Super Nice Ribs

1 side pork ribs
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup light soya sauce
1/4 cup shao hsing rice wine
1 tbsp honey
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, crushed

Cut the ribs into individual ribs (I use scissors). Bring a pan of water to the boil, add salt and ribs, simmer for 20 mins. Meanwhile, mix the remaining ingredients in a large, ovenproof dish. Remove ribs from the pan and place in the marinade, mix thoroughly. When cool, cover and refrigerate for a few hours (if you can be bothered, give these a stir during the marinading time). When you're ready to eat, preheat oven to 200 degrees centrigrade, bake ribs for 30 mins or until brown, turning and basting once.



These are definitely the tastiest ribs I've ever made. Usually I just mix the marinade with the raw ribs but I read a few recipes where the ribs were first pre-boiled to tenderise them. This worked wonders and the meat was lovely and tender, falling off the bone. Adding the hot ribs to the marinade helped them soak up the flavours of the marinade. I also tend to use a shop bought marinade such as hoisin, cha sui or oyster sauce. I found that this homemade marinade gave the ribs a much deeper, savoury flavour. Delicious. Definitely making these again.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Noodles (rice, wheat or Miracle)
Some green veg (spinach, lettuce, Chinese leaves, bok choi etc.)
Cooked chicken
Chicken stock
Onions (spring, white or red), coriander, chilli etc. to garnish



Yum yum! Simple and delicious. I often add chilli bean paste to the stock for a spicy soup but didn't have any this time.

Honey Mustard Chicken

1/2 cup light soya sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 portions chicken

Mix soya sauce, honey, lemon juice, mustard and garlic together and pour over prepared chicken. Leave to marinade for at least 30 mins (can leave it overnight in the fridge). Bake chicken at 200 degrees centrigrade for 30 mins or until chicken is cooked through.

Bramborove Knedliky (Czech Potoato Dumplings)

1 cup leftover mashed potato
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp salt

In a bowl mix the mash, flour and salt, knead it to form a dough. Shape the dough into a log and steam for about 40 minutes. Remove from steamer, cut into slices and serve.

Yields 2 servings.

Some recipes call for boiling the knedliky in water. I have tried this and found that the surface of the knedliky turns a little mushy and slimy. I much prefer to steam it. This recipe produces perfect knedliky every time.



Serve knedlicky with goulash or any other roast meat. I made it with lamb chops in the picture.





Leftover knedliky can be cooled, stored in the fridge then sliced and fried. I prefer fresh knedliky - the fried knedliky tastes a bit like Chinese new year 'jung xi'.

Rosemary Maple Roast Nuts

4 cups cashews
4 tbsp maple syrup
25g butter
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 160 degrees centrigrade. Line a large flat dish or baking tray with foil or silicone baking sheet. Put maple syrup and butter into a small bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Place cashews on the baking tray, pour over the butter and maple syrup mix, stir to coat. Sprinkle on rosemary and salt. Bake 30 mins, stirring every 10 mins. Leave to cook completely before transferring to an airtight container.

Waldorf Salad

1 Granny Smith apple
2 sticks celery
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 handful raisins
1 handful walnuts, broken into pieces

Core and chop the apple into cubes, sprinkle on lemon juice, add mayonnaise and mix well to coat the apple. Chop the celery, mix into the apple. Sprinkle the raisins and walnuts over the top.



This is one of my favourite salads! I love the sour apple, crunchy celery, sweet raisins and fatty walnuts. Yum yum!

Orange Curd

3 oranges
1 lemon
450g sugar
6 eggs
112g butter

Grate the rind from one orange and the lemon. Juice all the fruit. Place juice, rind, eggs, butter and sugar into a glass bowl. Cook over a pan of simmering water until thick.

Yields 5 jars

I love lemon curd so I was keen to try orange curd. This curd is not as thick as the lemon curd, it's almost sauce-like. The flavour is more subtle. I've eaten it on yoghurt so far and it was tasty. I will get some bread in the morning and try it on toast. I have a feeling I will prefer lemon.

Miracle Noodles

I've recently found a shop near my work that sells Miracle Noodles!

http://www.miraclenoodle.com/index-chat.html



They are made of soluble fibre and are very low in calories, this whole pack contains 12 calories. They come packed in water and only require rinsing before you can add them to a variety of dishes in place of regular noodles. The texture is similar to mung bean noodles but the threads are thicker and a bit chewier.



Previously I added them to soup noodles but recently I tried stir frying them with some vegetables.

Sweetcorn Relish

2 large onions
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
4 sticks celery
4 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 carrots
300g sugar
2 tsp mustard
650g frozen sweetcorn
450ml white wine vinegar

Chop onions finely. Remove stalks, seeds and pith from the peppers, chop both finely. Chop celery finely. Heat oil in a large saucepan, add chopped vegetables, fry until soft but not browned. Add salt and garlic. Grate carrot, add to pan with remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, cook, uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir to prevent sticking. Pot in warm, sterilised jars, pushing down the vegetables. Does not need to mature, can keep 6 months.

Yields 8 jars



We used to buy this relish when I was a child. The original recipe only asked for 50g sugar which was not nearly enough. I increased to 300g and it is still a very tangy relish. I ate it with pork chops last night.

Apple Dessert Sauce

4-5 Bramley apples
Sugar, to taste
Ground Cinnamon, to taste

Peel, core and slice the apples. Place in a large glass dish, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Microwave on high until the apples are soft (about 15 minutes). Allow to cool slightly and transfer to a food processor, blend until smooth (add a little water if the sauce is too thick). Transfer to a storage container. Serve cold with yoghurt.

Rice with Chorizo and Olives

1/2 large onion, finely diced
10cm chorizo, chopped
1 cup basmati rice
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
handful pitted green olives

Put rice, water, thyme and stock powder into a rice cooker and turn it on. Heat the oil in a small frying pan, fry onions and chorizo until onions are clear. Add onions and chorizo to rice and continue cooking. Add olives when rice is cooked, stir through. Serve with baked chicken.



I adapted this recipe, in the original, the chicken was cooked in the rice which resulted in the chicken being too dry and the rice being too mushy. This version is much nicer: the rice is perfectly cooked and the chicken is tender. The chorizo was peeled in the original recipe, I didn't bother this time and it still tasted good.

Lemon Curd Uses

Yum yum, lemon curd!



I love lemon curd so much I could eat it straight from the jar! I also enjoy it with yoghurt...

Grape and Camembert Salad

Spinach (or a mix of spinach, rocket and watercress)
Grapes (I usually use red but any will do)
Camembert (or Brie)
Sliced red onion (optional)
Salad dressing (I usually use balsamic vinaigrette)

So simple but delicious!

Banana Butter

13 small bananas
2 lemons, juice only
150ml water
450g sugar

Slice the bananas, place into a large saucepan with the lemon juice and water. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until bananas are soft, about 20-30 minutes. Transfer the fruit to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a clean saucepan, add the sugar gradually over a low heat until dissolved. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer until thick and reduced by half, about 60 minutes.

Yields 4 jars

The original recipe is to push the cooked bananas through a sieve. I tried this but found it too time consuming as the bananas were too viscous so I blended the remaining banana. On the plus side, all the fibre is intact!

Mixed Berry Curd

1 box frozen mixed berries
150g sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
2 tbsp butter

Defrost the berries, blend until smooth, sieve and discard the seeds. Put sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium sized heavy saucepan. Stirring with a whisk, add 250ml of berry puree, lemon juice and eggs. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, stirring constantly. Add butter, stirring, until it melts. Transfer to sterilised jars.

Yields 2 jars, stores 1 week

This recipe yields a delicious curd. It's a bit of a hassle to sieve the berry puree but worth the effort.

Lemon Curd

4 lemons, rind and juice
4 eggs
110g butter
450g sugar

Put everything in a glass bowl, mix together and cook it over a pan of simmering water for about 30 mins, stirring frequently until thickened. Transfer to sterilised jars.

Yields 4 jars, stores 2-3 weeks.

This is a quick and easy. The first time I tried it I didn't mix the eggs properly before cooking it and ended up with some scrambled egg whites in my curd. The second time I made a point to make sure everything was mixed together thoroughly before I started cooking it. The second batch was thick, smooth delicious!