Pork in Ginger and Coconut Milk "Bicol Express"

Ingredients

3 Tbsp Ginger
3 Tbsp Onion, Minced
2-3 Cloves Garlic, Minced
Pork/Chicken
1 Tbsp Shrimp Paste
1-2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Can Coconut Cream
A handful of Chilis (to taste)

Optional Additions

Courgettes
Peas

Method

- Fry onions, garlic and ginger till fragrant.
- Add Pork/Chicken, seal the meat quickly, no need to add water.
- Add shrip paste, coconut cream, fish sauce, and chilis.
- Simmer till it reduces and changes colour.
- If opted to use vegetables, add them at the end and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with rice.

BBQ Ribs. Being overly optimistic here!

For the marinade

• 6 tbsp Red current jelly. Or any other fruit jelly, I might even try in with Rosemary jelly.
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• ½ -1 medium-hot red chilli, finely chopped, or ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

Mix all the above together and smear like a Guardian journalist. Then leave to marinade. I tend to keep a little bit of sauce back to glaze over 5 mins before I serve.

This recipe will cover about 1kg of ribs.

Enjoy

Moroccan Lamb

Ingredients

500g Lamb neck fillets (cut into bite size chunks - can just used diced lamb)
2 tsp Paprika
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
garlic (2 cloves)
tbsp finely chopped parsley
Red pepper
Half a can of kidney beans
couscous/ rice

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Method

- Brown the lamb on all sides and then add spices and garlic. Fry until aromatic
- In a saucepan, pour in tomatoes, parsley and a the spiced lamb
- simmer gently with a lid on for 25 minutes, then add kidney beans.
- simmer for a further 5 minutes.
- serve with couscous or rice and with a sprinkling of extra parsley

Tom Yum (Thai Soup)

I haven't tried this one yet, but plan to in the next week

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Ingredients

1.5 litres of stock (vegetable?)
juice of 2 limes
75ml tamarind water (can just dilute a bug spoon of paste in hot water)
75ml Fish sauce
6 stick of lemon grass (squash with knife and then chop)
3 Red chillies
110g Ginger
Lime leaves
75g brown sugar
8 big tomatoes
Prawns (approx 100g per head)

Method

-Throw in everything bar the prawns amd simmer for 20 minutes
-Keep tasting it- if sour add more fish sauce and sugar
- When tomatoes soften, bring to the boil and add prawns for 2 minutes
- Serve with basil sprinkled on top

[Also works with chicken]

Thai Curry

Ingredients

2-4 Cloves of Garlic (depending on size)
8-10 Shallots
2 tbsp Cumin seeds
1-2 tbsp Red Curry Paste
1 tbsp Shrimp Paste
Tin of Coconut Milk (400g)
2 tbsp Fish Sauce
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
Kaffir Lime leaves
Prawns/ Chicken
Thai Rice

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Method

- Start cooking rice and frying chicken
- Halve/ quarter shallots and chop garlic
- Fry with cumin seeds for approximately 5 minutes
- Add curry paste and fry for 2 minutes
- Add coconut milk, sugar, fish sauce, shrimp paste and lime leaves and leace to simmer
- Once simmering, add cooked chicken (or add prawns) and leave for 3 minutes
- Serve over sticky rice

[Timings are approximate, as are ingredient amounts]

Filipino Barbeque

To start it off, a dish very common in the Philippines. The marinade could be used with most type of meats. I recommend Pork and Chicken, ALSO chicken liver is really tasty with this... Not so big on steak-y/beefy barbeques. 1/2 kilo of the choice of meat will do. Cut in to thin strips.

Marinade:
2 Lemons
1 Can Beer/Lemonade
2 Tbsp Tabasco or Chili Powder to taste
1 Head of Garlic Crushed
1/2 Cup Vinegar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1 or 2 Onions diced

Generous amount of Cooking Oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in to a deep pan, and marinate choice of meats for at least 3 hours, better result if you marinate overnight. The beer and lemon tenderises the meat so the longer you leave it the better it will taste. Make sure you make enough marinade to actually drown the meat.

Prep skewers by soaking them in water for about 20 minutes (this stops the from burning on the grill). Skewer about 5 on a stick. To make the baste, take the left over marinade, and heat it in a pan. Reduce till its about half the amount and add enough oil for it to be runny (about 1/2 cup)

Baste the meat just before you turn them over, this adds oil to the meat before turning making it quicker to cook, and seals the flavour. Serve with rice, you could make a sauce to go with it.

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Vinegar
Chilis Chopped
Onions Chopped
Few drops of Fish Sauce

ENJOY!