EACH WEEK, WE ask a home cook about the dishes they’ve been whipping up of late. The kind of food you don’t need a recipe for, from quick snacks to empty-the-fridge dinners.
This week, Tine Van den Heuvel (@myemeraldkitchen) shared five of her go-to dishes from her Tipperary kitchen.
“I moved from Belgium to Ireland about four years ago now,” says Tine. “Moving here really opened up a whole new world of ingredients and food for me. I’m still in awe over the amount of local producers that are around the place.”
From Belgian waffles with a twist to a simple spelt loaf, below are five of Tine’s favourite dishes.
1. French crêpes: I have quite a lot of great food memories from when I was kid, but thin pancakes were the absolute highlight back when I was in school. Most Sundays my parents, my siblings and I would go for a swim in the local pool and when we came home my parents would make us some homemade pancakes. Up until a few years ago I had actually never tried to make them myself, but I got inspired by a charity event on Pancake Tuesday last year and ended up baking a whopping 100 pancakes for my colleagues. My recipe is here.
2. Basil and chive potato waffles: I’m quite a big fan of traditional recipes, but I also find it really fun to put a twist on those recipes, like by combining my Belgian heritage with my passion for Ireland. I basically took one of the most well loved Belgian foods, waffles, and gave them an Irish twist by making them with potatoes. I then added some extra little bits and pieces to make it into a nice lunch/snack recipe.
3. Honey & coconut oat bars: This recipe itself is again something I had never tried before: oat bars. I’m quite the snacker so in order to stop myself from feasting on chocolate all day long I’ve been trying to come up with some healthier snacks like protein balls or oat bars to keep me going throughout the day at work. They are so easy to make as well! Here’s the recipe.
4. Spelt and honey loaf: Before I started my blog, I had never attempted to make my own bread, but as my grandfather was a baker I felt like I should at least give it a try once. When I made my first bread I couldn’t believe how much fun it was and how rewarding the outcome was. Although I usually feel quite happy with anything I cook, bread has just that little extra feeling for some reason.
There are of course a lot of breads that are more challenging to make than others, but this spelt loaf is a very easy one! There is something about the smell of freshly baked bread that really puts a smile on my face.
5. Scallops and black pudding with cauliflower cream: This recipe showcases some high quality Irish ingredients. It looks simple and elegant, but scallops can be very tricky to make as you don’t want to overcook (or undercook) them. One and a half to two minutes on each side should do it for an average sized scallop. If you’ve never cooked scallops before I’d recommend trying to cook just one before you make a whole batch, you’ll be able to tell right away then if they need more or less time in the frying pan.
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