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The Kilkenny Observer Friday 17 September 2021
kilkennyobserver.ie
Dine Me Food & Drink
Come
Knights and roosters… a Classico tale
With
Tasty salmon traybake Buy a whole piece of salmon for this traybake if you’re feeding a family and cut into adult and children-sized portions. It’s cooked in a delicious teriyaki sauce.
Preparation and cooking time Prep: 10 mins Easy Serves 4 Ingredients • 4 salmon fillets (or a 500g piece to cut up yourself) • 100g green beans, ends trimmed • 1 lemon, cut into wedges • 2 tbsp soy sauce • 1 tbsp honey • 1 tbsp mirin (substitute with
dry sherry or a sweet marsala wine) • 1 garlic clove, crushed • noodles or rice, to serve Method STEP 1 * Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. If you have a whole piece of salmon, cut it into four fillets. Place a sheet of baking parchment on a baking tray and lay the salmon diagonally across it. STEP 2 * Cook the beans in boiling water for 1 min and drain.
Arrange the beans in piles around the salmon and add the lemon wedges to the baking tray. Mix the soy sauce, honey, mirin and garlic, and pour half of it over the beans and salmon.
STEP 3 * Cook for 15 mins, then pour the rest of the sauce over the salmon. Cook for another 5 mins. Squeeze over the lemon and serve with noodles or rice.
Cheers to Irish Farmhouse Cheese and craft beer IN Ireland, we’re very lucky to have two complementary industries in farmhouse cheese and craft beer, whose products can be paired together for the simplest of snacks, a delicious meal or a tasting session to wow your senses. Irish craft beer and farmhouse cheeses are linked by having the very simplest of ingredients which are transformed in the hands of the brewers and the cheesemakers, and through the fermentation process, to give us products which reflect the characters of the makers, the ingredients, and the landscape. It is often said of pairing food and drinks that what grows together goes together and this is most certainly the case with our beers and cheeses here in Ireland. Cheese and beer pairing If you’re trying a few pairings,
always try and start milder or lighter and work your way up to the stronger flavours, so as not to overwhelm your palate. Whether you taste the cheese first and follow with the beer or vice versa may depend on your own allegiances, but a good idea is to try and have a taste of each
separately before combining them, to see in what way the match works in changing the overall flavour profile. Make sure to take a few seconds to savour the flavours in your mouth and bring in a little air if possible. What you serve your cheese with can also have an effect on
the overall match, so think about whether your cheese should be on a light cracker, some brown bread or a wheat biscuit. Before moving on from one pairing to another it is a good idea to cleanse the palate, and a plain dry cracker or some neutral crispy bread does the job well for this. Cheat Sheet for the perfect matches: • Light beers such as lagers pair best with milder and soft cheeses • Hoppy beers such as IPAs pair best with fuller flavoured goat or sheep’s cheese, or hard cheeses • Malty beers such as red ales pair best with fuller flavoured nutty hard cheeses • Dark beers, stouts and porters work well with strong hard cheeses or blues • * Strong beers need very full flavoured robust cheeses
THROUGHOUT Tuscany, wine bottles and many a restaurant feature a black rooster, the famed ‘Gallo nero’, a marketing logo for the region’s world famous Chianti Classico fine wines with a ‘history’ that stretches back to the Middle Ages. As the story goes… Once upon a time, a knight from Siena and a knight from Florence were chosen by their respective cities to race against each other to mark the boundaries of their lands. The race was to start at first light and in order to be the first to wake-up they both used what was considered the alarm clock of the time, a rooster. The evening before the race, the Sienese knight treated his white rooster to a sumptuous banquet hoping to please him. The Florentine knight decided not to feed his black rooster at all. The next morning, when first light gently touched the countryside, only one rooster broke the silence. The black rooster of Florence, desperate for food woke up extra early allowing the biggest advantage to the Florentine knight. The white rooster, still fast asleep, failed in waking up the Sienese knight. The Florentine knight succeeded in marking the boundaries of Florence well into the Chianti area. Ever since this day, the black rooster has become a well-known symbol for great quality wine and Florentine victory. Tenuta di Carleone Chianti Classico 2018, Tuscany, Italy A great example of the region, both classical and expressive. It’s a beautiful translucent ruby in the glass with tints of brick dust to the edges. The fruit is bright and has great acidity, but also that delicious depth of baked plums and spice. A great friend to almost any meal that features salumi, pasta and a hefty slow-cooked joint of meat. Around €27 from good wine shops. San Felice Il Grigio Riserva 2017 Typical of the style that made Chianti wines world famous. Complex and concentrated, this Riserva is balanced and elegant, it boasts the brooding dark cherry and black tea character typical of the Sangiovese grape, allied to wonderful fresh acidity that makes this such a wonderful style of wine to match Italian cuisine. An authentic Chianti Classico from a top estate. A slightly more affordable option, again, available at good retailers.
