I had a busy day on Saturday, a change for me as life hasn’t been full of deadlines since I sold the restaurant.
I was doing a cookery demonstration in the morning and early afternoon in the Ardkeen Stores and had also decided to give a dinner party that night.

The cookery demonstration was one that I was able to approach with great enthusiasm, it was of Sally Barnes totally delicious smoked fish, Woodcock Fisheries.
I was doubly delighted when Sally herself, whom I had never met, even though I had been eating her fish for a couple of years, said she would come down herself to be there for the demo.
The three fish I had decided to feature were her Hot Smoked Mackerel, her Smoked Haddock and her Kippers.
I have been using her Mackerel for a Rilette with great success for a some time and have found her beautiful undyed Haddock delicious in a Risotto
So those two were OK. The Kippers are really ideal breakfast eating, plain or with a pat of butter but this is messy to hand out at a cookery demo so I went to my fridge for inspiration.
A tub of very recently acquired Glenilin quark solved my problems, that and a toaster and I was set up.
At the end of this piece I will give you all of the recipes I used.

In the meantime I had the problem of what to give for the dinner party. Síle immediately solved one part of the problem by offering to do a Trifle (she ended up doing a brilliant version of my Summer Fruit Trifle) I decided to do a Carrot and Cumin Soup and as my garden is bursting with fennel at the moment fish with a fennel sauce seemed obvious.
My old seventies taste buds persuaded me to make some Fennel Hollandaise and then to compound that by serving the fish on a bed of Florentine Fennel. The result was, I modestly think, totally delicious.

The Smoked Fish cooking created quite a stir in the shop, people were very excited to meet Sally who was completely charming, and the products flew off the shelves (as did the Glenilin Quark)

What is it about West Cork that all these talented food producers are flourishing there?

Here are the recipes.

Sally Barnes Kippers on Toast with Mustard Relish
( for Breakfast or to serve with drinks)

2 Kippers

2 Tablespoons Fromage Frais
1 Tablespoon Seedy Mustard
2 Teaspoons Honey
4 Slices Brown Yeast Bread

For Breakfast.
Put the Kippers into a pan or jug and pour over boiling water.
Mix together the fromage, mustard and honey.
Toast the bread.
Spread the toast with the relish
Drain the kippers and lay one on each slice of toast.

For Drinks
Do exactly the same except cut each slice of toast into eight little squares and then spread with the relish.
Cut the kippers into similar sized pieces and put onto each piece of toast.

Sally Barnes Rillettes of Smoked Mackerel

2 Fillets Smoked Mackerel (175g/6 oz. each)
1 Med Onion
110g (4 oz.) Butter
Juice of Half Lemon
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Peel and half the onion and chop it finely.
Melt 2 oz. of the butter in a small heavy pot .
Cook tthe onion very gently in a covered pot for 15 mts until soft.
Flake the mackerel and search it for bones. Discard these.
With two forks continue to flake and break up the mackerel until it is a coarse paste.
Add the sweated onions, the remaining 2oz. of butter(melted) and the lemon juice, and pepper.
Still using the forks work the ingredients together until amalgamated.
Put into a dish into the fridge until set.
Eaten with salad it makes a good starter, or on hot toast or crackers it is good for lunch.
Great for spring picnics or as a sandwich filler with some crisp lettuce.

Risotto of Sally Barnes Smoked Haddock
(for 4 as a starter, 3 as a main course)

500g (1 lb 2 oz.) Smoked Haddock
110g (4 oz.) Streaky Rashers
2 Med Onions
225g (9 oz.) Risotto Rice
2 oz. Butter
60g (2oz.) Freshly Grated parmesan.

Poach the Haddock in 1 ltr(2 pts) Water for 15 mts.
Take out the Haddock but put the stock back on the lowest gas.
Once the fish cools remove all bones and skin and roughly flake it into chunks.

Chop the rashers finely and fry in half the butter until crisp.
Remove with a slotted spoon but leave the fat in the pan.
Peel and chop the onions finely and add to the pan with the remaining butter.
Cook the onion gently for 9 to 10 mts until soft.
Add the rice to the pan and fry the rice for 1 mt.
Add the hot stock a ladle full at a time making sure the liquid is absorbed by the rice before the next addition.
This amount of rice should take roughly 825ml(just under 2 pints) of the stock and take 20 mts to absorb it all.
The risotto should be still creamy and not dry like rice normally is.
Fold in the flaked Haddock and the bacon and serve.
Serve the Parmesan seperately.
This is excellent with a crisp winter salad of chicory and chinese leaves.

Summer Fruit Trifle

Sponge :
4 Eggs
125g (4 oz.) Caster Sugar
125g (4 oz.) Sieved Flour
60g (2 oz.) Melted Butter

225g (8 oz.) Strawberries
225g (8 oz.) Raspberries
4 Tablespoons Strawberry or Raspberry Jam
6 Egg yolks
600ml(1 pint) Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 Tablespoons Brandy, Sherry or Liquour
300ml(10 oz.) Cream
60g(2 oz.) sliced Almonds

First make the sponge. Line a swiss roll tin with non-stick paper.
Whisk the 4 eggs and the 4 oz. sugar together until light stiff
and creamy.
( The classic test is that you should be able to leave a trail of
the figure of eight in the mixture with the whisk)
Now fold in the melted butter and then ( using a metal spoon )
fold in the sifted flour.
Pour this into the prepared tin and bake it at 180 C 360 F Gas 5
for 20 mts. until golden, firm and dry in the centre.
Tip this on to a cooling rack and leave to cool.
Now make the custard;
Put the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Beat the egg yolks up with the sugar and pour over the hot milk.
Beat again and pour back into the pan.Put on a moderate heat and,
stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, continue to heat until the
mixture coats the back of the spoon (if it starts to bubble at the
edges take off the heat , pour into a cool bowl and whisk hard).
Cut the sponge into squares about 2″ by 2″ and spread on one side with the jam.
Place a half of these in the bottom of a large serving bowl.
Lay over the fruit (halve the strawberries) and sprinkle with the alcohol.
Repeat with another layer of jammed cake .
Now pour over the still warm custard and put into the fridge to set.
While it is setting whip the cream until stiff and toast roast or fry
the almonds until brown and aromatic.
Just before serving spread the cream over the top of the trifle
and scatter over the almonds.

Carrot and Cumin Soup

1 kg. (2 lbs.) Carrots
4 Sticks Celery
1 lge Onion
3 cloves Garlic
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
60g (2 oz). Butter
500ml. (1pt.) Vegetable stock ( or water)

Peel the carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic and chop roughly.
Have ready a saucepan with a solid base and a good fitting lid.
Melt the butter in the saucepan and then put in the vegetables and sprinkle over the cumin.
Set the heat at lowest possible and put on the lid of the saucepan.
(If the lid is not a good fit put a butter paper over the vegetables to hold in as much steam as possible)
Let these cook in their own juices until soft ( this can take as long as 30 mts.)
This sweating process concentrates the flavour and brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetables.
When the vegetables are soft add in the stock or water and bring to the boil.
Make it into a puree either by liquidizing or by pushing through a coarse sieve. I think that this soup benefits from having a coarse texture.
Bring back to the boil and season well ( if you like a spicier flavour you can add extra cumin at this stage)

Roast Brill with Two Fennels
(for 4)

1 kg (2 lbs) Brill Fillets

1 med . Onion
4 Sticks Celery
2 heads Root Fennel
1 tablespoon Butter.

Fennel Hollandaise
3 Egg Yolks (Free Range)
Bunch Fresh Herb Fennel
225g (8 oz.) Butter.

If the Brill is from a big fish and the fillets thick leave them be. Other wise cut the fillets in two and skin one piece, then piggy back it on the other half.
This gives you a thicker piece of fish which wont dry out in cooking.
Put these on a well buttered oven sheet.

Peel and slice the onion finely, also finely slice the celery and the fennel.
Cook these in a large pan in the tablespoon of butter on a reasonably high heat, stirring and tossing all the time until they are soft but still have a little bite.

Just ten minutes before service put the tray of fish into a hot oven preheated to Gas 6, 200C, 400F.Cook for just the ten minutes.
Finely chop the herb fennel and melt the butter until sizzling.
Beat the egg yolks with the fennel and dribble over the hot butter beating all the time (a hand held electric beater is good for this-but it can also be done with a whisk or in a liquidizer or a food processor)

This should form a thick creamy sauce smelling of Fennel.

Reheat the Root Fennel and onion mixture and put a large spoon on each plate, put a piece of Brill on the fennel and spoon over the sauce.

Serve with some small steamed potatoes and (always terrific with hollandaise) some Broccoli, or, if you are pushing out the boat, some asparagus.