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I’m Enjoying…. in June 2013

Posted on June 22, 2013June 22, 2013 by sheila kiely

I’m Enjoying….

….Lemon Curd

Is there no end to amazing Irish food producers? Heaven Preserve Us have a beautiful array of preserves selling at Irish Farmers Markets including this amazing lemon curd. {produced in Ovens, Co. Cork}. I used my jar of lemon curd to make an ahhmazing Lemon & Raspberry Pavlova – and yes, I do say so myself 🙂

….Apple Juice

I came across two of my boys and their pal at the Mealagulla Orchard juice stand at the Cork Summer Show last week. They weren’t just trying to snaffle free samples but were digging around in their pockets to club together to by a large bottle between them. Made from locally grown apples in Ovens, the Mealagulla Orchard Apple Juice is delicious and with 11-year-old boys willing to part with their hard-earned pocket-money to buy some it comes with a big thumbs up from them and from me.

….Fromage Frais

It can be very difficult to get your hands on some plain fat-free fromage frais. (How something this creamy can be fat-free? Don’t ask me!) Produced in Ireland by award-winning Kilbeg dairies you will find it in the cheese section. It was just what I was after for the filling of my Lemon & Raspberry Pavlova.

….Bakestone Café, Deli & Bakery

This brand new food offering at Ballyseedy Home and Garden Centre in Fota Retail Park, Carrigtwohill sees Joe and Maura Carey (owners of The White Horse Bar and Restaurant, Ballincollig) joined by Chef Ali Honour. They’re offering food and entertainment {Sunday Brunch is accompanied by a live jazz trio} in an almost arboretum type setting with a café that spills out into the foliage of the garden centre on the fine days. I for one will go anywhere for a decent cup of coffee, I usually drink decaf at home, but when I’m out I’ll be after a hit of something strong and delicious and they’ve a speciality range on offer here. Come for a coffee stay for breakfast, brunch, lunch or afternoon tea. Bakestone is open 9.30am til 6pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 6pm on Sundays.

….Apron Strings
With much anticipation I finally got my hands on Nessa Robins cookbook. You can check out one of Nessa’s recipe and a writeup on Apron Strings here.

….FEAST: A Dinner Journal

This is one for the coffee table. Breathtakingly beautiful this masterpiece from Donal Skehan {& team of Ross Golden Bannon, Sharon Hearne Smith, Jane Matthew and Sofie Larson} will be one to collect. I could see myself tearing out pictures to frame them (though where would I put the children’s pictures then!). Exquisite photography and appealingly clean yet cosy layout will have you losing yourself in its surrounds. Feast is available to peruse for free online for a limited time via Donal Skehan’s website and hard copies can be ordered from MagCloud.

….Cork on a Fork

FREE. FREE. FREE. Doesn’t everyone love something free? Fenn’s Quay are giving you a copy of their beautifully presented collection of recipes in ‘Cork on a Fork’ free to download here.

….Food Festival Season

While there are now a plethora of food festivals the whole year round the summer is rampant with them. With the finer weather (fingers crossed) bringing us out in search of a quality day of entertainment there is nothing like a wander around a food festival to satisfy you. One such festival kicking off 5th July through to 7th July is Killorglin Festival. Events planned for the weekend include music, taste tours, smokery tours, angling exhibits, lectures and unique collaborations between food and drink providers. Sure what more could you want?! Check out the details on their beautiful website.

Well I hope you get a chance to get out there over the coming months and enjoy blissfully bright hours discovering new products and food festivals for yourself.

Talk to you in July! Enjoy, x Sheila

P.S.
I’m also loving Bloglovin as a very attractive and easy way to view the blog posts you follow, you might like it too.

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I’m Enjoying…. in May 2013

Posted on May 25, 2013 by sheila kiely

I’m Enjoying….

….Jamie, Jamie, Jamie.

After finally splashing out on a fancy food processor what better recipes to put it to the test with than with ‘Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals’ – Delicious, Nutritious, Super-Fast Food. So far I’ve tried 3 recipes from the book with great success. Now maybe it’s my faffing and to-ing and fro-ing from cupboards to fridge and back again but it takes me 15 minutes to get organised and then I’m ready to cook, so for me it’s more like 30 minute meals but I’m more than happy with that. So far I’ve tried out three recipes. The ‘Blackened Chicken – San Fran Quinoa Salad’ is amazing, the ‘Modern Greek Salad – Spinach, Chickpea & Feta Parcels’ are superb for the vegetarian in your life and finally the ‘Golden Chicken – Braised Greens & Potato Gratin’ is a winner for midweek family dining. If you’re simply after some tasty salad recipes then I’ve reproduced Jamie’s San Fran Quinoa Salad and the Modern Greek Salad on previous posts on the blog.

….Dunnes Stores.

Dunnes Stores has continuously developed and improved their homeware department over the past number of years and having designer Paul Costelloe on board – who is designing menswear for them now too – is an absolute coup. I’m loving his rustic/mediterranean influenced pottery range that’s in-store now. Their Carolyn Donnely e c l e c t i c range is well worth checking out too.

….Baking Bread.

Knorr kindly sent me a selection of their Create More sauces and Knorr Professional Mixed Herbs Puree. I made this gluten-free focaccia studded with olives, sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary and generously basted with their Professional Mixed Herbs puree mixed with some rapeseed oil. We like to dip our bread into a dish of olive oil with a floating slick of balsamic vinegar.

….Irish Tomatoes

I bought these delicious tomatoes in my local SuperValu last year and I’m delighted to see them back on the shelves again. They’re called ‘Irish Flavorita Tomatoes’ and as the name suggests they are lovely and sweet and flavoursome.

….Slipping into Summer

At last the sun has decided to breakthrough here in Ireland and after a long hard winter and a distinctly chilly Spring we’ve been given a tease of summer lately with a little bit of heat. As summer approaches I’m embracing salads and Jamie’s super easy recipes as previously mentioned. I’ve also experimented with another hummus, this time flavoured with harissa paste that has been lingering in the fridge for an unknown amount of time so its time to use it up! This Harissa Hummus is a quick and easy dip, perfect to entertain with, served with some spicy pita chips and something refreshing, crisp, white and chilled. Now that to me says summer.

Talk to you in June! Enjoy, x Sheila

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I’m Enjoying…. in April 2013

Posted on April 25, 2013April 25, 2013 by sheila kiely

I’m enjoying….

…discovering new Irish made Chocolate.

Not just chocolate, this ‘bean to bar’, beautifully packaged luxury chocolate can be ordered via ‘Wilkie’s Organic Chocolate’
In order to stretch this luxurious experience further I came up with a Chocolate Fruit & Nut Clusters Recipe if you’d like to check that out too.

…getting organised with stylish storage.

Well we are well into Spring now so it is time to clear out the presses, decant overflowing packages into jars and generally get a little bit more organised and de-cluttered. I love the Kilner jars for storing all kinds of ingredients from flour to nuts and dried fruit and the smaller ones can stack up neatly on a shelf. I particularly like the coloured jar pictured here. Now what shall I put in that? Think dark chocolate buttons would look fantastic however they wouldn’t last very long!

…discovering new packaging.

I’ve always loved Boilíe Goat’s Cheese Pearls With Herbs and Garlic Infused Oil and I picked them up in this simple yet beautiful packaging lately.

…experimenting with lazy bread-making.

Not really great on the old kneading, resting, rising, knocking-back mullarkey – so many things to do – so little time! I’ve always loved the simplicity of a soda bread. Here I’ve revisited my Granny’s recipe and vamped it up with Caramelised Red Onions. Amazing.

…adapting super-quick side dishes.

This bulgar wheat salad can be taken in many directions and you could get quite fanciful with some pomegranate molasses if you pleased, here however I’ve gone after the greenery of a taboulleh with lush fragrant parsley and added that classic combination of mint and peas. I hope you get time to try it out for yourself.

Talk to you in May! Enjoy, x Sheila

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I’m enjoying…. in March 2013

Posted on March 27, 2013 by sheila kiely

I’m enjoying….

—being spoiled rotten.
The best kind of surprises for me are the ones that I plan myself. On recent discussion of the potluck of leaving present choosing up to ones other half I remain firmly in the don’t leave it to chance camp. I’ve long been a proponent of heavy, heavy hinting if not blatant purchasing and wrapping of presents to be given to me. Why leave room for disappointment with that lesson well learned on being presented with a fairisle jumper circa 1990. He might not remember but I will never forget. With that in mind and the fact that we were long overdue a night out I planned an amazing getaway to our capital city Dublin. With it being for one night only we chose to stay in The Merrion Hotel and splurge on a dining extravaganza in the adjacent Restaurant Patrick Guildbaud. And when I say ‘we chose’ you know I really mean “I.”

The Merrion was everything you could wish for from a decadent 5 star hotel. Staff at every encounter were genuine, friendly, welcoming and super discreet.

Restaurant Patrick Guildbaud was superb. 2 Michelin stars sets high expectations of the food but what is also required is a beautiful ambience, somewhere that you can feel at home and unhurried. Lingering for almost 3 hours I thoroughly enjoyed every second. Being waited on by French staff, mouthful after mouthful was sublime, this was a whole other world experience. Not that you need me to tell you but I highly recommend.

…pesto three ways.

Using Sacla’s recently launched and gratuitously supplied squeezy bottles of pesto – now even more convenient with no spoons required – I got creative with 3 new pesto recipes this month. First up a new way with cauliflower to serve as a tasty side dish. Secondly an amazingly tasty salad made with substantial cannellini beans. This is moreish and super satisfying and makes a more than adequate lunch maybe served with some crusty bread. And finally a robust roasted aubergine dip that is ultra easy to make and a very healthy alternative. Great served with paprika spiced pita chips. [links to the three recipes].

…some insanely good cheating.

Yes I’ve been cheating this month with pots of ‘insanely GOOD‘ sauces. Produced in West Cork they’ve been great for those ‘I really could not be bothered to cook nights.’ Quicker than the takeaway these are another good standby.

…looking forward to breakfast.

In the ongoing cold-snap we’ve been experiencing here in Ireland in March and spilling over into April a simple antidote is to wrap your hands around a nice hot mug of tea. What better to go with a cup of tea than a delicious slice of brown bread topped with marmalade. I picked up a jar of ‘Wexford Home Preserves – Brandy Marmalade’ because I thought it looked nice and I loved that it listed 4 simple to read ingredients : sugar, oranges, lemons & brandy. This is a very tasty Irish marmalade, great spread onto thickly buttered brown bread, and if you’re not in the ‘I ALWAYS make my own bread’ camp (give us a break love) then I recommend McCambridge’s.

…loving my spuds.
My youngest boys were learning about the famine period of Irish history and came home from school to educate me about lumper potatoes – I’d never heard of them.

As you can see they were rather lumpy looking yokes. Glens of Antrim has resurrected the variety and I picked up a couple of bags in Marks & Spencer’s, marked as ‘Our Latest Discovery’ – it’s only taken 170 odd years!

The lads were delighted to get to try some and they went down well with golden syrup baked ham, cabbage and a parsley & onion sauce. We’ve kept a couple of spares with plans to grow our own but more of that in April.

Talk to you in April! Enjoy, x Sheila.

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I’m enjoying…. in February 2013

Posted on February 22, 2013 by sheila kiely

I’m enjoying….

….getting back out there and running again after all the glorious indulgences of the Christmas season that for me drags way into January with a seemingly endless supply of chocolates that just can’t be wasted or given away. As my toes emerged through the front of yet another pair of asics I’ve treated myself to a new pair as they never let me down.

….the perfect porridge. Obviously from the picture above my oats of favour are Flahavan’s Organic Porridge Oats. My first-born (now 16) is a convert to this deliciously satisfying start to the day and I’m hoping that eventually the rest of the sprogs will follow suit. I top mine with stewed apple, cinammon & honey. For a step by step you can follow this link

….baking with my kids, especially my 11 year old twin boys. One of our experiments together was an amazing pavlova but sometimes they like to try things all by themselves. I returned home from the shops recently to find them with a buddy valiantly transferring the mixture of Hummingbird Bakery’s Brooklyn Blackout Cake into tins with removable bases that were starting to leak. This was quickly rescued into a large tin and cooked altogether. They had adjusted the quantities and the cake base was amazingly moist. I stepped in and followed the recipe for the Chocolate Custard topping to the letter and while it looks amazing it is quite sickly in texture and not one that I would recommend making! (base is very good though)

….experimenting with flapjacks and justifying the indulgence with the fact that being roughly 40% oats they must be good for me. I’ve concocted this cranberry, macadamia & chocolate chip version but there’s lots of room to play around with them so I hope you get to experiment yourself soon.

….looking forward to March & so glad that January and February are almost over. They’ve been long, bleak and cold months and it’s been very tempting to roll over and hibernate through them. Instead I’ve continued to push myself to bikram yoga classes which if you haven’t tried yet I highly recommend.

Talk to you in March! Enjoy, x Sheila