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wild billberries by paul cotter

Wild billberries (fraughans)

These little berries are ingrained in my childhood memories as being little juicy delicious balls of sweetness coming into season in July/ August. They are found to me in marsh land, roadsides and forestry trails. They make beautiful jam and are best served simply with a dollop of cream and a sprinkling of sugar. But enough of the anecdotes.

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Bilberries 

They found growing in acidic hilly ground throughout ireland. They are best described as a wild blueberry.

They begin to flower mid to late summer. The flower looks like a little red lantern not much bigger than a pea

They are ripe for the picking at the moment varying in size from bush to bush depending on the age of the bush and if you get there before the birds do. Average size again is about the size of a blueberry.

They are ripe for the picking at the moment varying in size from bush to bush depending on the age of the bush and if you get there before the birds do. Average size again is about the size of a blueberry.

They are ripe for the picking at the moment varying in size from bush to bush depending on the age of the bush and if you get there before the birds do. Average size again is about the size of a blueberry.

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What can I do with these

There are a variety of recipes out there for billberries from jams to fools even a bilberry gin

Jam recipe

750 g bilberries

750g sugatr

* Wash and dry all the berries ensuring to remove any stalks

* Place into a wide based pot on a medium to low heat

* Allow water to start to evaporate

* Add sugar and allow to dissolve and come to the boil

* Allow to simmer for 15 mins

* Allow to cool

* Pour into clean dry jars cover when cold.

Enjoy with toast or some homemade brown bread

 

Coming next are blackberries and the berry from the hawthorn (sloe) and of course elderberries watch this space for more information and pictures. Also Twitter and Instagram @chefpaulc

this thing called food

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This thing called……food

 

Race religion colour creed it matters not we all have to stop to eat every day but how we eat is a choice I would much rather dine like a king than drink like a pirate

Chefs are everywhere these day tv magazines books food festivals but we have never eaten worse

Young chefs I use this lightly are in a rush to be the next overnight tv star or want to open their own restaurant but without the years of training the top chefs have behind them or the reality of the hard work ahead they fail or give up

In a world of insta fame and inta gratition everything is disposable

Food has never been faster or more talked about but the knowledge of it so unknown

If it comes through your car window or goes ding in the microwave it is not food it is a food like substance. More people than ever eat out, but few dine out, never trying something different or new as chefs we hear this a lot

I wouldn’t like that

Have you eaten it before?

No but I would not like it

It may be the best thing you have ever eaten or tried great restaurant are just that GREAT and for a good reason years of training to get the best taste flavour texture from every ingredient

Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it life try new things eat different things at least try

Blackberries wild garlic and wild leek are wonderful and free but few could find if they were standing in a field full of it but kafir lime leaves tofu and quinoa they know superfoods super diets

Chefs are too blame as well putting these trendy ingredients on menus following trends instead of setting them morally corrupt ingredients the true costs of few know about or care

Supermarkets recalling produces from their shelves from countries afar

Horse meat in mince bse swine flu bird flu  all from other countries recalled berries from Africa

Strawberries in janaury

we have lost our connection with food with the seasons of food

flavour is all but gone we eat food with little flavour now

food in season is much more it takes us back to our childhood the summer strawberry

the flavour and smell of it

warm tomatoes off the vine with a little salt

we have to return to this for our own sake and the sake of our children

a bit of foraging today

a few of the culinary gangsters were in ballyseedy woods today picking wild garlic and exchanging info on dishes and uses in photos are Noel “the don” keane head chef of eabha joans restaurant listowel with Kevin “wolfman” o Connor duty manager at the ash hotel Tralee , Marcus “the kitchen assassin”eidner head chef the whiskey experience Killarney and paul “baby elephant”cotter chef de partie eabha joans

Reality of chef life.

by Paul cotter

Chefs

 

Part 2

Aside from the stress of being a chef there is the buzz from service and the thrill of satisfaction of sending out great food that binds friend and family alike.

Many of us working in a busy places know that buzz of service when the orders come in and there is a rhythm that comes on where the cooking and the sending of food seems to flow nicely no matter how busy it is. On these rare occasions I feel 10 feet tall my heart beats faster there’s an adrenaline rush from it like no other.

From the service buzz I have also gained job satisfaction (as well as a few pounds) from being in the kitchen knowing that the food that leaves the kitchen is of a high standard and tastes food again the pounds I have gained can attest to this.

For me I suppose being a chef means more to me than just a career that I love it’s a lifestyle choice where the kitchen runs your life to such an extent you are looking for ways to improve everything or try different combinations that may or may not work but it’s a chance you are willing to take to give someone a new taste experience and go WOW that was amazing, or simply a piece of meat cooked perfectly where it is still juicy and packed full of flavour alongside a simple sauce made from juices in the pan.

Also the re-creation of my childhood where I had great food and didn’t realise it until I was in my early 20s and was eating out myself thinking nan used to make this way better or something a neighbour cooked something similar but it tasted way better which is now driving me to match my childhood nostalgia for particular dishes or ways of doing things like simple brown soda bread or my aunt’s egg Mayo sandwiches I know this reads kind of odd he’s on about brown bread and an egg salad sandwich but it’s my childhood my nans brown soda bread or Apple tart  and Sheila’s egg sandwiches but it’s my childhood and I suppose with nostalgia everything will always be better in the past, but that’s not gonna stop me from trying.

Many of my life plans have changed now that I am in the kitchen I once wanted a bar/ restaurant that served simple honest food to now wanting a funky cafe where I can make buns, cakes, breads, pastries and soup and sandwiches maybe a quiche or 2 final details yet to be worked out but it’s a dreams and I intend to realise this dreams come hell or high water I will have this cafe, where tea is served with a mug that you can fit more than 2 fingers through the handle and have a variety of novelty mugs to make it feel like home.

Reality of chef life

by chef paul cotter (part 1)

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Reality of chef life

Being a chef is not for the faint hearted or the easily offended. Being a chef is stressful, physically and mentally draining. We will work on average a 50 to 60 hour week on our feet all day using hot pans, ovens, grills, sharp knives (in most cases) and fire. So it is inevitable that we get cut and burned on a semi regular basis. Personally I constantly get little Knicks that you don’t notice until you go to season with salt and you get this stinging sensation in the top of your finger it didn’t hurt it’s just annoying at this stage for me.

Many of us in relationships have seen a fair share fail and those few lucky enough to find a woman/man that will stick through the absentee partner, being asked where is s/he and responding oh they are working.

However hard the kitchen life is, it is lessened when you have a good team to stand alongside for 50-60hours a week and a strong understanding partner, who reap rewards of really nice dinners on our time off. I suppose it’s the perks to being in a relationship with

a chef though we may not cook all the time, when we do cook you know it’s gonna taste good.

The important word here is team both in the kitchen and out of it, as the chef’s reading this will know it’s run like an army brigade in the respect that the head chef’s way is the only way for the establishment of a consistent standard of food that leaves the kitchen. Everything goes through the head chef you run out of something you suggest an alternative DO NOT change anything without letting them know 1st as they may have another item to use or already have the backup ready

st. tola goats cheese and beet risotto

risotto gs&beets

one of the most popular starters this weekend at the restaurant

1.2 ltr hot vegetable stock, made with 1 vegetable stock cube

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 300 g beetroot dipped in malt vinegar, grated
  • 7.5 g fresh thyme, leaves washed, picked and roughly chopped, reserving a few sprigs to garnish
  • 250 g arborio risotto rice
  • 100 g goats’ cheese, crumbled
  • 70 g wild rocket
  1. Put the stock in a small saucepan over a low heat to keep it hot. In a large saucepan, heat the oil, then add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Stir in half of the grated beetroot, along with the chopped thyme and risotto rice.
  2.  Cook over a low to medium heat for a further 2 minutes, then start adding the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, making sure the liquid is absorbed before adding more – this will take about 20-25 minutes. Test a few grains of rice – it should be firm, but cooked through.

    3 Whizz the remaining beetroot until you have a smooth purée, then stir into the risotto with the last ladleful of stock, cooking until the liquid is almost all absorbed and the risotto is a creamy consistency.

    4

    Stir in half the goats’ cheese until it melts into the risotto, then stir in most of the rocket. Spoon onto plates, scatter with the remaining goats’ cheese and garnish with the thyme sprigs and the remaining rocket leaves.

     

    Cook’s tip: if you eat fish, you could stir through flakes of smoked mackerel or trout.