Microwave Cake

Microwave Cake

I'm living in Gayndah at the moment. One of the benefits (or not... ) of this is that I meet lots of French people!

Now, someone told me that the best chefs in the world are French... You would never know it from the French people in Gayndah! In fact it is a stretch for most of them to make a fish finger sandwich!

One thing that I have learned from the French of Gayndah is the secret of a cake that you can make in the microwave! This seems miraculous to me, and I thought it would be of interest for all of you that don't have access to an oven! The ingredients are as follows...

1 Yoghurt (any flavour)
1 yoghurt pot of sugar
3 yoghurt pots of flour
3 eggs
1 yoghurt pot of oil
1 tea-spoon of bicarbonate of soda
200g of dark chocolate

you will also need
one large oven proof bowl
one small oven proof bowl
a spoon for mixing
a microwave

The instructions couldn't be simpler...

Just add the ingredients to the large bowl one at a time, mixing thoroughly after every ingredient. When you get to the chocolate, you want to break it up, place it in the small bowl, and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes or until it is melted. Once it is melted, just add it to the rest of the ingredients and mix.

The resultant mixture should look something like this...

Once everything is mixed together you place the large bowl into the microwave and put it on high heat for 12 minutes. Be aware that the mixture will rise considerably, so make sure that the mix has plenty of space to rise into. The first time I did this the bowl was too small and the mixture spilled all over the microwave...

You will know that the cake is done when it is firm but spongy. Depending on your microwave you may need to give it more or less time.

Cut the cake into slices and serve...

Variations

Use different types of chocolate to give different tastes.

Add some dried fruit like raisins. I think one yoghurt pot would be about right...

Add choc chips to the recipe.

Top the cake with icing sugar, or coco powder...

Chilli con Carné

My mother taught me this dish before I went away to university. I have improved it since then, but the base of the recipe is still the same... This meal is very easy to experiment with. See the variations at the bottom for some of the possible changes you can make.

You will need
Ingredients
500 grams minced beef (Vegetarians see the variations list at the bottom)
one large onion
a handful of mushrooms (200-400 grams)
half a clove of garlic
one green capsicum (pepper)
one or two fresh red or green chillies (how many depends on how hot you like it)
one medium sized potato
around 250 grams pumpkin
3 tablespoons of tomato paste (or a jar of passata)
one tin baked beans
one tin kidney beans
one tin chopped tomatoes
2 stock cubes (vegetable chicken or beef work well)
one teaspoon of chilli powder
salt and pepper
vegetable oil
crème fraiche
Equipment
A large frying pan
A large saucepan
Chopping board
Knife
Tin opener
Two gas (or electric) hobs

The first thing that you want to do is to wash the potato and cut it up into roughly 1cm squares. Chop the skin from the pumpkin and dispose of the seeds. Chop the pumpkin into similarly sized lumps.

Put the potato, pumpkin, the tins of baked beans, kidney beans and tomatoes, the stock cubes, the tomato paste and the chilli powder into the large sauce pan. Add more water (about a cup will probably be enough) to keep everything moist and place on a high heat. Add pepper and a little salt at this stage too. When you are preparing the rest of the ingredients keep an eye on this pan. If it starts to boil then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer. If it is drying out (it will start to burn to the pot if it gets too dry) add a bit more water.

Next chop the mushrooms into large pieces. Slice about half of the garlic up and add the garlic and the mushrooms to the frying pan with a bit of oil (50-100 ml). Put this frying pan on a high heat. Keep the mushrooms moving, especially when the pan gets hot. When the mushrooms are browned all over add the beef mince. Stir in the beef mince, breaking it up as it cooks. When it is browned all over turn the heat down to medium-low.

Chop the onion and add it to the frying pan. Stir it in and then chop the chillis and add them. Chop the rest of the garlic and add it. Finally chop up the capsicum (green pepper) and add it to the frying pan. Stir the frying pan regularly as you are doing all of this.

When all of the ingredients are in the frying pan turn the heat back up and stir them all together as they get hotter. Once you think everything looks done (this is a matter of taste and experience, but as long as nothing is burnt too much then it will be ok) add the entire contents of the frying pan to the sauce pan.

Now you stir the sauce pan and then leave everything to simmer. The longer you leave it the better everything will taste. At a minimum make sure that the potatoes and pumpkin are cooked (stick a fork in them. They should be easy to pierce).

Serve the chilli in a bowl with a tablespoon of the crème fraiche on top. Toast or a French stick makes a good accompaniment to this dish.

Variations

For vegetarians, you can enjoy this meal but take out the minced beef and add more of the pumpkin and potato. Technically it won't be chilli con carne any more... just chilli! :p

Use steak meat instead of mince. Cut it into thin strips and then treat it exactly the same as the mince. This is more authentic.

Instead of using a green capsicum you can mix up your capsicum colours, maybe using half a green, and a quarter of a yellow and red.

Add more or less chilli powder to taste.

Add grated cheese to the top of the chilli as well as the crème fraiche.

If you can't find crème fraiche (it is rare in Australia for example) you can use sour crème or even Greek yoghurt.

Instead of the kidney beans you can use a 3 or 4 bean mix.

Almost all of the ingredients are removeable or replaceable. The only thing you need are the beans and the chilli powder! Other possible ingredients would be sweet potatoes, carrots, cabbage or spinach (add with the potatos at the start).

Cheese Cake

This recipe was passed to me by my mother, and to her from her mother, and to her from one of my aunts ex-boyfriends... I used to think it was an old family recipe... This is my variation to make individual sized portions...

For this you will need

Topping
0.22 liter 3/8th pint evaporated milk (works best if slightly frozen)
grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
0.3 litres 1/2 pint double cream
0.12 kilograms 4 oz soft cheese (Philadelphia works fine)
0.12 kilograms 4 oz caster sugar

Base
12 digestive biscuits
0.045 kilograms 1 1/2 oz sugar
0.09 kilograms 3 oz butter

Equipment
Three mixing bowls
Whisk (it is possible with a normal balloon whisk, but I recommend using an electric whisk)
10 empty yogurt pots
Small saucepan
Gas (or electric) hob
Fridge
Wooden spoon
Rolling pin (any hard object will do at a pinch)

The first thing that you need to make is the base. This is simple. Crush up the digestive biscuits in a bowl with the rolling pin. Melt the 3 oz of butter in the saucepan, remove from the heat and mix in the crushed digestive biscuits and the 1.5 oz of sugar.

Place an equal amount of the base mixture into each of the yogurt pots and press flat. The base should be just under 1cm thick. If you have some left over you may be able to make more... Leave the bases aside to cool.

For the topping, add the lemon rind to the evaporated milk and whisk it until it is thick and creamy.

Whip the cream to a light and fluffy consistency.

Mix the lemon juice, cheese and sugar together and fold them into the evaporated milk. Folding is a very gentle mixing action with a wooden spoon, using a figure of eight motion.

Fold the whipped cream into the resulting mixture.

You then pour the topping into the yogurt pots and place them into the fridge to set. The setting will take around twelve hours.

Variations

Add some fruit on top of the topping. Kiwi fruit work very well, or any kind of berries. (The picture shows some cheesecake with blueberries.

You can make this in a cake tin, but it has to be the type of cake tin that the side unclips from otherwise you won't be able to serve it effectively.

Bangers and Mash with gravy.

For this classic British recipe you will need

1 large potato per person
2-3 sausages per person (it is worth spending more to get better sausages for this. Pork are better.)
1/2 an onion per person
3 small mushrooms per person
some kind of stock powder (chicken or vegetable would be best)
around 50g butter
one egg
splash of milk
salt
pepper

one large frying pan
one medium sized pan
a masher
a bread board
a knife

two gas (electric will do if you have no alternative) hobs.

The first step is to wash the potatoes, cut them into roughly inch cubes and put them in the pan with enough water to cover them plus a bit. You can add salt to the water as well. Put the pan on a high heat.

While the water is heating up you can slice the mushrooms and onions into largish pieces.

Add some cooking oil to the pan (you don't need much) fry the sausages in the pan on a high heat until they are browned all over and then add the mushrooms and onions to the frying pan. You can reduce the heat a little at this stage.

While you are doing all of this keep an eye on the potatoes to see if they are boiling. If they are then reduce the heat on the potatoes until they are simmering steadily.

When the onions in the frying pan are a nice light golden brown colour add some of the water from the boiling potatoes to the frying pan. Add the stock powder to the frying pan at this point and add pepper to taste. Turn the heat under the frying pan right down so it is gently simmering.

Test the potatoes to see if they are done. Stab them with a knife or a fork. If they are easy to stab then they are done. Drain out the water. If the frying pan looks a little dry then add some more of the potato water to that.

Add the butter, egg and milk to the potatoes and also add salt to taste. The more salt the better it will taste... but salt is bad for you... so use caution. Be careful not to use too much milk, you only need a splash... and if you really want to you can get away without using any.

Mash the potatoes until they are at a good consistency for you. I like them smooth, but not too smooth. It is personal preference how you like them. Dish out the mashed potato onto plates.

Add the sausages next to the mash, and pour the mushroom and onion gravy over the whole lot.

I like to have mustard on the side as I think it goes well with the sausages.

And voilà... you have a delicious meal.


Optional extras.

If you feel adventurous you can add mustard to the potatoes before you mash them.

Chopped spinach (you can find it in the freezer section of the supermarket) enhances any gravy. Just add it to the frying pan after you have added the water.

If you are having lamb sausages you can try adding mint to the mashed potato.