Well, this is the magic of British Christmas.

Mincemeat is the basic preserve you need to make amazing Christams sweets and treats in Britain, such as pies or puddings. I fell in love with it when I lived in London years ago. The taste feels something like Grandmother’s ovens. In origins it was made with fruits, sugar, vinegar, wine, fat and meat. Yes, meat (the name tells it all!). Today meat is rarely part of the recipe, pork suet instead is the only fat (so a connection with its meaty origins is still there).

Mincemeat is in the category of preserves and must be consumed in pies or puddings and if you want also with very savoury cheese.

It preserves like this up to 6 months and as per all preserves the more it ages, the more it gets better. Vegetarians can substitute suet with vegetable suet.

230 grams sultanas

330 grams currants

250 grams pork suet

200 grams grated apple

200 gr brown sugar

90 grams mixed candied peels

130 ml brandy

1 lemon (garted zest and juice)

1 tsp ground nutmeg

half tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of ground chives

mix the fruits with 100 ml of brandy and set aside for 1h. Drain the fruits and squeeze them with a cloth (retain all the liquids in a separate bowl and add the brandy left over – 30 ml).

Add to the fruits the rest of ingredients (excluding the drained juices). Mix well and put in a heat-proof container. Heat in oven at 100° C for 2H15 (the suet will melt down completely).

Take out from oven. Drain the exceeding fat (but retain it in a separate bowl). Let cool. Add the juices+brandy mixture, mix well and pot the mixture in a airtight container, press well and cover with 1 cm of retained fat (discard the rest). Seal the containers and set aside.

Consume after 1 week and within 6 months (it keep well preserved in a cool and dry place).

For 500 grams rice cakes circa (serving 4)

Phase 1

500 grams short grain rice

water (as needed)

wash the rice under running water until the discarded water gets clear.

Cover it with fresh water and set aside for 8 hours.

Phase 2

Drain the rice and set aside into the colander for 30 minutes.

Then put the rice into a grinder and grind it finely. Sieve the flour on a sieve. Then go to phase 3.

Phase 3

500 grams short grain rice flour (check phase 2)

2 tbs sesame oil

160 grams boiling water

1 tsp salt

Mix the flour with the salt and the boiling water.
You will obtain a semi-thick cream.

Cover the recipient with cling film and cook the mixture into the microwave oven for 2 minutes. Take out, and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Cook the mixture again for further 2 minutes. Take out from the container and beat firmly with a pestle for 5 minutes. Knead then with your hands for further five minutes (until it gets compact).

Divide the dough into 4 parts and roll each part into cylinder shaped rolls 1,5 cm diameter. Slice them into 4/4.5 cm long pieces.

Grease them with the sesame oil and preserve inplastic bag (1 day in refrigerator or 1 month into the freezer).

Moddizzosu is a potato bread typical of Sardinia. Quick and easy to make it can be preserved for months in a freezer and goes back to its original status once unfrozen.

Usually accompanied by salami or cheese, I use ita s a normal bread. And it is a life line when I come back home late at night and I do not have enough to eat! Double the quantities believe they will not last too much!

10 pcs

ready in 30 minutes

proofing 3 hours

400 grams durum wheat semolina

100 grams bread flour

250 grams boiled potatoes peeled

50 grams lard

10 grams dry yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tsps sugar

warm water (as needed)

In a container put semolina, flour, sugar, salt, yeast and lard (room temperature). Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and put them into the container.

Slowly add the water and knead until it gets into a soft but compact dough. Knead for 8/10 minutes. Put in a container and cover with cling film to allow the first proofing (approx 2 hours).

Punch the dough and divide into small balls (100/120 grams each). Flatten each ball with a rolling pin up to 6/7 mm. Set on a dripping pan coasted with parchment paper and allow second proofing for another hour.

Bake at 200° C for 10/12 minutes – careful they do not get too brown.

Still warm, preserve them in plastic bags. You can deep freeze them for 6 months. A few second in a microwave oven and they will get back to the same out-of-oven fragrance.

15 grams dry yeast

4 tbs sugar

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil

lukewarm water (as needed)

salt

Melt the dry yeast and the sugar in half glass of lukewarm water and set aside for a couple of minutes. Put the flour into a container (or into the kitchen aid), add 2 tbs of olive oil, and the activated yeast and start kneading (with your hands or the machine), slowly add more water until you reach a soft dough (it should be very soft and still moist and if you knead with your hands it should be slightly sticky).

Knead energically for 10 minutes. At last add the salt and knead well.

Set aside for the first proofing into the same container. Coat the dough with 2 tbs of olive oil and cover the container with cling film and a cloth (keep it in a warm place if it is winter).

When the dough has doubled from its original size, punch the dough and knead again.

Give it the shape or use it (according to your recipe), but make sure it goes into a second proofing for at least further 45 minutes before cooking or baking it.

Ready in 30 minutes

4 shallots

3 fresh turmeric roots (if you can0’t find it add 1 tbsp of turmeric powder)

2 tbsp turmeric (powder)

1 tbsp coriander seeds

3 red hot chilli peppers (unseeded if you prefer milder taste)

6 cm ginger root (grated separately)

4 gralic cloves

3 lemongrass stalks (peeled and cleaned – you’ll need to use only the soft core)

1 tbsp curry powder

2 tbsp shrimp paste (easily found in international gorceries)

1 tsp salt

water (as needed)

Tradition says you should use a pestle and a mortar. True – it would come much better and more like a paste. But I am a lover of technology, so you can use a blender and blend all ingredients together, adding little water in order to obtain a smooth paste.

You can use straight ahead or deep-freeze it for future use in monod portion.

You will need 1 ripe tablespoon per person.

Inspired by the mythical Lillie’s Q Carolina Dirt (if you never tried it you must absolutely buy it at your first trip to the States), this rub is a miracle for your bbq. Or course the secret of the Carolina Dirt is not easy to recreate but I think I found a balanced recipe that is very similar to it. You can do more, as it can be preserved for 1 year.

1 tbs powdered chipotle

1 tsp powdered panco chilli pepper

1 tbs hot paprika

2 tbs sweet paprika

1 tbs salt

4 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tbs cumin

1/2 tbs black pepper

1 tbs Cayenna pepper

1 tbs celery seeds

1 tbs garlic powder

2 tbs dried onion

½ tbs oregan

1 tbs mustard seeds

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbs coriander

2 tbs stock powder

Put all ingredients in a grinder (everything together or sepearetly if you have a small one) and grind with the pulse (you do not want the mix to be too powdery).  Mix everything together and put in air tight containers.

Use as breadcrubs, to coat your preferred meat: chicken, beef, pork. And set aside for a minimum or 15 minutes to 3 hours before cooking.

I always looked for a BBQ sauce that would match my taste and I could never find one: too sweet sometimes or too sour other times… That’s why I decided to create my own so I can adjust it according to my taste! The good BBQ sauce for me should taste smokey and should be sweet, so I made a variation on the recipe below adding more liquid smoke and more sugar – but this is up to you!

500 grams ketchup

50 grams tomato paste

150 grams water

120 gr brown sugar

4 tbs liquid smoke*

2 tbs Worchestershire sauce*

1 tbs molasses

1 tbs salt

80 grams wine vinegar

1 tbs dried onion powder

1 tbs dried garlic powder

1 tbs black pepper

1 tbs sweet paprika

1 tsp celery seeds

Mix all ingredients. Put in a casserole.

Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes circa (maximum 30 minutes).

Pour into the vases still hot. Let cool down.

Keep refrigerated and use within 2 months.

Here I introduce also a universal and vegan salad dressing: the peanuts dressing. Make more and preserve it in the fridge for one week. It is a perfect dressing for all vegetables and it can be used as a marinade for the Chicken Satay (Chicken Satay recipe), you just only need to add the fresh juice of 2 limes. Use it fresh as a salad dressing and as a marinade only after a couple of days.

Makes circa 500 grams
Ready in 15 minutes

200 grams peanuts butter

a quarter of a glass of soy sauce

a quarter of a glass of rice vinegar

one glass of water

3 tsp sugar

3 cm ginger root

2 garlic cloves

3 tbs vegetable oil

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan. And stir-fry the minced garlic (I keep the whole clove to retai nit once golden), and the grated ginger until golden.

Add the remaining ingredients and on medium-low heat mix everything until smooth. Set aside for later use.

As a general rule, this sauce, once cold, can be kept into the refrigerator up to one week.

1 kg potatoes

300 grams all-purpose flour

1 egg

salt

Boil in salted water the unpeeled potatoes (check doneness with a knife, if you get easily through the other side of the potato it is done). Let cool down. Peel them and mash them in a container with a potato masher.

Add the flour, the salt and the egg.

Mix well until smooth and soft. Add some flour if it is too sticky.

Make some rolls 1,5/2 cm diameter and cut lenghtwise at the same dimension. With you thumb, press them gently on a fork to give them the usual shape.

Put them on a clean and dry cloth sprinkled with abundant flour.

To cook the potato dumplings: pour the helping yourself with the cloth into hot boiling salted water (add 1 tbs of olive oil to the water before the potato dumplings this will help keeping them separate). Sitr gently and drain them with a perforated spoon once they come on the surface of the water. Top with the preferred sauce.

Makes circa 600 grams of curry paste (you will need avg 25/30 grams per serving)

20 fresh cilantro roots (if you can’t find it, use also the stems of the cilantro below)

60 grams fresh cilantro

7 cm clean ginger root

half tbs cumin seeds

1 onion

half tbs coriander

6 galangal roots (if you can’t find it, double the ginger quantity)

10 garlic cloves

4 kaffir leaves (sorry, you really need this! You will most probably find them dried, in case put them in lukewarm water for 15 minutes before use)

8 lemongrass stalks

half tbs pepper

1 tbs salt

5 green onions

2 tsp shrimp paste

5 thai green chillies

With a blender:

Grind the spices (cilantro seeds, pepper and cumin).

In a mixer put all ingredients together and blend until smooth. Put on a drainer and let the exceeding water go. Freeze for future use or use fresh (1 and half tablespoons serves 4 for a normal green curry).

With a mortar:

First you crush the spices. Then you need to add the other ingredients in the following order (keeping on crushing between one add and the other): salt, garlic; and again ginger and galangal. Continue then with cilantro roots, lemongrass, kaffir lime, onions, chilli peppers and last the fresch cilantro. Add shrimp paste. And preserve.

For 4 people recipe you will need 2 tablespoons.