Chez Hans, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Chez Hans is a simply beautiful looking restaurant, first established a stone's throw from the infamous "Rock", in the year 1968. The building is striking both inside and out as it is a renovated  Victorian Gothic church. The large stained glass windows add to the sense of sophistication throughout. There is also a great collection of eclectic artwork to be seen and admired on the walls. It held a Michelin star for a short time in the early eighties. Its style is European in influence and much of the produce is locally sourced. It is by no means cheap, but for a special occasion, or romantic dinner, this destination restaurant most certainly delivers. We have dined here on three occasions, most recently with two friends of ours. Chez Hans, just in the past few years, now has two sister establishments worth checking out - Café Hans, a delightful daytime café, just a minute up the road from Chez Hans, and Stef Hans, located in Thurles' Source Arts Centre.

The old church setting of Chez Hans

Ashford Castle Afternoon Tea

Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo is a plush, uber luxurious Irish castle, dating back to 1228 and it provides a truly five star experience. Afternoon tea in this idyllic spot is something quite special and memorable indeed.

Foodie Experience in Australia

I am back from over two weeks "Down Unda"! My first time to Australia saw me travelling between Sydney, Melbourne and some of the Victoria countryside. This blog post is a little bit of visual and written reminiscing of what was a great culinary trip.

1. Breakfasts. Boy, do the Aussies know how to make a good breakie and lucky for me, breakie is one of my favourite meals! Some of my top tips are...

• The Fine Food Store in Sydney. Don't be put off by the name, it serves up some amazing breakfasts with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and with a real focus on healthy foods and with varying dietary needs catered for but with great flavour being paramount.
• Bills. I am sure you have heard of the well known Australian TV chef and restauranteur Bill Granger. Well he has a few spots around Sydney and on a bleak beach day in Bondi of all places, we happily sheltered from the rain in Bill's and enjoyed a late breakie. This place packs up fast and I believe we were lucky to get a seat without having to wait or pre-book. Bill's is worth a visit.
• Avocados - they love them and serve them very frequently in breakfast dishes. Go for it. A simple sourdough toast and avo is a thing of beauty.
• Manly/Bondi/Beach locations - Ideally get the ferry to Manly and stroll along the well signposted coastal walks and enjoy a lazy breakfast/brunch at one of the many cafés.
• The Flour and Stone or whatever may be your local bakery. We found this particular place thanks to TripAdvisor and it was literally two minutes from our hotel. It served some of the tastiest breakfasts and most luscious pastries and coffees. It is teeny tiny and evidently beloved by the locals. We noticed repeat business when we visited, which is always a positive!

Breakfast Panini with poached egg, bacon, cheese, spinach and chilli jam at Fine Food Store

Café Hans, Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Café Hans is a little pink treasure of foodie delights. It is nestled on a quaint street in the outskirts of the pretty town of Cashel, just a stones throw from the impressive Rock of Cashel.

We have visited for lunch on three occasions and been very satisfied each time. Our last trip was on Valentine's day.  The café is opened from 12 to 5, takes no bookings and unsurprisingly gets very busy during rush hour lunch time. We arrived about 20 minutes before 1pm and were lucky to get a great spot by the window. Here I had a great view of the "Rock's" round tower.

Café Hans in all its pink perfection!

Perfect Pancake Day Crepes

So I have been gone AWOL for quite some time now. I'm making no excuses this time, just a case of c'est la vie! However, I couldn't possibly let Pancake Tuesday (17th February 2015 FYI) pass without a post to mark one of my favourite foodstuffs. I am a breakfast fiend and though I have tried and made a few savoury pancakes, the sweet always wins over as a tasty morning breakfast treat for me. I have come to be a fan of thicker and smaller buttermilk pancakes in recent times, which I've blogged about before, but I will always stay true to my deep fondness for the crepe. This recipe is quick and easy. It can be prepared in advance. So, if you're all guns blazing to be an uber prepared breakfast queen/king, you can have this prepared and in the fridge on Monday evening! However, even fifteen minutes or so of resting time in the fridge provides really great crepes. This recipe should make about 6/7 crepes.

Crepes - left: served with maple syrup and berries, right: the traditional lemon juice and sugar

#BPBR no. 4 - The Happy Pear

'The Happy Pear' by David & Stephen Flynn, published in 2014

I had heard quite a lot about these guys over the past year or so. They are very on the ball in the social media realm and I had read some great reviews of the excellent, wholesome and healthy food they serve in their renowned Greystones restaurant. I was sent a complimentary copy of this book from their publishers, Penguin Ireland. From my first leaf through this literally "tablet-sized" cookbook, I was eager to get cooking!

1. The photos in this cookbook are fun, attractive and appealing. Uber healthy food (which the book contains in bucket loads) is displayed as appetising and interesting. There isn't even the faintest whiff of boring "diet" style foods and so I found my list of to-try recipes began growing longer and longer as I leafed through the book. Hardly a complaint! It's no secret either that the Flynn twins are very easy on the eye and there are quite a few photos of the two guys throughout the book too. I always find that a cookbook with some people photos featuring among the vast array of food photos, is a good thing. And it's no different in the Happy Pear, where family, friendships and health are put to the forefront. One more lovely thing - you must check out the fabulous sunset photos on page 161 - a lovely interest that formed from the time of the birth of Dave's daughter...and grew legs from social media. Very pretty indeed!
SCORE = 4

Look at those dips and tasty treats!

Busy days!

It's busy times here at F.F. these days. We are in the process of moving into our new home and becoming first time homeowners! The excitement levels are high but it's also a very busy time. Although there are a few tasty, foodie posts almost ready to go, nothing is just as I'd like it so there will be no posting for a little whileen. This is partly due to trying to set up our internet connection in the new abode, plus all that aforementioned "busy-ness" of course.

Apologies.

I do of course mean my physical house! F.F. is staying right here in the interweb world ;-)
~ Image sourced from internet ~

Sweet and Salty Peanut and Chocolate Cake

What is it with the combination of sweet and salty flavours in the last few months? It's so on trend, in the foodie sense, to combine these opposing taste sensations. Sometimes these trends can be a bit faddy but I am ALL FOR sweet and salty combined and after this inventive cake trial, there ain't nobody gonna tell me you can't put salted peanuts on a cake!

Sweet and Salty Peanut and Chocolate Cake

Baked Camembert with Pasta

Cheese, cheese, cheese. I could talk about cheese until the cows come home...and provide us with more milk, to make more cheese! Yay! I have been a cheese fanatic for as long as I can recall and I haven't found a cheese yet that I dislike. Cheese, being high in fat, I like to see as a treat. I also regard it as an important food to boost my intake of dietary calcium, along with yogurt, as I'm not a big fan of milk. I currently have a lovely vintage Cheddar and Parmesan (for an impending risotto) in my fridge and up until recently, there was a Camembert round too. Half of this Camembert round for 2 people (or the whole thing for 4) will provide you with this luscious and very simple pasta lunch dish. It is also a lovely date type of lunch as it requires sharing, which we are all more than happy to do with our partner, right?! I hope you enjoy.

Baked Camembert and spinach fusilli pasta are served

Bell & Pot Café Kitchen, Dublin

This cute and quirky breakfast, brunch and lunch café is a real find! Nestled in a pretty hidden spot right behind the Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, beside the Travelodge hotel, I never even knew of its existence until Rory from the Eat Drink Run Fun blog and Niamh of Gourmet Grazing recommended it as a weekday breakfast spot in the heart of the city centre.

The Bell & Pot is open every day from 7 am to 9 pm and its breakfasts are top notch. I was catching up with my sister, after she arrived into Dublin airport on the red eye flight and before we were due to hop on the one of the yellow ducks and do the touristy thing around Dublin. The café had a lovely chilled vibe and there was a nice amount of people tucking into some tasty food, which gave the place a relaxed and welcoming buzz.

The First Big Grill Festival, August 2014

I had been looking forward to this food festival for some time. It's been a long time since I was at a food festival, Bloom in Phoenix Park last year springs to mind...in any case, I was all set for a day of good food and entertainment. The entry fee into the Big Grill Festival in the lovely setting of Herbert Park in Ballsbridge was €15. There were early bird prices and I did get my ticket for a little less than this price. However, I was disappointed that literally everything had a cost involved once inside the venue. The cost was in the form of "smokin' tokens" and one token equated to one Euro.

Scenes from around the park at the Big Grill Festival

Duomo - Two Michelin Star Dining in Sicily

I have eaten in a couple of restaurants I would class as very high standard; Neven Maguire's MacNean Restaurant in Cavan stands out, as does the beautiful gourmet getaway, The Old Convent in Tipperary. L'Écrivain, with its one Michelin star in Dublin didn't fully wow me as I thought it would. So, I was certainly excited but also had some mixed feelings about what to expect in Duomo, a two Michelin star restaurant in the spectacular UNESCO baroque town of Ragusa Ibla in Sicily.

Gluten-Free Cookery Classes with the Coeliac Society of Ireland

A few weeks ago, I was kindly invited by the Coeliac Society of Ireland, as a guest to one of their cookery classes in the Miele Gallery, in Citywest, Dublin. I am not a coeliac myself, but I do feature quite a few gluten-free recipes on my blog - you can check out my gluten-free label on my homepage - and I am aware that gluten-free diets, due most often to medical reasons or sometimes personal lifestyle choices, are becoming far more common in Ireland.

Gluten-free menu: Top - Profiterole with goat's cheese, left bottom - Tagliatelle carbonara, right bottom - Pancakes

The Hairy Dieters' Chicken Tikka Masala

I said I would blog the most popular recipe chosen from my first blog birthday post and true to my word, here it is, and I do not think you'll be disappointed. I will give one piece of advice - marinade in advance, as in the night before you plan to serve it. I have to say this really impacts upon the flavour and makes this a truly winning and satisfying version of one the most popular takeaway treats. And, added bonus, it's healthy!

Hugo's Restaurant, Dublin

Hugo's Restaurant on Dublin's Merrion Row, was somewhere that I was blissfully unaware of for quite some time. On the particular evening we ate there, we were in search of a pre-theatre meal, close to the Gaiety Theatre, in a restaurant that could accommodate us at 5 pm at the latest. Hugo's opens at 5 o'clock, so we were in business. I love the outside of Hugo's - the turquoise/aquamariney colour is striking and appealing and an unusual but pretty choice for a restaurant facade I think.

Hugo's front
~ Image sourced from www.rai.ie website ~

Best Potato Gratin

We Irish love our potatoes, and for many reasons, feel a very strong bond to the humble spud. It features on many the Irish dinner plate. But we have to hand it to the French, potato gratin or 'pommes de terre dauphinoise' is a pretty mean recipe to spruce up a potato. It is one of my very favourite ways to serve potato and it's a real treat. This recipe is always a winner for me and I hope you like it too.

Best potato gratin, served!

Beeftro, Dundrum

This restaurant has been on my list for quite some time. Tough life working through that list...! Many foodie friends have both spoken about it and written about it on their blogs. Instagram pictures have tempted me. Foodie tweets have allured me. Then there's beef in the title and when Irish steak is good, it is a meal that is really hard to beat. Eventually off I went to pay a visit and see for myself. That long awaited visit materialised on a Wednesday evening as a time out on a little summer shopping trip with my sister.

1st Birthday - Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake & Some Reader Interaction

I think it's true to say that it's an exciting time for any enthusiastic blogger when you come to a milestone such as this. Happy first birthday Fascination Food - I like the ring of it! Of course, there were at least three years prior to that, of tweeting and talking, baking and cooking, and sampling new cuisines in different restaurants...but when I finally bit the bullet, I was delighted to call myself a food blogger, and still am, one year on.

Sicily: Its Fabulous Food & Wine

If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you'll be aware that I spent a week in the stunning south Italian island of Sicily around the beginning of July. Excuse the probably excessive bragging. I couldn't help myself. Well, without a doubt, an amazing week was had. In no particular order here are my top ten recommendations for delicious food and wine in Sicily...

Gluten-Free Polenta Chicken Kievs

Yes, I have been somewhat on a gluten-free buzz on and off for the last while - for the sweet tooths among you, check out my pear and almond tart recipe. But for now, back to dinner. Polenta is  a new friend to me it! It is a relatively recent discovery but a very pleasant one at that. This recipe is super easy and very tasty. It also leaves you with none of that bloated, sluggish feeling that a heavily bread-crumbed kiev might. So anyway, I'm just going to get on with it. This serves two hungry garlic-ophiles and is very quick to prepare!