happy harry

Congratulations to photographer Harry Weir on the opening of his new, very grown up studio. No thanks for all the bubbly last night Harry - although it did seem like such a good idea at the time! Harry is not only 'Happy' in predictive text, but was totally over the moon celebrating all his hard work turning an abandoned unit into a gorgeous, warm and friendly work space....looking forward to stuffing many a chicken there Harry! Congrats!

Rachel's Market Kitchen

I'm just back from Cork having worked with Rachel Allen and the Optomen / UKTV, Market Kitchen gang. Rachel is one of the presenters on the show, so she heads to London every so often to film that part but then Market Kitchen come to her at home in Cork to film her actually cooking too. So lots of cooking and lots more calories! Here is one of the recipes we filmed which is from Rachel's book 'Bake'. Market Kitchen is on UKTV food every week day at 7pm (& repeated throughout the next day).

BAKED AUBERGINES WITH TOMATOES, BASIL & PINE NUTS
Serves 4
2 large aubergines
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
1 onion, peeled & finely sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled & crushed
650g (1lb 6oz) good red ripe tomatoes, peeled & chopped
pinch of chilli flakes
1 tsp caster sugar
4 tbsp chopped or torn basil leaves
1 ball of mozzarella, torn into pieces, or 25g (1 oz) grated parmesan (optional)
4 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, Gas Mark 4.

2. Slice the aubergines in half lengthways and, using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh, leaving a 5mm (1/4 in) border around the edge intact. Chop the flesh, then place in a sieve sitting over a bowl adding a good pinch of salt to draw out any bitter juices. Place the aubergine halves on an oiled baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and cook for 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic, cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the onion is soft. Add the drained aubergine flesh, the tomatoes, chilli flakes and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cook over a low heat for about 20-30 minutes or until the sauce is reduced. Add the chopped basil and season to taste.

4. Spoon the tomato sauce into the par-cooked aubergines, then add the torn mozzarella or grated parmesan (if using). Bake int he oven for about 30 minutes or until the aubergine is cooked at the sides and the mixture is hot and bubbling. Sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and serve.

beautiful belleek

(c) Khara Pringle

Belleek have to be the best client ever! I had a gorgeous goody parcel in the post recently from their newly launched jewellery range. It's the beautiful bracelet in the image above (from their new brochure) and I totally love it! you can see it on their website here.

Also, you may recognise the model - she is one of the finalists in the RTE series The Model Agent, Carrie-Ann. Belleek did well there to nab her as the first face of their new jewellery - hope she wins now!

Anyhow, thank you guys for the most gorgeous gift and good luck with the range!

UPDATE: Congrats to Carrie-Ann (& indeed Belleek!) for winning her contract on The Model Agent (despite revealing her pregnancy in the final stages of the show!).

before & after

I got back from a big job earlier this week which I will tell you about when I have sorted the photos out (& once I finally face up to unpacking the kit!). In the meantime, here are some silly snaps of food I've been taking over the last 6 months in work...before food was cooked and after. Have I lost it?!

THE Bill Granger

I was back at The Afternoon Show again today, this time setting up for THE Bill Granger...what a lovely man! He was very sweet and so smiley, you could just take him home! Bill was over to promote his gorgeous new cookbook (full of his trademark simple but tasty recipes), feed me now!...

I didn't manage to get a snap with Bill but I truely was lucky enough to meet and work with him - he did sign his cookbook for me though...

Bill cooked two recipes, a spicy prawn stir fry and a delicious coconut slice (which needless to say, didn't last long with the crew around!)....click here to check out demo recordings. Here's the stir fry recipe...

Spicy Prawn Stir Fry

. 2 tablespoons mild flavoured oil, such as sunflower
. 20 large prawns, shelled and deveined, with tails intact
. 2 tablespoons red curry paste
. 1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
. 400g asparagus, trimmed and cut into 4cm lengths on the diagonal
. 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and cut into thin strips
. 200ml coconut milk
. 2 tablespoons lime juice
. 1 tablespoons fish sauce
. 1 teaspoon sugar

. Coriander leaves
. Steamed rice

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Add the prawns and stirfry for 2 minutes or until they turn pink and are just cooked. Remove and set aside.
2. Return the wok to a high heat, add the remaining oil, followed by the curry paste, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the onion and asparagus and stir fry for 2 minutes, then add the red pepper and cook for a further 1 minute.
3. Add the coconut milk, lime juice, fish sauce and sugar, and stir to combine. Return the prawns to the wok and cook for a further minute or until they are heated through.
4. Scatter over some coriander leaves and serve with steamed rice.

neven's new cookbook

I'm just back from piling on the pounds in Cavan - I've been busy testing the 130 recipes from Neven Maguire's next new cookbook. People always ask me what I mean by testing....it isn't just taste testing (although not fitting into my desk chair now makes me wonder!), I also make sure timings, sizes and dimensions, temperatures, quantities and descriptions are correct and make sense so that the recipe 'works' when people follow it.....I have the disasters, not you!

Anyhow, I have now officially cooked more in Neven's home kitchen than he has (although I'm not surprised as he's always in the restaurant kitchen).....this new book is a great collection of Neven's signature recipes that he cooks in the restaurant...although still easy enough for the home cook to make - that's why it's been given the catcy title, homechef. watch out for it at the end of this year.

me and my other husband (with a mock-up front cover)!

Thanks to Neven's wife Amelda for not batting an eyelid at me taking over her lovely home once again for weeks on end. Huge thanks also to Neven's chefs Vicky, Zara and Carina for helping me test and for all that shopping! and of course to Amelda's mum Eileen for all her help. not only in work but also with eating all that food and drinking all those cocktails!! cocktail o'clock...amelda, carina and eileen...

1. 

1. 
   

Easter Eggs

I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend! Continuing the theme here is a pic which I prop & food styled for Food & Wine Mag a couple of Easters ago...

BOILED EGGS WITH ASPARAGUS SOLDIERS
(c) Cliona O'Flaherty

Annabel Karmel on The Afternoon Show

The Afternoon Show presenter Blaithnaid, with Annabel

This week I worked with Annabel Karmel on RTE'S, The Afternoon Show. She is of course the fantastic children's cookery book writer from the UK - friends with children are always raving about how they couldn't have fed the kids properly without her! The show had lots of calls with questions since they announced Annabel's arrival last week so she is hugely populer here.

I set up the two cookery slots for Annabel and had the tough job of keeping the crew hands off her yummy food until we went off air (and of course there was a stampede of big kids ater that!). Annabel was over to promote her gorgeous new book, Top 100 Finger Foods. Check it out for the recipes for her delicious rice crispy coated chicken nuggets (good for grown ups parties too!) and her really quick and easy no-cook flapjacks.

Annabel & I

Get Well Soon

The photographer on yesterdays shoot told me his granny, Maisey had just gone into hospital as she fell over and broke her hip. I saw a really cute photo of her waving and smiling from her hospital bed. She must be a really strong woman as she is 92! We are always looking for takers for the leftover food from shoots so we packed up a little get well soon goodie bag for Maisey. Hope it cheered her up!

some Easter chocolate cupcakes, leftover mini eggs,
fruit smoothie and some prop daff's!

have your cake

Here are some snaps (with Photographer Jack Caffrey) from a recent shoot for The Journal Magazine in the Farmer's Journal...

and the finished feature....

and Neven's recipe....

PEANUT TOFFEE SHORTBREAD

Makes about 16 bars

300g butter, at room temperature (plus extra for greasing)
125g caster sugar
1 egg
175g plain flour
175g light muscavado sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp lemon juice
400g roasted unsalted peanuts

preheat the oven to 180C (Gas Mark 4). Lightly grease a 18 x 27cm (7 x 11in) baking tin and then line the base and sides with parchment paper.

Using an electric beater, cream 100g of the butter with the caster sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well to combine. Sift the flour in a seperate bowl and then fold into the butter mixture using a large metal spoon until just combined. Press into the lined tin and bake for 15 minutes or until firm and very lightly browned. Leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Place the remaining butter in a heavy based pan with the muscavado sugar, golden syrup and lemon juice. Cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes until the sugar has dissolved, stirring constantly. Increase the heat slightly and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring.

Remove the toffee from the heat and stir in the peanuts. Using two spoons, spread evenly over the shortbread base, being very carfeul as the mixture is extremely hot. return to the oven for another 5 minutes to help the toffee to set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out and cut into squares or small bars.

To serve, arrange on plates or wrap in greaseproof paper to take on picnics or in packed lunches.

wexford food fair

I'm just back from Wexford where (after having a sneeky much needed couple of days R&R) I was at a school fund raising Food Fair. Local food producers and suppliers had stands there, including Thai Gold and Carrigbyrne Farmhouse Cheeses as well as companies such as chef Phelim Byrne's fab cookery school and also Good Food Ireland. Phelim did a great demonstration to kick off the evenings events, followed by good buddy Neven Maguire who received a great welcome to Wexford. Hopefully plenty of money was raised for the local school.

book shoot

Friday was a busy busy day in Cork working on the reportage shots for Rachel Allen's new cookbook. It was nice to see that the recipes worked perfectly also, phew! We were spoilt to work with amazing photographer David Loftus, and the lovely Jenny Heller from Harper Collins was over from London also. Really can't wait to see the finished book now - but I'll have to be patient for another few months yet!

David, Issac, Rachel & Jenny

Happy Mother's Day!

Food Styling in Country Living Magazine in the Farmers Journal

Happy St. Paddy's!

Food Styling in Country Living Magazine in the Farmers Journal

props

Here's a prop line up from a recent editorial shoot. We've got paddy's day, mother's day and then easter coming up shortly, hence the colours. The boxes of props are still dumped in my hallway...I hate unpacking everything after a shoot!

say cheese

Cheese on toast has to be a favourite of mine, so what better to style for a shoot during the week?! I worked with photographer Trevor Hart and we did eat a bit of cheese on toast along the way. It took several hours for me to come up with the perfect cheese on toast for the shot - I definitely wouldn't get a job in a busy caffe! I'll post the finished ad here once I get hold of it.