New Discoveries in the 2003 Bridgestone Guides

As you would expect, the new Bridgestone 100 Best Guides are filled with fab new discoveries: you crave truly exciting Indian cooking? Then you should be in Limerick. Fancy some ace Italian cooking? Galway is the destination of choice? Raucous fun for twentysomethings? Then Waterford is the place. And speaking of Waterford, the county goes from strength to strength, with no fewer than 9 entries out of 100 in the restaurant guide, ranging from veterans such as Martin Dwyer through to great new addresses such as the bubbling Bodega! In Waterford city. And, speaking of Bodega!, here are a pair of recipes from this up-for-it crew:

Crottin de Chavignol, Sweet Garlic Sauce

Serves 4

1 head garlic
150ml chicken stock
150ml milk
4 chavignol cheeses
8 slices of ciabatta bread or baguette mesclun salade, vinaigrette to season

Peel all the garlic, and place in a saucepan with the stock and the milk and put on a low heat for about 15 minutes. The garlic cloves should be very soft, almost pulp-like when ready. Put the milk mixture and garlic cloves in a mixer and blend till smooth. Return the garlic sauce to the saucepan and reheat, season to taste.    

While the sauce is cooking cut the chavignol in half and place each half on a slice of bread. Put on a tray and put in a preheated oven (200ºC) for 5 minutes.    

Season the mesclun salade with the vinaigrette and place in the middle of four plates. Place two toasts on each side of the salade on the plates and pour some sauce over each of the chavignol.

Fillet of John Dory, Mediterranean vegetables

Serves 4

4 filets of John Dory
200g tomatoes
200g pumpkin
200g courgettes
olive oil
2 bulbs fennel
200g Jerusalem artichokes
2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Prepare the fennel by cutting the tips and the base of the bulb, then place the base on a cutting board and slice thinly. Fry until soft in a little olive oil. Put aside.    

Wash and peel the artichokes and cook in boiling water with some lemon juice. Put aside when cooked.    

Peel and dice the pumpkin and fry until soft, and set aside. Do the same with the courgettes, although they need not be peeled.    

Skin the tomatoes by cutting a cross at the base and placing them in boiling water for about 15-20 seconds, and then put in cold water. Peel and quarter and remove the seeds. Slice and put aside.    

Season the fish and place in a pyrex dish. When you are ready to eat the fish sprinkle all the vegetables over and around and place in the oven. Cook for about 6 to 10 minutes.

The 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland

For the 100 Best Places to Stay, we have been hunting down the great and the extra great, and one of the key new addresses has to be Catherine Fulvio's fantastic Ballyknocken House, close to Ashford in County Wicklow. A cosy, intimate and comfy house, it is a great escape for stressed Dubliners, thanks to Mrs Fulvio's brilliant hospitality and glorious cooking: our dinner here was one of the best country house meals we have had in ages.

Here is the sort of lip smackin' country cooking Catherine conjures up for guests:

Ballyknocken  Stuffed Pork Fillet Steak

Serves 4

1 lb Pork Steak

Stuffing:
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Onion, diced
Sage, chopped
Breadcrumbs
1 Granny Smith Apple, cored & diced
2 Tablespoons Raisins
2 Tablespoons Apple Juice
Salt & Pepper to taste

String to tie meat

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius/ Gas mark 5

2. Melt the butter and soften the diced onion

3. Meanwhile, remove fat & grizzle from the pork (or ask your butcher to do this). Slice the pork steak lengthwise but do not cut right through.  Cover with Clingfilm and using a mallet, flatten the pork to even thickness.

4. Add breadcrumbs, diced apple, chopped sage, apple juice and salt & pepper to taste to the onions.

5. Spread the stuffing on the pork, leaving _ inch on all edges.

6. Roll pork and tie securely with string.  Three ties per pork steak are usually sufficient.

7. Bake for 45 ­ 50 minutes, or until meat thermometer reads minimum 72 degrees Celsius

8. After removing from oven, allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes, covering first with foil, before slicing.

Serve with Apple Gravy ­ a simple sauce made from the following ingredients:

2 Shallots, softened in butter
1 pint Chicken Stock
2 tablespoons Apple Juice (or Cider if preferred)
Roux to thicken (50% butter / 50% plain flour)
Salt & Pepper to taste
The caramelised juices from the pork roasting tin

To loosen the caramelized juices from the roasting tin: pour off fat, add water and place tin on hob bringing liquid to the boil and using a whisk, loosen the caramelised juices mix into water, for a lovely flavour.  If a small amount of the stuffing leaks into the roasting tray ­ great ­ this will add a lovely flavour.  Strain all into the gravy saucepan.

Add shallots, chicken stock and apple juice and bring to the boil and thicken with a good old-fashioned roux (50% butter / 50% plain flour mix).

To enrich this sauce, add cream to taste.

Garnish with Caramelised Red Apples and some sage.

Buy the 100 Best Restaurants in Ireland 2003 online

Buy the 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland 2003 online