The Weekend Kitchen

I am a list maker and it helps me to be very productive.  This weekend I managed to get through a huge list of jobs both inside and out, it was a really really productive weekend.

I made Yoyo's (also know as melting moments) and other than the one each that we taste tested they have been put in the freezer for eating a a later date when I need something for guests in a hurry.

I found a block of cream cheese lurking in the back of the freezer which according to the label should have been used up last November. Yep you read that right.  I knew it had been in there a while but I did not know it was that long.  When I opened it there was nothing wrong with it at all so I made a baked Lemon Cheese Cake.

I also made a Spinach, Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream Tart which was so delicious.

I made a yummy Black Bean Salad,

And some Sweet Chilli Scrolls for Hubby's lunch box this coming week.

I won't share all the recipes here but will include in posts over the next week so pop back if something caught your eye.  For now though here is the recipe for the Yoyos which are a biscuit I learnt to cook when I was in primary school.  They are very rich shortbread like biscuits that I am sure are not good for your waist line so enjoy as a treat.

Yoyos

175g Softened Butter
1/4 Cup Icing Sugar
1/4 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1 1/2 Cups Plain Flour
1/4 Cup Custard Powder

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla essence and then sift the flour and custard powder before adding to the creamed butter mix.
Roll teaspoons of the mix into balls and place on a greased baking tray.  Flatten with a fork and bake at 180 degrees for 15  20 minutes or until the edges just start to colour.
when cold sandwich together in twos with the butter filling below or eat as they are.

Filling

50g Softened Butter
1/2 Cup Icing Sugar
2 Tbsp Custard Powder

Beat all ingredients together until well combined.

Fast and Easy Ginger Biscuits

These biscuits are so easy to make and they are all made in a saucepan so there is very little washing up at the end.  All the ingredients are common pantry staples and this recipe makes about 4 dozen small biscuits so the mix goes a long way.

The main thing with this recipe is to measure the flour correctly.  Too much flour and the biscuits won't spread, too little and they will all merge together.
I have halved the amount of sugar over time and have doubled the amount of ginger and I still think they are good, but it is up to you.

100 gm Butter
1 Tbsp Golden Syrup
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Egg
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 3/4 Cups Flour

Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees.  Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan and as soon as the butter is melted remove it from the heat and add the golden syrup.
Then add the sugar ginger and egg and beat well to combine.  Finally add the baking soda and flour and mix till there sure no lumps.

Lightly grease your baking tray/s and use a teaspoon to scoop out small even sized amounts.  The mix will be quite soft so either wait for it to cool slightly or wet your hands to roll the mix into ball shapes.  You do not have to flatten them or be too perfect with the balls as they will spread out on the tray.

Place them onto your tray/s allowing room for them to spread and bake for 10 mins or until golden.
They will puff up while cooking then flatten towards the end and firm up as they cool.

Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

A Baking Bonanza - Banana Cake, Bread and Biscuits

Over the space of 4 hours today I managed to get done what I have been trying to do for the last 2 months.
Earlier this year the oven from my upright stove stopped working.  The stove top still worked but no oven, no grill.
Parts were ordered and a repair man came and replaced what appeared to be a faulty part and left.  I turned the oven dial and hooray the oven was working again so I set about preheating the oven and making some biscuits.
Then 5 minutes later and "Click" and off goes the oven. Ahrrrrr!
It's now after 5pm on a Friday so the biscuit dough goes into the freezer and it's another weekend without an oven.
Monday rolls around, I call the electrician explain what happened and he orders another part believing the first to be faulty, and 2 weeks later the saga repeats and he is back to install it, again. 
Turns out that it wasn't the oven at all, but a faulty wire in the fuse board that failed when ever the was a load put on it (ie lots of power needed to heat the oven).  Bless that electrician and his patience my issue is finally resolved.
So back to the baking.

The Bread
Last year the ABC ran a fantastic cooking series "The Free Range Cook" staring Annabel Langbein and all about creating great home cooked meals using produce from the garden with very little fuss.
Annabel demonstrated a "Busy Peoples Bread"  http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/14548/busy-peoples-breadrecipie that I had been dying to try. 
There is no kneading or waiting for it to rise, it makes two loaves and the mix takes less than 15 minutes to make.  So I gave it a go.
Despite the fact that it sunk in the middle (because I should have given it 5 minutes more and was too impatient to wait) it was fantastic and I will be making it again.  If you like a Vogels style loaf that is moist and full of seeds then this one is for you.
I also think I will try out some different seed combos for the filling, I'm thinking pumpkin seeds and linseed's in the mix.

The Banana Cake and Biscuits
While the bread was baking I got the biscuit dough out of the freezer to finally make those biscuits I'd been waiting to make.  And then i saw the bananas.
Hubby loves to have banana smoothies for breakfast but doesn't like really overripe bananas (who would have thought it mattered for a smoothie but apparently it does).
So because I hate to waste food every over ripe banana goes into the freezer and if I'm not careful that one banana a week builds up till the freezer door is over run with frozen bananas.
Clearly an banana cake was on the cards.
So I whipped up the cake mix while the bread finished cooking and the biscuit dough thawed and as the bread came out the cake went in.  Then while the cake cooked and the bread cooled the biscuits took shape.  Two dozen choc chip,  two doz jam drops and a dozen cranberry.
I have been using the same basic biscuit recipe for ages and just change the fillers.  It is so simple with only 4 ingredients, makes 5 - 6 dozen biscuits depending on how big you make them and the dough freezes well for a few months (as I well know).
Now we all know that biscuits are not good for us in excess, but since both the dough and the cooked biscuits freeze well you don't have to eat them all at once, plus they are cheap to make and you know exactly what went into them.
I have attached the recipe so feel free to make up your own cookie creation.

Basic Biscuits

500gm Butter                                          
1 Can of Condensed Milk
1 Cup of Sugar
6 - 6 cups of Self Raising Flour
Fillings/Toppings to your liking

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk and mix well, stir in flour.  Divide mix and add Chocolate chips, sultanas or other fillings at this stage. Shape into balls and flatten. For Jam drops make a dent in the flattened biscuit and add 1/4 tsp of jam.  Bake 180 degrees for 10 minutes or golden the cool on racks.