Roast Chicken with Lemongrass Gravy
Simple, easy and delicious!
Roasting chicken 2-4 kg
Fresh lemongrass 1 pkg.
Salt (lots!)
Pepper (to taste)
Olive oil
White wine
Lea and Perrin's and/or green Tabasco (a few shakes to taste)
Corn starch or flour (just a little to thicken)
The Bird
Wash and prepare chicken, liberally salting and peppering the cavity.
Stuff with lemongrass, cut into pieces about 5 cm long. Slather skin with good, cooking-grade extra virgin olive oil and then VERY liberally salt and pepper all over the outside (After putting lots of salt on the skin, do it again! The extra salting really makes a difference in the final taste.
Roast in a 240 C (375F) oven.
And, this is the secret to a perfectly moist and delicious result, begin the bird upside down (breast down) and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on size, and turn over to brown the breast only for the last 20 minutes or so.
I use a convection oven, so cooking time may vary in other types.
The Gravy
Take all the drippings, still in the roasting pan if practical, add about 300-500 ml water and deglaze the juices on the stove. Add about half the lemongrass stuffing to the gravy pan, about 250 ml of white wine and continue to cook. Salt and pepper to taste and add a liberal amount of Lea and Perrin's to taste. (green Tabasco doesn't hurt either) and then thicken with a little more water and corn starch or flour to the consistency of a relatively thin gravy.
Serve carved chicken with roasted potatoes and carrots (or other favorite vegetables, rice, either white, or especially wild, is nice too) gravy on the side, and another vegetable such as fried peppers and zucchini.
Serves 2-4
2 15 cm pieces of pork tenderloin (thicker is better)
Fresh mango
Fresh plum
Mango chutney (about 3-4 tbsp)
Corn syrup
Cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise (to taste)
Honey (2 tbsp)
Butterfly the tenderloins and press down flat.
On one piece (the bottom) layer thin slices of fresh mango.
Then layer thinly sliced plum on top of the mango.
Drizzle small amount of corn syrup over the fruit.
Spread 3-4 tbsp sweet mango chutney over the fruit.
Place second piece of tenderloin on the top and tack well with toothpicks.
Wrap all in heavy foil and barbeque at med-high 18 min on one side, 10 min on the other. Open the foil to let out steam and when done to your preference transfer to platter and let stand about 10 minutes before slicing.
Meanwhile, pour the juices into a saucepan, add 2 tbsp honey and reduce to reasonably thick sauce.
Slice tenderloin to preference, transfer to plates and drizzle sauce over the meat and fruit mixture.
Serves 3-4 depending on size of tenderloins.
Good with baked potatoes, salad and favorite vegetables.
A nice Shiraz or Zinfandel goes well with Stone Fruit Tenderloin.
5 cm piece of fresh ginger.
Olive oil.
2 chicken breasts (with skin).
1 large red onion, chopped.
Chopped red and yellow peppers (1 each).
1 sliced carrot.
1 cup chopped broccoli.
1/3 cup water
Lime juice.
Mint.
Sauce
3 tbsp peanut butter.
1-2 tbsp Thai hot dipping sauce (the red kind).
1-2 tbsp Chinese plum sauce.
Water to make sauce consistency of thick, but "runnable" sauce.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Sauté chopped ginger and skins from chicken in a little olive oil until all the flavor is extracted from both.
Strain oil and return to pan, add more oil if needed.
Quickly sauté the chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces, until browned. Remove and reserve.
Add onion and sauté until translucent, add peppers and sauté about 2 more min. Add carrot and broccoli and sauté another min.
Add 1/3 cup water, cover and let simmer.
Separately, combine peanut butter, Thai dipping sauce, plum sauce and add enough hot water to make a very thick sauce.
Add sauce to wok (pan) along with salt and pepper to taste and more water if sauce seems too thick.
Return chicken "bites" to pan and simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve over rice, garnished with roughly chopped mint and drizzles of lime juice (fresh preferably, but bottled if just fine).
Serves 2-4 (add more chicken to increase serving sizes).
St. Valentine's Day Pancakes (or any other day)
Basic pancake mixture.
Fresh blueberries.
Sauce
1 mango.
2 tbsp honey (Greek preferably).
5-10 fresh strawberries (to taste).
Fresh mint leaves.
Puree all sauce ingredients and serve in bowl on table.
For pancakes, pour pancake mixture into buttered, hot griddle.
Once the bottom had begun to firm a little, add 15-15 blueberries to top, flip when flippable and finish cooking.
Serve hot, with butter, fruit sauce and Maple syrup if you like.
Serves 2-3
Fried Rice with Salmon, Swordfish and Ikura
200 gr fresh salmon
400 gr fresh swordfish
300 gr ikura (salmon roe)
Green onions
1 pkg fresh tarragon
1 pkg fresh mint
1 pkg fresh basil or fresh shiso leaves
1 large onion
1 large tomato
1 large red pepper
1 large yellow pepper
sesame oil
Salt, pepper
Thai dipping sauce
Butter, olive oil
Rice
Cut the salmon into thin strips and quickly sauté in butter and olive oil. Remove.
Dice the swordfish into 1 cm cubes and quickly sauté. Remove.
Add small amount of sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste and sauté onion, peppers. When soft, add about 3 tbsp Thai dipping and then remove.
Wash and chop roughly herbs, mix into onion, pepper mixture.
Slice green onions finely for garnish.
In large wok add tiny bit sesame oil, bit of butter and bit of olive oil.
Add 5-6 cups cooked rice and fry, turning frequently until glistening and very hot.
Add the cooked salmon, mix.
Add the onion, pepper, herb mixture, mix.
Add the swordfish and mix.
Taste - if it needs more dipping sauce, add some more.
Remove from heat, mix in finely chopped tomato and gently mix in the ikura.
Garnish with chopped green onions and serve hot.
Serves 5-6
Sauce for Tuna or other firm-fleshed fish
2 tbsp Thai honey-chili dipping sauce (available in most markets, the red colored sauce).
1-2 tbsp good olive oil.
Dash of balsamic vinegar.
Squirt of anchovy paste from tube (available most good grocery stores).
Mix well and well drizzle over grilled or fried fish.
Serves 2-3
Grilled Swordfish and Garbanzo (chick pea) Salad
1 small can garbanzo beans, drained
2-3 small slices (about 100-150 gr) swordfish
3-4 sprigs watercress, finely chopped
2-3 sprigs fresh spearmint, finely chopped
2 thin slices of onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Ground cumin, several pinches to taste
Best quality olive oil
Best quality balsamic vinegar
Green Tabasco, to taste
Salt, pepper, to taste
Grill swordfish in grill pan until well-marked with grill marks on both sides and then pinch ground cumin on one side, let stand and dice into 1 cm cubes
Add drained garbanzos, swordfish, chopped watercress, spearmint, onion, garlic to small serve and mix thoroughly.
Dress with good dollops of olive and oil and balsamic (to taste), adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and green Tabasco
Serve warm or at room temperature
Serves 2 (can be easily expanded by increasing all ingredients)
Pan-fried Salmon with Lemon-Wasabi Sauce
A simple, but tasty treatment for salmon fillets.
2 salmon fillets, sashimi-grade (about 150-200g each)
olive oil to cover bottom of fry pan
1 tbsp fresh or packaged wasabi
1/2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp butter
Fry the salmon in the olive oil in a hot frying pan. While the fish is frying, combine the wasabi, lemon juice and ginger in a small bowl.
When the salmon is done, remove to warmed serving plates, Pour the lemon-wasabi mixture into the fry pan and add the butter. Stir until frothy and then pour over salmon fillets.
Serve immediately.
Serves 2