Yawning spaces opened up in the fridge. Lonely potatoes and tomatoes felt conspicuously exposed in the presses. There was a freezer full of long-forgotten sauces. Meanwhile, an excess of herbs, spices, and assorted condiments shrugged their shoulders, unsure how they could help. But I was determined to eat what I had. With a visit to [...]

“Concoction” was Dad’s most famous recipe. His three kids vividly recall excitement when Concoction was cooking in the kitchen. We still speak about it in hushed tones. But what was it? Nobody quite remembers. My sisters say it included any combination of leftovers. I always thought it contained fried cabbage. Dad himself had totally forgotten [...]

Is that the sun I see in the sky? Great. And it’s going to be there forever? Even better. And picnic season has begun? This is the greatest day in the history of Ireland. Picnics spark mixed reactions. For some, they bring to mind soggy, sand-encrusted sandwiches with a measly layer of slimy picnic ham. [...]

I’m always bleating on about food waste, and I’ve written before about rescuing food from skips. Waste not, want not. One Norfolk man, a producer with the BBC, has taken this philosophy to its logical conclusion. He’s picking up, butchering, cooking and feeding his family dead animals from the side of the road. No, he’s [...]

The slight bitterness of broccoli, the earthiness of potatoes, the spiciness of ginger, and the sweetness of cardamom add up to a really gorgeous soup. It’s perfect for these wet days. I adjusted the recipe for a friend on the Weight Watchers diet, reducing the amount of potato and adding more broccoli instead. It’s a [...]

Here’s a simple recipe for trout that doesn’t require much fussing or measuring. Trout’s reasonably cheap too, and often on special at Superquinn. This serves two, alter as required. Ingredients 2 trout fillets 1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped* A knob of ginger, finely chopped 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 [...]

December 30th, 2010 brought a new and wonderful thing into my life – a little niece. The brand new beautiful Anna Mae is the daughter of my brother Steve and his wife Aoife, and in the grand tradition of tiny babies everywhere, she is so far spending most of her time either feeding or squawking. [...]

I’ve been at a couple of Christmas events in pubs recently where party food was served. You’ll all be familiar with what we got: large platters of food all the colours of the beige rainbow. Sausages, wedges, onion bhajis, chicken goujons, chips, garlic mushrooms. Everything was deep fried. One particularly dreadful platter came accompanied with [...]

So incredibly simple, wonderfully cheap, enormously comforting, and bursting with curative powers, this soup is the perfect antidote to both the snowy weather and any lurking colds or flus. No sweating, no reducing -  this is a Chinese style soup so just cover it with water and boil away. It will take about three minutes [...]

Some current specials at SuperValu include: Mix and match any three selected fruit and veg for €4 (€2 each) Half price poinsettias (€3.49) Fox’s Fabulously Special Selection Tin (720g) Offers are valid until November 20. Click here for details. Top chef Kevin Dundon of Dunbrody House has created a range of simple recipes for SuperValu [...]