Dutch Pea & Ham Soup

This is the real dutch way of making pea and ham soup. I also love the aussie way of making this lovely rich thick soup and I have also got this in my free online recipes. The dutch way of making it is to use green split peas but if you prefer the yellow ones, you can also make it with them. I love to use a pressure cooker to make my soups in as it is so much quicker in cooking time and keeps all the lovely flavours in.

INGREDIENTS:

1 small pkt green split peas
1 large brown onion - chopped
1 extra large potato- peeled and diced
1 bacon hock or bacon slab
1 polish or dutch sausage (salami style)
approx 1 1/2 - 2 litres water
salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD:

Soak peas overnight or for at least 8 hours. Pour off this water then cover with fresh water, the bacon hock, diced potato, onion and some salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cook for at least 2 hours on top of stove or else use a pressure cooker and follow time stated. It is usually about 25 minutes after you have it up to correct pressure. Once your soup is cooked, the meat should fall away easily from the bone. Remove the meat and chop it up, then return to pot. Peel sausage and slice up and place in the soup. Serve with some lovely fresh crusty bread and it will make a complete meal out of it.

Pea & Ham Soup

This is a favourite soup in our family and I usually make it just the way my mum did. Sometimes I like to make it the dutch way and that is also a rich, thick and very filling soup. I will share both recipes with you. I always use a pressure cooker to make my soup but if you don't have one you will need to cook for at least 2 hours. Some of the old styled cookers do not recommend cooking pea and ham soup in them as they may explode. I can remember as a young girl, my mum using hers always to make it and never having any problems with it. As long as you follow the exact instructions with your cooker, and never fill the cooker over about 3/4 full and you will be okay with using one. I love them as they are so quick and you get the full flavour of the food as well as always being so perfectly cooked. Once you have used one, you will wonder how you ever survived without it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 large bacon hock
1 large brown onion
2 carrots
1 large parsnip
3/4 of a small packet of yellow split peas
sea salt and black pepper to taste
fresh parsley - chopped
water to cover to 3/4 way up pressure cooker

PREPARATION:

Soak the peas in cold water overnight or for at least 8 hours. Dice onion, carrots and parsnip and put in the pressure cooker. Add the drained split peas, the bacon hock and little salt and ground black pepper. Cover with water until your cooker is about 3/4 full. Set pressure cooker on top of stove or hotplate and secure lid. Bring up to pressure and then reduce heat to correct level as stated with your pressure cookers book. Cook for approx 25 minutes or suggested time in the book for pea and ham soup. Turn off the cooker and always let the pressure down before you try to remove the lid. Once the pressure has been removed, take off the lid and remove the bacon hock. It should start to fall away from the bone easily. If it doesn't, it means you haven't cooked it long enough and you may need to cook for another 5 minutes or so. I like to cut the meat up into small pieces and return to the soup. Add the chopped parsley and return cooker to stove to heat through again.Taste for correct amount of seasoning and if needed, add a little more salt and pepper. Serve with some fresh crusty bread.

Potato Fritters

I can remember mum making these for us and as they were such a family favourite, I want to share them with you. For some reason, mum called them Mock Kingfish and I still have no idea why they were called this. They are just so simple to make and with only 2 ingredients in them, also very economical. Kids especially, as well as the adults will love them, so try them and see for yourself. I have made them with a little chopped onion and bacon on ocassions and they also go down really well.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large eggs
4 - 5 large potatoes - grated
sea salt and black pepper to taste

METHOD:

Beat 1 egg until frothy then add one of the grated potatoes and a little salt and pepper. In a very large frypan or flat griddle, melt some butter and when very hot add heaped tablespoons of mixture onto it. Cook for approx 4 minutes then turn over and do the other side. When you are sure that the potato is cooked through, remove and continue beating 1 egg at a time and 1 grated potato and repeat process until all used up. The reason for doing it this way is to stop the egg mix going flat from the starch from the potatoes. They will also rise a lot better by making this way. These are best served hot with tomato sauce (ketchup). Make sure that you cook heaps of them as they will disappear as soon as you slide them off the hotplate.

Onion Jam

A couple of years ago when down south at Margaret River, I bought this beautiful bottle of onion jam. Obviously they wouldn't give away their renown recipe so I decided to look around for recipes that when made, tasted as good as theirs. This is a little different in ingredients but after making it, I decided that it was just as yummy. It is great to serve with cold meats such as ham, pork or beef. It is also a great little gift idea for giving at christmas or holiday times, especially if you use nice jars and dress them up with pretty home made covers on the lids and bows to decorate. I tie a nice bow around the covered lid and then place a little white spoon through the ribbon. I love this recipe and I know you will too once you have tried it.

INGREDIENTS:

4 kg brown onions - cut into rings
6 cups malt vinegar
6 fresh bay leaves
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
7 cups soft brown sugar
2 teaspoons sea salt

PREPARATION:

Place onions and vinegar in a large saucepan. Add the bay leaves, mustard and cumin seeds and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 45 minutes. Add sugar and salt and stir over low heat until fully dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes or until thick. Skim off any scum that forms during cooking with a slotted spoon. Remove the bay leaves. Spoon immediately into sterilised, warm jars and seal. Invert the jars and leave to cool. Label them and store for 3 weeks before eating. This will allow the flavours to develop. You can store your jam for up to a year in the pantry or for 6 weeks in the refrigerator once they have been opened.
To sterilise your jars wash thoroughly in hot soapy water or the dishwasher. Before using them place in an oven at 120 C for 20 minutes. The jars should be completely dry before you use them.

Pumpkin Rice Cakes

I received this recipe from a friend who had discovered it in a magazine while waiting at the doctors surgery. I have often found some great recipes this way but if you want some out of a magazine that isn't yours, either just write it down or else ask if you can remove it as nothing is worse than reading an interesting article and going to the next page to continue and you find the page has been torn out. I usually always carry a pen and paper in my handbag now so I am always prepared for it.

INGREDIENTS:

600 g pumpkin, peeled and cubed ( I use kent or butternut)
1/3 cup olive oil (use virgin light tasting)
1 onion - finely diced
2 cloves garlic -crushed (can use bottled crushed)
1 3/4 cups calrose rice
1 teaspoon bottled crushed chilli or flakes
4 cups vegetable stock
3/4 grated tasty cheese - like romano
1/2 cup frozen peas
3/4 cup seasoned plain flour or breadcrumbs
1/3 cup fresh chopped coriander
lemon mayonnaise - see below
sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 200 C. Toss pumpkin in 1 tablespoon of the oil then spread on oven tray and season to taste. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden and tender. Heat 1 tabelspoon oil in a large saucepan on high. Saute onion and garlic for 3 - 4 minutes until the onion is transparent. Add rice and chilli and cook, stirring for 1 minute. In a medium saucepan bring stock to the boil. Add hot stock to the rice mixture, 1 cup at a time, stirring until all liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender (approx 20 minutes). Stir cheese, peas and coriader through the pumpkin mixture. Transfer to a large bowl, cool, then chill until cold and firm. Roll tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls. Flatten slightly and toss in seasoned flour or breadcrumbs. Heat remaining oil in a large frypan or wok on medium heat. Cooki risotto cakes in 4 batches for 2 - 3 minutes on each side until golden. Serve with lemon mayonnaise.

Lemon Mayonnaise:
Combine 1/2 cup whole-egg mayonnaise with 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest and a little lemon juice. Season to taste.

Basic Meatloaf Recipe

Everyone has their own favourite and simple meatloaf recipes and I have had this one in my recipe book for so long, I cannot remember who gave it to me but I think it was Aunty Joy. She always was cooking up easy and tasty meals to serve her farming family so it probably came from her. I had forgotten how nice this easy meatloaf recipe was so decided to cook it again to see if I loved it as much as I remembered. It is something that you can serve hot with vegetables or even slice up and serve cold with a salad for summer months. I like to have a jug of gravy on the side to serve with mine. I never ever make package gravy as home made is always so much nicer.

INGREDIENTS:

500 g sausage meat
500 g minced steak
1 medium brown onion - chopped
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs - lightly beaten
fresh parsley - chopped
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
1 clove garlic (can use bottled crushed garlic)
1 carrot - finely diced
2 stalks celery - chopped
1/3 cup milk
2 rashers bacon
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cider vinegar (optional)
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Soak your breadcrumbs in the milk in a large bowl. While this is soaking, proceed with other preparations. In a large frypan or wok, melt the butter and cook the onions, celery, carrot and garlic over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Put lid on pan and continue to cook on a low heat for about another 5 minutes or until carrot is cooked through. Remove from heat and add vinegar, allspice and worcestershire sauce. Add all of this to your bread and milk mixture. Add your meat, bacon, eggs and parsley and mix it through with your hands until well combined. Put your mixture into a large loaf tin that has been lined with alfoil with enough overlap to cover meatloaf. Place the loaf tin in a large baking dish that has been set on the middle shelf of your oven and bake uncovered for approx 1 hour. If meatloaf looks like it is becoming too brown or dry on top, wrap your alfoil over it and then bake for about another 30 minutes. When cooked it should start to pull away from sides of tin but still have some juices around the loaf. This will keep in the refigerator for 3 - 4 days.

Pumpkin Soup

I have been making my much requested pumpkin soup for about 20 years now and I always follow the same recipe. I have tried different variations of this popular soup but always come back to my original recipe. If you are slimming or on an eating program then just leave out the cream. I often do and serve the cream on the side so people can add this to their own taste. Always use butternut pumpkin as it tastes so much better than other varieties.

INGREDIENTS:

1 kg butternut pumpkin (squash)
1 large brown onion
1 carrot
2 - 3 teaspoons chicken stock powder (can use 2 cubes)
5 cups water
sea salt and black pepper to taste
tablespoon fresh chopped parsley (can use dried)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 carton of whipping or thickened cream

PREPARATION:

Chop onion roughly. Peel and cube pumpkin and peel and slice carrot.Melt butter in large stockpot. Add the onion to this and saute on low heat until just transparent. Mix in the stock powder and a little water to combine. Add the other ingredients and pour over the rest of the water and turn heat up on high until the soup begins to boil. When boiling, turn heat down so it is just gently bubbling. Place lid on pot and cook for approx 20 minutes or until vegetables are very soft and break away when touched with a spoon or fork. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Using an electric hand blender, such as a bamix, blend all together until thick and smooth. Add your cream just before you are going to serve or else serve it on the side. If you do not own a hand blender, then a benchtop blender will do. Just make sure you allow soup to cool quite a bit more if you use a benchtop blender. Serve as your entree with some lovely crusty bread.