LOLLY CAKE – AUSTRALIAN
This is another recipe that has been hanging around waiting to be tried for quite a while. It has been untried, mainly because of its non-Australian ingredients. The promise of having a bunch of kids around on the weekend was enough to get me problem solving. I wanted to get the ingredients as simple as […]
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BLACK BEAN & CORN SALSA
Black Bean and Corn Salsa This is very tasty and keeps for a couple of days. Ingredients 1/2 cup dried black beans (soaked overnight, washed several times and cooked until tender) 2 corn cobs, cooked in their husks on a BBQ or grill plate for about 20 minutes until browned and tender 1 red onion finely […]
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PICKLED DAIKON
This is very easy and is just another pickle. I made it because the daikon radish were so cheap that I had to find something to do with them. Ingredients 2 large daikon, peeled 4 tbs salt 2 tbs tumeric 1 dried chilli 1 clove garlic, peeled and cut into slivers 1 thumb-sized piece of […]
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VANILLA EXTRACT
So easy, so cheap, why not make your own vanilla extract Ingredients 4 to 6 Vanilla beans, sliced open leaving the top and bottom joined together brandy or brandy and vodka mix empty clean bottle or jar (the Grolsch beer bottles with swing tops are great) Method Put the beans into the clean bottle, cover […]
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CHRISTMAS ICE CREAM FRUIT CAKE
This has come from my imagination – how to create a dessert for Christmas that combines traditional Christmas flavours with ice cream. For our Australian Christmas we need something cold and refreshing – I remember as a child forcing myself to eat hot Christmas puddings just so I could get the sixpences that were embedded […]
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SPICED AND SWEET NUTS – TWO WAYS
Two versions of spiced nuts here, the first is a great use for those left over egg whites from making lemon butter or ice cream. You get crispy coated nuts and seeds to use in ice cream. The second is also really simple and tastes amazing. It would be my choice if I wasn’t trying […]
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CHIPS
Having been on a diet for 3 months I couldn’t resist making chips using our freshly dug potatoes. These are worth the effort giving wonderful crisp chips. CRISP POTATO CHIPS Preparation and Ingredients Saucepan and steamer basket that fits over it Potatoes – peel and cut into chips Deep fryer Method Place chipped potatoes in […]
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SORBET
Lemon, Lime, Tangelo or any combination of citrus Sorbet Sorbets are so nice. I love lemons, limes, tangelos and mandarines, but they need to be home grown. Store bought fruit just doesn’t have the bite, you don’t get that tangy citrus taste that really gives you a hit and this fills the bill as a […]
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ALL PURPOSE CLEANER
Cleaner for Shower Scum and everything else This cleaner – or a version of it made with Blue Dawn dish washing detergent – has been getting a lot of coverage on P’interest and various web sites. It has been made out to be brilliant at cleaning almost everything so I decided to try to make […]
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DRYING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
I have had a dehydrator for years, using it mainly for my very special semi dried tomatoes. This time I decided to give it a good go. We are about to travel through outback Queensland, across the Gulf and up to the Cape. We have had quite a few Outback trips but this time is […]
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SAMBAL OELEK
I once again am searching for ways to preserve the chilli crop. My Bangalore Bullet is 1.5 metres tall and covered with red chillis, and to add to that problem there are just as many green chillis that will soon be red. This morning I am up making another batch of Chilli Jam. I thought […]
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HOW TO TAKE UP JEANS
I came across this idea a while ago and it has been stored away for the time when I was going to need it. Having family members with short legs the time would definitely come when I would be presented with at least 2 pairs of jeans to take up. I have the privilege of […]
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SMOKED COD AND PRAWN PIE
This is a surprisingly tasty and healthy dish. It is more like a lasagne than a pie as it is in layers, each prepared and then assembled at the end. It all started with, as usual, what I had in the freezer and fridge. This time I was more limited in my choice of […]
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LIMONCELLO
It would be such a shame for any of the produce from our wonderful lemon trees go to waste so I had to make the ultimate sacrifice and come up with something else to do with my crop – something very alcoholic and very yummy – Limoncello! I was first introduced to limoncello […]
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CAULIFLOWER RICE
We’ve been on a fairly strict diet lately, trying to get healthy and lose weight. We have made up a set of rules that we need to adhere to just to meet my aims – low GI, low carbs, liver detox, anti-inflammatory, lots of fresh vegetables, the list goes on. I have had to rethink […]
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NO COOK CELEBRATION CAKE
We came up with this great idea for a celebration cake – a birthday cake that looks great, isn’t too rich and actually gets eaten, and the leftovers can be frozen. We bought two pre-made Sara Lee Chocolate Bavarians, one cookies and cream and the other a chocolate and cream. Next time I would consider cheese […]
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PICKLED GREEN CHILLIES
My chilli plant is still producing massive quantities of chillis, even though it is almost mid-winter. I love the plant so much that I have even saved seeds in case it ever dies. I’m going to cover the whole bed with vege netting to try to keep it growing through the rest of Winter. Today […]
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LEMON CHICKEN WITH CAPERS
This is a one pan meal that is so easy that it needs to be in the repertoire easy dishes, and would be quite good for a crowd if the cooking was transferred to an oven safe dish that it could be served directly from. Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs with skin removed (allowing one […]
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SALT AND PEPPER PRAWNS
We have been eating Salt and Pepper prawns at The Blue Dragon at Northmead since 1988. Even though we moved from the area in 2000 we still make a point of doing lunch there whenever we are in the area. Bill once told me exactly how they were cooked and I remember thinking how simple […]
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LEMONS – DRIED, SALTED, SUGARED
June 2013 – We have loads of lemons. Each year at lemon time we always have lots of lemons but this year the trees are so loaded that the branches are reaching down to the ground. I have had to pick a fair few of them just to stop the branches from breaking. Now I […]
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CURRIED LENTILS AND VEGETABLES
My daughter-in-law, who spent a lot of her youth in India introduced us to lentils, but until this recipe I have never cooked them. I have never been terribly excited by the prospect of “lentil something” for dinner but under my new healthy body regime I had to face them. I am now limiting red […]
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SWEET CHILLI SAUCE
This is an absolutely fabulous sauce come jam that can be added to anything, from a dipping sauce with thickened yoghurt served with potato wedges, ham sandwiches, bacon and egg rolls or on cracker biscuits with a layer of cream cheese. It is totally addictive. I have come to dislike the standard sweet chilli sauce that comes […]
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RHUBARB JAM & CORDIAL
This recipe is a winner for my taste buds, not too sweet, and is also very easy, making it a necessity to be a regular. Firstly it is made from rhubarb, and that is so easy to grow and there are no pests or diseases, or at least none that I have yet discovered! It […]
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MARSHMALLOW POPCORN
Today has been the culmination of several days of total frustration, firstly getting a new notebook computer that came with Windows 8. I could have ignored all the Metro stuff and installed a Start Button but, being a purist, and needing more development in my neural pathways I persisted with learning to take advantage of […]
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