HARDWOOD

HARDWOOD


Hard times? Let Hardwood come to the rescue. Every Tuesday and Wednesday evening, the Pope’s Quay venue is offering you a three course meal for just €20.00.

Called there last night and was well pleased. Started with Steamed Castletownbere Mussels, served with a generous Burgundy Roast Garlic Tomato “soup” and good brown bread.

Then to the main course. One was Braised Rustic Pork Hock, slow cooked pork shank served with rustic roast potato and onion with white wine steamed cabbage. The other was Cod with Pak Choi, Rice Balls with feta and a mango reduction. Both were different and each was gorgeous. Quite impressive.

The third course was a scoop of ice-cream and that is exactly what we got. Nothing special but a nicely flavoured scoop that went down well.

Overall, a fine meal for the price and one that would give you confidence that the skills are there to deliver on their a la carte from Thursday through Sunday. Service was friendly and efficient.

Just Food in Cork

JUST FOOD

Have been trying out some of the Just Food organic range recently.

They do a large range of soups, everything from Mushroom to Moroccan Chickpea and much in between, including Vegetable and Peanut, one of my favourites (not that I’ve tried them all yet).

They do Organic Pasta Sauces. But don’t just stick to the pastas. These sauces, just like the soups, are versatile and may be used in many ways. For instance, I used the Ratatouille with Cod to make a smashing dinner dish. 

The Cobh based company also do Hummus, Salads, Pestos and other items (including Muesli and Chicken Liver Pate).

Kevin and Deirdre Hilliard are the couple behind the small outfit, now based in the old Verolme Dockyard (Rushbrooke), and she was happy with the business when I met her last week.

Speaking of 2009, Deirdre (right in group photo) said that their sales were up: “Our existing shops kept their end up while our new outlets contributed to a rise overall. People are now eating in more often and are on the lookout for something different such as our soups, which can also be used as sauces.”

“In any event, organic customers are resilient, especially with regard to small ticket items. Besides, organic items are not always more expensive. Our soups for instance are cheaper per kilo than many of our non organic counterparts. Our marketing and packaging is honest. We don't give you a big packet with less content. Indeed, we use see-through containers.”

Last winter was really good for sales and the trend continues, the soups doing very well in January and February, perhaps because of the long cold spell. No wonder, Just Foods is looking forward to yet another good year.

All in all, it means that the outfit has come a long way since it was a “hobby” for the Hilliards as they sold their produce from the corner of a shared stand in Midleton Market. They have been in Rushbrooke for the past two and a half years and now employ eight people.

Deirdre is looking forward to the next big challenge: supplying a recently secured contract for six of the Dunnes Stores shops in the Cork area.

That contract is but the latest recognition for the Hilliards. Last year (2009), they repeated the feat of the previous year when winning five medals at the Blas na hEireann Food Awards in Dingle. 


Their Muesli and Cucumber Pickle were among the gold winners as was the Spicy Lentil Soup (getting it for the second year in a row). They are also happy with the good things said about them in the Bridgestone Food Guide (2010).

But even though they are doing well, Deirdre knows that you can't take anything for granted. Once, in the 60s and 70s, large newly built ships were “slipped” down to the river right where we stood talking. Hundreds were employed in that long defunct dockyard.

 “There is a lot of history in this place,” she says. Just Food is a firm with a promising future, making its own little bit of history. So far. So very good.

MID-WEEK UPDATES

 Twebt Mystery Bottle

Have you got your hands on the mystery bottle for the Twitter wine event (#twebt) on Sunday March 7^th? 

Time is running out if you want it delivered to your house for the fun event which apparently trended in Ireland last month; 12 noon tomorrow Wednesday is deadline for ordering by post. All the details are at here while the wine (€19.00, inc. delivery) can only be ordered from Karwigs

Cafe Gusto are introducing BYO (Bring your own bottle) to allow you to accompany their delicious range of mezze, antipasti and tapas dishes.

Sister establishment, the Liberty Grill, has announced a bunch of specials for March. You’ve got stateside specials like Sweet Potato Gumbo and the one I’ll be looking out for is the Dromoland Estate Rabbit with Napa Valley garnish (cooked in Zinfandel red wine). 

The Natural Foods Bakery in Cork

NATURAL FOODS BAKERY

The Blackrock based Natural Foods Bakery also has a cafe in Paul Street. They produce and serve handmade breads, luxury cakes, gourmet sandwiches and speciality foods (wheat free, gluten free etc.). The café also serves coffee and tea.

Cakes include a gluten free Chocolate one, a Cherry Bun and a zesty Lemon Cake. All very tempting but the one I picked recently at their market stall was a slice of Date Cake with dates, sunflower seeds and a touch of ginger. Must say it was very tasty indeed (I do like my dates) but is heavy enough and the slice was more than sufficient.

Definitely worth a look of you are passing Paul Street or the other locations

Check out my review of The Natural Foods Bakery - I am cork - on Qype

COAL QUAY MARKET (in new location)

COAL QUAY MARKET

For most of 2010, you’ll find the Saturday Coal Quay market at a new temporary location in Emmett Place, alongside the Opera House.

Here you will see your usual favourites such as O’Driscoll’s Fish (but be quick, they were sold out by noon yesterday), The Natural Foods Bakery and quite a few other food outlets as well as stalls selling shoes and boots and clothing and so on.

The Cornmarket Street area is being renovated, hence the move to Emmett Place. The new location is also very central and also quite spacious.

LIBERTY GRILL

LIBERTY GRILL

When you walk into the Liberty Grill, you are struck by the happy buzz. It is full again this Friday evening (we started at 6.45pm), all enjoying the good food, well cooked, well presented and served by a smashing staff.

A share of people are dining en famille. Don’t come across it much around town. The well behaved kids are well catered for here; they even get their food ahead of the adults.

Are you to limited to burgers and chips here? No. Far from it. There is a huge menu in this early 'til late venue. Burgers for sure, all made from the best local produce. Then there are tempting salads, fish, poultry, lamb and beef along with vegetarian dishes. Something for everyone.

Started with a Southern Fried Chicken salad: slices of southern fried chicken on a bed of

seasonal leaves with Jalapeño peppers, toasted cashews and tomato salsa. The advisor enjoyed the Deep Fried Cambozola (Italian cheese) with a cranberry coulis. Mine cost €7.95, hers €4.95. Promising start.

 My main dish was the Tennessee Flambé (17.95). This consisted of tender medallions of the very best beef, peppered and flambéed in a shot of Jack Daniels and served with mushrooms, sweet balsamic onions and crispy garlic potatoes. This was absolutely brilliant, couldn't recommend it highly enough.

The other main course at the table was a Salad Niçoise (14.95), a truly healthy and tasty mix of line caught yellow fin tuna, potatoes, hardboiled eggs, olives, French beans and seasonal salad leaves. This was quite a substantial dish and lived up to the description.

 There is an adequate selection of wines available, most between twenty and thirty euro, though the house wine costs just €17.25 (4.65 per glass). There was also a Wine of the Month available at 5.25 a glass. I enjoyed my Montemartel Cotes du Rhone (Syrah, Grenache and Carignan) very much.

 But the white, a Claire Moreau Muscadet Sur Lie, was a really gripping drink and you needed only the tiniest drop to become aware of the quality. Both wines are available at the Wine Buff, just across the road. You also have a number of sparkling wines available and a popular feature is the non-alcoholic Mocktail, a favourite with kids and adults alike.

Overall, the choice and the value are fantastic (through breakfast, brunch, lunch and evening) and you really need to check out the website http://www.libertygrillcork.com/ to get the picture. Even then, you won't see the bunch of seasonal dishes that are added every month.

Denis O’Mullane and Marianne Delaney own and operate the Liberty and also the nearly Cafe Gusto (another interesting venue for coffee and lighter bites).

We asked Denis how the name came about and what it signified in food terms.

 “It is actually a shortened version of our first shot which was ‘Liberty Belle Cafe and Grill’. After seeing the room with its large windows and dark furniture, we knew we were going to do an American East Coast Neighbourhood restaurant, where grilled foods make a rather large part of the menu.”

BL: Who are the key players?

Denis: “Our customers, staff and suppliers.  Our customers for their loyalty and critical honesty. Our staff who work extremely hard and who have the unenviable job of starting from scratch everyday to ensure most honest product possible without a lot of shortcuts. Finally our suppliers who have to listen to us moaning if the quality isn’t right.”

BL: You must be pleased with your Bridgestone listing? 

Denis:  To be honest I feel a little uneasy about professional reviews as Liberty Grill is a neighbourhood restaurant which can be found on every block in major cities in the US, with a very simple function to feed from dawn to dusk.  An eminent restaurateur on our street queried whether being a member of Good Food Ireland sets expectations which don’t marry with what we are doing, we are currently considering our position.

BL: What of the future?

Denis: Cork is actually buzzing on the food front with most restaurants doing pretty well. I think with a little more co-operative effort, we have an interesting couple of years ahead.

CURRENT FAVOURITES

UPDATE


Top five from recently visited restaurants in Cork:

Fenns Quay, Nash 19, Bramley Lodge, Liberty Grill and Continental.

Next five:

Boardwalk, Boqueria, The Brick Oven, Rising Tide, Farm Gate (Cork).

You’d expect the Farm Gate to be in the top rank but it is too bloody cold up there these days. I don't fancy eating lunch, no matter how good, in my overcoat.

Twebt Mystery Bottle

Have you got your hands on the mystery bottle for the Twitter wine event (#twebt) on Sunday March 7th? Time is running out if you want it delivered to your house for the fun event which apparently trended in Ireland last month. All the details are here while the wine (€19.00, inc. delivery) can only be ordered from Karwig Wines

CRAWFORD GALLERY CAFE

THE CRAWFORD GALLERY CAFE

The Crawford Cafe, in the art gallery of the same name, is a lovely place to visit, not least because of the friendly and helpful staff. With walls painted light blue and art works exhibited all around, the cafe is spacious and a great city centre spot to meet someone.

The menu is quite inviting with excellent lunchtime mains courses and plenty of drinks from water to apple juice to wine available also. The prices range from about ten to fourteen euro.

With a dinner date on the agenda for the night, I didn't need that much when I called at lunchtime today. Got myself the most beautiful tomato soup (€5.50) in a big bowl and that coupled with two lovely slices of brown bread was a decent filler.

Thought I’d finish off with a coffee (2.40) but then spotted some cakes and went for a chocolate and orange shortbread (pictured), recommended by the manager. Gorgeous, but will have to put the dinner back a bit.

Baking Emporium in Dunmanway

BAKING EMPORIUM

Dunmanway’s small scale Baking Emporium makes a variety of cakes, breads, confectionery, muesli and seed breads. So do other bakeries. So what is different about Dunmanway?

I put it to the taste recently when I bought some of their stuff in the city. My choice was Emmental Cheese and Pumkmkin Seeded bread. Loved it and will be buying more, for sure.

This is organic seed bread and the range has won awards. They make four Wheat varieties and two Spelt varieties. They say it is a delicious crunchy alternative to normal bread and I agree. Worth watching out for!

They are on sale at farmers markets and also at On the Pigs Back in the English Market. For more details, check out their website http://www.bakingemporiumltd.com

Check out my review of Baking Emporium - I am cork - on Qype

Milleens Cheese in Cork

MILLEENS CHEESE

Charles De Gaulle (1890-1970) once said that the French had 365 different cheeses. The French politician was familiar with the southwest of Ireland but when he visited the country he would have found it difficult to locate any real cheese.

Milleens is generally credited with producing the first modern Irish Farmhouse cheese in 1976 and the company improved it over the following years. It is still going strong. Picked one up recently at On the Pigs Back in the English Market and enjoyed it.

It has a mottled peach, and sometimes orange, washed rind and within is a paste that goes from semi-firm to spilling cream. The flavour is a complex mix of delicate herbs along with a spicy tang. That spicy tang doesn't suit everyone but personally I have no problem with it and is in any case tamed when mixed in with a salad.

My piece was marked Milleens Dote. Wasn't too sure about the Dote but it is simply the term use to indicate a 200g round, the smallest size.

The soft cheese is made by the Steele family from the milk of Freisan cows on the rugged Beara peninsula. It is a regular award winner and features regularly on the cheese board of top class hotels and restaurants.

Check out my review of Milleens Cheese - I am cork - on Qype
Photos show fishing boats at Castletownbere and De Gaulle memorial in Sneem

WINE MYSTERY

WINE MYSTERY

Enjoy a little mystery on your Sunday evenings? Enjoy a little wine at the same time? Now you can combine both in the third Twitter Blind Tasting Event.

The wine will be delivered to your door but won’t have the usual labels visible. A bit of scouts honour is required here but remember this is a fun 90 minutes or so. Have a look, have a nose, have a taste – all at a leisurely pace.

You and your fellow drinkers will all the time be updating twitter with your opinions. If you don't have any, then just read the others (some are very witty) and have another sip. No competition here, no prizes, just a bunch of wine lovers having a bit of Sunday night fun, starting about nine.

The wines in the previous tastings were supplied by Curious Wines and Bubble Brothers and Carrigaline outfit Karwig Wines are doing the honours for the March event. The mystery bottle costs €19.00, including delivery in the Republic.

Don't worry if you are new to Twitter. Brian Clayton, one of the organisers, has all the info you need, in plain English, on his excellent introductory post.

Kevin Crowley of the famous Fenns Quay restaurant in Cork is another man involved behind the scenes and you’ll be following him and Brian on Twitter as they’ll be guiding you through the process:  when to open, when to taste and so on.

You can also follow the event hashmark:  #twebt. Don’t worry at all about the technical side of it – Brian’s post is very clear on twitter and how to use it. Just enjoy the wine and enjoy the company. Enjoy the craic.


So what are you waiting for? Click on Karwigs above and take the first step towards solving that mystery.

Blackrock Market in Cork

More pics at http://corkandabout.blogspot.com/

BLACKROCK MARKET

It may be one of the smallest markets around but Sunday morning’s gathering in Blackrock is not without its fans. Some drive in, some stroll down, even spotted a pair roller skating to the venue today!
And why not? It has a lovely riverside location and plenty of parking and space enough for the dozen or so stands that start opening for business around the 10.00am mark and stay there until 2.00pm.
Despite the small number of stands, quite a lot is covered. Here you can get hot drinks (O’Connaill’s coffee and chocolate among them) and hot bites such as crepes. Then there are burritos and soups and more substantial food items like fish and bread. Even noticed a jewellery stand there.
So, if you missed out on the bigger presentations like Mahon (Thursday) and Midleton (Saturday), then all is not lost and a visit to the bottom of the Marina and the fishing village of Blackrock could well save the day for you!

Check out my review of Blackrock Market - I am cork - on Qype