The Brehon Killarney Wins Radio Kerry’s Kerry Business Tourism & Hospitality Award For March

The Brehon, Killarney was awarded the Kerry Business Tourism &  Hospitality Award for March from Radio Kerry on Thursday 24^th April 2013.

Gary Curran, General Manager The Brehon attended the Presentation & Luncheon at Radio Kerry Tralee.

Radio Kerry asked businesses to nominate their company for the Kerry Business Awards. Each month an independent Judging Panel chooses a company to win the award. The awards recognise the company’s achievements and contribution to business in the county.

The monthly awards will culminate in The Kerry Business Awards Gala Black Tie Ball in March 2014.

“We are thrilled to win this award and it is testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire staff and management of The Brehon.” said General Manager, Gary Curran.

The Brehon opened its doors in 2004 and since then has gone from strength to strength winning numerous awards over the year including Best Business Hotel and culminating in winning Gold at the Irish Accommodation Service Institute Awards (IASI) in January of this year.

It’s Mother’s Day at The Brehon

She gives you all the confidence in the world, she wipes your tears and picks you up when you fall and she always has your back.  It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday 10^th March at The Brehon and we want to thank all the mothers out there.   

Enjoy a wonderful Mother’s Sunday lunch in the award-winning Danú Restaurant.  Savour a delicious four course lunch with amazing starters such as Silver Hill Duck Pastrami with green beans macerated mandarins and sesame dressing or try our mains of Roast and Pressed Belly with Pork Blade, with Jack McCarthy’s Black Pudding and Cox apple puree or Slow Cooked Roast Beef with Gratin and mini Yorkies and Red wine jus.  All produce used in Danú is locally sourced and only the best produce is chosen by Head Chef Chad Byrne.   

All mother’s coming to lunch in Danú get a €25 spa voucher for the Angsana Spa at The Brehon.  The Angsana Spa offers an extensive range of holistic and non clinical spa treatments and massages to refresh and revitalise the sprit, mind and physical being.  

 Lunch is only €30 per adult and €15 per child.   

To book please call 0646630700

Danú at The Brehon | Muckross Road | Killarney | 0646630700

Head Chef Chad Byrne brings you King Scallops with Monkfish ,Courgette and Lemon Thyme Sauce

Head Chef Chad Byrne brings you King Scallops with Monkfish ,Courgette and Lemon thyme Sauce

Serves 4

8 Large King Scallops

4 x Monkfish at approx 180g each

6 x Shallots

2 x cloves garlic

8 x caraway seeds

5 Podded cardamom seeds

2 x courgettes grated

500ml of fish stock

8 Sprigs of lemon thyme

8 very thinly Sliced pickled Beetroot

50g of Spinach Washed

1x lemon

80g of butter

150 ml of a good fruity olive oil

Sliced carrots for garnish

Sprigs of chervil

Remove the Roe from the scallops. (Here at The Brehon we would usually dry these out and grind them into a powder and add to celery salt this makes a great seasoning for fish.)

Ask your Fish monger to trim of any sinew from the monkfish, this is done for 2 purposes, if its not removed when frying your monkfish will curl and get tough .

To make the courgette sauce;  on a low heat gently cook shallots, lemon thyme, seeds and garlic in ½ the olive oil without colouring for 20 mins , add the fish stock and bring to the boil to this add the grated courgette and spinach, cook out for 2mins blend to a fine puree with 50g of butter and seasoning, your sauce should be velety and bright green. This sauce can easily be made in advance and kept for 2days

Season the monkfish and cook on a medium heat pan with olive oil.  Usually for a 180g fish I would cook one side until the fish has changed colour to opaque, then I would turn the fish and finish with butter, let the butter go brown to get a nutty flavour and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon.  This process should not take longer than five minutes

Whilst doing this also start the Scallops in exactly the same manner in the same pan as the fish, just add them when the monkfish is about 2 minutes off.

Serve garnished with Slices of pickled beetroot, just folding of the scallops and russet carrots nicely put around the monkfish with chervil

New Head Chef at The Brehon, Killarney

The award-winning team at The Brehon, Killarney now counts an Olympic hopeful among its ranks. Chad Byrne the new Head Chef of The Brehon will represent Ireland in the Culinary Olympics in Germany next October.

This is just one of Chad’s many culinary accomplishments to date. He joins the team at The Brehon having previously worked as Head Chef of the Hilton in Dublin. While there he represented both Ireland and the UK in the Hiltons Grandmasters Final where he came fourth in Europe.

“We are delighted to welcome Chad to The Brehon, his wealth of experience and talent is well respected and admired among Irish and UK restaurateurs,” say Regional General Manager at The Brehon, Donagh Davern.  

“Chad is here to build on our reputation for excellent food and we look forward to taking our food to new heights under his guidance.”

Chad’s extensive experience includes working at renowned establishments such as the Michelin Star restaurant, Ristorante Semplice in London, the Five Star Heritage Golf & Spa Resort in Killenard, The Killarney Park Hotel and The Clarence and Merrion Hotels in Dublin.

Chad’s impressive trophy cabinet includes a Michelin Credit for his role as Head Chef in The Heritage Resort, the award for Irish Gastro Chef of the Year 2012 along with a Gold Medal from Chef Ireland 2012.  Chad is a frequent visitor to the TV3 studios where he has appeared a number of times on their morning shows.

Chad has already introduced a delectable range of new dishes to Danú’s A La Carte menu, his starters include salad of heritage tomatoes with St' Tola goats cheese and tapenade crouton and duck liver parfait, truffle tuile apple chutney and beetroot reduction. For mains the tempting choices include Ballyskellig duck breast red onion tartain, white onion puree and summer vegetables, and blanquette of turbot saute potato with mussels and sauteed greens. 

Chad has also introduced a new bar food menu which includes seafood tageltelli with fresh clams and mussels , crisp fried calamari with a touch of smoked paprika, and baked smoked salmon and cream cheese croquet monsieur.

To celebrate Chad’s arrival at The Brehon, they have created a special Unwind and Dine midweek break which includes overnight accommodation with breakfast, a special two course taster menu in Danú and a €10 voucher for the Angsana Spa from just €79pps. To book visit www.thebrehon.com or call 064 6671543.

Christmas In Killarney

Well it that time of year again. I was walking through town last week and saw one of Killarneys famous horses with a bright red nose, no it wasn't because he forgot his hat or was in need of a lemsip. It was one of Killarney's many events going on over Christmas.

The christmas in Killarney brochure is jam packed this year. As a father myself I would have to say its great to be able to ramble around town on an afternoon and have reindeer in one corner, sleigh rides (with our above mentioned horse) going on all around us and of course the mountains of sweets and various types of candy available along the streets (for the kids of course).

Also there is a number of great concerts and functions going on over the Christmas period. There are some fantastic Irish bands playing over the festive period from Imelda May to The Saw Doctors and to kick of the New Year in mysterious fashion Keith Barry will be paying us a visit. Also for the kids Bob the Builder will be popping along to show demonstrate how to do those all important home improvements!

Santa will be calling to us on christmas eve and we have a long chimney so our chefs will be putting out an extra helping of cookies for the man in the big red suit. Also the chefs here at the Brehon have some wonderful homemade Jams and Christmas Puddings available at the reception. I have personally tested them all and I can confirm they are simply delicious!

I wish you all a very happy & warm Christmas and a delightful & prosperous new year.

Best of Seasons Wishes

Danny McClure 

Guest Relations Manager

Christmas Tasty Tips from The Brehon

 

By Head Chef Mike Hayes

Here at the Brehon kitchen, preparations for our Christmas menus started quite a few weeks ago.

From pudding basins to jam jars, our team of chefs have been busying themselves with their annual tasks of soaking fruits, making preserves and relishes, and generously pouring the liquor over our rich, fruity Christmas Puddings.

It is our pleasure to lend a hand to our blog followers in their efforts this Christmas, and our team of chefs, led by head chef Mike Hayes present you with these tips to make this Christmas a special one for you and yours.

The Starter

We all know what happens after Christmas dinner. After eating the equivalent of a small Victorian banquet, plonked on the sofa, unable to even reach for the remote, we are left pondering that same old question as last year- Why did I have that second bowl of trifle?

With this in mind it is sensible to keep your Christmas Day starter as light an easy as possible.

Seafood is always a popular choice as a prequel to the annual turkey roast, and whether you decide on smoked salmon, delicious Irish crab meat or fresh local prawns, for even the most unadventurous of home-cooks, it’s hard to go wrong. As a great alternative to those frozen supermarket shrimp from the North Sea, how about calling to your local fishmonger in the run up to Christmas, and ordering a kilo or two of fresh Irish prawns. Your fishmonger will do all the shelling for you, leaving you with the simple task of blanching the prawns in some salted boiling water, chilling in ice-water, then tossing them in the dressing of your choice.

The Roast

The turkey is probably the part of the Christmas meal that causes the chef the most stress.

Timings and checking the doneness of the bird can be quite tricky, and this can result in an over or undercooked turkey.

Why not take the stress out of the day and ask your butcher to bone out your turkey. Have your butcher stuff and tie the legs, leaving you with a much quicker and easier task on Christmas Day.

Because the legs will take a little longer to cook, wrap them in foil and place them in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 2.5 hours.

The breast will cook far quicker than a whole bird and will result in far moister and juicier meat.

Brush the meat with a little butter and season with sea salt and black pepper before roasting at 180°C. The general rule of thumb for cooking poultry is 20 minutes per pound weigh, so if the breast is 4lb weight it should be cooked in 80-90 minutes.

The Pudding

Here at the Brehon we love our Christmas pudding. Over the course of the month our team will steam over 1000 plum puddings for 3 ½ - 4 hours.

The method is simple but it is important to follow the steps carefully.

Using quality dried fruits is essential to the success of your pudding, and good quality liquor provides a richness of taste that will not go unnoticed.

Soak the fruits for at least a day before making your pudding.

The important points to remember are as follows: cream the butter and sugar well, add the eggs slowly to the mixture to avoid curdling, and cover well to avoid steam getting into your pud.

Plum Pudding Recipe ( makes 1 2lb pudding)

100g Raisins

50g Sultanas

50g Dry Cranberries

50g Mixed Peel

50ml Dark Rum

65g Butter

50g Brown Sugar

1 Orange Zest

40g Breadcrumbs

20g Plain Flour

20g Self-Raising Flour

1 Tspn Mixed Spice