As a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu and the teacher behind the award-winning Tasty Tart cookery school, Tara Walker knows how to stay cool when catering for a crowd. Even when under pressure in the early days.
“My husband was assembling chairs from IKEA at five o’clock that afternoon,” she recalls of one of her very first classes, as she sets a piping hot pot of coffee and a plate of salted caramel shortbread on the table of her sunlit kitchen in Termonfeckin, Co Louth.
It doesn’t take long to feel at home here – and that’s the point.
“It’s good food, but delivered in a non-pretentious way,” says Tara of her classes, which range from Taste of Asia to Healthy, Wholesome and Hasty and have featured in the Georgina Campbell and McKenna guides.
Having grown up in the food business – her parents left their civil jobs in the 1970s to open a candle factory, before running a restaurant and a bar and hotel in Drogheda – it’s not surprising Tara followed suit; though she did try to take a “more sensible” career path initially by studying business and politics in Trinity.
“I just thought I’d make a fortune being a stockbroker,” she laughs, “but as soon as I finished my course I was straight into a restaurant.
“I’d say in some ways, some of my friends might have thought it was a cop out. There was this big race on for internships... but I just really liked working in restaurants. I really liked food.”
Indeed, her culinary journey brought her to Edinburgh – where she met husband Rob – as well as Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, which Tara describes as “seriously disciplined”.
“I got this huge rule book, about an inch thick,” she says. “You had to have your whites perfectly ironed and starched. Lots of times I’d spend my evening ironing.”
Tara also completed a stage in the Michelin-starred Chapter One in Dublin, and also worked as a home economist on the Flash Cooking recipe book by British foodie Laura Santtini, whose family own Santini Belgravia – famously Frank Sinatra’s favourite restaurant in London.
However, it was when she started teaching in Fairyhouse Cookery School in Meath, as well as at ICA headquarters in An Grianán, that Tara found her true passion.
While she started teaching in the kitchen of her semi-d (hence the IKEA chair anecdote earlier), two years ago she and Rob – who now have three-year-old daughter Grace – built a new home outside Termonfeckin, which is ideal for demonstrations and hands-on cookery classes, with class sizes averaging at about 12 students.
And with Communion season almost upon us, Tara is sharing her fail-safe but fabulous recipes for home catering over the next three weeks, starting with nibbles including goats cheese tartlets with basil or wild garlic pesto and citrus, fennel and pink peppercorn marinated salmon with stout brown bread.
For further information about Tara and upcoming cookery classes, visit www.thetastytart.ie
10 Top Tips for crowd catering
1 Catering for a crowd can be stressful, especially when everybody is hovering around the kitchen looking at you hungrily. So, a good idea is to place nibbles on big platters with napkins in other areas around the house, such as the sitting room, hall etc. This will keep people out from under your feet. The nibbles will keep everyone going for a while, allowing you to get everything ready for dinner.
2 People are usually dying for a cup of tea or coffee after a long service at church, so set up a tea and coffee area away from the kitchen. The utility room can be a good place to keep the kettle as it can be refilled without having to interfere with the main kitchen sink. Have cups, teaspoons, milk and sugar ready the day before. If you are having a really big crowd, you may want to consider borrowing a water boiler.
3 Use disposable roasting dishes and trays wherever possible to reduce the clean-up afterwards. Also make sure that the dishwasher is empty beforehand – this way you can just load the dirty dishes straight in.
4 There are plenty of pretty disposable plates, cups and napkins available nowadays. If you don’t want to use these for everybody, then at least use them for the children.
5 A relaxed host will create a much more relaxed atmosphere. So accept help from others, whether it’s bringing some food on the day or serving tea and coffee to elderly relatives during the event. Plus, it helps people to mingle a bit more.
6 Get organised in advance – all the recipes here can be made beforehand. It sounds boring, but having as much done as possible will allow you to enjoy the day
7 Make a list of all the jobs you need to do, eg when things need to be reheated and for how long. That way, you don’t forget anything when people are trying to have a chat with you. I often write it on a post-it note to remind myself.
8 Set your buffet table, tables and roll the cutlery (which you can tie with a pretty ribbon) beforehand. Fresh flowers always create a nice visual impact on the buffet table.
9 If you have a lot of young children at the event, make up little goodie bags with a few crayons and mini-colouring books and toys to keep them occupied whilst the adults are eating.
10 The freezer can really be your best friend. Lots of things can be cooked a week or two in advance and frozen. Similarly, have lots of freezer bags ready for leftovers.
Recipe one
Marinated salmon with stout brown bread
Serves eight to 10
This is a great way to feed a crowd fantastic salmon at a purse-friendly price. The traditional smoked salmon is always a popular starter, but why not try this lovely, light alternative? A full side of smoked salmon costs around €45 to buy, whereas a side of fresh salmon is approximately €20.
400g salmon fillet, very finely sliced100ml olive oil2 limes, juiced1 lemon, juiced2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds or dill1 shallot, finely choppedHalf a green pepper, very finely chopped1 tablespoon pink peppercorns, crushedSea salt 1 Mix the lemon and lime juices with the olive oil.
2 Add the chopped fennel, pink peppercorns and shallot.
3 Spread the mixture out on a platter.
4 Place the salmon slices on top and sprinkle with sea salt.
5 Marinate for 15-30 mins.
6 To serve, sprinkle green pepper and fennel on top.
Stout brown bread
Makes 900g / 2lb loaf
- 50g butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 450g wholemeal flour
- 2 tablespoons porridge oats
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- Large handful walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 2 level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 400ml stout
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (fan 180°C /gas mark six).
2 Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
3 Put the butter and honey in saucepan and melt over a low heat
4 Meanwhile, put the wholemeal flour, oats, sugar and chopped walnuts into a bowl.
5 Sieve in the bread soda and mix well.
6 Add the stout to the melted butter and honey and stir together.
7 Add this liquid to the dry ingredients and mix gently to form a wet dough.
8 Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake for about 40-50mins until risen and when tapped underneath has a hollow sound.
9 Wrap in a clean tea towel and allow to cool.
Recipe two
Goats cheese tartlets with pesto
Makes about 18
These tartlets are perfect to make ahead of time and simply reheat in a hot oven for about five minutes before topping with a little of the pesto. They are ideal nibbles for occasions that involve standing around.
You can also make a larger one as a main course (handy if you have a vegetarian guest). Simply cut a rectangular shape of pastry out and make an incision all the way around, about a cm in from the edge. Place the toppings in the middle and brush the outer pastry with egg wash before baking as usual.
- 1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- Half a red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons of pesto (homemade is best)
- 1 log of goats cheese
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark four).
2 Grease a fairy cake tin.
3 Cut the puff pastry into circles and place in individual bun moulds in the tin.
4 Place tomatoes, onions and goats cheese into the pastry.
5 Bake for approx 20-25 mins.
6 Drizzle with pesto and serve.
Basil or wild garlic pesto
I made a mixture of basil and wild garlic pesto, as the woods around Termonfeckin have plenty of wild garlic at the moment.
- Large handful of fresh basil or wild garlic
- 3-4 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted (or walnuts for wild garlic)
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt & black pepper
1 Place basil (or wild garlic) in a food processor and pulse briefly.
2 Add garlic, olive oil, pine nuts (or walnuts) and pulse again.
3 Remove to a bowl and fold in the grated parmesan.
4 Check for seasoning.
NEXT WEEK Creamy chicken curry & slow-roasted shoulder of pulled lamb
As a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu and the teacher behind the award-winning Tasty Tart cookery school, Tara Walker knows how to stay cool when catering for a crowd. Even when under pressure in the early days.
“My husband was assembling chairs from IKEA at five o’clock that afternoon,” she recalls of one of her very first classes, as she sets a piping hot pot of coffee and a plate of salted caramel shortbread on the table of her sunlit kitchen in Termonfeckin, Co Louth.
It doesn’t take long to feel at home here – and that’s the point.
“It’s good food, but delivered in a non-pretentious way,” says Tara of her classes, which range from Taste of Asia to Healthy, Wholesome and Hasty and have featured in the Georgina Campbell and McKenna guides.
Having grown up in the food business – her parents left their civil jobs in the 1970s to open a candle factory, before running a restaurant and a bar and hotel in Drogheda – it’s not surprising Tara followed suit; though she did try to take a “more sensible” career path initially by studying business and politics in Trinity.
“I just thought I’d make a fortune being a stockbroker,” she laughs, “but as soon as I finished my course I was straight into a restaurant.
“I’d say in some ways, some of my friends might have thought it was a cop out. There was this big race on for internships... but I just really liked working in restaurants. I really liked food.”
Indeed, her culinary journey brought her to Edinburgh – where she met husband Rob – as well as Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, which Tara describes as “seriously disciplined”.
“I got this huge rule book, about an inch thick,” she says. “You had to have your whites perfectly ironed and starched. Lots of times I’d spend my evening ironing.”
Tara also completed a stage in the Michelin-starred Chapter One in Dublin, and also worked as a home economist on the Flash Cooking recipe book by British foodie Laura Santtini, whose family own Santini Belgravia – famously Frank Sinatra’s favourite restaurant in London.
However, it was when she started teaching in Fairyhouse Cookery School in Meath, as well as at ICA headquarters in An Grianán, that Tara found her true passion.
While she started teaching in the kitchen of her semi-d (hence the IKEA chair anecdote earlier), two years ago she and Rob – who now have three-year-old daughter Grace – built a new home outside Termonfeckin, which is ideal for demonstrations and hands-on cookery classes, with class sizes averaging at about 12 students.
And with Communion season almost upon us, Tara is sharing her fail-safe but fabulous recipes for home catering over the next three weeks, starting with nibbles including goats cheese tartlets with basil or wild garlic pesto and citrus, fennel and pink peppercorn marinated salmon with stout brown bread.
For further information about Tara and upcoming cookery classes, visit www.thetastytart.ie
10 Top Tips for crowd catering
1 Catering for a crowd can be stressful, especially when everybody is hovering around the kitchen looking at you hungrily. So, a good idea is to place nibbles on big platters with napkins in other areas around the house, such as the sitting room, hall etc. This will keep people out from under your feet. The nibbles will keep everyone going for a while, allowing you to get everything ready for dinner.
2 People are usually dying for a cup of tea or coffee after a long service at church, so set up a tea and coffee area away from the kitchen. The utility room can be a good place to keep the kettle as it can be refilled without having to interfere with the main kitchen sink. Have cups, teaspoons, milk and sugar ready the day before. If you are having a really big crowd, you may want to consider borrowing a water boiler.
3 Use disposable roasting dishes and trays wherever possible to reduce the clean-up afterwards. Also make sure that the dishwasher is empty beforehand – this way you can just load the dirty dishes straight in.
4 There are plenty of pretty disposable plates, cups and napkins available nowadays. If you don’t want to use these for everybody, then at least use them for the children.
5 A relaxed host will create a much more relaxed atmosphere. So accept help from others, whether it’s bringing some food on the day or serving tea and coffee to elderly relatives during the event. Plus, it helps people to mingle a bit more.
6 Get organised in advance – all the recipes here can be made beforehand. It sounds boring, but having as much done as possible will allow you to enjoy the day
7 Make a list of all the jobs you need to do, eg when things need to be reheated and for how long. That way, you don’t forget anything when people are trying to have a chat with you. I often write it on a post-it note to remind myself.
8 Set your buffet table, tables and roll the cutlery (which you can tie with a pretty ribbon) beforehand. Fresh flowers always create a nice visual impact on the buffet table.
9 If you have a lot of young children at the event, make up little goodie bags with a few crayons and mini-colouring books and toys to keep them occupied whilst the adults are eating.
10 The freezer can really be your best friend. Lots of things can be cooked a week or two in advance and frozen. Similarly, have lots of freezer bags ready for leftovers.
Recipe one
Marinated salmon with stout brown bread
Serves eight to 10
This is a great way to feed a crowd fantastic salmon at a purse-friendly price. The traditional smoked salmon is always a popular starter, but why not try this lovely, light alternative? A full side of smoked salmon costs around €45 to buy, whereas a side of fresh salmon is approximately €20.
400g salmon fillet, very finely sliced100ml olive oil2 limes, juiced1 lemon, juiced2 tablespoons chopped fennel fronds or dill1 shallot, finely choppedHalf a green pepper, very finely chopped1 tablespoon pink peppercorns, crushedSea salt 1 Mix the lemon and lime juices with the olive oil.
2 Add the chopped fennel, pink peppercorns and shallot.
3 Spread the mixture out on a platter.
4 Place the salmon slices on top and sprinkle with sea salt.
5 Marinate for 15-30 mins.
6 To serve, sprinkle green pepper and fennel on top.
Stout brown bread
Makes 900g / 2lb loaf
- 50g butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 450g wholemeal flour
- 2 tablespoons porridge oats
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- Large handful walnuts, chopped (optional)
- 2 level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 400ml stout
1 Preheat oven to 200°C (fan 180°C /gas mark six).
2 Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.
3 Put the butter and honey in saucepan and melt over a low heat
4 Meanwhile, put the wholemeal flour, oats, sugar and chopped walnuts into a bowl.
5 Sieve in the bread soda and mix well.
6 Add the stout to the melted butter and honey and stir together.
7 Add this liquid to the dry ingredients and mix gently to form a wet dough.
8 Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and bake for about 40-50mins until risen and when tapped underneath has a hollow sound.
9 Wrap in a clean tea towel and allow to cool.
Recipe two
Goats cheese tartlets with pesto
Makes about 18
These tartlets are perfect to make ahead of time and simply reheat in a hot oven for about five minutes before topping with a little of the pesto. They are ideal nibbles for occasions that involve standing around.
You can also make a larger one as a main course (handy if you have a vegetarian guest). Simply cut a rectangular shape of pastry out and make an incision all the way around, about a cm in from the edge. Place the toppings in the middle and brush the outer pastry with egg wash before baking as usual.
- 1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry
- Handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- Half a red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons of pesto (homemade is best)
- 1 log of goats cheese
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas mark four).
2 Grease a fairy cake tin.
3 Cut the puff pastry into circles and place in individual bun moulds in the tin.
4 Place tomatoes, onions and goats cheese into the pastry.
5 Bake for approx 20-25 mins.
6 Drizzle with pesto and serve.
Basil or wild garlic pesto
I made a mixture of basil and wild garlic pesto, as the woods around Termonfeckin have plenty of wild garlic at the moment.
- Large handful of fresh basil or wild garlic
- 3-4 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted (or walnuts for wild garlic)
- Parmesan cheese, grated
- Good quality extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt & black pepper
1 Place basil (or wild garlic) in a food processor and pulse briefly.
2 Add garlic, olive oil, pine nuts (or walnuts) and pulse again.
3 Remove to a bowl and fold in the grated parmesan.
4 Check for seasoning.
NEXT WEEK Creamy chicken curry & slow-roasted shoulder of pulled lamb
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