Alanna Gallaghergets hot tips on kitchen design, equipment that really works, and real fast food recipes from enthusiastic cooks.
SONYA LENNON
My kitchen isn't enormous, but it is upbeat. It's all about being able to access ingredients easily and maximising storage without it looking too much like a fitted kitchen.
The units have peppermint green Formica countertops and apple red cupboard doors. I don't have any deep wall-hung units. My pantry is a shallow cupboard, only five or six inches deep, where I can see everything at a glance. This is where all my dry goods are. The rest of my cupboard space is set below the counters. I maintain a well-stocked store cupboard.
My main work space is the island. I couldn't cook without my Microplane grater, my wooden lemon squeezer and good knives. I found a great wall-hung chrome unit at Domus (01-8216450). My appliances, including the extractor, are by Neff, but with so much air access through my back door I rarely need to use it. I grow chives, rosemary, thyme, sage and bay in my garden.
I don't really use cookery books, although I do find myself returning again and again to Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course; Masterclass in Japanese Cooking, by Emi Kazuko and The Essential Madhur Jaffrey.
I've also started to keep a journal. It's a reminder of my cookery staples, that I use for inspiration more than anything else.
I hate recycling because once you start you can't stop. The big question is how to incorporate it into the workings of your kitchen without making a mess.
In these dark days I like to cook a potato and chorizo bake, which features sliced Maris Piper or Rooster potatoes cooked on the hob first with the chorizo and full-fat milk for about 20 minutes and then transferred to the oven to bake for another 15 minutes. It's warming, full of flavour, easy and delicious.
CAROLINE HENRY
I first got the cooking bug when I moved out of home in Cork and came up to Dublin. My kitchen is black and white, and small but functional. I recently had it redone by Mulcon Interiors in Laois (057-8735914). I'm 5ft 11ins, so I had the countertops adjusted to suit my height. I also splashed out and installed a black Blanco sink.
I adore spices and use ginger, garlic and lemon in pretty much everything I do. I like to buy my spices in McGill's delicatessen, one of the originals of the species, on Clarendon Street.
I love the no-nonsense style of Nigel Slater's books. He writes beautifully about food, about eating food in season, and believes in inviting guests to dinner and spending time with them rather than slaving away out of sight in the kitchen.
My favourite quick-fix is a chicken stir-fry with lots of vegetables, bean sprouts, chilli and garlic and rice noodles. I'm a big fan of Asia Market on Drury Street.
When I go home to Cork I love to spend time in the English Market. There are several inspirational fish stalls, all featuring local catches. And if you ask for advice, as I frequently do, they'll even offer suggestions on how to cook it and will, if you ask nicely, fillet it for you, while you go off and have a cup of coffee. In Dublin I get almost the same vibe in Caviston's in Glasthule.
When I'm on tour I hand over the reins to Snakatak Catering, who cater for our every desire. It's a really important part of touring. I have to confess to packing industrial quantities of Barry's tea into a flight case to ensure a decent cuppa wherever we are.
Caroline Henry is a tour and production manager. She's currently working with Andrea Corr.
JERRY KOCHANSKI
As a trained engineer, I find myself attracted to high-tech kitchen hardware. I have a Sub Zero fridge and a Wolf range. The range has a barbecuing hob that I can use indoors to create that sunny feeling 365 days a year. I also have a trusty wok that I can't do without, as well as two Braun coffee grinders - one for coffee beans, the other for spices. And I have a blender, in which I make most of my sauces as I'm not very handy with a knife, as a professional chef would be. I also use a pestle and mortar for spices such as cardamom and cloves, which tend to get lost in the grinder.
I like spicy food. I suppose that goes without saying. Lamb chapatti is a great winter warmer. In my version I slowly brown several onions with a couple of cloves of garlic and a knob of ginger, until the onions caramelise. Then I open and pour into the blender a can or two of tomatoes and add another chopped raw onion to this mix. Blend some cardamom and coriander in the grinder and pour the spices into the pan with the other elements. Add the lamb and brown the chopped meat. Then transfer the tomato mix to the pan and cover and simmer for about three-and-a-half hours, adding water when necessary if it reduces too much. This is a dish that is even better if you cook it the day before you want to eat it. And it's great with garlic naan. I have to confess to taking home some balls of naan dough from the restaurant and cooking them under the grill, which isn't quite the same as a tandoor oven but will do in a pinch. Naan bread doesn't travel very well.
Jerry Kochanski is the owner of Vermillion restaurant, over the Terenure Inn in Dublin 6 (01-4991400)
SIMON PRATT
I've a pretty nice kitchen with terrazzo worktops and splashbacks, and lots of light. I inherited a run-down Aga, which Campbell & Cooke (01-4136466) reconditioned and re-enamelled for me. I have two ovens and two fridges, which is the height of being spoilt, but it's great to have the back-up for dinner parties. It's the business.
A Waring blender, which is practically bullet-proof, is a great asset to any kitchen. An oven thermometer helps to take the mystery out of Aga cooking. Fan ovens, too, can be as much as 20 degrees hotter than you think they are - so it's essential for successful slow cooking or accurate baking.
At this time of the year, risotto is my store-cupboard staple. An Italian chef we recently added to the Avoca staff swears by good stock as a base for all risotto. He taught me to use a mirepoix of celery, onions and carrots sweated in butter before adding bones and water to the stock. I make stock from every roast chicken carcass and freeze it so it's always to hand. All you have to do then is add porcini mushrooms and finish with Parmesan cheese.
For recipe inspiration, books I love to go back to include A Year in My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell, and Roast Chicken and Other Stories, by Simon Hopkinson.
People shouldn't kill themselves when cooking for others. Don't be a martyr. There are great places to buy good food. You don't have to make everything from scratch. Why not do a good plate of charcuterie, roast peppers and nice breads and oils for your starter? It gives you more time with your guests. Food is only 30 or 40 percent of the equation when it comes to a memorable dining experience. It's all about creating a sense of balance.
Simon Pratt is MD of the Avoca chain of shops and restaurants, which recently opened a new store in Belfast's Arthur Street.
PAUL BYRNE
I have moulded terrazzo worktops, which I built myself, in my kitchen - one of the advantages of having been in the building trade. I went for a Britannia extractor hood, a De Dietrich induction hob that's really responsive to heat, and safe, with two small kids around. I have a Siemens steam oven that is fantastic to cook fish or vegetables in and a De Dietrich pyro self-clean oven, because life is too short.
The Fisher and Paykel fridge-freezer is just the best thing I ever bought. It's big and roomy, with loads of space for a family's needs. And it keeps vegetables fresher than anything I've ever owned.
I'd hate to lose my three really good Gustav Emil Ern knives. I bought them about 15 years ago while working in construction in New York. We were building the Smith & Wollensky steakhouses and they were a recommendation from one of the head chefs there. They've been the best thing I've ever bought, apart from the fridge of course! You can order them through Fallon & Byrne.
If you want to push your cooking limits, try reading The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller. It's great for sauces and stocks. The Soul of the Chef, by Michael Rhulman, is a great book about cooking for any foodie.
Roasted squash and walnut salad is a delicious light meal that works well on its own as a starter, or as a main course, if you serve it with grilled fish. A great family-friendly meal is an Irish coastal fish stew with new potatoes, carrots, leeks, celery, to which you add cooked prawns and white fish. Add 150ml of double cream, salt and white pepper and garnish with grated red cheddar and serve with sage croutons.
At home we have a fantastic system: he who cooks doesn't clean.
Paul Byrne is joint-MD of Fallon & Byrne, the food shop and restaurant on Dublin's Exchequer Street.
AUDREY McDONALD
I've just moved house, and inherited a kitchen which is just too big. I like a compact space to work in. My kitchen man, Derek Binley of Servequip Kitchen Systems (01-6231699), advises me to live with it for six months before reviewing the situation.
I do a fair bit of chargrilling and need a strong extractor, but opening windows also helps alleviate the problem. People get too hung up on gadgetry. I can't do without my balloon whisk, which is considered tiresome, but a good technique comes with years of practice. When I'm ravenous, I tend to cook pasta. It's the quickest food fix when you come home starving. Garlic and chopped chillies cooked in a good quality olive oil with toasted pine nuts and chopped fresh parsley thrown into the mix just before you toss in the spaghetti is a wonderful winter warmer. Add loads of Parmesan cheese and it's good to eat.
I have a 15-month daughter, Eva, and Before Eva (BE) I used to go to heaps of trouble when entertaining. I'd think nothing of four courses, starting with seared fois gras with caramelised apple and onion, followed by Châteaubriand steak, then cheese and dessert.
For dinner parties After Eva (AE) I tend to keep things simple and use the best ingredients I can find. A scallop or prawn starter, followed by a great cheat: fillet steak marinaded in good balsamic vinegar and olive oil for about an hour and then chargrilled. Serve with roast potatoes garnished with fleur de sel salt. I've given up on dessert. Of course, the more you can do before the dinner party the better, that way you're relaxed and not under any more pressure. Pet hates? Making tomato concasse, which is the technical term for blanching, peeling, deseeding and chopping tomatoes, is a dirty job, which I try to avoid if I can delegate.
Chef Audrey McDonald is in partnership with John Carty and they have the catering rights at Number 10 Ormond Quay, Dub. For bookings see www.privatecaterers.com.