Green chili sauce

Recently travelling through Thailand I've found this ridiculously good sauce. It is very simple, hot and refreshing... while keeping to Thai rule of hot sauces - does not mask the taste of food it dresses.

The recipe differs, but the general ingredients are:
- 1 part green chili(bird's eye chili or similar small, green and hot/mild)
- 6 parts fresh lime
- 6 parts fresh coriander greens
- Lemon juice (to add to the mixture if it's too dry)
- (optional) spring onions, sweet basil, mint, lemongrass

We start chopping.
Everything has to be chopped very finely to be almost a paste:
- Finely chop the chili and put in a bowl
- Squeeze the lime juice over the chili.
- Remove all the dry flesh and keep the peel. Chop it finely and mix in with the chili.
- Finely chop the coriander and your optional ingredients and mix them in with the chili.
- If the mixture is too dry, you can add lemon juice or juice another lime.
- Mix well with a spoon and leave for some time to get the heat distributed evenly.
- Add salt for longer storage

Ideally consumed immediately

My favourite is just fresh peeled prawns dressed in this sauce. It's magical....

Red Caipirinha (Updated)

Capirinha is the beloved and traditional Brazilian drink. Extremely well balanced taste of cachaça, sugar and lime.
However, this drink is no longer confined by borders and therefore has perpetrated the bars and clubs of Europe.
I decided that the lively, but boring, greenish color of the drink needs an update. A really simple one.
Here comes the Red Caipirinha:

Tagliatelle with blue cheese

The simple rustic dish from the Italian classics. Fresh tagliatelle bring the earthy taste with the best falvours of wheat. Most important part of the preparation of the dish is to make sure that the wheat flavours are not dominated by the sauce.

Sweet marinated Chicken

A dish for people with some time to spare and a grill. Unusual ingredients yield some unusual flavors and will surprise some people.

The Ultimate Duck Liver Pate

 Simplest ever dish. A very good option for a starter or a fancy party finger food.

JJAMPONG (With rice noodles)

Visiting Korea one of my most favourite dishes was their spicy seafood noodle soup. The mixture of spices and lightness of the seafood is always something interesting. Every East Asian cuisine has something similar, but I like Korean the best.

Now I like spicy, but I don't like to overdo it when cooking at home.
So my take on the soup is a bit lighter and with more complimentary flavours.

Apple Crumble in a microvawe oven.

For a long time I have been experimenting with recipes that would work using microwave oven instead of gas or electric ovens. Usually baked goods are really not an option for microwave ovens, but this little something got me surprised.
Crumble is the one recipe that worked in the microwave oven as good as in a gas oven. Sure the color resulted in pale yellow, not brown, but the color can be corrected if you have a culinary blow torch.
The crumble recipe is quite simple:

• baking flour 250 g
• butter 150g

Mix it thoroughly, add more flour to get brittle consistency, the prices should not stick and make dough.
When cooking in the microwave oven, do not cover the crumble. Your microwave oven should dehumidify so the crumble does not become soaked.

A video recipe can be found at Videojug: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-apple-crumble

Turkey Stock for Risotto

The risotto is a very simple dish, but it may contain some very interesting flavours and texture. In my case the main ingredient is correct turkey broth. It's rich, creamy and, when prepared correctly, very light.

Celebrating the fresh potato

It is the time of the year when fresh potatoes are gathered to bring us these little nuggets of culinary joy. Their taste is very much like the full grown potatoes, but it has a little bit something more....
Their granular texture and earthy flavour are incredible, if prepared correctly.

Boiled Turkey Breast: Wow!

"Wow!" - Ran in my head when I bit that cube of turkey. That is so subtle, so extraordinary. The boiled turkey breast is a great food for weight reducing diet.

What did I do to get that taste? Simply by trying to have boiled turkey and stock.

Turkey Salad Simplex: Simplicity at it's best

This is one of the most simple and very delicious salads that I have had. The recipe is dead simple and very quick in preparation. The ingredients are as follows:

• Boiled turkey fillet about 100 g (1/4 pound or 4 oz)
• Romaine lettuce
• Sesame seed oil and/or extra virgin olive oil
• Basil, cilantro leaves and celery leaves
• White pepper - crushed or ground
• Salt
• Optionally tomatoes and olives
  

My take on Waldorf Salad

A lot of people know this American classic. I decided to put a little twist o it.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 red skin apples, obviously not peeled, chopped (about 200 grams or 7 oz)
• chopped celery root, about the same amount as the apples(200 grams)
• half a cup of walnuts, chopped
• grapes or raisins
  
• 3 table spoons of mayonnaise
  
• half of table spoon of proper mustard or 1 table spoon of sweet mustard
• a teaspoon of aceto balsamico (aka balsamic vinegar)
  
• lemon juice
• salt
• pepper

Fresh tomato based pasta

Being lazy is not a bad thing, as I discovered not long ago. Being lazy is the reason I came up with this fresh tasting recipe.
I was so hungry one evening after a long and lazy day. As usual pasta and fresh tomatoes are abundant at my home(thank you relatives and frequent guests from Rome,Italy). I was so tired to cook up the sauce, that I just chopped the tomatoes and fresh basil, and that was the base for the pasta.

Milk steak

A nice recipe for people with time on their hands.

Ingredients:

• boneless beef (400g)
• milk (1 litre)
• crushed pepper mix (black and white peppercorn)
• rosemary
  

Sweet and balsamic pork or beef stake

I decided to continue my adventure in cross border cuisine by mixing best of both....

The main ingredient is a nice steak for me. Nicely marbled beef is a real treat... Mmmmm.....

Cross-continental risotto

Gone today for a special super-national dish...

This is a simple risotto type dish made of :

• Round rice - dry 100g
• Soy sauce(superior black is better)
• black olives - 50g
• tomatoes(chopped, seedless) - 100g
• peas
• mustard seeds
• curry powder
• pecorino romano cheese for flavour - 10g
• olive oil
• onions

Ugh....

Yesterday's dinner was a very nice meat "thing". Cooked to perfection!

Ingredients:

• Beef
• Smoked bacon strips or prosciutto crudo (any but not Parma ham)
• Cheese - pecorino romano (grana padano or parmigiano reggiano may be used)
• Brandy or cognac (I used Cognac XO)
• Aceto balsamico (balsamic vinegar)
• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Onions
• Rice paper
• Olive oil