The best home cooking and recipe videos this week

These brilliant tutorials by Irish chefs and foodies are giving us lots of recipe inspiration for home cooking

Feeling uninspired when it comes to homemade meals? We’re all feeling the absence of our usual meals out, from office lunches to weekend brunches. But thankfully, social media was awash this week with really inspiring cook along videos. Here are some of our favourites, from tasty cookies by Clodagh McKenna, to the GastroGay’s delicous focaccia bread.

Heritage potato & Rosemary Focaccia, by GastroGays

We love the look of this one. One half of our favourite food blogging duo GastroGays, Patrick cooked this recipe using Ballymakenny Farm potatoes on Thursday evening. The whole process is saved to a highlight on their Instagram page, where you can cook along with Patrick and at the end have beautiful loaf of focaccia to show for it.

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Our @ballymakenny heritage potato and rosemary focaccia recipe now on a step-by-step walkthrough on our IG Stories (and saved in a highlight!) 🥔 🍞 🇮🇹

A post shared by Patrick + Russell 🏡 at home (@gastrogays) on Mar 19, 2020 at 9:08am PDT

Clodagh McKenna’s really simple Peanut Butter Cookies

This recipe uses just six ingredients and takes less than half an hour! With all the tea and coffee we’re drinking at home these days, there would be nothing better than having a tasty homemade snack to enjoy with a hot cuppa. Clodagh cooked these in a really easy-to-follow Instagram video this week:

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WATCH how to make my peanut butter cookies here on today’s IGTV Show! Scroll down for the recipe. Happy baking! Clo 💋 Makes 18 cookies INGREDIENTS: 180g / ¾ cups crunchy or smooth peanut butter 100g / ½ cup light-brown sugar 55g / ¼ cup softened unsalted butter 1 egg 85g / ¾ cups all-purpose / plain white flour 1 tsp baking soda METHOD: * Preheat oven to 180oC / 350F / Gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. * Beat together the peanut butter, sugar, butter and egg in a mixer or with a whisk until smooth. * Mix together the flour and baking soda and then gradually add it to the cookie dough mixture. Continue to mix until the dough is combined. * Using a dessertspoon, scoop out the dough and roll into balls. Place them 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking tin. Next using a fork, press balls in a crisscross pattern. * Bake the cookies in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on a wire rack.

A post shared by Clodagh McKenna (@clodagh_mckenna) on Mar 19, 2020 at 10:05am PDT

Neven Maguire’s Homemade Beef Lasagne

Top chef Neven Maguire shared a delicious recipe for a classic family favourite – tasty beef lasagne – using products from the Simply Better range at Dunnes Stores. A really straightforward recipe, the video has been edited down to a short tutorial under two minutes, you can find it on the Dunnes Stores Facebook page here.

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Shooting some recipe videos today for @simplybetterds @nomos.ie

A post shared by Nevenmaguire (@nevenmaguire) on Jan 31, 2020 at 3:21am PST

Dr Hazel Wallace’s Halloumi Traybake

Aka The Food Medic, Dr Hazel Wallace has a highlight on Instagram packed full of tasty lunchbox ideas for all-year round. This halloumi recipe she shared recently caught our eye – how tasty does it look? And it’s really simple, too. Find the recipe below and follow Hazel here.

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#LunchboxClub 🎒Halloumi Traybake. During this uncertain time, it feels a little odd continuing with normal routine but for many people routine is very important to help feel a sense of security and level of control. So #LBC will continue. This recipe is not just for lunchboxes and can be enjoyed as a family meal or simply batch cooked and portioned out in the week. One recipe serves 3. INGREDIENTS 300g sweet potato (diced) 1 red pepper (diced) 1 yellow pepper (diced) 1 courgette (sliced and halved) 1 red onion (cut into chunks) 1 teaspoon of ground cumin 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 1 block of halloumi Sprinkle of cumin seeds 3 handfuls of fresh spinach METHOD 1️⃣Preheat oven to 180c and scatter the sweet potato chunks onto it. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and place in the oven for 15 minutes. 2️⃣Once the time is up add the peppers, courgette and red onion to the same tray. Sprinkle over the ground cumin and the other tablespoon of olive oil and give everything a stir to ensure the veg is evenly coated. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes. 3️⃣Now add the slices of halloumi onto the tray, sprinkle them with cumin seeds and place the tray back in the oven for the final time for 10 minutes. 4️⃣Line your lunchboxes with spinach and then load up with the halloumi and veg. #traybake #mealprep #veggielunch #sundaylunch #lunchideas #mealprepideas #halloumi #healthylunchideas

A post shared by Dr Hazel Wallace BSc MSc MBBCh (@thefoodmedic) on Mar 15, 2020 at 5:23am PDT

Tasty and sustainable Pea Guacamole by Lilly Higgins

We’ve been following food writer Lilly Higgins’s recipes for years, so trust us when we say she knows how to make delicious, easy-to-follow recipes. We spotted this recent Pea Guacamole on her channel, see below, and love that it is a more sustainable alternative to the traditional avocado version. Follow Lilly for more recipes here.

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I’m delighted to be a brand ambassador for the @innocentireland and @giyireland Big Grow. We’ve been growing, along with almost 70,000 other school kids in Ireland, from our Big Grow Kits over the past few weeks. Each morning Hazel is watering her baby carrots. The boys are experts at cutting the cress for their sandwiches and I’ve been adding those delicious little pea shoots to everything! I’ve created a gorgeous recipe that’s the perfect way to use those lovely homegrown peas and pea shoots. Pea Guacamole is a tasty and more sustainable alternative to the traditional avocado version. Try this out the next time you have a Mexican feast or use to dip baby carrots or tortilla chips. #ad #biggrow Pea Guacamole 250g peas, blanched for 5 mins in boiling water then drained 2 tbsp Greek yogurt Juice of 1 lime 20g coriander Pinch sea salt to season Fresh baby pea shoots to garnish Blitz the peas, yogurt, lime juice, coriander and salt together till smooth. Dollop into a bowl and garnish with pea shoots.

A post shared by L i l l y H i g g i n s (@lilly_higgins_) on Feb 29, 2020 at 11:06am PST