pan-fried squid & chorizo with heritage tomato & feta salad

Here's a healthy Mediterranean type option for those of you who, like me, still wish they were on holiday having long lazy lunches somewhere hot and sunny without too much of a care in the world...

This light dish started off life as a 'let's-see-what-we've-got-left-in-the-fridge' plate of food, when I fancied a starter to pre-empt the chicken dish I was cooking as my main course. The resulting meal was VERY tasty, so of course I had to share! As you can see from the photo, it looks great too; really vibrant with loads of colour, and of course the flavours are just beautiful together.

Quick to prepare, and even quicker to cook and plate up, leaving you plenty of time to slow down and enjoy with a large slurp or two of cold dry white wine...

Ingredients

For the squid

• 2 x squid (tubes/bodies only), cleaned, halved along each side and cut into thin strips widthways
• 1 x chorizo sausage, diced (I used Gubbeen chorizo from Cork, keeping it local!)
• Olive oil
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt & pepper

For the tomato salad

• 2oog (approx - I used 2 - 3 good handfuls) Heritage (a.k.a. Heirloom) tomatoes, sliced
• 80g feta cheese, diced
• Good handful of freshly chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. First make the salad. Throw everything into a bowl and season to taste with the lemon juice, salt & pepper. Leave to one side for the flavours to combine a little.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the chorizo. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes until the sausage starts to colour and release some of its oils.Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
3. In the same pan, add a small splash of olive oil and throw in the squid pieces.
4. Stir regularly and again, season to taste with the lemon  juice, salt & pepper.
5. When the squid is cooked (but still nice & tender) add the chorizo back into the pan for 30 seconds to warm through.
6. To serve, divide the squid & chorizo into two portions, placing in the centre of each plate.
7. Place the tomatoes randomly around the outside of the plate and drizzle over the dressing.
8. Eat as slowly as you can to maximise the enjoyment. It might also be worth trying to convince your dining partner that they don't like it that much so you can steal theirs as well. Good luck with that...

I ate this last night for the first time and even just typing up the menu I'm drooling! That must say something about how nice it is, right?! I have to say, absolutely delicious...

Serves 2

pork belly with black pudding, scallops, fondant potatoes, oyster mushrooms and wild garlic

With the starter out of the way, next up was the main course; the main event of the meal, and expectations were high. Not that I was panicking or anything of course, but I started this dish at around 10am!

Preparation is the key here. The pork is cooked, cooled and cooked again, and there's a fair bit of last minute flying around before plating up, but thankfully the end result tastes like a little bit of heaven. I love all of these ingredients, and together they're just perfect. Loads of different flavours, half a dozen different textures, and a real showcase of a meal to impress even the in-law-est of in-laws!

Enjoy making this; you'll get a real sense of achievement as a cook and what you end up eating is guaranteed to be one of the nicest meals you've produced all year!

Ingredients

For the pork belly

• 1kg - 1.3kg pork belly, bones/ribs removed. skin scored
• Handful of fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 bulbs garlic, halved horizontally
• 350ml white wine
• 500ml warm chicken stock
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the fondant potatoes

• 3-4 large potatoes, peeled & cut into 4cm cubes (2 cubes per person)
• 150g butter
• 75ml chicken stock
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed/broken slightly with a knife
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the rest!

• 8 slices black pudding
• 8 scallops, cleaned & patted dry
• Good handful of oyster mushrooms
• 2 tbsp butter, diced
• Olive oil
• Good handful of wild garlic
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. For the first stage of the pork belly, preheat the oven to 180c / 160c (fan) / gas mark 4.
2. Season the pork with salt & pepper on both sides and rub with a couple of good glugs of olive oil.
3. Place the garlic in a roasting pan, cut side up, and cover with the sprigs of thyme. Place the pork belly on top, skin side up, and pour around 250ml of the wine around the edges into the pan.
4. Cover loosely with tin foil, cook the pork for 2 hours before resting on a board for 10-15 minutes.
5. Place the pork in a clean tray or dish, with another on top. Weight it down (cans of food are good for this) and leave to cool for around 3-4 hours.
6. The gravy comes next! Place the original roasting tin on the stove top over a medium-high heat and deglaze with the remaining 100ml of wine. Reduce for 3-4 minutes then add the stock and reduce again by half, making sure you break the garlic & thyme down as much as possible with a wooden spoon to get all the flavour out.
7. Sieve the sauce into a jug and set to one side for reheating later when plating up.
8. When the pork is cooled (and a lot flatter), divide it into 8 equal portions and get the oven up to its highest setting (around 220c). When the oven is nice & hot, cook the pork skin side up on the top shelf until the skin crisps up (around 15 minutes or so).
9. In the meantime, you can deal with the fondant potatoes. Put the butter into a saucepan & heat until foaming. Place the potatoes in and cook for around 5 minutes, until they start to turn a nice golden brown. Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes before adding the stock, garlic and thyme sprigs. Cover & reduce the heat slightly, and simmer for another 5 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender.
10. For the mushrooms, just fry in some olive oil with a little black pepper until cooked through & tender.
11. Next up is the black pudding. Heat a little olive oil in a non-stick pan, add the black pudding and fry for 2 minutes on each side until crispy. Remove from the pan & place to one side on a warm plate.
12. Season the scallops lightly with salt & pepper. In the same pan as you cooked the black pudding, add a little more oil and when nice & hot add the scallops and cook for 30s-60s on each side. The time will depend on the size of your scallops, but you're looking for a nice brown sear before turning.
13. Finally, sauté the wild garlic in a knob of butter until nicely wilted. You should also reheat your sauce at this stage - in a microwave will do, especially as you probably don't have any clean pans left by now!
14. To serve, place two pieces of pork belly on each plate, then two pieces of black pudding with a scallop on each, and two potatoes with a couple of the mushrooms on top. Place your wild garlic in the middle of the plate & pour the sauce into the gaps in between it all!
15. This is a fair bit of faffing around; I do understand that, but trust me, it's very much worth every second!

The dish is lovely served with pretty much any wine too! Red is great with the pork and black pudding, white is great with the potatoes, pork, scallops & black pudding, and rose is great with everything!

Enjoy!

Serves 4

spaghetti with crab, lemon & chilli

We're all so busy these days, have you noticed? Too busy to call, too busy to relax, and certainly too busy to cook a meal. Thank The Lord that this dish only takes 10 minutes then!

Simple, tasty, healthy (and my god, moreish), this pasta meal only uses pasta & just a handful of other ingredients, plus the obligatory olive oil of course! Have it for supper, or pile it up as a main course; either way you'll make it again & again!

Ingredients

• 300g white crab meat
• Large handful of freshly chopped parsley
• 1 red chilli, de-seeded & finely chopped
• Zest & juice of 1 lemon
• Large clove of garlic, finely sliced
• 200g spaghetti
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente (around 8 minutes) and drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan (or sauté pan). Add the crab, parsley, chilli, garlic & lemon zest, and fry gently for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly to mix together & warm through.
3. Add the remainder of the oil and the lemon juice and cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the pasta & mix well until coated with the crab sauce.
5. Serve, eat, say yum a few times...

Serves 2

seared tuna with tuna tartare, scallops and pak choi salad

When we talk about cooking with tuna, many of us think of the tinned stuff, in oil, or water, or (more trendy) olive oil. Now, that type of tuna is pretty cool in its own right of course; it's cheap, it's versatile, and it makes a great addition to a salad, stirred into a tomato pasta sauce, or just mixed with some mayonnaise and thrown on toast with tomato & cheese for a quick & comforting classic tuna melt.

For dinner however, the fresh option will give you a whole different experience. Full of essential nutrients, fresh tuna really is something else! The texture is just amazing (the fresher the better), and can even be eaten raw (think sashimi), and the fish lends itself brilliantly well to Asian flavours.

Price-wise, it clearly costs more than the tinned variety, but is worth every penny, and really won't break the bank - and why should it?! A little goes a long way, and I've designed this recipe to show off a couple of ways to make the most of tuna and its beautiful qualities. As a light lunch or a swanky starter, it's all good. Enjoy!

Ingredients

For the seared tuna

• 1 piece of fresh tuna (around 350g is plenty for 4 people)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds

For the tuna tartare

• 150g fresh tuna, diced into very small pieces (the smaller the better)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• ½ lime, juice only
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• ½ green chilli, finely chopped
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the scallops

• 8 scallops, corals removed
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the pak choi salad

• 2 pak choi, cleaned and thinly sliced
• ½ lime, juice only
• Small handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ green chilli, finely chopped
• Handful of beansprouts
• 3 or 4 radishes, very finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp clear honey

Method

1. First make the marinade for the tuna. Whisk the soy sauce, honey & sesame oil together in a bowl and place the tuna in, ensuring it gets a good coating. Leave for at least 5 minutes to soak up the flavours.
2. Next make the dressing for the salad. Mix everything together apart from the pak choi (reserve a small amount of coriander for garnish). Set to one side.
3. For the tuna tartare, mix all the ingredients together, seasoning to taste.
4. To finish the seared tuna, remove from the marinade and coat in the sesame seeds. Heat a griddle pan (or non-stick frying pan) until hot, add a small amount of olive oil and carefully place the tuna in the pan. Sear on all sides and remove to rest for a couple of minutes. The whole cooking process there should only take around 2-3 minutes in total, and don't panic of some of the seeds  burn a little; they just add to the flavour & textures!
5. For the scallops, season lightly with salt & freshly ground black pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan until hot and cook the scallops for 30 - 60 seconds on each side, until they colour & start to caramelise slightly.
6. Finish the salad by adding the pak choi to the dressing, making sure everything gets a good coating.
7. To serve, place a small pile of salad on a plate. Next, slice the tuna into pieces no more than 1cm thick and place on top of the salad. Put 2 good spoonfuls of the tuna tartare on the plate and place a scallop on top of each. Finally, spoon over a little of the salad dressing and sprinkle over some of the reserved coriander.
8. Take photos, eat, smile, wonder how you didn't make this earlier...

Serves 4.

Special mention once again to the guys at Kish Fish for supplying the tuna & scallops. You rock!

scallops with pea & mint purée, black pudding & rocket salad

I just love scallops! Sweet, soft, indulgent-tasting flesh (not too 'fishy' for those of you who don't like fish to taste of fish!), and really good for you too! Not only that but this luxurious seafood has really come down in price recently, and finally, they're REALLY easy to cook, meaning you can have a swanky restaurant regular in your own home without too much trouble!

Paired with some thing meaty (but not too meaty!), the succulence of scallops is highlighted even more, for the ultimate surf 'n' turf. Great with pork belly (or the more expensive venison) for a main course, or as a starter with something lighter, such as the black pudding I've paired with it here. It's a classic combination, and for one good reason: it tastes fantastic!

Thanks again to my friends at Kish Fish for supplying the fantastic scallops!

Ingredients

• 6 scallops, cleaned & corals removed.
• 6 slices of black pudding, cut to approx. 1cm tick

For the pea purée:

• 200g/7oz frozen garden peas
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint
• Small knob of butter

For the rocket salad:

• Good handful of rocket leaves
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 garlic clove, crushed (or chopped very finely)
• ½ lemon (juice only)
• Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Bring a small pan of water to the boil & add the peas & mint sprigs. Cook for around 3 minutes, until he peas have softened & are tender.
2. Drain the peas & mint, pick the mint leaves from the sprigs (careful, they may be hot!). Add to a blender with a knob of butter & blitz until smooth. Alternatively you can of course use a hand blender.
3. For the rocket salad, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl except the rocket and stir well until thoroughly mixed. Finally add the rocket leaves by hand and mix together until well coated.
4. Heat a little oil in a frying pan until hot and fry the black pudding for around 2 minutes on each side, until cooked through and crispy ion the outside. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
5. Add a little more olive oil to the pan, heat again until hot. Season your scallops with a little salt & freshly ground black pepper and add to the pan. Cook for 30 - 60 seconds, until they start to brown & caramelise, then turn and cook for the same time on the other side. The timing will vary depending on the size of your scallops, but even the largest ones out there shouldn't take more than a minute on each side.
6. To serve, spoon 3 dollops of the pea purée onto a plate, then add a slice of black pudding, finally topping off with a scallop.
7. Dress the rest of the plate with some of the rocket salad, in any way that looks pretty!

Serves 2.

squid with lemon & chilli

This is a recipe I picked up when I was living in Spain and ticks all the boxes: It's fresh, it's cheap, it's healthy, and above all, it's tasty! And it smells fantastic when you're cooking it! Squid is low in calories and is high in nutrients such as Vitamin A, potassium and calcium. And at around only €8/kilo, it makes for an incredibly economical ingredient. So don't be scared by fresh squid, and give this a go. It's a much nicer alternative to deep fried, battered (rubbery) squid rings!

Ingredients

• 4 fresh squid, cleaned & prepared*
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 red chillis, de-seeded & sliced very thinly
• 500g new potatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Large handful of fresh mint, chopped
• Large handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Olive oil
• 4 knobs of butter
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

*To prepare my squid, I usually put slices though it, but be careful not to go all the way across. To do this safely, just lay a large knife inside the squid, and slice across with a second knife, then repeat on the other side. The knife inside the squid will act as a barrier to stop you cutting all the way through and ending up with squid rings! This technique is great for getting all the other flavours into the squid, and looks professional too!

Method

1. Place the potatoes in boiling salted water & cook for around 8 minutes, until starting to get soft. Drain and leave to dry in their own steam in the colander.
2. When the potatoes have cooled slightly, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 knobs of butter over a medium high heat in a large heavy frying pan, and add the potatoes, crushing down slightly with a wooden spoon or a masher.
3. When the potatoes are starting to colour nicely, make space in the pan and add a drop more olive oil, along with the red onion.
4. Cook until soft, then remove the potato & onion mixture and keep to one side in a warm dish.
5. Add a little glug of olive oil to the pan. Season the squid lightly on both sides and fry for around 2 minutes on each side; you should see the squid starting to lose it's opaque look.
6. Add another couple of knobs of butter to the pan along with another glug of olive oil and add the chilli, garlic and parsley. Toss around so all the flavours get into the squid. Pour over half the lemon juice, a little more seasoning to taste, and toss again to make sure everything gets a good coating.
7. Put the potatoes & onion back in the pan and again, toss around to make sure everything picks up the flavours of everything else.
8. To serve, place the potatoes on a large platter and lay the squid on top.
9. Finally, squeeze over the rest of the lemon juice and sprinkle with the fresh mint.

Serves 4.

lamb with mediterranean vegetables

Spring has finally sprung, or is at least starting to have a bit more of a boing about it, and what better food to get stuck into than lovely lamb?

The temperature out there still isn't up to our normal tropical Irish summer levels just yet though, so this dish offers a great combination of in-season meat with some warming, and ever-hopeful summer type vegetables from the Med, all cooked together in the oven to warm the belly and keep the comfort food cravings well in check.

If you don't have all of the vegetables listed, no problem! Just use whatever you have in. In the past I've done this using asparagus, green beans, carrots, red onions, butternut squash...

Ingredients

• 4 lamb chops or cutlets
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 aubergine, sliced into 1cm thick slices
• 2 courgettes, sliced into 1cm thick slices
• 1 red pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 yellow pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 red onion, peeled & cut into large pieces
• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 50g feta cheese
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan 160C) / 350F / gas mark 4
2. Place the rosemary, mint & garlic into a pestle & mortar and pound until they're all mixed up to a fairly smooth consistency (not too smooth though - we like chunks!). Add the olive oil and mix together. Smear the mixture over the main 'eye' of the lamb chops & set to one side.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish and add in the aubergine, courgette, peppers and red onion.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the vegetables, season with salt & pepper, and mix everything together to coat. Lay the lamb on top of the vegetables and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
5. Crumble the feta cheese and dot that around the lamb, scatter the cherry tomatoes around the dish and place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes (the cheese should start to brown very slightly).
6. Serve with fresh sliced ciabatta and a mixed leaf salad.
7. Finish off with a glass of your favourite wine too! Being lamb, this dish will go with most red, rose or dry white wines. Easy!

Serves 4.

lamb's kidneys with mushrooms on toast

This is my take on one of my favourite Spanish dishes 'Riñones al Jerez', or kidneys with sherry. Whilst I was living in Spain this turned out to be really versatile, in that it makes a great tapa, a substantial starter or a lovely comfort food supper.

Ensure you get nice fresh kidneys, with all of the fat trimmed off (your butcher will do this for you). Kidneys are a really tasty piece of offal, and are cheap too - usually only around 60c each!

Ingredients

• 6 lambs kidneys
• Handful of smoked bacon lardons
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 100g closed cut mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 tbs sherry vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
• 2 tbs crème fraîche
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

1. To prepare the kidneys, first make sure you take off the thin membrane that covers them - you'll know if this is still on as the kidneys will look greyish in appearance - once removed you'll see them in all their lovely plummy shininess! After that, cut the kidneys lengthways, snip out the white cores with scissors (these can be quite tough to eat), and cut the kidneys in half again, giving you quarters. Place these on a plate and cover in the lemon juice to marinate a little.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium high heat and add the bacon. After a couple of minutes add the garlic & fry for a further minute.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes, until they soften.
4. Pour in the kidneys, including the lemon juice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently (don't kill the kidneys!).
5. When the kidneys have started to lose their pinkness, add the sherry vinegar and again stir to combine all those lovely flavours.
6. Throw in the parsley and and salt & black pepper to taste.
7. After a minute or so, take off the heat a add a good dollop of crème fraîche. Stir this in to give a nice rich sauce.
8. Serve with lovely thick slices of toasted ciabatta.

This dish tastes lovely with a nice glass of Rioja - my favourites with kidneys are Campo Viejo or Marqués de Cáceres Reserva. Enjoy!