AVOCADO MAYONNAISE MIX

A variation for mayonnaise for cold chicken meals. It’s very simple to make.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon chopped white onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 ripe avocado

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and whizz until smooth.

Chill until you need it.

If a thinner mayonnaise is required, add some fresh cream.

SUGGESTION: Try it as well with cold chicken sandwiches.

CUCUMBER MAYONNAISE MIX

This Cucumber Mayonnaise Mix goes well with cold chicken sandwiches. It’s very simple to make.

Ingredients
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely diced cucumber
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

Options: It’s good for cold chicken meals too.

EASY TO MAKE CHEESE SAUCE

My daughter loves cheese. She's happy with plain pasta and cheese. This cheese sauce can be used in meat dishes too.

Ingredients
1 cup evaporated milk
4 slices processed cheddar cheese
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon mixed English mustard

Place evaporated milk and chopped cheese slices in a saucepan and stir over low heat until cheese melts.

Stir in cayenne, salt and mustard.

Option: If the kids don't like spices, you can take out the pepper or put less mustard.

The thickness of the sauce depends on the thickness of your cheese slices.

ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE

Anybody can say it’s Italian, but we'll try to stick with vegetables that grow in Italy as much as we can. This Italian tomato sauce recipe is pretty easy to make.

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 can (810 g) peeled tomatoes, chopped (do not drain)
1 can (230 g) tomato paste
1 cup vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Sauté onion and garlic in the hot oil, until lightly browned.

Add all remaining ingredients and stir over low heat until boiling. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Let it cool. Pack into a container, seal label and freeze.

My rule of thumb: If there's meat in the sauce then it’s probably an American recipe.

Chinese Chicken and Prawns

Why do chicken and prawns go well together? They do don't they. Maybe because both are white meat, and both have approximately the same cooking time. Dishes that mix prawn and chicken are very common.

This Chinese Chicken and Prawn recipe makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:
2 large whole chicken breasts
500 g (1 lb) prawns, shelled
3 carrots
4 celery stalks
250 g (8 oz) mushrooms
1 bunch shallots
4 tablespoons peanut oil
1 clove garlic, halved
250 g (8 oz) snow peas
½ cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon corn flour
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
Chinese noodles and vermicelli

Procedure
Remove chicken from bone and cut into 3cm (1 in) pieces. Cut prawns in half, lengthwise. Thinly slice carrots, celery and mushrooms. Cut shallots into 5cm (2 in) pieces.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil with garlic in a wok. Stir-fry chicken and prawns for 2 minutes, or until chicken is golden; push to one side.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil; add carrots, celery, mushrooms, shallots and snow peas; stir fry until vegetables are coated with oil.

Pour chicken stock into pan; cover, steam 5 minutes, or until vegetables are crispy tender.

Combine corn flour, sherry and ginger in a cup; stir into a pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and bubbles 2 minutes. Serve over Chinese noodles or vermicelli.

Chicken a la King

One story goes that the first chicken a la king wasn't made for royalty but rather for a man named Clark King III, while another story says it was a man named William King who first cooked it. Regardless of its origins we all enjoy Chicken a la King.

This recipe makes five to six servings.

Ingredients:
1 chicken, 1 ¾ kg (3 ½ lb)
2 spring parsley
1 bay leaf
Salt
3 tablespoon softened butter
1 medium sized green capsicum, diced
1 small onion, grated
1 ½ tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon paprika
Salt to taste
1 cup milk
¾ cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon dry sherry
125 g (4 oz) small mushrooms
Cooked rice

Procedure:
Put chicken into a saucepan with the parsley, bay leaf, salt to taste and water to cover. Put lid on pan, cook gently until tender.

Drain, pull of skin and disjoint chicken. Remove flesh from bones, cut into cubes, put aside. Strain the required stock, skim off fat.

Melt butter add the capsicum and onion, gently fry until soft. Add flour, paprika and salt and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes.

Slowly stir in the milk and stock, mixed together and cook, stirring until boiling. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, stir the sherry.

Quickly fry the mushrooms in butter until softened, add to sauce with the chicken cubes and simmer until reheated. Serve on a bed of cooked rice.

How to make Chicken Curry

Curry derives from the Dravidian word "Kari" and means "vegetable in sauce" or "sauce". In recent times Curry is broadly used to refer to any spicy dish cooked in the South Asian and Southeast Asian style of cooking.

Here we have chicken curry hopefully cooked the classic Indian way.

Ingredients:
1 chicken 2kg (4 lb)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups desiccated coconut
3 medium sized onions, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon fresh root ginger, very finely chopped
3 tablespoons ghee, butter or oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 medium sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped
Salt to taste


Procedure:
Disjoint chicken and cut into small serving pieces.

Heat milk, add coconut, leave for 15 minutes to cool, and pour into a bowl through a sieve, kneading the coconut to extract all the liquid.

Gently fry the onions, garlic and ginger in the butter, ghee or oil until onions have softened and are lightly tinted. Add the curry powder, stir over low heat for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes, coconut milk and salt, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken, cover and continue simmering for 45 minutes to one hour, or more until chicken is tender.

Serve with rice.

Suggestion:
I find chicken curry more tasty the next day after reheating it. That's because the chicken absorbs more of the sauce overnight.

About Ghee
Traditionally ghee is butter produced from the milk of buffalo indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, although the process of preparation si different. If you can't find one at a local store or ethnic market, butter is fine, or cooking oil.

How to cook Chicken Chow Mein

Chow Mein is a generic term for a dish of stir-fried noodles. Thus Chicken Chow Mein stands for stir-fired noodles with chicken trips.

This chicken chow mein recipe is good for four servings.

Chicken Chow Mein Ingredients:
250 g (8 oz) Chinese egg noodles
4 dried Chinese mushrooms
1 tablespoon peanut oil
3 teaspoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 white stalk celery
1 medium-sized green capsicum
2 large chicken breasts
2 teaspoons dry sherry (again)
2 teaspoons corn flour
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger root, grated
salt
cooking oil

How to cook Chicken Chow Mein
Drop noodles into a large sauce pan of boiling salted water. When noodles begin to soften separate them using chopsticks or fork. Drain,rinse under cold running water, drain again and spread on absorbent paper or tray. Sprinkle with 1 table spoon peanut oil.

Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes, rinse in cold water. Drain, remove stalks, cut mushroom in strips.

Put the strips of mushroom in a small sauce pan with the 3 teaspoons dry sherry, soy sauce, sugar and the oil. Cook gently, stirring for 3 minutes. Put aside.

Shred the celery and capsicum finely. Put aside.

Bone the chicken breasts and cut into short thin strips. Put in a bowl. Add the 2 teaspoons dry sherry and corn flour, stir well. Put aside for 5 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil with the grated ginger, add the celery and capsicum, and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in mushroom strips, fry for another minute, remove all from the pan. Set aside.

Add another 2 tablespoons oil in the pan, heat and add the chicken strips. Fry, stirring until the strips turn white. Replace the vegetables, add salt to taste. Reheat stirring well.

Heat 1 cup oil, fry noodles, half at a time, turning once to crisp. Put on a platter and top with the chicken mixture.

How to make Foil Wrapped Potaotes

I like Foil Wrapped Potatoes because the moisture is locked in and yet the potatoes are not soggy.

This Foil Wrapped Potatoes recipe serve four persons, and takes an hour to barbecue over hot coals.

Ingredients
4 large potatoes, scrubbed
1 tablespoon (20 ml) oil
2 tablespoons (40 g) butter
4 tablespoons (80 ml) sour cream
chopped chives

Use the oil to grease squares of doubled aluminum foil, with the dull side down, and wrap potatoes individually and seal.

Place on the grid over hot coals and cook for 1 hour, turning occasionally, until potatoes are soft when lightly squeezed. Take the potatoes off the grid.

Open top of foil, slash potatoes with a cross and squeeze.
Fork in butter, top with sour cream and sprinkle with chives.

There you have it, your very own foil wrapped potatoes.

Suggestions: Serve foil wrapped potatoes with barbecued steak.

How to make Green Goddess Salad and Dressing

Here's a simple recipe for Green Goddess Salad, complete with how to make the dressing. It's good to know more than one type of salad. Barbecues are made special with salads.

It doesn't to vary the salads, specially if you know only one way to barbecue. So, the next time you make a barbecue, try serving your barbecue with Green Goddess Salad.

This Green Goddess Salad recipe serves six persons. You will need a blender to make the dressing.

Ingredient
1 head of cos lettuce or romaine lettuce

Salad Dressing
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) mayonnaise
4 anchovies, crushed
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon (20 ml) tarragon vinegar
1 tablespoon (20 ml) lemon juice
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons (80 ml) thick sour cream

Wash the lettuce leaves and pat dry, then roll in a towel and crisp in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a blender place mayonnaise, anchovies, parsley, chives, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper and for 2-3 minutes until creamy.

Pour mixture into a bowl, stir in sour cream and mix well, then chill for at least 15 minutes.

Tear lettuce leaves into bite size pieces and place in a salad bowl, drizzle with dressing and toss.

There you have it, your very own Green Goddess Salad.

How to make Marinated Beef Kebabs

Kebabs are easy to make and serves heavy meat in small pieces. This particular recipe, Marinated Beef Kebab, is very popular among friends.

This Marinated Beef Kebab recipe serves four persons; it cooks in 8-10 minutes. Although marinating the beef would take an hour. Barbecue the Marinated Beef on skewers over hot coals.

Kebab Ingredients
750 g (1 1/2 lbs) thick barbecue steak
2 medium onions, cut in wedges

Marinade Ingredients
1 clove garlic crushed
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon (20 ml) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (20 ml) dry sherry
2 tablespoons (40 ml) salad oil

Trim fat from meat, cut into 2.5 cm (1") cubes and place in a bowl.

Combine garlic, salt, pepper, honey, soy sauce, sherry and oil in a bowl and mix until smooth.
Pour over the meat and marinate for at least 1 hour.

Drain the meat, set marinade in a bowl.
Thread the meat on skewers alternately with onion wedges.

Place over hot coals and cook for 8-10 minutes, basting with the marinade.

There you have it, your very own Marinated Beef Kebabs, just like grandma used to make them.

Suggestion: Serve the Marinated Beef Kebab with potatoes and salads.

How to make Thousand Island Dressing

Thousand Island Dressing is one of the more commonly used sauce poured on salads. Although Thousand Island Dressing now comes readily off the shelf of a grocery store, I'd still prefer one that comes out of my own kitchen.

This recipe makes 1 cup (250 ml) of Thousand Island Dressing.

Ingredients
3/4 cup (185 ml) mayonnaise
6 stuffed olives
1/4 of a small green capsicum
2 gherkins
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chopped chives
1/2 cup (85 ml) tomato sauce
1 hard boiled egg

Chop olives, capsicum and gherkins finely.

Place mayonnaise in a bowl and stir in olives, capsicum, gherkins, salt, chives, tomato sauce and mix well.

Chop egg finely, fold into the mixture and chill.

There you have it, your very own homemade Thousand Island Dressing.

How to make Avocado, Apple and Crab Salad

Avocado, Crab and Apple. How often have you found yourself look into your refrigerator and find an odd mix of items like Avocado, Apple and Crab?

Are you one to say "I've got nothing but fruits," or are you one that would say "what can I make with these?" As my grandmother always says - a good mix of flavors makes a good salad.

This Avocado, Apple and Crab Salad recipe serves 4 to 6 persons.

Ingredients
3 avocado pears, chilled
1 large apple, chilled
440 g can crab meat, chilled
4 large crisp lettuce leaves
2-3 crisp celery tops
salt and pepper
1/2 cup(125 ml) Thousand Island Dressing

Peel avocados, cut in half, discard seeds and slice.
Peel and slice apples.
Drain the crab.

Place lettuce leaves in a salad bowl, add sliced avocados, apples, crab meat and celery leaves, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pour thousand island dressing over the salad.

Dig in and savor the rich mix of flavors in your Avocado, Apple and Crab Salad.

Suggestions: Serve Avocado, Apple and Crab Salad with barbecued pork or steak.

How to cook Spicy Barbeque Pork Chops

Cooking barbecues in the summer is very common. Growing up, my siblings and I always looked forward to weekend barbecues. One of the more common barbecues we had was Spicy Barbecue Pork Chops.

Spicy Barbecue Pork Chops use simple ingredients that are readily available all year round.

This Spicy Barbecue Pork Chops recipes serves 6 persons. The entire process takes 35-45 minutes. It is best to barbecue on the grid over medium coals.

Ingredients
6 pork loin chops 1" (2 1/2 cm) thick
2 tablespoons (40 g) butter, melted
salt and pepper

Ingredients for Spicy Sauce
3 tablespoons (60 ml) malt vinegar
1/2 cup (125 ml) tomato sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon mustard sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaves
salt and pepper

Making the Sauce
Combine the vinegar, tomato sauce, sugar, cloves, mustard, ground bay leaves, a dash of salt and pepper in a heavy based pan and place on the barbecue over low heat to simmer gently for 25-30 minutes.

Cooking the barbecue
While the sauce simmers, brush pork chop with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper; set aside for 8-10 minutes.

Place the chops on the grid over medium coals and cook for 8 minutes, turn and brush with the spicy sauce, cook a further 8 minutes, turn and baste.

Turn the chops once or twice more, basting each time.

Serve your Spicy Barbecue Pork Chops while hot, with the remaining spicy sauce on the side.

Suggestions: Serve your Spicy Barbecue Pork Chop with salad and hot bread.

How to cook a Ratatouille

When you saw the movie Ratatouille did you think to yourself "I never knew that was called a Ratatouille," or did you say "that's not how mom's Ratatouille looks?"

My grandmother's Ratatouille looks different. She always served it in a casserole with plenty of sauce, not on a dish to picked with a fork.

This Ratatouille recipe is for a serving of four to six persons. It cooks in 45-50 minutes. You can barbecue over a grid in a casserole, if you plan to serve it with barbecued meat.

Ingredients
1/2 cup (85 ml) olive or salad oil
1 clove garlic, sliced thinly
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 large green capsicums, seeded and chopped
1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced
1 extra clove garlic, crushed
250 g (1/2 lb) zucchini, sliced
4 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced
salt and pepper

Heat half the oil in a flameproof casserole with the sliced garlic.

Add in layers the onions, capsicums, eggplant, extra garlic, zucchini and tomatoes. Sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper.

Pour the remainder of the oil over the top.

Cover and cook over low heat for 40-45 minutes to bring out the flavors.

Remove lid and cook for another 5 minutes to thicken the sauce.

There you have it, your very own Ratatouille, which looks different from the movie, but as rich in flavor as a spring day.

Suggestion: Serve your Ratatouile hot with barbecued meat.

How to make Chilled Ratatouille

This recipe is for a serving of four to six persons, and cooks in 40-45 minutes.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons (40 ml) cooking oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 medium eggplant, peeled and diced
1 small green capsicum, seeded and sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
3-4 small zucchini, sliced
salt and pepper

Heat oil in a heatproof casserole dish, add garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add eggplant, capsicum, onion, tomato and zucchini in layers; season each layer with salt and pepper.

Ad a few more drops of oil to the surface, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Gently move the vegetables occasionally.

Uncover and simmer for another 10-15 minutes to reduce liquid.

Remove dish from heat and allow to cool.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and serve.

Note: Carton movies are fictional.

How to cook Saffron Rice Salad

There are many ways of cooking rice and serving it. Adding saffron to rice makes the rice taste a whole lot richer.

This Saffron Rice Salad recipe serves four persons.

Ingredients
1 cup rice
3 tablespoons (60 g) butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon saffron
salt and pepper
2 cups (500 ml) chicken stock
1/2 cup (125 ml) white wine


Heat butter in a casserole, add rice and garlic and stir until rice begins to color.

Remove from heat and stir in saffron, salt, pepper, parsley, chicken stock and wine.

Cover and cook over medium coals for 25-30minutes, until moisture is absorbed and rice is tender.

There you have it, your very own Saffron Rice Salad.

Suggestion: Serve Saffron Rice Salad hot with chicken barbecue.

How to make Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a very common side dish. Growing up I always see Coleslaw with almost every meat dish. Coleslaw with hamburger, coleslaw with barbecue, coleslaw with fried chicken...The list goes on and on.

And we we never tire of serving Coleslaw because its simple to make, the ingredients are readily available, and its a very colorful vegetable side dish - making the Coleslaw a very healthy dish.

This Coleslaw recipe serves four to six persons.

Ingredients
1/4 head of cabbage
3 young carrots
2 apples
2 stalks white celery
salt
pepper
4 tablespoons (80 ml) cream
4 tablespoons (80 ml) mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon chopped parsley


Shred the cabbage finely.
Grate the carrots.
Peel, core and chop the apples.
Chop the celery.
Place all in a salad bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss.

Combine mayonnaise and cream, mix well.
Pour over the salad, toss well, then cover and chill for 1 hour.

At serving, sprinkle salad with walnuts and parsley and toss.

There you have it, your very own homemade Coleslaw.

Suggestion: Coleslaw goes well with barbecues.

How to make Italian Style Barbecued Chicken

Its a chicken barbecue with tomato and cheese, thus its Italian Style Barbecue Chicken.

Italian Style Barbecued Chicken
This recipe serves 4 people.
The chicken barbecues in 30-35 minutes on grill over medium hot coals.
The tomato and cheese sauce takes about 10 minutes over hot coals.

Ingredients
1 1/2 kg (3 lbs) of 4 chicken halves
3 tablespoon (75 ml) of cooking oil
750 g ( 1 1/2 lbs) of tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon of ground bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon oregano
3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
pepper
salt

Making the Tomato and Cheese Sauce
Pour the oil in a heavy pan and heat it over coals.

Once hot add tomatoes, garlic, ground bay leaves, thyme, oregano salt and pepper and cook. Stir and mash the ingredients until the tomatoes are pureed.

Fold in cheese and cook stirring for 2 to 3 minutes, then set pan aside.

Barbecuing the Chicken
Brush chicken halves generously with tomato and cheese sauce on all sides.

Place chicken on a grid over medium hot coals for 30-35 minutes, basting with the sauce, and turning the chicken two or three times.

There you have it, your Italian Style Barbecue Chicken, it is best served while hot.

Suggestion: Serve your Italain Style Barbecue Chicken with coleslaw or rice salad.

More Cooking Measurements

Some recipes would ask for ounces and quarts, while other would ask for kilograms and liters; and your kitchen would probably have measuring implements for one but not the other. Here are simple charts to make things easier. These are approximates, we can’t be to rigid when cooking.

Approximate Temperatures
C = Celsius F = Fahrenheit

150C = 300F
175C = 350F
205C = 400F
220C = 425F
230C = 445F

Approximate Weights
lb = pound
oz = ounce
kg = kilo or kilogram
g = gram

1 lb = 0.45 kg
1 lb = 16 oz
1 oz = 28 g
16 oz = 450 g

1 kg = 1000 g
1 kg = 2.2 lb
115 g = 4 oz
115 g = ¼ lb

If you need an online converter, right click here for American Liquid and Dry Measurements.

This list should grow as our recipe list grows.

How Many Teaspoons Is One Tablespoon?

When I started cooking I could not cook without a recipe. I needed a book of instructions to get me going, and like a diesel engine once I got going I was ok.

But there was always a hitch when I was dependent on recipe books. One of those hitches was the recipes used measuring tools that may not be part of an incomplete kitchen.

This usually stalled my venture into cooking, and I would end up calling for delivery instead. Not anymore, not with this easy to use measuring guide for spoons and cups.

A short note on abbreviations:
tsp = teaspoon
tbsp = tablespoon
Tsp = tablespoon
ml = milliliter

A simple measuring guide:
1 teaspoon = ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp
1 teaspoon = ½ tsp + ½ tsp
½ teaspoon = ¼ tsp + ¼ tsp

1 tablespoon = 1 tsp + 1 tsp + 1 tsp

¼ cup = 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp + 1 tbsp

1 cup = ¼ cup + ¼ cup + ¼ cup + ¼ cup
1 cup = 1/3 cup + 1/3 cup + 1/3 cup
1 cup = ½ cup + ½ cup

1 cup = 16 tablespoons
1 cup = 8 ounces
1 pint = 2 cups
1 quart = 2 pints

250 ml. = 1 cup
1 liter = 4 cups


This list should grow as our recipe list grows.