ANZAC Biscuits

So I know I missed a post last week. I was so excited to make Hot Crossed Buns and share the recipe with you, but let me tell you... it was a disaster! My yeast has lost it's oomph and the buns did not rise... at all! I continued to the end thinking that they would at least still taste ok after baking them. Nope. Since they didn't raise, the dough in the middle did not get done. I was so sad! I think its kind of funny now and someday I will try them again.

Anzac biscuits were sent overseas during World War I to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp and Anzac Day is similar to what we American's celebrate as Memorial Day. We were in Australia last year on ANZAC day, but didn't get to experience it fully (we wished we would have!). The town we were living in had a ceremony at dawn and a parade or march later that day. We were able to walk to the post office that evening and saw lots of crosses representing those who had lost their lives in WWI.

I thought since ANZAC day is just a few days away (April 25), I would make some bikkies to celebrate it. I found this recipe and modified it just a little.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
1 stick and a little (125 g) butter*
2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda (bicarbonate of soda)

*Conversions never really match up. I used about 9 Tablespoons of butter

Instructions:

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, rolled oats, and coconut.

Melt the butter along with the golden syrup and water in a saucepan.

Stir the baking soda in.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix well.

Form small balls and place on an un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350*F (175*C). For a more chewy cookie bake for 12 minutes, then leave them on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes after taking them out of the oven. For a harder/crunchier bikkie, bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Happy ANZAC Day!!

Aussie Meat Pie

Today in America it's Pi Day, you know π, 3.14. What better way to celebrate Pi day than to eat an Aussie meat pie?

My first experience of going to eat Aussie pies went a little like this. We had just made friends with a couple in the town we were living in and they invited us to go to a fun pie shop. We were meeting up with them around noon and I kept asking my husband if I should eat something before we went out with them. I didn't realize that pies are like a main dish in Australia! Good thing I didn't eat anything before we headed out because the shop we went to had heaps of different kinds of pies to choose from.

I found this recipe and read the reviews and it sounded pretty authentic, so I decided to give it a go. It was a pretty good pie. Next time I will branch out and do something different, maybe a chicken curry pie.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Baking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (500g minced beef)

1 onion, chopped

1 cup water, divided

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/4 cup ketchup

3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 pinch nutmeg

3 Tablespoons flour

2 puff pastry sheets

Instructions:

Brown meat and onion

Add 3/4 cup water, bouillon cubes, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, nutmeg, and salt and pepper.

Let boil and cover for 15 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 430*F (220*C)

Blend flour with remaining 1/4 cup water until it becomes a smooth paste. Then ad to the meat mix.

Let cool.

Grease a pie dish and line with puff pastry.

Add the filling and brush edges of pastry with milk or beaten egg. 

Place the pastry top on and press edges down.

Trim edges and glaze top with milk or beaten egg.

Bake at 430 (220) for 15 minutes

Reduce heat to 350* F (180*C) and bake for 30 more minutes, or until golden brown.

HAPPY PI DAY :)

Easy Sausage Rolls

I was introduced to these little things in Australia. However, they do originate from England. It's the epitome of finger food and it is considered a take-away (fast food) item. I love them... a lot! I have been craving them since we have gotten home, so of course I had to make them. I cheated and made them really simply. I also found this recipe that sounds like a good sausage mix that I will have to try someday. So you can choose your level of baking with this one :) Oh and just so you know, if you do use the other recipe, they call mince what we call ground i.e. beef mince = ground beef

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Baking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 

1 pound Sausage*

Frozen puff pastry

*I used the Jimmy Dean roll, but you can use whatever you want. I've used linked sausage before and it's even easier!

Instructions:

Thaw puff pastry (40 minutes or put it in fridge overnight).

Roll out and cut into three strips.

Arrange sausage in the puff pastry (It's easier if you arrange the sausage in the middle)

Sorry the lighting is bad in all these pictures....

Roll up.

Cut and place on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes at 350*F (or whatever directions your puff pastry recommends).

Serve with tomato sauce AKA Ketchup

Easy and tasty! If you want to have this for more of a meal rather than finger or party food, I would cut the puff pastry in half, arrange a bit more sausage in the middle, roll it, then cut in half again (so you would get 4 sausage rolls out of one puff pastry sheet). If you choose to eat it this way, it's more the way you would get it if you went to a cafe.

Steed's World Famous Pavlova

Since Australia Day is just around the corner (January 26), I thought I would share a little piece of Australia with you. Pavlova is considered the national dessert of Australia, however, New Zealand also claims it. I am not quite sure who was the first to claim it... I guess it's one of those "did the chicken or the egg come first" questions. Anyway, while we were in Australia, we became friends with a wonderful family. The mother makes the BEST pavlova, so my husband and I call this recipe

"Steed's World Famous Pavlova"

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours
Preparation time before serving: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 dessertspoon* cornflour

Half pint heavy whipping cream
Toppings (Fruit, chocolate, etc...)

*Did you know Australian cutlery includes a dessertspoon? It's specifically used to eat their dessert. If you do not own a dessertspoon, use 2 teaspoons per 1 dessertspoon.

Instructions:

Beat egg whites with electric beater, gradually adding sugar until stiff.

 So stiff it didn't move when I tilted the bowl

Fold in vanilla and vinegar and cornflour.

Preheat oven to 390*F (200*C).

Pour pavlova onto a baking sheet in the shape you want.

Put Pavlova in oven and turn it down to 250*F (120*C). Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Turn off oven, and open the door to let it cool off.

It's not perfect, but it will work

When completely cool, decorate with whipped cream and any topping you like. Usually they put passion fruit, or any other kind of fruit on it.

I used banana's and chocolate for the topping and it tasted great!

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!