ArchiveMarch 2025

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, Tourism Ireland and Bord Fáilte have been in overdrive throughout the past few months, working to make the very best use of this annual holiday to promote Ireland and all things Irish around the globe.
This year there is a palpable air of anxiety in diplomatic circles as our Taoiseach, Micheál Martin heads to Washington once again to wish the unpredictable President Trump, Happy St. Patrick’s Day and present him with the traditional bowl of Shamrock. Much rests on the outcome, so we all keep our fingers crossed and hope that the luck of the Irish holds true and that Micheál’s charm will save the day for the sake of US /Irish relations, not to mention the Irish economy.
I loved how up to recently, Tourism Ireland illuminated iconic buildings around the world in green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It was a brilliant ploy to focus attention on Ireland from the Sydney Opera House to the Colosseum, Wat Arun in Bangkok to the gateway of India…Sadly, however, this has now been discontinued for a variety of reasons.
I’m in India as I write and the Irish community here are much like Irish communities around the world, planning a variety of celebrations to make St. Patrick’s Day special, an excuse to get together, to party and reminisce.
I love an excuse to celebrate, St. Patrick’s Day brings memories flooding back of when I was little, attending the National School in Cullohill in Co Laois. We looked forward to every feast day and searched around the edge of the playground for little rosettes of shamrock to give to our Mums and Dads and grandparents to pin on the lapels of their coats. Us young ones preferred to wear St. Patrick’s Day badges with kelly green ribbons and glitzy gold shamrocks from the village shop. Mum always made a cake for tea.
This year we are told that the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin will be bigger and better than ever. It’s all about inclusivity and will also celebrate the cultures of the Irish travellers and the Roma community showcasing their heritage, through storytelling and forgotten skills like the iconic wagon wheel.
I’m often in America over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday, spreading the word about the creative and vibrant Irish food scene, but despite what they may have been led to believe over there, we don’t live on corned beef and cabbage and many, many Irish people have never tasted that combination, delicious as it is.
Closer to home, how about having a few friends and family around for a  St. Patrick’s Day lunch or supper? Check out your local butcher, many still make corned beef and those who live in Cork, need to go no further than the English Market to pick up a fine piece from several of the traditional butchers. Cook it with lots of carrots, cabbage quarters and potatoes and of course, some parsley sauce.
I’m often asked what’s the best known traditional Irish dish, most people have just heard of Irish Stew but my favourite is bacon cabbage and parsley sauce with some scallion champ and lots of butter, a really comforting feast and who doesn’t love it, a trip down memory lane for many people.
Seek out a nice piece of bacon with a generous layer of fat either streaky or back bacon and a fresh head of Spring cabbage, makes me hungry to even write about it.
Many would argue that the US is the very best place to be to celebrate and embrace the spirit, I love the way everybody wants to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. The Americans take the wearing of the green really seriously, nothing is too wild or naff, it’s all about fun and the craic. I love the riffs on the badges that almost everyone seems to wear, that say RIP – real Irish person, HIP – honorary Irish person, JIP – jolly Irish person, FIP – fake Irish person, WIP – wanna be Irish person…..
At the Ballymaloe Cooking School, we share the story of St. Patrick with our students from around the world and tell them how he banished snakes from Ireland and used the three leaves of shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.
We encourage our students to search their wardrobes for a splash of green, to dress up, even a green ribbon in their hair to get into the Paddy’s Day vibe and have fun in the kitchen, the possibilities are endless. Shamrock shaped bread and scones. How about sprinkling crunchy green crystallised sugar on top of cupcakes or a cake. If you want some lessons in Paddy’s Day bling, there are a myriad of ideas online, forget about ‘good’ taste, just have fun!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you and all your family.

Shamrock Bread with Wild Garlic for St. Patrick’s Day

Soda breads are the traditional breads of our country. How about shaping it into a shamrock shape for a bit of gas on St. Patrick’s Day.

Soda bread only takes a few minutes to make and 30-40 minutes to bake, the possibilities are endless for the hitherto humble soda bread.

Wild Garlic season is in full swing now so keep an eye out for clumps of the three cornered lily along the roadside in your local area. 

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

450g plain white flour

1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 level tsp salt

3-4 tbsp chopped wild garlic, (allium triquetrum)

350-400ml sour milk or buttermilk (the quantity depends on the thickness of the milk)

Method

Preheat the oven to 230°C/Gas Mark 8.

Soda bread is best cooked in a conventional oven rather than a fan or convection oven.

Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl, add the chopped wild garlic. Make a well in the centre and pour most of the milk in at once. Using one hand with the fingers stiff and outstretched, mix in a full circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl, gradually drawing in the flour from the sides.  Add a little more milk if necessary – shop bought buttermilk is thinner than farm-fresh, so you will need less rather than more. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. The trick with all soda breads is not to overmix the dough – mix the dough as quickly and as gently as possible, keeping it really light and airy.  When it all comes together, a matter of seconds – turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. 

WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS, then dust them with flour.

 Tidy up the dough and flip it over gently.  Divide into three equal pieces and pull off a tiny bit for the stem. Pat each into rounds, about 4cm deep. Transfer to a lightly floured baking tray, use a little buttermilk to attach the leaves of the shamrock to each other. Add a little stem at the base, make a little indent at the top of each leaf to imitate the shamrock shape. With the tip of a sharp knife, prick in the centre of each leaf to let the fairies out otherwise they will jinx your bread!

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for 30 minutes more, until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread – if it’s fully cooked, it will sound hollow. Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve. 

Bacon and Cabbage  

Without question Ireland’s national dish – less widely known abroad, but much more widely eaten, particularly in rural Ireland, than the legendary Irish stew.  Nowadays, bacon is far less salty than in the 1980’s so may not need to be blanched before cooking. 

Serves 12-15

Ingredients

1.8-2.25kg loin or shoulder of bacon with a nice covering of fat

1 head of cabbage: Savoy, Greyhound or spring cabbage, depending on the time of year

butter

white pepper

To Serve

Parsley Sauce (see recipe)

Method

If the bacon is too salty, cover in cold water and bring slowly to the boil (uncovered), white froth will rise to the top.  Pour off the water. Cover with hot water and simmer until nearly cooked through, allowing at least 20 minutes per 450g.

Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into quarters, discarding the centre core. Cut each quarter into thin strips across the grain. About 30 minutes before the bacon is cooked, add the cabbage. Continue to cook until the cabbage is soft and tender, and the bacon is fully cooked through. Remove the bacon to a hot plate and strain the water off the cabbage. Return the cabbage to the pan with a lump of butter, season with white pepper. Serve with the bacon and, traditionally, boiled potatoes and Parsley Sauce.

Parsley Sauce

Unquestionably our favourite traditional Irish sauce but a must with bacon and cabbage…

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

4-6 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley leaves (retain the stalks)

600ml fresh whole milk

30-45g roux (equal quantities of plain flour and butter cooked for 2 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally)

salt and freshly ground pepper

Method

Put the parsley stalks into a saucepan with the cold milk, bring slowly to the boil, then remove the stalks. Whisk the roux into the boiling milk until thickened and add the chopped parsley. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on a very low heat, then taste and correct the seasoning before serving. 

Pamela Black’s St. Patrick’s Day Cake

A scary green cake but delicious and fun and just happens to be green, white and gold….

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

175g butter

175g caster sugar

¼ tsp green food gel colouring

1 tsp of vanilla extract

3 eggs, preferably free range

175g self-raising flour

3 tbsp kumquat compote (see recipe)

300ml cream, stiffly whipped

icing sugar

fresh marigolds to decorate

2 x 18cm cake tins

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. 

Grease the tins with a little melted butter and put a round of greaseproof paper on the bottom of the tins.

Cream the butter, add sugar, green colouring and vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time, each time with a tablespoon of flour. Beat very well and then fold in the remaining flour gently. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cakes are well risen, golden and feel spongy to the fingertips.

Allow the cakes to cool for a few minutes in the tins and then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Next make the kumquat compote.

Ingredients

235g kumquats

200ml water

110g sugar

Method

Slice the kumquats into four or five rounds depending on size, remove the seeds.  Put the kumquats into a saucepan with the water and sugar and let them cook very gently, covered, for half an hour or until tender.

Note: This compote keeps for weeks in the fridge.

To Assemble the cake.

Spread the compote over the bottom of each sponge. Fill a piping bag, fitted with a plain éclair nozzle, with the whipped cream. Pipe the cream evenly over one base, starting at the outside edge of the sponge, working inwards. Place the remaining sponge on top and dust with icing sugar. Garnish with Marigold Flowers.

The Curragh in Co Kildare is usually associated with the Irish army barracks or a fine days horse racing at the Irish Derby, Oaks, Irish Guineas, St. Ledge…but recently butchers from all over the country, north and south converged on the Curragh clutching boxes of precious homemade sausages, black puddings and their finest steaks.
They were there to compete in the National Irish Steak Challenge and I was invited to be a judge along with 30 others including master butchers, meat scientists, industry professionals and chefs. What a day, we tasted and judged over 25 sirloin, rump, and fillet steaks. Other teams of judges tasted the sausages and the black and white puddings.
Chefs Dolan Heaney, Sean Owens and their team, laboured non-stop all day cooking the steaks in the kitchen of the Curragh restaurant normally frequented by hungry racegoers.
The awards are a serious business, we worked in threes, examining, first the raw steaks then tasting mostly juicy morsels of the cooked meat. We each marked them for appearance, flavour and tenderness then we tasted.
Finally it was narrowed down to six finalists to ascertain the winners. We tasted and pondered over 100 steaks in total.
I know you have no sympathy for me, but by the end I wasn’t craving a juicy steak any time soon but I have to say I was mightily impressed and heartened by the standard.
Here in Ireland, despite the fact that we’ve lost quite a number of butchers, we are fortunate to still have many local butchers, this is not the case in many countries where the meat business has been lost to the big meat plants and supermarkets. Animals are slaughtered and butchered in large meat factories. They can undoubtedly be traced back to the farm or increasingly feedlot where they are reared but the skill and knowledge of being able to choose an animal at its optimum stage of maturity is not needed. Nor are the butchering skills or the in-depth knowledge of the carcass and how to utilise every scrap of the animal.
However, here in Ireland, we are still beyond fortunate to have a number of butchers who still have to have their own abattoirs so they can humanely kill the animals they have purchased at local marts or have carefully chosen from local beef farmers who proudly rear their animals on rich pasture to produce the very best quality meat.
Many of these butchers are second and third generation and in some cases even fifth generation so you can imagine how the skill and knowledge has been passed down from father to son through the years although there are indeed some talented women butchers also.
Those who are still fortunate enough to have butchers with their own abattoirs close by are fortunate indeed, for me they are the ultimate craft butchers. They know the story of the animals from the farm to the fork, how to dry age and are in total control of the quality. They are deeply knowledgeable about the different cuts of meat and how to cook them.
An animal is made up of many different cuts, some muscular, others like the fillet are super tender. Some can be flashed on a hot pan or grill for a few minutes while others need to be coaxed to melting tenderness by slow, gentle cooking.
Ironically the more muscular, less expensive cuts usually have far superior flavour but need more care and a different type of cooking.
If you are fortunate to have such a butcher in your local area, go out of your way to raise awareness and support them, otherwise they will be lost in the struggle to compete with supermarket prices.
Most people don’t realise that we are not comparing like with like. Dry aged meat is quite different to meat that is vac packed and aged in plastic, more economical and convenient of course, but less succulent and for me, often less flavoursome.
Skills are being lost for a variety of reasons, regrettable but understandable, economics and convenience are major factors. All the more reason to value and  show our appreciation for the dwindling number of family butchers throughout Ireland, both north and south who continue to hone their craft and are anxious and determined to pass on the skills to future generations.
For a list of the winners in the Irish Craft  Butchers Association Awards go to www.craftbutchers.ie
I will mention just two, the overall winner of several awards was Millar Meats (fillet and striploin steak category), a passionate family butcher for the past 20 years in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh who finishes the animals he buys from local farmers on his own land.
Winner of the ribeye steak with a Kingsbory Irish Wagyu ribeye was Kerrigan’s butchers from north County Dublin founded in 1973.
Just to be clear, not all butchers are members of the Craft Butcher Association. Some exemplars understandably just want to be independent; others are not joiners. If you have such a butcher close to you, celebrate and enjoy every morsel of their carefully chosen product on your plate. Chefs too can raise awareness by identifying the butcher and the farmer who raised the premium animal on their restaurant menus.
So this week, here are some steak recipes for you to enjoy.

Pan-grilled Steak with French Fried Onions and Béarnaise Sauce

Sirloin is more textural than fillet, with lots of flavour, but you can use either here or indeed a juicy ribeye either.

Of all the sauces to serve with steak, Béarnaise sauce is the classic combination and my absolute favourite. We find a heavy-ridged cast-iron grill pan best for cooking steaks when you don’t need to make a sauce in the pan. If the weight of these steaks sounds small by your standards, the portion size can be increased and the cooking times adjusted accordingly.

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 x 175g sirloin or fillet steaks

1 garlic clove

salt and freshly ground pepper

a little olive oil

To Serve

Béarnaise Sauce (see recipe)

French Fried Onions (see recipe)

fresh watercress (optional)

Method

To prepare the steaks, about 1 hour before cooking, if time allows, cut a clove of garlic in half and rub it on both sides of each steak. This simple step intensifies the beefy flavour. Then grind some black pepper over the steaks and sprinkle on a few drops of olive oil. Turn the steaks in the oil and leave aside. If using sirloin steaks, score the fat at 2.5cm intervals.

Make the Béarnaise sauce and keep it warm (see recipe).

Heat the grill pan on a high heat, season the steaks with a little salt and put them down onto the hot pan.

The cooking times for each side of the steaks are roughly as follows:

                              Sirloin        Fillet

rare                       2 mins        5 mins

medium-rare      3 mins        6 mins

medium               4 mins        7 mins

well-done            5 mins        8-9 mins

When cooking a sirloin steak, also turn it over onto the fat side and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the fat crisps up nicely. Put the steaks onto an upturned plate resting on another plate and leave them for a few minutes in a warm place while you make the French fried onions.

Transfer the steaks to hot serving plates.

Serve with French fried onions, béarnaise sauce, some homemade chips and a sprig of fresh watercress if available.

French Fried Onions

The mere mention of French fried onions put fear and dread into those watching their figures, but these involve only a little milk and seasoned flour, so they have a delicious crisp coating. Recently, my nephew Ivan Whelan gave me a great tip. He found that when he added a lightly whisked egg white to the milk it made the onion ring even crispier. The watch point here is not to cut the onion rings thicker than the recipe calls for, or else the coating will be overcooked while the onions are still raw. French fried onions are wonderful with beef, but we pile them up on salads and pan-fried venison, too. Paprika, Sichuan pepper, cumin and coriander can all be added to the flour to ring the changes.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 egg white

300ml milk

2 large onions, peeled

225g seasoned flour

good-quality oil or beef dripping for deep-frying

Method

Whisk the egg white lightly and add it to the milk. Slice the onion into 5mm rings.

Separate the rings and cover with the milk mixture until needed. (The leftover milk may be boiled up, thickened with roux and used for a white or parsley sauce).

Just before serving, heat the oil or beef dripping to 180°C.

Toss the rings a few at a time in well-seasoned flour. Deep-fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden in the hot oil.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Béarnaise Sauce

The consistency of Béarnaise sauce should be considerably thicker than that of Hollandaise or beurre blanc, both of which ought to be a light coating consistency. If you do not have tarragon vinegar to hand, use a wine vinegar and add some extra chopped fresh French tarragon.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

4 tbsp tarragon vinegar

4 tbsp dry white wine

2 tsp finely chopped shallots

pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 organic egg yolks

110g butter

1 tbsp freshly chopped French tarragon leaves

Method

Boil the first 4 ingredients together in a low, heavy-bottomed, stainless-steel saucepan until completely reduced and the pan is almost dry but not browned. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water immediately. Pull the pan off the heat and leave to cool for 1 or 2 minutes.

Using a coil whisk, whisk in the egg yolks and add the butter bit by bit over a very low heat, whisking all the time. As soon as one piece melts, add the next piece; it will gradually thicken. If it shows signs of becoming too thick or slightly scrambling, remove from the heat immediately and add a little cold water. Do not leave the pan or stop whisking until the sauce is made. Finally, add 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped French tarragon and taste for seasoning.

If the sauce is slow to thicken, it may be because you are excessively cautious, and the heat is too low. Increase the heat slightly and continue to whisk until all the butter is added and the sauce is a thick coating consistency. It is important to remember, however, that if you are making Béarnaise sauce in a saucepan directly over the heat, it should be possible to put your hand on the side of the saucepan at any stage. If the saucepan feels too hot for your hand it is also too hot for the sauce!

Another good tip if you are making Béarnaise sauce for the first time is to keep a bowl of cold water close by so that you can plunge the bottom of the saucepan into it if it becomes too hot.

Keep the sauce warm in a Pyrex bowl over hot but not simmering water or in a Thermos flask until you want to serve it.

Mushroom and Ginger Sauce

This sauce will keep deliciously in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Serves 4

Ingredients

15-25g butter

75g onion, finely chopped

1-2 tsp freshly grated ginger

225g mushrooms, sliced

salt and freshly ground pepper

a squeeze of lemon juice

110ml cream

2 tsp freshly chopped chives

roux (equal quantities of plain flour and soft butter cooked on a low heat for 2 minutes stirring regularly)

Method

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan until it foams.  Add the chopped onions, cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 5-10 minutes or until quite soft but not coloured. Add the ginger.

Meanwhile, cook the sliced mushrooms in a little butter, in a hot frying pan in batches if necessary.  Season each batch with salt, freshly ground pepper and a tiny squeeze of lemon juice.  Add the mushrooms to the onions in the saucepan, then add the cream and chives, allow to bubble for a few minutes.  Thicken with a little roux to a light coating consistency.  Taste and correct the seasoning,

Pan-grilled Steak with Roast Red Peppers, Anchoïade and Rocket Leaves

I love this combination, the sweetness of the peppers, salty anchovy and peppery rocket leaves, a perfect accompaniment to a juicy steak.

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 x 175g sirloin or fillet steaks

1 garlic clove

salt and freshly ground pepper

a little olive oil

3 plump red peppers

To Serve

Anchoïade (see recipe)

Method

To prepare the steaks, about 1 hour before cooking cut a clove of garlic in half and rub it on both sides of each steak. This simple step intensifies the beefy flavour. Then grind some black pepper over the steaks and sprinkle on a few drops of olive oil. Turn the steaks in the oil and leave aside. If using sirloin steaks, score the fat at 2.5cm intervals.

Next, roast the red peppers.

Preheat the grill or better still use a charcoal grill or barbecue.  Grill the peppers on all sides, turning them when necessary – they can be quite charred.  Alternatively, preheat the oven to 250°C/Gas Mark 9.  Put the peppers on a baking tray and bake for 20-30 minutes until the skin blisters and the flesh is soft.

Put them into a bowl and cover for a few minutes, this will make them much easier to peel. 

Pull the skin off the peppers, remove the stalks and seeds. Do not wash or you will lose the precious sweet juices.  Divide each into 2 or 3 pieces along the natural divisions. 

To cook the steaks.

Heat the grill pan, season the steaks with a little salt and put them down onto the hot pan.

Cook to your preference – rare, medium rare, medium or well done (see Pan-grilled Steak with Béarnaise Sauce for timings).

Allow to rest.

Transfer the steaks onto hot plates.

Serve with roast red peppers, rocket leaves and a little blob of anchoïade.

Anchoïade

Makes 450ml approximately

Ingredients

110g tinned anchovy fillets (weigh out of tin)

300ml olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ tsp thyme leaves

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

lots of freshly ground pepper

Method

Whizz all ingredients together except the oil in a food processor. Add the oil gradually. Taste and add a little more oil if necessary.  (The anchovies act in the same way as egg yolks in mayonnaise and as a protein, will emulsify the oil). Be careful and keep a close eye as the oil starts to emulsify. If you feel it becomes too thick, add a little water. This will do two things; it will thin the anchoïade and will also stabilise the emulsion too which will stop it from splitting.

When all the oil is incorporated and you have a lovely thick garlicky, anchovy emulsion, store in a covered jar in the fridge.  Serve with crudités or just slathered on toast, bruschetta, or warm pitta bread.

The Sunday Times best seller One Pot One Portion arrived on my desk last week. The quote from Nigella on the front cover ‘A brilliant, beyond brilliant idea’ made me curious. It’s written by Eleanor Wilkinson, a viral social media sensation @eleanorgwilkinson on Instagram.

When Eleanor Wilkinson’s long term relationship ended, she quit her job and began to live alone once more.  Eleanor loved to cook but found it difficult to gather the enthusiasm to cook yummy food just for herself. It took a while to adjust but gradually she ventured back into the kitchen and started sharing the recipes online. The response was truly overwhelming, she suddenly realised how many others were in the same predicament and everyone yearned to eat really well.

People of all ages, in a wide variety of situations, young and old, eagerly tuned in awaiting the next creation.

From 20 somethings to parents whose children had flown the nest, single parents, older people, widows and widowers. All craving delicious food and wanting to find the joy in cooking something comforting for themselves.

Eleanor spent hours pouring over cookbooks for added inspirations. She developed her own recipes. Some are made in minutes, others take several hours and many ingredients to make. She had already started her book when she joined us in Ballymaloe Cookery School for the 12 Week course in 2023. One Pot One Portion was published by Ebury Press in 2024, to immediate acclaim.

Eleonor divided the chapters of the cookbook into:

Comfort: recipes to bring you ultimate warmth, for days when you need to feel cosy and homely.

Fresh: food packed with colour and vibrancy, for times when you want your food to energise you and bring a little zing to your day.

Simple: for when you have enough on your plate, and you’d like your food to require little time or fresh ingredients. Satisfaction without stress.

Special: When you want to show yourself a little extra love. Recipes that take more time or money but bring another level of joy.

Sweet: for when you need extra sweetness in your day, food that is impossible not to enjoy, and not just for dessert.

In Eleanor’s words, ‘hopefully, across the capers in this book, you’ll find everything you need to fulfil all requirements. So have fun, eat well, and enjoy it as much as possible’.

There’s also an emphasis on zero waste, lots of recipes have partner recipes to use up one or more of the same ingredients and suggestions for using the freezer cleverly.

Here are a few recipes for you to try – so many delectable recipes, it was difficult to choose just a few to tempt you…

All recipes are from One Pot One Portion by Eleanor Wilkinson published by Ebury Press

Spiced Lamb and Aubergine with Pitta

This recipe is based on the Middle Eastern dish, fatteh, which is made for sharing but this version is a feast for one. A plate piled high with the most delicious flavours – we start with a garlicky yoghurt which cools and warms all at once. Then it’s onto a layer of lamb mince and soft aubergine fried in olive oil and spiced with cumin, coriander and cinnamon. Next, spoonfuls of the most luxurious toasted pine nut butter, finished with pops of sweet pomegranate seeds and all scooped up with toasted pitta bread. You’ll be glad you’re not sharing this one.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ large aubergine (approx. 125g), sliced into 1cm batons

5 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 garlic clove, grated

125g lamb mince

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cinnamon

5g fresh coriander, finely chopped

knob of butter

1 ½ tbsp pine nuts

3 tbsp pomegranate seeds

salt and black pepper

To serve:

pitta bread

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium-high heat, add the aubergine, season with salt and fry for 8-10 minutes until golden and mostly soft.

While that’s frying, spoon the yoghurt onto your serving plate and add the garlic. Mix together and spread over the bottom of the plate.

Once the aubergine batons are golden, add in the lamb mince and fry for 4-5 minutes until brown and starting to crisp slightly. Add the spices and season with salt and pepper, then fry for 2-3 minutes. Toast the pitta bread while this is cooking. Add in the fresh coriander and mix everything together, then spoon the lamb and aubergine mixture over the yoghurt.

Place the pan back on the heat and add a knob of butter and the pine nuts. Let the nuts toast in the butter for 3-4 minutes until golden, then spoon them over the lamb/aubergine layer.

Sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds, then cut the pitta into triangles to serve alongside.

Ginger Chicken Rice Bowl

Usually, I would consider a brothy meal that you eat with a bowl and a spoon a form of comfort food, however, the flavours in this dish are so fresh and vibrant that it has to go in this chapter. I love the fiery freshness of ginger and it’s the predominant flavour in this rich chicken broth. The finished dish isn’t a soup as such but there is just enough broth to make every mouthful deliciously juicy. It also takes minimal time to make so it’s a useful recipe to have on hand for days when you’re short of time.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp sesame oil, plus extra to serve

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

10g fresh ginger, chopped into matchsticks

300ml water

½ chicken stock pot

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

55g basmati rice

1 chicken breast, cut into 2cm thick slices

55g broccoli (regular or tenderstem), chopped into small pieces

5g fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 spring onion, thinly sliced at an angle

salt (optional)

Method

In a pan, heat the sesame oil over a medium heat. Fry the garlic and ginger until they have softened slightly and smell fragrant but haven’t coloured too much.

Add in the water, stock pot, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer and taste – if needed, add a little salt. Bring to the boil, then add in the basmati rice and cook for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and add in the chicken and broccoli (tenderstem broccoli will take slightly less time, so add this in when you only have 4-5 minutes left). Put a lid on and cook for 8 minutes. You want it to stay at a gentle simmer, so the chicken poaches but doesn’t toughen.

Place the coriander and spring onion slices in your serving bowl. Once the chicken and rice are cooked, spoon into the bowl with the coriander and spring onion and mix together. Finish with a final drizzle of sesame oil to serve.

Cinnamon Bun

This is the easiest cinnamon bun recipe you may ever find, relying on no dough, no yeast, no kneading and no proving time. I use ready-made puff pastry here to make the bun and, whilst usually you want to keep puff pastry as flaky and delicate as possible, for this recipe you’re actually looking for the centre of this pastry to melt together to create a consistency more akin to a yeasted dough. It stays crisp on top too, which I love.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

80-85g ready-rolled puff pastry

10g softened butter, plus extra for greasing

3 tsp soft light brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/Gas Mark 4.

Unroll the puff pastry and cut off a long strip that is 5cm in width. Spread the butter on top of the pastry, then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the top

Fold the pastry over so it halves in length, then press together to seal slightly. Cut into three strips. At one end, press the three strips together, then plait the strips, taking one outside strip and bringing it into the middle, then bring the other outside strip into the middle, repeating until the end.

Lightly butter one hole of a muffin tin, or a small ovenproof ramekin, then roll the plait up and place it in the tin/ramekin with the loose end at the bottom of the tin/ramekin. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.