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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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

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

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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Jump straight to the Salmorejo with Quails Eggs, Bacon and Nasturtium Oil Recipe

We are going to have to start a yellow tomato fan club and get you a hat and a badge. So said my guy at the tomato stand last weekend when I asked my usual weekly question, do you have any more yellow tomatoes? The yellow beef tomatoes that they sell are sublime and now a hallmark of every summer for me. As the season draws to a close I near panic about the looming lack of yellow tomatoes in darker days. Yellow tomatoes are distilled sunshine and last weekend I bought many in an effort to retain every sun soaked minute and prolong summer. 

It has been a while since I have been to Spain – something that I must rectify soon – I fancy a retreat filled with excellent food and long days reading. A little wine too, of course. I am whisked back to Spain from my kitchen when I make of gazpacho, salmorejo and ajo bianco, the holy trinity of gorgeous cold Spanish soups.

Salmorejo – a speedy and gorgeous Spanish cold tomato soup

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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

There is such pleasure in cooking over fire in the sun. A feeling of freedom outside, especially if you have a small kitchen, as I do. That feeling of space is wonderful, the great outdoors even in a tiny London garden. The sun is back – cue much rejoicing – and so I am back at the coal face and loving every minute. My BBQ is parked just outside the back door and right next to one of my raised vegetable beds and it all feels very cheerful and bright. 

I like to cook with what I have and not necessarily follow a recipe, even one of my own. I have made lots of new dishes recently. Bavette tacos with gojuchang and wild garlic (homemade) mayo last night, which were great and so simple, they definitely deserve a space on here. But before then, these lemongrass and chilli pork kebabs.  Continue reading

Pure beef meatballs? What do I even mean? I mean a meatball that has nothing but beef in. Isn’t that a burger? No! Bear with me.

This speedy supper was inspired by my lush little chilli garden. 8 plants in a raised bright yellow planting table (I have about 16 chilli plants scattered around the garden, just call me hot head). It comes with a transparent deep lid, and like a mini greenhouse, helped my chilli plants off to a rich start. My plants are bushy and lush, and are laden down with gorgeous hot chillies. They are starting to turn red, but have been wonderful green too.

My favourites are the jalapeños sliced fine and placed the other day on my juicy intensely red Santorini tomatoes which had grown a metre away, and a little parasol of neighbouring nasturtium leaves on top. Crisp large flakes of sea salt made these a perfect bite. I also love the serrano chillies, fever hot and intense, they were perfection in the sauce that accompanied the meatballs. Enough to wake my senses on that crazy rainy day we had earlier in the week.

My chilli table, and surrounding vociferous tomato plants (which I will prune today!).

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Courgette flowers continue to be a joy. Cheering my mornings with their generous wide open petals reaching for the sky with happy abundance. Greeting bees and then once the bees have had their turn, they come into the kitchen for me. Such a versatile ingredient, cooked until wilted just so and still retaining texture, they taste a little of courgette and mostly of themselves. Continue reading

I can’t get enough pastry this week. I just can’t. Sweet tarts, savoury, small little leftover bits crisped with peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, to have on top of sweet raspberries mixed with coconut cream. That was awesome. Today, I decided I wanted a tart for lunch, with a whole meal in it. Pastry as a plate, a crisp flaky gorgeous one.

I have made puff pastry before, but not today. And not often. It is a faff. (I respect, admire and worry about home cooks who frequently make it). I used shop bought which made this speedy and not very challenging at all. One of the first of the seasons bright tomatoes, a joyful yellow one bursting with sunshine. Some stout asparagus spears in pancetta straight jackets, crisped to submission, a pert egg and a light cover of cheese with the intention of gently covering the yolk so that it didn’t blister in the heat and giving it an extra layer of magic. A little chilli just to wake it all up. On top of that some crisped kale, because you have to.

Very simple and it looks impressive. Give it a blast!

I am summer roll crazy right now. When at home I have made them at least twice a week, and always with different fillings. Sometimes prawns, sometimes tofu, and yesterday, with chilli and lime salmon and samphire, and then the ultimate pork belly & crackling. Crunch, swoosh, zing. 

A summer roll is really just a beautifully packaged noodle salad. And  a very portable one. Hello, lunch? Rice noodles (vermicelli) and friends, all neatly packaged in a water softened rice paper wrap. They seem complicated but they are not all that difficult to roll, with practice. After 3 or 4, you will have the knack, and they will take over your summer. I keep the noodle content low, as I find they get a bit rubbery if there is too much. I like to keep them packed with colour and freshness, grated carrot, fresh coriander and mint, and the zing of a fresh fruity not-so-hot chilli. 

The wraps are fairly easy to source, I buy them in Chinatown usually but my local health food shop and supermarket stock them also. You can buy different sizes, I go for the bigger one, they are just easier. You can put whatever you want in your summer roll, I love these flavour combinations, and any leftover filling, should you have any, is perfectly good as a salad on its own.&nbsp

Recipe: Vietnamese Summer Rolls Two Ways; Chilli Salmon & Samphire Rolls and Pork Belly & Crackling Rolls

Makes 12 – 16 depending on how big you make them

Ingredients

Vietnamese rice paper wraps  – 12-16 to start but I suggest stacking up

50g vermicelli rice noodles, prepared according to packet instructions (mine needed to be soaked in boiling water for 12 minutes)

a handful of chopped fresh mint leaves
a handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 mild fruity red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
4 spring onions, finely chopped

Salmon filling

350g salmon
1 lime
good dried chilli
sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper
greaseproof paper

a handful of fresh samphire

Pork belly filling

750g pork belly with skin on (allowing some for the cook to nibble on while they work ;) )
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp black peppercorns

Method

Pork belly – score the top using a sharp knife (or stanley knife – really, that skin is tough!) cutting through the skin until before the flesh. Don’t cut through to the flesh as it will lose moisture while cooking which affects the crackling making it rubbery, and also makes the flesh dry. Put the pork on a wire tray (like a grill pan) skin side up and pour boiling water over it to puff the skin up. Drain and dry the skin with kitchen paper. Leave at room temperature for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 220 deg C. In a pestle and mortar / spice grinder combine 1 tsp sea salt / 1 tsp black peppercorns / 2 tsp final and grind until a rough powder. Dry the pork belly skin again, completely, if you own a hair dryer this works well (again, really), I use kitchen paper, and rub the fennel mixture all over the pork – skin and flesh. Place in the oven at 220 deg C for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 170 deg C and cook for a further 45 minutes. Check the skin, if not puffed up, blast at high heat for 5 minutes or place under the grill and keep a very close eye on it – it will burn quickly. Remove and leave to cool down a bit.

I cooked the salmon in the same oven for the last 20 minutes. Squeeze the lime over the salmon and top with a little sea salt, some chilli and pepper. Place on some greaseproof paper, enough to make a parcel (about 3 times the length and width) and fold the greaseproof paper tight on top to secure it. You can tie it with string but mine was fine like this. Cook for 20 minutes at 170 deg C. For the last two minutes add the samphire to the parcel, just to soften it. The samphire is also lovely raw so you can just put it in raw too). Remove from the oven and allow to cool down.

Combine the rest of the ingredients for the rolls – noodles, herbs et al.

Put about an inch of water in a bowl or deep plate large enough to fit the wraps (one at a time). Soak each one for 30 seconds or so, until just soft and pliable but not too soft (they will tear). You will get a feel for it.

Place a small amount of pork belly and crackling or salmon and samphire in the bottom centre third leaving an inch at the end (see photo). Place some of the noodle mixture on top. Fold each side over, then roll from the bottom (see photos).

Leave on a plate while you roll the others. Leave space between them or they will stick.

Eat immediately or store covered in cling film in the fridge.

Good, eh?!

You know how it is. You have leftovers, and you need to use them. Or you are tired, and all you want to do is use the leftovers. Either way, this is leftover city and we have to use them up. Leftovers get a bad rep but they are the best thing in a kitchen. Flavours are usually at their best the next day, at the very least they can be livened up quickly and you can have a terrific meal in minutes. 

Take a chicken. Say, leftover roast chicken. So good on its own, wonderful with mayo and stuffing in a sandwich, but what about looking East and giving it a little heat, then pumping it awake with some aromatics, some nuts for texture (I am putting peanuts in everything at the moment) and you have a dish that will make you want to roast a chicken and not eat it, but save it for this. Of course you can just roast a chicken thigh for one person to order, which I also did today.

Plus, isn’t it hot? I want something refreshing, bright and quick. This takes 10 minutes to put together and I have eaten this three times since I came up with it last week. Rice noodles with shredded chicken, fried peanuts, spring onions, a little hot chilli, a pinch and punch of garlic and ginger, tickle of fresh coriander, lick of fish sauce and sprinkle of fresh lime. 

Sounds good, right? Here is how. 

Recipe: Chicken Rice Noodles with Peanuts, Chilli & Coriander

Serves 2 

Ingredients

100g thick rice noodles (thin will do fine too)
300g leftover chicken, shredded
1 chilli, as hot as you like, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp peanuts (peeled or unpeeled are fine)
4 spring onions, chopped finely
a handful of fresh coriander leaves
juice of one lime and extra lime wedges to serve
2 tbsp good fish sauce
sea salt to taste
light oil for frying

1 tbsp fresh mint leaves (optional – they give another fresh layer)

Method

Cook the rice noodles according to packet instructions (mine needed to be soaked in boiling water for 12 minutes).

Sauté the chicken and peanuts in a little light oil for a few minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and sauté for a further 2 minutes. Add the spring onions, stir through, then add the noodles. Mix until well combined. Add the lime and fish sauce and taste for seasoning. The fish sauce acts as a salt (it has a lot of salt in) so you may not need any. Adjust lime and fish sauce for your taste if required. Finish with the coriander and mint (if using), stirring through, and serve with an extra lime wedge on the side.

Enjoy! This eats really well hot or cold. Perfect lunch or picnic food too.