treats | Vegie Smugglers

Posts tagged treats

Giveaways (with FREE STUFF)

August 24, 2012 · Filed under News · Tagged lunchbox, treats, vegetables

Regular readers will know that I generally steer clear of PR posts (and PRs generally steer clear of me).

I’ve discovered the hard way that, ‘we’ll pop some [insert product name] in the mail for you to review’ actually translates as ‘we’ll bribe you with free stuff in return for favourable comments’. So after initial gushing from PRs about the AWESOMENESS of my blog, the silence has been deathly once I’ve posted truthfully about the product they’ve been flogging.

I prefer to make a buck selling my own products and I’ve worked pretty hard to gain the trust of my readers. I don’t want to insult you all by PROSTITUTING myself for the sake of some free biscuits. (Although I must say, I was recently sent a bunch of dairy & gluten free biscuits from Eskal and they were FANTASTIC and definitely worth seeking out).

But sometimes the planets align and I get approached by people who are promoting brands or causes I support and who are happy to offer a giveaway. Then I find myself quite amiable. As Kerry Packer was reported to say, “There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?”. Mine is apparently about $4.35 for a packet of Eskal chocolate wafers. So here we go…

See, I even popped the branded bag in the background!

Giveaway #1

Bakers Delight is launching their new Chia & Fruit bread. I’ve had a munch of it and it’s good. Less sweet than a supermarket fruit bread and much more substantial. I’ve compared the nutrition panels of the chia loaf vs. a regular raisin toast and the BD one wins in every single category (plus it packs in Omega 3s), which makes it a really good afternoon tea or lunchbox option. My preference was for the loaf covered with chia seeds rather than the sunflower kernels. Anyway – cut to the shizzle – Bakers Delight have given me 3x$10 vouchers to give away so that you can buy some a loaves of your own to try. To enter, leave a comment below about what your favourite BD product is and why. Just for the record, mine is definitely their MINCE TARTS. They are so good that I don’t even bother trying to make my own. Just buy theirs.

Giveaway #2

More altruistic, this giveaway is sponsored by Aussie Farmers Direct in collaboration with the GI Cancer institute to help promote their Gutsy Kids challenge. Note, gutsy kids, not gusty kids, which is the typo I keep making (this version would be for those on an all cabbage challenge). You can read all about the fabulous program here.

The challenge helps to encourage kids (adults, you’re welcome to join in) to eat 2 serves of fruit and 4 serves of vegies every day for a week. And while you’re getting healthier, you’re raising money for cancer research. Did you know that 26 Australians die each day from gastro intestinal cancers? I didn’t.

If you have Vegie Smugglers 2 then you can flip to the handy visual reference of serving sizes to see what 2/4 actually entails.

Here’s a suggestion of how to reach your daily quota: have a banana on your cereal, a carrot at recess, some spinach leaves on your sandwich, an apple for arvo tea, some cucumber & green beans for a pre-dinner snack (try serving them with beetroot dip for extra points). Then for dinner… well… welcome to Vegie Smugglers, pretty much any dinner you serve the kids will get you to your target.

To win the Aussie Farmer’s Direct fruit box, comment below about your favourite Vegie Smugglers recipe, including which vegies you can now sneak into your little lovelies thanks to this site or the cookbooks. And please do visit the Gutsy Challenge website.

Right then, tarting done. I’ll pop my bustier and feather boa away and see you all next week with a great end of winter dinner!

*Thanks all competition now closed. Congratulations to Kirsty for winning the Aussie Farmer’s Direct box, and to Claire, Rebecca and Laura for winning the Baker’s Delight vouchers.*

Comments (60) »

Chocolate, bran & zucchini muffins

August 19, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, lunchbox, recipe, treats, vegetables, zucchini

Well, there was much interest in these little chocolate morsels when I put up a preview pic the other day over on Facebook. So rather than making you wait, I’ve fast-tracked them onto the blog for you all to bake up this week. Rather than being puritanical about food and healthy eating, I like to acknowledge that the vast majority of us mortals WILL eat chocolate; so the least I can do is pack a bit of extra fibre into the mix to make them just a tiny bit healthier.

They’re nut free and easily made dairy free too, which means that most lunchboxes should cope with them nicely.

Now I know you’re all out there, I can hear you breathing. Well actually, I can see my traffic stats. But none of you ever really comment on here. Why is that? I know we all chat over at FB, but my poor old blog gets a bit lonely from time to time. I always love to hear about if you try out a recipe, how it goes and what variations you need to make for your family.

Don’t be shy. Remember then when you post recipe comments with the posts they get kept for future reference. On FB they just get forgotten in the jumble of cyber junk.

Both you and the kids will be happy with these!

Chocolate, bran and zucchini muffins

1 ¼ cups self-raising flour
¾ cup Allbran cereal (or any type of bran bits)
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg
¾ cup milk (soy works great)
¾ cup vegetable oil (I like grapeseed, but canola is cheaper)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 zucchini, grated (fearless VS testers report back that small/medium zucchini will work best, or a large one may need to have liquid squeezed out).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12 cup regular muffin tray (I just use spray oil since I’m too lazy to melt and brush on butter).

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bran, cocoa, sugar and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl or jug, mix together the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and zucchini.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix gently until well combined. Divide evenly between your muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or so, until they spring back when touched and a skewer comes out clean.

Makes 12.

Optional extra: a ½ cup of choc chips will make these extra chocolatey!

Comments (77) »

Sunshine in a can. Why 1970s mums were right, after all.

July 4, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged feeding the family, fruit, heirloom recipes, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Instant happy.

Buying fruit at the moment is a bit bleak, isn’t it? The oranges are nice enough. The apples are good. There’s been a bright spot of QLD strawberries, but really my cold feet and numb fingers are longing for something warmer, something more evocative of sunny climes.

So it was with enthusiasm that I found a tin of pineapple pieces shoved up the back of my pantry. Proving my theory, that sometimes disorganisation can indeed lead to happy moments.

Is this little pineapple can making you feel nostalgic? Did you eat much of the stuff when you were growing up?

My mum was possibly one of the only mums in the 1970s who resisted the urge to add pineapple to every salad, rice dish and dessert, so my approach to it is untainted by scary childhood memories of ‘Hawaiian Chicken’ or ‘Rice al la Tropicale’. Still, without those fond memories to guide me, I’m a bit hesitant to bung it into too many savoury dishes. But I promise to have a go. I’d love to hear about your MUST TRY pineapple dishes. Any culinary treat that I’m really missing out on?

While I search far and wide for new taste sensations, these happy little cakes will hit the spot for a bit of school holiday baking. Miss F helped me ice them. It made me feel all old-world ‘mom’ and I like the fact that they look fairly plain, but then you crack them open and are gifted with a world of sunshine. All that pineapple! Well, and all that butter… but hey, it’s a recipe for a fun time, not a long time.

Testing your ‘mom’-ness, I’ve written this recipe up old-school style, with minimal instructions, and an assumption that you know your plain from your self-raising, that creaming butter and sugar is just what you do most days and oven temps need not be discussed.

Looks quite sedate…

Hawaiian pineapple & coconut cakes.

Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin tray and line with paper cases. Heat your oven to moderate. Cream 140g butter with 2/3 cup caster sugar. Add 4 eggs, slowly and beat well after each. (Adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg stops the mixture splitting). Fold in the remains of your 1 1/4 cup of self-raising flour, 2/3 cup desiccated coconut and the drained fruit from a 440g can pineapple pieces (reserve the liquid). Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes.

Ice with icing sugar mixture combined with enough of the reserved pineapple syrup to form a thick glaze.

…awwwwww, transported straight to Queensland.

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Living dangerously (with added nuts)

May 21, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged brunch, freezer, fruit, lunchbox, parenting, recipe, treats

Every now and again I feel the need to live dangerously. Like last night, when I ate carbs (processed and white) at 8.15pm. Or last week, when I exited out of the carpark through the ENTRY driveway. Talk about crazy times. Not quite on par with some of the stunts from my earlier days but you know how it is – a couple of kids come along and suddenly life is being lived a little differently.

Pre-children I never gave nut allergies a care nor realised how dangerous they are (there’s a great info page here). Equipped with my new knowledge (and surrounded by my kid’s friends with these allergies) it’s hard to use nuts in a recipe without feeling like you’re being the most irresponsible parent in the world. Nuts in the hands of the wrong kids can be life-threatening. Although nuclear weapons in the hands of legendary nutter, George Bush, was also life-threatening, and yet we’ve all managed to live through that one.

Every now and then though, I break free and have a nut off. The thing is you see, that if you are in the 99% of us who are allergy free, then nuts are awesome. They offer you nutrition (lots of relevant info here) and flavour that just can’t be substituted with any other ‘safer’ ingredient. And this recipe (whilst not as full on ‘out there’ as my nut puff recipe) uses almonds in a really good way.

While not all schools are nut-free, the majority of them maintain a pretty strict policy on food. It was refreshing at our old school – which was small and had no anaphylactic kids – we could still pack peanut butter sandwiches. But I totally get that most schools are larger, and need to impose blanket bans to cover their own bums. It is interesting to note though, on this NSW Government policy PDF that ‘Banning of foods or food products is not recommended. There is a lack of evidence to suggest that banning a food from a school is helpful in reducing the risk of anaphylaxis.”

So while these muffins would be perfect in lunchboxes, you may need to pay heed to your school’s policy and most likely keep these for afternoon tea instead.

vegie smugglers choc chip almond and banana muffin

Mmmmm, I fancy one right now!

Choc chip, almond & banana muffins

Even better than the taste of these muffins is that you can measure out the whole recipe with one half cup measure! Ah the joys of no fuss baking.

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup choc chips
1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup grape seed oil
2 eggs
3 overripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12 hole regular muffin tin.

In a large bowl combine the sifted flour, sugar, choc chips and almonds.

In a jug or smaller bowl, mix together the oil and eggs. Pour into the dry ingredients. Mix a bit then add the mashed bananas. Stir everything well but don’t overwork.

Divide evenly into the muffin holes. Bake for 25 minutes or so, until golden and cooked through.

Makes 12

Leftovers freeze well!

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Because ANZAC biscuits solve everything

April 16, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, ideas, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Thank you to my Queensland friends who have brought it to my attention that you all started back into Term 2 this week.

And where is the long-promised term 2 planner? Ummmmm… well… creative differences with my team (i.e. I’ve been a bit lazy, but arguing strenuously with myself about the ongoing procrastination) have seen a slight delay. I’m hoping that it will be available from Thursday. You’d think I’d be super keen to complete the set, but alas, I do find thinking about 50 lunchboxes all at once to be a challenge. I’m sure you can feel my pain and appreciate the measures I go to, to keep your lives running smoothly.

While I tinker away, getting my mezze plate looking just so, I’m keen to get you all started, so below is the recipe and here is the link to download the menu planner for week 1.

Forging an even greater respect for one of our most meaningful of holidays, these ANZAC biscuits are guaranteed to grab the kid’s attention and imprint a childhood memory that links respect for the past with autumnal leaves, crisp days and compulsive urges to eat way too many biscuits in one go.

Most recipes for ANZACs are similar. No need to meddle with perfection. However for my batch, I’ve used treacle instead of golden syrup. I like the sharper flavour – and besides, I’ve a massive tub of it clogging up my fridge ever since I made ginger bread biscuits at Christmas. Feel free to use whichever is lurking at your place. Both are spectacular. In fact I think these are my favourite biscuits of all time. Yours too?

These biscuits are history – all eaten within hours of leaving the oven.

ANZAC biscuits

1 cup plain flour
1 cup traditional oats
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup desiccated coconut
2 tbsp treacle (or golden syrup)
125g butter
1 tsp bicarb soda + 1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 170C. Line two biscuits trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl sift the flour and mix in the oats, sugar and coconut.

In a small saucepan melt the butter and stir in the treacle. Mix in the combined bicarb & water. Stir well (mix might froth slightly). Pour into the dry ingredients. Combine well, roll into balls, place on trays and bake for 12-15 minutes until as chewy or crunchy as you like.

MAKES 32ish.

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April 2013 update: Since this post, I’ve gotten it together and you can now buy the Complete Lunchbox Planner here.

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When good food styling turns bad

February 21, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Sweets & treats · Tagged cooking techniques, ideas, recipe, treats

I need to be careful with this post and word things very delicately indeed, just so that Google doesn’t relegate my entire site to the ‘smut’ category without realising that I am just reporting on a pretty average food styling day in the kitchen.

Things started out well enough – first round testing on some new recipes. Always a risky endeavor, the first go at a recipe is rarely perfect and often needs quite a bit of tweaking. Also rare is photographing a recipe at this stage, but for some reason on this occasion, I decided that I would. So the camera was all set.

Inspired by nut cake recipes, I’d decided on devising some little nut ‘puffs’ – cakes in patty pans. And with walnuts and other good ingredients, these are a treat with a bit of fibre and not too much sugar.

And the little things turned out quite well. Yummy straight out of the oven – quite bready and not too sweet. But deciding that they could be more ‘special’, I decided to ice them – something rarely done in my kitchen due to the hassle, the sugar factor and the impatience factor as both I and the kids are keen to get stuck in. Still, combining icing sugar mixture and lemon juice together is hardly a bother and away I went. Deciding on a ‘rustic’ finish to suit the look of the cakes, I splashed the gooey white stuff about. Standing back to examine my handiwork I could immediately see my error of judgment. Instead of ‘Donna Hay’ gorgeous rustic, my cakes look like soiled props from some nasty adult film. Bless those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about.

Hmmmmmmmmm

Dismayed, I decided that leaving them as is would only lead to much mirth from my best friend (and much humiliation for myself) – the only thing that could save them (and me) now was chocolate. So my healthy little nut cakes ended up with not one icing, but two! Still the kids were happy enough and I must say they tasted pretty good.

Dark chocolate and lemon icing nut puffs

Better.

But as with all recipes, a second go at them made the world of difference. A bit of mixed spice to jazz up the flavour and I’ve given the cum icing a miss – just some dark chocolate melts, melted and spooned over, then topped off with a pecan. Despite their soft-porn history I refuse to rename them, thus here are my dark chocolate nut puffs. Enjoy.

Take two – delicious.

Dark chocolate nut puffs

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup almond meal
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or hazelnuts)
1/2 cup oatbran
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g softened butter (if you’re not scared of fats, they’re even better with 75g)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 cup full fat milk
Pecans or almonds (optional)

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease 24 patty pans.

Sift the flour into a bowl then mix in the almond meal, walnuts, oatbran, spice and baking powder.

In another bowl, use a hand held mixer to cream together the butter and sugar. Stir in the dry ingredients. Mix through the egg and milk. Divide between the pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Eat warm with some sifted icing sugar sprinkled over the top, or top with melted dark chocolate and pecans or almonds.

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Apparently, life is all about ‘gratitude’

February 12, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged family, fruit, ideas, parenting, recipe, treats

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight...

Gratitude seems to be the latest Facebook catch cry. I’m seeing it everywhere. How to cultivate it, how to acknowledge it, how to savour it and turn your gratitude into an endless patience and love.

As it turns out, I can’t be cynical about any of this, since I totally agree. I am always SO grateful and SO appreciate of my blessings that I’m always waiting somehow for them to come tumbling down. As I guess they will one day, although I hope I’ll be so busy being grateful for the minutiae that I won’t notice the wider catastrophes befalling me.

A couple of years back, when I was unhappy in my job and trying to find the courage to publish a silly little book about sneaking vegetables into children, I did what many women do and looked everywhere for omens and signs that I was choosing the right path rather than foolishly tossing away a well paid part-time job. I remember doing a psych test online, to determine my suitability to life as an entrepreneur. It told me that I wasn’t suited at all, because my strongest trait was ‘gratitude’, which I guess means I’m good at touchy-feely stuff, but not good at being a self-determined, small-business fascist. And perhaps they were right. I still struggle with being too self-effacing and embarrassed when it comes to pushing my business ‘out there’. But I refuse to submit to the theory that gratitude and success aren’t compatible.

It’s the simplest thing that has had my mind focusing back on gratitude (and joy) – the star stamp from the picture up top. As a girl I would do the whole ‘star light, star bright’ rhyme and WISH for a set of teachers stamps. I wished this wish OFTEN, hoping somehow Santa would hear and sort me out. But he never did. So this year when I was buying the kid’s school supplies I saw this stamp and bought it. And I can’t tell you how ridiculously HAPPY it makes me EVERY time.

With typical adult rationality I had to come up with a purpose for the purchase. Now instead of writing ‘PAID’ on the top of my bills, I stamp them. Oh, the joy of a paid electricity bill! And boy! What a time saver ;).

So what’s your joy? Where’s your gratitude? I’d love to know. It can be amazing how the simple things in life truly are often the best.

There's no simpler joy than a perfect pikelet.

Fruit Pikelets

1 cup self-raising flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
150ml milk (soy drink works well)
1 egg, lightly whisked
¼ cup sultanas
¼ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup dried apple, finely diced
Margarine, butter or canola oil cooking spray, to grease
Icing sugar and jam,
to serve

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the sugar.

Combine the milk and egg and pour into the dry ingredients, whisking to remove any lumps.

You should now have a nice smooth batter. Add more milk if it is too thick. Stir through the sultanas, coconut and apple.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over low heat. Grease with either margarine, butter or canola oil spray. Add tablespoonful dollops to the pan. Cook until bubbles start to appear, ease a spatula under then flip. Cook on the other side for a minute or so until golden brown.

Serve the pikelets with a dusting of icing sugar and jam, on their own, or with butter and jam.

MAKES 24

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Controversy and packing a (lunchbox) punch

January 19, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged brunch, feeding the family, fruit, lunchbox, recipe, treats

Awwwww. Mr Meat & Potatoes shows off the new shoes.

I’ve got a small case of writers block. It’s two weeks since my last ~~confession~~ post and I’ve got a new lunchbox planner to bang on about and yet… the words don’t want to come.

So I’m digging through my emergency ideas arsenal. It’s full of word combinations that are guaranteed to at least get you all started, even if I stay relatively quiet. Usually the phrase ‘fat kids’ gets the juices flowing. As does ‘cling wrap’ and yesterday on facebook I discovered that using both ‘wiggles’ and ‘creepy’ in a sentence together gets quite a big response.

Similarly the phrase ‘healthy lunchbox’ is enough to glaze over the eyes of even the keenest adults, which is why I’m going to launch the new planner with words like ‘variety’, ‘tasty”, ‘easy recipes’, and ‘seasonal yumminess’… And with that, I declare the Term 1 planner launched (cue champagne smash).

Keeping with tradition, here’s a free preview recipe. Previously you’ve enjoyed a beetroot sandwich spread and the cheese puffs (still my favourite all time recipe) so today I’m going sweet, with these carrot, muesli and banana muffins. Fulfilling all of the criteria for a good planner recipe, they’re seasonal, quick to make, store well, freeze well and the kids will happily eat them.

In case you’re not familiar with them, the e-book planners have a weekly recipe and menu plan to keep you inspired throughout the term. Other recipes include corn relish, classic corned beef, a pesto pasta salad and chocolate chip biscuits and all for just $4.95. You can view some pages on my sample page or just click here to buy one now.

My kids will hoover this, will yours?

Carrot & muesli muffins

1 1⁄2 cups self-raising flour
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
1 carrot, grated
1 cup muesli
1⁄4 cup grapeseed oil
1 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 overripe banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease/line a 12-hole muffin tray.

Sift flour into a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, carrot and muesli.

In another bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, egg and banana. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined.

Divide out into muffin tray. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

MAKES 12.

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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.
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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.