Almond biscuits

Ingredients
3 egg whites
125g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
200-250g ground almonds (or almond flour for a finer texture)
1-2 drops almond essence, to taste (I use 1/2 tsp)
(Makes about 35)

Method
Preheat oven to 170-180C.
Whisk egg whites until soft peaks begin to form then beat in the sugar.
Fold in the ground almonds and essence.
Place spoonfuls, or pipe on to lined baking tray. Set aside for 30 mins.
Bake biscuits 15-20 mins until golden brown - I like them a bit gooey in the middle.
Cool on a rack then either serve or store in airtight container.

Chook's note: on my first attempt the oven was too hot so I have knocked it back a bit. Make sure your mixture is not to dry so don't add all the almond meal at once.
I decorated half with glace cherries and slivered almonds.  
 

Bara brith

Welsh 'speckled bread' enriched with fruit and spices

Ingredients
450g mixed dried fruit (if including dried figs cut them very small)
300ml tea
2 Tbsp marmalade
1 egg, beaten
6 Tbsp soft brown sugar
1 Tsp mixed spice
450g SR flour
Honey to glaze

Method
Soak fruit overnight in the tea – or if you don’t have time 1-2 hrs is fine. 
Preheat over 175-180C.
Mix in the marmalade, egg, sugar, spice and flour.
Spoon into a greased 900g loaf tin and bake 1 hr or until the centre is cooked through.
If the top is browning too much cover with a sheet of foil.
Once cooked leave the Bara Brith to stand for 5 mins before turning out onto a cooling tray. Then brush the top with honey.
Serve sliced with salted butter or add some tasty cheddar – it is also yummy toasted with butter and/or cheese. 

Chook’s note: The original recipe was made with yeast but it works perfectly well with SR flour. If using SR flour try adding ½ tsp of bicarb soda for extra umph! The top of the loaf will split when baking but don’t worry this allows the centre to cook more easily (the Irish used to cut a cross in the top of their soda bread to let the Devil out but in reality if helps with cooking the centre).  
You could throw in a few caraway seeds to the mix. Be creative. Maybe try making muffin-sized small ‘loaves’. It freezes very well. 

This is not unlike my date and walnut loaf (posted June 2017) and boiled fruit cake (Sept 2017) only a little denser.

Peak Hill Brandy Sauce

The last little slurp! looks like a trip to the 'bottlo'.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
2 eggs
2 Tbsp brandy

Method
Cream butter and stir in sugar and brandy slowly.
Add well beat egg yolks and cream.
Cook in double saucepan until thick stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add slightly beaten egg whites. It helps to use a whisk to blend them in, but only blend lightly.
(Makes 1 jar)

Chook's note: the name? it's a long story. If  the sauce is not thick enough you can add a little cornflour later. If the brandy separates out stir it back in. Add a touch more brandy before serving if you like. Add enough brandy and with the butter and sugar it is guaranteed to be delicious!

‘Twas the night before Christmas.....

'Twas the night before Christmas - almost! Eeek ... I don’t believe it. I’m sure you are all organised with pressies and the like, but if not DON’T PANIC there’s time to whip something up fairly quickly which will be loved by whoever receives it. Sorry I'm dragging the lead, the last couple of months I have been rather distracted, however here I am back.   Here are a few recipes/suggestions from my kitchen to yours either for the table, to use as gifts or both. And don't forget for something different to serve with the ham or turkey - Black Currant Gastrique (recipe posted December 2017).
Remember Christmas should be a time of joy and sharing. Feel blessed if you are so loved that you are crazy busy - the alternative is not a happy place to be.
Wrap up something useful or tasty – a small ham, smoked chicken, wine, spiced oil or even a nice copper pot or kitchen ‘torch’ (for crème brulee).
Make some tasty morsels, add crackling cellophane, a nice ribbon and voila!

• mini Christmas puds 
• dark and delicious panforte
• almond biscuits
• coffee meringue kisses 
• sesame peanut toffee
• candied grapefruit or orange peel (recipe to follow - )
• chutney or pickles – they don’t take as long to make as you think. With so much summer fruit in the shops try my peach and chili chutney or peach and plum BBQ sauce. Or some more exotic Indian pickles

[recipes below - use the search tool

Maybe next year make an early start (note to self!) and make your own gift boxes covered with stunning paper – if you’re like me you keep good boxes ‘in case’.  Make those pickles, chutneys and jams when there’s a glut of fruit.

Seasons greetings and bon appetite. And I wish you all joie de vivre and a tasty 2020!

Candied Ruby Grapefruit

Ingredients
1 large pink grapefruit
400g sugar or equivalent to weight of grapefruit

Method
Cut the grapefruit in half, cross wise, and remove juice.
Cut each half into 6 wedges - without cutting out any of the residual flesh. Place wedges into a heavy bottomed pot. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Remove from heat, drain and immediately and place wedges back in pan and cover again with cold water, then bring to the boil again. Remove from heat, then strain and weigh the fruit.
Place the fruit back into the same pot with the same weight of sugar as fruit but no added liquid. Using a simmer pad or very controlled low heat, stir until the sugar dissolves and allow to cook slowly for approximately an hour, stirring occasionally. Most of the dissolved sugar should have been incorporated into the grapefruit.
Remove from pan and place on a cake rack over a plate and allow to drain overnight or a few hours at the least.

Chooks note: Can be added to Christmas cake or as a topping. Dip some in dark chocolate ... Mmmmmmm. Substitute orange for grapefruit. I guarantee people will fight over it (thanks Kerry for the chocolate orange inspiration). If you decide on using orange peel, peel the orange avoiding any of the pith and then follow the above. 
If you can manage to spare any, wrap in cellophane or pop in a pretty jar as a gift. 

Peach & Plum BBQ sauce

There are so many varieties of BBQ sauce you can whip up, this is just one!  I’ll post other BBQ sauce recipes later. What you choose to make in the end really is a matter of what meat or vege you’re 'BBQ-ing' , personal taste and also what ingredients are available.  This one is perfect for this time of year with lots of stone fruit available - also try my Peach and Chili chutney (October 2017) it is yum. Incidentally a little trivia: did you know that the origin of the word ‘chutney’ is the Hindi word for 'licking' – chatna.  As in finger licking good perhaps! So ….

Ingredients
100g butter
2 lg brown onions, peeled and roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1kg yellow peaches, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
750g plums, peeled and seeded
500g tomatoes, peeled and seeded*
4 birds-eye chilies and seeds and stems removed
½ cup malt vinegar
½ cup white vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup dark rum (liking it already?)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
½ cup Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp salt.
Makes ~ 2L

Method
Heat the butter in a large saucepan and fry onions and garlic until soft (~5 mins). Add remaining ingredients and simmer, covered, for 30 mins until the fruit has softened.
Puree the sauce. Either bottle or if a thicker sauce is preferred return the puree to the saucepan and simmer for an additional 30 mins until desired thickness.
Pour into clean, sterilised jars or ^bottles, label and enjoy!

Chook’s note: *save the tomato seeds for casseroles and the like, the pulp freezes well.
Like all sauces, chutneys and jams, this would make a perfect gift - at any time of year.
^Some of my family save their flip-top ‘Grolsch style’ beer/cider bottles with ceramic stoppers for me – not a hint of course!! but the sauce looks good in these bottles. WARNING if you are using bottles don't make it too thick - sort of goes without saying but .....
If you are a little shy of chili cut the quantity right back, it won't spoil the taste.
I think fish sauce may be just a tiny bit like durian fruit for some people - the smell just about spoils it but the taste is exotic!

Coffee Meringue Kisses

This is an oldie but a delicious little treat )apologies for dodgy pic, it's a clone from my old recipe)

Ingredients
Meringues
¾ cup raw sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
2 Tbsp water
1 egg white
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp cornflour

Coffee Cream
60gm butter
2/3 cup icing sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp hot water
2 tsp coffee liqueur

Method
Combine sugar coffee and water in a saucepan and stir constantly over a low heat until sugar is dissolved (~5 mins). Then increase heat, when it boils remove from heat immediately.
Combine egg white, vinegar and cornflour and beat until foamy. Keeping beat going of medium and pour hot coffee syrup in a constant stream on to the egg white. Then beat 10 mins or until thick.
Lightly grease 2 oven trays and dust with cornflour (or use baking paper dusted with cornflour). Either pipe or dollop small amounts on to trays to form 2.5cm blobs, space about 2.5 cm apart. (This quantity makes about 90 or you could do half small and half larger for mini pavs to eat later!).
Bake meringues in very slow oven around 100-115 C (depends on your oven) for 30 mins (1 hour for lg ones). They should feel dry and crisp to touch when cooked. Allow to cool on trays.
To make Coffee Cream, beat butter until creamy, add icing sugar and beat until combined.
Dissolve coffee in the hot water, add coffee liqueur and then add to creamed mixed and beat until smooth.
Join meringues with coffee cream.Makes about 45 joined kisses.

Chook’s note: keep meringues in airtight container. I’d join them closer to when you are going to eat them rather than store with filling and risk them going a bit squishy.

Sesame peanut toffee

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 Tbsp water
½ cup *toasted sesame seeds
1.5 cups unsalted ^roasted peanuts (not redskins)

Method
Combine sugar, vinegar and water in saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, Bring to the boil, do not stir.
Boil mixture ~10 mins or until golden brown. To test, drop a little toffee into cold water. When it is ready it should form a hard ball when moulded in the water.
In the meantime, oil a 18x 28cm lamington tin. Sprinkle half the toasted sesame seeds and all the nut over the base of the tin. Then pour the hot toffee evenly over the top.
Smooth the top with an oiled spoon, Sprinkle over remaining sesame seeds. Cool slightly and cut into strips – before it is completely cold.

Chook’s note: *to toast sesame seeds either spread them on a shallow tray and bake in a moderate oven until golden ~5 mins or dry fry in a frying pan (my preferred method). Watch that they don’t over brown as they become bitter. Remove from pan as soon as they are done as they will continue to cook in the residual heat of the pan.
^If you can find roasted unsalted nuts buy raw ones and  dry-bake yourself.

Honeycomb

Remember those toffees we use to make as kids for the school fetes, etc? well this is super simple like those.

Ingredients
1.5 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbsp bicarb

Method
Put all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to 150 C. When the mixture forms lumps in cold water add the bicarb.
Pour into tray to set.
When set break into pieces - or you could score it before properly set for a less rustic look. Dip some in melted chocolate - yum!

Fruit Bread & Butter pudding with marmalade

This is a little bit of 'melt in your mouth' heaven - absolutely the most delicious comfort food.
Ingredients
100g butter, at room temperature
1 loaf sliced fruit bread
200g orange marmalade
3 Eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
zest of an orange
1/2 cup (110g) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flaked almonds

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 30cm x 20cm (3L) baking dish with butter.
Spread both sides of the bread with butter. Spread one side with the marmalade. Arrange the bread, marmalade-side up, in the baking dish.
Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, orange zest, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well combined. Strain the egg custard mixture into a jug. Pour over the bread. Press the bread down to submerge in the custard. Set aside for 20 mins to soak.
Top the pudding with the almonds. Bake in the oven for 45 mins or until the custard is just set and the top is golden. Serve with ice-cream or cream or custard.

Chook's note: use either panettone or a good dense fruit loaf.

Sweet Potato soup - Asian style

Totally simple soup and Lindsay's favourite!

Ingredients
1Kg sweet potatoes
2 tsp oil
2 Tbsp shredded ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 red chili, chopped
1 stalk lemon grass
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups coconut milk
½ Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp fish sauce
½-1 Tbsp lime juice

Method
Boil sweet potatoes until soft.
Heat oil in pan and gook ginger, cumin, chili and lemon grass for 3 mins
Combine sweet potato and spice mix and puree. Add stock and coconut milk to the mixture and heat until hot.
Stir through coriander and serve.

Dhal - Spiced Lentil soup

Thank you Simon Bryant this is delicious!

Ingredients
200g lentils or split peas (soak for a few hours)
2 garlic cloves
2.5cm piece ginger (sliced in chunks)
1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
a little red chili powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 Tbsp grated ginger, 1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 Tbsp ghee & 1 Tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
½ Tbsp Tamarind concentrate
3 Tbsp chopped coriander
2 tomatoes finely diced

Method
Boil the soaked lentils/dhal in a saucepan with cold water, whole garlic cloves and ginger chunks. Cook until soft. Drain, keep liquid but discard the ginger and garlic.
Heat a pan with ghee and oil. Add cumin and mustard seeds and gently heat till can smell the cumin. Fold in the onions, and fry until soft and lightly browned.
Add ginger and garlic paste and stir for 30 seconds.
Add the red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and then chopped tomato and salt. Cook until oil separates.
Add boiled lentils/dhal to the tomato mix, add more liquid to create the soup consistency you like, and allow it to simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.
Season to taste.
Add lemon juice, tamarind paste, diced tomato, chopped chilli (optional) and coriander and serve with chapattis.

Chook's note: if you want a quicker soup use red lentils they don't requite soaking. I make this in the van with tweaks here and there depending on what I have in the spice pantry and fridge - I try to always have grated ginger, lemon and lime juice in the freezer but travel with semi-dried ginger and chili and preserved lemon as well. Tinned tomatoes work OK but fresh are best if you can get there - on the Tanami Track? not likely. Just be creative and adjust till you achieve the right flavour for you,

Green bananas – sooo good for you!

I love bananas but they have to be just right – call me Goldilocks! But what do you do with green bananas which incidentally may be healthier than yellow/ripe ones – it’s all to do with the starches and conversion to sugars. Well, you can boil, fry or make them into smoothies. We had delicious fried bananas, banana omelette and other unusual things on Tanna Island, Vanuatu - think plantains but these were actually very starchy bananas.
Bake them in foil then toss in a little oil or butter and salt. Boil them in their skins and then mash them as a totally different side. Slice them into ‘chips’ as you would potatoes or sweet potatoes and fry.
https://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/

Today’s bit of trivia
'They' tell you to put unripe fruit in a paper bag for a day or two to speed up the ripening process. It is in fact the ethylene gas given off by the ripening fruit and trapped in the bag, that causes the fruit to ripen faster. Just one of those fascinating pieces of trivia!

Greek Lamb Stew with Green Beans

This delicious dish has some of the wonderful flavours of Greece – it’s a favourite in our house!

Ingredients
1.3Kg lamb boneless leg or shoulder, cut in serving-sized pieces – remove as much fat as possible
2 onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 ½  cups of water
2 tsp salt
3 medium-large tomatoes (pulped) or 1 can diced tomato
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1Kg of string beans (fresh or frozen, ends trimmed)
1Kg pounds of potatoes (peeled, cut into large chunks)
1 Tbsp fresh mint (chopped)
1 Tbsp dill (fresh chopped)
1 Tbsp parsley (fresh chopped)
½ to 1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
Serves 6

Method
In a casserole or stew pot, sauté the onion and meat in the oil over medium heat until well browned.
Add water, tomatoes, tomato sauce and 1 tsp salt.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, or until meat is tender.
Add beans, potatoes, mint, dill, parsley, fennel seeds and remaining salt.
Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Chook’s note: this could go into the oven for a slow cook once the meat is browned. Long slow cooking can only enhance the richness of the dish but make sure to check the liquid level from time to time and add more water if needed.
 

Peanut Brownies

This is an oldie but a goodie out of the recipe book my mum gave me when I got married – the PWMU Cookery book. The book is beautifully basic and is my go to for basic ingredient balances which is a good starting point - then you can go as crazy as you dare! It covers everything from stocks to soap making to home remedies!  I gave my kids one each when they left home.  Every home should have one - mine is well used so much so that it's held together with a rubber band! But to the Brownies ....

Ingredients
115 gm butter
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 ½ cups SR flour
2 Tbsp cocoa
50-60 gm salted peanuts
Salt and vanilla
Mix all together adding peanuts last. Put in pieces on a baking tray and back in moderate over 10 mins.

Chook’s note: in my oven I bake at 190 C ~15 mins – the longer you leave them the crisper they become. Cook to your preferred texture or cook half and half - chewy and crisp.  Take them to a friend - they are not so pretty but they disappear off the plate - yum!

.

Whole Chicken and vegetable soup

Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 brown onion, diced
2 leeks, halved and sliced into 1cm pieces
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup tomato passata
1 whole chicken, around 1.6kg
2 bay leaves
a small handful of parsley
2 tsp salt
1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
Serves 6

Method
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Fry the carrots, celery, brown onion and leeks for around five minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are fragrant. Add the flour and stir to combine.

Add tomato passata, stir then place the whole chicken with enough water to just cover the chicken. Tie the bay leaves and parsley together into a bouquet garni and add to the pot. Add the salt and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and continue to cook at a rolling boil (not a simmer) for 40 minutes.

Add the potato and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, adjust the seasoning and allow to stand 10 mins. Shred the chicken, remove the bones and return the meat to the soup.

Chooks note:  You can play around with the vegetable combo depends on what you have in the crisper or garden.  I save the chicken carcass and cook it for a further few hours, with half onion and whatever veggie ends I have in the freezer, with 1 L or more of water. Makes a fine chicken stock.  
Tomato passata – if you are making a tomato sauce and remove the seeds from the tomatoes, freeze them and this serves as well as a passata.

Chickpea crackers

Ingredients
1 cup chickpea flour
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
3-4 Tbsp water
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Additional options -1 tsp dried rosemary and/or  1 tsp caraway seeds - bruised

Top with 1 or more of the following:
dukkah, bruised cumin or caraway seeds, dash of turmeric, course salt, sesame seeds

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Place flour, salt, baking powder and the oil in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles wet sand or simply mix by hand.
Add the water 3 tbs at first and the 4th if necessary, and process until the mixture forms a ball.
Gently knead until smooth then roll or flatten to 5mm thick or less. Use a cookie 5cm cooky cutter to cut into shapes or hand cut to whatever shape you like.
Bake on lined baking tray. Sprinkle with whatever topping you prefer then gently press it into the surface of biscuits.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden around the edges.
Place on a cooling rack to cool completely before placing in an airtight container, if not serving immediately.

Chook's note: I prefer using dried rosemary as I find the oil from the fresh rosemary can be a little astringent. These have a texture akin to oat cakes and can also be a little mealy so if you like oat cakes you'll love these!
Great served with double brie, fig and preserved lemon or ........

Braised veal - slow-cooked

A delicious stew or casserole, or cassolette. By whatever name it’s worth. This is one of Neil Perry’s with some small variations – but of course! Thank you Neil.

Ingredients

800g veal shoulder, cut into 3cm cubes

2 Tbsp plain flour to dust meat

80ml extra virgin olive oil

30g butter

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or 2 tsp minced garlic

1 small leek, white part finely chopped

salt

250ml red or dry white wine

1L chicken stock

1 Tbsp tomato paste

400g can whole tomatoes, chopped

2 rosemary sprigs*

2 thyme sprigs*

1 fresh bay leaf (if you have it else use dried)

8 baby onions, peeled or equivalent larger onions (whatever you have)

8 baby carrots, peeled or use a couple of large carrots cut in chunks

freshly ground black pepper

For the gremolata

2 large handfuls flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

finely grated zest of 1/2 orange, 1 clove garlic, minced

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add a little olive oil or orange juice if it is too dry.

Method

Put the flour on a large plate and roll the veal shoulder cubes in it to coat – or put flour and meat in bag and shake to coat; this creates less mess!

Heat the oil and butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan and cook the veal in batches until browned all over. Remove the veal from the pan. Add the garlic, leek and salt and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Pour in the wine and simmer until reduced by half.

Add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes and herbs and stir well. Return the veal to the saucepan and simmer very gently for 1 hour with a lid on. Add the onions and carrots and cook for a further hour, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender.

Remove from the heat and discard the herbs. 

Serve sprinkled with gremolata or leave as a side.

Chook’s note: *what is a sprig? About 6-7 cm of the tender end of the stem.  Don’t go overboard! 1 sprig is roughly equivalent to 1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary; halve that for dried herbs. Thyme is about the same but err on the side of caution. 

If you can't get veal, blade or other steak works just as well.

After the first hour on the stove top, I transferred this to a moderate-slow oven for a further 1.5 to 2 hrs.

Gremolata is not to everyone’s taste. I love it but it can be a little overpowering. This dish is perfectly delicious without it. 

Gustatory impressions from an amazing journey to the Arctic and back!

This is a Caesar. A spicy version of the Bloody Mary invented in Vancouver. Vodka, 'clamato' juice (clam ‘nectar’ and tomato), squeeze of lime juice, Tabasco, Worchestershire sauce, celery salt. 

The Chook has been having a holiday from cooking, but I have been on the lookout for tasty morsels as we've traveled.  We tend to travel as economically as possible, ie., not going to fancy restaurants, in fact rarely going to restaurants at all, choosing instead to self-cater. Oh boy does that have limitations! But we did embark on some tasty walking tours. In Chicago, we took a fascinating architecture, history and food tour with Chicago Detours, a women-owned tour company for the curious - that's me!  We strolled for a delightful few hours. From Fanny May's handcrafted candies to the Intercontinental Hotel commissioned by the Shriners Organization in the 1920s to house the  exclusive Medinah Athletic Club and now among other things home to Michael Jordan's Steak House. From super glitz to the Billy Goat tavern, the hang out of Chicago’s newspaper men, and to 437 Rush, the first Black and Tan club, a favourite hang out of Al Capone during the prohibition era and where the word ‘jazz’ was first recorded. More architecture and food awaited us in New York where we wandered the Financial District tasting street food from a selection of New York’s street carts (with Turnstile Tours) as well as taking a whirl wind architecture, history and food tour of the Flatiron district taking in among other delicious stops, Eataly - a huge Italian food emporium, the 90 year old Eisenberg’s deli and Beecher’s handmade cheese factory right on Broadway (Like a Local tours).

This is a great greasy spoon in Chicago with lots of history and colour.

The seafood section in Eataly a vibrant Italian market place with just about everything you might want food wise - eating, buying and cooking classes 

We were fed well on the trains across USA and Canada, the latter being more interesting and varied each day. I indulged my taste buds with juicy veal in a black current-balsamic reduction (somewhat like my Christmas Gastrique - 14 December 2017), melt-in-your-mouth rack of lamb and seared cod - and a Bison burger! The French influence was very evident - except for the latter perhaps!  Meals on board the Polar Pioneer, our expedition ship, while not silver service, were imaginative and plentiful – fillet mignon, veal pillard, prime ribs, rack of lamb, salmon, red fish and cod. This menu with amuse you - it’s a traditional Aurora next to last night menu:

Roast Musk Ox served with sautéed Narhwal Muktuk (a traditional Inuit meal of whale skin and blubber) with a Barnacle Geese garnish. Finished off with Arctic Hare sorbet.  

We actually had a delicious BBQ out of the back deck that night served with mulled wine completely perfect with icebergs floating passed.

G and T with a small chunk of iceberg. 

But we did indeed try Musk Ox in Ittoqqortoormiit, a tiny Inuit village at the mouth of Scoresby Sound, East Greenland, population ~300. Quite delicious. Tasted like a cross between like veal and goat (makes sense it is a member of the goat family!)

This lovely little man was offering us morsels of cooked Musk Ox

In Iceland, we lunched at a world-class restaurant on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, the Sker, where we ate cod fresh out of the Greenland Sea with Hollandaise sauce and a delicious warm salad.

In Newfoundland, we just had to try a traditional meal - Fish and Brewis. This is made from salt cod and hardtack soaked overnight then boiled and served with scrunchions (salted pork fat which has been cut into small pieces and fried). Think of those arteries! And we tried another traditional Newfoundland dish in Port aux Basque – fried Cods’ Tongues (actually not a tongue but a small muscle extracted from the back of the fish's neck). Interesting and tasty.  Cod is an east Canada fish, that and Haddock, we ordered it wherever we saw them on the menu. Other local dishes we enjoyed were deep fried Brussel sprouts and crab cakes; we enjoyed both in Toronto. 

We’ve come home to a very depleted larder albeit with a few tubs of yummy soups in the freezer, so we lashed out and bought a whole Red Emperor fish at the markets. It was way too big for one meal so I sawed it in half and we enjoyed the tail end last night baked with lemon, pepper and oil; I used some fresh lemon but also some preserved lemon prepared by our son and daughter-in-law.  Delish and delicate!

Sprinkled with EVOO and Svaneti salt (brought back from Georgia in the Caucasus), and popped into the oven. Yum!

Yogurt cake with honey syrup 

I bake this quantity in smaller pans 

This is absolutely delicious, a family favourite. My recipe is on a scrap of paper daubed with ‘who knows what’ from repeated use. It’s a winner.
Ingredients
200g butter softener
220g caster sugar
1 lemon, rind finely grated
3 eggs
260g plain Greek-style yogurt
300g SR flour

Honey syrup
160ml water
75g  sugar
80ml honey
1 cinnamon stick
Rind of two lemons removed with peeler in strips

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 22cm springform pan.
Beat butter, sugar and lemon rind until pale and creamy.  Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition. Fold in the yogurt alternately with the flour in two batches until just combined.
Spoon mixture into pan and smooth with back of spoon. Bake for 50 mins or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Meanwhile to make the syrup, combine ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 10 mins.
Remove cake from oven, pour over hot syrup and arrange rind on top. Set aside for 10 mins.
Remove cake from pan and transfer to wire rack.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of thick cream or Greek-style yogurt on the side.

Chooks note: this can be made in small pans also and frozen along with serving size quantities of the syrup. Simply blitz in microwave when ready to serve.
I haven’t tried this but try substituting some of the flour with almond meal or spelt flour for a denser cake. 
Freeze the lemon juice for other dishes.

Beef bone broth

Apart from the obvious advantages of making your own stock, bone broth advocates say it can relieve joint pain and osteoarthritis, detoxify the liver, aid in wound healing, prevent aging skin, support digestive health, balance hormones, increase energy, strengthen bones, improve quality of sleep, alleviate symptoms from certain autoimmune conditions, and boost immune function.
You simply must make this!!

Ingredients
2 kg beef bones, preferably a mix of marrow bones and bones with a little meat on them, such as oxtail, ribs, or knuckle bones (cut in half by a butcher)
2 medium unpeeled carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium leek, end trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, quartered
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
2 celery stalks, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp black peppercorns
1 Tbsp cider vinegar

Method
Preheat oven to 235°C. Place beef bones, carrots, leek, onion, and garlic on a roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Toss the contents of the pan and continue to roast until deeply browned, about 20 minutes more.
Fill a large (at least 5-6 L) stockpot with 12 cups of water. Add celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and vinegar. Scrape the roasted bones and vegetables into the pot along with any juices. Add more water if necessary to cover bones and vegetables.
Cover the pot and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook with lid slightly ajar, skimming foam and excess fat occasionally, for at least 8 on the stovetop (the longer you simmer it, the better the broth will be). Add more water if necessary to ensure bones and vegetables are fully submerged.
Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly. Strain broth using a fine-mesh sieve and discard bones and vegetables. Continue to cool until barely warm, then refrigerate in smaller containers overnight. Remove solidified fat from the top of the chilled broth

Chook’s note: the broth can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer.
If you don’t have all those vegies, use whatever you have but root vegies such as carrot are good and especially the onion. I saved the meat and vegies, added some tomato puree and voila a delicious pasta sauce.

XO Mushroom sauce

XO Mushroom sauce

Got lots of mushrooms? Then turn them into mushroom XO sauce. Typical ingredients of Chinese XO sauce include dried scallop and shrimp with lots of chili but I found a recipe that uses mushrooms. I did use chili and some dried shrimp as well as star anise.
Ingredients
500 gm shiitake mushrooms (or used mixed, whatever you can get your hands on)
2-3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 tsp tamari
2 Tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed and mashed
4 tsp Sriracha (hot chili sauce)
2 tsp rice vinegar
Splash of Shaoxing wine
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp shredded ginger
1 Star anise crushed
Optional 1/2 cup dried shrimp

Method
Preheat the oven to 230° C and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
Soak dried shrimp in just enough hot water to cover; reserve the water to add later.
Chop mushroom stems and caps finely. Place in bowl and toss with the sesame oil. Spread the mushrooms out on the baking sheets and roast for 15-30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until dried and lightly browned. Cook it longer if necessary; they need to be dry.
Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and stir in all of the remaining ingredients.
Jar and seal straight away or let stand for 30 minutes if you are  serving immediately.

Chook’s note: I used both big dark field mushrooms and a few shiitake. If you don’t have fermented black beans simply use a couple of Tbsp of black bean sauce.  I like the depth that the shrimps impart. Add a little fresh chopped chili if you like it super hot but these are really a matter of personal taste. As an alternative and if you like your sauce hot, use a little crushed szechuan pepper in place of star anise .
It is simply delicious on triple cream brie, in toasted sangers, on vegetables.

Orange marmalade

I’ve made marmalade with grapefruits, cumquats and limes, but this is the first time with oranges – it is delicious! I used Seville oranges, but this recipe would work with Navel oranges also.
Ingredients
1.2 kg oranges, scrubbed, halved length ways, thinly sliced cross ways
8 cups water
8 cups white sugar, approximately

Method
Place orange and water in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to stand overnight.
Transfer to a large saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hr or until reduced by about one-third.
Cool slightly, then measure the mixture and add 1 cup of sugar per cup of fruit mixture. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Cook, skimming any dense froth from the surface with a large metal spoon, for 45 mins or until setting point is reached (see below).
Spoon into warm sterilised jars and seal and label.
Store jars in a cool, dark place for a month, then store unopened for up to 12 months. Once opened, store in fridge for up to 6 weeks – yeah right if it lasts that long!

Chook’s Note:  Before you start place a couple of saucers in the freezer. To test setting point, place a tsp of mixture on cold saucer, then return to freezer for 1-2 mins to cool. If it doesn't crinkle when pushed with your finger, cook for another 5 mins, then repeat. 

Zingy carrot soup

Photo: www.bbcgoodfood.com

Ingredients
2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch chili flakes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 leek or large onion, halved length ways, thinly sliced
A couple of rashers of streaky bacon, chopped
600 g carrots, peeled, chopped
4 cm piece ginger, peeled, grated
Zest from a small orange
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
Fresh dill or coriander, light sour cream or plain yogurt, to serve

Method
Dry-fry cumin seeds and chili flakes in a large saucepan for 1 min, or until they start to release their aromas. Reserve half cumin seeds and chili to serve.
Add oil to pan over medium heat then add bacon, leek/onion, carrots and ginger. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 5-8 mins, or until onion starts to soften.
Add stock and water, cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until carrots are very tender.
Remove from heat, cool slightly then blitz soup until smooth. Return to saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Season with salt and pepper.
Top with cumin seeds, yogurt or sour cream and dill or coriander leaves.
Chook’s note:  Carrot soup is quite versatile. Play around with the ingredients to suit your taste of the day; the above recipe is a blend of a number of recipes and includes what appealed to me from BBC Good Food and Taste.

Madras Fish Curry

We were plating up before I thought to take a photo! 

 We've been looking for a good fish curry for years. This one of  Rick Stein's and it is simply delicious. It's his favourite and now it's our favourite fish curry. Thanks Rick!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
30 fresh curry leaves (from ethnic shops)
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp turmeric
400 g fresh tomatoes (or 400g can chopped tomatoes)
100ml tamarind water
2 green chilies, each sliced lengthways into 6 pieces, with seeds
1 tsp salt
700g snapper fillets, or other white fish, cut into 5cm chunks
Serve 6

Method
Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and fry for 30 secs, then stir in the onion and garlic, and fry gently for about 10 mins until softened and lightly golden. Add the curry leaves, chili powder, coriander and turmeric, and fry for 2 mins, then stir in the tomatoes, tamarind water, green chilies and salt. Simmer for about 10 mins until rich and reduced. Add the fish, cook for a further 5 mins or until just cooked through, and serve with plain rice.

Chook’s note:
If making for 2 people, halve the fish quantity but make the full quantity of sauce and freeze half. Then simply thaw it and use with fresh fish or goat or chicken.
If you can’t get fresh curry leaves either leave out or put a tsp of good old Clive of Indian curry powder as a substitute. 
Kashmiri chili powder is very mild so if you don’t have any substitute with 3:1 sweet paprika to cayenne chili powder.  
Rather than bother with starting from scratch with tamarind, buy a small jar of tamarind paste and mix 50-50 with water. Tamarind adds the essential sourness to the dish. Lime or vinegar could be used instead  
The recipe calls for 2 green chilis but if f you don’t like too much heat reduce that amount. 
I have used flake instead of snapper and it worked very well. Just make sure it’s a firm white fish.

The most delicious sausage rolls

Not pretty but totally scrumptious

Ingredients
4 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
500g veal mince, or beef mince
500g sausages (or sausage mince)
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely grated
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
A little (or big!) squirt of hot chili sauce
1/4 cup (60ml) Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tsp salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp white pepper
½ cup breadcrumbs
Glaze
Whisk 1 egg and 1 Tbsp milk

Method
Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. Line large baking trays with baking paper. Thaw puff pastry.
Combine veal mince, sausage mince, onion, carrot, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs and sauces in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture into 8.
Lay a sheet of pastry on a flat surface. Cut sheet in half horizontally. Spoon 1/8 of the mince mixture down along the long side of one pastry half, shaping mince into a long sausage shape. Brush opposite long edge with a little egg mixture
Roll up pastry to enclose filling, finishing seam side down. Cut into 6-8 short pieces. Place pieces, seam side down on prepared tray, 2 cm apart. Repeat with remaining mince mixture and pastry.
Brush tops with egg wash.
Bake for 30-40 mins or until golden and cooked through.
Chook's note: try to buy meat low in fat as these produce a lot of fat - tasty but sooo bad for you!

Indian curried pumpkin soup

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp ginger, finely grated
1/4 cup (75g) korma curry paste
800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, coarsely chopped (or whatever you have)
1/2 cup (100g) red lentils
4 cups (1L) chicken stock or vegetable stock

To serve
1/2 cup (140g) Greek-style yoghurt
1/2 Lebanese cucumber, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 red onion, all finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted
Coriander leaves

Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook brown onion, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Add the ginger and curry paste. Cook, stirring, for 1 min or until fragrant.
Add pumpkin, carrot, apple, lentils and stock. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 mins or until the vegetables are tender.
Carefully use a stick blender to blend until smooth.

To serve. Top with yoghurt, cucumber, tomato, red onion, cumin seeds and coriander or simply serve with yogurt toasted cumin seeds

Chook's note: if you don't have the curry paste use whatever you have or simple use good old Clive of India curry powder it has lots of wonderful flavours.

Moorish chicken and lentil soup

Ingredients
½ tsp saffron threads in ¼ cup boiling water
6 chicken drumsticks
¼ cup olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 Tbsp grated ginger
800gm can chopped tomatoes
½ cup Puy or green lentils
4 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup long-grain rice
1 lemon juiced
salt and pepper
½ cup fresh coriander
Serves 6

Method
Combine saffron and boiling water and leave infuse for 5 minutes.
In a large saucepan, brown chicken drumsticks in a little oil for 1-2 minutes on each side. Add onion and garlic to the pan and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes.
Add ginger, dissolved saffron, tomatoes, lentils, browned chicken and stock.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.  Add rice and simmer for a further 15 minutes.
Stir in lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add fresh coriander just before serving.

Chook's note: 1/2 tsp saffron threads can be substituted with 1/4 tsp powdered saffron. I quite like adding a dollop of natural yogurt and a sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds when serving.
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Preserved lemons and limes 

Ingredients
1 kg lemons or limes – if using limes, you may need a few extra if they aren’t particularly juicy
100–150g salt, cooking salt is perfect
The following are optional, but add a little extra and look pretty

For each jar of lemons
1 bay leaf (or 1 cinnamon stick and 2 cloves)
1 allspice berry
5 black peppercorns

For each jar of limes
1 red chilli
1/2 tspcoriander seeds
5 black peppercorns

Method
1. First sterilise your jars, then leave to cool completely.
2. Cut the lemons or limes into quarters, or halves if very small. Place a tablespoon of salt into the bottom of each jar. Put a few layers of lemon or lime quarters into the jar, pressing down as you go to release the fruit’s juices.
3. Slide your chosen spices down the side of each jar. Sprinkle over another layer of salt, then add another layer of lemon or lime quarters and repeat these layers until the jar is full. Remember to keep pushing down as you go. The fruit needs to be completely covered in salty juice – if your fruit hasn’t released enough of its own juices, squeeze a few extra fruit and add to jars.
4. Leave 1 cm (1⁄2 in) of space between the top of the fruit and the lid of the jar – you don’t want the salty fruit touching the lid or it will corrode the metal or use plastic lids. Seal the jars and let them sit in a cool, dark place for 6 weeks.
5. You know your lemons or limes are preserved when the salt has completely dissolved into a gel-like liquid.  Rinse the salt off before use unless you want the extra salt in your dish.

Chook's note:
Normally I don’t use large quantities in my cooking so I preserve only a few fruit at a time (see pic above). I slice off what I need and return the rest to the jar. I always take a small jar of each when we go caravanning - great on the BBQ and elsewhere.
These will keep for years, but opened jars are best stored in the fridge. If the top layer of fruit looks discoloured, just discard it and the rest should be fine to use.
Makes a lovely gift. 
​

Pasta a la Chook

Sorry no pix of the pasta, the whole things was devoured before I got my act together

Sometimes you want something simple and quick. Try this! Pasta is always a favourite with me and I have been known to eat basins full. This is a good candidate for a big nosh up.

Ingredients
papadella - enough for two
1 Tbsp pesto
2 rashes of very thin bacon, chopped
4-6 small anchovy fillets, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 green onion, chopped
a little preserved lemon
small chili
drizzle of oil for frying

Method
Cook pasta according to directions.
In the meantime, fry the remaining ingredient until crisp and aromatic. The anchovies will simply melt into the other ingredients.
Drain pasta and return to pot with a little of the cooking liquid. Stir through pesto and spoon into plates. Sprinkle the crispy topping over the pasta ..... and voila! Serve with grated parmesan or simply a dash of EVO.

Chook's note: you could use many other ingredients as a variation on this recipe.
The pesto was last year made with walnuts and my home grown basil and then frozen in ice block trays (see recipe February 2018 or simply search for 'pesto' using the search tool).
I have posted a simple recipe for preserving lemons - see next post, it is easier than the one I posted  May 2017
Remember that pesto can be made with other herbs - parsley, spinach, kale, rocket. I use walnuts because I prefer their softer taste but other nuts work as well - the traditional pine nuts but also cashews and almonds.
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Autumn Harvest Festival time

Do you remember Harvest Festivals at Sunday School? As a food lover, it’s something that remains a delightful memory for me. We’re enjoying it right now on a small scale. Autumn is the most wonderful time of year for me.

Drying sage, thyme and basil out of my garden. The pumpkin was a gift but is now soup!

I remember autumn mornings after there had been some rain, all jumping in the car and going out to collect mushrooms. I didn’t like eating them, then - how things change!! but I loved collecting them.
Now is the time to collect, dry and preserve. Simple enough to buy produce when it's in a glut, but as I think I've said before, you don't have to have a huge garden to produce some goodies for your table. I live in a high-rise in the heart of the city and get great pleasure harvesting from my wee garden - 5 floors up. My mini potted orchard now boasts 2 varieties of plum as well as the fig, lemon and lime. Over time these little trees have produced enough fruit to eat, but also to make jam or marmalade or preserve in salt or brandy. We're really looking forward to the plums, hopefully next year!
Also in large pots I have a range of herbs - mint, basil, coriander, parsley, rosemary, marjoram, sage, thyme etc. All a muddled mixture and unbelievably fragrant.

It's easy enough to do. If I can do it, then anyone can. My garden is testament to Darwin's theory of 'survival of the fittest'. What works, works and what doesn't goes the way of all living things. I have added simple irrigation to the pots and that keeps them all happy and tumbling out of their pots.
So now it's time to collect and dry those herbs for winter dishes, time to dig out the soup recipes and get cooking. Take a trip to King Valley and the Milawa region and collect walnuts, honey and cheese. Hmm ... just writing about it is making me hungry. Walnuts and apples or pears or mandarins, ...... cheeses and and .... I’ll leave it to you to wallow in your own season’s favourites while I go make lunch - vegie and cheese muffins. Yum.
For some useful tips on what to do with leftover herbs etc go to my May 2017 posts. Bon appetite! 
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Gyudon

This is one of the easiest meals you can make.

Ingredients
1 large white onion cut in wedges
1 cup light chicken stock
3 Tbsp sugar
½ cup sake
½ cup mirin
½ cup soy sauce
3cm piece of ginger grated
500 gm fillet steak very thinly sliced – beef, lamb or pork

To serve
Steamed rice
Wilted spinach
Shredded spring onion and sliced chili

Method
Place the onions and stock in a pan. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 mins until onions are slightly softened.
Stir in the sugar, sake, mirin, soy and ginger and simmer for 3 mins. Drop in the sliced meat and simmer for 1 min until just cooked. Set aside for 1 min.
Place rice into 4 serving bowls. Top with wilted spinach and some of the beef and onions. Then ladle over some of the hot broth. Scatter with spring onions and chili. Top with other ingredients such as tofu, egg, mushroom.
Serves 4

Chook's note: You need to slice the meat very finely. If you have an Asian supermarket nearby, you’re bound to find thin sliced beef, pork or lamb pre-packed.  
I find this can be very sweet so suggest cutting way back on the sugar.  You might also want to dilute the stock a little to taste so try easing off on the sake, mirin, and soy sauce or add more water.
You can incorporate lots of additional ingredients like mushrooms, poached egg, tofu, but it is quite delish as is.