I have a few winter warming dishes coming up but this recipe is actually taken from the book and was featured on Georgina Campbell's Ireland Guide website. Plus I got a request in the comments section so I just couldn't resist!
Hearty Minestrone Soup This is a perfect winter meal solution, full of tasty vegetables, and filling thanks to the pasta. I use wholewheat spaghetti, but feel free to add other shapes like fusilli or pasta elbows instead. If you don’t have any paprika, you can get a bit of spice by adding a dash of tabasco sauce, or a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.
Serves 4 1 courgette, chopped into small chunks 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 2 x 410g tins cannellini beans 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 stalks of celery, chopped 2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks 2 litres/4 pints homemade chicken stock 75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces 2 tablespoons of olive oil A good pinch of paprika A good pinch of sea salt
In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for 2 minutes or until they become soft. Stir in the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the wholewheat spaghetti, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway with a good chunk of wholemeal bread and enjoy!
I have a few winter warming dishes coming up but this recipe is actually taken from the book and was featured on Georgina Campbell's Ireland Guide website. Plus I got a request in the comments section so I just couldn't resist!
Hearty Minestrone Soup This is a perfect winter meal solution, full of tasty vegetables, and filling thanks to the pasta. I use wholewheat spaghetti, but feel free to add other shapes like fusilli or pasta elbows instead. If you don’t have any paprika, you can get a bit of spice by adding a dash of tabasco sauce, or a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.
Serves 4 1 courgette, chopped into small chunks 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 2 x 410g tins cannellini beans 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 stalks of celery, chopped 2 large carrots, chopped into small chunks 2 litres/4 pints homemade chicken stock 75g/3oz wholewheat spaghetti, broken into 1-inch pieces 2 tablespoons of olive oil A good pinch of paprika A good pinch of sea salt
In a large pot, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic cloves and onion for 2 minutes or until they become soft. Stir in the celery, carrots and courgette and cook for five minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the wholewheat spaghetti, paprika and cannellini beans. Give the soup a good stir and cover. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. Season with a little sea salt and serve straightaway with a good chunk of wholemeal bread and enjoy!
On Tuesday I traveled down to Cork for the first time ever to meet with the guys in Mercier press to discuss the release of the cookbook and the interior design. When I arrived they had a full mock up of the book to leaf through and I'm really thrilled with the look were going for. There's lots of bits to add here and there but it's much easier to work on it when you can see something that resembles the finished product.
I'm finally getting settled back into a some sort of normal routine after a fairly exciting but disruptive Christmas period, which means I'm getting to do a lot more cooking and photo's! I cooked two pasta dishes with goats cheese yesterday, one with sundried tomatoes and basil and this one here with garlic and mushrooms.
I'm a huge fan of goats cheese not only because of its distict flavour but there is recent research that suggests goats milk and cheese can be digested by the human body far easier than cow's. As it contains a similar calcium and nutrient content as cow's milk, it's has become common knowledge that people who suffer from a lactose intolerance can often use goat's milk and cheese as a dairy alternative.
Garlic Mushroom and Goats Cheese Pasta
Garlic and mushroom is a classic combination and works super in this tasty pasta dish. Crumbling the goats cheese over the hot pasta creates a creamy coating and leaves the dish with a distinctive tangy taste. The dish only takes the time to cook the pasta and is perfect to make a little extra and stick in a lunchbox for tomorrow.
250g of wholemeal penne pasta. 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 3 cloves of garlic chopped finely. 1 onion chopped into thin half moon slices. 150g of mushrooms sliced thinly (Approx. 6 large mushrooms). 75g of goats cheese. A generous pinch of black pepper. A generous pinch of sea salt.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the pasta. While the pasta is cooking prepare the garlic and onion. In a large frying pan heat the oil, add the garlic and onion and fry gently until softened and browned. Then add the mushrooms and cook until soft. The mushrooms will turn from white to a nice creamy brown colour. When the pasta is cooked drain in a colander and put back in the pot. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and add the mushrooms, garlic and onion. Crumble in the goats cheese, add the salt and pepper and stir together until everything is combined evenly. Serve straight away in deep dishes and season with a little extra black pepper.
My mom called me last week to tell me she'd eaten the first of the berries from her newly planted patch. "It was amazing," she sighed, "like they used to be when you were young." While I can't say for sure how good store-bought strawberries were when I was a kid, I do know that 20-some years of agribusiness hasn't done the strawberry any favors. Typically, they are as big as they are bland, streaked with white inside and dry as a sun-baked bone. They contain only the barest hint of what they could be were they ripened to a bright red by the sun, picked in season and eaten immediately.
Craigie on Main, a local restaurant, makes an admirable proclamation on their menu, "sorry, no tomatoes til August." It's an acknowledgment of the fact that local tomatoes eaten in season are pretty much the only tomatoes worth serving and eating. While it might seem sad to not have a tomato at any other time of the year, it turns that moment in which local tomatoes are available into a celebration of the perfection to be found in eating locally and seasonally. It's in that spirit that I also advocate a "sorry, no strawberries 'til June" position, but you know what? It's June!
This is the strawberry moment for New England. The fields are full of juicy red fruit, ready to tumble from the stem into an outstretched hand. And that's just what they did on a recent trip out to Western Massachusetts where we spent the morning picking.
Even the plants in my newly inherited community garden plot are bearing fruit, despite being uncared for over the winter. Next year I expect they will be even more plentiful, but this year they are good only for a quick garden snack, which is probably fine since I had so many other berries to deal with from the picking trip.
There's little that can improve upon the experience of a perfectly ripe strawberry, heavy with sun-warmed juice, but a freshly plucked mint leaf is a nice touch, the cool sharpness contrasting with subtle sweet-tart warmth.
If you do insist on messing about with these perfect berries though, I can't think of many better ways than to go with the classic strawberry shortcake. Of course, I really can't help but mess about, which is how this one-off shortcake was born. Thinking of the natural affinity between strawberries and oranges and a less obvious connection between berries and astringent herbs, I employed my orange-rosemary sugar to make spelt biscuits with lots of flavor and a little more substance than usual, but with all the flaky tender-crumbed charm of a standard shortcake. Instead of macerating the strawberries with sugar, a process usually employed to soften the berries slightly and make them give up some of their juices, I tossed the already juicy and soft berries with a strawberry syrup, made with instruction from the new and wonderful book, The Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves.
The syrup is a simple matter of macerating the berries with sugar and letting them sit overnight before cooking them down, pureeing and straining the mixture. It yields a gorgeous thick syrup that is purely, deliciously full of strawberry flavor. It's wonderful over waffles and refreshing mixed into sparkling water or sparkling wine (I recommend Moscato d'Asti) for a fun brunch drink that mixes things up from the traditional mimosa.
The funny thing about the food writing biz is that you end up preparing things way in advance of certain events and Christmas is one of the major ones which editors and researchers panic about and will have you cooking turkeys and hams even before Halloween has passed! However it was very refreshing yesterday to be shooting lots of leftover Christmas dinner recipes for RTÉ's 4Live in the middle of the Christmas season with snow on the ground outside. We thrashed through 6 great festive dishes including, cranberry and white chocolate muffins, leftover ham pies, and a Christmas cheesecake. A big thanks to the lads, Robin, Mark, Niall and Tony who left the house last night stuffed... or so they told me! I'll post some of the recipes from the day during the next weeks but for now just in case you have been suffering from Christmas overload, how about some real food?
Roast Garlic Shepherd's Pie I was never really a big fan of shepherd's pie growing up, mainly because it was churned out most weeks (sorry mom!) so we became far too used to it, which realistically is a terribly ungrateful complaint, but it's only in the last few years I have fallen in love with this classic little dish all over again. I make mine with a twist by stirring mashed roast garlic through the potato, to be honest I normally make it with two bulbs of garlic because I'm a bit of a garlic fiend, but if you are pushed for time skip the garlic and just make the mash, it will taste just a good. Another handy tip to remember is that once you have assembled the shepherd's pie to the point just before you put it in the oven you can actually freeze the pie and cook from frozen if you fancy prepping a few in advance!
Serves 4 1 garlic bulb 2 tablespoons of olive oil 1 tbsp sunflower oil 1 large onion , chopped 2-3 medium carrots , chopped 500g pack minced lamb 2 tbsp tomato purée 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce 400ml beef stock 800g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 75g butter 50ml milk Sea salt and ground black pepper to season
First things first, get the garlic in the oven! Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6. Slice the top off the garlic bulb just enough so that each of the cloves is exposed and place on a roasting tray. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with a some sea salt. Place in the oven to roast for 40 minutes or until soft and tender. When the garlic is cooked, remove the roast cloves from their skins and mash with the back of a fork. While garlic is roasting, add the potato chunks 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. 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 mashed garlic and season with sea salt and ground black pepper, stirring to combine. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat and soften the onion and carrots for 5-6 minutes. Turn up the heat and allow the pan to get hot before you add the minced lamb. Using the a fork break up the meat and allow to brown and cook through for 3-4 minutes. Stir through the tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce until combined and then pour over the beef stock. Bring to a steady simmer, then partially cover and cook for 45 mins. Preheat the oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4. When the lamb is ready, season with sea salt and ground black pepper and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish and top with the roast garlic mash, using a fork to make a nice topping. Give the topping an extra sprinkle of ground black pepper and bake in the oven for 25 mins until the top is starting to brown and the mince is bubbling up around the edges. Serve straight away for a delicious and comforting supper!
Thankfully work is that little bit less busy this week, which has given us time not only to play in the snow, but also to spend some more time in our new little house. It's not there just yet, but it's really starting to take shape and after numerous trips to IKEA we finally have enough furniture to fill the place! I wasn't feeling very at home in the house, mainly because the last three weeks had been so jam packed, dinner was eaten out and breakfast was bought on the way. I know I know, not exactly the perfect routine, but there had been no time to set up the kitchen just the way I like it. So the last few days we've been making big breakfasts and enjoying really tasty dinners using up the ridiculous amount of food I've left over from all the cooking we've been doing. Ireland, for my foreign visitors, at the moment is experiencing probably the most snow that I can even remember, so I think it's definitely time for some comfort food. This recipe was from a piece I wrote on comfort food for the Irish Independent. I suggest using ready to go gnocchi, but if you are lucky enough to be snowed in, it's all the more comforting to make them yourself!
Mozzarella, Tomato and Gnocchi Bake Gnocchi in Italian translates as ‘lumps’, and it goes way beyond pasta as my ultimate bowl of indulgence. You can make the gnocchi yourself, but you should be able to pick up packs of the ready-made stuff quite easily. This dish combines the classic Italian flavours of tomato, mozzarella and basil, all baked together for a fantastic comforting dinner.
Serves 4 500g fresh gnocchi 1 tbsp olive oil 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 2x400g tin chopped tomatoes 1 tsp dried chilli flakes 2x125g mozzarella balls, sliced 1 tsp sugar Handful of basil leaves Sea salt and black pepper, to season
Cook the gnocchi according to the instructions on the packet, then drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil over a high heat and sauté the garlic and onion until soft. Add in the chopped tomatoes and chilli flakes and bring the sauce to the boil. Lower the heat and cook at a steady simmer for 15 minutes until it has reduced. Add in the sugar and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Tumble the gnocchi into the pan and stir through with the tomato sauce until each piece is nicely coated. Pour into a highsided baking dish (9in x 9in) and top with the mozzarella slices and torn basil leaves. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown and bubbling. Serve straight away in deep bowls with a little grated Parmesan.
I'm writing this on a dark train in the middle of a snow bound Sweden, this week we are visiting Sofie's folks in Gothenburg, so I have unwillingly been catapulted into the Christmas season whether I like it or not. As you all know of course snow equals Christmas and during the long dark days in Sweden they really go all out for the festive season. We are hoping to get in all the sights and sounds of a Swedish Christmas to bring home some Scandinavian inspiration to our home just in time for the seasonal period. While all that is going on let's not forget that on these cold dark days, serious fuel is needed to boost the immune system and keep you up and running! My mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta is one of those dishes I came up with hungry after work last winter. It has all those great punchy flavors of roast vegetables combined to make the most luscious thick juicy tomato sauce for the hot pasta you tumble in on top. Don't be afraid of using a whole bulb of garlic, the roasting process will take away the strong flavors you get from raw garlic and instead you will be left with a sweet intense mush which can be pushed out its skin using the back of a fork. Possibly one of THE BEST recipes from Good Mood Food, you will make this one again and again!
Mushy Roast Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta Serving this little supper hot to the table with a good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese is an absolute must! It brings the whole dish together and pumps up all those amazing roasted flavors.
Serves 4 people 250g/9oz wholewheat penne 1 large bulb of garlic 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes 1 large red onion 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons of olive oil A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper A large handful of grated parmesan cheese An extra glug of olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Slice the top off the bulb of garlic so that almost all the cloves are exposed. Place the garlic in a large roasting tray. Prepare the cherry tomatoes by slicing them in half. Place the tomatoes in the roasting tray. Prepare the red onion by peeling and slicing into rough quarters, place alongside the tomatoes and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and using a pastry brush, brush the mix over the tomatoes, the red onion and garlic bulb. Sprinkle the tomatoes, garlic and onion with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 30–35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced to half their size. While the garlic, tomatoes and onion are roasting, bring a medium-sized pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside. When the tomatoes, garlic and onion are cooked, remove from the oven and, using a fork, carefully push out the garlic cloves from their skins and mash all the ingredients together until you have a thick mushy sauce. Tumble the cooked pasta into the roasting tray and add the parmesan cheese and an extra glug of olive oil. Toss everything together until the pasta is evenly coated. Serve in a large bowl and enjoy!
My Grandparents Heading On Their Honeymoon To Wicklow In 1950
It's definitely a sign you had a fairly packed weekend when you only start to relax on a Monday morning! I was working on Friday, Saturday and Sunday but Saturday night was the big occasion, 25 family members, young and old packed into my parents front room to eat their way through a three course meal and celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.
They are my grandparents on my moms side of the family, they married in 1950 and made a living as sculptors, all the while raising my mom and her 3 brothers and 3 sisters. My grandmother has a fantastic knowledge of food and I can talk with her for hours about her delicious rich recipes (if we can steal a moment away from my granddad's well trained 3rd degree questioning skills!) which always seem to transform some extremely unique off cut of meat into a melt in your mouth, one pot wonder. I love how she can tell me she had nothing in the house, yet then go into intricate detail of how she whipped up an old French recipe so delicious it would put the great Elizabeth David to shame. Needless to say that love of food has been passed down the line, so the food at gathering such as this are normally of a certain standard! Anything less of course and you can expect a full critique by the time the coffee and teas are served!
On the menu was a delicious crab salad with lemon zest, for mains we had hefty portions of slow roasted lamb shanks in red wine with a tomato and white bean stew, and to wrap things up we had the delicious mocha meringues with whiskey cream, chocolate sauce and toasted hazelnuts which we cooked for the event in Paris during the spring. All this was followed by an amazing cheeseboard from Sheridans Cheesemongers which despite the big helpings for dinner was devoured! So things are back to normality this week thankfully so here's today's recipe, enjoy!
Whoohaa Chorizo Bean Pasta! Pasta is definitely a super-cheap store cupboard ingredient which can easily be transformed into hundreds of delicious dishes. This is one of my favourite ways of making the most of it. When making a tomato sauce, the key to getting the best flavour out of it is to cook it slowly. I love to add a good glug of red wine while it reduces to bring out a really great richness. The chorizo gives the dish a kick of heat and will leave you feeling full.
Serves four 150g chorizo, sliced in thick discs 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 red onion, finely chopped 400g tin chopped tomatoes 1 tsp dried oregano Sea salt and ground black pepper to season 400g tin cannellini beans 250g penne pasta Parmesan cheese, to serve
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and throw in the sliced chorizo. Fry on both sides until roaring red and sizzling. Remove from the pan and set aside. You should be left with a rich red oil in the pan. Place the pan back over the heat, add the garlic and onions and fry for two to three minutes until the onions are soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and dried oregano, then half fill the empty chopped tomatoes tin with warm water and stir into the pan (if you have red wine it would be great here instead of the water). Bring the sauce to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced a little. While the sauce is reducing, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, drain and set aside. Stir the chorizo and cannellini beans into the tomato sauce until everything is warmed through. Add the sauce to the cooked pasta and stir through. Serve with a good grating of Parmesan cheese.
I have well and truly given up on the summer and with October just around the corner I suppose it's about time really. I have been busy pulling out my cookbooks and magazines all filled with more appropriate winter warming recipes as the season begins to get really cold. It is very comforting that there is so many fun recipes to be cooking my way through the winter months that really I have nothing to complain about. Plus with Halloween around the corner there is lots and lots of pumpkin and sweet inspired recipes to keep a home cook busy! This recipe and the recipes I will be posting this week are all from the Student cooking spread I wrote and shot for the Irish Independent a few weeks ago, when I had to take over yet another persons kitchen to cook up a storm (thank you David and Geraldine!) and get the piece sent! This is not just a one pot wonder for students but it is a perfect family meal too- Enjoy!
Tasty Chicken Hotpot This is the dish you can make when you invite the parents around to show them you really can make it on your own, and that you don't need your mother to wash your socks anymore! Chicken thighs are a good, cost-effective cut of meat and will hold really well in the freezer, so pick up a few packs.
Serves 4 1 tbsp olive oil 8 chicken thighs 2 red onions, sliced into thick slices 5 carrots, cut into rough chunks 3 celery sticks, cut into rough slices 400g tin chopped tomatoes 600ml chicken stock 2 tsps English mustard 1 tsp dried oregano Sea salt and ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large, high-sided pot until it's really hot. Add the chicken and brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. There should be enough oil and fat left in the pan, but if not just add another little drop. Add the red onions and fry until soft. Add the carrots and celery and cook for three to four minutes, stirring every now and then. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock and stir though with the mustard and oregano. Add in the browned chicken and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and place the lid on and simmer gently for 45-55 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve in deep bowls with some thick, crusty bread to soak up the juices.
September is always one of those months like January where the slate is wiped clean and it's time to start all over again. The kids are back at school and students back to college, and professional nomads like myself are back to reality! Between all our moving around over the summer months, things were a little chaotic especially when it came to food. Normal routine went out the window, replaced by irregular eating times and extra helpings of desserts - a good dollop of cream with everything. You could definitely say I indulged over the last few months and unfortunately, I'm not exactly feeling the better of it!
Since we arrived back in Ireland however, things are back on track, the kitchen is stocked with fruit and veggies and all my essential storecupboard ingredients have been replenished. As amazing as it is to travel, there really is nothing like being back home in your own kitchen.
With the winter months fast approaching, the inclination to stay inside and out of the cold becomes all the more tempting, so instead of dodging the weather and waiting until the New Year, I'm heading outdoors and getting active! All this new healthy living will take it's toll, mind you, so luckily I have a few healthy, filling recipes up my sleeve to stave off starvation and make sure I'm getting all the good stuff. This recipe comes from my book Good Mood Food: Simple, Healthy, Homecooking, it's the perfect little pick me up for those cold winter days - packed with nutrients from start to finish and full of flavour!
Boot Camp Soup This a surprisingly tasty soup, which is wonderfully cleansing. Used originally as part of a weight-loss diet, I make it regularly as a really substantial lunch. This recipe makes a generous amount – I freeze half the soup and keep the rest in the fridge.
Serves 8 3 onions, chopped into chunks 2 green peppers, chopped into chunks 1 bunch of celery, chopped into chunks 1 iceberg lettuce, chopped into chunks 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes 800ml/1½ pints vegetable stock 300g/10½oz lentils or soup mix Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Add all the ingredients to a large pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes until the lentils are soft. Blend the soup to a smooth consistency with a hand blender; you may need to add a little extra stock if the soup is too thick. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
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.
I've been packing a fair bit of travel in this summer and I'm fairly sure with the amount of airmiles that have wracked up, I'm doing the environment no favours! This week is no different I'm back in Sweden for a bit of work and to fully soak up all the best a Swedish summer has to offer! One of my favourite things about Sweden in the summer is the beautiful still lakes with their picturesque jetties. This week I finally got my first swim of the summer in and despite always being slightly worried about what lurks at the bottom of those murky waters, I can report that the water was beautiful. All that swimming in lakes can make a cook like myself hungry, so we decided to sample what the Swedes do best, the Smorgasbord!
One of my favourite places to eat in Gothenburg is the Gunnebo Coffee House and Restaurant which is situated on the grounds of one of Sweden's most beautiful neoclassical estates, just south of the city. The buffet style lunch is made with all organic ingredients and always has something interesting and healthy to offer. During the summer months the kitchen uses fruit and vegetables from the huge gardens outside, which I find very exciting to walk through! The day we were there amongst the fantastic choice of dishes there was a cabbage salad, cucumber and fennel lentil salad, herbed pork fillet, boiled cumin potatoes, roast salmon with a creamy sauce, and Roast tomatoes with Goats cheese and red onion. We assembled our plates with fairly hefty portions, a handful of the chunky homemade bread and headed outdoors to pick our way through it. There is something fairly special about eating fresh and healthy food outdoors on a warm summer day that just makes everything taste all the better! For now, as the Swedes say "hej då"!
Roast Tomatoes with Goats cheese and Red Onion This is a super way to make the most of the last of the summer tomatoes! This method brings out the fantastic natural sweetness and is perfection in every bite. You can prepare these ahead of time and serve them at room temperature.
Serves 4 4 tomatoes, cut in half 1 goats cheese log, cut in slices 1 red onion, sliced in half moons A good glug of olive oil A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6. Arrange the tomato halves on a baking tray and top each on with a few slices of red onion and then place a slice of cheese on top. Drizzle each tomato with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Place in the oven to cook for 35 minutes or until the the tomatoes are soft and tender. Serve warm or cold.
Cucumber and Fennel, Lentil Salad I think lentils are by far one of the most underused pulses. They are like the black sheep of the legume family, with many people having never even cooked them before. However that all has to change, they are full of health benefits, and just as quick as pasta to cook so no excuses! They go great with lots of different dishes but they go great here as a tasty little salad!
Serves 4 1 cucumber, cut in chunky diagonal slices 150g of green lentils A good handful of fennel fronds, roughly chopped Juice of 1/2 a lemon 2 tablespoons of olive oil A generous pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
Rinse the lentils in cold water drain and place in a pot. Cover them with plenty of water and bring to the boil, cooking for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside to cool. In a large bowl whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Add in the fennel fronds, cucumber slices, and cooled lentils. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and serve!
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.
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!
Looking for a quick "hands on" starter dish which comes packed with a punch? Well I'm pretty sure these quesadillas fit the bill! I am completely addicted to chorizo, it's full of great smokey spiced flavour, has a fantastic, rich, deep red colour and adds so much to any dish you use it in. I love using chorizo in hearty bean stews for a more wintery dish, but it will forever and for always remind me of summer. I first tasted it on a holiday in Spain as part of a tapas dish and was hooked forever more!
Chorizo and Spring Onion Quesadillas You can get chorizo in fine soft slices or in thick sausage form which I use in this recipe. If you are really stuck and can't get your hands on some chorizo for this recipe, don't panic, you can use a little leftover cooked chicken or some sliced cooked ham as a substitute. The great thing about quesadillas is that you can really adapt them to what you have, the classic ones I normally make are with some salsa, cheese and thinly sliced red onion, simple and delicious!
Serves 2 150g of chorizo, sliced in bite size chunky rounds 1 clove of garlic, finely minced A small handful of cherry tomatoes, finely chopped 4 wholewheat tortilla wraps A bunch of spring onions, sliced finely A small handful of grated cheddar cheese Sea salt and black pepper to season
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and cook the chorizo on both sides until sizzling and roaring red. When it's cooked, remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with some kitchen paper. Drain a little of the chorizo oil, leaving enough to fry the quesadillas. While the chorizo is frying off, combine the minced garlic and chopped tomatoes in a bowl and season with a little salt and pepper. Spread half the tomato and garlic mix on one of the tortilla wraps, top with a little cheese, a generous amount of spring onions, and some of the cooked chorizo. Place another tortilla wrap on top and fry on both sides over a high heat, until the quesadilla is golden brown and the cheese inside has melted. Repeat with the second quesadilla. Serve the quessdillas sliced in quarters with an extra sprinkle of sliced spring onions, and a little of the leftover tomato and garlic mix.
I'm pretty much settled back into the land of the living after the last few busy weeks and loving being back in my own kitchen. I'm especially loving the amazing weather Ireland has been having all week, summer is most definitely on the way and I am already thinking of more summer orientated dishes, with really fresh flavours! This is is the recipe for this weeks column in the Cork News, with a really simple recipe to make the best of one of my favourite fish, mackerel!
Simple Mackerel Fillets with Chilli, Garlic and Lemon I grew up on mackerel! It was and still is one of the easiest fish to catch just off Howth head. I have some of the most amazing childhood memories of sunny mackerel filled summers with my grandad Do on his boat, where my cousins and I would be busy racing to pull in rods with heavy lines, fish on each hook, while my grandad would gut them and fillet them like the pro he was, belly laughing at the fact that we were all to squeemish to take them off the lines ourselves. For me, mackerel dishes always have to be simple with really fresh flavours, and I love this quick and simple lunch which has a great kick of heat thanks to the chilli. People get a bit worried when it comes to cooking fish, but go to the fishmongers and ask them to do all the hard work and you will be left really lovely fillets of fish which are no more complicated to cook than pan frying a chicken breast!
Serves 4 4-6 mackerel fillets 2 red chillies, finely chopped with the seeds removed 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped Juice of 2 lemons A good drizzle of olive oil A good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper
Place the mackerel fillets on a large plate and drizzle with olive oil and a good squeeze of lemon juice. Don't use all the lemon juice here, as it's nice to give the fish an extra squeeze of lemon while it cooks and then at the end to serve. Sprinkle over the chilli and garlic and gently rub into the fish on both sides, turning to coat in the lemon and olive oil. Season the fillets with sea salt and black pepper and cook on a hot, non stick griddle pan, over a high heat, for 2-3 minutes either side, depending on their size or until they are cooked through. Halfway through the cooking time, give them another splash of lemon juice. Serve the mackerel fillets with a spicy tomato salsa or a fresh side salad for a really light and healthy lunch!
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!
Last year I tried my hand at growing a vegetable garden and although there were major fails like when my spinach went to seed and when my courgettes were eaten by slugs, there were also major success stories like when I harvested big heavy baskets of broad beans and pulled mysterious looking red cabbages from their stubborn roots! Those were the really proud moments of the whole experiment and made it all worthwhile! I made the conscious decision not to blog about it last year, partly because I was totally winging it and partly because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it, but I think this year it's time to let everyone in! I am still by no means in anyway an expert so I would like this little kitchen garden diary to be more of a journey which I will share any tidbits of the knowledge I pick up along the way which hopefully might inspire to get into the garden yourself!
My plans for the vegetable garden this year are already under way, and I have been speaking to lots of gardening people in the know, a few of whom will be popping up on the blog in the coming months. One of the many things I learned from last years experiment was to get as much advice as possible. The people I have spoken to, from home growers to professional gardeners are all so incredibly passionate about what they do and are more than happy to have lengthy conversations about what to grow, when to grow it and even the best ways to cook them. If you do know someone who grows their own veg, give them a call, sometimes the best advice you can get is from people you already know. An essential buy for me last year was a really decent book about growing vegetables, "Grow Vegetables" by Alan Buckingham is fairly extensive and details growing in even the smallest spaces, also after watching Carol Klein's passionate BBC series I bought her book, "Grow Your Own Veg" which is a pretty straightforward and informative book.
You can plan your garden in advance earlier in the year, but March is really go time in the gardening world, with a huge variety of seeds being recommended to be sown now. I have been lucky enough to nab my lovely aunts back garden to grow my veggies which has now become my very own little allotment. I am pretty sure she has mixed feelings about me trudging through the house with muddy feet but it all pays off when the veggies arrive. I was busy in the garden yesterday as Sean Gallagher from patchworkveg.com installed 3 amazing raised veg boxes which are perfect for growing in. I will be showing you the pics from the full installation process during the week because these beds are ideal for people who haven't grown before! I am heading out to pick up some seeds today which can be sown this month, I will be picking up onions, cabbage, broad beans, peas, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, tomatoes and spinach. Another tip is that Lidl and Aldi both have really cool mini greenhouse sets you can pick up on offer at the moment, they are perfect for starting seeds out and mean you can keep them outside without the frost getting at them!
Since the launch of the book I have been asked to do quite a few kids school demonstrations, and although I was a little apprehensive at first, I have pretty much grown to love them. The amazing thing that I forget about everytime I do a demo, is just how excited they get about food, and not only that, but how much they actually take in, when you speak about food. Today a little guy, around 7 years old, bravely stuck up his hand during the demo, in front of all of his mates and asked me, what was the best healthy substitute for mayonnaise. I was totally taken aback because it just shows that these kids are really thinking about the food that is being cooked! Having grown up learning how to cook from a very early age, I guess I always took that sort of knowledge as granted and to a certain extent it was just a part of normal life for me. After reading recent reports that 1in 5 of Ireland's children are obese, it's quite disturbing to think that these kids with unhealthy diets are growing up without that sort of knowledge. Knowledge which could potentially change their lives and have a dramatic impact on their health both now and in the long run.
From what I can see on the TV and in the press, the problem with kids eating unhealthy diets doesn't lie with the schools, they can only do so much, the problem and the solution lies with the food routines set out by the parents at home. Which is why an emphasis has to be put on teaching those parents who can't cook, the basic meals and cooking habits which will set them up to run a healthy, happy household. I am of course coming to you from the viewpoint of someone who doesn't have kids and I don't mean to get all preachy on you, I know there are time constraints and all sorts of other factors to consider but when you see kids who have such an active interest in food you seriously have to question where the problem actually lies. What do you think?
Food politics aside, I started a brand new weekly food column with Cork based newspaper, The Cork News, a few weeks back and it has been getting a really great response so far! Here is the recipe from today's column!
Garlic and Rosemary Chicken with Roast Cherry Tomato Salad Although I do try to buy as much in season vegetables as possible I just can't resist using cherry tomatoes in this tasty little dish. The good thing about roasting the them is that it brings out the best from even the most tasteless tomatoes. By feeding them with a little sea salt, black pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar you are guaranteed little morsels packed with punchy flavour. It's dishes like this which are really simple and full of flavour that make mealtimes far more enjoyable and take the hassle out of cooking for groups. Feel free to adapt the recipe as you wish, try using different herbs, different salad leaves, just use what you have.
Serves 4 4 chicken breasts 6 cloves of garlic 2-3 sprigs of rosemary 4 tablespoons of olive oil A good pinch of ground black pepper A good pinch of sea salt
For the salad: 4 tablespoons of olive oil 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar A good pinch of ground black pepper A good pinch of sea salt 1 large punnet of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half 120g of rocket leaves 1 small red onion, finaly sliced Shavings of parmesan cheese to serve
In a bowl whisk together the olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the salad. Add the tomatoes to a large roasting tray cut side up, pour half the dressing over and toss to combine. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Place in an oven at 200oC/Gas Mark 6 for about 35 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced in size. While the tomatoes are roasting in the oven, in a pestle and mortar or with the back of a knife, crush the garlic cloves with a little sea salt, until you have a fine paste. Remove the leaves from the sprigs of rosemary, and add them with the mushed garlic, 4 tablespoons of olive oil, and chicken breasts to a bowl and allow to marinade while you prepare the rest of the salad ingredients. On a large hot griddle pan, fry the chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes either side, depending on the size, but just make sure they are cooked through. In a large bowl, toss together the rocket, roasted cherry tomatoes, red onion and remaining dressing. Serve alongside the chicken with some shavings of parmesan cheese.
The whole show went fantastically smooth but... disaster- I forgot my camera so no pics from the show unfortunately! But the video should be available on the RTE player tomorrow morning.
I cooked a few of my favourite recipes from the book and the blog, Chicken Thigh Supper, Med Veg with Bulgur Wheat, and one of the tastiest pastas, Sunblushed Tomato, Goats Cheese and Basil, Penne!
The pace on the Afternoon Show is quite relaxed and because you shop for your own ingredients it means you see the demo from start to finish and are a lot more hands on. I suppose, looking back, I was totally overwhelmed by the Market Kitchen experience, having never cooked on TV before and being surrounded by big names in the UK food world, whereas I have been interviewed on The Afternoon Show before when I was in Eurosong, so I knew the set up and I visited last week to watch another chef do their demonstration, which put me at ease!
After some late night cooking last night, I packed up my little car with all the ingredients and headed over to RTE, making a quick pit stop in Superquinn to grab some last minute items, a bottle of red wine, bulgur wheat and 2 aubergines! When I arrived it was just a case of setting up all the ingredients, choosing all the props, plates and bowls I needed from the prop room and just thinking through everything I needed.
We did a quick rehearsal and I met the lovely ladies, Maura and Sheana, who present the show and they were so nice, Sheana spent the afternoon telling me she loved the book and was definitely going to try some of the recipes! Before I knew it we were live and I was grinning like a fool down the lens of the camera and it turned out my old pal, Dustin The Turkey was on the show as well and he was a charming as ever, I gave him a few good turkey recipes before he left!
The funniest part of the whole experience was at the end of the show. I had been pre warned that the crew love getting stuck in to the food that's cooked on the show, but nothing prepared me for the eight people crowded around all the food like vultures digging in with forks! They all loved the food so happy days- empty plates are always the best form of a compliment for a cook!
