Welcome to my kitchen!
Find what you want
using the menus
There are two. The one above my
head is for the main recipe pages
only. The one below gives you
access to a variety of cooking
articles, recipes, hints and basic
cooking skills that I have put
together over the years. You will
find these menus on every page in
this site.
Tip Of The Week
In Praise of Potato
Think of potatoes and you think of Ireland. But
the traditional Irish recipies are only a fraction
of the more than 600 different ways to cook
this magnificent vegetable.
In fact, potato is one of the most widely eaten
foods in the world. There are more recipes for red, white,
yellow, purple and sweet potatoes than for any other
staple, and that includes rice and pasta. What's more, it's
the only vegetable dominant enough to have had a major
influence on western culture.
If your name is Murphy they call you Spud; potato-head is
a popular (and mild) term of abuse; most western kids
have owned a spud gun at some time or other; artists
have used it to produce designs; many commercial
starches are potato-based; so are many illicit liquors,
poteen included; heck! George and Ira Gershwin even
featured the humble spud in a song made popular by
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - "you say potarto and I
say potayto..."
It's generally accepted these days that potatoes
originated in Peru and there is evidence to suggest that
they have been cultivated by humans for at least 7,000
years. Not bad for a plant that is potentially poisonous
Their first appearance in Europe was in 1562, so western
chef's have had plenty of time to play around with them,
and the results have been impressive.
They've baked, boiled, steamed, roasted and fried them.
Grated, crushed, pureed, sliced, liquidised, shaved and
cut them into fancy shapes. They come fresh, frozen and
tinned. They mix with liquid to make soup; take on the
flavor of anything they are mixed with; they can be eaten
whole, in pies, as souffles, made into soup and are
stuffed with vitamin 'C'.
Have I sold you on the potato yet?
If I haven't, maybe the recipes in this growing collection
will do the trick for me. Or you may already be a spud
afficianado, in which case I hope you find that little extra
twist in these pages to tempt you into trying something
new, something a bit different.
Simplicity is the keynote throughout. Anyone can make
these dishes and even though there are a few slightly
more complicated ones scattered around, there is always
a simpler version which you can use instead. Hopefully,
when that works for you, you'll be tempted to try the other
one and discover that it, too, is really quite simple.