I had the pleasure, yesterday, of enjoying my second all-potato menu in as many weeks (and yes, I know what you’re thinking – some gals just have all the luck).

The occasion was a cookery demonstration given by Pádraic Óg Gallagher at Gallagher’s Boxty House as part of this weekend’s Temple Bar Trad Fest, and the subject, naturally enough, was boxty, the traditional potato speciality that gives the restaurant its name. And Pádraic, who has run The Boxty House for some 23 years, knows more than most about boxty. His making of boiled, baked and pan versions of same (which have featured on these pages before) was accompanied by a potted history of the spud in Ireland and elsewhere. For the lunch which followed the demo, you could, if you so desired, indulge in boxty for starter, main course and dessert (and for those who persist in thinking that you shouldn’t put potato and dessert in the same sentence, let alone on the same plate, all I can say is don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it).

Boxty on the menu - it's almost as versatile as the spud itself

For good measure, the event – which was mostly attended by visitors of the non-Irish variety – included a helping of soda bread making and the pouring of a few Irish coffees, and Pádraic hopes that these demos may become a regular feature at the restaurant during the summer months. If, as a result, some tourists leave the country with the urge to make boxty, then that is no bad thing. If some natives were to discover its charms (as I first did here), then so much the better. It doesn’t, I think, need to be made because it’s traditional or Irish, but because it is simply a very good thing to eat.

Pádraic Óg Gallagher talks boxty
under the watchful gaze of the Sacred Heart

Stéphane Robin smiled enthusiastically: “You must let us know if you try any of the recipes.”

I was sitting in a reception room at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud at an early hour perusing a copy of “Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud: The First Thirty Years” while around me, preparations were getting underway for the official launch of the book later that day. Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is Ireland’s only two star Michelin establishment, an honour that it has held for almost 16 years, and Stéphane, the longtime manager of the restaurant, and founder Patrick Guilbaud had paused to chat informally about the book in between attending to the various tasks that comprised the business of, what was for them, a very special day.

“I’d love to try something from the book,” I had said in reply to Stéphane and – while I meant it, I really did – I also found myself wondering if the book might contain anything recipe-wise that could be classed as easy. Fat chance. Easy is not a term one one should expect to apply to cooking at two Michelin star level, and the 40 or so recipes in this book are the real deal. You won’t find recipes that have been dumbed down for home use but, rather, a genuine attempt to commit to paper instructions for accurately recreating some of the restaurant’s signature dishes. That’s just how Patrick wanted it.

As with the restaurant itself, attention to detail guided the production of this book, and much like the food at Guilbaud’s, the volume is a beauty to behold, in addition to having a rich and colourful story to tell. From the early days of the restaurant, when customers were famously aghast at the lack of salt and pepper on the tables and (worse still) at the fact that potatoes were not served with every meal, through to its establishment as a Dublin institution, the story is also one of changing Irish tastes and expanding Irish palates. It’s well worth acquiring for anyone with space on their coffee tables for a slice of Irish restaurant history, as well as for those who might aspire to reproduce a bit of Michelin-starred magic at home.

The team behind Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud tell their stories:
Founder Patrick Guilbaud, Executive Chef Guillaume Lebrun and Restaurant Manager Stéphane Robin

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Salmon With Tandoori Gnocchi And Sorrel Sauce

With the intention of making good my expressed desire to recreate a dish from the Guilbaud’s book, I had earmarked a recipe for fillet of salmon with tandoori gnocchi and sorrel sauce on the basis that (a) I rather fancied I could cook a piece of salmon and (b) gnocchi were at least somewhat familiar territory. I soon figured out that my attempted re-creation would be nowhere near exact.

The thing is, of course, that recipes for restaurant use are, by their very nature, different to recipes for home use in terms of quantities, equipment, ingredients and the skills they may expect or assume the reader to have. The biggest case in point in this instance was when I re-read my chosen recipe and finally registered the fact that it called for the fish to be cooked in a water bath – and not, I might add, the kind that I have in my bathroom. Still, I persevered and, though I knew the texture of the fish would be different, I made do with my oven. I wouldn’t be reaching any dizzying Michelin-starred heights this time ’round, that was clear (the presentation alone would need work, not to mind everything else) but I figured I could still learn a lot by trying.

You’ll need:

• gnocchi (see recipe below)
• sorrel sauce (see recipe below)
• 125g salmon fillet, per person
• butter
• fine salt
• Maldon salt (or another coarse salt)
• tandoori spice (see gnocchi recipe below)
• soft fresh herbs to garnish (e.g. dill, parsley, …)

You’ll also need:

• A water bath to cook the salmon, if you should have such a thing, otherwise I reckon your oven will do, plus a hand blender or whisk for the sorrel sauce.

The Steps:

• Prepare the gnocchi and the sorrel sauce (recipes below).
• If you have access to a water bath for cooking purposes, then preheat it to 56C, seal each piece of salmon in a vacuum bag with some fine salt and a small knob of butter and cook in the water bath for 12 minutes. Rest for 3 minutes, then carefully remove the skin, season the top side with Maldon salt and keep warm.
• Alternatively, preheat your oven to 150C. Place the salmon fillets on a baking tray, sprinkle with some salt and a small knob of butter. Bake until just cooked through, 15-20 minutes depending on thickness. Remove the skin (or not as you prefer) and sprinkle with some Maldon salt.
• To serve: warm the gnocchi in a pan with a pinch of the tandoori spice and some butter emulsion (which is water or stock which has been heated, and to which a knob of butter has been added and whisked through).
• Place the salmon on a plate, top each fillet with 3-4 gnocchi (and, though it’s not the Guilbaud way, you could serve more gnocchi on the side). Give the sorrel sauce a whizz with a hand blender and spoon over the top. Garnish with fresh herbs.

The Variations:

• What I have cooked is already, inevitably, a variation of the real thing – I’d be inclined, in this case, to try to get the original right (or as close to right as possible) before going on any (other) major tangents.

The Results:

• Each thusly prepared salmon fillet serves one.

This is an hour and a half of television programming which, each week, features cooking by two guest chefs and by host, James Martin, interspersed with archive footage from assorted other BBC food programs. A celebrity guest is on hand throughout the show to chat to and to cook for.

When Saturday morning rolls around, I’ll fire up the television and keep an ear on proceedings while I make coffee and whatever else takes my weekend morning fancy. Inevitably, my interest in the show varies, depending on the guests (cheffy and otherwise), on the dishes being cooked and on the archive clips that are shown (I have a definite fondness for the old Keith Floyd pieces which have been featuring lately).

I made a particular point of tuning in last Saturday, as the line up included Thomas Keller, founder of not one, but two 3 Michelin-starred establishments, The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York, and considered to be one of the finest chefs in the world. He’s not given to making television appearances, and you could tell that there was a mixture of excitement and nerves at having him in the studio on the part of both James Martin and Tom Kitchin, the other guest chef and no stranger to Michelin stardom himself.

During the show, Chef Keller was a pleasure to watch, neither snooty nor shouty but assured and gracious. Then it came time for the omelette challenge, that part of the show where the guest chefs are pitted against each other and against the clock to see who can use three eggs to make something resembling an omelette in the shortest amount of time. Of course, this has little or nothing to do with real cooking skills and everything to do with supposed entertainment. I’d expect that, with rare exceptions, the omelettes that are cooked are never eaten.

I watched as the clocks and frying pans were primed, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the Saturday Kitchen people weren’t a mite embarrassed at asking Thomas Keller to enter the omelette fray.The cue to begin what is usually a frantic session of egg breaking and pan shaking was received and something wonderful happened: Thomas Keller took his time.

As he carefully greased his pan and tended to his eggs, he explained that he thought omelettes were best when cooked slowly (and I have no reason to doubt him on that). When urged to speed up by a mildly exasperated James Martin, Thomas Keller’s response was simple: “I think we all have five minutes to make an omelette in the morning.”

There was a simple respect for food and ingredients at work and I think even Tom Kitchin slowed his omelette-making down – there was no competition to win here. “Today was about respect, right?” said Tom as he finished.

At last, then, the challenge had been undone, its lack of substance exposed, just like the fabled old Emperor who really had no clothes. Bravo Mr. Keller, I thought to myself. Now isn’t it time for the omelette challenge to go?

Your desert island dish may not float my culinary boat, whilst my idea of food heaven may be your notion of hell on a dinner plate. So I truly do admire anyone who is prepared to put themselves and their food forward to be judged and publicly criticised or praised, as the case may be.

I was reminded of that fact as the first ever season of MasterChef Ireland kicked off last week, and a batch of 50 hopefuls submitted their dishes to be scrutinised by Michelin-starred chef Dylan McGrath and restaurateur Nick Munier. The cooking abilities of the 16 who made it through the initial round will, no doubt, be tested to their limits – and then some – over the next few weeks, and their every kitchen drama will be played out on screen as they vie for the final and not-to-be-sniffed-at prize of €25,000.

Compared to MasterChef’s ordeal by television, Chef Factor, dreamed up by those makers of ready-to-go soups, pies and hot-pots, Cully and Sully, involves less of a public trial. The competition, which returns for its second outing this year, has, like MasterChef, a substantial prize attached: in this case, a much coveted place on the 12 week Ballymaloe cookery course, worth over €12,000, along with the opportunity to spend two weeks with Cully and Sully learning the ins and outs of a food business. Entry into the competition is a pretty simple affair:

To put your name into the Chef Factor pot, upload a photo of yourself along with your chosen dish, and with the words “Cully & Sully” somewhere in the image. Submit this to cheffactor.ie, with a brief explanation of the dish and the reason why you (naturally) deserve to win.

Four finalists will be determined by public vote and two wildcards will be handpicked by Cully and Sully to go through, regardless of voting performance. Entries are already being accepted and the winner is expected to be chosen, with the help of Darina and Rachel Allen, in Ballymaloe on Saturday the 26th of November.

As distinct from MasterChef, where your cookery skills need to be pretty well honed to begin with, Chef Factor – with its prize of professional training in a renowned cookery school – is for somebody who wants to learn how to cook and to develop their own career in food. Last year’s winner, Christine Crowley, is now running her own tea-rooms and certainly seems to have benefited from the experience. So, if you think you’ve got the will to make it in the food business, then Chef Factor might just be the way.

Attending a chocolate masterclass with Gerard Coleman at the Dublin Cookery School is really one of the nicer Saturday things to do.

Irish-born Gerard is the founder of the London-based and highly regarded Artisan du Chocolat. He’s one of the very few chocolatiers in Ireland and the UK who produces chocolate from bean to bar, and his wares have won the praises of such cheffing luminaries as Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal. I also happen to think that his chocs are rather good, so you don’t just have to take their word for it.

The masterclass was not only an opportunity to see Gerard at work, but was also a window into the world of quality versus not-so-quality chocolate. Gerard observed that while Irish consumption of chocolate is one of the highest in Europe, we don’t necessarily have a palate for the high quality stuff. Much of what is sold here, even at the fancier end of the market, actually uses the same base chocolate from a very high volume industrial production house. So most of the chocolates we buy essentially taste the same. We are not tuned into the fact that different chocolates can actually taste different, not because they have been flavoured differently, but because they taste different in and of themselves. It was food, and chocolate, for thought.

Gerard Coleman: artisan at work

Of course, the class was not just about what kinds of chocolate we might or might not eat, but also about what other delights could be made once you had some good chocolate to work with. We watched (and occasionally pitched in to help) as Gerard, assisted by the cookery school’s ever-capable Lynda Booth, made a host of chocolate treats, from chocolate-coated ginger nougatine, dark chocolate truffles and mousse-topped chocolate cake to salted caramel and chocolate tart. We also helped to eat the results (which seemed only fair).

Gerard and Lynda also demonstrated the process of tempering, which ensures that finished chocolate has a lovely snap and sheen. Tempering does require careful temperature management during a sequence of melting, rapid cooling, and warming of the chocolate to a point where proper crystallisation of its cocoa butter is achieved. It also involves making a big, satisfying, chocolatey mess in your kitchen.

Tempering:
to achieve rapid cooling, melted chocolate is continuously spread and scraped on a cold surface;
to warm the chocolate by a degree or two, Lynda uses a heat gun, one you might more commonly use for stripping paint;

Once we had a batch of tempered chocolate at our disposal, a further sequence of pouring and scraping ensued as the chocolate was used to line individual sweet moulds which, once hardened, were filled with some of Gerard’s justifiably famous liquid salted caramel.

Making filled chocolates:
moulds are coated with a layer of tempered chocolate which can be filled once hardened, then poured with another layer of chocolate; when the tempered chocolate cools it contracts naturally and the filled chocolates should release easily from the moulds;

When you added it all up, it was rather a great deal of effort to go to in order to produce your own filled chocolates, and I did wonder vaguely if I would ever attempt it myself. That was until I saw the shiny finished chocolates drop cleanly from their mould. It was, as Lynda said, “the magic moment that makes it all worth it.”

The end result: outside it's chocolate, inside it's liquid salted caramel

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Chocolate Bread

I could have chosen to present you with liquid salted caramel or chocolate mousse or truffles or chocolate tart or any number of other sweet treats which were made during the masterclass, but this bread appealled to me as a mode of chocolate delivery that didn’t also involve adding lots of sugar.

It works very nicely (I think) toasted, buttered and eaten with your morning coffee, particularly if you have a fondness (as I do) for eating darker chocolate. The bread actually feels like a mature and sophisticated way to enjoy a chocolate hit.

For the chocolate, I used a bar with 70% cocoa solids, along with a small amount having 100% cocoa solids, which is what I happened to have.

You’ll need:

• 20g fresh yeast or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
• 325ml warm water
• pinch of sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 600g strong white flour
• 60g cocoa powder
• 1.5 tsp fine salt
• 125g caster sugar
• 25g butter, softened
• 250g dark chocolate, min. 60% cocoa solids, roughly chopped
• an additional egg yolk for glazing

You’ll also need:

• One large or two smaller baking sheets to accommodate the loaves in the oven.

The Steps:

• Combine the yeast, water and a generous pinch of sugar in a bowl and set aside for 5-10 minutes until bubbly, then add in the egg yolk.
• Combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt and caster sugar in a large, warm mixing bowl and rub the butter into the flour mixture.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Mix to form a soft dough with your hands and then incorporate the chocolate pieces. If it feels too wet and sticky, sprinkle with some more flour.
• Knead the dough on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, or go ahead and knead using your mixer and dough hook for about 4-5 minutes.
• Now place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl covered with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm, draught-free area until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch back. Divide into two equal pieces and shape into rounds or ovals as you prefer. Place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Preheat your oven to 220C
• Beat the second egg yolk with a fork and brush over the surface of the loaves. Bake for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190C and continue to bake for another 25 minutes or so, watching carefully so that the loaves don’t get scorched at the end.
• Cool on a wire rack, then slice and enjoy.

The Variations:

• The most obvious way to vary this is by varying the chocolate you add – always, of course, using a chocolate that you’d be perfectly happy to eat on its own.

The Results:

• Makes 2 small loaves

]]> http://www.thedailyspud.com/2011/06/03/chocolate-bread/feed/ 9 http://www.thedailyspud.com/2011/04/06/pistachio-pesto-fish-clodagh-mckenna/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pistachio-pesto-fish-clodagh-mckenna http://www.thedailyspud.com/2011/04/06/pistachio-pesto-fish-clodagh-mckenna/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 14:51:30 +0000 Daily Spud http://www.thedailyspud.com/?p=27771

So, how much fish do you think you could scarf down in one day?

If I had been asked that question before attending the fish cookery course in Clodagh McKenna’s cookery school last month, I would probably have underestimated by a long shot.

While I was there, I managed several helpings of gorgeous Thai fish curry, sneaky pieces of fabulous Irish crab from the crab cakes, a glorious pesto-crusted fillet of sole, a more-ish pile of clam-filled spaghetti vongole, not to mention the fact that we were all sent home with the finished crab cakes, some creamy smoked haddock chowder and mackerel fillets with a lovely beetroot and horseradish relish. I feel full all over again just thinking about it.

Clockwise from top left:
Crab cakes; Spaghetti Vongole; Pistachio pesto crusted sole; Thai fish curry;
And yes, I was very full afterward.

Clodagh’s cookery school is located at the Village at Lyons, which (alas for the Francophiles among you) does not refer to Lyons in France, but to the terribly-pretty-all-the-same country estate surroundings of the Lyons Demesne in Co. Kildare, about 20km from the heart of Dublin.

The Village at Lyons: enter this way...

Needless to remark, I was pleased as punch to be invited to attend a course at the cookery school. The fish course seemed, to me, a natural choice – what with Clodagh having both the Fresh from the Sea television series and book of the same name under her belt, it’s safe to say that the lady knows her fish. The course, presented by Clodagh herself, was a pleasure from beginning to end.

Clodagh in action

We talked about skinning fish, making fish stock and we would have tackled filleting if a somewhat over-eager fish supplier hadn’t done the job for us. Throughout the day, a range of simple, tasty fish dishes made their way from burner to plate to tummy. We also whipped up homemade mayonnaise and tartare sauce, and amassed plenty of practical fishy tips along the way.

Scenes from the cookery school

Mostly, though, there was charm and enthusiasm, the inspiration to cook fish more often and the desire to cook all of the dishes from the course again. With that in mind, let’s have some more of that pesto-crusted sole, shall we?

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Pistachio Pesto Crusted Sole

This dish was the hit of the day – a simple pesto-crusted piece of sole, quickly made and devoured by the attendees at the course, despite having already eaten our way though several other seafood dishes.

Clodagh’s original recipe replaces the pine nuts that you would find in a traditional pesto with pistachio nuts. I, in turn, have replaced the basil with flat leaf parsley (though the basil version gets my vote too). I have also added some lemon zest to the mix, as we all agreed on the day that (like so many fishy creations), it benefitted muchly from a bit of lemony zing.

Clodagh suggests the amount below as being enough for about 4 fillets of fish, though it does really depend on the size of your fillets and how generously you coat them. Perhaps because I like to pile on the pesto, I found that this was enough for something more like 2 medium-sized fillets (say around 150g each). Though the fish is fried here, you could also use this pesto to coat some fish before baking it.

You’ll need:

• 50g shelled pistachio nuts, unsalted
• large handful (around 20g) of flat leaf parsley leaves (or substitute basil)
• 0.5 tsp lemon zest
• 50g parmesan cheese, finely grated
• approx. 50-75ml good quality olive oil
• 2-4 fillets of sole (or other white fish, such as whiting)
• lemon wedges to serve (optional)

You’ll also need:

• A mortar and pestle for making the pesto, or you can use a food processor.

The Steps:

• Place the pistachio nuts, parsley or basil and lemon zest together in a mortar and pestle or food processor and grind together. Alternatively chop the ingredients very finely and mix together.
• Stir in the grated parmesan and olive oil, enough to give the consistency of an easily spreadable paste.
• Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Coat the sole with the pesto and fry for around 2 minutes on each side or until the fish is no longer translucent. Serve along with a wedge of lemon and a green salad. This would also be lovely with some steamed baby potatoes (and, yes, I would say that).

The Variations:

• You could certainly add garlic to the mix above, as you would with a classic pesto.

The Results:

• Serves 2-4, depending on the number of fillets used.

There I was, fully prepared to launch into a little rant about cooking-vs-entertainment when, as irony would have it, I heard that I was nominated for one of this year’s Entertainment.ie awards.

Well now, that’ll teach me!

The awards are open to public voting so, if you should feel so inclined, please do pop over here, look for the best blogger section and do the needful for the Spud. They’ll even let you vote once per day until the 7th of January – I might make a specially extended advent calendar just for the occasion.

It goes without saying that I am more than honoured to have been nominated along with several luminaries of the Irish bloggerati and, while I’ve never thought of myself as an entertainer per se, I guess that at least some of what I do can be classed as entertainment (which is fine, as long as you don’t expect me to do any tap-dancing).

Chefs, at least those of the celebrity variety, might also be called entertainers. You need look no further than your favourite television cookery shows to see that. They don’t always stick exclusively to cooking, though usually I like ‘em best when they do.

Which brings me to the “fantastic live theatre show” (sic) which ran during last weekend’s Taste of Christmas event in Dublin. The problem wasn’t so much with the entertainment value – which was, at times, questionable – but that I think the audience were shortchanged.

Hector Ó hEochagáin acted as MC, while celebrity chefs and others flitted in and out of the Christmas kitchen setting in a presentation that often had little to do with cooking and, in Gino D’Acampo’s case, more to do with cringeworthy inuendo.

Taste of Christmas theatre, clockwise from bottom left:
Kevin Dundon and Oliver Dunne; Gino D'Acampo and Catherine Fulvio; Heston Blumenthal; and finally Gino, Catherine, Hector, Oliver and Kevin

The big draw for me (and I suspect many others) was that Heston Blumenthal was appearing at some of these theatre sessions. Unfotunately, they neglected to mention that this would not involve Heston – one of the world’s most fascinating chefs – doing any cooking. A minor detail would you say? And while it was still a highlight to hear Heston talk a little about himself and take a couple of audience questions, I could not help but feel duped.

Suffice to say that the rest of my time at the event was better spent touring the various restaurant, food and drink stands, not to mention witnessing the occasional scrum by attendees for free Marks & Spencer mince pies. Now that, my friends, is entertainment.

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Cheesy Sage and Onion Scones

The method here is one that I saw Catherine Fulvio demo at Taste of Christmas, where she made a flavoured white soda bread dough, brushed the rolled-out dough with pesto, then coiled it up and sliced off individual scones for baking. A fabulously simple idea and endlessly variable.

This version here is inspired by one of my favourite Christmas foods: stuffing – that more-ish mixture of breadcrumbs, butter and onion, with maybe some apple, maybe some celery and always some sage. And while you wouldn’t really put cheese in your stuffing, I couldn’t resist adding some to the scone version because, well, the Taste of Christmas theatre show was nothing if not cheesy…

For the filling:

• 1 tblsp butter
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1 small onion (about 100g), very finely chopped
• pinch of salt
• 0.25 tsp dried sage
• 0.25 tsp dried thyme
• pinch of celery seeds (optional)
• freshly ground black pepper

For the dough:

• 450g plain flour
• 1 tsp bread soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 75g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 small cooking apple, such as bramley, peeled, cored and grated (you’ll need about 100g once grated)
• 300-400ml buttermilk

You’ll also need:

• One or more large baking trays, depending on size

The Steps:

• To prepare the filling, place a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the butter and oil and, when hot, add the onions, a pinch of salt, the sage, thyme and celery seeds if using. Stir and fry for around 5 minutes or until the onions have softened but not browned. Season with a few twists of black pepper. Remove from the heat.
• Preheat your oven to 200C
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, bread soda, salt and sugar.
• Stir the grated cheese and grated apple into the flour mixture. Form a well in the centre and pour in about 300ml of the buttermilk. Use your hand to gently mix and bring together as a dough, adding more buttermilk if the mixture is too dry. The final dough should not be too wet or sticky.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Divide in two and roll each piece into an oblong around 30cm x 20cm – it should be around 3-4mm thick. Scatter the cooked onions onto the rolled-out pieces of dough. Roll each piece of dough up along the longer side and press the edges together (dampening with a little buttermilk to help seal the edges if they’re not sticking together). Slice each roll into pieces around 2cm thick. Place the slices flat i.e. cut side up, on one or more floured baking trays and bake for around 12-15 minutes or until golden.
• Eat warm or at room temperature. They’re just the thing to have alongside a wintry bowl of soup.

The Variations:

• Well of course you could add some fried, crumbled bacon to the filling if you like. You can also leave out the cheese and apple and just have sage and onion scones (in which case I’d probably add some chopped fresh herbs to the dough).

The Results:

• Makes around 30 small scones.

I do not like throwing food in the bin, I do not like it one little bit.

It feels like a defeat (boo!) when my perishables expire before I can put them to good use and, conversely, a victory (yay!) when I have successfully cooked and/or eaten my way through the latest contents of the fridge.

A recent survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tells me that I am by no means the only person who feels this way. 97% of people, when asked, said that they were bothered by food waste. Thing is though, almost half of those people confessed to doing little or nothing to prevent it. So, really, they can’t be that bothered by it, can they?

Perhaps the EPA’s Stop Food Waste campaign, which aims to heighten awareness among consumers and provide commonsense tips on how to avoid food waste, will prod more people into taking action.

At the launch of the campaign this week, some familiar foodie faces were on hand to lend both their support and their use-it-don’t-lose-it recipes.

Rachel Allen, with a little help from TV3's Aidan Cooney

As she whipped up a dumpling-topped pork casserole with consummate ease, Rachel Allen named soups, frittatas and casseroles as her top three use-up-what’s-in-the-fridgeables.

Kevin Thornton works his culinary magic

Michelin-starred Kevin Thornton talked about our skewed sense of value when it comes to food. We might baulk at paying top prices for, say, a prime whole fish, but if, as Kevin ably demonstrated, you can make a succession of dishes from all of its usable parts, that fish starts to seem not so expensive anymore.

Donal Skehan keeps things simple

While it is more than aspirational to expect the average consumer to start producing Thornton-style magic at home, Donal Skehan’s recipes are well within the reach of the masses. Give that young man a chicken and he’ll give you several days worth of easily made dinners, with a herby roast chicken providing the basis for subsequent pasta and noodle-based dishes, as well as chicken stock. It’s not a bad place to start if you want to become cannier about using all that is available to you, foodwise.

When all is said and done, though, I can’t help but wonder how much impact the Stop Food Waste campaign will really have. It is all very well to provide waste-aware tips and recipes, but the elephant in the room is the still-common perception that food is, and should be, a cheaply available commodity. It is something that comes to us conveniently packaged and is, ultimately, disposable. As we grow ever more distant from the source of our food, its real value to us becomes diminished. So perhaps we pay less attention than we should to getting the most out of the food we have. If we had a real connection to the people producing our food or if, indeed, we were producing it ourselves, we would be far less inclined to waste a single scrap.

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Quick Asian Noodle Soup

This is adapted from one of the recipes demonstrated by Donal Skehan at the Stop Food Waste launch and is based, he told us, on the idea of instant noodle pots as made by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – a homemade (and significantly healthier) alternative to the pot noodle.

The execution couldn’t be simpler: soften some rice noodles with boiling water or stock, stir in your flavourings, vegetables and other ingredients et voilà. Of course it’s a good idea to chop or otherwise prepare and assemble all of the ingredients before you pour the water or stock over your noodles so that you can add them quickly without things getting too cold.

You’ll need:

• 1 tblsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1.5 tsp honey
• 4 tsp lime juice
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 0.5 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp grated root ginger
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 50g fine rice noodles
• 350ml boiling water or use chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 3 tblsp chopped fresh coriander
• finely sliced fresh red chilli to taste (optional)
• approx. 75g Chinese cabbage (i.e. napa cabbage), finely shredded

You’ll also need:

• A pyrex or other heatproof bowl for putting the soup together.

The Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, lime juice, tomato purée, toasted sesame oil, grated ginger and grated garlic.
• Place the noodles in your heatproof bowl and pour over the boiling water or stock.
• When the noodles are soft (probably around 2 minutes or so) stir in the soy sauce mixture along with the spring onions, chopped coriander and sliced chilli (if using), reserving some spring onions and coriander for garnish. Finally stir in the shredded Chinese cabbage. Serve scattered with the reserved spring onion and coriander.

The Variations:

• There are many things that you could stir into this as the mood takes you: shredded cooked chicken or pork; cooked prawns; or a plain 1-egg omelette, cut into ribbons. Lightly steamed slices of broccoli and/or mange tout would also work well, as would crushed toasted peanuts.

The Results:

• One substantial portion of noodle soup or two smaller ones.

People who follow the recipe to the last word are the most boring people. Use your instincts. Chefs may have created combinations which (they think) are fantastic but you, you create your own fantastic.

I scribbled furiously. Those words just uttered by Atul Kochhar were words to cook by.

I had been waiting a long time for my date with the Michelin-starred Indian chef, but last weekend’s one day course with Atul at the Dublin Cookery School was worth every minute of that wait.

In truth, the menu for the day, which included naan bread, pulao rice, dal, lamb rogan josh, homestyle chicken curry and mango chutney, sounded like bog-standard Indian restaurant fare. And that may have seemed, to some at least, to be at odds with the chef’s Michelin stardom. But to think that was to miss the point. Absorb what the man had to say about spices and oils, about onions, garlic, ginger and lentils, and you could begin to make that Indian menu your own.

Clockwise from top left:
assorted spices; homestyle chicken curry; bombay aloo; fresh mango chutney;
Centre: the chef himself

It starts with understanding that as spices grow old, they lose their pzazz, so you buy only small amounts of whole spices, store in well-sealed containers and grind if and when you need to. Though I knew this in theory, the occasionally ancient contents of my spice cupboard indicate that my practice has been different. Oops.

When the time comes to cook, you can start encouraging those flavours to come out by pounding whole spices. After that, you will need to introduce your spices to oil and to heat. The oil must be hot enough for the spices to sizzle and release their own natural oils, but it should not be smoking. What that means is:

You should never use olive oil for Indian cooking.

Eek! Guilty as charged.

Probably shouldn't use Olive Oyl either...
(image from www.popeye.com)

The lovely flavour of olive oil is best reserved for Mediterranean purposes, whilst its low smoke point means that it doesn’t become hot enough for spices to really open up. What you can use is a neutral vegetable oil, such as grapeseed, instead.

In fact the fat or oil used in cooking is probably the single biggest distinguishing feature between the different regional cuisines within India: in the north, they tend to use butter or ghee, in the south, coconut oil, mustard oil is used in the east and sesame or ground nut oil in the west.

Regardless of the type of oil, however, you can be fairly safe in the assumption that Indians use a lot of it. There were audible gasps from the course attendees at the liberal pouring of oil at the start of every dish. That, Atul counseled, was needed for the onions.

Ah yes, know your onions...

He stressed that it was important to cook onions properly and they needed plenty of oil for that to happen (when pressed, he did say that you could drain excess oil off after the onions were done). Salt, by drawing moisture out, would also help onions to cook evenly, but other additions, such as ginger/garlic paste, should only enter the fray after onions were cooked to the degree required – be that translucent, golden brown or very brown.

While oil was the key to onions, salt was the key to lentils. In India, we were informed, lentils are always cooked in salted water, in contrast to the French-lead practice which dictates that salt should only be added towards the end of cooking, for fear that the lentils won’t soften. That fear, Atul says, is unfounded. An entire subcontinent agrees and has more flavourful lentils as a result.

And as he added more butter to the potatoes in his bombay aloo, he paused to address his Irish audience.

“Potatoes and butter,” he said. “I don’t need to explain to you guys about potatoes and butter.”

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Bombay Aloo

This is adapted slightly from the version of bombay aloo that we made during the course with Atul Kochhar. You can really use any kind of potatoes for this, though waxy ones will hold their shape better.

Atul’s recipe as written down didn’t specify ginger but I swear I saw him add some, so I followed suit. I threw in garlic because, well, I like garlic. I also included peanuts, which Atul mentioned would be a very typical addition to this dish in Gujarat, and a very good call it was, too. The result is my own kind of fantastic.

You’ll need:

• 25g raw unsalted peanuts
• 0.25 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 0.5 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 25g butter
• 2 tblsp vegetable oil
• about 10 curry leaves
• 1 medium-sized red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 small onion (about 100g), peeled and chopped
• 2-3cm cube root ginger, peeled and finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 0.25 tsp gnd turmeric
• 0.5 tsp garam masala
• 3 medium-sized potatoes (about 600g), peeled or not as you prefer and cut into rough 2-3cm chunks
• 0.5 tsp salt plus more for cooking the onions
• 1.5 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander or more to taste

You’ll also need:

• A baking tray for toasting the peanuts, a heavy-bottomed frying pan (mine is a 26cm pan) and a mortar and pestle for crushing spices.

The Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 160C. Then place the shelled, raw peanuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove, allow to cool, then crush the peanuts coarsely.
• Meanwhile, lightly pound the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds using a mortar and pestle.
• Place your heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and add the oil and butter. When hot enough so that the spices sizzle straight away, add the cumin, mustard seeds and fenugreek to the pan along with the curry leaves and chopped chilli. Stir briefly, then add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cover the pan, lower the heat and cook the onions gently for 3-4 minutes, without colouring and stirring occasionally.
• Remove the lid, add the ginger and garlic and stir and cook for about a minute more.
• Add the turmeric and garam masala, stir briefly, then add the potatoes,lemon juice,salt and enough hot water to just cover the potatoes. Simmer for about 10 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and simmer for another 5-10 minutes more, until the potatoes are just cooked through.
• Stir in the coriander and simmer for a few more minutes or until the liquid has mostly evaporated. If the dish is still quite liquid, raise the heat so that the liquid boils off more quickly and preferably before the potatoes turn to mush.
• Garnish with the crushed roasted peanuts. Serve with raita, naan bread, chutneys and dal or just toss with some natural yogurt and eat it as is.

The Variations:

• I rather fancy throwing in some chopped fresh tomatoes next time when adding the potatoes.

The Results:

• Should serve 2-3 as part of an Indian spread.

Frankly, I blame the fish pie.

For the delay, I mean.

It’s been almost 2 months since I met Natasha, she of 5 Star Foodie, and her daughter Hannah for lunch.

It’s been so long, in fact, that Bentley’s, where we ate, is no more, having morphed into the Cliff Town House. And while I am more than happy to see an outpost of the Cliff House Hotel come to Dublin, this does mean that the Bentley’s menu is gone from our shores.

Which brings me back to the fish pie.

Bentley’s creamy, mashed potatoey fish pie.

The restaurant’s signature dish and the one that I had to have when I met Natasha, despite the fact that it was the middle of (an admittedly Irish) summer.

And it was good. Heavy and rich but very good.

The fish pie in question

So I got it into my head that I should make some kind of Bentley’s inspired fish pie to accompany this post. Except that, until last weekend, we were experiencing anything but fish pie weather. Not that I was complaining about that, you understand, but now that the weather has started turning, I find that fish pie and five star foodie lunches have bubbled right back up to the top of the menu.

And, my, what a lovely lunch it was. Though the fish pie was good, the company was even better.

And before the pie, there was the lobster bisque

Natasha was as delightful as I had imagined, but it was her daughter Hannah who stole the show. Despite being all of 6 years old, she has experienced her fair share of fine dining, both at restaurant tables and in her mother’s kitchen. Based on her forthright opinions on all we ate, she could certainly challenge her mother for the 5 Star Foodie title and could probably give most restaurant critics a good run for their money.

During the meal, she asked if Bentley’s had a Michelin star, ‘cos it was “kinda fancy.” I explained that it had the involvement of a well known, Michelin star kind of chef, if not an actual Michelin star. And I realised that this was most definitely not the kind of conversation I was used to having with 6 year olds of my acquaintance.

And so, a couple of months later, as I pondered my fish pie, I couldn’t help but wonder if it would pass muster with Hannah. That seal of approval would, I feel, be worth more than any Michelin star.

My lemon posset dessert but, more importantly, my charming 5 star companions

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Fish-A-Leekie Pie

As you might expect, this pie takes its lead from the recipe for Bentley’s fish pie, which is included in Richard Corrigan’s fine book, The Clatter of Forks and Spoons. I’ve used a similar creamy white wine and thyme sauce and a mix of smoked and unsmoked fish, as does the Bentley’s pie, though I’ve added leeks and capers and swapped the mashed potato for a topping of potato slices.

While I might mourn the departure of Bentley’s and its fish pie from Dublin, having this in my repertoire will ease the pain considerably.

For the sauce:

• 50g butter
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 medium leeks, white and light green parts finely sliced (about 200g)
• 0.5 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 75ml white wine
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml milk
• 0.75 tsp salt or to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp English mustard (Colman’s)
• 1 tblsp capers, rinsed and drained
• 4-5 tblsp chopped flat leaf parsley, loosely packed
• 1.5 tblsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp malt vinegar

For the rest of the pie:

• 300-350g potato (about 2 medium sized spuds – preferably waxy as they will hold their shape better)
• 250g smoked haddock (or other smoked white fish)
• 250g salmon fillet
• 1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tblsp freshly grated parmesan

You’ll also need:

• An ovenproof dish – mine was 20cm x 20cm x 5cm deep – plus a processor or blender for blending the sauce (an immersion blender is handiest).

The Sauce Steps:

• Place a large, heavy saucepan over a medium heat and, when hot, add the butter.
• Once the butter has melted, add the garlic, leeks and thyme and cook over a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes or until the leeks have started to soften.
• Add the white wine and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
• Add the flour and stir quickly until combined, then very gradually start adding the milk, stirring vigorously all the time. Continue until all of the milk has been incorporated. Don’t worry too much about lumps as you can blend the sauce later.
• Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add the salt, black pepper, mustard, capers, parsley, lemon juice and vinegar and stir to combine.
• Remove from the heat and blend briefly (though don’t worry about making the sauce completely homogenous). Taste and check seasoning, adding more mustard or lemon juice if you think it needs it.
• Cover and set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the pie.

The Rest:

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Scrub the potatoes and, leaving the skins on, cut into approx. 0.5cm slices.
• In a saucepan, bring about 1l of water to the boil, add 1 tsp salt and the potato slices.
• Bring back to a simmer and simmer gently, covered, for 5-6 minutes or until the potato slices are just starting to become tender.
• Remove the potatoes from the heat, drain and leave to sit for about 5 minutes, covered with a tea-towel to absorb the steam.
• Cut the smoked haddock and salmon into approx. 1cm cubes.
• Spoon some of the previously prepared sauce onto your ovenproof dish, add the fish pieces and spoon over the remaining sauce.
• Top with a layer of overlapping potato slices. Drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with the parmesan.
• Bake for about 30 minutes – the potatoes should have crisped up around the edges. Serve with some salad and the rest of that bottle of white wine you had to open for the sauce.

The Variations:

• If smoked fish is not your thing, you can certainly replace the smoked fish with with any unsmoked white fish. You can also top the pie with mashed potato or a pastry crust instead of the potato slices if you like.

The Results:

• Serves 2-3 pie-eaters