Newsletter #2 – Life in the Village.

Welcome to Seniors in the Kitchen Newsletter #2.  Newsletter #1 can be found in the drop down menu – Blog Archive – on the website.

Newsletter #2 – Life in the Village.

I am told that the residents of our Over 55’s Village are regarded as extremely active and involved and you need to look no further for evidence of that than the attendance at two of our recent community activities within the village.

The first was our Anzac Day Dawn service on Friday the 25^th April where around 90 residents, ex-servicemen and a sprinkling of dignitaries gathered from 5.30 am, outside our Community Centre, with the service starting around one half hour later. The location of this yearly event changed a little from 2024, with a more sheltered position selected by the organiser. This was much appreciated by all and the resulting ceremony went off like clockwork.

The Service gave cause for reflection by all who attended and after woods the sombre veil lifted a little, as stories were shared during a breakfast of an orange juice, egg and bacon roll, coffee and an Anzac Biscuit in our Community Centre.

This event would not happen without the generous efforts of all our volunteers. Whether it is our community shed people making flagpoles, the selection of music for the service, the crocheted red poppies or our Men’s Cooking Group turning up at 5.00 am to ensure that breakfast is available, events such as this don’t work without not only community involvement but also someone taking the reins to co-ordinate everything.

The second of the two events was our Monday night dinner, promoted by our Social Sub-Committee. This is also held in our Community Centre with the Men’s Cooking Group turning out to prepare and cook a two-course dinner for 75 residents. The ladies from the Social Sub-Committee served and as usual other attendees assisted in the clean-up. This was our sixteenth dinner and as always this dinner books out in less than one day. The menu for this dinner was Pojarski Cutlet, mash and green bean bundle. We served two accompanying sauces –a sour cream sauce and a roasted tomato sauce. The dessert was a Warm orange and almond cake, citrus syrup and vanilla ice cream.

Throughout the year we only do five of these dinners with the cooking group, but there are other days that we support with Anzac Day being one of them. Other days include Australia Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, as well as a number of charity events.

The recipes for the ANZAC biscuit, The Pojarski cutlet, the two sauces and the onion jam for the bacon and egg roll, follow.

 

 ANZAC biscuits.*

What’s in a name? Well quite a lot when it comes to these famous biscuits, with enforceable regulations relating to its commercial production and use of the term ANZAC. In short the recipe has to contain certain ingredients. Fortunately those regulations don’t apply when you make them at home. But why change a good thing. Read a little of this biscuit’s story in History Bites on our web site.

This recipe has good keeping qualities in the unlikely event that they are not eaten as soon as you bake them. Pre-heat your oven to 190c. You’ll need two baking sheets lined with baking paper (silicon paper) to fit the 24 plus biscuits or alternatively bake two single batches if you only have one tray.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted.
• 1 cup traditional rolled oats.
• 1/2 cup caster sugar.
• 3/4 cup Desiccated Coconut.
• 150g unsalted butter.
• 2tbsp golden syrup.
• 1 1/2 tbsp bi carbonate of soda.
• 1 1/2 tbsp water.

 

 

Method:

• In a bowl combine all the dry ingredients; mix well.
• In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter and add the golden syrup; mix well; avoid boiling; warm is OK. Leave off the heat.
• In a small bowl combine the bi carbonate soda and water.
• Stir into the butter mix. It will foam up a little.
• Add the butter mix to the dry mix. Combine well to form dough. It will have a greasy texture which is a little warm.
• Now portion the dough and roll into balls about two thirds the size of a golf ball.
• Position on your baking sheet with and flatten slightly leaving a 5cm gap between each biscuit.
• Bake for 15 – 20 minutes. The shorter cooking time will give you a chewier biscuit, while the longer time will give you the traditional crispiness.

 

Notes:

• While not traditional, treacle or honey can be substituted for golden syrup.
• Experiment with brown sugar instead of caster sugar.
• Do not use instant oats as a substitute for traditional rolled oats.

 

Pojarski Cutlet

Veal Pojarski had its origins in Russia in the early 1800’s. Originally made with minced veal or beef and a little later with minced chicken. By the mid 1800’s it had been absorbed into classic French Cuisine and the French naturally added some alternative flavours including hare, grouse and fish.

With the arrival of the Soviets, minced pork became the meat of choice. As technology developed, cheap versions in the form of patties, with little resemblance to its origins became available for the masses.

A key component of the traditional Pojarski is the incorporation of butter and cream to help maintain the cutlets moist texture. The butter can be in the form of softened butter. My recipe uses all the butter from the cooked vegetables. The two different sauces work well with this dish.

Ingredients (mince mix):

• 100g mushrooms, cold rinsed, dried, sliced.
• One medium onion, peeled, medium size chop.
• One medium carrot (about 120g), peeled, medium size chop.
• One stick celery, washed, string removed either with a peeler or pulled off with finger tips. Alternatively use the tender inside sticks. Medium chop.
• 40g butter
• 2xsprigs fresh thyme, leaf only.
• 500g minced veal, pork or chicken, or a mixture of all three, but not just chicken.
• 100ml thickened cream.
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp ground pepper.
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg.
• 2 x egg yolks
• 80g white bread, made into breadcrumbs.
• Olive oil or other good quality vegetable oil for shallow frying.

Ingredients (coating):

• One egg.
• 60ml milk
• 50g plain flour.
• 200g approx. packet of Panko crumb.

 

Method:

• In a lidded pot and melt the butter. Add the vegetables and Thyme.
• Turn up the medium heat, give them a stir and lid the pot. Turn the heat down. Avoid colouring the vegetables. You are “sweating” the vegetables and they will need an occasional stir and this should take about 12 minutes until they are tender.
• When ready, cool the mix a little and using a spatula turn the vegetables and the melted butter into your blender. Blend to a coarse paste. Cool this mix in the fridge.
• In a suitable sized bowl place the mince, seasonings, nutmeg, egg yolks and the white breadcrumbs. Mix well.
• Add in the chilled vegetable mix. Continue mixing until well combined. The mixture will have a sticky texture. Cover and refrigerate.
• Meanwhile in a new separate bowl prepare the egg wash with the egg, milk and leftover egg whites
• In a separate shallow dish place the flour, while the Panko crumb should be placed in another shallow dish. You will be crumbing the meat mix. Other terms used for the same process are “breading” and the French term “pane”.
• Preheat your oven to 180c.
• Divide the meat mix into four and form the portions into large meatballs.
• In order pass the meatballs through flour, brushing off excess. Next the the egg wash and finally the crumb. Press the down crumb firmly (avoid wet spots) before placing the crumbed meatball on a clean tray.
• While on the tray flatten the meatball to about 2cm thick and at the same time shape it into something similar to a pork loin cutlet or veal cutlet or an elongated kidney shape.
• When all done place them in the fridge until you are ready to cook.
• Heat the oil (medium heat) in a fry pan (about 3mm) and place the Pojarski Cutlets in. After about 3 minutes, when golden brown turn them and achieve the same on the other side.
• Remove the cutlets and place on an oven tray and then the oven.
• The cutlets should be cooked in around 20 minutes.
• Accompanying sauces are Sour cream sauce and Roasted tomato sauce (recipes follow).
• The cutlets were served with mashed potato and green beans wrapped in bacon.

 

Sour cream sauce 250ml (approx.)

Ingredients:

• 15g butter.
• 15g flour.
• 200ml chicken stock.
• 20ml lemon juice.
• 50ml sour cream
• Salt
• Ground white pepper
• 1/3 bunch chives, picked, cold rinsed. 1mm chop.

 

Method:

• In a small pot melt the butter. Turn to medium hot heat.
• Add flour. Mix in. This mix is called a roux.
• Cook the roux for 2-3 minutes. Continue stirring the roux. Avoid browning.
• Take off the heat and add the chicken stock and lemon juice.
• Put the pot back on the stove and whisk the liquid to break up the roux totally.
• Bring the mix to the boil, stirring all the time. Turn the heat down to simmer the sauce.
• Simmer for a further 4 minutes. Stirring with a silicon spatula will be helpful here to keep the sauce from sticking.
• Stir in the sour cream.
• Take off the heat. Season with the salt and pepper.
• Keep warm.
• Add chives just before serving the sauce.

 

Notes:

• Thin this sauce, if needed, with a little white wine and/or stock.

 

Roasted tomato sauce 250ml (approx.)

Pre-heat oven at 175c.

Ingredients:

• 30ml Olive oil.
• One medium onion, peeled, rough 1cm dice.
• Four medium size, ripe truss tomatoes, washed, cored, halved.
• 2 cloves garlic.
• One bay leaf.
• 6 x basil leaf.
• 1tbsp tomato paste.
• Salt, Cracked pepper.
• 60 ml dry white wine.
• Chicken stock or water.

 

Method:

• Place the Onion, tomatoes, bay leaf, basil and garlic in a small baking dish and sprinkle with all of the oil.
• Place in the oven and roast for at least half hour.
• Turn oven done to 150c and continue roasting the tomatoes for another half hour.
• Occasionally check to make sure the mix does not burn. Stir occasionally. Replace evaporated juices with a little stock or water.
• Eventually the tomatoes will ‘collapse’ and the onions will be transparent and ready to take out of the oven.
• Discard the bay leaf. Spatula all of the tomato mix into your blender. Season with salt and pepper. Add white wine. Puree the mix. Check seasoning. The sauce is finished. Keep it warm for service.

 

Notes:

• Adjust the consistency with stock or water.
• You can pass the mixture through a fine sieve if you prefer a smooth finish.
• You could add a little chopped chilli at the beginning to give the sauce a little kick.

 

 

Onion jam – yields around three cups of jam.

Also called Caramelised Onion or Onion Marmalade, this is very much a personal taste accompaniment. You could increase the sweetness or piquancy, or add suitable herbs or even citrus. You could also use Spanish onions. My recipe is easy, with good keeping qualities in the fridge or you could bottle it (using traditional methods) for longer term storage.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 x white or brown onions, peeled, quartered and thin sliced.
• 1 tbsp olive oil.
• ½ tsp salt.
• One bay leaf.
• ½ tsp ground black pepper.
• ½ cup Balsamic vinegar.
• ½ cup red wine vinegar.
• 1 cup brown sugar.

 

 

 

Method:

• On a medium heat add the oil to a saucepan, followed by the onions, bay leaf and seasoning.
• Sweat the onions for 10-12 minutes until they are translucent. Avoid burning.
• Add vinegars and brown sugar. Stir the mix. The sugar will dissolve quickly.
• When the mix boils, turn the heat down to keep the mix simmering.
• The jam will be a light brown colour.
• Over the next half hour the colour will gradually darken as the water evaporates and the sugar cooks.
• Stir occasionally. The mix shouldn’t stick until the liquid is syrupy.
• When the mix reaches the ‘hot jam’ consistency it’s ready. Check seasoning.
• At this point you may want to make it sweeter or more vinegary. You could adjust the flavour now if required but continue cooking to achieve the correct consistency.
• The jam is best served at room temperature.

 

Bonus – assembly of ANZAC day egg and bacon roll.

We received many great comments for our egg and bacon roll and I reckon the secret was the choice of a milk bun combined with the onion jam.

The milk bun should not be confused with the brioche bun, even though they can be similar in appearance. Milk buns are lighter than and not as sweet as the brioche roll.

Our rolls were purchased and delivered, fortunately at a wholesale price (based on volume) from a bakery in Hornsby. They offered to split the rolls which helped immensely on the morning of the 25^th. The onion jam was prepared the day before. The bacon was cooked in our community centre ovens and the fat drained off before being finished on the BBQ.

After our ANZAC service and before the sun had cleared the tree line our assembly line of volunteers churned out 80 or more egg and bacon rolls. The order of assembly follows:

• Opened roll presented on a plate.
• Onion jam spread on the base.
• Spinach leaves.
• Fried Egg.
• Streaky bacon
• Tomato or BBQ sauce (optional)
• Top half of roll popped on.

 

YUM!