Irish Grapes

Irish Grapes are now in season and given the good July we had this year, our grapes have done particularly well.

Black Hamburg Grapes grown in Kilkenny for sale in Glasrai & Goodies in Gowran

It makes one wonder why, with all the talk about eating local and seasonal, we do not see more Irish Grapes for sale in Irish Greengrocers. They are reliable and easy to grow. These ones pictured above are Black Hamburg grapes, a desert grape full of complex flavours, tasting quite different to the supermarket pipless ones. They were photographed in the shop only an hour after picking. Wonderfully fresh and looking like grapes should look.

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A Feast of Field Mushrooms

Should one pay attention to the dreaded health and safety experts who give us dire warnings against eating wild mushrooms? Why, instead do they not encourage us to educate ourselves, so that we can identify them properly?

In France, where things are better organised and have more respect for their native foods, you just bring your freshly picked mushrooms into your local pharmacist (they are trained to identify them for you) and then head to the kitchen. They respect their edible fungi and have a useful code of practice, asking foragers to carry their picked mushrooms in a basket to allow the spores to spread and to cut them with a knife to protect the underground mycelia.

This year from August through to October, we have been feasting on wild field mushrooms in County Kilkenny, it has been the best mushroom harvest for several years. Rumours abound of neighbours competing with each other to be the first to gather the overnight arrivals, each having their own favourite secret spot. There were reports of fields, not too far away, being white with mushrooms at dawn. 

Not long ago, children earned pocket money by picking mushrooms, threading them on long stands of grass and selling them by the roadside. Now, we have to pick our own.

Freshly picked Kilkenny mushrooms being prepared for mushroom ketchup.

A couple of buckets (next time we will use baskets) were filled with wonderful fresh mushrooms, with their magic earthy smell. On our arrival back home, the first move was to immediately cook some for breakfast, using good quality country butter, frying a few free range bacon rashers and adding the mushrooms for the best imaginable breakfast.

The surplus mushrooms were made into a delicious soup and the remainder into mushroom ketchup, using an old fashioned recipe that called for copious quantities of brandy.

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Do you know your Cucumbers?

Why do shoppers prefer to buy their cucumbers, well aged, wrapped in tight plastic, imported from abroad when freshly picked, Kilkenny grown cucumbers are available? If a cucumber is bought on the day it is picked and eaten soon afterwards, the flavour is incomparable.

Four different types of freshly picked cucumber available from Glasrai, Gowran, Co. Kilkenny

Each variety of cucumber has a slightly different flavour, so it is worth trying them all. The small smooth green Lebanese ones are our favourite. The prickly ones at the bottom are gerkins, which are delicious when pickled.

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Red Currant & Lavender Jelly for the Easter Lamb

At Nashtown Castle our preserves, jellies and pickles are made seasonally with local seasonal produce where possible. They are home grown and home made. Here is our list of the preserves that are currently available.

Nashtown Castle Red Currant & Lavender Jelly for Easter

• Apple Jelly - made with apples from an old traditional Kilkenny orchard
• Apple & Lavender Jelly - made with our homegrown lavender
• Bitter Orange Marmalade - this is our only preserve that has no locally grown ingredients
• Cucumber Pickle - made with three varieties of cucumber, grown in our garden
• Gooseberry & Apple Jelly - has a subtle gooseberry flavour
• Pickled Red Cabbage - robust old fashioned pickle, made with our own red cabbage
• Pumpkin, Ginger & Orange Marmalade - more like a relish, delicious with cold meat
• Spicy Pumpkin Chutney - perfect with cold beef and a baked potato
• Red Currant and Lavender Jelly - to be eaten with the Easter roast lamb. Fresh mint will be difficult to find as Easter is so early this year, so here is a great alternative

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A Bucket of Blood

A friend arrived with a bucket of fresh organic pig's blood a couple of days ago, this was the opportunity that we have been waiting for. Fed up with eating black puddings, posing as being made from traditional recipes, but actually made from dried imported blood, here was our chance to make our own genuine organic pudding.

Fresh organic pig's blood

The first problem was to locate a traditional Irish recipe, there were plenty telling us how to use them in cooking, but few were found on how to actually make them and those ones had quantities of white breadcrumbs in them, that we wished to avoid. Not having used fresh blood before, the safest course of action was to use a sensible French recipe. So, we began with Jennifer McLagan's Boudin Noir. This proved to be a success and good starting point.

Black pudding made with fresh organic pig's blood, ready for the oven.

The next morning, feeling a lot braver and considerably more foolhardy, it was time to go it alone and create our own recipe to try and achieve the traditional style of Irish black pudding, that we were aiming for.
It turned out to be as simple as rendering down some organic pork back fat, cooking onions in the fat, adding cooked pearl barley, oat flakes, spices and last of all: the blood. Then baking it all in a bath of water, in the oven.

Traditional homemade black pudding ready to cook for breakfast

What a delicious breakfast - two different types of homemade, locally sourced, blood pudding, fried slowly with a nob of country butter. The first one was very rich and light in texture and the second was exactly as we had hoped: moist with a rich traditional flavour.

Homemade black pudding almost ready for the breakfast table

From now on, we will find it difficult to buy blood puddings, as we know that we can make vastly superior ones, in full awareness of the origin of all the main ingredients.

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Nashtown Castle Bitter Orange Marmalade

Orange Marmalade is made from Seville Oranges that are only in season for a few weeks at the start of the year. The bitter oranges, despite their name, originated in China. They are not pleasant to eat raw, but when made into a marmalade, they release their wonderful flavour and perfume, best eaten on hot buttered toast.

Nashtown Castle Bitter Orange Marmalade

Nashtown Castle Bitter Orange Marmalade is created from fresh Seville oranges, handcut and cooked in a preserving pan on an old fashioned Aga cooker, until they are ready to gently set into a special marmalade.

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More Preserves from Nashtown Castle

Continuing the family tradition of preserving our own home grown heritage vegetables and preserving locally foraged fruit when there is a surplus, allows us to enjoy them all year round. Nashtown Castle Preserves and Pickles are now available in Glasrai & Goodies in Gowran, County Kilkenny and Phelans' Vegetable Shop in Ormond Street, Kilkenny.

Nashtown Castle pickles, jellies and chutneys ready for sale

Nashtown Castle Wild Crab Apple Jelly is created with foraged wild crab apples growing in the local wild hedgerows. 2012 was a bad year for apples, we found one special wild tree that yielded all the crab apples that were required.

Nashtown Castle Sloe & Crab Apple Jelly Not only was 2012 a bad year for apples, it was also a poor year for sloes. However, some careful sleuthing in the nearby woods located enough to make this special jelly. We had to watch and wait until the first frosts came along before we picked them, to allow the sloes to develop a little sweetness. 

Nashtown Castle Pickled Red Cabbage We grow our own red cabbage, it only travels a few yards from where it grows, to the pickling bowl in the kitchen. A stunningly beautiful vegetable, when cut in half, it always seems a shame to slice it up. We love to eat it raw, freshly grated in a coleslaw. We preserve it by pickling it, so we can continue to eat it out of season.

Nashtown Castle Apple & Lavender Jelly One of the greatest pleasures of gardening is picking your own home grown lavender, while the perfume swirls around. The lavender bags are emptied every year, refilled and replaced around the house to deter moths. The remaining lavender is infused to make a herbal tea and it is that juice that is added to this beautiful clear jelly. Having very few apples this year, we raided our neighbour's neglected old orchard, full of old, flavorsome varieties of apples to produce this jelly.

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Sea Kale "Crambe Maritima" Root

Sea Kale is the perfect food plant, every part is edible. It is believed to have been a staple of our Irish ancestors, as they foraged for food along the sea shore.
Having experimented with eating various parts of the plant, the root remained untested. So today, when thinning out the plants and accidentally digging up a large section of tap root, it was time to try it out in the kitchen.

Sea Kale "Crambe Maritima" Root

Knowing that our recipe books were not going to be of assistance, it was to Ray Mears and Gordon Hillman's Wild Food that we turned. They confirmed that that the roots of Crambe Maritima were indeed edible, both when eaten raw and cooked.
Despite Ray Mears' preference for raw seakale root, it was found not to be particularly appetising - faintly remeniscent of raw turnip and quite fibrous, when compared to the more pleasing raw scorzonera root, dug at the same time, for comparison purposes. Next step, was to roast the two roots alongside carrots, onion, celeriac and pumpkin.
The sea kale root was improved by cooking - tasting quite starchy, but unable to compete with the scorzonera and other roots. There is no doubt that it definitely requires some very special culinary expertise, way beyond our capabilities.
Moral of the story: foraged foods may be nutritious and good for you, but there is often a very good reason why they are not more commonly eaten.
If anyone has had a better experience, it would be good to hear about it.

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Jerusalem Artichokes - Helianthus tuberosus

Jerusalem Artichokes (not to be confused with Globe Artichokes) are related to the sunflower. They are native to the eastern states of the North American continent and were extensively cultivated by the native peoples living there. The misleading name is believed to refer to Ter Neusen, the location at which they were grown in Holland, following their introduction to Europe, via France. This being only one of many explanations: that when the tubers were first brought to England, they were known as Artischokappeln van Ter Neusen, which became corrupted to Jerusalem Artichoke. 

Freshly dug Jerusalem Artichokes for sale at Glasrai & Goodies, Gowran, Co. Kilkenny

Tighe in his Statisical Survey of Kilkenny, 1801, mentions that they were grown in the county as a fodder crop for sheep. This should not put anyone off cooking them, as they make a delicious soup and the two recipes below, taken from Maura Laverty's Full & Plenty, 1960, are well worth trying.

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

This root vegetable deserves to figure more often on the menu. But it needs care in cooking. If artichokes are allowed to continue cooking after the have become tender, they are liable to become tough again.

Wash and scrub the artichokes and drop them into boiling water. Cook them, covered, until they are tender. After 15 mins. Test with a skewer.

Drain them and keep them in a hot place while you prepare the following dressing: Melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add 1 teaspoon mild white vinegar or dry white wine. Add 2 teaspoons chopped parsley. Pour this dressing over the artichokes and serve at once.

CREAMED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Cook the artichokes as above. Drain them well and pour over enough cream sauce to make a good topping (about ½ pint cream sauce to 1½ lbs artichokes). Sprinkle thickly with chopped parsley.

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Nashtown Castle Pickles & Preserves

SLOW FOOD, REAL FOOD
The garden and orchard surrounding the site of Nashtown Castle, are located on some of the best quality limestone land in Kilkenny, ideal for growing vegetables and fruit. In 1778, references to the adjoining farm indicate that good quality cider apples and potatoes were being successfully grown here. By 1801, a peach house and a green house were in existance - great status symbols, in their day.

Nashtown Castle Pickles and Preserves

We have a surplus of fruit and vegetables, grown on this exceptionally fertile soil. So, in accordance with our waste, not want not philosophy, we pickle and preserve that surplus. Having respect for the plants so carefully nurtured, we only use the best quality real ingredients to mix with them when creating our pickles and preserves. If we can find local and Irish ones of sufficient quality, then we use them in preference.

Nashtown Pickles and Hedgerow Jelly

Nashtown Castle Green Tomato Pickle is made with heritage varieties of tomatoes and is based on a Canadian Chow Chow recipe, using cider vinegar from Tipperary and Malvern sea salt, with tumeric which is reputed to have many healthy properties.
Nashtown Castle Green Tomato Chutney is created with the same home grown tomatoes, along with our neighbours' apples (our trees were bare this year) and our own white onions and garlic. This chutney is based on an old fashioned classic recipe. The more mature this chutney becomes, the better it tastes.
Nashtown Castle Cucumber Pickle consists of the 3 different types of cucumbers grown here combined with our white onions and our mild garlic.
Nashtown Castle Hedgerow Jelly is always a joy to make. It depends entirely on the autumnal wild fruits that are available to us, as we forage around the local hedgerows. Each year is different. This year elderberries were few in number, the blackberries were late, some normally dependable crab apple trees had no fruit on them, however the rose hips and haws were plentiful.

Nashtown Castle pickles and preserves are made in small batches using seasonal produce, so when they run out, we have to wait until the following year before we make more. Recipes maybe altered to reflect availability of local products.

Nashtown Castle pickles and preserves are available from Glasrai & Goodies, in Gowran, County Kilkenny, Ireland and in Phelans' vegetable shop on Ormond Street, in Kilkenny City, Ireland.

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Boxty - potato bread

BOXTY - Not a Kilkenny Tradition, but made with Kilkenny Flour.

Three different types of Boxty

Boxty is a potato bread, made with wheat flour and potatoes. Traditionally cooked on a griddle or pan over an open fire, particularly in counties like Leitrim and Longford. The Boxty in this photo is interesting, although all three types are made with Mosse's flour from County Kilkenny, they vary greatly from a pancake version to a loaf-like one.

Potato breads and cakes are thought of as typically Irish food, however, it should be remembered that few potatoes were eaten in Ireland, prior to the eighteenth century.

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Achocha - Cyclanthera Pedata

Achocha is a South American Cucumber, it originated in the Andes and is reputed to be one of the lost foods of the Incas. This one self seeded itself in my garden and the vine was so pretty that it was left alone.

Achocha with Chervil

The small prickly fruit can be used in most cucumber recipes and are delicious when eaten raw, when picked young. They have a lovely crunch and the prickles makes them an interesting challenge for children.

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Cucumbers Pickled in Gin

Cucumbers are thought to have originated in India and were probably cultivated in Western Asia for at least a thousand years before their introduction to Europe. The Romans were fond of them, perhaps they introduced them to Britain. After their reintroduction, the Victorians became fond of growing them in hot beds.
A large range of varieties grow well in Kilkenny and fruit freely, provided they are protected by a greenhouse or polytunnel.

Freshly picked Cucumbers, grown in Kilkenny

Our cucumber plants have produced a glut of cucumbers and it became imperative act quickly to preserve some for the lean winter months, before the frost hit them. Different varieties produce different sized cucumbers, there are a vast range of types. This recipe uses medium sized ones.

Cucumber pickled in Gin

It is important to use the best quality gin you can afford, in this case it was a certain gin, that is flavoured by cucumbers, and is thus particularly suitable.

RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 medium sized cucumbers, thinly sliced

200 ml white wine vinegar

100 ml good quality gin

I homegrown whole green chili, thinly sliced

1/2 homegrown onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons finely chopped mint

Zest of 1 lime

4 juniper berries

2 teaspoons of sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3-4 drops lime oil

Add the salt to the cucumbers (in this case, one was left with its skin on and the other has its skin removed) and onion in a bowl with the chili, then weigh them down with a heavy plate for approx three hours. Then rinse.

Heat up the vinegar, juniper, sugar and lime zest. Bring to boil, add the cucumbers, onion and chili. Simmer for a couple of minutes, then add freshly picked and chopped mint and the gin and then place in sterilised jars.

This pickle makes a wonderful compliment to cold beef.

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Kilkenny Hops - Humulus Lupulus

September is the time of year to harvest your own hops (humulus lupulus) to brew beer. Kilkenny used to be famous for its hop farms, but no longer. This does not mean that you cannot cultivate your own: they are easily grown, just keep them out of the wind and give them something to climb up.

Hops growing in County Kilkenny

The petals from the green hop flowers make an interesting substitute for fresh basil in tomato dishes, such as the one below.

Heirloom/heritage tomatoes and hops on toast

Heritage Tomatoes with Hops on Toasted Brown Bread
To make the tomato paste, roughly chop some freshly picked tomatoes and place in bowl with a little chopped onion, add sea salt, freshly squeezed home grown garlic, olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper. Tear the petals of two hop flowers, mix into the tomato paste. Add the mixture to some brown bread or half a brown bread roll and place in a medium for about 15 minutes, then top with a few extra hop petals for a seasonal snack.

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Is it a Cabbage or a Turnip? Kohlrabi

Is it a cabbage or is it a turnip?

Kohlrabi is a mysterious vegetable that is a hybrid cross between the two.

The leaves and the swollen stem may both be eaten, but it is grown for its swollen stem.

A popular vegetable in Germany and Italy in the nineteenth century, the Italians ate it before the stem grew any larger than a hen's egg, while the German's preferred it fully grown.

Red Kohlrabi grown in Co. Kilkenny

Kohlrabi can be eaten raw in salads or cooked. There is a school of thought that believes its distinctive flavour is mainly in the skin and near it, so it is probably best steamed intact until tender. Then it can be peeled, if required, and sliced. Also, delicious, when simply roasted - just peel, roughly dice along with other root vegetables, some onion and herbs, mix with olive oil and roast until tender.

The leaves are also good for eating and are best treated like kale. Easily grown in County Kilkenny, so give it a go.

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A Feast of Kilkenny Produce

Where can I eat a meal like this in Kilkenny? The photograph may not be the best, but the flavour was superb. The roast pork was from a Kilkenny free range, Tamworth pig crossed with a wild boar - succulent, full of flavour, without being too strong, with the perfect crisp crackling.

Kilkenny Produce at its best

The classic Sharpe's Express new potatoes, the mint, the spinach and the broad beans were freshly dug and/or picked, less than an hour before consumption. The gravy was made from the rich pork juices. Such simple fresh ingredients need no elaborate sauces, in fact they make salt and pepper almost redundant.

The tender young broad beans, cooked briefly in their jackets (no need for peeling), have a immediate and delicious flavour that no picture can convey. The spinach briefly wilted, had no requirement for any seasoning and there is simply no alternative to a freshly dug new potato, steamed with some sprigs of mint. The experience is intense.

These ingredients are all easily reared and grown in Kilkenny. So, why is it so difficult to find a restaurant in County Kilkenny serving simple high quality, seasonal and local ingredients, that are squeeky fresh, at a reasonable price?

If you know of one, please email me at: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

The Unfashionable Cauliflower

The unfashionable Cauliflowers Brassica oleracea var botrytis have been excellent this year and well behaved. They have had the decency not to produce their white curds all at the same time.

A freshly harvested Kilkenny Cauliflower

According to Sir Ghillean Prance and Mark Nesbitt in the "Cultural History of Plants", 2005, the Cauliflower probably originated in Cyprus and was cultivated in Italy in the 15th century. By the end of the eighteenth century, it was a popular vegetable. It was one of the vegetables that John M'Craith, nursery and seedsman, was offering for sale in Kilkenny in 1827 and it is fair to assume that it has been grown and eaten in Kilkenny since then.
Vilmorin-Andrieux and Robinson list 18 different varieties in 1920, including dwarf, giant and purple varieties. These days, the popularity of cauliflower (easily grown in Co. Kilkenny), is waning in favour of imported vegetables.
Best eaten as soon as it is harvested, delicious raw or gently steamed. It makes great purees and soups; the possibilities are endless. A fresh, lightly cooked Cauliflower needs little seasoning, just a bit of grated nutmeg will compliment it. When buying Cauliflowers, look out for ones with good, long crisp green leaves and cook these along with the florets, to enhance your dish.
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Traditional Style Barley, Oat and Offal Pudding

Before the introduction of potatoes in Ireland, people depended on barley and oats for their carbohydrates. We subsequently forgot how versatile these cereals are. So, here is a traditional type pudding that might have been made, in Kilkenny, 400 years ago. In the past, it would have been steamed in a cloth, bowls were not used for steaming foods until the latter half of the nineteenth century. If one was to be a purist, the bacon would not be in rasher form, as the rasher was reputedly developed in Waterford, circa 1820.

Barley, Oat, Pork Liver and Pork Kidney Pudding

RECIPE © Kilkenny Seakale

1 pork kidney roughly diced

1/4 pork liver roughly diced

1/2 pint of milk

1 large onion

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon country butter

2 cups* of barley (cooked in pork stock)

2 cups* of jellied pork stock

2 cups* of coarsely ground barley

1 cup* organic porridge oat flakes

3 free range cooked & chopped bacon rashers

1 heaped teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 grated nutmeg

1/3 teaspoon mixed spice

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chervil

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh spinach

1 tablespoon vinegar

*these cups are slightly smaller than the standard American measure

Barley, Oat & Offal Pudding made with fresh Herbs

Soak the pork liver and kidney in milk for 1 1/2 hours. Rinse, cover with water, bring to boil, then discard water and bring to boil a second time and strain immediately. Chop the cooked meat finely. Sweat the onion, with a bay leaf, in butter. Remove the bay leaf. Place the meat and onion in a bowl, along with the remaining ingredients. Mix well and place in a buttered 1 1/2 litre pudding bowl. Cover and steam for 2 hours. When cool turn out into a plate.

Barley, Oat & Offal Pudding with a tart Sloe Jam Sauce

This makes a surprisingly rich flavoured pudding, delicious when complimented by a tart sloe jam sauce, tasting somewhere between a classic Irish white pudding and a Scottish haggis.

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Jellied Pork Stock made from a Kilkenny Pig

Two organic pigs' heads and several feet (crubeens or trotters) landed up on the kitchen table. Great food for recessionary times. The heads from these Kilkenny reared, saddle back pigs were split, one half was placed in the pot to make a parsley and lemon brawn, seasoned with nutmeg. There was enough meat to fill a large loaf tin and it will take a few days to eat it all. So, the remainder of the heads were frozen until required.

Organically reared Kilkenny Crubeens

If you are a bit squeamish about eating crubeens, you can still use them - do not let them go to waste. Use them to make a wonderful jellied stock. Boil them up, simmer for 2-3 hours with an onion, some root vegetables and whatever herbs and spices are available and suitable for flavouring stock.

Slices of Jellied Pork Stock ready for use

Once the meat begins to leave the bones, strain and reduce the stock to the required consistency (it will probably cool to a jelly without even reducing it). Any the liquid left over from the brawn, can be added to the liquid stock.

Pig's Crubeen Jellied Stock

Pour into a mould and cool. The jellied stock is ready for use. It can be sliced and frozen for later use or else use immediately for soups, stews and pies or for more adventurous recipes. At least you now know what is in your stock, unlike the stock made from a shop-bought stock cube. Stew a pork hock in this stock for extra rich flavour.

There would be no free range, happy organic pigs, if we did not eat them. These pigs were killed so that we can eat them, we should respect this and make use of every part of that pig and avoid waste. Eat less meat and better quality meat and your diet will be healthier. 

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Nettle Soup

Irish Restaurants seldom serve Irish food, so your only hope is to make it yourself. Nettle Soup is a classic, traditional and delicious dish, cheap and easy to make. Young nettles are plentiful and easily found by even the most reticent of foragers.

Wild Nettles (Urtica Doica) growing in County Kilkenny

Pick young nettle tops, using rubber gloves, you can pick them without gloves if you know how to grab the stems and leaves, without getting stung.

Apologies to Darina Allen for corrupting her recipe.

RECIPE
Large bunch nettles
Tablespoon of butter
3 shallots or 1 onion or leeks
1 medium Golden Wonder Potato
1 litre good quality homemade chicken stock

Freshly picked Nettles (Urtica Doica)

Melt the butter until bubbling, add finely chopped shallots and well diced Golden Wonder potato, add a little salt and pepper. Cover and cook over a low heat until the potato is soft. Add the stock and simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the chopped nettles, cook for another couple of minutes.

Nettle Soup

Puree the mixture in a blender until smooth (originally, it would have put through a hair sieve) and reheat before serving. A delicious Irish country soup, the traditional recipe would not have used potato, an introduced species - oatmeal or some other cereal would have been used instead.

According to Ray Mears and Gordon Hillman, Stinging Nettles (Urtica Doica) are a very good source of protein, as well as vitamins C & B, calcium, potassium iron, phosphorous, magnesium etc. So, give it a go...

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