With an extra day in hand, the long weekend is the perfect excuse to spend a few hours tinkering in the kitchen. Here are 13 recipes from our ‘ace’ collection of our SBS Food recipe catalogue. #wegotyourback
This one involves making pho and making pies, so it’s really like two birds with one stone. Results are worth the wait and if you pop a few extra pies in the freezer you’ll have some pretty bomb lunches for the week.
Pho pie Source: Benito Martin
All this grilling of eggplant and layering with meat and rice will be worthwhile when you turn out a pot of maqlouba for the big reveal. Here is some inspiration for your pot flip.
Source: Destination Flavour Down Under
A flaky, buttery cross between a croissant and a muffin studded with figs and the bergamot scent of earl grey tea. Go forth.
Earl grey & fig cruffins Source: Chris Middleton
Fried chicken has just reached a whole new level of good with this smoky number. If you don’t have a smoker, you could MacGyver your own, add a dash of liquid smoke to the brine, or skip the smoking altogether.
Source: Brooke Bass
Say hello to these griddled burger-like corn cakes filled with slow-cooked beef, beans and rice. Arepa filling can range from a slice of cheese for a snack to this mammoth meaty meal. Sub fillings like cheese, avocado and other veg in or out as you please.
Corn cakes stuffed with shredded beef, black beans and rice (arepas rellenas) Source: Feast magazine
This Swiss nut tart keeps well once made, though it’s not likely to last long with a caramel filling made of chopped walnuts, cream, sugar and honey, encased in shortcrust pastry.
Source: Alan Benson
Throw a different kind of pancake party with these thin and slightly chewy Chinese pancakes blanketing slices of smoky duck and sweet cherry sauce.
Tea-smoked duck with Chinese pancakes and cherry sauce Source: China Squirrel
It seems every country has a version of a dumpling. This Iraqi kibbeh is like meatballs meets dumpling and is made from a thin burghul wheat shell, encasing pre-fried spiced mince. Dip in yoghurt or hummus (or both) for best results.
Fill the house with the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg with these soft, yeast-risen doughnuts. Unlike its cakey cousin, the yeast doughnut has moreish chew and doesn’t crumble. Rogue doughnut holes make the perfect chefs snack.
Yeasted apple cider doughnut stack Source: Linda Xiao
Take hold of those three days off and live out your dream of escaping to the country and becoming a cheese maker with this haloumi recipe. It only takes three ingredients – milk, salt and rennet. The rennet can be found at speciality cheese supply stores or ordered online.
Homemade haloumi Source: SBS Food
Bhakharwadi are crispy, yellow Gujarati snacks filled with seeds, spices and coconut or sometimes potato. These are usually served during festivals or weddings, and as the number of public holidays dwindles toward the end of the year, why not celebrate?
If you’re aiming to impress, here are a couple of big projects to end this list with a showstopping bang.
Bhakharwadi Source: Alan Benson
Any cake that calls for double quantities of a regular cake recipe and serves 20-24 people is our kind of cake. The classic crowd-pleasing combination of chocolate and peanut butter has its day with a peanut brittle crown to top the double-decker tower.
Chocolate layer cake with peanut butter frosting Source: Chris Middleton
This stuffed duck sports a cross-section that rivals a good sandwich, with five separate layers - hence its “five treasure” name. Pork, chicken, prawn, choy sum and duck-based fillings are all stuffed into a whole bird before it’s simmered in a deep, rich master stock to gently cook through, then flattened slightly and fried to crisp the skin.
If you prefer to choose your own challenge, check out all our 'ace' recipes here.
Five treasure duck Source: Alan Benson
