Preparation Time
5 minutes
Total Time
15 minutes

The 3 P’s in this recipe refer to the the peas, prawns and pasta that are it’s primary ingredients.
This is one of my favourite recipes for work lunches. You can make it in 10 minutes the evening
before and it heats up really easily and well in the microwave.

The recipe itself was taught to me by one of our friends.  Continue reading »

In celebration of Mardi Gras, Reuben cooked up a great pot of jambalaya. Out of the million and one versions of this classic Cajun cuisine, this one is my favorite. It’s low fat, cooks in one pot, and is a great way to use up leftover ham. The kale provides a burst of color and an extra serving of vegetables — very needed in my household as we struggle through the recent exchange of sicknesses between the kids. Much to our surprise, our 8-month-old devoured her kale.  Continue reading »

Video One: Chateau Bauduc Sauvignon Blanc 2008
This Bordeaux Blanc has been the house white at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants and a special selection at Rick Stein’s since the first vintage in 2000. It picked up a Silver Medal at the International Wine Challenge last year. To view our insightful interview with winemaker Gavin Quinney, click here.

For the following wines, click on the links provided for each to view videos.  Continue reading »

Still can’t believe that I really turned a year older (and in case you are wondering how old I turned last week – easy to remember, it is always 25. You can’t go wrong if you stick to this number).
And I got some really nice pressies from lovely wine, chocolate, giftcards for my favourite cloth shop, a purse to cookbooks. Linda got me Darina Allen’s Forgotten Skills and I have to say, it is a great book. The book covers really everything in Darina’s own style.  Continue reading »

Shane, me and Jimmy enjoying the bbq
The Love Haiti event we ran at Bentley's on Sunday was a huge success. So many people gave their time for free for such a worthy cause. We organised this event and strung it all together over the past four weeks and the efforts of everyone involved paid off in truckloads. 
The venue was bursting with exciting stuff; the best bands in Limerick on different stages, a holistic therapy room offering massages and reiki and entertainment for kiddies.  Continue reading »

The overwhelming appeal of a champagne tasting in dingy January seems not to have been a bubble that went on to burst. We have been inundated with bookings for our tasting in dingy February (this Thursday 25th, in fact), too.  I’ll be introducing some wines from the south of France and attempting to exchange some useful information with the audience along the way.  Continue reading »

It’s that time of the year again. The Irish Blog Awards longlist has been issued and it’s great to see Bibliocook getting a mention in the Best Food/Drink Blog section, again this year sponsored by Bord Bia. Last year’s awards took place in the International Airport Hotel in Cork so off I, plus Little Missy bump, toddled for that night’s festivities, even if we had to go home a little earlier than the rest of the partygoers!  Continue reading »

I swore I wouldn’t get sucked in. Ah, the promises I make to myself!
This whole social networking thing can be like a black hole, whole chunks of the morning – work time for me while Little Missy sleeps – disappearing while I catch up on Kieran Murphy’s ice cream tweets and check out A Taste of Ballyhoura Country’s Facebook page.  Continue reading »

It doesn’t seem this winter is ever going to end! But at least it’s a good excuse to make delicious winter warmer recipes. This dish combines pork, tomato and rice to make a fantastic winter meal.  

Similar to beef, pork is another meat that can still be eaten in moderation when trying to lose weight. Although make sure it’s well trimmed before hand, removing all visible fat.  Continue reading »

Dunnes are doing a great deal on organic chicken wings at the moment. For €4.99 there are enough wings for three to four people and married with a blue cheese dressing, this is one tasty dish.
I particularly like the ‘Spicy Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing’ recipe from the book ‘Falling Cloudberries’ by Tessa Kiros.  Continue reading »

Lots of fresh, good fillings at The Runner Bean

If I can get a fat burger for a fiver, then I’m not going to spend any more than €5 for my lunch in future. This is until I stop being lazy and make my own packed lunch. It’s the only way forward, but something I continually fail to do.
The Runner Bean on Nassau St is a quirky shop selling one of the best cappucinos in Dublin, lots of healthy little snacks, and some good quality fruit.  Continue reading »

Bacon Pineapple & cheese chicken roll

Ingredients;
2 chicken breasts, any skin, fat, tough bits trimmed off
small tin pineapple rings
vintage cheddar, 4 slices about 1/2 cm thick
packet of pancetta strips or streaky bacon
Serves 2

Heat the oven to 180° C. Line a small baking tin with foil.
Place 3-4 pancetta strips (or bacon slices) down in the tin. Lay your chicken breast across the middle of these. Top with 2 rings of pineapple and 2 of the cheese slices.  Continue reading »

It’s not all cupcakes and pies in Leila’s book, “A Piece Of Cake”, she also has a fantastic chapter on savoury breads.  Apart from the delicious homemade baguettes below she has a wonderful recipe for the typically Scandinavian, crisp bread, which has whole aisles dedicated to it in Swedish supermarkets.  Aswell as numerous variations on the the classic Italian focaccia bread, and mouth watering options for transforming plain old scones!  Continue reading »

Linda and myself took the train up to Dublin Sunday 14th and we decided that we needed some informal surroundings for our thirst of wine. A look through Menupages.ie told us that Bar Pintxo might be the right idea…..and yeap, it was.
Bar Pintxo looks quite small from the outside but is quite spacious inside. Tables on the wall side are quite narrow together but downstairs has an extra room (on the night it was used as a private dining room for a girly party).  Continue reading »

Following an on-line vote by 130,000 people, the new compulsory EU organic logo has been chosen.

From almost 3500 entrants, three were shortlisted and examined to ensure that there were no copyright infringements.

The winning design comprised twelve stars in the shape of a leaf and, according to the EU Commission, “a very straightforward sign containing two clear messages: Nature and Europe”. It was drawn up by German student Dusan Milenkovic, who receives €6000 in prize money.  Continue reading »

The whole show went fantastically smooth but… disaster- I forgot my camera so no pics from the show unfortunately!  Continue reading »

If ever your grandmother knew how slow cooking turned beef cheeks meltingly tender, could tell her Rhode Island Reds from Marans or was able to grow, harvest, preserve and cook her own runner beans, you’ll nod knowingly at Forgotten Skills of Cooking and enjoy leafing through the pages. If you weren’t lucky enough to have that kind of paragon of virtue in your life, think of Darina Allen’s latest book as a kind of virtual granny in book form.  Continue reading »

The hubster has been out working a few more evenings recently, meaning dinner for one, meaning a choice of anything for dinner! I had a fillet of cod in the freezer and a recipe in mind just waiting for a special occasion like this!
Thanks to Jamie Oliver for this one from Ministry of Food!
Curried Cod Fillet
Ingredients1 portion of cod fillet2 tbsp curry powderolive oil
Recipe1. Roll the cod in the curry powder to coat evenly.2. Heat a frying pan to a medium high heat and add some olive oil.3.  Continue reading »

SnackBox is in Mississippi  with his band Hoarsebox recording an album – check out their distinctly  un-southern tunes here. This Monday, he tries out traditional southern… sushi.
In between several ‘chicken on a stick’ based meals each day, I found the time to go to a sushi bar called Two Stick in Oxford Town.
Now I know sushi has been a contentious issue on CheapEats before. But I’m all the way over in the USA so you can’t hurt me, I’m too far away.  Continue reading »

The latest set of special offers at Dunnes Stores, valid until Saturday February 27, includes:

Inversoft Eco-kind toilet tissue (12 pack) – half price – now €4.97
Denny Eat Healthy crumbed ham (240g) – half price – now €2.49

And, um, not a lot else that grabs my attention. Quite a lot of items are marked as “only €2″, but with only a few cents off here and there, I’m not tripping over myself to get Dunnes.  Continue reading »