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Recipes with lemon wedges

38 recipes that use lemon wedges, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Grilled kippers, takes 15 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, onion and lemon juice.

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Pork souvlaki

This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.

32 minGreekMeat
by KrazyBadal 1 views

Sardines stuffed with chermoula

Walk past the fish stalls by Essaouira's harbour and you smell this before you see it: sardines opened flat, smeared with a green-red paste of herbs, garlic, cumin and paprika, pressed together in pairs, dusted with flour and fried until the edges crunch. The fish stays moist and rich inside, sharpened by lemon and a little chilli. In Safi and Agadir homes they appear at lunch with a tomato and onion salad and bread, or tucked into sandwiches from street carts. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to butterfly the sardines and remove the backbone; it saves a fiddly 20 minutes and they lie flat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mondeghili

Mondeghili are the thrifty meatballs of Milan, invented to use up the beef left from a pot of bollito misto and now a fixture on the aperitivo counters of the city's bars. The cooked beef is minced with mortadella, a soft pork sausage, then bound with milk-soaked bread, egg, grana and lemon zest, flattened slightly and fried in butter until crisp and brown. They are best warm, with a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of green sauce or simply a cold drink before dinner. Leftover roast beef or veal works just as well as boiled meat. Chef's tip: flatten each ball a little before frying; they cook through evenly and get more of that crunchy crust.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Olive all'ascolana

Olive all'ascolana are the pride of Ascoli Piceno in the Marche, sold in paper cones at street fairs and piled on platters of fritto misto at every celebration in the region. Large, mild green olives are cut from their stones in a spiral, wrapped around a filling of pork, beef and chicken cooked with soffritto and a splash of white wine, then breaded and fried until crunchy. The real Ascolana tenera olive is hard to find outside Italy, so any large, mild green olive in brine is a practical substitute. The filling uses white wine, and the note gives an alcohol-free option. Serve hot, with lemon wedges and other fried titbits or a glass of something cold. Chef's tip: rinse and soak the olives before stuffing them; if they are too salty they overwhelm the delicate meat filling.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Involtini di pesce spada

Swordfish has been hunted in the Strait of Messina for centuries, and in early summer, when the boats with their tall lookout towers are out, the city's cooks roll thin slices around a filling of toasted breadcrumbs, pine nuts, raisins, lemon and parsley. Threaded onto skewers with bay leaves and onion, they are grilled or baked until just opaque, sweet-salty and fragrant. Serve with lemon wedges and a fennel and orange salad. Swordfish is high in mercury, so pregnant women and young children should limit how often they eat it; thin slices of tuna loin work too. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger to slice the swordfish as thinly as possible, then pound it gently between sheets of cling film to 3 mm.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Besugo a la donostiarra

For many San Sebastián families, Christmas Eve dinner isn't complete without a whole sea bream, roasted or grilled and finished with a refrito: hot olive oil with sliced garlic, dried chilli and a splash of vinegar poured over at the table. The traditional fish is red sea bream (besugo), but gilt-head bream works well. A common mistake is letting the garlic go dark brown, which makes the dressing bitter; take it off when it is pale gold. Chef's tip: cut a few slashes into the thick part of the fish so it cooks evenly and the dressing soaks in.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shorbat freekeh

When the sunset call to prayer ends the Ramadan fast in Amman, the first spoonfuls are very often shorbat freekeh, a nourishing broth thickened with cracked green wheat that was roasted in the field while still young. The smoke from that roasting gives the soup its distinctive, almost barbecue-like depth, while chicken, cinnamon and cardamom keep it gentle on an empty stomach. It is followed by dates, salad and the main dish. The usual mistake is not picking over and rinsing the freekeh, which can hold tiny stones and chaff. Chef's tip: toast the rinsed freekeh in butter for a couple of minutes before adding the broth; it brings out the smokiness.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bizri

Fish restaurants on the harbours of Byblos, Batroun and Tyre bring bizri to the table within minutes of ordering: a heap of tiny whitebait, dusted in seasoned flour and fried so crisp you eat them whole, heads and all, with a squeeze of lemon. It is a mezze for sharing with fattoush, tahini sauce and fried pitta, usually while waiting for the bigger grilled fish. Buy the fish very fresh and keep it on ice until it goes into the pan. The common mistake is crowding the pan, which drops the oil temperature and leaves the fish greasy and soft. Chef's tip: toss the damp fish in flour in a sieve and shake off every bit of excess; a thin coating fries glassy-crisp.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rhode Island clam cakes

At beach shacks along Narragansett Bay and in Galilee, clam cakes are bought by the paper bag, half a dozen at a time, to dunk in a cup of clear clam chowder. They are not patties but craggy, golden fritters, crisp outside and soft inside, studded with chopped quahog clams. Chef's tip: use the clam juice as part of the liquid; it puts the sea flavour into every bite of batter.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Stuffies

Stuffies are Rhode Island's summer starter, sold at clam shacks in Warwick and Bristol and made at home for Fourth of July cookouts: big hard-shell quahog clams are steamed, the meat chopped and mixed with buttery breadcrumbs, peppers and spicy Portuguese chouriço (pork sausage), then baked back in the shells. Chef's tip: save the steaming liquid and use it to moisten the stuffing; plain water makes it bland.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Maryland crab cakes

Around Chesapeake Bay, from Baltimore's crab houses to the docks of the Eastern Shore, a proper crab cake is judged by how little holds it together: sweet lump blue crab, a spoon of mayonnaise and mustard, a little seasoning and just enough crumbs to bind. They are eaten as a platter with coleslaw or in a soft roll with tartare sauce through the summer crab season. Chef's tip: chill the shaped cakes for an hour; it firms them so they don't fall apart in the pan.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Oysters Rockefeller

Oysters Rockefeller were created at Antoine's in the French Quarter in 1889 and named after the richest man in America because the sauce was so rich; the restaurant has never shared its exact recipe. Live Gulf oysters on the half shell are covered with a bright green butter of herbs and greens and baked until bubbling, a classic starter at New Orleans celebration dinners. This version uses a dash of anise-flavoured liqueur, which is traditional; it can be replaced with a pinch of ground fennel seed for an alcohol-free version. Chef's tip: bed the shells on coarse salt so they sit level and the juices don't spill.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Blackened redfish

Blackened redfish was the dish that made Cajun cooking famous across America in the 1980s, created in a New Orleans restaurant by a chef from Opelousas. Fillets are dipped in butter, coated thickly in paprika, cayenne, thyme and pepper and seared in a white-hot cast-iron pan, so the spices char into a dark, smoky crust while the fish stays moist. It produces a lot of smoke, so open the windows or cook it outside. Chef's tip: the pan must be heated empty for a full 5 minutes; a lukewarm pan steams the fish instead of blackening it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Crab Louie

Crab Louie was on the menus of San Francisco's grand hotels and wharf restaurants by the early 1900s and is still a winter lunch when Dungeness crab is in season. Sweet crab meat is heaped on crisp lettuce with hard-boiled eggs, tomato, asparagus and avocado, and covered with a creamy, tangy pink dressing. Chef's tip: keep the crab in big pieces and add the dressing at the table, so the salad stays crisp.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Morecambe Bay potted shrimps

On the wide sands of Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, tiny brown shrimps have been caught by tractor and horse-drawn nets for centuries, boiled on the boats and picked by hand. Potted in butter flavoured with mace, nutmeg and cayenne, they are a classic English starter, served with hot toast so the butter melts. Buy shrimps ready cooked and peeled. Chef's tip: warm the shrimps in the butter only briefly; boiling them makes them tough and rubbery.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grilled kippers

In the tiny harbour village of Craster on the Northumberland coast, herring have been split and oak-smoked in the same smokehouse for over a century, and kippers are the classic English breakfast fish in seaside hotels and on dining cars. A kipper is cold-smoked but not cooked, so it must be heated through; grilled with butter it turns rich, salty and smoky. Serve with brown bread and butter, a poached egg or a squeeze of lemon. Chef's tip: grill them skin-side up first so the skin crisps and the flesh stays juicy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Baghali pokhte

When autumn rain sets in over Rasht, and through the winter on Tehran street corners, sellers ladle steaming broad beans in their skins from giant pots into paper cones. The beans are soaked overnight and boiled slowly until creamy, then each bowlful is sprinkled with sharp golpar (ground Persian hogweed seed), salt and a splash of vinegar. You pinch the beans out of their skins as you eat. A common mistake is salting the cooking water early, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: golpar is strong and smells a little like celery and citrus; start with a light dusting and add more at the table.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Finkenwerder Scholle

Finkenwerder was a fishing village on an Elbe island, and the way its fishermen cooked plaice is now Hamburg's signature fish dish, eaten from May to autumn when plaice is plump. A whole fish is dusted and fried in butter, then covered with crisp cubes of smoked pork belly bacon and a handful of tiny brown North Sea shrimps warmed in the same pan, and served with parsley potatoes and cucumber salad. The bacon is pork; leave it out and add capers for a pork-free plate. Chef's tip: score the dark skin side lightly twice so the fish stays flat in the pan and cooks evenly to the bone.

40 minGermanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Backhendl

Backhendl, crumbed fried chicken, was the treat of 19th-century Viennese Sunday outings to the Prater and the wine villages, and it is still the star of Styrian taverns, served with lemon and a lukewarm potato salad glossy with pumpkin seed oil. Chicken pieces on the bone are seasoned with lemon, coated in flour, egg and fine breadcrumbs and fried slowly so the crust puffs and stays crisp while the meat cooks through. Chef's tip: fry at a moderate heat, not a fierce one; bone-in pieces need time for the centre to reach a safe temperature before the crumbs burn.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Flammlachs

At German Christmas markets, from Nuremberg to Cologne, whole sides of salmon are nailed to wooden boards and stood around an open beech fire until smoky and just cooked, then served in a roll or on a plate with a mustard-dill sauce. At home you get close with a soaked wooden plank on a covered barbecue, or in a hot oven with a little smoked salt. A short dry brine in the fridge seasons the fish right through. Chef's tip: take the salmon off while the very centre is only just opaque; it carries on cooking on the hot plank.

50 minGermanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Barramundi with lemon myrtle butter

Barramundi is the prize fish of Australia's tropical north, caught in the rivers and estuaries of the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland and served everywhere from Darwin's waterfront to Brisbane pubs. Its firm, sweet white flesh is best cooked simply, skin side down until crisp, then topped with a butter flavoured with lemon myrtle, a native rainforest leaf that tastes like lemon and lemongrass together. Eat it with a green salad, new potatoes or chips on a warm evening. The mistake to avoid is moving the fillets too soon: the skin tears and sticks; leave them until they release by themselves. Chef's tip: dry the skin very well with kitchen paper and salt it just before cooking, never earlier, or it draws out moisture and won't crisp.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thukpa

Thukpa is the warming noodle soup of the Himalayas, eaten in Sikkim, Ladakh and the Tibetan settlements of the hills on cold evenings. A gingery, garlicky broth is cooked with carrot, cabbage and tomato, then wheat noodles and spinach go straight into the pot. It's light yet filling, savoury with soy and pepper and as spicy as you like with chilli on the side. Serve in deep bowls with a squeeze of lemon. Chef's tip: cook the noodles in the soup only just before serving; left standing, they keep drinking up the broth and turn soft.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Harira

When the call to prayer ends the fast during Ramadan, tables from Tangier to Ouarzazate are set with a bowl of harira, dates and chebakia. This tomato soup is thick with lentils, chickpeas and a great deal of coriander, parsley and celery, and gets its silky body from a flour-and-water slurry stirred in at the end. Many families cook it with a little lamb; this meat-free version uses a well-browned onion and tomato base and olive oil instead of smen, so it is fully vegan and still deeply savoury. Chef's tip: the soup should coat a spoon like thin custard; add the flour slurry slowly while stirring and stop when it reaches that point. Variation: for the meat version, brown 250 g diced lamb with the onion at the start.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Misir sambusa

Sambusa are the crunchy triangles sold on the streets of Harar and Dire Dawa, and made at home across Ethiopia for Ramadan, Meskel and Timkat celebrations. The Ethiopian version is usually filled with brown lentils (misir), cooked dry with onion, green chilli and spices, then wrapped in thin pastry and fried until blistered and golden. Eat them hot, with a squeeze of lemon or a spicy dip. Chef's tip: cook the lentil filling until it is quite dry; a wet filling makes the pastry soggy and causes bursting in the hot oil.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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Goes well with lemon wedges