Since Shrove Tuesday, we’ve caught the flipping bug again. Flipping pancakes, that is! We’ve been trying some of our classic recipes, and new ones. On Pancake Tuesday we had some great pancakes courtesy of Lucia, who has become the baker in our house. I like to have pancakes all year round. Galettes, the savoury pancakes made with buckwheat flour, are delicious. They are often served with a fried egg on top.
The best I ever had was when we were filming in Greystones a few years back in a family-run restaurant, La Creperie Pierre Grise. Alison Reilly is a Greystones local, and Julien Lefebvre is French, and he showed me how to make some. It was great to watch and learn a bit about the technique from such a good chef. I believe they opened another restaurant in Dalkey a year or two ago. I can heartily recommend it and look forward to going there on one of my regular trips to Dublin.
I also love Thai food. And I have been lucky enough to visit the country a few times and have done cookery courses there. Lovely people – and lovely fresh fragrant food that is full of flavour – are two things always present in Thailand.
Back home, one of my favourite restaurants is Saba, owned and run by Paul Cadden, which has become a great success over the last 20 years. Saba now have their own range of sauces and pastes, all made in Ireland, for the Simply Better range in Dunnes Stores.
This range will save you a lot of time. The Thai green curry paste is quite hot, with red being cooler and yellow cooler again. The Thai fish sauce is always worth keeping in your cupboard too, an ingredient that is very frequently used by Thai chefs.
I use full-fat coconut milk, which is creamier and richer. Prawns are one of my favourites, but you could make this with chicken or monkfish, which is fantastic in curry.
I like to serve mine with Jasmine Thai fragrant rice, the king of rice. The long white grains have a characteristically soft and slightly sticky texture when cooked.
For fish and chips, you could use haddock, cod, hake or pollock. This combination of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs, sometimes called ‘panelle’, is delicious with parsley, lemon zest and sesame seeds. It’s a combination you will often find in Sicily.
It is worth making your own tartar sauce, and this will be nice and tangy. It is hard to beat making your own chips too, and lots of people are making them in the air fryer these days.
In memory
On a sad note, many of you will have heard about the passing of John Howard. John was a man way ahead of his time. Anyone with an interest in food will have heard of Le Coq Hardi, which was on the corner of Pembroke Road and Wellington Road.
As well as being a great chef, John was also a master at publicity, and people who had never been there knew about the restaurant and wanted to go there.
He was always very clear that a restaurant was a business. He was so good to me when I was a young chef. He was one of the judges when I won the Young Chef Competition run by Euro-Toques Ireland back in 1995.
John was always happy to give advice and encouragement, and I know I am one of many who benefited from this. He was the Irish judge at the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon in 2001, when I was the Irish representative, and again, he was very supportive. I can remember him joking that he put Clonakilty black pudding on the map because prior to this, people would not have expected to see it in a top-class restaurant.
John was a trendsetter, and I am so appreciative of all the times I met him over the years and benefited from his experience and wisdom. May he rest in peace. My thoughts are with his wife, Catherine, and family.
Ingredients: Serves 4
50g bunch of fresh coriander
4 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste
2 x 400g cans of coconut milk
225 ml chicken stock
175g baby new potatoes, halved
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
or light soy sauce
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp caster sugar
450g peeled raw tiger prawns (tails intact)
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Thai fragrant rice, to serve
A good handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn, to serve
Lime wedges, to serve
Method
1. Remove about a quarter of the coriander leaves from the stalks and reserve. Roughly chop the remainder, including the stalks, and place in a mini blender with the shallots and garlic. Whizz to a paste.
2. Heat a wok or heavy-based frying pan. Add the oil and stir-fry the green curry paste for 1 minute over a high heat. Add 150ml of the coconut milk and the coriander paste, stirring well to combine. Cook for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and boil for 8-10 minutes, or until the natural oils start to appear on the surface, stirring occasionally. Season generously.
3. Stir in the potatoes, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely tender and the sauce has reduced considerably, with the oils clearly visible on the surface.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce or soy sauce, lime rind and juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer and then tip in the prawns and cherry tomatoes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the prawns are just tender. Add the reserved coriander leaves and cook for another minute, stirring.
5. To serve, place the rice in warmed serving bowls and spoon over the Thai green prawn curry. Scatter the basil over the meal to garnish and have lime wedges on the table in a separate dish.
Variations
Thai yellow chicken curry
Replace the green curry paste with yellow. Add 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs that have been cut into bite-sized pieces instead of the prawns and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender.
Thai red duck curry
Replace the green curry paste with red. Add 675g Peking duck breasts, skin removed and cut into bite-sized pieces, instead of the prawns, and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender. Finish with the coriander leaves before serving.
Fish and chips with chunky pea purée and tartar sauce
Fish and chips with chunky pea purée and tartar sauce.
Photographer: Philip Doyle.
Food styling: Janine Kennedy.
Ingredients: Serves 4
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
8 Rooster potatoes, peeled
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
200g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp sesame seeds
4 x 175g firm white fillets, boned and skinned
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chunky pea purée:
400g frozen peas
2 tbsp crème fraîche
Squeeze of lemon juice,
plus wedges to garnish
For the tartar sauce:
150g mayonnaise
50g gherkins, rinsed and finely chopped
50g capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp chopped fresh chives
Squeeze of lemon juice
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/gas mark 2). Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer or a deep-sided pan, making sure it’s only half full, until it reaches 160°C (325°F). Cut the potatoes into skinny chips and then place them in a bowl of cold water (this helps to remove the starch). Drain and then dry them as much as possible in a clean tea towel before placing them in a wire basket (you may need to do this in 2 batches, depending on the size of your basket) and lowering them into the heated oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until cooked through but not coloured. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
2. Increase the temperature of the oil to 190°C (375°F) and prepare the fish. Place the flour on a flat plate and season to taste. Put the beaten eggs and some seasoning in a shallow dish and mix the breadcrumbs with the parsley and sesame seeds in another separate dish.
3. Coat the fish in the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip it into the beaten egg and finally coat it in the breadcrumbs. Quickly place in the heated oil and cook for 5-6 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the fillets (again, you may have to do this in 2 batches). Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven – this should only be for 1-2 minutes, so the batter doesn’t lose any of its crispness.
4. To make the chunky pea purée, cook the peas in a pan of boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pan. Add the crème fraîche and lemon juice, then season to taste. Using a hand blender, blitz to a chunky purée. Keep warm.
5. To make the tartar sauce, mix the mayonnaise in a bowl with the chopped gherkins, capers, herbs, lemon juice and seasoning.
6. To serve, tip the blanched chips back into the wire basket and then carefully lower them into the heated oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and season with salt. Then arrange on warmed serving plates with the crispy fish, chunky pea purée, tartar sauce and lemon wedges.
Since Shrove Tuesday, we’ve caught the flipping bug again. Flipping pancakes, that is! We’ve been trying some of our classic recipes, and new ones. On Pancake Tuesday we had some great pancakes courtesy of Lucia, who has become the baker in our house. I like to have pancakes all year round. Galettes, the savoury pancakes made with buckwheat flour, are delicious. They are often served with a fried egg on top.
The best I ever had was when we were filming in Greystones a few years back in a family-run restaurant, La Creperie Pierre Grise. Alison Reilly is a Greystones local, and Julien Lefebvre is French, and he showed me how to make some. It was great to watch and learn a bit about the technique from such a good chef. I believe they opened another restaurant in Dalkey a year or two ago. I can heartily recommend it and look forward to going there on one of my regular trips to Dublin.
I also love Thai food. And I have been lucky enough to visit the country a few times and have done cookery courses there. Lovely people – and lovely fresh fragrant food that is full of flavour – are two things always present in Thailand.
Back home, one of my favourite restaurants is Saba, owned and run by Paul Cadden, which has become a great success over the last 20 years. Saba now have their own range of sauces and pastes, all made in Ireland, for the Simply Better range in Dunnes Stores.
This range will save you a lot of time. The Thai green curry paste is quite hot, with red being cooler and yellow cooler again. The Thai fish sauce is always worth keeping in your cupboard too, an ingredient that is very frequently used by Thai chefs.
I use full-fat coconut milk, which is creamier and richer. Prawns are one of my favourites, but you could make this with chicken or monkfish, which is fantastic in curry.
I like to serve mine with Jasmine Thai fragrant rice, the king of rice. The long white grains have a characteristically soft and slightly sticky texture when cooked.
For fish and chips, you could use haddock, cod, hake or pollock. This combination of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs, sometimes called ‘panelle’, is delicious with parsley, lemon zest and sesame seeds. It’s a combination you will often find in Sicily.
It is worth making your own tartar sauce, and this will be nice and tangy. It is hard to beat making your own chips too, and lots of people are making them in the air fryer these days.
In memory
On a sad note, many of you will have heard about the passing of John Howard. John was a man way ahead of his time. Anyone with an interest in food will have heard of Le Coq Hardi, which was on the corner of Pembroke Road and Wellington Road.
As well as being a great chef, John was also a master at publicity, and people who had never been there knew about the restaurant and wanted to go there.
He was always very clear that a restaurant was a business. He was so good to me when I was a young chef. He was one of the judges when I won the Young Chef Competition run by Euro-Toques Ireland back in 1995.
John was always happy to give advice and encouragement, and I know I am one of many who benefited from this. He was the Irish judge at the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon in 2001, when I was the Irish representative, and again, he was very supportive. I can remember him joking that he put Clonakilty black pudding on the map because prior to this, people would not have expected to see it in a top-class restaurant.
John was a trendsetter, and I am so appreciative of all the times I met him over the years and benefited from his experience and wisdom. May he rest in peace. My thoughts are with his wife, Catherine, and family.
Ingredients: Serves 4
50g bunch of fresh coriander
4 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste
2 x 400g cans of coconut milk
225 ml chicken stock
175g baby new potatoes, halved
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
or light soy sauce
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp caster sugar
450g peeled raw tiger prawns (tails intact)
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Thai fragrant rice, to serve
A good handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn, to serve
Lime wedges, to serve
Method
1. Remove about a quarter of the coriander leaves from the stalks and reserve. Roughly chop the remainder, including the stalks, and place in a mini blender with the shallots and garlic. Whizz to a paste.
2. Heat a wok or heavy-based frying pan. Add the oil and stir-fry the green curry paste for 1 minute over a high heat. Add 150ml of the coconut milk and the coriander paste, stirring well to combine. Cook for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and boil for 8-10 minutes, or until the natural oils start to appear on the surface, stirring occasionally. Season generously.
3. Stir in the potatoes, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely tender and the sauce has reduced considerably, with the oils clearly visible on the surface.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce or soy sauce, lime rind and juice and sugar. Bring to a simmer and then tip in the prawns and cherry tomatoes. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the prawns are just tender. Add the reserved coriander leaves and cook for another minute, stirring.
5. To serve, place the rice in warmed serving bowls and spoon over the Thai green prawn curry. Scatter the basil over the meal to garnish and have lime wedges on the table in a separate dish.
Variations
Thai yellow chicken curry
Replace the green curry paste with yellow. Add 12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs that have been cut into bite-sized pieces instead of the prawns and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender.
Thai red duck curry
Replace the green curry paste with red. Add 675g Peking duck breasts, skin removed and cut into bite-sized pieces, instead of the prawns, and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender. Finish with the coriander leaves before serving.
Fish and chips with chunky pea purée and tartar sauce
Fish and chips with chunky pea purée and tartar sauce.
Photographer: Philip Doyle.
Food styling: Janine Kennedy.
Ingredients: Serves 4
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
8 Rooster potatoes, peeled
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
200g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp sesame seeds
4 x 175g firm white fillets, boned and skinned
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the chunky pea purée:
400g frozen peas
2 tbsp crème fraîche
Squeeze of lemon juice,
plus wedges to garnish
For the tartar sauce:
150g mayonnaise
50g gherkins, rinsed and finely chopped
50g capers, rinsed and finely chopped
1 tsp chopped fresh dill
1 tsp chopped fresh chives
Squeeze of lemon juice
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/gas mark 2). Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer or a deep-sided pan, making sure it’s only half full, until it reaches 160°C (325°F). Cut the potatoes into skinny chips and then place them in a bowl of cold water (this helps to remove the starch). Drain and then dry them as much as possible in a clean tea towel before placing them in a wire basket (you may need to do this in 2 batches, depending on the size of your basket) and lowering them into the heated oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until cooked through but not coloured. Drain well on kitchen paper and set aside.
2. Increase the temperature of the oil to 190°C (375°F) and prepare the fish. Place the flour on a flat plate and season to taste. Put the beaten eggs and some seasoning in a shallow dish and mix the breadcrumbs with the parsley and sesame seeds in another separate dish.
3. Coat the fish in the flour, shaking off any excess, then dip it into the beaten egg and finally coat it in the breadcrumbs. Quickly place in the heated oil and cook for 5-6 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the fillets (again, you may have to do this in 2 batches). Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven – this should only be for 1-2 minutes, so the batter doesn’t lose any of its crispness.
4. To make the chunky pea purée, cook the peas in a pan of boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Drain and return to the pan. Add the crème fraîche and lemon juice, then season to taste. Using a hand blender, blitz to a chunky purée. Keep warm.
5. To make the tartar sauce, mix the mayonnaise in a bowl with the chopped gherkins, capers, herbs, lemon juice and seasoning.
6. To serve, tip the blanched chips back into the wire basket and then carefully lower them into the heated oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and season with salt. Then arrange on warmed serving plates with the crispy fish, chunky pea purée, tartar sauce and lemon wedges.
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