Pecan Balls

Can be made a week ahead

125g softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs caster sugar
1 cup (125g) finely chopped pecans
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1/2 cup (80g) icing sugar mixture

Beat butter, vanilla and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in nut then sifted flour in 2 batches.
Roll 2 level teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place balls 5cm apart on ungreased oven trays. Bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Sift icing sugar into a bowl, roll balls in icing sugar while still hot, cool on a wire rack.
Makes 30.
Suitable to freeze.

Secret Family Christmas Recipes

Frozen Christmas Pudding

1 1/2 cups mixed dried fruit
2 slices pineapple, chopped
1 bag glace cherries, chopped
1 litre each of chocolate and vanilla icecream
125g grated dark chocolate
Generous 1/2 cup brandy

Soak dried fruit, cherries and pineapple in brandy overnight. Soften icecream, turn into a large bowl and quickly mix in soaked fruit and chocolate. Mix well. Pack into a basin, cover tightly and freeze. To remove, bip basin in hot water and turn onto a plate. Refreeze. Decorate with glace fruit to serve and offer whipped cream. Serves 8 - 10.

Prawns with bok choy and rice

From The Age

Place 2 cups rice and 1L water in a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir, reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes. Heat 2 tbsp peanut oil in a wok over medium heat.

Stir-fry 16 large green (raw) prawns (peeled) until just cooked. Remove prawns and add 4 cloves garlic (finely chopped) and 2 red chillies (finely chopped). When garlic starts to colour, add 3 heads bok choy (trimmed and leaves separated) and stir until wilted. Return prawns to wok.

Add 2 tsp sesame oil, 150ml chicken stock and 3 tbsp oyster sauce and stir to heat through. Serve prawns with rice and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cashews (toasted and coarsely chopped).

Gingerbread People

Recipe from my friend clever Jenine. Extra yummy gingerbread!

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup golden syrup
90g butter
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
500g plain flour
pinch of salt 2 eggs beaten

Combine the sugar, golden syrup, butter spices and fresh ginger in a heavy based pan over low eat, and let melt, stirring. Remove from the heat for 2 minutes, and then stir in the bicarbonate of soda until light and fluffy.

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre, add eggs and gradually add the syrup, stirring until all the flour is incorporated and you have dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for at least one hour

Heat the oven to 180C and roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface. Cut into shapes and place on trays lined with baking paper. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the trays. Cool on a wire rack.


Jenine usually makes large gingerbread people, makes them thick(ish) and decorated them with melted chocolates. She would often triple the mix. I made them for my son to take to kinder when my husband went with him to carve a pumpkin for Halloween (its one of hubby's very mild super powers), so I decorated them with icing to look like mummies. I made them smaller and rolled them thinner so I ended up with hundreds of them! The rest will be turned into superheroes for Son #3's birthday party (photo above)

Black Devil Chocolate Cake

An old family favourite, great for birthdays. Easy too, one bowl and 1 cup!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups SR flour
1 1/3 cups Sugar
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate Soda
1/2 cup Cocoa
125 g butter
Vanilla
3/4 cup water
2 eggs

Place dry ingredients in a large bowl, add softened butter, vanilla and half the water. Beat one minute on a slow speed. Add remaining water and eggs. Beat well, approximately another 3 minutes. Bake at 150C for 50 - 60 minutes.

Celery and White Bean Soup with Tomato

The chorizo really makes this soup. Great to deal with a celery glut. It was fun to make the celery salt too!

• 250g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight, or 650g drained tinned beans
• 5 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large head celery with leaves - celery sliced into 1 inch pieces, leaves set aside
• 8 spring onions with green tops, sliced into 1 cm rounds
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 500g good quality tomatoes
• 1 Tbs sweet paprika
• 2-3 fresh chorizo sausages (about 1/2 sausage per person)

1. Make some celery salt by laying out the celery leaves on a baking tray and heating in a medium-low oven. Move them around every so oft to keep them from burning.
2. When leaves are quite dry and crumbly, remove from oven and crumble with equal parts of sea salt. Set aside.
3. Drain the soaked beans and add to a saucepan, and cover with plenty of fresh water.
4. Boil for about an hour, skimming off any scum that arises during the cooking. Add any extra water needed if it boils away too quickly. Season with a bit of salt and set aside.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add in the celery. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
6. Add the spring onions, garlic, and a good pinch of salt.
7. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The vegetables should be soft and beginning to caramelize.
8. Add the tomatoes and half the celery salt, and cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Drain the beans, keeping back 250 ml of the cooking liquid, and add both to the pot with the vegetable mixture.
10. Add in the paprika.
11. Bring to a low boil and simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust.
12. Heat a frying pan up with a small amount of olive oil to prevent the sausage from sticking.
13. Slice the fresh chorizo into half-inch thick disks, then quarter them.
14. Fry the chorizo pieces for about 5 minutes or until cooked. They usually give off a good amount of oil - fatty, but tasty.
15. Serve the soup in bowls with the chorizo and some of its oil spooned on top.

the BEST roast pork

A different recipe from this site. I used a 1.9 kg pork shoulder, and it turned out really well.

Recipe: the BEST roast pork.

---

this recipe can also be cooked on a BBQ that has a metal covering lid, such as a webber.

Ingredients:
Pork Leg - 1.5 to 2kg
4tablespoon white vinegar
3 teaspoon salt
i teaspoon salt

Method:

set the oven to about 100degrees.

slash the pork rind about 1cm apart, make sure you only cut the fat and not the meat.

rub the salt and the vinegar into the skin of the pork. then rub a bit more salt and pepper into the meat side of the pork.

put the pork into the oven and let it cook at 100 degrees for aprox 1hour.

after 1hour turn the oven op to 190 degrees and cook the meat for another 1hour. if its a 2kg peice of meat cook for 1:15min.

after its cooked, take it out and cover the meat with alfoil and leave it for atleast 20minutes, 30 would be ideal.



Why this is the best way to cook pork roast:

1) the vinegar and salt draw out the moisture from the skin, making excellent crackling
2) the low temperature at the start helps to draw out the moisture from the skin AND cook the meat without adding any colour, meaning when the meat is cooked the porkfat wont be burnt.
3) resting the meat wil ensure the roast is very juicy and tender. it will also allow you to make a cracking gravy (which ill write up below)



The gravy: (cant be made if using a BBQ!)

Ingredients:
150ml thickened cream
2tablespoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste.


Method:

once the pork has rested under the alfoil it will have given off a LOT of liquid into the roasting pan. to make the gravy place the roasting pan onto the stove on a high heat (make sure the pan is suitable for this). bring the juices to a boil. add the cream and mustard and seasoning. bring to the boil again and thicken as much as you like.

the best pork gravy EVER!


p.s: if the pan uve roasted in cant be places on a stove, just add about 100ml water to the pan and scrape away all the brown bits that are stuck to the bottom, as they contain the rel flavour. and then pour the entire lot into a pot and follow the recipe as stated.