We Love Cooking!:
potato

Life is constantly full of surprises, there are some things I plan for and then there are some things that sneak up and just smack you around the chops! I was lucky enough to be shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards last month for my book Good Mood Food, but to be perfectly honest never really expected to win, it was an extremely tight category with some amazing competition. Not being a regular at black tie events I borrowed a tuxedo from my pal Simon, which just about fit, bar some tightening with a belt and dragged myself into the mansion house in Dublin for the awards. It wasn't until the first award winner Donal Og Cusack stepped up to deliver his speech, that the panic set in that on the off chance of winning, I had absolutely NOTHING prepared! Not the way I usually roll! So Best Irish Published category came up and guess what I WON! Honest complete utter shock took over and I really can't remember what I mumbled on stage but I was just so thrilled. It's a fantastic tip of the hat towards young and upcoming writers and huge win for myself, Mercier Press and of course everyone who was involved in producing the book. While celebrations ran into the earlier hours, I managed a couple of hours sleep before getting up to prep my demonstration at the Food&Wine Show in the RDS. It was a fairly packed weekend with the Taste Of Christmas also taking place at the new convention centre in Dublin. For my Food&Wine demo I ran through a collection of traditional Swedish Christmas dishes, after working at a Julbord (the traditional Swedish Christmas buffet) in Gothenberg, I had a great selection of interesting dishes to show off. Along with the Julgrot and Gravadlax I demoed the big hit of the day was the Jansson's Temptation a delicious creamy potato dish which is served alongside the Christmas Ham. It makes an interesting addition to our Irish Christmas dinner and I definitely suggest you give it a go! :)
I am getting around to a full thank you video for the book award but I'll keep you posted on that!

Janssons Temptation
Not unlike a French Potato Dauphinoise this Swedish take features anchovies and is a regular at the Swedish Christmas table. If you don't fancy the anchovies you could of course add some finely chopped garlic instead.

Serves 8
14-16 Swedish anchovy fillets and the brine they're stored in
2 large onions, sliced in half moons
5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into matchsticks
200ml of cream
2 tablespoons of butter
A small handful of fine breadcrumbs
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 225oC.
Put half the potatoes into a large rectangular pyrex dish. Evenly distribute the anchovy fillets and onions over the top of the potatoes and top with the remaining potatoes.
Pour half the cream and anchovy brine over the top and then add the butter in knobs over the top. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
Place in the oven until the potatoes are golden and after 20 minutes remove from the oven and top with the breadcrumbs and remaining cream and brine. Place back in the oven and cook for a further 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

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!

Of all the dishes we prepared for Foodstock, I am pretty certain that the Irish Seafood Chowder was the biggest success. I am told that the French absolutely love their seafood which is probably why! The chowder we made had a great selection of fish, haddock, cod, smoked fish, and prawns which the amazing chefs at the Chalet meticulously prepared for us. I have to admit that cooking on such a large scale can be quite daunting in terms of producing a similar end product to that of a smaller quantity, but that said between the whole team we served up some damn tasty chowder!

For about an hour on the Wednesday night I did feel like I was in a soup kitchen and there was a high chance of some sort of repetitive strain injury after ladling the chowder 350 times! Luckily we had the lovely ladies from Bord Bia to help us out, one of whom was out on her first assignment with them, though I’m pretty sure she is well inducted after Foodstock.

Irish Seafood Chowder
This is the kind of soup that if you put a lot of love and time in you will get the best results. The key is to add the fish at the very end leaving just enough time to let them cook. Cook the fish pieces too long and you will be left with an Irish seafood mush rather than a chunky creamy chowder!

Serves 8 (Makes 3.15 litres)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
100g salt pork diced (or pancetta/bacon bits)

2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 kg of peeled and diced potatoes
1.125 litre of fish stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1.25kg of cod (or similar white fish)
750g of fresh salmon
500g of mussels
500g of smoked haddock
330ml of heavy cream
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped finely
100g of smoked salmon, cut into fine strips for garnish

In a large pot, heat the butter and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes.
Add the salt pork and continue to fry until it colours.
Add in the fresh thyme, bay leaves and potatoes and cook gently for 2-3 minutes before adding the fish stock.
Season well with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender yet firm. (Some of the potato will break down and help thicken the chowder).
Add the haddock, salmon, cod and mussels and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit before finally and gently stirring in the parsley and cream.
Serve with the strips of smoked salmon as a garnish on top.

I am coming to you live from my hotel room in the sunny south of Ireland in Ballingcollig, Cork. I was doing a cookery demonstration for the Hope Foundation last night and it went extremely well! It was my first time doing a demo in front of a live adult audience, so I couldn't rely on my usual school demo tricks like asking them what they bring for their lunches, and of course every kid sticks up their hand. No this is a little different, but in a good way, I get to give more tips about the stuff I am cooking and I can choose dishes which are a little more interesting than stuff only kids will eat.

Last night I was demoing some of my favourite dishes from the book, I did 7 dishes altogether, which were my aromatic duck salad (with duck supplied by the lovely folks from Silverhill), hasselback potatoes, tomato chicken thigh supper, garlic mushroom and goats cheese pasta, mushy roast garlic and cherry tomato pasta, and my favourite dessert, Kerstin's bursting berries with white chocolate!

We did a bit of a signing after the demo, so a huge thank you to everyone who came up and bought a book, and big shout the folks at the Hope Foundation who pulled off the whole night with huge success! Mark was our cameraman for the night and popped me the tape of the whole thing, so when I get time I will stick it up here, so you can take a peak!

Today's recipe is going all Irish, as for the next few days, the country will be taken over by a rush of green and lots of celebrations. A few of the towns we drove through today already have their bunting up in the town square! This recipe is from my Cork News column which is out today, and for any foreign readers out there, this dish is quite a traditional Irish dish, so I hope you like it!

Traditional Irish Food: Colcannon
Colcannon is as traditional, as traditional Irish food gets, and for the week that's in it, when the whole world will be going green in our honour, what better thing to do, than serve up some of the finest! I told my grandad I was making this the other day and no sooner was it out of my mouth than he had burst into song. The dish of course, is the inspiration behind the traditional Irish song by the same name, "Oh weren't them the happy days when troubles we knew not and our mother made colcannon in the little skillet pot". This recipe is the one I grew up with, but if you want to experiment, you could also stir in a little bit of wholegrain mustard to add an extra bite to it!

Serves 4 portions
1kg potatoes, peeled and diced
250g savoy cabbage, finely sliced
1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
75ml of milk
A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper

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

Today is the day I am going to share one of my ultimate favourite recipes from the book! I started writing my first food column in the Irish Independent Weekend magazine last weekend and got the opportunity to share some of my personal favs from the book, including Kerstin's bursting berries with white chocolate, Chicken Thigh Supper, Lime and Mint Mohito Chicken and Hasselback potatoes. However as I know there are a lot of readers beyond Ireland that might be interested in these recipes I thought it would be worth posting here too! Let me know if you want any of the other recipes included in the article posted here!

Crispy Hasselback Potatoes

I came across the recipe for Hasselback potatoes when I was younger and they are so visually appealing that I had to make them. The traditional recipe, originally from Stockholm, calls for breadcrumbs and cheese, but I have tried to make it as simple as possible for this recipe. The potatoes go nicely alongside most dishes. If your potato slices don’t separate while cooking, increase your heat and you should get better results.

Serves 4
Approximately 20 baby potatoes
2 tablespoons of melted butter
A generous pinch of sea salt

These potatoes are a little bit daunting at first, but once you get the knack of it you’ll have no trouble! The idea is to cut slices about 3mm in thickness right across the potato, but to keep them attached at the bottom.
If that all sounds a bit too much, there is a quick trick you can use: place the potatoes on a wooden spoon and slice down: the dip in the spoon will prevent you from slicing all the way through.
When you’re finished, place all the potatoes sliced side up in a roasting tray and brush each one with the melted butter and give a good sprinkling of coarse sea salt.
Roast at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 for approximately 45 minutes or until the slices of the potatoes fan out and turn golden brown.
Serve straightaway and dig in!

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

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

Wholesome Vegetable Soup

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

Serves 6-8

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

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

There are things in this world that excite me, things which in many ways do not excite the majority of the rest of world. One of these little things happened the other day while I was on a walk around the cliffs in Howth- I came across a kind of mini crate sitting right in the middle of my path. Now you see to a normal person, this would just be a bit of wood and they would casually pass by without thinking twice. Not me though, I was turning it over inspecting the cracks, the colours and the rusty nails! I'm not crazy I swear! It's just I have a little bit of an obsession with photography props and this perfectly formed little piece wood makes an ideal platform to shoot food pictures upon. I dragged the mini crate home, despite objections from Sofie, and as you can see from the photo's here I think you'll agree it was well worth it- it gives a great rustic feel to the shots!

Warm Chorizo, Red Onion and Baby Potato Salad
I'm totally in love with this dish at the moment, its a perfect summer garden dinner. I normally just serve this as a side dish but you can beef it up by adding a few eggs to the dish and baking them until cooked. I can't tell you tell you just how tasty this little recipe is, you will just have to try it!

Serves 4
Approximately 16 baby potatoes.
300g of chorizo.
2 red onions, finely sliced.
Juice of 1/2 lemon.
A good pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 10-12 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. Remove from the heat and drain. Place a large frying pan over and medium high heat and add the chorizo, you shouldn't need any oil. Fry the chorizo slices for 2-3 minutes until they are really red and crispy. Remove the pan from the heat and squeeze over the juice of half a lemon. With the back of a fork or a whisk, combine the chorizo and lemon juices. Add the red onion to the pan and stir through. Finally chop the potatoes into bitesize pieces and add to the pan gently tossing so that all the ingredients are combined. Season with sea salt and black pepper and serve warm as a tasty side dish.

Even the most easy going people are always quite particular when it comes to how they like their eggs. Scrambled, fried, over easy, poached, baked, everyone has their favourite. Sorry to get personal but I'm a soft boiled egg kind of guy, who loves nothing more than a drippy yolk and something to dip with. These home fries are a delicious accompaniement to the perfect soft boiled egg. I first tried home fries in Florida where it came as part of the pretty standard American breakfast, and although a little heavy to be eating so early on in the day, they are delicious.

Soft Boiled Egg with Home Fries
Home fries can easily be adapted to whatever you may have in your fridge, add some bacon pieces, some finely chopped red pepper, or even some mushrooms. I generally boil the potatoes ahead of time the night before, as the whole process can seem a little more work for a breakfast meal when done all at once.

Serves 2 people.
3 large potatoes.
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.
1 onion, finely chopped.
2 eggs.

Chop the potatoes in half and place in a large pot with a lid. Cover the potatoes in water and bring to the boil over a high heat. When the potatoes come to the boil lower the heat so the water comes to a steady simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potato is nice and tender when poked with a fork. Drain the potatoes and carefully chop into bitesize chunks. Prepare the onion and gently fry in a large frying pan with a tablespoon of oil over a medium heat for about 2 minutes or until the onion softens and begins to take colour. Add the potato pieces and fry on all sides for about 6-8 minutes or until the pieces are all nicely browned. Place the two eggs into a small pot and cover with water and bring to the boil. When the water begins to boil, set a timer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes drain the eggs under cold water and serve alongside a generous portion of home fries.

Homemade Paprika Roast Potato Chips
When it comes to snack foods, everyone has their weakness, mine just so happens to be these homemade potato chips.

Makes enough for 4 portions, or one giant selfish one!
5 rooster potatoes cut into chips.
3 tablespoons of olive oil.
2 teaspoons of paprika.
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper.
1 tablespoon of sea salt.

Preheat the oven to 200oC.
Cut the potatoes into chips about 1cm in thickness. Spread the potato chips evenly over two large non stick baking trays. Try and give the chips as much space as possible, this will make them extra crispy. Drizzle the oil over the chips and toss until they are all combined. Sprinkle over the paprika, pepper, salt and toss again. Place in the oven and roast for 40-50 minutes or until crispy and golden.
Serve straightaway as a tasty snack or alongside a main meal.

First of all a big thank you to some of the readers here who nominated "The Good Mood Food Blog" for this year's Irish Blog Awards and a big congratulations to everyone else nominated- Fingers crossed!

The last few months have been a little crazy and things don't look to be settling down, I'm going to be in Sweden for the next week and bit so hopefully will be able to stick up a few pictures up here. Even if they aren't food related!

In other news, myself and Sofie have been busy planning our very own little vegetable patch as an experiment for this year. The aim is to expand our herb garden and learn a little more about growing our own vegetables, with the hope to provide enough, to include in a good few recipe's during the spring, summer, and autumn. We will be documenting the process as we go along, so stay tuned to keep up with our progress!

Fork Crushed Herb and Roast Garlic Potatoes
This recipe always has my mouth watering at the thoughts of it. Roast garlic has to be one of my absolute favourite roast ingredients. The process takes the pungent cloves and transforms them into a smoky, sweet and wonderfully creamy mush.
This is a super side dish which goes really well with any main course, or even on its own as a tasty belly filler!

750g or about 16 Baby Potatoes.
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
A Large handful of Flat Leaf Parsley.
A Handful of Chives, chopped coarsely.
A Handful of roughly chopped Dill.
1 Bulb of Garlic.
A Good Pinch of Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper.

Before you start anything get the garlic in the oven. Cut off the top of the garlic so the tips of the cloves can just about be seen. Drizzle with a few drops of olive oil so the exposed tips are covered. Now cover in tinfoil and pop in the oven for 40 minutes at 200oC/ Gas Mark 6.
While the garlic is roasting, place the potatoes in a large pot of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, you can check this with a fork. While the potatoes are cooking prepare and chop your herbs. Drain the potatoes and tumble into a large mixing bowl.

With a fork roughly crush each potato and season with salt and pepper. When the Garlic is ready, pop out the cloves from their skins and mash with a fork on a chopping board. Transfer the garlic to the mixing bowl and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and scatter the dill, chives and parsley on top. Gently mix all the ingredients to combine, and be careful not to break up the potato too much.
Serve in a large bowl with a final scattering of Parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.