Tick of Yum

Mini Chicken Pies

Fist of all... do they have to be mini - of course not! make a larger one, less pastry needed and less fiddly

Ingredients:

• For 12 mini ones - you will need a double batch of Rough Puff Pastry from the Everyday Cookbook, for one larger pie you will only need one -

Now forgive me for saying this... but I don't make my own puff pastry.  SHOCK!  I know! I have made it and it is easy!  And... I make all my own OTHER types of pastry..... but I keep a packet of puff pastry in the freezer for moments like these (Mintie moment - sorry)

We were supposed to have used up a bit of mince for dinner on Friday night, but I was running late (blah-dy blah-dy excuse, excuse, excuse) and didn't use it.  You know what good mince ...

Raspberry Frangipane Tart

What is Frangipane? I had no idea, I thought they spelt frangipani wrong LOL. According to an on-line dictionary, it means..

FRANGIPANE (noun)

The noun FRANGIPANE has 1 sense:

1. pastry with a creamy almond-flavored filling

So.... if you are allergic to nuts this isn't going to be your favourite reci...

I have heard about salt crusted chicken - saw the recipe in a Women's Weekly Cookbook MANY years ago... but hadn't tried it... been thinking about it though......

It just hit me the other day... I want to try it!!

What is it? Basically a dough with a very high salt content that bakes HARD over the meat, creating a locked in, spekky looking meal with the TENDERE...

I made another batch of these yesterday (along with numerous other bikkies in a bake fest) and posted on my Tick of Yum facebook page that the recipe for one of them (a Womens Weekly recipe I had converted) was on this website.... well.... apparently I have't done it!

Not putting up this recipe almost constitues cruelty to you all - because they are my favourite bikkie.  Not pretty and probably not a finalist in the High Tea stakes - but they are easy as and absolu...

One thing I learned when I moved over to SA, was that while we are all Aussies, each state has it's very own take on things - ie: language!  What I had enjoyed in Victoria - yummy Souvlaki's, served in Turkish Bread - were called Yiros here and served in soft pita breads. They're Kebabs elsewhere.... our own mini version of dialects.

What are they?  Basically, cooked marinated meat, mixed with chopped tomatoes, cheese, garlic sauce and what ever takes your fancy (I...

I am converting a recipe given to me recently by a wonderful friendly lady who has recently become a client/friend.  Why biggest smile?  Honestly, this LOVELY lady has the biggest, smiliest smile, it makes you feel all warm inside.  AS does this recipe!!

I suppose that there are hundreds of recipes out there for apple crumble... thousands probably.  But this is wonderful and I'm not going to look for anything else!

Just a note: th...

I have never eaten cereal, not the bowl of cereal in the morning (although I use it in cooking).  Shock you?  Well, when I tell you that I hate, hate HATE milk.... it might not.

When the power of the Thermomix brought cheap Almond Milk into my grasp (Vegetarian cookbook).... I tried it and LOVED it - I started doing the whole milk thing!  Iced coffees, Smoothies, Custards.... but, I still did not even think about cereal, not having had it for so long.  I ...

While I am on the topic of chocolate (after my post on chocolate truffles earlier) I need to tell you what I did with some left over melted chocolate in my piping bag.

I just made more chocolate buttons... ready to use for next time!!!

Hot on the success of my foray into the world of Quince paste... I wondered if you can make any other form of paste.

I had a kilo of green apples and some frozen raspberries and the rest, as they say, is history.

Using the In The Mix cookbook recipe for Quince Paste as a base I made this amazing paste, that turned out better than I could possibly have dreamed it possible.  How would you use it?  Use it as you would Quince paste... with cheese or o...

I was helping out at a cooking class recently and a lady came in and gave a HUGE bag of Tamarillos to my Manager - who then generously offered to share them with us.

I took a small bag and took them home.  They sat on our kitchen bench... with me staring at them.... for the past week.  I had never tried Tamarillo's before and was dreading trying them.  The last "new" fruit I tried was Persimmon and I didn't  like them at all.  Talk about judging a "f...

I saw this recently on a website and thought to myself.... "self, you need to try this"

After all, I love mint and ginger beer - it's bound to be a hit... and it was!!

The recipe is EASY peasy.

• 4 long sprigs of mint from your garden (or a commercial bunch) - leaves only
• 10g of fresh ginger - cut in 4
• 200g of sugar
• 250g of water
• juice of a lemon (optional)

As mentioned in the last post... I am a slave to my memory.  My mum was a fabulous cook and it is my shame that I didn't realise it and appreciate it more!  By the time I did - her memory was failing and wasn't up to sharing her recipes.

One of the very special things that my mum made... was her Mousse.  VERY easy.  VERY rich!!

Ingredients:

• 4-5 eggs, seperated and at room temp (depending on size)
• 1 family siz...

When I make bread, I usually make the basic bread recipe (adding Rye grain instead of wheat because we like it better) or just plain white bread.

Yesterday. however, I didn't have the usual Rye grain and as the bread  was accompanying a meatless meal, I wanted a bit of "something".... So... I tried Oats.

Just rolled oats.

I don't like porridge but use oats a lot in bikkies and in a sweeter Oat and Fruit Bread from

I received an emai/post for Tartiflette from Tenina.com the other day, and it sounded delicious!!  but... It is a side dish and I was going to be busy that day and didn't have time to do the salad or another dish so I decided to have a play with the recipe and  make it into a main meal.

Definately

I often get asked what do I do with my Thermomix when we have something like a roast.

First of all... let me tell you that although I OFTEN use my Thermy for breaky lunch and tea - I don't ALWAYS use it for everything.  But it comes in very handy even IF there is a roast in the offing.

This recipe is a perfect example.  Perfect gravy, everytime!  John, the consumate Butcher that he is (the career, not the mass murderer type) also knows how to...

Ah.... Sausages in brown onion gravy.  The ultimate in comfort food.  Rich, tasty, filling and just darn YUM!!

Pre-Thermomix, this was one of my 6 recipes.  That's right, I had 6 recipes.  My girls didn't starve... but variety was something that happened in other people's houses.

The original recipe was from my cook book bible... the Women's Weekly Favourites book.  Worn and weary after 20 odd years in my kitchen.

...

Jam making....

"Why isn't my jam setting" is one of my most frequently asked questions by my customers. I blindly told them that they just needed to reduce the liquid in the jam by hitting Varoma temperature for a couple of minutes. Now... to be fair, that does work - but it is thickening the jam and not setting it - but I honestly didn't know the difference until recently.

For those of us who have this "idea" of what jam...

After my success with the crumpets, I was wondering if the  bread mixture was runnier... would I be able to cook in a frypan and get a flat bread to use for sandwiches - the answer by the way, is NO.

So off I went searching for recipes.  I found this one at allrecipes.com and thought I'd give it a whirl.  Oh My Goodness - I am NEVER buying our wraps for Yiros or dipping bread EVERY AGAIN!  They could not be easier to make, nor could they be more wonderful...

We have a plum tree in the back yard, beautiful blood plums and the tree did us proud this year!  Until the wind hit - Big Bad Wolf type of wind - so windy for a couple of days!  They as the leftovers started to ripen.... the birds hit.  How they know the instant the fruit ripens I just don't know!!  However we did "rescue" a few plums to use in the kitchen AND leave enough for John to munch - they being his favourite fruit.

I thought a plum sauce would b...