Category Archives: General foodie news

January 11, 2015

Hanging out in Hoi An

Hoi An is a small fishing town that wasn’t damaged in the war and the old town is still intact. No high rise buildings just lots of cute houses, temples and plenty of water. It sits on a river that goes out to sea. There are lots of boats. lots of seafood and lots of tourists.

It’s a World heritage site and the architecture and the town is quite beautiful, especially at night when the town is lit up by coloured lanterns made from bamboo and silk that reflect on the water. You can buy a paper lantern from one of the street vendors to launch on the river for 10,000 dong (40 cents) and make a wish. They bob around in the water, all the different colours illuminated by the light of the candles which makes a very pretty picture.

It’s well known for it’s food and one lady in particular, the famous Ms Vy, who is responsible for most of the food tourism. She opened her first restaurant in 1982, began to give cooking classes and now she has four restaurants including a street food food hall show casing the different foods and how they are made. It’s impressive – quite a success story

I went along to one of the cooking classes to learn a few more recipes and see what its all about. There’s no sign of Ms Vuy but the class is very professional.

It begins with a trip to the market to gather ingredients followed a tour of the food hall where there are demonstrations of how to make rice paper, rice noodles and all manner of weird and wonderful dishes then the cooking class begins.

All the ingredients are laid out and it’s super organised.We made prawn and pomelo salad – absolutely delicious,

clams with lemongrass and ginger – very spicy,

marinated fish barbecued in banana leaf and then stir fried with noodles – yum

and a clever little Vietnamese ice cream trick.

It was well worth the money so if you’re ever in Hoi An check it out.

Originally we thought we’d hang out there for the week cooking and cycling to the beach but between the rain and the toy town tourism we have decided to bail out so we’re up at the crack of dawn to hop on a plane to Ho Chi Min and then continuing south in search of sunshine. That’s another tree to plant!!

2 Comments | tags: general foodie news, Vietnam | posted in General foodie news

January 7, 2015

Lunch at the Jade Hotel

By lettercollumkitchenproject

We’re about two thirds of the way up Vietnam now, in Hue. The clouds are are deeper than Saigon. I really should do better research before we travel! It’s a much smaller city than Saigon, still lots of traffic but we are getting the hang of crossing the road.Basically no one really wants to run you over and they are masters of avoidance so you just take a deep breath and launch yourself into the traffic and hope no ones driving the wrong way as you can’t look in two directions at once. The traffic is 90% scooters and bikes.

We are staying in a little guest-house run by the sweetest people who offered to show us how to make a ‘family dinner’ so we headed off this morning on scooters to the market.

Off we zoomed and it began to rain. The market was busy. Lots of wet people and mountains of food. All sorts of fruit and vegetables, live fish hopping in the baskets, fresh prawns and squid and dodgy looking meat.

We gathered up lots of vegetables, fresh noodles and prawns and headed back to cook. We unpacked and cleaned up all the veg and set cooking in the mini kitchen. The kitchen was very small in every dimension and Con and I were like giants, nearly decapitating ourselves on the cooker hood on several occasions.

The girls were great, masters of the large sharp knife and in no time at all we had made a feast of nem – Vietnamese spring rolls,

noodle soup,

prawns with tamarind sauce

and morning glory with chilli and garlic.

We sat down together and ate the lot!

Leave a comment | tags: gluten free, one pot wonder, vegetarian, vietnamese | posted in General foodie news

January 1, 2015

Up Up and Away!

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Last night someone had the bright idea to celebrate the New Year Spanish time as we had to get up at 3.30 for a flight. It sounded like great idea but what actually happened was we celebrated twice! Once Spanish time and once Irish time and amidsts all that silliness we went to bed very late. We hauled ourselves out of bed after about two hours sleep and rushed to the airport. The thing that I always forget is that the airport is busy at this unearthly hour and the queues for security are long. Luckily we were too anesthetised by lack of sleep to stress much and once we tumbled onto the plane we snoozed all the way to Amsterdam.

I wouldn’t say we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed but it wasn’t bad. We had a seven hour wait over for our connection so we took the train into Amsterdam for a wander. The city was very quiet. There weren’t many people about, a few strays from the night before and us.

There must have been a mighty party last night as the streets were strewn with debris – party poppers, bangers, food cartons, cans and bottles. It was impressive. As we walked about so the street cleaners appeared and systematically cleaned up. First the garbage was blown into piles by super blowers then the streets were hosed down and finally all the piles were removed.

We wandered the streets, drank some coffee – old fashioned Dutch coffee with little tubs of koffie melk on the side and ate a croissant.

The croissant was so awful that it was abandoned and we ended up eating frites with mayonnaise – not something a nutritional therapist should be seen eating for breakfast.

It was a bit of hodge podge trip down memory lane with the coffee and chips not that I used to eat them for breakfast, it was more of late night snack. Anyways by 11.20 (10.20 Irish time) we had consumed two ‘breakfasts’!

We’re about to board our plane for Bangkok now, en route to Vietnam, leaving the winter behind us for a few weeks.

We’re looking forward to our next food adventure.

Here’s wishing everyone a Happy New Year and may all your dreams come true

Leave a comment | posted in General foodie news

December 27, 2014

Our Epic Feast

By lettercollumkitchenproject

I’ve only just recovered enough from our Xmas dinner to talk about it.

Family consensus was to have an untraditional dinner this year. Not everyone was enthralled with the prospect of changing the big bird feast and there was quite some discussion. An idea was thrown in to cook a course each which sounded exciting to me. Kind of Italian style with a few antipasti, maybe a pasta, a little fish and duck for the slightly miffed annual big bird eaters who were grumbling that we could eat Italian everyday. The courses were delegated and we agreed to be prepped and ready to go for six o clock.

There was a little confusion on this point but it all landed on the table in a delicious succession .

Here’s what we ate

Herby garden salad with toasted seeds and honeyed goats cheese

Istanbul mussels , stuffed with rice and dill

Braised fennel with tomato, capers, olives and lemon ricotta

Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms

Fatty prawns with borlotti beans and roasted cherry tomatoes

Roasted Brussel sprout risotto

And for the big bird eaters

A Salad of duck confit and raspberry vinegar

Which must have been totally delicious because even after all the previous course the plates were scraped clean

It didn’t stop there. We had xmas pud with lashings of cream, slices of buche de noel which i couldn’t quite manage and Irish or French coffee to wash it all down.

Quite the feast.

I did wake up at five o’clock in the morning feeling like a beached whale but apart from that I’d highly recommend this method of feasting.

The dirty dishes were fairly epic and of course as we had all cooked there was no designated dishwasher but somehow we muddled through

Funnily enough the desserts were traditional. I don’t know what happened there but I was very happy to have the Xmas pudding. Delicious. I’m not quite sure how I squeezed it in.

Leave a comment | tags: duck, fish, pasta, vegetarian | posted in General foodie news

December 14, 2014

Xmas Baking Frenzy

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Our kitchen has turned into a cookie/cake/truffle factory and we are all feeling slightly sick from eating so many sweet things. All in the name of research that is.

We have made Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti,

Hand Made Truffles – absolutely the best even if I say so myself

Xmas Jewel Cakes, jam packed with candied fruit and nuts

Torta di Nocciole e Clementini – an Italian extravaganza which we make with home made candied clementines, soaked in brandy and mixed with toasted almonds and hazelnuts, fatty sultanas and chocolate

There are also hand made chocolates , raw chocolate truffles, Baci di Dama and all manner of home-made cookies waiting to be packed.

And I have finally finished packing the Xmas puddings.

Time for lunch – we’re off to Deasy’s!

Leave a comment | tags: chocolate, gluten free, sweet things | posted in General foodie news

December 8, 2014

Roots and Wine

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Sometimes we enthusiastically drink wine in the middle of the week, this can lead to a ‘hang on a minute, what the heck are we doing’ moment and the cork goes back in the bottle. The bottle then loiters on the counter until we drink it or fling it in a dinner.

Roots and wine are a excellent combination and get the left over wine off of the counter and out of temptations way. The robust flavours of carrots, parsnips and beetroots mellow nicely when cooked slowly with wine, puy lentils, bay leaves and onions. I stirred in tablespoon of pomegranate molasses at the end which gave it a bright little lift.

Served with some mash they make an easy midweek dinner.

The mash can be spuds alone but often it’s a blend. Last night it was pumpkin and kale.

We’re eating a lot of pumpkin and kale at the moment, having a stash of pumpkins and plenty of kale growing in the garden. I mix fifty fifty potatoes and pumpkin, mash them with a little olive oil or butter then stir in finely chopped and sautéed kale.

This is a delicious winter dinner and I might as well mention it’s very good washed down with a glass of red wine!!

2 onions – peeled and chopped into wedges

a good glug of olive oil

3 stems of celery – diced

2-4 carrots – peeled and chopped into chunks

1-2 parsnips – peeled and chopped into wedges

4-6 beetroots -peeled and chopped into equal sized chunks

3 cloves garlic – peeled and finely chopped

2 bay leaves

150g puy lentils

about 250mls red wine – or whatever’s left in the bottle

750mls vegetable stock

1 tbs pomegranate molasses

salt and pepper

Heat a large saucepan the add a good glut of olive oil, enough to just cover the bottom of the pan.

Add the onions and cook on medium heat for five minutes. Stir in the celery and continue cooking

Peel and chop the vegetables in the above order, adding to the pan as they are prepared. Season with a little salt and keep cooking and stirring on a medium heat.

Add the bay leaves then the puy lentils, wine and vegetable stock, bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for forty minutes. Check the vegetables and puy lentils. If they are tender they’re ready to go. Stir in 1tbs of pomegranate molasses and season with a little salt and pepper.

Leave a comment | tags: one pot wonders, vegtarian | posted in General foodie news, One pot wonders, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

November 27, 2014

Moujadarra – Rice and Lentils from Lebanon

By lettercollumkitchenproject

I used to think rice and lentils were the most boring dinner and they certainly have a dodgy reputation but since eating them Lebanese style with lots of crispy fried onions I have changed my mind.

It’s the ultimate comfort food and perfect partner for so many simple things. Roast vegetables, fried egg, grilled fish…. They are also delicious one their own with just a little labneh or Greek yoghurt on the side.

Here’s a picture what’s left in the bowl half way through serving. Hunger overcame us and the picture got delayed!

We ate them tonight with spicy pumpkin and stir fried kale

Here’s the recipe, it’s called Moujaddara

or Rice and Lentils with Crispy Onions.

This is enough for four hungry people

4 big onions, peeled and sliced

200g green lentils

200g long grain rice or basmati rice

1tsp cummin

1 tsp seven spice

150mls olive oil

Put the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil then simmer, covered, for about 15minutes – until the lentils are half cooked and most of the water has been absorbed.

Heat the oil and add the sliced onions.

Fry on a fairly high heat until the onions become golden and begin to get crispy. Lift the onions out of the oil and leave to drain on a piece of kitchen paper.

When the lentils are half cooked add the rice, the cummin and seven spice mix, 300mls of water and half a tsp salt. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 10-12 minutes.

Take off the heat, give and leave to relax for five minutes.

Tip the rice and lentils onto a warmed serving dish and scatter the crispy onions on top.

Serve with labne on the side or try some pumpkin chopped into chunks and tossed with olive oil and roasted with a little cinnamon, cumin and coriander.

Served with a drizzle of tahini sauce

Yum!

Leave a comment | tags: Lebanese, lentils, rice, roast pumpkin, tahini sauce, vegetarian | posted in General foodie news, Lebanese, One pot wonders, vegetarian, Vegetarian Recipes

November 19, 2014

Funky Carrot Cake

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Now that the cookbook is up and out there it’s time to get back blogging. This has been sadly neglected in the past month.

I have recently rediscovered one of my original cookbooks. It was printed in 1973 ‘The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook’, and it is so well thumbed that it’s held together with sticky tape.

It was printed when cookbooks contained very few pictures which means there are in fact an awful lot of recipes. I reckon we probably tried near enough fifty percent – it was one of our only cookbooks – before it retired quietly to the back of the shelf. Rereading it is like a trip down memory lane – food’s like that – and I find myself remembering all sorts of gatherings and occasions. There was one recipe, which did have a picture , for a carrot cake.

This was before carrot cake became famous and in every cafe. What attracted me was not only the cake made with a vegetable but it was also orange. I thought that was so funky that I had to try it. I made it for a friends birthday. I vaguely remember it being an outrageously expensive cake to make – ground almonds were expensive and we were as broke as church mice. I was living in an apartment in Antwerp with a dodgy oven. It was before I owned any kitchen gadgets and the cake was made with the aid of a potato masher and a whisk .

On rediscovering this recipe I’ve realised that it is also gluten and dairy free which most carrot cakes aren’t and also is why the cake is orange. It’s made with eggs, almonds, sugar and carrots.

Here’s the recipe made with the help of a food mixer and a magic wand – aka hand held blender.

350g carrots

225g sugar

6 eggs

350g ground almonds

grated rind of 1 orange

1tbs brandy or similar booze

Peel the carrots and chop into equal sized pieces. Put them into a small saucepan, cover with water and a little salt and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for about fifteen minutes or until tender. Drain and buzz to a smooth puree. Leave to cool.

Pre heat the oven 170c

Line a 24cm cake tin with parchment paper

Separate the eggs.

Put the yolks into a bowl and whisk until they are pale and frothy, add the sugar and continue beating until the mix is blond and creamy.

Add the carrots, ground almond, orange zest and tablespoon of booze.

Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks then add a tbs sugar and whisk until stiff peaks.

Using a large metal spoon fold half of the egg whites into the carrot mix then tips the remainder of the egg whites onto the mix and fold them in.

Pou the mix into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 50minutes.

To test the cake is done poke skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean it’s ready

2 Comments | tags: gluten free, sweet things, vegetarian | posted in General foodie news

October 7, 2014

The Sporting Club

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Beirut is very full and very busy. It’s also sunny and hot, not as hot as the summer here but enough for me to want to catch a few rays. This is difficult to achieve in-between the buildings and the traffic. The solution is to hit the Sporting Club on the Corniche. Very select, but then a lot of Beirut seem to have plenty of money. Lots of sophisticated people here and big fancy cars.

The Sporting club is right on the sea with a mixture of swimming pools (plural) and also sea pools between the rocks. Natural swimming pools with the luxury of ladders to clamber in and out. It costs $25 to get in and this includes your own cabin to get changed and leave your clothes in, sun loungers and shade – if that’s what you want- and waiters serving cold drinks. Very fancy.

We managed to sneak off for a couple of hours, our programme is quite intensive and I am finding it difficult to be inside all the time

The swim was delicious. The sea is warm enough to wallow in, the cold drinks welcome and there’s even wi fi so you can run your business or write your blog whilst you chill.

What a life!!

Leave a comment | tags: Beirut, The Sporting club | posted in General foodie news

October 6, 2014

Cooking on the Green Line

By lettercollumkitchenproject

Yesterdays expedition was slightly hairy.

Kamal is involved in an initiative called ‘Make Food Not War” and today he took us to cook with war widows in Tripoli .

The idea is to bring people together through food regardless of religion and equip them with some skills that so that they can make a living. The group of women involved come from both sides of the warring factions and working together gives them common ground. We set off early this morning through the insane traffic heading north out of Beirut. The roads are pretty much a free for all. There are very few road markings and basically all the cars go full pelt honking and weaving in and out all frantically trying to make progress.

We stopped at a fish market on the way to pick up some fish for Sally to smoke – beautiful bright fish, bonito, tuna, parrot fish, garfish, sea bass, some of it still twitching. Sally selected a the sea bass, a garfish and something we’re still not sure the name off. The coast road is the main artery through Lebanon which is a surprisingly small country – no bigger than Co.Cork . It doesn’t look that small on the atlas and of course it’s a completely different shape, long and skinny. The closer we got to Tripoli the more road blocks we passed through and Tripoli itself is something of a full on war zone with fully manned tanks, machine guns and sand bags. The buildings are covered in bullet holes and some aren’t there any more at all. The building where the cooking initiative is held is right on the Green Line. Smack bang in the middle of the troubled zone. Luckily it was quiet today but it definitely added a certain edge, not our usual cooking location.

The doors were manned by armed soldiers and we were welcomed in and taken upstairs to meet the ladies.who were in the middle of making “maamoul’ sweet pastries to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Muslim holiday which is this weekend. There was an enormous lump of dough on the counter and dates and nuts were being pounded to make the fillings.

They took a break to check out Sally’s fish smoking lesson.

They found the idea of smoking fish very strange.The idea of cooking fish in smoke didn’t appeal at all and they were looking at each other sideways, very sceptical. Sally, being the genius that she is at her craft soon had them filleting and brining then placing the fish on her jerry-rigged smoking gadget. Fifteen minutes later when the fish was cooked they were persuaded to have taste and were absolutely amazed. Next thing the plate was empty!

I got stuck into the cookie department. The cookies are made with fine semolina, butter and rose or orange water kneaded together with a little dried yeast until smooth then filled with either dates mixed with a little coconut and butter or walnuts or pistachios mixed with a little sugar syrup and rosewater.

There’s definitely knack to assembling them and my first couple of attempts were rejected but once I got the hang of it it was full steam ahead

Here’s the recipe to make quite an enormous amount. Scale it down if you don’t want to supply a market stall!

2.5kg fine semolina

1 kg butter

2 cups sugar

2 cups rosewater

2 cups orange blossom water

1 tsp dried yeast

Put the semolina on the counter, chop up the butter into small cubes, add the dried yeast and sugar and knead everything together. Gradually add the rose water and orange blossom water and keep kneading until silky. Leave covered with cling film for 2 hours

For the fillings

mix chopped walnuts with some sugar syrup and rosewater

chopped pistachios with sugar syrup and orange blossom

Chopped dates with a little desiccated coconut, a little butter and sugar syrup. This needs to be pounded to a smooth paste.

Next take little walnut balls of the dough and press them into a circle in the palm of your hand. Put a little spoonful of filling in the middle and carefully pull the sides together to close the parcel. The little parcels are then put into moulds and press them to fit snugly them tip them off and rap them sharply to tip them out.

Bake at 180c until lightly golden. Let them cool off then dredge them with icing sugar.

2 Comments | tags: lebanon, sweet things | posted in General foodie news, Sweet Things

Lettercollum Kitchen Project

Category Archives: General foodie news

Hanging out in Hoi An

Lunch at the Jade Hotel

Up Up and Away!

Our Epic Feast

Xmas Baking Frenzy

Roots and Wine

Moujadarra – Rice and Lentils from Lebanon

Funky Carrot Cake

The Sporting Club

Cooking on the Green Line

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