There was a time when racks of lamb were a lot cheaper than they are now, so using them in a casserole was probably OK, but with the price they are now I think I’d make this recipe with a cheaper lamb cut – chump chops would work just as well.
This casserole base makes two portions and is a great way to pre-prepare a couple of nights dinners. You can make the base, divide in half and then freeze it. It’s easy enough then to defrost it and add the extra ingredients on the night you want to use it.
These biscuits are traditionally made for Greek Orthodox Easter, which is usually celebrated on a different date to the Christian festival. This year though the two coincide so I thought it was a good time to share this recipe that I found in Mum’s collection.
Everyone has a quick pasta recipe these days and at first glance this one doesn’t seem all that unusual, but back when Mum cut this one out it was a fairly new idea for her. At that time the only pasta dish she made spaghetti bolognese.
Like Mum I have a pretty large collection of cheesecake recipes, but this is the first one I’ve come across that uses Italian Macaroons as a base and pears as a topping. You could use fresh pears in place of the canned ones if you wanted to, but I think you’d need to poach them first to soften them.
I don’t imagine that Mum ever made these as the spicy red curry paste wasn’t something she or Dad would have liked, but for those who don’t feel that way this recipe sounds like a great way to jazz up the humble rissole.
I would never have imagined that you could use rice cakes to make the base of a lemon meringue pie, but this recipe from Sunrice Australia published in the Women’s Weekly does just that. In the picture the base looks quite good, it does have some crushed biscuits in there as well as coconut, so I guess it works and the filling has rice in it as well. It’s certainly a different lemon meringue pie!!
This recipe comes out of a Woman’s Weekly pullout called Pies without Pastry. When I first saw the title I thought the filling was rhubarb and butternut pumpkin which sounded very strange. On reading the recipe I was relieved to discover the butternut was actually butternut biscuits crushed to make the base. When you top that with the filling of rhubarb and apples and the crust of coconut and brown sugar you end up with a great tasting pie.
After watching Mum entertain family and friends for years and years I guess I’ve picked up a lot of her habits. One of the things she always like to do was to have everything prepared before people arrived and I’ve followed in her footsteps particularly with desserts. That’s one of the reasons that this recipe appeals to me. It can be made the day before and then just taken out of the fridge when you need it – marvellous.
I couldn’t resist adding this recipe for Chocolate Truffles to make for the festive season. In our house you can’t have too many rum balls, apricot balls or chocolate truffles – the more the merrier.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 