Cairns Farm

Cairns Farm

Bellewstown, Co. Meath

Back in August Ali and myself took a trip up to Bellewstown, Co. Meath to visit Ali's cousin Jo-Ann. A relatively recent move into the world of farming has seen herself, husband Brian and two beautiful children, Saoirse and Senan, move from the comfort of a large town, Newbridge, to the wilds of the Meath countryside, a decision they've never regretted. "The transition was grand. I grew up in the countryside and was delighted to be back." After being brought up on the family small holding outside Newbridge, Jo-Ann was no stranger to the country life but to move so far away is bound to have it's challenges. "The biggest issue for me was not knowing anyone up here. That was isolating." In a break from tradition, it is Jo-Ann that is the full time farmer with Brian keeping his job to ensure a steady income.

Cairns farm is mainly a sheep farm with a small flock of chickens for a steady supply of eggs. They quickly saw a gap in the market however and last year reared 50 free-range bronze turkeys for the Christmas market. Setting up a farm from scratch, the choice of animals had to be made. "We chose sheep from a very practical viewpoint", being easy to handle with a quick turnaround, they are the ideal animal to start farming but the main reason was even more practical "there is an abattoir near by." Cairns lambs are a mix of Suffolk and Texel with Nova, the resident ram, bringing in the Texel genes. "The Suffolks have more fat on them but the Texel has more meat and a better shape with larger back legs; so it's a great mix, the flavour of the Suffolk with the large muscle of the Texel," I can attest to this, I bought a lamb from Jo-Ann last year and it was magnificent with beautiful flavour and texture. (rack of lamb recipe)

When I hear the word farmer, the image I get is (I'm ashamed to say) always a fairly old man with a cap. I was interested to see if Jo-Ann got much grief for being a female farmer. "It's very tough at times, a lot don't take me seriously but less for being a woman and more for being a startup." It would be true to say that most farmers inherit or buy working farms and wouldn't be acutely aware of the challenges involved in starting a farm from scratch, "but I've made some good contacts who have been a great support.....I wouldn't be able to farm without my neighbours, to borrow a tractor, source stock, feed and bedding or even just advice on who to avoid!"

On our visit we were lucky enough to get a tour of the farm from Jo-Ann and Brian's daughter Saoirse. I couldn't help but be in awe as she walked around pointing out all of the different fruits and vegetables aswell as the next animals up for the chop. I was thrilled to see this. Too many adults, let alone children, are completely out of touch with their food and maybe if more knew where their meat came from, we wouldn't be seeing so much farm animal abuse throughout the world. "We don't hide the fact that we eat our own animals from the kids. They have been to the meat factory and know that animals go in and come out as meat. We try to instill a respect for the animals so that in the future they will be mindful of the source of their food and farm with compassion for the good of the animal and the environment."

After a trip to the meat factory, where I was pleasantly surprised with the civility of everything, it was time to head home inspired by a five year old girl, the future is bright.

Refried Beans Pita

Refried Beans Pita

It's dark, so very dark. Darker than I thought it would be at this time. Too dark. The pictures are going to be terrible! I made a decision about a year ago to try to always take my pictures in natural light. I much prefer it, it's cleaner and (surprisingly!) more natural. I had planned to do just that last evening. I would make my delicious refried beans, stuff them into warmed pita bread, spread over some sour cream and parmesan and take some beautiful pictures with the light flooding through my kitchen window. What do you do when it doesn't happen the way it should? You plough on regardless and pretend that you were going for the unappetising, unnatural look....

pic of the list, with one glaring mistake!

Makes 4 pita breads

2 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Chilli (finely chopped)
pinch of Dried Oregano
1 tsp Hot Paprika
1 Tomato (finely chopped)
1 Tin of Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tbsp finely chopped Parsley
4 Pita Breads
2 tbsp Sour Cream
1 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion. Season well and cook for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the garlic, chilli and oregano and continue to cook for 2 minutes before adding the tomato and cooking for a minute more. Add the beans and parsley and cook for 5 minutes before mashing with a fork or potato masher. Check for seasoning, set aside and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile toast the pita breads before filling with the beans mixture. Cover with the sour cream and parmesan. Alternatively you can cut all the way around the pita and layer the beans, sour cream and parmesan. Serve and take some better pictures than me!

Review: Cava Bodega

Cava Bodega

Middle St, Galway City

Cava Bodega is an intimate and rustic restaurant on Middle Street in Galway's city centre. The venue is instantly welcoming with bright walls and friendly staff. Our host led us down to the basement where we were greeted with a lively atmosphere and walls adorned with wine bottles and pictures of pigs!

Ambiance: 9/10

I had been looking forward to visiting Cava Bodega for quite some time. Ever since Ali and I had attended a talk by its owner, JP McMahon, at the Ballymaloe Litfest back in May. There is something about his attitude to food that really appeals to me. He spoke passionately about food and Cava in particular, about the ingredients, the preparation and the enjoyment people have while eating there. I was dying to visit.

We were handed menus immediately and the host talked us through any alterations to the menu. I like to see this, I like a restaurant that isn't afraid to change depending on what's available. It was recommended to order five tapas between the two of us but we couldn't choose just five, we went for six instead! The tapas arrived as they were ready with the patatas bravas coming out first. The kick from the smoked paprika coupled with the delicious sauce made this an unexpected highlight. These were quickly followed by the rest of our dishes. A beautiful catalan ratatouille, squid with garlic, parsley and lemon, meatball in tomato sauce, duck in plum sauce and finally, black pudding with chickpeas, raisins and pine nuts. All of the dishes were exceptional. The squid was well seasoned and served with a creamy, pungent aioli. The large meatball was well flavoured and somehow perfectly moist. The plum sauce with the duck was spectacular while I would have quite happily eaten the chickpeas for the night.

Tapas: 9/10

For dessert I settled on the Santiago Tart, a moist almond tart served with mint ice-cream while Ali went for the churros, which were quite easily the best I have tried and were served with a rich chocolate sauce. The strong double espresso was the perfect end to the perfect meal.

Dessert: 9/10

The service in Cava Bodega is exceptional. We found all of the staff to be friendly, approachable and knowledgeable and it seemed as if they all enjoyed being there. As for the price, we paid €78 for 6 tapas, 2 desserts, tea, double espresso and 2 glasses of wine. I would consider this excellent value for the food on offer and was actually quite surprised when the bill came to the table!

Service: 9/10

Value: 9/10

Overall: 9/10 Highly Recommended

Cava Bodega, 

Unit 1 Middle Street Mews, 

Middle Street, 

Galway City, 

091 539 884

Salamander Supper Club - Italian Night

"How bloody difficult can it be to cut pork??!"

Last Saturday night was exciting and terrifying. I teamed up with Joe from Salamander Coffee House for the first "Salamander Supper Club." Joe approached me with the idea a month previously and after some thinking and chatting we decided that our first night should be Italian with a change of cuisine each month. Doing Italian first was the obvious choice for me, it is the cuisine I'm most familiar and comfortable with and as I was cooking for more than 10 people for the first time, it was important for it to be as comfortable as possible.

From the start I knew what I wanted the main dish to be. Porchetta is a wonderful dish from the Lazio region. Originally it was made with a whole suckling pig (gutted and stuffed) but in recent years this has been replaced with pork belly. Stuffed with liver, almonds and oregano and slow roasted, it is the perfect mix of succulent flesh with crispy crackling. This was to be sitting on a bed a peperonata, a Piedmontese pepper, tomato and onion stew, and joined by potatoes with olive oil, onion and tomato. After our trial night we decided to switch the potatoes to a garlic gratin as the dishes were too tomato heavy, it may veer more towards a French style but it suited the dish perfectly, creative license and all that jazz. The dish was finished with a simple salsa verde to bring extra freshness to proceedings.

For starter we decided on a tasting plate of Italian dishes. Again I was keen to go with options that aren't seen too often in Ireland. Stuffed mussels (with capers, anchovies and chilli) were joined by a roasted tomato and basil bruschetta and an arancino with lamb ragu sauce. Arancini are a magnificent Sicilian snack food made from leftover risotto. The rice ball is sometimes stuffed with ragu but I prefer to have it with a good flavoured tomato sauce for dipping. The stuffed mussels were my favourite part of the menu. The capers, anchovies and chilli give them a tangy, salty and spicy hit and are the perfect way to elevate the humble shell fish.

For dessert there was only ever one choice. Tiramisu has always been my favourite dessert and Joe did a great job on it. I always find it interesting how different people judge the amount of booze in the biscuit and I think he got just enough in to keep the carousers happy while not so much to anger the nephalists.

The night itself was a serious learning curve for me. Having Ali, my brother Shane and Joe's brother Jeff in the kitchen was life saving. Surprisingly the cooking wasn't really the issue, it was the cutting! The Porchetta was the bane of my life. The crackling was nigh on impossible to cut and when I eventually got through it I had applied so much pressure that the flesh and stuffing fell apart. Luckily the diners were more interested in the taste than the look and everybody seemed happy with their meal. Although the pressure was on we managed to get 28 starters and 28 mains out of the kitchen in an hour. A success by any standards. The night was finished off with one of Salamander's delicious coffees or teas. Joe takes his coffee seriously and to my surprise, freshly grinds just enough coffee for each cup just before making, it shows.

When discussing the supper club, we were keen to involve as many local suppliers as possible. Pigs on the Green supplied the free range pork belly and liver, Nick's Fish supplied the mussels, Nolan's of Kilcullen supplied the lamb for the Arancini sauce while Winelab supplied the magnificent wine on tap.

Typically I forgot my camera on the night so the pictures are from the trial night.

We will be announcing details of our next Supper Club night very soon so keep an eye on the facebook page.

Fish Stew all Porta Palazzo

Fish Stew all Porta Palazzo

The Porta Palazzo Market is a vibrant, loud almost scary place. Located in the centre of the northern Italian city of Turin there is an heir of madness about it. Even in August, when most city dwellers take to the coast, the market still thrives six mornings a week, with a massive clean up operation taking place every afternoon. I wanted to cook in Turin. When your apartment is just 500 metres from so many great ingredients it is an understandable urge. We went to the fish house first. It being August there were only two sellers there but the produce was magnificent! I went for the big, loud and jolly looking fella with crooked black teeth. He gleefully tolerated my limited Italian and we came away with some of the freshest octopus, prawns and mussels I have seen. The fruit and vegetable market is just outside and this is where the fun really begins. Everybody wants rid of their produce, nobody wants to have to pack it away again so the prices are extraordinarily low. I bought a kilo of beef tomatoes for €1 before realising I could have gotten two kilos at the next stall for the same price. I didn't mind. 

The most interesting part of my market visit was the bread truck. When all bread, no matter what type, is being sold at €1.70 per kilo you know the "queue" will be big, especially in Italy. The problem in Italy, of course, is that they don't have our passion for queuing, it's a free for all. I stand there for ten minutes before a rather cool looking guy in sunglasses and a shirt shouts something along the lines of "ah come on, this foreign lad here has no idea what's going on, serve him next will you!" I'm grateful, very grateful. After picking up a couple more ingredients it's back to the apartment for our fish stew.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter

4tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1Kg Beef Tomatoes (chopped)
2 Medium Octopus (ask your fishmonger to clean them or see video link below)
1Kg Mussels (soaked and beards removed)
400g Prawns (shells removed)
2tbsp freshly chopped Flat Leaf Parsley
Lemon Juice
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper
2 or 4 slices of Crusty Bread

1. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil over a medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for 5 minutes to allow the tomatoes to release their juice. Don't season yet.

2. Add the two whole octopus. Cover, turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

3. Remove the octopus and add the mussels, prawns and parsley. Cover and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes, shaking the pot every now and again. Meanwhile cut the octopus into bite size pieces.

4. Add the octopus back to the pot and season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Lay a slice of bread onto the bottom of each bowl and pour in the stew. 

Notes: Add some chilli with the onion and garlic if you want to add a little kick to the stew. The beef tomatoes should have enough juice. If they are not ripe and aren't releasing alot of juice then add some water. Here is a good video explaining how to clean out an octopus, if your fish monger hasn't done it already. Leave it whole instead of chopping up though!

Review: Kai Cafe + Restaurant, Galway

Kai Cafe + Restaurant

Galway City

It's only happened twice before that I've walked around a city and thought "this could be my home." The first, somewhat surprisingly, was while walking around Cork City a few years ago, to be fair this could have had more to do with the company, a new love can sometimes have that effect on a man but the city still retains a special place in my heart. The second time, somewhat unsurprisingly, was while walking around the streets of beautiful Florence. Everything about the city appealed to me and Ali and myself had actually planned on moving there until reality kicked in and stomped all over our romantic dream. Unexpectedly Galway had a similar effect on me. The narrow, pedestrianised streets instantly appealed while the seemingly liberal nature of the city re-enforced the point but it was of course the food that really swung it. The city has a great food scene and Kai plays a big part in it.

"Where good food lives," never was a tagline more apt. Kai is a bright and airy cafe located on Sea Road in Galway's city centre. Ali and I met our good friend Finn there for lunch on a bright August day. The large sky light along with the plethora of concrete give the impression of dining outside, a nice touch in a country where actually eating outside could become a nightmare very quickly. There are no printed menus, a good squint at the blackboard above the kitchen hatch is required to see what today's produce has inspired Jessica Murphy to create. I went for the Connemarra wild smoked mackerel, green bean mimosa, steves greens, brown soda and mint with cucumber. It was magnificent. Everything on the plate was perfectly seasoned and complimented each other perfectly. The mackerel was warm and just smokey enough without overpowering everything else.

After the main, a trip to the dessert table is necessary. There you will find a great choice of homemade tarts and cakes, all triggering an insuppressible drool. I decided on the Pecan Pie. I'm often left disappointed by pecan pies. Too much caramel not enough nut is my usual complaint but I had no such problems here. It was delicious, the perfect pecan. We finished our lunch with an excellent coffee before heading into the city, happy and full.

Kai is one of the many food gems in Galway's crown. It's bright and airy with friendly staff and great food. You may be able to find cheaper options but I guarantee they won't taste as good. 

Lunch Ratings:

Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Ambiance: 9/10
Selection: 9/10
Value for Money: 8/10

Overall: 9/10 Highly Recommended


Kai Cafe + Restaurant
Sea Road,
Galway City.
091 526003

Galway August 2015

Galway

August 2015

I'm a little behind on my blogging at the minute and now, as I sit in Marco's apartment in Turin, I'm reminded of our trip to Galway a couple of weeks ago. Why does an industrial city in northern Italy remind me of Galway? It's simple really, the weather is bloody awful! Anyway, enough about Torino (more of which in another post) and more of The City of The Tribes.

"There's enough McKenna Recommended restaurants here to make a Kildare man cry." This thought went through my head numerous times as I discovered what the vibrant city had to offer. We actually stayed in Salthill but it's only a beautiful walk from the city centre along the picturesque promenade and quays. Our first encounter with Galway's delicious food was our quick stop at The Gourmet Tart Company for a coffee (Lavazza - Thank you very much!) and cake. The perfect start. That night we enjoyed a family friendly Italian in Salthill (joined by my parents and two brothers). My Lobster Ravioli may have been masked by the tomato and chilli in the sauce but the Tiramisu made up for it. As did the wine. More restaurants in Ireland should serve Montepulciano D'Abruzzo as their house offering. A few drinks in the city with good friend Finn that night lead to another discovery - Galway does wine on tap - Sold!

"Peter, what will we do for lunch?" The dreaded question, If sharing an apartment with only Ali and my Mother (who both love food) then lunch wouldn't be a problem but when you throw in my Father, who is at best indifferent to nice things and two brothers who, at worst, despise food it becomes a more difficult situation. "I'll head into Sheridan's and see what they have." Sheridan's started out as a cheese mongers at farmers markets before opening their shop and restaurant in Galway City (and now one in Dublin too). The shop at ground level is a thing of magic. Ham's hang from the ceilings, Italian style, while the smell of cheese permeates the nostrils like a blast of airwaves before a first shift. I was delighted to see free range sausages and rashers from a local farm and these were joined in my basket by some smoky Red Leicester cheese and two fresh ciabatta rolls. Surely enough to please everyone, and so it was. That evening we entered the time warp that is McDonagh's for dinner (see review here) before witnessing the elements at their worst yet again.

Wednesday was a great day. Wednesday was Cava Day! Ali and I strolled into the city in great anticipation only to see Cava owner JP McMahon exiting his other restaurant, the michelin starred Aniar. After a trip to Charlie Byrne's bookshop to augment the cookery book collection and Thomas Woodberrys Wines for some post dinner sustenance, we walked into Cava twenty minutes early. Not a problem. There is a review of Cava Bodega coming shortly so I'll keep this short and sweet - it is outstanding. On our stroll home along the promenade, watching the setting sun, we noticed Sharon Shannon walking her 7 dogs. After a quick chat it was time to get back, open the Riesling and settle into the film "Diana" with Ali and my Mam.

Upon researching places to eat in Galway, one name continually came up - Kai. On Thursday we gave it a go for lunch, continuing our catch up with Finn. Again there's a review on the way but (again!) it was wonderful. My smoked mackerel main was excellent but it was the dessert table that was particularly striking. Although not particularly hungry, a couple of hours later, we tried a pizza from hipster hideout Dough Brothers. We walked out to Mutton Island and enjoyed our pizza watching the waves on the first fine day of our stay. That evening, family in toe, we ate at The Galleon in Salthill. Fine dining it may not be but the family-centric atmosphere and service makes it a must for anyone visiting Salthill with small children.

On Friday there was time for only one thing before our drive home - a trip back to Sheridan's to stock up on free range sausages, rashers and organic pancetta. Ali and my Mother snuck off to another gem - Cupán Tae for coffee and red velvet cake and assured me of (and rubbed in) it's deliciousness. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Galway. I used to be quite pessimistic about Ireland's food culture but Galway gave me renewed hope. There is a great selection of good restaurants and food shops. McCambridge's on Shop Street may come across a little gimmicky but the produce is top notch (especially the Toonsbridge Irish Mozzarella). There are plenty of independent butchers, bakeries, fish mongers and a couple of good vegetable shops too. As for restaurants, the michelin star may have gone to the pocket emptying Aniar but JP McMahon's other venture, Cava Bodega, is magnificent. We didn't get to try Nimmo's but I've heard great things while a dessert at The Gourmet Tart Co. will ensure you snack well in any weather. The pedestrianised areas along with the narrow medievel streets ensure that the city itself is just as beautiful as the food on offer within.