Monthly Archives: July 2013

Jul21

Raspberry and Coconut Loaf

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My dear friend Kim contributed this terrific little recipe from taste.com AGES ago – but I only recently noticed it in the foodthatserves@gmail.com inbox. This is a bonza recipe: the ingredients are ones you’re likely to find in your pantry and freezer and there’s no butter in it at all. If you’re avoiding sugar this recipe works well by simply exchanging sugar for dextrose exactly. If you don’t have raspberries in your freezer but do have tinned ones or berries of another kind, do feel free to exchange as needed. I made this using blueberries (see second photo) and it tasted lovely. This gorgeous little loaf will cost you no more than $4 to make. Enjoy!

  • 1 3/4 cups desiccated coconut
  • 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
  • 2 tablespoons flour extra
  • 1 cup frozen raspberries
  • icing sugar, to serve
  1. Combine coconut and coconut milk in a large bowl. Cover and stand for 30 minutes (or not – I have little patience for steps like these!).
  2.  Preheat oven to 170°C. Line base and sides of a 7cm-deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.
  3. Toss frozen berries in extra flour (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the loaf as it cooks). Using a metal spoon, stir sugar, egg and vanilla into coconut mixture. Sift flour over coconut mixture. Gently stir until combined. Fold in raspberries.
  4. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar and slice. Serve toasted, if desired.
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Jul21

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

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My super cool aunt, Jacqueline, gave me this pumpkin soup recipe years ago and since then it’s the only one I’ve used. I’m not a fan of lumpy pumpkin soup and I like mine to taste rich and pumpkiny. The roasting of the pumpkin produces this result with beautiful smoothness. Chop and roast the pumpkin days in advance and simply refrigerate until you want to blend the ingredients together. You can peel the skin off before hand or remove it after roasting – whichever you find easiest, though I think there’s a little more wastage of the pumpkin when you roast with skin on. I purchase my pumpkin from my local cheap-as-chips grocer and can usually pick up a 3kg for around $5. The other ingredients are incidental, especially if you, like me, use powdered stock. Serves 6-8.

  • 3kg pumpkin, chopped into smallish pieces and roasted for around 1 hour.
  • minimum of 7 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I used powdered. Increase until you have desired consistency)
  • 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine roasted pumpkin, stock, mustard and honey in a large stock pot.
  2. Process using a stick blender until ingredients are combined.
  3. Heat through, stirring regularly and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Serve with drizzled cream and fresh bread. Enjoy!
Jul2

Pulled Pork and Apple Slaw Lunch for 10

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My friend Wendy recently sent in this amazing recipe and having tried it out, I think I’ll be making it time and time again. Utilising all the benefits of a slow cooker, this affordable and tasty meal is just so easy to do. Just put the meat and marinade in a slow cooker 8 hours before your guests arrive. The accompanying apple slaw takes no longer than a standard salad to make and your guests can put it all together themselves during the meal. Wendy made this pork-tastic dinner en-masse for a church dinner recently using two slow cookers and was able to feed everyone affordably in a cinch. I recommend purchasing the pork from a butcher as mine was half the price of my local Woolworth’s. Serving 10 people easily, this recipe costs around $20, when pork is on special. Thanks Wendy!

  • 2kg pork shoulder
  • 1 x 375g bottle BBQ marinade (whatever is cheap, even standard BBQ sauce will do)

Apple Slaw

  • 1/2 small savoy cabbage, shredded
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 2 small apples, grated
  • 1 cup mint leaves, finely chopped (if you have it – if not, don’t stress)
  • 3/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon squeeze or juice of 1 lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 20 bread rolls or french stick/baguette equivalent
  1. Place pork in a slow cooker and empty all the marinade over it. Replace lid, switch to low and cook for 8 hours.
  2. Combine cabbage, carrot, apple and mint in a salad bowl. In a separate measuring jug, combine mayonnaise, dijon and lemon juice. Dress slaw mixture with the dressing and toss well.
  3. Remove pork from slow cooker, and using 2 forks pull the tender pork apart
  4. Place fresh rolls, pork and apple slaw in the centre of the table, allowing people to put together their own pork and apple slaw rolls.