Slow cooker chicken pumpkin curry

For ➍
40 cl coconut milk
2 tbs Thai red curry paste
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs soy sauce (or tamari)
1 tbs brown sugar
450 g sugar pie pumpkin (cubed)
600 g boneless skinless chicken breast
1 ts salt
1 red bell pepper, sliced
700 g baby spinach, fresh
1 lime, juiced
steamed rice
lime wedges
coriander
cashews, toasted

In the bowl of your slow cooker, stir the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Add the pumpkin and chicken. Nestle the pumpkin and chicken until it is submerged in the liquid. Cook on low for 8 h or high for 4 h. Switch the cooker to high if it’s not already, and transfer the chicken to a bowl. Season the liquid with salt. Add the spinach and bell peppers to the top of the liquid. Use two forks to shred the chicken (it will shred very easily) and return to the cooker. Cook the curry for 10-15 m longer, until the spinach is cooked and beginning to wilt. Add the juice of 1 lime. Serve over steamed rice with extra lime, cilantro and cashews.

Read tip on slow cooking.

Lemon herb salmon & zucchini

For ➍
4 zucchini, chopped
2 tbs olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs brown sugar, packed
2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbs Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ ts dried dill
½ ts dried oregano
¼ ts dried thyme
¼ ts teaspoon dried rosemary
4 salmon fillets
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preheat oven to 200°C. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lemon juice, Dijon, garlic, dill, oregano, thyme and rosemary; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Set aside.
Place zucchini in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add salmon in a single layer and brush each salmon filet with herb mixture.
Place into oven and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 16-18 m.
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Roasted chicken with clementines & arak

For ➍
6 tbs arak (or ouzo or pernod)
4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbs grainy mustard
3 tbs light brown sugar
1½ ts kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 medium fennel bulbs cut lengthwise, then into quarters
8 chicken thighs (about 1.3 kg)*
4 clementines, unpeeled, sliced thin
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves
2 ts fennel seeds, lightly crushed
parsley, to garnish

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together arak, oil, orange and lemon juices, mustard, brown sugar and salt. Season with pepper, to taste. Add fennel, chicken, clementine slices, thyme and crushed fennel seeds. Turn several times to coat. If time allows marinate chicken for several hours or preferably overnight.**
Preheat oven to 220°C. Tranfer all ingredients, including marinade, to a large roasting pan. Chicken should be skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, 35-45 m.*** Remove from the oven.
Lift chicken, fennel and clementines on a serving plate. Cover and keep warm.
Pour cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then simmer until sauce is reduced and you are left with about 8 cl (⅓ cup). You can degrease by using a spoon to remove some of the fat from top of the sauce.
Pour heated sauce over chicken. Garnish with parsley and serve. Serve with jasmine rice. Or with Greek lemon roasted potatoes.

*Or 1 large organic or free-range chicken, about 1.3 kg, divided into 8 pieces.
**Omit the marinade. Put the chicken and marinade in oven when it is pre-heating.
***Vegetables and fruit might be a little bit overcooked with this time-schedule. Add vegetables and fruit 10-15 m after chicken and marinade to have them crispier. When fowl meat is cut in smallish pieces (4x4 cm), all the cooking can be finished in some 20 m.
Otherwise, or when the chicken is not cooked through after this time, remove chicken and give it a microwave heat burst (1 m/ 100 g).

Roedjak manis (Javanese fruit salad)

For ➍
2 tbs lime juice
100 g peanuts
3 tbs brown sugar or palm sugar
1 tbs tamarind (paste)
1 small chilli, cut in tiny pieces*
1 mango, chopped
1 green papaya, chopped or apple
1 pineapple, chopped
½ or 1 small cucumber, sliced or chopped

Roast the peanuts in a dry frying pan. Finely chop them.
In a bowl, mix the tamarind with the sugar, shrimp paste and lime juice. Stir in half of the peanuts. Add the finely chopped chilli pepper*.
Mix the selected fruit. Coat the fruit with the dressing*.
Serve chilled as a dessert or as a side_dish for Indonesian food.

*Or sprinkle the chilli over your salad.