The Edible Flower - Oktoberfest 2019

This month signalled a change in the seasons and the beginning of Autumn. It also meant I had the joy of returning to capture The Edible Flower’s latest supper club - Oktoberfest and true to form it did not disappoint.

The Cow Byre dressed for the occasion by Shannon Bunting

I’m a massive fan of Autumn, like many it’s my favourite season (plus I’m an October baby) so I was excited to try all the autumnal flavours the girls had prepared for us.  The weather was kind and we had a dry, warm evening that allowed outdoor refreshments as the guests arrived around 7pm.  Ginger and coriander seed shandy greeted us accompanied by the most delicious pretzels I have ever tasted made by the master baker Clare McQuillan (my husband was obsessed with them).  The mac and cheese croquettes held up their end of the bargain and delivered a crispy, creamy mouthful of tastiness neatly packaged in one little flavour bomb.

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Clare and her amazing pretzels with mustard dip

Mac and cheese croquettes

Now that our tastebuds were adequately warmed up, it was time to move indoors to the cow byre where starters awaited.  Spiced cheese butter spread and mushroom crostini with pickles and garden salad served with Edible Flower brews own OJAB Yarrow Dunkel.  I’ve never tried Dunkel (or heard of it to be honest) but Jo spoke passionately about its German origins and her friend whom she named it after.  

Obatzda and mushroom crostini

Garden salad

Moving onto mains and before we sat down to eat I had my duties outside where the barbecuing was taking place.  Short of needing some safety goggles and breathing apparatus, I managed some shots of the sausages sizzling on the coals.  You can see from the photos there was a looooot of smoke!  Ossetian pies, goats cheese pancakes, courgette and avocado salad and an amazing beetroot and blackberry dish all married beautifully together on the plate.  Another home brew from Jo to wash it down and at 6.5% ABV, this one will have you singing on your way home! 

Courgette, avocado and lemon salad with poppyseeds

Roasted beetroot and shallots with pickled blackberries

Hellbent Boerwors sausages with rhubarb ketchup

Room for more?  Were only half way through!  A breather and a refresher of spiced plum sorbet with the faintest of hints of black pepper.  Yes, black pepper on your ice cream.  Only to be applied by a skilled professional in my opinion.  It was delicious.  Then came the pudding - an ode to the season itself with an apple and cinnamon Streusel cake with blackberry and bay ice cream.  I’m all about the suite and this, well this was amazing.  I’m pretty sure I could have managed another slice…

Spiced plum sorbet

Apple and cinnamon streusel cake with blackberry and bay ice cream

Blackberry ice cream

The darkness surrounded us as we ate under the beautiful hops by Flowers By Mee in the cow byre.  It made the candles glow more brightly and ascertained the arrival of the new season as it settled into itself and settled into us that evening.  

Drinks around the fire pit

All photos by Sharon Cosgrove Photography

Background papers by Black Velvet Styling

The Edible Flower

I don’t know how I’ve managed this long without experiencing the wonder that is The Edible Flower but I recently had the pleasure and all I can say is WOW! Well that’s not all, or this would be a very short blog post. These guys know food and they know it well.  Their flavour combo’s are a knock out and their passion for food is inspirational. They are sensational hosts to boot!

Jo working her magic on some flatbread dough

The evening was warm and balmy, the sun was low and golden and the air was filled with the scent of buttery, garlic flatbreads cooking in the wood fired pizza oven.  Amongst the rolling fields and hills of County Down, people gathered for a Midsummer’s Feast to share food, wine and laughter with new friends.  

Erin delights guests with flatbreads and honeysuckle punch on arrival

Honeysuckle punch

On arrival we sipped honeysuckle punch and enjoyed flatbreads topped with summery yellow courgettes and wild earthy mushrooms all while lingering through the kitchen gardens of Erin and Jo’s beautiful country cottage.  Starters were then served in what was once a cow shed with the trough for the cows still present along the sides of the barn! There were no cows but plenty of feeding going on as we chowed down on our Vietnamese noodle salad and home brewed ale which was a delightful accompaniment.  The flavours were light and fresh but with plenty of depth given in the Nuoc Cham dressing. As a foodie crossed with being a food photographer I was torn between just wanting to devour my meal or shoot it to within an inch of its life. I did both, and enjoyed every minute!

Midsummer Feast menu

Vietnamese noodle salad

The rest of the courses followed suit, amazing flavours meticulously paired and with plenty of seconds if you had room.  The pork was raised by Erin and Jo who added that if they were going to continue to enjoy eating meat they felt they should be comfortable with rearing their own animals for slaughter.  My friend nearly fell into her plate crying when she heard this, realising that what we were about to eat had been somewhat of a pet in it’s previous life. It’s a sensitive subject but one that should be considered as a meat eater.  I didn’t dwell on it at that particular moment however and enjoyed the glorious food before me. 

Porchetta with garlic and fennel

Aubergine bake

The evening drew to a close around the fire pit, swilling chai tea and cramming buttery crumbly shortbread into the last little pockets of space left in my stomach.  The embers sparked and flitted as everyone basked in the heat from the fire and the warmth we felt from having enjoyed such a wonderful evening of beautiful food and great company. Bliss!  

Chai tea around the fire pit

Belfast Cookery School - Irish Bread Making

There’s nothing quite like the smell of bread baking, it stirs a multitude of emotions. Nostalgia, familiarity, a sense of home and hunger! I know hunger isn’t exactly an emotion but it leads to an emotional outburst of hangry if I don’t eat within the hour (who am I kidding, within 10 minutes!). No need to get hangry at the Belfast Cookery School baking class, we were well fed (and watered) by the team, lead by chef Ian Hunter.

I had no idea of what the class entailed, had no clue about the format or the bread we would be baking or indeed what I had to bring! I need not have feared for all that was required were ourselves, an appetite and an excuse to have a glass of wine in the middle of the afternoon. It was SO much fun. I attended with Mother Duffin - she’s well accustomed to the oven, a rolling pin and the big baking bowl. We were both still a little apprehensive…

What if everyone knows more about baking than us?

Even though my mum is plenty familiar. It’s not like that at all, there were folks there with no baking experience, to a vague knowledge of it to those that bake on the regular and just fancied a wee turn at something different.

It’s not Bake Off but it’s fun to treat it so! Three challenges - Irish Stout Wheaten Bread, Soda Bread and Scallion Potato Bread. Let’s do this! After arriving we were sat down and offered tea, coffee or something a bit stronger in an assortment of beers, wine, whiskey or gin. We were too polite to begin with and had coffee. One recipe in and we were on the wine. We perused the recipes for the day which were neatly attached to our own individual clipboards - handy as I needed to refer to mine about 256 times throughout the course of the afternoon. Chef Ian demonstrated each recipe to the class prior to us attempting anything ourselves. He showed us the skills and traditional techniques used to authentically bake these wonderful Irish breads that we all know and love. Then it was our turn. We all had a station (per couple) and we baked the breads together. Well, Mother baked the bread. I scurried around taking photos of every drip, stir, bubble, spoon fold, sprinkle - you name it and I had my camera shoved in it. What can I say, I can’t help it! So she baked and I photographed. All the ingredients were perfectly portioned into little cups and bowls ready to be decanted into the mix as we read through each recipe. Half the time spent baking from home is dedicated to this task so to have it already done for us was sheer joy! . All the measuring and weighing and spooning into random dishes then running out of random dishes then spilling sugar all over the floor and the dog licking around your feet like a crazed, starved beast - all taken care of! Apart from the dog, you’ll have to go home for that. Here’s another little nugget of information to sweeten the deal, the washing up is taken care of too! Amazing! Mum enjoyed this immensely as did I, it meant we could really focus on the baking and enjoy the process all the more. Three demo’s later from chef Ian and three recipes tried and tested, we were done. The results were in, my granny would have been proud!

I loved this whole experience as baking is something my Mum and I have shared for a long time and I really felt like we both got so much more out of it than just the lovely soda farls, wheaten and fadge (potato bread) we got to take home at the end of the day. I can’t wait to return, perhaps the pasta class next! Stay tuned….