Italian roast drumsticks.

Mother nature may have made chicken drumsticks perfect to eat with your hands

Marinate chicken in juice of one large lemon plus its rind skin only just grate it

add 1 tbsn olive oil 1tbsn dry white wine 2 garlic cloves grated into marinade

then 1tspn of each mixed herbs chilli flakes cracked pepper salt

cut 4 slits into each drumstick for marinade to penetrate

put chicken into a glad bag pour in marinade close up bag squeezing out as much air as you can and this is important squish the chicken with your hands through the glad bag for a while dont be scared just squish it!  marinate in fridge for not more than 2 hours 

roast uncovered in oven at 200c for half an hour then turn the oven down to 160c and turn drumsticks continue to roast till almost falling of the bone (so it looks like my photo!) 

this is for 4 big drumsticks.  

Bon Apetite.

Japanese sticky teriyaki chicken.

get some good teriyaki sauce (glaze) ive used the Ayam branded one

so 1 cup teriyaki one tbsn honey half tspn rice wine vinegar and a tspn wasabi

mix this concoction together slit drumstick 3 times for marinate to penetrate place drumsticks in a plastic or ceramic container where they can sit together tightly so the marinate covers them.

Marinate in fridge for at least 3-4 hours but not overnight

remove from marinade but reserve the marinade as you may need some for basting

oven 200c uncovered for 25mins then turn heat down to 160c and cook till ready check every now and then basting and turning them at least once say after an hour

serve with a crisp japanese beer and a salad

bon apetite!

Tuna patty mmmmm!

this will make 2 big serves

Big potato or 2 medium ones boiled till al dente when ready plunge into cold water and cool add drained olive oil tuna 200 grams and a handful of chopped fresh dill salt pepper (add scallions fine chop if you like) and an egg to bind, mix squisy with hands till well combined put into fridge to cool for at least 2 hours shape into a 9cm patty cook in shallow veg oil till golden serve warm with a dill lemon mayo sauce and crispy simple salad

enjoy!

My easy parmeson cracked pepper scrambled eggs.

learnt this easy way to make scrambled eggs from Rick Stien.. then i made it my own with black pepper and really good italian parmeson.

slow heat a non stick pan with butter when warm crack 3 eggs straight into pan (non of the ol bother of a bowl first) i love texture in my eggs and this is perfect as its not so scrambled and i think tastes and has a better mouth feel than eggs that have been whipped a frenzy in a bowl.

When the eggs are half ready add 2 tbsn parmeson mix through when eggs are ready and sprinkle with fresh cracked pepper if you like they should look like my photo sorta scrambled with bits of the yolk coming through

serve with buttered toast and finely chopped parsley.

BON APETITE!   

My spicy olive tapenade.

Add to your morter pitted great kalamata olives try to get good deli ones so there not too salty the capers will look after that taste add olive oil capers fresh chilli garlic and anchovies you experiment with amounts to suit your palate,try these amounts first

5 tbsns olive oil 1 big red chilli chopped keep the seeds 1 tbsn red wine vinegar 8 large olives 1 tbsn really good capers (rinsed)

4 fillets of anchovies pound all of these together to a rough paste (i like texture)

spread onto crusy bread or serve with meats or part of a mezze!

Enjoy!  

italian pollo (chicken) pepperonata.

This is just a beautiful flavoured chicken dish!

and easy saute your chicken breast in olive oil till golden remove from pan add a touch more oil to the pan add garlic onions (sliced)and some red and green capsicum (sliced) and saute for a minute till pan is hot then add some dry white wine to pan with peppers etc add 1 tbsn tomato paste as well with wine and cook out alcohol till you get a nice sauce return chicken to pan and heat all through with all other ingredients salt and pepper to taste serve with crusty bread

spanish type albigondas (spicy spicy meatballs)

hello at last im back guys so here is an amazing dish that ive sorta made my own as i add very special ingredients to the meatballs the tomato based sauce is simply garlic onions sauted in olive oil just as you would the start of a simple pasta sauce then passatta is added then cumin smoky paprika chilli powder all to taste it should be hot and smokey with a good hint of cumin

THE ALBIGONDAS

these little gems are beef mince not too lean though leave a bit of fat in them fat is flavour

put 300grams mince into a bowl big enough to get your hands all squishy as you mix the mix

add a tbsn organic tomato sauce 1 small egg one handful fresh mint and parsley cut together then toast slightly

1and a half tspn of whole cumin and again the same amount of whole caraway seeds when cooled put the seeds into a morter and pestle and just give a small grind so the seeds have a bit of texture add these to the mix as well as half tbsn dried oregano and 2 slices of white bread crusts removed soaked quickly in some water then squeezed to remove most of the water ad  d this to the mix and mix with you hands till everything is combined to a smooth mix (this is important!)

your sauce should have been on a slight simmer for at least an hour and the albigondas have been in the fridge for at least 2 hours so they firm up,remove meatballs from fridge shape into small balls say just a bit smaller than a golfball slip them one by one into the slow simmering sauce and simmer away till ready.

serve with fresh parsley crusty bread a crisp salad

more to come guys!