Food file

MARIE-CLAIRE DIGBYtalks food

Put something fishy in the trolley

Coconut prawns from Tesco

These coconut prawns with mango salsa from the Tesco Finest range are absolutely delicious, and at just €5, or two packs for €9, they’re a bargain. Each pack has 10 big, juicy prawns coated in a crunchy coating of breadcrumbs and coconut. I have developed a dangerous obsession with these, and have been known to eat the whole pack. You’ll find them in chill cabinets, but they can be frozen, and cooked straight from the freezer.

Fish pie from The Butler’s Pantry

Just seven days to go . . . and if getting everything ready in time to celebrate Christmas with your sanity intact looks doubtful, The Butler’s Pantry is opening its commercial kitchens at Southern Cross Business Park, Boghall Road, Bray, Co Wicklow this week for orders and collections.

Their Christmas puddings, pies and cakes might lessen the workload in the days ahead, or you could just take a breather from cooking by picking up some of this delicious looking luxury fish pie (€9.95 per portion). The Kerry lamb pie, chicken, ham and leek pie, and beef and mushroom pie are a bit cheaper at €5.95 per portion.

While you’re there you can watch the team of chefs at work – they’ll be peeling 12,000 sprouts among other things – and pick up some cooking tips from executive chef Niall Hill. The kitchens will be open 10am to 1pm today and 10am to 5pm next week (closed tomorrow). The Butler’s Pantry also has shops in Blackrock, Clontarf, Donnybrook, Greystones, Monkstown, Sandycove and Sandymount.

Lobster from Lidl

Lobster for a fiver? Too good to be true? Where can they be found? Lidl's Canadian lobster, cooked and frozen in salt water, is a seasonal special that's worth seeking out. You'd be forgiven for thinking that they were giants, as each has a frozen weight of 935g, but once thawed, they're single-serve size lobsters of around 350g.

They are easy to shell, but you'll need a small hammer, or use the back of a heavy cooks' knife, to extract all the meat from the claws. Chop the flesh and add it to a not-too-thick cheese sauce made with strong white cheddar, enriched once cooked with a tablespoon of brandy, a splash of Tabasco and a little nutmeg, and you have the basis of a luxurious lobster mac'n'cheese. Make the sauce with half milk and half stock – made by simmering the lobster shells and trimmings, including the heads, in water for 20 minutes. Three lobsters will be plenty for six people used this way. Stir the sauce into cooked macaroni pasta, before topping with a thin layer of breadcrumbs mixed with a few spoons of Parmesan. A drizzle of melted butter over the top and 15 minutes in a hot oven will turn this into an indulgent supper. The lobsters also make a great bisque or risotto.

Western stars

Bríd Torrades, chef/owner of the Osta and Tobergal Lane cafes in Sligo, has expanded her Tobergal Lane outlet to include a smart retail space selling locally made chutneys, jams, breads and pastries, as well as a lovely selection of local crafts that have culinary uses, including Linda Gault pottery and handmade beech chopping boards by Elfwood.

It’s the perfect spot to pick up some interesting larder-fillers for the weeks ahead, such as the cafe’s French chef Floriane Beghin’s pear, chocolate and hazelnut jam (€4.95). Beghin suggests using the jam as a cake filling, or serving it with ice cream. Torrades is also stocking a new range of fudge made in Ballina by Donna O’Regan-Farineau and Philippe Farineau with Irish butter and cream and Belgian chocolate (€5/180g).

The couple met while they were both working at Dromoland Castle, Philippe as a chef and Donna as a wedding coordinator. Philippe now works at Mount Falcon in Ballina and Donna has just opened a shop at The Quay in Ballina selling their 15 varieties of fudge, and artworks made of chocolate.

It’s the final countdown . . . and we’ve trawled the supermarkets and shops for some great shellfish, fish and marinated fish products for your Christmas tables

Citrus marinated salmon from Superquinn

Superquinn enlisted the creative input of Nick Munier and Stephen Gibson of Pichet restaurant in Dublin to work with Ireland’s oldest established seafood company, Dunn’s of Dublin, to create this citrus marinated organic Irish salmon with soy and mirin dressing. The fish is filleted and marinated for 24 hours in a mixture of citrus fruits, sugar, dill and salt. You can serve it just as it comes, with the soy and mirin dressing, or follow the restaurateurs’ recipe on the back of the pack, which uses the salmon with crème fraîche and wasabi, served with avocado and lime purée and cucumber ribbons drizzled with the soy and mirin dressing. A 100g pack costs €5.59.

Nick Munier’s rollicking read, Boiling Point: Adventures in the Restaurant Game, written with journalist Esther McCarthy, has just been published by Y Books,€14.99

Say it with porridge

The possibility of winning a cash prize of €1,500 is a great incentive to get creative in the kitchen. To be in with a chance of winning one of two prizes to that value, design a recipe using porridge oats. The Flahavan’s Challenge invites cooks to compete in two categories – the Perfect Porridge and The Oat Combo (in which they’re looking for an innovative recipe using oats as an ingredient).

Entries, accompanied by photographs, should be submitted to E Flahavan Sons, Kilnagrange Mills, Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, or online at flahavans.com. There will also be two runners-up prizes of €500, and entries close on February 28th. Previous winners were Antoinette Sweeney for her high-five superfood breakfast delight, and Patrick Hennessy for oat and almond crusted lamb croquettes.

Cocktails to put a pep in your step

Chances are some of us will be tasked with whipping up a seasonal cocktail or two over the coming fortnight and Harvey Nichols in Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin 14 has a great spice mix for champagne cocktails (€5.20). The muslin sachets contain ginger, lemon peel, allspice and mace. You heat them in a little Cognac, to allow the flavours to infuse. Dribble two drops of Angostura bitters (from off-licences) on to a sugar cube which is then placed in a champagne flute. Cover the cube with the spiced Cognac and top up the glass with Champagne or Prosecco.

For a St Stephen’s Day or New Year’s Day pick-me-up, try this hot and spicy Little Devil Bloody Mary mix (€8.50), also from the HN foodhall. Add it to vodka and tomato juice, with a stick of celery to stir it in.