Nenaghgal - the Titanic Belfast Opens

I was up in Belfast about three weeks ago and the new Titanic Belfast was not quite ready to open. But it officially opens today so I thought I'd post some of the images from the outside. There is also a great video on the Tourism Ireland website where you can get a mini-virtual tour through the museum. It is well worth taking a look at. It looks like an tremendous amount of effort has gone into this museum - I have to say I am really looking forward to going through it. 

Belfast was overflowing with Titanic paraphernalia when we visited and I know there is a tragic story behind this but it is nonetheless, an amazing story that has been told to each generation over the last 100 years. It's so much part of our history. I remember being captivated by it as a child and now my daughter is being taught about it in school as well. In fact, this week just before going on her Easter Holidays, they had to do a whole presentation on the Titanic. Her group focused on the survivors and I am so amazed to see her skill at not only mastering the Internet and the library but also typing up snippets of information on her laptop. When did she get so grown up? 

 I do hope that the opening of this museum and this 100  year celebration (so to speak) brings tourists to Belfast. I really love Belfast. The city is clean and has beautiful architecture - wonderful museums and great restaurants.

Right near Titanic Belfast is the Ulster Folk and Transport and Museum which Sophia and I visited a few weeks ago. A great blogger that focuses on eating in Belfast is The Picked Quince so it's well worth taking a look at this site for dining ideas in Belfast. Other great places to visit, the Botanical Gardens near Queens University.

I'll get more photos up soon of Belfast - but in the meantime, start planning your trip now!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Nenaghgal - Fish on Friday and other Foodie Dishes

Recently I've been trying to get some more fish into my little family. Not always an easy task, especially during the week when I'm pretty much wiped out from my commute. But weekends usually are a success. During the long winter evenings - we tried out some new recipes. The first was from Jamie Oliver's book Meals in Minutes - Asian Style Salmon. Like many recipes - I usually get the basics down but if I find I'm missing a non-essential ingredient - I improvise. My mum was visiting when we had this back in January and she really helped put the whole thing together. 

Here's Sophia practising her "food photography". 

The dish his quite simple - with a nice piece of salmon cooked in the oven - once cooked it's added to the noodles and broth. If you'd like me to send the recipe - just let me know. The bowls are my mother's designs - hand painted in Italy (you'll see them twice in this post!)

Another fish I've been using lately is monkfish. I have this funny old cookbook that has the worst food photography and really poor styling but it does have really good basics for classic dishes and I turn to it a lot if I need help in figuring out the base for a dish. Classic Home Cooking by Mary Berry and Marlena Spieler (DK Publishing, 1995). So wanting to use monkfish again, I found a recipe for Monkfish with Ginger-Orange Sauce. Since I have a huge love ginger I thought this sounded great. It is so simple and cooks in minutes.

As you can see the base for the sauce is the orange slices, onion and ginger which you slice and put into a pan. Then you add your monkfish, green onions (which I did not have) and stock) Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Take the fish out and put aside and keep warm. Take the left over juices and put into a small saucepan  - boil for 12 minutes until it has reduced. Add lime zest and lime juice - heat until warm and then end finish the sauce by adding a few cubes of butter. I made rice and put the fish on top of the rice and then poured the sauce over it. 

My family with the fish phobia - polished it off in no time!!

(Again, if you want the full proper recipe, let me know)

Finally, we made a batch of Donal Skehan's  Asian Pork Lettuce cups from his book Kitchen Hero. Sophia and I attended Donal's cooking demonstration during Savour Kilkenny in October and while I had already met Donal, Sophia got to meet him for the first time. We got a copy of his book and she went through it page by page seeing what she'd like to make. These were top of her list. So utterly simple and fast to make - literally 10 minutes. Served here on my mother's Bittersweet platter (a Christmas present).

The minced pork is from Old Farm - which made it even better.

I made a simple orzo salad to go with it.

(Ask for recipe if you'd like it!)

Finally, while I was in Dublin recently I got to eat at ITSA in Sandyford twice in one week - which was a real treat. My starter above - this amazing whipped goat cheese in between the thinnest slices of beet.

My mum had John Dory.

Sophia and I ordered the pumpkin risotto - we have a bit of an obsession with risotto!

And the desserts were not only delicious but also beautifully presented. An apple rhubarb crumble and decadent chocolate brownie/cake.

Happy Friday everyone and Happy Cooking - I'm off to Spiddal Craft Centre tomorrow so there is no rest for me!! 

Nenaghgal Makes Lemon Yoghurt Cake

My daughter had a bake sale at school yesterday to help raise fund for the school. At about 9:30 on Monday night I finally had time to start making something. As Sophia has given up pretty much anything sinful for Lent I decided to make a Lemon Yoghurt Cake - and made two loaves so we could have one for home. The recipe is from Ina Garten - from her book The Barefoot Contessa at Home. We watch her show quite religiously and she is known for using a ridiculous amount of butter in many of her recipes. When reading this recipe - I laughed because in the first line she wrote...."Despite my reputation for starting all my recipes with a pound of butter, I really do look for ways to make desserts lighter." Most of her recipes do begin that way and so this was a welcome surprise.

Here's the recipe: (for now I'm popping up the American measurements that are in the book but if you need help in converting let me know - I'm not the best at it but can help!!) I doubled it and actually made it in two separate batches to make my two loaves.

You'll need:

1 1/2 cups - flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain whole - milk yoghurt ( I used Glenisk and a cup is just a bit more than half of their large container)

1 1/3 cups sugar, divided

3 extra large eggs

2 teaspoons of grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I did not have so used olive oil)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

For glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

( this is why you don't need the butter! - I actually did not put on the glaze in the end only a light sugar drizzle)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees or 180 Celsius. Grease a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into one bowl. In another bowl ( the larger bowl), whisk together the yoghurt, 1 cup of sugar, the eggs, lemon zest and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter making sure it is all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake f or about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. 

Meanwhile, cook the 1/2 cup of lemon juice an remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside but keep warm.

When the cake is done allow to cool for ten minutes. Then take out of the pan and place on a baking rack over a sheet pan and drizzle the sugary mixture over the top and allow it to soak in and then cool.

For the final glaze, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Here's the cake I sent into school all wrapped up - love the simplicity of wrapping something in basic parchment paper, then tying a nice ribbon around it - I added the tag so the person who purchased it would know the ingredients.

The loaf I kept at home....with blueberries in it - that was my breakfast and soo delicious.

All the photos for this post were taken on my new iPhone 4s. I'm pretty thrilled with the results I have to say. Amazing quality.

Who else is shooting their blog posts with a camera phone? I love it because I always have my phone with me and so I'll never be afraid of missing a shot - anywhere at anytime.

Nenaghgal Interviews Jane Steger Lewis from I LOVE MAYO

Jane Steger -Lewis lives in a remote part of May where she draws tremendous inspiration from her surroundings. Her website, I LOVE MAYO features the varied range of artwork she works on including her Love Ireland range - which all reference Irish culture in a contemporary fashion. The print above, Aw Go On! is one such example. Jane creates the illustrations and artwork  by hand - then  the artwork is scanned  and commercially printed. I'm quite familiar with her range of posters but also wanted to let my readers know that she does more traditional paintings as well which I find equally as inspiring.

 Many of them are geared toward the tourist trade with Celtic inspired pieces such as the Celtic Dogs above and the picturesque Yawl below. It's a dream of mine to set out on the coast of Ireland in one of these beautiful boats.

 Below is another example of a poster from her more contemporary range which comes in this lovely rosey red colour and highlights that traditional Irish saying.

Jane told me that while she enjoyed painting landscapes and working on her contemporary prints..."I realised I couldn't or shouldn't ignore my desire to paint detail:I painted my first still life as a gift for some friends. We had a wonderful holiday in their house in France. I got them to tell me about some of the items in their house that were important to them. I picked some lilac from their garden and arranged and photographed the still life. When I got home I painted the picture and sent it to them. It now hangs in pride of place in their lovely French dining room."

The fabric in this piece really drew me to it - it reminds me of the wallpaper in my kitchen.

 This is the view from Mulranny - must get up there someday!

 I loved this still-life of hers as well.

 Celtic Fish in watercolour.

 A painting of Jane's dog Trudi - above.

A Celtic Bird also in watercolour - the colours are so uplifting.

Jane continued to tell me, "Of course the beauty of the surroundings here are a great inspiration. It's so rugged and wild and the weather can be so violent. Part of my reason for moving over from watercolours to acrylics was my desire to capture the landscape. I used to fantasize that I could be the type of artist who splashes lots of thick paint around... I've tried but it just isn't me. I always end up obsessed with tiny details, shapes and pattern! That means that I've started to find landscape painting quite frustrating! I love nature but find myself trying to capture the rocks and individual plants rather than an atmospheric view. My landscapes are more of an illustration than a work of 'art' I think."

This is the view from our house across Clew Bay towards Croagh Patrick (below)

One of my favourite Irish sayings that has certainly received notoriety due to President Obama's visit in 2011 - is Is Feidir Linn. Yes We Can. It's a mantra that is ingrained in my day to day life. I love Jane's poster of this saying and to celebrate that I am giving away a copy of this poster in the colour below which Jane has kindly given to me. To enter to win, please either leave a comment here on my blog about Jane's work or leave a comment on the Nenaghgal facebook page if you cannot leave one here (it seems some people have a problem leaving comments). You must leave a comment to be entered to win and on Sunday, 25th March - I'll randomly select a name out of the "hat". 

Thanks for visiting. Look forward to your comments.!

Nenaghgal Wishes Everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day

Two days ago, much to the delight of my daughter Sophia, another one of my mother's beautiful "post-cards" arrived in the post. As I've mentioned before my mother is a wonderful artist and I am currently in the process of framing her myriad of cards she's created over the years to hang all up along our stairs. Tomorrow my daughter will be marching in the Nenagh St. Patrick's Day parade as she's part of the St. Mary's Convent Primary School band - she plays the recorder. So, my mother did a lovely illustration walking along in the band along with Rumble my mother's marmalade kitty cat back in America.

On the subject of St. Patrick, Sophia and I spent last weekend up in Co. Down and Belfast. I have to admit I'm a huge fan of Northern Ireland. It was my first proper drive through Co. Down and the rolling countryside was very picturesque. I met up with the owner of Bog Standard, a wonderful company that started 8 years ago and she took us not only to see her own home, Bog Standard HQ but also her family's cottage in Newcastle right on the ocean. If you haven't tried their products you must - my favourite candles are Irish Rose and Irish Winter and I can tell you my car (which I commute 250km in a day has been saved by their Irish Field air freshner!!) What an idyllic day. On our way back to our B&B she suggested we go to Downpatrick as it was so close to St. Patrick's Day and of course, that is the site of St. Patrick's grave. We arrived late in the afternoon so were unable to go to the visitor centre but did visit the beautiful Cathedral.

 Below is St. Patrick's grave.

This is the view from our B&B Anna's House located just outside Comber, Co.Down. It is run by the charming Anna and her husband Ken. It has wonderful quirky furnishings and breakfast was a delicious organic feast with gorgeous stewed apricots in ginger and a proper Ulster fry - we were well satisfied when we headed off to Belfast on Sunday morning.

Of course, I have loads more photographs from Co. Down but I'll save those for another post.

In the meantime, wishing you all an enjoyable long weekend!! I myself am looking forward to an extra day at home.

Nenaghgal - Don't Forget the Vintage Grad

Just a quick last minute reminder to everyone - the Vintage Grad is this weekend at The Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh. Above and below, James and Kismet Noonan who came up with this creative fundraising idea. They are all dressed up for the part. I particularly love the image above! They are raising funds for Relay for Life Irish Cancer Society and Suaimhneas Care Centre (North Tipperary Nenagh Cancer Support Centre).
Tickets are €45 and you can purchase them at the Abbey Court Hotel - event is Saturday night at 7:30pm - you can expect a great meal and loads of music plus plenty of craic. Please bring a sense of humour and an ID - a inventive costume helps too! Enjoy and best of luck to James and Kismet.