Warm Artichoke Dip

This is Nellup's incredible version of Phoebe's warm artichoke dip :)

~Warm Artichoke Dip~
1 tub Mainland Spreadable special reserve Extra Tasty cheese
about 120g jar artichokes, drained
big splash of red wine
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Puree all together.
Warm in the microwave about 2-3 minutes, stirring after 1 min. Don't overheat.

I couldn't find the spreadable cheese, so made up a mix of grated strong extra tasty cheese, Philly cheese, and marscapone.

We had this with crackers and it was good!

Sunbeam Buckwheat Pikelets

Mum had a Sunbeam mixmaster and a Sunbeam frypan so it's uncertain which instruction book this recipe came from, but curious that it calls for sour milk. We didn't generally have any sitting around so added some vinegar.

Pikelets were a quick last-minute smoko that we kids could help cook; they were made often. We liked them with sugar and lemon juice on top, but golden syrup or treacle is good too. T trialed peanut butter but rated it as only ok. He was going to try tomato sauce.

The boys helped make them this morning, leaving trails of batter across the stovetop, licking their fingers, and wriggling with excitement at the bubbles rising before the Flipping of the Pikelet. They even helped flip and lift, not bad fine motor skills boys, I was impressed. But just in case you're mislead to think that I let them do this for longer than a few batches, don't be ;) It's quite challenging to my bench wiping fetish.

We used buckwheat flour for something different and added 2 tsp baking powder per cup of flour to make it self raising.

~Sunbeam Pikelets~

1 cup SR flour (or buckwheat or other, with baking powder to suit)

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

pinch salt

2 tab sugar

1 egg

1 cup sour milk (or add 1 tsp vinegar)

60g butter and a little extra for the pan

:::Sift flour, salt and soda.

:::Add sugar, egg and milk and beat well for a few minutes.

::: Fold in melted butter and leave to rest for a few minutes.

:::Heat pan to medium-hot. Grease it with a little melted butter and place spoonfuls of batter around the pan, leaving plenty of room for them to spread, and for later flipping.

:::Wait for the big bubbles to burst then flip each pikelet with a spatula. If the cooked side is golden brown then temperature is just right; if not, adjust accordingly.

:::Cook the other side briefly, peeking under to see when it's done.

:::Lift out and eat warm. Or cold. With whatever you like. Even tomato sauce :)

:

Easiyo Yoghurt

http://www.easiyo.com/

We have always eaten a lot of unflavoured yoghurt - dessert or snacks for the kids, as a substitute for cream or sour cream, in dips etc.

I bought an EasiYo maker when T was a baby, but frequently ran out of the sachets, so it didn't get a lot of use. When we moved to live in town it was used again, but for a while now I've used powdered milk with a little of the starter in the sachet and it works well.

This is it :
*half fill the container with cool clean water - I use a water purifier, but if that wasn't available I'd boil it first as our mains water is truly foul.
*mix in 1 1/2 cups total of powdered milk (I use a combination of full fat and skim) plus 2 rounded dessert spoons of EasiYo mix.
*shake well then top up with water and place in the thermos section (after pouring boiling water in)
*leave for 5-6 hours and check for setting - leave until it is set to your preference, but I like to leave it the minimum amount of time as it is sweeter (more acidic the longer you leave it)

We use at least 1kg of this yoghurt a week; it costs around $1.35 for 1kg

Labneh is a yummy thing to make with plain yoghurt - line a seive with thin cotton fabric (an old linen teatowel is perfect) and pour in the yoghurt. Tie off the top to make a pudding shape and leave it in the fridge with the seive over a bowl. Leave for 24hrs to 3 days then use as a spread for bread, a dip (tzatziki made with this is divine), or make balls rolled in fresh herbs. Yum!

January 2008 - edited to add - I now use a yoghurt culture starter from Cheeselinks http://www.cheeselinks.com.au/ instead of the Esiyo sachet cultures. A few grains of this makes a batch of yoghurt, and one small packet will make up to 250L of yoghurt! It keeps in the freezer, but not indefinately, so is something to share with friends when you buy.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

This recipe was adapted from a Sunbeam food processor book circa 1997. For years we used Oskar to grind up peanuts at harvest time. Shell and all, processed fine, so the moisture level of each truckload of nuts could be monitored - moisture content of the peanuts was a critical factor affecting quality, for both grades and contamination, and we managed our harvest around it. In the off-season, after some scrubbing, Oskar did duty in the kitchen, and this recipe was one of my favourites. My ex-husband didn't like it much because he was a fussy beast, which only adds to it's appeal ;)

The kids and I love it, so this is dinner tonight for us. I'm hoping to grow lots of broccoli in our vege patch this year :)

~Cream of Broccoli Soup~

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 large onion

1 large potato

1 tab butter

1 tab oil

750g broccoli florets

6 cups chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon thyme (I use fresh)

black pepper

1/2 cup skim evaporated milk

Roughly chop the onions and potatoes and saute gently in the butter and oil, with the garlic, until the onion is soft.

Add broccoli, thyme, stock and pepper and bring to the boil, Simmer until all is tender.

Puree until smooth (I like to use a hand blender these days).

Add evap milk (or cream or milk or whatever you like) and reheat gently to serve.