Rice Pudding

Intro

I heard myself growling the boys last week: "Havn't you already had your glass of milk today?" and was appalled. Milk is nation building stuff for Kiwi's in more ways than one. Our entire economy for decades and decades has rested on dairy produce and for as many years, probably, our young bodies were built up with pints and pints of calcium rich milk; not that modern tasteless 'skinny' trim milk you buy today but real, full cream milk. 

We were not a wealthy family growing up, in fact looking back I think we were quite poor but I don't recall being hungry. Dad worked three jobs while doing his apprenticeship and Mum was a stay-at-home Mum raising 4 children - and she wasn't even 21! Breakfast was Weetbix and milk - hot milk in winter. Winter evening meals always started with thick homemade vegetable soup made from the roast bone from an earlier meal and heavy with root vegetables, dried peas and alphabet noodles. It filled us up and made sure we got the nourishment growing bodies needed before the main course which was probably light on expensive meat. Every meal was finished with a milky pudding of some sort - rice pudding and bread and butter pudding being the favourites - which also ensured full tummies. 

In my Mum's school days every kid got given a free quarter pint of milk and an apple every day at school but by the time she had kids herself the 'scheme' had changed and milk was heavily subsidised so as to be affordable for everyone: 4 cents a pint - cheap as chips even on our limited budget and we had 6 - 8 pints delivered to the gate every day. Thats 28 - 35 litres of milk a week and I yell at my kids for not making 4 litres last the week out .... 

Recipe

Combine together in a baking dish:

• 1 cup short grain rice
• half cup sugar
• 2 pints whole (full fat) milk (1200 mls)
• 2 oz butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup sultanas

Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees celcius or 375 degrees fahrenheit) for 50 - 60 minutes. Serves 8. PS Of course you could half the recipe but why would you when its so nice cold for breakfast :) 

Variation: use a can or 2 of coconut cream for some of the milk, add chopped dried apricots.

Banana Cake

Intro

As a child bride I never made banana cakes after the first one because it was greeted with "Its not as good as Mums". The marriage didn't last (there is a lesson in there lads). So each time I bake I still aim for the Ultimate Cake and take my time and sieve and measure and beat and cream and test carefully. 

I struggled with Chocolate Cake for years but have got it sorted now. I have never managed the perfect Madeira Cake, still strive to get that one hammered, but I make a jolly good Coconut Cake and Banana Cake. 

Duck eggs changed everything. One year Bloke #2 and I went to a poultry show and lord knows how, but we left with 2 black Cayugas, 2 white Pekins, 2 guinea fowls and 3 fluffy rabbits. (Not my idea). Luckily we had a third of an acre, an unused paddling pool and a spare shed.... Anyway one day one of the Pekins came proudly out from under the shed with 8 wee babies waddling behind her - the same day that Bloke #2 brought home 8 more baby ducklings a friend of his had hatched under his chickens. That was a nice surprise ... So 4 became 20, our backyard became trashed and we had eggs coming out our flippin' ears! 

Duck eggs are just gorgeous for baking. They have huge yellow yolks, are bigger than hen eggs and result in light, fluffy yellow cakes. I use the same number of duck eggs as hen eggs - and the recipes work just fine. I don't have Bloke #2 or the ducks anymore, thankfully, but I can buy duck eggs from the local market garden whenever I want them. 

Recipe

• 125g butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• half cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs 1 at a time beating well after each. Add a teaspoon of flour if needed to stop the mixture splitting. Add the lightly mashed bananas and vanilla. Stir in walnuts, then the sifted flours and soda in 2 batches. Mix well. Pour into a greased and floured ring tin and bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes or until cooked when tested. (no icky stuff on a knife poked in).

No-bake lemon coconut slice

 Intro

A Kiwi classic straight out of the Australian Women's Weekly Beautiful Biscuits book.

Ingredients

Base

• 1 tin of condensed milk (1 cup)
• 250g of butter
• 2 packets of wine biscuits (500g plain sweet biscuits) 
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 2 cups of desicated coconut

Icing

• 2 cups of icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 30g of butter
• 1/4 cup of coconut

Method

Crush the biscuits very finely.

Melt the butter and condensed milk together.

Mix the ingredients together and then press into a greased or lined swiss roll tin. Place in the fridge while you make the icing.

Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients together. Pur over the base and sprinkle with coconut. Keep in the fridge. 

Nana and Payesin's pancakes

 

Introduction

Payesin!! 

Hey there my darling Grandaughter,

I'm so glad you remembered that I said I would post our pancake recipe online so you can make these at home.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 cups of milk
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• Butter

Method

Put the sugar and eggs in a bowl and whisk them or use the cake mixer (remember to stop the mixer before you lift the beaters out of the batter).

When the mixture is nice and fluffy you are ready to add all the other ingredients.

Lift the beaters out of the bowl and put a sieve over the bowl then tip in the flour and baking powder. Take the sieve away and add the milk then mix again. Then stop mixing and don't mix the batter again. Put the beaters in the sink.

Put the cast iron frying pan on the stove and turn the dial to number 5. When its really hot (remember not to touch it - you'll probably be able to 'see' that its hot) you will be ready to cook the pancakes.

Put a bit of butter in the pan then using a soup ladle put a ladle full of batter into the middle of the pan. It will run out by itself but if it doesn't then the batter might be a bit too thick and need a little bit more milk which you can gently mix in. (a quarter of a cup of milk).

Watch for bubbles and when its about half covered in bubbles carefully flip it over using the spatula. If its a bit black then turn the oven down to 4.5. After a few minutes put the pancake onto the plate. Make your next pancake and keep stacking them up on top of each other.

Remember the first one is never a good one so its the 'Cooks Prerogative'. You can eat it with butter while cooking all the rest of the pancakes.

When you are finished cooking make sure you turn the oven off and move the frying pan to the back of the stove to cool down.

Chocolate brownies

 

Introduction

I never understood the attraction to chocolate brownies until I found this recipe - and now I get it. Very rich and soft with a nice crusty outside. It is heavily based on the recipe in the Modern Sordough cookbook by Michelle Eshkeri. 

Ingredients

Stage 1

• 125g active sourdough starter
• 200g flour (white or rye)
• 250g eggs (about 4 whole eggs plus an egg yolk)
• 100g caster sugar

Stage 2

• 200g butter
• 500g dark chocolate (2 large blocks of Whittakers dark)

Stage 3

• 77g caster sugar
• 265g brown sugar
• 70g cocoa
• 5g vanilla essence
• 3g baking soda

Method.

Mix the stage one ingredients together and leave in a warm place for an hour or 2.

Melt stage two ingredients together in a double boiler or the microwave, mix well and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Add the stage 2 ingredients to stage 1 and then add the stage 3 ingredients and whisk until well combined. (I use a cash mixer).

Pour into a large swiss roll tin, lined with baking paper, and bake for 35 mins until no longer raw in the middle. When you bring it out of the oven dust with icing sugar.

Delicious eaten when warm but keeps well in a sealed container for a few days. 

Tomato Relish

Intro 

My mother in law, Nancy Ransom, was a terrific cook. She made gorgeous tomato relish and sauce, bottled peaches by the ton and always had baking in the tins. Cheese cakes (queen cakes?), chocolate and banana cakes with hundreds and thousands and crunchy Astrid biscuits. She never made scones - that was  her husband Des's territory and he was a master at them - although she could whip up Cheese Puffs for unannounced visitors practically while the jug boiled! I'll share all of Nan's recipes that I have. They are a family legacy and it will be nice to share them publicly so her kids and grandkids can have them to. 

Recipe

Boil gently together for 1 hour:

• 4 pounds ((2 kgs) tomatoes - sliced
• 4 large onions - sliced
• 325ml malt vinegar
• 1 pound (454g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 and half teaspoons dry mustard

Mix together 1 tablespoon cornflour with a little water, add to the simmering relish and bring to the boil for 1 minute. Pour into hot clean glass jars.

Peperoni Alla Piemontese

Baked Roasted Capsicums 

Intro 

This a second antipasto dish using capsicums and anchovies ... perfect with crusty bread and wine and quite different to Peperoni con Alici a Capperi. 

Recipe 

Cut capsicums of all colours (red, yellow, orange or green) in quarters lengthwise. Remove seeds. Arrange into a flat baking dish and into each piece place:

• 2 or 3 thin slices of garlic
• 2 small sections of sliced tomato
• 1/2 a fillet of anchovy,
• 2 dessertspoons of olive oil
• a sprinkling of sea salt

Cook in a moderate oven for 20-30 mins max - don't overcook. They should still be al dente. Serve cold. 

Roasted capsicums with anchovies

Intro

One of my favourite ways of socialising is sitting around a picnic table on the back lawn with sea as a backdrop, a glass of wine, a bunch of old friends and yummy things to eat. A couple of gorgeous cheeses, salty nuts, a firm pear, smoked salmon or chicken, garlicky olives and roasted red peppers all seem to me to be the food of the Gods. Horowhenua is a strong horticultural area and we are blessed to be able to buy gorgeous, picked daily, vegetables direct from the grower ... including stunning red peppers at the right time of year. My kids eat them like apples! I make a couple of antipasto dishes including Peperoni Alla Piemontese. This recipe consists of chargrilled red peppers (capsicums) rolled up with anchovies and capers - gorgeous combination. 

Recipe

• 6 large glossy red peppers (bell peppers or capsicums)
• garlic
• olive oil
• anchovies
• capers
• 1 lemon

Grill the red peppers until the skins are blackened (or roast over a naked gas flame ie a BBQ). Stick them in a closed paper bag and leave for 15 minutes to steam. The blackened skin will peel off quite easily with a vegetable knife. Marinate for 15 minutes in olive oil, a splash of lemon, a crushed clove of garlic. 

Cut each pepper into 6 or 8 length-wise strips (depending on the size of the peppers). Place a chopped anchovy fillet and a few capers on each slice then roll up into a small sausage and arrange into a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over and garnish with a tiny sprinkling of parsley, or grated lemon rind, a grinding of black pepper or a few fresh thyme leaves. Serve with bread to sop up the lovely oil.

Tapenade

Intro

Another gorgeous recipe from my friend Kate, just perfect as part of an anti-pasto platter .... have I said before how my favourite way of entertaining is over wine or gin and nibbly things around a picnic table? You can half the recipe if the bowl of your food processor is small but I have to do it in these quantities to get it whizzing around properly. 

Recipe

Blend together in a food processor:

• 3 cups stoned black olives
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 2/3rds cup pine nuts
• 450g anchovies
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 cup olive oil

Store in fridge - keeps for up to a week. Caution: this is very yummy but eating too much of it in one setting might do funny things to your tummy.

Cashew Nut Fudge

Intro

Ilove fudge, just love it but the perfect fudge is a rare thing. I hate sugary, grainy fudge and I don't like it when its too hard either. I like it creamy but with a 'bite' to it. One summer I got a book out of the library, a whole book of fudge recipes, and I cooked my way through many of them. This is the best recipe from the book - really yummy and the perfect texture. I usually double the recipe so I can use up the whole tin of condensed milk. Several times in the last 20 years things have been a bit tight financially - especially around Christmas time - and thats when this recipe has come very handy as its a great Christmas present when wrapped in cellophane and the cashew nuts make it a bit posher than normal. 

Recipe

Combine the following into a large heavy saucepan:

• 450g sugar
• 150 ml sweetened condensed milk (can you get this outside of NZ?)
• 150ml milk
• 100g butter

Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, stirring constantly. Bring to the boil and boil until mixture reaches 115 degrees celcius, stirring occasionally. It will catch really easily but don't panic if wee flecks of brown start appearing - its a warning to watch it like a hawk coz its on the edge of being done. Remove from the heat, add a few drops of vanilla, then beat until the mixture leaves a trail on itself. Quickly stir in 50g cashew nuts. Pour the fudge into a lightly oiled 18cm square tin. Mark into squares as it begins to set. When completely cold and set turn the fudge out and cut into the marked squares.

Lemon Honey

Intro 

An oldie but a goodie from the Edmonds Cookery Book. This is a Kiwi classic that every home-leaver, new bride and divorcee is given a copy of ... in fact I don't think I've ever met a home without a copy tucked into a drawer somewhere. 
Lemon honey is a key component of a slice I 'invented' while trying to replicate a lemon slice from The White House, a ski lodge I stayed in at Ohakune in the late 80s. I never did get it right but my slice is pretty good. Everyone grows lemons in Levin - except me - so whenever I get given too many to use quickly I make this. 

Recipe

Place together in a bowl:

• 500g sugar
• 125g butter
• finely grated rind and strained juice of 4 lemons
• 4 eggs

Place bowl in microwave and zap for 30 seconds then stir or whisk, 30 seconds then stir or whisk and so on until it gets nice and thick. It might take 5 minutes. (You are meant to do this in a double boiler but I can never be bothered). Pour into hot jars and cover when cold. Store in fridge. Use on Vogel's toast (my favourite), as a tartlet or pie filling or in Lemon Coconut slice.

Mulled Wine

Intro

Back in the day, pre-children, I used to take pottery classes. Rosalie Blake was the tutor and while I was never particularly good I really enjoyed those Thursday nights. It may well have had something to do with the mulled wine. We used to make a crockpot of this each class and sip away while we potted. I'm pretty sure we always got onto the clay ..... 

Recipe

Combine together in a crockpot and stir until dissolved:

• 1 cup sugar (I think demerara sugar was especially good)
• One and half cups boiling water

Add:

• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cloves
• 4 cups red wine
• a quarter cup of brandy
• 1 thinly sliced lemon (we used grapefruit sometimes and it was surprisingly good)

Cover with lid and simmer on low for 3 or 4 hours or 1-2 hours on high. Do not boil.

Chocolate Trufffles

Intro

Divinely disgustingly rich and rummy - another one of Fran's recipes. 

Recipe

Soak together for 10 minutes:

• 2 tablespoons chopped raisins
• 2 tablespoons rum

Melt:

• 150g good chocolate (darkish but not bitter)

Mix in:

• 1 lightly beaten egg yolk
• 25g soft butter
• a half cup icing sugar
• the soaked raisins (from above)

Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes then roll into small balls. Set in fridge for a bit, then dip in chocolate and and roll in coconut:

• 150g melted chocolate
• 1 cup coconut.

Apple Cake

Intro

This is one of the first desserts I can remember cooking for my family when I was a kid. Mum and Dad both worked and that meant that each of us kids in turn were responsible for preparing the family meal. Not surprisingly we are all pretty good cooks now. 

I got this recipe out of a Good Housekeeping cookbook my Mum was given by her Grandmother when she got married in 1963. I cooked it a lot when I was a pub cook in Gympie, Queensland. I used to multiply the recipe up and make it in a huge slab. I discovered that a good handful of flour = 1 cup and that I could cream butter and sugar much more quickly with my hand if I was in hurry. I would make whole cakes with my hand as the measurer and beater which was heaps more effective than a standard wooden spoon (in the absence of commercial mixers). When it was baking you could smell the cinnamon right through the pub and the bar staff would bring orders out for cake and cream. 

Recipe

Sift together

• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• half teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Rub in

• 4oz (125g) butter

Lightly beat together and add to the dry mixture:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk

Pour into a greased tin, and cover with:

• 3 or 4 sliced apples (peeling is optional)
• 1 tablespoon of mixed peel
• 2oz (60g) butter dotted over
• quarter cup of sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Bake 180 degrees for 35 minutes or until done. Serve with whipped cream and / or icecream. This freezes well in portions, reheats well in the microwave and can be made entirely in the kitchen whizz if time is short (including slicing the apples).

Kate's Muesli

Intro

This recipe was given to me by my friend Kate but she knows it as Renske's Muesli after the friend who gave it to her. I've known Kate since the mid 1980s so I've been making this off and on for the last 25 years. This is for Liam - who loves it as much as I do and has clicked that muesli for breakfast sets him up with enough energy for the day. Its well worth buying organic whole grain oats - you really can taste the difference. Take the recipe as a guide or base to start from. Mine is always different; I often add pumpkin seeds and use whatever dried fruit takes my fancy. Cranberries and craisins are really nice. 

Recipe

Mix together

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups bran
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup coconut
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup nuts: almonds, hazelnuts etc

Melt together

• half cup oil
• half cup honey

Mix together then roast for about 20 minutes turning frequently to avoid burning. Once its cooled down a bit add

• 1 cup of chopped dried apricots
• 1 cup dried bananas.

Once cold, store in an airtight container.

Bagels

Intro 

The bambini love bagels and I too have developed a fancy for them myself. However, at $5 a pack of 4 they are a treat. 

This weekend I decided to have a crack at making them. I found this recipe online - complete with pretty pictures - but I am going to write it up here as well in case the original site ever ceases to exist. They are so yummy - the kids have just gobbled up the first tray hot out of the oven with butter and strawberry jam dripping down their chins and all over their hands. Luckily I ended up making 2 dozen because I wasn't sure if any of my 3 jars of yeast were good so I made 3 starter brews and then all of them turned out fine .... 

Recipe

• 1.25 cups of warm water
• 2 teaspoons active dried yeast
• 1.5 tablespoons sugar
• 3.5 cups flour
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, add the yeast. Leave for 1 minute then gently disperse the yeast granules by stirring with your finger. Leave for 10 minutes until its formed a scummy, frothy mass. If it hasn't 'grown' then your yeast is buggered so throw it away and go buy some fresh yeast. 

Put the salt and flour into a bowl, add the yeast mixture. Stir together then knead for 10 minutes until smooth and glossy adding flour as necessary. (I had to add about 1/2 cup of water). Place into an oiled bowl and cover loosely with pleated greaseproof paper, plastic wrap or a damp teatowel until its doubled in size. 

Push it down, rest for another 10 minutes then push down again. Form the dough into 8 pieces. Roll into smooth balls, poke a hole with your finger and then 'form' smooth-ish round bagel-shapes. I spun mine around my index finger :) Place them on an oiled tray for 10 minutes. 

 Bring a pan of water to the boil. Gently drop the bagels into the water and simmer 1-2 minutes on each side. Lift out, place on a baking sheet (lightly floured), brush with olive oil and sesame seeds and ground sea salt. Bake 15-20 minutes in hottish oven (about 200 degrees).