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Singer Mary Coughlan Hopes to Hit High Notes on This Week’s Episode of The Restaurant

TV3‘s popular reality television series The Restaurant continues tomorrow night, Wednesday 28th March at 9pm, as another celebrity dons the kitchen whites to become Head Chef for a day.

This week sees musician Mary Coughlan step into the kitchen, hoping to impress Marco Pierre White, fellow judge  Rachel Allen and Guest Food Critic for the night, Ross Golden Bannon.

Mary took the opportunity to share her food story while also highlighting the Syrian Refugee crisis, which she is extremely passionate about, bringing a menu of both traditional Irish dishes and Middle Eastern cuisine to the Courtyard Restaurant in Donnybrook.

Mary offered diners two starters, first up was smoked mackerel pate served with beetroot, inspired by her son, Cian, who is studying to become a chef.  The second starter, chargrilled aubergines stuffed with feta, and served with Muhammara, was a Middle Eastern feast of a dish to reflect the star’s commitment to aiding in the Syrian crisis.

For the main event, Mary served a comforting vegetarian risotto and to highlight the refugee crisis, her second main was a roast chicken, cooked with pomegranate molasses to bring a real flavour from the streets of Damascus to the dining room. Having held two sell-out concerts to raise funds for Syrian refugees, highlighting their plight was paramount for her on the night.

For dessert, Mary served an Eton mess with frozen Kilmacanogue raspberries, which proved to be the standout dish of the night for Marco, as he explained when we caught up with him for an exclusive behind the scenes chat.

Tune in to discover if Mary’s menu proved to be a 5-star chart-topper or a flop, or get a head start on the show by whipping up her Marco-wowing dessert of Eton Mess, with the recipe below.

Eton Mess with Kilmacanogue Frozen Raspberries

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the meringues
– 2 egg whites
– 100g caster sugar
– squeeze of lemon juice
– 1/2 tsp cornflour

For the Eton Mess
– 250g fresh raspberries
– Icing sugar, to taste
– 500mls double cream
– 150mls raspberry coulis

To decorate
– 150g frozen raspberries (from Kilmacanogue if possible)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 90C. For the meringues, whisk egg whites until soft peaks have formed and then gradually add in the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Finally fold in the lemon juice and cornflour.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment and fill a piping bag with a plain nozzle. Pipe meringues into long strips and bake for 3 hours. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

3. Gently crush together the raspberries with enough icing sugar to taste. Semi-whip the cream with enough icing sugar to taste. Break up six of the meringues into small chunks. Fold the crushed meringue with the raspberries into the cream to create a rippled effect.

4. To serve, divide the raspberry coulis among Martini glasses and then crumble over the rest of the meringues. Cover with the Eton mess and then sprinkle the frozen raspberries on top. Serve at once.

The Restaurant airs tomorrow night, Wednesday 28th March at 9pm on TV3.

 The Restaurant on TV3 is brought to you by Gas Networks Ireland.

 

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