Bircher Muesli Recipe from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines

• 1/2 cup oat flakes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup plain yoghurt
• 1/4 cup chopped or sliced nuts
• 1 apple and 1 pear
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Splash of lemon juice
• 4 tsp. raisins
• Honey to taste

Soak oat flakes in milk and yogurt overnight. Grate the apple and pears coarsely, (if you like peel them first) than blend immediately with lemon juice. Mix all the ingredients and combine them carefully. Garnish with nuts and seasonal fruits. It will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Ingredients

* 6 small chicken drummettes (make 2-3 incisions per drummette for marinating)
* 1tsp crushed ginger
* 1tbsp curry powder
* 1tsp turmeric powder
* 1tsp sambal belachan chilli paste
* 1tbsp cornflour
* dash of salt
* 1tsp brown cane sugar

1. Mix all the ingredients and marinade for one hour(in the fridge).
2. Heat oil to medium-high in a frying pan, deep fry marinated chicken 3-5mins each side.
3. Serve hot to warm

Ingredients

* 2 slice Cod

Marinade:

* 6 tablespoon Soy Sauce
* 5 tablespoon Honey
* 1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
* 1 tablespoon Water

1. Mix the marinade well.
2. Pour over the the cod and marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven at 160C.
4. Lay your baking tray with foil or Glad baking paper (which is what I use cos it doesn’t stick to the fish).
5. Grill the cod for 20 minutes skin-side down before turning over.
6. Grill the other side for another 12 minutes or till fully cooked.
7. Serve immediately with salad.

Ingredients
For 2:

2 pork steaks, cubed
200g pineapple chunks in juice
1 red pepper, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
Half a small onion
Some grated ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp Chinese five-spice
Fresh coriander

How to make Healthy Sweet and Sour Pork

1) Marinade the pork cubes in the soy sauce of five-spice for at least 15 minutes.
2) Fry the pork cubes in some oil until almost cooked through. Remove from pan.
3) Add all of the vegetables and ginger into the pan, followed by the cornflour and a bit more soy sauce.
4) Return the pork to the pan and pour in the pineapple chunks including the juice, along with the vinegar.
5) Leave to simmer until everything is nice and hot, adding more cornflour if you want the sauce to be a bit thicker.
6) Stir in some fresh coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Ingredients
For 2:

• 200g beef steak chunks
• 300g tin of pineapple chunks
• Half a cucumber, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 100ml hot beef stock
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Dash of sesame oil

Sauce:

• 2 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• Bit of cornflour

How to make Pineapple Beef Stir Fry

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together, adding as much cornflour as needed to preferred thickness. Add the beef and leave to marinade for at least 15 minutes.
2. Fry the beef for a few minutes, then set aside.
3. Gently fry the vegetables, then pour in the stock, followed by the ginger, rice wine, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another couple of minutes.
4. Stir in the pineapple then return the beef, mixing until everything is cooked through.
5. Serve with steamed rice or noodles.

Peel and de-vein 1 pound medium shrimp.  Save the shells.

Saute until lightly browned:

1/4 cup minced shallots (not onion)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Add the shells and saute until fragrant.

Then add and simmer a few minutes more:

3/4 cup beef stock

1/4 cup vinegar

Strain the sauce and reduce in a medium pot by half.  Remove from heat and whisk in:

1 tablespoon butter

3 to 4 tablespoons heavy cream

Saute the shrimp in butter until just cooked through.  Serve on pre-warmed plates topped with the sauce.

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.

4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lemon extract/juice and lemon peel.

5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Mix together the 2 tbsp of lemon peel and sugar and press a tiny bit of the mixture onto the top of each cookie.

7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the oven or until lightly browned.

8. Let stand on cookie sheet a few minutes before removing to cool on wire racks

Not camping: Heat dutch oven over medium heat and add oil, a few minutes later add veggies, butter, herbs, cayenne and salt/pepper. Cook until veggies are soft, then add some broth and reduce 5 or so minutes. Toss in the chicken pieces and more broth, just to cover the chicken and place lid on for about 5-10 minutes. Stir in flour to thicken and make dumpling mix. Plop the dumplings, 6 to 8 on the mix and cover again for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is cooked through.

1. On a piece of tin foil, add the corn and top with butter, jalapeno, basil, scallions and seasoning.

2. Wrap up.

3. Grill over medium heat 20-25 minutes. Serve

There are many rich and delightful homemade lasagna dishes but this is perfect for both vegetarians and meat eaters alike. The combination of pumpkin, walnut and fresh sage is a triumph! However the pasta needs to be thin to cook, if you prefer it thicker then boil the pasta for one minute before layering. Or use sheets of fresh lasagna from the supermarket.

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 Spanish onion
1/2 kilo of beefy Italian tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
2 kg organic butternut peeled & cut into pieces
6 cloves of garlic
8 Ounces (240g) packet frozen spinach defrosted and squeezed to remove excess
500g ricotta
3 cups of freshly grated Parmesan
250gm natural Greek yogurt
3 organic eggs
Olive oil
Dried chili flakes
Freshly grated nutmeg
A large bunch of fresh purple sage leaves

Lasagna
Fresh lasagna sheets
500g strong flour
5 large organic eggs
Kosher salt

To Make the walnut and sage butter
180 g butter
150 g chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6

To make the pasta

On your kitchen worktop, pour the sifted flour and make a well in the centre and add the eggs and salt. Gradually incorporate the eggs into the flour with your fingers. When the dough starts to come together sprinkle some more flour over the work area and knead the dough until you it becomes smooth and elastic. There is no right or wrong way to do this just keep working the dough towards the centre with your hands. Do not be gentle with it you are trying to get the gluten working. Cover the ready dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for ten minutes. Take pieces of dough like a golf ball and roll out on a pasta machine at least five times ending with thin pasta.

To make the filling

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and saute the onion for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and stir for five minutes until thickened. Add a tablespoon of red wine balsamic vinegar. Place the chopped pumpkin and whole cloves of garlic in a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil, season with the sea salt, dried chili flakes, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg. Roast for about twenty minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Roughly mash the lasagna and garlic with half of the sage leaves chopped. Whisk the ricotta, yogurt, Parmesan and eggs. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Lightly oil a lasagna tray and then place the tomato sauce on the bottom, and place a layer of the lasagna sheets over the base and spread with half the pumpkin. Add another layer of lasagna sheets and spread with half the ricotta yogurt and spinach. Repeat process and sprinkle the final layer of ricotta mix with extra Parmesan. Cover lasagna with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Then uncover and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden.

Walnut & sage butter sauce

Gently heat the butter, chopped walnuts and fresh sage leaves until the butter starts to foam. Serve separately so that each person can drizzle it over their pasta dish. Serve with extra bowls of cheese.

Italian food is simple elegant and fabulous, it makes the most of the freshest ingredients. Italians don’t ask how much food is they ask how fresh it is. The concept of a weekly shop is alien to them, their fruit and vegetables are bought every day. The fantastic thing about Italian food is the fact that they have no such thing; Italy was a separate conglomeration of states until 1870.

Each area has its own cuisine and that cuisine has been forged by Centuries of geographical area and history. For instance the food in the North West bears a closer relationship to mid European food because it was influenced by its neighbour the Austro- Hungarian empire. In the South the flavours of the Mediterranean prevail, the olive oils, the fresh and dried fruit influenced by the Moors, the tomatoes brought from the New World.

Read my introduction to Italian food and peruse the general recipes, then follow the links to the tastes of Tuscany, Lombardy and the tastes of Sicily. Italian food is the ultimate comfort food celebrating the family, family life and family celebrations with a passion for food.

Because Italian food celebrates the magnificence of the food and not the chef it is easy to recreate at home. Generally it is fast and flavorsome, you can have home made pasta dish on the table in half an hour even if you have made the pasta yourself.

Antipasti, Lasagna, Chicken Saltimboca, Italian Meatloaf, Spaghetti alla Puttanesca, Zuppa di Pesce, Sole Florentine, Italian Meatloaf, Braised Artichokes, Zucchini Parmesan, and Ricotta Easter Pie are all described so vividly that you can taste them before you make them.

Feel free to reprint any of my articles simply use a citation. Thanks Auntie Katkat.

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