PEPPER BARBECUE SAUCE

1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic minced
4 ounces tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add in the onion and garlic and saute for five minutes until tender.

Stir in the tomato sauce, ketchup, molasses, apple cider vinegar, black pepper, lemon juice, brown sugar/honey, Worchestershire, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat, and summer for 20 minutes to combine flavors and for the sauce to reduce.

When the sauce is thick and syrupy, remove from heat and allow to cool before bottling. Keeps sealed in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Smoked Salmon Laksa

300g red curry paste

100ml cooking oil

1 tbsp mild curry powder

2 British Lion eggs

1 tbsp brown soft sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

200ml fish stock

400ml coconut cream

300g smoked salmon, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces

1 small handful coriander

3 tbsp peanuts, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar

300g vermicelli noodles, blanched in boiling water and refreshed in cold water

1 lime

Fry the curry paste in the oil and then add the curry powder. Fry for eight to ten minutes, moving all the time. Soft boil and peel your eggs - an average sized egg takes five minutes cooking time on a rolling boil. Once peeled, leave them aside at room temperature. Add the sugar into the paste and continue to cook for two minutes until the paste goes darker, then add the fish sauce and the fish stock and bring back to the boil. Once boiling, add the coconut cream and bring to a simmer. Check seasoning as you may wish for a little more sugar or fish sauce to taste. Lastly drop the smoked salmon into the curry and serve in a bowl with the cooked noodles. Pour the hot curry over the noodles to heat them. Garnish with a sprinkle of coriander, crushed peanuts, the soft boiled eggs ripped in half and dribbling into the curry and a wedge of lime to squeeze over for freshness.

I always cook my eggs in salted water and then remove from the boiling hot water into ice cold water with a splash of olive oil. If you then peel the eggs in the water the oil gets between the shell and the flesh making them easy to peel.

Egg-topped smokey aubergine salad

2 Thai purple aubergines (these can be found in any good Asian supermarket, however the larger, more popular aubergine can be used instead)

2 medium eggs

A handful of mint, picked and torn in half with fingers

A handful of coriander, picked and washed.

100g Thai shallots, peeled and sliced thinly (banana shallots chopped thinly can be used instead)

20g Jasmine Rice

For the dressing

4 limes, juiced

4 tbsp fish sauce (soy sauce if vegetarian)

4 tbsp tamarind water

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 mandarin, juiced (clementine will work too)

½ tbsp chilli powder (a little less if you don’t like heat)

Make the dressing by mixing together all the ingredients. Light up the BBQ and allow the coals to turn white, or heat up a griddle pan on a high heat on the hob. Place the aubergines directly on the coals or on the griddle pan and allow to char, turning them over occasionally until they are soft to the touch. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool. If the skins are really charred peel the aubergines but if they are just caramelised leave them on. Cut the cooked aubergine into big chunks and place in a bowl. Fry the jasmine rice in a dry pan until golden. Then grind in a pestle and mortar or in a food processor until you have a fine powder. Toss together the aubergine, herbs and shallots. Bring a pan of salted water to a rolling simmer, then stir to create a whirlpool. Crack an egg into the middle and cook for four minutes or until the white is cooked and the yolk is still soft. Then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Dress the salad with your dressing and place on a plate then top with your poached egg, a sprinkling of toasted rice and a pinch of salt on the egg yolk.

Bacon Cheeseburger

INGREDIENTS (10)

Burgers:

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (15 to 20 percent fat content)
8 bacon slices, cut in half crosswise
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 slices cheddar, Swiss, or American cheese (about 6 ounces)
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted

Garnish:

Iceberg lettuce
Sliced tomato
Sliced pickles
Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oven to 200°F, arrange a rack in the middle, and place a baking sheet on the rack.

2. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into an even 1/2-inch-thick patty that’s about 1 inch wider in diameter than the hamburger buns. Using your thumb, make a shallow 1-1/2-inch-wide indentation in the center of each patty.

3. lace the bacon in a large frying pan. Cook over medium heat, turning once, until browned and crispy, about 10 minutes. (Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in 2 batches.) Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and set it aside. Remove about half of the bacon fat from the pan and set it aside.

4. Season the hamburger patties generously on both sides so that you can see a thin layer of salt and pepper.

5. Return the pan to medium heat, place 2 of the patties in the pan indentation-side up, and let them cook undisturbed in the bacon fat until browned on the bottom (do not press down on them), about 4 minutes. Flip the patties over, place 2 slices of cheese on each, and continue cooking until the patties are just slightly pink in the center for medium and the cheese is melted, about 4 minutes more. Transfer to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Wipe out the pan with paper towels, add the reserved bacon fat, and cook the remaining 2 patties.
6When all of the burgers are ready, place a patty on each bun bottom, top with 4 of the bacon pieces, garnish as desired, and cover with a bun top.