Summertime and the living ain't easy! - Little Pots of Chocolate

Yes the Irish summer has hit us with a bang which means rain, rain and more rain with the occasional sunny spell...don't blink or you'll miss it!, but at least it's warm.

Having hurt my left knee two weeks ago, I have been hobbling about all over the place and suffering!...take pity on me because I have had to continue on at work. The hobbling has prevented me from really doing any interesting cooking and the poor kids are lucky they're getting fed at all!
I have even taken to getting my groceries delivered...really why have I not done this before?? it's going really well and I can't fault the service so far, mille grazie to Tesco! who have saved my bacon over the last fortnight!

I'm still sticking to my keto eating style and can I just say once more....I know I'm repeating myself, there is a danger I may actually become boring on this subject if I continue to harp on about it so much,...how utterly fab it is and how easy it has been....energy is sky high and hunger pangs seem to be a thing of the past, it does take time but hey, what else would I be up to, I feel great so keep it coming and I have yet to feel I am being denied anything...take this little recipe from september last year....dispense with the tablespoon of sugar in the recipe and you're keto ready and after all, chocolate always makes one feel better!

get the recipe here... Little Pots of Chocolate

Manna from heaven? - Low carb & gluten free crepes / pancakes

Mention the word pancake and immediately my stomach is all a flutter as my taste-buds go into overdrive in anticipation. I envision deep, fluffy layers of spongy goodness drowning in an ocean of that wonderful nectar, maple syrup, and to top it all off a grand old dollop of whipped cream or even ice-cream......mm I can taste it now.
But when I embarked on this low carb eating style as a means of obtaining, not a new me, but a healthier me, I thought I had waved good by to the wonderful pancake, and with American blood running through my veins you would understand what a hardship that was....a life without pancakes? unendurable in my opinion!

When I first discovered the recipe for these I thought to myself...no way is this possible!...but after almost 30 years of working with food I should have known better...when it comes to cooking the sky is definitely not the limit!

These luscious, heavenly beauties are startlingly like a pancake, make these and you won't miss the regular kind at all! They can be adapted to suit a sweet or savoury use. Make them deep like an American style pancake or have them thin like a French crepe. For this recipe I chose to make them thin and savoury as I was rustling some up for my lunch.
The key when making these is patience! patience! and some more patience! if you try to cook them too fast they will burn on the bottom before the tops are anyway near done, they will be impossible to flip and you will end up not only with a 'egg on your face' but an eggy mess all over the place!
Make a large batch of them as they keep well in the refrigerator and freezer.

Mediterranean Vegetable & Ham Hock...... Frittata.....Quiche.....Bake......You Decide!

This little recipe is easy peasy to make, contains all those elements that make it a perfect keto style meal, and can be enjoyed hot or cold for a lunch or supper / evening dinner.
Baked just like a quiche or frittata, it is filled with vegetables, eggs, cheese and for this one I added some ham hock.... there is an interesting addition of thin slices of aubergine to give a sort of base to the quiche / frittata.

You will need.......gives 8 good portions
                                                                                           
1 large aubergine
olive oil
salt / pepper

50 g white onion
1 small red chilli
50 g red pepper
50 g yellow pepper
50 g white mushrooms
1 large clove garlic
50 g grated cheese of your choice
1 large tomato
80 g cooked ham hock
6 eggs
2 tablespoons of cream

How to.....

• preheat the oven to 170oC
• slice the aubergine lengthways as thinly as you can
• brush the slices with olive oil and season on each side
• bake the slices in the oven until they begin to soften, this takes about 10 mins....then remove them from the oven and leave to cool while you prepare the other vegetables
• remove the seeds from the chilli then dice with the onion, peppers and mushrooms
• saute the vegetables gently in a little olive oil until they begin to soften, remove from the heat and add the crushed garlic
• dice or shred the ham hock quite small and grate the cheese
• beat the eggs with the cream, season with a little salt and pepper and set aside
• line a quiche pan or a suitable ceramic baking dish with the aubergine slices
• scatter on the cooked peppers and mushroom mix, add the ham hock, then top the whole lot with your grated cheese
• pour the egg and cream mix gently over the top of everything    
• lastly, slice some tomato quite thin and decorate the top
• bake in the oven 170oC until set in the centre and beginning to brown a little at the edges
• remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes
• serve straight from the dish or turn out onto a serving platter

I serve this with a simple green salad with lots a baby spinach leaves and a little French dressing.

You can let your bake cool then cover and refrigerate. Enjoy it the next day as a cold lunch.

Cream of Leek & Mushroom Soup......Boletus Magnificus!

The sweltering heat has gone to my head! I can hardly believe I am talking soup when the thermometer is touching 25 degrees and we have just had a thundery downpour.......but soups do not have to be a prerequisite of a chilly winter's day, they can not only be thick and comforting but light, and satisfyingly suitable for a summer snack or full blown meal.

We are at the end of the leek season which usually tops off at the end of May, and you will notice, if
you are still buying leeks, that their cores tend to be much firmer and solid compared to earlier in the growing season.

Mushrooms, thanks to all those eerily dark and musty polytunnels, are available all year round. The flavour of these pearl white beauties can be less mushroomy than that of wild mushrooms so you may have to make do with whatever you can get in the supermarket......but it is a lot of fun to join a foraging group and hunt out your own on misty autumn mornings, and it's hard to beat the flavour of freshly picked wild mushrooms with their woody forest scents.
There are many foraging groups out there and you are best to seek advice from someone who knows their mushrooms before picking any yourself as they can be dangerous little moulds and make you very ill if you eat the wrong one....or you could end up having an unusual experience!....if you get my drift.

A June evening salad...keto style with classic French vinaigrette

Today is the first of June and we have been enjoying very fine weather for the last few days.
It is 8pm and the temperature gauge in the garden reads 20oC....amazing!
With the aromas of rosemary and thyme and my newly potted acquisitions of French lavender on the patio, one could almost believe they were in the south of France......almost!

On fine summer days and even lovelier evenings, if we are not firing up the BBQ, then a salad is on the cards, and when following the keto style of eating, well then there's nothing like indulging in my favourite thing.......CHEESE!
How do I love cheese?.....let me count the ways!.....was the title of a previous post on cheese, you can read it here!

This delightful salad makes the best of what is so readily available at this time of year....crisp salad leaves freshly picked from the garden, tiny leaves of baby spinach, ripe tomatoes warmed by the days sun, cucumber....so refreshing after a warm day, and some celery and peppers for added crunch.
My preferred cheese of the evening is that favoured by the Greeks.... the wonderfully crumbly salty feta...and for strength in flavour, a well aged parmesan finely grated over the top at the last minute.

No salad is complete without a really good dressing and although I do enjoy the newer tastes of balsamic, honey mustard or pesto dressing, I am a traditionalist at heart and always go back to the classic French dressing....home-made of course.

French dressing or vinaigrette, although prolific in France of course, is very hard to come by in any of the restaurants I visit here in Ireland. Everyone seems to want to invent new dressings and that's all very well, but if you are heading out for a simple steak with a salad on the side, you can't beat a classic dressing.

For a classic vinaigrette dressing to suit any salad you will need.......

dijon mustard......please don't try to use English or even wholegrain, the result is not the same

white or red wine vinegar...whichever you like....I tend to stick to red...love my red wine after all!

olive oil....try to get a good quality oil, extra virgin preferably.....try to get hold of French oil but if you can't I suppose Italian will have to do or even Greek oil.....did you know that the best olive oil should only be sold in a darkened glass bottle or in a tin drum? check out your supermarket to see how they sell theirs!

a little fresh lemon juice....optional
sea salt & fresh black pepper

How to......

• place 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard in a round bottomed ceramic or stainless steel bowl....you may find it easier to use a food processor or blender if you have one
• add 2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• whisk the two together well
• measure into a jug, approx 200mls of olive oil
• slowly add the olive oil while whisking the vinegar and mustard furiously
• continue until all the oil has been added
• do a taste test....this should be done with a knuckle of fresh baguette for authenticity....but tasting with a teaspoon is fine too!
• season to taste with a little salt and pepper
• add a little fresh lemon juice if desired

Some people like a bland oilier dressing whereas I like my dressings to be quite sharp and acidic...if you like less bite then add a little more oil until it suits your taste....same for the vinegar, add more if you like or add plenty of fresh lemon juice for a really fresh tasting acidity.

A word of warning....when making your salad, the dressing should not be added until the last minute as the vinegar will make your leaves wilt and loose their crispness......bon appetit!

Seed Encrusted Hake, Lemon Butter Leeks

When opting for the keto style of eating, some of our favourite and very nutritious nuts and seed are sneakily high in carbs, so you should really be aware of which ones you can snack on and use in your cooking that won't knock you out of ketosis......which if you didn't know already, is when your body is burning fat to use as energy rather than relying on carbohydrates from food.

Pumpkin seeds are one of those wondrous low carb seeds that you can use when cooking or enjoy as a snack, and they have the added bonus of being packed with nutrients like zinc, vitamin E and have antioxidant properties. When crushed and roasted they make an excellent topping for something that cooks quickly..... like fish..... especially the firmer types of fish like cod, haddock, halibut, turbot, salmon....you could even top nuggets of monk-fish.

For this recipe I have used hake, another of those 'meatier' fish, simply because it was on offer in the supermarket and I got two portions for less than 2 euros!....I am the self professed queen of bargain hunting!

So for this encrusted hake you will need.........for 2 people...

120 - 150 g hake per person.....or you can use cod or any other of the above I've mentioned
50 g pumpkin seeds...they don't have to be pre-roasted ones
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 small clove garlic crushed
a bit of butter
sea salt
fresh black pepper
2 - 3 tablespoons olive oil....use extra virgin for flavour
approx 100mls dry white wine or water

for the lemon butter leeks..........
1 medium stalk of leek
juice of the lemon
50 g butter
4 tablespoons coconut milk
sea salt
fresh black pepper

How to..............

• line an oven dish with some tin foil, rub a little butter on the foil where you will place the fish...this is to prevent sticking
• remove any bones from the fish....this is very important as because of the crust, bones will be invisible after cooking....feel all over the fish with your fingers to check for any
• place the fish onto the buttered foil, season with a little salt and pepper
• place the pumpkin seeds in a blender and crush until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs
• add the lemon zest, the crushed garlic clove and some salt and pepper...give a last whiz to blend everything
• transfer the seeds to a clean bowl and add enough olive oil to coat all the seeds...stir really well.......it should almost resemble a coarse paste at this point 
  
• spoon the seed paste onto the top of the fish fillets and press firmly so it will stick
• add the white wine / water to the dish and place your fish in a pre-heated oven 180oC for approx 15 minutes

for the lemon butter leeks.......these can be cooked while the fish is in the oven

• slice the leek very thinly and wash well....drain on kitchen paper
• melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, add the leeks and allow to sweat for just a moment....we don't want the leeks to be overcooked at this point
• add the lemon juice, bring to the boil and reduce by half then add the coconut milk
• allow to boil again and thicken
• season to taste with salt and pepper

To serve........divide the lemon butter leeks between two plates, place  a portion of fish on top and add a wedge of lemon if desired. Drizzle the cooking juices from the fish over each plate and into the buttery lemon sauce......divine!
I served this dish very simply with some steamed broccoli on the side.....pack in those green veggies!

Try adding some herbs to crust or even to the sauce...maybe chives....or what about some Indian spices like turmeric which would go so well with the coconut.

Good food is the foundation of happiness! - Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Cheesecake

As I sit here at my kitchen table organizing my next recipe and blog post, I am filled with joy at the aromas emanating from the oven and from the large pot bubbling away on the stove top.
I am roasting some pork belly which I have slathered with a crust of wholegrain mustard and herbs, fresh from the garden, which we will enjoy 'a l'Irlandaise'.....in the Irish style...with steamed cabbage and potatoes....albeit the sweet low carb kind..... Simmering away in the pot is a lovely piece of smoked ham which after it is cooked, will be chilled to be enjoyed with a salad, diced up and flung into a mushroom, ham and cheese breakfast omelette, and stuffed into the kids lunch boxes. These are the foods full of flavour that bring us happiness!

For the last probably 30 or so years, we have been fed a diet of 'FAT IS BAD' and many of us, fearful of heading towards those pearly gates early due to heart disease before our pensionable years have even arrived, have gone down the 'low fat' or 'no fat' route...... poaching our chicken breasts and steaming our fish, trimming any sign of fat from our bacon or steak, ordering only the leanest of meats from our butchers and then grilling it to death to remove any fat that might be lingering....a certain Mr G. made a fortune off us! We even had the gall to eat that 'pond scum' otherwise known as low fat spread....or as I call it...'I can't believe you really expect me to put that stuff in my mouth' ! .......and the worst of it is, it seems we have wasted our time and may have done ourselves more harm than good!

I have vivid memories of a lithe Lizzie and a rambunctious Rosemary limbering up on early morning television to lead the nation in some excruciating aerobic exercises but not before they had given their daily sermon on how we would all die a terrible death before the age of 40 if we did not follow the low fat lifestyle.
Well all I can say to that is thanks for 30 years of misery, the needless guilt in the eating department, and the excess pounds donated to my rear and tummy area purely from following the 'low fat only' mantra!,
When I think of all the wonderful things I denied myself or the extreme guilt I felt when all I wanted to do was enjoy it, well I could strangle the two of them with their spandex leggings while I....as my daughter so wonderfully put it....slapped them in the face with a Dominoes!

But now the guilt is gone!....I wake every morning with a spring in my step and though I may have the odd moment of tiredness because I am a busy woman after all, I can honestly say I have never felt better or as energetic...well not since I was about 25!......this low carb style of eating is doing amazing things and I would recommend anyone having a go for a while and see how you feel.

The thing about this style of eating is that, bar not eating the likes of pasta, potatoes, rice and bread...a hurdle which if you can get over it, you will never look back,......the world of food is pretty much your oyster if you are imaginative.....it's not just eggs, eggs, steak and more eggs as some skeptics would have you believe!.
The list of suitable foods is extensive and if you have imagination and the skills.....ahem! ....like I have...then you can get inventive in the kitchen...this Strawberry Cheesecake is a prime example....if you are having guests for Sunday lunch or just want to treat the family to something delish while keeping to your eating style then this is the perfect thing, it is full flavoured, low carb, gluten free and with it's creamy top and gingery 'biscuit' style base, it's very difficult to tell the difference between this and a usual cheesecake.

You will need........gives  8 - 10 portions

180 g ground almonds
70 g whole almonds
100 g unsalted butter
2 teaspoons ground ginger
250 mls cream
200 g full fat cream cheese
1 sachet of sugar free jelly crystals
100 mls water...hot enough to dissolve the jelly crystals
100 mls very cold water

a spring form cake tin

How to.......

• crush the whole almonds in a blender or by placing in a polythene sandwich bag and bashing with a rolling pin...we want these almonds to be quite coarse to add a bit of texture and crispness to the base
• place all the almonds in a bowl and stir in the ground ginger
• gently melt the butter and add to the almonds, stir well to make sure the almonds absorb all the butter
• spread the almond mixture on the base of the cake tin, press and smooth over with the back of a metal spoon
• chill the base in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling
• boil your kettle then pour 100 mls of the just boiled water into a measuring jug
• stir in the jelly crystals....make sure the crystals are fully dissolved before adding the 100 mls of really cold water...set aside to cool
• place the cream cheese in a bowl and whisk lightly to break it down and make it creamy again
• in a separate bowl whip the cream until almost a full peak then add the cream cheese folding it in gently with your whisk
• slowly add the cooled jelly liquid while stirring the cream using your whisk until all the jelly has been added......if the jelly is too warm it may make the cream turn a little sloppy but don't worry, the cheesecake will still set
• pour the strawberry cream mixture onto the almond biscuit base and return to the refrigerator
• leave to set for a couple of hours.....you might be surprised at how quickly this can actually set!

You can serve the cheesecake with some extra whipped cream on top and a scattering of grated 70% plus dark chocolate over the top....don't be tempted to have fresh strawberries with it.... they do have a lot of sugar in them.
Try using different flavoured jellies...lemon, lime, raspberry, orange.

New Era Mac 'n Cheese!

Having grown up a 'Disney' child.....as in, I was raised on a diet of American influences at home and through the medium of television, it is no wonder I have a penchant for American style foods, especially for pure 'down home' cookin.....that deliciously comforting food only your mom or grandma could make.

Along with the wondrous fried chicken, in my top ten of all time favorite dishes, would be the simple macaroni and cheese which is pure comfort food of the southern type! and I'm not talking that certain beverage to which I am also partial!

However the possibility of eating the carb filled fest, that would be my traditional home made macaroni and cheese, is completely out the window at the moment as I am attempting to improve my health and alter my body shape....a never ending task! ( I'm sure you know exactly what I mean) .......so I have crossed to the Low Carb side....(note the reference to Star Wars.....they were filming a few miles up the road from me last week on beautiful Malin Head and No I don't know anything! so don't ask)......and indeed I have found this style of eating successfully satisfying and satisfyingly successful as a few inches seem to have disappeared from my midriff and I'm going to have to buy a smaller size in trousers in another week I reckon.

To fill that craving we all get from time to time for something comforting in the shape of warm gooeyness, I went searching and came a cross a very basic recipe for low carb mac and cheese but using cauliflower in place of macaroni. I tried the recipe but between you and me it was a bit bland and kinda boring.....so in my inimitable style I jazzed it up and have produced this exceptionally tasty New Era Mac 'n Cheese.

You will need........feeds 2 for a main meal or 4 as a side dish

1 decent sized cauliflower

100 g sliced mushrooms of your choice...I like to use the button closed cup ones but it's equally nice with chestnut or those big flat field mushrooms or you could be adventurous and try some wild mushrooms

1 - 2 cloves of garlic crushed

1/2 white onion thinly sliced

80 g of good strong mature cheddar grated

100g cream cheese...the thick full fat type only!

approx 80 g feta cheese cut into thick slices....1 slice per person

50 g of salami or you can use smoked bacon or pancetta....cut into strips

300 mls of cream....real cream!...you can even use thick double cream

sea salt, fresh black pepper

How to:  

• remove any outer leaves and coarse stalk from the cauliflower and divide into large florets
• cook the florets in a good quantity of boiling salted water until almost done, the stalks should still have a firmness to them when pierced with a fork
• drain the cauliflower and set aside to drip while you prepare creamy sauce
• heat a heavy bottomed frying pan then add the salami / pancetta or bacon strips...allow the fat to render down out of the meat, if you think the pan is too dry you can add some olive oil
• cook the meat until it begins to crisp then add the sliced onions and enjoy that delicious smell!
• now add the sliced mushrooms and continue cooking
• when the mushrooms have softened add the cream
• bring the cream to the boil and add the grated cheddar and the cream cheese, turn the heat down and let the cream bubble gently while the cheese melts in...keep stirring or the cheese can stick to the bottom of the pan
• once the cheese is melted season the cream with salt and pepper and add the crushed garlic....stir everything together well.
• place the drained cauliflower florets in a large oven proof dish or you could do individual ones if you like
• spoon the creamy, cheesy bacon and mushroom sauce over the top of the cauliflower
• lastly, top the dish with some slices of feta cheese.....as these bake they will add a delicious saltiness to the cauliflower
• bake your dish in a pre-heated oven 190oC until golden brown....takes about 15 minutes

As I said before, you can enjoy this as a dish in it's own right or you can have it as a side dish.

I served it with some really crisp oven baked sweet potato fries.....the sweet potato is low carb and a little makes quite a few 'strips'. 

If you are vegetarian you can dispense with the meat but you might want to add a little extra garlic or even some fresh chopped chillies to add flavour. 

You can replace the onion with leeks too...I would suggest using about one thin leek stalk, cut into slices and cook along with the mushrooms before adding the cream.

This dish works well with a few other vegetables like broccoli, courgettes/zucchini cut into chunks....just make sure you are sticking to those low carb veggies......high carbs + high fat = weight gain!  low carb + high fat = ketosis and the burning of your own excess fat!

                                 

Decadent Chocolate Mousse

I have a deep mistrust of anyone who claims they do not love chocolate....can they even be human? How can anyone deny themselves or claim they dislike what must be one of man's greatest discoveries....thank you by the way to those industrious Aztec's whose accidental slip up 3000 years ago while trying to make beer, led to the discovery of chocolate.....a true gift from the gods and I'm not just talking about Quetzalcoatl!

For anyone who is an avid lover of chocolate, such as I am, we all know that too much of it is bad for ones waistline, especially if you indulge in all those highly processed, sugar saturated, kiddie bars that have everything in them besides real chocolate! But good quality chocolate, and by that I mean chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa mass, is actually good for you....a couple of squares cheers you up no end....yes it is as good as S**! it's good for the heart too.....and your soul!

If you have gone down the keto route or you are just watching your sugar intake and think that desserts have gone out the window, then this decadent chocolate mousse will be right up your street. It is rich, creamy and light, yet oh so chocolaty, and with a little kick from a naughty dash of alcohol, it's great to serve at a dinner party, as a post Sunday lunch or as a simple mid week treat.....yes you can indulge....no guilt involved!

You will need......makes 6 - 8                       

300 g good quality chocolate min 70% cocoa solids
2 really fresh medium size eggs....at room temperature
1 additional egg white
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
400 mls full fat whipping cream......no imitation cream please!
50 mls Baileys or other cream liqueur
some extra cream to whip for decoration
dark cocoa powder
extra dark chocolate for decoration

How to:

• Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in heatproof bowl
• add 100 mls of the whipping cream and the butter
• place the bowl over a pan of hot but not boiling water, allow the chocolate to melt gently and dissolve into the cream and butter....give it a stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula every so often
• pour the remaining whipping cream into a deep bowl, add the cream liqueur and whip until the cream holds its shape, place in the refrigerator
• separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.......place tall he whites in a deep, very clean bowl and set aside
• once the chocolate has melted and is quite warm, stir in the two egg yolks, and beat well until shiny and smooth....the heat from the chocolate will cook the egg yolks but keep stirring, we don't want scrambled chocolate eggs!
• remove the chocolate from the heat and allow to cool to hand temperature 
  
• add a pinch of salt to the egg whites then whip the whites using a mixer until soft peaks have formed
• take the cream out of the fridge and gently fold in the chocolate mixture until no cream is visible
• follow by folding in the whipped egg white, keep turning the mixture until all the egg white has vanished....you will be left with a light, frothy mixture
• pour your mixture straight into your glasses or dishes....this can be a messy task so maybe you would like to transfer the mixture to a jug first.
• chill the mousse in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or even overnight
• decorate with whipped cream, a dusting of cocoa powder and some broken shards of chocolate.....then dig in and enjoy!

Try with other liqueurs such as Grand Marnier for an orange flavour, Amaretto, Tia Maria or even a dash of vodka! For a different decoration, meal some chocolate and fold in a few chopped almonds, smear this mixture onto some greaseproof paper and allow to set, then break into shards and top each mousse.

NIGELLA BLASTS RESTAURATEURS!........

 .........................INSISTS HOME 'CHEFS' ARE MORE CREATIVE!

This was the headline that screamed at me from today's 'Daily Mail'....and it begrudges me to even say so, but on first glance, Nigella may have a point!

There is a slight truth to her statement that restaurateurs, both owners and chefs, live a life of quiet, invisible, drudgery.... (if hauling yourself into the kitchen at 7am to prepare for lunch service after only 5 hours of sleep because a party of ten decided to turn up for dinner the night before arriving 10 minutes before last orders and then proceeded to have starters, main-courses, desserts and then settled in for the evening with coffee and drinks....and more drinks...and you do this 6 days a week...could be considered drudgery) then I can't blame some who would think it a terrible life.....but having seen both sides of the cookery coin, I have spent years in the industry and cooking at home for my family and friends,.......I would agree that home cooks have a chance to be more creative. I will admit that some of my best dishes have been devised when I have been cooking at home for the family, but that was  all very well because I didn't have 150 or 200 people to feed at the time or 4 hours of prep to do beforehand!....and yes, those dishes did see the light of day on the restaurant menu!

But I think Nigella is missing a few vital points.....for many 'restaurateurs' this is their livelihood, this is how they pay their bills, put food on the table at home, and take care of their families....there are many in the industry who are not out to become millionaires.....and a good job too because it is the rare exception that makes it out of the kitchen and onto our TV screens or onto the shelves of the local bookstore.......people do it to survive and if that means sticking to a menu with good, wholesome quality food that the customer enjoys and will return for time and again then that is what you do....if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  If Nigella had actually spent some time having to earn a living by working in a restaurant kitchen then she might understand that instead of taking cheap shots at hardworking people all in the name of promoting her new venture 'down under'.

Another point, is that the majority of chefs do it for the love of what we do, in fact I am being disingenuous when I use the word 'majority'......all chefs do it for the love of food.......food is our medium of creativity, it is our oils, our watercolors, our clay.....and our plates and platters our canvases.......no one questions an artist as to why they paint the way they do.......did anyone ask Van Gogh why he painted his canvases with strokes and swirls? or Jackson Pollock why he literally threw paint at his? NO! but good chefs can go one even better......not only do we produce art on the plate, but we create taste sensations in the mouth..... our art fills the senses and satiates hunger....no other kind of artist can do that!

Nigella also states that.....'A few chefs are creative, but once they achieve success all they do is recreate their dishes to consolidate their success'.......well what did Picasso or even Michelangelo do?....they discovered their own style and stuck to it.....because it worked for them.....for example... Stephen King...the literature master of the horror story......why would he write a love story when his heart and his art lies in the telling of creepy tales ....  if you have the chance to do what you truly love, what makes you happy, regardless of what others think..... then you will be a 'great master' no one can ever copy!


you can read the Daily Mail article in full HERE! make of it what you will.

Get Stuffed! ........Cheesy Chicken to fill you up!

The problem with trying to lose weight in the traditional manner, that is, by controlling calorie intake..... 'calories in must be less than calories out' .......and eating a low fat diet...which we now know is NOT a good idea!....may worked well for some people for a certain period of time, but alas, as soon as there was a return to 'normal' eating, any weight lost usually returned with a vengeance and dragging a few extra pounds with it.....and so we have the 'yo-yo' diet.....disheartening and frustrating!

Psychologically, it seems, that part of being a human means that whatever we are doing without prays on our minds constantly, and so we are subject to cravings once more......we always seem to want what we can't have.......or rather shouldn't have!

However, eating in the keto style turns this 'calorie restriction = weight-loss' theory on its head and allows us to what could been deemed as 'indulging' and enjoy a diet so high in fat it would give a low fat guru a stroke just thinking about it! This method of eating controls, or even eliminates from our food choices, those carbohydrates that fluctuate our blood glucose levels leaving us hungry and craving even more.

A Fiesta of Summer Food!

Ireland is a virtual 'Smorgasbord' of food festivals from April through to September with most taking place during the high summer months.

Food festivals are not only a great chance to see those fabulous celebrity TV chef's we all secretly lust after, (there's nothing like a man with a pan to get the fires burning).... demonstrating their talents in the food theaters, but they are also the perfect opportunity to meet and sample the wares of the established and newly emerging food artisans of each region.
There is a thriving scene of small producers in this country, many who may not have made it into the big supermarkets yet, but are beavering away on a smaller scale plying their wares at the weekly local farmers market and online. The local food festival is a prime place to meet these hard working entrepreneurs and there is nothing they enjoy more than talking about their creations with pride and passion.

Every county at some point during the summer will have a food festival and of course nearly every large town now has a weekly farmers market which will also be held during a food festival. These markets are definitely worth checking out, you might be pleasantly surprised at what is being created a short distance from your own front door and it is nobler to support your local producer!

Ballymaloe Litfest

Some festivals of note are not just about food......the now famous Ballymaloe Litfest  taking place from May 20th - 22nd is about more than just the wonderful food of Cork. It brings together world renowned food writers and serious foodies for a weekend of Irish and International food, drink, demonstrations, talks and tastings....a food lovers heaven!
you can find out more HERE!

Other festivals of note are the International Oyster Festival taking place in Hillsborough Co. Down, the Burren Slow Food Festival in Lisdoonvarna Co. Clare, A Taste of Cavan, A Taste of Dublin,
Street-fest 2016 and 'BLOOM' both taking place in Dublin city.... and my favorite....but then I am biased.....A Taste of Donegal, taking place in Donegal Town near the end of August.

So it looks like we have a fine summer of food ahead of us with something for everyone at each of these festivals, and, you never know what you might find!

Click for more info on this years Food Festivals