On my working days treks & trails around Donegal & the North West. I get to work with lots of local businesses. Results for the clients are the essence of business. Results which leads to better business for them –it gets them more customers, attracts more attention to their service & converts to the profitability of the business

Times are tough for businesses, but out of these tough times opportunities arise. Some businesses ignore these opportunities others grab them & run with them. One such opportunity was seized by a group off 10 Donegal businesses. The result; Donegal Good Food Taverns a group of iconic restaurant-bars dotted throughout Donegal, each with our own wonderful history, style, traditions, charm and picturesque surroundings. Collectively, they aim to bring you a genuine taste of Donegal by sourcing the very best fresh, local ingredients and serving them with lashings of pride.

Some Worrying News For Scottish and Irish scallop producers under threat from EU regulations

Scottish and Irish suppliers of hand-dived scallops, used in fine dining restaurants across the country, are at risk of going out of business because of draconian EU regulations.

More on this at –  http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/26/01/2012/342043/Scottish-and-Irish-scallop-producers-under-threat-from-EU.htm

Good food safety with Hospitality Solutions; our food safety training is based on best practice  & is all risk assess based. Has common sense gone by the wayside in this approach by European legislators? See our food safety services

Working with the team at Hotel WestPort to bring the food to 1 AA rossette standard – which was awarded to the Hotel in October http://www.hotelwestport.ie/dining.html Well done to Declan, Stephen & all the team

The Oarsman winning the national award for Food Pub Of The Year 2011 at the Annual Good Food Ireland Awards. Ronan & Conor Maher are the brothers behind this gastro pub. Ronan & Conor are consummate professionals – every town should have an Oarsman Restaurant gastro pub!

And Finally Collecting Wild Mushrooms in Donegal

It’s been a bumper season – from June through to October when not working & advising my customers. I love collecting wild mushrooms. I’ve been ”hunting ” wild mushrooms for the past two decades from the west country in England to Richmond Park in London – from the Wicklow hills to the Fench Alps & now the Hills & forests of Donegal its been the best season yet! ( 30& kgs) Roll on June 2012

What’s in season now?

The flavours of October – no recipes this month, instead a list off ingredients to inspire you

Swiss chard (some cut from my own garden), apples, beetroot, borlotti beans, brill, butternut squash, cabbages, celeriac, chard, chestnuts, clams, cockles, cod, crabs, curly kale, Dover sole, duck, eel, fennel, figs, grey mullet, haddock, hake, halibut, hare, John Dory, kohlrabi, leeks, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, onions, oysters, parsnips, pears, plaice, plums, squash, quinces, red kale, salsify, scallops, sea bass, sea bream, skate, spinach, squid, swede, sweetcorn, thyme, turbot, turnips, watercress, winkles

And from the Wild Larder – October’s wild food
Apples, crab, grouse, hare, horseradish, mallard, nettles, partridge, rosehips, sea beet, sloes, teal, tufted duck, venison, wet walnuts, wigeon, wild mushrooms, woodcock, wood pigeon

Donegal Wild Mushroom 2011Season Highlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjQz1-mxn-w

Hefty food bills are here to stay, according to a report backed by the United Nations, which warns of another ten years of climbing prices.

The OECD’s forecast is that over the coming decade, real prices for cereals could average as much as 20pc higher and those for meats as much as 30pc higher, than between 2001 and 2010.

 Austerity menu for Autumn

What a great idea wish I had thought of that! – definitely some good ideas for your menus

this snap shot comes from Michael Raffael of catersearch.com –

Soupe de poisson, croutons and rouille

Classic bistro/brasserie recipe. Don’t use bones or flesh from oily fish, neither in the stock nor in the soup itself. Pollack, whiting and gurnards are ideal. Pounding saffron in a mortar with a splash of boiling water helps to extract its flavour. If you’ve boiled your own crabs for the white meat, add some of the brown meat for extra body.
Cost from 75p

Grilled lemon chicken
Start with the premise that you are going to buy a free-range chicken, not necessarily an organic one. Bone it out to obtain four pieces of breast and four of leg meat. Bat these out so the pieces are of similar thickness. Marinate them with lemon, oregano and grated onion. Serve grilled with gremolata: garlic, parsley, grated lemon zest and Maldon salt.
Cost £2.70, based on free-range chicken at £4.40 per kg

Cranachan
There are only five ingredients in this Scottish favourite: toasted oatmeal, crushed raspberries, honey, whipped double cream and malt whisky. To give it extra impact on the menu, highlight an ingredient, Blairgowrie raspberries or The Macallan whisky, for instance. Any extra cost will be worth it.
Cost about £1.70, based on malt whisky at £5 per 100ml

And Finally

Great Mushroom Hunting “near the twin towns” Donegal

I collected these fresh fabulous high prized Girolle mushrooms last week end in Donegal it’s been a great opening harvest! Last year we collected over 20 kilos of Ceps, Girolles, Chanterells, pied de mouton & trompet de mort! These babies below will normally cost you €15 a kilo from a supplier

This is what became of them; http://t.co/PNlSSUG