Banana & Choc Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
60g butter

2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup Choc Bits

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tray (12 sections) with paper cases. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Set aside to cool slightly.


Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients.


Lightly beat milk, eggs and butter in a jug. Add to dry ingredients, along with mashed banana. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix ingredients until just combined. Stir in choc bits. Don't beat the mixture.


Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin cases. Bake for 20 minutes or until firm on top when lightly touched. Leave in the tray for 3 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Corn and Potato Chowder

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g washed potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 3cm chunks
• 1L (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 fresh corn, kernels cut off or 440g can corn kernels, drained
• 125mls (1/2 cup) thin cream
• Ground black pepper, to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Stir in the potatoes and stock and bring to the boil.
   
2. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes and then add the fresh corn. cook a further 10 - 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add the cream and simmer gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Season with pepper and serve hot.

Apple Blueberry and Almond Cake

Ingredients
125 g butter, softened
125 g (1/2 cup) castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
100 g (3/4 cup) SR flour
50 ml milk
125 g ground almonds
1 large apple, peeled, cored and sliced
100g blueberries

Topping
125 g butter, melted
2 eggs
125 g (1/2 cup) castor sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50 g flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Grease and line base of a 20 cm spring form cake tin.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy and then gradually beat in eggs, one at a time. Add a little sifted flour if it looks like separating. Lightly fold in remaining flour, milk and half the almonds until combined.
Spread into base of cake tin. Sprinkle with remaining ground almonds and then top with apple and blueberries.
To make topping, put melted butter in a bowl and whisk in eggs, sugar and cinnamon.
Pour over cake. Sprinkle with flaked almonds. Bake for about 60 minutes; when ready, it should be firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre it should come out clean. Cool completely in the tin before turning out. Dust with a little icing sugar.

Potato Curry

Ingredients

 4 lg potatoes 1 Tbl oil 1 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp mustard seeds 2 Tbl sesame seeds 1/2 tsp turmeric 2 tsp chopped chilli 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest 3 Tbl lemon juice

 -Boil potatoes until tender and then drain and leave to cool. Once cool, peel and chop them into cubes. -Heat oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Cook the cumin, coriander and sesame seeds for one minute stirring constantly. Add the sesame seeds and cook for 1-2 minutes stirring until golden. Add turmeric, chilli, potato, lemon juice and zest. -Stir until well combined and heated through and season to taste.

Pumpkin and lentil soup

Olive oil spray
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
ginger paste -1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp curry powder
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, cut into 1cm-pieces
175g (3/4 cup) red lentils, rinsed
1.25L (5 cups) water
1x 10g Massel Salt-Reduced Vegetable stock cube
1/3 cup cream
Fresh coriander leaves, to serve

Heat a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion and cook, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.

Add the pumpkin, lentils, water and stock cube. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, for 15-20 minutes or until the pumpkin and lentils are soft. Set aside to cool.

Ladle half the lentil mixture into the jug of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a clean saucepan. Repeat with the remaining lentil mixture.

Place the soup over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until heated through. Season with pepper. Ladle among serving bowls. Top with the cream and coriander to serve.

Mini Vegetable Pasties

Ingredients

1 piece (about 150g) kumara, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, peeled, finely chopped
1 small potato, peeled, finely chopped
1 small swede, finely chopped
1/2 cup green beans, chopped
1 sweetcorn, corn removed
3/4 cup coarsely grated cheddar
2 eggs, lightly whisked
3 sheets (25cm) ready-rolled frozen shortcrust pastry, just thawed
2 tsp sesame seeds

Method

Preheat oven to 240°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper. Cook sweet potato until tender. Drain well. Transfer to a heatproof bowl. Use a fork to mash until smooth. Set aside to cool in bowl.

Cook carrot, swede and potato in a medium saucepan of boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender, adding beans and corn at the last minute. Drain well. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Add carrot mixture, beans, corn, cheese and 1 egg to sweet potato and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Use a 12cm-diameter pastry cutter to cut 12 discs from pastry sheets. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly among pastry discs. Brush edges of pastry lightly with remaining egg.

Fold pastries in half to enclose filling. Use fingertips to gently press together to seal. Place on the lined tray and lightly brush with remaining egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Once completely cooled, wrap in foil and place in lunch box.

Fruit mince tarts

Use Robertson's fruit mince.

Pastry
300g (2 cups) plain flour
70g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
160g chilled butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 tbs iced water


To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water, and process until the mixture just starts to come together (see tip 1). Turn onto a clean work surface. Shape into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 20 minutes to rest.


Preheat oven to 180°C. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Use an 8.5cm-diameter round pastry cutter to cut 20 discs from the pastry. Use a 5cm-diameter star-shaped pastry cutter to cut 20 stars from the remaining pastry.

Line twenty 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity muffin pans with pastry discs (see tip 2).Divide the fruit mince among the pastry cases. Top with pastry stars. Brush the stars lightly with the egg and sprinkle with white sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Tip 1: Process the pastry until it just starts to come together in large clumps. Don't over-process or your pastry will be tough. Tip 2: To make the pastry cases, use the balls of your fingers to press the pastry discs neatly into the edge of each pan. Make it ahead: Make this recipe up to 4 days ahead. Store in an airtight container. Use a metal egg lifter dipped in flour to easily remove the pastry discs and pastry stars from the bench. To give as gifts, place in cellophane bags tied with ribbon, or in decorative boxes lined with tissue paper.