Can pork be part of a healthy diet? Pork can easily be a healthy part of a well-balanced diet. Many cuts of pork are as lean as skinless chicken. According to The Daily Pork, lean pork is a great source of lean protein and many essential vitamins and other nutrients. A 3-ounce serving of pork tenderloin is an “excellent” source of protein, thiamin, vitamin B6, phosphorus and niacin and a “good” source of riboflavin, potassium and zinc. Want to see how the cuts stack up?  Continue reading »

I had been looking forward to Friday night all week; I had been planning on heading along to Thorntons restaurant to try out their canapé tasting menu, followed by a Salon champagne tasting at the Irish Wine Board. All in all it was shaping up to be a memorable evening. The whole thing fell apart in the early afternoon when an e-mail floated into my inbox from the Wine Board; our tasting had to be cancelled due to an unfortunate scheduling error.  Continue reading »

There have been few times in my life when I’ve been at a dinner party that has ended in me being thrown out or not invited back because of my antics. In fact I think the number of times is zero, but I could be wrong. There was an infamous dinner party at my own home with my good friend Chris and his lovely wife Martina, which began with me and him drinking a bottle of wine in the time it took me to fry some scallops.  Continue reading »

Ummm… chocolate for desert.
Writing in today’s Irish Times, Pricewatch’s Conor Pope taste tests chocolate mousses and fondants, and says that Rians Le Fondant au Chocolat, at €3.75 for 200g, is the best. This might be a little hard to find, so M&S Pot au Chocloat – €4.99 for 180g – comes out second.
Funny this, because…  Continue reading »

Here’s a nifty follow-on from the home made stuffing a few weeks back and keeping with value theme. A roast chicken does great between the four of us and maybe some left over for a sandwich or two. However, throwing out the carcass felt like waste to me I looked up how to make stock from the bones. It’s easy: Some roughly chopped veg; some herbs; a lot of seasoning; the remains of last night’s chicken and some water.  Continue reading »

 All eyes are on Galway at the moment, with the Volvo Ocean Race arriving into town and the great news that the Irish/Chinese yacht, the Green Dragon, finished third into Galway, after a very difficult start. Congrats to the whole team, and I sure wish I could have been there, for the party at 4am, when the boat arrived!  Continue reading »

Sometimes we take the initiative, and sometimes we jump on the bandwagon as it rolls.
When it was brought to my attention that Barry at the Wine Buff in Washington Street, Cork, had signed up to the University College Cork Advantage Scheme, I thought we probably should, too. Like him, we stock interesting and unusual wines that appeal to enquiring minds.
The Scheme allows members of staff at UCC, on production of their staff card, to avail of various discounts and so on around the Cork area.  Continue reading »

It’s the last thing we want, and it’s something that has alarmed many wine consumers and critics alike. The growing international standardisation of wine styles is a threat to the wine drinker who appreciates wine with distinction and character.
There is an obsession with technology these days that allows mass production on a consistent level. This, of course, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Continue reading »

Advertised prices – not sure if these can all be called bargains or special offers – at Dunnes, valid until Tuesday June 2, include:
Choice Salmon Darnes (4 pack) 480g – €7.98 – save €3
Fresh Irish Basted Turkey Joint 500g – €5
Corona 24 x 33cl – €24
Under Seafood and Provisions, offers (valid until Sunday May 31) …  Continue reading »

We want to thank all of you who entered the CheapEats Classifieds competition, and for the valuable feedback that you left.  We’ve already made some changes based on your opinions.  There were some points that came up quite a few times, so we thought we’d write a short post explaining a bit more about the…  Continue reading »

SuperValu specials this week include:
2 for €6 and €2 for €10 on SuperValu Summer Eating Meat Range
Chef Ketchup (1kg) – half price – reduced from €3.50 to €1.75
Persil Powder 30 Scoop Bio/ Non-bio/ Colour 2.85kg – half price – reduced from €11.33 to €5.66
Offers are valid from Monday May 25 until Saturday May 30 2009.  Continue reading »

No advertised special offers from Tesco this week, just a statement outlining its commitment to keep stocking Irish brands and stating that all their chicken, beef, lamb and chicken comes from the island of Ireland.
However, browsing through Tesco’s online service, I see that there are still some offers on, including:
Donegal Catch Cod 450g – was…  Continue reading »

Do I Blog Correctly ?
I have been thinking about this blog post for some time now and in fact my overall style of blogging. To date most of my blog posts have been individual wine tasting notes rather then my thoughts on the wine world, wine industry and my spin on the whole industry.
www.robertfranciswine.iehas been up and running for just a little over 12 months now and over 230 posts it has been huge fun meeting so many new people and learning about the interweb.  Continue reading »

Sunday Business Post – Tomas Clancy
Bisol Jeio Prosecco Di Valdobbiadene Spumante NV (89), €20 from Searsons Wine Merchants, Monkstown Crescent, Blackrock, Co Dublin and O’Donovan off-licences across Cork city and county 
Across the country, shelves have been filling up with alternative sparklers to champagne, as savvy wine lovers seek out bargains.  Continue reading »

We’re still in hop country today, we’ve just moved a few thousand miles east. It’s a big country, OK? The beer is my second from the relatively new Brussels beer company De La Senne, and describes itself as an “Extra Hoppy Ale”. Given the iconoclastic nature of their excellent low-strength stout, I was expecting Taras Boulba to be similarly unBelgian. With the sediment settled, it poured the way crappy lagers in TV ads do: beautifully clear and golden and frothy.  Continue reading »

I was sent the most lovely surprise by Marian from Organic Choice. A box full of cake bars. It is hard to review them because they were all lovely, but after some humming and hawing I have decided that the Date & Stem Ginger Oatie was my favourite.
Made without wheat these cakes don’t have the chalky consistency that spelt based baking tends to.  Continue reading »

From 400 cow dairy farms in north Donegal to clay ovens in Kildare and carrots in Cork, the 2009 Teagasc organic demonstration farms have been announced.
The organic sector can consider itself blessed that the number of organic demonstration farms has remained stable, when all around, the scythe of agri-cutbacks has been swung.  Continue reading »

Purple spuds may be common enough currency in some quarters, but not where I live. So, yes, while on my travels here in the States, I am prone to getting excited by sights like this at Seattle’s Pike Place market:

Pike Place Spuds

I am also prone to having palpitations induced by sights like this causa made with purple mash (and, frankly, at this stage in our relationship, my excitement at meeting and eating purple spuds should not surprise any of you).  Continue reading »

Hot black sweet coffee dripping through the coursely ground robusta beans. The relentless whurr of hundreds of mopeds ticking past at breakneck speed as the ebony splashes to the bottom of the glass. Sweetened with condensed milk, fresh milk being no match for the stifling heat of Viet Nam.  Continue reading »

The Grow Bake Cook Awards 2009

This inaugural food Awards Ceremony honors and celebrates the skills of amateur cooks, growers, bakers and preservers – in fact anyone with a talent for creating good food! Supporting local communities throughout Cork city and county, these awards aim to give our hidden food heroes the opportunity, tools and encouragement to sell their wares through farmer’s markets, country markets, local supermarkets and food fairs.  Continue reading »