Dining in is back in vogue, so everyone’s polishing their cooking skills. And where better to do it than at one of Ireland’s burgeoning cookery schools?
It’s not just Stepford wife wannabes who are signing up these days. The crowd at the Cookery School at Donnybrook Fair are far from the bunch of old dears I was expecting. Instead, it’s full of fashionable twenty-somethings, many of them male, who are watching as Mary Sue Milliken, of the Border Grill in Los Angeles, breezily demonstrates how to execute Mexican recipes from scratch. Previous guest chefs include Fergus Henderson and Marco Pierre White.
Four-week courses at the Dublin Cookery School and Cooks Academy cost €3,000. However, claims that you will leave with the “skills and confidence to work professionally” should be taken with a pinch of sea salt: most restaurateurs wince at the idea that time spent in the air-conditioned luxury of a private school is any kind of preparation for the realities of kitchen life.
The less ambitious can gen up on vegetarian grub at the Happy Pear, Indian cuisine at the Kitchen in the Castle, and oriental at Kinsale Cooking School. Meanwhile, Atul Kochhar, Rory O’Connell, Denis Cotter and Sunil Ghai are all guesting at various schools in the coming weeks.
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The mother of them all is, of course, Ballymaloe, which charges €10,000 for its 12-week course (without board), making it marginally more expensive than sending a child to Eton. But a small number of its alumni have gone on to forge successful foodie careers, including Rachel Allen and the chef and food writer Clodagh McKenna.
After three years as a chef at Ballymaloe, McKenna quit to set up a stall selling local produce in Midleton market, Co Cork. Her business gradually expanded and she became Irish correspondent for UKTV Food before joining RTE. Best known as presenter of Fresh from the Farmers’ Markets and Fresh from the Sea, she has added another string to her bow, with the launch of the Village at Lyons Cookery School, in Co Kildare, last week.
McKenna will be leading the classes herself, in everything from classic French cooking to tapas. To celebrate, she has put together a menu of summer recipes exclusively for Style — all of which will be taught on her courses this summer. So close the microwave door, step away from that ready meal and reclaim your kitchen.
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MENU MASTERCLASS
THE PLACE Hunter’s hotel, Rathnew, Co Wicklow; 0404 40106 THE DISH Roast rib of beef with yorkshire pudding and horseradish sauce THE DRINK La Diva merlot-cabernet sauvignon from the Loire; €6.10 per glass. Old-school Sunday lunch in authentically quaint surroundings
Ice cream by MONIQUE McQUAID, Donnybrook Fair
I love this ice cream because of its simplicity.
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It will keep for a week in the freezer and can be made without a machine, though you’ll need to whisk it every hour or so to break down the ice crystals that form in the freezing process. For some extra oomph when serving, marinate some sliced strawberries in 100ml prosecco and 1 tbsp caster sugar, spoon into a pretty glass and place a scoop of ice cream on top. Alternatively, make a sundae by layering scoops of ice cream with fresh summer berries and raspberry coulis. Finish with lightly whipped cream and chopped pistachios — a real showstopper.
Strawberry ice cream
Serves 4
225g fresh strawberries
150g caster sugar
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100ml cream
Hull the strawberries and rinse under cold water. Put them into a food processor with the sugar and purée, then stir in 150ml water. Whip the cream lightly in a separate bowl and stir into the strawberry mix. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then freeze in an ice-cream machine.
If you don’t have a machine, pour the mixture into a plastic bowl and put in the freezer. Stir every hour or so, for 3-4 hours.
Home-made parmesan gnocchi with creamy gorgonzola
Serves 4
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For the gnocchi
400g floury potatoes
50g flour, plus extra for dusting
80g parmesan, grated, plus extra for serving 1 egg, beaten Salt and freshly ground black pepper For the creamy gorgonzola sauce
30g butter
70g gorgonzola
30ml cream
Cook the potatoes, whole and unpeeled, in very little water. Once cooked, peel and mash them well, or put through a potato ricer. Mix in the flour, parmesan and egg, plus a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and stir well.
Tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until well combined. Shape into three or four balls. If necessary, dust the surface with more flour. Using your fingertips, roll each ball of dough into a sausage about 2cm in diameter. Cut the dough into 2½cm pieces, then roll the gnocchi against the tines of a fork to create deep lines, which will help the sauce adhere to the gnocchi once cooked.To make the sauce, place a saucepan over a low heat and melt the butter, gorgonzola and cream gently for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi. When they have risen to the surface of the water, 2-3 minutes, depending on the size of your gnocchi, remove quickly and drain.
Tip the gnocchi into the saucepan with the creamy gorgonzola sauce and mix gently. Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with the leftover grated parmesan cheese.
Spring slaw
½ small red cabbage, finely sliced
3 carrots, grated
¼ celeriac, grated
2-3 thick stalks swiss chard, finely sliced 1 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
100g greek yoghurt
1 tsp dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
Baked lemon ricotta cake
Serves 10
400g ricotta
4 eggs, separated
2 tbsp flour
200g caster sugar Zest and juice of
2 lemons
70g butter
12 digestive biscuits, crushed
Heat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Mix the ricotta and egg yolks in a bowl, then the flour, sugar, lemon zest and juice. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the ricotta mix. Melt the butter over a low heat, stir in the biscuits, then spoon the mixture into a 25cm spring-form tin and press it down. Pour in the lemon ricotta mix. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown and firm.
clodaghmckenna.com
LEMON AND LIME CORDIAL
Makes 1 big jug
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp lime zest
200ml lemon juice
200ml lime juice
300g caster sugar
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in 730ml boiling water and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat. Once the cordial has cooled, pour into a sterilised bottle and refrigerate. To serve, use È cup cordial to É cup chilled sparkling mineral water or iced water. Serve with thinly sliced lemon and lime.