Can't Find It - Search Wendy's For A Specific Recipe Here

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Brandied Glazed Ham

A Christmas Cooking Special

Everyone looks forward to the Christmas season and especially the wonderful foods, feasting to our hearts content. This Brandied Glazed Ham recipe has always been a favourite in our family. It not only looks good but tastes as good as it looks. This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law Maxine, who always makes it for christmas. It is a huge success and gets a lot of excellent comments from the entire family when she serves it up. You can always substitute the brandy for pineapple juice if you don't like to use alcohol. I prefer it with the brandy in it.

PREPARATION:

1 cooked leg ham
Whole cloves
Glace cherries
BRANDIED APRICOT GLAZE

1 cup apricot jam
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup brandy

Carefully remove skin from the ham, with a sharp knife mark surface fat into approximately 2.5cm (1 inch) diamonds as shown in picture (white lines drawn for clarity). Take care not to cut through the fat; just mark it, otherwise fat will shrink during the glazing process.
Place ham in a large baking dish, brush well with prepared glaze.
Bake in moderate oven 45 Min's or until golden brown. Brush ham with glaze every 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool slightly. Decorate ham with half glace cherries and cloves; the glaze will hold the cherries in position.

BRANDIED APRICOT GLAZE
Sieve warmed apricot jam, combine with remaining ingredients, mix well. Note: Glaze ham on the day required.

You can substitute the brandy with pineapple juice if you prefer a non alcoholic glaze.

Beef in Ginger Beer

Someone passed this recipe on to me that they discovered in a magazine that was put out by a butcher. I wasn't too sure about it at first but after being encouraged to try it I decided to give it a go. Am I glad I did as it is just the best way to cook corned beef that I have tried.

PREPARATION:
1 kg of corned silverside
2 litres of ginger beer (shop bought)
250 mls marmalade with rind in

Simmer the beef in ginger beer for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until tender. Only ginger beer is used so don't be tempted to add water or seasoning. Make sure that your beef is sitting below the ginger beer and not sitting out of it. If it does, you need either more ginger beer or else a smaller, deeper pot. Take the meat out of the ginger beer when cooked and dry the fat on the meat with a paper towel. Now cover the fat with half a centimetre of marmalade and bake for 10 minutes in an oven of 200C. Slice and serve with mashed potato and a tablespoon of ginger beer juice over the sliced meat and a little more warm marmalade.

Pineapple Rice

This was given to me by my sister-in-law and it is one of those desserts that you don't make often but when you do, you wonder why you don't serve it more.

PREPARATION:

3 cups cooked rice
1 can crushed pineapple and some of the juice
1 - 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 cup sugar

Fold all together and then add in 1 cup whipped cream. Place in sweet bowls and sprinkle a little nutmeg or cinnamon over the top. Chill in fridge until chilled. Can be served by itself or with a little vanilla ice cream.

Rum Bananas

A girlfriend gave me this simple dessert recipe many years ago and it is just too easy to make but yummy to eat. always a great dessert to serve when having just a few people over for dinner.

PREPARATION:

2 - 3 tablespoons butter
2 - 3 tablespoons brown sugar
sliced bananas
rum

Heat butter and sugar in a pan. Cook bananas in this for several minutes. Pour some rum over the top of these and set alight. Serve with either whipped cream or ice cream. Can serve with both if feeling really game.

Chocolate Truffles

This is another must make recipe when having any sort of party and a favourite with children as it has no alcohol in it such as the rum truffles. My mum always used Milk Arrowroot biscuits in it but you can use any other sweet ones such as Marie or Coffee biscuits.

PREPARATION:

1 x 250 gram pkt milk arrowroot biscuits
1 can Nestles' condensed milk
1 cup dessicated coconut
2 large tablespoons cocoa
extra coconut for dipping

Crumble biscuits and place in large bowl. Add coconut and cocoa and mix together with a large spoon. Add the nestles milk and combine well together. I usually finish off by mixing it with my hands as it seems to work the best. Take a spoonful of mixture and roll into a small ball about the size of a large marble and coat in coconut. continue making these and place on either a baking tray or large plate, lined with greasproof paper. Place in the fridge and leave to set and chill.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Golden Balls

This is another of my favourite recipes that comes from my mum. Looking back over the years I can remember mum making this for us when I was just a small child, so it has been going strong down through our family for many years. Whenever I decide to make this pudding, I can picture mum, standing over the old wood stove, making this for us and us all standing around wanting to get under her feet to help her.

PREPARATION:

1 cup SR flour
1 beaten egg
1 large tablespoon butter
milk

Rub the butter into the flour. Mix with the well beaten egg and enough milk to make a soft dough. Roll into small round dumpling about the size of a walnut shell.
Syrup:
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon golden syrup
juice of 1 lemon
Mix all these together thoroughly and boil in a large saucepan on top of stove. Drop the dumplings into the boiling syrup and turn over often as they start to swell so they are cooked through. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or cream. If you want to be really decadent you may serve with both.

Date Crunch Bars

This is another Feature Recipe from my mums church ladies group and it is quite yummy, even if you are not a date lover. After one small bite, you will be going back for more. So easy to make and can be stored in the refigerator for days; if it lasts that long.

PREPARATION:
125 grams butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
250 grams chopped dates
4 cups cornflakes
1/2 cup coconut

Mix butter, sugar and dates together in a large saucepan over a low heat until mixture is soft. Add cornflakes and mix well. Sprinkle 1/4 a cup of the coconut over the base of a swiss roll tin and then press the mixture firmly over this. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of coconut and set in the refigerator. When cold, cut into fingers and serve.

Hedgehog Cake

This favourite recipe has been adapted to my mothers version and it is so much better than the ones that are available through the supermarket and bakers chains. Whenever it was one of our birthdays, it was always the first thing on the list of things for mum to make for our party. Even as an adult, I still love this recipe.

PREPARATION:
125 grams butter
125 grams brown sugar
250 grams broken biscuits (I use milk arrowroot)
1 egg
2 large tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Break the biscuits into little pieces in a large bowl. Add chopped nuts. Bring butter and sugar slowly to the boil in a small saucepan and cook gently for a few minutes. After adding the cocoa to this, stir in the beated egg and add to mixture in bowl with vanilla. Press into a shallow slice pan and let set in the refridgerator. Cut into small pieces to serve. For extra chocolate taste, you can spread a very fine chocolate icing over before setting in fridge.
Icing can be made from a tablespoon of butter, melted with a little milk and vanilla essence. Add to this some icing sugar and cocoa to make a smooth fine mixture.

Coconut Lemon Fingers

This was given to me by my sister Mandy who is renowned for her great cooking. It's certainly not on any weight watching list but it certainly tastes yummy and once you have 1 small finger of this slice, you will be reaching for another.

PREPARATION:
250 gram pkt of plain sweet biscuits (such as milk arrowroot)
1/2 cup coconut
grated rind of 1 lemon
1/2 tin condensed milk
125 grams butter

Crumble biscuits. Add coconut and lemon rind. Melt butter with condensed milk, mixing well. Add to mixture with dry ingredients and stir well. Press firmly into a greased slab tin and chill in refrigerator. Coat top with a thin layer of lemon icing and sprinkle with coconut. Cut into fingers to serve.
For icing, just melt a tablespoon of butter. Add to this some lemon juice and icing sugar to make a thin mixture.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Zuccini Slice

This is another quick and easy recipe that my mum used to make whenever we were going on picnics or just to have hot or cold over the summer weekends. As it can be frozen, we could always find some in the freezer if we looked hard enough.

PREPARATION:
375 grams grated zuccini
1 carrot grated
1 large onion chopped
3 rashers of bacon chopped
1 cup grated cheese
1 cut SR flour
1/2 cup oil
5 eggs
salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all together in a large bowl and spread into a large ovenware dish. Bake for 35 - 40 minutes in a moderate oven.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Little Quiches

This is another of the Homemakers Feature recipes and it was prepared by my sister Mandy.
Whenever we have large parties, especially with teenagers we always serve these up. So easy to make and very tasty.

PREPARATION:
1 pkt puff pastry sheets
4 tablespoons butter
1 pkt bacon (approx 5 rashes)
1 cup tasty grated cheese
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs - fresh or dried
1 small chopped onion
1 cup milk
pinch cayenne pepper
1 desertspoon baking powder


Mix all together in a large bowl until well combined, then add the baking powder. Cut pastry out to fit in patty tins and then fill with the mixture. Cook in a hot oven approx 10 - 15 minutes. This will make approx 5 dozen. They can easily be frozen if you want to make in advance.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Turkey Frittatas

If you are wondering what to do with all that left over turkey then this is a great recipe for using some of it up. You are not limited to turkey as I have used the ham off the bone as well and they are also yummy.

PREPARATION:
4 eggs
1 cup cream (can use light)
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 cup cooked turkey, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped chives
sea salt and cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Place the eggs, cream, salt, pepper and cheese in a bowl and beat to combine. Stir through the turkey and chives and pour the mixture into small muffin tins and bake for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden. Makes approx 24.

Never Fail Sponge

If you follow this recipe exactly then you can be assured that this sponge will always turn out beautifully. Every cake stall that my mum and myself were involved in, we always made up heaps of these sponges and they always sold out before anything else.

PREPARATION:
3 eggs
1 teaspoon honey
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cornflour
1 tablespoon custard powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon bi carb soda

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180C or 170C for fan forced oven.
Separate whites from yolks of eggs. Put whites in large mixing bowl and beat thoroughly until stiff. Add honey and then sugar gradually and beat well. Add yolks, one at a time and beat till thick and creamy. Sift dry ingredients together and add half to mixture by folding in gently with a knife. Add the remaining half and fold it in with a knife. Grease 2 sandwich cake tins with little butter and sprinkle some cornflour over and gently shake around tins. Pour in mixture and swirl the tins around a little to disperse mixture evenly. Do not spread over with a spoon or knife as this presses the air out. You want it to stay light when it it is cooked. Place in middle shelf of oven and bake for approx 20 minutes. Do not open the oven door while cooking as this will cause the sponges to drop.
Spread some strawberry or favourite jam over the top of both sponges and then top with whipped cream and some fruit such as strawberries or bananas on top to decorate.
These are able to freeze and will keep indefinitely in the freezer.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Cherry Chums

This is another Feature Recipe from my mums ladies fellowship group from church. It's very quick and easy to make and a great idea for childrens birthday parties or Christmas time.

PREPARATION:
4 cups rice bubbles
250 grams copha
1 cup icing sugar
1 level teaspoon cocoa
20 marshmallows
60 grams glace cherries

Melt copha. Chop cherries and marshmallows. Sift dry ingredients and pour copha over. Stir all together and then press into a slice tin and set in the refrigerator. Yummy!

Fruit Slice

My mother attended the ladies weekly church group named the Ladies Homemakers and each week a different member would bring along her favourite recipe to share and bring each member a copy of that recipe. This was called Feature Recipe. A lot of the recipes I will be sharing with you come from that group of lovely ladies. This one is quick and easy to make and tastes yummy.

PREPARATION:
2 cups SR flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup mixed fruit
125 grams butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder

Combine flour, sugar and butter. Mix until like breadcrumbs. Spread half the mixture into a lamington tin. Mix together the milk, egg and baking powder. Add to remaining mixture with the fruit. Pour on top of the base and bake at 350 to 375 degrees for approx 30 minutes. Ice with coffee icing.

Coffee Icing:
Make with instant coffee powder, disolved in a little hot water, icing sugar, vanilla essence and butter. Melt butter, add coffee and other ingredients and stir until thick and creamy.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Lois' Chocolate Cake

This is a family favourite that was given to my mum by Lois who was a dear friend of hers. The best thing about this recipe is that you just put it all in together to beat up. It is a really lovely moist chocolate cake that anyone can make because it is so easy to make and it never fails.

PREPARATION:

4 tablespoons butter
1 cup SR flour
1/4 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
vanilla essence

Melt butter in saucepan. Sift flour and cocoa together into large mixing bowl. Add sugar, eggs, milk and melted butter. Beat on high for 3 minutes. Pour into a greased ring tin and cook 30 - 35 minutes at 350 degrees for gas oven and 370 for electric oven.
Turn onto a wire cooling rack and when cool, frost with chocolate icing.

Icing
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 level tablespoons of butter
little milk
little vanilla essence
1-2 cups icing sugar.
Melt butter in small saucepan. Add vanilla essence and half icing sugar and all of cocoa. Keep adding small amounts of milk and icing sugar until smooth and thick. Spread over cake and sprinkle some coconut or walnuts on top for decoration.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Fruit Dip

This is another of my mum's favourite dips that we always put requests in for in the summer time while lazing around and in the swimming pool. We always had people dropping by so this was always on standby in the fridge just waiting for some new summer fruits to be cut up and served with it.

PREPARATION:
1 carton sour cream (light can be used)
2 tablespoons of apricot jam
2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dessicated coconut

Mix all together and put in the refridgerator for an hour or so to chill. Put in a bowl in the centre of a large dip plate and surround it with cut up summer fruits such as bananas, pineapple, strawberries, mango, peaches etc.

If you are weight watching, you can substitute the jam and cream for a tub of low fat apricot yoghurt. Tastes nearly as good and very healthy.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Creamed Coconut Salad

This is a yummy salad that goes great with poultry or meat and served with a green salad. We always used to have this at our family gatherings, especially at Christmas time and during the summer period at barbecues and parties. Anyone new attending would always ask my mum for the receipe.

PREPARATION:

1 carton sour cream (can use light)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup well drained mandarin segments
1 cup pinapple chunks
1 cup quartered marshmallows (white are nicest)

Mix all together in a large bowl and refridgerate overnight before serving so that the flavours blend through.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Home Made Tartare Sauce

Home made tartare sauce always tastes better and far superior to the shop bought variety sauces.

PREPARATION:

1 cup mayonaiase
1 tablespoon chopped gherkin
1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of chopped capers
1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion

Combine all the above ingredients and make sure you mix well, finally refrigerate and serve with your favourite fish.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Saucy Pineapple Chicken Wings

A tasty Saucy Pineapple Chicken Wings dish which serves about four (4) people

PREPARATION:

1 1/2 lb chicken wings
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 sticks of celery
2 tablespoons Soy sauce
2 tablespoons grated green ginger
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons of oil
1/2 cup of vinegar
1 450gram can of pineapple pieces
Reserve pineapple liquid
Salt and Pepper

Coat chicken wings in flour mixed with salt, pepper and ground ginger.

Heat oil in pan and saute chicken wings till brown. Reduce heat, cook for about 10 minutes or until tender.

In saucepan mix pineapple liquid, soy sauce, green ginger, sugar, vinegar, cornflour and cook until thickened then add pineapple pieces and celery, Cook a further few minutes.

Arrange chicken wings on serving dish, pour sauce over wings and garnish.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Mum's Salad Dressing

This yummy homestyle dressing is a favourite of mine that my mum always made for us. It will keep for 6 weeks in the fridge.

PREPARATION:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons sugar or equivalent sweetener
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
sprinkle pepper
6 tablespoons vinegar
4 tablespoons water
small piece butter (size of a walnut)

Beat eggs, sugar/and or sweetener in a small basin. Add the salt, mustard and pepper. Then add the water and vinegar and beat together.
Add the butter and put the basin over a saucepan of boiling water until the mixture thickens. Do not allow mixture to boil.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Potatoes And Zucchini Balls


Potatoes And Zucchini Balls rolled in breadcrumbs and fryed in hot oil.

PREPARATION:

3 potatoes
2 small zucchini (or 1 medium) grated
1 carrot grated
1 desertspoon tomatoe paste
1 tablespoon fresh parsley - chopped
1 egg - beaten
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Cook potatoes for 5 minutes only, drain and rinse with cold water.
Cool grate zucchinis, carrots, potatoes.
Add to egg, parsley and breadcrumbs mixing all together and shape into balls.
Roll in some more breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil until brown.

Sauce:
2 x 8 gram sachets of low calorie vegetable soup.
1 teaspoon of cornflour.
1 and 1/4 cups of water.
Combine soups and cornflour adding water gradually.
Heat until sauce thickens.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Fillet of Fish Caribbean

These are fish fillets which are basted in a simple Caribbean sauce which gives them a wonderful taste and flavor.

PREPARATION:

Prepare the fillets, removing the skin and small bones. Wash and pat dry with a paper towel or similar.

Dip two (2) fillets of Dhufish, Whiting or similar in flour then in 100 grams butter and roll in breadcrumbs.

Place on a tray and cook under a medium to hot grill.

Put
1/4 cup chopped peeled cucumber
1/4 chopped pineapple
1/4 cup chopped banana
1/4 cup chopped crystallised ginger
into the remaining portion of 100 grams butter and boil for two (2) minutes.

Pour the mixture over fish fillet when the fish is almost cooked then sprinkle with cinnamon and the juice of a lemon.

Place under grill to finish cooking the covered fish.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

An Introduction To Wine


by: Jason Ditto


What is wine?

Wine has been made for centuries from just a two simple ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Actually, just about any fruit juice can be used, but by far the majority of all wine is made from the juice of the grape.

How is wine made?

Yeast is the magical ingredient that turns grape juice into wine. Interestingly enough, there is actually wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is an open container of grape juice and time. The result however, would probably not be the most palatable of beverages.

There are numerous strains of yeasts and the types used to make wine have been cultured just for this purpose. Well anyway, yeast is a living organism that feeds off of sugars in the grape juice in a process called fermentation.

During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

The yeast will also impart a taste to the finished wine depending on various factors such as the strain of yeast used, the temperature during fermentation and other factors.

Once all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed, the yeast will fall to the bottom of the container. The wine is removed from the container, leaving the yeast, and is trasferred to another container to mature while waiting to be bottled.

Of course, this whole process has been extremely simplified for a general understanding.

How does wine get its color?

You probably know that there are green grapes and black grapes and different grapes are used to make different wines.

What you might not know is that almost all grape juice (even from the black grapes) is basically colorless to golden in color.

The way a wine gets its color is by letting the skins soak in the juice during fermentation. You can actually make white wine from black grapes by not letting the skins stay in contact with the juice. Champagne is one of the most famous examples.

If the skins are left in the wine for only a short amount of time, a rose (or blush) will be made. If they are left for an extended amount of time, a dark red wine will be the result.

What gives each wine its taste?

Even though there are very few ingredients, there are many things which influence the taste of wine. First of all, there are many varieties of grapes. Each grape variety will produce different flavors, aromas, and even textures.

In addition, the soil and climate where the grapes are grown drastically affect these variables.

Not only that, but the wine maker can control various things by the technique, temperature and yeast used during fermentation. Other variables such as fermenting or storing in oak barrels will also affect the taste.

Never fear, with all of these factors considered even the most avid wine drinker would ever be able to experience all of the different varieties of wine on the market today. Let the treasure hunting begin!

What is tannin?

Tannin is a substance in wine that causes a firm, mouth-drying feeling in your mouth. It is extracted from the skins, seeds and stems of the grapes so red wines will contain more tannin than whites.

White wines will get a degree of tannin when oak barrels are used for fermentation or aging. Eat just the skins of grapes or drink strongly brewed, unsweetened tea for a good idea of what tannin feels like in your mouth.

What are sulfites?

By law, almost all wine made in the United States will have “Contains Sulfites” on the label. This is because about very small percentage of asthma sufferers can be extremely sensitive to sulfites.

Sulfites or sulfur dioxide is a compound occurring naturally during the fermentation process. Sometimes, though a wine maker will add a little more because of its antibacterial and preservative qualities. White wines have more sulfites than red wines because they need more protection.

About The Author

Jason Ditto

Author of the http://www.2basnob.com/ website about the enjoyment of coffee, tea, wine and beer.