lamingtons

As today is Australia Day I thought I would cook some of our national dishes if Australia truly has national dishes - we are such a multi-cultural nation.

So today I made lamingtons with B3.

First I made a sponge, using this recipe for sponge cake in a large rectangular pan, in Australia these are known as lamington tins.

Because I was a little slow off the mark- I actually was supposed to cook the sponge yesterday, because a fresh sponge is too soft and crumbly, I cheated and put the sponge in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Then I cut it into rectangles, I put these back in the freezer while I made the icing.

Lamingtons

1 x day old sponge cut into rectangles

Chocolate icing

250g icing sugar

1/4 C desiccated coconut

10g butter

1/4 C milk

Sift icing sugar (I used mixture) and cocoa into a heat proof bowl or top of double saucepan. Add softened butter and milk. Mix well. Stand over hot water and stir until butter is melted and icing is a good coating consistency.

Take your sponge squares and dip them first in the icing then roll in coconut, place on a wire rack to dry.

This is really a job for two people, one for the chocolate and one for the coconut..

My recipe says to use a 2 pronged fork for dipping in the icing and I usually do this, but with my fresh sponge I wasn't taking a risk so I just used my hand. I think this worked better even if it was a little messier- but I did enjoy licking my fingers when I was finished!

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When the lamington is cut you can see how the icing has soaked in slightly and the sponge in the middle.

I am making damper for tea and Aussie kangaroo burgers with this beetroot salad.

cool drinks

Since we visited South America in geography we have enjoyed some really refreshing lime drinks.

The first one is called Swiss lemonade and comes from Brazil.

The second is a frozen lime drink from Peru.

Both are easy to make and are great heading into the hot summer weather.

Swiss lemonade

INGREDIENTS:

1 lime

4 cups water

Sugar to taste

PREPARE:

Cut the lime in halves and each halve into  quarters.

Combine 2 cups of water with the lime  quarter in a blender.

Beat for only 3 seconds. If you beat for a longer time,  the lemonade will become bitter.

Pour the liquid through a strainer and add more 2 cups of water with ice and sugar to taste.

To make a slushy add more ice and blend again. We have made this a fair bit over summer, it is quick and easy and refreshing.

Frozen Lime Drink

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup key lime juice (from about 8 small key limes)
• 4 cups of crushed iced

Preparation:

1. Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Mix sugar water, lime juice, and ice in a blender, and blend until well mixed and slushy. Serve immediately in tall glasses. Serves 4.

zucchini relish

This is the recipe for zucchini relish I made at Christmas.

I found it here.

It is very yummy.

Great with cold meat, or steak, lovely on a cracker with cheese.

Zucchini Relish

Ingredients

·         12 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

·         4 cups chopped onion

·         5 tablespoons canning salt

·         1 red bell pepper, chopped

·         1 green bell pepper, chopped

·         6 cups white sugar

·         2 1/2 cups white vinegar

·         1 tablespoon cornstarch

·         3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

·         3/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

·         1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

·         1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

1.        Place the zucchini and onion in a large, non-metallic bowl, and sprinkle the salt overtop. Use your hands to evenly mix the salt throughout the zucchini. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

2.        The following day, drain the zucchini in a colander, and rinse well with cool water. Squeeze out excess water and set aside. Place the red and green bell pepper, sugar, vinegar, and cornstarch into a large pot. Add the nutmeg, turmeric, celery seed and pepper. Stir to combine, then add the drained zucchini. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes.

3.        Meanwhile, sterilize 7 one-pint jars and lids to hold relish. Pack relish into sterilized jars, making sure there are no spaces or air pockets. Fill jars all the way to top. Screw on lids.

4.        Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with boiling water. Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.

5.        Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all).

I actually halved the recipe and I didn't do the last two steps- the canning part.

I used golden zucchini because that is what I had growing but it would work just as well with green zucchini.

pavlova

Here is the recipe to one of my favourite desserts.
It is from the red NMAA Cooks book available here.

(this pav is still cooking and I don't have one of the finished pav)

Pavlova

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

8 T castor sugar

0.25 t sugar

0.5 t vanilla

1t vinegar

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

Beat egg whites and salt until stiff.

add sugar gradually, I like to do 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly.

Fold in vanilla and vinegar.

Cover tray (I usually use a large pizza or biscuit tray) with baking paper and spoon mixture onto it, making outer edges a little higher.

Turn oven down to 130C , put pavlova onto the lowest shelf and cook for 1.5-2hrs.
Allow to cool in oven.

To serve cover with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Strawberries in season are lovely or passionfruit, banana and kiwi fruit is another favourite.

Hint: Do not cook this on a rainy humid day if you want it crispy on the outside.

pickled onions

VCH made pickled onions out of some small onions in his garden, here is the recipe he used.

Pickled Onions

3kg pickling onions
250g salt
250g sugar
1L vinegar
2t ground mace
2t pepper
2t allspice
2t coriander seeds

Peel onions , cover with salt and enough water to just cover them.
Leave 24 hours, drain,pour cold water over them and drain again.
Wipe onions dry and place in dry jars.
Boil together vinegar and other ingredients for 15 minutes.
Strain, pour over onions immediately and seal.

Too easy, they taste very nice- the kids say like the shop bought ones.

beetroot and mint salad

This was last night's tea.
Steak, potatoes, and veges.
The vegetables were golden zucchini and eggplant from the garden char grilled.
VCH even declared that the eggplant was yummy!
Fresh asparagus also char grilled- not from the garden but in season and cheap at the moment.
Nothing can beat fresh asparagus - yum!!
It would have to be one of our favourite vegetables but you can only eat it for such a short period of time.

The other vegetable was beetroot also from the garden.
I didn't have time to cook it so I made up this super quick salad that we all agreed was just so yummy.
I have written it down here for you to try.


Beetroot and mint salad

Ingredients:
2 beetroot
white balsamic vinegar
2 heaped tablespoons sour cream
Mint

1. Peel and grate the beetroot leaving the stalk on it- to stop it bleeding too much.
2. Put this in a bowl with a splash of white balsamic vinegar
3. Mix in sour cream and roughly chopped mint

It is just so delicious.

peru

Last week we studied Peru.

Our meal was a dish from Peru called Tacu Tacu which is traditionally a working man's lunch dish made from leftovers and originated with African Slaves.


It consisted on a rice and bean patty, a thin sheet of steak, Fried Plantain (I used bananas - as per recipe) and a fried egg on top.
The rice and bean patty was too hot even though I had used half the amount of chilli.
The fried bananas were good.
VCH thought the dish was a bit dry- I would probably agree with him.

We also had a frozen lime drink- very refreshing in this hot weather.
I would definitely make this again.

Dessert was a caramel meringue parfait.
The caramel was made by boiling a tin of condensed milk for a couple of hours. (it tasted exactly the same as caramel top'n'fill) and the meringue was made by boiling port and sugar together and then adding to whipped egg whites.
You put the caramel into parfait glasses and then pipe the meringue on top, chill.
Sprinkle with cinnamon just before serving.
These were extremely rich.

There was heaps of meringue mixture left over so I piped it onto a tray (I am not one for piping much) and cooked it as for cooking meringues and we ate them at the same time as the dessert.
I think the kids liked them best of all.
I also found a nice salad recipe with corn in it but I didn't think we would be able to fit it in, but I would like to make it some other time.
It is interesting trying different things from other countries.
Some are hits and others not but I am glad that the children are always keen to try new things.