Tartiflette

We make this every time we stay in Les Carroz with www.flameski.com and is usually one of the best nights of the trip. It is amazing served with a simple green salad with loads of french dressing and a huge chunk of delicious roast meat. If we are feeling extravagant then a Cote de Boeuf, charred on the outside and rare in the middle, or a few buttery roast chickens.

We normally light the wood burning stove that has an oven above it and cook the tartiflette in there. Every time we walk past to get another beer or glass of wine we take a peak until it is golden brown and bubbling and we can't wait any longer.

Serves 6
Ingredients
1.2 kg of potatoes
1 onion
200g lardons (chunks of smoky bacon)
1 Reblochon cheese
Splash of local Savoie white wine
2-3 tbsp Crème frâiche
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper


Method

1. Peel, thickly slice and parboil potatoes.
2. Slice the onion and gently fry with the lardons until soft and lightly browned
3. Butter a large oven proof dish and layer the potatoes, onion and lardons, the crème frâiche and seasoning. About 2 layers of each should do it.
4. Pour over about half a glass of white wine, but not too much as the cheese will melt creating a lot of liquid.
5. Split the Reblochon lengthways and lay the 2 halves on the dish rind side up
6. Cover with tin foil and bake in a hot oven (400F/200C/Gas 6) for about 1 hour. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbling

Anzac Biscuits

These are simple, delicious, oaty, coconutty biscuits and everyone who has every tasted them loves them. With the oats they are awesome energy snacks for taking up mountains or on boats etc, but they are pretty good anytime of the day or night.

My family have made these as long as I can remember, but the recipe apparently comes from the First World War when they were baked by Australian and New Zealand women to take over to the soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Apologies to the people who invented them, but I've eaten Anzacs in loads of places in Oz and NZ and I think that these are better.

Ingredients

• 1 cup porridge oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup sugar
• 4oz (110g) butter or margarine
• 1 tbsp golden syrup (or honey)
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda dissolved in approx 1 tbsp warm water

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 170C
• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Melt the butter and the syrup
• Add the melted butter and syrup and the bicarb dissolved in some water to the dry ingredients
• Get your hands in the bowl and mix well by rubbing the mixture between your fingers and thumb
• The mixture should just hold together when squeezed with your hands and it may be necessary to add more water to achieve this. You need to be able to form balls slightly smaller than a ping pong ball that aren't too sticky and just hold together when pressed down
• Lightly butter 2 baking trays
• Form the mixture into balls and place on the baking sheets with enough space around them so they can spread out. This should make 16 - 18 biscuits
• Using 2 fingers press down each ball to flatten slightly
• Bake for approx 15 mins, checking after 7 mins and if they aren't colouring evenly swap the trays around. They should be a golden brown colour when done.
• Cool them on a tray and they'll keep for a few days in a sealed container

Notes

• Despite being very simple Anzacs always seem to come out slightly differently every time you make them. Sometimes they spread out loads and are crunchy throughout, sometimes they are fatter and more of a flapjack consistency, but the Holy Grail of Anzac cookery is crunchy round the outside soft in the middle, hhmmmmm.
• I've experimented a little with the recipe adding things like ground almonds, raisins, cinnamon etc, but I have to admit that the plain ones are always the best

Peruvian Ceviche

Fresh chunks of firm white fish, marinated in lime juice, garlic and chilli to create a delicious, fresh tasting healthy dish that is great at any time of the day.

Other South American countries have versions of Ceviche, but the Peruvians are the masters of delicious, simple, fresh seafood so I am going with them. You can get this everywhere in Peru and it is always delicious and ridiculously cheap.


Ingredients

• 400g firm, white fish, filleted and skinned. I've made this with plaice and it was perfect, scallops would be delicious as well or even a mix.
  
• 4 - 6 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• 1 chilli
• 6 - 8 limes. You need enough juice to cover the fish
• 1/2 red onion
• Salt and pepper
  

Instructions

• Coat the fish in the garlic, chilli, salt and pepper
• Cover in just enough lime juice to cover the fish
• Very finely slice the red onion and place on top
  
• Cover and leave in fridge for at least 2 hours but overnight would be fine as well
• Taste the marinade for seasoning and strength. This varies alot in Peru from mild to blow your head off, so it is up to you how you want it. A bit of tabasco at the end could be used to fire it up
  
• Serve with iceburg lettuce, baked sweet potato and corn on the cob sliced into about 2 inch lengths

Notes

• I went to a party where the ceviche was served in mussel shells which was pretty cool. If you want to do this then just finely dice the fish and the onion instead of slicing.
• Other ceviche recipes have things like tomato, green peppers and coriander in them as well. Feel free to experiment and other things like squid, sea bass and salmon as they would all work as well, but you need a fish that will hold together after it is 'cooked' in the lime juice.
  

Llama Kebab

This is the best kebab I have ever tasted. I am not sure where or how to get Llama meat in the UK, but if you can give it a go.

Ingredients

• Leg or fillet of a young Llama
• Onion
• Oregano
• Oil
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

• Cut Llama meat into kebab sized chunks
• Marinate meat in fresh oregano, oil, salt and pepper
• Thread onto a kebab skewer alternating Llama and onion
• Cook over an open BBQ. This can be served very rare, and to be honest the rarer the better so don't be scared

Serve at an altitude of 4000m under the fierce high Andean sun

Ginger Beer Poached Salmon

I am gutted to have to admit that as a Scotsman, but I had the best salmon I've ever eaten from a fish farm near Twizel in New Zealand. The friendly Yorkshireman who worked there explained that as they farm the fish in fresh water (didn't even know that was possible) the salmon grow more slowly, require less nasty chemicals and subsequently have a better flavour. I took a whole fillet from a fish that was only a few hours deed and a whole smoked fillet to take trekking.

His top tip for cooking it was to simply poach it in ginger beer. Here is how I cooked it at my hostel that night. I would recommend it to anyone who likes some sweetness with their salmon and oriental gingery, garlicky, chilli type things

Ingredients

• Salmon - fillet or even whole, preferably from the fish farm near Twizel, South Island, New Zealand
• Enough ginger beer to cover the fish. I used Bundaburg, but the fiery Jamaican stuff in the yellow cans would probably be even better
• Some garlic, thinly sliced
• An inch or so of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• Red chilli, thinly sliced, to taste, optional
• Spring onions, sliced
• Handful fresh coriander

Method

• Place salmon in a saucepan large enough to take the salmon without folding it
• Cover in ginger beer
• Add the garlic, ginger and chilli
• Cover with a lid and gently bring up to a simmer. As soon as it is simmering turn off the heat
• Leave it to cool. Not sure how long exactly but the beauty of this is that it doesn't really matter. As the temperature is quite low it won't overcook
  
• Sprinkle with the spring onions and coriander and serve with a bit of the poaching liquid. garlic, ginger and chilli spooned over the top (you can reduce this a bit once the salmon has been removed if you want).
  
• There are loads of serving options for this. Hot, cold, with noodles, with rice, with steamed or stir fried veg. I had it hot with noodles for supper and then cold the next day. I think I preferred it cold, would be perfect as a summer picnic dish.
  

Topoi (Fijian Dumplings)

These very simple dumplings are eaten for breakfast or with mid morning tea in Fiji. Serve sliced with loads of butter.

Ingredients

• 1 mug plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• coconut cream
• 2 tsp sugar (to taste)

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients, adding coconut cream to form a ´doughy´ consistency that will hold together
• Shape into tennis ball sized balls and drop into a pan of boiling water
• Should take about 10 mins

Eat with tea, loads of butter in the warm mid morning Fijian sun.

Kokoda (pronounced Kokonda)

My favourite dish from Fiji. A very fresh, clean, zesty, fish dish similar in idea to the Peruvian Ceviche (which I will hopefully have loads of later on in my travels) where the fish is ´cooked´ in lime (or lemon) juice first. Serve as a starter and to show off serve in hollowed out coconuts with some iceberg lettuce and extra chillis for the brave.

This should serve about 4 as a starter.

Ingredients

• 300g Fresh, firm, white fleshed fish, filleted, skin removed and cut into bite size pieces. I've tried this with plaice and it worked perfectly. 2 - 3 fillets should serve about 4 as a starter
  
• Enough lime juice to cover fish. Approx 6 limes
• 1 cup coconut cream *see note below
  
• 1/2 Onion, finely diced
• 1/2 Green pepper, finely diced
• 1 medium tomato, deseeded and finely diced
• 1 chilli, seeds removed finely sliced
  
• Salt and pepper
  

Instructions

• Marinate fish in lime juice for at least 30 mins, but a few hours or even overnight is fine
  
• Combine all the other ingredients
• Add the fish to the other ingredients, reserving the lime juice marinade
• Add the lime juice marinade and salt and pepper to taste

Notes

• If not using coconuts to serve, line a bowl with some iceburg lettuce leaves and then spoon in the mixture.
• Serve with some very finely sliced chillis on the side for the brave
• *Coconut cream - I tried this with the stuff that comes in sachets that you melt in hot water. Unfortunately as soon as you add it to the cold ingredients it just solidifies again and looks pretty horrible. The next time I mixed it with some of the milk from a fresh coconut and it was perfect.

Fish Lolo

Fijian fish dish where a whole fish is roasted and served with bubbling coconut cream, onions tomato and chilli.

I ate a whole Coral Cod cooked like this on Yanuca Island as the sun set with a bottle of Fiji Bitter. I had watched the unlucky (but delicious) fish being spear fished earlier on that day.

Ingredients

• Whole firm, white fleshed fish (or a fillet)
• Coconut cream
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely sliced

Instructions

• Rub fish with oil, salt and pepper. If whole put 2 - 3 slashes down the fattest part of each side
  
• Place on a roasting dish and roast in a hot (200C+) oven until just cooked. I can´t give accurate timings due to range of sizes and types of fish, but a whole fish big enough for 2 people shouldn´t take longer than 10 - 12 mins
• Pour over coconut cream, onions, tomatoes and chilli
• Put back into oven until coconut cream is bubbling and serve

Serve with your choice of rice, salad, stir fried vegetables, casava, chips

Chary´s Meat Loaf

When my parents lived in Nigeria their Chilean friend Chary made the best Meat Loaf I have ever eaten. 24 years later in Santiago Chary made it for me again, and it tasted just as good in the sunshine in her garden as I remembered as a child in Nigeria all those years ago.

Serve with mashed potato and Chilean cucumber salad (recipe below).



Ingredients

• 670g pork mince
• 330g beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Handful of chopped fresh parsley
• About 6 inches of a baguette
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• Dash of Worcester Sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 1 glass red wine
  

Instructions

• Soak bread in milk for about 10 mins until soft and then wring out the excess milk
• Combine all the ingredients in a large by bowl
• By hand mix the ingredients together to form a sausagemeat like consistency. If it is too wet add a little flour
• Form into a long, fat sausage in the center of a large roasting tray, pour over a glass of red wine and put into an oven preheated to 200C
• Cook for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat loaf is cooked thoroughly all the way through
• Every 15 - 20 mins baste the meat loaf, if there isn't alot of juice around the meat loaf pour a cup of boiling water over it to keep it moist
  
• For the last 15 - 20 mins if it hasn't browned on top put it under the grill
• Serve with mashed potato, cucumber salad and some of the juice from around the Meat Loaf

Chilean Cucumber Salad

• Peel a cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and using a tea spoon scrape out the seeds and watery bit in the middle
• Using a knife or mandolin very thinly slice the cucumber
• Place sliced cucumber into the middle of a clean tea towel, sprinkle with some salt and wring out any excess moisture from the cucumber
• Add approx 1 tablespoon of regular vegetable oil and about half the amount of red wine vinegar to the cucumber. Depending on the sweetness of the cucumber and the sharpness of the vinegar you may need to add some sugar
• Another dressing option is to use some natural yoghurt, a little bit of crushed garlic and a splash of vinegar
  

Pebre (Chilean Salsa)

Pebre is a delicious Chilean salsa, served as a starter with plenty of fresh bread. At first glance it may look like an ordinary salsa, but what elevates it is the amount of coriander used and the red wine vinegar. Pebre it is served all over Chile in restaurants as a cover. This is Chary´s recipe, which is the proper one.




Ingredients

• 1 medium onion, finely diced
  
• 1 bunch coriander, finely chopped. Don´t be mean with the coriander, the Chileans use loads so add more than you would normally
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and finely diced
• 1 small clove garlic, mashed
  
• 1 - 2 green chillies seeds removed, finely chopped. The amount all depends on the strength of the chillies.
  
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil, not olive
  
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• Juice of half a lemon
• Pinch sea salt and black pepper
  

Instructions

• In a bowl mix the tomatoes, onion, garlic and coriander
  
• Add salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, lemon and chilli and adjust to taste
• If the tomatoes aren´t that juicy then you may need to mash them a bit to make it nice and juicy

Serve with loads of fresh crusty bread.

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients

• 250g plain flour
• 1 level tsp salt
• 4 medium eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
• 300ml milk
• 300ml water
  
• oil, any will do

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients minus the oil in a bowl
• Whisk (electric is easiest) until is all nicely combined, aerated and the consistency of thick paint
• Leave to rest for 30 mins
• 2 options for cooking, either in a muffin tin (should make about 12) or a single roasting tin (40cm x 25cm)
• Place the tin into an oven preheated to 210C with oil in the bottom, it must at least cover the bottom of whatever tin you use. The key is to get the tin and oil very hot before adding the batter
• Remove tin from the oven and working quickly pour in the batter. If using muffin tin fill each hole about half way up
• Put back into oven and cook for about 15 - 20 mins or until nicely puffed up and golden brown

Cooked Yorkshire puddings can be frozen and then heated directly from frozen when needed.

Perfect Roast Beef and Gravy

Follow these simple instructions for perfect roast beef with a delicious rich, gravy. Perfect for me means rare, but this should also suit everyone as the sides will be well done, the next slice medium and then through medium rare to the delicious rare juicy slices in the middle.

The basics of this (sizzle, slow cook then rest) comes from the British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who knows pretty much all there is to know about rearing and cooking meat to bring out the best in it. I´ve cooked this three times on my travels so far with Chilean and Argentinian beef and it went down very, very well.

Ingredients

• Piece of beef suitable for roasting. The best cuts for this would be a forerib or sirloin, for our Spanish speaking friends this would be lomo vetado or lomo liso. The more cube shaped the better rather than long and thin. Long and thin will cook quicker so adjust times.
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 onion
• 2 sticks of celery
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
  
• 2 - 3 glasses of red wine
• 1 pint beef stock (or retain the water from boiling your veg)
  

Instructions

• Bring beef out of fridge an hour or so beforehand to allow to come up to room temperature
  
• Preheat oven to at least 220C
• Combine olive oil, salt and pepper
  
• Trim the beef and then lovingly massage the oil, salt and pepper mixture all over the beef
• Cut the carrots and celery into pieces that are longer than the beef is wide
• Slice the onion crossways, no need to peel
• Place the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and bay leaves in the bottom of a roasting dish big enough for the beef. The idea is to create a bed for the beef to sit on. This will allow a more even cooking of the beef, and the veg will form the basis of the gravy
• Pop beef on top and then place into the very hot oven
  
• Cook on this high heat for 20 - 30 minutes when the beef should have developed a rich, dark, sizzling coating
• The beef now needs to be cooked at a much lower temperature, around 160C. Open the oven door and give it a good waft to cool it down quicker. Timings are as follows
• 10 mins per 500g - rare
• 12 mins per 500g - medium rare
• 15 mins per 500g - medium
  
• don´t even think about cooking it for any longer
• It will be difficult to tell by looking at the meat when it is ready, because the initial sizzle at the high temperature will have given it a golden crust. As all ovens are different and all bits of meat are different shape, the most accurate way to test is with a meat thermometer, inserted into the center of the thickest part of the joint
  
• 45C - very rare (magic number for the carnivores)
  
• 50C - rare
• 60C - medium
• 70C - obliterated
  
• You can also test by prodding with your finger, if it offers little resistance and the whole piece moves when you prod it then it is probably still very rare. If it feels quite solid then get it out. This takes a bit of experience to tell. You can also slide a knife into the beef and check the juices, and the temperature of the tip of knife on your lip. If blood oozes out then it probably needs some more, if nothing comes out then get it out of the oven fast.
• The final and one of the most important steps is to rest the meat. Place it on a plate or something that will catch any stray juices and cover completely in foil. Rest for at least 30 mins, but any longer won't hurt and give you longer to finish off the gravy etc. This long resting helps the juices and heat to more evenly distribute through the beef. So the result should be a more tender, consistent and juicier roast.

Gravy

• While all the roasting is going on, heat some stock. The best would be home made beef stock, the next best is good shop bought beef stock, followed by fresh vegetable stock (could be the water the veg were boiled in) or just water. You can pack plenty of flavour into the gravy without using stock cubes.
  
• Place the roasting tin minus the beef on the hob
• Stir in about a dessert spoon of plain flour into the oil and juices and stir for a few minutes
  
• Slowly start adding the red wine, stirring and scraping the bottom of the tray as you go
• Add the stock
• From this point on, how much you add, and how much you boil it to reduce it is all about personal taste
  
• Other extras that can be added to the gravy include Worcester sauce, tomato ketchup to sweeten it, mustard or balsamic vinegar
• After about 10 - 15 mins the gravy can be strained through a sieve into a pan, making sure to squeeze out all the juices. The carrots, onions and celery can be kept to serve with the beef
• Keep warm and serve in a gravy jug
  

To serve

• Carve the beef on a large wooden chopping board at the table so everyone can watch each perfectly cooked slice of beef fall off the joint, into a spreading pool of juices.
  

Ideas to accompany the beef

• Yorkshire puddings
• Roast potatoes
• Honey, orange and mustard glazed carrots
• Parmesan roast parsnips
• Stir fried savoy cabbage with onions, garlic and bacon
• Cauliflower and cheese

Apple Crumble

This is a classic recipe for a traditional apple crumble. The filling can be any fruit of your choice and if you like it a bit moister then add a touch of water or wine to the apples. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy the contrasts of hot mushy apples, crunchy topping and ice cold ice cream.

Ingredients
Serves 6
Crumble Topping

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
• butter

Filling

• 6 - 7 large dessert apples. Depending on the apple you chose, for a drier one like Pink Lady add a little water or wine
  
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 - 2 tsp cinnamon
• handful of raisins

Instructions

• For the crumble combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl
• Cut the butter into small cubes and using your finger tips work it into the dry ingredients
• Keep on adding more butter and working it until it is like breadcrumbs and when you squeeze it in your hands it just holds together
• For the filling, peel core and cut apples into segments
• If not cooking straight away toss apples in some lemon juice as you go to prevent from turning brown
• Place the apples into a deep sided oven dish and mix in the sugar, cinnamon and raisins
• Pour the crumble mixture on top and roughly spread out. No need to be too neat as you are a after a nice textured topping
• Place into an oven preheated to 180C for about 45 mins or until the topping is a nice golden brown. Keep an eye on it to make sure the topping doesn´t burn
• Serve hot with vanilla ice cream
  

Apfel Strudel von Max Prelog

This is an authentic Austrian recipe for Apfel Strudel. Max learnt this working as a baker in post war Austria and has been making it for over 40 years. Enjoy Apfel Strudel with a huge mound of whipped cream and a coffee for an Austrian, afternoon treat.

Ingredients
Pastry

• 250g plain flour, sifted
• 1 egg, beaten
• pinch fine salt
• pinch vinegar (any will do)
• 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup body temperature water

Filling

• 2.5Kg Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into segments
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsly chopped
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 150g butter

Instructions

Mix all pastry ingredients together
Work ingredients into a dough with hands, make sure you work it hard against the side of the bowl You are aiming for quite a sticky dough, it should stick to your hands and the bowl
Cover dough with a film of oil Place on a plate then cover with an upturned bowl that is wet on the inside Leave for between 1 hour to 1 day, the longer the better The most important thing is that no skin forms on the dough, if this happens throw it away and start again
Now for the Apfelstrudel filling Mix sugar and cinnamon Peel apples, cut into segments and cover with some lemon juice to prevent going brown Coarsly chop walnuts
Toast breadcrumbs in half the butter until golden In another pan melt the other half of the butter
Lay a clean tablecloth over a dining room table and dust with flour. Dust more heavily in the center of the table
Place dough in center of table Dust with flour and a coating of oil Roll with a pin into a rectangular shape
This is the bit that takes years of practice so don´t be upset if the pastry tears. Work around the pastry teasing it towards the edge of the table by placing one hand palm upwards underneath the pastry and gently pulling Keep going until dough is paper thin and in a rectangle shape Top tip - make more than one batch of pastry so you can have another go
Along one long side of the pastry spread out the: breadcrumbs apples raisins walnuts cinnamon sugar melted butter
Trim edges of pastry Pick up tablecloth and in one smooth motion roll into a long tube
Butter a large flat baking tray Cut the Apfelstrudel into lengths that will fit into tray and place side by side Pop into oven preheated to 150C for 20 mins After 20 mins brush with melted butter and put back into oven for another 25 mins or until golden brown
Remove from oven, trim edges and then cut into thick, generous slices Place on a serving dish and dust with icing sugar
Serve the Apfel Strudel warm with a huge mound of whipped cream, a large cup of coffee and some happy friends