Chicken drumsticks with coffee sauce

Coffee helps bring out the flavour of meat without overpowering its taste.

Good coffee beans should be whole - avoid broken or splintered ones.

Freeze beans that you don't use up within 2 weeks of opening. Wrap in layers of plastic to prevent the beans from absorbing the smell of other food.


Coffee - Part 1.

A twist to the ever-popular coffee pork ribs.

Ingredients (serves 4):
6 chicken drumsticks
1 tsp oyster sauce
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 tsp unsalted butter
2 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp barbeque sauce
3 tbsp brewed coffee
1 tsp brown sugar

Method:
1. Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, salt and pepper.
2. Saute chicken over a heated grill pan with butter for 8 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. In the same pan, add the oil and saute garlic until fragrant, then add in the barbeque sauce, coffee and brown sugar. Let it cook for 2 minutes.
4. Finally, add in the chicken, allowing the sauce to caramelise and ensuring the chicken pieces are evenly covered with sauce. Serve immediately.

Tips:
Prepare the sauce in advance to speed up the cooking process.

Recipe source: Simply Her magazine (Sep 2007)

Stuffed pork chops

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 slices wholewheat bread, cubed
1/4 cup raisins
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp water
Coarse salt and ground pepper, for seasoning
4 boneless pork loin chops (about 100g each, 4cm thick)
1 tbsp light brown sugar

Method:
1. Line a rimmed baking sheet or pan with aluminium foil. Heat the grill.
2. In a bowl, combine bread, raisins, thyme, butter and water. Season stuffing with salt and pepper; toss to mix.
3. Place pork chops on the prepared baking sheet. Using a paring knife, cut a deep pocket in each (but don't cut all the way through). Fill with stuffing and press each one down. Season chops with salt and pepper and sprinkle with brown sugar.
4. Grill each side for 8-10 minutes, until meat is slightly brown on the outside and opaque throughout. Serve with a salad or boiled green beans.

Recipe source: Simply Her magazine (Sep 2007)

Prawn and pear with mustard-miso dressing

Ingredients (serves 3-4):
300g large prawns
1 Chinese pear
1/2 telegraph cucumber (or 2 Japanese cucumbers)

Dressing (mixed together):
1 heaped tbsp miso paste (mix of red and white)
1-2 tsp whole-grain mustard paste
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:
1. Cook prawns in boiling water. Plunge prawns into ice water to stop the cooking. Reserve 1/4 cup poaching liquid for the dressing.
2. Shell prawns. Core and cut Chinese pear into wedges. Toss with some lemon juice to prevent browning. Cut cucumber into chunky bite-sized pieces.
3. Add reserved prawn poaching liquid to the dressing and mix well.
4. Toss prawn, pear and cucumber with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Recipe source: Food and Travel magazine (Feb 2007)

White miso soup with carrot and daikon

Ingredients (serves 2-3):
4 cups dashi
A splash of sake
100g carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
100g daikon, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp white miso paste
A pinch of salt, to taste
Sliced spring onions, to garnish

Method:
1. Combine dashi and sake in a pot and bring to a simmer.
2. Add carrot and daikon. Cook for 3-5 minutes over gentle heat.
3. Mix miso paste with 1/4 cup warm dashi. Stir well to remove lumps, and pour mixture into soup. Season with a pinch of salt, if desired. Don't over-boil the soup or the flavour, and nutritional value, of miso will be diminished.
4. Garnish with sliced spring onions and serve.

Recipe source: Food and Travel magazine (Feb 2007)

Sticky miso pork chop

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 pc pork chops
1 tbsp olive oil

Marinade (mix together):
2 heaped tbsp red miso paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup sake or white wine
2 tsp oil
1 tbsp honey

Method:
1. Rub marinade over pork chops and leave aside to marinate for a few hours, or overnight.
2. Heat olive oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the chops for 1 minute, turn, and brown the other side for 1 minute more.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover pan and cook chops for 4-5 minutes. Turn chops over, cover pan, and cook for 4-5 minutes more.
4. Place chops on serving plates and drizzle with pan juices. Serve with green salad on the side.

Recipe source: Food and Travel magazine (Feb 2007)

Thai green papaya salad

Som Tam - Thai green papaya salad.

Ingredients (serves 4):
1 garlic, skinned
2 shallots, skinned
3 chilli padi
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
Lime juice, to taste
3 green beans, cut into 3cm lengths
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
2 cups finely shredded green papaya flesh
1 tbsp roasted peanuts, chopped

Method:
1. Pound garlic, shallots and chillies in a mortar.
2. Add fish sauce and sugar. Mix well. Adjust to taste with lime juice.
3. Add green beans and tomato. Use the pestle to mix the vegetable with the dressing. Avoid mashing the vegetables.
4. Add green papaya. Pound lightly and mix well using the pestle.
5. To serve, spoon peanuts on top.

Recipe source: Food and Travel magazine (Feb 2007)

Warm caesar salad

Ingredients (serves 4):
8 romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
A handful of garlic croutons
8 slices bacon, cut into small dices and fried till crispy
12 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
12 grey prawns, shelled and cooked
Shaved parmesan cheese, to serve

Caesar dressing (makes 600ml):
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp Tabasco sauce
Juice from 1 lemon
500ml olive oil
50g parmesan cheese
A pinch of salt

Method:
1. To make the dressing: combine egg yolk, garlic, Dijon mustard, Worchestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and lemon juice in a food processor. With motor running, add olive oil in a slow steady stream until thick and creamy. Stir in parmesan cheese and season with salt to taste. (If the dressing is too thick, add a little warm water and stir well.)
2. Gently toss romaine lettuce in 200ml of the dressing until evenly coated. Divide lettuce between individual oven-proof bowls.
3. Garnish salad with croutons, bacon bits, tomatoes, prawns and shaved parmesan cheese.
4. Place salad under a salamander or oven toaster for just 5-10 seconds until the cheese topping is slightly melted. Serve immediately.

Tips:
This recipe calls for only 200ml of the dressing. Remaining dressing can be kept tightly covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Recipe source: Food and Travel magazine (Feb 2007)