I get heaps of inspiration from Jamies Home Cooking Skills site
Greece: do the salad - Greek Style
I’m pretty sure you all know how to make a Greek salad, but just in case, here is a simple recipe to follow, along with a few tips on how the Greeks do it better.
- 2 x small (Lebanese/Greek) Cucumbers - diced
- 2 x med toms - diced
- 1 x med red onion - diced
- 20-30 Kalamata olives (try and get Kalamata olives, it’s just not the same otherwise)
- 1 nice/generous sized slab of “Greek” feta
- Dried oregano & cracked pepper
- Fresh Lemon or Lime
Now do it Greek style:
DO NOT cut or chop the Feta, just throw the slab on top
of your salad, drizzle with a good amount of quality olive oil and a generous
amount of oregano and cracked pepper & serve.
Tips: Cucumbers and toms should be equal amount & red
onion1/2 to 1/3 of this amount. There
should be enough for 8-10 olives per person (no that is not over kill as the
olives neutralize the citrus and feta).
- 1-1.5kg of fresh tomatoes
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 twigs of fresh Rosemary
- 8 slices of Jambon (or Prosciutto)
- 20 Kalamata olives (or other black olives)
- Fresh Pasta enough for 2 or 4 people.
Directions:
Dice & slowly cook the fresh toms for about 1-2hrs (or longer
if you can) until they are reduced & thickened to your preferred consistency. (NOTE: If you don’t have fresh toms then 1x
450g can of diced toms, 2 tablespoons of tom paste and 200ml of pasta sauce
will do the treat (but make sure you try
one day with fresh toms). Set sauce
aside.
Fry diced onion & crushed garlic together in a fry pan
with a bit of olive oil until soft & brown.
Throw in the Rosemary sticks & fry for a little longer so the
flavors release & it starts to smell great.
Rip up the Jambon and throw it in and fry for a few more minutes to release
the oils and flavors (caution: don’t overcook Jambon as it can go hard).
Add to the tom sauce, along with the olives, salt and pepper
& chilli flakes for seasoning and bring to the boil. Served over the top of your favorite fresh
pasta & then drizzle with quality olive oil and a sprinkle of parmesan (or
some other smelly crumbly cheese).
Serves 4.
Golden Rules for this sauce to be successful: 1/2 twig of Rosemary per person, 2 slices of
Jambon Per person & 5 Kalamata Olives per person.
Additional notes: This
normally serves 4 people, but tastes fantastic the next day (so 2 people over 2
nights is even better as the flavors in the sauce intensify). You may need to add more fresh or canned toms
depending on how long you cook to reduce or how watery they are – it’s a judgment
call, but as long as you cook for at least an hour you’ll bring out the best
flavors in your toms.
- Place the duck breast, skin side down, in a frying pan on high heat & brown for 4 mins.
- Then turn the duck breast fillet over to brown the other side for 4 mins.
- Then place on a try, skin side up, and roast on the middle rack of a pre-heated oven (180-200c) for another 8 mins.
- Remove from the oven, cover with foil and let the duck breast rest for 5 minutes.
No need to use oil in the pan as the skin of the duck will be ample when you brown the first side.
Spain: sangria aka Benicassim style
- 1 x 750ml bottle of cheap red wine
- 60ml of Contreau
- 100ml of Orange Juice
- 100ml of Soda water
- ½ an orange – chopped with skin on
- 4 slices of Lime and Lemon
- 5 tablespoons of sugar
***this 1 litre drink cost 4euro during Fiesta & took about 30mins to drink…so wonder we had trouble getting out of bed before 11am.
French alps: vin chaud recipe
- 1 Bottle of Cheap Red Wine (your choice of dry or sweeter)
- Coarsely ground cinnamon or 4 cinnamon sticks
- A few cloves (optional)
- About ¼ cup of honey (or more–sweeten to taste)
- 2 thinly sliced oranges and teaspoon of orange zest
Combine ingredients and heat on the stove over medium-low heat and let simmer. Do not allow wine to boil. After several minutes it will start releasing beautifully spiced vapors that fill the kitchen space with intoxicating aroma. Serve hot.
Spain: ruvuelto asturiano (scramble eggs Asturian style)
- 2 big tomatoes
- 4 or 6 eggs
- 2 or 4 cheese slices
- 300gm Parma ham
- powder onion
- black pepper
- Provenza herbs
- Olive oil
Step 2: with a few of oil fry the Parma ham and cover all with Powder Onion, add a few of black pepper and mix with a big spoon.
Step 3: add the cheese and stir until the cheese with be melted
Step 4: add the tomatoes and stir
Step 5: add the eggs and cover all with powder onion (again) add a few (again to) and Provenza herbs.
Step 6: stir all together until the eggs will be curdled
Step 7: serve in a beautiful dish
A few points to note: don’t use fresh onion as it is too watery and don’t beat or blend eggs, just crack them into the pan and keep folding the mixture until scrambled (curdled). If you use Parma ham you don’t need salt but if you use sweet ham, add a bit of salt.
Ozzie land: Rose’s fresh nachos
I'm actually plagiarizing this recipe from a very special work college of mine. Her name is also Rose and I love her dearly and she served this up (on my request) at my many 'going away functions'.
On many occasions since I have used (or shall is say stolen) the recipe and declared this is 'Rose's Fresh Nachos' without ever truely reveling who the true "Rose" is........So miss Rose from MH T/O...this is for you.
- 1 tub of philly cream cheese (or similar)
- 2 med toms diced
- Sweet chilli sauce
- 1 med red onion diced
- ½ avocado mashed up with fork
Mix as much or as little sweet chilli into diced toms in separate bowl or cup and slap (or pour) onto cream cheese.
Top with red as much or as little red onion as you like.
Then top with mashed up avocado and garnish with some sort of green herb like parsley or coriander for show. (dried is fine if you don’t have fresh).
Serve with corn chips
****or for a more healthy option cut some pita bread into triangles and bake in over for a few minutes and server instead of corn chips.
Ireland: bread & butter pudding
I wouldn't say this dish is particuarly Irish, but I learnt this recipe when we where in Ireland in AUG 2011. Paul's mum Kathy was over at the time when on one particular night we where watching a cooking show on TV...so it now is known as "Irish Bread and Butter Pud".
- 6 small or 3 large croissants – ripped into small pieces
- 150g of good quality white chocolate - chopped
- 150g of good quality dark chocolate - chopped
- 4 eggs
- 250-300ml fresh cream (or sour cream)
- Dash of vanilla essence
- 20x25cm lasagna dish (or similar size)
- Raw sugar or brown sugar
Crack the eggs into cream, add vanilla and mix until just blended & pour over croissants. Then finish with a sprinkle of raw or brown sugar on top.
Bake in moderate oven for 30-40mins or until sugar has gone crispy and brown.
Serves 5-6
****if fresh cream is not available use sour cream and add a dash of milk and a bit more vanilla essence.
****depending on the croissants used you may need to include more or less, basically you just need to make ensure the entire bottom has a good layer and you have enough pudding to go round.
****This is one of those puddings you can add or subtract from so if you want more chocolate, add more choc. If the egg mix is too runny…don’t use as much cream next time etc. etc and it will taste great each time
****I never use measurements and it’s a winner everytime
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