Nothing says summer more than the sights and smells of people cooking and enjoying great food outdoors. We just love dusting off the BBQ and garden furniture – inviting friends and family round, creating great times in the back garden! Heaven!

We asked some of our team for their barbequing tips, from cooking the perfect steak on the barbeque to taking the hassle out of summer entertaining. We thought it would be nice to share some of these with you.

 
Use a Meat Thermometer

Cooking on a BBQ can be unpredictable and with cooking meat you can’t rely on appearance alone. A meat thermometer is a simple to use, low cost tool to keep you and your loved ones safe and is a fool proof way of cooking to perfection on the BBQ.

Then the next question – is how long do you cook meat for on the BBQ? For grilling times, depending on how you like your steak cooked, or what type of meat you are cooking, we found this useful BBQ guide on the Weber website.

For other tips on cooking meat safely, safefood has some great tips on their website.

 
Preparation

When barbequing you are also entertaining so try and get as much prep work out of the way as possible, so you have time to spend with your guests. Marinating food in advance, the night before is preferable. Prepare salads or even better pop into your local deli or supermarket which will take the fuss and extra work out of the BBQ. Stock up the night before, get your drinks trolley ready – or how about going with the latest trend, getting your pallet bar stocked – and don’t forget to fill the ice trays in the freezer!

 
Avoid Fridge Chill

Another great tip when cooking meat – take raw meat out of the fridge at least 20 minutes before barbecuing until it reaches room temperature. If the meat is too cold when it hits the grill it could burn on the outside before it’s cooked through. This is especially important with sausages, burgers, and chicken. It’s also important with steaks to ensure it’s cooked as you like it.

 
Use the Skills of Your Butcher

BBQing should be enjoyable, not something that creates extra work, so consider using the skills of your local butcher and leave the meat prep to the expert – often it can be better value as well! Think of the time you will save on chopping, threading skewers, making burgers from scratch or marinating chicken.

Also when people prepare BBQ food from scratch there is a tendency to over-purchase and most butchers, including our good selves have a wide range of delicious meats made especially for the BBQ. All of our BBQ Collection is available in our shops including our online shop, with delivery right to your door.

 
Take Your Time

Allow plenty of time for the food to cook. Traditionally barbecuing is not meant to be as fast as grilling, it is a slower, more leisurely process although gas barbecues are faster than conventional ones. When executed properly this is what gives it that great, unique taste. It is also quite a healthy option as most of the fat drips off and into the flames during cooking. If you think about it barbecues are the original health grills as little is added to create the flavour.

 
Final Piece of Advice

Our final piece of advice is to always, always, always go for the best ingredients you can afford. Top quality burgers will always taste better than cheap, poor quality steak. Buy the best you can afford, forget the barbecue snobbery that abounds and just enjoy having your family and friends around, to break bread together – something we have all been missing.

At the end of the day it really is one of life’s simplest but greatest pleasures.

With only a few days to Christmas Day, our teams are busy putting the finishing touches together on all of the Christmas orders and when our customers and friends come in to collect their Christmas food, we love chatting with them and sharing hints, tips and guides for cooking the turkey, ham or spiced beef.

We may not be chefs but we are passionate about great food and love to share how we like to cook great food at Christmas in our own homes.

Christmas Turkey Recipe
How more traditional can you get than Christmas Turkey with Cranberry Sauce. This recipe is a fool proof way of cooking your Christmas Turkey – and don’t worry if you are too busy to make the Christmas Stuffing – we have the perfect solution. Our Award Winning Stuffing, made to a family recipe, with lots of real butter, onion, parsley and fresh herbs. It’s perfect for Christmas dinner and it’s also great for stuffing roast peppers or mushrooms, sprinkling them with cheese and then popping them into a hot oven. A lovely side dish for any meal, or even as a Christmas dinner starter!

Cooking the Christmas Ham
Together with our friends in Bord Bia, we put together this video to show you a really easy way to cook the Christmas Ham, – and our favourite Ham, our own Heritage Cure Ham – just Click here , follow the simple steps in the video and just let the signature hickory smoked aromas fill your home with warmth this Christmas.

The Perfect Roast Potatoes
Of course, all of our friends and customers already know that the perfect roast potatoes are made with our world famous Beef Dripping. Here is a fun sheet we put together on how to cook the perfect roast potatoes – just click here to meet #TheRoasties – and learn Mrs Whelan’s own tips for perfect roast potatoes.

Spiced Beef Cooking
We love cooking our Spiced Beef on Christmas Eve – and the secret is to let the meat cool in the water as it keeps all the goodness of the delicious spices in the meat. Bord Bia’s website has a treasure trove of recipes. We love this easy to follow Spiced Beef Recipe – you won’t go wrong with it.

It is such a special time of year and we are always so proud to be part of the most important meal of the year in so many homes. We also know how important it is to help whoever is cooking this special meal and we hope these recipes help take the stress out of Christmas for you.

We would like to take this opportunity from our family to yours, to wish you a happy and a safe Christmas – and if you fancy sharing your beautiful Christmas Dinner images with us – we would love to hear from you – just tag us @JWButchers on social media.

There will always be those prepared for Christmas in September and while we may admire their industriousness for most of us it just isn’t practical. So here we find ourselves in the first week of December, the Christmas lights are up, the Christmas songs are playing in the shops and it’s time to get festive. It’s time to focus on what Christmas is all about – family, friends and, oh yes, food. Even if this year it may be a Christmas like no other, it’s more important than ever that we celebrate with great food wherever we are and whoever we are celebrating with.

Of course the trick is to make it tasty but simple. I enjoy the process of choosing ingredients, preparing them all and cooking so I don’t see it as a big chore but I am aware that some people see it as a job, and a taxing one at that. Either way I believe that the very nature of the food we eat at Christmas makes preparing meals quite a joy. For a start once the food for the main event is cooked, you then have the basics for ‘easy’ meals for several days.

Now I’ve heard all the usual moans about how we are all sick to death of turkey and ham by December 27th, but really it is just lack of forethought and imagination that is the real issue. If you insist on just serving slices of turkey and ham and the frazzled and dried up leftover veg at every meal for three days with the only choices being hot or cold, then inevitably it gets boring.

Secret Sauce!

Instead make sure you have some good chutneys or savoury jellies and jams to hand. These really liven up leftover meat and there is quite a range of local produce to choose from if you haven’t made your own. Having said that whizzing them up yourself is no longer the torture it once was and so don’t negate trying it. Crème Fraiche is a fantastic tasty treat when added to a little stock for a pale sauce to bathe turkey and ham in. One of our favourites is from our friends in West Cork Glenilen Farm. You can serve it as a sauce on the side; you can immerse the meat into it or how about making a pie filling with it instead.

Also our fellow Tipperary Food Producers, Ayle Farm produce mouthwatering Chutneys, Relishes, and Preserves in small batches. We just love their Beetroot Chutney and always great to have in the cupboard or fridge. You can’t go wrong.

Indeed use your bun tray to make small individual savoury pies by making a pastry base and topping the filling with a little cranberry sauce and covering the top with some pastry. These are really gorgeous. Also don’t be afraid to freeze leftovers, just be sensible and do it as quickly as possible once they have cooled down. So now is the time to either make the pastry or buy the pastry and freeze it to have it to hand. Keep plenty of it to hand as it’s great to parcel sweet or savoury treats that you’ll use all through December.

The store cupboard and the freezer are your best friends at this time of year.

You could try cooking some full dishes over the next two weekends or simply keep the raw ingredients such as some braising steak or lamb pieces in the freezer. Our friends at Bord Bia have some really great recipes that never fail to please and are so simple to prepare such as Spicy beef tagines, Slow Cooked Lamb Curry or a delicious Beef & Stout Casserole are all great one pot meals that while they require time to cook, are quick and easy to prepare, warming and will stretch a long way.

Another great source for delicious beef recipes for dishes like this are in my Beef Book, which is available for sale in store and through our online shop.

Store Cupboard

Stock the store cupboard with tins of tomatoes, good quality stocks and various rice and noodles and you won’t be caught off guard. So this weekend check the store cupboard for all those handy spices, flours and condiments. Make sure you have enough rice, pasta, couscous or other favourites ready to go.

Breakfast fit for a King!

Another area sorely neglected in my view at this time of year is breakfast! Now is the time to beef up the breakfast menu arsenal. Remember that at Christmas there will be mornings where you can take a leisurely approach to breaking your night time fast. Don’t just cobble together cold turkey and a few withered nibbles from the night before along with three Quality Street, a choc mallow and a bag of Tayto! (Don’t say you’ve never done it). This Christmas by planning ahead, learn how to make Eggs Benedict, try something different and even make breakfast the ‘star meal’ of one of the days. A favourite of ours is a mix of freshly chopped vegetables including tomatoes, potatoes with some slices of our blackpudding, baking in the oven, then topping with a poached egg or two.

Up Tipp!

Now you might be thinking that I’m getting ahead of myself, but as you’re reading this there are probably only around 20 days left to Christmas Day! The first thing is to stock up on good Tipp sausages and bacon; we have some of the finest in the land right on our doorstep and available in all our 10 shops around the country and online, so there is no excuse. Now I’m not suggesting that you stick to the usual full Irish, but make it festive by adding some corn fritters for example. Use the bacon to top some French bread with maple syrup, chopped bananas and nuts or even American pancakes. Cook the sausages and instead of frying the eggs, bake them in small buttered ramekins for a real treat. Try some different bread: with the great breads available locally you will be spoiled for choice. How about taking some of the leftovers and making a great Christmas omelette!

Finally, I can’t say enough about keeping some fresh fruit, herbs and spices around at Christmas. Ginger, garlic, nutmeg, coriander, basil, chives, cinnamon, a chilli or two, lemons, limes; the list is endless but it is about the ones you like. Having things like this at your disposal can transform leftovers. For example, the basis for most curries is a combination of garlic, ginger and chilli. Go easy on the chilli depending on how hot you like it. If you like mild curries then try a trinity of cinnamon, clove and cardamom. Fresh coriander, one of my favourites, can be chopped into dishes as a garnish or an ingredient; from soups to salads or as a marinade it gives a lovely flavour and a little basil added to a risotto makes all the difference. By the way if you do overindulge at any stage a little bit of fresh ginger chopped into a cup of boiling water can help soothe a sore throat and also ease nausea and hangovers.

Good food doesn’t have to take a long time or create drudgery for one person. We have some great local produce and products that will not only excite the taste buds but might also create a good talking point. Plan ahead now and make your meals a pleasure this Christmas rather than drudgery. Enjoy

We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher and farmer, cookbook author and the CEO of James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Food Market in Rathcoole & Kilmacanogue and in Dunnes Stores, Cornelscourt, Rathmines, The Pavillion Swords, Blanchardstown, Bishopstown Court – Cork, Naas Town Centre and Jetland Centre – Limerick. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers

Christmas is a time for coming home, sitting round the fire with friends and family and enjoying the best of food, great company and celebrating the festive season together.

This year for everyone it will be a Christmas like no other – and unfortunately for some it will mean sacrifice and not being able to be with all of the people that we love.

Because of this, at James Whelan Butchers, we are finding more and more people this year are giving the gift of great food, which can be delivered straight to a loved one’s door throughout Ireland and the UK, right in time for Christmas, through our online store.

We are also finding that people who won’t be with their loved ones this year are sending them a slice of home by gifting a Heritage Cure Ham, which takes pride of place on so many Christmas dinner tables. Cured on the bone using an old family recipe, it is truly delicious, the ultimate taste of home.

Delicious food plays a central part in every family Christmas, and although the turkey tends to take the limelight, we passionately believe that our succulent ham, kissed with smoke and sweetness, juicy meat that melts in the mouth, will bring the festive feast together – even if we can’t be together with everyone we love this year.

This year our Heritage Ham took home two 3 Gold Star Great Taste Awards – and here is what the judges said about this wonderful product “The treatment is faultless. The rearing is clearly caring, reflected in the quality. The curing is light on salt and the sweet yet savory smoke beautifully balanced.”

Our Heritage Ham can be delivered nationwide and also to the UK and would make an ideal and very thoughtful gift for anyone who can’t get home this year for the holidays, by delivering a piece of home to them.

For Christmas you can choose – Whole Heritage Cure Ham or Easy Carve – either way – joy on a plate!

Everyone has Christmas Traditions – so many of these revolve around sharing great quality food with friends and family. While we wait with bated breath to see when and what restrictions will be lifted, we are all focussed on being able to “break bread” with loved ones this Christmas.

We all know that this year Christmas will be like no other, which is why we need to spoil our loved ones a little more – and how better than sharing great food around the Christmas dinner table.

At James Whelan Butchers we are committed to bringing our customers and friends world class products, as nature intended, and this year we have a mouthwatering Christmas Brochure packed full of our Christmas food favourites, helping everyone make great choices when it comes to feeding loved ones this festive season.

All of these delicious products can be selected in any of our 10 shops around Ireland or through our online Christmas Counter, for convenient door to door delivery right now or in time for Christmas.

Heritage Ham

What would Christmas be without delicious ham. Christmas is not complete for us without our Heritage Cure Ham taking pride of place on the Christmas table. Award-winning flavours and succulent, juicy meat that melts in the mouth like butter…..

This year this wonderful product took home two 3 Gold Star Great Taste Awards – and here is what the judges said about this wonderful product “The treatment is faultless. The rearing is clearly caring, reflected in the quality. The curing is light on salt and the sweet yet savory smoke beautifully balanced.”

For Christmas you can choose – Whole Heritage Cure Ham or Easy Carve – either way – joy on a plate.

Here’s a link to a video produced with our friends in Bord Bia to show you a really easy way to cook Christmas Ham – Click here and just let the signature hickory smoked aromas fill your home with warmth this Christmas.

Christmas Spice – makes all things nice!

Spiced Beef is a really big Cork tradition, but we find that it’s a must buy at Christmas time for so many of our customers and friends throughout Ireland. We find that there is nothing like the aromas of spices, served hot or cold for a simple Christmas Eve buffet or spicing up a festive sandwich during the holidays. We just boil it with some root vegetables and Guinness, leave to chill in the water and it’s ready perfect for slicing.

Free Range

Something that is popular at any time of year, for family occasions, is turkey. It brings a sense of occasion to a special family meal and is naturally the first thing on people’s Christmas food shopping list. In all of our shops and in our online store, we offer Free Range Turkeys all year round – something we are very proud of.

All of our turkeys are free range – grown naturally and for longer in open pastures, with the freedom to forage and roam. This gives the meat a depth of flavour, wonderful texture and irresistible moistness.

We have turkeys of all sizes and on our website we have a guide to help you with that all important question “What size turkey do I need?” Whether it is a large turkey to feed a big family gathering or a smaller boneless crown that is so easy to carve and hassle free – we promise we will have the perfect turkey for you and your loved ones this year. – Oh and don’t forget the stuffing!

Breakfast of Kings

The Joy of Christmas doesn’t begin with the Turkey & Ham Roast Dinner. In our house we always wake up on Christmas morning to a really hearty breakfast, before we go on a long walk, once the Turkey has gone into the oven. Home made brown bread, that special marmalade – even a glass or Bucks Fizz with some fresh orange juice, goes down so well – it is Christmas Day Breakfast after all!

We always have our famous Breakfast Pack on Christmas morning, which is full of a variety of mouthwatering artisan products and flavours. The aroma of the fry or grill and we are ready to open our presents – just add a pot of warm tea!

Our beautiful Christmas Brochure also contains the most amazing free range goose from a free range farm in Co. Kilkenny and from our great friends at Hannan Meats, exclusive to James Whelan Butchers, we also include a mouthwatering selection of Salt Aged Roasts and Sharing Steaks.

To ease the burden of Christmas shopping, all of our Christmas products can be delivered straight to your door, or the door of your loved one, right now or on our special Christmas Delivery service on 23rd December. Simply click here for more information on our Christmas nationwide delivery service or to place your order.

We would love to help you make this Christmas one to remember.

Over two years ago we announced a very special partnership with Peter Hannan of Hannan’s Meats, launching our Himalayan Salt Aged Beef, exclusive to James Whelan Butchers.

Peter and Pat both come from very traditional Irish farming backgrounds. Both have an incredible expertise and a deep appreciation for the raw materials. It is this quality of craft and scrupulous sourcing that saw both businesses win Supreme Champion at The Great Taste Awards, each winning a coveted Golden Fork Award against stiff international competition, and each now achieving international recognition with their products stocked in places such as Fortnum & Masons and Harrods.

Since we introduced these stunning products, our customers and friends have fallen in love with the uniqueness of the product, which is attributed to the ageing process in Peter’s Salt Chamber which contains a 12ft solid wall of Himalayan Rock Salt Bricks.

The resulting beef has to be tasted to be understood, it is not just a question of texture or flavour, but a subtle interplay of multiple elements, the reason why it is in such demand.

For Christmas 2020 we are launching a collection of Salt Aged Hampers, especially for the meat connoisseur featuring a variety of exceptional cuts of meat including Salt Aged Cote de Boeuf, Sharing T-bone Steak, Fillet Steak and new to James Whelan Butchers, Salt Aged 8 bone Rack of Lamb and Hannon’s famous and much sought after Sugar Pit Bacon Rack.

There are four hampers in the collection, The Works, featuring every Salt Aged Cut imaginable including the lesser known Guanciale, which is full of flavour and goodness. This hamper is for perfect Christmas gift for that really special client, friend or colleague who you know appreciates really great food – and who you would like to give the gift of an unforgettable Christmas present.

The Salt Aged Variety Box, which is a selection of our favourite cuts is another perfect Corporate Christmas gift – and guaranteed to give the receiver lots of memorable Christmas meals and well into the New Year.

Our Salt Aged Steak Box – is exactly what it says on the box! Packed full of Salt Aged Beef Steaks including T Bone, Sirloin, the much loved Rib Eye and the lesser known Picanha. Every single piece will be a joy to cook and enjoy! Christmas gifting at it’s very best!

Last but by no means least is our Salt Aged Rack Box. A collection of mouthwatering sharing racks of meat. This Christmas may be different to all others, but it will still involve sharing great food with loved ones and this collection is perfect for just that.

All of these wonderful Hampers are available to order through our online shop and delivered straight to your door or to the door of that special person that you want to give the gift of great meat to. They are all also available as part of our Christmas Delivery, which will be delivered right on time for Christmas on the 23rd December.

We were humbled and delighted that our signature Heritage Cure Ham was in the final of the Golden Fork Awards 2020. Having received the 3 Star accolade at the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste Awards in September, the whole team were so proud when this product, so simple, yet full of such flavour, was put forward for the coveted Golden Fork – which is the equivalent of winning an Oscar in the food industry!

Although we did not take home the Golden Fork this time, we are immensely grateful to have been in the running, beside two fantastic Irish producers, our Tipperary friends, Crossogue Preserves and Cork neighbours, Ummera Smoked Products.

A massive CONGRATS to Ummera Smoked Products on the big win, bringing home the Golden Fork for their Smoked Organic Irish Salmon!

Awards like these are such an amazing opportunity to shine a spotlight on the very best Irish food and give us an opportunity to be part of the growing movement celebrating the passion, innovation and creativity of our home grown food producers. In Ireland we can proudly say that we are amongst the best food producers in the world. This is something that our team at James Whelan Butchers are humbled to be a part of.

The Great Taste Awards are the most coveted of all food and drink awards. Judged by 144 of the most discerning palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, buyers, retailers and producers, as well as food writers and journalists,they are as a badge of honour, the unmistakable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to an outstanding product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting.

Overall, there were 12,777 entries into Great Taste this year and of those products, 205 were awarded a 3-star, 1,294 received a 2-star and 3,818 were awarded a 1-star accolade.

The 3-star winning products were then re-tasted by judges to finally agree on the Golden Fork Trophy recipients today and the Great Taste 2020 Supreme Champion at a virtual awards event.

We would also like to give a BIG shout out to our friends up the road, Peter Hannan and Craic Foods, for winning the Golden Fork for their Black Garlic & Porcini Sea Salt for Northern Ireland.

These awards have come as a welcome boost to so many food producers during this time – it is so important that we celebrate and support Irish food, now more than ever before!

Best Wishes,
Pat

James Whelan Butchers Heritage Cure Irish Ham VIEW PRODUCT