Irish Food Reprise

by Sheila Connolly

For various reasons I haven't been able to create a
new recipe for this week. Moving to a new 
country is complicated! And the rest of my
possessions including cookware won't arrive 
until next week, though they were shipped in September.

So I thought I'd revive one the the earlier posts
I wrote for MLK--in 2014! Actually I've been visiting (and
eating) in Ireland for 20 years, but Mystery Lovers'
Kitchen isn't quite that old. I've added a few
more recent observations to the post.



Shall we begin with the "full Irish"?
(that would be breakfast)

And then on to lunch: a nice ordinary sandwich, with a bit of brown bread and smoked salmon






And then a bit of dinner, with mussels and samphire (which grows on rocks, I'm told)
Samphire is a kind of seaweed, I think. and if the TV special I saw today, seaweed has become quite popular in Ireland (dried). It makes a good substitute for salt, and has more vitamins.

I have a small kitchen to play in. (The new one now has a Neff slide and hide oven. but I keep having to look at the instructions to figure out which buttons to push.)

Bread at Field's Market in
Skibbereen

My favorite fishmonger in Union Hall
(he was thrilled to have a real writer
in his shop). His name is Peter, and he
recognizes he when I drop by. He also sneaks in an apperance in A Turn for the Bad, although I'm not sure he knows its.



 

Monkfish

The cheeses at the Skibbereen
weekly market

Chickens

Ducks

Fresh greens in November!

No, the baby's not for sale



And don't forget dessert!

(Known somewhere else as
mille feuilles or Napoleons)

Bramley apples

The food continues to be amazing, and as fresh as it could be. County Cork is still very rural, and there are more cattle and sheep than people. But it also has some wonderful modern cities and towns and villages, and new restaurants keep popping up. People care about food here--a far cry from the overcooked ham and potatoes and cabbage that headed a lot of menus twenty years ago.

And it's a beautiful place. While the towns are lovely, they turn to country very quickly, and there's a lot of history in the area. My cottage is only 12 miles from where Michael Collins was born, and people still talk about him, nearly a century after his death. Is it any wonder I want to be here?

[Waving to all the Bouchercon and Crime Bake attendees of this busy week! I'm sorry to miss seeing you all.)

Back to Ireland!

View from my front window

Many thanks to Lucy Burdette for stepping in for me while I was traveling. I case you haven’t heard, I’m in Ireland now, for the foreseeable future. My cookbooks, however, are on a ship in Boston Harbor, waiting to sail. And the weather here has not been conducive to wandering in the Skibbereen Farmers’ Market (but I will soon, I promise!)

But the local grocery store, Fields, is thriving (would you believe I have a frequent buyer pass?) so of course I ended up there. I know, you’ve seen and heard about it before, but I had to see if there were any changes. There weren’t, actually, although some of the prepared foods were new, so of course I had to try a couple of them. There were chicken and duck breasts with a variety of sauces, perfect for a single meal. And all they required was heating—which involved the large assumption that I could understand the instructions for my Neff oven. They are not simple, but I did manage to find Bake.

Perfectly clear, right?

And wild game was in! Several years ago I tried cooking pheasant (and included the recipe here, I think). This year I am contemplating quail, which are so tiny that they should take only a few minutes to cook. Anybody tried quail? Because I haven’t.

Assorted fresh game

I think it was ordained that I had to fall in love with a supermarket that had twenty feet of diverse baking products, including more kinds of flour than I knew existed. The only thing missing from my excursion was Battenberg Cake (which I also included her a while ago), which is my absolute favorite. I’m sure it will be back, and so will I.

I promise I’ll provide some real recipes as soon as I get organized! (Connolly’s of Leap now offers house-made Italian pizza, and you can be sure I won’t miss that!)

Coming in January: Fatal Roots, the next in the County Cork Mysteries!

Irish Pizza

I might have mentioned that my friend Marcia and I tried to eat lunch in every available restaurant in Skibbereen (that’s Ireland, in case you don’t know) during our recent trip. We came close, but I guess we saved a few for another trip. One of those stops was the café at the Drinagh Co-op.

The cafe in Skibbereen

My cottage lies within the village of Drinagh, north-east of Skibbereen. It’s tiny, with one main street and a population of about six hundred as of the last census. According to Wikipedia, it has “a tennis court, post office, two churches, one primary school, two pubs, two grocery stores, a gym, a hardware store, and a creamery” (funny thing—Wikipedia did not mention the funeral home or the one-person police station). Recent update: the post office (about 100 square feet) will be closing this month. And one of the grocery stores, the hardware store and the creamery are part of the Drinagh Co-op.

The Co-op was founded in 1923 by a local curate and some local farmers, and is now one of the largest independent cooperatives in Ireland. It has ten branch offices throughout West Cork and employs almost 200 people. It produces milk products, supplies food for livestock, as well as home and gardening products and building and farming goods—and appliances. I love the place: so far I have bought a stove, stovetop, washer and dryer at the massive appliance store and a waterproof jacket for milking cows (okay, I don’t have any cows, but the jacket is very waterproof, which is useful).

All this may make the village sound industrial, but there’s still only one main street, and it’s very peaceful—even though they collect milk from local farmers in large shiny tanker trucks. 

Yes, that's a milk truck. 

But I digress. Back to the pizza!

The café in Skibbereen is small and fun—when I was last there, it was school opening week, so there were lots of families with children wearing school uniforms, as well as teens and twenty-somethings and older women having lunch together in the middle of the week. You point at the food you want behind a counter, and a server heats it up (if need be) and delivers it to your table. I pointed at something that looked tasty but which I couldn’t identify, and the server said, “you want the pizza?” Guess what: it didn’t look like any pizza I had ever seen. But it tasted good, and I decided to try making my own. Basically it’s a typical pizza crust (though this one was oval), with tomatoes, cheese, bits of ham, and . . . sliced bangers!

This was the original version

Irish Pizza

Ingredients:

pizza crust (all right, I cheated and bought some ready-made pizza dough at my market, and split it in two pieces)
chopped canned tomatoes (slightly chunky is good—not too soggy)
grated cheese (while the Drinagh original used cheddar (I think) I opted for Gubbeen, a locally-made semi-soft and flavorful cheese that I love)
a couple of slices of cooked ham (the sandwich variety, not too thick. In this version the ham was cut into squares about 1 inch a side)
two or three bangers, sliced into half-inch rounds

Instructions:

Grease a baking sheet well or line it with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Dust your surface with flour and roll out your dough into elongated ovals about 8-10 inches long and six inches wide. (Note: this dough was really elastic, and kept wanting to shrink, so the result was thicker than I hoped. But it tasted fine!)

Coarsely grate your cheese and slice up your ham and bangers.

Assembling the pizzas:

--spread a thin layer of the tomatoes on each crust (do not overlap the edges)
--lay your pieces of ham over the tomatoes
--sprinkle the grated cheese over the top
--distribute the banger pieces over the whole

Bake in the middle of the preheated oven until the edges of the crust are golden and the cheese has melted (about 25 minutes). Cool for a few minutes on a rack. It’s best eaten warm, but it keeps well (and reheats well) if you can’t finish your piece.

I was one of those kids who hated anything spicy or unfamiliar, so I’m guessing this would be a hit with the children I saw in the café. If you’re a person who likes a spicier pizza, sprinkle with red pepper flakes or something. 

Can you wait? The Lost Traveller, coming in January 2019.

www.sheilaconnolly.com

My Idol Darina Allen and Her Spicy Vegetable Stew

I’ve been looking forward to writing this post since I got back from Ireland last December. You see, I bought Darina Allen’s latest book, Grow, Cook, Nourish at the Skibbereen farmers’ market, where she was selling copies from a card table set up in the middle. I had to have a copy, even though it weighs five pounds (I checked) and is three inches thick and I had to carry it back on the plane with me. It contains 500 recipes, each one richly illustrated with multiple color photographs, and is rich with recipes from multiple countries using wonderful spices, not to mention the history of the food in question and where you can find it. Yes, I’ve read through it—it’s not just a pretty coffee-table book. And Darina herself writes that it “may just be the most important book I ever wrote.” It’s all about “the entire process of sowing plants and seeds, nurturing them, harvesting, cooking and nourishing yourself and others.”

Yes, she signed it for me!

According to her bio, she founded the first farmers’ markets in Ireland (and actually still shops at them—I’ve run into her more than once), is one of the leaders of the Slow Food movement there, and has been running the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork since 1983. One of these days I’m going to find a way to take a class there.

The Skibbereen Farmers' Market

Oh, right, we need a recipe. I skipped over a few in the book because I’d never heard of the primary ingredient and I was pretty sure I’d never find it in my local supermarket (medlars? Purslane? Borage? Cardoons?). But still left a few hundred to choose from. I landed upon “Spicy Vegetable Stew with Yogurt” mainly because I actually had all the ingredients, including all the spices.

Spicy Vegetable Stew

Ingredients: 
(Note, as usual I made a half recipe)

2 lbs potatoes (you may notice these are purple, but that's what I had)
1 lb turnips, cut into cubes
1/2 lb carrots

1/2 tsp sugar
2 oz. butter
2-1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp cardamom seeds
8 cloves
1/2 pound onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1-1/2 oz fresh ginger, peeled and crushed
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
24 oz. tomatoes (fresh or canned)
6 (liquid) oz. yogurt
1/2 cup whole milk
sea salt
1-2 Tblsp chopped coriander or parsley

Instructions:

Boil the (unpeeled) potatoes, then peel off the skins and cut into half-inch slices.

Cook the turnips in boiling salted water for 30-40 minutes (until tender).

Scrub the carrots and trim off ends. Cut into half-inch slices. Cook in a covered saucepan with a little boiling water with a dash of salt and sugar and a blob of butter.

Grind all the spices together to a powder, with a spice grinder or mortar and pestle.

Yes, I actually have a spice grinder

Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the onions and cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the onions are soft and golden. Stir in the garlic, ginger and ground spices and nutmeg, turmeric, and 1/2 tsp sugar. Cook for a minute or so, then add the chopped tomatoes and yogurt.

Put the sliced potatoes, turnip, and carrots into the mix and stir gently (to keep the potatoes intact). Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until all the vegetables are tender. Take off the lid and add the milk and cook to reduce (as thick or thin as you like). Season with the sea salt to taste. Stir in the chopped coriander or parsley and serve.

The result? A lovely, well-balanced blend of spices and flavors. But I will comment that this recipe could come only from a cook who has an entire cooking school staff (that is, dishwashers!) to clean up. Just count the number of pans used! But I think at home you could reduce the number without losing any of the flavor.

Did you know that the Skibbereen market has no organization to oversee it? People with something to sell (vegetables, old clothes, lots of breads, antiques--just about anything) show up Saturday morning, stake out a place, and set up shop. There's a small fee for each day, which I think is about five dollars. I plan entire trips to make sure I can go at least once, and I always come away with something unexpected. And it runs all year.

The Liss Ard Menu

The next book in my County Cork Mysteries, Many a Twist, will be released next Tuesday. All the familiar characters will be there, and a few will spill some secrets, but there will also be some new faces.

While the heart of the story is always Maura’s pub, Sullivan’s, a lot happens in and around an upscale local hotel, based on a real one in Skibbereen, known as the Liss Ard Estate. It started out as a manor house for one of the important local families, but since then it’s served many purposes under many different owners, and right now it’s a hotel (a fate many of the big old manor houses share).

According to their website, the Liss Ard Estate “is a place of enchantment and relaxation set on 163 acres of gorgeous countryside and an amazing 50-acre lake! The country house was built in 1853 by the O'Donovan chiefs and it became the last of their Georgian style houses to be built.”

A smaller building, Lake House, was added to the property as a summer residence for the O'Donovans.

It also has a high-end restaurant (and they report that they serve “an exquisite Afternoon Tea,” by appointment only—I haven’t tried it yet). The menu makes delicious reading, even though I have to laugh at some of the terms they use, like “burnt figs.” But their flavor pairings are intriguing.

So I decided to try to replicate one of their main courses, in honor of Many a Twist. Of course I had to tweak it a bit, but I’m aiming for the spirit of their dishes.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffle Oil and Crispy Onions

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms (I used a mix of mushrooms)

Note: wild mushrooms seem to flourish in late fall in Ireland. I assume the Liss Ard chefs use what is available. These are some that I’ve seen (and no, I didn’t cook any of them).

I have no idea what these are, and, no, I didn't eat
any of them! But they were thriving in November.

5 cups broth (chicken, beef, or 
   vegetable)
2 Tblsp finely chopped shallots
3 Tblsp butter
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups uncooked rice (preferably Arborio)


Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a slow simmer and hold it at that temperature.

Melt the butter in another saucepan and add the oil.  Add the shallots and sauté until they are translucent (do not brown).  Add the chopped mushrooms and sauté until the mushrooms give up their juices.

Add the rice and stir until the rice grains are well-coated with the butter-oil mixture.  

Add one-half cup of the simmering broth and stir until the rice absorbs all the liquid (make sure you get all the grains clinging to the sides of the pan).  Then add another one-half cup of liquid and continue to stir over low heat, making sure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom. Continue adding the broth and stirring, but wait each time until all the broth is absorbed before adding any more (yes, this takes some time, and a lot of stirring, but the result is worth it).

Toward the end it will take longer for the broth to be absorbed after each addition, but you will notice that the mixture is becoming creamy.

After about 20 minutes, taste a single grain of rice to see if it is cooked through. If the core of the grain is still hard and white, continue adding liquid and testing until it's done. In total it should take about 30 minutes.  Don't worry if you didn't use all five cups of the broth—rice can vary. Taste a bit and add salt only if needed.

Crispy Onions

Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion (or two smaller 
   ones)2 eggs
2 Tblsp whole milk
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
vegetable oil for frying (to a depth of two inches in your pan)

Instructions:



Slice the onion into quarter-inch slices, then cut each slice into quarters. Toss to separate the small pieces.

Heat two inches of oil in a deep-sided skillet or fry pan (I used my mother’s crock pot, which doubles as a fryer) to 350 degrees.

In a mid-size bowl, mix the eggs and milk together. In a second bowl, mix the flour and spices together.

Gather up a handful of onions at a time, and dip them into the egg mixture. Let the excess liquid drip off. Then place the onions in the flour and toss to coat. Again, shake off the excess (if they seem too gummy, you could use a sieve and shake well).

Place the onions in the hot oil (watch out for spatter!) and cook until they are golden brown. (Do not crowd or they might boil over—you can do this in batches, but be sure to let the oil reach the proper temperature before adding the next batch.)

Crispy onions!

Remove the onions from the oil and place on paper towels to absorb the oil.

You will note that the Liss Ard dish includes truffle oil. I actually have truffle oil! (And truffle butter too!). I’m not sure where it goes. Use sparingly, because it has a strong flavor. You can sprinkle it over the cooked risotto to amplify the taste of whatever mushrooms you’ve used, or over the onions, or both.

The risotto is creamy, and the onions add a nice bit of crunch as well as flavor.

And here's the book!

How far would you go to protect your family? 

Pub owner Maura Donovan hasn’t seen her mother for over twenty years, so when she suddenly shows up in Maura’s pub, Maura’s not sure what to expect. Her mother made a new life for herself back home and has taken up a position working with the new owners of the Crann Mor hotel just outside Skibbereen. Then her new boss is found dead in the hotel gardens, dumped down the hillside behind the hotel.

Now, trying to rekindle the relationship they’ve lost, Maura must investigate the man’s death in order to clear her mother’s name. It’s not so easy though, as long-time residents of County Cork, including her employee Mick, and the family of the deceased hotel owner, have bottled deep dark family secrets not meant to be uncorked. And someone will kill to keep them that way.

The reviews have captured the heart of the story.

“Plenty of puzzles with a strong feeling for life in small-town Ireland.”
―Kirkus Reviews

“Connolly vividly evokes rural Ireland, and her characters seem like real human beings trying their best to navigate their lives.”
―Publishers Weekly

Coming January 9, 2018, from Crooked Lane Books. Available now for preorder!