Couple of Things

Well today is the birthday. I feel old, but happy! ;-) The husband and children made these. Incredible, although too much! All three are napping now - go figure!

I have been beta testing a new networking thing called Cre8buzz. Think Facebook for bloggers - at least as far as I can tell! Blogs are highlighted and directly linked to and rateable and no personal info is necessary on your profile. If you want to check it out, leave me your email and I will send an invite. Not sure how I feel one way or another yet, but it's worth a go! ;-)

Strawberry Summer

Well, it's been a weird summer. Constant rain and clouds meant being confined to the house as the husband has the car. It meant using the imagination to keep the kids occupied. It meant a touch of SAD! I know I said before that I liked the weather here, but three months of constant gloom had even me wishing for the heat we experienced last summer in St. Louis. Well at least for a day or two! ;-) However the miserable weather also meant an abundance of delicious local strawberries! I have had strawberries constantly in my fridge since they came into season. My eldest girl loves them, eats them like candy! In fact I've been trying to convince her Grandad to bring her strawberries instead of Smarties, but I suppose that is a Grandad's prerogative!

When I stopped to buy some strawberries from a roadside stall the other day the husband reminded me we already had some in the fridge and suggested I make some strawberry shortcake. Both Barbara and Lisa had made some tasty versions, but in the end I adapted a recipe from my old standard The Joy of Cooking. I like my shortcake a little flatter and I also wanted it to have a prominent vanilla flavour. These were big hits! I made enough to have them for dessert for us on Sunday and for company who were coming on Monday. There were clean plates all around, except for Ella who ate the shortbread and strawberries, but didn't like the "warm ice-cream" or vanilla mascarpone!

Vanilla Strawberry Shortcake with Mascarpone

For the shortcake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup (2fl oz.) sugar
• 4 oz cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 egg
• 1/2 (4 fl. oz) cup cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• additional sugar for sprinkling

Sift the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, or two knives, cut in the butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs.

Scrape seeds from vanilla pod. Beat the egg together with the cream, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds.

Add liquids to flour mixture, stirring to combine.

Roll out pastry into a large rectangle and cut into 12 smaller rectangles.

Sprinkle with additional sugar and bake for 20-25 minutes or lightly golden.

For the Mascarpone:

• 1 tub mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbsp sugar, to taste

Whisk the mascarpone with the vanillas and sugar until it resembles a very thick cream and vanilla seeds are evenly distributed.

To assemble:

• Shortbread
• Mascarpone
• Punnet Strawberries, sliced*

Lay down a shortcake (or cut into triangles) with some strawberries, add a dollop of mascarpone, and more strawberries. Garnish with mint leaves.

If you'd rather, you can slice the strawberries in advance and sprinkle with sugar and allow to macerate for a couple of hours. If the strawberries are ripe and fresh though, this is unnecessary.

Birthday tomorrow, move is next week, so probably won't be posting again for a little while. Not sure what we will be doing on broadband in the new house, as there is no land line, but will try and be back ASAP. Might even get a recipe or two in before then, but no promises! ;-)

On another note - one of my birthday presents (Thank you Mammy!!!) is to be a new set of pots/pans. I am looking for recommendations. I have the T-Fal now and am not overly impressed, but I've had them for about five years and think they might have improved them since then. Non-stick is not essential, as I am a slave to the metal kitchen tongs, which is not ideal with non-stick, but definitely something quality, that will not burn or scorch easily. All suggestions gratefully accepted!

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Hiatus

I am having computer issues of late and have not been able to post. Am also super busy in terms of moving, so please accept my apologies. Will most likely be little going on here for a few weeks.

Also of note, is the fact that I am not getting emails and some of mine are not being received. Back in my working days outlook was my best friend. Since installing the latest version it has become my sworn enemy. If you sent something or are missing something I should have sent, please resend or let me know. I think everything is sorted now.

Back as soon as I can!

Deborah

Awards and Apologies

Once more I find myself apologizing for my absence around here lately. It has been a bit crazy trying to organize the move for September 1. I was also in Dublin most of the day Thursday for a makeover for the Daily Mail! I was contacted to be part of a feature on women bloggers which then turned into a makeover of women bloggers! It was an interesting experience. I loved getting my hair done by a sweet Italian stylist from Aveda and I learned a lot about applying make-up from Bobbi Brown stylist Dave. It was very fun. I was not wild about the clothes chosen for me, but I suspect it's hard for a wee skinny girl to go shopping for someone more... uh... big boned! ;-)

I had the opportunity to meet Feebee of The Waiting Game, the infamous Annie Rhiannon and Arsheen from Fashion Filosofy. ladies were all lovely and great fun! I now know how to pronounce Annie's boyfriends name! So there! ;-) The feature will be sometime next week and I'm terrified I said something stupid in the interview and that I'll look ridiculous beside all these skinny girls in my jacket 4 sizes too big! ;-)

Back to business here. The very sweet Beccy over at Peppermint Tea has kindly awarded me the Creative Blogger Award. It's similar to the last award in that I have to pick five more deserving bloggers.

First and foremost would have to be Dan and Rebecca at Irish Sally Gardens. Not only are they booth accomplished artists, Rebecca with felt and many other mediums and Dan with his incredible hobby horses, they are running their own smallholding in the West of Ireland. Their blog goes through their adventures from rearing their own pigs all the way through making the resulting sausage to building their organic polytunnel to the current harvest and so much more. Goats, chickens and now bees, nothing is too much for these two and that's all while being parents to two young children! It's absolutely phenomenal what they are doing and I am blown over with admiration.

Second would have to be Anna at Pleasant View Schoolhouse. I am a lurker over there, so she might wonder who on earth I am, but I have to share her blog with you. She is constantly creating beautiful things from clothes to floral arrangements to purses to meals. She writes so simply and has one of the most refreshing blogs I've seen in a long time.

Third I have to pick RedMum. Her photography is so wonderful and her subjects know no bound. From her recent adventures in Turkey to random shots around Dublin to election photos she does it all and always so well. Her blog is also very entertaining as she shares her adventures of being a single Mum to "the young wan."

Next would have to be Roz at Stay at Home Mummy & D Bizness who runs her own cake business out of her home. Her cakes are out of this world and look absolutely phenomenal. The detail is extraordinary and I so wish she lived next door! ;-)

Last and certainly not least is fellow foodie Sarah at Stuff Yer Bake. Sarah makes incredible food and has also started making her own cakes which look incredible. She just finished her first wedding cake which looks absolutely delicious.

Those are my picks and I stand by them, I would love to nominate some of my crafty friends, but they've all already received said award!!! So thanks Beccy, really appreciate it and love that I get to highlight some other top notch creative bloggers!

Now for a quick announcement. I started a side blog for future reviews, as I don't want to bore my non-Irish readers with inaccessible products or restaurants. If you are interested in my reviews, which include restaurants, wine and other Mom relevant things, you can click on the Reviews button above to be redirected.

And finally... a recipe!

Toulouse Sausages with Lentils and Red Wine

Chris referred me to her daughter and well-known food blogger Sam for ideas for what to do with the Toulouse sausages I'd gotten at the Farmers market. Sam's original recipe is here, but I took some inspiration and then did my own thing! This was different, but quite yummy and the kids even enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

• 2 diced carrots
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 cup passata/tomato sauce
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 lb Toulouse Sausages
• 100g bacon lardons
• 1/2 cup chopped in-season tomatoes (I used a lovely yellow kind)
• salt and pepper to season
• chopped flat-leaf parsley to garnish

Method:

Saute the carrots, celery and onion in the olive oil until onions are opaque. Add the garlic until fragrant.

Toss in the lentils and saute for a few minutes then add the stock, tomato sauce and red wine. Add the bay leaf and thyme. Allow to simmer over a medium heat.

Meanwhile fry up the bacon and sausages in a separate pan. I left the sausages whole, but you could cut them if you like. When they are done, throw them in the pot with the lentils.

Cook for about an hour until it is a nice thick mixture. Check the seasoning and season accordingly. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and parsley, reserving some for final garnish. Serve with a crusty rustic bread for dunking!

Easy and delicious! Thanks Sam for the inspiration! ;-)

Have a great week everyone. Hopefully I won't be MIA for too long!

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I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

Well it's my first time participating in Fun Monday and Chris wants to see our aprons!

Up until I decided to try this whole housewife thing I never wore aprons.  I would wear a chef's coat if I was doing a lot of cooking, like Thanksgiving dinner (the other three members of my family are American, have to do it!!) or something particularly messy.  I like the way you are completely covered and can wipe your hands all over yourself!

Recently though I've taken to wearing an apron around the house.  I feel like it's a uniform of sorts.  I tend to get more done if I'm wearing it.  I have an ugly one that I got from the newspaper that says "Yummy Mummy" a term which I loathe with a hatred usually reserved for things such as zucchini! But as usual, I have digressed!

Aprons... yes... so I've been wearing this ratty freebie apron for about half a year and throwing on the chefs coat for marathon sessions. 

I blogged briefly about the new apron I was expecting last month. After stumbling upon Kitchen Madonna, there was no way I could leave without buying the incredibly beautiful aprons she makes.  I had to have one.  I had hoped to get a picture taken of me wearing it, but the husband has been living at work lately and I don't want my three year old anywhere near the camera! ;-)  So you will have to settle for the stock picture.

Isn't that the cutest thing?  It's an actual tied halter neck with four pockets.  The back is fully finished in white.  Kitchen Madonna suggests wearing the white side out for messy tasks but doing a quick switch when the doorbell rings, but I can't bear not having the beautiful fabrics showing!  I'm not a seamstress, but I know quality when I see it and the work is outstanding.  I wish it were a whole dress, because it is just adorable!  My husband loves it too and it prompts my three year old to tell me how beautiful I am, which is an obvious plus! ;-)

So there you have it... my excellent apron, which is named the Dotty Elisabetta.  If you're interested, the store is here. 

Normal posting will resume with a yummy recipe or two tomorrow! Good night!

Review of Eddie Rockets

Eddie Rockets,
Bray,
Wicklow,
Ireland

You get less than you pay for!

Why would any self-respecting foodie end up at a place like Eddie Rockets for dinner on a Saturday night? 

Let me tell you - with two starving children who had slept through lunch, the only parking place available and about thirty seconds before a met down - the place looked damn good! 

I didn't expect the Ritz and knew we would be dining on standard hamburger and fries fare and for the occasion that was fine.  I am not using this review to compare it to restaurants in different classes.  This review is based solely on what I expected from a restaurant of it's calibre and what I actually got.  

Upon arriving we were seated promptly, but were not given children's menus.  Not being a hamburger person I decided to go with the "Southern Fried Chicken," the husband had a cheeseburger and the girls shared popcorn chicken and fries.  We ordered softdrinks and milk for the kids.

The foreign server had some trouble understanding our order and asked if I wanted macaroni and cheese or fries.  Hell yes I thought... I LOVE Mac and Cheese (in fact I think I might make some... be right back! ;-)) 

When my diet coke arrived it tasted moldy.  The husband, having plenty of experience in the restaurant business, informed me that this was because their lines needed cleaning.  When I mentioned it they replaced my coke with water and told me there was nothing they could do because Coca Cola only clean them once a year!!! Ugh!

Dinner arrived and needless to say the kids were happy.  The husband enjoyed his burger all right, but the fries were incredibly over seasoned.  I love salt... I use WAY too much salt, but these were much too salty!  I was worried about the kids eating them, but they were so hungry I didn't worry too hard!

The mac and cheese turned out to be bacon and cheese fries, obviously a lingual misunderstanding... cheese was horrible... thin nacho type cheese.  Didn't float my boat, but at least it masked the salt a bit!  My chicken was the same as the fries.  I couldn't eat it, but in my hurry to get out of there I didn't say anything.  It also came with some brown concoction that looked like a dark toffee sauce.  It was practically solid and apparently it was gravy!

The bill came to just over $32 after they removed the coke.

Perhaps this is a normal experience. I don't know.  What I do know is that I went in there to eat a family style meal and although it wouldn't be my preference of restaurant, I thought I would be able to eat some nice and tasty albeit it greasy food.  This didn't happen and the service left a lot to be desired. 

We won't be going back.  Even the husband hated it, although his tasty burger brought the stars up to two! 

Rated 2/5 on Aug 04 2007 by Deborah

LouderVoice Review Tags: eddie rockets, restaurant review

Vote on this review or write your own at LouderVoice

List of Irish Food Blogs

Damien has posted about a couple of new food blogs over the last few days and asked me if there was a comprehensive list. There isn't really. I think I have the biggest list on my blogroll, but a little investigation told me I was missing a LOT! So here is a complete (as far as I can tell) list of Irish food blogs. Please leave a comment if I've missed anyone and I will remedy that immediately!

A Random Walk Down Grub Street - Irish Times journalist Kathy Foley's Food Blog. Recipes, reviews and foodie thoughts.

Bandon Farmers' Market - the Market's blog

Bibliocook - Food writer Caroline Hennesy - the Damien of Irish food blogs!

Bubble Brothers - The wine company's blog

Chew on That - Group Blog, one of the contributors is moving or maybe just moved to Ireland by now?

Conor's Bandon Blog - A familiar face to most Irish bloggers, Conor touches on food and does restaurant reviews frequently

Eat Drink Live - A wonderful baker in Limerick. Fabulous recipes and photography. Mentioned in the last issue of Food and Wine

Eating Out Ireland - A group blog for restaurant reviews around Ireland

Eat Me Drink Me - Foodie thoughts and recipes from Abulafia... wonderful stuff!

Food Lorists - A French chef located in Dublin sharing recipes, food science and insider tips and tricks

Myfood.ie Blog - The blog of the recipe networking site. Like Bebo for recipes!

Ice Cream Ireland - Murphy's Ice Cream blog. There's always something delicious here, also with beautiful photography.

iFoods Video Recipes - Chef Niall Harbison's recently lauched video food blog

Italian Foodies - Lorraine of La Cucina in Limerick shares Italian recipes and tips, also featured in Food and Wine last month.

Martin Dwyer - Recipes and musings of Waterford chef Martin Dwyer

Munster Pubs - Guide to Munster pubs

One Voice in Cyberspace - Robert touches on the food scene in Dublin and shares foodie thoughts!

Organico - Blog for the Organico store.

Organic Yum-Yum - Organic cooking and recipes

Peppermint Tea - Beccy often shares delicious recipes and food tricks

Quirky Kitchen - Blog for online kitchen shop QuirkyKitchen.ie

Rocking Grass - Very well written group blog, sharing food thoughts and restaurant reviews

Stuff Yer Bake - A Northern Irish blog centering around recipes and cake decorating

Superyacht Chef - Niall Harbison's adventures as a chef

The Fruity Cook - A new blog, has some great food advice and thoughts.

The Good Mood Food Blog - Another newbie, there are already some fabulous recipes here!

The Humble Housewife - You are here! Mostly family recipes with some food and restaurant reviews thrown in. Also mentioned in Food and Wine last month.

Ummera Smoked Products - Business blog for Ummera Smokehouse

Val's Kitchen - Fabulous food photography, restaurant reviews and recipes. Another mention in Food and Wine last month.

Well Done Fillet - The rants, reviews, wine tips and thoughts of waiter Manuel.

Where's the Salt? - Foodie thoughts and recipes.

I think that completes the list. I am trying to lobby for our own category in the Irish Blog Awards next year. What are the chances?

So when are all the foodies going to get together??? Do you think any restaurant could handle us? ;-)

Gourmet Schmourmet

After we returned from Mallorca we had developed a bit of a taste for restaurant food. A week of eating out for at least two meals a day will do that. I decided to try a couple of dishes that some might consider more gourmet. Neither are very difficult, although the duck is a wee bit time consuming. Also included is my wonderful recipe for Dauphinois Potatoes. Actually it's just about everyone's recipe for Dauphinois Potatoes. It seems to be the one thing chefs all agree on. These recipes both serve two, so double accordingly if you need more. Enjoy!

Duck Breasts with Caramelized Peaches

Ingredients:

• 2-3 shallots, diced
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup port
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp five spice powder, divided
• 2 peaches
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 2 duck breasts
• salt and pepper

Method:

Saute the shallots with the honey and half the five spice powder in the first half of the butter until soft.

Add port and allow to reduce by about a third.

Add chicken stock and simmer until syrupy. Keep warm and set aside.

Score duck fat and sear in a very hot pan, fat side down. Sear until fat is crispy.

Transfer to a 220C/425F oven until just done. Should still be pink in the center, about 6-7 minutes. Allow to rest while you prep the peaches.

Remove skin* and stone from peaches. Mix icing sugar and remaining five spice powder and dip the peaches in the mixture.

Saute in the remaining butter until just caramelized.

Slice the peaches and duck and arrange on plate. Serve with potatoes. Drizzle pan sauce over the duck. You could garnish with chives or candied orange peel.

* If they are very ripe, you should be able to just use your fingers or a knife. Otherwise you can dip them into boiling water for about thirty second and then remove the skin under cold water.

Recipe inspired by this one!

Dauphinois Potatoes for Two

Ingredients:

• 2-3 potatoes, peeled
• 1 cup cream
• 3 cloves garlic
• white pepper
• grating of nutmeg
• salt
• butter
• 2 ramekins

Method:

Preheat oven to 200C/400F

Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, cut potatoes into very thin slices. Place in a small saucepan with cream and two of the garlic cloves and simmer for about ten minutes. Potatoes should not cook through and retain some bite.

Slice the third garlic clove in half and rub each half all over the insides of the ramekins. Grease the ramekins with butter.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the potatoes from the cream and arrange in the ramekins.

Season the cream to taste with the salt, white pepper and nutmeg.

Pour mixture over ramekins and bake, covered with foil for thirty minutes.

Remove foil and bake for a further fifteen minutes or until bubbling and browning on top.

Allow to rest about fifteen minutes before serving, or longer if you will be removing from the ramekin.

Variations: Add some gruyere cheese on top, crumble some bacon in, add chives or onions... the possibilities are endless! You can make a bigger portion of this in a baking dish for a large crowd. You can then cut it into triangles for a decorative effect.

Sea Trout with Apple and Asparagus with Truffled Pommes La Lottes Potatoes

Trout Ingredients:

• 1 granny smith apple, diced
• 2 shallots, diced
• 5-6 spears of asparagus, chopped
• 2 fillets of fish*
• 1/2 glass white wine
• splash cream
• 2-3 tbsp butter

Method:

Saute the shallots in some butter until soft. Add the apple and chopped asparagus stalks. Reserve the heads. Saute until just soft and add the stalks and cook until done.

Add the wine and allow to reduce. Add a splash of cream and a dollop of butter to complete the light sauce.

Saute the trout fillets in butter skin side down for about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until done.

Place on plate and put the apple and asparagus mixture on top. Drizzle with the remaining sauce.

*I used trout here, but in hindsight a more delicately flavoured fish would be better. This is a very subtle sauce and would go much better with sole or plaice or tilapia, or any other delicate white fish. Trout or salmon are too strong to hold it. The husband loved this, trout aside though!

Truffled Pomme La Lotte Potatoes

1 pound potatoes, peeled

2 tbsp truffle oil

grating of white truffle, if available (optional)

1/2 cup olive oil, maybe more.

Salt and white pepper to season

Boil the potatoes until done. Drain and mash. Add the truffle oil, truffle, if using and enough olive oil to get the consistency you desire. Season accordingly.

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