I am coming to you live from my hotel room in the sunny south of Ireland in Ballingcollig, Cork. I was doing a cookery demonstration for the Hope Foundation last night and it went extremely well! It was my first time doing a demo in front of a live adult audience, so I couldn't rely on my usual school demo tricks like asking them what they bring for their lunches, and of course every kid sticks up their hand. No this is a little different, but in a good way, I get to give more tips about the stuff I am cooking and I can choose dishes which are a little more interesting than stuff only kids will eat.
Last night I was demoing some of my favourite dishes from the book, I did 7 dishes altogether, which were my aromatic duck salad (with duck supplied by the lovely folks from Silverhill), hasselback potatoes, tomato chicken thigh supper, garlic mushroom and goats cheese pasta, mushy roast garlic and cherry tomato pasta, and my favourite dessert, Kerstin's bursting berries with white chocolate!
We did a bit of a signing after the demo, so a huge thank you to everyone who came up and bought a book, and big shout the folks at the Hope Foundation who pulled off the whole night with huge success! Mark was our cameraman for the night and popped me the tape of the whole thing, so when I get time I will stick it up here, so you can take a peak!
Today's recipe is going all Irish, as for the next few days, the country will be taken over by a rush of green and lots of celebrations. A few of the towns we drove through today already have their bunting up in the town square! This recipe is from my Cork News column which is out today, and for any foreign readers out there, this dish is quite a traditional Irish dish, so I hope you like it!
Traditional Irish Food: Colcannon Colcannon is as traditional, as traditional Irish food gets, and for the week that's in it, when the whole world will be going green in our honour, what better thing to do, than serve up some of the finest! I told my grandad I was making this the other day and no sooner was it out of my mouth than he had burst into song. The dish of course, is the inspiration behind the traditional Irish song by the same name, "Oh weren't them the happy days when troubles we knew not and our mother made colcannon in the little skillet pot". This recipe is the one I grew up with, but if you want to experiment, you could also stir in a little bit of wholegrain mustard to add an extra bite to it!
Serves 4 portions 1kg potatoes, peeled and diced 250g savoy cabbage, finely sliced 1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced 2 tablespoons of butter 75ml of milk A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper
Add the peeled and diced potato to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork. Place a metal steamer into another pot, add a little water and bring to the boil. Place the cabbage into the steamer and steam cook until it is tender. When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, drain into a colander, then add back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may want to add a little bit more or less milk and butter, it is up to you! Add in the spring onion, steamed cabbage, sea salt and black pepper and stir through with a spoon until evenly combined. Serve the colcannon straight away with a little extra butter and sea salt if you want. Enjoy and a slightly premature, Happy St. Patricks Day!
Way back in October I got a tweet from the lovely Trish Deseine, who many of you might know from her hugely successful series on RTÉ, where she guides viewers through just some of the vast range of delicious French dishes. Trish was born in Belfast and later moved to Paris, where she mastered her French cooking skills. She asked me if I would be interested in coming to Paris to cater an event and put me in touchwith Raphael, from Le Fooding®, a Parisien magazine which seeks out the coolest eateries in the city. After lots and lots and lots and lots of emails back and forth we finally organised everything for the event which is going to be taking place in Paris at Le Chalet Des Iles on the 24th of March. From what I can gather, the event will have live music and is like a mini woodstock with food! It sounds really exciting and with only 2 weeks to go I cannot wait! The event is sponsored by Jameson whiskey and Bord Bia are sponsoring some of the ingredients from my recipes. These are the dishes I will be serving up on the night:
- Irish Seafood Chowder served with Chilled Smoked Salmon
- Kelly's Of Newport Black Pudding and Cashel Blue Cheese Salad
- Mocha Meringues with Jameson Whiskey Cream, Chocolate Sauce and toasted Hazelnuts
- Jameson Ginger and Mint Iced Fire Cocktails
If you just so happen to be in Paris that night, please do come along, I am not so sure how it works with the tickets but I have been told there is quite a demand, and people queue outside the venue to get in, so I guess you could come down and try your luck!
The Turkey travel log is still coming, my focus was way more on food the second week, so keep on hanging on in there!
Datca After a somewhat misguided trip to Symi, we had a long and bumpy sail up to the small Turkish town of Datca. It was our first visit of the trip to a Turkish town, so there was a lot on offer to do and see.We arrived into a buzzing little harbour with lots of small restaurants and shops all vying for our attention. On first inspection the waterfront looked very touristy but after we ventured further up the town, there was a lot more to Datca. A long street leading from the harbour front out of the town was packed with little Bazaars, herb shops, bakeries, kebab restaurants, and newsagents which sell their bread in fabulous little cabinets
Just before dinner Sofie and I went for a quick walk into the town and stumbled upon a massive parade taking place down the main street. We followed the people marching into a large square, overlooked by a massive portrait of the first president of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
We later discovered it was a festival of International cultures, and folk dancing groups from Romania, Sierra Leone, Poland, and Turkey were all in attendance fully dressed in traditional folk costume. It was the perfect opportunity to get some really great pictures.
With so many people crowding around the different groups, I was hardly noticed snapping away! The atmosphere was great, everyone including the participants looked like they were enjoying every minute. It was really easy to see why festivals like these, which celebrate different cultures, have become so successful.
As the evening began to close in, the crowd slowly dispersed and disappeared.
Later that evening we followed the noise of loud music across the harbor to where a mass of people were milling around an open air amphitheatre. We went through a large door to discover a massive concert for all the locals. We sat down and from what I could see it appeared the concert was in honour of local dignitaries who were sat right in front of the stage and even joined in the festivities by dancing right in front of the band!
Bozuk Buku Our next stop was more along the lines of the little bays and ports we were used too, in Turkish waters. The tiny little bay is overlooked by the ruins of a large wall which make for a pretty stunning backdrop right on the mountain.
The water here was really clear and perfect for snorkelling. In most of the smaller bays which have restaurants run by the locals, rickety old jetty’s are built to offer mooring to the passing yachts.
In the afternoon when the sun’s heat had finally reduced, I dragged Sofie on a big trek to the top of the hill to see the ruins of the wall. She wasn’t impressed with both the heat and the fact that I insisted we walk through the campsite the locals lived in.
But I’m glad we did, as you really get a feel for how the people who run these little places live. A couple of goats and chickens roamed their little enclosures, while an old woman slept right under one of the close by trees!
The ruins were really impressive and the views from the top made the long walk very worthwhile.
We were joined only by a cat who seemed to happily have made the old walls its home. The small restaurant onshore had a great selection of Turkish Mezze and fresh fish.
Kumlu Buku After a long series of stops which were a little on the rustic side, we pulled in to Kumlu Buku, a small bay just outside Marmaris. A small up market restaurant sits right on the shore, and a few really stunning straw huts full of giant cushions sit on the beach. Sofie and I made a beeline for these, and spent most of the day lounging on the comfy cushions. Hard life right? We ate in the restaurant on shore and to our surprise it had a fairly extensive Chinese menu! I may have mentioned it here before but I have a big thing for Asian cuisine! After solidly eating turkish mezze and grilled meats for 5 days on trot, it was great to have something different. I’ll be honest I really wasn’t expecting this small restaurant to produce the best of the best, but all the dishes that we ordered were absolutely delicious and really fresh. As the sun set the staff at the restaurant lit large, open flamed laterns right down the beach. The jetty, we were moored up to, was lit up with under water lights, and the whole place looked really spectactular! We were leaving the next morning but I could have easily stayed another night there!
Only a few days left till the world's first twinnerparty! Very exciting stuff, I'm really thrilled people are getting behind the idea and big thank you to everyone who has blogged and retweeted about it! I've had the idea so long ago now that I just felt it was easier to start it small and allow the event to grow naturally rather than organising a massive event telling everyone about it and then it not actually working! The next twinnerparty is already in works for a date in early march so if you can't do this Saturday night, don't worry there will be more! If you haven't planned your twinnerparty just yet, don't worry there is lots of time left to invite some pals over, and hopefully as the recipes are posted they may entice you to get your skates on even more.
Today I'm posting the recipe from Saturdays menu that I am most excited about first! I have a theory on impressive desserts for dinner parties, and it goes like this, if your going to make a dessert, make it a mega dessert, a big balls out sugary treat that could tear the head off, even the pickiest of guests! This Crunchie Sticky Banoffee Pie, folks, I think, does just that! :)
Crunchie Sticky Banoffee Pie
What can make a naughty pie even naughtier? The answer... CRUNCHIE BARS! If you don't live in Ireland or England, Crunchie bars are honeycomb bars covered in chocolate and are extremely delicious! But my favourite part of making this pie has to be the nervous and exciting moment of opening the tin of condensed milk after it's been boiled for 2 hours to see if it's perfectly caramelised, and then squidging the tin so that the content blubs out over the edge! Those words are probably not even in the dictionary but I feel they best describe the tin of gooey caramel perfectly!
Serves 6 297g can condensed milk 230g digestive biscuits, about 16 crushed finely 115g butter, melted 3 bananas 250ml of cream 3 crunchie bars, roughly chopped
In a small high sided pot, cover the tin and boil the unopened can of condensed milk for 2 hours, keep an eye on it making sure the water level is always above the top of the can. While the can is boiling, prepare the base of the pie. Mix together the crushed digestive biscuits with the melted butter until they are combined and then spread the mixture evenly over the base of a 18cm cake tin with a removable base. Cover and chill for 2 hours in the fridge. When the can has finished boiling remove from the water and allow to cool. When the can is cool to the touch, open and spread the caramelised condensed milk over the biscuit base. Slice the bananas evenly and arrange over the caramel. Whip the cream until it is just about stiff and spread on top of the bananas. Sprinkle the crunchie bar over the top of the cream as artistically as you feel necessary! Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Very exciting news, tomorrow I am going to be cooking up a storm with the lovely ladies Maura and Sheana on The Afternoon Show on RTE 1 @ 4.00pm. I actually went in to see the show being filmed last week and got some great tips from one of the regular chefs Richie Wilson who is the head chef at the Morrisson Hotel in Dublin. Richie told me the key to cooking on a live show like this was to be prepared so that if time starts to run out, you already have ingredients ready to go so you can skip steps if you have to! Nerve-wracking or what! I'm going to be cooking recipes from my book so fingers crossed for tomorrow! :)
The whole show went fantastically smooth but... disaster- I forgot my camera so no pics from the show unfortunately! But the video should be available on the RTE player tomorrow morning.
I cooked a few of my favourite recipes from the book and the blog, Chicken Thigh Supper, Med Veg with Bulgur Wheat, and one of the tastiest pastas, Sunblushed Tomato, Goats Cheese and Basil, Penne!
The pace on the Afternoon Show is quite relaxed and because you shop for your own ingredients it means you see the demo from start to finish and are a lot more hands on. I suppose, looking back, I was totally overwhelmed by the Market Kitchen experience, having never cooked on TV before and being surrounded by big names in the UK food world, whereas I have been interviewed on The Afternoon Show before when I was in Eurosong, so I knew the set up and I visited last week to watch another chef do their demonstration, which put me at ease!
After some late night cooking last night, I packed up my little car with all the ingredients and headed over to RTE, making a quick pit stop in Superquinn to grab some last minute items, a bottle of red wine, bulgur wheat and 2 aubergines! When I arrived it was just a case of setting up all the ingredients, choosing all the props, plates and bowls I needed from the prop room and just thinking through everything I needed.
We did a quick rehearsal and I met the lovely ladies, Maura and Sheana, who present the show and they were so nice, Sheana spent the afternoon telling me she loved the book and was definitely going to try some of the recipes! Before I knew it we were live and I was grinning like a fool down the lens of the camera and it turned out my old pal, Dustin The Turkey was on the show as well and he was a charming as ever, I gave him a few good turkey recipes before he left!
The funniest part of the whole experience was at the end of the show. I had been pre warned that the crew love getting stuck in to the food that's cooked on the show, but nothing prepared me for the eight people crowded around all the food like vultures digging in with forks! They all loved the food so happy days- empty plates are always the best form of a compliment for a cook!
I was away for the past few days for what is fast becoming my monthly trip to Sweden! Just to give you a brief history about my obsession with the home of europop, I love the Eurovision and in Sweden unlike Ireland it is widely accepted to enjoy that style of music, they also produce the best of it! I was once part of a boyband which saw us play in Sweden and one of the members (Jonathan Fagerlund) was also Swedish, at one stage I practically lived with his great family so I got to learn a lot more about the MANY traditions of Sweden. Ever Since I left the band I continue to visit and my beautiful girlfriend also happens to be from the land of the moose.
I have travelled quite a bit through Sweden and even lived there for a while, I would highly recommend you visit Gothenburg city, great shopping, really healthy food, and quite easy to access thanks to Ryanair. Perfect for a short city break.
Myself and Sofie were there for the past 5 days with two of our friends so we did a few touristy things to keep ourselves entertained, including a short drive from to a beautiful picturesque island north of Gothenburg called Mastrand, a trip to Scandinavia's largest theme park, Liseberg, some essential shopping and even a spot of sailing!
We also attended Sofie's Grandparent's crayfish party which was LOT'S of fun! The idea of the crayfish party has grown in popularity since the 1930's when the crayfish season began in late August, people sit out in the last of the summer sun, eat huge amounts of crayfish, sing schnapps songs, and wear funny hats and bibs! The one we went to was no different and definitely lived up to my expectations!
I particularly love shellfish so I can't describe my excitement when what appeared to be unlimited supplies of crayfish and prawns were placed elegantly on the table! All table manners really go out the window at this stage, when shell's are cracked, and claws snapped to reveal the salty sweet cooked cold meat. Making loud sucking noises also become an acceptable form of behaviour, to our friends who are bit squeamish, this must have looked more like a massacre than a party! I nearly had one of them trying the crayfish but they couldn't bring themselves to do it! Oh well maybe next time!
The eating is only broken up by the singing of songs and drinking schnapps which happens so regularly that for a light weight like myself it led to singing in my best Swedish at the top of my voice!
People who aren't used to cooking generally shy away from shellfish and see them as something pretty difficult to prepare, but if you can boil an egg then you can cook crayfish. Here is a simple recipe to make the crayfish we had at the party.
Swedish Crayfish Recipe
2 lbs of crayfish
3 Litres of Water
5 tbsp of Salt
1 tbsp of Sugar
Handful of Crown Dill or Fresh Dill
Bring the water to the boil in a large pot and add the salt sugar and dill. Add the crayfish to the hot water, if your crayfish is live, I recommend you put them in one at a time in order to keep the water hot enough to kill the little fella's instantly. Bring to the boil again and let simmer and cook for 10 mins. The option here is to just strain the crayfish under cold water but my advice would be to rinse them under cold water and place them back in the seasoned water with ice for a better taste.
A that's it! Serve them cold and enjoy your very own cray fish party!
I have my laptop on the boat with me, in order to keep up with the book, and the approaching deadline. However one thing I was not expecting, was the abundance of wireless internet connections, even in the most solitude of places!
I think the word rustic most definitely captures the style of cooking in Turkey, and they produce the most amazing and interesting breads you could imagine! Lots of fresh salads, baked aubergine, feta cheese, green beans, grilled meats and fish fill the table, leaving you satisfied and tired in the warm heat.
As a nice way to finish off the Leila Lindholm week here on the blog, Lorraine from New Holland publishing organised a phone interview with the lady herself! I was very excited on Thursday morning to be able to call the lovely Leila, to have a quick chat about baking, the muffin mafia and of course her next book! Enjoy!
So you grew up in a family with a mix of cultures, tell me a little about the kind of food you had growing up, did you find you learned a lot about Morroccan cooking when you were growing up? I grew up with my mother and I only met my father when I was 24 so I didn't really grow up in a Morroccan culture at all, but my dad is from Morrocco.
From most of Swedes I talk to, they don't exactly rave about Swedish cuisine, but what you consider the most typical Swedish dish? It's pretty much like Swedish meatballs and we have a special kind of sausage called Falun sauasage that we eat and I think quite a lot of international food aswell as I remember we went to restauarants at least once a week to have dinner when I grew up.
I read you studied cooking, was that in Sweden? I studied a restaurant course in Stockholm and I started when I was 16 and finished when I was 19. When you finish the course you work in restaurants straight away.
I was very excited to read in your book about the muffin mafia, a baking group you started with your grandmother when you were younger, can you tell me a little about the members? It was great, it was actually something me and my grandma's neighbour made up, because I used to run over to her house and she taught me how to bake and we baked like cakes and cupcakes and muffins. Then she decided that we could become pen pals and send recipes to each other and it was me and Aunt Elsa, then her friends up in the north of Sweden, they were a bunch of old ladies in their 60's and we would send recipes to each other. But I was the boss, the mafia boss!
What were some of the first dishes you learned to cook? I think probably something simple like sausage and macoroni, or actually it was like grilled sandwiches! I used to with my best friend go to her place after to school and make all kinds of grilled sandwhiches with pineapple, really tacky sandwiches, with ketchup and pineapple and stuff on them and a lot of cheese!
You have an extremely successful career in Sweden, what would you consider your big break? Well actually I had two kind of big breaks, the first when I was 24, I was chosen Female Swedish Chef Of The Year and that was a big break because I started getting into the media and got attention from the media. I started doing interviews in the press and that was back in 1999. Then the second big break came in 2004 when I was chosen TV chef of the year and then also it was a milestone in a sense as it was my big break in the tv business, and I started getting more possibilities with my cooking shows. I started on one of the biggest morning shows here in Sweden and when I won the award I got asked to do my own cooking series and then after this it's been quite a successful story!
Well I can definitely see that! So who do you find you get the biggest reaction from your books, what kind of people? It's definitely women, but also mothers and kids, they love the baking show. I have heard from so many parents that their kids are watching the baking show on DVD's, they don't want to watch Disney movies, they just want to watch my baking show which is a little funny!
What are some of your favourite dishes to cook apart from baking? I love to do barbeques, so that's what I am really looking forward to this summer, we have a lot of snow right now, but I can't wait to start doing barbeques, that's what I really love! Doing meat like sirloin steak, lamb legs, whole salmon, I can't wait!
In every picture I have seen of you, you always look incredibly happy, are there any dishes that really frustrate you to make? I like to cook everything but sometimes there are dishes which are challenging when, of course, even for me, sometimes things don't work or like the Bearnaise sauce doesn't turn out, thats annoying. Also it's quite common, I'm sure you are familiar with this, when you have plan in your mind and it just doesn't work out when you cook it!
From what I have read you have a big interest in styling as well as cooking, how did that get started? Well I think for me I have always been interested in aesthetic stuff, interior designs, and beautiful things so I collect beautiful things and it came from there. I love to create beautiful things and it's a huge passion I have a craving, I have to do it!
When I was in Sweden I picked up your fantastic magazine Leila's Country Living but I heard it has stopped, will you be working on new issues of it in the future? Maybe in the future but right now I decided not to because I have just had a baby, and I decided to try two issues first in 2009, to make sure it went well because I have no experience in the magazine world. Then I realised that it is so hard to juggle the tv shows, and the book and the magazine.
I was in a book shop in Dublin yesterday and spotted your book "A Piece of Cake", I didn't realise it had been released here aswell as the UK, are you hoping to come over here and break this market? That would be fantastic to work more abroad, but this is my first cookbook to be released outside Sweden, it has been released in The Netherlands, USA, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and in Italy so it's quite exciting to see where it's going to take my work. It's been nine months since I had my baby so I am starting to get back into work mode and we are starting to record season 3 of my baking show in about two weeks. I was also asked by the Discovery channel to do a couple of shows but that was when I just had by baby and it was a food travel show and it wasn't possible to travel.
I'm guessing since the success of your books and tv shows in Sweden, and even with a new baby life has become a lot busier, how has your cooking habits changed? They haven't really, I kind of cook the same stuff I cook in my shows!
Have you had any major on-air or off-air disasters when cooking on tv? No but sometimes in the studio its very hot so in like the spring time sometimes when you work with cake and chocolate and ice cream they melt, so that can be a bit of a disaster!
I am a huge fan of cookbooks, have you got a big collection of books yourself, is there any you just couldn't live without? No I'm greedy I have to have them all! I have about over 100 books, but my favourites are from Martha Stewart and of course Jamie Oliver, his books are very fresh and beautiful!
You worked with Jamie's photographer, David Loftus on one of your books, what was he like to work with? He was fun, he is a fantastic photographer, and it was great, we had done a couple of jobs for Delicious magazine in the UK, and some Swedish magazines also.
Do you have some favourite cookbooks from Swedish food writers? There is a food writer called Anna Bergenstrom, she makes beautiful food, she is like the Swedish Julia Child, a legend!
What do you think the success of a good cook book relies on? Good recipes, and recipies that work, and also that they are easy and they work for normal people. Of course the photography and styling is very important but also when you work with the text to make all the corrections in a book is so important so they are well worked through and very exact, so you are guaranteed the recipe is good.
What are your plans for you next book, will you stick with baking or will you concentrate on any other specific aspects of food? It's actually going to be a follow up to "A Piece of Cake" and I made it with the intention of making two books and I wanted to do one book with sweet stuff and another with more savoury stuff, and it's called "One More Slice" and I bake pizza, pasta, and a lot of sour dough bread recipes, and also there is sweets too. There is a chapter called Cheesecake and another called brownies and blondies, and Ice cream too! So it's all the good stuff that didn't make it in the first book! I had so much material that I wanted to do two books!
After all this unhealthy food, do you ever really feel like a good healthy salad? Absolutely I have to eat quite healthy to make sure I don't kill myself and keep in shape! But sometimes it's nice, there is always room for birthday cakes, and there is always celebrations where you are supposed to bake, it's just tradition. Also bread is a matter of when you eat it, if you have it at breakfast it is not as dangerous as eating it in the evening time!
What do you think of food blogging, would you ever consider doing it yourself? Yes, it's most definitely in my future, but in my case I have been so busy with other stuff. I had a blog for 2 years and even though I wasn't active like the way you are, I wrote something at least once a week. But it is quite demanding if you want to write a good blog with a lot of content so it's hard work and for me write now it's difficult to find the time. But the food blogs are great and it's really fun to read them. So for me it's just a matter of time right now!
Ok one last question, and I'm sure you have been asked this question a million times, but what would be your death row meal? It's a little bit of a depressing question and I would say sweets, but I am very into shellfish and seafood and oysters and a glass Chablis wine!
Leila's book "A Piece Of Cake" is in Irish and UK bookshops now or you can order online here. www.leila.se
One of the things I have learned in my discovery of food so far is that, people who are passionate about good quality ingredients are more than enthusiastic about expressing this passion and filling you up with information. Gerry McEvoy, who runs his farm of 800 free range bronze turkey's is absolutely no different. We were introduced via the magic of twitter last week when I tweeted asking whether anyone knew of a turkey farmer. Within a matter of hours the meeting was set and the following day I was all set to head up to the farm to see all those turkeys!
I arrived at Gerry's house in Sallins in Co. Kildare on a beautiful bright winter morning and was greeted first by his 3 dogs and then by the man himself. Not wasting anytime, after our brief introduction and a quick chat about our fine feathered friends, we got straight down to business! Before I could even say "turkey" I was decked out in my very own pair of wellies and we were heading towards the field.
Now to be honest growing up I wasn't exactly the most outdoorsy kid and wouldn't have ever dreamt of standing in a field full of turkeys had I not been dragged in kicking and screaming! I have over the years, of course, become a little more adaptable and so although a tiny bit of apprehension may have been running through my mind I was following Gerry through the gate and into the field.
The moment the gate was closed they came for me! I think they sensed my fear, either that or it could have been that Gerry was throwing a bucket of food for them. Either way I was surrounded by these highly inquisitive birds who were not afraid of me in the slightest! The first thing you notice close to the field is the sheer noise of the birds, just to have a normal conversation we were practically shouting across to each other! The beauty I learnt of allowing the birds to roam the fields meant they had a somewhat varied diet, Gerry told me that the birds have a major love for nettles and one of his fields which had been completely covered in them had been devoured in a matter of weeks.
Although I was taking in all this brilliant information and we were having a great chat, I was very conscious that there was about 400 turkeys around me and some of them were getting a bit cheeky, even giving my legs a peck! Gerry told me that the birds are attracted to bright colours and red was their favourite, which did not bode well as my camera comes with a bright red strap, which explained their interest in me! Walking through the field, Gerry was able to tell me the weight of each bird just by looking at it and although he offered for me to hold one I had to say no, but that didn't stop him picking up a 12 pounder to show me the quality of their amazing feathers. There is an oil in the feathers which allows the rain to run right off!
As I got a bit more relaxed I got busy snapping photos of the birds. They very diligently posed for shots and some even hopped up onto a bail of hay for the perfect picture. Gerry has them well trained! Apart from the slightly smaller female birds, the massive males were incredibly dramatic looking with strange droopy bits of skin falling from above their beaks. The kind of deformity which would have made for a fantastic Disney film's evil bad guy! While I was snapping away, all of a sudden an eerie silence came over the field and all the turkeys loud gobbling reduced to silent murmur. I looked to Gerry to ask what was going on and he pointed to the sky where a airplane was flying overhead, he filled me in telling me that they are very perceptive and there silence in the presence of "bigger birds" was a regular occurrence!
We headed towards what I christened the "turkey house" which was a large building at the top of the field where the turkeys could roam in and out of. Gerry showed me the wheat which he fed the turkeys and the huge machine which ground it, so it was easier for the birds to digest. Inside the building he showed me where the birds slept and the brilliant watering system that refilled itself when it was empty. The other interesting thing he pointed out was the chains he had hung from the ceiling which are said to keep the birds brains active! Gerry said the minute he turns off the lights at night the birds go completely silent and head straight off to sleep. Just in case you were wondering what radio station the birds groove to during the day, KFM is played on the little radio which is perched on the wall. I like to think they are all big fans of Industry!
Now I do apologise if I have lulled you into some sort of pleasant denial, here is where it gets messy. The turkeys are picked up on the 18th of December ahead of their Christmas dinner date with many Irish families across the country and are taken to be prepared for pick up. Gerry mostly sells the birds from the farm itself and over a three day period sets up shop for people to pick up their purchase ahead of the big day. I was so impressed with the birds our family have ordered two 12 pounders which I have named Francoise and Hernrietta and I will be calling live from Sweden to check how they go down.
If you want to read more about Gerry and his free range bronze turkeys check out his website here. As far as I know he is still taking orders so give him a shout and he will sort you out for Christmas dinner! Sure he's your only man! :)
We got back from Turkey last night and are already feeling the cold! I'm going to be posting a little bit about each place we sailed through over the next two weeks and I have over 2000 photo's to sift through and edit so I'll be sticking them up too.
I also have some very exciting news about the book- tomorrow is the first official photoshoot complete with food stylist and photographer! We have spent most of the day preparing for tomorrow and all I can say is it's a stark contrast, going from tanning in 30 degree heat to prowling through boxes of peppers for the most photogenic, within hours of stepping off a plane! We have been cooking all day and the first shots will be taken tomorrow morning, so I'm hoping to feature a few behind the scenes pics later this week.
For now here is my travel log day 1 to 3! The pictures are more foodie related as the days progress so stay tuned and Enjoy!
Orhaniye The whole holiday was booked through Sunsail an English based yacht charter company, and unlike previous visits to Gocek, we decided to explore the new base of Orhaniye. After a long day which started in the early hours at Dublin airport, and a fairly erratic drive from Dalaman airport we finally arrived at our destination of Marti Marina, Orhaniye, in one piece. I always find it a bit disorientating arriving somewhere in the dark, but even the dim light could not disguise the fact that Marti Marina looked very much like a boat yard, and the website featured a hotel overlooking the marina. However on closer inspection the hotel was still in the process of being built and the building site gave the impression that the builders had given up and left a long time ago! But this was not our problem, in little under a few hours of well needed sleep, we would be on the water sailing, the overlooking building site, a distant memory. We picked up our yacht, a Cyclades 42, which would be home for the next two weeks and gave it a quick once over before hitting the pillow. The marina itself is fully functional with Shower and Laundry facilites, a small supermarket, a salt water swimming pool, and two restaurants overlooking the bay. After a briefing at the sunsail office, picking up provisions in the supermarket, and a quick application of much needed suncream we were out sailing. Two of the best things about a sailing holiday, is that you are outdoors practically all the time, surrounded by fresh air and with the water being so warm and clear, you find yourself in and out quite regularly to cool off from the sun’s heat. The second, you get too see so much, travelling to a brand new destination everyday!
Dirsek Our first stop was Dirsek, a stunning little bay, surrounded by tall dry mountains, about an hour’s sail south from Orhaniye . There is a small restaurant in the bay which is run by the owners, who quite inconspicuously live in tents along the edge of the water, adding to the hands on feel of the place. Boats can anchor in the bay and tie a line ashore or the restauarant offers lazy lines along a jetty. We arrived at around lunchtime and got straight in for the first swim of the holiday, the water is so clear that you can see the bottom even at about 9 meters up, this makes great conditions for snorkelling, which quickly became my new favourite activity! We motored in to the restaurant with the small dighy which comes with the boat and arrived to a scene of what I would describe as controlled chaos. The regular chef had been rushed to the dentist with some major dental urgency and a happy go lucky waiter had been drafted in as the sorry individual who was set to take up the reigns. Guests are invited to go into the kitchen and choose from large table of meat and fish for their main course. On the opposite counter, large glass dishes full of cold starters are spread out in a large row for guests to choose from.
Roast Aubergine in Tomato Sauce, Cooked Green Beans with Yoghurt, Olive Oil and Garlic, Boiled Potatoes with a simple scattering of Parsley, Fried Corgettes, A sort of Onion, red Pepper, and Chilli Salsa, Cooked Spinach and Yoghurt topped with a sprinkle of Paprika, Cheese wrapped in Filo Pastry, and Tzatzichi were among the many dishes which made up the Turkish Mezze, a term coined to describe this massive selection of dishes. The restaurant charges a set price for the Mezze and you can choose whatever dishes you want in a buffet style, it’s a brilliant way to get a chance to try all the different flavours.
Now it’s not often that I feature sickly romantic moments between myself and Sofie, apart from the picture on the "About" page, but after dinner we lay up on deck and watched the stars. I know, I know, pass the bucket, but in our defence, with the only unnatural light coming from the restaurant in the distance, it was practically unmissable. I have never seen stars as amazing as on that night, and as we lay flat on our back it was as if we were wearing 3D goggles, with every last twinkling light jumping down at us. What a perfect way to end a great day.
Monastery of Panormitis, Simi Our next stop was a long sail to the Greek island Of Simi, just on the border of Turkish waters. It was an extremely strange little port, whose mystery was heightened further, when we discovered the pilot book had absolutely no information about it. It seemed to be less of a town and more of a church with surrounding accommodation, we only came across one restaurant, there could have been more. The change from Turkish to Greek waters was quite significant in terms of cuisine and for dinner we ate a pretty standard fare of Calamari, Moussaka, Souvlaki, with large side dishes of Tzatzichi. The large abbey sits right on the water front and is lit up quite impressively at night, the whole bay has a white painted walkway which goes from the abbey right the way around and up the hill to a large old windmill which overlooks the bay.
After a bit of googeling I discovered that the Monastry is Greek Orthadox and dates back to 450 AD. It is the largest on the island and is also considered one of the most important.
Apart from a few small shops, there was a bakery which sold fresh bread in the morning and had extremely tasty coconut macaroons topped with cherries. We left the following morning for a long and bumpy sail to the small Turkish town of Datca...
I'm going to be demonstrating at Bloom 2010 which is taking place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin over the June bank holiday weekend. I haven't been before so I'm very excited to be heading down! Here's a bit about the event:
The Food Market is now firmly established as a key attraction at Bloom and this year’s Food Market will be Bloom’s biggest yet! With over 40 artisan food producers, the market highlights the very best that small artisan producers from around Ireland have to offer. The producers themselves will be on hand to provide tastings and give tips on how to prepare tasty dishes using their products. The market will include a huge variety of foods from handmade chocolates, and baked goods to farmhouse cheeses and the finest Irish honey.
Each day, Bord Bia will also host four live demonstrations on the Bloom cookery stage. Featured chefs will include award winning chef Neven Maguire; Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School; food blogger and author of “Good Mood Food” Donal Skehan (that's me!) and well known TV chef Jenny Bristow. The dishes prepared by the celebrity chefs will promote quality assured local produce and will be available to order each day in Bistro Bloom.
There will be an particular emphasis on artisan food within ‘The Food Village’, the area incorporating all the outdoor catering options, where food producers will “serve slow food fast”. A new feature for 2010 - Bord Bia will seek to bring food to life through a series of talks and demonstrations which will take place alongside the Food Market. The purpose of the showcase is to recreate the link for visitors between the food products on sale at the Market and the craft skills used in their creation. The demonstrations will also bring to life ‘forgotten’ food skills from Ireland’s past. Skills on show will include cheese making, butter churning, apple pressing and fish smoking. The demonstrators and talks will be delivered by a mix of current artisan producers and domestic practitioners.
Tickets are on sale on www.bloominthepark.com or by calling 0818 300 260, with significant discounts available in advance of the show. No booking fee applies and children go free.
This post is coming live from Sweden! I arrived last night after an extremely long day, but it was worth it. We landed in pretty heavy snow conditions which got so bad after we landed and they were forced to close the airport today, so I got in just in time! It's absolutely bloody freezing here, -7 degrees celsius, I can't feel my toes, plus you would quite easily be able to spot that I am not from here. The Swedes are all elegantly wrapped up in proper winter gear whereas I look like I've fallen into a bargain rail at TK Maxx and have ended up wearing the only oddest mismatching warm clothes I have, but I'm still cold!
I'm definitely in need of some White Hot Chocolate. I made this tasty drink for Maisy when we were baking last weekend and it's the perfect festive drink! Enjoy! :)
Yummy White Hot Chocolate!
This is a perfect little Christmas pick me up to keep you warm during all the baking and decorating you'll be doing in the next few days! If you want a really frothy mixture, pop the warm mix into an empty milk carton, pop on the lid and give it a good hard shake! Serves 2 150g white chocolate 500ml milk 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
In a saucepan, gently melt the chocolate in the milk, make sure to keep whisking until the chocolate is completely melted. Bring the mix to a gentle simmer and whisk in the vanilla extract and the cinnamon until combined. Serve in big mugs and slurp down straight away!
