GINGER CUSTARD

This is a delicious custard . Whisk 3 egg yolks with 60 gm of castor sugar in a bowl . Place 250 ml of milk in a small saucepan with 1 tbs of minced ginger and 1 tbs of vanilla extract and heat gently until simmering . Gently /slowly pour the egg mixture into the hot milk ., stirring constantly with a wooden spoon . Keep stirring until the custard mixture coats the back of the wooden spoon . Pour into a serving dish .

BANANA AND HONEY ROULADE

OMG,this is one of those special desserts right for anytime of the year and /or for any occasion. Whip 300mlof cream until thick and drizzle in 1 and 1/2 tbs of honey, contiue whipping ubtil the cream is stiff. Now add 2 ripe and mashed bananas, beating them into the cream. Refrigerate. Now let's prepare the meringue. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C . Grease a slice tray (33cm x 23 cm ) with cooking oil and line the base and sides with baking paper, leaving some excess paper over the sides . Spray the paper liberally with cooking oil and sprinkle over castor sugar, coating the paper well. Shake off any excess . Place 180gm of castor sugar, 7 egg whites, a pinch of salt in a bowl and mix with electric beaters until stiff and glossy . Pour the meringue into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside to cool completely. Keeping the meringue in the tray, peel the edges away from the sides of the meringue . Spread the banana cream over the top . Place a long serving plate next to the tray and partially lift the meringue onto the plate by dragging it with the baking paper. Roll the meringue around the banana cream ,starting from the end still in the pan . You need to roll up and over the side of the tray. The roulade should easily slide off the tray onto the plate in one movement. Drizzle the roulade with honey and a dusting of icing sugar ...

CHARGRILLED YELLOW FIN TUNA STEAKS , CAPSICUM AND CHERRY TOMATOES

Place in a large bowl 1 small red chilli , finely chopped , 1 tbs of small capers chopped , 1 dsp of fennel seeds ,3 tbs of rice bran oil , the juice of 1 lemon , 80 ml of red wine vinegar . Add 4 x 250 gm of yellow tuna fin steaks and rub them into the marinade . Set aside for 90 minutes . Now grease and oil a large pan . Add 2 peeled and sliced onions, 1 sliced celery stick , 1 red amd yellow capsicum both sliced into strips , 3 large tomatoes skinned and flesh chopped , 3 tbs of minced garlic and finally 2 tbs of oregano , seasoned with cracked black pepper . Place on top 250 gm of trussed cherry tomatoes . Cover with scrunched baking paper and cook over a medium heat until the onions are tender , about 30 minutes . Grease a char grill frypan with oil and add the tuna fin fillets to the pan over a med - high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes each side . To serve divide the capsicum mixture between your plates , place the tuna steaks on top and brush with the excess marinade and add the cherry tomatoes on top .

A XMAS SUMMER PUDDING

This pudding is at its best with a mix of sweet and tart fruits for example strawberries , raspberries , blueberries and if available red or black currents . If you are using frozen fruits make sure they are well defrosted . Place 600gm of mixed ripe / thawed fruits in a medium saucepan with 7 tbs ( 100gm ) of castor sugar , stir together and bring to a slow simmer. Remove from the heat . The fruits will release a lot of juice . Now line the base and sides of a 3 and 3/4 cup pudding pan with a light spray of cooking oil and then with thick slices of one or two day old bread ( crusts removed ) , overlapping slightly and trimming if necessary . You will need to keep aside a slice or two for the "lid". Fill the mould with all the fruit , you may find you have more juice than you need , (that's okay , you can use it as a topping when serving .) Now slice the reserved bread to fit the top of the pudding pan , place a plate on top that just fits inside the rim and weigh it down with a couple of tins from the pantry . Refrigerate for 8 hours . When ready to serve , invert the pudding pan onto a large plate and pour over any reserved juice . Serve with cream .

BREADSTICKS

These are easily made if you have friends coming around for drinks and you can make lots in no time at all. Preheat your oven to 200 deg C . Fit the dough hook to your electric mixer and add 2 cups ( 250 gm ) of white bread flour , 2 cups ( 250 gm )of all purpose flour ,1 and 1/2 tsp ( 5gm ) of instant yeast , 1 dsp of salt and 1 and 1/3 rd cup of warm water . Mix on low speed until well combined now add a drizzle of canola oil and mix until smooth and silky , about 10 minutes . Shape the dough into a round and coat with a little extra oil and place in a clean bowl , cover with cling wrap and let rise till doubled in size . Now turn out onto a clean work surface covered with plenty of flour , roll out to 1/2 inch thick . Dust the top evenly with flour and then flip and dust the underside . Cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide , brush the tops with oil and sprinkle lightly with a mixture of flaky sea salt , cracked black pepper , poppy seeds , smoked paprika , rosemary leaves and finely grated parmesan cheese . Oil and line an oven tray with baking paper , place the strips on the baking tray you can curl the sticks if you like . Let proof for 30 minutes , then bake on 200deg C for 20 minutes until golden and dried through to the middle . Let cool on a wire cooling rack .

BROWN BREAD ICE CREAM .

I make this ice cream in the ice cream maker , but it can be easily made by removing the cusard mixture from the freezer and whisking or beating every half hour , until it becomes too firm to beat . Preheat your oven to 160 deg C . Tear 100gm of 2 day old wholemeal bread into small pieces and toss with 1/2 cup of demerara sugar , scatter over a baking paper lined oven tray . Bake for 10 minutes or until quite dark and caramelised . Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the oven tray . Meanwhile pour 1 cup plus 1 tbs of milk into a medium saucepan , split 1 vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon and add them to the milk , together with the empty pod . Slowly bring to a simmer . In a large mixing bowl beat together 6 egg yolks and 1/2 cup of castor sugar , now slowly pour in the hot milk whisking constantly , add the vanill pod too. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan over a low heat . Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes , until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon . Now pour into a cold bowl and cover with cling wrap to prevent a skin forming and let infuse for 10 minutes . Remove the vanill pod . Remove the vanilla pod and stir in 1 cup and 1 tbs of cream and churn this mixtur in an ice cream maker . When the ice cream thickens but is still a little soft , crumble in the toasted bread and churn until frozen . This is delicious .

COPHA CAKE ( LARDY CAKE)

This recipe has its roots in Britain , both my cooking hereos have recipes for this cake . My food hereos are Elizabeth David and our own Margaret Fulton. Just to murky the waters , here is my version of 'Lardy Cake '.. Preheat your oven to 200 deg C Combine 2 cups (250gm ) of white bread floir , 2/3 rds of a cup of warm water and 1 and 1/2 tsp (5 gm ) of instant yeast . Mix to a soft dough . Melt 1 dsp ( 10 gm ) of softened copha into the dough , then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Put into a clean bowl , cover ,and let rise until doubled in size . In a separate bowl toss together 1/3 rd cup of raisins , 1/3rd cup of glace cherries, 1/3 rd cup of mixed peel , 4 tbs of castor sugar and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon . Now cut 150 gm of copha into small dice and place in a small bowl . Tip the risen dough out onto a clean work surface and press all over with your fingertips to deflate . Use your hands to shape the dough into a rectangle about an inch thick . Scatter half of the dried fruit mixture and half the copha pieces over the dough , then roll up from the short side to enclose the filling . Shape the dough into a rectangle again , scatter over the remaining dried fruit and copha pieces . Roll the dough up again . Shape the dough into an 8" square . Place into a greased , square 8 " pan , leave to rise for 30 minutes . Bake the copha cake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until well risen and golden brown . Let cool slightly in the pan for 10 minutes , then turn out onto a wire cooling rack placing it upside down so the melted copha can be reabsorbed into the dough as it cools . Serve warm or cold cut into slices .