Currently Browsing: Food for Friends
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 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 Jul 16, 2010 in Food for Friends | 2 comments

Cooking with Irish pork: Pork Loin with Fennel, Rosemary and Cider

Cooking with Irish pork: Pork Loin with Fennel, Rosemary and Cider
When Bord Bia gave me a gorgeous pork loin recently at the Irish Food Bloggers Event, I took one look at the size of it and divided it into two. After all, there are only two and a half meat-eating people at the cottage (that was before we acquired our latest rabbit hunters, a trio of cats who, we hope, will...
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Posted on Jun 11, 2010 in Cook, Food for Friends | 7 comments

Twizza Party: Roast Asparagus, Knockalara Sheep’s Cheese and Roasted Hazelnut Pizza

Twizza Party: Roast Asparagus, Knockalara Sheep’s Cheese and Roasted Hazelnut Pizza
It was dough at the ready for the first Irish food bloggers Twizza Party (think Twitter plus pizza plus party) last Thursday, organised by Reindeersp of Musings of a med student. A gang of newly acquainted bloggers dementedly (or maybe that was just me!) cooked, photographed and tweeted an assortment of...
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Posted on May 27, 2010 in Bake, Food for Friends | 9 comments

Pizza for lunch: Pizza dough recipe

Pizza for lunch: Pizza dough recipe
In our house we really like pizza, especially when the parents aren’t about and the cottage turns into the Sunday lunch stop for the Sister, Little Sister and Small Brother. It’s easy to make the dough and sauce ahead of time, leaving the final assembly for when everybody turns up. That way they...
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Posted on Feb 15, 2010 in Food Events, Food for Friends | 4 comments

Pancake Tuesday: Buckwheat Pancake Cake with Leeks and Mushrooms

Pancake Tuesday: Buckwheat Pancake Cake with Leeks and Mushrooms
Pancake Tuesday came early at the cottage this year. I always love to have friends come over to eat pancakes but with the Husband getting home from work late and a Little Missy who is decidedly not at her delightful best in the evenings, lunchtimes are a much better time to entertain. Sunday became our...
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Posted on Nov 13, 2009 in Food Events, Food for Friends | 3 comments

Winter Warmers: Moroccan Lamb and Apricot Tagine

Winter Warmers: Moroccan Lamb and Apricot Tagine
When I lived in New Zealand, cooking was my way of getting to know the (then Boyfriend, now) Husband’s family and friends. Three of his sisters lived nearby in Christchurch and they, together with a boyfriend and various cousins, were regular visitors to our house. When I look back on the recipes that...
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Posted on Sep 24, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends | 5 comments

In season: Rhubarb Rosewater Cake

In season: Rhubarb Rosewater Cake
When I was small, we had rhubarb growing in the back garden. Whatever variety it was – we had sourced the crown from some friend or relative so there were no labels – it grew gigantic stems, as thick as a baby’s wrist, topped by enormous leaves that we thought looked like child-sized...
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Posted on Sep 7, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends, Grow | 8 comments

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Blackberry picking: Apple and Blackberry Crumble
As a child, autumn was one of my favourite times of year. Going back to school was much eased by the fact that there were blackberries available for eating on nearby hedges, crab apples down the fields to be gathered and plenty of field mushrooms to be picked. This year, Little Missy in her sling for our...
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Posted on Aug 15, 2009 in Bake, Food for Friends | 4 comments

Student treats: Caramel Squares

When we were in college, the Brother’s Housemate came from a catering household. His mother used to make hundreds of superb Christmas cakes and puddings each year, cook for parties and events and, most importantly to us, make the best Caramel Squares known to students. Living on an unbroken biscuit...
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