Chicken in a Clay Pot

Pollo en Cunete

• 1.5 kg chicken pieces - on the bone preferably
• 11 coves garlic
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons corn or vegetable oil
• 20 small new potatoes
• 10 baby onions
• 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 bayleaves
• 2 tablespoons each thyme
• 2 tablespoons marjoram
• 2 red chiles

Crush the garlic, salt and pepper in  mortar and pestle. Rub into the chicken pieces and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

In a large skillet heat the corn oil and saute the chicken briefly and transfer to a large pot. In the same oil saute the onions, remove and add to the chicken. Gently brown the potatoes then remove and set aside. Add the vinegar to the pan and bring to the boil scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Pour the vinegar through a strainer over the chicken.

Add the olive oil, salt, bay leaves, thyme and marjoram to the chicken. Bring to the boil over high heat then cover and lower heat to a simmer, stirring every 10 minutes. After 35 minutes uncover, correct the seasonings, add the chiles and potatoes. Cover, cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Check seasonings again and serve with crusty bead or steamed rice.

Taquitos

Select coarse corn chip textured tortillas rather than smooth cheap ones.

Recipe

• 500g boneless pork, chicken or beef,
• 3 black peppercorns
• 1 clove garlic
• salt
• 4 cups water
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
• 1 thinly sliced onion
• 20 corn tortillas
• oil for deep frying

1. Place the meat, peppercorns, garlic and salt in the water and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered, for 40 minutes or until tender. Let cool then shred the meat.

2. Mix the coriander with the sliced onion, salt and shredded meat.

3. Spread a large spoonful along the 2/3rds mark of each tortilla. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Slice in half.

4. Heat the oil and fry until golden. Remove the toothpicks and serve with guacamole and salsa.

Guacamole

Intro

I foolishly allowed myself to be cajoled into teaching a cooking class this week as part of our Global Cuisine series of Chalkle classes. Since it was my bright idea to bring Chalkle to Horowhenua I really didn't have much of a choice really. So, here in quick succession, I will be posting my three favourite Mexican recipes (yes - I am teaching a Mexican cooking class) because while I cook them reasonably often I've not actually got around to posting them online yet.

• 2 large ripe avocados - not over ripe or bruised or brown,
• 1 tblsp finely chopped white onion to suit your taste,
• 1 or 2 finely chopped fresh chiles (a teaspoon),
• 1 large tomato - cut in quarters and insides thrown away,
• 1 clove garlic - squashed and finely chopped,
• 2 large springs fresh coriander,
• lime juice,
• salt,
• pepper.

Recipe

Remove the flesh from the skin and seed. Place in a bowl and roughly mash with a fork. Chop the tomato flesh into small cubes, add the onion, roughly chopped coriander, a squeeze of lime juice and salt. taste and add lime juice and salt to taste.

Pork and Beans

Intro

I stumbled on Heller's Paprika and Cumin bacon in the supermarket a few months back and it is astoundingly good. It is dry and thick cut and very flavoursome.

I couldn't find a recipe for pork and beans so made this up tonight and it was actually fabulous. I didn't want to forget how I made it so here is the recipe. I might leave out the dried apricots next time but I will need to watch because the flavour balance was perfect.

Recipe

• 2 kg pork shoulder chops
• 2 teasp salt
• 3 teasps smoky paprika
• 1/2 cup flour
• oil
• 2 large onions
• 5 large cloves garlic
• 3 slices flavoursome streaky bacon
• 1/4 cup bourbon or brandy
• 1 generous teaspoon of molasses
• 8 dried apricots
• 1 tin crushed tomatoes
• 1 tin red kidney beans
• 1 tin white beans
• 1 lemon

Bone the pork chops and discard the obvious fat and sinew. Chop into cubes.

Combine flour, salt and paprika and toss the meat in the flour mixture. Saute in batches in the oil until browned and place into a casserole dish. Once all the pork is done add the chopped onions, garlic and bacon (sliced into small pieces) to the pan and fry gently until onion is clear and bacon is browned. Add sliced apricots and cook a further 2 minutes. Tip in the bourbon or brandy, mollasses and a tin of crushed tomatoes. Add the beans and onion/tomato mix to the pork. Stir to combine. It should have just enough liquid to almost cover so top up with a little water if need be. If you add more than a cup of water add a beef stock cube.

Cook in a covered dish for 40 minutes or so. Just before serving squeeze in 1/2 a lemon, check seasoning and add more lemon and/or salt to taste.Serve with steamed brocolli and crusty bread.

Coconut Ice Slice

Intro

I think this is another one of Verna's recipes but Its one of my oldest ones - dating back to when I was 9 years old and wrote it in my notebook so I can't be certain!

Recipe

• 4 oz butter
• 4 oz sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• vanilla essence
• milk

Cream together butter and sugar. Add flour, coconut and baking powder. Add 1 teasp vanilla essence and just enough milk to make a spreadable soft consistency (stiffer than a batter and softer than a dough).

Spread into a greased swiss roll tin and bake 180 degrees for 20 minutes. When almost cold ice with coconut topping.

Topping

Melt together:

• 2 cups icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup coconut
• cochineal

Rachels quiche

Intro

For a few years I was part of a really lovely family which included my lovely, talented and beautiful sister-in-law Rachel. This is her recipe - the best kind of recipe: throw anything you like in a bowl, mix it up, cook it up and eat - hot or cold. Oh  - and double or treble it up because it freezes and reheats well too.

I often use leftover roast or Christmas ham, bacon bits, smoked or even tinned salmon. During the season this is a great way to use up surplus zucchini.

Recipe

• 1/4 cup melted butter (or oil)
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1 cup fish or bacon
• 1 cup grated veges (carrot, zucchini, blanched silverbeet, leeks, sweetcorn, onion)
• 1/2 - 1 cup self raising flour
• seasonings: salt, pepper, fresh herbs

Throw it all together in a bowl and stir in enough flour to get a really sloppy thick batter-like consistency. Pour into a greased dish. Optional decoration is sliced tomato and chopped chives or cracked pepper.

Bake for 45min - 1 hour, 180 degrees celcius or until set.

Belgium Biscuits

Intro.

I love Belgium Biscuits. They are the perfect combination of sugar and spice and jam and lemon and actually nicer on day 2 once the flavours have merged and the biscuits have softened.This recipe is really 'short' and I find it heaps easier to make them in a log and slice them rather than roll them out and use a cookie cutter. The plain biscuits are a gorgeous spicy crisp shortbread and perfectly nice plain.

Recipe

• 225g softened butter
• 250g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons mixed spice
• 2 teaspoons cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• raspberry or strawberry jam
• pink icing (2 tblps lemon juice, 2 cups icing sugar, red food colouring
• pink sprinkles or glace cherries.

Cream together butter and sugar until pale and creamy, add egg and beat well. Fold in sifted dry ingredients. 

Tip onto a piece of greaseproof, in foil or baking paper and shape into a long log about 5cm diameter. Chill at least a couple of hours or overnight.

Remove from fridge, slice into 3mm thick slices, place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 15 min at 180 degrees. Remove from oven and leave to cool on trays.

Once cold sandwich together with jam and ice tops with pink icing. Decorate with sprinkles or halved glace cherries.

Paratha

Intro
I love Indian food but we live miles away from a town with an Indian restaurant so I have learnt how to cook curries - easy and yummy. The next challenge was bread and this weekend I finally made layered bread - so easy and so, so delicious.

Recipe

• 350g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tblsp oil
• about 175ml hot water
• 3 tblsp ghee

Place the flour and salt into a food processor, add the oil and pulse until its 'rubbed' through. Slowly tip enough hot water through the funnel until a soft dough forms.

Knead for 5 -10 minutes until it is no longer sticky. Divide into 16 balls and roll each one out thinly to a 20cm circle. Brush with ghee, fold in half, brush with ghee then fold into a small triangle (one corner to the centre of the curved edge other corner over the doubled layer). Roll the triangle out quite thinly on a floured surface.

Heat a heavy frying pan and dry fry the triangles for 2 or 3 minutes per side until brown specks appear.

When they are all done, tip ghee into the frypan and gently fry the parathas until golden brown (1 or 2 mins each side). Keep fried parathas warm by wrapping in tinfoil until all are cooked).

Vivienne's Bread

Intro
For many years I lived in a beach community with no shop so it was a 30 minute return trip to get essentials like butter, sugar and bread.

We had great neighbours, Viv and John Harvey, and Viv made this wonderful bread for her family. The wholemeal gives it more body but the white flour still make sit 'look' like normal bread. It almost has the texture of Vogel bread. It does not keep so its best eaten fresh, toast it the next day but its really only good for breadcrumbs thereafter.

Recipe

• 600ml almost hot water (can easily dip your finger in)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tblsp yeast
• 3 cups white flour
• 1 cup rye flour
• 1 cup wholemeal flour

Place the water, salt, sugar in a bowl - stir to dissolve the grains then  add the yeast and leave to form a sludge (about 10 mins).

Add the yeast mixture to the flours and knead together for about 10 minutes. Place in a oiled bowl, cover with gladwrap and leave to rise in a warm place - about double in size.

Lightly knead again, shape into 2 loaves and place into greased loaf tins. Leave to rise again then bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees c. Dough can be shaped into rolls and baked for 15 minutes at 200 degrees c.

NB. If I'm in a hurry I will carefully rise the dough in the microwave 20 mins at 10% power (lowest setting).