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Category: Pork

Area: Canadian

Ingredients:

• 1 medium Potatoes
• 1 tsp Sunflower Oil
• 500g Minced Pork
• 1 finely chopped Onion
• 1 finely chopped Garlic Clove
• ¼ tsp Cinnamon
• ¼ tsp Allspice
• ¼ tsp Nutmeg
• 100ml Vegetable Stock
• 400g Shortcrust Pastry
• To Glaze Egg

Instructions:

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Boil the potato until tender, drain and mash, then leave to cool. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, add the mince and onion and quickly fry until browned. Add the garlic, spices, stock, plenty of pepper and a little salt and mix well. Remove from the heat, stir into the potato and leave to cool.
Roll out half the pastry and line the base of a 20-23cm pie plate or flan tin. Fill with the pork mixture and brush the edges of the pastry with water. Roll out the remaining dough and cover the pie. Press the edges of the pastry to seal, trimming off the excess. Prick the top of the pastry case to allow steam to escape and glaze the top with the beaten egg.
Bake for 30 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve cut into wedges with a crisp green salad. Leftovers are good cold for lunch the next day, served with a selection of pickles.

Category: Pork

Area: Irish

Ingredients:

• Knob Butter
• 2 Pork Chops
• 4 Bacon
• 2 Potatoes
• 1 Carrots
• 1/2 Swede
• 1/2 Cabbage
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 100ml Cider
• 100g Chicken Stock

Instructions:

STEP 1
Heat the butter in a casserole dish until sizzling, then fry the pork for 2-3 mins on each side until browned. Remove from the pan.

STEP 2
Tip the bacon, carrot, potatoes and swede into the pan, then gently fry until slightly coloured. Stir in the cabbage, sit the chops back on top, add the bay leaf, then pour over the cider and stock. Cover the pan, then leave everything to gently simmer for 20 mins until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

STEP 3
Serve at the table spooned straight from the dish.

Category: Pork

Area: Polish

Ingredients:

• 2 sliced Bacon
• 1 lb Kielbasa
• 1 lb Pork
• 1/4 cup Flour
• 3 chopped Garlic
• 1 Diced Onion
• 1 1/2 cup Mushrooms
• 4 cups Cabbage
• 1 Jar Sauerkraut
• 1/4 cup Red Wine
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tsp Basil
• 1 tsp Marjoram
• 1 tbs Paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon Caraway Seed
• 1 dash Hotsauce
• 5 Cups Beef Stock
• 2 tbs Tomato Puree
• 1 cup Diced Tomatoes
• 1 dash Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and kielbasa; cook and stir until the bacon has rendered its fat and sausage is lightly browned. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and transfer to a large casserole or Dutch oven.

Coat the cubes of pork lightly with flour and fry them in the bacon drippings over medium-high heat until golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork to the casserole. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, fresh mushrooms, cabbage and sauerkraut. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir until the carrots are soft, about 10 minutes. Do not let the vegetables brown.

Deglaze the pan by pouring in the red wine and stirring to loosen all of the bits of food and flour that are stuck to the bottom. Season with the bay leaf, basil, marjoram, paprika, salt, pepper, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper; cook for 1 minute.

Mix in the dried mushrooms, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, tomato paste and tomatoes. Heat through just until boiling. Pour the vegetables and all of the liquid into the casserole dish with the meat. Cover with a lid.

Bake in the preheated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until meat is very tender.

Category: Lamb

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 500g Lamb Shoulder
• 1 tbls Flour
• Dash Vegetable Oil
• 1 sliced Onion
• 2 sliced Carrots
• 350ml/12fl Vegetable Stock
• 500g Potatoes
• 450g Shortcrust Pastry
• To Glaze Eggs

Instructions:

Dust the meat with flour to lightly coat.
Heat enough vegetable oil in a large saucepan to fill the base, and fry the onion and meat until lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the carrots, stock and more seasoning to taste.
Bring to the boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for at least an hour or until the meat is tender. Take your time cooking the meat, the longer you leave it to cook, the better the flavour will be.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
Add the drained potato cubes to the lamb.
Turn the mixture into a pie dish or casserole and cover with the shortcrust pastry. Make three slits in the top of the pastry to release any steam while cooking.
Brush with beaten egg and bake for about 40 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.
Serve.

Category: Dessert

Area: Portuguese

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs Plain Flour
• 2 tbs Icing Sugar
• 375g Puff Pastry
• 250g Caster Sugar
• 2 strips Lemon Zest
• 1 Stick Cinnamon
• 2 Eggs
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 50g Corn Flour
• 500ml Whole Milk
• Pod of Vanilla
• To serve Cinnamon

Instructions:

STEP 1
Roll the pastry
Mix the flour and icing sugar, and use this to dust the work surface. Roll the pastry out to make a 45 x 30cm rectangle. Roll up lengthways to create a long sausage shape.

STEP 2
Cutting pastry into rounds
Cut the pastry into 24 wheels, about 1-2cm thick.

STEP 3
Roll out each pastry portion
Roll each wheel lightly with the rolling pin to fit 2 x 12-hole non-stick fairy cake tins.

STEP 4
Press pastry into the tin
Press the pastry circles into the tins and mould into the tins to make thin cases. Chill until needed.

STEP 5
Make the infused syrup
Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Make a sugar syrup by bringing the sugar, 200ml water, lemon zest and cinnamon stick to the boil. Reduce until syrupy, allow to cool, then remove the cinnamon and lemon. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and cornflour until smooth in another large pan.

STEP 6
Making custard
Heat the milk and vanilla pod seeds in a separate pan until just below the boil. Gradually pour the hot milk over the eggs and cornflour, then cook on a low heat, continually whisking.

STEP 7
Add syrup to custard
Add the cooled sugar syrup to the custard and whisk until thickened slightly.

STEP 8
Pour custard into the tins
Pour the custard through a sieve. Pour into the pastry cases and bake for 15 minutes until the pastry is golden and the custard has darkened.

STEP 9
cool and dust with icing sugar
Cool completely in the tins then sift over icing sugar and ground cinnamon to serve.

Category: Seafood

Area: Malaysian

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 finely sliced Red Chilli
• 2 ½ tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 400ml can coconut milk
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 100g rice noodles
• 2 juice of 1, the other halved lime
• 150g king prawns
• ½ small pack coriander

Instructions:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the chilli. Cook for 1 min, then add the curry paste, stir and cook for 1 min more. Dissolve the stock cube in a large jug in 700ml boiling water, then pour into the pan and stir to combine. Tip in the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
Add the fish sauce and a little seasoning. Toss in the noodles and cook for a further 3-4 mins until softening. Squeeze in the lime juice, add the prawns and cook through until warm, about 2-3 mins. Scatter over some of the coriander.
Serve in bowls with the remaining coriander and lime wedges on top for squeezing over.

Category: Miscellaneous

Area: French

Ingredients:

• Handful Sea Salt
• 4 Bay Leaf
• 4 cloves Garlic
• Handful Thyme
• 4 Duck Legs
• 100ml White Wine

Instructions:

The day before you want to make the dish, scatter half the salt, half the garlic and half of the herbs over the base of a small shallow dish. Lay the duck legs, skin-side up, on top, then scatter over the remaining salt, garlic and herbs. Cover the duck and refrigerate overnight. This can be done up to 2 days ahead.
Pour the wine into a saucepan that will snugly fit the duck legs in a single layer. Brush the salt off the duck legs and place them, skin-side down, in the wine. Cover the pan with a lid and place over a medium heat. As soon as the wine starts to bubble, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cook for 2 hours, checking occasionally that the liquid is just barely simmering. (If you own a heat diffuser, it would be good to use it here.) After 2 hours, the duck legs should be submerged in their own fat and the meat should feel incredibly tender when prodded. Leave to cool.
The duck legs are now cooked and can be eaten immediately – or you can follow the next step if you like them crisp. If you are preparing ahead, pack the duck legs tightly into a plastic container or jar and pour over the fat, but not the liquid at the bottom of the pan. Cover and leave in the fridge for up to a month, or freeze for up to 3 months. The liquid you are left with makes a tasty gravy, which can be chilled or frozen until needed.
To reheat and crisp up the duck legs, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Remove the legs from the fat and place them, skin-side down, in an ovenproof frying pan. Roast for 30-40 mins, turning halfway through, until brown and crisp. Serve with the reheated gravy, a crisp salad and some crisp golden ptoatoes.

Category: Lamb

Area: Tunisian

Ingredients:

• 500g Lamb Mince
• 2 cloves minced Garlic
• 1 Onion
• 300g Spinach
• 3 tbs Tomato Puree
• 1 tbs Cumin
• 1 Litre Chicken Stock
• 3 tsp Harissa Spice
• 400g Chickpeas
• 1/2 Lemon Juice
• 150g Macaroni
• Pinch Salt
• Pinch Pepper

Instructions:

Add the lamb to a casserole and cook over high heat. When browned, remove from the heat and set aside.
Keep a tablespoon of fat in the casserole and discard the rest. Reduce to medium heat then add the garlic, onion and spinach and cook until the onion is translucent and the spinach wilted or about 5 minutes.
Return the lamb to the casserole with the onion-spinach mixture, add the tomato puree, cumin, harissa, chicken, chickpeas, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the pan. Simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes.
Add the pasta and cook for 15 minutes or until pasta is cooked.

Category: Dessert

Area: British

Ingredients:

• 175g Butter
• 175g Caster Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 250g Self-raising Flour
• 3 tbs Milk
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• To Glaze Mixed Peel

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease an 18cm/7in round cake tin, line the base with greaseproof paper and grease the paper.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each one and adding a tablespoon of the flour with the last egg to prevent the mixture curdling.
Sift the flour and gently fold in, with enough milk to give a mixture that falls slowly from the spoon. Fold in the lemon zest.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and lightly level the top. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
To serve, decorate the cake with the candied peel.

Category: Vegetarian

Area: Italian

Ingredients:

• 1 pound penne rigate
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 6 leaves basil
• sprinkling Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add kosher salt to the boiling water, then add the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions, about 9 minutes.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and heat until the oil starts to shimmer. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, red chile flakes, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the chopped basil.
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Garnish with Parmigiano-Reggiano flakes and more basil and serve warm.