IT’S SOUP SEASON…CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP.

With a nourishing bowl of soup, a salad and some bread you have an easy, complete meal. Ingredients......2 litres of chicken stock, 1 onion, chopped, 175 gm of finely shredded cooked chicken, 150 gm of vermicelli, 2 tbs of minced garlic, 30 gm of chopped parsley. Put the stock in a large saucepan, add the garlic and chopped onion and cook over a medium heat until the onion softens. Add the shredded chicken and simmer for 2 minutes to heat through. Break the vermicelli into pieces and add them to the saucepan, cook until the noodles are tender. Stir the chopped parsley through the soup. Serve the soup hot. N.B Vermicelli noodles look like spaghetti but they are much thinner.

PIZZA MARGHERITA

Ingredients.......4 mini pizza bases, 2 tbs of olive oil, 400 gm can of diced tomatoes, 1 bay leaf, 8 chopped basil leaves, 1 tsp of dried thyme, 1 tbs of minced garlic, 150 gm of baby bocconchini cheese, thinly sliced. Preheat your oven to 210 deg C. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Place the pizza bases on the lined trays. Place the diced tomatoes, bay leaf, basil, garlic and thyme in a small saucepan along with 1 tbs of the oil in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened. Leave to cool and remove the bay leaf. Once cooled, spread the sauce over the bases, leaving a 3 cm / 1 and 1/4 " border. Arrange the sliced bocconcini over the top and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until crisp and bubbling. Serve warm.

MERINGUE DONUTS.

Ingredients.......5 cm/ 2" round cookie cutter, 2 egg whites, 115 gm of castor sugar, 5 tbs of whipped cream, strawberry / raspberry jam for spreading. Preheat your oven to 160 deg C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Use a 2"/ 5 cm round cookie cutter to draw 10 circles on the baking paper. Beat the egg whites using an electric beater until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each tablespoon. Continue beating the mixture until thick and glossy, and the sugar has dissolved. Place the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Pipe around the inside edges of the marked circles on the baking paper. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until meringues are pale and dry. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues to cool in the oven with the door slightly open. When the meringues are completely cooled, sandwich meringue pairs together with the jam and cream. All that is left to do, is enjoy..

RHUBARB AND CUSTARD MUFFINS

This recipe is for Maureen and Roel, who supply me with their homegrown rhubarb. Ken and I purchased 4 crowns of rhubarb, years ago in the Mornington Penisula. They were already a decade and half old when I transplanted them in my potted garden at The Manor, in 2016. I have 2 surving crowns that are struggling well into their second decade. Thank you for sharing the rhubarb from your garden. Ingredients.......185 gm of castor sugar, 300 gm of chopped rhubarb, 280 gm of self raising flour, 90 gm of custard powder, 125 gm of castor sugar, 1 egg , lightly beaten, 30 gm of butter/ marg, melted and cooled, 250 nml of milk. preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Line a standard 12 hole muffin pan with muffin liners. Combine the 185 gm of castor sugar and 250 ml of water in a small saucepan and stir over a medium heat. Add the rhubarb pieces.and and cook until tender. Transfer to a bowl, drain and cool, being careful not to break up the rhubarb. Mix together the flour and custard powder in a medium bowl. Stir in the 125 gm of castor sugar. In a separate bowl mix together the lightly beaten egg, butter/ marg and milk, add this to the dry ingredient mix. Fold until just combined. Fold in the rhubarb. Divide the mixture among the muffin liners. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT GROWN IN THE BACK YARD GARDEN.

I have a very small back yard, but have a quince tree, lime tree, fejoia tree, grow rhubarb, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley and saffron ....all in pots. I have just harvested my first homegrown pumpkins, grown from seeds germinated in the worm farm.

SUNKEN SUBS

Ingredients......4 hot dog rolls, 20 gm of butter/ marg, 1 tbs of minced garlic, 420 gm of tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce, 80 gm of chopped bacon pieces, 100 gm of grated tasty cheese. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Cut the hot dog roll in half horizontally and place on the lined baking tray. Heat the butter / marg in a small pan. Add the minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Brush a little of the butter/ marg mixture on each half roll . Top with the spaghetti, bacon pieces and cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. These are always well received in The Manor.

CARAMEL SLICE.

Ingredients... Base....60 gm of plain flour, 60 gm of self raising flour, 90 gm of desiccated coconut, 100 gm of butter/ marg, 115 gm of soft brown sugar. Filling...30 gm of butter/ marg, 2 tbs of golden syrup/ honey, 400gm of sweetened condensed milk, Topping....150 gm of 70% cocoa chocolate, roughly chopped, 40 gm of butter/ marg. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Line a shallow 28 cm x 18 cm / 11"x 7" baking pan. Mix the flours together and stir in the coconut. Make a well in the centre. Combine the butter / marg and sugar in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter/ marg has melted. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Press the mixture into the lined pan with the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool. To make the filling, combine the butter/ marg, syrup and condensed milk in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until smooth, continue stirring for 10 minutes. Pour the mixture over the pastry base and bake for 20 minutes. To make the topping, place the chocolate and butter/ marg in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until smooth. Spread the chocolate mix over the caramel and leave to set. When set lift the slice from the pan and cut into squares.