Category: Uncategorized

Category: Beef

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 400g mushrooms
• 1-2tbsp English Mustard
• Dash Olive Oil
• 750g piece Beef Fillet
• 6-8 slices Parma ham
• 500g Puff Pastry
• Dusting Flour
• 2 Beaten Egg Yolks

Instructions:

Put the mushrooms into a food processor with some seasoning and pulse to a rough paste. Scrape the paste into a pan and cook over a high heat for about 10 mins, tossing frequently, to cook out the moisture from the mushrooms. Spread out on a plate to cool.
Heat in a frying pan and add a little olive oil. Season the beef and sear in the hot pan for 30 secs only on each side. (You don't want to cook it at this stage, just colour it). Remove the beef from the pan and leave to cool, then brush all over with the mustard.
Lay a sheet of cling film on a work surface and arrange the Parma ham slices on it, in slightly overlapping rows. With a palette knife, spread the mushroom paste over the ham, then place the seared beef fillet in the middle. Keeping a tight hold of the cling film from the edge, neatly roll the Parma ham and mushrooms around the beef to form a tight barrel shape. Twist the ends of the cling film to secure. Chill for 15-20 mins to allow the beef to set and keep its shape.
Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface to a large rectangle, the thickness of a £1 coin. Remove the cling film from the beef, then lay in the centre. Brush the surrounding pastry with egg yolk. Fold the ends over, the wrap the pastry around the beef, cutting off any excess. Turn over, so the seam is underneath, and place on a baking sheet. Brush over all the pastry with egg and chill for about 15 mins to let the pastry rest.
Heat the oven to 200C, 400F, gas 6.
Lightly score the pastry at 1cm intervals and glaze again with beaten egg yolk. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 180C, 350F, gas 4 and cook for another 15 mins. Allow to rest for 10-15 mins before slicing and serving with the side dishes of your choice. The beef should still be pink in the centre when you serve it.

Category: Beef

Area: Malaysian

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb Minced Beef
• 1 Onion
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tbs Chilli
• 1/2 Baguette
• To taste Salt
• To taste Pepper
• Top Mayonnaise

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Heat a pan or griddle with a little vegetable oil.
Pour the mixture onto the pan and place a piece of open-faced baguette on top.
Press on the bread with a spatula and grill for 2 minutes.
Turn the bread over to make it a little crispy.
Remove from pan and cut the bread into small portions.
Add mayonnaise and/or Sambal before cutting the sandwich (optional).

Category: Chicken

Area: Mexican

Ingredients:

• 4 – 6 Chicken Breasts
• 1 bottle Vinaigrette Dressing
• 1½ tablespoon Cumin
• 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Garlic
• 1 can Refried Beans
• 12 Hard Taco Shells
• 2 cups Shredded Mexican Cheese
• Halved Grape Tomatoes
• Sliced and Seeded Jalapeno
• Peeled and Sliced Avocado
• 2 tablespoons Green Salsa
• 3 tablespoons Sour Cream
• 1 tablespoon Milk

Instructions:

Put the uncooked chicken breasts in the crock pot. Pour the full bottle of salad dressing over the chicken. Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients over the top and mix them in a bit with a spoon.
Cover your crock pot with the lid and cook on high for 4 hours.
Remove all the chicken breasts from the crock pot and let cool.
Shred the chicken breasts and move to a glass bowl.
Pour most of the liquid over the shredded chicken.
FOR THE TACOS:
Make the guacamole sauce by mixing the avocado and green salsa together. Pour the guacamole mixture through a strainer until smooth and transfer to a squeeze bottle. Cut the tip off the lid of the squeeze bottle to make the opening more wide if needed.
Make the sour cream sauce by mixing the sour cream and milk together until you get a more liquid sour cream sauce. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
In a 9x 13 glass baking dish, fill all 12+ tacos with a layer of refried beans, cooked chicken and shredded cheese.
Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes just until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
Out of the oven top all the tacos with the sliced grape tomaotes, jalapeno and cilantro.
Finish with a drizzle of guacamole and sour cream.
Enjoy!

Category: Dessert

Area: Malaysian

Ingredients:

• 400g Rice
• 150ml Coconut Milk
• 100ml Water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 5 tbs Corn Flour
• 3 tbs Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 200ml Coconut Cream
• 140g Sugar

Instructions:

Soak glutinous rice with water for at least 1 ½ hours prior to using. Drain.
Prepare a 9-inch round or square cake pan and spray with cooking spray or line with plastic wrap.
Mix coconut milk, water, salt and the rice. Pour it into cake pan, topped with the pandan knots.
Steam for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, fluff up the rice and remove pandan knots. Then, using a greased spatula, flatten the steamed rice. Make sure there are no holes/air bubbles and gaps in the rice, especially the sides.
Steam for another 10 minutes.

Combine pandan juice, coconut milk, all purpose flour, cornflour, and sugar. Mix well.
Add eggs and whisk well then strain into a medium sized metal bowl or pot.
Place pandan mixture over simmering water (double boiler or bain-marie)
Stir continuously and cook till custard starts to thicken. (15 minutes)
Pour pandan custard into glutinous rice layer, give it a little tap (for air bubbles) and continue to steam for 30 minutes.
Remove kuih seri muka from the steamer and allow to cool completely before cutting into rectangles or diamond shapes.

Category: Dessert

Area: American

Ingredients:

• 50g Butter
• 175g Peanut Cookies
• 5 Gelatine Leafs
• 500g Ricotta
• 175g Peanut Butter
• 175g Golden Syrup
• 150ml Milk
• 275ml Double Cream
• 2 tblsp Light Brown Soft Sugar
• Crushed Peanut Brittle

Instructions:

Oil and line a 20cm round loose- bottomed cake tin with cling film, making it as smooth as possible. Melt the butter in a pan. Crush the biscuits by bashing them in a bag with a rolling pin, then stir them into the butter until very well coated. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the tin and chill.
Soak the gelatine in water while you make the filling. Tip the ricotta into a bowl, then beat in the peanut butter and syrup. Ricotta has a slightly grainy texture so blitz until smooth with a stick blender for a smoother texture if you prefer.
Take the soaked gelatine from the water and squeeze dry. Put it into a pan with the milk and heat very gently until the gelatine dissolves. Beat into the peanut mixture, then tip onto the biscuit base. Chill until set.
To freeze, leave in the tin and as soon as it is solid, cover the surface with cling film, then wrap the tin with cling film and foil.
To defrost, thaw in the fridge overnight.
To serve, carefully remove from the tin. Whisk the cream with the sugar until it holds its shape, then spread on top of the cheesecake and scatter with the peanut brittle.

Category: Seafood

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 2 medium Fennel
• 2 tbs chopped Parsley
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 175g Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• 350g Salmon
• to serve Black Olives

Instructions:

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Trim the fronds from the fennel and set aside. Cut the fennel bulbs in half, then cut each half into 3 wedges. Cook in boiling salted water for 10 mins, then drain well. Chop the fennel fronds roughly, then mix with the parsley and lemon zest.

Spread the drained fennel over a shallow ovenproof dish, then add the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, then bake for 10 mins. Nestle the salmon among the veg, sprinkle with lemon juice, then bake 15 mins more until the fish is just cooked. Scatter over the parsley and serve.

Category: Miscellaneous

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 1 tblsp Olive Oil
• 1 large Onion
• 1 clove peeled crushed Garlic
• 2 tblsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tsp Tomato Puree
• 500g Turkey Mince
• 1 large Eggs
• 85g Breadcrumbs
• 2 tblsp Barbeque Sauce
• 800g Cannellini Beans
• 2 tblsp Parsley

Instructions:

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion for 8-10 mins until softened. Add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and 2 tsp tomato purée, and stir until combined. Set aside to cool.

Put the turkey mince, egg, breadcrumbs and cooled onion mix in a large bowl and season well. Mix everything to combine, then shape into a rectangular loaf and place in a large roasting tin. Spread 2 tbsp barbecue sauce over the meatloaf and bake for 30 mins.

Meanwhile, drain 1 can of beans only, then pour both cans into a large bowl. Add the remaining barbecue sauce and tomato purée. Season and set aside.

When the meatloaf has had its initial cooking time, scatter the beans around the outside and bake for 15 mins more until the meatloaf is cooked through and the beans are piping hot. Scatter over the parsley and serve the meatloaf in slices.

Category: Vegetarian

Area: Egyptian

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Brown Lentils
• 1 1/2 cups Rice
• 1/2 tsp Coriander
• 2 cups Macaroni
• Can Chickpeas
• 1 large Onion
• Sprinking Salt
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

Instructions:

Cook the lentils. Bring lentils and 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot or saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook until lentils are just tender (15-17 minutes). Drain from water and season with a little salt. (Note: when the lentils are ready, they should not be fully cooked. They should be only par-cooked and still have a bite to them as they need to finish cooking with the rice).
Now, for the rice. Drain the rice from its soaking water. Combine the par-cooked lentils and the rice in the saucepan over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp cooking oil, salt, pepper, and coriander. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. Add warm water to cover the rice and lentil mixture by about 1 1/2 inches (you’ll probably use about 3 cups of water here). Bring to a boil; the water should reduce a bit. Now cover and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and both the rice and lentils are well cooked through (about 20 minutes). Keep covered and undisturbed for 5 minutes or so.
Now make the pasta. While the rice and lentils are cooking, make the pasta according to package instructions by adding the elbow pasta to boiling water with a dash of salt and a little oil. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain.
Cover the chickpeas and warm in the microwave briefly before serving.

Make the crispy onion topping.

Sprinkle the onion rings with salt, then toss them in the flour to coat. Shake off excess flour.
In a large skillet, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat, cook the onion rings, stirring often, until they turn a nice caramelized brown. Onions must be crispy, but not burned (15-20 minutes).

Category: Side

Area: Turkish

Ingredients:

• 2 large Potatoes
• 2 tbs Butter
• 150g Cheese
• 1 large Onion
• 1 large Red Pepper
• Pinch Red Chilli Flakes

Instructions:

If you order kumpir in Turkey, the standard filling is first, lots of butter mashed into the potato, followed by cheese. There’s then a row of other toppings that you can just point at to your heart’s content – sweetcorn, olives, salami, coleslaw, Russian salad, allsorts – and you walk away with an over-stuffed potato because you got ever-excited by the choices on offer.

Grate (roughly – you can use as much as you like) 150g of cheese.
Finely chop one onion and one sweet red pepper.
Put these ingredients into a large bowl with a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, chilli flakes (optional).

Category: Miscellaneous

Area: French

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1 Carrots
• 2 1/4 cups French Lentils
• 1 teaspoon Thyme
• 3 Bay Leaf
• 1 tablespoon Salt
• 2 sticks Celery

Instructions:

Place a large saucepan over medium heat and add oil. When hot, add chopped vegetables and sauté until softened, 5 to 10 minutes.
Add 6 cups water, lentils, thyme, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a fast simmer.
Simmer lentils until they are tender and have absorbed most of the water, 20 to 25 minutes. If necessary, drain any excess water after lentils have cooked. Serve immediately, or allow them to cool and reheat later.
For a fuller taste, use some chicken stock and reduce the water by the same amount.