Pork and porridge. It’s not too often you get these two together, but they are both delicious with a little applesauce, no? Admittedly, my first thought on arriving at Apple Sauce in the Edmonds Cookbook (apart from no, not more apples) was ho-hum. Apple sauce …
If you fancy a sugar hangover, look no further. This fudge is mouth-suckingly sweet and all the better for it. A firm Kiwi favourite, it is dense and rich, comprised largely of sugar, sweetened condensed milk and golden syrup. I can’t get to the bottom …
I’m finding myself with a lot of tinned goods recently, not unlike many people in our little shaky isles in the wake of our 7.8 earthquake. It pays to be prepared.
I’ve heard the comment more than once that tinned pears are the least exciting of the tinned fruits….pale, bland, only good when topped with ice cream. I had a hunch that this was wrong, but how to prove it? By coupling tinned pears with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon, that’s how.
I’ve taken my inspiration for the muffin base from Donna Hay’s basic muffin batter. Which is delicious if you’re on the hunt for a reliable basic muffin, by the way. I will of course buy a replacement tin of pears for our emergency food stash, but this idea for pear-topped muffins could not wait any longer. Sunday night requires a sweet little pick-me-up, amiright?
For these you will need (makes 12):
For the topping:
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade and grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine.
In a smaller bowl, mix the egg, milk, oil and vanilla essence. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix only until just combined.
Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tray cups. Arrange the sliced pears on the top of the batter.
Combine the topping ingredients and distribute over the top of the pears.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Toddlers and sugar, a match made in heaven? Probably not for their parents, but when it’s your niece’s third birthday party and you said you’d make biscuits, it’s hardly time to skimp on the sugar. I was inspired to make these little numbers by one …
Steamed pudding is like a sweet, jammy hug in a bowl. I love it. It’s a special favourite in our little country. I was recently introduced to a New Zealand specialty steamed pudding which is the queen of both steamed puddings and now of my heart…burnt …
Oh, my mouth waters at the merest mention of potstickers! Delicious, plump little morsels, steaming hot and so satisfying. Their real name is Jiaozi, particularly popular during Chinese New Year. In my house, we don’t wait for New Year. They are popular year-round.
I’ve been an enthusiastic consumer for many years now, but a recent convert to making my own. I shied away from DIY potstickers, convinced they would be the kind of fiddly, tricky enterprise that leaves the cook hot, bothered, grumpy and worst of all, without a meal at the end of it.
But trust me, they are quite simple and so rewarding. I find making potstickers pleasantly meditative once I get into the swing of it, letting my thoughts wander while I shape and pinch the little parcels.
You will need:
For the dipping sauce:
Lightly cook the cabbage in boiling water, just until it is softened, so that it is not too aggressive in the final product. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, using your hands if you’re not too squeamish about it.
Hold a potsticker skin in your palm. Dip your finger in water and run around the edges of the skin. Add one teaspoon of beef mixture to the top half of the skin and fold the other half over it, pressing the edges together.
There is a special way to crimp the edges so they look pretty – this fabulous video does a fantastic job of explaining the whole process; if you want to skip to the crimping technique, it’s 5.05 minutes in.
Once they are ready to cook, heat a little vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. And please, do use non-stick. I have learned this the hard way. There is nothing worse than potstickers who take their name far too literally, so well and truly stuck you can’t eat them.
Place the potstickers into the pan and leave for a minute or two, until they are just slightly browned on the bottom. Pour 150 mls warm water into the pan, down the side. Put a lid of the saucepan and let the potstickers steam until cooked, about six minutes. Take the lid off and let the bottoms crisp up for about a minute.
Combine the dipping sauce ingredients and serve with rice and steamed greens.
I was the happy competitor in a baking competition recently. I say ‘happy’ because how could you ever not be happy when you have a genuine excuse to make sweet delicious treats several times over? And the competition was for a great cause too…Good Bitches …
Savoury cheesy beery sauce on toast, that is my delicious experience with Welsh Rarebit to date. And my, this lovely little cheese-on-toast treat is scrumptious.
I know, I know, vegetables and chocolate. My reflex reaction is ‘blurgh’ too. But bear with me, these brownies are good, contain lots of dark chocolate and are a handy way to use up beetroot if you find yourself needing to do so.
Not that I often have spare beetroot about the place. I love the stuff, in line with my enthusiasm for pretty much all vegetables. The humble beetroot is a member of the Amaranthaceae family and related, would you believe, to chard. Our modern-day beets descend from the sea beet of the Mediterranean. Our little beet has an ancient and distinguished history. Remains of beets have been discovered in illustrious and ancient places, including the third dynasty pyramid Saqqara and the Neolithic site Aartswoud in the Netherlands.
So naturally we people of the 21st century have found that mashing up beetroot and baking it with chocolate is a delicious, modern usage. The best tip I can give you about this recipe, as warned in the excellent original from BBC, is to wear gloves and ideally an apron when peeling the beets. Beetroot has a brilliant red juice, which is a stunning, attractive colour, but will make it look as though you killed someone and it takes some time to scrub off.
You will need:
Set the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Butter then line a 20 x 30cm tin.
Cover up with rubber gloves and an apron then peel the beetroot and cut it into chunks. I find it helps to do this bit in the sink, so that you are not left with a pink kitchen.
Place the beetroot in a large microwave-proof bowl and cover with water. Cover the top of the bowl with cling film, pierce the cling film with a few holes and microwave on high for 12 minutes.
Drain the beetroot then place back in the bowl with the butter, chocolate and vanilla extract. Use a hand-held, bladed blender to mulch into as liquid-y a mix as you can manage. You can also do this bit in an electric mixer, although I find my hand-held one works fine as the beetroot is soft and its warmth melts the chocolate.
Crack the eggs into another large bowl and add the caster sugar. Beat until foamy and pale, about two minutes with an electric beater. Gently fold in the beetroot mix, then sift in the flour and cocoa. Mix in the flour and cocoa gently with a metal spoon. It will be quite pink!
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is all risen. Cool completely in the tin and once cooled, dust with icing sugar.
This is sweet and chocolatey and honestly, not a hint of beetroot. It has a very pretty pinkish tinge, not unlike a red velvet cake.
What to do with sage? Make buttery, cheesy sage and cheddar biscuits? Yes please. I’ve found myself with a reasonably plentiful supply of fresh sage, which is a new thing. I have always managed to grow parsley and been left perplexed at how to use the …