Summery Gnocchi with Feta and Spinach

 We originally made this recipe from a meal kit many years ago and our recipe has evolved a lot since then so time to add it to the blog. Especially with summer coming, this is a perfect recipe for hot summer nights when we don't want to eat meat but still want something cooked. 

The gnocchi really is the star of the show here and its easy to make but also easy to get wrong. Over many repetitions, I've found that the soaking step and the frying steps are critical to perfectly soft and pillowly gnocchi. 

Ingredients

• 2 packs of fresh potato gnocchi
• Olive oil 
• 2 Red onions, cut in wedges 
• 1 Zucchini chopped
• 1 Red paprika/Bell pepper chopped
• 1 pack of crushed tomatoes 
• 1 bag of baby spinach, washed well and drained
•  5-6 garlic cloves
• Dried Rosemary
• Sugar
• Chicken stock cube
• 2 blocks of Feta cheese, roughly chopped

Method

1. Cover the gnocchi with cold water and soak for 20 minutes. Rinse once after about 10 minutes and drain thorughly right before you fry off, below.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the onions and red pepper and mince the garlic in after a few minutes. After a few minutes add the Zucchini.
3. After about 5 minutes when the onions and peppers have turned glassy, add in the crushed tomato, rosemary, sugar, salt and stock cube and cook till it comes together, probably another 10 minutes or so, on medium to low heat. Turn off the heat once done.
4. In a separate pan, add olive oil and fry off the gnocchi. This will take more oil than you think and you can fry the gnocchi until they have a nice golden crust. You can add the fried gnocchi diretly into the sauce above.
5. Mix in the spinach leaves and crumble the feta into the mix and serve warm.  

Instant Pot Carnitas (Juicy, Crispy & Family-Friendly)

If you’re looking for the best Instant Pot carnitas recipe, this one is a total game changer. These pressure cooker pork carnitas are incredibly juicy, rich in flavor, and finished with perfectly crispy edges—just like authentic Mexican carnitas, but made faster and easier at home.

I’ve made these carnitas three times in a row (yes, they’re that good) to really dial in the technique. The key to perfect carnitas in the Instant Pot is getting the right balance of fatty and lean pork. Too much fat and the dish becomes heavy; too little and the meat turns dry and stringy. Using a mix—especially cuts that include connective tissue or even ribs adds collagen, which creates that tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture carnitas are known for.

The flavor is deeply savory, slightly sweet, and irresistibly meaty, making this a huge hit with both adults and kids. It’s one of those recipes that disappears fast from the table.

How to Serve Instant Pot Carnitas

We love serving these carnitas in tacos (especially “boat tacos” or lettuce wraps for a lighter option), topped with fresh, vibrant sides. Our go-to combination includes:

• Creamy guacamole
• Fresh pico de gallo with onion, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, and cucumber
• A squeeze of lime for brightness

The contrast of rich, tender pork with fresh, zesty toppings creates an amazing balance of flavors and textures.

 Ingredients

• 1.5kg pork ribs
• 1.5kg pork shoulder or similar cut
• Two oranges, washed
• Garlic cloves from a full head of garlic
• 2-3 large onions cut roughly
• 1 bottle full sugar coke (preferably mexican coke if you can get it) 
• Oregano
•  Cumin
• Bay leaves
• Paprika

Method

1.  Cut the pork into 2" pieces and the ribs into pairs or singles (depending on the size)
2.  Fry off the pork in batches in the instapot and get a bit of browning for flavour. 
3. Remove the pork and then briefly fry off the garlic and onions and then add in the pork, spices, coke and oranges. For the oranges, slice in half, squeeze out the juice and then toss in the peels as well.
4. Pressure cook on high for 1 hour then let the pressure release naturally
5. Leaving the liquid behind in the pork, move the meat into a baking tray. Remove the bones and, bay leaves and orange peels. Leave the orange fruit pulp in, its delicious in the end.
6. Turn the oven on at 230 C and bake the meat for about 20-30 minutes. You will need to keep an eye on the meat. Mix the meat around at least once during this time and add liquid as needed
7. Boil down the liquid, removing fat from the top if there is too much and then add some if not all the liquid to the meat. The objective is to have a nice moist texture with some crisp parts but not too much liquid.  
8. Serve in tacos with limes and cilantro on top at least and we add in guacamole, pico and other things if we have time to make them. 

 

Roasted paprika and almond medley

 This is originally from Linas matkasse but we've made it our own since we originally got the recipe back in 2015 and its become a staple. It punches way above its weight in terms of flavours! This goes excellently inside liba bread with a meat+hummus or tzatsiki etc.

 Ingredients

•  Olive Oil
• Vinegar
• Red pepper flakes
• Parsley (fresh or frozen)
  
• Sliced almonds (50g per 2-4 capsicum)
  
• Red Capsicum/Paprika (multiples of 2)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees C
2. Slice the capsica in half and arrange in an oven dish, sprinkle olive oil, salt and red pepper flakes over the top
3. Roast in the upper part of the oven for 20 minutes
4. Toast sliced almonds until light brown and crunchy
5. Chop the roasted capsica into small cubes and add to a bowl
6. Add the toasted almonds, a drizzle of vinegar, more red pepper flakes, parsley and salt and mix together
7. Eat!
    

Tau Yu Chicken

 This is a malay/chinese/singaporean dish usually made with pork (Tau yu bak) but I didn't have pork, I had chicken. It was really tasty-- sweet, salty and really complex. I paired it with the congee but I think it would work great as a part of a chinese dinner or just over steamed white rice. Recipe adapted from a few different recipes I found on the net. The garlic in the skin were good, but if I have time I'm going to just peel and finely dice the garlic instead.

Ingredients

Marinate the chicken as below

• 600-750g chicken thighs (5-6 thighs) cut into chunks against the grain
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2-4 tablespoons oyster sauce
• chicken stock concentrate
  

Other ingredients

• 5-10 cloves garlic, either in the skin or diced
• 1-2 tablespoons of diced ginger
• 2 star anise
• 1" cinnamon stick
• 3-4 green cardamom
• 300ml water
• 4 tablespoons dark soy
• Mushrooms (I used shimeji this time)

Method

1. Marinate the chicken (the recipes I read said overnight is best, I think I managed maybe 30 minutes in total and it was still delicious)
2. Add a splash of oil to a pan and when it gets hot, add in the spices and after they bloom, then the ginger and then the garlic. 
3. Once the onion and garlic have fried off for a few minutes (edges brown and reduced but not burnt) add in the marinated chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes
4. Add in the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil and the reduce the heat to medium, cover and let it cook for 20 minutes
5. Take the cover off and let it reduce until it is the consistency you want. This was taking too long for us, so we ended up spooning out the chicken and then reducing the sauce over high heat and then adding the meat back in when we were ready.
   

 

Congee

 This was supposed to be a chicken congee but then ended up being just a mushroom congee. Heavy on the ginger, it was excellent! The texture was not as loose as I want, so next time a bit more water perhaps, the measure below is adjusted to reflect this. I didn't add chicken to this but some of the recipes recommend a diced chicken thigh, added at the start, which sounds yum. For seafood, the recipes I read recommended throwing the raw seafood in the last 5 minutes or for 5-10 minutes during the keep warm mode.

 Ingredients

• 1 measure rice (for the measures below, 3/4 cup), washed 4 times
  
• 7 measures water or use guide in rice cooker
• Lots of Shimeji mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons ginger, minced/finely diced
  
• 2 tablespoons garlic, minced/finely diced
  
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons light soy 
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Chicken stock
  

 Method

1. Wash the rice and add to the rice cooker
2. Add water and everything else
3. Cook on porridge setting

 

 

Nigella's Chicken and Peas Pan bake

 

I love this recipe because you get both veggies and protein in one absolutely unctuous plate. It takes longer to make than you think though, mostly time in the oven.

Ingredients

• 1, 1kg pack frozen peas or 2, 600g packs
  
• 2 leeks chopped into 1-2 inch long peices
• 6-8 garlic cloves minced
  
• 2-3 big splashes of dry white vermouth or sherry
• Olive oil
  
• Fresh dill (we've used frozen in a pinch, fresh is obs better)
  
• 1-2 kg chicken thighs, Bone-in, skin-on
  

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C, we use 180 C since we have a forced air oven
2. Line a deep baking tray with foil/silicone then empty the frozen peas into it
3. Add in the chopped leeks, minced garlic, dill, vermouth, and salt and stir around a bit so it is all mixed. Then put the chicken thighs on top, skin-side up, and drizzle olive oil and a bit of salt over the tops.
4. Bake in the middle or lower part of the oven for 45 minutes, then remove and stir the peas around a bit so they don't dry out.
5. Bake again for 30 minutes.
6. Serve with boiled potatoes or just by themselves!
   

Char Siu - 叉烧

This is from the Made with Lau channel on Youtube. The video is here. It is delicious, in buns, with noodles, however you want it. Cold on sandwich. Yum.

Ingredients

Meat and basting

• 2 kg pork butte (fläskkarré).
• 4 tbsp honey
• 4 tsp water

Marinade

• 2 tbsp garlic salt
• 8 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 tbsp red wine
• 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 cubes red fermented bean curd (optional)
  
• 2 tsp five spice powder
• 0.5 tsp red food coloring (if you want to)

Method

Meat

Cut it with the grain into one inch thick strips, or slabs. You should end up with three or four strips. Stab the slabs vigorously with a fork.

Rub a dub dub

Mix all of the marinade until it is even. Put it with the meat in a big zip lock and let it marinate over night, not more than 24 hours.

Oven business

Set the oven to 220 °C (i.e. 425 °F). Line a baking pan with foil and place the baking rack on top of the foil. Lay out the pork on the rack. Add a few tbsp of water to the bottom of the pan to add some steam and make cleaning easier. Place in oven. Baste regularly with either left over marinade or honey water mix.

• Cook for 15 minutes. Take out to baste with marinade.
• Cook for 15 minutes. Take out to baste with marinade.
• Cook for 10 minutes. Take out to baste with honey water.
• Crank up the heat to 240 °C (i.e. 450 °F) and cook another five minutes, lather with honey and take out.
  

Let it cool a little before cutting it.