“STAY, PARK AND FLY” PACKAGE RELAUNCHED BY CORK INTERNATIONAL HOTEL

press release

“STAY, PARK AND FLY” PACKAGE RELAUNCHED BY CORK INTERNATIONAL HOTEL 

 

The Cork International Hotel has relaunched the very popular package called ‘Stay, Park and Fly”. The package is intended to take the stress out of early morning or late evening traveling from Cork Airport. The package will also allow travellers to extend their holiday by an extra day or so by treating themselves to a hotel stay as part of their trip.  

 

The package offers an overnight stay before or after a flight with parking included during the trip from Cork Airport. 

 

This Offer includes:

• An overnight stay before or after a flight

• Free shuttle bus to and from Cork Airport before and after a flight

• Parking included in a secure car park for the duration of a trip from two nights up to 21 days (depending on the package selected)

• This offer includes Grab and Go Breakfast from 4.30am-7am for earlier departures

 

General Manager at the Cork International Hotel, Carmel Lonergan said: “Holidays are definitely on the minds of people right now and this package is perfect for anyone who would like to extend their trip a little bit. This offer has options to suit all travellers, from short weekend breaks to longer two-week holidays. This is the perfect package for guests with either an early flight from Cork and they can stay with us the night before or late-night flight return where they can rest up and stay with us before driving home.”

 

For more details:  https://www.corkinternationalairporthotel.com/offer/stay-park-fly/ 

James Whelan Butchers bring back their Beef Wellington - a special way to your loved one’s heart

press release

 Beef Wellington - a special way to your loved one’s heart

James Whelan Butchers reintroducing their signature Beef Wellington just in time for Valentine’s Day

With Valentine’s Day just one month away, couples everywhere are wondering how best to celebrate this special day. For some, restaurants may be out of the question or too restrictive, and for others even the thought of cooking an elaborate meal from scratch at home is exhausting.  

James Whelan Butchers can solve this problem with a simple solution.  At Christmas, this award-winning artisan butcher introduced a handmade Beef Wellington as an alternative to the seasonal Turkey and Ham on Christmas Day. Exclusively introduced for Christmas, it proved so popular with customers that the team are reintroducing this signature dish, especially for Valentine’s Day.  

This limited edition Beef Wellington is hand prepared and comes oven-ready, needing the minimum of preparation time. Ideal for people who are time-poor, or who are culinary challenged, but who would like to create a wonderful restaurant-quality meal for their loved one in the comfort of their own home to celebrate their love on this special day.

The dish serves two people generously, made with prime-aged Irish beef fillet, wrapped in a mushroom duxelles, buttery puff pastry with fresh herbs and sea salt. The cooking instructions couldn’t be simpler - just pop it into a preheated oven at 200° C, for 25-35 minutes to achieve medium/rare - and rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

All that is left to do is to set the scene with some candles, soft chilling music and a table set for two.

Like all of the Dine at Home dishes, this signature dish is honest, simple, handmade from scratch using the freshest of ingredients, where you can taste the flavour and goodness that has gone into every single bite.

New Text

Available to order online (rather than through the store) from Tuesday 18th January through the Click and Collect Service and available for collection at any of the 12 James Whelan Butcher shops across the country.  For more details visit www.jameswhelanbutchers.com.

Available to order in store in any of the 12 James Whelan Butcher shops across the country.  For more details on shop locations visit www.jameswhelanbutchers.com.

A Quart of Ale± #86. On the craft journey with a session of Hope, Porterhouse, Treaty City and Journeyman

 A Quart of Ale± #86

On the craft journey with a session of Hope, Porterhouse, Treaty City and Journeyman

Hope Overnight Oats IPA 7.5%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

A bit late to the party here. This is the 5th anniversary brew for Dublin’s Hope Brewery and was launched in the middle of 2021.  

They say: It was our Limited Edition 16 and you voted for its return as our official birthday beer! We brewed it using Norwegian Kveik yeast, flaked Irish oats (creamy) and our own home-made oat milk to give the beer a smooth body and hazy appearance.

It comes in an amber colour,  hazy (but you can see a crowded bubble scene, all on the up) while the head fades away soon enough. The aromas are modest but nonetheless complex with hints of the hops apparent. And it is certainly tropical on the palate, a quality for which the Mosaic hop (used in the dry-hopping) is noted. For all that, the sweet malt has its chance to shine in a very satisfactory anniversary beer indeed. For me, better late than never!

Founded in June 2004, Hope is now a proud local brewery at Howth Junction and drew its customers into the birthday celebrations, asking what would the celebratory brew be. “After all the votes were counted, Limited Edition #16 Overnight Oats IPA was the clear winner." Brewed in 2019 for the fruit time, the customers appreciated, among other qualities, the body and smoothness thanks “to the flaked oats and oat milk”. 

That unique Norwegian Kveik yeast also contributes to that tropical flavour and complex aroma. American Ale Yeast and the British Brett may be tops of the tops in yeast but Kveik is coming up fast, another illustration that “brewers and beer drinkers owe everything to these single-celled fungi”, that quote from Craft Beer for the Geeks. Kveik is getting popular here: Eights Degrees, Metalman, and Wicklow Wolf have been among its users in recent months.

Porterhouse Sundown Session IPA 4.0%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

A light orange is the colour of this 4% Sundown Session from Porterhouse and it comes complete with a soft white head that hangs around for a spell. Not surprisingly, given that Citra, Mandarina and Simcoe are three of the hops involved, both the aromas and flavours feature citrus in a lead role. It is a little more complex than that though as you’ll also find no shortage of more exotic fruit plus a touch of pine at the finalé.

They tell us that it is refreshing and you can sense that yourself the second it hits the palate. So plenty of hops, flavour and refreshment all wrapped up in a 4% package. Not bad at all! May not satisfy the out and out hop heads though as there is little enough bitterness here - IBU is low at 10. Still, should be a popular session beer, which was the intention.

Geek Bits

Malts: Ale, Wheat, Oats and Crystal

Hops: Magnum, Citra, Mandarina Bavaria, Simcoe

Treaty City Outcast Juicy IPA 3.8%, 440ml can O’Briens Wine

Yellow, very pale, is the colour of this cloudy session IPA from Treaty City. It has a “massive” all-American hop line-up of Idaho 7, El Dorado, and Columbus (also known as CTZ), so expect pine, tropical (pineapple), citrus, dank, pepper and pungent in aromas and flavours. That is more or less what you get with quite a bit of fruit on the palate before a dry finish. And that US hop trio certainly lend it a hefty hit, no doubting its hoppy credentials. Overall, it is more than a satisfactory session beer though some would prefer a bit more malt input.

Malts by the way are: Pale Ale, Munich, Oats, Wheat

Journeyman Pale Ale 4.6%, 500ml bottle, Xmas gift

Amber/Gold is the colour of this Pale Ale from Dundalk; it’s got a soft white head with some stability. Hazy enough but not so much that you can’t see the shoals of bubbles rising. There’s a moderately intense scent, grapefruit and pine. And more of the same on the palate where the malted barley and wheat make their presence felt. Actually, it all comes together quite well. 

The producers of Journeyman, at the Pearse Lyons Brewery, say of this Cooper’s special batch: “You need a great barrel to make a great beer. Journeyman is steeped in the tradition and highly skilled craft of coopering, the process of making watertight barrels out of wooden staves.”

BALLYMALOE FOODS LAUNCHES LIMITED EDITION COLLABORATION WITH THE DOUGH BROS

press release

BALLYMALOE FOODS LAUNCHES LIMITED EDITION COLLABORATION WITH THE DOUGH BROS

The Dough Bros: Ronan and Eugene Greaney

Ballymaloe Foods has joined forces with The Dough Bros Wood Fired Pizza to launch a limited edition pizza kit. It is the latest in a series of collaborations between the Cork based company and Irish restaurants and producers. 

The Dough Bros is located in Galway and was started by brothers Eugene and Ronan Greaney in 2013. Last year, it was named the best pizza takeaway in Europe by 50 Top Pizza, which publishes guides to the best pizzerias across the world. It was also named Top Pizzeria in Ireland. 

The collaboration will see jars of Ballymaloe Original Relish or Ballymaloe Fiery Relish included in DIY home pizza kits which can be shipped nationwide. 

Donnacha Ryan is the Foodservice Business Development Manager at Ballymaloe Foods. He said, “We’re really excited about the collaboration with The Dough Bros because it’s two family-owned businesses working together. They share our passion about bringing delicious food to customers. It has been an extremely challenging two years for all businesses in the food service industry which is why it’s so important to support each other in whatever way we can.” 

Eugene Greaney from The Dough Bros added, "One of the best things since starting our DIY Pizza Kits has been the chance to work with some of the very best of Irish chefs, producers and brands. Ballymaloe Foods is a staple in every home in Ireland so it’s great to get the chance to work with them and use their incredible relishes on our wood fired pizzas. We can’t wait to ship them to people all over the country. We know they are going to love what we have come up with."

The pizza kits will be available to order from The Dough Bros website from the 17th to the 20th of January and will be shipped nationwide on the 21st of January. Customers can choose from a meatball pizza with Ballymaloe Fiery Relish or a four cheese pizza with Ballymaloe Original Relish, each box will include all the ingredients to make two pizzas. A Ballymaloe branded wooden spoon and two bottles of Kombucha made locally in Galway will also be included. The kits are priced at €36.99 and include free delivery. To order, visit www.thedoughbros.ie

A Simply Better Continental Cheese Selection.

Continental Cheese Selection

From Simply Better By Dunnes Stores

Gorgonzola Piccanta

A Christmas present of cheese put me thinking of a Swiss holiday and an excursion to the town of Gruyères, and aliens! There were fabulous views, a church, a chateau, and the famous cheese!

There was also a strange museum – based on the film Alien. The HG Giger Museum is based on the work of the graphic artist of the same name, who did the special effects for the film and others (such as Poltergeist 11).

This way for cheese!

A similarly themed bar is adjacent and it was here that we had coffee and minuscule meringues made with Gruyère. Then a short drive downhill to an “industrial” cheese manufacturer where a robot is usefully employed turning, watering and replacing big wheels of cheese in the racks.

Gruyère was included in Continental Cheese Selection by Simply Better Dunnes Stores at Christmas and it was quite a pleasant and tasty surprise, not least because some were “new” to me, as the vast majority of the cheese eaten here in this house over the past few years has been Irish. 

Babies in the bar.
G'us a drink, now!

So it was nice to see and taste what is going on the continent. And there was a good bit of variety in the selection. There were two fairly familiar cheeses, the Gruyère and the Gorgonzola. The other two were completely new to me, the soft rind Langres from Champagne and the L’Edel de Cleron from Franche-Comte. Also included was a little jar of Fig and Macadamia Nut Chutney from Girona in Spain; the nuts from Australia the all-spice from Jamaica.

One day last week, we made a fruitless run to try out the Cork Marina Market again but the large car park was full and lots of pedestrians coming in as well, plenty of  families around with schools still on hols. Quite a gang already eating out on benches under the full sun. We had to beat a retreat. 

What now for lunch? I thought of this selection and we opened the L’Edel de Cleron produced by Jean Perrin. I was reading about it and saw that Perrin makes it with milk from Jura Mountain Montbéliarde cows, the same milk used for Mont D’Or (both are wrapped in spruce bark). 

In the belly of the beast! Inside the pub in Gruyeres

So we heated up the cheese in its little round box and, when warm and soft, scooped it out with fingers of toast. Very delicious indeed, lusciously creamy and it vanished very quickly. Just the job though for lunch and I drizzled some of local honey (Leamlara) onto the last few scoops and that added to the pleasure.

Langres Cathedral

Langres is named after a little town in Champagne and is distinguished by a wee hollow on top of its small drum shape designed to hold a tiny pool of brine while maturing. Our producer, Fromagier Schertonleib,  went a spirited step beyond and this is matured with Marc de Champagne!  A touch of class.

It is a cows milk cheese with an edible orange coloured rind. It is creamy and smooth and melts on the palate. There is a delicate pungent aroma while the flavour is light, though the intensity of aroma and flavour can change as it matures. It is excellent on its own or when used in cooking.

By the way, we did use the multi-national chutney with all the cheeses (plus some Hegarty’s Cheddar that we had in the fridge) and it was excellent. The versatile Spiced Plum and Port Jam (by The Big Red Kitchen) also saw plenty of use and really starred with the Gorgonzola, as did the lovely Toro Albalá Marqués de Poley Oloroso (from O'Briens Wine).

Gorgonzola (via Pixabay)

Speaking of Gorgonzola, this Piccante Gorgonzola (AOP) was produced by the Arrigoni family in Lombardy, a region where nowadays the famous blue is made mostly in commercial plants. It traditionally has a white moist paste with green/blue veining and a sharp lactic smell.

The chateau at Gruyeres

Our Piccante has a beautiful smooth texture and a rich spicy flavour - so little bits are best! The rind is inedible. There are two types of this cheese, Piccante (savoury) and Dolce (sweet), with the latter (less blue-veined with a more delicate taste) representing some 90% of the production (ref: The Oxford Companion to Cheese).

French Onion soup with Gruyère (at Market Lane)

And the Gruyère? Characteristics of this famous Swiss cheese are its dry, firm and chewy texture and a moderately tangy flavour and with a nutty sweet finish - no need for any chutney here. A good one for the cheeseboard and a superb cooking cheese. The rind by the way is inedible.

Ours, a 15-month cave aged cheese, is made in traditional copper vats by the Margot family in the heart of the Jura Mountains and it is slowly matured in caves. The texture is firm and smooth and the flavour is rich and intense. 

Hegarty's copper vat

Gruyère is made mainly from Holstein milk and its long-time cross-mountain rival Comté (or Gruyère de Comté) from Montbeliarde. Just a few miles north of my house in Cork lies Whitechurch where Hegarty’s make a superb Templegall that can rival the Swiss and French; they use milk from their Freisians and, yes, they make it in a beautiful copper vat (over 60 years old).

Taste of the Week. O'Flynn's Mexican Chorizo Sausages

Taste of the Week

O'Flynn's Mexican Chorizo Sausages

Pure pork, pure Cork. That's O'Flynn's Mexican style fresh chorizo sausage, our Taste of the Week, made with chorizo, red wine and mixed herbs.This sausage has a minimum of 90% pork and is gluten free and is ideal for many recipe ideas. 

We added ours to a much used hearty Spanish Rice recipe and it worked a treat. The long-grain rice is cooked with vegetables (onion, pepper, frozen peas),  chopped canned tomatoes, chicken stock too. Turmeric gives it a warming colour these dull mid-winter days. The rice and chunks of the sausages are all cooked in the one pan.

It is not the only spicy sausage that O'Flynn's sell. An adjacent basket contained their Habanero & Green Chilli version. And if you are buying gourmet sandwiches from them, you may add a spicy sauce such as Tabasco or Sriracha.

More info on the widely available O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausages here.

A Couple of Highly Recommended Organic Wines, from Bergerac and Campobasso.

 A Couple of Highly Recommended Organic Wines

From Bergerac and Campobasso

Tour Des Gendres Cantalouette Bergerac Rouge (AC) 2020 14.5% 

€19.45 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

This is a blend of 50% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Malbec. Not too sure about the name, though there is a bird (not like any lark I’ve ever seen!) on the label, and there is a town of this name about 30 minutes from Ribagnac where Tour des Gendres is based.

Very glossy and deep red in the glass. The nose is intense, a bouquet of vibrant small red fruits. And the fresh fruit flavours are also intense, juicy cassis and other darker fruits, a touch of moderate spice too. Tannins have a tender grip and this is an easy-drinking soft and balanced wine with good length. Really gorgeous, well made (typical of Tours des Gendres) and Very Highly Recommended.

The grapes come from the Tour des Gendres’ organic certified vineyards. The grapes are Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc (noted for its quality of freshness), grown on a mix of sand, clay and limestone soils. Luc is looking for purity and intensity in his wines, relentlessly searching to reach the maximum potential of each vintage.Viticulture is organic and biodymanic and yields are low.

Le Caveau tells that Luc de Conti is a wonderful character and one of the finest wine-makers of his generation, he feels passionately for his wines, his 54-ha vineyard and his Bergerac region.”Luc is looking for purity and intensity in his wines, relentlessly searching to reach the maximum potential of each vintage.”

Over the years Bergerac winemakers have been overshadowed by those of neighbour Bordeaux who historically controlled the ports and so the  exports. As Robert Joseph said a good few years back: The second class status of Bergerac today owes more to the efforts of Bordeaux merchants to discriminate against it than to the quality of its wines.

As a result, to this day, Bergerac doesn't command the same price level as Bordeaux. So watch out for Bergerac reds (and the whites also) and you should save yourself a few euro without sacrificing quality.

Fattoria di Vaira Vincenzo Bianco 2020, 11% abv 

€18.45 64 Wine Dublin, Bradley’s of Cork, Greenman Dublin, Le Caveau Kilkenny

This white blend comes from southern Italy (not from the deep south); inland Campobasso, where the vineyard is located, is roughly equidistant from Rome and Bari but nearer the Adriatic then the Tyrrhenian.

Colour is an orange/gold, a haze cloud in the glass. Aromas offer quince and sweet peach notes, along with floral hints. The complex palate is full of lively fruit flavours (apricot, peach, even apple). Mouthfeel is a little tingly. Fresh and well structured, this is a delicious wine and an excellent introduction to the style of skin-contact white (also known as orange wines). Highly Recommended.

The blend sees light skin-contact Fiano grapes in with some direct press Trebbiano. The fruit for the Vincenzo wine is sourced from Fattoria di Vaira, one of the largest biodynamic farms in Italy, with more than 500 hectares, just 40 of which are planted to vines.

There is a wonderful diversity here, a very clean environment, with animals, fruit plants, cereals. Shepherds, farmers, cheese makers, vignerons all work in harmony on the farm.

You can visit if you are in the area. Not alone visit, stay as well. And you’ll be well entertained with wine tours and evenings of wine, food and music. Check it all out here.

Spice 'n Sweet and Sixties Beats. The Glass Curtain Rocks The Kitchen

Spice 'n Sweet and Sixties Beats

The Glass Curtain Rocks the Kitchen 

Three hotties: Corn Salsa(left), Pico de Gallo (bottom right), and Chipotle Aioli 

We had a little Latino-Irish Fiesta on the table at the weekend, thanks to the talented crew in The Glass Curtain. While the popular MacCurtain Street restaurant itself is out of action for a few weeks (you know the culprit), they are offering an At Home with different meals available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (Keep an eye on their social media for updates as things keep changing. Just heard, they'll be doing at home for the next two weeks. Updated menus will appear here).

Viva Mexico. (via Pixabay)

Our pick this time was the Friday offering of Panko breaded cod, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli. And a dessert of Chocolate custard, blood orange jelly, spiced churro pieces.

Instructions come with the box which you collect at a specified time. There is a little work but there is also The Glass Curtain playlist. Check it out on Spotify and your cooking will be lifted even higher with Jackie Wilson. The likes of me though may have to Knock on Wood (more than once).

Patatas Bravas

The music went down well, though I got a nasty look when I played You Keep Me Hanging On. And the dog’s begging routine was interrupted briefly when Rufus Thomas started belting out Walking the Dog. As you may have gathered, the songs and singers are mainly from the 60s though, remarkably, Bing Crosby had a hit with Try a Little Tenderness in 1933!

Getting messy!

Anyhow, music or no music, the At Home work takes about 15 minutes, the time it takes the Patatas Bravas to heat and crisp up in the oven. In the meantime, the Tortilla dough has been rolled out and cooked in a dry pan. And the cod goujons (or Sweet Potato and Halloumi if you’re on on the veggie option) take 4-5 minutes.

Dessert

The Official Blog Chef’s coordination is as impressive as ever and it all came good and soon we were south of the border, spooning the shredded cabbage (white), pico de gallo, and chipotle aioli to assemble the Taco. The spicy stuff wakes you up, something different on the table to enliven a dreary wet and cold evening. Also took the opportunity to try out a few of those Chilli & Lime White Corn Tortilla Chips from Clonmel’s Blanco Niño.

Chilli & Lime White Corn Tortilla Chips

Portions are generous here and a “gap” was organised before dessert was tackled. The churros has to be heated (a couple of minutes) and coated in the chilli sugar before they met the delicious chocolate custard and the even more delicious Blood Orange Jelly. The remarkable sweetness added to the already feel good factor and I just got more and more comfortable in the soft chair. Time to switch up the recliner.

Menus Available Last Weekend

• Friday 45 for 2 sharing

Panko breaded cod, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli,

Chocolate custard, blood orange jelly, spiced churro pieces

• Saturday 40 for 2 sharing

BBQ brisket, house slaw, jalapeño cornbread, mac n’cheese

Chocolate chip cookies salted caramel sauce

• Sunday 50 for 2 sharing

18oz dry aged Angus striploin, home fries, whiskey pepper sauce, chargrilled baby leeks, roasted cauliflower

Classic tiramisu

• Veggie all weekend 35 for 2 sharing

Panko breaded halloumi and sweet potatoes, pico de gallo, sweetcorn salsa, shredded cabbage, flour tortillas, bravas potatoes with lime chipotle aioli

Served with desert of the evening