At last! Tomorrow, Aldi are opening up in Sandyford, south county Dublin. If, like me, you refused to drive past several branches of Lidl to get to Aldi in Nutgrove, this will be very good news indeed. Aldi don’t stock the very amazing Fruchtsaft or cheap organic potatoes – until they do, I won’t be [...]
This is a very tasty, cheap and easy midweek supper containing one of my favourite ingredients, fennel. Unbelievably good roasted. This served two large portions, but would easily stretch to three lunches or lighter dinners. The parsley brings some much needed colour and an added freshness to the dish. I only use wholewheat penne; it [...]
Flip! It’s cold. Autumn swept in at precisely 6.20pm on Sunday evening, as we sat in front of the main stage at Electric Picnic. I’m still recovering from that fantastic weekend, and my wallet has taken something of a hammering too. This is a rescue recipe. Supplied by my lovely friend Paula White, it has, [...]
Autumn is quietly beginning to knock. The wasps have grown fat and exhausted trying to harvest the fruit of my dad’s plum tree, but they’ve barely made a dent. Dad is eager to offload the plums on random passersby, as he reckons it’s a matter of weeks, if not days, before this year’s unusually generous [...]
Liver never quite recovered from Hannibal Lecter’s slimy endorsement. But in most animals, the liver is often the tastiest part: think pâté and the wistful, slurpy looks of people over 50 when they gross out their children with happy memories of liver and onions. Liver crops up on many restaurant menus, and not just in [...]
Kids are getting so hard to whelm. Some time ago, a few friends with kids called over for a big long lunch, and Jean suggested that I let the little ones decorate their own pizzas. Turns out the kids were way less interested in topping pizzas than I was. So I kept it simple, throwing [...]
I’m determined to find sick and twisted ways of forcing history’s five greatest foods – anchovies, honey, mustard, raspberries, and chicken wings – to live together in one tiny room and swap each other around in surprising combinations (I know, I know, mustard is a condiment not a food). Honey and mustard are in love, [...]
Words to describe lamb: warm, comforting, nourishing. Delicious in stew. Everything you’d want on a cold winter’s day. Happy summer. Spring lamb is at its best right now, in the middle of this unseasonably pleasant summer. Whacking it onto the barbeque is one option, but I still had a lot of meat leftover from Aldi’s [...]
A big, meaty chunk of spring lamb, sat provocatively on my counter. In the cupboard: mint sauce and rooster potatoes; in my fridge: parsnips and Yorkshire puddings. But the sunshine was gently, firmly, pouring its heat into my kitchen, bursting out with a whoosh when I opened the back door. So, despite my peculiar longing [...]
I spent the Bank Holiday weekend stuffing my face with vegan food at an incredibly relaxing and hugely inspiring non-religious beach retreat. We were lucky enough to be fed by Mary Farrell, owner of Cafe Fresh in Dublin’s Powerscourt Centre and author of what I think is the best vegetarian cookbook around. Mary was asked [...]
