Chicken Marengo (Mushroom Sauce)

For four people
One chicken (or equivalent)
Three cloves of garlic crushed
300g of mushrooms
100ml of white wine
50ml of extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Italian parsley

Divide the chicken into breast and thigh. Slice the mushrooms into 2-3mm slices. Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Put salt and pepper on the chicken thoroughly. In the pan put in the olive oil and heat the crushed garlic unti the aroma arises and then take out. Starting from the skin side put in the chicken on a medium heat. Carry on until fat is released and both sides are fox coloured. Add the mushrooms and continue to pass the heat through then add the white wine. Then put in the oven for about 15 mins. Take out and add the italian parsley.

Marinated Courgettes

500g small courgettes finely sliced, coarsley chopped or grated
3 tablespoons of olive oil
juice of at least half a lemon
two garlic cloves cut in half
salt and pepper
small bunch of parsley finely chopped

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and leave to marinate for a day. Remove the garlic and add the parsley before serving. Can we get young enought courgettes in Japan?

Greek country salad

Serves four
Three firm ripe tomatoes cut in wedges
Half a small cucumber - peeled, split in half and then thinly sliced (may not be necessary for Japanese cucumber)
1 green pepper - thinly sliced in rings
1 mild onion (red?) thinly sliced in rings
salt and pepper
four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

For garnish:
150g of feta cheese
12 or more black olives
bunch of parsley finely chopped
1 teaspoon of dried oregano or marjoram

Put in bowl, sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil and toss well. Arrange with black olives, feta etc on top. Good for using black olives.

Cucumber and yogurt salad

450 ml of yogurt - thick or strained ewes milk best
1 large cucumber thinly sliced or finely chopped
Salt and white pepper
1-4 garlic cloves crushed - according to taste
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
fresh mint or dill - fews sprigs
1 tablespoon of dried mint
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil as garnish

Salt the cucumber and leave in a colander to allow liquid to drain away. Beat the yogurt and mix in the rest of the ingredients. Dribble the olive oil on top.

Avocado and Citrus Salad

For four to six
Juice of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 ripe but firm avocado pears
1 orange
1 grapefruit
Mint leaves for garnish

Prepare avocados - one may be OK & useful to use ones that are not so soft. Peel orange and grapefruits and remove the pith from each segment (grapefruit - can cut in half and then cut out segments - may be more difficult with orange - ruby looks good). Prepare the vinagrette.

Red and yellow pepper with mozzarella cheese

For two people

Half a red and yellow pepper
250ml pure olive oil (sounds a lot!)
One and a half cloves of garlic
60g of mozarella cheese - sounds like one pack
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper
Basil leaves

Bake over a naked flame until completely black, While still hot cover with wrap and steam, then remove the skin with a dry cloth or similar. Cut into a size you like, then put in the olive oil and garlic for half a day. Then wrap the mozarella with the piman, add salt and pepper to taste, basil leaves and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Italian Mushroom Salad

For two people
One pack of mushrooms
One stick of celery (root part)
Half a clove of garlic, chopped
Italian parsley - chopped (two to three branches)

Juice of half a lemon
100ml of pure olive oil
Two large tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Grana padona(?) cheese or parmesan cheese

Take the stalk off the mushrooms and slice thinly; peel the skin off the celery and cut diagonally. Shave the cheese with a knife etc to make thin shavings. Put the mushrooms in a bowl, the garlic and mix together. Then add the cheese.

Good for using up spare Italian Parsley.

Pork Saute

For four persons
Four pork chops (tonkatsu use) - 150 gms each
30g unsalted butter
Salt four picks
Pepper

For the sauce:
200g of onion (50 per person)
50g of pickles
Half cup of white wine
One tablespoon of white wine vinegar
30g of unsalted butter
2/3 teaspoon of flour
Buillon cubes - one to two
20g of mustard

Cut the onion in half and then slice 90 degrees to the fibres, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion, heat under a very low heat. Add a little water if it looks as though it may burn. Once onion browns, add flour and heat.

Add the white wine and wine vinegar, dissolve any bits from the bottom, once dissolve heat gently until acid part is flown off.

Boil a cup of water to dissolve the soup cube, put into the above once boiling and mix while hot. Once thickened a little, stop the heat and then add the mustard (although keep in another bowl and add the mustard last).

Cover both sides of pork with salt - a pinch each. Leave for ten minutes or so until watery part comes out. Tie up with tako ito. Put the butter in the frying pan, after heating and bubbles dying down put in the pork and reduce to medium heat. Once colour comes to the meat, reduce the heat, tilt the frying pan and then brown while spooning over the oil Once coloured turn over and then continue until cooked in the center. Let rest for a couple of minutes. Mix the juice from the cooking into the sauce and add pepper, slice the pickles and then serve.

Prawn and avocado salad

Ten black tiger prawns
Four salad leaves

For the boiling juice:
1/6 onion
1/4 carrot
celery
4 tablespoons of white wine
White pepper half teaspoon
Laurel
Dry thyme

For the sauce:
Two tablespoons of Mayonnaise
Half teaspoon of ketchup
1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon of cognac

Rum - two tablespoons

Take the heads off the prawns, chop all the vegetables up and put in two cups of water, start to heat. Put in the shrimp with the shells on and heat for around 4 mins until scent arises, then stop the heat, pour out into a tray and let the heat dissipate. Once you can touch, take off the shells.

To make the sauce, put in all the ingredients and then beat. Mix in with the shrimps.

Cut up the avocado, sprinkle on the rum and then serve with the shrimps and toast

French Onion Soup

Four persons
Two onions
30g unsalted butter
Teaspoon of flour
Half to one cube of square soup
Baguette
Gruyere cheese 3/4 of a cup
Salt, pepper

Peel onion and cut in half, cut off stem and then slice 2mm at right angles to the fibres. In a thick bottomed pan melt 20g of butter, cook slowly and occasionally put on the lid to allow steam to accumulate to increase sweetness. After about one hour and very brown, add 10 g of butter and sprinkle with flour, heat to remove flour taste. Add 2.5 cups of water and the soup cube, heat under a strong flame, dissolve anything burnt on the bottom of the pan into the soup, add in next 2.5 cups, put on the lid and then heat a further 30-40mins covered.

Heat oven to 250c, add salt and pepper, put on the cheese and the baguette and then five minutes in the oven.

Broccoli Sautee with Anchovies

Broccoli head
8 anchovy fillets
2 sliced garlic cloves, sliced
1 chili
100ml of buillon or water
60 ml of olive oil

Cut broccoli into bite size pieces, remove seeds and white from chilli. Cook garlic, anchovy, chilli under a low flame slowly. When the garlic is coloured add the broccoli and cook under a high flame. Once the broccoli has soaked up the oil, add the builllon and cook until the water disappears.

Good for using up anchovy and chilli

Venice Style Sauted Shrimp

8 large shrimp
four cloves of garlic
4 anchovie fillets
100ml of white wine
80ml extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
4 tablespoons of chopped parsley

Take the black part out of the shrimps back, remove their belly shell. Put in the olive oil, line up the shrimp and fry on a medium heat until coloured then turn over. When well coloured tilt the pan and pour the oil to one side, add the garlic and the anchovy and once the garlic is coloured swirl round the oil to add flavour to the shrimp. Add the white wine, heat through under a strong flame, add salt and pepper and then the parsley.

Fish Bon Femme

For two people
200g of white fish
60g of mushrooms
Shallots - teaspoon
Parsley - teaspoon
White wine - four tablespoons (60ml?)
Cream 80ml
Butter 10g - to spread on paper
Butter 45g non salt
One egg yolk
Potato
Salt, pepper

Remove the mushroom stalk, slice in 2mm slips, butter the dish and put a layer of mushrooms, shallots and parsley, put the fish on and then the remainder of the mushrooms over. Cover with salt and pepper, pour on the wine, put on the heat and once boiling cover with buttered paper. Heat on a low heat for 10mins. Meanwhile cut the 45g of butter in four ; also 90% beat 2 tablespoons of cream. Pour the juice into the saucepan and leave the fish in a warm place. Heat on a strong fire, add the rest of the cream and beat with a whisk, then put on middle flame and add the beaten butter. Add the yolk and beat quickly, add half the beaten raw cream and then add more to thicken it if required. Serve up with the fish.

Pistou - easy version

1 courgette diced
1 small potato diced
1 shallot chopped
1 carrot diced
225g can chopped tomatoes
1.2 litres vegetable stock
50g french green beans in 1 cm lengths
50g frozen petits pois
50g small pasta shapes
60-90m of pesto home or readay made
15ml of sun dried tomato paste
salt, pepper
parmesan cheese

Put courgette, potato, shallot, carrot, tomatoes in a large pan. Add vegetable stock, salt, pepper, boil, simmer for 20mins. Add french beans, petits pois and pasta shapes & cook until pasta etc tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Put soup into bowls, mix pesto and sun dried tomato paste together and then stir into soup (note - pesto etc added after cooking). Hand round parmesan cheese to add on.

Suzuki (sea bass) Mediteranean Style

Sea bass - four hundred gram cut pieces
Flour (komugiko)
Clams - small
Garlic - one clove
Anchovy paste - one large tablespoon
Twelve cherry tomatoes
Two tablesspoons of capers
Eight black olives
Eight green olives
Two large tablespoons of Italian parsley
1/2 cup of white wine
Olive oil
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper

Put olive oil in the frying pan, cover suzuki with salt, pepper, flour, fry from skin side. Once both sides are nicely coloured, throw away olive oil, add new oil, crushed garlic. Once smell comes out, add clams, anchovy paste, cherry tomatoes, capers, olives, italian parsley, white wine, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water, light salt, pepper and put on medium heat. Once the sea bass is cooked, add extra virgin olive oil, mix and finally check salt and pepper taste.

Grilled Vegetables Italian Style

100g pumpkin
One zucchini
One aubergine
One large red pepper
Four sticks of green asparagus
Olive oil
One clove of thinly cut garlic
Two tablespoons of chopped italian parsley
Two sticks of thyme
Half a cup of extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper

For four persons - flexibility possible of course. Take seeds out of pumpkin, cut into 7mm strips, cut zucchini 7mm strips, aubergine 1cm, cut pepper into four and take out seeds etc, peel tough part of asparagus bottom. Sprinkle salt over the aubergine, pepper, zucchini and after a while when the water has come out dry. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, olive oil and place on a strongly heated grill. Once coloured from grill, turn 90 degrees and repeat to get square pattern. Put garlic, italian parsley, thyme, extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and mix together (probably do this first?!), then put half on a dish, cover with vegetables and then cover with other half. Leave for an hour.

Courgettes with tomatoes

Courgettes - 1kg
Tomatoes - 1/2kg (i.e. half the amount of the courgettes)
Butter - 125g (i.e. 1/4 the amount of tomatoes)

Four four to six people. Peel the courgettes, salt them and leave for 30mins. Put in fire proof dish with plenty of butter and sliced and peeled tomatoes. Large quantity of courgettes - cook them first and then cook for 10 mins on a very low flame with tomatoes (so as not to lose tomato flavour).