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Anyone for lunch?

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Not long ago, Graeme Beere decided to come to the rescue and buy the master franchise for Ireland of the O’Briens sandwich chain.

As part of the rescue plan, TV chef and author Rachel Allen was ingeniously signed up on board to add filling to the O’Briens brand.

Rachel acting as creative consultant agreed to create her own ‘Signature Sandwiches’.  As you can image to have someone of Rachel’s calibre come on board not only brings heightened profile but instils renewed confidence in the O’Briens future, for both the public and for the franchisees.

As our creatives got to work they knew that Rachel Allen at O’Brien’s was a unique proposition. Her image is glamorous, warm and approachable and her name is intrinsically linked with premium quality. As such, the creative concept made full use of her personality, as well as her relaxed, calm style on camera.

Promoting Rachel single mindedly as the exciting new venture at O’Brien’s was undoubtedly an opportunity not to be missed.

Using a 30 second TV commercial, along with three separate 10 second executions, we created an air of anticipation around Rachel’s Signature Sandwiches and, at the same time, invoked all of the freshness and quality cues we wanted to impart to viewers. Rachel herself could not have been nicer on the day. Friendly and warm and didn’t mind signing a book or two for me!

Confident our national campaign will help fill some hunger  I’ll leave you with Rachel’s own words –   ”The food choices we make are more important now than ever, both for ourselves and those around us. If you are on the go and need a sandwich, shouldn’t it be an Irish one made in front of you and at a fair price? I’m delighted to help make that sandwich even tastier.”

We’ll I know where I’m going for lunch!

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Mick likes Manchester tarts

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

IMG_0264This Christmas being what it is, I have been finding joy in the smaller (and cheaper) delights. I’ve been baking.

On Sunday I was up to my elbows in Guinness-steeped currants and dates, making mounds of mince pies for my friends in the office. However, on presentation to my colleagues in our broadcast and creative departments, I didn’t quite get the gratitude I expected.

“Yeurch. I don’t like mince pies,” Michael Cullen told me.
“What do you want then?”
“My granny used to make these little things that were exactly like mince pies but they had coconut and jam in.”

I was pretty sure I knew what he was talking about so I set about doing a bit of research. Sure enough, I found a recipe – Manchester Tarts. They were nothing like mince pies but Mick was right; they did have coconut and jam in.

Being from the North West of England I have come across my fair share of Manchester Tarts and they are historically easy to knock up.

So I made a batch and brought them in alongside my mince pies. Once Kevin Murray got a sniff of them, word got round. And it turns out that Michael Cullen isn’t quite as unique as you’d think – the Manchester Tarts disappeared much more quickly than the mince pies.

And so, in the spirit of festive giving, here is my recipe for Mick’s Alternative Mince Pies. I tend to think it’s nicer to have several small tarts but this recipe will work to make one big tart should that be your preference. And any leftover pastry will freeze.

Merry Christmas all.

For the pastry:

For the pastry, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until just mixed. Break in a whole egg and a yolk.

Beat together for just under 1 min – it will look a bit like scrambled egg.

Now work in the flour with a wooden spoon, a third at a time, then finish gathering it together with your hands.

Gently work the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill for 45 mins.

For the filling:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

Warm the cream with the vanilla extract to just below boiling.
Mix the eggs, sugar and coconut together, then pour the cream onto the sugar mix and stir.

Put to one side.

Grease a flan case/baking tray with butter. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface. If making small tarts cut out rounds in the pastry and line each hole in the baking sheet, if making one tart line the flan case with the pastry.

Put a small blob of jam into each case and pour the coconut mixture on top.

Bake in the oven until golden brown (around 15 mins for individual tartlets and 25mins for large tart.)

Allow to cool before serving.

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