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!
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!
Gizzi Erskine may be a new name to you, she was for me, but her book, "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" cover totally caught my eye while I was browsing through the amazon cookery section the other day. This is possibly one the coolest cookbook covers I have seen for a while and it's even cooler when you get your hands on it as it's embossed in gold! Now not being one to judge a book by it's cover I took my copy with me on my travels to have a good nose through it and get a good feel for Gizzi's writing. To give you a brief bit of back ground Gizzi is one of the "Cook Yourself Thin" girls and was orignally a food stylist before she got into the tv side of things, so has a huge knowledge of food! The one thing I do have to point out is that the book is quite girly, and I know quite a few potential domestic goddesses who could definitely be encouraged into the kitchen with a present of "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" wrapped up in a bow! The book is absolutely jam packed with really fantastic tips on everything from what meat cuts to buy to choosing the best pastry to make. The lovely folks at Virgin books have provided me with a few recipes from the book to share with you this week and on Friday there will be 3 copies up for grabs, so stick around for that. Gizzi will also be stopping in for a quick interview aswell so if there are any questions you want answered, leave a comment below.
Gizzi Erskine's Creamy Smoked Salmon & Pea Spaghetti Spaghetti carbonara is a classic for a reason, but it is laden with cream and, therefore, also very guilt-inducing. So I decided to halve the cream content and replace the rest with Greek yoghurt. Having done this, it seemed natural to replace the smokiness of the bacon with smoked salmon. I then decided to add some green colour with the summery addition of broad beans and green peas, my favourite veggies, and fi nished with a hint of lemon to lift the dish.
Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 10 minutes 350g dried spaghetti 150g podded and shelled broad beans 150g fresh or frozen garden peas 200ml double cream 200ml Greek yoghurt 2 large free-range egg yolks 35g Parmesan cheese zest of 1 unwaxed lemon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 180g smoked salmon (about 8 slices), sliced into short ribbons A small bunch of fresh chives, snipped
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. For the last 3 minutes of the cooking time add the broad beans and peas. Meanwhile mix together the cream, yoghurt, egg yolks, Parmesan, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Drain the cooked pasta, beans and peas, leaving a few tablespoons of water in the bottom of the pan. Return the pan to a low heat and pour in the sauce. Toss the pasta in the sauce, then add the smoked salmon and chives, giving it all a good mix round until it’s evenly incorporated and the salmon has cooked through. Serve piping hot.
(Taken from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine published by Virgin Books, price £20)
As a nice way to finish off the Leila Lindholm week here on the blog, Lorraine from New Holland publishing organised a phone interview with the lady herself! I was very excited on Thursday morning to be able to call the lovely Leila, to have a quick chat about baking, the muffin mafia and of course her next book! Enjoy!
So you grew up in a family with a mix of cultures, tell me a little about the kind of food you had growing up, did you find you learned a lot about Morroccan cooking when you were growing up? I grew up with my mother and I only met my father when I was 24 so I didn't really grow up in a Morroccan culture at all, but my dad is from Morrocco.
From most of Swedes I talk to, they don't exactly rave about Swedish cuisine, but what you consider the most typical Swedish dish? It's pretty much like Swedish meatballs and we have a special kind of sausage called Falun sauasage that we eat and I think quite a lot of international food aswell as I remember we went to restauarants at least once a week to have dinner when I grew up.
I read you studied cooking, was that in Sweden? I studied a restaurant course in Stockholm and I started when I was 16 and finished when I was 19. When you finish the course you work in restaurants straight away.
I was very excited to read in your book about the muffin mafia, a baking group you started with your grandmother when you were younger, can you tell me a little about the members? It was great, it was actually something me and my grandma's neighbour made up, because I used to run over to her house and she taught me how to bake and we baked like cakes and cupcakes and muffins. Then she decided that we could become pen pals and send recipes to each other and it was me and Aunt Elsa, then her friends up in the north of Sweden, they were a bunch of old ladies in their 60's and we would send recipes to each other. But I was the boss, the mafia boss!
What were some of the first dishes you learned to cook? I think probably something simple like sausage and macoroni, or actually it was like grilled sandwiches! I used to with my best friend go to her place after to school and make all kinds of grilled sandwhiches with pineapple, really tacky sandwiches, with ketchup and pineapple and stuff on them and a lot of cheese!
You have an extremely successful career in Sweden, what would you consider your big break? Well actually I had two kind of big breaks, the first when I was 24, I was chosen Female Swedish Chef Of The Year and that was a big break because I started getting into the media and got attention from the media. I started doing interviews in the press and that was back in 1999. Then the second big break came in 2004 when I was chosen TV chef of the year and then also it was a milestone in a sense as it was my big break in the tv business, and I started getting more possibilities with my cooking shows. I started on one of the biggest morning shows here in Sweden and when I won the award I got asked to do my own cooking series and then after this it's been quite a successful story!
Well I can definitely see that! So who do you find you get the biggest reaction from your books, what kind of people? It's definitely women, but also mothers and kids, they love the baking show. I have heard from so many parents that their kids are watching the baking show on DVD's, they don't want to watch Disney movies, they just want to watch my baking show which is a little funny!
What are some of your favourite dishes to cook apart from baking? I love to do barbeques, so that's what I am really looking forward to this summer, we have a lot of snow right now, but I can't wait to start doing barbeques, that's what I really love! Doing meat like sirloin steak, lamb legs, whole salmon, I can't wait!
In every picture I have seen of you, you always look incredibly happy, are there any dishes that really frustrate you to make? I like to cook everything but sometimes there are dishes which are challenging when, of course, even for me, sometimes things don't work or like the Bearnaise sauce doesn't turn out, thats annoying. Also it's quite common, I'm sure you are familiar with this, when you have plan in your mind and it just doesn't work out when you cook it!
From what I have read you have a big interest in styling as well as cooking, how did that get started? Well I think for me I have always been interested in aesthetic stuff, interior designs, and beautiful things so I collect beautiful things and it came from there. I love to create beautiful things and it's a huge passion I have a craving, I have to do it!
When I was in Sweden I picked up your fantastic magazine Leila's Country Living but I heard it has stopped, will you be working on new issues of it in the future? Maybe in the future but right now I decided not to because I have just had a baby, and I decided to try two issues first in 2009, to make sure it went well because I have no experience in the magazine world. Then I realised that it is so hard to juggle the tv shows, and the book and the magazine.
I was in a book shop in Dublin yesterday and spotted your book "A Piece of Cake", I didn't realise it had been released here aswell as the UK, are you hoping to come over here and break this market? That would be fantastic to work more abroad, but this is my first cookbook to be released outside Sweden, it has been released in The Netherlands, USA, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and in Italy so it's quite exciting to see where it's going to take my work. It's been nine months since I had my baby so I am starting to get back into work mode and we are starting to record season 3 of my baking show in about two weeks. I was also asked by the Discovery channel to do a couple of shows but that was when I just had by baby and it was a food travel show and it wasn't possible to travel.
I'm guessing since the success of your books and tv shows in Sweden, and even with a new baby life has become a lot busier, how has your cooking habits changed? They haven't really, I kind of cook the same stuff I cook in my shows!
Have you had any major on-air or off-air disasters when cooking on tv? No but sometimes in the studio its very hot so in like the spring time sometimes when you work with cake and chocolate and ice cream they melt, so that can be a bit of a disaster!
I am a huge fan of cookbooks, have you got a big collection of books yourself, is there any you just couldn't live without? No I'm greedy I have to have them all! I have about over 100 books, but my favourites are from Martha Stewart and of course Jamie Oliver, his books are very fresh and beautiful!
You worked with Jamie's photographer, David Loftus on one of your books, what was he like to work with? He was fun, he is a fantastic photographer, and it was great, we had done a couple of jobs for Delicious magazine in the UK, and some Swedish magazines also.
Do you have some favourite cookbooks from Swedish food writers? There is a food writer called Anna Bergenstrom, she makes beautiful food, she is like the Swedish Julia Child, a legend!
What do you think the success of a good cook book relies on? Good recipes, and recipies that work, and also that they are easy and they work for normal people. Of course the photography and styling is very important but also when you work with the text to make all the corrections in a book is so important so they are well worked through and very exact, so you are guaranteed the recipe is good.
What are your plans for you next book, will you stick with baking or will you concentrate on any other specific aspects of food? It's actually going to be a follow up to "A Piece of Cake" and I made it with the intention of making two books and I wanted to do one book with sweet stuff and another with more savoury stuff, and it's called "One More Slice" and I bake pizza, pasta, and a lot of sour dough bread recipes, and also there is sweets too. There is a chapter called Cheesecake and another called brownies and blondies, and Ice cream too! So it's all the good stuff that didn't make it in the first book! I had so much material that I wanted to do two books!
After all this unhealthy food, do you ever really feel like a good healthy salad? Absolutely I have to eat quite healthy to make sure I don't kill myself and keep in shape! But sometimes it's nice, there is always room for birthday cakes, and there is always celebrations where you are supposed to bake, it's just tradition. Also bread is a matter of when you eat it, if you have it at breakfast it is not as dangerous as eating it in the evening time!
What do you think of food blogging, would you ever consider doing it yourself? Yes, it's most definitely in my future, but in my case I have been so busy with other stuff. I had a blog for 2 years and even though I wasn't active like the way you are, I wrote something at least once a week. But it is quite demanding if you want to write a good blog with a lot of content so it's hard work and for me write now it's difficult to find the time. But the food blogs are great and it's really fun to read them. So for me it's just a matter of time right now!
Ok one last question, and I'm sure you have been asked this question a million times, but what would be your death row meal? It's a little bit of a depressing question and I would say sweets, but I am very into shellfish and seafood and oysters and a glass Chablis wine!
Leila's book "A Piece Of Cake" is in Irish and UK bookshops now or you can order online here. www.leila.se
I hope you have been encouraged to get your hands on this book after all the fab recipes, I have been posting this week. If you are looking for a great baking book this is it! It's filled with delicious recipes for everything from biscuits, pastries and cakes to breads, crisp breads and accompanying jams and sauces. Leila explores new exciting flavor combinations, such as chocolate cupcakes and toffee and pecan pie which are featured alongside classics like muffins, meringues and cheesecake as well as nine different flavorings for basic sponge cakes. Recipes for brioche, fougasse from Provence, sourdough baguette and nine types of scones are mixed with healthy rolls, Danish rye bread, Leila's delicious lingonberry loaf and a whole range of tempting little cakes. Are you convinced yet? :)
Well the exciting news is I have 3 copies to giveaway! You can enter over on twitter by tweeting your favourite thing to bake followed by the hash tag #iloveleila and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your favourite thing to bake! To be in with a chance of getting your hands on this fantastic prize here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.
Where is Leila Lindholm from? A: Sweden B: Norway C: Denmark
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 Monday evening (1st of March) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!
I hope you enjoyed the recipe from Sally's book, The Secret Ingredient, last week, I'm really loving the book so far and the good news is, thanks to the lovely folks over at Harper Collins, I have a copy to give away right here on the blog! I will also be offering the chance to win a copy over on Facebook (Tag the photo) and Twitter (post your favourite healthy dish with the hash tag #sallybee) so head over there to increase you chances of winning! :)
To be in with a chance of getting your hands on copy of "The Secret Ingredient" simply answer the following question:
What was the title of the Sally Bee recipe I posted on this blog? A: Crunchie Sticky Banoffee Pie B: Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad C: Crunchy Hasselback Potatoes
Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close on Thursday evening (28th of Jan) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!
If you haven't heard of Sally Bee before, and I hadn't up until recently, Sally is a mother of three who at the age of 36, despite a healthy lifestyle, suffered 3 major heart attacks in the space of one week. I'm not even going to go into the amazing story of her recovery, you really just have to read it. "The Secret Ingredient" is a collection of super healthy recipes which don't go over the top and features meals which are perfect for family home cooking.
I recently got the opportunity to meet the lovely Sally Bee, and despite our extremely brief encounter she comes across as an extremely vibrant and fun individual and when I remarked on her incredible story, joked and feigned heart pains! This is one of the fantastic recipes from her book, "The Secret Ingredient" which is out on Thursday 21st of January and can be ordered online via Amazon.
Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad
You know, salads don't have to be boring. This dish is full of flavour! You can serve it as a main meal or smaller portions for a healthy starter. If you don't like prawns, you can substitute with chicken; anything goes, really. Be adventurous with your salads and make this a regular, everyday dish. Prawns give great texture and flavour to this recipe, but they do contain cholesterol,so I have allowed only four prawns per serving. If you want to make it more substantial, you can add extra protein: such as tuna, chicken or turkey.
Serves 2 Drizzle of olive oil 2 salad onions or spring onions (scallions),peeled and finely chopped 1 garlic clove,peeled and crushed 1 tbsp soy sauce Freshly ground black pepper 8 uncooked king prawns (jumbo shrimp) Mixed salad leaves Watercress 1 ripe avocado 2 tomatoes, sliced Juice of 1 lemon Handful of fresh basil, torn Handful of shelled pecan nuts
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped salad onions, crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper and raw prawns. Sauté until the prawns have turned pink all the way through. Arrange the salad leaves, watercress, avocado and tomatoes in a big dish, then pour over the prawns and other cooked ingredients. Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with torn basil and pecan nuts and serve.
Every year for as long as I can remember I have always received at least one or two cookbooks every Christmas. I guess it's what really kept my interest in food through the years! To be honest cookbooks make great presents and on Christmas Eve I can more often than not be found in a bookshop in Dublin doing my last minute shopping! This year there are a great selection of new books out there (wink wink nudge nudge) but here are the ones on my wishlist!
Seasons By Donna Hay
From my knowledge I don't think Donna Hay has really hit the mainstream over this side of the water. But that doesn't stop my love for this Aussie cook, her photos and simple recipes have inspired me so much over the years and I absolutely love her style! This book is split into chapters based on seasonal recipes which is becoming quite common in the world of cooking.
Supper For A Song by Tamasin Day-Lewis
I wasn't a fan of Tamasin Day-Lewis at first but she is in the same vein as Nigel Slater when it comes to a good foodie read and has a beautiful ability to allow her readers to taste the food while reading! In this book she aims to create really delicious meals for even the most cost conscious cooks!
No Time To Cook by Donna Hay
Another Donna Hay book on my list. No Time To Cook is full of brilliant speedy recipes which are packed with flavour. If you haven't heard much about Donna Hay before you should check out her website which features recipes and photo's of her fab food!
Forgotten Skills Of Cooking by Darina Allen
I grew up watching Darina Allen on Irish tv, she is one of Ireland's most well known Irish cooks and runs the world famous Ballymaloe House. I have really enjoyed Darina's recent book's and am thoroughly looking forward to getting my hands on her latest collection of recipes.
Barefoot Contessa At Home by Ina Garten
Not only do I have a not so secret addiction to cookbooks I also have an addiction to TV cookery shows! Barefoot Contessa is definitely one of my favs, Ina is a really inventive cook and the queen of entertaining. Not only that I love the sequences with her hubbie Jeffrey, always make me chuckle! I am looking forward to adding an Ina Garten book to my collection as I still don't have one!
Tender by Nigel Slater
Nigel Slater is by far one of my favourite food writers, he is probably one of the only cookbook authors I actually read from start to finish. Nigel transformed his back garden into a little allotment recently and Tender is all about the produce from it. Having just grown my own vegetable garden this year, this should be a great read!
The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook by Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers
I don't know why they stopped making the River Cafe tv show, but I always enjoyed it when I was younger. Maybe it's because Jamie Oliver stole the limelight when he was working there or something. Anyway this latest River Cafe book is about classic Italian cooking and having leafed through it recently it looks absolutely superb and full of brilliant recipes.
What cookbooks are on your wishlist? Tell me on twitter or leave a comment below!
