Summertime Iced Fruit Tea

 On a hot summer weekend I love having a jug of iced tea in the fridge. It's great if you're having guests around and it's just too hot for tea or coffee, and makes a nice alternative to overly sweet fizzy drinks. I like to make it the night before so the flavours have time to mingle.

SUMMERTIME ICED FRUIT TEA

Makes about 800 ml

6 fruit flavoured herbal tea bags (I like strawberry, blackcurrant or cranberry, and you could even throw in a couple of a tea you're trying to use up like apple and camomile!)

Juice of 3 oranges + 1 orange for garnish

3 tablespoons of lime juice or syrup

Honey, to taste (I use about 2 tbsp, briefly microwaved to be liquid, but you may want more if you are accustomed to sweet drinks)

200ml water (soda water if you want to be fancy)

3-4 sprigs of mint

Make the tea with about 500ml boiling water. Leave to steep for 5 mins then remove the teabags and cool in the fridge.

If serving immediately, chill your jug and all ingredients in the fridge. Squeeze and strain orange juice, then add all ingredients to the chilled jug and stir. Chop up your extra orange and add to the jug. Any in-season fruit like berries or sliced apples also makes a good garnish! Don't forget to eat your oranges and other garnishes - they taste great once they have soaked up the tea flavours.

Sun dried tomatoes recipe

 Here's the easy recipe for my sun dried tomatoes. Disclaimer - they aren't actually dried in the sun! You could do that I'm sure (in fact I've read that you can leave them in your car on a hot sunny day) but since I happen to have a dehydrator I do it that way. You could also use your oven.

Get as many cherry tomatoes as you can find and slice them about 8mm thick. (If you just cut them in half there will be more flesh and they will take longer to dry.) Put them in a bowl or plastic bag with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp dried (or a bit more fresh) oregano, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp caster sugar, and toss to coat. (Don't throw away the flavoured oil... it is great for a stir fry base or for frying up eggs and bacon and tomatoes!)

Spread the tomato slices on a dehydrator or oven tray and dry at 60C. I put mine on at about 6pm and left them overnight, so probably about 14 hours. Check them after about 10 hours, you may find that some pieces have dried and the rest need a few more hours.

To store I just put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. They defrost quickly, or you can speed things up by running them under hot water. Enjoy a little piece of summer in salads, pasta, sandwiches and pizza in the depths of winter.

Recipe: Apple Crepe Cake

This is an easy yet festive cake to make. It's budget-friendly because it uses few ingredients and you don't have to heat up the oven, but you can make it look as fancy as you like. You can change the fillings between the crepes and have a different cake for every occasion.

Apple Crepe Cake

Crepe ingredients:
1 cup plain flour
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup water
pinch salt
2 tbsp melted butter

Filling:
300ml cream, whipped
1 can apples (or fresh stewed apples), pureed or whizzed with a stick blender
Chocolate sauce

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Lightly beat together egg, milk and water and add to dry ingredients.
Heat a pan on moderate-low and pour a little batter in, swirl pan or use the back of a spoon to coat base of pan. Cook 1-2 minutes each side till lightly brown. Remove from pan and put aside to cool, repeat until you have used all the batter (approx 7 - 8 crepes).
To assemble the cake, put the first crepe on your cake plate and spread with a light layer of apples and then a light layer of cream. Lay down the next crepe, and spread with a light layer of chocolate sauce and a light layer of cream. Repeat until all crepes are used. Spread the top crepe with a thicker layer of cream. Decorate as desired... I used fresh flowers and herbs from the garden.

Other filling ideas: sliced bananas, toffee sauce and cream... fresh berries and yoghurt... apples, cinnamon and demerara sugar... What would you do?

Red lentil lasagne

There was an interesting discussion on Facebook this week, when I asked if anyone else is cooking more vegetarian meals due to the cost of meat. It turns out many people are - even the "cheap cuts" aren't that cheap these days, and personally I like to eat "happy" meat, which has been humanely raised (not what you typically get at Pak N Save).

So, bring on the lentils! I've experimented a bit with them and the texture when cooked is not that dissimilar to mince. I made a lentil dhal which was really good served with wedges, and this lasagne, and I'm going to try something like spaghetti bolognese or maybe tacos... I think I'll cook up a big batch, maybe in the slow cooker, and freeze it in portions. Then I can have quick easy meals after work. Here's what I did for the lasagne. Let me know if you try it!

RED LENTIL LASAGNE

Start off frying a chopped onion and 2-3 chopped garlic cloves. Rinse 1 cup red lentils and add to the pan with 2 cups of water and 1 can of chopped tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup tomato paste, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, and any herbs you like such as basil, oregano or thyme (fresh or dried). Cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes or until lentils are tender. It's better to have it slightly runny - add a bit of water if you need to - so that the dry pasta sheets will soften and cook properly. (Or precook your sheets!)

Keep checking on the mixture while it cooks, it may need more water. Mine took quite some time to cook, probably because I didn't cover the pan.

While that's cooking, make a white sauce with 1 tbsp marg, 1 tbsp flour and 2 cups milk. (If yours turns into a lumpy mess like mine did, sieve it and thicken it with a bit of cornflour dissolved in milk. Then resolve to make it in the microwave next time because at least it won't burn on the bottom.)

Spray an oven dish with oil and layer up the mixture alternating with a packet of lasagne sheets. I layered thusly: lentils, lasagne, lentils, lasagne, white sauce, lentils, lasagne, white sauce, grated cheese. Then bake in the oven at 180 C for 35-40 mins.

Tagliolini al limone (pasta with lemon)

For one serving:
1 lemon (zest and juice)
1 tbsp marg or butter
1 tbsp yoghurt
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2-3 tbsp chopped parsley
80 grams pasta

Cook pasta until al dente.

Gently melt marg in a small pot, add zest and juice. Let evaporate a little for 2 minutes, then add yoghurt and warm gently. Add parsley.

Drain pasta, toss in sauce, add cheese and toss again to mix.

Variations:
Add a can of tuna (like I did in the photo)
Add chopped cooked chicken or bacon
Add mushrooms or sugar snap peas
Use basil or chives instead of parsley

This is a great quick meal to cook for lunch, and it's easy to double to serve 2 (or you can freeze one portion). It doesn't even matter if your yoghurt is fruit flavoured, as the lemon flavour is dominant and you won't taste it.

Does anyone else know any easy pasta recipes like this?

Mango chutney recipes

This was another handmade christmas present - mango chutney. I made two kinds - Sweet Mango Chutney and Mango Chilli Chutney, and packaged them in glass jars with a striped fabric cover tied with raffia and a handwritten tag.

Sweet Mango Chutney
4x 425g cans of mangoes, or 6 fresh mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 small (100g) can mandarins
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp chilli
1 tbsp panch phora (spice blend of the seeds of fennel, nigella, brown mustard, cumin and fenugreek), dry roasted then ground
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup malt vinegar
Zest and juice of 2 limes

Bring all ingredients except lime juice to the boil in a large pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 50-55 mins or until mixture thickens and is syrupy. Stir in lime juice. Bottle and seal.


Mango Chilli Chutney
4x 425g cans of mangoes, or 6 fresh mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion
1 cup malt vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp panch phora (spice blend of the seeds of fennel, nigella, brown mustard, cumin and fenugreek), dry roasted then ground
2 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp dried chilli (or use chopped fresh chilli, to taste - I like it so it has a bit of a chilli kick without being overpowering.)

Cook onion, ginger and garlic in a little oil until onion is soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 50-55 mins or until mixture thickens and is syrupy. Bottle and seal.

Cashew and Potato Curry

I made this curry for tea last night and it was very very good. I was going to email the recipe to a bunch of people but then I thought, much easier to post it here and just direct everyone. I adapted the recipe a bit, as you do, so I'm writing the recipe as it was originally (I tore it from a magazine) with my adaptations there as well.

CASHEW AND POTATO CURRY

2 tbsp oil
2 brown onions, sliced - no onions for me!
2 tbsp ginger
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds - I used black
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder - no hot chilli for me either!
3 cups vegetable stock
500g potatoes, peeled, chopped
350g kumara (sweet potato), peeled, chopped - I didn't have any so just used more spuds
1 cup frozen peas - I found about 5 pods in the garden so used those
50g baby spinach leaves - I used Bright Lights, fresh from the garden, and don't worry - you won't taste it at all!

CASHEW PASTE
3/4 cup salted roasted cashew nuts - I used a packet of chopped peanuts
3/4 cup plain yoghurt - I used Greek
1/4 cup coriander leaves - I didn't have any so used 1 tbsp powdered coriander
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp curry powder

To make paste, process nuts in food processor for 2 minutes, or until mixture forms a paste. Add remaining ingredients and process until well combined. - Not having a food processor or mortar and pestle (shame!), I just mixed them in a bowl with a spoon.

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onions, ginger, garlic and seeds. Cook for 2 minutes or until onions are soft. Add tumeric and chilli. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add stock and potatoes. Bring to boil. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes (until potato is tender).

Stir in peas, cashew paste and spinach. Simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes, until peas are tender and curry is hot.

That's it! I thought it was going to end up very liquidy, what with having 3 cups of stock, but once everything was all added it thickened up quite nicely. Oh - it makes a LOT too - we got 4 good sized servings out of it and you could probably get 6 medium ones.

Tomato relish recipe

Tomato relish cooking
Originally uploaded by ghostmyst

2 tart apples, peeled and cored
1 kg tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
200g sultanas, finely chopped
200g sugar
400ml vinegar
3 tsp mustard powder
3 tsp ginger
3 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except sultanas in a large saucepan. Simmer till apples and tomatoes are tender.

2. Rub through coarse sieve or puree in blender (this is optional! I never bother with this step because I like my relish chunky). Return to saucepan.

3. Stir in sultanas and boil till desired consistency is reached. Thicken with flour/water paste if necessary. Bottle and seal.


This is, quite honestly, the best damn relish you will ever taste. I used all the tomatoes I grew this year (cherry, red, yellow, green) and they all taste great, although it does pay to separate the colours if you want your finished product not to be too muddy looking. Enjoy! And if you have a favourite relish recipe, please tell me about it!

Pineapple Relish recipe

pineapple relish
Originally uploaded by ghostmyst

600g fresh pineapple
2 limes
6-8 cloves garlic
1 tbsp black pepper corns (optional - I left this one out!)
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp oregano
200g brown sugar
1 tbsp salt

Peel pineapple and chop into cubes. Wash and chop limes (with the peel on). Chop garlic.

Put pepper, fennel, cumin and mustard seeds into dry saucepan. Cook on med heat until they pop. Remove, grind with mortar & pestle.

Put everything into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil on a low heat. Boil for 15 minutes or till desired consistancy is reached.

Bottle and seal, keeps 4-6 months.

Faux Lemon Meringue Pies

These are almost embarassingly easy to make...

FAUX LEMON MERINGUE PIES

1 pack of premade pastry cases
2 large eggs, separated
400g can condensed milk
80 ml lemon juice (use fresh juice - not horrible pre sweetened bottled juice like I did the first time!)
100g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.

Whisk egg yolks, condensed milk and lemon juice and set aside to thicken.

In another bowl, beat egg whites to form soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, still beating until you have a thick, glossy meringue.

Spoon lemon filling into cases and top with meringue. Create peaks by drawing the spoon up.

Bake for 6 minutes until lightly browned.

Makes about 16.