Author: traleeculinarygangsters

Chef, food truck owner, Gardner, forager, blogger, author , columnists,

A visit to torc brewing co.

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Recently at eabha joans restaurant for the listowel food fair one of our menus was a craft beer & food pairing menu & i had the pleasure to visit the torc brewing .

And had a chat with the lads behind it, as i ended up using a few of their fine beers throughout the menu .

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This raspberry & vanilla ended up on the menu in a dessert, never know it existed pior to that very intresting drink well worth trying out .

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While there a was given a lesson on the beer process including smoked beers, torc have a very nice dark smoked ale & and a polish style smoked beer which is very tasty Indeed ,

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These are short run beers alongside the ones they already do . I have to say a big thank you to the guys for their time & all the info they shared with very passionate about what they do and it shows . In both they way they talk about beer & in the end product .

All hail the ale , all cheer the beer

Cheers  lads

Twitter @chefnoelk instagram @chefnoelkeane

Wild clams

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Clams and crabs

Recently while out on an evening forage I spotted a lot of sea birds making a lot of noise on the other side of the beach while I normally would get the sea greens.

I figured being a documentary watcher sea birds means food, thinking maybe a few crabs or something nice. To my surprise clams and periwinkles and some mussels, into my bucket ye go onto the dinner table later.

I spent an hour there picking clams bent down like I was footing turf. A crab came over and dug himself under my bucket. See pic of the angry little fella.

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Having never done this before, putting the clams under water overnight to purge they are still quite salty, they really need 2-3 days of purging to remove the grit and the excess saltiness to reveal the sweet tastiness that is clam meat.
To reference James on their final resting plate  alongside mussels, linguine and parmesan cheese yum yum.

Follow for more adventures on Twitter @chefpaulc Instagram @chefpaulc

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Sid on Hypothyroidism

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Hypothyroidism -(Underactive Thyroid)

 

The thyroid gland, consisting of two large lobes is located at the base of the throat, just below the voice box. It produces hormones essential for the proper functioning and maintenance of all the cells in the body, therefore helping to regulate the body’s growth, metabolism, digestion, body temperature and heart rate.

 

What is it?

Hypothyroidism or the under activity of the thyroid gland is a condition, which occurs when the thyroid gland fails to produce enough thyroid hormone. This results in the metabolism becoming sluggish, and can often mimic long-term mild depression. It affects women four times more than men especially those between 35-60 years.

 

What causes it?

 Heredity: thyroid problems can simply run in families.

 Iodine insufficiency: its strongly proposed that millions of individuals develop hypothyroid due to lack of adequate iodine intake, which may be due to soil depletion and lack of iodine in our diets. Since iodine is necessary for the synthesis, storage and secretion of thyroid hormones, a deficiency of iodine can result in hypothyroidism.

 Auto immune: most cases of hypothyroid result from an auto immune disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the thyroid gland.

 Genetic factors, hormonal disturbances elsewhere in the body, surgery, radiation or medication are other possible causes.

 

Signs and Symptoms

These include: Fatigue, depression, unexplained weight gain, decreased appetite, dry skin, hair loss, disturbed sleep, muscle and joint pain, heavy menstruation, constipation and hoarseness among many more.

 

Dietary and Lifestyle factors

 Exercise is particularly important in hypothyroidism as it stimulates thyroid gland secretion and increases tissue sensitivity to thyroid hormone.

 One’s diet must incorporate adequate amounts of iodine, selenium, zinc, copper, vitamin C and E. All of these micronutrients are crucial for thyroid hormone synthesis.

 Goitrogens: Must be limited within the diet, these include turnips, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, radishes, peanuts and pine nuts. When eaten these foods should be well cooked to breakdown their goitrogenic constituents.

 Soy products: Must also be limited within the diet as they have a definite anti-thyroid and goitrogenic effect. Long term consumption can promote formation of goitres (protruding bulge on the throat) and development of autoimmune thyroid disease.

 

#cupcakehour baking tips muffins

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Stir to moisten dry ingredients, counting 12 to 15 strokes. Batter will remain lumpy

Muffin cups can be lightly greased or lined with paper baking cups. Fill each cup 2/3 full with batter for pebbly-topped, rounded muffins

Lightly spray paper baking cups with nonstick cooking spray to prevent muffins from sticking to the paper

To get nicely domed muffins, grease the baking cups on the bottoms and only halfway up the sides

If there isn’t enough batter to fill all the cups, fill the empty cups with water before baking to protect the pan.

Muffins are done when their tops are golden

To store muffins, cool completely. Place them in a plastic bag, seal, and store at room temperature for up to three days

To freeze muffins, wrap them tightly in heavy foil or place them in freezer bags and freeze for up to three months

To reheat frozen muffins, wrap them in heavy foil. Heat them in a 160c oven for 12 to 15 minutes

Most muffins, especially reduced-fat versions, are best served warm from the oven. Reheating briefly in the oven or microwave can revive flavor and texture

Kevin on trends

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A gaggle for a goose.

 

Over the past number of years people have really followed the trends. From a serious illness of a celiac to the lifestyle choice of being gluten intolerant. People are slowly but surely giving everything up. Sugar is an issue, everyone knows about aspartame, stevia. There’s agave, corn syrup and the list goes on. Sid Sheehan talks about this more in his article on sugar. Following trends tends to take away individuals choice, ” I can’t have that cake because Majella would kill me”. That’s not having a choice. Having a good healthy choice is about putting forward the best version of yourself as possible. Some people have the ability to put forward a seriously healthy version, others are happy with floating along. Dipping into the world of “oh this isn’t good for me 🙂”. We all know what’s good and what’s bad. Moderation is the best most can hope for and perfection is an illusion, a curse placed upon the few. Diet how important it is, the relationship you have with yourself is more important. If you have a good steady relationship with yourself then your relationship with diet and food will be better and the need to follow trends or fads will pass. Have a look at what your eating and ask yourself is that me? Believe in yourself and if that’s hard at the start then start by doing something nice for yourself everyday to improve your relationship with yourself and then see if your diet changes. The entire movement will have a knock on effect. Healthy body healthy mind healthy eating. Live the dream my friends and mind your bodies, your thought process and life balance or what’s on the table to loose!!

Keiths farm visit

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To:

On the 20th of October, my fellow classmates and I assisted in a talk that featured Avril Allshire from Caherbeg free range pork and Rosscarberry Recipes.  The intention of this talk was to give students a background into Avril as a food producer. She also mentioned some of the more prestigious awards she had won, such as UK Great taste award, the French awards Prix d’Honneur and Irelands Blas na hEireann
Avrils company Chaerbeg free range pork is a family run business that includes her husband and two sons. Avril maintains that her relaxed farming method helps to produce a quality finished product.
One of Avrils most interesting recipes was her black pudding and beamish stout bread that has 7 ingredients, 5 of which are made using ingredients solely produced in Cork.
Avril and her family have won many prestigious awards nationally and internationally for their hard work in producing quality products. Most notable of these is la Confreirie des chevaliers du Goute-boudin which she received as a result of the dedication and hard work that went into producing her black pudding This pudding also features in her Rosscrbary black pudding lasagne recipe. Caherbegs products have won awards almost every year from 2003 to 2013. Some of these awards includes the UK Great taste award, the French awards Prix d’Honneur and Irelands Blas na hEireann. Caherbegs pork products are also noted by the Irish examiner as “lovely full meaty flavou”
According to her husband Willie Rosscarbery recipes allocates to about 85% of their business but maintains that their original farm has to remain small in order to keep their standards high For her second company Rosscarbery recipes Avril is supplied by stautons in Cork. Statuons was founded by the staton family who had been butchering pigs for local farmers. Since 1950. Because of statuons quality control and locally employed workforce it is easy to see why Avril who is fixed on promoting good quality and local business would choose stautons as her supplier for Rosscarbery recipes. Avril mentioned that her inspiration for most of her recipes doesn’t come from her experience of cooking professionally but rather from being a mother who is sometimes in need of a quick recipe

Caherbeg free range pork and rosscarbarry recipes is an inspiration to how food should be produced. Small sustainable and local produce far outweighs anything that could be produced by larger manufactures in quality, nutrition and taste. Proof of this can be seen by the awards and recognition gained by Avril and her family over the years.

Chefs & unions

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Kitchens and unions

The following piece is my view and opinion on the matter of unions in the workplace, and why they don’t really work in the kitchen. With all this talk over pay, conditions, overtime and rosters, I feel that unions are pushing for more until they get what they want and then want more.

Now I am in agreement with nurses and Gardai not so much they rest of the people going on strike. The dispute for Gardai is about restoration of previous entitlements and pay, give it to them, they take care of us we should look after them. ( As much as we give out about them we need them) Same as nurses and midwives pay them what they deserve for the hours of hard work and years of training that has to be done to them into hospitals working.

The kitchen in my view is run like the army everyone has their job to do and when to do it, stepping away from this without seeking permission from a higher ranked officer or chef is frowned upon with almost contempt.

In the last year I’ve list track of the amount of times I heard about traffic disruption around Dublin due to a strike action, quite frankly I would love to see Mucheal o Leary take over there and see what happens, when he took over in Ryanair it was losing money hand over fist now it’s one of, if not the biggest profit making airlines in Europe.

In the kitchen conditions are the same everywhere hot, due to ovens grills salamanders or a 6 ring burner. You deal with sharp knives (should be sharp) all day, standing all day under pressure all day to get all prep and service ready by that 1pm lunch rush or that 6pm deadline when every body else is off work. Most places that are unionised get paid extra for anti social hours, i.e weekends, bank holidays. Thank God it’s Monday.  For us in the kitchen to get pay raise or better conditions you must earn the raise by doing the job of your superior for me it’s the job of sous chef though I’m not ready for it I’m pushing myself to get there, by being better than the day before trying to put up clean plates that look identical to the one that left before it, controlling a service and not getting flustered in the middle of a rush.  Putting ideas forward for menu items learning more everyday. Trying to develop communication skills, experience and knowledge of different dishes and food, and the list goes on. For conditions well if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen really sums it up.

As for chefs on strike well I’ve only here if one but that was years ago long before my time when brigades were bigger and more complex now that worked with no union only a brigade uniting under their senior chef to get what they wanted, now with smaller crews it’s not so easy and with chefs being more networked now anyone who does this is tarnished by doing so, and as a result may never work in a kitchen again.

Now in all that I fail to see what a union rep can do for anyone here, now I am open to correction here.

Follow on
Twitter @chefpaulc
Instagram @chefpaulc for more pictures of work and foraging

Artwork huge thanks to Jenny @wattonarts on Instagram

Sid on IBS

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Irritable bowel Syndrome (IBS)

What is it?

It is important to remember that IBS is not actually a disease but rather a collection of symptoms which are due to impaired function of the gut. We all experience occasional abdominal discomfort or upset from time to time but for IBS sufferers, these symptoms can be prolonged and problematic. This common disorder affects your large intestine (colon) and in Ireland, up to 20% of adults suffer from the condition, with twice as many females to males living with it.

IBS commonly causes abdominal pain, cramping, bloating and alternating constipation and diarrhoea. These symptoms can occur for days, weeks, months or even years. As the symptoms mimic other bowel conditions, IBS is usually diagnosed through the elimination of other ailments with similar symptoms.

What causes it?

There are many proposed causes of IBS. The list of suspects includes:

Bacterial, parasitic or viral infections

Overuse of antibiotics

An adverse reaction or intolerance to a food such as lactose or wheat

One underlying factor in almost all cases of IBS is stress. There is a complex biological interaction between the brain and the gut. No matter the source or level of the stress, our gut will generally react in some way.

What can I do to manage my IBS?

In many cases, you can control your IBS by managing your diet, lifestyle and stress.

Here are a few simple tips to get started:

Identify certain trigger foods that aggravate your symptoms, remove these foods by process of elimination. This can take several weeks but if you can find the offending food then it’s well worth the effort.

Probiotics are cultures of the “Friendly Bacteria” vital for intestinal health, which help to digest food and protect against the growth of harmful bacteria.

Soluble fibre (which dissolves in water) is much better for helping IBS than insoluble fibre. Soluble fibre has a gentle and soothing action on the gut. Dietary sources include:

Oats

Psyllium husk soaked in in water or psyllium powder

Flaxseed (linseed) – whole rather than ground

Peppermint oil capsules – very effective in calming abdominal spasms

Baking tips

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When boiling milk, first stir in a pinch of baking soda. This will help keep the milk from curdling

When a recipe calls for butter the size of an egg, use four tablespoons

After crimping the edge of the pie crust, lift the edge of the crust gently all around with your fingers. This keeps the dough from sticking to the dish while baking and makes it easier to take out the pieces of pie

A teaspoon of sugar mixed with your yeast and water makes it raise better. Even if you are making bread you can use some sugar

Keep brown sugar in a closed container with an apple in it, the brown sugar will stay soft and moist

Cookie & Cake Decoration: Keep a small amount of sugar in small glass jars, add a few drops of food coloring and shake jar. Keep several colors on hand

Never mix salt directly with the yeast and water mixture as the salt kills the raising action

Grate orange and lemon peel before peeling. Dry and add to spice cake or any cookies or puddings. The dried grated peel will keep well in a covered jar

Dip the blades of shears in hot water before cutting marshmallows, they won’t stick

A tablespoon of minute tapioca sprinkled in apple pie will absorb excess juice while baking