Pie Floater - Kayzy Style - with Curried Green Pea Soup

 

The star of this dish is the soup, which is delicious on its own - and addictive! But if you want to use it as the main component of a homemade Pie Floater  (South Aussie classic), this soup will raise the floater to a higher level of culinary delight!

Curried Green Pea Soup with extras

500g frozen peas

200g cauliflower, chopped

100g Silverbeet or spinach, chopped

50g reduced fat butter or margarine (I used Devondale Light)

2-3 Tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons curry powder

4 cups water

3 teaspoons chicken stock powder

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint

salt, pepper

Optional: ½ cup evaporated milk, cream or fresh milk

1. Boil water in a large saucepan
2. Add peas, cauliflower and spinach to water, reduce heat and cook until tender.
3. Remove vegetables and water from the pan to a bowl. If you have a stick blender, proceed to step 4. If not, puree the vegetables, mint and a little of the vegetable water in a food processor or blender until smooth, then proceed.
4. Heat butter in the pan, add flour and curry powder, stir until combined. Remove pan from the heat.
5. Gradually add vegetable water to the pan, stirring well to combine and prevent lumps forming.
6. Return pan to the heat, add stock powder, and stir until stock boils and thickens.
7. Reduce heat, add the vegetables and fresh mint to the pan, and blend with stick blender.
8. Reheat the soup, test for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. If desired, add optional evaporated milk, cream or milk to the soup and reheat before serving, but I think this soup is delicious enough without this option. Serves 4-6.
   Note: Cauliflower and spinach may be omitted from this recipe without affecting the flavour, but I think their inclusion makes the soup yummier.

Pie Floater Instructions

1. Buy (or make) meat pies – any variety will do, but plain meat pies are fine. (I will add a recipe for meat pie at a later stage.)
2. Reheat pies in a moderate oven until hot (15 minutes).
3. Pour a good serve of curried pea soup in a large soup or pasta bowl, allowing room for the addition of a pie.
4. Place a pie (upside down if you are a traditionalist) on top of the soup in each bowl, and watch it sink!
5. Swirl a splodge of tomato sauce or ketchup on top, and serve! 
   Optional Extra:  If you are really bold, add a dash of vinegar also. I'm not a fan, but some pie floater officianados swear by it.
   Final Note: You will need a soup spoon to eat this culinary masterpiece.

My Favourite Christmas Cake

 If you're not like me (last minute Christmas cookery is a specialty of mine!), and want to make your Christmas cake early, I can recommend this recipe. It is by far my favourite Christmas cake, and terribly addictive once made and tasted. It freezes well.

My favourite Christmas cake

 
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1 kg mixed fruit (or 250g. chopped Raisins, 125g chopped glace cherries, 125g chopped mixed peel, 250g. Sultanas, 250g. Currants)

125g. chopped blanched almonds

2/3 cup brandy OR orange juice 

210g. plain flour

60g. self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon grated nutmeg

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon mixed spice

250g butter

250g. light brown sugar

2 tablespoons marmalade OR dark jam, 1 dessertspoon vanilla essence

4 eggs

Optional Topping: see below.

1. Line an 8" round cake tin with two layers foil and two layers greaseproof paper. Mix all the fruits, peel and nuts together and sprinkle with the brandy OR orange juice.
2. Sift together the flours, salt and spices.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add the jam and vanilla essence and beat again.
4. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each one, then alternately add the fruit and flour mixtures.
5. Mix thoroughly.
6. Place the mixture in the prepared tin. Topping 1: Decorate top of cake with blanched almonds, or whatever takes your fancy. (I got a bit carried away when I decorated the cake pictured above!) 
   Topping 2: see step 8 below.
7. Bake in a slow oven for approximately 3½ hours. Cool in tin.
8. Topping 2: The day before you use the cake arrange on top of the cake pieces of your favourite nuts, e.g. walnuts, almonds, pecans - cherries, glace pineapple, ginger, Raisins and Sultanas.
9. Make a toffee glaze by boiling together equal quantities sugar, water and sieved apricot jam. Drizzle this over the fruit 'n nut topping and leave to set.

Brownie Bars

125g butter (you can use 50% less fat butter successfully too - I used Devondale Light)

6 Tablespoons cocoa

1 cup sugar (brown or white)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

3/4 cup sifted plain flour

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2-1 cup chopped nuts, salted peanuts, or sultanas

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Melt butter and cocoa in a saucepan, stirring. Leave to cool.
3. Add sugar and vanilla essence to saucepan and stir in.
4. Add eggs and beat mixture well.
5. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into the saucepan and mix well.
6. Add nuts or sultanas and stir in well. Note: if adding salted peanuts, only add 1/4 teaspoon salt.
7. Pour in a 20cm square tin and bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes.
8. Cut into squares while still warm, but leave in the tin to cool.
9. Sprinkle with icing sugar, or ice with chocolate icing. Serve.

Fruity Crumble Cake

Fruity Crumble Cake

Ingredients for cake

• 2 cups Self-raising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 30g butter
• 1 egg
• ½-1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup milk
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 finely chopped or grated Granny Smith apple

Ingredients for crumble topping

• ½ cup plain flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 30g butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 200°C.
2. Sift together SR flour and baking powder into a bowl.
3. Add sugar and sultanas and mix together.
4. Rub butter into flour mix until it looks like breadcrumbs.
5. Beat egg and milk together, pour into bowl and mix well.
6. Add lemon juice and apple, beat well until cake mix is smooth.
7. Pour cake mix into a greased and lined 20-23cm (8-9”) square cake tin.
8. For topping, mix together flour, cinnamon and brown sugar in a bowl.
9. Add melted butter and mix until well incorporated, then separate topping into small lumps with fingers.
10. Sprinkle topping over cake mix in the tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cooked. After 30 minutes test with a skewer in the centre of the cake. If cake is cooked the skewer will come out clean; if not return the cake to the oven and test again in 10 minutes.
11. This cake is best cut into squares, rather than thin slices, and is nice served warm with cream as a dessert, or left to cool and served for morning or afternoon tea.

Fruity Nut Zucchini Muffins

Fruity nut zucchini muffins

(makes 24 small muffins or one 19cm cake)

2 cups SR flour

1 egg, and 1 egg white (or 2 eggs - I had an egg-white that needed using)

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup apple sauce or mashed stewed apple

3/4 level teaspoon bicarb soda

1/2 cup grated zucchini (packed firm)

3/4 level teaspoon mixed spice or cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup currants or cranberries

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar for 1 minute using an electric beater.
3. Stir bicarb soda into apple sauce (it will froth), then add to bowl.
4. Add walnuts, currants, zucchini, pineapple and mixed spice to bowl and combine all ingredients.
5. Gently fold flour into mixture in one go. DO NOT BEAT as this will make the cake tough.
6. Spoon mixture into greased muffin pans or patty cake papers. You should get 24 muffins from this mix.
7. 
   
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until firm to touch in centre.
9. Allow muffins to sit 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cake rack to cool.
10. Optional: You can also use the mix for a cake, and bake in a greased 19cm cake tin for 35-40 minutes.