Blog

  • Ayam Percik

    Ayam Percik

    Category: Chicken

    Area: Malaysian

    Ingredients:

    • 6 Chicken Thighs
    • 16 Challots
    • 1 1/2 Ginger
    • 6 Garlic Clove
    • 8 Cayenne Pepper
    • 2 tbs Turmeric
    • 1 1/2 Cumin
    • 1 1/2 Coriander
    • 1 1/2 Fennel
    • 2 tbs Tamarind Paste
    • 1 can Coconut Milk
    • 1 tsp Sugar
    • 1 cup Water

    Instructions:

    In a blender, add the ingredients for the spice paste and blend until smooth.
    Over medium heat, pour the spice paste in a skillet or pan and fry for 10 minutes until fragrant. Add water or oil 1 tablespoon at a time if the paste becomes too dry. Don't burn the paste. Lower the fire slightly if needed.
    Add the cloves, cardamom, tamarind pulp, coconut milk, water, sugar and salt. Turn the heat up and bring the mixture to boil. Turn the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. It will reduce slightly. This is the marinade/sauce, so taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Don't worry if it's slightly bitter. It will go away when roasting.
    When the marinade/sauce has cooled, pour everything over the chicken and marinate overnight to two days.
    Preheat the oven to 425 F.
    Remove the chicken from the marinade. Spoon the marinade onto a greased (or aluminum lined) baking sheet. Lay the chicken on top of the sauce (make sure the chicken covers the sauce and the sauce isn't exposed or it'll burn) and spread the remaining marinade on the chicken. Roast for 35-45 minutes or until internal temp of the thickest part of chicken is at least 175 F.
    Let chicken rest for 5 minutes. Brush the chicken with some of the oil. Serve chicken with the sauce over steamed rice (or coconut rice).

  • Teriyaki Chicken Casserole

    Teriyaki Chicken Casserole

    Category: Chicken

    Area: Japanese

    Ingredients:

    • 3/4 cup soy sauce
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 1/4 cup brown sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
    • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
    • 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
    • 2 chicken breasts
    • 1 (12 oz.) stir-fry vegetables
    • 3 cups brown rice

    Instructions:

    Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray.
    Combine soy sauce, ½ cup water, brown sugar, ginger and garlic in a small saucepan and cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove lid and cook for one minute once boiling.
    Meanwhile, stir together the corn starch and 2 tablespoons of water in a separate dish until smooth. Once sauce is boiling, add mixture to the saucepan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken then remove from heat.
    Place the chicken breasts in the prepared pan. Pour one cup of the sauce over top of chicken. Place chicken in oven and bake 35 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and shred chicken in the dish using two forks.
    *Meanwhile, steam or cook the vegetables according to package directions.
    Add the cooked vegetables and rice to the casserole dish with the chicken. Add most of the remaining sauce, reserving a bit to drizzle over the top when serving. Gently toss everything together in the casserole dish until combined. Return to oven and cook 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle each serving with remaining sauce. Enjoy!

  • Wontons

    Wontons

    Category: Pork

    Area: Chinese

    Ingredients:

    • 1lb Pork
    • 3 chopped Garlic Clove
    • 1 tsp Ginger
    • 1 tbs Soy Sauce
    • 1 tsp Sesame Seed Oil
    • 3 finely chopped Carrots
    • 3 finely chopped Celery
    • 6 chopped Spring Onions
    • 1 Packet Wonton Skin
    • Fry Oil
    • Bottle Water

    Instructions:

    Combine pork, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and vegetables in a bowl.
    Separate wonton skins.
    Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of the wonton.
    Brush water on 2 borders of the skin, covering 1/4 inch from the edge.
    Fold skin over to form a triangle, sealing edges.
    Pinch the two long outside points together.
    Heat oil to 450 degrees and fry 4 to 5 at a time until golden.
    Drain and serve with sauce.

  • Vegan Lasagna

    Vegan Lasagna

    Category: Vegan

    Area: Italian

    Ingredients:

    • 1 cups green red lentils
    • 1 Carrots
    • 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.

  • Beef Rendang

    Beef Rendang

    Category: Beef

    Area: Malaysian

    Ingredients:

    • 1lb Beef
    • 5 tbs Vegetable Oil
    • 1 Cinnamon Stick
    • 3 Cloves
    • 3 Star Anise
    • 3 Cardamom
    • 1 cup Coconut Cream
    • 1 cup Water
    • 2 tbs Tamarind Paste
    • 6 Lime
    • 1 tbs Sugar
    • 5 Challots

    Instructions:

    Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.
    Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry until aromatic. Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked. Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar or palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.
    Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up. Add more salt and sugar to taste. Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.

  • Ham hock colcannon

    Ham hock colcannon

    Category: Pork

    Area: Irish

    Ingredients:

    • 800g Floury Potatoes
    • 50g Butter
    • 3 chopped Garlic Clove
    • 1 chopped Cabbage
    • 8 Spring Onions
    • 100ml Double Cream
    • 2 tbs Mustard
    • 180g Ham
    • 4 Eggs

    Instructions:

    STEP 1
    Peel and cut the potatoes into even, medium-sized chunks. Put in a large pan filled with cold salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 10-15 mins until a knife can be inserted into the potatoes easily.

    STEP 2
    Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Add the garlic, cabbage, spring onions and some seasoning. Stir occasionally until the cabbage is wilted but still retains a little bite, then set aside.

    STEP 3
    Drain the potatoes, leave to steam-dry for a couple of mins, then mash with the cream, mustard and seasoning in the same saucepan. Stir in the cabbage and ham hock. Keep warm over a low heat.

    STEP 4
    Reheat the pan you used to cook the cabbage (no need to wash first), add a splash of oil, crack in the eggs and fry to your liking. To serve, divide the colcannon between bowls and top each with a fried egg.

  • Cashew Ghoriba Biscuits

    Cashew Ghoriba Biscuits

    Category: Dessert

    Area: Tunisian

    Ingredients:

    • 250g Cashew Nuts
    • 100g Icing Sugar
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 2 tbs Orange Blossom Water
    • To Glaze Icing Sugar
    • 100g Almonds

    Instructions:

    Preheat the oven at 180 C / Gas 4. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
    In a bowl, mix the cashews and icing sugar. Add the egg yolks and orange blossom water and mix to a smooth homogeneous paste.
    Take lumps of the cashew paste and shape into small balls. Roll the balls in icing sugar and transfer to the baking tray. Push an almond in the centre of each ghribia.
    Bake until the biscuits are lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them, they burn quickly.

  • Jam Roly-Poly

    Jam Roly-Poly

    Category: Dessert

    Area: British

    Ingredients:

    • 50g Butter
    • 250g Self-raising Flour
    • 1 small Vanilla
    • 50g Suet
    • 150ml Milk
    • 100g Raspberry Jam
    • to serve Custard

    Instructions:

    Put a deep roasting tin onto the bottom shelf of the oven, and make sure that there’s another shelf directly above it. Pull the roasting tin out on its shelf, fill two-thirds with boiling water from the kettle, then carefully slide it back in. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tear off a large sheet of foil and greaseproof paper (about 30 x 40cm). Sit the greaseproof on top of the foil and butter it.
    Tip butter, flour and vanilla seeds into a food processor; pulse until the butter has disappeared. Tip into a mixing bowl. Stir through the suet, pour in the milk and work together with a cutlery knife until you get a sticky dough. You may need a drop more milk, depending on your flour.
    Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, quickly pat together to smooth, then roll out to a square roughly 25 x 25cm. Spread the jam all over, leaving a gap along one edge, then roll up from the opposite edge. Pinch the jam-free edge into the dough where it meets, and pinch the ends roughly, too. Carefully lift onto the greased paper, join-side down (you might find a flat baking sheet helpful for this), loosely bring up the paper and foil around it, then scrunch together along the edges and ends to seal. The roly-poly will puff quite a bit during cooking so don’t wrap it tightly. Lift the parcel directly onto the rack above the tin and cook for 1 hr.
    Let the pudding sit for 5 mins before unwrapping, then carefully open the foil and paper, and thickly slice to serve.

  • Massaman Beef curry

    Massaman Beef curry

    Category: Beef

    Area: Thai

    Ingredients:

    • 85g Peanuts
    • 400ml can Coconut cream
    • 4 tbsp Massaman curry paste
    • 600g stewing cut into strips Beef
    • 450g waxy Potatoes
    • 1 cut thin wedges Onion
    • 4 leaves Lime
    • 1 Cinnamon stick
    • 1 tbsp Tamarind paste
    • 1 tbsp palm or soft light Brown sugar
    • 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
    • 1 red deseeded and finely sliced, to serve chilli
    • to serve Jasmine Rice

    Instructions:

    Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then roast the peanuts on a baking tray for 5 mins until golden brown. When cool enough to handle, roughly chop. Reduce oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
    Heat 2 tbsp coconut cream in a large casserole dish with a lid. Add the curry paste and fry for 1 min, then stir in the beef and fry until well coated and sealed. Stir in the rest of the coconut with half a can of water, the potatoes, onion, lime leaves, cinnamon, tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and most of the peanuts. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 2 hrs in the oven until the beef is tender.
    Sprinkle with sliced chilli and the remaining peanuts, then serve straight from the dish with jasmine rice.

  • Clam chowder

    Clam chowder

    Category: Starter

    Area: American

    Ingredients:

    • 1½ kg Clams
    • 50g Butter
    • 150g Bacon
    • 1 finely chopped Onion
    • sprigs of fresh Thyme
    • 1 Bay Leaf
    • 1 tbls Plain Flour
    • 150ml Milk
    • 150ml Double Cream
    • 2 medium Potatoes
    • Chopped Parsley

    Instructions:

    Rinse the clams in several changes of cold water and drain well. Tip the clams into a large pan with 500ml of water. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 mins until the clams have just opened. Tip the contents of the pan into a colander over a bowl to catch the clam stock. When cool enough to handle, remove the clams from their shells – reserving a handful of empty shells for presentation if you want. Strain the clam stock into a jug, leaving any grit in the bottom of the bowl. You should have around 800ml stock.
    Heat the butter in the same pan and sizzle the bacon for 3-4 mins until it starts to brown. Stir in the onion, thyme and bay and cook everything gently for 10 mins until the onion is soft and golden. Scatter over the flour and stir in to make a sandy paste, cook for 2 mins more, then gradually stir in the clam stock then the milk and the cream.
    Throw in the potatoes, bring everything to a simmer and leave to bubble away gently for 10 mins or until the potatoes are cooked. Use a fork to crush a few of the potato chunks against the side of the pan to help thicken – you still want lots of defined chunks though. Stir through the clam meat and the few clam shells, if you've gone down that route, and simmer for a minute to reheat. Season with plenty of black pepper and a little salt, if needed, then stir through the parsley just before ladling into bowls or hollowed-out crusty rolls.