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Sofie recently turned 22 and to celebrate her mom and brother came over to visit. Since we are always treated to some tasty traditional Swedish dishes when we visit them, I thought I would try and serve something traditionally Irish for our first meal! One of the few dishes that I know well as being traditionally Irish is this Irish Stew.

We always had it growing up and I’m sure most homes across the country were the same. I used to have a serious problem with the potatoes, insisting they were picked out before I was served- much to my mom’s disgust!

There are many different takes on this recipe with many using lamb instead of beef, but this is the one we grew up with. I actually rang my mom the other day for the recipe, and she got a little bit excited and started adding all sorts of mad vegetables to it to make it more exciting, but at the end of the day Irish stew is Irish stew, so I’ve tried to keep it simple! Just like mammy used to make- without parsnips thank you very much! ;)

Irish Stew
This is a really tasty one pot dinner which is perfect for cold winter evenings. Ask your butcher for stew steak, which is normally available, but you can also use any other cheap cuts of meat. This recipe serves 6 people and you will need a large casserole.

3 tablespoons of wholemeal flour.
3 teaspoons of ground black pepper.
1 ½ pounds of stew steak.
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil.
4 large carrots, chopped roughly.
2 large onions, chopped into half moon pieces.
1 ½ litres of beef stock.
A good pinch of sea salt.
2 bay leaves.
5 large potatoes peeled and sliced into 1cm discs.
A good handful of freshly chopped parsley.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/390˚F/Gas 6.
Place the stew steak, wholemeal flour, and black pepper in a resealable plastic bag. Seal the bag and give it a good shake so that all the steak pieces have a nice coating of flour and pepper. Heat a large frying pan with a good glug of sunflower oil and brown half the steak pieces. Transfer the steak pieces to the casserole. Repeat with the rest of the meat.
Fry the onions in the meat juices on the pan for 2 minutes, adding an extra drop of oil if necessary. Transfer the onions to the casserole. Add in the carrots, beef stock, sea salt, bay leaves, and stir through. Add the potato slices on top, season with a generous amount of black pepper and cover with the lid. Transfer the casserole to the oven and cook for 1 ½ hours.
Serve straight from the casserole to some large bowls with some tasty wholemeal bread. Sprinkle the parsley on top and enjoy!

All this week I will be out and about promoting the book, and this morning I am on Limerick's Live95FM. They asked me to pick out my favourite breakfast recipe from the book for their breakfast show so I had to go with my all time favourtie breakfast muffins! But these aren't any regular light and empty muffins, these babies packed full of chunky oats, bursting blueberries and bananas to keep you on the move!

Blueberry and Banana Breakfast Muffins

Healthy muffins are perfect for a quick breakfast on the go. These blueberry and banana muffins are packed
with healthy ingredients, which will keep you going for any busy morning. I normally make them the night before I have them and grab one or two just before I leave the house.

Makes 12 muffins
125g/4½oz blueberries
2 bananas, mashed
125g/4½oz plain flour
75g/3oz wholemeal flour
200g/7oz rolled oats
75g/3oz brown sugar
250ml/8½fl oz milk
2 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, rolled oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar.
Create a well in the dry ingredients and add the banana, egg yolks, milk and oil.
Mix everything gently until a wet batter forms.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
Fold the egg whites and blueberries into the muffin batter until everything is mixed evenly.
Divide the muffin mix into individual paper cases and place in an oven for 25 minutes at 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
The muffins should be fine to eat for 4–5 days and can easily be frozen in zip lock bags.

Irish Brown Yeast Bread
This has to be one of the easiest bread recipies in the world with no kneading it’s a no brainer! The loaf can be frozen and defrosted when needed and is the perfect accompaniment to a hearty soup or made into a chunky sandwich. For anyone hooked on white bread this is a really healthy alternative and you can also add rolled oats sprinkled on top for an extra crunch.

450g of wholemeal flour.
1 teaspoon of salt.
1 7g sachet of dried yeast.
1 teaspoon of treacle.
15 Fl Oz of warm water.
A small handful of mixed seeds

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Dissolve the treacle in the warm water and add to the dry mix. With a large spoon combine the ingredients until it forms a wet mixture. Turn the mixture into an oiled and floured loaf tin, sprinkle with seeds and cover with cling film or a damp tea towel. Place in a warm spot to allow the yeast to do its work for approx 20 mins. Cook in the oven for about 45-50 mins at Gas Mark 7/ 220oC. You will know when the loaf is done when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow.
The bread is quite moist and will last for anything up to a week, you can store it in an airtight container. It also freezes brilliantly for up to a month, so you could also make a few extra to save for later.

Photos: Jocasta Clarke

Ok so hands up you got me, burritto's are not exactly gourmet cuisine, but if you've been at work all day, and have little time to prepare for guests, sometimes this is perfectly acceptable. After all, if it's healthy and fresh, there can't be too many complaints really, can there? I have in the past spent a lot of time in preparing for having guests over, but as time has gone on the easiest and most enjoyable nights are the ones, that seemed almost efortless.

Here is a quick recipe for speedy burritto's!

Mood Food Burrito's!

1. 250g of Minced Beef or a packet of Quorn Mince
   
2. 2 Garlic Cloves minced
3. 1 tablespoon of Chili Powder
4. 1/4 tablespoon of Oregano
5. A good pinch of salt and pepper
6. Half a glass of water
   

1. 1 Packet of Wholemeal Flour Tortilla Wraps
2. 2 Peppers sliced thinly
3. 1 Red Onion sliced thinly
4. Punnet of Cherry Tomatoes halfed
5. 1 bag of mixed salad leaves
6. 1 Tin of Sweet Corn
7. Half a cucumber sliced thinly

To start, brown the the meat in a large frying pan, and season with the garlic, chilli, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the half glass of water and let simmer for about 8 mins.

Prepare the vegetables and heat the flour tortilla's.

And that's it, serve everything on the table and people can assemble their own burritto to their taste!

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

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

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

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

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

Although the Irish summer hasn't really been good to us so far- it does provide the odd worthwhile day of sunshine, when untanned arms and legs get out for the day and prove, they too can work a pair of shorts and a t-shirt! Yesterday was one of those days, and instead of missing the opportunity we jumped in head first to summer. We even kidnapped a dog!

Well almost, James, his owner was down at the Oxegen festival so we took pity on him and brought him with us. Sofie and I were joined by Michael and Senan on our little road trip which ended up at the hill of Tara. Now being the Swedish viking, my girlfriend is, she was highly unimpressed when we showed her the magic of one of Ireland's premier tourist attractions, a hill of mud. But she did set herself up for disappointment as we walked towards the hill, when she claimed she hadn't been that impressed with the Colosseum in Rome! I'm sorry to say that there is something fairly reminiscent to the hill of Tara and an episode of "Father Ted" when they all go to a funfair in "The Field" the whole place is even watched over by a flock of sheep...

For the picnic itself, I finally got to use my handy dandy food picnic carrying thing, which was one of the presents I got for my birthday. It was my mom's interpretation of the bento box I posted about back in Febuary, but the containers are way too big for just one person, so it's ideal for feeding about 4 people.

And after all that food what better activity to enjoy on a picnic than a spot of Kite Flying. Well the enjoyment only came after a long process of trying to get the bloody thing in the air, but when we finally got it up, it was great craic.

As for the food, I made some really quick and easy Mexican Quesadilla's (recipe below), tagliatelle with homemade tomato and basil sauce and the one desert recipe I can always put my faith in, Goeey Chocolate Puddings.

These Mexican Quesadilla's are not that healthy but they are a perfect party or snack food and even a simple little starter. You can spruce them up with whatever you like, a bit of chicken, sliced peppers but this is just the straight forward way of making them:


Mexican Quesidilla's

1. 6 Wholemeal Flour Tortilla Wraps.
2. 130g of Red Cheddar Cheese (Or enough to cover).
3. 6 Tbsp of Homemade Spicy Salsa Sauce (Store bought works just fine here too).
4. 1 Red Onion Sliced thinly.

Serve straight away or save for later, either way they still taste great!