Serves 2

• 1 x large (350/400gr) duck breast with skin on
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a little duck fat (or butter) for frying

Sauce ingredients:

• 1 rounded dessert spoon of duck fat (or ca. 50gr butter)
• 1 ½ rounded dessert spoons plain flour
• 1 pod of good chicken stock (eg Maggie jus de vollaile)
• ca. 3cl good orange juice with pulp (shop bought is fine)
• ½ small glass dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon of orange marmalade
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• small pinch of French “cinq épices” spice blend (or a little of what you have in the cupboard – ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon – but not too much of each as to be overpowering)
• Salt & pepper to taste
• ca. 5cl single cream

This dish takes only moments to cook and overcooking the duck will ruin it, so start with the potatoes – peel and quarter four medium sized potatoes, put into a saucepan with cold water to cover and about 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes. Whilst they are cooking heat the oven to 200C. Drain the potatoes and return briefly to the heat shaking the pan gently to ensure they are dry and “rough up” the edges. Put to one side while you melt about 2 dessert spoons of duck fat in the oven in a metal roasting dish large enough to take all the potatoes in one layer. Once nice and hot, gently tip in the potatoes then turn them one at a time so they are covered in duck fat. Sprinkle lightly with salt and put into the oven (middle shelf) for about 40 – 45 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes – they should be starting to brown (but not burn). If they are not browning it may be necessary to raise the oven temperature slightly for the last 10 minutes.

Make the sauce when the potatoes have about 10 minutes to go:

Melt the duck fat in a non-stick saucepan. Add the flour and combine with the fat using a whisk, add half the orange juice and the white wine, cook up until it thickens and add more orange juice as necessary until the desired consistency – it should coat the back of a spoon. Add all the other ingredients – stock pod, marmalade, sugar, spice, salt & pepper and, finally the cream. Stir well to mix, bring back to the boil then put to one side to keep warm whilst you cook the duck.

The duck breast:

Wash the breast and pat dry on kitchen paper. Season the skin side well with coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat the duck fat in a heavy frying pan until quite hot. Place the duck breast, skin side down and leave without turning for 3 minutes. Turn over and reduce the heat to medium, again leave for 3 minutes – it should be hot throughout but still pink. If you are not keen on pink meat you can leave it to cook for another minute – but no more as the more it cooks the tougher it will get. Allow the meat to rest off the heat for a further two minutes. Cut into slices across using a sharp knife and drizzle a little sauce over to serve. Serve with the potatoes and the rest of the sauce separately.

Fresh green beans make a lovely clean-tasting accompaniment to this dish.

The post Duck Recipe appeared first on Big Yellow Suitcase.

On a recent out-of-season visit to Malta I was wandering around early one Sunday morning looking for somewhere to have coffee and breakfast.  Nowhere was open.  Getting desperate I spotted a rather seedy looking café just opening. They only served coffee and freshly baked pastizzi.   It turned out to be the best pastizzi I’ve ever eaten.  Not surprisingly we discovered it was very popular with the local fisherman who duly arrived fresh from unloading their catch for the perfect Maltese breakfast.

The recipe below will make 20 pastizzi.

Ingredients:
300g fresh ricotta cheese
2/3 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
½ cup finely grated parmesan
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 sheets frozen puff pastry, partly thawed

Step 1
Place ricotta in a bowl. Using a fork, mash until almost smooth. Add mozzarella and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add half the egg. Stir to combine.

Step 2
Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Step 3
Using a 10cm round cutter, cut 5 rounds from each pastry sheet. Brush edge of rounds with egg. Spoon 1 level tablespoon mixture onto centre of each round. Spread to a 5cm log. Fold up 2 sides of pastry to enclose log. Pinch to seal. Twist ends to form points. Place on prepared trays. Brush with remaining egg.

Step 4
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and puffed. Stand for 4 minutes before serving.

Recipe courtesy of taste.com.au

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Take a good sized piece of thick pork rib – the part between the belly and the chops – around 2 – 2 ½ inches thick.  It should be all in one piece, flat, with the bones in and the skin on.  Allow about ½ kg per person, but it is best to do this for 4-6, so around 2 – 3 kg.

Have the butcher cut across the bones once or twice depending on length (once cooked you will cut the joint into 2 – 3 in. squares so having the bones cut makes this easier.  Also ask the butcher to score the skin in diamonds to encourage the crackling.

The day before cooking the pork take plenty of salt and finely ground black pepper and rub well into both sides of the pork, working well into the skin, between the cuts, and into the underside of the meat.  On the underside also rub in about half a small tin of Colemans English Mustard powder, again rubbing well in where the bones have been cut and into the meat.  Put the meat on a large plate or tray and cover with cling-film then refrigerate overnight.  Remove from the fridge a good half hour before cooking.  Heat the oven to 180ºC.  Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper onto the skin.  Place the pork, skin side down, on a rack over an oven tray containing a couple of litres of boiling water.  Roast for about 1 hour.  Remove the oven tray and empty the remaining water into a jug to make gravy later, then return the tray to the oven to catch any drips.  Turn the joint over so the skin is now uppermost.  Raise the temperature to 200ºC and roast for a further 45 minutes or until the crackling has formed – keep testing it by tapping a knife on it, if it sounds “hollow” the crackling is done.  Very occasionally crackling does not form easily – if you get desperate, cut off the skin, still attached to the fat, and place under the grill for a few moments, but watch it to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Alternatively, for a more Australian twist, remove the joint from the oven after the first hour over the water (which helps the meat to puff up and lose some of the fat), then finish it off on the barbecue turning from time to time to crisp up the crackling.

Once cooked through, allow to rest for five minutes then cut into squares and serve.

This dish is traditionally served with boiled potatoes and red cabbage.

Ingredients for the red cabbage:
1 small or ½ large red cabbage
1 large cooking apple or 2 eating apples
20gr butter
salt & pepper
cider vinegar
sugar
ground nutmeg

Discard outside leaves, quarter, core and finely slice the cabbage (use a mandolin if you have one or a very sharp knife).  Peel, core and finely dice one large cooking apple or two good flavoured eating apples (Pink Lady or Fuji are good).  Put it all into a good sized non-stick saucepan with 20gr. butter, about 400ml water, a little salt and black pepper, one tablespoon of cider vinegar, a little ground nutmeg, and two tablespoons of sugar (or powdered sweetener for a lower calorie version).  Cover with a lid, bring to the boil then lower the heat to a simmer and allow the cabbage to cook slowly for at least an hour, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not catch and adding a little more water if necessary.  At the end of cooking you need to have enough liquid to thicken to give a coating sauce.  Stir out one tablespoon of cornflour in a little water, add to the cabbage mix and stir whilst reheating and allow to bubble for a minute or two to cook out the cornflour.  Taste for seasoning – it should be sweetish but with an “edge” of vinegar.  For a fruitier version you can also add the juice of an orange to the cooking liquid.  The cabbage can be made in advance, even the day before and re-heated.

With the traditional version a sauce is usually made – melt a good sized piece of butter (ca. 15gr.) in a saucepan, stir in 1 ½ tablespoons flour (if too dry add a little more butter), add a good stock cube then slowly add the reserved cooking liquid from the oven tray until the desired consistency is reached – it should easily coat the back of a spoon.  Add a little black pepper to taste and a little ground nutmeg, and a couple of table spoons of cooking (single) cream, mix and bring back to the boil before serving.

If serving the barbecue version in warm weather, you could substitute cooked new/salad potatoes and make a coleslaw with red cabbage:

Ingredients for red-cabbage coleslaw:
1 small or ½ large red cabbage, outside leaves discarded, quartered, cored and finely sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 small red onion, finely chopped
Small tub crème fraiche
Equal amount of good mayonaise
Dash of sweet hot-dog mustard or sweet chilli sauce – to taste
Sweet pickled cucumber (optional)

Put the prepared vegetables in a large bowl and mix well.  Add half and half crème fraiche and good mayonnaise – sufficient to coat the vegetables well – a teaspoon of sugar (or powdered sweetener), salt and pepper to taste and a dash of Scandinavian-style sweet hot-dog mustard (if available) or sweet chilli sauce.  Mix through thoroughly – if you can get hold of them, a Scandinavian-style sweet pickled cucumber finely chopped (or a couple of slices from a jar, chopped) together with a spoonful of the liquid from the jar adds a good flavour to the coleslaw.

The post Norwegian roast pork – with an Australian twist appeared first on Big Yellow Suitcase.

Ingredients

1 loaf of a 2-day old French baguette, sliced
2 ½ cups of sugar
3 cups of milk
1 cup water
1 cube butter
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Method

1. Butter bread slices from both sides and place them in a buttered oven-safe glass dish.
2. Heat 2 cups sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is golden brown.  Add water and bring it to a boil.  Pour mix over bread slices.
3. Whisk egg whites in a bowl.  Add egg yolks, one by one.  Add milk, ½ cup sugar, and vanilla extract.  Pour mixture over bread slices.
4. Bake at 350F (177C) for 40 minutes.  Serve with eggnog.

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Ingredients:

1tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 K of finely chopped pork butt
1/2 K finely chopped beef round
2 teaspoons diced onion
1/4 C diced apple
1 T diced dried apricots
1 teaspoon dried cranberries
1/4 C diced pear
2 T raisins ( Preferably macerated in some sort of liquor)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine
Sugar (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled

Sauce:

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup walnuts soaked for several hours or overnight in milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
1 teaspoon pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Directions

For the chiles: In a medium saute pan over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil. Add the chicken and cook until it starts to turn white, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, apricots, cranberries, pears, raisins and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the wine and simmer until the chicken is tender, about 5 minutes. Season with sugar, salt and pepper, and then remove from the heat.

Stuff each roasted poblano pepper with one-sixth of the beef/pork mixture and set aside.  Try to reform the pepper so that it looks as though it was never opened.

For the sauce: In a blender, fine grind the walnuts.  Once ground, add the heavy cream to desired thickness.  If you find it is too thin, you may thicking with cream cheese or a bit of white bread.

To serve, place each stuffed poblano pepper on a plate and top with 2 tablespoons sauce. Garnish with the cilantro and pomegranate seeds.

Mexican Red Rice

Use long-grain rice; wash thoroughly under running water until it runs clear.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
• 1 tsp. fresh minced garlic
• ½ tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. cumin
• ½ c. tomato sauce
• 1 1/2  chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the rice and gently stir until rice begins to lightly brown.
3. Add the garlic, salt, and cumin and stir the rice til it looks golden.
4. Add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, and cilantro and turn the heat up to medium high.
5. Bring the mix to a boil – do not siir – but allow to boil until water has evaporated and air tunnels form.  Turn down heat to the lowest possible flame.
6. Cover for 12 – 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Serves 4.

It is very important not to stir the rice once the cooking process has begun.  Doing so will activate the starches and you will end up with mushy rice!!

Compliments of Chef AbueLinda who hosts our cooking class in Ajijic.  See https://www.bigyellowsuitcase.com.au/tour/a-cultural-immersion-into-old-mexico/

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• 3 large ripe avocadoes, flesh scooped from skins into a large bowl with
• 1 small finely diced peeled onion or large peeled shallot
• 1 ripe finely diced seeded tomato
• 1 finely diced chilli (jalapeno is fine) or a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce (or similar)
• Handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves
• Juice of one small freshly squeezed lime
• Salt to taste

Note: use more or less chilli if desired; to each his own.
Lightly mix together all ingredients, not quite mashing the avocado flesh into a puree, small chunks are fine.
Serve immediately.
By the way, did you know that corn, avocados, tomatoes and chillies come from Latin America?
(Mexicans never add cream cheese or sour cream to pump up the guacamole. Why ruin a great dish?)

Serve alongside a basket of ‘totopos’ and a bowl of tomato/chilli salsa for dipping and you have the beginnings of a Mexican feast.

Better still, dip the corn ‘totopos’ into freshly made guacamole and enjoy one of Mexico’s greatest gifts to global gastronomy.

The post Guacamole appeared first on Big Yellow Suitcase.

• 60 mils Tequila Silver or Plata
• 30 mils Triple Sec (or Cointreau)
• 30 mils freshly squeezed lime juice (add sugar syrup if you like your Margarita less sour)

Shake with ice and strain into a salt rimmed cocktail glass or pour into a salt lined tumbler.

(To salt a glass rim, use the squeezed lime skin to wet the rim of the glass and invert the glass into a saucer of fine salt. Shake off the excess salt and avoid wetting the glass with water.)

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