Michael Quinn cookery classes at the hook and ladder sauces

In this class we learned all about sauces. Sauces made from scratch scare a lot of people but they really do not have to.

we learned to make Bearnaise sauce, mayonnaise beurre blanc and Holandaise and left with many more ideas and recipes. It was very enjoyable and helped put all the other classes together as we can now make amazing creamy sauces to accompany sea food of fish or chicken and beef. I have made beurre blanc sauce 3 items since and it has been a complete success. I made an orange one to accompany scallops and thyme one to go with brill. both where greatly received.

the mayonnaise I made was devoured by my husband along with chips and I feel I will be asked for it regularly enough.  As it was such a well received sauce and is surprisingly easy to make I think I will share the mayonnaise recipe with you guys.

For this you will need

dijon mustard (maille do an amazing one but aldi have one for 69c that will amaze you)

white wine vinegar

olive oil/sunflower oil (mixing both oils is best if you find olive oil over powering)

salt and pepper to flavour

two egg yolks

Put a table spoon of Dijon in a big mixing bowl add about 2 table spoons of white wine vinegar.(the rule usual is one quarter vinegar to 3 quaters oil) add two egg yolks and mix it all together using a whisk. then slowly add a very slow and steady stream of oil.(it is very important to take your time adding the oil or the sauce will split and be unusable)

you will know it is ready once the sauce thickens and no longer tastes of raw egg. below find pictures of the several steps. So please try this at home and let me know what you think of it all. you can add garlic or more mustard to make a different flavored mayonnaise.

Sauces were one of the most interesting

classes as it thought us one of the hardest aspects of cooking. In order to be a saucier you need to understand both science and flavour .To imbue the sauce with flavor takes great skill and many years of training. these classes have opened my eyes to so many new skills seriously they are a must for any foodie looking to better their pallet or cooking skills. amaze all your friends with your new culinary skills.

 my very own recipe inspired by micheal quinns classes scallops in an orange beurre blanc sauce with bacon and orange segmants.

ham hock terrine hook and ladder cooking classes with Micheal Quinn

Ham Hock terrine was last weeks class, a terrine is something i had never tried before so it was great to be able to learn how to make one in such a fun easy manner. Micheal had cooked the hocks for us prior to the class to save time as even though terrine is quiet easy to make it is quite time consuming. for this recipe you will need:

Two ham hocks boiled

cornichon (gherkins)

spinach

onions

dates

3 garlic cloves

a bread tin and clingfilm

First you will need to boil the ham hocks until cooked. then you will need to break them down into small pieces and cut the fat into smaller pieces. You will need to cook the onions cut into small  pieces on a low heat with butter and blanch the spinach cut up the cornichon into tiny pieces. once the spinach is blanched you will need to drain out all of the water from them then cut it into small pieces. You will put these all in a bowl and add the ham hawks into this bowl and hand mix it all together. add the dates whole and sliced up garlic. You need to then put cling film into the bread thin insuring there is enough left over to cover it fully once the contents has been added. Put the mix in cover it over with the cling film.then take a piece of cardboard on top add to tins of beans to weigh it down and leave it in the fridge over night to solidify,then cut it into small pieces and serve with either a salad or crusty bread and mustard.

It is really really easy to make as you can tell and is perfect as a starter for Christmas dinner.

The cooking classes in the hook and ladder have really help me improve my cooking skills and made me more confident in the kitchen. I recommend them very strongly. they would make a wonderful Christmas gift for the foodie in your life.

http://www.hookandladder.ie/

left over terrine made into a terrine ball

the mix covered up

dates

cornichon

Annie's Roasts best chicken baps in existence

Today in my blog I would like to write about one of the best food products I have had the pleasure of finding at markets over the years. I try not to pick favorites but Annie's roast makes it very difficult for one not to fall in love. Everything about this product, the family that sell it, the family run farms that allow it to exist, the locally sourced product and the passion Annie and Ken have for this really make this stand out.

I remember the first time I met Annie it was at harvest festival in Waterford. It was my birthday and I wanted to eat something different and moreish. I was quiet late picking my food that day so by the time I got to her all she had for me was a boned and rolled chicken left. She also gave me buns to go with it so that i could try them as I was not getting a bap. But her kindness in parting with the buns or her sales pitch were not what kept me interested. Her conversation did. We talked about food certainly but I found out her brother runs the chicken farm, her father runs the beef farm, the baps come from a small bakery down the road from her Cuthberts in midleton the lettuce is sourced from an organic veg farm in her area also Barry's organic farm Inch Killeagh. The sauce is from Ballymaloe and the mayo is home made. How could anyone go wrong with such a product. a product that looks to help local artisans a product, that believes in local a product such as this one can surely only be successful.I really enjoyed Annnies psoitivity and belief in her product but of course it was not till i got home that evening that i discovered the true quality of the product and fell in love with this company. One bite of her roast chicken(even in its boneless state) was enough to remind me how chicken should taste. I remember chicken tasting like this when i was a child and ever since then i just felt disappointed upon eating chicken as it was rubbery and tasteless. Their is nothing rubbery or tasteless about Annies roasts. You can taste the love and attention these chickens get on the free range farm that her brother runs. You can see the hard work and preparation that goes into these roast chickens. It all comes out in the taste. They have recently just won their second Bridgestone award this is a great commendation to receive.I spoke about their chicken for a full year after trying it and when harvest came around again I was delighted to meet them again and bought 4 baps so that my friends could also taste them. I also knew anytime they would come to town and would make sure to order a full chicken so I could roast it for my friends. so that they too could rediscover the long lost taste of chicken.

I cannot recommend a better free range chicken , turkey or goose. However the guys are unfortunately based in cork and seldom do events in Waterford. Currently myself and husband are car-less but for all of you lucky enough to drive I would highly recommend that you try attend one of their markets, either Mahon or douglas add them on facebook to stay up to date with all the events they attend. Ie: plowing championships,lit festival in Ballymaloe house...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annies-Roasts/189953144368080?fref=ts

Should you want to book a goose or turkey this Christmas that will blow everyone away with its remarkable quality and taste. you can now order them online also.

http://www.eastferryfarm.com/

I know i often get carried away with food guys. but this is absolutely no over exaggeration these guys are just the best in freerange chicken that I have ever tried.

Their passion and drive should get them every success and obviously with these awards they are starting to get the recognition they deserve. you need to try Annies roast at least once in your life. be it buy a whole chicken. Buy a boned and rolled chicken or my favorite a chicken bap. Which for €5 will get you a bap with a very generous hand full of piping hot chicken that comes with Ballymaloe relish, home made mayo and organic lettuce. Trust me when i say it is absolute perfection.every bite more delicious than the last.

what is on offer

 the free range geeces

 more recommendations

 Ken and Annie the faces behind the unbeatable food

 all the little extras that make the difference from stuffing to soup to warm you up.

 the bap to rule all baps

 roast chicken

Hook and Ladder Cookery Classes Part 6 : Shellfish with Michael Quinn

Shellfish seem to scare quiet a few people, I suppose their are many worries will I over cook these??? How will I know if these are fresh???? Will I have to kill it myself???

We cooked 5 different types of shellfish but sadly only had time to make 4 dishes. I have to say this was probably my favorite class this far. I myself had never really known how easy and tasty shellfish could be. My absolute favorite was the mussels so today i will share this supper fast super tasty recipe with you guys. the scallops where also divine. ( spoon licking good sauce)

The crabs and the lobster where obviously still alive so some of the class seemed quiet uncomfortable with this idea. I think the fact that all our food now days is so accessible and we have just forgotten that in order to get it on our table someone does in fact have to take the care to kill it. This obviously seems to make people squeamish about cooking live food i guess. Personally I have no issue with it at all every item of meat we consume comes from a live creature. But I can see how to some this would seem difficult, to me it mostly is delicious.

breaded garlic mussels:

you will need

a bottle of white wine
butter
garlic
an onion
bread crumbs
spinach

to make the garlic butter first. chop up 10 cloves of garlic get them as small as you can mix them in to the soften butter and chop up sweated spinach to give the butter colour. then make a roll out of the butter inside clingfilm. this will allow you to freeze the butter in order to be able to use it as often as you wish.


to cook the mussels you will need to put win into a sauce pan add cut up onion and crushed garlic put this on the hottest setting your hob has add the mussels and they steaming should take no more than 30-40 seconds. once the mussels open remove them from th pot. take off the top shell. cover the mussels in plenty of garlic butter then dip them into the bread crumbs. pop these into the oven for 5 to 6 minutes until bubbling. and you will have the tastiest mussels known to man.

all the shellfish for this class was acquired in billy burkes fish shop to guarantee its freshness. you can order from this shop lobsters once you give a days notice you more than likely will have one. unless the weather is particularly bad.

please find attached the photos of this class. I was enjoying eating far too much in this class.


lobster orange salad with spinach and samphyre

 coquille st jacques sans la coquille  as it is illegal to sell the shells in ireland we improvised with spuds. a very irish alternative.

 the mussels with the mostest :)

 let the steaming begin

 samphyre crunchy sea veg

Shake Shack Great Value With Friendly Faces

The Shake Shack is the only place in town I go regularly for coffee. They stock Badger and Dodo coffee, one of my favorite Irish roast coffees. If you have not yet tried it and you like good coffee you are in for one hell of a treat.

The Shake Shack specialize in specialty milk shakes, these can be had hot or cold. The menu choices end only when your imagination and braveness ends. You can make any variety of combinations the prices are always very fair and you will not be let down by these delicious shakes. For the winter months they have also added luxury hot chocolates.

More recently they have added two yummy pizzas to the mix. Pepperoni and margarita both really tasty and you can have them as a combo with your shake or coffee (€7 if a shake €6 coffee combo).
It is not the most amazing pizza you will ever have but for the price it is absolutely unbeatable and will do nicely as a snack which is what all of us crave often.

The staff I have found to always be super smiley and nice the more you go there the more you get to know them. I used to work around the corner so was in daily and never found any of them to have an off day. Customer service done right with very fair prices and yummy delicious goodies. you cannot go wrong in the Shake Shack.

I recommend this place highly for all your coffee and shake needs. They have recently added a little seated area so you can relax mid shopping spree. This is the perfect spot for the days your in town shopping or just taking a few minutes out of your day.

Today in our visit we shared a pizza I had an Oreo milk shake and my friend had a Milkybar hot chocolate. The hot choc was so good we could have had 3 more and the milkshake is one of my favorites. I recommend trying your favorite milk shake with an added shot of coffee, amazing and the pizza was plenty for an afternoon snack and we needed the heat to warm us up in that baltic weather.

Go try for yourself!

https://www.facebook.com/shakeshackireland?fref=ts