Quartet of Fabulous Recipes from Ballymaloe Foods, celebrating 30 years in business!

Quartet of Fabulous Recipes from Ballymaloe Foods, celebrating 30 years in business!

Ballymaloe Foods has compiled some very special Christmas recipes for you to enjoy.

This has been a very special year for Ballymaloe Foods as they celebrated 30 years in business. 

Ballymaloe Foods was established by Yasmin Hyde, the daughter of Myrtle Allen 30 years this year. Myrtle established a country house hotel and restaurant at Ballymaloe in the 1960s and it was here she developed her now famous, Original Relish recipe. In 1990, Yasmin decided to start Ballymaloe Foods from her kitchen. 

Today the company has 33 staff and 18 products and exports into the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and the US and its products include relishes, mayonnaise, pasta sauces and dressings. 

 

Christmas Recipes:

Sausage Roll Garland

Ingredients

-  For the sausage mix:

-  225g Lean pork, minced

-  225g Pork fat, minced

-  1 Clove garlic, crushed

-  2 Teaspoons thyme, marjoram, basil and rosemary, mixed and chopped

-  1 egg, beaten

-  1 ½ cups soft breadcrumbs

-  Salt and pepper to taste

-  For the pastry:

-  350g all butter puff pastry

-  Ballymaloe Original Relish

-  1 egg, beaten

-  A little milk

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Combine all the ingredients for the sausages together and mix well. Fry a little of the mixture on a frying pan to check the seasoning, adjust if necessary.

3. On a floured work surface, if using homemade puff pastry: roll the pastry out into a big rectangle, a little thicker than a one euro coin. Roll the sausage mixture into a sausage shape with your hands and lay it lengthwise on one side of the rectangle.

4. Spread Ballymaloe Original Relish over the pastry, leaving the last ¼ free for sealing.  Roll the sausage and pastry into tube, pressing the seam together. Join both ends together forming a circle, pressing to seal tightly. 

5. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Mix the egg and milk and brush the pastry with the mixture. Using a sharp knife, score through the garland to within 1cm of the inside, at 2.5cm intervals.

6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until puffed, golden and cooked through. Serve with more Ballymaloe Original Relish on the side.

 

Chicken and Camembert Crostini with Ballymaloe Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients

-  Half a baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices

-  A clove of garlic, cut in half

-  Some good quality extra virgin olive oil

-  A chicken breast

-  Salt and pepper

-  A round of camembert (Cooleeney make a delicious Irish camembert)

-  Ballymaloe Cranberry Sauce

Recipe:

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan, add some olive oil and fry the chicken breast on a medium heat until it is golden on the outside and cooked through. Slice the chicken breast into 1/2 inch slices and keep warm.

2. Grill the slices of bread until they are just golden on both sides. While they’re still hot, rub them gently with the cut side of the garlic and drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil.

3. Slice the Camembert into small wedges. On a serving plate arrange on the crostini, with a slice of chicken, camembert and a teaspoon of Ballymaloe Cranberry Sauce.

 

Loin of Bacon with Ballymaloe Ham Glaze

Ingredients

4-5lbs (1.8-2.25kg) streaky or loin of bacon, either smoked or unsmoked

whole cloves 20-30 approx.

Ballymaloe Ham Glaze

 

Method

1. Cover the bacon in cold water and bring slowly to the boil, if the bacon is very salty there will be a white froth on top of the water, in this case it is preferable to discard this water. It may be necessary to change the water several times depending on how salty the bacon is, finally cover with hot water and simmer until almost cooked, allow 25-30 minutes approx. to the lb. Remove the rind, cut the fat into a diamond pattern, and stud with cloves.

 

2. Spoon Ballymaloe Ham Glaze Spread all over the bacon. Bake in a fully preheated hot oven 250°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9 for 20-30 minutes approx. or until the top has caramelized – baste the bacon 3-4 times during this time.

 

3.Remove to a carving dish. Carve in thick slices lengthwise so each slice includes some of the eye of the loin and streaky bacon.

Bread and Butter Budding with Ballymaloe Cranberry and Prosecco Sauce

Ingredients

25g softened butter

100g white chocolate chopped/ broken into pieces

150ml cream

150ml milk

2 large eggs

1 oz cater sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 small jar Ballymaloe Cranberry and Prosecco sauce

7 thick slices of bread (use 9 slices if regular sliced pan)

1 tblsp sugar to sprinkle

 

Whiskey Cream

250 ml cream

25ml whiskey

 

Enamel dish (28cm) or similar oven proof dish.

Serves 4 (this recipe multiplies beautifully).

 

Method

1) In a medium saucepan gently warm (do not boil or simmer) the milk, cream, sugar and white chocolate. Stir until the chocolate dissolves then set aside.

2) In a separate bowl beat the eggs with the vanilla extract.

3) Combine the egg and chocolate cream mixture, stir well, then pass it through a nylon sieve to remove any lumps and place in a jug. Pour 100ml of the white chocolate mixture into a clean bowl, cover and refrigerate (this will become the white chocolate custard tomorrow).

4) Using a serrated knife cut off all of the crusts and use for breadcrumbs in stuffing.

5) Now butter each slice of bread all the way to the edges

6) Generously slather each slice of buttered bread with Ballymaloe Cranberry Sauce

7) Butter the serving dish then start to assemble by placing two slices of bread cranberry side facing down.

8) Place another layer of bread on top again cranberry side down

9) The remaining three slices- cut each slice in half to create 2 triangles, do the same with the remaining two slices. Take these triangles cranberry side facing down and overlap each one to cover the top layer fully.

10)  Take the remaining chocolate cream and egg mixture and pour it over the bread ensuring full coverage.

11)  Carefully sprinkle the sugar over the triangles then wrap and refrigerate for 24hrs.

12)  After 24 hrs… preheat your oven to 180* Conventional.

13)  Place a bain-marie in the oven half filled with hot water. (you can use a roasting tray for this).

14)  Remove the pudding from the fridge. Discard the foil and place CAREFULLY in the bain-marie and bake for 1 hr until deliciously golden brown and fully cooked.

15)  Just as the pudding is baked, put the remaining custard into a small saucepan and place on a gentle heat. Stirring continuously allow the custard to thicken slightly. This can take up to 10mins. Remove immediately from the heat and place into a warm jug to serve over the pudding.

16)  The whiskey cream- lightly whip the cream then fold in the whiskey. Jameson is delicious but it will work with whatever your favourite is. Don’t be shy with the measure- adjust according to your taste.

17)  Once the Ballymaloe Cranberry and white chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding is out of the oven, bring it straight to the table.

18)  On warm dessert plates serve each portion of delicious pudding with a great big dollop of whiskey cream and lashings of white chocolate custard. Enjoy every mouthful!

press release

Online cookery series by Irish company demonstrates versatility of the humble egg

Online cookery series by Irish company

 demonstrates versatility of the humble egg

 

Recipe series ‘Get Cracking’ with Eggs’ is live now and reveals how to feed the whole family with quick and easy recipes on a budget

Deirdre

 

An Irish family business has sought to help busy, on the go families and students, offering nutritious and delicious recipe inspiration on a budget – all using the humble egg as the staple ingredient.

 

Riverview Eggs are a family run, family owned Cork company and have been supplying their Bord Bia quality assured eggs to Irish Consumers for over 50 years.

 

This year, they decided to extend their efforts to help families and created a series of instructional online recipe dishes featuring their award-winning eggs.

 

This was made possible, with the support of a Bord Bia marketing support initiative.

 

The series, entitled, ‘Get Cracking with Eggs’ features 16 easy to make recipes.

 

These are available to view on their website, or across Riverview Eggs various social media channels.

 

Speaking about the decision to create the series, Riverview Eggs owner DJ Kelleher said:

 

“We wanted to create something that would be useful for families and students. We understand it is a stressful time at the moment and we wanted to do our bit to try to and offer something that we felt would be of use.

 

“Get Cracking With Eggs is really back to basics when it comes to cooking – it shows people how to cook food that’s nutritious yet easy to make in a short space of time - perfect for anyone on the go.

 

Deirdre and D.J.

“We put a lot of thought into the recipes – both myself and Deirdre O’Mahony, the face of the recipe series - and we were determined to show the variety of healthy nutritious meals that could be made using our Riverview eggs and whatever you might have at home in the press or fridge.

 

“We’re delighted with how the series turned out and we hope it will be useful to families and students all across Ireland,” he added.

 

When it comes to egg consumption, there is another added benefit that has become even more important in recent months. Given the current public health crisis, where respiratory illnesses have been put under the microscope, so too has the suggested supplementation or addition of more Vitamin D into our general daily dietary consumption.

 

A recent study by TILDA  - The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, published in conjunction with Trinity College - showed up to 1 in 8 older adults in Ireland deficient in Vitamin D, with those numbers increasing to 1 in 5 during the winter months due to decreasing amounts of sunlight.

 

Even more worryingly, the study, published in April earlier this year, revealed that it estimated 1 in 4 of Irish people over the age of 70 who were cocooning were likely to be Vitamin D deficient.

 

Aside from supplementation, one of the easiest ways of including more Vitamin D in your diet is through the consumption of rich food sources, sources like, yep, you guessed it – eggs, as well as oily fish.

 

Around 15 -20 UG a day is the recommended dosage for at risk groups.

 

Studies have shown that in addition to assisting with immune function, and aiding bone and muscle health, Vitamin D may also help to prevent respiratory infections.

 

DJ revealed that he felt that in addition to the cost effective elements and the easy to make recipes,  it was important to highlight the nutritional and health benefits associated with eggs as part of the Get Cracking With Eggs recipe series.

 

“It’s a vulnerable time for people and we feel that it’s important to highlight these benefits because they have scientific research and backing behind them. We wanted to illustrate throughout this very simple recipe series the versatility of eggs, in addition to the health benefits associated with them – particularly in the current climate,” he said.

 

Get Cracking With Eggs is live now on the Riverview Eggs website – and you can view all 16 recipes at the following link here

 

You can also view the recipes on the Riverview Eggs social channels on Facebook and Instagram.

press release

Treat Meat With Respect. Talking to Avril Allshire-Howe

Treat Meat With Respect

Talking to Avril Allshire-Howe

Avril, and books!

“Meat should be treated with respect.”

So said Avril Allshire during our recent visit to the Rosscarbery farm that she runs with husband Willie and their two sons William and Maurice. The small farm is home to two related enterprises: Caherbeg Free Range Pork and Rosscarbery Recipes. It is also the place where the young sons practice on their racing quads!

“Every little mouthful should be savoured,” she continued. “None of us can afford to gorge ourselves, we can't afford to waste meat.”

Pork Fruit Cake. Secret Recipe!

Avril was talking to me in her own home, surrounded by shelves and shelves of books, many of them food related. No surprise either to see that she is a big fan of Joanna Blythman, the English writer who constantly exposes the con-men of the big-food world and who will again appear at the 2015 Ballymaloe Lit-Fest next month.

Avril could well write a recipe book herself. She agreed with me that food producers should provide recipes to customers but only if they have something new to add.

She certainly has and you’ll see quite a few of them on her Rosscarbery Recipes blog. But there is one that she won't be publishing, won't be sharing! As we spoke we were treated to a slice of what looked like a normal fruit cake.

Spots (left) and Timmy

As we began to enjoy it, she revealed that it had “no eggs, no dairy”. She named this delicious creation, an exclusive one, Pork Fruit Cake, as one of the important ingredients is, believe it or not,  sausage meat! “It is an alternative to Christmas Cake, may well have been a forerunner of Christmas cake.”

Later, at lunch, she served us her Black Pudding lasagna, another of her originals, a flavoursome echo perhaps of the time when there were no convenience shops, maybe also a shortage of cash, and people had to use what was close at hand, what was in the cupboard. And indeed there was another echo of those days in her answer to the question What is your own favourite? “Depends on the humour,” she laughed. “But I’ll use whatever is in the house.”

“Has the success of any particular product surprised you?”, I asked.

“Yes, I have been surprised by the success of the black pudding, by the variety of people that like it, the young and the old alike. Eastern European peoples quite like it too. It is quite low in fat and useful for a variety of dishes.”

Awards galore

Husband Willie drove the rest of the family to the brink of frustration during the long 15 months he (and they) spent developing their black pudding, developing it to his and their satisfaction. But the passion paid off in a big way and the pudding has won a string of awards, mostly gold, in Ireland, the UK, Belgium and notably in France. “How do you know you have a good one?”, I queried. “The acid test,” she replied, “is to cut a sliver and eat it at room temperature.”

We discussed trends in the business.”Six or seven years ago, you could not give away belly of pork. Then the recession hit and everybody wanted it. The Caherbeg herd is quite small. We have limited numbers and not that much belly and so the Celtic Ross have exclusivity on our belly.” We had enjoyed that special dish in the local hotel the previous evening and it is worth travelling for!

Then it was time to take a tour of the free range pigs (a mixture of breeds including Gloucester Old Spot, Tamworth and Kune-Kune)  and we met some of the main characters including Spots, the mammy of many of them, and Timmy, the daddy. Pigs are not the only animals here. We met the dog and some of the five cats. And also Maa-aa, the growing lamb that they adopted from a neighbouring farm after its mother had rejected it. Maa-aa has been given a job! She'll be keeping the grass and weeds in control in their orchard! Two legs or four, you have to pull your weight in Caherbeg!

Read more about Caherbeg Free-Range Pork and Rosscarbery Recipes here

Rosscarbery Recipes Website: http://www.rosscarberyrecipes.ie

Rosscarbery Recipes blog: http://rosscarberyrecipes.blogspot.ie

Caherbeg Free Range Pork website: http://www.caherbegfreerangepork.ie

Caherbeg Free Range Pork Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caherbeg-Free-Range-Pork-Ltd/250142158334295?fref=ts

Beef 'n Turf. Mo Bros Cook Up A Storm!

MOVEMBER INVITES MO BROS TO ‘BRING IT ON HOME’ AND COOK UP A STORM WITH A COOKBOOK TO INSPIRE MEN TO THROW A DINNER PARTY

In 2010 Movember challenged Mo Bros around the country to have confidence in the kitchen, take pride in the meals they prepared and to ‘Cook like a Man’. In 2011 they ventured to the countryside and showed Mo Bros how to hunt, forage and fish for their supper with ‘Cook From The Land’. This year, Mo Bro chefs share their wisdom and knowledge with ‘Bring It On Home’- a new cookbook that encourages their fellow Mo Bros & Mo Sistas to celebrate Movember and host a dinner party during the month of Movember.

With a range of established expertise, the book hosts chefs from across the country who share their skills, tips and favourite dinner menus with their fellow moustachioed brethren and inspire them to host their own Mo inspired dinner parties. With delicious recipes the cookbook teaches men ‘if it’s worth doing – it’s worth doing right’ and to cook amazing meals with dishes that are tailored to help make hosting a dinner party simple – so more time can be spent around the table celebrating Movember and having fun.

Chefs from Diep Le Shaker, Ukiyo, Brooklodge, The Damson Diner and The Fumbally are just some of the many Mo Bro chefs who have shared their knowledge with mouth-watering recipes in ‘Bring It On Home’. Make your dinner party memorable with a beef bourgignon, BBQ prawns with piri piri, herb crusted john dory and a simple cheese fondue  and know that your guests will be blown away with your cooking prowess.

Not alone have we got the pretty pictures for you. We've also got the recipes right here

Movember, the month formerly known as November, is when brave and selfless men around the world grow a moustache, with the support of the women in their lives, to raise awareness and funds for men’s health - specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Donate at www.movember.com