Mother's Day Chinese Chews

 On Mother's Day I took along to my Mother-in-law's,  a fresh from the oven tray, of Chinese Chews for afternoon tea. They were still warm when we arrived.

This slice makes 18 good size bites which ensures everyone will get a taste or two.

I have made these once before - a recipe adapted from Hotly Spice blog - so I was fairly confident the ingredients would be in the cupboard. Its a versatile slice so you can add and subtract the fruit and nuts at will, which is just as well as I had no dates and no walnuts.  Instead I substituted prunes and apricots for the dates and almonds for the walnuts.  There were no complaints! See recipe instructions and pictures here.

It was a nice chatty afternoon - I don't think one chew survived!

See other Mothers Day Cake here 

Orange Halva Cake - Mother's Day 2012

Chinese Chews 2012

Afternoon Tea at the Conservatory

Just waddled out of the Conservatory at the Casino Melbourne.
What a wonderful pre-Mother's Day High Tea. My girls and I (two daughters and two daughter-in-laws) indulged ourselves with a "girls" afternoon tea celebrating our motherhood without the children (apart from one baby granddaughter who could not be left behind).






The Conservatory sits at the top of the opulent staircase at the front of the Casino and is a lovely elegant setting for high tea, the view of the river lovely, the chairs so comfortable and the "all you can eat" delicious savouries and tempting sweet treats were never ending.  A glass of champagne made the occasion complete.

My Girls waiting to be seated

  

 And when the savouries were done we started on the sweets and copious cups of tea and coffee and the odd glass of champagne.

Take your pick

No calorie counting here!

Chocolate Fountain just crying out for marshmallow and fruit dipping

Dark chocolate mouse on biscuit base with edible silver leaf

Tangy Lemon Tart with mini Meringue

Pannacotta

Creamy filled chocolate base topped with strawberries

Tarty Rhubarb with raspberry 

 

Selection of ice cream and toppings

All that sugar makes us tired!

Definitely not a place to go if you are counting calories but lovely once in a while 

- in the diary for next year!

Steamed Pork Buns (Chinese style)

Click here to order book

I love going out for Yum Cha, its's such a nice little way to eat lunch on a weekend.  China Town in Melbourne has a whole street full of wonderful chinese restaurants and cafes. A series of little trollies are pushed around and you can select the wares from the many baby steamer baskets piled high filled with goodies including steamed dumplings and buns.

I don't think I have cooked anything from Jamie's Kitchen by Jamie Oliver, until now,  although I do love to browse through it from time to time.
But with the Belleau Kitchen challenge this month it was destined for my kitchen.

Randomly chosen, randomly opened, the book released pork buns!  I had never cooked them myself before and they were so easy I can't help but wonder why.  The filling can be made in advance which is very handy as this can be a drawn out process. This makes 8 large buns.

Ingredients

Filling (can be made in advance)
Olive oil
500g pork mince for ease
sea salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon five spice
3 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
1 inch (2.5cm) fresh ginger peeled and sliced
2 dried chilies, crumbed (I used flakes)
1 wine glass of fresh orange juice
6 tablespoons hoi-sin sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
Optional - 1 handful of fresh lime leaves (my poor new little tree took a bit of a hit here)
Buns
1x7g sachet of dried yeast
200ml tepid water
250g plain flour
100g cornflour
1 teaspoon salt
50g butter

To Serve 
soy sauce
sweet chilli sauce

How to put this together.....
Filling

• Heat a large frying pan, add a splash of olive oil.
• Add the pork mince, season with salt pepper and five spice.
• brown the meat and add garlic, ginger and chillies and continue to fry for a minute.
• Add orange juice and reduce by half
• pour the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool

Buns

• Empty yeast into a second bowl and add half the tepid water 
• in another bowl sieve the flours and salt and rub in the butter
• When the yeast has bubbled up, pour in the rest of the water, then add flour and butter
• Mix to form a soft dough
• Leave to prove in a warm place, covered with cling film, until it has doubled in size, then break it into pieces about the size of a walnut and shape into little round balls. 

Take one of the risen dough balls and flatten it out on the palm of your hand until it measures 21/2 in in diameter. Press it down in the middle and put a desert spoon of pork mix in the middle.

Wrap the sides of the dough up around the filling, pinch and seal it up and place sealed side down on the line leaves in the steamer.  

Place on lime leaves in the steamer basket - this may have been more aromatic if placed in the boiling water under the bamboo steamer instead of under the buns. 

 Leave a gap if possible between buns so they can rise. Allow to sit and prove for 5 minutes before you steam them. Put the lid on and steam over a pan of boiling water for about 10 minutes until the buns are cooked and the filling is hot (cut one open to check).  Serve with little bowls of soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce to dip the buns in.  I also steamed some green beans, brocolli and sprinkled with spring onions as an accompaniment. These buns could be made even smaller and would be ideal for finger food.

Entering this in the Random Recipes Challenge for April at Belleau Kitchen.

ANZAC Slice

ANZAC Slice - Slouch Hat - Rosemary

We have just celebrated another ANZAC Day and in true form the biscuits were made in abundance-
See last year's post for the recipe here.  The house always smells delicious on these mornings.

The weather was nearly perfect for the Dawn Service this year, albeit it was cold, the march to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne was swamped in sunshine.  The TV was full of diggers telling stories both sad and happy and scenes of Services held around the world in Turkey and France. This is a day when we pause to remember those we lost and those who are still serving.

My day started with a phone call from two of my grandsons who wanted to know what time  I would be going around to their place to make Anzac Biscuits..... they wanted a little help  ( I hope that tradition continues). 

My own biscuits were made and taken as a gift for a friend along with some rosemary from the garden.
Traditionally sprigs of rosemary are worn on the lapel on ANZAC Day. Rosemary has particular significance for Australians, as it is found growing wild on the Gallipoli peninsula.  Its is said that rosemary improves the memory and so fits well with the response at the end of services - 

LEST WE FORGET!

A local coffee shop had been selling "Anzac Slice", so having given away all my biscuits  I thought I would have a go at a slice.  I used exactly the same ingredients as for the biscuits and pressed the mixture firmly into a shallow slice tin lined with greaseproof paper.

Mark the slice/bites lightly with a knife and bake in a low oven (150C) for 20 mins or until golden brown.  Cut the slice into pieces and leave to cool on a rack (it is really difficult not to eat them while still gooey!).

This mixture makes 9 big slices or 18 bite size pieces either are ideal for breakfast on the run or lunch boxes (maybe reduce the amount of sugar).

Click here for recipe

This is also a day to remember my grandmother who died on ANZAC Day 25th April 2003 aged 96 and even though she had never tasted my Anzac Biscuits I am sure she would have loved them.

Shrove Tuesday - PANCAKES !!!

Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday and Pancake Day) is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  Pancakes were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent.

As a child I loved pancake night. It was such a treat to have pancakes after tea on a school night.  My mum would make just plain pancakes sprinkled with sugar and spritzed with lemon. And that's just how I like them even now. Plain and simple.

There are many versions of ingredients to make pancakes and here is mine that I made tonight  and we enjoyed after tea .....

Ingredients
1 cup of plain flour
1 1/4 cups of full cream milk
1 egg lightly beaten
sugar enough to sprinkle
and a squeeze of lemon
butter enough to melt in the pan

What to do
Sift flour into a bowl
Make a well in the middle
Whisk in egg and milk a little at a time, making sure it is smooth and silky and no lumps. If it seems a little thick add a few drops more milk
Leave to rest in the bowl for 30 mins
Heat the butter in the pan and add the pancake mixture to cover the bottom of
the pan to make thin light crepe like pancakes.
If possible flip to cook both lightly brown.
Serve on to a plate sprinkle with sugar, roll and add a squeeze of lemon.


Lovely! Hope you had pancakes today!