It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark, yes it’s winter time and that means only one thing – SOUP!!! We’ve been absolutely battered here this weekend so it was time to bring out the comforting soup recipes. I love minestrone soup but it does require a bit of prep with all the veg that has to be chopped which can take a while whereas this recipe is great in that it mainly involves opening a few cans of beans. Does that make it any less tasty, no Sireeeeeee, it’s absolutely delicious. I demand you try it:)

what you need:

2 carrots chopped

1 celery stick

2 garlic cloves crushed

2 tsp chilli flakes

250g diced pancetta

1 400g tin cannellini beans drained

1 400g tin  borlotti beans drained

1 400g tin lentils drained

1 400g tin chickpeas drained

1 lt chicken stock

2 sprigs of rosemary chopped

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

heat 4\5 tbsp olive oil in a pot and cook the garlic, carrots and celery over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured.

add your rosemary, chilli and pancetta and cook over a high heat for about 10 mins until pancetta starts to colour.

add your beans and your stock, bring to the boil, season and reduce heat.

simmer over a low heat for about 30 mins.

check the seasoning and serve with crusty bread of course:)

Easy Peasy:)

L x

Yo Yo Yo…..

It’s been a while hasn’t it? I’ve been a busy ladeeee with setting up the new company for our new range of fresh pasta sauces. We are closer to launch now & hope it will happen some time in November. It’s been a long process but we’ve threaded very cautiously and hopefully we have made the right decisions. I’ll do a full blog post on it again, it’s very exciting times in Casa Italian Foodies & I’m keeping everything crossed that it succeeds, as they say “nothing ventured, nothing gained”!

So this summer was absolutely rubbish & I find it really hard to cook when I know I’m supposed to be eating al fresco & the bbq should be permanently on but that didn’t happen this year so I’m actually embracing winter and its comfort food. What represents winter & the cold wet nights better than a hearty stew so a simple, tasty, lamb stew is my comeback post, (I know, I know I’ve had about 10 but at least I try) I wish I could say this is my recipe but I have to give credit to the “Two Greedy Italians” for this one, I’ve made lamb stew before but I like the addition of chilli & white wine vinegar in this one so I’ll give you their recipe, I’m sure they won’t mind:)

what you need:

1 kg boned shoulder cut into chunks

10 tbsp olive oil

1 onion diced

1 carrot chopped

1 celery stalk

5 garlic cloves crushed

20g anchovy fillets

handful of thyme

1 red chilli sliced

250ml white wine

25ml white wine vinegar

250g frozen peas

300g potatoes cut into cubes

200g cherry tomatoes cut in half

flour for dusting

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

dust the lamb chunks with flour and season well

heat the olive oil in a large pot and sweat the carrots, celery, garlic and onion over a low heat until soft.

add the anchovies, thyme and chilli and cook until anchovies have dissolved.

add the lamb chunks and seal well all over.

stir in the wine and allow to reduce by half, then add the vinegar.

reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 mins.

add the peas, tomatoes and potatoes, cover again and cook for about an hour.

serve with lots of crusty bread:)

I don’t think this post needs any words….

www.harrys.ie

L x

Please likey us:)

L xx

I’ve talked a bit about our new business venture on here, we’re doing market research on it at the moment and I’m looking for your help. If you buy pasta sauces would you mind doing this short survey for me…

Grazie a tutti xx



I’m sitting here reluctantly writing a blog post as I actually wanted to go out for Sunday lunch for a change but after 2 hours of twitter research and trying to decide where to go I gave up! My New Year’s resolution was not to waste anymore money on average food just for the sake of eating out. I know for a lot of people it isn’t just about the food but more the social aspect of it  but for me if the food isn’t great my whole experience is ruined. I go out “TO EAT” and if that’s not right then the whole experience is ruined anyway so there is really no point in me going for the social aspect because I’m a pain to listen to and not very sociable then because I’m grumpy. Actually I’m probably lying here too because on the other hand if the food is great & the service isn’t then I get grumpy too so I should really say I go out to eat and enjoy good service…..

Now finding these 2 elements has become near to impossible for me! Am I too fussy?  My parents would say “HELL YES” but 2 of my sisters have become more like me after listening to me ranting for years they now have the expectation too. I don’t think I am fussy to be honest as I’m not picky or pretentious but I do have an expectation. If I have made the choice to spend my hard earned money somewhere I expect to get something for it and that is a good standard of food & service, it doesn’t have to be spectacular or fancy but I expect it to be the same or a little bit better that what I cook at home and I’m not a trained chef so that shouldn’t be too hard but it seems to be.

 Take for example simple gastro pub food, Ok if I order a burger my expectation paying €16 plus is that I’m getting good quality local beef with a bit of seasoning for crying out loud, cooked perfectly(not cremated), served in a home-made bread of some kind with hand-cut chips. I do not want a burger bun with bought in frozen chips, the same goes for fish & chips! It drives me mad when I order fish & chips and get served bought in chips and tartare sauce, these should be home-made! To take an even simpler example a toasted sandwich, it contains 4 ingredients so they need to be good, I do not want plastic ham & cheese that taste of nothing, I don’t eat Denny ham at home so I definitely don’t want to pay someone to put it in a sandwich for me! These are pretty basic examples but there should be an expectation at every level but there isn’t, I think the majority have lost their taste buds over the last few years and actually don’t taste food!

I remember when we were younger we always bought our cooked ham from our local butcher who would slice it up in front of us, we used to buy our home-made coleslaw there too. There is not one brand of Irish ham that I would buy now from the shop as they are all tasteless and plastic, don’t get me started on the ham used in the sandwich shops and petrol station delis. The only ham I buy is the Rovagnati brand in Superquinn, it’s not cheap but then we don’t eat ham everyday so that’s fine. This goes across the board, sausages, cheese, rashers, tuna etc, average prevails and people eat it but it has absolutely no taste. I think the food people are eating at home has actually caused the standard that exists when eating out as there is very little expectation so very few complain or demand a higher standard and if you do you are the “fussy bitch” because obviously “they are doing everything right as they are so busy & everyone else loves it”. I’m often asked why don’t I complain when I’m out and I never do because there is no point, if these are the standards that an establishment are working from my little complaint isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference. We stayed in a well known hotel a couple of weeks back and from start to finish it was so average I couldn’t wait to see the back of it, did I complain? Nope! Why? there was absolutely no point, the place was jammed from the moment we arrived until the moment we left, their books are telling them they are doing everything right and if I complained I would have just been a fussy old so and so, sure everyone else loves it. It really hit home with me last Saturday while munching on a sandwich that tasted like carboard in the outside area of a very popular  cafe(why I have no idea)  it had rained so most of the tables were covered in water, 4 women came out & sat at a table, the waitress passed by 5 or 6 times and didn’t bother cleaning it off but the most amazing thing was these women didn’t even ask for it to be cleaned, they just ate off the wet table. I left a bit depressed to be honest….

The other side of the coin is service, I’ve actually come to the conclusion it doesn’t exist here and do you know why? It’s because it’s not considered a profession like in the rest of Europe. In Italy you train to become a waitress or bar staff, here you just do it when in college or when you can’t find anything else. There are always exceptions to the rule of course but I’m talking in general. My biggest issue or disappointment is when I actually find a place that has very good food but the service lets it down, service is just as important as the food. We struggle with this ourselves and I have my staff driven mad but I really try to hammer home to them how important it is, La Cucina is a bit different too as it’s not a restaurant and we have big volumes coming through the door everyday! These are my key points for staff…

•  Say hello – such a simple thing but doesn’t happen in most places!
• Smile – so important! Look like you enjoy your job. In La Cucina people are coming from their workplace at lunch, they want to relax and forget about everything outside our doors for a little while and the last thing they want to see is a grumpy face.
• Interact – speak with the customer! A simple “how are you” is sufficient…
• get to know the regulars -  address them by name, know their regular order…
• the customer is king – make them feel like it! We are not doing them a favour by serving them, they are giving us money, make them feel like we appreciate it & acknowledge it! This is where most places fail, you feel like they are doing you a favour, this is my biggest problem with service in Ireland….
• service – make sure the customer has everything they need! Stay one step ahead, read your customers and fix an issue before it becomes one.
• complaints – deal with it appropriately! It doesn’t mean the customer is always right as everyone has different tastes, expectations etc but listen and try & rectify! I hate “oh nobody has ever said that” or the best one I got when treated badly by a very rude waiter was “well maybe you just don’t get his personality, everybody loves him”! I will never go back. It’s actually very easy to deal with a complaint when you know how, I always tell the girls to refer it to me if they can’t deal with it which a lot of the time they can’t! We rarely get complaints though:)
• Say thank you and goodbye & make sure they hear you….

So basically I try to give to people what I expect when I eat somewhere. I want to be welcomed, I want to be made feel special and appreciated as a customer, I want to be served good food using good quality ingredients, if I have a complaint I want it to be dealt with properly and not made feel stupid for making it, I want to be thanked for my custom and leave feeling my expectation was met and I got value for my money and look forward to giving that establishment repeat business! Back to the whole Ireland being a food tourism island thing, there is not a hope of it happening with the standards that are here at the moment!

 I really don’t think I’m asking for too much but it seems I am……

what you need:

tomato sauce

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

4 tbsp olive oil

1/2 red onion finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

8 basil leaves

1 tsp sugar

sea salt & black pepper

besciamella sauce

500 ml milk

50g butter

50g plain flour

sea salt & pepper

nutmeg

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

roast vegetables

2 courgettes

1 aubergine

2 sweet red peppers

2 red onions

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

10 basil leaves

Lasagne

lasagne sheets (I have no idea of measurements)

1 mozzarella ball

80g grated parmesan

what to do:

pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees

sprinkle your chopped aubergines with salt and leave in a colander for about 15 mins

make your tomato sauce

heat your olive oil in a pan and add your garlic and onion and cook for about 10 mins over a low heat until soft but not coloured

add your tomatoes and leave to simmer for about 10-15 mins

season and add your sugar & basil towards the end.

Roast Veg

place all your chopped veg on in an oven tray, sprinkle with garlic, season well and drizzle with olive oil. Cook for about 20 mins and add your basil for the last 5 mins.

besciamella

heat the milk in a pot to just below boiling point, then remove  from the heat

melt the butter in another saucepan, then add the flour & stir well

add the hot milk a little at a time, stirring constantly

cook the sauce for about 10-15 min over a low heat whisking occasionally with a balloon whisk

remove from the heat, season with salt & pepper and nutmeg & stir in the parmesan

lasagne

you can pre-cook your sheets in boiling salted water or if you can get your hands on  good quality fresh sheets you don’t have to…

butter your dish and build layers of roast veg, mozzarella, parmesan, besciamella & tomato sauce for about 3 layers, season as you go and then finish with some tomato sauce, besciamella and parmesan on top…

cook in the oven for about 30-40 mins until golden brown and bubbling at the edges…

devour….

ciao

L xx

Mini Italian foodie has been home all week with the “Chicken Pops” and to prevent us from going stir crazy from barbie.com and the telly we’ve been busy baking and cooking. If this child doesn’t end up working in food in the future no child will even though she is still the worst eater ever! I mentioned that I bought Mr Italian Foodie a kitchen aid for Christmas and I must say it is the best present I’ve ever bought him/us Baking is so much easier especially with young children and I’ve baked so much more since getting it, the only problem is I’m going to be as fat as a fool at this rate….

So Mini IF was housebound for Valentines so she wanted to make something special for her “daddy” seen as he presented the 2 of us with 2 big bunches of flowers on Valentine’s morning.  Her little face lit up when she saw the huge bunch of sunflowers, she has been very cute all week showing every visitor “her flowers” so red velvet cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook seemed like the most appropriate thing to bake for the day that was in it. I had never tried these before but have heard a lot about them, O.M.G they are divine. Grandma Italian Foodie pronounced they were the nicest cupcake she had ever eaten so say no more…..

        Ms Chicken Pops herself interfering with my photos:)

ciao

L xx

So I’m just back from a whirlwind couple of days eating & drinking myself stupid around London, we went over on some research for our new product development & branding! We went to so many places I earned  the Overshare Badge on Foursquare for checking into 10+ places in 2 days. The highlight of the trip is that we got to meet Gennaro Contaldo at Jamie’s Italian in Covent Garden, he was an absolute gent, took a photo with us and then sat down at our table for a chat for about 20 mins, he was so nice & down to earth telling us about his upcoming TV show with Antonio Carluccio called ”Two Greedy Italians”.  I’ll do a post on where we ate again, I love London, there is so much choice of places to eat, we didn’t have enough time so we’ve decided we need to go back more often for research purposes of course;)

This is my latest Facebook Cookalong recipe, VERY simple and quick to make and is a great recipe for having friends around for dinner….

what you need: 

2 salmon fillets

3 leeks

1 shallot or 1/2 small onion

150g mascarpone cheese

zest of 1/2 lemon

1 egg

2 sheets of puff pastry

sea salt & black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

20g butter

what to do:

pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees

heat a tbsp of olive oil and melt your butter in a pan…

add your onions and cook over a low heat for about 8-10 mins until soft but not coloured…

add your chopped leeks & 2 tbsp water, season and cook over a low heat for about 15-20 mins until soft…

add your lemon zest to your mascarpone and season…

throw a little bit of flour on your counter, you can roll out your pastry a little but with the new Jus roll sheets you don’t even need to…

once your leeks are cooked transfer to a bowl and leave to cool…

once cooled add your mascarpone mix…

place your salmon on your pastry sheet and season well…

place your leek & mascarpone mix on top…

brush some beaten egg around the edges so the sides will seal…

fold over your pastry and cut away excess, leave in a square or cut into a more rounded shape, whatever is easiest! It doesn’t have to be perfect so don’t worry about it…

press down the edges with a fork…

egg wash the whole outside and place on a greased(rub the tray with some butter) baking tray…

Cook for around 20 mins until pastry has risen and is nice and golden…

Serve and enjoy:)

ciao

L xx

Wow it’s been a busy week, my blog was mentioned by Paulo Tullio in his restaurant review in the Independant last Saturday and then this week I was the foodie to follow  in the Independant and I was featured in a Blogging in Ireland piece in the Examiner. Blogging and social media is becoming so main stream now, I remember when I started this blog 4 years ago and anyone I mentioned the blog to hadn’t a clue what I was talking about and looked at me like I had 2 heads! A lot has changed since then, I do find Social Media is overtaking blogging a bit though and I tend to keep this for recipes and rants now and chat away about my life in general over on Twitter whereas when I started this blog I used to chat a lot more on here and it was like my online diary in a way but after 4 years you do tend to run out of things to say I suppose so I’ll keep going the way I am.

The branding process is going great and the latest options we’ve been given by Midpoint Creative are really good, we’re nearly there I think. The latest images really represent us and I’m starting to get really excited now, we’re off to Bordbia’s Vantage Programme on Tuesday and I’m hoping we’ll learn a lot through that about the production side of our sauces & ready meals and most importantly route to market.  We’re off to London the following week for a couple of days for research and inspiration so if there are any UK artisan brands or Speciality Food Shops that you know of that we should visit please let me know please and thanks:)

Sooooo, today’s recipe, very simple, frickin delicious and a brilliant one to make with smallies! Mini italian foodie was in her element as she has a tendency to sit with a jar of nutella and a spoon in front of the telly so anything involving her favourite chocolate spread was going to be a winner! I’ve based this recipe on the Humming Bird Cookbook as they make everything in an electric mixer so it was my chance to put Mr italian foodie’s Christmas present from me to him to the test! Yes I’ve always wanted a Kitchen Aid so I bought it for him for Christmas……

ciao

L xx

It’s exciting times at La Cucina at the moment, I spoke here about the problems with expanding the business with the high overheads that still exist here so opening more shops is just not a risk I’m willing to take at the moment. I know they would be successful but I’m not prepared to kill myself again to pay for rent, rates,wages and everything else that goes with it so we had to come up with another way to expand. We sell some of our pasta sauces in the shop to take home and we’ve noticed the sales of them have been steadily increasing over the last year, likewise with our lasagna to take home to cook in the oven. It seems that people are looking for home-made good quality sauces made with the best ingredients to take home so that’s where we are going…..

We’re currently at the branding stage which is a very detailed process, I presumed you hired a graphic designer, they design a logo and there you go!! Ah no sireeee!! The brand has to represent what we stand for – family, culture, Italian lifestyle, passion, natural, local,  good quality etc etc and it is pretty difficult to get all this into a couple of words and a graphic, we are on the way though and get closer every meeting we have with the designers but it is all I have been thinking about for the last couple of weeks, we’re off to London soon to see if we can get any inspiration over there, they market artisan food very well in the UK and I think Ireland should look to them on how it is done….

There is a lot of talk at the moment on Ireland becoming a food island and that this is the future for the country, I think this is a great idea, we are a tiny country with amazing countryside inhabited by lots of passionate farmers and food producers and this is definitely the way to go BUT so much has to change first! I can only compare to what I see in Italy and the Uk when I go to visit my sister in Canterbury, our red tape strangles us here. There are so many rules and regulations I don’t see how this will happen??? I think a big opportunity here is the setting up of farm shops and farm cafes similar to the “Agriturismo” in Italy and which you see all over the UK countryside. There isn’t a hope you could set one up here at the moment between insurance and health regulations, planning restrictions etc etc! These cafes would be very simple places and there should be regulation about what is sold in them if grants etc are provided like in Italy, only local produce should be allowed used and everything should be made on site, no buying salads from Pallas Foods etc but the health regulations need a complete overhaul for this! They would probably only open 3 or 4 days a week and serve simple food using meat from the local butcher, veg from the local farms, the focus should be on simple food using Irish produce – soups, pies, breakfasts, Irish smoked salmon on brown bread, home-baking, Quiche with farm eggs, nothing fancy just good wholesome food.

 I spoke about a farm cafe I ate in just outside Canterbury and it was one of the nicest experiences I’ve had, the owner and staff were fantastic as they were so passionate about what they do, it came across the minute you walked through the door, you felt you had entered something special. The farm shop beside the cafe was a haven of local produce where you would browse for ages and pick up things you knew you didn’t need but had to buy. I loved it! There were 3 other units too selling local art and crafts and it really had such a nice little community spirit and character, we’ve lost that here. The small guy got lost in the Celtic Tiger and we need to bring him back, nurture, encourage, develop and take advantage of the beautiful countryside we have. A prime example is Caroline Rigny up in Curraghchase, we went up there last summer with Mini Italian Foodie, she has a little farm shop and you can wander around her farm and see the pigs and her veg patch, it’s a little piece of heaven. The place was empty and she was working herself, we bought some of her sausages and vegetables which she plucked straight from the garden in front of us, we then went down to Curraghchase park and it was packed down there with families. There was nowhere in the whole area to have a cup of tea or get a drink for the children, imagine if Caroline had a cafe on her farm it would be packed in the summer! I would go out there a lot more if I knew we could pop in there for home-made scones and tea, you would make a day of it, if she had a small play area even better!! I’m sure there are lots of places like this around the country that have huge potential???

 It would also bring the younger generation back to nature, city kids wouldn’t see an animal from the day they are born unless they go to the zoo. Mini Italian Foodie loved the pigs that day and it was the first time she had ever seen one that wasn’t called Peppa or George. Even ourselves as adults we are completely removed from the land and I would love nothing more on a Sunday afternoon than heading off for a drive to the local farm shop and cafe and picking up my veg and stuff for the week and having a bite to eat while I’m there! I know we have farmers markets but this just isn’t the same thing and to be honest I’m not a big farmer’s market fan, I would much prefer to go to the farm and buy it there. We have so much Irish produce between cheese, butter, salmon, sausages etc but it isn’t showcased like it should be, it’s all exported! If we had these kind of places we could really promote Ireland as a food destination which it really isn’t at the moment, ok we have good restaurants in the cities but go to the Cliffs of Moher or any destination in Kerry etc and you will eat muck, there are no local cafes showcasing Irish produce, we could have a food trail around Ireland which might be of interest to tourists! When I go on holiday abroad where I eat is as important as where I visit and this should be the same for Ireland if we are to become this “agri country” that everyone talks about….

As to the logistics of this I haven’t a clue, that would be up to the likes of Bordbia etc, there would be lots involved I’m sure but if they can do it in Italy why can’t it be done here? The key is it is affordable too so there should be lots of tax incentives etc, no tax, vat or rates for the first 2 years, ok so the goverment won’t make anything initially but they are investing in the people and the country and most importantly the future! This would allow people to get on their feet, enjoy what they do and re-invest back into the business then if it is a success, it’s a win win for everyone!  The prices could also be kept lower for consumers then, I don’t want to be paying €5 for a scone and tea! In Italy you pay €20 per person for a 3 course meal including wine and there is no menu, you eat what you are given as you get what’s on the farm that day! This wouldn’t work here but the key is value for money as you are eating from the land and you expect it to be cheaper! A local farmshop could also help local people, a lot of stay at home mothers are great cooks and bakers and why couldn’t they supply the local shop with their home-made bread, baking, jams etc, it’s really going back to basics and how it used to be…

Maybe I’m a bit of a dreamer and in reality it mightn’t work and probably won’t if the last few years in this country is anything to go by, all that’s left on our streets is franchises and multiples! Our local community has been decimated and the family businesses are on their knees, local is a foreign word to us now and this needs to change! We need to start thinking outside the box and it’s all well and good talking about Ireland as a “smart economy” or an “agri country” but we need to go back to basics, we have all this fabulous cheese produced in Ireland and I’d say more people eat it in the rest of the world than here, I would be interested to see what are the top 5 selling cheese in Ireland??? It is very interesting following all the “foodies” on Twitter and the passion that comes from all corners – bloggers, Bordbia, Bridgestone, Ireland Guide and other food journalists and contrast it with running a food business and the realities that we come face to face with everyday and that is the majority do not have this passion, food for Irish people is fuel where in Italy food is the main topic of conversation from the minute they wake up until they go to bed at night! We as a country don’t own our food and don’t have enough of a connection with it, the majority would still choose the breakfast roll or plastic ham and cheese sandwich from the Spar deli and why????

 We could talk about education etc but I think the main problem is access, where can you go to have home-made brown bread with Yeats cream cheese and smoked salmon from Kinvara or the Burren? where can you eat sausages from Oldfarm? Nowhere, the Celtic Tiger ruined our connection to food and “dashboard dining” overtook sitting down and eating proper food! The high street cafes & delis can’t do it because they are crippled by rents and overheads so the bottom line is their priority. We need to find a way to bring this Irish food to the people rather than just exporting it, we need to find our sense of community again, get rid of half the red tape that’s out there and start moving forward, there is no point in us all talking about becoming a food island when the majority couldn’t even name a locally produced Irish cheese or food and that is the reality, as a country we need to take ownership of the food we produce and we are a long way from that! 

 One such lady thinking outside the box is Imen who is restoring a beautiful cottage on her farm and is planning on using it for agri tourism projects like farmstays and buttermaking etc, I’m really looking forward to following her progress and I hope we see lots more like her and most importantly that she is supported from the powers that be…..

So back to the recipe, yes it’s basically beans on toast but not like you’ve tasted before:)

what you need:

2 cans cannellini beans

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 shallots or 1 small onion

basil

1 garlic clove

160g pancetta

country style bread or ciabatta

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp chilli

1 tsp sugar

what to do:

heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan, add your chopped onions and garlic and cook for 5 mins until soft but not coloured

add your chilli and pancetta and cook for 5 mins

add your tomatoes and sugar, season and cook over a low heat for 10-15 mins! Add a little water or stock if it dries out!

drain and add your beans, season and cook for a further 10 mins, add your basil towards the end

heat a dry grill pan and cook your bread, rub with a garlic clove and drizzle with a little olive oil

serve your beans on your bread and enjoy:)

p.s what is your vision for the future? what would you like to see happen with Irish food?

or to you and me MAC & CHEESE!!!

Happy new year y’all! We had a lovely relaxing Christmas in the Italian Foodie house this year, we went to the Italians for Christmas dinner as per usual and then out to the Oirish on Stephen’s day. We didn’t cook much this year except on New Year’s we went all out and did a 3 course spread even though my 2 year old nephew sabotaged my beef wellington by turing down the oven twice without anyone noticing and me scratching my head trying to figure out why my pastry wasn’t browing and thinking the oven must be broken, we caught him in the act eventually but it was too late by then, I didn’t sleep for days after my first failure in the kitchen and in front of guests and everything! I have a reputation to uphold ya know:)

Anyway a bit of comfort food for you today even though I know I should be cooking healthy recipes with it being January and everything but it’s dark and miserable so nothing like a comforting mac & cheese to cheer one up. This is the latest Facebook Cookalong so if you make it be sure to post a pic of the end product over on our page grazie….

what you need:

Facebook cookalong shopping list….

Serves 4

500g macaroni – I could only get it in Tesco! Penne is fine too:)

75g cheddar cheese grated

75g emmental cheese grated

75g parmesan

75g pecorino

1 ball of mozzarella cut into cubes (I had to use mini mozz as I didn’t have reg)

150g peas(1 mug)

3 egg yolks

15g butter

5 slices of ham chopped

300ml double cream

sea salt and black pepper

what to do

pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees

bring a pot of water to the boil add salt and your macaroni and cook until aldente. Drain and return to the saucepan off the heat

melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the ham until crispy, leave aside

add your cream, and your cheese to your pasta(keep some parmesan & pecorino for the top), return to the heat for 1 min and mix together

remove from the heat and add your ham, peas, mozzarella and egg yolks, season and mix together well

pour your pasta into a greased oven dish and top with remaining parmesan and pecorino

cook in the oven for 15-20 mins until nice and golden on the top

devour:)

ciao

L xx

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 170,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 7 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 35 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 276 posts. There were 342 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 28mb. That’s about 7 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was May 21st with 982 views. The most popular post that day was Menu.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were prouditaliancook.blogspot.com, blogs.com, italianfoodies.blog.com, thegoodmoodfoodblog.com, and magicmum.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for la cucina limerick, italian foodies, menu, lamb burgers jamie oliver, and tuna steak recipe jamie oliver.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Menu May 2009
12 comments

pasta with mushroom, white wine and cream! January 2009
23 comments

penne carbonara March 2009
29 comments

stuffed courgettes! January 2009
20 comments

about moi! July 2008
51 comments

I love this recipe, it’s perfect for using left-over roast chicken and is a real winter warmer. I made a big pot of it recently for a family lunch and it went down a treat. I used fresh chicken stock which does make a big difference to the taste but with today’s busy life-styles that’s not an option for most so I often use Kallo organic stock cubes and they do the job nicely. You can use  any vegetables you want and I often mix it up by using a soup pasta instead of the potato so basically do whatever you want:)

what you need:

olive oil

1 courgette chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 celery sticks chopped

3 potatoes diced

2 cups frozen peas

2 sprigs of thyme

flat leaf parsley

1tr chicken stock

left-over roast chicken

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a pot

add your onions, celery and carrots and cook over a low heat for about 10-15 mins until soft but not coloured

add your courgettes and thyme and cook for 10  mins

add your stock, potatoes and peas, season and cook for 30-40 mins until the veg is soft

add your chicken and flat leaf parsley and heat through

serve and enjoy the praise:)

ciao

Lxx

So my little rant last week caused quite a stir, I never in a million years expected the reaction that it received. It went crazy over on twitter and I got such a positive reaction over there and on here. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who took time to comment on the blog, twitter and Facebook, it obviously hit a chord and it’s great to know that others feel and think the same. There is so much shouting from political circles, unions and special interest groups that the ordinary person on the street never gets heard and we are the ones getting on with it. The internet has become the voice of the people I suppose as no one at the top cares to listen to what we have to say, we are just told what we are supposed to do and get on with it, I really hope things start to change going into 2011 as there are lots of us out there who want it to and see the need for it to happen. I have a lot more ranting inside but I’ll keep it under wraps for today and give you a lovely little recipe instead…..

This is very simple but one of my favourite ways to eat courgettes, I pick up baby courgettes in Superquinn all the time even though they are not in season anymore and they aren’t Irish, even though I think courgettes need sun and the Irish courgettes tend to be a bit bland anyway so I always try to get Spanish or Italian courgettes. I find it very difficult to eat veg in season here as I’m not a carrot, parsnip or turnip lover, I don’t really do root vegetables, I prefer baby broccoli, courgettes, spinach, garden peas, asparagus and aubergines. I don’t really like Irish floury potatoes either, I much prefer a waxy potato, it’s just personal taste but I think I may live in the wrong country:)

what you need:

courgettes – baby cut in half or regular sliced

pink garlic

1 sprig of thyme

olive oil

sea salt

black pepper

grated parmesan cheese

what to do:

pre-heat your oven to 190 degrees

place your chopped courgettes in an oven dish

sprinkle some chopped garlic and thyme on top

season with salt and pepper and drizzle some olive oil over your courgettes

cook for 15-20 mins

sprinkle your grated parmesan cheese over the top for the last 5 mins

serve with a smile….

ciao

Lxx

Times are very strange here in Ireland at the moment as you all well know! To be honest I knew it was going to come to this sooner or later, since the recession began all I heard in the shop was ” ah sure it will come back again”, this seems to sum up everything about where we are at the moment “ah sure”, it’s this attitude that has got us here. I’ve gotten a lot of strange looks over the last couple of years because I have been quite vocal in the shop disagreeing with the “ah sure” attitude. It was never going to come back again, things just don’t happen unless you make them….

If I took this attitude when business started to go down when the recession hit and sat waiting for it to come back again we would probably be closed down by now. I decided not to wait and have fought tooth and nail for the last 2 years to improve my business and survive this recession and no it’s not a blip, it is going to take a long time to come out of this. I cut costs, I improved staff performance, I improved customer service, I improved quality, we sold our car because the bank wouldn’t give us money and put the money back into the business by renovating it, I found new ways to advertise and promote the business without spending a penny through social media, I reduced our prices a lot, I gave great deals (€10 for a pasta & glass of wine). I took responsibility for MY business and it has paid off, we have been busier in the recession than we were during the boom times, I run a small business but it is no different to any other business including running a country, the same principles apply! We were very cautious through the boom times and never expanded, we did try once but pulled out in the end which was the best decision we made but I always got the impression from auctioneer’s etc that we were foolish and wasting their time by not entering into long leases with massive key money and rents, I always felt they looked on us as young and naive and hadn’t a clue what we were doing. Well if we were young and naive at the time I’m glad, I like to think we were clever…

Nothing is going to change here until the attitude does, nothing has changed for the small business, everything I have done I have done myself with no help or incentives, by making these changes we employ more full-time people now, it was a very hard slog to get here and I more or less missed out on a couple of years of Mini Italian Foodies life as we had to work so much, there were weeks where Mr Italian Foodie worked 7 days a week, 12 hours a day and didn’t see Mini Italian Foodie for days but I’m not complaining as this is what had to be done! Now I WANT to develop my business but I can’t, everything is still too expensive and the same red tape is still there, nothing has changed! All I hear is “the small businesses is what will bring us into the future, well if I can’t expand my business which is established with a very good brand and customer base, what hope is there for a new business? Now I could open a 2nd shop in the city centre but I refuse to work 80 hours a week to pay high rents, rates and everything that goes with it and probably take no wages for the first year or two and then a bare wage after that. Something has to give even though I don’t hold out much hope! Everybody says they are sick of the doom and gloom but unfortunately it’s the “REALITY” at the moment and I for one find it very frustrating that it’s not changing….

I have to say the food industry isn’t much better, there seems to be no fresh thinking there either! We are open 7 years and have never been reviewed in any newspaper, we are never mentioned in any food article or magazine article, we weren’t even listed in this years Food & Wine Eat Out magazine even though we won Best Casual Dining in Ireland in the Restaurant Awards and have a massive customer base and loyalty! The one group that have always included us are The Bridgestone Guides, they seem to be the only ones getting out there and seeing what is going on out in the field!  Nobody else seems to go out and find the “new faces”, it is always the same ole, same ole! I’m sure there are lots of young ambitious food businesses around the country that never get mentioned or acknowledged, if you are outside of Dublin forget it, the rest of us don’t exist. Thats why I love watching the English food channels and reading the English food magazines, they find the new food bloggers, the best local restaurants, the upcoming chefs, the best farmer, the best cupcake etc etc. I recently picked up a beautifully packaged Glenilen Farm butter in Superquinn recently, it caught my eye straight away and presumed it was English because it was packaged and marketed so well like a lot of food products in the UK, they do local food so well. I couldn’t believe when I saw it was from Cork, now I am fairly well up on what goes on in the food industry as I read a lot and try to keep up to date as well as I can and I had never heard of this husband and wife team from Cork, I read through their website and they are now supplying Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in the UK, wow, what a success story but I hadn’t read a thing about them anywhere and why not?

I obviously travel to Italy a lot and can’t help but compare the two countries but I also visit my sister a lot in Canterbury which would be a better comparison to here especially in relation to the food industry! We spent a week there in July travelling around the area sampling the local food delights and what struck me was the amount of farm shops at every corner. It’s all about the local food and the local community, we visited one farm shop in the middle of nowhere and it was the coolest little place ever, we sat out the back in a make-shift garden on the farm which had been cornered off and had home-made milkshakes with local ice-cream and home-made doorstep sandwiches, so simple but so damn delicious, the owner served us, everybody had a smile on their face, they had recently opened a deli with all the produce from the area supporting the local farmers, it was fabulous! Do you think that could happen here? not a hope with all of our planning laws, health and safety laws, laws for paying for tables and chairs outside for the 3 sunny days we get a year. My sister is in the process of opening her own wedding shop in Canterbury, a very affluent and wealthy place, she’s taking a premises the same size as mine for a lot less rent than me PLUS and this is where the big difference is her rates for the first year should be 2k+ but because it’s her first year in business she pays just £57 and the second year she pays 50% and so on, now that is forward thinking. This is actually the difference of her opening the business or not, she’s got a 3 year contract with a breakout clause after 1 year. This type of thinking is evident everywhere in the area, you drive out to the local seaside town and it’s buzzing, it’s full of independent small niche businesses, a cupcake shop, a little wine shop, the smallest ice-cream shop you’ve ever seen, a tiny Oyster cafe(which I had read about in Olive magazzine) small places like these wouldn’t last a week here becausse you need such a high turnover just to survive and pay the bills. Limerick city centre is dying, actually it’s dead, something innovative like this to encourage people to open little small businesses in their craft where they can make a decent wage and employ 1 or 2 people is where the future is plus it would bring some culture to the city and a better sense of community. I can dream I suppose…..

I contacted the Enterprise Board recently looking for help for my new business idea as I haven’t a clue where to start, I might aswell have rang my local Fire Station for the amount of help I got. I also sent an email recently about entering the Local Enterprise Awards and never even heard back from them, not a word! I’ve approached Bordbia now and sent my first email the other day and got a very postive response and I’ve been promised somebody will come back to me, I hope this time I will be surprised but I’m not holding out much hope. We will see….. There is a lot of positive things happening out there though and food business owners along with the likes of the Bridgestone Guides, Bordbia etc etc are becoming  more creative , the Kilkenny Food Camp was a great success and shows great creativity, this is the kind of thinking that we need! It’s not just a case of “if we build it they will come”, no they won’t…..

There’s a lot of begrudery and bitterness in Ireland and some don’t like to see others do well, this starts at the top,  there is no support from the government to help and encourage businesses and want to be entrepreneurs, all they do is punish you with new rules and regulations and make it harder and harder to do business, if we are to get out of this mess this needs to change, small businesses need to be supported, encouraged, helped, nurtured, acknowledged, incentivized! The amount of negativity I have come up against down through the years as I am quite ambitious makes me wonder why I ever stayed here and I probably wouldn’t have only for I met Mr Italian Foodie(damn him:)) I do struggle with the mentality that exists here and somedays I can’t stand living here but I just get on with it and try harder…

 To be honest I don’t hold much hope for Ireland for the future as there seems to be no one in Government with the “cop on” to change this attitude and catch the country by the horns and change it, we need a radical change, they go on “Oh Ireland this, Oh Ireland that, the Irish people are this, BLA BLA BLA BLA!!! I’m sick of listening to it and the thing that makes me most angry is that even with a general election there is no alternative that gives me any hope and I will be sitting here this time next year saying the same things. On a positive it has made me think outside the box and I am now looking into another avenue of developing the business which doesn’t involve opening more shops, I won’t be beaten by this crazy “ah sure” attitude and will continue to try to grow even in these crazy times…..

Anyway rant over, time for a recipe seen as this is a food blog:) Another low carb recipe today, very simple and delicious, does require a bit of washing up though for such a simple dish but worth it…

what you need:

• 4 large mushrooms
• 400g spinach
• 2 shallots
• 20g butter
• 150g gorgonzola cheese
• sea salt and black pepper
• olive oil

what to do:

pre-heat your oven to 190 degrees

season your mushrooms and drizzle with a little olive oil and cook for 15 mins

heat a tbsp olive oil in your pan and cook your shallots until soft but not coloured, add your butter towards the end

cook your washed spinach in a hot dry pan, when cooked squeeze out excess moisture

add your spinach to your buttered shallots and season

heat a dry pan and cook your pinenuts until coloured

fill your mushrooms with your buttered spinach, toasted pinenuts and top with your gorgonzola cheese

cook for about 10 mins until your cheese has melted and serve…

ciao xx

We made this cake a couple of weeks back and it was amazingly good, it’s a lovely cake to make coming up to christmas and you could decorate with little Christmas goodies. I found the recipe in Olive magazine and we followed it to the letter so there is no point in me giving it you here, I’ll just give you the link instead! Yes I am feeling a bit lazy:)

ciao

L xx

You may have noticed I’ve got back into my blogging stride, I always did 2 posts a week back in the day but with time pressures and life in general I’ve just accepted that one post is enough and it’s all I have time for. I’ve allocated Sunday afternoons to the blog so I’m happy to say you should see a new post on a weekly basis. Since I started my new way of eating which I discussed in my last post I’ve incorporated a lot more fish into my diet, I always felt guilty about not eating enough fish so at least the diet has helped me overcome that.

I have to come clean and confess I had never eaten mackerel before,  I was a bit of a mackerel snob if I am to be completely honest, I thought of it as a cheap and unappealing fish even though I always loved the colour of the skin. Well, how wrong I was, I have it a couple of times a week now and find it so quick and easy to cook with, I can’t believe how cheap it is too, €1.86 for the 2 pieces in the photo PLUS the big positive about mackerel is it’s not farmed, it actually comes from the sea which is a rare occurence these days:(

I served this with green beans in a shallot dressing, I’ll post the recipe next week….

what you need for 2:

4/5 mackerel fillets

30g butter(I think, I never weigh anything)

6-8 sage leaves

plain flour(if you are low carbing don’t use any, it’s still lovely)

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan

coat your mackerel in seasoned flour

cook with skin side down until the fish has begun to turn white half way from the bottom, takes about 3-5 mins

turn the fish over and cook for only 1-2 mins, remove fish from the pan

add your butter and sage and cook for 1-2 mins until butter has melted

serve your fish with the sage butter on top and a sprinkle of sea salt

buon appetito xx

So I mentioned recently I have become a low-carber……

It was a shock to me too given the name of this blog and the amount of pasta, pizza, bruschetta, focaccia I would consume in any given week! I’ve never really been overweight but I’ve always been one of those people who carried a few extra pounds which if shifted would result in a pretty skinny lady. I’ve always eaten well but suffered from extreme cravings which I knew myself was my body not me if that makes sense, I wasn’t eating emotionally or anything like that, it was like my body needed sugar and it needed it now, it was impossible to fight it but I did my best and kept my weight fairly in line BUT there was always the issue of the “fat around the middle”!!

There is 14 on my mom’s side and all 14 of them have fat around the middle with 10 of them having diabetes so I knew it was in the family so I put it down to genetic as I stuffed another slice of pepperoni in my mouth washed down with a peroni. It wasn’t until one day passing my local health shop I spotted a book in big block writing FAT AROUND THE MIDDLE, I thought what the hell I might aswell have a read of it and see what it says. I never buy any books like this, the only books I buy are cookbooks and that’s the truth but the title caught me and made me think a little. I started the book that evening and stayed up until 3am reading it, nodding away in agreement at all the questions asked and genuinely felt like the book had been written for me personally!

I’m not going to go into all the boring details of the book but basically it’s all about insulin, cortisol etc so I decided the next day that this was the way forward for me and I started on the diet immediately. It’s basically a low carb, low GI diet involving no refined carbs, eating lots of fish and veggies(no potatoes and carrots) fruit(no bananas or grapes), lots of water, no beer only wine and an occasional treat of dark chocolate. The premise is the more refined carbs you eat the more your apple-shaped body craves them so they had to go and they did. Did I struggle?? Nope not a bit, I couldn’t believe it, after a couple of days I felt better than I had in a long time, my bloated belly had disappeared, I had more energy and wasn’t as tired in the afternoon, I felt like a new person.

 I’ve been following it now since Aug and I’ve lost a stone exactly, I have another 7lbs to go and I will be very slim then, I’ll be at my perfect weight for my height, a little lighter even. I’ve allowed myself the occasional pizza slice and focaccia but haven’t had pasta or a slice of toast now in nearly 2 months! I do allow myself a dessert at the weekend and Lindt and Green & Black’s dark chocolate have become my best friends. The diet has spurred me on to investigate other aspects of my life that have been giving me trouble and have helped me identify a couple of medical issues that I never knew I had and diet is very important in managing them so it has helped me in more ways than one! It is now more about my health than weight loss and how I look.

As a result I’m cooking a lot of no carb meals which I have no problem with anyway as I think this type of diet is actually very easy when you love cooking from scratch anyway. Eggs feature quite a bit and I’m always trying to come with new ways so I tried this recipe the other day and it was very tasty, it’s very simple and just makes a change from regular scrambled eggs plus it gets some greens into you…

what you need:

6 eggs

250g spinach

8 basil leaves

1 shallot chopped

20g grated parmesan

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

what to do:

heat a pan, wash and cook the spinach until wilted. Squeeze out as much water as possible and chop

beat the eggs, season and add the parmesan, spinach and basil

heat the olive oil in a pan and cook your shallot for about 5 mins until softened

add your egg mixture, cook over a medium heat stirring constantly

serve with some grated parmesan and basil leaves on top

p.s This blog is not going to become a low carb blog as the rest of the family are eating as much carbs as ever but I will feature recipes from time to time..

I rarely make desserts, I just never seem to have the time. Whatever time I do have it’s spent cooking and being mamma, I don’t know how many times I’ve promised mini Italian foodie that we’ll make cupcakes etc but then the day passes us by going to the park, drawing tinkerbell, making lots of sparkly pink things and it’s dinner time before we know it! So while looking through an Olive magazine chocolate supplement recently and after lots of “oohing and aahing” and great plans to make everything in the book we decided on this simple little recipe.

 This recipe is perfect to make with smallies as it includes everything they love – chocolate and crunchies, it won’t be the most mind-blowing, taste bud tantalising dessert you’ll ever have and I doubt it will make it to the kitchen of a Michelin Star restaurant but it’s simple and can be made in minutes with your little one,  and most importantly it involves lots of spoon licking, chocolate covered mouths, half eaten crunchie bars and lots of mammy fun….

what you need:

150g chocolate! I used 100g of Lindt milk chocolate and 50g Green & Black’s dark chocolate.

3 x 40g crunchie bars – 2 for the recipe roughly chopped and 1 for the chocolate covered mouths…

224ml double cream

250ml tub mascarpone

what to do:

 - melt the chocolate, then stir in most of the crunchie pieces

 - gently stir the cream into the mascarpone

 - stir in the chocolate

 - spoon into small glasses or espresso cups

 - top with the remaining crunchie pieces and grated chocolate

ciaoxx

 -

I asked the question recently on facebook if anyone would like a traditional bolognese recipe from scratch as I know a lot of people use jars when making it and the response was surprising to say the least! There were lots of responses with an overwhelming desire to make it “properly” so bolognese was our latest cookalong. There are a million recipes for bolognese even in Italy the recipe will vary from region to region, some recipes use chicken livers, sausage, milk, no tomatoes just puree etc so I went with the recipe which is most suited to Ireland as the availability of ingredients can be a big problem for a lot of people depending on where you live in the country, I know it’s impossible to get something as basic as  pancettta in some places so I’m always aware of this and try to work around it. The response was great to the cookalong and everyone who made it loved it and plan to continue using this recipe in the future so it was a success to say the least.

 I’ve decided to go back to the start and spend a bit of time doing the basic recipes that a lot of people mightn’t know, I suppose I assume the recipes always have to be something new and innovative but the old favourites are probably the recipes that feature most often in a family kitchen especially so that’s what I’m going to focus on for the next while…

 

 

what you need….

 

500g minced beef
1 carrot
1 small onion
1 stick celery
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf(if you can’t get 1 don’t worry, it’s fine without)
75g pancetta cubes or a couple of slices of parma ham will do if you can’t get pancetta
150ml white/red wine (it’s up to you)
2tbsp tomato puree
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
olive oil
sea salt
50g butter
100ml water or beef stock
nutmeg
pasta – either penne, rigatoni or tagliatelle

what to do……

heat 3tbsp olive oil and your butter and add your pancetta! Cook for 3-5 mins until golden…

 

chop your veg as small as you can! If you have kids who won’t eat veg, just blitz them in the food proccessor..

add your onions, celery, carrots…

add your garlic and bayleaf and cook over a low heat for about 15 mins…

add your meat and cook until coloured! Make sure you break up your meat with your spoon so you have no lumps…

Season your meat at this stage…

add your wine, turn up heat and cook for 3-5 mins to burn off alcohol…

add your puree, tomatoes and water…

leave to simmer over a low heat for about an hour! If you can leave it longer do but I know most people are under pressure for time…

If the sauce is drying out just add some water…

cook until nice and thick! Check seasoning and adjust accordingly…

 

cook your pasta in salted boiling water and add to your sauce…

 

serve with lots of freshly grated parmesan on top…

buon appetito….

p.s is there any recipe in particular you would like me to do???

Yep it’s that time of year again, it’s cold, it’s winter so that can only mean lots of hearty soups.  I make this once a week without fail as it’s Mini Italian Foodie’s favourite soup, if I get into the Milk Market on a Saturday there is a small stand  run by an organic farmer from Tipperary and he has fabulous organic spinach. If I don’t make it in Superquinn have Irish spinach in stock at the moment which is pretty good too. This recipe is as simple as it gets, the only difficult thing is washing the spinach and breaking off the stems which can take a while, I always get mini Italian Foodie to help me even though she makes more of a mess but it gets her eating the soup because she is involved in the production, there ain’t many 3 year olds who confess to spinach soup being their favourite, she’s also started eating kiwis lately so times are good:)

I use meat stock for this recipe as I think it gives the soup a great depth of flavour but you can also use chicken or veg stock if you prefer…

what you need:

1 carrot chopped

1 stick celery chopped

1 onion chopped

1 garlic clove chopped

2 bags of spinach(I can’t rem the weight)

30g butter

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1 ltr meat stock

what to do:

heat 3 tbsp oil and your butter

add your onions and garlic and cook for about 5 mins over a low heat until soft

add your carrots and celery and cook for a further 10 mins

add your stock and simmer for 10 mins

add your spinach and season and simmer for 10-15 until all your veg is soft

liquidize and serve with parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil

Hellooooo! I’m in the spoon if you’re looking for me:)

Well hello…

I’m still here, it’s been a busy summer with work and swanning off to Italy twice, I keep threatening every month to get back blogging but never did and I know every time I do a new post I say I’m back so I won’t say that today! I’ll just give you a recipe, I should probably mention I’ve changed my diet completely since we talked last and I’ll talk about it in detail at a later stage but it’s mainly involved giving up carbs*GASP*, an Italian Foodie not eating pizza or pasta???? I never believed I would be saying that but I’ve done it and I’m on my 3rd month and feel a hundred times better, it doesn’t mean I’ve stopped cooking them or anything, the Italian half of the family still have to be fed but I just have something else!

So today’s recipe is my latest “Facebook Cookalong”, winter is here so it’s time for comforting, hearty food and nothing fills that description better than a warm and tasty stew! I’ve done a beef stew and a sausage stew here before so it was time for a simple chicken stew…

what you need:

6-8 chicken legs/thighs (you can use breasts if you prefer)
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 onion
1 garlic clove
3/4 potatoes
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
100g pancetta(leave out or use chopped up bacon if you can’t get your hands on some)
1 chicken stock cube
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 sprig thyme
8 basil leaves
6 tbsp white wine

what to do:

heat 5tbsp of olive oil in a pot, coat your chicken in seasoned flour and brown your chicken all over, drain on kitchen paper…

add your onions and garlic to the pot, add a little more olive oil if required and cook for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured…

add your carrots, celery and thyme and cook for another 10 mins…

add your pancetta, turn up the heat and cook for 5-8 mins…

add your wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated…

add your potatoes, tomatoes, stock, return your chicken to the pot and season…

simmer for about 30 mins over a low heat…

add your basil and cook for another 10-15 mins…

serve and eat…

We did a 2 page spread in the Limerick Post this week and these were the photos from it, you can read it online here on page 34! We also did a little video about the award, you can view it here

That is all:)

Ciaoxx

I’ve been very bold on the veg growing this year, basically life got in the way and it was way down my list of priorities. surprisingly my rocket came up again even though I thought we had dug it all up but it decided to hang around for another summer much to my delight. The only issue I have is that it is too bitter, it nearly burns the mouth off you, is there different varieties or is that just the way wild rocket is?

Anyway we had nowt to eat in the house the other night and the weather was fab and being the lazy lumps we are the bbq was still dirty from the last time and neither of us were in the mood for cleaning it, I offered mini Italian foodie money but she takes after her parents so something else had to be consumed for the dinner. I actually had all the ingredients for a rocket pesto even though my lemon was a little past it’s sell by date but was used anyway. This recipe is really as simple as it gets, I’ll give you rough amounts but I made it by taste because the rocket was so bitter I had to add a lot of parmesan and a sweet balsamic to counteract it so you do the same. This will make probably make enough for 4-6 people, I just used it for the 3 of us, covered it in olive oil and left it in the fridge to be used again a couple of days later…

what you need:

2 large bunches of rocket , slice off the stems

65g toasted pine nuts – dry hot pan and toss!

zest of 1 unshrivelled lemon preferably

1 garlic clove peeled

4tbsp olive oil

2-4 tbsp balsamic vinegar depending on rocket, add to taste

50g+ grated parmesan, again add to taste, I’d say I used more

sea salt and black pepper

300g fettucine(for 2 people)

         what to do:

put all of the pesto ingredients into a food processor or smoothie maker in my case, don’t ask!! Whiz until blended smooth and thick, taste and adjust seasoning, parmesan, balsamic etc until it’s perfect! It should taste frickin fantastic, it really is good, summery, light, zesty, absolutely delicious…

cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente and drain….

toss the pasta with the pesto and serve with some extra rocket and parmesan cheese on top…

ciaoxx

p.s. it’s good to be back….

Yes I’m still here, it’s been a tough 6 months personally but we have had fantastic success professionally! We won “Best Casual Dining in Ireland” at the Irish Restaurant Awards last week. To say we were shocked is an understatement, we nearly fell off the chair, it was a fantastic achievment for us as were up against tough competition like Avoca, Le Bon Crubeen, No 27 etc so we really didn’t expect it. We have had such a great reaction from our customers and they are so delighted and proud, it’s like they won but that’s the sort of place La Cucina is, it’s as much about the people as it is about the food.

I’ve started cooking again and made a fantastic rocket pesto with fresh rocket from my garden the other night so stay tuned for the recipe.

ciaoxx

The sun is shining, it’s 22 degrees in Ireland – whoop whoop! This is rare but we are loving it, there is only 1 dessert to have in this heat and that is panna cotta. Irish strawberries are in season and are  perfect to make a simple sauce to accompany your “Italian cooked cream”. We don’t make desserts very often in the Italian foodie house but if we do it’s usually a toss between tirimasu or panna cotta. This dessert is great for a dinner party too as you can pre-make it in a simple glass which looks very classy, keep it in the fridge and add your strawberry sauce just before you serve it.

what you need:

13g gelatine powder or 7 sheets of leaf gelatine

115g caster sugar

750ml single cream

1 vanilla pod

strawberry sauce

250g strawberries

50g sugar

100ml of water or champagne/prosecco

what to do:

 - put your gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 8 – 10 mins. If you are using powder just sprinkle over the water.

 - put the sugar and cream in a pan and cook over a medium heat, open the vanilla pod and add. Heat slowly and keep stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring almost to the boil but don’t let it boil.

 - remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine leaves, remove the vanilla pod.

 - pour into your glasses or ramekins, cover with cling film and leave to cool for 2 hours in the fridge.

 - to make the sauce, pour your water or champagne into a pot, add the sugar and cook for 8 to 10 mins! Puree your strawberries with a hand blender and add to the pot.

 - serve your panacotta with your strawberry sauce on top with a couple of fresh strawberries…

buon appetitto…

I’m not going to give you a recipe today as I don’t know the exact amounts so I’ll just give you a link instead which is more or less the same way we do them. I use sparkling water instead of regualr water as it makes the batter lighter. I love courgette chips, to be honest I would just eat a whole bowl of them on their own. I am banished from the kitchen when Bru is making them as I end up eating each one as it leaves the pan, we normally serve the courgettes with a simple steak and it makes for a very tasty dinner. They do take a while to make so be warned:)

the recipe is here….

Just to get your tastebuds going for the next recipe, here’s what we had for dessert:)

ciaoxx

I love Calzone, it’s not on the menu in La Cucina but we often have it ourselves for lunch, we had this recently and it was delicious. It was filled with Italian sausage, mushroom, thyme, tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. I put a little video on facebook of Bru making it…

ciao

Lxx

The lovely people at Barry’s tea have given me a fabulous selection of their new speciality tea to give to you. All I want to know is :

“how many cups of tea would you drink on average in a day”??

All you have to do is leave a comment and I’ll pop you into the hat.

ciaoxx

ciaoxx

Facebook Cookalong numero 3!! We’ve been having very nice weather the last couple of weeks so a really light and summery pasta for you today. As usual it’s very simple, I got my hands on some baby courgettes in Superquinn which are really nice with lots more flavour than the usual dark green ones we get in the supermarkets here. If you can’t get your hands on the baby variety the regular Spanish courgettes in Lidl are quite good too. The lighter the colour the better the courgette so seek out the lighter green colour….

what you need for 4 according to the Silver Spoon but does 2 in our house:

25g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion chopped
6 baby courgettes or 1 large courgette chopped

350g fusilli or penne
1 egg yolk
40g pecorino or parmesan cheese grated
salt and pepper

what to do:

bring a pot of water to the boil for your pasta and in a pan melt the butter and oil and add your onions and cook until soft but not coloured…

add your courgettes, season and cook for about 15 -20 mins until soft…

add salt and pasta to your water and cook until al dente…

remove your courgettes from the heat, add your egg yolk and mix together…

drain your pasta and add to your pan with half the pecorino…

serve with the remaining pecorino on top…

parma ham, salami, mozzarella, parmesan, olives and roasted Italian veg…

ciaoxx

 Hello *hangs head in shame*, it’s been a while hasn’t it? It’s not all bad though as I come with good news, we recently won best casual dining in Limerick at the Irish Restaurant Awards. We were up against some stiff competition and didn’t think we would win in a million years so didn’t even bother going to the award ceremony. We did begin to suspect something though when the organisers rang the day prior to the awards to find out why we weren’t going and would we not send someone to represent us just in case. We sent the “sister in law” with not much expectation so it was a bit of a shock for her too when she had to go on stage and collect our award and get photos taken with the Mayor of Cork. We couldn’t believe it and were thrilled, I had a pain in my jaw from bragging to every person that entered the shop the few days after. We will now represent Limerick at the national awards in Dublin in June and are waiting our visit from the mystery judge in the next couple of weeks, the end result will be 55% judge vote and 45% public vote so I will be on the campaign trail for your text vote during April and May….

So back to the recipe, a very easy and tasty one today, do I do any other? I served this with creamy mash and it was sooooo good, creamy, buttery, fattening, indulgent, YES PLEASE!!!

what you need:

 - 4 chicken legs

 - 20g butter

 - 2 tbsp olive oil

 - 1 white onions sliced

 - 1 pack of shallots peeled and cut in half

 - 1 thyme sprig

 - 1 bay leaf

 - 2 garlic cloves peeled

 - white wine

 - 1 tbsp flour

 - a little chicken stock (about 100ml)

 what to do:

 - heat the butter and olive oil in a pan

 - add the chicken, onions, and cook over a medium heat for about 10 mins stirring occasionally until golden brown all over.

 - season with salt and pepper, add the thyme, bay leaf and garlic, cover and cook gently for about 30-40 mins until tender and cooked through.

 - remove and discard garlic and bayleaf 

 - remove chicken and add wine to your onions and cook for a couple of minutes to let alcohol evaporate, add your flour and stir and add a little stock and cook over a high heat until thickened.

 - serve your chicken on your creamy mash and pour your onion gravy over the top.

 - dig in and enjoy…..

ciao…

p.s sorry about layout, don’t know what’s wrong or how to fix it???

It’s mother’s day and I’m lying in bed with the flu, bah humbug! Things must be pretty bad if I’m lying here in bed missing my usual Sunday lunch at the “MIL’S”. The princess and her daddy have taken themselves off there so after a good dose of panadol and lempsip I’m starting to come round, tea and toast is as gourmet as it’s going to get today. Achooo, excuse me:) I was looking through my photos and realised I hadn’t posted the recipe for my favourite lasagna ever! I’ve mentioned this lasagna a few times on this blog over the years, 3 years now to be precise, how time flies! Every Italian mamma in the south of Italy will have a recipe for this dish, it is usually made for a festive occasion which involves the whole family like Christmas and Easter. There is nothing quick about this recipe, it takes time and effort but the end result is worth it…

I’m going to give you the recipe from the Silver Spoon as it’s a while since I made it and can’t remember measurements etc.

what you need:

fresh lasagana sheets, dried are fine too if you can’t get your hands on any.

5 tbsp olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 carrot finely chopped

1 celery stick finely chopped

1 garlic clove finely chopped

1 lt passata

5 eggs

300g minced beef

80g parmesan

40g butter

150g mozzarella cheese

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.

heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic, celery and carrot and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until softened but not coloured.

add the passata, season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer over a very low heat for about 45 mins.

boil 4 of the eggs for 12 mins, refresh in cold water, shell and slice.

mix together the mince beef, half the parmesan and remaining egg in a bowl and season with salt. Shape the mixture into small balls.

heat 25g of the butter and remaining oil in a pan, add the meatballs and cook until browned all over, then add them to the tomato sauce.

cook your pasta sheets in salted boiling water for a few minutes, drain and place on a tea towel.

grease a large ovenproof dish with butter, arrange a layer of lasagna sheets on the base and cover with the tomato sauce with meatballs, then the mozzarella, parmesan and a few slices of the hard-boiled eggs.

repeat the layers until all the ingredients are used, ending with a layer of tomato sauce.

dot the top with the remaining butter and bake for about 45 mins-1hour.

ciaoxx

Ok, it’s Facebook Cookalong week round 2! A very famous but simple pasta dish on the menu this time, do not be put off by the vodka, this is one of the nicest pastas there is. I love the flavour in this dish, it’s rich, creamy and completely indulgent, forget about the hips and just go for it!

what you need:

350g penne

200ml double cream

2 slices cooked ham chopped

1 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley

4 tbsp vodka and a few for yourself depending how bad your day has been:)

3 tbsp tomato puree

30g butter

salt and pepper

what to do:

bring a pot of water to the boil, add lots of salt and your pasta and cook until al dente…

chop your parsley and ham…

melt your butter….

add your tomato puree…

add your ham, parsley and season…

mix together and cook over a low heat for about 5 mins…

add your cream…

add your vodka, simmer over a low heat for about 5 mins until the alcohol has burned off and the sauce has thickened…

drain your pasta and add to the sauce…

mix together…

serve….

eat….

lick plates clean to avoid wash-up….

ciaoxx

A one tray recipe for you today, my favourite!!! I LOVE rib of beef, it’s such a lovely cut and very easy to cook. I often cook this dish when friends are coming around as it’s easy to prepare and always goes down well. I took my photos at night so they’re not the best but you get the idea:)

what you need:

rib of beef – mine was 1.7kg so that I would have some leftover for sambos…..

english mustard

8 shallots

baby potatoes peeled

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

sea salt and black pepper

olive oil

what to do:

heat your oven to 230 degrees.

cook your potatoes in plenty of salted water until par-cooked.

place your beef in a roasting tin and rub your beef all over with mustard and season.

cook for 10 mins

reduce the heat to 180 degrees and add your shallots and potatoes, drizzle with a little olive oil and cook for 15 minutes per 500g of meat for rare meat. I cooked mine for nearly an hour.

remove the meat from the roasting tray, cover with foil and leave to rest for about 10 mins, turn off your oven and leave your potatoes in there to keep warm.

put the shallots in a frying pan and add sugar and balsamic and cook for a couple of mins until caramelised.

if you want to make a gravy use the juice from your roasting tray and add a tbsp of flour, some red wine and beef stock and simmer for a couple of mins, then drain. I prefer it without gravy….

serve and enjoy the admiration:)

I was recently contacted by Ana Maria from all about italian food to do an interview about how I became an Italian foodie. I’ve copied and pasted the interview for your reading pleasure. You can also read the interview here

1)      Lorraine, when did you decide to leave your high-flying career to join your husband’s family restaurant? What was it like in the beginning? Did you soon feel comfortable and at home with them?

I have a degree in business and marketing so as a result I went straight into that line of work. I was working for a frozen food company that specialised in setting up deli’s and hot counters in petrol stations and supermarkets, basically teaching staff how to cook sausage rolls and wedges and although I loved my job, my passion for food was a bit wasted on frozen junk food. My partner Bruno had opened a pizzeria adjacent to his parents restaurant and it was doing really well, pizza hut and dominos hadn’t arrived in Ireland yet. We saw a big gap in the market for a take-away, deli style italian shop focusing on fresh home-made italian food. An opportunity came up in the area where we live so we decided between his cooking experience and my marketing and business experience we should take the plunge and we did.
 
I had a great passion for food but wasn’t great at cooking so while everything was being put into place for our new venture I went into the main restaurant with my mother in law for a couple of months for “bootcamp”. It was so tough at the begining as I had left my big high flying career driving around in my company car everyday being the boss to being “thrown” into the kitchen and not even knowing how to cook pasta al dente. Italians don’t have much patience for ignorance when it comes to the basics of Italian food so there was a few tears as I’m a bit of a perfectionist and want to be able to do everything but I got there in the end.
2)      Was it easy to work with food (it’s different from cooking at home for your own family)?

Because of my job I had a very good knowledge of all the science “stuff” that goes with running a food business, Haccp, turnover, margins, staff,  waste etc. For me my biggest challenge was to be able to cook like an Italian! Once I got the basics right and began to understand the food and realised it’s not just about writing down the methods and ingredients, but about understanding what it’s all about I found it just came very naturally. I started to buy a lot of Italian cookbooks and to try a new recipe every week, I always preferred the books with photos just so I knew I was doing it right. I had the biggest critic at home anyway in Bruno who would always tell me where I went wrong or the majority of the time how good it was.
3)      You have a child – how much Italian culture is incorporated in your home life? Do you also speak Italian at home? 

I have a 100% italian child called Alessia, I often wonder does she have any Irish in her at all, she looks Italian and acts like an Italian, she has the temperment:). Everything in our home life centres around the Italian culture, because the whole family live here and there are 3 Italian food businesses, our lives are consumed by it. Nonna and Nonno just live down the road and we see them on a regular basis, the whole family go to their house every Sunday for lunch where we enjoy Nonna’s home-made pasta ad of course Christmas day for the feast. She often drops food into us during the week too if she has made parmigiana or cannelloni.
 
Alessia doesn’t speak Italian at home as Bruno was born here and although he speaks it fluently his first language is English so that’s what he’s more comfortable with so he doesn’t really speak to her in Italian. I do have a few Italian nursery rhyme cd’s which I have played in the car since she was born so she knows all the italian songs like Giro Tondo etc and she has very good pronunciation. We also have the Italian TV channels at home so she does hear it and her grandparents speak to her in Italian a lot too. She has visited Italy quite a few times since she was born so I hope she picks it up quite easily as she grows up.
4)      What made you decide to open a Deli? I can imagine how difficult it must be to find good, Italian products; as an Italian food-lover, you know how important the ingredients, (good ones!) are.
There is a serious lack of good home-made food establishments in Ireland, this was the main reason we decided to do it as most places just buy in the ingredients whereas we make as much as we can from scratch. It is also very difficult to find good pizza here as most people tend to go for the chains like Dominos and Pizza Hut so we hoped to fill that gap in the market. It hasn’t been too difficult to source products, when my in-laws opened their restaurant 30 years ago they could only buy olive oil in a chemist so times have changed since then. We have 4 different Italian suppliers and buy the best from each of them, our focus is always on quality so we buy the best we can. The main problem here is fresh produce, we don’t have the weather so we don’t have good vegetables. I’m always amazed at the veg markets when I’m in Italy and I’m always so jealous of the food they have on their doorstep. We use a lot of pesto and have to make it about 4 times a week using 1kg at a time, it comes from Israel, I’ve tasted basil from Zio Bruno’s garden in Genova and there is no comparison but that’s just the way it is and we have to do the best we can with what we have.
5)      How is Italian food accepted in Limerick? How do your customers buy food? Do they buy it as they would any other kind of food? Do they come with a clear idea of what they want, or do they approach you for assistance?
It’s ok, there wouldn’t be a proper understanding of Italian food here, I would never have understood it myself had I not met Bruno as food was not an important part of our lives growing up, it was just fuel.We try to stay as authentic as we can, to be honest when we opened first we were a bit naive and thought we would be able to sell authentic Italian food no problem but we learned fast after throwing out lots of leftover rice balls, cannelloni etc so we tweaked our menu to suit the Irish tastes because at the end of the day we are in Ireland, we are a business and we have to make money. I have noticed a change over the last couple of years and people are more open to trying new things thanks to Ryanair and cheap flights, a lot more are visiting Italy on a regular basis so are becoming  more aware of what real Italian food is and we find that people are more interested in “proper” Italian food now.
6)      You are an Italian food expert, living outside Italy, which allows you a wide vision of this reality, maybe less evident for an insider.  How would you summarize the success of Italian food around the world? Do you believe that it is because it encompasses only simple dishes, or because it has flavors that really please different cultures?
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, my chocolate amaretto cake flopped yesterday:) There is so much to learn about Italian food and the regionality of cooking is a huge area to learn more about. I often feel like I know so little even though any Italian friends I have cooked for have always been impressed by my cooking so I have a little knowledge I suppose. I do notice a big difference between me and Bruno, because he was brought up on Italian food, he has a far better understanding of Italian food which I will never have and he has a much better palatte than me even though I probably cook better than him at home, don’t tell him that;). I notice with Italians they tend to cook their regional dishes and the dishes they grew up with and stick with these whereas I’m always looking for something new to try so I would be more adventurous. They’re very stubborn when it comes to their way of cooking too, it’s their way or no way:)
 
 Unfortunately in Ireland I would say Chinese food is probably more popular than Italian food which is a shame. For me the success of Italian food is the passion that surrounds it. I think it’s the focus on the quality of ingredients whether you’re making something very elaborate and gourmet or just a simple tomato sauce. I love the fact that you can take the simplest of ingredients and produce the most fantastic dish – alio, olio e pepperocino, This dish still amazes me everytime I have it or a simple pizza margherita.I started the blog to try and pass on everything I have learned about Italian food, if I can do it, anyone can. I have also started a Facebook cookalong where I give people the shopping list, letting them know where to buy the best ingredients in our area and I give the recipe in step by step photos just to get people cooking Italian food and see how simple it is. It’s going really well and next up is penne all vodka.
7)      To adopt another culture is not an easy task, particularly an Italian one that is so richly traditional, that it’s sometimes difficult to maintain one’s own native customs. How do you combine Italian and Irish traditions and customs, especially regarding food?
I have no Irish traditions or customs left, they have been beaten out of me:) To be honest with the business and the blog, my life just centres around Italian food. I only cook Italian food, I only have Italian cookery books, my favourite beer is Peroni, we only buy Italian wine, I don’t drink cappuccino after 11, I only have espresso after dinner. We never miss Sunday lunch, and we only go to Italy on holidays so I am a true Italophile:)
8)      When you cook for friends, do you prepare Italian food? What do you usually cook?

Yes, I try to keep it quite simple and something to suit all tastes. I normally do a pasta dish and then maybe a roast chicken with roast potatoes with rosemary and peas with pancetta. This always seems to go down well and suits everyone.
9)      What do you believe is a “must do, see and taste” in Italy? What would you suggest to an Irish person who travels to Italy?
My main advice would be to try everything. Not every restaurant is going to have Carbonara, find out what the local speciality is and try it. Personally I would love to do a gastronomic tour of Italy learning about the specialities of different regions, there is much to learn, even when it comes to something like risotto rice there are so many different types and standards that I know nothing of. Someday when I retire I might travel the length and breadth of Italy and just “learn”……
10)   An obvious but nevertheless important question; among all the inviting recipes you have on your blog, do you have a favorite?
To be honest I love everything, there is not one dish I don’t like but if I had to choose a favourite it would be a toss up between spaghetti alio olio e peperoncino or linguine alle vongole:)

ciaoxx

We were out in the Kilalloe Sunday market a couple of weeks back and got our hands on some lovely fresh mussels. I picked up some scallops too and mixed fish which I plan to use for fish pie, I’ve put them in the freezer and they will probably be there until next year though knowing me, but I will try. The guy on the stall is very good and knows his stuff, he had huge octupus there but I wouldn’t have a clue what to do with it so I passed but they looked fab.

Most restaurants in Ireland seem to serve mussels with cream and although I do like it this way I often find that it lacks flavour. We brought an Italian chef out to eat a couple of times when he was here last year and he was shocked that we squeeze lemon juice over mussels in a cream sauce, supposedly it’s a big NO, NO!! The same guy never cooks garlic and onion together either which is another mortal sin according to Italian chefs, I don’t think he slept for a month after seeing cream in carbonara and pineapple on pizza:)

what you need:

mussels – I have no measurements as he didn’t weigh them but if we say roughly 900g.

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove crushed

150ml white wine

6 tbsp tomato sauce – we use our own tomato sauce from La Cucina but you could just use some passata or regular chopped tomatoes.

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley

1 small onion chopped

what to do:

heat your oil in a pan, add your onion and garlic(and chopped tomatoes if using) and cook until soft but not coloured.

add the wine and cook until it has evaporated, add your tomato sauce.

add the mussels and cover with a lid, simmer in the sauce for about 5 mins until the shells have opened. Add your parsley and discard any unopened shells.

serve with some lemon wedges, a sprinkle of flat leaf parlsey and some crusty bread.

ciaoxx

I LOVE steak but I prefer it  just plain and simple with little or no sauce so that I can taste the flavour of the meat. I know in Ireland most people would choose a pepper or mushroom cream sauce which I have very good recipes for both but in my opinion creamy sauces overpower the flavour of the meat but that’s just my personal taste. This recipe is as simple as they come and to be honest it’s not even a recipe but next time you’re having steak it might be a nice alternative so I’ll give it you anway. I served it with a rocket salad with parmesan shavings with a simple dressing of sea salt, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil – perfecto!!!

what you need:

2 rib eye steaks

olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

what to do

rub your steaks with a little olive oil

heat a grill pan, add your steaks and fry for about 2- 3 mins on both sides(for rare steak)

add your balsamic vinegar and leave to reduce by half

add your honey and cook for about a minute

remove, season and rest for a couple of minutes

serve with a simple rocket and parmesan salad

ciaoxx

I set up a facebook account for La Cucina last May and have a found it an excellent marketing tool for the business. I enjoy it to be honest as it is so interactive and it enables us to communicate with our customers and enables them to get to know us a bit better. I decided to do a “facebook cookalong” last week and had a really good reaction to it. I basically give the shopping list on a Friday, the recipe and step by step photos on the Tues and then everyone cooks it that week. They take a photo of their finished dish and tag it back to my page, it’s just a bit of fun and if anything it gets people cooking from scratch or something new that they’ve never cooked before. I’m keeping it as simple as possible to involve everyone, first up was this pasta dish. I love this recipe, it really is so simple but still bursting with flavour, anyone who cooked it loved it so it seems to have been a success.

what you need:

1 280g tin chopped tomatoes

1/2 small onion

1 red chilli chopped or tsp chilli flakes

3 tbsp olive oil

160g pancetta cubes

300g spaghetti

sea salt

grated parmesan or pecorino

what to do:

bring a pot of water to the boil, heat your oil in a frying pan, add your onions and cook until soft but not coloured, add your pancetta and cook until golden:

add your chilli

add your tomatoes, season, mix and cook over a low heat for 15 mins

add salt and your pasta to your boiling water, cook until al dente

once cooked, drain your pasta and add to your sauce

mix together

serve

eat

mop up sauce

leave empty plates feeling full and satisfied:)

ciaoxx

I love minestrone, it’s a great way of using up whatever veg you have leftover. I normally throw everything in, you can add soup pasta too if you like to bulk it up and it becomes a meal in itself. Just wish I could convince the princess, she won’t touch it! What have I reared?:)

what you need:

1  onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 celery sticks chopped

2 courgettes chopped

1 litre chicken/veg stock (stock cubes here as always)

150g soup pasta(we have it in La Cucina) or spaghetti or fettucine broken up.

30g butter

3 tbsp olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

grated parmesan cheese

what to do:

heat your oil and butter in a pot and add your onions and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured. Add your carrots, celery and courgette, season and cook for another 10 mins. Add your stock, season and cook for about 15 -20 mins until the veg is tender

addyour pasta and cook until al dente and then serve with some grated parmesan on top.

buon appetito…

One of the main problems I have when deciding what to cook for dinner is choosing between meat or chicken and meat consisting of beef or lamb. It is next to impossible to get any veal or rabbit in my area and the selection of fish in my local Supermarket consists of salmon or cod and monkfish the odd time. I know I can’t really blame them as the demand is obviously not there and if I got myself organised I could probably source it from one of the suppliers to the shop but organised doesn’t really exist in my vocabulary so it’s always a last minute decision.  I did branch out last week though and cooked duck breasts with limoncello sauce compliments of Gino D’Acampo and they were delicious so I’m going to try and cook a bit more game.

Because of my lack of menu planning and selection of produce I do tend to cook chicken quite regularly. I always tend to stick to the usual white wine, lemon, herb recipes but I saw this in the Silver Spoon and thought it would be a nice change. It’s perfect for the winter as it’s a very, rich and comforting dish and most importantly easy to make.

what you need:

chicken thighs and legs( about 6 for 2 people)

30g butter

100g pancetta diced

6 baby onions(shallots) peeled

1 garlic clove peeled

100g mushrooms sliced

1 thyme sprig leaves picked

1 tbsp plain flour

250ml red wine

sea salt and black pepper

chicken stock(optional)

what to do:

melt the butter in a pan, add the pancetta, onions, garlic, mushrooms and thyme and cook over a low heat for about 10 mins.

Sprinkle with the flour, mix and remove the garlic clove.

Add the chicken, cover and cook for about 10 mins.

Pour in the wine, season with salt and pepper.

Cover and simmer over a low heat  for about 30 mins until tender and cooked through. Add a little water or stock if sauce is too thick during cooking.

buon appetito…

I love this recipe,  the “MIL” sent us out some arancini from the restaurant last night and I had a couple of bags of spinach which I had picked up in Lidl yesterday for spinach soup but decided on this instead. It’s really good on bruschetta too or with some crusty bread, you decide!

what you need:

1 red onion diced

1 garlic clove chopped

1 teaspoon chilli flakes

3 tbsp olive oil

baby spinach washed( I used 2 bags of spinach but never checked the weight, “blonde”)

1 400g tin cannellini beans

1 400g tin chickpeas

250ml chicken/veg stock

sea salt and black pepper

what to do:

heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the onions and garlic over a low heat for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured.

add your chilli and cook for 1 min.

add your beans and some  stock, season and leave to simmer for about 10 mins.

in a dry pot cook your spinach until wilted. Squeeze out excess water.

add your spinach to your beans, season,  mix together and serve.

buon appetito….

Hello *waves*, remember me? I used to write a food blog about Italian food. I used to post about twice a week but I have been very bad the last few months but I’m sticking to my new year’s resolution and I’m going to make a bigger effort this year I swear. I come begging for your forgiveness with this sausage and bean stew recipe which I know won’t make up for all the lost time and recipes I haven’t given you but it’s a step in the right direction and with time and lots of fabulous new recipes you might learn to forgive me, pretty please:)

Anyway back to business, we’ve a lot of catching up to do! This recipe is very easy, try and get your hands on Italian sausages if you can, if not I’m sure regular sausages might work fine too. We have pre-packed Italian sausages in La Cucina in our retail fridge, I also have fresh ones in the freezer which are even nicer so just ask for them if you prefer.

what you need:

1 onion finely chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 celery sticks chopped

4 Italian sausages, skin removed and cut into chunks

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tin peeled chopped tomatoes(de cecco if you can)

300g pancetta cubes

200ml beef stock

400g tin cannellini beans drained

1 bay leaf

1 sprig of rosemary leaves picked

salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

1 glass of red wine for the stew and 1 glass for you…

what to do

heat the olive oil in a casserole pot and fry the onions until soft but not coloured.

add your carrots and celery, rosemary and bay leaf and cook for about 10 mins over a medium heat.

add the pancetta and sausage and cook for 5 mins stirring with a wooden spoon.

mix in the flour and cook for a few minutes, keep stirring.

add in the wine and cook for about 5 mins until the alcohol evaporates.

add the tomatoes, stock and cannellini beans, season and bring to the boil.

Cover the pot and cook for about 30-40 minsover a low heat  until the sausages are cooked and the sauce has thickened.

serve with some nice crusty bread:)

buon appetito…

p.s. there was an interesting article done on us and how we use social media to promote our business, have a read here if you’re interested.

We have actual snow in Ireland, this is a very rare occurance so naturally we’re all a little over excited. Here’s a few pics from today:

ciaoxx

p.s. italian sausage and bean stew up next…

lobster salad with home-made mayo….

parma ham and melon…

tortelloni in brodo…

pasta al forno….

rack of lamb

roast potatoes…

the MIL….

we were on dessert duty, we made 2 – limoncello and plum tart and panforte…

it was a fabulous day, I’m still stuffed:)

p.s. we had the turkey sandwiches that evening….

it was the princess’ job to put up the star….

and the decorations, even though now she has put all the brothers and sisters with their mammy so I have 6 of the same decoration on 1 branch:)

happy christmasxxx