skills|12 chefs Catherine Fulvio
BALLYKNOCKEN HOUSE & COOKERY SCHOOL, WICKLOW
Catherine Fulvio is the proprietor of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School, County Wicklow, and one of Ireland’s top television culinary stars. Her previous books, Catherine’s Italian Kitchen, Catherine’s Family Kitchen, Eat Like an Italian, Bake Like an Italian and The Weekend Chef, were all bestsellers. Born and raised in Ireland and married to an Italian, Catherine’s books always reflect this match-made-in-heaven by using easily accessible Irish ingredients assembled with Italian flair. Catherine also appears on ABC’s Today Show USA and BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen.
WINTER RABBIT CASSEROLE
Randy Lewis
CHEFPATRON OF RANDADDY’S, LAHINCH, CO CLARE
Randy Lewis is a 37-year-old chef from Alberta, Canada, who has set up home and business in Lahinch, Co Clare, where he is chef-patron of Randaddy’s popular beach-front restaurant. It’s here where Randy applies his self-described “easy-ass” approach to cooking casual flavoursome food using only natural ingredients, plus a large pinch of love. Cooking and travel are Randy’s chief passions and it’s “casual world dining” that’s on the menu at Randaddy’s. Randy has cooked his way across the world, starting in Australia in 2001, then winding his way across the USA, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico, next hopping across to India, Thailand and Vietnam, then stopping off in Morocco before lowering anchor in November 2005 in the west of Ireland in Lahinch, Co Clare. You could say that the world is Randy’s oyster. Randy’s goals are to teach and make people comfortable with what real casual dining is all about, including on his Randaddy’s YouTube channel.
ASIAN BEEF STEW, Serves 4, Approx 1h “This is a unique take on a traditional beef stew using some Japanese ingredients instead of red wine such as rice wine vinegar and mirin. It’s a great winter dish as it’s comforting and it spices you up.” 500g large diced beef steak 1 large chopped yellow onion 4 crushed cloves garlic 1 tsp of cumin seed Few sprigs of thyme 1 sliced chili with seeds
1 punnet of whole cherry tomatoes 100g of shiitake mushrooms 2 large sweet potatoes 1 cup of chicken stock 60ml of rice wine vinegar 60ml of mirin
Pre-heat a saucepan, add the diced beef steak and sear until browned. Searing the beef will hold all of the meat together and keep the juices in. Then add the chopped onion, garlic, cumin, thyme, and chili, and sauté until the onions are browned. This will bring the natural sugars out. Add the cherry tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, sweet potato, rice wine, mirin and chicken stock. Cover and simmer for approx 40 mins approx or until the beef is tender.
2 rabbits, portioned (ask your butcher to do this) 2 tbsp flour, seasoned with salt, freshly ground black pepper and ¼ tsp of cumin Rapeseed oil, for frying 100g smoked bacon, diced 1 onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 3 medium sprigs of rosemary 1 celery stick, sliced 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced 2 bay leaves 250ml pear cider 300ml vegetable stock Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 pear, sliced into thin wedges and sautéed in a little butter Bay leaves, to garnish Dust the rabbit portions in the seasoned flour. Heat some oil in a casserole dish over a medium heat and add the rabbit portions. Sear on all sides and set aside on a clean plate. Add the bacon to the casserole dish and cook until crispy. Transfer to a clean plate. Heat a little more oil and add the onion, garlic, rosemary and celery and sauté for about 3 minutes. Stir the yellow pepper slices and bay leaves into the casserole and cook for 5 minutes before adding the pear cider and cooking for a further 5 minutes. Return the rabbit to the casserole and pour over the vegetable stock. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and simmer slowly for about 1 hour, stirring from time to time. Serve with mustard and spinach mash and some pear wedges on top, garnished with bay leaves.
MUSTARD AND SPINACH MASH 7 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly diced 100ml milk 3 tbsp butter 1 tsp wholegrain mustard Salt and freshly ground black pepper Generous handful young spinach leaves, roughly shredded Place the diced potatoes into a steamer and cook until softened: this will take about 15 to 18 minutes. While still hot, press the potatoes through a potato ricer. Heat the milk, butter, mustard, salt and freshly-ground black pepper together (if you do this in a microwave, it will save time). Pour the hot milk and butter over the potatoes and fold in gently. The mix should be soft, so add more milk if necessary. Check the seasoning, adding salt and freshly ground black pepper as required. Fold in the roughly chopped spinach. Ideally it should be served immediately, but you can keep it warm for about 30 minutes over a bain-marie. To do this, spoon the mash into a bowl, cover and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water.
40 | ICA HOME & LIVING | WINTER 2016
ICA Winter 2016_12 Chefs.indd 40
02/12/2016 12:00