Main Courses

Collection of main courses.

Blue Cheese Chicken Pieඞ

Crust Instructions:

1. Pinch the butter, flour and salt into soft but slightly crumbling mass.
2. Add water and combine evenly. It shouldn't bee crumbling but also not too wet.
3. Push the dough onto the sides and bottom of the baking tray.
4. Poke some holes sparsely (about every 5cm) into the crust with a fork.
5. Keep cold until the filling is ready.
6. When the filling is ready, put the crust into the oven at 200°C for 10 minutes.

Filling Instructions:

1. Cut broiler fillet into small pieces and sautee until half of the moisture has evaporated.
2. Add finely diced onions and red peppers and continue sauteeing for 5 minutes.
3. Move everything from the pan to a big bowl and mix with diced pineapple and blue cheese.
4. Mix whipping cream with eggs and add everything into the bowl.
5. Once the crust has been cooked for 10 minutes, add the filling into the crust and cook for another 20 minutes or until golden brown at 200°C.

Bologneseඞ

Instructions:

1. Melt butter on a large pan.
2. Sautee diced ham, carrot and onions for 10 minutes.
3. Add minced beef, crushed clove of garlic and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add wine, chicken stock.
5. Steam while covered on low heat for 15 minutes.
6. Add tomato paste and season
7. Cover for another 20 minutes.
8. Cook some spaghetti.
9. Add some bolognese to spaghetti.
10. (optional) Grate some parmesan on top.

Kert Burgerඞ

Instructions:

1. Dice onion and kale into small pieces, mix with tabasco and mayo.
2. Mix BBQ sauce, mayo and ketchup.
3. Roll the minced beef into a size that is just barely larger than the patty in diameter and make sure the middle of the patty is thinner than the sides.
4. Heat a pan, add butter and brown the buns from both sides, set aside.
5. Next season the bacon with salt, pepper and smoked paprika and cook until fat is rendered, then remove onto paper towels to absorb the fat and keep the bacon crispy.
6. Add the patty with salt and pepper and cook 4-5 minutes from both sides, add some butter when flipping sides.
7. On a smaller non stick pan, add cheddar.
8. When the patty is ready and the cheddar is crispy from one side, put the patty on top of the cheddar and lift the patty with the cheddar to the side.
9. Assembly is as follows: bottom bun, sauce, bacon, patty with cheese, more sauce, tomato or pickles, salad, top bun.

Tartifletteඞ

Instructions:

1. Peel and boil the potatoes with salt and thyme spigs (discard after boiled).
2. Preheat oven to 175°C.
3. Heat bacon over medium-high heat until fat begins to render.
4. Lower heat to medium and stir occasionally, until fat is mostly rendered and bacon is cooked but not crisp, about 5 minutes.
5. (optional) If there is not enough fat from the bacon, add about 20g of butter
6. Add diced onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until onions have softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.
7. Add white wine and cook, stirring, until wine has almost fully cooked off, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Toss everything together in a bowl and move to a baking dish with cream or crème fraîche.
9. Cover with slabs of Reblochon rind side up in a way that will melt the cheese evenly on top.
10. Bake at 175°C until golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Wasabi Mayo Beef Tacosඞ

From Gordon Ramsay.

Instructions:

1. Set the pan on high with some olive oil.
2. Season the steaks with salt and pepper, lay away from you on to the pan, and sear while giving the occasional shake to avoid sticking, 2-3 minutes on each side for rare/medium-rare, or until cooked to your liking. Render the fat by tipping the steaks onto their sides and cooking until the fat is golden and crisp, keep basting the steaks as you cook.
3. While searing, mix the miso paste, mirin or rice wine, sugar, and olive oil, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Season with salt and pepper and add a tablespoon of water if the mixture needs loosening a little.
4. Slice the fat off and slip the steaks into the marinade.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the quick pickled cabbage. Put the Chinese cabbage in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and chile flakes. Toss the mixture to coat, then leave to soften slightly for a couple of minutes.
6. Meanwhile, mix together the wasabi and mayonnaise, taste, and add a little more wasabi if you like a stronger flavor.
7. Heat the tortillas for 30-60 seconds over a naked gas flame until charred and lightly toasted. Roll them around a rolling pin while they're still hot, and hold until cooled to set in half-moon taco shapes.
8. Drain the beef of any excess marinade, then slice and place in the tacos. Top with the cabbage and a little wasabi mayo.

French Tacosඞ

The Unlikely Rise of the French Tacos, recipe from You Suck At Cooking.

Instructions:

1. Slice half of the onion and dice the other half.
2. Put the 1/2 sliced onion in a pan with some oil on medium heat and cook until brown, set aside.
3. Put the 1/2 diced onion with crushed and diced garlic in the pan with some oil on medium heat and cook until softened.
4. Add the ground beef to pan, season with salt and pepper and cook until brown.
5. Prepare the fries, either in oven or your choice of a fryer.
6. In a skillet, add cream and warm until it starts to steam a little.
7. Add the cheese and stir until melted.
8. Add butter to taste and some flour if needed to thick the sauce.
9. Combine everything in a tortilla wrap, add some more cheese and wrap it up.
10. Warm the wrap on a pan on medium heat or on a sandwich grill until the cheese melts.
11. Et voilà!

Arayesඞ

From You're Probably Sleeping on Arayes by Internet Shaquille.

Notes:

• It's essentially kofta, but in between a carb, like a pita or a tortilla, giving the change to mix it up a bit.
• The spice mix is the base of this dish, so it's important to get it right.
• Moisture is a problem for this dish, but it wants to be crispy, grilled rather than juicy or, god forbid, soggy. How much you squeeze out of the onion-parsley, how much fat is in the beef and what kind of cooking method you use are all important.
• I think there is a fresh component missing. Experiment and see what you like. Classic tortilla recipes provide good inspiration with cheese, tomato, lettuce, etc, but they feel a little at odds with the nature of indian spices.

Instructions:

1. Cut onion into quarters and put into food processor with garlic.
2. Remove stems from parsley and add to food processor.
3. Process until homogenous and then take out and squeeze out excess moisture.
4. Add ground beef and spice mix to food processor and process until homogenous (Add salt if your spice mix doesn't already have enough!).
5. Even after squeezing out the moisture and using lower fat beef, the mixture will still be quite wet, but that's what you want.
6. Cut pita in half and stuff the mixture in between the halves.
7. Brush the outside of the pita with olive oil.
8. Slap them in a charcoal grill, or on a cast iron pan on the stove on medium heat (coals white with grill), or 200C oven until crispy and browned.

Creamy Chiken Soupඞ

From: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/creamy-chicken-soup/

Instructions:

1. For the soup, in a 4-quart or larger saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery and onion. Pour in the broth and add the chicken bouillon, bay leaves, parsley, herbs de provence, turmeric, garlic powder, and pepper. Stir to combine.
2. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, uncovered or partially covered, for 12-15 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
3. For the roux, while the soup simmers, in a small saucepan, add the olive oil and butter and cook on medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the flour and whisk to combine until a smooth paste forms. Remove from the heat.
4. Add the milk (and/or half-and-half) to the soup and heat through. Add the roux to the soup and cook, stirring or whisking constantly, over medium heat until the soup thickens and gently simmers, 5-7 minutes.
5. Stir in the chicken, season to taste with salt and pepper (this is important for flavor!) and heat through.
6. Remove the bay leaves and serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan, asiago or gruyere on top.

Notes:

• Half-and-half: the more half-and-half you use, the creamier this soup will be but milk works great, too. I suggest using at least 1% or 2% (not skim).
• Bouillon: the chicken bouillon (cube, paste or granules) intensifies the overall flavor of the soup. If you leave it out, season well to taste.
• Potatoes: potatoes make a great addition to this soup. I add peeled, diced potatoes (usually Yukon gold, but any variety would work) with the broth.

Caesar Saladඞ

Chicken Instructions:

1. Cook some chicken to taste (keep more neutral, there will be enough taste in dressing), set aside.

Dressing Instructions:

1. Combine everything and mix well

Crouton Instructions:

1. Cut bread into cubes
2. Melt butter on pan
3. Mix butter and bread, season to taste
4. Keep adding butter if the pan is dry until bread is nice and brown
5. In the end add cheese and keep mixing until the cheese is no longer dripping

Salad Instructions:

1. In a bowl mix roman salad, chicken, and some dressing
2. Add croutons and grated cheese and mix some more
3. Et voilà!

Low-Effort Miso Ramenඞ

Partly inspired by 7 Ingredient Restaurant Style Ramen by Pro Home Cooks.

IMPORTANT! With ramen it is important to prepare noodles, broth and toppings separately, not letting the tastes blend together makes it more exciting and defined, less of soup in the end AND this way the toppings don't get soggy.

Broth instructions:

1. Super finely dice or grate garlic and ginger into a pot at medium heat, let soften with some olive oil.
2. Add 2 tbsp of miso paste and caramelize for 2 minutes.
3. Add a handful of bullion at a time into the pot while sirring to emulsify the mixture.

Noodle instructions: Cook according to packaging, but leave a little stiffer than you normally would (according to taste, if you like your noodles in ramen to be stronger) as they will absorb some broth too anyway.

For toppings, feel free to leave or add things as you like.

Topping instructions:

• For mushrooms: add to pan with some garlic and ginger, cook at medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• For chicken: mix chiken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger, and chili powder, cook on medium heat 5-6 minutes, until they begin to brown, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes.
• For bok choy: add to boiling water for 1 minute (don't let it get soggy), best to do this right after boiling noodles.
• For green onion: slice into small rings.
• For eggs: boil for 6 minutes and plop into cold water.

Tacos with Rajas Con Cremaඞ

Rajas Con Crema instructions:

1. Remove the tops and seeds from 3 poblano peppers and cut in half. Place peppers on an open flame until they turn black on the outside. Once they’re black put them in foil 10 minutes to let them rest and soften up.
2. Remove from foil and remove all the charred outside skin and slice them into strips or into bite sized pieces.
3. In a skillet add ½ white onion sliced with some olive oil and saute for about 1-2 minutes before adding your poblano peppers and some dried oregano. Let cook for a few minutes.
4. Next add ¼ cup of heavy cream and the juice of ⅓ a lime and cook for about 5 minutes or until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Remove from skillet and place in a bowl. Set aside.

Chicken instructions:

1. Start by butterflying the chicken and placing it in a plastic bag.
2. In a bowl combine 2 cloves of roughly chopped garlic, the juice of 2 limes, a good shake each of white pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, a few glugs of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Also you want to add a little bit of sugar because that will help with the browning later on. Whisk everything together and then put it in the bag with the chicken.
3. Remove air from the bag and massage to combine everything. Place in bowl, and put the bowl in the fridge for 1-4 hours.
4. Remove chicken from marinade and place on a ripping hot skillet. Cook until each side has browning and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Once fully cooked, cover with foil and set aside to rest.
5. Slice into bite sized slices.

Taco instructions: Assemble with tortilla, rajas con crema and some cotija or feta cheese, optionally some diced white onion.

Summer chickpea saladඞ

From Jamie Oliver's summer chickpea salad.

Instructions:

1. Finely slice your red onion.
2. Finely slice your chillies then roughly chop your tomatoes, mixing them in with the onion and chillies.
3. Scrape all of this, and the juice, into a bowl and dress with the juice of half a lemon and 3 tablespoons of good extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste.
4. Heat the chickpeas in a pan, then add 90 per cent of them to the bowl.
5. Mush up the remaining chickpeas and add these as well – they will give a nice creamy consistency. Allow to marinate for a little while and serve at room temperature.
6. Just as you're ready to serve, give the salad a final dress with the fresh mint and basil. Taste one last time for seasoning – you may want to add the juice from your remaining lemon half at this point.
7. Place on a nice serving dish and crumble over the feta cheese.

Potato Dough Stuffed Pattiesඞ

Instructions:

1. Boil the cubed potatoes with 1 teaspoon of salt in 1L of water for 20 minutes.
2. While the potatoes are boiling, saute the diced onion and crushed garlic in a pan. Add the ground beef, 1 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper to taste. Cook until the beef is browned.
3. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a bowl. Add the unsalted butter, egg, and wheat flour. Mix until well combined.
4. Flour your working area and take a portion of the dough to form a fat pancake. Place some of the meat mixture and cheese in the center, then fold the dough over to form a flattened ball.
5. Heat oil in a pan and fry each ball until golden brown on all sides.