RAISIN & OAT SCONES

Mom requested this one, so of course I am more than happy to oblige. I am not so much a huge "scone" fan, but they certainly make the house smell very nice. These are also good to have with a hot drink - my favourite is Jarrah hot chocolate (98% Fat-free, but tastes nice & chocolatey). My lovely hubby also said they are good with coffee...he loves his coffee. (Isn't that right, love?... ;o)

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 Cups Flour

1.25 Cups Rolled Oats

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 Tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

2/3 Cup Unsalted Butter, melted

1/3 Cup Milk

1 Egg, beaten lightly

1/2 Cup Raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 450°F (225-230°C) and grease cookie sheet or lay out silicone mat on cookie sheet.

I always sift my dry ingredients together for easier and more complete blending. So, first you need to combine first 7 ingredients (except the oats) in a sifter and sift together into a large bowl. Add the oats and mix together well.

Blend the butter, milk and egg together in another bowl, then add it to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Now you may mix in raisins (or any other dried fruit you like).

The dough/batter will still be very sticky, but you will need to roll dough into balls (about raquetball-size - slightly smaller than tennis balls) and place on baking sheet approximately an inch or so from each other. If you want smaller scones, more like "finger food", make the balls smaller (golf ball size) and it will double the quantity from 12 to 24.

Bake until light brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly on rack. (Easily prepared a day ahead.)

Cool completely and store in an airtight container or a ziplock bag.

FRESH NEW ZEALAND BUTTERFISH

ENCRUSTED IN MACADAMIA NUTS

AND KUMARA

Prep Time: 10 maybe 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

First, a bit about the poor 'sole' I served up with red cabbage and brussel sprouts last night (pun intended). What is a New Zealand Butterfish, you may ask...well, it appears to be slightly different than the American variety (a.k.a. Black Cod or Sablefish).

New Zealand Butterfish

Butterfish is a kelp fish found throughout New Zealand, but most commonly in the colder, deeper, southern waters. It grows to about 20 inches in length and is purplish grey to olive green with lighter colouration underneath. The fins are variegated with bright blue and the body is marbled and streaked with brown. These are also referred to "down under" as “greenbone” because the bones and the flesh in contact with them are stained bright bluish-green. The flavour of this fish is lovely and mild and it is keenly sought after on the market. The texture, when cooked, is moist and "buttery" and it will simply fall apart and melt in your mouth. I personally try to get to the big outdoor market in Wellington on Sunday mornings (before 9:30 a.m.) to get a fresh one filleted right on the boat in front of me. The butterfish is not to be confused with another popular and tasty fish here, the butterfly fish (a.k.a. red gurnard, pictured below). ;o)

Now, perhaps I have seen too many Food Network shows, but I wanted to try to do a process variation of a fish dish I saw Emeril or one of his Foodie friends doing to a different species of finny, floating, fishie. (I know, I know, cut back on the caffeine. It's all Mom's fault - she's really the punny one in the family!)

Back to the kitchen... I used butterfish because it is so very tender and mild when cooked correctly. I decided to use macadamias because I had a huge bag in the pantry that needed to be put to good use and, because my daughter loves them. I also chose to use kumara because I thought normal potatoes might be too "juicy" to stick to the floured & eggy fish and, because I thought the sweetness might be nice with this fish and the nuts (macadamias, not family members). Wow, was I right! This did turn out to be a very nice preparation, albeit somewhat messy, so here's how you get started.

INGREDIENTS:

500 Gm (about 1 Lb) Butterfish

1 Cup (approx) Flour

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tsp Garlic Powder

2-3 Tsp Freshly Ground Pepper

1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Nuts (I used Macadamias, but Pistachios or Almonds would also be nice)

2 Eggs

2 Raw Grated Kumaras (or Sweet Potato/American Yam)

1/2 Cup Cooking Oil (I used Sunflower & EVOO because Olive Oil will burn with sustained high temp)

DIRECTIONS:

First, have a baking dish big enough to accommodate all of your fish set aside and preheat the oven to 350 F (180-190 C).

Now cut up the fish into manageable sized pieces for dredging. Mine were probably about 3-4 inches square (8-10 cm).

Next, mix up some flour, salt, garlic powder & pepper for the first step of coating the fish and grate up the kumara with a standard cheese grater.

Beat 2 eggs in a shallow bowl and add about a half cup or so of crushed nuts (the finer, the better - food chopper or coffee grinders are great for this). Combine well.

Okay, we are ready! Start the oil heating to a med-high temperature in a good sized pan for frying, then coat each piece of fish in the flour mixture and set aside.

After all of the fish is floured & seasoned, dredge in the egg & nut mixture then quickly roll in grated kumara. It won't all stick yet, so make sure to pile a little extra gratings on and here is where it gets a bit tricky... You can either do them all in advance to cooking and set them aside or...have the oil at temperature and start frying them off immediately out of the batter and kumara. I opted for the latter and it was slightly less messy than setting them aside on another dish to await the frypan.

Only fry off long enough to brown the outside coating, then place into the baking dish. Once all of your fish has been browned in the frypan, put it into the oven for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. (Just look how moist it is in the photo below.)

I served this last night with lovely fresh brussel sprouts and a bit of red cabbage. I topped the veggies off with a really simple dressing great for any cabbagey veg or slaw. Just get a measuring cup out, add a couple of dollops of real mayonnaise, add a couple of tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, a teaspoon of sugar, and some salt, pepper and wholegrain mustard. Give it a good mix and pour it over your veggies.

A touch of lemon really sets this dish off so serve with lemon wedges immediately and enjoy!

BANANNA NUT BREAD

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 40-60 Minutes

When I walk past a bakery or into someone's kitchen just as fresh baked goods are being pulled out of the oven, the aroma is usually one of those things that I really find hard to resist. Breads, cakes, pies - they all have that "Grandma's Place" scent...the yeast or the sugar, whatever it is just triggers a reaction not unlike poor Pavlov's dog with the ring of a bell. I suppose baked treats are my "bell" of sorts. One of them anyway. ;o)

My Dad loves bananna flavoured treats, as does my husband, so I took some overripened banannas that were destined for the bin if not rescued soon, and decided to give them one last chance for resurrection into something suitable for human consumption.

I gathered up my brown banannas and a bag of walnuts and decided these were to become a lovely loaf of bananna nut bread - American style. My hubby usually says he will make a bananna cake when our banannas get past their "use by" dates, but I have only had it once. I will never forget how the first one he made enveloped the house in a lovely aroma, then he covered it in a lovely chocolatey icing...and proceeded to wrap it up for his barber!!! WHAT??? Yep, that's right, he had promised the shop he would bring in his "famous bananna cake", so I didn't even get to sample any for nearly another two years! Needless to say, I married him anyway (hehe) and I try to beat him to the punch these days! Hehe... ;o)

Anyway, this recipe is from a very old McCall's cookbook that my friend's father gave me as a wedding present many moons ago. I still cherish it (and reference it often) today!

INGREDIENTS:

1 & 1/2 Cups Sifted Flour

2/3 Cup Sugar

3 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Cup Butter or Margerine

1 Cup Mashed Very Ripe Banannas (approximately 2-4, more or less)

(QUICK TIP: to quickly ripen for cakes & breads, freeze then thaw them)

2 Eggs

1/2 - 2/3 Cup Chopped Walnuts

1/4 Cup Raisins (optional - I opt to leave 'em out)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F (180-190 C) and grease or spray cooking oil into a standard loaf pan (or muffin tin - lined or not).

Sift all dry ingredients (first 5 listed) into a large bowl and cut in butter or margerine with two knives (or a pastry blender) until it resembles a consistency like breadcrumbs and there are no large lumps.

Now add bananna and eggs and, with an electric mixer on low, combine for 1-2 minutes then add nuts & raisins and combine well.

Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-60 minutes (start checking at 25 minutes for muffins). Begin checking loaf at 40-45 minutes and remove from oven once a tester inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the pan and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

It is suggested to then wrap the loaf in plastic, then in foil and store overnight before serving. I assume that it enhances the bananna flavour and keeps the loaf moist.

This recipe makes one standard loaf.