Mango Chutney – my husbands recipe

4-6 ripe Mangoes – peeled and chopped

1 cup Cider vinegar

1 cup Raw sugar

2 tablespoons garlic

2 inch fresh piece of Ginger – peeled and finely chopped ( 5cm piece in metric )

1 Tablespoon Cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a pot, bring to the boil on medium heat, reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes

Stirring constantly remove from the heat and cool.

Serve or bottle for next time.

We served our mango chutney with Garlic/ Chilli Prawns cooked near the sea.

Enjoy

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

2 medium Sweet Potato, Large dice ( with the skin on )
1 individual Chilli, Green or Red, finely slice
1 large finger of  Root Ginger, finely chopped
2 clove(s) Garlic, finely chop
1 tablespoons Coriander, fresh, finely chop stalks keep the leaves for serving

1 can of Chick Peas, cooked, do not drain, add all
1/2 pkt Feta Cheese, crumble before serving
1/2 a Lemon of Juice, Fresh
4 tablespoons 0% fat natural Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon  Fresh Curry Leaves
1 Heaped tablespoon of Curry Paste Korma Paste

Instead of rice try Cauliflower Rice

One large cauliflower – cut into pieces for Rice-  Cauliflower rice – blitz in food processor and microwave for on full for 7 min  or steam for the same time.

Method for  Curry
• Brown sweet potato in oil until browned add curry leaves, garlic, chilli, ginger, onion, coriander stalks and korma paste – cook for 5 mins. Add tin chick peas and juice, 600ml water and cook for 30 mins smash down some of the large pieces to thicken sauce, transfer to a serving dish squeeze lemon juice and sprinkle feta , blob spoons of yogurt and a scatter of almonds sprinkle coriander leaves – .Serve

Enjoy !

Chicken Dim Sum Buns

Ingredients

1 fresh chilli – red or green

4 spring onions ( finely chopped )

1/2 bunch of fresh coriander – ( chopped )

300g  of Roasted chicken ( shredded )

4 tablespoons Oyster sauce

2 teaspoons hot chilli sauce

500 grams Self Raising flour

400ml of skimmed milk or lactose free

2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Soy sauce to serve or Hoi sin ( check MSG )

Method

Deseed chilli and finely chop place in a large stainless steel bowl add spring onions, coriander, chicken, oyster sauce, chilli sauce.  Stir and keep to one side

In a mixer or food processor place the flour and pinch of salt add milk and mix to a nice soft dough.

Knead lightly and roll to a thick sausage  cut into 16 even pieces.

Roll each to a ball flatten the ball with your thumb and add a heaped tablespoon of chicken mixture fold the dough into the middle until sealed.

Place each bun upside down into a patty case and place in a steamer or over a wok with steamer baskets.

Cook all 16 Buns at the same time layering the baskets,or large steamer – steam for 12 to 14 minutes.

The buns will be light and puffy and risen in size.

When cooked sprinkle lightly roasted sesame seeds on top.

Serve with Soy sauce or Hoi sin sauce.

Enjoy !!

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Dinner 2014 – Part one

Festive Roast Turkey with Apricots and Cranberries

Wheel & Barrow recipe

For the Turkey

• 1 large turkey breast
• 1 litre water
• 1¼ cups dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 20g salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• ¼ tsp black peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 4 all spice
• 100ml maple syrup.

For the Stuffing

• 300g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
• 100g blanched whole almonds
• 100g dried cranberries
• 150g butter
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Apricots

• 250g dried apricots soaked in enough water to cover, for several hours until swollen
• 150-200g frozen cranberries
• 100ml maple syrup
• 20ml orange blossom water

Method:

For the Turkey

Bring all ingredients (except the turkey) to the boil, remove from the heat & allow to cool. Add the turkey & brine for at least 1 hour or overnight in the fridge. Drain & pat dry. Open the turkey out and stuff with stuffing and roll. Truss with string to form a neat log. Sprinkle with pepper. Heat a pan with a small amount of oil and gently sear the turkey until golden on all sides. Place in the oven at 150°C for about 1 hour until cooked, allow to rest before serving.

For the Stuffing

Melt butter in a pan & then over low heat cook the onions until soft, add the remaining ingredients & season to taste. Set aside to cool.

For the Apricots

Strain the apricots, reserving the liquid and add the liquid and maple syrup to a pan & cook until it starts to become a little syrupy. Add the orange blossom water, apricots, cranberries & any juices from the resting turkey. Cook until glazed. Serve the turkey on a platter, serve with roasted baby carrots & scatter over the apricot mix & a few roasted pistachios.

Bourbon- Glazed Ham with Warm Potato and Celery Salad

7 Kg Cooked Leg of ham

whole cloves , to decorate

2 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup of Bourbon

2 cups of water

Preheat the oven 180 degrees

Cut through the rind of ham 10cbm from the shank end of the leg. To remove rind, run thumb around edge of ring just under skin.

Start pulling rind from widest edge of ham, continue to pull rind carefully away from the fat up to the shank end. Remove rind completely. Score

across the fat at about 4 cm intervals, cutting lightly through the surface of the fat( not the meat ) in a diamond pattern. Decorate with cloves.

Combine sugar and bourbon in a small bowl. Pour the water into large baking dish, place ham on oiled wire rack in dish. Brush ham all over with one-third of the bourbon glaze.

Roast, uncovered 1 1/4 hour or until browned, brushing often with remaining glaze. Cover ham loosely with foil stand 15 mins before slicing. I wrapped the ham in a cloth and chilled the ham before serving the next day.

 

Warm Potato and Celery Salad – Women’s Weekly recipe

1 kg Kipfler potatoes peeled ( fingerlings )

1 Tablespoon of mustard

2 Tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup  extra virgin olive oil

3 stalks celery, trimmed , sliced thinly

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup seeded kalamata olives, drained.

Boiled peeled potatoes until tender. Meanwhile whisk mustard ad vinegar in a small bowl, season, whisk in oil.

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice thickly.

Combine Potato in serving bowl with half the dressing add celery,

red onion, parsley, olives and remaining dressing, toss gently to combine. Sprinkle with some celery leaves, if you like.

Beetroot Salad – Jamie Oliver recipe  

4 good-sized beetroots, different colours if possible, scrubbed, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
1 lemon oil dressing recipe
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
200 g feta cheese
1 small bunch fresh mint, smallest leaves picked
1 large handful sunflower seeds, optional
Method
When most people think about beetroot in salads, they think of big vinegary crinkle-cut chunks from a jar and immediately say no! But remember, beetroots are only vinegary when they’re pickled. When simply boiled or roasted they are juicy and sweet as you like. Raw beetroot is amazing in salads, giving you a deep, earthy, minerally flavour, lots of crunch and, of course, incredible colours! Did you know you can get golden and stripy beetroot as well as purple? Have a look next time you’re at a farmers’ market or buy some seeds and grow a few yourself.Remember to wear an apron when chopping beetroot, and wash your board and hands afterwards or you’ll get red fingerprints everywhere. If your knife skills aren’t up to speed yet, buy one of those matchstick peelers or matchstick mandolins in good cook shops. Then you’ll be really quick at it.

Dress the beetroot and pear matchsticks in a little of the lemon oil dressing and season with some salt and pepper. Taste to check that the flavours are balanced and lovely, and add a little more lemon juice to check the sweetness of the pears and beetroots if you need to.

Dress on white Platter  – Serve

New Years Sticky Date Pudding Meringue Cake

Sticky Date Base
Cook until the skewer is clean when testing.

Beat Meringue for 30 seconds between adding batches of 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

Bake the Meringue at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly golden and firm to touch.

Cool on the bench for 15 minutes before refrigerating for 2 hours, dust with icing sugar before serving.

Base Cake

1 cup of Pitted fresh dates , roughly chopped.

1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda

2/3 cup of boiling water

100g Unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1 cup Brown sugar

2 Tablespoons orange rind – finely grated

4 Eggs

11/3 Cups Self raising flour (sifted )

1/2 cup Raisins

3 Tablespoons Golden syrup

1/2 cup  Currants

Preheat Oven to 160 degrees. Butter and line with baking paper 30.5 cm round cake pan.

Place the dates bicarbonate of soda and water in a bowl and set aside for

10-15 minutes to soak. Using a hand-held stick blender, process until smooth and set aside.

Place the butter, vanilla, sugar and orange rind in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 10-12 minutes

or until pale and creamy. Scrape down the side of the bowl, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour, date mixture , raisins , currants , golden syrup and beat until well combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Set aside to cool.

Increase the Oven temp to 180 degrees while preparing the topping Meringue

Topping

300 ml Eggwhites ( approx. 8 eggs )

2 cups Caster sugar

2 teaspoons Cider vinegar

2 Tablespoon Cornflour

icing sugar, for dusting

Place the eggwhites in the clean bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on high until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar one 1 Tablespoon at a time, whisk for 30 seconds between batches. Once all the sugar has been added, whisk for a further 6 minutes or until stiff and glossy. Scrape down the side of the bowl, add the vinegar and cornflour and whisk for a further 2 minutes or until glossy and combined.

Spread the meringue evenly over the top of the cake and return to the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until the meringue is just golden and dry to the touch. Allow the cake to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. Dust with the icing sugar to serve. Serves 16 to 20.

Based on the recipe from Donna Hay Dec / Jan 2015  with some changes to ingredients and quantities.