INGREDIENTS
6 lobsters, weighing about 1½ pounds each
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 lemons
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 large red chillies, seeded and chopped
¼ cup chopped parsley
6 lemon wedges.
METHOD
Place lobsters face down on a board. Use a sharp pointed knife to
split them down the centre. Remove the little sac found near the
head. Crack the claws so that you can easily pick the flesh out when
the lobster is cooked.
Season the flesh of the lobsters with salt, pepper and dried chilli,
sprinkle with oregano, and squeeze over the juice of 2 lemons. Place
on baking sheet or free-standing grill and roast in 475° F wood fired
oven for 15 minutes. The shell of the lobster should turn red and
the flesh should gently brown.
Mix the oil with the chopped fresh chilli and parsley, then add a
tablespoon of lemon juice. Drizzle this sauce over each lobster.
Serve with lemon wedges
GARLIC & CHILLI PRAWNS
INGREDIENTS
Half a cup of olive oil
4 Gloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 small fresh red chilli seeded and chopped
Half a kilo of raw prawns, peeled and cleaned
2 Tbl of chopped fresh parsley
4 lemon wedges
Sea Salt - to taste
METHOD
In a hot oven around 300 degree's heat the olive oil in a terracotta
dish.
Remove the dish and add the garlic and chilli return to the oven
and cook for 1 to 2 minutes making sure that they do not burn.
Remove from the oven and add the sea salt and prawns, stir well
and return to the oven and cook for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from the oven, Stir in the parsley.
Add a squeeze of fresh lemon to taste and serve while the prawns
are still sizzling in the dish.
WATCH DVD
WOODFIRED ROASTED CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS
One 2½ - 3 lb free-range chicken
3 handfuls of fresh herbs (basil, parsley, marjoram), finely chopped
¼ cup olive oil
1 lemon, halved
4 bay leaves, torn
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the roasting tray in the oven that is at 425° F.
METHOD
Wash the chicken inside and out and pat as dry as possible with paper towels.
Rub the cavity with salt. Very carefully grab the skin at the tip of the chicken
breasts, making sure that it doesn’t rip, and pull up gently. With our other
hand gently separate the skin from the meat of the breasts. Now you have made
two little tunnels on each side. Sprinkle a little salt down the gaps and push
in the chopped herbs. Drizzle in a little olive oil.
Push the lemon, the bay leaves and the rosemary in the cavity. Pull the skin
of the chicken breasts forward so that none of the flesh is exposed, tuck the
little winglets under and tie up as firmly as possible with kitchen twine.
Slash across each thigh about 3 or 4 times and rub in some of the leftover
herbs. This allows the heat to penetrate directly into the thigh meat, enabling
it cook faster. With your hand, rub a little olive oil into the skin of the
chicken and season very generously with salt and pepper.
Remove the hot roasting tray from the oven and add a little oil. Put the chicken
on one side, breast side down, on the tray and put back in the oven. Cook for
5 minutes, then turn it over to the other side, breast side down. Cook for
another 5 minutes, then place the chicken on its back. Cook for about 1 hour.
The skin should be really crispy and the herbs will flavour the flesh.
WOODFIRED ROASTED LAMB
INGREDIENTS
1 leg of lamb (about 4½ lb)
½ lemon.
1 handful rosemary, roughly chopped.
10 fillets of salted anchovies or anchovies in oil.
sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
olive oil.
METHOD
With a sharp pointed knife, pierce the skin of the lamb at an angle about 2
inches deep and about 10 times randomly about the leg, poking your finger into
each cut to make a bit more room. Rub the skin with the lemon and push the
rosemary into the cuts and on to the skin. Stuff the anchovy fillets into the
cuts. Season the outside of the lamb with salt and pepper. Put a little oil
into a roasting tray (preferably a heavy one) and add the lamb. Roast, in a
wood fired oven that is about 425° F, turning every 30 minutes until cooked.
WOODFIRED ROASTED EGGPLANT
INGREDIENTS
3 eggplants, sliced into rounds about ¾ inch thick
olive oil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
The wood fired oven should be at about 425° F. Lightly brush both sides of
the eggplant slices with oil and place on baking dish. Scatter with half the
oregano and garlic and season. Bake for about 15 minutes. Turnover, sprinkle
with the remaining oregano and garlic, salt and pepper, put back in oven to
bake for another 5-10 minutes.
WOODFIRED ROASTED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS
INGREDIENTS
6 large Portobello mushrooms
12 large sprigs fresh thyme
18 thin slices smoked pancetta or bacon
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil
3 lemons
METHOD
With a soft brush, clean each mushroom carefully. With a sharp knife make two
cuts up the length of the stalk, dividing it equally into three parts, making
sure it does not become separated from its cap. In each cut place a sprig of
thyme, a slice of pancetta , and a few slices of garlic. Season generously,
then wind a slice of pancetta round each stem to hold in the stuffing.
Heat a suitable roasting pan in the 450° F oven, until the pan is hot, then
add ½ cup olive oil. Place the Portobello’s in the oil and put in the oven
to bake. They take from 5 to 15 minutes according to the size and thickness
of the cap. When ready, the cap will have browned and shrunk, the stem will
have coloured, and the pancetta will be cooked.
Remove the pan from the oven, and squeeze the juice of ½ a lemon over each
mushroom.
