Georgina Campbell's Cookery Feature -Dingle Dinners

A memorable summer dinner at Dingle’s oldest pub, The Lord Baker’s, saw me coming away with copy of Trevis L. Gleason’s Dingle Dinners (The Collins Press, hardback; €25) tucked under my arm - a welcome addition to the luggage as, although published last year, I hadn’t got around to tracking down a copy. And now I know what I was missing. The starting point - What do chefs cook when they have friends and family around for dinner? - is just that and, although it’s a great cookbook with terrific down to earth do-able contributions from a couple of dozen of Dingle’s famously talented food (and drink) professionals, what the visitor is really getting is an insider’s guide to what makes this magical town’s culinary heart beat.

Trevis - originally from Seattle and living in Dingle with his wife Caryn and two Wheaten terriers since 2012 - is well known for his earlier book, Chef Interrupted, which tells with inspiring warmth and wit the story of life after MS diagnosis. His style is engaging and Dingle Dinners is a great read, with the town’s culinary characters breathing life into its unique culture - which, together with the stunning scenery, has such a bewitching effect on visitors that many, chefs included, end up staying far longer than originally planned.

For this book, the assembled characters are charged with giving recipes for a three-course dinner for six - an Autumn Dinner, a Sunday Lunch, A Fancy Family Feast, each has his or her theme, and it is good to see some of the town’s culinary pioneers like Stella Doyle (co-founder of the legendary Doyles) and Pat Moore (who established the town’s other early destination restaurant, Beginish, in the mid-80s) given special recognition alongside current players. The result is a lovely combination of personal styles, united by a love of place - and, of course, the town’s brewery and its distillery both have parts to play, so the ’twist’ in these recipe often involves a ‘tipple’ too…

***Coming soon - Dingle Food Festival Féile Bia Daingean Uí Chúis
and Blas na hEireann, The Irish Food Awards: Fri 5th - Sun 7th Oct 2018
http://www.dinglefood.com/

RECIPES FROM DINGLE DINNERS
[All recipes serve at least 6; American measures are also given in the book]

Mark Murphy runs the highly regarded Dingle Cookery School and is especially well known for his Traditional Irish Cooking and Catch & Cook courses. His Dingle Dinners menu includes this super recipe for CRISPY GOAT’S CHEESE SALAD WITH ORANGE AND CUMIN YOGURT DRESSING

3-4 carrots, peeled and cut into even-sized lengths
3-4 beetroot, cut into even-sized wedges
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 orange, zested and halved
1 large red bell pepper, cut into long strips
salt and freshly ground black pepper
selection of hearty salad leaves, such as radicchio, mustard leaves and mizuna
For the dressing:
60ml / 2floz natural yogurt
zest from the orange
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the crispy goat's cheese
100g / 3½oz panko Japanese-style breadcrumbs
2 tsp thyme leaves, picked and very finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 eggs, beaten
l00g / 3½ oz plain flour
150g / 5¼oz goat's cheese, cut into six portions
oil, for frying

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / gas mark 4. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat it up. Bring two large pots of salted water to a boil. Add the carrots to one pot and the beetroot to the other. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook them for about 5 minutes. Strain the vegetables and place on the hot baking tray. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander and the juice of half an orange to the hot vegetables, season and roast for 15 minutes.
Drain the liquid from the tray into a bowl with juice of remaining orange half. Add the strips of red pepper to the tray and continue to roast for 5-10 more minutes.
Wash and dry the salad greens. Set aside.
To make the dressing, place yogurt in a small bowl, stir in some of the juices from the baking tray (1-2 tablespoons should be plenty), then add orange zest followed by the lemon juice. Season with some salt and pepper.
To make the crispy goat's cheese, season the breadcrumbs with thyme, salt and pepper. Put the flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs in three separate bowls and keep them in that order.
Dip each piece of goat's cheese in the flour and then in the egg. Use the other hand to take it from the egg and add it to the breadcrumbs, pressing crumbs into the cheese to coat well. Repeat this process with the rest of the goat's cheese. Keep this aside until just before serving.
To serve, heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Carefully add the breaded goat's cheese and cook for about 2 minutes before turning it over. The breadcrumbs should be a golden colour.
Place the salad leaves in a large bowl, mix in just enough dressing and toss well. Divide the salad between six bowls.
In the same mixing bowl, add roasted vegetables and toss in a little dressing. Arrange in bowls with salad, place the warm goat's cheese on top of the salad and serve immediately.

MOTHER'S BAKED COD PROVENCAL WITH AIOLI

The title of this recipe from chef Jean-Marie Vaireaux of the wonderful ‘seafood only’ Out of the Blue http://www.outoftheblue.ie/ is a reminder that many chefs go back to the dishes remembered from childhood when cooking at home. Deliciously simple and perfect for this time of year - and some diners might also enjoy it with potatoes boiled in their jackets …

6 x 200g / 7oz cod fillets, skin on and thick near the head
bottle of dry white wine (Muscadet or Sancerre would be lovely)
3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 medium white onions, thinly sliced
2 lemons, thinly sliced and pips removed
2 fresh bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, snapped in two 2 cloves 3 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
crusty bread, to serve
For the aioli:
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 egg yolks pinch of saffron threads 2 tbsp milk 250ml / 9fl oz extra virgin olive oil sea salt

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F / gas mark 5 for at least 30 minutes.

In a large ovenproof dish, lay fillets of cod, skin side up. Pour wine over and around fish. Shingle alternating tomato, onion and lemon slices over each fillet (at least two of each per fillet). Place bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and cloves in the liquid around the fillets. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

To make the aioli, place the finely chopped garlic cloves, yolks, a pinch of sea salt, saffron, milk and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large jug or high-sided container. Blitz with a hand-held blender to mix. With blender running, slowly drizzle in the remaining olive oil until you get a smooth, mayonnaise-like sauce. Season to taste with sea salt.

Garnish the baked fish with parsley and serve on the table in the baking dish with aioli and crusty bread.

The atmospheric Global Village that Martin Bealin runs with his wife is all about ‘eat local’ and this is the perfect time to sample the area’s superb salt grass (‘pré-salé) lamb. Global Village is supplied directly by a local farmer but you can buy mountain lamb, including the famed Blasket Islands’ Lamb, from esteemed local butcher Jerry Kennedy. Martin’s SLOW-ROAST SHOULDER OF SALT GRASS LAMB WITH MOORISH SPICES AND STUFFING can of course be made with other lamb, but the Kerry salt grass lamb is unique.

120ml / 4fl oz extra virgin olive oil
25g / ¾oz ras el hanout spice 2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tbsp sea salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 shoulder of lamb - have your butcher bone the shoulder, but keep the bones for stock
reserved stems of parsley and coriander from the stuffing, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp coarse sea salt
For the stuffing:
4 tbsp olive oil
60g / 2oz butter
1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small handful parsley leaves, chopped (reserve the stems)
1 small handful coriander leaves, chopped (reserve the stems)
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
360g / 12½oz fresh breadcrumbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
60g / 2oz butter, melted -as needed
110g / 4oz dried apricots, quartered
60g / 2oz slivered almonds
60g / 2oz dry-cured chorizo, finely chopped

In a small saucepan, warm the oil, ras el hanout and sliced garlic over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes to infuse oil. Add salt and white pepper. Remove and allow to cool completely.

Rub the lamb with spiced oil. Make sure to get oil into every bit of the lamb. Marinate, covered in the refrigerator, overnight.

Remove marinated lamb from refrigerator and let it come up to room temperature for an hour or two.

For the stuffing, heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and butter and heat until the butter stops foaming. Add onion with a pinch of salt and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Remove from heat and stir in herbs. Stir in breadcrumbs and season to taste.
Use the additional melted butter to make stuffing into something of a paste, rather than dry crumbs. Add apricots, almonds and chorizo. Set aside to cool.