All posts tagged: things to love

Buffalo butter

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There’s a first time for everything. And yesterday was the first taste of Irish Buffalo butter. Thanks to my talented friend Kevin Powell who treated me to a superb lunch of toasted Le Levain bread with Toonsbridge Buffalo butter and some delicious Corleggy soft cheese. The bread was crusty and perfect from the talented Rossa Crowe who has a stall in Temple Bar market. Then the butter…….soft and deceptively angelic in colour, it works in devilish pleasure in the mouth. Toonsbridge in West Cork make superb delights like fresh buffalo mozzarella, ricotta, feta and this heavenly butter. Produced by Toby Simmons of The Real Olive Company and farmer Johnny Lynch who impoted buffalo from Italia to West Cork, it is delicious. I am of the ‘Would you like some bread with that butter?’ scale of the knife spread and could happily have taken a spoon to this. Find it in Dublin at Temple Bar Market, but not if I get there first.

Recipe – Smoked Gubbeen Soufflé

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I was lucky enough to spend a week in Ballymaloe Cookery School two years ago. And fell in love with food, Cork and found my food hero, Darina Allen. My whole attitude towards food, sourcing, saving and cherishing food changed in that sun blissed week in Shanagarry,East Cork. I learnt how to make mayonnaise, how to chop an onion and to always keep eggs at room temperature. I also got to taste Smoked Gubbeen in the same county it comes from with a glass of red wine outside the pink cottage where the group of us were staying on the grounds. The sun would go down on some very blessed and content cookery students every evening. It was one of the best week’s of my life and I dream of going back. I try to include cheese in most of my meals and this recipe is adapted from Ballymaloe’s http://www.cookingisfun.ie I’ve adapted it to include the delicious Smoked Gubbeen and it works a treat as an impressive dinner party starter: Smoked Gubbeen Soufflé 15g Parmesan …

Cheese to cherish – Knockdrinna Meadow

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‘Yes, but it’s  just cheese.’ This was a sentence that my friend was sorry they ever uttered. I am a lover of cheese, and Irish cheese is the best in the world. If you want to read more about my love for Irish cheese, you’ll find it here: http://www.businesspost.ie/#!story/Living/Food%20%26%20Wine/Food%20Special%3A%20Cheese%20revolution/id/d604e221-0d19-4e4c-ae6b-e9ae61fd19e5 Every week, I’m going to share a little something on a cheese I love. My favourite kind of cheese is sheep’s milk cheese, it’s probably as I am unhealthily addicted to salt and the sheep’s milk cheese tend to satisfy it more than cow or goats. One of the most heavenly Irish ones is Knockdrinna Meadow. Made by Helen Finnegan in County Kilkenny, when it is good, it is very, very good. Semi hard, with a little give, Helen washes the rind of Meadow with an organic white wine. Which is a perfect excuse to match it with one. Silke Cropp’s sheep’s milk cheese ‘Creeny’ and Cratloe Hills are also gorgeous Irish sheep’s milk cheeses.