We Love Cooking!:
mustard

You may have noticed there has been a serious lack of recipes around here lately, but I want you too see that as a good thing! The good news is that behind the scenes I have started work on my new book, so right now that's the main focus and everything else is kind of on the back burner at minute! Hopefully very soon I'll be able to reveal a lot of really exciting news about the book and some other VERY exciting projects coming up. I will do my best to keep the recipes coming but for now here's a really great little summer dish! Enjoy!

Zingy Purple Potato Salad
When people think of potato salads in Ireland, heavy mayonaisse laden over boiled potatoes come to mind, but I'm here to change all that! This potato salad is light, bright breezy and packed full of zingy flavours! There is nothing better than great veggies being shown off at their best with a really simple recipe! While most good vegetable shops have them from time to time, t these purple potatoes can be tricky to come across and while not essential for this recipe, they really add great colour to the dish! If you can't get your hand on them, normal baby potatoes will do just fine. This dressing is a great compliment to any steamed or boiled vegetables like asparagus or garden peas!

Serves 4
750g of baby potatoes (mix of purple and white)
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
3 spring onions, finely chopped
A handful of dill and basil, roughly chopped
A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water, cover, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Simmer until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain the potatoes and slice in half lengthways.
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the dressing. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, spring onions, and herbs. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Pour the dressing over the cooked potatoes and gently toss, until everything is combined.
Serve straightaway!

Well with the new year well in swing, and the days becoming brighter, I am already starting to get excited about the whole new season of ingredients to play with in the kitchen. I love really light and bright salads and getting back into the garden means being flooded with lots of fresh and tasty veg to make my way through!

There are so many options when it comes to salads, and you can make them as healthy or different as you want. For me it just depends what sort of mood I'm in, but when I'm in a really healthy buzz, I absolutely love using as many fantastic healthy ingredients I can get my hands on.

I don't know if you have come across a brilliant little food company called Good4U foods in the supermarket, but they produce a load of really healthy ingredients that are so easy to incorporate into salads. I originally thought the company was UK based because of their web address, but last year I got an email from the lovely Laura Butler who started the company with her mum Bernie in Limerick. I was thrilled to hear they were Irish based which gives me even more reason to rave about them. Their full range of products include, alfalfa shoots, brocco shoots, sunflower shoots, and a whole host of seeds which are all perfect for sprinkling over salads! Stay tuned to the blog this week as I have a fab competition coming up from the Good4U folks!

Rocket Power Chicken Superfood Salad
As the winter months are thankfully coming to end, I am already starting to look towards more fresh and healthy dishes. Thankfully the days are becoming longer and brighter, now don't get me wrong, I'm all about comfort food, but as we start to look towards the spring nothing beats a really fresh and zingy salad. This Rocket Power Chicken Superfood Salad ticks all the boxes for me, it's perfect for a healthy lunch box, just save the dressing until the last minute. I absolutely love Brocco shoots and Lentil and Bean Shoots from Irish owned health food company Good4U, and they can be found in most supermarkets, perfect for boosting healthy salads! The Good4U range has a whole host of healthy ingredients which include, alfalfa shoots,

Serves 2
100g bulgar wheat
170ml boiling water
A drizzle of olive oil
2 chicken breasts
A little black pepper
25g brocco shoots
60g lentil and bean shoots
150g soy beans
30g spinach leaves
30g rocket leaves

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of natural yoghurt
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of English dried mustard
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Place the bulgar wheat in a bowl with the boiling water and cover with cling film. The bulgar wheat will cook in the water while you can get on with the rest of the salad.
Season the chicken breasts with a little black pepper, brush a griddle pan with a little olive oil and cook over a medium high heat for 4-5 minutes either side or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and slice thinly.
While the chicken is cooking, cook the soy beans according to the packet, drain and rinse in cold water, set aside.
Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl.
In a large bowl toss the spinach, rocket, brocco shoots, lentil and bean shoots and soy beans with the dressing.
Assemble the salad with a layer of bulgar wheat on each plate, top with the salad leaves and shoots and finally place the chicken slices on top and serve!

Last Twinnerparty recipe today! Hope you are all set for tomorrow night, I will write a few tips later on to save time, like the things you can make ahead and so on. A huge thank you to Julian from Bubble Brothers who has posted his suggestions for wines to go with the full meal, so if you are into your wines, head over there to see which wine goes with what! Kick off time for the twinnerparty is 7pm, with an aim to serve the first course at 7.30pm, but as we are all mostly from Ireland, timing of things normally goes out the window, but sure we'll see!

Beetroot, Goats Cheese, Pine Nut and Rocket Salad

This is a really tasty starter dish which is perfect for preparing the ingredients ahead of time and simply assembling them at the last minute to create a pretty impressive salad. If you don't want to roast the beetroot yourself, you can by precooked vac packed ones in the supermarket.

Serves 6
6 medium sized beetroot
75g pine nuts
250g goats cheese, cut into bitesize pieces
60g rocket leaves
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Half a clove of garlic, minced
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper

You can cook the beetroot ahead of time if you wish, simply wrap them in tinfoil, place on an oven tray and bake for about an hour at 190C/Gas Mark 5 or until you can insert a fork smoothly. Remove from the oven, allow to cool, then peel with knife and slice into quarters.
On a large frying pan, over a medium heat, toast the pine nuts, until golden brown, make sure to keep an eye on them as they can burn quite easily.
In a large bowl whisk together the Dijon mustard, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.
When you are ready to serve the salad, arrange the beetroot quarters and goats cheese pieces on each plate. Toss the rocket leaves in the dressing and place a little on each plate. Finally scatter each plate with the toasted pine nuts and serve straight away!

This is another one of my favourite dishes from the book. Food that is full of flavour for only a tiny amount of effort is ideal for entertaining. Most of the time all you need is the basic ingredients in order to create wonders! Although chicken on the bone is a little bit more effort on the plate, I truly believe there is far more flavour going on than plain old chicken breasts. Not only that but it is cheaper to buy thighs, wings and legs it's far tastier! More often than not you can get them at special offer also. To be honest if you buy whole chickens and get your head around learning to cut them up into thighs, drumsticks, wings and breast pieces you will save a fortune. Stick the meat you don't need in freezer bags and pop them in the freezer and dinner will never be too far away! Chicken thighs are a handy ingredient and this recipe really makes the best of them. It's a hearty dish packed with mouth watering flavours!

Chicken Thigh Supper

This is a super dish for a big group of people, served with a tasty salad; it’s perfect for weekday entertaining. If you can’t get a hold of chicken thighs, you can use any other cuts as long as they’re on the bone. This gives the meat a really great flavour.

Serves 4
6–8 chicken thighs
200g pancetta, diced, or bacon bits
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
75ml/3fl oz red wine
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 red onion, chopped in half moons
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 sprigs of thyme
2 teaspoons of English mustard powder
2 tablespoons of olive oil

In a large deep frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and brown the chicken and pancetta, until you get a nice colour on the thighs. Set aside on plate covered with kitchen paper.
In the same pan, add the rest of the oil and fry the garlic, onion, rosemary and thyme for 2 minutes. Sprinkle over the mustard powder and stir through.
Add the tinned tomatoes and red wine, and bring to the boil. Add the chicken and pancetta pieces back to the pan, turning the chicken pieces to coat.
Cover the pan and cook for 20 minutes over a low heat or until the chicken is cooked through. You may need to extend the cooking time depending on the size of the chicken thighs. I don’t add salt to this recipe as the pancetta can be quite salty, but make sure to taste it and add seasoning if needed.
Serve with a tasty salad and some hearty wholemeal bread.

We've had a pretty bad summer here in Ireland weather wise, and I had high hopes for lots of lovely summer evening BBQ's with some tasty salads. Instead I have had to settle with eating out whenever it's been dry for more than 30 minutes and dragging a full table setting in out of the rain on more than one occassion. However we still have the whole of August to go so fingers crossed for that perfect summer evening! I have one more recipe from our little bank holiday break and few more photos too, enjoy! This was the view from our table while we ate this salad:

Spinach and Cherry Tomato Salad
If you don't have avocado oil, don't worry, just use some good quality extra virgin olive oil. As I mentioned in a previous post I picked up some recently and it tastes great, plus it's super healthy, so if you can get your hands on some try it out!

Serves 4
3 large handfuls of spinach
2 large handfuls of rocket
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3 tablespoons of avocado oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of English mustard
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

Add the oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, garlic, sea salt and black pepper to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
Add the tomatoes, spinach, and rocket to the bowl and toss until all the leaves are coated in the tasty dressing.
Serve straight away. You could also make the dressing ahead of time and keep in the fridge.

I made these drumsticks the other night and they were a huge success! The sticky and sweet chicken doesn't last too long so I would recommend making a little extra for a snack later on. Serve them with a fresh salad for a tasty supper or with this bulgarwheat salad for a really filling dinner.

Sticky Mustard Chicken Drumsticks
This marinade also works great with duck or even a full roasted chicken. Don't be afraid to experiment!

Serves 4
10 chicken drumsticks.
2 tablespoons of marmalade.
1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard.
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar.
1 tablespoon of olive oil.
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
Add the marmalade, vinegar, mustard, oil, sea salt and black pepper in a large roasting tray, and whisk to combine. Add the chicken drumsticks to the tray and toss until all the chicken is covered in the sauce. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Baste halfway through the cooking time. Remove the chicken from the oven and place on a plate. Place the roasting tray full of juices over a medium high heat and simmer and whisk until the sauce thickens. Serve the chicken with a tasty bulgarwheat salad and coat with the thick sticky sauce.

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

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

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

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

Hey there!

Sorry to leave you hanging on the recipe front, I really got into writing the book last week, so it's left the blog a little quiet. But I haven't been far, I've been keeping up to date with the world of food blogging and beyond.

I recently got a message from John Maguire who has set up a great little forum for all things Food in Ireland, at www.askaboutfood.ie. Take a look at the site- lots of interesting topics.

Eoghan and Nathalie at CasaCaseyCourtney have announced they will be food blogging, and I'm looking forward to it, because they already have a great eye for pictures!

A special congrats to Kate at LidlTreats who has exploded on to the blogging scene and has even made the National Evening News! Brilliant stuff!

But now, back to our scheduled programming, I have a recipe!
After writing out a grand menu plan for the week in order to keep things running smoothly, three days later it has gone to pieces and I haven't cooked one of the meals from it! But I'm not too disappointed, because in an attempt to save an Avocado from becoming over ripe, I came up with a tasty little salad.

Even my just about overripe Avocado, is one of the true underrated super foods- It's packed with essential fatty acids, Vitamin K and antioxidants- it also makes a lovely face mask! (But you didn't hear that from me...) Radish's are often linked to aiding digestive problems and are beneficial for the teeth and gum's- So overall this salad is packed with nutrition and is a perfect Good Mood Food recipe!

Enjoy! (In case your wondering, those are pea shoots on top of the salad.)

Balsamic Chicken with Avocado and Radish Salad (Serves 2)

1. 2 Free Range Chicken Breasts.
2. 1 Avocado.
3. 6 Baby Radishes.
4. A Large Handful of Oak Leaf Lettuce Leaves.
   
5. 1 Red Onion, cut in half and sliced wafer thin.
6. 1 Small Garlic Clove, Peeled and Minced.
7. 1 Teaspoon of Wholegrain Mustard.
   
8. 2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar.
9. 6 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
10. The Juice of Half A Lemon.
11. A Good Pinch Of Coarse Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Peppercorns.

Serve straight away!