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The federal government, Costco and McDonald’s are just some of the groups that put a stop to all purchases of meat from a California meat plant that is now under investigation for animal cruelty. We won’t go into all the dirty details, but find out what you should know as a consumer and (likely) fast food aficionado!

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Fresco and the art of Food
 Fresco, the Bistro attached to the Lewis Glucksman Art Gallery in UCC, officially launched yesterday evening with an event titled “What Does Art Taste Like?” Music, chat and, of course, food and wine, featured.
 This was the menu for the evening, a mixture of hot and cold tasters. Head Chef Prakash Sivakumar was a little nervous as the first of the guests arrived.  Continue reading »

Okay, so we’re read up on Médoc, Cabernet Sauvignon heaven. Check. The Graves & Pessac-Léognan, where we find earthy, yet lighter and more supple Cabernets. Check. Saint-Émilion & Pomerol, where Merlot claims its stake as the greatest grape of them all. Check. But before our Bordeaux sale ends at the end of the month, we can’t afford to forget The Côtes, which we’ll cover now, and what goes on between the rivers, which we’ll look at next week.  Continue reading »

One of Kevin's recent secret supper menus

There’s a really tempting competition going on with Google+ Local at the moment – they’re offering free places at a secret supper with Kevin Powell.
Kevin Powell is a cook, former farmer and is probably best known around Dublin for being the cheese guy in Fallon & Byrne’s. He now holds twice weekly secret suppers for in the know Dublin diners both in his own home, and at different venues around town.  Continue reading »

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Food and Drink Spotting
Dinner with Tom Crean
No, not with the famous polar explorer from Kerry but with the lager named after him. Annie’s Gastropub  explain all: “We are very excited to announce that we will be hosting an Evening in conjunction with Dingle Brewing Company on Saturday, September 22nd at 6.35pm. A specially designed seven course menu has been created by our talented chefs.  Continue reading »

The Great Irish Bake Off – Applications open until October 15

Following the translation of Come Dine With Me from the UK market to the Irish market, TV3 are dipping into the UK food pile once more and are now taking applications for The Great Irish Bake Off, the Irish adaptation of BBC2′s food wonder that is The Great British Bake Off. The hunt is now on for eight amateur Irish bakers to go head to head, or perhaps spoon to spoon, to find the country’s top amateur baker.  Continue reading »

Continuing our Quick from Scratch series I present to you my absolute favorite recipe, the page in my copy of the cookbook that’s falling out : Tofu with Spicy Pork and Snow Peas, a.k.a Fu Manchu Pork. While I don’t know if Fu Manchu partook of this particular dish I’m sure it would be enjoyed by super-villain and…  Continue reading »

This is really my first time cooking with Oyster sauce. I’ll admit, it’s been in the press for quite a while because the thought of sauce made from oysters really isn’t too appealing. But in the name of food I had to try it. I ended up originally just trying it with beef, to see what it tasted like before adding chilli to give it a nice bit of heat. Be sure to remove the seeds from the chilli unless you’re feeling adventurous.  Continue reading »

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They’re coming, they’re on us, the long striped gourds, the silky babies, the hairy adolescents, the lumpy vast adults like the trunks of green elephants. Recite fifty zucchini recipes!
- from “Attack of the Squash People” by Marge Piercy
It’s that time of year when gardeners are groaning under a zucchini glut, leaving them on doorsteps or in unlocked cars, driven to look for “newcomers” or “tourists” to offload them on, as in Piercy’s poem.  Continue reading »

This is not just a cookery book, this is a highly entertaining television series on RTE One and if you haven’t seen it, make it your business to do so.  Myself and The Hubs are big fans and every week he sits there bemoaning “poor Paul Flynn is always getting picked on by yer man with the fish”.  Continue reading »

Ard Bia Cookbook, Galway

Reading the stylish and useful Ard Bia Cookbook reminded me of meeting Aoibheann McNamara back in 2008. I was interviewing her for the Foodtalk series of documentaries for Newstalk: her son Oni – the book is dedicated to him – was just a tiny baby and I remember her breastfeeding him while we were setting up the recording. That night my producer and I enjoyed a superb meal at Ard Bia and afterwards I wrote this introduction to her piece in the programme.  Continue reading »

This is a classic Japanese way of eating aubergine and is really easy.  All you do is to slowly roast them in the oven until tender, spoon over a thick, gloopy, Miso dressing and toast under the grill for 5 minutes until the Miso dressing caramelises. When roasted long enough, the aubergine has a creamy, melting texture. The salty-sweet, sticky, scorched dressing works really well with the smoky flavours of roasted aubergine.  Continue reading »

If you’re like me at all, you’re beyond excited for Labor Day and the good times that will ensue with family and friends. Keep reading to see my must-makes and must-eats for this fun occasion. All that’ll be left to do is hope the weather cooperates with our plans!
Main Courses
Make sure to pull the cover off your grill for one last time this summer! Here are some great meat ideas for the barbecue.  Continue reading »

I did kind of a silly thing. Myself and Niall made these super delicious (if we do say so ourselves) chipotle marinated pork kebabs wayyyyyy back in April when we had that great spell of weather here in Dublin. I can feel the warmth at the back of my neck now as I recall us having our first meal in our back garden, sipping a cool beer and enjoying our (indoor) BBQ’ed kebabs. It was quite something.
But, then, the weather turned on us.  Continue reading »

Sunshine Shopping in Kinsale Market
Good selection, clockwise from to left: Harissa at the Olive Stall, Crozier Blue at Mark’s Cheese, Slice O’ Pie, general view,  Finder’s Inn, Milk Market, West Cork garlic.
Enjoyed my trip to Kinsale Farmers Market today, meeting regualars such as Ian Flynn (below) and relative newcomers like Axel and Marye Miret (above).
Did a little shopping in.  Continue reading »

I have seen a lot of chocolate/peanut butter combinations floating around the interwebs of late and it put a hankering on me.  I’m a big fan of peanut butter cups and would happily eat my own bodyweight in them if left undisturbed for long enough.  With this in mind I decided to try combing them with a cupcake, a cup cupcake if you like.  The result was pretty delicious, even if I do say so myself.  Continue reading »