This is sticky finger food at its very best.  This recipe is from our cookbook author of the week, Diana Henry.  Rather than roasting, try cooking these tasty ribs on a braai, or smoke in a kettlebraai, as we do at Wickedfood Cooking School, in our outdoor cooking class. Also try the marinade with chicken wings or drumsticks.

±3kg rack pork spare ribs

5 cloves garlic, crushed

1T  Tabasco

4cm ginger, peeled and very finely chopped

¾ cup syrup or molasses

½ cup honey

3T  balsamic glaze

2½T  Dijon mustard

1½T  Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup bourbon or whiskey

1. Mix all the ingredients (except the ribs) together. If you have time, pour two-thirds of the liquid over the ribs, rubbing it in well, and leave them to marinate overnight. If not, preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Line two or three big roasting tins with foil and paint the ribs on both sides with the glaze, keeping back about a third to add during cooking.
3. Arrange the racks meat-side up in the tins, making sure they don’t touch. Roast for 30 minutes then reduce the heat to 140°C and cook the ribs for another 1½ hours, basting with glaze from time to time.
4. Add the last bit of glaze 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time. Cut into individual ribs and serve.

Click here for more recipes from Diana Henry

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

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There are so many versions of Irish Stew. Some people say you should just have white vegetables in it, at Wickedfood cooking School we add 1 or 2T of barley in at the start with the stock, or  2 to 3 potatoes. Rachel Allen was brought up in Dublin. Encouraged by her family, Rachel went to the Ballymaloe Cookery School at the age of 18 and realised that she wanted to make food her career. After graduating from the school she cooked at the Ballymaloe House Hotel, eventually returning to teach at the school. This hearty, wholesome stew is Rachel’s interpretation and ultimate taste of Ireland.

3T  oil

1½kg stewing beef, cut into cubes

175g streaky bacon

12 baby onions, peeled

18 button mushrooms, left whole

3 carrots, cut into quarters or 12 baby carrots, scrubbed and left whole

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1T chopped thyme

2T chopped parsley

10 cloves of garlic, crushed and grated

2 cups red wine

2 cups chicken or beef stock

For the roux

50g/2oz butter

50g/1¾oz flour

1. Brown the beef and bacon in the oil in a hot casserole.
2. Remove the meat and toss in the onions, mushrooms and carrots, one ingredient at a time, seasoning each time.
3. Place these back in the casserole, along with the herbs and garlic.
4. Cover with red wine and stock and simmer for one hour or until the meat and vegetables are cooked.
5. To make the roux, in a separate pan melt the butter, add the flour and cook for two minutes.
6. When the stew is cooked, remove the meat and vegetables.
7. Bring the remaining liquid to the boil and add  1T of roux.
8. Whisk the mixture until the roux is broken up and the juices have thickened, allowing to boil.
9. Replace the meat and vegetables, and taste for seasoning.
10. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with mash (or champ as they do in Ireland).

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

This is a simple, yet truly delicious way of preparing pork.  Serve it simply with some boiled potatoes or crusty bread and a big side salad.

Taken from our cookbook of the week, MoVida Rustica chef and author Frank Camorra explains the recipe as follows .

“I have always wondered why — apart from the fact that it tastes so good — the Spanish eat so much pork. Perhaps it originated as a knee-jerk reaction during the post-Moor period when the Spanish Inquisitors were roaming the country torturing anyone who didn’t conform to their particular brand of monotheism. Jews and Muslims who had converted to Christianity often lived in fear and proclaimed their new faith by publicly eating pork. The more enthusiastic converts would hang a ham or sausages above their door. Every time my dad goes back home he heads down to the old town and seeks out his favourite grill, just near the Mezquita (great mosque). There he sits and orders a great plate of sliced grilled pork loin served with two lively sauces: a fresh oregano and raw garlic sauce, and a red sauce made from piquillo peppers and chilli. I now find myself following in my father’s footsteps.”

2 handfuls of oregano leaves
4 garlic cloves, chopped
a handful of parsley
± 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2T  fennel seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 lemon, juice of

Salsa de piquillo

250g jar of piquillo peppers, drained
2 red bullet or other medium-hot chillies, seeded
2 garlic cloves
1t  smoked paprika
1T  ground cumin
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

To serve

4 pork loin fillets, about 350g  each
Oil, for frying
Fine sea salt

Salsa verde

• Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend for 1–2 minutes, or until smooth. Season to taste, pour into a serving bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Salsa de piquillo

• Put all the  ingredients in a food processor and blend for 1–2 minutes, or until smooth. Season to taste, pour into a serving bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

To serve

• The pork loins can be chargrilled or pan-fried. To chargrill the pork, heat some barbecue coals so that you can only hold your hand 12 cmabove them for no longer than 3 seconds. Season the fillets well and grill each of the four sides for 3 minutes each, then turn and cook each side again for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and allow to rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.
• To pan-fry the pork loins, preheat the oven to 200ºC.
• Place ±1/4 cup olive oil in a large, heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan over medium–high heat until very hot.
• Add the pork fillets and cook each of the four sides for 1 minute each, sprinkling each side with fine sea salt as you go. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook the pork for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.
• Cut the fillets into slices 2 cm thick and enjoy with the two salsas.

Serves 6

For more delicious recipes from the book, MoVida Rustica:

• Chocolate with sweet olive oil
• Artichokes with jamón
• Nougat
• Spanish tomato, egg and cumin soup
• and more
  

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

At Wickedfood Cooking School in our Thai cooking lessons we make some delicious skewers also referred to as sâtés, click here for one of our recipes, with a delicious peanut sauce. This recipe however comes from David Thompson’s latest book Thai Street Food. He is one of Australia’s foremost chefs, restaurateurs and food writers, and widely acclaimed as the western world’s authority on Thai food:

“I am addicted to these. Along the street there are small grills, often just a large metal bowl with a rack perched on top. I’ll stop and look and long for the fruits of their labour – smoky grilled skewers of pork. I’ll smuggle some home as if carrying a guilty secret to relish in private. Sometimes, most of the time, I’ll break into the cache on the way home.”

“Grilling is one of the more popular techniques of the streets, where there are many ad hoc pieces of equipment and the grill is one of the most common. They are everywhere, grilling pork, satays, dumplings and squid. Using a charcoal grill imparts a depth of flavour that makes meat such as this grilled pork irresistible. It is important to light the grill 30-60 minutes before using and allow the coals to burn until they glow gently. If you have a charcoal grill you’ll know how long it takes to get to the right stage. Grilling over too high a heat will char and burn the pork before it is cooked and smoky. Very often there will be a small piece of pork fat at the bottom of the skewer. This helps to moisten the pork as it grills.”

“The Thais use mangrove charcoal from near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River. Not everyone has a charcoal grill, however, and these pork skewers can also be cooked on a chargrill plate on the stove top or under a preheated grill. While the taste will be less complex, they will still be extremely agreeable.”

Grilled pork skewers. Photograph: Earl Carter

300g pork loin or neck

50g pork back fat (optional)
12-15 bamboo skewers

4tbsp coconut cream

For the marinade:

1t coriander roots cleaned and chopped
pinch of salt
1t garlic, chopped
½t ground white pepper

2T shaved palm sugar

a dash dark soy sauce

2T fish sauce

2T vegetable oil

1. Slice the pork into thinnish pieces about 2cm square. Cut the pork fat, if using, into rectangles, say 2cm x 5mm.
2. Next make the marinade. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the coriander root, salt, garlic and pepper into a fine paste. Combine with the sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce and oil. Marinate the pork and fat in this mixture for about 3 hours. The more cautious can refrigerate this but, if doing so, then it is best marinated overnight.
3. It’s a good idea to soak the bamboo skewers in water for about 30 minutes. This prevents them from scorching and burning as the pork grills.
4. Prepare the grill. Meanwhile, thread a piece of pork fat, if using, on to the skewer first followed by two or three pieces of the marinated pork. Repeat with each skewer. When the embers are glowing, in fact beginning to die, gently grill the skewers, turning quite often to prevent charring and promote even caramelisation and cooking. Dab them with the coconut cream as they grill. This should make the coals smoulder and impart a smoky taste. Grill all the skewers.
5. On the streets, they are reheated over the grill to warm them through before serving, but they are delicious warm or cool.

Makes 12-15
For more recipes from this book click here

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Tapas originated in Andalucia Spain and are now served as a casual meal in bars across Spain. Tapa is the Spanish word for Lid, in the past glasses of sherry bought in bars would come covered by a slice of bread topped with ham, cheese or fried black pudding to keep out the flies. Enterprising  bar owners quickly discovered that the salty ham spurred beverage sales and the delicious tradition of tapas was born.

Today, tapas are an integral part of  Spanish lifestyle, served in bars and cafes throughout the country. They are a variety of little, often free, snacks like olives, almonds and cubes of sheep’s milk cheese generally consumed while standing up in neighborhood bars with a glass of beer, wine, or sherry. Visiting a tapas bar is both a social opportunity and a way to relieve hunger between meals. The concept has evolved to include little dishes of hot, cold and marinated foods, perfect in Spanish culture for appetizers or a diverse dinner buffet full of flavor and variety.

Albondigas – Meatballs In Garlic Tomato Sauce

These delicious little meatballs are perfect for a tapas party, or as a pre drink snack, and fairly easy to make. They are especially good the next day so make it in advance. This is a Wickedfood Cooking School interpretation, from one of our Spanish Cooking classes.

Meatballs:
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
olive oil
1kg minced beef (not lean)
250g minced pork (not lean)
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 1/2t salt
1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped

Sauce:

• Heat a little oil in a large, heavy,  frying pan and cook onion and bell pepper over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Cool mixture.
• In a large bowl combine the cooled onion mixture, minced meats, bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, and parsley. Form level tablespoons of mixture into small balls (about 90).
• Heat a little oil in a large, heavy,  frying pan and brown meatballs in batches (about 16 at a time), shaking frequently so that meatballs maintain their shape. Transfer meatballs with a slotted spoon as browned to a plate.

Sauce:

• Heat a little oil in a  frying pan and fry the garlic, stirring, until fragrant, taking care not to burn.
• Add tomato and oregano and simmer. season with sugar and salt.
• Add meatballs and simmer, covered, gently stirring occasionally, 25 minutes, or until meatballs are tender and sauce is thickened slightly.
• Transfer meatballs with slotted spoon to heated serving dish. If sauce seems thin, boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened to desired consistency. Spoon over meatballs. Reheat meatballs before serving, if making in advance.

For more Tapas recipes see The Book of Tapas

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.