“Off Duty Chef: Bringing it Home.” New series presented by chef Mark Moriarty
As an experienced chef in some of the world’s top restaurants, Mark is a firm believer that good food starts at home. Mark champions simple food and shows us how to make even the most traditional and staple everyday dishes feel a little bit special. From seafood chowders with stout-enriched brown bread for lunch, grab-and-go sausage rolls to enjoy on the beach, warming lamb hotpots for cosy nights in, seasonal asparagus for brunch, not forgetting his go-to chocolate cake recipe that he bakes for his mum.
Each episode features new recipes presented in Mark’s signature hands-on and accessible step-by-step style. “I wanted to bring things up a notch this time and introduce ‘fancy, but not fussy’ dishes. I love cooking the classics and doing them well. Simple dishes packed full of flavour at home. Ultimately, I want to make food that people truly enjoy cooking and eating.”
Mark’s approach to “Off Duty Chef” recipes is simple: using easy-to-find ingredients, familiar dishes that bring comfort, celebrating the best of Irish produce where possible, and making dishes achievable for both beginner and experienced home cooks. Along the way, Mark will show us some of the key skills and tricks to making everyday dishes a little bit “cheffy”, from simple tomato sauces for pasta to upping your chip game with seaweed seasoning.
He’ll demonstrate how to halve your roast chicken cooking time, reintroduce native Irish grains into our casseroles, achieve perfectly crispy pastry, and show us how we’ve been cooking pork chops wrong all along and what to do about it!.
Alongside the delicious recipes, Mark shares the solace he finds in Co. Kerry in contrast to the high-pressure restaurant environment where he usually works. Across the six episodes, he visits various locations in Kerry, including Ventry Beach, O’Connor’s farm in the Maharees, a windswept Dun Chaoin Pier, and tours Dingle Harbour, captained by his father, Tom. He also visits some of his favourite local spots, such as Krugers Bar in Dun Chaoin, Quinns Bar in Ventry, My Boy Blue for a coffee in Dingle, and The Chart House, where his first job in a professional kitchen began at 16.
The series is proudly sponsored by M&S Food.
Episode One
Food for Colder Days
If one thing can be said about the weather in West Kerry, it’s that it is predictably unpredictable on any given day of the year. In the first episode of this series, Mark shares three delicious recipes that are designed for when the weather outside is a bit cooler and you need something to warm you up. First, a speedy pasta alla puttanesca, a fiery tomato-based pasta dish you can get to the table in mere minutes. Next, he cooks up a Spiced Lamb with Greek-style cous cous using locally sourced lamb. To finish, a showstopping chicken pie that is sure to wow your guests. This is next-level comfort food for a cold day, or if you’re just in need for something wholesome and hearty.
