have a good bank holiday weekend!

(c) Lis Parsons

location location location

Our house extension has just started (horrah!) and as things are 'getting worse before they get better' I have to look at pictures of nice houses so I can at least dream I'm not living in hell. Here are some snaps I've dug out from features I've worked on for Food & Wine magazine (with photographer Cliona O'Flaherty and table settings by her assistant Aoife Herrity). I often get to work in lovely locations that inspire me and of course make me dream of the 'one day'. As well as the acres of props I drag along to shoots, working in locations like these unearths some other real beauties.

pasta feature

(c) Jack Caffrey

The husband made me a really yummy smoked salmon pasta for my tea last night and it reminded me of this delicious recipe of Neven Maguires in Country Living magazine (styled by yours truely)...just need to get the secret recipe out of Mart now!

Trout & Baby Spinach Linguini

Serves 4

300g trout fillets
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
50g baby spinach
6 spring onions, finely sliced
400g linguini
2 tbsp chopped dill
DRESSING
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
100ml orange juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp chopped chives
1 tbsp finely diced red onion
crusty bread, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the grill on a high heat. Brush the trout with the oil, squeeze the lime juice over and season. Grill for 6-8 minutes and then leave to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin and any bones. Then flake the fish into large pieces and mix with the spinach, spring onions and half of the dill.

Next, cook the linguini in a large pan of boiling, salted water for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain well.

In the meantime, prepare the dressing. Whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and season to taste.

Toss the dressing through the pasta and then gently toss the trout mixture through also.

Arrange the linguini on serving plates, garnish with the remaining dill and serve with crusty bread.

some old photos

I have just come across these photos which I forgot to post from a shoot a few months back. Phelim Byrne, a wexford chef with his own successful cookery school worked on recipes for Supervalu and photographer Harry Weir and I headed to the school to shoot the food.

very strange artists palette!

we turned Phelims school into a movie set by the looks of things!

obviously becoming delirious with tiredness at this stage

phelim hard at work

Phelims cookery school....good job team (me, Phelim & Harry)

In Season...cod & beetroot

Uuuummm... Baked Cod & Beetroot. From Food & Wine Magazine...recipe by Hugo Arnold, shot by Cliona O'Flaherty, food & prop styled by moi...

8 small-sized beetroot
Olive oil
1kg prime cod fillet (ask for four thick
pieces, avoiding the tail end if possible)
4 tablespoons chopped dill
1 lemon, quartered

Pre-heat oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Peel and quarter the beetroot, toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place on a shallow roasting tray in the top of the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until just tender.

Push the beetroot to one end of the tray, coat the fish in olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place at the other end. Return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked.

Toss the beetroot with the dill. Serve the baked fish and beetroot with a piece of lemon.

food for thought

With the continued frustration of not having a proper kitchen at home still (due to long suffering renovations!), I have just realised my bedside stack of reading material is littered with food mags, articles and books....The husband is going to be one well fed man once that kitchen is fitted! Anyhow, not on the light side of the reading are these two thought provoking books. Really interesting (if not shocking) reads that I've been dipping in and out of lately. They certainly give you a conscience about the impact the food industry and your own shopping and eating habits are having on the world....Not very light bedtime reading but very interesting.