Bloom is just around the corner – it starts on 29 May – and I am really looking forward to it. It is always a great family event. I’m hoping the sun will shine all weekend for the many visitors that will attend.
I am really excited to be taking part in the festival and this year I am planning a pop-up menu for the Taste of Bloom area. The menu will comprise of three starters, three main courses and three desserts.
The event is being curated by Garrett Duff - a chef I hugely admire. Garrett is one of the foremost caterers in the country. He was in charge of the menu when former American president Joe Biden visited Ireland and, alongside another great Irish chef, Ross Lewis, he catered for the late Queen Elizabeth when she visited. And now he is working with me.
Garrett and his formidable team have always done the catering for Bloom, which is no mean feat.
Last year, the festival attracted over 100,000 visitors to the Phoenix Park. The event spans a whopping 70ac. Imagine being in charge of the catering for that each year.
Anyway, I am enjoying working with Garrett to make sure we get the pop-up menu right on the day. So much work goes into planning a meal like this - you need to be completely prepared because, on the day, you are basically cooking in a field. Everything has to be built from scratch.
I have chosen recipes which are similar to the ones you might see me do in a cookery demo. Over the next while before the festival, we are testing, tasting and tweaking them as needed. The dishes will mainly use products from the many producers being featured at Bloom. I won’t be cooking, as I will be busy meeting with these producers as well as the many visitors to the Phoenix Park over the five days of the festival. Maybe I will see you there.
Today, I have two delicious seafood-focused recipes to share with you. I love to see diners choosing seafood when they go out to eat and it’s even nicer to see that, not only are we eating more fish as a nation, but we are eating it in new and interesting ways.
I think because we are travelling more often, to places like Spain and Portugal, we are being exposed to new flavours and new (to us) dishes. I always find fantastic fish on Spanish and Portuguese menus.
We are lucky at MacNean House; we get our fish deliveries twice weekly direct from Killybegs, Co Donegal. However, if you live in a rural area where you can’t access quality fish, there are still ways to have fresh Irish seafood delivered to your door. Check out the Eat More Fish website eatmorefish.ie, set up by Stefan Griesbach. It offers a great selection of fish and delivers nationwide.
Hearty and flavourful
This first recipe is a hearty and flavourful fish stew. You’ll find variations of this recipe all over Italy. It’s a great option if you need to feed a crowd. A one-pot-wonder if you will, which tastes delicious and can convert anyone feeling hesitant about trying seafood. You can make it with almost any kind of fish or shellfish (I think haddock would work really well in this recipe). It also comes together quickly and has a great flavour thanks to the use of fennel, which also adds a good bit of texture to the stew. All you need is some crusty, grilled sourdough to serve alongside and you have a winning dinner.
The second recipe this week is for my favourite seafood pasta. You can use any thin, long pasta here, like linguine, but spaghetti is easily found in any supermarket. I will advise you to look out for the bronzed dye pasta and use that, if you can, because the texture of these kinds of pasta are ideal for catching all the flavours of the sauce (and there are some really great flavours happening in this pasta dish).
Ask your fishmonger to prepare the seafood for you, but if you want to use frozen prawns or squid, that’s fine too.
Seafood stew with tomatoes and fennel
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, trimmed (reserve the fronds for garnish) and thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 piece pared orange rind
300ml fresh fish stock (if you can’t find fish stock, you can use chicken stock)
150ml dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1 red pepper, seeds removed, slice into batons
225g large clams, cleaned
400g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
225g firm-fleshed fish fillets, like hake or monkfish, cut into 4cm chunks
150g crab claws (no shell)
2 tbsp shredded fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grilled slices of sourdough bread, to serve
Method
1 Heat the oil in a very large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots and fennel seeds and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
2 Add the garlic and chilli, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, orange rind, stock, wine and bay leaf. Season with salt, then cover and bring to a simmer.
3 Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the flavours have blended together.
4 Add the red pepper and clams to
the cooking liquid. Cover and cook
for about 5 minutes, until the clams begin to open. Add the prawns, fish and crab claws.
5 Simmer gently until the fish and prawns are just cooked through and the clams are completely open. Stir in the basil and cook gently for another 5 minutes (discard any clams that do not open).
6 Season to taste. Ladle the stew into warmed bowls and scatter over the reserved fennel fronds.
7 Serve with grilled slices of sourdough bread on the side.
Top tip: Try not to overcook the seafood. Things like scallops or squid can get rubbery.
Spaghetti with seafood.\ Photographer: Philip Doyle. Food styling: Janine Kennedy.
Serves 4: Ingredients
1.5kg mussels
2 tbsp dry white wine
350g spaghetti
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, thinly sliced into rings
350g fresh scallops or 2 small squid, cleaned and cut into thin rings
350g raw prawns, peeled and veins removed
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Clean the mussels and remove the beards under cold running water. Place in a pan with a lid and pour over the wine. Cover tightly and cook over a high heat for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until all the mussels have opened. Discard any that do not.
2 Strain the mussels through a sieve, reserving 150ml of the cooking liquor but leaving behind any grit. Reserve a few mussels for garnish and remove the remainder from their shells.
3 Meanwhile, twirl the spaghetti into a pan of boiling salted water. Stir once and cook for 10–12 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet, until al dente.
4 Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli and sauté for about 30 seconds, until lightly golden. Add the scallops or squid and continue to cook for a few minutes, then tip in the prawns and sauté for another minute or so, until just sealed.
5 Add the reserved cooking liquid and reduce slightly, then tip in the mussels, tomato halves and parsley.
6 Season to taste and allow to warm through. Drain the pasta and return it to the pan, then pour in the seafood sauce and fold together until well combined.
Divide among warmed wide-rimmed bowls and serve at once.
Read more
Neven Maguire: get in my Irish (pork) belly...
Neven Maguire: great bakes for Easter breaks
Bloom is just around the corner – it starts on 29 May – and I am really looking forward to it. It is always a great family event. I’m hoping the sun will shine all weekend for the many visitors that will attend.
I am really excited to be taking part in the festival and this year I am planning a pop-up menu for the Taste of Bloom area. The menu will comprise of three starters, three main courses and three desserts.
The event is being curated by Garrett Duff - a chef I hugely admire. Garrett is one of the foremost caterers in the country. He was in charge of the menu when former American president Joe Biden visited Ireland and, alongside another great Irish chef, Ross Lewis, he catered for the late Queen Elizabeth when she visited. And now he is working with me.
Garrett and his formidable team have always done the catering for Bloom, which is no mean feat.
Last year, the festival attracted over 100,000 visitors to the Phoenix Park. The event spans a whopping 70ac. Imagine being in charge of the catering for that each year.
Anyway, I am enjoying working with Garrett to make sure we get the pop-up menu right on the day. So much work goes into planning a meal like this - you need to be completely prepared because, on the day, you are basically cooking in a field. Everything has to be built from scratch.
I have chosen recipes which are similar to the ones you might see me do in a cookery demo. Over the next while before the festival, we are testing, tasting and tweaking them as needed. The dishes will mainly use products from the many producers being featured at Bloom. I won’t be cooking, as I will be busy meeting with these producers as well as the many visitors to the Phoenix Park over the five days of the festival. Maybe I will see you there.
Today, I have two delicious seafood-focused recipes to share with you. I love to see diners choosing seafood when they go out to eat and it’s even nicer to see that, not only are we eating more fish as a nation, but we are eating it in new and interesting ways.
I think because we are travelling more often, to places like Spain and Portugal, we are being exposed to new flavours and new (to us) dishes. I always find fantastic fish on Spanish and Portuguese menus.
We are lucky at MacNean House; we get our fish deliveries twice weekly direct from Killybegs, Co Donegal. However, if you live in a rural area where you can’t access quality fish, there are still ways to have fresh Irish seafood delivered to your door. Check out the Eat More Fish website eatmorefish.ie, set up by Stefan Griesbach. It offers a great selection of fish and delivers nationwide.
Hearty and flavourful
This first recipe is a hearty and flavourful fish stew. You’ll find variations of this recipe all over Italy. It’s a great option if you need to feed a crowd. A one-pot-wonder if you will, which tastes delicious and can convert anyone feeling hesitant about trying seafood. You can make it with almost any kind of fish or shellfish (I think haddock would work really well in this recipe). It also comes together quickly and has a great flavour thanks to the use of fennel, which also adds a good bit of texture to the stew. All you need is some crusty, grilled sourdough to serve alongside and you have a winning dinner.
The second recipe this week is for my favourite seafood pasta. You can use any thin, long pasta here, like linguine, but spaghetti is easily found in any supermarket. I will advise you to look out for the bronzed dye pasta and use that, if you can, because the texture of these kinds of pasta are ideal for catching all the flavours of the sauce (and there are some really great flavours happening in this pasta dish).
Ask your fishmonger to prepare the seafood for you, but if you want to use frozen prawns or squid, that’s fine too.
Seafood stew with tomatoes and fennel
Serves 6–8
Ingredients
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, trimmed (reserve the fronds for garnish) and thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
1 piece pared orange rind
300ml fresh fish stock (if you can’t find fish stock, you can use chicken stock)
150ml dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1 red pepper, seeds removed, slice into batons
225g large clams, cleaned
400g raw prawns, peeled and deveined
225g firm-fleshed fish fillets, like hake or monkfish, cut into 4cm chunks
150g crab claws (no shell)
2 tbsp shredded fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grilled slices of sourdough bread, to serve
Method
1 Heat the oil in a very large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots and fennel seeds and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
2 Add the garlic and chilli, then stir in the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, orange rind, stock, wine and bay leaf. Season with salt, then cover and bring to a simmer.
3 Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the flavours have blended together.
4 Add the red pepper and clams to
the cooking liquid. Cover and cook
for about 5 minutes, until the clams begin to open. Add the prawns, fish and crab claws.
5 Simmer gently until the fish and prawns are just cooked through and the clams are completely open. Stir in the basil and cook gently for another 5 minutes (discard any clams that do not open).
6 Season to taste. Ladle the stew into warmed bowls and scatter over the reserved fennel fronds.
7 Serve with grilled slices of sourdough bread on the side.
Top tip: Try not to overcook the seafood. Things like scallops or squid can get rubbery.
Spaghetti with seafood.\ Photographer: Philip Doyle. Food styling: Janine Kennedy.
Serves 4: Ingredients
1.5kg mussels
2 tbsp dry white wine
350g spaghetti
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, thinly sliced into rings
350g fresh scallops or 2 small squid, cleaned and cut into thin rings
350g raw prawns, peeled and veins removed
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Clean the mussels and remove the beards under cold running water. Place in a pan with a lid and pour over the wine. Cover tightly and cook over a high heat for a few minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until all the mussels have opened. Discard any that do not.
2 Strain the mussels through a sieve, reserving 150ml of the cooking liquor but leaving behind any grit. Reserve a few mussels for garnish and remove the remainder from their shells.
3 Meanwhile, twirl the spaghetti into a pan of boiling salted water. Stir once and cook for 10–12 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet, until al dente.
4 Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and chilli and sauté for about 30 seconds, until lightly golden. Add the scallops or squid and continue to cook for a few minutes, then tip in the prawns and sauté for another minute or so, until just sealed.
5 Add the reserved cooking liquid and reduce slightly, then tip in the mussels, tomato halves and parsley.
6 Season to taste and allow to warm through. Drain the pasta and return it to the pan, then pour in the seafood sauce and fold together until well combined.
Divide among warmed wide-rimmed bowls and serve at once.
Read more
Neven Maguire: get in my Irish (pork) belly...
Neven Maguire: great bakes for Easter breaks
SHARING OPTIONS