It was the princess’ birthday on Monday so on Sunday we headed out to Killaloe to visit the farmer’s market and feed the ducks which she loves. The market is small but it has some nice stalls and we picked up some lovely organic spinach and large field mushrooms. We popped into Andrew in Ponte Vecchio for a quick macchiato too, his little Italian shop was buzzing with Sunday morning revellers sipping coffee and reading the papers. The place is tiny but he stocks a great range of Italian products and wines and has a lovely selection of home-made cakes so if you’re out that way pop in.

I love this recipe, we always eat quite late at night with one of us working in the shop everyday so we just want something light and fulfilling that’s not going to take hours to digest especially at 10pm at night and this fits the bill perfectly.

what you need:

4 large field mushrooms

1 bag of spinach, forget the weight, sowwy as the princess would say!

100g pancetta cubes

1 garlic clove

30g dried or fresh breadcrumbs(fine without too)

50g grated parmesan cheese

4 tbsp olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees.

wash and rinse your spinach and cook in a dry pan for 2-3 mins until wilted. Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as possible and finely chop.

cut the stalks out of the mushrooms and finely chop.

heat your oil and add your onions and garlic and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured.

add your pancetta and mushroom stalks and cook for 5 minutes.

add your spinach, breadcrumbs and 1/2 your parmesan to the pan, season and toss together.

arrange your mushrooms rounded side down on a baking tray, season and divide your stuffing between the mushrooms. Top with parmesan cheese.

cook for 15 mins until crisp and golden.

buon appetito…

I don’t know if  I can even call this a recipe as it is so simple, it’s one of those “one pot” meals when you are too lazy (which is generally me) to make too much effort on the cooking side. I really like it though as you can taste each individual ingredient as there is no sauce, it might sound like it’s dry but if you use good quality chicken, I used free range/organic it should have enough moisture and you will have yourself a tasty little dish. You can add stock, white wine, lemon etc if you have to have a sauce as I know some of you probably do, but I’m sticking with this way. I think we tend to rely too much on sauces in Ireland and never actually taste the main ingredient as it’s covered with lots of other flavours so try this for a change and you might be pleasantly surprised:) 

I’m not giving you measurements as I haven’t a clue, I just fire it all into a tray but here’s what you need:

chicken legs and thighs

thyme

garlic cloves peeled

potatoes

sea salt and black pepper

olive oil

what to do:

pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees

peel your potatoes, cut into chunks and par-boil in salted water.

with a sharp knife, make incisions in your chicken pieces and stuff with garlic and thyme, put some under the skin too.

season with salt and pepper

put your chicken and potatoes into a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil.

cook for about 45 mins until golden and serve.

I’m in a really good mood today as the sun is shining, we’re just back from Killaloe where we had lunch and brought the princess to feed the ducks. This week the builder has also come back with a rough price for changing La Cucina around and putting in seating for 26 people and surprise, surprise it’s actually affordable – I LOVE THE RECESSION:)! We just have to sort out a few things with the landlord and the bank of course and then it’s all systems go, I can’t wait as we have wanted to do this for ages but couldn’t as everything was too expensive in relation to building work but with the downturn it is now possible. 

My sister also had her baby this morning by c-section as he was completely breached and everything went perfect, he was 8lb 1 oz, big babies run in this family, it must be our love of pasta:) I’m so relieved as she had a really rough pregnancy and they didn’t think she would make it at 21 weeks, she threatened miscarriage about 3 times so he is a little angel in disguise. They are both doing great and I hope to get over to see them both next week as they live in Canterbury.

I love pasta dishes without an actual sauce and I’ve mentioned before that one of my favourite pastas is spaghetti alio olio which is one of the most simple pastas you can make. This one is quite similar and just as easy and as tasty, I think the difference without the sauce is that you can taste the actual ingredients. I find this recipe great for using leftover courgette and garlic, you could also replace it with spinach for a change.

what you need for 2:

 - 1 large courgette

 - 1 garlic clove

 - olive oil

 - 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

 - 350g pasta – I use orecchiette but you could also use linguine, fettucine, tagliatelle.

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - grated Parmesan

what to do:

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - grate your courgettes with a cheese grater and chop your garlic.

 - fill the base of your frying pan with olive oil, heat and add your garlic and chilli and cook for a couple of minutes until golden but not too brown.

 - add your courgettes and cook until soft, make sure you stir them constantly.

 - season with salt and pepper, drain your pasta reserving some of the water.

 - add your drained pasta and Parmesan to your pan with courgettes, toss well and add water as needed.

 - serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

buon appetito!!

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!

]]> http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/10/11/abbacchio-alla-romana/feed/ 3 the mamma http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/09/30/pappardelle-with-oven-roasted-tomatoes/ http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/09/30/pappardelle-with-oven-roasted-tomatoes/#comments Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:21:22 +0000 lors http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/?p=43 ]]>         

The weather has changed with a vengeance, not that we had much of a summer but the last couple of weeks have been glorious, it’s so hard to go back to this again. If you live in Ireland chances are you will be indoors for the next week so it’s a perfect opportunity to make this pasta as you need to let these tomatoes roast slowly for a couple of hours. When I go shopping I always buy loads of tomatoes and normally make a roast tomato soup or just a simple tomato sauce. I was flicking through one of my pasta books and spotted this recipe which is perfect to use up tomatoes or to produce a really impressive dish when you have very little in the fridge.  

what you need:

 - 500g cherry or plum tomatoes – as usual I used tomatoes from SQ

 - 2 garlic cloves finely chopped

 - chilli flakes

- dried oregano

 - olive oil

 - balsamic vinegar

 - pappardelle or fettuccine

 - parmesan cheese

 - salt and black pepper

 - cut your tomatoes in half and place them cut side up in a oven tray.

 - sprinkle them with your oregano, chilli, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar.

 - roast in the oven until soft and wilted for about an hour and a half.

 - bring a pot of water to the boil, add salt and your pasta and cook until al dente.

 - Drain when cooked, put back in the pot and add some olive oil and mix in some parmesan.

 - serve with your roasted tomatoes on top.

I really enjoyed this pasta and it was a lovely change from my regular tomato sauce, I had some tomatoes left over so I used them in a sandwich the next day with some grilled chicken and brie which was “YUM”.

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!!
]]> http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/02/03/noisettes-of-lamb-with-rosemary-and-garlic/feed/ 0 the mamma http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/01/23/italian-greens/ http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/01/23/italian-greens/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:06:17 +0000 lors http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/?p=198 ]]>                                       

One thing I always love when I’m in Italy is the sauteed greens, I would eat a plate of them on their own with just some crusty bread which I often do when I can’t fit a “secondi”(meat or fish)!! They do a really good version in Bru’s aunt’s restaurant Il Viccolo in Atina. We were actually watching some old home movies on Sunday in Bruno’s house of his Nonno and Nonna’s 50th wedding anniversary when he was about 10. It was so nice to watch as the whole family were there, about 30 of them all dressed up in their 1980′s finery and of course the whole video was taken in a restaurant in the local hotel which is where they still go even now to celebrate family birthday’s etc. This is what I love about Italy as an outsider - the family traditions whereby all generations of the family come together frequently to eat good food and spend quality time together, maybe I have a romantic image of it from the outside looking in or that it just didn’t happen in mine, either way I like it!!. 

That same hotel hasn’t been updated or modernised since and it only costs about €25 a night, my own family stayed there a couple of years back. We’ve eaten there lots of times and to this day they still don’t have a menu or much staff, the dining room is as simple as you can get, no candles or music, the atmosphere is provided by the local families and their “loud” conversations!! It’s run by a local couple, he serves and she cooks and you basically eat whatever she has made that day which for some reason always seems to be an antipasto of parma ham and mozzarella, pasta fagioli and then rabbit done in white wine which I love, bring on the holiday!! I am now counting the days until “I’m leaving on a jet plane” lalalalala (sorry couldn’t help it) – I bet you sang along though;)

As most of you know I live near Superquinn so it is where I do most of my shopping, they all know me at this stage with all the requests and questions I’m always asking. The veg guy just laughs when he sees me on Monday mornings as most of their stock isn’t on the shelves yet so there is always something he has to find for me. My latest request is purple sprouting broccoli as it’s in season and they had it last year so I asked for it last week so I’m waiting in anticipation!! I was delighted to see Kale in stock last week so teamed with spinach I decided to make this dish that I love to have as a “contorno” with fillet steak. 

what you need:

 - spinach & kale  – you can also use swiss chard and purple sprouting broccoli!!!

 - 1 chilli finely chopped

 - 1 garlic clove finely sliced

 - juice of 1 lemon

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil

what to do:

 - wash your spinach and kale thoroughly, the large leaf spinach tends to be quite dirty.

 - bring a a pot of water to the boil, add salt and cook your greens for 3-5 mins. Drain and rinse under cold water, squeeze out excess liquid and chop.

 - heat some olive oil in a pan, add your garlic and chilli and cook over a low heat until soften. Add your greens, season and saute until heated through.

 - add your lemon juice and serve!!!

                                       
buon appetito!!
]]> http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/01/23/italian-greens/feed/ 0 the mamma http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/01/11/pesce-spada/ http://italianfoodies.ie/2008/01/11/pesce-spada/#comments Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:12:41 +0000 lors http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/?p=204 ]]>                                       

This recipe was actually one of my first when I ventured into the unknown world of blogging last year but I didn’t take photos back then so I’ve decided to spruce it up and do it again. I was watching the Afternoon Show yesterday and they were talking about healthy eating, fish of course was the main feature and I was shocked to learn that 48% of Irish people don’t eat fish, I was aware that we don’t eat enough fish in this country but never realised it was that bad. It’s quite shocking really as we live on an island and I can’t imagine life without fish!! In saying that I never really ate it until I met Bru and travelled to Italy where fish is a major staple in their diet and chicken isn’t!!!

Speaking of diets everyone seems to be on one, especially in my family for the upcoming social event of the year  – my sister’s wedding!! I can happily say that I never diet anymore and haven’t for years even after having the princess I just returned to my normal weight. Now I’m not bragging here because it took me a long time to get to this stage with lots of disastrous diets and lots of unused gym memberships and still weighed in at 12 stone at my heaviest, which is pretty heavy for me! The most important thing I have probably taken from the Italian culture is their attitude to food and the understanding of what they eat!!

The main difference I noticed when I met Bruno first was how he would never spoil his appetite, he would much prefer to wait for his dinner and enjoy it rather than snack beforehand and then not finish it. We as Irish are always amazed by how much the Italians eat in one sitting, starter, pasta, main course and then a little sweet to finish it off. I didn’t understand it for a long time and could never get further than the pasta course but eventually after it being highlighted to me by numerous Italians (they say what they think btw) I was always snacking. I had this insane need to fulfill my hunger on the spot, I could never wait for my dinner. I’d start to shake and feel weak and convince myself I’d never last until dinner because I’d probably die from starvation:) so I’d have a slice of toast or something to keep me going, never a piece of fruit of course, always a carb!!!!Over the years I’ve gotten rid of this habit and will happily wait for my dinner and eat as many courses as I like without the guilt!! 

these are the main changes I’ve made to my eating habits over the years:

 - I rarely use cream.
 - I gave up toast, a slice of white toast here and there is a killer!! It was one of my main snacks.
 - I rarely buy low-fat, I feel I’m being cheated and that it’s not the same so therefore depriving myself which used to make me want full fat more!! I was a terror for buying low-fat biscuits and crisps which goes completely against everything because if you feel the need for them just have the full fat in moderation. I used to convince myself because they were lower in fat I could have them everyday.
 - I never calorie count or look at the back of a packet.
 - I gave up joining gyms, I think I took out full membership 3 years in a row and ended up getting heavier because I ate more because I was going to the gym 4 times a week. At the time I blamed my metabolism and my “big bones”:), it was never the food.
 - I never deprive myself, I always have starter, main course and dessert when I go out for dinner!! I have a packet of crisps with a sandwich if I feel like it but you know what the amazing thing is before I would have wanted a packet everyday for lunch when I wouldn’t let myself whereas now I might only have them once a week if even without even thinking about it!!
 - I don’t really drink fizzy drinks – maybe the odd 7up with dinner.!!
 - I don’t eat convenience foods or pre-packed meals!! In my dieting days I would buy weight watchers meals or the likes but you’re better off just having a piece of fresh fish and salad or a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce!! I can’t do brown pasta or rice either, I know it may be better for you but it’s not for me!! I’ve actually never seen brown bread in Italy but then they don’t eat sliced pan like we do here!! 
 - we always have an Italian breakfast which normally consists of a cappuccino and croissant or biscuits so I never feel the need for anything sweet as I’ve satisfied it first thing in the morning!! I know, I know I’m probably a nutritionist’s nightmare but hey they all do it in Italy and they are supposed to have one of the most healthy diets in the world so I’m with them!!

Now just in case you are thinking I’m a size 0 food angel I’m far from it and I do have my vices like everyone else but I just eat them in moderation – doritos topped with salsa and melted SQ superior range cheddar anyone???? mmmmmm:) , the most important thing for me is not even about weight loss it’s to have a healthy relationship with food! If I do need to lose a few lbs I just cut down on my portion sizes, cut out alcohol, have 2 biscuits instead of 4 in the morning;) but still eat the same food so losing weight isn’t an issue. Whereas before I’d be starving myself, cutting out everything I love, counting calories, eating tubs of weight watcher’s ice-cream, thinking about food constantly, dreaming about it in my sleep and generally feeling absolutely miserable!!! The main thing I have learned form the Italian culture is to understand my food, relax and enjoy it, never feel guilty and most importantly BE HAPPY !!   

I love swordfish and had it for the first time on my first visit to Sicily a few years back where it is a speciality, the last time we were there I was pregnant with the 10lb princess so I couldn’t eat it and it killed me as I love the smoked swordfish as an antipasto!! Superquinn often have it in stock and we regularly have this recipe, it’s quite a meaty fish so the best way to eat it is as simple as you can, it doesn’t need a heavy sauce so this marinade works really well with it and most importantly it’s healthy!!!

what you need:

 - 1 large clove garlic sliced very thinly

 - 1 chilli chopped finely

 - flat parsley chopped

 - juice of 1 lemon

 - olive oil

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - 2 swordfish steaks

what to do:

 - mix all of your ingredients together in a bowl and pour half over your fish and leave to marinate for 20-30 minutes if you have time.

 - heat a grill pan and cook your steaks until cooked though.

 - serve and spoon the remainder of your dressing over your fish.

 - we usually have a simple rocket salad on the side.

                                    
buon appetito!!!

p.s. sorry for the long post and probably boring the majority of you:(

p.p.s. – what things could you change about your eating habits???

The main thing I need to do for 2008 is eat more fruit and drink more water and give up those damn doritos:)

I’ve been a bit lazy on the fish front lately mainly due to a very limited selection in my local Superquinn!! There is only salmon or cod basically from Monday to Thursday and then there is a bit more at the weekend. They used to have a great selection but as usual in Ireland it probably didn’t sell so they have cut it back to the good sellers and they have one whole stand dedicated to “salmon”, now there is nothing wrong with salmon but I’m not going to eat it every week so I was delighted to see this weekend they has loads of fish – tuna, swordfish, clams, prawns, mussels and sea bass so I bought a bit of everything!!! I better get the Silver Spoon out;) 

On the subject of Superquinn I have to say I’m really impressed with their new Superior Range, now I know we all complain about the supermarkets but the fact of the matter is we are dependant on them and this is not going to change for the foreseeable future, yes we will all make an effort to buy at the local Farmer’s Market but this is only on one day a week in Limerick and unfortunately we all can’t get there all the time. It’s got to the stage where it’s fashionable now to frown on buying in the supermarket BUT everybody still is!!! So I’m happy to see they are making an effort in providing better quality produce, I have tried most of the new range at this stage and can honestly say the pears and tomatoes are the best I have tasted outside of Italy. The lamb noisettes are so moist and tender and The MIL gives the chicken with parma ham the big thumbs up and that’s saying something. We had the ricotta and rocket ravioli the other night with our own tomato sauce and they were perfect “fast food” – tasty, good quality and fast!! The only complaint I have is that they are out of stock of everything for the last few days, the range obviously went down well!!

 This recipe for sea bass is really handy as everything goes into the one tray, it’s simple and full of flavour!!

WHAT YOU NEED:

 - sea bass – I always ask at the fish counter for my fish to be filleted. I bought 3 bass for the 2 of us.

 - 4 garlic cloves: 2 left in skins and 2 sliced really thinly
the new SQ purple garlic is streets ahead of any other supermarket garlic, such a strong flavour, it really made this dish! 

 - 2 lemons: use the juice of one and cut 1 into wedges

 - 4 potatoes: I used the new Oilean in SQ. Slice as thin as you can as everything is cooked together and the fish cooks quite fast. If you prefer your potatoes a little thicker then cook them on their own for about 10 mins and then add the fish!!

 - flat parsley chopped

 - chives chopped

 - olive oil

 - margarine to grease your tray so the potatoes don’t stick.

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - white wine

WHAT TO DO:

 - grease your oven dish and pour in some olive oil

 - line the base with your potatoes and your half of your sliced garlic. Season and pour over a little more olive oil

 - place your sea bass on top, season, add remaining sliced garlic and  herbs.

 - pour over your lemon juice, wine and olive oil. Add your garlic cloves and a couple of lemon wedges!!

 - cook for 20 to 30 mins and serve!!

 - the oven roasted tomatoes would be perfect with this dish!!

BUON APPETITO!!

p.s. I have no cooked photo as I prepared it that day and we ate it at night, but believe me it was DELICIOUS!!:)
]]> http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/11/18/branzino-e-patate-al-forno/feed/ 0 the mamma http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/11/07/pomodorini-al-forno/ http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/11/07/pomodorini-al-forno/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2007 21:14:34 +0000 lors http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/?p=294 ]]>  

We’ve decided that this is the year we open La Cucina no. 2 but it is proving rather difficult!! We want to open in the city centre and would love to have a unit on Thomas St or Bedford Row as it seems to be the new “cafe quarter” and it looks so well since the redevelopment. The only problem is the RENT, it is astronomically high and I know we would have better “foot traffic” in this area but I don’t think you could ever sell enough food to cover all the other costs too. Food business owners always complain about the overheads and I think most people just think we are moaning over nothing. People take the price of food at face value and often question why something is so expensive when the cost of the raw materials are so low and this is true, the cost of making a simple pasta dish is so cheap but it’s everything else that costs so much!!! The profit margins in the food business are soooo low, they average between 3 and 8% and staff costs are huge making up roughly 38% of a business’s turnover!!

A couple of years ago food businesses received a lot of bad press about the price of food compared to other countries and customers really began to complain. I remember one customer ringing to tell me that the food was lovely but she didn’t know how we slept at night with the prices we were charging and that she could make it at home for half the price, all she thought about was the cost of the ingredients but if she had to factor in this list she might have a better understanding why prices are what they are, I wouldn’t mind but we were hardly breaking even at the time!! This is a summary of the basic overheads of our business just to give you an insight into the day to day running, so for example out of every pasta we sell the price has to cover the following:

 - cost of ingredients
 - staff wages - preparation chef, pasta chef, wash up and the person who serves you etc
 - packaging it is served in (plastic container, forks, serviettes, carrier bag)
 - cleaning products (huge bill)
 - ESB
 - Gas
 - Rates
 - Rent
 - Accountant 
 - Refuse collection
 - Management Fees premises
 - Printing (menus, flyers)
 - Advertising
 - Machinery – something always breaks down, we recently just got a new fly screen door, insectocutor, dishwasher and till!!
 - Maintenance of Machinery and Shop i.e. servicing of fridges, painting of shop etc.
 - kitchenware – pots, pans, plates, knives etc
 - Eircom
 - Uniforms
 - IMRO – radio license
 - bank charges
 - on top of all this you have to pay VAT and TAX!!!!

There is a very high restaurant failure rate in Ireland and it is definitely a direct result of the costs involved because with any new business it takes time to develop but unfortunately you still have to pay all of the above no matter how busy you are!! I remember when we opened first, it was pretty tough the first couple of years and even now we have to constantly try new things to bring in new business to keep us profitable!! 

Sorry for the serious post but I think most people wouldn’t factor in half of these costs so I just wanted to give our side, don’t worry we do just fine, we’re not out on the street yet;) I’ll keep you updated on the city centre shop as it happens, we will find something!! Back to the food, this recipe is so simple and a great side dish to some grilled fish or meat!

                        
WHAT YOU NEED:

 - vine cherry tomatoes and mixed tomatoes ( Superquinn do a really good organic mixed tomato box with a great variety of colours as you can see above)

 - fresh basil

 - fresh thyme(optional)

 - garlic cloves (leave whole with skin on)

 - sea salt and black pepper

 - olive oil

WHAT TO DO:

 - heat your oven to 190 degrees

 - put your tomatoes, basil, thyme and garlic in an oven proof dish, season with salt and pepper and add some olive oil.

 - cook for 30 – 45 mins depending how you like them!! We like them quite dried out so it’s up to you!!

BUON APPETITO!!
]]> http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/11/07/pomodorini-al-forno/feed/ 0 the mamma http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/09/28/linguine-with-anchovies-garlic-parsley/ http://italianfoodies.ie/2007/09/28/linguine-with-anchovies-garlic-parsley/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:35:58 +0000 lors http://italianfoodies.wordpress.com/?p=319 ]]>

Ok, I wasn’t going to post about this until after the event but I’ve decided “what the hell”!! I received an email from RTE Radio 1 on Tuesday from the Derek Mooney show asking me if I would be interested in coming on the show to talk about Italian food on Thursday but this has since been changed to Monday, Caroline from Bibliocook had kindly mentioned me – Thanks Caroline!!. They are doing a feature with Paulo Tullio(he is a big food and wine critic here in Ireland for all my International readers who I am a big fan of)about Italian food in Ireland, how it’s not authentic e.g cream in Carbonara etc. He has written a few articles in the Independent recently regarding this issue and I’ve actually spoken about it here before. My first reaction was panic, O MY GOD what will I say and how can I get out of it??? But after a few stiff brandies I told myself not to be so stupid and think of all the publicity for the shop and what a privilege to be asked!! In saying that I will be so nervous and that’s why I wasn’t going to tell anyone, I did tell my bloggie friend Laura and swore her not to tell a soul so now she’ll thing I’m a looner when reading this:) Initially it was supposed to be on the phone which was fine and then the researcher had the great idea of me going into the Limerick studios and going “LIVE” – (Aghhhhhhh!!!!) and Paulo(my buddy;) will be live in the Dublin studio!! It’s funny I’ve no problem at all sitting here babbling away day after day or burning the ear off all the customers in the shop but when put in this situation panic sets in, I’m sure there will be lots of silent pauses and am, am, am, am and like, like, like!! Hopefully Paulo will be gentle, he always seems really nice on The Restaurant and he does eat in the cousin’s restaurant in Atina so I might try and butter him up by throwing that in:)

This is a little gem of a recipe from Gordon Ramsay’s( a.k.a Chef Ramsay on Hell’s Kitchen U.S.A) Fast Food Book which is great when you want something quick and easy with just a few ingredients. I know anchovies aren’t that popular in Ireland but they really aren’t that strong in this dish – in saying that I would eat kilos of them at a time.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 200g marinated anchovies roughly chopped – we have them in La Cucina
• bunch of flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
• 300g spaghetti or linguine.
• sea salt and black pepper
• freshly grated parmesan – I know I always say no cheese on fish pasta but it worked on this one???? Don’t know why??
• serves 4.

WHAT TO DO:

 - cook your spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente.

 - heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the garlic and fry over a medium heat until golden brown at the edges. Stir in the chopped anchovies.

 - drain the spaghetti and tip into the pan with the garlic and anchovies. Add the chopped parsley, black pepper and toss well.

 - serve with grated parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

P.S – can you all say a little prayer for me and wish me luck:)

This is one of those recipes that everybody has probably heard of at some stage of their foodie life but have never actually made it especially in Ireland and that would include me. I’ve seen so many different recipes over the years as there are a lot of different versions, some use aubergines, other use black olives or anchovies but this one from Angela Hartnetts book is just a simple, easy recipe using just peppers and tomatoes so I decided it was time to try it out!! I’ve never had it before as Bruno’s mother always makes a roast pepper salad when using peppers which is absolutely divine, I tried this salad once but myself and the roast peppers did not get on very well. I was about 9 months pregnant carrying the 10 pounder princess( I kid you not and she was a week early)  and I think it took me about an hour to peel the bloody peppers and there were only 4 of them – I might as well have ran a marathon I was so tired after it. All the recipes tell you to cover them with cling film, run them under cold water etc etc to help with the peeling process but nothing worked for me.

Naturally I was traumatised since so I have stayed away from peppers until I was in Aldi last week and saw these lovely long yellow and red peppers – I don’t remember the technical name for them. I have to say Aldi and Lidl do a better selection of vegetables than any Supermarket and everything was from Europe unlike my local Supermarket where the cherries are from the U.S and the asparagus is from Peru???? If Aldi can source from Europe why can’t Dunnes and Superquinn?? In saying that I managed to get into the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and there really is such a great selection of vegetables and I bought way too much of course - I was checking the Silver Spoon for recipes for carrots today I have so many!! It’s a pleasure to actually wash the dirt off the potatoes and carrots instead of taking them out of a pre-packed bag. We were just saying it would be great if the market was a permanent fixture like The English Market in Cork, you would never have to shop for veg in a Supermarket again.

This recipe is really simple but the most important factor in Pepperonata is the cooking time, you have to let it simmer for over an hour to truly get the intense flavours. I made it during the day and then had it that night with some grilled Italian sausage and Italian bread rubbed with some garlic and olive oil – absolutely delicious, even the “MIL” (mother-in-law)would have been proud:)

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 50ml olive oil
• 1 small onion diced
• 3 red peppers, seeded and chopped into big chunks.
• 3 yellow peppers, seeded and chopped into big chunks.
• 1 x 400g can plum or cherry tomatoes- use an Italian brand if you can!!
• small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
• small handful chopped fresh basil
• salt and black pepper

WHAT TO DO:

 - heat the olive oil in the pan and add the onion. Cook until soft and translucent, but without colouring, this takes about 3-4 mins.

 - add the peppers and cook gently until softened, again avoiding any colouring.

 - season to taste and add the tomatoes. Continue to cook over a low heat until the peppers are soft, this takes about 1 hour and 20 mins. If the peppers look dry add some water, I did this a few times.

 - remove from the pan and stir in your parsley and basil.

- you could serve it with meat, monk fish or just simply with crostini or toasted ciabatta!

BUON APPETITO!!

Do you ever have a week where you just don’t feel like cooking? Every now and again I just get so lazy and just couldn’t be bothered,  last week was such a week. The worst part of it was I had menu planned so I’m ashamed to say a lovely big juicy monk fish went into the bin and it wasn’t cheap – oh the guilt:( It was just the way the week went, staff were out sick so one of us had to be in La Cucina and we actually went out to eat this week. We off loaded the princess to her Nonna on Tuesday night and went for dinner in the new Hilton, we were going to go to the Market Square restaurant which is probably our favourite in Limerick but we said we would try the Hilton for a change. What did we think??? We should have went to the Market Square;)

I mentioned the MIL/Nonna has returned so back to our regular visit to the family restaurant “La Piccola Italia” for our Friday dinner, cod done in the oven with tomatoes, potatoes and olives – delicious. Bruno’s brother Stefano is just back from Pantelleria so my new love is Passito which is a speciality of this region, a sweet dessert wine to have after dinner, there is a bottle of the home-made version chilling in my fridge as we speak .  It is a tiny island off the coast of Sicily, it is so small there is limited Internet connection so everyone has to use the local Internet cafe. Armani (the god himself) was actually there  using the Internet amoung the commoners when Stefano was in the cafe!

 Speaking of Italian wines, I’m in the process of ordering a mixed case of Italian wine from Julian over at Bubblebrothers, fingers crossed my favourite Primitivo will be included, I like Brunello too Julian;), we actually have a bottle which we are keeping for a special occasion which is never going to come, I keep asking Bru to open it but he won’t let me .I will let you know how I get on, I’m not the best at describing wine so Julian you might have to give me a little help:) He’s also kindly offered his professional advice and help on matching any of his wines with your favourite Italian dishes. I know I need help so if there are any questions you have in relation to matching wines just leave them in the comments section or send me an email.

I actually posted this recipe back in March but this was when I was a blogging newbie and didn’t even take photos so I have superstyled it and stuck in a few pics:)This pasta dish is so handy and easy to make when you don’t have much time and you have nothing in the fridge, it’s actually one of our favourite pasta dishes. The Italians tend to eat this after a night out, they all go back to some body’s house and cook up a big pot of pasta, we just go to Abbrakebabra and have a kebab and garlic chips. Then we wonder where those extra lbs come from???

All you need is:

• olive oil 5-6 good glugs
• 1 garlic clove sliced
• 1 fresh chilli seeded and chopped
• 1 fresh flat leaf parsley sprig chopped (optional)
• 3/4 packet spaghetti De Cecco or Barilla
• salt
• parmesan cheese

How to make it:

 - bring a pot of salted water to the boil

 - cover the base of a small pot or deep frying pan with your oil and heat

 - add the garlic and chilli and cook until the garlic is starting to colour, if you don’t like to eat garlic but like the flavour you could just cook the garlic clove until brown and then remove and cook chilli.

 - remove from the heat and add the parsley

 - cook the spaghetti until al dente and drain

 - mix the spaghetti  with the chilli and garlicmoil and serve with loads of grated parmesan on top!

BUON APPETTITO!!

p.s. I haven’t submitted an entry to Presto Pasta Night in a while and I missed the big 6 month celebration(shame on me as it has been such a good event), Ruth will be wondering what’s happened to me, deepest apologies Ruth. Not much pasta in the Italian foodie house recently so I’m submitting this recipe for this week’s event!!

I think I’m going to complain about the weather more often as every time I do the next day ends up being really hot. So all together “THANK YOU LORRAINE”! I accept all gifts, I’m not that fussy – Gucci, Armani, D&G – I’ll leave it up to you:)

I was delighted to see an ad on TV the other night about Jamie Oliver’s new programme starting Aug 7 called “Jamie at Home” which seems to be all about simple cooking that we all can do. I think there seems to be a big shift in eating habits especially here in Ireland to more casual dining using simple ingredients. It’s taking it’s time getting to Limerick mind you but there seems to be a big craze in Dublin judging by all the reviews I’ve been reading lately. Fine dining is great for a special occasion but there is a huge gap between this and the fish and chip shop. I think the Gastro-Pub seems to fill this gap in the UK but this concept is a bit slow to take off here unfortunately, I don’t know why?? There has been a lot of complaining regarding a drop in business in the pub trade since the smoking ban so serving good, home-made food would probably be a step in the right direction – a few good cocktails wouldn’t go astray either. How hard is it to find a good Mojito in Ireland??

I know I go on about how wonderful everything is in Italy but when it comes to food and drink there is nowhere better than it, they do have their negatives too especially with the economy, politics and bureaucracy etc but to me food is more important so I always look at it with my rose tinted glasses plus I don’t live there! Take the local bar in Atina, it’s a tiny place serving the locals and you’ll get a better cappuccino or alcoholic beverage than in a lot of expensive restaurants in Ireland. When they serve their gin and tonic there are no measurements and they squeeze some fresh limes in front of you and the fresh lime juice adds a great twist. I don’t know how many times in various pubs I’ve had to ask for a slice of lemon and after the look and reaction I get I wonder was my little slice of happiness worth asking for?? In Italy just take such pride in all aspects of food and drink as they are just so passionate about it!!

So on the subject of passion here is a really easy and tasty vegetable dish to go with anything, we had it with some aged fillet from Superquinn! 

WHAT YOU NEED:

• 1 aubergine -  chopped in big chunks
• 1 courgette -  chopped in big chunks
• 1 red onion – chopped in big chunks
• 1 sweet red pepper – optional
• 5 cloves garlic- leave skin on
• 1 tin Italian cherry tomatoes or good quality fresh cherry tomatoes
• olive oil
• basil- 10 leaves, you can add some thyme or rosemary if you like.
• sea salt and black pepper.

WHAT TO DO:

 - It’s so simple, just put everything into an oven dish, season with salt and pepper and pour over some olive oil!!

 - cook for 30 – 40 mins in the oven at 200 degrees and serve.
 

BUON APPETITO!!!