Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder is a thick hearty soup that is perfect for supper on a chilly night.

This is the recipe I use, originally found in Alison Holst's 'Dollars and Sense Cookbook,' which states it will make four servings. 

Dice an onion and saute in 2 Tbsp melted butter for 2-3 minutes. 

Add 1 grated medium carrot, 2 diced stalks of celery and 1 cup of chicken stock (or water).  Bring to the boil then simmer until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. 

Add a 410g can of creamed corn, 1 cup milk, and 2-3 Tbsp chopped parsley. 

When soup is hot (but do not let it boil), thicken as desired with some cornflour (corn starch) mixed with a little cold water. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper and a generous pinch of white sugar (the sugar intensifies the corn flavour, but its use is optional).

Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Margaret xx 

Making Lemon Honey

 

It is many years since I last made a batch of Lemon Honey, but we have so many lemons on our tree that I thought I would give it a go again.  It took me about 45 minutes from start to finish.

It is a fairly straight-forward recipe, although care has to be taken that the mixture is never allowed to boil.

Beat up five eggs and set them aside.

Take two clean lemons and grate the rind/zest off them.  Set aside.

Juice 1-2 lemons, enough to give ¼ cup juice, and set aside.

Cut 200g unsalted butter into pieces and melt in a saucepan over a low to medium heat.

Add 300g castor sugar (I blend normal white sugar to make this), one third at a time, stirring each time to incorporate it.

Then stir reasonably vigorously, and most of the butter will mix into the sugar.  Remember to not let the mixture boil at all.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

Add the beaten eggs, stirring continuously while doing so.  There will likely be a lot of froth on top of the mixture.

Return the saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest.

Keep stirring as the mixture cools and the last of the egg froth will blend in.

Pour the Lemon Honey into clean warm jars.  It will thicken a little more as it cools.  Seal the jars when cold and keep stored in the fridge.

My recipe made 2½ 300g jars.

Use spread on bread, scones etc., or poured over icecream or into tart cases.  It is quite sweet and rather more-ish (if you like lemon, which I do).

It never lasts very long with me around!

Margaret xx

Comfort Food

Dreary days get me down a bit.  

On Saturday we had fog for most of the day.  On Sunday, we had a thick blanket of fog over us all day.

Today, Monday, the fog has been replaced with low cloud and a threat of heavy rain.

I decided lunch was a good time to have some Comfort Food!

Waffles were my choice.

We have a mini-waffle maker, and my recipe makes 4 small waffles.

It is an easy recipe.

In a jug, whisk together 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk.

Melt 1.5oz butter and mix in. Leave to stand in the fridge for about an hour before using.

This time, I ate mine with butter and maple syrup, but they go well with any topping.

Sometimes you just need a little bit of sweet stuff to make the day better.

Margaret  xx

HEADER PHOTO JULY 2024

This month's photo is of the Band Rotunda in Queens Park, Invercargill.   The photo was taken in 2008 after I had spent a pleasurable day wandering around this wonderful park.

Coffee Cake Recipe

A couple of people have asked for my coffee cake recipe - what a great excuse to bake another one!

Begin by preheating the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Grease a 7" diameter ring cake tin with butter, and line the base with baking paper.

Sift 6oz flour and 1 tsp baking powder into the cake mixing bowl.

Add 5oz sugar, 4oz soft butter, 1 Tbsp instant coffee, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup milk.

Beat with electric cake mixer for 2 minutes, by which time the mixture should be smooth and a light coffee colour.

Spoon into the prepared cake tin and level off the surface.

Bake at 180C until cooked, about 25-30 minutes. 

Turn out onto a cake rack and leave to cool.

Make an icing using 2oz soft butter, 3oz icing sugar and 1 tsp instant coffee. 

Double the icing if wanting to ice the sides as well.

Decorate cake with halved glace cherries or walnut halves. 

Enjoy cooking - and eating the results!

Margaret xx 

Catching Up

THE MORNING WAS SPENT CATCHING UP ON THE HOUSEWORK THAT HADN'T BEEN DONE DURING THE WEEK.

THEN IT WAS INTO DOING SOME FOOD PREP AND COOKING.

SILVER MADE A VISIT TO THE KITCHEN TO SEE WHAT I WAS DOING.

AMONG MY FOOD PREP, I MADE BLANCHED BROCCOLI FOR MY SALADS (cook peeled julienned broccoli stem in 4 cups boiling water with 1 tsp salt for 2 minutes; add broccoli head, broken into flowerets, and 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil and boil 3 minutes; drain and leave to cool; store in fridge 3-4 days)

KEEP SMILING 

MARGARET xx

Fruit

FRESH PINEAPPLE  - imported, but on special this week. I love it with natural unsweetened yoghurt (the stuff that's chock full of lots of gut-loving bacteria!)

MANDARINS - the first ones for the season, and they're sweet and juicy!

APPLE CRUMBLE  - stew up 4 large apples. Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1 cup flour then rub in 2oz butter. Spread over apple. Bake 180 degC for 25 minutes. 

Mustard Relish

 

When I was not long married, and learning to cook by experimenting on my long-suffering husband, my paternal grandmother gave me her recipe for Mustard Pickles.

My mother had a similar recipe that she called Piccalilli.  Between both recipes, and my own changes, I have now arrived at a recipe I call Mustard Relish.

Part of the reason for changing the name was that my husband and I preferred ours to be spreadable.  Neither of us were that keen on chunky pickles dolloped on our dinner plate.

We also had preferences when it came to the vegetables we used.  Over the years, after much testing and trialling, we settled on a mostly cauliflower relish, with onions and green beans.  It was what we liked the most.

The end result of all our experimentation was finely chopped vegetables in a mustard sauce that goes really well with tasty cheese on a cracker or in a sandwich.

Early one morning this last week, I utilised a large cauliflower from the greengrocer and made Mustard Relish for myself (son is not that keen on it).  It is only a small recipe, as there is only me to eat it!

Preparing vegetables for the Relish

Waiting two hours for the brining stage

The end result

MUSTARD RELISH

Total time taken: 3 hours 45 minutes      

Prepare the vegetables:  peel 2 large onions and cut into fine dice.  Top and tail 100g green beans and cut into ¼ inch slices.  Weigh them and make weight up to 1kg with cauliflower florets (about half a cauliflower).  Cut flower part off floret into small chunks and dice the stalk part.  Add to the onions and beans.  Making everything small helps the relish to be more spreadable, instead of being chunky.

Sprinkle with 2 tsp plain salt and mix well.  Lightly cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to sit on the bench for 2 hours (or overnight), before transferring the vegetables (do not rinse them) into a preserving saucepan.

Add 1 cup white sugar, 2 tsp mustard powder, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp ground turmeric, ½ tsp ground cloves, and ¼ tsp cayenne pepper.  Add enough white vinegar to just about cover the vegetables (about 4 cups).

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 1 hour, stirring often.

Mix about 2 Tbsp cornflour with a little extra vinegar and use it to thicken the mixture (use more or less cornflour to obtain the consistency desired). 

Remove from heat and spoon relish into hot sterile jars.  This recipe filled four 300ml jars.

Screw on the lid, if using pop-top lids, or else let the relish cool completely before covering it with melted paraffin wax and a lid.

Delicious on a Cheese Scone

Bon Appetit 😊

Margaret.

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

 

It is many, many years since I last made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake so cooking this one was a bit of an experiment.  I am happy with how it turned out – and the ones who ate it, were happy too!

I recently purchased a 10.25 inch Lodge cast iron skillet and read that Upside Down Cakes were particularly good when cooked in one, and that was enough prompt to get me to try it.

Turning it out of the pan was a mission though, as I don’t own a heat-proof plate large enough to cover the top of the skillet.  That problem was solved by utilising a ceramic tile that is usually used as a hot saucepan placemat (well washed, of course), and then using two egg slices to carefully lift the cake onto the serving plate.

It may have turned out a little dark, as I ran out of brown sugar and had to use some muscavado

This is the recipe I used:

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Drain a 420g can of pineapple rings (it contains 8 rings and I needed 7) and make the juice up to 3/4 cup with water (if there is not enough juice present).  Place 2oz butter into the cast iron skillet and pop it into the preheating oven.  When the butter has melted, remove from the oven and add 1/2 cup of brown sugar, stirring so that the base is evenly covered.  Arrange 7 pineapple rings in the bottom and place a glace cherry in the centre of each.  Set the pan aside while making the cake batter.

Sift together 6oz flour and 2 tsp baking powder and set aside.  Cream 6oz butter with 4oz white sugar, then beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence.  Mix together with the dry ingredients – the mixture should be just pourable, so if it is too stiff then add a little milk.

Pour the batter over the pineapple in the skillet, spreading out with a spoon so the top surface is even.  Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and will spring back when lightly touched in the centre.  Remove pan from oven and allow to cool down for 10 minutes (watch where you place it, the skillet is very hot). 

Run a blunt knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it, then place a plate face down on top of the pan.  Using oven mitts, hold them closely together and quickly turn over.  Remove the pan.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake can be served warm as a dessert, with whipped cream or icecream on the side, but is also nice eaten cold.

I have also read that you can make this using other fruit, and would be interested to hear if anyone has ever done this and how it turned out.

May all your puddings be good ones 😊

Margaret.

Fig Jam

 

Much as I adore fresh figs, I have to confess that I love fig jam even more. 

After being given fresh figs the other day I decided to weigh them and found there was a fraction under 500g – just enough to make a couple of pots of jam.

After cutting the stalk end off, I chopped the figs into small pieces and left them to soak overnight with the juice of ½ lemon (abut 2 Tbsp) and 175g of white sugar mixed through them.

This morning I measured out 50g preserved ginger, diced it finely, and added it to the figs. 

The next step was to make up a syrup of ½ cup hot water and 175g white sugar in a big saucepan.

Once the sugar was dissolved I tipped in all of the fig and ginger mixture, stirred well, and brought it to the boil.  A rapid boil of 15-20 minutes and a lot of stirring (it was beginning to stick to the pan), and my jam was setting.

My recipe said boil for 30-40 minutes, but because I had halved the amounts I didn’t expect it to take that long.  However, I’m not sure 15 minutes would be long enough to preserve it properly – but then decided it didn’t really matter because the jam won’t need to last very long (both sons love it as well).

I ended up with two and a half 250ml jars of jam.  As you can see, I recycle my jars.  Sometimes labels come off quite easily, but not these ones! 

The jam still tastes good, regardless of the label 😊

Margaret.

 

A Plate Or Two Of Pottage

 

With Cyclone Gabrielle making its way onto the country, many people are hunkering down and expecting the worst.  For regions already sodden with the heavy rain of two weeks ago, more heavy rain could spell disaster.

Red warnings for gale-force winds and torrential rain have been issued for the top of the North Island and the Coromandel Peninsular, but it appears all the Island will be impacted by strong winds.

For us here in Hamilton things are not currently looking too bad.  We missed the worst of the last storm, and so far we only have an orange warning for strong winds over the next couple of days.

Today we have overcast skies and the wind is steadily rising.  There has been a little bit of rain at our place but nothing worth noticing, although that is meant to change in the next hour or so as we head into the afternoon.

I don’t normally make soup in summer (in seems wrong somehow), but this morning it felt like a great idea.  It was!

Son and I enjoyed our hearty pottage soup for lunch – it warmed the cockles of our heart, it did (what a funny saying that is).

I call this soup pottage because it doesn’t have a set recipe.  It is a sort of chuck-in-whatever-is-around type of soup.  In this case it was a shin bone, carrot, onion, leek, celery, pearl barley, mung beans, yellow mustard seeds, seasoned with turmeric, salt, and pepper, and boiled up for a couple of hours in some water.

Very yummy 😊

Margaret.

 

Cheese Scones

 

I got to make my Cheese Scones the other day and we both enjoyed them for our lunch.  I was asked if I had a recipe, so we had them again so I could take photographs!

It is not an exact recipe (that is, measurements don’t have to be exact), and this amount is to serve two of us.  If there are more people, I just double or treble the amounts involved.

Ready to eat

First of all, preheat your oven to 210/220 degrees Celsius.  Scones need a very hot oven to cook in.

Into a large bowl, place 1 cup of white flour, ¼ cup cornflour (I think it is called maize starch in some countries?), a pinch of cayenne pepper, and 2 tsp of baking powder.

Grate in about 50g (around 2oz) of cheddar cheese and roughly rub it in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips (it won’t go crumb-like as it does when you rub in butter, as cheese is much harder).

Ready to add milk

Mix in some milk, usually around ½ cup, adding it gradually until the dough comes together in a soft ball.

Turn out onto a floured board, flatten the dough and cut into pieces.

Place on an oven tray (I don’t grease it) and sprinkle a little more cheese over the top.

Bake for about 12 minutes in a very hot oven until scones have risen and are turning golden on top.

Ready to cook

This is my recipe, tweaked over the years to give a result that our family likes – I hope you enjoy them as well 😊

Margaret.

 

Our Daily Bread

 

We have had steady constant rain all day today, with grey overcast skies and a little wind.  A typical winter storm, in fact.  But it isn’t that cold, and the house smells of fresh bread, thick vegetable soup, and cottage pie ready to go in the oven.

Believing that I am ultimately responsible for my own health, I have begun looking more closely at my lifestyle.

Perhaps I have been a little smug – over the years I have had two separate nutritionists examine my dietary intake and tell me I was doing great.  But, obviously, it wasn’t that great as I am now suffering a heart murmur.

I don’t eat a lot of bread, but I do eat some and I want it to the best I can get.  During World War II, English food rations included the National Loaf which contained 85% wholemeal.  This was meant to provide the optimum healthy loaf for consumers.

So, today, I made my own Wholemeal Loaf in the breadmaker.  It has only just finished cooking, but I am pleased with how it looks and it smells so delicious! 

I won’t be able to cut into it until it cools down, but I’m sure it will go well with the thick pottage-style vegetable soup bubbling away on the stove 😊

Margaret.

 

BREAD RECIPE (86% wholemeal)

Into the breadmaker pan place, in order, 3 tsp Surebake yeast (i.e., yeast plus improvers), 300g of 100% wholemeal flour, 50g high-grade white flour (a strong flour suitable for making bread), 1 tsp (5g) salt, 1 Tbsp (15g) instant milk powder, 1 Tbsp molasses, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and 280 ml cold tap water.  Select the Wholemeal Cycle and wait 5 hours for the magic to happen.

A word of warning though.  Not all breadmakers are alike (mine is a Panasonic SD-2501 model) and you may need to adjust the recipe to suit your machine.

 

Lemon Honey

 

It must be several years since I last made some Lemon Honey.  I used to make it using our own eggs and lemons, but had to buy them this time.

What I made almost filled two 500g jars.

The recipe is quite simple and it only takes about 30 minutes to make.  However, it is more a consumable spread than a jam and needs to be kept in the fridge (not usually a problem, as it gets eaten so fast!).

Another thing to note is that, in my experience, American butter is different to our golden-yellow solid blocks that weigh in at 500g, so I am not sure how that would work.

LEMON HONEY

Prepare all the ingredients:

Wash and dry two medium lemons.  Grate off the lemon zest and set aside.  Juice the lemons to give ¼ cup lemon juice.

Measure out 300g castor sugar (I use normal white sugar and pulverize it in the blender).

Beat 5 large eggs and set aside.

Measure out 200g unsalted butter and cut into pieces into a saucepan.

Make the Lemon Honey:

Melt the butter in the saucepan over a medium heat.

Add the sugar, a third at a time, stirring each time to incorporate it.  Keep stirring until all the sugar has melted, but be careful not to let it boil.

Remove saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. 

Add the beaten eggs, stirring constantly all the time.

Return saucepan to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken.  Once again, be careful not to let it boil or it will curdle (still tastes okay, but texture is not the best).

Remove from the heat again, and stir in the lemon zest.

Stir again a couple of times as it cools, to ensure the zest is spread throughout and also to mix in any remaining ‘egg foam.’

Pour into warm jars and refrigerate once cold (it will set further as it cools).

Enjoy as a spread on butter or toast, or spoon some over icecream as a delicious topping.

It is cool and windy today, with a weak wintry sun trying to break through the thick cloud cover.

Just as well I have sunny yellow-coloured Lemon Honey to brighten the day up!

Until next time,

Margaret 😊

 

So Cute

 

I just have to share this cute picture of these two little guys delicately eating a potato crisp.  They are using their paws just like hands!

We have a house guest this weekend.  He is a friend of my son’s and has come to Hamilton for a weekend of miniature war-gaming (a favourite hobby of Son).

I made Baked Chicken Legs for dinner.  It was a new recipe for me and so easy (recipe below).

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend.

Margaret 😊

 

BAKED CHICKEN LEGS

Allow at least one chicken leg per person.  Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Using butter (important), liberally grease a roasting pan or Pyrex dish.

Season each leg with any seasoning mixture you prefer (I used Lemon Pepper Seasoning).  Whatever you use, it should contain some salt for the best results.

Place legs into the greased dish, skin side facing upwards, and dot with a good amount of butter.

Tightly cover the dish with tinfoil, then bake at 150C for one hour.

Remove the tinfoil, baste the chicken (that is, spoon some of the juices in the pan over the chicken), and return the dish to the oven.  Turn the heat up to 200C and bake for 10 minutes. 

Baste the chicken again and continue baking until the skin has gone crispy, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot with vegetables of choice (I used mashed potato, carrot rings, and Brussels sprouts), spooning some of the buttery juices over them.

Notes:  it is the butter and the initial slow cooking which makes this dish so delicious – a little decadent maybe, with all that butter, but great for a special occasion.

HEADER PHOTO FOR MAY 2022

The autumnal mists are slowly rolling back from this farmland south of Te Awamutu township.

The photo was taken mid-morning about fifteen years ago, but the countryside still looks pretty much like it did then.  The brown strip in the middle background is maize waiting to be harvested.

Liver and Bacon Hotpot

 

It seems that I may have stumbled upon a way to make liver delicious!  I always used to fry up the floured slices and serve them with sauteed onion rings.  Not anymore.

Quite by accident, I came upon a reference to someone eating a Liver and Bacon Hotpot.  It piqued my curiosity so I went searching and discovered several different recipes.

I have always “adjusted” recipes to how they suit me, and this is what I came up with:

LIVER AND BACON HOTPOT FOR TWO

Ingredients

350g potatoes

2-3 Tbsp butter

200g lamb’s liver

100g bacon (about 3 rashers streaky bacon)

100g swede (about ½ small swede)

100g carrot (about one average carrot)

1 Tbsp white flour

1 cup beef stock (or vegetable stock)

1½ tsp Dijon mustard (or use whole-grain mustard)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Peel and cut potatoes into 5mm thick slices, rinse in cold water and place into saucepan.  Pour over boiling water, bring back to the boil, and cook for 4-5 minutes until just tender.  Drain carefully, so they don’t break up, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Peel and finely dice onion, carrot and swede and set aside in a small bowl.

Chop bacon into dice and add to the vegetables.

Thinly slice the liver and add the unwashed slices to 1 Tbsp melted butter in a frying pan.  Lightly brown each slice, about 1 minute on each side.  Place into a casserole dish.

Tip the bacon and vegetables into the remaining butter in the frying pan, and cook over a moderate heat until bacon and onion are cooked, about 10 minutes.  Stir often and add more butter if needed.

Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, stir, then stir in the stock.  Add a teaspoon of mustard and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, stirring, then pour over the liver in the casserole dish.

Arrange potato slices on top, overlapping them neatly so they cover all of the meat.

Melt a tablespoon of butter and stir in ½ tsp Dijon mustard.  Brush gently over the potato slices.

Bake, uncovered, at 180 C until potato is browned and tender (about 45 minutes).

 

These measurements and times are only approximate.  The recipe can easily be doubled, and oil can be used instead of butter if wished.  It took me about 40 minutes to prepare the dish before cooking, and I served it with mashed potato and green peas.

This is one recipe I will definitely be making again 😊

Margaret.