Eggplant and Garlic dip

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp tahini
salt and pepper
olive oil, for drizzling
pinch of paprika

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Put whole eggplant and garlic (wrap in alfoil) on a baking tray and roast in oven for 12-15 minutes or until the skin is blackened and blistered.

Allow eggplant to cool, then gently peel the skin away from the flesh with a small sharp knife. 

Put flesh of eggplant with the garlic into a food processor for 1-2 minutes or until pulpy. Add lemon juice, tahini, salt and pepper.  Process until the mixture is thick and creamy.  Taste and adjust flavour if required.

Place in a serving dish drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.

PossumK8te's Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp peanut oil
1 and 1/2 cups unsalted peanuts, roasted
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 eschallots, finely chopped
2 red chillies, seeds removed and roughly chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp Thai fish sauce
1 Tbsp of palm or brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbsp peanut butter

Method:

Heat oil in medium heavy-based pan, add peanuts, garlic and eschallots and cook over a low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until garlic and eschallots are golden brown.  Work peanut mixture and chillies in food processor until finely chopped. Return the peanut mixture to the pan, add the soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, coconut milk, water and lime juice, stir to combine.  Simmer uncovered, stirring for 8-10 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter.   

Gran's Apple Pie

Ingredients:

180g butter
2/3 cup caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for glaze)
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
1 and 1/4 cups SR flour, sifted
6 Granny Smith apples
1 lemon, juiced and zest
butter for greasing
6 whole cloves or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 Tbsp plain flour
Extra Tbsp caster sugar

Method:

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence with an electric beater until smooth and creamy and increased in volume. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until well combined.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add the sifted flours and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Place onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 even pieces. Knead each gently until mixture comes together. Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Peel apples, cut into quarters and remove the seeds. Cut each quarter into thin slices.  Place in bowl, cover with cold water and lemon juice. Refrigerate until required.

Preheat oven to moderately hot (about 200 degrees C). Brush a 20cm x 4.5cm deep loose-bottom fluted tin or round cake tin with melted butter.

Roll out one piece of pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to fit the base and sides of the tin. Carefully ease the pastry into the tin.  Drain apples and dry well in a clean tea towel.  Place apples in a large bowl, add the grated rind, cloves or cinnamon, caster sugar and plain flour.  Mix with your hand to combine.  Pile the apples onto the pastry base.  Apples will sit about 5cm above the rim of the pastry.

Take the remaining pastry and roll out large enough to cover the apples completely. Place pastry on top and gently press the edges together. Using a sharp knife trim away the excess edges of the pastry.  Place the reserved egg white in a small bowl and beat with a fork until foamy.  Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  Cut a cross in the top of the pastry.

Bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees C then reduce to 180 degrees C for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and stand on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Serve a slice of pie with a scoop of ice cream.

NOTE: To remove pie from the tin, stand the tin on an upturned bowl and tap the edge of the tin. The tin should fall away.  

Chocolate Cherry Friands

Ingredients:
Butter, for greasing
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa
1 and 1/4 cups icing sugar
1 cup hazelnuts, ground (100g)
3 eggwhites
1 tsp vanilla essence
180b butter, melted
525g pitted black cherries canned in syrup, drained

Method:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Brush 10 friand moulds with melted butter and place on a baking tray. Sift flour, cocoa and icing sugar into a large bowl. Stir in hazelnuts.

Put egg whites into a medium bowl and whisk with a fork until frothy, then fold through dry ingredients.  Stir through vanilla and melted butter until just combined.

Spoon batter into combined moulds into prepared moulds. Press 2 cherries into each friand, covering with batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until friands pop up in the middle and spring back when lightly pressed with finger. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve with remaining pitted cherries.

Triple Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients: 

1.5 cups SR flour 

1 cup brown sugar, dark, firmly packed 

250g dark chocolate, chopped 

125g butter 

1/4 cup cocoa 

300ml sour cream 

2 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla essence 

12 caramel filled chocolate Easter eggs 

1/4 cup drinking chocolate, sifted

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line 12 x 1/3 cup-hole muffin pan with paper cases. Sift flour into a large bowl, stir in sugar. Melt chocolate and butter in a heavy-based pan. Stir in cocoa and cool for 5 minutes. Whisk sour cream, vanilla and eggs in a jug. Make a well in the dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate and sour cream mixtures until just combined. Spoon batter into pan so each hole is 1/2 full. Press a chocolate egg into the centre of each. Spoon the remaining mixture to 2/3 fill each hole. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with drinking chocolate just before serving.

Waffles (Fast Ed)

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups SR flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
salt
2 cups almond milk
2 tabs extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp vanilla bean
2 eggs, separate yolks and whites

Method:
Into a bowl add SR flour, caster sugar, a pinch of salt, almond milk, olive oil, vanilla bean and egg yolks and mix to combine. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until soft peaks and then add to waffle mix and combine carefully.

Cook waffles and serve with fresh fruit and creme patissiere.
Enjoy.

Pumpkin and Feta Pikelets by Fast Ed

Ingredients:
Equal amounts of Butternut pumpkin and Greek Yoghurt
Olive oil
1 cup of SR flour
125g Blue Cheese

Method:
Bake the butternut pumpkin which is wrapped in foil and cook in the fire at the edge for 1 or so and should be baked lovely.

Equal parts of pumpkin and yoghurt and olive oil. Combine with SR flour and blue cheese for flavour.

Cook tablespoon amounts on the bbq plate until bubbles appear and flip.

Serve with bbq meat and a green salad.

Zucchini Slice by Karen Martini

Ingredients:
3 or 4 spring onions, sliced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
150g gypsy ham
1.5 tsp cumin
4 to 5 zucchini, coarsely grated and strained
3/4 cup frozen peas
250g feta
100g parmesan, finely grated
150g SR flour
1 tsp baking powder
freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs, whole

Dress the top:
zucchini, sliced
feta
peppitas

Method:
In a bowl add all the ingredients and stir to combine.
Put the contents of the bowl into a slice pan and cook in oven at 170 degrees C (fan forced 150 degrees C) for about 55 minutes. When it comes out of the oven it should be puffed and slightly golden. Let the zucchini slice sit for a bit to settle and then slice. 

To freeze slice into individual slices and put in a separate bag each slice ready to pop in the lunchbox.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies are rich peanut butter cookies generously stuffed with lots of chocolate chips and sprinkled with a bit of salt to off set all the sweetness.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup crunchy or smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
coarse salt for dusting, if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (150 - 160 with fan). Line baking sheets with parchment or use a silpat.

In large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and peanut butter until creamy. Add in egg and vanilla, beat well.

Stir together the flour, salt and the baking soda in a small bowl. Add to the wet mixture beating well.

With a spoon, stir in the chips. Drop onto prepared baking sheets with a cookie scoop, about 2" apart. Sprinkle tops with salt, if desired.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Allow to rest on baking sheet once done for 2 to 3 minutes, then remove to cooling rack and cool completely.

Yield: 36 servings
Prep Time: 00 hrs. 10 mins.

Puff Pastry - Salted Chocolate and Hazelnut

Ingredients:
2 sheets of puff pastry
Good quality dark chocolate, salted cut in half
1 tablespoon nutella / hazelnut spread
egg wash
Flaked almonds
Icing sugar

Method:
Cut a strip of pastry off the bottom of both sheets of puff pastry - one at a time. Put half the dark chocolate in the middle of one of the sheets and then nutella down the middle of the chocolate.
Cut out the corners in a triangle shape of the puff so that at the top and bottom you have a flap and on the sides you have 4 strips that fold over in a criss cross pattern.
Put these on a tray lined with baking paper and cook in oven at 200 degrees C fan-forced for 12 minutes. Take out and then dust around the edge of each pastry with icing sugar and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Serve with a dollop of cream.

Pork and Potato Waffles (Fast Ed)

Ingredients
2 cups of shredded pork
4 potatoes, peeled, grated and squeeze out all the water
2 tsp vitamin c powder
vintage cheddar
parmesan
dill
salt + pepper

Method
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and combine.
Cook on waffle iron and serve with salad and mayo.