GLUHWEIN

I can feel winter creeping in. I have my bookclub in June so I'm making the most of the cold with a warm fire and serving Gluhwein as a winter warmer to start the night - and maybe even finish it. I first tried it in Vienna at one of the Christmas markets where every evening people stopped after work and huddled round patio umbrellas to shelter from the snow, sipping mugs of Gluhwein. I have a wine rack full of lovely Willow Bridge reds and as I'm not really a red wine drinker, I can't wait to make this concoction and see what my bookclub members think. I may try it out on my sisters first - if I can get them together at one time.
GLUHWEIN

To 2 bottles of good red wine you need to add:

• 1 cup Caster sugar
• 4 Cinnamon sticks
• Whole cloves - enough to stud the slices of orange
• 1 Oranges sliced
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 cups of orange juice or a good splash of Grand Marnier, port, brandy or sherry. Some like to add the juice as well as the 'kicker/s'.

 Method:

1. Pour the red wine into a  pot and put it on the stove on a very low heat but do not let the wine boil. Very important
2.  Cut the oranges into slices and then put about 4 cloves into each slice.
3. Break the cinnamon sticks in half.
4. Add in the orange juice or liquer, port, sherry etc, allspice, cinnamon sticks and oranges.
5. Add in 1 cups of sugar and stir.
6. Stir on and off for about 30 mins to give the spices time to infuse with the wine.
7. Let it infuse over a very low heat for about 30 mins more but make sure it doesn't boil.
8.  Serve in ceramic wine pots or mugs.

Spices can be varied according to taste. I love the flavour of star anise but it can be quite overwhelming so use this spice with care. (If the flavour is too strong, add one cup water.)

Tuna Patties

I always have a packet of potato mash and a tin of tuna in my pantry. I adore tuna patties and so do my family. (They prefer them with real mashed potato but if I don't tell them, they often don't know the difference if I season these and add parsley.)  Kids just don't care. The secret to perfect patties is to refrigerate the mix until it sets otherwise the starch in the potatoes  tends to explode when heated.

Tuna Patties

1 packet of instant potato mash
1 large tin of tuna in springwater
1 tablespoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
Plain flour for coating
Oil
Alfoil

Make up the instant mash according to direction but use a little less liquid. (Depends on the brand. I usually use a scant 1/4 cup less. You can always add more liquid if the mix is too dry.)
Drain the tuna really well. Mix the two together along with the parsley and lemon pepper.
Spread out a generous sheet of alfoil and shape the mix into a long log. Wrap it up and refrigerate it for at least an hour, until it is cold. Then, simply cut the log into slices, roll them in plain flour, and shallow fry until golden.

So simple, so yum hot or cold.

Pavlova

While scrolling through my favourite food magazine I once again sighed at the ingredients used in some of the recipes. Now I don't have access to fresh horseradish, moreton bay bugs, bush tomatoes and the like,  so the recipe for a Rolled Wattleseed Pavlova is not one I'll keep. But pavlova is on the agenda today. And it's all because of Meg.

My sisters are the dessert queens in our family. Meg's blog http://bushgourmand.blogspot.com/ has some great ideas. One of her ideas was a freezer challenge where we used up all the food from there before buying more. Well I'm doing it again and found several jars of frozen eggwhites. To my surprise they whipped up superbly and now I just have to find someone to eat the dish I made  because I don't really like pavlova. But I'll bet the kids next door do. Now I just need to decorate it. I'm going to leave it for a day or two to see how well it keeps.

Pavlova
4 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of cornflour
1 teaspoon of white vinegar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 240 degrees. Line a non-stick pizza tray with wet brown paper. (Or use a lightly greased oven tray.)
Place the eggwhites and salt into a mixing bwl and beat until whites are stiff. Add the sugar gradually, beating constantly until all the sugar has been added and has dissolved. Use a metal spoon to fold in the vinegar and sifted cornflour.
Spoon the mixture onto the tray and shape into a circle, flattening the top.
Turn down the oven to 120 degrees and bake for one hour or until it is pale cream and crisp.
Remove from the oven. Carefully invert and peel paper away while it is still warm. Turn up the right way and leave to cool.

Decorate with:
1 cup of whipped cream
Passionfruit pulp, strawberries, kiwi fruit or whatever is tangy to offset the sweetness.

Curried Tuna Slice

When unexpected visitors arrive and need to be fed, head to the pantry for a tin of tuna and some rice. Add a few ingredients from the fridge and make a slice that is one of my family's favourites. 'Tis yum hot or cold and freezes well.

CURRIED TUNA SLICE
Base:
1cup long grain rice
30g butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp lemon pepper

Filling:
450g tin tuna in springwater
45g butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lemon juice
 grated cheese
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 egg
60g grated cheese

Method:
Cook rice in boiling salted water. Drain well. Stir through butter, egg, salt and pepper. Line a slice tin with baking paper or foil. Press rice mix into the tin.

Melt butter, add flour and curry powder. Stir until smooth; cook one minute. Remove from heat and add mayonnaise. Stir until smooth and then add milk gradually, stirring again. Return to heat and stir until sauce boils and thickens.  Remove from heat . Add lemon juice and parsley. Add beaten egg and tuna.
Spoon mix evenly over the rice and sprinkle with grated cheese.
Bake in moderate oven for 25 to 35 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve with salad.

Ps. Nowdays I make the sauce in the microwave and cook the rice in a rice cooker.

Chicken pies

I rarely buy cooked chickens at the supermarket but sometimes they are a bargain. And sometimes they are just a great base for a quick meal. Here's a twist on the standard BBQ chicken and salad for the busy cook. These take less then half an hour to make. If you don't have all the ingredients, it doesn't matter. No fresh basil?  Use spinach leaves with a bit of dried basil if you have them. If not, just dried basil but soak it in the lemon juice for a while.  Substitute cream cheese for sour cream. Mustard and lemon are optional. Great if you have them but not crucial if you don't. It still tastes yum.

Chicken pies  -  Serves 4

1 small  BBQ chicken deboned and chopped into cubes
1 carton sour cream
4 tablespoons basil from a tube or fresh if you have it
1 lemon grated and half of the juice.
1 tablespoon french or wholegrain mustard
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
4 sheet puff pastry
I beaten egg or 2 tablespoon milk for glazing

Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Combine all filling ingredients
Cut pastry sheets in rectangular halves
Spoon fillling onto centre of the lower square of the pastry
Fold the pastry over and gently pinch the edges together to enclose the filling.
Flute the edges with a fork.
Glaze the tops with beaten egg or milk.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.

Serve with salad or vegetables.

Pork and turkey meatballs.

I can't resist a bargain in my supermarket so just had to buy the pork and the turkey mince which was heavily reduced. What follows is an adaption of an Italian recipe. As advised, I tasted the first lot cooked to check the seasoning. What a mistake. I couldn't stop. These are simply delicious. The recipe  makes about fifty.

Pork and Turkey Polpttini

                                                         2 cups fresh bread crumbs

                                                         1 cup milk

                                                         500g turkey mince

                                                         500g pork mince

                                                         1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

                                                         Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

                                                         1/2 cup chopped parsly

                                                         1 egg

                                                         1 1/2 teaspoons lemon pepper

                                                         Plain flour for coating

                                                         Bran or canola oil for frying

                                                        

                                                       Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk

                                                       and leave for 5 minutes. Add the

                                                       minces, parmesan, parsley, egg,

                                                       lemon juice and rind and lemon pepper.

                                                       Mix together well. Roll teaspoons of the

                                                       mix in flour and fry gently in a non-stick

                                                       frypan, in batches.

                                                      

                                                      These can be served warm as a nibbles or

                                                       in a rich tomato sauce over pasta.