Chocolate Hazelnut Friands

• 6 egg whites
• 1 cup (125g) ground hazelnuts, toasted
• 150g melted butter, cooled
• 50g plain flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 1½ cups (240g) icing sugar, sifted
• Choc chips to taste

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C or 160°C fan-forced. Lightly grease 12 friand molds.
2. Lightly beat egg whites. Stir in ground hazelnuts and melted butter. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and icing sugar into the mixture. Stir through choc chips if using.
3. Divide mixture among prepared pans (approx ¼ cup mixture into each one). 
4. Bake in preheated oven 25 minutes until cooked through (when a skewer is inserted into centre, it should come out clean).

Romesco - Tomato and Capsicum Puree

This recipe is greater than the sum of it's part. Magnificent flavour and easy preparation make it a favourite. Use it as a dip for bread or a condiment for meat or vegetables. It's especially good in late summer when tomatoes and red capsicums are at their peak.

• Ingredients

  • 2 red onions
  • 2 capsicums
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 40g ground almonds, hazelnuts or even cashews (toasted optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 slices sandwich bread
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

  Instructions

  1. Peel onions and cut in half.
  2. Cut core out of tomato and cut in half.
  3. Place onions, tomatoes and whole capsicums onto baking tray lined with baking paper.
  4. Put into oven at 250 C for 30 mins, or until cooked and charred.
  5. Lift skins off tomatoes, remove cores from capsicum and peel.
  6. Place all ingredients in food processor and process.
  7. Check seasoning for salt and vinegar. Add more if necessary.
  8. Serve as a sauce for meats, or as a dip.
• 
  

Lemon Butter from Val

5 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon rind
125g butter, chopped into small pieces

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Beat together.
Stir constantly over high heat until thickened, about 6-7 mins.
Pour into sterilised jars if you intend to keep it for longer than about a week. 

Chinese Braised Potatoes

450g potatoes, peeled and sliced into ½ cm or ¼ inch slices

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 cloves chopped garlic

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp dry sherry

(Optional: 4 tablespoons sliced spring onions and/or 3 Lap Cheong.)

Stack the potato slices and cut them into matchsticks. Soak them in a bowl of cold water with a teaspoon of salt for 5-10 minutes, then drain thoroughly and blot them dry with kitchen paper.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium heat and gently fry garlic and ginger.

Add potatoes and stir fry for 1 minute, until coated with oil and seasonings.

Add sherry, salt, sugar and Lap Cheong if using. Stir and cover. Cook over medium heat until water is evaporated. Check potatoes for doneness. If undercooked add a little more water, cover and cook until tender but not falling apart

Drizzle with sesame oil and spring onions if using. Serve. 

, Adapted from Ken Hom

Glazed Ham

The finished product. You can see where I patched it up.

Around 10kg ham

2 cups orange marmalade

1/2 cup cider vinegar

4 teaspoons dry English mustard

1 teaspoon ground cloves

Whole cloves

1 cup orange juice

Ham Glaze

3 tablespoons St Dalfour cherry jam

3 tablespoons brown sugar

Ham stock

Remaining basting mixture

Preheat oven to 250 degrees C.

Opps. I took too much fat off, but patched it up.

Cut the skin around the shank of the ham and ease the skin from the fat. To do this, slide your hand between the skin and the fat. Be careful not to slide it between the meat and fat as I have done here. :(

Remove the skin completely, and reserve.

Trim excess fat, leaving at least 2 cm of fat all over.

Score the fat in diagonal patterns. Place a clove in the centre of each diamond.

Combine marmalade, vinegar, mustard and cloves together, whisking to combine.

Pour half a cup of water in the bottom of the pan. Place ham in baking dish. If the shank end hangs outside the pan cover it with foil, making sure the juices from the shank will drain back into the pan to keep the oven clean.

Spread some of the marmalade mixture over the ham ensuring the ham is fully surrounded with this mix, and place in the oven.

Bake for 10 mins, remove and baste with marmalade mixture. Continue to bake and baste until the ham is golden, 30-40 mins.

Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Transfer to a serving platter and place in the fridge. Cover with an old clean tea towel or pillowslip. (You will need to replace this daily)

Ham skin simmering on stove

While the ham is in the oven make ham stock. Cut skin into squares, around 15cm each. Place in a saucepan with trimmings, cover with water and simmer for an hour. Remove the skin and trimmings from the saucepan and turn the heat to high. Boil rapidly until around 1 cup stock remains.

To make Glaze Condiment

Combine ham stock, juices from the bottom of the pan you cooked the ham in, basting mixture, brown sugar and cherry jam.

Taste for seasoning and adjust to your taste. It may need more sugar or jam. Or it may be too salty, in which case add a little water. You may prefer to add extra cider vinegar or mustard. Or you may like to add a little orange juice. This is very much up to the cook. 
I prefer to puree it with the stab blender but you could leave it chunky.

Chill and serve with the ham.

Orange and saffron potatoes

1 onion, diced finely

2 tablespoons olive oil

100 mls sherry

½ teaspoon saffron threads

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

3-4 oranges, juiced

½ teaspoon sherry vinegar, or more to taste

Fry onion in olive oil and salt until softened. Cover with ½ cup water, and cook on high until water is evaporated. This is a quick way to fry onions.

Add sherry and cook on high until nearly evaporated.

Meanwhile grind saffron, salt and sugar in spice grinder. Alternatively, mix them together with a little boiling water.

Add to pan with orange juice, cover and simmer until cooked.

Check seasonings, and add more salt, sugar and vinegar to taste.

Serve warm or cold as a salad.

Banana Bread from Cook's Illustrated, metric version

Ingredients
250g (1¾ cups or 8¾ ounces) plain (prefeably cake) flour
1 teaspoon bi carb soda
½ teaspoon salt
5 large very, very ripe bananas (about 2¼ pounds), peeled
125g butter
2 large eggs
150g (¾ cup packed, 5¼ ounces) brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
Method
Microwave 5 bananas, then pour into a strainer over a saucepan, and drain 15 mins.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Prepare a loaf pan about 20x10cm (8½ by 4½-inch) loaf pan by rubbing with butter and sprinkling with flour.
Simmer banana water until reduced to about ¼ cup, about 5 minutes.
Add butter and allow to melt.
Add eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.
Mash bananas and add to mixture in saucepan.
Slice remaining banana into narrow slices.
Combine flour, salt and bi carb soda.
Pour banana mixture into flour mixture, and gently stir to until just combined with some streaks of flour remaining. Gently fold in the walnuts, if using.
Pour mixture into prepared pan.
Bake 55 to 75 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Slice thickly, toast in a fry pan, and serve with a pat of butter.

Greek Spinach Rice – Tess Mallos

Tess Mallos’ “Greek Cookook” was the first I ever owned, and through it I fell in love with food and cooking. This is one of my favourites from her book.
This is exactly as she wrote it, but these days I use basmati rice and frozen spinach.
It’s delicious served at room temperature as a salad. But bring it to room temperature first. Served straight from the fridge the rice is hard and crunchy, so allow it to come to room temperature. I often warm it in the microwave.

1kg spinach or silverbeet (I use either a combination of baby spinach, parsley, mint or dill, and this may or may not add up to 1kg. Or I use one or 2 packets of frozen chopped spinach - drain and squeeze extra liquid out.)

1 cup chopped spring onions (I often use a normal onion)

1 leek, chopped (optional)

½ cup olive oil (measure this because this recipe relies on a good amount of oil)

1 ½ cups or 300g short grain rice (I use basmati because I prefer it less gluggy, and it has a lower Glycemic Index)

2 tablespoons lemon juice (or more, to taste)

1 tablespoon chopped parsley or dill

3 cups water

Salt and pepper.

Directions

Wash spinach or silverbeet very well.

Remove stems, drain leaves well and tear into pieces. If using silverbeet, chop the bitter stems finely, parboil for 5 inutes in salted water and drain.

In  deep pan gently fry onion and leek (if used) in oil until soft.

Stir in rice and cook 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and parboiled silverbeet stems (if used).

Bring to the boil and add sinach or silver beet.

Stir well, cover and cook gently for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, leave tightly covered and allow to stand for 5 minutes befoe serving.

Serve hot as an accompaniament to main meals, particularly grilled meats and fish.

Note: This is very good served cold.