I've been keeping a project quite quiet for a few months and last Friday, I got the green light to shout it from the rooftops, hence me sharing it here now. The lovely Kristin Jensen, the editor behind many of Ireland's cookbooks, and the woman behind new publishing house, Nine Bean Rows Books, have launched a super cool project called Blasta Books ..read more

I hate waste, so when I found 3 ears of fresh corn in my fridge from a food delivery two weeks back, all I could think is Pan de Elote. My mother made this quite often when I was little and it was one of her favourite healthy treats for us. I have done nothing to the recipe other than translating it. It is perfect as it is, but I will say, this cake is best eaten while still warm, as it is crunchy in the outside and soft and moist in the inside. As it cools off, the crust softens and it somehow lessens the eating experience ..read more

This year has been so bloody awful, that August & September saw me making tons of flavoured booze. It gives me something to look forward to as in two or three months time, the liqueurs will be ready and I can sit down on a Friday evening and have a nice home made cocktail and drawn my sorrows in it. This is my third liqueur so far and I'm delighted with the results ..read more

Most people have a story about lockdown: a friend learned basic Italian, another one learnt to play guitar, most of my social media friends made sour dough bread and got good at it; my coworker Liz and her partner did couple's yoga. Having so much time in our hands and no where to go and nothing to do, we turned to learning. The one commonality among us all, we all wanted to do something new ..read more

As August comes to a close and autumn descended on us all like a ton of bricks (I don't know you, but I had the heat on since Friday!) I came to the realisation that 2020 will be a write off in so many ways: environmental disasters of apocalyptic proportions, financial stress on the business side of things, health worries, mental strain, the societal descent into anarchy, the polarisation of masses, the end of democracies as we knew them, the loss of so many precious lives... it is all too much some days ..read more

This recipe combines two of my favourite ingredients: Tamarind and De Arbol Chillies. Tamarind is very prevalent in Mexican sweets and in the cooking of the pacific regions in Mexico; it arrived during Colonial times and soon established itself as an easy crop that required little or no work. The bittersweet and tangy taste is a favourite of most Mexicans. You can buy the fresh pods, or buy the pulp with or without seeds; mixed with sugar or with sugar and chilli. It makes delicious 'aguas frescas' (a cold drink), sweets and snacks ..read more

During early lockdown, my timeline on social media was loaded with sourdough starters and banana bread loaves. It was everywhere! People were stuck at home, unable to go anywhere, so they turned to the kitchen to find comfort and reassurance. Ireland ran out of flour and yeast was like gold dust! Seriously, the first thing I cooked were chocolate, chilli, booze laced cookies! I called them dooms day cookies ..read more

This recipe has been a long time on the making. I've had a tin of guayabas in syrup in the pantry since last year as I wanted to develop a recipe to show people in Ireland how delicious they are, something tasty and easy enough that showcases this gorgeous tropical fruit that has a ton of vitamin C. So this was on the back of my mind for a while. As you can imagine, life has been incredibly busy lately ..read more

Two weeks ago (was it really only two weeks?!), life as we knew it was sent packing and most people were sent home for a series of measures to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID19 virus that's causing havoc all over the world. For a couple of days, I went into free-fall and full on panic, thinking what was going to happen to my business, my staff and myself. That day, we cancelled all classes for the foreseeable future, my anxiety levels went through the roof ..read more

Every year, I would promise myself I would do some Irish take on a Mexican dish but I never seem to have time to do it. I also always get stuck in wanting to do something green... which I realise now, is not the best approach. This year, I started thinking about this early February and while contemplating the makings of a green mole while sitting down at my kitchen table, I saw a bottle of Bailey's on the wine rack over the fridge... I love its sweet and creamy deliciousness and I love boozy desserts. This got me thinking... and since I quite like Bailey's, I thought... wait a minute ..read more