Cream of Celeriac Soup

This interesting vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked and is the root of a type of celery plant (so it tastes pretty similar celery stalks but with a completely different texture).

Ingredients

1 celeriac pealed and diced

1L chicken stock

white pepper

parsley chopped

1 can evaporated milk

dash of lemon juice

Method

1. Simmer celeriac in chicken stock in a large saucepan.

2. Once tender strain off some of the chicken stock. Use a food processor or barmix to bend. Add a dash of lemon juice and mix well.

3. Add chopped pasley and pepper.

4. Put back on heat and add evaporated milk. Bring to the boil mixing well.

Serve

Jackaroo's Pie

An Aussie version of shepard's pie.

Ingredients

500g kangaroo mince

1 large sweet potato

1 tbs butter

wostershire sauce

chilli powder to taste or chilli jam

1 large carrot peeled and chopped

green beans chopped

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic

cumin ground

cinamon ground

olive oil

1 tin diced tomatoes

white wine

salt and pepper to taste

cheese

Method

1. Brown onion and garlic. Add mince and brown.

2. In separate saucepan boil sweet potato. Mash with butter.

3. Add beans and carrots, spices, herbs and sauces.

4. Put mince mix in casserole dish. Top with mashed sweet potato. Sprinkle on cheese and put in preheated medium oven until cheese has melted.

Extra yummy as leftovers on toast.

Chilli Jam

I'm quite addicted to this stuff at the moment. It is great on meat or spinach pie or even on toast. Costs a fortune to buy at markets and supermarkets don't usually stock it so I thought i'd work out how to make it myself.

Makes 2 jars

Ingredients

1 red capsicum

6 sweet peppers

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

Splash balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup white vinagar

3/4 packet jam setter

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup sweet chilli or hot chilli

Method

1. De-seed and chop capsicum and peppers finely. Put in everything except jam setter into a saucepan. Cook on low for 30 mins.

2. Slowly add jam setter. Bring to the boil stirring then remove from heat.

3. Let stand for 10 mins then bottle and put in fridge to set.

Chicken Pâté

After seeing the movie Julie and Julia I got Julia Child's recipe book 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. It's a wonderful book. I completely recommend it. Anyway after discovering how easy and cheap it is to get chicken livers (my 'exotic' ingredient for the week) I thought i'give Pâté a go. Unfortunately though some of the ingredients weren't all that easily available so i had to substitute here and there. Thus i figure i might well well put up this recipe which is almost the same but using much more easy to find ingredients and with measurements made metric.

Ingredients

300g chicken livers

a pinch of chopped fresh thyme

1/2 cup butter

3 tbs butter

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 onion finely chopped

pinch salt

pinch white pepper

1/2 cup white wine

Method:

1. Clean the livers. This involves washing them under a tap and cutting out and throwing away and gross bits that are green/black or yellow. Pat dry with paper towel.2. Put 3 tbs butter into a skillet. Then slowly saute onions on low heat until they are soft for about 10mins. Don't let them brown. Add livers. Constantly turn them and cook for about 1min.3. Add white wine, salt, pepper, thyme. Cook for about a minute.4. Remove from heat and puree in a food processor or similar. Then slowly add the remaining butter and cream cheese. Mix until smooth. Chill.Serve on crusty bread with cheese.

Broccoli and Blue Cheese Soup

I once had a soup just like this at a ski resort in Canada and after being out in the cold all day it was heaven! So i've tried to replicate this here.

Ingredients

Broccoli (quite a bit)

1 can of evaporated milk

milk

blue vein cheese

pepper

Method

1. Chop up the broccoli. You can use all of it including the stalk. Put into a saucepan the broccoli, evaporated milk, pepper and as much extra milk as you need to cover the broccoli with liquid.

2. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Add the cheese in small pieces and stir.

3. Once cheese has melted into the soup, remove saucepan from heat.

4. Blend with a barmix or food processor until smooth (if you need to use a food processor wait until soup is cooler).

5. Reheat if necessary and serve with crusty bread.

from my blog at http://www.angelacooking.blogspot.com/

Spinach Pie

Sarah & Jane i'm posting this for you.
For everyone else this is a yummy spinach pie that isn't all that original (I merely adapted it from a recipe on the back of a packet of filo pastry) but is very yummy and seems to consistently work.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Spinach

Mint

1 spanish onion

1 block garlic fetta

garlic

cinnamon

nutmeg

red wine or balsamic vinegar

1 tbs white sugar

filo pastry

butter

salt

pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 90 degrees. Grease a pie tin with a little butter and set aside.

2. Caramelise chopped onion and garlic in a saucepan on medium heat. Add vinegar and sugar.

3. Add spinach. Once wilted remove from stove top.

4. Put spinach and onion in a bowl. Mix in all other ingredients (except butter).

5. Line pie dish with filo pastry. Add filling. Top with filo. Brush with melted butter.

6. Cook for 45 minutes or until golden and crispy.

7. Serve with chutney or chilli jam.

Stuffed Pumpkins (with Pumpkin Leaves)

This recipe is the result of the fact that I haven't yet managed to go grocery shopping since getting back from fieldwork - but have a veggie patch in my garden.

The interesting thing about it is that it uses more unusual parts of the pumpkin plant. Pumpkin leaves are used in this recipe in the same way spinach might be. This is an African food staple. Also pipitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) are used. The flowers are of course also edible so can also be stuffed along with the pumpkins with this mix.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 x small pumpkins

Pumpkin leaves

5 x roma tomatos

Herbs

Pipitas

Wholemeal pasta, mince or brown lentils (your choice)

Pepper

1 x large onion

Garlic

1x beef stock cube

Grated cheese

Olive Oil

Method

1. Pour boiling water over chopped pumpkin leaves in a saucepan. Leave for 5 mins while preparing other ingredients.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

3. caramelise onion and garlic in oil in saucepan on stove top.

4. Drain pumpkin leaves and add to onion and garlic. Saute

5. Chop tomatoes and add to mix.

6. Cook pasta, mince or lentils separately then add to tomato mix.

7. Add herbs, pepper and pipitas. Remove from heat.

9. Cut lid off pumpkins, scoop out innards.

10. Scoop in tomato-y mixture into the pumpkins, add cheese, put back on lid of pumpkin.

11. Cook in oven for about 20 mins. Enjoy!