Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Edible flower arrangements. Incredible Bouquets.

Edible Flower Arrangements
Incredible bouquets look too good to eat


A big one for something, or someone, special! 

Sometimes, when you've got something big in front of you, it's best to start with a small piece.

I was amazed looking at my newly arrived Celebration Bouquet from Ballincollig’s Incredible Flowers. But Denisa had included a few small chocolate covered pieces separately and I picked up one, and bit. The apple wedge, covered in white Belgian chocolate, was surprisingly gorgeous!

I had first spotted Denisa’s amazing creations, handmade edible flower arrangements, at the Garden Festival in Ballymaloe. And the eye-catching combinations of fruit and chocolate (both white and black) were stopping visitors in their tracks.
My Celebration bouquet
My sample this week was her Celebration, a delicious bouquet of gourmet treats. This fruity fiesta will be sure to leave your guests impressed thanks to its delicious mix of juicy pineapple, fresh cantaloupe, honeydew, kiwi and orange slices, strawberries and grapes, strawberries dipped in milk chocolate and chocolate flakes, and apple wedges dipped in dark chocolate. Yum!


Just had to get stuck in after that. As they are fresh fruit, you won't have much time to waste, though you can put the leftovers in the fridge. As you can see, there was quite a selection of fruits on the Celebration and all were delicious, though the cantaloupe and the strawberries (especially those totally covered in dark chocolate) were especially so.

The Celebration is one of her bestselling items but she has quite a range of Edible Fruit Arrangements, running to four pages on her website. The site is brilliant. You can even shop by occasion under headings such as Valentine’s, Birthday, Corporate Gifts, Happy Anniversary, Communion, Mother’s Day, Wedding, and Thank You.
You may buy small sample bags, from 5 euro
And, indeed, these tempting arrangements are sure to be a talking point at any occasion.  As she says herself: You can make any occasion extra-special with our array of irresistible products, including delicious and impressive fresh fruit arrangements and gourmet chocolate-dipped fruit. The perfect gift for any occasion!  And they have been used as table center-pieces at some large functions.

The fruit baskets and bouquets are designed to resemble flowers, and include a variety of fruit such as sweet pineapples, kiwis, fresh strawberries, juicy melon, crisp apples, mouth-watering oranges and more. Fruit bouquets and baskets are a novel and delicious gift for any occasion. And they will deliver to the home, office or corporate events in the Cork city and county areas.  There is free delivery in Ballincollig and Ovens and there is a charge for other destinations.

The business is quite new but has proved very popular already. The concept is well known in the UK and the US but very new to Ireland. And Denisa finds that some people are a bit unsure about the terminology and what to order. But she is very helpful and that excellent website has a Frequently Asked Questions facility that will fill you in on all you need to know. Check it out here.


Monday, January 11, 2016

Taste of the Week. Social Circles

Taste of the Week
Social Circles
It wasn’t exactly the feedback I was expecting. Shortly before Christmas, I was visiting friends and one of the little food gifts I had left was a pack of Social Circles from Seymour Biscuits in Bandon. I met my hosts a few weeks later and they told me that the Social Circles were absolutely gorgeous but “we were fighting over them!”

So there you are. If you decide to try Social Circles, our Taste of the Week, then my advice is to get at least two packets. These biscuits are seriously addictive! I did get the two packs for a post Christmas get-together and they vanished in no time.

Everybody seems to love them. A pack contains six shortbread biscuit pieces which have been immersed in Belgian chocolate with added Madagascan vanilla pod, pecan, cardamom spice and natural orange extract; you get three of Cardamom Orange and three of Vanilla Pecan. I got mine at Bradley’s (Cork) and they are also available at the best gourmet stores and hotels in Ireland and their new website allows customers throughout the world buy online.

They make lots of other biscuits too - the fresh milk comes from their own farm nearby - and you can check them all out here

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Cafe Paradiso. Back to the Garden.


Cafe Paradiso. Back to the Garden

Eden may have been lost with a single bite of forbidden fruit but the garden can always be regained, at least in the Cork region, with a visit to Cafe Paradiso. No fruit, no vegetable forbidden here! Every meal in the city centre restaurant reinforces what one of my friends, who travels widely in the hospitality industry, told me a few years back: "It is not alone the best vegetarian restaurant in Ireland, it is probably the best restaurant in Ireland".

And what is perhaps not generally known, except to the regulars of course, is that Paradiso has a superb wine list. The lower end and the slow-moving higher end have been chopped from the list and what remains is packed with quality, great choices, between approximately thirty and forty five euro a bottle.

We were part of a seven person group the other night so the wines were shared, along with many a good laugh. Good advice on the wine list is also available and so we started with the Höpler Grüner Veltliner 2014, 12.5% Burgenland, Austria and finished with the Friedrich Becker Spatburgunder Pinot Noir 2011, 13.5%, Pfalz, Germany.
Aubergine parcels....
Others we could have had included the Susana Balbo ’Crios’ Malbec 2013, 14%, Mendoza, Argentina and the Alvaro Palacios La Montesa Rioja 2012 in the reds while among the whites that caught my eye were Wittmann Riesling Trocken 2012, 12% Rheinhessen, Germany and the Dos Victorias ‘Jose Pariente’ Verdejo 2013, 13%, Rueda. But it is easy to get a good one here as the list is really superb. If you’re not sure, just ask your server! By the way, all the wines are available by the glass, by 250ml and 500ml carafe and by the bottle.

Back to the food then and I'm not going to bore you with all the details. We picked the three course option here and you have lots of choice for forty euro. Two courses will set you back thirty three euro.

I had been toying with going for the truffled sunchoke soup with hazelnut gougere and buttered shiitake from a list of six starters (all tempting) but settled instead on the Macroom Buffalo Mozzarella with roasted carrots, pickled fennel, chermoula, preserved lemon and pistachio dukka. Amazing flavours and textures on this plate and the roast carrots came in for compliments all around the table.
Choc dessert...

CL meanwhile was delighted with her choice: roast beetroot, braised scorzonera and Knockalara sheep’s cheese with watercress, orange pickle and ras-el-hanout crumb. Colour, flavour, texture all combined, the dish showing that beetroot goes as well with sheep’s as goat’s. Great stuff indeed.

There were also six choices of mains but, amazingly, the majority of our group went for the roast aubergine parcels of cavolo nero and coolea cheese with miso gravy, beluga lentils,

pumpkin gnocchi and a green pepper and caramelised walnut salsa. Aubergine is one of my favourite vegetables in any restaurant but this was vegetable heaven, every little bit, the gravy, the lentils. Even CL polished off the gnocchi, usually left on the side! “These were good ones”, I was told.

And you must try the sides as they are superb as well. They do include sprouts but not like you've known them. Here they are served with tomato, chilli and ginger and well worth the fiver as are the Paradiso chips with truffled aioli.

Time then, and desire too, for dessert. Lots of temptation but I made up my mind early on the Orange and Date Bread and Butter Pudding and its Rum Custard. Oh la la! And other desserts enjoyed at the table included a Dark chocolate mousse with gingered pear and salted caramel popcorn and also Vanilla pod ice cream with brutti ma buoni, espresso and a shot of frangelico. A sweet end to a terrific meal and service was flawless throughout. Very Highly Recommended.


More desserts, including popular Orange and Date pudding
The menu here is based largely on local and seasonal produce.  Gortnanain Farm is the primary source of veg (and honey). All cheeses (which include Coolea and Macroom) are Irish except for Feta and Halloumi. Mushrooms are Ballyhoura or foraged. More details on the restaurant, founded 23 years ago, here.

Cafe Paradiso
16 Lancaster Quay
Cork
(021) 427 7939
Opening Hours: Dinner Monday – Saturday, 5.30 – 10.00pm



Saturday, January 9, 2016

Amuse Bouche

So Lebanese it was.
The place was almost empty, although lunch had just begun. A few customers made small talk by the cash register, waiting for takeout. One of the brothers said hello to Mary and waved them to a table. In the corner, the TV was switched to the news.
Vladislav looked skeptically at the chalkboard menu.
“No fish?”
"No, Vladislav, “ said N. “No fish in Kansas.”
…. On TV, a fanfare announced the noon headlines. The new images caught their attention.

from My Name is N by Robert Karjel (2010 Swedish, 2015 English)

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Dining Out Highlights 2014-2015

Dining Out Highlights 2014-2015
Places to stay. Visits, tours and more.
Elbow Lane


Excellent for Dinner

All White on the Night. Dining Out in Cork City*

One of Miyazaki's salmon dishes
Amicus
An Canteen (Dingle) 2015
Bantry's Fish KitchenF
Blair’s Inn
Bodega, Waterford
Brook Inn
Cafe Gusto, weekend evenings
Cafe Serendipity
Chapel Steps, Bandon
Club Brasserie
Commons Express Inn 2015
Electric F
ely Wine Bar (Dublin)
Fleming’s
Greene’s
Grey's Lane Bistro, Dingle
Heather (Killarney)
Jacque’s
La Dolce Vita
Les Gourmandises
Macroom’s Church Lane Restaurant. 
Mitchell’s (Clifden) F
O’Connor’s (Bantry) F
Pier 26 F
Richy's Clonakilty
Rising Tide F
Star Anise
The Fairways (Nenagh)
The Global Village (Dingle) 2015
Tuscany Bistro (Ballina, Tipperary)
West End (Killarney)
Zamora 
Salad Nicoise by Richy


Excellent for Lunch


Bula Bus U Kilkenny
Castle Cafe
Coffee Shop (Union Hall)
Cosy Kitchen (Roscrea)
Crawford Gallery Cafe
Dillon's of Timoleague
Diva, Ballinspittle
Greenbarn (Killeagh)
Griffin’s Spinning Wheel
Isaac’s
Islander's Rest (Sherkin Island)F
L'Atitude 51
Manning's Emporium (Ballylickey)
Monk's Lane, Timoleague
Nine Market Street, Kinsale
Pie Cafe (Dingle)
Richy's Bistro, Clonakilty
Sage (Youghal)
Schull’s Café Cois Cuan.
Thatch and Thyme, Kildorrery
The Square Table Dec 15
The Workshop
Toons Bridge Dairy
Hake, with poached egg, at Bramley Lodge

* Exceptional meal on visit
F  Great for fish
U  Most unusual lunch venue (in a parked bus)


All above visited last 24 months or so. Lots of other good places out there. If I didn’t get to your place last year, maybe we’ll meet in 2016! Hard to keep track - might need a reminder!


View from bedroom in Blairscove

Places to Stay
Albany House (Dublin)
Archways (Rosslare)
Ballymaloe House (Shanagarry)
Benner's (Dingle)
Blairscove (Durrus)
Brooklodge (Macreddin)
Celtic Ross (Rosscarbery)
Davitt's (Kenmare)
Dun Ri (Clifden)
Gleeson's Town House (Roscommon) 2015
Lakeside Hotel (Ballina, Tipperary)
MacNean House (Blacklion)
Maritime (Bantry)
Randle's Court (Killarney)
Rolf's (Baltimore)
Rosquil House (Kilkenny)
The Maryborough (Cork)
The Old Bank (Kinsale)
Brooklodge Hotel

Food Festivals

Ballymaloe LitFest 2015
Dingle 2015
Franciscan Well October Fest 2015
Kilkenny Savour 2014
Roscommon Lamb Festival 2015
Taste of West Cork 2015
Waterford Harvest 2015
West Waterford 2015

Ballycotton Cliff Walk

Visits & Tours. Events.

Arigna Mining Experience 2015
Atlantic Sea-kayaking 2015
Ballymaloe Garden Festival 2015
Ballycotton Cliff Walk 2015
Ballynatray House (Youghal) 2015
Blarney Castle 2015
Castlecoote House 2015
Castlefreke and Rathbarry. The castles and the wood 2015
Clonmacnoise 2015
Connemara 2014
Cork City Marathon 2015
Cork Harbour Festival. Boats & Bites 2015
Cork Jazz Festival 2015
Cork Saint Patrick's Day 2015
Cork Summer Show 2015
Culture Night. Paintings & Plates 2015
Doneraile Park 2014
Dublin. Summer Days 2015
Elizabeth Fort 2015
Fota Gardens & Arboretum 2015
Glenbower Wood, Killeagh 2015
Glendalough 2015
Highbank Organic Orchards 2015
House of Waterford Crystal 2015
Jameson Distillery Midleton 2015
Kilkenny 2014
Killarney in 24 hours 2014
Kinsale Harbour Cruise 2015
Loughbeg Farm. Meeting Mabel! 2015
National Botanic Gardens 2015
National Museum of Archaeology (Dublin) 2014
Powerscourt Gardens 2015
Teeling Distillery 2015
The Sheep's Head peninsula 2015
Waterford's Harvest Festival, including Medieval Museum, Bishop's Palace 2015
Wax Museum (Dublin) 2014
West Cork Islands, Ferries, Food 2015
Wexford's Johnstown Castle 2015
Youghal Medieval Festival 2015
Loughbeg Farm

Top Guides
Lots of excellent guides around the country, including the lady we met at Waterford Crystal and the lady who took us under her wing in the nearby Medieval Museum. But the three that stand out are, in no particular order:
Joe at Dingle Distillery,
Jimmy at Arigna Mines,
Johnny at Trinity College