Skip to content
Recipes

All recipes

Vegetarian, or something you can't eat? Set your diet once and we'll hide recipes that don't fit.

Tallarines rojosSpaghetti in red sauce with chicken

Tallarines rojos is the Sunday-lunch and weeknight pasta of homes all over Peru, from Lima to Arequipa: spaghetti in a sweet, deep-red sauce of blended tomato, onion and garlic with a little ají panca and oregano, often with pieces of chicken cooked right in it. Children love it, and it is served with a sprinkle of grated cheese and sometimes a spoon of huancaína on the side. The usual mistake is cooking the sauce too briefly, so it tastes of raw onion; let the blended tomato fry until it darkens and the oil shows at the edges. Chef's tip: a bay leaf and a spoon of ají panca paste give the sauce its Peruvian character; paprika will do if you can't find the paste.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jam dropsJam thumbprint biscuits

Few things say Australian morning tea like a plate of jam drops: soft golden butter biscuits, each with a thumb-pressed hollow of glossy jam. Country cookbooks and school fete stalls have carried them for generations, and they are often the first biscuit Australian children learn to bake, because there is nothing to roll or cut. Serve them with a cuppa, or tuck them into lunch boxes; plum or apricot jam work as well as raspberry. Plenty of families make them without egg, using a little milk instead. Chef's tip: fill each hollow only level with the top, about half a teaspoon; overfilling is the common error, and the jam bubbles over and burns on the tray.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pejerrey arrebozadoBattered fish fillets with onion salsa

Pejerrey arrebozado is a Lima classic from the cevicherías and home kitchens of the coast, eaten at lunch on a plate with white rice, a heap of sharp salsa criolla and sometimes boiled potato. The pejerrey, a small silverside, is opened into butterflied fillets, dipped in a light egg-and-flour batter and fried golden. Outside Peru, use small fillets of whiting, sole, haddock or tilapia. The batter here uses sparkling water, not beer, so it is alcohol free. The common mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough: the batter drinks the oil and turns greasy, so test with a drop of batter first. Chef's tip: make the salsa criolla first and let the onion sit in lime for ten minutes; it softens its bite and turns a pretty pink.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chicharrón de pescadoCrisp fried fish chunks

Up and down the Peruvian coast, from Chorrillos in Lima to the beaches of Piura, chicharrón de pescado is the crunchy plate ordered alongside ceviche at a long seafood lunch: bite-size chunks of firm white fish marinated briefly in garlic and lime, dusted in flour and fried, then served with fried cassava, salsa criolla and tartar or rocoto sauce. Using frozen peeled cassava keeps it to half an hour. The common mistake is leaving the fish in the lime too long: after about ten minutes the acid starts to 'cook' the outside and the coating slips off. Chef's tip: toss the floured pieces in a sieve to shake off every bit of loose flour; a thin coat fries crisp, a thick one turns pasty.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moroccan bachkoutouOrange and sesame dunking biscuits

Moroccan grandmothers bake bachkoutou by the trayful and keep them in big tins for the afternoon glass of sweet mint tea, and neighbourhood ovens in Fes and Casablanca bake them for families who bring their dough. These are dry, crunchy little biscuits, not rich at all, made with eggs, sugar and oil rather than butter, with orange zest and a coating of toasted sesame; they are meant to be dunked until they soften slightly. Shapes vary from town to town: fingers, rings and rope twists are all common, and some cooks add aniseed. Too much flour is the easy mistake: the dough should stay soft and slightly sticky, or the biscuits bake heavy and hard rather than crisp and light. Chef's tip: once they are cold, put them back in a warm, switched-off oven for 20 minutes; that extra drying is what makes them keep their snap for weeks.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TopfengolatschenSweet quark puff pastry squares

A Topfengolatsche is what Viennese office workers grab from the bakery on the way in, and what grandparents order with a Melange in a coffee house on a Sunday afternoon. The corners of a puff pastry square are folded over a lemony, vanilla-scented filling of Topfen (Austrian quark) with plump raisins, and the top gets a thin white glaze. It is flaky, light and not too sweet. Raisins are sometimes soaked in rum; warm water or orange juice works just as well, and the recipe below is alcohol-free. Wet quark is the classic problem, because it turns the filling runny and it leaks out in the oven. Chef's tip: hang the quark in a sieve lined with a clean cloth for an hour, or squeeze it, until it is as thick as soft cream cheese.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kärntner ReindlingCinnamon raisin yeast cake

Carinthia's Easter loaf takes its name from the Reindl, the round, deep pan it is baked in, and in southern Austria no Easter basket goes to church without one. Inside the golden yeast crust is a spiral of butter, cinnamon sugar and plump raisins, so every slice shows a dark swirl. Locals eat it two ways: sweet with coffee on Easter morning, or alongside the savoury Easter platter with horseradish. Many bakers soak the raisins in rum overnight; warm water or tea works just as well and keeps it alcohol-free. A dry, crumbly Reindling usually means too much flour went in during kneading, so keep the dough soft and only lightly floured. Chef's tip: butter the pan well and dust it with sugar, which caramelises into a thin crunchy shell.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pan chutaAniseed round bread

The small town of Oropesa, half an hour from Cusco, calls itself Peru's bread capital, and its wood-fired bakeries are famous for chuta: big, flat, round loaves as wide as a dinner plate, glossy on top, with a faint sweetness and the warmth of aniseed. Travellers on the road to Puno and Bolivia stop to buy them by the bagful, and families bring them home for All Saints' Day and for sharing with hot coca tea or coffee, fresh cheese and butter. The bakeries traditionally use lard; this version uses vegetable shortening and butter, so it is vegetarian. The make-or-break moment is the proof: chuta is large and flat, and if it goes in under-risen it bakes dense and splits at the rim. Chef's tip: toast the aniseed for a minute in a dry pan and crush it lightly before adding, for a rounder, sweeter perfume.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Honey joysHoney cornflake cakes

Honey joys have been on Australian children's birthday tables for generations, next to fairy bread and chocolate crackles: crunchy clusters of cornflakes coated in bubbling honey butter and baked in little paper cases until golden and crisp. Children can stir and spoon them while an adult handles the hot syrup. They are for school-age children and not for babies under one, who shouldn't have honey. They contain milk and usually gluten (from malt in cornflakes). Chef's tip: bake them just until golden; a few minutes too long and the honey turns bitter.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cocktail frankfurts with tomato sauce

Ask anyone who grew up in Australia or New Zealand about birthday parties and they'll mention 'little boys' or 'cheerios': bright red cocktail frankfurts, gently heated and piled in a bowl with tomato sauce for dunking, next to the fairy bread and sausage rolls. They take ten minutes and need almost no skill, which is why they've lasted. Check the label for gluten and allergens; many brands contain neither, but some do. Chef's tip: heat them in water that is barely simmering, never boiling hard, or the skins split and they turn pale.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChaplasHollow puffed Andean bread

Walk through Ayacucho's central market at seven in the morning and you will see women selling stacks of chaplas from cloth-lined baskets, still warm from the wood-fired ovens of the Andes. These round wheat breads puff up like pita in the fierce heat, leaving a hollow pocket inside a thin, soft, lightly floury crust. In Ayacucho and Huancavelica they are eaten with sweet coffee or hot emoliente for breakfast, or split and filled with queso fresco, avocado or a spoonful of rocoto sauce. Highland bakers traditionally work in a little lard; vegetable shortening gives the same tenderness and keeps the bread vegan. A cool baking tray is the reason chaplas stay flat, so preheat it thoroughly. Chef's tip: let the rolled rounds rest before baking and flip them upside down onto the tray, so the smooth, dry side meets the heat first and the pocket opens evenly.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jaffles (Australian toasted sandwiches)

Jaffles are Australian childhood in a sandwich: thick bread sealed around a hot filling in a cast-iron jaffle iron over the campfire, or in an electric sandwich press after school and on rainy weekend lunchtimes. Cheese and baked beans, or cheese and tomato, are the classics, and the sealed edges keep everything molten inside. They contain gluten and milk. Chef's tip: butter the outsides, not the insides, so the bread turns crisp and golden against the iron.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jelly slice

Jelly slice is a fixture of school fetes, church bake stalls and birthday tables in Australia and New Zealand: a crushed biscuit base, a tangy layer of lemon and condensed milk set with gelatine, and a glassy top of red raspberry jelly, cut into neat squares. It needs no oven but a lot of fridge time, so make it the day before. It contains gluten and milk, and gelatine, so it is not vegetarian; agar-based vegetarian jelly crystals and a vegetarian gelling agent work if set according to their packet. Chef's tip: let the jelly cool until it is syrupy and only just warm before pouring, or it melts into the creamy layer.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sausage sizzle

The sausage sizzle is how Australians raise money for school fetes, sports clubs and polling days, and it is the easiest food for a backyard birthday: thick sausages barbecued until browned, laid diagonally on a slice of soft white bread with a heap of sweet fried onions and a squiggle of tomato sauce. One slice, one sausage, eaten in the hand. It contains gluten from the bread (and often the sausages). Chef's tip: cook the onions slowly on the flat plate before the sausages, and push them to the cooler side to keep warm while the sausages cook.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ErdäpfelstrudelSavoury potato strudel

Austrians, especially in the Mühlviertel of Upper Austria and the Waldviertel, make savoury strudels as often as sweet ones, and Erdäpfelstrudel is a farmhouse favourite for a meatless Friday or a cold evening. Thin pastry wraps a filling of potatoes, fried onion, sour cream, marjoram and parsley, baked until crisp and golden and sliced with a green salad or a dill and sour-cream dip. Bought filo makes it easy at home. The mistake to avoid is a wet filling, which turns the pastry soggy underneath. Chef's tip: cool the filling completely before rolling; warm filling makes the layers stick and tear.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cheese briouats (briwat bel fromage)

Cheese briouats are the cigars that disappear first from Ramadan tables in Rabat and Tangier: fresh, salty cheese mixed with egg, parsley and a pinch of chilli, rolled tight in warqa and fried until the pastry shatters. They're served hot, at iftar or with mint tea for afternoon guests. Overfilled cigars burst and leak cheese into the oil; a level tablespoon each is enough. Chef's tip: a little grated hard cheese in the mix stops the fresh cheese from going watery. Traditional fresh cheese like jben is made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian one if needed. Contains milk, egg and wheat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Potato briouats (briwat batata)

During Ramadan, the iftar tables of Casablanca and Marrakech are crowded with little fried pastries, and potato briouats are the budget-friendly favourite. A mash of potato, parsley, coriander, cumin and a little grated cheese is folded into warqa or filo triangles and fried until crackling. Serve them hot with harira or mint tea. The common mistake is a wet, warm filling, which makes the pastry soggy and tear; let the mash cool completely. Chef's tip: seal each triangle with a dab of egg yolk or flour paste; they won't open in the oil. Check cheese labels: some is made with animal rennet. Contains wheat, egg and milk.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Msemen m'amer (stuffed square msemen)

Morning cafés in Fes and Casablanca sell msemen m'amer straight off the griddle: the familiar square laminated pancake, but folded around a spicy filling of onion, tomato, parsley, cumin and paprika, so every bite has a juicy, savoury layer. It's eaten for breakfast or at teatime with mint tea, and in Ramadan it's on every iftar table. Wet filling is the enemy — fry it until dry or it steams the dough from inside and tears it. Chef's tip: oil your hands and the worktop rather than flouring them; that oil is what makes the layers. Contains wheat.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tagine qoq w jelbana (lamb with artichokes and peas)

In Fes and Meknes, spring is announced by the first wild artichokes and fresh peas, and families cook them in this pale, saffron-gold lamb tagine for the Friday lunch. The lamb simmers with onion, ginger, saffron and olive oil until tender, then artichoke hearts and peas go in so they stay green, and preserved lemon adds a salty brightness. Eat it straight from the pot with khobz. The common mistake is adding the vegetables with the meat, so they go grey and mushy; they need only the last 20 minutes. Chef's tip: rub cut artichokes with lemon and keep them in lemon water, or they blacken within minutes.

130 minMoroccanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gueddid (spiced dried lamb, safe oven method)

After Eid al-Adha, families across Morocco traditionally cut part of the sacrificed lamb into strips, rub it with salt, garlic, cumin and coriander and hang it on rooftop lines in the sun for days; the gueddid is then kept for Ashura couscous, lentil stews and eggs. Sun-drying meat at home is not safe without strict control, so this version cures the strips in the fridge, then dries them in a low oven until the meat is cooked through to at least 71 °C and leathery-dry, with the same deep, salty, cumin flavour. The common mistake is cutting thick strips: anything over 1 cm stays moist in the centre. Chef's tip: semi-freeze the meat for an hour first so you can slice it thinly and evenly. Not for anyone on a low-salt diet.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shlada beldia (Moroccan tomato and cucumber salad)

Shlada beldia, "country salad", sits next to the bread on almost every Moroccan table, from Marrakech grill stalls to a Tuesday family lunch in Oujda. Tomato, cucumber, onion and green pepper are diced as small as lentils, then dressed with lemon, olive oil, parsley and a pinch of cumin, so it eats like a fresh relish with grilled meat, tagines or eggs. The common mistake is dressing it too early: the tomatoes weep and it turns to soup, so salt it just before serving. Chef's tip: dice everything to the same tiny size; that's what makes it taste Moroccan rather than like a chopped salad.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shlada gar'a (cooked courgette salad with cumin)

In Meknes and Casablanca the pale courgettes of early summer are cooked down into this soft, spiced salad, one of several little dishes set out with bread before the main course. The courgettes are steamed with garlic, then crushed lightly with olive oil, cumin, paprika and lemon until spoonable but still chunky. Serve it cool with bread or alongside grilled fish. Watery courgettes are the usual problem; cook off all the liquid before seasoning. Chef's tip: add a handful of chopped coriander only at the end so it stays bright.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moroccan fish couscous (seksu bel hout)

Along the Atlantic coast in Safi and Essaouira, the Friday couscous is often made with the morning's catch rather than lamb. Firm white fish steaks are marinated in chermoula, then gently poached on top of a tomato and vegetable broth while the couscous steams above it, so everything takes on the scent of cumin, paprika and coriander. Serve the fish and vegetables over the grain with plenty of broth. The usual mistake is adding the fish at the start; it falls apart and goes dry. It needs only the last 10–12 minutes. Chef's tip: lay a few lemon slices under the fish in the pot; they keep it from sticking and lift the broth.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moroccan sweet pumpkin salad

In Fes and Meknes no Friday couscous lunch starts without a ring of little cooked salads, and the sweet red pumpkin one is the children's favourite. Chunks of pumpkin are softened with a little oil, then cooked down with honey, cinnamon and a pinch of ginger until they collapse into a glossy, jammy mash with a few chunks left. Serve it at room temperature with bread, alongside sharper salads like zaalouk or carrots with cumin. Cooks often add too much water and end up with soup; the pumpkin gives off its own juice, so start almost dry. Chef's tip: scatter toasted sesame seeds over just before serving for crunch against the sweetness.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 24 of 392 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1 of 17