Ingredients:
half kilo king prawns
1.5 tsp garlic powder or 2 crushed garlic cloves
pepper
100 gr salted butter, softened
1 cup fresh basil leaves 
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/4 lemon 
fresh parsley to garnish


​Servings: 
4 people
Oven temperature:
220°C
Prep time: 
20 minutes
Cooking time:
3 - 5 minutes



Praws, shrimps, can be prepared in oh so many ways. This is one of my favourites, the basil and butter are a welcome addition to the delicate flavour of the prawns.

Clean your fresh prawns or defrost if frozen, rinse and pat dry. Put them in a bowl and add the crushed garlic (or powder) and pepper, toss well.
In a food processor, blend the butter and basil until well combined.
Preheat a cast iron skillet until very hot. Poor some olive oil on the bottom and add the prawns and place back into the oven.
Cook for 3 - 5 minutes, let Piccolo take care of the turning.
Take the pan out the oven, add the basil butter to the prawns and toss, making sure the prawns get well coated in the butter.
Garnish with fresh parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice if desired.Serve with some toasted ciabatta bread, rubbed with a garlic clove prior to heat it if you like.

Ingredients
Serves 8 as a snack or appetizer

4.4lbs (2kg) chicken wings
Olive oil

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp honey
8 fl oz (200ml) your preferred hot sauce
1 stick (100g) butter, melted

Method
Fire up your . Aim for 480°F (250°C) on the stone baking board inside. You can check the temperature inside your oven quickly and easily using the thermometer

In a large bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients. Set aside a quarter of the mixture.

Add the chicken wings to the large bowl, and cover to marinate in the fridge for minimum 30 minutes.

Add a little olive oil to your Pan, and place inside your oven to preheat.

Remove the pan and place the dressed wings inside. Cook for 20 minutes, or until nicely charred, then flip the wings and pour over the remaining sauce.

Return the pan to your oven for another 10 minutes, or until the sauce has started to thicken and the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from the oven and serve the wings right from the pan

• 1 lb fresh thin asparagus
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt
• Pepper
• 1 juice lemon optional

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Fire your oven until it reaches 700ºF, and then allow the temperature to fall to about 500ºF, maintaining a bed of coals to lightly brown the asparagus.
• Remove the tough asparagus stems.
• Add 2 Tbs olive oil and the asparagus to a stainless steel or cast iron pan. Toss to mix, and then season with salt and pepper.
• Roast in a moderate oven for a few minutes, until lightly brown but still a little crisp.

Options 
Splash the lemon juice into the hot pan right before serving. It will sizzle and reduce to make a nice sauce.

Meatballs

• 1 medium onion chopped fine
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 lb ground pork
• 2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
• salt

Sauce

• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 can whole tomatoes
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano crumbled

Plus

• 1/2 cup stock or wine
• garlic cloves, fennel, saffron, or shallots optional

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Fire your oven, and allow it to fall to a moderate temperature, roughly 400-500ºF. This dish can be cooked with a small fire, coals, or retained heat.
• Sauté the onion and add the tomatoes and spices to make the sauce, either in your oven or on a cook top.
• Prepare the meatballs by mixing together the ingredients and shaping the balls, keeping them fairly small (about the size of a walnut.) Use a gentle hand when forming the balls to help maintain a light and tender texture. Place them on an oiled terracotta dish, add half the sauce, and roast for 10-15 minutes.
• Serve with fresh flatbread that you can make using spare pizza dough, or as a side dish with toothpicks.
• ​Keep your dish juicy by adding some stock or wine about halfway through roasting. If your oven is too hot, you can cover the pan with foil. Remove the foil near the end to brown the top of the meatballs.Optionally, you can add a couple of halved shallots and roast them with the meatballs for a different flavor. Or try roasted garlic, onions, saffron, or fennel.

Ingredients

• 4 Corn On The Cob’s
• 250g Unsalted Butter, softened
• 2 Red Chilli’s, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1tsp Smoked Paprika
• Pinch of Chilli flakes
• 1 Lime, juice and zest
• 4tbsp Chopped Coriander

Method
You can bake these cobs whilst cooking pizzas with the high heat and a rolling flame, or you can let the temperature come down should you prefer- just adjust the times accordingly.
The butter can be made a day before, simply mix the softened butter with the smoked paprika, chopped chilli, lime juice and zest, season well, and wrap tightly in cling film to set in the fridge.
When you’re ready to cook the corns, lay out 2 double sheets of foil, drizzle with oil and salt, and pop 2 corns in each. Top each corn with a good chunk of the butter and wrap tightly.
Pop the two foil parcels on a tray, and place into your wood fired oven, on the opposite side to your fire for around 15 minutes. Once the time is up, remove the foil, place your corns onto the tray and cover the them with the juices from the foil packs.
Return to the oven, tossing regularly, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until they’ve browned nicely.
To serve, add another thin slice of butter to each corn and sprinkle over some coriander. Delicious!

​

Ingredients

• 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1-1/2 lb. cured but soft chorizo, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• Good country bread, cut into large cubes

Heat the olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the chorizo slices and cook until they begin to turn a deep brown on one side, 3 to 5 min. Stir and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the chorizo is deeply browned all over, about 5 min. more. Carefully add the wine (be ready in case it flames) and let it simmer, scraping the pan to deglaze it, until it has reduced somewhat but is still saucy, 1 to 3 min. Pour the chorizo and juices into a dish. Serve with the bread, for dipping into the sauce.

A great way of cooking delicate fish in a wood fired oven is on a wooden plank, this method works so well with a thick salmon fillet, adding extra smokiness and keeping the inside from drying out.

• Dry Cure

A dry cure is perfect to make the most out of salmon, the best flavour balance for me is 50/50 demerara sugar and sea salt, a couple of handfuls of dry cure is enough for a salmon fillet like this. Rub in well and wrap in clingfilm, leave overnight in the fridge to cure.
Rinse off the cure in the morning, pat dry with a kitchen towel and leave in the fridge uncovered for 4-6 hours to form a sticky pellicle.

• Plank

Pre-soak a wooden plank that will fit your salmon fillet for a couple of hours, I chose Maple, but oak would work well, as would most hardwoods or fruit/nut woods. Soaking stops the plank from burning too quickly.

• Wood Fired Oven

Set up your Wood Fired Oven for a medium heat, I was aiming for 240-260degC in the middle of the oven, and used my favourite silver birch for the fire, which has a sweet hunger inducing smoke.
​

Place the salmon on the plank, and then plank into the oven, just inside the door, keep an eye that the salmon doesn’t burn if the oven is running hot, and turn the plank around so all sides cook. The salmon should take 20 minutes or so, I brushed mine with a mix of 4tbps Maple Syrup mixed with a dram of Single Malt Whisky for the last 5 minutes to build up a glaze.
I served the salmon with boiled potatoes with chopped parsley and butter, and a whisky mustard cream sauce. To make this, reduce down 50ml single malt whisky in a saucepan, stir in a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, and 6 tbsps double cream, season with sea salt and coarse grained black pepper, warm through, and drizzle over the salmon.

• 2 cups uncooked almonds
• 3 tbsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Almonds can be toasted in a range of oven temperatures, so you will have to control cooking time accordingly.
• Use a small, preheated terracotta dish. Put in a little olive, and then add the raw almonds – with skin on. Toss them a few times to coat with oil and toast to your liking. There is a very narrow time between toasted and burnt (throw them out and start over). Better underdone than burnt, but try to get them toasted.

• 1 8 oz Cheese chunk feta 
• 1 1/4 c cherry tomatoes quartered
• 1/2 c Pepper poblano, jullienned
• 3/4 c onion sliced
• 5 cloves garlic sliced thin
• 1/2 c olives kalamata, pitted and quartered
• 2 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1 c parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS 

• place the cheese in a baking dish. if your feta is fat, cut it in half around the equator to make two thinner disks. combine the tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic and olives in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. add to the baking dish with the cheese. pour the olive oil over everything. place in your oven on a rack and bake. i was working in a 425f (air temperature) oven with a piece of wood smoldering and the door half closed. bake for 10-15 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and the vegetables have softened and started to melt together. remove from the oven and garnish with the parsley leaves. serve with some crusy baguette or ciabatta and you’re ready to go. or, come back next week and i’ll be posting a recipe for the perfect accompaniment – rye naan.