Ingredients:

4 duck legs
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. soy sauce
pinch of sea salt & a few peppercorns (if you have a mixture of pink & black peppercorns so much the better, but just ordinary black will do)

Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients (except the duck, natch!) together, pour half into the bottom of a small dish (just big enough to hold all the duck legs in a single layer), and add the duck, wiping it in the dish so the bottom side gets coated. Then pour over the rest of the marinade, making sure all the duck is touched with it. Cover with clingfilm and pop in the fridge to steep for an hour or 3 (you could prob leave it overnight it you like, and if you have only 20mins to spare it probably wouldn’t suffer excessively for it). Preheat the oven to 180oC. Shake the duck from the marinade (but save it!) and put them on a rack over a baking dish, skin-side up and pour a few inches of water into the dish. This is important as a) the duck will drip lots of fat and you don’t want it swimming in it (remember, its a duck - not a fish!), and b) the marinade will drip too and it will BURN and you will never ever get your dish clean again if you don’t have the water there. Put the duck in the oven for 1 1/2 hours, but do not abandon it entirely, remember I said it needed basting? Periodically spoon a little of the reserved marinade over the duck. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the legs over so that the cut side can be basted as well. In a pestle and mortar bash together the salt and pepper to a fine powder and when there is only 10 mins cooking time left turn the legs again skin-side up, use up the last of the marinade (if there is any) and sprinkle the salt/pepper mix all over the skin and return to the oven. Makes 4 servings.

Curry powder in a traditional Scottish recipe? Yes, apparently it was a Scottish regiment serving in India that married local curry with smoked fish. “Finnan haddies” (smoked haddock from Glen Finnan in Scotland) are the best but most smoked fish is satisfactory.

Ingredients:

2 eggs, hard-cooked- peeled, chopped fine
1 1/2 cup flaked finnan haddie- freshened, boned, skinned,- (or any smoked fish)
3 cup cooked basmati rice -(try brown basmati rice)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
generous grindings of pepper
3 tablespoon lemon juice
lime wedges

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 325 deg. F. Put the eggs, fish and rice in a large mixing bowl; toss together lightly to mix. Put the cream in a small saucepan, add the curry powder and nutmeg, heat, stirring until the spices are blended. Add the cream mixture, pepper, and lemon juice to the rice mixture, and gently toss. Taste for salt and seasoning and adjust if needed (the dish won’t need any salt if the smoked fish is salty). Put the Kedgeree in a casserole and heat in oven only until piping hot. Serve on a platter surrounding softly scrambled eggs, and garnished with lime wedges.

Note: To freshen finnan haddie, soak it in cold milk for an hour, drain then poach it in fresh milk. The milk sweetens the fish and tames its saltiness. Makes 4 servings.

From the state of Bahia in northern Brazil, moqueca de peixe (moo-KAY-ka duh PAY-shuh) is a tropical fish stew fragrant with garlic and peppers, and enriched with coconut milk.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds boneless fillets of any firm whitefish
1/2 pound small shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed
3 cups canned tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 cups chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and diced
1/2 cup fish stock or water

Procedure:

Cut the fillets into bite-size pieces. Cut the shrimp in half lengthwise. Place in a shallow, nonreactive bowl and set aside. Combine the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic, chile, lime juice, oil, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until
smooth. Pour over fish and allow to marinate for 1 hour. Place marinated fish in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the bell peppers and fish stock. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Serve immediately with rice, if desired. Makes 6 servings.

Lomo Saltado is the most popular beef dish in Peru.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup bell pepper, red or yellow, chopped
1 1/2 cups potato, cubed and cooked
1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, diced
1/2 pound sirloin steak, sliced thin
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano
salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure:

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and saute onion, garlic and bell pepper. Add potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until potato just begins to brown. Add chilie and steak. Saute a few more minutes. Stir in tomato, oregano, salt and pepper.

Ingredients:

1 package fillo Sheets
1 lb. Butter, melted
1 lb. walnuts, chopped
3 c sugar, white granulated
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or
1/4 teaspoon ground and 1 stick cinnamon
9 x 13 pyrex baking dish
pastry brush

Procedure:

Chop walnuts to medium fine and mix with 1 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves. Melt butter. Cut fillo in half so that each sheet fits the bottom of the baking pan. Generously butter the bottom and sides of the baking pan and place the fillo, one sheet at a a time, in the baking pan. Generously spread butter on each sheet of fillo as it is placed in the pan. Every 6 to 8 sheets of fillo spread a layer of walnut mix. Continue layering fillo sheets and walnuts until fillo is complete. Pour any remaining butter over top of the baklava. The secret to good flaky baklava is to have each sheet of fillo well buttered so that the sheets do not stick together. With a sharp knife, cut the baklava diagonally to form diamond shaped pieces. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the baklava for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Syrup:
Mix one cup water, two cups sugar, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and either 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon or the cinnamon stick in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Pour the boiling syrup over the cool baklava and allow to cool completely again. When cool serve individual pieces with strong (Turkish) sweet coffee and dried apricots for an exquisite dessert. Makes 24 servings.