Salt and Pepper Ribs

More delicious Chinese treats courtesy of Sunflower of Sunflower's Food Galore. If you are used to your ribs in a thick BBQ goo, try these. Sauceless, they are crispier and meatier, you just might want a little chilli sauce on the side for lubrication. I couldn't get ribs cut into short lengths, but if you can get your butcher to cut the ribs into halfs across the bone, or want to have a go with a meat cleaver yourself, your result will be more similar to the size Chinese restaurant ribs. This recipe involves deep frying, which can be a  good or bad thing depending on who you are. For me, this is an excellent thing, which is why I include them here.

Ingredients
3 tsp Sczechwan peppercorns
1 tsp black peppercorns
4 tsp salt
1kg pork ribs, cut into individual pieces.
groundnut or vegetable oil, for deep frying (lots)
2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely sliced

Method
Toast both types of peppercorns in a dry frying pan until they release their scent. Crush finely with a pestle and mortar, and stir in the salt. Rub the ribs with the mixture (you won't need it all) and leave for about an hour out of the fridge. The remaining spice mixture can be kept for a few weeks in a tupperware box or similar.

When you are ready to eat. heat the oil in a saucepan. Deep fry in batches until browned and crispy, removing from the pan with a slotted spoon, blotting with kitchen roll to remove excess oil. Keep the cooked ribs warm in a low oven while you cook the rest.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and wok, and stir fry the chilli, garlic and spring onion. When just cooked and aromatic, sprinkle over the ribs, and eat.

Nachos with Chorizo

They're not exactly high-rent food, but I don't know anyone who would turn down nachos. You don't have to make your own sauces, although I do have my suspicions about jarred guacamole. For a fruit that goes brown within minutes of exposure to air, the bought stuff is remarkably green. I love chorizo and would add it to most things, but it is optional, and used here more as a seasoning than the main event.

Ingredients
1 large pack plain tortilla chips
approx  100 grams cooking chorizo
1 portion of roast tomato salsa
grated cheddar
jarred jalapeño chilli pieces
guacamole and sour cream, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Empty the tortilla chips into a baking dish, something that gives you a large surface area. Cut the chorizo into small chunks, and fry over a high heat until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon or fish slice (to avoid too much oil in the dish-not usually something I worry about, but you don't want this greasy), and sprinkle over the chips. Spoon the salsa over as evenly as you can, and sprinkle generously with cheese. Arrange jalapeño slices in a way that pleases you. Heat in oven until the cheese is just beginning to bubble. Serve with the guacamole and sour cream on top of the nachos, or on the side, whichever suits you.

Guacamole

I'm not mad about avocado, but I do like guacamole, especially if it is well salted with lots of lime juice and tomato-free. Of course, there are plenty of recipes for it online, but here is my contribution. Try to get the ripest avocados you can, it'll not only taste better, but you'll be making life easier for yourself when it comes to mashing them.

Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped
juice of one lime
1 clove finely chopped garlic
handful chopped coriander leaves
pinch ground cumin
salt and pepper

Peel and mash the avocados to a consistency you like- I like mine with chunks in,  not baby-food smooth. Fold in the rest of the ingredients, bearing in mind to adjust the flavourings, especially the lime and chilli, to your taste.

Roast Tomato Salsa

This as a salsa you can make during winter when tomatoes are available, but are pointless eating raw. Roasting the tomatoes brings out the flavour they would otherwise lack. The result is more like a jarred salsa, i.e. more liquid and sauce-like rather than a chopped relish, although is certainly tastes homemade. I made this specifically for nachos, but obviously you can use it for other purposes.

Ingredients
8-10 medium tomatoes
2 red chillies
Olive oil
1/2-1 clove garlic, finely chopped
handful chopped coriander leaves
pinch ground cumin
red wine vinegar
pinch sugar (optional)

Method
Turn the oven onto 180 degrees. Cut a cross into the tomatoes almost all the way, as if you were quartering them, but keeping them together at the bottom. Half the chillies lengthways and deseed, removing the stalk. Put the tomatoes and chillies in a roasting tin or on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes- they should look cooked but not be blackened, so keep an eye on them while they cook.
When they are cool enough to handle, pull the skins of the tomatoes and chop roughly, reserving the oily juices from the pan. Chop the chilli finely, and mix together in a bowl. Mix in the garlic, cumin and coriander. Add the pan juices if you want a looser consistency. To give it a bit of a twang, add a few drops of red wine vinegar, according to your taste, and if you thing it needs it, a bit a bit of sugar too.

Frangelico Fudge

I love Frangelico, a sticky-sweet hazelnut liqueur that comes in a monk shaped bottle. Some larger supermarkets stock it now, due to the Nigella effect on people's shopping lists. I'm not complaining, if I hadn't had read about it in How to Be a Domestic Goddess, I doubt I would have concocted this recipe. Don't leave out the salt unless you really are a sodium-phobe, it adds a certain something.

Ingredients
50 grams hazelnuts

275 grams Caster sugar 

100 grams golden syrup 

250 grams clotted cream
125ml Frangelico

pinch salt

tsp cocoa

Method
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan. When they are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins, and chop roughly. Grease a 20cm square tin. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cover and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to boil for 3 minutes more. Take off the heat, and beat until it takes on a slightly grainy appearance. Pour into the tin. When it is half-set, sprinkle over the hazelnuts and dust with cocoa. Cut into squares to serve.

Honeyed Apple Kuchen

This is just a variant of the last recipe, but I was particularly pleased with it so wanted to put it up sooner rather than later. The honey glaze makes it sticky and delicious.

Ingredients:
For the dough:

400g strong white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g runny honey
1/2 packet easy-blend yeast (about 3g)
2 eggs
Grated zest of an orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125ml lukewarm milk
50g butter, softened

For the topping:
1 egg
1 tbsp cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
5 cox apples, or less of a larger variety- use a well flavoured eating apple.
1 tbsp demerara sugar

To glaze:
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp boiling water

Method
Put the flour in a bowl with the salt  and easy-blend yeast. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add them, with the orange zest, honey and cinnamon, to the lukewarm milk. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a medium-soft dough, being prepared to add more flour as necessary. Work in the softened butter and knead by hand for about 10 minutes or half that time by machine. When the dough is ready it will appear smoother and springier.
Cover with a tea towel and leave till doubled in size, about an hour. Then punch down and press to line a Swiss-roll or baking tray tin measuring 30 x 20 cm. When it's pressed out on the tin, leave it to prove for 15-20 minutes then brush with the egg and cream mixture.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Peel and chop the apples into small cubes. Arrange the fruit over the egg-washed dough and then sprinkle the demerara sugar on top. Put in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn down to 180°C/gas mark 4 and cook for a further 20 minutes or so, until the dough is swelling and golden.
Mix the honey with 1 tbsp water from a freshly boiled kettle. Drizzle over the kuchen, eat.

Plum and Cardamom Kuchen

The term 'kuchen' in German covers a wide range of baked sweet goods. In this instance its a sweetish, butter-enriched yeasted dough topped with fruit and baked, ideal for breakfast or brunch with a cup of tea. The addition of cardamom was inspired by the use of it in various Scandinavian pastries. It's quite an easy recipe to make your own, different fruits and flavourings can be used, nuts or seeds are a lovely addition, as is a crumble topping sprinkled on top of the fruit before baking.

Ingredients:
For the dough:

400g strong white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
50g caster sugar
1/2 packet easy-blend yeast (about 3g)
2 eggs
Grated zest of an orange
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125ml lukewarm milk
50g butter, softened

For the topping:
1 egg
1 tbsp cream or Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
seeds from 3 cardamom pods, crushed
6 plums
1 tbsp demerara sugar

To glaze:
2 tbsp icing sugar
orange juice (from the zested orange)

Method
Put the flour in a bowl with the salt, sugar and easy-blend yeast. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add them, with the orange zest and cinnamon, to the lukewarm milk. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients to make a medium-soft dough, being prepared to add more flour as necessary. Work in the softened butter and knead by hand for about 10 minutes or half that time by machine. When the dough is ready it will appear smoother and springier.
Cover with a tea towel and leave till doubled in size, about an hour. Then punch down and press to line a Swiss-roll or baking tray tin measuring 30 x 20 cm. When it's pressed out on the tin, leave it to prove for 15-20 minutes then brush with the egg and cream mixture.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Cut the plums in half and slice. Arrange the fruit over the egg-washed dough and then sprinkle the demerara sugar on top. Put in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn down to 180°C/gas mark 4 and cook for a further 20 minutes or so, until the dough is swelling and golden.
Mix the icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a thin glaze, and once you have taken the kuchen out of the oven, drizzle it on top. Try to leave for 5 minutes before eating.

Simple Soda Bread

You'd be hard pressed to find a soda bread recipe that isn't simple, but this a very basic recipe for it. Less than an hour after mixing together the dry ingredients you have a fresh loaf of bread, which is very satisfying. Whenever I make this, I break one of the cardinal rule of breadmaking and cut into it straight away, so the butter I spread on it melts with minimum persuasion.

Traditionally, you'd use use buttermilk to make soda bread. It's quite readily available in larger supermarkets, however you can substitute it for milk with about a teaspoon of lemon juice. Just squeeze the juice into the milk, stir and leave for about 10 minutes before using.

Ingredients450 grams plain flour
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200-300ml buttermilk or milk with lemon juice (see above)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, flour a baking sheet. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, stir to combine. Stir in the liquid- you may not need the full amount, but keep adding until you have a soft cohesive dough. Pat it gently into a ball- no kneading for this sort of bread- and place on the baking sheet. Make a large cross in the top with a sharp knife, and bake for around 40 minutes until the loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on its underside.

Cow Pie

Really, casseroles and stews don't need dressing up when you are reheating them as leftovers. Most slow cooked dishes like that will improve with a day or so sitting in the fridge, so simply reheating makes for a very gratifying supper. I can't resist some extra cooking though, so I did a Desperate Dan-esque pie with the last of the Beef and Guinness Casserole as the filling. Only pastry horns though.

Any similar dish can be given the same treatment. If you need a shortcrust pastry recipe, one can be found here. It's best if the filling goes in a room temperature- if it's hot the steam will make the pastry soggy.