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.