Hey folks! Just to let you know I will be appearing on Nationwide on RTÉ 1 at 7pm tonight doing some shopping around Howth, and cooking up some mackerel! While over on Good Food Channel (Sky Digital 249) at the same time on Market Kitchen, I will be cooking up my Lime and Mint Mohito Chicken! Let me just warn you that this is my first outing on television cooking so fingers crossed it goes well, and if not... well I'll be hiding under a rock somewhere! :)
I had planned to post both the chicken recipe and the roast beetroot starter but the terrible weather means low light conditions which in turn means terrible photos, so I will be shooting the starter recipe for the twinnerparty tomorrow morning and posting it before 12!
Yesterday both Market Kitchen and Nationwide aired and although I wasn't nervous doing them, having sit through them was another story! But thankfully it went quite well and everyone I have spoken too has been only complimentary, so I am relieved. I don't think you can see Market Kitchen online but the Nationwide interview can be seen here and here.
Herby Roast Chicken and Honey and Thyme Parsnips
Normally I make this herb paste for a full roast chicken, but I find pre-portioned chicken legs and thighs are perfect for entertaining as you don't have to fuss around with carving. The great thing about this dish is that you can prepare the two trays a few hours ahead of your guest arriving and pop them in the oven just before they arrive! If you don't grow your own herbs you can pick up little packets for about €1 in most supermarkets which are really handy for one off dishes. I love roasting whole garlic bulbs but if it's too much garlic for you just leave these out.
Serves 6
6 Chicken legs and thighs
4 red onions, peeled and quartered
2 bulbs of garlic,with the top sliced off
4 cloves of garlic
40g or a large handful of fresh herbs, basil, rosemary, thyme
6 medium sized parsnips, peeled and quartered
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of honey
A good drizzle of olive oil
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
In a pestle and mortar or a food processor, blitz the mixed herbs, garlic cloves, and a little olive oil. Add a little more olive oil until you have a loose paste.
Place the parsnips on a large roasting tray with the thyme, drizzle with honey and oil and spoonful of the herb paste. Toss together until everything is combined.
On another roasting tray arrange the chickens pieces, garlic bulbs and red onion. Add the rest of the herb paste and toss everything together until the the chicken and onions have a nice coating of herbs.
Place both roasting trays in the oven at 190°C/Gas Mark 5, for about 45-50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked right through. The parsnips will cook slightly quicker than the chicken so you may need to take them out of the oven before the chicken.
Serve the chicken straight away, with the parsnips, red onion, garlic and an little drizzle of the juices.
Beautiful food blog, beautiful photography!
http://bonvivant.wordpress.com/
Competition via FoodFight.ie to win some Julie and Julia Cookbooks
http://foodfight.ie/julie-and-julia-competition-win-some-books/#more-6851
Great aussie food blog, stunning food shots, and some great graphics!
http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/
Some really lovely food pictures on this blog.
http://immaculate-perceptions.blogspot.com/
Aoife Mc's pretty funny account of a recent meal at ukiyo restaurant in Dublin.
http://icanhascook.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/taboo-foods-with-a-side-order-of-gonzo-anyone/
I cannot wait to try the lemon and poppyseed pancakes from this tasty blog!
http://www.pickycook.com/
RTÉ's nationwide program about food, food styling, food production and a little piece on the Kitchen In the Castle in Howth.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0914/nationwide.html
I'm going to be doing a bit of baking this weekend, so here's my baking playlist up on youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A72E677CE02752B0
What are you cooking this weekend? Have a great one! :)
While I know there has been very little recipes on the blog recently, hopefully I can keep you going with another tasty competition! The lovely folks at Lindt, have tickets to give away for the Taste of Dublin Festival to celebrate the launch of their brand new range of excellence milk chocolate varieties, the lucky winner will also get a big bloody hamper of chocolate, the kind of prize that will brighten up the most miserable Irish summer day! Lindt will also be down at the festival itself, so if you really get hooked after eating all the chocolate in the hamper, you can pick up more when you attend Taste with your free tix!
Check out some of the great new varieties of Lindt now on offer:
Excellence Extra Creamy - A smooth and creamy milk chocolate with a velvety texture that melts in the mouth.
Excellence Crunchy Caramel - Creamy milk chocolate blended with delicate pieces of crunchy caramel.
Excellence Caramelised Hazelnuts - Milk chocolate with caramelised pieces of roasted hazelnuts.
Excelence Roasted Almonds - A delightful contrast of creamy milk chocolate with slivers of gently roasted almonds
For all passionate Lindt followers, and chocoholics in general, dying to get their hands on the new Lindt Excellence Milk chocolate bars and the rest of the Lindt Excellence range, head down to Taste of Dublin in the Iveagh Gardens, June 10th-13th, where the new varieties will be available to try and to buy with a special offer of 3 bars for 5 Florins (1 Florin = €1.00 – normal RSP in retailers nationwide is €2.19). To buy tickets for taste of Dublin log on to www.tastefestivals.ie
The winner of the competition is Sarah Traynor! Congrats and thanks a million for all the entries- lots of fantastic chocolate desserts! :)
As I travel along this little food journey of life, one of the most exciting and fascinating things I've been learning about, is where meat really comes from, beyond the simple view of farm to plate and really developing an appreciation for the people behind the produce. I don't think I will ever be vegetarian, but I do think it's important that I make decisions to choose the right types of meat. By the right type, I mean the type of meat that comes from an animal that has lived a good life, that hasn't been fed medicine, and has been free to roam. It does sound like a lot to think of but when you see well reared animals like these and the process they go through before they reach the butchers, you really appreciate the cuts of meat so much more!
Michael Gottstein works for an Teagasc (The Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority) and is also one the farmers who set up Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb. I originally got in contact with Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb a few months ago, just before Christmas, when Timmy one the farmers invited me to come down to see his farm, but unfortunately the 6 hour drive did put me off slightly- However I did promise that if I was in the area I would come down and take some pics. So when I was down in Cork for the Hope Foundation Demonstration, the next day I headed up to Killarney to check out a few of the farms.
I don't know if you have ever been to Killarney in Co. Kerry before, but it is probably one of the most beautiful places in Ireland, lots of fantastic green fields and rolling mountains, sure what more could you ask for! Probably one of the most amazing places for a little lamb to grow up! On the tour of the farms, Michael told me the reason that 25 of the local farmers came together was so that they could have more control over their final product. Before they were sending the meat to other parts of the country to be processed and couldn't be 100 percent sure that the meat coming back was their own. Now the meat is guaranteed to be from Kerry and the local farms.
One of the farms we visited was on the side of a mountain and Michael told me that throughout the year, the sheep graze on the heather on the mountains and this in turn affects the taste of the end product. Only thing is can you imagine the amount of work it must take to find the sheep and round them up! Michael and the lads are extremely proud of what they do and took me to one of the local pubs in Killarney who they supply their lamb to and left me with an amazing pack of lamb cuts which I vouch for being absolutely delicious! I have eventually got through them all!
If you are interested in trying some Ring Of Kerry Quality Lamb which comes from farms which are all Bord Bia Quality approved, you can buy and order it online nationwide via their website which is here.
Also check out the video below where Michael shows us some sheep dog commands.
