Bruschetta

One of the easiest, tastiest thing to make.we have it as starter and sometimes for breakfast
Serves 2 generously

Ingredients
500g small plum tomatoes -deseed and chop up
A small handful of basil leaves -chop up roughly
8 slices Sourdough bread
2 garlic cloves -peeled off skin
Olive oil (at least a small bottle to stand by)

Steps
1. Preheat the grill/oven to about 170C
2. Mix tomatoes and basil, add a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well
3. pop the sourdough bread in the oven for 1 minute or 2 minutes until it is slightly crisp
4. rub garlic onto the bread and spoon over the tomato and basil mixture and enjoy!

Perfect roast pork

After many failed attempts at finding out how to do the perfect roast pork, I think I have finally cracked it ( sorry!)

Tip 1 -Forget about joint loin, get the pork belly
Tip 2 - dry the skin twice, once a quick dry, the second time use salt to draw out the extra moisture
Tip 3 - adjust the oven temperature - rule generally is for the first 30 mins 220C, the last 15 mins 220C, the time in between is the lower 170C. The weight rule to establish that is 40 mins for the every 500g plus 45 mins general cooking time. So for my example of 750g, the total cooking time is 85min plus 22.5( 250g extra ) mins so the total cooking time is 108mins approx. The first 30 mins and the last 15mins at 220C and the time in between is 170C.

Ingredients
750g pork belly with the top crisscross cut skin deep
3 tablespoon of salt

Steps
1. Turn on the oven to 220C
2. Take the pork out and dry the skin with kitchen towel, then add 2.5 tablespoon of salt and rub all over, leave it rest in room temperature for 15 mins to 20 mins, rub into the cut of the pork belly too.
3. When the time is up brush off the salt, include those in the cracks and use paper towel to dry. You would have noticed that there is much moisture that the salt drew out and you are getting rid of more of it.
4. Put the pork on an aluminium tray and put on the top shelf of the oven, 30mins on 220C, then 170C on the low between time, ( work out from the rule of thumb above in key 3)and cranked up the last 15 mins, and you will get the crispest skin ever! enjoy!

Basic salad

For one of the many ways to make your salad more interesting, I have learnt a basic rule of thumb that can have many variations.

It is a basic rule that calls for
70% Greens ( leafs/sprouts, raw cut veg)
15% Nuts ( pine nuts, hazelnuts are both good base for me)
15% fruit ( blueberries/pears/apples)

From this base you can add some meat ( in this case proscuitto) or eggs/boiled potatoes etc. It is the recipe for a salad to use if you are stuck or in a  rush at the shops.

Of course a good dressing is essential, for which I use a combination of roughly 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard, 4 tbsp olive oil and a tbsp of honey.

serving - depends on quantity bought

cooking time 5 minutes to combine all ingredients and put together dressing

Banana Treat

Who would have thought Banana could be this tasty? Most of the time we scoff down a banana without much of a thought, so today I decided to make it into a little treat, based on an idea suggested in the book 'Losing it in France' that I read. Basically about how to give every meal your time to prepare and enjoy, it is very inspirational. Having said that, it took about 30 seconds to prepare and it was a lovely treat!

Ingredients;
1 banana - sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp honey





serving 1
cooking time 1 minute

1. Slice the banana
2. pepper with cinnamon and drizzle with honey and serve

Miso Veggie soup

Miso soup is quick, easy and tasty, here is a version based roughly on the base recipe my Japanese friend Satsuki taught me years ago when I visited her in Japan. She often cooked for me and I was amazed at how simple and tasty the food she prepared for me were.

Ingredients;

-1.2L of water

- 2 tbsp of miso paste ( available in Japanese supermarket)

- 2 tsp of Dashi powder ( available in Japanese supermarket)

- 2 tbsp of dried wakame seaweed ( available in Japanese supermarket)

Veggies

- chopped up 2 spring onions ( I find this adds to the flavour, leave out is ok)

- Firm Japanese tofu chopped up, again this is often done but optional if you dont fancy it

- frozen vegetables such as corn, peas, carrots or chopped up greens are fine. Add what you like! Obviously try to cut veggies in the size that will ensure they will be cooked at the same time.

time: 10 mins cooking time ( based on using frozen vegetables)

serve 6 as small soup at the side

1. Add Dashi powder,spring onion(if used) and water in the pot on medium heat

2. When the water starts boiling add all the veggies

3. After 5 mins scoop one ladleful in a small bowl, add the miso paste and mix until the paste dissolve completely and add it back to the soup mixture and simmer for 3 more minutes then serve.

Chinese Beef and vegie stir frys

Ingredients;
Beef - (marinate the beef with the ingredients for 10 mins)
- 300g sirloin steak cut up in strips
- 2 tbsp corn flour
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsbp dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
Vegies
- 100g mangetout chopped up in small 1cm pieces
- 100g carrots/small corns ( or any other crunchy green veg ) chopped up in small 1cm pieces
- 1 tbsp of chopped up ginger
- 1 spring onion
- 3 tbsp stock
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- oil for frying

time: 5 mins cooking time
serve 2 with jasmine rice

1. Heat up frying pan and add oil, stir fry the steak strips for 1 min then remove onto a plate
2. With the same frying pan wipe off the sauce, fry the ginger and spring onion for 1 min
3. Add the two vegies and fry for a further 1 min
4. Add the stock, salt and sugar and fry for a further 1 min
5. Toss in the beef and serve immediately with rice

Chicken with spring onion dipping sauce

This is largely based on the Hainan Chicken recipe, there are many variations but I am going with a simplified version that you can do it as a mid week dinner rather than a weekend meal. Note that if you get some greens as well you can get a marvellous soup out of it with the cooking liquid( i.e. really it is the chicken stock)

Ingredients 1 ( for the chicken)

- 4 chicken thighs/legs - keep the skin and bone for this recipe

- 2 spring onions chopped

- 4 slices of ginger

- 1/2 bunch coriander, washed and slightly torn 

- 1/2 teasp salt

- 1/2 teasp pepper

Ingredients 2 ( for the soup)

- 1 bunch of leafy greens

Dipping sauce

- 2 spring onion sliced

- 1 tbsp of grated ginger 

- 3 tbsp soy sauce

- 3 tbsp oil for frying

- 1 tsp salt

time: 40 mins cooking time

serve 4 as one of the main dishes with rice

1. Add all the ingredients 1 together, cover the chicken with water and simmer for 30 mins then turn off the pot and let the chicken to continue to cook for another 10mins, without lifting the lid.

2. Heat up the oil until it is hot and smoky, turn off the heat then let it rest for a minute before adding to the spring onion, ginger and salt in a heatproof/metal dish.  There will be some splattering so Handle this step with care as oil burn could be nasty! Then add soy sauce.

3. When the chicken is ready take them out, heat up the stock again until boiling and add the leafy greens and spring onion and cook for a further 3 minutes.

4. Now you can serve the chicken with the dipping sauce, as well as a bowl of vegie soup in the chicken stock, enjoy!