The Braised Duck

Getting a call at work from my husband who suddenly wants duck for dinner is totally normal in my house. I'm game, so I pick up three large whole duck breasts at the local Asian meat shop and go home to make this:

Braised duck with roasted potatoes

Fry duck breasts skin down for 15 minutes on low heat and 5 min on the other side. Keep all the duck fat. Use a spoon of duck fat, add a spoonful of ginger-garlic paste, a third of a cup of red wine, some thyme, a spoon of soya sauce, a spoon of rice vinegar and one of sugar, a drizzle of Caribbean jerk sauce, a cup of water and a little paprika. Cook for a couple of minutes. Pour over the duck, cover with foil and roast at 180C for 45 min.

Meanwhile parboil two diced potatoes and then fry in the leftover duck fat. Season with sea salt, pepper, oregano and paprika. Set aside.

After the 45 min of roasting, take out all the liquid from the duck container into a sauce pan. Return duck to oven and roast at 200C for another 10 minutes. Heat the liquid and add another drizzle of jerk sauce, a half cup of water and some flour to thicken into gravy. Get the duck out and serve it with a drizzle of gravy, roasted potatoes and baby rocket! Fancyyyyy.

The Sambousek

Street food for the win! I grew up eating these (and falafels, or za'atar bread, or shawarmas) during or after an evening of shopping. Had to make them eventually! Excuse my poor folding skills.

Mix two cups of self-raising flour (or regular flour with a little baking powder or yeast) with two tablespoons of oil, half a cup of milk and water as required to knead it onto a smooth dough. While it sits quietly in a corner, sauté about 300-400 grams of your choice of minced meat (we used lamb; the traditional choice is beef) with a large finely chopped onion, a handful of pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat and add two spoons of chopped parsley. Roll out little balls of dough, place a spoonful of minced meat in the middle, and sold one side over to the other, and pinch down. Deep fry in vegetable oil and serve hot! Will make 6-8 pieces :)

The Hot Bricks

Fast and easy crowd-pleasing appetizer for when you have 15 minutes and access to shrimp!

Bake a thin layer of breadcrumbs in a baking pan for 4-5 minutes in the oven at 180-200C till brown. While that happens, chop two cloves of garlic, half an onion, a tomato and a cup of shrimp, and cook in a little butter. Beat five eggs with 2/3 cup of milk, salt, a dash of hot sauce, pepper, oregano and some paprika, and add to the pan with the shrimp. Vigorously stir, and turn the heat off as soon as the egg starts to set. Add a half-cup of shredded cheese to the egg; stir and pour over the baked breadcrumbs. spread cheese on top to cover, and top with a little rosemary and smoked paprika. Bake for 10 minutes; cool, cut and serve! Easy.

The Sorbet

It's summer time in Sydney! This is a great little dessert/snack for the post-beach skipping-work-because-sunburns days.

Mango-blueberry sorbet with dark chocolate shards and mango

You'll need frozen mango cubes and blueberries for this. First, slowly heat dark chocolate chips till they melt into a smooth liquid. Take it off the heat and stir vigorously to cool till it starts to set a little. Immediately spread it thin with a spatula or edge of a knife on a clean flat cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil and freeze till hard.

Once the chocolate is ready, blend together a cup of diced mangoes, a cup of blueberries, two spoons of honey and a half cup of apple juice. Serve immediately with broken chocolate shards, mint leaves and diced mango. Brain freeze!

The Pad Kee Mao

I've made this favorite Thai dish of mine before, but somehow managed to always overcook the noodles and turn the entire thing into cat food. Finally got it right!

Pad Kee Mao with Prawns

Cook flat rice noodles for 5-6 minutes in boiling water, until just al dente. Drain, wash with cold water, and add a drizzle of oil to keep the noodles nice and separate. Meanwhile add to a wok some peanut oil, four fresh bird's-eye chillies, sliced and deseeded, and a fat spoon of chopped garlic. Then add your prawns and cook for a few minutes till the prawns become pink. Add cashews, and cook for a minute. Add your favorite veggies (I added broccoli and snap peas) and generous amounts of fresh basil leaves, a spoon of fish oil, a big spoon of rice vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, and I'd say 2-3 fat spoons of soy sauce (or to taste). Add the noodles and toss for about two-three minutes and take off the heat. Serve steaming hot!

The Homey Diwali

Happy Diwali to those who celebrate it! This Diwali my cousin was over, and she knows my late grandmother's khandvi recipe like the back of her hand. So we made some khandvi and it felt like home! I didn't know that it takes literally five minutes to make this dish; there's going to be a lot of khandvi eating in our house from now on!

Mix together one cup of besan (gram flour), one cup of yogurt, one and a half cups of warm water, a spoon of salt, 1/3 spoon turmeric and 1/3 spoon red chilli powder. Make sure there are no lumps in the mix. Clean some counter space and grease lightly with oil. Now heat very little oil in a wok or a kadhai on medium heat and add the mixture. Stir constantly and vigorously (my cousin insists on a clockwise direction) till the mixture starts to set (but don't wait till it's fully set) - won't take more than a couple of minutes. Once it starts to set, IMMEDIATELY pour/scrape it out onto the clean greased counter space (any large flat space would do). Spread it like a thin film over the counter, moving in one direction with a spatula - make it as thin as possible. While you're trying to make it thin the mixture will have probably already set so let sit for two minutes while you make the tadka.

Heat a little oil in a small pan and add to it a sprinkle of black mustard seeds, curry leaves and a chopped green chilli. Once the seeds splatter take the pan off the heat. Go back to your counter and run a knife vertically through the set film to create strips. Roll up each strip and place on the plate. Add the tadka (seed mixture) to the top, and garnish with grated coconut and coriander leaves. Voilà!

The Crusty Rack

It's been a while since we fine-dined at home! Here's how to make your Monday special!! (Provided you have an hour to cook)

Pistachio-crusted rack of lamb stuffed with feta and spinach, with a side of hasselback potato

If you're going to do the hasselback potato, start with that. Slice a potato thinly but not all the way through; brush with garlic butter, salt and pepper and bake for an hour.

Get the rack of lamb out. If it's cap on (as in there's a chunk of fat on one side) cut it out. Now turn to the meaty side of the rack and cut a slice from the bone-side through the lean meat, but not all the way through, aka butterfly it. Stuff the inside with a handful of crumbed feta, a handful of blanched chopped spinach, chopped garlic, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, cardamom and cinnamon powder. Close with the flap of meat and tie together with cooking string. Rub the outside of the lamb with the same spices. Now sear the rack of lamb in olive oil on a hot pan on all sides and take off the oil (discard the string). Save the oil for the sauce.

In a bowl, mix a spoon of flour and an egg yolk, and brush onto the seared rack of lamb. Now dip the lamb on a plate filled with crushed pistachios and panko breadcrumbs. Coat both sides and bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 200C. Cut rack chops.

For the garlic-rosemary sauce, take the pan with the lamb fat and add to it a spoon of chopped garlic, some rosemary, a cup of stock, salt, pepper, paprika and two spoons of flour. Mix and reduce for 5 minutes; don't thicken it too much.

Serve your stuffed crusted rack of lamb with the sauce, with the crunchy potato on a bed of rocket. For additional crunch throw in a little leftover pistachio-panko breadcrumb mixture on the side. Light a candle; get fancy!