VittlesVamp

Leaving NYC for Minneapolis

No, not me - my pal Kristin (not the archaeologically-inclined one, but the urban planning one).

I think she's hoping she'll get to the Twin Cities, wrangle her way into a job at a local television station newsroom with a blustering fool of an anchorman and a hard-nosed, heart-of-gold producer. And then her hat will stick in the air.

Yeah. Right.

So, disappointed as I am at her leaving the Big Apple for Prince and Mall of America country, I was compelled to bid adieu the only way I know how - a dinner party. The menu this past Saturday night:

*Mousse Truffe Pate with Melba Toast Crackers & Olives
*Bufala Mozzarella with a Cherry Tomato Salad in a Champagne-Shallot
Vinaigrette
*Penne with Red Swiss Chard and Toasted Pine Nuts (pictured above)
*Shrimp with a Basil, Walnut & Lemon Pesto
*Homemade Ginger Ice Cream with a Peach-Ginger Sauce and Vanilla
Shortbread Cookies

Considering I was riffing on recipes when I whipped up the penne and shrimp, I was awfully glad that everything ended up tasting delish. In fact, although I cooked for about 10 and only 7 were at the table, pretty much everything was devoured by the evening's end - not to mention the downing of 6 bottles of wine.

And, if you'd like to try your hand at my penne recipe, here you go:

Penne with Red Swiss Chard and Toasted Pine Nuts
Serves 6 as an entree & 10 as an Appetizer or Side Dish

1 16 oz. box of penne pasta
2 bunches of red swiss chard, chopped into bite size pieces
1 small red onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp. dried chili pepper flakes
1 TBSP. chopped fresh thyme
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Blanche the chopped chard in boiling water for 45 second. Drain and then squeeze out excess water. Set aside. Cook penne according to manufacturer's instruction and save 1/2 cup pasta cooking water before you drain. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. After they become translucent - about 4 minutes - add the chard and cook one minute longer to warm through. Then, add cooked pasta, chili pepper flakes, thyme, 1/2 cup of the cheese and the pasta water. Stir to combine ingredients. Plate and top with toasted pine nuts and the rest of the cheese.

Emerald Isle - Part 6

Alright. We get the idea. Beautiful scenery. Adorable canine. A roundabout or two. More beautiful scenery. Enough! What happened to all the talk about FOOD and DRINK? C'mon! What's VittlesVamp without the VITTLES?

Your wish is my command. This, ladies and gents, is the menu for one of our two luxurious dinners at Ballyvolane House:

* Pear, Garden Rocket, Parmesan Cheese & Roasted Pine Nuts Salad
* Roast Leg of Spring Lamb with Garlic & Rosemary
* Baked New Season Potatoes
* Creamed Spinach
* Roasted Fennel
* Rhubarb Tart with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
* Cork, Tipperary & Wexford Cheeses
* Coffee, Tea & Fresh Herbal Infusion

And, this is where we ate said dinners...

Eating your heart out? Wishing you too could taste a bit of life at Ballyvolane? Well, you're in luck. I was able to convince Justin, the manor hotel's amiable owner and consummate host, to share the chef's recipe for Brown Soda Bread.

Now, don't get indignant because Brown Soda Bread doesn't sound like glamorous fare! You're completely wrong on that account. One slice of this nutty, slightly sweet, rich bread, perhaps augmented by a glossing of bitter orange marmalade, and you too will be hooked. The stuff is simply addictive. Not sure it'll taste quite the same outside of Ballyvolane's baroque dining room with the morning sunshine streaming in, but I'm willing to test out the recipe and see if I can recapture a bit o' the Irish here in Brooklyn:

Ballyvolane House Brown Soda Bread
(Makes 2 Loaves)

1 1/2 lbs. wholemeal flour
1 handful wheat bran
2 handfuls wheat germ
2 1/4 lbs. pinhead oatmeal (aka chunky-grade)
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sieved baking soda
1 liter buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bread tins with butter. Mix dry ingredients well. Add buttermilk and stir until mixed thoroughly with the dry ingredients. Divide mixture into 2 bread tins and sprinkle with a little additional pinhead oatmeal. Bake for 1 hour on oven upper shelf.

And, with this glorious recipe, my travelogue to Ireland is at an end. Tomorrow, back to my usual jaw-boning on ingesting and imbibing on this side of the pond.

Emerald Isle - Part 5

All of that driving seemed worth it when we finally arrived at Ballyvolane House in Castlelyons, Cork County.

We passed through the grand entrance door and were dumbstruck.

It was like stepping into a Merchant Ivory film - except we didn't have to wear uncomfortable Empire-waist dresses and there was a fully-stocked, fully-refrigerated honor bar. It was incredible. Were we really going to get to spend the night in this gorgeous manor house? Did we make a wrong turn back at the last roundabout? We couldn't possibly be staying somewhere this sumptuous.

Justin, the ebullient owner, assured us that we were indeed on his list of reserved guests. It was his honor to have us spend the night at Ballyvolane - and he could even accomodate us for the next night too, if we wished to forgo our original plan of driving up to Doolin in the morning. Our bedroom was right this way...

The view...

I was in heaven. Pure heaven. I was gob-smacked. I wanted to move in - to never leave.

Mo seemed a bit stunned herself.

Glee can do that to a person.

I took a long, luxurious bath and then decided to take in a tour of the grounds, while Mo settled into our amazing suite. And, no sooner did I step out of the front door, when the family dog, Wriggles, greeted me with a happy "Woof!"

She seemed like the perfect companion. I started to wander off, when I saw Wriggles veering in another direction.

Woof!

Clearly, I was to follow.

We meandered down a lovely path and then came upon a closed gate. Wriggles adeptly wriggled underneath. Hmmm. What to do?

Woof! She slipped back to my side. Woof! And, she slipped back under.

Who was I to argue?

I opened the gate and shut it behind me as I followed Wriggles down the path. And, then I saw why it was so important for her to lead me in this direction: She wanted to introduce me to the Ballyvolane donkeys. They clip-clopped over to the fence and allowed me to introduce myself with a pet or two before Wriggles had me chasing her further down the pathway.

Where to now? A turn or two later, and a gorgeous vista revealed itself - two charming ponds surrounded by shrubbery.

Woof! Woof! We walked around them both.

Woof! Woof! And, we were off again - but through some rather rough brush. Where were we going this time?

Woof! Wriggles led me to a short pathway that led up a hill to a closed-in fence. Woof! Woof! And, then the cows came home - literally - about a dozen or so ambled up to the gate to say their "hellos."

I most certainly wasn't in New York anymore. Thank goodness! (Did I really mean that? I love New York! But, no, I really meant it. I needed this - to be away - really away - somewhere this utterly enchanting.)

Moo! Moo! Woof! Woof! And, Wriggles led me back to the house, where I ran up the steps to see if Maureen had experienced similar magic while I had been gone.

She was sitting in one of the room's comfy chairs looking beautific. And then she spoke.

"Can we skip Doolin and stay another night?"

I felt the tears streaming down my face and promptly kissed her atop her head.

Yay!!!!

A Break From All That Green

Will complete my Irish travelogue next week. But until then, feel free to chew on my last few Gothamist items:

*Is Popcorn Pass

Emerald Isle - Part 4

The next few days were a blur. Not cause we were drunk, mind you, but just because we seemed to keep moving - running around the city to get in all the tourist spots and charming pubs that Maureen had missed during the earlier portion of my trip, waiting on a bank line to exchange Mo's Swiss Francs for Euros, attempting the near-impossible task of overnighting a package from our sweet Dublin hotel, visiting the Disney-esque exercise in branding known as the Guinness Storehouse, dining at the sophisticated, yet remarkably friendly Chapter One Restaurant, etc.

And, things only got blurrier when we rented a car for the next portion of our holiday.

Inspecting our map, it seemed that driving from Dublin to the seaside town of Bray (from whence Mo's family sprung before emigrating to the States) would only be a quick trip of a half-hour or so.

About two hours later we were there. (Damn those roundabouts and driving on the other side of the street!)

But then we discovered a wee gift shop, where Maureen promptly bought every single item emblazoned with the name "Bray." (I think she made their year!) And, we stopped off at the local fish and chips take-away (pictured above) and munched on the beach before hitting the road for further driving adventures - and hopefully a bit of scenery.

Another two hours later (as opposed to the predicted 45 minutes) we finally ended up at a bit of scenery:

Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains.

But no sooner were we taking in the country vistas and clean air when we realized that we were pressed for time if we wanted to find somewhere pleasant to crash for the night before heading to Cork County the next day for the second lag of the trip.

And, about four hours later we parked ourselves in the quayside town of Wexford, where the streets were narrow and the restaurants closed early. We made the critical mistake of grabbing a drink at 8pm before ferreting out a restaurant. By 8:30pm nothing and no one was serving food - except for two sad looking Chinese outposts and one rather grand looking Thai spot, bizarrely named Vine (pictured below).

Yes, two Thai dinners in Ireland. And, this meal was actually better than the one at Tiger Bec's in Dublin. Even so, I vowed to not let Asian cuisine pass through my lips again until I was back home.

And, what did we do the next day? Get in the car and travel some more. We were in route to what we hoped would be an incredible manor house hotel outside of Cork. So, we had to motor if yesterday's misreads were any indication of map estimates versus real-world time.

So, we drove. And, drove. And, drove.

Finally I had to pee.

We had to stop.

And stop we did, in the adorably quaint town of Youghal (pronounced "yawl"). Luckily, we pulled into a parking lot right near a gorgeous seafood restaurant and lodge, Aherne's. And, after availing myself of the facilities, Mo and I plunked ourselved down at one of their outdoor garden tables and ordered a dozen sweet, briny oysters (pictured below), an Irish Smoked Salmon Salad and a Toasted Seafood Sandwich for lunch.

Mmmm...The sun was warming us. The food was sating our tummies. We could fall asleep right there...But, no! We had to keep going!

We allowed ourselves a quick walk through town and then hit the road once again, heading towards Cork.

Driving. Roundabout. Driving. Roundabout. Stuck behind farming equipment. Roundabout. Driving. Stuck behind a massive truck. Driving. Roundabout. Roundabout. Roundabout.

This was getting silly - and Mo was doing all of the driving thus far. It was time for another break.

And, then we saw it...A teeny-tiny stand selling just-picked strawberries at the side of the road. We pulled over and I purchased a pint of the fragrant, bright red berries. As I put my change away, I turned my head and was greeted with this unexpected view:

Oh, my.

Mo got out of the car. We nibbled on the sugary berries for a while and just soaked in the green surrounding us.

It was lovely. Truly lovely

And, then whoosh - DAMN - the massive truck from earlier in the day was back - and now in front of us once again. Aargh! We'd better get going.

One more look at the green - and one more strawberry for the road - and then we were off...

Emerald Isle - Part 3

Last we left the Vamp, she was relaxing at her Dublin hotel, awaiting the arrival of her friend Mo, and looking forward to a "wild Irish" evening on the town.

Unfortunately, Mo wasn't feeling too wild after her travels. So, forgetting about the nightclub scene, we settled instead for a trip to the Edwardian period Neary's (pictured above), where actors had been known to imbibe after curtain. The Gaiety Theatre, located around the corner, was actually presenting "Riverdance," so we quickly hauled out of there after a couple of rounds.

And, to follow up our pints we headed to Tiger Bec's for Thai fare.

Yes, you read correctly - Thai. Maureen was sick n' tired of creamy, fried food after 10 days in Switzerland, so we agreed that the leaner, cleaner option of Asian cuisine was in order.

The dinner was actually quite tasty - although it didn't blow either of us away. And, the decor was a bit too "trendy" for our tastes. Still, all in all, better than we expected for Thai vittles in Dublin.

We didn't last much past paying the bill. Mo had had a full day of travel and I'd had a full day of sightseeing and pub-hopping.

But, could we handle one more pint before hitting the hay???

We could!

We grabbed one more quick pint at Doheny & Nesbitt, a lovely, traditional Victorian-style watering hole and favorite of journalists and politicos.

And then, blissful (and Bulmer's-buzzed) sleep.

Emerald Isle - Part 2

The next day I put on my VittlesVamp hat and crossed the Liffey to check out the Moore Street outdoor food market. The pickings were colorful, but rather slim in comparison to the produce selection at my local bodega...

But, the butchers that lined the block where chock-a-block with selection...

And, the pork store was particularly impressive...

I also made some sightseeing stops, including the Hugh Lane Gallery of Modern Art, the Dublin Writers' Museum and the James Joyce Cultural Center.

I crossed the Liffey back to the "southside" and realized something of staggering importance - I was parched. What to do?

Inspired by the James Joyce Cultural Center, I decided to lunch at Davy Byrnes, a pub immortalized in Joyce's classic "Ulysses." Over my Irish Smoked Salmon Sandwich and Bulmer's I couldn't help but notice that the pub brought out the love of reading in all who passed through its doors. Several of my supping and sipping neighbors had books in hand. Perhaps Joyce had cast a spell over the place. The elderly priest sitting across the bar reading "Great Pubs of Ireland" seemed particularly devoted to great literature.

What can I say? Reading is fundamental.

So, I decided to get with the program. I rarely take time in the middle of my hurried New York life to just kick back and read a novel. I was due. Besides, the sitting room at my hotel was brimming with period bric-a-brac and comfy chairs. It was the perfect place to relax, read and wait for my partner in crime to appear.

Yes, my pal Maureen was on her way. After 10 days working non-stop at an industry event in Switzerland, I knew she'd be up for a wild Irish night. Best to give myself some down time in preparation...Hmm...I wonder if several pubs and several wild Irish men will be involved in the evening's festivities...