Dreaming and Scheming
Flour, Stout and an Air bnb
Scheming is what I do on days off, dreaming up ideas of things I’d like to do and then wondering how to put them into action. Little lists of random thoughts, words and pictures all waiting for their outlet into the world. I had been missing cooking for people, as we stopped doing food to order in the bakery (although a brilliant decision, meaning we could focus entirely on baking) and felt the need for another outlet to share our ethos of local, seasonal and affordable eating; not always easily or fully communicable through a tart or Danish pastry.
We had run supper clubs in the past but they had been on pause since COVID and I wanted to restart with purpose. I decided on a dinner series, with nourishing food for all, NOT supper and definitely not a club! Collaborations with people I admire; growers, bakers, holistic therapists, cheesemongers, beer folk and so on to help spread the net of food understanding far and wide. It’s important to me to develop interesting and innovative events where people can see the vibrancy of our community, the desire for cool stuff to happen and therefore hopefully to be a catalyst for the establishment of other great things that I could go to as a guest…selfish really!
I was totally elated when Beth O’Brien said she’d love to come up for a day in the kitchen and we immediately started planning a dinner celebrating our mutual appreciation of flour and stout; featuring 5 different stouts from Donegal to Cork. What great craic it is to cook with a fellow passionate baker, invaluable tips and tricks, banter and a little chaos of course. Beth is talented, humble, wise and fun, she is skilful and driven and I loved having a bit of time with her, it’s always so motivating and inspiring to be around others with similar passions; not just the stout!
Whilst it’s amazing to have Beth cooking for our community here, it does have a reciprocal effect, a hidden agenda. Showing people in our industry the beauty of our coast, the people, the passion and the wealth of interesting and quality produce here will make others sit up and listen. Our food scene here is surviving unseen, ambling along behind a shadow of disregard. We have no strong voice advocating for us, we are alone; separated from the rest of the island both by government bodies and influential food writers and from the rest of the UK, geographically and food culture wise there is literally a sea between us. Time and time again I see us ignored but I’ll be shouting when I can. I made the decision to bring my family up here, I love our landscape, I made a home here and a business and I hope that with more people being enthused and encouraged by innovation and a supportive, nourishing culture of camaraderie that my children will feel the same.
Another beautiful landscape is north west Donegal where I am right now, 26 steps from the cottage to the aforementioned drink of choice. With unbelievable beaches every couple of miles and gorgeous barren uplands and mountains it is wild but at the same time calm, invigorating and yet relaxing.
I always bring a bag of flour with me to a self catering house; the kids love pancakes and we love this pastry for sweet or savoury filling. Great for a kitchen with limited equipment, all you need is a baking tray/sheet and a rolling pin would be a bonus but you can be creative! For your filling the ideal would be to grab some fresh produce from the local market, roadside box or deli but I had some very sad mushrooms, half a tub of crème fraiche and some Cashel Blue which turned out delish. I love chopped leftover spuds, garlic and herbs, summer tomatoes and courgettes or rhubarb for a sweet version- sprinkle some sugar on your crust for extra crunchy sweetness.
Pastry for sweet or savoury Galette
150g flour (I used 50g wholemeal and 100g white)
90g cold butter chopped
Big pinch salt
40-50g very cold water
One egg for egg washing the crust
Put the flours and salt into a bowl and mix. Quickly flick the butter and four together until it starts to look like breadcrumbs and you still have a few butter pieces about the size of almonds. Make a well in the centre of the mix and pour in 40ml of the cold water, use a scraper of butter knife to bring it together, add morewater if you need to, then on the counter fully bring together in a block, wrap in greaseproof or whatever you have to hand and chill for around one hour in fridge or, if short on time, put in the freezer for 20 mins.
Preheat the oven to 170 degree (fan) When the pastry has been rested, lightly flour your surface and roll out to a large roundish disc, around 5mm thick. Put on your filling; I smeared crème fraiche on the base then tore the mushrooms roughly over the top. Pleat the sides up to create a crust then brush with the egg wash and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, I put the Cashel blue on as soon as it came out of the oven.
