In My Kitchen, November 2023

What a varied month it's been, and as always, the cooking I do in my lovely kitchen reflects what is in season, my use of any produce gifted to me, what I have the time to cook and those recipes which I love to cook. So, I'm excited to be sharing a few new recipes with you this time, although regular readers of my blog may have already seen them. However, that doesn't mean I'm not excited about bringing you some old favourites as well. I suspect that like me, your cooking repertoire contains those recipes that are on high rotation in your kitchen and contains some old and tried but true recipes which feel like a big hug from faithful friends, which always feels so reassuring. With Christmas well and truly on the horizon now, some nostalgia is creeping into my cooking as well.

In My Kitchen, December 2022

This is the Christmas Edition of In My Kitchen, and 'tis the season for baking. This also means my friends, that it's the season for Mangoes and Lychees here in tropical North Queensland. Bowen Mangoes which are the best to buy in our humble opinion, were costing $15.00 a bucket at our local market last Saturday. Just this morning we picked up a bucket for $12.00 from a roadside stall, and a bag of lychees. Bowen is just a couple of hours North from us. The lychees were a bit more expensive, the first of the season, but we couldn't resist them, they are a precious commodity, and for Christmas holidays only. We'll be freezing, dehydrating and eating mangoes for the next month, and then eating frozen mango with ice cream and yoghurt for the rest of the year. Dried mango is great for just snacking on. We'll also be looking out for the Common mangoes from backyard trees, strictly for making delicious Mango Chutney with, which we traditionally eat with our Christmas ham.

Tropical Beef and Mango Chutney Chow Mein

This is the perfect minced beef and vegetable dish for a busy weeknight, fuss free, it's loaded with lots of healthy vegetables, spices, and it takes less than half an hour to cook.  With a recipe like this, you can fly through the week stress-free, with an easy flavoursome meal that will give your family a gourmet experience on the cheap. 500 g of minced beef can be stretched to feed 6 people. 

Tropical Mango, Lime and Coconut Sago Pudding

Bring a little sunshine back into your life with this delicious Mango, Lime and Coconut Sago pudding. Sago pudding and Kensington Pride mangoes pureed with lime juice, are a perfectly balanced combination in this gorgeous dessert. 

Mango, Lime and Coconut Panna Cotta

Australia Day tomorrow in the land Down Under, always the 26th January, when Aussies celebrate a Public Holiday by heading to the beach (whilst still practicing social distancing of course and avoiding the stingers here in North Queensland), or by having friends and family over for a late barbie in the arvo, playing some backyard cricket, and generally kicking back with a stubby or two (a bottle of beer that is), and some of the men might still be wearing stubbies (short shorts). It will be red wine for Mr. HRK and me, and celebrating how lucky we are to be living in this large sunburnt country of huge climatic extremes. I know I am glossing over the political arguments that always arise in the lead up to Australia Day, but I think I'll  leave that to the media and the politicians.

Lamb is often the meat of choice on Australia Day for the BBQ, or seafood, however we will be enjoying beef ribs this year with our good friends who are doing the marinating and we are doing the cooking.

It's my job to provide dessert, and generally host the meal, so whilst I still have some of the delicious Caramel Mango and Coconut Ice cream from a previous post still in my freezer, I also still have a few of the fresh mangoes in the frig that we picked ourselves. A chilled mango Panna Cotta  with sweet fresh mango seemed perfect as it can all be prepared the day before, and perhaps we will have just a smidgen of ice cream as well. The two desserts really are a perfect pairing, as the ingredients are quite similar, both cold, and will complement each other beautifully. Add a couple of meringues in place of the pavlova if you have them, and we are set. My friends are you still enjoying mangoes this summer? It is a short season for them from November to March approx., however they can be bought frozen now, so we can enjoy mango desserts all year round. No complaints here. As we had a few extra, we sliced and froze some mangoes last week, so now we can eat them throughout the year, much more reasonable than buying frozen mango at the supermarket.

INGREDIENTS:

300 g fresh diced mango (2 cups) , or thawed frozen mango

600 g Vanilla Custard, homemade or from a carton

70 g caster sugar (1/3 cup)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (60 ml)

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

6 g small gelatine leaves (about 4)

2 cups (560 g) coconut flavoured yoghurt, lactose free will be fine

1 medium ripe mango (430 g), extra, thinly sliced for garnish

 100 g mini meringues for garnish if using

METHOD:

Pour your custard into a large bowl. I'll admit I guiltily bought the custard for this dish, as I was also baking sourdough bread this morning so time was at a premium. 

Then process the diced mango until smooth in your food processor.

Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of cold water until softened, allow about 5 minutes. Do this as close as possible to coincide with the lime mixture being taken off the heat, which is the next step.  Squeeze the excess moisture from the gelatine, and add the gelatine to the saucepan of heated lime juice and mango puree. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved.

Place the sugar, lime zest, lime juice, and just 1/4 cup of the mango puree in a medium saucepan. This mixture needs to be stirred over a medium heat until it reaches just below simmering point. You will see some steam start to come off the surface, but no bubbles. Allow about 3 minutes for this.

Now you need to work quickly. Immediately whisk the lime mixture, including the softened gelatine, into the custard. Spoon in the yoghurt and the remaining mango and whisk until smooth.

Strain this mixture through a fine sieve into a large jug. This might take a little time because of the sieving process, and you will be left with a small mixture of thick fruit pulp and custard in the sieve. It is quite tasty and nice with any leftover yoghurt, waste not want not. The panna cotta should be smooth and lump free.

Select 6 x 1 1/4 cup (310 ml) shallow bowls or ramekins, and pour the panna cotta mixture into them . Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight until set.

I made these dishes late in the morning before lunch, and they were beautifully set by 5 pm that afternoon. Garnish the dishes with sliced mango, and mini meringues or whatever you wish really. Some toasted coconut flakes would also be nice. There was some multitasking this morning, with three sourdough loaves baked, whilst I did the prepping for the panna cotta. \

After I had taken the photo for this post, I said to Mr. HRK, " I think I might have put too much mango on the panna cotta for the photo." He said, " You can never have too much mango." Always helpful, he said, "I wouldn't use the toasted coconut flakes next time." 

This is the cob loaf I made this morning, and two other sandwich loaves to be sliced for the freezer.

Happy Australia Day, and to my Australian friends and any Aussies overseas,  how are you celebrating tomorrow?

Warm wishes

Pauline

Salted caramel mango and Coconut Ice Cream Crumble Bars

Mangoes and ice cream are delicious together, and because I am still in holiday mode I am using plain bought vanilla ice cream for this recipe. However you can use your own homemade ice cream if you feel like making it and well done if you do.There's still some mango madness here in North Queensland with local mangoes ready for the picking. What we cook and feel like eating is often dependent on the weather at the time, whether it is hot and humid like it is here in Summer, or very cold, as our Northern Hemisphere neighbours are experiencing. 

At the moment here in tropical Queensland, fresh salads and fruits are a mainstay and a colorful salad is the preferred option for a meal. Hot desserts can be too heavy to eat in our climate right now unless dining out in an air conditioned restaurant whereas in the cooler climates, I know you are all enjoying delicious warming foods like sticky date puddings. However one exception to all of the rules is ice cream. Ice cream is enjoyed everywhere, whether its cold, hot, temperate or in between, the main difference being that in our climate we need to eat it faster before it melts. No problem there. When I saw this recipe in a Coles supermarket catalogue before Christmas I wanted to make it straight away. However as we travelled to Cairns for Christmas that didn't happen. Local mangoes are ripening very late here, possibly due to the dry conditions last year, and paying $2.50 for a supermarket mango isn't an option for me when we can buy them for $10.00 a bucket at the markets or pick them from a friends tree, which is what we have just done.

This photo is of mangoes that we have just picked straight off the tree. The mango tree is located on a cattle property near where we live and is a very large tree. As you can see they have some imperfections which you don't see on mangoes purchased at a supermarket and are all different sizes. This is the reality of mangoes growing on large trees on privately owned property. They often look like this before they are washed and cleaned for the market.Time will tell when they ripen if they all make good eating. So far they are delicious. The fruit is ready to pick when the skin changes from green to yellow, or red or pink depending on the variety of mango. Most of the mangoes growing in our area are Bowen mangoes, which have a beautiful red blush on their skin. We try to pick them when they are still hard, as otherwise the flying foxes will raid the tree and eat them overnight.  One of the tricks to hasten ripening is to wrap them individually in newspaper and then they will often ripen indoors on the windowsill or in a tray or bucket in a week.

Mangoes wrapped in newspaper ready for ripening

The mango trees are often very large, and it's important to be well prepared before picking mangoes as they can also release a lot of sap from the stem when they fall from the tree. This sap can burn our skins if we aren't careful, so long sleeves and gloves need to be worn for protection. Its also snake season so shoes are essential,  as often the trees are in the paddocks on large properties, not that we have seen any snakes, but they are around. The most essential piece of equipment is the mango picker, which are often homemade and comprise a hook at one end,  which hooks over the top of the mango. This hook is attached to a large pole like a broom handle to reach the top of the trees, and there is also often a long sock attached so that the mangoes have a soft landing into the sock. A good pull by the hook and the mango will come away from the stem. However often they land on the ground without any damage. Picking mangoes is a labour of love, and this annual event is one we have grown up doing over the years. Mr. HRK is taller than me and is very good at it. Commercial mango farms have a much more streamlined procedure for picking as you would expect.

Let's cook:

Serves 16.  Preparation 20 minutes (+ cooling & 4 1/2 hours freezing time.)

Cooking 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (165 g) brown sugar

2 cups (300 g) plain flour

1 cup (75 g) shredded coconut

2/3 cup (60 g) rolled oats

250 g unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup (80 g) finely chopped dried mango

50 g unsalted butter, extra

2 large mangoes, stoned peeled, and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (110 g) brown sugar, extra

1 tsp vanilla

1tsp sea salt flakes

2 Litre tub vanilla ice cream, softened

270 ml can coconut cream

Method:

1. Crumble:

Preheat oven to 180 deg. C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the sugar, flour, coconut and oats in a bowl and stir to combine. 

Add the melted butter to the bowl and use a round-bladed knife to stir until just combined. 

Spoon this mixture onto a lined biscuit oven tray. 

Bake, stirring occasionally, for 30 mins or until all of the mixture has cooked.

Stir in the chopped dried mango. Cool.

2. Caramel salted mango

Melt the extra butter (50 g) in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the fresh mango, extra sugar (1/2 cup) and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens and  becomes caramelised. Sprinkle with the salt and place on a tray to cool.

3. 

Grease a 20 cm (base measurement) square cake pan. Line the base and sides with baking paper, allowing sides to overhang. Separate half  the baked oat mixture and spread over the base of the lined cake pan. Place the pan in the freezer for 30 mins to chill.

4.

Ice cream

Next combine the softened ice cream and the coconut cream in a bowl. Add the mango mixture and gently swirl to marble through the ice cream.

5.

Spoon the ice cream mixture over the oat mixture in the pan. Smooth the surface. Sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture, pressing down gently. 

6. 

Place in the freezer for 4 hours or until firm. When ready to eat, cut into pieces and serve straight away.

There is no need to serve anything else with this however a couple of fresh or frozen mango  pieces on the side would be delicious.

The Life of Locky

 Dressed in a Queensland Scouts bandana which belonged to my Mum

Warm wishes,

Pauline x

In My Kitchen, November 2020

Beautiful Jacaranda trees growing in our street

It's a lovely time of year with the Jacaranda trees in flower and my Dancing Lady orchids (oncidiums) producing beautiful golden sprays of colour this year. I feel as if I have lost a week though, as I started this post a week ago and then we received news that our brother-in-law was in intensive care in Rockhampton which is in Central Queensland, following surgery. Jim is blind and has been for over 20years, he is incredibly independent though. But his blindness adds extra complications to any health issues. Knowing that Jim's children and family in NSW wouldn't be able to visit him because of Covid restrictions and other family couldn't get there until Monday we drove down, after all Mackay is only 350 kms up the road from Rky. Rockhampton is my hometown, so it is always nice to go back,  perhaps under better circumstances though. We drove home yesterday after 6 days of visiting the hospital, and Jim seems to be doing quite well in rehab at the Mater Hospital now so I'm so pleased we could be there for him. The staff at the Rockhampton Base Hospital provided excellent care for him. 

Dancing Lady orchids

A highlight of the trip though was that Mr. HRK and I found a grove of Common mango trees where we took our dog Locky for a walk each day, still green but ready for picking, and perfect for making mango chutney. So my handyman husband repaired Jim's specially designed mango picker,  and on Wednesday we picked two bags of mangoes. We needed enough mangoes for 2 kilos of mango flesh. Jim also has a thriving Bowen Mango tree in his backyard, so we picked all of those for him and brought back just a dozen for ourselves. Common mangoes don't have the lovely pink blush around the stalk that the Bowen mangoes have, as they ripen then turn yellow.

A bowl of Green Common Mangoes ready for cooking.

It's interesting though that the mangoes in Mackay are still not ready for harvesting despite being further North, Rky has surprisingly had more rain than us. So today in my kitchen can you guess what I've been doing all morning, yes my friends, making mango chutney as some of the mangoes have started to ripen already with the warmer weather around. The mangoes need to be very green and hard for making chutney or the flesh will just break down too easily in the chutney. The result, 13 jars of spicy and sweet mango chutney which I am very pleased with. Mr. HRK peeled them while I sliced them up, and then I cooked up the mixture in a large pot, outside in our patio BBQ area on the gas burner, our outdoor kitchen. It took 45 minutes. So it's Mango Madness here in the North, or anywhere where there are mangoes growing, heralding the beginning of the Christmas preparations. Traditionally mango chutney is eaten with ham on Christmas. Day. However we eat it all year round. 

Click here for my Mango Chutney recipe on a previous post.

All the ingredients are in the pot, ready for cooking

My latest batch of mango chutney still to be labelled and stored.

Just before we left for Rockhampton, I made this delicious Chicken, Tomato and Basil traybake using up some fresh tomatoes given to me by my wonderful friend Irena. It was delicious.  I'll put up the recipe one day soon. 

My sweet Italian basil is growing beautifully this year, so I made some pesto from it. It was so delicious, the best pesto I have ever made, mainly because I think the basil was so fresh. The pesto is all gone, so I need to make some more. However here is the recipe I used from River Cottage Veg everyday, written by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. A great recipe book and never far from my kitchen.

Hey presto we have delicious basil pesto

Basil Pesto ingredients:

50 g pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted (I used pine nuts this time)

A large bunch of basil (about 30 g), leaves only

1 large bunch of parsley (about 30 g), leaves only

A few mint leaves (optional)

1 garlic clove, chopped

50 g Parmesan, hard goats cheese, or other well flavoured hard cheese, finely grated

 (I use parmesan)

 Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

100-150 ml extra virgin olive oil

A good squeeze of lemon juice

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Serve:

Extra virgin olive oil, to trickle over the top (optional)

Method:

Put the toasted pine nuts into the food processor along with the herbs, garlic, grated cheese and lemon zest. Blitz to a paste, then, with the motor running, slowly pour in the olive oil until you have a thick, sloppy puree. Scrape the pesto into a bowl and season with salt, pepper and a good squeeze of lemon juice. This will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Sometimes I make a  pasta dish using this pesto with new potatoes, and green beans. Delicious!

Below is my Brassia Rex orchid in flower at this time of year. It's quite an un usual flower.

Nasturtiums from a friend make a lovely posy in a vase in the kitchen. This is the last of them now unfortunately that the Summer heat takes it's toll on some garden plants.

 I started sewing a couple of weeks ago, and made this book bag for Hugo our grandson, and sent it in a Christmas parcel over to the Falkland Islands with a book inside of course. I really enjoy sewing once I get started. This is an easy project and very useful. I'll be making some more for the children in the future.

I've written this post as part of the In My Kitchen series hosted by Sherrys Pickings. It is worthwhile dropping over to her posts if you haven't already

We are so fortunate here in Queensland that life continues pretty much as normal now, however we are aware that the the Covid pandemic situation overseas is still very concerning. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and one of the biggest global challenges now is to produce and distribute a  reliable vaccine that immunises populations across the world against this dreadful virus.

That's all folks, have a safe weekend. My next project today, soaking the fruit and nuts for this years Christmas cake.

Warm wishes,

Pauline.

Everett's Lychee Farm at Mareeba, and Rusty's Market in Cairns, they've got it covered

We drove up the range to the Atherton Tableland from Cairns, which is inland and to the West, in search of the best Lychees and Mangoes, at the best price we could find. Lychees are at the height of the season right now, and Summer of 2017 has been a good season, as it has also been for Mangoes. Mareeba is the food bowl of the Tablelands, and as we approached the thriving township, we discovered Everett's lychee farm, marketed as F.N.Q Lychee. We drove through rows and rows of lychee trees covered in nets to protect them from the Flying Foxes and the birds and came to the distribution and sorting centre where there is an ordinary refrigerator storing  bags of Grade One lychees, and bags of seconds, all for sale to the public.

Beef, Sauerkraut and Mango Chutney Goulash

This is a slow cooker Goulash with a Tropical twist, hence the addition of my homemade Mango Chutney, and why not? There is no standard Goulash recipe.  I have called this recipe a Goulash because by one definition it is a thick meat stew, first made by Hungarian cattle herders and stockmen.

My Green Mango Chutney recipe, it's spicy and sweet

This Mango Chutney, made from green mangoes freshly foraged, is a family recipe from my Mum and her family which I have always used. Anglo-Indian style chutneys basically consist of a fruit or vegetable, malt or cider vinegars, sugar, herbs and spices. The sugar and vinegar act as preservatives and as the ratio of sugar to fruit is the same, it should only be eaten as a condiment because of the high sugar content which is similar to jam. You could say that this is a sweet and sour version of a mango jam. The cooking technique is similar to jam making. It is delicious eaten on the side with Christmas Ham (which is traditional in our house), grilled bacon, Indian curries and dishes, chickpea salads or with cheese. I sometimes add it to some minced beef dishes or any that I think need added flavour. Beef Chow Mein comes to mind. When I make this, it also means that Christmas is just around the corner.

Dates, raisins and ginger ready for the pot

This recipe makes from 13-15 jars depending on the size of your jars. Smaller ones are good for gifts, and are always appreciated by friends as this is a big project in the scheme of time spent preparing the ingredients and stirring the pot, and then bottling. This time, I peeled and chopped up the mangoes by hand the day before, refrigerated them overnight in a covered container and they were still beautifully fresh the next day. We had handpicked them (see story here) only the day before from the nearby Old Station Teahouse. A word of caution about handpicking mangoes if you haven't done it before. As you pull the mango off the branch, stand clear of the sap which drips with gay abandon and a very sweet smell.  

My chutney making became a 3 day event. Picking them one day, peeling and chopping them and sorting out the other ingredients the next day, and cooking the mixture up on the third day, as well as chopping and slicing the other dried ingredients. However the flavour is worth it and this sensational, caramelised reduction will last in your pantry for 3-5 years, and then the opened bottle continues to mature in the refrigerator for a long time. I have never had to throw any out. There is no need for any nasty numbered preservatives or additives that we see on the supermarket chutney and relish labels. The vinegar, sugar and spices do the preservation work.

Ingredients are ready on the bench for the following day

Let's cook:

Ingredients:

There is no need to buy expensive ingredients for this recipe.

• 2 kg green mango flesh, the seed definitely not included (Use any kind of very green mango but Common mangoes have always been the traditional mango to use because they are great for chutney making but not for eating, they have stringy flesh,  and can be obtained very cheaply in North Queensland and the Northern Territory as the trees grow wild.) Peel them, slice and chop the flesh, but not the seed, or pulse them in the food processor into small pieces, but not minced pieces.
• 2 kg sugar (use the cheapest white sugar you can find at the supermarket, it makes no difference)
• 250g raisins, chopped
• 250g pitted dates,  chopped
• 250g crystallised ginger, uncrystallised or naked, chopped. Fresh can also be used if you have enough.
• 90g salt (taste it toward the end of cooking and add more if necessary)
• 900ml brown (malt) vinegar ( the cheapest brown vinegar will do)
• 5 birds eye chillies, chop them and remove the seeds (use gloves to do this)
• 125g garlic cloves (chopped or pulsed in the food processor)
• This recipe makes about 13 assorted sized jars. Have 15 ready just in case.

TIP: It is good to use some small jars as well, to give away to friends at Christmas, and throughout the year.

Sterilise your jars and lids: 

Start to sterilise your jars and lids before the cooking begins, by either washing them in the dishwasher, and then drying them off in the oven at 120 degrees, or hand wash them in hot soapy water, rinse them, and then heat them in the oven at 120 degrees for 20 minutes. It is good to time the final process of heating the jars and lids in the oven, to ensure that the bottles are still hot when the chutney is cooked and ready for bottling. The hot chutney needs to be ladled into hot jars using a wide funnel if possible. Remember to sterilise your funnel and ladle as well.

Let's cook:

Place all of your ingredients into a large heavy base stock pot. This recipe uses a manageable quantity of mango. If you double the amount of ingredients, you run the risk of burning the chutney and having to use a huge pot.

I use a long wooden spoon for stirring with. It is necessary to stir the mixture regularly to prevent the risk of burning on the base of the pot.

After about 45 minutes, the mixture will start to transform into a rich, caramel colour, and to thicken. This is when constant stirring is essential so that it doesn't thicken too much on the bottom of the pot and burn. Anytime after this you can start to test it to see if it is ready and is setting.

This is the same process as testing if jam is set. Test if it is ready, by putting a teaspoon full on a small saucer which you have already placed in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place it back in the freezer for a few minutes. If you can run your finger through it when it is cold and it leaves a gap then it has gelled and is ready for bottling. However at this point the colour and consistency of the chutney will be changing to a darker colour and thickening.

Neil is a great help with the ladling of the chutney into the jars, and cleaning up afterwards.

Our young neighbour from up the road dropped in for a chat and a lesson on how to make chutney, ha, ha. He's a bit camera shy though. He even liked the taste.

Bottle the chutney while still hot, and be careful. Use a large soup ladle, and a large necked funnel makes the process a lot easier.

Invert your full and lidded bottles for a few minutes, careful though because they are hot, and then stand them up the right way to cool.




You may hear some of the lids popping as they cool, which is a good sign that they are well sealed and the chutney will keep in the pantry for a few years.




The flavour and texture will develop beautifully during that time. An aged bottle of mango chutney is a precious commodity.

Another annual tradition is completed and it looks like a good batch. Every time I make this though, I learn something new, and now I cook it outside on the gas burner because the heat is better controlled than on my stove hotplates.

All of my jars are now labelled and stored in the pantry. Oops, I forgot to take a photo of them labelled.

Have you started any Christmas preparations yet or made some chutney? I know it is only November, but life can get busy from here on.

Jump to recipe here:

Thanks for taking the time to stop by. I would enjoy hearing from you in the comments section at the bottom of the post

Best wishes

Pauline

Making your own Mango chutney, a Christmas tradition in North Queensland

Bowen mangoes, and part of the latest batch of mango chutney. 

Mango chutney recipe

Jump to recipe here:

 There were always bottles of homemade mango chutney  in the house when I was growing up in Rockhampton, in Central Queensland,  as it was an annual tradition to make a batch before Christmas, for family and friends, just as the common mango trees were fruiting. The challenge was and still is, to pick the mangoes before they ripened on the trees. In those days most people had a mango tree growing in their back yard, or had friends who did. These days, mangoes can be bought pretty cheaply from the farmers markets, or from roadside stalls, on the Northern Bruce Highway. They will probably be seconds, or second grade fruit, which is fine, as the commercial supplies of mangoes are shipped to the southern markets and overseas as soon as they are picked.