It was a Saturday well spent at a great regional restaurant in Clare named Seed Winehouse and Kitchen, run by Guy Parkinson and partner, Candice. Such a beautiful space with really good food and a great bar. We ordered a divine sorrel linguini dish and the thought of how lovely it was led me to the garden the following day to pick our sorrel and make the first sorrel tart of the season! We'll most definitely be returning! -MB Read the rest...
I have many friends who are gluten free, either by choice or necessity, and so I have had the chance to practice quite a few recipes to find out what easily translates to be gluten free, and what becomes too tricky to tackle. As far as adapting gluten based cake and pastry recipes goes, I have had great success by swapping gram for gram with my own flour mix. Ready-made gluten-free flour is available from larger supermarkets and health food stores but I like to mix my own. I use equal quantities of potato flour, rice flour and maize flour. But when it comes to breads, I’ve decided that the best option is to go with unleavened styles like flatbread or chapati. These work beautifully without the reliance on gluten activation that a yeasted bread requires. Here are some of my favourite gluten free recipes of the sweet variety! -MB Read the rest...
I do love a good party, which for me means putting on beautiful food without getting into a terrible bind about it. I always try very hard to do as much work as I can in advance, that way the day of the party is more about the details of making sure the music is right, everyone has a drink and hand and giving the host time to socialise (which can so often get overlooked due to being hidden in the kitchen preparing!). I also recommend having the right equipment at hand - basics like a good apron, plenty of tea towels and the right utensils make every difference to how much you enjoy cooking. With things like spring rolls and sausage rolls, be sure to have a good space cleared on your bench top so you have plenty of room to set the pastry out and roll the ingredients up. A few little dipping pots of sauce are a great idea with my spring rolls or sausage rolls too; a straight up table sauce, usually tomato for the sausage rolls, but with the spring rolls I like to mix my Ginger Chilli Sauce with a little soy sauce for something different. -MB Read the rest...
If ever you were looking for that little nudge into home gardening, fresh asparagus has got to be one of the most convincing reasons to start digging a veggie patch. Although all vegetables are most delicious when the time between cutting and serving is kept to a minimum, to me, it is even more so the case with asparagus. That extraordinary snap of fresh spears, picked straight from the garden (and in my case eaten raw, right then and there most of the time) is without competition when it comes to experiencing the true flavour of this special vegetable. If you have a little more self-restraint than I do, and these wonderful asparagus spears do make it into your kitchen, you might like to give these delicious recipes a try! -MB Read the rest...
I decided to cook some squid slowly on the weekend using orange peel, orange juice, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Pernod and the ink of the squid. I cooked this at a low temperature for hours, then finished with fresh herbs and served with polenta. -MB Read the rest...
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