In a bold step forward for this blog, I want to expand the scope a little and cover the topic of food. It was several food blogs that inspired me to blog in the first place, and over the last 5 years my love of all things food has extended to cooking myself.
Besides, surely a Dad who cooks is a New Dad personified?
Over Christmas, back at home with the family, I was determined to show off some of my cooking skills. When I volunteered to cook my second dinner my father turned to me with a serious face and said “so you actually like cooking, do you?”.
How could I convey to him the joy cooking a great meal brings me? It’s a love of the technical mastery required to put the ingredients together, the subtlety in the cooking method which can make the difference between a mediocre and a great dish and the pure alchemy of turning some regular ingredients into something truly amazing.
My mother bought me a cookbook for Christmas, something that’s starting to become a tradition and one I won’t object to one bit.
This year she bought me Good Mood Food, itself created out of a blog. The book is written by a young Irishman by the name of Donal Skeahan. His background is only partially introduced in the book, mentioning “his first cooking experience…” but failing to list any more experiences, leading me to believe he is not another Irish person off the conveyor belt at Ballymaloe House (which is refreshing).
The cover notes that Donal Skeahan is “Ireland’s answer to Jamie Oliver”, which I can only disagree with on several counts. It is precisely this difference that makes Skeahan’s compilation so interesting – he is no Jamie Oliver because his recipes lack the sophistication of Oliver’s. But they also lack the complexity. These are great simply home cooked food recipes.
I enjoyed cooking his Thai Chicken Curry, a classic which is well known by many, but Skeahan’s use of red peppers to add a contrasting sweetness to the hot curry is a lovely touch. He has lots of healthy takes on favourite dishes such as paella and homemade granola.
All in all, Good Mood Food is an enjoyable book and a welcome addition to my cookery shelf.
