Delish from Donegal

Mammy’s Irish Stew

I don’t think there is a person in Ireland who hasn’t enjoyed an Irish mammy’s Irish stew at some point in their lives. For me, Irish stew didn’t just taste amazing – it also provided security and comfort as I sat at the table with my mammy. I used to run home from school to beat my brothers in the door and ensure I got a decent portion before them. Serves 6

1 kg diced Irish lamb (preferably shoulder cut) 2 bay leaves Drizzle of rapeseed oil 2 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 onion, peeled and diced 1 carrot, peeled and diced, 1/2 leek, diced 1 parsnip, peeled and diced 2 sprigs of fresh thyme Freshly ground black pepper 4 potatoes, peeled and diced 2 litres warm chicken stock Handful of young cabbage leaves, chopped

1. Cover the lamb pieces in water and simmer with one of the bay leaves for about 20 minutes. 2. Heat a casserole pot, add the oil and sweat the vegetables, starting with the garlic and onion and followed by the carrot, leek and parsnip. 3. Add the sprigs of thyme and the remaining bay leaf. Season with black pepper. Sweat for roughly 5 minutes, stirring all the time, then add the diced potato. 4. Drain the lamb and immediately add the meat to the vegetables. Cover with the warm stock. Put on the lid and simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. 5. After an hour, add the chopped cabbage and check if the lamb is tender. If not, cook for a further 20 minutes. 6. Serve this hearty dish in a bowl and enjoy with family and friends.

Brian’s Tip Scoop out the inside of a round sourdough bap, leaving just the crust, and serve the stew inside the bread. Fifteen-Minute Orzo Pasta With Bacon And Cabbage I’ve fallen in love with orzo pasta. It’s easy to cook, looks like rice and allows me to cheat and make a poor man’s risotto. This recipe is designed to enable you to cook a tasty dish in fifteen minutes. Serves 4

300 g orzo pasta 6 rashers dry-cured bacon Rapeseed oil 4 cloves of garlic, sliced 2 sprigs of fresh thyme Freshly ground black pepper 3 leaves cabbage/kale 40 g butter 80 ml cream 80 g Parmesan cheese, grated To serve 10 g Parmesan cheese, grated Handful of fresh basil

1. Add the orzo pasta to a pot of boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. 2. While the pasta is cooking, slice the bacon into strips. 3. Heat a drizzle of rapeseed oil in a frying pan then add the garlic followed by the bacon. Cook for a few minutes then drop in the thyme and a sprinkle of black pepper.

4. Roll the washed cabbage or kale leaves and shred. Add to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, then add the butter and cream and simmer for 3 minutes. 5. Drain the pasta and add another drizzle of rapeseed oil. Combine the pasta with the bacon and cabbage or kale in the pot. Add the grated Parmesan and lightly stir. 6. Serve in pasta bowls with more Parmesan and some basil leaves sprinkled on top.

Brian’s Tip For a slightly spicier dish, replace the bacon with chorizo or try adding some diced red peppers and chopped basil.

Lemon Drizzle Cake With Irish Summer Berries Who doesn’t love lemon drizzle cake? Well, believe it or not, it’s actually easier than you might think to create this wonderful treat. During one of my demos I taught a guy who had never baked in his life how to make this cake live on stage at the Taste of Donegal festival. He went home one very happy man! So what are you waiting for, folks? Have a go! Makes one 25 cm round cake

225 g unsalted butter, softened 225 g caster sugar 4 eggs 225 g self-raising flour, sieved Drizzle of vanilla essence Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated For the drizzle topping Juice of 1 lemon 120 g icing sugar To garnish 18 raspberries 10 strawberries 20 redcurrants

1. Preheat the oven to 180 ˚ C/350 ˚ F/Gas Mark 4. Line a 25 cm round tin with parchment paper. 2. In a bowl, beat the butter and caster sugar using an electric mixer until creamy and light in colour. 3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition, followed by the sieved flour. Then add the vanilla and lemon zest. Mix well. 4. Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake in the oven for 40–45 minutes. 5. Prepare the drizzle by adding the lemon juice to the icing sugar. 6. Remove the cake from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack, then drizzle with the icing. Arrange the berries on top.

Brian’s Tip Enjoy with a dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Easy Meatballs Please, please, don’t buy pre-made meatballs – honestly, they only take minutes to make at home and it can be lots of fun if you involve everyone in the process. And don’t even think about buying readymade sauce either! This recipe has everything you need to make your own incredible meatballs. Serves 4

For the sauce Drizzle of rapeseed oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 1 tsp dried oregano 400 g tinned, chopped tomatoes 50 g tomato puree 500 ml beef stock

To serve 400 g spaghetti For the meatballs Drizzle of rapeseed oil 1 onion, diced 1 clove of garlic, chopped 250 g minced beef 250 g minced pork 1 egg 40 g breadcrumbs 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

80 g Parmesan cheese, for grating Freshly ground black pepper 5 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1. To make the sauce, heat a drizzle of oil in a saucepan and sweat the onion with the garlic for 3 minutes. Add the oregano, tomatoes and tomato puree. Add the stock and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. For the meatballs, fry the diced onion and garlic in the oil in a heated frying pan. Add these to a bowl with the minced beef and pork. Combine using your hands and then add the egg and breadcrumbs and season with nutmeg and pepper. Mix well, then add the chopped sage leaves and shape into desired meatball size. 3. In the same frying pan you cooked the onions in, brown the meatballs then transfer them into the sauce. Simmer together for 12 minutes, stirring gently to ensure the meatballs don’t break. 4. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water according to the packet instructions and then drain. Serve in a bowl with meatballs and sauce on top and some grated Parmesan cheese.

Pork Chops with Toffee Apple Pork is one of the most underrated meats available. For years it’s been served overcooked and, unsurprisingly, that’s given it a bad name. When you cook pork properly, you’ll find it’s succulent and tasty. Trust me: served with toffee apple, it’s a treat of a meal in fifteen minutes. Serves 4

4 pork chops Drizzle of rapeseed oil Freshly ground black pepper 4 sprigs of fresh thyme 1 red apple 40 g butter 50 g brown sugar 50 ml water

1. Preheat the oven to 150 ˚ C/300 ˚ F/Gas Mark 2. 2. Brush the pork chops on both sides with oil and season with the black pepper. Add the sprigs of fresh thyme. 3. Heat a frying pan and fry the chops for 3 minutes on each side until they are golden. Transfer them to a tray and place in the warm oven for 4 minutes. 4. Core the apple, leaving the skin on, and cut into 4 slices. 5. Place the pan you fried the chops in over a medium heat and add the butter. Place the apple slices in the pan and sprinkle with half the brown sugar. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn over and sprinkle the other side with the rest of the sugar. Cook for a further 2 minutes. The sugar will turn a sticky, syrupy consistency. Add the water to the pan and allow the sugar to caramelise. 6. Serve a toffee apple slice on top of each pork chop.

Senior Times, in association with The O’Brien Press are offering three readers copies of Brian McDermott’s best-selling book in this competition. Simply answer this question:

How many does Mammy’s Irish Stew serve?

Send your entry to: Senior Times Cookery Competition, Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

“The possession of gold has ruined fewer men than the lack of it” wrote American writer and poet Thomas Bailey Aldrich at the start of the 20th Century. His sentiments were recently echoed by one of the most respected investors in the world, Ray Dalio who said that in the world of today “it’s not sensible not to own gold.”

Gold is the top performing investment in a volatile 2020 year to date. As the pandemic and lockdown of entire economies tip debt laden economies into financial and economic crises, gold rose 17% in dollar terms and more importantly for Irish buyers 18.6% in euro terms in the first half of this year.

Gold rose by even more in other currencies as investors become concerned that the scale of the coming economic crisis will likely lead to currency devaluations. In the last 6 months alone, the British pound has fallen 25% against gold as the UK economy had the worst contraction since 1979.

The best performing currency and commodity in the world was gold and it also outperformed other assets including stock, bond and property markets. Most stock markets saw very sharp falls prior to some recovery in recent weeks but most stock markets were down in the first half, some significantly.

Gold also outperformed “safe haven” U.S. government bonds as the U.S. National Debt surged another $4.5 trillion in less than 4 months from $22 trillion in February to $26.5 trillion today, leading to deepening concerns about America’s creaking economy, it’s bonds and the dollar. Many property funds have suspended redemptions showing the very significant liquidity risk in property funds. Most analysts are concerned that we are likely to see both residential and commercial property fall in value the coming months due to falling incomes leading to less first time and other buyers and falling rents impacting buy to let investment. Bank shares have fallen too due to concerns about the outlook for banks, their loan books and the financial system.

What Are the Fundamentals of the Gold Market In Terms of Supply and Demand?

There has been a surge in demand for gold by investors in Ireland and globally. Brokers, refineries and government mints were already struggling to fulfil strong demand prior to the government lockdowns which forced most major gold refineries, mints and even mines to shut down.

The physical gold market is relatively small when compared to stock, bond and indeed currency markets. All of the refined, investment grade (0.999 pure) gold in the world is 22 metres cubed and would fit on the centre court of Wimbledon. All it takes is a small amount of extra investment demand to push prices higher. Today there are very few sellers and a level of safe haven investment demand not seen since the financial crisis.

What Is the Difference Between Paper and Electronic Gold and Physical Gold?

It is important to understand the difference between real physical gold and synthetic forms of gold in the form of various gold products and vehicles to get price exposure including crypto gold, digital gold via gold bullion trading platforms, gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), gold futures and gold CFDs.

If you are bullish on the price of gold and fancy a short term punt on gold, these are good ways to get exposure to the price. All are forms of digital gold, whereby you are trading gold in a digital manner and have the cyber, counter party and systemic risk that goes with this.

What is gold bullion?

Well bullion is simply a precious metal - gold, silver or platinum - in pure investment grade format which means it is at least 99.9% pure or 24 carat. Each coin or bar is not “plated” or “layered” but pure solid investment grade gold which ensures liquidity and an ability to sell at competitive global market prices.

The safest way to invest in gold, either as a lump sum investment or in a pension, is to own physical gold in the form of gold bullion coins and bars where the investor has outright legal ownership of the actual asset and is not an unsecured creditor of a highly indemnified product provider. Collector coins are for collectors and should not be confused with gold bullion coins and bars.

The Outlook for Gold in a World of Massive Euro, Pound and Dollar Creation

It is important to think of gold in local currency terms. Our exposures as investors and savers is currently to the euro. The outlook for the euro is uncertain to say the least given Brexit and the likelihood of ‘Italexit ’ given the very poor state of the Italian economy and banks.

Strong safe haven demand for gold continues due to concerns about the outlook for the UK, EU and global economy, the unprecedented monetary response of the ECB, the Fed, the BoE and the other central banks and growing concerns that all currencies will be devalued in the coming months and years.

Gold will protect and grow Irish people’s savings and wealth in the coming years. In the very uncertain world of today, it is simply not sensible not to own some physical gold bullion coins and bars as a hedge and a safe haven.

Mark O’Byrne is the Research Director of GoldCore, Ireland’s leading gold broker and storage specialist (established 2003) who help Irish and international clients own physical gold in the safest ways possible. As seen on RTE, CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg etc. Visit www.gold.ie for more information

Senior Times, in association with the Falls Hotel & Spa, Ennistymon are offering two lucky people the chance to win a two night say with one dinner at this fabulous hotel in Co Clare. The hotel is famed for its facilities and great food. To be in with a chance of winning this prize just answer this question:

Send your entries to: Spa Hotel Competition, Senior Times, Unit 1, 15 Oxford Lane Ranelagh, Dublin 6. The first correct entry drawn is the winner. Deadline for receipt of entries is 5th September 2020.

· Ask, how you can help · Ask the person what kind of support would be helpful · Keep including them in activities · Even if they refuse many times. Keep asking · Offer practical help (for example: going for walk, doing the shopping, getting a coffee

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