Preheat oven to 350F. Cut 20 new potatoes in half lengthwise and put them on a cookie tray. Add 3 garlic cloves to the tray (skins on). Rub a little olive oil on the white bit of the potatoes and put the tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes (or until soft). Remove potatoes from the oven and let them cool.

Once cool to the touch, with a small spoon carefully scoop out the middle of each potato – try not to break the potato skins. Place all of the scooped potato into a large bowl. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the bowl and add the yoghurt. Season to taste. Mash the potato mixture to your desired consistency. I like mine a little chunky…but whipped would be just as good.

Scoop little spoonfuls of potato back into the hollow skins. Grate some Parmesan cheese over top and place under a hot broiler for a few minutes until the cheese melts and the tops of the potatoes turn a bit crispy and brown.

To prepare the chicken, cut each chicken breast in half width-wise so you have 4 flat thin pieces of chicken. With a mortar and pestle make a paste with the garlic, chili, salt and cumin. In a large bowl add the paste, the chicken and 1 tablespoon of oil, then get in with your hands and rub the oil and paste into the chicken. (It would probably be even better left over night in the fridge…but i was in a hurry.)

Place another tablespoon of oil into a frying pan and fry the chicken. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from the frying pan and dice into small pieces.

Preheat a frying pan on medium. Place one tortilla into the pan and then sprinkle a generous amount of cheese, half the chicken and half the tomatoes on to the tortilla and then top with a second tortilla. Press it flat. Fry until the tortilla turns brown, flip and fry the other side. Repeat the above steps with the second quesadilla.

Cut the yams into sticks.

Heat the oil in frying pan over a medium heat. Each stove will be a little different, but don’t start too high. You’ll know you’ve got the oil to the right temperature if it’s not spitting and when you put the end of a raw yam fry in the oil, small bubbles will appear around it. Place the fries into the oil.

Remove the fries from the oil when they have golden brown edges and they have floated to the top. Place them on a plate with some paper towl to remove any excess oil. Sprinkle the fries with a pinch of salt and pepper. Serve warm iwith the dipping sauce. (The dipping sauce is easy..just mix everything together.)

Using a very sharp knife, or a larger grater slice the pecorino into thin slices. Stack the cheese and fig on top of the crisps. Just before serving drizzle honey over the stack.

Spread: Mix salmon with mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, and parmesan cheese.

Sandwich: Set oven to broil. Lightly toast one side of all the slices of bread on a baking sheet. When toasted remove from oven and spoon 1/2 of the salmon mixture onto 2 toasted bread halves. Top with cheddar cheese. Broil open face 3 to 4 minutes until cheese melts and is lightly browned. Place the remaining slices of bread on top of the sandwich (pre-toasted side down) and toast until lightly brown, flip and toast the underside. Serve with a dill pickle.

Cut apples into thin slices, lay them out on a baking sheet, then put them into a preheated oven at 400F and turn it right down to 170F and cook for about 2 hours. You might want to put them on a bit of parchment paper so that they peel away easily (mine stuck to the pan a little).

For a little sinful indulgence dip them into a bit of cinnamon and sugar!

1. Wash and clean as many sticks of celery as you need (at least 3).

2. Smear cream cheese inside the cavity of each of the sticks.

3. Tear small bits of smoked salmon and place it on top.

Easy, resonably healthy and very tasty!

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the honey, molasses, water, and vanilla. Mix until the dough comes together in a ball. You can use a mixer if you have one…I just used my hands.

Take 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap, roll the dough 1/8 – inch thick. Put the sheet of dough in the fridge for an hour. Preheat the over to 350F. Place the dough on a baking tray and then cut it into squares. If you cut it all the way through but don’t seperate the dough you will be able to break them apart like the ones in the box. With a fork, prick several holes in each cracker…or don’t and you’ll end up with squares like mine above. Bake for 15 minutes, they’ll get a bit brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan.

In order to make a good biltong you’ll need to use as high quality a cut of beef as you can. Other types of lean meat work as well (ostrich, Venison). My research suggested using a top sirloin or eye of round roast. Either way you’ll want to find a cut with as little fat as possible so that the meat doesn’t go rancid. Apparently the fatty bits don’t absorb the salt and it slows the drying process.

Cut the meat into strips that are about 1 inch thick along the grain of the meat. You might need to make them a little bit thinner if you live somewhere that is humid. Make sure you remove any fat or connective tissue you find as you cut.

In a dry frying pan roast the coriander seeds to bring out the flavour. Add the coriander seeds, salt and pepper to a mortar and pestle and grind it all together.

Wash the strips of meat. Then put the meat in a bowl and pour 3 cups vinegar over the meat. Coat the meat in vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes. While the meat is sitting in the vinegar, dust the bottom of a 9X13 glass dish with the spice mixture. Remove the meat from the vinegar and make a layer of meat on the botom of the glass dish on top of the first layer of spice. Now dust the top of the meat with spice and repeat until all of the strips of meat are covered in the spice mixture. As you add the spice mixture rub it into the meat to ensure maximum coverage. Cover the dish and put the meat in the fridge for at least 12 hours. Drain the dish as the salt pulls the moisture out of the meat.

Pour the remaining cup of vinegar into a large pot and add 4 or 5 cups of water. Use the mixture to wash off the excess salt from the meat. Dry off the meat with paper towl and hang in a suitable location. Ensure plenty of ventilation. It will take about 5 days to dry out the meat depending on how you like your biltong. Personally I like mine a little softer, otherwise it starts to taste like ordinary jerky.

Making a drying box:

1 cardboard flat
1 metal coat hanger

Since I don’t have a proper biltong box to dry the meat, I made my own. Using a cardboard flat (the kind used to hold punnets of raspberries or blackberries) I cut large square out of the bottom to allow airflow. I then stood the flat on end and put some heavy cans in the bottom so that it didn’t tip over.

Using a set of plyers cut the coat hanger into 8 inch lengths. Take each length and bend a hook on either end, in opposite directions (so it looks a bit like a distorted S).

Push the metal lengths through the box so that they hang about 6-7 inches apart, and attach the meat to the other end.