We Love Cooking!:
RAW

My mom called me last week to tell me she'd eaten the first of the berries from her newly planted patch. "It was amazing," she sighed, "like they used to be when you were young." While I can't say for sure how good store-bought strawberries were when I was a kid, I do know that 20-some years of agribusiness hasn't done the strawberry any favors. Typically, they are as big as they are bland, streaked with white inside and dry as a sun-baked bone. They contain only the barest hint of what they could be were they ripened to a bright red by the sun, picked in season and eaten immediately.

Craigie on Main, a local restaurant, makes an admirable proclamation on their menu, "sorry, no tomatoes til August." It's an acknowledgment of the fact that local tomatoes eaten in season are pretty much the only tomatoes worth serving and eating. While it might seem sad to not have a tomato at any other time of the year, it turns that moment in which local tomatoes are available into a celebration of the perfection to be found in eating locally and seasonally. It's in that spirit that I also advocate a "sorry, no strawberries 'til June" position, but you know what? It's June!

This is the strawberry moment for New England. The fields are full of juicy red fruit, ready to tumble from the stem into an outstretched hand. And that's just what they did on a recent trip out to Western Massachusetts where we spent the morning picking.

Even the plants in my newly inherited community garden plot are bearing fruit, despite being uncared for over the winter. Next year I expect they will be even more plentiful, but this year they are good only for a quick garden snack, which is probably fine since I had so many other berries to deal with from the picking trip.

There's little that can improve upon the experience of a perfectly ripe strawberry, heavy with sun-warmed juice, but a freshly plucked mint leaf is a nice touch, the cool sharpness contrasting with subtle sweet-tart warmth.

If you do insist on messing about with these perfect berries though, I can't think of many better ways than to go with the classic strawberry shortcake. Of course, I really can't help but mess about, which is how this one-off shortcake was born. Thinking of the natural affinity between strawberries and oranges and a less obvious connection between berries and astringent herbs, I employed my orange-rosemary sugar to make spelt biscuits with lots of flavor and a little more substance than usual, but with all the flaky tender-crumbed charm of a standard shortcake. Instead of macerating the strawberries with sugar, a process usually employed to soften the berries slightly and make them give up some of their juices, I tossed the already juicy and soft berries with a strawberry syrup, made with instruction from the new and wonderful book, The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves.

The syrup is a simple matter of macerating the berries with sugar and letting them sit overnight before cooking them down, pureeing and straining the mixture. It yields a gorgeous thick syrup that is purely, deliciously full of strawberry flavor. It's wonderful over waffles and refreshing mixed into sparkling water or sparkling wine (I recommend Moscato d'Asti) for a fun brunch drink that mixes things up from the traditional mimosa.

Speaking of tradition, it's as good as written law around here that when there are fresh, local strawberries on hand there must also be strawberry shortcake. So, we had back to back shortcake. The second time 'round though I needed it to be an easily transported dessert to bring to a party. Cake form seemed like the perfect way to go, all assembled and easy to head out with. Playing on the orange tones of my first orange-rosemary shortcake, I incorporated some Grand Marnier to lend a sweet citrus flavor to the whipped cream. Also, instead of a plain vanilla bean cake, I made a rustic cornmeal cake to add pleasant texture and sweetness from the fresh milled corn.

One note though, as pretty as it is to have the green tops on the strawberries topping this cake, it's a total suckers move and I implore you to resist it! I can't tell you how many ways in which I should have known better, but the beauty of the berries with the tops still on conspired to drag me down as I opted, thoughtlessly, for aesthetics over eating. A choice that meant I later had to sit, shamefaced, as my friends picked berries out of the mess of whipped cream to remove the tops, which of course they couldn't enjoyably eat. Sigh.

I tried to make it up to them though with my favorite pie, strawberry rhubarb. Following the thought about cornmeal and strawberries, which worked so well in the cornmeal shortcake, I made a tender pâte sucrée with cornmeal and coconut oil instead of margarine or oil. The coconut was a very mild flavor influence on the end result and worked surprisingly well in the crust which was wonderfully flaky, light and tenderly sweet against the tart fruit filling.

Last year I served my strawberry rhubarb pie with basil ice cream, but this year my basil is not incredibly bountiful. My lemon verbena could swallow up the yard, but the basil is sort of a no-go. It's sad. There is enough to work smaller projects with though, so I made a dessert that caught my eye in Johnny Iuzzini's Dessert FourPlay a couple months ago. In the original version, Iuzzini fills strawberry mochi with strawberry rhubarb compote and serves it with basil fluid gel. I took some liberties to make the dessert a little faster to assemble and different in flavor, pairing my fresh strawberry jam filling with a freeze-dried rambutan mochi (reasoning that if I find an affinity between strawberries and lychees, rambutans would work as well) and serving it with Thai basil sauce. My mochi technique could use some work (I blame the leakage on my imperfect motor control with a hand still swollen from carpal tunnel release surgery) but overall, I adored this light little dessert and its intriguing Southeast Asian flavors.

A more straightforward, classic pairing between strawberries and chocolate was something I noticed had fallen by the wayside this season. I guess I've been taking my chocolate pretty straight these days and have been in a particular rut with the super dry, dark and lovely 84% Theo single origin bar from Ghana. So good. But I digress. Feeling that these amazing strawberries could make chocolate even more magical, I whipped up a very random pudding of organic baby bananas, dark chocolate, anise, chilies, cinnamon, nutmeg and espresso salt, sweetened with date syrup and topped with fresh berries. It was meant as a quick treat of no consequence but was so good, I'm pledged to make it again and actually write down every element of the recipe since several friends have proclaimed it's one of the best things ever, period.

After finally getting my strawberry and chocolate fix, I realized that I'd sort of been enjoying the two together all along in my breakfast bowl. Homemade cocoa nib granola with fresh berries isn't quite chocolate dipped strawberries, but it's more than satisfying at seven am.

Thinking about how nicely nibs complemented strawberries, I sprinkled a few Taza chocolate covered nibs into my mini tarts. They provided a nice bittersweet crunch against the fruit and buttery almond crust.

Almonds are a natural complement to strawberries. Their rich sweetness and lightly bitter edge are perfect against tart berry notes. And there's a reason why strawberry cheesecake is so popular; sweet tangy cheese has its richness both cut slightly and complemented by each bite of berry. So, an almond crusted and amaretto spiked cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries glazed with hot strawberry syrup and sprinkled with almond slices seemed like just the thing.

I've had a lot of semi-successful vegan cheese-ish substances around lately as I've been experimenting to find one that really suits me. None of them are perfect, but with a good amount of fiddling, they've all turned into tasty additions to desserts and ice cream bases. The mixture that I turned into cheesecake was also spun off into a nice mellow farmer's cheese that went wonderfully with fresh strawberry rhubarb jam (again from the Joy of Jams, but with much less sugar than called for).

In fact, I made several jams from the new book: plain strawberry, strawberry rhubarb and strawberry kiwi. With such deliciously fresh tasting jams are hanging around the house, it seemed pretty much obvious that I needed to make a delicious delivery mechanism for them. So when King Aurthur flour had a free-shipping deal, I refilled my stock of organic high gluten flour and made a batch of bagels from the Bread Baker's Apprentice, some coated into sesame seeds and some streaked with pasilla chili powder and topped with chili lime Hawaiian sea salt.

Toasted and spread equally with fresh made jam and strawberry cream cheese, these were a delicious promise that the joy of strawberries in season can last as long as the jars of jam do, even if we've only got another week or two to enjoy them fresh.

After a few days in Sweden I'm back on Irish soil this week before I head off to Paris today. It's nice to be back, the more I travel the more I enjoy coming home; I'm not sure if it's because I don't like to leave my kitchen for too long or because it's that time of year where your house really becomes your home.
As always I left Sweden with lots of Scandinavian inspiration, the shops are always so packed with amazing displays but the most interesting items I left with weren't from an expensive shop; they came from a 1950s basement. People with an interest in food photography will know that props can really make a photo and give it a certain style. Since the summer I've been on the hunt for retro kitchen items, rustic table spreads, old doors and pieces of wood to create the pretty scenes that make my food photos what they are. I hit the jackpot when I walked into Sofie's grandmother's basement - an Aladdin's cave packed with an amazing collection of 1950's style kitchen equipment and a fantastic selection of retro cookbooks, complete with old style imagery. After I'd scooped up enough potential props as my baggage restrictions would allow, I spent hours trawling through old Swedish cookbooks (I have enough Swedish to get me by and surprise, surprise, my food vocabulary is top notch!).

I found some really fantastic recipes for gingerbread cookies, gooey chocolate cake, Saffron bread and, of course, all the aspic jellies and gaudy plastic food images that were all the rage back when. The major find of the day was a beautiful old book in which Sofie's grandmother had written her favourite recipes into. It's in these books, handed down through the generations, that you find out what home cooking is really all about. If you have time this weekend, pull out the family cookbook and delve into the recipes which are closest to your heart. Why not start writing one yourself?

Between all the retro diving and cookbook reading, we did manage to stop for a warm hot chocolate and the famous Kanelbulle at Saluhallen, a cook's paradise not unlike the English Market in Cork, which is well worth a visit for a foodie in Gothenburg.

Swedish Cinnamon Buns
Swedish cinnamon buns, or Kanelbulle, were the first thing I learned to bake when I stayed in Sweden. Pearl sugar is sprinkled on top to give it that distinctive finishing touch, but if you can’t get your hands on any, simply sprinkle a little Demerara sugar to finish.

Makes about 40 Buns
400ml/14fl oz milk
110g/4oz butter
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
110g/4oz sugar
750g/11⁄2lbs cream flour
1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
4 tablespoons of Pearl sugar
1 egg beaten

For the filling:
110g/4oz butter
90g/31⁄2oz sugar
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Melt the butter in a large pot gently on a low heat and then add the milk. When the mixture is lukewarm, remove from the heat and add the two sachets of dried yeast, sugar and salt.
Slowly incorporate the flour one cup at a time; be patient, as the mixture will eventually come together and you won’t be left with a sticky mess forever!
You may need to add less or more of the flour to get the right consistency. When the dough has taken shape and is no longer sticky, turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about three minutes.
Leave the dough to rise in the bowl covered with a damp cloth for 45
minutes.
Try and find somewhere warm, as the yeast will do its job a lot quicker.
While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Gently melt the butter
in a sauce-pan and add the cinnamon and sugar, making a thick
spreadable mixture.
When the dough has risen, cut it in half and roll it into a rectangle about 5mm thick, and then spread the filling all over.
Then, from the long side, roll the dough so you get a snail effect and slice into approximately 15–20 pieces. Place the slices in paper wrappers face up and coat with the beaten egg. Repeat the process with
the second half of the dough.
Sprinkle the buns with pearl sugar. Bake the rolls in the oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 for about 5–10 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Enjoy!

I'm writing this on a dark train in the middle of a snow bound Sweden, this week we are visiting Sofie's folks in Gothenburg, so I have unwillingly been catapulted into the Christmas season whether I like it or not. As you all know of course snow equals Christmas and during the long dark days in Sweden they really go all out for the festive season. We are hoping to get in all the sights and sounds of a Swedish Christmas to bring home some Scandinavian inspiration to our home just in time for the seasonal period. While all that is going on let's not forget that on these cold dark days, serious fuel is needed to boost the immune system and keep you up and running! My mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta is one of those dishes I came up with hungry after work last winter. It has all those great punchy flavors of roast vegetables combined to make the most luscious thick juicy tomato sauce for the hot pasta you tumble in on top. Don't be afraid of using a whole bulb of garlic, the roasting process will take away the strong flavors you get from raw garlic and instead you will be left with a sweet intense mush which can be pushed out its skin using the back of a fork. Possibly one of THE BEST recipes from Good Mood Food, you will make this one again and again!

Mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta
Serving this little supper hot to the table with a good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese is an absolute must! It brings the whole dish together and pumps up all those amazing roasted flavors.

Serves 4 people
250g/9oz wholewheat penne
1 large bulb of garlic
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
1 large red onion
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
A large handful of grated parmesan cheese
An extra glug of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
Slice the top off the bulb of garlic so that almost all the cloves are exposed.
Place the garlic in a large roasting tray.
Prepare the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half. Place the tomatoes in
the roasting tray. Prepare the red onion by peeling and slicing into rough
quarters, place alongside the tomatoes and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and
using a pastry brush, brush the mix over the tomatoes, the red onion and garlic bulb. Sprinkle the tomatoes, garlic and onion with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 30–35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced to half their size.
While the garlic, tomatoes and onion are roasting, bring a medium-sized pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside.
When the tomatoes, garlic and onion are cooked, remove from the oven and, using a fork, carefully push out the garlic cloves from their skins and mash all the ingredients together until you have a thick mushy sauce. Tumble the cooked pasta into the roasting tray and add the parmesan cheese and an extra glug of olive oil. Toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated. Serve in a large bowl and enjoy!

I have some big news! We are upping sticks and moving to a new kitchen next week, so we have our serious planning hats on at the moment. It's always so exciting when you get a new kitchen and of course a place to stay, although for me one is most definitely secondary to the other. There are a few things I look forward to most when it comes to moving into a kitchen, first and foremost a good storecupboard, jam packed with all those handy essentials which make a meal, and the second, kitchen gadgets! I've been getting lots and lots of advice on twitter and facebook about your "new kitchen essentials" with the one over ruling suggestion being a Kitchen Aid mixer, which I do not already have. We've decided that the best thing to do is get settled, see what we need, beyond what we already have, and plan a shopping list! I'll keep you posted on the big move but for now here's a recipe for today!

Zingy Quick and Tasty Stir-Fry
Stir-fries are a brilliant way of getting lots of veggies into your diet without compromising on taste.
This one is full of zingy flavours and healthy, tasty veg. Don’t be put off by Chinese cabbage — it’s a great standby vegetable which will last quite a while in the fridge and works well in stirfries such as this one or eaten raw in a crunchy Asian salad.

Serves four
250g noodles of your choice
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp honey
Juice of 1 lime
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated or sliced in thin matchsticks
½ head Chinese cabbage, roughly shredded
1 red onion, sliced into thin half moons
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 red chilli, finely chopped

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside.
Whisk together the soy sauce, honey and lime juice in the bottom of a large bowl. Add in the chopped veggies, except for the onion, garlic and chillies, and toss until everything is combined.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until it’s very hot, add the onion, chilli and garlic and stir-fry for about 40 seconds.
Add in the veggies and stir fry until they are tender. You can check this by taking a bite.
Then add the noodles and toss in with all the veggies until combined, then fry for a further minute.
Serve straight away or allow to cool then pop in a lunchbox for the next day.

It's quickly becoming an annual tradition that early on a Saturday morning at the start of autumn just before the leaves fall from the trees, we take my little cousin out blackberry picking. It doesn't take too much persuading really, because at the end of our trek around the local hedgerows and fields, she always knows we'll end up cooking a whole batch of sweets and treats. Last year we spent a bumper day of cooking, which included, Blackberry Coulis, Blackberry Mess and the most amazing blackberry cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting! AMAZING!

This year it was just a big batch of blackberry jam and these really easy blackberry crumb slices.
Blackberries are most certainly not the most pretty of fruits our Irish countryside has to offer, especially when compared to our most prized summer berry the seductive and far more grown up, glamourous, strawberry. No the blackberry is a bit more like your rough and ready cousin who doesn’t bother with the latest trends and insists on wearing wooly jumpers! But despite all this, blackberries are by far the most accessible and economical of all the fruits our countryside has to offer, with bramble bushes along most road sides literally teeming with the bulging black fruit.
So if you have the time this weekend, grab a few extra hands, pull out an old basket or a bucket and get picking! I got some good advice to bring an umbrella with a hook on the end to pull down the branches- the big ones are always at the top!

Blackberry Crumb Slices
I think these blackberry crumb slices match the fruit perfectly! They are most definitely and bit more rustic looking than most cake slices, but are full of warm sponge and juicy flavours. Both the cake mix and the crumb topping are extremely easy to make and great for baking with kids!

Makes 24 delicious slices
115g butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
1 large free range egg
280g self raising flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
125ml milk
300g of fresh blackberries (you could use frozen if you’re stuck)

For the sweet crumb topping
115g caster sugar
85g plain flour
zest of 1 lemon
75g of butter

Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5.
Grease a rectangular baking tin and line it with parchment paper. If you’re stuck for parchment paper you could probably get away with greasing the tin and flouring it instead.
Using a hand mixer, in a bowl beat together the sugar and butter until pale. Add in the egg whisking to incorporate the mixture little by little.
Using a wooden spoon fold in the flour, cinnamon and milk. Mix gently until you have a sticky dough like mixture.
Spread evenly across the bottom of the prepared baking tin, this requires patience as the dough can be sticky, but bear with it you’ll get there! Then arrange the blackberries on top. Set aside while you prepare the sweet crumb topping.
Add all the ingredients for the sweet crumb topping to a bowl and rub the dry ingredients into the butter with your fingertips as you would with pastry. Keep mixing until you have a mixture that resembles rough breadcrumbs.
Sprinkle the crumb topping over the blackberries in the baking tray and place in the oven on the middle rack for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into 24 pieces.

Mushroom hunting in Ireland is something that I feel takes place with something of an uneasy pleasure. While the idea of foraging for free food always gets me excited, mushroom hunting is somewhat more hazardous than picking a few juicy blackberries off a thorny bush. Last year I went on my very first mushroom hunt with a funghi expert who described the process as more dangerous than some of the most breathtaking extreme sports including skydiving and bungee jumping due to the large amount of extremely poisonous varieties! Mincing through the woods with a wicker basket suddenly just got a bit more manly!

The experienced mushroom hunter out there knows the chanterelle mushroom is the most prized variety. An expensive purchase at about €20 to €40 per kilo makes discovering these little beauties all the more satisfying to pick for free! With it's distinctive golden orange colour, funnel shape and thick gills, the chanterelle mushroom is by far one of the prettiest looking mushrooms and makes a delicious and meaty feast for cooking at home.

This week I headed out twice to Sweden's vast forests where foraging for chanterelles is a popular but highly secretive past time. The Swedes speak about mushroom picking hot spots in hushed tones and excited whispers, looking over their shoulders for fear someone might be lurking just out of sight to try and overhear the location of the latest hotspot! My first visit took place after we got a tip from a neighbour who had a friend who had got lucky on a path close to a lake near a forest just south of Gothenburg. The location was scrawled onto a scrap of paper, shoved tightly into a pocket and we were off. After about two hours of fruitless searching we finally came across a bumper patch close to the path, hiding at the base of a tree. The thing about chanterelle's is that once you find one, whether your eyes suddenly become aware of what you are looking for or they just grow close to each other, it seems inevitable that you will find more close by.
My second visit came last night, when we were accompanied to a spot just off the corner of a golf course, to a secret location which was hidden by a group of large trees. After battling our way through wild brambles our eyes opened wide to discover a clearing literally teaming with little golden dots every where we looked. It seemed nobody had been there before, so whispering quite excitedly, so as not to reveal our very own secret location, we gathered up armfuls of mushrooms and snuck back home to the kitchen!

Simply Cooked Chanterelles with Garlic Toast
Mushrooms can have the marmite effect on some people, you either love them or hate them. In my case I love them and while you can pick them up quite easily in most supermarkets, nothing is more satisfying than picking them yourself. If you are lucky enough to come across a bumper load of them in the forest, in my opinion you have to enjoy them straight away cooked as simply as this.

Serves 2 generous portions
A good handful of chanterelle mushrooms per person
A good knob of butter
A little sea salt and ground black pepper to season
1 clove of garlic
A good glug of extra virgin olive oil
4 slices of nice chewy sourdough bread, toasted

In a large pan melt the butter over a medium high heat.
Add in the mushrooms and fry until lightly browned and tender. This about 5 minutes depending on the amount you have in the pan. Some mushrooms will throw off a lot of water, but don't panic just continue to cook until all the water is gone. Season with a little sea salt and ground black pepper to taste. Try not to over season as you really want to allow the natural flavours to shine through.
While the mushrooms are cooking toast the bread, when it turns golden drizzle with a little olive oil and rub vigorously with the clove of garlic, finally season with a little sea salt.
Top the toast with the hot and tender mushrooms and serve straight away!

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to meet Catherine Fulvio and have a quick chat, she mentioned she was filming a new tv series for RTE, but never mentioned the fact that she had a brand new fantastic book hitting book shops this month. I got a copy from the folks at Gill and MacMillan to flick my way through and it is packed with great Italian recipes and lots of lovely food shots. I have three copies to give away this week so you can try and grab a copy via twitter, facebook or on the entry form below. I'll be posting a few of Catherine's recipe here on the blog this week and remember to check out her RTE show Friday's at 8.30pm!

Beef Carpaccio (Carpaccio di manzo)
Of all the delicious things to come out of Harry’s Bar in Venice, including the Bellini cocktail, carpaccio tops the list for me. Generally, carpaccio refers to very thinly sliced raw beef, but nowadays the term is widely used, from swordfish carpaccio to pineapple.

300g fillet steak, cut into wafer-thin slicesextra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
rocket, to garnish
Parmesan shavings

Spread the slices of steak on a serving platter. Drizzle with olive oil and the lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Garnish with rocket, sprinkle over the Parmesan shavings and serve.
It’s possible to buy beef carpaccio precut and prepacked, but I always buy it fresh and ask my butcher to slice the beef. That way, I’m assured of freshness and provenance.

To be in with a chance of getting your hands on a copy of Catherine's book, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.

What is the name of Catherine Fulvio's Cookery School?
A: Ballymaloe Cookery School
B: Ballyknocken House Cookery School
C: Cooks Academy
Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close on Thursday evening (2nd Sept) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!

We arrived in Cannes for a holiday last week, I came armed with a copy of Elizabeth David's French country cooking and Sofie my girlfriend with a copy of "The Notebook" (yes the soppy love story, the big screen version of which she has seen way too many times to count), so as you can imagine we have fairly different agendas on this summer holiday! I think it's always important to have a sniff around the local food market as a way of getting your bearings when you first arrive at a new place. It's been something that is engrained on my mind from an early age after hours of traipsing behind my parents on every family holiday, my dad busy comparing prices to the fruit and veg at home, while my mom being a bit more practical would be eyeing up a nice piece of meat for dinner. Needless to say it didn't take me very long to tire of reading by the pool and after a long drive the wrong way into Cannes and a fight with the GPS who I thought might be more interesting if we changed the language to French, we discovered the most beautiful French food market.

The Marché Forville is a massive covered market specialising in fruit, vegetables, fish and flowers and takes place every day except Monday's when it becomes the home to a spectacular antique market. The place literally crawls with activity. Big beefy stall holders eyeing up potential customers and of course the many well endowed Cote D'azur ladies, savvy French shoppers in the know, picking up up pieces of fish to inspect every inch of it, bronzed grannies beating their way through the crowds filling those distinctly French wheely bags to the brim with the best the market has to offer and then of course the tourists who like ourselves are busy snapping photos and taking it all in. You can't leave a place like this without a paper bag heavy with the summers finest fruit.

Baked Peaches with Vanilla Sugar
Stoned summer fruits are whack bang in season at the moment and there are lots and lots of different recipes you can use to make the most of them, however I think keeping things simple brings out the natural juicy flavours and leaves you with far less washing up to do. A win win situation I think you'll agree! If you can't get vanilla sugar you can quite easily make a homemade batch by popping a vanilla pod in a jar filled with caster sugar. Or alternatively just use caster sugar and a splash of good quality vanilla extract.

Serves 4
8 peaches, halved with stones removed
3 tablespoons of vanilla sugar
2 tablespoons of water
Vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
Arrange the peaches in a non stick baking tray and sprinkle over the water.
Dust each peach with a little of the vanilla sugar until each one is nicely coated.
Place the peaches into the oven for around an hour or until the fruit is tender when pierced with a knife.
Serve the peaches with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Now earlier in the week I did come down a bit heavy on Sweden and their food culture, but I do have a big fondness for many parts of Swedish culture and cuisine. Whenever you talk to a Swede about the best time to visit Sweden, I could nearly almost guarantee they would say the summer. After a long cold winter the Swedes go all out for the summer with the highlight being the midsummer celebrations which take place on the 25th of June every year. With fields full of wild strawberries and crayfish pots heaving with luminous red critters, the Swedes certainly make the most of it. I have spent quite a lot of time in Sweden over the last few years and have got the opportunity to experience the country through all the different seasons, but despite the excitement of 5 feet of snow at Christmas, which let me add wears very thin when all you have on your cold Irish feet is a flimsy pair of Converse runners, the summer is always the season I look forward to the most.

I have a secret love affair with the fantastic warm lakes, complete with picture postcard jetties, the beautiful forests which are teaming with wild blueberries and big juicy yellow chanterelle mushrooms all ripe and ready for the picking. This week I was over to finish writing the recipes for my next book, and pick up a little Swedish food inspiration along the way. A few years ago I worked in a restaurant on an island just off Gothenberg and one of the things we regularly served up was big hearty slices of sweet and salty Gravadlax.

Swedish Gravadlax
Gravadlax is truly a thing of beauty, and although quite different in taste, is what I like to think of as Sweden‘s answer to our delicious smoked salmon! It sounds quite complicated but I’m here to tell you that isn’t the case and you can produce this seriously impressive dish with a minimal amount of hassle! The man I bought the fish from actually suggested using honey instead of sugar as he said it produces a slightly different taste, but it's up to you!

Serves about 12 portions
2 halves of salmon fillets
2 good handfuls of fresh dill, roughly chopped
6 tablespoons of sea salt
10 tablespoons of caster sugar
2 tablespoons of freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl combine the dill, sea salt, caster sugar and ground black pepper corns.
Roll out a large piece of cling film and sprinkle the base with 1/3 of the dill mixture.
Place one side of the salmon skin side down on the dill mixture and top half the remaining mixture.
Place the last fillet on top flesh side down and sprinkle with the remaining dill mixture.
Wrap the salmon tightly with the cling film and give it an extra layer if you need to.
Place the wrapped parcel in a high sided dish and weight it down with a plate and some full cans or whatever heavy item you have to hand.
Leave the salmon to cure in the fridge for up to 5 days turning half way through. The dish will fill with juices but don’t be too concerned about draining them until you are ready to serve.
When you are ready to serve, remove the package from the dishes and wipe clean of the juices.
Separate the sides and slice thinly with a large knife.
Serve with freshly boiled potatoes and a side salad.

I was honoured this year to be included in the line up chefs demonstrating at two of the Irish summers top foodie events Taste of Dublin and Bord Bia's Bloom in the Park. Shamefully I had never been to either events, so it was fantastic to finally have my eyes opened to massive amount of work that goes in to creating such amazing displays and stands. I have had the experience of demonstrating in front of large crowds before and a brief stint in the musical world has meant that I no longer suffer too badly from nerves, but this was a little different. When you are included on the lineup with well established people who you have watched cooking growing up the pressure is really on! For my demonstration at Bloom I did a selection of dishes based around in season produce and one of them was this mouthwatering Summer Berry Pavlova.

Summer Berry Layered Pavlova
This mix makes a chewy, marshmallow meringue, which goes perfectly with the cream and berries. Layering the meringue discs gives this beautiful summer dish fantastic texture! If you haven't tried making meringues before, don't be scared as this mix is fairly fool proof, just pop the icing sugar and egg whites in a mixer and whisk till you have stiff glossy peaks, add in the cornflour and white wine vinegar, pop in the oven and you're sorted.

Serves 8
250g icing sugar
4 egg whites
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
500ml of cream, whipped
250g of mixed berries

Preheat the oven to 150oC/Gas Mark 2
Line two baking trays with baking parchment. Draw a large circle 25cm/10inch on each piece of parchment paper.
Place the icing sugar and egg whites in a standing food mixer and whisk on high for 10 minutes until glossy white peaks form.
Using a spatula, gently fold in the cornflour and the white wine vinegar.
Divide the meringue mixture between the two baking trays and using a tablespoon, form two large meringue discs.
Bake for 45 minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Assemble the pavlova, by spooning half the cream onto the first layer of meringue, adding half the berries and topping with the other meringue layer, remaing berries and cream.

I think Sweden is slightly behind on the garden growing front, we visited Sofie's dad's little garden patch last night and his strawberries are still a little bit away from bursting into colour. Though bearing in mind the last time I was here the ground was covered completely in a thick layer of snow, could have a lot to do with it! When I left on Monday our strawberries plants were heaving with big ruby red fruit and suprisingly enough the birds weren't hatching their usual plan to steal them all. I guess seeing me shouting at them in my underwear with a stick during last years seige did the trick!

One of the cool things Sweden has on the strawberry front are these fantastic wild plants which produce the tiniest little sweet strawberries you can imagine. They grow in garden hedgerows and are found throughout Sweden. Hopefully there will be a few ripe ones ready to pick before I leave so I can photograph them and show you. Today's recipe is one I shot a few weeks back with some beautiful Irish strawberries which are bang smack in season right now, so if your tempted pick up some and make this delicious cake!

Mega Strawberry Summer Cake
Strawberries really should be celebrated with over the top desserts and if you want to look beyond the simplicity and utter deliciousness of strawberries and cream then this is the cake for you!
When you are assembling the layers of cake make sure you give it an extra little squeeze to ensure those mouth watering dribbles of jam down the sides.

Serves 8
3 large eggs
225g of caster sugar
50g of butter, melted
100ml of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
210g plain flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder

For the filling and topping:
80g of strawberry jam
300g of strawberries, hulled
250ml of cream

Preheat the oven to 175oC/Gas 4 and grease and line two x 8 inch spring form baking tins.
Using a handheld electric mixer, beat the sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy.
Mix the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract together in a measuring jug and pour into the sugar and egg. Mix through to combine.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into the bowl and then using a spatula, gently fold in to the cake mix until completely smooth and combined.
Divide the mix evenly between the two baking tins and place in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool slightly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
When both cake layers are completely cooled, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Sieve the jam into a bowl to ensure it is really smooth.
If the cake layers have a peak in the middle make sure to slice it off so you are left with perfectly flat layers.
Place one layer on a cake stand and dollop with half the cream, spread evenly and then drizzle with the smooth strawberry jam. Carefully place the second cake layer on top and add the remaining whipped cream and strawberries.

Strawberries a true sign of summer and the ones in my garden are just about to burst with their mouthwatering red colour! A few weeks ago I was invited to the launch of National Irish Strawberry Week in Bord Bia which is runnung all this week and a fantastic strawberry recipe demonstration by the equally fantastic Catherine Fulvio. Catherine will be known to many Irish food fans for her series "Catherine's Italian Kitchen" which is shown on RTE One. Catherine also owns the Ballyknocken Cookery School in Wicklow and guided us through some really fantastic strawberry recipes which I will be posting this week. Here is the first!

Quick Millefeuille with Toasted Hazelnuts, Cointreau and Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling
To toast the hazelnuts, purchase the hazelnuts without skins if possible, then lightly chop and toast in a preheated oven 180C / gas 4 until lightly browned, about 15 minutes

Serves 4 (makes 2 millefeuille, each serves 2 persons)
1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry (approx. 200g)
Flour for dusting
1 egg, beaten
300g strawberries, hulled and sliced
20g hazelnuts, roughly chopped and toasted
Mint leaves for decorating
For the filling
250g mascarpone
60ml cream
50g icing sugar
Zest of 1 orange
For the jam
5 tablespoons of strawberry jam
2 tablespoons of cointreau (or orange juice)

Open out the sheet of pastry on a floured surface, roll it out a little thinner, to a 30 x 32cm rectangle. Divide into 3 equal rectangles.
Then place the pastry on a floured baking sheet. Prick all over with a fork and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180ºC.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, brush with egg wash. Place in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Combine the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and orange zest.
Mix the jam with the cointreau (or orange juice).
To assemble the mille-feuille, place one pastry strip on a board or serving plate, brush with half the strawberry jam, spread over a third of the cream mixture, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and cover with a layer of strawberries. Place the second piece of pastry on top. Brush with the remaining strawberry jam, spread over half of the remaining cream, a sprinkle of hazelnuts and a layer of strawberries. Place the last piece of pastry on top and spread over the cream and then a layer of strawberries and sprinkle on the remaining hazelnuts. Chill for 30 minutes.
Decorate with mint leaves and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Another recipe from that amazing dinnerparty I keep mentioning, this time it's the turn of the amazing cheesecake which Sadhbh's son Jamie prepared. Cheesecake is definitely a winner when it comes to making desserts ahead of time, and even if you don't have a son to make it for you, it's not to tricky to get great results! :)

White Chocolate Cheesecake
(Recipe from Bill Granger's "Bills Food")

Serves 8
100g plain digestive biscuits
50g butter, melted
400g of good quality white chocolate
284 ml carton of double cream
250g full-fat soft cheese (such as Moonshine Farm cream cheese)
250g tub of mascarpone cheese

For the sauce
275g blueberries, raspberries or strawberries, plus extra to serve
50g golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Whizz the biscuits in a processor until they look like breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and whiz again briefly. Line the base of a 20cm springform tin with a disc of baking parchment. Tip the mixture in and press firmly to cover the base in an even layer – use the back of a spoon. Cover and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to make the topping.
Break the chocolate into small pieces into a heatproof bowl. Put it over a pan of simmering water, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside until the chocolate has melted. Stir once or twice. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool slightly.
Gently beat the cream, cheese and mascarpone in a bowl until well-combined – don’t overbeat it or it will go too stiff. Stir in the melted chocolate until the mix is smooth. Spoon this mixture on to the biscuit base and put the cheesecake back in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
To make the sauce, tip half the blueberries into a blender or food processor, add the sugar and lemon juice and puree until smooth. Press through a sieve into a bowl and set aside until needed.
Remove the cheesecake from the tin and cut into slices. Transfer to serving plates, drizzle with the fruit sauce and top with the remaining fresh fruit.

Ok are you ready? Here is what I think might just be the ultimate Irish food bloggers list! If I missed you, please don't be insulted, putting this together has been a bit of a chore, please make sure to let me know in the comments section below! Now off you go and trawl through the 40 fantastic Irish food blogs most of whom will be in attendance on Thursday. Unfortunately we had to cap the list of attendees at 30 so there are still one or two blogs on the waiting list, if you can't make it, please let me know so we can give your place to someone else! If you are coming on Thursday make sure to bring your camera, a note pad, a bag to stash your foodie swag!

http://icanhascook.wordpress.com/
http://trulyscrumptiousness.wordpress.com
http://www.9beanrow.com
http://likemamusedtobake.blogspot.com
http://notjunkfood.net
http://consumedfoodie.blogspot.com
http://mangoeswithlime.wordpress.com
http://www.cheapeats.ie
http://babaduckbabbles.blogspot.com
http://upliftingfood.blogspot.com
http://reindeersp.wordpress.com
http://lettersonlunches.typepad.com/letters_on_lunches/
http://dinnerdujour.org
http://kilkennyfood.blogspot.com/
http://www.AnAmericanInIreland.com
http://www.gluttonyforbeginners.wordpress.com
http://suppersatisfaction.blogspot.com/
http://thedailyspud.com
http://www.smorgasblog.ie
http://thelovingspoonful.wordpress.com/
http://sharonhearnesmith.blogspot.com/
http://lilycollison.com
http://www.bibliocook.com
http://lola-luskitchen.blogspot.com/
http://kateskitchensligo.blogspot.com/
http://www.lillyhiggins.blogspot.com/
http://www.thefood.ie
http://conoroneill.com
http://messy-chef.com/blog
http://www.valskitchen.com/vals_kitchen
http://corkfood.blogspot.com
http://www.pauljkiernan.wordpress.com
http://welldonefillet.com/
http://www.comicmac.com
http://www.homeorganics.wordpress.com
http://www.theapprenticegourmet.com
http://deelitefull.blogspot.com/
http://thedevilsmenu.com/?page_id=505
http://italianfoodies.ie
http://pinkwhisk.blogspot.com/
http://justaddeggs.blogspot.com
http://wiseirishblog.blogspot.com/
http://yespleasefood.com/
http://www.thebohokitchen.com
http://livingflavour.com/blog/
http://myadventuresinveg.blogspot.com/
http://thegreenapron.ie/wordpress/
http://foodforlife.thorntonsrestaurant.com/foodforlife/
http://martindwyer.com/m/words.php
http://brownievillegirl.blogspot.com/
http://basketcasetheblog.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoyed Gizzi's recipes on the blog the week before last, I managed to grab Gizzi for a quick interview, this girl is busy! :)

So people will probably know you as one of the cook yourself thin girls, but "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" is your first solo cookbook, are you the Geri Halliwell of the group? What do the rest of the girls think of the book?
Haha! God, I hope not. Cook yourself thin came to a mutual end as the 4 of us. Both Harry and Sophie have been super supportive of it. I loved both of their books too. I am actually the last one to bring a book out, not the first!

I love the way the book is full of such great tips at the start of each chapter, but as we all know cooking in the kitchen doesn't always go to plan, what was the worst kitchen disaster you have come across?
Oh Man, too many for words. In fact it was stressing out at skills and the way I was taught to be such a perfectionist at catering school that made me rebel and want to write a technical book that would be understood by everyone and take pressure of cooks. You see, my nemesis was pastry and this was because your told that the best pastry is short, and to be short it is not that wet and a pain to work with. After too many times of my pastry falling apart when trying to line a tart dish, I thought sod it, I want to make a pastry that I can handle and Gizzi's kitchen magic was born. A techniques book, where the techniques have been rewritten for the modern person. Someone who wants to cook, but wants to avoid disasters. At the beginning of each chapter there is a lowdown of how not to balls things up and then it turns into inspiring recipes in the way most of us are used to in other cook books.

There are a lot of family inspired dishes in the book but what was the selection process for the recipes in the book like?
Well, the great thing about doing a book based around techniques is that it gives you quite a lot of scope for different types of food. Your right about family inspired dishes. I have a bonkers Mother who was always experimenting in the kitchen so our childhood favs were a bit more original. I think that has stayed with me in my food. I love the classics but like a bit of a spin on them.

Do you have a favourite meal from childhood that you love to recreate today with your own little twist?
My favourite is 'Chicken in weeds'. Its a really light fragrant curry that is spiked with ginger and lemon and the weeds part comes in from bounds of fresh coriander. It kicks arse!

As the summer is nearly upon on us, what sort of dishes are you looking forward to cooking?
I am looking forward to doing some slow roasting on the barbeque. The Brits are hopeless at barbeques. I have worked on so many American barbeque books I am pretty damn nifty with some hot coals and a pair of tongs. We tend to use a barbeque as a grill, but in the states they make use of the lid and use it as a smoking oven. I have slow cooked shoulders of pork and legs of lamb and they are just exceptional. The tip is to get the coals white hot and then move them to the edge of the BBQ. Brown the meat all over with the lid off, then put the lid on and it'll slow roast for about 5-6 hours. Beyond amaze. also grill some bread dough on a barbeque and drizzle it with barbequed garlic oil.

There seems to be quite a lot competition in terms of lovely ladies in the cooking department, what sets you apart from the Nigella's and Rachel Allen's of world?
Apart from my age, style (being heavily tattooed and into 60s music and punk) and way of cooking, I am much more immersive. I want to get mucky and learn stuff as I go.

Every foodie has a favourite place to visit in the world for inspiration and delicious dishes, where is yours and why?
Well I spent loads of time in Thailand as a teen and have an affinity with Thai food, but am desperate to get to Japan and Vietnam, neither of which I have seen, but both producing some of my favourite food. I tell you what though. New York has some stupendous restaurants and a fabulous way of eating. I love the whole raw bar: oysters, clams, sashimi ect followed by really indulgent classics like a truffled fois gras burger.

What are the plans for "Kitchen Magic" will you be recording a TV series?
Were in talks, but I am currently filming my own show with Channel 4 which comes out in June and on Iron chef for a week in May as well as being a regular on This morning, so its all going tickity boo!

Thanks for the interview Gizzi, is there anything you'd like to say to the readers of the blog?
Just that I hope you like the book and a mega thank you to all that have supported me, including your fine self Donal.

I have three copies of Gizzi's fantastic new book "Kitchen Magic" up for grabs and you can enter over on twitter by tweeting about your best kitchen tip followed by the hash tag #gizzierskine and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your favourite kitchen tip!

To be in with a chance of getting your hands on the book right here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.

Gizzi is best know from which Channel 4 TV show?
A: Eat Yourself Thin
B: Cook Yourself Thin
C: You Are What You Eat

*COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*

Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close this evening (27th of April) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!

Renowned Irish chef Martin Shanahan is mad about fish! Or so the program title tells us. Martin has just recorded a 6 part RTÉ series which starts this evening on RTÉ 1. As the owner of the award winning restaurant Fishy Fishy in Kinsale, Co. Cork. Martin has years of experience cooking with seafood, and he believes that many Irish people are still afraid of cooking and eating fish. Throughout the series Martin’s determined to “take the fear out of fish” and show that anyone can cook simple tasty seafood at home. I spoke to Martin yesterday to have a quick chat about fish! Check out the interview below and make sure to tune in tonight!

Hi Martin, congratulations on the new series, the promo on youtube looks really fantastic! So how did you find the crossover from cooking in the kitchen to the filming process and cooking on camera?
A bit nerve wracking initially, I suppose number one I'd be a chef and obviously the biggest part of it was when I got in to the fish business first I had a fish shop for 7 years, and I wouldn't have cooked so much during that time, but I listened to the customers all the time. The biggest thing was that they all obviously loved fish, but they weren't able to cook it or they were afraid of the bones. That was the feedback all the time! I think a lot of people come into fishmongers and they are afraid to ask for the fish without the bones. So basically in the program I'm trying to educate people and to encourage them to go out and go in to your fishmonger and ask them to do those little jobs for you. Most fishmongers would be more than happy!

Can you tell me a little bit about how you got into cooking and how cooking fish became your passion?
I would have trained as a chef in Rockwell back 25 years ago and I would have worked by the sea quite a lot and I worked in San Francisco and anywhere I worked it would have been beside the sea, so I always loved cooking fish. It was always so simple and tasty. My experience in the restaurant is that you never get a complaint that the fish is tough. Fish is truly nature's fast food and it really is, it can be cooked so fast and so easy. That's why in the program I say that if you can fry a rasher or cook a sausage, you can cook a piece of fish! Again the techniques are really simple and that will definitely encourage people to get cooking.

People may know you as the owner of Fishy Fishy in Kinsale, but for people who haven't been to Kinsale could you tell us a little bit about the area and the food scene down there?
Well look, Kinsale is a great tourist town, and when I say tourist town, I consider someone coming down from Cork to be a tourist! People come down for an afternoon from Cork to get away from the stresses of their everyday life and it's only 20 minutes down the road but it's like walking into a different atmosphere. And the obvious connection I suppose is with the sea, you don't think of a cow, you want to eat prawns or you want to eat a bit of fish and chips!

What are some of the most successful dishes from the restaurant?
We'd have a couple of great ones but one of the most popular is probably the traditional fish and chips! We use fresh haddock and we take the skin and bone out of it and cut it into pieces, fry it in batter and you pick it up in your hand, put it in, close your eyes and you can be guaranteed no bone.

In the promo you mention you are on a mission to get people eating fish, and from my experience people seem to be quite nervous when it comes to cooking fish, have you any sure fire winning dishes that always win over even the pickiest eaters?
The very simple one we do is a pan fried piece of cod and people would be nervous about a piece of fish like cod, or haddock, or hake, because they have a line of bones around the top of them, but in the program, I cut a piece of cod, I show them exactly the piece they should look for in the fishmongers and we just roll that in a little seasoned flour and pan fry it. I add a little knob of butter near the end and a little drop of water and by the time the water has evaporated, the butter has melted into it and you finish it off with a squeeze of lemon and on to the plate, I tell you can get nothing better! The one thing I would always say to people is to season fish, although it comes from the sea people think it might be salty but it's not, it's quite mild in itself, so you have to season it! The other thing is to make sure is that you have a good solid pan, you can't cook a fish in one of these omelet pans because they just don't hold the heat and the minute you put on the piece of fish the pan goes cold and starts to stick.

There are some great shots of you doing some cooking at a local kids school, how would you recommend getting kids to eat more fish?
At that demo we actually made fish fingers in the school and we shot some back in the studio to show people at home how to make them. Fish fingers are great because they involve the kids and I would encourage parents to go to the fishmonger, ask for a pound of nice white large fish, it can pollock, it can be hake, it can be cod, it can be haddock, but again no skin and no bone, and I would encourage them to ask the fishmongers to cut them into fish fingers for them. Then you bring them home and do your flour, a dip in egg and breadcrumbs and pan fry them. That way the kids can do it with you, and it gives them a great connection with the food. You'll see in the program the reaction of the kids when they eat the fresh fish as against the processed fish and what we find is kids never lie. You know they say it as it is, you can't tell them "don't say that", they just spit it out. You will hear some of the comments from the kids and they know there stuff even at that young age.

What was the reaction to you filming locally?
We got a great reaction! When the lads from RTE approached me, I wouldn't be one for the camera, but they said they would love to make a program and I said no lads the only way we could make it, was if we were to make it in Kinsale and they asked me why and I said well I know everyone in the streets, so I'd feel comfortable around them and I can have a chat with them! But the reaction overall with people has been super and everybody local just can't wait to see it. We're involving people on a day to day basis and get great feedback from people and so we understand their fish fears!

What are some of your favourite dishes from the series?
I couldn't pick just one, but what I am hoping will come out of this more than anything, is that we'll keep the fishing industry that we have here in Ireland. My business wouldn't be successful without the product the local fishermen are catching. If we lose the local fishermen, and they are under pressure between quotas and costs, and people aren't obviously eating enough fish in Ireland, and we end up exporting a lot of it. So hopefully this program will highlight it and we'll make people realise it is a great product, it's a local product and you couldn't get anything more natural, it's not grown, it's not fed fertilizer, it's not mass produced at the push of a button, so hopefully people will see that and taste it and think that was lovely!

Martin's Mad About Fish airs tonight on RTÉ 1 at 8.30, make sure to tune in!

This week I was on The Afternoon Show cooking up some diabetic desserts and in preperation I did a lot of research on the topic and spoke to lovely Sinead from Diabeties Federation of Ireland who gave me the low down on some fantastic dessert ideas for people with diabeties. This delicious panna cotta is one of the desserts recommended and it’s an absolutely perfect one for entertaining!

Simple Panna Cotta with summer fruits and dark chocolate!
If you have never made this type of dessert before, don’t be put off, it is super easy and this is a wonderfully light and fruity dessert which is the perfect little pick me up after a heavy meal. The advantage of panna cotta is that you can make them ahead of time and stick them in the freezer allowing you time to prepare the rest of your meal. I particularly like them because they really look impressive when you slip them out of their moulds and serve them with the delicious fruit.

Makes 2 Panna Cotta
4 gelatine leaves
2 tablespoons of artificial sweetener
4 tablespoons milk
500g natural yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To serve:
200g strawberries, hulled
2 squeezes lemon juice
1 tablespoon artificial sweetener
200g raspberries
100g blueberries
A small handful of dark chocolate shavings

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water in a shallow dish.
Put the artificial sweetener and milk in a small pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Bring up to the boil, then take off the heat. Take the gelatine out of the water and stir into the hot milk. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Beat in the yogurt and vanilla extract and pour into 2 moulds or you could use ramekins.
Chill in the fridge until set, this usually takes about 3 hours.
To make the sauce, puree the strawberries with the lemon juice and artificial sweetener. Sieve to remove pips. Mix the raspberries and blueberries in a separate large, pretty serving bowl.
To serve, dunk each mould into warm water for about 10 seconds, swiftly dry the base, then turn the panna cotta out on an individual plate.
Spoon a little of the strawberry sauce and berries around each pudding, sprinkle with some dark chocolate shavings and serve.

Yes we arrived safe and sound on Saturday morning and to settle in to Parisian life we spent a lovely evening with some old friends in their home just outside the city. I am here as you probably have read in my earlier post to cook for 500 people on Wednesday night at an event called Foodstock organised by Parisian magazine, Le Fooding. Knowing that the few days before the big night would be a little crazy, I thought it would be important to have the weekend to get reacquainted with the city I loved so much during my teens. One of the biggest things for me, was to come back with a really good camera and photograph the amazing scenery.

When I spent some time here during my teens I used to sketch things and I guess that was how I interpreted the beauty, but now I am back armed with my trusty Canon 5 MK II and there is no stopping me! Of course, the other thing to note since I was last here, is my increased interest in food, while I would have been preoccupied with the sights and sounds of this stunning city, I may have overlooked the vast and varied amount of endless foodie haunts to be discovered. As if to make up for the shortsighted choices of my teens, we spent the whole of Sunday trawling through as many of the foodie recommendations as possible, which had been made to me by people on twitter, our Parisian friends and of course the lovely Noreen from Bord Bia.

First stop on the list was the amazing Raspail Organic Market which is based on Boulevard Raspail quite close to St. Germain de Pres. After a somewhat failed attempt at searching for foodie stops the day before, it was an absolute pleasure to walk up the steps from the metro right into the market itself, which at 10am on a Sunday, was already a hive of activity. It is quite clear that while the rest of world is still shivering with the cold, spring has most certainly sprung in Paris, with bunches of daffodils being sold for €1 each, the trees above the market showing signs of buds already, and of course the fantastic array of new season produce on offer at the stands. The market which operates normally on a Tuesday and Friday morning, changes things up on a Sunday and provides only organically grown produce. Apparently it is where the jet set shop, on Le weekend, and Sofie claims to have spotted Christian Audigier but I'm not so sure!

There was truly a wonderful selection of fresh vegetables and mouthwatering fruit and nothing gets me more excited than seeing such a wide array on offer. My only problem is I want to cook it all, but have nowhere to cook, so I have promised myself the next time I come to the city, we will rent a place with a beautiful kitchen to make some fantastic dishes fresh from the market.

As if there wasn't enough excitement from the fruit and vegetable stalls, there was amazing cheese on offer from countless stalls, with one of the stands offering samples of a delicious soft cheese on top of some crusty bread, and a really gutsy butcher counter with cuts of meat which would scare off even the toughest Irish supermarket shopper!

We came to the end of the market with our mouths watering and just in time for Le petit dejuener! In a small cafe nearby, I ordered the simple French dish of crepes avec fromage et jambon (savoury pancakes with cheese and ham) which certainly hit the spot as we watched people walk past with bags full of ingredients ready to cook up a big Sunday lunch!

On Saturday, Sean from patchworkveg.com came over to the garden to install 3 raised veggie boxes. Sean set up the company only very recently as away to diversify from his other company Galcon, where he works as a building contractor. The company grew out of Sean's love for growing veg himself, and throughout the whole installation process he was full of tips on what to grow and when to grow it. This guy knows his veggies!
When I grew veggies last year, my patch was a little disorganised and was basically a sprawling mess, so this year I think by getting these raised boxes it will just give the garden itself a little more structure. Even with them installed there is plenty of room to grow even more veg in the ground around them.

Sean arrived with a trailer full of dirt and 3 heavy duty boxes all assembled and ready to go. Once the boxes were in place, it was a case of levelling them so they were completely flat on the ground and unfortunately the garden is a little bit irregular so there was a big decision as to which wall we would have them opposite too. When the boxes were in place, the real hard work started and the lads, got stuck in lugging basket fulls of the really great quality soil which Sean told me is full of organic matter which is super for growing the best veggies!

The raised beds are perfect for first time vegetable growers because you split the boxes into square feet and grow a different veg in each square foot. Sean has a link to great website on his blog where you can plan each vegetable box so that you know what is growing where and when to plant it.

I did offer to help with all the lifting by the way, I promise! When the lads had finished filling the boxes they compacted the soil and made them nice and snug. The beds are quite deep so you can plant quite a lot in each square foot! Sean makes the veggie boxes custom made so you can order whatever size you want really and I just think they make super feature in the garden. If you want to check out pricing head over to Sean's website patchworkveg.com where he has all the info about the beds and even offers lots of growing tips for first time growers!
Finally take a quick peak at this interview I recorded with the man himself!