Monday, December 13, 2010

Spiced Xmas beef

I'm thinking of making this recipe as it's one you can make a few days in advance and have in the fridge as a standby.  In fact, you HAVE to start it two weeks before Xmas.

2.5kg's topside
1 large onion,sliced
2 carrots liced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
600lms beef stock
150mls port or red wine

Marinade

1 tea perppercorns
1 tea mustard seeds
1/2 tea nutmeg
large pinch of powdered cloves
1 tbsp dried rosemary
1 tea thyme
225g darlk brown sugar
225 grams salt
8 bay leaves

Crush seeds in blender, mix with spices and sugar.

Place the beef in a shallow pottery or glass dish and rub the sugar spice mixture into the meat all over.  Cover the dish and set aside in the refrigerator.

After three days mix half the salt with the bay leaves and rub the mixture all over the meat.  Cover the dish and leave in the fridge  for another 24 hours.  then rub in the remaining salt.  Cover and leave in the fridge for 11 days turning every day.

On the 15th day remove the meat from the brine, wipe off all the spices and wipe3 it all over with a damp cloth.

Heat the oven to 140.  Place the meat in a dish, arrange the vegetables around it and pour on the stock and port.  Cover with a lid.  Cook the meat for 4 hours.  Reove it from the over and leave the meat to cool in the liquor.  Remove the meat and place in a dish in the fridge with a weight on top for 24 hours. 

It is now ready to serve cold.

Gingerbread cake

225g plain flour
2 tea ground ginger
1 tea cinnamon
1/4 nutmeg
pinch of salt
50g  pitted dates chopped
50g crystallized ginger chopped
125g treacle
50g butter
1 egg
75g dark brown sugar
4 tbl mik
1/2 tea bicarb

Method

heat the oven to 180.

Sift the flour, ginger cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir in the chopped dates and ginger.

Melt the treacle and butter in a small pan.


Beat the egg and beat in the sugar.  Add the two mixutures alternalely to the dry ingredients beating all the time.  Stir the bicarb into the milk and stir into the mixture.

Pout the mixture into a 20cm square baking tin lined with baking paper.  Level the top  and bake for 45 minutes.

Stand the tin on a wire rack to coool.  Remove the cake from the in strip off the baking and w3rap the cake in foil.  Store in a tin and it will keep fresh for up to 8 weeks.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Peanut butter balls

Want to die from peanutty chocolatty overload? Try these!

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
100g unsalted butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 and a half cups rice bubbles
chocolate to melt and dip

Melt peanut butter and butter in large bowl, mix icing sugar, rice bubbles and peanut butter mixture together. Cool. Roll into balls and chill minimum 30 minutes. Melt chocolate and dip/roll balls in. Chill.

They freeze well (if they last that long)

Friday, January 9, 2009

Pickled Ginger

I've managed to scored a heap of fresh ginger from the sale table at the markets, so I thought that I would try this recipe for pickled ginger from here

Ingredients
1/2 lb fresh ginger, peeled, sliced crosswise against the grain into paper thin coins
1 1/3 cups unseasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar, plus
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
1Cover ginger with boiling water. Let stand 2 minutes, then drain in colander. Put the ginger in a large, clean glass jar or plastic container.
2Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive pot. Stir over medium heat until the sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over ginger.
3Let cool completely, then cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before using. Enjoy!
4The thin slices of ginger make a good addition to plates of grilled meat, fish, or poultry. Minced or julienned, they are good added to sauces and marinades. The juice can be used in hot and cold sauces, spring roll dips, and salad dressings. You will get 3/4 cup ginger and about 2 cups juice.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Churros

From here

Ingredients: (Makes one platefull)
Vegetable or Olive Oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 teaspoon salt1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Prepare to fry the churros by heating oil in a pan (1 to 1&1/2 inches) to 360 degrees F.

To make churro dough,

heat water, margarine and salt to rolling boil in 3-quart saucepan; stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat. Beat eggs all at once; continue beating until smooth and then add to saucepan while stirring mixture.

Spoon mixture into cake decorators' tube with large star tip (like the kind use to decorate cakes). Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. (Mix Sugar and the optional cinnamon); roll churros in sugar or dump the sugar on the pile of churros, like the pros.

That churro taste will take you right back to your favorite summer days walking the paseos of Spain.

Note: REAL churros in Spain are made without cinnamon mixed with the sugar, but the cinnamon adds an extra nice flavor.

I didn't use cinnamon, but for the next batch I will grate some orange zest into the mix because I love the flavour.

I was chatting to Naturewitch on the phone while I made these and she told me that her gluten free flour mixture would work well in these.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

homemade crackers

Hehehehe, that’s how I felt yesterday until I actually tried the crackers which I made. I mean, who spends an hour of their day making something that is quick, easy to buy and very cheap?
Me now!

Simple cracker recipe adapted from here

3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup olive oil

Method: Heat oven to about 180-200 degrees (mine’s an old dodgy oven so I have to adjust between tepid and fried to a crisp)
Pop the whole lot into your bread machine and mix on the quick pasta setting (about 20 minutes). You can also add your favourite spices and herbs towards the end. I made plain, sesame and cheese and chive crackers.

Forget about your dough for about an hour (or four in my case!)
Roll dough into a thick sausage shape and cut into 8 pieces. Set your pasta machine to the thinest setting and put a piece of dough through one piece at a time. Use a pizza roller to cut them into cracker size pieces works really quickly with less drag on the dough.

Bake on trays greased with olive oil for about 10minutes the more golden they are the crispier they get, or as The Husband said

“The ones closest to burning are the best” Jury is still out as to whether he was being a w!n(*%)..

Let them totally cool then store in an airtight container.
So the actually rolling, cutting and baking took an hour.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Xmas Artichoke Strudel

I make this at Xmas as it is so simple, looks elegant, liked by meat eaters and is amazingly easy and quick to make. The recipe is a Charmaine Solomon one.

ingredients:

1x400g can artichoke hearts
1 cup cottge cheese
1 cup freshly grated pamasan cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions
1/4 cup finely chopped red capsicum
1/4 cup fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tea tarrogon leaves
1/2 tea pepper
6 sheets of filo pastry
melted butter

Drain artichokes and cut each one into quarters. Put into a bowl with all the other ingredients except butter and filo. Mix well and gently.

Lay a sheet of filo on kitchen bench and brush with melted butter. Add another layer and brush with butter. Keep going until all six are layered and brushed. Place filling in a log shape on the pastry and roll the whole thing up like a swiss roll and tuck the ends under.

Carefully put on greased baking tray and bung in a preheated (200 degrees) oven for 25 minutes until a nice golden brown. Let it sit for about five minutes before cutting into thick slices.

Serves 6.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Black bean and olive dip

1 large onion
2 cups of cooked black beans
about 30 black kalamata olives
juice of 1 large lemon

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