We Love Cooking!:
TIME

A quick run down of a few of the best food related sites I visited this week:

Ever seen the movie "Waitress"? If you haven't seen it, you have to check it out, it's especially appealing for foodies, as the lead actress concocts her own pie recipes naming them with quirky title's such as "I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie" and "Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle of the Night & Ruinin’ My Life Pie"- Recipes here!

Donna Hay, one of my ultimate food heroes has a fab recipe section on her website featuring some of what I would consider the best food photography out there. Check it out!

Evil evil evil desserts...

I keep forgetting to bookmark this site but it's a pleasure to have to catch up on- Nigel Slater in the Guardian

Speaking of Nigel fancy winning a copy of his new book?

Via @BrettMirl an interesting piece about Bento lunch boxes on the New York Times site!

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes- Now these look so delicious- Definitely on my to-do list!

Music to cook by:

Hi guys,

Just a quick note to say I have been so busy with the band that I haven't had a chance to stick up any new recipes this week, but the hard work has paid off as I am so proud to announce that we just went number 1 in Ireland!

Thanks so much for all the support!

Cheers,

Donal

Ps. New post coming on Monday!

Just to let you know, The Good Mood Food Blog is now on Facebook! Following in the footsteps of my bloggie friend Lorraine and her restaurant/blog facebook page I thought it was high time I added this blog to another social network! If you're on Facebook make sure to add yourself as a fan!

Also I have added two recent press pieces to the "About Me" section, which feature a bit about the book and the blog.

Over and out!

Happy Easter everyone! Do you dig my chicks? They're just hatched, so if the one in the back looks like it hit the beers last night, give him a break!

Unfortunately my planned posts didn't exactly happen this week, I've been travelling quite a bit so trying to find time and a good internet connection ultimately worked against me. But I do have these cheery colourful Easter cupcakes for you today.

Simple Fondant Technique

This is more of a technique post so if you're looking for a basic cupcake recipe click here.

You will need:
A large rolling pin.
A fine sieve.
Icing sugar.
Ready to roll icing.
A variety of food colouring.
Butter cream frosting.

1. Slice a chunk of the ready to roll icing, which can easily be found in most supermarkets, and add a drop of food colouring.
2. Using your hands knead the colouring into the icing until you get a nice even colour.
3. Repeat until you have a variety of coloured icing.
4. Sieve a little icing sugar over a work surface and the rolling pin.
5. Roll out the icing to about 1/4cm in thickness.
6. Using a glass or cookie cutter about the same size as the surface of the cupcakes, make circular cutouts from the icing.
7. Spread an even layer of butter cream frosting over the top of the cupcakes.
8. Place a circle of the icing in your hand, turn the cupcake upside down and place on the center of the icing.
9. Turn the cupcake up the right way and using your fingers gently smooth the icing all the way around, until you have a nice even surface.
10. To get rid of any excess icing sugar and to achieve and nice even finish on the icing brush with a little water.

Just a quick note to say that after being lazy for a long time, I have finally updated the recipe archive with all the latest recipes and I have have a lovely fancy logo to link to my twitter. Enjoy! :)

We're finally into the last week of shows for Peter Pan in the Tivoli theatre. Our last night is Sunday so make sure to check it out before it's too late! Here's a few pics from the show, and yes I am wearing tights!

Hello!

I had planned all sorts of recipes this week but with rehearsals the plan has basically gone in the bin! However the lovely Lorraine from Italian Foodies has tagged me and asked me to share 7 things you may not know about me. So here goes!

1. I was studying for a degree in Media Arts after school, but dropped out to join a boy band! I think my parents nearly had a heart attack!
2. I generally eat a healthy diet, but I have a major weakness for Bacon flavored crisps, and lots of crispy Bacon!
   
3. I'm addicted to American TV shows, Dexter, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Nip/Tuck, Arrested Development, Prison Break, Samantha Who, you name it, I've seen it!
4. I am violently compulsive when it comes to my music collection, I have everything labeled alphabetically, by year, artist, genre, and even mood!
5. I am obsessed with Asian cuisine, I can read books upon books upon books about it! One of my biggest dreams is to finally visit and eat my way across the continent!
6. I'm a huge believer in positive thinking. In the right head space you do anything!
7. I read cookbooks in the toilet and I don't care!!!

1. The lovely Kay and her Kayotic Kitchen!
2. Culinary Cory!
   
3. Darius T Williams!
   
4. Polly Pierce!
5. Deborah!
   
6. Eating Club Vancouver!
7. Jo!

Yes it's me! I'm back blogging after a unplanned little break- which tends to be the norm for most bloggers from time to time. Sofie and I spent the long weekend in Gothenberg, Sweden where we stayed at her lovely mom, Ebba's house. It was a such an enjoyable little break and with a solid 29 degrees from Monday to Friday, it was definitely the kick start to my summer.

To my friends and family, I'm not exactly known as the most outdoors type person, and Sofie was even shocked when I changed a tyre over the weekend, but lately I think I'm developing a bit of a love affair with nature. After to moving to the apartment last year, which is situated right beside a main road, I have a constant and real urge to just be out in the silence of a park, to walk on a beach, or even to go for a quick walk around the cliffs. Needless to say I was really impressed when Sofie introduced me to the two lakes behind the house. They were straight out of the story books I used to read as a kid, complete with Jetty and Ducks and Reeds.

The water was way to warm not to get in, and even though the sun had just set I hopped in for a quick dip. There is something about the water in lakes that always seem to give me an eery, ominous feeling, but being caught in the moment meant I was oblivious to any potential late night, lake creature attacks!

Following what has become one our little Swedish summer traditions, we bought 2 kilo of prawns and 1 kilo of shrimp, which you can buy over the counter cooked from the local "Fisk" shops. It's the perfect sort of food that you can eat masses of, but keeps you occupied enough, to ensure that you can continue eating without feeling full! Does that make sense? Well bottom line, you can eat as much as you want, as messily as you like! Sounds like the perfect combination to me. We ate our way through the two bags with a little help from Sofie's dad who took us on a quick boat trip through the archipelago of Sweden's west coast.

Well Monday came all too quick for me and not even a phone call to the boss could guarantee me a longer stay. So after one last dip in the lake it was back on the one o'clock Ryanair flight to Dublin.

One of my most favorite things to do after enjoying a great meal out, is to recreate it from memory! Normally it doesn't exactly go to plan, but this one really worked out and it's now a classic here in the mood food kitchen. I have a terrible habit when I eat in a restaurant that when I find my favorite dish, I tend to stick to it and order the dish over and over again! I know variety is the spice of life and all that but when it tastes so good I'd feel like I was missing out if I didn't order it.

This is an adaptation of a classic dish on the menu at the Wagamama chain of eateries, I think the original recipe includes shrimp, chicken and squid but this is more of a vegetarian version. The eggs added add the end of recipe gives a great texture to the noodles!

Mood Food Yaki Soba

1. 4oz of Ramen Noodles
2. 1/2 Cup of Oyster Sauce
3. 1/3 Cup of Water
   
4. 1 Tablespoon of Salt
5. 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
6. 1/2 Head of Broccoli Finely chopped
7. 1 cup of finely chopped Chinese Cabbage
8. 5 Baby Corn finely sliced
   
9. 1 Small Onion sliced into half moons
10. 5 Spring Onions finely sliced length ways
11. 2 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped
12. 1 Red Pepper finely chopped
13. 2 Eggs lightly beaten

Serve in a big bowl and enjoy! You can garnish the dish with thinly sliced pickled ginger but that's optional.

After an early start this morning and pretty little organisation on my part I managed to miss breakfast. So all day I've been dreaming up a simple tasty lunch- I wanted to have something quick that I could make the minute I got in the door. I baked a big hunk of foccacia last week and froze half of it- which came in extremely handy for today! Make this dish when you need a quick blast of tastiness!

Fried Mushroom and Garlic on Toast

1. About 8 Button Mushrooms
2. 2 Cloves of Garlic
3. 1 teaspoon of Butter
4. Finely shopped fresh Parsley
5. A good pinch of Sea Salt and Freshly ground Pepper
6. A few slices of bread toasted.
   

Serve and devour in less time than it took to make!

Just thought I'd post these pics I took from dinner at my mom and dads on Sunday. I think they were just compensating for all the plants they made me water as a child- see post. :)

The steaks were marinated in a really tasty Argentinian marinade called Chimichurri which was bought at the local Farmers Market in Howth from, Saucy's who actually do a whole range of yummy sauces but unfortunately don't have a website just yet.

It's kind of in the same vein as pesto, texture wise, and is quite simple to make, in a large bowl combine- 1 Cup of chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 4 garlic cloves chopped, one medium onion finely chopped, 125 ml of Olive Oil, 60 ml of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of Cayenne pepper, and Sea Salt. Mix it all together adding more oil if the mixture is too thick. You can use straight away or let the flavour develop by leaving in the fridge few hours or even over night.

The sauce goes great with grilled meat.

The carrots were very tasty, cooked al dente and sauted in cream and smoked garlic with salt and pepper.

Here's the massive bulb of smoked garlic!

Crispy Parsnips:

Crsipy Roast Potatoes:

And Time to eat!

This, I'll be honest with you, is a bit of an experimental recipe! I like fishcakes but it just feels a bit wasteful, to spend money on a nice bit fish, and mash it up, with potatoes. I know that it's a bit weird, but it got me thinking that even though its not exactly the height of culinary excellence, I could substitute the fresh fish with some cheap and cheerful canned fish like tuna.

As a recipe this works fine, the cakes form well and cook evenly, the only thing is that if you use canned tuna like I did, you have the flavor of canned tuna, which can be a bit over powering in something like this. When I make it again, I'm going to use tuna packaged with oil in a jar which might be a little less in your face. But really the recipe works with any fish, so just substitute that part.

Cheap and Cheerful Fishcakes

1. 300g of baby potatoes
2. 2 cans of tuna
3. 1 egg lightly beaten
4. Bunch of spring onions chopped
5. Handful of Parsley roughly chopped
   
6. A good pinch of salt and pepper

Drain the tuna or fish of choice and add to the the pot of potatoes along with the egg, spring onions, salt, pepper and parsley. Mix together and form into palm sized cakes and set aside.

Heat a large frying pan, add a little bit of vegetable oil, and fry the cakes on both sides for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a side salad and some sweet chili dipping sauce.

The beauty of a good hearty chicken stock is, that not only is it packed with health benefits, it can be the base for hundreds of different, quick and simple recipe's. The recipe I'm posting is fairly basic, but really you can add whatever herbs or root veg you have in your kitchen, and experiment with the flavors. The cooking process breaks down the ingredients and the finished product contains minerals like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, in a form which the body can easily absorb.

Now I know that making stock is not the most exciting of recipe's to talk about, but once you do have the rich golden finished product, it can be transformed so easily. Boil a portion of the stock, add some minced garlic, ginger and chili, some fish sauce and rice wine vinegar and drop in some cooked noodles. Top with some spring onion sliced thinly and within minutes you have a healthy, hearty, Asian inspired soup.

The easiest time to make this stock is probably right after you have devoured a roast chicken, as the bones are more than likely ready for use! Just throw the ingredients in the pot and let it boil away for a few hours- effort level zero! Alternatively you can throw the bones into a zip lock bag and store in the freezer until you find a perfect stock making day.

Basic Chicken Stock

1. Leftover bones and carcass of chicken
2. 8 Litres of Water
   
3. 12fl oz White Wine
4. 1 white onion Chopped
   
5. 1 large carrot Sliced
6. 1 Large Leek Sliced
7. 1 Stick of Celery chopped
   
8. 3 Stalks of Parsley
9. 8 Black peppercorns

Then add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer consistently for 3 hours or until the flavour is right for you.

Make sure to check on the pot ever now and then to skim any fat that rises to the surface- this while make sure you have a nice clear stock.

The stock can be kept in the fridge for a few days or frozen in handy bags in the freezer. You can also store some of the liquid in ice cube trays, which comes in handy to add an extra bit of flavour to sauces, and gravy.

And if thats not enough about stock for one day check out this interesting article.

We've had a few new additions to the apartment in the last few weeks, and I thought I would introduce you to a few of them! First of all since moving in together with my lovely girlfriend there has been a few things I've noticed- number one, the girl can't get enough of candles, there everywhere even in the bathroom! Number two, is that she likes plants- a lot!

I have had a thing about plants ever since I was a kid, it mainly stems from the fact that our house was filled with them, and it was always the job of me and my brother to water them. A job which we hated, mainly because we had no interest in having them and felt that if our parents wanted them, they should water themselves . But recently I have come around to the idea of them, mainly because I use herbs in my cooking, they look nice and because they produce Oxygen and we need lots of that!

Our latest addition to the plant collection, is a basil plant which can be picked up at most supermarkets. It came in a little plastic container so I replanted it in a little pot we picked up in IKEA. Apparently Basil thrives on sunlight so at the moment its sitting on the balcony windowsill, where it can soak up some rays every morning. I'll let you know if it survives over the next few weeks, I'm yet to be convinced!

My favourite purchase from the recent trip to IKEA (which by the way I'm sorry I'm mentioning again!) has to be this kitchen counter! The best part is that it's on rollers, so when were not cooking we roll it off to the side of fridge, where it fits perfectly, and it has handy storage space just below the counter top! It's AMAZING! But the best part of all is that it was quite cheap a bargain at 37 euro!

The last thing I want to talk about in the this pretty random post, is mainly directed to fellow bloggers. I have a question, if you post a comment on my blog is it netiquette to post a comment back on your blog or should I keep the commenting in my own comments section? The world of blogging can get be tough! :)

Well I just finished putting together the rest of the stuff we got for the apartment from IKEA and I am very impressed with myself- not really being the handyman type- even Sofie was impressed! I'm going to post a few pics of the things we got as I'm pretty proud of them- it's really amazing how just a few new things can make your house feel so much more homely!

This is a nice little recipe that can be served as a side dish or a nice TV dinner style

Crispy Sweet Potato Wedges (Serves 4)

1. 5 Large Sweet Potatoes
2. 3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
3. 2 Gloves of finely chopped Garlic
   
4. 1 teaspoon of Maldon Sea Salt
5. 1 teaspoon of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
6. 1 teaspoon of dried Oregano
7. 1/2 teaspoon of dried Red Chilli Flakes

Peel the Sweet Potatoes and slice length ways into 8 pieces.

Place in a large roasting tin and toss the wedges with oil and the remaining ingredient's until all the wedges are well coated.

Roast in the oven for about 20-25 mins, or until crispy. Make sure to toss them halfway through.

Serve as a nice side dish or a quick and tasty snack! YUM!

Is it me or has it been a little quiet around here recently? I think I've only just gotten back into the swing of cooking again after my little break. Sofie and I finally made the journey up to IKEA in Belfast over the weekend to get all those essential apartment items after nearly a year. We have been threatening to make the trip, since it opened in December, but it just kept getting put off- but we did it in style and spent a whopping eight hours in the store as if to make up for it!

I know that's a bit mad but we did like 4 sweeps of the place and missed out on very little. I love the kitchen stuff in IKEA, and my favourite thing we got on our shopping trip was this cool little kitchen trolley thing which doubles up as both a storage unit and a work top! I particularly like this because now I can perform a mini cookery show when we have guests over! :) (Pictures coming soon!)

On to the food! I cooked this dish over the weekend as a bit of an experiment and thankfully no plates were left empty so I'm taking thath to be a good sign.

Cajun Salmon and Asian Greens (Serves 2)
For Salmon:
2 Organic Salmon Fillets
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper

For Asian Greens:
Selection of veg diced (Broccoli, Carrot, Asparagus, Red Pepper)
2 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Nam Pla (Fish Sauce)
1 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil
A pinch of salt

In a large bowl combine the Rice Wine Vinegar, Nam Pla, Sesame Oil and salt, then add the diced veg and mix through. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

Mix the spices for the salmon together. Place the salmon fillets skin side down on a grill plate and sprinkle with the seasoning. Place under a hot grill for approx 7-8 mins.

While the Salmon is under the grill, in a hot frying pan stir fry the diced veg mix until soft.

The Salmon should be cooked by this time, if your worried it isn't cooked through, poke a knife into the centre of the flesh and check if it is still pink- if its is you may want to give it another minute or so under the grill.

When everything is cooked serve on a plate and enjoy!

I'm in breakfast mood this week, and this one is particularly tasty. The recipe itself is fairly straight forward, but the combination of flavours between the peppery rocket, and the saltiness of the prosciutto makes for an interesting dish. It's a good protein packed plate to get you going in the morning, the rocket can be substituted with fresh spinach leaves, to give you an even more vitamins and minerals.

Rocket, Prosciutto And Egg's Over Easy
(Serves, a very hungry, one!)

1. 3 Slices of Prosciutto
2. 2 Eggs
3. A good handful of Rocket
4. 1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil

I'm sure there are Italians out there who may crucify me over this recipe, but this is the way I like to do it. So apologies in advance to those who may find it slightly sacrilegious to heat the tomatoes. The girlfriend also pointed out that this was not the way she wanted it, to which I informed her that it was the last time she was getting breakfast made for her on a Sunday. The thing about a breakfast like this is, it's the type of food that can be eaten all day really, so to serve it as a late morning breakfast, feels just right. Plus with fresh ingredients, it really gives you a zingy start to the day!

Breakfast Bruschetta

1. A good glug of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
   
2. Punnet of Cherry Tomato's
   
3. 1 Clove of Garlic
4. Handful of fresh Basil
   
5. Some nice hearty Italian bread (Ciabatta)

Enjoy!