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Turning fruit-bowl slop into dessert-bowl mmmmmmm

January 4, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged breakfast, brunch, celebrations, feeding the family, fruit, recipe

A few bit of fruit that have seen better days....

How was your Christmas, did you overindulge? I did. There’s just so much to tempt me, so much that’s ‘special’ and delicious to eat. In fact the days are barely long enough to fit in all of the eating. There are the breakfasts, brunches, lunches, afternoon teas, early drinkies, dinner, dessert and supper. It’s hardcore, trying to find the time to sleep when you’re so busy shoving good tasting stuff down your gob all day.

Anyway, needless to say, I’m feeling a little worse for wear now. I made the mistake of looking in the mirror. In profile my tummy is sticking out further than my boobs, which is a BAD SIGN. So I’m thinking detox and healthier foods. But to be honest, I suffer a bit of emotional trauma if I go from feast to famine too quickly. Far better for me to ease out of the festivities slowly.

Which is perhaps why I found myself in the kitchen this morning dreaming of fruit compotes. They’re perfect; the right mix of fruit freshness with a naughty sweet treat edge. And justifiable at this time of year, when stone fruit is so abundant. I do that thing in the supermarket where I just buy four peaches and four nectarines and four plums and four apricots (for my family of four). But of course I get home and they’re all too hard to eat. And the next day we check eagerly and find them still like rocks. And the next. Finally we forget about them, and after a particularly hot day I find myself with an expensive fruit bowl soup of wrinkly skins and too-soft bits that are starting to mold together.

So really with this dish, I’m not avoiding detox, I’m just being a frugal homemaker, ensuring that I just don’t waste anything. Of course, I wouldn’t serve this on icecream (noooooo, never), just a bowl of vanilla yoghurt is a better choice.

vegie smugglers peach and apricot compote

And abracadabra! Fruit divinity awaits you.

Peach & Apricot compote

2 peaches
3 apricots
¼ cup brown sugar
Juice of 1 orange
8cm lemon peeling
1 cinnamon stick

Cut a cross into the bottoms of the fruit. Pop in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over the top. After a minute or so, remove them and peel off the skins. Chop roughly (I like a non-uniform texture).

Place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. After 5 minutes or so, turn off the heat and leave everything to stew together for a bit.

Serve warm or cold over yoghurt, pancakes, French toast (or icecream). And if you have it, a little drizzle of lime juice on top makes this really zingy and delicious.

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Through the generations

December 7, 2011 · Filed under Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, feeding the family, heirloom recipes, recipe, treats

After quite a bit of procrastination, last weekend I finally got around to making the traditional boiled pudding for the big family dinner on Christmas eve.

Are you finding that as the years go by you’re inheriting responsibility for some of your family’s traditions? Perhaps some of the tasks that used to be your mum’s or your aunt’s are now your job? For me, it’s the pudding and I must say at five hours cooking time (plus about an hour and a half to prep) it’s an epic labour of love that is quite unlike anything else that I cook at any other time of the year. For a start it has a bunch of ingredients that I just never use at any other time – figs, mixed spice and chunk ginger for a start. And I get to go to the bottle shop and buy odd booze – last Thursday at 10.30am, there I was at the local with a trolley of brandy and stout.

Despite all the effort required, I don’t mind ‘pudding day’. Somehow it makes me feel more important, slightly higher in the family pecking order. And now that I make it, I get to serve it, which means I get to slosh over the hot brandy and set the thing on fire! Now THERE is something that I don’t do any other day of the year.

If you haven’t inherited any of these tasks yet, maybe this is the year to force your way in and learn the nuances of how they’re done. It’s kind of sad to realise how many of these ‘women’s’ skills are disappearing as the supermarket seduces us with an easy way out. There’s something hugely satisfying about serving up something home made to your nearest and dearest. Even if it’s not as perfect as something you could have bought, it really is love on a plate.

So here’s my recipe for a traditional Christmas pudding – it’s not too late to give it a try, although really they should have been made a few weeks back. It’s based on a Joan Campbell recipe, but with quite a few tweaks as I’ve varied it over the last few years. If you’re daunted, make it on a day when I’m on Facebook and I’ll talk you through any problems.

STEP 1: Buy booze and soak the fruit for as long as you've got...

Joan Campbell’s plum pudding (with a couple of changes!)

1300g mixed dried fruit (any mix of raisins, sultanas, currants, glace cherries, peel, figs, crystallised ginger TIP – definitely used figs, they are sweet and sticky and help hold it all together)
1/3 cup beer (stout is good)
1/3 cup brandy
250g butter at room temperature
225g sugar
5 eggs
50g plain flour
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
2/3 of a stale loaf (unsliced) white bread (remove crusts, make breadcrumbs in food processor)
1 carrot, peeled, grated
Rind 2 oranges
Rind 1 lemon
125 blanched almonds, roughly chopped

Add all the fruit to a glass or plastic bowl; pour over the beer and brandy. Leave to soak for a couple of hours or overnight (if you remember).

Cube the butter and add it to a mixmaster bowl. Beat for a minute or so before adding the sugar slowly. Continue beating until you have a creamy consistency – this takes a while. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well each time. Beat in the flour, spices and salt.

Tip contents into an extra large bowl. Add the fruit, breadcrumbs, carrot and almonds. Fold everything through until well mixed.

STEP 2: At this stage it looks a bit like spew, but perservere...

Cut a circle of baking paper and pop it in the bottom of a large greased pudding bowl (so that the top of your pudding won’t stick when you turn it out). Pour in the mixture and flatten the surface.

STEP 3: Now you've starting to get somewhere... awwh, looks pwetty..

Now for a bit of origami. Get a double layer of foil (you’ll need to buy the extra wide stuff). Do one ‘z’ fold of 2-3cm in the middle (so that it can expand when the pudding is hot and cooking). Place over the top of the basin and secure around the rim with kitchen string (wrap around a couple of times, knot with a slip knot, then tie over the top so that you have a handle and tie again). Place in a large saucepan. Pour boiling water ¾ of the way up the side (use a funnel). Cover, bring to a strong simmer. Cook for 5 hours. YES, 5 hours!!!! You will need to check it every hour or so to see if you need to top up the water (you don’t want to pan to boil dry).

STEP 4: the 'z' fold in the foil to allow for expansion during cooking...

Keep it covered (I’ve just removed the foil below to photograph it). Store in a cool place (spare fridge is best) until Christmas.

STEP 5: Sneak peak - the cooked pudding can sit for a few weeks to brew.

On the day, pop the pudding back in the pot, with water up the side again and reheat on a strong simmer for 2 hours.

Turn out onto a serving plate. Remove the paper. Serve with brandy cream and icecream.

For the full festive flambé…. Gather the family to attention… Pour ½ glass brandy into a mug, microwave it for 20-30 seconds. Pour over the pudding and immediately (and CAREFULLY) set it alight (use a gas stove lighter). Watch family ooooohhhhh and aaaaaaahhhhhhh.

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All the way to the bottom of the jar

November 17, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged chicken, ideas, recipe, treats

My fridge is brimming with marmalade. I already had two open jars of the stuff and then I made the microwave batch earlier this week.

Miss Fruitarian and I like a bit on toast at the weekends, but it’s safe to say that Mr Meat & Potatoes would rather coat his bread in vomit than eat citrus jam and my best friend is more likely to be caught dolloping peanut butter & strawberry jam on his toast. So even after gifting some, I have an oversupply.

Never defeated by ingredient overload, I’ve cooked up a couple of good things with it this week…

Simple enough for kids, yum enough for adults

Marmalade-baked chicken salad

Marinade
¼ cup marmalade
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp soy sauce
1 clove crushed garlic

500g chicken breasts (or tenders)

Dressing
3 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 tbsp mirin
2 tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp freshly grated ginger
Dash sesame oil.

Mix together the marmalade, mustard, soy sauce and garlic. Cut the chicken into tenderloin-sized pieces. Marinade for as long as you have (15 minutes – overnight).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with foil or baking paper and a place a rack on top. (This tray will get messy covered with burnt marinade, so make sure there aren’t any tears in your paper).

Place chicken on the rack and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through. It will turn a beautiful colour and the edges will just start to char.

Toss this in a salad of iceberg lettuce, orange segments, spring onions and a few fried noodles then coat with the combined dressing ingredients.

Just five ingredients between you and a biscuit. I'll go pop the kettle on...

Marmalade biscuits

These are a retro biscuit basic. Chewy and tangy, even Mr M&P is a fan. With only 5 ingredients, they’re great for the days when you feel like baking but are an ingredient short for every other recipe.

100g softened butter
½ cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup marmalade
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and creamy (click here if you don’t know how to do that).

Add in the egg. Beat really well then also beat in the marmalade. Sift over the flour then carefully mix in. (I was lazy and used the beaters for this – works fine).

Dollop onto baking trays – allow for spreading. Bake 12 minutes or until slightly golden.

Makes 22 or so.
________________________

But even after these, I have more than two jars of the stuff left in the fridge. Make sure you let me know of any other ways to use it up.

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A bit jammy

November 15, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, fruit, recipe

Scared off by talk of pectin variability and techniques of jar sterilisation, I’ve never been a jam maker. Add to that a couple of preserving disasters in my youth (a large disgustingly mouldy jar of roasted capsicums and 4 litres of rancid preserved lemons), and I’ve been happy enough to grab my jams and chutneys at markets and on election day outside the church hall from kind, elderly ladies.

But the other day on my doorstep, stood my mother, with a kilo of cumquats from her tree and a photocopy of a page from an old microwave-cooking cookbook.

So I’ve given it a go, and am happy to report that it was easy and I’m a bit inspired. I know some of you are vehemently anti-microwave so this recipe is not for you. But for the rest of us, who figure that a few micro-waves in moderation are ok, this recipe is great. Here goes…

Sterilise your jars

Don’t be scared. I followed Sally Wise’s advice from ‘A year in a bottle’, which has been on my shelves for a while (secretly, I’ve been coveting the role of preserve princess). Wash your jars in hot soapy water. Rinse and place on a tray in your oven. Heat to 110C, then turn off and leave for at least 10 minutes. Take the washed lids and simmer in boiling water for 2 minutes (this is where I went wrong with my lemons).

Blitzing the fruit means it cooks quickly and it is peel chunk-free

MAKE THE CITRUS JAM
This recipe is from either a Woman’s Weekly or Family Circle Microwave cookbook – I’m not sure exactly, I only have a photocopy of 1 page).

½ kilo citrus fruit (I used cumquats)
1 ½ cups water
3 cups white sugar

Wash the fruit well, discard any mouldy ones. Cut roughly and remove any seeds. Add the fruit to a food processor (I did two batches in my mini-one) and blitz well.

Place in a large microwave-proof bowl. Add the water and microwave on high for 10 minutes.

Add the sugar and mix well. Cook for 18 minutes more in total – do 3 x 6 minutes and give the mixture a stir each time.

TEST FOR SETTING

This is the bit that always makes me sigh and turn the page in recipe books, but actually it’s easy. Again, Sally Wise’s advice is good – put two teaspoons of jam onto a saucer. Pop into the fridge for a couple of minutes. Run your finger through it – if it wrinkles, it is ready. If it doesn’t, it might need another couple of minutes of cooking.

Leave the jam for a few more minutes to start to cool, then pop into your warm jars. Seal while warm.

You've bothered to make jam - go all the way and give them frilly hats.

DECORATE

If like me, you’ve got an expensive pair of pinking shears that rarely see the light of day, dig them out and make some pretty frilly caps for your jam. It is nearly Christmas after all.

And there you have it. Pretty painless. I’m off to woo my neighbour, Gloria, with a jar. Who will you woo with your uber-housewife homemade? I’ll be back later in the week with a yum recipe that actually uses up some of the jam too. See you then…

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Keeping it all in perspective

November 11, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged family, treats

Miss Fruitarian reads aloud to a captive audience

This morning I caught the cat up on the kitchen table licking at my bowl of cereal. Perhaps this wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t have seen the cat half an hour earlier up on my bed, legs askew, licking his bumhole. Are you laughing? Yes, the word bumhole does it every time. Just ask my four-year old boy. There’s no funnier word.

Anyway, the cat was licking his bumhole, then licking my breakfast. What did I do? With the actions of a seasoned parent, I prioritised and multitasked. I continued to the microwave to fetch the reheated coffee. This was the most important thing in that moment. But I yelled at the cat the whole time. Then, with coffee safely in hand, I shooed the cat away. Then sat down and proceeded to eat my muesli.

Seven years ago, this scenario would have been a CATASTROPHE, in much the same way that visiting other people’s houses and finding unflushed child wee in the toilet grossed me out for days. These days I am made of tougher stuff. I have cleaned poo off all sorts of surfaces, with everything from White King hospital grade disinfectant to my fingertips, depending on the circumstances. I’ve been vomited on, scratched and bitten. I’ve acquired stretchmarks and saggy boobs and still I’m sad that my little ones are nearly all grown up and off to school.

Thank you my children, for toughening me up and calming me down. I like it that my life is easily kept in perspective these days. Cat eating breakfast? No big deal. So long as there’s a big cuddle to be had with my kids each morning, my world is ok.

I’m feeling grateful and a surge of affection for my little lovelies today, I might just make them some of these little apricot and yoghurt biscuits. See the recipe here.

Yum enough to make again - apricot & yoghurt biscuits.

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An easy bake for tomorrow’s lunchbox

October 9, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged lunchbox, parenting, recipe, treats

Back to school tomorrow. Usually by this stage of the holidays I am totally exasperated with the children, but these holidays have been smooth sailing. Managed to get the right mix of busy and quiet and I suspect I might actually miss them this week!

Miss F is feeling hesitant about returning to her new school tomorrow (she only moved 3 weeks before the holidays) so I’ve whipped up a treat ready to pop into her lunchbox – a bit of a cheer up for the middle of the day.

It’s nice to have something yummy ready to start the term. The new Term 4 planner starts with an Apricot muesli bar. You can buy your copy here. Or just whip up these oat and berry muffins. Keep the berries in the freezer until you’re ready to mix them in – avoids them totally tinting the mixture. Although, as you can see, mine did end up with a nice swirly berry imprint.

Ready for tomorrow (if there are any left)

Berry & oat muffins

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup traditional oats
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup milk (or buttermilk if you have some)
1 1/4 cup frozen mixed berries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Prepare your muffin trays (I use silicone, so just give them a super light spray of canola oil).

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Stir through the oats and sugar. Mix in the butter.

Whisk the egg and combine with the milk, then pour through the dry ingredients. Stir through the berries.

Divide evenly between your muffin holes and bake for 30 minutes or so, until springy.

MAKES 12

THIS RECIPE IS STILL IN DEVELOPMENT, LET ME KNOW ANY FEEDBACK – AFTER CHATS ON FACEBOOK, MAYBE TRY BAKING THESE FOR 35 MINUTES AS THE FROZEN BERRIES ADD ALOT OF MOISTURE – Wendy

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Meringue-o-tangs (and other birthday party stuff)

September 19, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, family, ideas, kids, recipe

Yes, I know, the sheep has a moustache.

As if moving house and launching a new cookbook wasn’t enough, I’m rounding out my fortnight with Miss Fruitarian’s 7th birthday. With no chance of letting it slide by unnoticed (and fuelled on by guilt at moving the kids mid-term), I’ve had to bite the bullet and take on party hosting 2 weeks into a new home.

As regular readers will know, I love to try and keep party things pretty simple with small menus and a strict one-colour birthday cake policy. So you can image my horror when Miss F presented me with Annabel Karmel’s “My first cookbook” opened at farmyard cupcakes and an announcement that she’d happily forfeit a big cake in favour of these. Now I’m known to be generally undaunted by creative pursuits (being that I make a large proportion of my income as an illustrator) but even I was unprepared to take on the doggies, opting instead for these cute Betty Crocker chickens. They turned out well and the kids loved them.

Topping up the sugar, I also whipped up some swirly biscuits (also from Karmel’s book) and of course, a party isn’t a party without meringues. They cost bugger all to make, can be made a few days ahead and are SO pretty. Don’t be scared of them. Just remember – use eggs at room temperature, use a really clean (not plastic) bowl, NO YOLKS (not even a tiny bit), and cook without the fan-forced option.

So pretty! So cheap! So easy to make ahead!

These days I stick to a recipe from Stephanie Alexander’s bible, but increase the quantities a little.

Sue’s meringues (excuse my paraphrasing)

3 egg whites
¾ cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 150, line two trays with baking paper. Beat the whites until stiff peak stage (the mixture stays standing upright when you pull out the beaters). Add the sugar gradually. Add the vanilla. Beat until the mixture is no longer grainy (rub it between your fingers to test).

Dollop amounts onto trays (they don’t spread, so load them up). Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, open the oven door slightly and leave them to cool completely.

Makes 36.

It’s worth buying one of the disposable piping bags and having a go. It’s really fun, you get a fantastic result and feel just a bit uber-parent when looking at the final product.

Like rolling a turd in glitter, a piped meringue will mesmerise, regardless.

And am I cheating with this photo of them all sitting there perfect and… raw? Well yes, but with a new oven that I’m still getting to know, it was inevitable that I’d burn a few.

Never fear, even a failed meringue is delicious crunched through yoghurt and chopped fruit.
___________________________

For other party food, try…
Chocolate nipple cakes
Fuss-free party cakes and mud-bread
___________________________

Tra-la-la-la (and other sounds of the suburbs)

September 7, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged family, fruit, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Can you hear that tinkling of laughter? The crunching of leaves and the squirting of water? That’s my children out playing in their yard! Truly, it’s probably Miss Fruitarian up a tree in her home made treehouse, just big enough for her two zhu zhu pets, Jilly and Prince Dashington.

Mr Meat & Potatoes is under the house, whacking the piers with chopsticks and calling out ‘CAN YOU HEAR THAT MUM?’, then running around the side to come and check.

I am, of course, in my new north facing, sunny kitchen relishing a bit of sunshine and trying to ignore the fact that each time we upgrade our housing, I somehow end up with a crappier kitchen. This one is even complete with mouldy cupboards that smell like a vague mixture of wet dog, old vase water and forgotten socks. I’ve quickly learnt to hold my breath whenever I need to fetch anything.

Still, I’ve got an oven that cooks evenly (although it smells too) and I’m feeling very domestic and settled. The new school is going well and with all the walking (before we had to drive to school) and outdoor play, both the kids are eating like horses and falling exhausted into bed each night.

So to complete the happy family picture, here’s an apple muffin recipe that can be baked in either mini muffin tins, or patty pans. I’m opting for the patty pans – easier to clean up, and just like a whole batch of muffin tops (the good kind).

vegie smugglers apple and sultana mini muffins

Muffin tops of the delicious kind.

Apple & sultana mini muffins

1¼ cups self-raising flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup All-Bran
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup sultanas
¾ cup milk
½ cup grapeseed oil
1 egg
1 apple, grated

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line 24 mini-muffin holes with paper cases.
Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, All-Bran, cinnamon and sultanas and mix lightly.

Place the milk, oil, egg and apple in another bowl and whisk well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Fold in until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin cases. Bake for 15–18 minutes until golden and springy.

MAKES 24

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ok, maybe this is the last winter dish?

August 15, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats

Cold toes? Try hot fruit.

Well, we’ve warmed up with fish pie and chilli, but REALLY, winter is all about the sweeties isn’t it! I crave them so much more at this time of year. Trying to make them more justifiable, I like to cram them with fruit. Here’s a yummy crumble that is easy to make and even easier to eat! Enjoy.

Apple and pears make this crumble totally healthy, right?

Apple & pear crumble

Canola oil cooking spray
20g unsalted butter
3 apples & 2 pears, peeled, cored and sliced into a variety of sizes (to give a good variety of texture)
Zest of ½ lemon
2 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
²/³ cup plain flour
¼ tsp salt
80g butter, diced
¼ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp rolled oats
Handful of very finely chopped mixed nuts (any combination of almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios or walnuts)
Vanilla ice-cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a medium–sized baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the apples and pears. Toss until soft (6-8 minutes). Mix through the lemon zest, sugar and cinnamon. Spoon into the baking dish.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt. Toss in the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the flour until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar, oats and nuts.

Scatter the crumble mix over the top of the fruit and bake for 30–35 minutes until the top is golden and the fruit is soft.
Serve with ice cream.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 3 KIDS

In season: apples & snow

July 14, 2011 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged cooking techniques, fruit, heirloom recipes, recipe

.... well in Australia, we call this 'snow'....

Last weekend the Vegie Smugglers family had a jaunt out to the country. We had a fantastic time at Orange, which is about 4 hours inland from Sydney. Great drive, great foodie spot, great adventure playground for the kids, and spots of snow up on Mount Canobolas. Well, patches of dirty ice really, but for never-seen-snow kids like mine, it was the ultimate thrill and they were happy to frolic in the sub-zero mud for an hour (I had to retreat to the car with frostbite about 45 minutes in).

We struck gold and happened to be in town on the weekend of the farmer’s market. The produce was fresh, tasty, local, and heavenly. And I couldn’t leave without stopping by one of the little unattended roadside shacks where you pick your box of produce and leave your money in the honesty box. Love it. Funnily enough, you don’t see those boxes too often in the city.

How could I resist!!!

So now we’re eating our way through 7kg of apples. I’ve dug out ‘Lady Hackett’s Household Guide’ and am trawling through the chapter on ‘hot fruit puddings’. Most of them all start with the premise of stewed apples, which they mainly do with heaps of water. Sounds a bit insipid, so I’ve dug out my own stewed apples recipe. And with the final product I’m going to have an experiment this weekend. I like the look of the apple rice meringue. Combine the mashed apples with cooked rice and 2 egg yolks, and then top with the egg whites whipped up with caster sugar. Set in the oven for a few minutes until brown. Yum.

Here I've dropped the apples onto a rice pudding... recipe in the book...

Stewed apples

2 large or 3 small apples, peeled, sliced
2 tbsp water
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger (optional)
2 cloves (optional)
1 tbsp butter

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Mix well, cover and bring to a simmer. Cook until the fruit is soft (8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Cool. Discard the cloves (if using).

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