Oven Baked Creamy Wild Garlic & Cheese Potatoes

This is a twist on one of those great potato dishes that tastes magic, is easy to cook and you keep forgetting to make until something else reminds you and then you want it!

The delicate white flowers aren't out on the Wild Garlic in Donegal yet

I was down the garden today and the  smell of my wild garlic plants wafted over and ticked me on the nose. "Mmm", I thought, "Oven Baked Creamy Wild Garlic & Cheese Potatoes". So I made them this evening and here's the recipe!

Use a good floury potato because they'll be perfect for soaking up the cream. Roosters are a great all round potato being good for roasting, mashing, baking or making chips. I used a mix of Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese because I like to! You can use just cheddar cheese if you wish.

The taste of chopped wild garlic is more subtle compared to normal cloves of garlic and the flowers aren't out on them yet here in Donegal, but you can chop them up too when they bloom!


My Ingredients:

1.5kg (3 1/2 lbs) Potatoes
500ml (1 pint) Whipping Cream
100g (4oz) Cheddar Cheese, grated
50g (2oz) Parmesan Cheese, grated
About 10 Wild Garlic leaves, shredded thinly
Freshly ground Black Pepper

My Method:

1. Peel and slice thinly all the potatoes using a sharp knife, the blades on a grater or a mandolin. Place them in a large bowl.

2. Add all the grated parmesan cheese, most of the cheddar cheese, the cream and the wild garlic. Add 8-10 twists of freshly ground pepper.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top of the dish

3. Mix everything together well with a large spoon and then scoop it into a 2" deep baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese over the top and flatten everything down gently.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175°C, 350°F, Gas 4 for 1 hour. After 30 minutes, take the dish out and gently press the potatoes down again to let the cream come up over the top of the mix. Pop it back in the oven to finish the cooking time.

Delicious as a side dish or on it's own with a salad for a late night snack!

The top of the potato dish will be lightly crispy and golden/brown and it will be ready to eat straight away.

If you want to, you can make this the day before a special dinner, let it cool completely when cooked and cut it into squares. When you're ready eat, it heats up in a hot oven or in a microwave quite quickly to serve as a garnish or a side dish.

You could eat this potato dish all day - it didn't last long!

There you go, simple and very tasty - Oven Baked Creamy Wild Garlic & Cheese Potatoes. Yum!

Zack

Ten Irish Food Companies begin their FoodService Academy mentoring

Ten Irish food and drink companies will join the first FoodService Academy, a new programme run by Bord Bia and Musgrave MarketPlace from today. The FoodService Academy seeks to help small Irish food and drink companies develop their business in the foodservice market (commonly referred to as “out of home food market”). The programme also aims to help the companies achieve growth within Musgrave MarketPlace’s foodservice business, which works with over 6,000 customers each week ranging from hotels and restaurants to pubs and nursing homes. 

Blanco Nino, Europe’s first producer of authentic corn tortillas and Nobó, the dairy free ice-cream company, have already been set up as suppliers in advance of the programme starting today. Other companies that will benefit from the programme include Tipperary Kitchen, a family run artisan bakery and Secret Recipe, the only producer of halal and gluten free meals to the foodservice industry in Ireland and the UK as well as other bakery, seafood, pork and beverage producers.

According to Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia’s Foodservice Specialist, “Bord Bia is delighted to work with Musgrave MarketPlace for the first time on the inaugural FoodService Academy, looking to grow the sales of small businesses in the market. The foodservice market is delivering real growth and value for Irish food and drink companies, as is evidenced in our recent industry report. The ‘out of home’ market is now worth €6.37bn and this is forecasted to grow to almost €6.9bn by 2018 so this is an area we are encouraging companies to develop.”

Sheena Forde, Trading Director, Musgrave MarketPlace added that, “Following on from the success of Musgrave’s SuperValu Food Academy programme with Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Offices, we are now looking forward to bringing a similar programme to Irish foodservice producers through MarketPlace. A number of the participating companies are Food Academy graduates so we are proud to be in a position to introduce their products to our foodservice customer base. As the largest and fastest growing wholesaler in Ireland, we are ideally placed to understand the needs of the foodservice market and, as an Irish family business, we are delighted to work with small Irish manufacturers, many of which are family owned, to give them a head start in the market. The FoodService Academy programme offers a combination of commercial and marketing expertise and will provide invaluable consumer insight for the companies involved. We would like to acknowledge the excellent support of Bord Bia throughout the development of this programme, their shared passion for supporting Irish food business has been evident throughout.’’

The FoodService Academy programme, coordinated by Bord Bia, will take place over four months and comprise of workshops and mentoring, with the first workshop taking place today (Thursday, 24th March). Representatives from Musgrave MarketPlace will participate in the workshops, sharing practical insights and experience to help the companies understand areas such as supplier set-up, food safety requirements and distribution model as well as sales and the marketing support.

The ten companies that have been chosen to participate are:

• Atlantis Seafood, a family seafood business based in Wexford
• Blanco Nino, Europe’s only producer of authentic corn tortillas and un-fried tortilla chips made in Tipperary
• Coffee House Lane, a Waterford family run coffee roaster 
• Lily’s Tea House, blenders of a range of premium, loose leaf teas as well as matcha tea and premium tea pyramids based in Co Louth
• Nobó, the dairy free ice-cream producer, which is made without any refined sugar, gums or stabilisers
• Maria Lucia Bakes, a Dublin producer of gourmet gluten, wheat and dairy free granola cereals
• Outdoor Oinks, a range of Bord Bia approved pork and bacon products in Kildare
• Secret Recipe in Cork is the only producer of halal and gluten free meal solutions to the foodservice industry in Ireland and the UK
• Tipperary Kitchen, a family run artisan bakery producing a range of handcrafted meringues, dessert sauces and chocolate biscuit cake
• Wildberry Bakery, an artisan gluten free bakery in Cork

Wishing them all the best of success!

Zack

glutenfree blueberry waffles and a gathering in our new studio

last weekend our dear friends signe, sif and marieke visited us in berlin. we all know each other through instagram, which i hardly can believe sometimes, as it feels we know each other since ages already. the weekend was filled with precious moments and talks, lots of fun and adventerous plans for the future. and we enjoyed the first gathering in our new studio together, what a wonderful weekend that was!! nora made these very delicious glutenfree blueberry waffles and we all enjoyed them so much. i could eat them for every meal at the moment, no matter if breakfast, lunch or dinner. so give it a try guys, we are sure you will love them as well!

at the moment we are working very hard to hand in recipes and pictures for a important deadline and when we finally made it (next week!! fingers crossed please!) we will be back on track and finally post more regulary on the blog. the past month went by so fast…but now we are almost fully equipped in the new studio and can't wait to share a full tour soon. 

and now let's finally enjoy some blueberry waffles :)

glutenfree blueberry waffles

waffle batter:
400g rice flour
150g butter
150g sugar
4 eggs
3 tsp organic baking powder
170ml milk
1 dash of salt
1 vanilla bean
1-2 tsp cinnamon
150-200g frozen blueberries
a bit coconut oil
topping:
coconut yoghurt or "greek yoghurt" or any other yoghurt you like
3-4 blood oranges
fresh berries (we´ve pureed a few for a delicious berry sauce)
coconut flakes
fresh thyme
maple syrup

melt the butter and let cool for a moment. separate eggs. beat egg whites half stiff, continue beating and gradually add about half of the sugar. beat 2min longer. beat remaining sugar, salt and vanille seeds together with the egg yolks for 2min until creamy, whisk in the melted butter, then the milk. then fold the egg whites gently in the egg yolks creme. blend rice flour, baking powder and cinnamon and sieve to the egg mixture and stir in with a spatula or cooking spoon. heat your electric waffle maker, brush the surface with a bit coconut oil and bake the waffles - about 2-3tbsp batter each waffle and add about 1 tbsp frozen blueberries to each batter just on top before you close your waffle maker (if you want, you can leave the waffles in the preheated oven - around 100-200°C - to serve warm). fillet blood oranges and wash berries. serve blueberry waffles with coconut yoghurt, berry sauce, berries, coconut flakes and maple syrup - sprinkle some fresh thyme leaves on top. bon appétit!

german translation

letztes wochenende hatten wir besuch von unseren wunderbaren freunden signe, sif und marieke. wir kennen uns alle durch instagram, was wir manchmal kaum glauben können, weil es sich anfühlt als würden wir uns schon ewig kennen. das wochenende war mit vielen kostenbaren momenten gefüllt, viel freude und abenteurreichen plänen für die zukunft. und wir haben unser erstes richtiges gathering im studio genossen, was für ein schönes wochenede das war! nora hat uns mit diesen köstlichen glutenfreien blaubeer waffeln verwöhnt, alle waren begeistert! ich könnte die waffeln momentan zu jeder tages- und nachtzeit essen, egal ob zum frühstück, lunch oder abendbrot. also, probiert das rezept unbedingt aus ihr lieben, wir hoffen es wird euch genauso gut schmecken wie uns. 

momentan arbeiten wir sehr intensiv an einer größeren abgabe von bildern und rezepten (nur noch eine woche, drückt uns fest die daumen, dass wir die deadline schaffen!!) und posten danach endlich wieder regelmäßiger auf dem blog. die letzten monate sind wirklich unfassbar schnell vergangen…aber jetzt sind wir fast voll und ganz im neuen studio eingerichtet und freuen uns schon euch bald auch mal eine kleine tour auf dem blog zu zeigen. 

und jetzt nichts wie los zum köstlichen blaubeer-waffel rezept :)

glutenfreie blaubeerwaffeln

zutaten (für 8-10 rechteckige waffeln)

waffelteig:
400g reismehl
150g butter
150g zucker
4 eier
3 tl weinsteinbackpulver
170ml milch
1 prise salz
1 vanilleschote
1-2 tl zimt
150-200g tk-blaubeeren
kokosöl (o.ä.) zum ausbacken
topping:
kokosjoghurt oder griechischer joghurt o.ä.
3-4 blutorangen
frische beeren (wir haben einen teil zu einer leckeren beerensosse püriert)
kokosflakes
thymian
ahornsirup

butter schmelzen und kurz abkühlen lassen. eier trennen. eiweiss halb steif schlagen, dann weiterschlagen und etwa die hälfte des zuckers einrieseln lassen und 2min weiterschlagen. eigelbe mit dem restlichen zucker, salz und vanillemark 2min cremig aufschlagen. butter in eigelbcreme einrühren, dann die milch. eiweiss unter die masse heben, dann die trockenen zutaten (reismehl, weinsteinbackpulver & zimt) mischen und dazusieben. mit einem kochlöffel oder silikonspatel unterrühren. waffeleisen erwärmen und mit etwas kokosöl bestreichen. teig im waffeleisen ausbacken, dabei etwa 2-3el teig pro waffel auf das heisse eisen geben und etwa 1el tk-blaubeeren pro waffel darüber verstreuen, dann ausbacken (evt. im ofen bei 50-100°C warm halten bis zum servieren). blutorangen filetieren und beeren waschen. blaubeerwaffeln mit kokosjoghurt, beerensoße, blutorangenfilets, beeren, kokosflakes und ahornsirup servieren - darüber etwas frischen thymian verstreuen. bon appétit!

US President Obama gets the ultimate Irish Foodie Bag for St Patrick's Day!

As part of An Taoiseach Enda Kenny's visit to the White House to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, Bordbia (the Irish Food Board) organised a hamper of Irish food and drink products to be presented to the Obama Family and Mrs. Jill Biden. The contents include the best of Irish dairy, beef, cheese, seafood, confectionery, craft beers, tea, coffee, whiskey, oatmeal, biscuits, crisps, preserves and breads.

Pictured are: Emmet Doyle, BordBia’s Marketing Executive in New York and Dale Crammond, Ireland’s Agricultural Attaché to the US, who explained the provenance of the hamper contents to Enda Kenny.

The Irish Food Hamper contained the following products:
Oatmeal/Porridge

• Flahavans
• Kilbeggan 

Dairy – Butter & Cheese

• Kerrygold Butter 
• Wexford Cheddar
• Little Milk Company Organic Brie; Mature Cheddar
• Cooleeney Farm 
• Coolea Farmhouse Cheese
• Gubeen 
• Cahill’s Farm Cheese

Seafood and Beef

• Burren Smokehouse Smoked Salmon
• Irish beef

Confectionery, Biscuits & Crisps

• Butlers
• Jelly Bean Factory
• Kilbeggan Organic Oat Cookies
• The Foods of Athenry – Flapjack’s & Cookie Shots
• Broderick’s Mini Bites
• Keogh’s Crisps
• O’Donnell’s Crisps

Preserves & Jams

• Mileevan Jams & Sarah’s Honeys
• Abbey Farm Jams
• Follain Jams
• Ballymaloe Relish
• Boyne Valley – Lakeshore Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil
• Boyne Valley Lakeshore Mustard 

Whiskey and Craft Beer

• Jameson Whiskey
• Baileys Irish Cream
• Guinness 
• O’Hara’s Craft Beers 

Tea/Coffee

• Barrys Tea
• Bewleys Tea/Coffee

Breads/Crackers

• Sheridan’s Crackers (Brown Bread, Rye & Linseed, Mixed Seed)
• Promise Gluten Free Breads
• McCambridge’s Sliced Brown Wholewheat Bread

It's great to see Irish Food products and products made in Ireland continuing their rise in international recognition as being among some of the best in the world. And we are very proud of our food producers!

Zack