So it turns out, I love twitter! I never thought I would get into using it, but with so many great foodies using it, there is always something that catches my attention. Even some famous celebrity chefs use it, including Jamie Oliver who keeps his extremely active, with the help of a dedicated web team, I'm sure! Twitter also seems to be the first point of call for food bloggers to notify you when they have a new post on their blog, so it saves trawling through your favourites to search for updates. Just a few of my favourite food related twitterers to follow: @Jamie_Oliver- Jamie's twitter page runs competitions, and links to lots of great recipes. @Deliciousmag- UK's Delicious. magazine also tweets! Behind the scenes stuff about the running of a food magazine! @MarthaStewart- real life tweets from the American domestic godess! @Tastespotting- Keeps you up to date with the latest submissions on one of my favourite food sites. @Thefoodnetwork- American Food Channel tweets about all things foodie, with lots of great links to recipes.
There are way too many food bloggers I am following already to mention but if I'm not following you, let me know if your on twitter in the comments! If you want to follow my tweets I'm over at: @Donalskehan
Thank you all for entering the competition via twitter, facebook and right here on the blog. But the wait is over, I can now announce that the lucky winners, chosen at random, are....
Twitter: @lottiegirlx Facebook: Barbara Scully Blog: Deirdre Walsh
Stay tuned more exciting competitions coming up very very soon! :)
Things are a bit hectic here in the kitchen, as I'm doing a lot of photographs for the book myself. I'm trying to juggle the writing, the cooking, the shooting and my day work all at once. It's a lot of work but it's finally paying off and there's nothing better than seeing the finished pictures up on my wall! The whole project is such a learning process, and I've really learned so much when it comes to the photography side of things. Apart from all that, we have sooooo much food in the fridge, even Sofie can't eat her way through it!
I'm still getting through all the photo's from Turkey, I have to get out of this snap happy habit I've fallen into! But until then you can check out my Flickr photostream, I've just added a link on the right hand side of the page, check it out!
Also I've joined the world of Twitter, but I'm things are looking a little bit lonely over there at the moment, partly because I'm not fully sure how to use it, so if you're a member drop me a line and hopefully I can figure out what to do!
So I thought I would keep things fairly simple for the first twinnerparty menu, nothing too extravagant but still jam packed with great flavours and tastes. I will be posting the recipes in the next few days so you can familiarise yourselves with them and then on Friday I will post a handy little shopping list to make things even easier. The important thing to remember is not to fuss over this, the whole idea of the twinnerparty is to get you into the kitchen cooking and serving up some tasty dishes for friends or family. If you don't want to follow the recipes exactly, if you don't have exactly 6 guests coming, if your friends don't twitter, don't worry! Just enjoy the whole thing and if it all goes to pieces it makes for all the more entertaining tweets! Not that it will of course, I have faith in you! Don't forget I'm on twitter@donalskehan, so if there is any problems with the menu, recipes, shopping lists, or cooking I will do my best to tweet you back asap!
So without further ado, here it is the world's first twinnerparty menu!
Just a quick note to say that after being lazy for a long time, I have finally updated the recipe archive with all the latest recipes and I have have a lovely fancy logo to link to my twitter. Enjoy! :)
After yesterdays quick dip in aid of pancake day, I'm back with another Chinese recipe today! Were doing a bit of filming this week, so the blog is kind of on auto pilot, but I hope you haven't noticed. Just a quick reminder that the plans for the next twitter dinner are well underway so I would love to hear your suggestions for the menu- leave a comment below with your ideas! :)
Ginger and Garlic Braised Bok Choy I absolutely love Bok Choy, and although a completely foreign vegetable, it takes extremely well to growing in my vegetable garden! There are so many ways to make the best of this great vegetable, and for me, more often than not, it ends up as a regular ingredient to a quick and tasty stir fry, with lots of other fresh veggies. This braised Bok Choy recipe is a fantastic way to enjoy it, making it a perfect side dish to any main Chinese meal.
Serves 2 4 bok choy, sliced in quarters 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil 1 clove of garlic, sliced thinly A thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced thinly 1 teaspoon of sugar 1 teaspoons of sesame oil 1 teaspoon of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
Heat a wok over a high heat, add the oil to coat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the bok choy and stir fry for 1 minute. Sprinkle over the sugar, and pour in 60ml of water, toss everything to combine. Bring the wok to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for 3 minutes or until the bok choy is tender. Finally add the sesame oil and oyster sauce, stir it through until everything is coated and serve straight away.
YIPEE!!! On Saturday night... wait for it... I won the best Irish Food Blog gong at the Irish Blog Awards! They gave me a trophy! A REAL LIFE TROPHY! I have to admit I didn't expect to get so caught up in the whole thing, but when they were calling out the nominees, my heart was pounding. In all the excitement, being a blog awards newbie and not really knowing the crowd I kept the eh... speech (if you could call it that) short and sweet but realised that I forgot to mention all the folks I should have thanked!
So a massive thank you to everyone who nominated the blog, I really appreciate you taking the time to do so. To everyone who comments on the recipes and posts, you make my day! To all those on twitter and facebook who put up with my constant blog plugging and of course, best of all, the people who have tried recipes! Nothing makes me more happy than to hear what people have cooked from the blog and the book. To Damien and the lads who organised the ceremony, you guys did a fantastic job, I will be coming back! A big thanks also goes to the amazing sponsors of the Food/Drink category, Bord Bia, the lovely ladies gave me great support at the awards and have been so helpful over the last few months, sourcing fantastic Irish food suppliers and providing super advice!
A big shout out has to go out to my fellow food bloggers, a group which is growing quite steadily, hopefully we will have a big day out in the not too distant future! And of course to the rest of the nominees in the food/drink category, everyone who was long listed, short listed, and those who weren't.
Finally, I am going to take this opportunity to apologise to everyone who has sat starving waiting while I faff about with my camera trying to make food look beautiful for the blog, now hopefully you can see it was worthwhile! :)
It's been a pretty wild week, I have so many photos to edit that I just haven't got around to, but hopefully normal posting will resume tomorrow! Right, I'm off to tuck the trophy in to bed, it's still settling in, but I have a feeling were going to become great friends! :)
After a fairly busy weekend the majority of my worldly belongings have been moved into our new house! The bad news we got today however is that it's going to take a whopping 25 days to get broadband installed in the house because there hasn't been a line there since 1994. So a life of robbing other peoples internet is what's on the cards for the next 25 days. Which isn't a bad thing really, I mean I would get far more things done if I wasn't drooling over my new favourite food blog What Katie Ate and talking crap on twitter. The truth is that I will probably far more focused now on cooking in the kitchen without my laptop keys getting covered in flour, corners nearly being singed and screen getting a lovely smattering of grease.
We should really talk about the kitchen, it is a bit of a work in progress but there is lots and lots of light and space so in the next few days I'll be adding a few touches to make it perfect and then you most definitely will be due a photo or two. Very exciting stuff! The other advantage this new lovely house has is a big back garden, which at the moment looks like an overgrown jungle, but with a bit of work, by next spring will make the perfect little vegetable garden! Right enough new house talk how about a recipe?
Rustic Apple and Blackberry Galettes These are one of my favorite little autumnal (yes I said autumnal, it rolls off the tongue doesn't it!) desserts, because they are really easy and make you look like a baking genius, when, realistically all you do is make some pastry and fill it with apples and blackberries. No messing around with blind baking, pie tins, or fancy latticing here, this is a no fuss dessert which you have to serve with cream or, even better, a soft scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Serves 4 Pastry: 250g of plain flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 140g of chilled butter, cut into pieces 1 large egg yolk 3 tablespoons of cold water
Filling: 250g of blackberries 250g of cooking apples, peeled and sliced thinly 4 tablespoons of light brown sugar A good squeeze of lemon juice 1 egg whisked together with a drop of milk to brush on the galettes
Add the flour, sugar, salt and butter to a mixing bowl. Using your fingertips, combine the dry ingredients with the butter, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. This can take time, but don't worry the mixture will come together. Add the egg yolk and water and form the dough using your hands. Press the dough into a sausage shape and cover it in clingfilm, place in the fridge to chill for at least 30-40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190oC/Gas mark 5. Mix together the blackberries, apples, sugar, and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside. Split the dough in four and roll each quarter out into 6"/15cm circles on a floured work surface with a rolling pin. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet with a non stick surface. Add a handful of the blackberry apple mix to the centre of each pastry circle and fold the sides of the pastry up and over the sides of the fruit mix. Brush with the pastry with egg wash and place in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool before serving with a dollop of thick, cool whipped cream and dust with a little icing sugar.
I hope you have been encouraged to get your hands on this book after all the fab recipes, I have been posting this week. If you are looking for a great baking book this is it! It's filled with delicious recipes for everything from biscuits, pastries and cakes to breads, crisp breads and accompanying jams and sauces. Leila explores new exciting flavor combinations, such as chocolate cupcakes and toffee and pecan pie which are featured alongside classics like muffins, meringues and cheesecake as well as nine different flavorings for basic sponge cakes. Recipes for brioche, fougasse from Provence, sourdough baguette and nine types of scones are mixed with healthy rolls, Danish rye bread, Leila's delicious lingonberry loaf and a whole range of tempting little cakes. Are you convinced yet? :)
Well the exciting news is I have 3 copies to giveaway! You can enter over on twitter by tweeting your favourite thing to bake followed by the hash tag #iloveleila and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your favourite thing to bake! To be in with a chance of getting your hands on this fantastic prize here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.
Where is Leila Lindholm from? A: Sweden B: Norway C: Denmark
Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close on Monday evening (1st of March) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!
If you keep track of my foodie goings on via twitter you may have read that on Monday I took a drive up to Carnaross in Co. Meath to visit the headquarters of Sheridans Cheesemongers. In this quick video the lovely Elisabeth Ryan from Sheridans talks us through her choices for her Christmas cheese board. I will be posting full details on each cheese with more details so stay tuned!
2009 has been a fairly spectacular year indeed, between the band, the book, and lots and lots of cooking I have never been so busy in my life, but it has been totally worth it! Here's my run down of 2009 highlights!
- Started the year flying high as Peter Pan in the Tivoli theatre's panto. - Putting together plans for a mixed pop group. - Forming Industry with Lee Hutton, Michele McGrath, and Morgan Deane! Favourite Recipe: Roast Garlic Potatoes
- Going to Stockholm to record Industry's first single, "My Baby's Waiting". - Received first draft of Good Mood Food, the book. - Pancake season! - Went to Stockholm to support my Swedish superstar buddy sing at the Swedish Eurovision selection. - A name was finally chosen for Industry, thankfully 4DB was thrown out the window. - Going to Stockholm again to record very first music video, for "In Your Arms". - Doing first photoshoot as a band- very glamorous. Favourite Recipe: Chocolate Chip Oreo Cupcakes
- Was busy working on what I thought were the final drafts of the book. - Planned my very first attempt at a vegetable garden. - Planted Dill, Fennel, Pak Choi, Broad Beans, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Red Cabbage, Cabbage, Cos Lettuce, Rosemary. - Submitted last photos for the book. - Made first public outing as Industry on the red carpet at the Meteor Irish Music Awards. - Went for a walk on the cliffs every morning this month. - Blog got 10,000 unique visitors in one day, was very excited. Favourite Recipe: Bacon Avocado and Sundried Tomato Sandwich
- Got my very first blog/book press. - Back to Stockholm to record more tracks with Industry. - Flew to Spain to record music video for Industry's "My Baby's Waiting". - Took a little break in Gothenberg with Sofie. - Submitted what I thought was the last draft of the book. - Fell in love with dried Mango... mmmm... mango. Favourite Recipe: Red Onion and Garlic Focaccia
- Got the BBQ out early for Mays mini heat wave. - Back to Stockholm again to record more tracks with Industry. - Shot the final cover for the book with the help of Erica and Sofie. - Performed with Industry at our press launch at The Sugar Club in Dublin. - Industry's single got it's very first airplay on 2fm. - Got a blackberry phone. - Sang Kate Bush wuthering heights in falsetto on radio, not pleasant but very funny. - Discovered Flahavans porridge pots which kept me alive and well on the road. Favourite Recipe: BBQ Cajun Spatchcock Chicken
- Got to finally visit Cork's English Market. - Went to Ireland's Eye with Morgan and Lee for my birthday. - Found a brill table to shoot food on. - My annoying but hilarious fight with the birds and the strawberries. - Lee buying male Ugg boots. - Got introduced to Dave Peelo, the toughest fitness trainer you ever did see. - Industry's first single "My Baby's Waiting" went straight in at number one in the Irish charts. - Performed at the Ms. Universe competition. Favourite Recipe: Warm Chorizo, Red Onion and Baby Potato Salad
- Went to LA with James, Morgan and Sofie. - Got upgraded on the flight over but had to slum it on the way back. - Saw the massive amount of tributes to Michael Jackson at his house and his Hollywood star. - Went surfing with my Uncle Niall on Santa Monica beach. - Did a photo shoot for VIP magazine, blue steel was out in force. - Went to outdoor yoga in Stephens Green in Dublin. - Supported the Pussycat Dolls at the Killarney Summerfest. - Sent off the final final final edits of the book. - Visited the republics very first Ikea store. - Recorded music video for Industry's second single "Burn" at the amazing Grouse Lodge studios. Favourite Recipe: Sticky Mustard Chicken Drumsticks
- Went on a romantic little bank holiday break in a cottage near Carlingford. - Co-hosted the South East Radio breakfast show with the brill Tony Scott and Industry. - Became a regular contributor with Irish Tatler. - Industry's second single "Burn" went to number one. - Supported Tynchi Stryder in Tralee, as you do. - Had a brill getaway anniversary weekend in Castle Leslie, massages all round. Favourite Recipe: Asian Teriyaki Chicken Salad
- Started tweeting 140 character recipes on my twitter. - Appeared on RTE's Ice with Industry. - Performed at the Barretstown Charity Bandana launch. - Went blackberry picking with Maisie the cupcake queen. - Picked up my copy of Good Mood Food! - Recorded 3 new tracks with Industry at the amazing Grouse Lodge recording studios. Favourite Recipe: Oriental Steak Salad
- Picked up my brand new camera, the Canon 5d Mark ii. - Saw the book in shops for the first time, rearranged the shelves. - Appeared on the front page of the Irish Examiner. - Did lots and lots of radio interviews about the book. - Went mushroom hunting with Aoife. - Went back to school to do a cupcake demonstration at my old school. - Interview on Tubridy with Ryan Tubridy about the book. - Got a text from Michele to tell me she nearly fell over when she saw a giant poster of me in the window of Dubray Books on Grafton Street in Dublin! - Did the official launch of the book in Dubray Books on Grafton street in Dublin. - Appeared on RTE's The Cafe with Industry. - Went to Gothenburg and visited a Swedish bakery. - Interview with Ian Dempsey on Today FM. Favourite Recipe: Blackberry Vanilla Cupcakes
- Upgraded my old desk, for a new fancy one from IKEA. - Wrote my very first food column for the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine. - Finally made a vision board. - Became obsessed with one of the kitchens in IKEA. - Heard that The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten has a copy of Good Mood Food. - Did a cookery demonstration at an all girls school. - Assistant food stylist on a Christmas food shoot. Favourite Recipe: Crispy Hasselback Potatoes
- All the brill Christmas food press. - Feature in the lovefood magazine with fellow Irish food bloggers, Italian Foodies, Cheap Eats, and Daily Spud. - Visit to a free range turkey farm. - Massive Christmas baking session with Erica and Maisie. - Getting a video of the book launch from Darragh. - Visit to Sheridans cheese, I am now hooked on cheese. - Skiing with Sofie in Gothenburg. - Jul pa Liseberg. - Christmas in Sweden Favourite Recipe: Avocado, Parmesan and Rocket Pasta
Thanks so much to all who read this blog for all the support, comments and emails this year, and I hope I'll be keeping you cooking all through 2010!
Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, the world's first...
Twinnerparty!
What, I hear you ask is a twinnerparty, well put simply, it is a dinner party via social network, twitter. The aim is to get people connecting via the magic of the social networking through cooking and eating together. It also gives people who haven't cooked for guests before, the support and advice of others who have! A big supportive cooking community so to speak! The idea is that everyone who decides to take part shops together, cooks together, and eats together all via the magic of tweeting! A set 3 course menu for six people will be decided upon and I will post the recipes and a simple shopping list here on the blog before the big day.
What you have to do! - Invite 5 guests to eat your dishes, preferably ones who tweet! - Tweet while you shop! - Tweet while you cook! - Tweet photos of your finished dishes if you can!
The first event will take place next Saturday the 23rd of January and everyone is invited! I will post the set dinner menu next week with recipes and a shopping list. Throughout the big day I will be on hand to help with any cooking emergencies that may arise and to offer advice if it's needed! Tweet me to let me know if you want to take part or leave a comment below! Looking forward to tweating with you! ;)
One of my favourite food related movies has to be "Waitress" it's full of beautiful imagery and has a cute little story to match! The story is based around Jenna who is a waitress, trapped in an unhappy marriage, her one escape is creating and baking the most amazing, inventive pies you could imagine. If you haven't seen this great movie make sure to go out and rent it, it's not deeply intellectual but it's a warm, clever and cute one which serves a purpose, here's the trailer:
I was searching on the internet a few weeks ago for some of the fantastic recipes from the movie and it turns out when the movie was first released, promo cards were printed with 5 of the pie recipes! I stuck the link up on my twitter and it got a great reaction with lots of retweets, so much so it inspired a group of us on there to start our very own blog event! So I would like to proudly introduce to the first monthly:
We had originally planned to just bake the pies from the movie, but as time went on we thought it would be great to try and start something that others could join in too. So I hope you enjoy this post, and stick a comment below and let me know if you would be interested in joining us next month for the great big pie bake off!
Check out the other bloggers and their pies from the movie: Lori: Recipegirl - I Can't Have No Affair Because It's Wrong & I Don't Want Earl To Kill Me Pie Sandie: Inn Cuisine - I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby Pie Tiffany: The Nesting Project - Falling In Love Pie Patsy: Family, Food Friends- Baby Screamin’ Its Head Off In The Middle Of The Night; Ruinin’ My Life Pie
Marshmallow Mermaid Pie
This is definitely a once a year pie, it is most likely one of the most unhealthy desserts I have ever cooked in my life! Saying all that, it is delicious and extremely therapeautic to make. This is the orignal recipe but I used digestive biscuits in the place of graham crackers and toasted dessicated coconut on a baking tray in the oven.
Serves 8 9 graham crackers 1/2 Cup sweetened, flaked coconut, toasted 5 tablespoons. butter or margarine, melted 34 marshmallows (8 oz.) 1/2 cup whole milk 1 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine coconut and graham crackers in food processor until coarse crumbs form. Combine crumbs and butter with fork. Press to bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes and cool on wire rack. Heat marshmallows and milk in 3-qt. saucepan over low heat until smooth, stirring constantly. Remove saucepan from heat. Cool completely (30 minutes.) In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat cream until stiff peaks form. Fold marshmallow mixture into whipped cream with grated chocolate. Spoon filling into cooled crust. Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours or overnight. Top with mini marshmallows, maraschino cherries and rainbow sprinkles.
So I guess you are totally intrigued by Kooky Dough at this stage! How about getting your hands on some? Yes? Ok well Sophie has promised me 3 of these super cute cookie jars filled with the 3 rolls of Kooky Dough!
You can enter over on twitter by tweeting the most inventive use of Kooky Dough followed by the hash tag #kookydoughrocks and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your inventive way to use Kooky Dough!
To be in with a chance of getting your hands on this fantastic prize right here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.
Which of these is not Kooky Dough flavour? A: Mint Chocolate B: Triple Chocolate C: Blueberry and White Chocolate
Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close on Wednesday evening (18th of March) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!
Yes we arrived safe and sound on Saturday morning and to settle in to Parisian life we spent a lovely evening with some old friends in their home just outside the city. I am here as you probably have read in my earlier post to cook for 500 people on Wednesday night at an event called Foodstock organised by Parisian magazine, Le Fooding. Knowing that the few days before the big night would be a little crazy, I thought it would be important to have the weekend to get reacquainted with the city I loved so much during my teens. One of the biggest things for me, was to come back with a really good camera and photograph the amazing scenery.
When I spent some time here during my teens I used to sketch things and I guess that was how I interpreted the beauty, but now I am back armed with my trusty Canon 5 MK II and there is no stopping me! Of course, the other thing to note since I was last here, is my increased interest in food, while I would have been preoccupied with the sights and sounds of this stunning city, I may have overlooked the vast and varied amount of endless foodie haunts to be discovered. As if to make up for the shortsighted choices of my teens, we spent the whole of Sunday trawling through as many of the foodie recommendations as possible, which had been made to me by people on twitter, our Parisian friends and of course the lovely Noreen from Bord Bia.
First stop on the list was the amazing Raspail Organic Market which is based on Boulevard Raspail quite close to St. Germain de Pres. After a somewhat failed attempt at searching for foodie stops the day before, it was an absolute pleasure to walk up the steps from the metro right into the market itself, which at 10am on a Sunday, was already a hive of activity. It is quite clear that while the rest of world is still shivering with the cold, spring has most certainly sprung in Paris, with bunches of daffodils being sold for €1 each, the trees above the market showing signs of buds already, and of course the fantastic array of new season produce on offer at the stands. The market which operates normally on a Tuesday and Friday morning, changes things up on a Sunday and provides only organically grown produce. Apparently it is where the jet set shop, on Le weekend, and Sofie claims to have spotted Christian Audigier but I'm not so sure!
There was truly a wonderful selection of fresh vegetables and mouthwatering fruit and nothing gets me more excited than seeing such a wide array on offer. My only problem is I want to cook it all, but have nowhere to cook, so I have promised myself the next time I come to the city, we will rent a place with a beautiful kitchen to make some fantastic dishes fresh from the market.
As if there wasn't enough excitement from the fruit and vegetable stalls, there was amazing cheese on offer from countless stalls, with one of the stands offering samples of a delicious soft cheese on top of some crusty bread, and a really gutsy butcher counter with cuts of meat which would scare off even the toughest Irish supermarket shopper!
We came to the end of the market with our mouths watering and just in time for Le petit dejuener! In a small cafe nearby, I ordered the simple French dish of crepes avec fromage et jambon (savoury pancakes with cheese and ham) which certainly hit the spot as we watched people walk past with bags full of ingredients ready to cook up a big Sunday lunch!
If you follow me on twitter, you will probably be sick of me talking about it, but we (Industry) are currently on tour with JLS for their tour dates in Ireland. It makes a stark contrast to all the cooking I have been doing lately! The one question I have been asked the most since the book came out is which I prefer, the singing or the cooking, and to be honest after Saturday night, when we performed in Dublin's o2 arena, the singing gives the cooking a good run for its money! Though I think I will always have that hunger for performing on stage, it is just one of the most amazing feelings to stand in front of a crowd that size and sing! All the excitement and nerves aside, I have been managing to eat really well despite the lack of time, and these noodles are just one of the dishes which have kept the band well fed the last few days.
Crunchy Peanut Satay Noodles I am a huge fan of Asian flavours, and I absolutely love exploring Asian supermarkets to find new weird and wonderful ingredients. Noodles are one of my favourite things to buy there, and there are so many varieties to choose from thin rice vermicelli to the thick chunky udon noodles I use in this dish. You can use whatever noodles you can get your hands on for this recipe, and don't be afraid to experiment with the veggies, just use what you have, Chinese cabbage, carrot, or bok choy all work really nicely here. The beauty of this recipe is that it is just basically combining all these fantastic flavours with noodles and fresh veg which gives it that extra crunch factor!
Serves 2 400g of udon noodles 1/2 cucumber, sliced thinly 1 red pepper, sliced thinly 5 spring onions, sliced finely diagonally A handful of salted peanuts, roughly chopped
For the peanut sauce: 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil 1 clove of garlic, finely minced 1 small thumb sized piece of ginger, finely minced 1 small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 200ml coconut milk 3 tablespoons of soy sauce Juice of 1 lime 3 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter
Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the pack, rinse under cold water, drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a small sauce pot, add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for about 30-40 seconds stirring continuously. Add in the coconut milk, lime juice, peanut butter and soy sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring to melt the peanut butter, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked noodles to a large mixing bowl and add in the spring onions, red pepper, and cucumber. Pour in the peanut sauce and toss all the ingredients together until combined. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts and some extra sliced spring onion.
Follow all the folks taking part in the world's first Twitter dinner party over here. Everyone has been busy cooking all day today and now we will all be enjoying these delicious dishes:
As I mentioned over on twitter the Swedes celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December and Santa Claus personally delivers all the presents in person which was a very strange experience altogether! When I was living in Sweden a few years ago I worked briefly as a chef at a Christmas buffet which is more commonly known over here as a Julbord, so I have my fair share of knowledge when it comes to traditional Swedish Christmas food. However having never actually experienced a Swedish Christmas I was totally unprepared for the non food traditions!
When we arrived at Sofie's grandparents house on the big day, we got straight to work on a red cabbage carrot salad we had promised to make, to add to the table. There was 14 people for dinner so the kitchen was already a hive of activity by the time we arrived. Halfway through preparing the salad, we were whisked into the sitting room to sit and watch "Kalle Anka" which is a collection of Disney cartoons, shown at the same time every year! I was informed that across the country every other family would be doing exactly the same thing! So we all sat and watched Donald Duck wish us a happy Christmas and waited anxiously for dinner to be served and for a visit from Santa!
After the cartoons ended, we all headed towards the kitchen where the whole table had been set out with a huge spread of delicious Christmas food. The Christmas ham which had been boiled and baked with a mustard topping, boiled eggs with caviar, good old Swedish meatballs, Brussel sprouts, beetroot salad, boiled potatoes, and a selection of Swedish cheeses with Knackebrod all made an appearance on the huge table of food! One of the dishes which is a little strange for foreign visitors is Jansson, which is like a shredded version of potato gratin with anchovies, it's really delicious! Unlike Christmas dinner at home, we all served ourselves buffet style, and then sat down to eat.
When everyone had helped themselves to seconds and were finally finished them, we all sat back on the sofa and waited for the big fella to arrive! Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE!) was excited, as Sofie's youngest cousins who were stuck to window, managed to peel themselves off the glass in time to shout to the rest of us, that Santa was here! He clumped into the room and sat down, Sofie's grandad served him a big glass of schnapps and he got straight down to business giving out the presents! Sofie told me that this was the first year he had ever spoken English so he must have known I was there! :) His English was so good that he even managed to sing a verse of "We wish you a merry Christmas" every time he gave out a present. The only problem was that when he gave out a present you had to go up to him and sit on his knee, where he bounced you up and down while singing the song! Even the grandparents weren't left out!
After Santa left, we all sat around the sitting room and everyone opened their presents one by one, another Swedish Christmas tradition! While this is a lovely thought, in theory, and everyone gets to see each others gifts, it took us two hours to get through everyone's presents! I suppose it's much more pleasant than the Irish tradition of everyone ripping into their presents as quick as possible!
When the presents were all opened and thoroughly appreciated we were served the final meal of the day, Ris A La Malta, which is like a rice pudding with cream and vanilla sugar served with orange segments. I have a particular fondness for this dessert as it was always my job to make it at the Julbord! Overall my first Christmas away from home was great fun and it was brilliant to experience something new but I have to say it was really strange to celebrate the big day before the big day!
Christmas has well and truly started for me and I am already addicted to Christmas FM which plays non stop Christmas tunes 24 hours a day! Last year I was Peter Pan in a panto in Dublin, which meant I was working right the way up until the big day, so I kinda missed out on the Christmas cooking. This year I have some time off so I'm going to be cooking up a storm, I have mince pies, christmas pudding, traditional glazed ham, and cheats Christmas dinner recipes to put up on the blog which got me thinking- Is there any Christmas recipes you would like to see up on the blog? If so leave me a comment below or say hello on twitter or facebook!
While all this festive food is fine, I have been taking a break and finally got a chance to try the amazing Lor from my favourite Irish blog Italian Foodies' recipe for Carbonara. It's such a simple recipe which is so easy to throw together and you just have to try it! She nearly killed me when I told her I used cream, but sure it was in the fridge, it would have gone to waste! I also added a little garlic but don't tell her! :) Check out the recipe on Lor's blog: Italian Foodies.
I hope you enjoyed Gizzi's recipes on the blog the week before last, I managed to grab Gizzi for a quick interview, this girl is busy! :)
So people will probably know you as one of the cook yourself thin girls, but "Gizzi's Kitchen Magic" is your first solo cookbook, are you the Geri Halliwell of the group? What do the rest of the girls think of the book? Haha! God, I hope not. Cook yourself thin came to a mutual end as the 4 of us. Both Harry and Sophie have been super supportive of it. I loved both of their books too. I am actually the last one to bring a book out, not the first!
I love the way the book is full of such great tips at the start of each chapter, but as we all know cooking in the kitchen doesn't always go to plan, what was the worst kitchen disaster you have come across? Oh Man, too many for words. In fact it was stressing out at skills and the way I was taught to be such a perfectionist at catering school that made me rebel and want to write a technical book that would be understood by everyone and take pressure of cooks. You see, my nemesis was pastry and this was because your told that the best pastry is short, and to be short it is not that wet and a pain to work with. After too many times of my pastry falling apart when trying to line a tart dish, I thought sod it, I want to make a pastry that I can handle and Gizzi's kitchen magic was born. A techniques book, where the techniques have been rewritten for the modern person. Someone who wants to cook, but wants to avoid disasters. At the beginning of each chapter there is a lowdown of how not to balls things up and then it turns into inspiring recipes in the way most of us are used to in other cook books.
There are a lot of family inspired dishes in the book but what was the selection process for the recipes in the book like? Well, the great thing about doing a book based around techniques is that it gives you quite a lot of scope for different types of food. Your right about family inspired dishes. I have a bonkers Mother who was always experimenting in the kitchen so our childhood favs were a bit more original. I think that has stayed with me in my food. I love the classics but like a bit of a spin on them.
Do you have a favourite meal from childhood that you love to recreate today with your own little twist? My favourite is 'Chicken in weeds'. Its a really light fragrant curry that is spiked with ginger and lemon and the weeds part comes in from bounds of fresh coriander. It kicks arse!
As the summer is nearly upon on us, what sort of dishes are you looking forward to cooking? I am looking forward to doing some slow roasting on the barbeque. The Brits are hopeless at barbeques. I have worked on so many American barbeque books I am pretty damn nifty with some hot coals and a pair of tongs. We tend to use a barbeque as a grill, but in the states they make use of the lid and use it as a smoking oven. I have slow cooked shoulders of pork and legs of lamb and they are just exceptional. The tip is to get the coals white hot and then move them to the edge of the BBQ. Brown the meat all over with the lid off, then put the lid on and it'll slow roast for about 5-6 hours. Beyond amaze. also grill some bread dough on a barbeque and drizzle it with barbequed garlic oil.
There seems to be quite a lot competition in terms of lovely ladies in the cooking department, what sets you apart from the Nigella's and Rachel Allen's of world? Apart from my age, style (being heavily tattooed and into 60s music and punk) and way of cooking, I am much more immersive. I want to get mucky and learn stuff as I go.
Every foodie has a favourite place to visit in the world for inspiration and delicious dishes, where is yours and why? Well I spent loads of time in Thailand as a teen and have an affinity with Thai food, but am desperate to get to Japan and Vietnam, neither of which I have seen, but both producing some of my favourite food. I tell you what though. New York has some stupendous restaurants and a fabulous way of eating. I love the whole raw bar: oysters, clams, sashimi ect followed by really indulgent classics like a truffled fois gras burger.
What are the plans for "Kitchen Magic" will you be recording a TV series? Were in talks, but I am currently filming my own show with Channel 4 which comes out in June and on Iron chef for a week in May as well as being a regular on This morning, so its all going tickity boo!
Thanks for the interview Gizzi, is there anything you'd like to say to the readers of the blog? Just that I hope you like the book and a mega thank you to all that have supported me, including your fine self Donal.
I have three copies of Gizzi's fantastic new book "Kitchen Magic" up for grabs and you can enter over on twitter by tweeting about your best kitchen tip followed by the hash tag #gizzierskine and on "The Good Mood Food Blog" facebook page by telling me your favourite kitchen tip!
To be in with a chance of getting your hands on the book right here on the blog, all you gotta do is answer this simple question.
Gizzi is best know from which Channel 4 TV show? A: Eat Yourself Thin B: Cook Yourself Thin C: You Are What You Eat
*COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*
Please note that by entering this competition, you will be signing up for The Good Mood Food Blog newsletter, but if you don't wish to subscribe, please put "NS" after your answer. The competition will close this evening (27th of April) at 9.30pm. Only one entry per person please!
