Seas, Rivers, and Loughs

PETEER | DREAMSTIME.COM

By Margaret M. Johnson

We’re already halfway through Northern Ireland’s “Year of Food and Drink” but it’s not too late to visit! Throughout the year, restaurants, hotels, producers, and markets are showcasing the best of Northern Ireland produce and celebrating the people and passion that goes into rearing, making, cooking, and serving it. Every month is dedicated to a unique aspect of food and drink, so whether it’s “heritage and traditions” in March or a celebration of “seas, rivers, and loughs” in July, you’re sure to find  something delicious this year in Ulster. This summery dish of cod and tomatoes from chef John McGee, who heads the kitchen at Encore Brasserie in Derry’s Millennium Forum, is a perfect example (www.milleniumforum.co.uk).

PAN-SEARED COD WITH SERRANO HAM, TOMATO

TAPENADE, AND ROASTED TOMATOES

Serves 4

For the tapenade

4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes

1 garlic clove

8 to 10 fresh basil leaves basil

3 tablespoons olive oil

For the cod

8 slices Serrano ham

4 (6 ounce) cod filets

Salt and ground pepper to taste

For the tomatoes

8 ounces cherry tomatoes

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 tablespoons olive oil

Sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Basil leaves for garnish

Make tapenade. Combine tomatoes, garlic, and basil in food processor and pulse 4 to 5 times, or until chopped. With motor running, add 2 tablespoons oil and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Make cod. Place 2 slices of ham (overlapping) on a work surface and spread with 2 tablespoons of tapenade. Place a piece of cod on top and wrap ham around fish. Repeat with remaining cod; refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Make tomatoes. Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine tomatoes, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper in a shallow ovenproof dish, cover with foil, and roast for 15 minutes.

While tomatoes are roasting, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in an ovenproof skillet. Add cod, seam-side down, and fry for 2 minutes; turn once, and then transfer pan to oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cod is cooked through.

To serve, arrange cod on plates and serve roasted tomatoes alongside. Garnish with basil leaves.

Margaret M. Johnson has been writing about Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink once a month. Her “Recipes” column appears every other week in the print edition of the Irish Echo. The rest of this week’s column is reproduced below.

IMAGE COURTESY: BOILIE CHEESE.

RECIPES | Margaret M. Johnson

Great Stuff(ings) for Chicken and Fish

Stuffing chicken or fish filets with cheese, herbs, or vegetables can create quite an impression — think Chicken Kiev, the classic dish made with a simple stuffing of cold garlic butter and herbs that oozes gently onto your plate as soon as you cut it! Some recipes, like Chicken Kiev, require breading and frying, but others rely on what’s inside rather than what’s out. This chicken dish uses a flavorful combination of garlic-infused goat’s cheese and cream cheese in the stuffing and a smooth sauce made with jarred red peppers to serve alongside. For a tasty take on stuffed fish, see the offering from chef John McGee celebrating seafood in July as part of Northern Ireland’s “Year of Food and Drink.”

BOILIE-STUFFED CHICKEN WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE

Serves 4

Boilie is a soft, Irish cheese made from both cow’s and goat’s milk. The cheese is rolled into little orbs and then marinated in sunflower oil seasoned with pink peppercorns, fresh herbs, and garlic. If you can’t find Boilie, you can substitute garlic and herb-flavored goat cheese. The mixed bean salad (recipe follows) makes a great side dish.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1 cup roasted red peppers, drained and chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Salt and ground pepper to taste

Chicken

8 balls Boilie cheese, at room temperature

1 tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 bone-in chicken breasts with skin

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons Boilie oil or canola oil

Make sauce. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process for 30 to 40 seconds, or until smooth. (Can be made 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate).

Make chicken. In a small bowl, combine the Boilie, cream cheese, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to blend. With your fingers, gently loosen the skin from each breast and divide one-fourth of the stuffing under it. Press skin down to seal and secure with a toothpick; brush skin with butter.

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Cook chicken, skin-side down, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish and bake, skin-side up, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until skin is crisp and a meat thermometer inserted into center registers 165° F. Reheat sauce.

To serve, place a chicken breast in the center of four serving plates and spoon sauce over the top.

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MIXED BEAN SALAD WITH BACON

Serves 4 to 6

Sugar snap peas, also known as sugar peas or sugar snaps, are the sweet, crunchy cross between English butter peas and snow peas. They are best eaten, pod and all, in a salad, or cooked very briefly to retain color, crispness, and flavor. They’re delicious hot combined with French green beans, broad beans, butter beans, or baby lima beans, but you can also serve them cold topped with bacon and almonds for a lovely summer salad. Toss with your favorite vinaigrette dressing or a splash of oil and vinegar. Keep in mind that sugar peas have strings on both seams that should be removed before eating. Just snap off a bit of the stem and pull gently down both sides.

4 slices American bacon

1 pound fresh sugar snap peas, strings removed

1 pound fresh green (runner) beans

1 (10 ounce) package frozen butter beans

1 (10 ounce) package frozen lima beans

2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Salt and ground pepper to taste

Vinaigrette for serving

In a small skillet over medium heat, or in a microwave oven, cook bacon until crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove to drain on absorbent paper.

In a large saucepan over high heat, drop snap peas and green beans into boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and refresh in cold water. Set aside. Refill saucepan with water, bring to a boil, and cook butter beans and lima beans for about 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain.

To serve, combine peas and beans in a serving bowl, season with salt and pepper, and toss with dressing. Crumble bacon on top and sprinkle with almonds

Margaret M. Johnson’s” Favorite Flavors of Ireland” is a “labor of love and tribute to her thirty years of travel there. It offers more than 100 best-loved recipes from her previous ten cookbooks and celebrates the special flavors of each Irish season: Spring/An t-Earrach, Summer/An Samhradh, Autum/An Fómhar, Winter/An Geimhreadh.” To order a signed copy, visit www.irishcook.com.