2011 at FoodFight.ie
Photo by peterastn
A post by noreply@blogger.com (John Ferris) at Food and Drink
I finally made it down to the Christmas Market on Saturday night with Mrs F and Isabella. It’s much better than the last time I went, except you could spend £20 eating at various stalls. Seeing as I was heading on afterwards on the booze, I limited myself to a German hotdog. And rather tasty it was too. I’m going back down this weekend to eat more and be more jolly. I understand now what Belfast Spy meant about there not being a credit crunch. Continue reading »
A post by Julian at BUBBLE BROTHERS - CORK WINE MERCHANTS
Hearty thanks to all of you who send me postcards from the places where the peripheries of wine, design, and gadgets merge. The latest snapshot from that no-man’s-land is this one, of a USB Flash drive in the shape of a wine bottle that contains, amongst other things,
exclusive ringtones on wine for your mobile phone
How can you resist? Few only remaining at this special price. Step right up!
This USB flash drive your key to open the gates to a great wine… — Be Wine Connected. Continue reading »
A post by Deirdre at the food.ie warblings
When I was about 15 years old I gave up eating beef due to a load of mildly traumatic beef related incidents which I’ll leave for some other day. While I didnt like the taste of beef there were quite a few things I missed like my mothers meatballs, lasagne and shephards pie. Fortunately quorn came along and saved the day. Continue reading »
What the Sundays said about food.
By Sinéad Keogh
CLASS BY THE GLASS
From the Sunday Business Post, news of the new venture at The Atrium Lounge in The Westin Hotel. In conjuction with Dom Perignon, the city centre 5-star are offering rare vintage champagnes by the glass with a range of canapes – available daily from 5.30pm
BLAZING A TRAIL
Dublin’s Blazing Salads has launched a new cookbook and range of breads, says the Sunday Business Post. The shop will also have its next cookery class on November 26th in the Food Co-op on Newmarket Square. At €45 per person, the December class on the 2nd will cover making a vegetarian Christmas dinner. More from info @ blazingsalads.com
BEST IN SHOW
There’s now an accompanying annual for RTE’s The Restaurant, says Tribune magazine. Out on November 24th, the recipe book includes a number of dishes from past celeb participants including Amanda Brunker’s white onion soup. It costs just €4.95, too.
SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE
Also in Tribune Magazine, Jillian Bolger’s Tried and Tested column sizes up drinking chocolate. Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate disappoints with just one star and is described as ‘loaded with sugar, but very low on cocoa solids’ with even Tesco own brand drinking chocolate coming in ahead of it, but just, with two stars. M&S Fairtrade Drinking Chocolate gets three stars, with a lot said in its favour but just a ‘tad too sweet’ while the winner is Twinings Luxury Chocolate Drink with four stars.
BLUMETHAL, PLEASE
Chef Heston Blumenthal is holding an event on December 12th in Harvey Nicks, Dundrum, says the SBP. To co-incide with the launch of his Fat Duck Cookbook, a four course lunch will be served and there will be an interview with Blumenthal who will be signing copies of his cookbook. Tickets are €180 including a copy of the book, which will retail at €130.
FORKING OUT
The restaurant reviews in brief.
SO-SO ON MERRION ROW
From the Sunday Independent, Lucinda O’Sullivan tries eating like a tourist for a day to see if traditional Irish eateries are up to much. She visits the newly rebranded Queen Maebh’s in Foley’s Pub, Merrion Row (formerly The Loft). Offerings included stew, coddle and rack of lamb as well as less obvious oysters Kilpatrick and pastry-capped French onion soup. The verdict on the food was generally positive, but the prices in this tourist restaurant, completele with tra music, were almost as steep as the 4 flights of stairs leading up to it.
NOT-SO-HOT TROTTERS
Just two weeks after Lucinda O’Sullivan’s disappointing visit to Nassau Street’s new The Pig’s Ear, Katy McGuinness from the Tribune finds a new set of gripes. While O’Sullivan wasn’t over impressed with the fare, McGuinness found it enjoyable in the main but felt the eaterie needed to work on reducing its portion sizes and with them its prices. With two mediocre reviews in as many weeks, it sounds like Nassau Street’s newest needs to make some changes. McGuinness gave it three stars.
SO-LO
Georges Street’s Soho had a visit from SBP reviewer Ross Golden Bannon who was checking out its new recessionista menu. It was a bit hit and miss, with a bad haddock and a worse appple tart – but other dishes such as donuts and dip (Baileys, toffee, strawberry jam) and garlic prawns impressed. Golden Bannon feels that once this kitchen gets into a groove, it’ll be on a winner. A mixed review, but the theme seems to be that Soho is doing a lot of things right and will get better.
A post by The Beer Nut at The Beer Nut
Thom arrived over to Beer Nut Towers on Saturday evening carrying a swing-top flagon of Eggenberg Urbock 23°. With assistance from some other guests, we managed to put away all two litres of the 9.9% ABV dark Austrian lager.
And it’s tasty stuff, though takes a bit of getting used to, what with the intense sugary sweetness. Continue reading »
A post by Caroline at Bibliocook: All About Food
If you’re in Dublin on Thursday 4 December, check out the Greatfood.ie/Dublin Cookery School Christmas Food and Wine Fair from 6pm to 9pm at the Dublin Cookery School, which is just off Carysfort Avenue in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Continue reading »
A post by Sarah Bell at Stuff yer bake
I always get really silly and excited on the run up to Christmas. I am very much a winter person anyway as in the height of sweaty, humid summer I go an unattractive beetroot colour, turn into a grumpy, petulant child and am mainly found on the floor assuming some sort of starfish position in my underwear. Continue reading »
A post by admin at Robert Francis Wine Blog
Sunday Business Post – Tomas Clancy
This week Tomas picks five wines are available from Wines Direct.
Domaine Nicolas Maillet, Macon Verze 2007, €16.85 (88 Points)
For anyone used to acidic and dry Macon, this is a revelation. Made in a traditional way, but from grapes that Maillet delays picking until they achieve total ripeness, we find a richer, luscious fragrant honey and light lemon-style denser white wine. It feels closer to Meursault than Macon in everything but price. Continue reading »
A post by Ruth E at ruth's kitchen experiments
After taking park in one of Gordon Ramsey’s Cookalong a few weeks ago I couldn’t help but join in again. The theme for this cookalong was the 70s featuring Prawn Cocktail, Steak Diane and Mandarin Cheesecake. I only made the steak diane this time but have all the ingredients ready for making the mandarin cheesecake over the next few days so keep an eye out for a post on that too. Continue reading »
A post by Kieran at Ice Cream Ireland
The Sunday Times has a story that the National University of Ireland, Galway has released a study showing that the effects of coffee are over-stated. In fact, the study shows that coffee has no stimulating effect on the brain and that it does not counter-act sleepiness. They say that people are confused about coffee because the positive effects they feel have to do with countering caffeine withdrawal and not any inherent coffee benefits. Continue reading »
A post by admin at Robert Francis Wine Blog
Click here to view the embedded video.
This latest episode of robertfranciswine.ie sees me review a Value Pinot Noir from Chile.
Food Wise this would be a great match with roast chicken, turkey, pork and even a nice piece of seared fillet of salmon.
This wine offers great value for Christmas day if you are in the market for a value pinot noir to tackle the turkey and ham !
Check it out and see ya next time on robertfranciswine.ie
Laters ! Continue reading »
A post by admin at Robert Francis Wine Blog
Irish Times – John Wilson
This week John Wilson writes about the “Douro Boys” and one of my favourite wine makers Dirk Niepoort.
Niepoort Vertente, Douro 2005, Selected Independents/Harvest In Galway, €20.95
“an elegant wine with firm red fruits, a refreshing mineral streak, and a long dry finish. It goes perfectly with most red meats”
Previously featured on www.robertfranciswine.ie – click here to my full tasting note ! Continue reading »
A post by ollie at olliesplace: organic food, farming, research, news & views with Oliver Moore
In the face of a real economic downturn and a barrage of simplistic media pronouncements, you could be forgiven for thinking that organic farming is facing death by a thousand daggers.
The objective fact is there – the downturn. The simplistic notion is everywhere – in a downturn, people will stop thinking about how their food is produced. Food will become a basic, fairly meaningless thing again.
In reality, as I’ve suggested over the last two weeks, things are a little more complex. Continue reading »
A post by Billy Lyons at RESTAURANTS AND FOOD IN CORK
JACQUES SCORE HIGH AGAIN
Got a comment recently from Mel who included Jacques in a short list of his favourite restaurants. It is on mine as well.
Was in there last night and had a gorgeous meal. I chose Brill on a bed of greens with a hollandaise sauce. Absolutely worth the wait, a magnificent combination. There was no doubt that the Brill was the star of the dish, the sauce there to offer appropriate support. Continue reading »
A post by Gavan Murphy aka the H.I. at The Healthy Irishman
Just a little reminder to check out my new recipe post on Health Habits today.
Also, I wanted to take a moment to thank Giddy Gastronome for giving The Healthy Irishman it’s first blog awards! Here they are:
Can anybody tell me what Premio Arte Pico means?
Though I’m not really sure what to do with them since… Continue reading »
A post by Hillary at Chew On That
Cheaper cuts – Beef promoters are utilizing cheaper cuts of beef that would have otherwise been ground into hamburger meat for steaks so that customers can still afford steak.
Farm-raised fish – The ocean’s array of fish has been severely depleted with current fishing technique so farm raised fish might be the wave of the future.
Save your cocoa (and your money) – Hot cocoa machines are a waste of money and can produce an inferior hot cocoa than your own saucepan. Continue reading »
A post by Caroline at Bibliocook: All About Food
On the times that I’ve seen it – not having a television, I watch online from the RTÉ website – I’ve been enjoying Bake, Rachel Allen’s new food show. As you may have noticed, I do very much enjoy baking and am always on the look out for new recipes. Her new book is crammed full of great things to try – I’ve already got lots of pages marked for revisiting – but only had a chance to try out one of the recipes so far. Continue reading »
A post by noreply@blogger.com (Donal) at The Good Mood Food Blog
Hello!
I had planned all sorts of recipes this week but with rehearsals the plan has basically gone in the bin! However the lovely Lorraine from Italian Foodies has tagged me and asked me to share 7 things you may not know about me. So here goes!
I was studying for a degree in Media Arts after school, but dropped out to join a boy band! I think my parents nearly had a heart attack! Continue reading »
A post by Deirdre at the food.ie warblings
This has been a very slow week for cooking as theres been loads on. My prodigal brother just came home from 2 and a half years on the road (queue plenty of baking from my mother), my dressmaking class, booking somewhere to stay in New York and queueing for a hug have also kept me really busy. So in the absence of a recipe or review heres a story about possibly the most amusing date meal I ever had.
As you may have guessed I enjoy cooking but its far better cooking for (or with) someone else. Continue reading »
A post by Kieran at Ice Cream Ireland
I wrote some time ago about ice cream and fertility, and it would appear that ice cream is indeed powerful, since my girlfriend (and serious ice cream-o-holic) has become pregnant. As you can see from the scan above, there is little doubt as to the father.
So there it is, and fingers crossed. The times they are a changing. God willing, there will be another little ice cream eater in this world come May. Continue reading »
Pairing great wine with great holiday food is what CuriousWines.ie’s Cracking Christmas Case is all about, hand-picked favourites including holiday classics and some of their best-selling wines of 2011 are all brought together in this glorious mixed case, complimenting Christmas fare from roasts to puddings in spectacular style.
Curious cases start at just €95.00 with free delivery, and this particular case of festive delight retails for a deeply discounted €115. Happily, we’ve got one to give away to a lucky winner at FoodFight.ie. – all you need to do to enter is tell us in the comments below what you’ll be cooking up for Christmas dinner this year, and we’ll pick a winner from the entries on December 16th. (And if you don’t win and still want to grab yourself a holiday bargain, last orders for Christmas dispatch are December 20th!)
Every cook we know loves their iPad (or lusts after one) for clipping, reading and cooking from online recipes right in the kitchen. Well, Clickcase.ie has what may be the ultimate kitchen gadget for iPad lovers: the Speck Handyshell slots around your iPad 2 so it can be hung from any rack, drawer or cabinet knob, keeping your iPad at eye level and safe from spills and mess. Genius!
Clickcase, Irish retailer of brilliant iPad and iPhone accessories, is giving one crimble red Handyshell away to a FoodFight.ie reader just in time for Christmas. To enter, all you have to do is head over to the Clickcase Facebook page before December 8th and tell us why you love your iPad or iPhone in the kitchen!
Bake, sell, raise money and help Temple Street Children’s University Hospital.
This November The Great Irish Bake is back and Kitchen Hero Donal Skehan is helping out with sharing recipes and promoting the event. The Great Irish Bake is in aid of helping sick and seriously ill children get the treatment they need. Head over to The Great Irish Bake to register online and be in the chance of winning a trip to New York when you help raise funds for Temple Street Children’s University Hospital. The site also has hints, tips, recipes and all that goes with an event like this.
This is the Facebook for The Great Irish Bake and of course the Twitter hashtag is: #thegreatirishbake
The Great Irish Bake organisers have shared a recipe with us and also a picture of Donal Skehan with his kids from his first marriage. Some of this might be a lie.
Ingredients (Makes approx 30)
- 300g of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon of mixed spice
- 100g of muscavado sugar
- 150g of butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 pack of foxes fruits or jolly ranchers
The Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a standalone mixture beat together the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and
mix through.
3. Using a wooden spoon mix through the flour, baking powder, salt, mixed spice
and vanilla extract until you have a biscuit dough.
4. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and roll out to about 1cm in thickness.
5. Cut out biscuit shapes, place on the lined baking tray, then using a smaller cutter
or a small knife cut out the center of each cookie.
6. Sprinkle the crushed sweets into the centre of the cookie and place in the oven
7. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire
wrack.
