A culinary wishlist …
In this series, we explore the rhythms and routines of Ireland’s foodie folk, from chef Richard Corrigan, Meeran Manzoor and Romain Tessier of Artybaker to Thomasina Miers, Jess Murphy from Kai in Galway and Kasha Connolly at Hazel Mountain Chocolate. This month, Richie Wilson, Culinary Director at SOLE Seafood & Grill and FIRE Steakhouse & Bar, shares his ideal weekend in Dublin.
What does your ideal weekend look like with your family? Getting a weekend off to start with is ideal. Getting two days off together for anybody these days is probably quite a rarity as everyone seems to operate seven days a week now!
I’d start early on a Friday evening to get an extra night out of it. If I make it to my local, Killian’s in Naul, for a couple of pints with friends I only see from time to time, that’s a great start.
My ideal Saturday is spending as much time as possible with my wife Sue and our children. These days, I like to get into the city centre with them. When you work there all the time, you see people sitting outside bars and restaurants enjoying themselves, and I’m always quite envious. So, walking around the shops, spending way too much time in the Asian market, stopping off for sushi in Takara (even better, ramen, which is the perfect hangover cure!) and a drink outside is perfect before heading home.
Then, it’s movie night with the kids when I cook smash burgers and wings or buttermilk chicken and slow-cooked pork butt for pulled pork. I love putting a bit of effort into this type of food as there’s so much flavour without the airs and graces of cutlery. If it’s just me and Sue (an even rarer event), we go for dinner. Dublin has so much to offer that it can be hard to get to them all. We’ve been trying to get to Chapter One for a long time, so that’s next on the list. I’ve enjoyed some amazing meals recently in Floritz, Glover’s Alley and Pichet, all places that should be tried at least once.
Sundays are for sharing and what better way to do that than with a couple of dry-aged sharing cuts of beef. I’m so lucky to work with the best beef this country has to offer in FIRE & SOLE, so cooking a couple of Peter Hannan’s Porterhouse or Cote de Boeuf over open flames is a must. A bit of effort is put into the sides as well with beef dripping roasties and a selection of seasonal roast or steamed veg, along with the creamiest of mash and rich gravy. For dessert, at this time of year it has to be strawberries. I live between two amazing producers, Pat Clarke and Keelings, so I keep it simple with a sprinkle of Dubonnet (my mam’s recipe) and a scoop of good vanilla ice-cream. My ideal weekend would be having all of this in my mam’s, which has to be everyone’s favourite Sunday at home.
My ideal brunch: If we go out, it’s to one of our local cafés, but my ideal is La Cocina Cuevas just down the road from us with amazing Californian-Mexican street food. Their food truck has been so popular for so long that they’ve taken things to the next level by growing a lot of their own produce, which is included in tasting menus at the weekend. You must be quick as they sell out fast!
What local food shops do you visit? It helps to have such wonderful neighbours. I love Fallon & Byrne, which is quite French orientated and always reminds me of holidays in France with cured meats, pâtés and an enormous wine selection.
What’s your favourite late summer ingredient? You can’t have summer without barbecue and you can’t have a BBQ without quality beef. There’s an abundance in Ireland, but Peter Hannan sets the bar. I love tomatoes in late summer very simply with seasoning, good olive oil, fresh chives and lovage from the garden. This time of year, my fig tree is coming down with figs, which I stuff with blue cheese – Young Buck is my favourite – and wrap them in thin sugar pitt bacon. A great appetiser with huge flavours.
What’s your favourite food-centric holiday destination? France, without question. Spending time wandering through the markets, picking out whatever looks good for meals that day, and stopping off for a chilled glass of Chablis and a couple of fresh oysters. We’re just back from holidays there where I chatted to a charcutier who we’ve bought saucisson from for years, with an amazing array to choose from including gorgeous “batons de berger” shepherd’s sticks, a little mini version to nibble on after a swim. Some of my favourite dishes are Andouillette sausage with grain mustard cream (an acquired taste steeped in tradition) and, of course, some of the best wine the world has to offer – the best if you ask them!
It’s the pace of life, the devotion to good food and the understanding that we should take our time over meals that makes France so perfect for a foodie, not to mention the fact that they have the most Michelin-starred restaurants of any country in the world.
What are other favourite tipples? There’s nothing like a cold beer after working in hot kitchens, and I like craft beer. Hope Beers in Howth have an amazing selection, I particularly love their “ Handsome Jack” IPA. If I’m out to dinner, I do a dirty martini to get things started, then great wine to go along with the meal. At home, Saint-Emillion with some cheese. I recently had a tasting menu in New York with a drinks pairing from the area – wine, beer, gin and so on – which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Richie’s Seafood Boil
Try this reccipe with Irish salmon, monkfish and red mullet, anise and cardamon creamed broth, with baby fennel and saffron potatoes.
Ingredients: serves six
• 3 lobsters
• 600g king crab legs
• 500g clams
• 500g mussels
• 500g peeled shrimp
• 500g smoked sausage (or chorizo), cut into ¼ inch chunks
• 500g baby potatoes
• 3 corn cobs (cut in half)
• 3 lemons
• 1 large Spanish onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 500ml chicken stock
• 100ml olive oil
• 200g butter
• 100g chopped flat leaf parsley
• 60g Old Bay seasoning (or similar)
• Salt and pepper
Method
1. Begin by making the base stock. Place a large based pot over a low heat, add the olive oil and finely chopped onion, garlic and Old Bay seasoning. Sweet this gently until the onions soften then add butter until fully melted and well mixed through. Add hot sauce, chicken stock and two lemons cut into quarters, with a little salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.
2. While the stock is cooking, prepare the rest of the ingredients. As everything cooks at different times, our aim is to pre-cook what takes longer to get all of the produce to finish at the same time in a seafood boil bag. You can prepare the stock a day in advance and cool well before refrigerating, ready for use.
3. For the lobsters, firstly put a knife through the centre between the eyes to kill them humanely. Pull the claws from the body and place them in a pot of boiling water, with a little salt and the remaining lemon. After 3-4 minutes, add the lobster itself. Boil or about 10 minutes or until the lobster has changed to a good reddish colour. This will not cook the lobster all the way though, leaving a little room to cook further in the bag. Remove the claws and lobster from the water and place into a bowl of ice water to cool quickly. Once cooled, split the lobster in half down the centre from head to tail for a half lobster and claw per person.
4. Most crab comes pre-cooked, especially king crab, so just ensure that this has been defrosted overnight in the fridge.
5. For the clams and mussels, wash under cold running water and remove any beards from the mussels just before using them.
6. For the shrimp, ensure that they have been peeled and deveined (you can do this with a toothpick by pushing it through a small piece of the back on the curve and pulling the pipe through, then pull it all through with your fingers and discard. These will go into the bag raw.
7. For the baby potatoes, steam them for 10-12 minutes until cooked through. Remove and place in ice water to cool before halving each.
8. Now everything is very easy to assemble. I use a large vacuum pack bag because they’re strong, which you’ll need for the sharper shells. Mix up all of the shellfish and vegetables in a big bowl first and pour the liquor liberally over everything. Transfer all of this to the bag and seal as best you can.
9. I place the sealed bag in a steamer, but it’s just as easy in a large pot of simmering water for about 20-30 minutes. Once you can see that the shrimp are cooked, you know that the rest will be ready.
10. Open the bag at the table to allow all of the aromas to be appreciated by all. You can pour off some of the juice into a bowl for dipping, then sprinkle some parsley all over for the final touch.
Enjoy!