Recipe

A “Beautifully Blended Family” Christmas

/ sbaskitchen / 4 Comments

I’m not quite sure why time seems to get away from me, but it does!

The lead up to Christmas was, as I recently said to someone, frantic!  There were cooking classes/knowledge sharing sessions to deliver throughout the region, cooking for a local café to be done, trips to Melbourne for family gatherings, an unexpected medical issue, hampers to prepare and get into the post for family up north, gifts to purchase and our preparations for our contributions to the Christmas Day Family Feast!

This year in the Christmas hamper I included a few new items, coffee liqueur, flavour bombs/simmer pot pouches and a new biscuit (cookie).  The coffee liqueur was a recipe given to me by a host at a B&B in central France, the flavour bombs/simmer pot pouches were made up of my dehydrated citrus, some spices and a little candied ginger (I think that I will dehydrate ginger for them in future), and the new biscuit is based on a commercially available biscuit available here in Aus, but made using a recipe from my mum’s recipe book.

Goodies packaged ready to boxed up and posted off…
Christmas baking…
Mulled Wine Simmer Pot Bags
Butternut Chocolate Cream Biscuits

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Boiled Mayonnaise

I know that there will probably be those out there that will say that this is not a mayonnaise!  But it is what my mother and godmother called it, so it is what I will call it too.  It’s delicious, quickly made from pantry staples, and so very versatile.

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Boiled Mayonnaise

I found this recipe in my mum's recipe book. I think the recipe was one that was given to her by my godmother, Joan Bibby, as mum always wrote the name of the person who shared the recipe, next to the recipe.

Category: Basics, Salad Dressing, Sauces
Style: Australian
Keyword: Dressing, Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 2 tsp mustard powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
Instructions
  1. Combine sugar, cornflour, mustard powder and salt together in a small saucepan.
  2. Add egg, vinegar and water and whisk to combine.
  3. Over a medium heat, bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring continuously.
  4. Once the dressing has boiled and thickened slightly, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
  5. When cool, pour into a container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes

Will keep for up to one week when refrigerated.

 

My godmother’s recipe written in my mother’s hand.
Boiled Mayonnaise
Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Lettuce Salad

 

Try it on my Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Lettuce Salad.

If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.

 

 

 

Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Salad

 

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Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Salad

Inspired by my godmothers' homemade boiled mayonnaise, and while very similar to the iconic Caesar Salad, this is definitely not a Caesar Salad. There are no anchovies, there is no Parmesan, there is no garlic, and I use Iceberg lettuce, not Cos.

Category: Light Main, Light Meal, Salad
Style: Australian
Keyword: bacon, crostini, eggs, Gluten Free Option, homemade boiled mayonnaise, iceberg lettuce
Quantity: 4
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 6 eggs (at room temperature)
  • 1 baguette, sliced into 1 cm/½ inch thick rounds
  • olive oil
  • 8 rashers of good quality eye bacon (approx 300g) cut on the diagonal, into strips approx 2cm/3/4 inch wide.
  • 6-8 cups coarsley shredded Iceberg lettuce (approx. 2cm/3/4 inch wide)
  • 1/4 cup spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 100 g cheddar cheese, coarsley grated
  • 1-2 tbsp curly parsley, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp Boiled Salad Dressing (see link below)
  • Sea salt flakes, to season
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to season
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 200℃/180°C. Spread bread, in a single layer, on a baking tray and brush with oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Set aside to cool completely.

  2. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and gently add the eggs, and then bring back to the boil. As soon as you put the eggs into the water set the timer and cook the eggs for 8 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Cook the bacon, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until crisp and browned. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel.

  4. Once the eggs are done, remove from the water and remove the shell and quarter.

  5. Combine the lettuce, spring onions, half the grated cheddar and half the parsley, and then spread over the base of a serving platter. Arrange the bacon, eggs and crostini over the lettuce, drizzle with the dressing, top with the remaining cheddar and sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

  6. Season with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.

  7. Serve immediately.

Notes

 

Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Lettuce Salad
Boiled Mayonnaise
Bacon, Egg and Iceberg Salad

 

Recipe Links

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Evil Pigs, Rocky Road and Crazy Critters!

/ sbaskitchen / 4 Comments

It is school holidays and we’ve had a visitor – our gorgeous grandson, Cooper, which meant it was time to cook with Granny, play chess with Papa, and this time, there was also a little piano lesson too!

We only had 48 hours, but we managed to pack a lot in.  Cooper had a list of what we needed to cook:

A major search to find the Rocky Road recipe, but more about that later, then he wrote up the shopping list.  A trip to the supermarket and home via my favourite book shop – The Book Shoppe, where I was delighted to hear him asking Janene about his favourite authors.  Yes, there was also time for reading in between everything else!

Back at home, and decked out in Chef’s Whites, Cooper was ready to get to work!  When it come to the meringues – last time we made Evil Pig meringues, I thought that they looked rather sinister, so didn’t even mention them.  Instead I asked Cooper what colour the meringue shoud be.  His answer – purple!  With blue and rose pink colouring at hand, I took a portion of the meringue and began mixing in the colour.  It was then that Cooper suggested that we should make evil pigs again, so we ditched the idea of making the meringue purple, and the Evil Pigs made a return!  After a little more chit chat (and there was plenty of that), this time, we also made crazy critters, aka porcupines.  They were put in the oven and the waiting began – how frustrating that even though they were cooked, they still couldn’t come out of the oven until they were totally cooled! Continue reading →

Cooper and Granny’s Rocky Road

 

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Cooper & Granny's Rocky Road

Our recipe, created with time, and fun together in our kitchen

Category: Snack, Sweet Treats
Keyword: Chocolate, Marshmallows
Quantity: 60 pieces
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 360 g milk chocolate
  • 180 g dark chocolate
  • 90 g white chocolate
  • 20 g coconut oil
  • 280 g pack of marshmallows
  • 75 g slivered almonds
  • 80 g rice puffs
  • 15 g glace cherries or dried sour cherries, quartered
  • 75 g dried apricots diced
  • 75 g dried cranberries
Instructions
  1. Line a slice tin, approx. 18 x 30 cm, with baking paper
  2. Cut the marshmallows in half, and put into a large mixing bowl.
  3. Add fruit, nuts and rice puffs.

  4. Chop the milk chocolate, and half the dark chocolate, and place in a microwave proof bowl, together with the coconut oil.

  5. Microwave the chocolate on high for 30 seconds. Stir well and repeat another 2-3 times until the chocolate is just melted.
  6. Add the chocolate to the dry ingredients and mix well, ensuring all ingredients are well coated.
  7. Chop the remaining dark chocolate and place in a microwave proof bowl.
  8. Chop the white chocolate and place in a microwave proof bowl.
  9. Melt the dark and white chocolates in microwave, on high for 20 seconds. Stir well and repeat another 1 or 2 times, or until the chocolate is just melted.
  10. Lightly press half of the chocolate marshmallow mix into the lined slice tin, and spread to cover the base of the tin.
  11. Drizzle with half the melted dark and white chocolate, then add the remaining chocolate marshmallow mix, and spread evenly.
  12. Drizzle with remaining dark and white chocolate.
  13. Place in refrigerator to set for 3-4 hours, or overnight.
  14. When set, cut into 3cm squares
Notes
  • For gluten free, ensure that all ingredients are gluten free.

 

Rocky Road cut into portions
Rocky Road cut into portions

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