NI chef Paula McIntyre talks about her new TV series Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA

The Aghadowey-born chef, who trained in Culinary Arts at the prestigious Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, admits she could never have imagined she’d be back in the USA cooking catfish and making coleslaw alongside Dolly’s sister, Rachel Parton George.

“Not in a million years. It was very surreal, and a dream come true. I just always imagined when I was at culinary school that I'd be stuck inside a kitchen for the rest of my days. So it's been brilliant.”

Since the age of 14, Paula has had a passion for cooking and appreciating the local taste of her Causeway Coast and Glens surroundings which have paved the way to her successful professional career as an award winning chef, food writer and TV star.

Growing up, she nurtured her Ulster-Scots heritage, beginning her culinary adventure learning how to make classics in her family kitchen such as Scotch broth, tea brack and soda farls.

Indeed, her love for local ingredients has shone through each episode of her popular Hamely Kitchen series for BBC NI. And now fans of her hamely cooking are in for a treat as the renowned NI chef returns to our screens this autumn with a new hugely entertaining six-part series.

In Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA she highlights the ingredients and recipes which, thanks to Ulster-Scots (or Scots-Irish as they became known over time), have ended up becoming part of America's diverse food culture – ingredients like buttermilk, kale and moonshine, are just some of the staples from the Scots-Irish larder which are still used by home cooks and chefs in the States today.

Travelling from the coast of New England to the Smoky mountains in Tennessee, following in the footsteps of the Ulster-Scots, Paula visits some of the places where they settled and meeting producers who are preserving traditions such as clam digging and moonshine distilling. And, of course, she cooks up dishes inspired by her travels.

Paula says there wasn’t a day of her trip that “wasn’t a highlight”, including meeting Brad McFadden (episode four), whose Ulster-Scots ancestors left Aghadowey in the early 1700s. Brad, who lives in Merrymeeting Bay in Maine, shares Paula’s affection for spuds and butter - and he cooks her a traditional family meal with a surprising twist.

"It was just lovely to meet Brad McFadden and to sit and talk to him and the fact that he’s keeping the history alive, and maybe even that our families knew each other seven generations back,” says Paula.

And there was another interesting Ulster-Scots find in New England, as Paula explains.

“We found a plaque to the Reverend James McGregor, a Presbyterian Minister who had taken a a whole congregation from Aghadowey to New England in 1718."

As well as bringing their strong Presbyterian faith, the Bann Valley Presbyterians also brought white Irish potatoes to the American colonies.

"So we’ve got the people of Aghadowey to thank for white potatoes,” laughs Paula.

She also visits Belfast, Maine, the town named by two Scots-Irishmen, goes clam-digging, tries New England’s celebrated clam chowder and finds syrup heaven at a maple syrup farm and museum

“I love maple syrup and just to see somebody tapping into trees to get the sap was brilliant.”

She also meets a hardworking fisherwoman and cook, famous for her lobster rolls. She tastes a breakfast so big it's served in its own skillet. She visits Lodge Cast Iron in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, where she sees her own skillet being forged; and takes in breathtaking views of the Smoky Mountains from a sky high cable car.

Paula also meets Appalachian cook Stephanie Foley and learns the art of making the perfect cornbread, and she visits a distillery where traditional moonshine is fused with some surprising contemporary flavours.

"Moonshine is made with corn,” explains Paula. “It's actually quite easy to drink, because even though it is quite high in alcohol, it's got the sweetness from the corn.”

She also visits a New Hampshire distillery and samples some delicious fruit liqueurs.

“They were just a lovely couple. We were really lucky. Everybody was just really nice and were very keen to show off what they were doing.”

There’s also a stop at a historic orchard, founded by a Scots-Irish family, to taste some of their famous apple-cider donuts.

In Kentucky, Paula goes on the trail of one of her favourite ingredients - buttermilk. She visits Lauren Angelucci McDuffie, a food writer with Scots-Irish heritage, who uses it in a traditional Southern fried chicken dish; she enjoys buttermilk ice-cream at a local dairy farm; and meets with chef Jeff Carter who serves up a delicious buttermilk cheese.

In the final episode, Paula is in Nashville, the home of country music. In search of good music and good food, her first stop is a Nashville institution famous for its meat and three veg inspired menu.

"I really had always sort of wanted to go to Arnold's in Nashville, it's an institution. And it was amazing.”

Paula samples the house special meatloaf with turnip greens and goes behind the scenes to see how Chef Kahlil Arnold makes the restaurant's famous fried green tomatoes. She visits a live music venue with a reputation for great desserts, where she’s treated to a performance by Kirwan, a singing duo from Northern Ireland who have made their home in Nashville.

After a visit to the Nashville Farmer’s market Paula makes a BBQ pork shoulder with corn, kale and squash in her mountain cabin kitchen – along with a delicious traditional cobbler.

Her final stop is at Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, for a pot-luck lunch celebrating the congregations’ Scots-Irish heritage. Paula tries a kale-based dish and impresses the local cooks with her sugar plum and hazelnut cobbler.

And, of course, throughout the series Paula cooks up some delectable dishes, including river trout with grilled green beans, crispy country ham and almond dressing, grilled peaches with bourbon smoked salt sauce on waffles and lima bean and bacon soup – to name but a scrumptious few.

So what’s next – could there be Hamley Kitchen Australia or Canada?

"I don't know. I think we'll see how this one goes down, but from my point of view I’d love to do another away. I think we’ve just touched on the American story. There's an awful lot more there. And there's Canada, there's Australia, there's New Zealand…..And at some stage, I would love to do a book.”

Besides, her TV shows, Paula was recently appointed chair of the Irish Food Writer’s Guild.

"I’m still going around the country doing my demos as usual, and I’m still doing the John Toal show on BBC NI on Saturday mornings. I'm really lucky that I have a job that I absolutely love and still get very excited about.

"No two days are the same. I still love to cook, I still love ingredients and I love looking at different recipes, I love eating in restaurants and I love chatting to people about food."

*Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA begins on Friday, September 20, BBC One Northern Ireland, 7.30pm and BBC iPlayer.