bunyip's Reviews
13 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 13Sort by: Title | Date | Rating
The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen
By Stephanie Alexander
Penguin Global - 2004
Baked Beans : page 134
I sometimes make this with a ham hock instead of bacon. The amount of water specified, although reduced from the first edition, is still in my view excessive. Also, I add the golden syrup at the beginning.
useful (1)
Bolognese Sauce : page 692
As Stephanie says, there are hundreds of recipices for spag bol sauce, but I find this one always works. It's a weekend job though, as you have to hang about for an hour stirring it from time to time.
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Cauliflower & Potato 'Pie' : page 229
Dead simple, better than plain mash to accompany braises.
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Cheesy Bread & Butter Pudding : page 427
Good use for stale bread. Prepare it the night before and bake in the morning while the coffee machine is warming up.
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Leek and Potato Soup : page 540
The inclusion of celery, bay leaf and thyme give this slightly more depth of flavour than Jane Grigson's version. Be careful when sweating the veggies that you don't let the leeks brown.
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Muff's Cauliflower Soup : page 230
The magic ingredient is - Americans avert your eyes - Vegemite! No milk or cream, good if you're on a diet.
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Mustard Sauce for Corned Beef : page 160
Made without egg, but with cream. More unctuous than the traditional PWMU Cookbook version.
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Parsnip Tart : page 678
Being very fond of parsnips I was intrigued by what amounts to a parsnip quiche.
You must use a deep quiche tin, as there is rather a lot of filling. It's very rich - 600ml of cream, 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Didn't have any chervil, but I think the recipe needs tweaking anyway. I used 2 parsnips as per the recipe, but they were not particularly large and perhaps I should have used three, and a wee bit more nutmeg.
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Pumpkin & Bacon Soup : page 799
Made with a bacon bone stock and the addition of paprika, this has a lovely smokey taste.
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Quince & Browned Butter Tart : page 833
Dead easy if you use Charmaine Solomon's no roll pastry. Looks sensational.
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Rosie's (Doggie) Chicken Dinners : page 300
If the vet puts your dishlicker on a chicken and rice diet this is cheaper than the fancy stuff they'll try to sell you. Makes heaps, which you freeze in portions.
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Simplest Beef Stew : page 163
This could not be easier - no browning, just bung everything into a suitable casserole and forget it for two hours.
Stephanie invites you to vary the ingredients. I used a 700ml bottle of tomato passata instead of the (pureed) tin of tomatoes and cup of wine, and I added bacon because I had some handy. But I did follow her instructions to use best quality paprika.
useful (1)
Sticky Toffee Pudding : page 394
I've got lots of recipes for this, but Stephanie's is still the best. The recipe makes prodigious quantitiites of sauce, but can be halved. I make the sauce in the microwave, so instead of worrying about the bottom burning I worry about it overflowing! Watch closely!
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