CHICKEN IN A TANGY GINGER MARMALADE SAUCE.

Ingredients....500 gm of chicken thigh fillets, sliced into strips, 1 tbs of minced ginger, 4 spring onions thinly sliced, rice bran oil/ canola oil for cooking, 1 red capsicum, thinly sliced, 1 tbs of rice wine vinegar, 1 tbs of ginger marmalade, 3 tbs of lemon juice, cracked black pepper to taste. Place the chicken, ginger, spring onion and cracked black pepper in a medium dish. Toss well to combine. Heat a large pan or wok until very hot. Add 1 and 1/2 tbs of the oil and swirl it around to coat the pan/ wok. Stir fry the chicken mixture in 3 batches over a high heat until golden brown and cooked through. Reheat the pan/ wok in between each batch adding more oil when necessary. Remove the chicken from the pan/ wok and set aside. Reheat your pan/ wok and add the capsicum and cook till tender. Add the rice wine vinegar, marmalade, lemon juice and cracked black pepper. Stir to combine and slightly thickened. Add the chicken and cook until heated through. I serve this dish with steamed mixed grains, but there are no rules, it is your dish to enjoy.

QUINCE JAM

Ingredients....3 kg of quince, 1.5 kg of castor sugar, 185 ml of lemon juice. Cut each quince into quarters then peel core and cut into small cubes. Place the fruit in a large pot with 2 litres of water and the lemon juice. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heatand simmer, covered for 1 hour, or until the fruit is soft. Add the sugar and stir over a low heat, without boiling until the sugar has dissolved. Then return to the boil, stirring often for 25 minutes until you get get the desired thickness. Finally transfer to sterilised jars and seal.

MAYONNAISE

This is a Margaret Fulton recipe from decades ago and it is just amazing. Ingredients......3/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of white wine vinegar, 2 tbs of castor sugar, 1 tbs of French mustard, 125 gm of butter/ marg, 4 eggs, lightly beaten, 1/4 tsp of salt, cracked black pepper to taste. Put all the ingredients, with the pepper to taste, in a pan and whisktogether until blended. Heat gently, whisking all the time until the mixture thickens. Pour into a hot sterilised bottle and seal.

FRIED CHICKEN THIGHS

This chicken dish is always well received at The Manor, at family get togethers. Ingredients.....4 chicken thigh fillets, with skin on, 1 dsp of sweet paprika, 2 eggs lightly beaten, 180 gm of fine breadcrumbs, 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, 1 dsp of minced garlic, 1 dsp of dried parsley flakes, 1 tsp of sea salt flakes, rice bran / canola oil for frying. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Slice each thigh fillet into pieces. Mix together in a small bowl the paprika, thyme, parsley flakes, sea salt flakes In a separate bowl mix together the eggs and minced garlic. Heat the oil in your deep fryer. First rub the chicken thigh fillets well with the dry seasoning mix. Then dip all the pieces into the beaten egg mix and carefully coat in the breadcrumb mix. place the chicken pieces in the heated oil and fry until golden on each side. Now remove to the lined baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until cooked Check for doneness with a skewer- inserting in a couple of areas, the chicken is ready when the juices run clear. Serve with wedges and a green salad or whatever suits you.

FIG AND CREAM CHEESE PROSCIUTTO WRAPS

I love autumn, making use of all the summer fruits. Ingredients...5 figs cut in half, 10 slices of prosciutto, tub of cream cheese. Cut the figs in half and smear the cut side with cream cheese. Wrap each fig half in two slices of prosciutto. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. So simple, elegant and deliciuos.