Ingredients:

• 60 gr hazelnuts (optional)
• 250 gr plain (dark) chocolate
• 125 ml water
• 15 ml butter (unsalted, if possible)
• 3 eggs, separated
• 30 ml brandy/whisky
• 50 gr caster sugar

Preparation:

• If using nuts – toast them, skin them, then chop finely in the processor, but be careful because over-processing will them into a nut paste.
• Chop the chocolate in the processor, using the pulse button, then place in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan with half the water over gentle heat. Stir untilmelted and the consistency of thick cream – about 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the butter chopped into small chunks.
• Whisk the egg yolks, one by one, into the chocolate mixture, then return to a low heat for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, to ensure the yolks are cooked.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the brandy/whisky and nuts, if using. Allow to cool to blood heat.
• Place the remaining water and the caster sugar into a small saucepan, and heat until ALL the sugar has dissolved, then boil, WITHOUT STIRRING, until the syrup reaches 120 C. To do this without a sugar thermometer – take the pan from the heat, dip a teaspoon in the syrup and remove it. Allow to cool a few seconds, then take a little between your fingers – it should form a firm, pliable ball.
• Whisk the egg whites until stiff.
• Gradually pour in the hot syrup, whisking constantly, then continue whisking until the meringue is cool and stiff – about 5 minutes.
• Stir one quarter of the meringue into the tepid chocolate mixture to break up its texture slightly, then add the lightened chocolate mixture to the rest of the meringue and fold in gently but thoroughly
• Pour into serving bowl(s), and chill until set.

Ingredients

• 100 gr chocolate (Albany/Bournville)
• 150 ml cream
• 2 eggs, separated
• Brandy, to taste
• Extra whipped cream, toasted nuts etc for garnish

Preparation

• Melt chocolate over hot water, add egg yolks and beat until smooth.
• Add brandy (or other flavouring of your choice) and stir in.
• Whip cream until very firm, and whisk egg whites until stiff.
• Fold a couple of spoonsful of the cream into the melted chocolate, then fold in the rest of the cream and the whipped egg whites.
• Pour into serving bowl, and set in refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight.
• Before serving garnish with the whipped cream etc to suit

Serves 4 – 6 generously.

• 10 – 12 chicken breast fillets, with skin
• 2 – 3 Tbl olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 4 – 6 celery sticks, finely diced
• 250 gr streaky bacon, fairly finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 250 gr mushrooms, diced fairly finely
• 1 packet chopped spinach, cooked, chopped
• 300 – 400 gr ricotta
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 Tbl melted butter
• 1 – 2 Tbl soy sauce

Preparation:

• Saute onion and celery gently in oil until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.
• Increase heat and add bacon. Cook for a few minutes, until the bacon starts releasing its fat. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, on high heat until the mixture is dry and cooked through.
• Mix with the ricotta, egg and spinach, seasoning well with salt and pepper (and a dash of ground nutmeg, if liked). The mixture should be fairly moist.
• Lightly salt the chicken on the skinless side, then, carefully, spoon a portion of stuffing under the skin, smoothing the skin over to spread the filling evenly.
• Place, skin side up, in a single layer in an oiled baking pan – place them close together as they shrink considerably while cooking. Mix together the butter and soy sauce, and brush over the chicken skin.
• Bake at 190 – 200 C for about 35 – 45 minutes, until well-browned and cooked through.
• To serve, cut each fillet into 3 – 4 pieces on the diagonal, and pour over the pan juices.

Serves 12.

• 6 eggs
• 175g castor sugar
• 280g good-quality dark chocolate
• 100g butter
• 100g self-raising flour

Ingredients: Ganache

• 250g good-quality dark chocolate
• 125ml cream
• 50 g butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and flour a 18cm round cake tin.
2. Whisk the egg and sugar until thick.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl in the microwave.
4. Mix the melted chocolate into the egg mixture. Fold in the flour and pour into the prepared tin.
5. Bake until puffed, slightly cracked on top and firm to the touch – but still moist, do not overcook, for about 50 minutes.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire tray.
7. For the ganache, chop the chocolate into small pieces.
8. In a saucepan, bring the cream and butter to the boil, remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stir well until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
9. To decorate the cake with the ganache, place the cake on to a cooling rack on a tray, pour the warm ganache over the cake and allow it to run down the cake and cover the sides, the excess will drip into the tray. Allow to cool completely before transferring to a serving plate.

Makes 1 small cake.

Ingredients:

• 500 g pork sausages
• 175 g flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• grinding of black pepper
• 3 eggs
• 300 ml milk and water mixed
• 2 tbl dripping or 3 tbl vegetable oil

Ingredients: Onion Gravy:

• 3 tbl vegetable oil
• 3 onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbl flour
• 600 ml chicken or vegetable stock

Preparation:

• Brown the sausages all over and halve them – it isn’t necessary to cook them through at this stage.
• Sieve flour and salt into a bowl, make a well in the middle. Break the eggs into the well and with a hand whisk incorporate the eggs into the flour adding the milk and water mixture as you go.
• Alternatively, drop everything into a food processor and using the pulse button at first, blitz the whole lot together until it forms a smooth batter. Guess which method I use?
• In either case allow the batter to rest for about 30 minutes.
• Put the dripping or oil into a fairly shallow baking pan, and heat it at about 220 C for a couple of minutes.
• Take it out of the oven, and working quickly, pour the batter into the hot fat and arrange the sausages in the batter.
• Return to the oven and bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, until puffed and browned.
• To prepare the onion gravy, cook the onions in the oil until they are soft and lightly browned. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly stir in the stock, bring to the boil, and taste for seasoning. Add a little gravy browning if you want the gravy to look more appetising.

Serves about 6.

Ingredients:

• 750 g topside/H-bone roast
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 – 2 garlic cloves
• oil & butter to cook the meat
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tumbler Port plus 30 ml sugar
• salt & freshly ground black peppe
• about 2 – 3 rashers streaky bacon
• vinegar marinade, diluted 1/3 – 2/3 parts water
• 1 large onion, grated fairly finely
• 15 ml cooked tomato (thick) (reduce fresh peeled, seeded tomatoes or tinned Italian tomatoes)
• Beef stock as needed / Telma stock cube

Preparation:

• Lard the meat with slivers of garlic and strips of bacon to taste – pierce the roast with a sharp knife, push in the handle of a thin wooden spoon, and in the hole so made insert the bacon and garlic.
• Place the meat in a non-reactive bowl and pour over the diluted vinegar in sufficient to cover the roast completely. Add the cloves.
• Cover and leave overnight, but not in the refrigerator – if you leave it longer than about 18 hours, then it will need refrigeration.
• Remove the meat from the marinade, dab it as dry as possible and tie it to keep its shape while cooking. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil and butter in a deep saucepan, large enough to for the meat to fit fairly snugly. Start browning the meat, and when it is halfway browned start adding the grated onion over the meat so that the onion is finished by the time the meat is well browned all over.
• NB. Be careful not to cook at too high a temperature as the meat and onion burn easily, but also not too low as allthe juices of the meat will run out, leaving the joint very stringy and tasteless.
• This stage is a pain, as it cannot be hurried, and you need to give it your attention. Start adding the sugared port, into which the 15 ml of thick, cooked tomato has been stirred, little by little, waiting until most of the liquid has disappeared before adding more.
• Keep turning the meat so that all sides of the joint cook in the port. When the port is finished, sprinkle on the grated nutmeg, and add stock as needed, cooking on a gentle heat until the meat is tender.
• Remove the meat, skim off any fat, and, only if real necessary, thicken the gravy with a little cornflour slaked in water.
• Rest for at least 15 minutes, then slice fairly thinly.

Serves 4 – 5.

Ingredients:

• 500 g stewing meat (beef or lamb)
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 15 ml grated fresh ginger
• 2 pieces cinnamon
• 12.5 ml curry powder
• 5 ml ground cumin
• butter/oil for cooking
• 5 ml ground coriander
• 5 – 10 ml turmeric
• 3 tomatoes, skinned, finely chopped (or tinned Italian tomatoes)
• 200 ml yoghurt
• 15 – 30 ml sugar
• 150 – 200 g uncooked rice
• salt & freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

• Brown the seasoned meat in the oil/butter. Take out the meat as it browns, and when it is all browned add the onions and ginger to the fat in the pan, adding a little extra if necessary.
• Saute until the onion starts to soften. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.
• Add the cinnamon, curry powder, cumin, coriander and turmeric and stir-fry for a minute or two on medium heat.
• Stir in the tomatoes, and when they have started to break down into a mush add the yoghurt.
• Bubble up the mixture, stirring constantly, and return the meat to the saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer gently till the meat is tender and the sauce thick, adding water sparingly as needed.
• Add the well-washed rice, season well with salt, pepper and sugar. Stir together, then add boiling water a cup or two at a time, adding as it is needed, and simmer until the rice is tender.
• Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve with sambals like tomato-omon or sliced bananas.

Notes:

• A little bone in the meat adds to the flavour, but boneless meat also works well.

Serves about 4.

Ingredients:

• 600 g topside mince
• 200 g pork sausage meat
• 100 g fresh brown breadcrumbs
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 3 tbl chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• ¼ teasp black pepper
• ½ – 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

• Lightly fry onion and garlic in a little oil – this is optional- but it does remove the raw onion taste from the finished loaf
• Combine all the ingredients and test for seasoning. Press firmly and evenly into a 1 kg loaf tin and cover tightly with foiL
• Bake at 160° C for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for a further 15 – 20 minutes.
• Test for doneness – juices should run clear.
• Rest in tin for about 10 minutes, then tum out and slice.

Notes

• Allspice or pimento mustn’t be confused with mixed spice, which has a completely different taste. Ground allspice/pimento can be quite difficult to find, so feel free to change the spices to suit your taste. I find that Robertson’s Garlic and Herb mixture is quite nice in this dish.

Serves 6 – 8.

Ingredients:

• 1 large whole roasted/barbequed chicken
• 175 ml vegetable oil
• paprika for sprinkling
• 600 – 800 ml water
• 3 long celery sticks, trimmed, sliced
• 45 ml lemon juice
• 500 g cherry tomatoes
• large pinch saffron threads
• 300 g long grain rice

Ingredients: Dressing:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 15 ml curry powder
• 60 ml red wine vinegar
• 20 – 30 ml lemon juice
• salt & freshly ground pepper
• 90 ml vegetable oil
• 60 ml tomato juice or passata
• 30 – 45 ml smooth apricot jam
• 250 g cottage cheese

Preparation:

• Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Place the measured water in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt and the saffron.
• Bring to the boil, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the rice, return to the boil, cover and let it simmer on the lowest heat possible until all the water has been absorbed.
• Add extra water, if it seems that the rice will not be cooked by the time all the water has disappeared – I find that I almost always need some extra water. The finished rice must be moist, but not mushy.
• Remove from the heat, and allow to cool for 20 minutes, then stir gently with a fork. Set aside.
• Cook the onion over medium heat in about 20 ml of the oil until soft, but not coloured, stirring occasionally.
• Add the curry powder and cook gently for a minute or so. Add the tomato juice and vineger and cook till reduced by about half.
• Stir in the apricot jam, and leave on the switched-off plate, so that the jam melts. Taste, and if it seems very acid add a little more jam (or palm sugar, if you have any).
• Cool slightly, then blitz in the processor until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
• Add most of the lemon juice, the cottage cheese, salt and pepper and blitz again, and then, with the motor running, pour in the remaining oil.
• Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary. This must be very well-seasoned as the whole dish depends on the sauce for impact.
• Pull the skin off the chicken, then tear off the flesh from the bones, shredding it with your fingers. Toss the chicken with just over half of the curry dressing and set aside.
• Skin the cherry tomatoes – pour boiling water over them, let stand for about 1 minutes, then drain. The skins should come off easily.
• Combine the cooked rice and the celery, stirring gently together.
• Make a vinaigrette with salt pepper, the lemon juice and vegetable oil.
• Whisk well together, then pour three-quarters of it over the rice. Toss gently, but thoroughly to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Toss the remaining vinaigrette with the cherry tomatoes.
• To serve – pile the saffron rice onto the centre of a round platter, and arrange the chicken on top. Garnish with clusters of cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with the paprika. Serve the remaining dressing separately.

Notes:

• Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world – a teaspoon of ground turmeric makes a very acceptable alternative here – actually I think it is preferable.

Serves 4 – 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 roasted/bought barbequed chicken
• 1 medium pineapple
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 4 spring onions, sliced

Ingredients: Dressing:

• 1 tsp curry powder
• ¼ tsp 5 – spice powder
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup coconut milk

Preparation:

• Toast coconut until golden – either in medium oven for about 5 minutes, or on a dry frying pan, stirring constantly.
• Peel pineapple, and cut the flesh into bite-sized chunks.
• Pull the skin off the chicken, then strip off all the flesh from the bones, and cut it-tnto bite-sized pieces.
• Combine in a bowl with the coconut and spring onions.
• Whisk together all the dressing ingredients, then pour over the salad. Stir gently but thoroughly. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Notes:

• Use dessicated coconut, though, I think, the original recipe meant fresh shredded coconut to be used.

Serves 4 – 5.