the back part of the flier. About 14 starters, ranging from €4.50 (soup) to €9.50 (duck confit, haricot beans and beetroot chips).

Just as many main courses. The prices here range from €14.95 (Home made Angus Burger) to €27.95 (Angus fillet steak). There are about eight desserts, priced between six and seven euro.

Must call down sometime.

The other food leaflet was from Eastern Tandoori in Emmet Place, highlighting some current offers including an Early Bird for €15.95. Later, if you spend €35.00, you can get two bottles of Indian lager free. There are a whole lot of dishes here, including some Tandoori which I do like.

Fine Wines from Blackpool were also included in the drop and they say they have 16 new wines just in, all at half-price which is just €3.99. Other cuts have Petit Chablis down from €10.99 to €7.99, Macon Lugny down by the same with St Emilion chopped by a fiver and now costing €11.99.

They also do beers and spirits. Haven’t been there before. Have you? 

Clodagh McKenna opens BLARNEY FARMERS MARKET

BLARNEY FARMERS MARKET 

Clodagh McKenna did the honours this morning as the Blarney Farmers Market, in the grounds of the Blarney Woollen Mills Hotel, was officially opened.

It was a pleasant, if low key affair, the attendance down because of the icy state of the side roads in the area. That didn't stop the stall holders though and there was a fine turn-out, including regulars such as Tom’s Bakery, Manning’s Emporium, Kiwi Hot Coffees, Mealagulla Orchard (selling a welcome mulled apple juice with secret ingredients!) and the fishy pair Mary and Sheila, two of the nicest fishmongers you’ll ever meet.

Clodagh joined in with the carol singers and no doubt there’ll be a demand for the photographs and she also toured the various stalls, shaking hands and having a chat.

Meanwhile, I was doing a bit of shopping and went off home happy with, among other things,  some lovely Durrus cheese from Manning’s, apples from Mealagulla (cookers and eating), a Country Baguette from Tom’s (one of my all time favourites) and, last but not least, a gurnard, courtesy of Sheila and Mary.

Hopefully the weather will be better next Sunday when a special edition of the market will be held (10.00am to 6.00pm). A fun filled day is promised with Kid’s Crafts and demonstrations and a live crib.

LIBERTY GRILL

LIBERTY FOR ALL

Had an early evening reservation for Washington Street’s Liberty Grill yesterday and walked in to find the place full. As I left, about 8.00pm, the second “shift” of customers was arriving. Not bad for a Wednesday evening.

They keep coming to the Liberty because here you get good food, good value and good friendly service, not to mention a decent degree of comfort and the all important “buzz”.

Dishes are not necessarily high end but that doesn't prevent them from being top class. Take my starter for instance: a spiced beef salad with chestnuts. Excellent, innovative. It cost me €8.95 and is also available as a main course.

The Spiced Beef is part of the seasonal specials for December. Liberty, a member of Good Food Ireland, has an extensive menu and it uses these seasonal specials to increase the variety. They are usually worth checking out!

As long as I’ve been coming here, I’ve never had one of their burgers and it is for burgers, and the sheer variety of them, that Liberty is so well known and loved.

I tried the Lamb Burger, served with lettuce, cucumber, tomato and a bowl of fries plus a dip. It was a splendid piece of locally sourced meat, (from Carrigaline, I think). Happy food but good food and all for €13.50.

You have to wait 25 minutes for the lamb burger, 20 for the others. But if you’re having a starter, as I did, you won’t notice the wait and in any case, it is worth it.

WOODSIDE FARM: HOME OF THE PIG

WOODSIDE FARM

Just got to tell you one more thing arising from Thursday’s visit to Mahon Point Farmers Market.

If you want bacon and cabbage like your mother, like your granny, used to make it, then do this. Get on down to Mahon on a Thursday and go to Conroy’s Woodside Farm stall. Buy yourself an appropriate piece of the Dry Cured Ham. And don't forget to get a head of Savoy cabbage, of course.

This cured ham is not cheap but it is unbelievably good. Colour is brighter, taste is fantastic and the meat itself is crunchier (not in the least bit tough!), just like the old days. And you don't have to worry about soaking out the salt overnight.

Conroys run a small family farm in East Cork’s Ballincurrig and here they raise their Pedigree Saddleback and Pedigree Gloucester Old Spot pigs. They, the animals that is, not the Conroys, live outdoor all their lives, eating grass, home grown turnip and kale and locally grown wheat and barley.

The results will be on your plate, simply the best ham and cabbage ever.

This, I promise, is my last post on Mahon for a spell.  (Subject to the never say never factor...) I will be in Blarney this Thursday (11.00am) for the official opening, by Clodagh McKenna, of the local Farmers Market in the grounds of Blarney Woollen Mills.