Darina Allen: Three delectable recipes from a trip to County Cavan
Two of Darina's Cavan discoveries
Last week, I embarked on my first adventure since I acquired my new ‘bionic’ knee over eight weeks ago.
I’ve been invited by Richard Corrigan, the wild and wonderful and deliciously unpredictable Irish chef, patron of several London restaurants, including Bentley’s and Lindsey House, to participate in ‘Homegrown’, a super-exciting weekend to celebrate the autumn harvest with workshops, talks and sensational live music - how could I refuse?
There were master classes, foraging walks and many delicious seasonal meals hosted by Richard and his guest chefs, all held at Virginia Park Lodge, Richard’s Irish country house hotel and estate in County Cavan.
Over 150 guests and many of his chef friends including Jeremy Lee, Mark Hix, Robin Gill, and Angela Hartnett, who love to work hard and play hard, were over from London and beyond to participate and have fun.
Throughout the weekend, a brilliant lineup of food-related events, demos and talks ran concurrently.
Long-table dinners in the greenhouse under the vines, piggy feasts in the piggery, foraging for wild mushrooms, taco making with Lily Ramirez, kombucha with Daphne Shackleton, oysters galore and how about Mary Coughlan and Liam Ó Maonlaí for after-dinner entertainment that went well into the night and early morning – magical stuff. Be sure to check out next year’s Homegrown dates.
We called into Sheridan’s shop close by. What a selection of farmhouse cheese, artisan and specialist foods. A real gem, hidden in the countryside at Virginia Road Station.
Then onto Belfast, at this time of the year, it can be difficult to find somewhere to stay or eat on Monday, Tuesday or even Wednesday nights. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at James Street South and a breakfast bap at Established on Hill Street in the Cathedral District.
Lunch was at Capparelli at the Mill, the new place everyone’s talking about in a beautifully restored 18th-century watermill in the heart of County Down; chef Carlos Capparelli worked with Ottolenghi in London for many years.
On up to the Antrim coast to find Ursa Minor, an artisan bakery in Ballymena. I’ve been wanting to taste their sourdough and viennoiserie for several years and it was certainly worth the journey.
Just a few miles ‘out the road’ we found Broughgammon Farm where Charlie and Becky Cole make a range of artisanal charcuterie.
We arrived as kids from the local school were learning firsthand how food is produced. The farm tour was in full swing, kids were enthusiastically digging potatoes to bring home for supper, picking pumpkins and decorating scarecrows. Other farms please copy.
Along the north Antrim coast, past the Giant's Causeway, and the Mussenden Temple, over to Breac House just outside Dunfanaghy in County Donegal.
A bed and breakfast with memorable breakfasts owned by Niall Campbell and Cathrine Burke with only four bedrooms on the Horn Head Penninsula overlooking Killahoey Strand, Sheephaven Bay and Muckish Mountain.
Booking well ahead is essential and so worthwhile. I’d forgotten how utterly beautiful Donegal is, even under grey autumn skies. If you want to eat at the Olde Glen Bar in Glen Village, you’ll also need to book well ahead for the dining experience.
As always, I was anxious to visit local farmers and food producers. Joanne Butler at Ourganic Gardens showed us round their garden and fruit orchards and tunnels, where amongst many other activities, she teaches how to grow food to sustain a family of five throughout the year.
We loved the beautiful hand-cut local slate on the roof of the old buildings.
Next onto Mulroy Bay, to hear the story of Donegal Sea Salt from John Slater. It’s fascinating how the flavour and texture of sea salt varies from one part of the country to another, a unique taste of Mulroy Bay.
Then on to check out The Blue Goat in Ramelton – an excellent speciality and local food shop, definitely worth making a detour for. Say hi to Shelley and to Des on the cheese counter.
Sadly, the Bridge Bar was closed, everyone on holidays – another time. We were also delighted to discover former Ballymaloe Cookery School student, Pauline Sugrue giving cooking classes in Wild Garlic School in the beautiful Old Bank House in Ramelton.
From there, a pilgrimage to Portnoo to meet charismatic gardener and natural soap maker, Barry Quinn in his Market Garden, Barry’s got over 1 million avid Instagram followers of which I am one.
He’s planning to be down this way in May 2026 for the Ballymaloe Food Festival and he’ll bring his Duck Street Jam Band to play in the Grainstore.
Then a dash over to the Cove restaurant in Dunfanaghy for a delicious dinner where we found another one of our past students, Siobhán Sweeney.
And finally, on the way home, we called into Rossnowlagh Farmers’ Market, where Ballymaloe Cookery School alumni, Faye Dinsmore and her friends Lisa McCorley and Jaime Leigh Meade started a Farmers’ Market in the Friary Hall almost a year ago.
A wonderful eclectic mix of locally-grown produce and beautiful craft. I particularly loved the get-together area where the local community gathers for weekly tea and chats.
How about that for a week of adventures? I need to get back home to put my knee up!
Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome to the many places we visited, often unannounced.
Capparelli at The Mill’s Kale Borani
Loved this delicious riff on borani at Capparelli at The Mill. Thank you to Carlos for sharing the recipe.
Servings
6Course
MainIngredients
For the borani:
500g Greek yogurt
125g kale
125g spinach
50ml olive oil (about 3 tbsp)
5 garlic cloves, minced
salt, to taste
For the Vadouvan butter:
60g unsalted butter
5g vadouvan spice mix
½ garlic clove, minced
zest and juice of ¼ lemon
5g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
For the pickled golden raisins:
50g sugar
50g white wine vinegar
25g (25ml) water
¼ bay leaf
¼ star anise
250g golden raisins
Method
For the borani:
Strain the yogurt. Line a colander with a clean J-cloth or muslin and place it over a bowl. Add the yogurt and let it strain for a few hours (or overnight) in the fridge to remove excess moisture.
Prepare the greens. Blanch the kale and spinach in salted boiling water until wilted, then refresh in ice-cold water.
Drain thoroughly. Once cool, squeeze out as much water as possible from the greens.
Cook the greens. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the drained greens and cook for a few minutes to remove excess moisture. Season lightly with salt and let cool completely.
Once cool, mix the greens into the strained yogurt and adjust seasoning if needed. Set aside.
For the Vadouvan butter:
Melt the butter over a medium heat until it starts to brown slightly and smell nutty.
Combine the vadouvan spice mix, garlic, lemon zest and juice, and parsley in a small metal bowl.
Pour the browned butter over the spice mixture, stir gently, and keep warm until serving.
For the pickled golden raisins:
Combine the sugar, vinegar, water, bay leaf and star anise in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil until the sugar dissolves.
Pour the hot pickling liquid over the raisins. Allow to cool and infuse for at least an hour (overnight is best).
To serve:
Spread the kale borani mixture over a serving plate. Spoon over the warm vadouvan butter and scatter the pickled golden raisins on top. Serve immediately with toasted bread/ flatbread.
Mark Hix’s Steamed Marmalade and Kingston Black Pudding
I love a good old-fashioned steamed pudding and there’s lots of different recipes floating around but I use this one all the time these days with various flavours from classic treacle to this delicious marmalade one.
Servings
4Course
DessertIngredients
80g melted butter, plus extra for greasing
200g marmalade, softened
2 medium eggs, beaten
100g fresh white breadcrumbs (including crusts)
80g light muscovado sugar
20g self-raising flour
½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
50ml Kingston Black cider (Mark used Red Breast whiskey)
To serve
softly whipped cream
Method
Brush 4 individual pudding basins with some of the butter and spoon a tablespoon of marmalade into the base of each.
In a mixing machine or by hand, mix half the remaining marmalade with the butter then gradually add the eggs until well mixed then fold in the breadcrumbs, sugar, flour, bicarbonate of soda.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6 (180°C fan) or use a steamer if you have one.
Spoon the mixture into the moulds, cover with foil and place in a pan with boiling water halfway up the moulds. Cover and cook in the oven or steamer for 45 minutes.
To serve, heat the rest of the marmalade with the Kingston Black and spoon onto the puddings once turned out.
Serve with lots of softly whipped cream.
Lemon Posset with Gorse Flowers
This little gem was inspired by a gorse flower posset served in tiny glasses as a treat on the breakfast tray at Breac House – it can also be flavoured with lemon-scented geranium or just lemon zest.
Servings
8Course
DessertIngredients
400ml double cream
90g caster sugar
a fistful of gorse flowers
50ml lemon juice
6 x 75ml individual serving bowls or shot glasses
To garnish
gorse flowers
Method
Place the cream, sugar and gorse flowers in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to low and cook very gently, stirring often, for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Strain out the gorse flowers and pour the posset into serving bowls of choice. Cool, cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Garnish with a few gorse petals.
Former commercial fisherman’s wife, ocean activist, slow food advocate and master artisan fish smoker, Sally Barnes is now passing on her wealth of knowledge and skills at The Keep at her Woodcock Smokery near Skibbereen in West Cork.
Choose from The World of Wild Salmon, The Art of Wild Fish Smoking and Coastal Foraging.
Black Butter is a centuries-old preserve made with apples, originating in Medieval Western Europe and Ireland.
Alastair Bell saw an opportunity to revive this tradition using locally grown EU PGI Status Armagh Bramley Apples, cultivated in the heart of ‘Ireland’s Orchard County.’
With this idea, Irish Black Butter was born. A non-dairy rich spicy apple conserve which can be used to cook, bake, spread and mix – it can be used in breads such as soda farls, pancakes or potato bread, apple tarts, ice-creams, butterscotch, caramel or toffee sauce…
Dame Mary Berry has written over 80 cookbooks – can you imagine!
Her latest book, ‘Mary 90’ (published by BBC Books), is in celebration of Mary’s 90th birthday and features new and old recipes from her incredible repertoire.
From delicious recipes like Chicken Coconut Traybake, a freezer-friendly Mac and Cheese and a choice of three wonderful lasagnes, to irresistible desserts like Crème Caramel, Carrot Cake and Lemon Meringue Pie and of course classic bakes, including Mary’s Best Brownies and Chocolate and Cherry Cake.
This book really covers everything you might be looking for in a cookbook and much more.
The recipes are also accompanied by stories from Mary’s life and family photos that really tie this book together into a beautiful celebration of her life. Bravo Mary – you are a true star and much loved.
