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Category: Beef

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 1kg Beef
• 2 tbs Plain Flour
• 2 tbs Rapeseed Oil
• 200ml Red Wine
• 400ml Beef Stock
• 1 finely sliced Onion
• 2 chopped Carrots
• 3 sprigs Thyme
• 2 tbs Mustard
• 2 free-range Egg Yolks
• 400g Puff Pastry
• 300g Green Beans
• 25g Butter
• pinch Salt
• pinch Pepper

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
Toss the beef and flour together in a bowl with some salt and black pepper.
Heat a large casserole until hot, add half of the rapeseed oil and enough of the beef to just cover the bottom of the casserole.
Fry until browned on each side, then remove and set aside. Repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
Return the beef to the pan, add the wine and cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by half, then add the stock, onion, carrots, thyme and mustard, and season well with salt and pepper.
Cover with a lid and place in the oven for two hours.
Remove from the oven, check the seasoning and set aside to cool. Remove the thyme.
When the beef is cool and you're ready to assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Transfer the beef to a pie dish, brush the rim with the beaten egg yolks and lay the pastry over the top. Brush the top of the pastry with more beaten egg.
Trim the pastry so there is just enough excess to crimp the edges, then place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown and cooked through.
For the green beans, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the beans and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until just tender.
Drain and toss with the butter, then season with black pepper.
To serve, place a large spoonful of pie onto each plate with some green beans alongside.

Category: Beef

Area: Portuguese

Ingredients:

• 1 clove Garlic
• 2 small Beef Fillet
• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 tbs Vinegar
• Leaves Parsley
• 2 Ciabatta
• 2 handfulls Rocket
• Small bunch Basil Leaves
• Small bunch Parsley
• 1 Jalapeno
• 1 tbs Vinegar
• 2 chopped Spring Onions
• 1/2 Garlic
• 1/2 tsp Caster Sugar

Instructions:

STEP 1

Rub the garlic over the steaks then put in a sandwich bag and tip in the olive oil, sherry vinegar and parsley stalks. Smoosh everything together, then use a rolling pin to bash the steaks a few times. Leave for 1-2 hours.

STEP 2

To make the sauce, put all the ingredients into a blender with 1 tbsp water and whizz until as smooth as possible. This will make more than you’ll need for the recipe but will keep for a week in an airtight jar.

STEP 3

Heat a griddle or frying pan to high. Brush away the garlic and parsley stalks from the steaks and season well. Sear the steaks for 2 minutes on each side then rest on a plate. Put the ciabatta halves onto the plate, toasted-side down, to soak up any juices.

STEP 4

Slice the steaks then stuff into the rolls with the green sauce and rocket.

Category: Chicken

Area: Jamaican

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Chicken
• 1 chopped Tomato
• 2 chopped Onions
• 2 chopped Garlic Clove
• 1 chopped Red Pepper
• 1 chopped Carrots
• 1 Lime
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Allspice
• 2 tbs Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Cornstarch
• 2 cups Coconut Milk
• 1 tbs Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

Squeeze lime over chicken and rub well. Drain off excess lime juice.
Combine tomato, scallion, onion, garlic, pepper, thyme, pimento and soy sauce in a large bowl with the chicken pieces. Cover and marinate at least one hour.
Heat oil in a dutch pot or large saucepan. Shake off the seasonings as you remove each piece of chicken from the marinade. Reserve the marinade for sauce.
Lightly brown the chicken a few pieces at a time in very hot oil. Place browned chicken pieces on a plate to rest while you brown the remaining pieces.
Drain off excess oil and return the chicken to the pan. Pour the marinade over the chicken and add the carrots. Stir and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Mix flour and coconut milk and add to stew, stirring constantly. Turn heat down to minimum and cook another 20 minutes or until tender.

Category: Vegetarian

Area: Spanish

Ingredients:

• 1 sliced Onion
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• 25g Butter
• 400g Potatoes
• 6 cloves Garlic
• 8 Eggs
• Handful Parsley
• 1 Baguette
• 4 Vine Tomatoes
• drizzle Olive Oil

Instructions:

Put a large non-stick frying pan on a low heat. Cook the onion slowly in the oil and butter until soft but not brown – this should take about 15 mins. Add the potatoes, cover the pan and cook for a further 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally to make sure they fry evenly.
When the potatoes are soft and the onion is shiny, crush 2 garlic cloves and stir in, followed by the beaten eggs.
Put the lid back on the pan and leave the tortilla to cook gently. After 20 mins, the edges and base should be golden, the top set but the middle still a little wobbly. To turn it over, slide it onto a plate and put another plate on top, turn the whole thing over and slide it back into the pan to finish cooking. Once cooked, transfer to a plate and serve the tortilla warm or cold, scattered with the chopped parsley.
To accompany, take slices of warmed baguette, stab all over with a fork and rub with the remaining garlic, pile on grated tomatoes and season with sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.

Category: Beef

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 300g Puff Pastry
• Beaten Egg White
• Beaten Egg Yolks
• 2 tbs Vegetable Oil
• 70 ml Beef
• 200g Lamb Kidney
• 2 chopped Onions
• 30g Plain Flour
• 85 ml Beef Stock
• pinch Salt
• pinch Pepper
• Dash Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan, and brown the beef all over. (You may need to do this in batches.) Set aside, then brown the kidneys on both sides in the same pan. Add the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Return the beef to the pan, sprinkle flour over and coat the meat and onions
Add the stock to the pan, stir well and bring to the boil.
Turn the heat down and simmer for 1½ hours without a lid. If the liquid evaporates too much, add more stock.
Remove from the heat. Add salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce and allow to cool completely. Place the cooked meat mixture into a pie dish.
Roll out the pastry to 5mm/¼in thick and 5cm/2in larger than the dish you are using.
Using a rolling pin, lift the pastry and place it over the top of the pie dish. Trim and crimp the edges with your fingers and thumb.
Brush the surface with the beaten egg mixture and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden-brown and puffed.
Serve with creamy mash and steamed vegetables to soak up the gravy.

Category: Dessert

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 225g Medjool dates
• 175ml Boiling water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs
• 85g butter
• 140g demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp black treacle
• 100ml milk
• 1 scoop ice cream
• 175g muscovado sugar
• 50g butter
• 225ml double cream
• 1 tbsp black treacle

Instructions:

Stone and chop the dates quite small, put them in a bowl, then pour the boiling water over. Leave for about 30 mins until cool and well-soaked, then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract. Butter and flour seven mini pudding tins (each about 200ml/7fl oz) and sit them on a baking sheet. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
While the dates are soaking, make the puddings. Mix the flour and bicarbonate of soda together and beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl for a few mins until slightly creamy (the mixture will be grainy from the sugar). Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well between additions. Beat in the black treacle then, using a large metal spoon, gently fold in one-third of the flour, then half the milk, being careful not to overbeat. Repeat until all the flour and milk is used. Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter. The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter. Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 mins, until risen and firm.
Meanwhile, put the sugar and butter for the sauce in a medium saucepan with half the cream. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in the black treacle, turn up the heat slightly and let the mixture bubble away for 2-3 mins until it is a rich toffee colour, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the rest of the cream.
Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out. You can serve them now with the sauce drizzled over, but they’ll be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce. To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes. Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them. Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).
When ready to serve, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 15-20 mins or until the sauce is bubbling. Serve them on their own, or with cream or custard.

Category: Pork

Area: Chinese

Ingredients:

• 200g Pork
• 1 Egg
• Dash Water
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 10g Soy Sauce
• 10g Starch
• 30g Tomato Puree
• 10g Vinegar
• Dash Coriander

Instructions:

Preparation
1. Crack the egg into a bowl. Separate the egg white and yolk.

Sweet and Sour Pork
2. Slice the pork tenderloin into strips.

3. Prepare the marinade using a pinch of salt, one teaspoon of starch, two teaspoons of light soy sauce, and an egg white.

4. Marinade the pork strips for about 20 minutes.

5. Put the remaining starch in a bowl. Add some water and vinegar to make a starchy sauce.

Sweet and Sour Pork
Cooking Instructions
1. Pour the cooking oil into a wok and heat to 190°C (375°F). Add the marinated pork strips and fry them until they turn brown. Remove the cooked pork from the wok and place on a plate.

2. Leave some oil in the wok. Put the tomato sauce and white sugar into the wok, and heat until the oil and sauce are fully combined.

3. Add some water to the wok and thoroughly heat the sweet and sour sauce before adding the pork strips to it.

4. Pour in the starchy sauce. Stir-fry all the ingredients until the pork and sauce are thoroughly mixed together.

5. Serve on a plate and add some coriander for decoration.

Category: Dessert

Area: Canadian

Ingredients:

• 125g Custard
• 50g Caster Sugar
• 5 tbs Cocoa
• 1 beaten Egg
• 200g shredded Digestive Biscuits
• 100g Desiccated Coconut
• 50g Almonds
• 100g Butter
• 4 tbs Double Cream
• 3 tbs Custard Powder
• 250g Icing Sugar
• 150g Dark Chocolate
• 50g Butter

Instructions:

Start by making the biscuit base. In a bowl, over a pan of simmering water, melt the butter with the sugar and cocoa powder, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk in the egg for 2 to 3 mins until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and mix in the biscuit crumbs, coconut and almonds if using, then press into the base of a lined 20cm square tin. Chill for 10 mins.
For the middle layer, make the custard icing; whisk together the butter, cream and custard powder until light and fluffy, then gradually add the icing sugar until fully incorporated. Spread over the bottom layer and chill in the fridge for at least 10 mins until the custard is no longer soft.
Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave, then spread over the chilled bars and put back in the fridge. Leave until the chocolate has fully set (about 2 hrs). Take the mixture out of the tin and slice into squares to serve.

Category: Vegan

Area: Italian

Ingredients:

• 1 cups green red lentils
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 small zucchini
• sprinking coriander
• 150g spinach
• 10 lasagne sheets
• 35g vegan butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 300ml soya milk
• 1.5 teaspoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2) Boil vegetables for 5-7 minutes, until soft. Add lentils and bring to a gentle simmer, adding a stock cube if desired. Continue cooking and stirring until the lentils are soft, which should take about 20 minutes.
3) Blanch spinach leaves for a few minutes in a pan, before removing and setting aside.
4) Top up the pan with water and cook the lasagne sheets. When cooked, drain and set aside.
5) To make the sauce, melt the butter and add the flour, then gradually add the soya milk along with the mustard and the vinegar. Cook and stir until smooth and then assemble the lasagne as desired in a baking dish.
6) Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes.

Category: Vegetarian

Area: Moroccan

Ingredients:

• 650g/1lb 8 oz Small Potatoes
• 1 tsp Harissa Spice
• 2 tsp olive oil
• juice of half Lemon
• 4 Spring onions
• 150g/6oz Rocket
• 80g/3oz Feta
• 20 chopped Mint
• 2 tablespoons Pine nuts
• Pinch Salt
• Pinch Pepper

Instructions:

Cook potatoes – place potatoes in a pot of cold water, and bring to the boil. Boil 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. You know they are cooked when you can stick a knife in them and the knife goes straight through.
Combine harissa spice, olive oil, salt and pepper and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
Once potatoes are cooked, drain water and roughly chop potatoes in half.
Add harissa mix and spring onions/green onions to potatoes and stir.
In a large salad bowl, lay out arugula/rocket.
Top with potato mix and toss.
Add fetta, mint and sprinkle over pine nuts.
Adjust salt and pepper to taste.