Project Pig's Head

Living in the country side and calling some farmers your friends can result in the most amazing moments. Especially if you meet said farmer in the local pub after a few glasses of delicious red ale. The result of such a meeting was a knock on the door one evening and I was given a pig's head. Yes, I did mention in the pub that I would like to cook a pig's head because Paul Flynn served whole pig heads at a gala dinner in Dungarvan during a food festival 2 years ago.

Te poor head looked at me and I thought - do I have a pot big enough. I had. So off I went into my library (see photo) to search through
cookbooks. And I discovered that not many food writers have a recipe for a whole head. The legendary Thomas Keller of The French Laundry has one but my butchery skills are limited (he is asking to remove the meat in one piece from the head) - it looked delicious finished but didn't fit my purpose. Fergus Henderson's book Nose to Tail Eating gave nice instructions but didn't include roasting the little fella. The 1938 edition of Economical Cookery by Mrs D.D. Cottington Taylor had a recipe for a sheep's head but I wasn't too sure how that could be translated to a pig. So I went to the source of my inspiration and asked Paul Flynn himself.

A few tweets later

With a few tweets, I felt comfortable to go ahead in my project. The head was already brined, so I simply set a pot of stock & cider with some vegetables on the stove and cooked the head for about 30 mins just to make sure that all scum has left the head. Then chopping some more vegetables (carrots, leeks and onions), putting them in the roasting tin and placed the head on top. Continuing with the cider, pouring it over the head. Covering the roasting pan with tin foil, I baked the head for 4 hours on a low/medium heat.

Towards the end of the baking time, I mixed some honey, brown sugar with salt & pepper and removed the pan from the oven. Taking off the tin foil, I smeared the honey mix all over the head and returned it to the oven. I increased the heat a bit to make sure that we get a nice colour.

The head isn't burned, my camera seems to darken it

The result was great. The meat was cooked through without being dry and tough. The meat of the cheeks was tender and juicy. Mr T loved that he could just pick away at the meat and served with mashed potato and delicious spiced red cabbage was a Sunday feast.

My next project might really be to re
-cook Thomas Keller's recipe of Pig's Head roulade. But in the meantime, said Pig Farmer has challenged me to a pizza cook-off. So back to the kitchen, practicing my pizza skills....... 

Christmas Party Time

In case you haven't planned your Christmas party yet, or think why bother; here are some ideas on what you could still do without much hassle.

Flemings Restaurant

Michael & Eileen love Christmas and it comes through in every detail. From the handpicked decorations to the amazing food, in Flemings you are made feel part of the family at Christmas dinner (without the washing up). The quality of the food is outstanding (try the venison, to die for) and lovingly prepared by Michael and his right hand man, David. The Georgian dining room is lit by candle light and open fires. The service is immaculate and personal without being invasive. The wine list is an important part of the meal and the staff is properly trained to give the best advice. One of my favourite restaurants in Cork.

Throughout December, Flemings is running a special offer Monday - Wednesday, 3 courses for €39


Ballinacurra House

There is a reason, Ballinacurra House won best Wedding Venue a few times. It is an amazing place run by the most amazing couple Lisa and Des who love nothing more than entertaining. The house can only be booked fully but don't let that put you off. Talk to them and see what they can do for you and your guests. I can promise you that you will leave with a stupid grin on your face. The food is just as outstanding as the house itself with head chef David Rice transforming ingredients into a feast par excellence.

Longueville House

Part of the Blue Book collection, Longueville House will transport you to times gone by. Leave the hectic rat race outside and join them on their Christmas Party Night on Friday, 12th December. Drink reception, open fire, roasted meats in the drawing room, 3 course dinner and music will show you the true spirit of Christmas. If you can't make it this Friday, book your party on another night as William and Aisling will welcome you with open arms. And when there, make sure to try the award winning Apple Brandy - simply delicious.




Kinsale Gourmet Academy

When was the last time you did something for the first time? Learn from one of the best in the business. Get your friends together and get hands on classes with Michelin trained chef David Rice. These classes are real hands on affairs and fun is guaranteed. After all the hard work you will sit at the large dining table and enjoy the fruit of your labour. Located at Ballinacurra House, this purpose build cookery school has several work stations to accommodate up to 16 people comfortably (you could squeeze more in)

Brennan's Cookery School

Want to learn to make your own gingerbread house? Decorate your own Christmas cake? Then head to Brennan's. They offer customized evenings for groups of 12 min. Located in the city centre of Cork, it's a perfect place for learning something new before you are heading out for a drink afterwards in one of the many pubs & restaurants.


Private Afternoon Tea Party

The Pastry Fork is run by Mags Curtin, one amazing baker and wonderful person. She will set the party up for you with her vintage collection of china, spoons and plates filled with wonderful creations of beautiful cakes, slices and cookies. And the best...... she takes the dirty dishes with her.


If you still don't know what to do, email me and I can organise something for you that will be different. Email me on elke@biasasta.ie for details

Cook like Ross Lewis

Christmas Time is the time of year where more cookery books are sold than the rest of the year (that's one reason, we get so many new publications at this time of year). And I have to admit - I have a list as long as my elbow on books I REALLY need (but that is for another post). 

One of the last books I bought, was Ross Lewis' Chapter One. It's a beautiful book, celebrating not only the years of success in Chapter One but also the producers, people who gave him inspiration and his amazing team. It is a book that is easy to read with lovely anecdotes and gorgeous photos. 

The recipes are long and labour intense and one might leave the book on the coffee table and just dreams of re-creating the dishes in the book. 

Now, here is your chance to learn how to re-create the recipes in their full glory. Let me introduce you to the Master the Star @ Kinsale Gourmet Academy. Under the gentle guidance of David Rice of Kinsale Gourmet Academy, students will be divided into groups and cook a course each from the Chapter One Cookbook. David has worked with Ross Lewis, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. All dishes in the book have been prepared by David while working in Chapter One - so no one (apart from Ross Lewis himself) is better suited to teach the techniques, tricks and tips. 

David will assist in the preparations, will give tips on how to re-create components of each dish, explains the different techniques and ingredients.

After cooking has finished, the students will sit together and enjoy the 'fruit' of their labour. 

This class is a unique opportunity to learn from one of Ireland's best chefs and to become confident to cook on the highest level. So, join us on Saturday, 1st February from 10am - 4pm.

It is a perfect Christmas gift for the foodie in your life. Tickets for this class go for €145 and include all recipes and ingredients for the class.

Bookings can be done via 087/3168855

The Friday Club

Finishing work on a Friday afternoon - what a great feeling. Celebrate it with The Friday Club at Brennan's Cookery School, Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork City.

 Not a cookery class as you know it but a relaxed Friday Afternoon celebration with a glass of wine and some tapas style food to get you in the mood for the weekend. 

Meet your friends, relax before heading home or simply have fun. While you are sipping on a well deserved glass of wine or non-alcoholic drink, tapas and fingerfood will be prepared in front of you and all that is asked of you is to enjoy the Friday Afternoon Feeling. 

€20 per person and includes Drink on arrival, food and recipes. For bookings please call 021/427 82 83 

Slow cooked Pork - 3 meals in 1

Wonderful pork sandwich on homemade onion bread

Sunday Dinners are still the best way of spending time with family and last Sunday was such a day. The wind was throwing itself around the cottage and we lit the fire quite early in the day - the perfect day for a warming slow cooked dinner. A butcher in Douglas had pork neck on offer and although it was a big piece of meat, I planned ahead and was already seeing three different dishes developing in front of my eyes.

Pork neck has a lot of flavour but needs to be cooked on a slow to medium heat for several hours to make sure it is tender. I marinated the meat with a nice mix of lemon, sage, thyme and garlic - massaged it  into the meat to ensure that the different flavours mingled nicely with the meat. This marinate combined with the slow cooking resulted in a lovely rich winter dish that made the people around the table very happy indeed.

As I wanted a traditional Sunday Dinner feel to the occasion, I served the meat with roasted potatoes, yorkshire puddings, honey roasted carrots & parsnip, steamed cauliflower & broccoli and made a hearty gravy from the juice, enriched with stout. The kitchen was warmed just from the cooking (ok, I also made a bread, dessert and baked a Christmas Cake - I have several ovens). In the end, I had my Sunday Dinner Day and everyone was enjoying the meal and we had time to catch up properly on the week - Little Miss Sophie thought she was eating chicken and who was I to tell her differently especially as she was asking for seconds (she is almost 3).

The other 2 dishes???? Very simple, with the leftovers we had lovely pulled pork sandwiches the next day (filled with lettuce, brie and spiced plum chutney) and another hearty dish of casserole with carrots, parsnip, onion, garlic, stock and of course the leftovers of the meat...... as I still had some of the stout left, I added it for good measure. The sandwich had the 'gourmet' feel to it that you are so often missing when buying an overpriced 'Gourmet Sandwich' and the casserole warmed the heart and belly on an even wetter Monday night..... so for €14 I fed 4 people on a Sunday, 2 people for Monday lunch and 2 hungry eaters on Monday evening - oh and yes, we gave a large piece of cooked meat to Noel & Andrea to take home with them.... I call that a bargain.

Slow cooked Pork Neck

 

• 3kg Pork Neck (if you like to follow the 3-1 meals)
• 1/2 lemon
• Handful sage & thyme, finely chopped
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, slightly crushed
• 3 onions, peeled and quartered
• 3 bay leaves
• 500ml chicken stock, hot
• 250ml stout
• 1 tbsp butter

Marinating the meat adds a different dimension of flavour

Preheat the oven to 200C. 

Mix the herbs, garlic and a teaspoon of lemon juice well, if you have a mortar and pestle, pound it to a paste. Rub the mix nicely all over the meat and massage it nicely in. Place the quartered onions in a roasting tray. Quarter the half lemon and add to the onions together with the bay leaves. Place the meat on top of the onions. Now pour in a cup of water, cover the roasting tin with tin foil and place in the hot oven for about 10-15 mins. After that, reduce the heat to 140C and leave to cook for 5 hours. From time to time, check if there is still enough liquid in the roasting pan and baste the meat with the juices. 

30 mins before end of roasting time, remove the tin foil and return to the oven to get a bit of colour on the meat - you might need to baste a few times to keep the meat moist. 

Succulent pork - perfect Sunday Roast

The result should be a succulent piece of meat that almost falls apart when handling it...... remove from the roasting tin, place on a warmed plate and cover with tin foil and set aside to rest. Pour the juices from the roasting tin into a clean saucepan, making sure to get all the tasty bits from the meat. Bring to the boil (if there is just a bit left, add chicken stock) and reduce by half. Add the stout and let reduce by half again. Add the butter and swirl until melted and well combined with the sauce. Strain through a sieve and keep warm until needed. Slice the meat - you might even want to shred it with the fork - it will be tender and soft. Serve with potatoes, veggies and and the gravy.



Bon Apetit

Easy Porky Dinner

My friend Sabrina shared her pear harvest with me so I invited her over for a little easy dinner. It was Monday evening, everyone is tired on a Monday and I knew that she wouldn't want to stay too long either but I wanted to treat her to something that she might not have cooked herself.

Pork is much underrated these days - although we have the most amazing pork in Ireland - so I thought it was time to put it back on the food map. I went through my storecupboard and found mushrooms, lemons, cider - I my mind a perfect match for the lovely lean pork chops I bought  earlier. 

I love slow cooking meat, I believe it brings out the best in most meats and here I wanted the lemon to do a bit of a trick as well in infusing the meat while it was braising away in the oven. The result was lovely tender meat with a nice hint of lemon and the cider gave the whole dish a nice lift. Serve it either with roasted potatoes or mash. The recipe works for 4 portions if you count 1 chop per person.


Pork Chops with Lemon & Mushrooms

• 4 pork chops
• 1 heaped tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• olive oil
• 3 small onions (red or white), sliced
• 1 can of dry cider (don't use the sweet Bulmers)
• pinch of sugar
• 1-2 lemon, thinly sliced (you need enough slices to place the chops on)
• 300g mixed mushrooms (halved or quartered depending on size)
• Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C


If the chops have a thick layer of fat on the outside, try to trim it a bit. Then mix the flour with cumin and coriander (you can add some salt to the flour if you like) and turn the chops in the flour to coat both sides. Dab off the excess flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the chops  on both sides. Remove from the pan and add the sliced onions to the same pan. Stir the onions until slightly caramelised but not too browned. Do this on a medium heat to ensure that the sweetness of the onions comes through. Add the cider and sugar and bring to a boil. Rapid boil until the cider has reduced by half, it should be slightly syrupy. 

In an ovenproof dish, place a layer of lemon slices, pour over the onion mix with the cider and place the pork chops on top. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for about 20 mins. Remove the foil, add the mushrooms (make sure to coat the mushrooms with the sauce to ensure that they won't dry out while cooking). Return the dish, uncovered, to the oven and cook for a further 15 mins. The meat should be moist and tender.

Opening the doors - Perry Street Market Cafe

Logo

We still have wonderful people around who are brave enough to stare recession straight in the face and say: I will start a business!!!!! Brian Drinan & Paul Coffey are two of these brave - or crazy - people who simply said, we need a new cafe in Cork City and true to their word, this morning, Monday 12th August, the doors opened to Cork's newest Café, Perry Street Market Café in said Perry Street (in case you wonder where it is - it is the side street of Larry Tompkins pub). A former furniture store that was cramped, dark and cluttered, Brian & Paul were able to awaken the building once more to its deserved glory. White washed walls with muted coloured timber railings and panels give the room its warmth while the large windows let natural light in. The table tops are reclaimed from a monastery in Midleton that add history to the mix as well. I love the marriage of old and new as it brings a wonderful feel to the room.

To make better use of the large room and to add a special flair to the cafe, pop up shops of Best of Buds flowers and Memento, Homeware & Gifts are included as well as a stall for fresh fruit and vegetables.

Beautiful display of fresh produce

The focus is on local producers and the menu is based on what is in season - a recipe that still works for me. The duo were smart enough to hire Pamela Kelly as their head chef. Pamela has been head chef in Nash19 for years and has made the move to Perry Street Market Café to bring her own flair to the place. Her cooking ethos is simple - take good ingredients and let them speak for themselves. There is no need for heavy sauces, 'floral' speak that no one understands - just great ingredients combined with great cooking.

Brian Drinan - service with a smile

Does Cork really need a new café?? Yes, I think it does. It caters for the 'day folks' - opening hours are Monday to Saturday 08:00 - 18:00 and Sunday 11:00 - 17:00. I really hope that they are getting a piano in for the Sunday sessions - brunch and jazz music go hand in hand for me. So I keep my fingers crossed that they add this to their Sunday Service. And for me, it is great to have a place to go on a Sunday morning in town and I am sure it will kick off soon when news go around of a place where you can get great food on a Sunday morning.

Staff having fun at work - always a great sign

The food for breakfast is as it should be. The full Irish - you can choose which items you like. Mushrooms on toast is a dish, I can recommend highly. A mix of wonderful mushrooms with a slight coating of cream and herbs - a delicious and almost decadent dish that makes you believe in mushroom fairies.

Beautiful mushrooms on toast

Here is to the great success that the team of Brian, Paul & Pamela deserve. I am sure, their hard work and passion will have its guests returning over and over again.

Freshly baked bread from Hassett's in Carrigaline

More delicious breads & cookies

Window display

Lunch Menu

Beautiful flower arrangement on the tables

Best of Buds flower display

Homeware & Gift Shop coming soon

It's the little details that are special

History & Modern touches

Lemon Balm - Delicious

Fresh Lemon Balm

My lemon balm plant has taken over my herb bed and needed to be strimmed down - it also happened that we had an impromptu BBQ arranged for Mr T's sister who celebrated her birthday...... it was one of these wonderful sunny days in Cork that makes you fall in love with Ireland all over again.

So there I was with lots and lots of lemon balm but what to do...... lucky for me, I had already frozen my ice cream maker so that a sorbet jumped to mind. But since it is a small machine, I knew I wouldn't be using all of the lemon balm.... so what else... it was a hot day and remembering times when coke was a luxury rather than a normal daily drink, I decided to make a wonderful old fashioned lemonade and crikey, was it good. Just imagine, a sunny afternoon, friends and family around, a BBQ on and a refreshing cold glass of lemonade.... I call that a perfect day.

Lemon Balm Sorbet

Lemon Balm Sorbet 

• 1 liter water
• a good bunch of lemon balm leaves, cleaned
• Juice of 2 oranges
• zest of 1 lemon
• 75g caster sugar

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture infuse. When cooled, strain the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until the sorbet forms. Either serve straight away or freeze for later use.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, simply freeze the mix after cooling down for 2 hours, take it out and mix it up with a fork. Return to freezer for another 2 hours and fork up again. Continue until you have the sorbet as you like it. 


Lemon Balm Lemonade

Homemade Lemonade

• 3-4 lemons, zest and juice
• A good handful of lemon balm leaves
• 100g sugar
• 200ml boiling water
• Sparkling water
• Ice Cubes
• Small lemon balm leaves for decoration

Peel the zest of the lemons and place in a bowl/pan together with the lemon balm and sugar and pour over the boiling water. Stir with a wooden spoon and bruise the leaves to release their oils. Leave to cool for a few minutes before adding the juice of the lemons. Cool completely.

So serve, pour a good measure into a tall glass, top up with sparkling water and ice cubes. Decorate with a small lemon balm leaf.

Homemade Lasagne - The best one

 A few years back, I met a lovely Italian girl and she told me about homemade lasagne - the Italian way. The ragu sauce has to cook for at least 2 hours so that all flavours can mingle nicely in the pan. No Italian would ever use Dolmio Sauces or packs..... she actually said YUK quite loudly :-) thanks God that I could ensure her that I would never use ready made anything. I mean, just look at the ingredients of the Dolmio Lasagne Sauces - for the white sauce, water is the main ingredient before oil..... a Bechamel sauce is made with milk and not water or palm oil or xanthan gum or any of the other ingredients listed (yuk indeed). 

Below is my version of the real thing. The ragu sauce can be made a day in advance - you might even have enough left over to use as Spaghetti Bolognese the day after. This recipe feeds 4 people easily.

Lasagne

• Olive oil
• 300g lean beef mince
• 300g pork mince
• 3 large plum tomatoes (use beef tomatoes if you can get them)
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 carrots
• 2tbsp tomato purée
• 2 tins of plum tomatoes
• Basil, parsley, rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt, pepper and chilli pepper

• 60g butter
• 60g plain flour
• 700ml warmed milk ( depending on the consistency) Nutmeg, freshly grated Salt

• Lasagne sheets
• Parmesan cheese, grated

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onions and finely chopped carrots until the onions become translucent. Leaving the garlic whole, but crushed, add the garlic and both mince and fry until the meat starts to colour slightly, stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom.

Add the chopped plum or beef tomatoes, the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée,bay leaves and herbs. Combine well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.

When the ragu sauce is finished, heat the butter in a smaller saucepan and stir in the flour. Stir until the flour is smoothly combined with the butter. Slowly add the warmed milk and keep stirring until you have achieved a creamy consistency of sauce. Add the grated nutmeg and season to taste with salt.

Preheat your oven to 160c.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and drop in 3 lasagne sheets at a time. Leave in the hot water for about 3 mins and drain on a tea towel. Continue with the rest of the sheets - you will have about 4 layers of lasagne sheets.

Take an ovenproof lasagne dish and spoon same of the white sauce on the bottom, spreading it over the entire area. Follow up with a thin layer of ragu sauce. Top that with a layer of pasta sheets, overlapping only slightly. Continue with the rest of the sauces and pasta sheets until the the layers have come up almost to the rim of the dish (keeping in mind that the layers of sauces are quite thin in an authentic lasagne). Finish with a layer of white sauce, making sure that the pasta sheets are completely covered with the sauce (that will prevent hard pasta). Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake in the oven for about 40 mins or until the pasta sheets are cooked through and the lasagne is piping hot.

Cheesy Bruschetta

I am very lucky to have one of my closest friends being my neighbour. Now and then we meet at The Cottage to catch up and share the gossip while nibbling away on some food and sipping great wine.

Last night was one of these girly nights and I decided to make some bruschetta with mozzarella cheese. If you can, try to buy Toonbridge Mozzarella as it is delicious on this and produced in Macroom. I used baguette rather than ciabatta which would be the proper bread to be making bruschetta but I didn't have the time to shop around or to even bake one myself - so baguette from the supermarket had to be enough.

I also used small plum tomatoes - I believe that they have more flavour but use what ever tomato you like or have ready in the fridge.

It is a tasty little snack without too much hassle - raffled up in minutes - so giving you loads of time to enjoy the company of your friends.

For 4 people you will need

• 4 medium baguettes
• Olive oil
• 2 tomatoes (or about 6 small ones), chopped
• 1 garlic clove (peeled and halved)
• 2 balls mozzarella
• Basil, chopped
• Seasoning

Preheat the grill. Half the baguettes lenghtways and brush the cut sides with the olive oil. Place the baguettes cut side up under the hot grill until the baguettes are slightly crisped up.

Rub the garlic halves over the cut sides of the bread. Mix the chopped tomatoes with the basil and season to taste. Spoon the mixture onto the baguette halves and cover with slices of mozzarella. 

Place under the grill until warmed through and the cheese has started to melt. Sprinkle with some more basil and serve with a nice glass of chilled Pinot Grigio 

Bon Appetit

This piglet didn't make it to Market

Mr T and I have sometimes great ideas - when we met farmers Frances & Ken, we thought having a whole pig roast for New Year's Eve was the best idea we ever had - and actually it was. I had organised 2 events with Ken & Frances for Slowfood where we were walking the pig farm, saw the allotments and had the finest pig roast you can imagine. So when seeing them again, we were talking pig - and the idea came along to have a small piglet cooked in the oven.

I have never cooked a whole pig but Ken was great in giving tips and instructions. The pig was delivered on time, and we rubbed it nicely with butter and sea salt and sat it above a tray in the over at 160C for almost 5 hrs. - What came out of the oven was the most amazing looking pork you can imagine. The crackling was just perfect - the meat succulent and moist - a beauty indeed.

Beautiful Pork at its best

For the last 30 minutes, I added carrots and parsnips to the bottom of the pan and the pork fat (not as much as I expected) caressed them nicely and gave them a deeper flavour than they normally would have had. Roast potatoes were cooked separately in goose fat and if you think that is a lot of fat - nope, as the fat was left behind in the pan. As our guests arrived at different times, we also had a potato salad, stuffed mushrooms and lots more.

But the highlight was the crackling - knocking on heaven's door got a complete new meaning here. It was simply delicious :-)

The next day, we pulled some pork from the carcass and I made gravy from the roasting tray leftovers - re-heating the tray in the oven, removing the fat from the top and pouring some hot stock on top. Straining the sauce into a clean pot and reducing the gravy by a third left us with a rich silky gravy - sauteed onions and mushrooms and some spuds made a great casserole for a dark Tuesday evening :-)

Frances has started her catering business this year and can be hired to cook the pig on a spit for you - a great idea for upcoming communions and birthday parties. Their pigs are reared organically and are free range and have I mentioned totally delicious??? Give her a ring on 087 - 908 8009 (they are creating a website at the moment) for a free consultation and quote.

Herb Crusted Salmon

I know, I know - it is a bit late to write about Christmas dinner (or even a bit early) but I was dead busy and simply too lazy to write on the blog much. Anyway, I wanted to share this wonderful dish with you as it was easy to prepare and simply delicious. Only problem is that you have to keep an eye on it so that it doesn't overcook - you want it to be nice pink and flaky. We had it instead of a turkey this year as we had a friend over for dinner who eats fish but not meat - so this was the ideal compromise and it left the day to relax.

The crust can be prepared in advance but since it has lime zest in it, don't spread it over the fish until you are ready to bake the fish. When buying the fish, make sure that the fillet is evenly thick (you might have to cut the tail end off (and use it for a different dish the next day).

I have served the dish with champ and a lovely white wine sauce with a hint of mustard. To give the dish a bit colour I have made sugarsnaps with a herbed butter - May I say - it as delicious

• 1 salmon fillet (about 600g)
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 50g butter, melted
• 3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
• 1 lime, zested

Preheat oven to 180C

Mix the melted butter with the fresh breadcrumbs so that all breadcrumbs are covered. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and spread along the flesh side of the salmon. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper and place the fish on top - skin side down.

Bake for about 20 mins or until the salmon is cooked through but not dried out. Serve with champ, white sauce and greens.

Didn't I tell you, it's easy :-)

Christmas Party @ The Cottage

Is there a better way to celebrate Christmas than being surrounded by good friends and good food? No, there isn't. So I invited my friends over for some festive cheer and mulled wine. Of course, food was also included - a party is always a nice excuse to experience with some new ideas of finger food.

I had a menu planned and started preparation well in advance - so it is easy to manage to re-produce. A few weeks ago I tried some lovely goats cheese parfait and it was so delicious that I wanted to serve it as well. After a few tries, I came up with a version that wasn't too heavy and still had the lovely taste of goats cheese. That was topped with some homemade quince paste. The combination was excellent if I say so myself.

At my wonderful baking course at Firehouse Bread Bakery in Heir Island, I was taught how to make Brioche (yeah, I know, considering how much bread I already make, it is a sin not to have tried my hands on brioche before), so I made mini brioches with liver parfait and port jelly - it looked elegant and the taste was just delicious (liver pate came from On the Pigs back).

The scotch eggs were a great success - made with quail eggs and chicken mince, as were the stufed dew peppers with feta dip. Another new item on the menu were the mini scones with parmesan, topped with tapenade and crumbled goats cheese.

Another recipe I got from the Firehouse Bread Bakery were the mini chocolate & Guinness muffins which went down a treat :-)

But here are the pictures - enjoy

Sourdough Bread

Baguettes for the cheese plate

Chocolate & Guinness Mini Muffins

Mini scones with tapenade

Mini Brioche with liver pate & port jelly

Goats Cheese Parfait with Quince Paste

Stuffed Dew Peppers with feta dip

Scotch Eggs & Lentil Balls

Pea Shots