ROASTED PUMKIN SOUP

Winter is nearly here on top of us again....Soups are incredibly good for you,  especially if you have not been well and in the chilly cold weather.

This is a recipe that I was given by my friend Kathy Barbour from Mt George, we shared this soup on route to a public meeting about the Coal Seam Gas Mining in Gloucester NSW.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did and as I have many times since.  Thank you Kath.

ROAST PUMPKIN SOUP
Step One: Pre Heat Oven to 200 degrees Celsius
 
Ingredients:
Pumpkin chopped up
Capsicum pieces
Oil sprayed or drizzled
Sprinkle of salt
A large Onion
Garlic
Celery
Cumin
Paprika
White Pepper

PLACE IN OVEN TO BAKE
PUMPKIN and CAPSICUM for 45 minutes to an hour depending
Until pumpkin is soft and cooked and starting to brown nicely

A whole and halved red bell pepper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a fairly large pot on the stove
Place  chopped Onion,  Chopped Celery in oil and cook till clear
Add 2 teaspoons of Paprika
2 teaspoons of Cumen
1 teaspoon of salt flakes
1 teaspoon of white pepper
and cook till fragrant
Add 5 cups of Chicken stock and sit to wait for pumpkin
When the PUMPKIN  and CAPSICUM are cooked add to the stock mixture

Let this simmer for a short while while all the flavors combine
Let cool and start blending
Serve with Cream and chives and hot crusty breads

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS / FAST ED ROAST PUMKIN SOUP

ORANGE BUTTER

Orange Butter - Julie Goodwin recipe

Makes 2 cups

Prep and Cook time: 30 minutes

This is really great as a filling in sponge cakes or little sweet tarts.

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
125g butter
½ cup orange juice (2-3 oranges)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 lemon)

Method

Place eggs  and sugar in a bowl over a barely simmering pot of water.  Whisk until the sugar dissolves.

Add orange and lemon juice and butter and whisk constantly for around 20 minutes or until it thickens.  Do not allow it to get too hot or to boil. 

Pour warm mixture into sterilized jars.

For more recipes from Julie Goodwin follow link at the top.

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THE KING OF PUDDINGS

This is a Jamie Oliver .recipe so its simple and so yummy. I had everything in the cupboard to make it so why not.  Usually there is one thing missing, not this time. 
Very simple and very easy to follow.

Beaten egg whites (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The King of Puddings Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 4 free-range eggs
• 565 ml milk
• 115 g fine breadcrumbs
• 225 g sugar, preferably vanilla sugar
• 4 level tablespoons jam , raspberry / black current what ever you have.

Method

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF.
Separate 3 of the eggs.
Put the yolks into a bowl with the remaining whole egg and beat together.
Add the milk, breadcrumbs and 85g of the sugar.
Put the jam on the bottom of a pie dish and spread it evenly.
Pour the custard egg and milk mixture over the jam.
Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hour or until set.

Whisk the remaining 3 egg whites until stiff, then slowly add the remaining sugar until it is all mixed in. Pile it on top of the custard, then bake in the oven for a further 15–20 minutes until the meringue is set and lightly browned.

NO FUSS HANDY HINTS

Rain days (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

 Home Gardens produce a lot, don't forget to blanche and freeze excess vegetables.

For an inexpensive romantic outing – Early mornings are the best time of day so pack a backpack full of fruit, yoghurt and a Thermos flask full of freshly brewed coffee, a large towel, and head to the beach to watch the sun rise with your hunny to make a romantic start to the day.

HOMEMADE FABRIC STIFFENER
Container
Add White Glue
warm Water
to the consistency of milk and dip article to be stiffened!

IMG 5861 (Photo credit: Images @ Melonpopzdropz)

Catch a bucket of pure rain water when it rains and save to use as a final rinse for your hair when you wash it. The softness will be decidedly noticeable.

Clean the outside of the kettle and the kitchen sink with Bi-Carbonate of Soda making a paste and wiping on and polishing off. Good for cleaning the oven as well.

Using soap in the bathroom is the number one reason why the bathroom gets mold, eliminate soap, eliminate mold - opt for a body wash instead.

Buy in bulk when prices are cheap and freeze or repackage for use.

Store Flour's and pasta and all nuts and cooking ingredients (ie) cocoa and coconut in the refrigerator to eliminate weevils ever being an issue saving you money.

COMPRESSED PURE BI-CARBONATE OF SODA (Photo credit: Leo Reynolds)

Use white vinegar to clean the inside of the kettle of the calcium and lime build up inside that comes from high calcium in the water

Empty ashtrays into a separate tin and not into your regular rubbish eliminating odors and reducing the mess.

Invest in re-chargeable batteries or a wind up version for a torch. Always have a torch.

Apply Honey to burns and cover. Effective and miraculous!

Clean your rings cheaply with toothpaste and a toothbrush, brush on gently and rinse off and then towel for a sparkling finish.

Balsamic vinegar, red and white wine vinegar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Taking a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar with 2 tablespoons of water in the morning first thing is good for all round health.

The juice of a Lemon squeezed and drunk in the morning with a little water is also beneficial depending on your tastes.

To clean a rusty wok, slice a potato in half and some detergent and wipe all over the wok.

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DATE SCONES

At Richoux, in London. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients

Serves: 8

• 2 cups (250g) self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup (70g) chopped dates
• 1 small egg, beaten
• 150ml milk

method

Prep: 10 minutes | Cook: 10 minutes

1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

2.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a large bowl.

3.  Rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

4.  Stir in the chopped dates.

5.  Combine the egg and milk in a jug. Stir into the flour mixture to make a soft sticky dough.

6.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 30 seconds or until just smooth.

7.  Cut the dough into about 8 squares or rounds, brush tops with a little milk and place on a tray.

8.  Bake about 10-15 minutes or until golden.

You can replace dates with sultanas or other dried fruit  you have on hand.  Add a little bit of museli for some interest as well.  Makes a nice change see!

#3 Flour & friends (Photo credit: mrlins)

MAKING CHICKEN SEASONING FOR BAKED CHICKEN

Images @ Melonpopzdropz Flickr

Making your own seasoning is much nicer and it is a way to use your crusts if no one wants these. That way this is not wasted. 

Wasting food is a sign of the loss of connection to the universe and to nature. One should try to use or give away food and never to waste it.  Storage and thought will overcome wastage.

Grab 2 pieces of bread and tear into tiny pieces in a bowl
Chop 1 onion finely
Place with Bread in bowl
Add herbs, Parsley Thyme, chives, Salt and Pepper and chicken seasoning in a jar stuff
Beat an Egg and put that in also
A dash of cayenne pepper for a little bit more flavor

Mix all of this well with your hands and take small handful's and shove this up the chook's bum
after you have rinsed it with clean water.  Keep putting handfuls in until the entire cavity is full of this mixture.  Then take a big needle and ordinary cotton is fine and a couple of big stitches to keep all this nice and closed so it doesn't come out during the cooking.

There you go, that is how simple it is.  You can vary this recipe to your own tastes but basically its the bread and egg to hold it together and your imagination.

MAKING CUSTARD (Custard Powder)

Lets make some yummy custard,  and let's just suppose you have a microwave oven.  If you do then this will be very very simple and fool proof.  This never fails.  If there is some left over it is fine the next day also even if the custard has solidified a little more.

 

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of Custard Powder
1 large tablespoon of white sugar
2 tablespoons of milk for mixing
500 mls of milk

Method:

Mix together the custard powder and sugar with a little milk to make a nice consistency to pour into the rest of the milk which is in a microwave proof jug and mix this in thoroughly.

Place in the microwave for 3 minutes .. take out stir well and replace in the mic again for a further 3 minutes.  As the custard cools it will become thicker. 
If you want thicker custard for cooking purposes or for making trifle, simply increase the amount of custard powder used.

The traditional way of making custard with egg yolks is fun, however with rising prices and the lack of available funds and chook's in the backyard being a thing of the past; I decided to tell you about this simple custard and the ease at which you may satisfy a sweet tooth at a late ungodly hour!

Image by Smithy No 7 Flickr

GANACHE

amy sedaris vanilla cupcakes with whipped chocolate ganache frosting & yellow sprinkles for jonatan's 22nd birthday(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chocolate ganache is the perfect topping to moist sponge cakes and delicate cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 250g dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 cup cream

Method

1. Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Remove bowl from heat.
2. Set aside at room temperature to cool, stirring occasionally, until ganache is thick and spreadable.

LEMON CONDENSED MILK SLICE (no cooking)

No COOK SLICE with LEMONS

This image shows a whole and a cut lemon. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 INGREDIENTS

1 pkt Marie Biscuits
1/2  can Condensed Milk
125 grams melted butter
3/4 cup Coconut
1 Lemon
Icing
2 Cups Icing Sugar
1 - 1 and a 1/2 tablespoons butter
Lemon Juice

 METHOD

1. Crush biscuits and mix in coconut
2. Add finely grated lemon rind and mix
3. Combine melted butter and Condensed Milk and stir in well
4. Press into a lined Slice tin and refrigerate to set.
5. Icing: Mix all icing ingredients and ice when cool

Lemon (Photo credit: vzaliva)

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RASPBERRY COCONUT SLICE

When I was a child this recipe was converted to Blackberry Coconut Slice.  Blackberries grew everywhere when I was little and we would go out to the bush and collect them in buckets.  I'd get scratched to pieces doing this and get red stain on me because I ate more than I collected. 

But it was fun.  These days the blackberry briar's in the wild are poisoned by councils so its not a great idea to try to consume them any more.  Raspberry Jam is still one of the cheapest to purchase and it doesn't have to be the top label jam when using it in combination like in the recipe below.

Ingredients:

BASE
1 Cup Self Raising Flour
1/3 Cup Castor Sugar
1/4 Cup Coconut
125 grams butter (melted)

TOPPING
1 Cup of Coconut
1/4 Cup Castor Sugar
1 Tablespoon Corn Flour
1 Egg lightly beaten
1/4  Cup of Raspberry Jam

Method:

 MAKING THE BASE

1.  Sift Flour into a bowl
2.  Add Sugar and coconut
3. Mix in butter
4.  Press into a tin and bake in a moderate oven for 15 minutes

5.  Cool and spread Raspberry Jam all over

MAKING THE TOPPING

1.  In a bowl mix together Coconut Sugar and Cornflour
2.  Beat and Egg and mix into this mixture

3   Spread on top of  jam covered base

4.  Bake in a moderate oven for  20 minutes

5.  When slightly cool cut into slices

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•  

Coconut Water (Photo credit: TaranRampersad)

HOMEMADE BAILEYS IRISH CREAM

 

There is no reason to pay high prices for Baileys and if you have a blender its even easier.  Halve the ingredients though and blend two smaller batches and bottle.

  Ingredients:

2 (400grm.) cans evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
50mls. whiskey
3 tbsp.  Ganache is chocolate syrup before it hardens / Hershey's chocolate syrup

Method:
Combine all ingredients in large pitcher or jar with tight fitting lid (2 quart container). Shake before using; refrigerate. Use by itself with ice or in coffee. Enjoy!

I like the mixture of using Bailey's and Butterscotch Shnapps in the little shot glasses with the dividers.  And Down the hatch.
They are affectionately called "Cowboys".

 

Chocolate Sauce: 12 ounces (340 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream 1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar 1/3 cup (80 ml) light corn syrup 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon strong liquor, such as rum, or liqueurs such as Grand Marnier or brandy (optional) Chocolate Sauce: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl and set aside. Combine the cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan and place over low heat. Bring to a boil, stirring often.  Remove from heat and pour immediately over the chocolate.  Let stand until the chocolate has melted, then stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract and alcohol, if using. Store the sauce in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container for up to two weeks. Reheat over simmering water before serving. Makes about 2 cups. Preparation time 15 minutes

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateSauce.html#ixzz26F0MKflb

MAKING A SIMPLE APRON

Image via Wikipedia

An apron can be made for many reasons, for yourself or for a gift or to make several little ones for a childs party details of this clever idea are in a tutorial on this page link below.

 http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2007/02/valentine_tree__1.html

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COCONUT ICE

Ingredients:

      1 kg of Sifted Icing Sugar
500 grams desiccated coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 x 400 gram tin of condensed milk
2 x egg whites
60 grams Copha shortening
cochineal pink colouring

Method:

1.   Combine Icing Sugar and coconut in a bowl.
2.    Melt copha.... and line a lamington tin with aluminium foil
3.   Add Vanilla, condensed milk, egg whites and melted copha.
4.   Combine this mixture well and separate into two separate lots.
5.   In one lot, add a few drops of cochineal and colour pink.
6.   Press Pink lot into the bottom of a foil lined  18 x 28 cm Lamington Tin.
7.   Place in the fridge for a few minutes to start the chill process.
8.   Take out and press on top the white section and return to the refrigerator to set harder.
9.  When sufficiently set turn out and cut into convenient squares for consumption.

YUMMY!  plus.. I made this when I was very young.

                                                        

Image via Wikipedia

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ANZAC BISCUITS

This is a massive old favourite this one and so healthy!

Anzac's

Pre- Heat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade of 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Ingredients:
1 Cup Rolled Oats
3/4 Cup coconut < ------ the dry ingredients
1 Cup Plain Flour
1 Cup Sugar

125 grms Butter
1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup

1 and a 1/2 teaspoons Bi- Carbonate of Soda
2 Tablespoons Boiling water


Method:

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Melt Butter and Golden Syrup in a saucepan
3. Mix Soda with Boiling water and add to syrup mixture
4. Mixture froths up to the top and as it is almost to the top take off the heat.
5. Pour this syrup mixture into the the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix well
6 . Form small well formed balls and cook on a greased or papered biscuit slide
7. Bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes

This recipe makes approximately 36 biscuits.
Image via Wikipedia


I have regularly made a double batch of these over the years when the kids were growing up as they are a hearty nutricious yummy sweet biscuit.

If you attempt a double batch be aware of the frothing of twice as much butter / syrup mix and choose a bigger saucepan for the job.

AMY JOHNSON CAKE

The famous Amy Johnson Cake.  found in the CWA cookbook 1957
History of Amy Johnson the person.  http://youtu.be/QZRg6bPJ8jE

Amy Johnson was born July 1, 1903, in Hull Yorkshire and lived there until she went to Sheffield University in 1923 to read for a BA. After graduating, she moved on to work as a secretary to a London solicitor where she also became interested in flying. Amy began to learn to fly at the London Aeroplane Club in the winter of 1928-29 and her hobby soon became an all-consuming determination, not simply to make a career in aviation, but to succeed in some project which would demonstrate to the world that women could be as competent as men in a hitherto male dominated field.
It was on one of the routine flights on January 5, 1941, that Amy crashed into the Thames estuary and was drowned, a tragic and early end to the life of Britain's most famous woman pilot.
Jason was the name she called her first plane which was a Gypsy Moth aircraft.

Preheat the oven to a180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees
Ingredients:  for Base

2 ozs Butter
I cup SR Flour
Pinch of salt and a little milk Raspberry jam 
Currents
Method
Rub 2ozs butter into 1 large cup S.R flour, sifted with a pinch of salt, mix to firm dough with a little milk. Roll
 out 1/4" thick and line a greased cake tin.  Spread with raspberry jam and sprinkle with 1/2 cup currents. 

Ingredients:  for the sponge mixture
2 Eggs
3/4  cup of Sugar
1 cup sifted Flour
2 tablespoons Melted Butter
3 tablespoons Milk
Method:
Then make a sponge mixture: beat 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.  Fold in 1 cup sifted S.R flour and finally 2 tablespoons butter melted in 3 tablespoons of milk.  Pour on top of pastry.  Bake about 40 minutes in moderate oven. 

When cold, ice with thin lemon icing and sprinkle with coconut.

Image via Wikipedia

 Lemon Icing

Ingredients:

100g butter

1 tsp grated lemon rind

2 cups icing sugar, sifted

1 - 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Cream together the butter until it turns light and fluffy
2. Add the lemon Rind and mix through
3. Beat in the icing sugar gradually,  keep beating until the resulting mixture goes smooth.
4. Add the lemon juice. Add only in small increments until the icing becomes of a spreadable consistency. It is always better to a little than too much! 

On Sunday I went to visit my dear friend Iris Goldstein.  We rented a house from Mark and Iris for some ten years and Iris is a cook of legendary status.  I tasted this cake and I had to come home and make it and blog it for my children.  There is a lot of history in this cake given it is named after the famous female aviation legend.  Iris does not fly planes but she knows how to fly around her kitchen.  She has a new kitchen now.