For a Quintessentially Celtic Treat, Nothing Beats a Freshly Baked Fluffy Irish Scone!

It was “Sally O’Brien and the way she might look at you” that used to attract the tourists. Nowadays tourists are flocking to experience wild coasts, ancient ruins and Irish food. Though subtle culinary differences do exist between us and our close neighbours in Britain. Rather than high tea, Irish scones conjure images of a farmhouse kitchen, a wooden table and a ginormous pot of tea.

When I worked the morning shift in a kitchen, the scones were in the oven within 10 minutes of my arrival. All I had to do was crack some eggs, then pour them, along with milk, into the dry scone mixture (which I had prepared the day before). Every B&B in the country might make a fresh batch each morning if they knew how easy scones are to make.

Truly Irish scones are made in the fashion of white soda bread; combining plain flour, bread soda, salt and buttermilk. While delicious and fluffy when...

Tart apples, sweetened and topped with a crisp, buttery crumble.

Ingredients
3-4 apples, peeled and cubed (cooking or dessert apples)
2 tbsp butter (plus extra for greasing)
third cup sugar
½ lemon, zest and juice of
1 cup blackberries
Crumble Topping
1 cup porridge oats
½ cup all purpose flour
quarter cup sugar
third cup butter, melted
Optional: ½ cup nuts (chopped hazelnuts)
To serve: whipped cream 

1. Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit (180°C) fan. Grease a medium size ovenproof dish.
2. In a saucepan, gently melt the butter and sugar. Add in the cubed apples and lemon juice.  Cook for 5-7 minutes on a medium high heat (the apples should still be al dente and retain their shape).
3. Remove from the heat and gently fold in two thirds of the blackberries until their juices start to run into the apples. Taste and adjust to your desired sweetness adding more sugar if needed. 
4. Transfer the fruit filling into the greased ovenproof dish. Dot the...

Transform vanilla ice cream with sweetened breadcrumbs.

Brown bread ice cream is unique to Ireland. Just as other European cuisines have their own iconic dishes used to stretch the last of ingredients which might otherwise go stale. Since home baked Soda bread is best eaten within a day or two of baking, you don’t want to waste any.  It is wonder simply spread with butter on the first day, fabulous toasted on the second day but, by day three, it might be more brick than brioche. Brown bread ice cream was a way to use up the old (not quite stale) bread. Similar traditions exist in cuisines all over the world. In France the 'pain perdu', is used in many different recipes. In Italian cuisine, 'gremolata' dishes make use of the day old bread, turning the stale bread into breadcrumbs, and in England, bread and butter pudding makes use of the nearly stale sliced pan.

An English friend of mine was bemused one day when I mentioned the ‘heel of the loaf’ – a term...

An all time Irish snack Classic

The sausage roll is one of the most beloved snack pastries available here on the Emerald Isle. What could be better than a delicious sausage wrapped in puff pasty? Well, nothing! Of course you won't know that until you try it! :)

Think of pigs in a blanket: a traditional US classic for parties and events, made with hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls. But what if they were homemade from a real Irish recipe with fresh pork sausage? These delicious morsels are so popular you can find them behind the deli at any convenience store in Ireland, and they're one of the highest selling pastries available in Ireland as well as the UK. They form a big part of many Irish people's day to day cuisine, and to say they're addictive would be an understatement. Once you try them, you'll want to make them again and again! Here's the recipe!

Ingredients (Makes about 20):

• 1lb of puff pastry

For the Filling - 

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1lb pork sausagemeat
• 3 tbsp...

Brown Soda Bread - An Irish Staple

Its not uncommon for you to be offered soda bread when staying in a B&B anywhere in Ireland.

Long ago, the Irish mostly made flat griddle bread because Irish flour didn’t have enough gluten to rise with yeast. Baking soda was developed in the US in 1846 and was quickly adopted by Irish cooks, as it enabled bread with Irish flour to rise. In the late 1800s, white Canadian flour with a higher gluten content came over on returning emigration ships, and bakeries started making white bread raised with yeast, known as “shop bread”, and distributing it by horse and cart.

Irish Soda Bread is delicious and like all recipes, you can make your own changes to please your taste. I discovered one tip from a recipe that I looked up years ago - use raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and mix them in thoroughly. The chemical interaction of the soda and the raw sunflower seeds causes the seeds to turn a beautiful, emerald green that looks fantastic...

Irish Seafood Chowder: A traditional Irish delicacy that never fails to disappoint!

This traditional hearty soup has been a feature in Irish life for as long as village communities have subsisted on the fisherman's catch landed along the wild shores of the Atlantic Coast. The memorable mix of fresh haddock, salmon, and shrimp (or prawns as we call them in Ireland) is nicely balanced out with seasonal veggies such as leeks, carrots, and potatoes. The sauce of fish stock and cream brings a flavourful and comforting warmth that refreshes the soul. Unlike the American versions of chowder, this more authentic recipe has less cream, allowing for the other true flavours to show through. Ireland is known for it's seafood, and this delicious chowder is a prime example of Irish cooking using fresh ingredients from nature to create a wholesome meal enjoyed by many all across the island. This is why you can find it at local pubs all around Ireland 

Because we are an island, it is only...