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

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This is the first of two sponsored summer recipes that I developed with Parma Ham.

A ham sangwich (correct spelling!) was the frequent snack of many an Irish childhood. Especially at my Grandmothers when we would visit on St Stephen’s Day (aka Boxing Day). I knew that I would have to eat that ham in order to access some biscuits. As with most things, it was beautiful in its simplicity. Thick sliced bread, butter, home cooked ham, done.

My rural Irish childhood involved only Irish ham (which is of course very good). It was often home-cooked, thickly sliced, and sometimes pulled directly from the ham by my tiny enthusiastic hands. When I moved from rural Ireland to Cork city, I discovered a wonderful Italian deli (Iago’s), where I would become a regular. It was there that I discovered the joys of Parma Ham. I went through a phase of wrapping everything in it, and I still do sometimes today. I especially love it as a satisfying meaty snack for moments requiring instant gratification. 

Parma Ham, from the Belly of Italy 

Parma, the home of Parma Ham (and Parmiggiano Reggiano), is a small city in Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy. Emilia Romagna has a sublime food culture. Described as the belly of Italy (which gives some clue as to just how well you will eat there), Emilia Romagna is one of my most visited places (along with Rome). It is the home of many things, including my favourite Tagliatelle with Ragu and that gorgeous and very underrated wine, Lambrusco. Parma itself is a joy of a place to walk around with its winding streets lined by tall brightly painted old buildings. Continue reading

Hake is a beauty of a fish that is so underappreciated. We love it in Ireland, the Spanish love it too. In a way, I am glad that it isn’t hugely popular here as it makes it quite affordable. That big piece of hake in the photo came in at under £5 in an excellent but expensive London fishmonger. It flakes gently and has a beautiful light flavour. It works very well with big things like chorizo but it also plays well with gentler things like these summery beans.
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The more that I cook, the more I desire simplicity. Fresh bright flavours delivered without fuss and with speed. Food that is healthy and bright. 

There was a time when I would devote much of my evening to delivering the meal that I would eat, often too late. Increasingly my cooking becomes simpler, fitted into tighter timeframes. I desire food that is fast and that delivers on flavour and that will sustain me too. Food that is healthy and balanced and that changes day to day. This way I always enjoy it, and my nutritional intake is varied too.

I generally cook for one but I usually cook enough for two meals each time. Borrowing time from the night before for the next day. Leftovers are terrific and the second iteration will usually have a twist so that it is different. This didn’t. I loved it so much the first time I kept it the same. 

Coconut and Coriander Prawns with Pumpkin – a speedy delicious and nutritious meal

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Once you start making taramasalata, you can’t go back. It is so delicious, so fast and easy to make and much more economical to make at home. It takes minutes and provides so much pleasure.

Most taramasalatas are lightened with bread, but on my current gluten-free diet I have been playing around and adding lots of different things to my tarama. Don’t be horrified, these are just as delicious and sufficiently different to be very interesting. I still love the original of course, and fondly remembered trips to Greece are my inspiration. If only I had the sea lapping nearby as an accompaniment!

Tarama means salted and cured cod roe, that being the egg sack of the fish. It is luscious and rich and is used to great effect in many food cultures, notably Japanese cuisine. In Japan cod and pollock roe are cured with chilli and called mentaiko. The colour is bright red and it is the perfect partner to many things. I love mentaiko in Japanese fusion dishes like Mentaiko Mac and Cheese. My friend Luiz Hara has a bright new cookbook The Japanese Larder, that will educate you all about that and I have shared a lovely mentaiko recipe from his first book before also: Mentaiko Spaghetti with Clams and Parmesan.

Using smoked cod roe to make taramasalata 

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Jump straight to the 15 Minute Lemongrass Prawn Patties recipe

Frozen raw prawns are a freezer staple for me. They defrost quickly, cook in minutes and are super versatile. I love them in a curry (my Goan prawn curry is one of my most popular recipes, still, after 11 years on the site). They are fantastic with noodles (like these spicy peanut butter noodles). Brilliant in a soup (this prawn tom yum kung recipe from my trip to Bangkok is gorgeous)and who doesn’t love a laksa? (Prawn Laksa recipe right here!). I love them in a meatball (prawn and chorizo meatballs in broth, anyone?). Cook them whole, mince them, put them on a stick and grill them. There are endless possibilities with the humble prawn (which some of you North American friends which may call shrimp) and they are wonderful in these speedy and bright lemongrass prawn patties. 

15 Minute Lemongrass Prawn Patties

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Jump straight to the Squid Stuffed with Beef & Chorizo Recipe. 

I started this post in JULY but life has been so hectic, and it is only now starting to slow down. There has been travel to Ireland, work travel to Austria and then a non-stop return to London. But lots of recipes in the wings and THAT bacon book. Soon soon soon! For now lets talk about squid stuffed with beef and chorizo. 

Land and Sea, Surf and Turf. However you spin this, it is delicious. And it is easy too. I originally made this at a vegan BBQ, and no, I wasn’t trolling them. I have a few vegan friends and I am embracing of all good food, however you label it. And you know how much I love tofu. However, I had permission to cook meat and fish as all except one ate fish, and half ate meat. So I had the meat and fish section. Continue reading

Jump straight to the Monkfish Cheeks with Tomato and Chorizo Ragu Recipe.

Feeling cheeky once more. Whenever my fishmonger has monkfish cheeks I have to buy them, they are so good. As with cod cheeks (which I blogged about in my most recent post) they are tender and ready to go. No chopping, just as they are. They are wonderful fried in a tempura batter with a garlic aioli to dip in. They are sublime in a curry. They cook fast making them perfect for weekday evenings and hot summers where you don’t want to be over the stove. With delicate white fish like this there is much that you can do.

An instant ragu might seem like a pointless, maybe even impossible thing. A great ragu takes time after all, but bear with me. I use the term ragu in the loose sense of the word. I am not saying even for a second that there is such a thing as an instant Italian ragu. I have so much respect for that sauce and I have shared beautiful authentic versions of ragu that Italians were kind enough to share with me. What this sauce has is the depth of flavour and fruitiness that I recognise in ragu and we get there in a super speedy way. It coats pasta beautifully for a speedy supper, and here it gives gorgeous monkfish cheeks a steady sleepy rumble. It is much subtler than you think, my friend didn’t realise there was chorizo in there, he just asked WHAT was in THAT lovely sauce, (and in that way).  Continue reading

Jump straight to the Cod Cheeks and Clams in a Tomato, Basil and White Wine Broth Recipe.

Simplicity is the key for me in cooking at home. Good ingredients, cooked well, often quickly. I have lots of store cupboard ingredients. There is always chorizo, a cupboard full of a variety of pasta shapes, noodles and rice. Lets call it the carb cave (and I LOVE my carbs). But often on a hot day I want simple seafood flavoured with fresh herbs and other bright ingredients. 

My original plan was to make the squid stuffed with beef and chorizo that I told you about in my last post. I am so keen to share that one with you soon. But, alas, there was no squid to be had. There was a bounty of cod cheeks, gorgeous delicate morsels of cod meat. There are many reasons to love these, they are delicious, and there isn’t even any chopping to do, they are all bite size. They are usually cheaper too, in this case they were half the price of the clams.

A Perfect Healthy Speedy Supper

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Jump straight to the Miso and Sesame Tuna Tartare recipe.

There are two things key in this recipe for me, no, three. My love for deep flavours and all things fermented; the arrival of summer, the sun and a desire for fast, fresh and light things to eat and my long running obsession with edible flowers (coupled with my growing them in my little kitchen garden). 

That is a lot for just one plate, maybe, but a plate like this makes me so happy. I went to the fishmongers this morning and gathered a few things, sashimi grade tuna being one, and the thing that I went for in the first place. You see the idea of this recipe has been floating around my head for at least a week, and when I woke up this morning I knew I had to make it.  Continue reading

Brunch is never just brunch, even when it is just for myself, which it mostly is. In the morning I wake up gently as I cook, I really enjoy it, and it is one huge perk of working from home. This crab omelette (with favourite things bacon and tomato) is one in a series of lovely things that I make daily and always share on social media. Not all warrant a recipe and to be shared here but this one does. You need to make it. 

I say brunch not breakfast as brunch is such a forgiving thing. It can be anything and it can be all day. I also don’t like to eat when I first get up, unless I have to leave the house. I start gently with a coffee and start work. A couple of hours later I turn my attention to the garden, the fridge and the stove. A wander outside to gather herbs, greens and whatever else is of interest starts the process. To these I add whatever might be in the fridge. I often have an idea of what I might like but this might change swiftly once I start.

A 10 Minute Crab, Bacon and Tomato Omelette

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On a grey day (and isn’t it so grey now?), saffron on your plate can brighten your heart as well as your dinner plate. Golden yellow and joyful, delicious too. Sure it is expensive, but it is used sparingly, and it is always worth having some in your cupboard. This grey weather is tough, it needs sunshine, however we find it.

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Clams are my new jam. Not even new, I have always loved them, but I have embraced cooking them even more recently and relished the speed with which I can make a full flavoured lunch or supper at home.

Clams are easy, quick, inexpensive and very nutritious

Clams are easy to source and inexpensive. They are a complete protein and are low in fat. Clams are high in vitamins and minerals (particularly iron and vitamin B12). You can cook a clam dish in 10 minutes, and they are receptive of all flavours. I love to make curry clams too, bathing them in a golden yellow turmeric and coconut broth with lots of garlic, galangal, a pinch of chilli and lemongrass. (I should share that recipe soon!).  Continue reading

My friend Luiz is a terrific cook. He is also a blogger and food writer, that is how we are friends. He runs a wonderful supper club in his house (one of the best in London and in the most beautiful space). Last year his first cookbook was published, on Nikkei cuisine called Nikkei, Japanese Food the South American Way. Continue reading

I remember when I first had prawn toast from a Chinese takeaway and I was mesmerised. Just how do they make this, and how do they get the prawns to stick to the toast? Very much a guilty pleasure, I can’t actually order it as the supermarket bread used turns my guts into knots (real bread is no problem, as for most!), so I turned to my stove as I always do, and figured it out.  Continue reading

This is so simple that it hardly demands a recipe, but it is so tasty I feel compelled to share. I bought a big wodge of tuna to make my recent Tuna Tartare with Blood Orange & Radicchio and I had some leftover which I needed to use. It was a particularly excellent piece of sushi grade tuna and whatever I did with it would be good. I thought about just frying it, but I wanted more, and so my mind wandered back to some almond crusted tuna that I had years back in a restaurant in Sicily, and I wondered how a covering of sesame seeds would work instead. I love their flavour and their nutty texture. 

I love fish fingers, which is a funny thing as I remember distinctly deciding that I hated them and would never eat them again when I was about 3 or 4 in my aunts house. That would start a childhood of freakish food habits. There were foods that I loved (potato, beans, eggs, rhubarb, apples, gooseberries, CRISPS!) and everything else was pretty much rejected. I would starve myself and spent hours at my grandmothers table watching my cousins and siblings playing outside. I was not allowed to move until I ate my meal, which I never would. I am stubborn, and it has served me well. 

I have come back around to the fish finger now, especially made at home with hake or halibut or the posher ones from the supermarket on rare occasion. I have even embraced the fish finger sandwich slathered with peas and mint and a slick of mayo. I think this must be an English thing as I never came across it until I moved here (Irish readers: am I wrong?!). I figured tuna in a sesame jacket, crisp outside and rare with, might raise my fish finger game a little. It did. 

I served mine with a miso mayo, but if you want peas and mint go ahead, and blitz them a little to make a dip. Chilli mayo works well too. Recipes for both mayo recipes are included below. 

Other Eat Like a Girl recipes for tuna lovers

Almond Crusted Tuna with Chilli Roast Pumpkin, Wilted Lettuce, Tomato & Curry Leaves

Cooking in Sabah: Two Healthy Sea Gypsy Recipes (Fish Soup & a Fish Salad)

Other tuna recipes you might like to try

Tuna Tataki from Just One Cookbook

Tuna toasties for a busy Friday night from Cooksister

Gorgeous recent blog posts from elsewhere

Fish Cakes and Salad. The Sea, The Sea – from The Little Library Cafe, a gorgeous blog penned by Kate sharing recipes inspired by literature. 

PEA SOUP WITH PANCETTA AND MINT, JUST LIKE ME… – from the lovely Jul’s Kitchen, a gorgeous Tuscan cooking blog.

I am trying to slow my life down, and stop being part of the cult of busy-ness, even though it is central to my nature. I need to finish my book, I need to work on some health issues, I need to sort my flat. All big things, I feel small beneath them, but all achievable, and it is time to just get things done. It sounds easy right? Not so far but I remain positive and I try to remain focussed. It seems a weakness to admit it, but I have been completely overwhelmed by everything.

Food is where I turn when life feels very complicated. Perhaps a bit too often but there are worse things. I love deeply savoury food, and food that is rich in fat and flavour. Oh, pork belly, you devil, I can never resist you. A slippery carb bright with sauce or soup, some spaghetti, or some ramen. A plump dumpling or a roast chicken fresh from the rotisserie and kissed with homemade mayo.  

That is my usual plan of attack, but right now, I feel a little different. My body is craving freshness and I need salad. I need bright colours and juiciness, food that will nourish and cheer. I am craving fish too. And it seems I always crave it on Sundays or Mondays when my fishmonger is closed.

I have had the idea for this recipe for a couple of weeks now, doing circles in my head. I tend to get like that. I get an idea for something that I want to cook and it sticks and jars, refusing to leave until it is done. Inspired jointly by the wonderful prawn tartar at the Tata Eatery pop up and a gorgeous blood orange and radicchio salad that Elizabeth Minchilli blogged recently, I thought that the two would come together very well. I wanted tuna or halibut as the centre piece instead of prawn.

I headed to my fishmonger to see what it was on offer, and there it was, sushi grade tuna. I already had the blood oranges and radicchio waiting in my fridge for their moment to shine. It worked so well. It will be the perfect thing for after all that Easter indulgence too.

Enjoy and have a wonderful Easter.

Well, I always was a little bit last minute for Christmas. The whole thing just gathers and pushes back on me like a violent huffing concertina. Every year it seems like I might be on top of it, but like everything else, I don’t know when to stop. I add more, I flitter along after ideas too long, and in the end, that might mean that the night before I fly to Canada, I am sitting surrounded by chaos with laundry drying on the radiators, more laundry spinning in the machine (mirroring the spinning of my head), looking at a pile of work to do and wondering how I will get through it.

It is ok, I will get through it, I always do. This is how I roll. When you love what you do, you sometimes get carried away. That is ok, isn’t it?  

That is how I found myself trotting off to the fishmongers at the weekend. Into my head had popped a combination that might have been a cocktail, instead I thought about how wonderful it would be with fish. Specifically, with salmon in gravlax (aka gravadlax), that gorgeous Scandinavian cured fish dish. If you have never had any, you could say it is a sibling of smoked salmon, but instead of the aroma of smoke, you have the flavours that you cured it in, very gently, within. The salmon texture (assuming you use good salmon) is wonderful and light, it isn’t oily at all.

Gravlax at its base is fish cured with sugar, salt and usually dill. But, you know what, I can’t bear dill. There was a time when I loved it but then it started to overwhelm and now it is everywhere and I am not happy about that. So, when given a choice, I will throw it out and put in something else in its place.

Lots of gravlax recipes use alcohol too. I have made many with spirits like vodka and sake, and a few with gin. Gin is a perfect ingredient here as it is subtly aromatic and so you can play around with other flavours depending on the profile of the gin that you use. I wanted to use something very direct, and so I chose Chase single botanical gin, which just has juniper (all gins do), and makes for a great G&T but I thought would be perfect with fish (also venison).

Lime, because gin and salmon both love it and I wanted a sharp acidity in the cure. The cranberries are subtle as I use them raw, and they are very astringent, but lightly crushed before adding them, they add a lovely layer to the dish.

I cured this over 48 hours, but if you don’t have that much time this close to Christmas, you can try a lighter 24 hour cure. I served it with tarragon, which I had in the fridge, and was very pleasantly surprised by what the gentle anise flavour added to it.

Serve on crackers with halved soft boiled quail eggs and some herbs like tarragon, chervil or flat leaf parsley (quail eggs: boil for exactly 2.5 minutes, then refresh in cold water and peel). Or piled on a plate with homemade mayo, avocado and other bites.

RECIPE: Gin, Lime & Cranberry Gravlax (aka Gravadlax aka Gorgeous Scandinavian Cured Salmon)

Ingredients

500g raw salmon, I leave the skin on until it is cured, but skin off is fine and better for shorter times
50g brown sugar
25g sea salt
75g fresh cranberries, bashed about a bit in a bag with a rolling pin, or similar
1 lime, cut into narrow slices
60ml gin
a dish that the salmon will sit comfortably in, or storage container

Method

Put all of the ingredients for the gravlax, except the salmon, into the container that you are using. Mush everything around a bit.
Add the salmon and rub everything in gently. Cover and put in the fridge.
The next day, take the salmon out and turn it around, rub everything in gently again and leave until 48 hours in total is up.
Remove from the fridge and rinse the salmon. Remove the skin if still on, and serve in slices.
It is good, isn’t it?

Merry Christmas!

I posted a lot of photos of lobster rolls when I was in Nova Scotia. Some of you were good about it, others were like: I WANT A LOBSTER ROLL, WAIL! So, it is only fair that I shared a recipe with you as soon as I returned, and here you are.

Lobster in Nova Scotia is plentiful and not expensive. A lobster roll costs less than £10 in a cafe or restaurant and is invariably packed with delicious fresh sweet meat. There are different approaches. Some are just soaked in melted butter, some are with mayo, others with creamed lobster, some have celery and pepper, some have nothing but lobster inside. They are almost always served in a bun, and usually a hot dog bun (although the hot dog buns in Eastern Canada are different to ours). 

One of my favourites was one that I made with the Kilted Chef, Alain, in his kitchen at a lobster-tastic evening, also involving gorgeous lobster caesars (a caesar is a Canadian take on the bloody mary with clamato, which is tomato juice with clam juice). Alain first steamed the lobster by cooking the lobster in a lidded pot in about an inch of salted water, the salt is important as the lobster is salty too, and if the water isn’t salted much of the flavour will leave the lobster for the unsalted water.

Alain suggests not killing it first, but if you are worried put it in the freezer for a few minutes to put it to sleep (they hibernate in cold conditions). After it was steamed and had cooled down, we extracted the meat and used it for the roll. They were gorgeous. Lobster rolls are served traditionally with potato chips or potato salad, we had a lovely fresh salad with ours.

To replicate the Nova Scotian hot dog buns, cut the sides off yours before toasting.

Thanks for the recipe, Alain! Enjoy everyone! 

Recipe:  Old Fashioned Grilled Lobster Rolls

Ingredients

6 hot dog buns
75g soft butter
500g lobster meat chopped
2 tbsp mayonnaise
50g diced celery
pinch of sea salt
pinch of pepper
75g shredded iceberg lettuce, divided into 6

Method

Butter your hot dog bun on both sides and grill them on both sides. In a bowl mix the lobster meat, mayonnaise, celery and salt pepper to taste. Open your grilled bun and place 1/6 of your iceberg lettuce in, then spoon the lobster mixture onto the
center of the hot dog bun and serve.

Enjoy!

With thanks to Tourism Nova Scotia and Destination Canada who sponsored my trip.

On a quiet street in Fornells in Menorca is an unassuming restaurant, Es Cranc. Es Cranc has a large menu, but most come here for the Caldereta de Langosta, a popular lobster soup from Menorca made with the native blue spiny lobsters which Es Cranc is particularly well regarded for.

Caldereta gets its name from the pot that it is cooked in, a caldera. Traditionally this was a fishermans dish, cooked with the broken lobsters that they had caught. Now, it is a luxury and an indulgence, cooked at home for special occasions and at specialist restaurants like Es Cranc in Fornells.

Behind a side door next to Es Cranc is a path that meanders to a room of large water baths, and these are full of spiny lobster. Spinning and weaving, large and small, these lobsters are mostly destined for the caldereta, some will be served simply grilled on their own. This is where the fishermen deliver their catch, for Es Cranc that is 5 different day boats that go out up to 7 miles out to sea. . 

Es Cranc was full on the Sunday that I went for lunch. Jovial large tables with extended families, all there for the caldereta. The soup has a base of tomato, onions and green pepper, and is light and fruity, with lovely lobster cooked just so inside, still sweet and tender. It is served on top of thin sun dried slices of bread, like crackers. A bib is provided – and you need it. We had some lovely local white wine on the side.  

The langosta lobsters can only be fished between March and August, so pencil it in your diary for then. Alternatively, you can recreate it at home. One of my favourite food writers Claudia Roden has a lovely recipe for caldereta from her superb book The Food of Spain. She serves it with a picada of almonds, garlic and parsley. Here it is for your Sunday lunch pleasure. Lets let the sunshine in, even if it doesn’t want to be here!

Notes on the recipe: As above, this recipe is adapted from Claudia’s Caldereta de Langosta in The Food of Spain. Claudia includes monkfish and fennel which I have omitted (including extra lobster instead) so that it is closer to the one that I had. Buy your lobsters just before you need them and have your fishmonger kill and chop them for you into chunks just over an inch. The sun refuses to play frequently enough for us to sun dry the bread, and even though it is considered a cheat in Menorca to roast it, if they were here, they would have to too! :)

Recipe: Caldereta de Langosta

Serves 6

Ingredients 

For the caldereta

3 x 700g raw live lobsters (as your butcher to prepare them as per the notes above)
1 large onion, chopped
1 green or red bell pepper,cored, seeded, and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
350g tomatoes (4 to 5),peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 litre fish stock
125ml brandy or cognac
salt and pepper

For the picada

12 blanched almonds
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp brandy or cognac

One good baguette, sliced into narrow slices and toasted or roasted in a medium hot oven until crisp

Method

Fry the onion and the pepper in the oil in a large pot (I used my shallow casserole which was the closest I had to a caldera) over a low heat until very soft. Add the tomatoes and sugar and cook until the sauce is reduced and jammy. Blend until well combined (in the pan with a hand blender or a food processor – whatever you have, you can mash coarsely if you have neither).

Meanwhile, for the picada: Fry the almonds and garlic in the oil in a small skillet over low heat for moments only, turning them once, until they are golden. Pound them to a paste with the parsley in a mortar, or blend them to a paste, and add the brandy.

Add the fish stock and brandy to the tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper. Add the lobster, and bring to the boil. Boil for five minutes and stir the picada into the lobster soup. When the lobster shells are bright red and the meat is firm the soup is done, this will take only a few more minutes at most. Take care not to overcook it, lobster is best when tender.

Serve immediately in bowls with the bread and savour your work. A crisp white wine or rosé perfect this. Aim for a Menorcan or Spanish one :)

Easyjet have just launched direct flights from London Southend to Mahon.

I travelled to Menorca as part of a project between iAmbassador and Visit Menorca, who sponsored this project.  As always, I’m free to write what I like and I do! Life is short etc. :)