Ice Cream Ireland

 To try to make our coffees more consistently delicious, we’ve taken the plunge and bought a pair of “grind on-demand” coffee grinders for our shops. What a difference already! Not only do they drop a perfect dose of gound espresso beans into the group head each time (over-packing is a huge cause of burning and bitterness in coffees), but they are much more silent and seem to grind up an incredibly tasty shot.

It should also cut down greatly on waste. Highly recommended (so far) for anyone in the business…

Technorati tags: ginder, coffee, espresso, on-demand

 My brother wanted me to take a couple bird’s-eye photos of cake slices to help standardise the decoration and presentation in our shops. When he brought up this slice of strawberry cake with strawberry ice cream, I couldn’t help zooming right in for a close-up since it looked so yummy. Needless to say, this slice didn’t make it back downstairs intact…

Technorati tags: strawberry, cake, photo, ice cream

An Grianan, the health food shop in Dingle, has renovated and added a few tables for lunch. It’s a welcome change from the usual fare, with a small but tasty selection of organic food and freshly squeezed juices.

Today, to escape the pelting rain, we went in for a vegetable curry and an omelette with asparagus salad. Everything was delicious.

An Grianan, if you don’t know it, is just off Green Street in the centre of town.

It’s worth a visit!

Technorati tags: Dingle, health food, shop, cafe, Kerry

 Congratulations to Stephen Morrisey over at Flying Thud who won the World Barista Championship. It’s a mighty achievement, and you can read about it here…

Technorati tags: barista, coffee, championship, world

 If you like music, there’s a lot going in on Killarney at the moment. The Fleadh Cheoil Chiarrai has competitions and music and dance on the streets (I took this photo outside our shop this evening).

This weekend also is the launch of Summerfest, with loads on. Not a bad excuse to head to Kerry!

Technorati tags: Killarney, Summerfest, music, ceol, Kerry

 Irish strawberries are in season, and here’s a real crowd-pleaser for a garden party. I tried it out on some very willing friends this last weekend!

Mini Strawberry Meringues

Ingredients:

• 1 x Meringue reciepe
• 2 Punnets strawberries
• 227 ml cream

What to do:

1. Make the meringue recipe, and using a piping bag (or a plastic bag - cut a 1/2″ hole in the corner) pipe the meringues into mini nests about 2 inches in diameter. Bake as per recipe.
2. Whip the cream.
3. Once the meringues are cooked, allow to cool, then add a small dollop of cream to each meringue.
4. Hull the strawberries, and push them into the cream (cut the larger ones into halves or quarters).
5. Serve, and watch them disappear!

Makes about 40

Technorati tags: meringue, recipe, strawberry, dessert, baking

 Happy Bloomsday! Here’s a photo I took when I was in Dublin that seems appropriate… I can’t remember any mention of ice cream in Ulysses, but maybe there’s someone who can suggest a Joycean ice cream?

Technorati tags: Bloomsday, Joyce, ice+cream

Here’s something that makes me crazy and happens far too often, especially in Ireland:

You go to a nice restaurant, have a nice meal, and then order a dessert expecting it to be of the same quality as the meal. Instead, you get served the worst kind of mass-produced crap, likely to be described on the menu in gourmet terms and well-decorated - but decorations hardly cover up inferior taste.

I understand that many restaurants look at the desserts for profit, but I can’t understand that so many places wouldn’t give the same care to desserts as to the starters and main courses. Even if you’re not like me, and dessert is the most important course, don’t restauranteurs understand that it will be the last taste of the restaurant before you leave (and talk to others about your experience)? Don’t they understand that the next time (if you go back at all) you’ll skip dessert and tell everyone else at the table to do the same, lowering the bill? 

If I have another great meal followed by a horrid dessert and awful coffee, I might well scream…

Technorati tags: restaurant, dessert, bad

 Sean and I have headed to Dublin to take part in Taste of Dublin, which will start tomorrow and go until Sunday in the beautiful Iveagh Gardens.

We will be sharing a space with Valrhona chocolate. Ice cream and chocolate. Couldn’t be too bad, could it?

Sean and I will only be around tomorrow, and we have an interview on Phantom 105, I think around 2 pm. However, Niamh, Eddie, and Claire will be around for the whole few days selling the ice cream (and the book), so do say “hi” if you’re around. 

We shouldn’t be that hard to find. We’re next to a really big fountain and not far from the toilets.

I didn’t get a chance to really walk around and see who’s there and what’s on, but hopefully I will get a good look-in tomorrow.

Then, we have to face the long drive back home to Dingle, hopefully with our bellies full! 

Technorati tags: Taste of Dublin, food, taste

 If you’re driving to Dingle from Tralee and feel a bit peckish, there’s a fantastic foodie stop along the way. Maya Binder and her partner Olivier Beaujouan live in Kilcummin Beg, Castlegregory, on the Conor Pass Road to Dingle. You’ll see a sign for “Artisan Producers” on the main road, and then you’ll go up a bumpy lane to their cozy little compound with stunning views across Cloughane Bay.

Maja makes Dingle Peninsula Cheese and Olivier makes a wide variety of products, from tapenades to seafood patés. You might know them from farmer’s markets around the place, but most people don’t know that you can visit their workshop and buy directly from them.

It’s worth a detour! If the scent of slow-cooking patés and rows of delicious cheeses don’t get you salivating, I don’t know what will…

(Lost? They are on the Irish Fresh Food Map).

Technorati tags: Dingle, peninsula, cheese, pate, artisan