Vinaigrette for green salads
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or apple cider/white vinegar)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Glass jar with lid
1. Put the salt, mustard and honey into a jar, and mix together into a paste. Add the vinegar, and stir well to combine.
2. Pour in the oils, screw the lid on tightly, and shake until you have an emulsion. Store in the fridge.
3. Toss your lettuce and salad ingredients in the dressing or serve separately
Perfect butter roast chicken
1 tablespoon salt
1 1.6kg chicken
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1. Rub or pat salt onto breast, legs, and thighs of chicken. Place chicken in a large resealable plastic bag. Set open bag in a large bowl, keeping chicken breast side up. Chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Arrange a rack in upper third of oven; preheat to 250°. Set a wire rack in a large heavy roasting pan. Remove chicken from bag. Pat dry with paper towels (do not rinse). Place chicken, breast side up, on prepared rack. Loosely tie legs together with kitchen twine and tuck wing tips under. Brush chicken all over with some of the butter. Pour 1 cup water into pan.
3. Roast chicken, brushing with butter after 15 minutes, until skin is light golden brown and taut, about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Remove chicken from oven and brush with more butter. Let rest for 15-20 minutes.
4. Return chicken to oven; roast, basting with butter every 10 minutes, until skin is golden brown. Let rest for 20 minutes. Carve and serve with pan juices (or transform into a chicken gravy)
Pickled onions
This base recipe is for onions but try substituting with ota ferns or okra.
Makes about 1½ cup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sarso mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1. Bring vinegar, honey, salt, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves to a boil in a medium saucepan; add onions.
2. Reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Let cool. Transfer to a jar for later use.
Super barbecue marinade
This spicy marinade can be used on chicken, pork and lamb, as well as a great barbecue basting for grilled vegetables.
10 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 long red chillies, with seeds, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon ginger, finely grated
1 cup virgin olive oil
½ cup light soy sauce
¼ cup apple cider or white vinegar
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon salt
2 lemons, sliced, plus wedges for serving
6 sprigs fresh or dried thyme herb
1. Whisk garlic, chilies, ginger, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, and salt in a medium bowl until sugar and salt dissolve. Add lemon slices and thyme. Place marinade and meat in a large resealable plastic bag. Turn to coat, and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. When ready, roast in an oven at 185C until well cooked.
3. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Vonu Beer and coconut bu lamb stew
1.5kg lamb shoulder, well-trimmed and cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
2 medium onions, cut into 1-1/2-inch
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Vonu Beer
3 cups coconut bu water
2 tablespoon Pick me up sauce
2 cups water, plus 2 tablespoons more for cooking onions and garlic
1 bay leaf
1 small sprig fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons brown sugar
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks on diagonal
500 grams mixed root crop vegetables, cut into chunks
1 cup frozen green peas
1. Pat the lamb dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy pot, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Brown the lamb in three batches, adding one more tablespoon of oil for each batch. Do not crowd the pan and let the meat develop a brown crust before turning with tongs. It should take 5-8 minutes per batch. Transfer the browned meat to large bowl and set aside.
2. Add the onions, garlic and 2 tablespoons of water to the pot. Cook until the onions are soft, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of pan, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato paste and cook a few minutes more.
4. Add the lamb with its juices back to the pan and sprinkle with flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until the flour is dissolved, 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the Vonu Beer, coconut water, Pick Me Up, water, bay leaf, rosemary sprig and sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits from the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil. Cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
6. Add the carrots and root vegetables to the stew, then cover and continue simmering until the vegetables are cooked and the meat is very tender, 30-40 minutes. (Be sure to stir a few times to prevent vegetables from sticking to bottom.)
7. Remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprig, and then taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. If serving right away, add the frozen peas and cook until the peas are warmed through.
8. Serve with rice.