Baked Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 300g gnocchi
• 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 6 mushrooms, roughly sliced
• 100g cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 green capsicum, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Handful of basil leaves, torn
• 125g ball mozzarelly, torn into chunks
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• Oil, salt, ground black pepper

Method

- Preheat the oven to 200C 

- Heat oil in a large frying pan, add onion, capsicum, curry powder and chilli powder to the pan and soften for 5 minutes.

- Stir in the garlic and fry for 1 minute, then tip on the tomatoes and gnocchi and bring to a simmer. Bubble for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the gnocchi is soft and the sauce has thickened. Then stir through the basil leaves and season it well with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

- Transfer the mixture to a large ovenproof dish. Scatter with the mozzarella and grill in the oven for 6 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden.

- Serve hot.

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Vietnamese Beef Jerky (Khô Bò)

Ingredients

• 250g beef fillet, thinly sliced across its grain
• 2 tbsp minced lemongrass
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
• 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp hot chilli flake

Method

- Prepare the beef marinade: Mix all the spies together, add oyster sauce to help the spices combine well.

- Rub the spices on both sides of each beef slice in a bowl.

- Cover it with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.

- Preheat the oven to 200C.

- Put a cooling rack on a tray, spread the beef thoroughly and place on the rack. Cook the beef in the oven for 15 minutes and then turn it over. Keep repeating to check and turn the beef every 15 minutes until cooked to your liking.

We expect crispy beef jerky, the thinner it is, the crispier it gets. If you want some moisture in the beef jerky, slice it a bit thicker. The cooking time may vary depending on how thin the beef is.

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Parmesan-crusted Trout with Tomato Couscous

Ingredients

• 200g trout fillet
• 100g couscous 
• 1 large egg
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• A small bunch of fresh basil
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 lemon
• 50g plain flour
• 100g Parmesan cheese
• Oil, salt, ground black pepper

Method

- Boil water in a kettle.

- Heat oil in a sauce pan, saute the chopped garlic until lightly golden, then add chopped basil stalks and tomatoes to the sauce pan.

- Tip in the couscous, stir everything around and add 200ml of boiling kettle water. Cover with a lid and turn the heat off.

- Heat a splash of oil to a frying pan on a medium high heat.

- Beat the egg in a bowl. Lay out 2 plates, sprinkle the flour over one and finely grate the Parmesan cheese over the other.

- Season the fillet well with salt and pepper on each side. Then dip it in the flour, making sure it's completely covered. Carefully shake off the excess then dip it into the beaten egg. Then lay it in the Parmesan.

- Fry the fillet in the frying pan for 2 minutes on each side until golden, crisp and cooked through.

- Stir up the couscous with a fork, season it with salt and pepper. Tear in the basil leaves and stir them through.

- Serve the fillet hot with the couscous.

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Stuffed Okra

Ingredients

• 200g okras
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp red chilly powder
• A bunch of chopped coriander
• 1/3 tsp turmeric powder
• Oil, salt and ground pepper

Method
- Cut the okras open, try not to halve it.
- Combine all spices and some chopped coriander in a small mixing bowl, add some oil and lemon juice to mix it well, then stuff the mixture in each okras and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, stuffed okras and toss them. Cook it on a low flame under cover for 5 minutes or until cooked.
- Serve hot.

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The Ultimate Rocky Road

Ingredients

• 1 cup marshmallows
• 1 cup raw peanuts
• 3/4 cup red glace cherries
• 200g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 200g milk cooking chocolate, chopped
• 150g shortbread ginger biscuits, broken

Method

- Roast the peanuts in a hot pan for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

- Combine 1/3 each of the marshmallows, roasted peanuts and cherries in a bowl. Set aside.

- Melt the milk and dark chocolate together in a glass bowl over simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water otherwise the chocolate will set.

- Stir the biscuits, marshmallows, peanuts and cherries mix into the melted chocolate. Spoon the mixture into a lined 18x30cm slice pan.

- Gentle press the reserved marshmallow, cherries and peanuts into the top of the slice.

- Chill until firm and then slice into squares to serve.

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Golden Egg Curry

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp ginger & garlic paste
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp mustard oil (or olive oil)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp garam masala 
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
• Salt to taste, ground black pepper

Method
- Boil water in a sauce pan, cook the eggs at a medium boil for 8 minutes. Drain the eggs and let it cool. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel them.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, add the eggs and saute them until evenly browned from all side. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In the same pan, heat the remaining oil. Add ginger & garlic paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add onions into the pan, mix well and saute the onion for 5 minutes or until golden.
- Add the tomatoes and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes or until the oil separates.
- Then add turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder and mix well. Add 1 cup of water, stir to mix, bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add garam masala, salt and ground pepper. Halved sauteed eggs and add them into the pan. Stir gently so that the eggs get coated with the masala.
- Add lemon juice and 1 tbsp chopped coriander and mix well.
- Serve hot and garnish with the remaining chopped coriander.

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Crab Linguine

Ingredients

• 200g white crab meat (fresh meat recommended)
• 50g brown crab meat
• 200g linguine
• 2 big tomatoes, peeled, chopped & deseeded
• 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, chopped with seeds removed
• Oil, salt to taste, ground pepper

Method

- In case you use fresh crabs, steam or boil the crabs until cooked through, then take out the white and brown crab meat. Double check to make sure there is no shell left in the meat.

- Heat oil a large frying pan, gently saute the garlic and fresh chilli. Add the brown meat and cook for a minute, then add the fresh chopped tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes, add the white crab meat and season with salt.

- In a large pot of boiling salted water, add the linguine and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pasta with a pair of tongs and add to the frying pan with the crab and tomatoes.

- Add some oil in the pasta, season it well with a good pinch of salt and ground pepper.

- Then give the pasta a good toss and serve hot.

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" To enhance a nice texture for this dish, you can use zucchini. Cut the zucchini into 1cm strips lengthways. Blanch the strips with boiling salted water and add them into the crab and tomato sauce after adding pasta and season well altogether. Making sure you use the same pot of salted boiling water when you cook zucchini and pasta."