Category: Vegan
Area: American
Simply mix all dry ingredients with wet ingredients and blend altogether. Bake for 45 min on 180 degrees. Decorate with some melted vegan chocolate
Category: Seafood
Area: Italian
Melt the butter in a thick-based pan and gently cook the onion without colour until it is soft.
Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains in the butter
Add the wine and cook gently stirring until it is absorbed
Gradually add the hot stock, stirring until each addition is absorbed. Keep stirring until the rice is tender
Season with the lemon juice and zest, and pepper to taste. (there will probably be sufficient saltiness from the salmon to not need to add salt) Stir gently to heat through
Serve scattered with the Parmesan and seasonal vegetables.
Grill the salmon and gently place onto the risotto with the prawns and asparagus
Category: Chicken
Area: Jamaican
To make the jerk marinade, combine all the ingredients in a food processor along with 1 tsp salt, and blend to a purée. If you’re having trouble getting it to blend, just keep turning off the blender, stirring the mixture, and trying again. Eventually it will start to blend up – don’t be tempted to add water, as you want a thick paste.
Taste the jerk mixture for seasoning – it should taste pretty salty, but not unpleasantly, puckering salty. You can now throw in more chillies if it’s not spicy enough for you. If it tastes too salty and sour, try adding in a bit more brown sugar until the mixture tastes well balanced.
Make a few slashes in the chicken thighs and pour the marinade over the meat, rubbing it into all the crevices. Cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
If you want to barbecue your chicken, get the coals burning 1 hr or so before you’re ready to cook. Authentic jerked meats are not exactly grilled as we think of grilling, but sort of smoke-grilled. To get a more authentic jerk experience, add some wood chips to your barbecue, and cook your chicken over slow, indirect heat for 30 mins. To cook in the oven, heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Put the chicken pieces in a roasting tin with the lime halves and cook for 45 mins until tender and cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the rice & peas. Rinse the rice in plenty of cold water, then tip it into a large saucepan with all the remaining ingredients except the kidney beans. Season with salt, add 300ml cold water and set over a high heat. Once the rice begins to boil, turn it down to a medium heat, cover and cook for 10 mins.
Add the beans to the rice, then cover with a lid. Leave off the heat for 5 mins until all the liquid is absorbed. Squeeze the roasted lime over the chicken and serve with the rice & peas, and some hot sauce if you like it really spicy.
Category: Chicken
Area: Mexican
Cut each chicken breast in about 3 pieces, so that it cooks faster and put it in a small pot. Pour Enchilada sauce over it and cook covered on low to medium heat until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. No water is needed, the chicken will cook in the Enchilada sauce. Make sure you stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom.
Remove chicken from the pot and shred with two forks.
Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
Start layering the casserole. Start with about ¼ cup of the leftover Enchilada sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. I used a longer baking dish, so that I can put 2 corn tortillas across. Place 2 tortillas on the bottom, top with ⅓ of the chicken and ⅓ of the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with ⅓ of the cheese and repeat starting with 2 more tortillas, then chicken, sauce, cheese. Repeat with last layer with the remaining ingredients, tortillas, chicken, sauce and cheese.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes uncovered, until bubbly and cheese has melted and started to brown on top.
Serve warm.
Category: Dessert
Area: Canadian
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar till the mix is light.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix.
In another bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
Alternate flour mix and milk to the butter mix.
Pour into a 13 inch by 9 inch greased pan.
MAPLE SAUCE.
In a large casserole, bring to boil the syrup, brown sugar, cream and butter and constantly stir.
Reduce heat and and gently cook 2 minutes or till sauce has reduced a little bit.
Pour sauce gently over cake.
Bake at 325°f (160°c) about 35 minutes or till cake is light brown and when toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Category: Seafood
Area: Jamaican
For the saltfish, soak the salt cod overnight, changing the water a couple of times.
Drain, then put the cod in a large pan of fresh water and bring to the boil. Drain again, add fresh water and bring to the boil again.
Simmer for about five minutes, or until cooked through, then drain and flake the fish into large pieces. Discard any skin or bones.
For the dumplings, mix the flour and suet with a pinch of salt and 250ml/9fl oz water to make a dough.
Wrap the mixture in clingfilm and leave in the fridge to rest.
Open the can of ackee, drain and rinse, then set aside.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and fry the onion until softened but not brown.
Add the spices, seasoning, pepper sauce and sliced peppers and continue to fry until the peppers are tender.
Add the chopped tomatoes, then the salt cod and mix together. Lastly stir in the ackee very gently and leave to simmer until ready to serve.
When you’re almost ready to eat, heat about 1cm/½in vegetable oil in a frying pan and heat until just smoking.
Shape the dumpling mix into plum-size balls and shallow-fry until golden-brown. (CAUTION: hot oil can be dangerous. Do not leave the pan unattended.)
Drain the dumplings on kitchen paper and serve with the saltfish and ackee.
Category: Dessert
Area: Canadian
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: Dessert
Area: Canadian
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar till the mix is light.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix.
In another bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
Alternate flour mix and milk to the butter mix.
Pour into a 13 inch by 9 inch greased pan.
MAPLE SAUCE.
In a large casserole, bring to boil the syrup, brown sugar, cream and butter and constantly stir.
Reduce heat and and gently cook 2 minutes or till sauce has reduced a little bit.
Pour sauce gently over cake.
Bake at 325°f (160°c) about 35 minutes or till cake is light brown and when toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Category: Beef
Area: Croatian
Clean the meat from the veins if there are some and cut it into smaller pieces, 3 × 3 cm. Marinate the meat in the mustard and spices and let it sit in the refrigerator for one hour
Heat one tablespoon of pork fat or vegetable oil in a pot and fry the meat on all sides until it gets browned. Once the meat is cooked, transfer it to a plate and add another tablespoon of fat to the pot
Cut the onions very fine, peel the carrots and shred it using a grater. Cook the onions and carrots over low heat for 15 minutes. You can salt the vegetables a little to make them soften faster
Once the vegetables have browned and become slightly mushy, add the meat and bay leaves and garlic. Pour over with wine and simmer for 10-15 minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate. Now is the right time to add 2/3 the amount of liquid
Cover the pot and cook over low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally. After the first hour, pour over the rest of the water or stock and cook for another 30-45 minutes
Allow the stew to cool slightly and serve it with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and few slices of fresh hot pepper if you like to spice it up a bit
Slice some fresh bread, season the salad and simply enjoying these wonderful flavors
Category: Dessert
Area: British
Get everything for the pudding prepared. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the cooking apples. Sharpen your knife and chop the candied peel. (You can chop the almonds and apples in a food processor, but the peel must be done by hand.) Grate three quarters of the nutmeg (sounds a lot but it's correct).
Mix the almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, light muscovado sugar, eggs and 2 tbsp brandy or cognac in a large bowl.
Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, then stir for 3-4 mins – the mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. Ask the family to stir too, and get everyone to make a wish.
Generously butter two 1.2 litre bowls and put a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the pudding mixture. Cover with a double layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying). Trim off any excess paper.
Now stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the puddings watertight). Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan. Watch our video to see how to tie up a pudding correctly.
Boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.
To make the brandy butter, cream the butter with the orange zest and icing sugar. Gradually beat in the brandy or cognac and chopped stem ginger. Put in a small bowl, fork the top attractively and put in the fridge to set. The butter will keep for a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for up to six weeks.
On Christmas Day, boil or oven steam for 1 hr. Unwrap and turn out. To flame, warm 3-4 tbsp brandy in a small pan, pour it over the pudding and set light to it.