Dear Valentines , Wild Things.

' We proudly use goods from our ‘Wild Food Larder’ with Local Produce',
This year at work we are in the fortunate position to have a few goodies stored up for a special occasion and what could be a better time to break into the stores selecting some of our favourite wild things and  using them with  local produce than  St Valentines Day. It also happens to be 'Eat local and Irish Week' so we're on the ball with this one. Luckily there are a few greens out there to forage and we are glad to to be able to use those and able to pick some fresh garlic from our container garden to add a touch of Spring to the menu.


VALENTINES DAY DINNER MENU 2013

Crisp Free-range Chicken with Pickled Leek & Chestnut Terrine, Elderberry Dressing

‘Clogher Head’ Crabmeat & Cheddar Croquette,Smoked Seaweed Salad, Red Pepper Salsa

‘Fivemiletown Creamery’ Goat’s Cheese, Sweet Potato Purée, Wood Sorrel, Truffled Honey   Dressing

Baby Leaf Salad ,Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Buttermilk Croutons & a Basil Pesto

Cauliflower Soup, Curried cream with Coriander
.......
Pan-fried Dry-aged 8oz Irish Rump Steak, Foie Gras Butter, Caramelised Onion Purée

Breast of Mallard ,Celeriac Powder, Sloe Jus & Rowanberry Jelly

Roast Fillet of Pork ,Wild Irish Mushroom Cream Sauce

‘Kilmore Quay’ Scallops,Brooks ‘Urban Garden’ Garlic Butter Sauce, Sea Beet, Colcannon & Crisp Bacon

Roasted Pumpkin ,Feta Cheese Fritters, Sweet Pickled Lemon & Watercress
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Selection of fresh market vegetables and North county Dublin Potatoes.
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‘Fraughan’s’ Wild Blueberries and Lemon Curd Served with Sugared Shortbread

Elderflower Panacotta ‘Granny Smith’ Apple Foam, Elderflower Caramel & White Chocolate Crumb

Warm ‘Champagne’ Rhubarb, Honeycomb Nougatine Parfait, Ginger Snap Crumble

Irish Farmhouse Cheeses & Water Biscuits
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34.95 pp

Spuds for National Potato Day

Urban garden. Our spuds grew quite happily and blight free in containers in the yard this year, we have Charlotte and Roosters, planted for educational purposes, true we won't yield a tonne of them, but we will have created a food memory and will be able to say in kid-like talk 'Remember the one time', which is about holistic as it can get really.Once is enough to spark that moment of experience of sowing, growing and harvesting your own produce, and potatoes deliver the goods especially when grown in the yard as they can be 'hoked' up washed and in the pot cooking within minutes.

Country living, I've lot's of previous convictions on the charge of spud liking. At an early age they, apart from being staple diet, were an important source of income through long summer days to icey cold starts in late october. Gathering spuds was always good craic, it was our 'Vendange' and allsorts met on the field and your tally of bags or boxes a competitive count off at all stages of the day. Cash at the end of the day or week was the reward,and usually spent on new clothes.

I was lucky in my later teenage years to get a mix of the work involved with potato production through my uncle Bernie and cousins the Henry family. From planting and gathering to the final bagging for sale to the merchant: a four person job; one graping the stored potatoes onto the riddle for sorting {the riddle had different sized grade settings for market preferences} two at the riddle removing any bad spuds {this was the most important bit as the merchant would pre-order a couple of tonnes and, at any point of loading the lorry, untie a bag to check the spuds. If he was unhappy with the grade then that was it,all would be rejected, off loaded and the riddling process would have to be redone. That would have been Soul destroying!} and one person removing tying, stacking and replacing the bags as they filled. As the day went on and you tired, the target set for the day became a killer. By evening I was glad when the end arrived.

Hard work but satisfying and rewarding, with the warmth of the aunt Sarah's kitchen, a pot of stew and a steaming plate of spuds with fresh baked soda bread, a weekend bake of tart, cake and buns by the range. I'd just started a catering course at that point and for my benefit aunt Sarah would offer comment on the latest bakes, noting a particular batch of pastry being short on texture or crust on a bread having got caught out on the vagaries of the 'Aga'. That was an education in baking for me and a bonus to the happiness of a job well done round the table, cash on the nose for me and disco time later.