We Love Cooking!:
carrot

Well we're two rooms down on the house and surprisingly after 3 days in a row in IKEA, I'm still ready for more! We have just got in the door from sorting out the bedroom, with a bed and wardrobe set for delivery tomorrow. I have to admit that with all the rushing around, we have ended up in the cafe twice and I have to confess that I have munched my way through 30 meatballs in the last two days, with copious amounts of mashed potato, gravy and lingonberry jam! But then again when you are lugging your life around there is most definitely a need for some serious comfort food. Speaking of which today's recipe is one of my ultimate comfort foods- Slow cooked lamb shanks for many need absolutely no introduction as you will know just how delicious, slow-cooking this off-cut of meat is. If you haven't tried them before, give this recipe a go it's perfect for the cooler evenings.

Lamb Shanks with Colcannon Mash
I really am a sucker for a good lamb shank, with it's melt-in-the-mouth texture, which literally falls off the bone, it truly is a thing of beauty! The key is to slow cook it at a low temperature. This transforms the gnarly piece of meat into a rich and juicy piece of deliciousness. You can serve it on normal mash, sweet potato mash, or with lentils, but I love colcannon and seeing as it is the season, it makes perfect sense!

Serves 4
30ml/2 tbsp of olive oil
4 lamb shanks
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 stalk of celery, finely sliced
350ml/12 fl oz of red wine
A few sprigs of thyme, tied in a bunch with string
650ml/1 ½ pts of stock (vegetable or beef)
2 tablespoons of cornflour
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

In a large casserole dish, heat the olive oil and add the lamb shanks and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Fry the onions for two to three minutes until soft but not browned. Add the garlic, carrot and celery and fry for another couple of minutes. Pop in the thyme and stir through.
Add the red wine and bring to the boil and simmer for five minutes.
Place in the browned lamb shanks and pour over the stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then cover and place in the oven at 150oC/300oF/Gas Mark 2.
Cook the lamb shanks very slowly, for three hours, turning them half way through the cooking time, until the meat is extremely tender and almost falls off the bone. Toward the end of the cooking time, taste and season.
If you want to serve the lamb shanks with its juices, I remove a few ladles of the juices and place them in a small saucepan. Then place two tablespoons of the juices in a bowl and stir through the cornflour until you have a smooth mix, pour this back into the saucepan and bring to a steady simmer, cooking down until you have a thick gravy.
Serve in large deep bowls with the colcannon.

For the colcannon:
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
250g cabbage, finely sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
75ml of milk or cream
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Add the peeled and diced potato to a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the potato is tender when pierced with a fork.
Place a metal steamer into another pot, add a little water and bring to the boil. Place the cabbage into the steamer and steam cook until it is tender.
When the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat, drain into a colander, then add back into the pot with the butter and milk. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. You may want to add a little bit more or less milk and butter, it's up to you!
Add in the spring onion, steamed cabbage, sea salt and black pepper and stir through with a spoon until evenly combined.
Serve with the lamb shanks.

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.

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.

One of the things I mastered last year, was preparing healthy dishes which are easy to have with you on the go.
We (Industry) were on the road everyday during the summer when we released our first two singles so I made sure we all ate well in between our fairly tight schedule.
Healthy salads were normally on the cards and went down the best, but if we were stuck for time quick and tasty wraps sorted us out!
As I mentioned we were on tour with JLS all week, and the wraps below kept us full on the road up to belfast! We have been debuting our new tracks which you can hear over here, and here, so I hope you don't mind that I have stuck up a few photo's from the gig on Saturday night. We were very excited to perform in the O2 in Dublin, but I want to brace yourselves for the photos below, because a momentous occassion took place where I got my first pair of knickers thrown at me! Knickers on a food blog, who'd have thought! :)

Quick Fresh Veggie Wrap With Crispy Prosciutto
Wraps are extremely handy for a quick and tasty lunch! The best thing is that you can really go wild when it comes to the ingredients. There are so many variations on this recipe which I make regularely, like avocado and bacon, chicken and chickpea, or even tuna and rocket!
Find your favourite combo and experiment. If you can't get your hands on proscioutto just pick up some streaky bacon instead.

Serves 2
6 slices of prosciutto ham
2 large wholemeal tortilla wraps
2 tablespoons of mayonaisse
2 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1 carrot, grated
1/4 of cucumber, sliced thinly
5-6 spring onions, sliced thinly
A good pinch of ground black pepper

In a large hot frying pan fry off the slices of prosciutto until crisp and golden. Remove and set aside on plate with a piece of kitchen paper.
Spread 1 tablespoon of mayo on one of the tortilla wraps.
Arrange the slices of cucumber, carrot, and spring onions down the centre of the wrap. Add the spinach leaves and then place 3 slices of the crispy prosciutto on top.
Roll up the wrap and enjoy! Repeat with the second the second wrap.

Just when I thought there was a bit of spring in the air, I find myself out de-icing my car windscreen again! I am so ready for the spring to start, I am already dreaming of all the vegetables I'm planning to grow. In anticipation of what I like to think of as the lighter eating months of the year I have been cooking up some really tasty salads. I am particularly proud of this one, as it fits in nicely with my Chinese New Year recipes this week and is really fresh and healthy, so enjoy!

Spicy Sichuan Chicken Salad
A lot of Chinese dishes can be heavy going but this spicy Sichuan chicken salad, is light, bright and crisp. To get the best aromatic flavour out of the Sichuan peppercorns, toast them in a hot oven for a few minutes, allow them to cool and grind in a pestle and mortar.

Serves 2
2 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 small thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
4-5 spring onions, sliced finely
1 stick of celery, sliced finely
5 shitake mushrooms, stalks removed and sliced finely
½ cucumber, sliced finely
1 large carrot, sliced finely
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
½ teaspoon of sesame oil
2 teaspoons of lime juice
1 teaspoon of honey
½ teaspoon of ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns
½ teaspoon of sea salt
½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
Toss the chicken in a bowl with the soy sauce, ginger and garlic.
Heat the oil over a medium high heat in a large frying pan and add both chicken breasts. Cook for 3-4 minutes either side or until cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan, slice thinly and set aside.
Place the chicken slices in a large mixing bowl and toss together with the rest of the ingredients, until everything is evenly coated.
Serve the salad in delicious high piles and sprinkle with a little extra Sichuan pepper and sea salt.

Chinese New Year falls on Valentines day this year, so it’s the perfect excuse to whip up some tasty Chinese dishes for your loved one to celebrate and I’m not talking about calling the local takeaway! But Chinese cuisine has so much more to offer than what’s on the local takeaway menu, it's packed with delicious sauces, aromatic spices, and unusual textures. If you haven’t tried cooking any Chinese dishes, I have put together some fairly easy ones which I'll be posting all week to celebrate Chinese New Year! They don’t take too much time and leave you with some incredibly tasty results.

Healthy Singapore Noodles
Singapore noodles are a standard Chinese restaurant dish, but making them at home is so easy and it also means you can monitor what’s going in to them, adding whatever healthy vegetables you feel like. The addition of curry powder to this dish not only brings a new flavour to it, but it coats the noodles and gives a great texture to every bite.

Serves 2
3 cloves of garlic, minced
A thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
100g of rice vermicelli noodles
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
2 celery sticks, finely sliced
1 carrot, finely sliced
4 spring onions
1 tablespoon of Asian curry powder
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
A good handful of bean sprouts

Marinate the chicken with the garlic, ginger, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and oyster sauce. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Soak the noodles in a bowl of boiling water for 6 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside.
Heat a wok over a high heat and add the oil to coat. Add the chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add the celery, carrot and spring onion, and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the curry powder and toss through for another 2 minutes.
Add the noodles and bean sprouts and a drop of sesame oil to taste. Toss everything together using kitchen tongs until it’s combined.
Serve straight away.

This is my recipe contribution to December's edition of Irish Tatler, and it also just so happens to be one of my favourite recipes of all time forever and ever the end! It is also one of my favourite recipes from my cookbook which may I remind you would make a lovely christmas present for a loved one! Ok shameless plugs aside, this is such a wonderful dish and it's super easy to prepare, stick the duck in the oven slice the vegetables, make the dressing and you're done! Couldn't be easier!

Open Aromatic Duck Salad

This is basically an adaptation of the classic aromatic duck and pancake dish which is available at most Chinese restaurants. It’s one of my favourite dishes and is so simple to produce. The tender crispy duck goes well with the fresh raw vegetables and tangy Asian dressing.

Serves 2
1 crispy half duck portion (available pre-cooked at most supermarkets)
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
½ Chinese cabbage, finely shredded
Bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced

For the dressing:
Juice of ½ lime
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil

Before you start, put the duck in a roasting tin (you can stick the breast on a wire wrack, this way the fat will drip) and place in the oven for approximately 20 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 or until heated through.
In a large mixing bowl mix the ingredients for the dressing. Add the carrot, cucumber, cabbage and spring onions, and toss to combine.
Take the duck out of the oven, slice thinly and add to the salad. Serve straightaway.

Photo credit: Jocasta Clarke

I have a few winter warming dishes coming up but this recipe is actually taken from the book and was featured on Georgina Campbell's Ireland Guide website. Plus I got a request in the comments section so I just couldn't resist!

Hearty Minestrone Soup
This is a perfect winter meal solution, full of tasty vegetables, and filling thanks to the
pasta. I use wholewheat spaghetti, but feel free to add other shapes like fusilli or pasta elbows instead. If you don’t have any paprika, you can get a bit of spice by adding a dash of tabasco sauce, or a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Serves 4
1 courgette, chopped into small chunks
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 x 410g tins cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks
2 litres/4 pints homemade chicken stock
75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
A good pinch of paprika
A good pinch of sea salt

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for 2
minutes or until they become soft.
Stir in the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the
chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the
heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the wholewheat spaghetti, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the
soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until
the pasta is cooked.
Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway with a good chunk of
wholemeal bread and enjoy!

Most people find this time of year a little depressing, the nights becoming longer, the days becoming shorter, but for foodies this is harvest season, when all the hard work in the garden during the summer really pays off. Vegetables like, carrots, cabbages, and parsnips which have benefited from the long summer days are all now fully formed, heavy and begging to be plucked from the ground.

I received a fantastic seasonal vegetable hamper from Bord Bia to promote there brilliant new best in season website, which highlights the huge range of fresh veg which is on offer throughout the year. The hamper included a great selection of parsnips, carrots, leeks, celery, cabbage, and potatoes. I have been a bit busy so didn't get to cook as many dishes as I had hoped but managed to knock up a big batch of vegetable soup!

Wholesome Vegetable Soup

Soup season is definitely upon us, and as much as I love experimenting with new flavours, and different combinations, I always come back to a good old homemade vegetable soup. This is the one I normally stick to but add whatever vegetables you have at hand, they certainly won't go astray here.

Serves 6-8

1 tablespoon of butter
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, sliced
2 potatoes, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
bunch of celery, chopped
2 litres of vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the butter in a large pot and place over a medium high heat.
When butter is melted and foamy, add the onion, potato, and leek.
Fry for 2 minutes, then cover and sweat for 8 minutes.
Add the stock, carrots, parsnip, celery, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender when you insert a fork.
Season with a little salt and pepper to taste and then either serve as a chunky vegetable broth or blitz with a hand blender to form a silky smooth soup.

I was interviewed earlier this year for a blogging feature in Irish Tatler and a few weeks after I was offered the chance to become a regular contributor. This is the recipe I wrote for the October issue!

Asian Chicken Salad with Chilli, Ginger and Lime Dressing

Packed with tasty ingredients, this recipe is perfect for entertaining. You can prepare all the ingredients separately, stick them in the fridge and assemble the salad when your guests arrive. Don’t be afraid to add other vegetables here, peppers, cucumber, spring onions and bean sprouts are all tasty additions.

Serves 4
Marinade:
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
Juice of ½ lime
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
½ red chilli, finely chopped
½ thumb sized piece of ginger minced

Dressing:
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter
Juice of ½ lime
2 teaspoons of honey
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
½ red chilli, finely chopped
½ thumb sized piece of ginger minced

4 chicken breasts, sliced thinly into strips
1 Chinese cabbage, slice thinly
3 carrots, sliced thinly
1 red onion, sliced thinly
100g of sugar snap peas, sliced thinly
100g of chopped peanuts to serve
A handful of chopped coriander to serve

Add the chicken strips to a mixing bowl with the marinade ingredients and mix through. Cover and place in the fridge while you prepare the salad and dressing.
In a small bowl add all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk to combine.
Place the Chinese cabbage, carrots, red onion, and sugar snap peas in a large salad bowl. Add half the dressing and combine until all the vegetables are well coated.
Fry the chicken strips until golden brown and cooked through. Approximately 2 minutes either side.
Serve the salad in individual bowls topped with the chicken, a sprinkling of chopped peanuts, a little chopped coriander and a extra drizzle of the dressing.

As you might have guessed, if you are a regular reader of the blog, I have a major thing for zingy Asian food! It all started when I was a lot younger, when my grandmother bought me a simple Chinese cookbook. At that stage I had already worked my way through most of the cookbooks in our house but had never tried to cook any sort of Asian food. Ingredients like ginger, lemongrass, coconut milk, and the rather peculiar looking star anise were all foreign to me, as a curious youngster. I took it upon myself to become immersed in this little book, being brave and cooking the most strange sounding dishes first, in order to get a taste for the vast landscape of this cuisine. From fortune cookies to spring rolls, from Thai green curry to sushi, I really gave everything a go and even though they may not have all turned out quite to plan, the process in itself was totally enjoyable and left me with a fascination for Asian culture and recipes.

I have still never been anywhere in Asia and it is my absolute dream to travel, eat and photograph my way across the continent, well maybe that's a little ambitious, maybe just the main places to start with. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it will, and when it does I want to be ready for it so, I'm putting together a hit list of places to visit, people to see, and food to eat. If you have any good suggestions for recipes, stunning places to visit, interesting stories, photos or all of the above, let me know in the comment section or drop me a mail.

Mini Aromatic Duck Salad
This a slightly adapted version of one of my favourite recipes from my cookbook. It's fairly similar, the only difference really being that, I serve the salad in mouthful portions on baby gem lettuce leaves here. Apart from the duck don't be too concerned about the salad ingredients, anything goes here really, things like bean sprouts, shredded Chinese cabbage, finely sliced snow peas are all perfect also. You can get amazing aromatic duck breasts in the frozen section at good Chinese supermarkets, which only require roasting time in the oven for delicious results.

Serves 4
2 aromatic duck breasts, cooked and shredded
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
Baby gem lettuce leaves, to serve

Dressing:
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Add all the ingredients for the dressing to a bowl and whisk to combine.
Add the duck, carrots, spring onions, and red pepper to the bowl and toss with the dressing to combine.
Arrange baby gem lettuce leaves on a serving platter and add spoonfuls of the duck salad to them.
Serve straight away, or refrigerate the duck salad and assemble when required.

As a food blogger, it's quite often that you get sent offers and promotions by new companies or event organisers on a weekly basis, asking for promotion on the blog. If the product or event is something that catches my attention, I do generally give it a mention or ask for a sample so that I can use it in a recipe for the blog. This was the case when I received an email two weeks ago, from Nigel Cobbe, the owner of the brand new company, Simply Sourced which is a home delivery service throughout Dublin and Wicklow for top quality free range and totally traceable meat. It's a really great concept and having sampled the product it offers a really reliable alternative to butchers and supermarkets. I like the idea that they have a set price and you know the quality of produce to expect!

Nigel told me that their pork is from rare breed of Saddlebacks which have fabulous depth of flavour whilst their beef is from a rare ancient pedigree called the Long Horn -Heston Blumenthal's source for his ultimate steak! Orders are individually butchered to customer's requirements with free delivery throughout Dublin & Wicklow with orders above 50 euro.

Simply Sourced prices are close to and often less than supermarket / butcher prices yet bear no comparison in terms of quality and taste i.e. Denny Rashers are 21 euro/kg, ours are 19 euro/kg.
Their handmade sausages are the same price as Tesco Finest and contain over 92% shoulder and belly meat, Tesco's are just over 70% meat content. They also have a gluten free range at no extra cost.
All the meat is delivered chilled, fresh and vacuum packed for immediate enjoyment or for freezing for up to 6 months.

I tried the fillet steak in the recipe below and I can honestly say it was one of the best cuts of meat I have ever tasted. The steaks are really velvety and full of flavour, you really don't have to work too hard to make cuts of meat like this tasty. I also sampled the breakfast gammon which was equally tasty and I will definitely be ordering that again! With plans to expand this home delivery service across the country, I expect this will not be the last you have heard from Simply Sourced!

Oriental Steak Salad
You can add as many other ingredients to the salad as you want, beansprouts, or snow peas all work great in this. I used fillet steak here, but as this can be quite expensive, other cuts will work just as nicely, try sirloin or a good quality shoulder steak. This recipe can also be made ahead of time, marinade the meat in the fridge, prepare the veg beforehand and only toss with the dressing when you are ready to eat.

Serves 4
4 x 120g fillet steak
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
Small handful of chopped coriander to serve

For the marinade and dressing:
1 chilli, deseeded and minced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
1 teaspoon of thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil

Place the steaks on a plate.
Mix all the ingredients for dressing/marinade together and pour 1/4 of the mixture over the steaks.
Toss all the veg together in salad bowl and set aside.
Heat a large griddle pan and fry the steaks for 3-5 minutes on either side depending on their size.
Remove the steaks and allow to rest on a chopping board for a few minutes.
Add the dressing to the salad and toss to combine.
Slice the steak thinly, sprinkle with a little chopped coriander and serve with the zingy salad.

For the August bank holiday weekend, myself and Sofie decided, very last minute, that we'd spend our three, free days in the lovely, little harbour town of Carlingford, which is just under two hours, north of Dublin. I had visited Carlingford before on a family holiday, but I had forgotten how peaceful it is.

We stayed in a really nice newly refurbished stone cottage just outside the town, on the grounds of an old farmhouse. Now we were all set for a relaxing couple of days, but there is one thing that gets to me when I stay away from home and that is DRIPPING TOILETS! I cannot sleep if all I can hear through the silence is a slow drip. So of course, what did we end up with? A dripping toilet! So at about 1am the first night we arrived, I was lying in bed when it was decided enough was enough, I was going to take matters into my own hands. I went into the bathroom and ripped the lid off the cistern to see if I could fix it, unfortunately it was a dual flush toilet so when I pulled at the lid, I broke the seal and water came flooding out! Panic stations! It was too late to ring the owners and the water kept spilling out, so I got to work effin and blinding, in true blue peter style and tried to seal it back up with cling film and tin foil. If you are ever in the future trying to seal a toilet, let me be the one to break it to you gently that, the combination of cling film and tin foil does NOT work. To cut a long story short, I manned up, inspected the broken part, turned the seal inside out and fixed the problem! Phew!

Now I hope that didn't put you off the food because that's coming next. Dripping toilets aside, we had a truly relaxing, enjoyable and romantic little break. We woke up to the view of a field full of horses, ate outside for breakfast, cooked some great meals and even climbed a mountain!

We also popped up to Sainsbury's to have a quick nose around and I picked up two great little ingredients which I used while we were away. The first being Maldon smoked sea salt, which I think is new in their range, it smells great, and a bottle of Avocado oil which is apparently extremely healthy and has a very high burning point, making it great for cooking!

Easy Quick Roast Chicken Dinner
I can make a roast chicken in my sleep at this stage, so when it gets to that stage with a recipe, I tend to start experimenting. This is my solution to making a roast chicken even easier than it already is. By cutting the whole chicken into seperate portions, you do all the hard work before the cooking, which means when it comes to serving, all have to do is plonk it on a plate! No worries!

Serves 4
1 whole chicken cut into portions.
A good handful of rosemary sprigs.
5 carrots, cut into rough chunks.
2 red onions, chopped in rough chunks.
4 cloves of garlic.
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
1 tablespoon of sea salt (smoked, if possible)
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5.
Pinch off the leaves of half the rosemary and chop finely with the garlic, sea salt and black pepper.
Place the chicken portions on a large baking tray, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and toss to coat.
Add the carrots and red onions to the tray.
Rub the garlic and rosemary onto all the ingredients on the tray until they are all coated.
Push the remaining rosemary sprigs onto the chicken portions and place in the oven for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Enjoy with a tasty salad.

Now I don't know about you but when it comes to coleslaw I am extremely picky and only homemade will do. There is absolutely nothing worse than the soggy, boring, mayonaise laden coleslaws available from supermarkets which have been sitting in the salad bar all day long. Don't get me wrong, some places can get it right, but they are few and far between. It is extremely inexpensive and takes only a few minutes to make a really tasty coleslaw at home, plus you can add whatever you want to it! This is my plain coleslaw recipe but feel free to experiment with it, add your own ingredients and ideas!

Red Cabbage and Carrot Coleslaw
I have a handy dandy Magimix food processor and it makes this recipe so simple and takes only minutes to prepare. If you don't have one, it's no big deal but it makes this easy recipe a little more time consuming. This crunchy coleslaw is the perfect accompaniment to any meat or poultry dish.

Serves 4-6 people
3 carrots, grated
1/2 head of red cabbage, finely chopped or coarsely grated
3 spring onions, finely chopped
3 tablespoon of mayonaisse
1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
A good pinch of ground black pepper

Add all the vegetables to a large mixing bowl. Add the wholegrain mustard, ground black pepper and mayonaisse and using a large spoon combine all the ingredients until the carrot and cabbage is evenly coated. Transfer to a large serving dish, cover with cling film and place in the fridge until you are ready to serve. The coleslaw should last 2-3 days kept in the fridge.

First of all- TasteSpotting.com! Most of the online foodies out there will know exactly what I'm talking about, but if you have no idea, this site was pure indulgence for food porn enthusiasts! It hand picked some of the best photo's and recipe's from food blogs across the world, and displayed them in one handy site. I'm sure there will a similar site soon, as Tastespotting will be sorely missed.

And now, how about a recipe?

Dishes which are packed with healthy ingredients and stunning colors, are not only a cure for hunger, they can really improve your mood too. With the summer in full flow, there is so much in season veg and fresh herbs that it can get a bit traumatic knowing what exactly to with it- this quick pasta salad is a great solution as it's basically a raid on the contents of your fridge which you can transform too your very own taste. It definitely beats the image of soggy mayonnaise laden pasta salads sitting in plastic containers at your local supermarket!

I made this in about 15-20 mins right after I collected Sofie from the airport recently and not only does it hit the spot- it's a really handy and healthy little pasta salad. This is the way I do it;

:: SESAME PASTA SALAD

1. Wholemeal Pasta
2. 1 Red Onion slice into half moons.
3. 1 Carrot finely chopped.
4. 1/2 small cucumber finely chopped.
5. Feta Cheese
6. Handful of Basil finely chopped.
7. 2 tbs of Olive Oil
8. 1 Tbs of Balsamic Vinegar
9. A handful of toasted Sesame Seeds.
   
10. A good pinch of Salt and Pepper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the vinegar and oil and give it a quick whisk. Then add all the veg cheese and herbs and combine with the pasta. Give it a good pinch of salt and pepper and serve. Top the finished dishes with golden toasted sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Now generally I am a Chicken and fish fan so this dish mostly came about because my girlfriend gently suggested that I should cook something other than chicken tonight! Not one to dissappoint I head to the butchers with this in mind and picked out some lamb chops. Ok I know carrot and cabbage mixed together is coleslaw but there's something off putting about coleslaw which make my mind conjure up images of soggy cabbage drenched in watery cheap mayonnaise. Ew! So that why I'm sticking with carrot and cabbage salad!

Oregano Lamb Chops

• 4 good quality lamb chops
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped finely
• 3 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of good quality balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
• A good pinch of sea salt and ground pepper

Put the lamb chops in a ziploc food bag and add the chopped garlic plus the rest of the ingredients to the bag. Zip Lock the bag then shake so that the mixture completely coats all the lamb. Then put the bag in the fridge to marinate, while you prepare the salad. It's like sooo easy!

Simple Carrot and Cabbage Salad

The salad is just as easy. You will need:

• 1/4 of white cabbage
• 1 Large carrot
• 1 tablespoon of homemade mayonaisse
• A good pinch of Sea Salt and Ground Pepper.

Peel the carrot and slice into thin strips and place in a large bowl. Then chop the cabbage finely and seperate into pieces. Add the cabbage, mayo, salt, pepper and mix it all up! Put the salad mix in the fridge.

I normally cook this for just my self and my girlfriend so I take two of the chops out of the marinade bag, reseal it and freeze. I find that when the meat is defrosted in the marinade it makes it very tender. So anyway take the lamb chops out of the fridge and place on a hot grill and cook till brown on both sides (about 5 mintues either side). Take the carrot and cabbage salad out of the fridge and put a portion on a plate and place a golden brown chop ontop!

Enjoy!