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Posted on Feb 15, 2012 in Cook, Cookery Books, Read | 0 comments

Catherine’s Family Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio

Catherine’s Family Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio
Catherine’s Family Kitchen landed in my own kitchen at a rather busy time. What with painting the newly renovated cottage, moving into it and the arrival of the Small Girl, this review got a little delayed. There are plenty of warming soups for wintery weather, quick suppers for cold evenings and...
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Posted on Feb 13, 2012 in Cook | 4 comments

Something cheesy for Valentine’s Day

Something cheesy for Valentine’s Day
I’ve never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day. It was such an angst-ridden occasion when I was a teenager: I would be simultaneously longing to get a card from my object of desire, knowing that would never happen and terrified that I’d get the pity card from my mother. There would be an...
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Posted on Jan 17, 2012 in Food for Friends, Lovely Lunches | 2 comments

Taste #5 Umami Paste, Lentil and Bacon Soup

Taste #5 Umami Paste, Lentil and Bacon Soup
Parmesan, tomato puree, garlic, balsamic vinegar: all kitchen staples that we use, almost unthinkingly, every day when cooking. They are also four of the ingredients in Laura Santtini‘s intriguing Taste #5 Umami Paste. Named after the delicious savoury taste common to these foods, along with the others...
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Posted on Dec 20, 2011 in Bake, Food for Friends | 0 comments

A few Christmas favourites

A few Christmas favourites
I was digging through the archives this week to find my recipes for Christmas Muffins and Mincemeat and Polenta Shortbread - much better ways of using up mincemeat than trying to make fiddly mince pies with my pair of squawkers both demanding attention – and I came across some Christmas-orientated...
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Posted on Nov 22, 2011 in Cook, Food for Friends | 5 comments

Brunch special: Sweetcorn Fritters

Brunch special: Sweetcorn Fritters
I’ve got two words for you: Sweetcorn Fritters. Sunshine on a plate. I always associate them with cafés in New Zealand, eaten outside in the morning sunshine, sunglasses on and a long black, aka a double shot Americano, on the side. We’ve been lucky enough to have a few Kiwi visitors recently...
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Posted on Oct 23, 2011 in Bake, Food for Friends, Life | 6 comments

Sunday morning pikelets

Sunday morning pikelets
A lazy Sunday morning. Outside our new draft-proof windows it’s solidly pouring rain but indoors at the cottage, the fire already lit, we’re all warm and still sleepy. The Husband’s parents have spent the last two-and-a-half weeks in Ireland, staying here while they build cookbook shelves,...
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Posted on Jul 28, 2011 in Cook, Food for Friends | 8 comments

Sausage and Potato Bake

Sausage and Potato Bake
No matter what the weather – even if it’s a grey and gloomy July day  - you can’t go wrong with a dinner that you toss together, plonk into a couple of large baking tins and land into the oven. When it uses some of Ed Hick‘s superb fat, meaty sausages, all the better. I was a fan of...
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Posted on Jun 2, 2011 in Cook, Food Events, Food for Friends, IFBA | 4 comments

Seomra Blog Bia at Totally Tipp: Inch House Black Pudding and Caramelised Onion Tart

Seomra Blog Bia at Totally Tipp: Inch House Black Pudding and Caramelised Onion Tart
The Totally Tipperary Food Festival, a weekend packed with food from the Tipperary Food Producers, cookery demos and workshops will be taking place in the grounds of Cloughjordan House at the end of June. As part of the festival, Seomra Blog Bia, which is based on the very successful Salon du Blog Culinaire...
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Posted on May 30, 2011 in Brewing and beer, Cook, Do | 0 comments

Eight Degrees Brewing at the Kildorrery International Food Fair

Eight Degrees Brewing at the Kildorrery International Food Fair
There might be some Sunday mornings when it feels like a good idea to take ten kilos of lamb mince and turn it into enough burgers to feed 400 people but I’m not sure if last Sunday was the one. The Husband was jet-lagged to the eyeballs after arriving back from China the day before, I was wrecked...
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Posted on Apr 13, 2011 in Cook, Storecupboard Specials | 2 comments

Moving time: Sausage and Bean Hotpot

Moving time: Sausage and Bean Hotpot
Moving house is never fun, even if it’s only for a few months while the cottage gets a long-overdue extension and insulation fit out. I know it will be worth it in the end but sometimes it’s hard to see that when surrounded by boxes and a Little Missy determined to unpack as quickly as you pack...
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Posted on Mar 10, 2011 in Cook | 2 comments

Steak for supper: wagyu from James Whelan Butchers

Steak for supper: wagyu from James Whelan Butchers
Steak is always a very special treat at the cottage but, when Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers sends a couple of wagyu beef steaks, that’s into another stratosphere entirely. They arrived in a brown paper parcel, all tied up with string, neatly labelled and sealed with red wax – if I hadn’t...
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Posted on Feb 22, 2011 in Cook, Food for Friends | 13 comments

A bit cheeky: Beef, Mushroom and Red Wine Pie

A bit cheeky: Beef, Mushroom and Red Wine Pie
I hadn’t intended on cooking beef cheeks for a family lunch but a chance trip to the English Market to meet Clare and her MM on Saturday morning gave me an unexpected opportunity. Queuing at Tom Durcan Meats, there was a bit of banter with the man ahead of me about the lamb’s liver for one that...
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Posted on Jan 28, 2011 in Cook | 2 comments

Winter veg: Crunchy Apple ‘Slaw

Winter veg: Crunchy Apple ‘Slaw
Unless it’s homemade, I’m not a fan of coleslaw. Too much rancid mayo, too few shredded veg, too gloopy by far. When I was in the Cork’s The Woodford recently, I ordered meatballs in a Cork-made blaa for lunch. On the side, and which almost put me off initially, was what the menu called...
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Posted on Sep 6, 2010 in Cook, Food Events | 5 comments

Vegetarian Cookalong: Greek Bean and Tomato Stew with Feta

Vegetarian Cookalong: Greek Bean and Tomato Stew with Feta
A bag of butter beans on the kitchen shelf was the inspiration for this month’s Irish Foodies’ Cookalong. Soaked overnight, then thrown into the pot by themselves – or with some onions, carrots and celery – for about an hour the next morning, the beans needed little attention other...
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Posted on Aug 23, 2010 in Cook | 4 comments

Poached Chicken and other stories (with Tarragon Mayonnaise)

Poached Chicken and other stories (with Tarragon Mayonnaise)
This has been the summer of the poached chicken. It started when the weather got hot in June and I had a chicken to cook. It wasn’t exactly turn-the-oven-on time so I landed it into a big pot, covered it with cold water, threw in some vegetables and herbs and let it barely simmer away for an hour. The...
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