Homemade Chocolate, Coffee & Baileys Cream Truffles

With Valentines Day just around the corner, I thought I'd share a very simple yet delicious recipe, that you can make easily at home with the kids or for that special person in your life! Taking the time and effort to make this yummy Valentine treat is a lovely way to show someone just how much you really care!

Cooking something yummy for the One you Love can bring more happiness than buying it! 

These little home-made Chocolate Truffles are so easy to make. Beautifully balanced with a hint of bitter coffee and sweet Irish Baileys Cream, these rich little delicacies melt in your mouth. They taste divine and the secret ingredient is simply that big dollop of Tender Loving Care!

My Ingredients:

600g 70% Dark Chocolate broken in small pieces

75g   Cocoa Powder

35ml Cold Espresso or strong coffee

35ml Baileys Cream Liqueur

250ml Fresh Cream

Cocoa Powder, grated Coconut, ground Almonds or any nuts, or Cake crumbs etc, for coating.

Method:

1. Melt chocolate together with the cream. You can do this in a bowl sitting over a pot of simmering water. Don't let any water get into your chocolate or it will go into a masse from which there is no return! You can also melt the chocolate, very slowly, in the microwave. Give it 30 seconds and then stir, 30 seconds and then stir... until it is melted. Don't let it burn!

Make sure the bowl sits above the water level

2. Take the chocolate off the heat. Mix together the cocoa powder, cold coffee and Baileys and quickly stir this liquid mixture into the melted chocolate.

3. You have just made what is known as a "Chocolate Ganache" (if you were to let this cool a little, at this stage, it could be used for pouring over a cake as a covering.)

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge until cold. This will take 1 hour or so. You can leave it overnight if you wish as you long as everyone can avoid the temptation to steal little spoonfuls!

Dip the spoon in hot water and dry it, before scooping out the ganache 

5. Give the mix a good stir with a wooden spoon before you start to measure it out with a warm teaspoon. Dip the spoon in hot water and always dry it before scooping out the mix. When you have them all done, roll them with your hands, into little balls and refrigerate again for 1 hour.

Simply and tasty - Chocolate & Baileys Cream Truffles

6. Finally roll your Truffles in the coatings of your choice. This is best done by having your crumbs, cocoa, almonds or whatever all sitting in separate soup bowls so you can literally 'roll' the ball around in the coating.

Simple, yummy, great to make with the kids if you have some and gone before you know it!

Happy Valentines Day
Zack

How to make a St Bridget's Cross

Last night we were sitting in the kitchen making some St Bridgets' Crosses, a wee tradition that my good lady has ensured we continue every 31st January. This is traditionally the last day of Winter and the night before St Bridget's Day (1st February - the first day of Spring).

This is an ancient custom in Ireland and the crosses were hung above the entrances to houses and barns to invoke the help of St Bridget in warding off disease. Rushes were traditionally used to make the St Bridget's Cross. These were collected from wet fields and cut about 18 inches or 450mm long.

Rushes can sometimes be hard to find for townies or people who live in the city but most garden centres can get them for you.

So, Here is how to make a St. Bridget's Cross - Step by step...

Take two rushes and cross them over each other

Bend one straw around the other. For the rest of the making of the cross always apply pressure in the centre to hold everything in place.

Turn the cross 1x turn to the left and fold another rush around the one you just added. Keep pressure in the centre. This is what you do with every other rush you add - it gets easier as you go along!

Turn the cross 1x turn to the left and fold another rush around the one you just added.

Keep pressure in the centre. You can see the centre-square starting to form.

Turn the cross 1x turn to the left and fold another rush around the one you just added.

Keep pressure in the centre. You should be getting the hang of it by now!

Turn the cross by 1 turn to the left and fold another rush around the one you just added. As the cross develops keep pressure on the point where the last added rush folds over - in this picture, this is where the right hand thumb is applying the pressure.

It gets a little bit awkward to hold the cross together as it gets bigger but don't panic! Keep turning (by 1 turn) and adding a rush until you have 5 rushes on each arm of  the cross.

When you get to this stage it is time to tie off the ends. Use wool, string or rubber bands to tie the cross. Tie securely the LAST end that you added.

Then tighten up the cross by gently pushing the rushes to the centre. Get someone else to hold the cross for you to make the job easier.

Tie off each end securely but be careful not to be to tight or you might cut or bruise the rushes. Nearly there!

Trim off the ends of the cross with a pair of sharp scissors leaving about 1 inch or 25mm over the edge.

There you Go!

Now Teach your Kids how to do this and tell them to teach their kids.

It only takes one generation to lose a tradition and that, I believe, applies to everything in life!

Thanks to my lovely wife Nuala for the use of her lovely hands here in the pictures.

For more on St Bridget, her history & myths, see this excellent account:  http://www.allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic_saints/brigid.html

zack

The Purty Kitchen Dun Laoghaire Re-opens Under New Ownership

The Purty Kitchen in Dun Laoghaire has reopened under new ownership by hospitality veterans Mark Heather and James Burgess. 

A vibrant restaurant, bar and live event space housed in Dun Laoghaire’s oldest surviving premises, The Purty Kitchen offers restaurant quality food and drinks in the comfort and conviviality of a pub steeped in 300 years of history. 

The Purty Kitchen, first established in 1728, began life as a thatched roof makeshift edifice constructed of clay, straw and wood, and housed coach travellers overnight providing food, warmth and potent ales and wines. There was a large livery yard to the rear where horses were fed, rested and exchanged. Common to other coaching inns, the innkeepers would have kept many farm animals: pigs, hens, ducks, geese and cattle, which were then slaughtered for consumption at the inn. 

For the first 40 years of its existence, this house was known at different times as the Old Dunleary Inn and The Mariner’s Inn. 

James Burgess and Mark Heather, The Purty Kitchen

Reopened by Mark and James on 1st September 2021, the premises has undergone a full refurbishment. Mark Heather had overseen the renovation of the interior of the property in February 2020 on a consultancy basis, only for it to close due to Covid 3 weeks after it opened. 

The Purty Kitchen has undergone a full refurbishment

In summer 2021, under management contract with their company Hospitality Projects Ireland, Mark and James put plans in place to relaunch The Purty Kitchen as a destination venue that bridges the gap between the Gastro Pub and the Bib Gourmand Restaurant experience. Their vision is to provide excellent food, drink and service but with a warmth and conviviality that can only be achieved in an Irish pub.

Graham Higgins, Head Chef at The Purty Kitchen 

           

Since the 1st of September when Mark and James took over the premises under a long lease, they have been hands-on in realising their vision. With Head Chef Graham Higgins (formerly of Rock Lobster  and Ouzo’s in Dublin) in the kitchen, The Purty Kitchen offers restaurant quality food with a focus on high quality ingredients from local suppliers. Food that is comforting, homely and delicious with great service to match. 

The venue is also becoming well-known for its cocktails, serving house specialities like the Guinness & Raspberry Flip made with Irish whiskey, Guinness, white chocolate and raspberry, along with classics like an Espresso Martini or an Old Fashioned.

Kilmore Quay Seafood Chowder, The Purty Kitchen 

While business has been steady since re-opening, the duo has a number of plans in progress, including a weatherproof outdoor dining space with a louvred roof structure and heating that will accommodate 50 people which will open later this year. 

The Purty Loft will also reopen as a multifaceted event space catering for private functions, live music events, experiential events including food, wine and whiskey tastings and more. James and Mark share one ultimate aim: For The Purty Kitchen to strive towards being one of only a handful of pubs to obtain and retain a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide.

The Purty Kitchen, 4 Old Dunleary Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. 

Opening Hours: 

Food Served: Wednesday to Friday, 5pm–9:30pm; Saturday, 12pm–9:30pm; Sunday, 12pm–8pm.

Bar open: Wednesday to Friday, 5pm–11:30pm; Saturday, 12pm–11:30pm; Sunday, 12pm–11pm.

Keep up to date with the latest news by following The Purty Kitchen on Facebook and Instagram at @thepurtykitchen and on their website at www.purtykitchen.com

How to prepare a 'stress-free' Christmas Dinner

The LYIT 'Chef Academy' will launch this evening (15th December) across all LYIT social media platforms. The 'Chef Academy' will launch with a live stream video from Tim Dewhirst, LYIT Culinary Arts Lecturer and also, Nicola Dunnion, Head of Department of Tourism & Sport on the link below. 

The LYIT 'Chef Academy' aims to spotlight careers and opportunities available in the Culinary Arts industry. Over the coming months, LYIT's 'Chef Academy' will showcase cooking demonstrations in the state-of-the-art Killybegs facilities. 

Also, the LYIT's on-campus restaurant, in Killybegs, will offer fine dining menus at reduced rates and a targeted educational promotional campaign will begin in post-primary schools across Donegal. 

Additionally, as part of the programme, students enrolled at the Killybegs campus will have the opportunity to enter cookery competitions in 2022. 

The main purpose of the ‘Chef Academy’ is to spotlight a career in Culinary Arts. This evening at 7pm, Tim Dewhirst, LYIT Lecturer in Culinary Arts, will be live from LYIT's professional kitchen and will provide a cooking demonstration on 'How to prepare a ‘stress-free’ Christmas Dinner'. 

This is one of many videos to come from LYIT’s ‘Chef Academy’. We hope you enjoy this helpful guide from the very experienced and talented chef, Tim Dewhirst. 

Tonight's live stream will showcase "How to prepare a 'stress-free' Christmas Dinner". 

Chef Tim will show you how to prepare all aspects of the Christmas Dinner, in a stress-free way!

And you can watch it LIVE TONIGHT at 7pm on YouTube at this link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWVkKPCPBkU 

Enjoy!

Hasselback Potatoes with Pestle + Mortar Green Pesto & Bacon

Pestle + Mortar Sauces, part of Galmere Fresh Foods based in Galway who have been in business for over thirty years, have brought out a range of Pestos using 100% Irish grown Basil. They sent me a couple of samples and I must say, they really are delicious!

Planted in May 2021 and harvested by hand, their Pestos are bursting with this Bord Bia Origin Green approved fresh basil flavour. Their basil requires no pesticides and is extremely fresh due to on-site cultivation, providing us a minimal carbon footprint and year-round access to Irish basil. Pestle + Mortar Award Winning Green Pesto is made fresh in Galway, with hand-picked Irish grown basil and sweetened with mature Irish cheddar and Grana Padano cheeses.

The company have recently paired up food stylist Jennifer Oppermann, to create a selection of simple but tasty recipes that highlight how tasty this time-honoured simple sauce can be! I'm going to share with you their recipe for Hasselback Potatoes with Green Pesto. Quick and easy to make, this tasty traditional Swedish side dish is crispy on the outside and tender soft on the inside. They are are similar to potato crisps but the slices are still all attached to the base of the potato. 

Hasselback Potatoes with Green Pesto & Bacon

Ingredients:

• 12 Small to Medium Potatoes, Maris Pipers Work Well
• 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
• ½ tsp. Paprika
• 80g Bacon Lardons Finely Sliced
• ½ Tub Pestle + Mortar Green Pesto
• Salt & Pepper to Taste
• Basil, Parsley or Thyme to Garnish

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°. Cut a thin lengthwise slice off the bottom of each potato, so that it stays flat on your chopping board – this makes it easier to slice the potatoes.
2. Lay two wooden spoons, or chopsticks, on either side of the potato, lengthwise, so that as you’re slicing, you don’t slice all the way through, it should look like a concertina. Repeat this process with the potatoes until they are all sliced.
3. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and drizzle them in olive oil, paprika and sea salt. Put the tray in the centre of the oven and cook for 50 to 60 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown. Baste them with the oil halfway through cooking. Check them with a knife to see if they are fully cooked.
4. Heat a pan and add the lardons, cook evenly until golden, pat them with kitchen towel to remove any excess grease and set aside.
5. Remove the roast potatoes from the oven and arrange them in a serving dish. Sprinkle the lardons over the top and drizzle the pesto over the potatoes. Garnish with fresh herbs if you wish and serve immediately.

The Pestle + Mortar range is available in the refrigerated section of selected Tesco Ireland stores, Spar Shops and in Joyce's of Galway. 

You can check out more of their recipes at https://pandmsauces.com/recipes/

Zack

New Eco-Friendly Heinz Beans packaging design by four Irish Artists will remove 30 tonnes of plastic from Irish supermarkets

Heinz, in Ireland, has partnered with four well-known Irish artists from each province on some beautiful limited-edition designs of their new eco-friendly packaging, which will remove 30 tonnes of plastic from Irish supermarkets. 

The exclusive designs are available on Heinz Beanz multipacks from heinztohome.ie now and all proceeds will go to their charity partner Barnardos!

The four artists: Fatti Burke; Linda Fahrlin; Jacky Sheridan, and Fuchsia Macaree each represent an Irish province – Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster respectively.

With magical beanstalks, cute smiling beans, a homage to the country’s much-loved ‘Cowboy Supper’, and beautiful illustrations of Ireland’s landscape, the limited-edition designs are sure to be a hit with loverz of Heinz Beanz.

The beautiful limited-edition designs celebrate Heinz’s move to replace the traditional plastic shrink wrap packaging with the new Eco-Friendly Sleeve Multipack across all its Beanz, Soups and Pasta multipacks in Tesco.

Each of the four designs also reveal quirky stats about baked bean consumption in that province. For example, did you know that over 50,000 people from Leinster have put baked beans in a smoothie?!

100% of proceeds from each €4 multipack will go towards Heinz Ireland’s official charity partner, Barnardos Ireland, helping them to transform the lives of vulnerable children who are affected by adverse childhood experiences.

Elaine McCague, Senior Commercial & Marketing Manager, Heinz Ireland said: 

“Our new Eco-Friendly Sleeve uses no glue, the paperboard is fully recyclable and comes from sustainably managed forests. Best of all, rolling it out will result in the removal of 30 tonnes of plastic from Ireland’s supermarket shelves every year. It comes as part of Heinz’s global pledge to aim to make 100% of our packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

“The artists were given free reign and creative freedom to bring the iconic Heinz Beanz colours and iconography to life in a way that remained true to them, and the results are absolutely outstanding. It confirms what we already know; there is a huge wealth of talent in Ireland, and we’re so proud to be showcasing that on our new Eco-Friendly Sleeve."

Mary Gamble, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Retail at Barnardos Ireland said:

“Barnardos is delighted to see this exciting and creative campaign launch across Ireland, with all proceeds from the Heinz new eco-friendly multipack sleeve directly supporting our services. Barnardos sees the extreme challenges facing vulnerable children and families all the time, and even more so at Christmastime. We encourage everyone to pop onto Heinztohome.ie to purchase the new Heinz eco-friendly multi pack so that you can help us to continue to be there for those in need over the weeks and months to come.”

The limited-edition multipacks are on sale via www.heinztohome.ie now, with the standard Eco-Friendly Sleeves being rolled out across all Heinz multipacks in stores during November.

Irish Food Writing Award Winners 2021

 The inaugural Irish Food Writing Awards were held this evening (Wednesday 10th November) in Fallon and Byrne in Dublin city centre, with a later reception hosted by the Merrion Hotel in their Cellar Bar. 

Over 200 entries across 16 categories were received from Irish food and drink journalists, writers, bloggers and photographers from throughout the island of Ireland. Nine of twenty seven international judges (which included Rene Redzepi from Noma in Copenhagen, food broadcaster Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles) attended the awards event, travelling to Ireland with the support of Tourism Ireland.

Irish Food Writing Awards founder, journalist Suzanne Campbell, said “this is the inaugural awards for journalists and food writers in Ireland to award and push for high standards in food writing and food media. We were overwhelmed with the amount of entries, the quality of the international writers who wanted to be involved as judges and our sponsor companies without which the awards wouldn’t have happened. Myself and a colleague Paul O’Connor set this up just this year; it’s a non-profit enterprise, and seeing the joy on peoples’ faces tonight at the awards was worth all the planning and changes we had to make because of the pandemic. It has been a tough eighteen months for the food sector and for journalists so this is a lovely way to acknowledge the hard work of writers and food media”

 

Irish Food Writing Award Winners

 

Food Podcast Award winner – Spice Bags Podcast from Dee Laffan, Mei Chin and Blanca Valencia

This award is sponsored by Safco Fine Foods and judged by BBC radio broadcaster on food and drinks Nigel Barden.

 

Writing on Sustainability in Irish Food Award – winner: Michelle Darmody for work in The Examiner

This award is sponsored by the National Dairy Council. The work submitted for this really important award was judged by Rene Redzepi, chef and founder of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen and Sustainability food and travel writer Catherine Mack

 

Restaurant Writing Award – winner: Joe McNamee for work in The Examiner

This award is sponsored by Fallon and Byrne. Judged by Tom Parker Bowles and Xanthe Clay.

 

Food Photography Award

This award was sponsored by Hussey Veg and this award has two categories both of which were judged by Conde Nast photographer Joann Pai.

Professional category winner – Al Higgins

Amateur category winner – Rosie Morgan

 

Online Writing Award winner – Caroline Hennessy for www.Bibliocook.com

This award is kindly sponsored by Pestle + Mortar. UK food broadcaster Andy Clarke judged these entries and was looking at not just blogs but also twitter, instagram and how the writers used social media platforms

 

Writing on Irish Food Producers Award winner: Katy McGuinness for work in the Irish Independent

This award is sponsored by Aldi Ireland who work with small Irish food producers through their Grow with Aldi programme. The judges on this category were Mark Hix and German based food writer Christie Dietz

 

Investigative Writing on Food Award winner: Niall Sargeant for work published in Noteworthy.ie

This award is sponsored by Drummond House Garlic. These entries were judged by UK food journalist Joanna Blythman

 

Emerging Voice in Irish Food Writing Award winner: Maeve L’Estrange for work published in the Dublin Inquirer

This is a really important category as it is to reward newer voices in Irish writing on food and drink. We teamed up with the members of the Irish Food Writers Guild on this award who judged it

 

Cookery Writing Award winner: Lilly Higgins for work in the Irish Times

Sponsored by Ardkeen Grocer - The judges of this award were Trish Deseine and French Elle Magazine writer Esterelle Payany 

 

Wine Writing Award winner: Aoife Carrigy – The Irish Independent

Sponsored by Whelehans Wines and judged by Fiona Beckett and Marie-Dominique Bradford of Trois Fois Vins in Paris

 

Spirits Writing Award winner: Oisin Davis for work published in Food and Wine Magazine

This award was sponsored by Powerscourt Distillery and judged by food and drink writers Colman Andrews from New York and Rachel McCormack from Scotland

 

Beer Writing Award winner: Breandan Kearney for work published on Good Beer Hunting

The aim of this award is to encourage and popularise more writing on beer in Ireland. It is sponsored by Bru Brewery and was judged by drinks writers Robb Walsh and Richard Croasdale from UK beer magazine “Ferment”.

 

Food Writing Award winner – Corinna Hardgrave

This award is sponsored by Bord Bia and was judged by American food author Adrian Miller and British author and food writer Sophie Grigson

 

Writing on International Cuisines in Ireland winner Mei Chin for work in The Irish Times and The Times (UK) newspapers

Sponsored by the Irish Curry Awards and judged by British food writer Anjula Devi

 

Magazine or Food Supplement Award winner: Food and Wine Magazine

This award is sponsored by Invest NI was judged by UK food writers Charlotte Pike and Claire Finney

 

Outstanding Achievement in food and drink writing award.

This award was presented posthumously to wine writer and broadcaster Tomás Clancy. It was accepted by his wife Claire Kearney and sons Tomas and Liam Clancy

Sponsored by James Whelan Butchers

 

Cookbook of The Year Award winner: “FX Buckley the Dublin Steakhouse” by Katy McGuinness and Stephen Buckley

Sponsored by Gather &Gather and judged by Jay Rayner and Dr Annie Gray of BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet

 

The awards, established by Suzanne Campbell with Paul O’Connor, are kindly sponsored by The National Dairy Council, James Whelan Butchers, Aldi Ireland, Whelehans Wines, Pestle + Mortar Sauces, Bord Bia, Brú Brewery, Drummond House Farm, Safco Fine Foods, Invest Northern Ireland, Powerscourt Distillery, Gather & Gather, Hussey’s Fruit and Vegetables, The Irish Curry Awards, Ardkeen Quality Food Store and Fallon & Byrne. Also kindly supported by Tourism Ireland and hotel partner The Merrion Hotel. 

The Irish Food Writing Awards were established to recognise and celebrate the high quality of food and drink writing from throughout the island of Ireland, across print, broadcast and online.

I was a Finalist, no win tonight! But it was great to meet up with good food people again!