This article is published in partnership with Tourism Nova Scotia, who sponsored this post. Tourism Nova Scotia are inviting us to dream now and travel later.

In 19 years in London, nearly 20, this will be the first year that I won’t have once left its boundaries. I have barely left my neighbourhood. Instead, my life was distilled to essentials and became very simple. That is a luxury I know. My work was affected but I didn’t lose my job. I don’t have kids to homeschool. I accept the changes, I understand the need to be still for a while and I am embracing it, as much as I can.

Short days and long dark nights give ample time to dream

Summer was easier, it was even lovely. Now it is winter. The days close early and my time outdoors is brief, if at all. As the days close further I withdraw and I start to daydream, as I love to do when I can steal a chance. I even dare to make plans. Loose plans, no dates. Expectations carefully managed. Plotting places I want to return to, people I want to see. Friends and family to reunite with.

It is a small tight list, built on top of my list of my lifetime, however long that will be. In there is a plan to visit Nova Scotia with friends. The idea of Nova Scotia was planted in my head many years ago by my father. Friends of his had relocated there, it sounded like a fascinating place. Then I made friends with Nova Scotians in London, and then more. They moved home and now I go to visit and explore, to soak up the culture, the terrific food and wine.

There is an easy familiarity between Irish people like myself and Nova Scotians. The same sense of fun, an easy-going attitude to life. The same love of story and song. Continue reading

Tacooooooooos! Not just any tacos but fried chicken tacos. And not just any fried chicken but jalapeño brined fried chicken.

It gets better. These are not just any tortillas but chicken fat tortillas with fat from last nights roast chicken. And that crumb? It is a gluten-free one that is so good, my gluten digesting friends choose it instead of regular breadcrumb or panko! It is so good and you won’t believe what it is! Continue reading

This is not a sponsored post but this recipe is part of some paid work that I am doing separately with Honest Grapes, so in the interest of full transparency, I am declaring that. I wanted to share the recipes here too! Also to let you know about the Instagram tasting (or! wine and food therapy session) we will be doing next Wednesday 30th September at 6.30pm. You can see (and order the wines, if you wish) on the Honest Grapes website.

Jump straight to the Chilli Roast Pumpkin, Halloumi, Cavolo Nero and Pomegranate recipe.

One day after the equinox and 2020 is never going to go easy on us. But I can still look at my cheerful dahlias, standing tall and giving bright strong colour, and I can make a plate of beautiful nourishing food, like this one.

I am here not just to share this recipe and hopefully brighten your day too, I am also here to tell you that you should massage your kale, or, as I have used here, cavolo nero. It makes it soft and supple, beautifully seasoned and perfect in any salad, but especially in an Autumnal dish like this. It also makes it easier to digest. Double win. Continue reading

This is not a sponsored post but this recipe is part of some paid work that I am doing separately with Honest Grapes, so in the interest of full transparency, I am declaring that. I wanted to share the recipes here too! Also to let you know about the online tasting (or! wine and food therapy session) we will be doing with the wines which I have developed these recipes to match.

You can read more about the wines here, and buy a package of the three for £65. I figure if we can’t go out as much as before let’s bring that good wine home! Wine (& Food) Therapy, 30th September: Niamh’s Wine Pairing Selection. The tasting and general chat will be on Instagram next Wednesday 30th September at 6.30pm.

Jump straight to the Confit Duck with Damson Plums, Puy Lentils, Beetroot and Sage recipe.

Autumn didn’t just arrive with speed, it knocked the door down and forced its way in. While we are now enjoying Summers brief blast of a second wind with a whopping 29C in London today (green tomatoes everywhere rejoice!), mornings and evenings are still Autumnal here. Even today, the day started cool, and will finish so. Leaves are on the ground, windfall apples and crabapples line the paths I walk in the park, the sun sets earlier.

But, Autumn produce is here. I love the seasons. Continue reading

Food and cooking has been the centre of my existence for years now, and not always in a good way, if I am honest. But it is now fiercely centre stage in an excellent way, providing colour and interest in a time that is lacking in stimulation. Are you feeling like you are going stir crazy? I am. I feel like I have been walking the same circles for months now, because I have. And, I am sure you have too.

When I started blogging I was working in a demanding job that didn’t allow much travel, financially as I was still paying student debt, but also in terms of time. I find myself back in a similar place now, as we all are, with the pandemic. With stacks of cookbooks from my travels and inspirational cookery writers closer to home, I am again travelling vicariously through my kitchen and my plate. As I always used to. Travels with a pot, pan, stove and wooden spoon.

Travelling vicariously through my kitchen and my plate

Continue reading

This post and recipe is sponsored by Indigo Herbs who asked me to create a recipe for them using anything from their range. I was impressed by the vast range of ethically sourced produce. My attention was drawn to the pulses and seaweeds and I came up with this now favourite recipe of Baked Seaweed Beans. 

Toot toot! I am going to start shouting about beans again. A big batch of home cooked beans are a boon in the kitchen and a joy for the creative home cook, a relief for a tired one. Inexpensive and friendly, beans go with everything. They are fantastic value and always better cooked from scratch at home.

Home Cooked Beans 

Home cooked beans have better flavour and texture generally. Beans with bite and texture, seasoned as you like, and not as required to preserve them in a tin. Home cooked beans are resilient. You can slightly undercook them in the first boil from soaked. That way when you put them in the dish that becomes their forever home, they will finish cooking then, until just so, and not fall apart as some tinned pulses can. Continue reading

Lockdown marches on and takes us along with it. I hope you are doing ok and it is not proving too difficult and that Covid has not impacted your life directly. If it has, I hope you are doing ok. I have been fairly silent here, which was not my intention. But, I am back now and I have lots to share with you. Lots of this will be recipes too. 

It won’t surprise you to hear that the publication of my book, Bacon, has been impacted by Covid. The latest in a litany of hurdles but the last one. My printer was affected by the Italian lockdown but things are moving again and I will keep you updated as to when Bacon will be on sale. I am also planning on publishing an updated version of Comfort & Spice after that with a fresh design and a light rethink. But Bacon first, and I can’t wait to share it. Continue reading

Our tapas episode of The Cooking and Cocktail Show was great fun! It is high time I shared the recipes with you as our next show is TODAY! The recipes will come in my next post. Not only do you have those recipes to look forward to but we have a very special guest tomorrow. I am so excited. 

Introducing Special Guests!

We will be joined by Siobhán McSweeney! Yes, that is Sister Michael from Derry Girls but Siobhán has done so much more. She has tread the boards with the RSC and at the Barbican, the Old Vic, the National Theatre, the Abbey Theatre and lots more. Lots of TV (did you see her on The Fall?!). She is also one of the funniest people I know. Continue reading

I am a night owl and I have a fierce midnight snack habit. I just can’t help it and besides, I quite like to indulge, especially in lockdown where comfort eating is an available pleasure. Life is tough and weird right now, we need these cheesecakes and all the other delicious things. Please don’t feel bad about eating. Ever.

They are as quick as throwing together an open sandwich (if you have some cooked rhubarb roasted in your fridge as I suggested you should in yesterdays post!). Even if not, it cooks quickly. The cheesecake topping is a combination of cream cheese, whipped cream, honey and rosewater. You can stir your cooked rhubarb through, or you can put it on top, like I did. Continue reading

Rhubarb is a vegetable, even though we treat it as a fruit. I only ever had it as stewed rhubarb with custard or rhubarb fool in childhood, and I loved it. Understanding later on that rhubarb could be a savoury ingredient was a game-changer.

If you think about it, rhubarb isn’t sweet at all. Even the gorgeous bright pink forced Yorkshire rhubarb is markedly sour. Rhubarb loves sweet though. That makes it a wonderful ingredient in terms of a play on sweet and sour in a dish. It makes lovely ketchup too. It works with most meats, I especially like it with lamb and a roast like pork belly. Continue reading

Hello! Greetings from Lockdown London and my tiny kitchen! I am opening up my home to you live on Zoom to share with you some of my favourite easy dishes.

Come join us on Zoom for our new LIVE show, The Cooking and Cocktail Show, at 5pm this evening! Drinks extraordinaire Oisín Davis and I are co-hosting. I am doing the food, simple tasty and gorgeous stuff that you can easily recreate at home, and Oisín is applying the same philosophy to his drinks. He is already an expert at recreating fab cocktails using simple home kit that you have already.

We had our first episode last week and it was all about rhubarb. I made Spiced Lamb Chops with Rhubarb and Instant Mini Rhubarb and Rose Cheesecakes (and I will be sharing both recipes with you this week). Oisín showed us how to make his rhubarb cordial and how to make a gorgeous Tom Collins cocktail with it with a favourite Irish gin.

This week we are heading to SPAIN! We are going to share simple recipes with you to liven your lockdown evenings. I will be sharing some favourite tapas recipes inspired by my travels to Spain. Two veggie, one meat and one seafood tapas from me and Oisín has a fabulous easy to recreate cocktail and a twist on a Spanish classic drink up his sleeve to share with you.

We would love you to join us! We embrace all interaction, you can ask us questions and chat with us. But it is only live. So you have to be there! Come on over to Zoom at 5pm or just before and use our Meeting ID 85036832178. If you have not used Zoom before, don’t worry, I hadn’t either. It is dead easy! Give yourself a little time to set up your account so you are ready and in the room for 5pm.

Can’t wait to see you then!

Jump straight to the Gojuchang Mussels with Cider, Cream and Wild Garlic Recipe

That does seem like a long list for a lockdown recipe, but this is fast and it is flavour packed. I have found that I haven’t really had to change much in terms of how I cook. I always cook from my store cupboard anyway, and nothing here is complex. There are 13 years of recipes to explore here too, don’t forget that! 

Gojuchang is one of my favourite ingredients and it comes into its own in lockdown. It adds fierce depth and heat in an instant to anything, lending the time used in its long fermentation to anything we cook it with now. And it goes with everything. There is nothing gojuchang doesn’t like. Or at least, I have yet to find it. Continue reading

Jump straight to the Spaghetti with ‘Nduja, Prawns & Basil Recipe

Spaghetti and sunshine, sausage and prawns, chilli and tomato. Add a little basil there like a spritz of perfume on your wrist before you go out, and you have a gorgeous plate to devour.

‘Nduja? A fridge essential? (Trust me) 

Yes, of course, I could live without it, but I absolutely choose not to while I have the choice. A soft and very spicy cured and spreadable Calabrian sausage, it is brilliant just as is spread on bread, toast or crackers. Try it with eggs, mix it through a tomato sauce for a porky arrabiata, spread it on top of some white fish just before it finishes cooking with an oregano and breadcrumb top for a gorgeous spicy crispy crunch. Continue reading

Jump straight to the Piri Piri Sauce Recipe

Well, that is a LOADED title. But really this is easy, fast and no fuss and it is fabulous. You need to make it. End of.

Piri Piri is a superb sauce. It is easy to make and all you do with it is marinade the protein of your choice before cooking it. Over fire if you like, but also in the oven or fry it in the pan. Continue reading

Jump straight to the Chickpeas with Chilli, Coriander, Lemon and Red Onion recipe

Are chickpeas everyone’s favourite pulse, or just the one they are most familiar and comfortable with? Do you stock up to make the nations favourite dip, hummus? Or do you make curry, soup or add them to a salad? The chickpea is indispensable, especially now when some days, despite all the time, we require something quick and nourishing with little effort but lots of flavour. This is a plate of sunshine. 

Use tinned chickpeas, or home-cooked. Whatever you have. Take the sharp edge of the red onion by letting it sit in the lemon juice for 10 minutes before dressing the chickpeas. Use whatever herbs you have, basil, oregano, parsley would all work very well too. Lime juice would be lovely here but if you have no fresh citrus, use vinegar (any except malt vinegar which would be too harsh). Taste as you go, and enjoy the results.  Continue reading

Jump directly to the Carrot, White Bean and Cabbage Gojuchang Soup recipe.

Times like this bring into sharp relief many things. In terms of the kitchen, it has shown my chaotic pantry (cupboards!) for what they really are. Everything is chosen in the moment with little planning, and then planted to be dealt with at a later date. 

I have several kinds of rice (from Taiwan rice to black rice with lots of different white rice in between), lots of fermented bits and bobs (I have 2 tubs of my favourite Korean pepper paste and a catering size bag of Korean pepper flakes), and many many random things that I have brought back from my various travels. There is more hot sauce than I could get through in any reasonable length of time and lots of chillies, but I am running super low on basic spice. A little interrogation shows clearly what you eat regularly and what you think you should. I am most definitely an Irish woman who travels and loves big flavour (which of course you already knew). Continue reading

Stew conjures images of dark early evenings and a need for warmth. Maybe I need another name for this as it is bright and sings of summer days or longer spring evenings.

I have done many variations of this stew over the years and with Summer descending quickly upon us (20C and sunny in London today!), it seems a perfect time to make and share it again. It is perfection with a glass of rosé right now.  Continue reading

Almost everything I share on Eat Like a Girl has been cooked for one. I cook mainly for myself, and I do every day, at least once. I am a social being, but my flat is very small with no dining table (some day!) and so I rarely entertain at home. I so look forward to the day that I can though.

I know that many people are self isolating at home alone right now and I wanted to provide some recipe inspiration for you, or a starting point at least. While I almost always cook for one, I usually cook a little extra so that I can have leftovers to have with an egg the next day, or convert into something tasty for another meal. If you are cooking for two these will double up well and easily. 

Most recipes here require no kitchen kit as such. Everything is accessible and easy to recreate. All you need is a chopping board, a good knife, a wooden spoon and a pan to cook in. Everything else is a bonus and you can add that as you go. I did. Continue reading

Carrying on as we cook our way through the corona crisis, here are recipes for my favourite handmade fresh pasta and dried pasta dishes from the last 13 years on Eat Like a Girl. 

Don’t forget to check out and cook from the first post in this series: 9 Recipes for Homemade Bread, Flatbreads and Pizza, which has recipes for my favourite bread, including Irish soda bread and the blaa, and my favourite speedy bread which requires just 20 minutes of your time, a frying pan and no yeast, the Irish soda farl. If they don’t grab your attention, breakfast bacon and egg pizza or smoky aubergine, red pepper and chicken skin flatbread will. 

Fresh pasta and dried pasta are equally good, they are just different. Not all dried pasta are the same though in terms of flavour and nutrition so seek out bronze died extruded pasta if you can (it will say on the pack) which are generally slow dried and more nutritious as a result. Bronze died pasta also has a rough surface which grips the sauce, and are in general nicer to eat. But, you know, use what you have and what you can get. 

I have included some of my favourites here, and there are many more on the site. Please forgive the terrible photography in the earlier recipes and don’t judge the recipes by them! Let’s get cooking. Continue reading