We Love Cooking!:
chilli

Ok so I'm kind of playing catch up at the moment and unfortunately when things get busy the blog is what suffers. Here is a piece I wrote for my column in the Cork News on the last day of shooting the photography for the new cookbook last week.

It was been an absolute pleasure to have been able to see the whole process of creating a cookbook from start to finish.
Over the last few months I have been over and back to London for meetings three times but haven’t actually had the chance to experience the London lifestyle or see anything much of interest. However this all changed last weekend, when we immersed ourselves in all the foodie sights and sounds with visits to Brixton Market, Portobello Market, Spitalfield Market, all nicely rounded off by a lunch in both Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen on Saturday and the highly praised River Café on Sunday. Both meals were absolutely delicious, however I felt Jamie’s place was definitely better value, with hearty dishes full of flavour which left you satisfyingly stuffed! I started with a savoury homecured Bresola and Beetroot salad full of earthy flavour and for mains a really rustic dish of Italian Sausage and green lentils. Don’t get me wrong our meal at the River Café was stunning, with a mouth watering menu, and beautiful surroundings with an air of Mediterranean elegance which probably can’t be matched anywhere else in London, I just felt it was a little pricey for the lunchtime trade. I had a delicious main course of summer Lamb and roast seasonal vegetables which was beautifully cooked. It really is one of those places that as someone with an interest in food, I think you just have to visit for the experience, and I am glad I did!

One of the places I had been looking forward to eating at was Rosie’s Café Deli at Brixton market run by Rosie Lovell, after receiving her saucily titled book “Spooning with Rosie” as a birthday present from my pal Aoife N earlier this year. Her writing style is fantastic which makes the book not only full of quirky recipes but also a compelling read. The café is full of home comfort and for a quick Saturday morning breakfast we gobbled down a cheese toastie with real cheese and tomato and these amazing scrambled eggs with Chilli Jam which I have I have officially decided is now the only way to serve scrambled eggs. Click on the link below for my recipe for chilli jam which appeared on the blog a year or two ago!

My Perfect Scrambled Eggs with Chilli Jam
The perfect scrambled eggs are most definitely down to personal taste, for me they have to be creamy so that they slide smoothly off the back of a wooden spoon. The eggs will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat so I think the key is to err on the side of them being underdone rather than ending up with chunky rubbery scrambled eggs.

Serves 1
2 large free range eggs
Sea salt and ground black pepper
2 slices of ciabatta toast to serve
2 tablespoons of chilli jam to serve

In a small non stick saucepan, whisk the eggs until they are slightly frothy.
Place the pan over a low heat and allow them to warm through. With a wooden spoon keep the mix on the move, making sure not to let it catch on the sides too much.
Cook until you have creamy scrambled eggs.
Serve the eggs on toasted ciabatta with a good dollop of chilli jam and season with a little sea salt and ground black pepper.

I'm pretty much settled back into the land of the living after the last few busy weeks and loving being back in my own kitchen. I'm especially loving the amazing weather Ireland has been having all week, summer is most definitely on the way and I am already thinking of more summer orientated dishes, with really fresh flavours! This is is the recipe for this weeks column in the Cork News, with a really simple recipe to make the best of one of my favourite fish, mackerel!

Simple Mackerel Fillets with Chilli, Garlic and Lemon
I grew up on mackerel! It was and still is one of the easiest fish to catch just off Howth head. I have some of the most amazing childhood memories of sunny mackerel filled summers with my grandad Do on his boat, where my cousins and I would be busy racing to pull in rods with heavy lines, fish on each hook, while my grandad would gut them and fillet them like the pro he was, belly laughing at the fact that we were all to squeemish to take them off the lines ourselves. For me, mackerel dishes always have to be simple with really fresh flavours, and I love this quick and simple lunch which has a great kick of heat thanks to the chilli. People get a bit worried when it comes to cooking fish, but go to the fishmongers and ask them to do all the hard work and you will be left really lovely fillets of fish which are no more complicated to cook than pan frying a chicken breast!

Serves 4
4-6 mackerel fillets
2 red chillies, finely chopped with the seeds removed
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
A good drizzle of olive oil
A good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper

Place the mackerel fillets on a large plate and drizzle with olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Don't use all the lemon juice here, as it's nice to give the fish an extra squeeze of lemon while it cooks and then at the end to serve.
Sprinkle over the chilli and garlic and gently rub into the fish on both sides, turning to coat in the lemon and olive oil.
Season the fillets with sea salt and black pepper and cook on a hot, non stick griddle pan, over a high heat, for 2-3 minutes either side, depending on their size or until they are cooked through. Halfway through the cooking time, give them another splash of lemon juice.
Serve the mackerel fillets with a spicy tomato salsa or a fresh side salad for a really light and healthy lunch!

If you follow me on twitter, you will probably be sick of me talking about it, but we (Industry) are currently on tour with JLS for their tour dates in Ireland. It makes a stark contrast to all the cooking I have been doing lately! The one question I have been asked the most since the book came out is which I prefer, the singing or the cooking, and to be honest after Saturday night, when we performed in Dublin's o2 arena, the singing gives the cooking a good run for its money! Though I think I will always have that hunger for performing on stage, it is just one of the most amazing feelings to stand in front of a crowd that size and sing! All the excitement and nerves aside, I have been managing to eat really well despite the lack of time, and these noodles are just one of the dishes which have kept the band well fed the last few days.

Crunchy Peanut Satay Noodles
I am a huge fan of Asian flavours, and I absolutely love exploring Asian supermarkets to find new weird and wonderful ingredients. Noodles are one of my favourite things to buy there, and there are so many varieties to choose from thin rice vermicelli to the thick chunky udon noodles I use in this dish. You can use whatever noodles you can get your hands on for this recipe, and don't be afraid to experiment with the veggies, just use what you have, Chinese cabbage, carrot, or bok choy all work really nicely here. The beauty of this recipe is that it is just basically combining all these fantastic flavours with noodles and fresh veg which gives it that extra crunch factor!

Serves 2
400g of udon noodles
1/2 cucumber, sliced thinly
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
5 spring onions, sliced finely diagonally
A handful of salted peanuts, roughly chopped

For the peanut sauce:
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
1 small thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced
1 small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
200ml coconut milk
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack, rinse under cold water, drain and set aside.
Heat the oil in a small sauce pot, add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for about 30-40 seconds stirring continuously.
Add in the coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter and soy sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring to melt the peanut butter, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Add the cooked noodles to a large mixing bowl and add in the spring onions, red pepper, and cucumber. Pour in the peanut sauce and toss all the ingredients together until combined.
Serve with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and some extra sliced spring onion.

If you don't know who Ken Hom is, where have you been hiding! When I was growing up he was the king pin when it came to Chinese cooking, he was the guy you turned to when you needed advice on which wok to buy and how to create that very first stir fry. I was introduced to him via his first cookbook "Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery" which one of my aunts had bought back in 1984, being an avid fan of Chinese cookery I tried so many recipes from this book and have been a fan ever since.

Now although, there have been many Chinese chefs since Ken introduced the cuisine to our TV screens, I still think he is the best and he is regularly regarded as the world's leading authority in Chinese cookery. He was in Dublin launching a new range of Chinese ready meals he has developed with Tesco which includes Crispy Aromatic Duck, Spare Ribs, Duck Spring Rolls, Crispy Chilli Beef, and Chicken Chow Mein all quite reasonably priced. Although people can be cynical about chefs selling out and doing these sort of things, Ken had loads to say on the whole process of recipe development and taking what he described as really bad ready meals to ones which had far more authentic flavours and interesting back notes. I was convinced!

During the demonstration, he spoke about the idea of Chinese cooking and how the aim is too build layers of flavours and textures. He really emphasised the importance of cooking with a really hot wok to seal the in the flavours and how it was so important to marinate any meat you cook with, but generally no more than 20 minutes. I loved the fact that throughout the demonstration, Ken tasted absolutely everything he put in to the wok before it went in, and was really particular in the amounts he used. He also introduced us to a brand new ingredient he had started using called Chee Hou sauce which is made from fermented soy beans with garlic and has a sweet and salt taste, I will be keeping an eye out for it. If you've tried it let me know!

Beef and Black Bean Stir Fry
This is the recipe we were given along with the press release and Ken actually demonstrated the dish for us. I can tell you it is absolutely delicious and you should definitely give it a go. It follows through from what he mentioned about using different ingredients to build layers of flavours and many different notes.

Serves 2
200g of beef, sliced in strips
25ml of rapeseed oil
2 teaspoons of ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Zest of one orange
1 teaspoon of birds eye chillies, chopped
25g of black beans
75g of spring onions, chopped in 1 inch shanks
50g diced onion
75g diced red peppers
75g diced green peppers
45ml oyster sauce
40g of Chee Hou sauce
2 teaspoons of sugar
200ml water
20ml sesame oil
1 teaspoon of cornflour

Heat the wok over a high heat and add oil to coat. Quickly stir fry the meat and when it is cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside.
Heat the oil in the wok and add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry over a high heat until it becomes golden and toasted.
Add the orange zest and fry until it releases fragrant citrus notes.
Then fry the chilli, black beans and chopped onions for 20 seconds.
Add the spring onions and peppers and fry lightly until tender.
Add the the Chee Hou sauce, oyster sauce, water and sugar and stir through. Then add the meat and toss until it is coated with all the sauce and vegetables.
Finish with the sesame oil and thicken with the cornflour.
Serve with noodles or rice.

Back in the land of the living, I flew home on Sunday morning after a late night bus across Sweden which left me totally wrecked! The big news this week is that I'm heading over to London to appear on Good Food Channel's "Market Kitchen" and I am so excited! I hope they will let me take a few shots behind the scenes so I can post them here on the blog. So while I'm gearing up for my UK tv debut (hehehe couldn't wait to say that!) here is a recipe which is perfect for everyone who probably headed back to work today, it's a super lunchbox filler from the book and I hope you like it!

Tahini Noodle Toss

This little recipe came about after I ate at the California Pizza Kitchen in America; they served a really tasty crisp salad, with this rich and tasty peanut dressing. I recreated it from taste, adapted it and recently discovered it goes perfectly with noodles. This is another great little lunch box filler as it can be served hot and cold. Tahini is a creamy, yet smoky paste made from sesame seeds and is similar to peanut butter, which you can also use as a substitute. I sometimes add finely shredded raw Chinese cabbage to these noodles for extra crunch. I love this recipe because you basically combine all the wet and dry ingredients just before serving.

Serves 2
250g/9oz wholewheat noodles
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
4 tablespoons of tahini paste
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
A good handful of bean sprouts
Toasted sesame seeds
A small handful of coriander, freshly chopped

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, rinse in cold water and set aside.
In a small saucepan, fry the garlic and chilli for about 30 seconds, then add the soya sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and tahini paste.
Cook over a medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil and, when it does, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, add the noodles and bean sprouts, toss together with the tahini sauce until mixed through.
Serve in hearty bowls and top with toasted sesame seeds, freshly chopped coriander and thinly sliced spring onions. Time to get those chopsticks out!

I'm in Sweden until Monday and I had planned a few more Halloween recipes to stick up on the blog, unfortunately the combination of loosing my power adaptor and lots of travelling meant that I didn't get round to actually posting them. Sweden doesn't really celebrate Halloween and it is seen mainly as an American holiday but seeing as I grew up with the tradition of carving pumpkins, I thought it was high time my Swedish friends got their carve on!

Sofie and I spent the day yesterday searching for the perfect pumpkins to bring over to her little cousins who were very excited at the idea of gutting the pumpkins! In fairness to Sweden they have a great selection of pumpkins on offer and it's not all the generic ones we get in the supermarket in Ireland.

After a lot of searching and mini breakdown from Sofie, we finally found two big fat orange pumpkins! It was lots of fun carving the pumpkins with Niklas and Jonas but my favourite part of the whole process is making these delicious toasted seeds!

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

These seeds are my perfect little alloween snack and they are far more healthy than your average Halloween treats! Try experimenting with flavours, I have yet to make a sweet version of these but I'm pretty sure they would work good too.

Serves about 4 people as a snack
The seeds of 2 pumpkins
3 tablespoons of melted butter
2 teaspoons of chilli powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of sea salt

Remove the seeds from the pumpkin, place in a colander and rinse with water until they are clean.
Shake off any excess water and place the seeds on a dry tea towel and pat dry.
Place the seeds in a large roasting tray and pour over the melted butter.
Sprinkle the seeds with the chilli powder, cayenne pepper and sea salt.
Toss the seeds until they are all thoroughly coated.
Place in the oven to toast for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool, though to be honest sometimes they taste the best straight out of the oven! Just watch out for burned fingers!

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 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.

Wow! What a week it's been, I have seen 14 record stores and been on 17 radio stations with Industry throughout the country! I finally arrived home Saturday afternoon and have been in bed since. Myself and Sofie woke up late this morning and decided to go for a walk down to the farmers market in Howth, to pick up something for breakfast.

By the time we had finished looking around the market, breakfast became brunch and we ended up in the new Seafood Tapas bar, Octopussy, which is the latest little eatery to appear on Howth's west pier. It's a pretty funky cafe/bar which serves tapas sized seafood dishes, such as calamari, crab claws, paella, Dublin bay prawns, and Thai prawn curry. The dishes are all fairly reasonably priced for what you get, all under €10, and will definitely leave you full. I ordered the Dublin Bay Prawns, which were simply griddled in a little butter, they were a little messy to eat, but totally worth it.

Chilli, Garlic and Lime Dublin Bay Prawns
I use a microplane grater to mince the garlic and chilli, its a really handy kitchen gadget. To butterfly a Dublin bay prawn, run a knife from the head to tail, being careful not to cut all the way through, then gently flatten it out.

Serves 2
8 Dublin bay prawns or langoustines, butterflied
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red chilli, minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
juice of 1 lime
lime wedges and chopped coriander, to serve

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and toss the prawns to coat.
Heat a large griddle pan, and add the prawns.
Cook for 2-3 minutes either side or until cooked through.
Transfer the prawns to a serving plate, sprinkle with a little chopped coriander and serve with some lime wedges.

I got this recipe from my auntie Annie who originally used Delia Smith’s. It’s a really tasty little relish which goes great with burgers, fish or in a tasty sandwich. It also makes a super Christmas present- make a big batch and decant to interesting jars, label them and hey presto a cheap a cheerful Christmas gift any foodie would love!

Chilli Jam
The original quantities are doubled here, as I prefer to make a larger batch. In this case you really need to sterilise the jars you use in order for the jam to last longer.
To sterilise the jars and lids wash with boiling water, rinse and dry in an oven for 5-10 minutes on a baking tray at 150˚C/300˚F/Gas 2. Be careful the glass gets quite hot!
This recipe makes approximately 1 litre of jam; I distributed this amongst a variety of jars. You can check what fits by filling them before hand with 1 litre of water from a measuring jug.

3 medium red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped.
1kg of tomatoes (I used approximately 16 tomatoes).
4 cloves of garlic, crushed.
2 thumb sized pieces of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped.
2 tablespoon of Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla).
450g of Demerara sugar.
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
100ml of red wine vinegar.

Place half the tomatoes into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium pot. Place the rest of the tomatoes, red chillies, garlic, ginger and Thai fish sauce into the food processor and blitz until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer to the pot and place over a medium heat. Stir through the sugar, balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar. Bring to the boil stirring regularly, then reduce the heat and keep at a steady simmer for 35 minutes or until the jam has reduced by half its volume. Stir every 5 minutes. When the jam has cooked allow to cool and then transfer to sterilised jars. Cover and place in the fridge. Enjoy with sandwiches, alongside meat or fish dishes, or as a delicious dipping sauce.

There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in the food styling demonstration, but I'll be working with Erica for the photo's in the book, so maybe I can film a few bits and stick them up here.

Is it me or is the weather at the moment causing extreme drowsiness? Maybe not, maybe it's having to work when it feels like everyone else is on holidays- maybe it's a mix. Well I'll just have to put up with it, after all it's only a few more weeks and were heading back over to Sweden again. Sofie's dad arrived last night and is staying with us for the week, so we'll be doing some sight seeing this weekend and driving cross country to Galway. If you have any suggestions on where to bring a tourist in Galway please let me know!

I have been trawling the world wide web for international food blogs, and I wanted to share just a few of the ones that caught my eye:

Bitchin Camero- Mel is from Miami, and has some really great pictures, and the recipe's to match.

Kitchen Confit- Is written by three bloggers from Nashville, Tennassee, I love their post about "Fire Pit Roasted Oysters".

A Cat In The Kitchen- A great little Swedish blog- check out the cake buffet!

Dinner's For A Year- I love the idea of a BBQ turkey.

And via Mulley.net, Lidl Treats- How to get the best out of shopping at Lidl!

Inspired by my recent trip to the Chinese Supermarket, this is another one of the snacks I made for the party last weekend. It's kind of a mix between BBQ and sweet and sour sauce, but top it with finely sliced spring onions and sesame seeds, and you'll make your intentions clear!

Asian Chicken Wings

1. 12 Chicken Wings.
   
2. 1 Cup of Chinese Sweet Chili Sauce (looks like tomato paste)
3. The Juice Of One Lemon.
4. 1 Tbsp of Worcestershire Sauce.
5. 2 Cloves of Garlic Minced.
6. 1 Thumb of Ginger Minced.
7. 2 Tablespoons of Honey
8. 1 Tsp of Chinese 5 Spice powder.
9. 1 Tsp of Sesame Oil.
10. 1 Tsp of Cornflour.
11. Spring Onions and Sesame Seeds.
    

Preheat the oven to 200 oC/ 390 oF/ Gas Mark 6.

Bang the Chicken Wings into the oven on the top rack and cook for approx 45-60 mins, turning them halfway through. Serve straight away topped with sliced spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.