Cookery Feature - Created in Cavan

You can’t beat a collaborative local cookbook for creating a real sense of place and this new book from members of the Created in Cavan Food Network does that very well.
Bringing Cavan’s food, drink and hospitality community together, the aim was to raise the visibility of the county’s outstanding offering, in Ireland and internationally, and to raise funds for several charities - Cavan Autism Parents Support CLG, Breffni Blues Special Olympics Club and Cuan Cancer Support Centre.
As Chairperson Norbert Neylon - chef-patron of The Oak Room Restaurant in Cavan Town – says in the Foreword, “The Created in Cavan brand means consumers, locals and visitors alike can be sure of County Cavan as an authentic source and destination of high-quality local food and drink with memorable heartfelt visitor experiences.”
Not that we should need to be reminded, as Cavan is a place that punches way above its weight when comes to food, drink and hospitality, and it’s improving all the time. Just look at the roll call of famous Cavan chefs among the contributors, for example. Neven Maguire, Gearoid Lynch and Norbert Neylon were all Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year winners in their day, which is pretty remarkable for a start. Then there’s Richard Corrigan, of course, who has brought his huge talent and energy to the county in recent years, and entrepreneurial younger chefs like Shane Smith and Adrian Martin, along with many others like Fergus Murphy of the charming Murphs Gastro Pub at Derragarra, who keep raising the bar.
Accommodation providers are well represented too – Virginia Park Lodge, Cavan Crystal Hotel, MacNean House,The Keepers Arms at Bawnboy, The Olde Post Inn at Cloverhill and Hawthorn B&B at Belturbet give an idea of the range of offering – and of course, the foundation for everything they do, the food and drink producers.

Supported by Cavan County Council and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, the Created in Cavan Recipe Book is available to buy locally from: Connolly Bros, Candlelight Book Shop, Chapter One – Cavan; Dinkins Bakery, Cavan and Cootehill, Breffni Arms Arva, Sushi Mania, Cavan Crystal Hotel, Oak Room Restaurant, Cavan Tourist Office, Keepers Arms Bawnboy, Hawthorn Lodge B&B and more. For further information & stockists, visit the Created in Cavan website https://www.createdincavan.ie/

SAMPLE RECIPES TO TRY:

AIR FRYER HONEY CHILLI CHICKEN
One of several recipes in the book from well known Cavan chef and TV presenter Chef Adrian Martin 
“One for your next Friday night Fakeaway. I’m using the Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone Air Fryer with Smart Cook System.”

Ingredients
3-4 chicken fillets cut into pieces
2-3 tablespoon soya sauce
100g cornflour
100g self raising flour
For the Sauce
3 cloves of garlic chopped
½ red pepper sliced
½ green pepper sliced
1 banana shallot sliced
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons honey
Juice of half a lemon
To Serve
Rice
Sliced spring onions and chillies

Method
1. Stir the chicken in a bowl with the soya sauce.
2. Mix the two flours together.
3. Coat the chicken in the flour and then into the air fryer with some spray oil at 200ºC for 15 minutes.
4. In a frying pan, sweat the shallot, garlic and peppers in some oil until softened.
5. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and reduce the heat to simmer lightly.
6. Add the chicken to the sauce to coat it and make it sticky. The cornflour on the chicken will thicken this nicely.
7. Serve it up on some cooked rice and sprinkle with the spring onions and
chillies.

NEVEN MAGUIRE’S CHEESECAKE WITH RASPBERRIES AND WHITE CHOCOLATE
One of the recipes contributed by Neven Maguire, MacNean House & Restaurant: “In the restaurant we serve this cheesecake with a jammie dodger and sometimes a nice quenelle of raspberry sorbet or raspberry ripple ice cream. The cheesecake itself is really light, I like to decorate the plate with dried raspberries and baby Maltesers, both of which are available from good catering suppliers.”
Serves 8

Ingredients
400g (14oz) cream cheese
Finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon
1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out
200g (7oz) white chocolate, broken into squares
200ml (7floz) cream
2 tablespoons Coole Swan
8 shortbread biscuits, finely broken up
White chocolate curls, to decorate
Dried raspberries, to decorate
Baby Maltesers to decorate
Spun sugar, to decorate
Fresh mint sprigs, to decorate
8 Jammie dodgers, to serve
For the Poached Raspberries
300ml (1/2 pint) red wine
2 tablespoon crème de cassis
75g (3oz) caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
½ vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out
400g (14oz) raspberries, plus extra to decorate

Method
1. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, Coole Swan, lemon rind and juice and the vanilla seeds for about 5 minutes, until smooth and light.
2. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, place the cream in a separate bowl and whip until stiff.
3. Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and then carefully fold in the whipped cream. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm (½ in) plain nozzle and place in the fridge until needed.
4. To poach the raspberries, place the red wine and cr.me de cassis in a pan with the sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise and vanilla pod and seeds and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until reduced by half and slightly thickened. Place the raspberries in a heatproof bowl and pour over the wine mixture through a fine sieve, discarding the cinnamon stick, star anise and vanilla pod. Stir to combine and leave to cool.
5. To assemble the cheesecake, divide the poached raspberries among martini glasses and crumble the shortbread biscuits on top. Pipe the cheesecake mixture right up to the rim of the glasses and decorate with raspberries, white chocolate curls, dried raspberries, baby Maltesers, spun sugar and mint sprigs.
To serve: arrange the cheesecakes on plates with a Jammie dodger.
COOK AHEAD: The poached raspberries will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. All the other elements can be prepared 24 hours in advance and assembled just before serving.