Spiced pork skewers

I'm always looking for inventive recipes with pork because it's so reasonably priced but tends to dry out easily. This recipe from today's Irish Times looks just right and I intend to try it next time we barbecue.

Serves 4
650g pork fillet, trimmed and chopped into decent sized chunks
2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
2 tsp fennel seeds
Good pinch dried chillies
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
Lots of salt and black pepper
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp olive oil
Whizz all spice ingredients with the lemon juice, zest, garlic and oil. Put the pork in a shallow dish/bowl, spoon in the spice rub, mix well and ensure the pork is well coated. Marinate overnight/ a few hours at least. Either roast it in a hot oven (200 degrees/gas 6 -18 minutes), grill until slightly charred and cooked through or barbecue by threading onto skewers and cooking till nicely charred on all sides and well cooked.
http://www.irishtimes.ie/

Olympics

Despite not being a great sports fan, I do love the Olympics- winter and summer. I saw some of the London Olympic village in the process of being built around Stratford last year.

The wiki page has a very good calendar which I can't seem to cut n paste- link here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Summer_Olympics
The opening ceremony is Friday 27th July, closing Sunday 12th August. We will all be supporting Katy Taylor in the boxing but we have a total of 60 competitors in 13 sports to support and there is another good wiki page with all our athletes details. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics
(I think it is up to date).

Dublin Bicycle Depot

Read about this place also on LeCool- what a good idea.
"We all like to get things for cheap. It just so happens that the Dublin Bicycle Depot likes to sell us things for cheap; namely bicycles, of all shapes and sizes. Their workshop is based on the Fiets factory in Amsterdam, but evidently operates on a much smaller scale. With no funding and very little help from the government (or any other source), they go about collecting used and abandoned bicycles and turning them into functioning modes of transportation once again. Pick your model from the rows of castaways, and it will be serviced and refitted on site by one of the two gracious and professional mechanics. If, like me, your budget prevents you from even entering a store full of shiny new brands, it is a great alternative that promotes cycling culture for everyone and lends a hand to recycling pre-loved goods." by Jerath Head
where? Maxwell Lane, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
when? 10am-7pm
how much? From €50
 

Stephen Maurice Graham

 
Really great artwork in LeCool online magazine today. http://lecool.com/dublin/en/interview/1908

"Who are you and what do you do?
I'm Stephen Maurice Graham, and I'm a freelance illustrator or a designer or a visual artist, it really all depends on the funding application...but really illustrator sits best with me.
Tell us more about this cover?
I wanted the cover to be inviting, welcoming the reader into the rest of the cycling issue and thought a stylised shop front might be fun to draw.
When were your formative years?
I started contributing to and making zines when I was in my early 20s, I lived in Manchester for a period and there was a great scene around that so my style sprung from that DIY ethos."

McGregor wins 2012 Impac prize

from http://www.irishtimes.ie/
"Even the Dogs, by Jon McGregor, has been announced as the winner of the 2012 International Impac Dublin Literary Award and its €100,000 prize. He beat competition from 146 other titles nominated by 162 public libraries from 45 countries for the accolade.
Mr McGregor was born in Bermuda and raised in England and is the author of two other critically acclaimed novels. Even the Dogs is described as a fearless experiment which details the lives of a gathering of homeless addicts as they go about their daily forage for shelter, drink or a fix."

Today's Cocktail-John Collins

JOHN COLLINS Longdrink 4.5 cl Gin 3 cl Fresh lemon juice 1.5 cl Sugar syrup 6 cl Soda water Pour all ingredients directly into highball glass filled with ice. Stir gently. Garnish with lemon slice and maraschino cherry. Add a dash of Angostura bitters. (Note: Use Old Tom Gin for Tom Collins)

 

JOHN COLLINS
Longdrink

• 4.5 cl Gin
• 3 cl Fresh lemon juice
• 1.5 cl Sugar syrup
• 6 cl Soda water

Pour all ingredients directly into highball glass filled with ice. Stir gently.
Garnish with lemon slice and maraschino cherry.
Add a dash of Angostura bitters.

Totally Dublin website has a good update of the temporary move of  IMMA exhibitions to the National Concert Hall grounds.
 Dorothy Cross
"The closing of almost all IMMA’s Kilmainham doors for refurbishment has left a bit of a gaping hole in Dublin’s contemporary art front, but that hole is about to be filled by a series of off-site IMMA exhibitions at Earlsfort Terrace. Already proven to be an uncannily fitting exhibition venue during Dublin Contemporary, the National Concert Hall boasts a huge range of spaces with a rich cultural history to draw upon.
First up is ‘Time Out of Mind’, a large-scale group show exploring the building’s medical history. A showcase of twenty-seven artists, it will fill fourteen of the ground-floor gallery rooms with the cream of contemporary painting, sculpture, video and installation art, exploring diverse scientific themes, from the nitty-gritty actualities of marine biology to the ambiguousness of memory, space, and time. Sean Scully, Elizabeth Magill, Dorothy Cross and Niamh McCann are just a few of the established Irish artists who’ll be cropping up as part of the exhibition. But ‘Time Out of Mind’ also boasts some exciting foreign imports, including the Turner Prize-nominated video artist Tacita Dean, Mexican animator Carlos Amorales, and New York-based abstract sculptor Lynda Benglis.

Running parallel to all this is ‘1395 Days Without Red’(previously reported on this blog).