Minted Cucumber and Tomato Salad

This is a delicious and refreshing salad, perfect for those summer garden parties.



Ingredients:

• 1 English cucumber
  
• 2 large tomatoes
  
• 3 or 4 fresh mint sprigs
  
• 1 cup yoghurt
  
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Seed and dice cucumber and tomatoes.
Tear mint leaves into small pieces.
Toss vegetables with mint.
Combine yoghurt with lime juice.
Stir dressing into vegetables.
Allow salad to sit for an hour before serving, to give the flavours time to blend.

Hot Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs small new potatoes
  
• 1 jalepeño, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
  
• 1 1/2 inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced
  
• 1 garlic, peeled and minced
  
• juice of 3 limes
  
• 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
  
• 3 Tbsp. Spicy Island Hot Sauce
  
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
  
• 1 Tbsp. honey
  
• 6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
  
• 4 oz montery jack cheese with peppers
  
• 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

Directions:

Drop potatoes into a large pot of boiling water.
Cook for 20-25 minutes, until potatoes are tender (but not falling apart).
Combine jalepeño, ginger, garlic, lime juice, vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce and honey. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly.
Drain potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl.
Toss warm potatoes with dressing.
Set aside to cool for 20-30 minutes.
Add onion, cheese and cilantro to potato mixture.
Toss and serve.

Spicy Island Hot Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 papaya
  
• 1 mango
  
• 1 yellow onion
  
• 1 garlic
  
• 4 habañero peppers
  
• 1 inch fresh ginger root
  
• 1/3 cup dark rum
  
• 1/3 cup lime juice
  
• 2 1/2 teaspoons honey
  
• cardamom
  
• anise
  
• cloves
  
• tumeric
  
• nutmeg
  
• cinnamon
  
• black pepper

Directions:

Peel, seed and chop papaya.
Peel, pit and chop mango.
Peel and chop onion and ginger.
Peel garlic.
Stem, seed and chop peppers.
Purée all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Transfer mixture to a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
Simmer for ten minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Bottle in a glass jar and refrigerate.

Crab & Avocado Salad

This salad is super simple to make and a wonderful appetizer for any seafood dish.



Ingredients:

• cooked crab meat*
  
• avocado
  
• lime juice

Substitutions:

Crab flavoured pollack works too, if you cannot get the real thing or have guests with allergies to shellfish.

Directions:

Peel and pit avocado.
Cut into small cubes.
Sprinkle lime juice over avocado.
Flake crab meat.
Mix crab and avocado together.
Serve immediately in small bowls.

Shrimp Curry

A wonderful succulent and savoury shrimp curry, great as a crêpe filling or served over rice.



Ingredients:

• olive oil for frying
  
• 1 garlic, peeled and diced
  
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
  
• 2 inches ginger root, peeled and diced
  
• 2 tablespoons hot curry paste*
  
• 250 g carrots, julienned
  
• 250 g snow peas, sliced on the diagonal
  
• 2 cups coconut milk
  
• 1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
  
• fresh cilantro leaves
  
• freshly squeezed juice of one lime
  
• 500 g shrimp**

Notes/Substitutions/etc.:

* I favour Patak's Madras curry paste, but there is a wide variety of excellent prepared curry pastes available for those of us without the time to prepare our own.

** If you are preparing the curry for use in crêpes or will be serving it to people who are squeamish about handling their food with their fingers, peel the shrimp and remove their tails before adding them to the curry.

Directions:

Stir fry onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil.


Add curry paste and mix well.

Add carrots and snow peas, continuing to stir fry until carrots soften slightly.


Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.


Reduce heat and simmer.

Add mango, chopped cilantro leaves and freshly squeezed lime juice.


Continue to simmer curry until flavours are well blended and the sauce has thickened.

Add shrimp during final few minutes of cooking and heat through.

This dish is best served fresh!

Dragon Punch

This colourful non-alcoholic punch mixes well with a variety of spirits and liqueurs and is a staple of parties at Rainbow Dragon's Lair. (I prefer to serve a virgin punch and allow responsible adults to spike their own, if desired, so that everyone knows exactly how much alcohol they are consuming.)



Ingredients:

• 50% orange juice
  
• 25% ginger ale
  
• 10% lemon juice
  
• 10% lime juice
  
• 5% grenadine
  
• cocktail cherries & orange slices for garnish

Directions:

Combine juices, ginger ale and grenadine in a punch bowl or juice pitcher and mix well.
Serve chilled in a tall glass, garnished with fruit and a parasol.

Favourite Alcoholic Variations:

Spike with 1.5 oz Strawberrynna liqueur for a Strawberry Dragon.

Spike with 1.5 oz Marie Brizard's Raspberry liqueur for a Raspberry Dragon.

Spike with 1.5 oz gin for a Singapore Sling.

Spike with 1 oz light, 1 oz dark & 1 oz amber rum for a Zombie.

Spicy Pumpkin Soup

I just cannot get enough of thick, hearty soups in the winter time! This soup provides a double dose of heat from its warmth and its spice. It's perfect for chasing away the winter chills!

If you cannot get a hold of fresh habaneros, substitute a favourite, flavourful hot sauce such as Susie's Calypso.



Ingredients:

• 1 buttercup squash
  
• 1 butternut squash
  
• 5 - 6 habanero peppers
  
• 1 large yellow onion
  
• 1 stalk celery
  
• 2 carrots
  
• 1 garlic
  
• 2 inch piece ginger root
  
• olive oil
  
• 4 tablespoons honey
  
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 teaspoon each ground: cardamom, anise, cloves, turmeric & cinnamon
  
• 1 mango
  
• 5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  
• 1/2 cup peanut butter*
  
• 1 cup whipping cream
  
• juice of one lime
  
• sour cream
  
• fresh cilantro

Notes/Substitutions/etc.:

* Real peanut butter is made from peanuts and nothing but.

Directions:

Wrap squash in tin foil and bake at 400°F for an hour (or more if needed).
Peel onion, garlic and ginger.
Remove stalk and seeds from habaneros.
Dice habaneros, onion, celery, carrots, garlic and ginger.
Sauté in oil until soft.
Peel and dice mango.
Cube squash, discarding skin, stringy pulp and seeds.
Place vegetables, spices, honey, mango and stock in a large pot and cook until squash is soft.
Purée soup in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.
Bring to a boil.
Stir in peanut butter, cream and lime juice.
Simmer soup for 1/2 hour or more to allow all flavours to blend nicely.
Garnish with sour cream and fresh cilantro leaves.

Chicken Curry

This recipe is a favourite at my dinner parties as a crêpe filling. It is also excellent served over rice. I take it wilderness camping, preparing the curry ahead of time and freezing it in airtight plastic freezer bags. The curry then serves as an ice pack for the rest of my food during the first couple of days of my trip. Once it has thawed out, it is time to enjoy it. Cook the rice over an open fire, then stir curry mixture into cooked rice and heat through.



Ingredients:

• 1 coconut
  
• approximately 1 cup hot water
  
• olive oil for frying
  
• 1 garlic, peeled and diced
  
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and diced
  
• 1 inch ginger root, peeled and diced
  
• 1 lb chicken breasts *
  
• 2 tablespoons hot curry paste **
  
• 1 red pepper, seeded and diced
  
• 1 yellow pepper, seeded and diced
  
• 1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
  
• fresh cilantro leaves
  
• freshly squeezed juice of one lime
  

Notes:

* I often work with chicken breasts pre-cut into strips for stir frying. This makes for quick, even cooking throughout without drying the outside of the chicken, and speeds up the work of dicing the cooked chicken.

** I favour Patak's Madras curry paste, but there is a wide variety of excellent prepared curry pastes available for those of us without the time to prepare our own.

Directions:

Drain and reserve water from coconut.
Bake coconut at 400°F for 15 minutes.
Break coconut open and pry flesh away from shell.
Peel brown skin off coconut flesh.
Purée coconut flesh in blender or food processor with reserved coconut water and enough additional water to make liquid up to 1.5 cups.
Allow pureéed coconut mixture to stand for 15 minutes.
Press coconut mixture through a fine sieve to extract milk.
Stir fry onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil.
Add chicken and continue stir frying until chicken is cooked through.
Dice chicken with spatula while continuing to cook. (Once cooked, it should slice easily with a plastic or rubber spatula.)
Add curry paste and mix well.
Add peppers, continuing to stir fry.
Add coconut milk and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer.
Add mango, chopped cilantro leaves and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Continue to simmer curry until flavours are well blended.

To fill crêpes:

Prepare crêpes.
Spoon curry mixture in a line across crêpe, 1/3 of the way in from one edge.
Fold near edge up over curry mixture and roll up crêpe to surround curry.
For best results, serve crêpe immediately.
When large quantities are required, place filled crêpes in a singler layer in a large baking pan (such as a lasagna pan) and warm in oven to heat through just before serving.

Guacamole

Guacamole is a wonderful accompaniment to many Mexican dishes and a delicious and healthy chip dip. (Not that the chips themselves are all that healthy, but, if I've been working up a good sweat, and the chips are of a low-salt-as-far-as-chips-go variety, then I allow them under my Most things in moderation policy.)

Don't be shy with the hot peppers in this recipe. Avocados are known to have several important health benefits but they are a mild-tasting fruit and can really take the sting out of the jalepeños' heat.



Ingredients:

• 2 ripe avocados, peeled & pitted
  
• freshly squeezed juice from one lime
  
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
  
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
  
• 2 jalepeños, diced
  
• fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions:

Mash avocados with a fork.
Incorporate lime juice thoroughly.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Cover and chill approximately one hour to allow flavours to blend.
Serve immediately.

Guacamole is best served fresh. I have personally eaten leftovers stored for 1-2 days in full, air-tight containers in the refrigerator -- but I don't serve this recipe to guests once it's more than a few hours old.