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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CHICKEN SOUP
Although I have said that I love soup I noticed that, at this stage, there are only two soup recipes in this blog. The reason is that I don’t use recipes for my soups, they have in them what every good soup should have – whatever is in the house and whatever is in season. […]
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BANANA AND DATE BREAD
This is again something that I have cooked from time to time over the years. The urge to bake banana bread is usually brought on by having over-ripe bananas in the house. This time the cause of the over-ripe bananas was my gardening hat which I had put on the fruit basket for want of […]
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EASTER MUFFINS
I began making these a couple of years ago when I couldn’t get tasty hot cross buns at a reasonable price. Seemed like the choices were cheap and nasty mass-produced soggy lumps from the supermarket or expensive, and still not so nice, too-large buns from the specialty bakeries. I even tried making my own buns […]
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GARLIC, CHILLI, PRAWNS ON PASTA
This is another really easy emergency prawn dish that can be made upmarket with fresh green prawns that you have shelled and deveined or can be simply made from half a bag of defrosted prawn meat. As with most of the prawn dishes this is very easy to make using the actifry, and almost impossible to over […]
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ONION SOUP
This recipe has been in my handwritten recipe book for a couple of decades. It comes out when onions are cheap or when I feel like a savoury, light meal. The ingredients are usually available in the kitchen so a fairly classy meal can be made in an emergency. Yesterday I bought a 10kg bag […]
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BEETROOT AND CREAM CHEESE
Corned silverside is a favourite meal in our house, it was cooked by my mother and her mother before her. My take on it has a lot of spices in the boiling water, is cooked in a pressure cooker, and left to depressurise naturally. An essential part of the meal is the sweet white sauce […]
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MUFFINS
This recipe was written on my fridge whiteboard for at least 12 months. It was great whenever I felt like something a bit different for breakfast. At some stage I copied it onto a piece of paper. This morning I spent ages looking for the piece of paper so it has now made it to the […]
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GARLIC PRAWNS IN TOMATO – a la Claire
One of Claire’s signature dishes – can be served with bread, cous cous or rice, always good, quick to prepare and very versatile. This can be made with fresh or frozen ingredients. A few tins of tomatoes and some frozen prawns makes an almost instant dinner. Ingredients: 1 bulb of garlic – minced or finely […]
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CURRIED FISH
This is a mildly curried fish dish flavoured with chilli, kaffir lime leaves and coconut milk. It is quick to prepare and easy to serve. Ingredients 1 kg of fish pieces1 star anise 1 cup cauliflower broken into small florets 1 large leek finely sliced 5 kaffir lime leaves – finely sliced 2 tsp cummin […]
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POACHED COD
Another easy fall back meal, I always have a kilogram of smoked cod in the freezer. Ingredients, Method and Serving: Cook the fish 1 kg of smoked cod, poached in milk at a slow simmer, with a bay leaf, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes, until tender and fish just flakes apart. Remove from […]
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PAELLA
Fourth time for Paella – first time in a normal pan, second time I bought a paella pan and followed the recipe that came with the pan, it was okay but only just okay. Fourth time – it worked, I used the wood fired pizza oven. It provides even heat to the entire base. As […]
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CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
Really easy recipe – the only problem is that your hands get very chocolatey. I think that the longer you can leave the mixture in the fridge the less messy your hands should get. These need to be quite small, otherwise they are quite a commitment to eat. You want to feel as if you […]
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The Onion Family
Garlic 2010 – My first attempt at garlic was a total disaster. I scavenged through Woolworths for sprouting garlic bulbs, and planted a whole bed. They just sat and looked miserable for months and then got attacked by a plague of aphids or thrips (not sure which because it happened while we were on holidays […]
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Growing Radish
This was something that all the gardening programs showed being planted. They were praised for their quick turn around time but no-one mentioned what to do with them once grown. I had space between the rows in the garlic and onion bed and some radish seeds so decided to give it a go. When it […]
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BEARNAISE SAUCE
Bearnaise Sauce (in a microwave) Maybe not so conventional but pretty easy and pretty foolproof, goes really well with steak or poached eggs. Follow the instructions in the method – pretty easy but the method needs to be followed. Ingredients 2 tbs white wine vinegar 2 tbs white wine 5 peppercorns – from freshly ground pepper […]
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NEIMAN MARCUS DIP
Found this dip on the internet when I was looking for something about marinating feta – it was just an “you may also like . . . ” on the side of the page I was looking at. I was intrigued, firstly by the limited number of ingredients, the simplicity of flavours and lastly by […]
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RADISH RAITA
So we grew radishes – all types – fantstic because they grew so fast but the problem was what to do with them. This is so fast and is a great sauce to have with steak. Itis strong and bites a bit like horse radish sauce. (enough for a side dish for 6) Ingredients 3 […]
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BEEF LASAGNE
This is a good recipe for meat lasagne. Just don’t make the meat and cheese layers very thick. It is much healthier than the version with white sauce and doesn’t go soggy and collapse, a problem that my lasagnes have, probably because I make the layers too thick. Best Beef Lasagne Recipe –Serves 12 people– […]
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