Catering the Opening of Barriers Exhibition - A great marriage of Fine Art and Food

Happy new year to one and all. I do hope that everyone had a happy and healthy holidays and equally and healthy new year!!! We had a fantastic Christmas filled with family, food, fun and laughter, and a gallon or two of wine thrown in for good measure.

After all the partying of the holiday season, we are now well and truly into detox/diet mode! I should have began this healthy kick start ten days ago myself,  but I had one final event in my holiday calendar that was pulling me from going full blown Diet Diva. 

That event was the opening of Barriers, an art exhibition in the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery in Cork city last night. This was the 3rd year that Art Group 7, a collective group of art educators/artists from diverse backgrounds showcased their paintings in Cork City. 

I'm very proud to say that two of the artists are my sister Tracy and her husband Daniel Sexton, who are both not only fantastic teachers and are also unbelievably talented artists. The night didn't disappoint. Though I'm not a very well educated in all things art (my sister would call my artistically challenged, as did my first year art teacher), I found each and every piece exhibited both beautiful and thought provoking.  Certain paintings in particular had me mesmerised, and these thoughts were echoed by the other visitors to the gallery last night. 

There was a great turnout and plenty of wine and food to go around.....which brings me to the food aspect. I was delighted to be asked for the 2nd year to provide the catering for the dessert portion of the event.

 I love making canapes, and all things miniature. I am quite used to this as I host tea parties regularly. As I was making the canapes in Killarney and not in Cork, and also I was unable to attend the opening until an hour into the proceedings, I needed to provide canapes that required absolutely no prep work and that were tray ready from my house. Hence I decided on little mini tartlets filled with a variety of tasty fillings, also my mini Victoria sponges would travel well as would my mini caramel buttercream mini cakes. 

Here's a brief outlook on the food that hit the trays in the  CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery last night.

Mini Tarts

There was a mini drama with the mini tarts as I usually buy pre made pastry cases. However on Wednesday when I set about to do the shopping for the canapes, the cases were discontinued in the shop in town and I couldn't source them anywhere locally.

 I actually ended up baking over 120 mini pastry cases myself using shop bought shortcrust pastry. I made these over two days but they kept very well in an airtight container,so they were as fresh as the day they were baked on Friday. 

In the mini tarts were a simple combination of shop bought ingredients.

• Lemon Curd and Dark Chocolate
• Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate and Toasted Hazelnuts
• Raspberry Sauce and White Chocolate
• Lemon Curd and Meringue Pies

Mini Buns

I made approx 100 mini buns. I then decided to turn half of them into mini victoria sponges (freshly whipped cream and raspberry sauce) and the other half into caramel buttercream sandwiches. I used Carnation caramel, butter and icing sugar to make these cute little buns. I will blog the recipe in full in the next couple of days.

Chocolate Truffles

My chocolate truffles were a total accident and a kitchen rescue on some white chocolate and cranberry fudge that didn't work out so well. Never one to waste food, I decided my too soft a fudge could be rolled into balls and coated in chocolate and thus be saved and probably turned out to be something completely special in it's own right.

So there you have it, completely anti January food. It's the weekend so I'm allowed talk about calorific food on 'cheat days'. 

Anyone in the Cork area, get down the the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery to check out Art Group 7's best exhibition yet. You have until the 17th of January to pop into the gallery.

In the meantime, keep an eye on the blog and facebook page for some healthy, low fat January recipes!!!

Sika Lodge: From Shabby to Shabby Chic

What a crazy rollercoaster ride the last few months have been!!!! My passion for blogging didn't even get a look in the weeks were sooooo crazy busy. But now, open a few weeks and I'm beginning to hit my stride, find my feet, develop my routine, and make time to blog about the start of Sika Lodge B&B so far!!!

We met the construction deadline of 2 months with an hour to spare before our first guests and a full house. (we were powerhosing throughout the night and doing the final perfection adjustments.)

To get a feel for the kinda of scale I'm talking about, I've demonstrated with a few before and after pics of my kitchen.

My Office Pre Renovations

My Office During Renovations

My Office Post Renovations

So far, I'll been working my socks off to make sure all our guests are happy and fed little bunnies, because happy customers is where you reap the rewards of your hard work. I've already have  Europeans, Americans, New Zealanders, British, Irish (of course) and South Africans......all a real pleasure to cater for and some with very interesting backgrounds and stories. 

We have been very fortunate so far that our travellers have liked their expereience so much with us that they have given us full marks on Tripadvisor, helping us go from #89 out of 124 to #4 of B&Bs in Killarney within a month of opening!!!! Its really unbelievable. I'm so chuffed, it's spurred me on even more! But now that we have reached higher status, the pressure is on to maintain it. 

Tripadvisor Link to our traveller comments :

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186612-d463460-Reviews-Sika_Lodge_B_B-Killarney_County_Kerry.html

For those of you who have following my food blog, you'll know that my favorite meals to cook are lunches/dinners. I do love breakfasts, though in the past it was hard to give breakfast the time in deserved (most important meal of the day), when running out the door for work at 6.45am. Now, the story is different. I'm 100000% committed to creating yummy, tasty, breakfast dishes for my guests, using locally sourced ingredients where possible. 

I've found that in the B&B business the single most important ingredient you need is good eggs!!!!!!!! I can't stress it enough. We now get out eggs delivered daily to our door from Beaufort Eggs a local supplier with very happy free range hens. I've found no subsitute for free range eggs, be it in baking or even just boiling an egg. The taste of a free range egg can not be beaten. And your eggs are your most important element of your breakfast!!!

I went to Darina Allen's breakfast course in Ballymaloe to get the insider knowledge on the perfect breakfast! She was as always full of expertise, giving loads of recipes and advise for bed and breakfast operators like myself. I've been using her Tradtional Irish Cooking cookbook for a few months now and many of the recipes on the course are in that book. We covered everything from juices to breads and cereals to the hot cooked breakfasts. I'm much more experimental and confident having completed the course. 

I'd never baked muffins in my life, but after watching Darina do it in minutes, I said I'd give it a lash and now I have blueberry muffins baked and cooled in just under 35 minutes in the morning. 

I'll share my recipes and breakfast tips along the way, I've quick developed a love for baking, so watch out for plenty of scones, buns, and breads recipes. As well as my poached apricots and my hot breakfast options.

Full Irish Breakfast

Our Most Popular Option: Pancakes and Irish Strawberries

Muesli with Mashed Strawberries, Cream & Honey (my personal fave)

So that's what I've been at guys for the past few weeks, I have been cooking loads, and photographing , but not had spare time to blog the recipes!!! That will change now. Promise! I'll leave you with just a few snap shots I took on my phone of the views near the house when out running.... Killarney, oh what a wonderful place to live!

Please come visit us at Sika Lodge, when you'll leave with a smile on your face and a very full tummy!!!!

Visit our new elegant website: http://sikalodgekillarney.com/

Rome: A Culinary Weekend Treat

Rome…A wonderful getaway for some history, good food and wine!!

Just back from spending Easter weekend in Rome, still  recovering from the wine, cocktails and lemoncello, not to mention the carb feast of a weekend.

We arrived quite late on Friday night and decided to take up my parents’ recommendation of a restaurant not far from our hotel on Via Nazionale. Relatively easy to find Elettra on Via  Principe Amedeo, was definitely worth a seek-out. The staff are falling over you nearly with their friendliness and greeted us with complementary prosecco whilst we mulled over the menu.

I had made a decision to myself to try food I hadn’t tried before and but with all my favourites on the menu, it proved a difficult decision. For starters here I had a classic bresola, rocket and parmesan dish, with Alan going for his favourite, Parma ham & melon; another classic. Both dishes would be a doddle to prepare at home for a dinner party when under pressure. It’s just a quick assembly job, and like this restaurant, provide a rustic basket with crusty ciabatta and good olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I will definitely try to recreate my main course as an impressive dinner party dish…Turbot with Artichokes and Cherry Tomatoes…Divine. I imagine pulling this dish off would be mainly down to having excellent quality ingredients as there was nothing else to the dish. The turbot, perfectly cooked, was beautifully succulent, sweet cherry tomatoes and artichokes with just the right amount of zing! The perfect balance for a truly authentic Italian fish dish.

Alan went for a classic Saltimbocca al Romana, which was Veal, Sage and Parma ham with a marsala reduction.  It was just simple but also pure class. I think I will try this one with either chicken or pork, as veal is not an everyday staple of ours, but I think chicken will work quiet well and a great crowd pleaser. Only one night down and I’ve already 2 great mains to try to create at home Serena Medium Rare style.

Day 2 involved a very fast train (my ears popped going through tunnels), to Pompeii. It would have been the highlight of the trip if only for the constant torrential downpour we got from the moment we stepped off the train. Nonetheless we just grinned and bared it, got our guide and did a 2.5 hour tour. It was utterly incredible and a ‘must’ for anyone in the neighbourhood, or who has a day to spare in Rome.

Both my brother-in-law and my sister recommended we dine and drink across the river in the Trastevere area. So we asked our hotel receptionist to recommend somewhere and they said Sabatini in Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere. They said it was famous! So we agreed it had to be tried. Wow!! All I can say is wowzers! It was a fantastic culinary experience and urge anyone visiting Rome to eat there. http://www.ristorantisabatini.com/

Alan had a exquisite cold seafood platter to start, which was quite a pricy €14 so I decided to just get something small like soup and share his starter. I decided on the fish soup in a last minute panic when ordering, not looking at the menu price. What was served to me was truly heaven in a bowl. The soup, had a tomato base, but had baby octopus, squid, mussels, hake and jumbo kind prawn. The soup also had two slices of what must have been once stale ciabatta bread, transformed into a flavour soaking sponge. Great idea actually!!! Gonna give that a go in a soup recipe. This soup was so filling in fact I was very worried I would not be able for my seafood risotto main. Then when I licked my plate clean, I laughed at the thought of me not being able to finish a meal!!! The seafood risotto was mainly shrimp and mussels in a tomato base again and the risotto rice had a bite to it, it wasn’t very mushy like the risottos you might get here at home. Alan’s Salmon Penne was a very rich affair, but the plate wasn’t piled too high, so it left a taste of ‘more’ with it. The salmon was minced which was interesting. I think I’d have preferred it whole, but that’s just me being greedy.

We decided we were too stuffed for two desserts, though the atmosphere looking out of the Piazza we were sitting under our gas heater, we said we’d have coffees and share an ice-cream. When the bill arrived, I nearly died, my soup was €22!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who orders soup costing €22?????!!!!!!!!

Just as well it was amazing, I was rather ashamed I hadn’t seen the price beforehand!!!!

The final evening for dinner we went back to Trastevere, and after much searching for a restaurant, we found an authentic enough one that didn’t look like a total tourist trap. We have to queue (It was Easter Sunday after all)

We had the Parma ham and melon and deep fried baby squid and deep fried courgette flowers. I’d seen Jamie Oliver do the flowers on TV and was eagar to try them. They were really lovely, but I can only imagine the calories!!!! The main course was beef strips in a tomato sauce, delicious and simple served with a large steamed artichoke on the side; and this I imagine will be a doddle to recreate at home. This restaurant wasn’t as tasty as the night before, but felt equally as authentic and half the price!!!

During the day time we flitted between cafes stopping for yummy bruschetta’s, pizzas, more squid, marinated aubergine slices, spaghetti vongoli, and gelaterias for glorious Italian ice-creams, pistachio being my favourite flavour I decide, after yet another ‘cono’!

I’ll be paying for this gluttonous trip I imagine for some time to come on the cross trainer. Was it worth it though!!.........Every single bite!!!!

Top 5 highlights (in no particular order)

·         Ice-cream in Trevi

·         Pompeii, although wetter than wet, was unbelievable

·         Coliseum – a must!!!

·         The infamous fish soup in Sabatini’s

·         The view of Rome from the Cupola in the Vatican (though the journey up is not for the claustrophobic, as I learnt the hard way)

Homemade Pizza’s – Simply Childsplay.

Pizza making is a great way to get small kids to get involved in cooking, its also a great idea for a casual dinner party. Once the dough is made then the rest is easy peasy. The dough can be made the night before, and even better it can be frozen in ziplock bags, meaning an authentic slice of Italy is never too far away.

Ever the calorie conscious diva that I am, I usually go in for pizzas with ‘zero point’ toppings and a ‘zero point’ homemade tomato base sauce. By adding flavour in the form of chilli and herbs then the pizza can remain low fat and still taste delicious.

I tried to be a true pizza making hero and ditched the rolling pin, in favour of the traditional way of making them with my hands stretching, and tossing and flipping in the air. My advice for this method is, unless you are a true Pro, then don’t do it, more dough will end up on the floor than in your belly. Furthermore, I didn’t get anything that resembled a round pizza. In saying that, a rustic ‘circle’ gave the pizza more homemade’loving’ feel. I do recommend rolling out the pizza until the dough is paper, nearly see-through, thin. It gives a fabulous crispy base and less dough is needed, thus fewer calories, but more pizzas.

As far as toppings go, anything goes really. I don’t like to put too much on the pizza as I find if you overcrowd it, then the base gets soggy and nobody wants a soggy bottom!!

The list is endless for pizza toppings, you can add any type of meat, eggs, fish, veggies, fresh salad post cooking, and the variety of cheeses is endless. I like a traditional Italian pizza with just buffalo mozzeralla (low fat of course), olives and sundried tomatoes. Whereas my husband will go all out with a total meat feast of salamis, pepperonis, parma ham, bacon and pinapple (the pineapple makes him feel healthy).

I decided to make pizza over the weekend when I had a toddler to entertain. My beautiful niece Naoise is used to cooking and baking with her mom, so I thought it would be a great way to keep her occupied for  an hour or so.  The little munchkin came equipped with her own apron and rolling pin, meaning big business.  The making of the pizza I think, was more enjoyable for her than the eating. The smooth running of this was all in the prep. I had her own dough ready made for her, so she could play with it and roll it. I had her grated cheese and ham and pinapple pre-cut and ready to go also. She got a great kick out of it and stayed quietly eating her pizza for an hour at the table, allowing us a chilled out time for grown-up pizza and white wine! If you are having  kids over, or planning a kids birthday, then judging by the response the pizza making got from Naoise, a pizza making party should go down well. A word of warning though, be prepared, very prepared for a messy flour covered kitchen.

Serves 6 pizzas

Ingredients

Tomato sauce base

(You can use passata from a carton/jar if time is of the essence)

Alternatively:

·         Tinned of peeled tomatoes

·         1 onion finely diced

·         1 garlic clove, minced

·         ½ red chilli, deseeded and chopped (no chilli for children)

·         1 tbsp of tomato puree

Dough

·         650g 00 flour

·         7g of fast action yeast
·         25mls of olive oil

·        50mls  Milk

  ·        325ml  warm water

·         2 tsp of salt

Toppings

·         Dried Oregano

·         Chilli Oil

·         Low fat Mozzerella

·         This is a personal choice. Feel free to use which ever you like best to create your own individual pizza. I like olives, sundried tomatoes and rocket.

Suggestions

Ham & Pineapple – what it says on the tin!

Meat Feast  -  salami, pepperoni, parma ham, bacon bits, jalapeno peppers

Veggie Heaven – courgette, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, sweetcorn

Method

The tomato sauce and the dough can be both premade 24 hours in advance, even frozen.

The Tomato Sauce

1.       Get a pan on the heat and sweat the onions and garlic for 5 minutes

2.       Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced down considerably.

The Dough

I got the dough recipe from the BBC Good Food website, there are lots of different versions out there, this is Silvano Francos take on it, and it was simple and gave a really great crisp dough, that didn’t feel stodgy.

1.       Add the flour, salt and yeast to a bowl and mix well.

2.       Add the milk and oil and mix well, and then gradually add the water and mix to form a soft dough

3.       Dust the work surface with flour and turn the dough out onto the flour.

4.       Kneed continuously for 5-10 minutes. Once the dough isn’t sticky and is elastic, place in a clean bowl that has been rubbed with olive oil.

5.       Cover with cling film and leave for 2 hours to rise.

6.       At this stage if leaving overnight just refrigerate, and take out of fridge 2 hours before you wish to use.

7.       When ready to use the dough, flour the work surface again, and turn out the dough to the flour. Kneed again for 5 minutes to knock out the air.

8.       Shape the dough into a sausage shape and cut into equal balls.

9.       Roll the dough into rounds and place on baking paper on a tray.

The Pizza

1.       Have the oven preheated to 200 degrees.

2.       Smear the tomato sauce over the base, leaving ½ inch clear on the edges. Use only 2 tbsp of sauce per pizza (the base will have a very soggy bottom otherwise)

3.       Then top with your preferred toppings and sprinkle with oregano.

4.       Bake in the oven until the dough is cooked and cheese melted, approx. 15 minutes. Careful it doesn’t burn.

5.       You may wish to add herbs/rocket/chilli oil just before serving.

6.       Give a generous helping of black pepper, and a glass of crisp white wine is a must!

How to Woo a Guy (or girl) in 5 Courses

The evolution of this post is two-fold.

 I thought I’d

a)      do something a bit more fun on the blog

And b) cook a romantic dinner for my husband.

This is my romantic, stress free advance prep menu that’s guaranteed to set the mood and tickle your guys taste buds and impress the hell out of him. You want ideally to achieve the whole ‘slaving over the stove for you all day cause I love you’ look, when in actual fact it was totally easy peasy!!! He’ll be putty in your hands for a good few days at least. 

Who does sexier better than the French? I’m not talking fancy fussy French cuisine, I mean oozy sexy Parisian Bistro food!! This menu is ideally intended to bring us back to a Paris Cafe that serves beautifully cooked food, with a sexy gusto! 

To achieve this stress free cooking, with time to spare to beautify yourself and have a cooks treat glass of vino, is all in the prep!!

1. Plan your menu at least a day or two in advance.

2. Write out all the ingredients you need to buy and check that you have all the store cupboard ingredients in stock.

3. Next step is to buy all the ingredients.

4. Write out your recipes step by step and put them on your fridge.

5.  Start with the parts of the meal that can be made ahead, this will get rid of any stress you may have, knowing you are already to having things ready.

The Menu

Why not start off the proceedings with a glass of champers with a strawberry puree. You can’t get sexier than that! Just Whizz up a few hulled strawberries and pour into a champagne glass, then top with champers, cava or prosecco.

Chilli Crab & Avocado Crostini

The menu is about providing visually impressive, sexy dishes that taste superb and are light on the stomach. The last thing you want on a romantic dinner date is to be stuffed and in pain after eating too much heavy rich food. You’d both wind up on the couch with the top button of your trousers open telling each other how full ye are. Not a sexy look!!!

It is for this reason that I’ve chosen a particularly light starter, of chilli crab and Avocado Crostini. The crab is so light and zingy and refreshing, it’s a perfect choice for a romantic dinner. It’d simply to prepare with no cooking involved, allowing you to get on with the main course. For the recipe please click http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.com/2012/02/chilli-crab-and-avocado-crostini.html

Pan Fried Duck Breast with Red Wine Reduction

The main course I’ve chosen is duck breasts, they’ve always be seen as a sexy dish (don’t ask why). Lots of girls don’t go for red meat so this is a compromise really and also duck is expensive to buy so it’s something that wouldn’t be cooked at home too often. I do owe this recipe to Whelan’s Butchers.(http://www.jameswhelanbutchers.com) The red wine reduction is the perfect accompaniment to the duck breasts. For the recipe please click http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.com/2012/02/mille-feuille.html

Mille-Feuille

Finally the piece de resistance, love heart mille-feuille. Mille-feuille is a French cream bun made consisting of mainly cream and pastry. I have a quick cheat version that is a doddle to prepare and once assembled, looks amazingly impressive. It’s so pretty its near criminal to bite into it. For the recipe click http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.com/2012/02/mille-feuille.html

Boozy chocolate truffles

As a finish to the evening, why not whip up some decadent boozy chocolate truffles to have with a shot of espresso. These truffles can be prepared a good few days in advance and kept in the fridge in a well sealed jar. They are simple to prepare and go down really well. For the recipe click http://serenasmediumrare.blogspot.com/2011/06/boozy-chocolate-trufflescaptain-morgan.html

Top tips for this meal to succeed with minimum stress on the day: ·      

·         Have the truffles made a day or so in advance      

·         Defrost the pastry       

·         Use the baking potato method for the potatoes, just scrap out the filling when cooked and mash with milk and butter. (That way you don’t have to worry about over boiling potatoes in water, when sometimes forgotten about turned to watery mush)

·         Toast the bread for the crostini in the oven    

·         Make the pastry layers as soon as pastry is defrosted. (It’s easier than you think)     

·         Mix the crab meat with a little chilli, lime, and mayo and chill.      

·         Mash the avocado with the coriander, lime and spring onion and also chill· Now the starter is  just a quick assembly job.      

·         Keep the potatoes in a bowl with cling film, in a bain maire until required.(will keep perfectly for an hour or so)

·         Have the duck breasts prepared (skin scored and ready to rock the pan!!), and the sauce ingredients chopped and covered in cling film until needed.

·         Finally…

·         Relax, have a great evening and sit back and accept all the compliments!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY