13 Jul 2010

Have you ever tried Mexican "Mole Negro" with chicken? Here is the recipe form cacaoweb.net
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27 Jun 2010

Ginger glazed Gammon


Ingredients

    * 1 (12-pound) joint (mild cure boneless) ham
    * 7 liters of dry ginger ale
    * 1 cup chunky ginger preserves
    * 2 tablespoons hot English mustard
    * 1/2 cup soft dark brown sugar
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
    * If you can not get hold of ginger preserves, you can use ordinary orange marmalade and add 1 teaspoon of dry, ground ginger.


Directions

Place the joint in a large pot over heat and add  the ginger ale. Bring the pot to the boil then lower the heat slightly so that it keeps bubbling steadily for 4 1/2 hours.

Towards the end of the 4 1/2 hours, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and begin the glaze.

In a bowl, add 1 cup of chunky ginger preserves. Stir in 2 tablespoons of hot English mustard. Add 1/2 a cup of soft, dark brown sugar and sprinkle in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cloves.

After 4 1/2 hours, gently lift the ham out of the pan and place on a foil-lined baking tray. Carefully cut away the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. There is no need to score the surface, simply slap on the glaze and place the tray with the ham into the oven for 20 minutes.
Can be served hot or cold.

Guacamole

Ingredients

1 lime, juiced
½ fresh chilli, seeded and chopped, or to taste
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
3 ripe avocados
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method

1. Put half the lime juice in a bowl with the chilli, garlic and coriander. Halve, stone and peel the avocados. Chop roughly and add to the bowl. Roughly mash with a fork or potato masher then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add more lime juice to taste, along with more chilli, garlic and coriander if you wish.
2. Pack into a small container and press clingfilm over the surface, making sure there are no air pockets. Cover and chill until ready to go.
3. This can be served as a dip for vegetables or corn chips or served as a sauce for grilled fish, prawns, lobster, chicken, beef or lamb.

To stop guacamole discoloring, use just-ripe avocados and prevent air reaching the mixture by pressing clingfilm on to its surface.
Tip 2: Put the avocado stone inside the guacamole
Tip 3: put lime skin inside the guacamole

Chipotle Salsa

Ingredients for Chipotle Salsa Recipe

*

4 medium-sized fresh ripe tomatoes
*

1 small bunch of cilantro (about 8 to 10 long pieces with leaves)
*

1 fresh lime
*

1 medium onion
*

Salt & pepper to taste
*

2 to 3 chipotle chilies, canned in adobo sauce


Directions for Chipotle Salsa Recipe

Wash and core the tomatoes.

Wash and dry the cilantro between layers of paper towels. I like to remove the leaves from the stems but, this is not necessary.

Peel onion, now cut the tomatoes and onion in quarters to prepare for the food processor.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chipotles.

Place all the prepared vegetables and the chipotles in food processor along with the cilantro. Squeeze lime juice into the blender.

Place lid on food processor and blend. For chunkier salsa, pulse the food processor only for a few seconds. For smoother textured salsa, process to your desired consistency.

If you don't have a food processor, a blender will work as well or you can chop all ingredients by hand and mix in bowl. Now where is my molcajete?

For extra zip, add dried pepper flakes. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can enhance the smokey flavor of your Chipotle Salsa Recipe by adding a tablespoon or two of the adobo sauce the chipotles came in.

Allow the salsa to chill if you can for a couple of hours.

Cherry Soup

still to come....

tastes also great as a cold soup in summer