Greek Style Okra with Tomatoes

1 lb. fresh okra 1 lb. tomatoes, fresh or canned 2 onions medium, peeled and chopped 1 lb. potatoes, cubed (optional) 1 clove garlic, finely chopped

½ cup vinegar ¾ cup olive oil bay leaf salt and pepper

Trim cone shaped tops from okra, wash, drain and place in a dish. Sprinkle with salt and vinegar and set aside for half and hour to de-slime. Wash okra again and then dry thoroughly.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and add chopped onion. Cook gently until onion is tender. Add okra and cook, tossing lightly, until slightly browned. (If you want a more hearty, meal-in-one dish, add potatoes at same time as okra.) Add garlic and sauté for half a minute, then add tomatoes, peeled and chopped, and salt, pepper and bay leaf. Cover frying pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until tender.

Thai Dumpling Soup

5 cups chicken stock 1 large onion 2 cloves garlic 3 thin slices fresh ginger or ¼ tsp dry ginger powder 2 in. lemon grass or 4 in. strip of lemon peel 1 kaffir lime leaf (optional)

1 doz. chicken or pork wonton 1 cup oyster, portabello or button mushroom, sliced 1 pkg enoki mushroom 1-2 tsp oyster flavour sauce 1-2 tsp hoisin sauce ¼-½ tsp sesame oil 2 green onion, sliced (optional)

Cut onion into narrow slices. Cook together ½ of the sliced onion, the garlic, ginger, lemon grass (or peel) and lime leaves in the chicken stock.
Simmer for about 1 hour. Taste frequently and remove lemon grass or peel and lime leaf when taste is to liking. Strain and discard solid ingredients.
Separately, add wontons to gently boiling water and cook about 20 minutes or until almost fully cooked.
Slice the main stem of the green onion; cut onion tops into 3-4 inch pieces and slice lengthwise.
To the strained stock add remaining yellow onion, the green onion tops and the mushroom (except the enoki) and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the enoki mushroom, green onion (sliced stem), oyster flavour sauce, hoisin sauce and sesame oil, the wontons and simmer another 5-10 minutes. Serve.

Caper Sauce

A great sauce to use with cold-cuts, especially with cold thinly sliced roast beef.

1 cup mayonnaise 20-25 capers* 3 tsp prepared mustard or 1 of dry mustard 1 tsp Worchestershire sauce 6 grinds fresh pepper ½ tsp salt ½ tsp lemon juice

Finely mince capers. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate an hour or two before using. * - if capers are pickled, rinse in water before use. If capers are not pickled, add 1 or 2 tsp lemon juice or wine vinegar.

Prime Rib Roast

Serves 6 to 8 The secret to a delicious tasting roast, besides the quality of the meat itself is the aging. Good tasting meat is aged meat. If you can, purchase the roast a week ahead of time to age it properly; if not at least a day or two of aging will help. Get one 3-rib standing rib roast (about 7 pounds). Set the roast uncovered on a flat dish on the rib or fat side and set in the refrigerator. Leave uncovered throughout the aging period which will be from 2 to 7 days. The redder the meat when purchased the longer the aging time should be. If it is already well aged then just a couple of days is enough. When ready to use, trim a very thin layer of the meat off each side if it is very dark and dry. Set at room temperature for 1 hour, and tie with kitchen twine at both ends, twine running parallel to bone. Salt and ground black pepper. 1. Adjust oven rack to low position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Heat large roasting pan over two burners set at medium-high heat until hot, about 4 minutes. Place roast in hot pan and cook on all sides until nicely browned and about ½ cup fat has rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. 2. Remove roast from pan. Set wire rack in pan, then set roast on rack. Generously season with salt and pepper.
3. Place roast in oven and roast until meat registers the degree of doneness you desire on an instant-read thermometer (see chart on right). It will take about 3 to 3½ hours for medium rare. Remove roast from oven and tent with foil. Let stand 20 to 30 minutes to allow juices to redistribute themselves evenly throughout roast. 4. Remove twine and set roast on cutting board, rib bones at 90-degree angle to board. Carve, and serve immediately. From America's Test Kitchen.	Beef: °F °C Rare 120° - 125° 45° - 50° Medium-Rare 130° - 135° 55° - 60° Medium 140° - 145° 60° - 65° Medium-Well 150° - 155° 65° - 70° Well Done 160° & above 70° & above
From The Two Fat Ladies: Place fat side up and cut the fat in a broad cross-hatch pattern to release the melting fat for basting. Rub the fat with dry mustard, pepper and salt. Cook 17 minutes per pound. [At a higher temperature, I assume, than in the above recipe.]

Gracie Allen's sure-fire cooking method for perfect roast beef: "Take one large roast of beef and one small roast of beef, and put them in the oven, side by side. When the little one burns, the big one is done."

Pork, Black Bean and Corn Chilli

by Steve Cylka

1 tbsp oil 1½ cups onion, diced 1½ cups celery, diced 1½ cups yellow pepper, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1½ lbs ground pork 1½ lbs pork loin or tenderloin, cubed 1 14 oz can (398ml) diced tomatoes 2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can corn, rinsed and drained 3.8 cups (900ml) chicken broth, salt free 1 5.5 oz can tomato paste 1 tsp chilli powder 1-2 tsp chipotle powder 1 medium Mexican chilli, finely sliced 1 tsp sugar 2 limes 2 tsp salt 1 bunch Cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil, on medium heat, in a Dutch oven or large pot. Add ground pork and fry until partly cooked. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break the ground pork into crumbled small chunks of meat during cooking. Add cubed pork and cook until ground pork is fully cooked.
Add onion, celery, pepper and garlic to the Dutch oven and fry, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Zest lime and add the zest. Lower heat, stir and cover with lid.
Let the chilli simmer for 90 minutes (or for 6-8 hours in a slow cooker on low). Juice limes and add juice.
Serve hot.

[If pork loin or tenderloin is not available, other meat will work fine; for example, chopped ham, andouille, sausage or just more ground pork are all excellent options.]