Fig, honeycomb &
black pudding salad
with Cashel Blue
Serves four to six
This salad hits all the notes of flavour balance: sweet, salty, savoury and acidic. It’s a great way to start off any brunch feast.
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
200g fresh rocket, washed and spun dry
3 fresh figs, quartered
200g Jane Russell black pudding, crumbled into bite-sized chunks
100g Cashel Blue cheese, crumbled
100g chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
100g raw honeycomb (or 50ml good-quality Irish honey, for drizzling)
For the white wine vinaigrette:
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, pureed
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
80ml light tasting oil (rapeseed or sunflower)
Fig, honeycomb and Jane Russell black pudding salad. \ Philip Doyle
1 Make the vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and, using a hand blender, blitz until well combined (you can do this in a regular blender, if you wish). Set aside until ready to serve.2 Heat a frying pan on medium high and add 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil. Add the crumbled black pudding and fry until crisp but soft on the inside. Set aside.3 On a large platter, scatter the rocket to cover the base. Add the quartered figs (arrange creatively) and then scatter the black pudding, walnuts and blue cheese.4 Finish the salad by either placing the honeycomb directly in the centre (for some wow factor) or drizzle the honey over the salad right before serving.5 Serve the vinaigrette on the side so your guests can add as much or little as they like. This is not an ideal recipe for making ahead, though some components (like the vinaigrette and frying the pudding) can be done ahead of time. Maple-Glazed Bacon Dutch Baby
Dutch Baby pancake with Jane Russell maple-glazed rashers. \ Philip Doyle
Serves two to four
A Dutch baby is an impressive puffy pancake and makes a delicious main course or dessert for your Easter brunch. Jane’s bacon rashers get the sticky treatment as they are doused in maple syrup before being piled into the centre of the pancake. Serve with berries to go sweet or eggs to go fully savoury – the bacon will pair nicely either way. If you want to make the Dutch baby a savoury pancake, the addition of fresh chopped herbs into the batter is delicious.
For the Dutch baby:
100g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
150ml milk
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla (if going for a savoury pancake, substitute vanilla for fresh chopped herbs)
30g butter
For the glazed bacon:
4 tbsp maple syrup
6-8 Jane Russell bacon rashers
Dutch Baby pancake with Jane Russell maple-glazed rashers. \ Philip Doyle
1 Preheat the oven to 210°C and place a cast-iron skillet (or oven-safe pan) in the oven as it heats.2 Line a baking sheet with parchment and layer the bacon on the tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then remove and pour over the maple syrup. Return the tray to the oven and cook for an addition five to 10 minutes or until the maple syrup reduces into a sticky coating on the rashers. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.3 In a blender, combine all of the ingredients for the dutch baby except the butter. Blend until the batter is well combined. Take the hot skillet out of the oven and add the butter. Swirl it around and let it sizzle and melt.4 Add the pancake batter to the skillet all at once and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the edges are puffed up around the sides and the pancake is a golden brown.5 Pile the bacon into the centre and serve with other toppings of your choice. Serve this as soon as it’s out of the oven.Light & zingy Huevos Rancheros
Sausage huevos rancheros. \ Philip Doyle
Serves four
This delicious Mexican-inspired dish can be translated into “ranch-style eggs”, which – in the Irish context – means making the most of our farm-fresh eggs, cheeses, butter and sour cream. We made this version of huevos rancheros (and there are many more versions out there) by sandwiching a mix of Jane’s traditional sausage, black beans and a mixture of feta and mozzarella cheeses between two lightly fried flour tortillas. The tortillas can be filled the night before and warmed in the oven before serving, which helps if you’re entertaining.
4 large eggs
8 small, good-quality flour tortillas
60ml clarified butter (you can do this yourself by melting butter in the microwave and letting the milk solids settle to the bottom of the dish)
For the filling:
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
200g Jane Russell’s traditional sausage meat
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
100ml chicken stock
Juice of one lime
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
100g feta cheese
100g mozzarella (not buffalo as it’s too wet)
For the pico de gallo:
1 jalapeno chilli pepper, seeds removed and finely minced
1 medium onion, as finely diced as possible
4 large vine tomatoes, seeds removed and as finely diced as possible
50g fresh coriander, chopped
2 tsp salt
For the lime
sour cream:
200g sour cream
Juice and zest of one lime
1 tsp salt
To serve:
Fresh coriander leaves
Hot sauce of choice (optional)
Sausage huevos rancheros. \ Philip Doyle
1 Make the filling by heating some rapeseed oil in a large pan and frying the onion until soft and translucent. Add the sausage meat and break it up into bite-sized chunks. Increase the heat and fry until the sausage is well-browned and slightly crisp.2 Add the minced garlic, rinsed black beans and spices. Add 100ml of chicken stock and gently simmer this mixture until 90% of the liquid has evaporated. Check for seasoning before adding the lime juice, salt and pepper. Remember, you can always add more salt to a dish but you can’t easily take it out.3 Mix the feta and mozzarella cheese together (I do this in a food processor) and set aside.4 Make the pico de gallo by finely chopping the onions and tomatoes as well as you can. Add the minced jalapeno and chopped coriander. Season with salt and set aside (the longer this sits, the better it will taste).5 To fry the tortillas, heat a large pan and add the 60ml of clarified butter (it needs to be clarified or the milk solids in the butter will burn and affect the flavour of the tortilla). Heat the butter on medium high. When hot, add the tortillas one by one and fry lightly on each side (they will puff up and turn a darker brown). Remove and place on a platter lined with kitchen towel to drain. 6 Make the lime sour cream by mixing all of the listed ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.7 Assemble the tortillas: preheat the oven to 180°C. On one tortilla, add ¼ of the filling mixture and ¼ of the cheese mixture. Top it with another tortilla and firmly press it down to sandwich everything together. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until you have four portions. Place the tortillas in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. 8 While they’re baking, make your eggs. In a non-stick pan, add some of the leftover clarified butter (or regular butter, if you don’t have any more) and heat on medium-low. Add four eggs and cover the pan with a lid. The steam will gently cook the eggs on top while keeping the yolk runny.9 When the tortillas are hot all the way through (and the cheese is gooey), put them on warmed plates and top each with a fried egg, a few big spoonfuls of pico de gallo and a generous dollop of lime sour cream. 10 Garnish with fresh coriander and hot sauce, if you wish. Serve immediately (these go very well with a cold pitcher of margaritas, if you’re so inclined). The Ultimate Black Pudding Wellington
Serves 10
Black pudding and sausage wellington. \ Philip Doyle
Are you looking to wow at Easter brunch? This is the dish for you. An entire log of Jane’s beautifully earthy black pudding is cradled in layers of sausage and duxelle (a mixture of mushrooms and shallots) before being wrapped in puff pastry and baked to golden perfection. The flavours complement perfectly and it will feed an army.
The best part? This is a lot less complicated than it looks. If you can make a sausage roll, you can definitely make this.
2 sheets of prepared puff pastry (if frozen, defrosted)
One log of Jane Russell’s black pudding, kept whole
600g Jane Russell’s traditional sausage meat
200g apple chutney
500g chopped mushrooms (we used portobello mushrooms here but any type will do)
200g chopped shallot
10g fresh thyme, finely chopped
50g butter
100ml white wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
60g sunflower seeds
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 heaped tablespoon grainy mustard
To serve:
Fried potatoes and kale
Apple chutney
Black pudding and sausage wellington. \ Philip Doyle
1 The night before you plan to serve, make and assemble the wellington. Start by taking your chopped mushrooms and shallots and placing them in a food processor. Pulse the two together until they are extremely finely chopped and resemble a paste.2 Take a large pan and heat on medium. Add the butter to melt and then add the mixture of mushrooms and shallots. Cook the mushrooms and shallots for about five minutes, then add the thyme and white wine. Continue cooking slowly, stirring regularly until the mixture dries out completely. This is a duxelle. Taste to check for seasoning and, if needed, add some salt and pepper. Set the duxelle aside to cool.3 Time to assemble. Unwrap one of the sheets of puff pastry (just leave it on the paper) and lay it out flat. Place the log of black pudding directly in the centre. Add the apple chutney to the top of the pudding. In a bowl, combine the sausage meat with the grainy mustard. Build a dome around the black pudding with the sausage meat.4 Next, add the cooled duxelle mixture to the top of the sausage meat. 5 Take the second sheet of puff pastry and carefully fit it around the sausage, black pudding and duxelle. Tuck the edges of the top layer of pastry underneath the sausage, if possible, and bring the edges of the pastry base upwards to form a seal. Trim any excess pastry around the edges. 6 Wrap the wellington tightly in several layers of cling film and refridgerate overnight.7 The next morning, preheat the oven to 170°C. Unwrap the wellington and gently place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.8 Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg all over the surface of the wellington. Then place in the preheated oven to cook for 40 minutes.9 After 40 minutes, brush the top of the wellington with another layer of egg and sprinkle on the sunflower seeds. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes (if the seeds are getting too brown in the oven, place some foil over the top for the remainder of the cooking time).10 Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with potatoes and more chutney.
Fig, honeycomb &
black pudding salad
with Cashel Blue
Serves four to six
This salad hits all the notes of flavour balance: sweet, salty, savoury and acidic. It’s a great way to start off any brunch feast.
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
200g fresh rocket, washed and spun dry
3 fresh figs, quartered
200g Jane Russell black pudding, crumbled into bite-sized chunks
100g Cashel Blue cheese, crumbled
100g chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
100g raw honeycomb (or 50ml good-quality Irish honey, for drizzling)
For the white wine vinaigrette:
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, pureed
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
80ml light tasting oil (rapeseed or sunflower)
Fig, honeycomb and Jane Russell black pudding salad. \ Philip Doyle
1 Make the vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients in a bowl and, using a hand blender, blitz until well combined (you can do this in a regular blender, if you wish). Set aside until ready to serve.2 Heat a frying pan on medium high and add 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil. Add the crumbled black pudding and fry until crisp but soft on the inside. Set aside.3 On a large platter, scatter the rocket to cover the base. Add the quartered figs (arrange creatively) and then scatter the black pudding, walnuts and blue cheese.4 Finish the salad by either placing the honeycomb directly in the centre (for some wow factor) or drizzle the honey over the salad right before serving.5 Serve the vinaigrette on the side so your guests can add as much or little as they like. This is not an ideal recipe for making ahead, though some components (like the vinaigrette and frying the pudding) can be done ahead of time. Maple-Glazed Bacon Dutch Baby
Dutch Baby pancake with Jane Russell maple-glazed rashers. \ Philip Doyle
Serves two to four
A Dutch baby is an impressive puffy pancake and makes a delicious main course or dessert for your Easter brunch. Jane’s bacon rashers get the sticky treatment as they are doused in maple syrup before being piled into the centre of the pancake. Serve with berries to go sweet or eggs to go fully savoury – the bacon will pair nicely either way. If you want to make the Dutch baby a savoury pancake, the addition of fresh chopped herbs into the batter is delicious.
For the Dutch baby:
100g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
150ml milk
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla (if going for a savoury pancake, substitute vanilla for fresh chopped herbs)
30g butter
For the glazed bacon:
4 tbsp maple syrup
6-8 Jane Russell bacon rashers
Dutch Baby pancake with Jane Russell maple-glazed rashers. \ Philip Doyle
1 Preheat the oven to 210°C and place a cast-iron skillet (or oven-safe pan) in the oven as it heats.2 Line a baking sheet with parchment and layer the bacon on the tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then remove and pour over the maple syrup. Return the tray to the oven and cook for an addition five to 10 minutes or until the maple syrup reduces into a sticky coating on the rashers. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.3 In a blender, combine all of the ingredients for the dutch baby except the butter. Blend until the batter is well combined. Take the hot skillet out of the oven and add the butter. Swirl it around and let it sizzle and melt.4 Add the pancake batter to the skillet all at once and immediately return to the oven. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until the edges are puffed up around the sides and the pancake is a golden brown.5 Pile the bacon into the centre and serve with other toppings of your choice. Serve this as soon as it’s out of the oven.Light & zingy Huevos Rancheros
Sausage huevos rancheros. \ Philip Doyle
Serves four
This delicious Mexican-inspired dish can be translated into “ranch-style eggs”, which – in the Irish context – means making the most of our farm-fresh eggs, cheeses, butter and sour cream. We made this version of huevos rancheros (and there are many more versions out there) by sandwiching a mix of Jane’s traditional sausage, black beans and a mixture of feta and mozzarella cheeses between two lightly fried flour tortillas. The tortillas can be filled the night before and warmed in the oven before serving, which helps if you’re entertaining.
4 large eggs
8 small, good-quality flour tortillas
60ml clarified butter (you can do this yourself by melting butter in the microwave and letting the milk solids settle to the bottom of the dish)
For the filling:
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
400g tin of black beans, drained and rinsed
200g Jane Russell’s traditional sausage meat
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
100ml chicken stock
Juice of one lime
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
100g feta cheese
100g mozzarella (not buffalo as it’s too wet)
For the pico de gallo:
1 jalapeno chilli pepper, seeds removed and finely minced
1 medium onion, as finely diced as possible
4 large vine tomatoes, seeds removed and as finely diced as possible
50g fresh coriander, chopped
2 tsp salt
For the lime
sour cream:
200g sour cream
Juice and zest of one lime
1 tsp salt
To serve:
Fresh coriander leaves
Hot sauce of choice (optional)
Sausage huevos rancheros. \ Philip Doyle
1 Make the filling by heating some rapeseed oil in a large pan and frying the onion until soft and translucent. Add the sausage meat and break it up into bite-sized chunks. Increase the heat and fry until the sausage is well-browned and slightly crisp.2 Add the minced garlic, rinsed black beans and spices. Add 100ml of chicken stock and gently simmer this mixture until 90% of the liquid has evaporated. Check for seasoning before adding the lime juice, salt and pepper. Remember, you can always add more salt to a dish but you can’t easily take it out.3 Mix the feta and mozzarella cheese together (I do this in a food processor) and set aside.4 Make the pico de gallo by finely chopping the onions and tomatoes as well as you can. Add the minced jalapeno and chopped coriander. Season with salt and set aside (the longer this sits, the better it will taste).5 To fry the tortillas, heat a large pan and add the 60ml of clarified butter (it needs to be clarified or the milk solids in the butter will burn and affect the flavour of the tortilla). Heat the butter on medium high. When hot, add the tortillas one by one and fry lightly on each side (they will puff up and turn a darker brown). Remove and place on a platter lined with kitchen towel to drain. 6 Make the lime sour cream by mixing all of the listed ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.7 Assemble the tortillas: preheat the oven to 180°C. On one tortilla, add ¼ of the filling mixture and ¼ of the cheese mixture. Top it with another tortilla and firmly press it down to sandwich everything together. Place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until you have four portions. Place the tortillas in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. 8 While they’re baking, make your eggs. In a non-stick pan, add some of the leftover clarified butter (or regular butter, if you don’t have any more) and heat on medium-low. Add four eggs and cover the pan with a lid. The steam will gently cook the eggs on top while keeping the yolk runny.9 When the tortillas are hot all the way through (and the cheese is gooey), put them on warmed plates and top each with a fried egg, a few big spoonfuls of pico de gallo and a generous dollop of lime sour cream. 10 Garnish with fresh coriander and hot sauce, if you wish. Serve immediately (these go very well with a cold pitcher of margaritas, if you’re so inclined). The Ultimate Black Pudding Wellington
Serves 10
Black pudding and sausage wellington. \ Philip Doyle
Are you looking to wow at Easter brunch? This is the dish for you. An entire log of Jane’s beautifully earthy black pudding is cradled in layers of sausage and duxelle (a mixture of mushrooms and shallots) before being wrapped in puff pastry and baked to golden perfection. The flavours complement perfectly and it will feed an army.
The best part? This is a lot less complicated than it looks. If you can make a sausage roll, you can definitely make this.
2 sheets of prepared puff pastry (if frozen, defrosted)
One log of Jane Russell’s black pudding, kept whole
600g Jane Russell’s traditional sausage meat
200g apple chutney
500g chopped mushrooms (we used portobello mushrooms here but any type will do)
200g chopped shallot
10g fresh thyme, finely chopped
50g butter
100ml white wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
60g sunflower seeds
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 heaped tablespoon grainy mustard
To serve:
Fried potatoes and kale
Apple chutney
Black pudding and sausage wellington. \ Philip Doyle
1 The night before you plan to serve, make and assemble the wellington. Start by taking your chopped mushrooms and shallots and placing them in a food processor. Pulse the two together until they are extremely finely chopped and resemble a paste.2 Take a large pan and heat on medium. Add the butter to melt and then add the mixture of mushrooms and shallots. Cook the mushrooms and shallots for about five minutes, then add the thyme and white wine. Continue cooking slowly, stirring regularly until the mixture dries out completely. This is a duxelle. Taste to check for seasoning and, if needed, add some salt and pepper. Set the duxelle aside to cool.3 Time to assemble. Unwrap one of the sheets of puff pastry (just leave it on the paper) and lay it out flat. Place the log of black pudding directly in the centre. Add the apple chutney to the top of the pudding. In a bowl, combine the sausage meat with the grainy mustard. Build a dome around the black pudding with the sausage meat.4 Next, add the cooled duxelle mixture to the top of the sausage meat. 5 Take the second sheet of puff pastry and carefully fit it around the sausage, black pudding and duxelle. Tuck the edges of the top layer of pastry underneath the sausage, if possible, and bring the edges of the pastry base upwards to form a seal. Trim any excess pastry around the edges. 6 Wrap the wellington tightly in several layers of cling film and refridgerate overnight.7 The next morning, preheat the oven to 170°C. Unwrap the wellington and gently place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.8 Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg all over the surface of the wellington. Then place in the preheated oven to cook for 40 minutes.9 After 40 minutes, brush the top of the wellington with another layer of egg and sprinkle on the sunflower seeds. Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes (if the seeds are getting too brown in the oven, place some foil over the top for the remainder of the cooking time).10 Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with potatoes and more chutney. 
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