Preserved lemons

I love cooking with preserved lemons. The flavour is so unique that it's hard to describe. The taste is almost a softened, mellow, sharp bitterness - crystal clear! I brought some preserved lemons back from my trip to Marrakech last year (see the post here) and use them often. About a year ago I decided to make my own preserved lemons, and I recently opened the jar and was thrilled with the result. They are super easy to make, and look great in jars. You can make them now and they'll be ready to eat after 1-2 months.

A flick through any of the Ottolenghi or Moro Cookbooks will yield many recipes for using preserved lemons. They should also feature in any middle eastern cookery book. In Marrakech I was taught to make a gorgeous chicken tagine with preserved lemons. I've replicated it at home in my slow cooker by throwing in chicken thighs, chopped red onion, slices of lemon, crushed garlic cloves, a roughly chopped preserved lemon, a generous amount of ground cumin, coriander seeds, some cardamom pods and lemon anise, a drizzle of honey and enough water so that the chicken is almost covered. I then cook the lot on a low heat for 3-4 hours. So easy and so delicious with steaming couscous.

There are instructions for how to make preserved lemons in the first Ottolenghi book, the Casa Moro book and also Claudia Roden's "Arabesque". I made mine following a recipe from an Australian book by Lucy and Greg Malouf "Moorish". This quantity makes enough to fill one 2L jar. I used two slightly smaller jars (in their former life they were filled cabbage at my local grocer). You can also do this with limes.


Preserved lemons
1.5kg thin skinned lemons
350g sea salt
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, lightly crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
2 lemon leaves or bay leaves
2 tablespoons honey
250ml lemon juice
750ml warm water


Wash and dry the lemons. Cut them into quarters lengthways - don't cut all the way through, leaving the 4 quarters joined at the base of the lemon. Place the lemons in a plastic bag in the freezer for 24 hours (this apparently speeds up the maturing process).


Defrost the lemons. Stuff the centre of each lemon with a heaped teaspoon of salt. My book says "arrange neatly in a jar" - I would say, stuff them in as best you can! Sprinkle each layer with more salt and crushed coriander seeds (be generous with the salt). Stuff the cinnamon sticks and leaves into the jar. 


Mix the honey and warm water. Pour into the jar so that the lemons are covered. Screw on the lid of the jar.


In a large saucepan, place a piece of cardboard and sit the jar on top (this is to stop the jar from vibrating). Pour warm water until it comes halfway up the sides of the jar. Slowly bring the water to the boil, and then boil for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat. 


Take the jar out of the saucepan and keep in a cool, dry place for at least a month (or 12 months in my case). Once opened, keep refrigerated. 


As always, enjoy!

Brunch: Twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflés with blitzed beetroot and garlicky white beans & cherry tomatoes

Brunch is my absolute, without a doubt, favourite part of the weekend, so it has to be delicious whether I eat out or in. The first time I made these gorgeous soufflés on my blog, someone commented that they were quite old fashioned (I prefer "retro")! So I’ve tried to drag them into 2011, with a little detour via Morocco!

I served this dish at a brunch 'n craft supper club I held a few months ago. Other than eating, guests were able to make gorgeous brooches, cards and cross-stitch thanks to Sarah (check out her site, Violet Iris) who runs workshops at the Create Place in Bethnal Green (heaven for creative types!). 

The recipes are below and serve 6-8 people.

Twice-baked goat's cheese soufflés - check out my previous post for the recipe.

(from Stephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion")

You can make the soufflés in advance, and then do the second baking just before you’re ready to serve. They taste gorgeous and look impressive, but are easy to make for a large group if need be.

Blitzed Beetroot (based on recipe from Moro East)

You can make this in advance and keep in the fridge.

400g cooked beetroot (if buying raw you can roast or boil it until tender)

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tablespoons tahini

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

2-3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Combine all the ingredients, except for the herbs and vinegar. You can either blitz the mix in a wizz/blender or with a stick blender. Season well and add herbs and vinegar.

Warm white bean and cherry tomato salad (based on recipe by Donna Hay)

The garlic flavor intensifies with time, so you can make this up to a day ahead and warm through before adding the herbs and sumac.

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

Generous pinch of dried chilli flakes

2 tablespoons of salted capers, rinsed

2 x 400g cans of white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Approximately 15-20 cherry tomatoes

A small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped

1-2 tablespoons of sumac

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add olive oil, garlic, chill and capers and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the beans and the tomatoes, squashing/bursting the tomatoes as you add them (alternatively you could roast the tomatoes in the oven for 20 minutes first). Cook for about 10 minutes. The salad is nice warm, rather than hot, so you can leave it for 10-15 minutes before serving. When ready to serve, add parsley, sumac and season well.

To serve

I served this brunch with freshly baked flatbreads, but you could also pop some brown pita bread in the toaster and drizzle it with olive oil and salt.

On each plate, place a soufflé and a little cream from the baking dish. Add a generous spoonful of the bean salad, and finish with a dollop of blitzed beetroot and triangles of bread.

Enjoy!

A weekend in Cumbria

Regular readers (which currently constitutes a commitment of reading one post every 3-4 months) will know of my penchant for the English countryside. My recent foray was up to Cumbria, around the Lakes district, in North England. We stayed at a lovely pub that had a cute little map of where all their produce came from, so I decided to steal their idea and make a little map for you, plotting our discoveries in this beautiful area of the world. Enjoy!

Lancaster is just 2.5 hours on the train from Euston, London - you can be there by 10am Saturday morning! We could have just as easily caught the train further north, towards Penrith, but I'm glad we didn't. We were able to walk through the charming town and its Saturday market in order to get to Avis car rental. Plus, we had such a gorgeous drive north.

Sillfield Farm Shop is really a butcher (albeit one stocking amazing rare breed pork), but it's worth plugging it into your GPS from Lancaster for the beautiful drive. Be sure to leave the M6 at the A590, then take a left at Nook. The quintessential, pretty country drive!

Nearby is Sizergh Castle, and the wonderful Low Sizergh Barn Farm Shop next door - we first visited when we went to Yorkshire last year.

A little to the West in Crosthwaite is a lovely pub, The Punchbowl (which also has rooms to stay in), serving really great food. We positively stuffed ourselves on a ploughman's lunch and fish and chips. The setting is magical and the food delicious. A recommendation from English countryside bible "Room at the Inn".

Another recommendation from "Room at the Inn" for good food and rooms is the Sun Inn at Kirkby Lonsdale. We didn't make it here, but it's on the list, as it seems a lovely village to explore.

Ambleside & Keswick - all the villages around the Lakes are filled with rambling enthusiasts and outdoorsey type shops selling special waterproof pants and high tech walking shoes. If you can bare the feeling of slothfulness from mingling amongst these energetic types, villages like Ambleside and Keswick are well worth a wander.

In Ambleside we found some cute shops and had a damn good sausage roll at the Giggling Goose Cafe. Down the hill, at Waterhead there are the remains of a 2nd Century Roman fort on the bank of Windermere lake.

The drive to Keswick is incredibly pretty and it is on the shore of Derwent Water. Make sure you walk down to the water's edge for a lovely view.

To the west of Ambleside there is a pub, the Drunken Duck. We didn't make it here, but it's recommended by our "Room at the Inn" book so I'm certain the food and accommodation are first class.


We spent two nights at the George & Dragon in Clifton (from our trusty book of course!), about 10 minutes south of Penrith. We loved staying here - the staff were incredibly friendly, our room was both luxurious and cosy, and the food was excellent. The George & Dragon prides itself on using local produce, either from its own estate or nearby farms. In every room and in the menu is this little map, telling you where it's all from. We ended up eating dinner here both nights because it was good, and it's so nice to only have to walk up a flight of stairs after dinner (the ramblers would no doubt disagree). My advice is to stick to meat dishes, as we couldn't rave enough about the free range sirloin and roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, rare breed pork sausages, black pudding and venison burger. The only disappointment was when I stupidly ordered a vegetarian starter! Desserts were good and staff even let us take some petit fours up to our room.

The other reason the George and Dragon was a great choice was its location. We spent a day of easy driving exploring Clifton Hall, Mayburgh Henge, Brougham Castle and Brougham Hall. Nearby is also Dalemain house.

Acorn Bank garden and watermill is lovely on a sunny autumn's afternoon. Exploring the herb garden, orchard of different apple varieties and wilderness around the mill helps work up an appetite for tea and cake - and luckily there is an excellent tea room with baked yumminess made by a local lady, who has won awards for her cakes. Having tried the date slice and Victoria sponge, I can see why.

Our plan for the day had been to have lunch at Wetheriggs Country Pottery, where the "Room at the Inn" said there was a cafe selling "home-made, organic goodies". Unfortunately this place is now an animal rescue centre, with a little shop. We were therefore disappointed but hungry, and so decided to risk the basic cafe / canteen. To its credit the cafe sticks to what it knows, and it certainly knows steak pies (slow cooked beef with a crisp pastry lid) and bacon baps (toasted bread roll, slathered in butter, filled with crispy bacon). We devoured both between us and left pleasantly surprised. Plus, you can hardly complain when lunch costs you £7.

I just love this area - it's so easy to get away from London and there are so many roads winding through breath-taking countryside. We'll be back for sure - next time we may even join the ramblers! (subject to acquiring special boots and brightly coloured water proof jackets of course).

Check out the post I wrote last year on our week long trip to Yorkshire.

Turkish pizza with lamb and tomato

A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to be sent the 3 special birthday edition Moro cookbooks. I wrote about them here and promised to cook as much as possible from the books I didn’t already own (Moro East and Casa Moro) and then report back. A tough gig, you’ll no doubt agree. I have cooked many gorgeous dishes from these two books over the past months, and even dedicated an entire supper club menu to the books' recipes. The menu was:

Starter: Turkish pizzas – tomato and lamb, and spinach, pine nuts and anchovies

Main: Pumpkin and chickpea salad

Lentils and rice

Leeks in yoghurt sauce

Rolled, slow cooked porchetta with pomegranate sauce

Dessert: Lemon polenta cake with Greek yoghurt ice cream, pistachios, honey rosewater syrup and raspberries

One of my lovely guests, Mariana, took all the beautiful photos in this post and sent them to me. In return all she asked was for the lamb and tomato Turkish pizza recipe. So this recipe is for her.

Turkish pizza with tomato and lamb

The Casa Moro and Moro East books have many lovely Turkish pizza recipes, and I’ve tried several. I’ve always loved making their flatbreads from the original Moro book, so this was a natural progression!

Pizza dough

For 4 pizzas, you need 1 quantity basic flatbread dough

450g unbleached strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon dried yeast

300ml warm water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a measuring cup dissolve the yeast with the water. Once dissolved, add the oil then mix the water into the flour (by hand or spatula). Once mixed, you need to knead the dough – do this on a floured surface for 5 minutes (I have to admit that when I’m making big quantities for supper club I let Kermit the KitchenAid do the kneading). The dough should be soft, elastic and smooth. You will probably need to add some extra flour as it could be quite sticky. Set the dough aside, covered with a cloth, to rest for an hour.

20 minutes before you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 230 degrees C / 450 F / Gas 8. Divide the dough into four and roll out each piece on a floured surface (I actually prefer to use olive oil instead of flour, but either will be fine), into a rough oval, about 3-4mm thick. Transfer the dough to lightly floured/oiled baking trays and you’re ready to top with your topping!

Lamb and tomato sauce pizza topping

My lamb and tomato recipe is a hybrid of three Moro recipes - one from Casa Moro for flatbread with lamb, pinenuts and pomegranates, another from Casa Moro for Turkish pizza with tomato, lamb and allspice, and another for lamb kibbeh in Moro The Cookbook.

You can make the tomato sauce and lamb at least a day ahead – they will only taste better. Don’t skimp on the tomatoes!

Tomato sauce (from Casa Moro)

800g ripe tomatoes

5 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 garlic cloves, minced or sliced (more if you want)

1 teaspoon caster sugar

Remove the stalks from the tomatoes. Make a small criss-cross in the bottom of each tomato with a knife. Cover the tomatoes with boiling water for about 30-60 seconds. Remove from the water then cover with cold water. When cool, it should be quite easy to peel the skins off. Then quarter them and remove the seeds.

Pour olive oil into a medium-large frying pan and fry the garlic over medium heat until golden brown. Add the tomatoes, a pinch each of salt and pepper and the sugar (unless you’ve got lovely sweet tomatoes). Simmer for about 15 minutes – Moro says until the tomatoes are cooked but not totally broken up and excess liquid has evaporated – I prefer to cook mine a little longer and mash the tomatoes a bit (given Sam and Sam of Moro have a successful restaurant, mezze bar and 3 cookbooks, who are you going to believe?). Check for seasoning.

Keep in a container in the fridge if you’re making it days before.

Lamb

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

500g minced lamb

3-4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½-1 teaspoon ground allspice

Chopped parsley, and thinly sliced red onion to serve

Cook the onion with a pinch of salt in the oil over medium heat, until the onion is golden. Add the lamb, allspice and cinnamon and cook, making sure to break up the mince so there’s no lumps. You can see from the photo above that the lamb almost caramelises (just remember that that photo was taken once the lamb had then been in the oven for 15minutes, so whilst you don't want the lamb to be too wet to go on the dough, it will dry out further in the oven). Once cooked, season well.

Be sure to add the cinnamon and allspice to taste. I tend to go heavy on the cinnamon because I love it, but hold back a bit if you’re less of a fan.

To serve

With your oven pre-heated as above, and your flatbread dough rolled out, spread the tomato sauce over each pizza, barely leaving a border. Next, top with the lamb. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the bread is cooked.

Once out of the oven, slice and scatter with parsley and red onion. Delicious straight from the oven, or at room temp.

With special thanks to Mariana for her photos - happy cooking!

Mile High Grub

Ok, so it's been a long, LONG time since I wrote a little blog post. I've been reprimanded by the majority of readers, in fact by both of them. My mum, who checks this site every day, is sick to death of seeing the brioche post I wrote in August. My sister's advice was to at least write a short explanation so that people know I'm not dead.


Well, hi mum! Hi Soph! I'm back. You've been waiting 2 months, a little more. So the come back post has to be good, it has to be exciting. It really shouldn't be about ... food I ate on an aeroplane.


I'm just back from a week in Australia. I flew with Korean airline, Air Asiana, because, well, they had the cheapest fare. The service was fine, the inflight entertainment was crap, but I'll be flying with them again (albeit with several movies uploaded to my iPad and an armful of magazines) because of the food. 

The food, in my experience, is generally pretty good on Asian airlines, if you shun the western option and go with what they do best. But it's never been good enough to take a photo of, to talk about to others, let alone write up on a blog (albeit one read only by said sister and mother). 


Except for an incredibly bland chicken porridge (crying out for soy sauce, or any type of salt), the food was great (e.g. a yummy hot and spicy octopus stir fry), but two meals I was served stood out - the beef bulgogi ssambab and the beef bibimbab. The food was fresh, pretty authentic (according to the Korean student sitting next to me on one leg) and, surprisingly (and a welcome change, given you've got 10-12 hours to kill), consisted of a large DIY element. 

Instructions came with each meal. With the bibimbab a little (china, no plastic!) bowl was filled with beef mince, bean sprouts, cucumber and mushrooms. You had to add the steamed rice, pour over a sachet of sesame oil, squeeze a little tube of hot pepper paste, then mix. This was "best served with side dishes of soup", and fortunately both were provided.

My favourite (oh the excitement when I realised I would have it again on the return leg!) was the ssambab. A little cellophane parcel with a selection of leaves was unwrapped, and into a leaf was piled steamed rice, spicy beef bulgogi, a smear of bean paste, and a little kimchi. Excitement and greed meant my leaf was difficult to expertly roll, but I devoured my first, second, third and fourth ssambabs in between slurps of bean curd soup and bites of egg roll. The "western" option was roast poussin with gremolata - as IF you'd choose that!


The best food I've had in the sky - and the lack of on-demand chick flicks meant I finally got around to writing a blog post!

Brioche

Sometimes when cooking, the result is great, "for something made at home". There are some things like croissants and macaroons that I know I'm never going to make like the experts. That's why it's so satisfying when you cook something that is delicious - full stop - no qualification.


A little while ago I made brioche. And it was perfect - just like the real thing!


The recipe is from the great baking section in the first Ottolenghi cookbook. You can make the dough on Saturday afternoon (as it needs to prove overnight in the fridge) ready to bake and eat fresh from the oven for Sunday brunch! The dough is very sticky and I was convinced (both times I made it) that I'd done something wrong, but the results proved otherwise.


Brioche


Ingredients
2 tbsp lukewarm water
1 tsp active dried yeast or 1.5tsp fresh yeast
190g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
20g caster sugar
2 medium free range eggs at room temperature, plus 1 egg beaten to glaze the loaf
75g cold unsalted butter, cut into 2cm dice, plus extra melted butter for brushing the tin


Method
1. Place the lukewarm water and yeast into a mixing bowl (for dry yeast leave it for 10 minutes to activate in the water). Gently stir in the yeast to dissolve.


2. Add all the other ingredients apart from the butter and mix until the flour is combined.


3. Using an electric mixer (either dough hook attachment or strong beater attachment) work the dough on a low speed for about 3 minutes. The dough becomes smooth but still quite sticky.


4. Increase the speed of your mixer and start adding the diced butter - add it gradually and wait until the cube of butter is almost incorporated before adding more. Once all the butter is added, keep working it until the dough is shiny, has no lumps of butter, and is not sticking to the sides of the bowl. (Ottolenghi says this will take about 9 minutes - the dough will be lukewarm, but make sure it doesn't get too hot). During the mixing, you may need to stop the machine, scrape dough from the sides and add a light sprinkling of flour.


5. Place the dough in a lightly greased large bowl. Cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for 1 hour. Next, put the bowl in the fridge and leave for 14-24 hours. (don't expect the dough to do much whilst in the fridge)


6. Lightly grease a 500g loaf tin with melted butter.


7. Remove the dough from the fridge and bowl and place on your bench. Dust lightly with flour and knock the dough down/back. Shape the dough into a log shape and place it inside the tin. Cover with cling film and leave somewhere warm for 2-3 hours until almost doubled in height.


8. Whilst the dough is proving, preheat the oven to 170C / gas Mark 3.


9. Before cooking the dough, brush lightly with beaten egg. Place the tin on an oven tray and place in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes - the loaf should be dark brown and baked through (test with a skewer) - I had to cook mine a little longer.


10. Remove from the oven and leave until cool enough to handle, then take out of the tin and leave to cool completely.


Eat either fresh or toasted, with butter, jam, strawberries, cream - whatever you like! (use the leftovers for French toast!)

A party menu to farewell a fab friend

There are so many things I love about living in London. However, coming from Australia, it's inevitable that we are frequently farewelling good friends who are headed home. 

In a couple of weeks our fabulously gorgeous friend, Andy, heads back to Oz (although most of his friends are still clinging to the hope that he might get hitched to an Englishman in his final days ...). He's throwing a farewell bash next weekend. Andy came to a party I threw a few weeks ago and asked for details of the food I served so he could use the ideas for his party. So this post is dedicated to Andy. We'll miss you more than you know!

When I planned this party menu, I wanted to cook fabulous food for my friends but definitely didn't want to be slaving away once they were here. I also refused to wash up afterwards, so it was cardboard Chinese boxes and wooden forks all round. Here's the menu:

Spicy pepitas and roasted, salted almonds

Salmon with pistachio couscous
Braised pork and pineapple rolls
Vietnamese chicken salad

Coconut and jam squares
Cardamom and white chocolate brownies 

This menu is perfect for a stand up party of 20. It's labour intensive in terms of preparation, but once the party's started all you need do is ensure your glass is always full.

8 days + out from your party
If necessary, order Chinese boxes for the chicken salad, buy plastic cups for salmon (I got pink striped ones from Sainsburys), order wooden forks for the chicken and salmon, order/buy napkins. White and/or brown greaseproof paper is also handy for serving, as you can see from my photos. Plastic cups for drinks.

4-5 days out from your party
Make brownies
Make jam and coconut slice
Make spicy pepitas

3 days out 
Make pistachio sauce
Make dressing for Vietnamese salad

2 days out
Cook and shred pork
Make couscous

1 day out
Cook and shred chicken
Prepare noodles for chicken salad
Poach salmon
Make pineapple salad

On the day
(this day is very light on, so is achievable if you have to work during the day. If you've got the entire day to prepare, then you can do some of the things from the 1-2 day out lists)

Assemble chicken salad
Buy fresh baguettes and assemble pork and pineapple rolls
Assemble salmon and pistachio couscous salad
Slice brownies and jam and coconut squares

Recipes:

I had little bowls of spicy pepita seeds and roasted, salted almonds for when people arrived.

Spicy pepita seeds
(based on Marcus Wareing's spicy popcorn recipe)

To make the spice mix, combine 1 tsp paprika (preferably smoked), 1tsp curry powder, 1/4tsp chilli powder, 1/2tsp coarsely ground black pepper, 1tsp sea salt. 
I usually make several times this amount and keep it in a jar.

In a frying pan heat and toast pepita seeds/pumpkin seeds until they brown a little and start to pop. Then drizzle olive oil so they're coated and mix through spice mix. Add more salt if necessary.

Wait until they cool before keeping in an air tight container. The mix is also good with buttered pop corn. The seeds will keep for several weeks so can be made ahead of time.

Salmon with pistachio couscous (20 party portions)

Pistachio sauce 
(from Moro: The Cookbook)

You can make this sauce 3-4 days in advance and keep in the fridge. Use at room temperature and add a little more oil to make it easier to stir through the couscous.

300g Shelled, salted pistachios
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons of orange blossom water (available from most Turkish food shops)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 small/1 large bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 small bunch of mint
2tablespoons water
200ml olive oil
Salt and pepper

Blitz all ingredients in a food processor (you may have to do it in batches) and mix. Add salt and pepper to season.

Couscous
In a medium-large saucepan pan, cook 2-3 sliced brown onions in unsalted butter and olive oil with a little caster sugar until browned and slightly caramelised.

Add 4 cups of water to the saucepan and put the lid on so you can bring the water to the boil. Once boiling salt the water generously and stir through about 4 cups of couscous. Add more water if the couscous isn't covered. Put the lid back on the saucepan and take off the heat. Leave aside for the couscous to absorb the water.

After about 20 minutes the couscous should be cooked. Put some dollops of butter on top of the couscous and leave it to melt. 

Next, you need to break the couscous up so it's not in big clumps. I do this in a large bowl with a combination of forks and my hands. 

The couscous will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.

Salmon
My friend, and Shed Likes Food blogger, Nicola, has this excellent recipe for poaching salmon on her blog. It's perfect and I'm lazy, so I've stolen it straight from her, word for word. I used about 2kg of Scottish salmon fillets - with that amount you will probably need to poach it in separate saucepans or in batches.

Nicola: You need a cooking liquor made of 3 parts water and one part white wine, a handful of fresh tarragon/parsley/lemon thyme/all three, a finely chopped white onion and a finely chopped celery stick, loads of black pepper, a teaspoon of salt, and a couple of whole star anise.

You want enough of the above to generously cover your salmon. Start heating the liquid over a medium heat, and as soon as it's tepid, add the salmon portions skin side down. Put on a lid, and when the water starts to ripple - a minute or two before boiling point - turn off the heat and forget about it. THAT'S IT. It will take at least 15 minutes for the fish to finish cooking, but will remain eating temperature for around an hour, giving you plenty of time to faff about elsewhere. Easy peasy, and cooked to perfection.


To assemble the pistachio couscous and salmon:
Check the seasoning of the couscous and add some salt if it's a little tasteless.

Stir 2/3 of the pistachio sauce through the couscous. 

Flake the salmon. Mix 2/3 of it gently through the couscous.

I served this salad in plastic cups lined with greaseproof paper. It makes about 20 servings. Divide the couscous mixture between the cups. Then top with a little of the remaining flaked salmon, and then a dollop of the pistachio sauce. 

Braised pork with pineapple salad in fresh rolls (20 party portions)
(from Bill Grainger's Feed Me Now!)

3 kg Pork belly (or any other cut that is fatty and good for slow cooking)
6 Shallots , peeled
6 Garlic cloves, peeled
5 cm piece Fresh root ginger, grated
3 tbsp Soy sauce
4 tbsp Kecap manis (sweet soy)
1 tsp Ground white pepper
2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
4 Red chillies
1 Cinammon stick
3 Star anise
500ml Chicken stock

Salad
1 pineapple, sliced into small pieces (you're effectively making a salsa so you don't want big chunks)
1 handful Coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tbsp Brown sugar
2 tbsp Lime juice

Fresh baguettes - approximately 4 long ones.

Cook the pork 1-2 days before. It will only taste better!
Preheat the oven to 220C (alternatively skip all these cooking steps and throw the pork with all these ingredients in a slow cooker for 9 hours). Place the pork in a roasting tray. Put the shallots, garlic, ginger, soy, kecap manis, pepper and olive oil into a food processor and blend to form a paste. Rub all over the surface of the pork.

Add the chillies, cinnamon and star anise to the roasting tray and pour in the stock. Cook the pork for half an hour, and then turn the temperature down low to about 160C and roast for 4-5 hours - you're roasting it on a very low heat, so it's hard to over cook it.

Once the pork is cool, save and strain the cooking juices. Shred the pork or cut into small pieces. Put pork in a bowl/container and cover with the strained juices/liquid. Leave in the fridge to sit in the liquid overnight or until ready to use.

Salad
You can prepare the salad either the night before your party or on the day. Just make sure to give it a good mix/shake before serving. 

Combine the pineapple, chilli and coriander leaves in a bowl. For the dressing, mix together the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice, then pour over the salad and toss to mix.

Keep in an air tight container in the fridge. Serve at room temperature.

To assemble the braised pork and pineapple salad rolls:
Slice each long baguette into approximately 6 smaller baguettes and slice each horizontally, almost the whole way through.

Pile pork into each baguette and top with pineapple salsa. I served mine lined up on a wooden board with napkins at the ready!

Vietnamese chicken salad (20 party portions)
(from Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion)

I used 3kg of chicken drumstick thighs, skin on, on the bone. Alternatively you could just use thigh, but not breast as it's too dry. You can cook the chicken 1-2 days before. 

Preheat your oven to 180C. Place chicken in roasting trays and drizzle with sunflower/vegetable oil. Roast for about 25minutes, or until the juices run clear when skewered. 

Once the chicken is cool, pull off the skin and discard (except for the parts which have turned particularly brown and crunchy, which you'd obviously eat). Pull off as much meat as possible and either shred it by hand, or chop into small pieces. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

Dressing

You can make the dressing 2-3 days before hand and keep in a jar in a cool place.

8 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
12 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
8T brown sugar
4T rice vinegar
1 cup lime juice
1 cup fish sauce
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients. Taste. You may need to play around with the dressing as you want to taste heat (chilli), sweetness (sugar), saltiness (fish sauce) and sourness (lime juice). So add more of anything you think is lacking. You want a lovely fresh dressing.

Noodles
You can prepare the noodles the night before.  Get one large packet of rice vermicelli noodles. Cover with boiling water. Once cooked, drain. With kitchen scissors, chop through the noodles so they're not too long. Mix a little vegetable/sunflower oil through the noodles so they don't become sticky. Refrigerate.

To assemble the Vietnamese chicken salad:

4 cups very thinly sliced Chinese cabbage
1 large bunch of mint, either using whole leaves or roughly chopped leaves
1 medium sized bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
1 medium sized bunch of basil, using whole or ripped leaves

Mix these ingredients through the noodles with the dressing. Mix through the shredded chicken (it may be easier to use your hands).

Garnish
A bunch of spring onions finely chopped
Deep fried shallots (either in the Asian section of most supermarkets or speciality Asian stores - worth having to sprinkle on nearly anything)

Divide the noodle mixture between Chinese boxes and top with spring onions and fried shallots.

You'll need forks for the chicken salad (or use chopsticks) and the couscous.  

Dessert

Both these cakes can be made up to 5 days in advance and kept airtight in a cool place. 

Narni's jam and coconut slice
This is my great grandmother's recipe. It's super easy, delicious (try reheating and serving it with ice-cream for dessert) and makes me feel closer to my mum and grandma, Neen, who have both made it many times!

I made 2 batches. The ingredients are just for one batch.

125g butter
125g sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 C self raising flour
1 cup raspberry jam (I used my own rhubarb and pink grapefruit jam, so use whatever you fancy)

Method: Beat butter and sugar together and add egg. Add flour. Press mixture into greased tin (rectangular or square slice tin) and bake for about 10 mins on 180C making sure the base is browned. Spread with raspberry jam.

Topping: 1 egg
              1/2 C sugar
              1 C coconut

Method: Beat egg, add sugar and coconut. Spread on top of jam. My mum says to use a damp knife or hands to spread it easily (no doubt this was the advice given to my mum by her mum, and which she in turn received from her mum).  Bake for 20 mins at 180C till browned on top.

Leave to cool and keep airtight. 

White chocolate and cardamom brownies
(Based on Nigella's recipe)

This recipe makes 2 lots of brownies if using square tins, or one large batch using a tin measuring  33cm x 23cm.

Ingredients
375g best quality dark chocolate
375g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
6 eggs
350g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
225g plain flour
1-2 teaspoons of ground cardamom (you have permission to taste the batter and add more if you wish)
1 tablespoon good ground espresso coffee (optional)
250g white chocolate, roughly chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/350F. Grease and line the tin(s) with greaseproof paper. 

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together in a large heavy based pan.

In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla.

Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the flour, cardamom and coffee.

Fold in the white chocolate. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan(s). 

Bake for about 25 mins if making one large batch, or 20 mins if using 2 smaller tins. The brownies are ready, when the top is dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle is dark and dense and gooey still; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool so err on the side of undercooking, as no one likes a dry brownie!

Once cool, keep airtight (you can keep these slices in snap lock/resealable plastic bags if you've run out of containers!)

To assemble the brownies and slice:
Slice the cakes into small, bit sized squares. I had some cream on offer to dollop on the jam and coconut slice.


All the food can be laid out before guests arrive so you have NOTHING to do except enjoy yourself. Have a ball!