New Collection of Festive Recipes launched by Ireland's only Community Chef!

The Christmas period can be a very stressful time for a family and sometimes the pressure of preparing a "perfect" Christmas Dinner can be too much for some Mums and Dads.

Community Chef Brian McDermott, from Donegal, has teamed up with the Craft Butchers of Ireland and produced a new "Collection of Festive Recipes" which will help to take the take the pressure off the home-cook and leave more time for festive fun! This is a new simple guide to a perfect Christmas Dinner!

A Collection of Festive Recipes by Community Chef Brian McDermott 

Brian McDermott is Ireland's first dedicated Community Chef and is passionate about food, reducing salt, tackling obesity, growing his own and supporting local produce. His innovative and relaxed style of cooking is featured at food festivals from Donegal to Cork, where he shares the stage with his good friend and mentor Neven Maguire.

The "Collection of Festive Recipes" booklet is being launched Wednesday 12th December and can be picked up, for free, in Craft Butchers shops all over Ireland.

Chef Brian takes you through all aspects of the perfect Christmas Dinner giving tips from a wonderful simple Soup, a Smashing Stuffing & mixed Roasted Potatoes and Vegetables. His fresh Cranberry Sauce recipe will make a wonderful change from the usual and his easy-to-make Baked Alaska will be a family favourite for years to come.

Brian's Tasty Christmas Turkey

The "Collection of Festive Recipes" booklet gives comprehensive instructions on how to prepare and cook your Christmas Turkey and Festive Glazed Ham with ease and includes extra cooking tips for all the dishes! You can pick up a free copy of the booklet in your local Craft Butchers or Download the eBook version at http://communitychef.ie/ebook/index.html

Check out Brian's website at www.communitychef.ie

Brian McDermott, from Moville, Co Donegal, is Ireland’s first dedicated Community Chef and author of a successful cookery book “Reunite with Food”. He has a weekly radio slot on BBC Radio Foyle. Brian encourages communities across Ireland to eat healthy on a budget while improving their nutrition and well-being.

Brian runs a Cookery School in Moville, Co Donegal and is also the founder of "Cookery School Live" Ireland's Only Mobile Cookery Demonstration Theatre. This purpose-built demonstration unit is available for Food Festivals, Schools, Fundraisers, Pop Up, Cookery School, Product Launches, Cookery Competitions, Ready-Steady-Cooks.


September 2012 saw the introduction of “The Certified Craft Butcher of Ireland” accreditation. This is an independently audited standard of the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland, thereby guaranteeing the highest standards in food, customer service and product knowledge.

Throughout the cities, towns and villages of Ireland, the local Craft Butcher continues to serve the local community as he has done for many generations passed. Behind the counter of your local butcher shop are the many familiar faces you have come to know and trust, with their many years of knowledge and skill in their craft.


See http://www.communitychef.ie for further information on Community Chef Brian McDermott

See http://www.craftbutchers.ie/a for further information on Craft Butcher Certification

An eBook version of the Collection of Festive Recipes is available to download at http://communitychef.ie/ebook/index.html

Zack

Christmas Cooking Demonstration for St Vincent de Paul

Are you looking for some festive tips and creative ideas for preparing your Christmas dinner?

Award winning Donegal chefs Gary O’Hanlon Viewmount House & Donegal Food Strategy Ambassador with Healthy Eating guru Brian McDermott CommunityChef.ie are hosting a Cookery Demonstration in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny, Co Donegal on 11th December at 7.30pm.

Donegal Chefs Gary O'Hanlon and Brian McDermott

This fundraising event in aid of St Vincent de Paul North West is being organised by the Donegal County Enterprise Board as an initiative under the recently launched Donegal Food Strategy.

The two friends will serve up some exciting new ideas to help you prepare to cook your turkey dinner with a modern twist! First Brian will prepare a delicious starter and a show you how to get that traditional ham just perfect, followed by Gary showing some funky alternatives with vegetables and stuffing that are guaranteed to whet your appetite. 

Brian will then prepare a simple yet very tasty dessert and Gary will finish up by creating an appetising dish for the days after Christmas using up all that leftover turkey! Local produce will be used where possible and Recipe Cards will be available for you to take away, so that you can recreate the dishes at home. It promises to be a great evening's food, chat and craic!

Admission is only €10 and this includes a tasting of Christmas Fare. Proceeds of the evening will go to the St.Vincent de Paul North West Region. 

Tickets are available from:

Donegal County Enterprise Board Offices 

Tel: +353 (0) 74 9160735 or email: info@donegalenterprise.ie

and from 

The Mount Errigal Hotel 

Tel: + 353 (0) 74 91 22700 or email: info@mounterrigal.com

Zack

LIVE Traditional Irish Music Webcast - 7th December

Some of Ireland's top Traditional musicians:  TG4 Musician of the Year, Brian Rooney, Lifetime Achievement Award winner Danny Meehan and one of the most distinctive voices in modern traditional Irish music, singer Rosie Stewart - will all appear during the next live webcast on LiveTrad.com on Friday next, December 7th 2012.
The webcast will stream free-to-air from 10pm GMT and the Live Music Session is likely to continue well into the night! CLICK HERE FOR YOUR TIME CONVERSION Live Traditional Irish Music Webcast!

Friday December 7th at 10 pm GMT

The venue is The Fiddlestone Bar, an intimate pub in the heart of Belleek, Co. Fermanagh and the occasion centre around the 6^th Annual John Joe Gordon Festival which takes place over the same weekend.

Ahead of the webcast, LiveTrad.com have got CD Prizes, Concert Tickets and even a chance to attend a Fiddle Master Class! Check out their Competition page HERE.

Other musicians set to appear in the webcast include Jim Connelly (button accordion), Gary Fitzpatrick (flute), Kathleen Meehan (banjo), Seán McManus (singer), Emma Fitzpatrick (bodhrán), Liam McManus (flute and dance), and Emmet O’Halloran (button accordion) who will act as host for the evening. The session will give people far and wide a taste of the Christmas season as it swings into gear. The decorations are being put up as we speak, so for many of the fans of traditional Irish Music all over the world, this is a great chance for you to get up close and personal with a fireside music session without having to leave the comfort of your own home!

TG4 Musician of the Year, Brian Rooney

TG4 Lifetime Achievement Award winner, Danny Meehan	So, whether you’re wrapping up at work in the United States, getting up for breakfast in Australia or anywhere else in-between, make sure you join in for this special Christmas Irish  Music Webcast on LiveTrad.com.
	The Date: Friday December 7th The Time: 10 m GMT The Place: www.LiveTrad.com

To WIN those CD Prizes, Concert Tickets and even a chance to attend a Fiddle Master Class! Check out the LiveTrad.com Competition page HERE.

You can send your Christmas messages to your friends, at home or abroad, in to the show Live on the message board, during the webcast and they'll read as many out on air as they can!

Zack