Category: Recipes

This is a great recipe for disguising veggies from children! Tanya Bartolini says, “I process the vegetables until they are so fine, my son won’t notice them – but he gets their goodness anyway”.

Tanya also recommends adding a teaspoon of fennel seeds and/or a pinch of chilli, which “will boost the flavour of the sauce. If cooking for kids, I recommend adding a little fennel (but only if the sausages don’t already have the herb in them) but no chilli”.

This recipe provides enough sauce for a 250g packet of dried pasta or 5 serves of homemade pasta.

Ingredients 

Serves 5

• 6 Italian sausages
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 small onion
• 2 x 400 g tins diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ½ cup white wine (not sweet)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Special cooking utensil – food processor (if you do not have a food processor, a grater will work just fine)

Method:

1. Using a small knife, remove casings from the sausages and set aside.

2. Peel the garlic and onion. Chop celery, carrot and onion into pieces, small enough to fit into your food processor. Whiz them in the food processor for about 30 seconds until you have fine pulp.  

3. Fry up the pulped vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture cooks through.

4. Whilst the vegetable mixture is cooking, use the food processor to blitz the sausage meat until it clumps together in a ball. Add to the frying pan and cook with the vegetables for about 5 minutes.

5. Reduce heat to low and add the wine. Cook for about 1 minute. 

6. Add tinned tomato and tomato paste. Cook through for another 5 minutes. 

7. Whilst the sauce is simmering, put your pot of pasta water on to boil. Allow the sauce to simmer for as long as it takes to cook the pasta (about 20 minutes). Any type of pasta works well with this sauce.

About Tanya Bartolini: Although Tanya Bartolini spent 14 years in accounting and finance, true satisfaction was always found in the kitchen. It wasn’t until the birth of her first son in 2012 that she realised what had seemed important before was no longer a priority and with that, Tanya decided to embrace her passion for food and family. In doing this, she has explored her family’s rich Italian history and written a book that shares her family’s precious recipes. Through her book, Blending The Cultures, featuring hearty recipes that blend the Italian and Australian way of living and eating, she hopes to encourage others to create memorable moments for themselves by cooking and sharing meals together. Tanya has also established a website – The Kitchen Bench – as a forum for everyday cooks just like herself to share wholesome, simple and healthy cooking.

Crostata di marmellata is a delicious jam-filled pastry. 

“Oh my, how I love crostata di marmellata. I have been known to eat it for breakfast!” says Tanya Bartolini. This glorious sweet treat is just divine with a good coffee or tea. 

Tanya recalls, “I have very fond memories of eating this at my Zia Angela’s place in Italy. Homemade pastry filled with homemade fig jam: so perfect that it looked as if it had come straight from a professional kitchen”.

Tanya has shared her simple version with us – “Yes, it involves pastry making but you can buy the jam from supermarkets.”

“Thank you Italy for introducing me to such a wonderful pastry delight!”

Ingredients:

Serves 8

• 2½ cups 00 flour (a type of Italian flour)
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup raspberry jam 

Method:

1. Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add softened butter and eggs. Using two butter knives and a cutting action, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. (It is better to use knives as hands release to much heat into the dough.) Continue blending with a cutting action until your mixture resembles coarse meal or large breadcrumbs.

2. Tip the dough mixture onto a floured work surface and knead for 2 to 3 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, flatten slightly and then wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

4. Roll the dough on a floured work surface, forming a rough rectangle about 1cm thick.

5. Keep some of the dough aside to create the lattice work decoration on the top of the crostata. 

6. Using your fingers, pinch the sides of the dough to create an edge. This will hold the jam in place. Cover the dough’s base with jam.

7. With the extra dough, roll out flat (about 1cm thick) and cut strips. Place the strips, one at a time, to create a lattice work effect on top of the crostata.

8. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is a lovely golden brown colour. Allow to cool.

About Tanya Bartolini: Although Tanya Bartolini spent 14 years in accounting and finance, true satisfaction was always found in the kitchen. It wasn’t until the birth of her first son in 2012 that she realised what had seemed important before was no longer a priority and with that, Tanya decided to embrace her passion for food and family. In doing this, she has explored her family’s rich Italian history and written a book that shares her family’s precious recipes. Through her book, Blending The Cultures, featuring hearty recipes that blend the Italian and Australian way of living and eating, she hopes to encourage others to create memorable moments for themselves by cooking and sharing meals together. Tanya has also established a website – The Kitchen Bench – as a forum for everyday cooks just like herself to share wholesome, simple and healthy cooking.

“Nonna Ida makes the best crumbed chicken and it wasn’t until recently that I discovered the exact reason why. My son absolutely loves this dish,” says Tanya Bartolini. Read on for Nonna’s secret ingredient…

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 2 large chicken breasts (preferably free range)
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup Scotch whisky
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 cups dried breadcrumbs
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon powdered chicken stock
• extra virgin olive oil

Method:
1. Thinly slice the chicken breasts (about 3-4 pieces per breast). Use a meat tenderiser to lightly hammer each piece thin.

2. Marinate the chicken: place in a bowl with eggs, scotch and garlic whisked together. Place the marinating chicken in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

3. Place breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and chicken stock in a bowl and combine. Remove a piece of chicken from the egg mixture and place in the breadcrumbs, thoroughly coating the chicken. Transfer to a plate and continue until all pieces of chicken are crumbed.

4. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once the pan comes to temperature (breadcrumbs will bubble when dropped in), place chicken pieces in the pan. Cook on one side until golden brown, then turn and repeat. Once cooked, transfer chicken to a plate covered in paper towel. Repeat until all pieces of chicken are cooked.

This dish is best served warm and golden and crunchy. 

About Tanya Bartolini: Although Tanya Bartolini spent 14 years in accounting and finance, true satisfaction was always found in the kitchen. It wasn’t until the birth of her first son in 2012 that she realised what had seemed important before was no longer a priority and with that, Tanya decided to embrace her passion for food and family. In doing this, she has explored her family’s rich Italian history and written a book that shares her family’s precious recipes. Through her book, Blending The Cultures, featuring hearty recipes that blend the Italian and Australian way of living and eating, she hopes to encourage others to create memorable moments for themselves by cooking and sharing meals together. Tanya has also established a website – The Kitchen Bench – as a forum for everyday cooks just like herself to share wholesome, simple and healthy cooking.

Pasta is one of my favourite weekend dishes – for lunch or dinner. It’s quick, fresh and easy and this recipe from Tanya Bartolini uses simple, tasty ingredients.

Tanya says, “I often cook this at home. Similar versions are found in many Italian cookbooks but it was a long-time friend (and this book’s photographer) who inspired me to include this here. Many years ago, we sat at school discussing what type of pasta and pasta sauce we preferred. I remember her telling me it was her mum’s spaghetti with broccoli. I was surprised: not many kids say they love broccoli. I was also intrigued. Many years later, when I was trying to work out a different way to use broccoli, I remembered that conversation. This is the result.”

If you’re cooking this one for kids, simply leave out the chilli.

• 2 small broccoli florets
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 small red chilli, deseeded and sliced thinly
• 500 g dried pasta
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra for dressing
• 1 tablespoon cooking salt
• grated parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Prepare broccoli by cutting it into tiny florets small enough to fit into your mouth in one bite. Use the entire broccoli, including the stem.

2. Fill a large pot with tap water to the ¾ mark. Place the pot onto a high heat and bring water to the boil. When the water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon of cooking salt, the dried pasta and broccoli. Stir to ensure that the pasta does not stick to the pan or itself, and bring the water back to a rolling boil.

3. Whilst the pasta is cooking, fry garlic and chilli in olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan for about 30 seconds. Turn off heat and leave the pan on the stovetop.

4. Continue to cook the pasta and broccoli until the pasta is cooked through. Use a coffee mug to reserve a cup of water when draining.

5. Tip the broccoli and pasta into the frying pan along with half of reserved pasta water. Turn the heat to medium/low and toss the pasta through the liquid, chilli and garlic. Cook for 1 minute or until combined. Transfer to a large serving bowl.

Tip: Tanya advises serving this with some grated lemon rind on the pasta, for a lovely fresh taste. Grated parmesan cheese is also an essential.
To mix it up a bit, you could also add some ham, bacon or chorizo – YUM!
About Tanya Bartolini: Although Tanya Bartolini spent 14 years in accounting and finance, true satisfaction was always found in the kitchen. It wasn’t until the birth of her first son in 2012 that she realised what had seemed important before was no longer a priority and with that, Tanya decided to embrace her passion for food and family. In doing this, she has explored her family’s rich Italian history and written a book that shares her family’s precious recipes. Through her book, Blending The Cultures, featuring hearty recipes that blend the Italian and Australian way of living and eating, she hopes to encourage others to create memorable moments for themselves by cooking and sharing meals together. Tanya has also established a website – The Kitchen Bench – as a forum for everyday cooks just like herself to share wholesome, simple and healthy cooking.
 

This is another delicious afternoon-tea-cake idea for dad this weekend…

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

– 150g unsalted butter, softened
– 80g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
– 4 eggs, at room temperature
– ½ cup Apricot Blush Syrup
– Zest of 1 lime
– 250g (1⅔ cup) plain flour
– 1 tsp baking powder
– Extra butter and flour for greasing and dusting the tin

For the icing:

– ¼ cup icing sugar
– 1 tbsp Apricot Blush Syrup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (160ºC fan-forced, 350F, gas mark 4).

2. Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.

3. Add eggs and continue mixing on a lower speed for another minute.

4. Slowly pour in Apricot Blush Nectar and add lime zest, flour and baking powder and mix on a lower setting until the batter is just combined and smooth.

5. Grease a 22cm bundt cake tin (ring shape) with extra butter and dust with extra flour. Shake off excess flour.

6. Pour prepared batter around the tin and smooth out with a spoon or a spatula.

7. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

8. Remove from oven and turn the cake out onto a serving plate.

9. Mix together the icing sugar and Apricot Blush Nectar to make the icing.

10. Drizzle the icing over the warm cake and serve immediately

Tips and Tricks:

Store leftover cake in an air-tight container. Reheat any unused portions in the microwave for 20 seconds before serving.

If your dad has a sweet tooth he will absolutely love a little plate of these homemade jellies on Father’s Day…

Ingredients:

– 3 tbsp gelatine
– 1/3 cup water 
– 2/3 cup Barker’s Crushed NZ Apricot Blush Fruit Syrup

Method:

1. Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and give it a stir.

2. Leave for a minute or two until thickened.

3. Pour 3/4 cup Barker’s Apricot Blush into a saucepan and add the gelatine. Keep stirring as it heats until the gelatine has completely dissolved.

4. Pour into a 20cm x 14cm ceramic dish which has been rinsed in cold water. Leave to set approx 3 hours in the fridge until very firm.

5. Use small (cookie) cutters to cut the apricot jelly into shapes.

Tips and Tricks:

Present the jellies on a beautiful plate like this hand-decorated one to personalize your gift:

You can’t beat a delicious fruit loaf when it comes to a snack. This recipe would be great for a Sunday arvo Father’s Day afternoon tea.

Ingredients:

– 1/2 cup Barker’s Crushed NZ Apricot Blush
– 400g sultanas
– 125g butter
– 1 tsp mixed spice
– A few drops of almond essence
– 1 tsp baking soda
– 3/4 cup of brown sugar
– 1/2 cup of cold water
– 2 beaten eggs
– 2 cups of flour
– 1 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Soak sultanas in Barker’s Apricot Blush overnight or for as long as possible.

2. Place sultanas, butter, mixed spice, baking soda, sugar, water and almond essence in a saucepan and bring to the boil

3. Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes – remove from heat and leave to cool.

4. When cool add eggs, flour and baking powder.

5. Lightly grease 2 15cm x 8cm loaf tins with cooking oil and line with baking paper and divide loaf mixture evenly between them.

6. Bake the loaves for 40 minutes at 180 deg C. (To test whether the loaves are cooked insert a skewer into the centre – if the skewer comes away clean, the loaves are ready. If not leave to bake for a few minutes longer and test again).

7. When the loaves have cooled, turn out onto a rack and leave them to become cold before slicing.

Tips and tricks:

If the tops of the loaves start to brown too much during cooking, cover them with tinfoil to  prevent burning.
The loaf is best sliced cold – leave overnight before slicing if you can resist.

This recipe was created by Lyn Potter. Check out more of Lyn Potter’s recipes on focussedonfood.blogspot.co.nz

See more at: http://www.barkers.co.nz/recipes/fruit-syrups/sultana-and-blush-loaf/#sthash.XhFwMxrU.dpuf

Amongst the items in my Dad’s birthday parcel last year was a jar of homemade muesli. Muesli is really easy to make at home (and often cheaper than buying from the supermarket), and you can customize it to suit your personal taste.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams of rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup wheatgerm (optional)
• few drops of vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup Barker’s Crushed NZ Apricot Blush Fruit Syrup
• 1/4 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup trim milk/water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 200 grams sultanas

Method:

1. Mix the rolled oats, coconut, sunflower seeds and wheatgerm in a large bowl.
2. Whisk Barker’s Apricot Blush, peanut butter, milk/water, brown sugar and vanilla essence together
3. Mix through the rolled oats.
4. Spread the mixture onto a large baking dish and bake at 170 degrees C for 20-30 minutes.
5. Stir from time to time and check to ensure the mixture doen’t burn.
6. Leave the mixture to cool
7. Add the sultanas.
8. Place in a lidded jar and store in the pantry.
 
Tips and tricks:

• Muesli can burn pretty easily, so keep a close eye on it – especially toward the end of cooking. It should be slightly golden when it’s done.
• The longer you bake it the crisper it will be.
• Serve with milk, yoghurt and/or fresh fruit. I also enjoy it with warm milk in winter:)
• Chopped apricots and/or chocolate chips could also be added.

This recipe is from our friends at Barkers of Geraldine, New Zealand. See more at: www.barkers.co.nz 

Pancakes of any kind are the perfect weekend breakfast treat. Whip up a batch of these Banana Pancakes this weekend, or treat dad to a special Father’s Day breakfast-in-bed next Sunday.

Ingredients:

– 2 cups of self-raising flour
– 1/2 cup of plain flour
– 2 tbs raw sugar
– 2 1/3 cups of milk
– 80g of melted butter, cooled
– 1 egg, lightly wisked
– Canola spray oil
– 3 banana’s chopped
– Honey to serve

Method:

1. Sift flours into a bowl, add sugar and stir to combine.

2. Add milk, melted butter and egg; and whisk to combine.

3. Heat a large pan over medium heat and spray with canola spray oil.

4. Add as many of a 1/3 cup of mixture to the pan as will fit. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface on the pancake, around 2 minutes. Turn over and cook for another minute. You can vary the sizes of the pancakes, which is great for presentation but be mindful that the cooking time will also vary.

5. Transfer pancakes to a plate and top with either another plate or a clean tea towel. I don’t recommend putting them in to oven to keep warm as they can dry out and become rubbery.

6. Wipe out the pan, spray with a little more oil and repeat until the mixture is finished. If you find the pan is getting too hot, which it probably will, turn the pan onto a low heat. This should be enough heat to cook the pancakes as you get to the end of the mixture.

7. Serve the pancakes stacked on a plate, topped with fresh banana slices and drizzled with honey – delicious!

Thanks to Jessica from Daily Gluttony for this delicious recipe: http://dailygluttony.wordpress.com/

We’re pretty excited about our upcoming trip to Japan for the Tokyo International Gift Fair. Along with sourcing lots of new products for Mr Gift, we’re also pretty excited about eating lots of yummy Japanese food. Japan is renowned for fresh, healthy food and one of the first Japanese dishes that comes to mind is Sushi. We love this Tuna Sushi recipe, especially for a light lunch. We reckon this one would also be a hit with dad for Father’s Day lunch next week…

Ingredients:

– 2 cups of rice – sushi, arborio or medium grain rice will do
– 2 cups of water
– 1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1 and a 1/2 tbs caster sugar
– 1 tin of tuna chunks in springwater
– 2 tbs whole egg mayonnaise
– 2 shallots – only the white part, cut down the centre and finely sliced
– 1 large carrot finely grated
– 1 cucumber, seeds removed, sliced
– 1 avocado sliced
– 1 packet of dried nori
– small bowl of water

Method:
 
1. Add rice and water to rice cooker and switch to cook. If you don’t own a rice cooker you should seriously consider buying one. You can pick them up pretty cheaply and they are amazing and always produce light, fluffy, well cooked rice.
Once the rice has cooked, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

2. Add rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt to a small pan on low heat and stir until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Many people add the ingredients directly to the rice without allowing them to dissolve, however this will result in a gritty rice and uneven flavour distribution.

3. Add the mixture to the rice, stir and allow to come to room temperature.

4. Drain the tuna to remove as much excess liquid as possible, add to a medium sized bowl with mayonnaise, carrot and shallots and mix until well combined.

5. Carefully remove the nori sheet from the packet and place shiny side down on a dried surface. Cover 3/4 of the sheet in a thin layer of the rice mixture, try for no more than 3-4 grains high. The rice should extent from side to side on the nori and finish 3/4 from the top.

6. Form a line of the tuna mix down the centre of the nori extending from side to side. Place a slice of the cucumber and avocado alongside the tuna mix.

7. Dip your fingers in the small bowl of water and run along the exposed end of the nori sheet.

8. Take hold of the front of the nori sheet and lift slightly, using a very quick motion roll the nori into a circle, speed is key here if you hesitate it WILL all fall apart. Repeat.

9. Allow to rest until the nori has softened. Slice the nori maki into 1-2cm pieces.

10. Serve with chopped chilli in soy sauce and wasabi. You can also serve it with kewpie if you wish.

Thanks to Jessica from Daily Gluttony for this delicious recipe: http://dailygluttony.wordpress.com/