Apricot Chutney

• Apricot Chutney
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• 
  
• 1.75-2kg fresh apricots, stoned, halved
• 1 kg sugar
• 500g onions, chopped
• 30ml salt
• 30ml ground coriander
• 25ml cayenne pepper - or to taste- can be omitted
• 500ml brown vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground garlic

.

Chop apricots and onions

Add all ingredients together

3.

Put in heavy bottom saucepan and simmer uncovered for approximately 1 hour or until thick

4.

Pour into hot sterilised bottles and seal

5.

Let it stand for about 2 weeks before use.

Tip

The use of cayenne pepper is optional. Quantity can be increased for hotter version or omitted for milder version.

Tip

The chutney will keep for about 9 months if stored in a dark cupboard.

gingerbread biscuits

Today was an overcast wintery saturday and spent the morning with M & m making, decorating and of course eating gingerbread biscuits. M & M are quite the cooks, M is working out how to read and follow a recipe, little m loved the challenge of rolling and cutting out biscuits. Decorating and eating were of course the highlights. I used this Taste. com recipe http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/21346/gingerbread+men. It was a bit dry and crumbly so i added an extra tablespoon of melted butter, and when making the icing i added only a portion of the egg white so the icing wasn't too runny. All and all quite a nice way to pass some time....

Ingredients

• 150g butter, chopped
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger, sifted
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
• 3 cups plain flour, sifted
• milk chocolate bits, to decorate

• Royal icing

• 1 eggwhite
• 1 1/4 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

1. Place butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat. Stir in bicarbonate of soda. Transfer to a large, heatproof bowl. Cool.

2. Stir in egg, ginger, mixed spice, baking powder and flour until combined. Divide dough in half. Shape into discs. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

3. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease 3 baking trays. Line with baking paper. Roll 1 dough disc between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick. Using a 7cm gingerbread man cutter, cut shapes from dough, re-rolling dough scraps. Place, 2cm apart, on prepared trays. Repeat with remaining pastry disc.

4. Bake, 1 tray at a time, for 8 minutes or until just firm to touch. Stand on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Make icing: Using a fork, beat eggwhite in a bowl until foamy. Gradually beat in icing sugar until combined. Stir in lemon juice. Spoon icing into a snap-lock bag. Snip off 1 corner. Decorate gingerbread men with icing and chocolate bits. Set aside for 20 minutes or until set. Serve.

harira - my favourite winter soup

This recipe is taken from the Moro cookbook and it is one i cook with some frequency in winter. I play around with it according to what we have in the fridge, the kids prefer it without the fresh coriander and lemon and like to add yogurt. If i don't have any chana dhal I add a tin of chick peas. However its made it seems the basis of lamb cooked with spices is deliciously warming. enjoy!

350g neck of lamb in 3 -4 pieces, a shank or some off cuts will surfice

2 ltrs cold water

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 glaric cloves, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, finely chopped

a pinch of saffron strands

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1//2 teaspoon turmeric

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

nutmeg (5 grates on a fine grater)

2 large bunches fresh coriander, washed and chopped

100g small green lentils

120 chana dhal (small, split and skinned chickpeas)

1 dessert spoon tomato puree

3 rounded dessertspoons plain flour on fine semolina flour slaked in 50ml water

juice of 1 lemon

50g unsalted butter (optional)

1 lemon quatered

sea salt and black pepper

Put the lamb into a large saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins, skimming off and scum or fat as it appears. Add the onion, garlic, celery, saffron, cinnamon, tumeric, ginger, nutmeg, salt and pepper as well as half the chopped coriander. Cook for half an hour before adding the lentils and chana dahl, then simmer for another half hour. Take out the meat and remove from the bone. Return the meat to the pot, along with the tomato paste, flour mixture and lemon juice. check the seasoning stir in the butter and extra coriander.

Fresh fig cake

Its a bit late in the season but i managed to find enough figs on our tree to make this recipe and it was ...... awesome!!! I had another look a our tree today and i think i'll have enough figs to make another one! Can't wait.

Fresh Fig Cake recipe

Ingredients

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup non-fat yoghurt

2 large eggs

1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

12 large fresh figs

Recipe

* Preheat oven to 180 C. Lightly grease 23 cm springform pan.

* Beat sugar and butter until well mixed.

* Beat in yoghurt and eggs until blended.

* Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

* Spread batter into greased pan.

* Cut stem end off each fig and cut each fig lengthwise in half.

* Arrange figs, alternating cut surfaces and skin sides up, around rim of pan on top of batter.

* Arrange remaining figs in centre of cake batter. Bake 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in cake near centre comes out clean.

* Cool cake in pan on wire rack to lukewarm. Loosen side of pan from cake and remove pan rim.

* Place cake on serving plate and serve warm.

Quince Tart with Sour Cream Pastry

I wish i wasn't so interested in making great desserts and cakes. Its the eating, which is integral part of the experience, that really causes the problems! And no sadly i don't seem to be able to stop at tasting. If you have success making this recipe you will understand why.

You need to prepare three or fours quinces by peeling and slicing them and then cooking them for three hours with some sugar on the stove top for three - four hours or baking them in the oven for the same amount of time. They should come out a beautiful red colour.

I use Maggie Bear's sour cream pastry recipe for the base.

200g chilled unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces

250g plain flour

1/2 cup sour cream

Put butter and flour into the bowl of the food processor, then pulse until mixture resemble bread crumbs. Add the sour cream and pulse again until the dough just forms a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for 15-20mins. Roll out the dough on some baking paper and line a 20cm tart time with a removable base. Chill the pastry case for 20min. To blind bake, preheat the oven to 200 c. Line the pastry case with foil, then cover with pastry weights. Blind bake for 15mins, then remove the foil and pastry weights and bake for another 5mins.

Cover the pastry base with quince paste or plum jam (or something similar) then cover the base well with the pieces of quince. Bake for 30mins approx and serve with cream. I was a bit short on quinces for the last one i made and i added some preserved peaches.

porcini, chicken ball soup

This recipe was listed in the Good Weekend magazine not so long ago and i have made it twice. It wouldn't be hard to adapt it to an asian style soup by omitting the parmesan replacing it with fresh coriander and exchanging rice or soba noodles for pasta. It calls for porcini mushrooms but i happened to use shitaki the other night and it was still great. It's perfect fodder for the cold nights ahead.

Porcini Chicken Ball and Noodle Soup

size 14 chicken skinned with breast removed and reserved

2 brown onions, cut in half

2 carrots

2 celery sticks

10 sprigs of parsley

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp pepper corns

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

extra virgin olive oil

3 shallots, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

30g porcini mushrooms soaked in 2 tbsp boiling water

3 sprigs thyme

80g fresh breadcrumbs

30g grated parmesan

3 eggs

150g broken spaghetti

120g frozen peas

1 lemon, juiced

to make stock, place chicken carcass ( with legs attached) in a large pot, along with onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves, and peppercorns, and enough cold water to cover. Bring to the simmer, add 2tsp salt and simmer for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, add a splash of oil to a small pot over med heat and fry shallots and garlic for 2 mins. Add drained porcini and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.

Chop breast meat into small dice and place in a food processor, pulsing until you have mince. Combine chicken mince with cooled porcini mixture, breadcrumbs, parmesan, s and p and 1 egg. Roll mixture in small balls about the size of 20cent piece across.

Strain stock (about 1.5 ltrs) into a clean pot, setting aside chicken carcass, and bring to a simmer. Skim any excess oil and bits off the top. Add broken pasta, simmer 6 mins, then add chicken balls. Pull meat from chicken legs and chop, then add to stock and simmer for 4 mins. Season with s and p and add peas. Whisk 2 eggs and lemon juice together and add to soup. Bring almost back to the boil and serve.

Two ways with pears

Lately i have been having my way with pears!! Thanks to a generous donation from Ali and Blair's Maldon orchard i have had plenty of tasty fruit to play with. First I tried making the Belgian Pear recipe below. It asks for whole pears but i had to work around a little bit of codling moth so mine were cut into pieces. There were some advantages to working this way as it shortened the cooking time by half (3-4 hours as apposed to 6!) but i imagine whole pears would make quite a spectacle when served as they turn a honey pink colour. These pears were delicious, beautifully textured and oh so flavour some if served with a little or a lot of cream! I think i would double the recipe next time as they make a special preserved dessert option to have on hand.

I also tried making the Ginger and Pear Preserves. These turned out well despite or perhaps because I cut back on the sugar.

The other recipe i tried was an upside down pear cake however, this was not as satisfying as i hoped because the syrup leaked out making a mess in the bottom of my oven. I made it in a quick release tin lined with baking paper but it really must be made in a tin without any seams. I seemed to remember making this mistake before duhh!! Sorry too despondent to include the recipe:(

Belgian Pears recipe

Ingredients:

2 kilos of pears

500g of white granulated sugar

150 ml of white wine vinegar

Method:

Wash and peel the pears. Leaving the stalk on.

Melt the sugar in the vinegar and any pear juice in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.

Add the pears and simmer gently with a lid tight fitting lid for three hours.

Remove the lid and simmer for a further three hours with the lid off.

Pot into sterilised jars and seal in a Bain Marie.

Test the seals when cold before labelling and storing.

N.B. You need 2 kilos of pears. 1 kilo doesn’t make enough juice if you are going to bottle them.

Thanks to the www.cottagesmallholder.com/

Ginger pear preserves

Ingredients:

3 cups granulated sugar

3 cups water

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped or grated

2 lbs pears, cored, peeled, and quartered

3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, chopped (candied ginger)

5 or 6 half-pint jars and lids

Preparation:

Sterilize the half-pint jars and lids and set them aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the sugar, water, lemon juice, lemon zest, and fresh ginger to a boil. Lower the temperature so the mixture is simmering, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Add the quartered pears and crystallized ginger to the saucepan and continue cooking for 30 minutes, until the preserves thicken and coat a spoon.

Pack the pears and gingered syrup into the sterilized jars, and seal in a boiling water canner.

This gingered pear preserves recipe makes 5 to 6 half-pint jars.