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Nana Finneran's Recipes This is a collection of recipes I inherited on the death of my mother-in-law Antonia De Santis (known for the last 15 years as Nanna Finneran) She was four in 1933 when she arrived in Australia. She married the Irishman next door whom she met at Mass and over the years not only cooked traditional foods from Molfetta the town where her mother and father grew up as well as the very Australian Anzac biscuits and fake Baileys. It is nothing if not an eclectic group of recipes. So famous was she for a good table, the first recipe appeared in the order of service at her funeral (she died quietly in her sleep on 11 September 2001 ten hours before that other terrible event) |
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NANNA
FINNERAN'S BAKED SPAG
SALSA
(you can double quantities and freeze half)
1 x
500 gm of Leggo's Tomato paste,
1 piece of chuck or topside steak (cut in pieces),
Little pieces of bacon or salami (cut in pieces),
1 onion cut very finely,
Oil,
Romano cheese grated,
500 g Penne pasta (No 33).
METHOD
In
a saucepan about 7" in diameter, put a tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté
onion and meat and salami. When the colour changes add (tomato paste mixed
with 2 ½ times the empty jar of paste, of water). Insert in pot
and cook very slowly, stirring often, for 2 hours. I sprinkle some Romano
cheese whilst its bubbling, taste.
Set aside.
PASTA
Large
pot of boiling salted water for pasta. Cook "al dente". Drain.
In
a baking dish, layer salsa, penne & Romano cheese and cracked black
pepper.
Bake
in oven for ½ hour at 180 degrees.
GARLIC
PRAWNS
5 Green King Prawns
4 Cloves Garlic
1 Small Chilli
2 Table spoons Olive Oil
Shell prawns, place in small ovenproof dish. Add crushed or chopped garlic,
chopped chilli and oil. Bake in moderately hot oven until cooked.
POTATO COQUETTES
5 Medium Potatoes (cooked firm)
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheese Romano
Little parsley
Salt and Pepper
Mash cooked potatoes with salt and pepper, beat eggs and mix with potatoes,
then add chopped parsley. Add cheese till mixture is firm Fry in deep
oil.
STUFFED PEPPERS
8 Medium Capsicums, red or green
¼Kilogram Sausage mince
½Kilogram Topside Mince
1 Tablespoon cooked rice.
1 Tomato cut finely.
1 garlic clove chopped.
Small amount grated cheese
1 egg
Pepper and salt
Clean peppers and cut top off and retain. Mix all above ingredients with
beaten egg, and stuff peppers. Replace top and put in a baking dish, which
has about 2.5cm. of water in it. I sprinkle this with grated cheese and
a cut up tomato. When peppers are soft (about 1 hour) in moderate oven,
they are cooked.
SAUCE FOR OPEN MUSSELS
Open 1Kg.of Aust. Mussels
Leaving meat on ½ shell
Place these in baking dish. Beat up 3 eggs, ½ cup Romano cheese,
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs, 1 chopped garlic clove. Spoon mixture
over mussels. Pour a little water in baking dish, adding also a little
oi1. Bake in moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Makes a wonderful entree.
POLETTI-- MEAT BALLS
250 grams Pork Mince
250 grams Veal Mince
1 Egg, beaten
1 Garlic clove cut up
150 grams of grated Romano Cheese 150 grams of breadcrumbs. Pepper and
Salt and parsley finely chopped. Mix altogether and roll into balls -
dip in plate with grated cheese. Put Balls in cooked Salsa.
P.S. I find that using ½ Kg of topside mince is just as good.
EGG BALLS
2 eggs beaten with pepper and salt.
1 Garlic clove cut up.
Finely chopped parsley.
75 grams of grated Romano cheese
Mix altogether and roll into balls. Dip in plate, which has grated cheese
on it. Put balls in salsa.
ARTICHOKES
3 Artichokes need 2 eggs.
Clean and strip all excess leaves and "cotton" till firm centrepiece
is left. Cut in 1cm lengths and boil in salt water till soft. Beat up
2 eggs little Romano cheese, cut up finely a garlic clove, little chopped
parsley pepper and salt to taste First coat drained artichokes in flour,
then dip in egg mixture. Fry in hot oil on each side, about 10 minutes.
PEAS AND PASTA
2 cups of frozen peas
1 onion
1 crushed garlic clove
1 dessertspoon of oil
1 Chicken or Bacon Cube
Parsley
Salt & Pepper
Cook your peas in a medium saucepan, heat your oil with finely cut onion
and garlic and either cube when onion changes colour add peas and 1 cup
of water, a little parsley. Cook for about ½hour.
In a separate pot boil ½ Packet of vermicelli until firm. Drain
and add to pea mixture. Add a little more oil when serving.
TAGLITELLLI
: - PASTA
1 cup plain flour
1 cup semolina
2 eggs
Tepid water with a pinch of salt
Shape flour and semolina into a ring. In the centre of the ring add 2
beaten eggs. Add to it little tepid water with salt. Mix into dough. Knead
well and roll into sausage shape. Cut into strips and roll them out flat;
using semolina as non-sticker. Then pleat them and cut them up like ribbons.
BOILED MARROWS WITH EGG
1 small marrow or 2 Medium zucchinis
l large tomato
1 clove Garlic, Oil, 2eggs
Grated Cheese and Fresh Breadcrumbs Little Water and cut-up parsley.
In saucepan put a little oil, chopped tomato and garlic. Fry this a bit
till tomato is soft. Add marrow (which has been cut up into 2.5cm squares)
and a little water. When marrow is cooked, put a mixture of 2 beaten eggs,
½cup grated cheese, and ½cup breadcrumbs and pour over mixture
of marrow etc. Cook till eggs are firm and enjoy.
ANZAC
BISCUITS
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sugar
¾ cup coconut
½ cup butter
1 cup plain flour
1 table spoon golden syrup
1 tea spoon Sodium Bicarbonate
2 tablespoons boiling water
Mix oats, flour, sugar and coconut together, melt syrup and butter to-gether,
mix soda with boiling water and add to melted butter and syrup. Add liquid
to dry ingredients and mix well. Bake in slow oven for 20 minutes after
placing 1 tablespoon of mixture on greased tray.
In place of coconut you can use 1 cup piped cooked prunes or dates or
sul-tanas, also raw sugar in place of white sugar or honey in place of
syrup.
ASPARAGUS
CHICKEN
l. Place one can of asparagus spears along the bottom of a casserole dish.
Tear up a chicken (cooked) into smallish pieces and place on top of asparagus.
I also place a drained can of champignons there.
2. Mix together
3 cups of condensed mushroom soup, with ½cup of unwiped cream and
1 tablespoon of Marsala or red wine.
Pour the above over the chicken etc. grate tasty cheese and sprinkle paprika
over the cheese. Bake for 20 minuets in moderate oven.
Serve it with bright vegies, as it is rather a bland dish.
PRlC-0-Prac:-Relish
Cut up 4 capsicums very small and 1eave out to dry. Squeeze when dry.
Separately cut up 3 chillies, l garlic clove little parsley and Squeeze.
Put salt over both lots. Put in jar cover with oil. Keep 1 month before
using.
CULSONNE:-Filled sort of quiche
4 Onions cut up finely.
1 large Tomato
Parsley, Pepper and salt
Leather Jackets.
l Cut up and fry Onion and tomato in oil adding a little water to prevent
sticking every now and again.
Fry 2 large
fish (Leather Jackets) or boneless fish is preferable. When cooked fish
is cold, flake into little pieces.
Add to cold tomato, onion and etc mixture. I also add green or black cut
up olives, and a little cooked cauliflower into mixture.
Beat 4 eggs with ½ cup grated cheese and add to tomato, etc mixture
sprinkle with pepper.
I then make my pastry dough by using ½ Kg of plain flour and making
a ring shape. I make a little hole in the centre and add 2.5cm square
of fresh yeast and gradually add tepid (not hot) water and knead it till
it makes nice dough. By adding 1 tablespoon of oil in the water, you get
soft dough. Dough rises in 1 hour. Roll out 2 pieces for baking dish.
Fill with mixture. Cover with pastry and bake in hot oven for 40 minutes,
glaze pastry with oil.
FRIED
ZUCCHINIS
1 Kg. Zucchinis
2 eggs ½cup Romano Cheese
Little Parsley
2 cloves garlic
Salt
Plain Flour
Dice Zucchinis into minute squares and place in colander to drain in the
sun. Occasionally squeeze out to remove water. Sprinkle a little salt.
When dry coat with flour. Beat up 2 eggs and mix in. Add grated cheese
and chopped parsley and garlic (chopped up). Mix altogether. Make into
little patties and fry in hot oil, about 10 minutes.
LENTILS
1. Place 2 cups of lentils in water till nearly soft.
2. Take off excess water and put in. more c1ean warm water Add 1 whole
clove garlic, 1 tomato (chopped), salt. When lentils are cooked add a
little oil. Cook rice separately and then mix in with lentils, if desired.
CECCHI-CHICK
PEAS
1. Soak 2 cups of chick peas in water and salt. Cook till soft.
2. In another saucepan, fry 2 cut up tomatoes, parsley and clove garlic
till cooked.
3. Add drained chick peas. Cook rice separately and place chick peas on
top.
SIMPLE GINGER
BEER
4 cups sugar.
1 teaspoon tartaric acid
1 Desert spoon ground ginger.
Juice of three lemons.
24 cups of cold water,
3 Sultanas
Place all ingredients except sultanas in large bowl, stir until sugar
is quite dissolved Strain and bottle. Drop 3 sultanas in to each bottle,
seal with patent seal bottle-tops. Stand aside for 3 or 4 days. When the
sultanas rise to the top the ginger beer is ready to drink.
CABBAGE
MINCE Serves 4
½ Kg. Topside Mince
Cabbage finely chopped.
1 Onion finely chopped.
1 Clove garlic finely chopped
1 cup partially cooked carrots and peas
1 packet Continental Chicken noodle soup.
1 large tomato chopped.
1½ cups water 1 teaspoon curry powder Seasoning to taste.
Method:
Brown meat and garlic, add onion and cabbage, and cook until tender. Add
carrots and peas, tomato, seasoning and soup mixture Add water and bring
to boil. Simmer about 45 minutes. Serve with favourite potato dish.
SEMOLINA PORRIDGE
Fry 1 small onion cut up finely with a little salt. Cook until golden.
Add 4 cups of water and bring to boil. Gradually add l cup of semolina
and stir until thick. If you have a bit of salsa left over; you can add
it for flavour when semolina is cooked.
CHOCOLATE LOG
1 pkt, Weston's Chocolate Biscuit
300 Millilitres Cream
2 Desert spoon Icing Sugar.
3 Desert spoon Marsala.
Mix lasts 3 ingredients and pipe it in between the Chocolate biscuits
to form a log. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles and place in freezer
over night.
BAILEYS Irish WHISKY
1 Can Carnation milk
1 Can Condensed Milk
6 eggs,
1 Desert spoon Drinking Chocolate
1 Desert spoon coffee
350 Millilitres Whisky
Method Warm Carnation milk and chocolate together then add to all other
ingredients. Blend well. Strain into jug then pour into bottles. Keep
refrigerated at all times.
PUMPKIN
AND SWEET BASIL PASTA
1
Can of Pumpkin Soup
2 Tablespoons of fresh basil or 1 tsp of dried sweet basil (fresh is better)
1/4 cup of white wine
1/4 cup of cream ( or evaporated skim milk -not as naughty)
4 rashers of lean cripy bacon
romano cheese
1/2 cup of roasted pine nuts - optional (yeah you're going to have that
in the cupboard on Sunday night)
Heat the soup with and wine and basil, add the cream just before you pour over pasta in four wide bowls.
Garnish with the crumbled bacon (pinenuts) and cheese. (for guests stick a sprig of basil on top)