From the Shores of Clonakilty with Clonakilty Black Pudding!

There is nothing like Irish hospitality and the lunch I was invited to was no exception.  At the invitation of Clonakilty Black Pudding I set off to West London for the Chiswick Moran Hotel to attend their celebration at launching their black pudding in the UK.

When offered black pudding in the past I always would say "no, it's disgusting" or "yuck I couldn't eat that". But in fact I had never even tried it.  In September I attended the Speciality Fine Food Show in London and there I met Brenda at the Clonakilty Black Pudding stand.  I wasn't planning on trying any but I decided that as I was at the show I should enter into the spirit and try everything.

Well, let me say I was pleasantly surprised.  I liked it!!  When Brenda invited me to attend the launch lunch I was only too pleased to.

I met some lovely people including Collette Twomey, the Managing Director of the firm in Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland.  Collette is the only person who currently knows the secret mix of spices, mixing them in private ready for each batch to be made.

Over 20 tonnes of Clonakilty black Pudding are produced every week using local ingredients such as Irish beef and pork, onions from West Cork and Flahavan's pin head oats.  Their butcher shop has been in the town centre for over 130 years and has very strong links to the community supporting local businesses, clubs and sports.

Clonakilty also produce award winning bacon and sausages. For Christmas 2012 I wanted to make the stuffing for the turkey a little differently than I usually do.  I mixed the sausage meat from their sausages (I skinned them first) with some bread crumbs and finely chopped black pudding. I mixed all this together and then spooned it into my 12 cup muffin pan which I had lined with Clonakilty bacon. I put this all in the oven for about 20 minutes and when cooked had 12 individual stuffing parcels.  They went down very well with our turkey and the rest of the Christmas meal.

You can purchase Clonakilty Black Pudding in England now in selected stores including Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges and branches of Tesco and Budgens supermarkets.

I really hope to visit Ireland in 2013 and a visit to the shores of Clonakilty will definitely be on the agenda!

(Clonakilty provided me with the black pudding, bacon and sausages)

One Ingredient - 3 Recipes (Grey-Poupon Dijon Mustard)

Grey-Poupon Dijon mustard dates back to 1777 (a year after the American Independence) and quickly became one of France's most outstanding and popular mustards.  Today Grey-Poupon is known as the finest!

With ingredients such as water, mustard seeds, white wine, salt and citric, acid this mustard is a smooth, silky addition to any recipe.

I was challenged to come up with three recipes using this and/or the wholegrain version.  That is not really hard for me because I use these products in my cooking all the time.

My first recipe is a slow cooked turkey thigh.  I went to buy some chicken breasts at the supermarket and they were offering four small chicken breasts for £3.25 but they had a turkey leg and thigh on special offer at £3.00.This was a no brainer really, cook the leg for the dog and put the thigh in the slow cooker so that when I came home from Paris I would have a hot meal ready and waiting.

I sliced up two onions, four carrots and two sticks of celery and popped them in the slow cooker. I placed the turkey thigh on top of them and added my seasonings and flavourings.  I added Lemon & Chipotle Sea Salt, ground pepper, a Knorr gravy pot, 3 Tablespoons of Grey-Poupon wholegrain mustard and covered with water and a little white wine.  Mr R popped the heat on about 09:30 (whilst I was languishing on the train to Paris!) and that was all.  When I got home we had a meal ready!

My second recipe was just as easy and quick.  The jar of Grey-Poupon Dijon Wholegrain mustard had about 2Tbsp left in it so I added 2Tbsp honey (the one I used this time was a honey with ginger from Ireland) mixed the two together and poured over the apple and sage sausages in a bowl.  Marinated for about 25 minutes then onto a piece of stoneware and cooked in the oven 180o for about 25 minutes. Sticky and mustardy sausages ready for tea time!

From this:-

To this:-

With this:-

Next for New Year's Day at my daughter's house we had a gammon to roast. I mixed wholegrain mustard with Highbanks Orchard Syrup, a concentrated apple syrup and covered the top of the gammon with it, baked it in the oven for about 3.5 hours and let it rest out of the oven for about 15 minutes before slicing.

Any juices that seeped out of the gammon I poured into the pan with the mustard glaze and added a little of the vegetable water to make a bit of a sauce to serve. We served it with scalloped potatoes (basically thinly sliced potatoes, onions, salt and pepper and butter knobs on top. A mixture of half milk and half single cream poured over the top and cooked in the oven at 180o for about 1.5-2 hours till the potatoes are soft enough to take a sharp knife.

Now all three of these recipes coincidentally used the wholegrain Dijon mustard so I will be coming back with some recipes using the original Dijon mustard.

I love Mary - Tabasco Bloody Mary that is!!

Tabasco and vodka - essentials for a great bloody mary

An invitation popped into my e-mail inbox recently which really took my interest.  The McIlhenny British Bloody Mary Competition and Awards taking place at Bar Americain near Piccadilly Circus in London.  The competition and awards were sponsored by McIlhenny the makers of the iconic Tabasco sauce produced only in Louisiana USA.

First three contestants ready to go

There were 10 contestants and in groups of three at a time, they each had to make their own version of a Bloody Mary cocktail but had to include vodka, tomato juice and of course Tabasco.  The guests had the hard task of tasting each version whilst the three judges also tasted and judged according to preset criteria. Then the contestants each had to make a cocktail using the Tabasco sauce but the rest of the ingredients were up to them.  Some of these were a bit way out and not exactly to my taste but after tasting 20 cocktails the event was getting funnier and gigglier with each one.

Contestant No 2!

 I am always fascinated by the guest list of these events and this was no exception.  There were staff from the PR Agency organising the event there to see it all ran smoothly, another dozen guests known by the agency staff, two food bloggers (including myself) and a hand full of celebrities.

A few well known faces!

I don't know if it was the vodka or the relaxed and fun atmosphere of the competition but the celebrities were having a good time and mixed with all the other guests. There were a few faces I recognised but didn't know the names and some that I did. I was sitting at a table with Craig Revel Horwood of Strickly Come Dancing and a friend of his and 20 cocktails to taste later we were having fits of the giggles big time!!

Trying to remember which number we were up to got more difficult as the event wore on!

But seriously, since 1868 Tabasco sauce has been made on Avery Island in Lousianna, USA by the McIlhenny family. It is made in a modern day factory with all mod cons but it started because the diet of the South was bland and monotonous in the 1860s. So after being given some hot pepper seeds and growing them successfully Edmund McIlhenny decided to create a pepper sauce to give the food some spice and flavor — some excitement! There are newer versions available from time to time such as the original red sauce, green jalapeno, chipotle with a rich smoky flavour but not too hot and not here from the US yet a Buffalo sauce, habanero and garlic and herb sauce and believe it or not in America it even comes in gallon jugs!!

I used to be afraid of adding Tabasco sauce to my creations but since the competition I have been adding a few drops to almost everything! Next time I visit the States I might have to buy a gallon!!

Baked Haddock with Creamy Topping

When I open the freezer and see fish I usually choose something else because I don't really know what to do with the fish! But tonight bravery took over and I decided to go with the fish.  Now I just happened to have some wild scottish haddock from Delish Fish via Fish Is The Dish in the freezer so that was my starting point.



The fish is caught off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, filleted and packed in single bags ready to use or put in the freezer. This ensures the flavour is as fresh as can be. The haddock fillets are thick and don't dry out when cooked.

I placed the fillets in a shallow oven proof dish and spread a mixture of Total Greek Yoghurt and the new Boursin Fig and 3 Nut (cashews, walnuts and pecans  cheese over the top. Boursin is known for its original cheese (remember: Du Pain, Du Vin, Du Boursin advert!), and now they are adding new flavours to their list. The 0% Total Greek Yoghurt made the cheese  creamy and easy to spread on top of the fish.

For a bit of crunch I crushed about 8 Ritz crackers and sprinkled them on the top.

Into the oven for about 15-20 mins at 180o and presto, ready.

Mr R really liked the fish and kept on saying how good it was!  I served it with cold potatoes fried with some chopped onion till crisp.

Simple & in Season - Nourishing Soup

We all had the cold-flu virus this Christmas and getting over it completely is proving hard.  It saps your energy and takes away your appetite and you feel completely drained.

Knowing we need to eat nourishing food but not wanting to spend ages in the kitchen and also needing something easy on the digestion I turned to the ever popular home made soup.

Last week I made stock from the Christmas turkey which was absolutely delicious and used that to make my favourite celery soup. Mugs of this at intervals kept us eating good vegetables and nourishment but without feeling full and bloated.

Yesterday I made a quick and frugal soup.  A late evening visit to our local supermarket and I bought two packs of the mixed vegetables (carrot, cauliflower and broccoli) which had been reduced to 10p! Followed by a quick look in the fridge and  a couple of tomatoes coming to my attention I made a soup with these. 

I used a vegetable stock cube and the usual salt & pepper and a small amount of Gran Luchito mexican chilli - just enough for some warmth and smokey flavour.

A bowl of soup and buttered toast made a great working lunch today. I sprinkled a few Mini Boursin cubes on top and enjoyed!

Jordan Country Crisp Super Berry

Jordans have been flour millers for over 150 years and in 1972 brothers Bill and David Jordan began making cereals from their mill in Biggleswade in Bedfordshire and one of my favourites has always been Original Crunchy and now Country Crisp.

All their products are grown on a nature friendly Conservation Grade (TM) British farms which ensures that bees, birds and butterflies can survive. Jordans are also ensuring that British farms and rural communities have a sustainable future.

Recently I was sent a box of their new Country Crisp Super Berry (RRP £2.69 for 500g box) to try.  Mr R does like his cereals for breakfast so I had to be quick to have some for my breakfast the other morning!

It is really nice enjoying your breakfast and knowing it is healthy and cares for the countryside too.

When you pour the milk on your bowl of Country Crisp Super Berry it is a hard decision whether to eat immediately whilst the clusters are really crisp or wait a few minutes for the fruit to re-hydrate and become soft.  Today I went for the latter option and waited till the milk went light blue and the berries were soft but I was delighted to see that the clusters were still crunchy!

You know what this means? I will have to get earlier than Mr R to make sure I can have some of this luscious cereal for my breakfast tomorrow!

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Home Made Medicine - Soup Glorious Soup!!

It doesn't matter if you have a Vitamix, a Cuisinart Soup Maker or any other make or even if you just have a large pot but just make yourself some home made soup.  It is so easy to make a good quality and delicious soup and so many different flavours - the choice is really endless.

First start with something simple and master the art of making a good stock.  The most popular are chicken, beef, fish and vegetable. There is one that I only make at this time of year and that is of course turkey stock.  The family cheer when I am making it as it means no more turkey left over dishes!!

I get out my big stock pot, put all the turkey carcass and bones into it, cover with water and put it on to bring up to the boil.  I usually add some onion, celery and carrot roughly chopped and just leave it all to simmer for a couple of hours.

Yesterday I put the carcass from our Christmas turkey on to make a stock and was rewarded with the most awesome broth.  This morning I turned the broth into one of my favourite soups for lunch - celery soup.

A knob of butter and a tablespoon of light oil in a stock pot and when it was warm I added one onion roughly chopped and a whole head of celery cut up. 

Leave this all to simmer till the celery is tender and then blitz  with a stick blender. To give the soup a little subtle background flavour I popped in two whole cardamon seeds and removed them just before blitzing. I also added salt and pepper and a small amount of Gran Luchito Mexican chilli paste - I didn't add enough to make it hot but just to give a shimmer of mmmmmmm.

That's all you need to do for a simple, nourishing meal with a hunk of fresh bread and GOURMET!

Of course, then Mr R comes into the dining room with a tin of spaghetti and meatballs for lunch - I despair!!!