THIS week’s recipes focus on the best of Irish cuisine – a classic seafood chowder and, to accompany it, some hearty wheaten bread.
With more and more people spending their time in lockdown baking, this is a quick and easy bread recipe with showstopping results. Smother it in butter and dip in to soak up that rich chowder for a lip-smacking lunch or light evening meal outside in the sunshine.
SALMON SEAFOOD CHOWDER
(Serves 6)
250g butter
100g smoked bacon, chopped
1 leek, chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 onion diced
500g glens of Antrim potatoes cubed 1/2 inch
50g flour
1 pint vegetable stock
500ml cream
100g smoked salmon
300g salmon
18 mussels
Lemon
Method:
Place the butter in a pot and melt. Add the bacon and gently colour. Add the chopped leek, onion and garlic and cook until soft. Next, add the potatoes. Add in the flour and stir until the flour is cooked out (this will take approximately 10 minutes). Next, add in the vegetable stock and stir. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 45 minutes on a gentle heat.
Once cooked, add the cream, fish and shellfish and cook for 6 minutes. Check for seasoning and finish off with a squeeze of lemon juice. Add the lemon garnish to the bowl and serve.
IRISH WHEATEN BREAD
(Makes 2 loaves)
750g T55 bread flour
375g wholemeal flour
2 tsp salt
1 litre buttermilk
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp honey
Method:
Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and slowly add the buttermilk. Beat for two minutes until the mix forms a dough. Add the honey to the wet mixture and beat in. Place the dough on to a worktop and mould into a flat circle, then score a cross into the top.
Move the dough circles to a baking tray and cook at 170C for 40 minutes. Make sure the dough is fully cooked before taking out of the oven – a top tip is to use a knitting needle to check it is cooked all the way through. If the needle comes out clean, the bread is ready to take out.
