Author: Seaneen's Sunnyside Kitchen

ANZAC Biscuits

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I love learning about new recipes from other people and hearing about their food traditions. One of my bosses Amanda, is Australian, and she mentioned these as being a real institution back in OZ. The recipe she shared was from BBC Good Food, and these are scrummy.

The name comes from Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, and legend has it people originally made these to send with care packages to soldiers during the first world war because the ingredients didn’t spoil easily. Other people claim they were never sent in care packages, but were sold at bake sales etc. to raise funds for returning veterans. They’re now baked to commemorate ANZAC day on 25 April each year.

How long you cook these for will depend on the type of biscuit you want (chewy or crisp). I’ve also seen recipes that include ground ginger, and I think this would make a cracking addition. One of my work mates tried drizzling chocolate over hers, which would also be scrummy (thanks for the suggestion Tina). Which ever version you try they will taste pretty amazing and are easy to make from ingredients you might already have. They will live quite happily in an airtight tin for 4-5 days.

Ingredients

100 Grams Plain Flour

100 Grams Butter

100 Grams Caster Sugar

85 Grams Porridge Oats

85 Grams Desiccated Coconut

1 Tbsp Golden Syrup

1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

Method

  1. Heat your oven to 180 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with baking parchment
  2. Add the flour, sugar, oats and coconut to a bowl and mix well before making a well in the centre
  3. In a separate bowl, add the butter and golden syrup and melt in a microwave (I usually do 30 seconds at a time)
  4. In a cup add the bicarbonate of soda and stir in 2 tablespoons of boiling water, before stirring into the melted butter
  5. Stir the melted butter into the dry mix and stir until fully incorporated
  6. Scoop dessertspoonful’s of the mix onto the baking sheet, leaving gaps of 2-3 cm between each biscuit, as they will spread
  7. Cook in your preheated oven for 10 mins for a chewy biscuit, or 15 mins or longer if you want a more crispy biscuit

Creamy Meatballs with Mushrooms

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One of the numerous things I’m missing in lockdown is a cheeky visit to a well known Swedish furniture super store. This includes spending twice what I meant to and eating my own weight in meatballs.

You can freeze the meat balls (before they have been added to the sauce), and these make a really handy mid week meal. They can be added to a tomato sauce with pasta or in a meatball sub.

This creamy version is great for anyone following a keto or low carb diet. It’s also great with mashed potatoes or pasta for anyone who anyone who is isn’t reducing their carb intake.

Ingredients

For the meatballs

500 Grams Minced beef

250 Grams Minced pork

1 Egg (beaten)

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Black pepper

1 Tsp Garlic granules, or 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

For the sauce

250 Grams Mushrooms (sliced)

1 Tbsp Oil

250 ml Beef stock

250 ml Double cream

1 Tbsp Chopped parsley (optional)

Baked meatballs

Method

  1. Add all the ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl and mix well with your hands to make sure the ingredients are well combined.
  2. Make meatballs slightly smaller than a golf ball and place in an oven proof dish. When all the mix has been used to make the meatballs, refrigerate for at least an hour to set
  3. Preheat your oven to 180 degree and bake the meatballs for 25 minutes
  4. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the mushrooms stirring occasionally until soft.
  5. Add the beef stock and cream to the mushrooms and alow to simmer over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has started to thicken.
  6. Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce, and simmer for s further five minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and then serve

Chorizo and Butter Bean Hash

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This is a great dish at anytime of day, I like it at weekends when you’ve slept a little bit later and maybe need a little bit of help with a hangover (basically brunch).  Quick, satisfying and easy to make, its also ideal as mid week dinner.

If you’re vegetarian, you can swap out  the chorizo for a teaspoon of smoked paprika for the same flavour.

Serves 2

Ingredients

50 Grams Chorizo (thinly sliced) or 1 Tbsp of smoked paprika

400 Grams Tin of butter beans (drained)

1 Small onion or 4-5 scallions/spring onions (finely sliced)

1 Red pepper

200 Grams Cherry tomatoes (chopped)

4 Eggs

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat a large frying pan with a lid, add the chorizo until it starts to release it’s oil, remove from the pan and set to one side
  2. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook until soft. Add the butter beans to the pan and crush gently with the back of a spoon
  3. Add the chorizo back to the pan and stir well.
  4. Make four wells in the mix and crack an egg into each well
  5. Cover the pan with a lid and turn off the heat. Allow to sit for 5 minutes until the egg whites are cooked

Onion Seed Oat Cakes

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I love oat cakes and these are incredibly easy to make. I have flavoured these with onion seeds because I think they taste great with cheese. Cumin or fennel seeds also work really well if you fancy changing things up, or just leave plain if you prefer.

Ingredients

1/2 Tsp salt

150 Grams Porridge oats

1 Tsp Onion (Nigella) seeds

20 Grams Butter

125ml Boiling water

Plain flour for rolling out

Method

  1. Add the porridge oats to a food processor and whiz until the oats are finer, then pour into a bowl with the onion seeds and salt
  2. Add the butter to hot water stir until it has melted
  3. Add the hot water and butter to the oats and mix well. Allow to stand for 5 minutes
  4. Preheat you oven to 160 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment
  5. Flour your work surface and roll the oat mix out until it’s 0.5cm thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out oat cakes to the desired size. Reform and roll out again to use up any remaining mix
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes and cool on a wire wrack. Keep in airtight box for 3-4 days

“Super Food” Salad

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People still argue about if super foods actually exist. Regardless of this, everything in this salad is good for you, and tastes delicious.

It’s packed full of protein, flavour and different tastes and texture. I enjoy this with hummus, (so ideal for vegans and vegetarians). It’s also great in wraps with holoumi or as a side dish with grilled chicken or fish.

Ingredients

For the salad

50 Grams Endamame beans (I used frozen ones that I thawed)

100 Grams Quinoa (dried weight), cook as instructed on the packet

50 Grams Almonds (toasted and chopped)

2 handfuls Rocket/Arugula (or other peppery salad leaf)

1 large Carrot (grated)

1 Red pepper (cut in into 1cm chuncks)

400 Gram Tin of cannellini beans (use what ever type of beans you like, just drain them first)

2 Tbsp Pumpkin seeds

1 Large avocado (chopped)

Juice of one lime

For the dressing

2 Tbsp Olive oil

Zest and juice of 2 limes

2 Tbsp Corriander (chopped, you can use other herbs like mint or parsley if prefer)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Cook the quinoa as instructed on the packet and allow to cool
  2. In a dry frying pan, toast the almonds and allow to cool before chopping (you don’t need to do this but it really does help improve the flavour)
  3. Chop the avocado and cover with the juice of one of the limes to prevent it from discolouring
  4. Add all the salad ingredients (except the rocket) to a bowl and mix well
  5. Add the dressing and check the seasoning, mix in the rocket just before serving

Mini Egg Rocky Road Bars

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You can make an almost infinite variety of rocky road bars. The key thing is include lots of different textures.

I used mini eggs because they are basically my crack cocaine. My other more recent addiction is Bishoff biscuits. I’ve used these here, but you can use any type of crunchy biscuit or cookie you prefer.

Ingredients

400 Grams Chocolate (I used half milk and half dark chocolate, but use what you prefer)

125 Grams Bishoff biscuits

100 Grams Marshmallows

250 Grams Mini Eggs

3 Tbsp Golden Syrup

50 Grams Butter

Method

  1. Break the chocolate in to chunks, and add to a microwave proof bowl along with the butter and golden syrup. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until the butter and chocolate have melted
  2. Place the biscuits in a freezer bag any bash with a rolling pin (if you don’t have one a tin can will do). The biscuits should be be broken into bits but not too small or all crumbs. Put the broken biscuits in a large bowl
  3. Add half the mini eggs to the freezer bag and bash these too. Add to the broken biscuits and add the Marshmallows
  4. Pour two thirds of the chocolate mix into the bowl and stir until combined. Line a 12cm X 18cm dish with baking paper and transfer the rock road mix into it. Spread evenly.
  5. Cover the rocky road mix with the chocolate you held back. I use a wet palate knife to smooth the top (an ordinary knife is fine if you don’t have one, as rocky roads are bumpy)
  6. Sprinkle the remaining half of the crushed mini eggs and refrigerate for a minimum 1-2 hours before cutting into slices

Hummingbird Cake

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I’ve loved this cake ever since I tasted it in the States years ago. Not only does it have a cool name but your house will smell unbelievable.

This is also a good way to use up over ripe bananas if you can’t face banana bread (this is much nicer). Cinnamon can be swapped for ground ginger if you’re not a fan.

Ingredients

For the cake

130 Gram Tin of pineapple in natural juice (chop the pineapple finely, and keep the juice)

2 Ripe bananas (mashed)

280 Grams Caster sugar

210 Grams Self raising flour

2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

60 ml Pineapple juice (from the tin of pineapple)

170 ml Oil

2 Eggs

For the frosting

60 Grams Butter

120 Grams Cream Cheese

180 Grams Icing sugar

75 Grams Pecan nuts (Chopped)

Grated zest of one lemon (optional)

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease a 20 cm (8 inch) cake tin and line with baking paper
  2. Add the banana, chopped pineapple and sugar to a large bowl and mix until combined. Add the flour and cinnamon and mix well
  3. Whisk the oil, eggs and pineapple juice together before adding to the banana mixture. Stir until properly combined
  4. Transfer the cake mix to the baking tin and bake for 1 hour or until you can insert a skewer in the centre and it comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin for another 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before topping with icing
  5. To make the icing, whisk the butter and cream cheese together (I use an electric whisk). Gradually add the icing sugar and orange zest.
  6. Spread the icing evenly over the top of the cooled cake and sprinkle with pecans

Sichuan Pork and Green Beans

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I have to give a shout out to my friend Nuala for turning me into this, and I love.

If you haven’t used Sichuan pepper before you can by it ready ground in most big supermarkets. You can also buy packets of the whole peppercorns, and are reddish black in colour. While there is some heat, they are also really aromatic and work nicely in lots of other recipes.

This makes a great mid week dinner and is ideal for anyone following a low carb diet. If you’re not then enjoy this with rice or noodles. I used frozen greens to save time.

Ingredients

250 Grams Minced pork

500 Grams Green beans blanched on boiling water

Thumb sized piece of ginger (grated)

2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

2 Scallions/spring onions (finely chopped)

1 Red chilli pepper (finely chopped)

2 Tbsp Soy sauce

1 Tbsp Sesame oil

1 Tsp Ground Sichuan pepper

Method

  1. Blanch the green beans in boiling water and drain
  2. Fry the minced pork in a large frying pan or wok until no longer pink
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for a further 5 minutes. If the mix starts to catch in the pan you can add a little water to stop this

Coconut and Jam Sponge

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This is a real reminder of school dinners for me.

If you aren’t confident with desserts this is really easy. All the ingredients for the sponge are dumped in a bowl and whisked together before being baked. The topping is simply ready made jam and coconut.

The sponge also freezes really well, so if you’re super organised make a double batch of the mix. Bake two sponges, and when completely cool, wrap one one of the sponges in cling film and freeze, top with jam and coconut once thawed.

I’ve used margarine in this (Mary Berry claims it’s better for sponge cakes, and who am I to argue), it’s also cheaper. Feel free to use butter if you prefer

Serve custard with for the perfect comforting dessert.

Ingredients

For the sponge

225 Grams Self raising flour

225 Grams Sugar

225 Grams Margarine

4 Eggs

For the topping

200 Grams Jam

25 Grams Dessicated coconut

Method

  1. Add all the ingredients for the sponge in a bowl. Mix with an electric whisk for 5 minutes until light and fluffy
  2. Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees
  3. Line a 30cm x 18cm square cake tin with baking parchment. Transfer the sponge mix into the tin and spread evenly with a spatula
  4. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, and allow to cool
  5. Stir the jam and if it’s too thick to spread add a table spoon of hot water and mix well
  6. Spread the jam evenly across the sponge and sprinkle with coconut

Cheese and Broccoli Soup

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Serve with chunky croutons for some crunch

I don’t make soup that often (some soups are a little dull).

Anything with cheese in it gets my vote, and this is rich and satisfying.

Ideal for anyone following a low carb diet, this is also delicious with crusty bread.  I made this with vegetable stock so it’s suitable for vegetarians but you can use chicken stock if you prefer.

You’ll need cream cheese and a stronger flavoured cheese.  I used a mix of mature cheddar and parmigiana, blue cheese works really well too, but use what you have.

This rich creamy soup is even tastier topped with crunchy croutons, or crispy bacon (if you’re not vegetarian)

Ingredients

1 Large head of broccoli (roughly chopped)

1 Small onion, or 3-4 spring onions/scallions (chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil

750 ml Vegetable stock (I used a stock cube)

200 Grams Cream cheese

50 Grams Strong flavour cheese (grated)

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large pot, and add the onion. Fry over a medium heat until soft but don’t brown
  2. Add the broccoli and vegetable stock. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes or until the broccoli is soft
  3. Add the cream cheese and stir until it has melted. Using a blender or hand held blender, blitz until the the soup it is smooth (how smooth you make it is up to you)
  4. Return the soup to the pot and add the stronger flavoured cheese. Heat for a further 5 minutes and stir well to make sure all the cheese has melted. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed