Video One: Farnese Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2007
Somehow the forgotten white of the Farnese range. I like to describe it as the poor man’s Chablis, realising it’s not French of course, but there are definite comparisons with an almost nutty, savoury character intermingling with those subtle fruit flavours. Trebbiano, known as Ugni-Blanc in France, accounts for around a third of all white grape plantings in Italy.  Continue reading »

MARCH/APRIL FAVOURITES All tried and tested in last two months
Highly Recommended Restaurants: Augustine’s, The Silk Purse, Raymond’s (Midleton),  Fenn’s Quay, Over the Moon (Skibbereen),  Aherne’s (Youghal), Liberty Grill.Recommended: The Bullman, Gilbert’s (Cobh), Vienna Woods, Hardwood, La Jolie Brise (Baltimore),  Really Good Food Shops: Iago, The Good Food Shop, On the Pig’s Back, Hudson’s.  Continue reading »

LOONEY’S BUTCHERS
Looney’s, with their butcher business and the chipper, have been part and parcel of life in Mayfield for decades.
They are obviously providing a great service in the area. If there is one product they excel in then it has to be their mince meat which is the best around. Service is always friendly and chatty.
Check out my review of Patrick Looney – I am cork – on Qype.  Continue reading »

Dine in for Two is back this weekend, and is now running for six days.  If you want to spend the entire bank holiday weekend eating Hasselback potatoes and Millionaire’s Shortbread, you can.  Yay!
See the full menu on the M&S website.
Related posts:

M&S Dine in for Two for €12.50
M&S Dine in for Two for €12.50! Woot!
M&S Dine In for Mother’s Day: Roast Dinner for Four.  Continue reading »

I stumbled on this website a while back while wandering aimlessly from link to link online and I was intrigued. Could it be possible that Batter Blaster is a truly organic product in a pressurised container, curiosity got the better of me and I delved into their site a bit deeper to find out.  Continue reading »

The other day while I was in Kinsale meeting Piluca and her newborn littl boy, Dianne called me if I wanted to catch up with her. As we were both kind of middle away from Innishannon, we decided to give Innishannon House Hotel a try. They have recently launched the new bar menu and it was a wonderful day to see the gardens as well.
The hotel calls itself the most romantic hotel in Ireland – depends really but I have to admit it got an old-fashioned charm to it.  Continue reading »

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Also known as, “Another Day, Another Chorizo Recipe”…
This is a beauty of a recipe from Rachel Allen’s first book, Rachel’s Favourite Food. It’s quick, easy, delicious, multplies well for those times when you’re faced with a hungry crowd and is just as easily halved when dining à deux.  Continue reading »

On Monday I mentioned that it was baseball season in my house which means that on most night’s we eat drive through or at 8pm. Neither of these situations is ideal but my least favorite it coming home after a practice or a game and making dinner…right before bed! So this year I’ve vowed to KISS my baseball night meals by packing healthy and delicious wraps for dinner. 
My first stop was at Recipe4Living where I looked for wraps and sandwiches.  Continue reading »

SWANTON’S PLANT CENTRE
My poor Rosemary was a victim of the hard winter and but it took me a while to write off her chances of a full recovery.
That decision out of the way, I headed to Swantons Plants at the Ballincollig Farmers Market to get a replacement. Told the man on duty my tale of woe and we concluded that the effects of the prolonged winter on plant-life were much the same as those of.  Continue reading »

Milk curds, the stuff of cheese

“You need to be a bit mad to make cheese.”
So says Hans Wieland of The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co. Leitrim.
I do believe that he counts himself in this. When he and his wife Gaby started making cheese from the milk of their own goats over 20 years ago, they built a kitchen for their cheese making before they built a house for themselves.  Continue reading »

Mince rissoles are a great combination of minced meat, spices, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, bound together with egg and a little low fat milk. Turkey mince would be best to keep the calories down, but lean beef, pork or lamb would also work well.  Continue reading »

Strawberries and raspberries: time to pick a side (Photo: Bord Bia)

I’ve always imagined that raspberries and strawberries fight when our backs are turned. Sure, by all means, put them together on a pavlova and they’ll appear very well behaved,  but leave the room for a few minutes and they’re at battle stations.
I felt the need to take sides in this war, and sidled up to the raspberries.  Continue reading »

Tomorrow’s Blackrock Castle wine club session will be investigating a selection of wines made from Malbec in both Argentina and France.
Although we’ll be showing off wines from the Loire Valley too, the focus of attention France-wise will be on the Malbecs of the south-western AOC Cahors that we buy from Clos Triguedina, the estate run with no little pride by Jean-Luc Baldès.  Continue reading »

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One of the many delicious meals I had in Vietnam

After my recent unplanned trip across Europe due to the ash cloud where I had to stick to a strict food budget, it got me thinking about the best and worst culinary holidays I have been on in terms of value for money.  Obviously it’s only an overview but some places stood out more than others.
In Europe, the Silver Coast along Portugal is one of the best for quality and value.  Continue reading »

My dear friend Alice-Mary, who has an unequalled nose for interesting little events, found a great deal in the Westin Hotel in Dublin. Until the end of April, they are running a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in their Atrium restaurant/bar area.  Continue reading »

Today is my blog’s fifth birthday and I’m celebrating with stout. Two kinds, in fact: The Porterhouse’s new Celebration Stout (far right) hit the shelves last week. This is a scaled down revamp of the 2006 10th anniversary edition, a mere 7% ABV, in 33cl bottles. It still packs a punch, though: very bitter, mellowed only slightly by notes of coffee and very dark chocolate.  Continue reading »

You may have noticed a new addition to our product pages over the last few days. That all familiar “Like” button on Facebook is starting to find its way onto the world’s leading e-commerce websites, and we’re delighted to be Ireland’s first on-line wine retailer (if not, the first Irish e-commerce site!) to integrate this nifty new application for FB users browsing or shopping on our website.  Continue reading »

Is there anyone more stereotypically Australian than Bill Granger? He’s blond, buff, lives by the beach in Sydney and knows his way around a barbecue. He also isn’t afraid of loud shirts and white pants and throws in an occasional wink to the camera. He’s my new favorite TV chef and this is my new favorite salmon. It’s the kind of recipe that’s so good I won’t want to make salmon any other way from now on. Try it and you’ll see why.  Continue reading »