Colcannon Potatoes

Also Irish and very similar to Champ with a few extra Ingredients…

Potatoes (Floury) baked then skins removed and mashed
Butter to taste
Spring Onions Chopped
Cabbage (tender) blanched and finely chopped
Leeks (white part only) chopped and sweated down
Bacon cooked crispy then chopped
Cheddar (sharp) grated
Salt to taste

Once you try Colcannon or Champ it will change how you view potatoes!!

Again no quantities!

Champ Potatoes

This is a traditional Irish potato dish. very simple but so delicious!

Potatoes (floury) baked then skins removed and mashed
Butter to taste
Spring Onions Chopped and Mixed to taste
Salt to taste

note: the reason we bake the potatoes before mashing instead of boiling is because it adds more flavour and baking them removes allot more moisture which allows the potato to absorb more butter….perfect for the waste line!

I also haven’t put quantities because you most likely will not be using the same potatoes salt or butter that i will be and this will have a big impact on seasoning and the end product… if you use a waxy potato or salted butter it will throw everything off.


Potatoes - Chicken Fried

HOLY SHIT! these potatoes are insane!!!!

Small Scottish Aura Potatoes
Sea Water
Chicken Fat

Boil until the potatoes are very soft. then wash off all of the salt water in clean running water.

Fry the small potatoes in the chicken fat very slowly (45mins to 60mins). allow the potatoes to infuse in the fat for 30 more mins. after the 30 mins taste the potatoes for seasoning and temperature.

temperature is so important for this dish! if the potatoes are served too hot the chicken fat will run off… too cold and the fat will congeal and the potato will have a poor texture. They should be served perfectly warm.

for the actual cooking of the potatoes we were directly inspired by the preperation for “papas arrugadas” but we dont serve them with a suace and we added the frying in chicken fat.

Beetroot Cooking

Pre-prepared beetroot is crap and over priced! this is such a simple vegetable to cook it just takes a bit longer. this is how we do it.

Boiling salted water
Beetroot (unpeeled)

Add the beetroot to the seasoned water then cook until soft (do not peel the beetroot). If you have a lid it will dramatically improve your cooking time. after an hour or so (depending on the size of your beets) they should have softened. cool them down in the cooking liquid then run them under cold water. they should peel very easily now with a small knife. We would then dress them in oil, vinegar and salt or toss them in hot butter and salt

Carrots Cooking (Long)

This process will develop the most insane flavour of carrot you will ever try. for this we use purple carrot which is completely natural (not all carrots grow orange).

Purple carrots (whole/unpeeled)
Goats butter
Diluted distilled vinegar (50:50 vinegar water) in a spray bottle

You will need allot of butter (500g+). add your carrots into a large frying pan and add 1/3 of the butter then put the carrots on the lowest possible setting on your stove and baste for around 10 mins while everything is warming up. then allow the carrots to slowly cook for 3 hours… turn the carrots and baste again. add another 1/3 of butter. cook for 3 more hours…. add the final 1/3 of butter baste and slightly raise the heat up. cook for a further 2 hours then turn the heat off and allow the carrot to infuse in the caramelised fat for around 10 mins then remove and slice in half and sprey with vinegar mix.

if at any point the butter begins to burn remove from the heat and add a tiny amount of water and spray with the diluted vinegar mix to lower the PH which will stop it burning or caramelising any further. then continue to cook.

Athol Brose

Athol Brose! what an incredible creamy and decadent drink! origonaly scottish before the Irish stole it and made a hell of alot of money from it! if you make this recipie you will know exactly the drink im talking about...

Oatmeal Brose:
150g - Pin Head Oat Meal
150g - Medium Oats
1000g - Water

Boil as if making a water porridge after 4-5 mins pass the liquid off (the remaining oats can be eaten or used in flapjacks). Chill the liquid.

700 - Oat Meal Brose
700 - Whiskey
800 - Cream
200 - Honey

Dissolve the honey in some warm cream, then mix all ingredients. chill and shake well before serving.

Pickled Black Currant Leafs

500 - Black Currant Leaves
500 - Spirit Vinegar (6% acidity)
200 - Water
175 - Sugar (Caster)

Boil the vinegar/water/sugar together to disolve then allow to cool before pouring over the black currant leaves. allow to pickle for 1 month before use

Black Garlic

If you haven’t had black garlic yet you need to get some! its impressively weird! In the process the garlic changes from beautiful white spicey pearl in to a liquoricey balsamicy blackened fossel of a clove.

Basically black garlic is aged garlic nothing added or taken away other then a little heat and time. its darkened by the maillard reaction.

Garlic Bulbs standing upright on a tray then clingfilmed

Cook in the dehydrator for 3 months at 60C

Samphire Powder

an excellent recipe to preserve samphire by turning it into a powder to use as a seasoning if flavouring,

100g - Samphire (or any amount)

Dry at 50C for 12 Hours Blitz then pass through a sieve

Cured Tenderloin

300g - Beef Tenderloin
60g - Salt
30g - Black Pepper
10g - Nutmeg

Trim the tenderloins then cut into strips 2 cm in diameter weighing around 150g. Season with the mix. Ballontine with clingfilm and set in the fridge for 8 days minimum.


Piccalilli Paste

This is an British relish made from spiced pickled and salted vegetables. We make it into a paste to use

Salt for 24 hrs:
1 - Cauliflower (cut into even sized florets)
1 - White Onion
100g - Salt

Rinse the cauliflower and onion then add:
1 - Cucumber (Peeled, Deseeded and Diced)


Boil and Infuse for 20 mins:
600 - White Wine Vinegar
300 - Malt Vinegar
1 tsp - Dried Chilli

Boil and Simmer for 20mins:
120g - Corn Flour
15g - Tumeric
25g - English Mustard Powder
350 - Caster Sugar

Pour the hot liquid over all of the other preparations and blitz in the Thermomix until smooth then pass and cool.

Pickled Fennel

This is one of my favourite pickles i could literally have it on anything… this recipe is for one fennel bulb so you can scale up easily

1 - Fennel (sliced very thinly on a mandolin)
80g - Caster Sugar
100g - Distilled Vinegar

Boil the water and sugar then cool it down before pouring over the fennel.

Prosciutto Cure

This cure will work with Pork or Lamb. the quantitys given for everything appart from the leg meat are percentages of weight of the meat.

1 - Pork Leg
3.8% - Salt
3 % - White Sugar
1.5 % - Black Pepper
0.2% - Rosemary
0.2% - Garlic

Blitz all the ingredients together apart from the meat. Cover the meat with the cure mix and massage well. cure for at least 1 month turning every week.

After the month remove the excess salt and leave the ham at room temp for 5 days then rise the meat with a mixture of vinegar and water (50:50). wrap the leg in muslin cloth and hang for at least 6 months. It can be stored 2 years this way and the longer the better.

I recommend brushing the meat with the same water vinegar at least once or twice during the hanging to keep the chances of spoilage down.

Note: This process works perfectly however I recommend reading up on the correct temperatures a humidity for hanging the meat. You should also be aware of what good and bad mould looks like.