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Darina Allen: Three recipe highlights from the Ballymaloe Festival of Food

We had the best weekend a few weeks ago at the Ballymaloe Festival of Food. There was so much going on that it's taken until now to fully process the talks, demonstrations, dinners, wine tastings and artisan producer stalls. We were so grateful to the many sponsors including Kerrygold who proudly headline sponsored the event. I've always been a butter fan. As you may know, I was dubbed 'The Butter Queen of Ireland' long before the Simply Delicious series, when the low fat mania was in full swing (hope you know you were duped!). I remember getting a letter from a viewer during my Simply Delicious series accusing me of having no sense of responsibility — didn't I know that butter and fat were detrimental to people's health suggesting that I recommend marge and low fat instead. I don't think so… Needless to say, I stuck to my guns, butter is a truly natural product, the fat of our land. Whereas olive oil is the fat of the Mediterranean, also a super healthy nourishing product. But when I say butter, I mean real butter, that comes in a pound block, I don't think much of the plethora of spreads. If you want spreadable butter, leave it out of the fridge overnight in the time-honoured way! One of the many fun events of the Ballymaloe Festival of Food was the Kerrygold Butter Disco, where we handed out little jars of cream to a bunch of eager butter makers. We shook the jars while we danced to the funky music played by the DJ. Within a few minutes the cream had thickened, then a ball of butter separated from the buttermilk in the jars. Everyone was super excited and amazed — most folks know that butter comes from cream but have no idea how thetransformation occurs — pure magic! Chefs, food writers and activists came from all over these islands and from as far away as New Zealand. Many spoke on the 'Change We Must' stage. They came to cook, share and wax lyrical about the lunches, dinners, chats, exchanging of ideas… Richard Hart, legendary baker and Henrietta Lovell, the Rare Tea Lady, did an afternoon tea with tea pairings in a marquee in the Walled Garden and the sun shone. Other chefs shared their experience and recipes in the Grainstore Cookery Demonstrations. Because of space constraints, I can only share three highlights with you but all the recipes are on Try Jay Rayner's Crispy Duck Salad, Romy Gill's Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani) and Amber Guinness's Pistachio Panna Cotta – enjoy! Romy Gill's Butter Chicken (Murg Makhani) recipe by:Romy Gill There are so many recipes for butter chicken. This is my take. With its silky smooth, gently spiced tomato, cashew and cream gravy, it's a comforting, warming dish that feels decadent. Servings 4 Preparation Time  15 mins Cooking Time  50 mins Total Time  1 hours 5 mins Course  Main Ingredients 750g skinless, boneless chicken (thighs and breasts), cut into bite-size pieces For the marinade 10g ginger root, peeled and grated (shredded) 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated (shredded) 2 tsp tandoori masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp yogurt Juice of ½ lemon 30ml sunflower oil For the sauce 500g tomatoes 50g butter 20g ginger root, peeled and grated (shredded) 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated (shredded) 1 tsp tomato purée (paste) 1 tsp tandoori masala 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp chilli powder 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 30g ground cashew nuts 30ml cream 6-8 green cardamom seeds, crushed 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaf your choice of Indian flatbreads or rice, to serve Method To make the marinade, mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Prick the chicken pieces with a fork to allow the marinade to penetrate the meat. Add the chicken to the bowl and stir well to coat thoroughly. Cover the bowl and set aside in the fridge to marinate for at least a couple of hours. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Spread the marinated chicken out on a baking tray and cook in the hot oven for 15 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, make the sauce. If the chicken finishes cooking before you have finished making the sauce, switch the oven off after the 15 minutes and leave the meat to rest in the oven. Blanch the tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for a few minutes, then remove their skins. Cut into quarters and remove the seeds, then roughly chop and place in a food processor. Blitz to a smooth purée. Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the puréed fresh tomatoes as well as the tomato purée and cook for 8-10 minutes until the tomatoes are cooked through, stirring regularly to avoid them sticking and burning. Add all the spices, chilli powder, salt and sugar, mix well and cook for a further 2 minutes until emulsified. Lower the heat, then add the ground cashew nuts and cream, and stir well. Add 500-600ml of water – the quantity you choose to add depends on how runny you want the sauce to be. Bring the mixture to a boil, and when it starts bubbling, add the chicken, lower the heat and cook for a further 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle over the cardamom seeds and dried fenugreek leaves. Stir and leave to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving with rice or any Indian flatbread. Jay Rayner's Crispy Duck Salad recipe by:Jay Rayner A while after I'd come up with my version of this joyous salad, I found Hix's original recipe online. It is what you'd expect of a diligent restaurant chef. My version cuts out about two hours of work Servings 4 Preparation Time  15 mins Cooking Time  25 mins Total Time  40 mins Course  Starter Ingredients 2 confit duck legs 4 tbsp hoisin sauce For the salad 100g watercress or rocket, stalks trimmed (You can also add fresh coriander if you fancy) 6 large radishes, sliced 4 spring onions, trimmed andsliced into batons 1 tbsp sesame seeds For the salad dressing 2 tbsp olive oil 1 ½ tbsp sherry vinegar (White wine vinegar is a good alternative) 1 tsp sesame oil sea salt Method Gently toast the sesame seeds in a dry cast-iron frying pan, over a medium heat. Keep watch. They burn easily. When most of them are lightly golden brown, remove to a bowl, add a pinch of table salt, and set aside. Wipe down the pan to remove any stray sesame seeds that are hanging about. They don't taste at all nice when burnt. Separate out the duck legs and place them skin side down in the frying pan over the lowest heat. Do not add any oil. They'll produce more than enough fat of their own. Turn every five minutes or so, as they start to colour. After about 10 or 15 minutes, take the pan off the heat. Using a fork and a sharp knife you should be able to pull the meat away from the bone. Break it up into smaller pieces, with the skin down. Put back onto the heat. Use a spatula to continue breaking up the meat into smaller pieces. Attend to any pieces of skin that come away from the meat. They may look a bit fatty but gently increase the heat and it will crisp up but do keep an eye on it all, so it doesn't burn. Once crisped, remove the leg bones and keep them as a chef's perk. Stand by the stove, chewing off the last bits of meat while no one else is watching. You've earned it. When the duck is broken up and crisped, take the pan off the heat. Put the ingredients for the salad dressing in the bottom of a bowl, including a good pinch of sea salt. Pile the leaves and sliced radishes on the top and then toss and turn to coat in the dressing using your hands or, if you're a little uptight, salad servers. Portion out onto four plates or flat bowls. Put the hoisin sauce in thebottom of a mixing bowl. Add the duck and mix to coat every piece completely. Top each portion of the salad with a quarter of the duck. Sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and decorate with the batons of spring onion Amber Guinness's Pistachio Panna Cotta recipe by:Amber Guinness Mixing pistachio cream with panna cotta is an indulgent twist on a classic, bringing a nutty sweetness to the cream as well as acting as a second setting agent, meaning you need less gelatine. Servings 4 Preparation Time  3 hours 0 mins Cooking Time  20 mins Total Time  3 hours 20 mins Course  Dessert Ingredients 2 x 2g gelatine leaves 400ml double cream 30g caster sugar 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped 80g pistachio cream handful of unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped handful of raspberries (optional) Method To make the panna cotta, using scissors, cut the gelatine sheets into a small bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 15 minutes or as instructed on the packet. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a medium saucepan and add the sugar, vanilla seeds and pod. Place over a medium heat and gently warm until it almost comes to the boil, then switch off immediately. Squeeze any excess liquid out of the soaked gelatine and stir into the hot cream until it has completely dissolved. Remove the vanilla pod, then transfer to a large bowl and mix in the pistachio cream until smooth. Divide the panna cotta evenly among four cocktail glasses, then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or, better still, overnight. When you're ready to serve, top each panna cotta with a teaspoon of roughly chopped pistachios and, if you like, a few raspberries. Serve directly from the glass. Dynamic Vegetarian Cooking Demonstration, June 18 Vegetarian cooking becomes increasingly exciting and innovative. So, whatever the reason whether you, yourself or family members are vegetarian or are reducing meat for health or ecological reasons, or want to entertain vegetarian guests in style, after three hours you will come away with a host of brilliant ideas and mouth-watering recipes. Also enjoy a walk through the kitchen garden and organic farm at Ballymaloe Cookery School. Congratulations to Cork chefs Local Enterprise Office South Cork FoodProducers award winners (also sponsored the Ballymaloe Festival of Food and following awards). Congratulations to: Chefs Choice: Roaring Water Sea Vegetables — Public Choice Winners: Mushrooms and Love —