Chocolate and pumpkin seed biscuits
Many kitchen gardens produce an astonishing crop of pumpkins. The
pumpkins are used in all manner of dishes,and sometimes enthusiastic
students might clean and roast a few of the seeds. It’s laborious but fun to
do. The white pumpkin seeds need to be washed and the fibre scraped from
them and then allowed to dry. The next day they are roasted for 15 minutes,
then rolled in a few drops of olive oil,before the husk is cracked to extract
the kernel. These biscuits include pumpkin seeds,and you can decide which variety you use (see below). I use nut-free muesli in these biscuits but you can
substitute plain rolled oats.
From the garden: pumpkin seeds
INGREDIENTS
- 125g unsalted butter,at room temperature
- 85g brown sugar
- 100g (⅔ cup) self-raising flour
- 100g nut-free muesli or rolled oats
- 75g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids),chopped or bought as small buttons
- 50g pumpkin seed kernels (or store-bought green pumpkin seeds)
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Line two baking trays with baking paper.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and process until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment. Add the flour and muesli or oats and mix briefly. Add the chocolate and pumpkin seeds and mix briefly to just combine.
- Divide the dough into 3cm balls,then place them on the baking trays,leaving room between them as they will spread. Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. They will keep for a week or so if you hide the container from enthusiastic tasters.
Pumpkin seeds: Most pumpkin seeds have a hard white husk and inside a smaller green kernel,sold as pepitas. The less common Styrian pumpkin,now grown in Australia,produces green seeds that do not require hulling. Those pumpkins have very little flesh and are unlikely to be grown in school gardens. It is important for everyone to know that when pumpkin seeds are called for as a snack or an ingredient,it is not the white husk that is needed,but the kernel within.
Makes 20
Giant shells or cannelloni with eggplant and pork stuffing
This is a great recipe for little hands to get very busy with teaspoons to stuff the
shells or tubes. It is also a delicious introduction to eggplant. Leave out the meat if you wish – you will then probably need to double the quantity of eggplant. This recipe uses store-bought dried pasta,either giant shells or cannelloni tubes. Store-bought dried pasta has no eggs and is made from durum wheat,which when ground becomes semolina. Water is the only other ingredient. It is loved by millions of Italians and it is quite incorrect to believe that only egg-based pasta is top quality. Store-bought cannelloni tubes vary in length. Choose shorter ones or,otherwise,after pre-cooking,cut the longer tubes in half so that the filled shapes will settle nicely in your gratin dish. Longer ones can fall sideways.
From the garden:eggplant,garlic,basil
Eggplant curry with yoghurt
This is an example of the sort of easy family cooking I love to encourage,which follows an idea rather than being a strict combination. It is Indian in spirit without any specific origin. I served this dish along with three others for a family curry night and it was a hit with all ages present. The eggplant is cooked gently on top of the stove until it becomes very soft and creamy. Yoghurt does not like to be heated too fast or it will split. Here,we make sure that the yoghurt is at room temperature and it is stabilised with a little starch – the best to use ischickpea flour (also known as besan or gram),but cornflour will also work. Mix the starch with the room-temperature yoghurt before warming it,always gently,and stirring gently.
From the garden:eggplants,coriander,garlic,tomatoes
INGREDIENTS
Serves 6-8
Indonesian mie goreng
This is a classic and much-loved Indonesian dish using traditional flavours of
garlic,chilli,palm sugar and shrimp paste. Here I use pressed tofu,but it could
be chicken or prawn. Use whatever fresh produce is available – I tested this
using Chinese broccoli,bok choy and young silverbeet leaves and they were
all good. Mie goreng is an excellent dish to get students feeling comfortable cooking over high heat using a wok. Young cooks will need a bit of supervision. There is also a lot of chopping involved,which is excellent for teaching or reinforcing knife skills. The wheat noodles used here are purchased ready to use in vacuum sachets. They come in different thicknesses.
From the garden:eggs,carrot,capsicum,snake,or green beans,spring onions,
Asian greens,Asian herbs,(coriander,Vietnamese mint,hot mustard leaves),limes,garlic,shallots,chilli
- 2 tbsp kecap manis
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chopped or grated palm sugar
METHOD
- To make the spice paste,put all the ingredients in a mortar and pestle and
pound to a paste (or use the small bowl of a food processor). Set aside. - Whisk the eggs well in a bowl. Heat a seasoned omelette pan over medium heat,brush with some of the oil and immediately tip the egg in. Using a spatula,drag the cooked edges to the centre,swirling to allow the uncooked egg to fill the space. Now wait and allow the omelette to cook completely – this will take about 1 minute. Turn off the heat,rest for 30 seconds,then turn the omelette out onto a chopping board. Allow to cool slightly,then loosely roll up the omelette and cut it into 1cm slices. Set aside.
- Mix the kecap manis sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Now make sure you have all your ingredients ready on a tray.
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat for 30 seconds,then add the rest of the
oil. When it starts to smoke,immediately tip in the spice paste. Stir rapidly for 30 seconds – it should sizzle. Now add the tofu (or chicken or prawn) and stir to mix with the paste. Reduce the heat to medium and immediately add the carrot,capsicum,beans and spring onion. Stir well,then cover and cook for 2 minutes. - Increase the heat to high,uncover,then drop in the noodles. Stir to break them up and mix with the other ingredients. Add the kecap manis sauce. Stir very well,then add all of the Asian greens and bean sprouts (if using). Stir for 3-4 minutes,then drop in most of the sliced omelette. Reduce the heat and cook until all the ingredients are steaming and well mixed. Taste for salt (you most likely won’t need any).
- Top with the fresh herbs and fried shallots,and the extra sliced omelette.
- Tuck the lime wedges around the dish and serve.
Note: Whoever has chopped the chillies needs to be reminded to wash their hands very well and to use a nailbrush.
Serves 2-3 very generously