Kieran 
We’re just about up and running in Powerscourt Centre, where we will have the first Murphys Ice Cream scooping cabinet in the capitol. It’s a collaboration with Jay Burke’s Powerscourt Townhouse Cafe, and while we’ve been selling 500ml tubs in Dublin for a while now, it will give our Leinster customers a chance to have a scoop of Murphys without driving all the way to Kerry!
We have a launch party this afternoon, and if you’re a fan of Murphys and in Dublin, click here.
The first time I came across Bluebell Falls goat’s cheese was at Cafe Paradiso in Cork. I remember being blown away by the delicate taste and thinking it was surely one of the best soft goat’s cheeses I had ever had the joy of sampling. Since then, I’ve bought it whenever I could find it, which isn’t too often when you live in the wilds of West Kerry.
When we started thinking about what Irish foods we wanted to turn into ice cream for our Dublin party, I immediately thought of Bluebell Falls. We contacted the Keane family, and they kindly sent some down. There was a surprise, though – I had always tasted their plain goats cheese. They, however, suggested their honey and thyme cheese.
When we made it into ice cream, we had prepared extra honey infused with thyme by cooking it over low heat. However, we didn’t need it at all. The ice cream was perfect without it, and it really underlines our philosophy that with great ingredients, there is no need to mask or complicate. One can simply enjoy!
GOATS CHEESE ICE CREAM
Ingredients:
• 130g sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 240 ml cream
• 200 ml milk
• 150 gm Bluebell Falls or other excellent goats cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
What to do:
1. Combine the egg yolks and sugar and beat until thick.
2. Bring the milk to a low simmer.
3. Beat the milk into the egg/sugar mixture in a slow stream.
4. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat.
5. Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 65-70C) and just coats the back of a spoon. Don’t over-heat, though, because at around 76C you will scramble the eggs!
6. Immediately remove from the heat.
7. Allow to cool, then mix in the vanilla and goats cheese, using a blender or processor just until smooth.
8. Whip the cream until it has doubled in volume (you should have soft peaks – don’t over-whip).
10. Fold (gently stir) in the custard.
11. Freeze using a domestic ice cream machine, or cover and place in the freezer.
12. If you’re using a domestic ice cream machine, transfer to a freezer-proof covered container when the ice cream has achieved a semi-solid consistency (around 15 minutes). Place it in the freezer, and continue to freeze until it is solid.
Yield: 8 servings
Notes:
1. If you can only find plain goats cheese and like the idea of honey and thyme, you can always add some in to taste.
2. To pasteurise the eggs, heat the custard to 73C and maintain that temperature for at least 5 minutes. Use a cooking thermometer, though, and keep stirring! If the custard goes any higher than 76C, the eggs will scramble. Immediately cover and place in the freezer until cool.
If you’re a Murphys Ice Cream customer living in or around Dublin, and if you’re not busy on Friday, we have something special for you. Click here.
Now I know I’m just an ice cream man and not an economist, but I think I might have the answer to Ireland’s economic woes. As everyone knows, Christiano Ronaldo has been sold to Real Madrid for £80 million. Sounds a huge amount, doesn’t it?
However, at the same time we, the Irish taxpayer, are going to pump €4 billion into Anglo Irish bank. Which is more foolish?
Now here’s a better idea. What if we took the €4 billion and bought football players? With 10 teams in the League of Ireland top division, and 11 first team players, we could spend an average of €36 million per player.
We’d have the best players in the world playing in our first division. Think of the tourism benefits! Think of the TV revenues and ticket sales! Think of the boost to places like Sligo and Drogheda! We could contractually make the players endorse Irish products, which would boost exports. And 110 millionaires coming into Ireland might even help the property market.
This may all sound very silly, but then, so does bailing out a dubious bank. At the very least my idea would be far more enjoyable.
I’ll go back to making ice cream now.
We have a scooping cabinet going into Dublin for the first time, and we’re planning an ice cream party to help launch it. (If you live in Dublin and love our ice cream, keep Friday the 19th late afternoon free, and stay tuned!)
We’ve been thinking a lot about what to offer in terms of ice cream, and it seems to me that the theme should be “Pride of Place.” There are so many good foods and food (and drink) producers here, that we’re going to take a few Irish foods and drinks and turn them into ice creams. Especially in these uncertain times, highlighting the Irish produce we love seems only a good thing (more about that here).
Anyway, here are the flavours we have talked about:
* Bluebell Falls Goats cheese with honey and thyme
* Chocolate with Kilbeggan whiskey
* Lorge chocolate truffle
* Porterhouse Brain Blásta beer
* Eden Apple brandy with Irish apples
* Irish coffee
* McCambridge’s brown bread
* Connemara seaweed (possibly with Irish salmon)
* Barry’s Gold Blend Tea
* Guinness
* Bailey’s
I heard some sad news from Colm, the farmer who delivers us our Kerry Cow Milk, and that is that one of his Kerry cows, the one in the photo above, has died suddenly a week after giving birth. She was known as 308, not the prettiest name, perhaps, but she was a pretty cow, and I had many photos of her.
It’s easy to forget, when there’s milk coming in, that there are animals behind it all, and so today I’ll lift a cone to the memory of the pretty 308.
I’m back from Galway, where I went for the relaunch party of McCambridge’s fantastic food emporium on Shop Street in the city centre. They have redone the shop, and it looks fantastic (and I’m not just saying that because there is a Murphys Ice Cream scooping cabinet in the heart of it). Galway is always wonderful, and between the Volvo Ocean Race and the party, there was an extra-special buzz.
McCambridges is a Galway stop that no foodie should miss, and it is well worth a detour. The McCambridge family’s love of food is obvious, and their pride in Irish foods is inspiring, with loads of local treasures and interesting nibbles. There is a new cafe and even tables outside to savour their delicacies.
There are few retail businesses in Ireland that blow me away, and this third generation business is one of them. Check it out!
Technorati tags: McCambridges, Ireland, Galway, murphys, ice cream
After a cold and rainy May, summer has arrived, and what an arrival it has been. Today was a day warmer than any in 2008. and I certainly don’t remember one as warm in 2007. The beaches were packed, the sun hats and shorts were out, and people were smiling more than I’ve seen in months.
In Dingle, sand from Ventry and Wine Strand came in with sun-kissed customers, and the mood was relaxed in a way that only happens when expectations of a holiday are exceeded. In Killarney, locals wandered around Main Street as if lost in their own town – a place already beautiful but transformed by sunshine and heat into the South of France, perhaps, or some place just as pleasant.
These perfect days are not the busiest in our shops, as people leave town to make the most of the weather. We, however, don’t mind at all, for the sunshine brings out all of the splendour of Kerry, and those who experienced it will spread the word and return themselves. Best of all, however, was that a bank holiday like this was a great gift for a country struggling with difficult times. For these few days at least, people forgot their worries and remembered just how very good life can be.
