• Temp: 2 C, mostly cloudy,

"His creative, imaginative cuisine has its roots in logic commonsense, craft skills of the highest order, and a focus on raw materials of the finest qualities...."

Colcannon soup with cheese straws

I serve this soup with my more-ish cheese straws, which are a fantastic canapé, perfect to kick-start any dinner party.

They can be made up to three days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Crisp in a preheated oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6 for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. To make the cheese straws, place the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle over the Cheddar in an even layer. Fold in half widthways to enclose the cheese layer completely and roll out again to its original size, using a little extra flour if necessary. Brush all over with the beaten egg and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to rest.

Take the chilled cheese pastry and cut it into 10 cm/4 in lengths, each 1 cm/1/2 in wide. Hold the ends of each strip between your fingers and twist the ends in opposite directions. Arrange the twisted strips on non-stick baking sheets and sprinkle a little salt over each one. Bake for 10 minutes or until crisp and golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature (see recipe intro.).

To make the crispy Parma ham, shards, rip the Parma ham into long thin strips and arrange on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes until crispy and then leave to cool.

To make the colcannon soup, heat a large pan and sauté the bacon over a medium to high heat for a couple minutes until the fat comes out. Stir in the onion, potatoes, leek and cabbage, then cover with a lid and sweat over a medium heat for 10 minutes until well softened but not coloured, stirring occasionally.

Pour the vegetable stock or water into the cabbage mixture and bring to the boil, then season to taste. Stir in the cream and simmer for a few minutes until the soup has a creamy texture.

Remove the soup from the heat and whisk in the butter. It is important not to reboil the soup once the butter has been added or you’ll find it will curdle. Ladle the colcannon soup into cappuccino cups or warmed serving bowls and arrange a cheese straw to the side. Serve the remaining cheese straw in a separate dish at the table or use as a canape.