Market Meal. Treat yourself.

Treat yourself to these!

 Market Meal #3


This was an easy one, almost cheating. The starter and dessert were more or less readymade while the main course came from the recently published Gimme the Recipe, an excellent book by Sheila Kiely.

Starter: Marinated Shiitake mushrooms (by Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms at Mahon Point Farmers Market) with salad.

Main Course: Stir-fry of Steak (O’Mahony Butcher, English Market), mushrooms and Purple Sprouting Broccoli. The broccoli came from the Ballintubber farmer stand at Mahon and was top class, really great value as were the salad leaves used in the starter.

Dessert: Chocolate and Raspberry pot, bought from Glenilen stall at Mahon.

Steamy wok and roll

If you haven’t tried the marinated oyster mushrooms from Ballyhoura, you should. This is one of the best new products on the scene in recent months and is now matched by their marinated Shiitake mushrooms (photo). Can be served very simply, with market salad and toasted Arbutus sourdough, as we did. I’m sure chefs around the country are thinking up some gorgeous dishes, to make the best of these beauties.

Beef and Mushroom stir-fry is the title that Sheila gives her dish, in which broccoli also plays a major role. We used Purple Sprouting Broccoli rather than the regular and it worked out very well indeed.

Got the steaks from Eoin O’Mahony and they were top notch. The little additions (honey from Waterfall Farms shop, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce) all added to the flavour, familiar textures yet different on the taste buds.

Well done Sheila for that tasty combination. Again. Gimme the Recipe is proving to be a very useful book around this house, even if we don’t have to cater to a big gang anymore. But a little division cuts the meals down to size and we are gradually working our way through the book.

Also gradually working our way through that irresistible Glenilen cabinet at Mahon Market: yoghurts, butter, milk, and no shortage of dessert ideas. The cheesecakes and panna cottas are brilliant but we went for the Chocolate Pot on this occasion and they went down well, as does everything from this innovative West Cork farm.

Wine Match: since the steak had an oriental sauce, lighter than usual, I chanced the Monasterio de los Vinos 2011 Garnacha and Tempranillo blend. The label says it is intense, young, fresh and fruity. All that and more – it was a good match - and available at just €9.99 from stockists nationwide.

Market Meal #2, thanks to Rachel

Easy meal, thanks to Rachel. By the way, the leaf on the rice is not Lemon Balm (variegated) but  Ginger Mint.

This edition of Market Meal owes much to Rachel Allen as all three dishes are based on her RTE series Easy Meals. The starter and mains were on last week's programme. 

The starter is a spicy squid salad and we got most of the ingredients in the English Market, the squid from O'Connell's Fish. Had a bit of a problem with the rocket though as the stall, deliberately or otherwise, had put their price label across the use by date label. I bought it on the 13^th and the expiry date was the 11^th. Opened it on the 14^th and the rocket, as you’d expect, wasn’t exactly at its best. It was then we peeled back the top label. Rushed up to the local Supervalu and got a mixed bag of leaves (including rocket) in tip top condition.

No problem with the ingredients for the Pan Fried Chicken and Mango Salsa main course. The chicken breasts, which were absolutely superb, came from O'Sullivan's Poultry stall, in the English Market. Must say that all the dishes were easy to cook and all were superb, light and tasty yet filling enough.

With some Mango on hand, we decided to skip last week's suggested Chocolate Dessert and instead choose an earlier Mango and Raspberry Mess by Rachel. Once again, it was a cinch to assemble. And easier still to eat. Just three letters needed to describe this: Yum.

Had to make up my own mind on the wine and struck the jackpot with Little Beauty's Pinot Gris, Limited Edition 2010, from Marlborough, New Zealand. They recommend it on their notes for Asian Cuisine and it turned out to be just perfect. Distributed here by Wine Alliance and available at stockists nationwide. 

Links to Recipes
Squid starter: http://www.rte.ie/food/2012/0328/spicysquidsalad.html
Chicken mains: http://www.rte.ie/food/2012/0328/chickenmangosalsa.html
Mango dessert: http://www.rte.ie/food/2011/1130/mangoraspberrymess.html
See Rachel do it on the player: http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1144760

Market Meal (greenfly included!)

Market Meal #1

Are you like me?

Sometimes I head off to the market, without a clue and end up buying willy nilly. Later, have some sorting out to do. Eat this at lunch, this at dinner. Or are you all organised? Head off with a list?

Either way, you can have fun but perhaps we do need some idea as to what to buy. And, to be honest, I usually do, even if a rather vague one!. The market, whether the various farmers markets or the English Market, are great places to fill a menu. Just like this unplanned one that we did this week.

Market Meal #1

Starter: Paté (Barry Tyner).

Mains: Pork Steak (Woodside Farm)

Cheese: Gubbeen

Dessert: Date Cake (Natural Food Bakery).

Date slices

Let us fill that in a bit. Barry (left) does a great Cognac and Garlic Paté but this time we went for the creamy Chicken with Caramelised Onion one. Served it up with toasted White Yeast Loaf (Natural Food Bakery) and a salad.

That salad featured lettuce from Organic Republic. Quite a bit of greenfly on it – suppose that proved it was organic! Shook it up and washed it off and looked okay. In any event, I’d prefer to eat a few tiny aphids than some unseen pesticide!

Martin of Woodside Farm has quite a presence at Farmers Markets; you’ll find him (or wife Noreen) at Mahon, Cobh, Midleton and Douglas. His free range pork steaks, tender and super tasty, are just the job. We did a Paprika Pork recipe (top picture), a simple pan fry, enriched with caramelised onions and crème fraiche (pictured).

It was served with rice and green vegetables. The greens, beans and broccoli, came from the organic section in a nearby Dunne’s Stores. Supermarkets have their uses too!

Gubbeen are regulars in Mahon and the cheese was their gorgeous smoked mature. Two relishes were used (same as with the paté), a Baxter’s Redcurrant Jelly and a Mango Chutney from Aldi.

The Natural Food Bakery have a stall in Mahon and also include the Coal Quay in their itinerary. Besides, they have a shop/cafe at the Daunt’s Square end of Paul Street. I bought the Date Slice* in the Coal Quay and that, plus a cup of Badger and Dodo coffee, provided a fitting end to this Market Meal!

Have you put a Market Meal together? I’m sure you have. Let us know!
 
* The date slice consisted of layers of oaty crumble with sunflower seeds and a hint of ginger and sweet stewed dates. Wheat free, sugar free and dairy free.