Christmas stars

This is the traditional gift that we bake and give to our neighbours around Christmas time. It's a combination of plain shortbread and some spicy biscuits cut into variously sized stars. Then we wrap it in some pretty cellophane and tie the bundle up with a ribbon. Recipes are oldies-but-goodies out of the Edmonds cookbook (shortbread) and Alison Holst's big red book (spicy biscuits).

Shortbread
(to be inserted once I find my Edmonds cookbook again!)

Spicy butter biscuits
225 g butter
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 c flour
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp mixed spice

Cream softened (but not melted) butter in the mixer. Add remaining ingredients, mix to combine, then form into a roll 70 mm thick. Roll in plastic and refrigerate until firm.

Roll mixture out on floured bench and cut into desired shapes (like stars!) using cookie cutters. Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 8-10 minutes until biscuits darken slightly. When cool, transfer from tray to an airtight container.

Rice paper rolls with Vietnamese dipping sauce

From way back at the November Bake Club, this is a version of the little rice paper rolls I made. This recipe suggests BBQ roast duck (which you can buy already cooked from Peking House restaurant on Kent Terrace) but I usually just use cooked chicken instead. This recipe came from the SBS website.

Peking duck and hoisin rice-paper rolls recipe

Created by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis

Ingredients

50 g cellophane noodles
½ roast duck, flesh removed and thinly sliced
75 g (½ cup) chopped roasted peanuts
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 small carrot, finely grated
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
12 Vietnamese mint leaves, shredded
12 large rice-paper wrappers

Preparation

Place noodles in a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes to soften, and then drain well.

Place noodles, duck meat, peanuts, coriander, carrot, hoisin sauce and Vietnamese mint in a large bowl and mix well. Season to taste.

Fill a large bowl with hot tap water, then soak the rice-paper wrappers one at a time until softened. Remove carefully and drain on absorbent paper or a tea towel. Lay the wrappers out flat, then place the filling on the bottom centre of each softened wrapper. Roll end up over filling, fold in the sides and continue rolling up to the top.

Serve with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

2 tsp grated palm sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
60 ml (¼ cup) fish sauce
1 small red chilli, sliced
1 tbsp water

Preparation

Dissolve the sugar in lime juice. Add the fish sauce, chilli and water. Allow the flavours to infuse for 30 minutes before using.

Recipe from Everyday Cooking by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis with photographs by Greg Elms. Published by Hardie Grant Books.

Candied orange peel

Well, after my nightmare day of flop cooking in January 2012, this was about the only recipe that flew! A great use for the left-over peel when the family are churning through the oranges in the warm weather.

4 oranges
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
sugar (for rolling them in) or chocolate (for dipping)

Harvest the peel from the oranges leaving a clean pith. I usually score each orange in half and then half again, then peel the orange quarter-by-quarter. Then slice into long strips of peel about 1/2 cm wide.

Place peels in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Heat on high until boiling. Pour off the water. Repeat twice more.

Combine sugar and water in the saucepan and bring to boil over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add peels and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until peels are translucent (30 minutes or longer).

Remove peels from syrup and roll in sugar if desired, and set on rack to dry (4-5 hours minimum or overnight). Work fast when taking peels out of syrup!

Once the peel is dry, you can dip them in melted dark chocolate and place on foil, wax paper, or a baking sheet to dry.

If you want to see some fantastic step-by-step photos of the process, check out Jennifer Yu's food blog "Use Real Butter".