Last updated 19:45, Thursday, 17 July 2008

THIS WEEK, we're in Mexico - don't you just love technology - so we thought we'd send you a Mexican inspired feast that you can enjoy al fresco if the weather is as good at home as it is here.

We're not actually giving you a specific dish here as the main event, but a marinade instead that you can use on any kind of meat, fish or even vegetables - you decide.

We suggest that this would be great with chicken or big tiger prawns and would work well on the barbecue

75ml tequila

Zest and juice of two fresh limes

1 fresh red chilli, seeds removed and finely diced

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

50ml olive oil

Mix all the ingredients together.

Let the mixture sit, preferably overnight, but at least for two to three hours.

Shake the mixture well as it will have separated then set aside about ¼ of it to use as a baste when cooking the meat/fish/vegetables of your choice.

Marinate meats and vegetables for up to two hours. Fish and shellfish should marinate for up to 45 minutes, no longer as the citrus juices will begin to cook the fish. Stir the food from time to time while it marinates.

When cooking the marinated food, use reserved marinade as a baste during the cooking.

Discard the marinade that the meat etc has been sitting in.

Garnish your dish with some fresh coriander, finely shredded chilli and some spring onion finely shredded on the angle. (Strictly speaking it is not necessary to cut them on the angle but the inner chef in us just cannot resist!)

Try the following accompaniments to complement your feast.

2 avocados, peeled and chopped

1 red onion, diced

Juice of two limes

½ red chilli, finely diced with the seeds removed

1 pack fresh coriander, chopped

6 tomatoes, chopped into chunks

1 red onion, diced

½ red chilli, finely diced with he seeds removed

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 pack fresh coriander, chopped

Slug of olive oil

1 handful of pickled, sliced jalapenos, drained

The guacamole and salsa couldn't be easier to make as you simply combine the ingredients for each dip into two separate bowls and serve!

This butter gives a wonderful smoky flavour to the corn and is best served generously enough to be dripping down your chin! Leftovers that are not used can be kept for another dish and the butter is also suitable to freeze.

1 onion, sliced

1 red pepper, seeds removed and diced

Splash of oil

1 pack butter

Optional handful of herbs such as chopped fresh thyme, sage, basil or coriander

Soften your butter to room temperature until pliable but not runny.

In a frying pan, fry the onion and pepper until soft. Set aside and cool until completely cold.

Add the onion and pepper to the butter. Add the optional herbs if you wish.

Take a large sheet of grease proof paper or cling film (about the size of a baking sheet) and place on the work surface.

Spoon the butter across the middle of the paper or cling, horizontally, leaving around a two inch gap from the edge of the sheet on each side of the butter.

Roll the paper/cling over the butter to make a cylindrical parcel (do not wrap it into the butter, just around the outside) and twist each of the free two inch gaps at the edges to form a sort of Christmas cracker.

Chill well. You could even start this off in the freezer to accelerate the chilling process.

Cook your corn on the cob in any way you prefer. We love it done on the barbecue. We start it off in a foil parcel containing a little water or milk to steam it slightly, then remove the foil and cook directly on the bars for that charred appearance.

Cut slices from your butter Christmas cracker and serve over the corn. Remember to freeze those leftovers if you wish.

Many people find rice difficult to cook. This however is an easy fail safe method to follow. We have also used cups to measure it out. The cups basically act as a 'part' of the recipe. By that, we mean the cup could be any size as long as you use the same cup to measure out all of the necessary ingredients here. That way the recipe will always be in the right proportions and will never go wrong.

1 cup long grain white rice

1 tablespoon oil

1½ cups boiling water

½ onion, finely chopped

½ green pepper, finely chopped and seeds removed

Fresh chilli, chopped with seeds removed

1 tomato, seeded and chopped

1 chicken stock cube

Salt and pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 pack fresh coriander, chopped

Pre heat the oven to 180degrees

Put the oil into a stove proof baking tray. Heat slightly and add the onion, garlic, chilli, and green pepper.

Cook lightly for a few minutes to soften slightly.

Add the rice and cumin and turn them over in the tray so the rice gets a good coating of oil.

Add the water and the stock cube and season with salt and pepper. Cover the tray with foil and seal the edges tightly so the rice will steam.

Put the rice in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

When cooked, add the tomato and fresh coriander and serve.