Steamed Salmon, streamed rice with Vietnamese Carrot Salad

I've been cooking low fat, low cal a bit more recently in an effort to reduce the lbs. I love Asian food so this recipe from Good Food website jumped out at me.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9313/vietnamese-carrot-salad

Since I have a very handy rice steamer, I decided to steam the rice and cook the salmon above it at the same time. Whilst that was going on I did the carrot salad.

2 limes , 1 juiced and 1 cut into cheeks to serve

3 tbsp fish sauce

3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

2 cm chunk root ginger , finely grated

3 large carrots , finely shredded - a mandolin does the job quickly

½ white cabbage , very finely shredded

a large bunch mint , chopped

a large handful peanuts , toasted and chopped

Mix all the wet ingerdients together and add to the cabbage, carrot, mint. Throw in the nuts at the end. It was really delicious and very healthy.

Broad Bean & Pecorino Tagliatelli

Ok, so went to Fallon & Byrne at lunchtime recently to browse. Food shopping for me is like shoe shopping for my wife. A cliche I know but true nonetheless. I wanted something seasonal, fresh, quick and healthy.

I picked up some Rustichella d'Abruzzo Tagliatelli, some fresh broad beans, some Glenilen low fat cream cheese, some pecorino with chilli, fresh parsley and a lemon.

I blanched the broad beans in salted water till soft, reserved half and put the other half in a blitzer with some of the cream cheese, some grated pecorino, a little fruity extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, a litle water from the blanching and salt/pepper. This made a lovely sauce.

To assemble, I just cooked the tagliatelli, poured over the sauce and plated up with some grated cheese, parsley and thereamaining broad beans.

All in all, 20 minutes of easy cooking for a really tasty plate of food.

Northern Bound Part 2 The Salty Dog

So part 2 of my Northern trip ended with a Saturday night stay at The Salty Dog Hotel http://www.thesaltydoghotel.com/ and a meal at it's very well reviewed restaurant run by Head Chef Derek Creagh. I won't get into too much of a review of the hotel but it was really nice, good value at £70 for a double room ensuite with breakfast. The breakfast is absolutely delicious, the full Ulster or a selection of pastries. The full Ulster fry came as you would expect with soda bread and fadge (potato bread), locally sourced meats and every element seemed freshly cooked with real care. The coffee, toast and butter were also soo nice. Loved the attention to detail.


The menu had some really tasty looking dishes.

My wife went for Fois Gras and Chicken Lever Parfait, Date & Pear Chutney. This was absolutely delicious. Rich and creamy, so tasty, fruity spiced chutney.  A real cracker of a dish.

I went for Thinly Sliced Rose Veal, Breaded Veal Sweetbreads, Broad Beans, Girolle, Truffle Pecorino, Almond Butter Vinagrette. This was a very accomplished dish and quite delicate and subtle. I really loved it.

We both had Local Monkfish, Chorizo, Avocado, Olive Cheeks, Langoustine, "Baked Beans" and we got sides of mash potatoes and buttered greens. This dish was also delicious, hearty food. Something you'd expect to see in a really good Spanish restauarant. I liked the fact that it wasn't so 'restauranty'. The mash was top top class. I don't know but I just love the really simple things, or seemingly simple things, done super well and the mash was so smooth, creamy, buttery and perfectly seasoned.

For dessert I had Creme Brulee with Almonds and Poached Apricot and a glass of Reisling to go with it. I like when I get a dessert wine pairing.

My wife didn't order dessert but the waiter brought her one anyway because he said we'd been 'neglected' a little becasue he was so busy. We hand't felt neglected at all but I really appreciate these gestures. It's a part of what great service is all about. The waiter told me he'd been working with Derek for a good few years and had followed him from Deane's in Belfast. A good call by Derek I think.

 I can't 100% remember what was in it (honeycomb, olive oil ice cream and a fruit puree I think)...it was really nice.

We had a bottle of the house white, a coffee to go with our 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 sides, 2 desserts, a glass of Resiling. The bill was £80. I call that great value.

There was a discussioon recently between a good few chefs on Twitter about punters complaining about the price of things and not understanding the true concept of value. I really do get value and the Salty Dog (and Harrys) is what it's all about. It's food that by it's concept, quality of ingredients, flavour combinations, skill of preparation and service puts it at a fine dining top restaurant level but at a price that is equivialnt to a local restaurant. In other words, you can see every single cent on the plate and in fact, you wonder how the hell they are doing it for that price.

Great stuff, I will be back.

Northern Bound Part 1 - Harrys

So, my Aunt lives in Portstewart Count Derry and she kindly lent us her house whilst she went to see the military tattoo in Edinburgh. This presented a great opportunity, as if an excuse was needed, to sample some Northern food hotspots. @HarrysDonal, Harrys in Bridgend Donegal and @DerekCreagh in the Salty Dog Hotel Bangor were the chosen ones.  Both have been getting plenty of glowing press reviews and/or award recently.

I was going to keep this brief because

a) I’m not that good a writer
b) I read some tips on restaurant reviewing for bloggers and there were so many words & phrases that are an absolute no no it seems (unctuous, to die for)

but I failed!

So Harrys...it’s in Bridgend just over the border from Derry, housed in a modern building with a nicely decorated comfortable split level restaurant. The ethos is ‘Made in Inishowen’...local food by local people, meaning that all of the ingredients are either grown, made or sourced from the Inishowen peninsula. It’s an ethos they are obviously and rightly very proud of.

Donal (the co-owner I think), was extremely helpful via Twitter and once I tweeted my presence, he came out and said hello and checked it was all good. A friendly touch and the help and welcome were really appreciated.

We arrived about 4:30 as the full evening menu and early bird kicks off at 4pm. There were a surprising number of people (well to me anyway, propbably not for Harrys) there for a Tuesday at that time and plenty of staff. We have a 2 yr old and he was well looked after...a high chair quickly supplied and his plate of chips came out first in lightening quick time. They  were beautifully crispy and fluffy; real homemade chips are hard to beat.

My wife picked the early bird, Greencastle prawns fresh of the boat the previous day and a locally reared pork plate.  I went a la carte and ordered the Greencastle Seafood plate, the Inishowen Lamb tasting plate, a side of Dauphinoise and buttered cabbage grown in Harrys own walled garden that they’ve been carefully restoring. We got quick pleasant friendly service; beautiful homemade bread and butter arrived soon after ordering, along with our drinks and we felt very relaxed despite having to entertain a 2yr old.

The prawns both of agreed were beautifully sweet, slightly garlicky but not over-powered with it, no need for lots of sauce, the produce spoke for itself. I could have eaten a good few more but mine was served with a lobster claw which had been poached in herbs I think, it had a nice back taste anyway, some crab on toast and a seafood salad mix.

Greencastle Seafood Plate - (not a great pic sorry, a bit on the bright side but you get the drift)

My wife’s pork plate was very tasty...she thought her sauce was a little sweet. It might have been a little over-reduced but I thought it was fine. I had a similar sauce with my lamb plate which had neck, rump, loin, rack and rib. It had a good strong flavour...nothing like the insipid supermarket stuff. The Dauphinoise and buttered cabbage were put together with loving care....the sides are sometimes the best bit and I think they know that.

Lamb Plate 

Dauphinoise

Cabbage

We couldn’t do dessert which was a shame. We were just too full. Not that the portions were ‘agricultural’ (borrowing the descriptor from Lucinda O’Sullivan to describe a portion she received)...they were exactly right...we had just had a late breakfast so note to self, don’t eat anything before going to Harrys again!

So we had a big plate of chips, 2 starters, 2 mains, 2 sides, a coffee, a bottle of house white wine, a glass of Bordeaux red to go with my lamb and the bill was €78. Pretty great considering the quality of the food.

I later found out that the Head Chef @raymoranchef was onholiday so thanks to his sous chef @Johnny_Heaney for cooking the food!

I'll definitely be back and I think a few of my Portstewart relatives will be along soon for a gander.

Part 2  to follow soon.

Pork and Lentil stew with Chorizo, Pimentón & Tomatoes

So I’ve been watching Rick Stein in Spain for the past 4 weeks and wanted to make something this weekend from the series. Once, I started it however, I couldn’t resist tinkering with it and what was originally supposed to be lentil stew with pimentón that he made in episode 4, turned into that combined with the well known Andalucian Magra con Tomate (pork with tomato). So this is Pork and lentil stew with chorizo, pimentón & tomatoes. The pork is cooked really slowly so it crumbles in the mouth. I served it with a char-grilled onion bread to mop up the sauce.

As often with stews, I make too much and freeze portions. This batch got us dinner last night and 6 portions for the freezer.

Dessert was Adriaan Bartell's Raspberry Creme Brullee from the Cliff House Hotel cookbook. Love using my blowtorch!

Recipe

250g green lentils washed and hard boiled for 10 minutes to start the cooking process
1200g shoulder of pork cut into big cubes
6 large cloves of garlic sliced
2 large onions chopped
1 large carrot chopped in big dice
5 celery stalks diced
100g Serrano ham chopped
Glass of Sherry or wine
1 large chorizo (from Lidl) sliced into chunks
2 tins of tomatoes (I used tinned cherry ones)
3 tbps pimentón
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Method

Slowly soften the garlic in a few good glugs of olive oil for a few minutes
Add in the onion and let that get translucent and sweet
Add in the celery and carrot and soften that for a few minutes
Add in the Serrano ham and Chorizo and cook for another minute or 2
Increase the heat and add the pork and brown it slightly
Add the pimentón stirring to coat all the ingredients in this beautiful smoky powder
Tip in the glass of sherry and let that gather up all the paprika and cook out a little
Season for the first time
Finally add in the 2 tins of tomatoes and bring to the boil
Reduce the heat to just on and let it bubble very slowly for about 2 and a half hours
Let it cool a little and then check the seasoning

Carlingford Foodie Weekend

Warning - this is not a diet type post, this is all about me falling off the weight loss wagon in style and enjoying what there is to enjoy! Today, Monday, it's back to the plan...more of that later.

Myself and my wife Yvonne enjoyed a little road trip this weekend just past in Carlingford County Louth. A lovely part of the world it was indeed as it overlooks Carlingford Lough, is a medieval heritage town and contains a surprisingly large number of pubs and eateries all within a short walking distance.
We stayed in Belvedere House which contains The Bay Tree restaurant.
http://www.belvederehouse.ie/index.htm

We did a stay/meal deal on the Saturday which was €150 for 2 people bed & breakfast and a 3 course evening meal at the restaurant. The extra night was €90 and with a bottle of wine at dinner and a glass of port, the bill was €273.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed straight to one of my favourite pubs, PJ’s Anchor Bar...voted Louth’s best gastro pub in both 2010 and 2011. http://www.pjoharescarlingford.com/

We had a little tapas portion of oysters and baby back ribs to go with our pints which were extremely tasty. The ribs absolutely melted in the mouth and thankfully the obligatory BBQ sauce was on the side. I preferred the natural flavour of the slow cooked meat.

For dinner we went to the Kingfisher restaurant http://www.kingfisherbistro.com/  which I was reliably informed was Carlingford’s best by a good local source.  My wife opted for the special set menu @ €26.95, pretty good value but the options were of course a little on the cheaper side. She started with a pea risotto which was nice, but criminally under seasoned. She followed up with Thai Spiced Pork in light crispy batter, Asian sticky rice, Roast curry oil & sweet soy. Hot & sour onions, which was also quite good...healthy amounts of five spice, sweet and sour notes, chilli heat...but overall, I thought it was lacking something and Yvonne was quite under-whelmed. Her dessert was a Strawberry Pavlova which was very nice.  I ordered off the specials menu, a scallop, pea puree, and risotto and bacon starter @ €9.95, Turbot @ €26.95 and a very nice sticky toffee pudding at €6.95. The starter was really nice ... scallops well cooked and pretty much a classic and often done combo with the peas and bacon.

The main was quite disappointing. I love a nice moist thick turbot fillet but what I got was several of the thin tails which were pretty overcooked.

It came with a fresh tomato sauce which was nice and fresh but a little bland. The accompanying carrots, broccoli and new potatoes were buttery and still firm so pretty good but overall I expected quite a bit more from the most expensive item on the menu. I generally don’t send food back...I just don’t come back. I did mention that the fish was overcooked and they kindly gave me a free glass of wine so I have to say that was nice. We had a bottle of the Panul Chilean Sauvignon blanc and the bill came to €91 so €100 with a tip. I’d really be hoping for a lot more for that money these days.

For lunch the next day, we ate at Food for Thought on Dundalk Street... http://www.carlingford.ie/index.php/dining/food-for-thought

I had a golden onion and Emmental tart with a side of absolutely steaming hot and very delicious cheesy creamy garlic potatoes. Tart was very tasty and served with a salad, coleslaw and sticky chilli jam. Very nice. Yvonne had a deli ham and cheese sandwich with some Ballymaloe relish which was also lovely. Very nice lunch for €24 including a cup of tea.

Dinner was in The Bay Tree and part of our deal. It was the best meal of the weekend. We both had a Crab Crème Brule which essentially was a creamy fresh crab mayonnaise (but light and unctuous), a parmesan Tuile acted as the Brule and it came with a nicely dressed fresh leaf salad (with a couple of interesting leaves, I’d say partly foraged), some sweet pickled cucumber which really cut through the creaminess of the mayo and some thin toast.

We both really enjoyed this. For main, I had a fresh succulent monkfish deep fried in Kadayif pastry and fresh tartar sauce. It came with a gorgeous warm crab adn potato salad...very good!!

Yvonne had a very nice Halibut with prawns in a cream sauce. It was really good and perfectly moist juicy fish.

I had a cheese board with some port and Yvonne had an iced nougatine with strawberries.

The cheese was billed as artisan and my only complaint was that I would have loved to know what each one was. A little card with a printed explanation would have been great. All in all, a really good meal.

Breakfast the next day was a little average. The bacon seemed to have been cooked in a batch at the start of service and it was pretty dried out by the time I got mine at 9:45. The 2 poached eggs I had were a little watery but the toast and coffee was lovely. Would have liked some homemade jam or artisan rather than a branded plastic tub.

Carlingford is a great spot. Loads of bustle, live music in most of the pubs, we had great cocktails in Magee’s bar, pints in the Anchor, a good live country 3 piece and some great food. Added to that a quick shopping trip to Newry which is only 18km away and it was a nice little break. Highly recommended.

Mediterranean Sunday Lunch

I think we all loved yesterday's sunny weather. I'm not into tennis or hurling so instead, we set up the canopy and table outside, opened a bottle of rose, lots of sparkling water, warm crusty bread and I made...

Two types of Alioli
Smoked Paprika and plain roasted garlic. I love roasting a whole bulb of garlic in the oven with maldon and good olive oil and then squeezing out the mushy smokey garlic. Considering the healthy option, I went pretty easy on tbhis stuff!

Mini Paella, Pan fried Squid
I just left a fish stock with saffron and smoked paprika to infuse for a couple of hours, sweated an onion and some garlic and made the paella risotto style. Quickly pan fried the squid with some chilli flakes

Wild Salmon, Saffron potatoes, Samphire and Asparagus
Beautiful wild Irish salmon...leave well enough alone I say. The saffron potatoes and alioli made it seem very Mediterranean though.

and my son loved it too!!