recipes

Chocolate cake recipe

Today I'm sharing one of my favourite chocolate cake recipes.  It was given to me by a lady that I worked with many years ago and I've made it so many times over the years.  What I love about it, is that the recipe makes quite a big cake, so it lasts in our household for a several days!

Ingredients:

125 grams butter

1 + 1/4 cups caster sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups self raising flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon bi-carb soda

1 cup hot water

Method:

Beat sugar and butter, add eggs and vanilla, add sifted dry ingredients and hot water.

Mix well, cook in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for 40 minutes or so.

 

Pesto

And today I made some pesto!  I've never made pesto before because I haven't been able to blend up the pine nuts, but now I can see myself making quite a few batches of this over summer.  Here's the recipe as well, which is an adaption of several recipes that I found online.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, but next time I might add some chilli as well:

Yummy pesto:

1/4 cup pinenuts

1/4 cup cashews

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese

a big splash of lemon juice

salt to taste

2 cups of firmly packed basil leaves - I say firmly packed, but I didn't super squish them in there!

How to: Blend up the nuts and garlic.  Add the oil and blend until nice and smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and do a couple of little blends to mix it all together.

Pop in a jar and refrigerate :)

Cinnamon scrolls

Cinnamon Scrolls

 

These are the most delicious cinnamon scrolls!  I first tasted one of these when my James baked a batch for his school cooking class.  They were so incredibly good that he offered to make another lot with his little cousin the very next day - hence why there are two pairs of hands in the step photograph below!  We've since had a 'bake off' at home where James and my husband made a batch each and I was blind folded and had to do a taste test to determine the winner. James won the bake off by the way :)

The scrolls are quite filling and lovely to have with a nice cup of coffee or tea while you snuggle with a good magazine or book.  I'm going to bake us a batch of them next time we have a day trip out and about too.

Here are the ingredients that you'll need for the main mixture:

90 grams butter

2 cups self raising flour

pinch salt

2/3 cup milk

For the filling:

120 grams butter

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

For the icing:

1 cup icing sugar

1 tablespoon boiling water - possibly a little drop more if needed

 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Combine the self raising flour and butter in a mixing bowl.  Rub the butter into the flour with your hands until the mixture is nice and smooth with no big lumps.  Add a pinch of salt and also the milk.  Mix with a spoon or spatula until a ball of dough is formed.  

Pop a little flour on a cutting board (to prevent the dough sticking) and knead the dough a little bit - for a minute or so.  Then, roll out into a nice sized rectangle - about 25cm X 40cm on the cutting board.  

 

Now, we'll mix up the filling.  Combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Mix this really well with a small spoon or use clean hands to combine if you prefer.  Spread out the paste over the top of the base and then roll up the scroll lengthways. 

Slice the scroll into about 15 pieces and place these on a baking tray.  Pop in the oven for around 15 minutes. They should be a nice golden brown colour when you remove them.

Now, combine the icing sugar and boiling water and drizzle over the scrolls - we do our drizzling while the scroll is still slightly warm.  Work fast before the icing sets and also ensure that the icing isn't too sloppy :)

Let cool and enjoy :)

Mel x

 

Curried eggs

My family love curried eggs.  Usually I do up a big batch of these to eat with cold salads on Christmas day, but this spring I'm going to try and make them more often to serve with our barbecues.  My Mum taught me how to make these when I was first married :) 

You need - eggs, curry powder, mayonnaise OR cream

Hard boil your eggs. I pop mine in boiling water and let them boil for 12 minutes.  Remove and drain the warm water.  Peel the eggs.

 

Cut the eggs in half lengthways.

Scoop out the centre and pop into a separate bowl.

 

Mash the egg yolk with a fork.  Add some cream or mayonnaise - this is a great way to use up any leftover cream, but mainly I just use mayo because it's always in the fridge. Add in some curry powder and mix it all up.  You're aiming for the mixture to be moist but not runny.  I just keep adding curry powder and doing a little taste test until we're all happy with the flavour.

Scoop the mixture back into the egg whites.
For pretty presentation, slice up some lettuce and pop the eggs on top.  Add a cherry tomato here and there for extra colour.  

Zucchini, onion, capsicum + tomato side dish

We've been eating this a lot lately. I make up a huge batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days and it's also perfect to freeze and pull out as needed.  

It started out as a side dish to serve for summer barbecues and to add a bit on top of chicken etc.. when serving.  Lately I've been using it cold in wraps - add a layer then throw in some lettuce and meat or my favourite way is on top of a home made pizza, so good.

You will need:

2 zucchini, 3 large onions, 2 large capsicums, 1 can of tomatoes (crushed), tomato paste (two or three rounded tablespoons), olive oil, salt + pepper to taste.

Chop all the vegies.  I slice the zucchini and then quarter each slice. Pop some olive oil in a fry pan, throw in the vegies and cook them up for a good 10 minutes, until they're nice and tender.

Add a few rounded tablespoons of tomato paste. Stir this through and cook for a further minute, while you're stirring constantly.  Pop in a can of crushed tomatoes and add a little water.  Simmer for about an hour or until most of the liquid has gone.  Sometimes I only simmer for 20 mins, it just depends how busy I am.  Season with a little salt and a nice amount of pepper.

Pop in the fridge and reheat in the microwave when you're ready to use the side dish - or leave it cold if you prefer.  I find this is always nicest on the second day - so I usually make it a day in advance.

Roast Vegetable Soup

 
Ingredients:

Vegetables of your choice - I usually use pumpkin, carrot, sweet potato or potato, capsicum, onions, cauliflower etc...

A big carton of cream - the quantity will depend on how big your pot of soup is

Chicken stock

Garlic

Curry Powder

Olive oil

Seasoning (pepper, salt, dried basil leaves etc..)

How to:

Peel and chop a heap of vegies, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with whatever you choose. I use dried basil leaves and a bit of pepper.  Also add 4 or 5 garlic cloves, but don't peel the skins off them, just throw them on top of the vegetables.  Bake in the oven for a couple of hours until they're nice and roasted.  For the vegies I use whatever I have which is usually pumpkin, carrot, potato or sweet potato, some capsicum and a couple of onions. Today I'm also going to steam some cauliflower to add in as well, but I don't usually do this.

When the vegetables are cooked put everything into a big dish to puree up.  Remove and throw out the garlic skin and pop the cooked garlic cloves in with the vegies to puree as well.  Once everything is all nice and smooth add a couple of cups of chicken stock - or more/less depending on what you think you need and how runny you want the soup to be.  Add some curry powder - I usually put in a rounded dessert spoon full, but again the quantity depends on how big your mix is and how spicy you want it to be.  Also add a big carton of cream for extra *yum*.  Mix it all through and serve.  

We just pop the leftovers in the microwave and reheat over the next couple of days until it's all gone.  So good.

Home made pancakes.

This recipe was given to me by a friend many years ago. I think it originally came out of a local newspaper.

Ingredients:
1 cup Self Raising Flour
1 cup Milk
1 egg
1 dessertspoon caster sugar

How to:
Put all ingredients into a bowl together and mix well.  Pour some of the batter into a lightly greased pan and cook - turning once.

They are yummy and easy!  Adjust the sugar according to your preference - we always use a slightly rounded dessert spoon of sugar for ours. 

 

Shortbread creams

8 ozs butter
1 cup sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together, then add:

1 egg
1 tablespoon golden syrup

Mix well, then add:

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bi - carb soda
**If you want to turn these into ginger shortbread creams, then also add in 2 heaped teaspoons of ground ginger**

Mix all the ingredients together.  Roll a tiny teaspoon full in your palm and squish the top down with a fork. 

Bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees or 160/170 fan forced).  Cook for around 12-15 minutes.

Once cool, join two biscuits together with some icing.

Please note - the icing does make the biscuits go a little soft after a day, so if you prefer a more crunchy recipe, perhaps this isn't for you - or alternatively, devour them all in a day !

They freeze nicely too - my Mum freezes them - ours have never quite made it into the freezer!

Cottage Pie

Ingredients:

500 grams beef mince

1 large onion, chopped

1 big clove garlic, crushed

1/4 - 3/4 cup plain flour

2 tomatoes (sliced)

1/3 cup tomato paste

2 cups (500 mls) beef stock

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 big squirt of tomato sauce

A little oil to cook onion/garlic in.

**See further down the recipe for topping ingredients**

Method:

Preheat your oven to approximately 190 degrees. 

Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion for about 4/5 mintues and add garlic.  Cook for a further couple of minutes. Remember to stir so that the onion/garlic don't stick and burn. 

Add the mince and cook 7 -10 minutes until the mince is nicely browned.  Stir in 1/4 cup of plain flour - stir this for about a minute and then add stock, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and a nice big whoosh of tomato sauce.  Bring to boil on medium heat and simmer (remember to stir) for 5 or so minutes.  You will need to add some more flour to thicken up the base nicely. Add this gradually and stir through until you are happy with the texture.

Place base in a casserole dish and add a layer of sliced tomato on top. 

Now cook the topping:

Topping:

Cook potatoes and mash with a nice bit of butter and margarine.  Season to taste.  Smooth the mashed potato over the surface of the cooked mince and rough up the potato with a fork.  We like to sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese prior to cooking too.

Bake pie for 30 mintues, until the top is nice and golden brown. 

**If you really want to cheat or are low on time use Deb Potato (packet potato) instead of cooking/mashing your own**

Raspberry Jam Cookies

Ingredients:

3 ozs margarine/butter

4 ozs Sugar

5 ozs Self Raising Flour

1 heaped tablespoon raspberry jam

Method:

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add self raising flour and raspberry jam.  Mix well with spoon. 

Place heaped teaspoons full of cookie dough onto cooking tray and bake.  Moderate oven (180 degrees) until golden brown.  These will be crunchy to eat :)