Real Strawberry Jelly

Kids seem to gravitate toward simple pleasures – eggs & soldiers, macaroni & cheese, ice cream & chocolate sauce.  Fancy stuff doesn’t really get a look in until you’re all grown up.

To me, nothing sums up childhood desserts like jelly.  I remember one day before school I grabbed a packet of strawberry Aeroplane Jelly from the pantry cupboard.  At recess I began the (quite disgusting) process of licking my fingers and dunking it into the crystals.  Needless to say, after demolishing the whole pack, I ended up with very pink fingers and quite a stomach ache.  Somehow this didn’t stop me from devouring whole plates of jelly if left to my own devices. 

Every now and then it’s nice to regress to the good old days when life was all about the next episode of the Cosby Show and who would get to lick the bowl when your mum baked a cake.  If it’s been a while since you indulged in a little wobbliness, why not try out a more ‘adult’ version of jelly using real fruit.  It’s super easy and sure to send you on a trip down memory lane.

Ingredients:

·      2 × 250g punnets ripe strawberries, hulled

·      180g caster sugar

·      1 tbs lemon juice

·      1 ½ cups water

·      3 tsp powdered gelatine

Directions:

Halve the strawberries and ensure there are no leaves or dirt left on them.

Place the sugar and 1 ½ cups water in a large saucepan on a high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring this to the boil, then reduce the heat down to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Add the lemon juice and strawberries, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes until the berries are soft.

Pour the mixture through a fine sieve over a large bowl, and let it stand for 40 minutes, until most of the liquid has drained from the berries.  Don’t push down on the berries as this makes the jelly cloudy.  But the solids aside (they are great with some yoghurt or on top of pancakes).

Place the berry syrup back in the pan over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until hot but not boiling. Place ½ cup of the syrup into a large bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine and stand for 2 minutes. Whisk to completely dissolve gelatine, then stir in the remaining syrup. Transfer to a jug and chill for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the jelly is thick but not set.

Pour the jelly into four small serving glasses and return to fridge for approximately 6 hours to set.  Jelly will keep for 2 days.   

Great served with ice cream, custard, or straight up.   

This recipe will work with any berries that you have on hand so just go with your personal preference (or what's on sale that week).   Why not look up recipes for champagne jelly, lemon and lime jelly, or even ginger beer jelly. 

Mum's Red Chops

A while ago I wrote about my top 11 meals of all time based on memories, nostalgia and general greediness. 

Mum’s Red Chops (yes that’s the official name) has been one of those recipes that I cook again and again.  I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t like them – for some reason guys especially like this meal. 

The original recipe calls for lamb cutlets but I usually just use lamb chops, or lean pork steaks, or cubed beef on skewers, or whatever you have on hand really.  Lamb cutlets are a bit expensive and to be honest there’s not enough meat on them for gluttons like me.  You can also cook these on the BBQ.  

If you have time it’s good to leave the meat to marinate for an hour or so before cooking, but it will still taste great if you don’t do this.  When this is cooking in the oven it gives off the most amazing aroma.  

You will see from my picture that this is the 'before' shot of the meat before placing in the oven.  Honestly it smells so good that before I knew it I had cooked it, served it and eaten it all before I remembered to get the 'after' shot.  

Ingredients:

6 big lamb chops, trimmed of excess fat

Sauce:

1/3rd cup tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 clove of garlic (crushed)

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 190°C

Place all of the sauce ingredients in a large casserole dish.  Add the chops and ensure they are well coated in the sauce.

Place in the oven, turning once during this time.  Cook for 30 minutes or until cooked as desired.  Serve with peas and mash. 

Waste Not

Last week I went to a free talk held by the local council about food waste in the home.  They said that, on average, between 38-50% of a Sydney household’s waste is made up of food and drinks that have been thrown out.

Sometimes it’s things like uneaten Thai leftovers, milk that’s gone bad, bread that’s gone mouldy, veges that have gone soggy, biscuits gone stale, leftover cereal and milk from the bowl, flour that’s past it’s use by date, meat that has freezer burn, rice that’s been in the fridge too long, soft drink that’s gone flat – it all adds up pretty quickly.

This equates to around $1,000 per household in wasted food each year.   This is like throwing out 1 in every 5 bags of your groceries each time you shop.

There are plenty of ways to save money and reduce your impact on the environment, but the most important one is just being mindful of waste before it happens.

1. Plan your meals in advance – this is the single best way to avoid waste.  If you know what you are going to cook you can then avoid purchasing items ‘just in case’ you feel like using them.  You can also plan your meals to use up perishable foods such as herbs by using them in 2 dinners instead of 1. There are going to still be times when you decide to grab take away instead of cooking so why not just plan for 3 or 4 meals a week if that’s more realistic for you. I have personally noticed a lot less waste since I started planning meals in advance.  Honestly it only takes about 15 mins each week - try it!

2. Make a shopping list and stick to it.  This really ties in with the meal planning but is a good way to avoid feeling overwhelmed in the supermarket and buying random things you might not use.  And never shop when you’re hungry, or you will end up with chocolate milk and cheezels for dinner. 

3. Check your fridge, freezer and cupboards before you shop.  This is a good one that we often forget to do, but can save you ending up with 3 packets of frozen peas when you only needed one.  It also means you can see items that need to be used in the next day or so and put them to good use.  See some strawberries on the way out?  Cut off any bad bits and turn them into a smoothie, or even just cut them up and freeze them for another time.  See some bananas looking a bit sad?  Why not make some banana bread and then freeze it for whenever you feel like it.  Got 2 eggs left and you're about to go away for a week?  Have eggs on toast for breakfast.  

4. Store things correctly.  Use jars or containers to store perishable items like biscuits and rice.  Cover food before you put it in the fridge (my husband drives me crazy with this one). If your bread always goes stale before you can use it, why not put half of each loaf in the freezer and then pull it out when you need it.  Keep fresh herbs in a container wrapped in a damp tea towel. Take note of things that you regularly throw out and make an effort to do something about it next time.

5. Get your portions right.  If you always cook too much rice, try to use a little less next time until you get it right. Made too much dinner?  Put it into a plastic container and take it to work the next day for lunch.  If you always end up throwing out off milk, buy smaller bottles.  A 3L bottle may be better value for money, but it's not if you never get through it all in time.

6. Use your leftovers or items that are on their way out. Visit this great website Love Food Hate Waste where you can get ideas for using up specific foods and drinks.  For instance you can click on apples and it will come up with loads of ideas for using up apples. 

If we just make a little effort we can all save money and avoid filling up landfill with food that could have been eaten

Have you got any tips for reducing waste in the kitchen?

p.s yes that milk carton is crying

Lay back and think of English Muffins

You heard it here first, English Muffins are not just for Eggs Benedict or McMuffins. They can be a part of your everyday life…if you let them. 

Plain, sweet or savoury, they can be made in advance and kept in your freezer for toasting anytime you please. 

I’ve put together this recipe for a sweet version, but for plain just omit the cinnamon and sultanas. 

Ingredients (makes 10)

1/3 cup lukewarm water

1 tbsp sugar

1 7g sachet of yeast

1 cup milk (light or regular)

Pinch salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups plain flour

½ cup sultanas

Cooking oil spray to grease the pan

Directions

In a large bowl, mix the water, sugar and yeast and allow to stand for 10 mins or until frothy.  Stir in the remaining ingredients with a wooden spoon.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 mins in a warm spot (near the fridge works at my place).

Heat a frying pan over med-high heat and spray with a little cooking oil. Drop 2 tbsp of the mixture into the pan to form one muffin, continue until the pan is full.  Cook until browned on the bottom, which should take about 4 mins. Flip and do the same on the other side.  Cool on a wire rack until completely cooled down.  When ready to eat, split the muffins with a fork and toast.  From frozen, defrost in the microwave for about a minute, then slice in half and toast.

Serve with a big cup of tea and enjoy

If you like it then you better put some pastry on it

Sausage Rolls

I can’t think of anything involving pastry that I don’t like.  Pasties, pies, flans, tarts, turnovers, samosas, parcels – whatever you want to call them, I’ll eat it. 

So when Australia Day came around this week I thought why not combine my love of pastry with my love of mince and make sausage rolls?  I love those little suckers and yet (as with so many of my recipes on this blog) I had never thought to make them myself. 

So with a public holiday upon me I had no more excuses.  And the results? So simple and so tasty!  At the Australia Day picnic they were quickly consumed - along with some tasty salads, chicken, quiche, rocky road, watermelon, cheese, bread and loads of other good stuff.

Why not try your hand at these next time you’re hosting a BBQ as a nice little appetiser; have them for a lunchbox treat; or better yet as a midnight snack after a night out.  

Ingredients (makes about 12 small sausage rolls)

Filling

500g pork mince

1 onion, finely sliced

1 carrot, grated

1 zucchini, grated

1 handful of chopped fresh herbs (such as parsley, mint, or basil – or a combination of these) OR use 1 tsp of any of those herbs in dried form

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 sheets of puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Poppy or sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line two trays with baking paper

Place the mince, onion, carrot, zucchini, herbs, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.

Lay out the sheets of pastry and cut them in half so that you have two rectangles of equal size.

Spoon the mixture down the centre of the pastry (long-ways) so that the mix goes right to each end.  Be careful not to overstuff. 

Brush the egg down the right hand side of the pastry.  Pull the left side over the mixture and place the right hand side flat on top of that.  Smooth down the seam with your finger.  Cut into 4 pieces (or 2 if you want bigger ones) and then place seam down onto your trays, not too close together.

Brush the tops with the beaten egg and then sprinkle on poppy seeds or sesame seeds (if using – these are just for decoration) and bake in the oven for around 30 mins or until the tops are golden and crisp.

Notes – you can substitute almost anything in this recipe; for instance omit the onion and use fennel if you like it; use lamb mince and rosemary; or some beef mince and some horseradish would be nice.  

These freeze well in an airtight container (uncooked) and you just defrost them in the fridge overnight and then cook them in the oven as per the instructions above.

Slow cooked leg of lamb

If like me you have a slow cooker you may have already tried your hand at a curry, or lamb shanks, or soup.  But something that I hadn’t thought to try until recently is a whole leg of lamb in there.  The hours of slow cooking give this large cut of meat a chance to become super tender – you could cut the meat with a spoon.  The great thing is that it looks like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen when actually it takes less than 10 mins to prepare.

Ingredients (serves 6 depending on the size of your lamb)

1 large leg of lamb – if you don’t think it will fit in your slow cooker, ask the butcher to cut the shank off and place this into the cooker separately

1 bulb of garlic (or 4 tbsp minced)

1 large sprig of rosemary (or 2 tbsp dried)

1 cup red wine

1 can diced tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan on the stove and brown your lamb all over.  This may be a little tough due to the shape of a lamb leg, but just do your best.  Browning gives it more flavour as it gives you crispy bits on the outside.

2. Place the can of tomatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Add the lamb and then and pour over the wine.  Rub the garlic and rosemary all over the lamb, then season with salt and pepper. 

3. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs (I accidentally cooked it for 9 hrs once and it was still great).  Serve with roast vegetables + peas; then you can use the leftovers the next day for sandwiches

Easy Vanilla Biscuits

I’ve never been much of a biscuit baking person.  It was only when I looked through an old book and found a recipe with the most basic of ingredients – flour, butter, sugar and vanilla – that I thought maybe I could do this. 

When it comes to cooking and especially baking I think it’s important not to let yourself get nervous about giving it a try.  You never know, biscuits could be your hidden talent!  Recently I tried to make bagels and found that these are NOT my hidden talent, but I am going to re-work the recipe later on and try them again.

Like most things, home made biscuits taste so much better than store bought ones. These biscuits are great for afternoon tea or for a gift wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon.  Mine only lasted 1 day as I have a biscuit-loving husband who ate them for breakfast (no judgment)

Ingredients (makes 12)

225g plain flour

150g butter, straight from the fridge, cut up into small squares

125g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place baking paper onto your trays. 

Sift the flour into a large bowl.  Add the butter and use your fingertips to blend the butter and flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.  If like me you have hot hands (what a curse!) it may be hard to do this so add the sugar to the mix if you find it’s not working. 

Then just add the vanilla and roll it into a firm dough.

On a floured surface carefully roll out the dough to about 1cm thickness.  Using a biscuit cutter (or an upturned glass) stamp out your biscuits and place them onto the tray.  Re-roll the rest of the dough and keep going until you’ve used up all the dough.  Depending on the size of your cutter you should get about a dozen biscuits.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 mins or until just coloured.  Place on a wire rack to cool.  Dust with a little caster sugar before serving.   Store in an airtight container.