CASHEW PESTO
This tastes better the second day, it tastes a bit “green” when freshly made. It depends on the strength of the spinach, young spinach is better. Ingredients 1/2 cup cashews for pesto 1/2 cup cashews chopped to remain chunky 250 g spinach – or combination of leaves – include basil, parsley, oregano 1 chilli – […]
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SLUSHY PUNCH
This is a really interesting punch – made with quite weak jelly, fruit juices and water, frozen overnight and then slightly defrosted and munched up and added to a sparkling drink such as ginger beer, ginger ale or lemon squash or for a more adult version it goes really well in sparkling wines (champagne). You […]
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DEFROST PRAWNS
For Christmas I bought “frozen at sea” Gulf prawns. Prawns frozen on the trawlers in ship’s blast freezers are far fresher than anything that’s been farmed and shipped fresh. So I had 3 kg of jumbo prawns needing to be defrosted on Christmas eve. This is a combination of the method I found on the […]
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PUMPKIN SALAD
This is a really easy, healthy salad that can be made in advance and assembled just before serving. If desired the roasted pumpkin can be reheated in the microwave but it tasted just fine cold and just as good the next day. Ingredients Pumpkin – sliced about 1 cm thick with enough pieces for each […]
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FETA
You can make the feta dip following the recipe below or simply use some of the marinated feta, its own oil and some extra yoghurt and ricotta. Feta Dip Ingredients 250 g feta – Danish 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1/4 cup yoghurt 1/4 cup cream cheese or low fat ricotta 2 tbs lemon juice 1/4 […]
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CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
This one I am making for Christmas to serve with desert because all deserts should be chocolate and this year my layered ice cream fruit cake concoction has only a small amount of chocolate – admittedly both white and dark, but it can’t be classed as a chocoholic desert. Enter the fudge – this has […]
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LOLLY CAKE CONES
This was designed as desert for the kids at Christmas – mainly because of the alcohol and the nuts in the adult ice cream desert. For kids it not only has to taste good but look amazing, and if you have the adults wanting to try the kids desert then you have achieved something. Ingredients […]
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CHOCOLATE BARK
What is there to say? No real reason to write out this recipe. Always a hit at Christmas and so easy. Melt some food quality chocolate, spread on silicone paper, sprinkle on crushed up candy canes for Christmas colours and peppermint flavour. Alternately use sprinkles or coconut, or whatever fits the theme of the day. […]
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CHEESE AND WALNUT SHORTBREADS
I have had mixed reactions to these biscuits. The first taste, in isolation, is a bit of a surprise, and to some, not so pleasant. The taste needs to be savoured, to allow the flavours to be released. Once you’ve had one, they become addictive, making a great accompaniment to a nice, cold white wine. […]
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CHICKEN AND BASIL CURRY
This is quite easy to make and has a fresh flavour. Modify the heat level by adjusting the number of chillis and the amount of cayenne pepper. Make well ahead to allow the flavours to infuse through the chicken. I made a very large batch for a family get together and it came out well. […]
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MINTED PEA SALAD
This is a minty refreshing salad, a good way to get greens without the traditional lettuce. Ingredients 200g snow peas, topped and tailed and sliced in half length wise 4 anchovy fillets and some oil 1 red onion sliced finely 1 small bag frozen peas 1 zucchini or seeded cucumber, finely sliced diagonally with a […]
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MUSHROOM SALAD
This marinated mushroom salad needs to be made and stirred regularly for a few hours before it is needed so the lovely mushrooms can absorb the flavour of the marinade. Marinated Mushroom Salad Ingredients 500g mushrooms, wiped over and cut into 1/8’s White part of 1 leek, sliced finely and fried in butter until just […]
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POTATO SALAD
Every potato salad I make is different, however I made this one today so I am recording it. The actual ingredients include what is in the fridge. The potato is the only essential ingredient but it is best not to include cucumber as it is too moist. Peas, hard-boiled eggs, semi-dried tomatoes, onions and leek […]
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MERINGUE
This recipe is here for my brother-in-law who turned up to Christmas last year with lemon meringue pies that had a thin layer of white sticky stuff on the top that was supposed to be meringue. They tasted great but really not like lemon meringue tarts because there was no meringue. This week I decided […]
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QUESADILLAS
This is an ideal Friday night relaxed dinner. It actually is reasonably healthy if eaten with the two salsas in the recipe. Some times I cook these individually in the sandwich maker, otherwise they can go onto trays in a hot pre-heated oven. They are served cut into quarters, with the yoghurt /mayonaisse white sauce […]
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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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