Archive for May, 2006
The Good Things Cafe - The 2 Day Kitchen Miracle Programme
Posted on May 25, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Cork.
I spent last weekend on a fabulous 2-day cookery course down in deep West Cork in The Good Things Cafe in Durrus. I honestly won’t be able to come up with enough superlatives to describe the fantastic programme that Carmel Somers put together. It is now Tuesday and I’m still buzzed and still full.
It’s not too bad a drive from Bandon - about an hour on the crappy but scenic Dunmanway Road. Durrus seems to have attracted a cluster of foodies to live there and the wonderful views may explain why. The Cafe is about a mile out of the village on the Akahista road.
I arrived to discover that I was the only bloke along with five women. They were a great bunch and consisted of Eileen from Thurles and her two daughters Mary and Catriona who were giving Eileen a birthday treat, Mairead from Cork and Lucy from Bantry (by way of Zimbabwe). Carmel was assisted by Rebecca from Spain and Helen. They were verrrrrryy patient with us as we stumbled over everything in a commercial kitchen.
The two days consisted of Carmel giving some demonstrations and then us trying to replicate her food or even do things from scratch using her recipes. Some of it was solo but mainly we did it in pairs which was much better fun and we permanently got in each others way. Apologies to Mary for eating all the smoked salmon.
Carmel seems to know everyone involved in food in Ireland (and good chunks of England too) and had a story behind every ingredient that she used. There was not a dull or quiet moment in the two days and her patience was endless.
Our first recipe was a pork chop with thyme and garlic. It turns out that, like us, she uses Martin Carey in Bandon for her meat and his thick chops were awesome. This was a simple simple recipe but [a] I forgot how to hold a knife I was so intimidated by a commercial kitchen and [b] when I finally managed to cook it, it was bloody gorgeous. We also did a spud thing whose name fails me (and whose recipe I managed to lose). We sliced spuds in a mandolin and then layered them up in a tiny frying pan, cooked it, flipped it and drizzled some butter on it. Kinda like a sliced version of rosti.
We made a bunch of soups, all of which were fab and also got on to one thing I have always founds “challenging” - bread making. As I explained to her, all of my previous attempts would break windows. After I came back from a few months in Silicon Valley in 1996, I spent weeks growing a sourdough starter in the hot-press. The first loaf I made could have been used to start a garden rockery.
So to say I approached this task with trepidation is putting it mildly. Carmel explained that she can nearly always tell which loaves have been made by the men because we knead it like we are trying to kill it. It wasn’t the first time she had to tell me to relax over the weekend (I also attempted to beat some eggs into a parallel universe). And ye know, it is far less stressful if you knead the thing gently. We left the dough to rise, split it in two, re-kneaded and then put them in the oven. And they all turned out perfectly!
Carmel then did some dough, rolled it out really thinkly, covered it in swiss chard and durrus cheese and popped it in the oven. For lunch we had that as the best pizza I have had in years, the pork chop, the spuds, some salad and some wine. Yum!
Then on to the recipes for dinner. Myself and Mary did a spiced lamb and aubergine stew which I made nice n spicy with some extra cayenne. I’ve become addicted to Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and add heat whenever I can. We also did a roast chicken with some tarragon butter under the skin. The way Carmel does roast chicken is so smart I will never do it any other way. The others another chicken and also a pot roast one.
We also did some desserts - banana in a stock syrup and lime juice, raspberries in syrup and rhubarb with ginger. I’m salivating writing about them. We also did a raw rhubarb, cucumber and mint salad which turned out to be really tasty.
All of the above made up the evening meal to which all of us could bring guests. Carmel was an absolute star and offered to let me bring a bunch of the food home to share with Catherine, so I headed off with food in car just as the meal began. Everything was totally eat-a-licious, nothing was left!
We had arranged to meet at the Schull Farmer’s Market at 10am on Sunday. I awoke to torrential rain. The one extra I got on my car when I bought it 5 years ago was ESP. It stops you spinning when you drive like a cretin on slippy roads. Anyhoo, the ESP light flashed all the way to Schull as I hit sheet after sheet of surface water. I genuinely expected neither vendors nor buyers to turn up. I drove past the market to discover a few brave souls setting up stalls and a few minutes later, the other students arrived, as did Carmel with kids in tow.
We sheltered in under the Gubbeen stall and the women interrogated Fingal and we all bought a ton of stuff off him: rashers of every sort, sausages, chorizo, you name it. A really friendly guy, hugely knowledgeable but in a very infectious and enthusiastic way. He also gave us big discounts for turning up in the brutal weather so I’m now his biggest fan. Mimi was selling some awsome looking cooked burgers but I was stuffed from brekkie. One guy was setting up sushi and a wok too. Looked interesting! I bought some herbs and carrots from the lovely German woman from Peppermint Farm. She had a very unusual set of herb plants, many of them medicinal. We all then booted it back to Durrus.
Carmel kicked off with a fish stock and then got us all to make a banana and chocolate cake. Mairead and her then started on the seafood risotto. I challenged them to make it in the advertised 20 mins as I have never made one in less than 35. The wenches did it in 19.5 mins. I still don’t know how. The rest of us prepped a pile of tiny squid. As father of four pooh factories, I was not as grossed out as some of the younger students. We all then had a go at the Alioli which was energetic to put it mildly. It was from a different world than Hellmann’s and I’ll be making it again (but using a machine!). We cooked up the squid with just parsley, garlic and lemon. Gorgeous. And all of the above made up our lunch along with some pan fried hake. We sat for ages and sipped wine and then coffee. I could not physically move.
It all wrapped up about 4pm and we all bought various bits n pieces from the shop and headed off on our separate ways, full to the brim and full of confidence.
As I said at the start, this is a fabulous course by a great lady. And you’ll be shocked to hear the price. €300! A steal. Think of the food and drink alone! Run to the phone and book a course. +353-27-61426, info@thegoodthingscafe.com.
And finally, I hope Carmel does not mind, but here is a short video of her in action jointing a chicken.
[tags]The Good Things Cafe, Durrus, Carmel Somers[/tags]
4 Comments
Meet your individual seeking
Posted on May 25, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Family, Purchasing, Technology.
Oscar the little sod broke the hinge on his DS again. Definitely a design flaw. The guy who provided the last replacement case no longer ships out of the US.
Luckily some knock-off merchants on e-bay are selling clone cases in a variety of colours. Got a replacement funky dark grey one for him for £8.88 incl postage from Hong Kong. Not only is their Englsih a joy to read, check out their spelling on Nintendo. Up there with Sonny, JUV and Panasunic! I’m not complaining, it worked like a charm and he’ll be a very happy new 7-year old when he gets up in the morning.
[tags]Nintendo, DS, Ninteudo[/tags]
2 Comments
Barbecue is a noun
Posted on May 24, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Cooking, Entertainment.
I could be a cynical smartass and say that the people in this movie look a little too close to Christopher Guest’s character in “Best in Show” but it really looks like a wonderful movie about people who are passionate about Barbeque/Barbecue.
The horror that we perform in Ireland is what they call grilling (or more accurately “incineration”). What these guys do takes hours and hours and hours. I’ve eaten the result in Texas - they should have Michelin stars. Some day I’ll try the Carolinas version.
Check out some of the video clips.
[tags]Barbecue is a noun, BBQ, Barbeque, Barbecue, Best in Show[/tags]
3 Comments
Sing along now “Oj,da da da da da da”
Posted on May 20, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
Technology in the wrong hands is dangerous. I just turned on the “Sing Along” feature on the Sky+ Box for the Croatian Eurovision entry. The first translation was “the grass has not yet sprouted”. I’m guessing their entry came from the Croatian version of Teagasc.
But my favourite was when they translated “Oj, da da da da da da” to……wait for it……. “Oy, da da da da da da”.
Brian has just been on and sadly had the same attack of sciatica that laid him so low in the semi-finals. Would they not just give him a wheelchair.
Lordi Lordi…….Lordi Lordi……Lordi Lordi.
My only worry is that the boots are hinting that Gary Glitter may be under the make up.
Wait a sec, how can the same woman be the Turkish entry for the competition and on Big Brother simultaneously?
[tags]Eurovision, Lordi, Big Brother[/tags]
5 Comments
Gosh those Germans do take their Eurovision seriously
Posted on May 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
I just did a Technorati search on Eurovision and most of the recent posts are in German.
One poor lad was so excited he was counting down the minutes: “Noch 20 Minuten bis zum Start des Halbfinales”.
Go Scorpions!
Pot, kettle.
[tags]Eurovision, Scorpions, Hasselhoff[/tags]
1 Comment
Albania to Win!
Posted on May 18, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
Any country brave enough to have a hobbit and a garden gnome as their backing singers deserves to win.
To be fair to Daniel O’Donnell Brian Kennedy, he did allow his grandad to be one of his backing singers. His song “Bacardi and Coke please Mafanwy” really pulled at the heartstrings like a bad case of angina.
The best aspect of his performance was that he decided to keep his thighs covered, a decision I wish many of the other performers had also made.
Now Eurovision, later Big Brother. Would they not think of merging the two programmes and put all the bands into a small sealed house with some guns and knives. Last (wo)man standing and still singing is the winner. I can only dream.
UPDATE 1: I take it all back, Finland to win! The Albanian hobbits must surely be hiding from the “never smalltalk a Finn” Orcs. Next year they’ll all be dressed like that.
[tags]Eurovision, Brian Kennedy, Big Brother[/tags]
5 Comments
Spoofer of the year award
Posted on May 14, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Humour.
Just spotted this over at Alex Barnett’s blog. His Dad sent him a link to some video footage. I have tears rolling down my face.
See link below for a glorious, hilarious mess-up by the BBC. A producer rushed to the reception area and mistakenly took a mini-cab driver to be a interviewed live on BBC 24 news as an “expert” on the internet about the Apple case. There is a video link - see the hilarious expression at the beginning on the cabbies face when he realizes it was a case of mistaken ID - he then bluffs his way brilliantly through the interview.
I’d love to have this guys ability to think on his feet. What’s even better is that it was supposed to be Guy Kewney, one of the most famous computer journalists in the UK. He’s a tall white guy with a beard!
[tags]Media, Guy Kewney[/tags]
4 Comments
Knight Industries Two Thousand is back
Posted on May 13, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment, Motor Cars.
It had to happen - they are making a new Knight Rider movie. I’m gutted to read that neither Hasselhoff nor the TransAm will feature. There are some fantastic suggestions over at Jalopnik for their replacements. My two faves are:
[1 ] Jeremy Clarkson and a Ford GT40
[2] Brokeback Knightrider with Jake Gyllenhaal as Michael Knight and Heath Ledger as the voice of the car.
[tags]Knight Rider, Jalopnik[/tags]
9 Comments
Sir Alan should see a Gastroenterologist about that gut of his
Posted on May 10, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
He clearly has a serious ailment in it. He gave the job to someone who thinks “I’ll give 110%” is a reasonable answer to “what can you do for me?”.
Hopefully he’ll put Michelle in charge of his hugely successful e-m@iler division. Or join Tim in the Face Electrocuter pyramid scheme.
[tags]The Apprentice[/tags]
4 Comments
Tonight’s Final - The Badginator vs Bride of Chucky
Posted on May 10, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
Only 20 minutes to go before the bloodfest of the final episode of The Apprentice. Everything I have read gives it to the Princess of Darkness but I’m still rooting for the woman who puts the Badger in Ruth Badger.
Ruth is like a good Tequila - it scares you just a bit but always delivers the goods.
I’m convinced that Michelle will turn out to be the prototype for Amstrad’s new generation of FemBot.
Does that mean Ruth is Steve Austin or Jaime Sommers?
[tags]The Apprentice[/tags]
No Comments
Looks like (s)he’s a future swimmer
Posted on May 9, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Babies, Family.
All is well in womb-land. Babba did some fine full body kicks during the scan.
5 Comments
I have an imaginary friend, he’s a T-Rex
Posted on May 7, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Babies, Humour.
Oisín, aged 4, has an interesting imagination. He’s come a long way since he shot out at 40 miles per hour without pain relief.
Four births, fours days of madness but I will never ever be able to describe it as well or as hysterically funny as this. Best blog post of 2006 so far.
[tags]Arse End of Ireland, The Swearing Lady[/tags]
1 Comment
Another fine Market
Posted on May 7, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under BandonFarmersMarket.
Saturday was showery and windy but that didn’t seem to deter the crowds to the Farmer’s Market in Bandon. I popped down with big sis Fiona and babba Fionn. Before I headed out I had been reading a great article on the “old” market in the Bandon Opinion. Well worth seeking out, particularly for the description of the overwhelming stench of s***te that used to accompany the market in the old days.
I took along my new N70 to snap a few pictures but I only managed to take a few. Apologies to any stall owners who have not been photographed yet.
First stop was the Baking Emporium from Dunmanway. These people make one of my fave products which we buy all the time in supermarkets around Cork - crisp breads. But these are not your average ryvita, they are packed full of flavour and texture and make the basis for a great lunch. There were none of those on display yesterday, just a great selection of interesting looking breads and cakes. I heard one of the people behind the stall say “nay” to one of the others. “ah, they must be Dutch” I thought. Then they spoke more and I realised they were German. I guessed they might be Schwabisch from the “nay”. Sure enough, the customer beside me said “my husband will be thrilled to hear you are here. He is from Stuttgart too”. It turns out she was also German and a big chat auf Deutsch ensued. I stood there remembering the summer of 1988 when a bunch of student engineers from UCD headed to Stuttgart, stayed in a campsite near Neckar Stadion for a while, then got rooms in a studenten wohnheim and worked in the kitchens of an altenheim outside Esslingen. I bought some lovely rye bread and mini-tarts. I had a sambo later with the bread and further reminiscences of salami sandwich breakfasts came to mind!
I was gasping for a cup of coffee and the Cork Coffee Roasters stall was exactly what we needed. Great lattes and some fine looking biscotti and kettle popcorn too. I got some of their ground coffeee the previous time from Urru but forgot yesterday. Dumbass.
I hadn’t got to Sonia’s Pickles the last time and made a beeline yesterday. She gave me some tastes of ones involving peppers, aubergines and pinenuts. It was a tough choice and many could be bought in either nice looking jars or bigger plastic tubs for the same money. I got two types and sis got a lovely looking rosewater jelly.
After not spotting them the last time, there now seemed to be eggs everywhere! I got some fine looking free range O’Briens ones. Fiona got some chicken liver pate from the same blokes.
I rounded the visit off with more super-delish choccies from Gwen’s.
Sis bought some great veg which had the reassuring mud still on them. Her only negative comment, which I agreed with, was that it was a pity that there are no fresh meat vendors there. There are guys who do their own organic beef at Skibb and Midleton. It’d be great to get similar in Bandon. Is there also a guy over near Aherla who has a big Duck and Goose farm? I’m sure they would be popular.
It really does look like the market is getting better and better. All of the new stands add to the breadth of goods on sale and I think it has already become an integral part of the Saturday shopping for a lot of people. Roll on the next one in two weeks time.
2 Comments
Next Bandon Farmer’s Market on Saturday
Posted on May 4, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, BandonFarmersMarket, Food.
Bandon Farmer’s Market
Begins: Sat, 06 May 2006 at 10:00 AM
Ends: Sat, 06 May 2006 at 2:00 PM
Location:
The Old Market Garden Bandon, Co Cork Ireland
Dianne Curtin sent me some updates for this Saturday’s Farmer’s Market. I’ll be there but I may be herding cats with all the kids in tow.
Just to let you know the next market is this Saturday May 6th and after that it will be going fortnightly till mid September. Demand from stallholders and customers dictated it! Support from everyone in Bandon and the surrounding area has been phenomenal.
There’s now freshly brewed real coffee on offer and hopefully this weekend there will be some food to go so shoppers can have lunch at the market. As well as that, this Saturday’s market will feature live music from a new band, ‘Gaslight’, aka Der Hurley, Sean O’Mahony and Mairead McCarthy, all local, who knock out great tunes from Van Morrison and The Beatles among others (weather permitting of course!)and there’s a face painter for the kids.
To tie in with the Bandon Music Festival on June Bank Holiday weekend, the market will also feature live entertainment, and a grand draw for a gourmet prize!
See ye there!
2 Comments
Bandon Music Festival in June
Posted on May 4, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Bandon, Entertainment.
Bandon Music Festival
Artist/performer: Multiple
Price: Free (buy tickets)
Begins: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 at 9:00 AM
Ends: Sun, 04 Jun 2006 at 9:00 PM
Location:
Bandon, Co Cork Ireland
The annual Bandon Music Festival is on from Friday June 2nd to Sunday June 4th. Headliners are The Saw Doctors and Aslan. But there will be music going on all weekend in many of the pubs around town. Hopefully we’ll have some street music during the day too. A good fun weekend. Check out the official site for more details.
[tags]Bandon Music Festival, BandonMusicFestival, Aslan, The Saw Doctors[/tags]
3 Comments
Never listen to a word I say
Posted on May 3, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
He got rid of The Tulip and is keeping The Black Widow! My only recollection of her over the entire series is swigging champagne in Top Shop. I have to hand it to her, she has slyed her way through to the end. Another dark horse like Tim last year? I hope not. But at least my fave, The Badger, got through.
Next week is must see TV.
[tags]The Apprentice[/tags]
3 Comments
Conor’s Top Tip
Posted on May 3, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Entertainment.
“The Apprentice” is starting. By the end of the programme, we’ll be saying goodbye to Bimbo and Bouncer. The final episode is between The Badger and The Tulip. You heard it first here.
[tags]The Apprentice[/tags]
No Comments
Sometimes the customer is an idiot
Posted on May 1, 2006, by Conor O'Neill, under Technology.
Our 9 year old tv has gone on the blink. It was a great 32″ Philips Matchline job whose only drawback was that it wasn’t widescreen. We started on the hunt for a replacement on Saturday. Tried Soundstore, Harvey Norman, Xtravision, O’Dwyer’s and a few online places.
Result? It is nearly impossible to get a high-end 32″ CRT TV any more. Philips, JVC, Panasonic and Sony have a tiny selection of wide-screen boxes with less functionality than four years ago.
The buying public have decided that they would prefer to pay triple the money for an LCD thing with a narrow viewing angle, awful reflections, crap black and rubbish brightness. Why do I feel like the record fanatics in the 1980s who tried to hold back the CD tide? I guess I am not part of the iPod generation which values form over function; “who cares what it does or how much it costs, it’s sooooo cute”.
Bah. I also have to make the horrible admission that I am seriously considering a Samsung TV. Has the world gone mad? Next thing I’ll find myself buying a Daewoo Chevrolet car. Neverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
[tags]CRT, LCD, Plasma[/tags]
4 Comments
