Beef, Ginger, Green Onion in Oyster Sauce

  • 4cm Ginger, peel and cut into thin slices
  • 8 pieces Green Onions, cut white part into 2-inch length and green into 4 inch length
  • 750g Filet Beef, Cut across the grain into thin slices

Beef Marinate

  • 1 tsp Dark Soy
  • 1 tsp Veg Oil
  • ½  tsp Salt
  • ½  tsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing Wine
  • Mix and set aside

Sauce

  • 2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp Light Soy
  • 2 Tbsp Dark Soy
  • 2 Tbsp Stock
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cornflour
  • Mix and set aside
  • Jasmine Rice

Marinade the beef for one hour.

Stir fry ginger and white part of green onion in a little oil in a wok for 1 min. Add 1 Tbsp of Shaoxing wine around edge of wok and stir in. Add the beef and stir fry for 30 secs. Add sauce and stir in and let thicken a little. Add green part of green onion and stir in. Drizzle in a little sesame oil. Transfer to hot serving dish. Serve with some sticky Jasmine rice

Chicken Parmigiana

Another favourite of the family

  • 6 Chicken Fillet
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Panko Breadcrumb
  • Plain Flour
  • Egg wash
  • Tomato Pomodoro, see recipe here
  • Buffalo Mozzarella, buy the best one you can

Using a very sharp knife, cut the chicken filet in half, opening it like a book, season with salt and pepper. Take each piece in a Ziploc bag and hammer out to 1 cm thickness. Dredge in flour, shack off excess, dip in egg wash and cover in breadcrumb. Heat some olive oil in a pan and cook each side of chicken for 3 mins until golden. Clean out pan and cook each batch of chicken in clean hot oil.

Spoon some pomodoro onto the chicken and then place some mozzarella on top. Assemble fillets on a grate and place under grill, melting the cheese.

Serve with some pasta pomodoro and plenty of parmesan.

Pasta Pomodoro

  • Olive Oil
  • Tomato Puree
  • Anchovy
  • Onion, fine chopped
  • Mixed herbs
  • Garlic, fine chopped
  • Chilli flakes
  • Tinned tomatoes, blitzed
  • Basil, some whole, and some cut into chiffonades.
  • Pappardelle, spaghetti, penne or rigatoni

Sauté onion and garlic in a pan with a little olive oil. Add the anchovy and let it melt in. Add chilli flakes and mixed herb, cook a little. Add tomato puree and stir in, let the puree cook until it starts to leave a fond at bottom of pan. Add the tomatoes and whole basil and let simmer for 30 mins. Remove the basil and discard.

Cook pasta in salted water. Drain and add the pasta to the tomato sauce. Stir in allowing time for the sauce to be absorbed into the pasta. Add the chiffonades of basil and serve in bowls with plenty of parmesan cheese.

Italian Sausage Pasta

Easy dish and a favourite in our parts on a wintery evening.

  • Stock, 250ml
  • Cream, 250ml
  • Rigatoni, 1 kg pack
  • Italian Sausage, 2 packs
  • Parsley, finely chopped

Marks and Spencer or Tesco both stock Italian sausage. (Otherwise use Irish pork sausage, with some ground fennel and garlic. Grind the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar. Fine chop the garlic. Sauté the garlic in a pan, add the fennel, stir in for a minute, then add the sausage.)

Cooks pasta in salted water to al dente, or firm to the bit, the pasta will cook further in the sauce so definitely under cook. Rinse pasta in cold water and set aside until needed for the sauce.

Cut open then sausage and remove the meat, discard the skin. Add to a hot pan with some olive oil. Cook allowing a Fond to form at the bottom of the pan. Add the stock and deglaze the pan. Add the cooked pasta and stir in. Then add the cream and stir in. Move to medium heat and stir until the sauce reduces and thickens and coats the pasta. Add the parsley.

Serve with plenty of parmesan cheese.

Feeds 7 people.

Butter Chicken

  • 1 Kg Chicken Breast, cut in chunks
  • 2 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
  • Salt

    Marinade
  • 400ml Natural Yogurt
  • 5 tsp Ginger paste
  • 5 tsp Garlic paste
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp Garam masala powder
  • ½ tsp Chilli Powder
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • Salt to taste

    Masala
  • 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Onion, large fine chopped.
  • 5 Green cardamom
  • 5 Clove
  • 8 Black peppercorns
  • 1 inch Cinnamon
  • 3 tsp Ginger paste
  • 3 tsp Garlic paste
  • 2 Green Chilli, chopped
  • 1 tbsp Tomato puree
  • 2 tin chopped tomato
  • 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
  • 3 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala,
  • 1 tsp Cumin Powder
  • 3 tsp Coriander Powder.
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp Sugar
  • 2 tsp Kasoori methi
  • 500 ml Fresh cream
  • 100g Butter
  • Basmati Rice

Making the Sauce ….

Heat oil in pan and add onions. Fry until golden. Remove from pan and let cool. Add onions to blitzer along with the can of tinned tomatos and blend until smooth.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the spices and heat for a minute. Then add garlic, ginger and green chilli and cook for 2 mins. Turn down the heat and add and stir in the Red chilli powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala, cumin powder and coriander powder.

Turn up the heat again and add the tomato puree, stir and cook until bottom off pan starts to brown a little. Add the tomato/onion blend and bring to a simmer for 30 mins. Add the cream, and then the butter, stir and reduce a little.

Making the Chicken ….

Place chicken in a bowl and mix in lemon juice, chilli powder and salt. Mix well, cover and place in fridge for 30 mins. Then place chicken in marinade and leave in fridge for 3 hours.

Take chicken from fridge, place on metal skewers and cook under a hot grill, turning once it starts to brown.  During grilling, remove and baste with melted butter and lemon regularly. You can BBQ or use non stick pan instead if you wish.

Serving …

Add the chicken to the sauce and add the Methi and drizzle with some cream.

Serve with Basmati Rice, poppadoms, and naan bread.

Shepherd’s Pie

  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 700g minced lamb
  • 1 tbsp Plain flour
  • 2 tbsp of thyme roughly chopped
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1kg potatoes
  • 75g butter
  • 6 green onions, finely sliced
  • Sea salt
  • Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 Egg, beat to make egg wash

Mix a little flour in with the lamb mince and set aside.

Sauté the onion and the carrots in a pan in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the lamb and brown. Add the thyme and stir in. Add the tomato puree, stock and Worchester sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for c 45 mins. Take off heat and let cool.

Steam the potatoes. When done, place in bowl and mash with butter and a little salt. Add in chopped green onion.

Place the mince in a dish. Layer on the potatoes. Sprinkle some cheddar on top. Baste with some egg wash. Place in oven for 30 mins.

If you have left over leg of lamb, use instead of lamb mince. Trim the lamb and chop to desired texture. Make as per above.

Stir Fried Noodle

  • 2 Packs Medium Egg Noodles
  • 3 x Peppers, one each green, red, yellow. Cut length ways, thinly.
  • 5 x Green Onions cut length ways and thinly.
  • 6 x Cloves of garlic, fine diced
  • 2 x inch Ginger, grated or fine diced
  • 1 x Red Chilli, deseeded, thin sliced
  • Hand full Coriander, rough chopped
  • 500 ml Chicken Stock.
  • Sesame Oil

Soften the noodles in boiling water for about 15 mins. Drain and cool with cold water. Set aside.

Heat a little oil in wok. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli for a 1 min. Then add the rest of the vegetable and fry for a few mins. Add noodles to the vegetables. Mix well. Add stock a little at a time and let the noodle absorb as you stir. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil.

Add a sauce is optional.

Sauce for Stir Fry

  • 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • 1 Clove Garlic, Fine chopped
  • 1 Inch Ginger, Grated
  • 250 ml Chicken Stock
  • 3 tsp Sugar or Honey or Sweet Chilli Sauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 1/2 Tbsp Lime Juice
  • Sesame Oil
  • Slurry of corn flour and water

Mix well. Add to noodles on a high heat, stir in, let thicken. Take of heat and serve.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
  • 3/4 tbsp salt
  • 1.5 tbsp Chinese five spice
  • 1.5 tbsp black pepper
  • 1.5 cup cornflour
  • Vegetable oil

Vegetables for chicken

  • 6 Garlic Cloves, fine chopped
  • 4 Red Chilli, deseed and sliced
  • 2 Green Chilli, deseed and sliced.
  • 6 Green Onion, chopped.
  • 1 Onion, cut in xxx
  • 2 inch Ginger, grated or fine chopped

Season the chicken with the salt, five spice and black pepper. Coat in cornflour.  In a wok, bring 5 cm depth of vegetable oil to xx C degree. Fry Chicken in batches, removing to a plate.

After completing the chicken, clean wok and fry vegetables in a little oil. When vegetables are complete, add the chicken and sir in well over a low heat. Serve over a stir-fried noodle.

Raita

Cucumber and Mint Raita

  • Mint
  • Cucumber
  • Greek yogurt
  • Salt

Chop mint. Grate cucumber. Place grated cumber in a clean tea towel and wring out water. Mix cucumber, mint and yoghurt together. Add salt.

Pomegranate and Grape Raita

  • Pomegranate
  • Green Grapes
  • Toasted ground Cumin
  • Greek Yoghurt

Remove seeds from the Pomegranate. Fine chop green grapes. Toast the cumin seeds in a hot pan and grind in a pestle and mortar or a coffee grinder. Mix all the ingredients and add salt to taste.

Madras Lamb Curry

  • 1 Leg of Lamb
  • 110 g Nibbed Almonds
  • 500ml Light Cream
  • 1.5 Tablespoon Pounded Ginger
  • Salt
  • Butter
  • 4 Onions Sliced in Rings
  • 4 Cloves of Garlic
  • 2 Tsp Coriander Seed
  • 2 Tsp Pepper corns
  • 1 Tsp Green Cardamom Seed
  • 8 Cloves
  • 1 Tbsp Turmeric
  • 2 Tsp Sugar
  • Lime Juice
  • Segments of lime

Debone the Lamb, removing most of the fat. Cut meet into 4cm cubes. Place in a bowl with ginger. Sprinkle with salt and leave for an hour.

Blanch the almonds, remove the skin and chopped to nibbed size (3mm cubes). Add to the cream, heat for a few minutes than remove and leave for 20 mins to infuse and cool.

In large pot, sauté the onions in butter for 5 mins. Then add the spices and cook for another 5 mins.

Remove the onions to a plate. Then in small batches, brown the lamb pieces.

When finished browning the lamb, put all the lamb and the onion/spice mixture back into the pot. Add the cream. Mix well. Then add the turmeric and sugar. Bring to a simmer and place in bottom of Aga for 2/3 hours.

Serve with Basmati or Pilau rice, naan, poppadom and some Cucumber & Mint and Pomegranate & Grape Raitas.