Kids Cooking Thursday: Cherry Ripe Fudge

Cherry Ripe Fudge (from the August issue of Recipes+)
375g (dark) chocolate melts (we used milk)
375g can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup desiccated coconut, plus 1 Tbsp extra to sprinkle
1/2 cup glace cherries

Line a loaf pan with baking paper, making sure to leave enough overhang to make handles.

Distract your child by getting them to chop the cherries,

then place milk and chocolate in microwave proof bowl. Heat on HIGH for one minute. Stir to combine. Heat for 30 seconds more, or until melted and smooth.

Add coconut and cherries to mixture, mix well. Pour into the pan, and smooth surface. Sprinkle the extra coconut over the top of the fudge.

Chill for 4 hours or until set. Cut into slices to serve.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Lemon Butter

This was a good recipe to use up some of the glut of home grown lemons that came from my mother. I was a little worried how Miss Four would behave around really hot microwaved stuff, but she whisked/stirred very carefully, and didn't splash at all. All up this took around 20 minutes with Miss Four doing almost everything, and made two jam jars, and a plastic container full.

Easy microwave lemon butter
4 Eggs
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Lemon Juice
125g Butter, cubed

Fill 2 glass jars with boiling water to sterilise.


Crack the eggs into a microwave safe bowl,


add the sugar and whisk.


Squeeze the lemons, and add the juice


Whisk all together and add the cubed butter


Place in the microwave on HIGH for two minutes - watch impatiently.


Whisk until smooth, and the microwave for a further two minutes.
Repeat, for a total of 6 minutes cooking time.


Empty the water out of the jars, then ladle in the butter.
Seal while hot to get a vaccum, then store in the fridge.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

French Onion, Mushroom & Zucchini Risotto

Another cheats risotto. I've found that simply using aborio rice the same way I used long grain still ends up with a passable risotto. Of course, the only risotto I've ever had that didn't come from a packet, or wasn't cooked by me was at a pub, and wasn't even made with aborio rice, so I'm not the best judge of what could reasonably pass as a "real" risotto.

French Onion, Mushroom & Zucchini Risotto
1 cup aborio rice
2 cups hot water
1 packet french onion soup mix (the type that makes up litres, not a cup-a-soup)
100g chopped mushrooms (about two large flat ones)
1 zucchini, chopped
50g butter (give or take)

Place the first three ingredients in a microwave proof container, and cook on high for 3-4 minutes. Stir, and then repeat as many times as necessary until the rice is cooked, about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile throw everything else in a frypan, and cook gently until the rice is done. Stir the rice into the vegetables until coated in all that lovely buttery goodness. If you have cream, now would be a great time to add it. I didn't, so I added milk instead, but that's totally optional.

Tuna Risotto of Awesomeness

Tuna "Risotto"
1 cup Aborio rice
2 cups water
splash Maggi
2 sticks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
125g tin tuna, drained
125g corn kernels
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tsp good quality tomato sauce or chutney (we used Outback Spirit Bush Tomato sauce)

Place the rice, water and Maggi in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on medium (600w) for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Lightly spray a frypan with oil, then brown the onion and celery. Add the corn and tuna, and allw to heat through.
Once rice is cooked, tip the whole lot into the pan, and finish with the sour cream and sauce. Season to taste and serve.

Hardly a recipe for purists, but my kids didn't know the difference, and it tasted great!