‘Finding good quality cheese in Ireland has become easier in recent years, with more 

making the most of cheese

At ely, we trust our friends and long-time suppliers, Sheridans Cheesemongers, to guide us when it comes to serving a great cheeseboard to our customers.

When you’re putting together a cheeseboard, the general idea is to serve a selection of cheeses which will offer you and your guests contrasting flavours and textures. Try to buy where you can taste; your eyes will never tell you as much as your taste buds.

Ideally, mix a nice soft cheese, a blue cheese, a hard cheese, a washed rind cheese (they’re the smelly ones with the pinkish rinds), and if possible, a sheep’s or goat’s milk cheese. But remember, it’s better to have one ripe and gorgeous cheese than five mediocre pieces.

After you buy your cheese, be sure to look after it. Cheese is a living, breathing food and needs to be treated with some care to get the best from it. This is particularly true of the softer cheeses. Cheese should always be served at room temperature because serving it cold substantially inhibits the flavour.

Ideally, buy your cheese from someone who has cared for it properly, then serve that same evening. Cheese that you can’t use the same day can be stored in an unheated room or garage, though fridges are not as bad for cheese as they are sometimes made out to be. The main problem is their dry atmosphere rather than the cold temperature. If you do store your cheese in the fridge, always remove it several hours before serving.

Make sure your cheese is well wrapped in a breathable covering such as wax paper. This is particularly important for cheeses with mould or culture rinds and fresh goat’s cheeses; plastic will suffocate them and often cause ‘off’ flavours.

There are no set rules for serving your cheeses; some people like to have their cheese before dessert and others prefer it after, or instead of, dessert. I think it is good to serve something with the cheese which will act as a foil against any richness and clean the palate between cheeses. Fruit is really good for this; a fresh pear or apple is ideal. The fruit must be ripe though, so if you don’t have any to hand, serve a chutney, fruit jelly or dried fruit.

Cheese is a wonderful food and needs very little preparation. Everything depends on the quality of the cheese you source. So take your time, seek out the best and enjoy!

This excerpt has being taken from the ely cookbook available for sale on our Facebook Shop for only €20

irish stew

What you need
1 tbsp olive oil
1kg stewing lamb, diced
500g rooster potatoes,
peeled and halved
2 medium onions, diced
4 medium carrots,
peeled and sliced
rock salt, black pepper

What to do
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, add the lamb and seal on all sides. You will need to do this in batches.
Place all the ingredients in a large pot on the hob. Add enough water just to cover and season lightly – remember you can add more later. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer over a low heat for 1 Vi-2 hours until the meat is very tender. It should cut easily – even with a spoon. Taste and season again if required.
Serve in deep bowls with traditional brown bread.

A wine that works
This is a simple dish, with a clear juice and a delicate, sweet flavour from the organic lamb.
Lombeline Beaune is a delicate Pinot Noir, with light fruit and tannins that quietly compliment the stew, and with its own sweet berry fruit.

Also try
La Rioja Alta ‘Vina Alberdi” Rioja.

Serves 4

This excerpt has being taken from the ely cookbook and is available for sale on our website for only €20

If you are interested in learning how to cook the ely way you can book a place on one of our upcoming Cookery Courses over the coming year.

and the foods they suit

Serving finer wine by the glass is what we’re all about at ely. We want our customers to be able to appreciate our extensive wine list, experience new and different grape varieties, and become more confident about their wines. This short guide gives an insight into a number of different grape varieties you will find at ely.

barbera A deep-coloured, wild-fruit flavoured wine with refreshing acidity, ideal for cutting through rich, meaty dishes and Italian cuisine. In Its simplest form, gutsy and thirst-quenching, in its more serious guise, aged in barrique (a small, oak barrel), smooth and sophisticated.	cabernet sauvignon The noble Bordelais grape has travelled far. Every wine-growing region has its own style of cabernet sauvignon, with its blackcurrant and cedar characteristics. Renowned for its longevity, many of the greatest wines in the world, and many of the simpler ones are likely to have this structured, sturdy, elegant grape variety as at least part of the blend. It demands  red meats and strong hard cheeses.
cabernet franc Although best known when blended with merlot on the Right-Bank of Bordeaux, the cabernet franc grape – often described as ‘austere’ – can reach untold heights in the Loire Valley and some other wine regions. Raspberries and pencil shavings are the give-away aromas which work well with lamb, pork, game and charcuterie.	carmenere A rare old Bordeaux variety. It yields small quantities of exceptionally deep-coloured, full-bodied spicy wines and has now become synonymous with Chile. Hearty steak and game dishes can take this extrovert variety with ease.
dolcetto Known as ‘The little sweet one’, this grape is normally very dry! Deep limpid red, this vivacious grape is full of ripe berries but with a refreshing bitter twist in the tail, it is made to accompany rich country dishes from Piedmont, warm for winter, cool for summer.	gamay The Beaujolais grape is paler and bluer than most red grapes, with relatively high acidity and a simple, but vivacious aroma of freshly picked red fruits. Shows best drunk cool, and recommended with cold meats, flowery-rind cheeses such as Brie and Camembert and pastas and pizzas as well as many chicken dishes.
grenache/garnacha A Mediterranean grape which, although quite pale in colour, packs a vinous punch of pepper and warmth. Although it is often blended with other southern varieties such as syrah, carefully made grenache, from old vines, can be a classic grape varieties in its own right, particularly in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the Roussillon and Rioja. Great winter wine with game, powerful red meats and rich casseroles.	malbec Once popular in Bordeaux but now more readily associated with Cahors in South West France and more so with Argentina, where the varietal produces lush wines with gamey concentration and ageing potential. Perfect with barbecued or seared dishes.
merlot This blue-black fleshy grape, which imparts softness and roundness to red wines, is Bordeaux’s most planted vine by far. Nowadays it also enjoys popularity almost everywhere and, on its own. makes good dark-fruited wines in northern Italy, South Africa, California, Chile. Argentina and lately, New Zealand. Goes well with roasts, steaks and hard cheeses.	montepulciano A vigorous vine planted over much of central Italy, but most widely in the Abruzzi where it is responsible for the often excellent Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and in the Marches, where it is the principal ingredient in such reds as Rosso Conero and Rosso Piceno Try it with Italian dishes or, indeed, because of lowish acidity, it can complement some spicy Asian cuisine.
mourvèdre/macabeo/maccabeu Mourvèdre is becoming more and more fashionable in Mediterranean climes. Dense, sturdy and yet with a cool elegance, it is almost always reminiscent of good, smooth, dark chocolate. Game, roast beef and big tomato-based sauces, along with roasted vegetables.	nebbiolo The king of Italian grape varieties, the deeply layered ‘tar and roses’ bouquet and complexity on the palate cry out for powerful meaty dishes, especially beef and veal to draw out the flavours Preferably open a few hours before use, or at least decant if possible. It is the ultimate foil for both white and black truffles.
pinot noir Pinot noir is arguably the greatest of fine wine grapes and makes the fabulous red wines of Burgundy with scent, flavour, texture and body unmatched anywhere. A particularly old variety, the vine is difficult, only moderately prolific and often less than happy in some of the newer parts of the winemaking world. However, New Zealand, the South of France and some New World regions are getting to grips with it and producing some very different, fruity but worthwhile wines. Roasts, game and washed-rind cheese shine with this grape.
pinot meunier Pinot meunier is treasured in Champagne as a fruity dependable constituent in the making of their fine wines. In the three-variety champagne blend, meunier contributes youthful fruitiness to complement pinot noir’s weight and chardonnay’s finesse.pinotage South Africa claims this variety as its own. A cross between pinot noir and cinsault it is capable of making fruity, easy-drinking wines alongside some serious and very stylish wines. Great for outdoor dining and winter stews and roasts.	sangiovese/brunello/prugnolo  Sangiovese, and its synonyms, are Italy’s most planted variety. It is the principal variety for the fine red wines of Tuscany, such as Chianti, Vino Nobile and Brunello. Wines made from this grape have noticeable tannins and acidity but a character that varies from somewhat earthy to plummy according to quality and ripeness. Great with lamb, pork, bacon and hard cheeses such as pecorino or parmesan. And of course, pastas and pizzas.
syrah/shiraz Syrah is the great grape of the northern Rhone; the deep, dark, dense qualities of the wine are characteristically strange and satisfying. Scented with black pepper, capsicums and sometimes violets, the grapes flourish in warmer climes such as California, Australia and South Africa, where it is known as shiraz.	tempranillo Tempranillo is Spain’s answer to cabernet sauvignon, the vine variety that puts the spine into a high proportion of Spain’s most respected red wines. Its grapes are thick-skinned and capable of making deep-coloured, long-lasting wines that are not, unusually for Spain, notably high in alcohol. Lamb, chunky vegetable dishes and manchego cheese are perfect partners.
zinfandel Originating most likely in the Adriatic, this exotic black-skinned grape, grown predominantly in California, can make dark, brooding wines for barbecued steak or bizarrely, sweetish, lighthearted quaffing rosés called ‘blush’.	albarino/albarinho Native to the north-west of Spain and Portugal (Rías Baixas and Vinho Verde) this satiny, round variety gives a very refreshing match to the wonderful seafood of the area.
chardonnay The winemaker’s ‘artist’s palette’, chardonnay can take on many styles, depending on its provenance and the winemaker’s intentions. From cool, classic Chablis, through creamy, fruity unoaked Mediterranean offerings to huge, oaky, tropical, fruit-filled New World giants, it can be all things to all men, and, according to Bridget Jones, women! Match the style to the dish, oysters and seafood for the austere Chablis, Pacific Rim dishes for the whopping Australian styles.	chenin blanc Probably the world’s most versatile grape variety, it is usually found in light and fruity New World wines, particularly from South Africa where it is known as steen. It also produces some of the finest longest-living sparkling, dry, medium and sweet white wines in the Loire Valley and Limoux. Perfect with river fish, goat’s cheeses, chicken and fish dishes with creamy sauces and fruit, honey and nut desserts.
gewürztraminer From a pink-skinned grape variety, it is an exotic, distinctively aromatic and somewhat spicy full-bodied white wine, usually from Alsace or Germany, but increasingly elsewhere, including Spain. Excellent with foie gras, ham and pork dishes and Asian cuisine.	grüner veltliner The classic white of Austria, this is a hidden gem, The wine is capable of beating top chardonnays in blind tastings, yet is little known here. Somewhat spicy and unusual in style, it is full-bodied and very savoury, and suits a wide variety of quite strongly flavoured dishes.

This article has beinig taken from the ely cookbook, which is available for purchase from any of the three ely restaurants or can be purchased online.

Want to know more about wines. Checkout ely’s Big Wine Tasting 2012

ely’s BIG tasting is a fantastic opportunity to taste over 80 wines from across the globe. We open up wines from across the globe and have experts on hand to guide you through the tasting. Whether you want to explore the great wines of the world or simply enjoy the wines you love, our BIG tasting is great way to taste your way through as many or as few wines as you like.

Date: Friday 17th February
Tickets: €20
Time: 6pm or 8pm
Venue: ely bar & brasserie, IFSC

Book your place online

ely Wine Club

Open your mind, your nose and mouth to wine at the ely wine club. We run ely wine tastings, wine appreciation courses, wine nights, all in that friendly, no nonsense ely way.

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March
Wednesday 7^th: Classic Irish Cooking €49 per head
We’ll be teaching a range of classic and contemporary Irish dishes to get you in the mood for St Patrick’s day. The class will focus on locally sourced Irish produce used in a creative way.

Wednesday 14^th: Forgotten Favourites €49 per head
Why not treat your mother to a night of forgotten favourites in Irish cooking, where we put a modern twist on the recipes you grew up with!

Tuesday 27^th: Perfect Easter Sunday Dinner €49 per head
Our Executive Head Chef will demonstrate how to cook the perfect 3 course Easter Sunday Dinner for all the family, and our award winning sommelier will taste you through the ideal wines to serve with it.

May
Tuesday 8^th: Superfoods, super bodies €49 per head
Some foods are so good for you they are classified as ‘super foods’. In this cookery class we’ll take a look at the superfood category and teach you some delicious and interesting recipes for them.

Tuesday 29^th: Fish €49 per head
This excellent class on selecting, preparing and cooking fish is ideal for those who would like to gain some confidence in cooking with fish in the kitchen. We’ll also give you a lesson on the matching wine with fish and fish based dishes.

Ryan Stringer - ely Head Chef

June
Tuesday 5^th: BBQ night €49 per head
With both the Euro finals and the Olympics this summer, our BBQ class is the perfect way for you to prepare for a summer of entertaining friends at home! Our class will include preparing meat, fish, vegetables and marinades for the BBQ to give you the wow factor.

July
Tuesday 4^th: USA night €55 per head

Thought America was only famous for beef burgers? Think again! At ely’s USA night we’ll teach you a repertoire of fun and funky dishes from across the American continent, we’ll finish the evening off with a lesson on American wines and beers.

Venue: ely bar & brasserie, IFSC
Time: 7:30 sharp

To make a booking or for more information please contact Ian cookclub@elywinebar.com, call 01 678 7867 or visit our website.

fish pie

What you need
1 medium onion, sliced
100-150g butter
50g flour
½ bottle unoaked dry white wine
550ml cream
250g salmon, filleted, skinned,
fine-boned and chopped
250g cod, filleted, skinned,
fine-boned and chopped
250g crab meat, fresh or frozen
3 large floury potatoes,
such as roosters, peeled
and chopped
rock salt, black pepper
50g dill, chopped
50g parsley, chopped
1 egg yolk
What to do
Start by sweating the onion in half the butter in a pan. When the onion is translucent, slowly add the flour to make a roux. Over a very low heat, stir in the white wine and 500ml of the cream.
Add the fish and crab meat and cook for 12-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C. Cook the potatoes in plenty of boiling, salted water until soft. Drain and place back over a low heat covered with a dry, clean cloth for a few minutes. This will help to dry them out a little. Mash the potato with the remaining cream and butter, to taste.
Season well with the salt and pepper and set aside.
Add the dill and parsley to the pan with the fish and crab meat, and season with salt and pepper.
Turn the seafood mix into a large, ovenproof dish and cover with the mash. Brush the top of the potato with the egg yolk.
Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until the potato is golden brown on top.

A note for the cook
This is a great dish to cook for a casual weekend dinner or Sunday lunch. Best of all, most of the work can be done the night before.
Just work through the recipe right up to the point where you assemble the pie, then cover and put in the refrigerator overnight. All you have to do the next day is bake the pie for 15-20 minutes at 180°C.

A wine that works
The creaminess of this dish needs a wine with the ability to cut through the sauce while lifting the mild fish flavours. Jose Pariente’ by Bodegas dos Victorias in Rueda, Spain, is made from the verdejo grape. It’s almost sauvignon-blanc-like in its freshness, with layers of fruit flavours and a
ripe, citrus acidity.

Also try
Broglia Tenuta la Meirana’ Gavi de Gavi.

warm dark chocolate fondants

warm dark chocolate fondants

What you need

125g dark chocolate, 70% cocoa solids, chopped
125g unsalted butter, plus a little extra for greasing the moulds
3 medium organic eggs
3 medium organic egg yolks
65g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder, plus a little extra for the moulds

To serve
vanilla ice-cream or
mango sorbet
thin dessert biscuits (optional)

Serves 6

What to do
Put the chocolate and the butter In a heatproof bowl and stand over a pan of simmering water.
Leave to melt, stirring until smooth. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together.
Add the melted chocolate mixture and fold in the flour and cocoa until evenly combined.
Lightly grease 6 x 7.5cm ramekins with butter and dust with cocoa. Stand them on a baking tray and pour in the chocolate mixture until about three-quarters full. Place In the fridge for 1 hour to set.
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the ramekins into the oven for 10 minutes. The fondant should be spongy on the top but still soft in the middle – you can check by gently inserting a small knife and the chocolate mixture should run free.
Serve the fondants warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or mango sorbet and a thin dessert biscuit.

A note for the cook
At ely, we like to serve this dessert with a refreshing mango coulis.

A wine that works
Banyuls, a ‘vin doux naturel’, or ‘naturally sweet wine’, from the southern limit of Roussillon in France, is one of the few wines that go well with chocolate. Made predominantly from grenache, the heady aromas of macerated red fruits give way to mocha flavours and a dry,
powerful finish. The concentration achieved by the grenache, and the heat and time works well with the chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

Also try
A red Zinfandel, from California.

This recipe is taken from the ely Cookbook – available for purchase for €20 online. An ideal Gift for someone that loves food and wine. http://www.elywinebar.ie/about/ely-cookbook/

chicken chasseur

with morel mushrooms

What you need
100g dried morels
medium carrot, diced
2 banana shallots, or 4 ordinary ballots, diced
1 stick celery, diced
100g butter
2 sprigs thyme
4 bay leaves
150ml red wine
300ml roast bone stock, or good quality, ready-made chicken stock
1 organic, corn-fed chicken, quartered
100ml cream
rock salt, black pepper
good bunch tarragon
2 spring onions, finely chopped, to garnish

Serves 4

What to do
Start by soaking the morels in boiling water until thoroughly wet and soft to the touch.
In a large pot (big enough to hold the chicken), sauté the carrot, shallots and celery in half the butter until al dente. Add the thyme and bay leaves and then a splash of red wine. Strain the morels, roughly chop and add to the saucepan with the vegetables. Add the stock and reduce to a simmer.
Heat a frying pan and fry the chicken pieces in the remaining 50g of butter until golden brown on both sides – this will add flavour to the dish. Place the chicken pieces in the simmering liquid.
Add the cream and reduce by one-quarter. Season to taste. Chop the tarragon leaves and add at the last minute – this ensures that you don’t blacken the herb with too much heat and also brings out its full flavour.
Serve in a bowl, on a bed of mashed potato, scattered with the spring onions.

A wine that works
A light merlot-based wine will bring out the flavour of the mushrooms. Chateau Calon from Montagne, Saint-Emilion, has dark fruit, ripe, rounded tannins and a decent finish.

Also try
Le Volte from Omellaia in Bolgheri, Tuscany.

This recipe is taken from the ely Cookbook – available for purchase for €20 online.

http://www.elywinebar.ie/about/ely-cookbook/

wine temperature and storage

We often serve our white wines too cold and our red wines too warm. Serving an over-chilled white minimises its flavours and aromas. Serving a red wine too warm makes it take on a soupy character and brings out too many alcoholic fumes. The table below will serve as a good guideline for how to serve your wine. Don’t be afraid to chill a lighter red, either – certain gamay-based wines, for example, will benefit from an hour in the fridge before serving, especially in summer.

Serving temperature
7°C Almost all white wines and champagnes
10°C Full-bodied, high quality white wines, including sweet wines and rich, white Burgundies. Also the lighter reds, like Beaujolais
15°C Red wines and ports

Storage
Keep your wine bottles stored so that:
The cork stays moist (always keep bottles on their sides)
The wines are at the lowest stable temperature possible
(make sure not to have a wine rack near a fridge, cooker or heater, for example)
The location is free of vibration
The location is not used to store other items that have a strong odour
The wine is kept out of direct sunlight and strong lighting

If you’re storing a bottle of wine that’s already been opened, a vacu-vin stopper (available from any good wine merchant) will keep it drinkable – but not for more than two or three days.
White wine should not be stored long-term in the fridge. Store as above, and then chill before serving.
If you’re storing finer wines for a long time, it’s best to ask your wine merchant’s advice about how long to store it before its optimum drinking age… if it lasts that long!

This article has being taken from the ely cookbook – page 17 - for more info

and crispy shallot

4 x 50g slices of foie gras

200g frozen puff pastry

flour for dusting, and coating shallots

4 fresh figs

1 tbsp caster sugar

2 tsp sherry vinegar

2 shallots

about 500ml sunflower oil, for deep-frying

rock salt

mustard cress

Serves 4

What to do

Keep the foie gras in the fridge until needed. Leave the pastry to defrost at room temperature to 1 hour. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll the pastry gently on a very lightly floured surface and cut into 4×8-10 cm squares. Place on the baking sheet, score each square with a sharp knife and bake for 7-10 minutes. When ready, remove and set aside.

Top and tail the figs. Slice into discs and arrange on the top of the pre-cooked pastry in flower shapes. Mix the sugar and sherry vinegar and sprinkle over the figs – this will draw the flavour out.

Heat a frying pan on the cooker until smoking. Remove the foie gras slices from the fridge and place on the frying pan – foie gras does not need oil for frying as it is 90% fat. Fry until golden brown on one side (approx. 10 seconds), then turn over and repeat. Remove the foie gras and place on top of the fig tarts. Heat in the oven for 2-3 minutes.

Finely slice the shallots into rings. Coat them with flour and deep-fry in 3-4cm sunflower oil until golden brown. Remove the tarts from the oven. Season the foie gras with rock salt and arrange the shallots neatly on top. Garnish with mustard cress.

A note for the cook

You can buy pre-sliced foie gras from the freezer section of good supermarkets. If you are slicing it yourself, chill the foie gras first and use a very sharp knife.

A wine that works

A classic accompaniment to foie gras is Sauternes, one of the sweet wines of Bordeaux. While many Sauternes are expensive (often justifiably so, due to the rigours of harvesting the botrytis-affected grapes) an easy way of enjoying these styles of wine is to buy them in the half bottle. A good example of Sauternes is Chateau Laville (available in half bottles), made by Jeai-Owistophe Barbe.

It may take six passes through the vineyard to get the grapes he wants and the resulting wine has a lovely intensity of sweet fruit but shows a fresh acidity that carries the richness of the footf.

Tip: try your Sauternes with an oriental dish that has a little ginger.

Also try

Domaine Weinbach Tokay Pinot Gris ‘Cuvee Laurence’ from Alsace.

If you are interested in learning how to cook starters like this one and more recipes the ely way, consider booking a place on our Cookery Courses beginning in January.

A great desert for when you just want to make use of storecupboard ingredients.
You can leave out the brandy cream if you are serving children.

banana pancakes

with brandy cream

What you need
200g plain flour
2 eggs
100ml milk
1 and half tbsp water
100g butter, plus extra for frying pancakes
4 bananas
3 – 4 tbsp brandy
100ml

Serves 4

What to do
Ideally, make the pancake batter the day before, or at least 1 hour in advance.
Sieve the flour into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk and water together. Make a well in the centre of the flour, then slowly stir the egg mixture into the flour. Cover and keep in the fridge overnight.
Heat a non-stick pan. Add a small cube of butter and allow to melt. Ladle in enough pancake mixture to make a circle that holds its shape. Turn as it cooks. Place each cooked pancake in a stack on a warmed plate and cover with a humid tea towel. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, peel the bananas and cut in half lengthways. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and the bananas until slightly golden. Remove the bananas, carefully pour the brandy into the pan to deglaze and add the cream. Slowly reduce by half.
Place 2 pieces of banana on top of each serving. Drizzle with the brandy cream.

A note for the cook
These are American-style pancakes – they use a thick batter which holds its shape. Making the batter in advance allows the gluten content of the flour to relax resulting in lighter, pancakes.

DANGER! Brandy is highly flammable. Be very careful when you’re deglazing the pan, especially if using gas. Reduce the flame first.

A wine that works
Lustau ‘East India’ has a lovely, creamy, caramelised nose; a sweet palate, with hints of dates and a touch of bitter chocolate. This blend of the palomino and pedro ximenez grapes gives a full, complex and long finish. A real treat that works well with the sweetened banana and the heady brandy

AIso try
A ten-year-old Tawny port such as Warre’s ‘Otjma’.

This recipe is taken from the ely Cookbook – available for purchase for €20 online. An ideal Xmas Gift. http://www.elywinebar.ie/about/ely-cookbook/