How to make Portuguese Custard Tarts in the Pie Maker

Who would have thought that Portuguese Custard Tarts would be so simple to make in a standard Pie Maker? Please believe me they are.  However if you don't own a Pie Maker, don't despair, this recipe can easily be adapted to a normal oven. We bought our Pie Maker originally from K Mart, (no advertising intended), it wasn't expensive, but it does the trick.

In My Kitchen, April 2025, and looking back on March

Dear Friends,  Hooray it's Autumn and April, at last. Consequently, there's a transition happening In My Kitchen. As the Autumnal humidity lowers and the temperatures cool down, the Southern Hemisphere is pressing the fast-forward button toward Autumn and Winter, and I am loving it. The Autumn showers are also disappearing and the sun is shining, enticing us toward Easter.

Oven-Baked Ratatouille

 

Oven-baked Ratatouille is a modern interpretation of the classic stove top Niçoise dish, Ratatouille. It's roots are very firmly planted in the Provençal region of France. By baking the vegetables, and roasting the ripe tomatoes into a rich, garlicky tomato sauce, a delicious and caramelised flavour is imparted to the dish. I make this French vegetarian dish often.

Lemon Sago Dessert with a Sour Cream and Lemon Curd Topping

This edition of Lemon Sago dessert was the best I have ever made, and I've made it often, and I'm sure that's because the flavour of our home grown lemons shone through. I used fully ripened and golden organic lemons from our backyard lemon tree. The lemons on our tree often don't make it to this stage of ripening, poor things, as when I need a lemon, I pluck it from the tree and use it. 

Tropical Chinese Chicken Traybake

 

Chinese Chicken traybake with a Mango Chutney flavoured sauce, is a subtle taste of the tropics which works, and won't break the budget. This one is a simple Asian style traybake meal you can cook at home. Traybakes are such an easy weekend dinner and will make your life easy during the week as well. My family has always loved this dish.

Hope's Date Rollettes, a classic delicious biscuit

Imagine a delicious, oval shaped biscuit rolled in coconut, and surprisingly encasing a sweet, chewy, and caramelly edible date, and you have Date Rollettes, a confection which my Mother used to bake for us on a regular basis. We loved them.

In My Kitchen, March 2025

 

Hello, welcome to In My Kitchen from HRK, which is about my cooking and kitchen antics based on what is fresh and in season, what is available and healthy if possible, and always delicious. I am excited it's the beginning of Autumn, bringing cooler temperatures to the tropics and the promise of more beautiful fresh produce. It's almost soup weather.

Duck Breast, Red Cabbage and Soba Noodle Salad with White Miso Dressing

Succulent Duck Breast served with a Japanese inspired Red Cabbage and Soba Noodle Salad, enriched with delicious umami flavours, is one of my favourite meals to cook at home. 

Slow-Braised Red Cabbage

Slow-braised red cabbage is soft and sweetly flavoured however with a hint of  tangy richness from the balsamic vinegar which gives this dish star quality on the table. It's the perfect side dish to serve with many meats and other dishes. We ate it with chorizo flavoured sausages cooked on the BBQ, and a Mixed Bean salad, and the flavours were immense.

Summery Passionfruit Flummery

 

Passionfruit Flummery, aka Frumentary, celebrates the intoxicating, aromatic and uniquely sweet and tart flavours of the tropical  passionfruit. If you are lucky enough to be growing a healthy and mature passionfruit vine, it will hopefully be flowering and fruiting for you throughout Summer, just when you need the pulp for fruit salad, a pavlova, or light, fruity desserts like Flummery.

In My Kitchen, February 2025

This year, late January sees the start of the very active Monsoon season here in North Queensland. From Mackay up to Cairns, the highway has been cut in several places at different times, a couple of bridges washed away, and the sugar cane farming town of Ingham is completely flooded. The government is flying in generators so that residents can have power.  Thankfully a tropical cyclone hasn't entered into the equation, that would be disastrous. The torrential rain has been enough.

Chocolate Oatmeal Biscuits or Cookies

 

These Chocolate Oatmeal biscuits are everything that I love about a biscuit. When I made this latest batch with the addition of Dutch Chocolate powder, I realised they are perfect to also enjoy for breakfast, and I don't usually eat cakes or biscuits at the start of my day. 

Crunchy Nut Apple Crumble

Apple Crumble is comfort food in a dish. Sometimes a very simple recipe can provide you with the most unexpected treat. This recipe for Crunchy Nut Apple Crumble is no exception. It is also a good friend's recipe, so it is tried and true.

Prawn and Broccolini Stir-Fry

 

This is a quick and easy dish, for any night of the week. If you are a lover of Prawns, this recipe is for you, but if you're not, please don't be disheartened. You can play with it, and substitute some chicken or tofu pieces for the prawns and you will still love the result.  This is a very versatile recipe, other vegetables can be substituted or added, and when it comes to eating your dish, you will think you have just been served a meal in your favourite Chinese restaurant. Promise! It will cost you a lot less as well.

In My Kitchen, January 2025

Happy New Year 2025 to you all. It has really felt like the Summer holidays here at home since Christmas, which I think we all needed.  Christmas was wonderful, we survived it, thanks to the air-conditioning. Hope you had a fabulous Christmas with some of your favourite people wherever you were.

Mediterranean Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa salad

It's salad and holiday season here in tropical Australia, when a delicious salad is the perfect meal at the end of a long Summer's day. I am always excited when I come up with a new salad recipe, which also just happens to be healthy and very tasty. A grain salad makes perfect sense, as it keeps so much longer when refrigerated than a green leafy one, as much as I enjoy those as well.

The Best Air Fryer Chocolate and Coconut Weet-Bix Slice

This chocolatey, crunchy biscuit slice with a rich chocolate icing will hold it's own and steal the show on any coffee table. It is like a little slice of Aussie history on a plate, but the Air Fryer has brought it back on board to now. This is the first sweet confection I have made in my new Russell Hobbs air-fryer (no promo intended) and I'm  thrilled with the result.