carnitas

Carnitas for me is the test of a Mexican restaurant. There are many variations but in my view all it needs to taste of is the meat itself, and it should be rendered down until the pieces are falling apart. Served with small tortillas, carnitas should be picked up with your fingers, piled onto a tortilla, topped with a squeeze of lime and some salsa of tomatoes, onion and coriander - and washed down with beer, refrescos or Margaritas.

1kg pork shoulder, 2cm cubes
salt
2 oranges
water
25g lard

Melt lard in heavy bottomed pot and brown pork pieces, cover with water and boil gently until water has evaporated - will take 30 minutes to 1 hour. Once water has evaporated, gently cook over a low heat, add the juice of 2 oranges and salt, continue to cook, stirring regularly. Once meat has browned and broken into smaller fibres, it's ready.

Serve with tortillas, lime segments, salsa, guacamole, refried beans, etc.

decadent brownies

1.5c flour
2c icing sugar
4T cocoa

300g dark chocolate (minimum 70%)
180g butter
4T golden syrup
4 large eggs
2t vanilla essence

~optional~
Add a couple of handfuls of walnuts or pecans

Heat oven to 180C (fan). Grease and line a 30X20X3cm slice tin with butter and baking paper.

Sift flour, icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl and set aside. Melt chocolate in a bain marie. Remove from heat and beat in butter and golden syrup. Allow to cool to room temperature. Beat eggs and vanilla and add to chocolate. Add to dry ingredients and beat until blended. put into tin and smooth surface.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. To test, put knife tip into centre - it should come out with some crumbs and sticky mixture clinging to it - but not too much! Allow to cool in tin. Turn out and remove paper. Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.

Serve as they are or with a dollop of cream and some berries or coulis.

cheesecake cupcakes

500g cream cheese
1/2c caster sugar
2 eggs

100g biscuits, crushed
50g butter, melted

Mix crushed biscuits with butter and divide mixture between one 12-hole cupcake tin lined with cases. Press down firmly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, sugar and eggs. Divide mixture between cupcakes and bake for 25 minutes at 130C (fan oven) or 150C (conventional oven). Refrigerate for two hours before serving.

~flavours~
lemon: add 2T lemon zest to cream mixture; once cooked, glaze with 2/3c warmed marmalade or apricot jam
ginger: use gingernut biscuits; add 2T finely chopped glace ginger to cheese mixture; glaze with 2/3c warmed apricot jam
raspberry: use chocolate biscuits; glaze with 2/3c warmed raspberry jam or gently warm 1/2c raspberries with a squeeze of lemon and 1/3c caster sugar
caramel: use caramel biscuits; glaze with 1/2c sugar which has been cooked until bubbling and brown then mixed with 1/3c cream
blueberry: glaze with 2/3c warmed blueberry jam or gently warm 1/2c blueberries with a squeeze of lemon and 1/3c caster sugar
chocolate: use chocolate biscuits; glaze with 200g melted dark chocolate mixed with 1/3c cream

address book: breakfast in London

Modern Pantry
47-48 St John's Square, Clerkenwell, EC1V 4JJ
www.themodernpantry.co.uk
~best for: ricotta pancakes, decent coffee, tamarillos~

Alfies Rooftop Restaurant
13-25 Church Street, Marylebone, NW8 8DT
www.alfiesantiques.com/cafe.php
~best for: caf-style food, al fresco eating on a roof terrace, unusual location, lovely waitresses and kitchen staff~

Carluccio's
various locations across London
www.carluccios.com
~best for: ubiquity - they're everywhere, 7.95 breakfast with OJ and tea or coffee~

quick lemon tuna salad with capers & artichokes

4 big handfuls of baby salad leaves
1 or 2 cans tuna
1T mayo
1T capers
1/2 lemon
Maldon
freshly ground black pepper
handful marinated artichokes
8 sun-blushed tomato pieces

~optional - to taste~
8 cherry tomatoes
4 soft- or hard-boiled eggs (as you like)
red onion, finely sliced
handful grated beetroot

Drain tuna and place in bowl. Flake with a fork, then add lemon juice, mayo and capers and mix.

Divide leaves and tuna between four plates, mix slightly and top with chopped artichokes and tomatoes. Finish with a scattering of Maldon and pepper.

red chicken curry with mango salsa

4 spring onions
4 kaffir lime leaves
1/2c coconut milk
1t raw sugar or 2t palm sugar
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
300g chicken pieces (preferably those little long pieces from either side of the back bone)
handful corriander leaves
2 sloshes fish sauce
2T red curry paste
squeeze lime

~mango salsa~
1/2 mango, chopped
1/2 small red onion, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime
small handful chopped corriander leaves

Put 3T coconut milk into a pan and heat gently. Once reduced slightly, add curry paste and mix together. Add rest of coconut milk, lime leaves and pumpkin and simmer gently until pumpkin is getting soft. Add all other ingredients (except lime, fish sauce and coriander leaves) and cook gently until chicken is just done. Season with fish sauce and serve with jasmine rice and mango salsa. Finish with a squeeze of lime and a scattering of corriander.

pancetta & basil ravioli

~pasta~
200g "00" flour
2 eggs

~filling~
125g ricotta
freshly ground black pepper
6 slices pancetta
1 clove garlic, crushed
handful fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
a pinch of Maldon salt
25g Parmesan

Place flour on bench in a mound. Make a recess in the top and break the eggs into it. Mix together until dough forms, knead until smooth and elastic and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Cook four slices of pancetta until crisp, add garlic, remove from heat and chop finely. Finely chop remaining two slices of pancetta. Put all filling ingredients into a bowl and mix.

Roll pasta out into two thin squares. Place one square on the bench, and divide the mixture into teaspoonfuls, placing at intervals on the pasta, leaving a couple of centimetres between each dollop of filling. Whisk one egg and brush between dollops. Place the second sheet of pasta over the first, so that the dollops of filling are sandwiched between the two layers of pasta. Gently press down around the filling, taking care to squeeze out the air. Run a pasta crimper between the dollops of filling to create the ravioli squares. Place on a dusted tray (semolina or "00" flour) and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, then gently drop in the ravioli, boiling gently for six minutes or so until cooked.

In a shallow pan gently melt 50g butter, add 10 or so sage leaves. Pour over the ravioli and serve with a scattering of Parmesan, some flakes of Maldon and some freshly ground black pepper.