Carol Anne, Sligo girl, globe trotter and food blogger at Carol Anne's Kitchen completed her 10 week course at the world-famous Ballymaloe cookery school in April. Before she returned to South Africa, where she lives with her boyfriend, she hosted two special culinary gatherings in Grange, north county Sligo. I was thrilled to help her out and be a part of her first experience of catering for a large group (25 people). Although it all happened at the last moment, Carol Anne managed to pull off two successful, fully booked supper clubs, over two subsequent Friday nights. She's some woman, for one woman!
All the vegetables were organic, sourced in the Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co. Leitrim.
Menu 1 (May 10th)
Butternut Squash Soup
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Harissa Roasted Chicken
Green Buckwheat Salad
Tzatziki Yogurt Dip
Orange and Fennel Salad
Put lentil stuffed courgettes
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Rhubarb fool with vanilla shortbread
The menu of the first supper club had a mediterranean feel to it. Vegetarians and carnivores were generously catered for. Courgettes are probably one of my favourite vegetables, and in common with most veggies, I adore puy lentils (the caviar of the lentil world). I was able to help myself and scoff some of the food between courses!
Carol Anne's delicious sourdough bread made an appearance on both nights. She picked up the recipe at Ballymaloe, and we were privleged enough to enjoy it with some of her mother's homemade Irish butter, delicately flavoured with paprika and garlic. I was a vegan for a couple of months until I moved back home. Soda bread and Irish butter is manna from heaven, if you're Irish.
Menu 2 (May 17th)
Poppadoms with mint chutney
Vegetable Pakora and mango relish
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Slow cooked spiced lamb korma
Roasted vegetable coconut curry
Both served with lemon rice
Coriander flatbreads and Raita
Carrot and fennel salad
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Cardamon infused panna cotta topped with rosewater infused pomegranate seeds (agar was used instead of gelatin for the vegetarians)
The vegetable curry was divine, much better than I've had in some Indian restaurants. The richness of the coconut milk in the curry really came through, combined with the delicate heat of the spices and the moreishness of the butternut squash, parsnip and sweet potato.
My favourite dish of the two nights was the sublime, cardamon infused yogurt with pomegranate seeds that had been soaked in rosewater. Incredible doesn't cut it! The warmth of the cardamon cuts through the creaminess of the yogurt and your palate was refreshed by the fresh burst of the pomegranate seeds. Quite unlike any dessert I've had in a restaurant before.
The atmosphere was jovial, many of Carol Anne's friends and acquaintances had come for the evening, as well as curious foodies who'd heard about the night on twitter! The evening sunset lent a twinge of romanticism to the evenings as the setting sunlight illuminated the glasses and plates, as people had animated conversations between courses. Benbulben looked curiously like Ayers Rock from the north of Sligo, as the sun set.
Pictures 1 & 3 via @ladydotty & 2 of Carol Anne in her chef's whites via @carolanner
GPOY: my gelato face
Three weeks ago, I went on holiday to Florence and Rome with my best friend Tara, who now lives and works in Dubai. We wanted to go somewhere before the tourist season got into full swing, and we both love Italy so a compromise was easy. Of course, the first thing I set about doing as soon as I'd booked my ticket was to search out the best gelato places in Florence, and Rome.
We had three full days in Florence, with one and a half days in Rome. I had read that Florence is the gelato capital of Italy, (and as such, the world!). The rest of the itinerary could wait - as I applied myself to the task of sourcing the best gelateria to visit while we there. Thanks to my wonderful friend Tara who patiently accompanied me on my quest.
I only got to four gelateria in the end, and I have ranked these in terms of my favourites.
Vestri Cioccolato D Autore
Borgo degli Albizi, 11 50122 Firenze
Picture this - a warm breeze on your face as you stand in a typical Florentine alleyway, uncertainly contemplating this cramped chocolate shop. We stepped inside and admittedly it was a little chaotic looking, the gelato counter was nowhere to be seen on first glance. The gelato counter is selective - they must only do certain flavours on certain days, as you are given a small menu card to choose from. The gelato is stored deep inside silver steel containers, and somehow this excites me more than the colourful pillows of gelato we see in many of the other typical gelateria. It's like you are being made privy to something sacred, a taste of something heavenly stored inside a gilded shrine. I had a coppa of Florentine vanilla and dark chocolate infused with Sicilian oranges. A Roman friend of mine advised me that you judge a gelateria based on how good it's basic flavours taste. I don't think there are any words to accurately describe the gelato here, I didn't want it to end. It was like I had come home and tasted vanilla for the first time, it was truly a transformative ice-cream experience that was incomparable to any that had come before it. The chocolate was rich with the subtle tang of the orange coming through, not cloying like you imagine Terrys Chocolate in ice-cream form to be.
It was so good that I had to go back immediately after, after shyly asking Tara if she wanted to try it again because I was sure that unless I was to return to Florence one day, I would never experience that euphoria again. To my sheer joy, they offered affrogato. In the winter months you can buy cioccolata calda, which is hot chocolate, but not just any hot chocolate, Italian hot chocolate, darling. So I had a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream with toasted almonds, and rich hot chocolate poured over the top, filling my cup to brim. Heaven, heaven, heaven. If I was proposed to with a cup of this, I'd accept right away.
Gelateria dei Neri
Via dei Neri, 22, 50122 Firenze
This was the first gelateria we called into, after a long day of exerting my optical senses musing over art in the Uffizi; I wanted to give my mouth an equally deserving sensory experience. This cosy gelateria has framed photographs adorning the walls, showing 'Gelateria dei Neri' cartons chilling out in locations around the world, a bit like that garden gnome in Amélie. They had a fine selection of chocolate ice cream here, you had 8 size options to choose from, which is quite common in Italian gelateria. I had pistachio and dark chocolate, both wonderful, the dark chocolate was particularly rich, the sort of flavour that lingers in your mouth afterward, in the best possible way.
Gelateria La Carraia
Via dei Benci, 24, 50122 Firenze
Having spent our first two nights in Florence, north of the River Arno, we went Southside to visit Palazzo Pitti. La Carraia is conveniently located beside the Ponte alla Carraia. I found this particular store the most reasonably priced of all the gelateria we visited, and the best value for money. I wasn't keen on the green and yellow colour scheme, but as we ate our gelato on a bench outside, a painter and decorator van pulled up outside and the man in the car disembarked to take a photo of the interior. If only most of my thoughts came to fruition as conveniently. Here I had the pistachio and hazelnut, both satisfying, I particularly liked the nuttiness of the hazelnut, it would be delicious with a dark chocolate.
Giolitti
Via degli Uffici del Vicario, 40 00186 Rome, Italy
In my 'research', a few sources described this place as touristy. When we arrived in the early afternoon, this place was very busy. It is probably the largest gelateria I've been to, with a very elegant, wood paneled, old fashioned interior with a wealth of gelato flavours to choose from, I reckon there were at least 40. I expect this place gets a very high turnover of customers, as there was a very specific system in place - you paid for your gelato at a till inside the door, and presented your receipt at the counter when you made your gelato selection, after fighting your way through dozens of other customers. I got chocolate and pistachio con panna (with fresh cream), and I am sorry to say that it was the least memorable of all the Italian gelato I've had. The chocolate was strangely bland and in my disappointment I found the pistachio forgettable. I'd recommend going to the GROM around the corner, it's part of a chain - but they serve delicious, organic gelato.
I also found this retro (circa 2001) 'Gelato Tour' of Italy, with film photographs to illustrate the piece! Instagram is great in that in lets the user share the experience right away.
My Dad was in hospital recently and it really shook me up, we're very close. While he is fit and healthy, I do wish he would eat less red meat and animal fats. He's more receptive to vegetarian dishes now, because I do cook a lot, I enjoy cooking family meals at least once a week. After the recent scare, I've been cooking some healthy meals for him, and this evening as I made dinner, I realised that I was cooking a meat-free meal, on a Monday, and I thought of the "meat free Monday" movement, promoted by the McCartney family. So in the spirit of things, I hope on every other Monday to post a meat-free dish, to inspire anyone who does stop by, and to give me some motivation, while I convince my family to make Mondays meat free.
While watching daytime telly recently, I flicked over to Rick Stein's Spain, he was about to cook a delicious looking lentil dish, where the meat element could easily be left out. It's a lentil stew I suppose.
I adapted this recipe, on the cheap. I left out the Serrano ham, and the white wine, I don't have pimentón (smoked sweet Spanish paprika) so I used regular paprika.
Ingredients
300g green lentils
6 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, finely chopped/diced
200g/7oz carrot, finely chopped/diced
1 tbsp paprika (or to taste)
A couple of glugs of tobasco
I tin chopped tomatoes
rock salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Check the lentils for stones, then rinse in cold water. Add to saucepan, adding enough cold water to cover them and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes or until just tender but still a little al dente (or follow packet instructions). Drain, and keep back the cooking liquid, setting to one side.
- In a deep frying pan, heat the oil, adding the garlic and onion, sweating it off for a few minutes, then add the carrot and cook gently for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and just beginning to colour.
- Stir in the paprika and tomatoes, and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture cooks down into a thick sauce. I chucked in some tobasco at this point, because I like some heat.
- Stir the lentils into the sauce with 150ml of the lentil cooking liquid, as needed, with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Simmer for a further 5-6 minutes. Serve!
I served this with potatoes fried in olive oil and paprika, 'patatas bravas' style.
You can watch Rick himself whip up this dish via youtube, what a charming man!
Join the movement and tag your tweets/instagram pictures with #meatfreemonday
Our very simple table setting for Christmas
Sweet potato, hazelnut and spinach en croûte, served with red wine and juniper gravy, from the Cornucopia cookbook.
I made this dish for Christmas last year, and loved it so much I had to make it again. It's a lot of work, as well as being very rich and filling, so making it once a year is enough for me!
I'm going to share the recipe with you here, because I can't find it anywhere online. It seems a shame not too. Of course, all credit for the recipe goes to Cornucopia.
Red wine & juniper gravy
1 large onion
2 carrots
Leaves of a head of celery
1 leek
3 field mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
10 juniper berries
2 tbsp plain flour
A few stalks of thyme
A few stalks of sage
1 heaped tbsp of tomato puree
50ml shoyu/soy sauce
1 heaped tbsp unrefined brown sugar
200ml vegetarian red wine
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
500ml water
Roughly chop the onions, carrots, celery, leek, mushrooms and garlic.
Cover the base of a large pot with a generous splash of olive oil, over a medium heat.
Add all the chopped vegetables, the bay leaves and juniper berries.
Stir briefly to coat with oil, cover with a lid, reduce to a low heat and leave to sweat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks and burns.
When the stock has fully sweated, add the flour and cook over a very low heat for five minutes, stirring continuously.
Add the thyme, sage, tomato puree, soy sauce, water and a good twist of black pepper.
Cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally.
While the gravy stock is cooking, in a medium pan gently heat the sugar over a very low heat. When melted, add the wine. The sugar will crystallise but will melt again.
Simmer the sweetened wine for 10 minutes to burn off the alcohol, and then set to one side.
Place a fine sieve over the wine/sugar pot and pour the gravy stock into it. Stir and press with the back of a ladle to squeeze as much liquid from the mixture as possible.
When finished, discard the vegetables and whisk the liquid so it mixes. This can be prepared the night before and heated on the day. It will keep for about 3 days in the fridge.
En croûte filling
3 medium sweet potatoes (500g)
400g hazelnuts
2 bulbs of garlic
EV olive oil
25g each fresh sage/thyme/parsley (or a small bunch each)
600g red onions (divide into two batches of 300g)
125ml vegetarian red wine
80g breadcrumbs
250g baby spinach (washed)
Half teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 free range eggs
Salt and pepper
Preheat over to 180c. Puncture skin of sweet potatoes, place on a baking tray and roast until soft (about 40-45 minutes).
Set aside to cool and remove the skins, slice them lengthways into quarters. (I left them whole and it looked quite attractive when the pastry is sliced).
Meanwhile, place the hazelnuts on a tray and roast in the oven for 8-10 minutes.
Set them aside to cool and then rub vigrously to remove the loose skins.
At the same time, roast the garlic. Slice the tops off both bulbs, pour in olive oil, ensuring all the cloves are coated, add salt and pepper.
Roast garlic in oven until soft, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.
When cooled, squeeze the soft flesh out, discard the skins afterward.
Chop the fresh herbs very finely and thinly slice the red onions. Set 300g of the onions to one side.
Cover the base of a large pot with olive oil and place over a medium heat. Add 300g of the onions, coat with the oil. Place lid on the pot, reduce to a low heat and allow onions to sweat for 15 minutes.
Add the red wine to the pot, and reduce over a low heat for 15 minutes, to burn off the alcohol.
Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, and most of the finely chopped herbs (keep aside a small bit for garnishing at the end.) Season to taste.
Coat a frying pan sparsely with olive oil, place over a high heat and add half of the baby spinach. Add some salt and pepper and wilt the spinach until no moisture remains in the pan. Repeat with the remainder of the spinach.
In a food processor, grind the remaining 300g of raw red onions, the flesh of the roast garlic, the wilted spinach and the nutmeg.
Add one egg and half of the roasted hazelnuts, blend for one minute.
Add the second egg and blend for another minute until completely smooth.
Add the remaining hazelnuts, pulse for a few seconds until just roughly chopped. Season to taste.
To assemble:
You can make all of the above the night before to save on time, on the day
When you are ready to assemble, preheat the oven to 180c and prepare an egg wash by whisking 1 free range egg and a pinch of salt.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pastry into a 34 x 26cm rectangle, with the longest side facing you.
Transfer the rolled pastry to a large baking tray, with 8 cm of the pastry flopped over the side of the tray. This is the side that will fold over the filling.
Leave a border of 3cm around the pastry so it won't bubble out while it bakes.
Cover 15cm of the pastry with the herb and onion stuffing.
On top of the onions, place half of the spinach mixture on top of the onions.
Nestle the sweet potato batons lengthways into the centre and cover with the remaining spinach mixture.
Cover this with the reaminder of the pastry, ensuring it is securely sealed on all sides, brush the pastry all over with egg wash.
Slice an attractive pattern in the pastry, and grind some black pepper over the pastry.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, allow for 10 minutes rest after removing from the oven.
Slice, serve and enjoy!
We had ours with roast potatoes and grilled vegetables. My meat-eating family adored it. I think its set to become my Christmas tradition.
A note to say: you may end up with twice as much onion and spinach mix as you need. I set this to one side in the fridge, and then remade this a couple of days later. I used shop bought shortcrust pastry for this, you can make your own, but this was much more convenient for me!
A bûche de Noël, with chestnut cream filling.
As you can see the glossy skin of the yule log came off in parts when I gently removed the baking parchment from the cake when it cooled. I added some festive glitter, and left it as is, excusing it as a 'rustic' look. You can add cream to the outside to conceal this, but I don't like very creamy desserts personally.
I made cranberry, almond and dark chocolate biscotti to give as gifts, by adapting this BBC Good Food recipe. It certainly made the kitchen smell like Christmas!
"We don't do fast food, we do good food fast" reads the manifesto above the kitchen of the charming Shells Café, located on the edge of wild Atlantic coastal townland of Strandhill. On the edge geographically, this 'on the fringe' mentality characterises Shells Café in Sligo itself. Beloved by surfers and locals alike, Shells unites a diverse clientele amongst the bustling four walls and chintzy tablecloths of the cosy café.
Get yer mitts around a hot cup of chocolate or the home roasted coffee (available by the bag to purchase) as you mull over the menu.
(How cool is that advent calendar?!)
Finn got the classic burger and chips, and boy, those chips! Home-cut and very crispy, as I like them! The specials are written on the blackboard, the soup changes daily, on this particularly evening it was curried vegetable, nice and warming for the cold evening.
They have a range of different specials every day, on my last two visits there I managed to miss the breakfast, which ends at 2pm. Their veggie breakfast is i n c r e d i b l e. See below, poor representation but I'm getting hungry just thinking at it, the homemade baked beans are out of this world!
As you go up to pay, I feel obliged to warn you that you are putting your wallet at further risk, as the tempting array of cakes at the counter are laid out, waiting for you to look over and make a selection.
The Shells Café cookbook is on sale at the till, or in all good bookshops. My dinner partner was so impressed he bought one as an Xmas gift.
Pictures thanks to Finn MacLeod!
One of my vices is ice cream. I've tried sea salt ice cream, vegan ice cream, even made my own ice cream. I love the stuff. Is it a girl thing? I don't know, I don't care. In Italy, I really had the chance to indulge. Italy is famous for its gelato, particularly Venice. Here is a snapshot of some of the places and tastes I visited.
Gelato isn't merely ice cream. In Italy, handmade gelato takes precedence over industrially produced gelato. Gelato is stirred at a much slower pace than ice-cream, so less air is in the mixture, making it thicker than ice-cream. It also contains a lower percentage of fat, sometimes a higher percentage of sugar, and other sciencey details that mean nothing to me, and you just need to try it to believe me, alright? Not to mention that most gelatari take pride in how they present their dishes, and with a lot of imagination.
For me eating gelato was a rewarding experience, I'll probably never go near a "whippy cone" again, its more expensive and far inferior, and it comes out of a tap, its not scooped into a cup, with a gaily coloured spooon and presented to you. The comforting dense texture of gelato is an experience worth remembering. Have I won you over yet? Book those flights!
Gelateria Nico, Fondamenta delle Zattere
Referenced in all the guidebooks, probably the most famous gelateria in Venice. I went in here on my second day in Venice, seeking the cool comfort of ice cream and shelter from the sun. It was my first taste of gelato in Venice and it sent me on a gluttonous path! I originally wanted to have a hot chocolate gelato float (I know right?!) but I soon learnt that Venice does not serve hot chocolate until the colder weather, from mid-October onward. Founded in 1937, Gelateria Nico is a Venetian institution, and is located on Fondamenta delle Zattere, a wide waterfront promenade in Venice, and a five minute walk from the Accademia bridge and the Peggy Guggenheim museum.
If going here I'd recommend that you get a coppa or cono (cup or cone) of gelato to take away, as a sit down and glass of ice cream can vary from €4.50 to €9.50, and the interior has seen better decades. Eat it at your own pace sitting on the waterfront (or standing, as I did one day when it was raining but I needed my gelato fix!). Its extremely well priced, a coppa of ice cream with panna (cream) made inhouse cost me €2.70 (€2.20 for the two scoops & 50c for toppings). The staff on the other hand, well you'll forget about their rudeness once you tuck into your gelato, as you can see, the portions are generous! I noticed on tripadvisor that someone recommended to ask for the gianduiotto ("a paper cup filled with whipped cream and a bar of the most delicious chocolate hazelnut gelato inserted into the cream with more cream plastered on top" WOW). My "usual" from here was the chocolate and amaretto, with cream. My Roman friend informed me that you can tell a good gelateria by the quality of its chocolate ice cream, and this place passed her test! This was my favourite and most frequented gelateria.
GROM
GROM is a chain of organic, artisan gelato shops in Italy. There are 3 in Venice alone. I went to one in Padua, and the other near Campo Santa Margarita. Their prices are a wee bit higher than that of the generic gelato places, but you can truly taste the difference. They are suitable for coeliacs, and contains no nasty artificial colours. I love how the staff procure the ice cream from their sleek metal tubs, they skillfully and rapidly scrape their spatula around the tub and transfer it artfully to your cone. The first time I chose the pistachio and dark chocolate in a cone. The combination was interesting, as the chocolate was so rich and dense, which I loved, while the pistachio tasted almost savoury. The cones themselves are lovely to bite into, and of great quality, not like the foamy, cheap ones we have here, that I'd rather cast aside than eat.
My second experience at GROM was in their Santa Nuova store. I chose a Marsala wine flavour (it being a quintessentially Italian flavour) with the dark chocolate again. It was my last full day in Venice, while we were on a leisurely stroll towards the Ghetto part of the city, and I decided to go in on a whim. I wish I'd eaten more of it sooner. The marsala wine gelato was divine, not too sweet and all, wonderfully thick, and a perfect accompaniment to the dark chocolate. Yum yum yum!!
Gelateria il Doge, Campo San Margarita
I tried this place on two occasions, the first time I wasn't awed and then on a late night stop off on my second last night in Venice. Myself and two of my friends both had gelato cravings at the same time, amazing. My most uttered phrase was probably "So... gelato?" We were hanging about our favourite Campo (San Margarita) and our favourite gelato places were too far to walk, so we stopped by here, as I remembered seeing it mentioned in a guide book (gives you an idea of what sections of the guide book I prioritised). They had a generous chocolate gelato section. Around 5 different flavours of chocolate gelato! Finn got the orange chocolate, which was like Terrys Chocolate Orange in gelato form (aka heaven) and I got the chili chocolate which had an intensely chocolate flavour, with a musky aftertaste. Lovely! Pretty good value too, around €1.20 for a cone.
Gelateria Paolin, Campo San Stefano
Recommended to me by a friend initially, I soon came across this place more than once in the guide books. On our first visit, it was the evening, so we decided to be decadent and get a table. The deserts in the menu are expensive. My glass (though amply filled) was €10.50, including table charge. On my next two visits, I got a cone, which was an incredible €1! Alledgedly the best pistachio gelato in Venice, pistachio being a favourite flavour of mine, I complied and found to my pleasure, while i can't speak for all the gelateri in Venice, it was certainly the best I'd ever tasted. The right side of sweet, with a gorgeous texture created by crumbled pistachios crumbled through the mixture. On one late night visit, I went back for seconds!
You can reach Gelateria Paolin in the bustling Campo San Stefano, a ten minute walk from San Marco, and on your way to the Accademia bridge. They also serve food.
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Generally, I'd recommend that you avoid the gelato places around San Marco and the well thread tourist areas. The garish colours and quantity of gelato on display should be a hint to their quality really.
Most of the photo credit for the charming Finn MacLeod!
