Category: Recipes, Food & Cooking

This is mainly a note for myself to quickly access the Limoncello recipes I’ve been using.

• Limoncello Recipe | Allrecipes: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/32451/limoncello/
• Limoncello recipe | BBC Good Food: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/limoncello
• LIMONCELLO RECIPE | The Best Limoncello in the World: https://www.vincenzosplate.com/recipe-items/limoncello-recipe/

 

I’m currently resting my first Stage 1 jar:

Ingredients

• 1 kg desiree potatoes (or small Carisma potatoes)
• 6 large eggs
• 8 rashers short cut rindless bacon
• 1 cup garlic aioli (mayonnaise)
• 2 tbs source cream

Optional:

• 1 bunch spring onions chopped in small pieces; or 1 small red onion finely chopped
• 1 small lemon, juiced

Time

Preparation: 20 min
Cook: 20 min
Extra time: 1 hour 20 min to cool.
Ready in: 2 hours

Directions

1. Hard boil the eggs
   Place in a pot, cover with salted tap water and bring to boiling.
   Turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 17 minutes.
   Cool under running water, or empty and refill pot and allow eggs to radiate (repeat 2-3 times)
   Crack all over.
   Leave in fridge covered with cold water for an hour to cool.
   Cut into quarters.
2. Cook the potatoes
   Peel potatoes if you wish but it works just as well un-peeled.
   Dice potatoes into 2-3cm cubes (or cut into quarters if small potatoes).
   Place in large pot and cover with salted tap water.
   Bring to boil and cook for approximately 10 mins, check regularly, the potatoes should be just cooked, not falling apart.
   Drain and place in fridge for 2 hours. This helps to stop the potatoes from falling apart when mixing in the rest of the ingredients.
3. [Optional] Chop spring onions or red onion.
4. Fry the bacon
   Either cut first into small strips, or fry full rashers and cut after.
   Fry bacon so it is browned but not too crispy.
   Drain on paper towel.
5. Create dressing
   Mix together the aioli/mayonnaise and optional lemon. Mix volumes to preferred taste.
6. Mix together
   Mix dressing, bacon, onion and eggs through with the potatoes.

This lasts for a few days in the fridge and tends to improve in taste as flavours infuse over time.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 40g butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• salt & pepper

or

• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour

 

Method

1. Mix flour, milk, salt & pepper with whisk very well.
2. Heat the butter in a frying-pan. Add the mixture; Stir until the sauce is smooth and thickens. Not too thick. (Do not burn the mixture!)

 

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Other sources:

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/bechamel-or-white-sauce-L12448.html (!)

http://allrecipes.com.au/m/recipe/11305/easiest-white-sauce.aspx

Original Source: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/33375/creamy+pumpkin+soup

(Reproduced here for easy access because I use this recipe often.)

 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 600g peeled, chopped pumpkin
• 1 potato, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 leek (white part only), chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
• 1/2 cup (125ml) pure (thin) cream
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted
• Dried cranberries and finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve

 

Process

Step 1

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft.
• Add garlic, vegetables and nutmeg, then toss to coat.
• Add stock and 2 cups (500ml) water, then bring to the boil.
• Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
• Cool slightly.

Step 2

• In batches, transfer to a blender and whiz until smooth.
• Return soup to the saucepan and place over low heat.
• Stir in cream, then season.
• To serve, ladle into bowls and top with seeds, cranberries and parsley, then drizzle with extra oil.

Ingredients

• 550g zucchini
• 1 medium (about 160g) onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 130g bacon
• 75g (1 cup, lightly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese
• 112g (3/4 cup) self-raising flour
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
• 83ml (1/3 cup) oil (we use a mild-flavoured oil, such as sunflower)

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Process

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Line a 18cm by 28cm baking dish or slice pan with baking paper.

Oven rack to the middle of the oven.

 

Finely chop bacon. Heat a heavy-based nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat.

Fry for about six minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened but not browned.

• bacon: 130g bacon
• onion: 1 medium (about 160g) onion, peeled and finely chopped

Set aside to cool.

 

Zucchini – finely grate. Squeeze handfuls of grated zucchini over sink to remove excess liquid.

 

Combine in a large bowl:

• zucchini (2-3, 550g zucchini)
• cooled onion
• bacon mixture
• cheese (1 cup, lightly packed)
• flour (3/4 cup)
• salt and pepper

 

Use a fork to mix together in a small bowl:

• eggs (4 large)
• oil (1/3 cup)

Add egg and oil mixture to the other ingredients and stir to combine.

 

Pour mixture into baking dish and spread evenly.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until slice is golden brown and firm to the touch.

Set aside for five to ten minutes before slicing.

Ingredients

• 1 can Cannellini Beans (240g)
• Cumin seeks – couple of pinches
• 1-3 garlic cloves, crushed.
• Olive oil – about a 1 tablespoon

Cooking

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium-ish heat.
2. Once oil is hot, add cumin seeds and cook for a minute or two (or until the start to jump a bit).
3. Reduce the heat to low, add crushed garlic and cook for a minute or two until starting to golden. Stir so garlic doesn’t burn.
4. Add drained Cannellini beans. Cook on low until warm through and skins are just starting to break and stick. Try not to over cook – they still want a firm-ish body. Stir occasionally.

Serve. Good for 2 people as a side or vegetable substitute for salmon or snags (sausages). Goes well with mushy mint peas.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter.
• 300g frozen peas, thawed.
• 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped.
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Optional additions (recommended):

• 1 bunch spring onion (6-8 onions), chopped
• 1 clove of crushed garlic.

Cooking

1. In a large skillet, or a large pot, melt butter over medium-high.
2. Add peas (and onion/garlic) and cook, stirring constantly, until warmed through.
3. Transfer to a food processor.
4. Add mint and season with salt and pepper. Add additional butter if you wish.
5. Pulse until peas and mint are coarsely pureed.
6. Serve warm.

 

See Also

• Minted Pea Mash
• Minty Mushy Peas Recipe | Jamie Oliver | Food Network

It’s usually pretty easy to peel a boiled egg that’s not long off the stove and still warm.

What I’ve always found hard is peeling one you take [cold] out of the fridge.

Sometimes it peels easily. Sometimes it doesn’t.

I think tonight I realised the secret:

Tap/crack the egg on the ends (not the long side) and peel. Much easier.

I made 6 hard boiled eggs yesterday. I cracked one last night – on its side – and ended up losing half the outer white.

I cracked another again earlier tonight – again on the side – and same result.

A few minutes ago I wanted one more and for some reason, I decided to crack it on the ends instead of the side. The shell practically slid off that time. And in doing so I remembered that’s how I’ve done it easily in the past.

 

Give it a go. It may work for you too. If it doesn’t, experiment with different angles to crack the egg.
Crackability may also vary with how you cook it. The important thing is if it doesn’t work the first few times, try something different.