Crab Apple Jelly

Brent & james have been gathering from the side of the road again. BEAM!

Remove stems, cut into quarters - leave on skin & included the core. - Just cover with water - not too much.

Cook up until Apples are soft, stirring a few times..

Drain into muslin - an old clean tea towel will do the trick.
You need to let the juice drip out - preferably overnight. Do not be tempted to squeeze the bag as this will make your jelly go cloudy.

Brent came to my rescue with a tool makers clamp

Brent set it up to drip for me

Discard pulp - the chooks really enjoyed it!

Measure the liquid add 3/4 cup sugar for every 1 cup of juice.

Bring to the boil & boil rapidly for about 10 minutes - until mixture sets

Pour into hot sterile jars

cheats Apple pies

Sheet of frozen puff pastry.
Cut into 4's, place on a greased tray
bake in moderate oven until pastry puffs up & turns light golden brown

Serve with stewed fruit - It's apple season here & we gather any apples we can find on the side of the road, lots of homes sell apples at their gate too.

To serve some hot stewed apples, a sprinkling of brown sugar & cinnamon pastry pillow on top & some whipped cream.
Cheat Apple pie.
1 sheet of sweet short pastry - cut into lattice strips (I am never even - should use a ruler) Weave the lattice strips on top of stewed fruit.
Bake in a moderate oven until pastry cooks
Serve with whipped cream. A fast desert.

NB allergy family members just have stewed apple.

Tip to stew your fruit.
Peel, core & chop your apples place in pot with very little water & cook until soft -adding a few rhubarb sticks is yummy too.

Burmese Chicken

Chicken pieces about one - two pieces per person- clean all gut & skin off.
1 large onion diced
1 bay leaf
1 small chili chopped
4 cloves garlic crushed
3 teaspoons fresh ginger grated
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/t teaspoon pepper
Chicken stock about 250mls
cornflour for thickening.

Place in crockpot or casserole dish - if using crock pot cook on auto for 8 - 9 hours. If casserole prepare in morning - so flavours go through meat. Then cook on moderate heat for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
If it needs thickening before serving take 1/2 cup of juice in a cup add 2 tablespoons of cornflour mix into a paste - make sure lump free then stir paste into mixture.

Served with new Maori potatoes, fresh beans, carrots & broccoli. Our family likes it on rice or mashed potatoes too o help soak up the juice.

Poor Mans Bread

A fast bread to whip up & serve with soup.

Grease a dish - I use a pizza tin.

1 1/4 cup warm water
3 Tablespoons of sugar
dissolve sugar in warm water.
Sprinkle on the top
1 Tablespoon of yeast
1 Tablespoon of olive oil Leave this to sit & froth for about 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl put
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt.

Mix together until a dough forms a ball.
Place on tray & flatten.
Sprinkle rock salt, chopped garlic & some basil (optional) on the top plus a swirl of olive oil.

Bake 230 deg c until golden brown.

Ginger Gems Allergy free

Before you start heat oven very hot to 230deg C and pop in gem irons.

1 1/4 Cup rice flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix these in a large bowl.

4 heaped Tablespoons of golden syrup

add to dry ingredients

1/2 cup rice milk heated
1 teaspoon baking soda
dissolve baking soda in milk & add to bowl. Mix well.
Add more milk if mixture too dry - or add more flour if too wet.

Remove gem irons from oven - TURN OVEN down to a moderate heat

Spray iron with allergy free spray or a bit of olivani.

Bake at a moderate heat for about 10 minutes watch them as they cook quickly.

Serve split in half with allergy free butter eg olivani.

NB you can add sugar - but I try & limit sugar as it feeds eczema - it is sweet with the golden syrup, If you have success with different flours change the rice flour to what you use. You are looking for a thick runny cake texture - I always find non traditional flour takes a bit more cooking

Tangy Lemon slice

Grease a slice tin and pop in oven.

Heat oven o 108 deg C

200g butter
2 Tablespoons golden syrup

Melt and then add to dry ingredients.

1/2 cup sultanas
1 cup coconut
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup cornflakes.

Mix well & spread in slice tin. Bake 180 deg c for about 20 minutes or until golden.

When cold ice with Lemon icing.

About 1 cup icing sugar
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon.

Stir & add small amount of hot water if needed, or add more icing sugar to get consistence of spreadable icing.

Cut into squares when icing set. Run knife under hot water between cuts to get nice even sharp cuts.

Ginger Gems

Cast iron ginger gem pans are a treat to own, my friend Jennifer gave her mums to me & I treasure them. Look on Trade me, second hand shops for them. Aluminum gem irons work well & often found in kitchen shops - but there is something about cast iron ones.

Before you start heat oven very hot to 230deg C and pop in gem irons.

1 Cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix these in a large bowl.

1 egg whisk well
4 Tablespoons of golden syrup

add to dry ingredients

1/c cup milk heated
1 teaspoon baking soda
dissolve baking soda in milk & add to bowl. Mix well.

Remove gem irons from oven - TURN OVEN down to a moderate heat

Now comes the wickedly waist line part - add a small nob of butter to each gem iron (family members will come to see what you are up to as smells divine) Add about 1 tablespoon of the ginger gem mixture to each iron - the butter will come up the sides & grease the irons for you.

Bake at a moderate heat for about 10 minutes watch them as they cook quickly.

Serve split in half with butter.

To care for your cast iron gems place them in hot water after use - rub off crumbs then quickly dry them