Chilli Apple Jelly

This is only a mild heat, so add more chilli if you wish. I like it with avacado on thick toast, or with cheese. It would make a good glaze on roast meat or veg too.


~Chilli Apple Jelly~

3.2kg cooking apples
2 cups lemon juice, plus pips
lemon rind in strips
2.5L cold water
about 2.8 kg sugar
5 teaspoons chilli flakes

Roughly cut up the apples - skin, core and all. Add water, lemon juice, rind and pips. Bring to the boil in a heavy based pan, reduce the heat and simmer until the fruit is pulpy.

Pour the fruit and liquid into a "bag" made from tying up the corners of a clean cheesecloth or old linen teatowel, and hang to drain over a bowl until it stops dripping, about 3-4 hours or overnight. Do not squeeze the bag to force juice out, or the jelly will be cloudy.

Measure the juice and allow 250g sugar and 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes for every 250ml of juice. Place the juice, sugar and chilli flakes in a clean heavy based pan. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat to a slow boil and skim any scum off the surface - a lot of the chilli flakes will come out with the scum but the flavour will remain and there will still be enough to look pretty. Allow to boil for 15-20 minutes or until it jells on a cold plate, skimming regularly. If you let it boil too long it will begin to caramelise and you'll have toffee flavoured chilli apple jelly.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave to settle for a few minutes. Bottle hot in sterilised jars and store in the dark. Refrigerate after opening.

Chicken Soup

Jules' version of chicken soup, for me to remember :

Fry off minced garlic and ginger and onions in olive oil.

Add chicken stock (either homemade of liquid), with some herbs - parsley, lemon thyme etc - and bring to simmer.

Add finecut carrot, celery, other root veg, potato. Simmer a while.

Add corn, beans, squash etc. Simmer a little more.

Add shredded cooked chicken and shredded spinach or silverbeet. Simmer another 10 min.

Serve. Great with a little sesame oil drizzled across the top.

Yoghurt Banana Blueberry Cake

Adapted from a taste.com recipe. I've reduced the butter and sugar and added blueberries and coconut - and left it un-iced. We have a local blueberry farm where you can pick your own, and will be growing our own next season, otherwise I wouldn't use them. The yoghurt makes it tangy and the bananas keep it very moist.


~Yoghurt Banana Blueberry Cake~
80g butter
120g sugar
2 eggs
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
200g plain yoghurt
200g plain flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
large handful of blueberries
2-3 tabs shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a ring tin with baking paper (or butter and flour if you wish).

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs one at a time and beat well. I add a little flour with the eggs to stop the mixture curdling.

Mix the bananas and yoghurt together. Sift flour, cream of tartar and bicarb. Fold these two mixtures alternately into the butter/sugar/egg mix.

Fold through the blueberries and pour into the prepared cake tin. Sprinkle over the coconut and press in lightly.

Cover loosely with alfoil and bake about 30-40 minutes. Check for done-ness and leave the foil off for the last 5 minutes of cooking time, to brown the top. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. Eat warm or cool. Freezes well.

Mather Street Tuna Pasta

The boys helped me create this recipe when we lived at Mather Street. T was only 4 but he chose what veges to add, and the result was delish.


~Mather Street Tuna Pasta~
6 single handfuls dry spiral pasta (can substitute cous cous)
4 large broccoli florets, cut small
1/2 large sweet potato, cubed into 1cm squares (sustitute pumpkin/zucchini/squash)
1 large tin tuna in oil
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 finely sliced scallions
handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
black pepper
(parmesan to serve)

Cook pasta and drain cooking water into large serving bowl to warm the bowl.

Steam the veges, drain oil from tuna, then combine all ingredients in the (empty) serving bowl and toss well.

Serve with plenty of grated parmesan.

Roast Tomato & Chickpea Salad

This recipe is very quick, and at the height of summer, when tomatoes and basil are at their peak, it's delicious. It's a great side dish, but we often make it as a main with some extra veges and heavy bread to serve.


~Roast Tomato & Chickpea Salad~
2 punnets cherry tomatoes, or equivalent other tomatoes
1 tin chickpeas, drained
150g fetta
large handful basil, torn

Cut tomatoes in half (or quarters if large tomatoes) and roast until they collapse.

Mix through chickpeas, fetta and basil and serve while warm.

Grandma's Tomato Sauce

~Grandma's Tomato Sauce~

10lb tomatoes
2 large onions
4 large unpeeled green apples
2lb white sugar
2 cups brown vinegar
5 dessert spoons salt
1 small tsp cayenne (about 1/2 tsp for mild, 1 tsp for bitey)
1 tsp ground cloves

~Cut tomatoes, onions and cored apples into chunks.
~Place all ingredients in a large pot (this quantity is about 7-8L at the start and reduces to around 4L) and bring to the boil. Simmer until sufficiently reduced (ie as thick as you like).
~Use a stick blender to puree while hot, or cool and puree in blender/FP/Moulinex. Take the seeds and skins out with a seive if you like, but we don't and Grandma never did :)
~Reboil for 10 minutes, sterilise all your bottles and equipment, then bottle, seal and cool.

Makes around 4L and will keep in the pantry for a year or more. Refridgerate after opening.

This is great for making the most of the summer tomato glut. Our onions have come in around now too, but we bought the apples.

Lemon Braised Artichoke Hearts

Adapted from a Michael Chiarello recipe - this was delicious; thick and creamy the next day, lemon balancing the richness well. Next time I'd add more garlic :)


~Lemon-Braised Artichoke Hearts~
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
fine zest of 2 lemons
4 teaspoons stripped or finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
3 large garlic cloves
3 teaspoons kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
8 medium to large artichokes

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.

Crush garlic with salt in a mortar and pestle. Combine with olive oil, lemon juice, zest, thyme, and pepper in a saucepan and set aside.

Thia is a good description with pics of preparing artichokes.

Or you can follow these directions :
Snap outer leaves from an artichoke. Cut off the top half, and then use a paring knife to trim down to the heart, rubbing cut surfaces with the leftover juiced lemon halves as you work, to avoid discoloration. Cut the heart in half and scrape out the choke with a spoon (I used a circa 1960s apple corer and it was brilliant). Cut each piece in half again.

As each artichoke heart quarter is completed, immediately turn it in the marinade to coat completely. When all the artichokes are trimmed, put the pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Pour the artichokes and marinade into a baking dish, cover with foil, and cook until the artichokes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the cooking liquid. Store in the fridge when cooled.

Michael Chiarello served this over fettucine

We tried it warm as a side to baked potatoes and roast topside, but after having it the next day on thick toast for breakfast, the flavour and texture was so much better. It would be delicious on pizza, in risotto, with fish, or on crusty bread.

20/11/08 editing to add that this was utterly divine - sorry if I've already used that phrase - on pizza, with sauteed leeks and spinach and a little cheese.

Really good stuff :)