Aldi becomes more and more a location I am visiting these days and I always take a leaflet to show my dad. This weeks leaflet (starting today) offers a few items you might find interesting if you are planning to join the Grow Your Own movement.  Continue reading »

So its been a while, Im a complete waster. Mostly Ive been waiting until I can get a good picture of the new ladies in my house. Unfortunately they are not great models. They move, run away, peck at the ground and as I havent let them out of their coop yet they are kind of difficult to capture.
So here’s some preliminary photos of the new ladies in my house and Im hoping in a few days when they are a bit more settled I can take some real photos without bars.  Continue reading »

One-pot dinners are so popular that entire cookbooks are dedicated to them. The renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland even offers a one-day course on them. Their appeal is obvious — they tend to be easy to cook, only using one pot means there’s less washing up to do, you can let them simmer away while you get on with other things, and they’re ideal for cooking for a crowd.  Continue reading »

Bored with your old fridge magnet and scribbled notes? Fancy an award winning digital video recording fridge magnet instead?

If so then the Digital Fridge Memo, recently awarded the Landfill Prize 2010, is just the thing for you.

The Landfill Prize is awarded each year to the most inventive, creative yet utterly useless piece of rubbish destined for the dump soon after purchase.  Continue reading »

‘It was a most beautiful evening, with the lake as blue as a cornflower and the sky flecked with rosy clouds. They held their hard-boiled eggs in one hand and a piece of bread and butter in the other, munching happily. There was a dish of salt for everyone to dip their eggs into.’ Enid Blyton Five Go Off in a Caravan
I love foods that sound like they might come from the pages of an Enid Blyton book. Taffy, treacle pudding and scotch eggs delight me no end.  Continue reading »

I have been away this week in Brussels: working in between mainlining trappist beer and dark chocolate, so I am only now getting a chance to post that 9 Bean Row is a finalist in the best newcomer category in the Irish Blog Awards.
In my excitement at finding out I managed to burn an egg I was boiling and forget about the butter I was ’softening’ on the radiator as I swanned around instead engaged in Gwyneth style simpering.  Continue reading »

Always make me cry. I have no idea what it is about Tuesdays, but they definitely seem to be my blues day. Yesterday, there were tears, tantrums and snots – all in the space of about 20 minutes.Firstly I rang the Revenue peeps to see where my Med 1 refund was. And the lovely lady told me that according to their records, I actually owed them over €400, so I wouldn’t be getting a cent back.  Continue reading »

Stefano Bernabei came to Dublin’s Wines on the Green a couple of weeks ago to showcase some of the wines from Domini Castellare di Castellina. Castellare is located just outside the small Chianti town of Castellina, home to many well made Chiantis (Fonterutoli, Rocca delle Macie).
I’d previously gone to a quite a few lengths to get my hands on some Chianti from Castellare, having rented a house a mere stone’s throw from the vineyards a couple of years ago.  Continue reading »

E is for Easter, E is for Eggs

Spell it with food.
That was the mission for those who chose to accept this year’s Eating Your Words Challenge. I chose, as you may have guessed from the picture above, to spell it with eggs. Bizarrely, I have Yellow Tail wines to thank for the eggy inspiration and you may very well end up with reason to thank them too.  Continue reading »

We’ve been working on a burnt (dark) caramel ice cream for our shops, trying it out on willing customers, and trying to improve it. It’s trickier than I would have thought, and I’m not satisfied with the result yet, even though it’s good and is selling quite well.
I am hoping we can make it much more than good. I’m hoping it can become an unforgettable flavour, since in my mind it has the potential of being something very special indeed.  Continue reading »

Spring is in the air, for some of us anyway but for those still in winter wind down or still under snow this is a perfect warm-your-bones one pot dish. I love braising as a cooking technique not only because it has layers of flavours incorporated in one dish but more importantly because there isn’t much washing up. Just keepin’ it real as Randy would say.
RECIPE:
Serves 4
3 lg.  Continue reading »

Spring is in the air, for some of us anyway but for those still in winter wind down or still under snow this is a perfect warm-your-bones one pot dish. I love braising as a cooking technique not only because it has layers of flavours incorporated in one dish but more importantly because there isn’t much washing up. Just keepin’ it real as Randy would say.
RECIPE:
Serves 4
3 lg.  Continue reading »

I’ve been a vegetarian for just over five years now.  Who knew that an experiment to demonstrate my will-power  to avoid college foods like fried chicken and cheeseburgers would have resulted in a complete lifestyle transformation.  After becoming a vegetarian, I decided to keep the progress going and tried to find the campus gym.  Well, as luck had it, I lived right up the street from the gym.  This was where my love of running and all things health and fitness-related began.When I returned to the Midwest after college, everyone wanted to know why I had become a vegetarian.  Continue reading »

Wontons are a classic Chinese starter that consist of meat or vegetables cooked in filo pastry and served with a dipping sauce.

Following on from the Oriental Meatball recipe previously posted, these wonton use the same Oriental meatball mix, which is added to the filo wrappers and baked in the oven.

These are great served with a dipping, soy or sweet chili sauce.

The following recipe makes 18-20 wontons.  Continue reading »

Cheap, good for you and delicious

I’ve been eating a lot of mackerel lately. It is one of the cheapest buys at the fishmongers these days and it is a relatively guilt-free fish too because this little creature is thriving at the moment.
It also tastes delicious and goes great with Mediterranean flavours.  Continue reading »

Video One: Domaine de Pellehaut Ampelomeryx 2006
You may be familiar with the creature behind the name, but once you get past the brilliant label, there’s a very classy wine to be found within. This is a serious wine drinkers wine, and to make a statement, one that we believe would hold its own against many a Burgundy at twice the price.

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

Granabeg cottage

After one too many bouts of self delusion – “put it on the credit card and it’s free” – the one or two trips a year to pricier hotels or spas had to come to an end. It was always beyond my means.
I still wanted a break away, and in gorgeous Ireland. But hotel stays and eating out costs a small fortune. The other option, self-catering, doesn’t sound instantly attractive.  Continue reading »

Ever fancied to learn how to make your own butter???? Then join Slow Food on Tuesday 30th March at the Butter Museum. Enjoy a tour through the museum, watch a live butter making procedure and tuck into some yummy homemade scones and jam while learning about the history of the butter in Cork.
The event will start at 6.30pm
Please book your place by replying to corkcity@slowfoodireland.com
Looking forward to seeing you all. Places are limited so book early!  Continue reading »

So tonight is the big night, we have been busy in the kitchen preparing our ingredients all week and tonight at 7pm we will start service to 700 hungry Parisiens!  I have so many photos from during the week that it has been physically impossible to edit them all in time to do a daily post, so I hope you will stick around until the end of the week when I will hopefully do a big roundup about the whole event. 
Though I can tell you that venue is absolutely amazing, Chalet des Iles is on a little island just outside Paris, you have to get a boat across to the restaurant where peacocks and rabbits run around freely!  The place has a bit of an Alice in Wonderland vibe to it, though I may not be saying that after we have served up 2100 portions of food tonight!  I have also been recording a pretty shoddy video diary so hopefully I can have that up on the blog in the next few days, but until then au revoir!  Continue reading »

With 10,000 athletes expected to take part and raise €3 million for over 150 charities this year, the Cork city marathon is one of the biggest sporting events in the country. I have been asked to put together some really quick, tasty and nutritious pasta dishes to help out those folks already in training! Dishes like my Speedy Spaghetti Amatriciana and Rocket Fuelled Pasta will be sure to get athletes of all levels fuelled up and ready to rock on the big day!  Continue reading »