Barbecue safely this weekend
We’re mid-summer, mid-heatwave - is there any better weekend to fire up that barbecue?
If you’re having people to the back garden, you want them to remember the weekend with fondness rather than an upset tummy, so it's very apt that Safefood is running a campaign to encourage people to ‘trust the meat thermometer’ and to make sure they cook their BBQ meats, such as burgers, correctly.
For the weekend that’s in it, Safefood, along with Michelin star chef Eric Matthews, has supplied Irish Country Living with these top tips.
Eric Mathews safefood campaign
1. When it comes to cooking meats such as burgers, chicken, sausages and other minced or skewered meat, you’ll know they are cooked when they are piping hot, with no pink meat and the juices run clear. For meats such as beef steaks, whole joints of beef or lamb and lamb chops, these can be continued to be cooked to preference, ie served pink or ‘rare’ in the middle. 2. Using a meat thermometer is the fail-safe way to check that meat is cooked and gives cooks that extra layer of reassurance on top of the three checks. 3. The correct way to use the meat thermometer is to: take food off the heat - pop the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat - when it reaches 75C, it’s cooked and ready to eat. 4. You can clean the meat thermometer after each use by washing the probe in warm soapy water and letting it dry. You can also wipe it with a disposable disinfectant cloth. Meat thermometers are readily available to purchase in many outlets including supermarkets, home-retail stores, hardware and butchers, with prices starting from €10.5. When handling raw meat and poultry, wash your hands before and after to prevent any cross contamination of other foods or surfaces.6. If you like to marinate your meat, make sure any marinade used on raw meat is not then used as a sauce to coat vegetables or cooked meat, as it will contain raw meat bacteria.7. If you choose to barbeque any frozen food, it must be completely thawed on the bottom shelf of your fridge before you cook it.8. Keep perishable foods such as salads, coleslaw or quiche in your fridge until you are about to serve them. 9. Once your meat is cooked thoroughly, make sure to keep cooked meat separate from raw meat and to use separate chopping boards, cooking utensils and plates. Harmful bacteria in raw meat, poultry and their juices can cross contaminate cooked food and lead to food poisoning. 10. If there are leftovers from your barbecue, allow the food to cool before refrigerating. However, make sure to refrigerate food within two hours of cooking. Always remember that with leftovers - if in doubt, throw it out.The Queens Food Yard - Dalkey
A trip to Dublin doesn’t just have to be about the city. Dalkey is a beautiful town to enjoy and an old favourite is now back open, the Queens gastro pub.
After closing its doors for what seemed like the final time in March 2020, the Queens has reopened at the hands of hoteliers Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle, and under the day-to-day management of Eoin Quinlan.
It has embraced outdoor dining with a big refurbishment and transformed the area behind the iconic pub into a festival-style eat yard.
The pop-up food yard features gourmet food trucks that have taken space to create a delectable selection of eats, including Real Irish Gourmet Burger and Bak’d, a sourdough pizza truck where the meat and heat pizza is proving to be a big hit!
After taking in the beautiful scenery in Dalkey, it’s a great place to rest the feet afterwards.
Visit www.thequeens.ie for more.
Causey Farm.
It's not just adults that enjoy the finer tastes in life. Little foodies are heading to Causey Farm Ice Cream Adventure.
A great family day out, the ice cream adventure this year is a tribute to Roald Dahl, where kids take a train through the willow wood, taking challenges, meeting the animals, digging potatoes and meeting characters along the way, all ending with a taste of delicious ice cream in the Cow’s Lick Ice Cream Parlour. Visit www.causey.ie for more.
Barbecue safely this weekend
We’re mid-summer, mid-heatwave - is there any better weekend to fire up that barbecue?
If you’re having people to the back garden, you want them to remember the weekend with fondness rather than an upset tummy, so it's very apt that Safefood is running a campaign to encourage people to ‘trust the meat thermometer’ and to make sure they cook their BBQ meats, such as burgers, correctly.
For the weekend that’s in it, Safefood, along with Michelin star chef Eric Matthews, has supplied Irish Country Living with these top tips.
Eric Mathews safefood campaign
1. When it comes to cooking meats such as burgers, chicken, sausages and other minced or skewered meat, you’ll know they are cooked when they are piping hot, with no pink meat and the juices run clear. For meats such as beef steaks, whole joints of beef or lamb and lamb chops, these can be continued to be cooked to preference, ie served pink or ‘rare’ in the middle. 2. Using a meat thermometer is the fail-safe way to check that meat is cooked and gives cooks that extra layer of reassurance on top of the three checks. 3. The correct way to use the meat thermometer is to: take food off the heat - pop the thermometer in the thickest part of the meat - when it reaches 75C, it’s cooked and ready to eat. 4. You can clean the meat thermometer after each use by washing the probe in warm soapy water and letting it dry. You can also wipe it with a disposable disinfectant cloth. Meat thermometers are readily available to purchase in many outlets including supermarkets, home-retail stores, hardware and butchers, with prices starting from €10.5. When handling raw meat and poultry, wash your hands before and after to prevent any cross contamination of other foods or surfaces.6. If you like to marinate your meat, make sure any marinade used on raw meat is not then used as a sauce to coat vegetables or cooked meat, as it will contain raw meat bacteria.7. If you choose to barbeque any frozen food, it must be completely thawed on the bottom shelf of your fridge before you cook it.8. Keep perishable foods such as salads, coleslaw or quiche in your fridge until you are about to serve them. 9. Once your meat is cooked thoroughly, make sure to keep cooked meat separate from raw meat and to use separate chopping boards, cooking utensils and plates. Harmful bacteria in raw meat, poultry and their juices can cross contaminate cooked food and lead to food poisoning. 10. If there are leftovers from your barbecue, allow the food to cool before refrigerating. However, make sure to refrigerate food within two hours of cooking. Always remember that with leftovers - if in doubt, throw it out.The Queens Food Yard - Dalkey
A trip to Dublin doesn’t just have to be about the city. Dalkey is a beautiful town to enjoy and an old favourite is now back open, the Queens gastro pub.
After closing its doors for what seemed like the final time in March 2020, the Queens has reopened at the hands of hoteliers Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle, and under the day-to-day management of Eoin Quinlan.
It has embraced outdoor dining with a big refurbishment and transformed the area behind the iconic pub into a festival-style eat yard.
The pop-up food yard features gourmet food trucks that have taken space to create a delectable selection of eats, including Real Irish Gourmet Burger and Bak’d, a sourdough pizza truck where the meat and heat pizza is proving to be a big hit!
After taking in the beautiful scenery in Dalkey, it’s a great place to rest the feet afterwards.
Visit www.thequeens.ie for more.
Causey Farm.
It's not just adults that enjoy the finer tastes in life. Little foodies are heading to Causey Farm Ice Cream Adventure.
A great family day out, the ice cream adventure this year is a tribute to Roald Dahl, where kids take a train through the willow wood, taking challenges, meeting the animals, digging potatoes and meeting characters along the way, all ending with a taste of delicious ice cream in the Cow’s Lick Ice Cream Parlour. Visit www.causey.ie for more.
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