Christmas Plum Pudding

We love Christmas pudding. I make mine in October, and give many away as gifts. I make several sizes, and try to keep about 3 for us-one for Christmas, another for New Year, and the last for around Easter. I find it very satisfying to make these, though I can hardly wait to eat the first one! This recipe is a combination of 2 favourites and works well. If you don’t want to use the stout and brandy, use orange juice as one of the recipes suggested-I think the stout and brandy give the recipe depth of flavour.

Bangers and Mash With Golden Onions

Traditional Anglo-Saxon Australian tucker BEFORE the diverse influences of many migrant groups made our cuisine so rich and varied. This recipe has been adapted and posted for the 2005 Zaar World Tour from a recipe which I found in Huey’s ‘Tales and Recipes from a Travelling Cook’. Huey (Iain Hewitson) is an Australian chef who has written several books. He hosts a TV cooking show twice daily on weekdays, and runs Tolarno’s restaurant in Melbourne. Huey recommends using a floury variety of potato for this recipe. He also advises that: “Blanching the sausages beforehand may be frowned on by the purists, but it is guaranteed to stop them bursting”. The inclusion of garlic is one of my modifications. Bangers and mash of say fifty years ago would have been highly unlikely to have contained garlic. And the mashed potato could not have been heated in the microwave! If you want a more authentic experience of old-fashioned Aussie tucker, leave out the garlic and don’t use the microwave!

Chilli Lemon Octopus

I love octopus and thought this recipe sounded amazing. Have not tried this yet but wanted keep a copy so decided to store it here on Zaar. Prep and cooking time does not include time to marinate.

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