Recipes from my MUM

Here are a couple of recipes given to me by my mum.


SWEET LAMB CURRY
Parsnip, carrots, swede, celery, onion, tomato, apple, rice, stewing steak, water to cover, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, curry powder, salt


Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer till done.  Serve with fresh fruit chutney (see recipe below).


FRESH FRUIT CHUTNEY
1 onion diced, green cucumber, tomato, granny smith apple, green pepper, juice of a lemon, salt and pepper.


Dice all ingredients finely, mix and chill in fridge. Serve with sweet lamb curry.


CHICKEN PAPRIKA
1 chicken cut into pieces, 1/2 green pepper, 1/2 red pepper, 1 medium onion, carrots, potatoes, celery, salt & pepper, butter, paprika


Cut vegetables and place in a baking dish; place chicken pieces on top.
In a saucepan on low heat combine 1 carton of sour cream, 1 chicken stock cube, 2 tablespoons water, 2 level dessert spoons of plain flour, salt & pepper; pour sauce over chicken and vegetables; cover in foil; bake in moderate oven for 1 hour.  Remove foil, sprinkle paprika over chicken and vegetables and dot with butter return to the oven for another 1/2 hour to brown.

Vintage Cooking in 1912

In between making macarons I'll also be making lots of vintage recipes from 'The Goulburn Cookery Book' twelfth edition printed in 1912.  And, although I've stated that these recipes are dated 1912 they are much older as the first edition was printed in 1899.  This Australian cookery book was so popular that up until 1912 it had to be re-printed each year!  Here are some snippets of this amazing but very fragile little book.  I don't know its previous owner but it has been well loved and is jam packed full of scribbled notes and newspaper cuttings.  Some recipes even mention war coupons!  I think this little gem is really exciting and I love it to bits... so lets start baking and bring it back to life ready for its centenary next year.  Be warned however, that I absolutely cannot and will not cook sheeps head, tripe, liver or the like...  eeewwwww!

Vintage Scones circa 1899

Today, is too wet to make macarons so instead I've had a vintage recipe cooking day.  I'm sick and tired of buying inferior quality cake and biscuits from the supermarket as snacks for my gorgeous girls.  So its back to basics and vintage cooking!  This delicious scone recipe is circa 1899. 

SCONES 
One pound of flour, 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, a good 1/2 pint milk, 1 level teaspoon salt.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together; work in the butter with finger-tips till it is fine like crumbs; mix in the milk, and form into a dough with the blade of a knife; knead lightly; roll out about 1/2 an inch thick, and bake in a quick oven.

Conversions:
1 pound of flour is about 453 grams
1/2 pint milk is about 300ml
A quick oven - I cooked my scones at 220 degrees celsius for 12 minutes.

Tips:
My nanna taught me to dab milk on top of the scones with your fingertips so that they brown nicely and wrap them in a tea towel after getting them straight out of the oven to keep them moist and warm.

Always put your scones close together 

All wrapped up

Chantilly Cream and Apricot Jam

Bejeweled Pomegranates

Here is a simple but delicious recipe from the 19th Century which was called 'A Dish of Pomegranates'.  I've changed the name to 'Bejeweled Pomegranates' as the original title didn't do this simple dessert justice.

Remove the seeds from 6 pomegranates and place in your prettiest silver or glass bowl. Sprinkle with rosewater, lime juice and sugar (I used Demerara) and serve very cold.

Vintage Orange Cake from 1912

A vintage orange cake from my collection of recipes that was printed in 1912.

Three eggs, their weight in sugar, butter and flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 orange, a pinch of salt.

Beat the sugar and butter to a cream; add 2 eggs one at a time, and beat well; then add half the flour, beating well all the time; add the grated rind of the orange and half the juice; then put in remainder of flour and a small teaspoon of baking powder; add the third egg.  Bake 1 hour or longer in a moderate oven.  Ice with the following icing: -Six ounces of icing sugar, enough orange juice to make a thick cream (about 1 ½ tablespoons); warm, but do not let get hot, and pour over the cake.

I baked this cake at 150 degrees celsius in a conventional oven for 40-45 minutes.

Old Fashioned Sherbet Fountain

To make a homemade version of Basset's or Darrell Lea's Sherbert Fountains blend 50g icing sugar, 5g freeze dried raspberries and 1 teaspoon each of bicarbonate of soda and citric acid in a mini chopper.  Store in a zip lock bag for up to two weeks - if it lasts that long.  Enjoy with really soft licorice such as Darrell Lea Batch 37.  Great for kids but even better served at the end of a dinner party - this will really surprise your guests!

Zumbo's Salt and Vinegar Macaron

Zumbo's Salt & Vinegar Macarons

To make Zumbo's Salt & Vinegar Macarons, make two batches of my basic macaron recipe, one coloured purple and the other brown.  

To make an adapted version of the ganache set aside 50g Modena Aged Balsamic Vinegar, 2g Maldon Sea Salt flakes, 240g White Chocolate & 140g Pouring Cream (minimum 35% fat).

Bring the cream to the boil then blend with the white chocolate

In a slow stream add the balsamic vinegar and combine, fold in the salt then allow to set

Pipe your macarons and assemble. Store in the fridge for at least 12 hours but preferably 24 hours before eating - try to resist the temptation.

I'm not exactly a fan of salt and vinegar crisps so I'm doubtful that these we will be my favourite but we'll see. They're currently in the Perfect Fresh zone in my new Miele fridge soaking up all that lovely humidity!

I just checked the macarons after 12 hours and they still don't have that lovely fudgy chewiness inside yet.  This is because Zumbo's recipes don't make as much filling compared to Pierre Herme.  Had I made Pierre Herme's recipe with oodles of ganache these would have been ready to consume by now but because the filling is sparse they need another 12 hours to mature. I'm rather fussy as I like my macarons to have the perfect texture both inside and out - nothing worse than crisp flavourless shells. 

After 24 hours these macarons were just PERFECT and gave salted caramel a run for their money!

Orange Blossoms

Tonight, I can smell the gorgeous scent of orange blossoms wafting through my windows... it's absolutely heavenly.