Leila's Quick Fruit Loaf

Quick and easy. D declares it "the best thing I've ever eaten".

~Quick Fruit Loaf~
1 cup spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup processed bran (any cereal like AllBran)
1 cup dried fruit (any sort, chopped if needed)
1/4 cup sugar
1 large banana, mashed**
enough milk to mix

Sift flour and baking powder together. Stir in bran, fruit and sugar.

Mix through banana and enough milk to bring it together into a muffin-mix consistency.

Pour into a loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 25-30 min, or until a skewer comes clean. Eat warm or cool.


**I use frozen over-ripe bananas (defrosted) for cooking and these work very well - you can build up a stash of frozen black bananas over summer when they seem inevitable, then use them when needed. Freeze in their skins in a sealed container.

Pot Roast with Sweet Onion Jam and Poached Pears

We had this tonight and it was so good I'm jotting down the ingredients. Will try to repeat this, it was delish.


~Pot Roast with Sweet Onion Jam and Poached Pears~
1.5kg topside roast, trimmed of most fat - leave some on for flavour
1 medium onion, sliced
olive oil
about a tab fresh thyme
about 200ml red wine
about 1 tab brown sugar
about 1 cup chicken stock
2 Buerre Bosc pears

Heat a large frypan over med-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Brown roast on all sides then place in crockpot or casserole dish.

Turn down heat and add onions. Cook till soft, then deglaze pan with stock.

Pour stock, red wine, brown sugar and onions on top of roast, then sprinkle over thyme.

Cover and cook in preheated oven or crockpot until meat is tender. Turn the roast once during cooking to keep it moist and cook evenly. Remove meat to rest and keep covered.

Pour cooking juices back into frypan. Peel and halve pears and place flat side down in the pan juices. Poach pears and reduce liquid until it is thick and syrupy and pears are cooked.

Serve with jacket potatoes and fresh steamed greens.