Sunday in Clonegal

It is funny how you can have amazing places close to home and not even realise... it wasn't until I went to one of the #SMEcommunity meetings in Clonegal earlier this year that I discovered Huntington Castle. I had heard of the 'new age' witch living there but I hadn't realised you could go in to the castle or that there were tours to see the place. 

So taking the opportunity that the in-laws were visiting this weekend we went up to Clonegal (it is only about 25 min drive from Gorey) to spend our Sunday. Apart from the castle, Clonegal has another great 'attraction', restaurant Sha-Roe Bistro which is a lovely low key place with stunning top quality nosh!

The plan was to have a treat Sunday lunch at Sha-Roe and then head next door to the castle to check out the gardens (the last time I was there it was so wet I didn't get to see them) and have a tour of the place. The plan didn't disappoint, we hadn't been to Sha-Roe in a good while (why?? I don't know!) but it was as good or even better than I remembered. I had a smoked salmon terrine with haddock fishcake for starters and an absolutely superb courgette and cucumber risotto with scallops. I'm generally not a fan of risotto but this was no ordinary risotto, it was just amazingly tangy and tasty and everything you would need for a tasty Sunday treat! for dessert I had the classic lemon tart with raspberry sorbet which was sweet, refreshing and amazing. We must go more often! 

It was fun to have another tour of Huntington Castle because I got a different guide this time (I presume they are brothers) and we got different anecdotes from the castle's inhabitants and eccentric family residents. The castle was built in 1625 on the site of a 14th century abbey. It was built over a water well which still can be seen down in the basement, where the cult to the Goddess Isis has its 'Vatican' - as the guide said.

It is refreshing to go to a site that has been in the hands of the same family for centuries and see how the place has evolved, without artificial 'additives' solely for tourist consumption. It is a family house that happens to be a castle and have a very very colourful history! now they have opened tea rooms and they also have a resident artist studio, as well as a few crafts on sale.

For such a small place, Clonegal, gives you a good mix of things to do on a Sunday. Oh, and if you fancy walking, the Wicklow Way has its finishing spot here too!

Irish heritage and history in your pocket

My friend and archaeologist Neil Jackman has just launched this amazing project called Abarta Audio Guides. Neil and a group of friends with many different talents from music to acting have produced and launched these fantastic audio guides to 8 of Ireland's most high profile sites and events (Glendalough, 1916 Rising in Dublin, Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny Castle...).

The guides last up to 50 minutes in duration and they offer an interpretation of the sites and events with anecdotes and stories about these heritage sites. The greatest part? you can download it at home and take it with you, no need for queues or renting equipment at the sites. The Abarta team idea is to roll out to more sites in the coming months and develop apps with videos and other exciting things...

Since archaeology jobs are very scarce in Ireland these days, it is great to see the archaeologists still in Ireland come up with ideas to reinvent their talents. He has been working hard on this project for the past few years and I hope they do really really well. It is a fantastic idea and a handy way of taking Ireland's heritage and history in your pocket!

Go on! Check out the Abarta audio guides! you know you want to!

Bronze Age cooking - no Tin Foil in sight

It was my first time at the Wexford Food Festival this year. Despite being so close, I hadn't managed to do it last year. I was particularly curious to see the Bronze Age cooking demonstration: after spending three years digging fulacht fiadh around the country in the many commercial archaeological digs of the Celtic Tiger times I was definitely keen to see - and taste! - how it all worked!


So this year, we managed to head down to the Irish National Heritage Park with a couple of friends and have a bite of Bronze Age cooking! The weather was gorgeous so that was a bonus! and while we managed to miss the first demonstration and had to wait for the second round we were happy to go around and have a look (yet again) at the park. It is a great spot to take visitors, it gives them a chance to get a quick history of Ireland in the space of just over an hour! some parts of the park need a bit of work, and some other parts that we managed to see last year were closed this time around. It makes the visits slightly annoying because you never get to see the whole thing, but I suppose it is worth the wait and once all repair work is done it will be a fantastic attraction.

Anyway, back to the fulacht fiadh or burnt mound, it consists of a trough dug into the ground where hot stones (heated over a fire) were thrown and meat was cooked for what archaeologists suppose were special or big occasions for Bronze Age people (1500-500 BC). Why they didn't save themselves the hassle and cook directly on the fire, we'll never know! The fulacht fiadhs would have been reused though, leaving plenty of burnt stones scattered around the area for archaeologists to dig.

There are tons of fulacht fiadh around Ireland (Wikipedia says 4,500!), they are a pain to dig because of the huge extension of burnt material and stones that can cover a pretty significant surface and depth. But after digging them, it was great to taste a bit of meat cooked in one!

One of the ladies in front of me wasn't too impressed with the bacon being wrapped in hay and chucked into the murky water so asked the fulacht fiadh 'chef' if they (as in Bronze Age people) would have used tin foil! someone must go back to history classes!

Bacon wasn't enough to fill us up so we headed into town to check out the food stalls for some tasty treats!

Here's some info on fulatch fiadhs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulacht_fiadh

and a video from the Irish National Heritage Park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Au52FD-sZYk

What's in the fridge Friday dinners

We tend to do most of our food shopping at the Gorey Farmers Market on Saturday mornings which means by Friday night the fridge is looking pretty bare. Friday dinner tends to be a frugal one, we call it 'what's in the fridge dinner', using up whatever is left from the weekly supplies. It can be a bit dull or boring and sometimes experimental - with very inconsistent results! but sometimes it can really work! 

Last Friday, for example, I decided to cook cannelloni, as I had some pasta left in the cupboard, stuffed with some leftover vegetables. To avoid a bland veggie mix I decided to give it a bit of a kick, the result was spicy cannelloni with a lentil and spicy veg filling and yoghurt on top (no good pics I'm afraid), here's what I used:

It is a very easy option, because it requires no bechamel sauce.

For the filling: 4 tomatoes, 2 carrots, 1 courgette, 1 onion, garlic, ginger, coriander in seeds and fresh, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, cumin seeds, chilli seeds, salt, pepper, brown lentils. 

Peel and chop the vegetables, finely, and add to a pan with a bit of olive oil. Add a cup of brown lentils and the spices. Cook until the lentils are soft. Add a bit of stock or water if the mix gets too dry, the lentils need water to soak when they cook.

Let the mix cool down.

Fill the cannelloni pasta (those ones already in a rolled shape), lay on a deep tray and cover with enough yoghurt so the pasta is not exposed. Cook at 180-200C for about 30 min. Easy peasy!!

Galician basics: Empanada of anything

Mussel empanada!

Empanada is, along with octopus, one of the classic and most traditional Galician foods. Made to share, to take out, to eat in... empanada (similar to patties - or let's call it pies) can be bought in any bakery and filled with almost anything. More often than not the filling will be seafood or fish (salted cod, tuna, cockles, mussles, octopus, conger eel, razor clams, clams...you name it) but also meat, traditionally pork (for example zorza, a kind of minced chorizo meat) but ham and cheese is a popular modern addition to the repertoire.

Normally, empanada is eaten cold but my hometown has a special version, called Market Day Pie, that is made with chunky fish, eaten warm with a paprika oily mix. It is delicious.

When I first moved to Ireland, this was one of the foods I missed the most, and friends visiting will travel with a fresh (or day old) portion of empanada in their cases, just to kill the craving.

I've tried making empanada before but never tasted quite right but recently I got a new pastry recipe from a friend's mum in Viveiro and this time it was a real success, tasted like the real deal.

The pastry can be frozen, hence the huge quantity of flour (unless you are making a huge pie)

Pastry:
-1kg flour
-cup of white wine
-cup of milk
-cup of sunflower oil
-egg
-pinch of salt
-25gr yeast
Mix and let sit and rise for 30min-1hr.

For the filling, I had mussels from the market. I steamed them and then I made a veggie sauce with: 1 onion, 1 red pepper, 5 fresh tomatoes, salt, saffron, spoonful of olive oil.

I rolled the pastry in to parts (one for the bottom and one for the top), put the veggie paste and mussels and then covered. I even made a little M for the top, like the Galician bakers do to indicate the main ingredient of the filling: Mussels!

I baked it for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Didn't it look pretty?

Ensaladilla Time!

16th of May and looks like the Summer is being a bit shy this year. After a half decent day today - literally half: sunny morning and overcast afternoon! - we can only hope good weather is on its way! and one of my favourite and easiest summery meals is ensaladilla.

You might have seen it in your travels to Spain, covered in a thick layer of mayonnaise as tapas or pintxos in bars. Ensaladilla means 'little salad' but it doesn't really  have to be that small.

My mum and dad used to make huge ones (with homemade mayonnaise, yum!) when we had big celebrations at home and had the family over. Usually as a starter, along with Galician empanada. In Spain, they tend to call it ensaladilla rusa (little Russian salad) so I presume its origin is not Spanish at all. The beauty of it is that you can mix and match the ingredients depending on the season.

The basic ingredients are (in my book!):
-potato, egg and carrot (boiled)
-tomato (fresh)
-tuna, if you can get hold of good fresh tuna steak from your fishmonger and boil it, much better than your average tasting tinned tuna. Although there is pretty good quality bluefin tuna in olive oil available in certain specialist stores around Ireland (I recently bought some in The Store Cupboard at Rathwood but Dunnes Stores seems to stock pretty decent tuna jars too).

Other additional ingredients (depending on the season):
-asparagus (perfect for this time of the year, early Summer) - boiled (cut in half, as tips take less time to cook)
-peas (our crop is usually out around July) - no need to boil, if they are fresh they will be delicious!
-runner beans (our crop generally starts in late summer, around August) - topped and tailed; boiled until soft
-a few nice olives to decorate, if you like them

It can't get any easier than ensaladilla: just cook the ingredients that need to be cooked, let cool and then chop in smallish cubes the potato and carrot (not too small otherwise it will go a bit mushy). Cut the tomatoes in wedges and the runner beans in chunks of about 3cm. Slice the egg and jut cut the asparagus in half (they are very delicate). Then assemble in a deep dish.The result will be a combination of layers of different vegetables with sliced boiled egg and most delicate vegetables (like the asparagus tips and a few olives) on top to decorate.

It is a great picnic and packed lunch meal! and don't forget the mayonnaise to taste!

Third-time lucky Falafels

People get hooked on falafel after travelling to the most exotic places: Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey... I can't really point out the exact moment I got addicted to falafels. I have never been to the Middle East so it is quite possible it was in the middle of a bog in County Roscommon circa 2006.

third-time lucky falafels

What is this random Galician from Co. Wexford doing in the middle of a bog eating falafels? you might ask. Well, that is a question I have asked myself many times too. It was one of the first years of the Mantua music (and arts?) festival in Ballagahderreen. Yes, it was in a bog: soggy, wet and miserable (even though it was the middle of the summer). There was no toilets for half the duration of the festival and one of the few food options at the festival was, of course, falafel wraps.

I came home swearing I would never ever go to another festival again (if it's located in prime bog-location and it's raining) and never touch another chickpea. But I was wrong, at least in the second instance anyway. My temporary falafel overdose in boggy Roscommon seemed to have triggered a need for mushy chickpeas every now and then.

Then I was lucky enough to live close to the Gorey Farmers Market with Mohammed's best ever Lebanese style falafel wraps. Mohammed is now gone (to bigger markets) but the Gorey market has recently got a new 'falafel man', this time from Syria. And while I do miss Mohammed's falafels, the new ones are amazingly good as well.

In between Mohammed's departure and the new arrival, we had a few sad falafel-free months, so I tried to feed my addiction by DIYing it: The first time I used tinned chickpeas: too mushy. The second time I used dry chickpeas but without cooking them (I was following a recipe!): way too crunchy. And this week I have tried with dry chickpeas but boiling them for while.

They are the best I have done so far, hence the 'third-time lucky' name. I had tried to make them with a packet mix once but that doesn't count (and they were too mushy too, for your information). So here's the recipe:

Ideally, you would need a food processor to get a paste of the right consistency but I have combined some patient fork-squashing moves and a blender. Time consuming but hey, it is worth it.

With 500 gr of dry chickpeas you will make approximately 40 falafels (too much even for falafel freaks but I was only experimenting, remember). You will need to soak the chickpeas overnight. Note to myself: try doing about half of that amount next time.

I boiled the chickpeas for about 15/20 minutes, although some recipes suggest you can just use the food processor to get a coarse paste without boiling them.

I chopped a big onion, three garlic cloves, a bunch of fresh parsley, a bunch of fresh coriander and mixed with the chickpeas. Then I tried to blend it but I didn't want a very mushy consistency (it is up to you!) so I combined it with the 'highly advanced' fork-smashing technique ;-). Really, I need to buy a food processor for this type of thing.

I added about 3/4 teaspoons of ground cumin, one of chilli flakes (ground would work too), salt and two tablespoons of flour.

I mixed the paste well and rolled it into little falafel balls and put them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil for about 30 minutes (shaking every so often so they go crispy all around).

We ate them with toasted pitta bread, lettuce, tomato, hummus and some yogurt (I grated some garlic into it). And it was a great success!

Next time I must try using a processor, just to get an even consistency.

I'll still keep going to get the 'pro' market falafels but this will do the job when I need to kill that falafel craving...