Saturday, May 17, 2008

Empty the fridge vegie burgers!

I realised that I had a lot of leftovers in the fridge so decided to throw them together today and see if they turned into anything edible.

Here's the results

2 cups cooked lentils/beans/chickpeas/dhal. Mashed.
2 cups cooked cold rice it can be plain or the leftover risotto you made a couple of days ago.
1 cup dry quick cook oats
handful of chopped chives from your garden
handful of grated cheese (leftover from tacos a few days ago)
2 eggs.
two teaspoons of vegie stock powder

Mix the whole lot together and leave to sit for ten minutes. Then form into hamburger patties and pan fry till crunchy and golden. Serve with salad in homemade burger buns!

The flavour will change with every empty the fridge you do. If you have curried lentils, you get curried burgers, Mexican beans gives you a Mexican burger, risotto/plain lentils makes a nice chive ricey burger.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Cream of mushroom soup

In the morning, bung the following into your crockpot. This recipe is a double recipe and would serve 10 to 12 people! I only make it when I have found mushrooms on the 'out you go' stand at the supermarket for half price.

1 kg fresh mushrooms roughly chopped.
a handful of spring onion tops, thinly sliced (don't you dare pull up or use the white parts!!!!)
4 cloves garlic
4 litres of water
1 cup skim milk powder
3 peeled, chopped potatoes
a couple of vegetable stock cubes

Put it on to cook and forget about it until 5pm. Then check the seasoning and add more if you wish. Get out your stick blender and carefully blend the lot (I too have been splattered with hot soup when I got distracted!). It should be nice and thick and not need any cream at all.

Coconut pancakes

2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/4 cup sugar (I don't use this at all as I find them sweet enough, but the recipe calls for it)
2 cups milk
2 eggs

Combine flour, coconut and sugar in a bowl. Whisk milk and eggs until smooth then add to the flour mix. Stir until smooth and leave it for a few minutes.

Heat a non stick pan and pour 2 tablespoons of the batter into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the surface, turn the pancake and cook until golden.

Drizzle with your favourite topping.

Ours is heating honey, the juice of a couple of oranges and a pinch of cinnamon in a pot then drizzling over the pancakes.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Grandma Ena's sugee cake

Another family recipe which I have decided to post just in case I go toes up and it's lost forever!

1/2 lb semolina
13 eggs (this is not a typo!)
10 oz sugar
2 oz flour
10 oz butter
1/2 tea bicarb
1/4 lb ground almonds
2 tea vanilla
1 dessertspoon brandy
4oz milk
4 egg whites whisked until you can hold the bowl upside down and the whites don't fall out.

Cream butter and 3/4 of the sugar. Gradually add milk. Add semolina, Stir well and stand for one hour. Add egg yolks and rest of the sugar. Fold in four whisked egg whites, then flour, bicarb and almonds. Add brandy and vanilla

Bake in lined greased cake tin for one hour in a moderate hour.

Pasteis de nata (bit harder version)

1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 tble cornflour
6 egg yolks.
Puff pastry cut into rounds and placed in greased patty pan tray.

Mix sugar, milk and cornflour and heat, stirring all the time, until nice and thick. Put gently whisked yolks into a bowl and pour on milk mixture. Pour back into pan and cook until thick.

Fill pastry cases with two teaspoons of mixture and bake 15 minutes 180 degrees

Molotov pudding Grandma Ena's

You want your taste buds to think they've died and gone to heaven? Make this!

Important note: Read the recipe through first to the end.

125 grams sugar
8 egg whites.

Beat whites till stiff and fold in 125 grams of sugar. Set aside.

125 grams sugar and a little water, boil until caramalized and slightly dark. Cool a little and combine gently with the egg white mixture. NOTE: Do not mix thoroughly, you want lumps of toffee to be visble.

Put mixture into a well buttered pudding mould without mixing. Place in medium oven for 15 minutes,  then leave it in the oven for another five minutes.

Topping:

150 grams sugar
500mls  milk
1 tablespoon flour
8 egg yolks

Combine sugar, milk and flour. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat and cool completely. Add yolks and stir over very very low heat. Cool completely!

Unmould meringue onto serving dish with a lip. Pour custard gently over the meringue.

Honey Cous Cous

I love this in Winter instead of our usual oats for breakfast.

3/4 cup chopped dates
3 cups milk
3 tbl honey
1 cinnamon stick
grated rind of one orange
1 cup cous cous
1 tea vanilla
3 tbl chopped nuts

Simmer everything except the cous cous. Remove from heat and stir in cous cous. cover pan with a plate and let sit for twenty minutes.

Seven types of cookie

I think that I got this from the American Woman's day magazine in the late 80's. Gives you some idea how old I am LOL!

2.5 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cups butter
2 eggs
1 tea bicarb
1 tea salt.

Cream all the sugars and butter. Add eggs and then flours/salt and bicarb. Choose your add in's.

Add in list:

1/2 cup peanut butter or
1 small bag choc chips or
1 bag MM's or
1 small bag crushed butterscotch lollies
1 cup good cocoa
1 cup oatmeal (minus one cup of flour)

10 minutes at 350 degrees

Coffee cookies to die from

Drink an expresso with these cookies and you will be twitchy all day! They are good!

125 grams softened butter
250 gram sugar
4 tea ground coffee (NOT INSTANT!)
1 egg
110grams plain flour
110grams SR flour

Beat butter, sugar and coffee until pale and fluffy. Add egg. Stir in flours. Roll rounded teas into balls and place 3 cms apart on tray.

Bake 10 minutes at 180 degrees.

Grandma Ena's bebinca de leite

1 cup cornflour
10 egg yolks (yes, you read right!)
1 tin condensed milk
5 cups coconut milk
1/2 lb melted butter, cooled.

Mix all the ingredients. STRAIN. Pour into a double boiler and stir over a low het all the time. When really really thick, pour into a dish to set. When set brown under a griller and then put it into the fridge overnight. You should be able to cut slices of this dessert.

Grandma Ena's walnut brownies

These are seriously too die for. I don't know why I am posting this recipe, I haven't even given it to my sister!

1/3 cup butter
2oz chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tea vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tea salt TYPO FIXED :)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Melt the butter and chocolate. Cool. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour and salt. Mix well. Pour into a lined, greased brownie pan.

25 minutes 375 degrees.

Butter bean and tomato soup

4 celery sticks diced
1 onion diced
garlic, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1.5 cups water
250 mils vegetable stock
1 can butter beans

Saute vegetables, add tomatoes, stock and water. Cook till vegetables are tender. Add beans and warm through

Almond cake

125 grams ground almonds
125 grams butter
125 grams sugar
3 eggs
1 cup SR flour
2 drops almond essence and a bit of milk

Cream fat and sugar, add eggs one at a time. Add almonds and four, essence and enough milk to mix to dropping consistency.

Line a cake tin and put batter in. Bake 1 hour 375 degrees.

Ambrosia Salad

2 tins drained mandarins (put some aside)
1 tin drained crushed pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut
250 grams sour cream
white marshmallows

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Decorate with mandarins.

Armenian Squares

1.5 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg and enough milk to make a 1 cup mixture
2 cups SR Flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix flour, sugar and the butter. Spread 1/2 the mixture into a lamington tray. Add the egg and milk and walnuts to the rest of the mixture. Spread over the biscuit mix.

Bake 50/60 minutes 160 degrees.

(it's also yummy if you spread jam over the biscuit mix and subsitute 2 cups of dess. coconut to the topping)