Chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

If you want to make a very very delicious dessert and so  simple to make, give this one a go.

Serves 4

Equipment:-

• Food processor
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 small mixing bowls
• 4 serving glasses

Ingredients

• 90g Digestive biscuits
• 40g melted butter
• 50g milk chocolate
• 10g finely grated milk chocolate
• 150g cream cheese
• 100ml double cream
• 40g sugar
• 75g fresh raspberries

Method

• Blend the digestives in the food processor
• Add the crumbled digestives to a bowl
• Mix in the melted butter
• Evenly split the digestive and butter mix into the base of each serving glass and pat down with the back of a spoon

Buttery biscuit base

• Melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water
• Mix in the big bowl the cream cheese, double cream and sugar until smooth
• Add the raspberries and stir in

Raspberry and cheese

• Add the melted chocolate and quickly swirl through

Chocolate and cheese

• Evenly spoon mixture over digestives in each serving glass
• Sprinkle over some of the grated chocolate on each cheese cake
• Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours and then serve

Raspberry and chocolate cheesecake

Chocolate and raspberry cheesecake Done!!!

Haddock wrapped in Parma ham with brandy sauce

So we were having a BBQ and thought we would create this dish. The inspiration came after having some Monk fish wrapped in Parma ham at my God daughters 2nd Birthday party. It was cooked to perfection and the creamy sauce they served with is it was very delicious. We used Haddock fillet in our recipe as there was no Monk fish left at the fish mongers. Give this a go and if you use monk fish instead of Haddock please look up on how to prepare Monk fish tails on Yourtube or Google.

Serves 2

Equipment

• BBQ or Grill
• Frying pan
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Tin Foil
• Wooden Skewers

Ingredients

• 1 Large Haddock fillet skinned (or 2 Monk fish tails)
• 6 slices of Parma ham
• A few sprigs of fresh Thyme
• 100ml Double cream
• A splash of brandy
• 1 Shallot diced
• 1 Garlic clove diced
• A small piece of the haddock diced up finely
• A an extra slice of Parma ham diced up finely
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

Method

• Season the Haddock well with salt, pepper and thyme

• Lay out some slices of Parma ham
• Lay the Haddock on top of Parma ham

Haddock and parma ham

• Roll the Haddock up in the Parma ham (use skewers to secure)

Haddock wrapped in parma ham

• Place the Haddock directly on BBQ and cook for about 2 mins each side until the Parma ham is crispy
• Place the Haddock on some tin foil and wrap up well
• Place back on top of BBQ for about 2-3 mins to finish cooking fish through

BBQ haddock wrapped in parma ham

• For the Sauce heat some oil in the pan
• Add the shallot and garlic and fry for 2 mins
• Add the diced fish and Parma ham and cook for 2 mins
• Pour in the Brandy and cook until it has almost evaporated
• Add the cream and cook for 1 min and season to taste

Creamy cod and parma ham sauce

Serve with some steamed vegetables

Haddock and parma ham in creamy sauce

Haddock wrapped in Parma ham with brandy sauce Done!!

V for Venezuela



This hearty national dish of Venezuela is as delicious as it looks and not too difficult to make. The closest translation of Pabellon Criollo is “Creole Flag” in which the colours in the dish represent. yellow (Plantain), red (beef and tomatoes), Blue (black beans) and white (Rice). I recomment you try this as we were not disappointed and it goes down nicely with a few cold bottles of beer on a Sunday afternoon.

Pabellon Criollo

Pabellon Criollo

Serves 4

Pabellon Criollo is made of 4 main components Shredded beef,  rice, black beans and fried plantain. This is also commonly served with a fried egg.

Shredded Beef and tomatoes
Ingredients:-
1lb of Flank or braising steak
3 beef stock cubes
1 tbsp of butter
1 ½ diced onions
2 diced tomatoes
A bunch of chopped fresh coriander

Beef

Method:-
Add the beef and stock to a pan
Fill the pan up with boiling water until beef is covered
Simmer and cover for an hour and a half
Take off heat and leave for at least and hour for the steak to cool
Remove the steak from pan and break and shred up into a dish and set aside
Keep the juices in pan to be used with beef and black beans later
Cook the rice and beans
Melt the butter in a pan
Add the onions and fry for 5 mins
Add the tomatoes
Add ½ a cup of beef juices
Stir and fry for 2 mins
Stir in the fresh coriander
Done

Pabellon Criollo

Rice
Ingredients:-
1 tsp of vegetable oil
3 Garlic cloves grated
1 Scotch Bonnet
240g of rice

Scotch Bonnet

Method:-
Heat oil in the pan
Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute
Add 2 cups of water and the scotch bonnet
Bring to simmer and then add the rice
Once the water is evaporated it is ready
Remove scotch bonnet (This can be added to beef if you like the spice).

Pabellon Criollo

Beans
Ingredients:-
1 tsp of vegetable oil
3 Garlic cloves grated
1 Large onion diced
1 can or carton of drained black beans
½ a cup of the beef stock left from beef stewing juices
1 ½ tsp of ground cumin

Method:-
Heat the oil in a pan
Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute
Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes
Add the black beans, beef juice and cumin
Bring to a simmer and simmer for about 10 mins until a thick sauce

Plantain
Ingredients:-
1 Large plantain sliced into discs
1 tbsp of vegetable oil
Salt

Method:-
Heat oil in the pan on a medium heat
Fry plantain until golden brown on each side turn regular as can burn quickly
Put onto a plate and salt them up to taste

Pabellon Criollo

U for Uruguay

A hearty delicious meaty steak dish served in Uruguay. With this dish we use another inspired Uruguayan/Argentinian dish called chimichurri sauce (Garlic, oil, zesty herby sauce or marinate). Chivito al plato is the plated up none bread version of the the famous Chivito Sandwich. Uruguay along with Argentina are very famous for their barbecued meats expecially the steaks.

Chivito al plato

Chivito al Plato

Chivito al Plato

For 2 people

Ingredients

2 rib eye steaks

Half a ball of mozzarella sliced

5 tbsp of Chimichirru (recipe below)

2 slices of fried bacon

2 fried eggs

2 slices of lean ham

1 small onion sliced and fried

6 small tomatoes halved



Rib eye steak



Method:-

Rub in the chimichirru into the Rib eye steaks
Cover the steaks and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
BBQ or grill the steaks for 2-3 mins each side
Let the steaks rest for 1 min
Add steaks to the serving plate 1 steak per person
Stack on top mozzarella, ham, egg, bacon, onion and tomatoes

Can be served with fries, salad also potato salad

We served us with a potato and bean salad (recipe below)
Also have some Chimichirru in side dish to serve with it.

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Chimichirru



Chimichirru



Ingredients

Half an onion peeled and chopped roughly

5 cloves of garlic peeled

Juice of half a lime

5 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp of Chilli flakes

1 tbsp oregano

1 tsp of salt

A bunch fresh parsley

Method

Add onion and Garlic to food processor and blend roughly
Add parsley and oregano to food processor and blend until evenly finely chopped
Add to a bowl or container
Add the olive oil, lime, chilli and salt
Stir, cover and keep in fridge until ready to use

Potato and bean salad



Ingredients

500g of boiled and chilled new potatoes

100g grams of green beans boiled and halved

50 g of broad beans

2 Tbsp

5 tbsp of mayonnaise

2 tbps of single cream

Salt and pepper

Method

Add everything to a bowl or container and mix well and chill until ready to use

Chivito al Plato with potato salad

T for Turkey

Lamb Shish Kebabs with pita bread, yoghurt and tomato sauce

Lamb Shish kebabs

A nice twist on the regular lamb shish kebab however koftas can often come served in this style. Try it out is very delicious with the BBQ lamb and the fresh mixture of the yoghurt and tomato.

Lamb Shish Kebabs
Serves 4
Ingredients:-
KEBABS
1 tbsp of salt
2 cloves of Garlic grated
4 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tbsp of paprika
1/2 juice of a lemon
500g good diced lamb

Tomato Sauce:-
3 grilled and peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 tsp of tomato puree
Pinch of sugar

Others:-
4 Pita breads
8 tbsp of warm Turkish yoghurt

Method:-
Kebabs
Add salt, garlic, olive oil, cumin, paprika, Lemon juice and stir
Mix together the lamb and marinade cover and put in fridge for 2 - 24 hours

Tomato Sauce
Add the tomatoes, butter, salt, tomato puree, sugar to blender
Blend for about 30 seconds until a silky smooth sauce

Final dish
Skewer the lamb meat over 4 skewers
Cook on a hot BBQ for about 3-4 mins each side
Remove and from BBQ and skewers and put aside
Warm the pitas on BBQ for about 30 seconds each side
Get 4 plates and break or slice up the pitas 1 on each plate
Add 2 tbsp of yoghurt on pitas on each plate
Pour 1/4 of tomato sauce over yoghurt on each plate
Add 1/4 of the Lamb kebab to each plate

You can alternatively serve all in one big plate if sharing with others.

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BBQ trout with lemon, mixed herbs and olives

Ingredients:-

2 whole trout's gutted and scaled

2 Lemons sliced

10 black olives halved

10 green olives halved

Bunch of fresh Chives whole

Bunch of fresh parsley whole

Small bunch of fresh mint

Sea salt 

pepper

2 tbsps olive oil

Method:-

Place the trout's on long sheet of aluminium foil

Stuff the trout cavity with the herbs and some on top

Add some lemon slices and olives to cavity and on top of trout

Season cavity and top of fish with sea salt and pepper

Drizzle with olive oil

Wrap up in the foil air tight and place on BBQ hot coals

Add a few coals on top of foil and leave for about 20 mins

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BBQ Haloumi slices with Turkish salad

BBQ Haloumi

BBQ some Haloumi slice for a couple of mins each side and serve with some Turkish salad

Simple Turkish salad with olive, lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil and some herbs 

Potato Heart

S for Sumatra (Indonesia)

 Rendang Beef 

Serves 6

Ingredients:-

1Kg of braising beef diced

2 tbsp of sunflower oil

2 cinnamon sticks

12 cloves

2 bay leaves

600ml of coconut milk

Paste:-

6 Shallots peeled and chopped into quarters

2 Lemon grass stalks roughly chopped

6 Garlic cloves peeled

Ginger root (2 inch piece) peeled and chopped

1 tsp of ground ginger

1tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of black pepper

1tbsp of ground coriander

            2 tbsp of water

Method:-

Make the paste by adding all the past ingredients to a blender and blending until fine paste

Heat the sunflower oil in a pan or wok

Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves and fry for 1 min

Add the coconut milk and paste and fry for about 2 mins

Add the coconut milk and stir in thoroughly

Bring to a simmer and simmer for 2 ½ hours stirring occasionally.

Serve with rice

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Chilli Stir fry prawns on noodles

Serves 4 

Ingredients:-

500g or fresh raw peeled prawns

¼ a pepper sliced into strips

2 medium spring onions sliced at an angle

5 Medium to large mushrooms sliced

2 tbsp of sunflower oil

2 tbsp of soy sauce

Handful or coriander leaves chopped roughly

Handful of mint leaves chopped roughly

Chilli paste:-

1 medium red chilli sliced

1 tsp of fish sauce

2 tbsp of lemon juice

A pinch of brown sugar

2 garlic cloves peeled and sliced

1 inch of fresh ginger peeled and sliced

1 tbsp of coriander leaves

1 tbsp of mint leaves

Method:-

For the paste add all the paste ingredients to a pestle and mortar and mash for 3 mins until slightly chunky paste

Add the prawns to a container and mix in well the paste

Leave to marinade for at least an hour

Heat the sunflower oil in a pan

Add the spring onions, pepper, mushrooms and soy sauce and fry for 2 mins

Set aside in a dish

Add the prawns to pan and fry for 2 mins

Add the veg back in pan

Then add the coriander and mint leaves (a splash of extra sauce and fish sauce is optional for taste)

Serve on your favourite egg noodles

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Us at Blackheath (At a pub surprisingly) 4th June 2011

Mint and Coriander (I just liked the photo)

Some resources for Sumatra

Food and recipes:-

http://www.sumatra-indonesia.com/sumatranfood.htm

Facts and Info:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumatra