Recipe ideas from Michelle Darmody

Writing about food is a funny thing, I feel there is a responsibility that comes with it. If you, the reader, are going to spend your time and money on recipes they need to be manageable, nutritious and affordable.

I would like to tell you to cook everything from scratch, bake your own bread, to go to your local farmers, see what they are growing and cook with whatever you find, to tell you to go to your small family-run butchers, fishmongers, cheese-makers.

This would lead to a healthier population, less childhood obesity, a more stream-lined health system and a much happier population. But you and I and everyone else knows that this is not possible for the vast majority of us.

Work commitments, commuting, bringing up young families all take time and can make cooking a chore. Life necessitates people doing a weekly run to a major supermarket where parking is accessible and everything can be thrown into the trolley in one go.

But if we decide that supporting artisan producers and getting fresh local vegetables with the seasons is an ultimate aim we can then do our best to introduce it into our lives bit by bit.

Hopefully these recipes will be attainable for most people. If I suggest a cheese or ingredient I may suggest a small producer, who I like to support and draw attention to, if you have access to their produce do get it, if not there are always alternatives.

Cooking and baking from scratch are not always easy, they take a little time to prepare, but the rewards are there for health and quality of life.

Please do feel free to give feed back. Happy cooking.

Michelle Darmody owns the Cake Cafe and Slice in Dublin

Chicken with chorizo and arrabiata sauce

A dash of olive oil

2 onions, finely sliced

4 chicken legs on the bone

200g of chorizo, sliced

Half of the above arrabbiata sauce

Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onions until they have completely softened. Add the chicken and brown the legs. Transfer everything to an ovenproof dish. Add the chorizo and spoon the sauce over the dish.

Place into an oven heated to 180 degrees for about 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

You can serve this with rice or potatoes.

Arrabbiata sauce

Arrabbiata means angry in Italian, this sauce has a bit of a fiery kick to it and I am guessing this is where the reference to the anger comes from. It is nice made with fresh tomatoes but you can used tinned in their place if that is what you have. The sauce is a versatile base that can be used over a few days to make the following evenings cooking a little easier.

Or you can use the sauce spread on a pizza base instead of a tomato passatta, or spooned over some poached eggs on toast. It is a good start to many dishes and can be made more or less spicy depending on how you like it.

A generous dash of olive oil

6 cloves of garlic

800g of chopped ripe tomatoes

A bunch of oregano, very finely chopped

A bunch of thyme, removed from the stalk, very finely chopped

A bunch of basil, very finely chopped

3 small red chilli peppers, finely chopped

4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Gently heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the garlic until it is about to change colour. Stir the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

Add six teaspoons of chopped oregano, two of thyme and six of finely chopped basil to the tomatoes.

Add the chilli and balsamic and allow to bubble away over a very low heat for 15 minutes.

Taste and season. Tomatoes vary in sweetness hugely. If you feel it needs a little sweetening add a teaspoon of honey.

To make a pasta dish with the sauce, cook enough penne for four until it is al dente and stir in four tablespoons of the Arrabbiata sauce.

Sprinkle with the shaved Parmesan cheese and some chopped basil and serve.

Whiting fillet in paper parcels

Parcels are a perfect way to cook fish, they keep the flesh very moist and are nice when placed on peoples’ plates. I usually use baking parchment but as an alternative, you can use tinfoil.

1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced

4 fillets of whiting

4 tables spoons of the Arrabbiata sauce

1 lemon sliced

Place the fennel in the centre of four large squares of baking parchment.

Sit the fillet of fish on top and spoon the sauce over the fish.

Sit two slices of lemon on the top and bundle up the paper so that it forms a parcel.

Place the parcel into an oven heated to 200 degrees and bake for 15 minutes until the fish is cooked through, it should be pearly white not transparent.

My mom’s banana bread

If you have a bit more time at the weekend this is a nice baking recipe to try. It lasts a good few days, in fact it gets more moist after a day or so, making it is great for school lunches.

You can add more dried fruit if you wish or use raisins instead of the cranberries. The chocolate chips are a nice treat but coco nibs can be used as healthier alternative.

You will need a loaf tin to make this but that is all. The ingredients are all stirred together in a bowl and then put in the tin.

225g of self raising flour

½ level tsp of fine sea salt

100g butter

175g caster sugar

100g dried cranberries

25g of hazelnuts, chopped

100g of chocolate chips

2 eggs

450g of ripe bananas without the skins, mashed

Heat your oven to 180 Celsius or 350 Fahrenheit or Gas mark 4.

Line a two-pound loaf tin with baking parchment.

Sift flour and salt; rub in the butter until it looks like rough breadcrumbs.

Add sugar, sultanas, walnuts and cherries. Mix together and make a hollow in the centre. Crack in the eggs and add the mashed banana. Beat all ingredients thoroughly with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Pour mixture into the tin and spread it evenly bake for 1½ hours at 180 degrees.

Cool before removing from tin. This cake keeps really well for a few days.