Sharon Hearne-Smith

Fruity Fashion

2011-07-01T23:36:00.004+01:00

Here are some finished snaps from a shoot (way back) where food met fashion on a fun jewellery shoot. They scream summer....just wish we had the weather now!

Photographer: Cliona O'Flaherty

Jewellery Designer: Alice Moyon from www.aliquoboutique.com

Model: Caoimhe

Fashion Stylist: Jemma Connolly

Food Stylist: Me!

Make-up: Rachel Matthews

Delicious!

2011-06-21T23:16:00.006+01:00

Pearl and I have been our usual socialite selves, this time rubbing shoulders with fab foodies at L'ecrivan. The lovely people behind Sacla Sauces & Delicious Magazine were over from the UK and very kindly invited us to lunch as part of a group of food bloggers. What a really nice, feel good afternoon filled with fabulous food and friendly chitter chatter.

Seamus from Delicious told us all about his new magazine Healthy Food Guide and also about his Irish roots. He is indeed 'one of us'! Clare from Sacla filled us in on the amazing Italian family who have been producing the well known Italian sauces for 70 years now. Clare is our 'pesto pioneer' having first introduced it to the UK in 1991. Great claim to fame!

The party then moved onto the Taste of Dublin launch which was sadly rained on by our typical Irish weather. Just when our UK friends were over to visit too! Didn't dampen our spirits though. Here's the only snap I got on the day (having my hands slightly full with baba!)...

Some fab food blogger friends...Aoife, Clare, Moi, Imen & Sheila

Click these links to follow our new BFF over on Twitter! Sacla, Delicious Mag & Healthy Food Guide

A picnic with House & Home Mag

2011-06-14T10:10:00.003+01:00

I am thrilled to announce I am now the new food feature writer & stylist for House & Home Magazine. My three page feature gives me a chance to combine my love of food, props & homely top tips. My first feature is all about picnics and is currently out in the May / June issue. Watch out for BBQ's up next in July.

Fab photographer Elisha Clarke took the gorgeous food snaps, Paul Sherwood took my mug shot & Hilary O'Hagan was a great help with the food (particularly as I was a week off my due date & could only waddle about out of breath!). Typically we were challenged by the elements and were actually sliding around in mud & with brollies but that's what picnics are mostly like anyhow don't you think?!

Our Kitchen Hero

2011-05-15T21:22:00.006+01:00

You're my hero...swoon...Pearl x

Pearly & I have been keeping up appearances and hanging out in the Westbury Hotel with super heros! We were delighted to be invited to afternoon tea by Donal Skehan, to help celebrate the launch of his fab new cookbook, Kitchen Hero.

Now, Pearly almost didn't get an invite, for fear of her upstaging himself. It was her first official appearance in the company of the coveted food bloggers & so, no doubt Donal feared the cameras & comments may not be directed exclusively at him *tongue firmly in cheek*. But, little does he know, Pearl secretly adores him & has posters of him plastered all over her nursery!

Donal tempts us with his tasty treats.

Anyhow, enough about my little hero & onto the main super hero here. Donal is a total inspiration in catapulting to foodie stardom with infectious enthusiasm. You can see for yourself tomorrow night at 8.30pm on RTE1, when his 13 part series kicks off. We can't wait. In the meantime, we have his book to enjoy cooking from & a resulting big jar of his 'fat boy peanut butter snicker squares' to tuck into. mega yum.

P.S. you too can have afternoon tea in the westbury with the kitchen hero. well, the book anyhow.

This Kit is Closed

2011-04-14T12:18:00.003+01:00

Gosh, I've been a bad bad blogger! Luckily for me, it's not because I haven't had any work goings on to tell you about, but quite the opposite. More to the point, due to bumpy (see piccie in previous post) I was getting quite out of breath by the end of every day. I even found it hard to get the remainder of my 20,000 daily allowance of words out. Things must have been bad!

Anyhow, I'm here to tell you I'm now safely 'on the other side'. I'm now a nappy changing, milk machine Mummy to a little girl, Pearl. I'm now a yummy mummy who hangs out in coffee shops having leisurily catch-ups with friends, after long lazy lie-ins with smallie & copious amounts of daily cute kitten cuddles. So much easier than work I must admit (don't speak too soon, touch wood and all that). There's just one small thing to juggle (well, and all her flamin paraphenalia!) rather than several hundred at once. Obviously that's not for long though as I will have to juggle everything together once back from maternity leave.

But for now, yes, maternity leave. (I might just get a chance to reminisce and tell you about what I've been up to over the past months to cause my blogging absence). Will be back soon!

Cover Girl

2011-01-17T17:18:00.005Z

So I've finally made it. It's every girls dream to be a cover girl and my dream came through this week. Now, admittedly it's not Vogue Magazine as expected but much thanks to Country Living Magazine for featuring me in their current issue and popping me on the cover too. It's a fab mag, read and loved by thousands around the country so I'm more than happy with that!

The lovely Imen McDonnell from I Married an Irish Farmer did a great interview and feature with me. It's mainly about what I do with work and my love of all things food. In fact, the husband kept winding me up about my "everything about food makes me happy" quote. I simply asked him to think what his life would be like if my quote was "everything about food makes me unhappy". Hum. Shut him up.

Also, I have to thank fab photographer Jack Caffrey who took amazing shots as always. I work with Jack on Neven Maguire's food feature shots for the same mag so it made a bit of a change for Jack to get my mush in instead of the food I cook. Anyhow guys, thanks for making a great feature of me...it can't have been easy!

Oh, and it's not a case of who ate all the pies...I'm proudly showing my baby pie off here at about the six month mark.

Check out the recipe for those spiced banana muffins over on my Friendly Cottage blog.

Baking Made Easy

2011-01-10T22:11:00.004Z

Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you enjoyed fun & food filled festivities (but are not being too hard on yourself calorie counting now!).

Lorraine Pascale's new cookery show, 'Baking Made Easy' won't be any help to you if you are. The six part series kicked off tonight at 8.30pm on BBC2. It was fantastically filled with lots of deliciously tempting goodies including a savoury fig, mint and pistachio tart, soda bread, parmesan lollipops, blueberry mille feuille and an amazing 'I can't believe you made that cake'. Now, I can save you the calories if you like and tell you that having eaten everything, everything is definitely worth eating!!

I skipped off to London in early last summer for a few weeks to work on the show and ended up staying for five. And boy, was it a long hot summer. We had four ovens on the go with 30 degrees of heat blazing from the sun and of course couldn't open any doors or windows because of noise. Mega Melt. Mega melting chocolate. Mega melting pastry. Mega melting everyone and everything. Thankfully, that didn't show in Lorraine's cool performance!

Here are some behind the scenes snaps...

my very glamorous head quarters in the studio. I could come back from the kitchen to find my desk anywhere, including the garden at one point. on the only rainy day!

some continuity snaps of Lorraine's soda bread bites and the mille feuille pastries.

I can't believe you made that cake!

Have a 'Merry' Christmas

2010-12-16T23:20:00.001Z

Here's my donation to your consumpton of a tipple or two this Christmas....My Jewelled Mulled Wine Jellies....why stop at drinking the stuff when you can eat it too?!

Find the recipe here as it appeared in The Time's Magazine last weekend.

Snowy Supper

2010-12-02T13:58:00.005Z

So it's a snow work day! Sounds great in principle and brings back amazing memories of being sent home from school because of burst pipes, but in reality missing work because of it now means for me the diary being thrown into all sorts of disarray. I'm furiously trying to get work done for upcoming jobs so that I can free future days up to give back to the postponed jobs.

Anyhow, at least it's all happening in the comfort of my PJ's and bed hair (something I never normally do when working from home, promise!). It also means I can sneek some time to catch up on some blogging (once and for all) and most importantly cook lots of comforting snowy suppers. Here's a favourite recipe from the new Superquinn cookbook (which is now reduced instore to about E15 I think and so makes an excellent christmas pressie!) as promised. This is delicious just on it's own even!

Irish stoved potatoes with vintage Cheddar

This is a variation on the traditional way of cooking potatoes in a cast-iron frying pan over an open fire. They’re delicious on their own with just a salad or try serving simply with grilled fish or a steak.

Serves 4

675g (1 1/2lb) potatoes

knob of butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

100g (4oz) vintage Cheddar cheese, grated

maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly on a mandolin or with a very sharp knife.

Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-based frying pan that is about 20cm (8in) in diameter and about 5cm (2in) deep. Remove from the heat and cover the base with a layer of the potatoes.

Add a layer of onions over the potatoes and another of grated cheese, seasoning generously as you go. Continue these layers, finishing with a layer of potatoes and a sprinkling of cheese.

Cover tightly with tin foil and cook over a very low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour until potatoes on top are just cooked through with pierced with a sharp knife.

Preheat the grill. Uncover the stoved potatoes and place straight under the grill for 2-3 minutes to brown. Serve straight from the pan.

Chef’s top tip –Choose firm-fleshed potatoes for this recipe such as Roosters or Maris Piper as they will keep their shape during cooking and don’t break up. Of course this recipe could also be baked in the oven if you’d prefer.

Superquinn Cookbook

2010-10-12T20:58:00.005+01:00

Firstly, big sorry for the lack of posts. I've truely been missing in action, so plenty to catch up with. I have tales from London, New York & well, Cavan. It's all glamour-glamour round here isn't it? Well actually, I don't think so. Here are some behind the scenes snaps showing as usual the far from glamorous affair that is my foodie world.

This time, I was delighted to come home from a trip to see the new Superquinn cookbook on their shelves. I told you about it here. Congrats to everyone involved, particularly my good friend Orla Brodrick who wrote the book & basically kept the whole thing afloat. She deserved the fab review in last Sunday's Times Mag, so well done.

Anyhow, I'll keep it short (& will be back with some finished shots & recipes soon). Here are some snaps of the food's adventure in making it onto those pages...

see? it looks all fancy-schmancy on the pages but not so glam in reality!

desperately trying to cool some bread down very quickly waving it about outside while a yoga class moved into the studio at the end of the day!

photographer Harry checking out the shots on screen.

Harry loved those shots from a dizzy height! a sweet little dessert in not such a pretty setting.

Just Splendid

2010-06-22T10:19:00.003+01:00

Have you seen the new Splenda commercial on tv lately? I worked on the ad a couple of months ago with the talented team Reelgood and Bonfire. It's always amusing to work with a hand model and check out how perfect their hands are and how well they look after their money makers. I most certainly wouldn't get the job, what with all that washing up I do. My dear hands did get to do all the very controlled Splenda sprinkles from out of shot though. I'm good at Splenda sprinkling me. Well, after rather a lot of takes.

Commercial story board

Director Aidan keeping tabs on the strawberries with body doubles lined up in the background ready to be sprinkled on.

Hand model doing her thing

THE FINISHED COMMERCIAL:

The Food of The Tudors

2010-06-21T17:22:00.002+01:00

I see The Tudors is back on our screens. Here are some snaps from my food file archives from working on Series 1.

Also, here's a blog post from Delicious magazine about food in film. Two well known and respected film food stylists in the UK, Debbie Brodie and Katherine Tidy are quoted in it. I had great pleasure in assisting them when I was 'growing up'. I worked with them on movies like Cleopatra, Tenth Kingdom, The Golden Bowl, Man & Boy, Family Tree, The Visitors and The Golden Bowl. Sadly all in the day when I wasn't a nutty 'photographing everything that moves' blogger and tweeter so I have no photographic evidence. They would have been so amazing too with stunning sets, costumes and of course food.

I have my memories though, with the most memorible food for film moment being at Shepperton Studios in London at 6.30am in the morning, with a stinking cold and having been up since about 4am to get there on time. Then, wait for it, being handed a box with a wild boars head in it, which had just been freshly 'done' (yes, as in, beheaded) the day before, so yes, warts, fur and all. I had to rinse every last drop of blood 'through it' (from cut throat & through nostrils) to get it ready to present on a platter. Nice. See? It's not all glamour glamour around these parts!

Anyhow, speaking of glamour, Katherine didn't take me with her to the set of 'Sex & The City' in Morocco I see! Lucky Lady eh?! Must try and get some behind the scenes gossip from her...

Anyhow, in the meantime, enjoy Season 4 of The Tudors!

UPDATE: Yes, hot and flushed tweeters I can confirm that JRM is a total dish....got up close but sadly not personal. I did chat to him briefly, but I imagine the smell of Tudor food from me most likely put him off!

Pecha Kucha turns Foodie

2010-06-13T18:42:00.000+01:00

Huge group hug for the 20 speakers at last weeks final Pecha Kucha. What a great, inspiring, good feeling, one big happy family event! As I said in the previous post, PKN6 was to be the last, and in total about 70 'creatives' had their 6 minutes and 40 seconds on their soap box over the last year. So by the last night everyone in the audience was extra supportive because they had either been up there themselves or their nearest and dearest had.

The evening started with a very funny, dead pan presentation from Artist Teresa Nanigian and ended on a very hilariously weird, but high all the same, taped head performance from 'cool guy' Hugh Cooney. In between we had lots of fun learning more about the weird and wild creative past of Illustrator Steve Doogan, stylish things that rock stylist Angela Scanlon's world and what it's like to be cute little people like daydreamers, Arsheen & Anahita. See? A weirdly wild and ecclectic mix and that wasn't the half of it!

I threw some food into the mix and made myself right at home while chit chatting by doing my usual 'cooking at any opportunity'. A bit of a departure for the PK stage I gather. Thankfully, the end result of what I was making wasn't too important, as it was certainly a multitasking challenge to speed talk to slides and cook at the same time (I know, I didn't think that would be too much of a challenge for me either, but it was!). There was flour flying everywhere and by the end I had got so over-excited, I was jumping around clapping that everyone in the audience was going to get a 'chewy chilli chocolate chit chat cookie'!! Check me out (& go easy on the comments!)...

Fabulous Foodie Fixtures

2010-06-07T23:17:00.020+01:00

Summer is a great time of year in foodie diaries. The country is brimming with abundant Farmer's Markets and Food Fairs and Festivals. Did anyone make it to Sheridan's Food Fair last week, the same day as the launch of The Point Village Market or the bank holiday weekend's fabulous Bloom in the Park? Bloom had a great 'Love Irish Food' area exhibiting some of their member brands. Speaking of which, there are also some great food initiatives going on now too. So, this is a bit of an all encompassing foodie round-up I guess.

The 'Love Irish Food' campaign has really taken off with more and more Irish Brands coming on board. They have a powerful message.. "Did you know that if just one third of households in Ireland (that’s 400,000) spent an average of €1.67 more on an Irish item each week for a year we would generate €35 million for the Irish economy". I remember the 'Guaranteed Irish' campaign launching in the 70's having a strong impact on me (and at such a tender young age!), something that is engrained in me ever since so it's good to see this surge or Irish pride and support for our own (struggling) economy once again. Just like old times eh? By the way, you can print off recessionista money off coupons on their site here.

Also, of course it's still not too late to grab tickets for next weekends Taste of Dublin. Check out their site for exhibitor and restaurant listings and chef demo timings also. Superquinn are sponsors of this years event. Check out their demo area where I believe you will be able to preview some of the snaps I worked on for their new upcoming cookbook.

Some Foodie campaigns going on at the moment include Bord Bia's Fish, Surprisingly Simple campaign. Hit the link to check out some fishy recipes. Also, their Best in Season competition for strawberry week is underway. Send a photo of you enjoying strawberries and you could win a €500 all for one voucher. The Irish Heart Foundation have linked up with Safefood and the HSE for their Healthy Heart Eat Out month this June. Their main message this time is 'small portions' (something I must admit I'm not great at but will be more mindful!). Participating eateries nationwide, which you can find listings of here, are encouraged to provide heart healthy choices on their menus.

Localmarkets.ie sounds like a very exciting prospect hopefully coming your way soon, unless you are in Cork, where the site has kicked off already. You can have a wide selection of local produce delivered to your door within 24 hours for €7.95. The service hopes to expand to other counties soon. Check out their site for more details.

'My chef at home' is a new to me website with contact details for the likes of chefs, cookery school, event suppliers and also artisan producers. Apparently they are going to put together a list of food bloggers also! Check it out. Also, check out the newly launched Kilkenny Food Trail for perhaps an Irish holiday this summer?

The Slowfood Sugar Loaf Club has organised a movie viewing on Sunday 27th June at 4pm at the big screen in Brookhall at Macreddin Village. "One food documentary, one food movie, together with slow nibbles, slow wine and slow friends". Contact aislingnicra@gmail.com to reserve tickets which are €10 for members and €15 for non-members.

Finally, are you all set for Streetfeast on the 18th of July? It sounds like a fantastic concept, organised by a group of young volunteers, to bring communities together through the medium of food! You can join one or organise your own, have it in a car park, community centre, your garden or well, a street. I'm loving the idea and am dreaming up decorating banquet tables with pretty fabrics, hanging bunting from the trees and of course...the food. Click the link for the lowdown.

Do you know of any other upcoming 'fab foodie fixtures' that I've missed out on?

Pecha Kucha Night 6, Dublin

2010-06-01T11:12:00.006+01:00

click to make bigger & see the full listings

This coming Thursday (3rd June), the final Pecha Kucha looks like it's going to kick off the bank holiday weekend with a bang. It will be the 6th PKN put together by the talented guys at The Small Print and The Irish Architecture Foundation. The event actually started in Tokyo in 2003 with a gathering of creatives and designers as a bit of networking. It has since travelled the world in a simple format where creatives 'chit chat' (the meaning of Pecha Kucha) to their 20 slides for 20 seconds each. The idea is that it stops people from talking too much and just getting to their point. Good idea!

So, speaking of talking too much, this is where I come in. I'm one of the chosen few (well ok, 20) being put to the test of cramming in as many of my 20,000 daily allowance of words into the 6 minutes & 40 seconds. Yes, my name is in lights with the creative movers and shakers of the design community here in Dublin. It's going to be an exciting night with a collection of photographers, fashion journalists, art directors, architectures, designers, jewellery designers, illustrators, artists, daydreamers and of course little old me banging on about...well, food. For fear of potentially boring myself and an audience of 300 (eek), I have a little multi-tasking performance up my sleeve. Never one to make things simple for myself me.

Anyhow, hopefully you can make it and join in the fun! See you at the Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson St. Entrance €5...Doors open at 7pm with kick off at 7.30pm.

National Fish & Chip Day

2010-05-25T19:53:00.004+01:00

Chish & Fips in Country Living Magazine (c) Jack Caffrey

Happy National Fish & Chip Day! It's officially our first here in Ireland and what perfect timing with such fantastically sunny summery weather. Chish & Fips (as they are called in our house) are half price today from the 190 members of the Irish Traditional Italian Chipper Association. Phew, thats a bit of a mouthful! I know what I'll be tucking into later...what about you?

Gathering of Food Bloggers

2010-05-24T22:40:00.008+01:00

food, photos, bloggers, butchers, pigs & swag

We will have to come up with a portmanteau (get me! it's the posh word for joining two names, mainly celebrity couples, together) for the recent gathering of foodie bloggers. It is such a great and enthusiastic group of people with a shared love and interest in all things, well, food.

The event was hosted by Bord Bia and was organised by the faces behind their tweets, Maeve and Klara along with the one and only, good mood food blogger Donal Skehan. The day kicked off with bloggers and tweeters brief shreeks at each other as they put faces to names (or in my case, got completely bamboozled with real names, tweeting names, blog names, faces...). Then we all settled down to David Owens presentation where he spoke on behalf of Bord Bia on all things Irish pork and the Quality Assurance Mark. Our pork industry took a hard knock in 2008 with the dioxin scare, but Bord Bia have since been doing an amazing job rebuilding consumer confidence within Ireland and throughout the world.

They didn't have to do much to persuade our room full of fascinated foodies as we drooled over Maura Dufficy's cooking. Maura cooked several pork dishes, but the one that got my tummy rumbling was the marinaded pork belly which thankfully we were served at lunch time. Yes, they fed us too. These gorgeous people at the Food Board (which is the translation of Bord Bia by the way, for any non Irish speakers) know how to throw a party! You can see some snaps of the food we ate over at the consumed foodies blog. I was quite clearly too busy eating to take any.

Douze points goes to the toughest presentation slot of the day given to Damien Mulley of social media fame. He had to keep our attention while the tongues were hanging out of our heads from the tantalising smells of all things Pork. He did a great job giving us top tips on how to feed our egos with increases in new followers, general admiration and the attention we all expect and deserve (!). Then once our tummys were full, we also gladly listened to Eoin Purcell, a publishing industry analyst. Eoin got our pig tails wagging about becoming the next big thing in the food book world. He was frank about us not being able to necessarily retire on our scooped earnings here in Ireland and the fact that the publisher obviously hoped that they would (!).

Two other presentations that were actually in very stark contrast to each other, were Lorraine from Blazing Salads who is a shine to all things fabulously vegetarian and then the GMIT butchery lecturer, Pat Conway. My god, is this man a butcher?! He could cut you into 6 or 8 different parts in under five minutes. Thankfully he used Mr Porky to demonstrate. Check out some photos of him in action over at The Daily Spud.

Finally the day ended on a high with a food styling and photography presentation from Erica Ryan and Jocasta Clarke. As I said before, I hadn't ever met fellow stylist Erica, so it was lovely to meet her at last. I think she did a fantastic job and had lots of oohs and aahs from the audience on the day (and ever since with lots of tweeting going on). It's funny that you forget what you do on a daily basis is actually fascinating to other people. Erica had put together a comprehensive list of food styling tips and secrets, and likewise, reading through I thought, oh yeah, I guess this is impressive. Even though Erica and I have never met and both picked tips up as we went along I imagine (rather than doing the same course or anything), it's funny how we seem to do all of the same things (yes, kitchen roll and cotton buds are my best friends too).

Anyhow, as if we weren't overwhelmed by all that we had been pampered with already, we turned to leave to find tables brimming with what has been endearingly tagged as 'food swag'. I came home with a gorgeous rosemary plant from Living Flavour (which I have already used over on my home blog), some yummy looking smoked trout from Goatsbridge which I have yet to feast on, chutney from sheridans cheesemongers (I was one of those unfortunates who missed out on the cheese sadly though), lovely shoots from Good4u which I have been nibbling on non-stop and a delightful oat and ginger cookie from fabulous blogger Lilly Higgins, who totally standard pushed with ultra cool, machine sewn packaging!

So my head is still spinning from it all. A really fab day, packed full of pork, info, tips, recipe ideas, food swag, all round good feeling and of course lots of great new foodie friends. I have updated my blogroll over on the right (and will do so over at friendly cottage soon also) to include as many irish food bloggers as I could steal in a hurry from the great list Donal compiled. Let me know if I've missed you out! I promise to follow you all too...

...and a portmanteau? floggers? boodie floggers? foodles? bloodies?...Any other suggestions?

For the Love of Pork

2010-05-18T09:27:00.004+01:00

I'm very excited about the food bloggers event coming up this Thursday. The fabulous Donal Skehan has organised it on behalf of Bord Bia - you can read all about it on his blog. An army of food bloggers and tweeters will be attending so it will be exciting to put faces to names. I am also really looking forward to catching up with food photographer Jocasta Clarke and meeting fellow food stylist Erica Ryan for the first time.

Bord Bia sent out pork packs to the first of the attendees who have been busy cooking, eating, blogging and tweeting about Pork since the weekend. Here is my offering from a feature I styled for Food & Wine Magazine. Recipe by Hugo Arnold & Shot by Cliona O'Flaherty.

Superquinn Cookbook

2010-05-15T10:35:00.004+01:00

Superquinn turns 50 this year and are publishing a fab new cookbook as part of the celebrations. I have just finished working on the shoot for the book where we shot 50+ recipes. And yes, ate them all too. I was in good company with friends Photographer Harry Weir and Writer Orla Broderick. Together with our new BFF's from Superquinn, Bruce & Alison and David the designer from the publishers Harmonia, we had really great fun.

It has been a tough few weeks though...think 12 hours of food shopping, 40 dishwasher loads, 15 crates of props & equipment and I'm not even going to think about the calories consumed! The shoot days were ultra busy so we didn't even have time to take many behind the scenes shots. You'll get the picture with the few we managed to snap the other day though. So anyhow, as I tweeted, it's been emotional...

On my knees praying and checking my biccies aren't burnt.

Lovingly tending to some luciously lovely leeks.

Harry being happy from a height.

checking out the goods on the big screen.

Orla, David, Harry & Alison tucking into pies for breakfast.

Me unknowingly snapped in action.

Wexford Food Fair 2010

2010-05-07T18:14:00.007+01:00

Keep the diaries free for Wednesday May 19th for the second Wexford Food Fair. The exhibitors list is brimming with Wexford pride with companies like Thai Gold, Wexford Home Preserves, Phelim Byrne's Cookery Academy, Greens Berry Farm and a couple of neighbours of mine down home, Stable Diet and Zanna Foods.

Yes, being a Wexford lass, ok yella belly as we're called, I'm proud to promote and be part of it. In fact this year I'm hosting fun interactive food workshops with 8-10 year old local school children (God help me!) on behalf of Safefood, which I am really excited about. My cutsie morning slot getting down with the kids is going to be big news and no way will I let it be overshadowed by the evening demonstrations from celebrity chefs (& friends) Neven Maguire and Phelim Byrne. Put down the milk lads, the apron is on and the knives are out!

Homemade Jammy Dodgers

2010-05-03T21:11:00.008+01:00

Uuummmmm...This is Neven Maguires recipe for Homemade Jammy Dodgers. I tested them for his latest book and got to make them again recently for a Country Living magazine shoot.

JAMMY DODGERS

Makes about 16-18

FOR THE SHORTCAKE

73g (3oz) plain flour plus extra for dusting

25g (1oz) icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

Finely grated zest of 1 lime 50g (2oz) butter, softened

FOR THE FILLING

100g (4oz) raspberry or strawberry jam

Quarter tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp crème de cassis

To make the shortcake, sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Stir in the lime zest. Then beat in the butter with a wooden spoon to give rough crumbs. Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a soft, smooth dough. Wrap in Cling flm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the jam flling, place the jam, vanilla extract and crème de cassis in a small saucepan and simmer over a low heat for eight to 10 minutes, until melted and slightly thickened. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas mark 5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3mm (one eighth inch). Stamp out about 32- 36 circles using a 4cm (1.5 in) fluted cutter and arrange on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper. Using a 1cm (half in) plain nozzle (metal is best) stamp out holes in the centre of half of the circles. This will allow the jam to show through later. Bake the biscuits for eight to 10 minutes, until crisp and lightly golden.

To assemble, spoon a teaspoon of the jam mixture onto the centre of each unstamped shortcake. Dust the remaining shortcakes with icing sugar and then place on the jam-topped biscuits, pressing down lightly so that the jam squeezes out just a little bit through the hole. Arrange on plates to serve.

me making shortbreads.

photographer jack caffrey shooting the boxed up jammy dodgers.

Supermarket Sweep

2010-04-29T22:43:00.004+01:00

I spent a whopping 4 hours shopping in the supermarket on Monday. One supermarket. In one go. Head went into melt-down so I had to leave for a few hours and come back and finish off for another couple. Spotting these packs made me happy though. Even had the store manager (my new bessie mate) round to have a look. Poor man.

I know. Talking about Denny yet again.

While on the Denny subject...Take a trip over to visit our fabulous friends at Wonderland WPA where they have a put together a case study on the packaging overhaul (scroll to the right when on the page). Can I just confirm that I did not food style that last plate of breakfast in the top right! I can only guess that was on Creative Director Nik's desk when he was putting the page together.

Irish Restaurant Awards 2010

2010-04-15T21:54:00.009+01:00

Congratulations to my parents, Ciaran & Anne (Mr. & Mrs. H) for scooping the best Gastro pub award for Co. Wexford for their seafood bar & restaurant, The Lobster Pot. The Irish Restaurant Awards held their Leinster awards on Tuesday evening at a glitzy affair, which I attended on behalf of the oldies (who couldn't make it as they were quite clearly too busy maintaining their high standards!). It was a great night and all the better for winning the award of course....never mind that I went on stage to Lady Gaga blaring out....rock on! I'll post the full winners list once it's published (can't remember due to wine brain). Everything is crossed now for the Award finals to be held on the 9th of June...

Denny bang on trend

2010-04-12T23:29:00.003+01:00

Denny are bang up to date with connections on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube and with an army of followers to boot. To top that though, you can download this hilarious (in a 'going out of your mind' kind of way!) app to your iphone for free...

Another app I hear is well worth the few euros it costs to download is Jamie Oliver's. With easy recipes to follow with step by step instructions with photos and even a shopping list you can tick off too. Man-proof apparently!

Anyone know of any other fun foodie apps?!

UPDATE 20/APR/10: Nigella launches her new iphone cooking app today, Nigellas Quick Collection. Thanks to Pacific TV's tweet for the tip off!

Death by Easter Feasting

2010-04-05T20:02:00.001+01:00

If you are not already keeling over from all the Easter Feasting then these chocolate squares are sure to tip you over the edge. This recipe is a great way to use up all that Easter chocolate (if there is even any left at this stage!). Mind you, definitely a heart attack warning on this one with 6 small Mars Bars melted in all that butter AND another 250g of chocolate on top. Sooooo naughty but soooo nice.

MARS BAR SQUARES

6 x 65g Mars Bars

200g butter

200g Rice Krispies

250g milk chocolate

Cut the Mars Bars and butter into small chunks and place in a saucepan. Put over a low heat, and stir with a balloon whisk until melted. Add the Mars Bar mixture to the Rice Krispies in a large bowl. Stir well, until all the ingredients are combined. Put into a lined tin and press down with the palm of your hand, until firm. Melt the chocolate. Pour over the rice Krispies, spread evenly and leave to set. When set, turn out onto a board and cut into squares.

Photo: Jack Caffrey

Recipe: Neven Maguire for Country Living Magazine

Styling & Eating: Sharon Hearne-Smith

More Easter Feasting

2010-04-04T13:26:00.000+01:00

Photography: Cliona O'Flaherty

Styling: Sharon Hearne-Smith

Assistant: Aoife Herrity

Recipe: Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine

I hope you're having a fun and food filled Easter Weekend. Here is a really delicious recipe for melt in the mouth lamb....

STEAMED LAMB WITH WHITE WINE AND ROSEMARY

1.5kg leg and shouler of lamb (Ask the butcher to bone out the shoulder part)

olive oil

12 garlic cloves

3 sprigs rosemary

200ml white wine

salt and pepper

Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large casserole dish and brown the meat evenly. Add the garlic cloves and rosemary to the hot oil. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the white wine.

Season the meat with salt and pepper.

Turn the heat to very low and cover. Cook slowly for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. You will need to turn the meat occasionally. If the liquid looks like drying out, add a glass of water. When the meat is cooked allow to rest, and pour any juices in the pan over the meat.

Easter Feasting

2010-04-02T10:30:00.001+01:00

Photography: Cliona O'Flaherty

Food & Prop Styling: Moi

Model & Assistant: Aoife Herrity

Recipe: Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine

I hope you have a super Easter weekend. So, being Good Friday we shouldn't be indulging in meat or booze. I can't commit to either I'm afraid. If you're being more saintly than me then this fresh and healthy vegetarian recipe is a good start....

GRILLED COURGETTE SALAD WITH FETA, MINT AND BROAD BEANS

1 kg broad beans

6 courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways

1/2 tsp picked thyme leaves

zest and juice of 1 lemon

olive oil

150g feta

bunch mint

Peel the broad beans and plunge into well-salted boiling water for two minutes. Drain, allow to cool and peel. Set aside.

Chargrill the courgettes until just marked, transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper and toss with the thyme, lemon juice and zest and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Fold the courgettes on to plates. Scatter over the broad beans, feta and mint and serve.

Spring Greens

2010-03-30T10:25:00.003+01:00

Lets just ignore the snow on the daffoldils today shall we? Here's a recipe by Hugo Arnold for Food & Wine Magazine. Shot by Cliona O'Flaherty and styled by yours truely x

WILTED SPINACH WITH LEMON ZEST & CRISPY CAPERS

2 tbsp olive oil

1 kg spinach

2 lemons

2 tbsp salted capers, well soaked

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan or wok.

Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and toss in the hot oil until just wilted.

Scoop out of the pan onto a serving plate and sprinkle the lemon zest over.

Gently squeeze the capers and saute briefly in the remaining oil until just coloured and crispy. Sprinkle over the spinach and serve.

Denny, what makes a house a home?

2010-03-28T23:11:00.001+01:00

Denny again! I worked on the animated TV ad that kicked off the Denny 'Home Is' campaign back at the end of last year. You can see the ad here on Denny's Facebook page. Here's a behind the scenes snap too...

Curb Appeal

2010-03-25T23:17:00.007Z

We have finally managed to get a snap of a Dublin bus with the Denny sausage ad on. God knows they were everywhere recently but we just never had the camera out in time! Might sound boring to you, but very exciting to team Denny!

I can't take the credit for the find...thanks to Brendan from Denny for sending it on. And, nobody was killed in the process. To be honest, I think it was parked up in the bus garage when this was taken! Anyhow, Denny sausages...great curb appeal too...uuuummmm

sweet smell of spring

2010-03-21T21:58:00.000Z

Here are some snaps from a photo shoot last week. Luckily for me it was in my house, so for once I wasn't hauling loads of gear around. That makes me happy! The change in the weather and number of daylight hours makes me even happier...Spring is here...and Easter chocolates aren't too far away now either. Thanks to photographer Jack Caffrey for the cheery shots.

Happy Paddys!

2010-03-17T01:20:00.004Z

Don't be caught dead without your issue of Country Living this week!!

In Shooting Mood

2010-03-15T22:13:00.006Z

It was lovely to get back to photo shoots last week, particularly as my first one was with the girlie gang! Photographer Cliona, assistant Aoife, designer Jess from Wonderland and I had a good girlie gossip and giggle (while getting on with some serious work too of course).

never work with kids and animals is the saying....cliona and Jess moving le chat out of the way. again.

cliona and aoife doin' their thang

not so happy to be back to lugging gear around. cliona gives up on it all too.

Gourmand Cookbook Awards

2010-03-13T19:50:00.003Z

Huge congrats to chef Neven Maguire for the award he collected in Paris at the recent Gourmand International Awards. 'Homechef' won the best chef cookbook for Ireland which is a great achievement. I'm still trying to burn off the calories from eating every recipe in the book last year when testing, but I can vouch that everything is most definitely worth trying!

Also, congrats to Ely restaurant who's cookbook came 2nd in the world for best book on matching food and wine, as well as best book in Ireland for matching food and wine and then best wine book for Ireland too!

America on Ice

2010-03-12T22:23:00.004Z

Well, I'm home! I had such a fantastic time away - lots of work but with as much play as possible squeezed into the gaps. More about that later though. Back home, shopping day hazards include traffic jams, not being able to track down stem ginger when you need it and supermarket car park door dents (don't get me started on that one!). Anyhow, not so in sleepy Easthampton. Just Snowmageddon to deal with...

Runner Jess is so desperate to get to work she abandons the car and heads on foot!

Production Manager, Katy, couldn't wait to get there either...come snow, hail or icicles

Assistant Producer, Xanna, on the hunt for sun as ever. The only thing coming is a snow plough!

Luckily for me work was a wellie walk next door to home

Denny Breakfast Competition

2010-02-20T04:21:00.001Z

When drifting through blogesphere and the 'book of faces', I keep coming across the Denny Ad below. It links you to Denny's 'Home Is' site which currently has a competition where you can win a free breakfast. Cliona, Aoife and I created the shot above as part of the Denny repackaging project posted about previously.

I hadn't mentioned before about the propping for the shots - nothing like a good excuse to trawl auction houses and second hand and charity shops *squeels of delight*. Parents cupboards were also raided looking for those perfectly mismatched and homely looking table settings. Loving those egg cups!

And see, real people....Richard from Denny, Nik from Wonderland and fab assistant Aoife tuck into a Denny home(see, not studio!)-cooked brekkie!

Have a great weekend! I'm looking forward to having Sunday off to hang out in the Hamptons ;)

recent shoot

2010-02-17T04:29:00.003Z

Here's me deep in concentration - or was it moodiness?! - on one of those January 'in denial about being back to work' shoots. It was with photographer Harry Weir and so we had fun....Check out Harry's new blog for some more snaps of our mischief!

Denny Mania!

2010-02-16T05:09:00.000Z

Well, it's certainly Denny Mania out there as the new packaging hit the shelves a few weeks ago. Here are some snaps I managed to get, not without many raised eyebrows from fellow shoppers, quickly followed by sweeping of Denny products into their trolleys leaving nothing but bare shelves (ok, embellished a bit, but not much...this packaging is hot!). Sadly I didn't manage to get a snap of a bus advertising the Denny Gold Medal Sausages (even though I was willing to die for the cause!!) You can also see the sausage and bacon packs at the end of this TV ad.

new work space

2010-02-13T05:07:00.003Z

Well, one day of filming down so far (see previous post) so I thought I'd show you where I've been working....

Photos from House Beautiful

one more sleep...

2010-02-08T22:23:00.002Z

One more sleep before I head off and fly into what is being dubbed 'Snowmageddon'! I'm heading to the states. East Hampton in The Hamptons to be precise. I'm hoping the weather there isn't that bad as I cant fit any more warm clothes in my 23kg baggage allowance!! (How is a girl to survive on rations like that?!).

Sorry, I digress....I'm very excitedly off to work for a few weeks on Barefoot Contessa. I worked on it a few years ago so I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone on production. The show, presented by Ina Garten, has broadcast on the American Food Network for quite a few years now where it is hugely popular, and has more recently come to the UK Food Networktoo so you may be familiar with it.

Now, job aside for a second, you'll never guess where I'll be living? Only 'Gingerbread Lane'! *heart pounds, hand goes to brow and faints* I'll be back in touch once I get settled in there...

Denny Repackaging

2010-02-06T19:11:00.005Z

Denny (an Irish institution for rashers and sausages!) commissioned photographer Cliona O'Flaherty (along with fabulous assistant Aoife of course) and I to style and shoot the food for the repackaging of their extended range of products (that go well beyond breakfast). That's what this post was all about. It is all to tie in with Denny's 'Home Is' campaign which is sweeping the nation!

We worked with the talented team from Wonderland WPA in London who designed the packs, gave us lots of ever-professional briefs, acted as fabulous models, drank LOTS of tea and ate lots of 'toasted specials'!

The brief was to use a very lifestyley and homely feel that used real people in real life situations. I even sometimes had my hand smacked for making things look too neat and 'styled', for God's sake! We had barmy conversations about why we were eating a particular product in a certain situation. The scenario had to make sense and be relative for all of us to be happy with the shot. Just like actors on stage i guess, where you have to believe it yourself if you want anyone else to! So yes, the food definitely looks real and very approachable for consumers.

So the first phase of new packs were launched a couple of weeks ago (so how excited were we all!?). Since then, we've all been like inspector clueso around supermarkets and snapping excitedly when we see the packs displayed (to strange looks of other shoppers). But more about that in future posts. In the meantime, heres a sample of a before and after of what we achieved.

behind the scenes of the Blueberry Pie business cards

2010-02-04T19:22:00.005Z

When I announced my new business cards here I forgot to show you some behind the scenes snaps of the photography for the cards. By now, if you ventured onto my website to take a peek inside the cards you will see I came up with 6 recipes (so 6 different cards) and all in-keeping with the Blueberry theme of course! Photographer Cliona O'Flaherty took the fab shots to go with the recipes (and of course helped me eat my way through the goodies too!).

Empire Paul Rankin

2010-02-02T22:24:00.003Z

Here are some snaps from a recent shoot with chef Paul Rankin for yet another string to his bow with the expansion of his food products. This time some great mushroom and sauce packs. I'll pop the finished packs up (shot by photographer Gary Jordan) once they are finished.

Paul being styled and then Paul styling his food

Cully & Sully Hot Pots

2010-01-20T16:40:00.005Z

Cully & Sully have had their new winter warmer hot pots on the market now since before Christmas. There are four flavours in the delicious range as above. Didn't Sarah at Brand Union do a great job on the packaging design? Here are some behind the scene snaps from the shoot that resulted in the final packaging shots above.

Sully turns hand model

Photographer Trevor Hart with his assistant Rachel as hand model this time.

Rachel modelling again. This time draped in fabric and being steamed up!

Blueberry Pie Business Cards

2010-01-14T23:19:00.005Z

I forgot to let you know last year about the new Blueberry Pie business cards. There are six different cards (to collect?!) each with a different recipe written by your's truly and also the relevant snap shot (thanks to photographer Cliona O'Flaherty). You can check out the recipes in the recipe section of the Blueberry Pie website also. The website also has extra tips for each recipe too. And the recipe theme?....take a guess and go and see for yourself...

HOMECHEF

2010-01-07T18:06:00.005Z

A quick turnaround from when we filmed Neven Maguire's new cookery programme HOMECHEF only a couple of months ago (as per this post and this post), but the 13 part series starts at 8.30pm tonight on RTE1. So get the fire toasty and snuggle in from the frost and snow. Here are some more snap shots from filming, this time of some of the food to expect. Enjoy!

hhmmm...Neven, what on earth have you been up to?!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-06T11:24:00.005Z

Happy New Year to you. I hope you had lovely celebrations over christmas and new year. I have had a lovely time and a really great break.

Now, I'm currently easing myself very slowly back into the real world. I'm not officially back to work until next monday but I've been chipping away this week at the annual office overhaul. It's no mean feat this year as I've recently had an office move which never really got unpacked and am setting up a new computer system too so lots and lots of slow and tedious stuff to do.

So with this spring clean to be distracted from I have found this game online...it's food related and more to the point it's making me feel a little less guilty for my greedy over-indulgences over the holiday. You simply answer questions (good for gearing the brain back up!) and for every correct one a grain of rice goes to the UN World Food Programme towards helping reduce world hunger. A good way to start the new year me thinks....CLICK TO PLAY

2009 comes to a close

2009-12-31T22:30:00.004Z

& what a year it has been. You may have seen this post way back at the start and now that the year is coming to an end it's amazing to look back and see how things have actually turned out.

The anticipation at the beginning of the year...the not knowing what to expect work wise or whether to even expect anything at all! I guess that's what I love and hate most about being self-employed....and of course the strength of the self employed is as always to stay focused, positive and to just trust all will be ok....and the biggest challenge of all is to just enjoy those work free days!

I'm very thankful for the exciting opportunities I've had this year...and am looking forward to ticking along nicely in 2010 now also....with a few new dreams come true thrown in please fairy godmother!

Wishing all you fellow self-employeds an abundant, bountiful, positive and of course, fun year ahead in 2010! Happy New Year!

Hanging up my tools for Christmas

2009-12-23T09:52:00.003Z

Have a fabulous break over the festive season!

Festive Blueberry Pies

2009-12-22T14:46:00.012Z

We are coming over all Christmassy at Blueberry Pie....Here's a recipe for my signature Blueberry Pies with a festive twist...

Makes 24

SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

225g plain flour

150g cold unsalted butter

75g icing sugar

1 egg

BLUEBERRY FILLING

150g blueberries

25g caster sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp cornflour

YOU WILL ALSO NEED:

1 egg, beaten

icing sugar for dusting

2 x 12 hole mini muffin tins, lightly greased

To make the pastry, blitz the flour and butter in a processor to fine crumbs. Whiz in the icing sugar for a second and then add the egg in. The mixture will come together into a dough ball within a few seconds. Shape it into a smooth, flat disc. Cover & refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Tip the blueberries into a pan with the sugar and cinnamon and allow to cook gently for 6-8 minutes until they begin to pop. Blend the cornflour to a smooth paste with a tablespoon or two of water and stir through. Simmer for 2-3 minutes until jammy and then remove and leave to cool and thicken.

Back to the pastry, I usually divide the dough in half (one for each tray) to make it easier to manage and roll. Then from each piece cut out 12 discs with a 6.5cm straight sided cutter and 12 stars with a cutter measuring 4.5cm from point to point. Refrigerate the pastry pieces for about 10 minutes until they firm up a little.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Use the pastry discs to line the muffin tins, fill each one with a teaspoonful of the blueberry filling and then top with a star to decorate. Brush the tops with the beaten egg to glaze and bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Leave to cool a little in the tin before easing out gently and leaving to cool completely (or not, if you can't wait!) on a wire rack. Dust with plenty of snowy icing sugar before serving.

TIP

Obviously, you can make the full recipe and then refrigerate or freeze half of it to make some fresh pies another time.

safe food turkey

2009-12-21T12:03:00.004Z

Well, it's that turkey time of year again and where better to turn to for advice on preventing killing off a family member with some dodgy cooking than safe food. Once again, chef Neven Maguire gives top advice on all things turkey. Here are some snaps taken while filming some commercials for the safe food website a while back (of which I can't now seem to find, so perhaps they ended up on the cutting room floor?).

Neven's kitchen being transformed into a winter wonderland in warm weather

Neven learning his lines. Is that Dustin the turkey watching on from the roasting tin?!

Kirstie's Homemade Christmas series

2009-12-11T00:20:00.004Z

Ok, ok, just one more post....Hope you liked the series and feel all christmassy now and fully inspired to get creative! Fear not, Kirstie will be back with a fab new 'homemade home' series next year where she will visit people's homes this time, as well as lots more craftiness. You can keep up to date, make suggestions of crafts you'd like to see and even apply to be on the programme on the show's facebook. Finally, here are a few final pics from behind the scenes of the christmas special...

Presenter Amy has her make-up retouched while being watched on by the biggest turkey in the world, lol!

You thought you only saw one turkey on the programme but that was actually three! it's a long story in the world of TV...this is where the story began...Amy & I glamourously shoving our arms under turkey skin (in our homemade home...'the van')!

Karen & I ditching the 'hero' turkey at the end of filming...unfortunately it couldn't have been eaten as it was sat around & in and out of ovens for hours on end!

Don't worry, not all the food went to waste....crew to the rescue!

kirstie's homemade christmas crafts

2009-12-07T23:38:00.005Z

All set for tomorrow night? Here's some of what to expect on the creative front...

gold gilded pears & handcrafted place names

baked christmas decoration letters

beautiful garlands & twinkly fairy lights

handmade wreaths

homemade infused oils

frosted fruits

mosaic turkey

homemade crackers & hand embroidered napkins

TV Christmas Specials

2009-12-01T23:21:00.005Z

I was just watching Gordon Ramsay's F-word when I spotted the trailer for 'Kirstie's Homemade Christmas' in the ad break. So book your seat on the sofa for three indulgent evenings in a row next week...tuesday 8th - thursday 10th on Channel 4 at 8pm. I'm guessing the food sections I worked on (as per this post) will be in the final episode (more about that later).

Speaking of Gordie, I have insider info from my friend Lisa that she is off to LA with him to film a Cook Along Live Christmas Special in a couple of weeks time. I'm guessing it will be aired on our screens at some point though. I wonder will his LA pal Vicky Beckham make an appearance?!

Funny Photo Shoot

2009-11-30T22:42:00.001Z

I recently worked on a shoot with photographer Harry Weir so lots of giggles going on (especially as he loves tiggling me when I'm not expecting it!). Here are some photos from the day...

Harry tried his hand at some food styling when I wasn't looking!

Harry pretending to be hard at work

Someone's in trouble, she's got the hand on her hip!

Sausages Sausages

2009-11-26T19:48:00.005Z

Here are some snaps from a shoot a few weeks ago for Hodgins sausages. We shot some sausage recipes for their soon to be revealed updated website as well as product shots of their complete range.

The hodgin's sausage family portrait

I won't be getting a packing job at Hodgin's the length of time it took me to get the pack on the right looking up to scratch for it's portrait!

Photographer Ciona and assistant Aoife hard at work

Me, multi-tasking, zhushing some food while catchin up on the gossip with Cliona (with Maureen from Estuary Marketing in the background)

Neven Maguire - HOMECHEF

2009-11-25T12:58:00.010Z

Ok, so it was exciting to be away last week but unfortunately I missed Neven Maguire's new cookbook launch, HOMECHEF (published by HarperCollins). It was such a shame as it would have been lovely to clink glasses with all the team who worked on it and generally have a good old catch-up (not talking too much about work)! Anyhow, I hear everyone had a lovely evening where Neven cooked up a storm as usual.

Homechef is out now so I can now start showing you some recipes to tempt you. The rain is pelting down outside and the wind is blowing a gale so I'm thinking comfort food (& follower Deborah was looking for some wintery recipes so hopefully this will do the trick)! Use any stewing meat in place of the venison if preferred.

VENISON BOURGUINON

Serves 4-6

2 tbsp olive oil

25g butter

25g plain flour

2 tsp paprika

1kg venison haunch or shoulder, trimmed & cut into 1cm cubes

225g baby shallots, peeled & halved (keeping roots intact)

100g rindless smoked bacon, finely chopped

1 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp tomato puree

100ml red wine

900ml beef stock

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

100g carrots, diced

75g button mushrooms, wiped clean

salt and freshly ground black pepper

mashed potatoes, to serve

chopped fresh flat leaf parsley, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F / Gas 4). Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil and half the butter in a heavy based casserole with a lid. Season the flour and place in a shallow bowl with the paprika, mixing to combine. Use to lightly dust the venison, shaking off any excess, then add to the heated casserole in small batched and cook over a fairly high heat until well browned. Transfer to a plate until all the meat has been sealed, then set aside.

Add the remaining oil and butter with the shallots to the casserole with the smoked bacon and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are lightly browned and the bacon is golden. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds. Pour the red wine in and allow to bubble down a little for 1-2 minutes, while scraping the sediment from the bottom. Pour in the beef stock and tomato puree. Return the meat and juices to the casserole and bring to the boil, then add the thyme and bay leaves. Season to taste, cover with the lid and transfer to the oven for 2 hours until the venison is almost tender and cooked through.

Remove the casserole from the oven, stir in the carrots and mushrooms and return to the oven to cook for another 30 minutes or until the venison and vegetables are completely tender. Season to taste.

Spoon the mashed potatoes into the centre of wide-rimmed bowls and spoon the venison bourguignon on top. Garnish with the parsley and serve at once.

Kirstie's Homemade Christmas

2009-11-21T13:06:00.008Z

If you watched the Channel 4 series, 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' earlier in the year you may be as excited as I was to hear that there is a three part Christmas special coming up soon (dates TBA soon). Although I am even more excited again as I actually got to work on it!! That was my secret trip....I have just spent the last week in Meadowgate, presenter Kirstie Allsopp's holiday let home which I watched unfold on the series, from a dilapidated house into the gorgeous home it now is...so you can excuse me for busting at the seams to be actually working there!! And my, it is just breath-takingly gorgeous...

Kirstie got some Christmas cooking tips from the lovely Amy Willcock

gorgeous stylist chehvani dresses the table

ok, so it wasn't all glitz & glam....My home for the week was really a mobile kitchen.....but in fareness this has to be the best view from one EVER!

camerman Cliff films some food porn!

food porn....but more about that in future posts

Thank you so much to Karen Convery for all her hard work, perfectionism, organisation and calmness in helping me (once again)! Thanks also to amazing director Amanda Fidler for getting me on board in the first place! It was lovely also to work with all the glasgow gang of IWC Media who produce the show. Group hug!

P.S. Click here to check out Kirstie's tweet pics during filming!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho..

2009-11-14T18:56:00.003Z

...it's off to work I go....this time I'm off on a job I have been trying to contain my excitement over for the last couple of months....finally it is here and I'm all packed up with everything including the kitchen sink as usual. Now filled with nervous anticipation I'm on my way. I'll be back in a week or so to fill you in on what it's all about and whether or not I managed to not burst a blood vessel with excitement!!

Cookbook award

2009-11-13T00:36:00.005Z

How very exciting that a cookbook I worked on last year (as per this post), 'From Tide To Table' by Georgina Campbell, was recently announced as the winner of the Bord Bia / Listowel Food Fair 'Irish Food Book of the Year'. Pat on the back for all the team!

Happy Christmas!

2009-11-11T00:13:00.006Z

I know, sorry, I probably shouldn't mention those two words yet, but take pity on all of those who work a season ahead and have christmas in the summer. I actually enjoyed this christmas shoot for once mostly because I got to relish in a yummy Christmas lunch (and for someone who is now without a kitchen at home, entirely to the point of having the wash the dishes in the bath, this is a very welcome thing!). The shoot was for Country Living Magazine in the Farmers Journal with photographer Jack Caffery and thanks to Denise for her fab help once again.

Back from the abyss

2009-11-10T23:24:00.005Z

Oops, where have I been?! Well, I pretty much haven't taken a breath since I finished working on Neven's series (and in fact I haven't even unpacked the boxes of gear yet, now that i think of it, darn)....What with 'operation move office' going on around lots of busy jobs and generally trying hard (but not always succeeding!) not to have a complete meltdown (agghh!)....But I'm back and there's lots to catch up on which I will try and do over the next couple of days. In the meantime, here's a mad snap of mad photographer Harry Weir on a mad shoot we did at Phelim Byrne's lovely and calm cookery school in wexford...d-e-e-p b-r-e-a-t-h-s a-n-d r-e-l-a-x...

Neven's Homechef filming - week 2

2009-10-14T13:52:00.008+01:00

Well, I'm still alive against all the odds of filling up on way too much food, so I'm here to tell another tale. I can't say the same for the rest of the crew, but they're hanging on in there! Week 2 in Neven's kitchen & there has been lots of laughs (mostly at bad jokes like 'ceps on the beach' & 'time is of the vanilla essence'!), lots of cooking of course & lots & lots & lots more eating!

Micky the monkey, freaking us out during filming!

cameraman Billy chancing his arm at some spun sugar curls....darn, they're perfect!

Karen in the back kitchen isn't perfect after all then! Well, she is really!

oops...I'm spilling things too!

& the best bit.....everyone tucking into creme brulees, yum!

more home cooking with rachel allen

2009-10-12T23:39:00.002+01:00

Thanks to series producer Emma Roberts Price from Cactus for sending on this official snap of Rachel for her new programme. Hope you're enjoying the series...

Neven's new TV series

2009-10-04T23:55:00.006+01:00

Well, we've just finished filming our first week on Neven Maguire's new series...we've had a lot of giggles and eaten a LOT of food! Which reminds me, I did consider weighing myself before we started to see exactly how much I pile on...but to be honest the jeans will reveal all...and in fact, they already have! But I don't care..it's all totally worth it as you'll see when you watch the series in the new year. It's got a great catchy title to match Neven's new book (which is at the printers now, wooppee!)...HOMECHEF...which you may remember me testing here. Anyhow, here are some snaps from our first week...

Neven ready to get baking

The Irelands got talent panel of judges say yum!

the crew making their own samosas for lunch

Podge & Rodge overseeing some baking in the oven...don't ask!

Neven realises this camera operating lark could be for him!

Jewellery Shoot

2009-09-21T22:33:00.002+01:00

This is the day when fruit met fashion! Jewellery designer Alice Moyon from Aliquo Boutique has a gorgeous new range of vintage beaded jewellery all set for next summer in bright poppy colours. She had the idea of complimenting the jewellery by shooting it on and with fruit for her promotional shots. The shoot was really fun as a gaggle of girls and came up with some really fun and colourful shots. I'll show you those once the range is launched but in the meantime here are some (very poor phone) snaps from the day...

Getting started on the brainstorming of ideas

choosing the clothes

Caoimhe looking gorgeous doing her thing

just had to show you the amazing shoes Caoimhe brought along!

Photographer: Cliona O'Flaherty
Jewellery Designer: Alice Moyon
Model: Caoimhe
Fashion Stylist: Jemma Connolly
Food Stylist: Me!
Make-up: Rachel Matthews

emergency services at the ready!

2009-09-18T18:57:00.003+01:00

It's been one of those weeks....enjoy the weekend!

Rachel Allen - Home Cooking

2009-09-17T10:56:00.005+01:00

I was excited to hear that Rachel's new series is about to start - I can't believe it has come around so quickly, having filmed it only a few months ago with Cactus TV.

Don't miss the first of the 13 parts tonight on RTE1 at 8.30pm. It also transmits on UKTV Good Food daily from the 21st Sept.

Totally Dublin

2009-09-12T16:39:00.004+01:00

Ooh, how exciting...look what has made it to the front cover of this months Totally Dublin...

Gotta Get a Gateaux

2009-09-10T23:22:00.003+01:00

I spotted these bright images on a truck on one of our grim days earlier this week. I styled these shots as part of Gateaux cakes repackaging sometime last year (or the year before even?) with photographer Peter Clayton. It's always exciting to see your work driving down the road!

Electric Picnic

2009-09-04T06:59:00.003+01:00

See you after the weekend!

Absolut Art

2009-09-03T16:38:00.011+01:00

Well, I am finally resurfacing from a fantastic Vodka fueled evening at the preview of the Absolute Art Exhibition (as per yesterdays post). Here, ladies and gents is the finished creation...what do you think? It took hours, days in fact and a whole ton of icing...

Photographer & Creative Director: Cliona O'Flaherty
Fashion stylist: Aishling Farinella
Stylist assistant: Arsheen Qsaim
Food styling (& frilly tablecloth!): Moi
Hair: David & Anthony @ Toni & Guy
Make up: Julie Ann Ryan
Model: Maria Boardmam @ 1st Option

Here's a link to the exhibition site where you can see more creations by fabulous people like Chris Judge, Steve Doogan, Aisling Farinella, Rich Gilligan & DADDY to name a few. The collection is showing in an amazing new venue, the smock alley theatre, lower exchange st, templebar, daily between 5 & 10pm from September 5th - 20th. Admission is free, so go check it out for yourself.

Absolut Original

2009-09-02T10:28:00.007+01:00

I was thrilled when photographer Cliona O'Flaherty asked me to get involved in work she was commissioned to do for the Absolut Original Exhibition (for the Absolut Fringe Festival). Not just because it involved all things cake, pink and girlie but also because it was to be a first food & fashion collaboration with fabulous stylist Aisling Farinella (ok, and also because I got the get my sewing machine out!)

Cliona (along with 15 other artists) was given the same brief Andy Warhol was in 1985 to 'be inspired by the absolut bottle'. The small print are curating the exhibition and after the festival each piece will be submitted for inclusion in the International Absolut art collection in Stockholm. How exciting!

Anyhow, I won't reveal the finished masterpiece just yet (the preview exhibition is tonight so I'll tell you more tomorrow, absolut hangover dependant!) but here's some very early stages of work in progress snaps in the meantime...

Finger Lickin' Chicken

2009-08-11T17:28:00.001+01:00

Here are some snaps from a recent shoot with photographer Peter Clayton. The clients brief was basically to make a roast chicken look as good as possible...plump & delicious and crisp & golden. Now this is always a mean feat with a chicken who doesn't want to co-operate and would rather cook really unevenly, become soggy in places and generally wrinkle all over. Anyhow, between my last minute emergency chicken skin grafts and Peters fab lighting I think we managed to pull it off.

Peter doing his magic on the old bird

Dolly bird herself

have a good bank holiday weekend!

2009-07-31T17:15:00.010+01:00

location location location

2009-07-29T13:32:00.008+01:00

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

2009-07-28T15:03:00.004+01:00

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

2009-07-17T17:04:00.005+01:00

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

2009-07-16T09:37:00.004+01:00

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

2009-07-02T10:00:00.001+01:00

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.

BBQ Halloumi

2009-06-30T23:25:00.005+01:00

Well, it looks like we might actually be having the summer weather we dreamed of (don't speak too soon though eh?!). We're definitely planning on getting the barbie out and as I totally love Halloumi we will have to include some amongst all that meat. This is a recipe from the Cooks Academy Cookbook, which I food & prop styled two summers ago. I remember it as being totally yummy so am looking forward to making and eating it again...

Halloumi Cheese Skewers

Serves 4

You can prepare these in advance indoors; fry them in a very hot pan until golden on the outside and then quickly reheat over the BBQ for that gorgeous smoky flavour.

250g halloumi cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
10 mint leaves, finely chopped
CAPER DRESSING
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lime, zest and juice
1 tbsp capers
2 small pickled gherkins, sliced finely into discs
salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1. Mix the dressing ingredients together, season to taste and add more oil if necessary. Set aside.
2. Slice the halloumi into 2cm thick slices. Brush both sides with oil.
3. Heat the BBQ until it's very hot and grill the halloumi slices for 1 minute on each side (remove them the halloumi starts to melt). Once grilled, allow to cool slightly before cutting (or tearing) the halloumi into large bite sized pieces and tossing in the dressing.
4. Just before serving, thread pieces of the halloumi onto skewers. Place on a platter and garnish with chopped mint.