{"id":6001,"date":"2014-03-31T10:59:51","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T09:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jameswhelanbutchers.com\/info\/?p=6001"},"modified":"2014-08-06T15:12:44","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T14:12:44","slug":"eat-in-restaurant-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jameswhelanbutchers.com\/info\/6001\/eat-in-restaurant-style\/","title":{"rendered":"James Whelan Butchers: Eat In Restaurant Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is it that we place a higher value on food cooked in a restaurant than the food we cook at home?\u00a0 If you think about it, many of us can cook dishes every bit as good as the average restaurant.\u00a0 I\u2019m not suggesting you don\u2019t go to restaurants at all, but these days we can\u2019t all afford to dine out as regularly as we would like.\u00a0 Also when you have small children, outside of the cost, restaurants are not ideal venues no matter how child friendly they are.\u00a0 Children seem to have an inbuilt time clock when out in public.\u00a0 Step across the threshold of a nice restaurant and the hour glass instantly turns on its head and the sands trickle steadily. When my kids were very small we found that the \u2018clock of good behaviour\u2019 often ran out somewhere mid dessert (sometimes even earlier) and then it was a rush to finish, pay and leave the premises before we were forever banned from entering again with our demon possessed child.<\/p>\n

Taking away the human element of the restaurant the things that feed into your experience are all very doable at home.\u00a0 The table is clean, fully laid and sometimes has a little extra like a candle or some flowers.\u00a0 The plates are often interesting \u2013 a different shape for different dishes. \u00a0They provide proper linen napkins. \u00a0The chairs are comfortable.\u00a0 The space is uncluttered and fit for purpose!\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019s just these little things that can elevate a simple meal into something of a joy.\u00a0 We tend to do this for special occasions like Christmas, Valentine\u2019s or Easter and while they do call for extra special attention why can\u2019t we just go half way on a normal day? \u00a0Yes it takes a little effort but when you think of how much it will increase the pleasure of the experience it\u2019s truly worth the five minutes.\u00a0 Even serving on a different size or shape plate every now and again will make the food appear differently.\u00a0 Sometimes I think we have lost the art of stopping and just sitting together and sharing food.\u00a0 It\u2019s not always easy to coordinate schedules to do that these days but it happen a few times in any normal seven day period.\u00a0\"Eastern<\/a><\/p>\n

Then we get to the food.\u00a0 There is a myth that good food or excellent meals are expensive.\u00a0 When we think of the countries that have given us great dishes such as China, India, Thailand and North Africa the common denominator is the lack of affluence.\u00a0 Yet for all our wealth, progress and modernity here in the West we don\u2019t eat as well as they do.\u00a0 These poorer countries eat foods rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and fish, natural spices, locally grown grains and rice \u2013 the list goes on.\u00a0 They also understand nose to tail cooking so much better than us.\u00a0 Only last week I was watching a fantastic programme about street food in Asia and on one stall there was a full tray of roasted ready to eat rabbit heads.\u00a0 These are foods that you buy and eat as you walk along \u2013 a little like a bag of chips here.\u00a0 Even if we look to our European neighbours many of our favourite dishes from Italy, Spain and France have their origins in simple home cooking and what was known as peasant food.<\/p>\n

However if you take a big pot of tasty \u2018peasant\u2019 food, serve it in big generous bowls with large chunks of crusty bread it can be delicious and on a par with the piece of fillet steak the size the of a two euro coin and the three mange tout balanced artfully on the top that you would get in a high end restaurant.\u00a0 Food is all about the taste and the flavour but we also eat with our eyes and so if it is presented well in a nice environment it certainly adds another layer.<\/p>\n

Great food is about using good fresh ingredients, not necessarily the most expensive ingredients.\u00a0 Budget meals can feel incredibly luxurious.\u00a0 I recently came across a recipe for Beef Casserole with Parsley and Parmesan Dumplings.\u00a0 Now it required about two and half hours of cooking time but it\u2019s the oven that\u2019s spending the time not you.\u00a0 It is not something you can knock together for a \u2018quick\u2019 meal after work, but with a little thought the day before or the use of a proper slow cooker it is very doable.\u00a0 Certain cuts of beef, lamb and pork are incredibly reasonable and as long as you cook them long and slow the taste is fantastic.\"Beef<\/a><\/p>\n

We need to start thinking like restaurants do.\u00a0 What food can be prepared in advance?\u00a0 And what about all those unusual things that are popping up on menus all over \u2013 lamb and beef shank, rabbit, offal \u2013 again what do they all have in common?\u00a0 They are inexpensive cuts of meat cooked in a great way.\u00a0 We can do the same at home.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time you visited the James Whelan Butchers website for some more inspiration or either of my books, An Irish Butcher Shop or The Irish Beef Book, contain a number of recipes that use fresh foods and less expensive cuts of meat for outrageously good dishes that the whole family will enjoy.<\/p>\n

Eat at home restaurant style and you are creating memories for the family that will last a lifetime.\u00a0 They will also bring it with them into adulthood and create a family tradition of sitting together and enjoying food.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lovely thing to teach them.<\/p>\n

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 \u00a0James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Handweavers Rathcoole and Kilmacanogue, Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt, Rathmines and Swords in Dublin.\u00a0Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why is it that we place a higher value on food cooked in a restaurant than the food we cook at home?\u00a0 If you think about it, many of us can cook dishes every bit as good as the average restaurant.\u00a0 I\u2019m not suggesting you don\u2019t go to restaurants at all, but these days we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n