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James Whelan Butchers: Irish Times ‘Best Butcher in Ireland”

Posted on Wednesday, September 11th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Good Food, Press | No Comments »

“Behind a contemporary glass wall stand three lectern-like butcher’s blocks. This is where James Whelan Butchers’ in-house experts take to their spotlit “stage” much like performers in a play.
It is the theatrical cut and thrust of boning a carcass that is part of the butchers’ unique selling point in Avoca on Dublin’s Monkstown Crescent. At the weekend “whole families stand watching our butchers work their blocks,” explains manager Ernie Kenny. “It’s something you don’t get in a supermarket.” This modern approach to an age-old business also prompts questions from their customers – something the store relishes.

This butcher shop’s competitive advantage is that it has its own farm in Clonmel, Co Tipperary where it runs its own herd.
“This offers a continuity of standards. We can trace everything.

People respond to that,” Kenny says. Pat Whelan, the owner, also has a shop in Clonmel.
What do customers want? “They really want you to explain how each cut should be cooked. For example, you will get a more intense flavour from your Bolognese sauce if you use minced beef shin instead of round steak.”
Like every other business, they have their regulars: “Customers that you can tell the time by, that come in to us at the same hour every day,” Kenny explains. As well as human customers, they cater for their canine regulars too and “try to match the bone to the dog”, also keeping bones for those training guide dogs.
The shop is two years in business this month and employs eight people including three trainees. One of these is their first female butcher, Orla Ryan.”

Written by Alanna Gallagher of the Irish Times

James Whelan Butchers, Avoca, Monkstown Crescent, Co Dublin,
tel: 01-6638924 Web: jameswhelanbutchers.com.

We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers

Tags: Avoca Monkstown, Clonmel, Irish Times Best Butcher Shop, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: Celebrate the Tomato

Posted on Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

I was a little disturbed recently to read of all the various tomato shortages around the world. They are not necessarily linked, but apparently the US is suffering quite badly, the Argentines have just this month been asked as a nation to ‘go easy’ on tomatoes for a while so the crops can catch up and a British supermarket chain recently announced a shortage in their tomato supply as their grower in Spain had been affected by disease. (The crop of tomatoes was affected by disease that is, not the actual grower!)

It threw me into a personal state of unease, sitting there pondering my kitchen without the staple ancient ‘wolf peach’. Before it became known as the friendly tomato (or ta-may-toh if you are American) it was thought to be poisonous and dangerous hence the slightly sinister moniker, wolf peach. The tomato has a long history on the planet, but up until the 16th century it was considered pretty and ornamental but likely poisonous. Once it was discovered that they were harmless, edible and tasty, it wasn’t long before the French elevated them from the nasty wolf peach to ‘pommes d’amour’ (translated as love apples), because not only were they good enough to eat but they also believed that the shiny red fruit had stimulating aphrodisiacal properties!

The first commercial tin of tomato soup was made by Joseph Campbell in 1897 and it made him a very wealthy man in the process. And by the end of the 19th century the tomato, because of its high acidic content, was canned more than any other fruit or vegetable. Fresh or in a tin, the tomato is a cooks’ favourite these days and few kitchen store cupboards will be found without them.

There is no other vegetable or fruit more widely used and consumed than the tomato. Even those who don’t like fresh tomatoes, will often enjoy them in pizza, as ketchup or even sun dried and everyway in between. The variety of tomatoes available today also creates choice and a myriad of applications. For salads I love tomatoes on the vine. I also love a juicy beef tomato paired with slices of buffalo mozzarella and sprinkled with fresh basil. I use fresh cherry tomatoes in a base for a favourite curry I make that originally called for two plain ordinary garden variety types, but I found that eight or so little ones gave a better and sweeter depth of flavour. Many pasta sauces have the trusty chopped and tinned type as a major ingredient and where would many recipes be without the odd spoonful of tomato puree? Added to all this flavour and flexibility, tomatoes are also the dieter’s friend. They are nutrient rich, high in water content and low calorie; so what’s not to like?

Here are my top tomato tips:

A chef taught me a long time ago to use a serrated knife to cut through tomatoes rather than a flat edged blade. Unless the blade is very sharp you are in danger of squashing and damaging the tomato flesh when you cut into it.
Tomatoes are high in acid and so when cooking tomatoes or using them in a sauce it is best to use a wooden spoon or spatula rather than a metal one which can affect the taste unfavourably.
Herbs work well with tomatoes, particularly basil, oregano, pepper, chives and parsley.
Tomatoes also work with garlic, sesame seeds, celery and carrot.

If you are making something where the tomato is the star of the show and the recipe calls for fresh it really is worth seeking out the best quality tomato you can find. If you are not growing your own I do caution against the plain, value range in most supermarkets. Unless you are sure of the origin some of them have proved to be quite tasteless in my own experience. You should be able to pick them up and have a little sniff. This can be tricky if they are covered in a plastic wrapper. A good tomato should have an inviting scent – almost summery – if there is such a thing. A good quality tomato will make a huge difference to taste and texture of the overall dish.

Tomatoes

I’m in the fortunate position to have a friend who grows tomatoes so I am regularly in receipt of a glut. I haven’t attempted the idea of canning my own, but if I have an over abundance I will chop them up, sprinkle them with fresh herbs and some olive oil and slowly roast them until they are quite soft. I usually put them in around 130° for about 90 minutes or so. Once they are finished I drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar and leave them to cool. Whey they are fully cooled, unless I’m planning to do something with them straight away, I store them in a jar in the fridge where they will keep for up to three days. During those three days they are used as toppings for pizza and pasta. I might stir some into couscous with some nuts and seeds. They also come in handy as a little topping on a cooked breast of chicken with some bacon and cheese and then grill the lot and finally, if there are any left, they make a lovely little side for a cooked breakfast.

While tomatoes work equally well with beef, chicken, bacon and many varieties of fish from tuna to plaice, they are also the vegetarian and vegans friend. It’s hard to think of anything more versatile and the shortages are a concern. Maybe it’s time we all learned to ‘can’ and preserve like our US friends or at least let’s start growing our own, just in case.

This post was written by me, Pat Whelan, owner of James Whelan Butchers and a passionate advocate of local artisan food. My family have been producing quality Irish Angus beef for generations using a traditional dry aging process. This tradition is one that I continue to practice at our abattoir on our family farm in Garrentemple, Clonmel. These posts aim to impart some of the wisdom to readers and help them get the best out of the meat they eat! Our meat is available online here! I welcome your feedback to [email protected]

Tags: basil, carrot, celery, chives, foodie articles, garlic, James Whelan Butchers, oregano, parsley, Pat Whelan, pepper, salads, sesame seeds, Tips, Tomato

James Whelan Butchers: Spanish Evening

Posted on Wednesday, August 14th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

If I had a euro for every time a customer in the shop described the last few weeks as just like “being in Spain”, I’d have enough for a flight there myself. It did indeed feel like the Mediterranean for several days and apparently, the forecasters would have us believe, it’s not over yet. In order to cope with the warmer weather it’s important that we shift slightly in how we live. We generally don’t have the clothes, the homes or the lifestyles for such prolonged glorious sunshine but we can make small adjustments that will make it easier. Particularly when it comes to food we need only look to our Spanish neighbours for some handy tips and hints.

Countries like Spain that traditionally enjoy high summer temperatures are expert in charcuterie; the art of cured meats. Cured meats in Spain form the basis of traditional tapas. Tapas are the small plates of bites that you are often served with a drink in bars when abroad. You can order a larger portion as a main and generally they arrive on a big plate where the custom is that everyone digs in by selecting what they want onto smaller personal platters. If you are having tapas as your main meal it is usually served with bread or a large bowl of salad. We had our own Irish take on this back in the 70s with the ‘cold meat salad’. I remember the slices of cold beef, ham and or luncheon with potato salad and the ubiquitous sliced tomato! Today we have much greater choice at our deli counters and a cold meat supper can be very tasty. If you’re watching the calories, though, don’t get caught out on the mayonnaise rich pasta, rice or potato salad, particularly the shop bought ones.

Deep fried fish and calamari, rings of squid, are also very popular in sunnier climes, particularly coastal areas. Luscious king prawns are often served on a skewer and drenched in garlic and chilli. Gazpacho is a summertime chilled soup that is eaten like a soup or sometimes served as a beverage to go with the fried fish. Potatoes in Spain are usually fried in olive oil and eggs are hugely popular. Funnily enough boiled eggs never took off like they did here. In Spain particularly eggs are usually fried or made into an omelette, known as a tortilla. A traditional Spanish omelette will have potatoes and onions and is often served cold. Ham is a delicacy in Spain and very different to what we know as ham. In certain areas it would be similar to Parma Ham. The experts tell me that Spanish ham, ideally, should be more on the sweet side rather than the salty. Chorizo sausage, which can be quite spicy depending on the region, is also popular and will come on many tapas plates as will the Spanish version of salami which is very similar, although a little drier, than its Italian cousin.

When it comes to beef it is considered a luxury in certain parts of Spain and is often found as rather thin beef steak fried in olive oil. Indeed if you have ever been to Spain you may have noticed that beef is often called veal on the menus; not at all what we in Ireland would consider true veal.

chorizo sausage

The other interesting thing about Spanish households is that they tend to make their own mayonnaise from scratch, which is great with leftover cold chicken. Believe me it tastes so much better than shop bought, but you do need to use an electric blender. If you have one you’ll be surprised at how quick and easy it is. At one time all Spanish restaurants made their own mayonnaise but unfortunately health and safety rules have almost outlawed this completely for fear of a Salmonella outbreak. To make mayonnaise you must use eggs at room temperature. This is necessary to emulsify with the oil. Given the heat in a Spanish summer it would be very easy for a restaurant to get this wrong and for the eggs to overheat and spoil.

However the dish most synonymous with Spain would have to be Paella. It is a fantastic one pot with a rice base that is rich in flavour, colour and texture.

Fortunately almost everything they have in Spain is now readily available here. On any given evening we can transport ourselves to the Med, in a culinary fashion, if nothing else. To make it easy and authentic I would suggest a mixture of hot and cold foods, the cold being easy to prepare in advance. A nice Spanish omelette made early in the day with potatoes and onions can be cut into wedges and is lovely on a warm evening with some salad and warm crusty bread. Plates of cured meats are easy to arrange and little trays of olives are really just about unscrewing a jar! One thing that’s not so popular in Spain is butter. You’ll find that bread is dipped in olive oil rather than spread with anything.

For a true taste of Spain though, it would be hard to beat paella. It’s not the most difficult dish to cook but it can be a little pricey as it uses saffron (the most expensive spice in the world, but available in most supermarkets) and prawns. If you can get fresh ones still in the shell then that will just add to the overall look of the dish. If you get it right though, it is a very tasty dish that is well worth having in your summer repertoire.

Tags: calamari, chorizo sausage, cold meat salad, cured meats, foodie articles, Gazpacho, James Whelan Butchers, Paella, Pat Whelan, Spanish cooking, Spanish omlet, tapas

Job opportunity for a Product Manager at James Whelan Butchers

Posted on Monday, July 29th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

Product Manager

James Whelan Butchers is an established retail butcher brand with shops in Clonmel and Avoca, Monkstown – www.jameswhelanbutchers.com. We are currently looking to recruit a driven Product Manager with a food background and a can do attitude. Career building opportunity for a fully qualified chef with a proven trade record in NPD and NPI. The successful candidate will report directly to the Managing Director and will work cross functionally with both marketing & sales to boost the product portfolio. This role is best suited to an avid food lover who has experience developing concepts and new products.

Key Responsibilities:

Develop and implement a business plan and marketing strategy for the product category
Develop concepts and new products to drive consumer and customer traffic
Innovation and renovation of existing products
Work closely with the internal activation team on communications/packaging/POS
To monitor product performance and take appropriate action
To develop key opinions to optimise current and future sales
To identify and develop new market opportunities

Requirements:

3-5 years Product Management experience within FMCG
Proven track record developing concepts and products
Food background is essential preferably with hands on retail experience
Experience managing a deli would be an advantage

Click here to apply or email us at [email protected]

Tags: James Whelan Butchers, job opportunity, Marketing, NPD, NPI, Pat Whelan, Product Manager

James Whelan Butchers: Check out Ireland’s Best Butcher at Avoca Monkstown

Posted on Thursday, July 25th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Press | No Comments »

James Whelan Butchers at Avoca Monkstown, Co. Dublin scooped the Best Meat award at prestigious Checkout Best in Fresh Awards held at The Four Seasons Hotel recently. The Best in Fresh Awards were established to recognise stores and outlets with the freshest food offering in Ireland and is the only annual event to honour best practice in the sale of fresh produce.

Checkout Best in Fresh Meat Award 2013

The Best in Fresh ‘Best Meat’ award looks at Fresh Food Stores, large and small, the length and breath of the country, but only one can take first place. This year James Whelan Butchers at Avoca Monkstown romped home to claim the prize. The judges said, “The James Whelan Butchers at Avoca Monkstown is leading the way in terms of creating butchery into an art form. It’s all about the cut, with everything prepared right in front of you behind glass walls. The added-value is exceptional.”

James Whelan Butchers opened at Avoca, Monkstown in December 2011. In what was considered a bold move, the butcher’s secrets were literally exposed in a glass walled meat emporium with absolutely everything on display. Merging craft, skill, passion and food with fresh and innovative shop design, buying meat is a visually stimulating experience at James Whelan Butchers in Avoca Monkstown.

Pat Whelan, of James Whelan Butchers said, “We are very honoured by this award, particularly as we have been judged against our peers in a rigourous audit that uses a long list of criteria in order to choose a winner. I am very proud of our partnership with Avoca as we share the same ethos and vision when it comes to excellence in fresh food and retail. We are delighted that this has been recognised with this award.

Tags: Best Practice, Checkout Best in Fresh Meat Award 2013, Fresh Produce, Irish Beef, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: Mozzarella Cheese

Posted on Friday, July 19th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

I’ve recently been enjoying the joys of mozzarella cheese again, as I tend to do every summer. This light, mild white cheese is a great warm weather staple for the fridge. A few tomatoes, some mozzarella and a little basil can create the most wonderful salad that goes really well with chicken or steak. Slice it and melt it on a wonderful homemade pizza, stuff a homemade burger with a lump for a meltingly gorgeous surprise once cooked or chop it into squares and use it as part of an interesting tower of topping with a little chutney, for a chicken breast. Mozzarella cheese is great hot or cold and there’s always have a ball or two lounging in the fridge at this time of year, ready to whip out the moment the sun shines.

As with all things of Mediterranean origin, I do find that the better quality mozzarella inevitably tastes better. I would also caution that if you are buying the ‘low fat’ or ‘half fat’ versions you are simply wasting your time. I know, the calorie conscious among you want to take me out and whip me mercilessly for such blatant blasphemy of the fat fighters’ low fat mantra, but someone has to stand up and say it as it is. Yes, you are getting all the texture of real mozzarella in these pretenders but, sadly, the flavour and taste, in my humble opinion, is completely lost. Really, what is the point of eating something that just doesn’t cut it when it comes to taste? Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to encourage you to save a few calories on the lower fat versions, but from my own experience and in honour of my conscience and taste buds I just can’t. Now I will add a little caveat in that I have tried ‘many’ but not necessarily ‘all’ the low fat mozzarella cheese varieties on the market, so if you do come across one that has a great taste let me know and I’ll be happy to put it to the taste test.

In the meantime I personally like traditional mozzarella when I can get my hands on it. Real mozzarella is made from water buffalo milk and is about three times more expensive than cows’ milk. With a lot of mozzarella now being made with cows’ milk this will account for the wild variance in the price of different brands all of the same size and weight. Make sure you read the label properly. I have enjoyed some excellent cows’ milk mozzarellas which are more easily available, but if I can get my hands on the water buffalo variety I would always prefer it. Water buffalo are only herded in a few countries, mainly Italy and Bulgaria, and that would also account for the high cost as it has to be imported.

Mozzarella cheese is unusual in that it is never aged and, unlike most of its cousins, it is actually at its best when eaten within hours of making it. It is a malleable curd cheese that has no rind and that’s why it is packed in little sealed bags surrounded by water. Obviously it is far too soft to grate but you can slice it very thinly should you need to.

As a mozzarella fan I was delighted to read that a recent study in an illustrious medical journal laid out even further evidence that the so called Mediterranean diet cuts the risk of heart disease to an even higher degree than previously believed. Foods cited were mozzarella cheese, basil, tomatoes, olive oil, walnuts and almonds. Of course the study was quick to point out that the Mediterranean diet isn’t low fat. In fact, it’s a moderate to high-fat diet, but the fats involved are healthy natural fats that tend to make us feel fuller for longer. One doctor pointed out the fact that with ‘low fat’ varieties of foods we tend to eat more of them and often inadvertently over eat. Without exercise and portion control when it comes to what you eat you won’t necessarily lose weight by eating in a Mediterranean way, but it’s the all round health benefits that we are after.

I’ve recently become quite partial to grilled or fried aubergines. There was a time when you had to mess around and salt aubergines but for it doesn’t seem to be necessary any more. Just slice them up, season them, add a little olive oil and lightly grill or fry. Indeed aubergine and cheese is the basis for the Greek dish, moussaka. What I’ve been doing recently is adding a little slice of mozzarella, sandwiched between two lightly fried slices of aubergine. This is an easy, but tasty, rich and luscious side for a number of dishes. Mozzarella cheese is a great summer ingredient and no fridge should be without a ball this July.

Tags: James Whelan Butchers, Local Irish Artisan food, Mediterranean, mozzarella cheese, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: The Magic (One) Pot

Posted on Monday, July 15th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

When the summer is hot the cooking should be easy. Particularly if you have school going children, the summer is also about relaxing the routines and settling in to a looser and more informal lifestyle for a few weeks. While some people have the luxury of blending seamlessly into the summer regime, for others who work outside the home, rather than being more relaxed and unstructured, it becomes chaotic and exhausting. The lack of routine can throw people off and thinking of new meals on top of all the other life stress can be the straw that breaks the overworked camel’s sweaty back.

Summer is a time to celebrate an abundance of fresh ingredients. If you do grow your own I have no doubt that sitting in the garden these days amongst the herbs and the vegetables is pure joy to the olfactory senses as the those wonderful wafting fresh scents perfume the air. Let’s be honest, this is not a time to be slaving over a hot stove in the kitchen. If you have been working indoors all day, the last thing you want to do on a sunny summer’s evening is confine yourself to a kitchen.

The summer one pot is the answer on the days that you don’t want to fire up the barbeque. We tend to think of ‘one pot dishes’ as the preserve of colder months; those hearty beef stews and warming chicken casseroles tend to dominate when we consider using Dutch ovens or slow cookers. Both of these tools can still be put to good use in the summer. Indeed it’s certainly worth mentioning that slow cookers are great in the summer as those long hours of slow cooking at lower temperatures tend not to overheat the kitchen.

So let’s talk slow cookers first. If you have one then let it help you to enjoy more of the good weather. Naturally slow cookers call for a little more forward planning, but the effort expended in advance, buys you precious time in the garden or with the family on bright evenings. You can also prepare several meals ahead, without cooking and freeze them ready to dump into the slow cooker before you go to work. When you arrive home eight hours later, the dinner is magically ready. A lovely customer at James Whelan Butchers, who is originally from the US, gave me this idea of preparing meals and freezing them in Ziploc bags ahead of cooking. Apparently it is very common in the States to prepare a month’s worth of uncooked meals in one afternoon and lob them into the freezer. Effectively all you are really doing is chopping and bagging; the cooking is done later. If you are this organised it means you can take full advantage of special offers when they come up. I was intrigued by the suggestion and had a root around the web and to my amazement found that it is indeed a common practice. Although extreme in my mind, there was one blog entry where a lady claimed to have prepared 40 ‘crock pot freezer meals’ and cleaned the entire kitchen in just four hours! I instantly looked for the Superwoman logo, but there wasn’t one. Google it the next time you are online and just wait for the acres of ideas and information that pops up.

If you don’t have a slow cooker, there are plenty of fast and slow one pots out there for the summer. If you think about it curries originated in a particularly hot climate and all they really are is an Asian one pot. The same would have to be said of the popularity of tagines in North Africa; effectively a local one pot from another hot climate. Or how about a Spanish paella; rice, meat, seafood and vegetables with saffron all cooked together in one great big pan.

I love to do my own version of a Spanish rice and seafood dish. I simply fry chopped onions, a red and green pepper, some chorizo sausage and two or three crushed garlic cloves in a little olive oil for a few minutes. I then add about 250 grams of uncooked rice, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a pint of boiling water from the kettle, cover it and allow it to cook until the rice is almost done. I then stir in my prawns and add some fresh herbs or spices and allow the rice to finish cooking and everything to heat through. You can really make this dish your own by adding various things herbs and spices into the mix. The best thing is bringing the entire pan to the table and allowing everyone to dig in.

For a Moroccan inspired chicken dish heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and fry chopped chicken breast or chopped chicken thighs. Add a chopped onion and grated fresh ginger and allow it all to cook for 2 minutes. Then add 150 mls of cold water, a pinch of saffron, a pinch of turmeric, a tablespoon of honey and some sliced carrots. Put a lid on the pot and allow the dish to simmer for about 30 minutes. At the end of the cooking remove the lid and increase the heat for about 5 minutes just to allow the sauce to reduce and thicken. You could serve this with cous cous, rice or some new potatoes if you wanted to.

Don’t confine your cast iron pots to the back of the cupboard for the summer. Dig them out and let them help you enjoy the supposedly lazy summer days while keeping the family fed on good, wholesome, home cooked food.

Tags: James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan, slow cooking, summer one pot cooking

James Whelan Butchers: The Art of Salad

Posted on Friday, July 12th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

I think it’s safe to say that current generations growing up in Ireland will undoubtedly have a much more sophisticated palate than those of us in the vicinity of the half century mark. What we have had to work hard at in order to re-educate our taste buds, they take very much for granted. I know four year olds who call from the table for someone to “bring the balsamic”. I know a three year old who is barely out of nappies and yet insists on using the micro plane unassisted in order to grate parmesan cheese over her pasta. In school they are learning about healthy snacks, thank God, and the range of fruit available to them is no longer limited to a dry red apple. Oh the red apple, that in my day, was put in the lunchbox but only ever eaten in desperation. It rattled around with the flask the entire journey home only to stay on board again, a tad bruised, for the following day’s lunch. They will also grow up with a knowledge and love of summer fruit and vegetables and will not be the salad dodgers that many of my contemporaries are.

It’s not surprising that the prospect of ‘salad’ doesn’t really ignite the fireworks in the average Irish adult’s mind. We were led to believe that a head of iceberg lettuce, a regular tomato and onion slices, smothered in dodgy vinaigrette was the pinnacle of summer eating. There was often the added bonus of a mayonnaise drenched bowl of shredded carrot that was audaciously offered as ‘coleslaw’! Who were we kidding? But we ate it and decided it had summer written all over it.

Today we are faced with a wonderful myriad of greens from peppery rockets to something with a little more bite like Romaine. Even iceberg lettuce can still be a star in the company of the right things and recently I’ve revisited simple home grown garden lettuce, which is moist and soft and very flavoursome. I love to throw in spinach leaves, lambs lettuce and often will chop in handfuls of fresh coriander, chives, basil or mint from the garden. My bowls of green goodness are good without a dressing or even another ingredient being added.

My main salad inspiration comes from France. The French know how to do it. By observing what they do, I have been inspired to create some pretty good ‘Chez Whelan’ signature salads of my own. The first rule of the French salad is excellent ingredients. This is the first rule of food in any language if you ask me.

Get the vinaigrette dressing right; take time to experiment and perfect it. The simplest contains olive oil (the good stuff I’m afraid!), wine vinegar, salt and pepper all whisked together. You want the overall dressing to

Warm Chicken Salad with Cashew Nut and Mango Dressing

be pleasantly tart but the flavour of the oil must still come through. ‘Dressing’ a salad is also something to be considered. Let’s start with the verb; it’s ‘to dress’ not ‘to drown’. Think of the salad as you on a hot summers’ day. You want enough ‘dressing’ so people can see you are dressed and you are not totally naked, but you want those clothes to be light, complimentary to your frame, enabling you to breathe and leaving plenty of bits open to the air. Dress your salad by all means, just don’t drown it.

Once you have mastered a basic vinaigrette (of course you can buy it in a bottle but that’s no fun), then you can start experimenting with other oils and ingredients. Use a rapeseed oil instead of olive oil. Add some mustard perhaps and or some very finely chopped garlic or a maybe a shallot. If the dressing is becoming too muddy and thick, add a tablespoon or two of warm water to loosen it out again. Don’t forget your seasoning and taste continuously as you mix.

A salad should have ingredients you enjoy, it’s personal. I love a green salad with crunchy celery, cucumber and lardons and a drizzle of dressing. The lardons give it that salty punch that makes it taste like a day at the beach; real summer. The main thing to know is that you can put anything, particularly cold and raw into your salad. Think balance, soft and crunchy, salty and sweet, moist and dry and don’t forget to get some colour going. After all we eat with our eyes as well.

Salads are really great sides in the summer. You can prepare them ahead of time and really get imaginative with the ingredients; hard boiled eggs, croutons, dried fruits, nuts and seeds; the only limit is your imagination. In the summer particularly I love a good steak with a salad. It’s the best fast food around.

Tags: basil, chives, coriander, croutons, cucumber, dried fruits, James Whelan Butchers, lettuce, mint, nuts, onion, Pat Whelan, rocket, seeds, Summer 2013, Tipperary Food, tomatoes

James Whelan Butchers: Tipperary Food to feature on RTE’s Nationwide

Posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Good Food, Press | No Comments »

Tipperary Food Producers Network as the name suggests is a network of food sector Businesses within Tipperary, the membership of which is varied featuring from strong iconic brands along-side the niche and exclusive. Represented are producers of meat, cheese, bakery, confectionary, fresh produce and beverages, the common ground is quality, excellence and a passion for producing the very best products coming out of Tipperary.

Next Monday’s nationwide program July 15^thare featuring these artisan food producers who recently staged their now esteemed Long Table Dinner in Brussels, the home of the European Union.

In the lead up to the dinner, RTE followed the preparation for the event here in Tipperary and Nationwide’s Ann Cassin travels with the producers to Brussels and covers the entire event including the launch of www.tipperaryfoodproducers.com – a new state of the art website designed by students of LIT Tipperary and the Long Table Dinner itself which was hosted by Phil Prendergast and attended by our recently appointed Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries – Tom Hayes.

This 7th Long Table Dinner celebrated the fantastic quality of natural food been produced here in Tipperary. It provided an opportunity for all Tipperary Food Producers who wish to export to connect with international buyers and showcase their products. The Long Table Dinner was prepared and cooked in Brussels by two of the network members, Barbara Russell of Russell Catering and Sarah Baker of Cloughjordan House.

Speaking at the event Pat Whelan (Chairman) of the Tipperary Food Producers Network said “The Tipperary Food Producers are an ambitious group of artisan businesses and with the fantastic support of our local Co. Councils, Enterprise Boards & Development Companies are making great inroads in developing Tipperary as iconic food destination”

The Tipperary Food Producers Network has an impressive 2020 Food Strategy which they are committed to implementing over the next number of years, according to Mr. Whelan “food is our most natural of resources for which we have worldwide recognition, and we the Tipperary Food Producers are determined to build on this reputation and reap the benefit not just for producers of Food but for the County as a whole”.

Tags: artisan food, Brussels 2013, Department of Agriculture, European Union, Irish Beef, Irish Food, James Whelan Butchers, local food, Long Table Dinner 2013, Pat Whelan, Tipperary Food Producers

James Whelan Butchers: Sorting the Fats

Posted on Friday, July 5th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

Holding hands with traditional fats these days can be a lonely place. We have traded our old buddies Lard, Dripping and Suet for olive oil mainly, and while this Mediterranean favourite certainly has its place in our store cupboard, not all olive oils are equal. Many of them could be found guilty of being all fur coat and no knickers when it comes to nutrition. I’m afraid olive oil is a product where you get what you pay for and most people may not be prepared to pay the price for the good stuff. Traditionally Irish fats were lard, dripping and suet. They were the staple cooking fats of yesteryear and, remarkably, during a time when obesity wasn’t a problem. Look at old snaps from the 40s, 50s and 60s and you’ll have a hard job finding obese people. As I’ve stated before, fat has been framed, blamed and tried without jury for our weight problems. It is a ‘catch all’ for everything negative in the food world and has become very, very misunderstood in the process.

First things first; the flavour is in the fat and that’s why ridiculously lean meat can be bland and tasteless. Don’t remove all the skin from chicken or poultry before cooking it and wonder why you end up with dry, boring meat. Naturally occurring fat is essential to cooking delicious food. Even if the fat is removed after cooking the fact that it was present while the meat was in the oven means that the joint is almost self basting and you are guaranteed a better taste.

If the animal has been fed properly it will be beautifully marbled with thin vein like lines of fat running through it. Sealing beef in sizzling beef dripping will add another rich layer of beefy-ness. Rashers cooked in a little lard are delicious and if you ever try using real suet in dumplings or pudding dough you won’t look back. We need fat to fight disease and protect our organs. You even need fat to absorb certain vitamins. We have largely replaced solid animal fats with salad and cooking oils. The problem with some of these oils is that their constituents change at high temperatures. They are unstable when heated up and in the long term they can make us sick. Eating natural fat as part of a balanced diet does not make you fat.

So let’s clear up a few things. Lard: Real lard can be hard to find and although some supermarkets sell it in blocks, make sure it is 100% lard. Lard is creamy, rendered pig fat. Take note, foods fried in lard become very crisp and absorb less fat than foods cooked in oil. If you are over 35 you may remember those crispy full Irish breakfasts of your childhood. They haven’t gone away they just don’t crisp as well in oil. Dripping: This is the fat that drips from meat while it cooks. Beef dripping is the most popular. In years gone by people would render their own dripping and always have it to hand in the kitchen, but most butchers sell it these days. It has a good shelf life and browning beef or lamb in its own dripping will really intensify the flavour. Also the waft of cooking beef dripping in a kitchen will literally transport you back in time and it will revolutionise Yorkshire pudding.. Suet: This is the fat that surrounds an animal’s kidneys. You will have to ask your butcher for it. Yes, you can buy it boxed in the supermarket, but if you can get your hands on the real deal then do. If you want to use it in dumplings or pudding dough just grate it for ease of use. Suet is also a hard fat with a high melting point so it works well for deep frying.

We have such a negative association with fat that if it were a person it would be staring at us from a Wanted poster with a substantial bounty attached for capture. It is a gross misrepresentation. We need to get re-acquainted with fat. Don’t be afraid, it’s good for your health and much better in the taste steaks. At present I am a lonely voice crying in the wilderness with just a few other devotees around the world, but I am confident that very shortly the majority will wake up to the lie we have been overly sold about the health benefits of cooking with oil.

Tags: basting, Drippings, dumplings, Fat, James Whelan Butchers, Lard, natural fats, olive oil, Pat Whelan, rashers, Suet

James Whelan Butchers: Get Grilling

Posted on Thursday, July 4th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

Today the sun is high in the sky and even through the glass I know that these are the kind of afternoons we hankered after on those far too many dismal, overcast days of spring. It feels like it’s been a long time coming and I just hope that when you are reading this the weather has settled into a warm and sunny pattern and we are experiencing a proper June, rather than some strange hot weather aberration that lasted for a fleeting moment and then disappeared taking the summer of 2013 with it. That big bright yellow sun has the remarkable effect of instantly turning our thoughts to cooking and eating in the great outdoors. I think the entire country has moved outside in the past couple of days. Barbecues have been extracted from the back of the shed, dusted down and polished up and there has been a noticeable run on meat for grilling. Barbecuing also gets most men cooking. Even those who wouldn’t step foot in the kitchen from one end of the year to the next, will happily pull out their long tongs and take their place at the great grilling altar of steel and charcoal that is the barbecue. Of course with the advent of the gas cooking apparatus all the hard work of heating it up and stoking the coals is no longer as necessary. Indeed much of the danger, the main reason given as to why men like grilling in the first place, has been largely removed from the process. Just for fun, I came across the following recently which I thought I’d share.

A Typical Barbecue Routine for the Average Couple

1) Couple decides to have a barbecue for some friends.

2) The woman goes out and buys the food and the drink, loads it up and lugs it home.

3) The woman makes the salads, prepares the vegetables, and makes
dessert.

4) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill with a beer in his hand, enjoying the early evening sunshine.

5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

6) The woman goes back inside to organise the plates and cutlery.

7) The woman greets the guests is busy inside getting everyone a drink.

8) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

9) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

10) The woman prepares the plates, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table and then serves the meat.

11) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

12) Everyone PRAISES and THANKS THE MAN for his cooking efforts. He then announces, “We should do it again soon”!

13) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ‘her night off from the kitchen.’ Upon sensing a slightly annoyed reaction, he concludes that there’s just no pleasing some women….

Of course the above is a humorous generalisation and hopefully nothing like this ever takes place in your home. On a more serious note though, the main thing with eating outside and barbecuing is getting the right cuts of meat to begin with and sticking to some simple rules. While you don’t want people eating charred lumps of meat, you must be sure that the meat is cooked for health and safety reasons. We have no problem buying fancy, extra long utensils to help us so why on earth won’t we purchase a simple and cheap meat thermometer to go with them? I admit a meat thermometer isn’t half as sexy as an extra long fork to spear that steak, but a meat thermometer is the safest and best way to tell if meat is cooked. You’ll use it all year round indoors and outdoors so consider it a must have piece of kitchen equipment.

Marinades are another big point of grilling debate. Some weeks ago in this column we discussed the merits of such saucy soaking and science has now revealed that from a taste point of view if it’s an impromptu do, then marinating for an hour before cooking is fine, while from a clean up and convenience stand the night before is preferable.

Sides and salads will also be something to consider. My own personal take on this is that sometimes it is better value to leave this to the experts. You can drop into our store or several others who create wonderful fuss free, sides and salads that are literally ready to go. When you consider the shopping, chopping and assembly needed to make several different dishes from scratch it just isn’t cost effective. There is also a tendency to over shop, leaving you with a fridge full of salad veg that can often, regardless of the best of intentions, end up in the bin several days later.

Just like the sides, while you can of if you wish spend time threading skewers, making burgers from scratch or marinating chicken, sometimes it is much easier to employ the skills of your butcher. Most butchers will have great deals and specials on for the barbecue the minute the sun shines. You can check out our special offers on line 24/7 at Jameswhelanbutchers.com. When the time and effort is taken into consideration it will be hard to beat a good butcher for value.

So is there a trick to great barbecues? While gas barbecues are easy to fire up I would still give it time to heat up, just like you wouldn’t put meat in a cold oven, don’t do it on a barbecue. Also 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. Finally I would say that 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 for a night of fun. At the end of the day it really is one of life’s simplest but greatest pleasures.

Tags: barbecue, bbq, James Whelan Butchers, marinades, Pat Whelan, ribs, salads, sausages, sides, steaks

James Whelan Butchers: Feeling Fruity

Posted on Tuesday, June 25th, 2013 by Pat Whelan in Good Food | No Comments »

The summer really is the season to embrace when it comes to fresh food. From the limited harvest of tasty spring offerings we suddenly open up to a glut of new flavours. It’s also a great time for traditional fruits and salad vegetables. Berries, plums, peaches, tomatoes, lettuce and all the herbs are in abundance. You can certainly spend the season just enjoying this harvest in their natural state, but you could also employ those wonderful flavours to elevate some meat or poultry to something quite special.

We tend not to immediately think of meat and fruit parings and yet it’s very common to our palates; pork with apple sauce, turkey with cranberry sauce, chicken with lemon, rabbit with prunes or the classic duck a l’orange and those dishes are just sitting on the tip of the culinary iceberg. Fruit sauces come under many different chef-y terms; compote, coulis, jelly, gastrique (which despite the fancy name is simply a syrupy sugar and vinegar reduction for richer meats) or when mixed with a little vegetable you have a salsa.

If you pick up a full bodied, fruity, red wine that is often suggested as a good pairing for red meat you will find that it has flavours such as blackberry, blackcurrant and or cherry listed. Therefore it makes sense that these fruits will play with meat just as well. As always, the key is balance and not overpowering the meat with the fruitiness. It is about a little flavour hit here and there, mingling with a good quality piece of meat which should always be the star of the show.

I really enjoy the Chinese treatment of lemon, orange and plum sauces with poultry and sometimes beef. When it’s good it is excellent, but occasionally I have had the poorer experience of the strong sauce just covering over the taste of the meat rather than just teasing and enhancing it. Thankfully it doesn’t happen very often and if you learn to make your own, it never should. I suppose it could be likened to the use or misuse of perfume and aftershaves. We all like a gentle fragrance that mingles with the individuals’ own natural scent to create that lovely unique aroma that is pleasant to be around. What you don’t want is that choking, waft of strong cologne that seems to have a personality of its own that takes over a room when the wearer walks in.

So what are some good combinations of meat and fruit? Gamey flavours such as venison go very well with apples, pears, pomegranates and dates. Also berries such as cranberries or cherries. Lamb is very versatile with fruit and herbs. You tend to find many North African and Indian dishes using lamb with fruit. Apricots, dates, figs, prunes and raisins are commonly used in lamb curries, stews and tagines. When it comes to sauce chicken is its usual versatile self. The citrus flavours marry really well here. Oranges, lemons, mangoes, apricots and grapes are among the myriad of fresh fruit sauces that can be used. Pork which is commonly paired with apples also enjoys the company of cranberries, strawberries, currants, dried cherries, dried figs, mangoes, quince, plums and pineapple among others. Rabbit seems to be getting quite popular again on restaurant menus and so that feeds the domestic trends. It has to be said that rabbit has a subtle flavour and isn’t perhaps as robust as pork or lamb. Rabbit is enhanced by plums, prunes and apples. In Mediterranean countries rabbit is often found with citrus flavours such as lemon. Beef goes quite well with orange sauce but I think instead of a sauce, steak works really well with a fresh fruit salsa.

Naturally in an article like this we are simply scratching the surface of these epicurean playmates but it gives us something to think about rather than just preserving fruits in the freezer for smoothies or making jam.

I also think serving barbecued food or a joint of meat with a fruit sauce or fruit jelly can appear quite sophisticated when the truth is that these are really culinary smoke and mirrors. If the fruit is ripe juicy and in season you can create a stunning sauce in very little time. Also the deep jewel colours of most fruit sauces will add to the overall aesthetic of the dish.

Salsas with fruit added are very simple. In their pure form they are usually made with salad vegetables and chillies and are associated with Spain or Mexico. Mixing in a little summer fruit and some fresh herbs is fine. Chop some sweet red peppers, cucumber, a little red onion or spring onion, baby tomatoes, a chopped peach or some chopped strawberries; add some fresh coriander or a little fresh basil and then some good black pepper. Mix all the ingredients together and enjoy. I’ve often thrown in what is available in the fridge at the time and this is great with barbecued steaks, to perk up a chicken salad or added to a meat wrap for lunch.

Making fruit sauces is just about gently cooking the fruits with a few tablespoons of water to release their juices. Push the cooked fruits through a sieve if you want something very smooth. For a more robust fruity sauce chop up your fruit or dried fruit (such as apples, pears, plums or apricots) and put them over a gentle heat. Instead of water you could add some fruit liqueur and a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg. Bring it all to the boil then reduce the heat and let it simmer for five minutes or so. A sauce like this can be thickened with corn flour. If you want a sweeter sauce then mix the fruit with some icing sugar or honey while cooking.

There are no rules when it comes to flavours. Try different liqueurs or fresh herbs and the combinations are endless. Try not to over cook or cook the fruit too fast. This will just serve to create a more jam like consistency rather than a sauce. For sweet fruit sauces for desserts and cakes just puree the fresh fruit in a blender and add some water as you go to thin it out. If you want it smooth push the mixture through a sieve and then balance it up with some sugar and lemon juice tasting as you go. Go on, let the creative juices flow this summer.

Tags: Apples, apricots, berries, cherries, Chinese cuisine, cranberries, dates, foodie articles, fruit, grapes, James Whelan Butchers, lemon, orange, Pat Whelan, pears, plum, pomegranates, rabbit, summer