Steamed Date and Sago (Tapioca) Pudding

Ingredients:
½ cup sago (tapioca)
1 cup dates – chopped and destined
1 cup raisins
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup milk
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tablespoon butter

1. Place the sago in the milk, and allow to stand for 1 – 1 ½ hours. Add a little more milk, if required (if the sago has lapped up all the milk, and is still partially cloudy / white). The sago is ready when it is completely see-through and jelly-like in consistency.

2. Put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to the boil.
3. Mix all the ingredients well.
4. Place in a well greased tin or pudding bowl (heat resistant)
5. Place in the pot of boiling water. The water should come to nearly the level of the pudding in the bowl.
Simmer the pudding for 2 hours. Top up the water from boiling water in your kettle as needed.

6.Remove the pudding from the tin, and serve hot with whipped cream or ice-cream.

Note: It does not matter if the sago stands for a bit too long. It does however matter if the sago does not sit long enough. So rather get the sago into the milk early, than be racing for time and taking it out too soon.

Steamed Date and Sago Pudding (Eggless) is a post from: Chef

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

8 – 10 large, fresh apples
½ cup sugar – adapt to the tartness or sweetness of the apples
A handful of raisins (optional)
½ cup sugar (again)
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
½ teaspoon aniseed seeds (optional)
Juice and rind of 1 lemon

Crumble topping:
5 ½ oz flour
4oz sugar
3 ½ oz butter
A pinch of salt

Directions:

Prepare Apples

Crumble topping
Preheat the oven to 350 ‘F. Mix the salt and sugar into the flour. Add the butter, and rub in with your fingers, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Crumbled Flour

Grease the bottom of a pie dish. Line the bottom of the dish with the apples. Sprinkle with raisins and aniseed seeds. Mix the sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle liberally over the apples. Do this according to taste, and according to the tartness of the apples. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until the crumbles are lightly browned.

Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or ice cream.

Apple Crumble is a post from: Chef

Eggless Custard

Ingredients:
4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
2-3 tablespoons corn flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

In a heavy bottomed pan, bring 3 cups of milk to the boil. Add the butter. In a small dish, mix the remaining cup of milk with the sugar and the corn flour thoroughly. Once the milk is boiling, add the corn flour mixture, and stir well. Simmer over medium heat for a few minutes to thicken. Add the vanilla essence in the last minute of cooking. Remove from heat and serve hot or cold.

Eggless Custard is a post from: Chef

Cherry Jelly on Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate instant pudding
1 tin of black cherries – canned
Up to ½ cup sugar substitute (to taste)
2-3 tablespoons unsweetened gelatine
½ cup hot water

Start by sprinkling the gelatine onto the hot water to dissolve. Stir well.
Drain the juice from the cherries into a saucepan, and add enough water to make 2 cups.
Heat over medium heat, and add the sugar replacement to taste. How much you need will depend on which replacement you use, you can even cheat and use ½ cup real sugar.
When the sugar has melted, remove from heat and stir in the dissolved gelatine.
Pour the jelly into a jelly mould, and add the cherries. Place in the refrigerator till set.
Shortly before serving, make the instant pudding according to the instructions on the box. Spread the mousse on the bottom of your serving dish.
Hold the jelly mould in hot water for a few seconds, and tip the jelly carefully onto the chocolate mousse.
Serve with low-fat whipped cream or ice cream, or with a diet whipped cream.

Cherry Jelly on Chocolate Mousse is a post from: Chef

Fish Cakes

Ingredients:
1 tin canned fish (pilchards with tomato sauce is my favourite)
1 tomato
1 gherkin
1 small onion
2 -3 eggs
3 – 5 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper to taste.

Finely chop the tomato, gherkin and onion.
Add the fish with the tomato sauce, the eggs and the seasoning. Mix well
Lightly beat the eggs with a fork, and add them to the fish.
Mix in enough flour to make a fairly firm mixture. This cannot form balls, but you do not want it running all over the place in your griddle pan.
Heat a frying pan over medium – high heat. Using a little oil for frying, drop the mixture by the spoonful into the pan. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain well.
Serve hot.

Fish Cakes is a post from: Chef

Pears with Carmel Sauce

Ingredients:

4-5 large, fresh pears
½ cup sugar – adapt to the tartness or sweetness of the pears
Juice of 1 lemon

Caramel sauce
1 cup sugar
3 ½ oz butter
2 pints milk
½ cup cornflour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Directions:

Peel the pears, and remove the core. Cut into thick slices. Place the pears, the sugar, the lemon juice and a little water in a large saucepan, and gently simmer in a little water for 30 minutes or until the pears are firm but cooked through. The time needed will depend on the type of pears you are using. Cool slightly.
The pears, prepared like this can easily be canned or frozen for later use, if you have a surplus that you want to prepare.

Caramel sauce:
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Add the sugar, and melt the sugar in the butter, stirring continually over low heat. Be careful not to burn the sugar. Once the sugar has become a lovely light to medium caramel colour, remove from heat. Pour the milk (keep back 1 cup) in slowly, stirring well. (It helps to warm the milk to luke-warm before adding to the caramelised sugar, to prevent lumping of the sugar. Although, do not fret if the sugar forms crystallised lumps during this mixing. It will melt again in the next step. Just be extra careful over lower heat if this has happened.)

Place back on medium high heat, and bring to just before boiling. Stir continually to prevent burning. Mix the corn flour with the remaining cup of milk, and add to the caramelised milk. Simmer for a few minutes, until thickened. Add the vanilla essence, stir well, and remove from heat.

Allow the pears and the caramel sauce to cool completely before serving.

Pears with caramel sauce is a post from: Chef

Baked Bananas with Cinnamon Sugar

Ingredients:
1 Banana for each person
Sugar or Cinnamon Sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon or orange juice
2 tablespoons butter.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Peel the bananas, and slice them in half, lengthwise.
Place the bananas in a heatproof, greased dish.
Sprinkle liberally with sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Sprinkle with the lemon or orange juice.
Dot with butter.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
Serve hot with ice-cream.

Variation 1: Instead of baking the bananas, you could fry them in a little oil in a small pan. This is a little less healthy, but much quicker.

Variation 2: We have baked apples in exactly the same way. Do not peel the apple. Remove the core carefully, being careful to not cut through the bottom – It helps to use a small paring knife and a teaspoon. Place the butter and the cinnamon sugar inside the hollow apple.

Variation 3: Instead of baking in the oven, microwave on high for 2 – 3 minutes for the bananas, or 4-5 minutes for the apples.

(Cinnamon Sugar: Mix 1 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Use on many fruit dishes, on pancakes, and of course on the baked bananas. I always mix up a batch, and keep it handy. You never know when it might give just the zing to a sweet dish you need.)

Baked Bananas with Cinnamon Sugar is a post from: Chef

Baked Beans Chilli

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef – lean
2 onions – sliced
½ red sweet pepper
½ yellow sweet pepper
½ green sweet pepper
1 tin canned beans (I used baked beans in tomato sauce)
1 red tomato
2-4 yellow cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)
½ cup sweet chilli sauce

Directions:

Slice the onion and the peppers. Chop the tomatoes. Heat a little oil over moderate heat in a large saucepan.

Baked Beans Chilli-saute onions and peppers

Add the ground beef, and continue frying, while stirring continually, until the meat is well browned. Add the beans, the salt and the pepper. Add a little water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the sweet chilli sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Serve on a bed of rice with a salad on the side.

Baked Beans Chilli with Beef is a post from: Chef

Toad in the hole

Ingredients – Per person:

1 slice of bread
2 slices tomato
2 hotdogs
1 egg
Salt and pepper to taste
A little sugar

Directions:

Cut thick slices of tomato, and roll the slices in flour. Set aside.

Cut a shape out of the centre of the bread. Reserve the cut out shape. Use a fairly large shape – I used a heart, but you don’t see the shape so well afterwards.

Fry bread

Return the heat to high, and quickly fry the tomato and hotdogs. As the tomatoes are frying, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and sugar. (The sugar is necessary for the acidity).

Serve with a fresh glass of orange juice.

Toad in the Hole is a post from: Chef

Hawaiian Toast

Ingredients: (per slice of toast)

1 slice of toasted bread
1 slice sandwich ham
1 pineapple ring (canned)
2 – 4 slices cheddar cheese
Butter (optional)

Pre-heat your grill.
Toast your bread, and butter it.
Start off by placing your ham on the toast.
Place the pineapple ring on top.
Top with Cheddar cheese.
Place under the grill, until the cheese is nicely melted.
Serve hot.

Hawaiian Toast is a post from: Chef