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

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

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.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Nettle and Barley Pudding - An Experiment

It is time to go foraging for Nettles, they are now in season, here in County Kilkenny.

Bunch of Freshly Picked Nettles

Best eaten tender, soon after emerging from their winter slumber.  When picking them, wear rubber gloves, so you will not be stung. This recipe calls for a decent bunch. Make sure they are growing in a spot where they have not been sprayed, away from a road and preferably where there are no livestock grazing.

Added ingredients: leeks, sorrel, watercress, thyme & chives

This recipe is based on an ancient type of pudding, commonly eaten in the past. 

Puddings, nowadays, apart from blood puddings, are usually regarded as sweet dishes, but this was not always the case. Originally, they were placed in an animal's stomach, like the modern Scottish haggis. From the seventeenth century, puddings, generally savory, wrapped in a cloth and thus cooked. Later, in second half of the nineteenth century, they were placed in a pudding basin and steamed. 

Barley and Nettle Pudding being placed in Lamb Stock

RECIPE

Lamb, ham or chicken stock

Barley (pearl barley was used in this case)

Bunch of nettles

Bunch of watercress

Bunch of sorrel

2 leeks

Chives

1 wild garlic leaf

Sprigs of thyme

Salt

The barley was soaked before hand, in lamb stock and then drained (there is a similar version of this recipe, that uses barley flour). The greens were finely chopped, added to the barley, along with some sea salt, mixed together.  Some of the larger leaves were held aside and used to line the pudding cloth, and to wrap the pudding. It was then tied up and cooked in a saucepan of lamb stock for an hour and a half.

Nettle and Barley Pudding

VERDICT

The pudding should have been opened, once it had cooled, but being in a hurry to taste it, it was opened while still steaming - so it lost its shape! It was wonderfully tasty, and was eaten with some locally produced lamb. It is likely that in medieval times, all sorts of exotic foreign spices (of which they were so fond), would have been added - by those who could afford it. 

Next time, I am going to try the barley flour version, it is an inspirational dish: traditional, healthy, cheap, local and seasonal. 

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Eating Brussels Spouts in County Kilkenny, in February

It is time to think about sowing next year's vegetables. Time to check out last year's seeds, some of which were saved and others bought. Not all were put away properly and some have not survived the winter months as well as they should have. Last year's Brussels Sprouts were planted late in June which was a little late. So, to avoid forgetting about them, the Brussels Sprouts seeds have already been sown.

Brussels Sprouts ready for picking

An interesting vegetable, descended from the wild cabbage, Brussels Sprouts were cultivated in Belgium, probably improving an older variety, which may have been known by the Romans. When introduced to Ireland, it was found that they grew well here. Just 8-10 plants will yield more than enough for a small family.

Meanwhile, we are eating our current crop. For those who claim to have an intense dislike of Brussels Sprouts, try growing your own, pick them when they are young and small. Cook them whole (immediately after picking), in fast boiling water, for not more than five minutes.

Freshly picked Brussels Sprouts, briefly cooked and ready for eating

Drain, add a small amount of good quality locally made butter and eat at once.

They will be very far removed from the soggy, smelly, yellowing vegetable that so often passes as Brussels Sprouts. Try finely grating raw Brussels Sprouts into a salad for a novel addition. The leaves and plant tops also make great eating, at a time when there is a limited choice of vegetables in the garden. Stir fry the shredded shoots and/or leaves or be brave and try Darina Allen's recommendation: peel the stalk and dice it up before cooking. There will not be much of the plant left, to go onto the compost heap…
So waste not, want not....

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

A Kilkenny February Salad

With a little care and protection salad leaves can easily be grown in Kilkenny, at all times of the year. This February Salad is made up of the thinings from Cos lettuce plants, young sprigs of watercress and blanched chicons.

A freshly picked Kilkenny February Salad

The dressing consists of Irish rape seed oil, homemade verjus, honey from the bees in the yard and a small amount of finely chopped fresh parsley, fresh thyme, fresh sage and fresh rosemary. All the ingredients originated within a few square yards of each other in rural Kilkenny, with the exception of the oil.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Kilkenny Pheasant Liver Pate

Eating local and seasonal is hard to beat. A brace of wild Kilkenny pheasants, locally shot and hung for 6 days, arrived on the kitchen table. These pheasants had a healthy, free life until they met their demise.

A fine brace of Kilkenny Cock Pheasants

They were plucked and gutted. The pheasant feathers made a welcome addition to the compost heap. These pheasants were roasted with some fatty bacon and stuffed with a traditional seasonal herb stuffing, using breadcrumbs made from stale homemade soda bread.

The plump breast of a half plucked Kilkenny Cock Pheasant.

The livers were gently cooked, 3 to 4 times their weight, in country butter. Once they were cooked through, they were placed in the food processor along with a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of fresh thyme and lots of freshly ground pepper. The pan was rinsed out with a large splash of sherry, which was then added to the food processor. It was all whizzed up together and poured into a small bowl and placed into the fridge.  So easy.

Pheasant Livers on Melting Country Butter

The pate, with a little added sloe gin jelly, makes a rich starter to any winter meal. 

Pheasant Liver Pate with Sloe Gin Jelly

Waste not, want not... 

The pheasant bones should always be simmered up with root vegetables, herbs and spices to make a good stock. The base for a hearty seasonal soup.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com

Kilkenny Sloe Gin & Sloe Jam

In Kilkenny, it has been one of the best years in recent times, for Sloes. They started ripening in early September and today, now in late November, the last of them, sweetened by the frost, are still on the blackthorn bushes waiting to be picked.

Sloe Gin, or Sloe Vodka, or if preferred Sloe Poteen, is the simplest of all recipes.

Freshly picked Sloes, ready for the pot.

Just prick the Sloes, pop them into a bottle (as in photo below) and add between a third of their weight and half their weight in sugar. The bottle in the photo is waiting to be topped up with more gin.

If you prefer your Sloe Gin to be sweeter, then just add more sugar. Fill the bottle to the top with your preferred spirit. Shake every day for a couple of weeks. Leave for three months and then strain.

SLOE GIN - Use as a liqueur drink on its own, or in cocktails.

A TART SLOE JAM

Weigh your sloes and then weigh out three quarters of that amount in sugar.

In a large pot or preserving pan, place your sloes with enough water to half cover them. Simmer until the stones are exposed and the flesh is soft.

Then rub the fruit through a coarse sieve or colander to catch the stones. Discard the stones. Add warmed sugar and bring slowly to boil while the sugar dissolves.

Simmer for five minutes and then place the jam into sterilised jars.

SLOE JAM in recycled jars.

The flavour is slightly tart and the colour is a deep colour. Eat with lamb or pork or use in a steam pudding.

Email: kilkennyseakale@gmail.com