Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 - Ireland

Tráthnóna maith daoibh this is the most Eurovisionly victorious
Ireland calling.

With a massive 7 wins under their belt and 3 of those in succession Ireland is often called the home of Eurovision, even if one year they did decide to send a puppet.

The idea for the Irish entry in Chow Down to Eurovision 2014 comes direct via a little blue from the snake free home of St Patrick!

Bridget, one of the amazing bakers from the Great Irish Bake Off came up with the suggestion of making a dish that used seaweed, not instantly associating Ireland with seaweed I jumped at the opportunity to learn more.

Some of the possible dishes could have been a chowder, a baked custard or a surf and turf but given Ireland isn't afraid of repeats at Eurovision I knew where I wanted to take this.

I took my version of the Great Irish Bake Off party loaf and mixed it up with a seaweed (dulse) flavoured twist. In all honesty I was worried at first as straight from the bag the smell reminds me of fish food and a taste I can't speak of in polite company.

Nevertheless I soldiered on and am really happy with the result, the flavour mellows and gives the bread a rich earthy meatiness...not that either of those terms indicate ocean.

The seaweed was a great suggestion so be sure to check out Bridget's Blog The Search for Delicious.

Some of the repeat Eurovision offenders...I mean contestants for Ireland have been, Linda Martin, Niamh Kavanagh, The Swarbriggs and most recently Jedward.

 

My favourite of Linda Martin's entries is Terminal 3 written by Melbourne born Johnny Logan, it placed 2nd in 1984. She did come first in 1992 with Why Me?

 

Dulse is a dried seaweed that was available for my local wholefood shop

Dulse and sesame loaf
Ingredients:

• 550g strong flour
• 30g dulse chopped (food processor works well, but takes a while as it's very light and flies around the bowl)
• 14g dried yeast
• 15g sugar
• 10g salt
• 250ml tepid water
• 60ml olive oil

Topping:

• 1 egg beaten
• 10 g Dulse chopped in a spice mill to get finer pieces
• Sesame seeds (about 1/4 cup)

Method:

• Combine all dry and wet ingredients together and knead till elastic
• Kneading by hand will take about 10-15 mins or 5 mins using a dough hook
• Cover with plastic wrap in an oiled bowl and let prove for about 1 hour till double in size
• Weigh the dough and divide by 19 (sorry maths I know, it should work out to around 50g each)
• Divide the dough into even portions
• Roll into balls, the best way is on the bench under a cupped hand (it is a great triceps workout, after the 19th you'll feel it)
• Lightly oil a 25cm round spring form cake tin
• In 3 separate bowls place the beaten egg, sesame seeds and dulse.
• Dip the top of a ball into the egg mix and then into one of the seeds
• Place into the cake tin, arranging in any design you like
• Repeat with 18 remaining balls, giving them enough room to expand
• Cover with a shopping bag and let prove for 45 minutes-1 hour
• Bake in a 180°C oven for 30 minutes

Avocado would go so well on this bread

Can-linn Featuring Kasey Smith will present Heartbeat in Copenhagen will they make it number 8 for Ireland?
Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat!

Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 - Ireland

Today we're in the beautiful green TOTALLY SNAKE FREE land of Ireland, thanks St Paddy for that one, best saint ever! While I have never been to the emerald isle I did spend some time working in an office where there was an Irish quota of at least 50% so that was like practically being there. The opportunity for a linguistic and cultural exchange was not wasted as I learnt so much about craic, it was only fair they had to "give it a burl". For a colleague's birthday I was tasked with making an Irish themed birthday cake, so shamrocks? Leprechauns? Mrs Brown? of course not Jedward. It was quite an easy decision to make. She had previously mentioned that Jedward were "beautiful boys" so why wouldn't she want them jumping out of her cake. While I am clearly not the cake boss, my fondant skills are getting better with each birthday.

 

Can't you just see Jedward jumping out of the cake??

 

With 7 wins under their belt Ireland holds the record for most wins in Eurovision, so it is only fitting that their entry in Chow Down to Eurovision 2013 has a touch of luxury. I had thought of roasting a turkey but felt it wasn't right to cook an Irish contestant.

In 2008 they thought they would enter a craic, that doesn't sound right?

 

Lobster Dublin Lawyer

Ingredients

• 1 lobster tail
• 50g unsalted butter
• 100ml whiskey
• 1/2 cup cream
• squeeze of lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Cut down the centre of the underside of the lobster tail to remove the meat but leave the shell intact
• Tidy up the edges of the shell for presentation and boil in a saucepan for 5 mins and then drain. If not using the shell for presentation this step can be omitted.
• Cut the lobster into bite sized pieces
• In a large frypan on high heat add the butter.
• Add the lobster and the whiskey
• Use a long match or gas lighter to ignite the whiskey, be careful as it is a pretty big flambé.
• Once the flame have died off add the cream and mix through
• Add the squeeze of lemon and season to taste
• The lobster should be cooked by the time the flame has gone, it is very easy to over cook it
• To serve place meat back into the shell and pour over the sauce
• This served AB and I as an entrée but if you have found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow it would be a lovely main course with a decadent buttery mash.

 

 

 

This year Ireland isn't sending Jedward but Ryan Dolan will find out if Only Love Survives, and possibly makes it to the finals again.

luck maith!