Stinging Nettles

Posted by WiseMóna    38 Comments    in Kitchen

Nettles get a bad rap around here. I am not sure why.

I know they have those hairy hypodermic needle-like bristles that emit a formic acid, which, on bare flesh, causes a sting that can last from a few minutes to 24 hours, (baking soda will neutralize the acid if you get stung), but I do not think that is a good enough reason to steer clear of them.

They are more than plentiful for eight or nine months of the year and they are free. They literally grow along the side of the road. March is the season when they start to surge and you will notice their glossy green heads everywhere you go around these parts. Although I could pick them off the side of the road there is no need. They favour the surrounds of the Chefs polytunnel,  so I had one of the kids rescue me a batch before they left for school this morning.

When I got back from the school run I noticed a small enamel pot outside my front door with a note taped to it. The note read ‘On loan only. Please return when you are finished‘. Filled to the brim with rich yellow cream it was. I am guessing my friendly farmer meant I had to return the pot as soon as I was finished, but taking his message literally, I set about to return the cream to him in a more edible fashion.

Little stingers

If you still need a bit of convincing as to why you should be eating (or drinking) more nettles then take a peek at the nutritional value of nettles so you can make a more informed decision for yourself. And if it is the stingers that are keeping you away wear gloves and use a kitchen tongs and scissors.

I always soak mine in a bit of salted water incase there are any uninvited bugs hanging around.

Beautiful Butter

With all that cream the best thing to do is come up with a way to preserve it. We only use real butter here at chez Wise. No schwag stuff. Receiving a few gallons of fresh dairy cream as a gift gave me the opportunity to make a few pounds of butter that we can keep in the freezer for a few months, or share with friends. If you have never made butter then you are in for a surprise. It is dead easy. Pour cream into the food mixer – using the paddle attachment – and turn it on high until the butter forms. Depending how much cream you have in there it might take ten minutes or longer. When we returned home to Ireland several years ago it took forever to convince the Chef that Kerrygold did NOT add yellow food coloring to their butter. He has still never come across cream with such color. Grass fed = happy cows = beautiful butter.

Once your butter has formed into what might look like very yellow cottage cheese curds, line up a strainer with cheese cloth and a bowl underneath. Pour it all into the cheesecloth strainer and save the buttermilk. This makes a thoughtful gift for a friend that loves to bake. It is very low-in-acid tasting but makes fabulous baked goods.

Now that you have butter all lined up and ready to go you can decide what you want to do with it. I like old fashioned salted country butter so I made one batch with salt – for me. I also made one batch with bacon because the kids love bacon butter on their baked potatoes. What is not to love. …. mmmm bacon.  And the final batch was a combo of salt and stinging nettle.

Essential Ingredients

I dropped the nettles into a pot of (already boiling) ham that is slowcooking for supper later. The nettles sting is stifled the minute it hits the water. As soon as it comes out, shred it with your chopping knife, stems and all.

Steam the sting right out of the nettles

After you have your nettles shredded and your bacon obliterated, then divide your butter into three separate portions and start mixing. I think doing this with your hands is just fine. A lot of butter making folks use the fancy paddles and ice cold water baths etc. but all of that takes time and is, in my opinion, not necessary at all.

The butter will take any form you like and freezes for months. No need to feel bad that you do not have a friendly farmer dropping (illegal) milk or cream on your doorstop. This works just fine with any old shop cream. I expect, were you to use double or heavy cream, your butter might in fact taste better than mine.

Beautiful little butters

Go foraging with friends for nettles and use them in many different ways. Make warm milk with infused nettle and a bit of honey for a bed time drink, add nettles to your bowl of buttered mashed potatoes, to your soup, to your stews. Dried nettle leaves act as a natural anti-histamine and the fresh leaves have been known to relieve pain from arthritis. In the summer infuse a large bunch with freshly squeezed lemons and make a souped up lemonade for the kids.

Oh – and one more thing – they taste great!

We have a date set for the book launch folks. If you are interested in coming along then make sure you get on the mailing list right here!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMona

Buckwheat Blinis with Goatsbridge Trout Caviar

Posted by WiseMóna    33 Comments    in Kitchen

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY !!!!

Ok – now that we have gotten that out of the way I can get down to business.

I am a creature of habit. Every Friday we have an after school snack with the kids. We always have fish. Sometimes we have sushi, sometimes we have a piece of smoked fish from The Burren Smokehouse or sometimes we have shellfish, like a big bowl of mussels. We all hang out in the kitchen and we listen to the kids natter on about their week and we usually have a few beers. Good clean fun.

Earlier in the week, one of my blogging buddies, Margaret from Oldfarm, mentioned that it seemed like we got a lot more sun here in Galway than she gets in Tipperary. I am doubtful of this myself. I explained that I just had a Chef-in-residence who is normally more than willing to drop what he is doing to help me fix something for a pretty photo and capture that, sometimes, fleeting sunshine.

This week – our treat was a little extra special because I had procured a jar of Goatsbridge Trout Caviar.

Peter from Cases Wine Warehouse, had encouraged us to try another great Irish Beer. Ah, shur why not? On a side note, because this is not a beer-review-blog-post, this is a food beer and goes exceptionally well with the Blinis and Goatsbridge Trout Caviar. If you would like to buy some of the Irish Trout Caviar you can get buy it direct from LaRousse foods. I think you should treat yourself. It is just delicious. Every little orange orb sits on your tongue waiting for you to put just enough pressure on it between tongue and teeth before it explodes releasing the most delicious essence swirling around your gums. Tastes. Like. More.

Now, I know what you are thinking. How in the heck did it get so sunny? I know. The sun actually cased a few problems for me this afternoon while I was getting the shot ready. The Chef was making the Blinis and having a beer and I was almost wishing I had curtains. But I do not like curtains. I like the natural light. So we just waited a few minutes for it to get cloudy.  Besides, if I got curtains, then I would have to worry about getting cushions to match and then y’all would be asking me where I go my fancy cushions and the chef might get annoyed that no one would be looking at the food.

So here it is. Our little Happy St. Patricks Day greeting to you guys. We are spending the evening with friends and will be dining on a lovely piece of Garrendenny Goat tomorrow. 

We hope you have a gorgeous weekend with your friends and families!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today.

WiseMóna

http://verygoodrecipes.com/saint-patrick-challenge

Glorious Garrendenny Goat

Posted by WiseMóna    30 Comments    in Kitchen

Garrendenny Goat 'Flank n' Shank' Stew

I am on an unofficial break from blogging. I did not plan it this way. I have a folder full of unpublished drafts.  Stories and photos of lovely restaurants we have eaten at recently and a few exciting giveaways coming up once I get closer to releasing the book.

Right now I feel like I am treading water and at any given moment I might dunk n’ drown OR soar n’ swim. It seems, dear readers, there is no in between. I must keep my head in the book, as it were, until the book has completed itself. And then, if Blogtopia waits for me, I will get back to telling stories of what an unbelievable experience it is able to ‘take a year out of traditional studies to live the life of a writer – editor included’ for any college student.

There are all but a few weeks left with the April 12th deadline looming closer and closer. Incidentally, if anyone wants to come to my house on Friday April 13th for an all-out hoolie – sign up here!

Garrendenny Goat 'Flank n' Shank' (iPhone photo)

What dragged me out of my book worming, and has turned into an tasty blog-break indeed, was a gorgeous piece of Goat meat we cooked last night. Goat meat is not all that easy to come by in Galway so when my friend Lorna of Garrendenny Lane asked us if we would be interested in one of her goats, we were only too happy to sign up for one. Last summer we took a visit down to Lorna’s farm and saw the goats first hand. I could only imagine that considering the care and love her animals receive, not to mention the excellent diet they are fed, the goat meat would surely turn out as delicious as the pork from Oldefarm. It seems, we now have Pork and Goat producers all squared away. Now I just need to find a great (small) Beef producer. Any recommendations?

The Chef had clear instructions. Butcher his goat in four pieces (only) and hang it for two weeks. Sounds reasonable enough doesn’t it?

The practice of dry-aging meat here in Ireland seems rare. I know it is time consuming, and unless you have a keen sense of smell and excellent humidity and temperature control, you could run the risk of loosing your precious meat – so care does need to be taken when dry-aging meat.

The folks from Oldfarm, who recommended their butcher for the job, acted as the distribution center for all this goat meat and, in an excellent display of barter and trade, were able to trade some of their pork meat for some of Lorna’s goat meat. Don’t you just love when foodie-farming-folk come up with these kind of sharing arrangements? I do!

We took delivery of our hung and butchered goat last Friday. I was curious to see what it looked like and was immediatley drawn to the ox blood color of the flesh. The Chef was happy to see it was not huge, we prefer smaller animals because the meat is typically a lot more tender, and he was also impressed at the level of marbling in the meat too. This shows that they have had a great diet and have been neither underfed nor fattened for the kill.

After we laid it all out on the countertop the Chef butchered it to his pleasing, which was mostly all big joints because we are feeding a small army and he hates ‘small chops’ and pieces that dry out or overcook too fast, we wrapped and packed it in butcher paper and labeled it all for the freezer.

We did hold back a few ‘starter’ pieces to sample and decided on having a Garrendenny Goat Flank n’ Shank Stew.

When preparing the Goat meat, we treated it exactly the same as you would Lamb. We rubbed the raw meat down with olive oil, then gave it a serious crust of salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Dropping it into a heavy bottomed pot to sizzle and spit for a few minutes, I was surprised at how little of a ‘smell’ we were getting from the pot. Beef and Lamb both will quickly throw off a meaty smell, but the goat was milder for some reason.

Next, we removed the meat from the pot and tossed it in a large bowl of flour then right back in to the pot it went with a touch of olive oil. The flour, which might burn if you are not careful, helps thicken up your sauce later and it is necessary. Do not use Bisto. Please.

With all the meat in the pot we drizzled in a 1/2 cup of worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of hot sauce and two tablespoons of cider vinegar. Things started to really sizzle so we threw in a whole head of garlic, two onions, a few sticks of celery and a couple of carrots; none peeled – but all cut in half. Then a handful of fresh herbs (Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Remember me to one who lives there, She once was a true love of mine)   and we are back…

Garrendenny Goat 'Flank n' Shank' getting ready for the long haul (iPhone photo)

Next, a tin of tomatoes before we added the water, enough to cover the meat two-thirds of the way. Then after placing a tight fitting lid on the pot we cranked the heat up and waited for it to come to a rolling boil; reduced the heat and walked away. We left the pot on the stove for three hours long without lifting the lid once.

We were childless for the day thanks to my Mum so we went for a very long walk and enjoyed a quiet lunch – alone – with no noses to wipe. It was lovely. When we got home we were greeted at the door by a very enticing smell. Dinner, was most certainly done.

My little moo cows

I have inserted this little picture of my new favorite toys. The Chef found them at a flea market yesterday and I think this represents what I am about to say. It is so important that our children understand where food comes from. Lorna’s goats were affectionate, well groomed and filled with personality when we went to visit them last year. We explained to the kids that this was ‘who’ their supper was and aside from wondering which one was ‘Rolo’ (a favorite no doubt) they just forked in, and enjoyed it. They enjoyed ‘all’ of it.

Gorgeous Garrendenny Goat 'Osso Bucco' style

We served ours with a gorgeous gremolata, a brown basmati rice blend and a salad. There might have been an incredible loaf of bread on the table too. Well – look at all that juice! What is a girl supposed to do, use a spoon?

The Garrendenny Goat Meat is beautiful. I can’t say that there is a huge taste difference between Goat and Lamb – but what is noticeable is the quality of the meat and the tenderness. Here is a link to the nutritional content of Goat meat. There are many that insist Goat can be a bit gamey and should be eaten in a curry but in this case, I think that would be a crime. We are going to grind up some of it later this week and make Goat burgers. I will let you know how they turn out!

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Buttermilk Plant

Posted by WiseMóna    47 Comments    in Kitchen

I assumed it was a house plant. I hesitated to get excited about receiveing this in to my home because, and here is a huge big dirty fact folks, the Chef and I kill houseplants. Not intentionally mind. We just can’t seem to manage to keep them hydrated enough. Everything flourishes and grows in the garden outside and in the polytunnel, but bring it indoors and you can kiss it goodbye.

Buttermilk plant envelope

A friend of ours dropped off a – kind of smelly – jar with something like a fungus growing in it. White and curdy…a little like cottage cheese without the cream. There was a sealed envelope with it, from our friends Mum. It had instructions.

Instructions for Buttermilk plant

I was a little apprehensive at first. It did smell sour and felt a bit funny. Dry and rubbery but easily smushed between the fingertips.

So, seeing as the Chef is the chief baker around these parts, and clearly the buttermilk is for him, I let him wash the plant and set it up for its first milking.

Dry Buttermilk Plant

And then we waited. While we waited for a day or two,  I did a bit of googling to discover that  if you are so inclined, you too can have a buttermilk plant of your own by following the instructions on this website.

Make a bit of buttermilk

The reward, after adding a bit of milk and waiting for two days, is a beautiful rich creamy buttermilk. Now, before you go all ‘shur could you not run out and buy some buttermilk’? on me – I know. If you have to use milk to actually make the buttermilk it might end up costing the same or more as buying buttermilk from the shop. I get it. The reason bakers love to have this in their home, and now in our fridge, is because at any given moment you can bake anything you want – especially something that requires buttermilk. It is a convenience thing. One my Chef is tickled pink with.

Add a little milk after washing

So, seeing as there is buttermilk a plenty in the house…… then you know as well as I do what that means.

We are more than well prepared for Pancake Tuesday (which is next week!).

Are you?

Stack of buttermilk pancakes

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today!

WiseMóna

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Posted by WiseMóna    44 Comments    in Kitchen

Mexican Wedding Cookies – Lovely slate tiered cupcake stand from Slated

He called them ‘Hit or Miss’ cookies because he had not made them in a very long time and had no idea how they would turn out.

He gave me clear instructions to watch them like a hawk and not let them burn.

He popped out to go to the shop – for fifteen minutes.

They burned – a bit. I forgot all about them the minute he walked out the door.

Ah – hello Chef. Did you think to take any of the FOUR distractions with you?

Eh, no. No you didn’t.

There was harumpfing and powdered sugar flying everywhere. At the time I thought it was all part of a huge cover up because we were expecting company, only later to find out that the recipe (had I read it) dictates that indeed you do toss these lovely little treats in powdered sugar, right before you pop them in your mouth, accompanied by a perfectly brewed cup of tea.

Oh. The drama I hear you say. Yes. There is always drama in this house because the Chef has such high expectations of me, his partner, now, of almost 16 years.

He cannot come to terms with the fact that:

A baker I will never make,

I have no craving for the cake.

But his dishbitch I’ll forever be,

as long as he always bakes for me.

There. That is about as romantic as it gets around here for Valentines.

We have, what I like to call, a very ‘real’ relationship. We are not always very ‘nice’ to each other but never really cross over into the ‘name calling’ field either. Hands are thrown up in the air in frustration when cookies burn because a supposedly responsible adult was left ‘watching them’. That same responsible adult was also washing her favourite pots and daydreaming out the window about how nice it will be once the daffodils and tulips start to bloom and the lambs start … * hears car in driveway. Quick flashback of all other times cookies/cakes etc. have burnt. Rescues slightly well done cookies from oven in the hopes that no one notices their singed bottoms * … hopping and jumping around the fields behind the house.

Yep. I got a good talking to. See, there was a girl coming to visit. A friend of good friends, so to speak. So, the Chef felt under pressure to ‘show off’ because he would be mortified if the guest went back to the friends saying that the cookies were underwhelming etc. Like. In fairness. That could have almost happened. BUT it did not. Because he tossed them in powdered sugar and they were fabulous.

The recipe for these Mexican Wedding Cookies has been sitting in his recipe book since the late eighties when he originally wrote it down at the CIA, Hyde Park, New York, where he went to Culinary School. He has made them once, maybe twice since then. He loves chocolate. So, if there is no chocolate in the cookie chances are the recipe gets forgotten about. Poor little cookies.

Me, not having a sweet tooth, I never feel the need to beg for a dessert or a cookie around here but I do like finding something to bake for him and the kids. Ok, I do not like the baking part at all, but they all get so happy when there is something nice in the oven. Even Granny needs a bit of sweetening up now and then.

A friend of ours said this looked like the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' only with food …

Because I let them burn first time around, I decided to make a batch last night, in my small effort to show that if I focus on the task at hand I can be competent in the kitchen. This recipe kind of has a ‘shortbread’ feel to it except you do not have to go through the ‘waiting’ for the dough to chill and all the cutting before baking nonsense that, yes, might be worthwhile, but feels like it will take for ever before you get to actually have a cookie.

Not with these cookies. All ingredients into the mixer. Get the little people to make them into little balls.

Bake ‘em, sugar ‘em and eat ‘em. I have untold delegating skills. This should never be overlooked when one is trying to impress.

So so so tasty and bite sized. Dangerous but cute.

Being the sneaky Mum that I am, I hid a few Peanut butter chips in a few of them and a few Chocolate chips in a few more. I told the kids whoever got the peanut butter ones had to load the dishwasher and whoever got the chocolate ones had to sweep the floor after dinner. They were SO EXCITED about finding the surprise in their cookies that they neglected to complain once about the chores.

Why is no one giving me an award for my mothering skills? Clearly, this deserves some recognition people.

Ok. There you have it.

This is what y’all need to make n’ bake for Valentines Day. You can drizzle them with chocolate if you want to. You can add grated orange or lemon zest too.

I do like these cookies.

But I would leave them well enough alone. They are perfect the way they are.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

* Full Disclosure *

No one asked me (or paid me) to write this blog post. I am doing it of my own free will in the hopes that I might rescue someone from the brink of boredom, by providing a tasty recipe and a little giggle over my story. If you would like to taste these cookies then come along to my next talk on Food blogging, which takes place next Monday, February 13th, 2012, for the KLCK blogging group. 7:30pm at Kavanaghs Pub in Portlaoise.

Granny’s Jelly Roll

Posted by WiseMóna    50 Comments    in Kitchen

I can’t tell you the number of times my Mother (aka ‘Granny’) has made a ‘Swiss Roll’. She can make this with her eyes closed and with one hand tied behind her back and a bold child on her hip. I know this, because this was the one dessert she baked – throughout my entire childhood – that never burned. I am not sure why, or what miracle occurred as she never made claims to love baking. She had the Swiss Roll gods on her side; every time.

My eldest brother, who now lives in Switzerland but probably has no idea that the Swiss have no ‘right’ to stake claim in this cake, was the only person in our family to out do her when it came to making a better roll. He mastered the art of whipping larger air pockets into his cake batter (bigger hands I guess – more ‘air’ power) and his cakes rose higher and rolled better everytime.

I, accepting defeat without trying, stuck to my happy task of washing the dishes. I have still never attempted to make this easy treat.

The kids are completely OBSESSED with ‘Grannys Jelly Roll’ so a few days ago she came over to ‘show the Chef’- who bakes for a living – how it is done. Lessons like these, from a Mother, or Mother-in-law, are not to be sneezed at. While, in this instance, there is nothing unique or especially difficult about the ingredients, recipe and method, it is more a sharing of technique and tips that needs to be documented. Because lord knows, if you screw it up, the first ones to complain will be the kids; Especially our brats anyway.

When Granny comes to give a lesson…it is with wooden spoon in hand

One of the reasons Mum would have leaned towards making this cake, as opposed to others, is because there was always a surplus of eggs in the house from the hens and ducks. We have the same daily delight here at Chez Wise. I am particularly proud of the misshaped ones.

Egg Love

The Chef always eager to be better than everyone else at everything he does eager to learn Granny’s technique for making such a lovely light sponge, was rearing to go on this one. They would make two Jelly Rolls. Her making the first one and him observing, then he making the second one. The children were beside themselves with excitement. So much so I had to send them outside to work up an appetite, and take advantage of the half hour of dry weather we were blessed with that day.

Seems easy enough?

Get busy big red!

This cake takes very little time to make and bake. Even the extreme novice should attempt it and have a successful and tasty result.

How many hands does it take to make a cake?

This is the hardest part. Trying to get the air into the flour cake batter mix. Things were starting to heat up in the kitchen here and I felt ‘in the way’.

Layers of love … cake batter going on thick

Once the batter was poured … and the cake popped in the oven it was time for a spot of ‘clean up’ before they moved on to make the second cake…..

So eager to help 'clean up' …

Before you set the sanitation police on us, yes yes yes I thoroughly sterilized the equipment before we moved on to cake number two.

But first, Granny, after standing outside the door to demonstrate ‘rapid sponge cooling’ technique, got her sponge all jammed up with apricot and raspberry jams and a nice helping of freshly whipped sweetened cream.

There might have been a healthy debate over whether or not one should actually ‘sweeten’ the cream. I had to bow out of this one, as I am not a fan of confrontation. The Chef believes the cream should have vanilla and sugar. Granny does not and her wooden spoon is bigger.

The end.

Layering on the love …. Jelly (or Jam) and cream

A small crises arose as we turned the corner ready to get started on the second cáca milis.

We had run out of eggs because the Chef had blown them all earlier on the first cake and the pancakes he had made for breakfast.

A quick jaunt out to the coop and he came back in with a beautiful big handful of eggs.

Found a few beauties …

A quick run under the tap and we were all set for the rest of the lesson.

All spit shined and polished

Granny encouraged the Chef to layer this one with fruit and ‘unsweetened’ cream. He did exactly as he was told, except he used a rubber spatula, instead of the metal spoon, when whipping the air into the cake batter mix. He is a bold one.

A bit fancier with the fruit ..

The rolling of the cake is the most ‘stressful’ part of the whole operation. You need to make the parchment paper work for you, in order to keep the Jelly Roll tight so it does not unravel once you get ready to slice it.

Carefully we roll …

Cakes all done, Granny took one to her friends house to share with a spot of afternoon tea and ours was devoured by the children after they had eaten their supper.

A very nice Sunday afternoon distraction . . .

The overall result is an incredibly light sponge cake flavoured any way you like.

The next one is going to have a Peanut butter and jelly filling.

AND I might get him to make me a Pumpkin one for my birthday.

Right. Down to business. There is still a few days for y’all to enter the drawing for the very cute Le Creuset pot.

and this week, if you find yourself with a bit of free time on your hands, you should come along to the first annual ‘Foodie Forum’ at GMIT.

The line up of speakers is right here …. and I am sure there are plenty you would like to learn from.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today,

WiseMóna

Crab Cioppino

Posted by WiseMóna    24 Comments    in Kitchen

We call it ‘blog fodder’ here in Blogtopia.

It can come in dribs and drabs; all shapes and sizes. It might be an image from months ago that keeps cycling on your slideshow or it could be a funny story told table-side with the kids.

There is never a shortage of blog fodder in my head. And yet I have not blogged. This random fact was thrown in there for good measure because it has catapulted me into a new realm of self-doubt. As if the old realm was not doubtful enough.

This past weekend, with a few serious deadlines looming for my monthly magazine article contributions, I figured there’d be loads of blog fodder to choose from and my mojo would be back in full swing and I’d get to blogging. I was right. The only problem I have now, is what to do with all the blog fodder.

It all started with me being a dumbass. This story can only get better folks.

Velvet Crab – alive

Instead of going to the place where I usually buy my fish I decided to cut some corners, saving on fuel and time in the process, by shopping at a fish store near the grocery shop.

Spying their nice large fish tank I caught a glimpse of several different types of crab. The smaller and sassier of the bunch being right on top. I asked the fishmonger, a young fella, what they were and he said ‘Velvet crab’. I, loosing all sense and sensibility which could be the segway into explaining exactly how dumb I really am, queried with raised eyebrow and hopeful intonation ’Velvet crab as in soft shell crab?’ And he said ‘yep. Softshell’.

Six in the bag with care, because they are mean little buggers, along side a few firm pieces of hake and a few bags of mussels and clams, I drove home on cloud ninety nine dreaming of the po-boy sandwich I was going to get the Chef to make me for lunch. Salivating at the thoughts of the creole, cornmeal, and cajun flavours that were about to whirl around my (ha ha), ahem HIS kitchen, I could hardly wait to sit at the computer and start blogging-all-about it.

Except, and this is the important part showing my dumb-assed-ness, they weren’t really soft shell crabs, were they.

Velvet Crab – dead

The Chef, in his loves-to-humiliate-me kind of way, pointed out my grievous error as soon as I walked in the door. He may have even laughed a bit. Chef in his slow sarcastic drawl: ‘You’ve been had honey. These are hard as a rock. There ain’t no softshells in these cool Irish waters’. Me with my over-the-top-defensive-beeatch-tone :’ well ain’t is not a word and you can’t use ain’t no in a sentence as it is a double negative!

Sensing, and he is not very perceptive God love him, that I was on the brink of having a nervous breakdown over the crab disaster, he busied himself about the kitchen and put the little crabs to work.

First – he popped them into a bath of boiling saffron water and much to the childrens delight they turned a gorgeous orange colour. Then he fried some chicken. WTF?

Hey – I have to live with him so it is only fair that you be dragged along in his thought process.

The Fried Chicken

So, eh, Chef. Why the fried Chicken? He gave me one of those looks that every woman loves to get from their husband. You know, the ‘Jesus, how thick are you?’ look.  So there I was, already annoyed and humiliated over my lack of knowledge when it came to ‘obvious differences?’ between velvet and soft shell crabs, racking my brains to come up with something, anything, smart to retort back to the saucy Chef. I had to redeem myself.

I am a slow thinker lads. Way too slow. Nothing. I just stood there.

‘Jambalaya crawfish pie and file gumbo’ he sang and danced me around the kitchen.

Grrr….it might have been obvious to him in his own head but NO ONE else would have put those two together! I mean, there are no crawfish in the shopping bag or prawns! Apparently, if you are the Chef, you can use whatever you want when making Jambalaya.

I gave up and slunk off like a battered slinky to collect my thoughts. I did a spot of ironing and felt all the better for it.

The smell of the brown roux engulfed the house and before you say ’cause tonight I’m a gonna see my machez a mio’… we were all sitting table side eating Cioppino. Yes. I really did write Cioppino.

I mean, he was eating Jambalaya. Here – look. It was lovely.

Jambalaya

Yes. So back to the Cioppino. Well. This is how he works.

I have trouble digesting bell peppers. Not all the time, but when you cook ‘em in a hurry and do not roast ‘em they spend days trying to find there way out. So, I tend to steer clear of them. He knows this and is most sesnsitive to this.

Seeing as he had the saffron broth all set aside from steaming the crabs he decided to throw together a bowl of Cioppino for me. Because it is my favourite dish of all times. I was feeling the love.

Cioppino Love

This recipe uses a diavolo sauce. Click here for that recipe!

So anyway, to make a long story even longer, what exactly happened to all the crab meat? I mean, there was a bit in the Jambalaya, and a bit in the Cioppino, but not huge chunks of it.

Smoky BBQ Sauce

I was suspicious until all was revealed later that night for supper.  I am sure some of you have already guessed it.

Crabcakes

Yep. Crabcakes. Perfect, round, delicious, dare I say ‘velvety’ freaking crabcakes.

Now, we all know why they are called ‘Velvet Crabs’.

Go home. Eat dinner with someone you love and laugh about this.

I remain, still clueless, on most topics.

Those are all the WiseWords I have for today and thank you all for being here!

WiseMóna

Black Eyed Peas

Posted by WiseMóna    100 Comments    in Kitchen

The month of January is weird. Every where I go I meet people that are in a state of flux. Coming down of their Christmas high and trudging onwards day by day with work, or college, or parenting. There appears to be a cloud hanging over everyone. The same worries are flitting in and out of everyones conversations, so much so, it is hard to recall who you have been chatting with because it feels like we are all in the same (sometimes sinking) boat. 

Job security, money, oil/gas prices, education costs, health insurance. I would venture to say, on a global scale, these are at the forefront of most peoples ‘things to worry about’ list.

Right now my list of things to worry about is very very long and fairly serious. I thought it would be wise to let you know I am worried too because you know as well as I do ‘a problem shared is a problem cared’.

I find that instead of getting bogged down by all the things everyone else is worried about, it is best to have a mooch around the house and find things that make you happy. Like this:

A photo of my beautiful hen and duck (and possibly guinea fowl) eggs. Imagine, in the dead of winter we are still reaping the most beautiful rewards of our (obviously) very happy birds.

Beautiful 'Wise' Eggs

Now back to the worrying …..

Oh. I worry about the fact that I will never be a good baker. Mostly because I am too heedless when it comes to all that measuring and timing of things in the oven. Daydreamers rarely make good bakers. Fact.

Breaking my heart….baking.

I worry that sooner or later the clothes will just fold themselves and march up to their respective rooms rendering me useless. I have had this worry for years and thankfully the clothes have refrained from taking the initiative to do so, just yet.

A nightmare of a worry that just grows daily

I worry, and this is real, that people with all their healthful filled notions will start eating more beans and less meat (which is a-ok with me) but not treat them properly and suffer the consequences because of it.

Soak overnight and boil for a good few hours, low and slow.

Here is a quick how to guide for beans:

Dried beans (uncooked) need to be soaked in A LOT of water overnight and boiled the next day in fresh water for at least two hours. If they are undercooked they play havoc with your stomach and cause other gestational problems that are not pleasant to discuss or experience. If you are wondering whether or not they are cooked enough just smush one between your thumb and fingers and if it disintegrates easily then they are cooked. If there is still a bit of firmness to it put them back on the stove and cook some more.

Tinned Beans are already cooked! Just open the tin and consume or heat ‘em up a bit if you need to eat them warm. You can make BBQ beans (which requires a bit of baking) but only to meld the sauce and seasonings together. One of the things we like to make on a regular basis around here is bean salad. The Chef, being from Alabama where this is a tradition, likes to start of the New Year with a big pot of Black Eyed Peas and this year we ended up making one of my favourite salads for lunch.

Give it a try. Remember with the kids maybe a bit less heat and more fresh herbs but make sure you get plenty of colour in their diet. This is a winner every time with ours and a nice (refreshing) change from the old bachelors beans or van de kamps pork n’ beans.

Lots of vibrant colour to brighten up your plate!

Blackeyed pea salad

Now after you have made this salad – which takes no time at all by the way – you should think to yourself ‘how can I incorporate a lot more salad and healthy stuff into my diet this year?’

Eat more colour on your plate – add garlic too!

Isn’t it time you stopped procrastinating and started ‘doing’ instead of just talking about it. Beets, and they are easy to grow, come in the ready to go packages at every grocery and convenience shop in town. A little bit of garlic, diced chili and balsamic vinegar with salt & pepper to taste and you have the fastest salad in the west. And pretty too. The kids like to eat their beet salad with cottage cheese. This is not so pretty. Hence no photo.

These mate well together

I find that you can get stuck in a salad rut using the same bagged salad and bottle of thousand island dressing. Another quick and very tasty salad that we love is tomato and pomegranate. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and toss in olive oil. Drizzle with balsamic, salt & pepper and add a few little crumbles of Cashel Blue Cheese. Go to bed very happy.

The seven layered salad – this is not for amateurs.

Once you get out of the salad rut you are stuck in then the world is your oyster. Left over lentils become eye candy. The remnants of an almost empty bag of grated cheese – food confetti. That half dead bag of lettuce in the fridge that you are holding onto for emergencies – picked over – can give oompf to a side salad. And frozen peas, fresh from the freezer and  still a bit frosty, add a delicious cold contrasting bite to your evening meal.

Isn’t it time you started to think outside the salad box?

NOW – seeing as you have stuck with me to the bitter endive (hee hee) here on WiseWords you may squeal with glee to discover that this is indeed a ‘goody giveaway’ blog post.

But first the rules. You must be signed up via email to receive WiseWords updates via email. You can do that right here. If you end up signing up and then dropping off after the giveaway that is fine with me – but you will not be allowed back on the mailing list for the next giveaway. Think of it as you being put on the bold step for a few weeks, ok? AND the second rule is you need to leave a comment of course because I am using that cool plug-in called ‘And the winner is‘ so get chatting!

I want to know why you want this and what you intend to do with it.

What is it I hear you say……..

A little pot of love ….. from Le Creuset. This is not a big pot folks. Dinner for two adults and a small child at the most.

The winner will be chosen at random sometime on February 5th giving us plenty of time to get it delivered for a Valentines supper. Good luck to y’all and thanks thanks thanks so much for reading WiseWords.

OH – and before I forget -

I am giving a few talks in February. First one is on Thursday February 2nd 2012 (at high noon) ‘Blogging for Business‘ at GMIT’s first (and annual I hope) Foodie Forum 2012 and the second one is for KLCK Bloggers network on Monday February 13th (7:30pm) at Kavanaghs Pub in Portlaoise where I will be talking about having fun with food blogging!

And finally .. . . because I think this is waaay cool….. check out this list of ‘Incredible Irish Food Blogs‘ paying close attention to number five.

Ok – thats all for today folks, Back to the writing and editing I must go.

Thanks for reading and staying tuned!

WiseMóna

Congrats to you!

Pecan Pie

Posted by WiseMóna    38 Comments    in Kitchen

A bunch of flowers for all my friends

Day three of the new year and not a peep out of me. My tweets are flabby, my facebook presence is vapid and my blog posts are non existent, but every stitch of clothes in my house is washed, ironed, folded and put away and my floors are clean. The children are also relatively clean and have me run ragged. You can thank them for my absence.

The Chef was underfoot for the last two weeks here at home and we enjoyed a quiet family Christmas and a bit of a rowdier New Year. We have eaten, we have drank and we are very merry. Because he firmly believes that the internet and social media is a passing phase, he, and quite a few of our friends, have no time for tweeting. This means that I have had to turn of the Twitter and occasionally upload a Facebook status from the loo. I’m just saying that my life can be very complicated. I am sorry for not being around more to chit and chat. I have missed you all – A lot.

I toyed around with the idea of doing a blog recap of the last year, but you have read it already.

I also thought about writing a really depressing piece about how freaked out I am over where the next few months will take me and how I am lying awake at night sweating bullets over the big ‘F’ word that lingers and looms. Failure. Yep. What if, when I finish this beautiful book, no one buys it or reads it? But why would I write a blog post about that? Depressing, right?

Then, I thought, well seeing as everyone is detoxing and dieting and starving themselves I should bake a nice big pie and eat it. That way, at least I would feel better for all those starving people. And the Chef, who was feeling a bit poorly over the last few days, is feeling much better now too, all from having a slice of this pie.

December is a month that delivers such a flurry of emotions and I think most people feel a little run down and wrecked from all the celebrating. January rolls in and the feeling of ‘meh’ hits you and it is usually followed by a nice bout of  ’aaaaargh’ and even a spell of ‘@4&*%’ until you start chatting with your friends and realise that everyone is going through the same thing and there is no need to pack your bags and move to Australia.

So. What are you waiting for? Have a slice of pie!

Oh – one a side note and worth mentioning – I actually did make this pie. All he did was eat it. You should know that I used frozen pastry. That is why it looks a bit wobbly.

Pecans are pricey here on the island ..

So pricey one would not be running out to make this pie every week.

Pecan Pie – Oven ready

We made a double recipe pie this time around, and only used Maple Syrup. We gave half the pie to our friends when they left to go home on New Years Day. A nice treat for their breakfast the next day!

Pecan Pie – Pass me a fork …

So now that you have had your pie, tell me all about your Christmas. Did you make (or already break?) New Year Resolutions? What are you lying awake at night worrying about? Do share.

Looking forward to hearing from you xx

WiseMóna

Our year in Salads

Posted by WiseMóna    29 Comments    in Kitchen

This time of year it is nice to sit down and scan through the photos I have taken over the last 12 months and pick a few of my favorites that best represent the year we have had here at Chez Wise. Ordinarily I would overload a blog post with cutesy images of the kids but something caught my eye when I was reviewing all my photos and I thought it would be good to share this now, before Christmas.

The item most photographed at our house this year (2011) was Salad. Lots and lots of salad. More than 300 (different) salads.

In a few weeks, when everyone is full from all the Christmas food and festivities, you will welcome this blog post with open arms and feel inspired to add a few more leafs of green to your diet. Other blogs will start down the road of ‘New Year Resolutions’ or ‘Slim down for Spring’ or ‘Trim the holiday fat’ but not me.

I just want y’all to look at the photos and come to the understanding that you can, and should, eat more salad and there is no time like the present to get started.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you are serving a nice salad with your Christmas dinner?

Spring will be here before you know it….. are your seeds ready?

And while we are going all 'green thumb' why not plant a bit of Garlic too…

It does help to have a very cute 'salad harvester' at your disposal…

Rocket ready to go ….

Sometimes, the sunshine makes things taste better….

It is ok to eat your salad on a pizza…

Sunshine and salad seems to be a reoccurring theme in my photos…

Or shadows and salads …. yes, that seems popular too…

Layered salad seems to be a favorite … and shur why not?

A pretty salad

Tuna fish salad….

We ate a lot of tomato salad….

Ah – one of my favorites…. Beet salad

And it is totally ok to drink your 'fruit' salad….

Oh – sweet spring pea salad

Occasionally

 we added salad to our dinner – right at the last minute.   

Or maybe a few loaves of bread. Ah go on….

Why not put an egg on your salad? Everything tastes better with an egg on it.

And sometimes we let little artists have their way with the salad bowl and we pleasantly surprised at the outcome

We even stole nasturtiums from Dad's grave to put in our salads. Happy Anniversary Dad. We miss you so much and wish you were here with us to enjoy all this salad.

A few more Salad photos right here on our Facebook page.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Móna xx