Tuna and pasta bake

2 big spoons margarine                               big pot

½ cup flour                                                   strainer

¾ cup grated cheese                                   small pot

One 250 gram can of tuna                          spoon for stirring

5 hand full’s of pasta                                    can opener

Milk

In the big pot on high heat, heat up the water which you’ve added the water from the tuna can and throw in at least 5 handfuls of pasta the pasta will cook while you are making the sauce.

 To make the sauce place flour and margarine in the smaller saucepan,

heat on low till marg is melted, stir into four and add milk slowly while stirring, you may want to turn up the heat slightly as you want this to thicken up a little first before you add cheese.

Add cheese and keep stirring , stir till your hand is sore and cheese is melted.

Add in the drained tuna and mix it in.

Remove sauce from heat before you drain pasta or it WILL stick.

By this time pasta will be cooked,

drain pasta off over the sink and put the drained pasta into an oven proof

 casserole dish

pour your sauce over the top of the pasta.

Bake in oven at around 200 or so for 15-20 minutes to brown

Serve with tomato sauce !

You can use a packet of cheese sauce if you like but you’ll still have to cook  it on the stove in order for it to thicken up

I added bacon to this one as we just happened to have some already cooked, you can add mushrooms canned (drained) or fresh or corn if you like those.

I use homebrand canned and milk, its cheap and tastes the same as name brand.

Some may say I cook pasta wrong I don’t cook it wrong I cook it differently, two handfuls per person and one for extra, thrown into warm water and brought up to the boil.

I don’t use salt either, never use it in cooking let folks assault their own food, less salt is better for you anyway. 

Vegemite Cookery

Most people think that you can only have Vegemite on toast and of course most non-Australians think Vegemite tastes horrible, well it is if you spread it like peanut butter thick, the trick with vegemite is to spread it thin especially if you haven't tried it before

Most australian homes have Vegemite not just for use on sandwiches or toast but for stock and as a drink
This recipie comes from the Kraft vegemite website and uses Vegemite as stock

Roast Pumpkin And Leek Risotto
Serves: 4
Preparation: 10-15 mins
Cooking: 40 mins

500g butternut pumpkin, cut into cubes.

olive oil spray.

1 teaspoon butter.

1 leek, sliced and washed.

125g rashers bacon, rind removed and chopped.

1 clove garlic, crushed.

11/4 cups short grain rice.

1 tablespoon VEGEMITE.

1 litre (4 cups) boiling water.

pepper, to taste.1/4 cup finely chopped parsley.

40g butter.

shredded Parmesan cheese.

SPRAY pumpkin with olive oil spray and bake at 200ºC for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

Heat butter in a pan and cook the sliced leek, bacon and garlic for 2-3 minutes or until bacon is browned.

ADD rice and stir for 2 minutes or until coated in butter mixture. Stir in combined Vegemite and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed and rice is cooked.

REMOVE from heat and stir in pepper, parsley, and butter. Spoon into serving bowls and top with shredded Parmesan. Serve immediately

photos from the Kraft Vegemite website

White Sauce

White sauce was the first thing I ever did in the kitchen, standing on top of the kitchen stool at 5 years old I stood and stirred the sauce on top of the stove
Didn't actually make it myself till much later but the stirring is the important part, you have to stir it constantly or it sticks
White sauce is a basic thing its the things you add that make the different sauces
If you want to make Macaroni Cheese add cheese
Or parsley sauce add parsley
Or go fancy french like here, just add the different things

Basic White Sauce
2 Big spoons of plain flour
1 Big spoon of butter or margarine
1/2 cup of milk (may need a little more than that, it depends on how big your spoon is)

Place margarine and flour in saucepan on low heat, stir till margaine is melted, slowly add milk while stirring constantly keep stirring over low heat till sauce is consistency of condensed milk

Thats it, that is all white sause is the same sauce that you use in a fancy chicken dish or on the macaroni cheese or over the roast dinner
Or like my favorite parsley sauce and sardines on toast

Lamingtons

There are many stories about why they are called what they are but they are still Lamingtons.Some of the current dictionaries say that they are probably named after Charles Wallace Baillie, Lord Lamington, who was governor of Queensland 1895 - 1901
For many years lamingtons were served on state ceremonial occasions in Queensland and won universal approval. But Baron Lamington himself could by no means abide them. He invariably—and somewhat oddly—referred to them as ‘those bloody poofy woolly biscuits’
Do not under any circumstances say that Lamingtons are made with stale cake ,the ladies from the Women’s Guild get mightily upset if you say their Lamingtons are stale , they aren’t stale they just work better if the cake is a day old and taste better if they are mature

Lamingtons Recipe

Ingredients

1 slab sponge cake (one day old)

4 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

2 - 3 cups desiccated coconut

To make the icing
Cool the cake for at least half an hour in the Fridge or Freezer then cut into squares or fingers
Combine the Sugar and Cocoa in a large bowl
Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until the butter is melted.
Add to the sugar/cocoa mixture and mix to a fluid yet not runny consistency

To put it all together
Make a production line of Sponge Fingers, Chocolate Icing mixture in a bowl, coconut in a shallow container or plate, and a cooling rack with paper underneath.
Using a fork dip the sponge fingers into the icing, roll it in the coconut covering it well, and then place on to the rack to dry.
Once they have dried, place in an airtight container and leave to "mature" for at least a few hours, preferably overnight, before eating.

Pavlova

So being the sweet person that I am (don’t believe that coz I don’t) and to continue the Australiana stuff here’s a post about Pavlovas.

Pavlovas of course are the main thing at any function in Australia no wedding, no fete, no school function even Tupperware party is complete without the obligatory Pav.
I actually dislike Pavs cant stand the meringue part but I will eat the fruit off the top and the cream.

Background on Pavlovas
In the 1930's an Australian chef, Herbert Sachse, invented this dessert when a soft meringue cake was requested for an afternoon tea at the hotel where he worked. This meringue cake, with its unusual soft sweet marshmallow center and crisp crust is produced by folding a little vinegar and cornstarch (corn flour) into the stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar. Once the Pavlova has been baked and cooled, softly whipped cream and fresh fruit (kiwi (fruit), raspberries, strawberries or passion fruit) are mounded in the center of the cake. The name, Pavlova, was chosen in honor of the Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who visited Australia in the 1920s. Although Australia is credited with inventing this dessert, New Zealand also lays claim to it as a similar dessert was being served in that country around the same time

A little known fact about Anna Pavlova, apart from having a dessert named after her also stopped clocks from striking. During her visit to Adelaide she complained that the Adelaide town hall clock striking the hour was keeping her awake, so the clock was stopped from striking the hour between 9pm and 9 am it remained that way till the year 2000 when it finally struck midnight to bring in the millennium, the first time it had struck 12 since her visit 80 years earlier. If you think about it Y2K actually fixed the clock if it hadn’t been the year 2000 it probably would have remained silent.

Pavlova Recipe
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (130 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a 7 inch (18 cm) circle on the paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until they hold soft peaks. Start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks .The meringue should feel smooth, not gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers). Sprinkle the vinegar and cornstarch over the top of the meringue and, with a rubber spatula, fold in.

Gently spread the meringue inside the circle drawn on the parchment paper, smoothing the edges, making sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center. (You want a slight well in the center of the meringue to place the whipped cream and fruit.)

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until the outside is dry and takes on a very pale cream color. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the meringue cool completely in the oven. (The outside of the meringue will feel firm to the touch, if gently pressed, but as it cools you will get a little cracking and you will see that the inside is soft and marshmallowy.)

The cooled meringue can be made and stored in a cool dry place, in an airtight container, for a few days.

Just before serving gently place the meringue onto a serving plate. Whip the cream in your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, until soft peaks form. Sweeten with the sugar and vanilla and then mound the softly whipped cream into the center of the meringue.

Arrange the fruit randomly, or in a decorative pattern, on top of the cream. Serve immediately as this dessert does not hold for more than a few hours



Obviously these are not my pictures ...

I don't realy like pav, made it but I won't eat it

Shepherds Pie

This is one of the first things I ever learned to cook, its warm and filling and it doesn’t really matter what you add to the basic recipe

Ingredients
500g minced lean beef (ground beef)
1 onion diced
1 tbsp oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1-tablespoon gravy powder
6 medium sized potatoes (mashed)
Handful of grated cheese

Peel then cut potatoes into small pieces medium sized saucepan let them cook as you prepare rest of pie
Brown mince and onion add gravy power stir add water to thin down
Transfer mixture into large flat casserole dish
Mash potatoes and place them over the meat
Cover with handful of grated cheese
Bake in hot oven or under the grill till cheese is brown
Serve

You can replace potatoes with pasta and/or add any diced vegetables or even beans to this basic recipe even add tomatoes and chilli instead of gravy for a Mexican pie

Lemonade Scones

In Australia scones are served at functions (tupperware parties, the Queens visit etc.) with cream and jam. These are a little different to the normal plain scones Lemonade Scones are sweet, so are better with only butter or cheese

Ingredients
Hot oven!

3 cups Self Raising Flour
1 cup Cream
1 cup of Lemonade (clear fizzy kind)

Add cream to flour in a large mixing bowl and stir adding lemonade slowly
when mixture gets to hard to stir get your hand in and knead it but only gently
Place mixture on floured board and cut out round circles with a small cutter.

Place on oven tray
Brush tops of scones with a small amount of milk

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in a hot oven (250 at least)
Scones should rise and double in size if they don’t and are rock hard the oven wasn’t hot enough
When cool place in airtight container, remember scones will go hard after 24 hours so must be eaten on the same day.

Of course I'm a chucker just chuck it in and I use European measurements as well
but basically a cup is a tea cup the little finger out size tea cup and a hot oven is as high as you can get the thing without it catching fire.