Home-made peanut butter!

 Easy peasy!

Roast some peanuts, whizz in food processor then add some oil, salt and honey (Salt and honey are optional). Wa-la! Done!

I used
500g natural peanuts, roasted in 200degree oven for 15 minutes, turning/shaking every 3-4 mins.
1/2c oil
1T honey
1 pinch salt.

Make sure the peanuts are coldl, then whizz in food processor slowly adding oil (and honey and salt) until it is the desired consistency. Store in clean, dry jar, in fridge.

Muffins! Apricot and Walnut

Went to a lot more trouble than usual making these muffins!
Took more time cracking the walnut shells and chopping the apricots than they were cooking in the oven!!

2C plain flour
1t baking soda
1C brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon (which I forgot to add!!)

1/2C chopped dried apricots
1/4C water or orange juice
100g butter
2 eggs
1C yoghurt
rind and juice of one orange (make juice up to 1/2Cwith water)
1/2C chopped walnuts

Oven at 190.

Mix first four ingredients together - make sure the brown sugar is really well mixed in!

Microwave the apricots with the water/orange juice for about 1 minute then add the butter microwaving again if necessary. Mix in eggs, yoghurt, rind/juice and walnuts.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients - DO NOT OVER MIX (as per usual muffin mixing).
You may need to add a little water to make mixture a bit wetter. I needed about 1/8C.

Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

I dusted with icing sugar once I removed from the oven. 

Enjoy!

Shane's Slice

This is an easy slice.. and kids like it. (But not husbands for some reason!)

115g butter

1T golden syrup

1C flour

1C ricies

1/2C sugar

1C coconut

1tsp baking powder

In a medium sized saucepan melt butter and golden syrup together. Add sifted dry ingredients, then ricies. Press into greased square pan, and bake at 180 for 15 minutes.

When warm, drizzle with lemon icing and slice.

Apple fritters - old school!

When it is wet and cold (or snowy and cold) these are ideal to fill tummies!
1C flour
1/4C sugar (white)
1t salt
1t cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3C milk
1 egg
1T lemon juice
1c finely chopped apple

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.
Mix in egg and milk.
Fold in chopped apple and lemon juice.

Heat a pan with a thin layer of oil.
Fry spoonfuls of the mixture for about 2 mins each side.

When cooked sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar...
Cinnamon sugar is...
1/4C brown sugar
1/4C white sugar
1t cinnamon.
Put into airtight jar, shake.

Enjoy!

Tea tonight - One Step beef casserole!

So, sometimes I change recipes... just a bit... and only sometimes.... just cos I don't have the 'right' ingredients in the cupboard, but just want to make it anyway!

Tonight we are having a One-Step Beef Casserole.
Not sure why it is One Step, I never do casseroles that you have to cook stuff for them first! Lazy!

So, my version of the recipe is this....

600g (or thereabouts) of  stewing steak (or blade) cut into cubes
1 packet of soup mix... they say tomato I only had chicken vegetable!
1T wine vinegar
2tsp mixed mustard
2tsp soy sauce
1t marjoram or oreganum
1/2 tsp thyme (I use basil!)
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 C water

Toss meat in soup mix, then put into casserole dish. Put other ingredients into dish in order listed. Stir well.

Put lid on casserole dish with a piece of tin foil under lid.
Cook at 150 for 2 hours stirring once during cooking. Leave to stand for 10  mins before serving.

Can add veges/potatoes etc to casserole, but they may overcook...

Enjoy!
(I will add photo when it is cooked...)

Macaroons, daaaahling?!

So, while waiting for my meat to be ready to prepare for tea I decided to make some posh Coconut Macaroons... combining just a few of my favourite things (pavalova and coconut!).

3 egg whites (at room temperature).
1/4 t salt
1C castor sugar
1/2 t vanilla essence (or almond essence)
2T flour
1 1/2C coconut (dessicated)
40 blanched almonds (or similar, or nothing!)


Oven at 150 degrees centigrade.

Beat egg white with the salt until soft peaks form. Add half the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Stir in the vanilla essence.

Mix together remaining sugar, flour, coconut then fold into egg mixture.

Shape the mixture into 30 - 40 biscuits onto well greased (or lined) baking trays. (Use one spoon to help the mixture off another spoon). Top each biscuit with almond. (i only had slivered almonds so used a couple for each).

Bake for 20-25 mins. Biscuits should be firm on outside and soft and chewy on inside. The bigger the biscuit the longer it will take to cook.

After cooking, place on cooling rack until cold, then store in airtight container.

Orange Icecream

Yum!

Gorgeous flavour icecream!!

1 orange
1 lemon
1 can (400ml) unsweetened condensed milk (or we call it evaporated milk) - Chill for several hours before you use it - very important!
1/4c sugar
1/2 can (200g) sweetened condensed milk.

Grate orange and lemon rind and squeeze juice from each into small bowl.

In a larger bowl pour chilled unsweetened/evaporated milk. Beat on high until thick. Add sugar, and beat again.

Pour sweetened condensed milk into bowl with orange and lemon. Mix, then pour into larger bowl mixture and beat just enought o combine ingredients.

Pour into icream container, and freeze.

Very tasty concotion!

Crock-pot dessert

Always wondered why people made dessert in crock pots.. I mean, really, they only take about 5 mins to prepare then chuck em in the oven. Not hard right? Well, I did this one the other day. Put it on same time as I put in the roast, and I am so pleased I did. Meant I could eat dinner, and not worry about doing 100 jobs at once to get dessert on the table after!

So, here is the Butterscotch self-saucing pudding recipe I made. Sorry, forgot to take photos - too busy eating!

1 3/4 C self raising flour
 (or 1 3/4C flour, with 2 tsp baking pdr)
1/4C sugar
2T melted butter
3/4C milk

Sauce
4T golden syrup
1T butter
1C boiling water

Preheat cooker for 20 mins
Lightly grease 6 cup capacity casserole type dish (that fits in your crock-pot!)
Sift flour and sugar (and baking pdr) into mixing bowl.
Combine melted butter and milk and add to dry ingredients. At this stage I found I needed to add more milk to make a cake ixture type consistency, so up to 1/4 c  more milk may be needed
Spoon into casserole dish.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients together until butter is melted. Then pour gently over pudding mixture.

Place casserole dish on trivet (or upturned bread and butter plate) in crockpot.
Cover crockpot with lid.

This is how you set it to cook... (with upside down bread & butter plate under white casserole dish)

Cook for about 2.5-3 hours.

Serve with cream, or ice cream....

Apple choc cake - easy as!

Topping
1/4C brown sugar
2T flour
1t cinnamon
25g cold butter
2T chopped walnuts (optional)

Cake
2-3  apples (with stickers taken off!)
125g melted butter
1 egg
1C sugar
1.5C flour
2T cocoa
1t cinnamon
1t baking soda

Put ingredients for topping in food processor. Chop. Remove and save for later.

In unwashed processor add apple and chop. The add rest of ingredients in order listed. Chop/mix.

Put cake mix into round tin, sprinkle topping over, then cook for 30-40 mins at 180.

Can be served with cream or ice cream or eaten plain.
Yum (except the sticker!).

Berry Cake - yum!

75g butter
1 egg
3/4C orange juice (I used 'raro')
3/4C sugar
1 1/2 C self raising flour
1/2 C walnuts
1/4C sugar
3tsp cinnamon
1-2C fresh (or thawed) berries (I used red and black currants, white and black raspberries)


Oven at 180. Spray or line a 23cm square tin.

Melt butter in bowl big enough for whole cake mixture. Take out 1 tablespoon of melted butter and set aside for nut mixture.
Add egg and orange juice to melted butter in bowl. Mix until combined.
Sprinkle sugar and flour over egg mixture and fold. Do not over mix.

Mix together reserved butter and finely chopped walnuts, sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle two thirds of nut mixture over cake mixture then spoon into tin so nut mix is marbled through cake mix.

Press berries evenly over cake mix.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over berries.

Bake for 45 mins or until evenly browned.

It recommends serving warm, and it is very delicimo when warm, but equally edible when cold!!

This recipe doesn't take long to do - my time was spent cracking the walnuts!

4 min Choc Cake - yes, really!

Quick and easy cake.

But... must be eaten reasonably quickly too, or it goes dry.. and then must be heated again and served with icecream!

50g butter
2tsp golden srup
1/2C sugar
1 egg
1C flour
1/2t baking pdr
3/4 tsp baking pdr
3/4C  milk
1t vanilla ess
2T cocoa

Melt butter and golden syrup in bowl. Add sugar, mix, then add egg and mix.
Then add flour, cocoa, and baking pdr and mix.

Dissolve baking soda in milk and vanilla.
Mix altogether.

Pour into 20cm microwave ring tin. Cover with waxed paper. Microwave for 4 minutes. If slightly doughy cook for another 20 seconds and recheck.

If you want instant icing before puttin the cake mix into microwave dish sprinkle a small portion of choc chips in so they melt while the cake is cooked.

I also sprinkle icing sugar over it. I mean, if it takes 4 minutes to cook, who really wants to spend another 4 mins making and spreading the icing!