Wonton Soup

Ingredients

1 packet wonton wrappers (40 pcs)
8 cups beef or chicken stock
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soya sauce
2 baby bok choy, quartered length wise and trimmed
2 spring onions, finely chopped
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Filling

• 200 grams minced pork
• 150 grams shrimps, finely chopped or minced
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced 
• 1 tablespoon cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons of water
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon shaohsing wine or sherry

Method

• Combine the ingredients for the wontons and mix well.  Set aside for 30 minutes to marinate.
• Place wonton wrappers under a damp cloth and work with one wrapper at a time, spooning one rounded teaspoon of filling onto the centre.
• With dampened fingers, wet the four edges. Make a triangle by folding the wrapper in half over the filling, making sure the ends met and the filling is centered and then seal by pressing the edges together firmly.
• Wet two corners and bring together and press to seal, transfer to an oiled plate and cover with a damp cloth to prevent drying out.
• Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
• Blanch the vegetables in a saucepan with boiling water and ½ tsp of salt. Cook for about a minute, drain and set aside.
• Bring a saucepan of water to a boil with a few drizzles of cooking oil. Cook the wontons for 4 minutes. Remove the wontons with a slotted spoon and divide the portions into each bowls.
• Bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the sesame oil, soya sauce, shaohsing wine, and salt to taste.
• Ladle the chicken stock into the bowls of wontons. Top with vegetables, chopped spring onions and some white pepper. Serve immediately.

Irish Coddle

Yet another mouth watering authentic Irish dish from my close friend Rachael.

Ingredients

• 6-8 small potatoes, cut into chunky slices
• 600 mls water
• 1 chicken stock cube
• Approx 250 grams of streaky bacon, roughly sliced
• 8 of your favourite sausages, cut into chunky bite sized pieces
  
• 3-4 onions, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Roughly chopped parsley for garnish

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  
• To a large casserole dish, add potatoes, water, stock cube, bacon, sausages, and onions.
• Place casserole in oven and cook for 1/2 an hour, turning occasionally to brown the meat on all sides.
• Serve in a deep dish and garnish with parsley.
• Wash down with a pint of Guinness!
  

Mrs Beeton's Pork Pie

Now, this is something a bit different. I have, over the years, developed a fascination with food and it's associated history. Now that I am once again living in the UK, I feel it appropriate to publish something quintessentially British - an historic and authentic Mrs Beeton's recipe. I have taken this a step further and decided on the Pork Pie, as I am in the Midlands and this indeed hails from this general area - notably the Milton Mawbray Pork Pie. In 1861, "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management" was published and became a housewives bible. As a special treat, I have found the pdf link of the original publication for you all to have a snif at!

http://www.exclassics.com/beeton/beetpdf1.pdf

INGREDIENTS

For the crust

5 lbs. of lard to 14 lbs. of flour, milk, and water.

For filling the pies

To every 3 lbs. of meat allow 1 oz. of salt, 2–1/4 oz. of pepper, a small quantity of cayenne, 1 pint of water.
Mode.—Rub into the flour a portion of the lard; the remainder put with sufficient milk and water to mix the crust, and boil this gently for 1/4 hour. Pour it boiling on the flour, and knead and beat it till perfectly smooth. Now raise the crust in either a round or oval form, cut up the pork into pieces the size of a nut, season it in the above proportion, and press it compactly into the pie, in alternate layers of fat and lean, and pour in a small quantity of water; lay on the lid, cut the edges smoothly round, and pinch them together. Bake in a brick oven, which should be slow, as the meat is very solid. Very frequently, the inexperienced cook finds much difficulty in raising the crust. She should bear in mind that it must not be allowed to get cold, or it will fall immediately: to prevent this, the operation should be performed as near the fire as possible. As considerable dexterity and expertness are necessary to raise the crust with the hand only, a glass bottle or small jar may be placed in the middle of the paste, and the crust moulded on this; but be particular that it is kept warm the whole time.
Sufficient.—The proportions for 1 pie are 1 lb. of flour and 3 lbs. of meat.
Seasonable from September to March.

Char Siu Pork

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork tenderloin (fillet), whole
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
• 1/2 tbsp red food coloring

Method

• Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well.
• Add pork loin to the marinade and massage well with your hands.
• Store in the fridge for 24-48 hours.
• Remove from fridge 1 hour prior to cooking and pre-heat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
  
• Place the pork on a wire rack over a roasting tin filled with 4 cm of water to catch the drips.
  
• Roast for 8 minutes then reduce heat to 180 degrees Celsius and roast for a further 13 minutes.
• Remove the pork from the oven and cut across the grain into approximately 1cm slices
• Serve with fried rice and stir fried spinach.
  

Goan Pork Vindaloo

Here's how to make Goan Pork Vindaloo, a dish loved globally!

Ingredients

• 500 grams pork shoulder, cut into chunky cubes
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• Seeds of 2 cardamom pods, discard pods
  
• 3 whole cloves
• 3 cm piece of cinnamon bark
  
• 2 heaped tbsp fresh grated ginger
• 7 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
• 3 fresh red chillies
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• Salt to taste
  
• 3 tablespoons ghee
  
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

Method

• Prepared the marinade the night before you intend to cook the vindaloo.
  
• Process the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cloves and cinnamon stick until it breaks down to a powder.
• Blend the ginger, garlic, chillies and white wine vinegar into a paste in a food processor or a blender.
• Mix the spice mixture with the paste, then season with salt.
• Massage mixture all over the pork using your fingers and then cover and leave to marinade over night.
• Heat half of the ghee in a non-stick pan and add the onion and fry until clear .
• Add the marinated pork pieces, together with the marinade and fry until all the pieces are golden on all sides.
• Reduce to a low simmer and cover, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes, adding small amounts of water if mixture becomes dry.
• Serve with basmati rice.

...and that's how to make Goan Pork Vindaloo!

Rojões – Portuguese Pork with Cumin, Paprika and White Wine

Here's my take on how to make Portuguese Rojões, a traditional northern Portuguese dish.

Ingredients

1 kilo pork, cut into large chunks
2 teaspoons coarse salt
4 garlic cloves, sliced thickly
1 teaspoon carraway seeds
2 teaspoons cumin
3 bayleaves, torn
1 bottle white wine
1/4 cup olive oil

extra olive oil for frying
2 large potatoes, cut into large chunks

Method

• Marinade the meat in all of the above ingredients over night. This must be prepared the day before for all the flavors to fuse, or you will not get the correct result.
• The following day, remove the pork from the marinade and set aside. It is important to keep the marinade for the cooking process.
  
• Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown pork on all sides.
• Place pork in a large saucepan and pour in the marinade.
• Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and cover.
• Gently cook for 3 hours.
• Add potatoes and cook for a further 30 mins.
• Serve with rice and tomato salad.

...and that's how to make rojões!

Caldo Verde (Portuguese Green Soup)

This is how I make Caldo Verde, a very popular soup in Portugal. You can omit the linguica or chourico to be a lovely vegetarian pottage.

Ingredients

1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
6 tablespoons of olive oil
6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 litre water
200 grams linguica or chourico sausage, sliced very thinly (alternatively use a strong garlic flavoured sausage)
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
200 grams couve galega, very finely shreaded into strips (alternatively use kale or turnip greens)
Salt to taste

Method

1. Heat olive oil in large pot and sweat onion and garlic, with the lid on for 10 minutes on a low heat.
2. Add water, then add potatoes, and carrot.
3. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Take of the heat and blend.
5. Return to the heat and add the greens, sausage and salt to taste. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.
6. Serve with warmed crusty bread and a drizzle of olive oil.

...and that's how to make Caldo Verde!

New Zealand Maori Hangi

Method

1. 
   
   Begin with digging two holes approximately 2 metres long, 1 metre wide, and 1 metre deep. Then lay down a dozen railway irons, cut into 30cm lengths. This replaces the traditional rocks which are not as efficient. Then on top of this build a bonfire and set alight.
2. 
   
   In the meantime, prepare the vegetables, which generally consist of peeled kumera (sweet potato) and sliced pumpkin, cabbage, and puha or watercress. Wrap each food type in separate tin foil bundles and place into wire baskets, which have been lined with damp linen sheets.
3. 
   
   Take out the white-hot irons out of the fire hole and place them in the adjoining empty hole. This is best done with rakes as the irons have holes you can hook on to. This must be done quickly - you don't want to lose the heat from the irons. The food baskets are then placed evenly on top of the irons. Make sure the linen is still damp. On top of the baskets you position six large, thick, dripping wet sacks. The dirt originally dug from the holes is now shovelled on top and patted down to ensure no steam leaks out. Always keep an eye out for escaping steam - it means your oven is leaking and the food is not being evenly cooked.
4. 
   
   After 4 hours remove the meat and vegetables and serve to your guests with various salads, breads, and sunshine.
   

Scotch Eggs

Scotch eggs were an invention of the London institution, Fortunum and Mason and date back to the early 1700's.

Serves 4

Ingredients

450g pork sausage meat
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon seasoned flour (1 tablespoon flour,1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/8 teaspoon thyme, 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg)
4 medium sized free range hard boiled eggs
1 large egg, beaten
2/3 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for deep frying

Method

1. Sweat onions until they turn transparent.
2. Combine onions with sausage meat, Worcestershire sauce and then add the seasoned flour and blend together wit your hands.
3. Divide the mixture into four equal pieces.
4. Mould each piece of meat around and egg and carefully roll each egg between your hands to shape the sausage meat coating.
5. Place the beaten egg and breadcrumbs in two separate, shallow dishes.
6. Dip the eggs first in the beaten egg, and then in the breadcrumbs, coating thoroughly. Set aside.
7. Fill a large saucepan with enough oil to come up to 1/3 of the pan and heat.
8. Carefully lower eggs into the oil with a slotted spoon and fry for approximately 5 minutes or until they are a deep golden brown.
9. Drain on kitchen paper and serve either hot or cold.

Cassoulet (Mixed Meat and Bean Casserole)

Ingredients

Serves 8

1kg dried white beans
200 g bacon rind, chopped
300g fatty bacon, chopped
4 portions of duck or goose confit (or alternatively 2 duck thighs and 4-5 tablespoons of lard)
40cm fresh pork sausage, sliced into 2cm chunks
750g pork shoulder or shin
3 cloves garlic
1 bouquet garni
1 onion, spiked with 2 cloves
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Soak the beans over night, drain and place into large saucepan.
2. Pre heat oven to 160 c.
   
3. Cover beans with cold water and boil for five minutes.
4. Drain the beans, then tip back into the saucepan and cover again with warm water.
5. Add the bacon rind, bacon, garlic, bouquet garni, onion and season with salt and pepper.
6. Cook for an hour on a very low simmer.
7. Take out confit meat and put to one side, then melt confit fat in a separate pan.
8. Add chopped pork, season with salt and pepper and brown.
   
9. Remove pork to one side and brown sausage.
   
10. Reserve the cooked confit oil.
    
11. Tip beans, onion, garlic and bouquet garni, along with cooking liquid, into a large oven proof dish.
12. Place a layer of the confit and pork, then a layer of beans, then add the remaining meat, excluding the sausage.
13. Top with the sausage pieces and pour in the cooked confit oil.
14. Cook in oven for one hour.