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Pan fried fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Citrus herb crumb

It’s Spring now apparently so along with some brief fine spells of weather we have some beautiful citrus fruit in season. So when the weather allows head outside and fire up the bbq. This recipe is fresh and achievable and can be mostly prepared in advance with the cooking all done on the bbq if you like. For a brief video of me making the dish head over to my Instagram page and to get more info on citrus fruit, when they’re in season and industry news head to https://www.citrus.co.nz/


Pan Fried Fish w Orange Avocado Salad, Asparagus, Citrus Herb Crumb

Serves 4


Ingredients:


4pc Fish fillets (600g approx)

4 handfuls asparagus (300g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Citrus Herb Crumb

2 Bread rolls (stale ones are the best!)

Zest of 2 Oranges

6Tbs Olive Oil

2-3Tbs Orange Juice

50g Whole Almonds

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

2 Small handfuls Rocket (25g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Avocado Salad

2-4 Oranges (zested and segmented, keeping all the juice)

1 Avocado (chunky dice)

6 Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

1/4 Red Onion (fine dice)

4 Small handfuls Rocket (50g approx)

Salt and Pepper

Orange Dressing

Juice of 2 oranges (use the cores left over from making the salad segments)

4Tbs Olive Oil


Method:


For the Citrus Herb Crumb:

Rip up the bread rolls into small chunks. Combine all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is well combined and everything is chopped up into a coarse crumb, don’t make it too fine you want to see all the bits. Spread out onto an oven tray and bake at 150C for 15mins taking it out half way through and give it a stir so it cooks evenly. Cool and store in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the Orange Avocado Salad:

Zest the oranges using a zester (keep the zest for the crumb) and remove the skin ensuring to cut away all the white pith as this is bitter and we don’t want to use it. Segment the oranges and squeeze the remaining orange core into a bowl to collect the juice to use for the dressing. Combine all the salad ingredients except the rocket as well as all the dressing ingredients in a bowl together. When ready to serve toss through the rocket at the last minute so it stays fresh and doesn’t wilt.

To Serve:

Drizzle the asparagus with a little cooking oil and season with some salt and pepper and grill on the bbq until tender. Do the same with the fish fillets and either grill on the grill plate of the bbq or in a fry pan over medium to high heat, cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fish but a good guide for most fish fillets is about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked all the way through but try not to over cook the fish or it can go dry. Toss the rocket through the salad and build up all the ingredients on plates and serve with some aioli if you like.

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Massaman Goat Curry Pie

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Shooting goats was the way many of us first graduated from hunting small to larger game and this recipe in my opinion transforms the humble goat into something pretty special. This recipe uses all of the animal which I think is really important, if we’re taking a life we should give it the respect it deserves and try to not waste any of it. You can use any part of the goat for the pie, even the prime cuts if you like however if you do you won’t need to cook it as long. For this dish I have used the back leg meat (could use neck or shoulder too) for the pie and I’ve taken to the goat with a hacksaw to make racks but you could always just go the quicker route and take the back steaks off the bone, just make sure you cook them pink so they don’t dry out. Oh and if you’re taking a meat animal, as always the younger nannies will taste the best.

goat 

Massaman Goat Curry Pie
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Tomato Salsa
  1. 4 Tomatoes, large
  2. 1/4 Red onion
  3. 1/2C Pineapple
  4. 1/2C Cucumber
  5. Mint, finely sliced/chopped
  6. 1tsp Lime juice (to taste)
  7. 1tsp Fish sauce (to taste)
Massaman Goat Curry Pie
  1. 650g Goat leg, trimmed and diced
  2. 1x 425ml Tin coconut cream
  3. 2 tablespoons Massaman curry paste
  4. 1 cup chicken stock
  5. 1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
  6. 2 medium potatoes, peeled, medium dice
  7. 1 cinnamon stick
  8. 2 bay leaves
  9. 5 cardamom pods
  10. 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  11. 1 tablespoon tamarind
  12. 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Plus
  1. 1 packet puff pastry sheets
  2. 1 egg, whisked with 1Tbs milk
  3. 2Tbs butter, melted
Tomato Salsa Method
  1. Take the seeds out of the tomatoes and the cucumbers but you can leave the cucumber skin on. Small dice the tomato, pineapple and cucumber but finely dice the onion (as fine as you can). Combine all the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Massaman Goat Curry Pie Method
  1. In small batches, sear the diced meat in a hot pan with a little oil until it is nicely browned and put to one side. In a pot large enough to fit all your ingredients, fry the spice paste until it becomes fragrant, add the meat and all the other ingredients (except the puff pastry, egg and butter). Simmer on a low heat on the stove or covered in a baking dish in the oven set to 160C for about 2hrs or until meat is nice and tender. You can add more tamarind and fish sauce or sugar to taste. Cool. Once the mix is cold you can use to fill your pies. I like to make individual pies, how many pies you get out of the mix will depend on how big or small you would like them but this amount should get you about 10 or so medium sized pies or one really big one. Grease your pie moulds with some melted butter, cut circles of puff pastry large enough to fill your mould right to the edges, push the pastry into the moulds and prick the base with a fork to stop it from puffing up at the bottom. Fill your pies with the cold goat curry mix, brush the edges of the pastry with your whisked egg, cut out circles of pastry for your lids and crimp the pie lid on with a fork. Trim the overhanging edges with a knife and brush the top with your egg mix. Bake at 180C until the pastry is cooked and golden brown, (about 12-15mins depending on the size of your pies and the oven). Leave to cool just enough to handle and remove from the moulds. You can make these pies ahead of time and reheat them in the oven on a low heat. Serve with some tomato and pineapple salsa. Here I have served the pies with some salsa, jus and grilled goat rack garnished with picked coriander.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

 

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Grilled Venison heart with Caper butter

hunters kitchen spread

 

Heart is a highly underrated piece of meat that I would guess most people leave behind. It is unlike any other offal and less like liver or kidney and much more like a fine textured steak. If we’re going to respect and make the most of our kills we should try and take as much as we can and if you have the chance I recommend bringing home the heart and giving it a try next time.

Venison Heart - Copy

Grilled Venison heart with Caper butter
Serves 2
This recipe uses one Venison heart (see How to: Venison Heart butchery) and serves 2 as a main or 4 as a starter.
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Caper butter
  1. 250g salted butter, room temperature
  2. 1cl Garlic
  3. 1Tbs Capers
  4. 1tsp Mustard
  5. 1 Gherkin
  6. 1tsp Tarragon
  7. Pinch pepper
To Serve
  1. Salt and pepper
  2. Cooking oil
  3. Watercress or other salad leaves
  4. Salad dressing
For the Caper butter
  1. Roughly chop your garlic, capers, gherkin and tarragon. Combine all your ingredients into a food processor and mix until everything is well combined, you want the ingredients to be well incorporated and the last thing you want is to bite down on a massive chunk of raw garlic. You will want to serve the butter at room temperature so it is nice and soft but can keep in the fridge or the freezer for a few weeks. If you want to get a bit flash, when the butter is soft you can roll it up in glad wrap and set it in the fridge and once cold you can cut into nice round slices.
To Serve
  1. Place the trimmed up heart on a plate. Drizzle it with a little cooking oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill on the BBQ over a high heat the same as you would a steak. It will need about 3 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of your heart for medium rare. Heart, as it is a very lean mean is best served medium rare and no more than medium otherwise it will start to dry out. Once it is cooked rest it somewhere warm for at least 4 minutes so that the juices can set. Cut the grilled heart into slices and serve with the caper butter and some watercress tossed in salad dressing or a little olive oil and lemon juice if preferred.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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How to: Venison Heart butchery

hunters kitchen spread

 

Heart is a highly underrated piece of meat that I would guess most people leave behind. It is unlike any other offal and less like liver or kidney and much more like a fine textured steak. If we’re going to respect and make the most of our kills we should try and take as much as we can and if you have the chance I recommend bringing home the heart and giving it a try next time.

 

You will need:

1 large Venison heart

A tray to place you meat in as you prepare it

A bowl for your unusable off cuts

A good sized chopping board with a wet towel underneath to stop it moving

A sharp boning knife and steel

 

Step 1:

Place a wet towel under a chopping board so it won’t move around on you and grab a very sharp fine knife. Pat the heart dry with a towel and place on your board.

part 1 - Copy 

Step 2:

Remove all the fat and membrane from the outside of the heart making sure you cut away as little meat as possible.

part 2 - Copy

Step 3:

There are two sides to the heart each with two openings. Place your knife inside the opening and cut through both sides so you end up with the smaller side taken off.

part 3 - Copy

Step 4:

Place your knife in the other opening and cut through one side in order to butterfly open the larger half

part 4

Step 5:

Using your knife remove the membrane and any sinew from the inside of the heart.

part 5

 Step 6:

Trim up the heart and cut the larger of the two pieces in half if desired.

part 6 - Copy

 

 

 

 

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BBQ Wild Pork Ribs

hunters kitchen spread

When summer is well under way this recipe is perfect to pull out for the BBQ. To get prepared ahead of time you can make the BBQ sauce and the dry rub beforehand and even go so far so pre-cooking the ribs. Once you’ve got everything ready you’re free to enjoy some beers and just throw the ribs on the BBQ and baste with the sauce once you’re ready to serve. Don’t worry if the sun isn’t shining though, you can still make this in the oven and if you don’t have time to go running round the hills then this recipe will work just fine with ribs from the supermarket.

BBQ Ribs

BBQ Wild Pork Ribs
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Dry Rub
  1. 2Tbs Smoked Paprika
  2. 2Tbs Cumin, ground
  3. 1Tbs Fennel, ground
  4. 2Tbs Onion Powder
  5. 1Tbs Salt
  6. 1tsp Pepper, ground
BBQ Sauce Marinade
  1. 1/4C Tomato Sauce
  2. 1/4C Sweet Chilli Sauce
  3. 2Tbs Golden Syrup
  4. 3Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  5. 1Tbs Soy Sauce
  6. 1Tbs Worchester Sauce
  7. 1tsp Kaitaia Fire (or Tabasco)
  8. 1/4C Apple Juice
For the Dry Rub
  1. Mix together the dry rub ingredients and rub all over your ribs. Wrap up in baking paper then tin foil and bake at 165C for 1hr 15mins until tender. Make sure there is a good seal on the foil so that the ribs retain all their moisture and don’t go dry.
For the BBQ Sauce
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a pot and simmer over a low heat until reduced by about 1/3 and nice and syrupy.
To Serve
  1. Once the ribs are cooked brush them with the sauce and either grill on the BBQ or roast in a hot oven. Turn and brush with the sauce until they are nicely glazed, sticky and browned.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

 

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Grilled Hapuka with spiced kumara and chickpea salad, crayfish mayo

hunters kitchen spread

 This is an excellent recipe for those hot summer afternoons where you need to make use of the days catch (with enough veges to keep you in good nick). If Hapuka isn’t available, don’t dismay, as any fresh fish goes beautifully with this recipe. 

IMG_6712

Grilled Hapuka with spiced kumara and chickpea salad, crayfish mayo
Serves 4
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Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
1 hr 45 min
Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
1 hr 45 min
Ingredients
  1. 4 nice pieces (700g approx.) Hapuka (or any other fish is fine)
Chickpea, feta and kumara salad
  1. 1 large Kumera – 1cm dice
  2. 1tbs Mixed spice
  3. 50g Feta - crumbled
  4. 1 small can Chickpeas, drained
  5. ¼ Red onion, fine dice
  6. 1 Tomato, seeds removed, diced
  7. 1 Spring onion stalk sliced (green and white parts)
  8. 2 sprigs Mint, chopped rough
  9. 2 sprigs Italian parsley, chopped rough
  10. 1tbs Olive oil
  11. 1tsp Lemon juice
  12. Salt and pepper to taste
Smoky eggplant
  1. 1 Eggplant
  2. 1 Lemon (juice only)
  3. 1tsp Cumin, ground
  4. 50-100ml Olive oil
For the salad
  1. Toss the kumara in a little oil and the mixed spice. Roast on an oven tray at 180C for abour 12-15 mins until the kumara is nicely roasted and cooked through. Toss all the ingredients together and can be kept in the fridge for a couple of hours if needed.
For the eggplant
  1. Char eggplant over a high heat on the grill side of your bbq until the skin is very blackened, then peel when cool. Blend in a food processor with cumin, lemon juice and oil. Season with flaky sea salt. You want to be able to taste the olive oil and the lemon juice in the puree.
To serve
  1. Grill the fish until just cooked and serve on the chick pea salad and the smoky eggplant. A nice touch if you’ve got some cooked crayfish left over is to dice it up, fold it through some home-made or good quality store bought mayo (Hellmann’s is good).
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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Paua Fritters with aioli

hunters kitchen spread

One of the best things about New Zealand, and something that we probably take for granted, is our free and easy access to wild game and fresh seafood. If you’re into your hunting and fishing and like to go for a dip in the ocean, or know a mate who does then here’s a classic recipe to cook at home or chuck on the flat top of the BBQ. A few years ago I was lucky enough to be doing a stint as a chef in the Queen Charlotte Sounds and have access to paua fresh as you can get. We would slice thinly and fry it quickly in butter with a squeeze of lemon and they were amazing. If you’re using great, fresh ingredients often the more simple recipes are the best.

Paua can be pretty tough and everyone has their own theory on how to tenderise them. The general rule of thumb is once they’ve been removed from the shell, gutted and the teeth removed you need to slice them thinly and fry them quick and fast, slowly braise them or mince them which is the method I am using for this recipe. These fritters are great thrown between two slices of fresh white toast bread with some aioli or you can serve them with some buttered new potatoes and a salad for a full meal. As always, it’s up to us to be responsible and ensure the future prosperity of our resources so make sure you stick to your bag limits and know your minimum sizes so we’ll all be able to enjoy nature’s bounty for years to come.

Paua Fritter Image

 

 

Paua Fritters with Aioli
Yields 6
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Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
1 hr 5 min
Prep Time
45 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
1 hr 5 min
Paua Fritters
  1. 3cl garlic
  2. 1/2 onion
  3. 1 egg
  4. 1/2 C flour
  5. 1/2tsp baking powder
  6. 1/2tsp salt
  7. 1tbs chopped parsley
  8. 3 large paua minced
  9. 4tbs milk
Aioli (makes 500ml)
  1. 5 yolks
  2. 1 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  3. 1 garlic clove
  4. Juice of 1 lemon
  5. 400ml canola oil
  6. 100ml olive oil
  7. Salt and pepper
For the Paua
  1. Finely dice the onion and crush the garlic. Place the onion and garlic in a large bowl with the minced paua, a whisked egg, chopped parsley and the salt. Combine well. Mix together the flour and baking powder then add to the paua mix. Lightly fold in the flour and don’t mix too much, too much mixing will make the mix tough and rubbery. Add the milk, using a little less or a little more if needed to get a stiff batter.
For the Aioli
  1. Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor or blender and blend well for 1-2 minutes. With the blender running on high, slowly drizzle in the oil to emulsify and create the aioli. If your aioli is too thick you can add warm water at the end to thin it down if necessary.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/
 

 

 

 

 

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Wild Venison burgers with pickled beetroot and a fried egg

 

 

Burger Pic

Wild Venison burgers with pickled beetroot and a fried egg
Serves 8
When it comes to using high quality ingredients I like to keep it simple. There’s no need to add a whole bunch of ingredients and flavours to something that is already so good and wild venison you’ve harvested yourself is about as good as it can get.
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
55 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
55 min
You’ll need to make or buy
  1. Burger buns
  2. Tomato relish or sauce
  3. Mayo
  4. Lettuce
  5. Tomato
Venison Burgers
  1. 800g venison
  2. 200g pork mince
  3. 1tps salt
  4. 1/2tspn white pepper
Pickled Beetroot
  1. 3 large beetroot
  2. 1/2C cider (or white wine) vinegar
  3. 1/2C sugar
  4. 1/2C Water
For the Burger patties
  1. Combine all ingredients well, mould into burger shapes 1-2cm thick and keep in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them.
For the Beetroot
  1. Place the whole beetroot in a pot of salted water and simmer until the beetroot is very tender. Drain then rub the skins off and slice. Combine the vinegar, sugar and water and bring to the boil then take off the heat. Add the beetroot to the vinegar mix and allow to cool before storing in the fridge. Will last at least 4 weeks.Is best made well ahead of time and left to marinate.
To serve
  1. After you’ve made your pickle and got your burgers ready, the first thing you’ll want to do is get your lettuce washed and either shredded or pulled apart and your tomatoes sliced up. This is a great recipe to throw on the BBQ if you get some good weather, so get your hot plate warmed up, crack a cold beer and get ready to make some burgers. Grease your hotplate (or fry pan if using the stove) with a little oil and making sure it’s nice and hot throw your venison on. Give it about 2-3 minutes on each side to ensure it is nicely browned but make sure you cook it so it’s still pink in the middle. Warm your buns, fry your eggs then put the whole thing together. Spread some tomato relish on the bottom bun and mayo on the top, place your lettuce and tomato on the bottom bun, then your venison, beetroot relish and then finally your fried egg and put the lid on.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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Apple crumble

One of the topics I am passionate about is food wastage. In an ideal world we would show respect to our food and have none of it go in the bin.

Recently I was able to team up with Love Food Hate Waste (https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz) as part of Wellington on a Plate and hold a cooking demonstration on how to use up some of the most commonly usable but thrown away household food items.

According to the Love Food Hate Waste website: “New Zealanders throw away 122,547 tonnes of food a year. That is equivalent to 213 jumbo jets of food that has to go somewhere to rot, instead of being eaten. All of this food is worth about $872 million each year. That amount of food could feed the population of Dunedin for two years!” That’s only in New Zealand, globally “one third of food produced globally is wasted; that is 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is never eaten.” That to me is just mental and we can all do (and should) do our part by reducing our waste as much as possible. Shared here are some of the recipes that use some of LFHW’s top ten chucked out food items that you can try at home.

Apple crumble
Serves 4
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Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
30 min
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Apple crumble
  1. 8-10 apples (can also substitute/mix with other fruit such as pears, rhubarb etc)
  2. 1/4C sugar
  3. Water if required
  4. 5 Cardamom pods (optional)
Crumble topping
  1. 1C flour
  2. 125g butter, diced
  3. 1/2C sugar
  4. 1tsp mixed spice
For the apples
  1. Peel, core and dice the apples. Add to a pot along with the sugar and a little water (and the cardamom if using). Cook on a low heat until the apples are soft and starting to break up. Depending on the variety of the apple they may require some water added if becoming too dry and starting to stick.
For the crumble topping
  1. In a bowl mix together all the topping ingredients and crumble together with your hands until well combined.
To bake
  1. In a baking dish spoon in the apple mix and top with the flour topping.
  2. Bake at 170C for 30-45 mins or until nice and golden brown and bubbling.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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Pan fried fish on truffled mash, petit pois a la Francais, lemon beurre blanc

One of the topics I am passionate about is food wastage. In an ideal world we would show respect to our food and have none of it go in the bin.

Recently I was able to team up with Love Food Hate Waste (https://lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz) as part of Wellington on a Plate and hold a cooking demonstration on how to use up some of the most commonly usable but thrown away household food items.

According to the Love Food Hate Waste website: “New Zealanders throw away 122,547 tonnes of food a year. That is equivalent to 213 jumbo jets of food that has to go somewhere to rot, instead of being eaten. All of this food is worth about $872 million each year. That amount of food could feed the population of Dunedin for two years!” That’s only in New Zealand, globally “one third of food produced globally is wasted; that is 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is never eaten.” That to me is just mental and we can all do (and should) do our part by reducing our waste as much as possible. Shared here are some of the recipes that use some of LFHW’s top ten chucked out food items that you can try at home.

Pan fried fish on truffled mash, petit pois a la Francais, lemon beurre blanc
Serves 4
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Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
1 hr
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Fish
  1. 700g Fish fillets
Beurre blanc
  1. 150ml White wine
  2. 2 Lemons juice/zest
  3. ¼ Onion
  4. 150g Butter
  5. Salt and pepper
Potato mash
  1. 500g Potato
  2. 100g Butter
  3. 75ml Cream
  4. 20ml Truffle oil (optional)
  5. Salt and white pepper
French style peas
  1. 200g Peas
  2. ½ Lettuce
  3. 1/2C Chicken stock
  4. 40g Butter
  5. Salt and pepper
Chicken Stock
  1. Left over chicken frame/bones
  2. Vegetable offcuts and ends (carrot, onion, leek, celery, garlic)
  3. Any herb stalks (thyme, rosemary, parsley)
  4. Peppercorns (optional)
For the Beurre Blanc
  1. Finely dice the onion and add to a small pot along with the white wine and the juice and zest of one lemon and simmer until reduced by ¾. Dice the cold butter and over a very low heat whisk onto the wine reduction piece by piece to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and the juice from the remaining lemon if you want more of a lemon flavour.
For the potato mash
  1. Peel and cut up the potatoes into even sized pieces so they cook at the same rate then place them in a pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil and cook until tender. In another pot heat the butter and milk together. Drain the potatoes and return to the pot, stirring over heat until they become fluffy. Mash with a potato masher or use a ricer or meuli. Fold in the hot cream butter mix and the truffle oil (if using) and season to taste.
For the peas
  1. Boil the peas until cooked, add to a pan or pot with ¼ of the butter. Add the chicken stock and reduce by 2/3 then shake in the remaining cold diced butter to emulsify. Finely shred the lettuce and add to the pea mix to wilt and warm through. Season to taste.
For the chicken stock
  1. In a pot place your left over chicken frame along with any vegetable off cuts or trimmings (and peppercorns) and cover with cold water. Bring to the simmer and leave to simmer for 4 hours. Pass through a sieve and you have chicken stock to use in any recipe you like such as soups, sauces, stews/curries, noodle broth etc.
MacLean Fraser http://macleanfraser.com/

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