The Irish Farmers’ Market Cookbook

For the wild garlic butter:

110g (4oz) butter, softened

1 small bunch of wild garlic leaves, chopped

First, make the garlic butter. Ensure that the butter has been kept out of the fridge at room temperature for about 2 hours – it should be nice and soft. Place the butter and wild garlic leaves in a bowl and cream together with the back of a spoon.

Heat a frying pan and melt one-third of the garlic butter. Add the sole fillets and cook for about 4 minutes until golden. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the sole fillets for 4 minutes on the other side. Remove to warm serving plates.

Add the remaining wild garlic butter to the pan and when it has melted drizzle over the fillets. Garnish with the wild garlic flowers and enjoy!

Goujons of Plaice with Sweet Chilli Sauce (#ulink_46b4b1f1-b576-5cd6-a68f-ee66221e9190)

I have used plaice in this recipe as the delicate fish makes a delicious contrast to the crispy crunch of the batter. However, you can use virtually any fish.

Serves 2

500g (1lb 2 oz) plaice, filleted

150g (5oz) plain flour

2 tbsp sesame seeds

salt and freshly ground black pepper

sunflower oil, for frying

600ml (1 pint) fresh milk

1 lemon, quartered

For the sweet chilli sauce:

1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey

Cut the fillets of plaice into strips. Tip the flour and sesame seeds into a large bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Pour the oil into a deep frying pan (the oil should be about 5cm [2in] deep) and place over a high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, reduce the heat to medium. Dip the pieces of fish into the milk and then into the flour mixture. Drop them into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden then turn and repeat.

Mix together the ingredients for the sweet chilli sauce and serve with the crisply fried plaice fillets and a wedge of lemon.

Fish Cakes with Tzatziki (#ulink_ec5efa70-ef4e-50e2-bff6-bd3628bbd6ee)

I make these fish cakes nice and thin, like biscuits, because it makes them lighter and the taste more intense – and they look beautiful.

Serves 4

200g (7 oz) fish (e.g. perch, ling, or haddock)

600ml (1 pint) milk

2 black peppercorns

200g (7 oz) mashed potato

250ml (9 fl oz) olive oil, for frying

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped

2 spring onions (scallions), finely chopped

juice of ½ lemon

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 egg yolk

flour, for coating

fresh coriander leaves, to garnish

tzatziki, to serve (see page 71)

Poach the fish by placing it in a saucepan and covering with milk. Add the black peppercorns and cook gently over a medium heat for about 15 minutes. Cooking times will vary according to the fish, so break some up with a spoon to check that it is cooked right through.

Drain and place the fish in a large bowl with the mashed potato. Pull up your sleeves, wash your hands and mix the fish and potato together with your hands.

Place a frying pan over a medium heat and pour in a drop of olive oil. Add the red pepper and spring onions and cook until soft.

Stir the cooked pepper and spring onions into the fish and potato mixture, then add the lemon juice and season well with salt and pepper. Bind together with the egg yolk, and then divide the mixture into 8 little balls. Flatten them out with your hands (don’t be too concerned about them being the same size – it’s home cooking, after all!). Dip the fish cakes into a bowl of seasoned flour and flip them back and forth in your hands to shake off any excess flour.

Put the frying pan back on the heat, add a splash of olive oil and fry the fish cakes, turning when they are golden brown beneath. This should take about 4 minutes per side as they are quite thin. Serve warm with tzatziki, garnished with coriander leaves.

Steamed Mussels with Tomato, Chilli and Garlic (#ulink_709d4a1d-abb3-5f00-926b-22ffde718387)

I get a bag of fresh mussels about every two weeks at the English Market in Cork City. This is such a simple and delicious dish to cook when you have lots of people coming for dinner.

Serves 2

400g (14 oz) live mussels, scrubbed

2 tbsp olive oil