Aunty Jane’s Famous Prawn Cocktail

This is a very special recipe to be given from Aunty Jane. When I think of Aunty Jane, I think of tea, cricket and her prawn cocktail. The story goes that she ate this at a fancy restaurant and was then given the recipe by the chef.

1/2 C mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. curry powder

2-3 Tbspn tomato sauce

1 Tbspn lemon juice

Shake of pepper

Prawns

Mix and chill for 2 hours

Mix with 1/4 C whipped cream before serving.

Cheese roll

This definitely feels like something Mum would have taken to a mid-week ladies’ tennis ‘bring a plate’ situation. The 80’s were good times.

250g cream cheese

1/2 C grated cheese

2 spring onions, chopped

1 tsp curry powder

Roll it all together into a ball.

Mix up 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1/2 tsp turmeric and dust the outside of the ball.

Serve with crackers and wait for the accolades to roll in.

Chile con queso

This is everything I want in a dip. Cheesy and spicy. Because I could gobble up so much of this stuff, I try and only make it on special occasions. Like, say Tuesday.

It is really nice with tortillas, chopped in 8’s and baked for 5 mins in a hot oven. Or just open yourself up a bag of corn chips and get amongst it.

2 tsp vegetable oil

½ small green capsicum

½ small onion

1 Tbspn drained bottled jalapeno chillis

1 clove garlic

½ can undrained chopped peeled tomatoes

250gm cream cheese

Chop up capsicum, chop up the onion, chop up jalapenos, and crush the garlic.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan, cook capsicum, onion, chili and garlic. Stir until the onion softens.

Add tomato, cook, stirring 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and add cream cheese.

Whisk until the cheese melts and dip is smooth.

Bali profiteroles

So many special memories of eating profiteroles in Bali for (sister) Danz’s wedding. Writing wedding speeches over a quiet profiterole, with (sister) Nix, Profiterole-gate when only one profiterole was ordered to share between far too many greedy Sanders’s (and Sanders’s partners).

They’re actually pretty easy to make and I think you’d always be a popular guest if you turn up with these little beauties.

Makes about 15

100gm butter

150gm plain flour

4 eggs

100 gm dark chocolate

200 gm cream

fancy ice-cream

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Bring butter and 250ml water to the boil in a saucepan over high heat. Add flour, beat with a wooden spoon until combined. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Spoon out into 3½ cm diameter rounds onto a baking paper-lined tray. I highly recommend baking paper for the reduction in dishes later.

Bake until golden (15 mins), remove from the oven, pierce the bases with a knife, then return to the oven to dry out (about 45 mins to 1 hour) (Oven still going). Cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, stir the cream and chocolate together over a very low heat until it’s smooth.

To serve, cut the pastries horizontally, scoop in a scoop of your fancy ice-cream and then drizzle the top with chocolate sauce.