From Farm to Fork – favourite dishes from Cork’s best food producers

The main course at Christmas is the most anticipated dinner table centrepiece of the year. We rely on a small army of farmers, fishermen, butchers and vegetable growers every year to give us the wow factor we all want.

But, after they have sorted everyone else for a delicious centrepiece, what do they look forward to the most for their Christmas feast?

I asked four of Cork’s best food producers their favourite way to cook a festive dish using their own produce, their trusted recipes, and find out the stories behind them.

DUCK – Helena Hickey, Skeaghanore Farm, West Cork

Skeaghanore Farm has been rearing ducks on lands overlooking Roaring Water Bay since 1994, and is one of Ireland’s most awarded food producers for their quality and distinct flavour.

Duck is a great option for a smaller gathering at Christmas, and of course the bonus is the rendered duck fat saved during roasting, used to make the perfect roast potatoes!

Ingredients

• 1 Skeaghanore Farm Oven Ready Duck
• Salt and pepper
• Cooking Time: 20 minutes per 500g plus 20 minutes extra.

Method;

• Preheat the oven to 220 °C / 200 °C (fan) / Gas Mark 7. Remove the duck from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
• Remove the giblets from the duck and weigh to ensure correct cooking time.
• Score the skin in cross-cross, especially around the legs to assist with even cooking.
• Season the skin with salt and pepper.
• Place the duck on a wire rack tray and put into the oven on the middle shelf.
• Turn the duck halfway through to ensure even cooking throughout and baste well.
• Remove the fat from the tray and save for cooking or for your roast potatoes.
• Cover the cooked duck with foil and insulate with tea towels, and rest for 20 minutes before carving.

See  www.skeaghanore.ie. 

HAM – Peter Twomey, Glenbrook Farm, Whites Cross

Glenbrook Farm rears free-range happy pigs, and at Christmas Peter looks forward to a festive ham based on a long-standing family recipe.

“We’ve had our own green ham [unsmoked] every Christmas for almost 20 years now! This is how we cook our ham every year – it’s so delicious, us brothers are always fighting for the little bits of ham that get stuck to the roasting tray after glazing!

“The ham is delicious out of the oven fresh, but gets nice and nicer every day, so we make lots for sandwiches throughout Christmas.

“My father-in-law, Albee, taught me how to cook the ham this way.”

Ingredients

• Either a full 7kg ham if we are hosting Christmas dinner or two 2.5kg hams if it’s just for ourselves (bone in ham).
• 3-4 500ml cans of Bulmer’s Cider
• 2 apples, quartered
• 2 oranges, quartered

For the Glaze (minimum quantity)

• 2 tbsp local honey (we have our own hives managed by a local beekeeper, Andy O’Callaghan)
• 6 tbsp orange marmalade
• Rind of 1 orange
• 2 tbsp English mustard
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Method;

• Place the ham(s) into a pot big enough to fit. Add the apples, oranges and cider until covered. Place a lid on the pot and bring to the boil, uncover and cook on a low simmer for several hours until the meat is falling away from the bone.
• When cooked, remove from the pot and place on a rack to cool completely. Then wrap tightly in clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight to firm back up.
• The following day, remove the clingfilm from the ham and line a roasting tray with foil or parchment paper. Place the ham on the roasting tray and carefully remove the skin and discard. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan).
• Meanwhile, put all ingredients for the glaze into a saucepan, stirring over a medium-low heat until combined and bubbling. Pour the glaze over the ham and bake for 25-30 minutes until glazed and burnished. Slice and serve.

See www.glenbrookfarm.ie. 

BEEF – Barry Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Butchers, Fermoy

Fitzgerald’s Butchers has been serving the people of Fermoy since 1964, and their beef is reared on their own farm in North Cork. Barry’s favourite festive dish is spiced beef made from a long-standing family recipe.

“The process begins in early November by pickling our beef, better known as corned beef. This takes a few days and once cured we start the next step - adding the spices.

“The recipe for our spiced beef seasoning was passed down to me by my mother 20 years ago. Her mother picked it up from another butcher back in the late ’60s, although we’re not sure who!

“We have won awards over the past few years from Blas na hEireann and ACBI [Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland] for our spiced beef. We buy in the spices we need (including mace, Allspice and clove), weight them out and mix to produce our very own unique blend.”

There are a few ways in which it can be cooked.

Traditional

• Weigh the spiced beef joint, then put it into a pot of cool water. 
• Bring to the boil slowly, then simmer for 20 minutes per lb weight. 
• Once cooked, turn off the heat and let it sit in the water to cool. 
• This helps to retain moisture within the beef while giving the kitchen a beautiful festive smell.

Boil In The Bag

• We have the option to buy our spiced beef in a cook bag giving customers the option of slow cooking it in the oven. 
• Cooking the spiced beef in the bag in the traditional way has the advantages of no handling and the spices are not diluted by the water retaining a stronger flavour of the spices.

Slow Cooker

• Cook it in a slow cooker with ½ a can of Guinness and a couple of bay leaves.
• It is traditionally served cold. I advise cutting it as thinly as possible, easier when it has cooled. 

My favourite way of eating it is in a sandwich with two slices of very nice bread, real butter, a bit of nice relish, and five or six thin slices of spiced beef.

See www.fitzgeraldsbutchers.ie

FISH – Juan Blanes, Glenmar Shellfish, Union Hall

Glenmar Shellfish is a West Cork success story which has seen it grow and expand from the original base in the scenic fishing village of Union Hall to operating from five bases across the country, and a leader in fish exports and processing.

All of that, yet the Glenmar fresh fish shop in Union Hall remains a popular spot supported by locals who recognise the quality of the daily landings.

Juan Blanes, CEO of Glenmar Shellfish, showcases Whole Turbot – a fish perfect for the wow factor of a celebratory meal at home – with a recipe inspired by one of its restaurant partners in Basque Country.

“In Glenmar, we have a long-standing friendship with Elkano Restaurant in the fishing village of Getaria, in the Basque Country,” he said.

“The restaurant is known as one of the best seafood restaurants in the world, famous for their whole fire grilled fish on the bone. Aitor, Koldo and Pablo have spent time with us in Ireland visiting our fleet and factory, and we spent time with them at their restaurant.

“Our friendship is forged on territory, fishing, products, seasons, and the future.”

Fire-Grilled Whole Turbot on the Bone with Pil Pil Sauce

This recipe makes a great centrepiece for the Christmas table. It can be grilled over fire or baked in the oven.

Ingredients

• A 1kg whole Turbot will feed 2-3 people; 2kg+ will feed 3-4. (If you can’t get Turbot, a whole Black Sole or Brill would work as well).
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Apple cider vinegar
• Garlic
• Freshly chopped parsley
• Equipment: You will need two pans and one baking tray.

Method;

• Ask your fishmonger to clean and prepare the turbot by removing the gills but leave the head on for baking whole.

To Fire-Grill/Barbecue:

• Pre heat your coals until they turn grey – you want to cook the fish with the heat of the coal, not with a flame. 
• Cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes per kilo, turning once halfway through the total cooking time for an even cook.

To Oven Bake:

• Pre-heat oven to 180°C and weigh the prepared fish. 
• Season the fish with salt and rub olive oil all over. 
• Cook fish 30 minutes per kilo.

To Make the Pil Pil Sauce:

• Scoop the coals to one side of the barbecue. Place the cooked fish on a tray and place the tray on the cool side of the grill away from the coals.
• Drizzle 5-6 tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar on top of the fish and let the fish rest for 10 minutes. The vinegar will release the collagen from the fish into the bottom of the tray. This will mingle with the juices of the fish and is the base for your sauce.
• Drain all these juices from the bottom of your tray into a blender and blend together then pour into a saucepan.
• Take another clean saucepan and place over the heat. Add a generous glug of olive oil and add garlic and parsley to the hot oil for few seconds until the garlic turns golden. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
• Drizzle this flavoured oil into the pan with the juices and whisk everything together until thickens into an emulsion similar in texture to a mayonnaise. This is the Turbot Pil Pil.
• Heat up your fish for a couple of minutes and pour the hot Pil Pil all over.
• Now you have a world class whole fish on the bone with Pil Pil sauce to share with your loved ones for Christmas!

The fish shop will open in Union Hall all the way up to Christmas and then again on the lead up to New Year:

December 17-21 and 23rd all day, 24th half day.

Closed December 25-27.

See www.glenmarshellfish.com

For more Christmas food recipes from The Echo and WoW, click here.