My favourite red grass

I have talked about it on the internet before. It brings me lots of joy.

I came across some while I was photographing a church. It grows in our street, I haven't seen any in other parts of Victoria.

For ages now, well a month or two, I have been looking at a red native grass, that grows at least in a 50 mile radius of here. There is one piece in our nature strip. It grows by the roadside, and during the drought made a stunning display.

Yesterday (May 24, 2007) I drove through bush areas and saw Crimson Rosellas I think, feeding on it by the side of the road. It was a sight I haven't seen before, and special I think. Not only do I love the grass, now in autumn you can see birds on it feeding.

Baking with Coconut Milk

Recently I made the recipe below. The pictures were nice, but I was in a rush, and my raspberries were thawed. That had the effect of coloured batter and wet bits in the cake. I have my freezer away from our usual home. The raspberries pictures were a day old in the fridge, I used those too. However, I thoroughly enjoyed eating the cake. It tasted like raspberries and cream. It was all very exciting. If you are not keen on cakes with butter in them because of heartburn or whatever, try coconut milk. I haven't tried more than one recipe though.

I decided a month or two ago that coconut is one of those tastes Australians appreciate. I noticed today that the cake can be toasted. I didn't try that.

Raspberry & Coconut Loaf

1 3/4 cups desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup frozen raspberries
pure icing sugar, to serve

Combine coconut and coconut milk in a large bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170°C. Line base and sides of a 7cm-deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.

Using a metal spoon, stir sugar, egg and vanilla into coconut mixture. Sift flour over coconut mixture. Gently stir until combined. Fold in raspberries.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and slice. Serve toasted, if desired.

Here are some more recipes that include coconut milk. They look delicious! Especially since I recently tried a sweet impossible pie from a fund raising book that is old, but still popular.

Coconut & Lemon Self-saucing Pudding
Coconut & Passionfruit Self-saucing Pudding
Pear & Raspberry Coconut Bread
Coconut Pudding with Golden Syrup
Impossible Coconut Pie
Passionfruit Layer Cake

My family like their baking racks in the oven differently to what I would like them, so my cake grew through the rack. It was a bad time of day to be baking. I had to stay home to wait for it to cook too, while the others went somewhere.

Cooking Right Along

I have some meals left over because of the left-overs of pasta my visitors left us, that helped a lot while we were busy during the holidays last week. Back to school again. Not moved in spent some nights on blow up beds and a divan. I did make the coconut loaf which is a couple of posts back. This is my picture, maybe more of the loaf later.

Thursday ~ Fettucine Carbonara
Friday ~ Bacon & Potato Salad
Saturday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Sunday ~ Bacon, Zucchini & Lemon Spaghetti
Monday ~ Moroccan Mince & Rice
Tuesday ~ Tuna Casserole
Wednesday ~ Pumpkin & Red Lentil Soup
Thursday ~ Sausage Casserole
Friday ~ Pork Mince with Brussels Sprouts
Saturday ~ Pork Mince Stroganoff
Sunday ~ Pork Chow Mein
Monday ~ Bacon & Mushroom Penne
Tuesday ~ Pork Cassoulet
Wednesday ~ Cream of Cauliflower Soup

Melinda Schneider "Courageous"

I was watching a video by Melinda Schneider this morning on the top 30 on CMC. It wasn't this video, but it is nice too. It was called Still Here.

Loaves & Fishes

In no particular order here is my menu. I swapped some recipes last week, so will repeat the ones we didn't make. I mistake was made with the Asian green identification so we have have that meal again too. I found today that none of the local shops carry canned lentils now. Perhaps the one to the west of me does. It will be too far from my new house, unless I go there occasionally and stock up. That is why perhaps my menu has been fairly unchanged lately the number of ingredients available to me is dwindling. I did notice two shops seem to carry different meat to what they usually have. I will have to investigate that further. It may have just been for Easter, and I didn't look in one shops frozen section. They only get meat once a week, or did, and freeze any over.

Thursday ~ Smoked Cod & Mashed Potatoes
Friday ~ Tomato & Chipolata Hotpot
Saturday ~ Pasta with Sausage, Rosemary and Tomato Sauce
Sunday ~ Chops, Chips & Greek Salad
Monday ~ Spicy Red Lentil & Pumpkin Soup
Tuesday ~ Chilli Con Carne & Rice
Wednesday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Thursday ~ Red Curry Beef & Bok Choy
Friday ~ Pea & Ham Soup with Kranskys
Saturday ~ Honey & Ginger Pork
Sunday ~ Tuna Casserole
Monday ~ Curried Brown Rice & Lentil Salad with Chorizo
Tuesday ~ Moroccan Sweet Potato, Carrot and Chickpea Soup
Wednesday ~ Cream of Cauliflower Soup

You may have read on my other blog how I had to change days when my fruit & bread arrived as the company cut the days down from four to two. At my newer house the days are the opposite days and I can have my favourite day back. Well, after Easter.

Using Fresh Raspberries & 5 Cup Cake

Last Saturday my kids picked the raspberries that are growing at our new home. You can read about it here. We got a few more the next day. The first ones were washed and put into the freezer. My daughter wanted to bake something to take to the new house as during the year making lunches that people wanted to eat when we went there for the day got harder. Originally I started to stay home because of a netball commitment.

She baked these on Monday. She used a very nice large wild apple as well, she thinks they taste nice, the apples, and they do.

I remember her calling me from the other house asking for raspberry recipes. I did a search. She then she particularly wanted baking recipes. I found one I want to make too when I get the ingredients. It is similar to the 5 cup cake mentioned on the other Belinda's blog. Belinda's cake is so quick to make it is ready before my oven heats up. I make mine with sultanas as a friend suggested.

Anyway, this new recipe is not exactly in cups like the 5 cup cake. It is also a quick mix, the added extras are an egg and vanilla. The milk is coconut milk instead of fresh milk. I usually have some in the pantry, but haven't at this time.

Raspberry & Coconut Loaf

1 3/4 cups desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
1 cup frozen raspberries
pure icing sugar, to serve

Combine coconut and coconut milk in a large bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 170°C. Line base and sides of a 7cm-deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.

Using a metal spoon, stir sugar, egg and vanilla into coconut mixture. Sift flour over coconut mixture. Gently stir until combined. Fold in raspberries.

Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and slice. Serve toasted, if desired.

My daughter put the other printed recipes together with some wool. Here are the links:

Raspberry & Apple Teacakes
Frozen Yoghurt Lollipops
Chocolate Raspberry Ripple Cake
Baked Berry Custards
Christmas Brownies
Quick Chocolate Cakes
Banana and Raspberry Bread
Berry Yoghurt Bake
Raspberry Buttermilk Muffins
Raspberry Sour Cream Tea Cake
Jam Roll Charlotte
Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

This is a follow up to a previous post. This morning I was lucky enough to have someone add their knowledge of biscuits and gravy to my kitchen experiment of a few years back. I think some of my friends have tried to tell me about the ground pork before. I love what Australians call rissoles, not sure I have had them with ground pork, sounds really nice. Since rissoles are dry, gravy sounds like a great idea.

Because my experiment was made with sausage mince, that Aussies use to make sausage rolls, it would not have been the same. I believe my gravy and biscuits were fine though, as I used American recipes and had the ingredients.



If you think this video is not traditional or doesn't have the right special breakfast sausage ingredients please add your comments. I think probably the turkey is the obvious one. I did find this recipe and the pictures look good. Yum. Here is the matching biscuit recipe.

Apples out, mint in

This is not my own apple pie, but the plate looks like mine. We still have some apples to use up. Was going to make some more sauce, as we really love the sauce we made last week.

The shopping trip was interesting. The grass a bronze colour, the fog rising quickly in interesting ways. A kangaroo was going to cross, luckily I do try to go slower in that area and was able to stop without too much trouble. He/she wasn't impressed and hopped down the road near the side where he was, quite a long way while I waited and checked my mirror. Then after a longish way he crossed then, perhaps further away from the sound of my motor.

I got into the shop and noticed the prices were up, possibly for Easter? The toilet paper was $1 per roll, I thought usually it is 50c? Anyone know? This is the cheaper ones. Not that there seems to be such a thing now. The cheap one I have got for this past month is the one with the seashells.

I managed to get the fruit delivered before shopping, which is much better than waiting on the fruit and vege to be able to make meals.


Thursday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Friday ~ Chow Mein & Rice
Saturday ~ Red Curry Beef & Boc Choy
Sunday ~ Split Peas & Cabbage
Monday ~ Pasta with sausage, rosemary & tomato sauce
Tuesday ~ Lamb, Broccoli, Chilli & Mint Stir-fry
Wednesday ~ Tomato, Pancetta & Broad Bean (Fava) Pasta
Thursday ~ Curried Brown Rice and Lentil Salad with Chorizo
Friday ~ Spicy Pumpkin & Beans (recipe below)
Saturday ~ Veal Campagnola & Chips
Sunday ~ Chipolatas with Turmeric Pancakes
Monday ~ Tuna & Mushroom Spaghetti
Tuesday ~ Zucchini, Pea and Angel Hair Carbonara
Wednesday ~ Tomato & Chipolata Hotpot

This recipe we really enjoyed when we first found it. I think I will try a new version above.

Thai Lamb with Chilli & Mint

Serves 4

1/4 cup (60ml) peanut or rice bran oil
400g lean lamb, cut into thin strips
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 birdseye chilli, seeded, finely sliced
1/2 cup torn mint leaves
steamed rice, to serve

Heat oil in a wok on high. Stir-fry lamb for 2 minutes, until almost brown. Add garlic, oyster and fish sauces, sugar and chilli and stir-fry for another 2 minutes, until lamb is cooked. Stir through mint and serve with steam rice.

Originally from Table magazine or Coles Meal Ideas.

Spicy Kumara & Beans

Serves 4

1kg (2lb) kumara or sweet potato, halved and cut into lengths or pumpkin may be used if preferred (we use whatever we have)
2 tablespoons 40ml or nearly 3 US tablespoons olive oil
1 red capsicum/bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 US tablespoon or 15ml red curry paste (we keep it in a jar in the fridge indefinitely)
400g can diced tomatoes or 13oz
400g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup (125ml) (US cups are 200ml) vegetable stock
50g or nearly 2oz baby spinach leaves (English spinach not chard)
rice and tzatsiki, to serve (we don't usually bother, not necessary)

Preheat oven to 200oC, (180oC is 350oF). Toss kumara in a baking pan with half of oil. Bake for 20-30 mins, until tender.

Meanwhile, heat remaining olive oil in a large saucepan. Saute capsicum, onion and garlic for 4-5 minutes, until tender. Stir in red curry paste and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes, kidney beans and vegetable stock. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add kumara and baby spinach. Season to taste. Serve with rice and tzatziki.

Adapted from recipe from Australian Table August 2005.

Stewed Apple

Do you make stewed apple?

Today I stewed up the apples that we picked from the tree on the side of the road. I have four lbs of apples cooking away now. My husband only picked the best apples, and the blemishes you see came off very easily with a swipe of the apple peeler.



I find a short bladed knife best for this type of work. I am putting the sugar in last. I think the theory is that sugar make the fruit keep its shape. I want my apples to squish up, so I add it last stir it in and turn off the heat.

On the internet a couple of years ago I learnt that 3lb of fruit needs about 1/2 cup sugar. I learnt that from a homecook. My Mum taught me to cut apples when I was little or a girl sometime. I learnt you only cover the base of the pan with water. I have the lid on to let that water help steam the fruit. You may be able to see the water in the pot. I think maybe I could have had a touch more.

Apple Crumble

1 cup Self Raising Flour
3/4 cup coconut dessicated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter

Rub butter into dry ingredients. Put onto top of stewed apple and bake.

This recipe is before metric.

It was interesting that we were happily picking apples last weekend. A few hours later there was a very heavy downpour. Dirt got over the road, so much so that the picture someone took of it was printed in the paper.

Simpsons Baking Book 1940

County Clare Cake

Green Tomato Pie

2 1/4 cups Self Raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold water (about)

Fie Filling:

6-8 full-grown but green tomatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespons flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Sift flour with salt. Cut in half of the shortening until the mixture looks like meal. Add remaining shortening and continue cutting until particles are the size of a small pea. Add water gradually and mix lightly with a fork into dough - use as little water as possible. Divide dough into two parts. Roll to an 1/8 inch thickenss on floured board, rolling dough about 2 1/2 inchs larger than pie plate. Fit dough into pie plate. Mix together the sugar, flour, and nutmet and sprinkle part of this mixture into pastry lined plate. Add layer of thinkly sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with the sugar mixture and continue these layers until plate is full. Dot with the butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Place the top crust in position. press the edges well together. Bake until the tomatoes are tender and the crust nicely browned, about 30 to 40 minutes in a hot oven (425 degs.). Makes 1 two-crust 9-inch pie. Serve warm with custard made from "Koala" Custard Powder.

I looked up Koala custard and there was an expensive secondhand tin, no picture. Well maybe another time. Apparently there were koalas on a branch.



Here is a mouth watering picture of a green tomato pie and a very interesting blog post from A Veggie Adventure.

Cream Scones

2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspooon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup cream (all milk, or milk and water in equal parts)

Sift flour, sugar and salt two or three times. Place in mixing basin. Work in butter very finely. Add eggs well beaten (reserving a small amount of unbeaten egg white) and cream. Mix into soft dough. Toss on to floured board, and pat or roll to 3/4 -inch thickness. Cut into small squares, brush with reserved egg white, sprinkle with sugar and bake on ungreased tray in hot oven (450 degs.) 15 minutes.

As a farmer's daughter I was miffed as an adult when I heard about cream scones. I didn't know how to make them, and I love making scones. Any modern recipe won't do. This 1940s recipe is just the ticket. I figured that on our farm for example, being able to make scones from flour and the cream off the top of a milk jug in the fridge is fantastic. More frugal than buying the butter to make them. A lady here told me a fail safe recipe that I trust as well, I think it is the CWA recipe. Of course it is good because it is metric, and the above recipe is Imperial.

Here is a wonderful blog post about them (including picture of Aussie flour), and a larger recipe (I haven't compared them) from the ABC site.

Rhubarb Roly Poly

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
1 small bunch red rhubarb, finely chopped
1 sweet apple, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Sift flour, salt, and sugar into basin. Work in the butter. Add milk to make a soft scone dough. Roll to 1/4 inch thickness on floured board. Cover surface with chopped rhubarb and apple. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Brush edges with milk and roll up like a jam roll. Secure ends and place roll in a buttered pie-dish. Pour over the following Lemon Syrup: Boil 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar for 10 minutes. Add juice 1/2 lemon and 1 tablespoon butter, stir until the butter is melted and pour immediately over the roll. Bake in a moderately-hot oven (400 degs.) about 45 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender. Serve while hot with "Koala" Custard.

My Mum used to make jam roly-poly. She loved rhubarb and used it with tapioca?

Thimble Anchovy Scones

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Anchovy Paste
3 drops cochineal
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup milk

Sift flour and salt into mixing basin. Work in the butter finely. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Beat the egg yolk in a cup, add the anchovy paste and blend well. Add milk and cochineal. Add liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, all at once. Stir carefully with a fork until all the flour is dampened, then stir vigorously until a soft dough is formed. Turn on to a floured board and pat out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into circles with a very small cutter. Place on ungreased baking tray. Brush tops with melted butter or milk. Bake in hot oven (450 degs.) about 12 minutes. Serve scones hot, spread with butter lightly flavouried with anchovy paste.

I wonder if they mean something like Pecks paste? I always have that in our cupboard. I love anchovies. I also like anchovy sauce, for cooking. We ran out. I have since bought an Asian one, but in case they are not the same, not sure, I would like an English styled one one day. I found out it is an English tradition. On the internet you learn lots of things.






I found the instructions for the scones above were very good, like a cooking class, and the other recipes too. I use a knife as in knife and fork to mix my scone dough.

Roadside Bounty

You may like all of these pictures, the wildlife have been at the tree. But really we got some good apples. The one that was damaged by the cockatoos, was a huge apple, and it is possible a gravenstein cross? Crossed with something larger perhaps. It is a beautiful apple to eat.

We also came across a beautiful plum, and some rosehips.

What is that awful stuff at the base of the tree, evidence perhaps of a roo who came recently to eat from the lower branches.





Read more about it here, down a bit.