RECIPE - Mushroom & Red Wine Soup

Here it is by special request of RayRay. Enjoy!

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP ( with liquor yeah!)
45g butter
700g field mushrooms chopped
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove crushed
2T flour (rice flour is great)
100ml red wine or sherry
700ml chicken or vege stock
175ml of cream (or milk if too rich)
salt n pepper
chopped flat parsley to garnish

Melt butter on LOW heat, then turn up to a MED heat & add onion, garlic, mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat & stir in flour for 1 min. Return to heat & add wine/sherry. Gradually add stock continuing to stir. Season & bring to boil. Simmer for 20 mins.
Puree the soup in a blender. Cool it off a bit. I have tried doing this while hot and the top blows off the blender and you end up with 3rd degree burns!. Return to pan and heat, add all cream/milk except for 4T. Serve in 4 big bowls garnish with dollop of remaining cream and sprinkle with parsley.

RECIPE - Raspberry & Orange Upside Down Cake

After being sick with a nasty nasty stomach bug for what seems like half a lifetime, my appetite is back AND with cravings for bad sweet naughty food. And cake. Lots of cake please.

But the bug has left me with even worse food intolerances. So no wheat & no lactose whatsoever for Aunty. Not even lick the spoon after scooping an icecream for Oscar. And I really love doing that. So here is a delish sweet but berry tarty cake I made recently. I don't go in for the pretty looking iced cakes as I don't have the patience or skill. So this upside down cake is just perfect.


In the recipe photo it looked a perfect raspberry red & orange combo but mines more of a muddy purple! But its a super delish muddy purple cake.

RASPBERRY & ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE
Serves 8 (or 3 in my house over a wet weekend)

1 1/2 cup Gluten free flour or plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g almond meal
3 large free range eggs
3/4cup caster sugar (1/2 cup of you like a tarty cake)
175g butter cubed & at room temp
2T grated orange rind
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
300g froz raspberries
3 tsp demerara (raw) sugar

Preheat oven to 170C (no fan). Spray a fluted non stick ring pan with oil. Line the base with good baking paper. Beat butter, sugar & orange rind together until light & creamy. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Fold in combined flour & almond meal & juice.
Arrange half the raspberries at the bottom of the tin (which will be the cake top). Top with half the cake mix. Tap on the benchtop to settle. Repeat with remaining raspberries & cake mix. Tap tin on bench & smooth with a spatula.
Bake for 50-60 mins or until a skewer comes out of the centre clean. Set aside for 10 mins to cool. Take a clean flat knife and run carefully around inside of pan. Turn the cake onto a platter & sprinkle with demerara sugar. Serve with cream or ice cream or in my case eat half the cake neat over the course of 3 days. oops!

RECIPE - Tomatillo Salsa Verde

I have just discovered the BEST SALSA ever and is really easy and highly addictive. I could sit down with a bowl of this green tomato salsa and polish off a 500g bag of corn chips grinning like a big fat spider. This is made with a Mexican tomato variety called Tomatillos (pronounced "to-mah-tee-oh") which are in season at the moment (and available at the Taranaki Farmers Market in abundance!). they look just like a green cherry tomato but have a "husk" on them which needs to be peeled off.

Here is a quick & easy recipe or you. If you can't get Tomatillos then use green or cherry tomatoes.

TOMATILLO SALSA VERDE
Makes 3 cups
1/2 kg tomatillos
1 small red onion peeled
1/2 cup fresh coriander or 2 T of jar coriander concentrate
1 T lime juice
4 slices Jalapeno pepper (optional)

Remove papery husks from tomatillos & rinse well. Chop n half and place cut side down on a baking sheet on oven tray. Grill for 5 minutes and colour the skins.

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor & whizz until all ingredients finely chopped. season to taste with salt. Cool in the fridge.

Serve with corn chips or as a sauce on an Mexican dishes. I used it on fish tacos made on the bbq. Yummo!

RECIPE - Moroccan Lamb Salad

Balmy summer days on the deck call for BBQ style salads. My sister in law whipped this up when she came over to stay last year and I think i can recall the recipe but here is my version. Megsy - let me know what I forgot!

MOROCCAN LAMB SALAD (serves 6 or 4 very hungry people)
1kg of lamb back straps or lean lamb shoulder cuts
bag of baby spinach & rocket leaves
Moroccan spice mix
1 med red oinion
1 red capsicum
2 thinly sliced kumara
1/4 c Parmesan cheese - shaved
1/4 c toasted pine nuts
drizzle of olive oil & balsamic vinegar
ground rock salt & pepper

Bake the kumara slices at 200C for about 15-20 mins until golden brown. Roll the lamb back straps in Moroccan Spice mix then sear on the BBQ 5 mins each side making sure its slightly pink in the middle. Slice the lamb. Dice the onion & capsicum and lightly fry in olive oil. Toast the pine nuts in a small pan over a lowish heat.
Layer the salad in this order on a large flat platter - spinach and rocket leaves, roasted kumara, sliced lamb, onion & caps mix, drizzled oil & vinegar then top with Parmesan & pine nuts. Toss before serving with Turkish bread or warmed pitas.

Eat in the sunshine on your deck with a glass of wine. Or 2.

RECIPE - Fish Pie

At last someone is selling fish at the Farmers Market and I bought some smoked filleted kawhai on the weekend. Kawhai is a NZ sea trout and the flesh holds firm when its smoked and is a bit "gamey" I guess if a fish can be gamey. Its a bit cooler today & at last raining after the driest 2 months on record here in Taranaki, so a hearty fish pie was perfect for tonight's dinner.

I amended my normal recipe to make this a little healthier than normal but using soy milk instead of normal milk, rice flour & kumara (sweet potato) instead of starchy spuds.


This was so delicious I ate WAY too much of this tonight and currently sitting on the couch about to pop!

SAUCE

50g butter
2T rice flour
2c soy milk
1c chicken stock
1c smoked fish
1 c prawns or scallops (frozen fine)
1T chopped parsley
1 med diced onion
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper

Melt butter on LOW heat, add onion & cook until soft then remove from heat. Stir in rice flour until thoroughly mixed. Stir in 1 cup of soy and return to LOW heat. When mixed add chick stock, mix, then add 2nd cup of soy and mix thoroughly. Add parsley, bay leaf & seasoning.The sauce shouldn't get gluey but should still be "stiff" (see pic for consistency). Add in prawns and fish and turn off heat once prawns are pink. Remove bay leaf.TOPPING
4 largish kumara
Parmesan shavings
salt n pepper

Boil kumara and mash.

Oil a small but deep dish and pour in sauce. Top with kumara mash and run fork through so you get rows of ridges. Sprinkle on cheese & season and place in centre of 160 degree fan oven. Bake for 20-30 mins and grill top for last 5 mins. Let pie sit for 10 mins before serving. I like this served with a big spoonful of peas. Ugh I am so full but this was so YUM!

RECIPE - Chocolate Tarty Tart Tart !

More wonderful things to do with homegrown strawberries! I have looked at a few recipes for strawberry tarts and my friend on the Happygas blog posted me a really yummy recipe but alas, not enough homegrown strawbs for a whole tart. So I've made a decadent super chocolate tart with a scattering of strawberries on top. Looks and tastes like something from a French patisserie. It tastes really special too and is really good for you *ahem*

CHOCOLATE TARTY TARTY TART

BASE

150g butter
2c plain flour
3T icing sugar
iced water

Place flour, icing sugar & butter in a food processor and mix until dough is like fine crumbs. Add enough iced water to form a soft dough. Remove from processor and knead lightly, then wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30mins. Roll pastry out between the cling film so it doesn't stick to your bench top. Roll out to a flat circle slightly bigger than your greased tart dish & squish it in so its nice and even in the dish.
Line pastry with baking paper and add some heavy dry beans or barley and bake at 160c for about 20 mins (conventional no fan). Take out the paper and beans and bake for another 10 mins but don't let it brown.

If you cant be bothered with the above use shop bought shortcrust pastry. I won't tell (-;

FILLING
15g dark chocolate pieces
4 organic eggs
1 T good dark cocoa
1/2c brown sugar
2cup cream
1 shot of a good liqueur like Cointreau, Kahlua, Grand Marnier

In one pot on low heat combine cream, sugar, sieved cocoa, liqueur & chocolate stirring until chocolate has melted. Put aside until just warm. Whisk eggs & combine with choc mix. Pour filling into tart case and bake at 160c for 30mins or until the the tart is just set but slightly wobbly in the centre. Allow to cool before serving & top with sliced strawberries.

Recipe - Chicken & Silverbeet Risoni Soup

Woke up to a big bunch of silverbeet on my doorstep the other morning (thanks Nelly)& had a rustle round in the cupboards & found some risoni (rice shaped pasta) & came up with this recipe for a nice healthy broth like soup. I luckily had a roast chicken carcass & made the chicken stock base from scratch. Good liquid stock or Massels cubes can substitute. I felt very healthy after eating it!

CHICKEN SILVERBEET & RISONI SOUP

1.5-2 litres of good chicken stock
2 cups of clean sliced siver beet leaves
Diced red capsicum or carrot or celery
1/2 cup risoni pasta

To make a good chicken stock boil a cooked chicken carcass in 2 litres of water with a whole carrot, whole peeled onion, salt & pepper, 1 bay leaf, sprig of parsley for 1/2 hour. Strain and this is the base of your soup. Add the risoni for 5 minutes then the silverbeet 5 mins later. add lots of salt n pepper. really nice served with Pita bread with some parmesan cheese on top.
YUMMO!

Recipe - Orange & Poppy Seed Muffins

Hello long time no speak! Ive been living out of a suitcase for 5 weeks while the renovations have been going on at my house so its been hard to get online and post interesting things as my mind has been all bathroom fittings and kitchen dimensions! So to make up for it I am sharing one of my winning recipes with you. These muffins have gone down a treat at the Taranaki Farmers Markets and with my in-laws that have been visiting.

ORANGE & POPPY SEED MUFFINS

2 1/1 cups white flour pref organic or unbleached

3 level tsp baking powder

3/4 cup caster sugar
125g unsalted melted butter
2 free range eggs
1 tbsp poppy seeds
3/4 cup milk
1 tbsp grated spray free orange rind
1/2 cup spray free orange juice

Soak poppy seeds in the milk for 10 mins so they are not too crunchy and stick in your teeth!
Put flour, bp and sugar in a bowl and make a well. Add in melted butter, beaten eggs, orange rind & juice and add milk & poppy seeds and mix really well with a metal spoon. Should blend to a very smooth batter.

Grease a 6 cup Texan muffin pan and bake conventionally (no fan!) for 25 mins at 180c.

Great as a dessert with a bit of cream!

Roast Chicken with Lemon & Mushroom Stuffing

I've been cooped up inside with a sick baby for a few days now and the rain is endless. Perfect time for cooking comfort food and one of my favourite dinners is Roast Chicken with all the trimmings. Tonight's dinner had roast spuds with rosemary, kumara (NZ sweet potato), butternut pumpkin & roast yams (the funny looking pink vege on the right side of the photo) as well as steamed cauliflower. And all smothered with gravy.

And not forgetting my own Lemon, Mushroom & Thyme stuffing. Yummo! Here's the stuffing recipe. Ugh - my tummy is very full now!

LEMON & MUSHROOM STUFFING
1/2 onion finely diced
2 mushrooms diced finely
2-3 slices of bread
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp thyme
1 egg beaten
juice 1/2 lemon

Pour egg and lemon juice over ingredients and mix/squeeze together into a ball. Place inside clean & dry chicken cavity. Pull skin back over stuffing.

Recipe for Lumberjack Cake

I've just made this cake which was a total hit at Nic's work smoko today. Not only did it look a million dollars it tasted damn good and was nice and moist in the centre. Phew! Thats always a worry first time you try a new recipe. Word is Nic was OK to leave his company but I had to remain on smoko cake baking duty! I guess this is a sure fire recipe.

Sometimes I follow recipes and wonder why the recipe says "do this, do that" but you never know why so have added in some tips. Enjoy.

Lumberjack Cake

2 apples, peeled, cored & diced

1 cup dates chopped

½ cup dried apricots chopped

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup boiling water

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

75g unsalted butter

150ml vege oil (canola, sunflower)

1 egg

1 ½ cups wholemeal flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

TOPPING:

60g unsalted butter

½ cup lightly packed brown sugar

½ cup milk

½ cup shredded coconut

Line a 20cm round spring tin with baking paper or spray heavily with oil. Turn oven to 180C no fan.

Combine apples, dates, apricots in a glass or metal bowl (retains heat) and add baking soda and cover with the freshly boiled water. Leave for an hour to cool.

Beat butter, sugar & essence in bowl for 5 mins until fluffy. Add egg and beat until combined but don’t overdo.

Add flour & baking powder (don’t ever bother sifting wholemeal as its chunky anyway and adds volume) & mix with a folding action.

Pour mixture into tin. Bake in oven at 180C for 40 mins. Check at 30mins if your oven runs a bit hot.

While cake is baking, make topping by combining butter, sugar, milk & coconut in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until sugar is dissolved.

Remove cake from oven & spread with topping. Also sprinkle 3 tbsp of Auntys Muesli on top as done in the pictured cake. Bake for a further15-20mins or until topping is brown.

Remove cake from tin after cooling for 15 mins.

Serve in generous portions.

Bircher Muesli

A lot of people ask me what the difference is between Bircher Muesli and regular muesli. So here is my understanding of it all!

Muesli was introduced around 1900 by the Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his Swiss hospital, where a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables was an essential part of therapy. The original Bircher muesli recipe was soaked in cream overnight but this recipe is a more healthy version.

Aunty's Bircher Muesli

Serves 4

2 cups Aunty's Deluxe Macadamia Muesli or Classic Fruit
2 cups natural yoghurt
Juice of half a small lemon
1/2 cup grated apple
1/2 cup coarse chopped strawberries or berries in season


- Mix ingredients, divide into 4 bowls and refrigerate overnight.

Garnish the four bowls with;
- 1 peeled sliced organic kiwifruit
- 1 tablespoon Manuka honey

Serve immediately.

Here's a delicious recipe using Aunty's Deluxe Macadamia Muesli which has juicy cranberries and sultanas in it as well as local spray free macadamias.

Aunty's Berry Nice Crumble

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

4 green apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup Aunty's Natural Deluxe Macadamia Muesli
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup plain flour or gluten free flour
75g/2.6oz butter - softened and chopped
200g/7oz mixed fresh or frozen berries (blackberries and raspberries are best)
Extra 1 tablespoon caster sugar

Method

- Preheat oven to 200°C/392°F
- Place apples, caster sugar, lemon juice and water in a medium saucepan.
- Stir to combine. Cover and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until apples are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, combine Macadamia Muesli, brown sugar and plain flour in a medium bowl. Add butter, using your fingertips rub butter into dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
- Combine cooled apple mixture, berries and extra caster sugar together, then spoon into a medium baking dish (approx. 30cm x 15cm x 5cm deep).
- Sprinkle crumble mix evenly over fruit. Place baking dish onto a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes or until crumble is golden.
- Serve warm or chilled with yoghurt or ice cream. YUMMO!

Recipe - Mini Carrot & Orange Loaves

Lets not talk about yesterdays market. I think the population of Taranaki was at the Mystery Creek Field Days as it was eerily quiet! Despite the lack of traffic through town, my regulars made the trek through the rain for muesli, muffins and mini loaves. My Sticky Date & Apricot with Muesli Icing are a hit as well as my low fat Wholemeal Mini Carrot & Orange Loaves. So here is the recipe for them. Well not the muffins. I might share that with you another day.

Mini Carrot & Orange Loaves

Mini loaf tray for 8 loaves
2 cups wholemeal flour
2t baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
25g butter
2 eggs
1 cup grated carrot
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
2 T milk
1/4 cup orange juice
100ml sunflower oil

Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time beating well. Add orange juice, oil, butter and mix well. Add carrot & mix before adding in all dry ingredients. Finally mix in the milk. The mixture should be quite sticky & gluggy. Spray loaf pan with oil and half fill each loaf hole with the mixture. Bake for 20mins in a moderate oven 160C (no fan). The loaves should spring back when lightly touched. Leave in pan for 10 mins before turning out and glaze with lemon icing. Devour!