Running a café? All you do is saunter around all day with no worries!

I must admit to being a little disappointed. I had promised myself that this year would be different. No matter how busy things were in the café, I would be more organised and maintain enough time to write a weekly post for this blog.
Well, two whole months since my last blog post, all I can say is 'So much for that!'

Béile le Chéile has been open for over a month and it's been quite the whirlwind ever since. It's taken me all this time to get back into the rhythm of cooking, baking, ordering, organising staff and the general rushing about that is running a café.

That's why I laughed out loud when I read the results of a survey in The Irish Times last weekend. They asked random people what they thought the best jobs in the world might be and one person was quoted as saying:
'I'd like to run a café. You'd saunter around all day with no worries.'

Oh, how I laughed. It's funny that people think that all you have to do to run a successful café is turn up in the morning, turn on the coffee machine and start serving customers. They really have no idea of how much work goes on behind the scenes.

In a way, that's testament to the good work done by so many people who work in the food industry. Like serene swans who are swimming furiously under the surface, they make it look simple. The relaxed smiles on their faces as they serve up delicious food belies the amount of hard work and effort they've put into making it. 

One day, I hope to become someone who makes running a café look simple. And I actually think I'm getting there. This time last year, I was hardly sleeping at night as all I could do was worry about what I'd got myself into and my waking hours away from the café were spent in floods of tears because I was so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work facing me every day.

But this is not at all how I feel this year. I'm sleeping well. There have been no tears. I feel much more under control and am far happier. I'm still daunted by the thoughts of high summer and the amount of work involved in making a visit to Béile le Chéile the enjoyable experience I'd love for it to be for every single customer. But I think that I can do it.

One day, someone will look at me and think I've got the dream job. Sauntering around without a worry... Yeah, that'll be me.
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Running a café? All you do is saunter around all day with no worries!

Comfort eating on a Sunday afternoon: chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies

I'm finding it hard to stay positive these days. Everywhere I look and listen, it seems as though the cost of living is creeping ever higher while people are struggling to make do with falling incomes. It worries me that I'm about to open the café for a second season at a time when people's discretionary spending has never been so limited.

When I feel anxious or pessimistic, I often turn to food for comfort. Food is great like that, isn't it?  Sometimes, all you need when you're feeling under the weather is a bowl of broth that is brimful of vegetables while (on the - ahem! - completely other end of the healthy spectrum) a serving of this decadent treat can make you believe that all is indeed well with the world.


Chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies - an edible way of putting the world to rights!

At first glance, this recipe may scare you. I'll admit that there's a lot of sugar in it but this brownie is so rich that you'll only eat a little of it at any one time so you needn't feel too guilty (and I needn't worry about giving you all diabetes!)

Brownie recipe:
225g unsalted butter
100g chocolate (I use 75g of 70% chocolate and 25g good milk chocolate)
75g cocoa powder
450g caster sugar
4 eggs
A pinch of salt
100g self raising flour

Cheesecake recipe:
225g cream cheese
100g caster sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons of flour

100g raspberries

• Line a brownie tin with parchment paper and set the oven to 180 C/350F.
• Melt the butter, chocolate and cocoa powder in a pan over a medium heat, stirring well to combine.
• Beat the sugar and the eggs along with a pinch of salt until light and airy.
• Add the chocolate mixture and beat to combine.
• Fold in the flour.
• Make the cheesecake by mixing all of the ingredients together until well combined.
• Pour 3/4 of the brownie mixture into your brownie tin. 
• Pour the cheesecake mixture over that.
• Add the remaining brownie mixture.
• Using a skewer, swirl both mixtures together to create a pretty marbled effect.
• Scatter the raspberries on top, pressing them down into the mixture a little so that they don't dry out too much or burn while cooking.
• Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes.  The mixture should look something like this and an inserted skewer should come out wet but not sticky.

• Allow to cool and cut into small slices. I cut mine into 24 slices. 

Make yourself a cup of tea and give yourself time to savour this special treat. Chocolate, cheesecake and raspberries; there could surely be no better comfort in these financially tough times.

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Comfort eating on a Sunday afternoon: chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies

Missing in action: an explanation

Please don't think I've forgotten you because I haven't. In fact, I was supposed to post a new recipe here today (for an almond and orange cake inspired by a recent visit to Brother Hubbard in Dublin) but it got slightly burned while baking and it isn't good enough for you to enjoy just yet.
Although this doesn't mean that it's not good enough for me to eat. I'm licking the delicious crumbs from my lips as I type!

It's a good cake so I'll bake it again (and bake it better) some day really soon and post it here for you then. I'm also planning to make some chocolate, cheesecake and raspberry brownies at the weekend so I'll post those here on Sunday (fingers crossed I don't burn them too).

In the meantime, here are some pictures taken by my house recently. It's been cold but beautiful in this part of the world.

Mount Brandon from Feothanach Beach

The evenings are getting longer too, which means I can fit a walk in after work.



And this makes our dog, Jimmy, very happy.

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Missing in action: an explanation

My adventures as a café owner make the national news!

Apologies to those of you who have had it with my stories of opening a café but those of you who have yet to be sated by such tales can read what I wrote in today's Irish Examiner. Read all about it here.
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My adventures as a café owner make the national news!

A birthday dinner in Cork

It was my birthday this day last week and as has become an annual tradition for us, my boyfriend and I celebrated with a special meal out. "I'd like to go somewhere the food is imaginative and different," I said, "somewhere with a chef who is really trying to be creative."
Quite how this led to us booking dinner in Les Gourmandises in Cork, a restaurant I'd always assumed to be a classic French place, I don't know. But I'm glad it did.

We were impressed from the very beginning. The room is pleasant with high ceilings, white walls, red banquettes and sparkling chandeliers. It was busy. Everyone was buzzing. And the staff were attentive and friendly from the moment we arrived.

Our meal began - as all the best meals do, in my opinion - with a glass of something sparkling. In this case, it was Cava and it came with a selection of breads from the nearby English Market - all fresh and crusty and delicious with some cold and salty butter.

I had the monkfish beignets to start. The fish was perfectly fresh. The batter was light and crisp. And it went well with the sweetcorn puree and the tartness of the caper-rich sauce tartare it was served with. My only gripe might be that it was too large a portion. As you can see from the picture above, there were three small bowls (with two small beignets in each one). It's a lot for a starter, isn't it?

My boyfriend had the Castletownbere crab dish. This was a near perfect dish. The crab (which was served potted style with some clarified butter on top) tasted fresh from the sea and this freshness was highlighted with spikes of lemon, offset by the melon and grapefruit that came in the accompanying salad and the refreshing pink grapefruit jelly that was served alongside. Just the thing to bring the palate to life!

I chose the seafood platter for my main course and it contained some really good elements. There was pan-fried red snapper in a crispy skin. There were salmon rillettes. There was that lovely crab from my boyfriend's starter, those monkfish beignets from my starter, that really nice pink grapefruit jelly from my boyfriend's starter...
Are we beginning to notice a pattern here? Maybe I was unlucky in our choice of previous dishes, but I was disappointed to see so much repetition, especially as I had found that there was too much in my monkfish beignet starter to begin with. It all tasted good though.

My boyfriend had pan-fried guineafowl which was served with confit onion, a potato fondant type thing, barley and a port jus. He loved the sweet juiciness of the onion set against the earthiness of the barley and the moreishness of the sauce and the perfectly cooked bird. Well, that's what I think he said as he scoffed the lot!

We asked for two side dishes to go with our mains; a serving of French fries and peas with asparagus. The French fries were great and though the serving was small, it was probably enough. But the serving of peas and asparagus was tiny - three spears of asparagus and a handful of peas. It felt a little miserly, which I don't think is the impression you want to give guests in your restaurant and was completely at odds with what I thought about the size of the starters. However, they did give us more when we commented on it being small.

We shared a dessert platter to finish. Clockwise from top left, there was a

crème brûlée, that snapped under my spoon just as a crème brûlée should. There was a tangy lemon posset - zingily delicious. There was a chocolate and cognac cake. And there was a raspberry panna cotta. All were good. Not amazingly good but good.

Our bill for the entire meal - 2 glasses of cava, 2 starters, 2 main courses, one dessert plate, one bottle of white wine, one glass of red wine, one bottle of sparkling water, a tea and a coffee - came to €167. So, it wasn't cheap but as you can see, we treated ourselves to quite a lot.

Was it worth it? Though I had some complaints, the food was based on quality ingredients that were well prepared. The wine - a Pinot blanc from Alsace - complemented the food very well. The service was attentive and friendly. I enjoyed the atmosphere and overall, I had a good birthday dinner. I'd go back again.  

Les Gourmandises, Cook Street, Cork City

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A birthday dinner in Cork

Cheap food, lifestyle cookery programmes and pimped up rice and beans

I like food.
I like cooking good food.
And even though I’m better off than lots of people, I’m not rich enough to be able to shop without considering my budget (although this girl does dream of one day having a champagne lifestyle).

Reluctantly returning to reality… there has been a lot of talk about cheap food in the media recently following the discovery of horsemeat in a certain type of Irish burger sold in Tesco. Catriona of wholesomeireland.com makes interesting points about it over here.

There are some things I want to say too, because even though I don’t eat burgers, this controversy does have something to do with me.

1: We all – regardless of our income and how much we spend on food – deserve to know what we’re eating. We need to be able to trust that our food is what it says it is.
Most of the time, I cook my food from scratch and feel somewhat protected by this. But how am I supposed to know what’s been sprayed on my vegetables? Has something been added to that can of tomatoes? What about that jar of spices? Is it really just ginger?
This is not me being over zealous. We all deserve to live in a world where food is what it says it is, nothing more and nothing less. Ireland, with its worldwide reputation for the quality of its food, should be setting the standard in this regard.

2: I totally agree with people who have said that everyone needs to be taught how to cook. We all have to eat. Therefore we should all know how to prepare food to put in our mouths. This knowledge has been lost by some people so we can’t rely on parents to teach their children. Home economics/cooking classes should be compulsory for all.

3: The fact that there are more cookery programmes on the TV today (and more food blogs on the internet) does not mean that more people are being inspired to cook. It may sound counterintuitive but I think that some of these shows play a part in turning people off the idea of cooking.
Many of them are presented by people who lead very fortunate and privileged lives. There’s Nigella in her beautiful Notting Hill home full of copper pots and pans and a larder full of expensive exotic ingredients. And Jamie – for all his good intentions – rushing about London on his fancy Vespa and calling into expensive artisan food shops.
Most people can’t afford such lifestyles and the implicit assumption they make is that they can’t afford good food.
This has to stop. Good food should not be associated with a lifestyle. It should not be aspirational. It should be something for us all.

I’ll leave you with a recipe for what I'm having for lunch today. Essentially, it’s a pimped up beans and rice dish. It’s healthy with its pulses, wholegrain rice and nutrient-rich avocadoes. It’s delicious. Oh! And guess what? It’s also quite cheap!

Pimped-up rice and beans – serves two
75g brown basmati rice
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
Half an onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon runny honey
Salt and pepper

1 avocado, diced
¼ red onion, sliced
½ lime, juiced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
Salt to season
Small handful coriander leaves, chopped.

• Cook the basmati rice until tender, drain and leave in a covered pot to keep warm.
• Prepare the avocado salad by mixing the avocado, the tomatoes and the red onion in the lime juice. Taste and season.
• Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the garlic and onion. Cook for one minute.
• Add the chopped red pepper and cook until soft, three minutes or so.
• Add the drained beans, the cider vinegar and the honey and season.
• Cook for five minutes until the flavours come together.
• Divide the rice between two plates, spoon beans over and serve with the avocado salsa. Sprinkle with chopped coriander before serving.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, that champagne lifestyle... ◦

Cheap food, lifestyle cookery programmes and pimped up rice and beans

Are you a good cook? Here's your chance to prove it.

I know there are lots of you out there who love food and cooking. You may have considered applying for 'Masterchef' but decided against it when you realised it was really only for those who wanted to be professional cooks. And you may even have considered putting yourself forward for 'Come Dine with Me' only to change your mind when you discovered you’d be ridiculed on national TV.

If only there were a TV show out there for the likes of you…

Well, now there is. I was sent a press release this morning about a new cooking series on Sky which is currently looking for people to take part. It’s aiming to find the best regional amateur cooking teams of two in Ireland and the UK. It’s not about professional chefs. Instead, it’s all about real people who have a passion for food, who like to host dinner parties, who are constantly trying new things and love showcasing their reagion and local produce.
If that sounds like you, here’s what they have to say:

Are you passionate about cooking great food?
Do you have a friend or partner who shares your enthusiasm for entertaining and cooking up a storm in the kitchen?

Boundless Productions, the production company behind The Apprentice, are on the hunt for the best amateur cooking couples from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales for a new Sky One series.

If selected, each amateur cooking team will be asked to showcase their cooking and entertaining skills in front of some of the country’s top professional chefs.

We are looking for REAL homemade food, cooked by REAL people with REAL passion.

Whether you’re siblings, work colleagues, life-long friends or romantically involved we’re looking for couples who share a history and the ability to serve up some exceptional food.
If you think you and your cooking partner has what it takes to represent your region in the UK and Ireland’s ultimate cooking test we’d love to hear from you.

CONTACT:
Fiona on 0207 861 8202 or Fiona.wilson@boundlessproductions.tv
Jake on 0207 861 8215 or jake.smith@boundlessproductions.tv
Joe on 0207 861 8248 or joe.deen@boundlessproductions.tv

I'd urge you to go for it. It's your chance to have your 15 minutes of culinary fame!


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Are you a good cook? Here's your chance to prove it.