ITALIAN FOODIES

I was driving past my local butchers Jim Flavin last week and spotted his sign for leg of spring lamb for just €20. I would never notice anything like this but I really have become more aware of my spending since this recession went into overdrive. I don’t think anyone expected it to get this bad so fast! La Cucina is still doing fine but is definitely down a bit but we are lucky in that we can just work a little bit more ourselves - about time I hear some people say;) To be honest we’re probably lucky that the new restaurant didn’t work out as this is not the time to be opening something new. I know we would have still done well but we would have needed to be packed out every night just to cover the bills and the cost of setting it up but that’s not guaranteed in this climate.

After seeing the sign for the lamb I went home and had a look through the Silver Spoon and found this recipe which sounded delicious, I had all the herbs required in the garden(best thing ever) so I popped back down and picked up my lamb and some potatoes. The recipe called for the lamb to be cut up into pieces which I would never be able to do myself so I asked the butcher to do it and he even carried my bags to the car - now that’s service. I also picked up 2 free range chickens as we had friends coming over for dinner the next day and they were only €8.95 each! I do go to my local butcher regularly but sometimes I do take the easy option and just buy meat and chicken in the supermarket but there is no comparison in those prices, I’ve paid up to €30 for a leg of lamb and €15+ for chickens so I know where I will be going every time now regardless of convenience or not.

what you need:

 - leg of lamb cut up into pieces. I only used half of it and have the rest in the freezer.

 - plain flour for dusting

 - olive oil

 - 3 fresh rosemary sprigs - you won’t get fresher than my garden.

 - 4 sage leaves

 -1 garlic clove finely chopped.

 - 175ml white wine

 - 5 tbsp white wine vinegar

 - 4 potatoes sliced as thin as you can.(note to self)

 - salt and pepper

what to do:

 - pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

 - dust the pieces of lamb with flour and season.

 - heat the oil in a roasting tin, add the lamb and cook over a high heat until browned all over. Keep turning the pieces.

 - season again and add the garlic, sage and rosemary and cook for about 5 mins.

 - add your wine and vinegar and cook until evaporated.

 - add 150ml boiling water and put the potatoes on top.

 - cover and roast for 30 - 40 mins or until tender.

 - if the gravy dries out just add a little more water.

 - when cooked transfer the lamb to a serving dish and EAT!!!

I loved this recipe, the dish was bursting with flavour and so tasty, I think I prefer to eat the leg cut up rather than whole so this will be on the italian foodie table a lot this winter:)

buon appetito!

We’re off to Italy next week on a one-way ticket and with the weather the way it is at the moment, I wonder if we will even come back:) We’re going North this time spending a week in a little beach town called Deva Marina which is situated near Genova and then taking a flight to Rome and heading to Atina for a week or a year. The MIL is from Genova and we haven’t been in a few years so I’m really excited, the camera is charged and ready to go. I doubt we will be eating out much though as Bru’s Zia Maura is an amazing cook and they have a fabulous house up in the hills with a huge terrace which includes an outside pizza oven looking out over the village. Bru’s cousin Roberto and his girlfriend own the only bar in the village on the beach so that’s the alcohol looked after too, we are just sooo spoilt!! 

In case you think I have forgotten my “behind the scenes” of opening the new place, I haven’t, we are still waiting to sign the lease. Both sets of solicitors are on holidays at the moment and are back next week so it “should” be official then. I have my photos and everything ready to go, we are still really busy with it regardless getting the plans passed with the health board and fire chief and coming up with the design for the restaurant floor. 

Not much summer cooking going on at the moment so an “old reliable” today, I haven’t eaten beef stroganoff in years and have pretty bad memories of it when growing up as it featured regularly in our house with the sauce made from a packet - “gasp” so I have stayed away from it until I saw it on Deb’s blog recently and decided to give it a second chance. I found a recipe in the Silver Spoon of all places and I have to say we really enjoyed it. It’s not a recipe that would regularly feature or your heart would suffer with all the butter and cream but it is perfect for these wintry nights in July:( 

                                                 
what you need:

 - 500g mushrooms sliced

 - 1 onion sliced

 - juice of half a lemon

 - plain flour

 - 250ml double cream

 - 1/2 tsp sugar

 - 1 tsp strong mustard

 - 2 fillet or sirloin steaks cut into strips

 - salt and pepper

 - butter

what to do:

 - melt a large knob of butter in a frying pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat until softened and golden brown for about 10 mins.

 - add the mushrooms and lemon juice, cover and simmer for about 10 mins, remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.

 - melt some more butter, season your steak pieces and coat in flour and add to your pan and cook for a few minutes, I like mine rare.

 - add your mushroom mix back into the pan with your steak and add your cream, sugar and season. Leave to simmer for a few minutes to let the sauce thicken.

-  remove from the heat and stir in your mustard.

 - serve with rice like Deb, matchstick chips like Rick Stein or baked potatoes like the “Italian foodies”:)

buon appetito!!

Ok, I know it’s been pretty quiet around here but I do have an excuse, well I have 2 really!! The first being the new house and the kitchen, it’s really nice but of course nothing ever goes smoothly, the oven and freezer are wrong so they’re gone back to Italy to return in 2 weeks so there will be lots of cleaning and packing over the next couple of weeks!!

My second excuse is that we are opening a second business, it’s all happened really quickly, we went to see it on Tuesday and shook hands on it on Friday. The contracts haven’t been signed yet so I won’t give the details yet but will let you know as I soon as I can! It is a restaurant, a rather large one at that, I won’t sleep for the next year, that’s if I have a bed to sleep in after all the money it’s going to cost;) It’s really exciting even though not the best timing as we are under pressure to open by Sept 1st so we have to start on it straight away so once we’ve moved house I can focus on it!!

I know this is a food blog but I just wanted to know if you would want me to blog about the new place, a behind the scenes look at our “stressful” journey of opening a food business or do you prefer to come here for the recipes??? I will still post recipes but just wondered if this is something people are interested in because I know I love behind the scene “stuff”:) and we will be taking a couple of trips to Italy to buy all of our equipment and source some wine of course. I await your comments or emails!!

What recipes I do post in the coming future will be of the simple kind because time is going to be an issue in the coming months so fast, tasty and simple food is on the menu!! This is really a non recipe as there is really nothing to it but sometimes those are the best!! The key to this is to buy the best meat you can, I got my t-bones from my local butcher Jim Flavin, he cut them fresh for me and they were huge, we could only cook 1 at a time.

what you need:

 - 2 t-bone steaks

 - 3 sprigs rosemary

 - 2 garlic cloves sliced

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil

what to do

 - season your steaks, mix your garlic, rosemary and olive oil in a bowl and pour over your steaks and leave to marinate for an hour or more if you can. If you can leave overnight you will have even more flavour but I’m never that organised so mine only got about 40 mins but schhhhh don’t tell anyone:), they still tasted good!! This recipe is all about the flavour of the meat!!

 - heat your grill pan until really hot and cook your steaks for 5-10 mins until golden brown and char-grilled on both sides!! We eat our t-bones medium rare and other steaks rare so cook according to personal taste!!

 - I know you are supposed to let meat rest for about 10 mins before eating but that never happens in our house as we are always too hungry but if you are not of the savage variety -  leave meat to rest!!

 - we served ours with a simple tomato and red onion salad!!

buon appetito!!

p.s. As time goes on it is getting harder to maintain this blog with the princess, she’s even interfering with my photos now:

I eventually had to sit her up on the counter and play with the kitchen roll holder while I held her with one hand and took the photo with the other!! Oh the glamorous life of a food blogger:)

I’ve recently been tagged twice so this is the first meme tagged by the lovely Jen!! It involves linking to 5 of my own posts using the following words:

family - the princess’s christening

friend - best bloggie friend has to be Laura, hey I don’t have to lick the screen, I get the real stuff:)

yourself - my disdain of sugar lumps I think!!

your love - the risotto king

anything you like - the stress of cooking something not Italian!!

5 people I tag: Laura, Val, Maz, Marie and Maryann  - my links don’t work with a few together:(

Back to the recipe, as usual this is so simple using just a few ingredients with delicious results!!

what you need:

 - lamb noisettes - I used 6 from the Superquinn superior range.

 - 1 sprig rosemary

 - 1 garlic clove

 - white wine

 - olive oil

 - sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

 - heat up your oven to 200 degrees

 - heat up a grill pan and season your noisettes and rub with oil. When your pan is really hot, cook your noisettes for 1-2 minutes on each side giving the nice grill lines.

 - place your noisettes and juices from pan, garlic clove and rosemary in an oven tray. Add a splash of white wine and cook for about 10 to 15 mins depending how you like your meat cooked, we like it pink!! If it is drying out add some water half way through or at the end just remove your noisettes and put your tray back on the hob, add some water and leave to cook for a couple of mins until the gravy thickens up a little, you can also add a little flour!!

 - serve with the cooking juices and some roast potatoes!!

 -  I did my roasties very simply without any rosemary and garlic as there would have been overkill!! Peel your potatoes, cut them in half and cook them for about 10 - 15 mins in salted boiling water, transfer to an oven tray, season, pour over some olive oil and cook for about 45 mins until golden and crisp.

buon appetito!!

Lamb is a very popular meat in Italy and is the main dish for Easter Sunday and Christmas dinner in Bru’s house - Italians don’t eat turkey and ham on Christmas day like we do!! Abbacchio is the name given to a dish traditional in Rome at Easter. The MIL actually makes something similar where the lamb is cut into pieces and cooked in a sort of egg and lemon sauce which is absolutely delicious. I’ve mentioned before that lambs are slaughtered at a younger age in Italy and there are different names used according to when they are slaughtered. I know we are quite far removed from the slaughter and production of meat in Ireland and I know I wouldn’t know the difference and didn’t even know myself that there were so many different stages of slaughter until I did a bit of research.
 
The last time I did a post on veal it provoked a bit of a discussion but I do think we need to become more informed about our meat, where it comes from, how it was raised etc myself included as I need to become more knowledgable about the meat that I eat. I’m always amazed when I’m in Italy and they know everything about the animal they are eating and happily eat most of the animal i.e. Offal - brains, bone marrow, sweetbreads, liver, kidney, heart and tripe!! This post is as much about teaching myself as it is to inform you!! So here is the science bit about lamb in Italy:

Agnello da latte(called abbacchio by the Romans) - these are milk fed lambs slaughtered at 3 or 4 weeks old, when their meat is very pale and tender.

Agnello - these are slightly older lambs, between 9 and 12 weeks old, weighing up to 15kg. These are both milk fed and raised on the pasture.

Agnellone - are killed at about 6 months old and the meat is mostly used in stews and ragu.

Castrato or Montone - the meat of the castrated ewe is more popular in Southern Italy where they love a stronger taste of lamb. The meat is of intense red colour and not so lean. It is ideal for stews but is also roasted if the animal is not too old, or even grilled with rosemary and basted with olive oil and lemon juice.

Pecora - meat from the adult ewe is used in the same way as Castrato but will be a little tougher.

Mutton - meat from an animal over 2 years old is mainly eaten in the South where many recipes were developed for it’s use in stews.

The most common methods of cooking lamb in Italy is roasting and stewing, in Ireland I think lamb chops and rack of lamb might be more popular- I know we rarely had leg or shoulder in our house growing up but then fish fingers did feature regularly so…..:)!!

Roasting - the best cuts for roasting are first the leg, then the saddle and then the shoulder. The shoulder is tender and tasty and this is what I used in this recipe but it can be fatty and is quite difficult to carve neatly.

Braising, Stewing and Curries - The front part of the lamb is particularly suitable for stewing or braising with vegetables and early seasonal produce, such as petit pois, artichokes and baby onions. It is also ideal for curries and cooking in an egg sauce. The front parts include the middle neck, shoulder, fore shank and rack.

Chops - small chops from the loin are particularly tender and are delicious dipped in egg, then in breadcrumbs and fried in butter. 

WHAT YOU NEED:

 - leg or shoulder of lamb

 - 4 anchovies from a jar or tin cut in half.

 - 6 sage leaves

 - 3 rosemary sprigs, needles removed.

 - 1 sprig of thyme(optional)

 - 4 garlic cloves - peeled and sliced

 - 5 tbsp white wine vinegar

 - 5 tbsp white wine

 - olive oil

 - margarine

 - sea salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - preheat the oven to 190 degrees

 - grease a roasting tin with margarine

 - using a small pointed knife, make small incisions all over your meat. Insert the sage,  some of your garlic, anchovies, rosemary needles into the incisions.

 - brush the lamb all over with olive oil, place in your roasting tray and season.

 - sprinkle the garlic and remaining rosemary on top, pour in the vinegar and wine and roast for 1 - 1 and a half hours depending how you like it cooked. I found mine drying out a little so I added some water to the tray half way through.

 - serve with roast potatoes and enjoy!!

Buon Appetito!!

reference - Carluccio and The Silver Spoon.

I’m sitting here watching the Ireland v Italy rugby match while writing this post, I can’t believe how much time has flown by since the last time we played Italy, the princess was tiny. Those were the days when I had time to make cakes, wash my hair, have a drink;) Due to the fact that most of Bru’s family abandon us for the summer to Italy, the babysitting services are a little bit limited. It’s so bad that myself and a friend went for a walk today with the 2 bambinos and stopped off at the pub for a couple of long neck Bulmers “al fresco” - we were just trying to help their sales and bring their shares back up;) The princess occupied herself by playing with a Budweiser beer mat - please don’t call Social Services:)

There is good news though, the MIL(mother in law) has returned in all her bronzed Italian glory baring gifts and more gifts for the princess, the majority being shoes. This child had a pair of D&G shoes at 2 months - I kid you not, they came in a take-away foil container!! Italians take their shoes very seriously even if it is a 10 month old baby. I brought her for her development check up today and the doctor was more interested in her shoes than her hearing:) She has a bigger wardrobe than me at this stage. I’m still waiting for my gift but somehow I think it’s just going to be a lecture on my parenting skills;) I’m finished if she finds out about the little Bulmers episode but knowing how small Limerick is she probably will!!!

I’ve mentioned before that the majority of the Munster team actually eat in La Cucina quite regularly, we even have a special menu for them. It’s great when they eat in as there is a great buzz around the place, Paul O’Connell, John Hayes and Alan Quinlan called in the other day on the way back from the airport after the French match. One minute there was no one in the shop and the next it was full of awe struck ladies. They eat a lot of pasta as part of their diet so our place suits them perfect, I even convinced Paul and John to buy some of my new tapenades - that’s how good they are;)

I haven’t posted a meat recipe in a while so here is a really tasty method for cooking rack of lamb from Olive magazine.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• rack of lamb
• olive oil - 2 tbsp
• Dijon mustard - 4 tbsp
• garlic - 3 cloves finely chopped
• rosemary - 3 tbsp finely chopped
• flat parsley - 4 tbsp finely chopped

WHAT TO DO:

 - put the racks in a dish flesh side up and make slashes into the flesh with a sharp knife to allow the flavours to penetrate.

 - In a bowl mix together 2 tbsp olive oil, mustard, garlic, rosemary and parsley. Season well and rub the mixture all over the lamb.

 - Cover and marinate for an hour or the whole day if you are super organised. We did the hour, organised doesn’t exist in the Italian foodie dictionary!

 - heat the oven to 200 degrees, put the lamb in a roasting tray and cook for 15-25 mins depending on size of the rack and how you like it cooked. We eat ours medium rare.

 - remove from the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes and serve with either parmesan mash or patate arrosto and broccoli.

BUON APPETITO!

P.S. There is a new blog at the other side of the blog world which I’m really enjoying at the moment as Maryann cooks really nice Italian dishes. Check it out www.findingladolcevita.blogspot.com

p.p.s I’ve been told that people have problems loading the site sometimes, me thinks this my fault as my photos are too big but I don’t know how to make them smaller - loser:) so I’ve cut down the posts to 4 per page. If you want to see older posts just click on archive section on the right. When I grow up I want to learn how to use a computer:)

This dish is a very traditional Italian recipe which means “jump in the mouth” and is the only main course in Italian cuisine whose recipe has been officially approved and laid down in Venice by a panel of cooks in 1962! I have heard of this recipe loads of times but have never eaten it, so while reading Paul Tullio’s review last Saturday I decided this was on the menu plan for the week as he had this for his main course and loved it!!

We love veal, our favourite ways to eat it is just simply dipped in flour, eggs and breadcrumbs, fried and served with a squeeze of lemon juice -”Cotoletta alla Milanese” or Bruno’s mom’s speciality “Vitello Tonnato”, this is probably up in the top 5 of our favourite Italian dishes! It is so delicious, it’s basically veal covered in a sauce made from tuna, anchovies, capers, cream and lemon and is eaten cold. I know it sounds like a strange combination but the flavours work so well together. If you ever see it on a menu - ORDER IT!!!

Veal isn’t very popular in Ireland for a lot of reasons, even my local Superquinn have stopped stocking it as it wasn’t selling which is a shame as I had to get it delivered from the Piccola with the princess’s consignment of veal and sole. Yes, you heard me right, her Nonna(grandmother) drops out her fresh sole and veal every week. She then has veal with courgette, carrot, potato all mashed up or sole with potato, onion and peas and both with a little parmesan and olive oil added! Nothing but the best for the princess:)! 

Now for the science bit- veal or “Vitello” is meat which comes from animals that are butchered when they are very young and this is why it is so tender, they are usually butchered around 5-7 months or younger and are not very heavy. They are fed exclusively on a milk formula which explains the delicate pale pink colour of the meat. The main benefits of veal is that it cooks quickly and is easy to digest. After pork veal is the most important meat in Italian cooking.

This recipe is really simple and great for a dinner party as it looks quite impressive, I served it with a couple of baked potatoes and Ilva’s delicious VERY HERBY AUBERGINES , without the mint - I just don’t like it in cooking, now Mojitos are a different story:))

WHAT YOU NEED FOR 2:

• 4 - 5 veal escalopes
• 1 slice of proscuitto per escalope
• fresh sage leaves -  1-2 per escalope
• unsalted butter or margarine
• plain flour
• 100 ml dry white wine
• salt and pepper
• olive oil 

WHAT TO DO:

 - lay out your escalopes and beat with a meat pounder until they are quite thin - mine were a little too thick and the veal is supposed to cook quickly.

 - season with salt and pepper and lay a slice of proscuitto and 1-2 sage leaves on each escalope.

 - roll up and fasten with a cocktail stick.

 - dip in your flour and shake off excess or just sprinkle some flour on top.

 - heat a glug of olive oil and your butter in a frying pan and cook the veal over a high heat on both sides until golden brown.

 - season with a little salt, add your wine and cook until it has evaporated.

 - Remove the cocktail sticks and serve!!

BUON APPETITO!!

p.s. the sticky out sage leaves are just for effect - I needn’t have bothered:)

Big news, the princess has the start of her first tooth, never thought I’d be so excited over a little tooth, it’s amazing how things change!!!Now I know this recipe isn’t Italian but we ate a lot at Bru’s house last week as I was working loads as one of our staff was on holidays so I was back full-time with a bang! After being on holidays, sorry maternity leave for 5 months I was absolutely wrecked and in no mood for cooking. Anyway it worked out great because Bru’s mom was on culinary fire, we had roast chicken, pasta with gorgonzola sauce, rabbit in white wine sauce, procuitto melone, home-made pasta with home-made tomato sauce, today was the icing on the cake with lobster salad and involtini which is veal stuffed with ham and egg. I know, we’re spoilt and we love it!! 

After this selection of food we decided to go traditional for 1 night, I had actually bought all the ingredients last Saturday at the Farmer’s Market. My find of the week last week was definitely cumberland sausage, I find it very difficult to get flavoured sausages anywhere in Limerick. I even travelled to Gareth’s in Raheen where I was sure I would find a good selection of sausages, they had a great selection of every type of meat except sausages. I was very excited to read in the Leader last week that a farm shop has opened in Curraghchase producing all their own pork, I’m going to try and get out there in the next couple of weeks and check it out, if anyone has been there let us know what you thought!!

 Anyway the stall in the market that sells the hot dogs also sells different types of sausages even though he was a bit reluctant to give them to me as he was running low, but I kind of begged him so he gave up and gave me 4. He then forgot to keep me my Italian sausage hot dog and gave it to someone else, we got off to a bad start but I forgave him when we had our bangers and mash. This recipe is based on a Jamie Oliver sausage and mash recipe.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 4 large cumberland sausage
• potatoes  - enough for 2
• 2 medium red onion sliced 
• rosemary  - leaves picked
• 1 clove garlic sliced thinly
• grated parmesan
• butter
• salt  and black pepper
• 1 beef stock cube
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

WHAT TO DO:

 - peel your potatoes and cut into large chunks and boil in salted water until cooked.

 - while they are cooking you can make your gravy

fry your onions in a little olive oil in a pot with the lid on for about 15 mins over a very low heat

remove the lid, turn the heat up and cook the onions until brown. Add your vinegar and boil until it disapears.

turn the heat down, add a knob of butter, stock cube and 1/2 pint of water, season with salt and pepper and let simmer.

I let the gravy simmer for about 20-25 mins until it was quite thick.

 - while this is simmering cook your sausages on a grill pan in a little olive oil, a few leaves of rosemary and your sliced garlic.

 - when your potatoes are boiled add a large knob of butter, salt, a glug of olive oil and 3 good handfuls of grated parmesan cheese. Taste and add more salt and parmesan if it is not the tastiest mash you’ve ever had!.

 - place your mash on a plate and make a tower with your sausages and pour your onion gravy over the top.

Serve once again with a bottle of chilled Peroni beer.

Buon Appetito!! 

 We love this time of year because lamb is in season and there is nothing tastier than spring lamb cooked simply with rosemary and garlic served with something light on the side, in this case french bean salad. I got really excited around March and took myself and the princess off to Superquin to buy some organic spring lamb which should have been succulent and tender at this time of year. But it was not to be, it “was tough as old boots”.

So last week I said I’d try again and I explained to the head butcher about my last experience and asked him nicely what he thought of the lamb at the moment, he didn’t take too kindly to this and told me very abruptly that it was very good and that I was the only one who had complained. Firstly I wasn’t complaining I just didn’t want to waste a lot of money again and have my dinner ruined and secondly he knows a lot more about meat than I do. I find this with supermarkets, you can’t ask about the quality of produce without them thinking you are an awkward customer even though I have to say I do find Superquin a lot better than others. This is why the Farmer’s Markets are doing so well as the sellers are passionate about what they do and there is always the personal touch with the customer. 

Anyway I bought the lamb and although not as tender as it could be it was still much better. I know they talk a lot about Irish lamb but I’ve never had lamb as good as  I’ve had in Italy. I think they slaughter them at a younger age (sorry to all you vegetarians) but it’s what happens there. It is so tender and the only way to eat it is with a squeeze of lemon juice and salt - delicious.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• spring lamb chops
• 1 sprig rosemary leaves picked
• clove garlic finely sliced
• olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper

What to do:

 - I like to marinate my lamb for about 30 mins before I cook it.

 - in a bowl mix your rosemary, garlic, a couple of glugs of olive oil and dip your chops into it or just pour over.

 - season with salt and pepper and leave to marinate.

 - cook on a hot grill pan to personal taste. We eat ours pink!!

 - remove your chops from the pan and add a little water and bring to the boil to give you a really tasty sauce to pour over your lamb.

 - serve with patate arrosto and french bean salad.

Buon Appetito!!