Recipes from Dublin's Fair City

Although it’s always nicer to have the lovely people at The Woollen Mills Eating House serving up scrumptious dishes right to your table in the heart of Dublin city, creating these dishes at home is simple if you follow the recipes provided by Chef Ian Connolly, below. Perhaps this can be a little taste to whet your appetite for the full flavor of Ireland...

Mussels ‘n fries: Marty’s Killary Harbour rope mussels in Howth velvet crab bisque with samphire, chips & saffron aioli  

Serves: 4

Ingredients

To prepare the saffron aioli:
Pinch of saffron soaked for 2 hours in 4 teaspoons of water
13.5oz mayonnaise
To make the crab bisque:
5 medium size crabs (we use Howth velvet crab, but any swimming crab can be used)
1 fennel
1 onion
3 celery sticks
1 carrot
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
3.5fl oz white wine
7oz chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons of tomato purée

To prepare the chunky chips/fries:
12 large potatoes, cut into thick chips (we leave the skin on for extra crunch)
1 litre vegetable oil, or enough for your fryer
Salt, to season
To prepare the mussels for 4:
8lb 8oz Mussels (2lb 2oz per person for a generous portion)
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2.8fl oz of white wine
14oz samphire (or spring onion if samphire not available)
Chopped fresh herbs (dill and tarragon) to garnish
 
Method  

To make the saffron aioli, soak the saffron in the water for two hours. Mix the saffron water with the mayonnaise, then keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 320F.

To prepare the bisque, place the cut up crabs in a roasting tray and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Peel and chop up the fennel, onion and celery into small pieces. Add the oil to a large pot, and fry the vegetables until golden brown and soft. Remove the crab pieces from the oven, then add the wine, chopped tomatoes and crab shells to the large pot. Cover and cook on a low heat for 1 hour.

Put the mixture into a blender and blitz all together. Place a piece of muslin cloth over a bowl, and secure it using a rubber band. Sift the crab mixture through the cloth, using the back of a spoon to push through. Place the sieved mixture back in the pot, and reduce by one third. To finish, stir in the tomato purée.

To prepare the chips/fries, bring a large pot of cold salted water to a boil, add the potato chips/fries and once the water has started to bubble again, boil for 4 minutes. Drain the chips and let them dry out on a tea towel or on kitchen towel. Turn your deep fat fryer onto 284F, then place the potatoes in and cook for 8 minutes before removing from the pan. They will still have no color. Leave to one side until just ready to serve the mussels.

To prepare the mussels, heat a large pan and add mussels, garlic, wine and samphire to the pot. Cover with a lid and wait till the steam comes out. Give the pan a good shake, then add the bisque that you have already prepared. Mix well and cook for another minute. Place the chips/fries back in the hot oil for 2 minutes, or until golden brown and they float to the surface of the oil. Turn out into a bowl lined with kitchen towel, season with salt and shake well.

Garnish the mussels with chopped herbs and serve with the saffron aioli and fries.

Bread and Butter Pudding with Irish Whiskey Sauce

Makes: 6 generous portions

Ingredients

To make the pudding:
8.5fl oz cream
13.5fl oz full fat milk
3oz caster sugar  
1 x vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence)
2 medium eggs, whisked
4.5oz melted butter
3.5oz Sultanas, raisins or dried fruit
One white loaf of bread (sliced pan with crusts removed)

To make the Irish whiskey sauce:
5oz golden syrup
1.7oz caster sugar
2.5oz brown sugar  
1oz butter
1/2 cup of cream
2 shots of Irish whiskey
 
Method

Preheat the oven to 320F. To make the pudding, heat the cream and milk in a heavy-based pan over a low heat, then add the sugar, vanilla essence, eggs and melted butter to the pan. Using a wooden spoon, mix well together and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Meanwhile, line a medium sized, deep baking tray with parchment paper. Slice the bread into square shapes and dip each piece into the cream mix until soaked through.
 
Layer the bread onto the baking tray, with a sprinkle of sultanas, raisins and dried fruit in between each slice. When the bread is all used, pour the remaining mixture all over the tray. Cover the baking tray with parchment paper and place the baking tray in the oven. Bake for 1 hour, then remove the paper, and cook for another 15 minutes until the top is golden.

To make the whiskey sauce: In a small pan, heat together the syrup, sugars and butter until melted. When the sauce starts to bubble, turn down the heat to low and whisk the cream into the hot mixture. Raise the heat again until the mixture begins to bubble, then take off the heat and add whiskey to serve.

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