I’m on the second week of my shoot for my next television series for RTÉ1. I’m very much enjoying myself but I’m now at that ‘looking forward to getting home’ stage. We’re shooting in the northeast of England and have moved to Durham which is a little south of Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumbria. This was once a medieval kingdom covering the north of England and south of Scotland. We have been meeting fantastic people, who are very friendly, and lots of them have Irish connections. The weather has been lovely too.
Northumbria has been one of our best shoots. I am told there are more castles here than any other county in England. And I had a trip with The Sidecar Guys, Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes, in the sidecar of a motorbike. These guys are in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest ever journey by scooter and sidecar. They quite literally went around the world. This was certainly a first for me and I enjoyed every minute. What a great way to see the countryside. I sent a photo to a friend who said it reminded him of the opening sequence to Antiques Roadshow. That remark will not be forgotten, or forgiven!
I also spent a wonderful few hours in Craster, a small fishing village on the Northumbrian coast. There I visited Robson’s who are world famous for smoking kippers. They’ve been doing it since 1856 so there is not a lot about it that they don’t know.
Their tradition is in cold smoking with is a technique that I had never seen before. They use small piles of burning wood so the fish is not cooked and the effort paid off – it was delicious.
We’re delighted to showcase this area in the north of England as there is so much to see. Next stop was to The Potted Lobster in Bamburgh where Richard Sim serves fresh local seafood. The backdrop to the restaurant is Bamburgh Castle and there are lots of beautiful unspoiled sandy beaches nearby. Richard is married to a Belfast woman, Kimberly, and is a frequent visitor to Ireland. He loves to shoot game and fishes in Ballina and I was delighted to learn that he knew of Blacklion.
Today I am off on a nature walking tour. And then an interview I am looking forward to with Colin Young who wrote the authorised biography of Jack Charlton. He got to know Jack when he was covering football in the northeast and followed his years as Republic of Ireland manager. I can’t think of a better way to end a wonderful two weeks in this part of the world than chatting about football to a man like Colin. By the time you read this, I will be back home in Blacklion, enjoying the normality of family life and the restaurant.
Today I have two seasonal desserts as we get to the end of the peach season. You could also use apricots or nectarines and we are just coming into a good time for plums and rhubarb. The key is that your fruit is fully ripe. If the peaches are a bit hard given them a few days in the kitchen to ripen. The yoghurt keeps the cake nice and moist. One of the best things about this crumble cake is that it will keep for a week in the fridge.
I have to admit, peaches aren’t my favourite fruit but I have happy childhood memories of delicious peach Melba with fresh raspberries, ice cream, raspberry coulis and flaked almonds. And these peach melba puffs bring back those memories. Again, using fresh fruit is important. However, you could use maple syrup instead of honey, if you prefer. And for the best puff pastry I always think of Mairead Finnegan from Roll It. Her pastry is all butter, handmade in her home in Kells, Co Meath.
Mairead is a great producer who I was delighted to feature on television a while back. Enjoy!
“Eat Out at Home” by Neven Maguire (Gill Books). Neven’s Ulster Food Trails is on RTÉ1 at 8.30 on Wednesdays.
Brown butter peach crumble cake
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
For the crumble topping:
75g butter
100g plain flour
75g light Muscovado sugar
Good pinch of sea salt
For the cake:
100g butter, extra for greasing
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 free range corn fed large eggs
150g greek yoghurt
200g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Good pinch of Achill sea salt
100ml milk
For the peaches:
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp light Muscovado sugar
1 Pack (4) peaches, stoned and chopped
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4).
2. First make the crumble topping. Melt the butter in a small pan. Then set aside to cool down a little. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter, cover with clingfilm and set aside.
3. To make the cake, melt the butter in the small pan, allowing it to foam up. Continue to stir until the butter just starts to change colour in the middle of the pan. You will need to be careful as this can happen quickly and you don’t want it to burn. Pour the brown butter into a bowl and allow to cool down a little.
4. Add the sugar and vanilla to the brown butter and using an electric mixer beat until lightly and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then fold in the yoghurt. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and gently fold into the egg mixture. Finally, fold in the milk.
5. Spread into a 9 inch loose bottomed springform tin that has been greased with butter and lined with parchment paper.
6. To prepare the peaches, sprinkle the flour and sugar over the peaches. Mix well and scatter on top of the cake batter. Scatter over the crumble topping and bake for 1 hour until the crumbs are lightly golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Then remove the parchment and put on a cake stand.
7. To serve, cut the warm or cold peach crumb cake into slices and arrange on plates with a scoop of the ice cream.
Peach Melba Puffs.
Ingredients: Makes 4
1 pack ready to roll all butter puff pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
1 pack peaches
2 tbsp honey
1 free range corn fed large egg, beaten with a pinch of Achill Sea Salt
1 pack raspberries
1 carton vanilla ice cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6).
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board and cut out 4x13cm squares.
3. Using a sharp knife, mark a 1cm border around the edge of each one and lightly slash. Then knock the sides with a palette knife to encourage the layers of pastry to rise.
4. Prick in the inside of the pastries with a fork, place them on a parchment-lined large baking tray and brush with the beaten egg. Put in the fridge to rest.
5. Cut the peaches in half and carefully remove the stone. Then cut into slices. Put in a bowl and drizzle half of the honey, stirring to combine. Pile the peaches up in the middle of the pastry squares and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and drizzle over the rest of the honey.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and use to cover each circle of peaches. Use a fork to press down the edges and then give each one a few horizontal slashes using a small sharp knife and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is well risen and golden brown.
7. Leave the tartlets to rest for a few minutes. Then flip them over and return to the oven for a couple of minutes until lightly golden. Transfer the peach tartlets on to plates and decorate with the raspberries. Then add scoops of ice cream to each one to serve.
I’m on the second week of my shoot for my next television series for RTÉ1. I’m very much enjoying myself but I’m now at that ‘looking forward to getting home’ stage. We’re shooting in the northeast of England and have moved to Durham which is a little south of Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumbria. This was once a medieval kingdom covering the north of England and south of Scotland. We have been meeting fantastic people, who are very friendly, and lots of them have Irish connections. The weather has been lovely too.
Northumbria has been one of our best shoots. I am told there are more castles here than any other county in England. And I had a trip with The Sidecar Guys, Matt Bishop and Reece Gilkes, in the sidecar of a motorbike. These guys are in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest ever journey by scooter and sidecar. They quite literally went around the world. This was certainly a first for me and I enjoyed every minute. What a great way to see the countryside. I sent a photo to a friend who said it reminded him of the opening sequence to Antiques Roadshow. That remark will not be forgotten, or forgiven!
I also spent a wonderful few hours in Craster, a small fishing village on the Northumbrian coast. There I visited Robson’s who are world famous for smoking kippers. They’ve been doing it since 1856 so there is not a lot about it that they don’t know.
Their tradition is in cold smoking with is a technique that I had never seen before. They use small piles of burning wood so the fish is not cooked and the effort paid off – it was delicious.
We’re delighted to showcase this area in the north of England as there is so much to see. Next stop was to The Potted Lobster in Bamburgh where Richard Sim serves fresh local seafood. The backdrop to the restaurant is Bamburgh Castle and there are lots of beautiful unspoiled sandy beaches nearby. Richard is married to a Belfast woman, Kimberly, and is a frequent visitor to Ireland. He loves to shoot game and fishes in Ballina and I was delighted to learn that he knew of Blacklion.
Today I am off on a nature walking tour. And then an interview I am looking forward to with Colin Young who wrote the authorised biography of Jack Charlton. He got to know Jack when he was covering football in the northeast and followed his years as Republic of Ireland manager. I can’t think of a better way to end a wonderful two weeks in this part of the world than chatting about football to a man like Colin. By the time you read this, I will be back home in Blacklion, enjoying the normality of family life and the restaurant.
Today I have two seasonal desserts as we get to the end of the peach season. You could also use apricots or nectarines and we are just coming into a good time for plums and rhubarb. The key is that your fruit is fully ripe. If the peaches are a bit hard given them a few days in the kitchen to ripen. The yoghurt keeps the cake nice and moist. One of the best things about this crumble cake is that it will keep for a week in the fridge.
I have to admit, peaches aren’t my favourite fruit but I have happy childhood memories of delicious peach Melba with fresh raspberries, ice cream, raspberry coulis and flaked almonds. And these peach melba puffs bring back those memories. Again, using fresh fruit is important. However, you could use maple syrup instead of honey, if you prefer. And for the best puff pastry I always think of Mairead Finnegan from Roll It. Her pastry is all butter, handmade in her home in Kells, Co Meath.
Mairead is a great producer who I was delighted to feature on television a while back. Enjoy!
“Eat Out at Home” by Neven Maguire (Gill Books). Neven’s Ulster Food Trails is on RTÉ1 at 8.30 on Wednesdays.
Brown butter peach crumble cake
Ingredients: Serves 6-8
For the crumble topping:
75g butter
100g plain flour
75g light Muscovado sugar
Good pinch of sea salt
For the cake:
100g butter, extra for greasing
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 free range corn fed large eggs
150g greek yoghurt
200g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Good pinch of Achill sea salt
100ml milk
For the peaches:
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp light Muscovado sugar
1 Pack (4) peaches, stoned and chopped
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas Mark 4).
2. First make the crumble topping. Melt the butter in a small pan. Then set aside to cool down a little. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter, cover with clingfilm and set aside.
3. To make the cake, melt the butter in the small pan, allowing it to foam up. Continue to stir until the butter just starts to change colour in the middle of the pan. You will need to be careful as this can happen quickly and you don’t want it to burn. Pour the brown butter into a bowl and allow to cool down a little.
4. Add the sugar and vanilla to the brown butter and using an electric mixer beat until lightly and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and then fold in the yoghurt. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and gently fold into the egg mixture. Finally, fold in the milk.
5. Spread into a 9 inch loose bottomed springform tin that has been greased with butter and lined with parchment paper.
6. To prepare the peaches, sprinkle the flour and sugar over the peaches. Mix well and scatter on top of the cake batter. Scatter over the crumble topping and bake for 1 hour until the crumbs are lightly golden and the cake feels firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Then remove the parchment and put on a cake stand.
7. To serve, cut the warm or cold peach crumb cake into slices and arrange on plates with a scoop of the ice cream.
Peach Melba Puffs.
Ingredients: Makes 4
1 pack ready to roll all butter puff pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
1 pack peaches
2 tbsp honey
1 free range corn fed large egg, beaten with a pinch of Achill Sea Salt
1 pack raspberries
1 carton vanilla ice cream
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6).
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board and cut out 4x13cm squares.
3. Using a sharp knife, mark a 1cm border around the edge of each one and lightly slash. Then knock the sides with a palette knife to encourage the layers of pastry to rise.
4. Prick in the inside of the pastries with a fork, place them on a parchment-lined large baking tray and brush with the beaten egg. Put in the fridge to rest.
5. Cut the peaches in half and carefully remove the stone. Then cut into slices. Put in a bowl and drizzle half of the honey, stirring to combine. Pile the peaches up in the middle of the pastry squares and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and drizzle over the rest of the honey.
6. Remove the pastry from the fridge and use to cover each circle of peaches. Use a fork to press down the edges and then give each one a few horizontal slashes using a small sharp knife and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is well risen and golden brown.
7. Leave the tartlets to rest for a few minutes. Then flip them over and return to the oven for a couple of minutes until lightly golden. Transfer the peach tartlets on to plates and decorate with the raspberries. Then add scoops of ice cream to each one to serve.
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