ROSELLA JAM

Click here for recipe and more information

Rosella Jam making is a lesson in chemistry, botany and good time management but is good fun and very rewarding. I think it is the most delicious jam on the planet. Rosella jam is made from the red fleshy calyx surrounding the green seedpods. These pods need to be boiled to extract the valuable pectin, essential for the thickening of the jam. Not all homegrown Rosella fruit ripen at the same time and can be collected gradually and stored in the freezer until you have enough to make a worthwhile quantity of jam.

Separating the seedpod from the calyx can be a time consuming and tricky procedure. Courtesy of a helpful neighbour of mine, we used a modified empty bullet shell to push the seedpod up through the calyx from the base of the fruit in a very simple operation. Quite primitive but very effective. There are many homemade devices that have been used for this operation or you could just use an apple corer. Wear firm fitting gloves when removing the calyx.

BEEF CHOW MEIN, PALEO STYLE

Paleo style cooking can be easy  and economical. I have been cooking this dish for years using cabbage, mince and curry powder, even before Paleo became a dietary phenomena promoting a healthy lifestyle and weight loss. It is a family favourite and very easy and nutritious to make

Cheese making, a great beginning

What an inspiring week it has been in Brisbane, for a few reasons. I originally came down for the week to attend a cheese making course yesterday by Green Living Australia, given to me and my daughter as birthday gifts by my thoughtful son and his partner. Wonderful idea and very exciting. Then we heard on Thursday that our amazing daughter is relocating to Cairns for work reasons, a promotion and permanency, which is fabulous. So I will be in Brisbane for a bit longer to help with the logistics of the move, as you do. However, back to the cheese making course, a delicious and stimulating deviation from the business of moving.

The cheese making course was absolutely fabulous, and inspiring, in that I am now very excited about making my own cheeses i.e. mozzarella, feta, and ricotta to start with and hopefully my expertise as a cheese maker will develop into making even more interesting cheese varieties. Angie, our cheese instructor, has such an interesting family story.  Her Mum originally learnt her cheese making skills from the Amish community in the U.S.A., whose underlying philosophy is to grow and make as much of their own food as possible in the healthiest possible way. Green Living Australia embraces sustainability wholeheartedly,  to suit modern lifestyles. We left the course with containers of the cheese bounty we made,  which tasted fabulous, a versatile Feta making Kit, a Deluxe Curd Knife which I love,  mini measuring spoons, feta cheese making baskets, and two instruction booklets.

The measuring spoons are fascinating, described as a Drop=1/64 tsp., a Smidgen=1/32 tsp.,a Pinch=1/16 tsp.,a Dash=1/8tsp., and a Tad=1/4tsp. Now if you also get excited by interesting pieces of kitchen equipment and appliances you will understand just how excited I am. Measurement of the minute quantities of Mesophilic Starter Culture or friendly bacteria used to create the curd  are assisted by the use of these tiny implements supplied by Green Living Australia.  More about cheese making in later posts, suffice to say that I think this will become a priority when I get home.  Thanks to Angie at Green Living Australia .com .au for a fantastic day.

Stay posted for more information and photos on how to make your own cheese.

http://happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page_20.html

Wholesome Baked Banana Custard

Wholesome Baked Banana Custard

Click here for recipe:
http://happyretireeskitchen.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page_2.html


Last night we made a comforting baked banana custard dessert, lactose, gluten and sugar free, just using dates and vanilla as sweetening agents. A recipe adapted from WholefoodsSimply website. Such a nice change to banana cake and bread. The pudding was delicious and could be further sweetened if desired with honey or real maple syrup. The recipe fills four cup size ramekins perfectly. For those that are egg intolerant, I'm sure chia seeds could be used as a substitute. This is a very adaptable recipe, where cooked apple or even cooked pumpkin could be substituted for the banana.

State of Origin Pizza BBQ style

Click here for recipe:

Maroon is our favorite color tonight, it's State of Origin , Mr. HRK is excited and dinner is his choice. It's kind of like Make it like a Man.  Well, it is actually traditional for us to make pizzas on State of Origin night, and he has excelled himself. They must be cooked in the BBQ oven, and the dough is thin and crispy, perfect. This is partly due to a gift I bought him recently, a pizza tray with holes in the base and slightly elevated. My homemade passata topping provides an aromatic and flavoursome addition. A glass of red or rather maroon wine, a nice Pinot Noir and we are set for the game.

Our BBQ has been utilised in a variety of ways today. Mr. HRK has roasted his coffee beans to perfection in his homemade coffee roasting drum. I chargrilled some of our homegrown eggplants, blackened the skins, in preparation for making my Baba Ganoush. This was followed by the pizza.

Pizza dough recipe:

400g (14oz/2 2/3 cups) plain flour
14 g (1/2 oz/1 tablespoon) dried yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
250ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) lukewarm water
3 teaspoons olive oil

1. Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Combine the water and olive oil and add to the flour mixture. Use a wooden spoon and then your hands to  mix a dough.
2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
3. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat lightly in the oil. Cover loosely with a clean, slightly damp tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
4. Knock back the dough by punching your fist into the centre of the dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Use immediately as directed.

Add your favourite toppings to the pizza. Allow approximately 10 minutes cooking time in the BBQ with the hood down. As you can see there is a lot meat on this pizza because it's football tonight. However add lots of other toppings such as capsicum and mushrooms if you wish.

TIP:

For a crispy base, sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese over the base first, then add your homemade aromatic passata or bought tomato sauce and place in blobs over the cheese. 

Then add the remainder of your favourite toppings, remembering simple is best with pizza, including lots of home grown oregano and basil and you are on your way to the traditional Pizza Margherita.

(The dough recipe is taken from "Make me pizza", published by Murdoch books.

Variations to the dough:

Wholemeal pizza dough:

Replace the plain flour with 400g (14 oz/2 2/3 cups) wholemeal flour and add an extra 50 ml (1 1/2 fl oz ) lukewarm water

Rosemary pizza dough:

After kneading in step 2, add 2 teaspoons very finely chopped rosemary and knead for another 1 minute to incorporate.

Parmesan pizza dough:

After kneading in step 2, add 40 g (1 1/2 oz) finely freshly grated parmesan cheese and knead for another 1 minute to incorporate.

Warm wishes, 

Pauline

Tomato Relish Passata

Bowen tomatoes are a must if you are travelling north. This recipe is adapted from my Tomato Relish recipe, to become a thick passata suitable for pizza bases and bolognese sauce or other Italian dishes.  I was just given some ripening and cheaply priced Bowen tomatoes by our friend Paul,  who bought them from a roadside stall just near Bowen.  After ripening in my kitchen, they cooked up beautifully.

Ingredients:

3 kgs tomatoes
4 large onions
1 clove garlic
1 chilli (according to your taste)
1-2 cups sugar (according to your taste)
1 tablsp. curry powder (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups red wine vinegar or other good quality vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and oregano

Method:

Quarter the tomatoes and chop the onions and chilli finely.
Crush the garlic.
Add all of the ingredients to a large pot and bring to the boil.
Reduce to a simmer for 2 hours and reduce the mixture by a quarter. Cook longer if needed.
Place a teaspoon of the mixture in a small bowl, allow to cool and taste it, and then season with salt and pepper or add other ingredients according to taste.

Allow to cool slightly and fill your warm sterilised bottles.

Easy Tomato Relish

This is my Mum's recipe for Tomato Relish, which she was never without in her pantry, and I still think it is the best tomato relish I have ever tasted. I have fond memories of eating it around the kitchen table at home with cheese and biscuits. It is now also a staple in our home, and our children love it as well.

This recipe can also be adapted to a flavoursome tomato passata according to your taste, which can be used for pizza bases, pasta sauces, or whenever tomato passata is needed.

Ingredients:

500 g (1 lb) Ripe Tomatoes (skinned)
500 g (1 lb) onions
1 cup sugar
1 dessertspoon Curry Powder
1 teaspoon Mustard Powder
1 cup White Vinegar
salt to taste
cornflour to thicken

Method:

1. Prepare and skin the tomatoes by blanching them, place them in iced water, remove the skins and chop them into quarters.
2. Chop the onions finely.
3. Place all ingredients except salt and cornflour in the pot and bring to the boil and then simmer until cooked and mixture is reduced by a quarter. Stir occasionally.
4. When cooked, add salt to taste.
5. Thicken with cornflour and water mixed to a thin paste, and simmer gently for a few more minutes.
6. Allow to cool slightly and fill your sterilised bottles.
7. Turn the bottles upside down for 15 minutes to seal them properly

Warm wishes

Pauline