Weekend food with Darina Allen
Friends from all over the world arrived by train, boats and planes — all gathered together to eat, drink and be very merry.
Jean Pierre, one of the head chefs at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, USA, is married to Denise Lourton of the Lourton wine dynasty in Bordeaux, so we dined well.
We also had a tasting of the wines in the new cellars at Chateau Louvière.
Later we wandered through the steep cobbled streets of St Emilion in search of the veritable macaroons and cannelles of Madame Blanchet.
We found it beside the post office.
In St Emilion not surprisingly, every second shop sells wine.
There must be 30 or more.
How do they all survive?
Madame Janine Ooyle came to Chateau Bonnet with a chest of wonderful old French linen to tempt us and we chatted and feasted.
It’s so sublime to live in a climate where one can lay long tables in the gardens and depend on the weather.
Each evening we started with a little selection of anti pasti to nibble with an aperitivo.
Little morsels of succulent local eel, fried in butter with a little chilli and shreds of parsley, rillettes with crusty bread, skewers of cured acorn — Pata Negra fed jamon, vegetables á la greque, moules á la bordélaise, prunings from old grape vines gave the grilled veal and côtes de boeuf a delicious smoky flavour.
It was served, simply with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, green and yellow haricot beans, fresh from the garden.
At every meal there was superb cheese from the famous local cheese shop Jean Dalos in Bordeaux and bowls of exquisitely flavoured fresh summer berries as well as peaches, apricots and nectarines. Gorgeous simple food perfect to share.
The recipe for St Emilion macaroons is a closely guarded secret but this recipe is easy and delicious, one can eat them just as they are or sandwich them together with a chocolate filling — a favourite variation.
Serve on crostini or crusty bread — delicious as a first course but Jean Pierre served it as part of an antipasti.
500g (1lb 2oz) pork shoulder
500g (1lb 2oz) fatty pork belly (rindless)
300g (101?2oz) homemade lard
2 tbsp juniper berries
2 tsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
salt, freshly ground pepper and freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp thyme leaves
Preheat the oven to 120C/250F/ gas mark ½.
Cut the pork shoulder and pork belly into small pieces, about 1cm (½in) wide.
Put 100ml (3½fl oz) water and the fat into a casserole and add the meat.
Tie the juniper berries, peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme sprigs into a small, loose muslin bag and add it to the casserole.
Warm the pot gently for a few minutes on a low heat. It mustn’t boil, or the meat will stick and congeal.
Cover the casserole tightly and transfer to the preheated oven.
Cook for about four hours, by which time the meat will be meltingly tender and slightly browned.
Leave the meat to cool for a few minutes, remove the muslin bag and then pull the meat into shreds with two forks.
Taste and season well, adding a little grated nutmeg and some thyme leaves.
When you are happy with the flavour, transfer the rillettes to an earthenware pot or pots.
Pack it down well, cover with silicone paper and leave to mature for a day or two in a fridge or cold larder.
Serve with warm crusty bread or toast and maybe a few crunchy cornichons or radishes to nibble on.
We also love to accompany them with Beetroot and Ginger Relish.
Rillettes will keep in a fridge or cold larder for up to three to four months, depending on the quality of the pork used.
A simple tasty summery bite to enjoy with a glass of crisp white wine.
24 cherry tomatoes
24 fresh basil leaves
24 bocconcini — use Irish mozzarella if available
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Italian extra virgin olive oil
Flat bamboo cocktail sticks
Thread a ripe cherry tomato, fresh basil leaf and a bocconcini onto a flat bamboo cocktail stick.
Arrange on a plate. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt and a little freshly ground pepper.
Continue until all the ingredients are used up.
Eat soon.
18 lbs (8 kgs) of mussels, well washed
1 lemon
2 ozs (50 g) streaky bacon,cut into ¼ inch (5 mm) lardons
2 slices white bread, cut in ¼ inch (5 mm) cubes for croutons
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2-4 heaped tablespoons parsley, coarsely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
First open the mussels. You may want to scrape off any barnacles from wild mussel shells, but this is not essential.
Wash the mussels well in several changes of cold water.
Then spread them in a single layer in a pan, covered with a folded tea-towel or the lid and cook over a gentle heat — no need to add any liquid.
This usually takes 2-3 minutes; the mussels are cooked just as soon as the shells open (cockles and palourdes can be cooked in the same way).
Remove them from the pan immediately or they will shrink in size and become tough.
Just as soon as they open, remove the beards but leave in the shells.
Put into a warm bowl. Strain the mussel juice through a fine sieve, add the juice of ½-1 lemon.
Put it back on a high heat and pour over the mussels.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat, add a little oil and the lardons of bacon, cook until the fat runs out and the bacon is crisp and golden.
Remove to a plate, add a little more oil to the pan, add the croutons and continue to cook until they too are crisp and golden.
Add the garlic, the crispy lardons and the parsley. Toss for a second and scatter over the mussels in the bowl.
Serve immediately in deep bowls.
One of several incredibly rich chocolate cakes, use the best chocolate you can buy, Valrhona, Menier, Suchard or Callebaut.
4 ozs (110g) best quality dark chocolate (We use Lesmé or Val Rhona chocolate)
2 tbsp Red Jamaica Rum
4 ozs (110g/1 stick) butter, preferably unsalted
4 ozs (110g/½ cup) castor sugar
3 free-range eggs
1 tbsp castor sugar
2 ozs (50g/scant ½ cup) plain white flour
2 ozs (50g/scant ½ cup) whole almonds
6 ozs (175g) best quality dark chocolate
3 tbsp Red Jamaica Rum
6 ozs (175g/1½ sticks) unsalted butter
Crystallised violets or toasted almonds or praline
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Grease two 7inch (18cm) sandwich tins and line the base of each with greaseproof paper.
Melt the chocolate with the rum on a very gentle heat, peel the almonds and grind in a liquidiser or food processor — they should still be slightly gritty.
Cream the butter, and then add the castor sugar, beat until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg yolks. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Add a tablespoon of castor sugar and continue to whisk until they reach the stiff peak stage. Add the melted chocolate to the butter and sugar mixture and then add the almonds. Stir in ¼ of the egg white mixture followed by ¼ of the sieved flour. Fold in the remaining eggs and flour alternatively until they have all been added.
Divide between the two prepared tins and make a hollow in the centre of each cake.
Cake should be slightly underdone in the centre.
Sides should be cooked but the centre a little unset — it can take between 19 and 25 minutes.
Melt best quality chocolate with rum.
Whisk in unsalted butter by the tablespoon.
Beat occasionally until cool. When the cake is completely cold, fill and ice with the mixture.
Pipe the remaining icing around the top and decorate with crystallised violets or toasted flaked almonds.
THE Ardmore Pattern Festival runs until tomorrow, Sunday, July 24, and has featured a week of entertainment and activities for all the family including pottery and basket making demonstrations.
Darina Allen will give a talk on “Forgotten Skills” today, Saturday July 23, at 4pm St Paul’s Church.
Visit www.ardmorepatternfestival.ie for further details
Slow Food East Cork Celebrate Coffee with Mark Kingston on Tuesday, August 9, at 7pm at The Grain Store at Ballymaloe House.
Mark will teach the secrets of coffee beans and coffee roasting.
Cup of coffee included. Slow Food Members, €5; Non Slow Food Members, €6. Booking Essential: 021-4646785 or email slowfoodeastcork@gmail.com
Marsh Samphire is in season now. Contact Michelle Walsh on 086-3458710.
To cook: you need 8oz (225g) Marsh Samphire or Sea Asparagus and 1-2ozs (25-50g) butter. Wash the marsh samphire well.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, throw in the samphire, return to the boil for three to four minutes, drain.
Toss in a little melted butter.
Keep warm.
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