Welcome to Leviathan
We are deeply passionate about food and how it connects us. Here you will find recipes developed to excite and inspire. All posts include recipe cards with steps and ingredients.
The Dining Club
Long-table dinners & bespoke pop-up food events hosted at a historic Irish estate, with cooking by Leviathan’s James Gabriel Martin.
A unique experience that encourages community, drawing guests together in an intimate, convivial atmosphere while showcasing our passion for food and hospitality.
With a focus on seasonality, heritage and story-telling. Each one is unique, designed around a theme, with changing menus, entertainment, and table settings. Whitestown House Estate, nestled near
The Naul in North County Dublin, is set on 125 acres of farm and parkland. The historic demesne has remained intact since the 1600s and has a long and storied history of hospitality, marking it as the perfect venue for our events.
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Glazed Baby Turnips & Garden Peas with Basil Cream Sauce
How to make glazed baby turnips and garden peas with basil cream sauce. The transitional period from summer to autumn in Ireland offers an array of exciting and vibrant ingredients. There’s leafy greens and freshness but also some heartier root vegetables hitting shelves. I wanted to create something that was vibrant and celebratory of the season that we’re currently in. This makes a wonderful side dish or a veg-focused main to share.
Salmorejo
Salmorejo is one of my favourite dishes to make when summer tomatoes are ripe and ready. This Andalusian soup is served cold, and is a fantastic way to use up leftover ingredients that you have in the pantry. Stale bread works wonderfully well to give it a velvety-smooth texture. It is the perfect example of simplicity at its best.
Sea Bass Crudo with Jalapeño & Blood Orange
As we come towards the end of blood orange season I wanted to utilise this fresh and vibrant fruit in a simple way. Crudo seemed like a good choice. The balance of flavours and textures works well. I recommend using transparent soy sauce in the dressing if you can source it. It keeps the colours vibrant. I have also tried this recipe with tuna and it was delicious.
Grilled Plums, Blue Cheese & Chicory with Roast Hazelnut Dressing
This is a beautifully balanced winter salad, with toasty, nutty flavours and plenty of sweetness and saltiness going on. I like to use watercress or rocket, but the door is open to try any type of leaf. The best thing about this salad is that is can be tweaked and still be delicious. The hazelnut oils adds a lot of flavour, but it can be switched to an alternative or just a good quality extra virgin if you are having trouble sourcing. The plums can be switched for pears or nectarines, or some raw apple works wonderfully well also.
Roasted Squash with Pomegranate, Black Scallion & Autumn Soil
This is a simple sharing plate that was inspired by a walk through the woods as the seasons change here in Ireland. I wanted to create something vibrant, hearty, comforting and healthy, the echoed the landscape. The “soil” – a scattering toasted fruit, nuts and seeds – lays the foundation for this dish while the earthy cumin works well with the sweet and zesty accompaniments and garnishes.
Meringue Roulade with Lemon Curd, Summer Berries & Crushed Pistachio
My mum has been making this meringue roulade for as long as I can remember, it's a much loved dessert during the Spring and Summer months and perfect for entertaining a crowd. It looks impressive and tricky but is actually quite simple. A bit of practice does go in to perfecting the rolling technique. For this recipe I've included the lemon curd from a previous post, available on my feed, and it adds a lovely tart flavour to cut through the sweetness of the meringue.
Spiced Coconut Red Curry with Fresh Peas & Courgette Ribbons
This red curry packs a punch, and strikes a wonderful balance with a coconut broth that is rich, spicy, salty and sweet while the fresh vegetables are light and vibrant. There is also plenty of textural difference going on. Charring the vegetables first adds good depth of flavour. Serve with some fresh white rice.
Wine-Poached Pears with Chocolate, Macadamia & Crystallised Ginger
While visually appealing, this poached pear dessert is also absolutely delicious. The ginger, chocolate, wine and nuts all play together fantastically. Bosc and Conference pears are a good choice for poaching, and you should use a dry and drinkable red wine that isn’t overly fruit forward.
Buttermilk-Dressed Cabbage with Fried Capers & Black Garlic
This is one of my favourite ways to eat cabbage. The fried capers are salty, crispy and extremely satisfying, and the savoury black garlic brown butter works wonderfully well with the refreshing tang from the buttermilk dressing. The whole thing is lifted and made fresh by the lemon. I have experimented with different types of cabbage and found that napa, hispi and savoy work the best.
Lemon Curd
This lemon curd is one of the best versions that I have ever come across, having tested a good few over the past few years. It was taught to me by my mother and to her by some very close friends many years ago. It is very simple and easy to make, with a sweet and tart flavour, and can be utilised in a number of interesting and exciting desserts. It is also great served very simply on bread, scones or buns or with porridge or yogurt. It’s also a good ingredient in a roulade.
Glazed Rainbow Carrots with Ricotta
This is my famous recipe or honey-glazed rainbow carrots with ricotta, pistachio, chilli & orange. As you can imagine, it’s big on flavour. This elevates any roast dinner or family-style get-together. Roasting the vegetables this way brings out a lovely level of sweetness and a natural nuttiness and the accompaniments hit every flavour mark.
Parmesan & Black Pepper Sablés
These Black Pepper Parmesan Sablés are the perfect treat on a summer’s evening, washed down with a glass of port, sherry, vermouth, or a dessert wine. They are rich and crumbly, while retaining a good snap, and are surprisingly filling. The best thing is that they are incredibly easy to make - just throw everything in a food processor.
Balsamic Tacos with Chipotle Sour Cream
With sprouts still being in season in Ireland I wanted to create something a little special with them. I love the flavour of a well roasted, blackened sprout. A few drops of balsamic as they finish off in the oven really lifts them up. These tacos pack a lot of flavour in, and with a few simple tweaks (the sour cream, honey and cheese) they can be totally vegan.
Irish Boxty
February 1 marks the Celtic pagan festival of Imbolc, which was later adopted as the feast of Ireland’s matron St. Brigid. The preparation of boxty is among a number of traditions observed on Imbolc. It is a simple potato pancake using mashed and/or grated potatoes. There are many iterations of this basic recipe, varying from county to county and even between households. Here’s how to make it
Roast Cauliflower with Spiced Chickpeas & Green Herb Tahini
A simple tray-bake style dinner that is vibrant, healthy and delicious. Nutty roast cauliflower, crisp chickpeas and a zesty herb tahini that is full of life. Leftovers taste even better as a cold salad.
Cardamom & Apple Fritters
A wonderful autumn or winter treat, these fritters don’t take long to whip together. Any apples will do, but I much prefer tart green or cooking apples. The sparkling cider adds a wonderful light and tangy edge while the green cardamom pairs wonderfully and adds some much needed underlying warmth. They can be glazed or simply dusted in sugar.
Miso-glazed Aubergines with Tempura Pepper
This miso-glazed aubergine dish is vegan, simple and delicious. The crispy tempura that tops it is light and crispy and very satisfying. I spent quite some time trying different methods while developing the recipe, trying to create a tempura that is crisp and tasty and easy to make. The flavours come together nicely. Be sure to check out my tempura guide in the recipe cards.
Butternut Squash Conchiglie with Crisp Sage
In making this butternut squash conchiglie with crisp sage I set myself a challenge. Keep things as simple as possible. The results were fantastic. Roasting the squash gives it a lot of depth. The chilli and lemon balances the sweetness well. It’s an easy recipe that packs in a lot of flavour and can be done in no time. It’s very easy to keep it vegan by leaving the parmesan out.
Irish Barmbrack
Barmbrack, Irish tea brack or in Gaelic, bairín breac (meaning speckled loaf) is a traditional sweetened bread commonly made around the Halloween season in Ireland. Many of the older traditional recipes use yeast, and are lighter in colour and texture than the bracks most people come across today. For this recipe I referenced many different sources, including my mother’s copy of All In The Cooking, first published in 1946 and famous Irish flour makers Odlums well established directions.
Six Seed Crackers with Whipped Goat’s Cheese & Candied Orange Peel
I’ve been working on this recipe for some time. I wanted to get the crackers as light as possible and worked on different baking times and temperatures. I also wanted the goat’s cheese mouse to be nice and airy. This is a great one for entertaining, as everything can be made in advance and assembled later.