We needed something to take to a potluck, but I was dead tired yesterday. These cookies were both tasty and easy to make. I really like them. This recipe is defineitely a keeper. And it's a fun thing to do with Weetbix if you get bored of eating them as cereal.

The icing on them is nice and adds another layer of flavour, but they're also delicious without it. If you do opt to make the icing, you may want to start with a half batch. I made a full batch and ended up with quite a bit left over.

Pineapple Biscuits

Slightly adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients

Cookies

• 100g (1/2 c.) sugar
• 100g (1/2 c.) brown sugar
• 140g (1 c.) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 6 Weetbix, crushed
• 1 large egg
• 125g butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. dried pineapple, chopped

Icing

• 1 3/4 c. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar¹, sifted
• 10g butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. pineapple juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. Combine the sugar, brown sugar, and flour.
3. Sift in the baking powder and mix well.
4. Mix in the Weetbix followed by the egg, butter, and vanilla.
5. Stir in the dried pineapple.
6. Working with ~1 Tbsp. of dough at a time, roll into balls and drop into baking sheets.
7. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 20 minutes.
8. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling.
9. Meanwhile, combine the icing sugar, butter, and pineapple juice to make the icing.
10. Spread icing onto cookies.
11. Decorate the tops with a bit of minced dried pineapple if you wish.

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¹ I carefully weighed out my sugar on the scale and then forgot to look at the weight once I was done measuring it out. So I don't have a mass to add to the recipe here, sadly. ^Back

Apple Oatmeal (CakeLove in the Morning)

I've made a few different versions of apple oatmeal before. This one was meant to be apple-cranberry -- which I think would have been delicious! -- but I didn't have any dried cranberries on hand, so I had to do it with dried currants instead. Still tasty, but the cranberries definitely would've been better and also would've made it a little more distinctive relative to the other apple oatmeals I've done before. That said, even without the right berries, cooking the oats in apple juice was an interesting twist that I hadn't tried until now. It should ideally have been apple cider (unfiltered apple juice), but I only had the filtered stuff, so I just used what I had. Either one will work, but I think the cider would've given a slightly richer flavour.

Apple Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from CakeLove in the Morning

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 1-2 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. apple cider (unfiltered apple juice)
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. dried cranberries
• milk, to serve

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the apple and sauté for a minute or two.
3. Add the oats, cider, water, cinnamon, sugar, and dried cranberries.
4. Reduce heat and simmer gently for ~15 minutes.
5. Serve with a splash of milk.

Pineapples seem to be pretty consistently $4.50 each here. Except when the green grocer has ones that have gotten a bit overripe. Then they get put in a separate bin and marked down to $2. It means you probably need to make sure to eat it within the next day or two, but they're very good as long as you can be quick about it.

I did not manage to eat my pineapple within a day or two. It was still fine, but I had to trim it a little more aggressively than I might otherwise have done. And it seemed like this might be a good time to enjoy a cooked pineapple recipe, rather than just devouring it raw like I often would other times.

I have a bunch of cooked pineapple recipes, but many of them either took ingredients that I didn't have readily to hand or time that I didn't want to put in on a day when I was already tired. That left me settling on this grilled pineapple recipe. Which I then cooked under the broiler in the oven because I didn't want to fire up the barbecue for a few pieces of pineapple. Reiver then kindly hit it with the kitchen torch to give it a bit of colour and char to finish it off. A good compromise on a lazy day.

Grilled Pineapple with Rum & Molasses

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. molasses¹
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. rum
• 1 pineapple
• 1-2 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

1. Combine the molasses, honey, and rum and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened slightly (~4 minutes).
3. Trim the top and bottom off of the pineapple and cut it into 6-8 wedges. Trim off the skin and core.
4. Cut each wedge/spear crosswise into bite-sized pieces and thread one row each onto wooden skewers.
5. Prepare barbecue/grill for direct heat cooking.
6. Brush pineapple pieces with a bit of oil and sprinkle with the sugar.
7. Cook over direct heat until grill marks appear (~4 minutes per side).
8. Transfer to plate and drizzle with molasses sauce.

---

¹ The original recipe called for 2 Tbsp. each of molasses, honey, and rum and 3 Tbsp. of sugar. Since I had to trim away so much of my pineapple, I only used 1 Tbsp. of each of the sauce ingredients and 1 Tbsp. of sugar. Having tried it, I think you might want more sugar if you're working with more pineapple, but I honestly feel like we had plenty of sauce, so I decided to write it up with the half quantity that I used. Feel free to double it if you'd like your pineapple extra saucy though! ^Back

Apparently mustard sauce is a favourite with corned beef here. I'd never had it before, but it's quite nice. You can make it as mild or punchy as you like. And I appreciate the use of the corned beef cooking water in the sauce.

Mustard Sauce

Slightly adapted from NZ Women's Weekly

Ingredients

• 40g butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 150mL milk
• 1 c. corned beef cooking water
• 1-2 Tbsp. grainy or Roman mustard
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes.
3. Mix in the milk, followed by the cooking water, and cook until thickened.
4. Stir in the mustard and parsley (if using).
5. Serve over corned beef and veggies.

I think this was meant to be a take on Sicilian apple cake. Which is an extremely apple-heavy cake flavoured with lemon that normally includes pine nuts and often dried fruit as well. My version had the apples, the lemon, and the pine nuts, but not the dried fruit. Looking at the recipe, it also seemed like it would be quite sweet and not apple-y enough -- unless they were expecting you to use very large apples indeed!¹ -- so I adjusted it a bit. I also tossed in a few sultanas, since a lot of other recipes seemed to include them. And I tried to mimic the dusting of crushed walnuts around the outside of the cake that I'd seen elsewhere.

I'm quite happy with all of my changes. Even the ones that seemed at first like they hadn't worked out.

I decided to be lazy and "crush" my walnuts in the spice grinder. But, it turns out that even using quick pulses to try to break the walnuts down gently gets half of the mixture most of the way to walnut butter by the time most of the biggest chunks have been broken down. I couldn't really press the walnut paste I'd made onto the sides of the pan as planned, so I ended up mixing a little flour in to try to help things a bit. This still didn't seem to work very well and I decided it was a lesson to do it "properly" next time and crush the walnuts by hand. Until I tasted the cake... The wanuts and flour had made a delicious crust! Almost like the graham cracker crust you might expect on a cheesecake. But thinner and crispier. I loved it! So, I think I will be doing this on purpose from now on! Just need to dial in the amounts.

Oh, and while the pine nuts in this certainly weren't unpleasant, I didn't really feel like they added much. And they are quite expensive, so I might just omit them in future.

Italian Apple Torte

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Crust

• 1/2 c. walnuts
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar

Cake

• 500g apples, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. sultanas
• 1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted (optional)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• 100g butter, melted
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 140g (~1 c.) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Working in batches, finely grind the walnuts in a spice grinder or similar.
3. Mix the flour and sugar into the ground walnuts to form a crumbly mixture.
4. Press the crust into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a 23cm (9") round springform pan.
5. Toss the apples with the lemon juice and mix in the sultanas and pine nuts (if using).
6. Beat the eggs with the sugar until lightened.
7. Beat in the butter, followed by the milk, lemon zest, and vanilla.
8. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix it into the batter.
9. Pour a little batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
10. Add the apple mixture in to top. Try to spread it as evenly as possible.
11. Pour the remaining batter over the apples.
12. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~50 minutes.
13. Allow to cool in tin.
14. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and carefully remove the sides.
15. If you're brave, carefully lift the cake off of the bottom of the tin and transfer to a plate. Otherwise, serve directly from the tin bottom.

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¹ The recipe called for 2 large apples. I used ~500g of apples. For me this was actually six apples. But then, my apples were quite small. ^Back

I loved these pancakes. My only complaint is that they use a partial tin of cocont milk. Partial, but more than half, so you can't get around it by simply doubling the recipe. The easiest way to solve this would be to double the recipe and fill in the missing coconut milk with cow's milk (or whatever milk you happen to have in the fridge). The way that I'm most excited to try is replacing both the missing coconut milk and the lemon juice with pineapple juice. Just to lean into the tropical vibe even more.

Tropical Pancakes

Adapted from CakeLove in the Morning by Warren Brown

Ingredients

• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1 (400mL) can coconut milk
• 6 Tbsp. milk¹
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 280g (~2 c.) whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. instant (creamy) oats
• 1/4 c. buckwheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Combine the bananas, coconut milk, milk, lemon juice, eggs, honey, and vanilla and set aside.
2. Combine the whole wheat flour, oats, and buckweat flour.
3. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
4. Por the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
5. Heat a pan over medium heat.
6. Add a little butter or oil to the pan and cookoff your pancakes, using ~1/4 c. of batter each.
7. Serve with butter, yogurt, chopped pineapple, shredded coconut, maple syrup, and/or yogurt with an optional dusting of ground allspice.

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¹ Or replace both the milk and lemon juice with pineapple juice. ^Back

Pork ribs were still on sale at the grocery store, so I got another rack and decided to try a different recipe with them. This is a more traditional BBQ ribs preparation. But I wanted to try the initial low-and-slow wet cooking followed by the direct heat this time around to see how it compared to Iyer's method that cooks them entirely over direct heat.

These ribs did come out moister than Iyer's, but I think I preferred the flavour of his.

Classic BBQ Ribs

Slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne (optional)
• 1-1.5kg pork ribs
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1/4 c. chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• ~3/4 c. barbecue sauce

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, paprika, onion powder, grlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne (if using) and mix well.
2. Coat the ribs in the oil and then sprinkle on the spice rub, coating as evenly as possible.
3. Set grill up for indirect heat and preheat to 150°C (300°F).
4. Place the ribs meat side down on a baking sheet.
5. Add the chicken stock and cider vinegar to the baking sheet and cover with foil.
6. Cook over indirect heat at 150°C (300°F) for 2 hours.
7. Now oil the grates and set the grill up for direct heat cooking at 190°C (375°F).
8. Brush the ribs with some of the barbecue sauce on one side and place sauce side up over direct heat.
9. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip and put some sauce on the other side.
10. Repeat the process of flipping and basting with barbecue sauce, cooking for five minutes after each iteration, another once or twice on each side.
11. Cut ribs apart and serve with additional sauce.

I never would have thought of this combination on my own, but it really works! I went with the smaller amount of ginger both because I didn't want the flavour to be overpowering and because I wanted to try to keep the cost down. Surprisingly, I think I like this even better than the classic apple-cinnamon-raisin combo!

Banana-Ginger Oatmeal

Slightly adapted from CakeLove in the Morning by Warren Brown

Ingredients

• 1/4-1/2 c. crystallized ginger, minced
• 1 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. milk
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1-2 bananas, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. flax seeds
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer.
2. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Serve as is or with a splash of milk or cream and/or fresh berries.

Tép Rang Ba Roi (School Prawns Wok-Tossed with Pork Belly)

This was a result of finding steeply discounted pork belly at the grocery store and wanting to do something new with it. I ended up making a triple batch, due to the amount of pork belly; this writeup is for the original amounts.

It also recommends serving it with a side of chopped birds-eye chili in fish sauce for dipping, although I just had it as is over rice and was quite pleased with the results.

As written it calls for "small school prawns", saying that they are "very small and are best eaten with the shells still intact". This, I think, marks them as smaller than the shrimp readily available in the grocery store here, and I ended up making the recipe with de-shelled small shrimp instead; that said, I would like to try it with even smaller crustacea at some point.

Tép Rang Ba Roi

From The Songs of Sapa by Luke Nguyen (p.124)

Ingredients

• Pork Belly Marinade
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp finely chopped lemongrass, white parts only
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
• Prawn Marinade
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp finely chopped lemongrass, white parts only
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp shaoxing wine
• 200g small shrimp or prawns, legs and heads trimmed, optionally peeled
• 200g lean, boneless pork belly, skin on, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp sliced green onion

Directions

1. Combine salt, rice wine, and 1 C water in a bowl.
2. Add prawns, wash thoroughly in the rice wine mix, then strain and discard washing liquid.
3. Combine all ingredients for the prawn marinade. Toss with prawns and let stand 15 minutes.
4. Combine all ingredients for the pork belly marinade. Toss with pork belly and let stand 15 minutes.
5. Heat a wok.
6. Add oil, shallots, and pork (with marinade). Stir-fry until browned.
7. Add prawns (with marinade) and continue stir-frying until prawns change colour.
8. Add remaining garlic and green onion, stir-fry for another minute, then serve over rice.

I'm used to breakfast rice bowls being savoury. This is the first time that I've tried a sweet one. It's fine. Not amazing, but nothing wrong with it either. It gives slight rice pudding vibes. I think I'd add a sprinkle of cinnamon next time just to lean into that a little more.

Sweet Brown Rice Bowl

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• ~1/2 c. cooked brown rice
• 1 Tbsp. raisins or sultanas
• 1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• ~1/4 c. milk (or to taste)
• sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the rice, raisins, and walnuts.
2. Top with brown sugar, pour on the milk, and sprinkle with cinnamon (if using).
3. If you would like a warm rice bowl, microwave for 30-60 seconds.

I found a discount cauliflower at the green grocer the other day, so I made soup! This was delicious, very easy, and wee Eyren loved it too. We've frozen a bunch to use as baby food in the upcoming months.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3-4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4-1/2 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Toss cauliflower with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.
3. Spread the cauliflower out in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast at 200°C (400°F) until very tender (30-35 minutes).
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
6. Add 3 c. of stock and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Purée and use additional stock to thin soup to desired consistency. (I used the full 1 c.)
9. Stir in Parmesan.
10. Serve topped with additional Parmesan and/or fried onions.

I was really happy with the results of this recipe, but a little frustrated with the actual cooking. The noodles stuck together in big clumps and were quite difficult to get apart. And then the clumps cooked much slower than any noodles that did manage to stay separate. I don't know if the problem was my noodles, the way I broke them up, or the fact that my sauce was already boiling by the time I added them, but it was quite annoying! I think next time I'd try using a bag of the small "lasagna" noodles instead to see if that helped at all. Still... I can't argue with the results. This was excellent!

Skillet Lasagna

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 250g sausage meat¹
• 2-3 tsp. garlic paste
• 650-700mL tomato pasta sauce²
• 1-2 c. water
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 9 lasagna noodles, broken into 5cm pieces
• 1 c. ricotta cheese³
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 large egg (optional)⁴
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2-3/4 c. grated mozzarella (or other melty cheese)

Directions

1. Cook the sausage over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.
2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the pasta sauce, 1 c. of water, and Italian seasoning and stir to combine.
4. Add the noodles, being careful to make sure they don't clump.
5. Cover pan and bring to a boil.
6. Stir, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until noodles are almost tender (~12 minutes), adding more water as needed to keep sauce moist.
7. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and a little salt and pepper and mix well.
8. Stir the pasta again, adding a little more water if necessary.
9. Dollop the ricotta mixture on top, cover, and simmer until heated through (~5 minutes).
10. Sprinkle with mozzarella and place under broiler until cheese is melty and lightly browned (2-3 minutes).

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¹ I only used 125g of sausage for my rendition because I was tossing in ~400g of homemade bolognese along with the 420mL of canned pasta sauce. ^Back
2 My can of pasta sauce was only 420mL so I added ~400g of frozen bolognese that we had in the fridge. I know that adds up to more that adds up to more than 700mL (if you assume that the sauce is mostly water and thus you can use weight to estimate volume), but since the bolognese had a bunch of meat in it, I figured it was less... saucy than plain pasta sauce, so I probably worked out about right for the sauce volume. And the extra meat in the sauce helped to make up for the paucity of sausage since I didn't have the full 250g on hand for this. ^Back
3 I think you could probably get away with using less ricotta than this, but I didn't want to have a partial tub left over so I just followed the recipe an used it all. ^Back
4 The original recipe didn't call for an egg, but the ricotta mixture was too thick to dollop easily and I usually add an egg to my "traditional" lasagna, so I tossed one in. ^Back

I found some short-dated cream on sale and got excited about the chance to make another lemon dessert. As usual, it's not particularly budget friendly, despite coming from the Budget Byte$ blog and even with the assumption of free lemons. Beth figured it would cost just over $4 to make this pie. With lemons accounting for just over $1.50 of that cost. I figured it costs just over $9 to make here (assuming full-price cream, but zero-cost lemons). So, I mean, I guess it's still pretty good when compared to the cost of buying a dessert at a bakery or restaurant, I'm just always a bit shocked at the delta between her prices and ours.

Lemon Cream Pie

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 90g butter, melted

Filling

• 1 can (~400mL) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250-300mL heavy (35%) cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter and mix well.
3. Press into a 23cm (9") pie plate.
4. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
7. Whip the cream.
8. Stir about half of the cream into the lemon mixture, then fold in the remaining cream.
9. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, cover, and chill until set (~2 hours).

I really like this yogurt cake. It's simple and easy to make and has a pleasant, mild flavour. It's not excessively buttery, but doesn't taste "lean" either. It's lighter than a pound cake, but denser than a chiffon. And makes a nice blank slate to serve with other things.

The recipe called for serving it with a fresh peach purée. But the idea of taking beautiful fresh peaches and just blitzing them hurt my soul, so I served it with tinned peaches instead. And I quite like how the peach syrup goes with the cake as well!

I also swapped out the almond extract for vanilla. Since Reiver doesn't like almond extract, but is okay with vanilla. I think the vanilla flavour was nice and definitely have no complaints about the results, but it would be interesting to try maybe swapping out a bit of the flour for some ground almonds sometime. Just as a way to give it a bit of almond flavour without resulting to extracts.

Yogurt Cake with Peaches and Cream

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 280g (~2 c.) soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1-2 cans peaches in syrup or juice
• whipped cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20cm (8") round pan.
2. Whisk the eggs and the sugar together.
3. Whisk in the yogurt and vanilla.
4. Whisk in the butter.
5. Sift in the flour and baking powder and then whisk it in.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~40 minutes.
7. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
8. Once cool, slice and serve topped with peaches and whipped cream.

Indo-Chinese Chicken and Mustard Green Stir-Fry

This somewhat unusual dish comes from the "contemporary" section of Iyer's magnificent 660 Curries cookbook. I haven't made many of the recipes out of this chapter. But I had some lovely fresh mustard greens from the Saturday market and chicken breasts in the freezer, so this recipe was perfect for the day.

Reiver and I both really liked this one. Although we agreed that it could use even more greens. Given that, I've written it up with some spinach added to the mix and increased the sauce by 50%. I've also cut the oil by 50%. He had you adding 2 Tbsp. of oil for each addition to the wok and cooking only half of the mustard greens at a time. I used only 1 Tbsp. of oil for each thing added to the wok. And, having made it once now, I think I probably could've gotten away with adding all of the mustard greens at once and using only 1 Tbsp. of oil for the lot. So the oil that would have been used to cook the other half of the mustard greens has now been allotted to the spinach instead.

Chicken and Mustard Green Stir-Fry

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. five-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 450g boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1cm cubes
• 1-2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. oil, divided
• 250g mustard greens, trimmed and chopped
• 250g spinach, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3-5 fresh red Thai or cayenne/arbol chilies, halved lengthwise¹
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Combine the tomato paste, soy sauces, five-spice powder, and salt and set aside.
2. Toss the chicken with the cornstarch and set aside.
3. Heat a wok over medium-high heat.
4. Drizzle in 1 Tbsp. of the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the wok.
5. Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked through (5-8 minutes).
6. Remove the chicken from the wok and set aside.
7. Drizzle another Tbsp. of oil into the wok and add the mustard greens. Stir-fry until wilted (1-2 minutes).
8. Remove the mustard greens from the wok and set aside.
9. Add another Tbsp. of oil to the wok and toss in the spinach. Stir fry until wilted (1-2 minutes).
10. Remove the spinach from the wok and set aside.
11. Add the last Tbsp. of oil to the wok followed by the garlic and chilies. Stir-fry for 20-30 seconds (with good ventilation).
12. Add the sauce and stir-fry for another 30-60 seconds.
13. Return the chicken, mustard greens, and spinach to the wok and toss to combine.
14. Top with cilantro and green onions and serve over rice.

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¹ The original recipe calls for green chiles, but I think red chiles would be even better. That said, I made mine with a single green chile, but chopped it very fine. Less aesthetic, but doesn't risk setting off Reiver's nightshade sensitivity that way. ^Back

These were supposed to be gingersnaps, but they came out more chewy than crunchy. I don't have a problem with this -- Reiver and I both really liked the results -- but I don't really feel they can be called gingersnaps given the results.

I was initially thinking that these were fairly economical cookies, but that was before I'd realized that I'd somehow completely missed factoring in the cost of the crystallized ginger for the recipe. If you make these as normal ginger cookies, without the crystallized ginger, the whole batch costs just over $4 to make and the per cookie price works out to <$0.10. Adding the second form of ginger doubles the price and brings it up to just about $10 per batch and over $0.20 per cookie.

Double Ginger Cookies

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 2/3 c. oil
• 1/3 c. molasses
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 390g flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 c. chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 c. turbinado sugar¹

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 165°C (325°F) and lightly grease a cookie tray or two.
2. Combine the oil, molasses, brown sugar, and egg and mix well.
3. Sift in the flour, ginger, and baking soda. Add the cinnamon, cloves, and salt in on top.
4. Stir to combine.
5. Mix in the crystallized ginger.
6. Roll the dough into balls about 2-3cm in diameter, dip in egg white, and then roll in sugar.
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 165°C (325°F) for 15-18 minutes.

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¹ I didn't have any turbinado sugar, so I just used regular granulated sugar. The texture is a bit different, but I still really liked the results. ^Back

Peach Princess / Peach Dream

By Reiver

This is one of the iconic desserts of my childhood, which was a staple as it relied almost entirely on shelf-stable ingredients that we had in the pantry as standard inventory. It's also one of the first desserts I learned to cook independently because (with the right plastic ring tin) it could even be microwaved thus avoiding oven use, although the exact details of cooking times I no longer remember; just the trial and error to get it! After scrounging the recipe from my mother, we taught it to Alex while she was here, and it was an absolute hit! It's closest, perhaps, to a heavily fruit-laden sponge cake, and it's delicious served hot as well as cold the next day.

Note: The batter lacking any 'normal' liquids in means it takes a bit to come together and doesn't seem 'right' until it's properly mixed through, but as the peaches continue to cook it comes out surprisingly moist. Just be gentle while doing the initial stirring, and make sure they're properly 'bedded down' in the pan so they can moisten the batter. If you're using a 20cm square pan like the one here, I suggest making a double batch to get he desired thickness.

Peach Princesse

M.J. McBrearty, RAHOTU.
Serves 6.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3-4 tablespoons butter
• 1½ cups (one 400g tin) drained cooked peaches

Directions

1. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add sugar, egg and melted butter. Mix well.
2. Stir peach slices into the stiff mixture, and place in a greased 8-9" (20cm) shallow baking dish.
3. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes, then for a further 10-20 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
4. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or custard.

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Variations

Fruit Salad Dream

I'm not sure I would say this was a good idea, but I have fond memories of swapping the tin of peaches for a tin of fruit salad (usually containing peaches, pears, pineapple, and cherries) in the otherwise exact recipe above, as a child. I should probably try it again sometime; for the moment, caveat emptor!

I've been running a curry train more-or-less continuously since my mom left. Reiver was about ready for a break from non-stop curries though and we'd hit a point where we were getting slightly low on leftovers anyway, so I decided to change it up for a bit. And, given that we're trying to be a bit more budget-conscious right now, I figured it might be a good time to revisit the Budget Byte$ blog. We had everything but the sausages on hand for this Dublin coddle already and it sounded tasty, so it seemed as good a place to start as any.

It was a great success! Everyone loved it. Everything was nicely cooked and the flavour was excellent.

And relatively affordable as well. Not as cheap as a dal, but not terrible either. I wanted to check since the Budget Byte$ recipes aren't always quite as affordable as one might like. At least not here in NZ. I was shocked to see pound cake come up on the blog and intrigued to see how they'd made it more budget-friendly. The answer? They hadn't. Apparently pound cake is still an affordable dessert in the US. They'd figured the 4 eggs you'd need for it would only cost $0.68. That's $0.68 total, not each! And the 240g of butter was supposedly only another $0.98. I think they figured the whole cake would have cost just over $5 to make. Meanwhile, here, the butter alone would run nearly $5! So, when they said that the coddle should cost a bit over $11 to make, I was skeptical... But it's not too bad! I think you'd struggle to do it for under $15 here, but that's still not terrible when you get anywhere between 3-6 servings out of it (depending on how big your portions are).

Running the numbers based on grocery prices here, I figured it should probably cost somewhere between $15 and $20 to make this coddle, depending on how you buy your groceries. If you're willing to get a 10kg bag of potatoes, use 1kg for this, and find another use for the other 9kg, then that helps bring the price down through economy of scale. Same deal with the onions. If you just buy the 2 onions you need for the stew, it'll cost you a bit more per onion than if you're willing to buy a 2kg bag of onions and use the others somewhere else. I think this would also be a good place to use bacon pieces rather than the streaky bacon called for in the recipe as you're just chopping it up anyway and you can get bacon pieces for ~$10/kg, while it can be tricky to find streaky bacon for much under $20/kg. So, if you're willing to buy in bulk, you can probably make this for $15. If you're just buying exactly as much of each ingredient as you need for this particular recipe, then it'd probably come out closer to $20 for the pot. So, definitely not the cheapest meal ever, butnot completely ridiculous as a bit of an indulgent treat either.

Dublin Coddle

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$"

Ingredients

• 250g bacon pieces (or chopped streaky bacon)
• 450g sausages (I like beef, but any will work)
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 4 tsp. minced/crushed garlic
• 1 tsp. black pepper, ground
• 1kg potatoes, cut into 3-4cm pieces
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).
2. Cook of the bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
3. Add the sausages and sear on all sides.
4. Remove sausages and bacon from the pan (leaving any grease behind).
5. Bacon pieces are less fatty than streaky bacon, so you might need to add an extra splash of oil at this point depending on what you used.
6. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened and beginning to colour.
7. Add pepper, potatoes, chicken stock, parsley, and thyme and stir to combine.
8. Place sausages and bacon on top.
9. Cover and bake at 150°C (300°F) for 90 minutes.
10. Remove lid and continue baking for another 30 minutes.

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Variants

InstantPot Version

I think this recipe would lend itself particularly well to an InstantPot/multi-cooker, I just need to figure out how to adjust the seasonings and liquid for it.

Masaaledar Phool Gobhi (Spicy Cauliflower)

I really liked this curry. I accidentally made it with twice as much onion, garlic, and ginger as it was supposed to have, but I would absolutely do it that way again. I loved the sweetness of the onion with the acidity of the tomato and the spiciness of the cayenne.

Masaaledar Phool Gobhi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 12 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 small (400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 450g cauliflower florets
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chickpea flour (besan)
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring often, until well-browned (12-15 minutes).
3. Add the cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne, and turmeric, stir to combine, and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the tomatoes, water, and cauliflower, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until cauliflower is tender (~12 minutes).
5. Stir in the chickpea flour and cook until sauce is slightly thickened (1-2 minutes).
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

This is a very brothy curry. Basically a soup. Which would normally feature "drumsticks" as the vegetable component. I'm not a huge fan of drumsticks, so I swapped in asparagus since it's now in season here. I also reduced the water quite a bit to make a thicker curry. While I found the results acceptable, neither of us were blown away by it and I probably won't be revisiting this one. It wasn't bad, just not good enough to get excited over either.

Palidu

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toor dal)
• 2-4 c. water, divided
• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. chickpea flour (besan)
• 2 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chiles (or 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 bunch asparagus, ends snapped and cut into 5cm pieces
• 4 pieces kokum¹
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the pigeon peas, then place in a pot with 2 c. of the water.
2. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until peas are tender (20-25 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, heat ghee over medium heat.
4. Add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
5. Add garlic paste and cook for another minute or so.
6. Add chickpea flour and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Once peas are tender, blitz with a blender.
8. Add the chickpea flour mixture and stir to combine.
9. If you want a thinner broth, add up to 2 c. of additional water.
10. Stir in masala, ground chilies, and salt.
11. Add asparagus and kokum and bring to a boil.
12. Cook for a minute, remove from heat, stir in cilantro, and serve.

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¹ I didn't have any kokum, so I tossed in a tsp. of tamarind concentrate in its place. ^Back

The grocery store has had discount pork ribs available for the last few weeks, but I've resisted buying any because I was worried that I wouldn't have the wherewithal to get them cooked. I was finally feeling up to the task this weekend, so I grabbed a pack and decided to try this somewhat unusual curry-inspired rib recipe.

They were very tasty! They looked beautiful and the glaze was delicious. I thought that the sauce might be superfluous on top of the glaze and the marinade, but it was fantastic and really added a lot. The ribs were good without the sauce, but even better with it.

While the flavour was excellent, they weren't quite as tender and juicy as I would've liked. I think that could be down to the cooking method. The instructions for charcoal said to cook them over indirect heat. But the gas grill instructions had you putting them over low, direct heat. I think that next time I might try indirect heat, even if I am using a gas grill. And I might try wrapping them for the initial cooking time as well.

Because I haven't dialed in the cooking time and technique yet, I've just written up the instructions for what I actually did first. Below that I'll put suggestions for what I'd like to try next time.

Indian Fusion Pork Ribs

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Ribs

• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 tsp. coarse salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1.8-2kg pork ribs

Glaze

• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1/4 c. jaggery or brown
• 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 2 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies (or 1/2 tsp. cayenne + 1/2 Tbsp. sweet paprika)
• 2 tsp. balti masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt

Sauce

• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1-3 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the ginger paste, garlic paste, salt, and turmeric and mix well.
2. Slather the mixture onto the meat side of the ribs and chill for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
3. Preheat barbecue to high.
4. Reduce heat to low, then add the ribs, meat side down. Cover the grill and cook for 35-45 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, combine the tomato paste, jaggery, vinegar, oil, ground chilies, balti masala, and salt to make the glaze. Set aside.
6. Flip the ribs meat side up, cover the grill, and cook for another 20-25 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, combine the garlic and chilies and mash to a pulp with a mortar as pestle.
8. Heat the oil over medium heat.
9. Add the onion and cook until edges start to brown (~5 minutes).
10. Add the garlic-chile mixture and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
11. Add the tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, and turmeric and cook until vinegar has mostly evaporated.
12. Add the water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened (~10 minutes).
13. If you desire a smooth sauce, blitz it with a blender.
14. Once ribs are cooked through, brush all over with the glaze.
15. Return to grill, meat side up, cover grill, and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
16. Remove from grill and rest for ~5 minutes before serving.
17. Meanwhile, rewarm the sauce (if necessary) and sprinkle in the cilantro (if using).
18. Cut the ribs apart and serve with the sauce (either pour it over or serve it along side for dipping).

Suggested Improved Cooking

1. Prepare and use marinade as directed above.
2. Preheat one side of grill to 150°C (300°F).
3. Wrap ribs in foil or place on a baking sheet and cover with foil.
4. Place over indirect heat, cover grill, and cook for 1.5-2 hours.
5. Meanwhile, make the glaze and sauce as directed above.
6. Increase the grill temperature to 190°C (375°F).
7. Transfer the ribs to direct heat and baste top side with glaze.
8. Cover grill and cook for 5 minutes.
9. Flip and baste other side with glaze, cover grill, and cook for another five minutes.
10. Repeat, glazing each side once more with 5 minutes of covered cooking between each.
11. Cut ribs apart and serve with sauce.

This recipe didn't really work. I actually found it quite tasty, but it was excessively wet. And Reiver found it too wet and walnut-y to be properly tasty. I think this one is salvagable, but it doesn't quite work as written. The recipe below reflects my recommended fix rather than the original.

Apple-Carrot Loaf

Adapted from CakeLove in the Morning by Warren Brown

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. carrots, peeled and grated
• 1/2 c. apple, peeled and grated
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1/4 c. oil
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 1/2 c. sultanas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 23x13cm (9x5") loaf pan.
2. Combine the carrots, apple, brown sugar, ginger, oil, eggs, and honey and mix well.
3. Sift the baking powder into the flour.
4. Mix in the cinnamon, salt, walnuts, and sultanas.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) until done (45-55 minutes).
7. Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

I wanted to make something a bit special for dessert last night. These not only fit the bill, but had a pleasingly short bake time. I didn't have enough ramekins, so I used some extra-large muffin tins instead. I suspected that the cakes might cook a bit faster in the muffin tins than in the ramekins, so I shaved a minute of the baking time. It turns out that I should've gone with my original instinct and shaved a full three minutes off the baking time! The resulting cakes were soft in the middle, but decidedly not "molten". Oh well... now I'll know for next time.

I also used 72% dark chocolate because that's what I had on hand, but I think that was actually a bit too dark for this recipe. If I do it again, I'll use 50% dark chocolate instead. They weren't bad as-is, but they were a bit darker and more bitter than I would've liked. But with a slightly less dark chocolate and baked for just a couple minutes less, I think they would've been perfect.

Photo goes here.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 250g dark chocolate (pref. 50%)
• 55g butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder, sifted
• 3 large egg whites

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease six ramekins or a 6-well jumbo muffin tin. Dust generously with cocoa powder.
2. Gently melt the cocolate with the butter.
3. Mix in the vanilla and set aside to cool.
4. Beat the egg yolks with 3 Tbsp. of the sugar and the cocoa powder.
5. Drizzle in the chocolate mixture while beating. (Resulting batter will be very thick.)
6. In a clean bowl with a clean whisk, beat the egg whites until frothy.
7. Gradually beat in the remaining 3 Tbsp. of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
8. Stir half of the meringue into the batter to loosen it.
9. Gently fold in the remaning half of the meringue.
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared ramekins/muffin tins.
11. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 10-13 minutes. (10 minutes for muffin tins, 12-13 for ramekins.)
12. Turn cakes out onto plates and serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream, and/or raspberry coulis.

Sirka Paneer (Vinegar Paneer)

This is a really interesting curry. It has a lot of elements to it, both in the bulk and the flavour elements. It's full of potato and cauliflower in a tomato-y sauce (like aloo gobhi). But the sauce is also full of vinegar and chilies (like a vindaloo). But then it also has the bouncy paneer and creamy coconut milk added at the end. It's almost like you're getting three curries in one!

I do find the vinegar with the coconut milk slightly confusing to my palate. I'm used to a curry either having the sharpness of the vinegar or the creaminess of the coconut milk, not both. It is a tasty curry, but I think it's a bit too confusing to ever be a favourite for me. That said, I do appreciate how hearty it is with the paneer, cauliflower, and potatoes.

Sirka Paneer

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. water, divided
• 1/4 c. malt or cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 1-2 dried red Thai or cayenne/arbol chilies
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2 c. cauliflower florets
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 250g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes and fried¹
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine 1/4 c. of the water with the vinegar, tomato paste, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fresh and dried chilies, garlic, and ginger in a blender and purée.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until just starting to brown (3-5 minutes).
4. Add the paste and cook for another 3 minutes.
5. Add the remaining 1 c. of water to the blender and swish it out. Add this to the pan.
6. Add the cauliflower, potatoes, and salt to the pan and bring to a boil.
7. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
8. Add the paneer and coconut milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.
9. Stir in the cilantro and serve.

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¹ Tossing the paneer cubes with a little oil and air-frying at 200°C (400°F) for 10 minutes works very well and saves a lot of time and effort. Alternatively, you can sometimes find bags of pre-fried paneer cubes in the frozen section of Indian grocery stores... ^Back

Tamatar Paneer (Tomato Paneer)

I was going to make a lamb curry next, but I found some paneer on sale at the Indian grocery store and decided to cook that as our protein tonight instead.

I love this curry. The paneer makes it satisfying and high-protein. And while it takes a bit of time to cook the onions down, it's not particularly difficult and doesn't require many spices or other ingredients. And while the cream is moderately expensive most of the other ingredients are quite affordable. Especially if you can get a good deal on the paneer! The cream also makes it deliciously rich and luxurious. Oh, and it also doesn't require marinating or pre-frying the paneer. So, pretty great all round!

Tamatar Paneer

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water
• 250g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt ghee over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cardamom, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is nicely browned (~20 minutes).
4. Add the tomato paste, coriander, cayenne, and turmeric and cook until darkened (3-5 minutes).
5. Add water, paneer, and salt and cook, covered, until sauce thickens (~15 minutes).
6. Add the milk and cream and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Stir in cilantro and serve.

This was meant to be spiced clementines with toasted pound cake but a) we didn't have enough eggs or sugar left to make the pound cake and b) it felt like a bit of a waste. We were going to have them with some store-bought sponge, but the local Countdown was all out. So we ended up just spooning them over a bit of vanilla ice cream instead. And they were quite tasty that way. A nice, refereshing summer dessert.

Spiced Clementines

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 4 allspice berries, lightly crushed (or 1/8-1/4 tsp. ground allspice)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise, lightly crushed
• 2 black peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 vanilla bean
• 6-8 clementines
• 1/4 c. fresh mint¹

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, water, allspice, cinnamon, star anise, and black peppercorns.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out. Add both the seeds and the empty pod to the pot with the other ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Peel the clemeintines and slice crosswise.
5. Add clementine slices to syrup and remove from heat.
6. Allow to steep for 20-30 minutes, then serve over cake or ice cream and top with mint.

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¹ I completely forgot about the fresh mint when I made this. Even though that was half the reason for doing it since I had a bunch of mint in the fridge that needed using. Whoops! ^Back

This is meant to be made with fresh pears, but we had tinned pears to use up, so I just tossed them in. I've written up the instructions for fresh pears. If you're using tinned, then just omit the water and only add the pears for the last minute or two of cooking.

Whole Wheat Walnut Waffles with Maple-Pear Sauce

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Waffles

• 190g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 40g butter, melted
• 50g unsweetened applesauce
• 2-4 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts

Sauce

• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2-4 pears, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. water
• zest of 1/4 a lemon

Directions

1. Combine the flour and sugar and sift in the baking powder.
2. Beat the eggs into the milk.
3. Mix in the vanilla, butter, and applesauce.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
5. Mix in the walnuts.
6. Preheat your waffle iron.
7. Pour in a portion of batter and cook according to manufacturer directions.
8. Repeat with remaining batter.
9. While waffles are cooking, toss the pears with the lemon juice.
10. Melt the butter over medium heat.
11. Add the pears and cook for a minute or two.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the maple syrup, water, and lemon zest and simmer until pears are tender (5-7 minutes).
13. Transfer pears to a bowl, increase heat to medium-high and cook until sauce is syrupy (5-10 minutes).
14. Serve waffles topped with pears, sauce, and extra walnuts (if desired).

Jhinga Vindaloo (Shrimp Vindaloo)

I had a busy day of moving boxes and furniture today, so I wanted something easy for dinner. I decided to throw together this simple curry and serve it with rice and dal. It worked out quite well! Even if I didn't make it quite to spec. (My shrimp were much smaller than what Iyer calls for and frozen rather than fresh.)

Jhinga Vindaloo

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 10 raw cashews, ground
• 450g large shrimp (32-40 per kilo), peeled and deveined
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, coriander, cumin, cayenne, salt, turmeric, and ground cashews and stir to form a paste.
2. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat.
4. Add the shrimp (reserving any residual marinade), and sear for 1 minute on each side.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add any remaining marinade, and cook until shrimp is pink, opaque, and curled.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal (Ginger-Garlic Red Lentils)

I wanted a dal to go with my shrimp vindaloo and I felt like red lentils and/or pigeon peas would work particularly well. This red lentil dal caught my eye first, so that's what I went with. It was very nice. Especially with the optional spinach. It could probably use even more if you wanted to work some more veggies into the meal.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (masoor dal/Egyptian lentils/red lentils)
• 3 c. water
• 1-2 onions¹, coarsely chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 4 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. ghee (or coconut oil for a vegan option)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 dried red cayenne/arbol or Thai chilies
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 1/4-1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach or kale (optional)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the lentils.
2. Add water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.
3. Skim off any foam, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender (~20 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, add the onions, garlic, and green chilies to a food processor and pulse to chop.
5. Melt the ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the cumin and dried chilies and sizzle until fragrant and chilies blacken (20-30 seconds).
7. Add the onion mixture along with the ginger paste and stir-fry until onion softens (~5 minutes).
8. Add the tomatoes and spinach (if using) and cook until spinach is thawed and sauce has thickened slightly (5-10 minutes).
9. Pour the sauce into the pot with the lentils and stir to combine.
10. Simmer to let flavours meld (3-5 minutes).
11. Stir in cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe only calls for 1 (red) onion, but my onions were on the small side, so I used two. ^Back

I love sticky toffee pudding, but I've never actually made it myself. This is the first recipe that I've tried, but I really like it. And so did Reiver and my mom. I think I'd like to try adjusting the proportions sometime, just because it would be nice to have even more dates in it. That said, I've written the recipe up without modifications this time because it was so good as is. I'll put my suggested modifications below.

I ran out of brown sugar when making the sauce so I ended up using some white sugar mixed with molasses. I ended up putting in way more molasses than needed to make a brown sugar equivalent, so the sauce was much darker than intended, but Reiver really liked it and says he'd do it that way on purpose in the future.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Directions

1. Combine the dates and bakiing soda and pour over the boiling water. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour either eight 1/2-cup ramekins or one large casserole dish.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar until lightened.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Beat in the vanilla.
6. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt (if using) and mix until combined.
7. Add the date mixture and stir to combine. Mixture will be fairly thin.
8. Pour batter into prepared dish(es) and bake at 180°C (350°F) until done; ~20 minutes for small puddings, 50 minutes for one large one.
9. Meanwhile, combine the butter, brown sugar, molasses (if using), and cream for the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.
10. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.
11. Stir in vanilla and salt.
12. Once the pudding is done, remove from oven.
13. For small puddings, turn them out onto warmed plates and pour sauce over. For a large pudding, scoop generous spoonfuls into bowls and pour sauce over.
14. Top with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream if desired.

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Variations

Sticky Date Pudding

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1 c. chopped dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Nanny's Lemon Cream

This is the lemon curd that I grew up eating. It's my great-grandmother's recipe. And we all called it lemon curd, but when we got her recipe, she had it written down as "lemon cream". It's very good. Simple. And I like that it uses whole eggs rather than just the yolks. I've now also tried it with grapefruit and can vouch for the results. I expect it would work wonderfully with limes as well!

Lemon Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Combine sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and water and mix very well.
2. Cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

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Variations

Grapefruit Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. (or a bit more) grapefruit juice
• 3 Tbsp. butter

This was a decent cake, but I don't feel like there was enough batter for the 23x13cm (9x5") loaf pan called for. Next time I'd try baking it in a smaller 20x10cm (8x4") pan. Also, although it's supposed to be "extra lemony" with lemon zest in the cake itself and juice in the syrup and glaze... I felt like it could've used even more lemon. I think I'd try putting a bit of lemon juice into the batter as well next time, just to really punch it up.

I cut back the sugar in the batter by 1/3 because I was worried about it being too sweet by the time I'd added the syrup and the glaze. I think it probably would've been okay with the full amount of sugar after all, especially if I end up putting some extra lemon juice into the batter, but Reiver was glad for the reduced sugar and said it would've been way too sweet if prepared as written.

Overall, I think I like my grandma's "lemon bread" better, but I'm still glad to have tried this version. And the blueberries were an interesting addition.

Photo goes here.

Lemon-Blueberry Drizzle Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Cake

• 100g butter, softened
• 100-150g sugar
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 210g (1 1/2 c.) flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. frozen blueberries

Syrup

• 3 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. sugar

Glaze

• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 60g icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease and flour a 20x10cm (8x4") loaf tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar.
3. Beat in the lemon zest and juice (if using).
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Mix in the milk.
6. Sift in the flour and baking powder and stir to combine.
7. Fold in the blueberries.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
9. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 50-60 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and cool in tin for 10 minutes.
11. Meanwhile, Bring the sugar and lemon juice for the syrup to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thickened slightly.
12. Turn cake out onto wire rack and poke all over with a skewer or chopstick.
13. Drizzle or brush with syrup.
14. Allow to cool for at least half an hour longer.
15. Combine lemon juice and icing sugar and mix until smooth and drizzle over the cake.

This was delicious. And I like the ratio of chicken to broccoli.

Chicken and Broccoli in White Sauce

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 large chicken breast (~300g), sliced
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. oil

Broccoli and Sauce

• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1 c. chicken stock
• 4 c. broccoli florets
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1/2 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch + 3 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Combine chicken, water, oyster sauce, cornstarch, and oil, mix well, and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Combine the sugar, salt, sesame oil, white pepper, and chicken stock, mix well, and set aside.
3. Bring ~6 c. of water to a boil.
4. Add the broccoli and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Strain out the broccoli, but keep the water boiling in the wok.
6. Add the chicken to the boiling water and cook until no longer pink. Drain and set aside, this time discarding the water.
7. Clean the wok, then heat the oil over medium heat-high heat.
8. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds.
9. Drizzle in the shaoxing wine around the edges of the wok.
10. Stir the sauce and drizzle that in as well.
11. Give the corn starch slurry a stir and slowly pour it into the wok.
12. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens.
13. Add the broccoli and chicken and toss to combine.
14. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until heated through.
15. Serve with rice.

We have an excess of citrus right now, so I picked this out to use up some of it.

Lemon Pudding Cake

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1 c. sugar, divided
• 1/4 c. flour
• 3 lemons
• 50g butter, melted
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1/4 c. cream of tartar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and place a 20cm (8") square baking dish inside a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
2. Combine 3/4 c. of the sugar with the flour.
3. Zest the lemons and mix in the grated zest.
4. Mix in 1/3 c. of lemon zest.
5. Stir in the melted butter and egg yolks.
6. Add the milk and stir to combine.
7. In a clean bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar (if using).
8. Beat until foamy, then gradually mix in the remaining 1/4 c. of sugar and beat until stiff.
9. Mix ~1/3 of the meringue into the batter.
10. Fold in the remaining meringue until no longer streaky.
11. Pour the batter into the 20cm (8") pan.
12. Pour hot water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the smaller pan.
13. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until top is lightly brown and firm (~40 minutes).
14. Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.

I needed to use up a chicken breast and some mushrooms, so this was pretty much perfect. It probably ended up with a bit less chicken than called for, but I had a few extra mushrooms, so I think it all worked out in the wash. I also added some peas, just to have something green in there and make it a little more nutritionally complete.

Chicken Tetrazzini with Peas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion (or 2 shallots), halved and sliced
• 1 tsp. garlic paste (optional)
• 250-300g mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/3 c. flour
• 3 c. chicken stock
• 2 c. frozen peas (optional)
• 300-500g cooked chicken, shredded
• 225-300g dried pasta, cooked
• 3/4 c. grated Parmesan, divided
• 1 c. fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 Tbsp. margerine (or butter)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and oil a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
2. Heat the oil over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until softened (3-5 minutes).
4. Add garlic (if using) and mushrooms, cover, and cook until they release their liquid.
5. Uncover and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed or boiled off.
6. Add butter.
7. Once butter is melted, add flour to make a roux and cook, stirring, until no longer raw-smelling.
8. Slowly stir in chicken stock and cook until thickened.
9. Stir in the peas (if using) and cook until heated through.
10. Mix in chicken, pasta, and 1/2 c. of the Parmesan.
11. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
12. Pour into prepared baking dish and top with breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 c. of Parmesan.
13. Dot with margerine (or more butter).
14. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.

We had a bunch of dried out bread heels and odds and ends in the cupboard, so I decided that a bread pudding was in order. I had to increase the amount of custard called for by quite a bit. But my bread was also very, very dry, so I think it needed a bit more liquid than expected to properly hydrate it. I'm also not sure exactly how much bread I used. I just kept putting in bits until it looked like a good amount for the baking dish. I also used a mix of fresh and dried apple rather than purely dried as called for in the recipe. I think I'd put even more fresh apple in next time!

Photo goes here.

Apple Bread Pudding

Adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• stale bread (enough to cover bottom of 23x33cm baking dish), cut/broken into 3cm chunks
• 1-2 apples, peeled and diced
• 1/2-3/4 c. chopped dried apple
• 2 Tbsp. raisins or dried currants
• 2 1/2 c. whole milk
• 4 large eggs
• 6 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp. sugar

Directions

1. Grease a 23x33cm baking dish.
2. Scatter the bread in the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Scatter the apples and raisins on top.
4. Beat the eggs and brown sugar into the milk.
5. Mix in 1 tsp. of the cinnamon, the vanilla, and the nutmeg.
6. Pour the custard over the bread and set aside for 30 minutes, pressing the bread down into the custard periodically.
7. Meanwhile, mix the remaining cinnamon with the sugar and set aside.
8. Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).
9. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the pudding.
10. Bake at 160°C (325°F) for ~1 hour.
11. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving.
12. Serve with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.

We had half of a very large daikon left in the fridge and some mushrooms that needed using, so this dish seemed ideal. I was actually a bit short on daikon and we only had white mushrooms, not shiitake. And I only had about half of the amount of mince called for. Given that, I decided to double the mushrooms. I think this worked quite well! I didn't miss the extra meat and I liked the proportion of daikon to mushrooms.

Braised Daikon Bowls

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. oil
• 3 star anise
• 2 tsp. sichuan peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 2 c. water
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 4 green onions, chopped, greens and whites separated
• 100-200g ground beef or pork
• 500-700g daikon, peeled and cut into 1x2cm pieces
• 8 shiitake mushrooms or 16 white or cremini mushrooms, sliced thick
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch + 3 Tbsp. water

Directions

1. Heat oil over low heat.
2. Add star anise and sichuan peppercorns and infuse oil for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, salt, soy sauces, oyster sauce, and water and mix well. Set aside.
4. Strain solids out of oil, return oil to wok, and heat over medium heat.
5. Add garlic paste, ginger paste, and the white parts of the green onions and stir-fry for a minute or so.
6. Add the mince and stir-fry, breaking up, until cooked through.
7. Add the diakon and mushrooms and stir-fry for a minute or so.
8. Drizzle the wine around the edges of the wok and toss to combine.
9. Give the sauce a stir and pour it into the wok.
10. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until daikon is tender (~15 minutes).
11. Give the cornstarch mixture a stir and drizzle it into the wok.
12. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until sauce thickens (30-60 seconds).
13. Stir in the green parts of the green onions.
14. Serve over rice.

This is a very rich stew served in a buttery mustard gravy. The beer in question was meant to be a porter, but I used stout. I also used ~250mL less liquid than the recipe called for. I also used less chicken than called for and a mix of drumsticks and thighs rather than just thighs. I doubled the onions and added a bit of garlic as well.

The resulting stew was excellent! That said, I think it could've used more vegetables. I think I'd put more carrots and potatoes next time and/or add a bit of turnip/swede or something.

Beer-Braised Chicken Stew

Adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 1.2-1.5kg chicken pieces
• salt and pepper
• 6 Tbsp. butter, divided
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 400-500g carrots, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
• 500-600g potatoes, cut into 4cm pieces
• 1 kumara, peeled and cut into 4cm pieces
• 1 rutabaga/swede, peeled and cut into 3cm pieces (optional)
• 500mL stout
• 500mL chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon or Roman mustard
• 2-3 tsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1/2 c. hot water

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sear for a few minutes on each side.
3. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
4. Melt 1 Tbsp. of the butter in the pot.
5. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened and beginning to brown.
6. Add the bay leaf, carrots, potatoes, kumara, and rutabaga (if using).
7. Add the stout, chicken broth, brown sugar, mustard, tomato paste, and thyme.
8. Return chicken to pot and bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
10. Mash the remaining 5 Tbsp. of butter with the flour to form a paste.
11. Slowly add 2 c. of the cooking liquid to the flour paste while stirring until smooth.
12. Pour gravy back into pot.
13. Rinse out measuring cup the gravy was mixed in with the hot water and pour that into the pot as well.
14. Cover and simmer for another 10 minutes.
15. Check to make sure chicken is cooked through, season to taste, and serve.