Ukranian Varenneky

This is my mother-in-laws recipie, as taken down by my nephew before Katherine died.  He is an expert at making it, me - not so much!  Varenneky are delicious though, and lovely the next day fried in oil and onion.  Definately NOT low cal.

You can make sweet ones by adding sugar to the cheese, and dusting with icing sugar & cinnimon at the end.

A note about the cheese - My mother in law used what she called "farmhouse cheese" the closest is a cream cheese - but not Philadelphia.  It needs to be one you buy from a good deli.  The best cheese to use is Quark if you can get it.

Picnic Fruit Slice

I once thought I had lost this recipie and I was in a panic, as it is my stand-by for using up fruit that is past its best, and for any picnic we are going on.  Luckily it turned up filed incorrectly in my little box. 

I don't strictly apply the 1 cup of fruit rule, as I do use whatever I have, and particularly put apples or peaches on the top as a sort of topping.  Also, I often add coconut to the recipie, about 1/2 a cup.  It seems to be a very forgiving recipie in that regard.

Picnic Fruit Slice

Rating: Moderate  (but once you have made it - easy)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups Self Raising Flour
1 cup fruit
3 oz butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla
sherry.

Method

Cream butter, vanilla, sherry and sugar, add eggs one at a time.  Fold in Flour and fruit.
Bake in a lined slice tin at 350C until cooked.

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French Quiche Lorraine

I have no idea where this recipie came from, but I do know it is French, so it is probably from a French chef or cookbook.  This recipie is for the filling, and is delish!  I have doubled it and made a large quiche, and it works fine.

What is important in this recipie is the ratio of milk and eggs, and the seasoning.  Note that there is no salt, you can add pepper if you like, but the cayenne is usually enough.  Once you have the recipie under your belt, you can vary it with things like mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, spinach etc. but then it is not "Lorraine"

Perfect Banana Cake

Also from the cookbook of a café in Brisbane, page 105, this Banana cake is perfect for using up those ripe bananas, and slices beautifully.

You can substitute 2/3 cup of yogurt for the milk and lemon juice.  Sometimes I add a little more milk or yogurt as wholemeal flours vary quite a bit,  the mix should not be too dry. It is not a cake that rises a lot, so make sure you fill the tin quite well.

 I also usually add whatever berries I have in the fridge to the mix, blueberries or raspberries.  Do this at the last moment so they do not disintegrate. Frozen berries or pears would it also work well, and vary the nuts according to what you prefer or have on hand.  I usually don't worry about the cinnamon and sugar on top, but if you are making it to take to afternoon tea it is a nice touch.  You could add cinnamon to the mix if you like.

Cook in a loaf tin or sandwich tin.  This recipe makes two loaf tins, and freezes beautifully.  Just freeze slices on a tray, transfer to a freezer bag and get a slice out to toast for breakfast. 

The Quintessential Carrot Cake

There used to be a great organic café in Brisbane - this is in the time when these types of cafes were new!  Back in the 70's they put out a cookbook, and I somehow found a copy and photocopied some of the recipies.  One of them was this carrot cake, which is moist, tastes wonderful and will feed a crowd. 

You can halve the recipie if you like and make a smaller cake.  You can make this recipie in two loaf tins, or one large square tin, or half in one loaf tin.

If I want a carrot cake, then this is the one I make as it is a never-fail recipie.  It is also fine without the icing.

Homous

I love to make homous, you can vary the taste by just adding a little more lemon juice, or olive oil.  It tastes a lot better than the bought ones, and is super easy.  Basically, just bung it all in a food processor and away you go.

Homous

Rating : easy

Ingrediants

• 600g canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100ml olive oil
• 2 tbs tahini paste*
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon

• Toasted Turkish bread, to serve

Method

Place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, cumin and lemon juice in a food processor and process until combined. Add 1/4 cup (60ml) of water and process again until quite smooth.

Serve with toasted Turkish bread.

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Mum's Anzac Biscuits

Originally from one of our neighbours, Mrs Lamb.  I remember these every April at our house.
Sometimes I add a tablespoon of whiskey to the butter mixture!

Anzac Biscuits

Rating : easy

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup oats
• 3/4 cup coconut
• 1 cup Self Raising flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 4 oz (115 grams) butter

Method

Pre heat oven to 170 deg. centigrade. 
Mix all dry ingredients together, except for bicarb.
 Melt butter and syrup together.
 Mix bi-carb soda and boiling water together and add to butter and syrup.
 Mix into the dry ingredients. 
Place teaspoon fulls onto a greased tray and bake in oven 10 minutes.  Do not lift off tray until cool, then put onto wire rack until fully cold.

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