OK, so it’s the wrong time of year and Ireland isn’t a real pancake oriented culture but, hey, the internet is global right? I spotted this clever idea over on Lifehacker. Decant your pancake mix into an old squeezy ketchup or mayo bottle and hey presto, easy squeezy pancakes.

This article will remain fresh until Feb 2010.

http://lifehacker.com/5256023/repurpose-a-squeeze-bottle-for-perfect-pancakes

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I bumped into @Pat_Whelan over on Twitter and thought his efforts on James Whelan Butchers worth a plug.  Based in Clonmel, Co Tipperary Pat tells me they rear their own cattle and sheep, dry age the meat and sell either online or in their local store. The web site has plenty of info on products and how the ordering process works. Free shipping on orders of over €100 or more as well.

With the likes of Tesco pushing back on Irish products and where Irish jobs are more important than ever this kind of enterprise dererves to be highlighted. Give it a try and check out Pat’s blog over on http://meatireland.com

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Local Produce

The pour your own pint system seems to have been around for some time now but not that widespread and not really publicised by Guinness. I’ve looked on the web for a press release or instructions but all I could find were one or two pubs advertising it, example here. To help solve this terrible information deficit and as nothing more than a selfless act of public service Messy-Chef had to follow up.

Imagine the excitement when I was invited to a birthday party in John O’Sullivan’s (Douglas Village) where we could finally road test the system.

We booked one of their ‘pour your own’ tables for the evening not knowing how it worked so the nice man explained the system when we arrived. We have the table for the evening, it is reserved for us. What if we want to leave and come back? No problem, they will keep the table. So how does it work? Technically the table appeared to be connected to the main beer lines in the bar, not just a table with a keg underneath much to the relief of the Guinness Nazis. There are two taps in the center of the table, one Carlsberg and one Guinness. The barman gave us a supply of glasses and asked us how we would be paying. You can 1) Tell him how much cash you want to spend whereupon the system will stop serving once we hit the mark 2) Tell him how many pints of beer you wish to drink in which case the system do the same or 3) We can go free pour and settle the tab when we’re done.

Option 3 was the no-brainer and away we went with our tray of clean galsses. You also get a card telling you how to pull a pint in case you don’t know how to pour beer into a glass.

Attached to each tap is a digital meter showing you how many pints have been poured and that’s about it. It was almost like free beer.

The verdict? Enorumous fun, the girls had fun pulling pints for the lads (at least those lads that weren’t Guniness Nazis) and everybody drank away at their own pace without the hassle of having to run to the bar for rounds. I won’t say how many were involved but we settled the tab when we broke the half-century. The only drawback is that you have to split the tab evenly, a swipe or ID system might serve those who only want one or two beers but no doubt that would lead to too much complication.

Great fun, worth a try.

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pour your own, pull your own pint, Rating=4, Review

Everybody likes stuffing, nothing better on a Sunday than a roast chicken and plenty of stuffing and in these dark days of economic depression anybody interested in saving a bit of money, in fact a lot of money relative to what it would cost you to buy, should really consider making their own. It’s dead easy, dead quick and a fraction of the cost.

This is Lemon, Thyme and Garlic stuffing but homemade stuffing can be flavored with anything, if you take the breadcrumbs, butter and onion as the base you can add whatever herbs and flavours you fancy.

Ingredients: (for 4)
Breadcrumbs from 5 slices of bread
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Handful of fresh thyme
150g butter
1 Onion finely sliced.
1 Clove of grlic finely chopped.
Salt & Pepper
Dash of olive oil

Method
Melt the butter in Olive Oil on a medium-low heat. Add the garlic and herbs and cook gently for 2mins. Add the onion and cook for another three or four minutes. Add in the breadcrumbs and remove from the heat. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season to taste.

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Recipe, stuffing

If you are like me and keep recipes on bits of paper torn from newspapers then you probably won’t be interested in kitchen gadgets. However, between messy-chef.com, my laptop, my USB key and binder full of paper I suddenly have multiple locations to keep recipes which is a constant source of annoyance to Mrs Messy-Chef (what isn’t?). Maybe I should think about getting a Demy?

The Demy looks like some form of iPhone/Kindle hybrid that will store your recipies, will link to new ones via a single website (keyingredient.com) and suggest replacement ingredients if you find yourself short.  It also has other useless features like timers and converters. I’m thinking if you think a Demy would be useful for you then you already have an array of timers and a digital scales that will do the converting for you. I’m not convinced.

http://www.mydemy.com/

Endgadget

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Add new tag, demy

As messy-chef is proud to serve and because JD asked nicely then it’s time to post the Lemon Spuds I mentioned in the post about SuperValu doing cheap chicken (pun intended). It’s actually Yassi’s recipe, not mine, so I’ll give her the credit.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Ingredients: (for 2)
5 or 6 potatoes cut into wedges or cubes.
Juice of two lemons
Rind of half a lemon
2 Teaspoons of Thyme
1 Teaspoon of Oregano
6 cloves of Garlic, peeled and cut in two
1 Onion sliced.
1 glass of water

Method
Combine all the ingredients in a dish and mix well. Sprinkle with a little olive oil and bake in the over at 180C for 90mins or until the potatoes are cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on how think the potatoes are cut.

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Lemon Spuds, Potatoes, Recipe

The Society for the Appreciation of the Lowly Sardine (S.A.L.T) contacted me yesterday to tell me I may be interested in their blog. Really? Heck, if I get something in an email it must be true, just look at all the friends I have in Nigeria. A blog dedicated to nothing but sardines must be a tough job but to be fair they have plenty of content up since January. Worth a look? You decide.

http://www.sardinesociety.com/

I also got a mail telling me where I can purchase naked pictures of Jennifer Aniston. Isn’t the internet wonderful.

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sardines

This week messy-chef goes international and I find myself transported to deepest Scotland and the wee Highland town of Newtonmore. For anybody who hasn’t been to the area is it one of the best kept secrets around, an absolute haven for the outdoor type with walking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain-biking, kayaking, clay pigeon shooting, smoking, drinking and a wealth of other healthy stuff but let’s not worry too much about that, check out the visitaviemore for more.

During the stay we visited Blasta in Newtonmore. A small restaurant in the middle of the village that was quiet on a Friday night, but then again I think everything in Newtonmore is quiet on every night, its just that kind of place. Surroundings were nice with paintings from local artists on the walls. The five of us had a spacious table and were seated with drinks and menus in no time. Food choices were uncomplicated, four starters and five mains, with enough variety to leave you wondering what to have. Starters were well received, home-made mushroom soup with truffle oil and melted brie being the popular choices. The rosemary bread was also fantastic. A medium Ribeye steak (£17.50) for my main course was perfect, pink and full of flavour. The fish was also well received. Again, nothing fancy or over the top, just good food cooked to perfection.

A round of deserts to finish with rich sticky toffee pudding (£4.75) shading the vote over the novelty of the Affogato (ice cream, espresso shot and a liqueur of choice - £5.25). Service was friendly and attentive without being in your face and the price of the meal for five with one round of drinks and two bottles of wine came to £160 (about €180) excluding tip which is superb value compared to what we are used to in Ireland.

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Blasta Restaurant, Newtonmore, Rating=4, Review, Scotland

For this week’s Sunday lunch we had a chicken from SuperValu that cost a whopping €2.79! All Supervalu chickens were half price this weekend and upto today (Tues 24th) the offer still stands. That’s not all, along with the chicken were six free tomatoes, one free red pepper and one free green pepper. How good a deal is that?

It’s an odd combination to be giving away and I was half expecting Ainsley Hariott to pop out from behind the newspaper rack and run some kind of guerrilla version of ‘Ready Steady Cook’ but luckily, for both our sakes, his baldy head and eternal happiness were nowhere to be seen.

I roasted the chicken which fed a family of five: mum, dad, two miniatures and a granny. Good deal though, with some lemon spuds and creamed leeks I fed everybody for about €2 a head.

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Supervalu Grange; Chicken; Budget