Words: Shamim de Brún
Images: Instagram
Words: Shamim de Brún
Images: Instagram
From brilliant brioche to the crunchiest seasonal dish and the unconventional winter warmers, this week’s food is giving us the comfort we need.
So we’ve compiled the best bits into an extensive ol list for your convenience.
Bake an egg yolk into a brioche bun, and I will come running. Just look at these buttery deity-sends beckoning. Warm, lovely, fresh, all you need on a dreary October morning. Just imagine the joy that will come from biting into that yolk. Definitely, the mid-morning I-skipped-breakfast-for-this treat to make your week bearable.
Vegans will love this one! Next up in Sprezzatura’s Dublin Simon Community special is Hilary Casey’s vegan potato gnocchi made from hassle-back beetroot and chargrilled broccoli with a beetroot and cashew gremolata. This one is bound to be the comfort food of the week.
It’s time to get muscular. As winter beckons us indoors, we turn to soups, stews, roasts, chilli, shepherd’s pie, pasta, slow-cooked meats, casseroles, curries, and, surprisingly, mussels. While the demand for just about every other seafood drops off in the winter, mussels spike during this season. With dishes like this special from Frank’s wine bar on Camden Street, it’s not hard to see why. Just look how warm and inviting it is. If you want to be seduced this week, this is the meal for you.
Salads often fall out of fashion as the winter months roll in. But Hang Dai is on to something with this Thai basil oil, lotus crisps and kimchi number. It’s spicy, refreshing and crucially crunchy. We can forget or forego crunch in winter in favour of soft, warm dishes, much to the dismay of chronic crunch stans like myself. Here Hang Dai has found a way to add a little crunch while keeping it seasonal. This week it’s one to aim for.
Every week there is one sandwich that calls to us. This week the pull is so strong you’d swear we were Odysseus passing through the seas of the sirens. This bad boy is made up of spiced marinated roasted franks chicken breast, house-made garlic aioli, spicy sriracha slaw, and crisp baby gem lettuce topped with lots of franks hot sauce. It’s a spicy one that is perfect for a mid-week treat yourself lunch. I’m hungry just looking at it.
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