I don't like that (Week 10 - Costa Rica)

As I have said before, Cost Rican food was not a favourite of mine, but despite that I entered into this week with an open mind. The raisin cake was easy to make, and tasted lovely – really lovely warm and the boys enjoyed it in the packed lunch boxes the next couple of days. We found the Arroz Guacho with bean peppers quite interesting and none of us were really keen on the stuffed peppers on their own, yet when you ate it with the pork dish it worked. My son scored the peppers a 0, then bumped it up to a 3 as he liked the cheese on the top but he asked if he could give his daddy the other part of his and he disliked it so much. For a 7 year old, he is pretty good at trying all these different dishes and the simple rule is 'eat it, then tell me you don't like it; and you wont have it again'. However, he enjoyed the tortillas (chilaquiles), not realising that it had the refined bean mix in it. In Mexico they use cooked tortillas as the basis for this dish, but we loved the idea of stuffing the wraps (as we call them) and them cooking them and as we ate my husband and I were coming up with other ideas for fillings, such as chilli (meat or bean based). It is Mother’s Day this Sunday and my husband and son are cooking for me, and they are going to do a meal from the country we next pull out of the hat. Imagine the sigh of relief when Italy came out! Although, my son opted for one of our favourite Italian dishes and I am not sure my husband knows what he has committed himself too!

Cooked with score (out of 100):

Costa Rican Raisin Cake.……………………………………………………………76

Arroz Guacho - Sticky Rice…………………………………………………………60

Bean Stuffed Bell peppers…………………………………………………………37

(Arroz with bean stuffed peppers meal……………………………………..73)

Chilaquiles…………………………………………………………………………………83

 

Costa Rican Raisin Cake

Total Time: Prep Time: 15 min, Cook Time:40min

Source: www.food.com

To add to a cookbook, you must be signed in. Please sign in Ingredients: Servings: 9

1 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour)

1/2 cup freshly brewed coffee

3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 cup seedless raisin

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Mix cornstarch and coffee in saucepan until smooth.
2. Add 1/2 cup sugar and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
3. Add raisins and nuts and set aside while preparing batter.
4. Beat butter until soft and fluffy.
5. Add brown sugar and remaining white sugar and continue beating until thick and light in color.
6. Add cream of tartar and baking soda together and add alternately with milk.
7. Add vanilla and mix well.
8. Pour 1/2 the batter into a buttered 8-inch square pan.
9. Spread with raisin mixture and cover with remaining batter.
10. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
11. Cool and turn out of pan and cut into nine squares
      

Arroz Guacho - Sticky Rice

Ingredients

1 lb lean short pork ribs, cut into 1-inch cubes (I used pork off the bone)

1 lb uncooked long grain rice, rinsed and dried

3 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 roll cilantro (coriander), chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add pork ribs and stir for three minutes. Add water to cover two inches above pork ribs. Bring it to a boil until pork is tender.
2. Add cilantro, garlic, red bell pepper, onions, salt and pepper and stir. Add uncooked rice and more water so that there is one inch above pork level, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching until rice is cooked.
3. I served this with the Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers
    
   Source: costarica.com

Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers

NB: I did not use meat for these, and did not use the cream either, just put the cheese straight on top.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

6 large red bell peppers

1 clove garlic

5 oz minced pork

2 tablespoons oil

1 small onion

1 small tomato, chopped

1/4 teaspoons pepper

2 cups of ground beans (I used a tin of refined beans) 

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons cream

3 ½ oz grated cheese

Directions

1. Bake peppers in the oven for 30 minutes. You can cook the peppers in in the microwave for six minutes, inside a plastic bag with holes. Once they are roasted, peel and put away the seeds.
2. Fry the garlic and meat in the oil. Remove meat and in the same fat fry the onion and tomato.
3. Then add the ground beans, pepper and salt. Let boil until the consistency becomes dough-like. Chop meat and mix with dough.
4. With this dough, stuff the red peppers and put them in an oven-safe glass dish. Spoon cream over every pepper and sprinkle with grated cheese.
5. Place in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the peppers are golden.
    
   Source: costarica.com
    

Chilaquiles. (Chee-lah-KEE-less) Stuffed tortillas

(Wraps) (Mexicans use fried tortillas)

Use your imagination of this recipe, empty the fridge into the tortillas. Make it as spicy or as bland as you want. We stuffed ours with the left over pork and rice dish, but I also added some leeks and onions too. You could just use vegetables. We might use chilli next.

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Fill each tortilla with meat, fold in half.
3. Dip the folded tortilla in the beaten egg and fry on a skillet in oil until brown on both sides.
4. Arrange the tortillas in an oven proof dish. (you can prepare the dish up to this point and do the final steps just before serving) Cover the tortillas with the tomato sauce, (I made my tomatoes sauce from a tin of tomatoes, coriander, lime just and friend onions) garlic, jalapenos and cheese.
5. Season with salt & pepper.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until hot through.
    

The Country

Even though Costa Rica is a small country, it has great biological and habitat diversity due to the convergence of two hemispheres, two oceans, and its varying geography. There is a chain of mountains that forms a back- bone down the length of Costa Rica. The pacific coastline is almost 780 miles (1,254 km), yet the Caribbean is only 132 miles (212 km). Hilly peninsulas are settled in the Pacific coast. There are two large gulfs, and many small coves and bays. There's no spring or fall in Costa Rica, just summer and winter. This is one of the few countries in the world in which polar air gets this close to the equator. Costa Rica can boast that it is the country with the highest percentage (25%) of its territory designated as protected areas: Forest Reserves, Biological Reserves, Nature Shelters, and of course, National Parks. Costa Rica hosts more than 5% of the world’s biodiversity even though its landmass only takes up .03% of the planet's surface.

 

CUISINE

Most traditional dishes in Costa Rica consist of rice and beans with other ingredients like chicken or fish and different sorts of vegetables, which is why they are really cheap.

The most common dish for breakfast is Gallo Pinto which consists of rice mixed with black beans, served with natilla (sour cream), eggs (scrambled) and fried plantain. Costa Ricans usually drink a cup of coffee or fresh fruit juice with it. For lunch, Casados (beans, rice) are served with some sort of meat or fish and a salad, fried plantains, white cheese and corn tortilla. The difference between Gallo Pinto and Casado is that in Casados, rice and the bean are served side by side and not mixed. There is no typical meal for dinner, but another typical main dish in Costa Rica is arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) which can be served with different vegetables from the area like camote, chayote and yuca. Seafood is also common thanks to the country’s proximity to both the Pacific and Caribbean.

Small dishes before or in between meals are called Bocas, like black bean dip, chimichurri (tomatoes and onions in lime juice) served with tortilla chips or ceviche (fish/ shrimp with onion in lime juice). Tamale is a seasoned corn meal which is covered in plantains leaves. In the inside it has rice, beans, vegetables and meat.

There are also other traditional sweet corn dishes like pozol (corn soup) or chorreadas (corn pancakes). Typical soups in Costa Rica are also very popular, such as olla de carne which is a soup with beef, potatoes, carrots, chayote, plantains and yucca, and the sopa negra, black bean soup.  

There are a lot of traditional Costa Rican desserts like arroz con leche (rice with milk). The rice is cooked in milk with sugar, cinnamon and other ingredients.Ensalada de frutas (fruit salad) consists of different pieces of tropical fruits, like papaya, banana, maracuya and many more. One of the most common desserts is called Tres Leches, a cake bathed in evaporated, condensed and regular milk with a whipped cream top.

Source: www.costaricaguides.com

 

They look rude Mummy! (Week 9 - Netherlands)

My title refers to some sticky buns I made. You had to shape them like a snails shell, but mine unwrapped a little when baking - and I over cooked the first batch that prompted the comment from my 7 year old. My response - was typical of a mum having spent an age trying to create something that clearly looked different from what was intended - "Try before you decide!".


The second batch looked slightly better, and to his credit he did try and decided that they tasted much better than they looked. I enjoyed the Dutch food we had, I made 3 mains and the sticky buns and I scored the highest for each of them.. The Leek hodgepodge was my least favourite, although the other two loved it - I think the cheese made the difference, as it wasn't on mine as I don't eat the stuff. I would have been happy with more veg and no meat for a vegetarian option. (I gather that one of my readers is a vegetarian, so thought I would include something she could do). The chicken stew was delicious (and again, you needed have the meat in it and use Vegetable stock instead). The chunky bread was needed as it wasn't very think - my husband wanted a thicker stew for a higher score.


The clear favourite was what we took to calling ‘the finch dish’ Slavinken (Bacon-wrapped Hamburger Rolls). A bit of an explanation is needed. The name 'slavinken' (originally 'slagvinken') comes from the shape of the wrapped roll which makes them look like small birds, such as the 'vink' (finch). A 'slagvink' is a finch with a distinguished tone. A similar meat dish is the 'blindevink' or 'blind finch', the expression taken from the fact that finches in warbling contests seemed to perform better if they were hooded. A 'blindevink' is hamburger rolled in thin sliced of veal.


I pulled the next country out and got Costa Rica - confession time - I didn't want this country so I put it back in. Sent myself on a guilt trip, so searched through the box to find it. So, next week is Costa Rican food (not my favourite) but I have found a raisin cake which could make me change my mind....

Cooked with score (out of 100):

Oudejaarspot (New Years' Eve Chicken Stew)......................................80
Prei stamppot met rookworst (Leek hodgepodge with sausage).........76
Slavinken...............................................................................................90
Zeeuwse bolussen(Sticky buns Zeeland-style)……………………………………70                                  
 

Source for all recipes: godutch.com

 

Oudejaarspot (New Years' Eve Chicken Stew)

(Adapt quantities according to people)

One chicken, at least 1 kg [I used chicken thighs]

salt, pepper,

50 grams butter

1 small white or bok choy cabbage

2 large onions

2 large carrots

2 red bell peppers

500 grams potatoes

½ celery root

¼ litre chicken stock (I used chicken stock made from the carcass)

½ litre red wine

2 cloves garlic

piece of mace aril* [I used nutmeg instead]

2 baguettes or French breads

 

Method

1. Thoroughly clean the chicken inside and out, then pat dry and quarter it. Rub the pieces with salt and pepper, heat the butter and quickly brown the four pieces on all sides in a large skillet or pot.
2. Clean and dice the vegetables (discard the seeds of the peppers) and potatoes. Mince the garlic.
3. Add the stock, wine, vegetables, potatoes and garlic to the chicken, salt and pepper to taste and put in the piece of aril. Cover the pot or skillet, turn down the heat and cook the stew for 60-75 minutes on low heat.
4. Stir the stew once in a while. Serve with oven-warm, crisp bread and butter.
    
   * Mace Aril is a spice consisting of the dried aril, or lacy covering, from the nutmeg fruit of Myristica fragrans, a tropical evergreen tree. Mace has a slightly warm taste and a fragrance similar to that of nutmeg. It is used to flavour bakery, meat, and fish dishes; to flavour sauces and vegetables; and in preserving and pickling. In the processing of mace, the crimson-coloured aril is removed from the nutmeg that it envelops and is flattened out and dried for 10 to 14 days; its colour changes to pale yellow, orange, or tan. Whole dry mace consists of flat pieces—branched or segmented, smooth, horny, and brittle—about 40 mm (1.6 inches) long
    
    

Prei stamppot met rookworst (Leek hodgepodge with sausage)

Serves 4

1 kilo/2 lbs 2 oz. Potatoes
800 grams/ 1 lb. 13 oz. leeks
2 red peppers
4 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 - 1/½ cup milk
100 grams/4 oz. grated cheese
2 rookworst (or other sausage) total 500 grams/20 oz. (I cooked the ones that went in the mixture)
salt

 

Method

1. Peel the potatoes and boil them in bit of water for about 25 minutes. Halve the leeks lengthwise, spread the leaves and clean them thoroughly under the cold tap. Then cut the leeks in thick rings (1 cm or 1/3 inch).
2. Dice the peppers and take out the seeds. Heat half of the butter or oil in a pan. Put in the leek and pepper pieces and sauté them for about five minutes. Slice the sausage.
3. Drain the potatoes and mash them. Add the rest of the butter or oil and as much milk as to make a proper ‘mash’.
4. Mix in the leeks and peppers and half of the sliced sausage.
5. Grease an oven dish and put in the mix. Arrange the rest of the sausage on top, sprinkle cheese all around the sausage.
6. Put in a preheated oven - 200ºC/390ºF - for 20 minutes.
    

Slavinken (Bacon-wrapped Hamburger Rolls)

400 grams hamburger [I used mixed beef and pork mince]
8 slices of bacon or Italian pancetta
1 onion
3 tomatoes
2 'beschuiten' or breadcrumbs
1 egg yolk
salt, pepper, nutmeg
100 grams butter or margarine

 

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and sauté it some of the butter. Put the fried onions to the side.
2. Finely grate the breadcrumbs and mix it with the meat and egg yolk, and add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
3. Divide the mix into four parts, (thick) sausage-shaped. (I did 8 instead, as I had 8 bacon) Wrap each roll (or 'croquette') in two slices of bacon or pancetta, one counter wise to the other.
4. Quick fry the meat-bacon rolls in the remaining butter. Skin and divide the tomatoes into four, take out the seeds and add the sections to the pan.
5. Put the lid on and simmer rolls and tomatoes for 10 minutes.
    

(Zeeuwse bolussen) Sticky buns Zeeland-style

400 grams flour
one package of yeast
250 ml milk
1 tsp salt
50 grams butter
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp fine brown sugar




Method

1. Sift the flour and add the salt. Follow the instructions on the packaged yeast, prepare and add it. Melt the butter, let it cool a bit and add it with the milk, ½ tsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp sugar to the flour and yeast.
2. Knead into supple dough and let it rise for an hour covered with a damp tea towel.
3. On the countertop, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough into pieces of 16 inches (40cm) length.
4.  Roll these pieces through the sugar/cinnamon and form each roll into a snail’s shell or turban shape.
5. Put the buns on a buttered cookie sheet, pour over them the remaining sugar and cinnamon and bake them in a pre-heated oven at 225ºC/440ºF for about 45 minutes.
   The word ‘bolus’ originates in Greek where it means ‘lump of wet clay’, but also ‘huge piece’ or ‘mouthful’. As such the name for these and similar buns (sometimes filled with ginger or fruit) is obvious, in size, shape and colour. The other, more ‘domestic’ use of the word ‘bolus’ then becomes apparent “bulbous”
    

Also known as Holland, but strictly speaking that is the area around Amsterdam. Due to the maritime and economic power of these provinces in the 17th century, the Netherlands became known worldwide as Holland. To make matters even more confusing the inhabitants of the Netherlands are called Dutch. The Dutch have chosen Holland as brand name because Holland is internationally well-known, popular and an accessible name for our country and also because it sounds more hospitable than the rather official ‘The Netherlands’.

It is a very flat country, and much of it is below sea level. One-fifth of the Netherlands is made up of water and without protection two-thirds of the country would be regularly flooded. The lowest point in the Netherlands – at seven metres below sea level – is also Europe’s lowest point. Rotterdam is Europe’s biggest seaport, with over 30,000 ships using the port yearly. Amsterdam specialises in the diamond trade, and diamonds are brought here to be cut. Tulips are grown by the millions on its flat fertile land and a popular tourist sight is its fields of colour.

With 20 million bikes in the country the Netherlands has the highest level of bicycle usage in the world. Every year each Dutch person eats four kilos of Dutch liquorice or drop, which comes in a never-ending supply of sweet, salty and flavoured varieties. Often sold in pharmacies, it was once believed to have medicinal properties, and is as Dutch as tulips and clogs.

CUISINE

Holland produces an abundant of high quality, but inexpensive foods, such as dairy products, vegetables and meat.  Nutmeg is often used to flavour water steaming vegetables.

The Dutch don’t have a specific cuisine. You can find a regular meal of potatoes, vegetables and meat just as easily as a proper Indian, Chinese, Surinam, Turkish, Italian or Mediterranean meal. Breakfast and lunch are simple meals of bread, fruit and dairy products. Supper is usually a warm meal between 6 and 7 o’clock. Typical Dutch dishes include Snert, a pea soup with sausages; stamppot: another winter dish with vegetables, potatoes and meat mashed together in one stew with an indentation in the middle of the stew that is filled with gravy. Patat or friet, which are chips, but the Dutch prefer mayonnaise instead of ketchup and is a common standby on the fast food front. Herring is the most popular fish in Holland eaten on a bun with onions or pickles, or the Dutch way, fish by the tail, tip your head back and dangle it into your mouth! 

Dutch cakes and cookies are always good, and include: Amandelkoekjes Cakes with a crisp cookie outside and melt-in-the-mouth almond paste inside, Appelgebak, a chunky, apple-and-cinnamon pie, served hot in huge wedges, often with whipped cream (met slagroom). Mergpijpjes are soft cakes with a layer of almond on the outside and dipped in chocolate at both ends. Speculaas are crunchy cinnamon cookies with the texture of gingerbread as well as Poffertjes: a kind of mini pancakes, but thicker and sweeter.

Sharks in Speedos (Week 8 - Australia)

I was flying out to Australia to work, my first trip. The man next to talked about all the things that could bite and scare me; when he went to the loo his wife leaned across and simply said "Take notice, its only the sharks in speedos you need to watch out for." Good advice, but neither of them prepared me for the birds, all the times I was out there I got attacked by a bird - different ones, not the same one repeating his attack - on one accession the bird perched on my glasses and pecked my forehead, and no shark in speedos came to my rescue!

 

As for the food, I loved the date pudding - the best in the world and I am still trying to locate a dish like it; the Hairy Bikers Sticky Date cake is the closest I have come to food perfection. I tried the kangaroo and emu, but didn't fancy having them again (or inflicting them on the family) for this challenge. As it is February, it is too cold for a BBQ and the southern hemisphere are pretty good at these, so instead it had to be something else. I had tim-tams when I was working in Australia, and found them recently in my local supermarket, so I made my husband experience a tim-tam explosion. If you love dunking biscuits, this is a must. Bite (and eat) opposite corners off. Put the bitten off corner into the mug of tea and suck through the other cut off corner. As soon as the tea hits your lip put the whole tim-tam into your mouth and the whole thing will explode. I am not a dunker, but even I enjoyed this experience!

 

I discovered that my Mums old 'Women's Cook Book' dating from the 1960's has recipes from around the world and in there were lamingtons, which reminded me of little French fancies. They looked quite straightforward to make but I would not be awarded any prizes for presentation. I didn't use coconut as we don't really like it, instead I used chocolate vermicelli and whilst it was maybe a bit too much, it was very tasty. I did came across a recipe for date scones, although they were not a patch on our scones, we all found them a little dry. The family meat pie was a hit, although my husband was being picky with his score as he reckoned it needed more veg to accompany it (I just did carrots) little did he realise that it had tomatoes and leeks in the pie too. Nevertheless, it was a hit. The Anzac biscuits from my Mums cookbook were a nice find too, but yet again my husband felt that with raisins in they would score a 10 - however, I said the point of this was to replicate Australian food and Anzac biscuits do not have raisins in, plus they should be a littler harder than mine. But he would not have any of it. Secretly, I agree with him. I think I have discovered the perfect oat and raisin cookie recipe by undercooking Anzac biscuits! The inside out pie was different, we preferred the one with a pastry case on it though. Next week it is the Netherlands (Holland) where I think we may have finches.....

 

 

Cooked with score (out of 100):

Date Scones……………………………………………………………53
Meat Pie....................................................................83
Lamingtons................................................................66
Inside out Pie.............................................................63
Anzac Biscuits............................................................86

 

Wanted to cook:

Peach Caramel Crumble
Damper

 

Date scones recipe

 

These date scones are a classic recipe that you can whip up for afternoon tea and were created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot. They are perfect for those occasions when you have guests dropping by.

 

Prep Time: 7 mins. Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:
150ml milk
150ml cream
1 egg
3 cups self-raising flour
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 cup dried dates, chopped
1/4 cup milk (for glazing)
1 tsp sugar

 

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
2. Whisk the egg, milk and cream together until combined.
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and dates together.
4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to bring the dough together.
5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead until the dough just comes together. Pat into a 2cm thick round. Cut scones out and place on the tray.
6. Combine the 1/4 cup of milk with the teaspoon of sugar and brush over the tops of the scones. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

 

Family meat pie recipe

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

600g beef mince

2 tablespoons tomato paste

400g can diced tomatoes or ½ jar passata

1 tbsp cornflour

3/4 cup beef stock  

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp barbeque sauce

1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to season

frozen puff-pastry, thawed

Short crust pastry

1 egg

 

Method:

1.  Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the mince and cook for a further 5 minutes or until mince is browned.
2. Stir through the tomato paste, tomatoes or passata, mix the corn flour with a little cold water and add with the beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, barbeque sauce and thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes, most of the liquid should have evaporated

 

Decision time:

• You can either make individual pies, or a big pie. The recipe will make 1x24cm pie or 4x8cm pie dishes. 
• You can also make it a pie with a top and bottom (short-crust at the bottom, puff at the top or short-crust for both, which is what we do) , or just with a top (puff pastry)

 

1. Pour the meat mixture into the pie dish(es) and carefully cover with pastry sheet. Press down the pastry edges, trim excess, brush with egg and cut a slit in the centre of the pastry.
2. Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

 

• The meat sauce can be made the night before I want to serve the pie.
• Cool before serving, as the filling is very hot when they come out of the oven.
• You can add a few frozen vegetables to the filling mixture

Recipe created by combing Melissa Hughes and jennifer Cheung’s recipes.

 

 

 

 

 

Lamingtons

Ingredients

4oz butter

10oz Self Raising flour

6oz castor sugar

2 eggs

Vanilla essence

A little milk

Pinch of salt

Raspberry jam

 

For the coating:

7oz sifted icing sugar

1oz cocoa

4oz desiccated coconut

3 tbsp boiling water

 

 Method 

1. Cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla. Add the eggs gradually and beat well. Fold in the sifted flour and salt alternately with the milk to keep the mixture the correct consistency.
2. Spread it into a prepared 8in square or 6x8in oblong cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes in a moderately cool oven.
3. Next day, slit the cake through the centre and spread it with the raspberry jam. Place the two layers together again and cut into 2 inch squares.
4. Put the icing sugar in a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the cocoa. Pour the boiling water slowly o to the cocoa and at the same time stir with a wooden spoon, gradually working in the icing sugar. Add more water if necessary. Keep the icing thin by standing it over a bowl of hot water.
5. (Now the messy bit!) Put a square of cake on the prongs of a fork and dip it into the chocolate icing. Allow any excess to drip off, and then toss the cake into the coconut.
6. When quite set, store in an airtight tin.
    
    

 

Inside Out Pie

 

This is another recipe from my mum’s old cook book from the 1960’s; incidentally the book was the source of the Lamingtons too.

 

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

1lb mince beef

1 egg

1 tbsp chopped parsley

2oz soft white breadcrumbs

Tomato halves (optional)

Bacon (optional)

Salt and pepper

For the filling:

½ pint white sauce

4oz sweet corn kernals (I used a tin of sweet corn)

½ cup cooked peas

1 ½  cup cooked diced carrots

 

Method 

 

1. Mix the mince, crumbs, parsley, seasoning and egg together and press it evenly on to the bottom and sides of a deep 8inch diameter oven ware plate.
2. Combine the sauce and vegetables, season well and put into the uncooked meat case.
3. Cover with a piece of greased proof paper and bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes.
4. Garnish with grilled tomatoes and bacon
    
    

 

Anzac Biscuits

From Mums old cook book, makes 24

Ingredients

2oz butter

½ level tsp bicarb of soda

1 tsp golden syrup

4 oz caster sugar

1 tbsp boiling water (I put in 2 as it was very dry)

3 oz plain flour

4 oz rolled oats

(In future I will add some raisins) 

 

 Method:

1. Melt the butter and syrup in a pan. Dissolve the soda in the water and add to the butter and syrup.
2. Stir into the dry ingredients and mix well. Put on to a greased tray in small heaps, allowing room for the mixture to spread. Bake for 10 minutes in a cool oven.
3. Lift on a cooling tray before they became set.
   NB: I needed to add more melted butter and syrup to the dry ingredients; which makes them soft, (and very yummy) although they are meant to be crisp.
    

 

Peach Caramel Crumble

Again, this came from Mums old cook book.

Serves 8

1 lb can sliced peaches

 2 oz moist brown sugar

 ½ pint milk

 1 oz butter

 1 oz flour

 1 egg

  

For the crumble topping

2 oz self-raising flour

1 oz moist brown sugar

1 oz butter

Pinch of salt

2 oz cake crumbs (or use rolled oats)

1 oz coconut (optional)

 

Method 

1. Strain the liquid from the peaches and put the peaches into an oven-ware dish. Melt the butter in a pan, add the sugar and stir for 1 minute.
2. Stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute, then add the milk and cook over the flame until the mixture boils.
3. Allow to stand a little, then stir in the egg-yolk and cook, but do not boil. Beat the egg-white stiffly, and then fold it in, Pour the sauce over the peaches.
4. Sift the flour and salt, rub in the butter, mix in the remainder of the ingredients and sprinkle on top. Bake for 20 minutes in a moderate oven. If the peach juice is thickened it can be used as an accompanying sauce.
    

 

Damper

 

I have included two recipes, as one included sugar, plus I felt it seemed a little like a scone mix. Might try and cook it over a fire during the summer:

 

Source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/12308/damper

Ingredients

450g self raising flour

Pinch of salt

80g butter, chilled, cubed

185ml water

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200c. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Add the water to the flour mixture and use a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix the mixture just comes together, adding 1-2 tbsp extra water if the mixture is a little dry. Use your hands to bring the mixture together.
3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for 1-2 minutes or until smooth. Shape into an 18cm disc and place on a tray. Use a sharp knife that has been dipped in flour to mark 8 wedges on top. Dust the damper with a little extra flour and bake in the preheated oven for 30minutes or until the damper is cooked through and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack for 5 minutes to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

=

 

Source:  http://www.food.com/user/30716

Ingredients

2 ¹⁄₂ cups plain flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup milk, fresh,powdered (or you can just use water)

 

Method

 

1. The best way to make this is to mix together the dry ingredients then add the liquid and butter and mix well and then knead it for about 5 minutes. Then wrap it in a double layer of greased foil and place it in the coals of the campfire, poking it in and retrieving it a bit later hoping it's done.
2. To cook it in the oven preheat to 350 degrees F.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and mix well. Rub or cut in the butter. Stir in the milk to form a dough.
4. Shape into a flattened ball and place on a greased baking sheet or in a round cake tin and bake for about 30 minutes.
5. Eat it straight away while still hot in thick slices with butter, golden syrup, jam or vegemite.