60 Weeks Until .... Number 23

Each week I make a baked loaf for the HD3QBEM to enjoy with her cup of tea.   Gingerbread is a favourite as it fruit loaf but this lemon one looks set to surpass all others

Zesty Lemon Tea Loaf

225g butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
Grated zest of 2 large lemons
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.   Grease and line 2 regular loaf tins

Beat butter and sugar until creamy.   Add eggs one at a time beating well after each.
Mix in the zest of the 2 lemons.
Sift the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk until all are well combined.
Pour into loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until cooked when tested with a skewer

Combine the juice of the two lemons with 1/2 cup sugar and spoon over the hot loaves as soon as you take them from the oven.

Leave to cool and enjoy!

60 Weeks Until .... Number 22

Sometimes life is difficult at our house.   I like cooking and trying out new recipes but the HD3QBEM has severe dietary problems that mean the list of "cannot eat" is loooong and growing longer!   This one however satisfies us both.

Cheddar Cheese and Silverbeet Rice Balls

1 tablepoons olive oil for sauteeing
2 cups of freshly chopped silver beet (or you could substitute spinach)
2 egg whites
2 cups white rice cooked
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 and  1/2 cups grated tasty cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius
In a frying pan heat the oil and gently wilt the silverbeet
In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until well combined.  Add the cooked rice, breadcrumbs and grated cheese.  Mix through thoroughly.
Add the spinach and combine well.
Season with salt and pepper
With wet hands form bite size balls and place on a greased baking tray
Spray lightly with cooking oil.
Bake for 20 minutes until crispy and golden.

These are great served with a tomato salsa (for me) and peach and mango chutney (for the HD3QBEM)

60 Weeks Until ..... Number 21

Tonight we tried recipe number 21 and.... it was a great success.   I recommend this one!

Chicken Meatballs and Miso Rice

400 grams chicken mince
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Mix all these together and pan fry in a non stick fry pan (I used oil spray)

Cook one and a half cups of sushi rice
1/2 teaspoon miso
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
Mix the miso and soy together well and with the coriander stir it into the cooked rice until well mixed.

Serve the meatballs on top of rice and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and a green salad ( to which I added roasted pumpkin).

Delicious!

60 Weeks Until .... Number 20

Last night, very late, I was indulging in a nostalgic wallow in my favourite "What Katy Did" books?   My own copies, which belonged to the HD3QBEM before me, have long since been passed on to nieces.   I hope they love them as much as I do!   In What Katy Did at School, she and Clover receive a box from home and forbidden to open it by a stern school mistress, they nevertheless ease the lid open slightly and their exploring fingertips find "Debbie's Jumbles".   Now Debbie is their family cook but I never knew what a Jumble was.
Today the mystery is solved.   I leafed through an old recipe book and found...... Date Jumbles.   Presumably it was a lack of knowledge of the Katy books which gave this cake the wrong name!   D is for Debbie not Date.   Whatever -  these are delicious!

Date Jumbles

125 gram butter
125 gram white sugar
250 gram chopped dates
Warm the butter and sugar in a saucepan until the butter melts.   Add the dates and mix well.

185 gram flour
60 gram cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
Sift these dry ingredients together.

Add the butter, sugar and date mixture to the dry ingredients.   Add 3/4 cup milk and mix well.
Spread in a greased slice or swiss roll tin and bake 30 minutes at 170 degrees celsius.
When cold ice with chocolate icing.

60 Weeks Until ....Number 17 and 18

Tonight I made a rice salad.   Well to be precise

Wild Rice and Cranberry Salad with Balsamic Dressing 

200 gram of wild rice blend (I used Sunrise) cooked and cooled
1 large apple diced
1 stalk celery finely chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
handful parsley
50 grams toasted pine nuts

Mix all together well

For the balsamic dressing
Combine
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Shake the dressing well and stir through the salad.

Enjoy.   This one is delicious and I shall repeat it.

Courgette and Feta Fritters

4 medium courgettes grated

90 gram feta cheese crumbled

3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs

2 eggs

1 tablespoon fresh herbs -  your choice

Squeeze out excess moisture from grated courgettes.   Combine all ingredients  and mix well.

Spray a non-stick frying pan with old.  Cook heaped tablespoons of batter over a medium heat until golden.

Serve with a salad of tomato, red onion and fresh mint.

This is tasty and quick but may not be repeated in this house.   My old recipe for Courgette Fritters (sans feta) is more to the liking of the HD3QBEM and moi.

60 Weeks Until .... Number 16

Today is a little out of my ordinary -  a dessert!

Passionfruit and Peach Fool

1 ½ cups low fat milk

2 tablespoons custard powder

2 tablespoons sugar

Mix all together well and bring to the boil.  Stir constantly and the custard will thicken.   Set aside to cool for 10 minutes

400 gram can of peaches in natural juice - drained

250 gram pottle of fromage frais

4 tablespoons of passionfruit pulp

Puree the peaches until smooth.   Mix the passionfruit into the peach puree

Mix the fromage frais into the cooled custard until well blended then stir in the passionfruit/peach mixture.

Chill before serving.   Enjoy.

And here we are in the HD3QBEM's wedding present crystal dish (I had better be careful - this is older than me!) and my little Harrod's spoon.

60 Weeks Until .... Number 15

This week's recipe is untested by the HD3QBEM.   The list of foods that she cannot eat is so long and ever growing and this one comes in that category.   Never mind I am enjoying this!   Delicious.

Mixed Vegetable Quinoa

225 gram quinoa
500 mls vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
400 gram frozen mixed vegetables
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
juice of one lemon

Step 1:   Cook the quinoa following packet instructions  ( I boiled the 225 gram of quinoa in 500 mls vegetable stock)
Meanwhile in a large non-stick fry pan heat the olive oil and stir fry the vegetables and garlic.   Allow to cool.

Step 2:  Mix the cooked quinoa with the vegetables and the lemon juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer to the serving dish and keep warm.


And the bonus of this recipe??   It can be made in advance and reheated when it is time to eat.

Enjoy!

60 Weeks Until ..... Number 14

This week was delicious!  I highly recommend this one.

Yogurt-Baked Fish with Walnut-Herb Crumbs

You will need

500g White Fish season with salt and pepper

Grease a baking dish
Remove any stray bones from fish and place in one layer in the dish

150g breadcrumbs
150g finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 chopped tarragon
1 tablespoon butter

Mix altogether with your fingertips until the consistency is fine crumbs

250g natural Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cornflour
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all these together into a smooth cream. 

Pour the creamy yogurt sauce over the fish.
Pack the walnut crumbs generously over to cover the fish.
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Serve hot with rice and fresh salad. 

I used New Zealand Hoki but any firm white fleshed fish that becomes succulent and tender when cooked will be successful.

Enjoy!

60 Weeks until .... Number 12 and 13

It's catch up this week.

First up Easy Lemon Chicken

4 chicken breasts (around 250g each)
500g potatoes peeled and chopped into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 and 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow pan.
Place the potatoes around the chicken.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Combine the vegetable oil, lemon juice, garlic and seasoning
Bake for 50-55 minutes until the chicken is done and the potatoes tender when seasoned with a fork.
Increase the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius and cook for another 10 minutes until the potatoes are browned.

Delicious and enough for three meals.   Yay!   An easy week for meals this week.


Next is Roast Pumpkin, Zucchini, Capsicum and Feta Crustless Quiche.

Cut 500g of peeled pumpkin into 1cm dice and roast in a hot oven
In a pan sauté

• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 1 small red capsicum diced
• 1 zucchini trimmed and diced
• (and I added four mushrooms also chopped finely)

Season the mixture well then add the roasted pumpkin.

In a bowl mix together 1 cup self raising flour with six eggs and 100g of grated cheddar cheese.

Add the vegetable mixture to the egg flour and cheese mixture and combine well.

Pour into a well greased and floured 24cm springform cake pan.   Smooth the top and crumble 100g of feta cheese across the top.

Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown and the egg is set.
Serve with a side salad and tomato chutney. 

Yummy!   But should really be called Vegetable Cake as that's what it looks like on the plate.

So this week the HD3QBEM won't have to cook anything, just reheat as needed.   Isn't she lucky to have such a kind daughter ;-)



  

60 Weeks Until .... Number 11

Tonight is Bubble and Squeak -  with a  nod to my maternal grandmother who was a master at this.
She always told me that this recipe was great for leftovers and so it is.

The quantities I used for the HD3QBEM and me
2 medium potatoes cooked and mashed
1 large carrot cooked and mashed
1 large parsnip cooked and mashed
2 cups cooked cabbage
2 Cups of left over corned silverside diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together well

Heat olive oil (should be butter but I am trying to be healthy!) in an oven proof pan
When sizzling hot spread the mixture into the pan firmly and cook until the underside is well browned.
At this point transfer to the oven and let the upper element set at 180 degrees Celsius brown the top.

Serve with salad and/or salsa and a flourish!

Delicious.

60 Weeks Until ..... Number 10

This week we have a cake   No Bake Weetbix slice.

10 Weetbix

200g condensed milk

125g melted butter

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 tablespoon cocoa

1/2 cup dried fruit ( your choice -  I used currants)

 

1.   Crush the Weetbix finely into a bowl.  Add coconut, cocoa and fruit and mix.

2.   Melt the butter and condensed milk

Add 2 to 1

 

Press the mixture into a well greased  slice tray and chill well in the refrigerator

 

Mix up the icing

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 and a 1/2 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon of boiling water

 

Mix all together until well combined and spread on top of the chilled cake.

 

Cut into slices.   Best stored in the refrigerator

 

And for my overseas friends who may not be familiar with the iconic New Zealand Weetbix.   It is a breakfast cereal of crushed wheat compressed into rectangular cakes and eaten with enjoyment by most NZ children and affectionate nostalgia by many New Zealand adults ;-)

Enjoy.

60 Weeks until ..... Number 9

This week's recipe is Fish Curry Bake

1 cup of long grain rice - rinsed and cooked
30g butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all these together and press into a greased oven proof dish

Spread one 375g can of well drained Tuna in Spring Water over the rice mixture.

40g butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 and  1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 heaped teaspoons mayonnaise

In a pan, melt the butter add the flour and curry powder.  Add the milk little by little stirring well to make a thick curry sauce.   Add the lemon juice and mayonnaise and mix very well.

Pour the curry sauce over the layered rice and tuna.
Cover with grated cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper.

Bake 30 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius

Enjoy.   The HD3QBEM did!

60 Weeks Until ..... number 8

This week's new recipe is Moist Date and Almond Loaf.

I had reservations about this as it had no sugar in it but the end result is very delicious.

4 eggs
1 cup of fresh dates, pitted
1/4 cup of oil
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups ground almonds

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius
Add eggs, dates, oil, baking soda and vinegar to the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.
Place the ground almonds in a bowl and then fold in the wet mixture until well combined.
Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and decorate with pine nuts
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

Serve to your dependent (or independent) adult (or children) and bask in the praises heaped on your head!!

60 Weeks Until .... Number 7

This week's new recipe is Coffee Fudge Cake.    Just ask the HD3QBEM about this!  She who doesn't drink coffee (or tea for that matter) loves this cake.

Here's the recipe if you want to try some for yourself.

185g Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Dessertspoon Instant Coffee
1 Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla essence
1 ½ packets of vanilla digestive biscuits = 380grams (Graham crackers for those in the States)

Crush the biscuits very very finely.
Melt the butter, sugar and instant coffee together.   Add the beaten egg and vanilla essence.
Blend well together and pour over the biscuit crumbs.
Press into a slice tin (20cm x 26 cm)and chill well in the refrigerator (at least 24 hours)
Ice with coffee icing when cold.

Best kept in the refrigerator but take note it doesn't last long in this house ;-)

60 Weeks until .... number 6

This week we tried Slow Cooked Mediterranean Style Lamb - just at the right time as we have an unseasonal cold southerly over us at present.
New Zealand lamb cooked this way is definitely to be repeated at our house. 

Now apart from eating I have been stitching too.
This  - A Fisherton De La Mere page for my NMMSAL

and this - I have covered the name as it will be a gift.

and this - which will become a gift too when finished.   All the little gifts at the foot of the tree need to be aligned properly and sewn on.   Hopefully I will get the proportion of tree trunk correct ;-)  Then I need a binding and hangers.   Will I really get this done in three weeks?  I sure hope so.

Nothing is completely finished but at last progress is being made.
So after the dinner dishes it is back to the needle.

60 weeks until ...... number 5

Once again today has been busy but I have managed to prepare the meals for the week ahead.   This is a regular weekend exercise and means the HD3QBEM needs only to heat the dishes up each evening. We have compromised in this way so that she feels she is contributing to the running of the household and I have a meal ready and waiting when I get home from the gym.

My new recipe for the week is this
Chickpea and Apricot Tagine.   Amendments were  two teaspoons of raw sugar instead of the specified palm sugar disc as I have no idea what that is.   We had white rice, in deference to the HD3QBEM's delicate constitution.
I think this is a keeper but there is a divided verdict in this house, perhaps attributable to the generation gap.   It is still going on record in my recipe book and I will be repeating this one.

Daylight saving has begun here in New Zealand and I lost an hours sleep last night.   Hopefully my eyes will remain open until I can do the dinner dishes after which it will be off to bed for me.

60 weeks until ..... number 4

Today Spring has finally arrived!   It is warm.  It is sunny and the cherry blossoms are a wonderful pink cloud.  

After the dreadful thunder and lightning last night, today's weather was a real surprise but most welcome.
This weeks new recipe is not really a new taste but I wanted to try this in my slow cooker.  
Slow Sweet and Sour Chicken.   The verdict is "delicious" and I will definitely try this one again, possibly even when I have guests for dinner as it looks great too.   I used tinned pineapple - well drained.

The Wales band on my UK Trip Book is half finished and tonight I plan to concentrate on that.   This afternoon I made a list of what stitching and sewing I want to accomplish before Christmas - that was a bad idea!  The list is daunting.   The HD3QBEM always told me "your eyes are bigger than your stomach" and obviously that holds true for more than just meals;-)

60 Weeks until .... number 3

This week I decided to go 'healthy' and chose a recipe from my monthly "Healthy Food Guide".
These taste great but the jury is still out on whether or not they really are healthy?!

Ginger and Coconut Balls

1/2 cup dried dates chopped finely
1/3 cup dried prunes chopped finely
1/4 cup crystallised ginger chopped finely
1/4 cup raisins
1/3 cup unsalted cashew nuts

Mix all these ingredients well in a food processor until they form a tight mixture.
With damp hands roll the mixture into balls.
Using 1/4 cup fine desiccated coconut dust the balls thoroughly before placing in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours or preferably overnight.

The HD3QBEM loves ginger so these are sure to be a real hit with her and I can see myself making this recipe many times to use instead of "after dinner mints" when I have guests.   Yep!   This is a keeper but I wouldn't classify it as healthy ;-)

60 Weeks until ... Number 2

Today I tried another recipe as part of my self-inflicted challenge.
Moroccan-style Carrot Salad is definitely a success  although I may have been a little heavy handed with the cayenne pepper ;-)  

I polished up the HD3QBEM's silver serving spoon especially for this photo but despite the effort I don't think it adds much.
And on to other news.   I have finished The Dress.   Did you hear the happy dance from your place? 
Hopefully at the wedding I can persuade someone to take a posed shot for me to show off.
After an hour or two of energetic effort my garden is planted out with beans, silverbeet (chard), redbeet, lettuce and just for balance sweet peas and geums.   The daffodils which miraculously appeared in my vegetable patch three years ago have generously provided many blooms this year (they must love being ignored?) and my freesias have been abundant too.   But women cannot live on flowers alone and I look forward to a harvest of fresh vegetables over the summer.

Tonight I plan to complete the Navy Blue Blackwork and perhaps get a start on the Wales band of the UK Trip Book.   Heston Blumenthal is on TV and will keep me company tonight.

60 Weeks Until ...

It is 60 weeks until I turn 60 and my celebration has begun.
Just for a little fun I decided to try a new recipe each week for 60 weeks.  

And the first - Smoked Chicken and Red Pepper Risotto - has been declared a success by the HD3QBEM, my official taster-in-residence.   Can you imagine me standing over a stove stirring in the stock spoonful by spoonful?   No way!   This was all mixed together and cooked in the oven ie I did not follow the recipe exactly.   Easy peasy and super delicious.