We Love Cooking!:
coriander

This was the piece I wrote for my feature in the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine, about the fantastic cookclub I attended recently:

Bright and bubbly Sadhbh McCarthy hosted one of her regular dinner parties as part of her cook club with a celebration of some of her favourite recipes for pals, Brid, Fiona, Karen, Peter and Colm. Sadhbh who works as a European policy advisor, chose her menu which was a hearty mix of cultures, based around a refreshing and aromatic starter of Vietnamese beef and noodle soup, Beef Pho. A dish which she fell in love with on a trip travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Shanghai and was determined to recreate it when she came home. The soup caused a friendly heated debate as some of the more apprehensive guests were unsure about the addition of red chilli. However the debate quickly dissipated when Sadhbh helped by Peter, presented a glowing platter of hot sizzling Thai Fish Cakes straight from the pan. Originally a Rick Stein recipe, Sadhbh adapted it using her own blend of curry paste and spoke encouragingly about being flexible when cooking Asian dishes as long as you keep the base flavours.

All the ingredients used for the recipes were sourced from the indoor Honest2Goodness farmers market in Glasnevin, run by Sadhbh’s friend Brid Carter. The pair met through a combined love of good food and Brid provided the secret ingredient for a wonderfully tender pork belly and added an extra zing to the dish by using her own blend of 5 spice powder sourced from the market.

Dessert was provided by Sadhbh’s son Jamie, who is training to become a chef in DIT, he made a mouth-watering cheesecake topped with summer berries adapted from a Bill Granger recipe which was accompanied by a smooth berry coulis which cut through the creaminess to add another dimension to the dish. It was a unanimous decision around the table that the addition of Moonshine Organic Cream Cheese from artisan producers Gerry and Mary Kelly in Mullingar set the standard when it came to adding an extra creaminess to the dessert.

Wines were carefully selected by trained sommelier and wine obsessive Colm Carter who works alongside Brid at the market every Saturday. He chose Domaine de l'Amandine Cotes du Rhone 2007 for the starter, a Vina Marro, Crianza 2006 Rioja Doca for the rich pork belly and a fruity Oddero Moscato d'Asti 2007 to go with the cheesecake.

I hadn't intended on interrupting by staying the whole evening, but Sadhbh and her friends fully welcomed me with a glass of wine and in a true case of Irish hospitality I found myself polishing off dessert with a full belly! Sadhbh summed up the fantastic evening by sharing her ethos on her cook club which was to “Cook with love and a desire to share and enjoy the experience”.

Pho Bo – Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup
(from Annabel Jackson’s Street Café Vietnam)

To serve 4
450g fresh flat rice noodles or rice sticks
225g beansprouts (blanched briefly to soften slightly)
8 shallots, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
225g beef fillet, thinly sliced

For the broth
1.7 litres beef stock or canned beef consommé
115g piece fresh ginger, peeled and smashed
2 sticks cinnamon bark
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
3 pieces star anise
1 teaspoon each caster sugar, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons nuoc mam (Vietnamese equivalent of nam pla (fish sauce)

To serve:
Hoi sin sauce and chilli sauce
2 limes, cut in half
2 fresh red chillies, thinly sliced
Bunch of fresh ngo gai (if available) – this is a Vietnamese herb
Bunch of fresh Thai Basil

To make the broth: bring the stock to boiling point. Add the ginger, cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds and star anise. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the sugar, salt, pepper and fish sauce. Strain the broth and return to the pan. Keep hot over a low heat.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, and warn through fresh noodles or cook rice sticks until al dente. Drain and divide among individual bowls. Add a handful of blanched beansprouts and some shallots and coriander to each bowl and top with the beef (still raw). Ladle the hot broth over the food in the bowl (this will cook the beef slightly).
At the table, each diner can add hoi sin, chilli sauce, lime juice, fresh chilli ngo gai and basil leaves to taste.

- I will be posting the rest of the delicious recipes from the dinner party this week!

Back in the land of the living, I flew home on Sunday morning after a late night bus across Sweden which left me totally wrecked! The big news this week is that I'm heading over to London to appear on Good Food Channel's "Market Kitchen" and I am so excited! I hope they will let me take a few shots behind the scenes so I can post them here on the blog. So while I'm gearing up for my UK tv debut (hehehe couldn't wait to say that!) here is a recipe which is perfect for everyone who probably headed back to work today, it's a super lunchbox filler from the book and I hope you like it!

Tahini Noodle Toss

This little recipe came about after I ate at the California Pizza Kitchen in America; they served a really tasty crisp salad, with this rich and tasty peanut dressing. I recreated it from taste, adapted it and recently discovered it goes perfectly with noodles. This is another great little lunch box filler as it can be served hot and cold. Tahini is a creamy, yet smoky paste made from sesame seeds and is similar to peanut butter, which you can also use as a substitute. I sometimes add finely shredded raw Chinese cabbage to these noodles for extra crunch. I love this recipe because you basically combine all the wet and dry ingredients just before serving.

Serves 2
250g/9oz wholewheat noodles
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
4 tablespoons of tahini paste
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
A good handful of bean sprouts
Toasted sesame seeds
A small handful of coriander, freshly chopped

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, rinse in cold water and set aside.
In a small saucepan, fry the garlic and chilli for about 30 seconds, then add the soya sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and tahini paste.
Cook over a medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil and, when it does, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, add the noodles and bean sprouts, toss together with the tahini sauce until mixed through.
Serve in hearty bowls and top with toasted sesame seeds, freshly chopped coriander and thinly sliced spring onions. Time to get those chopsticks out!

Wow! What a week it's been, I have seen 14 record stores and been on 17 radio stations with Industry throughout the country! I finally arrived home Saturday afternoon and have been in bed since. Myself and Sofie woke up late this morning and decided to go for a walk down to the farmers market in Howth, to pick up something for breakfast.

By the time we had finished looking around the market, breakfast became brunch and we ended up in the new Seafood Tapas bar, Octopussy, which is the latest little eatery to appear on Howth's west pier. It's a pretty funky cafe/bar which serves tapas sized seafood dishes, such as calamari, crab claws, paella, Dublin bay prawns, and Thai prawn curry. The dishes are all fairly reasonably priced for what you get, all under €10, and will definitely leave you full. I ordered the Dublin Bay Prawns, which were simply griddled in a little butter, they were a little messy to eat, but totally worth it.

Chilli, Garlic and Lime Dublin Bay Prawns
I use a microplane grater to mince the garlic and chilli, its a really handy kitchen gadget. To butterfly a Dublin bay prawn, run a knife from the head to tail, being careful not to cut all the way through, then gently flatten it out.

Serves 2
8 Dublin bay prawns or langoustines, butterflied
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red chilli, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
juice of 1 lime
lime wedges and chopped coriander, to serve

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss the prawns to coat.
Heat a large griddle pan, and add the prawns.
Cook for 2-3 minutes either side or until cooked through.
Transfer the prawns to a serving plate, sprinkle with a little chopped coriander and serve with some lime wedges.