Basic butter biscuit dough

Makes

30

Ingredients

• 125g butter, softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• • 1 tablespoon milk

  • Method

    1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
    2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl until pale and creamy. Add egg and mix until well combined. Sift flour and baking powder over butter mixture. Add milk and stir until just combined.

  
  

Pumpkin scones

Enjoy the afternoon with moist pumpkin scones - they're perfect with a pot of tea!

Makes

12

Ingredients

• 1 quantity Basic buttermilk scones (see related recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2/3 cup mashed cooked butternut pumpkin (see note)

Method

1. Make Basic buttermilk scones, adding nutmeg to flour at start of step 2. Reduce buttermilk to 1/2 cup. Add pumpkin with buttermilk.
2. Follow step 4, using a 6cm fluted-edge round cutter to make 12 scones. Follow step 5, baking for 15 minutes. Serve.

Notes

• You will need 300g peeled, chopped, butternut pumpkin to make 2/3 cup mashed cooked pumpkin. Serve scones with butter, ricotta or cream cheese. Dip cutters into flour between cutting to prevent dough sticking to them. Make sure rolling pin is lightly floured before use. All scones are cooked on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  
  

Buttermilk scones

Makes

16

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 60g butter, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• jam and whipped cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Grease and flour a 8cm-deep, 19cm (base) square cake pan.
2. Place flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the centre. Add buttermilk. Using a flat-bladed knife, stir until dough almost comes together. Place on a lightly floured surface.
4. Knead gently until dough comes together. Press out to a 3cm-thick round. Dip a 5cm round cutter into flour to prevent dough sticking. Cut out scones. Gently press leftover dough pieces together and repeat to make a total 16 scones.
5. Place scones, touching, in prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden and hollow when tapped on top. Serve with jam and cream.

Notes

• Nutrition data is per scone.

  Variations:

  Spiced date scones: Add 1/3 cup finely chopped dried dates and 1 teaspoon mixed spice at the end of step 2. Basil and parmesan scones: Add 1/4 cup finely chopped basil leaves and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese at the end of step 2.Chive scones:Add at end of step 2 with 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives.

Otak Otak Kukus: Steamed Fish Mousse in Banana Leaf

Ingredients

500g boneless fillet Spanish mackerel /ikan tenggiri
4 fresh long red chilies, halved
3 eschallots
2cm piece fresh turmeric
2 lemongrass stalks, thinly sliced
2cm young ginger
4 candlenuts
1 large clove garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 small fresh turmeric leaf, chiffonade
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup fresh coconut cream
10 pieces of banana leaf the size of an A4 paper, gently heated over a naked flame to soften

Method 

1. Chop the fish fillet very finely with a cleaver to form a paste and place in a bowl.

2. In a mortar and pestle pound fresh chilies to a pulp. Add eschallots, turmeric, lemon grass, candle nut, and garlic and pound into a fine paste for 10-15 minutes.

3. Add this paste to the fish paste with turmeric leaf, salt, sugar and coconut cream, mixing well to combine.

4. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of mousse onto each sheet of banana leaf and fold the individual leaf up to make a parcel.

5. Place the parcels in a hot steamer and steam for 15 minutes until cooked through. Serve warm.

Kerabu Pucuk Paku: Fiddle Fern Salad

Ingredients

4 fresh long red chilies, halved
2 teaspoons roasted shrimp paste
2 teaspoons sugar, plus 1-3 teaspoons to taste
4 tablespoons dried shrimp, soaked in boiling hot water for 10
minutes and strained
Juice from 1 lime or 3 limau kasturi/kalamansi limes, plus
more to taste
4 tablespoons keresik or desiccated coconut, toasted and pounded
6 tablespoons fresh coconut cream (Santan pekat) or canned coconut cream, plus more to taste
200g cooked medium sized prawns, shells removed
300g fiddle fern, blanched in salted boiling water for 10 seconds, drain off excess water and set aside in
a bowl
Salt, to taste

Method 

1. In a mortar and pestle or food processor, pound red chili to a pulp. Add shrimp paste, soaked dried shrimp and sugar and pound them until they are fine. If you are using the food processor just grind them to a smooth sambal.

2. Transfer paste to a bowl with fiddle fern, lime, prawns, coconut, coconut cream, and season with salt to taste. Toss well to combine, taste to check seasonings and add more sugar, coconut milk, lime juice or salt if desired.

3. Spoon into serving bowls and enjoy.

N.B. If unavailable you can replace fiddle fern with spinach.