SATAY BAKED WONTONS

Preheat your oven 180 deg C. Spray 2 x 12 hole muffin pan with cooking oil . Line holes with 24 wonton wrappers . In a separae bowl mix together 250 gm of chicken mince , 270 can of water chestnuts , drained and chopped ,1/2 cup of packaged bread crumbs , 2 green spring onions thinly sliced, 1/3 cup of crunchy peanut butter , 1 tbs of kecap manis and 1 tbs of sweet chilli sauce . Mix well to combine . Roll heaped tbs of the mixture into balls . Gently push a ball into the centre of each wonton wrapper . Sprinkle lightly with granulated nuts . Gather the dges of the wrappers into the centre of the of the filling . Lightly spray with cooking oil and cook in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven let stand for 5 minutes and then remove the wontons to a cooling rack . Serve warm with extra sweet chilli sauce .

POACHED CHICKEN AND FRIED RICE

Cook 2 cups of brown rice either by the absorbtion method or steaming . Then set the rice aside . Place 500gm of trimmed and skinless chicken breasts, that you have halved horizontally and sliced vertically ( thinly ), in a large pan . Add just enough cold water to cover the chicken . Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked . drain and cool for 10 minutes . Beat 3 eggs really well with a fork. Spray the same pan with cooking oil (liberally )and heat over a low heat . Add half the egg mixture to the warmed pan and swirl to form a thin omelette , cook until set . Remove the omelette and roll it up , thinly slice . Repeat with remaining egg . Using a vegetable peeler shred 1 carrot . Now reheat your pan , this time using 2 tbs of peanut oil and add the shredded carrot , finely sliced stick of celery ,and 1 cup of each frozen peas , and whole kernal corn. Stir fry for 5 minutes or until the vegies are tender . Now add the chicken , the rice and the sliced omelette . Stir through 3 tbs of soy sauce , 1 tbs of minced garlic and 2 tbs of teriyaki sauce . Garnish with bean shoots and maybe a drizzle of lemon juice .

MARSHMALLOW CRUNCH BARS

Preheat your oven to 180 deg C . Grease and line 9" ( 23 cm ) square pan Mix together 1 and 1/2 cups of plain flour with 1 tbs of baking powder and add 3/4 cup of softened marg / butter , 3/4 cup of sugar with 3 lightly beaten eggs and 1 dsp of vanilla extract . Using electric beaters beat until the mixture is smooth .( this takes time , do not rush it). In a separate bowl , mix together 1/2 cup of chopped mixed nuts with 1/3 cup of mixed peel . Stir 2/3 rd of the peel and nut mixture through the batter . Now spoon the friuted batter into the prepared pan , smooth and level with the back of a spoon . Sprinkle the remaining fruit and nut mixture along with 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows over top . Press down lightly . Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown . Cool in pan for 20minutes or until firm . Then slice into bars and finish cooling on a wire rack .

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Place 6 cups of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add 2 x 45 gm packets of chicken noodle soup dry mix . Stir to dissolve. Add 600 gm of chicken strips, 1 x 420 gm can of creamed corn and 1 x 420 gm can of drained corn kernels . Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through . Stir in 1 tbs of soy sauce and 3 spring onions thinly sliced ( white part only ). Simmer for 3 minutes to soften the spring onion. Finely slice the green spring onion ends and use as a garnish . This soup can be prepared with barbeque chicken meat sliced into shreds .

THE MANOR PANTRY FRITTATA

A frittata is a crustless quiche Preheat your oven to 180 deg C . I have had a busy day so this is home made and really easy to prepare . I boiled 250 gm of frozen brocolli and cauliflower mix , then drained and set aside . I opened 1 can of chicken in springwater ( 85 gm ) and added this to the cauli / brocoli mix, adding 1 tbs of minced garlic . Then I mixed in thinly sliced red capsicums ( 2 small capsicums ) and added this to the mixture and mixed well to in corporate . In a separate bowl I beat 4 eggs really well until smooth and added 1 tbs of bush curry powder with 1 tbs of honey . Then I mixed through the egg mixture 200 ml ( there about ) of cream . At this point I sprayed an ovenproof flan pan and and added the vegetable and chicken mix, then I poured over the mixed curry / cream and egg mixture . I topped the uncooked flan with grated cheese and and a sprinkle of dried chives . I baked the dish in the preheated oven for 30 minutes , then I covered the frittata with a layer of baking paper for 15 minutes , until the frittata is pulling away from the sides of the dish . ..and your kitchen and living areas are filling with warm and inviting aromas .Total cost of my meal just under $ 10 ...SERVES 4.

PALM SUGAR AND LIME BANANA LOAF

Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Grease and line a 20 X 10 cm loaf pan , Using your electric beater , beat together 1/2 cup of grated palm sugar , 1/4 cup of sugar with 15 gm of butter / marg until soft and light . Beat in 2 well beaten eggs and the rind of 2 limes . In a separate bowl mash 3 ripe bananas . Now add the bananas and the sugar mixture and cut in 1/4 cups of S.R flour with 4 tbs of milk with a butter knife . Turn the combibed dough into the greased and lined pan . Bake for 45 minutes until cooked and a skewer inserted comes out clea n Leave cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn on a wire rack to cool completely . Now prepare the lime glaze .....mix 1 cup of icing sugar with 3 tbs of lime juice. Drizzle ove the cake . You can dress the cake with grated lime rind .( optional )

PALM SUGAR

We have used palm sugar in our 'country ' cooking classes this year on a couple of occasions. Palm sugar is honey hued and made from the sap of palm trees . It can take up to 15 years for a palm tree to start flowering and then the sap can be collected . Palm sugar needs to be grated or crumbled when used and should be kept in airtight containers . Palm sugar has many names - jaggery or gur in India or Sri Lanka ( which can also refer to raw cane sugar ), gula melaka in Malaysia , gula jawa in Indonesia and taan peep in Thailand.