Sardine Ripene

Ingredients

10 sardines, clean and butterfly filleted.
50g pine nuts.
20g fresh breadcrumbs.
4 tblsp parsley, finely chopped.
1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced.
1 small onion, very finely sliced.
1 garlic clove, finely chopped.
½ lemon.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.
In a frypan over moderate heat, brown the garlic, onion, fennel and pine nuts with a dash of olive oil.
Add 1 tbsp of parsley and ½ the breadcrumbs and cook for 30 seconds, stirring very well, and place aside.
Mix in the remaining breadcrumbs and parsley and set aside.
Place the sardines skin down on a greased baking tray.
Cover with the breadcrumb mixture, and drizzle with a touch of olive oil.
Bake for 5 – 7 minutes.

Cabbage and Pork Soup

Ingredients

400g minced pork.
½ Chinese cabbage, chopped.
1 egg.
2 tblsp flour.
60ml soy sauce.
3 tbsp shao xing rice wine.
15g ginger, 1/3 of it finely grated, the other 2/3 finely chopped chopped.
½ small onion, finely chopped.
3 shallots, white part only, finely sliced.

Method

Combine pork, egg, flour, grated ginger, and 1 tbsp rice wine with salt and pepper.
Knead well, forming into a large pattie, about 20cm in diameter and 2cm thick.
Place aside.
In a ceramic bowl over high heat, cook remaining ginger, shallots and onion for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Add remaining rice wine and soy sauce.
Cook for a further 30 seconds.
Add 1 litre water and cabbage.
Bring to the boil.
Rest pattie on cabbage, ensuring that it is cover by at least 1cm water.
Add additional water if necessary.
Return to the boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 7 minutes.

Tuna Bake

Ingredients

200g long-grain rice (uncooked weight), cooked.
200g canned tuna.
100g canned corn kernels.
100g cheddar cheese, grated.
200ml milk.
25g flour.
50g butter.
1 tblsp Dijon mustard.
Breadcrumbs.

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C.
First make a white sauce by melting 25g butter in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat, adding flour, and cooking for one minute, stirring constantly to form a roux.
Remove from heat, stir in milk and mustard.
Return to heat, gently bring to the boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.
Grease a casserole dish with some of the remaining butter.
Layer rice, tuna, corn, cheese and white sauce in dish.
Top with bread-crumbs.
Dob remaining butter across crumbs.
Cook casserole in oven for 20min, or until well browned.

Veal Involtini

Ingredients

Veal fillets, tenderised very well.
1 asparagus spear per fillet.
1 thin slice mortadella, per fillet.
Strong Italian cheese, such as provolone, grated.
Flour.
White wine.
Parsley, finely chopped.

Method

Wrap each spear with mortadella.
Sprinkle veal with cheese.
Wrap veal and cheese around spears, securing with twine.
Season well, and roll lightly in flour.
Sear packages for 3 minutes on each side with a dash of olive oil.
Deglaze pan with white wine and reduce.
Serve pan juices over Involtini, season and sprinkle with parsley.

Le Croque Monsieur

Ingredients

Shaved leg ham.
Bread, sliced 1cm thick.
Gruyere cheese, grated.
Salad.

For the sauce:
30g butter.
30g flour.
2 tsp Dijon mustard.
150ml milk.
Pinch nutmeg.

Method

To make the sauce, combine the milk and mustard, stirring well.
Melt butter over low heat in a heavy-based saucepan and stir in the flour, cooking for 1 minute to form a roux.
Remove from heat, and gradually stir in milk/mustard mixture.
Return to heat, bring to the boil, reduce heat and stir until thickened.
Add a pinch of nutmeg, and season.

On a slice of bread arrange ham, gruyere and a layer of sauce.
Top with another slice of bread to form a sandwich.
Over medium heat, fry sandwich for 1 to 2 minutes on each side with a dash of butter.
Slice in half and serve with some salad.

Baked Crab with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 blue swimmer crabs.
200ml canned diced tomatoes.
1 tblsp coriander leaves, finely chopped.
1 tblsp coriander root, chopped and ground.
2 tsp paprika.
2 tsp turmeric.
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed.

Method

Clean and gut the crabs.
Using a mallet or seafood cracker, split the shell and larger claws.
Combine the ingredients and marinate crabs for at least four hours.
Separate the crabs and marinade, and tightly wrap each crab with a ½ portion of marinade in 3 - 4 layers of aluminium foil.
Bake each crab packet for 20 – 25 minutes in hot coals.

Lamb Kofta

Ingredients

400g lamb mince.
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped.
2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped.
1 tblsp parsley, finely chopped.
2 tsp ground cumin.
1 tsp cayenne pepper.
4 wooden skewers.

For the sauce:
1 tblsp mint, finely chopped.
125ml yoghurt.
1 garlic clove, finely chopped.
Lemon.

Method

Soak the skewers in water for at least one hour.
To make the sauce, combine ingredients and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper.
To make the kofta, combine all the ingredients well, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Form into 8 balls.
Using pressure, thread two balls onto each skewer, forming the balls into a torpedo shape.
Barbeque for 4 minutes on four sides, brushing occasionally with olive oil.
Serve with sauce and sliced lemon.

BBQ Haloumi

Ingredients

Haloumi, sliced into 1cm thick pieces.
Lemon.
Mint, finely chopped.

Method

Barbeque the haloumi over hot coals for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side.
Season with salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon.
Serve with a sprinkle of finely chopped mint.

Brown Sauce Noodles

Ingredients

500g boned pork thigh or shoulder, chopped very finely to the consistency of mince.
400g Shanghai noodles.
125ml Chinese chicken stock.
100g bean sprouts.
5 shallots, white part only, finely chopped.
2 shallots, green part only, sliced into batons.
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped.
½ cucumber, finely sliced into batons.
4 tblsp brown bean sauce.
1 tblsp hoi sin sauce.
1 tsp brown sugar.

Method

Blanche the bean sprouts in boiling water for 15 seconds and set aside.
Boil the noodles in water for 5 minutes.
Mix together the stock, brown bean sauce, hoi sin sauce and sugar.
In a searingly hot wok, toss the garlic and white shallot for 30 seconds.
Add the pork, and continue to cook until the pork is browned, about 3 minutes.
Add the sauce mixture, reduce for 4 minutes.
Serve pork sauce over noodles accompanied by bean sprouts, green shallot, and cucumber.

Shellfish Broth

Ingredients

4 balmain bugs.
600g pippies.
100g (dry weight) short pasta such as cencioni or farfalle, cooked.
1 small onion, chopped.
1 leek, white part only, chopped.
4 baby carrots, peeled and chopped.
500ml white wine.
100g butter, room temperature.
1 tbsp tarragon, finely chopped.
1 stalk thyme, leaves only, chopped.
Lemon.

Method

Steam bugs for 2 minutes over boiling water.
Remove tails, chop, lengthways and discard heads.
In a heavy-based pot, sauté bug tails with carrot, onion, leek and 20g butter for 3 minutes over moderate heat.
Add wine, and clams, increase heat, bring to the boil.
Cook, covered, for 4 min.
Remove lid, add pasta and herbs, cook for a further 1 min.
Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Whisk in butter until melted.

Smoked Trout and Potato Cakes

Ingredients

1 smoked rainbow trout.
600g desireé potatoes, peeled and chopped.
1 tblsp chives, finely chopped.
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped.
2 eggs, beaten.
Flour.
Breadcrumbs.
Lemon wedges.
Aioli.
Garden salad.

Method

Steam potatoes over salted boiling water for 10 – 15 minutes until cooked.
Leave to cool.
Skin trout and remove trout meat, using a fork to shed flesh.
Roughly mash potatoes.
Mix herbs, trout and potato well.
For mixture into cakes, roll in flour, then in beaten eggs, and crumb.
Fry over moderate heat with a touch of butter for 4 -5 min each side.
Serve with aioli, lemon wedges, and a garden salad.

Seafood Pasta

Ingredients
Pasta.
150ml white wine.
150g baby octopus, cleaned and halved.
200g prawns, shelled.
300g vongole.
8 scallops, shells and roe removed.
3 tomatoes, skinned, seeded, and finely diced.
1 calamari tube, cleaned, sliced, and scored crossways.
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped.
1tblsp parsley, finely chopped.
Pinch saffron threads.
Lemon wedges
Method
Place saffron in wine and set aside.
Cook and drain pasta.
Steam vongole in covered bowl with 150ml water for 1 min.
Remove vongole, reserving liquid.
In a deep frypan over moderate heat, cook garlic and tomato with a touch of olive oil for 30 seconds.
Add wine and saffron mixture, and reserved steaming liquid.
Reduce liquid by 2/3.
Add prawns, calamari, and octopus and cook for 3 minutes.
Add parsley, scallops and vongole and cook for 1 ½ minutes.
Season.
Add pasta to pan, toss well over heat for 30 seconds.
Serve with lemon wedges.

Aioli

Prepare using the same method and ingredient as mayonaise, adding a ground garlic clove to the initial egg yolk, and using lemon juice instead of vinegar.

White Wine Mussels

Ingredients

1kg mussels, scrubbed and bearded.
1 onion, finely diced.
2 eschallots, finely diced.
3 garlic cloves, finely diced.
500ml white wine.
25g butter.
2 tblsp parsley, finely chopped.
Chips.
Mayonnaise.

Method

Soften onions, eschallots and garlic with butter over low heat.
Add wine, bring to the boil, reduce heat.
Reduce wine by ½.
Season.
Return mixture to boil, add mussels and cover, cooking for 3 ½ min, shaking pot regularly.
Remove mussels, stir through a dash of fresh white wine, add parsley, season, and pour over mussels.
Serve with chips and mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise

Ingredients

100ml grape-seed oil.
50ml olive oil.
1 egg yolk.
White wine vinegar.

Method

Whisk egg yolk and mustard in a large bowl.
Combine oils, then gradually add oil mixture to egg yolk, whisking constantly to emulsify.
When all oil is added, season well with salt, pepper and white wine vinegar.

Hamburgers

Ingredients

Soft bread rolls, halved across-ways.
Butter.
Cornichons, thinly sliced.
Tomato, sliced.
Baby salad greens.
Tomato relish.
Simple dressing.
Cheddar cheese, grated.
150 – 200g beef mince, per patty.

Method

Season the beef well with salt and pepper.
Mix well, and shape into 150 – 200g patties, 1 inch thick, applying heavy pressure.
Butter rolls and lightly toast under salamander.
Generously sprinkle top half of rolls and return to salamander until melted.
Dress salad.
Cook patties in a shallow pan over medium heat for 5 minutes each side, turning once only.
Internal temperature should be 65°C.
Serve patties on buns with other ingredients

.

Tomato Relish

Ingredients

½ Spanish onion, finely diced.
400g canned diced tomatoes.
30g Demerara sugar.
30ml balsamic vinegar.
1 tblsp mustard seeds.
2 tsp Keen’s curry powder.
1 tsp allspice.
1 tsp ground cumin seeds.

Method

Soften onion with a dash of vegetable oil in a saucepan over low heat.
Add spices, and cook for a further minute, until aromatic.
Add tomatoes, sugar and vinegar.
Reduce for 20 – 30 minutes.

Leek & Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 leeks, white part only, chopped.
500g desiree potatoes, peeled and chopped.
1 onion, peeled chopped.
500ml chicken stock.
25g butter.

Method

Sweat leek and onion with butter over low heat for 10 min.
Add stock and potato, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 min.
Drain vegetables, reserving liquid.
Process vegetables until smooth.
Whisk in reserved liquid until correct consistency is obtained.
If soup is still too thick, add additional water.
Season well with salt and pepper.

Hainan Chicken Rice

Ingredients

For the chicken:
1 chicken, about 1.3 kg, trimmed and carefully cleaned of gut.
20g rock salt.
10g ginger, chopped.
2 shallots, chopped.
1 garlic clove, chopped.
2 chicken carcasses, or 1kg chicken bones and trimmings.
50ml shao xing cooking wine.

For the rice:
500g long grain rice.
50ml coconut milk.
For the chilli sauce:
5 bullet chillies, seeded and very finely chopped.
1 clove garlic, very finely chopped.
10ml vegetable oil.

For the ginger sauce:
20g ginger, finely grated.
5ml peanut oil.
5ml shao xing cooking wine.

To serve on the side:
2 bullet chillis, finely chopped.
25ml soy sauce.
1 cucumber, sliced.

Method

Place the chicken breast down in a snug-fitting ceramic pot.
Add salt, garlic clove, ginger, 1 chopped shallot, and cooking wine.
Add enough water to cover the chicken.
Over high heat, bring to the boil.
The moment the chicken boils, remove from heat, cover, and stand for one hour.
Remove chicken from pot, and plunge into iced water until chilled.
Cover in cling film and stand aside.
Add chicken carcasses and additional shallot to pot.
Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.
Strain the liquid reserving.
Combine all ingredients for each sauce and rest for at least ½ hour.
Cook rice using stock from chicken, reserving excess stock.
Once the rice is cooked, stir through coconut milk.
Warm remaining stock.
Combine soy sauce with chopped.
Chop the chicken on the bone into bite-sized pieces, serve with chicken stock, chilli and garlic sauce, chicken rice, sliced cucumber, and chilli and soy combination.