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  • Crispy Eggplant

    Crispy Eggplant

    Category: Vegetarian

    Area: Filipino

    Ingredients:

    • 1 large Egg Plants
    • 1 cup Breadcrumbs
    • 50g Sesame Seed
    • 2 Eggs
    • To taste Salt
    • To taste Pepper
    • For frying Vegetable Oil

    Instructions:

    Slice eggplant into 1 cm (0.4-inch) slices. Place them in a bowl and sprinkle them with salt. allow them to sit for 30 minutes to render some of their liquid and bitterness.
    2. After 30 minutes wash eggplant slices from salt and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
    3. In a large bowl/plate place breadcrumbs and sesame seeds. In another bowl beat 2 eggs with pinch salt and pepper.
    4. Heal oil in a large skillet over high heat.
    5. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in crumbs, and place in hot oil. Fry 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

  • Flamiche

    Flamiche

    Category: Vegetarian

    Area: French

    Ingredients:

    • 75g Butter
    • 1kg Leek
    • ½ tsp Salt
    • 300ml Creme Fraiche
    • 1 Egg
    • 3 Egg Yolks
    • ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
    • 225g Plain Flour
    • ½ tsp Salt
    • 60g Butter
    • 60g Lard
    • 50g Cheddar Cheese
    • 2 tbs Water

    Instructions:

    For the pastry, sift the flour and salt into the bowl of a food processor, add the butter and lard, then whizz together briefly until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Tip the mixture into a bowl, then stir in the cheese and enough of the water for the mixture to come together. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Roll out thinly and line a 23cm x 4cm loose-?bottomed fluted flan tin. Prick the base with a fork. Chill for 20 minutes.
    02.Melt the 75g butter in a saucepan over a low heat, then add the leeks and the salt. Cover and cook for ?10 minutes until soft. Uncover the pan, increase the heat and cook ?for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated. Spoon onto a plate and leave to cool.
    03.Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Line the pastry case with baking paper and baking beans or rice and blind bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are biscuit-coloured. Remove the paper and beans/rice and return the case to the oven for 7-10 minutes until the base is crisp and lightly golden. Remove and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5.
    04.Put the crème fraîche into a bowl with the whole egg, egg yolks and nutmeg. Lightly beat together, then season. Stir in the leeks. Spoon ?the mixture into the tart case and bake for 35-40 minutes until set ?and lightly golden. Remove from ?the oven and leave for 10 minutes. Take out of the tin and serve.

  • Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs)

    Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs)

    Category: Beef

    Area: Dutch

    Ingredients:

    • 100g Butter
    • 150g Flour
    • 700ml Beef Stock
    • 30g Onion
    • 1 tbs Parsley
    • 400g Beef
    • Pinch Salt
    • Pinch Pepper
    • Pinch Nutmeg
    • 50g Flour
    • 2 Beaten Eggs
    • 50g Breadcrumbs

    Instructions:

    Melt the butter in a skillet or pan. When melted, add the flour little by little and stir into a thick paste. Slowly stir in the stock, making sure the roux absorbs the liquid. Simmer for a couple of minutes on a low heat while you stir in the onion, parsley and the shredded meat. The mixture should thicken and turn into a heavy, thick sauce.

    Pour the mixture into a shallow container, cover and refrigerate for several hours, or until the sauce has solidified.

    Take a heaping tablespoon of the cold, thick sauce and quickly roll it into a small ball. Roll lightly through the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Make sure that the egg covers the whole surface of the bitterbal. When done, refrigerate the snacks while the oil in your fryer heats up to 190C (375F). Fry four bitterballen at a time, until golden.

    Serve on a plate with a nice grainy or spicy mustard.

  • Kung Po Prawns

    Kung Po Prawns

    Category: Seafood

    Area: Chinese

    Ingredients:

    • 400g Prawns
    • 2 tbs Soy Sauce
    • 1 tsp Tomato Puree
    • 1 tsp Corn Flour
    • 1 tsp Caster Sugar
    • 1 tsp Sunflower Oil
    • 85g Peanuts
    • 3 Large Chilli
    • 1 tbs Brown Sugar
    • 6 cloves Garlic Clove
    • 450g Water Chestnut
    • to taste Ginger

    Instructions:

    Mix the cornflour and 1 tbsp soy sauce, toss in the prawns and set aside for 10 mins. Stir the vinegar, remaining soy sauce, tomato purée, sugar and 2 tbsp water together to make a sauce.

    When you’re ready to cook, heat a large frying pan or wok until very hot, then add 1 tbsp oil. Fry the prawns until they are golden in places and have opened out– then tip them out of the pan.

    Heat the remaining oil and add the peanuts, chillies and water chestnuts. Stir-fry for 2 mins or until the peanuts start to colour, then add the ginger and garlic and fry for 1 more min. Tip in the prawns and sauce and simmer for 2 mins until thickened slightly. Serve with rice.

  • Kafteji

    Kafteji

    Category: Vegetarian

    Area: Tunisian

    Ingredients:

    • 5 Large Potatoes
    • 2 tbs Olive Oil
    • 1 Green Pepper
    • 5 Onions
    • 1 tbs Ras el hanout
    • 500g Pumpkin
    • 24 Skinned Eggs
    • Pinch Salt
    • Pinch Pepper

    Instructions:

    Peel potatoes and cut into 5cm cubes.
    Pour 1-2 cm of olive oil into a large pan and heat up very hot. Fry potatoes until golden brown for 20 minutes, turning from time to time. Place on kitchen paper to drain.
    Cut the peppers in half and remove seeds. Rub a little olive oil on them and place the cut side down on a baking tray. Place them under the grill. Grill until the skin is dark and bubbly. While the peppers are still hot, put them into a plastic sandwich bag and seal it. Take them out after 15 minutes and remove skins.
    In the meantime, heat more olive oil another pan. Peel the onions and cut into thin rings. Fry for 15 minutes until golden brown, turning them often. Add the Ras el hanout at the end.
    Cut the pumpkin into 5cm cubes and fry in the same pan you used for the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until it is soft and slightly browned. Place on kitchen paper.
    Pour the remaining olive oil out of the pan and put all the cooked vegetables into the pan and mix. Whisk eggs and pour them over the vegetables. Put the lid on the pan so that the eggs cook. Put the contents of the pan onto a large chopping board, add salt and pepper and chopped and mix everything with a big knife.

  • Summer Pudding

    Summer Pudding

    Category: Dessert

    Area: British

    Ingredients:

    • 300g Strawberries
    • 250g Blackberries
    • 100g Redcurrants
    • 500g Raspberries
    • 175g Caster Sugar
    • 7 Slices Bread

    Instructions:

    Bring out the juices: Wash fruit and gently dry on kitchen paper – keep strawberries separate. Put sugar and 3 tbsp water into a large pan. Gently heat until sugar dissolves – stir a few times. Bring to a boil for 1 min, then tip in the fruit (not strawberries). Cook for 3 mins over a low heat, stirring 2-3 times. The fruit will be softened, mostly intact and surrounded by dark red juice. Put a sieve over a bowl and tip in the fruit and juice.
    Line the bowl with cling film and prepare the bread: Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Overlap two pieces of cling film in the middle of the bowl as it’s easier than trying to get one sheet to stick to all of the curves. Let the edges overhang by about 15cm. Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.
    Build the pud: Dip the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few secs just to coat. Push this into the bottom of the basin. Now dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the basin’s sides so that they fit together neatly, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. If you can’t quite fit the last piece of bread in it doesn’t matter, just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the softened fruit, adding the strawberries here and there as you go.
    Let flavours mingle then serve: Dip the bread triangles in juice and place on top – trim off overhang with scissors. Keep leftover juice for later. Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a side plate on top and weight down with cans. Chill for 6 hrs or overnight. To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. serve with leftover juice, any extra berries and cream.

  • Vegan Chocolate Cake

    Vegan Chocolate Cake

    Category: Vegan

    Area: American

    Ingredients:

    • 1 1/4 cup Self-raising Flour
    • 1/2 cup coco sugar
    • 1/3 cup raw cacao
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 2 flax eggs
    • 1/2 cup almond milk
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 1/2 cup boiling water

    Instructions:

    Simply mix all dry ingredients with wet ingredients and blend altogether. Bake for 45 min on 180 degrees. Decorate with some melted vegan chocolate

  • Three Fish Pie

    Three Fish Pie

    Category: Seafood

    Area: British

    Ingredients:

    • 1kg Potatoes
    • Knob Butter
    • Dash Milk
    • 50g Gruyère
    • 75g Butter
    • 2 sliced Leek
    • 75g Plain Flour
    • 150ml White Wine
    • 568ml Milk
    • 2 tbs chopped Parsley
    • 250g Salmon
    • 250g Haddock
    • 250g Smoked Haddock
    • 6 Eggs

    Instructions:

    Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 (180C fan).
    Put the potatoes into a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring up to the boil and simmer until completely tender. Drain well and then mash with the butter and milk. Add pepper and taste to check the seasoning. Add salt and more pepper if necessary.
    For the fish filling, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leeks and stir over the heat. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until soft. Measure the flour into a small bowl. Add the wine and whisk together until smooth.
    Add the milk to the leeks, bring to the boil and then add the wine mixture. Stir briskly until thickened. Season and add the parsley and fish. Stir over the heat for two minutes, then spoon into an ovenproof casserole. Scatter over the eggs. Allow to cool until firm.
    Spoon the mashed potatoes over the fish mixture and mark with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese.
    Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown on top and bubbling around the edges.

  • Beef Bourguignon

    Beef Bourguignon

    Category: Beef

    Area: French

    Ingredients:

    • 3 tsp Goose Fat
    • 600g Beef Shin
    • 100g Bacon
    • 350g Challots
    • 250g Chestnut Mushroom
    • 2 sliced Garlic Clove
    • 1 Bouquet Garni
    • 1 tbs Tomato Puree
    • 750 ml Red Wine
    • 600g Celeriac
    • 2 tbs Olive Oil
    • sprigs of fresh Thyme
    • sprigs of fresh Rosemary
    • 2 Bay Leaf
    • 4 Cardamom

    Instructions:

    Heat a large casserole pan and add 1 tbsp goose fat. Season the beef and fry until golden brown, about 3-5 mins, then turn over and fry the other side until the meat is browned all over, adding more fat if necessary. Do this in 2-3 batches, transferring the meat to a colander set over a bowl when browned.
    In the same pan, fry the bacon, shallots or pearl onions, mushrooms, garlic and bouquet garni until lightly browned. Mix in the tomato purée and cook for a few mins, stirring into the mixture. This enriches the bourguignon and makes a great base for the stew. Then return the beef and any drained juices to the pan and stir through.
    Pour over the wine and about 100ml water so the meat bobs up from the liquid, but isn’t completely covered. Bring to the boil and use a spoon to scrape the caramelised cooking juices from the bottom of the pan – this will give the stew more flavour.
    Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Make a cartouche: tear off a square of foil slightly larger than the casserole, arrange it in the pan so it covers the top of the stew and trim away any excess foil. Then cook for 3 hrs. If the sauce looks watery, remove the beef and veg with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Cook the sauce over a high heat for a few mins until the sauce has thickened a little, then return the beef and vegetables to the pan.
    To make the celeriac mash, peel the celeriac and cut into cubes. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Tip in the celeriac and fry for 5 mins until it turns golden. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir in the rosemary, thyme, bay and cardamom pods, then pour over 200ml water, enough to nearly cover the celeriac. Turn the heat to low, partially cover the pan and leave to simmer for 25-30 mins.
    After 25-30 mins, the celeriac should be soft and most of the water will have evaporated. Drain away any remaining water, then remove the herb sprigs, bay and cardamom pods. Lightly crush with a potato masher, then finish with a glug of olive oil and season to taste. Spoon the beef bourguignon into serving bowls and place a large spoonful of the celeriac mash on top. Garnish with one of the bay leaves, if you like.

  • Tourtiere

    Tourtiere

    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.