As part of Created in Cavan, we are lucky to have access to recipes from some of the county’s talented member chefs. From a traditional Irish soda bread to a rich duck confit, a light raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake and a comforting fish pie, these recipes offer a taste of the variety and creativity found across Cavan’s food scene.
Whether you are looking for something new to bake, a dessert for a special occasion or a hearty meal for the family, these recipes from Richard Corrigan, Neven Maguire and Norbert Neylon give you the opportunity to bring a little taste of Cavan into your own kitchen.
Richard Corrigan’s Soda Bread
Makes 1 Loaf. Serves 4
Preparation: 10 mins
Cooking: 45 mins
Richard Corrigan’s Irish soda bread is a family recipe, passed down the generations, and is now used in our own kitchen. This bread is heavenly fresh out of the oven and smothered with good salted butter, or topped with crab or salmon for fool-proof canapés. And if you have anything leftover (not likely), toast it the next day to have with a hearty breakfast.
Ingredients
250g plain flour
10g salt
15g sodium bicarbonate
150g wholemeal flour
150g jumbo oat flakes
1 tablespoon clear honey
1 tablespoon black treacle
500ml buttermilk
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with a baking sheet.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, then mix in the honey, treacle and buttermilk, working everything together lightly with your hands until you have a loose, wet dough.
- Flour your hands, shape the dough into a round shape and lift it onto the baking sheet. Cut a cross in the top. As the loaf cooks it will help to separate it into quarters.
- Put it into the oven and bake for around 35-40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack, drape a damp cloth over the top and leave to cool.
More on Virginia Park Lodge HERE!
Neven Maguire’s Cheesecake with Raspberries and White Chocolate
In the restaurant we serve this cheesecake with a jammie dodger and sometimes a nice quenelle of raspberry sorbet or raspberry ripple ice cream. The cheesecake itself is really light, I like to decorate the plate with dried raspberries and baby Maltesers, both of which are available from good catering suppliers.
Serves 8
Ingredients
400g (14oz) cream cheese
Finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon
1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out
200g (7oz) white chocolate, broken into squares
200ml (7fl oz) cream
2 tablespoon Coole Swan
8 shortbread biscuits, finely broken up
White chocolate curls, to decorate Dried raspberries, to decorate Baby Maltesers to decorate Spun sugar, to decorate Fresh mint sprigs, to decorate
8 Jammie dodgers, to serve
For the Poached Raspberries
300ml (½ pint) red wine
2 tablespoon crème de cassis
75g (3oz) caster sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
½ vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out 400g (14oz) raspberries, plus extra to decorate
Method
- Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, Coole Swan, lemon rind and juice and vanilla seeds for about 5 minutes, until smooth and light.
- Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, place the cream in a separate bowl and whip until stiff. - Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and then carefully fold in the whipped cream. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm (zin) plain nozzle and place in the fridge until needed.
- To poach the raspberries, place the red wine and crème de cassis in a pan with the sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise and vanilla pod and seeds and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until reduced by half and slightly thickened. Place the raspberries in a heatproof bowl and pour over the wine mixture through a fine sieve, discarding the cinnamon stick, star anise and vanilla pod. Stir to combine and leave to cool.
- To assemble the cheesecake, divide the poached raspberries among martini glasses and crumble the shortbread biscuits on top. Pipe the cheesecake mixture right up to the rim of the glasses and decorate with raspberries, white chocolate curls, dried raspberries, baby Maltesers, spun sugar and mint sprigs.
To serve, arrange the cheesecakes on plates with a Jammie dodger.
Cook Ahead
The poached raspberries will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. All the other elements can be prepared 24 hours in advance and assembled just before serving.
More on MacNean House & Restaurant HERE!
Neven Maguire’s Thornhill Duck Confit with Crispy Fried Vegetables
Serves 6
Ingredients
6 Thornhill duck legs
6-7 fresh thyme sprigs
6 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
4 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 litre (1 ¾ pints) duck fat
For the Crispy Vegetables
Sunflower oil, for deep-frying
1 large carrot, peeled
1 courgette
1 small beetroot, peeled
Method
- To marinate the duck legs, place them in a single layer in a shallow non-metallic dish and scatter over the thyme, star anise, cinnamon, garlic and salt. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge overnight to allow the flavours to penetrate the duck.
- Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F/gas mark 1/2).
- Rinse the marinade off the duck legs and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
Return the duck legs to the dish. Heat the duck fat gently in a pan, then pour it over the duck legs to cover them completely. Place in the oven and cook for about 4 hours, until very tender and the meat is almost falling from the bone.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the fat. - When ready to serve, preheat the grill to low. Remove the duck confit and brush off any excess fat. Arrange the duck legs on a grill rack skin side up, but don’t put the rack too close to the grill or the skin will burn. Season with salt and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the skin is crisp and golden.
- To prepare the crispy vegetables, heat a deep-fat fryer filled with sunflower oil to 170°C (340°F). Shave the carrot, courgette and beetroot into thin strips or ribbons using a potato peeler or mandolin. Make sure you do the beetroot ast or you will discolour the other vegetables. Blanch the strips in a large pan of boiling salted water for 1 minute, until just tender but still with a little bite.
Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper. Working in batches, deep-fry the vegetable strips for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until crisp and golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and season to taste.
To serve, arrange the crispy duck confit on plates with the crispy vegetables.
Add a swipe of spinach purée to each plate and drizzle over the marmalade sauce. Cook ahead – The duck confit can be made 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge.
More on MacNean House & Restaurant HERE!
Norbert Neylon’s Fish Pie
Serves 2/3
Ingredients
300g seafood mix
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
150g of white leek washed and finely chopped
30g Lakeland butter
75ml cream
30g chopped dill
75ml of fish stock
350g of mashed potato
50g parmesan cheese
Method
- Preheat your oven to 200°C. Add the butter to a medium sized pan and melt.
Then add the chopped garlic, onion and white of leek, cook for 2-3 minutes until soft, add the fish stock and reduce by half. - Add the seafood mix and stir, then add the cream and bring to the boil, give the seafood mix a good stir, (the seafood mix will have taken some colour by now but the fish will not be cooked). Finally add the chopped dill.
- Place the seafood mix in a deep baking dish and cover with the mashed potato.
Now sprinkle the parmesan on top. - Place your fish pie in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown on top.
More on Oak Room Restaurant HERE!
These recipes showcase just some of the talent and creativity found among the chefs and food businesses connected with Created in Cavan.
From Richard Corrigan’s family soda bread and Neven Maguire’s desserts and duck confit to Norbert Neylon’s comforting fish pie, each recipe offers something different to try at home.
They also highlight the importance of good ingredients, with products such as Coole Swan and Lakeland Dairies butter featuring in the recipes.
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