the zest of 3 oranges
1 litre freshly squeezed orange juice, strained
500ml sugar
4 bay leaves
Add all the ingredients to a saucepan placed over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Turn the heat down to low and simmer the mixture for one hour – you want a syrupy consistency.
Cool the liquid completely and strain into a glass bottle.
Serve the cordial over ice and sparkling water.
Store in the refrigerator.
30ml olive oil
15ml turmeric
15ml ground coriander
15ml ground cumin
30ml curry powder
1 kg prawns, shelled and deveined
Curry sauce:
30ml vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 green chilli, chopped
10ml ground ginger
15ml curry powder
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground turmeric
15ml ground coriander
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
250ml coconut milk
Pour the olive oil into a large mixing bowl and add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and curry powder to it. Mix through.
Add the prawns and stir to cover with the spice paste. Set aside for 30 minutes.
Place a saucepan on medium heat, add the vegetable oil and onion and cook until translucent.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute.
Add the green chilli, ginger, curry, cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds.
Now blitz the two tins of tomatoes and add it to the saucepan.
Turn down the heat and simmer the mixture for 10 minutes.
Add the marinated prawns, pour in the coconut milk and simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes.
Serve the prawn curry with fresh coriander and steamed rice.
300 – 350g zucchini
15ml salt
375ml grated cheddar cheese
250ml chopped bacon, uncooked
6 eggs, whisked together
375ml flour
7,5ml baking powder
vegetable oil, for frying
Wash the zucchini under running water and dry them.
Grate into a bowl, sprinkle over the salt and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Place the zucchini in a clean tea towel and twist and squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.
Add the dry zucchini to a mixing bowl.
Fry the bacon bits until cooked and crispy, drain and add it to the zucchini.
Add the cheese and eggs and stir everything together.
Now add the flour and baking powder and stir to combine.
The batter should be thick enough so that it won’t spread in the pan – if it is too runny, add some more flour and if it is too stiff, add a few drops of water.
Place a frying pan over medium heat and add about 15ml of vegetable oil. Wait for the pan and oil to heat up.
Place about 30ml of batter into the pan and press down on it with the back of a spoon so that it is more or less even. You should get 3-4 fritters in an average frying pan – do not overcrowd them!
Fry the fritter for 3 minutes on the one side, flip it over and fry for another 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
Keep going until there is no batter left.
Serve the bacon-zucchini fritters warm as a snack or a side, or pack them at room temperature for a picnic or lunchbox.
Yields 12 individual or one 18cm x 28cm dessert.
175g lady fingers
400ml strong coffee, cooled
83ml marsala or dessert wine
4 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
750g mascarpone
Add the egg whites to a bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk until stiff peaks. Set aside.
Add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat with an electric whisk until dissolved.
Add the mascarpone and incorporate with the whisk until mixed through.
Add the whites to the mixture and fold through.
Assembly:
Pour the coffee and marsala into a flat bowl.
Dip the lady fingers in the coffee mixture and lay them in an even layer in a glass/individual ramekin.
Now scoop some of the mascarpone mixture onto the biscuits and level it out.
Repeat with a layer of soaked lady fingers and mascarpone mixture.
Refrigerate the desserts for 2 hours.
Dust with cocoa powder to serve.
4 portions of hake
2 sweet peppers, sliced
100g green olives, pitted
30ml capers, roughly chopped
60ml peppadews, chopped
2 lemons, quartered
Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Cut 4 pieces of baking paper to more or less 30cm x 30cm.
Place a portion of hake in the centre of each paper square and season with salt and pepper.
Add the sweet peppers, olives, capers and peppadews to a small bowl and mix through. Divide the mixture equally and spoon onto the fish.
Squeeze the juice of a quartered lemon over.
Bring the two opposite sides of the paper together and fold over twice.
Now twist the ends to enclose the filling.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Serve the fish in its paper parcel.
8 skinless chicken breasts
250ml mayonnaise
250ml apricot chutney
300ml water
15ml mild curry powder
250g dried apricots
45ml thyme leaves
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Place the chicken in a large oven dish, spacing them so that they aren’t crowded.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the mayonnaise, chutney, water and curry powder into a jug and whisk together.
Pour over the chicken.
Chop half the apricots and sprinkle on the chicken.
Cover the oven dish with aluminium foil and place in the oven to cook for 40 minutes.
Remove the foil and scatter the rest of the apricots over.
Cook the chicken (without the foil) for another 15 minutes. Spoon the liquid over the chicken from time to time.
I serve this dish on couscous which is great for absorbing the abundance of sauce. A tomato and basil salad is the perfect pairing for a great weekday dinner!
500g halloumi
75g sesame seeds
75g flour
30ml honey
10ml lemon juice
vegetable oil
Slice the halloumi into fingers
Add the sesame seeds to a shallow bowl and the flour to another.
Roll each piece of cheese in the sesame seeds, pressing down to make them stick.
Now press them into the flour to coat and place them on a plate.
Add the honey and lemon juice to a small bowl and whisk together.
Place a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add a splash of vegetable oil and wait for it until it is hot.
Fry the halloumi in batches for 1 minute until golden brown, turning to colour evenly.
Drizzle the warm fingers with the honey dressing and serve.
170ml condensed milk
30ml matcha powder
360g white chocolate, chopped
2,5ml salt
2,5ml vanilla
Prepare a 20cm x 20cm baking tin by lining it with baking paper.
Pour the condensed milk into a small saucepan and sift the matcha powder over it.
Place the saucepan on a low heat and stir until the mixture is hot.
Add the white chocolate, salt and vanilla.
Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and stir continuously until the chocolate has melted completely.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and leave to cool completely.
Refrigerate the fudge for 3 hours or longer.
Slice the fudge and sift over some matcha powder.
This recipe is for one portion flapjacks = 3-4 average sized flapjacks.
1 very ripe banana, mashed
30ml self-raising flour
1 egg
Add the mashed banana, flour and egg to a small mixing bowl and whisk together with a fork.
Place a frying pan on medium-high heat and add a dash of vegetable oil.
Spoon the batter into the pan, about three flapjacks at a time and cook until tiny bubbles appear.
Flip over and cook for another minute or two.
Serve the flapjacks warm with honey and added fruit.
This is a cheat’s version of carbonara and makes a perfect weekday dinner. Feeds 4 adults.
300g dried pappardelle pasta (or spaghetti)
150g chorizo sausage, sliced
15ml thyme, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml lemon juice
45ml yoghurt
1 egg
100g baby spinach
50g parmesan cheese, grated
Fill a large saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions.
Add the chorizo to a saucepan set over medium-high heat and fry for 3 minutes.
Add the thyme and garlic and stir-fry for another minutes or so.
Add the lemon juice, yoghurt and egg to a small bowl and whisk together with a fork.
Take the saucepan from the heat and add the yoghurt mixture while stirring.
Add the spinach to the saucepan and place it back onto the heat while stirring until the spinach is wilted.
Remove from the heat and sprinkle the parmesan over.
Mix through before serving.
My Whisk and I 