Review: Afternoon Tea at Ashford Castle, Cong, County Mayo

There are times when life can be hectic trying to keep on top of the many commitments and responsibilities that we all have. Every-so-often I think that it is important to pause, take time to relax and do something that is enjoyable and also a little self-indulgent. In my opinion, there is no better way of doing this than by taking afternoon tea.

Whilst there are many places which offer afternoon tea, I had heard great reports of the traditional afternoon tea served in Ashford Castle in Cong, County Mayo and I was eager to try it.

Ashford Castle, now a luxury 5 star hotel owned by the Red Carnation Hotel Group, was founded by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family in 1228 and later, during the 19^th and 20^th centuries was home to the Guinness family until it was purchased by Noel Huggard in 1939 and turned into a world-class hotel.
 

As you drive past the grand entrance, through the estate grounds and over the bridge to the Castle, the beauty of the landscape and the magnificence of the historic castle buildings literally take your breath away. It is not difficult to see why the director John Huston chose Cong as the location for his famous film The Quiet Man which starred John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara and why so many of the actors chose to stay in Ashford Castle during filming. The Castle and its grounds are absolutely spectacular and when you arrive you know that you are somewhere different; somewhere special.

Afternoon tea is primarily served in the elegant surroundings of the Connaught Room where, during the 1860s, Lord and Lady Ardilaun would often sit down to discuss matters related to the running of the Estate and to plan future work. Together they would drink tea and dine on sandwiches and cake. This custom has been revived and Lord & Lady Ardilaun’s Traditional Afternoon Tea is available daily in Ashford Castle between 1.30pm and 4.00pm.
 

Shortly after arriving I was shown into the Connaught Room and guided to my table beside a window overlooking the castle’s beautiful gardens and the scenic shores of Lake Corrib.

If you wish you can have a glass of Champagne with your afternoon tea and I decided that I would treat myself while I examined the menu in greater detail.

The afternoon tea menu is enticing offering an impressive selection of teas. Familiar choices including an Irish Breakfast blend and Earl Grey appear alongside Smoked China, Irish Afternoon Gold and the provocatively entitled Light & Late tea. Also available are a selection of Oolong, various Green Teas and Infusions. In the end I chose a lovely Irish Whiskey-Cream Assam, which, with its malty tones and whiskey aroma added to my sense of well-being.

You can decide to have your beverage of choice at any stage during the meal and refills aplenty are available. I requested my tea immediately and let it draw while I sipped my champagne and surveyed the wonderful selection of sandwiches which had just arrived on a tiered cake-stand along with two plates of the most fabulous bite-sized cakes and pastries.

All too often, I find that the quality of the sandwiches lets many an otherwise wonderful afternoon tea experience down. I understand that due to the demands and pressures of busy restaurant and hotel kitchens it is inevitable that sandwiches have to be made in advance but this means that they are often served over-chilled having been removed from the refrigerator only shortly before serving. This tends to dull the flavours, dry out the bread and leave you feeling disappointed after eating them.

If I rave about the sandwiches served in Ashford Castle, it is because I cannot remember ever having eaten any that were as good, as part of an afternoon tea. They satisfied on every level, from the freshness of the bread to the inventiveness of the fillings and their attractive appearance. Old favourites sat beside quirky new offerings and whilst all the sandwiches were noteworthy I particularly liked the Connemara Smoked Organic Salmon with Cream Cheese. The cream cheese was enhanced by the unusual addition of some lime jam which tasted delicious against the richness of the smoked salmon and the thinly sliced wholemeal bread. A Roast Chicken, Mayonnaise and Almond sandwich was packed with generous chunks of succulent chicken meat bound in mayonnaise between slices of cloud-soft white bread. These were presented as roundels with their edges encrusted with toasted flaked almonds. I absolutely loved them. Other sandwiches included Egg & Broccoli Cress and Cucumber with Crème Fraîche & Rock Chives and were equally delicious.

In Executive Head Pastry Chef Paula Stakelum, Ashford Castle has an absolute gem. She is responsible for and oversees the creation of all the fantastic treats that make up the afternoon tea. Her brilliance is particularly on show with the cakes and pastries that are served. It is difficult to do them justice with mere words as each had qualities that made me sigh with pleasure. I thought the Apple Bakewell & Connemara Whiskey Custard was superb and loved the smoked almond it was topped with. The Vanilla Cheesecake with Coffee Meringue Lollipop was one of the lightest and creamiest cheesecakes that I have ever eaten while the Dark Chocolate Torte with Chocolate Crémeux was sinfully good. I could go on and on but suffice to say everything was outstanding.

Edible flowers, picked from the Estate gardens decorate the exclusively designed and very pretty antique Wedgwood plates on which the food is presented and they also adorn many of the cakes and pastries, giving everything a fresh and almost homely feeling!

Like everything else, the warm scones that were served were a pleasure to eat. Plain, Fruit and Cheese Scones were accompanied by small bowls of Clotted Cream, Strawberry Jam and zingy Lemon Curd. I was encouraged by my very attentive and friendly waiter to try the Cheese Scones together with the Lemon Curd and can confirm that this seemingly peculiar pairing really worked with both complementing the other perfectly!

At €34 per person (or €49 with Champagne option) Lord & Lady Ardilaun’s Traditional Afternoon Tea may initially seem a little pricey, but I can honestly say that for the pleasure I derived from the whole experience and the exceptional quality of food on offer, it was worth every penny. An Afternoon Tea for Junior Guests is also available.

This is not your ordinary afternoon tea and Ashford Castle is no ordinary place. For a few hours on a showery Saturday afternoon I had the chance to relax, spoil myself and sample some absolutely delightful food, presented with love and care in an exquisite location. I felt as if my very soul had been pampered and I can’t wait to revisit.

Ashford Castle

Castle View

Cong

County Mayo

Telephone: (094) 954 6003

Website: www.ashfordcastle.com

This review first appeared in TheTaste.ie

 

Greengage Clafoutis

Greengages possess a complexity of flavour that makes them one of my all-time favourite fruits.  They are cultivars of the plum family and despite what their name infers are not always green – although most of the ones that are available to buy range in colour from pale amber through to quite a dark green, sometimes with pink tones mottling their flesh.

I absolutely love them!

Perfectly ripe greengages are lovely to eat fresh and possess an ambrosial sweetness which makes it impossible to eat just one! Smaller than plums, with a sweet and juicy flesh, they can be a little hard to come by unless you are lucky enough to know someone who has a greengage tree. When they are for sale in the grocery store, I tend to buy them by the dozen and end up overdosing on them for a couple of weeks. Not that I am complaining because I really don’t think that I could ever tire of them.

 

I love using them to make a Greengage Clafoutis, which all things considered must be one of the simplest and quickest desserts to make. A clafoutis is essentially a sweet batter pudding into which fruit, most usually Kirsch-soaked cherries are set and then baked. As it cooks, the batter puffs up to enrobe the fruit, which softens in the heat of the oven. From start to finish a clafoutis can be made in about 45 minutes which is a further tick in its favour!

 

If you can’t get your hands on greengages, you can of course make this using ordinary plums or even damsons, but for me, nothing beats using greengages! In fact I prefer them to the more commonly used cherries.

 

A dollop of lightly whipped fresh cream and this is a dessert that can’t be beaten.
 

Ingredients:

350g greengages
80g caster sugar, plus a couple of extra tablespoons to dust the dish
2 large eggs

½tsp vanilla extract

90g plain flour

30g butter, melted

150ml milk
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Grease a 20cm round shallow, oven-proof dish with some butter and sprinkle over a couple of tablespoons of the caster sugar and place on a baking tray and set aside.

2. Halve and stone the greengages and place cut-side up in the baking dish, in a single layer.

3. Beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla extract together in a large jug, using a balloon whisk. Then whisk in the flour until it is completely incorporated and then add the melted butter. Finally add in the milk and beat gently to create a batter.

4. Pour the batter over the greengages and place in the preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes until the batter has puffed up and is a rich golden brown colour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving, dusted with a little icing-sugar if desired and some freshly whipped cream.

Serves 4.

 

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies with Malt Ice-Cream & Coffee Liqueur Syrup

I know I have mentioned this before, but my three children are obsessed with chocolate and cannot understand why everything I bake does not include it in some form. The truth is, although I like chocolate, I can also take it or leave it and it doesn’t set my heart aflutter in the same way that it does others’.

 

Having said that, I do love a good brownie and by this I mean one that is fudgy in texture with a deep chocolate taste. I find it amazing how so many foods that claim to be chocolate don’t actually taste of it. In this regard, when making brownies, it is important to balance the sweetness of the sugar with the chocolate that is used and this often means using a good quality chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa solids. Also, whether one likes it or not, brownies contain a lot of sugar but it is the ratio of the sugar to the other ingredients which gives them their characteristic crisp exterior which gives way to a moist and fudgy centre.

 

Some brownie recipes advocate the use of cocoa powder only and others the use of melted chocolate. Whilst cocoa powder undoubtedly gives the brownies an intensely chocolate flavour, I find that they tend to be more ‘cakey’ than fudgy, which is not what I am after. Using melted chocolate alone creates a brownie which can lack depth of flavour, so I hedge my bets and use both.

 

I am really pleased with this recipe because I think that I have finally succeeded in baking brownies that satisfy my exacting requirements. I used a slightly larger tin than normal which resulted in 24 generous sized brownies measuring approximately 6cm x 6cm each.

 

I have not included nuts in this recipe as my children prefer that they be omitted and also because brownie purists insist that they should not be used, but feel free to add some, roughly chopped is you like. To be honest, I rather like the nutty crunch of pecans and often would include them despite the disapproving howls of annoyance that escape from my children.

 

You will see in the accompanying photos that I have topped the brownie in them with a scoop of malt ice-cream and a coffee liqueur syrup. I have included the recipe for the syrup here, but feel that the malt ice-cream deserves its own post which I hope to publish soon (trust me… it’s really good).
 

Ingredients:

Brownies:
265g chocolate

230g butter

430g caster sugar

150g plain flour

20g cocoa powder

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Coffee liqueur syrup:

100ml coffee flavoured liqueur

25g caster sugar
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/Fan Oven 150C/Gas mark 3. Line a 36cm x24cm x 5cm baking tray/tin with non-stick baking parchment and set aside.

2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of lightly simmering water making sure that you do not let the base of the bowl touch the bubbling water. Stir the chocolate mixture occasionally.

3. Remove the bowl once the chocolate and butter have melted and add the sugar, stirring well until fully incorporated. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together and stir into the chocolate mixture making sure that no ‘pockets’ of the dry ingredients remain. Lastly add the eggs and stir these in so that they too, are well incorporated.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling the surface with a spatula or the back of a metal spoon and bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the brownies are flaky on top but still a little squidgy in the centre.

5. Leave to cool completely before cutting in to 24 squares. These are lovely served re-warmed slightly with a dollop of ice-cream and a drizzle of the following syrup.

Coffee liqueur syrup:

6. Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring up to simmering point. Allow to bubble uncovered until the liquid has reduced by half. Allow to cool slightly before drizzling over ice-cream.

Makes 24.

 

Treacle Brown Bread

This has to be one of the quickest breads to make and it also tastes absolutely delicious.  Although I love making yeast-risen breads, there is a time element involved where you have knead the dough and set it aside to prove. Whist this doesn’t bother me, it is a little frustrating when you want something freshly baked in the minimum amount of time possible.

 

This recipe satisfies these requirements and you will be rewarded with a bread that emerges from the oven with such a tempting aroma that I guarantee that you will find it impossible not to cut yourself a slice immediately. The inclusion of treacle brings out the underlying sweet nuttiness of the brown flour that is used and gives the bread a wonderful depth of flavour.

 

The bread can be baked in one large 900g loaf tin but the recipe that I give here specifies the use of 4 x 250g loaf tins. I love the little loaves that they create as anything miniature, baked in individually sized portions always thrusts me back to my childhood with force and makes me feel joyous and carefree again without all the responsibilities of adulthood.

 

The bread pictured in the photos that accompany this post uses both white and wholemeal flour, but you can play around with the ratios of white to brown flour to suit your own tastes. I sometimes like to include some chopped nuts and I find that roughly chopped walnuts work particularly well.

 

This is heavenly bread, which unlike many so-called ‘quick’ breads actually keeps very well due to the humectant properties of the treacle that is used to make it.  It goes without saying that this bread is delicious, thickly sliced with a generous amount of butter slathered over it!

 

Ingredients:

115g white self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground ginger

330g wholemeal flour

115g butter, cubed

115g dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

50g treacle

225ml of buttermilk
 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan Oven 160C/Gas Mark 4. Line a 900g (or 4 x 250g) loaf tin(s) with some baking parchment or grease with a little butter and set aside.

2. Sieve the self-raising flour, baking powder and ground ginger into a large mixing bowl and then mix through the wholemeal flour.

3. Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture using your finger-tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the brown sugar and mix through.

4. Put the eggs, treacle and buttermilk into a medium sized jug and mix together with a small whisk.  Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients using a wooden spoon to mix them together (the mixture will be slightly sloppy). Pour the mixture into the prepared tin(s) and bake in the preheated oven. A large loaf will take 45-50 minutes to bake whilst the smaller loaves will take approximately 25 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for ten minutes. Then remove the bread from the tin(s) and place on a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 1 x 900g loaf OR 4 x 250g loaves.

 

Achill Mountain Lamb Celebrates New Season

As you approach Achill Island, located off the County Mayo coastline, you are immediately struck by the wild beauty of the landscape. This is countryside that is stunning and dramatic but which also possesses an air of foreboding about it. Ever present is the island’s brooding headland which on the wet and windy day that I visited was covered in an ominous looking blanket of sea-mist.

This is where Mayo Blackface lambs are born and reared by the Calvey family to produce the exclusive and unique tasting Achill Mountain Lamb. Here the sheep wander freely, grazing on the wild grasses, heathers and seaweeds that they find on the thousands of hectares of land to which they have unfettered access to on the island. If you ever doubted the veracity of the old adage ‘you are what you eat’ I urge you to sample some Achill Mountain Lamb and you will be smitten by this vaguely salty yet wonderfully sweet meat which comes from animals who feasted on the best that the earth around them offered up. Without a doubt, Achill Mountain Lamb has a taste and tenderness unlike any other lamb I have ever eaten and without doubt, is very much a product of the West of Ireland and the place it comes from.
 

Achill Mountain Lamb is reared, slaughtered and butchered on Achill by the Calveys who have been producing this distinctive tasting lamb for over 50 years. Although there were originally 23 other butchers/abattoirs on the island when Martin Calvey started off in 1962, the Calveys are now the only licensed abattoir within a 30 mile radius. It is testament to their tenacity and their belief in their product along with a willingness to embrace and respond to customer needs that has seen this family-run business continue to develop to a point where the lamb is much sought after by many of Ireland’s top restaurants.

 

The Mayo Blackface lambs which make up the Calvey flock is a pure breed, which has never been crossed with any other and is specifically suited to the conditions on Achill. The sheep love to wander up the mountains and as one can imagine, herding them can be challenging! However, Martin told me that they dislike midges nipping at their faces and will always try to come back down from the mountains in the evening to avoid being bitten.

 

I strongly believe that Ireland has some of the best food and food producers anywhere in the world and Achill Mountain Lamb is a wonderful example of this. I was therefore delighted to be invited to this year’s launch of the New Season Lamb which was held earlier this month on Achill.  Achill Mountain Lamb has a later season than most other lamb, kicking off in late June/July and continuing until Christmas.

 

The event was officially launched by Mairead McGuinness MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament. At the launch a lamb carcass was brought in and presented with great pomp and ceremony to the sound of bagpipes playing. As a full member of the Agriculture & Rural Development/AGRI Committee in the European Parliament, her time as a presenter on RTÉ’s Ear to the Ground and her work in agricultural journalism, Mairead McGuinness is extremely well-versed on the issues and concerns of Irish farmers and food producers and gave a very witty speech as part of the launch.

 

Grainne Calvey, one of Martin’s daughters then gave a fascinating butchery demonstration. Watching the skill and dexterity of Grainne as she worked was totally absorbing and something I found very interesting. In no time at all she had divided the lamb carcass up into different joint and cuts and as she did so, gave some great suggestions on how the different cuts could be used.

 

The Calveys operate a bespoke butchery service and can arrange delivery to anywhere in Ireland, so you don’t have to live in and around the Island to be able to cook and enjoy eating Achill Mountain Lamb. Although they have a well-established trade directly with restaurants which they continue to develop, the ordinary consumer can also buy their product; either the whole animal butchered into different joints or specific cuts of the meat. When you buy Achill Mountain Lamb, you can be certain that it is 100% traceable meat that you are buying, from animals that had a good life and were able to roam freely.

 

Gary O’Hanlon, Head Chef at Viewmount House in Longford Town then treated the crowd to a great cooking demonstration using the lamb. Many people will be familiar with Gary as he is one of the resident chefs on TV3’s (previously RTÉ’s) The Restaurant. What Gary so deftly showed us was that lamb is far more versatile than we might think. Granted, I love a roast leg of lamb with all the trimmings, but that takes time to prepare… the dishes that Gary made were flavoursome and more importantly quick to prepare using different, less familiar cuts of the meat.

 

I love cookery demonstrations where you get to sample the food and I can confirm that all three of the dishes that Gary cooked were absolutely delicious. First up was a Lamb Stir-Fry, full of oriental flavours and next came a fabulously fragrant Lamb Pasta dish. Both were fantastic and incredibly easy to make. The final dish, a Lamb Tagine, was superb. Lamb can stand up to very robust flavours and here garlic, chilli pepper and other spices were added to create an incredibly tasty dish and one that I will definitely be trying out at home. These recipes and many others are available on the Calveys’ website at www.AchillLamb.ie

 

Too often we are removed from the food we eat and where it comes from. We all posture and pay lip-service to terms like ‘artisan’ and ‘locally-sourced’ without often really understanding what they mean. Sadly these are terms which have also been hijacked by big business and multi-nationals and this has resulted in the underlying philosophies and practices behind these terms being somewhat devalued. It is therefore reassuring and heartening to visit farmers like the Calveys where you can witness (and taste) for yourself, the results of their commitment to producing lamb of the highest quality from the island which they were brought up and live on.

 

Calveys of Achill

Keel

Achill Island

County Mayo

Web: www.AchillLamb.ie

Email: sales@calveysachillmountainlamb.ie 

Tel: 09843158

 

This article first appeared in TheTaste.ie