Donal Skehan's blog

A couple of weeks ago myself and the Kitchen Hero camera crew headed to Austria to record the Kitchen Hero Christmas Special, which airs this year on Christmas Eve. The aim was to learn all about a traditional Austrian Christmas. We visited Meyerhoffen in the Zilla valley, an incredibly beautiful snow covered village. Some of the highlights were visiting a traditional Christmas market and the house where Silent Night became famous, and of course we got to sample lots of traditional Austrian food. The cooking sequences were shot 2500ft up a mountain in -15 degree temperatures, which can prove a little tricky when you are melting chocolate and creaming sugar and butter. To combat the chilly weather I made some of this hot chocolate... the perfect little Christmas treat!

Dark Orange Hot Chocolate

Serves 2

450ml milk

200ml cream

1 orange, zest only

150g dark chocolate, chopped

Christmas is seriously sneaking up on me this year. I'd like to say I have everything organised, considering I'm on Christmas dinner duty, but I've been busy shooting the food images for my next book and time hasn't been on my side. My plan is to keep things traditional but with a twist; my Christmas ham is going to be glazed with plum jam and star anise and my turkey will have a maple and orange glaze, stuffed with apple and smoky bacon. That's the plan anyway!

Some of my favourite winter baking recipes come from Sweden, where café culture is big business and sweet treats are incredibly popular. These cream buns are a classic Swedish recipe, spiced beautifully with cardamom.

Semlor (Swedish Cream Buns)

Semlors or cream buns are incredibly popular in Swedish bakeries. Traditionally they are eaten on Pancake Tuesday, known as Fettisdag or Fat Tuesday in Sweden. During winter, stopping for "fika", the Swedish word for taking a break from the day to enjoy some coffee, tea and something sweet, is a must. It normally includes one of these cream and almond paste filled sweet buns...

Makes about 18 buns

2 teaspoons of freshly ground cardamom

350ml milk

2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast

140g caster sugar

150g salted butter, softened

1 large free range egg

700g plain flour

It's all about home comfort this week in our house. I'm writing recipes for my next book so I've been chained to the desk trying to get it all finished before my December deadline. Working from home does mean cabin fever can take hold pretty quickly but long winter walks and catching up with friends is a quick remedy. The added advantage of being at home for an extended period of time is that I get to use the kitchen a lot! Between testing recipes, I've been cooking some old favourites and this week's highlight was these rather simple fish and chips made with lemon sole. You could also add some mushy peas to the mix here for some veggie action.

Simple Fish and Chips

A good fish and chips can be made at home quite easily. Try my version with a tangy tartare sauce and some alternative pan-fried potatoes.

Serves 4

2 tablespoons of olive oil

500g baby potatoes

4 fillets of lemon sole, skinless

Halloween is just around the corner so it's all about pumpkins this week. One of my favourite things to do growing up was carving pumpkins and we used to plead with my dad to bring home the biggest ones he could find. I love the process of cutting the top open, diving into the squelching flesh and seeds and then ripping and scooping them out. Once the seeds are clean I toss them in a little melted butter, sprinkle on some sea salt and pop them in a hot oven until golden and crisp, they make the perfect little Halloween snack.

The actual carving of the pumpkin has become a bit of a competition in our house - Google is your best friend if you want some cool ideas. Irish people are of course well used to carving pumpkins but it's only in more recent years that it has become popular to cook and bake with the flesh as an ingredient. Roasted, added to soups or baked in pies it has a wonderfully unique sweet taste.