Recipes – Page 9 – Hungry Breton

Roquefort Salad

What a wonderful morning it was in Co. Meath ! Once a year, I lead a Birdwatch Ireland walk with a couple of friends to celebrate the “Dawn Chorus”, an outing starting at 4 am, welcoming the sunrise of what could be “our summer” ( every time we a get a couple of days of sunshine on a row in Ireland, that is what we call it), we listened to the first song birds while light pierces through the darkness of night, making it a fine communion with nature and history as our early Dominical procession made its way quietly, by the neighbouring passage graves of Knowth and Newgrange, overlooking the Boyne river’s meanders.

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St Tola and Beetroot relish Quiche

Recipes

The sun is shining today on the isle or Ireland, gently flirting with a 19°c. The Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and all the Hirundinidae (Swallows and Martins) are back from Africa. My blind cat “Wilson” decided to make friends with my neighbours cows and after two months, we finally have a Government that nobody really wants or democratically voted for. An Independent politician from Co. Kerry has joined the climate change deniers’ list with a fine statement that I expected to hear from a pub pillar after a couple of scoops, just not in the Daíl (National Assembly). As you can see, all is good in “Iwerzhon”, so good that I decided to turn off the radio, enjoy watching my cat making new friends and make a quiche… Just like that!

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Eggs Meurette Style

Recipes

The last time I did this traditional recipe from Burgundy was a couple of years ago, around this time of year… It was for an idea of a post for work, my vision of celebrating Easter I guess, with the whole egg thing and all that. Unfortunately, I did it on a “Good Friday”, where the whole of Ireland goes dry. The pubs are closed, no one drinks alcohol and meat especially pork is absolutely forbidden… Hahahaha… Hum… Sorry, I just had a moment here. So as I said, I meant well, but since my religious education is literally inexistent ( I have culture about religions, just no education), I unleashed the ire of Mujahideen of the Holly Bible… I failed twice, with the bacon and the wine… They came down on me frantically and verbally gesturing on the web like a bunch of sweepers around a Curling stone… Guys , I meant no disrespect, so sorry again hey?

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Pork Curry with Yogurt Bread

Recipes, Stories

Choice 2 — Pork Curry á la Hungry Breton

I have to be honest here; before I moved to Ireland, Curry was completely alien to me. In every French cupboard, there was of course a sticky and out of date jar of “Curcuma” or, for you and me, ground Turmeric. We didn’t know what to do with it, and I can tell you that no matter how broke you are, fluorescent pasta is not attractive!

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Rhubarb Cake

Recipes

Since I was a little boy, I have loved rhubarb in the simplest of its cooking forms: compote. There was nothing fancy about it, stewed with a bit of sugar and served for breakfast, in a big old clay bowl that would make the food safety authority scream a loud and demented “J’accuse”. Sometimes, “His Highness” like my father called me, as I was a fussy little fecker, got served some rhubarb jam instead, in a jar, from the shop! Maybe she didn’t read the label? Maybe the beautiful rhizomes weren’t in season? With a disappointed pout and an exaggerated lift of the left eyebrow, I would push the jam jar away from me, in protest, with the tips of my fingers, before being clipped behind the ears by my father’s.

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Irish Ravioli

Recipes

Choice 18 — Ravioli with Cahill’s Porter cheese and wild garlic pistou

I don’t know how to feel about St Patrick’s Day. It kind of gives me the hibbie jibbies. I met my 1st girlfriend on March 17th, I was 19 and it went unnoticed. But I remember, the days when I used to play Breton and Irish music in the “Glasgow Pub” in my hometown. I had befriended three young Irish students from the local I.T ( I.U.T in French). They were quite cool and I was drawn to them like a pathetic magnet, having had so much overwhelming adventures in Donegal, Glenveagh National park, where I got the gig of a two months contract plucking freaking rhododendrons off the side of a mountain… I loved it, I was me again! Back home, I was lonely, I missed the hills, the red deers, the ocean, the solitude and the social aptitude…

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Buko’s Bean Burger

Recipes

I had a strange dream last night; I was in a Californian pub when Charles Bukowski invited me for a bite to eat in one of his favourite place. There, were musicians and dancers, a dark wooden environment, a bit like an old fashioned Irish joint I guess. We ordered some beers first, then my companion hailed the waitress – without asking me – for a chickpeas burger and a plate of tomato and garlic beans for himself… The entertainment of my psychedelic night experience was going well. Charles and I, or Hank Chinaski as he likes to portrait himself, were enjoying ourselves… Until I asked him, in our alcoholic fogginess, if it was OK to take a selfie… He didn’t mind, but I felt I had let myself down on that one! I was so ashamed with my move, that I woke up… Leaving my host to pay the bill. Man, I have to stop eating Parmigiano Reggiano in the evening!

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Marie Lou’s Marengo Stew

Recipes, Stories

Choice 23 — Marie Lou’s Beef Marengo ( revisited by Hungry Breton)

My aunt often says to me that my mother was great at cooking meats; her beef Bourguignon was to die for and the treat for my father, on a cold Sunday, was her osso buco with flageolet beans and boiled potatoes. I guess I took it for granted, as children do, with a nonchalant face while playing with their fork, unaware of the love that was actually put before them. When she passed in 1997, I was only 25; at that stage, I had made my first baby steps in the kitchens of Sligo and Galway, before I got a phone call, before I had to sail away to say farewell, but that moment was never to be as she left before me. I inherited though, some lovely memories and a scrap book full of tender mess and quirky recipes from days long gone. My only regrets? I wish she could have seen Ireland, an Island she loved and supported through the “troubles”, through the struggles… She really did! The other one I guess is, that I would have really loved to have cooked for her… Just once. “But hey! Listen to me! This wasn’t meant to be no sad song” as legend Paul Brady puts it so well… We’ve heard too much of that before… We sure did!

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Breton Cake with Apples

Recipes, Uncategorized

My boss is sending me on a Special Mission; it happens once in a while, either dropped discreetly around a cup of coffee between a “well, how are you?” and “how would you feel about going on a road trip?”, or an email, extrapolated by my over active imagination which can clearly read: ” Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves extracting some of our newest staff from Dublin, bring them to West Cork to see some of the original producers and actors of the Irish cheese and food revival, bring them back with plenty of stories and dreams to share. This message will self-destruct in five seconds”. I swear, that is what I get, this is what I hear, this is what I read.

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Stormy Baked Milleens Fondue

Recipes

As I write those lines, the day could turn into quite a memorable one! As storms go, we are going through the alphabet like there is no tomorrow! Introducing the letter “H” with storm Henry today; the polar vortex is actually hovering over Ireland( it should be over the North pole). The lights this morning were amazing, ghostly and so out of character that I decided to get out of the house to take a few pictures around the area… Bad idea! I could barely get out of the car and when I made it back home, two heavy pine tree branches were leaning closer and closer over the whole width of the road, losing altitude as they were being tossed around like lifeless rag dolls. There was no time to lose, I grabbed a rope and my best handsaw, managed to hold on, dropped to the ground and sawed them free one after another.

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