Dinner Parties!

wild garlic crostini

dinner parties are great! you get to meet new people, celebrate, try out new ideas with food and... its a great chance to get 'cheffy' about your presentation.

Forage & Find just catered a lovely 5 course birthday dinner for 12, in blackrock, cork. it's a great idea for a birthday. and what could be better, really? the caterer shows up makes your food, cleans up and leaves. while you can stay home and drink until the cows come home, its a birthday come true!

here a few photos and from tonights dinner party:



prepping beef for Thai Beef Salad

plating up

Roast Monkfish with beetroot essence, creamed wild garlic, mash and sea purslane

room for dessert?

Chocolate Capuccino Torte with Sea Water Ice Cream

thinking about having a dinner party for a loved one's birthday? why not have it catered by Forage & Find? there's no good reason not too!

here's the menu from tonights dinner:

Braised Irish King Oyster Mushrooms with Star Anise & Vanilla

Wild Garlic Crostini

Sprouted Chickpea Hummus Crostini

Thai Beef Salad with Chilli, Peanuts & Mint

Wild Spinach Soup with Nutmeg

Roast Monkfish with Beetroot Essence & Creamed Wild Garlic

Chocolate Cappuccino Torte with Sea Water Ice Cream

Foraging Walks - Ballinspittle/Garretstown Beach/Kinsale

we have recently started up new foraging walks in the local area. these walks are led by kevin o'connel owner of Forage & Find, longtime chef and experienced forager.
the last walk he led last sunday was at garretstown beach, focusing on seaweeds and shore plants. after great response he has decided to continue with more foraging walks.

there are 3 walks scheduled for the next month, 2 are from ballinspittle village focusing on hedge row plants. these walks also have the option of a beach/seaweed excursion in garretstown afterwards! ( the dates are june 17th and july 7th) these walks are €20  each which includes a 2 hour walk and cooking demo with foraged produce, if you choose to go on the beach walk afterwards its an additional 10 euro for the hour. if you'd like to book a spot for these walks send an email to forageandfind@hotmail.com

Forage and Find is also hosting a foraging walk with the kinsale arts festival! this walk will start in kinsale in front of super value and continue on, to the woods by scilly. this event is booking fast so if you're interested click here to book!

stay tuned for more foraging walk info and dates!

'Tis the season to be.....

sugar kelp

.....foraging by the sea! over the next few weeks we will be posting information on the types of sea vegtables that are perfect for harvesting in winter. some sea veg benefit from a good frost to help sweeten their flavour in cooking.

Forage & Find have loads of information and ideas to share as well as foraging workshops for 2012!

we look forward to a boutiful new year and a beautiful spring and summer for foraging wild delicacies.

Pho - 'wild Irish style!'

i've used this recipe many times with a variety of ingredients, below is a 'wild irish' spin on the traditional vietnamese dish. pho (pronounced "fuh") is a broth soup that is usually made with beef, rice noodles and thai basil, but it can be made with any meat or non-meat ingredients, the main characteristic is the spiced broth which is found in every pho.

Pho 'wild Irish style!'
Ingredients:
For the stock:
3 pints of stock
4oz piece of fresh ginger, peeled & grated
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspn coriander seeds
3 pieces star anise
1 teaspn each honey, sea salt & black pepper
4 teaspns nuoc mam (fish sauce)

~1 each parsnip, carrot, onion all chopped. Pumpkin, marrow or other roots would be great too.
~a few cooked small potatoes, diced. (Or use rice noodles,  which are traditional in Vietnam, cook them first seperately.)
~A large bunch of wild greens,
whatever is in season, pennywort is great, wild garlic, yarrow, alexanders chickweed, watercress, bittercress, sorrel, cow parsley...
~3 pints Fresh stock or make up 3 pints of stock with Marigold swiss boullion.

1.To make the broth, bring the stock, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise and coriander seeds to the boil.
Simmer for about 15 minutes.
2.Add the honey, sea salt, pepper and fish sauce. Strain the broth and return to the pan.

3.Add all other vegetables, simmer til cooked and then add the greens at the last minute.

If using rice noodles, add them now too)

Pho is traditionally served with a wedge of lime, chilli sauce, hoi sin, coriander, thai basil.

Hawthorn Berries

Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna

Where: Most hedgerows

When: Flowers in May (hense its nickname: Maytree) Fruits: September - October

Description: growns up to 6 meteres high. branches are thorny and bushy pinkish in color turning light grey with age. leaves are green with three, five, or seven lobes.

Uses-

Flowers: can be used in a delicate flavoured cordial

Leaves: can be chopped finely into potato salad, or in a green salad

Berries: when raw they are nothing special. when cooked they can be made into an unusual jelly for meat (wild game/venison) and cheese.

Tea: steep 1 tablespoon berries in 240ml of hot water, for 10-15 minutes. tea has been used conventionally in cardiovascular treatment and prevention. tea can be drank up to 3 times daily. for more health benefits click here

there's a lot of superstition surrounding the hawthron tree. some believe it to be the home of spirits or fairies, and disturbing or cutting the trees can upset or anger them, resulting in havok!

the begining of a wild food education!

gorse flowers, torq mountain hike, co. kerry

welcome to forage and find's new blog! we hope to use this blog as a education tool for wild irish plants that are useful to you and our world today. posting weekly (hopefully) about a different wild plant and its uses. we would also like to update you on the ongoings and happenings of Forage & Find as a food business. Forage & Find is a food company based in west cork, we are currently trading at the saturday farmers market on cornmarket street in cork city, as well as suppling shops with premade products using (but not limited to): local, wild, & homegrown food. i.e: elderflower cordials, sprouted hummous with sugar kelp, wild garlic pesto, hawthorn jelly, chunteys, ect. we have recently expanded Forage & Find by offering catered events such as dinner parties, weddings and, barbecues! watch this space!