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James Whelan Butchers: September Express

Posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

It was inevitable, the dreaded return to school and routine had to happen eventually but why so early? The government have not only picked our pockets of spare cash but they’ve shortened the summer holidays by at least a week! Remember the days when the school year began on the first Monday or Tuesday after September 1st? These days we are back to school the last week in August. The problem with such an early start is that, generally, we are not ready to let go just yet and why should we. While the evenings draw in, it is highly likely that early September days will be graced with a warming autumnal sunshine. After the school day we can still avail of the outdoors before we properly batten down the hatches for the winter routine.

Food is always tricky on the seasonal cusp. It is far too early for hearty meals and yet after a hard day at school, dinners are to be welcomed. From the ‘eat when you want to’ relaxed ways of summer days, school time brings routine, hunger and a need for proper nourishment. Instead of trying to straddle the gap with the usual, it is time to think creatively and maybe even look to another culture for inspiration.

One of the things I love about food in America (and notice that I didn’t say American food) is the abundance of taste and influence. So many immigrants to the New World brought recipes that have been handed down the generations and largely tweaked to suit taste, ingredients and culture. The result is a land of ingredients where people mix it up and food is a thing of great joy. I particularly love the Italian bent. Italy, a passionate country at the best of times, is famed for its food. They are well known for meals that take hours to consume, made up of small numerous courses of wonderful tastes and aromas. The Irish take on pasta dishes for example is to load up the pasta with a huge amount of meat sauce. In Italy the dish is more about the pasta and the meat sauce is more of a dressing than the main event. They lay out plates of fresh sliced meats, stuffed peppers, bread sticks and cheeses; all to be eaten before a meal as a picnic starter that can often be even tastier that the main course. Sometimes it is more about a combination of bought ingredients rather than hours spent in the kitchen. Even some of the sauces are simplicity itself; a good pesto is simply oil, basil leaves, garlic, salt, pepper, walnuts and parmesan blitzed together to form an oily paste. Combine that with a little spaghetti and you have a meal in itself

America is a melting pot of cultures from Chinese to Mexican and everything in between. If you have hungry kids coming in from school a cheese quesadilla is a great snack. Take a large flour tortilla, and grate on a combination of cheeses, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes and even a grated radish or anything else you think will go with it. Fold the tortilla over and brown on both sides in a hot pan with butter or oil until the cheese is melted. Another quick Mexican inspired dish is mince filled tacos. These are very easy and quick. Brown a pound or so of mince with chopped onion and season with a little cumin or any curry powder. Once cooked through, pile it into taco shells with lettuce, chopped tomato, onion, chopped coriander and top it all with sour cream. This tastes great on a sunny evening and yet is still a hot and satisfying meal.

Eggs are another quick and easy ingredient to use. Heat any salami or chorizo in a little butter and then stir in some beaten eggs to give scrambled egg that extra kick. Serve the eggs on warmed bread as a great supper dish. Or how about baked eggs for supper or after school rather than breakfast? If you are feeling very decadent you can even make these with cream. Put a tablespoon of cream (or a knob of butter if you don’t have cream) and a slice of tomato into a ramekin. Crack in an egg and season with salt and pepper. Grate over some Parmesan and bake at about 180° until the egg is set. Serve this with warm toast soldiers and some grilled rashers.

If you are looking for an Asian influence take a thin steak, a chicken breast or even a pork chop. Sear the meat in a hot oiled pan for a few minutes on both sides and then remove to a plate. Add a splash of water to the pan, a little sake, a splash of soy sauce and a half teaspoon of sugar (or to taste). Allow the mixture to thicken up and then return the meat to the pan and turn in the sauce until cooked through. Serve this on noodles or rice. This also works really well with a salmon steak.

Now you may think that I am jumping all over the place this week with these suggestions for those early back to school suppers but there is a common denominator. All of the above are really quick and easy to prepare. Once you get the hang of it you could have it to the table in less than 20 minutes. And finally one of my all time favourite easy, quick and nutritious dishes is one of our own – liver dredged in a little flour and seared on a pan with butter. Don’t over cook, it should be a little pink on the inside. I usually have it with bacon and a potato cake made from some leftover mash.

Back to school needn’t mean back to hours slaving in the kitchen. Take it easy for the first few weeks and ease back into the school term. For more ideas drop by James Whelan Butchers at the Oakville Shopping Centre in Clonmel or visit our website 24/7.

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]

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: Back to school, James Whelan Butchers, nourishment, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: Long Table Dinner at Ballymaloe

Posted on Friday, August 31st, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

I had the most wonderful afternoon recently, at a long table dinner in the glass house at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Co. Cork. I’ve been at the cookery school a number of times before, but this time we received a guided tour of the school and the gardens both formal and vegetable by Darina Allen. It’s an amazing place steeped in history that has been developed into a wonderful sustainable model that is very relevant to how agriculture could develop in Ireland. A tour of the gardens is very interesting with some of the oldest beech hedging, specimen plants and trees in Ireland. The gardens are almost like rooms in a house, each having a unique atmosphere and showcasing something different. A recent addition to the gardens has been the “Shell Cottage”. From the outside the cottage looks gothic and impressive, however walk inside and the detail is breathtaking. I took some pictures on my phone of the day and if you ever get the opportunity to visit I would highly recommend you do so.

Ballymaloe Herb Garden and Shell Cottage

Tags: Ballymaloe Cookery School, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: Supporting Local Business

Posted on Friday, August 31st, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

Over 6,200 new jobs could be created in Ireland if households each spent €4 more every week on Guaranteed Irish goods and services, a new survey has claimed.

Carried out by Amárach Research on the impact of Guaranteed Irish on the economy, the study indicates that the average Irish household spends just under €16 a week on Guaranteed Irish products and services.

“If Irish households simply increased their spending on Guaranteed Irish products to €20 per week, that would create an extra 6,200 jobs based on the turnover per job for existing Guaranteed Irish members”, said Tom Rea, executive director of not-for-profit organisation, Guaranteed Irish.

“These figures show just how important it is that we support Guaranteed Irish services and products as much as possible during these tough economic times.”

According to Guaranteed Irish, the estimated annual turnover of its member companies, which employ 23,700 people is €1.2bn, equating to €52,000 turnover per employee. “With the number of households in Ireland at 1.5m we can estimate that the spend per household on Guaranteed Irish products week is just under €16,” said Rea.

The study shows that 83pc of Irish consumers believe it is more important today to buy Irish goods and services than it was five years ago. Some 63pc of people questioned said buying Guaranteed Irish helps them feel they are supporting Ireland, and the Irish, in some way. And 41pc of the 1,000 people surveyed say they buy Irish goods and services as often as they can.

The study suggests that young people are supportive of buying Irish for economic reasons, with 35pc of 16-24 years olds giving this as their reason for doing so. This compares to just 18pc of those aged over 55 who buy Irish for economic reasons.

One in five (21pc) of those surveyed say the Guaranteed Irish symbol provides peace of mind about where a product is produced or manufactured.

And 86pc of respondents say Irish companies should highlight the fact that their products or services are Irish.

The survey also found that 41pc of the public surveyed recognise the Guarantee Irish symbol.

“Guaranteed Irish is one of the most powerful and respected brands in the market, it is very much the tipping point for consumers who wish to support Irish products and services,” said Rea. “The Guaranteed Irish symbol not only identifies the products that are manufactured in this country, but it also differentiates products from competing imported products.”

According to Rea, membership of Guaranteed Irish has increased by 40pc in the last year. “At a time when many Irish people feel powerless to make a personal difference, consumers recognise that buying Guaranteed Irish is something positive they can do to bolster the nation.

Tags: guaranteed Irish, James Whelan Butchers, jobs, local business, local economy, Pat Whelan

James Whelan Butchers: The Big Stretch

Posted on Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

The problem with common sense is that it’s not very common at all. A truism that appears more relevant today than at any other time. I don’t think I have ever heard as many people concerned with price, value and money in general and we all understand the unbearable burden that financial pressure can bring. Sometimes though, it is the pressure, stress and endless media misery that can blindside us into feeling there is no hope at all. While I know many people can relate I also have the great fortune to have several customers who are positivity personified and nothing short of a breath of fresh air. One particular customer springs to mind instantly; a lady who has been coming into the shop since I was a boy and is now in her late sixties. We often stop and shoot the breeze about current affairs and the economy and I always come away feeling uplifted and inspired. I have recently tried to analyse the secret to her calm stability and I can tell you honestly it is not money. This lady is not necessarily rich and, like many, has to live on a modest income. Her real strength is practicality and one of her favourite sayings is “Well Pat, it is what it is and we have to get on with it!”

She is right, worrying won’t change anything, but small practical changes can make a difference. We have much to learn from these cool pragmatic souls. Many have experience that we ignore from coming through previous recessions to having been raised in relative poverty by comparison to today’s standards. They’ve been there and survived it and laugh out loud at the soft tiger cubs who perceive their inability to go on a family holiday abroad this year as a tragedy. It is what it is and we have to get on with it.

Beef & Vegetable Casserole

So recently when I bumped into Jan, I asked her straight out what her best money saving tips might be for families and households today. Her ideas were simple and within a few minutes the wisdom I received was enough to pass onto you today. Her first response was that we pay too high a price for convenience. Grated cheese, chopped vegetables, ready meals even sliced meat came under scrutiny. Of course there are times when convenience is worth it, but for a little extra effort doing your own preparation can make financial sense. One tip I particularly liked was that if she had the grandchildren coming for a few days she would buy a small turkey and ham, cook them both and use them for sliced cold meat. She would freeze some of the slices if necessary. This meant there was sandwich, snack, picnic and even salad meals ready to go at all times during the visitors’ stay. Jan also told me that in her younger days when the family was around at home, the chest freezer was possibly the best household investment ever made. Batch cooking and learning to freeze everything from buns and fruit to regular meat and meals became second nature. She said the key to that was proper labeling. She would take advantage of offers on chicken, mince and other meats and batch cook family favourites saving time and money. Another Jan tip was learning how to stretch food. Quality was never compromised although occasionally when things were a little tight, quantity may have been an issue. She would buy a little less of the more expensive and then stretch it with vegetables or pastry; she was quite the ‘en-croute’ expert; from fish to meat, a simple pate and pastry could transform meat for two into a family feast for four.

Long and slow cooked stews and casseroles using tougher more economical cuts, bulked out with vegetables and herbs were also popular and their rich hearty flavours belied their economy status. “Waste Not Want Not”, was also the mantra of the day. Black bananas, for example, would be frozen and used later for banana bread, buns or homemade ice cream. Stale bread became breadcrumbs, croutons or made its way into a comforting bread and butter pudding. Fruit on the turn was quickly salvaged into jam, preserves, cobblers or crumbles while vegetables in a similar state were transformed into delicious homemade soups or added to a tasty quiche. Leftovers were never confined to that no man’s land at the back of the fridge, but were quickly used up for suppers and even added to meals for the next day. It was all about thinking and planning ahead with a little creativity and imagination thrown in. It meant that there was always great food on the table and while the fancy holidays may not have been in great supply, no one ever went to school or bed hungry. There wasn’t a thing that Jan mentioned that couldn’t be adopted today. It is still good advice and common sense as relevant now as always.

I was telling my wife about the encounter and she added her own wisdom; clean out your cupboards! She made the very good point that modern kitchens (unlike the lovely shallow shelved larders of yesteryear) provide acres of space and dark corners to easily forget about what you have. Tins and store cupboard items get cast into this great abyss, sometimes never to see the light of day again. It may have been an unusual ingredient we bought for one recipe or something we were keen on once but have forgotten about as time went on. Most people would actually be amazed at the amount of food they have in their homes. And finally from a retailer’s point of view take advantage of everything we have to offer! At James Whelan Butchers for example, sign up for our loyalty card for great value offers or check out our website for recipes and tips.

There are plenty of ways to save money and stretch your food and your budget without ever compromising on quality, taste or nutrition and a huge thanks to Jan for her wisdom and insight.

Tags: families, ham, households, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan, savings, turkey

James Whelan Butchers: The Wolf Peach

Posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

It’s hard to believe that some of our most common and versatile foods today were once viewed with great suspicion and sometimes grown purely as ornamental garden fruit because they were thought to be fatally poisonous. For a long time this was the story of the common tomato. There it sat, ripening on the vine, colouring various gardens and lying uneaten as it was believed that the acid in the seeds would kill a man in minutes. The tomato has come through a great deal of bad press and has had several names to boot; wolf peach, scarlet apple, golden apple and love apple were all common monikers for what we know today as the tomato. The latter was given by the French, pomme d’amour, who decided that not only were tomatoes non poisonous but, rather, an aphrodisiac! The PR campaign had definitely worked and today the tomato is considered among the healthiest foods available to man. In the kitchen it is also a lifesaver to many cooks.

In botanical terms tomatoes are considered a fruit but we tend to look at them as a savoury rather than a sweet food. Tomatoes are rich in vitamins C and A, both of which have potent antioxidant properties and are immensely beneficial to health. They contain many other vitamins along with minerals and necessary amino acids. There are several studies ongoing into their curative qualities, particularly in the area of cancer fighting drugs, and already many scientists agree that eating tomatoes as part of a daily diet is to be recommended.

While I am a great fan of tomato based sauces and soups I also can’t resist a fresh vine ripened tomato. I love the smell, the texture and one of my favourite things to do is to deseed and dice a tomato, add a little olive oil, a little fresh chopped coriander, a pinch of salt and pepper and then load it all onto a round of toasted French stick with garlic butter. I have this for supper or I often serve it as a starter, particularly if there is a hint of an Italian or Mediterranean flavour to the menu. My family has come to regard this as a great snack option. I’m delighted because it is healthy and from the cook’s point of view it requires simple assembly rather than culinary skill or effort. If you have some of the chopped tomato mix left over use it as a dressing with some rocket and cucumber and that, along with a just cooked steak and a nice glass of red makes a terrific dinner.

Buying good tomatoes can be tricky. There are literally hundreds of varieties and sometimes the supermarket versions can be generic, tasteless offerings that are an insult to the sweet and distinctive fresh almost peppery smell of a tomato still clinging to the vine that gave it life. I personally prefer to buy them on the vine even if I have to let them ripen at home. The other thing about tomatoes is that most people store them in the fridge. This is probably the worst place for tomatoes. Tomatoes love the warmth and being kept in the cold can destroy their flavour. Keep your potatoes in the fridge and your tomatoes in the vegetable basket. If you do need to ripen some tomatoes I suggest putting them in a brown paper bag and out of direct sunlight. Check them after three days, but they could take up to four days to ripen fully.

Whether chopped and eaten as part of a salad or sliced and baked on the top of a pizza or a deep set quiche, the colour and taste of the fruit is a great addition. You could just adopt the Mediterranean way and on a big plate slice some beef tomatoes and lay out, layer with slices of mozzarella, add a few black olives, drizzle the whole lot with olive oil and sprinkle over some fresh basil and oregano, bring to the table and dig in.

My store cupboard is never without tins of peeled plum tomatoes, but again I would say you get what you pay for. Pay a few cents extra for a tin of good tomatoes and you will notice a difference. The bottom of the range varieties tend to be more watery in my experience. What I have found in the past is that I sometimes had to use two of the cheaper tins to gain the right consistency. Essentially this can be false economy as one tin of the better quality would have sufficed. However do check around and once you have found a brand you like stick with what works best for you.

Finally I suppose it would be hard to think of the tomato without giving mention to the great tomato festival held annually in Spain, known as Tomatina. When it came to mind I had a quick look on You Tube and there it was, in all its slippery, wet glory; the world’s biggest food fight that rapidly turns into streets of human tomato stew with thousands of bodies writhing around and trying to retain their balance amid the mess and mayhem. I’m trying to decide which Spanish tradition is crazier – the Bull Run of Pamplona or the Tomatina Festival in Bunol near Valencia? Obviously the risk to life is greater in the former, but I would imagine that injury is also quite likely at Tomatina. I almost understand the adrenalin rush that drives the Bull Run, but I am totally puzzled at the appeal of Tomatina. However as a spectacle I encourage you to have a look for yourself. If for no other reason to be thankful that you don’t live in a small sleepy town where once a year up to 40,000 people gather to hurl tonnes (and I mean tonnes) of overripe tomatoes at each other!

For good tomato inspiration visit the recipes on our website where you will find plenty of choice such as Italian Sausage Spaghetti, Penne with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Sizzling Bacon or how about Bacon Baps with Scrambled Eggs and Tomato Chilli Jam to name a few; and of course it is all free and available 24/7 at www.jameswhelanbutchers.com

Tags: golden apple, healthy, James Whelan Butchers, love apple, Pat Whelan, scarlet apple, tomatoes, wolf peach

James Whelan Butchers: Rhubarb, Rhubarb

Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

I’ve been doubly blessed this week by two different people who both gave me a bunch of home grown rhubarb. I was thrilled; my rhubarb cup was truly running over. There was far too much for me and I couldn’t find anyone else at the time to share it with, so I took it all home and sat in the kitchen admiring the over abundant pile sitting on the worktop. It also made me smile as I remembered asking another foodie friend some years ago what was the best thing to do with rhubarb. This culinary comic genius suggested that I eat it as it wasn’t much good for anything else!

Technically rhubarb is a vegetable but we tend to treat it as a fruit. There is forced rhubarb which is grown in dimly lit sheds all year round and then there is the garden or wild variety which, left to its own devices, springs up in summer. The reason there is such a glut of it around at present is that rhubarb is a lover of moisture. This particularly moist summer we have been experiencing is definitely contributing to rhubarb growth.

In its natural state stalks of rhubarb are sour to the taste and the leaves are to be avoided at all costs as they are poisonous. However mixed with a little sugar or a friendly orange, the sour is transformed into a nutritious iron and vitamin C rich bowl of goodness. Most of us would be familiar with a comforting rhubarb crumble, stewed rhubarb accompanied by custard or even rhubarb compote or jam. I would like to suggest that you try some new routes and match it with a more savoury partner such as a rich meat. If you think about it we don’t blink an eye at the thought of cranberry with turkey. I suggest you try a bit of rhubarb in its place. Try a little rhubarb chutney with duck or poultry in general and you will be surprised at the little dance it will do on your taste buds. It’s also a great accompaniment to a cheeseboard as a light tea or supper. It works well with cold meats and even burgers. New food combinations are always exciting even if they never end up on the ‘favourites’ list. In Scandinavian countries they even make soup out of it; both sweet and savoury.

We all know rhubarb works very well with custard but it is also a good match for vanilla, ginger, cinnamon and orange flavours. Poached gently in a little natural orange juice with a pinch of ginger or cinnamon adds an entirely new dimension. Personally I like stewed rhubarb, crumble or tart to retain a little crunchy bite rather than the baby food ‘gloop’ of a soggy wet pile, but “each to his own” and it really is a matter of taste and preference.

Rhubarb will also freeze well if you do it quickly and while it is fresh. Some people ‘do things’ with it before freezing so that it is ready as a tart or crumble filling but I basically wash it, cut it into chunks, lay it all out on a big tray and freeze it for a few hours before transferring it into zip lock freezer bags. There are plenty of websites with other methods of freezing rhubarb, but I find this one works quite well.

So what did I do with my glut of red stalks? I decided to make chutney as I had so much of it. Chutney is a great way of preserving and it has a long shelf life as long as it is kept in the right conditions. It makes a lovely unusual food gift also. I use a recipe from a small pickling and preserve book that I’ve had for years, but there is an abundance of chutney recipes available on the web. The trick is not to let it burn at the bottom while it is simmering away. It is also a good idea to have all your jars sterilised, cooled and ready to go before you start. 2lbs of rhubarb takes about an hour to cook and should yield around 6 jars.

Here’s a recipe I use that has a little kick to it, but I’m sure there are many variations that work just as well – Rhubarb Chutney Recipe.

Tags: chutney, compote, crumble, jam, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan, rhubarb, stewed, Tipperary Food Producers

James Whelan Butchers: Rhubarb Chutney

Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Recipes, Side Dishes | No Comments »

This is the recipe I use that has a little kick to it, but I’m sure there are many variations that work just as well

Rhubarb Chutney – Printer Friendly Download

Ingredients

2lbs/900g Rhubarb washed and cut into chunks
2lbs/900g Sugar
1lb/450g Sultanas
1 pint Vinegar
1 oz/25g Salt
1 oz/25g powdered Ginger
1 Onion – finely chopped
½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
½ teaspoon ordinary Pepper

To Cook

Put all the ingredients into a pot. Bring it all to the boil. Reduct heat.
Let it bubble away until thick and dark brown (about 1 hour). Stir now and then.
(Do not let it burn at the bottom)
Pour into clean sterilised jars, put the lid on, let cool and store.
It should keep in a cool dark place for several months.

Tags: rhubarb chutney

James Whelan Butchers: A Fresh Look at Asia

Posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

Given that I work with meat and am known as a general food lover, I suppose it is hardly surprising that the subject of food comes up in my conversations a great deal. I’m often asked for advice about cuts, preparation and cooking and while some will just indulge and join me in a nice chat about things that taste great, the other common issue is diet and weight. What I probably find most amusing are the different schools of thought on the subject. You have the ‘lean meat, fat is evil’ brigade, the ‘no carb’ bunnies, the point counting sisters and brothers, the “how many calories?” worry warts, the vegetable only zealots; the list is endless. Basically everyone is headed for that same utopian slim dream, but there seem to be many routes to it.

There seems to be one thing that most of these diets and their self proclaimed healthy eating devotees have in common and that is the general rule that junk food was conjured in the bowels of hell in order to make us all fat. The spiritually enlightened wouldn’t dream of defiling their temple with anything but lean chicken, a stick of celery and a lettuce leaf! If the quality of the chicken, celery and lettuce is good I can appreciate that it is a nice snack combination, but the difficulty is I can’t live on just that. We naturally crave, or should I say ‘need’ variety. It’s what makes life and food the wonderful thing that it is. Sadly we have taken the junk food umbrella and crammed more and more foods under it. Chinese food often gets swept into the mix as high calorie junk food and the creamier dishes of Indian cuisine are also given the evil eye by the virtuous.

Because of these generalisations we tend to avoid whole cultures and we miss out on interesting tastes, new experiences and a chance to introduce new things to our own diet. Traditionally, food in both China and India is seen as health giving. In the household kitchens real people feeding their families try and create vibrant, fresh, light and tasty meals. This is especially true of China. While some western Chinese restaurants have chosen the route of too much, salt, MSG, sugar and trans fats, an authentic taste of China is good for you. The same can be said of Indian food. Obviously the creamy korma and tikka sauces are rich, but if we look to aromatic chicken or beef baked slowly in a clay oven we get a different picture. Even in restaurants the average Indian mixed grill is lean, protein rich and full of health giving spices.

When it comes to Asian food we have enough ingredients at our disposal these days to come pretty close to an authentic home cooked meal from these foreign lands. Chinese food should be fresh and fragrant. There are many layers of taste in Chinese food and we should be able to taste each note. Traditional Chinese food was never meant to be coated in batter, deep fried and concealed by a viscous, luminous sauce.

What I like best about Asian food is that it offers us alternatives for accompaniments. There is a great range of rice available from wild and long grain, brown rice to the more aromatic and soft Pilau or Thai Jasmine rice. Noodles can be thin light strands such as glass noodles or thick fat udon noodles and a myriad of types in between. (By the way glass noodles are naturally gluten free and so are perfect for coeliacs.) I also like the way real style Asian cooking makes use of nuts; from the cashew to the peanut the taste is great.

I always keep a variety of noodles and rice in my store cupboard as I think they are fantastic for making up dishes with leftovers. If we have some left over chicken, adding in some vegetables, herbs and chilies and serving cold on a bed of glass noodles really stretches the meat. The other great thing about noodles is that they bulk out a soup to make it really feel like a meal. I recently saw a beef noodle soup recipe on the television and I have put it on my list of ‘must makes’ over the summer.

To be fair it is hard for us to know what exactly healthy Chinese or Indian food actually is, as we haven’t grown up with it. However it is only a matter of learning the basics and adapting them to our own taste. The aim isn’t to open an authentic Asian restaurant to satisfy Asian people; the goal is to provide rich variety in the food we feed our own families. It is about what we like and being comfortable using the myriad of wonderful foods available to us. Indeed it seems crazy to cook the same few dishes over and over again when we have so many choices at our disposal. Not only do we have choices but we have an abundance of free knowledge; the library, the internet and the television are full of great food ideas that won’t cost us a penny to learn.

So back to my dieting friends and those on the eternal quest for the supermodel body, my message to you is that your journey towards your goal is a noble one and I wish you great success, but please stop with the deprivation and sweeping statements about real food groups and food cultures. Real food was given to us for fuel, but also for enjoyment. We can enjoy all good things and still lose and maintain weight if we can just get the balance right. I encourage you to explore all that Asia has to offer in natural and good spices, rice and noodles; we are blessed to have it at our fingertips. Combine that with your choice of local home grown vegetables and meat and, without a doubt, you’ll have them all screaming for more.

Tags: aromatic, Asian cuisine, chillies, Chinese food, foodie articles, herbs, James Whelan Butchers, noodles, Pat Whelan, pilau, spices, thai, Traditional

James Whelan Butchers: The Rising Sun

Posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

A new Japanese restaurant has just opened in Clonmel. It’s good to welcome new businesses but I get even more excited when they are offering something new. Now I have no intention of attempting to explain Japanese food in one newspaper column. First of all I wouldn’t have the knowledge and secondly, like any nation that has a rich food culture, the subject is far too wide and varied to capture properly. However I have been to Japan several times and my food experiences have always been good. I’ve learned a little more each time and I can honestly say it is a country of unique flavours and distinctive cuisine. I was so impressed with their Wagyu beef, I even brought it home with me to breed and Whelan Wagyu will be available very shortly.

The first thing to know about Japanese food is that it’s not “just sushi”. I can confirm that the entire Japanese nation does not survive on little packets of rice and raw fish flavoured with vinegar, even if they are delicious. The truth is that the Japanese eat very well and the traditional Japanese diet has always been considered a contributing factor to the general longevity enjoyed there. I believe their secret is that they have learned to balance meat, fish and vegetarian cuisine much better than we do here in the west. There are two other distinctions in Japan that I always marvel at. First of all if you think I am crazy about local food or that the French country people are big on farm gate and territory then the Japanese outdo us all. Local food is very important in Japan. And it’s not just about being local, it is also about quality and how it is produced. The other thing that stood out for me is the way they present food on a plate. The aesthetic is of the utmost importance and at the start of a meal it is considered polite to comment on how good the food looks on the plate or the artistry of the chef before you tuck in. This precise and sometimes elaborate food arranging even comes down to simple things like a lunch box. In Japan they are fond of a food arrangement commonly known as ‘Bento’. It is a tremendous insult to Bento to describe it as what we know as a TV dinner, but I use it to give you a visual as the general layout is not too far off the mark; each food in its own little compartment or section. However the actual food is a thousand times better. Bento traditionally consists of rice, fish or meat and one or more vegetable. While shop bought Bento boxes can be elaborately arranged even home prepared Bento is carefully placed. I like the idea that time is taken to make a meal look good, even if it is just a packed lunch. As humans we eat with our eyes as much as our mouths.

So if it is not all about sushi then what is the basis of Japanese food? It would be easy to list a few dishes but that would be very unfair. It would be like saying that Irish food is just Lamb stew and bacon and cabbage. I feel it will give you more of an overview if we look at some of the commonly used ingredients.

There’s no doubt about it but Japanese cuisine is largely based on rice; white or brown. Noodles are also common but more in modern Japanese cooking. Soy sauce is important, but there is a difference between Chinese Soy and Japanese Soy. Seaweed, several different varieties, is widely used (well they are an island nation) and Miso is a very common Japanese seasoning. There are many varieties of miso and it is used widely for sauces and spreads, as a meat and or vegetable seasoning and for adding to soup stock. The taste of miso has been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savoury! Sake is a sweet sherry like drink that is also used as a common ingredient and Mirin is an alcohol made from rice but used exclusively in cooking. Rice vinegar is also common. While many people here might attempt to substitute white wine vinegar for rice vinegar in a recipe, the latter is milder and sweeter and so to achieve an authentic taste it is vital. By the same token a lovely Japanese girl explained that Sushi Vinegar is just rice vinegar with added flavourings. Sesame seeds and sesame oil, particularly dark sesame oil, shitake mushrooms, fresh ginger, white radish and spring onions and also used widely. Tofu and tofu products figure largely and there are plenty of spices; seven ingredient red pepper powder, ground curry powder, mustard and wasabi sauce.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but if you take these basics and add meat or fish you can see a general pattern of great taste, great flavours and generally healthy food emerging. While many of the spices and the seaweeds are dried, the rest of the ingredients would be fresh and therefore nutritious and healthy. Even the traditional and much loved Japanese Tempura batter used for deep frying is considerably lighter than the usual heavier batter we are used to. Tempura dishes are commonly eaten in Japan and everything from meat, fish and vegetables are coated and deep fried.

As a potted version of Japanese food this is really quite a poor description of this rich, fresh and mainly natural food. Perhaps the main thing we can learn from the older Japanese is balance. They also respect their food, the people who cook it and they take time to eat it. There are many small but pleasant rituals attached to eating in Japan that remind them daily about gratitude and nourishment; we could certainly learn a thing or two there.

Now I have no doubt that some of that tradition, like every corner of the earth, is being gently eroded by the modern world and the Japanese are facing their own problems with overly processed foods, but the authentic food is still an intrinsically good and balanced diet. I haven’t been to the new restaurant yet but I’ll let you know how it compares to those in Japan when I do. I would also encourage you to try it for yourself and make sure you spread the word that Japanese food is not just sushi.

Tags: bento, foodie articles, James Whelan Butchers, Japanese, miso, Pat Whelan, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sushi, tempura batter, tofu, wagyu beef, wasabi

James Whelan Butchers: A Cheesy Feeling

Posted on Tuesday, July 10th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

We’ve come along way since those before us fell in love with the individually wrapped easy single, way back in the mists of time. We weren’t exactly the greatest country for cheese before then; a little Calvita cheddar perhaps, a chunk of stilton with a glass of port for the sophisticated and a little foil wrapped triangle here and there. We then embraced the easy single and sandwiches and burgers seemed forever doomed to be adorned with this tasteless, yellow, shiny square of plastic that is, in my view, unrecognisable as real cheese. Don’t bother to write and tell me I’m a cheese snob. You’ll never change my mind about the easy (or even worse ‘easi’ ) single and I refuse to buy the ‘it’s so convenient’ line. Cut a sliver off a block of real cheese and I guarantee it won’t take any longer. It may not be perfectly square, but unless you have severe OCD, the shape of the cheese shouldn’t be a problem.

The progress in the Irish cheese landscape is quite remarkable. From a simple cheddar loving nation, our palates have evolved to encompass so much more. Even corner shops now stock a few different varieties. If you go to any of the larger stores or a speciality shop or deli the choice can be quite overwhelming. I remember being in one place where the counter was laden with an amazing cheese selection from all around the globe. The choice was so great I almost retreated to the chill cabinet for a simple block of Cheddar.

That seems to be the main problem these days, the abundant cheese treasure available confuses us and makes choosing cheese an overly complicated chore. Cheese can also be relatively expensive and so it is understandable why people don’t want to take too many risks with unknown varieties and brands. All you really need to understand are a few basics and then the world of cheese opens up and it’s a journey that you can enjoy for the rest of your life. There is a lot of cheese out there and many cheese regions in the world. However the chill cabinet or cheese counter in your local shop is probably the best place to start. It is also worth saying that it’s okay not to like certain cheeses. Enjoying or disliking a cheese is just that, it shouldn’t ‘say’ anything about you. Everyone has different tolerances for cheesy flavours. Even within cheese groups there are tolerance levels; not all cheese is created equal.

There are a few general categories of cheese. However, just like wine, every cheese of the same variety doesn’t taste exactly the same, but there should be a similarity. While the taste will always be a surprise with a new cheese, you should know what to expect. Let’s start with hard cheese.

Cheddar is probably the most widely available cheese. Cheddar is a ripened hard cheese. The more aged (mature) it is, the drier it appears. Experts would concur that it is best made from whole milk and aged for a long time. Despite the fact that poorer quality, tasteless cheddars have flooded the market, should you find a good cheddar cheese it should always be on hand in the fridge. It is very versatile for cooking, for sandwiches or for just shearing off a chunk and eating it. If you want my advice avoid any of the ‘low fat’ or ‘fat reduced’ cheddars; inevitably they’ve taken the taste away with the fat.

Brie and Camembert, which have become really popular here, are considered soft ripened cheeses. Typically they are aged for anything up to 4 months. While the cheese is soft, they have a hard rind. To eat or not to eat the rind is a personal choice. I don’t particularly like it but a friend tells me that the brie rind adds to the cheese’s flavour profile.

Soft unripened cheeses are considered ‘fresh cheese’ and these are usually the ones that are mixed with herbs, fruits or nuts. They have a high moisture content and again are really useful in cooking. You can stuff mushrooms, olives, tomatoes or meat with soft cheese before baking. They are also a great base for canapés as they spread easily and provide a nice ‘gluey’ platform to balance other things on top of. I have even used soft cheese to thicken up a pasta sauce.

Blue cheese or, as my children like to call it, ‘sweaty smelly cheese’ (Before you judge them they are all under 10!) is probably the most divisive. In truth the blue parts of blue cheese are actually mould. Overall blue cheese will span the taste spectrum from mildly blue to quite salty with a very strong bite. A really good blue cheese will have earthy flavours also. The texture is dry and crumbly and the taste, although often perceived as an acquired one, is quite addictive. We have one of the world’s premier and award winning blue cheese brands on our doorstep, Cashel Blue Cheese, and so we have no excuse for not trying it.

Indeed we have many great cheese makers here in Tipperary. Even if we never left the environs of our own county we have quite a few to choose from. Explore some local cheese this week. We even stock a selection of fine cheese on our website and at our store in the Oakville Shopping Centre. Drop by any time.

Tags: blue, Cheese, foodie articles, hard, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan, rind, soft, Tipperary

James Whelan Butchers: A Visit from the Big Green Egg Double Decker Bus

Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles, Good Food | No Comments »

There was quite a stir caused here recently in Clonmel, when the Big Green Egg double-decker bus arrived at the shop. I’ve owned a Big Green Egg for over a year now and as many of my followers on Twitter will know, I’m a huge advocate. It’s a different style of cooking, but develops flavours in a truly unique way.

Brisket on the Bone

Things like shoulder of pork, beef short ribs, brisket on the bone are the cuts I enjoy most on the Big Green Egg. Last Christmas, I cooked the turkey on the Big Green Egg and it was voted by all our family and friends as the best ever. On the evening when the Big Green Egg bus pulled into town, we enjoyed brisket on the bone and beef short ribs, but for the first time ever, we cooked dessert on the egg. Grilled pineapple, grilled kiwi and grilled orange. I can’t recommend this enough!

You have to be prepared to wait as the cooking method is low and slow, about 9 hours for brisket on the bone, but the result is amazing and the subsequent meals, truly memorable.

I attach a link to Adam Perry Lang’s website and to the Big Green Egg website which are great resources for learning about this truly magnificent cooker.

Tags: Adam Perry Lang, beef short ribs, brisket, cooking techniques, grilled kiwi, grilled orange, grilled pineapple, James Whelan Butchers, Pat Whelan, The Big Green Egg, turkey

James Whelan Butchers: Down Mexico Way

Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2012 by Pat Whelan in Foodie Articles | No Comments »

Despite the incessant rain, the wind and the very unseasonal weather, in true Irish spirit I declare that it is the summer. You may still have to wear your wellies and a raincoat in order to use that shiny new bucket and shovel at the beach, but wear them we will in order to indulge in a little sandcastle building. It’s the summer and we eat ice cream and build sandcastles in the summer!

With the longer days my tastes change accordingly. There is nothing I enjoy more than a steak with fried onions and a huge plate of salad. I like rocket leaves mixed with handfuls of fresh chopped coriander and after that, whatever salad vegetables are to hand; red onions and a little cucumber are always good. I just love the taste of peppery rocket punctuated with the distinctive and aromatic flavour of feathery fresh coriander. The other evening I added a new side to my simple summer steak. I found two ripe avocados in the fridge with a red pepper and some spring onions. I chopped the pepper small and onions small, mashed the avocados and mixed the two with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a little seasoning. A simple guacamole, my mixed salad and a perfectly cooked steak covered in soft delicious fried onions; paradise on a plate. The guacamole was such a hit that it has now become an integral part of the dish. Everything was cooked or assembled from fresh food, it took a total of around 15 minutes to prepare and it was a feast fit for a king. Who said great food had to be complicated?

The guacamole got me thinking about Mexican food in general. I am sometimes cautious due to their love of myriad different types of chilli pepper, but the overall Mexican flavours are delicious and, if you are cooking at home, the chilli content can be controlled. Just because a recipe calls for forty of the hottest chillies around, doesn’t mean I have to put them in!

Interestingly much of the food we take for granted today was largely unknown in the western world until Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in the 16^th century. Corn, tomatoes, peppers of all kinds, beans, courgettes, avocado, chocolate, vanilla and even turkeys were unknown. They were all found in Mexico. It has a long standing tradition with agriculture and historians reckon Mexico’s agricultural history is around the same age as the ancient Middle Eastern culture of cultivating crops.

While Mexico is famous for hot and spicy flavours and tomato based dishes there are other much more subtle dishes in the Mexican repertoire. If you are going to look at traditional Mexican recipes then I suggest you have a vague knowledge of chillies and peppers, because they are used a lot in Mexican food. There are many, many varieties of chilli in particular, but the common fresh green ones are serrano, jalapeno and poblano; these are all quite hot. The habanero is small and the hottest chilli known to man! That comes in red and green. If you are using dried chillies then a mild one is ‘ancho’ and a very hot chilli is chipotle. Chipotle is very popular with chefs at the moment and I’ve seen it mentioned in several recipes recently on TV and in magazines. Our common bell peppers are otherwise known as capsicums. Canned or bottled red peppers are called pimientos. Coriander is a favoured herb, while corn, tomatoes and beans are basic ingredients in many dishes. Rice also features quite heavily. Like any culture with such a rich food history there probably is no such thing as the iconic Mexican dish. Each region has its own favourites and collectively they come together to serve up the full colour fiesta that we know as Mexican favourites; tortillas, quesadillas (which are filled tortillas), my own favourite chimichangas and the famous Mexican taco.

However having not been brought up in a Mexican kitchen it may be a little daunting to try and recreate the flavours to an authentic standard. I suggest instead that you look and seek inspiration and add those notes and tones of Mexico to your own favourite dishes for something little different. Try a basic chilli con carne which translates simply as ‘chilli with meat’. The right spices, some mince and a tin of red kidney beans makes for a tasty yet inexpensive supper. Take a basic flour tortilla, fill with your favourite cheese filling, fold over and fry on a pan for a quick quesadilla. These make excellent snacks for hungry children just in from school or play. Like many countries, Mexico also has its own version of meatballs. In fact meatballs the world over are pretty standard, it’s the sauces that create the uniqueness. In Mexico a mix of pork and beef mince are the basis, with onion, breadcrumb, oregano, cumin salt and pepper. The sauce is hot. It is prepared in a similar way to an Italian tomato sauce but the obvious difference is the addition of a chopped hot chipotle chilli.

The sun may not be shining outside but we can have sunshine on our plates by using a little imagination. For more inspiration drop by James Whelan Butchers in the Oakville Shopping Centre or Monkstown, Co. Dublin or why not visit us online where you’ll find us open 24/7.

Tags: beans, chilli, chimichangas, chipotle, corn, foodie articles, green, guacamole, habanero, Irish weather, jalapeno, James Whelan Butchers, Mexican Food, Pat Whelan, peppers, poblano, quesadillas, red, serrano, summer, tacos, tomatoes, tortillas