Festival Food & Drink Favourites 2021. Eight Degrees and Bakestone in Happy Holiday Pairing

Festival Food & Drink Favourites 2021

Eight Degrees and Bakestone in Happy Holiday Pairing

What were your food and drink favourites over the Christmas and New Year?

I’d say one of mine came at the end of the Christmas Day Dinner when we matched the Bakestone Pudding with a shared can of Eight Degrees Irish Oak-aged Barleywine. At 12.2% abv, this is a heavy hitter and needs respect. Pour a little into a wine glass and sip and enjoy. It went perfectly with the pudding from East Cork (you’ll find Bakestone at Cobh Cross - they’ve been there for years and, as well as a popular café, have a magnificent pantry of top notch Irish produce).

And so it was appropriate that it was two locally made products that topped our Christmas bill!

The Eight Degrees’ aromatic and multi-flavoured seasonal special was aged in especially rare Irish whiskey barrels that have been made from native Irish oak. Not alone did it pair with the rich and dark pudding but it also went well with the light and delicious Christmas cake from Barnabrow House (bought at Roughty Foodie) and also with the cheese course, notably with the Crozier Blue (via On The Pig’s Back).

Bubbles are usually associated with the festivities at this time of year and I was lucky to have a couple of delicious bottles of Prosecco on hand, each by Bottega. The Gold Prosecco Brut impressed for sure but it was the Bottega Rose Gold that really caught my attention. It is a terrific Spumante Brut rose, made from Pinot Noir grapes grown throughout the Veneto.

The hand painted bottles are not only eye-catching but "reflect the quality and care put into producing this wine”. Bottega do not use chemical-based products for their metallised bottles; this means the solvent for the varnish is water-based, instead of being oil or alcohol-based like more traditional varnishes.

It wasn’t just Prosecco of course. There was wine. We won’t go into too much detail just to say that we had an impressive pair via Liberty Wine for dinner on the big day. From South Africa came the Western Cape Momento, the country’s only Grenache Gris. And we made it a lovely Grenache double with the red, a Willunga 100 from the McLaren Vale in Australia.

You always need something extra to bring the best out of all the good stuff on the table at Christmas and two jars in particular were in regular use here. One was the Big Red Kitchen’s Spiced Plum and Port Jam and the other was the seasonal Ballymaloe Foods Cranberry and Mór Wild Berry Gin Sauce.

The Spiced Plum and Port Jam is very versatile, a match with paté, cheese and duck and we find it  outstanding with Skeaghanore smoked duck breast and gives the Skeaghanore Confit Leg sweet hint of Asia. This year it also impressed with the Bakestone pudding. Nicola of the Red Kitchen combines ripe plums with a hint of warming cinnamon and port in this excellent seasonal preserve which is also wonderful with scones and bread. It won’t go to waste around here.

And neither did the Ballymaloe Foods Cranberry and Mór Wild Berry Gin Sauce. It certainly did what it says on the jar and enhanced the turkey (and the other meats) no end and also impressed when used with the cheese board. This blend of cranberries and the Irish gin proved indispensable over the week.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Cork Christmas without a helping of spiced beef on the table. No shortage here thankfully and, supplied (like the turkey and ham) by local craft butcher Chris Davidson, it was once again a highlight. Turkey and ham was pretty good too!

Another highlight was our order from Ummera Smokehouse in Timoleague, a box packed with chicken, duck, salmon (two ways), even rashers, all smoked and all delicious as always. Good use was made of this package over the holidays. Nothing like a bit of variety over the hols.

We did indeed use the Ummera smoked chicken on New Year’s Eve and later there were more holiday bubbles. It was now the turn of a super Beaumont des Crayères Vintage 2013 Fleur Blanche Blanc de Blancs Brut (via O’Briens Wines) to shine. Intense and exciting from the engaging first sip, with fountains of micro-bubbles powering upwards, with biscuity aromas and flavours and floral notes too, this is one of the better ones for sure. It is made from 100% Chardonnay and obviously 2013 was a very good year.

Let us hope that 2022 will also be a good one. Happy New Year to you all and fingers crossed that it will be better for all of us.

 

Locally Sourced Dinner At Home. No Fuss!

 Locally Sourced Dinner At Home 

Don't think I'd have been much of a hunter-gatherer! Not after last weekend's performance when I failed to order in good time from one of several "At Home" or "Click & Collect Offers" in the Cork area. Reached the end of the line when I found out that the well-flagged Dim Sum at O'Mahony's Watergrasshill had been sold out.

But not to worry. The official Blog Chef had her ducks all in a row. She had earlier collected a box full from Davidson's, our local craft butchers, and had no problem in producing a starter and mains. Dessert was also in the fridge, this a terrific treat from Yum Gelato that was part of an earlier purchase from Bradley's in North Main Street.

So no big deal, no fuss. And we had a lovely dinner with the satisfaction of supporting local thrown in.

Delicious Duck Spring Rolls (Davidsons)

Always enjoy these spring rolls. About as good as I've tasted since I haunted a Vietnamese food stall

while holidaying for a few weeks in Chinon on the banks of the Vienne in the Loire Valley in 2013.

Chicken Italiano (Davidsons)

Juicy boneless chicken breasts filled with cheddar cheese, smothered in tomato & herb sauce and topped with grated mozzarella and a drizzle of fresh basil pesto Cover in foil and roast in the oven for 40 mins @ 180°C. They’re saucy, they’re cheesy, they’re delicious. Just one of many specials available in Montenotte.

Belgian Double Chocolate Chip (Yum Gelato via Bradley's)

As good as it gets. Just one of the many delicious flavours available from Yum Gelato. Find them at various Neighfood collections, at Farmers Markets and in quite a few stores such as Menloe and Bradley's.

Davidson's Craft Butchers

Yum Gelato

Taste of the Week. Davidson's Chicken Italiano

Taste of the Week

Davidson's Chicken Italiano

Davidson's are our local craft butchers and regularly come up with some terrific ideas. Just noticed this pic on their Facebook a few weeks ago, grabbed the keys and headed on over to the shop, knowing that this could well be a Taste of the Week. And so it proved.

Juicy boneless chicken breasts filled with cheddar cheese, smothered in tomato & herb sauce and topped with grated mozzarella and a drizzle of fresh basil pesto. Cover in foil and roast in the oven for 40 mins @ 180°C. They’re saucy, they’re cheesy, they’re delicious. We tested them immediately and they are superb. 

No more grabbing the keys now and heading up to our butcher but the place is well geared up to meet the needs of its customers during these covid19 times. We were able to order over the phone and one of our adult children picked up the box for us, a box that included the Italiano.

The Chicken Italiano is part of their specially range that also includes award winners such as Pork Steak Wellington, Home-made Meat Loaf, Crusted Rack of Lamb, Steak Stir Fry, Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Chicken Pizzaiola, and Chicken Supreme stuffed with broccoli and gruyere cheese. And most of these are available these days, though maybe not all on any one day!

Davidson's Craft Butchers

7 St Christopher's Drive

Montenotte

Cork

(021) 451 8184

Taste of the Day that's in it.

Taste of the Day
The Big Red Egg from Skellig Chocolate

Happy Easter Everyone.
We're in the cocoon but so too is this big
red Strawberry and Champagne Egg from
Skellig Chocolate. Don't think it will last too long, the egg that is, not the cocoon.

And, don't forget the real eggs. This East Ferry Farm box came via our local craft butcher Davidson's Montenotte

#buylocal #supportlocal

Taste of the Week. From the Pig.

Taste of the Week.
From the Pig.

A bit of a problem this week. I had no Taste of the Week for you. Well, nothing that hadn't appeared here before. I did have a few of this list on the plate or in the fridge, so I thought I'd put the best of the pig together for you, a sample of what you can get locally. So take your pick and enjoy! By the way, I'd appreciate it if you can point me in the direction of tasty local Irish produce for next week and the week after and the ..........   It can be meat, fish, vegetable, baked goods, something sweet, something to drink. This is my 6th year (at least) doing this, so I don't want to repeat, well not too much anyhow!

Woodside Farm Shoulder of Pork (slow-cooked)

James Whelan Rack of Roasting Bacon

Gubbeen Hot Smoked Ham. Made by Fingal Ferguson. See all about the Schull farm here.

Pork Steak Wellington (Davidson's Butchers)

Kanturk Pudding  (McCarthy Butchers)

Baltimore Dry Cured Black Bacon. Read more about Nathan and his various Baltimore Bacon products here.

Ummera Smoked Bacon Rashers

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Peppercorn Steak Bombs

Taste of the Week

Davidson’s Peppercorn Steak Bombs

Ready to go. The chips, by the way, are done like wedges in the oven with a little olive oil. Roosters were used.

“These are our Peppercorn Steak Bombs, minced chuck beef with a creamy pepper filling, lightly seasoned and rolled in a peppery crumb. Delicious.”

Before

When our award-winning local butcher Chris posts something like this on social media, we are first in the queue and are at the Davidson’s door in  Montenotte in no time at all. 

We’ve never been disappointed and this latest offering is up there with the best of them, a bit of medium heat from the pepper taking the top notch meat to a new level, a new Taste of the Week!

Davidson’s Craft Butcher 

7 St Christopher’s Drive

Montenotte

Cork City

(021) 451 8184

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Pork Steak Wellington

Taste of the Week

Davidson’s Pork Steak Wellington

Montenotte based butchers Davidson’s have been serving up some great meat in the area for the past four years or so. And it’s not just the locals saying that. Chris Davidson has led the team here to more than their fair share of awards in national competitions. And our Taste of the Week is one of them.

This delicious Pork Steak Wellington has been a national runner-up and they have a national champion in the equally delicious Crusted Rack of Lamb.

The Pork Steak is our Taste of the Week. Absolutely top notch meat and the stuffing, walnut and apple, is superb as well. Well worth checking this one out. By the way, it comes with full cooking instructions!

Davidson's Craft Butchers

7 St Christopher's Dr, Montenotte, Cork, T23 KV96

Open Monday-Friday· 8a.m.–6:30p.m.

Saturday: 8a.m. - 6.00p.m.

Phone: (021) 451 8184

Davidson's Craft Butchers. Standard Bearers in Montenotte

Davidson's Craft Butchers

Standard Bearers in Montenotte

Chris (left) and Luke

I asked our local butcher Chris Davidson about his plans for the run-in to Christmas. “We’ve already started”, he said. “It's the earliest we’ve ever started but people started asking so we started taking the orders. It is our fourth Christmas here and we have great confidence in our products at this stage.”

And top of the Christmas wish list are their free-range East Ferry Turkeys. Easy Ferry also supply them with eggs and chickens. “The most popular order is the boneless Turkey Crown, now selling all year round. Spiced beef too is incredibly popular. We use the eye of the round, a very lean cut, very good.”

“We have plenty of alternatives, including duck, beef fillet, crusted lamb, and pork steak Wellington. And we also have a special: Cranberry and sausage meat stuffing balls.”

Chris, from Cobh, is a 4th generation butcher. His great grand-father was a butcher in the harbour town, followed by Chris’s grand-uncle and then by an uncle. Chris himself started learning the steps, the ones well down the ladder, as a 14 year old at the well respected Jim Crowley butcher shop in Midleton.

Crusted lamb

He worked there during the holidays, even when he started going to UCC. “I was never bored, it was always interesting.” And the thing was that Chris himself was always interested and eventually decided that it was for him.

He started work in the Montenotte premises with the previous owner in 2009 and, just about three years ago, took it over. He found it hard to get used to the paperwork but “so far, so good” is his verdict now.”Every year has been better than the previous one. The three years have flown. Now we are more comfortable, more confident, particularly over the past six months.” 

The “we” is Chris and Luke, the two full-time employees. He also had two part-time workers.

You’ll see newly installed flower boxes on the building and also notice Craft Butcher displayed over the Davidson doors. I asked Chris about that. A lot of hard study over three years by the looks of it. 

Ready to cook

“To be qualified as craft, you have to do the 8-module course. It is very comprehensive. It covers every single aspect of modern butchery. When you finish, there is nothing left to learn. You've been trained also to present your produce, to engage with and sell to the customer. All about hygiene and food safety. The qualification is all about reliability. I see it as being a standard bearer.”

Chris has put the training to good use, especially in their speciality range. They are very strong here and have won many awards at craft competitions. Davidson’s have been national runners-up with their Pork Steak Wellington and with their Home-made Meat Loaf, national champion with their absolutely delicious (personal experience) Crusted Rack of Lamb. And they have gold for quite a few specials including Steak Stir Fry, Butterflied Leg of Lamb, Chicken Pizzaiola, and Chicken Supreme stuffed with broccoli and gruyere cheese.

Stir-fry

And, looking to the future, the plan is to keep up that standard, to keep innovating. “We’re always tipping away here, trying to improve the range. We plan to increase our presence on Social Media as well. And an upgrade of machinery is also on the cards.”

And you can, of course, get more than meat here. “Arbutus Bread is a fantastic product and we also have their pastries on Saturday mornings. We stock some kitchen essentials such as bread and milk. And newspapers of course. We have Green Saffron spices and the Gran Grans Chutneys are also available here.” Well worth a visit!

Davidson's Craft Butchers

7 St Christopher's Dr, Montenotte, Cork, T23 KV96

Hours: Open Monday-Friday· 8a.m.–6:30p.m.

Saturday: 8a.m. - 6.00p.m.

Phone: (021) 451 8184

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Pizzaiola

Taste of the Week

Davidson’s Pizzaiola

Their Facebook pic

What to have to dinner to-night? Sometimes I’m unsure, probably happens to most people. Then, if you’re lucky, you spot the answer on Facebook. Davidson’s, our local craft butchers, are pretty good on social media.

Pretty good at the essentials too. Just after someone asked the dinner question, a tempting picture of a Chicken Pizzaiola appeared on the butcher’s feed. 

Three juicy chicken breasts marinated in a tomato and herb sauce, topped with grated mozzarella, fresh red onion and chorizo, the perfect lazy option for the weekend. These also won a Gold Award at this years Speciality Foods competition.

So a quick trip up the road. Covered the foil dish in more foil and oven-baked for 35 minutes. Then it was dinner time! And our Taste of the Week was excellent. 

Ready to eat!

The chicken was superb, moist and tender. Obviously the marinade, with no shortage of punchy herbs included, did what it was supposed to do. The cheese melted down and the chorizo rings added spice and flavour.

And Davidson’s regularly come up with the goods. Great to have an innovative craft butcher on the doorstep.

Davidson’s Craft Butcher

7 St Christopher's Drive, Montenotte

Cork

 (021) 451 8184

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidsonscb/ 

Gonna be A Burger of a Week. Big and Bad Boys to Rock Cork

Gonna be A Burger of a Week

Big and Bad Boys to Rock Cork

The first Cork Burger Festival runs from January 30th until February 5th. The local cafes and restaurants have climbed aboard in impressive numbers and, if you love your burger, you are going to have some tremendous choices over the week. Below you'll find a selection of what is on offer. More details on the Festival Facebook page here. 

The White Horse in Ballincollig have a Seven Day Burger Battle on, with a tasty clash each night. Friday's duel between the Texan and the Mexican looks saucy with a repeat thrown in on Saturday if you want to switch sides.

Soho Bar have joined in the fun with their Three Rebels, three different sliders and a pint of beer for a tenner.

If you’re in Son of a Bun, watch out for the Wonka ticket. Each burger special you order on this fantabulous week will be hiding a Son of a Wonka ticket. If you happen to be the lucky winner of one of their 7 golden tickets you will be in for a treat! “For the next 5 months you will get to have our burger of the month on us!”  Limit 1 burger each month per ticket holder.

New Douglas restaurant, 12 Tables, are running a Burger Battle Royale. On one plate you've got the Mick O’ and, on the other, its The Big Fella. That’ll take some sorting.

If you’re up to big, then maybe the Oliver Plunket is the place to be. Here’s the challenge. The Big Boy (he who dares, WINS) 32oz burger topped with Bandon Vale cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onions served with a side of fries; €30, finish it and it's FREE!

If you can't make it to a restaurant, Davidson’s Craft Butchers have offers on burgers all week. Keep up to date here.

You’ll find the Great Griffin in Dripsey at Griffin's Garden Centre. It looks tempting. Check out their Facebook page for giveaways.

And be sure too to tie up the horse at the Bad Boys where you can tuck into their 8oz Smoked Rodeo Burger topped with Chilli Con Carne Cheese and Sour cream. Bad!

The Meatball Place are also on board with a selection of Speciality Burgers, not just for the week, but for the month!

Nine Market Street in Kinsale are doing a four-course Burger meal (dessert is an ice-cream burger). A fab meal at a great price of €25.00 the lot. Date is Saturday the 4th from 6.00pm.

Lots more places involved including the Silly Goose (with Ali’s Kitchen). Check it all out on festival’s Facebook page here.  

Taste of the Week. Davidson’s Crusted Rack of Lamb

Taste of the Week

Davidson’s Crusted Rack of Lamb

The dog needed a walk and we needed something for Saturday’s dinner. The walk took us past Davidson’s, our local craft butchers. They are well known for their rack of lamb and that was how we came by our Taste of the Week.

The rack was crusted, the combination of Parmesan and walnut not that usual. It was a gem, the lamb tender and delicious and the crust a revelation, enhancing the meat with crunch and flavour. Oh, and there was a lovely wine to go with it: Ascheri Coste & Bricco Barolo, marked well down in O'Brien's Fine Wine Sale.

Davidson’s, the Craft Butchers’ National Champion Speciality Foods for 2016, are also very helpful and we were told how to cook it to get the best out of it: Oven roast for 40 minutes. It was a winner, a terrific Taste of the Week, set to be repeated!

Lamb with roasted veg (Carrot, butternut squash, parsnip), a winter warmer!

Davidson’s Craft Butchers

7 St Christopher’s Drive

Montenotte

Cork

Phone: 353 (0) 21 451 8184

Email: davidsonscb@gmail.com 

Facebook: @davidsonscb

Twitter: @davidsonscb

Open: 8.00am - 6.00pm Monday to Saturday. Closed Sunday

Mountain Cheese and Oregon Wine. Mont D’Or and Riesling. Divine.

Mountain Cheese and Oregon Wine

Mont D’Or and Riesling. Divine.

Yum!

One 500gram box of Mont D’Or (AOC) cheese from Bradley’s.

One bottle of Kings Ridge Oregon Riesling 2013 (Willamette Valley), 12%, €15.00 (reduced from 19.99) SuperValu Christmas Wines.

Sharing a half kilo of baked cheese is fun on a winter's evening as we found out this week. It is recommended for four but the two of us managed quite well, thank you!

Our cheese came from Bradley’s in North Main Street, Cork, and was the famous Mont D’Or from France (there is also a Swiss version). Like wine, the French version has its own AOC and is a much prized cheese from the Franche-Comté, made with whole cow’s milk, and is generally available only from October to March.

The rind (inedible) can be peeled back and the runny cheese simply spooned out. But baking it, in its box, is the treat. Again, it is not the only cheese that comes in a box. Camembert is another and that too can be baked. Sheridan’s suggest that both Durrus (360g) and Gubbeen (450g) can get the same treatment but they don't have a box so you’ll have to improvise with a sheet of foil.

Indeed, it was a recipe in the new book, Sheridan's Guide to Cheese, that we followed (more or less) with the Mont D’Or. You simple score the top rind, add in a couple of sprigs of thyme and a clove of garlic and a half glass of white wine and bake in a pre-heated oven for ten minutes. For some reason, the ten minutes was totally inadequate and ours needed double that.

It was carefully brought to the table, the rind peeled back and then we dug in with chunky bits of Arbutus Sourdough (bought at Davidson’s, the local butchers). And then we dug in again. And again… You get the picture! All the while sipping from the Oregon Riesling.

That gold coloured wine proved to be a gem and also quite a match for the cheese. White fruits on the nose and also that petrol but reasonably muted. Palate is crisp and fruity, fresh, light and fragrant, no sign of that petrol, good acidity and a decent dry finish. Some of the fruit used comes from one of the oldest vineyards, planted in 1968, and this “adds depth and complexity to our Riesling.” A Very Highly Recommended Riesling indeed.

So there you have it. Quite a treat. And wouldn’t all three, a box of cheese, a bottle of the Riesling and the Sheridan's book be quite a present for that special someone. They might even share!

• Got a tip too from Daniel Emerson of Stonewell Cider. He suggested having the Mont D’Or as a fondue with potatoes. “It is divine.”