Blackberry Vinegar

To begin with it helps to save a few vinegar bottles. I find the SuperValu range very good as the shaker thingies come out easily for cleaning. Also the labels are easily removed. There is nothing more annoying than labels that you have to scrape and soak in hot water to get off glue.

I followed a River Cottage recipe (roughly) but halved the sugar.

250g blackberries
300ml red wine vinegar

Put the blackberries in a bowl and pour the vinegar over. Cover loosely and leave for 4 or 5 days.

Strain the vinegar mix through a double layer of muslin. Gather up the muslin and give it all a good squeeze until you extract every last bit of the liquid. Measure the liquid. Pour into a saucepan and for every 600ml add 200g sugar (the RC recipe adds 454g sugar). I got exactly 600ml out of the above quantities. Heat slowly stirring to dissolve the sugar and bring to the boil. Cool and pour into the cleaned and sterilised bottles. Label and store for a few months.

I had a small quantity leftover and used it immediately in a salad dressing (1 part to 3 parts extra virgin olive oil, a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and seasoning) and it was delicious but it will mature and the flavour will improve.

I also made one batch with half and half blackberries and blackcurrants and followed the method above. If you like you could add a bit of extra sugar to the blackberry and blackcurrant vinegar.

Squid Ink Pasta with Seafood and Samphire

 

 

Lidl are apparently selling squid ink pasta at the moment. I had also got some fresh seafood bought for me in a fabulous fish shop in Navan by the chef. Sometimes he does nice stuff for me. So what to do only throw it all together. Apart from being disorganised and using every pan in my kitchen, it was made in minutes and was really fabulous.

1 packet 250g of squid ink pasta (here it fed two of us)
2 slices of thick cut smokey bacon
1 clove of garlic
1 red chilli not deseeded but just finely sliced
fresh prawns (I used about 5-6 per person)
fresh squid (same)
Samphire (handful)
fresh herbs, I used parsley and thyme
Salt, pepper
Oil for frying
some retained pasta water
splash of white wine

Put the pasta into a pan of boiling salted water and cook for four minutes, after two minutes add the samphire. Drain but reserve a few tablespoons of the water.

Fry the bacon until crispy. Cool, remove and cut into pieces. Add the garlic, chilli to the pan and deglaze the pan with some white wine. Add the herbs. Remove from heat and set aside.  In another pan add some oil which can take high temperatures (rape, sunflower or lard). When pan is smoking add the squid and toss about quickly (do not overcook or it will turn rubbery). Add a ladle of the pasta water. Transfer the squid into the pan with the garlic, herbs etc. Repeat with the prawns until they turn pink. Remove and add to squid mix. Add the bacon. Heat the whole mix up quickly and add the pasta. Add more of the retained pasta water if it appears dry. Toss it around to reheat it. Serve immediately.

Serve with a chilled crisp white such as Sauvignon Blanc.

Mullagh Fair Day

PHOTOS - Mullagh Fair Day slideshow

A sense of colour, carnival and crowd hits you when you crest the hill that rises above the town. Followed closely by the smells of food and farmyard intermingling.  It's that time of year again, when Mullagh showcases it's magnificent self.

Mullagh is a small town in the south-east corner of Co. Cavan on the border with Co. Meath.  Mullagh (An Mullach in Gaelic means The Mound).


The fair day is held annually on the second Sunday in September.  It is an attempt to recreate the traditional fair day that was held here from 1828. In 1837, Mullagh had a market and fair for the sale of cattle and pigs, oats, butter and flax several times a year. By 1870 the fair was held on the last Friday of every month.  The traditional fair was one of the best and biggest in the north east, its proximity to the Virginia Road railway station ensured that cattle purchased in Mullagh could easily be transported to ports in Dublin and Drogheda.

The Mullagh Development Committee re-established the Fair Day in 1997 to ensure that the present population kept in touch with their rich historical past.  And to date they have done a fantastic job, organising it and working to ensure it is a hugely enjoyable day out for families.  Even in rural Ireland there is a sense of remove from our agricultural tradition and many children from the neighbouring towns rarely get so up-close-and-personal with farm yard animals.

The fairground attractions are a huge draw, in an age when childhood is dominated by iPads, wiis and game consoles.  To see a small child laugh with delight as they waltz in a giant Alice in Wonderland teacup reminds you that sometimes; the simple, old fashioned things are still the best.

Food plays a huge part of every festival now in Ireland and Mullagh Fair is no different.  A pig is roasted on a spit and the smell of it draws you in while at the other end of the town a sign advertises kangaroo, crocodile and wild boar burgers.   There are stalls selling cakes, buns and soda bread, and the now ubiquitous cupcakes, chocolate, cheese and vegetables.  Others are selling boxty potato cakes cooked over a turf fire.  

Traditional crafts are represented and this year, there were forging, knitting and basket weaving demonstrations.  An old style gypsy wagon was on display complete with fortune teller installed.  Accompanying all this activity were a group of traditional musicians.

Remembering the past whilst embracing the future makes the annual fair day in Mullagh such an enjoyable event.  And surprisingly almost every year the weather obliges and the rain stays away.  After all it would not be Ireland if there was not at least a nod to the weather.

Special thanks to Liam Daly and Tommy O'Reilly of the Fair Day Committee who gave me the historical information and photo.  All other photos not acknowledged are my own.

PHOTOS - Mullagh Fair Day slideshow 

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