Recipes

Some food I like to cook

• Main dishes
  • Pork Spare Ribs in BBQ Sauce
  • Kalbi Chim (Korean steamed beef ribs)
  • Farfalloni con Funghi (Bowties and Mushrooms)
  • Baked Beans
• Breakfast
  • Porridge (with dates and tahini)
• Desserts
  • Kentish Cake
  • Sultana Tea Scones
  • Classic Pavlova

Pork Spare Ribs in BBQ Sauce

For 4-5 people.

• 500.0 g pork spare ribs (the thin ones are best)
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 800.0 g canned tomatoes (two cans or 1000.0 g fresh tomatoes)

1. Put meat in baking tin without any oil. Bake at 200C for 20-30 min. Pour off the fat that has come off the meat.
2. While meat is cooking, prepare the sauce and cut the sweet potatoes into smallish chunks.
3. Fry up onions and garlic and add ingredients in the order listed. Add some water if necessary - it should be thick but still have plenty of liquid in order to keep the meat moist as it cooks. Also taste, to adjust the sweet-sour-heat balance to taste. Allow sauce to cook gently, until the meat is read. Then pour the fat off the meat and add the sweet potatoes. Finally pour the sauce onto the meat and put back in the oven.
4. Reduce the heat to about 180C after about 20 minutes, but keep baking for another 60 minutes. Keep an eye on the cooking to make sure the spare ribs do not burn. If they are not completely covered with the sauce, you may need to baste them (spoon up the sauce and put it over the meat) a few times.
5. Serve with rice and some veggies. Amounts are enough to deal with enough meat to feed 5 or so people. If you have more, just multiply the sauce up, and you might need to increase the cooking time a little. The meat should be soft and coming off the bones.

Kalbi Chim (Korean steamed beef ribs)

Serves 5-6 people.

• 1000.0 g beef ribs (slice through the ribs, in thin slices)
• 1.5 cup water
• 6 tbsp sugar(brown or white)
• 1 tbsp rice wine (sake)
• 6 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 0.5 large onion (grated)
• 5 tbsp spring onions (chopped)
• 2 pieces dark chocolate (melted)
• 6 cloves garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Soak the ribs in cold water to remove the blood: leave in water for one hour, then throw the water away.
2. Put meat in shallow pan (best if it has thick base). Mix all the other ingredients together, melting the chocolate so it will mix, and pour over the meat.
3. Simmer for more than one hour (maybe even two), until the meast is very tender and the sauce has thickened.
4. Serve with rice and kimchee. If you have more, just multiply the sauce up, and you might need to increase the cooking time a little.
5. If you have some leftovers, try mixing the rice in with the sauce when you heat them up. It's delicious.

Farfalloni con Funghi (Bowties and Mushrooms)

For 4 people

• 40 g butter
• 400 g mushrooms
• 2 tbsp oil
• 400 g minced pork
• 1–2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• 0.5 tsp dried basil
• 0.5 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 100.0 ml wine
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• 200 ml beef stock
• 300 g farfalloni
• freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. In a saucepan melt the butter over medium heat and saute the mushrooms until cooked. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil and brown the pork and garlic in it, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon. (Pour off the juice and, if there is time, cool to remove the fat.)
3. Turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Let it boil rapidly until the foam subsides then add the flour stirring well.
4. Add the tomato puree, stock and herbs. Stir well and leave to simmer over a low flame for about 25 minutes. Stir quite often, as the sauce is thick and soon starts to stick to the bottom of the pan. When done add the reserved mushrooms and the juice from step 2.
5. Cook the farfalloni in plenty of boiling water (add salt when boiling) until al dente. Drain. To get the timing right, you need to put the water on about 10-15 minutes after the sauce started simmering.
6. Mix together the farfalloni and meat-mushroom sauce and serve immediately. Pass the grated parmesan separately.

The sauce can be made hours in advance, just re-heat while the pasta is cooking. The sauce is also good with egg noodles of any width.

Adapted from Pasta! Pasta! Pasta! by Ursel Norman.

Baked Beans

Serves 5-6 as main (with bread), 8-10 as side

• 500.0 g dry white beans
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves
• 4 slices smoky bacon
• 1 onion
• 400.0 g tomatoes
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp maple syrup (or less)
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 0.tsp pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup water

• Day 1
  1. Soak beans 6-8 hours (overnight) in cold water.
• Day 2 (Prep = ½ hour; Cooking = 4 hours)
  1. Drain beans. Cover with fresh cold water and add the onion stuck with cloves.
  2. Bring to the boil.
  3. Simmer for 1½ hours.
  4. Drain. Discard onion and cloves.
  5. Preheat the oven to 160 C (325 F).
  6. Dice bacon and onion.
  7. Sauté until the bacon is crisp and the onion soft.
  8. Place the beans, bacon, onion and remaining ingredients in a baking dish with the water and bake, covered, for 2 hours.
  9. (Optional) Stir, sprinkle with an extra tbsp of brown sugar, and bake 20 min uncovered, until the top glazes slightly.

Adapted from Jill Dupleix's Old Food by Helena Bond, slight tweaks by Francis Bond.

Porridge with Dates and Tahini

Serves 2

• 400.0 ml oat milk
• 5.0 tbsp rolled oats
• 1.5 tbsp chia seeds
• 4 dates
• 1 tbsp tahini

1. Place milk, salt, oats and chia seeds in a pot, bring to boil
2. Turn heat down and add dates, simmer for 5 minutes total, stirring occasionally, adding the tahini after 3 minutes
3. Serve with cream and nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios)

Adapted from The fast 800 by Michael Mosely (2019. p174)

Kentish Cake

• 125 g butter
• 0.75 cup sugar
• 1 cup self-raising flour (or 1 tsp baking powder per cup of plain flour )
• 2 tbsp coconut
• 1 tbsp cocoa
• 0.5 cup chopped nuts and sultanas combined
• 2 eggs
• 0.25 cup milk

1. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one by one and beat well after each addition. Mix in vanilla, then coconut and sifted flour and cocoa alternatively with milk. Lastly add the fruit and nuts.
2. Spoon into deep loaf tin or ring tin which has been greased and papered and bake at 200C until a skewer inserted comes out clean. (about 30 minutes)

From a recipe book from my primary school (Payne Road): cups are Australian (250 ml)

Sultana Tea Scones

• 0.5 cup plain flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp sultanas
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 4 tbsp milk

1. Grease the baking sheet
2. Sift plain flour with baking powder & caster sugar into mixing bowl
3. Cut butter into small pieces and rub into flour with fingers
4. Put sultanas into sieve with a little flour and shake.
5. Add sultanas to rubbed flour
6. Add the milk a tablespoon at a time, mixing with the hands to form a soft dough.
7. Turn on the oven at 230C (450F)
8. Sprinkle the table top lightly with flour and pat out the dough to a circle 1/2inch thick. Cut into triangles (or circles).
9. Put the scones on the greased baking sheet and bake in the top half of the oven for 5 - 10 minutes. If they are not cooked right through, try at a lower temperature for longer (there is a lot of variation between ovens).
10. Serve hot or cold with butter and jam.

Classic Pavlova

• 3 egg whites
• 0.75 cup caster sugar
• 0.25 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

1. Beat egg whites and salt till stiff. Beat in the castor sugar a little at a time until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Mix the granulated sugar and cornflour together and fold into the mixture with the vinegar . Vanilla essence can be added if desired.
2. Prepare a 20cm circle on greaseproof paper. Grease it and put it on a greased biscuit tin, Dust with cornflour.
3. Spread about 3/4 of the mixture over the prepared circle on the tray. Pipe the rest of the mixture in shells or swirls around the edge. Bake in a slow oven (about 120 - 150C) for about 30 - 40 minutes. This pavlova has a soft centre and a crisp exterior.