Shepherd's pie

8 medium potatoes
50g butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated cheese

800g mince
1 onion
1 leek
Garlic and ginger
Herbs and spices
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp chutney
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Peel and quarter the potatoes and boil until soft.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Brown onion, leek, garlic and ginger.
Brown the mince.
Add in herbs and spices and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the stock, chutney, tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 15 minutes.

Mash the potatoes and add the butter, milk and grated cheese.
Pour the mince into a baking dish and cover with the mashed potato.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

White chocolate tart

300g white chocolate
100g butter
5 eggs separated
100g sugar
2 tbsp standard flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Melt the chocolate and butter over boiling water.
Leave for 10 minutes to cool.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar together and then fold in the chocolate mixture.
Fold in the flour.
Beat egg whites until stiff and then fold in.
Spoon into cake tin and bake for 35 minutes.

Baked custard

3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
Beat together eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla.
Place 4 ramekins into a baking dish and pour the mixture into them.
Pour boiling water into baking dish until halfway up the ramekins.
Bake for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Spaghetti bolognese

1/2 packet spaghetti
800g mince
1 onion
Garlic and ginger
Herbs and spices
Tin tomatoes

Place the spaghetti in boiling water and cook until al dente.
Brown the onion, ginger and garlic.
Then add the mince and brown.
Add the herbs and spices and cook for 3 minutes.
Add the tin of tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.

Kiwifruit and honey cake

It's the kiwifruit season and some were going off so we made this cake to use them up.

50g softened butter
1/2 cup honey
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed kiwifruit (if you don't have enough use plain yoghurt to top up)
2 cups standard flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Cream butter and honey.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat in.
Fold in the kiwifruit.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and fold through.
Fold through the milk.
Spoon into a cake tin and bake for 35 minutes or until cooked.

Chocolate custard

1 cup milk
1 cup cream
200g 70% dark chocolate
6 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C.
Melt the milk, cream and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl.
Gradually add the milk mixture, stirring all the time.
Pour the mixture into individual ramekins and place in a roasting dish.
Pour hot water half way up the sides.
Bake for 40 minutes.

Note: The milk mixture makes a super hot chocolate as well!

Beef stroganoff

1 kg gravy beef
2 onions, chopped
Garlic / ginger
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp honey
3 cups water
200g sour cream

Fry the onions, beef, garlic and ginger until the beef is brown
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir through.
Add the water.
Pressure cook for 1 hour.
The stew can be thickened with corn flour if you want a thicker sauce.
Just before serving, stir through the sour cream.

Lamb's neck stew

1 kg lamb's neck
2 onions
1 leek
Garlic / ginger
1 yellow pepper
2 carrots, peeled
Tim tomatoes
1/2 cabbage

Fry the onions, leek, garlic, ginger and lamb until the lamb is brown
Cut up and add the rest of the rest of the ingredients.
Add some herbs and spices (garam marsala, cumin, cardamom, paprika. mustard seeds, lemon grass)
Pressure cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Chocolate tart

100g butter
100g brown sugar
100g 70% dark chocolate broken into pieces
3 eggs, separated
20g standard flour
1 tsp vanilla essence
40g ground almonds

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Melt the butter, sugar and chocolate in a double boiler.
Cool for about 5 minutes and then whisk in the egg yolks and vanilla essence, stirring all the time.
Sift in the flour and almonds and combine.
Whisk the eggs whites until stiff and fold in.
Scrape into a cake tin and bake for about 35 minutes.

Lamb chops with scalloped potatoes

Lamb chops
6 potatoes
Mixed herbs
1 egg
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Peel and slice the potatoes.
Beat together the egg and milk.
Place layers of potato in a roasting dish, sprinkle the herbs over and cover with the milk and egg mixture. If the potatoes are not covered, add a bit more milk.
Bake for about 40 minutes.
Place a rack over the dish (see picture) and place the lamb chops on this.
This allows all the juices to drip into the potatoes.
Bake for another 20 minutes, depending on how well done you like your chops.
Serve with some winter vegetables.

Getting rid of the fat

The problem with cooking stews etc. is that you get a layer of fat at the top which you can scoop off. The normal procedure is to pour this down the sink but because the fats harden at room temperature, this clogs up the drains.

We put it into a cup or glass and then put it in the fridge. When it's hard, we scoop it into a plastic bag and put it with the rest of the weekly refuse.