• Bren's Beef on Noodles

• Irish Harp Stew for St.Patrick's Day

• Paprika Pork with Porcini Mushroom Stuffing

• Picata alla Milanaise

• Mustard Vinegar Chicken with Spring Onion Mash and Baby Carrots

• Venison Drowned in Red Wine

• Pseudo-Caribbean Blackened Chicken

• Pesto Chicken

• Laotian Crack

• Chicken in Honey and Thyme

• Duck with Rice and Mint

• Slightly Cheezy Pesto Stir-Fry

• Chicken with Pesto

• Creole Pork Casserole

• Grenadian Chicken With Mace

• Chicken Valencia with Pine Nuts

• Stuffed Peppers á la Omi

Bren's Beef on Noodles

Quantities are just from my head as I never measure - Bren

Groundnut oil

2 cloves of garlic crushed and chopped

1 inch of ginger crushed and chopped

1 red chilli sliced (seeds in for spice if you like it!)

A decent quantity (see what I mean) of beef/steak sliced into thin strips

10 cherry tomatoes sliced in half

3 heads of Pak Choi (chinese cabbage - can use Bok Choi if desired)

1 bunch of spring onions cut into thirds.

1 green pepper cut into strips

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

2-3 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

Sesame oil

Medium egg noodles

Ok, heat your wok really hot, add a little groundnut oil and add in your chopped garlic, ginger and chilli. Fry for a few secs and add your beef. Stir fry the beef for a few minutes until cooked as you like it and then remove everything from the wok.

Heat the wok up again and add a little more oil. Add the sliced green pepper and stir fry for about 30 secs. Then add the spring onion and pak choi and stir fry for about 30 secs further. Now add back in the beef. Mix the whole lot around and add the tomatoes.

Now add the soy sauce and rice wine. Mix for a few seconds and add the oyster sauce and hoisin. Mix and cook for a further 30 seconds or till heated through. Drizzle over a little sesame oil and mix.

Serve on a bed of hot boiled medium egg noodles cooked according to instructions on the packer (the 4-minute ones are great).

Irish Harp Stew for St.Patrick's Day

I collect far more of these than I cook, but I can vouch for this being entirely too tasty for its own good - Waider

1 lb round steak

Onion

Carrot

Tablespoon Tomato pureé

Red pepper

4 oz mushrooms

Beef stock cube

250ml Harp lager

Oil for frying

Cut steak into bite size pieces, put a little oil in pan & brown steak. Remove. Chop onion pepper & carrots and fry.

Put meat back in pan, add in lager mixed with tomato pureé & stock cube, bring to boil.

Turn into casserole dish & cook in oven 150C for 1 ½ hours, about 10 minutes before end add in mushrooms. Season to taste & sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with baked potatoes or mash.

Paprika Pork with Porcini Mushroom Stuffing

This is a recipe I threw together on the spur of the moment, using ingredients that happened to be lying around. I fed three people from one pork fillet - a larger filet would probably serve four, a smaller one two. The results were rather wonderful - Paula

Serves:2

1 small pork fillet

1 tbsp paprika

2 oz butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion finely chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

½ tsp dried mixed herbs

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

2 oz breadcrumbs

salt and black pepper

Pour some boiling water over mushrooms and allow to soak for 30 mins. Drain mushrooms, reserving water. Chop mushrooms roughly. Melt 1 oz butter in pan and sauté onion and garlic over low heat for 10 mins till onions are softened. Add herbs and fry 1 min more. Remove from heat and stir in the mushrooms and breadcrumbs. Season with salt an pepper and add a little of the mushroom water if the mixture is too dry. It should clump together will, but not be a soggy mass.

Preheat oven to 190C.

Using a sharp knife make a slit down through the centre of the pork filet, so you end up with a pork tube, which should be open at both ends.

Use a teaspoon and/or your finger to stuff the pork with you mushroom mixture. If you have too much stuffing then wrap the remainder in tinfoil to cook later. Toss the stuffed pork filet in the paprika.

Heat the remaining butter and olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Once heated fry the fork fillet - you want to brown and seal the meat on all sides, but not cook it through. Transfer the pork to an ovenproof dish. Add 1-2 tblsp of the mushroom water (if you have this left) to the pan. Stir briskly to remove any bit stuck to the pan then pour all the pan juices over the pork.

The pork should then be roasted for 20mins - up to 40 mins for a large pork fillet. You may need to cover the pork for half of the cooking time if oyu feel it is getting too overcooked/dry. Any remaining stuffing can be cooked in the oven with the pork. Once well wrapped in foil it won't dry out and should take about 20 mins. Leave pork to sit for 5 mins prior to slicing and serving.

Variation

Saute ½ onion, finely chopped and 1 tsp mixed herbs in 1 oz butter for 5 mins. Stir in 1/3 green apple peeled and finely chopped and cook for another minute. Stir in 4oz breadcrumbs, and if the mixture is a little dry add a little cider to moisten. Use this to stuff the pork fillet.

Finely chop the other ½ of the onion and place in an oven proof dish or casserole along with the remaining 2/3 of the apple peeled and sliced. Pour over about 250ml cider, enough to cover the onion and apple.

Fry the pork fillet over high heat to brown on all sides and place in the casserole dish. The cider should come about 1/3 of the way up the side of the pork. Cover and roast at 190C for 30-45 mins till the pork is cooked. Turn the pork half way through the cooking time and remove the cover for the last 15 minutes.

The onion/apple/cider mix the pork is cooked in makes a wonderful sauce if pureed and thickened with a little cornflour if necessary.

Picata alla Milanaise

- Anita

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20 mins

Basic tomato sauce (made from 3 tomatoes) (page 16)

1-2 boneless, thin pork chops per person

3 eggs

1 tbsp butter

4-6 tbsp flour

Dried oregano, pepper, paprika, salt/Aromat to taste

~150g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat up the tomato sauce

Put on water for the spaghetti

Season the pork chops with oregano, pepper, paprika, salt/Aromat

Put the flour in one soup plate. In another beat the eggs with 1 tbsp of the parmesan cheese.

Dip the pork chops first in the flour and then into the egg/cheese mixture, making sure the chops are evenly and fully coated in each.

By now your water should be boiling for the spaghetti so put them onto cook.

Heat the butter in the frying pan and fry the pork chops for 10 mins. They should be golden brown and cooked.

Drain the spaghetti, put on plate, top with the tomato sauce and then the pork chops. Serve with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Mustard Vinegar Chicken with Spring Onion Mash and Baby Carrots

It sounds a bit bizarre, but it's absolutely yummy!! - Bren

For the chicken:

3 tbsp of red wine vinegar

4 tbsp of Dijon mustard

4 tbsp of olive oil

4 phicken breasts

A handful of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

For the mash:

Potatoes (amount depends on how many I guess - a potful? :))

6-8 spring onions

Butter

Double Cream

For the carrots:

Baby Carrots

Butter

Flatten out the chicken with a meat mallet until about 1/4 an inch thick. In a bowl, mix the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Put the chicken in an ovenproof dish (without overlapping if possible) and pour on the mustard/vinegar/oil mixture. Grill the chicken in a hot grill about 6-8 inches from the heat source for about 15-20 mins (depends on heat of grill) until juices run clear when pricked. Turn once and baste a few times. When cooked ,add in chopped parsley.

Boil the potatoes and after seasoning with a good deal of salt and pepper, add a LOT of butter and mash. Chop spring onions finely. Add spring onions to mash and add a small quantity of cream (100ml?? Depends on yourself I guess) and stir with a wooden spoon. Should be sticky and fluffy and tasty.

Boil the baby carrots (or even better, steam them!) and when done, add some butter and toss.

Serve and enjoy!

Chicken Fart-Eaters (Fajitas ?)

Also works well with minced beef, or couscous as a veggie option - Brian P.

4 skinless chicken breasts

1 onion.

2 large cloves of garlic

1 can beans (black eye, mixed beans or red kidney beans as available)

1 yellow pepper (or red if not available)

1-2 green chillies

½ tube tomato purée

1 small can sweet corn , optional

(for veggie option handful of mushrooms are a good thing)

1 nutmeg (or 2 tea spoons ground)

2-3 tsp oregano

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1-2 tsp cumin

Tabasco sauce

½ a lime

Olive oil

To serve:

Simple crisp salad

Soured cream and chives

Guacamole

8 soft flour tortillas (You can make these yourself, but its not worth the effort)

Slice the chicken breasts into thin slivers, squeeze over some of the lime juice and a dash of the old Tabasco, let it sit for a bit.

Chop the onion finely, slice the pepper, seed and chop the chillies. Boil up the beans and all that other good stuff.

In a hot wok or large frying pan roast the oregano cumin, cinnamon and HALF the nutmeg (grate it in obviously if its a whole nutmeg). After 30 sec at a high remove to bowl.

Turn the heat down to moderate and add the oil. Then add the onions and allow them to become golden. Then add chicken and return the roast spices to the mix. Let that cook for a bit.

Strain the beans now and set them aside to dry off a bit. Add the peppers to the mix. Add the chillies. Crush in the garlic. Add the beans. Cook this for a bit. Then squeeze in half a tube of tomato puree. Stir and cook turning heat down. Add water to loosen the mix if necessary.

Add in the remaining nutmeg (this is important to do late on as the spice loses some of its flavour with heat). Squeeze in remaining lime juice. Add Tabasco to taste.

Serve with a simple crisp salad, soured cream and chives, and guacamole.

Wrap in warmed soft flour tortillas.

Venison Drowned in Red Wine

For those who want to try out something special, here is the traditional Swiss method for cooking Bambi. Be prepared to use massive amounts of red wine...and it will need forward planning.

For the accompanying wine I would suggest a heavy red wine, ideally with Shiraz or Merlot grapes but preferably no Australian or Californian Wine. A very heavy Rioja will do in a pinch (this excludes Faustino!), or consider trying the Lebanese Chateau Musar - Anita

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 1-7 days

150 - 200 gr. of venison per person (deer, hare, boar etc. - also works for venison sausages)

1 tablespoon of butter

Flour

2 tblsp Knorr Gravy (or any other gravy powder such as Bisto)

Marinade

1 litre of cheap "cardboard carton" red wine

100 ml of red wine vinegar

4-6 Bay Leaves

4 Juniper Berries

2 Carrots

3 Cloves of Garlic

1 Onion

3 Cloves

Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut the venison into chunks (about 1" on a side) and place it in a non metal bowl.

Pour the litre of wine over it as well as the red wine vinegar.

Add in the bay leaves, cloves and juniper berries.

Cut the onion, garlic and the carrots into chunky stripes and add them to the marinade.

Salt & Pepper to taste - though I recommend not to use too much salt at this stage (you can even leave it out).

See that the venison is evenly covered and put a plate on top of the bowl to seal it off - place in fridge an let it sit there for 1-7 days. Note: If you let it marinade for more than one day you have to stir it once a day and the longer you let it absorb the wine the more dominantly sour the outcome will be)

Take the venison out of the marinade (don't throw away the marinade!) and let it drain in a sieve for 10 mins.

Dust it with flour and fry it with the tablespoon of butter in a non stick frying pan until it is evenly brown.

Add ¾ of the marinade, reduce the heat and let simmer for 10 mins. Dissolve the gravy in the rest of the marinade (no clumps allowed) and add it to the venison - leave it simmering on medium heat for 30-40 mins.

Taste and add more salt & pepper if needed.

Pseudo-Caribbean Blackened Chicken

Quantities are approximate, as per usual. It's disgustingly simple, but works pretty well - Lock

Serves:1

Chicken piece(s), with skin, with 150-200g meat[1]

4 tsp tomato puree

2 tsp honey

a dash of Worcester sauce (yes, really; trust me on this)

2 thin slices of ginger

2 slices of garlic

Chilli [2]

a small amount of allspice, ground (2-3 berries is about right) (optional)

Mix together the 'wet' ingredients, the allspice and chilli, to form a smooth paste.

Loosen the skin on the chicken pieces, and shove slices of garlic and ginger between the skin and the flesh.

Use a teaspoon to get about 90% of the paste between skin and flesh. You can make sure it gets well distributed by carefully pressing the skin from outside. Coat any exposed pieces of flesh with the paste, too, and use the last of the paste to give a very light coating to the outside of the skin: this will help it crisp up. You can marinate for an hour or two at this stage, but it isn't really necessary.

Roast the chicken pieces, uncovered, in a hot oven (200-225C). Give them slightly longer than you normally would (roughly 35 minutes for thighs); about 5 extra minutes after the juices run clear. If there were traces of leftover paste you can use them to rebaste in the middle of cooking.

When the chicken is ready, the skin should mostly look black, and have 'puffed out' a little from the flesh. The paste both flavours the meat and keeps it moist, while the caramelisation of some of the honey ensures that the skin is very crispy.

Thanks to that paste, this goes extremely well with rice, potatoes, roast butternut squash (takes about same time as the chicken, and its sweetness complements the spicy chicken well). It needs something 'clean and refreshing' for company: salads and lightly-flavoured stir-fried vegetables (e.g. a combination involving green pepper or mangetout) work well.

Pesto Chicken

I have done this recipe with either green pesto and courgette or red pesto and red peppers. Either way it tastes wonderful - Paula

Serves:4

4 chicken breasts, each cut into three strips

1 large onion sliced

2 cloves garlic crushed

2 medium courgettes (for green) or 1 large red pepper (for red) sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp basil (green) or sundried tomato (red) pesto

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

2 oz feta cheese crumbled

Preheat oven to 190C

Heat ¼ oil in pan over low heat and sauté onion and garlic for 10 mins till onion is softened. Place these in an ovenproof dish.

Heat another ¼ oil in pan over medium high heat and briskly stir fry courgette or pepper for 1-2 mins. Add to ovenproof dish and mix into onion garlic mix.

Add remaining oil to pan and fry chicken over high heat to brown and seal on all sides. Layer on top of the vegetables in the oven-proof dish.

Smear chicken with the pesto, green if using courgette and red if using red peppers. Sprinkle the pine nuts and feta cheese on top.

Bake for 20-25 mins. This should be enough to finish cooking the chicken, and soften the feta cheese (which doesn't really melt).

Laotian Crack

Courtesy of Meredith - Waider

Ingredients

1 large shallot, sliced

1 boneless chicken breast, cut up (i like 1/4" slices)

¼ onion, sliced vertically

7 fl oz coconut milk

1 green onion, sliced, with some of the green part

2 fresh red Thai chillies, sliced, neither seeded nor soaked (danger, Will Robinson!  danger!  if you don't like things really spicy, maybe start with one little tiny one.)

Fish sauce

Black pepper

Chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves

Vegetable oil

Heat a little oil and fry the shallot until it's golden brown (you don't want it crispy, but some browning makes for a nice mixture of colours and flavours.)  Remove the shallot from the pan and set aside.

Toss in the chicken and the sliced onion, and cook until the chicken isn't pink anymore.  Add a couple of dashes of fish sauce and pour in the coconut milk.  Let it simmer over low-medium heat for a few minutes, until you're sure the chicken is done.  Don't let it actually boil because the coconut milk will curdle, which won't affect the flavour but will make the dish look kinda disgusting.

Taste and add fish sauce if it's not salty enough.

 Add the fried shallots, green onion, and chillies. Stir up and let the flavours mix for a minute or two.

I like to serve this by putting a mound of rice in the middle of a pasta dish, dumping the entire contents of the pan over it, and sprinkling with a little black pepper and plenty of chopped cilantro.  It's *pretty*, and it's *so good*.

Enjoy!

Chicken in Honey and Thyme

This is a variation of a recipe my Dad used to do a lot while I was in Secondary school. I have always loved the rich creaminess of the sauce, which is set off perfectly by the Thyme. I haven't tried this with fresh thyme, but if you want to try it, then don't rub it into the chicken (as with the dried) but instead, just chop and add to the sauce. Don't overdo the honey. No, really. Don't.

This is clearly a white-wine meal. I would tend to go for something crisp or dry, rather than a fruity wine which I find makes the whole thing a bit too sweet - JC

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 35 mins

4 breasts of chicken

2 medium onions, finely diced

200 ml cream

200 ml white wine

2 tblsp of honey

4 tsp dried thyme

2 oz butter

salt to taste

Slice each chicken breast 2 or 3 times diagonally with a sharp knife

Rub the thyme into the chicken, making sure to concentrate on the diagonal slashes.

Heat half the butter in a pan, and fry the chicken breasts over a medium heat until sealed, the reduce the heat to medium-low until the chicken is almost cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the pan, and then add the remaining butter, and the onions (do NOT clean out the pan after removing the chicken).

Allow the onions to sauté until they begin to go clear.

Add the white wine, and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Add the honey, cream, and a dash of salt

Bring the sauce to a low simmer, and add the chicken back in.

Allow to cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice or creamed potatoes.

Duck with Rice and Mint

This is a bit of shameless boasting, cunningly disguised as useful information.  I made an absolutely delicious duck dish last night, and must share.  The original comes from 'Leith's Latin American Cookery', by Aleria V. Sisti (Leith's is a famous cookery school in London): previous discussions with my boss about paellas and their ilk suggest that it has older, Portuguese origins.  The main Latino addition seems to be the salsa cruda, the fresh sharpness of which makes a wonderful contrast to the richness of the duck and rice.  For comparison purposes, or something, I've included the original recipe, and my version, though the method is much the same for both.  I hope it meets with your approval - Lock

Serves: 4ish

Original recipe

1 duck, jointed into 8 pieces

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 yellow onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

285g (10oz) white long-grain rice, washed and drained

1 tsp crushed cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

2 tbsp finely chopped mint

salt & black pepper

4 tbsp brandy

570ml (1 imperial pint) chicken stock

To serve: salsa cruda

1 boneless duck breast, with skin (about 7 oz total), cut into 3 pieces.

a little olive oil (since we're not going to use high temperatures)

a smallish red onion

one small garlic clove

3oz (or so; I judged by eye, not mass) of Italian brown rice [note 1]

some cumin seeds, crushed (½ tsp?  I just poured some into the mortar)

a generous pinch of saffron [3]

1 heaped tsp of chopped mint

½ red sweet pepper, cut into ½-inch pieces [4]

salt, pepper to taste

a dash of port (no brandy, and I thought the port's sweetness would work)

½ pint chicken stock

To serve: salsa cruda

Place the duck pieces, skin side down in a large saucepan, over a low heat.  Some of the duck fat will render, and can then be used to brown the duck.  Transfer the browned pieces to a bowl and drain the excess fat from the pan.  If necessary, deglaze the pan with a few tblsp of water, and pour the liquid over the duck. 

[I kept the duck skin side down for a good few minutes, until the skin had contracting sharply and turned a rich, golden brown, then turned the pieces for just long enough to seal the flesh.  After removing the pieces, I discarded most of the fat by decanting, but tried to keep the bits with juices and other flavoursome stuff (they seemed to be more dense than the fat, hence the decanting).]

Add the vegetable oil to the deglazed pan, and cook the onions gently until soft.  Add the garlic and dry rice [and leek], and stir over low-medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add the cumin and turmeric [N/A] and cook for another minute.

Add the chopped mint and duck pieces (avec juices) to the pan and mix thoroughly with.  Add salt and pepper to taste, pour in the brandy [port] and enough stock to just cover everything.

[I used all of it, since the saffron was in it; besides, it seemed to be about right, quantity-wise].

Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove the lid and check if the rice and duck are cooked.  If not, add a few more tbsp of hot stock and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed.

[Since the brown rice I used normally takes about 25-30 minutes, I just checked the fluid levels at 20 minutes, tossed in the red pepper, and checked the rice after another 10 minutes; I like my cooked peppers to still have a bit of texture.]

Serve immediately, with the salsa cruda in a side dish.  Enjoy.

Slightly Cheezy Pesto Stir-Fry

Well there was a recent reasonable success but it involved quite a bit of grabbing whatever was handy and adding it in. Again a pasta dish - might do well with rice too ... or if ye're fancy go and try a bit of the oul couscous. - James

The list of ingredients is ridiculous - quite worrying in fact

garlic, onion (a bigish one)

chopped bacon and ham

a handful of frozen veg

sprinkling of wheat-germ

paprika powder, salt & pepper

pesto (basil sauce) (green gunk) a goodish dash

pine-nuts

spoon of mustard, honey, peanut-butter

dash of soy sauce

drop of milk to make it more juicy

a few chopped up bits of cheese - cheddar&blue

Have I forgotten anything? Now some of these were used just because they happened to be unlucky enough to be in the way of the soy sauce so don't worry if your supplies aren't quite as extensive.

Basically - fry garlic and onion for a bit in olive oil (with a bit of salt) Add bacon and ham and fry them a bit too.

Then gradually add all the stuff in the list (the order of the list is good), keep stirring.

Add enough milk to make it juicy and not dry. Soy-sauce is a bit juicy too. Once milk and cheese are added lower heat, stir and don't leave anything stick and it should be finished soon enough.

Feel free to drop any ingredient - but I think the pesto is valuable and adds well to the taste. Pine-nuts are a bit excessive but a bit of a nutty feel would be good - try walnuts or something instead. (cheaper!)

Other possibilities to add in here would be any kind of mushroom, some ginger and/or grated lemon peel might add a bit of zing. Orange or tomato juice could be used instead of or as well as the milk to add juciness.

I've recently discovered the spoon of peanut-butter trick and together with a bit of mustard and honey it can make quite a good flavoursome impression on quite a few dishes :- e.g. add to chilie-con-carne. Kind of Dutch Indonesian influence there but on a milder scale.

Chicken with Pesto

Originally, this recipe was supposed to be chicken breasts filled with a cream and pesto sauce. However, when I got to Joe's (where I was gonna cook), I discovered that stuffing the chicken breasts was gonna be a bit tricky. So, being the lazy type that I am, I improvised, and this recipe was the result.

Obviously, being Italian in influence, I would recommend serving with your choice of pasta - dried or fresh. A good crisp white wine to accompany, and Robert's the brother of your father - JC

Serves: 4

Preparation time 20 mins

4 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 red pepper

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tblsp green pesto (pesto alla Genovese for the purists)

150 ml cream

150 ml white wine

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan, and quickly fry the chicken on all sides to seal in the juices. (Sometimes I lightly toss the chicken in flour first to keep in even more juiciness and flavour)

Reduce the heat, add the red pepper, and fry until the peppers are beginning to soften

Stir in about 1 ½ tblsp of pesto, and fry for an additional minute

Add the white wine, and allow to simmer for approximately 3-4 minutes

Add the cream, salt & pepper to taste, and simmer for another 5-6 minutes. During this stage, you may also need to add the remainder of the pesto - some judicious tasting is required here

Serve on a bed of pasta

Creole Pork Casserole

I made this years ago when JC and Rafe were living in Landsdowne, and from those days I know this also works perfectly well without the celery (just add more pepper and a second onion) - Paula

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 1 ½ hrs

4 tbsp olive oil

900g pork shoulder (or whaever pork meat you want) cubed

350g chorizo sausage sliced

1 large onion chopped

6 sticks celery chopped

1 large green pepper chopped

3 cloves garlic crushed

50g flour

900ml pork stock (chicken will do if you don't have any)

1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme

1-2 tsp Tabasco

1 tbsp sherry

Heat the oil in a casserole, or saucepan. Fry the pork and chirozo over high heat till browned. You may need to do this in batches. Remove pork and chirozo from the pan.

Next fry the onion, celery, pepper and garlic for a couple of minutes, over medium heat.

Put the meat back in the pan and stir in the flour followed by the stock.

Finally add the thyme and Tabasco and leave to simmer for 1 hour or more till the pork is cooked. Stir in the sherry and serve.

Grenadian Chicken With Mace

- Paula

Serves:6

Preparation time: 1 ½ hr plus marinading

6 chicken leg portions

4 tbsp dark rum

2 in piece ginger chopped

2 tsp ground mace

grated zest ½ lemon

juice 1 lemon

1tsp salt

dash tabasco

1 tsp muscavado sugar

3 clove garlic crushed

40g butter in pan with

1 1/2 tbsp oil.

1 onion chopped

½ tsp ground allspice

2 tbsp tomato puree

300ml chicken stock

25g creamed coconut

Mix together 2 tbsp rum, half the ginger, 1 tsp mace, lemon zest and juice, salt, Tabasco, sugar and 1 clove garlic. Marinade the chicken in this mixture for several hours, or overnight.

Heat the oil and butter in a pan and fry the chicken (shake off excess marinade, but keep it) till browned. Remove the chicken from the pan.

Saute the onion and remaining garlic for 5 mins. Add all remaining ingredients (including the chicken) except for the creamed coconut. Cover and cook gently for 1 hour.

Add creamed coconut just before serving.

Chicken Valencia with Pine Nuts

I had this book all finished when I got this recipe from my Dad (the source of many of my recipes originally). I tried it out, and well the results were spectacular. I served it up with some baby new potatoes and a plain greed salad. Mmmmm - Paula

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, split lengthways and beaten flat

Oil & butter

125ml Cointreau

2 oranges

4 tsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp cultured sour cream

1tsp thyme

60ml chicken stock

seasoning

2 dsp pine nuts, lightly toasted

Toss chicken in seasoned flour. Fry on the pan until lightly brown, 2 - 4 min. each side. Remove chicken and oil.

Add Cointreau. Flame reduce to a syrup. Add mustard, sour cream, stock thyme and 2 tsp grated orange rind. Return chicken to the pan and cook on low heat for 2 - 5 min.

Arrange on the plate with the pine nuts and garnished with the peeled orange slices.

Stuffed Peppers á la Omi

- Anita

½ l tomato sauce, preferably not with basil

1-2 green peppers per person

300g beef mince

300g rice (parboiled long grain)

1 big onion diced

1 cube chicken stock

salt, pepper, paprika, mustard powder to taste

Fry rice in some butter, add diced onion and water and chicken stock cube. Simmer till rice is cooked and drain.

Fry mince and add seasoning to taste. Mix in the rice.

Wash peppers, remove the stalk and seeds, making sure not to cut too large an opening gin the top of the peppers. Wash out the peppers and stuff with the rice and mince mixture.

Place the stuffed peppers in the tomato sauce in a saucepan and cook for 30 minutes, occasionally moving the peppers about so that they do not burn at the base.

Serve with garlic bread.