Review: Farmette Cookery Book by Imen McDonnell

In The Farmette Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures from my Life on an Irish Farm, Imen McDonnell charts her journey from working as a Media executive in Los Angeles and New York to meeting husband-to-be Richard and moving to live on his family farm in rural Ireland. Along the way she speaks honestly about the difficulties she faced exchanging her cosmopolitan lifestyle for a life working on a busy dairy farm.

In the Introduction to the book she admits that in the beginning, part of her believed that at some point she and Richard would return to the States to build their lives there, but she soon realised that an Irish farmer would never leave their land and live-stock. Once her son Geoffrey was born she knew that Ireland was now her home.

Stamping out scones

Cooking and baking helped cure her homesickness. She started gathering recipes from her mother-in-law and, as a way of easing herself into her new life, she cooked and photographed the food she made and wrote about her experiences on her blog at Farmette.ie Falling in love with the Irish countryside, she took to foraging the hedgerows for berries which she then turned into tasty dishes for her family. She soon found that cooking and baking helped her to make new friends and that people were always eager to drop by her kitchen to sample her food.

In many ways Imen McDonnell sees Ireland through the eyes of an outsider who has embraced her new life with enthusiasm and as such, the book has an honesty and authenticity about it. Beautifully photographed and styled throughout it reads like the culinary embodiment of a John Hinde postcard but this is not to suggest that Ireland or its food is presented in a twee or clichéd way. Instead you can really sense the love McDonnell feels for her new home and the food that is produced here.

Scones warm from the oven

Containing 12 chapters the book is structured around both ingredients and specific family meals and occasions. One chapter that specifically caught my eye was the one on Traditional Dairy Skills which contains recipes for Butter, Cream Cheese and Yoghurt amongst many others and I can't wait to try making my own Clotted Cream which looks relatively easy to achieve.

I also liked the trio of chapters on Country Suppers, Sunday Lunch and New Traditions which really showcased how family and friends were at the heart of all the food that McDonnell produces.

Finished Scones

I’ve long been a fan of Imen’s blog so was looking forward to the release of this, her first cookbook and I was not disappointed. This is a beautiful book which contains some stonking great recipes which are easy to cook using everyday ingredients. I decided to road-test some of the recipes and was very impressed by the results. With over 150 to choose from I was spoilt for choice but decided to start with something simple - her recipe for Scones.

Using only a few ingredients; flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and double cream, this was quite different from the recipe that I normally use. The method was also unusual in that the dry ingredients were merely weighed out and then the cream was stirred in. I have to admit that after mixing up the dough, which seemed quite dry, I wasn't expecting great results so was thrilled with the wonderfully light and fluffy scones that emerged from the oven. Split whilst still warm and lathered in butter, raspberry jam and (ahem) a large blob of whipped cream, they were delicious. I loved them. The scones were mixed and out of the oven, ready to eat in under 25 minutes. I was impressed.

Tea Brack

Convinced that nothing could beat my recipe for Tea Brack, I then decided to try McDonnell’s version. With a slightly curmudgeonly attitude I was half hoping that this recipe would not result in a Brack that was as good as mine, but yet again I was proven wrong. Packed full of dried fruit which was evenly distributed throughout the finished Brack, this was a bread-like cake that was moist and full of flavour. Again it was incredibly quick and easy to make using ingredients that are readily available.

Presented in an accessible format giving both metric and American cup measurements, the recipes are easy to follow and in the main no specialist or unusual equipment is required. I found this no-nonsense approach very appealing. McDonnell has a reassuring style, similar to Delia Smith or Darina Allen that would imbue even the most inexperienced cook with confidence resulting in a cookbook that will be used rather than sitting on a bookshelf gathering.

Roasted Pear Cheesecake

The next recipe that I tried was the Roasted Pear Cheesecake. Although this was more complex than the earlier recipes that I had road-tested, it resulted in a Cheesecake that was deliciously rich and creamy packed full of the flavours of sweet roasted pears and spicy ginger. I absolutely loved it, as did all my family who wolfed it-down. Again the instructions were laid out in an easy-to-follow fashion.

I was intrigued by the recipe for Bangers & Mash was next up as the gravy was made using Irish stout, which sounded like an interesting addition so I decided to give it a go! Unsurprisingly, given how the earlier recipes had turned out, this was another great success. The stout worked incredibly well against the sweetness of the onions in the gravy and contrasted nicely with the fresh spring onions in the mashed potatoes. I have cooked this recipe a number of times since and each time it has been a huge hit and a perfect example of how humble ingredients can be elevated to something truly delicious with a little care and attention.

Bangers and Mash

Finally, I made the Coffee-Walnut Cake and this was the first time that I veered slightly from the recipe, baking the cake in three 6” sandwich tins rather than the two 8” tins specified.  I loved the inclusion of ground walnuts in the sponge which gave extra texture and a nutty toastiness to the final cake. This was hands-down the very best Coffee & Walnut Cake that I have ever made or eaten and I would buy the book for the recipe alone.  Again, it was simple to make with well-balanced flavours and it looked absolutely stunning.

In the introduction to the book McDonnell states that she “…wasn’t exactly the kind of girl who dreamed of country living” but with the release of this book she proves the extent to which she has embraced her new life. The book is an absolute joy to read, the recipes are delicious and I know that it is a book that I will use time and time again.

The Farmette Cookbook: Recipes and Adventures from my Life on an Irish Farm by Imen McDonnell

Publisher: Roost Books

Published: 8-Mar-2016

This article first appeared in TheTaste.ie

Restaurant Review: Craft Restaurant, Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6W

The march out from the city centre continues apace with further restaurants due to open in the coming months lured by the cheaper rents offered in the suburbs. These ‘neighbourhood’ restaurants appear to be striking a chord with diners delighted with the reasonably-priced casual fine-dining that is offered in many of them. Restaurant margins are notoriously tight so it makes sense for restaurateurs and chefs to seek out more affordable premises in order to sustain viable businesses.

The neighbourhood in question on this particular evening was the bustling south Dublin suburb of Harold’s Cross and our destination was Craft, a restaurant which opened a couple of months ago. Joining me was my friend and fellow food-lover Darina, latest recruit to TheTaste.ie. Having heard great reports about it, Craft seemed like the perfect place for the two of us to catch up over dinner and a few glasses of wine.

Brown Bread

Front of house staff greeted us warmly as we burst rather unceremoniously through the front door and led us down a narrow corridor which links the front part of the restaurant to a back dining room area where our table was located. As we breezed by the kitchen pass where Chef/Proprietor Philip Yeung was working away ably assisted by Chef Noel Healy, we both remarked on the way they worked with such focused calm so far removed from the way professional kitchens are depicted in many television programmes.

The restaurant is small but well-proportioned and makes good use of the space that is available. Decorated throughout in navy and dark earthy tones with wooden tables and chairs, the overall feeling is one of relaxed comfort which we found very appealing.

Confit Chicken Wings

A couple of menus were offered on the night we visited; a Neighbourhood Menu which represented remarkable value for money at two courses for €20 or three courses for €25 and an à la carte Craft Menu which we went for. This concise but nicely structured menu read very well and definitely got the gastric juices flowing in anticipation of the food that was to come. Craft prides itself on sourcing as much Irish and local produce as possible and this was certainly evident on the menu we were presented with. The accompanying wine list was small but included some classic choices.

An excellent Brown Soda Bread served with salted butter sated our appetites while we waited for our first courses to arrive. Although tempted by the Flame-Grilled Mackerel, Black Sesame, Avocado and Radish, I found the allure of the Confit Chicken Wings, Golden Raisins and Truffle Cream (€10.00) hard to resist and was thrilled by the beautiful looking dish I was presented with. The first thing to hit me was the heady aroma of the truffles that had been used in the making of the cream that accompanied the crispy-skinned and succulent chicken wings which mercifully, were served de-boned. Dressed with plump golden raisins, piquant capers and a generous drizzle of an addictively sticky sauce this was a joy to eat. These were chicken wings unlike any that I had ever tasted before and I suspect that I won’t meet their equal for a long time.

Goat's Cheese & Beetroot Salad

Darina’s Salad of Beetroots, Smoked Crème Fraîche, Blood Orange, Nuts and Seeds (€8.00) was another superb dish full of interesting individual elements that were brought together by the blood orange which imparted an acidity that was well-judged against the sweetness of the beetroot and the rich and creamy goat’s cheese. Beetroot made an appearance in a number of guises; as a golden beetroot purée, compressed cubes of the Di Chioggia variety and as simple discs. A scattering of lightly toasted nuts and seeds provided texture which worked well with the gentle (we felt almost imperceptible) smokiness of the crème fraîche. In case you weren’t aware, crisps are a popular inclusion on many menus these days and here they made an appearance on both of our first courses. Obviously homemade, they added crunch and worked well with both dishes but were probably better suited to my chicken wings.

Roast Cod

My main course of Roast Cod, Broad Beans, Mussels, Chinese Leaf and Cider (€20.00) was another accomplished dish which included a generous portion of flawlessly cooked fish. The pillowy soft mussels were also perfectly cooked and tasted wonderful with the cod and the simple clean flavours of the wilted lettuce and broad beans. A creamy cider sauce finished off the dish to great effect and had me purring with pleasure.

Charred Rump Heart of Beef, Carrot, Artichoke and Leek (€23.00) was a striking looking dish which comprised a sizeable portion of beef which had been cooked on the rare side of medium as Darina had requested. Served with carrots which had been roasted to accentuate their underlying sweetness, griddled leeks and an impeccable Jerusalem artichoke purée this was a dish designed to please and this it did on many levels.

Charred Heart Rump of Beef

We had ordered sides of Peas, Gubeen Bacon, and Little Gem Lettuce and Cima de Rapa, Caesar Dressing (€3.50 each) and we were also given a portion of the most sinful and addictively delicious Roasted Potatoes which had been made using dripping. Whilst our choices were lovely, words cannot describe how fabulous the potatoes were. I will stage a one-woman protest if they are ever taken off the menu.

Both our desserts mirrored the high standard of the dishes we had already eaten. I loved my choice of Apple Cake, Buttermilk Custard and Tarragon (€7.00) which was full of interesting textures and well-balanced flavours. The moist cake had been made using almonds and was full of the taste of apples which is a harder thing to achieve than many might think. I particularly liked the use of buttermilk in the custard as it had a freshness on the palate that worked well against the richness of the cake and the accompanying granola. We both felt that tarragon was an inspired flavour pairing with the apples and elevated the dish to the next level.

Dripping Roast Potatoes

The Chocolate and Blood Orange Bar and Vanilla (€7.50) was a equally outstanding dessert. Based on a classic Gateau Opera, it represented the perfect coming together of the slightly sharp but intensely citrusy blood orange and the superior dark chocolate that had been used. Cubes of blood orange jelly, a crisp cocoa nib tuile and a magnificent vanilla ice-cream completed the dish.

We washed our meal down with glasses of a full-bodied Tempranillo and a bottle of sparkling water.

Apple Cake

Service was perfectly pitched and delivered in a friendly and enthusiastic manner which complemented the overall ambiance of the restaurant. This is modern Irish food created by a confident and highly-skilled chef at the top of his game. Philip Yeung has a lightness of touch and a real sense of how to pair ingredients together in unusual ways to create food that is interesting but thoroughly delicious. I hope the residents of Harold’s Cross know how lucky they are to have Craft on their doorstep. 

Craft
208 Harold's Cross Road
Harold's Cross
Dublin 6W

Open Wednesday through Sunday
Lunch
Thursday - Saturday 12.00pm - 3.00pm
Sunday 12.00pm - 4.00pm
Dinner
Wednesday - Saturday 5.30pm - 9.45pm

Telephone: 01 4978632
Website: www.craftrestaurant.ie

This article first appeared in TheTaste.ie

Chocolate Orange Bar

Restaurant Review: Wilde - The Restaurant at the Westbury Hotel

Although I have lived abroad and in a number of different places here in Ireland, I will always consider myself a Dubliner at heart. As such, I try to visit as often as I can to meet up with old friends or spend time with my family enjoying the city’s special atmosphere.

One of my favourite places to pop into for a relaxing afternoon tea treat or a cocktail is the iconic Westbury Hotel, located just off Grafton Street. Knowing that I would be ravenous after my morning shopping, I arranged to meet a friend and had booked a table for us to lunch in Wilde – The Restaurant in The Westbury.

Arriving a little early, we decided to order cocktails in the hotel’s Marble Bar – An Old Fashioned for yours truly and a rather impressive looking Mojito for Patrick. As I sipped on my drink I could feel myself relaxing and all the stresses of the morning ebbing away. We then moved into the restaurant which, in my opinion, is one of the most stunning dining rooms in Dublin. Spacious and beautifully decorated in a 1920s art nouveau style, it has large expansive windows which look out onto Harry Street and Grafton Street, offering a unique viewpoint of the city. Although quite a few tables were taken, we were lucky to get seated beside the window.

Bread Selection

The menu in Wilde has a nice selection of dishes with something on it to suit most tastes. I loved the slightly retro feel of it and was delighted to see the inclusion of dishes such as Duck Liver Parfait, Prawn Cocktail and Sole Meunière. It is too easy to be a little snooty about these dishes but when they are made well they can be heavenly and are classics for good reason.

Feeling in celebratory mood, we decided to kick off our meal with a glass each of Dom Perignon Champagne and the Westbury Bread Selection (€5) while we considered the menu and made our choices. The breads were well made and came with a generous serving of butter. Too many restaurants skimp on the amount of butter  that they serve with their breads and for someone who is a great lover of Irish butter, I have to admit I feel cheated when this happens. This was not the case in Wilde and I happily spread the butter thickly on the delicious breads that we were served which included Herb Soda Bread, Brown Treacle Bread and a Sourdough.

Prawn Cocktail

For his starter, Patrick decided on the Dublin Bay Prawn & Shrimp Cocktail (€21) which came served with a classic Marie Rose sauce, avocado and lime. There are a few basic rules which should be observed when making a seafood cocktail - firstly, the freshest of ingredients should be used; secondly, the dish should be assembled at the last moment and lastly the Marie Rose sauce should not swamp the other ingredients. Here, the langoustines and prawns had been perfectly cooked and were juicy with a lovely fresh taste of the sea. By way of contrast, the Marie Rose sauce possessed a slight spiciness which highlighted the sweetness of the seafood whilst a thin wafer of toasted sourdough bread provided textural contrast.

Scallops

My Castletownbere Scallops with Cauliflower Purée & Nut Crumble (€19) was a beautiful looking dish which contained four seductively plump scallops which had been flawlessly cooked so that their caramelised exteriors gave way to milky tender flesh. Paired with a velvety cauliflower purée, some crisp fennel shavings and a scattering of hazelnut crumb, this was a wonderfully balanced dish which managed to be comforting yet also refreshing to eat. This was one of the best scallop dishes that I have eaten recently and I loved every mouthful.

For our main courses both Patrick and I decided to eschew the salads offered on the menu and instead we chose a meat and fish dish respectively. Patrick’s 8oz Fillet of Dry Aged Irish Beef with Chunky Chips (€34) came cooked medium-rare as requested and had a lovely slightly smoky chargrilled taste. Fillet beef can often be flavourless unless seasoned correctly and cooked with care and attention. Thankfully a lot of love had gone into cooking the meat which was delightfully tender. The accompanying chips were also very good and had been attractively presented in a Jenga-like fashion beside the beef. A rich and unctuous beef gravy finished off the dish.

Steak & Chips

My Sole Meunière (€40) was another outstanding dish comprising a piece of sole, pan-fried on the bone which was then removed before being served.  As with many seemingly simple dishes containing few ingredients, it is one that requires great skill to get right. Here, the fish had been lightly dredged in flour before being pan-fried in butter. The fish was then served with some of the browned butter it had been cooked in. Sole has a light, moist texture which can quickly dry out if even slightly overcooked but my fish was delicious.  Lemon juice, parsley and capers had been added to the butter before serving and all worked together to cut through the richness of the dish whilst complimenting the mild flavour of the sole. The sole was served with Steamed Baby Potatoes which were lovely to mop up some of the buttery juices.

Sole

We also ordered sides of Shoestring Chips, Sprouting Broccoli with Soy and Onion Rings (€5 each) to accompany our main courses but in retrospect, we should probably only have ordered one of the three as we had underestimated the portion size. Having said that all were extremely tasty and both of us felt that the Onion Rings in particular, were beautifully seasoned and full of flavour. We also decided to have a couple of glasses of wine with our main courses  - a 2014 Les Fumées Blanches Sauvignon Blanc was wonderful with my sole whilst the 2014 Punto Final Malbec  was an ideal match for Patrick’s beef.

Despite feeling a little full after the food we had already eaten, we both decided to order desserts. My Crème Brûlée with Honey Madeleine (€9) was served with fresh berries on the side and was an extremely well-made and a perfect example of this dessert stalwart.

Crème Brulee

Baked Alaska is a dessert that deserves a revival yet is one that restaurants seem reticent to include on their menus so when we saw it on the menu in Wilde, Patrick insisted on ordering it. This was not just any old Baked Alaska but was a 21st Century version made with Pistachio Sponge, Raspberry Sorbet and a fabulous toasted Italian Meringue. It was divine and the perfect end to a most enjoyable and memorable meal.

Service throughout our meal was exemplary and attentive without feeling stifling. Staff are friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the food and ingredients used and were able to answer all my questions. I was really impressed by the food in Wilde – The Restaurant and look forward to visiting again soon.

Wilde – The Restaurant

The Westbury Hotel

Grafton Street

Dublin 2

Tel: 01-6791122

Web: westbury@doylecollection.com

Opening Times

Breakfast:

7am - 10.30am, Monday - Friday

7am - 11am, Saturday/Sunday

All Day Menu:

12pm - 10pm, Monday - Sunday

 

This article first appeared in TheTaste.ie
 

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