Chilli prawns with spinach-tomato-y pasta

Ingredients:

250g fresh pasta (spaghetti or tagliatelle)
Little tomatoes
2 red peppers
150g baby spinach
Fresh basil
2 red chillies
1 shallot
1 clove of garlic

For the prawns:
Prawns (uncooked)
Honey
Curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of one lemon (or lime)

How to cook it all:
Marinate the prawns for about half an hour or so. Fry the peppers - fiercely - so they get a little scorched. Reduce heat and add the halved tomatoes, cook over medium heat for a few minutes until the tomatoes are becoming a bit soft. In a wok, gently fry shallot, chilli and garlic - add to the tomatoes. Finally, fry the prawns (without the marinade) so they become a little crispy. Then add the marinade, allow to reduce so it becomes sticky - then add to the tomatoes. In the meantime, you will have cooked the pasta (obviously) - then mix everything together, including the spinach, so it wilts a little. Serve sprinkled with basil.

Pho-inspired chicken noodle soup

Ingredients:

For the broth:
4 chicken drumsticks, skin on
3 star anise
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
4 dried hot chillis
1 tsp coarse salt
peelings of a good chunk of ginger (flesh reserved)
5-6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 tbs oil
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
5 shallots, roughly chopped
4 sprigs coriander (stalks and roots, leaves reserved)
2 litres chicken stock

For the soup:
4 potatoes, cut into little cubes
5 carrots, cut into little cubes
1/4 celeriac root, cut into little cubes
(and any other vegetables you might want in the soup - pak choy would work really well, or spinach leaves, added right at the end)
2-3 handfuls of alphabet pasta (or Asian noodles)
1 tsp fish sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
ginger (see above) cut into thin strips
1-2 chillis (not too hot), cut into thin strips
coriander leaves (see above)
2 spring onions, finely sliced

How to make the broth:
Place the whole dried spices and salt in a pestle and mortar and bruise to release their oils - there is no need to pound until smooth as they will be strained out of the final soup. Add the ginger peelings and garlic and bruise a little bit more. Heat the oil in a high-sided, heavy-bottomed pan. Add the spices from the pestle and mortar and fry for 3-4 minutes until they become aromatic. Add the chopped vegetables and coriander stalks and roots. Continue to cook for a few more minutes, then push to the side of the pan as best as possible and add the chicken drumsticks. Brown from all sides, then add the (hot) chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 40-45 minutes. Take out the chicken, put on a plate or board and leave to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, strain the soup and pour back in the pot. It might be too spicy now because of the dried chillis but will become less so after straining. Take the chicken meat of the bones, discard the bones and tear the meat into manageable strips. Set aside.

How to make the soup:
Bring the clear broth back to a simmer and add the cubes of carrot, potatoes and celeriac. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are almost done. Add the noodles and chicken strips and leave for a further couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add the coriander, strips of ginger and chilli, spring onions, fish & soy sauce, lime juice, check the seasoning and serve. Yum! AND a perfect cold remedy.

Risotto with peas, mint, courgette & parma ham

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 leek, finely sliced
2 carrots, finely cubed
1 celery stick, finely sliced
300g Arborio rice
100ml white wine
about 1l of hot chicken broth (I usually keep it bubbling away in a separate pan on the stove while making the risotto.)
1 courgette, cut into cubes
1 tbsp chopped mint
3 tbsp chopped parsley
50g grated parmesan
some lemon juice
salt
pepper
sugar
150g frozen peas (or fresh ones, obviously, but they are hard to find until they are in season)
thin slices of parma ham, about 4-5 per person

How to make the risotto:
Prepare the peas. You want to cook them separately to keep them nice and plump. Boil about a cup of water, put the peas in a dish, add the boiling water with a tbps of salt and a tsp of sugar, then leave the peas for about 5 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a big non-stick pan and add the leeks, carrot and celery. Fry on a medium heat for about 5 mins. Add the rice and stir until it is evenly coated, then add the white wine and leave it to simmer until nearly all is evaporated. Now add a ladle of the hot chicken broth, and stir the rice until almost all the liquid is gone. Now add another ladle and keep stiring (gently). Continue this for about 15-20 minutes until the rice is done (it should be just about not crunchy any more) and most of the liquid is gone (you want a smooth, wet consistency). Now switch off the heat, add the courgettes, peas, mint, parsley and parmesan and stir gently. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes while you prepare the parma ham.
Heat a small frying pan, turn down to medium heat then put the strips of parma ham in flat. You don't want them overlapping. Leave for about a minute until heated through, turn over for a few seconds then switch off the heat.
To serve, ladle the risotto into a dish and serve with a few slivers of the parma ham on top. Delicious!

Shrove Tuesday Pancakes with Chicken, Leek and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
Pancakes:
Splash of olive oil
110g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml milk
100 ml water

Chicken Mixture:
2 tsp olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
2 leeks, sliced
2 onions (or some shallots), sliced
1 pack of mushrooms, cubed
1 bunch of parsley
2 celery sticks
1 tub of cream
splash of white wine
salt, pepper, chili powder, sprinkle of sugar

How to make the pancakes:
Put the flour and salt into a large bowl, make a well into the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs into the flour until everything is blended. Mix the milk and water together, then add them bit by bit to the bowl. Keep whisking until you have a smooth batter. Leave it standing for about half an hour.
Wipe a frying pan with some olive oil, then heat up and add a couple of tbsp of the batter to the pan. Swirl around so the bottom is covered. Cook for a minute or so, flip over and leave for a bit longer. They really don't take that long but you want them a bit browned.

How to make the chicken:
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the chicken strips for 4-5 mins, until they are nicely browned. They don't have to be completely cooked. Take out with a slotted spoon. Add some more olive oil to the pan and fry the leeks, onions/shallots, celery for 6-8 mins until softened. Add the mushrooms and half the chopped parsley, fry for a further few minutes, add the chicken back in, mix well, then add the white wine. Simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Keep seasoning throughout. Add the cream, heat through and serve in a folded pancake.

And if you want dessert, just serve up a few more pancakes, but this time with caster sugar and lemon juice sprinkled on. Let the fast begin!

Savoy dell' Songavazzo

Hello! Guest blogger here in the secret kitchen, on Sandra's invite, adding a meal I cooked for us a couple of days ago. I have named the dish after a small village in northern Italy that I have never visited. Basically, it's cabbage, sausage and mushrooms in a creamy sauce.

Ingredients:

Savoy cabbage (quite a lot of it - I used practically an entire small-ish cabbage)
Mushrooms
Carrots
Sausages (not strong-tasting ones if you want Sandra to enjoy it)
Pasta (I used fettucelle, and I recommend this - or other long, narrow pasta-types)

For the sauce:

Shallots
White wine
Creme fraiche
Parsley
Chicken stock
Curry powder
Salt and pepper (of course!)


How to make the sauce:

It's easy. Slice the shallots finely and fry them in butter. Then add two (or possibly three) glugs of wine, as well as some stock (chicken is specified above, but it could just as easily be another type of stock) and curry powder. Allow this to reduce until it is really quite reduced indeed and then sling in some creme fraiche. On reflection, creme fraiche made the sauce quite thick. I think I did also use some cream - and maybe cream would be better all round. Who knows? NOTE TO SELF: investigate this next time you make the meal.

How to make the other stuff:

Let's face it: if you are reading this blog, you are quite clearly either Sandra or myself, or some interloper who is a very sophisticated chef, probably with your own restaurant. As such, I propose not to waste any time describing the method for preparing pasta. The rest of the stuff is actually almost as easy - slice the cabbage into strips, cut the carrots into those little carroty sticks, slice the mushrooms and cut the sausage/s into chunks. None of this stuff takes all that long, so you can probably begin frying after you've started off the sauce. Put the mushrooms and carrots in first, adding the saussies shortly after so that they have plenty of time to get brown and crispy on the outside. The cabbage goes last because it ought to have a little bit of crunch left when it gets to the plate.

After making the meal, I wondered whether it would work well with bacon instead of sausage, or with leek / peas in addition to the cabbage - or, radically, even INSTEAD of the cabbage (remembering to change the name of the dish if you do choose this latter option).

If you're ANY good at cooking, the sauce, the fried stuff and the pasta will all be ready at exactly the same time. So pour the sauce over the fried stuff and serve it on top of the pasta and you are good to go. Mmmm-mm!

Indian-style roast salmon with fried potatoes and cucumber & coriander raita

Ingredients (for 2 people)

For the salmon
2 salmon fillets, skin on and scored
A dash of teriyaki sauce
A dash of soy sauce
A few different curry blends, or some ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala
Few drops of sesame oil
Some fish sauce
Some tabasco sauce
Salt
Pepper
2 tsp honey

For the curry paste
Olive oil
1-2 chillies, finely sliced
3 cm of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbs of curry leaves
1 tsp of curry powder
Some salt, pepper, sugar
1 tbs of mustard seeds
1 tbs of sesame seeds
1 tin of creamed coconut milk

For the vegetable base
All different kinds of finely sliced vegetables, enough to fill the bottom of an oven dish, e.g.:
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
A quarter red cabbage/savoy cabbage
A handful of mangetout
2 leeks
1 unwaxed lemon or lime
Some salt and pepper

For the raita:
500 ml plain yoghurt
1 bunch of coriander, chopped with stalks and all
1 cucumber, grated
Some mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of icing sugar
Some raita seasoning (mustard seeds, dried herbs)

For the potatoes:
6-8 waxy potatoes
1 tbs of turmeric
Salt, pepper

How to marinate the salmon:
Marinate the salmon a few hours before cooking. Score the skin a couple of times, put the fillets into a sealable bag, add all the marinating sauces and spices except for the honey (be quite generous) and put the bag in the fridge.

How to make the raita:
Mix all the ingredients together. You can do this a few hours before dinner, so everything blends. Take out of the fridge half an hour before serving and adjust the seasoning.

How to make the curry paste:
Add olive oil to a frying pan. Add all the ingredients except the coconut milk and fry lightly for 3-4 minutes. Add the coconut milk and reduce by about half, stiring occasionally.

How to make the potatoes:
Peel the potatoes, half them lengthways and boil for 10-15 mins until almost cooked, drain and cut them into chunks. Heat up some oil in a frying pan and add the potatoes. Leave them for a few minutes to catch, add the spices, then fry until brown and crispy. They will turn a nice yellow from the turmeric.

How to roast the vegetables and salmon:
Heat up the fan oven to 180 degrees.

Place the vegetables in the oven dish. It's important to slice them as thinly as possible to allow them to cook as there is only a little amount of liquid in the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Sit the salmon fillets on top, skin side up. Drizzle the honey over the salmon and vegetables. Cut the lemon/lime into 6 chunks, squeeze the juice over everything and distribute the chunks over the vegetables. Drizzle the curry paste over the vegetables, it's ok if some ends up on the salmon. If the paste seems quite dry, add some extra white wine, or sake, to the pan. Now cover the dish with foil and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil, check that there is some liquid with the vegetables (add some more if necessary), add some salt to the salmon skins and put back in the oven for another 15 mins until the salmon is cooked to your liking.

To serve:
Lift out the salmon with some of the vegetables and put on a plate. Add some of the potatoes and raita. Voila!

Delicious druck wraps with peanut sauce

Ingredients

For the duck
1 duck breast - skin scored, breast halved (easier when marinating)
Teriyaki sauce
Soy sauce
Different curry blends
Ground cumin
Ground coriander
Ground turmeric
Sake, or Noilly Prat, or red wine, or white wine
2 tsp honey
Some more soy sauce

For the peanut sauce
Olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1-2 chillies, finely sliced
Ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp chunky peanut butter
Sake
Juice of 1 lime
Salt, pepper, sugar
1/2 can of coconut milk

For the wraps
Tortilla flour wraps
Savoy cabbage, finely sliced
2 carrots, finely sliced
1/2 cucumber, cut into thin slices length-ways

How to marinate the duck:
Marinate the duck a few hours before cooking. If you've forgotten, or don't have the time, 30 minutes to an hour will be fine, but about 4 hours or even the whole day would be ideal. Take a sealable bag, add the duck and all the above sauces and spices (you want the marinade quite liquid), shake the duck about a bit and put in the fridge. Turn the bag over in the fridge once in a while so the duck is evenly marinated.

When ready to cook, heat up the oven to 170 degrees, Umluft.

How to make the sauce:
Now make the sauce. Heat up a couple of table spoons of olive oil and fry the shallots, chillies, garlic and ginger lightly for a few minutes until softened. Add a generous dash of Sake (or white wine, or Noilly Prat etc.) and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Then add the peanut butter, coconut milk, lime juice, seasoning and stir while simmering on a low heat, for about 2-3 minutes. The sauce will thicken, so switch off the heat before it is the consistency you want (it will keep thickening off the heat).

How to fry/roast the duck:
Take an oven dish that can also be used on the stove. Pat the duck dry a little and start by frying it for a few minutes skin-side down in some olive oil. Not too much heat as the skin scorches easily. Then switch off the stove, turn the duck over, put salt and pepper on the skin, add some liquid to the pan, just a dash, and put in the oven for 25 minutes (for just well done). Leave in foil for a few minutes, then brush with a honey-soysauce-mix and put under a grill for 5 minutes or so, taking care not to burn the skin (you want it crispy). Cut into thin slices - taste while doing so because it's delicious! - and put on the table.

Also on the table: sliced vegetables, peanut sauce (luke warm) and the tortilla wraps (after about 30 seconds in the microwave).

Now assemble and enjoy!