ITALIAN POLENTA , RAISIN AND RICOTTA CAKE ..

Trust me, you are going to love this cake.... Ingredients....150gm of raisins, 3tbs of Apera cream sherry, 200gm of polenta, 1 and 1/3rd cups of self raising flour, 1 heaped tsp of baking powder, 250gm of castor sugar, 1 cup of ricotta cheese, 100gm of butter/ marg ( melted), 175ml of warm water. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease and line a 20 cm x 10 cm loaf pan with a light sprinkle of polenta. Place the raisins in a small saucepan with the Apera and heat gently for 3-4 minutes until plumped up. Set aside to cool. In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the flour baking powder, sugar, melted butter/ marg and water. Beat until well combined. Stir in the Apera and raisins. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 70 minutes or until teasted with a skewer inseted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with whipped cream or mascarpone.

HERB…ROSEMARY.

Rosemary is the leaf of an evergreen shrub and shaped like a curved pine needle. It has a fresh, sweet flavour, is better fresh from the garden than when dried. Fresh rosemary freezes really well and is excellent with lamb, fish and poultry. Rosemary sprigs are also worn on Anzac day as an ancient symbol of rememberance, it is said that rosemary was found growing wild on the Gallipoli peninsula. One of my sons loves fresh rosemary sprinkled over vegemite on bread. I also add fresh rosemary to rhubarb when making rhubarb jam. The rosemary bush itself is evergreen and produces tiny bluish / violet flowers, that are also edible and bee attracting. Rosemary grows well in a pot and in the ground. I often fill vases of cut rosemary and enjoy the beautiful fresh fragrance thoughtout the house.

CUT AND COME AGAIN CAKE

This is another version of Mary Berry's simple and easily prepared fruit cake. Ingredients.....225gm of self raising flour, pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp of mixed spice, 125gm butter/ marg, 125gm of castor sugar, 125gm of currants, 125gm of chopped raisins, 1/4 cup of mixed peel, 1 egg lightly beaten and stirred in 1/4 cup of milk, icing sugar for dusting. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease and flour a 20cm x 10cm loaf pan. Mix together the flour , spice and salt together , then rub in the butter/ marg. Add the sugar, raisins, currants and mixed peel. Add the egg beaten in the milk to the other ingredients and mix well. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 75 minuutes or until you test the cake with a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar if you want.

THE LANGUAGE OF CAKE MAKING

TO BEAT.....vigorous mixing with a spoon/ whisk or electric mixer. TO BLEND....combine one ingredient with another until completelymixed together, either using a fork, wooden spoon or electric mixer. TO CREAM....usually refers to butter/ marg/ fat, alone or mixed with sugar until light, pale yellow and fluffy. TO FOLD....carefullyincorporate one mixture into another, (usually a light one such as whipped egg whites into a heavier mixture.) Folding involves gently 'drawing'a figure eight with a metal/ wooden spoon and being careful not to knock the air out of the lighter mixture. TO STIR...mix carefully in a circular motion to combine. TO WHIP....beat rapidly with a whisk or electric mixer to incorporate as much air as possible. Egg whites or cream are examples of ingredients that are whipped. TO MAKE BLIND....precook pastry by lining it with baking paper, weighing it down with uncooked rice and baking it in the oven. TO COOK IN A WATER BATH (BAIN MARIE)........the pan is placed in a baking dish and the baking dish is filled with hot water coming halfway up the sides of dish. This method protects any delicate mixture/ batter that requires a gentle, indirect heat.

ARABIAN DATE AND NUT CAKE

Ingredients.......3/4 cup of strong black coffee, 1 cup of pitted and chopped dates, 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, 125gm of butter/ marg, 1 cup of castor sugar, 2 eggs- lightly beaten, 1 and 3/4 cups of plain flour, 1/2 tsp of bi carb of soda, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 and 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, pinch of salt, icing sugar for dusting. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Lightly grease a 25cm x 15cm loaf pan and line the base with baking paper. Pour the hot coffee over the chopped dates and walnuts , set aside to cool. Cream the butter and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients together. Alternatively add the eggs and dry ingredients and beat well. Finally mix in the vanilla, date and nut mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar. If you choose to make this for your Christmas cake dress with decorative holly or Xmas decorations as you like or not. With or without decoration this cake is really delicious anytime of the year.

BANANA AND HONEY MUFFINS.

Ingredients.......450gm of mashed bananas, 150gm of light brown castor sugar, 90gm of honey, 4 tbs of butter/ marg (melted), 225gm of self raising flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, pinch of salt, 150gm of granulated nuts. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Place 12 large muffin cases in a 12 hole muffin pan. In the bowl of your electric mixer combine the mashed bananas, sugar, honey and margarine, using the whisk attachment until well belnded. Slowly add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Fold in the granulated nuts. Spoon the batter into the cases. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until springy to touch in the centre. Remove the muffin pans from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes and cool on a rack.

MOROCCAN FISH TAGINE WITH CHERMOULA.

Chermoula is traditionally used a marinade for fish, but it also goes well with chicken. If you do not have an ovenproof tagine , you can use an enamelled or earthenware casserole dish with a lid/ cover. Ingredients.....for the chermoula , 1 and 1/2 cups of fresh coriander (chopped), 1 and 1/2 cups of fresh flat leaf parsley (chopped), 4 tbs of minced garlic, 1 tsp of ground sweek paprika, 1/4 tsp of ground cayenne, 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1 small onion, roughly chopped, 2 tbs of lemon juice, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tsp of cracked black pepper. Ingredients.....for the fish tagine, 4 x 200gm white flesh fish fillet, 1 tbs of olive oil, 250gm of floury potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced, 2 green capsicums, deseeded and thinly sliced, 500gm of ripe fresh tomatoes, sliced, 1/2 cup of tomato passata, 1 tbs of ground coriander, cousous or polenta to serve. Preheat your oven to 200deg C. Lightly grease an ovenproof tagine. To make the chermoula, place all the ingredients in a blender and process to a thick paste. Leave for 90 minutes to allow flavours to develop. Now place the fish fillets in another bowl and cover with half the chermoula and place in your refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours. Place the potatoe slices in the tagine/ dish and season with cracked black pepper. Place the fish fillets on top, then a layer of the capsicum slices and a layer of the tomatoes. Spread with a little of the chermoula over. apaour over the passata, sprinkle over the coriander, the remaining sliced tomatoes and any leftover chopped parsley, finishing off with a sprinkle of cracked black pepper. Finally spread over the remaining chermoula over the top. Cover and place in the preheated over and bake for 1 hour or until fish and potatoes are tender. This is one of my favourite dishes to prepare and share.