Saintfield Monday Club tastes tempting treats

Saintfield Monday Club tastes tempting treats

23 August 2023

FORTY senior citizens who attend the Monday Social Club in Saintfield were recently treated to delicious, tasty food by ‘undercover chef’ Darragh Milligan.

He brought his air-fryer and slow cooker to show the seniors how to prepare mouthwatering meals at the Sacred Heart Centre in the town.

Darragh — who is a social media star with 29,000 followers on Instagram — performed to a packed audience on how to make tasty and affordable meals using an air-fryer.

After demonstrating his seasoning and marinating techniques, Darragh gave the audience a chance to taste his crispy chicken goujons, slow cooker beef stew and air-fryer cheesy mushroom melts. 

There were plenty of questions from the audience, ranging from those who wanted to substitute tomatoes for mushrooms, to others checking whether “Taytos” are obligatory for the crispy chicken goujons. 

Darragh wants to make cooking as easy and accessible as possible, which is why he prepares “recipes with ingredients which we can all get at our local shops without having to go and find them at specialised stores”, he said.

“The dishes I am demonstrating are cheap and with everything we are all going through at the minute with the cost of living, I hope telling people about healthy, wholesome, affordable food they can cook at home will be a bonus.”

Darragh was keenly aware of the high cost of electricity, but pointed out both the slow cooker and the air fryer are energy efficient. 

“Anyone can put anything into the slow cooker and then walk away, go about their business and come back and they’ve got their meal done,” he said.

“With the air fryer, you can cook anything to suit your budget, it is so easy and the costs to run them are really inexpensive.”

Monica McGouran, one of the organisers of the Monday Social Club, was delighted with the turn-out. 

“There were lots of empty plates after the samples were handed around,” she said.

“I think people thought the food was gorgeous, and they are attracted to the air-fryer as it saves on electricity and provides you with a delicious meal.”

Monica says attendance at the Social Club, which meets on the first and third Mondays of each month, have more than doubled since it started in March and many more events and excursions are planned.