We Love Cooking!:
egg

Christmas has well and truly hit the Skehan household! We've only been in our brand new little cottage two months, but it's safe to say we've finally made our house a home. The Christmas decorations are up, the house is filled with Christmas spirit and the scent of warm baking is wafting from the kitchen. Just this week we carried our first Christmas tree up to the house from a little shop in the village; Christmas is here and I'm loving it! The festive season is a fantastic time for cooking, ingredients are celebrated and people are busy stocking up on all those essential Christmas storecupboard ingredients. I'm huge fan of Christmas baking and we're planning a big baking session with my little cousins who are coming over next week; a giant gingerbread house, homemade toffee, christmas tree biscuits and gingerbread muffins are all on the menu. If all this talk of Christmas baking has got you in the mood, then you have to try these absolutely delicious cranberry and white chocolate muffins. They make the best of leftover cranberries, but you could also use any other berry you wish. The sweetness of the white chocolate really balances out the sourness of the cranberries... utterly delicious!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins
If you really want to get ahead of yourself you could make a big batch of these and freeze them to serve for a Christmas morning treat! If you're making them for kids, I'd suggest quickly whizzing the cranberries in a food processor to break up them up a little.

Makes 8-12 Muffins
100g of butter, melted
200ml of buttermilk
Zest of 1 orange
2 large free range eggs
150g of caster sugar
250g of self raising flour
250g of fresh cranberries
200g of white chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 175oC. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.
In a bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk, orange zest and set aside.
In a standalone mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the butter mixture and whisk until combined.
Gently fold in the flour until just combined. Stir through the cranberries and white chocolate until combined. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the papercases and place in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes until brown on top.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire wrack to cool.

All this snow is not good for the diet. The cold weather seems to always make me crave serious comfort food so I do have to apologise for posting another seriously delicious, seriously sweet recipe! Most of yesterday was spent very busily building a snowman in my friends back garden, so there wasn't much time for cooking. Dinner last night was a quick carbonara, thrown together using the bacon I was gifted by the lads at Truly Irish our stand neighbours at the RDS, who gave me a great selection of pork products to try out! A big pasta dish and a great movie made the perfect snowy evening in!

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies
I don't think there is any question that the Americans know how to create the most overindulgent desserts, and this one ticks all the boxes.
These were created by an American chain of restaurants and have something of a cult following in the US. Put simply, it's cookie dough piled into individual serving dishes and baked at high heat, so you get a set top and edges but a ridiculously gooey interior.
When they are pulled out of the hot oven, a big dollop of vanilla ice cream is plonked on top to melt and mingle with hot, soft cookie. Makes four individual portions.

Serves 4
200g butter, softened
200g light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
120g good-quality milk chocolate chips
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 260°C/Gas Mark 9. In a mixing bowl, using a electric hand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until it is light and pale. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat through. Add in the flour and baking soda, little by little, until you have a stiff dough. Using a spatula, stir through the chocolate chips until evenly combined.
Divide the cookie dough among four large six-inch ramekins and place in the oven on a baking sheet. Bake for seven to 10 minutes but keep an eye on them, you want them to puff up and become golden brown around the sides and just about set in the middle. Remove them from the oven and serve straight away with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.

So I'm kinda working backwards a little here, but last week was a busy one so there was a LOT to digest (no pun intended!). After Paris I was back in Dublin before I had time to blink, and just in time to help launch the Stop Food Waste campaign on Tuesday with the lovely Rachel Allen and the incredibly talented Kevin Thornton. The campaign highlights the fact that by using our leftovers we can save money and reduce waste.

All the recipes I demonstrated were based around using the leftovers of a roast chicken, which, as a regular on most Sunday dinner menus, always leaves you with a few bits of leftover meat. I always save the chicken carcass and bones in a large resealable bag in the freezer until I have the remains of about three or four; the perfect amount to make a really good chicken stock. The rest I used for a delicious Chicken Caesar Pasta using mayo, Dijon mustard, parmesan and olive oil to make a simple Caesar dressing. It's dishes like these that really make the most of the ingredients that are close to hand. More often than not, they're even tastier than something you'd spend a lot of money on in the supermarket.

My mom was the queen of leftovers so I was brought up making the most of all the ingredients in the house before heading out to buy more. The veggies in the bottom of fridge were made into tasty soups and the leftover meat into sandwiches for school the next day. This chicken and sweetcorn soup is a zingy little way to make the most of leftover chicken pieces and it's absolutely packed with flavour... perfect for the cold snowy evenings we're having at the moment!

Leftover Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup
This super tasty soup has become a classic in our house, it was always requested on sick days home from school. I always find sweetcorn lends a warm and comforting taste to soups and its bright colour puts a smile on my face. Try not to skimp on ingredients for this one, it tastes best when you use the best ingredients – homemade stock and fresh ginger are a must!

Serves 4
Leftovers of half a roast chicken, shredded
1 litre/2 pints of homemade chicken stock
2 x 400g tins sweetcorn
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 spring onions finely sliced diagonally

In a large pot with a little oil, fry the garlic and ginger for about 3 minutes, add the corn and cook for a further 3 minutes.
Add a little bit of the chicken stock and, with a hand blender, blitz the mixture until it becomes smooth.
Add the rest of the chicken stock, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Beat the eggs in a pyrex jug, which will make it easy for you to trickle them into the soup.
Reduce the heat and while the soup is still simmering, stir it continuously in a figure of eight motion and gently trickle in the beaten egg a little bit at a time to form thin strands.
Add the chicken shreds and stir through. Serve with a generous garnish of spring onions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The race is on to get the decorations up, the pumpkins carved, the costume sorted and the treats and goodies all laid out! Yes, Halloween is literally two days away. I've just moved into a new house so despite the fact that we've been carting furniture in and out I have found time to pick up some pumpkins, although carving them is still on the 'to do' list. I'm planning to make a velvet pumpkin soup served in the pumpkin itself, some roasted savoury pumpkin seeds and an all American pumpkin pie if I get a chance over the weekend, but this week I've been busy baking up barmbrack! I had planned to include the recipe in last week's Cork News Menu pages but unfortunately it was eaten up before I got a chance to take a picture!

Barmbrack is a big part of Halloween tradition here in Ireland, with objects baked in the dough signifying different things. In most shop bought barmbracks you'll find a ring, which if you're lucky enough to receive it in a slice means you should be wed within one year! My mother recently told me the story of when she lived in Finland as a child and my grandmother generously baked a barmbrack for their Finnish neighbours, only to be berated by the lady next door after her child nearly choked on the ring! Needless to say they moved back to Ireland not long after! In keeping with tradition, I cheekily asked the baker at our local supermarket if he could give me a ring to put in my barmbrack, and he had no problem handing over a few, so don't be afraid to ask! This is a really easy recipe but it does take a bit of time, so if you want to enjoy it on Halloween night, make sure to get cooking today!

Halloween Barmbrack
This recipe makes a really beautiful moist loaf which is packed with flavour from the mixed spice and dried fruit, which sits overnight in cold tea and whiskey to soak up all the goodness. You can drop the whiskey if you wish but I think it adds another flavour kick...

Makes one 900g loaf
225g cream flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
375g packet of fruit mix
250ml cold tea
50ml of whiskey
125g light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
A ring to place inside

Place the fruit mix in a bowl and pour over the whiskey and cold tea. Allow to soak up the liquid overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170oC/Gas Mark 3 and grease and line a 900g loaf tin
Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice in a mixing bowl.
Make a well and break in the egg, using a wooden spoon, mix the egg with the dry ingredients. Add a little bit of the liquid the fruit mix is sitting in and mix it through. You may not need all the liquid, you are looking for a wet dough.
Then stir through the fruit mix until everything is thoroughly combined. Add in the ring and stir through.
Spoon the wet dough into the lined loaf tin and place in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the loaf tin and placing on wire rack.
Cover in cling wrap and tin foil and allow to sit for 1-2 days before cutting into it.
Serve in slices spread with a little butter and good cuppa!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another recipe from Catherine's cookbook today and it's a damn good one, you seriously can't go wrong with homemade spaghetti and meatballs, especially on a day like today! Can you believe it's already the 1st of September? This dish would make a perfect little warming supper dish so enjoy!

Meatballs in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Meatballs form the secondi or meat course at the Italian table, while pasta is the primi, so they would not traditionally be served together. That said, they work well together, so if this takes your fancy, allow 400–450g of dried spaghetti to serve four. I also sometimes add 50g freshly grated Parmesan to the meatballs and reduce the salt, yum! Have a bowl of cold water beside you when forming the meatballs to dip your hands into, as keeping your hands moist prevents the meat from sticking when forming the balls.

Serves 6
for the meatballs:
50g fresh breadcrumbs
100ml milk
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
225g minced pork
225g lean minced beef
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
extra virgin olive oil

for the spicy tomato sauce:
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
175ml vegetable stock
500g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pasta, to serve
freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

To make the meatballs, first soak the breadcrumbs in the milk.
Mix the chopped onion and garlic with the pork and beef. Add the breadcrumbs, oregano, salt and pepper to the meat mixture and mix well. Add in the beaten egg and mix thoroughly. Roll the mixture into small balls.
Heat some oil in a frying pan and add in the meatballs. Fry for approximately 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the chilli and onion and cook on a low heat for 7–10 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic, stock, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the meatballs to the sauce and leave to simmer for 10 minutes to heat through.
Serve with your favourite pasta and sprinkle grated Parmesan on top.

Unfortunately the last of the Swedish summer hasn't been as kind as I had hoped, with most of my time being spent dodging the rain, it all feels very much like home. However, the bad weather hasn't dampened our spirits and we soldiered on, enjoying one of the more traditional events of any true Swede's summer calendar, the highly regarded Kraftfest! For a foreigner, this can be a fairly strange event to come across, so put simply it's a party where large groups of Swedes don bibs and funny hats to guzzle and suck their way through mountains of Swedish crayfish, interrupted only by traditional kraftfest songs while downing copious amounts of schnapps (which, by the way, tastes like paint stripper!). In fairness to the Swedes they most definitely know how to make the best of the summer.

One of the other very exciting things I've had the chance to try my hand at is wild blueberry picking! Over 60% of Sweden is covered by rich forests which are literally teaming with low lying bushes covered in little blue dots throughout late summer. Like any good Irish fella, I never pass on the chance of free food, so as soon as I heard about these little babies, we were in the car and deep in the woods in record time.

One of the things I learned early on about Sweden is that everything has a system, and blueberry picking is no different, they have these fantastic rectangular boxes with a handle and little prongs to pick the berries, which makes it as simple as running it through the bushes, to pick up generous handfuls bursting with goodness! We are still working our way through the huge amount we picked, making American style blueberry muffins and a delicious blueberry créme brulee, but this was one of the desserts which perfectly complimented the little berries.

Swedish Gooey Chocolate Cake
If you're looking for a gooey chocolate fix, you've come to the right place. This cake is perfect for a quick dessert using ingredients you probably already have in your store cupboard. To be perfectly honest, it tastes so good on its own it can just as easily be served without the cream and the berries! I have witnessed the picking apart of a cake just like this straight out of the oven by a hungry group of young ladies. It was similar to a scene from a David Attenborough documentary - believe me, they didn't need the frills!

Serves 8
100g butter
200g sugar
2 eggs
70g flour
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the topping:
500ml of double cream
150g of blueberries and raspberries

Preheat the oven to 175oC. Grease and flour a cake tin 24cm in diameter with a removable base and set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the sugar and the egg and mix well.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into the greased cake tin and place in the oven for 20 minutes. The cake won't rise dramatically but you should be left with a set top and gooey middle! Allow to cool while you whip the cream until it become stiff.
When you're ready to serve, spoon generous dollops of whipped cream on top and then decorate with blueberries and raspberries.

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 very excited to tell you I am in London!!! For the next two weeks we are shooting the photos of the recipes for my new book which is going to out in March 2011. To say I am excited is probably a total understatement because for me this is the most interesting part of producing a cook book. The first time around for Good Mood Food I was a totally unorganised mess, when it came to planning the photography, I was coaxed along the way by my lovely Aunt Erica who did the majority of food styling, but this time around it's all rolled nicely into two weeks. It also helps that this time I have a far better idea of what I'm doing! My kit has been upgraded and I have a set work pattern which hopefully by this time two weeks will have held up long enough to have provided me with all the photos required! I'll try and stick up a few posts about the whole process if I can- for now enjoy these very cute whoopie pies which look very pretty indeed! :)

Go Nuts Nutella Whoopie Pies!
By dropping the cocoa powder from the original whoopie recipe and substituting flour you get left with really beautiful plain whoopie discs. As a filling I use a combination of nutella and smooth peanut butter but you could also use the chocolate frosting from the cupcake recipe.

Makes 16 whoopie pies
120g/4oz butter
190g/6 ½ oz caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
345g/12oz of plain flour
5g/1 tsp of baking powder
5ml/1 tsp of vanilla extract
250ml/8 ½ fl oz of buttermilk

For the filling:
80g of smooth peanut butter
80g of nutella

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350oF/Gas Mark 4 and line two baking sheets.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
In another bowl, using an electric whisk, cream the sugar and the butter until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs gradually, mixing well to combine.
Add the vanilla extract to the buttermilk and, alternating with the dry ingredients, add to the bowl, mixing until everything is combined and you are left with a thick batter.
Spoon rounded teaspoons of the batter onto lined baking sheets, allowing space for them to spread while cooking. Place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the tops have puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.
When they are cooked, remove the mini pie halves from the baking sheets with a metal spatula and place on wire rack to cool.
Once cooled, spread a teaspoon of the nutella on the flat side of 16 of the pie halves. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on the remaining 16 pie halves and sandwich together with the nutella pies.
These little pies are heavy going so make sure to serve with a glass of cold milk.

I'm in Spain on holidays this week for a few days to soak up as much sun as possible, after finally delivering all the recipes for my new book. One of my favourite things to do when I visit other countries is to create dishes inspired by some of the dishes I sample on my travels. Spanish food uses a great selection of distinctive ingredients to make up some of its well known cuisine, including smokey paprika, cured hams and one of my favourites, chorizo sausage. I have been driving everyone with me mad, because everytime we pass rolling fields full of produce, I insist we pull in to inspect the bright yellow lemons or the big fat melons which are ready to be pulled from their stalks. We have been doing a lot of al fresco eating and this is one of the recipes we had for lunch during the week.

Spanish Fried Eggs with Chorizo and Potato Hash
If you wanted to serve this chorizo and potato hash as a little tapas style dish, simply leave out the egg. This recipe would also make a hearty breakfast!

Serves 4
6 medium sized potatoes
150g of chorizo sausage, cut into bitesize chunks
1 onion, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sea salt and ground black pepper
4 eggs

Place the potatoes into a pot of boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Drain and place in a bowl of cold water until cool, drain again, slice into chunks and set aside.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat and add in the chorizo, frying until sizzling and bright red. The chorizo should render out a rich red oil which you can fry the potatoes and onions in.
Remove the chorizo from the pan and set aside on a plate.
Fry the onion in the pan in the chorizo oil for 3-4 minutes until soft. Remove from the pan and set aside with the chorizo.
Add in the potatoes and fry for 5-6 minutes or until crisp and golden. You may need to add a drop of oil into the pan if you don't have enough.
Add the onions and chorizo back into the pan, add a squeeze of lemon juice and season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Remove the hash from the pan and place in a serving plate.
Add another drop of oil to the pan and fry the eggs until the white has set but the yolk is still soft and runny.
Serve the eggs on top of the hash and dig in!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is one of the recipes I have been waiting to try forever and I really have no excuse as it is so simple! I had hoped to feature this in my book (which shows just how long I have been to getting around to making it!) but unfortunately I left it too late! I have adapted this recipe from Lor who writes one of my favourite Irish food blogs italianfoodies.ie, who runs La Cucina in Limerick and is an absolute genius when it comes to proper Italian comfort food.

Big Brunch Tomato Eggs
Are you ready to meet your new Saturday morning breakfast cure? These eggs are going to change your weekends forever! If you are on the lookout for the perfect little throw together late breakfast this super easy dish hits all the right buttons. If you manage to stumble out of bed, serve these tasty eggs with some toasted crusty bread and you'll be laughin'! They also work if you are wide awake too!

Serves 2 generous portions
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
A good handful of spinach, roughly chopped
A small handful of basil, roughly chopped
4 large free range eggs
A little grated Parmesan cheese to serve
A generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper

In a large frying pan heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic slowly for 7-10 minutes until soft but not coloured.
Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Stir through the basil and spinach until it has wilted.
With the back of a spoon make four wells in the sauce and then crack the eggs in.
Cook the eggs in the sauce until the white is cooked through and the yolk is still soft.
Season with sea salt and black pepper and a good sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Serve the eggs in tomato sauce on top of some crispy crusty bread for a hearty brunch!

There seems to be quite a lot of debate about banana bread and whether or not the inclusion of nuts is significant. I'm not really sure which side of the fence I stand on over this, so for now I'm going to plonk myself right in the middle, on the fence! It's actually quite comfortable here and I can see both perspectives. On one hand, there are those who love the combination of the crunchy nuts through the soft cake, the flavours of the two mingling together in one mouthful of wonderfulness, completely oblivious as to why you would accept anything less. Then on the other side I see all you lovely people who really can't see why you would tarnish such a pure and delightfully moist, spongy, banana flavoured loaf with the somewhat crude addition of nuts. Well I say stop your cribbin' and either way this recipe is damn good and will accommodate for both your nut or non nut needs!

Auntie Ann's Banana Bread
This recipe comes from my auntie Ann who spent a lot of time in America over the years and has picked up some really great US inspired recipes. This banana bread is deliciously moist and is extremely easy to throw together. I add a little sliced banana on top before it goes into the oven, but if you want you sprinkle some nuts on top or even stir some chopped ones through.

Makes 8 mini loaves or 2 larger loaves
110g butter
190g caster sugar
2 large eggs
240g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 large bananas

Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.
Cream the sugar and the butter in a bowl with a hand held mixer until light and pale. Add in one egg and a little flour and mix through, repeat with the other egg and the rest of flour and baking soda, until everything is mixed through and smooth.
Peel the bananas and mash them with the back of a fork. Add them to the bowl with the vanilla extract and mix through.
Pour the mix into a well greased loaf tin and place in an oven for approximately 50 minutes. You can cover it with tinfoil after 25 minutes to stop it browning too much on top if you need too.
Insert a metal skewer into the centre of the loaf and if it comes out clean the banana bread is ready. Remove from the loaf tin and place on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy with a big cuppa and filthy smile!

I am still playing catch up with all the photos from the last few weeks, so you will have to excuse me if my timeline is slightly skewed! We were in Sweden to celebrate Sofie's grandad's 80th and on the day of his birthday, we all rented snow mobiles and went on a guided snow mobile safari through an amazing snow covered forest. We drove to this little cabin in the woods which had a blazing fire going and we were given sticks to cook hot dogs on!

I had made a chocolate fudge birthday cake and after everyone had had a slice and we had sung happy birthday in both English and Swedish we were ushered into a changing room to get ready for an outdoor hot bath. Everyone sat in a massive indoor sauna to get really hot and then when I was adequately cooked I was sent out to tip toe across the freezing wooden floor to jump into a massive wooden bath filled with water at 42 degrees! Not being used to any of this my weak Irish body was ready for a serious lie down after but when were done, I was hoisting myself back up on the snow mobile for the journey back!

One of Sweden's big things in my experience is that they love their dairy products, and cheese is served at breakfast on a daily basis, so it can get a little heavy going. Plus I'm more a porridge with honey and cinnamon type of guy when it comes to breakfast, so I did bake these little muffins to keep myself going. They went down well with the Swedes too! :)

Big Boy Apple Breakfast Muffins
I made these lovely muffins when we were in Sweden skiing. They are like a whole breakfast in one muffin, with everything you could need, porridge oats, raisins, apple and yoghurt oh my! To make the cool paper cases in the photos, cut squares of parchment paper, wrap them around a tumbler glass and tie them tightly with some kitchen string. Then simply remove the glass and your left with really cool homemade paper cases!

Makes 12-16 muffins
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
150g of flour
150g of rolled oats
4 eggs
125ml of natural yoghurt
240g of honey
4 apples, cored, peeled and chopped in small chunks
110g of raisins
A few slices of apple and a sprinkle of brown sugar to top the muffins

Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas Mark 5. Place baking cases on a baking tray.
Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl and stir through the rolled oats.
Mix the natural yoghurt and honey in a large measuring jug until combined. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a large steel bowl and the yolks in with the yoghurt and honey.
Make a well in to the oats and flour bowl and pour the yoghurt, honey and egg mix and raisin and apple chunks in. Using a wooden spoon mix gently until everything is combined.
Using a whisk, beat the egg whites until soft white peaks form, then gently tip this in to the muffin mix and fold through gently until it is evenly incorporated.
Spoon heaped tablespoons of the mix into the paper cases and place a slice of apple and a sprinkle of brown sugar on top. Place in the oven to bake for around 25 minutes.

What I think I love most about Gizzi's book is her take on recipes, a perfect example being this Sticky Banoffee Pudding, what an inspired idea of combining banoffee pie and sticky toffee pudding, clearly the woman is a genius! If you are intrigued by the lovely Gizzi then you should definitely take a peak at the video below, where she talks about her style of cooking and her favourite recipes in the book.

Which reminds me I really should make one of those for Good Mood Food! Now that you have a full grasp of what Gizzi is all about I think it's high time we getting cracking with one of her recipes. I chose this recipe basically because not only does it look delicious, but because it combines two of my favourite desserts, simple really! :) Also don't forget to give me your questions for Ms. Erskine in the comments below or on twitter and facebook.

Gizzi Erskine's Sticky Banoffee Pudding
This is my boyfriend Dean’s recipe. While he is a fantastic cook, he is so lazy he never cooks for me, except for this. And my God, does it make up for it! The banana is terrific with the toffeeish dates and keeps the pudding really moist.

Serves 6
Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
250g dates, stoned and chopped
250ml hot black tea, made with 1 teabag
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
85g softened unsalted butter, plus extra butter
for greasing
175g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs, beaten
175g self-raising fl our, sieved
3 bananas, roughly mashed
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
vanilla ice cream, or clotted cream, to serve

For the sauce
100g light muscovado sugar
100g unsalted butter
150ml double cream

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4 and butter a 22cm baking dish.
Place the dates in a small pan and cover with the hot tea. Bring to the boil and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the dates have softened, then stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the fl our, banana, mixed spice and the date mixture and pour into the baking dish. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the top is springy and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre.
While the pudding is cooking, make the sauce. Put the muscovado sugar, butter and cream into a pan, place over a low heat and melt until the sugar has dissolved. Then whack the heat up and simmer for 3–4 minutes, or until the sauce is a light toffee colour.
Serve the pudding with the warm sauce and a big scoop of vanilla ice cream or clotted cream.
Or remove the bananas from the ingredients and you’ve got a classic sticky toffee pudding!

(Taken from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine published by Virgin Books, price £20)

Yesterday, I spent the day getting a tour of Lamb farms in Co. Kerry an hours drive from where we were staying the night before in Ballincollig, Co. Cork. Michael Gottstein and Dennis Carrol from Ring Of Kerry Quality Assured Lamb were my guides for the day and we saw lots of great things which I will save alongside some pics for my next post!

After the great reaction to the video of the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough, I persuaded her to share with me her secret recipe for her favourite homemade cookies. Now there has been A LOT of discussion over the perfect cookies, but for me it's all about making them homemade with a decent recipe and with a little bit of love! Sorry I'm feeling very loving today! :)

Sophie's Chocolate & Hazelnut Chip Cookies
Sophie spend a lot of time creating the perfect cookie recipe for her Kooky Dough, but she has given me this, her secret (not for long!) recipe for Chocolate and Hazelnut Chip cookies. The cookies are delicious and the dough can be frozen if you wanted to make a few ahead of time.

Makes about 12-15 cookies
225g butter
375g muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
350g plain flour
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g good quality chocolate, chopped
100g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and baking powder.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and fold in, then add the chocolate and hazelnuts.
Form the dough into a round, wrap in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator for 30 mins.
When ready to bake, simply cut the dough into slices and lay on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for approx 10-12 minutes or until pale golden brown.

Variation: White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
Substitute white chocolate and dried cranberries for the chocolate and hazelnuts above.

I am all geared up for Thursday's cookery demonstration in Ballingcollig, I hope to see some blog readers down there, and if you are around do pop down, I will be demonstrating dishes from the book and there will be books on sale! I have heard there are still a few tickets left which can be bought directly from the Oriel House Hotel. I have another cookery demonstration tomorrow in a local school here in Howth and then I'm off to meet the lovely Sophie from Kooky Dough to learn all about her brand new product. Pictures that will make you want to lick the screen, to follow! :)

Now, everyone needs a reliable birthday cake recipe. My aunt passed this recipe on to me recently and it is absolutely fool proof and makes a really delicious moist cake. That combined with the deeeeelicious frosting makes for the perfect chocolate cake!

Naughty Chocolate Fudge Cake
(Recipe from BBC Good Food)
If you want to get the four tiers, slice the each cake in half and place on top of each other to create the layers.

Makes 1 delicious cake!
175g self raising flour
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
150g caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 Tbsp golden syrup

For the Coating and filling
75g Unsalted butter
175g icing sugar
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
A drop of milk

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two 18cm (7 inch) sandwich tins.
Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the two tins and bake for 25 - 30 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.
To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.
If the cake has risen a little to high then use a serrated knife to even off the top, now sandwich the two cakes together with the butter icing and cover the sides and the top of the cake with more butter icing.

After all the excitment over the weekend and the last few days on tour with JLS, I am just about back in the land of the living! It's these days, after the big highs, which are always the hardest, it becomes really important to pick yourself straight up and keep going, otherwise you don't know what to be doing with yourself! I can see the addictive side to performing in front of crowds that size, and with 10,000 people screaming for you it is extremely easy to see why, the problem then becomes that you expect that sort of addulation when you leave your house to go to the car, but unfotrunately nothing really comes close. While my band is not quite on the scale of JLS we have had an amazing journey so far which has provided us with more than a bit of a taster. But I am very glad I have another passion in my life, which of course is cooking, it keeps me distracted and after the big high, there is nothing better than getting back into the kitchen to refocus! In my case the answer is cupcakes!

Mega Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes
(Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food and food styling by Erica Ryan)
This batter makes really delicious and moist cupcakes which will give you more reason to have just one more! The batter is a lot more runny than normal cupcakes batters, but will rise so just make sure not to overfill the cases, halfway up is just perfect.

Makes about 16
175g Self raising flour
2 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda
150g caster sugar
2 eggs beaten
150 ml (1/4 pint) sunflower oil
150 ml (1/4 pint) semi skimmed milk
2 tablespoon of golden syrup

For the frosting
75g unsalted butter
175g icing Sugar
3 tablespoon cocoa powder
Drop of Milk

Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350F/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
Sieve the flour, cocoa and Bicarbonate of Soda into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well.
Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, eggs, oil and milk. Beat well with electric whisk until smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases about halfway up and bake for about 20 minutes or until they have risen and are firm to the touch. Remove from oven, leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.
To make your butter icing, place the butter in a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually sift and beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder then add enough milk to make the icing fluffy and spreadable.
Top the cooled cupcakes with delicious frosting and enjoy!