It feels like the beginning of the Show season. The Ideal Homes is in the RDS each April and November and this was my sixth year. I always enjoy it.
Each year I am on the Dunnes stand and I do masterclasses for 20 to 30 people at my Cookware section where I talk about pots and pans and knives and knife skills and all sorts of things about cooking.
I enjoy the small groups as there is a lot of opportunity for discussion.
I get great pleasure from seeing just how interested people are in improving their kitchen skills. It is also a great time to meet other chefs, including Donal Skehan and Brian McDermott. Francis Brennan was also there with his stylish collection of linens and tableware. And also Helen James with her ‘Considered’ collection of fine furniture in marble and wood. We all enjoyed a good catch-up.
A few days back I had a meeting with the Bloom Taste Team to put the final touches to the menu that I am curating this year at the event again. It went well last year and I am looking forward to it again. It is the 20th year of Bloom and I have been there since day one and always enjoyed it.
It is a great place to meet so many of our great Irish food producers and to sample new products, as well as the tried-and-tested ones that are part of the Irish food success story.
I look forward to meeting and chatting with Hylda Adams of Bord Bia who is always heavily involved in the production.
Hylda is the reason I got into doing cookery demos. It must be about 30 years ago and Hylda booked me for my first ever demo.
She used to put on demos for Bord Bia around the country and one day she asked me to do the final hour. I loved it and have been doing it ever since. So thank you to Hylda. I am very grateful for all the support she has given me throughout my career and she is a great friend.
Spice it up
Now to this week’s recipes. Hoisin is a brilliant dressing that you will often have tasted in Chinese restaurants. Hoisin and duck is a beautiful, classic combination. It is also great with Chinese five spice and I love to put them together into a stir fry.
Folláin Foods in west Cork is a very good Irish producer of dressings and it has a hoisin sauce and also a soy and ginger sauce which I like a lot as it is not too salty. See follain.ie.
I often mention Thornhill Duck, which is local to us in Blacklion and it has been supplying our duck for many years. I always say it is the best duck I have ever eaten. Silverhill in Emyvale, Co Monaghan, is another very well known duck producer that has won many awards over the years.
The air fryer works well for this meal and it renders out the fat and gives you a lovely crispy duck.
This could also be cooked in the oven at the same temperature, but the duck will need about 20 minutes until the skin has nicely crisped up. You could add some lime if you want to counteract the sweetness of the honey.
Sirloin is a favourite cut of mine and this second recipe is beef with an Asian twist. It is a very versatile recipe and would also work well with chicken, pork or turkey. Marinating the beef gives great depth of flavour and be sure to give it at least 20 minutes. I like the intense flavour of toasted sesame oil and it is a great oil to keep in the cupboard, especially for Asian dishes.
I like to serve it with green vegetables, broccoli or mange tout and with the fragrance of jasmine or basmati rice. Or sometimes I like to use noodles.
Ingredients: Serves 2
1 pack duck breast fillets
Good pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp Chinese five spice
2 spring onions
2 baby rainbow carrots
125g jasmine rice
4 heaped tsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp Irish-made soy and ginger sauce
¼ cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced
Method
1. Take the duck out of the packaging and dry well with kitchen paper. Season the skin with salt and leave to come back to room temperature.
2. Switch the air fryer on to 180°C (350°F). Using a sharp knife, slash the duck skin in a diamond pattern and dry off again with kitchen paper. Mix 1 tbsp of the honey with the Chinese five spice and brush all over the duck.
3. Cook for 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to a plate and rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, slit the spring onions and then open them out and roll up in a cigar shape, before finely shredding. Put in a bowl of iced water and allow to curl up. Scrub the carrots clean and using a vegetable peeler pare into curls, then add to the spring onions.
5. Rinse the jasmine rice well and then put in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender.
Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
6. To make the sauce, put the hoisin sauce into a small pan with the rest of the honey and the soy and ginger sauce and heat gently until bubbling, stirring with a spatula.
7. Spoon the rice into wide-rimmed bowls, then carve the duck into slices and arrange on top. Stir any resting juices into the sauce. Put mounds of the cucumber on each side. Drain the iced vegetables and dry briefly on kitchen paper.
8. Spoon the sauce over the duck and then add a mound of the vegetable curls on top to serve.
Crispy chili beef. \Philip Doyle
Ingredients: Serves 2
1 Irish Angus sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
5 tbsp Irish-made soy and ginger sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp hot honey
3 tbsp cornflour
125g jasmine rice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Irish-made sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp handmade hot ketchup
1 tsp sesame seeds
Steamed green vegetables to serve
Method
1. Remove the beef strips from the fridge and put in a shallow dish. Add 2 tbsp of the soy and ginger sauce with the Chinese five-spice, sesame oil and the 1 tsp of the hot honey. Mix well to combine, then cover with clingfilm and leave for 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge is fine too – just allow it to come back up to room temperature before you want to cook it.
2. Toss the marinated beef strips in the cornflour until evenly coated and then spread out onto the crisping-up tray of your air fryer. Switch the air fryer onto 200°C (400°F). Cook the beef strips for 11 minutes until crisp and golden brown, tossing them with a tongs once or twice to ensure they cook evenly.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the jasmine rice well and then cook in a large pan of boiling, salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
4. To make the sauce, put the remaining soy and ginger sauce into a wok or large non-stick frying pan. Add the remaining hot honey with the vinegar, sweet chilli sauce and hot ketchup. Put on a medium heat and stir with a spatula until bubbling and evenly combined. Take the cooked beef strips and add to the wok, tossing until they are evenly coated in the sauce.
5. Divide the rice between bowls and spoon the crispy chilli beef on top. Scatter over the sesame seeds. Serve with the broccoli in a separate bowl alongside.
It feels like the beginning of the Show season. The Ideal Homes is in the RDS each April and November and this was my sixth year. I always enjoy it.
Each year I am on the Dunnes stand and I do masterclasses for 20 to 30 people at my Cookware section where I talk about pots and pans and knives and knife skills and all sorts of things about cooking.
I enjoy the small groups as there is a lot of opportunity for discussion.
I get great pleasure from seeing just how interested people are in improving their kitchen skills. It is also a great time to meet other chefs, including Donal Skehan and Brian McDermott. Francis Brennan was also there with his stylish collection of linens and tableware. And also Helen James with her ‘Considered’ collection of fine furniture in marble and wood. We all enjoyed a good catch-up.
A few days back I had a meeting with the Bloom Taste Team to put the final touches to the menu that I am curating this year at the event again. It went well last year and I am looking forward to it again. It is the 20th year of Bloom and I have been there since day one and always enjoyed it.
It is a great place to meet so many of our great Irish food producers and to sample new products, as well as the tried-and-tested ones that are part of the Irish food success story.
I look forward to meeting and chatting with Hylda Adams of Bord Bia who is always heavily involved in the production.
Hylda is the reason I got into doing cookery demos. It must be about 30 years ago and Hylda booked me for my first ever demo.
She used to put on demos for Bord Bia around the country and one day she asked me to do the final hour. I loved it and have been doing it ever since. So thank you to Hylda. I am very grateful for all the support she has given me throughout my career and she is a great friend.
Spice it up
Now to this week’s recipes. Hoisin is a brilliant dressing that you will often have tasted in Chinese restaurants. Hoisin and duck is a beautiful, classic combination. It is also great with Chinese five spice and I love to put them together into a stir fry.
Folláin Foods in west Cork is a very good Irish producer of dressings and it has a hoisin sauce and also a soy and ginger sauce which I like a lot as it is not too salty. See follain.ie.
I often mention Thornhill Duck, which is local to us in Blacklion and it has been supplying our duck for many years. I always say it is the best duck I have ever eaten. Silverhill in Emyvale, Co Monaghan, is another very well known duck producer that has won many awards over the years.
The air fryer works well for this meal and it renders out the fat and gives you a lovely crispy duck.
This could also be cooked in the oven at the same temperature, but the duck will need about 20 minutes until the skin has nicely crisped up. You could add some lime if you want to counteract the sweetness of the honey.
Sirloin is a favourite cut of mine and this second recipe is beef with an Asian twist. It is a very versatile recipe and would also work well with chicken, pork or turkey. Marinating the beef gives great depth of flavour and be sure to give it at least 20 minutes. I like the intense flavour of toasted sesame oil and it is a great oil to keep in the cupboard, especially for Asian dishes.
I like to serve it with green vegetables, broccoli or mange tout and with the fragrance of jasmine or basmati rice. Or sometimes I like to use noodles.
Ingredients: Serves 2
1 pack duck breast fillets
Good pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp Chinese five spice
2 spring onions
2 baby rainbow carrots
125g jasmine rice
4 heaped tsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp Irish-made soy and ginger sauce
¼ cucumber, quartered, seeded and diced
Method
1. Take the duck out of the packaging and dry well with kitchen paper. Season the skin with salt and leave to come back to room temperature.
2. Switch the air fryer on to 180°C (350°F). Using a sharp knife, slash the duck skin in a diamond pattern and dry off again with kitchen paper. Mix 1 tbsp of the honey with the Chinese five spice and brush all over the duck.
3. Cook for 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Transfer to a plate and rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, slit the spring onions and then open them out and roll up in a cigar shape, before finely shredding. Put in a bowl of iced water and allow to curl up. Scrub the carrots clean and using a vegetable peeler pare into curls, then add to the spring onions.
5. Rinse the jasmine rice well and then put in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender.
Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
6. To make the sauce, put the hoisin sauce into a small pan with the rest of the honey and the soy and ginger sauce and heat gently until bubbling, stirring with a spatula.
7. Spoon the rice into wide-rimmed bowls, then carve the duck into slices and arrange on top. Stir any resting juices into the sauce. Put mounds of the cucumber on each side. Drain the iced vegetables and dry briefly on kitchen paper.
8. Spoon the sauce over the duck and then add a mound of the vegetable curls on top to serve.
Crispy chili beef. \Philip Doyle
Ingredients: Serves 2
1 Irish Angus sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
5 tbsp Irish-made soy and ginger sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp hot honey
3 tbsp cornflour
125g jasmine rice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Irish-made sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp handmade hot ketchup
1 tsp sesame seeds
Steamed green vegetables to serve
Method
1. Remove the beef strips from the fridge and put in a shallow dish. Add 2 tbsp of the soy and ginger sauce with the Chinese five-spice, sesame oil and the 1 tsp of the hot honey. Mix well to combine, then cover with clingfilm and leave for 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge is fine too – just allow it to come back up to room temperature before you want to cook it.
2. Toss the marinated beef strips in the cornflour until evenly coated and then spread out onto the crisping-up tray of your air fryer. Switch the air fryer onto 200°C (400°F). Cook the beef strips for 11 minutes until crisp and golden brown, tossing them with a tongs once or twice to ensure they cook evenly.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the jasmine rice well and then cook in a large pan of boiling, salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
4. To make the sauce, put the remaining soy and ginger sauce into a wok or large non-stick frying pan. Add the remaining hot honey with the vinegar, sweet chilli sauce and hot ketchup. Put on a medium heat and stir with a spatula until bubbling and evenly combined. Take the cooked beef strips and add to the wok, tossing until they are evenly coated in the sauce.
5. Divide the rice between bowls and spoon the crispy chilli beef on top. Scatter over the sesame seeds. Serve with the broccoli in a separate bowl alongside.
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