It’s funny times right now as the world of culinary writers looks on at Brian Kerr, and his colleagues Girvan and Campbell.  Continue reading »

This classic French sauce is characterized by shallots infused in Bordeaux red wine and beef marrow. The early bordelaise sauce were made using white wine, sauterne or grave for the infusion. This sauce is a classic example of sauce thickened with molecules as a roux is used to thicken the veal jus (that itself contains a large amount of gelatin).

Recipe for 1/2 litre of finished sauce:

30g butter.

40g carrots.

40g onions.

few stems of parsley.

2 sprigs of thyme.  Continue reading »

 The soaring price of food was often in the news in 2007, and we are not immune. We have been looking at our accounts, and it is impossible to miss the fact that many of our main ingredients, including milk, cream, and eggs, have risen as much as 30% within the last calender year.
While this is good news for farmers, who have seen generally declining prices up until recently, it is not good news for consumers.  Continue reading »

Following on from the best food quotes of all time the other day and having watched Mr Ramsey on Kitchen Nightmares USA last night I feel that he actually deserves his own post on it’s own so I’ve assembled a selection of his best rants and raves here…..
3.She thought that the price of the meal would be on the house. I told her that the only thing on the house was the roof.  Continue reading »

In grey January it’s comforting and diverting, if not exactly honest, to entertain delusions of grandeur.  When the grandeur includes the promise of sunshine and lively company, so much the better.
Pardon my sarong, then, while I gambol in the soft, aggrandizing light cast by the phrase “European Wine Blogger” (the sort of people who have conferences, you know).  There are links to other Irish wine blogs in the sidebar.  Continue reading »

 There are few things as satisfying in life as seeing the people you love do well. I’m so delighted to pass on the news that one of my best friends from the States, Cynthia Wade, has scooped an Oscar nomination for her documentary film, Freeheld. Based upon Laurel Hester, a dying police lieutenant who wants to leave her pension benefit to her same-sex partner, the film is about love and battling injustice. The film has already won a special jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.  Continue reading »

That may be because you’ve been eating one or more of the top 20 productive foods!
Lifehack.org compiled a list of the most motivating and energizing foods nature has to offer. And here they are:

(more…)
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fchewonthatblog.com%2F2008%2F01%2F23%2Ffeeling-productive%2F’;
addthis_title = ‘Feeling+Productive%3F’;
addthis_pub = ”;.  Continue reading »

                                      
One thing I always love when I’m in Italy is the sauteed greens, I would eat a plate of them on their own with just some crusty bread which I often do when I can’t fit a “secondi”(meat or fish)!!  Continue reading »

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary in England who is rather better at his job than his name might suggest yesterday introduced a fantastic initiative that should rapidly be adopted by other countries before our school doors need to be widened and the seats load tested for the little chubsters!  Continue reading »

The Irish Blog Awards are in full swing.The final night will be in March,but in the meantime discussion aboutthe World of Blogs will be fast and,one hopes, not too furious.
The organisers are looking for judges in some categories.Please to apply…
Dublin, Ireland, Europe.  Continue reading »

This cold sauce is the basic sauce from which most of the other cold sauces derive from. It consists of a cold emulsion of egg yolks, vinegar and oil. Its origin is not very clear. It seems to be four different origins to this recipe. The first one, gives the invention of the mayonnaise to the Duc de Richelieu in 1756. Other sources seem to link this recipe to the town of Bayonne , where it would have been the speciality.  Continue reading »

John Brennan is better positioned than most to conjecture on the main organic meat sectors’ prospects for 2008. Along with being a farmer himself, he is also manager of Leitrim Organic Farmers’ Co-operative. The Co-op has 185 farmer members. It also has a certified organic abattoir in Bawnboy, Cavan, run by Kevin Heeary. The Co-op sells its meat through its own mobile butcher’s unit and to Marks and Spencers.
According to John: “the price of conventional beef has gone up.  Continue reading »

The Dome Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand recently served up what was billed as the most expensive meal ever sold. The six chefs who prepared this expensive meal were flown in from France, Germany and Italy. The ingredients were flown in from all over the world and nothing was spared in making this the most unbelievable banquet everwitnessed!  Continue reading »

I have only cooked polenta a handful of times so I thought I’d give it another whirl. It is relatively simple to make as you just add four times the amount of boiling water to polenta and cook over a high heat until firm, about five minutes. You will need to add a good amount of flavouring like olive oil, butter, salt and pepper and Parmesan as polenta is quite bland. Once the polenta is very thick spoon out onto an oiled tray and leave to set.  Continue reading »

Anyone who watched the World’s Freakiest Foods on Sky Three last night will still be sitting in amazement like me.Of course, the show would have been much better had the voice over not been done like it was a comedy show. But aside from that it was fascinating. The foods ranged from crazy and stomach-wrenching to the just plain weird.Camel’s leg was roasted in a bar in Australia. Not too bad, I’m sure it’s edible.  Continue reading »

As you can gather from my previous post,
Limerick
was miserable at the weekend – even the market, which is usually full of happy people enjoying their Saturday morning, was miserable. Many of the regular stalls were absent (probably due to some variation of SAD syndrome) and it wasn’t fun queuing in the rain so I took refuge in the organic fruit & veg shop by Lazio’s and the Adare Farm Products Shop.  Continue reading »

The sabayon is smooth, light, foamy sauce/dessert, thickened with bubbles, of Italian origin. It comes from the Italian words zabaione or zabaglione which themselves come from a Napolitan word: zapillare which means foaming. It is traditionaly served in a garnished cup or glass, lukewarm. It was for a long time the speciality of the “Greco café” in Rome.
Nowadays, zabaglione sauce is used to coat puddings, various type of pastries or poached and fruits.  Continue reading »

When I went to Holland and Belgium, I saw these DeStrooper Waffles everywhere – in the gift shops, the chocolate shops, street stands – EVERYWHERE.
But did I try one? NO.
I just pranced right by, assuming I knew what they tasted like, assuming I was better than these waffles I had never experienced.
Well boy do I regret that.
I wound up spotting them at a local Sunset Foods and bought them for the sake of reliving my trip to Belgium.  Continue reading »

10.”I will not eat oysters. I want my food dead. Not sick, not wounded, dead.”Woody Allen.
9.”Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffiene, sugar and fat.”Alex Levine
8.”I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat.  Continue reading »

One of my New Year’s Resolutions for the blog is not only to cook more (as Hillary has already put into action), but to take more instructional pictures. I think one of the reasons I watch so much Food Network is because I am a very visual learner. If I see how a recipe is supposed to be made, it’s easier for me to follow the instructions on my own.  Continue reading »