Dear Edwina,
I heard myself saying often over the summer why go anywhere else when the weather is that good? and as luck would have it I did not go anywhere and therefore had the opportunity to sample what a good Irish summer is like. I particularly enjoyed the endless string of long and warm evenings, they are gone now, but let's not lose heart, in their place we can look forward to a symphony of glorious colours and earthy smells.
So you will not find me writing about exotic delicacies this time, but nevertheless something exciting on the food front is happening at this very moment and right on my doorstep. Thanks to the initiative of Ray Collier, our butcher in Howth, we are now able to taste the beef grown locally.... |
|
|
Hands-On Course Information
Express Dinner Party
Wed 22 Sept. 19:00-21:30
How often do you wonder how you are going to manage to fit in the shopping and cooking before your friends arrive for dinner this evening? On this course we are going to take the panic out of the evening and teach Read More...
One Pot Dishes & Hearty Soups
Sat 25 Sept. 10:30-16:30
Mid-winter is a time to snuggle up with up with a tasty soups or a heart-warming casserole, comfort food at its best. Learn the principles of making good soup and find out that with just a few basic ingredients you can produce a large variety different soups. One pot dishes are easy to put together, they can be made in advance Read More...
Sustainable Fish
Tues 5 Oct 19:00-21:30
Much of our marine life is under serious threat through over fishing. You can do your bit and help by avoiding fish and shellfish from unsustainable, over-fished or badly managed fisheries. Come dine with us
Healthy & Delicious
Wed 6 Oct 19:00-21:30
This class is about showing you how healthy food can be delicous as well as raising awareness of ingredients that are high in health giving properties. In other words, what is good for your body should also give you pleasure Read More... |
|
Christine's Letter
.....Although this sounds like it should be easy enough, with the days of field to butcher supply style long gone; it does take a certain amount of effort and investigation to trace the local cattle from far way abattoirs and buy it back. Not wishing to bore you with too many provenance details, suffice to say that we had the privilege of sampling on our plates beef from the Bellingham's, also -how very proud making-from ourselves at Howth castle and currently Lambay island . I love to watch the cattle from my kitchen's window and often wondered how their meat would taste. I can tell you now that it is delicious and the added bonus is that I know what they have eaten. I'll just have to stop giving them names; never mind how well matured and flavoursome the meat is, if you see on your plate a happily grazing Oscar it just won't taste the same.
Talking about cattle, something really quite embarrassing, but amusing for some, happened to me during one of my first visits to Howth as Julian's girlfriend. This story is not only about beef; but also how something as small as the difference between a "o" and a "u" can potentially land a girl into trouble!
A friend who lived a few years in Japan came back with some intriguing tales of Japanese food. The one that really caught my imagination was about Kobe beef also called Wagyu; they massage the cattle regularly so that the fat is evenly distributed and give them beer as part of their diet. The result of this high maintenance regime is a very superior bit of meat with a very high price tag. During that visit and while we were enjoying a traditional Sunday roast around the large dining room table; I asked Christopher, Julian's father about the cows I saw from my bedroom window. He explained that they were bullocks that he bought to fatten up and sell them on. Not knowing and having misheard the technical word for a boy cow, I told him that he should massage his 'bollocks' like they do in Japan and he would achieve a very good price when it came to selling them. With the expression of utter fear and amazement on his face followed by the roar of laughter from the others, I realised not only my embarrassing idiomatic error, but also that my potential future "in laws" had mercifully a good sense of humour and here I am! |
|
Broad beans, butternut squash, parsnips, runner beans, turnips are all part of the autumn ladder, so are beetroots and if know them only steeped in overpowering vinegar, think again. Fresh beetroot have a sweet and slightly earthy flavour and can be eaten raw if on the small side; grated with carrots, and a teaspoon of curry powder added to the dressing for the secret ingredient will make a delicious salad. Larger ones will need cooking and here are a few tips on how to prepare them. Rinse and brush clean but do not remove the skin or root until after cooking ,otherwise they will 'bleed' and loose colour and nutrients; wrap them in foil and cook in the oven at 180 degrees for up to 2 hours depending on size (a skewer should penetrate with no resistance when ready). Sliced or cubed, serve them well seasoned with just butter or bake the slices topped with a little goat cheese and thyme until melted and bubbly. Wear gloves when preparing them as they leave very stubborn stains.
Apples, blackberries, peaches (imported from France or Italy) pears, plums, raspberries are all in season. This is also the right time of the year for figs, they usually come from Turkey, and they make an attractive starter with Parma or Serrano ham. Try them drizzled with honey, scatter over thyme leaves and shelled pistachios then roast and serve witha dollop of crème fraiche and you'll have a delicious dessert.
Guinea fowl with its very slight gamey flavour makes a good alternative to chicken on an autumn night. Look for a free-range bird, usually imported from France,it is prepared much in the same way as chicken. As is it generally a smaller bird, cooking methods that retain moisture like pot roasting or casseroling are best. This is almost the last of the lamb and as the season progresses the flavour develops and autumn lamb is well suited to a spicy and more lamb adventurous treatment than in springtime
|
|
Fish and shellfish
Mackerel. |
Keeping in mind sustainability and fish and shellfish outside the spawning season , this month we should eat plaice, mackerel and whiting or crab, mussels (wild) and oysters. Bon appétit! |
|
This Months Recipe
A good way of using the glut of tomatoes, but can also be made with good quality Italian tinned plum tomatoes. If you like it spicy add Tabasco sauce. Thick or thin, you can vary the consistency by adjusting the cooking time; you could use coriander seeds instead of celery seeds or use dark muscovado sugar for a deeper flavour.
3kg very ripe tomatoes
500g chopped onions
8 large garlic cloves
1 large red pepper seeded, chopped
200g celery, chopped
225g golden granulated sugar
250ml cider vinegar
Spice Mix
15 cloves
20 allspice berries
1tsp celery seeds
10cm cinnamon stick broken into pieces
1tbsp salt
1tsp black peppercorns
- Spice mix: put all the ingredients in a coffee grinder and whiz until reduced to a powder or grind using a pestle and mortar.
- Put the tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper and celery in a large saucepan. Cover and cook gently over a medium heat for about 15 minutes until very soft. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve
- Return the purée to the cleaned pan and add the sugar, vinegar and ground spice mix. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens.
- Remove from the heat add the Tabasco sauce if using. Put into hot, sterilized jars or bottles, seal with vinegar proof lids and label.
|
Christine St Lawrence
The Kitchen In The Castle
+353(01)839 6182 | |
|
|
|
|
|
Our Cattle; Oscar, MoonBean, Nutmeg, Ludovic, Goeffrey, Espresso & Al ... |
|
Enter monthly
competition to win cookery class
|
|
