honeys joys

In my last post, I said in one of my comments that I made arancini last Sunday and forgot to take photos! Oooppss. Slacker!

So I have no choice but to post another sweet thing. But this is really very good, easy to make and I have not met a kid (big or small) who did not like it. This might not be good for diabetics though.

This again is a recipe from the package.

My husband came home one day and told me that he passed by some elderly ladies selling home-made goodies - jams, cookies, cakes, candies (or lollies, as they say here in Australia), etc - as fund raising for their club. They had all these heavenly, fancy food and all my husband wanted to buy are these honey joys (some call them honey crackles). He said that the grandmas were amused that he was so happy to find them selling it and that he did not fancy the other sweet things they had.

In a way, I could understand the grandmothers there. Honey joys are so easy to make you would not think somebody would think that it is the greatest thing (ever!). But on the other hand, I could not blame my husband, it is not that he likes this so much (and he does like it very much), he said it also reminds him of his childhood. His mom (aka the sweetest mother in law in the world) would often make it for her brood. I guess that is why we have an attachment for certain foods because it brings us back to a certain time or to a certain place. And if it is one of our happy place/memory/thing, wouldn't you want to go back there again and again?

Honey Joys

(Kellogg’s Cornflakes Recipe)

90 g margarine or butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tbsp honey

4 cups Corn Flakes

1. Preheat oven to 150°C.
2. Melt margarine, sugar and honey together in a saucepan until frothy.
3. Add Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and mix well.
4. Spoon into paper patty cases.
5. Bake in a slow oven (150°C) for 10 minutes.
6. Allow to cool.

Makes 20 (approximately).

pandan sago with palm sugar (gula melaka) sauce

3 posts in 3 months. Talk about being slack.

I am just about to change that. After 3 mains (2 of which are chicken dishes), I decided to post a dessert recipe. This is another family favorite.

As I have mentioned in my "About Me", I collect recipes from everywhere. And I mean everywhere. This recipe is adapted from the sago packaging box. The recipe they had used cinnamon instead of pandan leaves. But I'm Southeast Asian and I need to satisfy my pandan fix.

The family said this one is better than the ones we can buy from the Adelaide Central Markets. When they say that, believe me, that is saying a lot. But on one hand, it is easy to please the sweet tooth bunch when it comes to desserts.

Pandan Sago with Gula Melaka Sauce
(adopted from Anchor Sago recipe)

• 1/2 cup (100 g) sago
• 3 cups (750 ml) water
• pandan leaves
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• a drop of green food coloring (optional)
  
• 125 g palm sugar (gula melaka), chopped into small pieces
  
• 1/4 cup water
• additional coconut milk for drizzling
  

1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, add sago and pandan leaves and simmer until sago is translucent, stirring occasionally.

2. Remove from stove, cover and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

3. Pour cold water over sago, remove pandan leaves and stir in coconut milk and sugar. Add a drop of the food coloring if using.

4. Spoon into moulds and refrigerate until cold.

5. Place palm sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Cool in the refrigerator.

6. To serve, turn sago out of moulds, drizzle with palm sugar sauce and coconut milk.

Serves about 4.

baked eggplant

A couple of weeks ago I googled for vegetarian recipes. And there are millions of them! When I was a kid I thought all vegetarians eat are boring salads or, at best, stir-fries. Boy, was I wrong.

One recipe that caught my eye was this baked eggplant recipe from a Australian food magazine website. And I thought it would be a good thing to make for the family. And boy, was I wrong again.

I cooked it without reading the reviews. Either I was too trusting - they are a food magazine, after all- or I am not too smart.

Even if I followed the recipe strictly, no substitutions, timed to the last second, measured to the dot and all that, it turned out to be so dry. The family said the flavour was "nice" but it was just too dry.

Not one to admit defeat, I decided to make another baked eggplant. A much improved one that the family will rave about.

I did not even have to google the recipe this time. It turned out that one of my favourite cookbooks, the essential rice cookbook (murdoch books, 2005), has it! Why I did not look there in the first place is just beyond me now. I think I automatically just google everything.

This one turned out to be much, much better than my first attempt. Better flavour and texture. I am pretty proud to redeem myself. I added grated cheese on top even if it is not in the recipe to make it more kid-friendly. You do not have to.

Baked Eggplant
(the essential rice cookbook, Murdoch Books, 2005)

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total cooking time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Serves 4

(Categorized by the authors as a simple recipe and generally quick to make – perfect for beginners)

• 3/4 cup (185ml/6 fl oz) olive oil
• 2 large eggplants (aubergines), cut in half lenghtways
• 3 onions, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves. finely chopped
• 400 g (13 oz) Roma (plum) tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or a 400 g (13 oz) tin of good-quality chopped tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
• 1/4 cup (35g/1 1/4 oz) currants
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (185 g/6oz) long-grain rice, cooked and drained
• 1/2 cup (125 ml/4 fl oz) tomato juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 180°C (350°F/Gas 4). Heat half the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook eggplants all over for 8-10 minutes, or until the cut sides are golden. Remove from the pan and scoop out some of the flesh, leaving the skins intact and some of the flesh lining the skin. Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

2. Heat the remaining olive oil in the same pan and cook the onion over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Now add the tomato, oregano, parsley, currants. Cinnamon, rice and the eggplant flesh and mix it in well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Put the eggplant in an ovenproof dish and fill each with prepared tomato mixture. Mix the tomato juice, lemon juice, sugar and some salt in a bowl, and pour over the eggplant. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve the eggplants on a platter with a light drizzle of oil and any of the remaining juice.

My variation:

If desired, sprinkle grated cheese on top. I just used tasty cheese. Parmesan and mozzarella would work well too.