Tandoori Chicken

Here's how to make tandoori chicken, a British....I mean Indian favourite

Ingredients

1 cup natural yogurt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon garam massala
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
Juice of 1 lemon
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1 inch of grated ginger
Few drops of red food colouring
4 pieces of skinless chicken on the bone
Melted butter for basting

Method

• Mix all of the spices together in a bowl and add the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and ginger.
  
• Add the red food colouring until you get a bright red colouring.
• Score the chicken every 2cm and place in the marinade, massaging it into the chicken and sit for at least one hour.
• Grill until cooked and juices run clear, basting with the melted butter in the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• Serve with rice and roti.

...and that's how to make tandoori chicken!

Phad Thai (Thai Fried Noodles)

Here's how to make phad thai with chicken and prawns, a staple on any Thai menu

Ingredients

400 grams rice noodles
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
1 small chicken breast, cut into 2 cm cubes
16 raw king prawns, shells off with tails intact, deveined
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
2 tablespoons pickled white radish (optional)
50 grams tofu, cut into 2cm cubes and lightly fried
1/2 teaspoon dried chillies, chopped
1/2 cup spring onions, sliced
1 cup beansprouts
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce)
2 tablespoons tamarind paste
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons coriander, roughly chopped
1 lime, cut into slivers
extra beansprouts

Method

1. Soak rice noodles in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain, but keep a little of the water back as this need to go into the wok and will soften the noodles.
   
2. Mix together the tamarind paste, sugar, crushed peanuts and lime. Set aside.
   
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok and fry chicken until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Cook prawns until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
5. Add the rest of the oil into the wok and add the shrimp paste, pickled radis, tofu and chillies. Then add the noodles, beansprouts, spring onion and stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Add the chicken and prawns and then add the tamarind mixture.
7. Push contents to the edge of the wok, making a circle in the middle, to which you add the the eggs. Lightly scramble the eggs and mix into the main ingredients.
   
8. Stir fry till heated through.
9. Serve with the extra beansprouts, peanuts, coriander and lime.

...and that's how you make phad thai!

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.
   

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.
    

Thai Satays

Peanut Sauce (nam jim tua)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted roasted peanut
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red chillies - medium strength
1/2 teaspoon of your favourite curry powder
2 teaspoons tamarind paste or lemon juice
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon fish sauce

1. Blend peanuts until finely chopped.
2. Heat oil in a wok or sauce pan and add onion, garlic, chillies, tumeric and stir until onion is soft (do not over cook or brown the onions).
3. Add crushed peanuts, tamarind or lemon and gently mix in the coconut milk.
4. Add sugar and fish sauce and stir through until hot.
5. Serve with satays.
6. The sauce will thicken as it sits so you can thin it out by adding a little more coconut milk or even water. Store in an air tight container in fridge for up to two weeks. This can also be frozen.

Chicken Satays

Ingredients

1 dozen or so bamboo skewers
700g chicken breast cut into long strips 2cm wide
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon corriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespon oil
2 tablespon brown sugar
1 tablespon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped chillie or sambal oelek

1. Soak bamboo skewers in a shallow dish long enough to accommodate them and weigh down with something to keep them submerged. Soak for a minimum of 1 hour or over night if possible.
2. Push the chicken onto the skewers, trying to keep the meat centred and skewer running up the middle of the chicken.
3. Mix together the remaining ingredients to form a paste.
4. Pour paste over chicken and massage into the meat so it is evenly coated.
5. Cover and marinade for a minimum of 1 hour or over night if possible.
6. Cook over a bbq, or in a heavy based frying pan with a little oil until tender.
   
7. Serve with peanut sauce.