Recipes as a base

A lot of the recipes you will find here aren't actually "real" in the sense that they were published somewhere - they are generally inspired by a recipe that we noticed.

Half the fun is adapting and experimenting

e.g. the corn bread recipe - you could leave out the fluid in the can that you top up with milk and substitute something like beer or maybe even fruit juice. Yech you might say - but if you don't try it how will you ever know? And you may just discover something that really works. Chocolate with chicken breasts is an example - doesn't sound like it matches but the chocolate results in a really rich, intense sauce. It also confuses guests because they know the taste but don't make the association!

Or substitute something in the menu that you don't have in the pantry with something that you do have in the fridge that you want to use before you have to bin it!

Give it a go - that's how you learn.

Creamed apple pie

Sweet pastry
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup cream
Tin pie apples

Roll the pastry and spread over pie dish. Trim - reserve cut-offs.
Mix sugar, eggs and cream. Add apples and combine. Spread over crust.
Cut reserved pastry into strips and layer over top of mixture in a criss-cross fashion.
Bake at 200 degrees C for around 30 minutes or until set.

Macaroni bake

300g macaroni
Pack of ham
Can tomatoes
Herbs and spices
Frozen vegetables
2 eggs
Cup grated cheese
Cup milk

Cook the macaroni.
Place the frozen vegetables in a jug and pour boiling water over them
Cube the ham.
Drain the vegetables after 5 minutes.
Season and place above ingredients in an oven-proof dish.
Mix together the eggs. cheese and milk and pour over the pasta.
Cook at 180 degrees C for around 35 minutes or until set.

Golden dumplings with syrup

30g butter
1 1/4 cups self-raising flour
Pinch salt
1/4 cup golden syrup
1/2 cup milk

Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup syrup
1 1/2 cups water

Sift flour and salt and gently rub in butter.
Combine syrup and milk and mix with dry ingredients.
Simmer sauce ingredients for 5 - 7 minutes. Drop small portions of batter into syrup and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.
Serve with sauce and cream or ice-cream.

Beef and beans

500g mince
1 onion
1 green pepper
Leeks
Celery
400g can tomatoes
400g can mild chili beans

Topping

2 cups breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon garlic

Brown the onion, pepper, leeks and celery. Add the mince and cook until brown.
Pour over tomatoes and chili beans.
Add herbs and spices. Simmer for around 5 minutes.
Spoon into ovenproof dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs and garlic. Spread over the mince mixture.
Bake at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes.

Corn bread

300 g tin of corn - not creamed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
Milk

Drain liquid from tin into cup. Fill up with milk.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Make a well and mix in beaten eggs and liquid.
Add corn.
Bake at 180 degrees in a cake tin for around 20 minutes.
Place on rack to cool.

Simple meal

So time was short.

Preheated the oven to 160 degrees C, made a marinade of lime juice and coriander, poured this over some tender lamb chops, cleaned up some potatoes and baked the whole caboodle for an hour. 5 minutes before serving added a tin of whole baby beetroot and warmed them up. Cooked some frozen vegetables in a waterproof pot. Served with a packet of onion gravy.

Delicimondo! So simple but totally delicious.

Baked custard

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

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

Heat the milk, sugar and vanilla essence until warm. Break the eggs into a separate bowl and slowly whisk the warmed milk in until the eggs are warmed up.

Pour the mixture into an ovenproof bowl and place in a shallow pan of water.

Bake for an hour or until set.

The mess

One of the problems with cooking with kids is the mess. Grit your teeth and enjoy it. It's all part of the fun - although mum and dad have to wash up when the little ones are fast asleep!

Queen of puddings

3 Tbps jam
450 mls milk
1/2 cup sugar
25g butter
3 eggs, separated
100g Madeira or sponge cake (or breadcrumbs)
Tin pie apples

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Spread the jam over the bottom of a baking dish.

Heat milk, butter and five table spoons of sugar in a saucepan, stirring until all ingredients are dissolved. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and crumble the cake over them. Pour the hot mixture over this while stirring. Bake in oven until set.

Remove to cool.

Spoon the pie apples over the mixture.

Whisk egg whites and sugar. Spoon over the pudding.

Bake until meringue is brown.

Cottage pie

8 medium potatoes
Frozen veg. (soaked in boiling water)
1 onion
1 pepper
Ginger / garlic
Herbs / spices
500 g mince
1 cup grated cheese
Milk

Quarter the potatoes and boil until tender.

Brown the onion, ginger, garlic, mince and pepper. Add herbs / spices. When warm add frozen veg.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

When potatoes cooked, mash with milk and cheese until smooth.

Place mince etc. into oven-proof pot.

Cover with mashed potatoes and brown in oven. (About 20 minutes)

Calzone

Puff pastry
Ham / salami
Red pepper
Onion
Garlic / ginger
3 tomatoes

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees C
Fry all ingredients until cooked and tender
Cut a square of pastry, place ingredients down one side, fold over in half, moisten edges and seal.
Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.

Coffee

After dinner, we love a cup of filter coffee.

Our preference is the medium / dark roast from Origin Coffee which is "Sourced directly from the Muljane district in the high-altitude Shire Highlands of Malawi, this central African country's principal crops are tea and tobacco. Company director, Roger Sheppard, is a former South African plantation owner and coffee grower who personally selects the best beans of the crop from private estates to be imported into New Zealand, roasted and then packaged - ready for fresh delivery throughout New Zealand and the world!"

Recommended.

Check the ingredients

Always check that what you put in is what you think you are putting in!

We made a stunning pudding and served it up expecting rapturous compliments.

People were eating it but pulling faces and glancing looks and questions off each other. Eventually someone asked "Is this pudding supposed to be salty?"

The penny dropped! We used salt instead of sugar, The containers were both open and we were rushed.

One ruined pudding. A group of embarrassed chefs. A group of guests that were far too polite.

If in doubt, stick your finger in and taste!

Quick apple tart

1 sheet sweet pastry
1 tin pie apples
Sugar
Syrup

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Bake the pastry blind for 15 minutes.
Remove the blind and bake for another 5 minutes.
Spoon in the pie apples, sprinkle over the sugar and syrup and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes.
Serve with custard, cream or ice-cream.

Quick lasagne

1/2 kg mince
Chopped garlic and ginger
Herbs and spices
Chopped onion
3 Tbsp tomato puree
Packet soup mix - tomato or onion is best
1 tsp beef stock
Worcestershire sauce
HP sauce
2 cups hot water
3 cups lasagna squares - NOT lasagna sheets
Cup grated cheese

Sauce

2 tsp cornflour
Cup milk
2 eggs
Cup grated cheese

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Pour boiling water over the lasagna and leave for 5 minutes. Mix the ingredients from the mince to the HP sauce together. Add the hot water and combine together.

Layer in ovenproof dish as follows:

Mince
Lasagna
Cheese
Mince
Lasagna
Cheese
Mince

Bake for 50 minutes.

For the sauce, mix ingredients together and pour over lasagna bake. Bake at 160 degrees C for 10 to 15 minutes or until set.

Tools : Knives and spreaders

We bought these from Alison Holst

To quote:

"Serrated Knife

We find these knives unbelievably useful and we're sure you will too! They are perfect for cutting cooked meats, ripe fruit and vegetables, and slicing bread and baking. Treated carefully, these blades stay sharp for years. The serrated 110mm blade is rounded at the end with a black (dishwasher-proof) nylon handle, each knife comes in an individual plastic sheath.

Spreader/Scraper

After our knives, these must be the most used tools in our kitchens! With a comfortable plastic handle, metal shank and flexible plastic blade (suitable for use on non-stick surfaces), these are excellent for mixing muffin batters, stirring and scraping bowls, spreading icings, turning pikelets etc., etc...."

We can only agree - we like the knives so much we've got lots of them!

Aside : Red-hot pokers in the garden

Nothing like some vibrant colour to pierce the winter gloom.

Chocolate tart

1 sheet sweet pastry

50 g butter
250g dark chocolate - 70% cocoa is best - chopped
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup ground almonds
3 eggs
pinch salt

Bake the pastry blind in a oven-proof pudding plate at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes and then remove the blind items and bake for another 5 minutes.

In a double boiler, melt the butter, cream, chocolate, salt and half the sugar. Stir until almost melted and then remove from heat and keep stirring until cool.

Beat together the eggs and the rest of the sugar until pale - about 2 - 3 minutes.

Fold together with the melted ingredients and then gently fold in the ground almonds.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes or until cooked.

Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.

Warning dear reader - this pudding is both moreish and very rich.

Hamburgers

Some stale bread - 1 or 2 slices
1 finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp beef stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp HP sauce
1 egg
1/2 kg mince
Herbs and spices
1 tsp garlic and the same for ginger

Sliced red pepper and tomatoes

Remove the crusts, cube the bread and soak in the milk.
Mix all ingredients in a bowl - hands are best.
Make into 4 large patties.
Place on a greased oven tray.
Cook for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees C. Check regularly as it burns quickly.

Serve on toasted buns with mayonnaise, tomato sauce, the sliced red pepper and tomatoes.

Hamburgers may not be gourmet cooking but home-cooked hamburgers are an order of magnitude better than the fast-food variety - and you know what went into them.