Chicken on Lemongrass Skewers

Serves 4 (as a light meal)

450g chicken breast fillets, trimmed & chopped
1 tablespoon green curry paste
3 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 eggwhite
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
8 lemongrass stalks, trimmed to 25cm lengths
2 teaspoons oil

Soak the lemongrass stalks in water for 20 minutes to prevent them from burning while cooking.
Place the chicken, curry paste, fish sauce, sugar & eggwhite in a food processor & process until smooth. Stir through the mint. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Mould 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture around 1 lemongrass stalk (use slightly wet hands for easier handling) & place on the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining mixture & lemongrass stalks. Refrigerate for 10 minutes or until needed.
To cook, heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the oil & cook the skewers in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through.
Serve hot or warm with sweet chilli sauce & lime wedges.

A refreshing selection to get you through the heat, thanks to Donna Hay.

Bread Salad

Serves 4

12 slices wood-fired bread
60g baby spinach leaves
4 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
2/3 cup small basil leaves
120g kalamata olives
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & cracked pepper

Toast the bread under a hot grill until golden. Break each slice in half.
Arrange the bread, baby spinach, tomatoes, basil & olives on plates.
To make dressing, combine the vinegar, oil, salt & pepper.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad & enjoy!

Salsa Verde Potato Salad

This isn't creamy, so it's much lighter than regular potato salad, & is like the one my mum makes.

Serves 4

850g desiree potatoes, washed & sliced into 1cm thick rounds
1/4 cup thinly sliced cornichons (small gherkins)
1 small Spanish (red) onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped dill
60g watercress sprigs

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon caster sugar
sea salt & cracked pepper

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil over medium heat. Add the potato slices & cook for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Drain & rinse under cold running water until cooled.
To make the dressing, whisk the oil, lemon juice, mustard, sugar, salt & pepper until sugar is dissolved.
To serve, combine the potatoes with the cornichons, onion, basil, mint & dill in a large bowl. Pour over dressing, toss gently & arrange on plates with watercress.
Mmmm!

Iced Moroccan Tea

Serves 4

1 1/2 tablespoons English Breakfast tea leaves
5 cups boiling water
8 stems mint
1/3 cup sugar
ice cubes
extra mint sprigs, to serve

Place the tea in a heatproof jug, pour over the boiling water & infuse for 5 minutes.
Strain the tea over the mint & sugar & set aside to cool.
Serve over ice with the extra mint.
Sit in the sun & share with friends!

Chai

For a good cup of chai, crush a pinch of cardamom seeds and add them to milk (1 cup per person) while bringing it to a gentle boil. Once the milk comes to a boil, take it off the heat and add the chai blend of your choice (there are several types you can buy*). Use one teaspoon per cup and let it steep for 5 minutes. Then strain the leaves and add sugar, maple syrup or honey to taste. Enjoy the chai!

* I like the one from Glenbog Fine Teas at the Kingston Markets in Canberra. It is an Assam tea with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, coriander, cardamom & pepper. You can call up and order over the phone - they send stuff via mail.

Cardamom Cocoa with Marshmallow Islands

I know, this is a winter drink, but I need some comforting at the moment.

Serves 2

2 tablespoons cocoa or drinking chocolate
4 tablespoons sugar
1-2 teaspoons ground cardamom
500ml milk
125ml cream
white marshmallows
50g milk chocolate shavings, to decorate

Put the cocoa, sugar, cardamom, milk & cream in a pan & stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
Stirring continuously, increase the heat until the mixture is just coming to the boil. Remove from heat immediately.
Divide between 2 mugs & top with the marshmallows & chocolate.
Yummm!

Vine Leaves With Meat Stuffing (Etli Yaprak Sarma)

A delicious Turkish recipe. I have attempted to re-write the badly translated English, but some of it still doesn't quite make sense to me, so good luck. I'd also like to add at this point that the recipe is in the 'Vegetables & Pulses' section of my Turkish cookbook. Ha!

Serves 10

500g vine leaves

Stuffing:
500g minced lamb
5 medium onions
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons rice (cooked, I guess)
1/2 pinch each (150g) mint, parsley, dill
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 large tomato

Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 tomatoes (these are mentioned in the instructions, but not the ingredients list, so I am guessing a number, if you think you need more, add them)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 pinch salt (again, this is not actually included in the ingredients list)

1 piece wax paper

Chop the onions. Peel the tomato (see Fish dish below on how to do this) & dice small. Place the rest of the stuffing ingredients in a bowl, add 3/4 cup of water, mix well & set aside.
Boil the vine leaves for 2 minutes in salted water. Take out the leaves separately with a sieve. Divide the leaves in two.
Place a walnut-sized lump of stuffing at the base of each leaf, fold the sides & roll up. Place these (dolmas) in a saucepan in layers.
To prepare the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan (different to the one above, obviously). Dice the tomatoes & add to the melted butter with the tomato paste & salt, & stir over heat until the tomatoes soften. Add 2 1/2 cups water & bring to the boil.
Pour the sauce over the dolmas, then cover with wet wax paper. Place a place over the dolmas to weigh them down. Cover & bring to the boil. Cook over low heat for about 45 minutes.
Serve with plain or salted yoghurt on the side.

Fish in Chilli-Tomato Sauce

Another one of my Thai favourites. Again, you can reduce the chilli content as you wish.

Serves 4

500g fish fillets (any white fish works well)
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons hot chilli sauce
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 red tomatoes, peeled, seeded & chopped
fresh coriander, roughly chopped (garnish)
red chillies, finely sliced (garnish)

Note: To peel & seed the tomatoes, drop them into boiling water for 30 seconds. Lift out & drop into cold water. Peel. Halve the tomatoes & gently squeze out the seeds, then chop the shells roughly.

Rinse & dry the fish.
In a small bowl mix together the vinegar, fish sauce, chilli sauce & sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Heat the oil & fry the onions over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until it is soft & starts to turn golden. Add the tomatoes and vinegar mixture, cover & simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce is thick.
Add the fish fillets, spooning the sauce over them. Cover & cook gently (ie low heat) until the fish is done.
Garnish with coriander & red chillies. Serve with steamed jasmine rice. Mmm!

Champagne Berry Cocktails

Another celebratory champagne cocktail (- hey! I have something to celebrate!).

Serves 6

6 sugar cubes
Angostura Bitters
zest of 1 lime, shredded
200g fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or strawberries)
750ml champagne, chilled

Put a cube of sugar in each of 6 champagne glasses & add a dash of bitters to each.
Divide the berries among the glasses & fill with champagne.
Serve immediately.

The NYE recipes:

Chunky Ratatouille Tarts

I used one less zucchini & added cubed feta to this recipe, but it's up to you...

Serves 4 (2 tarts each)

1 eggplant, cut into 3cm cubes
1 red capsicum, cut into 3cm squares
3 zucchini, cut into thick slices
1 red onion, chopped into large pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g teardrop or cherry tomatoes
150g kalamata olives, pitted
2 tablespoons finely shredded (fresh) basil
salt & pepper
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed (I used more, but see how you go)
1 egg, lightly beaten
extra shredded basil, to garnish

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Sprinkle eggplant with salt & let stand for 15 minutes, then rinse and pat dry.
Place eggplant, capsicum, zucchini and onion in a roasting tin, add the oil & toss to coat. Bake the vegetables for 40 minutes, tossing frequently.
Add tomatoes & bake for 5 minutes.
Transfer all the vegetables to a bowl, stir in olives & basil (& feta, if using), & season with salt & pepper. Strain the mixture to remove any juices.
Cut each pastry sheet into four squares & place on a tray line with baking paper. Cut 16 2cm wide strips to fit around the edges of each square.
Divide the ratatouille among the squares. Brush pastry edges with beaten egg & bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Garnish with extra basil & serve. Warning: they get pretty hot!

Ceviche

This is a traditional Peruvian dish, usually served as finger food in our family. We usually use ocean perch, but you can use any white fish. This recipe is quite spicy, so you might want to use less chilli.

Serves 6

1kg white fish, cubed
3 (red) onions, sliced
10 limes (or lemons)
2 bitter oranges (optional - if you don't use them, you'll need extra lime/lemon juice)
3 fresh chillies, sliced (use aji amarillo or small red chillies)
1 tablespoon ground chilli
salt & pepper
2 ears of corn, cooked, to serve
1 kg cooked sweet potato, to serve
1 lettuce, to serve

Put fish in large colander & pour boiling water over it.
Drain well & put into a bowl.
Add onion & ground & fresh chillies, & cover with lime/lemon/orange juice. Mix well.
Cover & seal tightly. Put in fridge & allow to marinate for at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight.
Serve on lettuce with cooked corn & sliced sweet potato.

Frozen Mango Daiquiri

60ml Bacardi
60ml mango liqueur
30ml fresh lime juice
1 medium ripe mango, peeled, chopped coarsely
1 cup ice cubes

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until just combined. Pour into 300ml highball glass & serve.

Lime Sorbet

Serves 6

150ml lime juice
2 cups sugar syrup (see below)
1 1/4 cups water
1 egg white, whipped (only if you're not using an ice-cream machine)

If preparing fresh syrup, add finely shredded lime peel before simmering, then strain & keep peel to garnish.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix juice, syrup & water.
Pour into ice-cream machine & leave until ready, then freeze.
Alternatively, pour into a container & cover. Freeze until slushy. In a bowl, beat semi-frozen sorbet & egg white together until light & smooth. Return to container & freeze until firm.
Serve with berries, or alone garnished with peel, & enjoy!

Sugar syrup

2 cups sugar (caster works best)
2 cups water

In saucepan, bring sugar & water to a gentle boil. Reduce heat till bubbles break surface. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat & cool before using or storing. Can be stored in fridge in a sealed glass or plastic container for 2-3 weeks.

Thai Beef Salad

This is pretty hot, so you might want to add less chillies if you're not a huge fan.

Serves 6 (or 1 if you're like me!)

500g tender steak (fillet, lean rump, etc)
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon pounded coriander roots & stems
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon palm sugar (brown sugar is fine)
3 teaspoons Maggi seasoning
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce
3 fresh red chillies
3 tablespoons sliced purple shallots (I use regular shallots)
3 tablespoons finely sliced lemongrass (tender white portion only)
1 lebanese cucumber, finely sliced
20 fresh mint leaves

Grill the steak under a preheated grill until medium-rare.
Allow to cool.
Combine crushed garlic with pounded coriander & stir in the pepper, palm sugar, Maggi seasoning, lime juice & fish sauce.
Stir to dissolve sugar.
Slice the chillies finely, removing seeds if preferred (it makes them less hot).
Combine seasonings with the sliced shallots, lemongrass, cucumber, mint & thinly sliced steak.
Toss lighly & serve with jasmine rice.