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bainsworld favourite foods!

These are some of our favourite recipes at the moment - together they make for a pretty good dinner party menu:

	Mai Tai
	Long Island Ice Tea
	Strawberry Daiquiris
	Chilli con Carne
	Warm Rocket Salad
	Yoghurt with Blueberry Jam and Elderflower Cordial

Mai Tai

	Ice, to fill cocktail shaker
	1 tablespoon lime juice
	2 tablespoon Grand Marnier
	dash of Angostura bitters
	¼ cup dark Jamaican rum
	1 teaspoon grenadine syrup
	1/3 cup fresh pineapple juice
	2 drops almond essence
	ice, extra to serve
	pineapple and mint, to garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all the remaining ingredients except the extra ice and the garnishes, and shake well. Pour over ice and garnish. Serves 1.

Long Island Iced Tea

	30 ml vodka
	30 ml gin
	30 ml white rum
	30 ml white tequila
	30 ml Triple Sec
	30 ml lemon juice
	8 ice cubes
	Cola, to serve
	Lemon wedges, to garnish

Place the vodka, gin, rum, tequila, Triple Sec and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with the ice and shake well. Pour into long, chilled glasses with ice, and add enough cola to colour the drink. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serves 2.

Strawberry Daiquiris

In a blender, place 30 ml of lime juice, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2 teaspoons of Triple Sec or Cointreau, ½ cup of white rum, 1 cup chopped strawberries (or any other exotic fruit) and 6 ice cubes. Blend and pour into 2 chilled glasses.

Chilli con Carne

	2 medium onions
	1 clove garlic
	Olive oil
	2 level teaspoon chilli powder
	1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
	1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
	Salt & pepper
	455g chuck steak, minced
	200g sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
	2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
	½ stick of cinnamon
	2 x 400g tins of red kidney beans, drained

Process the onion and garlic a food processor until finely chopped, then fry in a little olive oil until soft. Add the chilli powder, fresh chilli, cumin and a little seasoning. Add the minced chuck steak and continue to cook, stirring, until it has browned. Blend the sun-dried tomatoes in the food processor with enough oil from the jar to loosen into a paste. Add this to the beef with the tomatoes, cinnamon stick and a wineglass of water.

Bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper and the lid, turn the heat down and simmer for 1½ hours. Add the kidney beans 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

Warm Rocket Salad

	Peel, halve and quarter 2 medium red onions
	8 whole rashers of pancetta
	4 sprigs of fresh thyme
	Handful of pine nuts
	4 big handfuls of rocket
	Balsamic vinegar
	Shaved parmesan cheese

In a frying pan, fry off the rashers of pancetta until crisp, then remove. Add a generous dollop of olive oil and fry the onions along with the sprigs of thyme. Toss around for about 5 minutes until caramelized, but not black. Add a good handful of pine nuts and toss around for another minute. Put the pancetta back into the pan to reheat. Have your salad bowl ready with the rocket then toss the pancetta and onion mixture on top. Toss around briefly then drizzle with balsamic vinegar and the shaved parmesan. Serve immediately. This is delicious and my current favourite salad.

Yoghurt with Blueberry Jam and Elderflower Cordial

	1 x 500g pot of good quality Greek or natural yoghurt
	4 tablespoon blueberry jam
	8 tablespoon elderflower cordial*
	4 sprigs of fresh mint

Divide the yoghurt between 4 dessert bowls or small glasses (looks better). Spoon over the blueberry jam, cover with the elderflower cordial and top with a sprig of mint. Chill until ready to serve.

*We found elderflower cordial impossible to locate, so we discovered oxymel, which proved to be a delicious alternative. The oxymel we use is marketed as Oxymol Syrup obtainable from Herba Seeds, 36/12 Corry Crt, Nth Parramatta NSW 2151, tel: 02 9890 4236.