Baked Chicken Liver Mousse

This recipe is super light and serves 6-8 people. Smoother and finer than pate and so easy because you just blitz everything then pour it straight into a dishes/ramekins and bake. Optionally, you can bake it in a water bath because the slower cooking results in a smoother mousse but it's not totally necessary.

Organic chicken livers are incredibly nutritious and is one of the most cost effective meats money can buy. Enjoy the mousse slathered on toast or crackers. Also good with preserves or a refreshing salad with ingredients like fennel, cucumbers, dill and citrus fruit.

• 1/2 apple cored and peeled. 
• 1/2 small white onion
• 100g butter at room temperature - plus extra for buttering ramekins
• 200g fresh chicken livers
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 allspice
• 1/2 ground white pepper
• 2 free range eggs
• 1-2 tbsp Cognac or other brandy

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees Celsius and butter 5 8cm individual ramekins.
If you have a strong blender and room temperature butter, then throw all the ingredients in, pulse a few times and then blend until smooth.
Otherwise, finely chop the apple and onion and cook the apple and onion until softened, then add to the food processor.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until completely smooth.
Pour the mixture into the ramekins until almost at the top and then tap the bottoms against a hard surface a couple of times to get rid of any air bubbles.
Place the ramekins inside a deep baking tray and fill with freshly boiled water until about halfway up the sides of the ramekins and place in the oven.
Cook for 20-25 minutes - you know it is done when it is set around the edges and just very slightly wobbly in the centre.
Let the cool a little - serve hot or cold right from the dishes.

Note: If you wanted to store these in the fridge for up to 5 days, melt a little cold butter and when cooled pour on top of the mousse. The oil in the butter will protect the mousse from the air.

A Fresh Look at Spring Dressings

Honey and Chive Flower Dressing

• 10 fresh chive flowers
• 1tbsp blossom honey
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed or olive oil
• Sea salt 
• Freshly ground black pepper

Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a blender and blend to an even texture. Adjust the seasoning with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Peppery and bitter leaves like rocket, romaine and radicchio are particularly good with this dressing.

Rosemary and Rose Dressing

• 1 tsp very finely chopped rosemary needles
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom seeds
• 1 tsp rosewater
• 1 tbsp honey
• 50ml 100% fruit black grape juice
• 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Put the rosemary in a small bowl with the cardamom. Ass the rosewater and honey, and stir until the honey dissolves. Add the juice, vinegars and oil and season. Allow the dressing to infuse for at least 15 minutes.

Particularly good with figs, fennel, cheeses and grapes.

Hazelnut Bacon Vinaigrette

• 120g bacon slices
• 1 tbsp boiling water
• 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic or regular apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 2 tbsp skinless hazelnuts
• 3 tsp finely chopped spearmint or peppermint
• 1 1/2 tbsp tbsp freshly squeezed bergamot or lemon peel and juice
• A pinch of chilli flakes
• 3 tbsp cold-pressed hazelnut or peanut oil
• Freshly ground black pepper

Fry the bacon very crisp on a pan. Once ready, place the bacon on a cutting board. Put the boiling water in the pan, de-glaze and pour into the bowl.
Chop the bacon very finely and put it into the bowl also. Stir in the vinegar, garlic, bergamot peel and juice.
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan for a few minutes then chop them finely. Add them to the bowl with the chilli flakes and oil. Stir well and season to taste.

Tastes good with pears, parsips, soft cheeses and jerusalem artichokes.

Irish Wild Salmon - Lemon Gravlax

The Wild Salmon season always starts slowly in the middle of May, with the first of the wild salmon being caught in East Cork. The most of the wild salmon are caught in July and August.
As you might have been aware of, driftnet fishing was banned in Irish waters from the 2006 season onwards. It still is banned as far as the driftnet fishing is concerned – long nets being towed by boats in the sea. The simple reason for that is that the number of wild salmon went down dramatically in Ireland. In other countries as well, but as far as we are aware of, Ireland is the one of the few countries to have acted on it.
There are, however, limited licences being given out to small fishery outfits. They are only allowed to fish a small number of wild salmon, and they basically do it by hand with simple nets. The season starts around 12 May and ends in August. Stringent rules apply- fishing is only allowed on certain days.
Wild salmon can be gotten from a few sources for the Blackwater River in Co. Cork, and the River Nore in Co. Kilkenny. The fishing takes place more than 5 kilometres upriver. This is important, as the wild salmon, on return to and in search of the river where they were born, swim into the river for a certain distance and taste the water. If they find it is not the native river of their origin, they turn back to look for the right one.

In the meantime you can buy farmed Salmon for a massively reduced cost but there really is no comparison to the taste of more ethically pleasing wild-caught fish.

Cold spicing is one of the easiest and nicest ways to enjoy fresh fish and also achieve a superb texture. It's a great topping on toast, rye bread and crispbread for a few days after making. You can pretty much add any flavour you like. Alcohol or herbs and spices are ideal to add to the basic recipe below.

• Approx 1.2kg salmon fillet (a half side)
• 200g white sugar
• 200g fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground fennel seeds
• Finely grated zest of a bitter orange (Seville preferably)
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime

Day One

Remove any bones from the fish and dry it, leaving the skin on. Mix together the sugar, salt, pepper and fennel seeds.
Sprinkle 1/4 of the mixture into the bottom of a roasting pan (choose a clinically clean one around the size of the fish, it mustn't be too big.) Put the fish in skin side down and sprinkle the rest of the spice mix over. Cover the fish with baking paper or a lid. Marinate in the fridge for 24-48 hours depending on the thickness.

Day Two

Scrape the marinade off the fish with a knife. The salmon will now keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

This dish is traditionally served sliced very thinly with a long thin sharp knife.

Foraging and Cooking in March

For most of its 31 days March can be every bit as miserable, marrow-chilling and monotonous in terms of seasonal vegetables as February. But it doesn't matter, because March has something the February lacks: hope. However cold and wet it gets, various life-enhancing things are sure to have happened by the end of the month.

 Primroses bloom and hedgegrow plants compete furiously with each other. The wild chervil. nettles and alexanders are all half a yard out of the ground before my carrots have shown a couple of inches! There are other wild spring greens to look out for, hogweed shoots (these can be served like asparagus), watercress and wild garlic.

I cant emphasise enough how worthwhile nettles are as a vegetable. Freshly gathered and given a quick wash, they are ready to make soups, teas and vegetable dishes.

Nettle Tea:

Blanche the nettles and use the cooking liquor as the base for the tea. You can sweeten with honey, sharpen with a squeeze of lemon and drink as a fortifying brew. Nettles are rich in iron, formic and silicilic acid and natural histamines - a healthy spring tonic if ever there was one.

Nettle and Sorrel Risotto:

• Use the nettles blanched to make the tea. Pick only the heads of the young plants, a generous colander-full will do.Chop them before use.
• Pick about half the quantity of wild sorrel leaves - finely shredded.
• 900ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 white onion
• 50g butter
• 175g Arborio Rice
• 50g finely grated Parmesan

Heat the stock firstly and keep on a simmer.
 Finely chop the onion and sautee with the butter in a heavy based saucepan until the onions are soft and translucent but not brown.
Add the rice and mix well to coat the grains well with the butter and cook while stirring for about 2 minutes.
Add the heated stick a ladle at a time, all whilst stirring. Wait until all the stock has been absorbed before adding more. Once you have about a third of the stock left, add the nettles.
From then on, add more stock a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is nicely al dente. You may not need to use all of the stock but the texture should be loose and creamy.
Stir in the shredded sorrel leaves and check for seasoning.
Finely stir in the parmesan (and another knob of butter or splash of cream if you wish).
Serve straight away with more parmesan and a grater at the table.I like to top mine with toasted pine nuts also as it lends an amazing smokey texture.

Primrose and Champagne Jelly

This is an Edwardian dish which I saw made on the television series "Treats from the Edwardian Country house". It's visually stunning, with a floral citrus flavour.

• 7 gelatine leaves
• 125g caster sugar
• 500ml champagne or a dry sparkling wine
• 175ml sherry
• 2 egg whites with the eggshells crushed
• The zest and juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
• 12-16 primrose heads (depending on the size of your jelly mould)

Soak the gelatine leaves in a dish of water for at least 5 minutes,
Put the sugar, wine, sherry, 250ml water and the orange and lemon into a large saucepan and heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the gelatine and stir until that is dissolved too.
Lightly whisk the egg whites and add them and the crushed shells to the pan.
Stir occasionally until the mixture becomes very frothy and comes almost to the boil.
Remove from the heat and strain through a thoroughly wetted muslin or cotton cloth into a bowl.
Pour about a quarter or the jelly mixture into the mould and allow to set in the fridge until very lightly set.
Arrange a ring of the primrose heads face down (pressing lightly into the tacky surface).
Carefully pour over the next quarter of the unset jelly into the mould and put it back into the fridge.
Continue in this way, creating 2 or 3 rings of primroses set into the jelly.

To unmould the jelly, dip the dish very briefly in hot water and use the tip of your finger to judge when the jelly is coming away from the dish, Choose your serving dish and flip it over with a little shake and lift off the mould.

Easier said than done I know!

Bone Broth

To help heal a damaged gut lining and develop auto-immune strength, you need large amounts of easily digestible substances like amino acids, gelatin, glucosamine, fats, vitamins and minerals - all found in good quality bone broth.

Simple to make. soothing and nourishing, bone broth is one of the oldest, most affordable homemade foods. often used as an elixir to cure ailments and nurture the sick.

To get the full nutritional benefits the broth should be homemade from the bones of the healthiest animals- not from stock cubes which can include a concoction of hydrolysed protein and emulsifiers. Even the "cleanest" ready made shop bought stock or bouillon will not have the same benefits as homemade bone broth.

A good broth is rich in gelatin (a source of protein that helps counter the degeneration of joints) and collagen (which improves the condition of the skin). Bone broth made with fish bones and heads provides iodine and can help strengthen the thyroid.

Nutrient rich bone broth is simple and cheap to produce and makes everything taste amazing. It can be flavoured with a mirepoix (carrots. onions and celery). Save the odds and ends of these vegetables when prepping vegetables and stash them in the fridge or freezer for when you're ready to make your next big batch of broth.

Recipe:

• 2-3kg beef bones, chicken carcasses and lamb bones. You can usually get these free or cheaply from the butchers. Also you can use the saved bones from Sunday roasts.
• 2 handfuls of any mirepoix 
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• A few dried bay leaves
• Optional: a generous splash of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice to help extract the minerals from the meat bones

Place the bones and any optional ingredients into a large stainless steel or ceramic cooking pot and cover with cold water. The water level should cover the bones by 5cm whilst still leaving room at the top of the pan. You can also use a slow cooker if you wish.

Cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, lid on, for at least 6 hours for chicken and 12 for beef or lamb, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. The longer the bones simmer, the more nutrients are released.

Strain the liquid and cool before storing. Broth will keep in the fridge for several days or up to a week if left undisturbed as a layer of fat will form on the surface and keep it sealed from the air.

I like to freeze it in batches for use as I need it. Don't forget to leave room for expansion in the storage containers!

As a side note, I like to save the layer of fat that occurs on the top of the cooled beef broth and use for roasting potatoes or vegetables, it gives such an amazing flavour!

Root Vegetable and Squash Soup with Avoca Cheese Soda Bread

Through it's cafes, markets and cookbooks, Avoca has lead a revolution in Irish food in recent years. The company champions seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients and showcases them in a modern but accessible way. As such they are one of my favourites. They also provide a great stage for artisan food producers based in Ireland as well as promoting craft butchery and free-range meats.

This recipe idea was born out of the most traditional and most basic of Irish comfort food - vegetable soup. Given an updated flavor profile and paired with Avoca Cheese Soda Bread it reminds me that sometimes February can feel good!

Soup

ingredients:

• 1 large white onion, sliced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
• 2 sticks celery, chopped
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 180g orange lentils (rinse them really well)
• Half a butternut squash, chopped
• 30g butter
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• Half a chilli (de-seeding will lessen heat if you prefer)
• A half inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• A few fresh thyme flowers
• Cream to add at the end if you wish

After all the assembly of the ingredients is done, it's pretty easy. Sautee the onions and celery in the butter until translucent, then add the vegetables. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about another 5-10 minutes. You don't want to colour any of the vegetables.  This creates a flavour in the soup that just boiling alone cannot do. Once this is done you can add the rest of the ingredients and simmer in the stock for about 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are soft. Then blend to your desired consistency.

Cheese Soda Bread

ingredients:

• 454g plain flour
• 1 level teaspoon bread soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 100g grated mature cheddar
• About 500mls buttermilk 

Pre-heat oven to 180 C and line an oiled loaf tin with baking parchment. Sieve dry ingredients into large bowl, then add cheese and buttermilk to texture. The amount of buttermilk used will depend on the dryness of the flour used. As a guideline, the mixture should be wet but not runny.Mix ingredients - no kneading, and pop into the loaf tin. Flatten out the top of the bread and run a knife down the centre of the top of the bread. This will help it to rise evenly. Do not ever overly mix a soda bread recipe and always get it into the oven quickly, otherwise your bread will be dense. The bread needs to bake for 40 minutes before taking it out and removing it from the tin. Then put it back into the oven until a metal skewer comes out clean.

The English Market, Cork City

Situated in the heart of Cork City, the English Market is a roofed food market and has been trading since 1788. Developed and still owned by Cork City Council, the Market is one of the oldest municipal markets of it’s kind in the world.  

The market is well supported locally, when I was a student in UCC it was common to shirk the aisles of Tesco in favour of going there to bulk-buy chicken breasts and stare longingly at French pastries without ever actually purchasing one. 

Historically, the building suffered some fire damage over the centuries and was refurbished a number of times. The most recent of these refurbishments was in 1986, elongating and modernising the establishment. Since then, the market has become more multicultural, and a variety of fresh produce from around the world can be bought there. The market is still best known however for its fresh fish and butchers, and it serves many of the city's top restaurants. It is a source of local specialities such as drisheen, spiced beef, and buttered eggs.

I returned to the market after several years yesterday and took some photos to document my visit.