Month: January 2016

plain flour for dusting
good-quality, shop-bought puff pastry 400g
egg 1, beaten, to be used as egg wash
filling of your choice:

For the cumin and paprika-spiced chicken and spinach
olive oil for cooking
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
50g baby spinach leaves
120g cooked chicken meat, shredded
Squeeze of lemon juice
sea salt and black pepper

For the ricotta, peas and mint
120g ricotta
50g frozen peas, defrosted
10 fresh mint leaves, roughly shredded
extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1/4 lemon
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface and roll out the pastry to a 3mm thickness. Cut out discs from the pastry about 12cm in diameter and transfer onto a floured tray. Repeat the process with the leftover pastry: you should end up with 12 discs of pastry. Transfer to the fridge to chill.

Prepare your filling. For the cumin and paprika-spiced chicken and spinach, heat a sauté pan over a low heat and add a lug of olive oil. Add the paprika and cumin and cook gently for 1 minute. Add the spinach, season and cook until fully wilted. Drain the spinach, cool and roughly chop. Mix with the chicken and lemon juice.

For the ricotta, peas and mint, mix all the ingredients together and check the seasoning.

When the pastry has chilled, remove from the fridge and place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each disc, leaving a 2cm border around the edges. Brush some egg wash on one half of the border and pull the other half over the top of the filling to meet the eggy side.

Press down and seal the pastry, ensuring there are no gaps. You will have a half moon shape with a bulge of filling in the centre. The pastry is quite robust but will become warm with too much handling, so you should work fairly swiftly. Crimp the sealed edge with a fork to give the classic empanadilla finish. Brush all over with egg wash and pop in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Bake the empanadillas on a floured, non-stick oven tray for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is piping hot – a knife inserted into the centre of the empanadilla will come out hot.

500ml gin
2 tbsp earl grey loose leaf tea

To infuse the gin, simply combine the gin and earl grey in a jar, and steep for about 2-3 hours.  The longer you leave it, the stronger the tea flavor will be. Strain the gin and store.

500ml tea infused gin
125ml lemon juice
30ml simple syrup
1L ginger ale

Combine the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a pitcher.  Stir, then add plenty of ice, followed by the ginger ale.  Serve immediately.

1 rack St. Louis–style pork spare ribs (about 2 pounds)

1/2 cup freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Combine black pepper, coriander, brown sugar, mustard powder, paprika, and cayenne in a small bowl. Brush ribs on both sides with distilled vinegar, sprinkle with salt, then pat all over with rub. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; chill at least 1 hour.

Place rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 325F/160C Transfer ribs to a roasting pan, fatty side up. Pour 1/2 cup water into pan and cover tightly with foil. Bake until meat is tender and falling off the bone, about 2 hours.

Remove ribs from oven and let stand, covered, 30 minutes.

Whisk Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, honey, and soy sauce in a small bowl.

Heat broiler. Remove foil from ribs and brush liberally on both sides with mustard mixture. Broil ribs until lightly charred, about 3 minutes. Slice into individual ribs.