We Love Cooking!:
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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.

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.

I have a huge respect for the way people in Sweden view food. There is a major emphasis on eating well from a young age and also making the time to eat. While I worked as a chef in Gothenberg one of things that I was always impressed with was how, when lunch time rolled around, everything stopped and everybody working, from the kitchen porter to the restaurant manager, sat to eat a meal cooked by the head chef. The meals we ate were not just sloppy seconds, they were well thought out, healthy and delicious.

I've seen a similar emphasis on eating well being set in Swedish schools also, with fresh and healthy meals being produced for kids on a daily basis. When I went to school we were constantly served processed food with very few healthy options. I am aware that in Ireland many schemes have been introduced to teach kids about healthy options but it still does not seem to have a deep impact. In a world where we have more knowledge about food and it effects on the body than ever before, from what I can see our younger generations aren't easily provided with healthy wholesome meals as standard. It can't be hard to achieve and with with some simple planning this sort of eating can easily become common place. What do you think? How do schools in other countries approach healthy eating?

Swedish Cabbage Salad
In Sweden it is quite common for restaurants to provide diners with a salad buffet table to accompany any main meals ordered. This tangy salad is quite common and is one of my favourite Swedish side dishes.

Makes about 6-8 portions.
500g of Dutch Cabbage (About half a head of cabbage).
100ml of rapeseed oil.
4 tablespoons of malt vinegar.
1 tablespoon of sea salt.
3 tablespoons of ground black pepper.

Prepare the cabbage by slicing into thin pieces and add to a large mixing bowl. Add the rapeseed oil, vinegar, sea salt and ground pepper. Mix the cabbage until all the ingredients are combined. Taste a piece of cabbage, you may want to add another spoonful of vinegar or perhaps a little more black pepper. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge. It's best to leave the salad for at least an hour or two or even over night. Serve cool as a tasty, healthy side dish.

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.

I have a notebook full of all my great ideas for Christmas posts for the blog, which will just have to wait until next year. For those of you who don't know where I have been for the last month and a bit, I have been playing Peter Pan in the Tivoli Theatre panto! Two shows a day for over a month has meant that there has been no time for the blog unfortunately. I had my first proper day off last Monday but stayed in bed all day, but I was up with and with it today so I finally got around to some cooking!

I have been living on this salad from The Food Room in Clontarf over the last few weeks, so I thought I would recreate it here! It's really delicious and full of healthy ingredients, plus it's so easy to make!

Broccoli Feta and Cherry Tomato Salad

1. 1 large head of broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces.
   
2. 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes. (250g)
3. 1 packet of ready chopped pancetta or bacon.
   
4. 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
5. 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
6. A good pinch of ground black pepper.
   
7. A good handful of crumbled feta cheese.

Place a small frying pan over a high heat and fry the bacon pieces until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan, place on on some kitchen paper and allow to cool before adding to the rest of salad. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and tumble in to the bowl on top of the broccoli. Add the bacon pieces and feta cheese to the serving bowl. Gently toss all the ingredients in the dressing and season with black pepper. Serve as a tasty side dish or a really tasty lunch. You can also add walnuts or pine nuts for an extra crunch!

And I know it's a bit cheeky having not posted for a few weeks but here's a shameless plug to remind you, if you like the good mood food blog, you can nominate it for the Irish Blog Awards here!

What is it with caterers who seem to think the only solution to feeding a large amount of people means sticking everything in a deep fat fryer? Recently I have been to more than 3 events which have resorted to battered chicken nuggets, onion rings, and cocktail sausages! Now I'm not going to completely condemn them as I did have a quick nibble, as most people do, but I would far rather some simple, fresh finger food with healthy ingredients which don't rely on a vat of boiling fat to make them look pretty!

This little antipasto salad is my simple solution to any pre dinner nibbles. Three tasty ingredients combined to make a delicious little starter which can be thrown together in no time at all. Best of all it looks so damn good your guests will think you went to a whole lot of bother! To be honest this is more of a sit down affair, but if you did want to transform this dish into proper finger food, simply toast some small slices of bread, spread with a little pesto, wrap a few rocket leaves, wafers of parmesan cheese and crushed olives in some parma ham slices, place on the pesto toast and hold together with a cocktail stick.

Simple Antipasto Salad
This is a great base for any salad so feel free to throw in some lovely extras if you so wish. Things like toasted pine nuts, garlic croutons, and sun dried tomatoes would all work great in this. If you buy olives unpitted, simply crush them with the back of a knife and remove the stone with your fingers.

3 large handfuls of rocket leaves. (Arugula)
Half of a 100g jar of green olives (pitted).
1 packet of parma ham slices.
1 Large handful of wafer thin parmesan cheese slices.
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.
A small pinch of ground black pepper.

The method for this one is so easy- Simply mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss gently. Tumble the salad onto a large serving dish and serve. Make sure to provide lots of crusty bread to eat alongside and enjoy!

OK it's official, Christmas has arrived! And it's only November! I know people give out about the festivities starting earlier each year, but to be honest it doesn't bother me. I'm not afraid to say it, I LOVE CHRISTMAS AND EVERYTHING THAT GOES WITH IT! Partly because of the presents, partly because of the tree, but mainly because there is no other day in the year that the focus is so intensely on FOOD!

For our traditional Christmas dinner at home we have turkey, ham and a great selection of veggies. That selection usually includes these super parsnips! To be honest these have become a regular addition to meals all year round recently and are no longer just spared for Christmas. There just that good!

Perfect Parsnips
Try to select interesting shaped parsnips, they look great when they're roasted. I try and cut the parsnips as thin as possible because when they start to roast in the oven you should end up with tasty crispy ends and thick fleshy pieces.

1kg of parsnips.
3 tablespoons of wholemeal flour.
1 tablespoon of ground black pepper.
1 tablespoon of sea salt.
1 generous handful of Parmesan cheese.
2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 200oC/390oF/Gas 6.
Peel the parsnips and chop in half and then slice into four. You may need to slice the chunks in half again depending on what size you want them. Place the parsnips in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes. Rinse with a little cold water and drain the chunks in a colander.
Combine the flour, pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Tumble the parsnips into the bowl and toss to coat. Place in a large roasting tray, sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

I'm so totally in Summer mode at the moment! Especially after the weekend- we had great weather for the whole trip up through the Burren and up the coast towards Galway. I was really blown away by some of the scenery, but less so by the food on offer. Unfortunately I didn't have time to look up any great places to eat, so we ended up eating dinner at a pub in Doolin, mainly due to most of the restaurants being fully booked. I was hoping for some really solid pub grub, but unfortunately, the seafood platter was less than impressive and the sides for all the mains were basically soggy coleslaw! There were two guide recommended restaurants in the village, so next time I'll be sure to book ahead!

Here's a few little foodie related links, I've come across over the last few days:

1. Tasty Planner- One of the best sites I've come across which features a meal planner. You can drag and drop recipes into a meal planner which in turn adds the ingredients to a shopping list. Very handy!
2. Cake Wrecks- This is not for the faint hearted, basically a blog full of weird and freaky cakes, say goodbye to your afternoon!
   
3. Food Blogger Deals with Legal Issues- A really interesting post about recipe rights and copyright issues- well worth a read for bloggers.
4. Messy Chef- A brand new Irish Food blogger! Check it out!

Adjust the quantity of ingredients to your own taste, use less Tabasco sauce if you want a milder mix.

Avocado, Lime and Tabasco Salsa

1. 1 Ripe Avocado.
2. The Juice of one Lime.
3. 1 Tsp of Tabasco Sauce.
4. 1/2 a Red Onion.
5. 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil.
6. A Good pinch of Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper.

-Sorry the photo's are a bit crap today!