ALDI’SAldi’s and Lidl have changed shopping habits in Ireland over the last decade. Aldi’s are the nearest to me and are used in conjunction with Dunnes Stores.
The foreign discount supermarkets have often been accused of importing much of their food but a glance around the shelves in Aldi will tell that much has changed in that regard. The Irish symbol is very prominent indeed.
Bought some.  Continue reading »

Summer is not a time I would normally associate with roasts. Give me a chicken in the summertime and all I want to do is stick a beer can up its arse and stand it on the barbecue. Or spatchcock the chicken and barbecue under the weight of a tin-foil covered brick (recipes to follow). Leg of lamb, butterfly it, throw on bbq. Sea bass, wrap in tin foil, throw on the bbq, it’s summer goddamnit. However this year for some reason I am still yet to uncover and spark up the barbecue at home.  Continue reading »

Last week, I told you about all the different apple martinis I was planning to make, so here is the first one!  This was called the Awesome Apple Martini, so I was excited to see how awesome it really was! 

This recipe caught my eye because it actually used real apple juice to flavor the cocktail.  Here’s what you need:
* 1 oz. apple schnapps
* 1 oz. vodka
* 1 oz.  Continue reading »

Afternoon all,
I have my first ever competition lined up for ye, thanks to the lovely people in Simply Zesty and their clients Gallaghers Boxty House.
How does a dinner for two, including house wine, of pure Irish comfort food sound to you?
If if sounds as good to you as it does to me, open up your email quick and drop me a mail at upliftingfood@yahoo.ie with your name, address and phone number.
Closing date is next Friday the 30th of July at 2pm and the winner will  be drawn at random.  Continue reading »

BRENNANS COOK SHOP
Want something for the kitchen? Then you head for Brennans Cook Shop in Lower Oliver Plunkett Street, the one stop shop for cooking utensils, baking tools and much more. They even have a Kids Summer Camp Cooking School.
Called there the other morning and met two smiling ladies. Stated my requirements and they moved off confidently to get it. But, believe it or not, they didn’t.  Continue reading »

A.  Continue reading »

Although it has been out for a couple of years, I have only just come across the incredible Italian cookbook ‘Made in Italy – Food and Stories’ by Giorgio Locatelli. I have been a fan of his since seeing his recipes in the Observer Food Monthly but having over 600 pages of his dishes is an education.
This book is the real deal with chapters solely given over to subjects like; seasoning, garlic, capers, artichokes and vinaigrettes.  Continue reading »

This inspiration for this beauty came from an orange I picked from my friend’s tree and it was insanely delicious. Being grill season it’s always good to have a few simple marinades on hand to keep things interesting in the taste bud department. This should do the trick.  Continue reading »

Don’t Fall For the Five-Second Rule – Scientists at Clemson University have announced that the five-second rule is a sham, and that if you do eat food that has been on ground for five seconds you have a chance of getting sick.  Continue reading »

The whispers grew louder, until it became clear they didn’t care if I heard. “A man. In a spa. By himself. No, he’s definitely here alone. Nobody was with him at breakfast either. It’s very odd.”
I was on a two-month tour of Ireland reviewing spas for a magazine, so I’d become used to a table for one. Other diners occasionally gossiped and gave me pitying looks, but I really enjoyed eating alone.
As I always have.  Continue reading »

    I
was filming in the Beara Peninsula in West Cork
It
was really amazing and to top it all the weather was amazing,
I
was walking the Peninsula over 4 days with Derry Clark
 cooking a Lobster on a make shift barbe que  
But
what was amazing about it was the simplicity of it
Taking
the Lobster from the boat, and walking to Dursey Island which is an amazing
place finding a spot to cook the lobster.  Continue reading »

EarthMother.ie is a new Irish online shop that sells a wide range of baby products – from baby food to soft toys to nappies to skincare products.  All products are organic and natural, and there are some great bargains to be had.  Continue reading »

WEEKEND CATCHRestaurant & Bar Scene in Corkvia Twitter & Facebook
No.5 Fenns Quay Restaurant Come join us this Monday night for a Sicilian wine dinner and be in with a chance of winning a case of wine. We have a four course dinner paired with six different wines. The price is €50 which includes the food and wine (Plenty of it!!). There will be a draw at the end of the night when one lucky.  Continue reading »

We planted potatoes for the first time this year, joking that we were earning our Irish citizenship now. Of all the things we planted, my husband was most excited about the potatoes. The first thing he’d do when he got home from work was make a beeline to the garden to check on them, sometimes barely even stopping to say hello to the kids first. So when the diagnosis came back from our expert gardening friend that the potatoes had blight, he was pretty cut up about it.  Continue reading »

David, also known as Curious Davide (from his time living in Italy) is the youngest member of our family and is famed for his ability to sleep 16 hours a day. He is unknowingly filling the slot for this weekend’s recipe, but fear not as he is a bit of a master-chef in his own right. I hope to make him more of a regular for Curious Food if he is still friends with me after seeing this post.  Continue reading »

Preparation Time
15 minutes
Total Time
35 minutes

This is the second of the biscuits that I cooked for the Twookie Party. Again, this recipe comes from the book Best-Ever Book of Cookies by Catherine Atkinson. This time I made no modifications to the recipe, as I think they’re fine just the way they are.  Continue reading »

Oriental Sea Trout and Noodles

Ingredients;

2 sea trout fillets
1 thumb of ginger, grated
1 red chilli, roughly chopped
A handful of coriander, chopped
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Juice of half a lime
1 large handful of fresh baby broccoli
6 spring onions, chopped
Medium egg noodles
Serves 2

Begin by adding the ginger, chilli, coriander, soy, sesame oil and lime juice to a resealable container big enough to hold both pieces of trout and stir it all together (Ziploc-style bags work great for this).  Continue reading »

Can you skip the salad and nutritious food for just one day? We think you can. It’s National Junk Food Day. Of course, we’re not advocating that you should eat candy for dinner every day, but once a year won’t do too much harm. Even though I really dislike the term junk food, it’s ridiculous to claim that most of the foods labeled as such are healthy. Usually, they are high in calories or fat, with little nutritional value. The kicker is that these foods are almost always DELICIOUS!  Continue reading »

 We’re looking for sundae and other ice cream dessert ideas. If you have any suggestions of how we can improve our dessert offerings or create something new and fabulous, please leave a comment below!
It could be anything from the tried and tested to the wild and wacky (recently someone asked we make the following dessert: banana, maple syrup, vanilla ice cream, and streaky bacon).
Thanks a million!  Continue reading »

I had the pleasure of attending a BYO (bring your own wine) event in Belfasts only Michelin starred restaurant (Deanes) in May. This event was organized through the Wine-Pages forum and was attended by a variety of interesting characters from Ireland/Northern Ireland/Scotland & England. The
theme of the dinner was Champagne
& Bordeaux and each of the
participants brought along a wine or 2 each and Michael Deane created a tasting menu to match the wines.  Continue reading »