Lime dressing

I love limes and they are abundant at the moment. This lime dressing is great.
75 ml of rice wine vinegar
75 ml of fish sauce
75 ml lime juice
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 long red chilli
1 clove of crushed garlic

Combine together and pour over your favourite salad or fish. Drink with a gin and tonic or lime juice and soda.

Aioli

I have always wanted a simple recipe for aioli and this one is pretty simple.

You will need 1 crushed garlic clove
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
220 ml of quality vegetable oil

In a small food processor or bowl with whisk, add the garlic egg yolk vinegar and mustard. Mix well. When the ingredients are well mixed, gradually add the oil. It should make a beautiful glazed sauce that makes your mouth water. Test the result with some nice crusty bread and add ingredients to find the balance you are looking for.

Quinoa and broad bean salad. Dedicated to Carlos

After traveling through Bolivia and Peru for four weeks a few years ago we quickly grew tired of quinoa for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Maybe enough time has passed for us to return to it. This is a tangy fresh salad that is pretty yummy.

1 cup of quinoa
1 kg of broad beans in their pod or 400g of beans on their own.
1 preserved lemon rind
2 cups of continental parsley and some extra mint
1/4 cup of olive oil

Cook the quinoa in water according to the instructions on packet.
Steam the broad beans until cooked but not soggy.
Assemble the salad with beans, drained and fluffy quinoa, herbs and then drizzle with olive oil and maybe some lemon or lime juice if you want some tang.
Provecho!

Roast Duck Risotto with Orange Sauce

This is a three part recipe but it is easy to make. The first part is to roast your duck. The second to make a simple risotto and the third is the orange sauce.

You will need the following ingredients.
arborio rice
vegetable stock
one onion and 4 cloves of garlic
2 1/4 cups of white wine
One duck breast fillet per person or a whole duck quartered into pieces
2 oranges
grand marnier or cointreau
salt and pepper to taste


We'll start with the duck.

On a roasting rack place the number of duck pieces skin side up and seasoned. I like to use duck breasts as they are boneless and easy to slice. A whole duck cut into pieces is good too. Cook at 200c for an hour.

For the risotto, heat olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a pan and add one onion finely chopped. After two minutes add three cloves of garlic and 2 cups of arborio rice. Keep it all on the move for four or five minutes. Add 1-2 cups of dry white wine and stir until it is evaporated. You need wine that is good enough to drink as it flavours the risotto. Now gradually add hot vegetable stock. Keep adding stock every time the rice dries out over a low heat until cooked. Add your favourite fresh herbs along the way if you like. Keep the flavour simple.

Remove the duck from the oven and cover with foil. Drain the duck fat to store for use for roast potatoes next meal. Deglaze the roasting pan with a 1/4 cup of white wine. Reduce by half. Add 3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur as well as the zest and juice of two oranges. Reduce slowly to a nice syrupy sauce.

Now to serve. Using a ring or a bowl with straight sides, place a circle of risotto in the plate arranging to a nice height. Cut duck breasts into slices or place pieces onto the risotto. Then drizzle the sauce over the duck and a little onto the plate.

Chicken Laksa

This is a delicious creamy laksa.
1 onion
2 sticks lemon grass
4 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger finely cut or crushed
peanut oil
500 gms chicken thighs
2 tablespoons macademia nuts crushed
2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
ground chilli to taste
1.5 litres chicken stock
2 cans of coconut cream or milk depending on how creamy you like it
fish sauce
rice noodles
bean sprouts
coriander leaves

Stir fry the onion, garlic ginger in the oil
Add the chicken, cover in the mixture and cook for two minutes
Add the nuts, tumeric, coriander and chilli and mix together for a further 2-3 muinutes
Add the liquid and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Prepare the rice noodles according to the packet.
When the soup is ready adjust the flavour of the soup with lemon juice, sugar, fish sauce and chilli until you get the right flavour.
Assemble the bowls with the noodles first, the soup then top with fresh bean sprouts and coriander. Add mint or sliced cucumber if you wish.

Albondigas

This is basically a recipe for meatballs in a rich tomato sauce and is very fragrant and yummy.
For four people you will need:
500 gms of pork mince
the freshest sage oregano and rosemary you can find
zest and juice of a lemon
Olive oil and bread crumbs
2 onions
4-6 cloves of fresh garlic
a large bottle of passata (crushed tomato)
150 grams of feta
Spaghetti or fettuccine

Using a food processor finely chop the herbs, lemon zest, one of the onions and half the garlic. When they are chopped add the mince lemon juice, olive oil and then bread crumbs until the meat is the right consistency to make meatballs.
Using wet hands form into balls the size of a golf ball. In a saucepan brown the meatballs, gently turning them as needed and remove from the pan. Using the juice and browned bits of the meat (deglaze with a little white wine if needed), fry the other onion and garlic and then add the passata. Cook for 5-10 minutes. Return the meatballs to the sauce. At this point you can add a little wine, salt, pepper and any other flavours (dried chilli) to your tomato sauce that you like. Leave to simmer and reduce for at least 40 minutes until the sauce is thick and succulent. Ten minutes before serving crumble the feta over the top and stir in. Cook the pasta.
In a long bowl place the pasta on the base and pour the meatballs and sauce over the top. Add some green herbs for garnish and enjoy.