Picking Blackberries & my Blackberry Madeira Pie Recipe

Everybody loves Blackberries. There are quite a few runs of pretty good wild Blackberry hedges around where I live. As the roads are quiet enough too, they don't get infused with exhaust fumes so much. But this year, while nosing around a few old back roads I hit the jackpot and found a good quarter-mile of the biggest,  juiciest, most bountiful blackberry bushes I've ever seen!

I parked up the car and pulled out the wee bowl my daughter and I had taken with us just in case we found some of these luscious fruits of the forest. It turned out that I needed to use the basin I had in the boot of the car since the last cooking demo I had done! There were blackberries as far as my eyes could see - I was like a wee boy again - smiling to myself as we picked the berries, eating almost as many as we picked! They were so perfectly ripe they almost fell off their husks into our hands. 

I was reminded of when my brother and I used to stay with our aunt, Nora Boyle, a few miles out of Donegal town, for two weeks during the summer months, so that Mum could have another room for the Bed & Breakfast guests. Nora is a great baker and instilled in me a lot of the older Irish recipes that I still love to make. She grew fruit and vegetables at home, baked every day, dried Dillisk on bedsheets in the garden and used to send us out picking blackberries so that she could make her Apple & Blackberry Jam to put on to the yummiest homemade Treacle & Ginger Bread ever.

We'd spend half the day away up fields and back-roads, with our cousins, picking and eating the juicy wild berries until we were sore!

I'm a great believer in 'smell' and how it can trigger memories and transport you to a particular point in your life with the deadliest of accuracy. Well, for me, the smell of blackberries means 10 years old, on holidays, "in the country".

The smell of fresh ripe blackberries is something so heavenly and unique as to enchant even the most distinguished wine connoisseur's scent glands. When it's said that there are "notes of Blackberry" in that Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 or whatever, well they probably haven't had the chance to stick their sniffer into a hand-picked bucket of the real juicy blackberries, just off the 'vine'!

Anyway, so Lily and I picked just under 3KG of these large, shiny, blackish-purple berries in about 40 minutes! On the way home I was wondering what to make first, a Crumble, a Tart, just Jam, some Chutney... but I decided to make a blackberry variation on the classic Irish Apple Cake of pastry bottom, apples and sugar, sponge topping.

Blackberry Madeira Pie

A 10" Pie Tin
Preheat your oven to 170°C


My Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry
200g Plain Flour
100g Butter
75g Caster Sugar
1 medium egg
a little Cold Water

Madeira Sponge Mix
100g Butter
100g Caster sugar
2 medium eggs
125g Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
a little milk

Filling:
500g Blackberries
4 tablespoons caster sugar

Glaze:
2 tbls. Honey
2 tbls. Orange Juice

(or Marmalade Jam)

My Method:

1. Wash the blackberries gently, with cold water, in a sieve and let them drain while you make the rest of the pie.
2. For the pastry rub the butter into the flour until it's like breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix in. Break in the egg and pull the pastry together using a little cold water if needed. Refrigerate.
3. For the Madeira, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add one egg with a tablespoon of flour and beat well until smooth. Add the 2nd egg with a little flour and beat well until smooth. The little bit of flour helps to stop the mix from curdling as you mix in the egg.
4. Add all the flour and mix in well. Add the vanilla essence and mix in. Add a little bit of milk to bring the Madeira mix to a dropping consistency.
5. Grease the pie tin with a little butter and dust with flour. Roll out the pastry and line the tin. Press it in gently and trim off the extra bit.
6. Fill the lined tin with the blackberries and dust with the caster sugar.
7. Spoon the Madeira mix over the top and using the back of a spoon dipped in cold water gently smooth out the mix to fill all the gaps.
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for approx. 40 minutes or until the sponge is firm to the touch and golden brown.
9. Heat the honey and orange juice together, for 20 seconds, in a cup in the microwave and brush this glaze (or some marmalade jam) over the warm pie.

10. Stand back and see how long you can wait before you start eating it!

Enjoy.

My post on Making Hedgerow Blackberry & Apple Jam is Here and my Blackberry Ice Cream is Here!

Zack

Could you be the Ulster Fry World Champion 2023?

The first ever Ulster Fry World Championships will be held on Saturday 19th August at the Donaghadee Summer Festival!

Entries will be accepted from all nine counties in Ulster, as well as an additional entry from Belfast, and are welcome from chefs in cafes, restaurants, hotels, and B&Bs across the province of Ulster!

Your entry must only consist of bacon, potato bread, egg, soda bread, and sausage.

Entries will be judged by our expert panel, and finalists invited to cook their Ulster Fry live in front of an audience.. The winner will receive their trophy to proudly display in their establishment, and boast to those far and wide that you are the Ulster Fry World Champion!

To make things fair, we have decided that only five ingredients will be included in the fry (no fancy avocados or French toast here!). Your entry must only consist of sausage, bacon, egg, soda bread, and potato bread. 

If successful, during the final in Donaghadee your fry will be judged on three elements: taste, appearance, and use of local produce. This also provides the perfect opportunity to help support and promote your favourite local producers!

For an entry form, please contact Alana at alana@nigoodfood.com. 

Entries close Friday 28th July.  Good Luck!

Old Fashioned Black Forest Gateau Recipe

When I was about 12 years old, I started working weekends and summer in a bakery here in Donegal Town that was called the Oven Door. It was a great learning place for a young fella who liked to cook and bake, and under the tough but fair tutelage of master baker Patsy Margey, I eventually decided to become a chef!

Every Saturday morning in the bakery, one of my jobs was to make 24 Black Forest Gateaux (along with 24 square chocolate cakes, 24 round chocolate cakes, 24 square coffee cakes and 24 round coffee cakes!) The Black Forest was a great seller in the Oven Door cake shop and Patsy's version also had a biscuit layer, like a cheese cake base, on the bottom!

I thought about this stage of my life one day last week and as I hadn't seen a Black Forest Gateau for years, I suddenly decided to make one! The classic Black Forest was flavoured with Kirsch, which is a clear brandy traditionally made from double distillation of black Morello cherries.

You can use any Cherry Brandy or a non-alcoholic Cherry flavoured drink if you wish. I didn't make a biscuit base for this one. Maybe next time. You can make the chocolate cake the day before if you wish and keep it covered with a cloth until ready to assemble.

It is quite easy, so, here's the recipe and method for a Black Forest Gateaux:

The Cake:
6oz/150g Butter
6oz/150g Caster Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Extract
8oz/200g Plain Flour
3oz/75g Drinking Chocolate
4 Large Eggs
2 level tsp Baking Powder
A papered and greased 10"/25cm Cake Tin

The Filling:
50 ml Kirsch, Cherry Brandy, or Cherry Cordial
1x 425g tin of pitted Black Cherries
3 tablespoons Cornflour mixed in a little water

The Cream:
500ml Whipping Cream
50g Caster Sugar
Dash of Vanilla Extract

The Sides:
200g Grated Chocolate of your choice

Method:
1. Cream the Butter, Sugar and Vanilla essence together, until light and fluffy.
2. Slowly add the eggs to mixture while still beating (add a little flour with each egg if it looks like it is starting to curdle).  Mix together the rest of the flour with the drinking chocolate and baking powder and gently add this to the cake mixture.
3. Pour into the cake tin and Bake at 175*C Fan Oven for 35 minutes. Test the centre with a skewer.
4. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely. Turn it out for preparation.

The Black Forest Gateaux:

1. Take 12 cherries out of the tin and leave aside for decoration.

2. Empty the rest of the tin of black cherries into a small pot. Add a dash of your Kirsch/Cherry Brandy and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Mix the cornflour into the water and add half of this to the hot cherry mix. This will thicken up the juice. Add a little more if you need, to get it to the consistence of a hot Jam mixture. Take it off the heat, pour into a cold bowl and leave in the fridge to cool down completely.

3. Whip 500ml cream together with 50g caster sugar and a dash of Vanilla Extract, until quite stiff.

4. Cut the cake into 3 even layers. Divide the remaining Kirsch/Cherry Brandy over the three layers of cake by sprinkling it equally over each. Then spread some Cream onto each cake layer.

5. Spoon half of the cooled Black Cherry mix onto the first layer of cake. Spread it evenly and place a second layer of cake on top of the first. Repeat with a spread of whipped cream and the other half of the black cherry mix. Top off with the third layer of chocolate cake.

6. Cover the complete cake with whipped cream (keeping some back for decorating the top) and use a scraper or spatula to smooth it off around the sides and the top.

7. Gently cover the sides of the cake with the grated chocolate. Work this quickly so that it doesn't start to melt and stick to your fingers. Tidy up your service plate around the edges of the cake.

8. Pipe or spoon 12 rosettes of cream around the edge of the gateau to portion it and pop the extra black cherries on top of each. Sprinkle some more grated chocolate into the centre of the cake to finish.

Now, see how long it will last!! Enjoy your Black Forest Gateau!

Zack.

Burren GEOfood On The Menu This May

Local food producers the length and breadth of The Burren in County Clare are being showcased in a series of GEOfood events taking place during May. The GEOfood initiative was led by Magma UNESCO Global Geopark in Norway since 2013 and has grown to include partners in UNESCO Global Geoparks throughout the world, including Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark. 

GEOfood is a global brand that promotes food sourced and produced in UNESCO Global Geoparks. Twelve local producers have become members of the initiative since it was launched at the Slow Food Festival by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark in 2022.

 

The events get underway on Saturday 20^th May when GEOfood member Cathleen Connole of Burren Fine Wine & Food hosts afternoon tea and a buffet of GEOfoods at her historic coach house, nestled in the hills of the Burren near Ballyvaughan. Members of the public are invited to sample a menu containing local cheeses, meats, chutneys, and preserves served with freshly made breads. The event forms part of Burren Ecotourism Network (BEN) Wellness Month, which features a variety of activities aimed at improving physical and mental health while providing an opportunity to experience the stunning Burren landscape.

 

On Sunday 21^st May, the Pavilion Community Hall in Lisdoonvarna will host a display of local GEOfood produce, while Carol Gleeson from the Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark will expand on the plans for GEOfood and seafood producer Conor Graham from Flaggy Shore Oysters will talk about his oysters. The showcase is part of the Slow Food Festival, Ireland’s longest running food festival, which is organised by Slow Food Clare, the Burren Ecotourism Network and the Burren and the Geopark.

 

 

GEOfood will be promoted on national television on Wednesday 24^th May when RTÉ One’s Today Show broadcasts live from the newly upgraded Vandeleur Walled Garden in Kilrush. Among the businesses that will be displaying their produce for the television cameras on the day are Burren Premium Beef, Linnalla Ice Cream and Flaggy Shore Oysters, while celebrity chef Kevin Dundon will be cooking up a GEOfood dish back in studio.

 

Meanwhile, the local media spotlight will shine on the Geoparks’ GEOfood this Sunday 14^th May at 6.00pm when Clare FM’s documentary series Atlantic Tales with Pat Flynn features Geopark manager Carol Gleeson, Cathleen Connole, Donnacha Fahy of Celtic Salads and Siobhan Garvey of St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese.

 

“The main aim of the GEOfood programme is to provide a brand that emphasises the locality, freshness, seasonality and traditions of our local food and how the landscape and climate influences what we grow and produce. GEOfood also increases opportunities for local people and visitors to savour and appreciate quality local food” commented Geopark manager Carol Gleeson. “We are delighted to see a growing number of producers across the Burren getting involved with the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark GEOfood programme.”

GEOfood members include St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese (Inagh), Burren Fine Wine and Food Beetroot Chutney (Ballyvaughan), Flaggy Shore Oysters (New Quay), Burren Smokehouse Smoked Oysters (Lisdoonvarna), Burren Premium Beef (Boston), Burren Free Range Pork (Kilfenora), Linnalla Ice Cream (New Quay), and Wild Kitchen Elderflower Champagne & Haw Ketchup (Lahinch). Four new members have signed up to GEOfood in recent weeks, namely Burren Blossom Honey (Ballyvaughan), Celtic Salads (New Quay), Clare Jam Company (Doolin) and Savage Craic Fermented Foods (Corkscrew Hill).

“In the next year, we are looking to grow the GEOfood concept further to include restaurants and other food outlets and encourage them to use more locally sourced foods,” added Ms. Gleeson. “We hope to enthuse chefs, local people and visitors about the quality of food grown in the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark. Through GEOfood, we look forward to further strengthening local livelihoods and further enhancing the growing national and international reputation garnered by the Burren for its quality food produce.”

 

Visit www.burrengeopark.ie for more.

Zack

Chef Eunice Power to cook at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival

 If you are looking a unique dining experience, the upcoming Blackwater Valley Opera Festival in Waterford and Cork has some beautiful fine dining options at the festival and the concerts. 

Chef Eunice Power returns to the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival this year, with fantastic pre-opera dinner menus for 2023 – The Macbeth Menu and The Macbeth Menu (Vegan), served in luxurious, stretch tents within the beautiful grounds of Lismore Castle.

People are also welcome to bring their own picnic before the concert, and book a spot in one of the outhouses at Dromore Yard with seats and chairs, so they can picnic in comfort. Limited seating so they will need to book in advance. 

Chef Eunice Power is one of Ireland's top catering specialists 

A selection of fine wines and champagne will be available from the bar. Any pre-paid orders made online will be served to them  – ready for their arrival and chilled as appropriate.

Dates and Prices: 

The Macbeth Menu by Eunice Power - 31 May, 2, 3, 4 June - Tickets €55- €75 Lismore Castle, Waterford.

Gourmet Table Picnics by Eamo & Ró - 31 May, 2, 3, 4 June - Tickets €55 Lismore Castle, Waterford.

Gourmet Table Picnics by Eamo & Ró - 1, 4, 5 June - Tickets €55 Dromore Yard, Aglish, Co. Waterford.

For more details and booking options see https://blackwatervalleyopera.ie/book-formal-dining/ 

Hot Cross Buns for Easter!

One a Penny, Two a Penny, Hot Cross Buns!

Hot cross buns are traditionally baked to be eaten during Lent, the 40 days before Easter. The bun acquired mythical properties over the centuries and early literature reveals that the hot cross bun was also known as the Good Friday Bun.

The most famous story says that the origins of the Hot Cross Bun date to the 12th century when an English monk was said to have placed the sign of the cross on the buns to honor Good Friday. Throughout history the bun has received credit for special virtues, among them that of ensuring friendship between two people sharing a bun. An old rhyme states, "Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be."

Another tradition holds that a hot cross bun should be kept hanging from the kitchen ceiling from one year to another to ward off evil spirits. Healing properties were also attributed to it. Gratings from a preserved bun were mixed with water to provide a cure for the common cold.

There are loads of delicious ways to eat this legendary treat: you can slice them, toast them and butter them! I love them toasted with real butter and strawberry jam! This recipe is an old family one and it makes about 10 buns - but we always double it up!

Hot Cross Buns


My Ingredients:
450g bread (strong) flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp mixed spice
75g butter
7g fast action dried yeast (generally 1 sachet)
50g caster sugar
1 egg
275ml warm milk (40 seconds in microwave will do)
200g dried raisins or currants (I don't like the traditional dried mixed fruit - but if you do, use that instead)
grated rind of an orange

My Method:

1. Put the flour, salt and mixed spice in a bowl and give them a quick whisk to mix. Rub in the butter to the flour mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the yeast, sugar, beaten egg and milk and stir together into a soft dough.

2. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you are using a mixer to make these buns give it five minutes on low with the dough hook. Add in the dried fruit and the grated orange rind and knead for another minute.

3. Roll out the mix slightly and cut the dough into 10 pieces. Roll these into balls on the table using the flat of your hand and place on a baking sheet or tray. Leave their own width again between each bun so they will have room to rise.

4. To make the cross mix 1 Cup flour with about 3 tbls cold water to make a basic soft dough. Roll it out really thin and cut into little strips. Dampen with a little water and stick to the top of each bun. Take a length of plastic wrap and brush with a little cooking oil. Place this loosely on top of the buns (oiled side down) and leave in the kitchen to double in size - about 20 minutes depending on the weather and the warmth of the room. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 390ºF (360ºF if a fan oven) for 20 minutes.

Hot Cross Buns were traditionally brushed with a sugar & water glaze when they're still hot, but I prefer to brush them with local honey from the Saturday country market in Leghowney, near Donegal Town!

And Here's my recipe for Hot Cross Buns with American Cup measurements
http://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/Irish-hot-cross-buns-recipe-for-Easter.html

Enjoy!

Zack

Video & Music by http://www.youtube.com/user/annshelaann

Make your own Home-made Haggis for Burns' Night!

In 1801, some five years after the famous Scottish poet Robert (Robbie) Burns' death, nine of his friends sat down to dinner, to celebrate his extraordinary life and to gave thanks for his friendship. Little did they know that this remembrance would resonate down through the centuries and span all across the world. Over the years, the informal theme from that evening has developed into the ritual known internationally known as Burns Night.

Presenting and Toasting the Haggis have become part of the ritual of a Burns Night event!

Here in County Donegal, with the historic association of many Donegal people with Scotland and Scottish traditions, we have long been enjoying the lightly spiced and peppery flavours of this famous dish. Haggis is traditionally eaten on Burns Night which falls on the 25th January which is the birthday of the Scottish poet. Many venues in all nine counties of Ulster, celebrate Burns Night on the weekend closest to the 25th.

Robert Burns - Celebrating the poets birthday has made the Haggis world famous!

The Haggis, which tastes a little like our Irish black and white puddings mixed together, is a very old traditional dish that combines meats, spices and oatmeal.  A traditional Scottish recipe for haggis would involve the boiled and minced liver, lungs and heart of a sheep mixed with chopped onions, toasted oatmeal, salt, pepper, and spices.

The mixture would then be stuffed into the cleaned sheep’s stomach, sewn up and then boiled gently for several hours! The dish is usually served with neeps (mashed buttered turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes), a whiskey sauce, a few readings of some poetry, along with copious amounts of whiskey to toast the Haggis!

A Traditional Haggis with Neeps (Turnips) and Tatties (Potatoes) & a Wee Dram of Whiskey!

Creating a Burns Night event at your home or restaurant is a splendid reason to go out to eat and drink with friends in January! Although the traditional date is the 25th January, most restaurants and hotels celebrate a Burns Night event on the Friday or Saturday closest to that date.

That's me assisting with "Presenting the Haggis" a Burn's Supper event
hosted by members of the local Ulster-Scots community. 

Here is my version of an old Haggis Recipe, where instead of a sheep’s stomach you cook the Haggis in a casserole dish.

My Ingredients:
500g minced lamb
500g minced beef
125g suet (beef or vegetable)
500g beef liver
100g of porridge oats
300ml of  meat stock (strain this from your boiled beef and lamb - see method)
250g finely chopped onions
½ tsp grated nutmeg
¼ tsp ground mace
½ tsp of cayenne pepper
¼ tsp ground coriander
butter for greasing
a few twists of sea salt
a few twists of ground black pepper

My Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Cover the roughly-cut liver with cold water, bring to a boil and cook for five minutes. Strain and dump away this liquid and then chop the cooked liver with the onion, in a blender or on a board.
3. Cover the lamb & beef mince with water and bring to the boil in a large pot. Cook out for approximately 30 minutes. Keep 300ml stock from this cooked meat and pour away the rest.
4. Give the porridge oats a rough chop and toast them on a hot pan, shaking occasionally to make sure they don't burn.
5. Now mix all the ingredients together with the meat stock and transfer this mix to a well buttered casserole dish. Cover and seal with a layer of tin-foil.
6. Cook in the oven at 160°C for about 2 hours.
7. Meanwhile cook and mash some Turnips with real butter, white pepper and a drizzle of honey. Cook and mash some potatoes with real butter and white pepper.

Invite your friends around and make your own home-made Haggis for a Burns' Night Supper!

For the Whiskey sauce:
500ml cream
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 shot of whiskey
sea salt
ground white pepper
3 tbls chopped scallions

To make the whiskey sauce, heat the cream in a pan over a medium heat. Add the wholegrain mustard, Dijon mustard, scallions and whiskey and stir with a small whisk. Increase the heat until the mixture is simmering and cook for 1-2 minutes until it reduces and thickens up a little. Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and ground white pepper.

To serve:
Spoon out the Haggis, accompanied with mashed turnips and potatoes and drizzle with the whiskey sauce. I like to stack the Haggis, using a serving ring (see pic above) for presentation and then drizzle the sauce around it!

Why not make your own Haggis this year and have a Burns Supper of your own with the family! Or even better, have one in your local restaurant! 

Enjoy!
Zack