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.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

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.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

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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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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Coq au Vin - Marinated Cockerel

Breeding your own fowl is not always as simple as it might seem. This year a broody hen hatched out some chicks, as the stock needed replenishing. The older hens were no longer laying well and it was time to breed some more, to replace them.

How to hang a cockerel

Problem was that after a hawk attack there were only four chicks remaining, three of which turned out to be cockerels. One of these would be kept to replace the old rooster, and the other two were destined for the pot. There is no other practical use for surplus cockerels, they had a jolly life, being utterly and completely free range, more so than most poultry can ever expect - but their number was up.

When the time came to do the dirty deed, the birds were starved that day - no point in wasting good hen food, and it makes them easier to clean out.

Not much here would pass current health and safety standards and yet killing your own fowl is perfectly natural, something that mankind has practised for thousands of years, without any bother. The birds led a charmed and healthy life until they met a quick clean and sudden end. Two ways of doing this: either by wringing their necks or chopping off their heads, the latter was chosen in this case.

Plucking a cockerel

The two young cockerels, were killed at night and were totally unaware of the fate that awaited them. They were hung by the legs over night (game birds are hung by the neck). The next morning they were plucked, heads and feet removed (if we were in another country, these would not be wasted). The birds were then gutted, taking care to put the hearts, livers and gizzards aside. When did you last eat a gizzard in Ireland? - A delicacy in France, commonly eaten there and yet we are told the EU will not allow us to eat them. Try making a gizzard salad and a liver pate with garlic, thyme and brandy.

RECIPE FOR COQ AU VIN

1 bottle of Beaujolais wine or a decent red Burgundy

Carrot, white turnip and a a couple of sticks of celery

Parsley stalks, thyme, bay leaves, garlic, onion & black pepper for marinade

Goose grease

Onion

Mushrooms

Smoked bacon lardons

Brandy

Salt & pepper

Joint the birds, these ones were not specially fattened for the table, but, there was still plenty of eating on them. Then cover with red wine, add a small chopped onion or shallot, some carrot, celery and white turnip along with a few dried bay leaves, a couple of cloves of garlic, fresh thyme and lots of freshly ground black pepper, cover and leave in fridge over night. The carcasses were put aside to make a wonderful stock for soup.

Coq au vin in marinade

The next morning, remove the meat from the marinade, strain the juice and put to one side. Brown the meat in the goose grease, remove from the pan. Brown onions, add lardons and mushrooms and brown them. Remove from pan, add a few tablespoons of brandy to the pan juices and flambé. Add all ingredients including the strained marinade and cook very slowly until the meat is almost falling off the bone, correct seasoning and a wonderful feast awaits you.

Feathers added to the compost heap

Don't waste the feathers, place them onto the compost heap, they will soon break down. Peace now reigns in the yard, no roosters fighting and the remaining hens are relieved they now only have to cope with one rooster. 

Peace reigns in a Kilkenny yard again

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Sea Kale in Season

SEA KALE (Crambe Maritima). 
Available from Glasrai and Goodies in Gowran.

A native Irish plant that grows on shingle beaches - so not to be found in County Kilkenny. It has become quite rare in the wild, so be sure to use only cultivated plants.

Sea Kale ready to be picked.

In prehistoric times, before the domestication of cereal crops, the root was an important source of carbohydrates, for the hunter-gatherer. The whole plant can be eaten, but usually it is the blanched young shoots, with their slightly nut like flavour, that are most sought after. In the past, shingle was heaped up around wild plants, growing along the edges of such beaches. This had the effect of blanching the plants.

Peron, J.Y., Gouget, M., Declercq, B., 1991 in their Composition nutritionnelle du Crambe Maritime reveal that Sea Kale not only tastes great but has a high protein and fibre content, a high quantity of potassium/low sodium and excellent calcium/phosphorus ratio, and contains good vitamins such as thiamine (Vitamin B1).

Freshly picked Sea Kale, showing blanched shoots and unblanched leaves.

In 1827, John M'Craith, a Kilkenny nurseryman, advertised Sea Kale plants for sale, alongside "Stove and Greenhouse Exotics". In 1834, specimens were successfully exhibited, from the Bishop of Ossory's gardens, by Mr. Monk (who, presumably, was the Bishop's head gardener), at the Kilkenny Horticultural Society's show.

It was a great favourite of the Victorians and Edwardians, but the vogue for Sea Kale declined with the demise of the walled vegetable garden.

Cooked blanched Sea Kale (top) and cooked unblanched Sea Kale leaves (below).

HOW TO COOK

Drop into boiling salted water and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until just tender. Drain pour melted butter over and sprinkle a little chopped parsley and serve. 

Young, unblanched leaves are pleasant to eat, if cooked in a similar manner, but lack the subtle nuances of the paler shoots.

Such a delicious vegetable deserves greater recognition, easily cooked, is worthy of further culinary exploration. 

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

A delicious, welcome spring vegetable that even the most incompetent Kilkenny gardener can grow, provided they have a sheltered spot. A descendant of the wild cabbage, found in the Eastern Mediterranean, and a cousin of the cauliflower.  Gradually, it evolved into the vegetable that we now know as, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, and made its way up through Italy into Northern Europe and thus to Ireland in the early eighteenth century.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be picked

Not to be confused with the Italian Calabrese that is commonly seen in our supermarkets, the Purple Sprouting Broccoli has a fresher, more delicate flavour and melts in the mouth when cooked.

A welcome green vegetable at a time of year when edible, seasonal, greenery, locally grown is difficult to find. The small purple heads are made up of tiny flower buds on little stems, these are picked and eaten before they open.

Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be cooked

Traditionally, after picking they were tied into small bunches and placed in boiling water standing up, so that the stems were in the water and the heads were steamed. If life is too short for such niceties, just throw them into boiling water, for not more than 5 minutes, or steam them, until barely tender.

Steaming Purple Sprouting Broccoli waiting to be eaten

The shorter the time between picking and eating vegetables, the more flavoursome they will be and the more nutritous they are. So, try and source locally grown vegetables, snap them up whenever they appear in your local shop, cook them as soon as you can, then they will be squeaky fresh when you taste them.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com