Chocolate Mug Cake

Now here is a recipe for one or two...

5-minute Chocolate Mug Cake

It is from the Seniors Card website. I have not tried it yet.

3-2-1 Rice Pudding

Here is a great way to use up milk that needs to be used. It is my Dad's recipe for rice pudding that he taught me as the 3-2-1 rice pudding. It is very easy to remember.

3 tablespoons of white rice
2 tablespoons of sugar (or sultanas or other sweetning ingredient)
1 pint of milk (600 ml)

Put all ingredients in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle nutmeg or cinnamon on top if you want to. Cover and cook for about 1.5 hours in a moderate oven (or until it looks cooked). If you cook it uncovered it will form a browned skin which some people like too.

Storing Herbs 3 - Garlic

I read about freezing garlic on the Little Eco Footprints blog. I am now inspired to plant some garlic because I absolutely love it. It might do well in my potato patch where I have just harvested the potatoes.

Anzac Biscuits

Yesterday (Anzac Day) we made Anzac Biscuits of course. My friend freezes Anzac Biscuits and it works very well so here are mine ready to eat and/or freeze.

The recipe I use is from the Nursing Mothers Cookbook and is very similar to this authentic recipe except that my recipe has 1/2 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup self-raising flour instead of the 1 cup of plain flour.

Tips from the ABC

Here are some tips copied from a recent article on the ABC website about Eating well in Old Age.

Things to consider include:

• Adding a little of a high fat food such as margarine to a potato to get more energy from a smaller amount of food.
• Spreading peanut or other nut butters on crackers or raw vegies, and sprinkling chopped nuts or wheat germ on your cereal or yoghurt to increase the nutrient content.
• Snacking on fruit or cheese as a between-meal snack, especially if large meals cannot be tolerated.
• Bulk cooking when more expensive foods like meat are on special at the supermarket. Buying in bulk and splitting the cost of groceries with friends or family helps budgeting.
• If you are unable to shop for groceries you may be able to qualify for assistance from a social worker and should request an aged services assessment from the local hospital.
• Linking into food services like Meals on Wheels which provide nutritious meals for people on a budget.
• Sharing meals with other people has been shown to increase intake due to social interaction. The local council may have a dining room where you can join other older people to have Meals on Wheels services.

Storing Herbs 2

Some time ago I posted about storing herbs. Yesterday I decided to put this into practice with my basil which is going to seed. I kept some seeds for replanting of course.

I just picked all my basil, pulled off the leaves and washed and dried them as well as I could. I had about two food processor bowls full. In said food processor I then chopped the basil coarsely with 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. It all smelled wonderful.

I then froze this chopped basil in ice cube trays. This morning I repackaged the cubes into a container. They froze well and were easy to manage.

There is now a container of basil in the freezer ready to be added to salads, sauces or meat dishes. I love basil!

I'll try my parsley next. And when I get enough I'll try my mint although I also make an apple-jelly-based mint jelly for serving with lamb (when I can afford the lamb). I make this by following our Generic Jam Recipe but I boil up the apple jelly in brown vinegar instead of water and add all the mint stalks as well. I chop the mint leaves and freeze them raw to add to the mint jelly just before I add the sugar to the jelly later. The apple pulp I store for other jams or for apple sauce with pork, or even as pie apple.

Christmas Cake experiment

There are many who like my boiled Christmas cake recipe. However, now that I live in a one-person household a whole cake is too much to get through. Yes, I can freeze it in lumps and/or slices but then I thought ... what about Christmas cake muffins. They worked beautifully but of course needed less cooking time than a whole cake (maybe up to 20-25 minutes).

I have no idea where this recipe originated but over the years (probably about 40) I have altered it anyway. I never include things I do not like e.g. peel and cherries or mixed fruit packs. I use other glace fruits instead chopped to chunks. I break up the nuts so they remain quite coarse pieces too. I only include the nuts I like, not mixed nuts. So here it is...

Boiled Fruit Cake

Stir and bring to boil...
700 g mixed fruit (sultanas, currants, glace fruit...)
250g butter
250g sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Allow to cool and meanwhile line a 25 cm cake tin (deep) with several thicknesses of paper.

Stir into previous mixture...
2 well-beaten eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
250g nuts
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour

Pour into prepared tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 1.5 hours. I like to have a moist cake, almost slightly undercooked in the centre.

Generic Jam Recipe

To make all his delicious jams we worked out a generic recipe. My husband had particular rules which included me doing all the bottling and cleaning up. We shared the fruit picking and preparation stage and often the stirring. He particularly like doing each stage when he could sit and watch the cricket or rugby union on TV. I do hope this recipe is helpful.

Preparing the fruit
1.    Cut up fruit into two containers:
     a.    All the unwanted skins, cores, marked spots and other bits that are edible but not desirable.
     b.    The good part of the fruit chopped to the size you want it for the jam.
2.    Cover lot ‘a’ with water and boil for a few hours then strain it through muslin or other fine cloth or strainer to produce a flavoured liquid that can be used for making ‘jelly’ (jam style) or for using instead of water to make other jams. This can be frozen but always measure it and record the volume on the label for the freezer.
3.    To lot ‘b’ add just enough water (or jelly liquid from step 2 or a previous step 2). For watery fruit you won't need much but for dry fruit or fruit that sticks easily you will need more liquid.
4.    Boil this to provide the ‘pulp’ for jam or other preserves. This can also be frozen but always measure it and record the volume on the label for the freezer.

By freezing the pulp and the jelly liquid the fruit has more opportunity to break down and soften to release its pectin and flavours.

Preparing the jars
5.    Collect enough clean jars with lids to fit the volume of jam you are making with a few left over just in case. About 8 x 125 ml jars does one litre of jam pulp.
6.    Wash the jars in the dishwasher to finish as the jam finishes cooking. Put the clean lids to soak in boiling water for about 20 minutes before the jam finishes.

Jars and lids should be stored washed then treated as above again just before bottling to avoid growth of mould. It is not foolproof but seems to work most of the time.

Cooking the jam
7.    Measure the fruit pulp and liquid (jelly or water) to find the volume.

Jam will set when sugar is 60% and there is sufficient pectin and acid.

Some fruits have more natural pectin and acid but if you have any doubt you can used some commercial ‘pectin in citric acid’ towards the end of the cooking. Instructions are usually on the pack.

8.    Measure sugar to the same volume (or weight) of jam pulp (i.e. cup for cup or kg for kg). Remember that 1 litre of sugar is roughly 1 kg so you can actually weigh the sugar. It is important to allow the jam time to reach the required 60% sugar by boiling it for a while (but not too long) so less than 60% is added (there is also sugar in the fruit anyway). When the jam has reached 60% sugar the temperature will be 104-105 C degrees.
9.    Bring the jam pulp to the boil then add the sugar.
10.    Boil the jam pulp and sugar mix until it reaches 104-105 C degrees, stirring continuously. Add a little artifical pectin just before it reaches that temperature if you are concerned about the natural pectin concentration. The temperature is the most reliable method but there are lots of other tests like the ‘sheeting test’, the ‘pottling’ sound, the ‘cold water ball’ test...

The colour of your jam will be best if the
     •    boiling time is shorter
     •    container is stainless steel
     •    stirrers are stainless steel or wooden

Bottling the jam
11.    The jam should be bottled immediately if it is a ‘jelly’ or allowed to stand for a short time (10 minutes) if it contains ‘bits’ of fruit that will rise. Bottle into hot jars and seal with hot lids.

If all goes well your jam will store for years but will darken with age.

Using the jam
Here is part of a little poem I wrote some years ago to accompany our jams when given to friends. It includes some instructions for jam problems ...

Enjoy our jam on toast or cake
Or even scones you specially bake
And if the jam’s a tad too runny
Try icecream topping or call it honey!*
Or if, when you open up your jar,
You find a delicate fungal star
Or just a layer of ugly mould
Then scrape it off, it’s not too old.

* or pour it into a bowl and microwave for a minute or so then re-bottle it into a clean jar.

Don't forget to recycle the jars too.

Dealing with excess

Catherine pointed out a great blog for preserving excess food (something I am now getting from my lovely vegetable garden) - Green Living Australia.

Simple Yummy Dessert for One

I was introduced to this simple dessert by my friend Elaine. You can find more information from Somerfield.

Of course home-made meringue cases taste best but you can use ready-made meringue cases from the supermarket. Try using custard and/or cream according to your tastes and dietary needs. If you need gluten free then read the packaging. The meringue cases keep in the pantry for months.

You can buy frozen berries which you can delve into for just the amount you need. The frozen berries can be thawed or microwaved to thaw. Of course fresh berries are better.

You can even thaw some of your frozen custard to have with it.

If you do a web search for 'meringue nest dessert' you will find a lot more ideas.