weekend bites

This week I’ll be eating… goose rillettes. It’s a great way to use up leftover goose. I just strip the carcass of all remaining meat, mix with it an equal quantity of goose fat, add salt and pepper and perhaps a bay leaf and put it in a casserole in a very low oven for several hours. Then I shred the meat, using two forks and place it in ramekins. Any remaining fat is poured on top to form a seal and the rillettes are then stored in a cool place. Delicious spread on hot toast. It looks like the Alcohol Bill will become law in the New Year and it’s clear that it has been drafted with no consideration for wine merchants who champion small producers. The proposed labelling regulations will be fine for large producers and supermarkets but independent importers, the backbone of the wine industry, will find it wellnigh impossible to cope. It’s not fair and will be disastrous for consumer choice. My New Year food resolutions are several. To grow more of my own salad leaves throughout the entire year has eluded me for quite a while but I’m determined for 2018. To stop regarding a bowl of pasta as the ultimate treat is another (this is because I eat a fairly low carb diet). To ease off on chicken wings and hamburgers in my restaurant reviews – unless they are truly exceptional. To eat as much cheese as ever, but with fewer and better crackers. To eat more fish. To be more tolerant of vegans. If you’re in search of a New Year resolution that doesn’t involve penance, will help to keep you fit while also delivering a lot of delicious pleasure, I have a suggestion. Start growing some of your own food, even a square metre in the garden or a big window box. Have a look at brown envelope seeds. com, and Irish company doing organically produced veg seeds and at giy.ie for advice.