Citrus Slice - use any citrus fruit in this delicious slice

This is quite similar to the recipe Liss has for Lemon slice on her blog over at Frills in the Hills.  I've tried her recipe and it's fantastic.


For something slightly different, this recipe (from NZ icon, Alison Holst) is a citrus slice in which you can use any citrus fruit that is in season.  We have an orange tree in the back yard which is covered in fruit ready to use so I am going to save some money for the school and take in my own oranges to use in this recipe.


I love anything with a condensed milk, butter, and biscuit base!  An Australian friend of mine teased me that NZ baking always involves crushed biscuits and condensed milk :)


Give this recipe a go with lemons, oranges, mandarins and tangelos in season.

Citrus slice


Base
100 g butter
¾ c (1/2 can) sweetened condensed milk
1 c coconut
Grated rind of 1 or 2 citrus fruit
1 (200g) packet of plain sweet biscuits


Icing
1 c icing sugar
1 T soft butter
Citrus fruit juice


1. Collect equipment and measure all ingredients.


2. Grate rind of fruit using fine side of grater.


3. Make biscuits into crumbs using a food processor


4. Melt the butter in a saucepan.


5. Add condensed milk, finely grated rind of citrus fruit, coconut and the biscuit crumbs to the melted butter. Mix well.


6. Press mixture into a lined slice tin.


7. Mix icing sugar with soft butter than add juice, a few drops at a time, to icing consistency.


8. Spread with a knife and decorate with a fork if desire.


9. Refrigerate until firm.


10. Cut into squares or rectangles and store in the refrigerator.

Cheese Cakes - not what you expect!

I am not sure if this is a New Zealand recipe or not, but I've never seen or heard of them anywhere else. These are a small cupcake with a jam filling and a pastry base - not at all what you would expect a cheese cake to be.

My mum used to buy these as a treat for my brother and I from the local bakery in St Martins, Christchurch (which is sadly no longer there).  I always have lovely memories of my mum and my childhood whenever I eat them.

Give them a try - they are delicious!

Cheese Cakes

200 g flaky pastry (1 ½ sheets)
3 T raspberry jam
125 g butter, softened
½ c sugar
1 c plain flour
1 t baking powder
2 eggs, beaten


1. Preheat oven to 200ºC.


2. Place sugar and butter in a mixing bowl.


3. Sift flour and baking powder in a separate mixing bowl.


4. Beat eggs together in small jug or bowl with a fork or whisk.


5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 2 mm thick.


6. Cut out rounds, using a scone or biscuit cutter and use to line patty tins (or muffin tins).


7. Place ½ t of jam in each pastry case.


8. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.


9. Add sifted flour/baking powder to creamed mixture alternatively with beaten eggs.


10. Stir to mix.


11. Drop large spoonfuls of mixture into each pastry case.


12. Bake at 200ºC for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked.

The World's Best Apple Crumble

This is a great apple crumble.  I have a lot of students who pull a rude face when I tell them we are making apple crumble and they say they don't like it.  I always say, "Wait until you try this apple crumble."  And in 99.9% of cases, they agree that it is the best ever.
Enjoy!

ps.  I have a thing for making individual desserts because it makes presentation quick and easy.  Also, in a class situation, it saves arguments about who got the biggest piece.  But if you want to make it in a family size dish, it will work fine.

Apple Crumble

(Serves 2)

Ingredients


Crumble:
1 ¼ c plain flour
4 T brown sugar
100 g butter, cubed


Filling:
225 tinned pie apple (or homemade cooked apple)
1 T brown sugar
¼ t ground cinnamon

Method:


1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.


2. Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and mix well.


3. Taking a few cubes of butter at a time, rub into the flour mixture. Keep rubbing until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.


4. Mix the second measure of brown sugar and cinnamon together.


5. Spray two ovenproof dishes with cooking spray. Place the fruit into two dishes and sprinkle over the cinnamon-sugar mixture.


6. Stir well, being careful not to break up the fruit.


7. Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of the fruit.


8. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the crumble is browned and the fruit mixture is bubbling.


9. Serve with thick cream, ice cream or custard.

Note:  If you have a food processor, instead of rubbing the butter in by hand, you can just pulse it until it's like breadcrumbs.  Much quicker!

Super Dooper Cookie Mix

We had a Year 6 Open Day recently where all the year 6 students from local schools came for a taster day at Intermediate School.  Over three days we had 2 x 2 hour sessions per day with different groups of students.  For Food Technology, I had the students make Super Dooper Cookies.  The students each made a batch of cookie mix to take home and bake and also baked a batch of super dooper cookies in class.  The cookies are super dooper because the students can put whatever they want in the mix.  It's a good recipe which makes lots of yummy cookies.  Enjoy!

Super Dooper Cookie Mix

This recipe makes enough mix for two batches of cookies for yourself or a friend


2 ½ c flour
1 c sugar
1 c packed brown sugar
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
200 g shortening (Kremelta)
1 c chocolate chips/M&Ms/Pebbles, dried fruit, etc


1. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients and stir until well mixed.


2. Rub in shortening until crumbly or place all ingredients in a food processor and process until mix is crumbly like bread crumbs.


3. Tip mix back into bowl and stir in chocolate chips/M&Ms/Pebbles or dried fruit.


4. Place the mix in a large snap lock bag or in an airtight container. This mix will keep for about 3 months on the shelf or 6 months in the freezer.




How to turn your cookie mix into cookies


3 ½ cups of cookie mix
1 egg
1 t vanilla essence


1. Preheat your oven to 190 ºC.


2. Line two oven trays with baking paper.


3. Place egg and vanilla in a small bowl and beat until well combined.


4. Place the 3 ½ cups of cookie mix into a large mixing bowl.


5. Add beaten egg and vanilla to cookie mix and stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.


6. Place teaspoonfuls on trays, about 5 cm apart (to allow for spreading).


7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.


8. Cool on tray for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks.

Foodie Teacher Fashion

In my job, I need to wear an apron every day.

The students all wear a standard dark green drill apron, but that's too much like a school uniform for me and being the fashion conscious Food Tech teacher I am, LOL, I like to mix it up a bit...

I have the "Desperate Housewife" number for Mondays (and other days when I am feeling either desperate or housewifey) - The reason why it is usually a Monday you will find me wearing this is because Monday night is Desperate Housewives on TV2 and it gets me in the show mood.  I often find a Year 8 boy wearing this, which always gives me a giggle!

Other days, I wear my cupcake apron - the girls like this one a lot.

I also have a navy blue and white striped apron - professional, but still more interesting than dark green.

I also have a few aprons I got free with magazines such as Cuisine, Donna Hay and Better Homes and Gardens - thank you to them!

Then, just for fun, I have a NZ sheep apron which my Dad gave me when I was living in Australia.
This is one that I will occasionally let a student wear if I am feeling particularly generous and if they ask nicely :)

What to do about students who don't like food

I had my first session with a Year 8 class today.

When the bell rang for first break, one of the students stayed behind to talk to me.  He told me that he wanted to let me know that he was a very fussy eater and was it OK if he didn't eat the food he made today.

I was surprised and told him we were making tacos and burritos which are a really popular food with most kids and I thought he would be excited about making them and eating them, but instead he said, "No, I don't like any of the food that goes into those."

I reminded him about the class rule which is if  he isn't allergic to a food or couldn't eat it for cultural reasons that he needed to try at least one spoonful.  After that, if he still didn't like it, then he didn't have to eat it, but at least he had tried it.

He said "OK" and headed out to break.

In the second half of the lesson he got right into the making of the dish but just when it came to eating time, he asked to go to the toilet.  He was out of the class for a while and when he walked back in, he announced to everyone that he wasn't eating anything.

I didn't make an issue of it, but asked him to get on with the clean up and dishes if he wasn't going to eat.

At the end of the lesson, I asked him to wait behind.  I think he thought he was going to get a blasting from me so he looked surprised when I said, "How are we going to make Food Technology work for you?"

He smiled and said, "I don't know.  Are we going to make muffins?"

I laughed and said, "It's not part of the plan, but I'm guessing you like muffins?"

"As long as they're chocolate!" he said.

So then we had a bit of a chat about what he ate at home, what he liked to make and it turned out, as is often the case, that there was stuff going on at home...

So I am glad I didn't just read him the riot act!

I told him next week we were making sushi and asked him if he had ever tried it.

"No way!" he said.

"Do you like rice?"

"Yep."

"What about chicken?"

"Yep."

"So you'll eat rice and chicken sushi?"

"OK."

So we shook on it and he assured me that in next week's lesson he will try ONE piece of chicken sushi.

Watch this space.  I'll let you know next week if I get the "I don't like most food" kid to eat sushi :D

A delicious breakfast cereal - Ba Ba Ba Boom!

This is a new recipe for my Year 7 "Presents in a Package" unit.

I developed this recipe during the school holidays and I am using it for the first time next week.

I hope the students enjoy it.  I've made a few different versions and it is really yummy.

Ba ba ba Boom! Breakfast Cereal

Ingredients
2 c rolled oats
¼ c unprocessed wheat bran
¼ c wheat germ
¼ c pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds
1 t ground cinnamon
1/3 c honey
1 T vegetable oil
½ c flaked coconut
½ c of rice bubbles, corn flakes, puffed wheat, bran flakes or Allbran
½ c sultanas or raisins


1 T of dried fruit of your choice (coarsely chopped): You may choose up to 5 fruits from the following list (a total of 5 T)


Apricots
Apples
Cranberries
Strawberries
Dates
Peaches
Mango
Goji berries
Yoghurt-covered raisins
Cherries
blueberries


1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Collect all ingredients and equipment before you start cooking!

3. Spread rolled oats out evenly in a large oven tray and roast uncovered for 5 minutes.

4. Stir wheat bran, wheat germ, pepitas and cinnamon into the oats.

5. Mix honey and oil together. Drizzle evenly over ingredients in tray. Stir to combine. Roast uncovered for 5 minutes.

6. Add coconut to oven tray. Stir to combine. Roast uncovered for 5 minutes.

7. Remove tray from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

8. Return oat mixture to large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients.

9. Place ½ c of cereal in a bowl and serve with milk or yoghurt.

10. Divide remaining ingredients between your snap lock bags and attach label.