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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Savoury Muffins

I cannot remember who passed this recipe on to me but it is one that has been around for a long time with some variations. I often serve these at breakfast time, especially if I am doing a cooked breakfast with bacon and eggs etc. You can always add some chopped bacon to these for added taste.

PREPARATION:

1 cup SR flour
1 cup grated tasty cheese
1 cup milk
fresh parsley
1 small finely chopped onion or else onion flakes
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Mix ingredients all together and drop in spoonfuls into patty tray or small muffin trays. Bake in moderate oven until cooked through and golden brown. Serve hot, split in half with fresh butter.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Smoked Fish Mornay

This recipe was given to me by a lovely lady called Audrey Edwards. Her husband was a member of the Eaton Lions Club and it was through there that I met her. Whenever the ladies had to take something for supper or lunch, you could be sure that whatever Audrey brought along, it would be delicious. I will share some other recipes that she gave to me later on. This one is an australian favourite with a slight twist in that it has smoked fish in it instead of the usual tinned tuna or salmon. It is really delicious and fairly rich.

PREPARATION:

3 - 4 pieces of english fillet smoked fish
small tin of sweet corn kernals
1 ripe tomato
grated cheese
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste
white sauce - recipe below

Boil fish until just cooked and flake into a casserole dish. Add corn and season to taste. Pour the hot sauce over this. Slice tomato on top and then sprinkle grated cheese over this. Bake in hot oven until golden brown on top.

White Sauce:
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
600 mls full cream milk - can use hi low instead but not skim
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Melt butter in med size saucepan then add salt and pepper. Stir over a medium heat and then add the flour. If it is too thick add some more butter until easy to stir. Boil and keep stirring so as not to burn the mixture. It is just to cook the flour and when it turns a slight golden colour, while still on the heat, quickly pour about 1/2 the milk in while still stirring all the time. When that is mixed through, add the rest of the milk and continue to stir while bringing back to the boil. If you make the sauce this way, you will not get lumps in it and it is the correct way to make a good white sauce. When boiled, add about 1/2 cup of grated cheese and stir through again. Take off the heat, and pour over fish mixture.

Tuna Cheese Bake

This recipe was given to me by my sister-in-law Leah about 35 years ago. This simple tuna recipe is different to normal tuna dishes due to the ricotta cheese. A great standby dish to serve in the summer. Serve it with some crunchy bread and a nice green tossed salad.

PREPARATION:

1 large tin of tuna or salmon
2 onions chopped
2 cups tasty grated cheese
4 tablespoons flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons butter

Melt butter and add the onions and cook until tender and transparent. Beat eggs together and then add the ricotta cheese. Add milk, flour and other cheese. Flake the tuna and add onion to it. Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a baking or casserole dish. Cook in the oven at 175 - 180 degrees for approx 40 minutes.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Sherry Trifle

I always make my mum's trifle recipe at christmas and also for our Australia Day barbecue. Last night I made this to go with mum's hamburger recipe. It is such a simple recipe and a definite aussie favourite. I made such a huge amount. Double the normal size and it still was all eaten by the end of the night.

PREPARATION:

1 swiss roll (jam sponge roll)
1 tin of pitted black cherries or strawberries (any fruits would do)
1/2 cup sweet sherry
2 pkts port wine jelly (jello) I use the sugar free one and any flavour would do
600 - 750 mls home made thick custard - see recipe below

Make up jelly as instructions on pkt and when slightly cool, place in refrigerator to set firm. Slice up the swiss role and line bottom of a deep sided bowl or dish. I always take the roll about half way up the sides. Sprinkle the sherry all over the swiss role, making sure they are well covered. You can always use more sherry if you need to. Drain the fruit and spread over the top of the swiss role. Pour custard over this while still hot as it helps to spread easily and keep the roll from drying out. Place plastic wrap over bowl and when custard is cool, place in fridge. When the jelly is slightly firming, pour over the chilled custard and return to fridge. When jelly is really set, remove from fridge and decorate with whipped cream. Serve chilled with either or both, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. I used a vanilla and raspberry ripple low fat ice cream and it was a great winner.

Custard:
600 - 750 mls full cream milk
2 heaped tablespoons custard powder (not sure if available in USA)
1 egg
2 heaped tablespoons sugar - can use splenda (I often use half sugar and half splenda)
1 dessertspoon butter
1 tablespoon cream
few drops vanilla essence
Blend the custard powder with a little of your milk to make a runny paste. Then add the sugar and the rest of the milk, vanilla essence, cream and egg. Using a bamix or mixer, mix this well as you want the egg to be thorougly blended. Pour into a microwave safe bowl, (I always use a china one) and cook on high for a couple of minutes and then stir. Keep doing this about a minute at a time until custard begins to bubble and is very thick. Remove from microwave and stir in the butter. You can cook the old fashioned way, in a saucepan on top of the stove if preferred. By adding an egg cream you will have very smooth and velvety tasting custard. The egg also helps to thicken it as you need it to be very thick for trifle.

Australia Day Hamburgers

Last night we celebrated Australia Day (26th Jan) and we had our usual aussie barbecue with family and friends here at our home. Everyone arrived early so they could go for a swim first in the pool before the fireworks display began. Adults groaned about having to supervise the children but they were having just as much fun as the children were, splashing about on a very hot australian summer night. Soon it was time to crank up the barbecue so David and the men did the cooking, some drinking and a lot of talking and laughing while us girls brought out the salads, buns, etc and waited for the master chefs to do their stuff. I always make my mum's recipe for hamburgers as they are a much requested item. I know most people have their own favourite version of this great aussie icon but this recipe has been handed down through my family and is a definite winner. If you want them to taste as good as my mum's then please don't change the recipe at all. Make sure you make enough for several hamburgers per person as you will need them and copies of the recipe to hand out for the requests you will get. This is even better if you make the mixture up the night before and leave, covered in the refrigerator overnight. This makes the flavours really blend through.

PREPARATION:

1 kg good minced steak
2 large onions
2 very ripe tomatoes - organic are best
4 thick slices of fresh white bread made into rough breadcrumbs
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of good hamburger seasoning
cracked black pepper or if available, aust outback mountain pepper (my favourite)
sea salt to taste
plain flour

Chop up the onions and the tomatoes first. Do not peel the tomatoes. Then place all the ingredients except flour into a very large mixing bowl and mix in with your hands. I always crack the eggs on top of the breadcrumbs and mix them a little through this first and then mix all together. Using your hands is a much better way than using a spoon or mixer and you have the warmth from them which helps the mixing. If your mixture is a little too sloppy, add some flour to it, a tablespoon at a time, until it is the right consistency. Line a large plate with plastic wrap and shaping your mixture into hamburgers, dip them in some more flour and place on the plate. If you need to layer them, place plastic wrap between each row so they won't stick together. Cook on a hot barbecue plate to your cooking preference and serve on buns with some salad and cooked onions.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Chicken with Curry and spices

I can't remember who gave me this recipe but think it may have been my cousin Sue. I know that I have been making this from before my son Scott was born and he is now 36 so it have been in my recipe book forever it seems. It is a different variation of most chicken curries, has a little preparation to do but is still very simple to make and very tasty.

PREPARATION:

1 whole fresh chicken or fresh chicken thigh fillets
3/4 cup of peanut or olive oil
3 onions chopped
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayene pepper
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Cut chicken up into small pieces. Bring the oil to the boil in a large pot and quickly add the chicken to it. Add all other ingredients and turn down and let simmer for approx 30 minutes for until cooked through. Serve with steamed rice and vegetables.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Brown Onion Soup

This is one of those simple soup recipes that you keep making over and over again. Whenever I serve this soup, everyone asks me for the recipe. It was given to me about 26 years ago by Judy, a friend of mine who now lives in Melbourne. Whenever we had dinner at her home, she would always try out a new recipe and they usually turned out great. This is one of my favourites that she made one cold winter night when we were over there. It is such a tasty soup I know that you will be making it often. I will be sharing some of her other recipes with you later on.

PREPARATION:

4 brown onions
2 - 3 large rashers of bacon
2 beef stock cubes
4 cups of water
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
2 slices fresh bread with crusts removed

Roughly chop up the onions and bacon. In a stockpot, brown them in the butter over a medium heat. When onion is quite brown but still soft and bacon cooked, add the crumbled stock cubes and quickly add the water and black pepper. Turn the heat up until it boils and then reduce heat and cook for approx 20 minutes. Turn heat off and take pot off stove to slightly cool. Add the bread to soup and blend with either a hand held blender such as a Bamix or else pour soup in batches into a bench blender and blend until smooth. When finished blending, taste the soup and if needed add a little salt for prefered taste. I often find that it doesn't need any salt as it gets enough from the bacon and the stock cubes flavour. Serve this with some fresh crusty bread sticks, either cold or heated for several minutes in the oven.