In honor of St Patrick’s Day, Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, has teamed up with five of the country’s top chefs to celebrate the quality and diversity of five key Irish ingredients: Irish beef, Irish salmon, Irish oysters, Irish blue cheese and Irish cheddar.
ONE
COOK A FANTASTIC IRISH STEAK TARTARE
Simon Lamont – The Walrus Room, London SW11
http://www.thewalrusroom.com
Irish steak tartare
Serves 1
Simon uses a prime cut mixed with a lesser cut. This gives the dish an incredible beefy flavor with a great texture. The secret with this method is chopping your meat in three styles. Fine, super fine and smooth!
Ingredients
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 anchovy filets, finely chopped
2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Hot pepper sauce (Encora/Caribbean style sauce), to taste
Freshly ground black pepper & salt
60ml mayonnaise
2 small shallots, finely chopped
90g capers, rinsed
4 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
100g Irish sirloin
200g Irish topside
To serve:
1 egg yolk
Lots of hot toast
A handful of rocket leaves
Method
For the meat:
Divide your topside into two pieces.
Chop 100g of it quite fine, with chunky morsels going through it.
Chop the other 100g super fine, more like a mince.
Chop the sirloin extremely fine, almost to a paté. Gently mix the three cuts together and refrigerate.
For the dressing:
Chop the shallots into a fine dice; roughly chop the anchovies and capers. Mix together with the mustard, ketchup, dash of hot sauce, mayonnaise, and Worcestershire sauce.
When ready to serve, gently fold the dressing into the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Top off with an egg yolk.
Serve with hot toast and a rocket salad.
TWO
SERVE A MOUTWATERING IRISH HEREFORDSHIRE BEEF FILLET ON THE BONE, CHICORY, BLUE CHEESE SALAD AND PICKLED WALNUT KETCHUP
Luke Tipping – Simpsons, Birmingham
Serves 2
This simple dish brings out the fantastic flavor of Herefordshire beef fillet, one of Luke’s favorite ingredients, beautifully enhanced by the rich creaminess of the Irish blue cheese salad.
Ingredients
For the fillet steak:
1 Herefordshire beef fillet on the bone
2 pinches of salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
Freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled walnut ketchup:
390g jar of Opies pickled walnuts
For the salad:
1 red chicory
1 white chicory
1 frisée lettuce
75g of Irish blue cheese, such as Cashel Blue
1 tbsp chives, cut into 1 inch batons
Walnut oil
Walnuts (1 per person, chopped)
Salt
Pepper
Method
To make the walnut ketchup:
Drain the walnuts (set aside the pickling liquid) and place in a small food processor. Blend on high, slowly adding some of the pickling liquid back to form a thick, smooth purée. Pass through a fine sieve and transfer to a clean bowl.
To prepare the salad leaves, cut the base from the chicory and remove any damaged leaves. Separate the leaves and trim the ends.
Trim the outside of the frisée lettuce and pick some nice pieces from the heart.
To cook the steaks, season with salt and pepper, pressing firmly into each side.
Place a pan over a high heat, add the oil.
Carefully place the steaks into the hot oil. Cook for approximately 2 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and leave to rest in a warm place.
To serve, add the red and white chicory, frisée lettuce, blue cheese and chives to a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper and dress with a little walnut oil.
Slice the steak into two pieces, place on warmed plate. Place the dressed salad onto one half of the steak. Spoon the pickled walnut ketchup onto the side of the plate and sprinkle the chopped walnuts into the salad.
THREE
COOK A HEARTY COTTAGE PIE WITH IRISH SHORT RIB AND IRISH CHEDDAR
Rob Kirby – Lexington Catering, London
Recipe extracted from The Family Kitchen (by Rob Kirby, published by Absolute Press), photo by Lara Holmes.
Jacob’s Ladder and Guinness cottage pie
For this recipe, it’s worth getting the short ribs if you can get hold of them; however, good-quality stewing steak will also work. This is a big recipe so allow yourself plenty of time – the result will be worth the effort. Hold back a couple of short rib bones or ask your butcher for a couple of fore rib bones for a fun garnish.
Serves 4 -6
Ingredients
5 tbsp vegetable oil
2kg Irish beef short ribs or 1kg best Irish stewing steak
4 large carrots; 2 roughly chopped and 2 cut into 1cm cubes
4 onions; 2 chopped and 2 thinly sliced
1 leek, sliced
½ bunch of thyme
1 tsp peppercorns
1 head of garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
440ml Guinness
2 litres beef stock
50ml Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the mash:
4 large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g butter
100ml milk
50ml double cream
100g mature Irish Cheddar cheese, grated
sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas mark 2.
Pour 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil onto a large roasting tray and place over a high heat until the oil is smoking. Generously season the ribs with salt and pepper and sear and color until golden brown, remove from the roasting tray and drain in a colander (cook these in batches to avoid crowding the pan).
Heat a further 2 tablespoons of oil in the same roasting tray, then add the roughly chopped carrots and onions, leeks, thyme, peppercorns, garlic and bay leaves. Cook for 10–12 minutes until the veg is nicely soft and browned.
Pour the Guinness into the pan and leave to reduce by half (around 5 minutes), then return the ribs to the tray and barely cover with beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Cover with foil and place in the oven for around 4½ hours, turning every hour until the meat is tender and is falling off the bone.
Carefully remove all the meat and bones from the pan and set to one side. Pass the cooking liquid through a fine sieve and pour into a clean pan. Place on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Skim and reduce by half (around 20 minutes; this should give you around 750ml).
Allow the ribs to cool, then pick off all the meat, shred and chop finely into a large bowl.
Place a saucepan over a medium heat, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil and then the sliced onions, sprinkle over a tablespoon of brown sugar and caramelise for 10–15 minutes. Add in the cubed carrots and cook for a further 8 minutes until slightly softened, stirring occasionally.
Add the caramelised onions and carrots to the bowl of meat, then combine with the reduced cooking liquor. Season, then place the mixture into either individual dishes or one large dish. Leave to one side and allow to cool.
Increase the oven temperature to 190°C/Gas mark 5.
Place the chopped potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, season with salt and bring to the boil. Cook until tender, then drain thoroughly in a colander. Place back in the saucepan over a low heat, add the butter, milk and double cream and season with salt, then mash together. Place in a piping bag and pipe on top of the cottage pies (alternatively, just spoon on carefully and fluff up with a fork). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Place in the oven and cook for 15–20 minutes until golden brown.
FOUR
RUSSLE A DELICATELY SPICED IRISH CONFIT SALMON SALAD WITH ONION AND CUCUMBER, DRESSED WITH LEMON AND CORIANDER OIL
Aktar Islam – Lasan, Birmingham
In this dish, the salmon is cured then confit, creating a melt-in-the-mouth consistency that also captures the vibrant flavor of Irish salmon.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 x 100g fillets of Irish salmon
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chopped dill
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp cracked coriander seed
Zest ½ a lemon
500ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
For the salad:
Handful of mixed leaves – rocket, watercress, baby leaf spinach and red chard
Selection of tomatoes, quartered
½ Red onion, finely sliced
½ Cucumber, in strips
1 tbsp coriander oil
Pinch cracked black pepper
Pinch chat massala
Salt to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice
Method
To cure the salmon:
Mix the salt, sugar, lemon zest and dill together and rub over the salmon fillet. Wrap the fillets with cling film and leave in fridge for 30 minutes. Wash the salmon under cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel and wrap in fresh clingfilm and place in the fridge.
For the salad:
Using a peeler make thin cucumber strips, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 20 minutes. Wash the cucumber under cold water and leave to drain on a colander and pat dry. Make the coriander oil by taking a handful of coriander and blitz with 50 ml of olive oil.
To confit the salmon:
Warm olive oil in a pan, use a thermometer; keep the temperature to 60°C. Place the salmon fillets in oil along with peppercorn, coriander seed and garlic. At this point the temperature will drop, regulate the temperature and maintain it at 45°C and leave the fillets in the oil for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
To serve:
For each portion; take a handful of mixed leaves, tomatoes, onion and cucumber; drizzle with coriander oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle over with chat massala, salt and cracked pepper. Finally flake the salmon over the salad and serve.
FIVE
SERVE HOT BARBECUED IRISH OYSTERS WITH PINE AND FROSTED WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
Pascal Aussignac – Club Gascon, London
http://www.clubgascon.com/about.php
The seaside flavor of Irish oysters is so wonderful it truly speaks for itself. This dish enhances that distinctive flavor by complementing it with the tangy taste of Worcestershire sauce and the woody notes of Shinoji mushrooms and blow torched pine needles.
Prepares 18 oysters
Ingredients
18 Irish oysters
50ml Worcestershire sauce
50ml water
5g sugar
50g Shimoji or scarlet mushrooms
Olive oil, to serve
White balsamic vinegar, to serve
Rocket cress or samphire to serve
300g pine needles, to serve
Method
To make the syrup, mix the water, sugar and Worcestershire sauce and freeze it. When frozen, scratch the top with a fork and crumble it.
Steam the oyster for two to three minutes.
Open the top of each shell, take the juice and put aside. Boil the Shimoji mushrooms in the jus for just 30 seconds to a minute. Season the mixture with a dash of white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Lay the mushrooms on top of the oysters and pour the mixture over. Sprinkle with some rocket cress.
Serve your oysters on a bed of pine needles. Using a blowtorch, flame the pine needles with the oysters above. Serve with the frozen, crumbled syrup on top.