Kate’s Cooking: FRITTATA RING & BROWN RICE AND CHICKEN SALAD

FRITTATA RING & BROWN RICE AND CHICKEN SALAD


Hello there folks. Well today is high heat in the desert and I really don’t like it. As I have mentioned before in this column you have to nut it out until a better situation comes along. We are awaiting a work transfer and thought we would not have to spend another summer of high heat. So food in this weather tends to be fast and furious and cooked mostly in the early mornings and wherever possible cooked and made ready for easy reheating later on. The microwave gets a good workout. So today’s cooking involves the microwave.

“Simple Cooking Section.”

Today’s recipe with eggs is a really simple meatless frittata ring, done in the microwave. Its base is eggs and it is cooked in a microwave ring pan. Here are the ingredients:

4 to 5 eggs – beaten with ¼ cup milk and add a little black pepper or fajita seasoning

½ packet frozen spinach – cooked with a little margarine or butter, for a few minutes

3 medium potatoes – baked and diced

2 medium carrots – grated
½ cup parsley – chopped
Cream cheese – little bits

Using the ring pan (which has been greased) put the ingredients in the pan, in the following order: spinach, parsley on top of spinach, diced potatoes, grated carrot, milk & egg mix and lastly, dot with the small pieces of cheese. Cook in the microwave for about 8 to 10 minutes until set. This should serve 2 to 4 people depending on the size of the servings. It is nice with a green salad.

Don’t be afraid to try this if you are learning to cook. It is really easy to do. If you are trying it for the first time, let me know what you think. Experiment with the seasonings and cheese.

Brown Rice & Chicken Salad

This is a very simple recipe that came out of a need to make something in a hurry. I have taken to using brown rice quite a lot lately. I still use white rice for this and that, but I do feel that brown rice is better for you. It takes longer to cook but is worth it in the end, for its goodness and vitamins and nutty flavour.

Into a microwave proof bowl put the following: 1 to 1 ½ cups brown rice, 6 drumsticks, 3 to 6 cloves garlic cut in half (this is optional), 1 cup parsley (chopped), 1 tablespoon margarine or butter. Cover with broth (or seasoned water) and cook until rice and drumsticks are soft and the chicken is no longer pink – about 40 minutes. Remove drumsticks and take meat off. Put chicken meat back into the rice mix and cook for a further 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add 2 tablespoons nonfat ranch dressing and chill for several hours. This is delicious and is nice served on a bed of shredded lettuce (of choice).

SOMETHING TO NOTE:

If you have bread that is looking a little dismal then here are a couple of things to do with it. Roll out the slices with a rolling pin and cut into 4 squares. Cook in the microwave until crisp. Watch them carefully so that they don’t burn. They make excellent instant crackers and are great with a little garlic butter spread on them to serve as a side dish to a salad. Dismal bread also makes great breadcrumbs – without rolling them out just put the bread into the microwave and cook until crisp and then put the crisped bread back into the bread bag and roll it out with the rolling pin and put the crumbs into an airtight container and use them for a topping or they are excellent to thicken meat dishes if you don’t want to do the flour and water thing.

Well that’s it for this week. The column is slightly late – I don’t have any excuses except that it is too hot to think. Take care and go carefully out there.

Cheers, Kate

Kate’s Cooking: SIMPLE SCRAMBLED EGGS & FUN WITH TUNA

SIMPLE SCRAMBLED EGGS & FUN WITH TUNA

Hello folks. Well it is a hot windy afternoon here in the desert and unfortunately, you need to close the windows against the sand and all the little bugs that tend to fly around in the summer. I came across a lady recently who said she just couldn’t stand cooking and for one who loves cooking, I found this hard to hear, though one has to respect her thoughts. I have come across several people lately who profess to not being able to cook. One said she can make a ‘sort of scrambled egg’. Well this is a place to start.

*A simple way to cook* scrambled eggs is in the microwave. In a small bowl, break 2 eggs and beat them with a fork; add some black pepper, a little milk as desired and a little butter or margarine. I like to finely chop some parsley if I have it and add that to. Cook until the egg is puffed up and not too runny in the centre. Serve with a couple of pieces of toast cut on the diagonal and placed to one side of the egg. Make yourself a mug of coffee or a cup of tea and as an extra, serve some fresh sliced fruit with it. This makes a nice meal and can be eaten at any time of the day. Eggs are a wonderful gift of nature. I think you need to be careful of how many you eat but a healthy person can generally manage to eat one a day. If you are lucky enough to get hold of fresh farm eggs or better yet, have your own hens, then you are in for a real treat.

Each week, I will give out a simple recipe for a meal with eggs and after a month, we will move on to something other food that can produce simple meals for those among you who wish to learn and get away from packet meals.

**For the next recipe we are back to tuna. It is so cheap right now in our local supermarket that it is good to have fun with it. This is what I call ‘double odds’- namely two somewhat unusual recipes both using canned tuna.

The first is potato wedges with tuna sauce.

For the potato wedges: bake 2 to 3 scrubbed potatoes (medium-small) per person. Cut into wedges ½ and then ½ again. Coat lightly with butter or margarine and put aside for reheating.

For the tuna sauce: Into a microwave bowl put the following – 1 finely chopped green onion (per person), 1 finely chopped and diced red pepper and 2 teaspoons fajita seasoning. Add to this about 2 heaped tablespoons margarine. Cook for about 5 minutes in the microwave, remove and add 2 heaped tablespoons flour and approximately 2 cups milk. Mix well and microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce is as thick as you would like. Add a can of flaked tuna. You might like to reheat the sauce for a minute or two before you pour it over the reheated wedges.

The second ‘odd’ recipe is for fritters/tortilla wraps.

Referring to the above (wedges) recipe, when you get to the point where the flour has been added, add 1 cup of milk, a teaspoon of baking powder or baking soda, 1 beaten egg. Mix to a consistency of pancakes. This is entirely to your own taste. Fry in a non-stick pan or skillet. I make the ‘batter’ thick for fritters and quite thin (using extra milk) for a tortilla-like wrap for a roll-up filled with soft cheese or a filling of your own choice.

SOMETHING TO NOTE:

I would like to remind those of you who have computers, to get on the mailing list of http://www.rickbayless.com/ The Create Channel’s Master Chef has a wonderful website and he is also on Twitter. He is the most cheerful fellow and is full of wonderful ideas and has a great newsletter and is excellent with the questions he gets asked on Twitter. His program on the Create Channel, Mexico: One Plate At A Time is truly joyful.

Well, that’s it for this week. Take care of yourselves. Bless you.

Kate

Kate’s Cooking: Summer Cooking - Tuna and Chorizo

Greetings folks. Well here comes the very hot weather in the desert south west and here comes the season of what I like to call ‘fast cooking’. Fun salads, filling for tacos and hot meals that are easy are some examples. It is a good idea to cook at night, a little ahead if you can. This cuts down on the heat in the kitchen. Ingredients today are varied and the dishes revolve around tuna and chorizo sausage. I so like working with both of these. You can buy tuna fairly cheaply in supermarkets and chorizo also but if you are near a super Mercado or a Mexican supermarket then I would recommend that you buy your chorizo there. The first recipe is a family favorite again. It is a tuna shepherd’s pie. The second recipe is simple tacos based on chorizo as a change from ground beef and taco seasonings.


TUNA SHEPHERD’S PIE

Firstly, let me say that I generally cook this in the microwave but there is no reason that it can be put together on the stove top.

1 can tuna (small is fine)
Mashed potatoes (flaked – a 6 serving measure or 3 large potatoes – cooked and mashed)
1 large onion – chopped medium

1 fresh corn cob - stripped
Flour, milk and margarine
Fajita seasoning
3 pieces of bread – fresh crumbled
2 to 3 tablespoons cheese (optional) Side Dressing: ketchup, mayonnaise & finely sliced tops green onions or chives

Put onion in a microwave bowl along with 3 tablespoons margarine and cook for about 4 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons fajita seasoning and stir. Add 3 tablespoons flour and stir until mixed and add approx. 2 cups milk and cook until thick. You need a thick sauce base. Add tuna that has been drained. Place the mix in a microwave casserole. Cover with the mashed potatoes then the breadcrumbs and dot with pieces of the cheese (if used). Reheat until the center is hot and serve with the side dressing. You don’t, of course, have to use the dressing – it is one of our family’s weird tastes! This recipe is nice all mixed up together in a giant mush and used on sandwiches and in tacos or tortillas.

CHORIZO filling for tacos or tortillas.

This is as simple as you can get. Take your chorizo sausage and split the skin and squeeze it out into a smaller frypan (skillet). It is not necessary to add any oil. Just don’t have the pan on a high heat. Add 1 x red onion that has been chopped. As an alternative to using sliced lettuce in the tortilla or taco, try using spinach with a little vinegar (of choice) sprinkled on it. Use your own choice of shredded cheese, dressing (chipotle is great) and chopped tomatoes as fillers. These are so delicious, take next to no time to make and you don’t end up with a hot kitchen.

SOMETHING TO NOTE:

If you live in a very hot climate (as is our summer here) then don’t forget to drink tea. Iced tea is a wonderful pleasure to imbibe in the hot weather. In the middle east they drink a lot of mint tea and this is great. Mint is easy to grow – use a large margarine pot for the base with a few stones in the bottom and some good potting mix. Keep it moist but not overly so and there is your ‘tea’ leaves. Rosemary tea is also very nice and good for your stomach. This herb can be grown in a pot to and outside as a tree. It is a wonderful herb to use with meat dishes. We drink a lot of green tea. I make it in a juice bottle (plastic) and use 4 tea bags to the 64oz. size and I put it in the window sill and it takes no time at all to mix. We like to mix our green tea with a little orange juice when we have it. It is so important in the summer time to keep hydrated and when my husband has finished using his soda bottles I clean them and fill them with water and put them in the fridge. He doesn’t drink a lot of soda just occasionally. Soda may taste nice but it is really not good for you in bulk.

Well that’s it for this week. Take care out there wherever you are and if you have any ethnic recipes you might like to send me, I would be so very happy to receive them.

This is my other ‘kitchen supervisor’ – her name is Miss Daisy and she is stretching out for anything I will give her. Namely tuna water – her favorite. God bless you and keep well. Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: HAVING FUN WITH RICE

Greetings to you. The cooking column is back from its hiatus and up and running for the upcoming northern summer season. Already where we live in the desert south west USA we are into the 90’s for temperatures. Personally as I have said in other columns it is not my ‘cup of tea’ as the English expression goes, however, in these difficult economic times you go where the work is. Today we have two simple recipes both involving rice and both family favorites. They can be served hot or chilled as salads.
I would like to mention that the end of each column we will be adding a section called Something to Note – this will be a variety of things from ideas for snacks to recommended cooking/food websites – enjoy.

BACON & RICE

1 cup raw rice
1/2 a 1xlb packet of sliced bacon chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 good sized onion sliced and chopped crosswise
Fajita or taco seasoning
Additions (optional): corn, chopped tomatoes (2 or 3), chopped head of broccoli

Cook rice by whatever method you like. In a nonstick frypan, cook bacon and onion together and add seasoning. Add any additions at this point. Mix all ingredients together. Note: it’s a bit naughty but I don’t drain the bacon fat and I use it to mix the ingredients instead of butter or margarine. This is a great hot dish especially with the addition of the broccoli – it is as mentioned a favorite. It is also a great chilled salad, especially with the addition of the corn and chopped tomatoes. A little ranch dressing added to the mix if you are doing the chilled version gives the taste an extra boost.

LEVANT SALAD for 2 adults:

1 cup raw rice – when cooked by whatever method you like, add a little margarine
3 or 4 spring onions (green) chopped
1 cucumber sliced into rounds and then chopped into halves
1 can tuna
1 fresh corncob stripped (u can use a small can of corn but fresh corn is better)
A small amount of ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing is also nice

Mix altogether and chill well. It is truly delicious. This recipe can be eaten hot. In this respect, we sometimes have it with a roux based white sauce to which I add either one of the dressings mentioned for a little flavour and then pour the sauce on top of the rice mix.

WELCOME to Something to Note

We are sandwich fans and this super easy snack is easy and especially so if you are by yourself for a meal. All it involves is 2 eggs and 3 pieces of bread. You cook your eggs together in a small nonstick frypan with a little margarine. Lightly spread 3 pieces of bread with a little margarine and between the 3 pieces of bread put the eggs in a layered fashion. That’s it! Delicious and so simple.

Take care out there. Be well and go safely. God’s Blessings to you.

Cheers Kate and Miss Ginny

– my bossy kitchen supervisor.

Kate’s Cooking: CARROT CANDY AND DRIED TOMATOES

Greetings folks and the cooking column has been on a hiatus for a couple of weeks. We are still here in the desert southwest and the heat is starting up again and I had hoped we would be out of here up north on the great northern prairies by now. I was all set to grow a garden for the northern growing season. My farming cousins are all doing this and I am green with envy. Never mind, we will get there. Talking of growing things, carrots and tomatoes are two of the easiest things to grow. Tomatoes are truly wonderful nowadays for the variety you are able to grow and how you are able to grow them. They are so very good for you health wise. Dried powdered tomatoes are so useful in the kitchen and easy to make. Carrots are another wonderful vegetable and one of the most useful. I especially like carrots juiced – the taste is sublime. Carrot candy is a fun thing to make and both the things today can be made by the young folk – under supervision of course. My grandmother was really into teaching us to cook and prepare a meal as early as she thought we could understand things. She maintained that when you chose to leave the family home, then you should be able to cook reasonably well. So, here then are then is Carrot Candy and Dried Powdered Tomato, both of which Grandma might have questioned!!


CARROT CANDY

1 lb peeled carrots - grated
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon ginger (ground)
¼ cup (approx.) ground almonds
1 cup nuts – own choice – chopped fairly small

Grate carrots on a fine grater. Put in a heavy based saucepan with the sugar and cook over a gentle heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and cook very slowly, stirring frequently until the carrot has absorbed all the moisture and the mix is quite thick. Add the ginger and nuts, stirring well and scraping the sides of the pot. Test a little on a saucer or plate and if it sets, quickly stir in the nuts. Remove from the saucepan and spread quickly on a damp board or on a flat surface. When cool mark into square pieces if you want and break when cold. If you don’t mark the candy and choose to break when cold, then you might have some quite weird shapes. Allow to dry well before storing in an airtight container. This is quite yummy.

DRIED (POWDERED) TOMATOES

On a large baking tray, put thinly sliced tomatoes in a single layer (enough to cover the tray) and put in a fairly low-heated oven for several hours. When thoroughly dry, remove and crush by whatever method you like. I like to put dried vegetables in a plastic bread bag and roll them with my wooden French rolling pin. Put the crushed tomatoes in a sieve and with the back of a spoon push them through the sieve and store in an airtight container. They make a wonderful seasoning and if you don’t want to put a traditional pasta sauce on top of pasta, then a little olive oil, the dried tomato powder and a few fresh herbs, finely chopped, some finely chopped garlic or garlic chives, make a nice and tasty alternative to traditional sauce. The tomato powder is nice added to mayonnaise to.

Well I hope this finds you all well and safe. Take care out there – life seems to be difficult for quite a lot of folk. Do the best you can and I will talk to you again soon. Happy cooking to you.

Here is a pic of my kitchen supervisor – her name is Ginny. She is quite bossy! Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: EXPERIMENTING & PASTA SAUCES

Greetings to you. I am a great fan of experimenting when cooking and in particular, creating sauces, especially for pasta (I have a benevolent husband who puts up with this!). A great number of us these days are on tight budgets and we have to hunt for things to stock our pantry that don’t cost too much. In this respect I would like to go back to a subject that I have talked about before - growing vegetables and fruits in pots and if you have the space, putting together a small greenhouse is always invaluable for growing things out-of-season. I knew of a lady in England who grew strawberries in their winter, in a greenhouse she had made herself and she had great success selling them to the restaurants in London and also to the late Queen Mother’s household. Her first green (glass) house was quite small and as she made a bit more money, she enlarged her garden and she did this by herself. She employed no staff and eventually she made enough money to emigrate overseas to live with her son and his family. With the spring approaching in the northern hemisphere, garden activity increases tenfold and I am hoping that our small family will be out of our present situation and into a rural area where I will be able to have a garden that will grow a bunch of stuff (my favorite word!) that I can stack away for the next winter. If you are not in a situation where you can grow your own vegetables etc., (as we are) then keep a keen eye on the flyers from your local supermarket. Recently in our local supermarket (the VONS/Safeway group) we have been lucky as they have had some excellent deals on many vegetables and my husband (over the last 3 weeks or so) has been able to come home with red peppers, asparagus, garlic, cabbage, broccoli, celery, onions etc. Today’s recipes are both sauces for pasta. We like to have wholegrain pasta – it is so good and the texture is great. We get two meals for two people out of a packet of spaghetti for example. If you keep an eye out for specials, wholegrain pasta is not too expensive. Enjoy them both.

KATE’S MIXED VEGGIE SAUCE FOR PASTA

This is one of my ‘dream-up’ recipes using vegetables and chopped up left over sausages. The following vegetables were chopped up (smallish) and the amount is probably about 1 cup each, except for the garlic: asparagus, broccoli, red pepper, celery, garlic – 2 or 3 large cloves finely chopped. Put these in a pan or cooking pot with some margarine, oil or butter (your preference) and cook for a few minutes and add 1 (small) can of tomato paste and 2 teaspoons of fajita seasoning. Put aside until you have cooked your pasta. To the pasta water, add a little more fajita seasoning and some margarine, oil or butter. Once cooked, add perhaps 3 soup ladles of pasta water to the vegetable mix and stir until you have reached a consistency that appeals. To this, add chopped sausages or left over chicken if you have it. Serve the sauce over the pasta and top with cheese if you wish. This recipe is very nice as a chilled salad with cold meat – omitting the addition of sausages or chicken to the sauce.

VEGETABLE SAUCE (NO. 2)

This is a sauce I saw a chef do on the television recently and I found it intriguing as it used apples which is something I have never used in a pasta sauce. It is very simple and is very tasty and again, I think it would make a nice salad to go along with cold meat.

*onion and celery – chopped and cooked in a pan for a few minutes with some olive oil
*a large can of whole tomatoes and 2 grated apples cooked together for a few minutes
*seasonings and herbs of choice (chef’s comments)

Add the above together and serve over spaghetti and top with grated cheese.

Well that’s it for the column for today. I hope you try the above recipes. I would recommend to those of you living in North America that you might like to hook into the Create Channel on television and have a look at the wonderful chefs on this channel. They are terrific people and I would especially recommend Lydia’s Italy and Rick Baylis’s – Mexico One Plate at a Time and Jacques Pepin. There is much to learn from these folk and they are fun to watch.

Take care out there and happy cooking. Cheers from Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: LITTLE DEBBIE CAKES AND COOKIES AND AN INTERESTING MEAT ROLL

Hello there and I hope you are just fine. The cooking column took a hiatus recently but we are back and up and running. Firstly, today I would just like to make a suggestion, similar to what I have suggested in the past and that is to keep an eye out on the packets and boxes of foodstuffs that you buy, for the test kitchen recipes that are on the packets. They are really very good and for the most part, are not too expensive to make.

In particular today, I would like to tell you about the Little Debbie small cakes and cookies that are abundant here in the United States. They have some of the best recipe suggestions that you can find. If you live in a place or country where you are unable to buy these delicious cakes and cookies, then if you have access to a computer, take a look at their website – LittleDebbie.com. Two favorites come to mind. The first is PECAN SPINWHEELS. These are delicious little cakes that are so nice with coffee and the clever people at Little Debbie have made into a Bread Pudding. The second is NUTTY WAFER BARS. These wafers are truly yummy and they have created a recipe for a cheesecake that is truly decadent and excellent. So, do have a look at these cookies and cakes – there is a nice, wide variety and as mentioned and they are not too expensive. The recipes created using their products are really great. (I am not compensated for this by the way, it is a product that my husband and I are particularly fond of).

MEAT ROLL

I have been making variations of this meat roll for many years. I came across the original recipe while living in Toronto, Canada. This loaf is great hot or cold, for sandwiches and useful in salads, school lunches and toasted sandwiches with a piece of cheese added. The amounts given are approximate. Flavorings are yours to experiment with especially in the mashed potatoes and the additions to the ground meat.

-1 x lb of ground meat
-Flavorings as for meatballs are nice and add breadcrumbs and an egg to bind meat.
-6 good sized potatoes boiled and mashed as you like. I like butter, black pepper and cream.
-6 slices of ham

Flatten out the meat to about ½ inch thick, in a rectangle shape on floured foil. Spread with a single layer of ham and then spread with the mashed potatoes – about ¼ inch thick. You can spread ½ inch of potatoes if you think you can roll it without breaking the meat. Take one end of the foil – both sides – and gently roll it around until the roll forms and take both ends of the foil and gently pop it in a large loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven until juices run clear. This is a delicious form of a meatloaf really. It is particularly good the day after baking and as mentioned, makes spectacular sandwiches. Enjoy.

Well I’m off to deal with a tiny cat that has woken up meowing madly – I think she has forgotten where she is. We all had a bad night – to many interruptions with the local police chasing the crazy ones. Until next time, take care and be well.

Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: fun with vegetables and an interesting salad

Hello everyone and my apologies for a week’s delay in this column. I have had a very rare bad cold which I don’t think was the flu. Although I must say that I went to have an H1N1 flu shot and within a week had gone down with this ghastly cold. I have not had a serious cold since 1998 – I rarely get them. However all is well now and onward and upward with the columns I write. I must say it is gratifying to have my cats all curl up with me in bed although I get the short end of the stick as far as bed space is concerned.


Today I have given you two yummy recipes – both use great vegetables and fruit and the salad is an interesting mix. For those of you who like aubergines (eggplant) then you will just love the stuffed aubergine recipe. I like to encourage the growing of vegetables and all vegetables used in these recipes can be grown in a normal garden or large garden pots.

STUFFED AUBERGINES (eggplant)

4 medium-sized eggplants
2 peppers (any color – mixed colors look nice)
2 small onions
¼ cup butter or margarine (approx.)
1 to 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (preferably grain bread)
1 cup grated cheese of choice
ground black pepper

**remove the stalks from the eggplants and cook in boiling water for about 15 minutes – drain and put in cool water until they can be handled easily. In the meantime, remove the stalks and seeds from the peppers. Reserve about ½ a pepper and chop the rest into fairly small pieces. Peel and chop the onions into fairly small pieces. Melt the butter or margarine in a pan and add the peppers and onions and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs and cheese and pepper and set aside for the moment. Halve the eggplants and scoop out the flesh and chop and add to the onion/pepper mix. Fill the eggplant shells with the vegetable mix and arrange on a greased ovenproof dish or tray and cook in a moderately hot oven for about ½ an hour. Slice the reserved pepper in long thinnish slices and place across the eggplants before you put them in the oven. This is a delicious dish - enjoy.

PPP SALAD

This is an interesting salad which I like. Instead of using traditional mayonnaise you might like to use a dressing of choice. I particularly like a dressing called Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette which is made by a company called Wishbone. It is not expensive and very useful for a myriad of cooking recipes especially for a rice flavoring. All amounts of ingredients used in this salad are approximate and can be changed by personal choice. This salad is nice served in individual lettuce leaves as an accompaniment to white meat. Chill for a while before serving.

1 generous cup of diced, cooked potatoes
½ cup smaller pineapple pieces
½ cup green peas (cooked or not)
½ cup diced cucumber (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped nuts (of choice)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of chopped Italian parsley
Mayonnaise or vinaigrette
Parsley or watercress for garnish (optional)

**mix together the first six ingredients. Mix a little mayonnaise or vinaigrette and serve adding garnish - if desired.

NOTE: this salad can be served hot – it is really quite nice but don’t over cook it. Enjoy.

Well, that’s it for today. Keep well and happy and safe out there.

Happy cooking – Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Working With Oranges

Hello there and greetings to you. Today we will look at two recipes that involve one of the best fruits you can eat – the wonderful ORANGE. What a gift this fruit is. From the inner to the outer skin – orange zest (grated rind) is terrific for flavors and of course the fruit is super-beneficial for its quantity of vitamin C, juice and great taste. Oranges are easy to grow nowadays. Apart from growing them outside in your garden that maybe in the sunnier climates around our great planet, they can be grown in large garden containers on a patio or porch or by your backdoor. I have seen some wonderful examples of oranges grown like this. So here are two interesting and useful recipes using oranges. They are simple and the first one is a fish dish which is nice for lunch with an accompanying salad of choice. The other is great for dessert and is nice with vanilla icecream or used by itself with flavored whipped cream or simply by itself.


BAKED FISH and ORANGES

4 fish fillets
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 oranges – juiced and the rind grated
a sprinkle of black pepper
1 small onion – grated or chopped finely
½ cup grated cheese
1 cup fresh (preferably brown) breadcrumbs
2 to 3 tablespoons margarine

Rinse the fish and place in a greased ovenproof dish. Combine cinnamon, grated orange rind, black pepper, onion, cheese and breadcrumbs and sprinkle over fish. Pour orange juice over fish and dot margarine. Bake in a moderate oven until fish is done. Serve hot although this fish dish (without the breadcrumbs) makes a nice fish sandwich.
BAKED ORANGES

6 good sized oranges
½ to 1 cup soft brown sugar
5 or 6 cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon liqueur (own choice)

Peel the oranges, removing as much pith as you can. Divide them into segments, removing any pips. Place the segments into an ovenproof dish (a round dish looks good), placing the sugar and cloves between layers (here and there around the dish). Cover and set aside for about an hour. Cook in a moderately hot oven about 90C or Gas 5 for about 40 minutes, until oranges are nice and soft. When done, leave to cool with the lid on. Finally, sprinkle oranges with the lemon juice and liqueur.

The dessert dish is especially yummy. It is so simple and great to serve if you have visitors in for a meal. I really like the fish dish too. We should eat more fish. I know that in some areas fish can be expensive but do try and eat 2 fish meals a week if you can, certainly one. The benefits of eating fish are widely known especially when it comes to heart health. Of course, as mentioned earlier, oranges are a magnificent fruit and if you can do try and grow your own orange tree.

Well that’s it for this week. Take care out there, wherever you are on our great planet. Be well, safe and happy.

Happy cooking. Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Fun With Apples

Hello out there. If you are like me and like to collect up interesting cooking books and put your nose into them to ferret out interesting cooking ideas, then you might like the two recipes we have today. One hails from Ireland and the other I found in an old Jewish cookbook. Both use apples and are tasty and relatively inexpensive to make. I like to experiment and change spices and seasonings from time to time but I have given you the base recipes. Enjoy.

MEAT & APPLE MACARONI

1 cup cooked meat – ground or chopped finely or ground
2 to 2 ½ cups cooked macaroni – you might like to adjust this
1 ½ to 2 cups thick gravy – adjust to suit taste
Black pepper
4 apples – preferably green and tart
1 tablespoon sugar
Fresh brown bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter or margarine (approx.)

**Mix together the meat, macaroni and gravy and season with the black pepper. Turn into a buttered casserole dish. Core the apples and finely chop them and place on top of the macaroni mix. Sprinkle with the sugar and breadcrumbs and dot with the butter or margarine. Bake in a moderate oven at 180C (350F or Gas 4) until heated through – approx. 30 minutes.

IRISH APPLE DESSERT

6 slices bread
¼ cup butter or margarine
4 or 5 apples
Cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs
approx. 1 cup heated milk

**Butter bread with half the butter/margarine and cut into 2-inch squares. Core and slice the apples. Heat remaining butter/margarine and soften apples in it. Grease pie dish and arrange a layer of bread in the bottom then a layer of apples and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Continue in layers ending with a bread layer. Beat the eggs and pour the heated milk onto them. Continue to beat this mix well and pour over the bread and apples. Bake in a moderate oven for approx. 40 minutes. This is nice served with fresh cream or whipped cream that has a little vanilla essence added.

Well, happy cooking to all of you. Keep well and safe.

Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Savory Snacks

Greetings folks. The picture is my cooking supervisor, Miss Ginny who loves to get in on the act of anything I’m doing. She especially likes to sit in our small kitchen and get her cute nose into everything! You can read about her in Miss Ginny’s Diary on the House Abukoff site.

On these colder winter days (in the northern hemisphere) I love to indulge in eating tasty snacks and toasted sandwiches, especially so when I am having soup. I have a lot of savory snack recipes that I have collected over many years and here are two of them from my collection, for you to try. Enjoy!

BACOO (a bacon-topped cookie)

2 to 3 rashers of bacon
2 oz. (60 gm) butter or margarine
1 egg yolk
2 oz. (60 gm) grated cheddar cheese (own choice)
2/3 cup all purpose (plain) flour
Extra cheese - 60 gm (2 oz.) grated

Remove any rind from the bacon and cook and then chop finely. Beat together the butter (or margarine) and the egg yolk. Add the first lot of grated cheese and flour (in that order) and mix to a firm dough, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 th thick. Cut into rounds with a medium cookie cutter and put on lightly greased oven trays and sprinkle with the bacon bits and the extra grated cheese. Bake in a moderately hot oven until golden – approximately 10 minutes. Cool on a wire cooking rack. These are really delicious.

CHEESE STICKS

1 packet pre-rolled puff pastry
1 egg white
185 gm (6 oz.) cheddar cheese – grated
90 gm (3 oz.) parmesan cheese – grated
2 tablespoons paprika

Cut each sheet of pastry into 1 cm. or 1/2 “wide strips and brush with beaten egg white. Take two strips of pastry and twist them around each other to form one strip. Place strips on a greased baking tray and sprinkle with combined cheeses and sift the paprika over the top. Bake in a hot oven for approx. 7 minutes. If you like, you can use just one cheese and what type of cheddar etc. is your own choice. These are so good and they are great with tomato soup. NOTE: you might like to cut them in half before you bake them if you don’t like the long strips.

I do have other savory snack recipes along these lines. If you would like the recipe for any of the following, then please contact me at House Abukoff:

Satay Nibblets, Curry Strips, Cheddar Cookies, Cheese Crunches, Indian Curry Munchies

Go safely out there and keep well. Bless you.

Kate

Kate’s Cooking: Try These

Greetings folks on a very wet day in the desert southwest (USA). We hardly had any rain last year and in the last 3 days we have had as much as we had in the whole of last year. It’s good to see this rain as the desert needs a soaking from time to time. With this rainy weather on hand, I took the opportunity to read through some of my cooking books and novels and I came across a number of interesting recipes that I have not tried but thought I would over the next week or two. I thought you might like to try them to. So here they are:

*The first is a batter. I have a variety of batters that I use, mostly a variant of the traditional flour, egg and milk style. I have used soda water and beer in my batters but this depends a lot on what I am cooking. I found this batter in a cooking book from Alaska and for all the batter coated cooking that I have done I have never used this combination. I have always been a great believer in experimentation in cooking. Its fun, especially on a rainy day like today.

EGG WHITE BATTER

4 egg whites
1 bottle of beer
1 cup flour

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add beer and flour and whip until stiff. Whatever it is you are frying, lightly coat with flour and then dip in the batter and deep fry (preferably).

**The second recipe is I guess, in the cookie category and comes from a book emanating once again, from Alaska. It has an intriguing name and has all sorts of interesting ingredients. My husband is eager to try this and there is no reason why young folk and husbands can’t make it to!

EAGLE’S NESTS

3 cups pretzel sticks
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup mini marshmallows
2 cups chocolate chips
2 teaspoons oil (approx.)

Combine pretzels, nuts, raisins and marshmallows in a bowl and set aside. In a smallish saucepan heat chocolate chips and oil over a low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate chips melt. Pour the chocolate mix over pretzel mix and stir until evenly coated. Spoon into small muffin tins or something similar and refrigerate at least 20 minutes until the nests are hardened.

***The third recipe fascinates me. It is made with slices of salt (or fat) pork which was a very common food in the pioneering west and it comes from a book of life on the northern prairies. I don’t see why you can’t use modern bacon – an interesting thought and maybe experiment? I sometimes use salt pork in beans. It is available in most modern supermarkets. I am going to type the recipe as it appears in the book. Modern nutritionists and doctors who are trying to get us to use less fats will probably be against this but like our family, the occasional use of salt port and bacon is okay, unless of course, you have specific medical reasons why you should not eat these meats.

FRIED SALT PORT AND GRAVY

Cut the meat slices thin and set them to parboil in cold water. When the water boils pour it off. Then roll the slices in flour and fry them brown. When they are crisp, take them out onto a platter and pour off some of the fat and save it to use for butter. Then brown some flour in the fat left in the frying pan and pours in some milk and keep stirring it as it boils and until the gravy is just right.

Well that’s it for this time. Take care out there and be well and safe and warm.

Happy cooking, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Hints, Turkey, Packet Mixes and Fruit Cake

Greetings everyone. The column this week is in several parts! Firstly I wanted to remind those of you who shop at supermarkets et al, to check the packets, cans, bags of flour, meat packets for the recipes that are printed on these products by their company cooking experts. There are some wonderful ideas for cooking and I have found some of my favourite things to eat, this way. I particularly like the recipes that you can peel off the meat packets in supermarkets like Vons and Safeway (located in the west of the United States). I think having a job as a company nutritionist or chef or recipe creator would be just about perfect.

Secondly, I was asked recently by the meat clerk in a supermarket to write down my method for cooking a turkey in a frying pan. It is fairly simple method. You do of course, have to judge the size of the turkey you buy by that of your frypan. For last thanksgiving, we had a 12lb turkey that fitted in quite well. You must wash your turkey inside and out, pat it dry and settle it in the frypan. Put about 2 to 3 cups of water in the pan and cover the turkey with foil and tuck the foil in as tight as you can. Then put about 2 damp towels (of appropriate size) over the top of this. Cook on a low to medium heat for most of a day. I cook my turkeys on a single burner element. It needs to be watched so the towels remain damp (but not wet!), safe from any element and the pan doesn’t dry out. It’s a nice way of cooking your turkey. Depending on the size of your frypan (and the turkey), you can put vegetables around the turkey and let them steam away.

Okay, now for number three. I just wanted to let those of you, who only have a microwave to cook with, that you can cook packet cakes like white cake, German chocolate cake etc and for that matter, brownies, in a microwave. I adapted these cake and brownie mixes when I didn’t have an oven for a while. It takes a bit of experimentation but for both I use a microwave-proof ring pan. For the cake mixes I generally do 10 minutes and for the brownies, about 8 minutes. I don’t have a powerful microwave – about 700w. For the brownies I like to keep them in the fridge overnight and they solidify more. This is, of course, a personal preference. A few days ago I made a white cake packet mix in this way and it was great!

Finally, today’s recipe is for those of you out there who live busy lives but might, like me, enjoy a piece of homemade cake with my coffee or cup of tea. It’s an easy-to-make light fruit cake. You can just throw everything a mixing bowl, stir it around until mixed well and bake it.

EASY FRUITCAKE

8oz. (225g) flour

6oz. (175g) butter or margarine

6oz. (175g) sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs

4 oz. (100) raisins (sultanas are ok to)

2 oz. candied peel (about 1/3 cup) – orange is excellent

½ cup cherries (sliced into quarters)

Line and grease a deep 8xinch cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven 180C, (350F) or Gas 4, for about 1 ¼ hours approximately. Test the cake with a cake skewer to see if it comes out clean. If by some chance it looks as if it needs cooking for a bit longer and it is beginning to get a little too brown on top, then cover the top of the cake with some foil.

This is a nice cake and I am sure you will enjoy it. Take care out there, be safe and be well.

Happy cooking, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: COFFEE STREUSEL SLICE

Greetings and at the start of today’s column, I would like to say that I am thinking of those of you living in the areas of northern hemisphere where there has been some ferocious winter weather. My goodness, the snow and frosts and very bad wind chills have all combined in some cases, to be just awful. Lots of layers of clothes and cups of broth and masses of toast work wonders in this weather. I feel for the folk who live on the streets and I applaud the efforts of the many charities around the globe who are helping them by finding warm coats, other clothing, shoes and food and handing these things out to the less fortunate amongst us. Well done you.

The column today involves what is probably my favourite thing to eat with coffee or to have amongst other goodies for an afternoon tea with friends. It is not too expensive to make and is truly delicious in flavour. I have given this recipe out a lot over the years and I thought you all might like to try it. The recipe may look like a lot of work at first glance, but this really isn’t so and you will, I am sure, enjoy it. So here then is COFFEE STREUSEL SLICE.

BASE

125gm (4 ounces) butter or margarine
¼ cup sugar
1 ¼ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar and stir in the flour and mix to a firm dough. Press evenly into a greased swiss roll tin or an expandable baking dish that gives you a 12x10” base (approx.) Bake in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes then follow this by spreading the base with the filling and then grate the topping over the filling and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the topping feels firm. Stand for at least 15 minutes before cutting into bars and leave to cool on a wire rack.

FILLING

400gm can sweetened condensed milk
30gm (1 ounce) butter or margarine
2 tablespoons maple syrup (golden syrup in British countries is good)
3 teaspoons instant coffee powder
approx. 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Combine the condensed milk, butter or margarine, syrup and coffee in a saucepan and stir over a medium heat until mixture begins to show signs of a bubble or two and stir fast until mixture becomes thick and starts to catch on the base. (about 3 minutes) Stir in the walnuts.

TOPPING

1 cup flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
125gm (4xoz.) butter or margarine

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and rub in the butter or margarine. Mix to a firm dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Take care out there and enjoy this lovely coffee slice and keep well and warm.

A NOTE FOR YOU: did you know that a camel can close its nostrils in a sandstorm. How’s that for a strange ending to a cooking column.

Cheers everyone, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: APPLE TURNOVERS – FRIED!

Greetings and Happy New Year to you. I hope that 2010 proves to be a progressive year for you and one of safety also. I bought a cooking book a long time ago (about 30 years!) which was like a diary of a family who lived in the pioneering days of the old west (in the USA) and it gave some modern ways of dealing with the recipes the ladies of this family used. I have always been a fan of apple turnovers and apples in general as they have been proven to be so beneficial to your general good health. In the past I have always baked turnovers and pies. What I found in this book was a way of frying the turnovers in a skillet (frypan). I had never done this before but found it fascinating and useful, especially if you live in a situation where you might not have a stove or oven. Here then is the recipe for the turnovers, the pie pastry and the ways of cooking them.

Pie Pastry

As with most pastry making, all ingredients should be well chilled and preferably the bowl you might use for making the pastry. It is also quite a good idea to wash your hands in cold water and dry them before you start.

*1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
*1/3rd cup butter (chilled)
*Salt – about ½ teaspoon (optional)
*A cup of chilled or iced water.

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in the chilled butter and mix until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Mix approximately 3 tablespoons of the iced water into the mix and press into a dough ball and re-chill until needed. NOTE: if you want to make more than three turnovers then you need to double the above ingredients (2 dough balls). The above ingredients will also make one 9” pie shell.

Turnover filling

*Approximately 1 pound of apples of choice
*2/3 cup sugar (of choice)
*Ground cinnamon – about ½ teaspoon
*Butter for cooking in a frypan (skillet)
*Powdered (icing) sugar for dusting when cooked.

Core and slice the apples and mix them with the sugar and spice you have chosen.

Roll the dough balls into 1/8th inch thick and cut into approximately three 5” squares. Using a slotted spoon so you don’t get too much juice in the mix, put about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the apple mix in the centre of the pastry square. Wet the edges of the pastry and fold over to enclose the apples in a triangle-shape. Press the edges together with a fork or the back of a teaspoon.

To BAKE the turnovers in an oven heat it to 425 degrees F. on baking sheets lined with non-stick baking paper if you have some. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. To FRY the turnovers, melt the butter in the skillet or frypan and cook on medium-high about 1o minutes per side. Depending on the size of your pan you can cook about 3 at a time but if you have a large electric frypan then you might be able to do all of the turnovers at once.

Happy cooking to you and take care out there and be well and safe in 2010.

Cheers, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: COOKING FOR ONE – Cornish Pastie

Greetings and happy holidays to you. The column today is for those of you who live by themselves. I married late – way after the normal marrying age of the 20’s – and for many years lived with my cats of the time and cooked away quite cheerfully. It is all too easy these days to go out to eat with quite a lot of cheap restaurants available. However, in the cooler months and on the weekends especially, cooking soups and pasta and meat dishes, gives a nice aromatic aroma to a home and if you live in a snowy area, a happy cook in a warm kitchen helps combat the chills outside. Today’s recipe is a simple one – Cornish Pastie. I love these delicious meat pies. I used to live in England and the British bakers are masters of the art of baking meat pies of all shapes and sizes. Cornish Pasties were my great favourite and I ate my way through many of them while there. They are an excellent way of using up left over meat from a roast. It is worth buying a roast of meat even if you live by yourself. It will give you some good meals for a few days. Preparation of a roast is minimal and in a moderate oven or even an electric frypan, they don’t take too long to cook. The first day of using a roast is mostly done with vegetables of choice and lots of gravy. Cooking extra gravy comes in useful for following meals. For example, omelettes, curries and of course, the pastie. If you are using left over meat for an omelette filling, it is tasty to add chopped cooked onion, fresh green herbs and a couple of slices of tomato. My late mum, used to make the most delicious and simple curries with left over meat. She would add along with the meat and curry powder, celery, banana, onion sultanas and gravy and serve it all over rice. Here then is a recipe that I have had for many years, for Cornish Pastie.

CORNISH PASTIE

1 packet of frozen puff or shortcrust pastry – defrosted. (If you wish, you can make your own pastry)
1 large potato – cooked and diced
1 cup cooked meat – diced
1 small onion – chopped finely
1 small carrot – sliced finely
1 generous tablespoon of chopped parsley
Black pepper
(Salt is optional)
3 to 4 tablespoons gravy

Roll out pastry to about 1/8” thick and cut into rounds about the size of a saucer. Mix all other ingredients and put generous tablespoonfuls in the centre of each round of pastry. Dampen the edges of the pastry and fold over in half, and press edges together firmly and crimp the edges if you wish. Bake in a hot oven for about 20 to 30 minutes. If the pastry is looking brown reduce neat to 325F (160C, Gas 3). Eat hot or cold.

NOTE: Generally speaking, I don’t glaze pies but if you would like to, do this by using a pastry brush dipped into a beaten egg. I have sometimes made quite large Cornish pastie’s if I am using them as a main meal and they are being served with extra vegetables. Enjoy these delicious pies.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. Happy cooking to you, Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Sauce and Stuffing

Hello there and greetings to you. Today’s column continues along the ‘economical and things you may have in your cupboards’ theme. Both recipes are very simple and suitable for supervised young folk to make or those of you who think they cannot cook! Cooking is a wonderful, soothing and lifelong hobby that never ceases to surprise and you can swap recipes and make new friends at cooking classes – it’s great! Today’s recipes are good for simple entertaining. Here then are two more family favorites:

CELERY STUFFING

I often use stuffing as a side dish and you can bake it or gently stir it together in a saucepan on a medium heat. It is good with all poultry. If you like, just before serving, sprinkle a little cheese over the top and dot a little butter or margarine here and there and put it under a broiler or grill.

4 stalks of celery – chopped finely and cooked until tender
1 orange – grate rind and squeeze for juice (a lemon can be used to)
3 cups soft breadcrumbs (fresh) – this is an approximate amount
1 teaspoon black pepper
(salt is optional)
1 egg – lightly beaten
¼ cup melted margarine
1 tablespoon chopped parsley or chives or a mix of both
1 tablespoon onion – grated or finely chopped

Drain celery. Mix all ingredients together using some of the celery water to moisten if necessary. Note: if you are using the stuffing inside poultry, always make sure that you thoroughly wash the bird inside and pat dry before using the stuffing.

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

If you find yourself with people ‘suddenly’ coming for a meal and you need a quick dessert or for that matter you fancy a bowl of icecream for yourself, then an economical vanilla icecream with this yummy sauce served over the top, is terrific. You might like to decorate the dessert with a few chocolate chips sprinkled over the sauce or grate some chocolate or a chocolate sweet if you have any of these. It’s what I call ‘cheerful’ food.

¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter or margarine
1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup
(about) 1/3 cup milk

Heat all of the above ingredients gently, in a double saucepan if you have one or a smaller, heavy-based saucepan. (You can double the recipe if you want lashings of sauce!)

Keep well and safe and happy cooking to you.



Kate.

Kate’s Cooking: Simple Lunches

Greetings to you on this cold day. How’s your December going? It has got cold where my small family lives. Our cats are asking for more food and the soup pot is out on a regular basis. Today’ column is all about two simple lunches. They are economical, tasty and what I call ‘very useful’. The VEGE CUSTARD is good with any meat, particularly hotdogs. The RAMEN SOUP SURPRISE is an instant meal which we enjoyed today for our lunch. Here then, is an old family favorite and a new family favorite.

Ramen Noodle Soup Surprise

This meal came about because of my looking in our food cupboard today and thinking ‘oh my’, what am I going to do (we havenot been to buy our groceries for the coming week).

Into a medium/large pot put the following:

6 cups water
2 packets of Ramen noodles (Oriental Flavor) – but this becomes a personal choice.
2 grated carrots
2 large cloves garlic – chopped small
1 cup chopped celery
1/3 packet (16oz.) bacon – cut into inch squares
1 tablespoon butter or margarine – optional (for extra flavoring)

Cook the above until noodles are soft and bacon is cooked. I served this with bread and butter. It was tasty and hot on a cold day.

NOTE: Thank the Lord for Ramen noodles. They are, in these difficult economic times, well worth stocking up on. If you have salt restrictions then I would limit the use of the flavoring provided in the noodle packets. Many people I know use these noodles. The local student population eats copious quantities. So do ‘crazy’ columnists!

Vege Custard

2 cups chopped celery
1 cup grated carrot
2 spring (green) onions – chopped
1 or 2 large cloves garlic – chopped
2 cups milk (approx.)
4 or 5 eggs – beaten
seasonings – own choice (optional)

Cook the vegetables in the milk until tender. Add seasonings if used. Put in a buttered ovenproof dish and pour the eggs over the vegetables. Bake in a moderate oven until firm. If you like, this dish can be made in a microwave and I have done this in a frypan too. NOTE: a little grated cheese sprinkled on top right at the end of cooking, adds additional flavor.

Take care out there and for those of you living in the northern hemisphere, keep well and warm. For those of you south of the equator, keep well too and enjoy your upcoming summer.

Bless you and happy cooking, Kate.

Kate's Cooking: Simple and Quick Cookies

SIMPLE AND QUICK COOKIES

Following on from the last cooking column, today we will focus on economical cookies that are quick and easy to make and like the last column, most of the ingredients will likely be found in your everyday kitchen. Personally, I do not like to have a mug of coffee or a cup of tea without having something to eat and cookies that I can ‘dunk’ in the drink are great – it seems to bring out the flavor of the cookie (or biscuit in British countries). Younger folk might enjoy making these cookies – under adult supervision. Both of the recipes are great to put in school lunches, work lunches or pack up a few and take to the grandparents and friends if you are visiting. I just love to get homemade baking. Here then, are two recipes I found (and expanded on with my own experimentation in the case of the Crinkles), when I was living in Australia and they have become family favorites.


WEEKENDER BISCUITS (COOKIES)

125gm (4oz.) butter or margarine
1/3rd cup sugar
1 egg
2/3rd cup sultanas
1 cup self-raising flour
2 cups lightly crushed cornflakes

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Fold in flour and sultanas and mix well. Drop small amounts (a large teaspoonful) of mix into cornflakes and roll lightly until coated. Placed on greased oven trays (baking sheets) allowing room for spreading. Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until nicely golden. Cool on wire racks.


CRINKLES

125gm (4oz.) butter or margarine
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (zest)
1/3rd cup white sugar
1/3rd cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
1/3rd cup peanut butter
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Cream butter, vanilla, lemon rind, both sugars, peanut butter until well mixed. With a wooden spoon, work in flour and soda (which have been sifted together). The dough should be quite stiff. Roll heaped teaspoonfuls into balls with floured hands and placed on greased oven trays (baking sheets). Press cookie balls down with a floured fork, first one way then the opposite way or you might like to use an old fashioned potato masher as I do, to get the crinkled effect. Bake in a moderate oven for around 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them to avoid too much browning. Cool cookies on the oven trays and then lift them on to wire racks.


HINTS and THINGS – these will appear in the cooking column from time to time. We welcome any hints you might like to share.

I was watching a cooking show not so long ago and the following was an interesting idea to use up appleskins:

COATED APPLESKINS – cut or break the apple skins to a size you like. Coat with eggwhite and cardamom sugar. Bake in a 100 C. (250 F.) oven for a couple of hours or until crisp. They were used for snacks or drink decorations.


Until next time, happy cooking. Go safely out there.

Kate.

Kate's Cooking: Boxty

(The logo for this column is a picture of a spice market in Provence, France)

Greetings. I am so pleased to be writing for House Abukoff. Where I currently reside it is getting cold and it is time to retreat inside and warm our small apartment by cooking fun things and experimenting. Cooking can be tough these days in hard economic times. Today I am talking about the very versatile vegetable – the potato. My heritage is largely Irish and the Irish have a long history of involvement with the potato. In these modern times there are many new varieties for us to use and more often than not you can find the basic white potato at a good price for those of us who are on tight budgets. If you are lucky enough to be able to grow your own in a traditional outside garden then that’s great! If you live in a small apartment you can also grow potatoes in a large bucket or planter of solid dirt that has a depth of at least 12 inches or 30cm. Sunny places by a back door or on a ledge or out on a patio are suitable. Plant about 3 or 4 medium sized seed potatoes that have sprouted (the number of potatoes depends on the size of the planter). Cover the potatoes with an inch or so of dirt. Your potatoes will break ground in a relatively short time and bring forth their stems and leaves, then flowers. When the flowers dry and fall off, you can have fun harvesting them. NOTE: if you are growing plants inside and have small children and / or animals in your home, keep an eye on them as the potato leaves etc. are poisonous. Most animals generally have a sixth sense about these things. The following is a great recipe from Ireland. I call it an economic recipe as most folk have the ingredients for it as part of their kitchen food items.

BOXTY

This is a traditional Irish dish. It has an interesting texture. I like to add some chopped spring (or green) onions, chopped chives and black pepper. Salt is optional.

Ingredients:

1 cup each of – grated raw potatoes, mashed cooked potatoes and plain white flour.

* your own choice of seasonings
* chopped spring onions and/or chives
* ¼ cup of butter or margarine – add extra if you want but not too much

In a bowl mix all the ingredients well. Turn out onto a flat, floured surface. Knead a little and roll out like a cookie dough. Using a medium cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as you can. Melt extra butter or oil in a heavy based or non stick frypan and cook until golden brown on each side. Serve hot.

We like to have them for breakfast and sometimes add bacon to the platter. Personally I find Boxty good to serve with cold meat and salad for a nice lunch.


Happy cooking to you.

Kate