Family Favourites: Delicious classics from the family table

Family Favourites: Delicious classics from the family table

Tried and true recipes you'll cook for the family every day Sally Wise, author, home chef, cooking school teacher and mother to six children, is an expert at rustling up delicious, nutritious and fuss-free food. Her books have become national bestsellers and she has taught a legion of fans how to get the best out of seasonal produce. In this book Sally focuses on the recipes she uses every day, the dishes she's adapted and perfected over the years of fussy small children (one of who wouldn't eat ice-cream unless it was heated). From classics like creamy pumpkin soup, the perfect roast chicken and a killer pavlova to slightly more adventurous fare like Beef and Guinness, this is Sally's most accessible cookbook to date.

Family Favourites: Delicious classics from the family table

Sally Wise is the bestselling author of A Year in a Bottle and Slow Cooker and is a regular guest on ABC Local Radio in Tasmania. She is passionate about seasonal produce and creating exciting flavours from natural, readily available ingredients, and loves to share the cooking experience. She has taught children and adults of all ages and now has her own small cooking school in Tasmania - the Sally Wise Cooking School at Molesworth in the Derwent Valley
ABC Books
Author: Sally Wise
ISBN: 9780733333873
RRP: $24.99

Chicken à la King

I have been making this dish since the 1970s which is a testament to how truly delicious it is.

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
800g chicken breast fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 red capsicum, diced
1 cup chicken stock or water with ½ teaspoon stock powder
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons dry sherry
½ teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
pinch of mustard powder
3 teaspoons cornflour mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons
cold water
200ml cream
white pepper

Method
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium–high heat and sauté the chicken, mushrooms and capsicum for 5 minutes. Add the chicken stock or water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the paprika, lemon juice, sherry, salt, egg yolks, mustard, cornflour paste and cream. Stir into the chicken and mushroom mixture and cook, stirring, until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Cream of Tomato Soup

This recipe took years to develop " so many versions over the years turned out to be insipid and watery and went down the sink or into the chook scraps pot. An added advantage of this final version is that any leftovers can be used in a sauce for pasta.

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons butter
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 x 400g cans diced tomatoes or 800g diced full-flavoured fresh tomatoes

2 sprigs rosemary or 1 tablespoon shredded basil leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons tomato sauce
1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon brown sugar
¼ teaspoon paprika
pinch of mustard powder
1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce
250ml chicken or vegetable stock
½ cup cream

Method
Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium–low heat. Add the onion and sauté gently until soft. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in the tomatoes, rosemary or basil, sauces, tomato paste, salt, sugar, paprika, mustard, chilli sauce and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprigs and stir in the cream. Reheat but do not allow to boil again.

Lemon Mousse Cake

Serves 8

Ingredients
for the base
250g plain sweet biscuits, crushed
110g butter, melted

for the filling

4 teaspoons powdered gelatine
100ml boiling water
250g cream cheese, softened
½ cup icing sugar
juice of 1 large lemon
finely grated rind of 1 large lemon
375ml evaporated milk, chilled in the fridge overnight

Method
Grease a 23cm round springform tin.
To make the base, mix the biscuit crumbs with the butter and press evenly into the base of the tin. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
To make the filling, sprinkle the gelatine over the boiling water and whisk with a fork until dissolved. Allow to cool but not to set.
Whisk the cream cheese with the icing sugar, then whisk in the lemon juice and lemon rind.
In a large separate bowl, beat the evaporated milk with an electric beater until thick and creamy. Gradually pour in the gelatine mixture and continue to beat until combined, then beat in the cream cheese mixture. Pour onto the set biscuit crumb base. Place in fridge for 2 hours or until set.