Cookery Feature - Outdoor Dining - Be Inspired by GROW HQ

Nowhere is there more excitement about the grand reopening than at GROW HQ, the beautiful GIY headquarters and café just across the road from the University Hospital on the Dumore Road in Waterford, which re-opens on 7th June and is perfectly set up for atmospheric outdoor dining.  

 At GROW HQ, head chef JB Dubois and his talented kitchen team transform the seasonal harvest (and other organic, chemical free, free-range ingredients sourced locally) into delicious plant-based, but not entirely vegetarian, meals. A fantastic place, it’s always well worth visiting for a delicious bite to eat and a good browse – and, this summer, dining will be on the charming terrace overlooking the vegetable gardens and underneath the HQ stretch tent. With just 112 steps from plot to plate, low-food-mile meals don’t get any better than this…

The GROW HQ ethos is simple: GROW, COOK, EAT. Each day JB Dubois creates a scrumptious menu (see sample below), including a variety of delicious sourdough sandwiches (from €9) along with quiches (€11.50) and summer salads (€10), a daily selection of homemade scones, flapjacks, cakes, pastries, and desserts plus daily specials and tasty sides. Customers are also encouraged to ‘create a plate’ of their liking from the extensive hot and cold seasonal Mezze menu which includes triple cooked chips, a veggie patch salad, a chilli and honey cheese, black-bean hummus, slow-cooked Waterford lamb, root veg falafels with ferments garlic and cucumber dip to name but a few.

The menu and seasonal specials - which all change frequently depending on harvests from the GROW HQ garden and inspiration from the kitchen team - can be viewed on @GROW_HQ on social media. It is hoped that as the summer progresses GROW HQ will also host a variety of engagement opportunities for their customers, from outdoor adventures with little GIY’ers to biodiversity walks and talks to fantastic food experience evenings and more. Do visit this summer if you can – and, meanwhile, JB Dubois has shared some of his delicious recipes for us to make at home.

GROW HQ RECIPES

Beetroot Falafel with Yoghurt Dip 
Ingredients:
400g finely grated beetroot
50 to 100g organic gram flour (depending on the water content of the beetroots) and little more for coating the falafels
sea salt
50 ml rapeseed oil
½ tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 cloves of garlic
chopped fennel leaves

Method: Toast the sesame and coriander seeds in a small dry frying pan on medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, add the oil and add the chopped garlic and let cool.
Massage the grated beetroot with the salt for 2 minutes until you feel the beetroot soften under your fingers. Incorporate the spiced oil, then the gram flour and the chopped fennel leaves.
Shape the falafel, roll them in the remaining gluten free flour and deep-fry in hot oil at 150 for few minutes until crispy.

Yoghurt Dip
100g yoghurt
a pinch of salt
Add any flavour you would like, eg chopped chilli, garlic, herbs or lemon zest and poppy seeds.

Homemade Flat Bread 
These flat breads are cooked in a pizza oven or a dry frying pan and they are perfect to use as wraps or as homemade pizza bases, or even to dip in a warming soup. Makes 8.
Ingredients
300g strong flour
1 pinch sea salt
225g yoghurt
1 tablespoon Irish rapeseed oil (add garlic, coriander or cumin to taste)

Method: Knead all the ingredients together for 5 to 7 minutes until the dough is firm.
Put the dough in a large mixing bowl and place in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes.
Cut the dough in 8 equal parts and flatten them.
Cook the flat breads in a hot pizza oven, for 2 minutes on each side. OR, alternatively cook each flat bread on medium heat in a dry frying pan for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
Leave to rest under a clean cloth until cool.
Use as wraps, pizza bases or to dip in soups.

Irish Rapeseed Oil Sponge 
This is just one of the many more-ish cakes served at GROW HQ - you can garnish the sponge with fresh cream, stewed rhubarb, fresh seasonal fruit or something more exotic, such as Chilean guava berries.
Ingredients
250ml buttermilk
6 hen eggs
175ml organic Irish rapeseed oil
350g golden caster sugar
500g plain flour
12g baking powder
6g baking soda
a little butter to grease the cake tin.

Method
Preheat your oven at 180
Mix the baking powder & baking soda through the plain flour.
In a separate bowl, using an electric whisk, foam the eggs with the sugar.
Fold in the buttermilk and the rapeseed oil.
Fold in the flour mixture.
Pour the cake batter in a greased cake tin.
Place on the middle shelf of the oven for 10 minutes
Turn the oven down to 160°C and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes.
Leave to cool on a rack until cold before serving.

SAMPLE GROW HQ LUNCH MENU

HQ SOUP €5.50
a warm hug in a bowl with a choice of sourdough, brown or gluten-free bread

HQ SOUP / HALF TOASTED SOURDOUGH COMBO €9.25
choose sourdough sandwich with a side of seasonal slaw

HQ TOASTED SOURDOUGH SANDWICH €9|€12 with homemade chips & salad
award-winning sandwiches on seagull bakery sourdough:
• CLASSIC - crowe’s farm dry cured ham, HQ chives salsa verde,
smoked knockanore cheese & HQ leaves.
• WEEKLY –black bean hummus, confit tomatoes, chard & HQ leaves.

HQ BLAA €9 | €12 with homemade chips & salad
crowe’s farm free range pulled pork, HQ rainbow chard, jostaberry & mint chutney
& HQ leaves. #pureblaa

ORGANIC 3 EGG OMELETTE €11.50
ardsallagh goat's cheese & HQ chard with grilled crowe’s farm smoked bacon and your choice of toasted sourdough or oregano sauteed potatoes

HQ SUMMER SALAD €10
green asparagus, poppy seed roast baby carrots, pickled cucumbers,
cashel blue cheese, chives flower vinaigrette & HQ leaves.

VEG PATCH QUICHE €11.50
homemade pastry of organic flour & free-range eggs
confit tomatoes, courgette chutney, ardsallagh goat's cheese, oregano & flax seeds.
COLD MEZZE
+ HQ Veg Patch Salad €3
+ our daily slaw €3
+ seagull bakery sourdough bread plate with Irish organic rapeseed oil, hummus &flavoured butter €3
+ selection of dips with garlic blaa crostini €4.50
HQ chilli & honey cheese, black bean hummus, moroccan style rhubarb relish.
+ beetroot & candied hazelnut salad with ardsallagh goat's cheese €5
+ HQ spicy kale kimchy & organic sesame seeds €2.50
+ Sprouting puy lentil salad with confit garlic & rainbow chard €3
+ spring cabbage salad, sunflower seeds, fennel dressing & HQ Istanbulli cheese €4
+ cannellini bean & confit tomato salad with richard's wild rocket €3.50
HOT MEZZE
+ triple cooked HQ chips with herb salt €3
• just-picked HQ cooked veggies €3.50 (or wilted greens with seeds)
• HQ root vegetable falafels with fermented garlic & cucumber dip €5
• roast baby beetroots with organic walnut crumble & cashel blue cheese €4
• HQ sausage roll, spiced HQ sauerkraut & relish €5.50
• chana masala, chickpea & roast vegetable curry €5.50
• slaw cooked waterford lamb with dauphinoise potatoes €7.50
• potato & smoked knockanore cheese hash with HQ kale & rosemary oil €4

pssssst… ask us about our home-made HQ seasonal ketchups & chutneys