We Love Cooking!:
English mustard

I have well and truly given up on the summer and with October just around the corner I suppose it's about time really. I have been busy pulling out my cookbooks and magazines all filled with more appropriate winter warming recipes as the season begins to get really cold. It is very comforting that there is so many fun recipes to be cooking my way through the winter months that really I have nothing to complain about. Plus with Halloween around the corner there is lots and lots of pumpkin and sweet inspired recipes to keep a home cook busy! This recipe and the recipes I will be posting this week are all from the Student cooking spread I wrote and shot for the Irish Independent a few weeks ago, when I had to take over yet another persons kitchen to cook up a storm (thank you David and Geraldine!) and get the piece sent! This is not just a one pot wonder for students but it is a perfect family meal too- Enjoy!

Tasty Chicken Hotpot
This is the dish you can make when you invite the parents around to show them you really can make it on your own, and that you don't need your mother to wash your socks anymore! Chicken thighs are a good, cost-effective cut of meat and will hold really well in the freezer, so pick up a few packs.

Serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
8 chicken thighs
2 red onions, sliced into thick slices
5 carrots, cut into rough chunks
3 celery sticks, cut into rough slices
400g tin chopped tomatoes
600ml chicken stock
2 tsps English mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large, high-sided pot until it's really hot. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. There should be enough oil and fat left in the pan, but if not just add another little drop.
Add the red onions and fry until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook for three to four minutes, stirring every now and then.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock and stir though with the mustard and oregano. Add in the browned chicken and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and place the lid on and simmer gently for 45-55 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Serve in deep bowls with some thick, crusty bread to soak up the juices.

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone! Yes today is the big day, Ireland's answer to Christmas, when the Guinness is flowing, the food is a plenty and it all generally ends messily! I was in Dublin city yesterday and the amount of tourists with cameras strapped around their necks, I presume to catch a glimpse of an elusive leprechaun or two, was nothing less than impressive. I think there is something about our fine land of green, which musters up a somewhat mystical notion in the hearts of foreigners, that we are simple folk who tend to the fields by day and drink ourselves to sleep at night. Sure if it makes for a good story, why argue with it, I say! Right I will leave you with this traditional Irish dish of Bacon and Cabbage which will be part of The Daily Spud's Paddy's Day food parade and I'm off out to pull some potatoes from the ground, have a pint of guinness and kiss the blarney stone... Slán abhaile agus go n-éirí on bóthar leat!

Good Auld Bacon and Cabbage
This dish would have been traditionally served quite regularly in homes all over Ireland, as the ingredients are quite readily available. It's real comfort food for me and I love the fresh flavours of the veg.

Serves 4
900g of Shoulder of bacon
1/2 head of savoy cabbage, sliced finely
2 Carrots, chopped
1 onion sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Creamy Leek and Parsley Sauce:
2 tablespoons of butter (a generous knob)
2 tablespoons of flour
2 large leeks, sliced finely
100-150ml bacon stock
1 teaspoon of English mustard
A good handful of parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh cream

Remove the bacon from any packaging and place in a pot of cold water over heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 40 minutes or until cooked. Remove from the water, place on a plate and set aside. Save the bacon stock.

To make the creamy leek and parsley sauce, melt the butter in a sauce pot and sweat the leeks until soft but not coloured. Add the flour, mixing to combine, then add a little of the bacon stock stirring until the sauce thickens. Judge the consistency of the sauce by eye, and you may want to use a little more or less to your taste. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper and stir through the English mustard.
Keep warm until you have the consistency you require and then stir through the chopped parsley and tablespoon of cream.

To make the cabbage, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onion and carrots, cooking until soft. Add the cabbage to the pan and allow to wilt down slowly, turning every now and then until it has wilted down and become tender.

Serve the bacon in slices topped with the creamy leek and parsley sauce alongside the cabbage. Enjoy!