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Archive for March, 2009

POTATO SALAD

March 30th, 2009 1 comment

Tato Salad

This salad is great for barbeques, and every time I make it I am asked for copies of the recipe. The secret ingretient is the brand of mayonaise- I only use Best Foods Real Mayonaise. This brand can be tricky to get in Australia because it is not available in supermarkets, continental deils usually have it. In New Zealand Kato makes a great mayonaisse, this would be my second preference. Whenever I have tried store-bought potato salads, I always find the ‘tatos are undercooked and al-dente, I like them to be very well cooked and soft. My mum is an expert of the different varieties of potatoes, I generally just go for the ones that have purple skin and creamy yellow flesh, and use them unpeeled in this recipe.

Ingredients
8 large potatoes, washed and cubed
½ jar best foods real mayonaise
¼ cup shelled pistacho nuts
1 red onion, chopped
2-3 finely sliced spring onions
1 lime

Method
Boil the potatoes unti they are very soft, drain. Gently mix in the nuts, red and spring onions, and mayonaise. Squeeze lime juice over the salad and garnish with extra nuts or onion. This can be served warm, or made ahead and chilled.

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BUTTER KUCHEN

March 27th, 2009 3 comments

This is adapted from a recipe of Rory’s Gran. She used farm butter instead of cream – I find that the thickened cream works really well. It is really yummy for afternoon tea. 

Ingredients

Dough

500g flour

2t dry yeast

¼ c sugar

75g butter

250ml lukewarm milk

2 small eggs

 

Topping

300ml thickened cream

Soft brown sugar

Ground cinnamon

 

Method

  • Mix together ½ the milk with a teaspoon of the sugar and the yeast
  • Leave in a warm place to froth
  • Rub the butter into the flour and add the sugar – mix. I do this all in the food processor
  • Add the yeast mixture, balance of milk & the eggs to flour.
  • Mix well until the dough is of a sticky/stretchy consistency
  • Place in a bowl and leave, in a warm place, to rise until double in size
  • Knead and then roll dough out to fit a roasting pan
  • Leave to rise again
  • When risen, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and then with brown sugar
  • Using the back of a wooden spoon make holes all over the dough
  • Using two teaspoons place little blobs of cream on the holes.
  • Bake in 190ºC oven for about 10 mins or until cooked

butter-kuchen

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BLUEBERRY FRIANDS

March 22nd, 2009 4 comments

Friands [wiki] are very popular in NZ Cafés, but they have not really taken off in Australia, and are seldom available, however in Perth the David Jones Foodhall sells them. There is a strange tradition in Perth where on your birthday you have to take in cake, which is odd because on your special day you have to wake up an hour earlier and spend the morning baking, in NZ and the East coast the usual tradition was a pub lunch or with your workmates. Anyway this is what I took into work yesterday, they went down a treat. Be careful not to overfill the cups with mixture- nobody likes a muffin-top.

Ingredients
180g (6oz) unsalted butter
6 eggwhites
200g (7oz) icing sugar, plus extra to dust
60g (2oz) plain flour, sifted
120g (4¼ oz) almond meal
200g (7oz) fresh or frozen blueberries (or any raspberries, bilberries etc)

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F). Use a little butter to grease a 12 hole friand pan.
Lightly beat eggwhites in a large bowl until frothy. Sift in icing sugar and flour, then stir in almond meal. Add melted butter, and blueberries, stir in until just combined, then spoon into pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning tray halfway, until tops are golden and springy to touch.
Stand for 5 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool slightly. Dust with icing sugar.

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VANILLA BUTTER CAKE

March 2nd, 2009 3 comments

Ingredients

Cake

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter at room temperature

3/4 cup milk

3 large eggs at room temperature

2 1/2 teaspoons of double acting baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

1lb or 500g confectioners/icing sugar

1/2 cup/1 stick or 125g butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon high quality vanilla extract

3-5 tablespoons milk

Method

Cake

Preaheat the oven to 375 F or 190 C.  Grease and flour 2 8 inch or 20 centimeter cake pans.  Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electic mixer for 5 minutes until well blended.  Pour the mixture into pans, dividing evenly.  Spread it in each pan with a slight indentation in the middle and raised slightly at the sides.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger and shrinks slightly from the sides of the pan.  Cool the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes and then turn out the cakes onto the racks and cool completely.

Frosting

Mix the sugar, butter and vanilla with an eletric mixer or in a food processor.  Gradually add the milk until the mixture is a spreadable consistency.  Be careful not to add too much milk.  Sandwich the two cake layers together with the frosting and then frost the sides and top.

Serves 10

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FINGERLING POTATOES WITH GARLIC AND PEAS

March 1st, 2009 Comments off

Ingredients

24 fingerling or new potatoes (six servings)

24 sugarsnap peas

4 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

Method

Clean the potatoes.  Place them in a pan and cover with cold water.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then reduce to low heat.   Cook the potatoes until just tender.  While the potatoes are cooking wash and prepare the peas by cutting off the tops and bottoms and removing the strings.  Peel the garlic and chop finely.  When the potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander and set aside.  In the pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook garlic for about 1 minute, stirring frequently.  Add the peas and stir fry for 1 minute.  Add the potatoes and fry for 1 minute.  Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.

Serves 6

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