It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I love Christmas, I am one of those people that can't wait to put up my tree, I hang Christmas lights (that kind of stay up all year, or until they stop working) and  it's just a fun time of the year. You get to spend time with your family, feeling grateful for all that you have been blessed with.

It's summer in Australia at Christmas so we need a few cold refreshments to help us celebrate during the festivities.

Here I have a few of my favourite Christmas cocktails. Hope you love them as much as we do.

Holly Daze

This ones fun, and really nice to drink. Originally we made this with whipped cream, but we prefer it with ice cream.

Here is how you make it:

Serves 1

30ml vodka
20ml banana liqueur
20ml midori
vanilla ice cream
ice

Shake the vodka, banana liqueur, midori and ice in a cocktail shaker. 

Place a scoop of ice cream into a cocktail glass of your choice, I like the one pictured. 

Strain the vodka mix over the ice cream.

Enjoy!
​

Christmas Party on the Beach

Here is one of my favourite cocktails. It is beautiful-to look at and to drink. Very refreshing, lovely to drink on a hot summers day.

Here is how you make it: 

Serve 1

30ml vodka
30ml peach schnapps
1 dash grenadine
150ml orange juice
Ice
Shake vodka, schnapps, juice and ice in a cocktail shaker.

Pour grenadine in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the mixture on top carefully.

Serve immediately.

Note: If you don't have a cocktail shaker (or can't find it like me), just make it all straight in your glass, works beautifully both ways. And I really never strain it, as I love sucking on ice cubes, and I love my cocktails really cold.

Enjoy!
​

Santa's Strawberry Sensation

This is a simple one, it has a touch of elegance to it.

Here is how you make it:

Serves 8
​
450g strawberries, hulled
1 tablespoon icing sugar
160ml vodka
1 bottle of sparkling wine
crushed ice

Blend strawberries and icing sugar in a blender until pureed. Pass through a fine sieve. Cover and chill.

Half fill champagne glasses with crushed ice. Divide chilled strawberry puree among the flutes. Top each with 1 tablespoon of vodka and fill with sparkling wine.

Enjoy!

Prancer's Punch

We tried this one with soda water the first time we made as per recipe, but felt it needed some sweetness so changed the recipe to top it with lemonade instead. We enjoyed this one.

Here is how you make it:

Serves 1

60ml light rum
60ml dark rum
30ml lime juice
1/4 teaspoon triple sec
dash grenadine
1 teaspoon sugar, optional
top up with lemonade

Combine all ingredients except lemonade in a cocktail shaker. Pour into a highball glass half filled with crushed ice. Top up with lemonade, to taste.

​Enjoy!
​

Mistletoe Margarita

You can't go wrong with a margarita and this one is delicious.

Here is how you make it: 

Serves 1

40ml tequila
20ml grand marnier
20ml lime juice

Shake all the ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.

Spread salt onto a sheet of baking paper or on a plate. Using the limes that you squeezed, rub a little lime onto the rim of your glass, dip the rim of the glass into the salt .

Strain into your salt rimmed cocktail glass. 

​Enjoy!
​

Santa's Boozy Watermelon Slushy

Now this cocktail is not only easy to make, but it is good. This is refreshing and just the perfect party drink in summer. It really is a festive Christmas cocktail.

Here is how you make it:

Serves 2-4, depends on glass size

1kg piece seedless watermelon, chilled
½ cup orange-flavoured liqueur
1 tablespoon grenadine
2 teaspoons lime juice
4 cups crushed ice
Small watermelon wedges, to serve
Lime wedge, to serve
​
Method 1-No Pulp: Cut rind from watermelon and discard. Chop watermelon into pieces. You need 600g (about 4 cups). Place in a blender. Blend until pureed. Strain through a sieve into a large jug to give 2 cups watermelon juice. Discard pulp. 

Add liqueur, grenadine and lime juice to watermelon puree. Stir well.
​
Just before serving, place 1 cup crushed ice in each glass (1 cup-capacity) Divide watermelon mixture over the ice. Decorate with small wedges of watermelon.
​

Method 2: With Pulp: Cut rind from watermelon and discard. Chop watermelon into pieces. You need 600g (about 4 cups). Place in a blender. Blend until pureed.

Add liqueur, grenadine and lime juice and ice to watermelon puree. Blend until the ice is crushed.

​Divide watermelon mixture into your serving glasses. Decorate with small wedges of watermelon and lime.
​
Enjoy!
​

White Christmas

So easy, two ingredients and a blender. This is so refreshing.

This is how you make it:

Serves 8

1 litre passionfruit sorbet
750ml prosecco

Place half the sorbet and half of the prosecco in a blender and blitz until combined. Pour into 4 champagne flutes. Repeat with remaining sorbet and prosecco.

Enjoy!

North Pole Iceberg

I really love this one, one of my favourites.

This is how you make it: 

Serves 1

30ml cointreau
30ml gin
1/4 lime, juiced
sparkling wine
Blue curacao
1 cup ice

Blend cointreau, gin, lime juice and ice in a blender. Pour into chilled glass. Top with sparkling wine and drizzle with blue curacao.

​Enjoy!

Christmas Cranberry Crush

This is so good, a alcohol based slushy, divine. It is very refreshing, very easy to sip on, and perfect for a warm Australian Christmas.

Here is how you make it: 

Serves 6 

250ml vodka
250ml cranberry juice
200ml cold sugar syrup
6 large limes, juiced

In a large jug add the vodka, cranberry juice, sugar syrup and lime juice, mix well.

Pour into a large container, cover and freeze overnight.

Once frozen, stir and spoon into glasses.

Serve with a wedge of lime.
​
Enjoy!
​

Frosty's Frozen Daiquiri

I love frozen cocktails, they are just perfect on a hot summers day, and this one is delicious.

Here is how you make it:

Serves 1

45ml Bacardi
30ml fresh lemon juice
15ml sugar syrup
2 cups of ice

Pour all the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth. Pour into your serving glass.

Garnish with a lemon circle.
​
Enjoy!

Here is how you make it: 

Serves 4-6

5 cups full cream milk
1 ½ cups caster sugar
1 large cinnamon stick
10 egg yolks
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup white rum
Pinch of ground cinnamon

I​n a 3-4 litre saucepan, combine the milk, sugar and cinnamon stick. Place over a medium-low fire, stirring often, heat until it comes to a full boil. Turn off heat and remove the cinnamon stick.

Immediately, whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Slowly, add the hot milk, whisking rapidly at the same time, until all the liquid has been incorporated.

Place the mixture back into the pan and return to the stove over very low heat. Stirring frequently, continue cooking, not boiling, for another 5 minutes. Make sure that at this point it does not boil, because it will curdle.

Remove from the stove and let it cool. Add the vanilla and rum and mix well. Chill in the refrigerator overnight and serve in your favorite holiday glass, sprinkle the top with the ground cinnamon.
​
Enjoy!
​

Gin-gle Bells Sparkling Punch

This is a great summer party drink and as Christmas is in summer for us, this is a great Christmas Party drink. It's so easy to throw together and looks so festive.

Here is how you make it: 
​
Serves 10

​125g punnet raspberries
2 limes, thinly sliced
1 cup dry gin
750ml bottle sparkling crisp apple juice, chilled
375ml can lemonade, chilled
750ml bottle sparkling rose wine, chilled

Berry Ice Cubes:
250g punnet strawberries, hulled
600ml bottle raspberry flavoured soft drink
​
To make berry ice cubes, cut strawberries into quarters. Divide half the strawberries among two x 12-hole ice cube trays. Fill with raspberry soft drink. Freeze. Reserve remaining strawberries in a covered container in the fridge. 

Up to 1 hour before serving, combine raspberries, lime, gin, apple juice and reserved strawberries in a large serving jug. Cover and refrigerate to chill.

Just before serving, add lemonade, rose and berry ice-cubes. Serve immediately. 
​
Enjoy!
​

Frosty's Frappe

I love coffee, I love Baileys. So I love this. So if you are like me, this is such a beautiful cocktail, you need to try it

Here is how you make it: 

Serves 1

80ml Baileys
80-120ml milk
1 cup ice cubes
1 tablespoon instant coffee
Chocolate topping (optional)

Place the baileys, milk, ice cubes and coffee in a blender, blitz until almost smooth.

If using chocolate topping, swirl it around the rim of your glass.

Pour in the Baileys mix.
​
Enjoy!
​

Mulled Wine

This is more like a Christmas in July drink for us as our Christmas season is in middle of summer, but we love it, the flavours are delicious, you can taste the lemon and the orange and the cinnamon, so I added it for those that have a white Christmas.

Here is how you make it: 

2 litres (8 cups) red wine
750ml (3 cups) water
500g (2 cups) sugar, you can reduce this amount if you like
1 orange, cut into eighths
1 small lemon, cut into eighths
3 cinnamon sticks
​
Place all of the ingredients into a large saucepan. Place over a very low heat and stir for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved. After that, keep heating the wine slowly until it is almost boiling, but do not allow it to boil. The longer it is left on the heat, the better it is.

​Then sip and enjoy all night long. 

Enjoy!
​

Eggnog

I love eggnog, it is so good, and so easy to throw together, this version especially. 

Here is how you make it:

Serves 1

30ml dark rum
30ml brandy
15ml sugar syrup
1 egg
90ml milk
Ice

Pour rum, brandy, sugar syrup, egg and ice into a blender, blend for about 30 seconds, until frothy and mixed well.

Pour into serving glasses and top up with milk.

Enjoy!

Santa's Sugar Syrup

This is used in many cocktails, is easy to make. I store mine in the refrigerator.
​

Here is how you make it:

250ml white sugar
250ml cold water

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, simmer gently for 10 minutes or until the syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat and refrigerate until cold.
​

​This is so good, honestly one of my favourite snacks. I know it's called a dip, but I make this for myself for lunch. 

The recipe can be halved, doubled, add things, take things out, it's just so easy.

I think pictured this one doesn't have corn in it, as my son doesn't like corn and I made it for him, but for me I would definitely add the corn.

I use cherry tomatoes and quarter them, as I like the dip chunky. If you prefer, you can use 2 ripe large tomatoes, seeded, and finely chopped, for a less chunky dip.

This is something that needs to be tried at your next party.

​Recipe adapted from Woman's Day 'Easy Kids' Party Food'

Serves 8-10

4 avocados, seeded, peeled
1/4 cup sour cream
425g can tuna, dtrained, flaked
310g can corn kernels, drained
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 green onions, thinly sliced

​230g packet plain corn chips, to serve


In a large bowl, mash together avocado and sour cream. Stir in tuna, corn, tomatoes and green onions. Season to taste.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/tuna-and-avocado-dip.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​When I first saw this recipe I thought it would be something my family loved, what I didn't expect was that they would love it as much as they did. This is a simple pasta, but it has a lot of flavour.

Once my family started eating this, they couldn't stop, even my husband who I didn't really think would love it, did. Even leftovers were done by the end of the night, my son kept going back to the fridge throughout the night.

With the capsicums, you can use two red capsicums if yellow is not available, the yellow would only be for colour really.

I found the basil and oregano Italian tin diced tomatoes in Aldi, if you can't find it, just add a 1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and dried oregano to regular diced tomatoes.

A truly easy mid week meal idea my family loved, hope yours does to.

Recipe adapted from www.sprinklesandsprouts.com/ 

Serves 6

150 g chorizo, about 2 chorizo, sliced into 1/2cm discs
1 onion, diced
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 chicken thigh fillets, around 500g, sliced into thin strips
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 x 400g tin basil and oregano Italian diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
White pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
300ml thickened cream
1 cup fresh baby spinach

500g penne pasta

Freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve
Heat the olive oil a large frying pan over high heat, add the chorizo and cook for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium-high. Add the chopped onion and capsicums, and cook for another 2–3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
​
Add the chicken and garlic to the pan and stir around in the oil for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden. 

Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. I rinse the tomato tin with about 1/3 cup water and add it to the sauce. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, simmer for about 20-30 minutes, until the sauce thickens a bit, and your chicken is cooked through, and your capsicums have softened.

Bring a large pan of water to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt, add pasta, cook as per packet instructions.

Whilst your pasta is cooking, add the cream to the sauce, stir through, and let it get hot, but not boil. 

Once the pasta is cooked, reserve 1/2 a cup of the pasta cooking liquid then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot it was cooked in, add the spinach on top, then add the creamy tomato sauce on top and stir through. The residual heat of the pasta and sauce will wilt the spinach. Only add the pasta water if your sauce is too thick and needs thinning. Once the spinach has wilted, it's ready to serve.

Serve immediately with parmesan.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/creamy-tomato-chicken-and-chorizo-pasta.html 
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​Recipe adapted from ​www.taste.com.au/ 

Serves 6-8

2 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry
4 teaspoons cornflour
1kg beef rump steak, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons peanut oil
6cm-piece fresh ginger, peeled, cut into thin matchsticks
2 long fresh red chillies, halved, deseeded, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
300g snow peas, trimmed, halved
125ml (1/2 cup) chicken style liquid stock
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons caster sugar
​
Steamed white rice, to serve
​Combine the soy sauce, sherry and cornflour in a bowl. Add the beef and toss to coat. Set aside for 20 minutes to marinate.

Heat a wok over high heat. Add half the oil and heat until just smoking. Swirl to coat. Stir-fry the beef in batches for 2 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining oil and beef, reheating wok between batches. You may need to wipe the wok with a wet paper towel every now and then to remove any build up of marinade in the wok base.

Stir-fry the ginger, chilli and garlic in the wok for 1 minute or until aromatic. Add the snow peas and stock. Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the snow peas are bright green and tender crisp. Stir in the beef, oyster sauce and sugar. Taste for seasoning, I like to add white pepper and salt, if needed.

​Serve with rice.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/chinese-beef-and-snow-pea-stir-fry.html 
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​This is something I recently made for my kids for lunch and they loved it. It's easy to make and is filling.

You can slice the frittata in the pan if easier. The first slice is generally the hardest to get out, but after that, it's easy enough.

With kids home at the moment more than ever, it's dishes like these that keeps them fed and happy.

So far I have made it only with spinach as my kids love it with spinach, but as I love rocket, I will need to try it with rocket to.

My family loved this, hope yours does to.

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'Light'

Serves 8

5 large (1.5kg) potatoes, unpeeled
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (450g) cured chorizo sausages, sliced thinly
1 large (200g) brown onion, sliced thinly
50g baby rocket leaves or baby spinach leaves, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 cup (120g) grated cheddar
12 eggs
300ml pouring cream
lemon wedges and extra rocket, to serve


Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until just tender. When cool enough to handle, peel skins, then cut flesh into 1cm cubes.
​
​Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan forced). Grease a deep 24cm x 35cm baking pan, line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 7cm above sides.
​
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add chorizo and onion, cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until chorizo is browned. Cool 10 minutes.

Combine potatoes, half the chorizo mixture, rocket (or spinach), parsley and cheese in baking pan.
​
Whisk eggs and cream together in a medium bowl, season to taste. Pour over potato mixture, top with remaining chorizo mixture. Bake, in oven, 35 minutes or until set. (To check, insert a skewer; no wet egg mixture should be visible.) Cool in pan.

Lift frittata out of the pan onto a chopping board, trim edges. Cut into 3.5cm x 4.5cm pieces. Serve topped with extra rocket and accompany with lemon wedges.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/chorizo-potato-and-herb-frittata.html 
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​​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​2020 is a year where two of my kids, who are 18 and 19 should be going to university and going out. Instead it has been a year of studying at home and going out, sometimes. So with that in mind, I try to find interesting lunch ideas for them (so that at least the time spent at home is made a little better with food). 

This dish was loved by all my kids (I also have a 13 year old that goes to school). It has a fresh flavour, different to my cumin based Mexican style dishes. I did consider adding cumin, but then decided I didn't want to make all my Mexican dishes taste the same.

This is quick to make and tastes really nice, my family loved it, hope yours does to.

​Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'Light'

Serves 4
​
1 tablespoon olive oil500g pork mince
1 medium red onion (170g), chopped finely
4 clove garlic, crushed
1 fresh long green chilli, chopped
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon lime juice
8 x 20cm flour tortillas
2 cup coarsely grated cheddar
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
4 lime wedges, to serve


Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan forced.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Cook pork, onion, garlic, chilli and paprika, stirring, for 5 minutes or until browned. Add 1 can of tomatoes; cook for 5 minutes. Add lime juice; season to taste.

Spread tortillas flat on a work surface. Spoon mince mixture equally onto the centre of each tortilla, sprinkle 1 cup cheddar equally over mince mixture; fold tortillas to enclose filling. Place, join-side down, in a single layer, in a 20cm x 30cm shallow ovenproof dish. Spoon over remaining can of tomatoes, leaving the ends of the tortilla exposed, sprinkle with remaining cheddar.

​Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle enchiladas with coriander; serve with lime wedges.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/paprika-and-lime-pork-enchiladas.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​My family love an all in one kind of salad, where you add meat to your salad. This one was absolutely delicious. The cashew nam jim was perfect with the beef and the asian greens.

Now I cooked my beef rare, just cook yours longer if you prefer it cooked more.

​This is a great dish, it looks amazing and it's fresh flavour leaves a delicious taste in your mouth with every bite.

My family loved this, hope your does to.

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'Light'

Serves 4

800g thick-cut beef rump steak
1 tablespoon peanut oil
350g gai lan
270g baby pak choy or bok choy, trimmed, quartered
100g snow peas
4 green onions, sliced thinly
1/4 cup (40g) unsalted roasted cashews, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh coriander sprigs
​
Cashew Nam Jim:
2 shallots (50g), chopped
2 clove garlic
3 fresh long green chillies, seeded, chopped
2 fresh coriander roots, chopped
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoon grated dark palm sugar
1/3 cup (50g) unsalted roasted cashews
1/3 cup (80ml) lime juice, approximately
1 tablespoon fish sauce, approximately


​Make cashew nam jim: Blend shallots, garlic, chilli, coriander root, ginger, sugar and cashews (or pound with a mortar and pestle) until mixture forms a paste. Transfer to a small bowl; stir in juice and fish sauce to taste.​

​Trim fat from beef; rub beef with oil, season to taste. Cook beef on a heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) over medium-high heat for 4 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Remove from heat; rest, covered, for 5 minutes, then slice thickly.
​
Meanwhile, trim gai lan stalks; cut stalks from leaves. Steam stalks, in a single layer, in a large steamer over a wok or large saucepan of boiling water for 1 minute. Place separated pak choy on top; steam (or boil) for a further 2 minutes. Add snow peas and gai lan leaves; steam  (or boil) for a further 2 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.

Place vegetables on a platter, top with beef; drizzle with beef resting juices. Spoon nam jim on beef; top with green onion, cashews and coriander.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/beef-with-cashew-nam-jim-and-asian-greens.html 
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Cocktail Sausage Mummies: These were easy and look great on a Halloween table.

Frankfurt Fingers: There is no recipe here, just cook some frankfurts, then try and ,ake them look like bloody fingers.

Pumpkin Soup: It is the time of the year where pumpkins are everywhere, so I have to make a soup.

Hags Fingers: Simply crumb chicken breasts that are cut into finger shapes with with breadcrumbs or polenta. Use egg to 'stick' on a flaked almond as a nail. Then pan fry or oven bake them until cooked through.

Halloween Chocolate Mousse: This chocolate mousse is creamy and smooth and absolutely delicious. 

Gingerbread Men: This was my daughter's idea as she loves gingerbread men for Christmas, these Halloween gingerbread men turned out great.

Red Velvet Cupcakes: I haven't posted the red velvet cupcake recipe yet, but if you have one just decorate them in a halloween theme.

Jelly Custard Cups: Another fun one where you make the custard look like brains in the glass. The red colour looks great, but I can't resist all the colours.

Spiders: These are simply just fun. 

Kids Party Punch: If you buy halloween ice trays, this is a great addition to your halloween table.

So there you have it, a few easy Halloweem Party ideas. 

​Recently we were told about an absolutely delicious Thai Duck Salad from a local restaurant Bangkok Bites in Bondi by one of our family friends. It was delicious, actually everything we ordered was delicious. But as I am who I am, I wanted to see if I could find a recipe that was similar to the salad that we ate and this is my answer to it.

This salad is delicious, it has such a lovely fresh flavour to it.

I added salad leaves to it, to bulk up the meal, and there is definitely enough dressing to do so.

As for the dressing, if you find it sweet, add more lime, add more curry paste if you like. The recipe is great, just adjust it to how you would like it. 

If you prefer you can start to cook the duck in a frying pan, but once you turn it over, you can finish cooking it in a 180C preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. I do both methods, you achieve crispier skin in the oven, I just sometimes don't feel like using my oven.

I doubled the original recipe, so just halve it if you need to make less.

This is a salad my family loves, hope yours does to.

​Recipe adapted from www.luvaduck.com.au/ 

Serves 6-8

4 duck breasts, skin on, scored
4 Lebanese cucumber, halved, sliced on the diagonal
300g snow peas, stringed, thinly sliced
400g cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups bean sprouts
2 long red chillies, deseeded, finely sliced
1 cup coriander leaves
3-4 handfuls washed salad leaves

Dressing:
1 cup coconut milk
6 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-3 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (to your taste)
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Fried Asian shallots and lime wedges, to serve


Place the duck, skin-side down, into a cold frying pan. Start the cooking process on a low heat and gradually bring the heat up to medium-high. Once you start to here a sizzle, cook for 6-7 minutes skin side down (your aim is to render the fat and form a crispy golden skin) then turn over. Cook for a further 6-7 minutes or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice duck.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl place the cucumber, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, bean sprouts, chilli, and coriander.

To make the dressing, place all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake well to combine, adjust the taste if needed. Drizzle salad with half the dressing and toss to coat.

Top salad with sliced duck, drizzle with remaining dressing and garnish with fried shallots and lime wedges, to serve.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/thai-duck-salad.html 
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​My family love duck, it is one of those things I cook that everyone is looking forward to dinner once I mention I am cooking duck.

This ragu is delicious. It is very easy to make and has a lovely flavour to it.

​Duck marylands are legs and thighs joined together. If you can't find duck marylands, you can buy two whole ducks. I will share recipes on how to use up the whole duck. It is actually far cheaper to do this than buy a duck jointed.

Homemade pasta is far superior to packet pasta, it does involve a little effort, but if you have the time, try making it. If you don't have time, buy pappardelle, there are many great brands out there today, it will still taste great.

So if you are looking at trying something new, try this ragu, it's simple and tasty and one my family love, hope yours does to.

Recipe adapted from www.foodnetwork.com/ 

Duck Ragu:
4 duck marylands, skin removed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, diced
240ml red wine
400g tin diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
30g dried porcini mushrooms

Pasta:
Find my fresh egg pasta recipe here the quantity I make for this sauce is for 4-5 people 
​
​
Make your pasta dough now, let it rest for 30 minutes, while you start the sauce. All instructions are in the link above.

Place dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl. Add enough boiling water to just cover the mushrooms. Leave to soak while you get on with the recipe, about 20 minutes is needed.

In a thick bottomed saucepan or cast iron pot, heat olive oil until hot. Add duck marylands and cook until brown on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from pot, set aside until needed.

Add onion, carrot, garlic and celery, cook, stirring, until softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes, chicken stock and dried mushrooms and the soaking liquid, bring to the boil. Add duck marylands and return to the boil, lower heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 1 hour.

Roll out your pasta now. Cut into pappardelle shape. 

Remove duck marylands and allow to cool, until cool enough to touch. Pull off all the meat from the bones and return the meat to the pot, discard bones. Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the sauce is quick thick. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Cook the pasta: Fill a large pot with water, add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to the boil. Boil pappardelle until cooked, about 1 minute and drain well. Put hot pappardelle into hot ragu and toss well. Serve immediately.

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