A week in May with two dinner recipes

Meal Plan for Week of 12/05/2025 – 18/05/2025

Monday – 12/05/2025

Monday is a busy night round our place with Nipper 3.0 at guitar, Nipper 2.0 at singing lessons, me coming in from the office, and Himself out at running. The latter is a casual running group that evolved partly from a coaching group we used to be in and partly from parkrun. While I used to join in, my various injuries has slowed me down and, at times in the last four years, stopped me entirely. It’s not that everyone in the group is very fast, I just hate running in the evening. Either way it frees me up to drive Nipper 3.0 to her guitar class. Strictly speaking I am driving the guitar to the class and Nipper 3.0 is just availing of the lift. She used to cycle every week when she was learning the piano…

Himself usually works from home on a Monday and has the dinner more or less ready to go before heading out to run. So the other chores fall to the rest of us. While Nipper 3.0 is at her lesson I’ll nip around to Lidl and get entirely distracted by the middle aisle and pick up any bits needed for upcoming meals and some staples that we always buy in Lidl such as dark chocolate for baking, lardons and some “snacky bits” as we call them that the Nippers like to include in their lunchboxes. We are on the last stretch of schooldays at this stage.

The Hearty Pasta soup is an okay option for a day like this. It reheats well but whenI eat it I always think, “I wished I had made the soup yesterday and added the pasta today.” A vegetable soup or stew always benefits from a resting period, I feel. I think I did suggest to Himself as I was leaving that morning that he should make it right now.

• Rachel Allen’s Nutty Granola or a variation thereof

I actually end up making this way later in the week as I keep running out of time. I can’t remember which day but I was having rice crispies for breakfast in the meantime. They really didn’t cut it!

Tuesday – 13/05/2025

Creole chicken dish

(The instructions on AnyList read top drawer shed freezer but this is from Pinch of Yum who has some great slow cooker recipes.)

Leftovers from the freezer as I thought I was going to my parents entirely forgetting that they were departing for Paris, France. Leftovers were delish so no harm, no foul.

Wednesday – 14/05/2025

DINNER

One-pot garlic chicken

I’m usually on dinner duty on Wednesdays as I work from home. This was our first time having this dish and while it was tasty there definitely wasn’t enough for all of us. I served it with green beans per the recipe but entirely missed the rice part. There was a lot of grumbling and rumbling tummies. Fair. Less washing up though!

I don’t like to eat much at all on Wednesdays as I have been back to Yogalates since January. Best/ Easiest decision ever.

Thursday – 15/05/2025

Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

This dish. I feel it has a lot of potential. Maybe it’s delicious but sometimes that toasted pasta doesn’t quite work and the chickpeas are chalky and the chorizo isn’t melt in the mouth. There’s a lot of places to go wrong with it. If anyone has a variation on this recipe I’d love to try it.

I tried the link in my AnyList App and it now links to a Chorizo, Chickpea and Spinach soup. Not. The. Same. At. All.

So here is our current recipe – let me know if you try it and what you think.

A child sneaks a piece of chorizo from a cut up sausage on a wooden chopping board

Chickpea & Chorizo Fideos

Serving Size:

Time:

25 mins

Difficulty:

Medium

Ingredients

3 tablespoons/ 45ml extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 oz/ 225 g whole-wheat angel hair pasta or spagehetti, broken into 2-inch pieces
2 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup/ 60g chopped Spanish chorizo or pepperoni (about 2 ounces)
1 14-ounce/ 400g can petite diced tomatoes
1½ cups/ 360ml water
½ cup/120ml dry white wine
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
3 scallions ( ½ bunch), sliced

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. (Le Creuset works well for this recipe if you have one) Add pasta pieces and cook, stirring, until toasted and browned in spots. Original recipe says 2 to 3 minutes but I feel this takes longer. maybe because we use spaghetti. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and chorizo (or pepperoni) and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water, wine and the toasted pasta; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 8 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and scallions and cook 1 minute more.
(From EatingWell but no longer on that site alas)

Friday – 16/05/2025

Detroit-Style Pan Pizza

Doom Slice has a lot to answer for. I brought the two younger Nippers there after a Fringe Festival show last year. This was my third go at this Detroit Style Pizza. I doubled everything this time after complaints about the lack of abundance last time. I also used a larger and shallower pan. The first time I made this I spent €12 on a delicious raclette from Sheridan’s Cheesemonger. It resulted in the best result so far. (see image above: mouth-watering)

For my next go round I asked Nipper 1.0 to bring home some raclette from Switzerland. While he did, it may not have been the raclette I would have chosen. It was sliced rather than in a block. For the purposes of pizza and that frijo cheesy crust vibe with Detroit Pan pizza, this probably would have been fine in block form but did you know that sliced cheese and grated cheese when bought in those forms are treated with a dessicant to keep them separated? I fear that this might have impacted the outcome. It was definitely still very edible but the base wasn’t as light and airy as the first time I made it. I have used Kenji Lopez-Alt’s foolproof recipe for this. There’s a lot of reading but as always with Kenji, it’s interesting and to the point of the food. (Unlike yours truly!)

We eat and leg it leaving the Nippers to tidy up the already mostly tidy kitchen as we head out to a birthday party. If I say I’m going to a party at all this year, just presume I’m off to a 50th Birthday party. The great weather continues and we all celebrate in the Cheeses’ beautiful back garden. I eventually leave to cycle home about 1am and leave Himself to it as I have an earlyish start the next day.

Saturday – 17/05/2025

Brioche Burger Buns with Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker)

I took myself off to Belfast for the day to see a college friend’s MFA exhibition. It was a lovely day out to myself. I took the train north after a long night out chatting and therefore not drinking too much thankfully at the Cheese’s 50th. On the train journey north I finished the third of 14 socks (7 pairs) that I am making for friends to mark our 50th go around the sun. I am way behind schedule and when I blocked this one it still didn’t work so it has been frogged and redesigned. All that said it was nice to get in a couple of hours of uninterrupted knitting on the train to Belfast.

A handknitted blue sock with green and white snowdrop colourwork pattern designed by me

And when I got there, what a joy to reconnect with old friends and make more plans. Actually that has been quite the theme this year which is getting me through a lot of work-generated anxiety. That and therapy!

All this meant the others could go for Pulled Pork while I was away. In recent years I can’t manage pork as I once did. There are many foods I struggle with (excuse the reality lorry coming at you.) but pork I can live without. I actually don’t mind slow cooked pulled pork so much because it is so tenderised but there is no way I’m eating a pork chop.

I have no idea where this recipe came from but it is a cinch if you have a slow cooker. If you are reading this and are cooking for a family, it’s a great invesetment. Ours is just a no-name brand from Lidl. It has three settings and an on-off button. I know Caitríona Redmond gets fancy with a timer switch on the plug but so far we’ve never needed this.

So our recipe is as follows:

Delicious Brioche Buns that you too can make at home.

Pulled Pork (Slow Cooker)

Serving Size:

Time:

8-12 hours

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

1 kg pork roast (shoulder)
2 onions
1 bottle barbecue sauce, whatever brand catches your fancy
3/4 cup sultanas
200 ml Chicken Stock

Directions

1. Slice both onions but keep separate. Put one in slow cooker.
Put in the pork and cover with the other sliced onion.
Pour over barbecus sauce and chicken stock
Cover and cook on low for about 12 hours or medium for 8 hours
Shred the pork with two forks about 2 hours before serving.
Serve with the delicious brioche buns that you have been making in the meanwhile or the best burger buns you can find. Sliced Dill Pickles go well too and leftovers freeze well.

And these Brioche Buns wow! So easy, so successful. I had made these once before so recommended that Himself give them a go and they turned out just as successful. Time is needed as with any yeasted breads but these seem very successful compared to other attempts I have made in the past. Yes there is a little bit of faffing with the Tangzhong (all is explained in the recipe) but all the effort (really not much) is worth it. Also why these are slated for a Saturday and not a weekday.

Meanwhile I had a delicious dinner al fresco in Belfast. Great company and a lift home to my front door 🙂

Sunday – 18/05/2025

John’s chicken nacho one-pot

The Nippers love this but it’s such a ridiculous meal. It’s never enough and it makes me feel like a bad parent. Ah well it was a busy week.

November 11, 2024November 23, 2024

Fab 50 Weekly Menu

This week was all about preparation. Himself was celebrating a milestone birthday and had invited about 70 of his closest family members and friends to mark this momentous occasion with him.

Meal Plan for Week of 04/11/2024 – 10/11/2024

Monday – 04/11/2024

PREPARATION

The party is planned to start at 8pm so I am not planning to feed 70 people (or even the half that are likely to turn up) but as Himself has ordered a keg from Brew Crew definitely soakage will be required.

We don’t have enough plates or cutlery anyway for a party even a quarter that size.

I had decided therefore to begin the preparation on Monday with 2 delicious traditional Irish brown soda loaves from an ICA recipe that I picked up in a free booklet with The Irish Times many years ago. Always be checking those recipe booklets: I know that those recipes are often very well tested!

However after a week off the previous week and a boozy weekend away, I had a lot of catching up to do, got home later from work than planned and just wasn’t in the baking mood. So I postpone until Tuesday.

We still have to eat but will be dragging a lot of prepared meals from the freezer, the first being these tempting sounding treats. Anyone who listens to her podcast would know that my cousin Bea would be horrified.

Curry from freezer – actually a delicious recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala from Taming Twins. Though I would normally avoid recipes that use prepped curry paste due to all the added salt, she acknowledges that this recipe “sits firmly between the two camps of ‘a jar will do’ and ‘this dish takes many careful hours and rare ingredients to perfect’.” Deliciousness on a school night? Yes please!
Naan from freezer: again on a weekday Himself would usually make from scratch but Dunnes have just added these to their range and they are delicious.

Tuesday – 05/11/2024

DINNER

Five-bean chilli – a quick and easy veggie option and then I get back on track with my party prep. Normally I have dinner with my parents on a Tuesday on my way home from work but Mum completely understands when I explain I am getting a headstart on the preparation. <sarcasm>She is also a very organised person. </sarcasm>

Preparation

Walnut and treacle brown bread

Serving Size:

Time:

1hr 50 mins

Difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

350g wholemeal flour
50g plain flour
1 level teaspoon bread soda aka baking SODA aka bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch salt
50g porridge oats
2 large eggs
1 dessertspoon sunflower oil
500ml buttermilk
2 large dessertspoons treacle
75g chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170oC/gas mark 3.
Grease and line a 900g loaf tin (this is a fairly standard size.)
Put the flours, sieved bread soda, salt and porridge oats into a large mixing bowl and mix them well.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs together with the oil and add to the dry mixture.
Next, mix in the buttermilk and mix until it reaches a ‘sloppy’ consistency.
Finally, add the treacle and chopped walnuts.
Pour into a 900g loaf tin and smooth the top of the bread with a wet spoon. Sprinkle some seeds or porridge oats on top of the bread and bake in the oven for one hour.
After the hour has lapsed, remove the bread from the tin and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool down.
The baked bread freezes well so consider making more than one!
Recipe Credit: Edward Hayden

Wednesday – 06/11/2024

PREPARATION

So I have decided to make these mini-quiches (more later on these.) Now obviously I know I can buy any kind of pastry but at €4.25 for 640g it also makes delicious sense to make 1kg for about the same price. Well about the same price because I had to stop in Spar to buy the butter and it cost nearly a fiver. Doh.

I’ve been making this rough puff pastry for a few years and if you follow the instructions you can too! With Christmas on the horizon, it makes DELICIOUS mince pies. Enjoy!

Mary Ellen McTeague’s rough Puff Pastry

DINNER

Bolognese from freezer based on Rachel Allen’s recipe in Home Cooking

Thursday – 07/11/2024

Chicken & chorizo stew from freezer again from Taming Twins. I’m not crazy about this because the chorizo doesn’t have the nice texture it gets when you fry it off (as seen in this delicious bean and chorizo stew from 2006). It’s what the writer calls a “dump” recipe, where you dump all the frozen ingredients from a freezer bag into your slow cooker meaning you can prep at the weekend and pull out in the morning, slow cook and go. The whole idea is one and done so I get it. What you gain in speed, you deffo lose in flavour.

As we were tucking in, there was a ring at the doorbell.

Friday – 08/11/2024

Dinner

Pizza as always. Thanks hun! (Although I did make Detroit Style Pizza a few months back after nerding out on this article from Serious Eats and then visiting Doom Slice in Dublin. I will write about this on another occasion.)

Preparation

Okay now things were serious. We were in day-before-territory. We had to pick up the keg and glasses from BrewCrew and I wanted to do a trawl of a few charity shops to get some extra glassware. We also needed to get a few more snacky bits from the shops and also some non-Guinness drinks (beer and non-alcoholic beverages.) I had also decided we would offer everybody a Dark and Stormy cocktail when they arrived so I needed as much ginger beer as I could find (just enough) and dark rum. If you would like to try this yourself at home, I recommend Bundaberg Ginger beer, although Fever Tree is okay too, and Kraken Dark rum. Delicious.

We also are very fancy in these parts and have a Sheridan’s CHeesemonger in our local Dunnes so I picked up some nice cheese, crackers and other charcuterie.

But things didn’t go as planned. Even though we had both taken the day off, Himself got dragged back into work. I kinda hung around to see if he could get out of it so everything was knocked off schedule.

I did make it to Oxfam Home on Francis St. where I picked up a gaggle of glasses, some really cute dessert plates and a couple of serving platters. Not necessarily cheaper but at least reused! Everything into the dishwasher when I got home.

Ligurian Focaccia Himself made this, a tried and tested favourite here at home, to which he added roasted red peppers (jarred!) and blue cheese and another with serrano ham and black olives. Cut up into squares and served on a wooden board, this was a big hit.
- While he had the oven on he also made a batch of Rachel Allen’s Nutty Granola again from Home Cooking. Not for the party but essential for breakfast!
Easy 5-Ingredient Mini Quiche Cups – another big hit but I was horrified to discover, as I yoinked it out to start baking, that my mini muffin tray was only 12 holes not 24. So I had to make six batches instead of the planned three.
I used my Rough Puff from the fridge (very well rested!), cutting numerous circles with this mad device that I “borrowed” from my parents’ kitchen many years ago. Basically it has two metal half moons back to back on a spindle which has a handle attached. You roll it across your pastry and it creates numerous circles. Perfect for mass production like this. I rolled out all the discs and rested them while each batch was baking.
Grilled Chicken Caesar Lettuce Wraps these were also delicious. Not an obvious finger food but I liked the idea of including something a little healthier and green. Mostly I was getting them into their marinade.

Saturday – 09/11/2024

PREPARATION

All the Nippers pitched in prepping the house. The weather was forecast to be unseasonably balmy until 1am so we set up the bar in a gazebo on the patio which worked out perfectly.

We put the returned Nipper 1.0 to work chopping crudités and slicing limes (for the dark and stormys) and lemons.

We bought ice in the local Tesco which we used to fill our super camping coolbox and filled it up with soft drink, bottled beer, some white wine and prosecco. Big thanks to everyone who brought drinks too!

Of course, I had to bake and decorate a cake. Mum had agreed to bring her delicious coffee and walnut tray bake and I had planned to make cinchy but delicious toffee squares with a lemon drizzle icing. Himself loves these delicious banana nut brownies from Darina Allen’s cook book but as I was attempting to go cutlery and crockery free I knew they would be too squidgy. So instead I made two round cakes of this Banana Chocolate Cake and added chopped hazelnuts. I filled it with a praline ganache and decorated with a plain ganache (for fear it would look like an actual pile of shit.) It turned out very well and delicious.

I took zero photographs. I am definitely taking some of my learnings from this experience and will be applying them to my own future significant birthday celebrations…

Sunday – 10/11/2024

Dinner was supposed to be Lasagne with Bolognese from the freeezer but ended up being a mixemgatherem of whatever was leftover mainly chicken caesar salad on brown bread, crackers and cheese and Nipper 3.0’s Halloween haul. I was VERY tired. Forgive me.

November 3, 2024

Do the hokey pokey

Just in the door from a long overdue trip north to Ramelton to visit my very good friend, Dinners.

All the chats, great food and drink and while the kids and menfolk surfed on Saturday, Dinners and I took to a beachside sauna and had a dip at Dooey Strand. Yes I was in the Atlantic Ocean on 2nd November. For about 30 seconds.

The proliferation of saunas beside beaches, lakes and rivers in Ireland is a welcome development. I think swapping catholic guilt and prudery for more saunas is a most excellent bargain. Himself and I thoroughly enjoyed our sauna on Ceann Trá (Ventry) in the wind and the rain last summer. I’ve also been to one beside the Boyne with friends a few years ago although Himself finds the idea of dipping in the Boyne a bit ick. This from the person who lept into the Seine near Fontainebleau a couple of summers ago. I did too, let’s be clear. One of the nicest swims I ever had after a day full of car and a very heated tent erection.

While we were away (Himself, me and Nipper 3.0) Nipper 2.0 had a “gaff” which is contemporary slang for a party. We returned to many empties but an intact house otherwise.

So a great weekend was had by all. I brought biscuits and cake with me (of course). A lemon poppyseed cake from Nigella’s Domestic Goddess book. I also brought these hokey pokey biscuits. The recipe is from a book called Edmond’s Cookery Book which is the equivalent of a Delia or a Darina cookery book for New Zealanders and was indeed sent to us as a wedding present by another friend named Linda from New Zealand. Hokey Pokey is what they call honeycomb toffee (the inside of a crunchy bar) in New Zealand. These are a cinch but do wait until the sugar/ butter mix has cooled down to start rolling out the balls.

Dinners texted me when we returned and asked me for the recipe so I thought you might enjoy it too.

HOKEY POKEY BISCUITS

125 g butter
½ cup sugar 110g.
1 tablespoon golden syrup or treacle
1 tablespoon milk
1.5 cups / 240g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (bread soda)

Combine butter, sugar, golden syrup and milk in a saucepan.
Heat until butter is melted and mixture nearly boiling, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool to lukewarm.
Heat oven to 180degC.
Sift flour and baking soda together.
Add to the cooled mixture. Stir well.
Roll tablespoonsful of mixture (25g) into balls and place on ungreased oven trays.
Flatten with a floured fork.
Bake at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 22.

September 9, 2014

Back to School Banana Porridge Bites

Well how did you all cope? We’ve had tears and recriminations but this was from the child heading into Ranga 5. Nipper 3.0 sailed into Naíonán Bheaga gan stró ar bith uirthi. So that’s it all my children are now “in the system” Our job now is feeding and watering and damage limitation (especially as Nipper 2.0 is in communion year.)

I’ve really noticed in the last couple of years, where I have been with them in the afternoons, that the boys EAT ALL THE TIME. I thought this was some sort of gender stereotyping but so far, so true, the older boy in particular. We feed them porridge everyday. They have a full on lunch at school and then come home expecting a meal circa 3pm and then dinner around 7pm. It’s my imagination that is mostly sapped by this experience. How do I feed them, keeping it healthy AND varied. When I experiment one of them is bound to turn their nose up (“Rocket Pesto? I don’t care that you grew, picked and made it yourself, it’s yuck!”) and I tend to fall back on those childhood staples of fish fingers and waffles or baked beans or scrambled eggs on toast. Soup, if I’m careful about its ingredients and consistency can sometimes gain their royal highnesses’ approval. This tomato and courgette soup was a surprising hit. With tomatoes and courgettes in season around about now I would recommend you give it a whirl.

Not only do my darling children demand lunch they usually expect a dessert with it. I blame the parents. Having a sweet tooth myself I understand the hankering so I was quite happy when I found this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies on SkinnyTaste.com. This site is one of my favourite sites for family friendly, health conscious recipes although at times the recipes rely a little too much on products that can only be found in the US.

These bites are great and never last jig time in our gaff. They are NOT flapjacks and are a squishy consistency but are a great energy booster on long days when the kids are rushing hither and yon to after school activities. I have substituted the chocolate chips for raisins and they are still delicious so experiment with dried cranberries, blueberries or chopped dried apricot. While I’m not a big fan of what chocolate they are gorgeous with White Chocolate Chips. Here’s the recipe, Europeanised 🙂

Banana Porridge Bites

Makes 12.(So consider making a double batch!)

2 ripe bananas (I always keep a couple of bananas in the freezer for ripe banana recipes)
80g oat flakes
40g chocolate chips (dark, milk or white or a mixture)

Preheat oven to 180C/ GM4.
Lay a sheet of silicon or baking paper on your tray. These do NOT spread so don’t need a huge amount of space between the cookies. Note in the pics below my silicon paper is completely crumpled. This was an excellent tip I picked up from some TV show to stop your paper rolling up and off your baking tray. Works when lining tins too.
Mash your banana and stir in oats and chocolate chips.
Take bite size portions or tablespoons full, create small balls and flatten onto your prepared baking tray.
Pop them in the over for 12 – 15 mins or until golden brown.
Allow to cool on trays.
Store in an airtight container. I have no idea how long they keep because the Nippers have them shnarfed in no time.

August 29, 2014August 29, 2014

The little things bring it: Cannellini Bean and Bacon Soup

Serendipity. Sometimes the little things bring it. Rocking up to my local Supervalu to restock after two weeks holidays and finding a new line of Batchelors tinned beans* give me a little blasht of serendipity. You take it where you can get it, right?

I’m all for change but, gosh darn it, I want to be the one making the changes! When my local Superquinn switched to Supervalu I saw a few of my favourite products disappear off the shelves. Admittedly there are some new or expanded ranges but I can no more buy Doves Farm Yeast, for example. I have to schlep all the way to The Hopsack in Rathmines to pick it up. I use this nearly everyday. The range of De Cecco pastas has shrunk to insignificant – no more fusilli or lasagne sheets – but thankfully The Best of Italy in Dunville Avenue, close to the ancestral home, seems to be the importer for this brand and so stocks a dazzling range of my favourite pasta. I’m easily dazzled, folks.

Back to the beans. We were just back from our holidays. I was still in my one pot cooking mode after 2 weeks of Trangia creativity and rooting around my “Get into my mouth” Pinterest board when I came across a link to this beautiful photograph by Rachel Hathaway with accompanying instructions which fitted my mood: comforting, warm (it’s gotten colder), and easy to prepare ahead. I’ve made it three times since and I think I have it now. This is also a hit with the Nippers.

Cannelini Bean and Bacon Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

125g smoked bacon lardons (I use the Dulano lardons from Lidl, always have a stock of them in the freezer)

1large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, diced

1/2 tbsp Selection chopped fresh herbs, chopped (I use sage and rosemary which taste great with beans and bacon and grow well all year round in Ireland. Do it!)

1tbsp tomato puree

2 cans (400g) canellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 litre chicken stock

1 Parmesan rind (optional)

Heat the oil in your favourite soup pot and, once hot, add the bacon.
Once it’s beginning to render a little add the onion and cook until soft.
Add the garlic and soften but don’t burn and lastly add the carrots and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the drained and rinsed beans, tomato puree and the herbs.
Cook, stirring, until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Lastly add the stock (home made or sure, feck it, from a good quality cube. I like Kallo Just Bouillon Stock Cubes which are low in sodium.)
If you are using the Parmesan rind, add now.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes.
Remove Parmesan rind and discard
You can if you like blend some of the soup but I didn’t think it needed it. Some of the cannelini beans will soften into a lovely mush.
Serve with delicious crusty bread (both the aformentioned Hopsack and Best of Italy stock lovely sourdoughs.)

A couple of notes:

You can, of course, make this with fresh beans correctly prepared.

You may find that smoked bacon makes your soup too salty so do try with an unsmoked variety i.e. chop up some traditional rather than smoked rashers.

Adding a Parmesan rind is a soup tip I got from the Corkonian and I save all my rinds in the freezer for this very purpose. It brings an extra depth to the flavour. Try it!

I’ve tried this recipe with black eyed beans and while this will render the kitchen table very tuneful the cannellini beans really are a must.

* So new, in fact, that they don’t even feature on their own website. You heard it hear first!