Sorry this is late again people, have had a mad busy time recently. Here’s this weeks round up of Bookmarked Recipes and this week we have some more great recipes from some more great bloggers who have bookmarked them from some really great places!!!  Continue reading »

While I was away in France, this year’s Mallow Food Festival was launched. Last year’s Festival was very successful – I’ve been hearing about it from my customers all year! – and this year it will be taking place on Sunday 31 August. The organisers, who are William Healy (URRU), Claire Ryan (Essink restaurant) and Ian Lucey (Lucey’s Butchers), are aiming to make the event even bigger and better, showcasing at least sixty of the leading food producers in the area.  Continue reading »

This is the easiest brownie recipe ever, though maybe not the recipe with the least amount of washing up. The recipe originally started off as a Delia Smith recipe, but I added a few bits just to up the flavour. I’m good  like that.
This recipe is very straightforward as it doesn’t require any whisked egg whites or the like, literally just mix the stuff in the order below and throw it in the oven.  Continue reading »

Blogs are about many things. One thing they could and perhaps should be about is “the conversation”. A big part of this is comments – allowing visitors to comment on what you have written on your site.
Unfortunately, due to comment spam, comments on WordPress come with a rel=”nofollow” by default. Heh?
What does nofollow mean?
Essentially what it means is that while visitors can follow links by clicking them, Google and other search engines do not.  Continue reading »

If you have enjoyed this Celebrity Masterchef series with John the Toad and Greg Whale-ass as much as I have, you will have waited with baited breath for the final. The three final contestants were really put through their paces this time, having had to cope with increasingly stressful situations with little experience. I was really impressed with Liz Mclarnon from the start and really warmed to her down to earth personality and genuine passion.  Continue reading »

First we had healthy food products, now we have healthy ingredients! Serious Eats posted this list of 11 Healthy Foods a few weeks ago and for the sake of eating healthy, we thought we’d pass it along.
Sadly, I only consume 5/11 of these foods…and not on that regular of a basis. I’m all for the pomegranate juice (you might remember I have an obsession with POM tea).  Continue reading »

Well, so far so good! Our total bill for food today was a modest €6.01, we ate very well indeed and there are leftovers.
Breakfast was boiled egg with sunflower bread toast – one slice for him, a half slice for me, but they are large and filling slices.
Lunch was a salad, made with one third…  Continue reading »

What does the future hold for that most extravagant of foods, organic food? Even when the Celtic Tiger was in full vigour, prowling around the place with a strut, we were told that organic food was too expensive. Now, every news report about the price of things is talking about the fact that people are cutting back.
A recent RTE news report on the topic interviewed a woman who ran a nail bar. She said that people were now only going for the essentials – like waxing.  Continue reading »

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Morning Ireland hype the recession – again – with a focus on the restaurant industry.
Restaurants bitten by credit crunch
Eleanor Burnhill reports that the rapid pace of opening restaurants has slowed.  Continue reading »

1 saucepan + 1 gas burner + 1 vegetarian + 2 omnivores (1 very much on the carni- side of omnivore) = very simple one-pot cooking in the campsite at night.  Continue reading »

Ever since I first saw Gary Vaynerchuk’s wine tasting show, I’ve been racking my brains to think of how this might translate to Europe.  As I may have mentioned before, there are some pretenders to the throne out there: two English chaps on a sofa and a German fellow, and doubtless there are many more.  Now here’s an alcohol-free spoof from the USA, which I bring you thanks to Gary V’s Twitter feed.  Continue reading »

You can buy Sun Dried Tomatoes everywhere now but there’s always satisfaction to be gained from making your own. Here in Ireland we don’t get the weather to dry damp tissue paper never mind an entire tray of tomatoes so I’ve cheated and used the oven method. If you have the sun (or a lot of patience) you can leave them to dry naturally.
The type of tomato you use doesn’t really matter, many folk grow their own but I wouldn’t waste them by drying them out.  Continue reading »

Our initial inquiry about booking a table at The Tannery in Dungarven was rejected but on a quick recollection they could actually fit us downstairs at 7:30, they must have decided to open up the private dining room to cater for the extra business. We showed up at the appointed time and were immediately seated in a room off the bustling bar area. As we passed through the lounge Martini glasses abounded as the diners sat waiting for their tables.  Continue reading »

I had the pleasure of visiting Cork again this weekend, this time to celebrate my brothers birthday (my, how old he is getting!). It was decided a few weeks back that we would go to Jacques Restaurant on Phoenix St (Next to the GPO) in Cork. We have been here many times in the past (often enticed by their offer on the menu to ‘try a half bottle of sherry to get the gastronomic juices flowing’),.  Continue reading »

Bloody waiting staff. I ask you. If they’d brains they’d be dangerous. Not all of them, mind you. I know there’s a sizable proportion who take the job seriously. And I don’t hate those ones, I admire them. It takes skill to be a good waiter or waitress. I know I couldn’t do it. But there’s just too many out there masquerading as waiting staff when they have as much talent as me on a unicycle.They’re giving the good ones a bad rep.  Continue reading »

Sunday Tribune- Raymond Blake
 
This week Raymond Blake focuses on wines from the Barossa Valley in South Australia
 
Bethany Riesling 2006, O’Briens – €11.49
"What makes it so appealing is the interplay between crisp, limey acidity and sweet, ripe fruit. Quite mouthfilling but not heavy"
 
Bethany Shiraz Cabernet 2004, O’Briens – €12.99
"dark ruby in the glass is followed by an exuberant nose of blackcurrants.  Continue reading »

Irish Times – John Wilson
 
In the Second of two parts on Spain, this week John Wilson looks at Spanish Reds
Sardon del Duero Abadia Retuerta Rivola 2005, Independents – €17.99
"a stunning wine with pure ripe damson fruits and wonderful elegant length.  Continue reading »

It kind of goes without saying that eating on a tight budget requires at least some degree of planning. It also helps if you can do at least some cooking in advance, if only avoid the temptation, after a hard day’s work, to blow the budget in the interests of getting some food fast and…  Continue reading »

 I’m delighted to announce a few new suppliers of our ice cream. First of all, our very first supplier North of Galway is Kate’s Kitchen at 3 Castle Street, Sligo. This what Good Food Ireland has to say about them:
It’s very easy to spot Kate’s Kitchen in Castle Street in Sligo town, its old-fashioned black painted frontage, bay windows and distinctive red and gold lettering makes it stand out from its surroundings.  Continue reading »