Is there a bit of a feeling of spring around the place or am I just fooling myself as I can see some patches of blue sky today? It is a welcome sight because I am immersed in planning the menu for the pop-up restaurant that I curate for Bloom during the June Bank Holiday weekend. Claire Beasley and I have our heads together working away on recipes and I’m really looking forward to working with Gareth Duff and his team again.
I have been doing demos at Bloom since it began 20 years ago, but 2025 was the first time we did a pop-up restaurant. It was a great experience and I’m delighted that Bord Bia have asked me to do it again.
The menu has to be Irish and seasonal and we use produce from the producers at the show. As usual, there will be a lot of good ones to feature. Remember that where we are cooking was a field just a few weeks earlier, so this is very different from MacNean Restaurant.
The food needs to be doable and tasty and well-planned because if you forget anything, there are no shops nearby.
Like last year, it will be a three-course lunch and we expect to be serving at least 300 people on each of the five days. We learned a lot last year and thankfully, all went well.
I took a break last year to go over to where Lyric FM were broadcasting to have a chat with my old mate, Marty Whelan. As you know, he is usually on air from 7am to 10am and congratulations Marty on your recent increase in listeners in the latest JNLR figures. At Bloom he changes his show time and I think he is on air until noon. I am fairly certain that he does this so that he and his team can come over to our marquee and
enjoy lunch – they are of course, very welcome.
Now to this week’s recipes. I love the texture of crispy potatoes and it is so easy to do them in an air fryer. More and more kitchens have an air fryer these days and they are so useful. However, the potatoes could also be cooked in the oven at the same temperature, but they will need about 25-30 minutes in total.
A taste for everyone
There are a lot of different tastes in this recipe and I love the combination of sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo. There are many different chorizos made in Ireland these days and every one is that little bit different so try a few and find one you like. Gubbeen in Schull, Co Cork have a great range of products and Corndale in Limavady are also excellent.
But if you are not keen on chorizo you could use smoky bacon instead. The cream cheese gives a nice tartness to the sauce and cavolo nero, which translates as ‘black cabbage’, is a nice loose leafed cabbage that you may also see named as Tuscan kale. Simply Better do a very good sweet and smoky seasoning that would be ideal in this recipe.
I love the combination of honey and mustard. The honey in this recipe is hot honey which has become very trendy, particularly with young people. It has that bit of a kick as it has been infused with some chilli. I see people drizzling it over pizza which is a nice idea while others use it as a dip.
It has that great combination of sweet and spicy and it is becoming a store cupboard essential.
I came across some lovely mustards in Filligans in Glenties, Co Donegal when I was filming my Coastal Trails series for RTÉ a few years back. They have been in business since 1997 when they began making jams, marmalade and chutneys. The range has expanded a lot since then and everything is still handmade in small batches.
The mushrooms part of this recipe is a recipe of its own and they are delicious cooked in this soy and ginger mix.
Creamy chicken and chorizo with crispy potatoes
Ingredients: Serves 4
675g potatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp sweet and smoky seasoning
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Irish chorizo, skinned and diced
75g sun-dried tomatoes,
drained and thinly sliced
100ml chicken stock
1 carton cream cheese
1 pack Irish cavolo nero, shredded
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Switch the air fryer onto 200C (400F). Cut the potatoes into cubes with the skin on and dry off any excess moisture with kitchen paper. Put them in the air fryer and toss in half of the oil. Season with the salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes until the potatoes are crisp and golden brown, shaking once or twice to ensure they cook evenly.
2. Meanwhile, heat a pan or wok over a high heat. Toss the chicken in the sweet and smoky seasoning. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and quickly sauté the chicken for 2-3 minutes until golden brown but not cooked through. Tip in the onion, garlic and chorizo. Sauté for another 3 minutes until the chicken is just tender.
3. Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the chicken mixture, tossing to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and allow to bubble down, then stir in the cream cheese. Scatter the cavolo nero on top but do not stir in, then season to taste. Cover with a lid and cook for 1-2 minutes until the cavolo nero has steamed nicely on top, then fold into the chicken mixture.
4. Serve the crispy potatoes and creamy chicken and chorizo in shallow bowls and scatter over the basil and season with extra pepper to serve.
Honey and mustard chicken
Neven's honey and mustard chicken. \Philip Doyle
Ingredients: Serves 6
2 packs skin-on chicken breast fillets
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp hot honey
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
350g organic jasmine rice
1 pack Irish king oyster mushrooms,
cut into slices
25g butter, cubed
2 tbsp soy and ginger sauce
4 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Mix the mustard, garlic, honey and 1 tbsp of the oil with some salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl and coat in the marinade then cover and chill for 2-3 hours if you have the time. Allow to come back up to room temperature before you are ready to cook.
2. Preheat the oven to 190C (Gas Mark 5). Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and then wipe off the excess marinade from the chicken skin or it will burn but reserve some for later. Add the chicken to the pan, skin-side down. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin is crisp without moving the pan or the chicken. Turn the chicken over in the pan and transfer to the oven to cook for another 20-25 minutes until the chicken is completely tender. Remove from the heat and leave to rest.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the jasmine rice well and then put in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the remaining oil and half of the butter, then tip in the mushrooms, tossing to coat. Season lightly with salt and plenty of pepper. Turn the heat to medium, then sauté for about 3 minutes until golden brown.
5. Add the reserved marinade with the soy and ginger sauce, tossing to coat and sauté for another minute. Add the rest of the butter with half the parsley and toss until you have a smooth glossy sauce.
6. Divide the rice between shallow bowls and spoon the mushroom sauce on top. Finish the dish with the crispy chicken breasts and scatter over the rest of the parsley on top of the meal, as garnish upon serving.
Is there a bit of a feeling of spring around the place or am I just fooling myself as I can see some patches of blue sky today? It is a welcome sight because I am immersed in planning the menu for the pop-up restaurant that I curate for Bloom during the June Bank Holiday weekend. Claire Beasley and I have our heads together working away on recipes and I’m really looking forward to working with Gareth Duff and his team again.
I have been doing demos at Bloom since it began 20 years ago, but 2025 was the first time we did a pop-up restaurant. It was a great experience and I’m delighted that Bord Bia have asked me to do it again.
The menu has to be Irish and seasonal and we use produce from the producers at the show. As usual, there will be a lot of good ones to feature. Remember that where we are cooking was a field just a few weeks earlier, so this is very different from MacNean Restaurant.
The food needs to be doable and tasty and well-planned because if you forget anything, there are no shops nearby.
Like last year, it will be a three-course lunch and we expect to be serving at least 300 people on each of the five days. We learned a lot last year and thankfully, all went well.
I took a break last year to go over to where Lyric FM were broadcasting to have a chat with my old mate, Marty Whelan. As you know, he is usually on air from 7am to 10am and congratulations Marty on your recent increase in listeners in the latest JNLR figures. At Bloom he changes his show time and I think he is on air until noon. I am fairly certain that he does this so that he and his team can come over to our marquee and
enjoy lunch – they are of course, very welcome.
Now to this week’s recipes. I love the texture of crispy potatoes and it is so easy to do them in an air fryer. More and more kitchens have an air fryer these days and they are so useful. However, the potatoes could also be cooked in the oven at the same temperature, but they will need about 25-30 minutes in total.
A taste for everyone
There are a lot of different tastes in this recipe and I love the combination of sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo. There are many different chorizos made in Ireland these days and every one is that little bit different so try a few and find one you like. Gubbeen in Schull, Co Cork have a great range of products and Corndale in Limavady are also excellent.
But if you are not keen on chorizo you could use smoky bacon instead. The cream cheese gives a nice tartness to the sauce and cavolo nero, which translates as ‘black cabbage’, is a nice loose leafed cabbage that you may also see named as Tuscan kale. Simply Better do a very good sweet and smoky seasoning that would be ideal in this recipe.
I love the combination of honey and mustard. The honey in this recipe is hot honey which has become very trendy, particularly with young people. It has that bit of a kick as it has been infused with some chilli. I see people drizzling it over pizza which is a nice idea while others use it as a dip.
It has that great combination of sweet and spicy and it is becoming a store cupboard essential.
I came across some lovely mustards in Filligans in Glenties, Co Donegal when I was filming my Coastal Trails series for RTÉ a few years back. They have been in business since 1997 when they began making jams, marmalade and chutneys. The range has expanded a lot since then and everything is still handmade in small batches.
The mushrooms part of this recipe is a recipe of its own and they are delicious cooked in this soy and ginger mix.
Creamy chicken and chorizo with crispy potatoes
Ingredients: Serves 4
675g potatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp sweet and smoky seasoning
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Irish chorizo, skinned and diced
75g sun-dried tomatoes,
drained and thinly sliced
100ml chicken stock
1 carton cream cheese
1 pack Irish cavolo nero, shredded
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Switch the air fryer onto 200C (400F). Cut the potatoes into cubes with the skin on and dry off any excess moisture with kitchen paper. Put them in the air fryer and toss in half of the oil. Season with the salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes until the potatoes are crisp and golden brown, shaking once or twice to ensure they cook evenly.
2. Meanwhile, heat a pan or wok over a high heat. Toss the chicken in the sweet and smoky seasoning. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and quickly sauté the chicken for 2-3 minutes until golden brown but not cooked through. Tip in the onion, garlic and chorizo. Sauté for another 3 minutes until the chicken is just tender.
3. Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the chicken mixture, tossing to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and allow to bubble down, then stir in the cream cheese. Scatter the cavolo nero on top but do not stir in, then season to taste. Cover with a lid and cook for 1-2 minutes until the cavolo nero has steamed nicely on top, then fold into the chicken mixture.
4. Serve the crispy potatoes and creamy chicken and chorizo in shallow bowls and scatter over the basil and season with extra pepper to serve.
Honey and mustard chicken
Neven's honey and mustard chicken. \Philip Doyle
Ingredients: Serves 6
2 packs skin-on chicken breast fillets
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp hot honey
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
350g organic jasmine rice
1 pack Irish king oyster mushrooms,
cut into slices
25g butter, cubed
2 tbsp soy and ginger sauce
4 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Mix the mustard, garlic, honey and 1 tbsp of the oil with some salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the chicken breasts to the bowl and coat in the marinade then cover and chill for 2-3 hours if you have the time. Allow to come back up to room temperature before you are ready to cook.
2. Preheat the oven to 190C (Gas Mark 5). Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of the oil and then wipe off the excess marinade from the chicken skin or it will burn but reserve some for later. Add the chicken to the pan, skin-side down. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes until the skin is crisp without moving the pan or the chicken. Turn the chicken over in the pan and transfer to the oven to cook for another 20-25 minutes until the chicken is completely tender. Remove from the heat and leave to rest.
3. Meanwhile, rinse the jasmine rice well and then put in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain into a sieve and keep warm over a pan with a little simmering water.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the remaining oil and half of the butter, then tip in the mushrooms, tossing to coat. Season lightly with salt and plenty of pepper. Turn the heat to medium, then sauté for about 3 minutes until golden brown.
5. Add the reserved marinade with the soy and ginger sauce, tossing to coat and sauté for another minute. Add the rest of the butter with half the parsley and toss until you have a smooth glossy sauce.
6. Divide the rice between shallow bowls and spoon the mushroom sauce on top. Finish the dish with the crispy chicken breasts and scatter over the rest of the parsley on top of the meal, as garnish upon serving.
SHARING OPTIONS