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Archive for June, 2009

This is a very easy dessert to make as it has 4 of everything. You can make it in a steamer which is the traditional method but it turns out just as nicely done in a greased baking dish.

Easy Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

4  arrowroot biscuits
4  cups milk
4  eggs
4  tblsps cocoa
4  tblsps sugar

Method:

1. Preheat moderate oven
2. Crush biscuits. An easy way to do this is to put them in a plastic bag and roll them with a rolling pin. Then just empty the bag into the mixing bowl.
3. Mix crushed biscuits, cocoa and sugar in bowl.
4. Warm the milk gently in a saucepan.
5. Beat eggs.
6. Add milk and beaten eggs to the dry ingredients and stir well.
7. Put in a greased ovenproof dish and bake in a moderate oven for around 1 hour. Test it towards the end of the cooking time to see whether it is done. It is ready if a metal skewar (or knife) comes out clean and the mixture is set.
8. Alternatively you can put the mixture in a steamer and steam in the oven for an hour.
9. Serve with a little cream and stewed apricots.

Tips

I have found that sometimes you end up with a fair amount of liquid in the pudding. This can be caused by having the oven too hot but I think it is more likely caused by not enough arrowroot. This recipe is over 50 years old and arrowroot biscuits back then had more than the 0.1% arrowroot they have today. What I usually do when I make this dessert is to add a couple of teaspoons of arrowroot powder to the dry ingredients and that usually solves the too much liquid problem.

If you find that the pudding is browning too quickly on the top, cover the dish with a lid if it has one, otherwise just use aluminium foil to cover it.

This is delicious and versatile recipe. You can serve it as finger-food or as part of a meal. The meatballs can be made the day before and then cooked on the day you need them.

Island Meatballs

Ingredients:

500g topside mince (or ground beef)
black pepper
1   finely chopped onion
1   clove garlic
1   tsp chilli sauce
1/2   cup chopped parsley
1   tbsp soy sauce
3   tbsp plain flour
2   eggs (lightly beaten)
2   cups dessicated coconut
oil for frying (I do NOT reccomend canola oil)
toothpicks for serving

Method:

1. Mix meat, pepper, chopped onion, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, chilli and soy sauces until well combined.
2. Shape  mixture in to about 50 small balls. (You need reasonably small balls to ensure that they cook evenly. If they are too large, the meatball needs to be cooked longer and you run the risk of burning the coconut coating you applied in step 4.)
3. Stir flour into egg and dip meat balls into this mixture.
4. Roll the balls in coconut.
5. Put the meatballs in the fridge for a while to firm up. This makes them easier to handle. If you are preparing them the day beforehand you can put them in a sealed container until you are ready to cook them.
6. Put about 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) deep oil in a frying pan. Heat gently. You need to ensure the oil is hot before putting the meatballs in to prevent them sticking. (No you don’t want to use a teflon coated pan – the teflon is not good for you.)
7. Fry the meatballs moving them to cook on all sides. Keep warm and serve with sauce.

Sauce

Ingredients:

3   tsps dry mustard
2   tsps vinegar
6   tbsps chutney (chopped)
1/3   cup red currant jelly
2   tsps sugar

Method:

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Heat gently
3. Serve hot with Island Meatballs.

Tips

This recipe can be prepared and frozen – provided you are using fresh mince that has not previously been frozen. You can then thaw it out and cook it on the day you need it. To prevent the meatballs from bcoming a frozen mass of meat, put them in layers separated by greaseproof paper.

The preparation time for this recipe is a little long but the end result is worth it. Most of the time is taken up by simmering so, other than giving it the occasional stir, you can spend the time having a relaxing pre-dinner drink, chatting to guests or whatever takes your fancy.

While the recipe uses pork, there is no reason why you couldn’t use chicken or veal instead. As you will find with many recipes, you can vary them to suit your individual tastes and preferences. Just because it is written in the recipe doesn’t mean you have to use exactly that.

When serving, choose your accompanying vegetables according to what is in season. For example, in warmer weather you might serve it with a crisp green salad; in the cooler months you might have steamed vegetables.

Sherry Cream Pork Chops

Preparation Time: Around 75 minutes (easier than writing 1-1/4 hrs don’t you think)

Ingredients:

4 leg pork chops
1/4 cup seasoned flour*
1 tsp sage (chopped if fresh, otherwise dried is fine)
3 tbsp butter
1/2 chopped onion
1 x 300g tin Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup cream sherry (if you can’t find cream sherry, use sweet sherry)
1 cup sliced champignons
1 cup sour cream
chopped shallots (for garnish)

Method:

1. Trim the chops and coat in the seasoned flour and sage.
2. Heat the butter in a saucepan (don’t let it burn) and brown the chops.
3. Add the onion and saute until tender.
4. Combine the milk, soup and sherry and pour over the chops.
5. Cover and simmer 45-50 minutes. Stir occasionally.
6. Add sliced champignons and cream and reheat carefully. You do not want the cream to boil!
7. Serve with buttered noodles and sprinkle chops with chopped shallots.

Serves: 4

Tips

*Seasoned flour is just flour with salt and pepper (or other dry seasonings) added to it. An easy way to prepare it is to put the flour in a plastic bag, add the seasonings, close the bag ensuring a lot of air is trapped inside and then gently shake the bag to mix everything.

You may find you need extra butter when browning the chops so feel free to use extra. I usually always need extra oil, butter etc when cooking. The way I look at it is the quantity given is just a starting point.

Variations

As I said above you could use chicken thighs, chicken breasts or even veal for this recipe.

You could also serve it with rice instead of noodles if you prefer.

And, yes, you could use light sour cream instead in this recipe – but what’s the point? Rather, enjoy the meal and reduce your cream intake for the next few days. Having an occasional creamy sauce is not going to cause serious weight gain. The key is moderation.

Let’s start with some basics. Rice is a great accompaniment to many meals. Because it absorbs sauces and juices, it takes on the flavour of the foods it is served with, so that, as well as being filling, it is also delicious.

Most people know they can cook rice by boiling it in a large amount of water but a more efficient method of cooking it is the absorption method.  Sure, you can buy a rice cooker to do that but it is one more gadget to take up room in your kitchen, and really, when you see how easy it is to do, you will wonder why you even considered buying a rice cooker. Okay, let’s get started.

Steamed Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups long grain rice

Method:

1. Wash the rice in cold water until the water runs clear (this removes the starch dust from white rice and stops it becoming gluggy). If you are using brown rice then the rice won’t need to be rinsed as long.
2. Put the rice in a saucepan and add cold water until it is about 2.5cm (or 1 inch) above the rice level. (You can check the level by sticking your finger in – your hands should be clean : you did wash them before you started, right?)
3. Bring the rice to the boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking until the water has evaporated leaving air bubbles through the rice. You don’t want to leave too much water at the bottom of the air holes, but you also don’t want to let all of the water boil away as you could end up burning the rice. Once you have done this once or twice you will know when to move to the next step.
4. Cover tightly and turn off the heat. Let the rice stand on the stove covered for 20 minutes. For brown rice let it stand for about 30 minutes. Don’t lift the lid during this time as the steam and residual heat cook the rice to perfection. We put a grater (one of the large 4-sided tall ones) on top of the saucepan lid at this stage. The rest of the family know that they are not to lift the lid of any saucepan that has a grater on it or else!
5. After the rice has stood for the required time you can remove the lid and serve it up.

Notes

Use a reasonably large saucepan for the rice as white rice expands when cooked.

This is a very efficient way of cooking rice as you are using just the right amount of water and you do not have to boil it for ages.

Cooked rice should be treated the same as you would fish or poultry – don’t keep it in the fridge too long after cooking. It provides a great medium for bacteria to grow in.

Variations

Once you have mastered the basic technique, you can modify as required. For example, putting a little saffron in the water will give the rice the bright yellow colour seen in many Indian dishes.

You can also use cold stock rather than plain water to cook the rice.  This will give flavour to the rice and you could almost consider it a cheat’s risotto as all you need to add then are some cooked vegetables, meat, or poultry and you have a meal.

Tip

When cooking rice you might like to cook more than you need and use the left over rice to make fried rice. When making fried rice it is much easier to cook it if it has been prepared in advance. Simply place it on an oven tray in the refrigerator to dry out a little. Once it has dried, transfer it to a container and seal until you are ready to use it.