We had a great time at the Harvest Festival in Waterford during September. Along with the brilliant team at GIY bringing sustainability right to the heart of the festivities and showcasing Waterford’s rich food heritage and community, we were there with the Taste Waterford Kitchen, sponsored by LEO Waterford.
During the day we had talks, demos and tastings – and to end the event – Jenny Flynn created a true crowd pleaser – ‘A Celebration of Waterford’.
Jenny is Executive Chef at Faithlegg Hotel and used a range of produce from Co. Waterford in the dish. With such great feedback from the audience, we said we would publish it on our website for all to try – and here it is!
Let us know how you get on.
From Jenny…
A Celebration of Waterford – key ingredients:
- Comeragh Mountain Lamb
- Dunphy’s carrots
- Wilted Barefoot Farm spinach
- Faithlegg Hotel beetroot and mint relish
- Waterford Whisky jus.
I will be using loin of lamb in this recipe, but you could use rack or leg.
Roast carrots:
- 4 medium sized carrots
- 200ml butter
- Sprig of rosemary
- Crumbled bacon (dried streaky bacon and broken up in pestle and mortar).
Method:
Top, tail and wash the four medium sized carrots, roast in a hot oven for 30mins basting with butter.
For service chop the rosemary and add to bacon crumble.
Sprinkle the crumble over the carrot on the plate.
Loin of lamb:
Remove any sinew from the lamb and score the skin.
Season by rubbing the skin with garlic and mint paste and seal on a hot pan.
Cook for 8-10mins depending on how pink you would like it.
Waterford Whisky jus
- 1 diced shallot
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 shots Waterford Whisky
- 200ml red wine
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 500ml lamb stock (veal stock is ok too)
- 100g butter.
Method:
In a medium sized pan add the garlic and shallots, and fry off without colour. Deglaze the pan that the lamb was sealed in with a glass of red wine, reduce, and add the onion and garlic mix and add the whisky.
Reduce and add the stock. Allow to reduce by half and check seasoning, and whisk in the butter.
Barefoot Farm spinach:
Remove the stem of the spinach.
In a pan add a knob of butter and a splash of white wine.
The spinach will come down by a 1/3 but keeping its bright green colour, remove from heat and place on the plate.
Beetroot and mint relish:
- 650g beetroot
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 apple peeled cored and diced
- 200g brown sugar
- 250ml white wine vinegar
- 3 whole star anise
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint.
Method:
Prepare the beetroot, trim the leaves off, wash and place in a large saucepan with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for about 30mins until tender.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Wearing rubber gloves rub the skin off the beetroot to remove it. You may need to rub a bit harder to remove the top of the beetroot, when done, grate coarsely.
Meanwhile, combine the onion, apple, sugar, vinegar, star anise and cloves in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil over a high heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Reduce the heat and simmer until apple is tender.
Add beetroot to apple mixture. Simmer for 30 minutes or until mixture is syrupy. Chop mint and add for last five minutes of cooking.
Remove and discard star anise and pour into hot sterilised jars and seal. This will last for two months unopened in the fridge or for two weeks once opened.
This is a great accompaniment to red meats or with a cheese board. With the season changing and an abundance of beetroot I thought I would give you this little recipe, to add to your larder.
Enjoy!
