Macadamia And Ginger Shortbread

As much as I love a piece of Christmas cake or a mince pie at Christmas time, sometimes it's nice to have something a little bit lighter. Just a little morsel of something sweet and delcious. My mother in law makes great shortbread biscuits and rum balls every year, so I really can't compete with her on the biscuit stakes. The solution is to make flavoured shortbread, which is completely different, but oh so good.

This macadamia and glace ginger version I came across three or four years ago and have been making it ever since. It is delicious! A beautiful combination of buttery shortbread, nutty toasted macadamia nuts and sweet, but bitey glace ginger. Perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea or to give away as a homemade gift.

This shortbread is nice and short and can tend to be a bit crumbly. Make sure you don't overcook it, otherwise it can be really hard to cut into pieces without falling apart. Making it into one large 'biscuit' makes it very quick to make. If you have a mixer, it really only takes a few minutes to combine all the ingredients.

If you don't normally like glace ginger, I'd suggest that you try this recipe and see if it changes your mind. Being finely chopped it just adds a beautiful flavour without being overwhelming. If you really can't stand it, maybe use dried cranberries instead for a festive look.

Macadamia And Ginger Shortbread

100g macadamia nuts

250g butter, softened

1/2 cup caster sugar plus extra to sprinkle

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup cornflour

100g glace ginger, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 140 degrees.

Spread macadamia nuts on a baking tray and toast for 8 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Coarsely chop nuts and set aside.

Use a mixer or hand beater to cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.

Add flour and gently mix to combine.

Stir through nuts and ginger.

Tip dough onto a large piece of baking paper on a baking tray and shape into a large rectangle, about 1cm thick.

Score dough into fingers and then prick with a fork and sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes or until pale golden.

Remove from the oven and cool completely on tray before cutting into fingers at markings.

Wrap in cellophane with red and green ribbons to give as a gift, or store in an airtight container for a week or so (if it lasts that long!)

Enjoy!

Coconut, Strawberry And Macadamia Loaf

I love to bake, but prefer to make simple, everyday cakes, slices and biscuits that I can indulge in every day. Sometimes the super rich, fancy treats can be a bit too much. Plus, they don't really last, so unless we're having a dinner party, I tend to avoid making them. I'm really the only sweet-tooth in the house as well, so if I make something sweet, I end up eating the whole thing. Not great for the waistline!

With strawberries being so cheap and beautiful at the moment, I couldn't resist coming up with a recipe to use them. I'll still probably make up a couple of batches of strawberry jam for Christmas presents and maybe a cheesecake, but this loaf was lovely.

It's quite a dense loaf, due to the coconut, but would be perfect as an indulgent breakfast or morning tea, toasted and then topped with whipped ricotta and a few fresh strawberries. Yum! Straight out of the oven, it tasted pretty good too.

The strawberries add nice little bursts of sweetness and flavour and the finely chopped macadamias a bit of crunch. 

My breakfast and morning tea for the week is definitely sorted. :-)

Coconut, Strawberry and Macadamia Loaf

2 eggs
1 1/4 cups of milk
1 tsp vanilla essence

70g butter

2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon 
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1 cup strawberries, chopped


Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Grease a 13x23cm loaf tin.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, milk and vanilla essence.

In another small bowl, melt the butter in the microwave in 20 second bursts and allow to cool slightly. 

Whisk the cooled butter into the egg mixture. 

In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon.

Add sugar, coconut and macadamia nuts.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour in the egg mixture. Stir gently until all combined, but don't over mix.
Gently stir through the strawberries.

Spoon into the loaf tin and bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean. If it seems to be browning too quickly, cover the top loosely with some foil.
Leave to cool slightly in the tin and then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Serve as is or cut into thick slices and toast.

Enjoy!

A Light Vegetarian Option After Too Much Chocolate!

After some pretty indulgent eating and drinking over Easter, and maybe a little too much chocolate, it's nice to get back to regular eating habits.

We had a beautiful roast pork on Easter Sunday, with the best crackling I've ever had! I love roast pork with lots of vegies and gravy, but it can leave you needing a nap afterwards!

Tonight's dinner is a nice light vegetarian meal with lots of vegetable goodness. I've added my favourite haloumi as well, for some salty, cheesyness. I know that the fried haloumi doesn't really make this overly healthy, but it still tastes pretty good!

When you cook the broccoli, make sure that it is slightly under cooked, so that there is still a bit of crunch. There is nothing worse than soggy vegetables.

Adding a bit of extra texture to the dish are the toasted macadamia nuts. I love macadamias, but when they are toasted or roasted, they just have so much more flavour. I always have to roast more than I need, otherwise there don't end up being any left over to cook with! If you didn't want to turn on the oven just to toast a few nuts, you can easily do it in a dry frying pan on the stove. You won't get quite the same flavour and the nuts won't brown evenly, but it can be quicker and easier to do it this way. Just keep tossing the nuts in the pan so that they don't burn on one side.

Pickled radishes have become a bit of a staple in our house since I made them a few months ago and absolutely fell in love with them. I've never been much of a radish fan, as I find them too hot. Pickling them changes all that and makes them sweet and vinegary at the same time. They are really easy and quick to pickle too, so you can whip up a batch in the morning to eat that night or the next day. As long as you store them in the fridge in a sterilised jar, they should keep for a week or so. I make up a solution of 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 cup caster sugar and 1 tsp salt, stirred to dissolve. Pour this into the sterilised jars which are packed to the top with thinly sliced radishes. Seal, tip a few times to ensure the air bubbles are out and put into the fridge. The radishes are great as an accompaniment to roast pork or chicken, in sandwiches, salads or just on their own. Give them a try, especially if you're not normally a radish person!

Broccoli, Haloumi and Toasted Macadamia Salad

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

350g brocoli, cut into florets

180g packet of haloumi, sliced into 5mm slices

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 Tbs pickled radishes

1 Tbs pickling solution

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground pepper to taste

A few sprigs of parsley, to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.

Place macadamias on an oven tray and toast for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. 

Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add broccoli florets and boil for about 2 minutes or until just cooked.

Drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Add nuts, spring onions, radishes, pickling solution and oil to the bowl and toss to coat. Season with pepper to taste. You shouldn't need any salt, as there is some in the pickling solution and the haloumi is salty.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a fry pan over medium heat.

Add haloumi slices that have been patted dry with kitchen paper, and fry for a couple of minutes each side, or until a beautiful golden brown.

To serve, toss the haloumi through the salad and pile on to plates. Top with a couple of extra macadamias and fresh parsley.

Enjoy!