Sharing a meal with family and friends creates its own sort of magic. At ABA a lot of bonding happens over food! In the spirit of this togetherness, we're sharing our team's favourite recipes with you.
We'd like to hear if you've tried these recipes. And equally, we'd love it if you shared your family favourites with us too!
Select the recipe or scroll down:
Sara's Gluten Free Sweet and Sour Pork
Adapted from Jamie’s Ministry of Food Recipe
Published by Penguin:
Serves 4 people
Ingredients
400g of basmati or long-grain rice
500g pork fillet
2 red onions
2 red peppers
Fresh root ginger, about the size of your thumb
4 cloves of garlic
2 fresh red chillis (adjust quantity to your taste)
Fresh coriander, a small bunch
2 heaped teaspoons of five-spice
2 teaspoons of cornflour (only use cornflour made from corn)
6 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
1 x 440g tin of pineapple pieces
4 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sara’s tips
Prepare the rice first.
Chop and measure all the ingredients and have them ready in containers (or on your chopping board) to be able to add each ingredient quickly once you start cooking.
Prepare the rice
Cook according to the instructions on the pack
When cooked, drain and return to the pot
Cover to keep warm until stir-fry is ready
Prepare ingredients
Cut the pork fillet into 2cm cubes
Cut the red onion into 2cm cubes
Remove the seeds from the red pepper and cut into 2cm cubes
Peel the ginger and garlic, then finely slice
Slice the chilli finely (remove seeds if you prefer)
Remove the coriander leaves and set them aside, then finely chop the coriander stalks
Cook your stir fry
Preheat a wok (or large frying pan) on a high heat. When your wok is very, very hot add 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl it around the whole pan
Add the pork and the five-spice and stir them around
Let the pork cook until browned (a few minutes). Put the pork aside in bowl using a slotted spoon
Remove the wok from the heat and quickly wipe with a ball of kitchen towel. Take care not to burn yourself. Return the wok to the heat
When the wok is really hot again, add 3 tablespoons of oil.
Then add all the chopped ingredients to the wok
Stir everything together and allow to cook for 2 minutes
Sprinkle over the cornflour and then stir it in
Add in the 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and stir in
Allow everything cook for 30 to 40 seconds, before adding the pineapple chunks along with their juice
Add the browned pork and balsamic vinegar
Season with black pepper. Add more soy sauce, if needed
Check that the pork is cooked by breaking open a piece. When the pork is cooked through, remove from the heat
To reduce the sauce to a consistency more like gravy, cook for a little longer
To serve
Dish the rice into a bowl or onto a plate
Spoon the pork and vegetables with their sauce over the top of the rice
Sprinkle your creation with coriander leaves for a pop of colour and flavour
Enjoy!
Lizl’s Curry Pasta Salad Recipe
A family favourite curry pasta salad that has been refined over many years.
Pasta mix
500 g large spiral pasta
½ green pepper, ½ yellow pepper and ½ red pepper (adjust quantities to suit your preference), finely chopped
1 finely chopped brown onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Salad dressing
250 ml sugar
250 ml tomato sauce
125 ml olive oil
125 ml vinegar
25 ml curry powder
Method
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and place in a salad bowl.
Gently fry the green, yellow and red pepper with the onion in a little olive oil.
Add the cooked peppers and onion to the pasta. Gently mix to evenly distribute the vegetables and pasta.
Combine all the salad dressing ingredients together in bowl. Mix thoroughly and then pour over the pasta and vegetables.
Mix gently so that the salad dressing evenly coats the pasta and vegetables.
To serve
Lizl recommends refrigerating the salad overnight (or at least for a couple of hours) before serving to let the flavours meld and develop.
Salad can be served warm or cold.
Enjoy!
Ange's Oat and Banana Bites
A quick and easy recipe to enjoy for breakfast or pack into your lunch box as a snack.
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons chia seeds
¼ cup brown sugar (adjust to taste)
Nuts (optional)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons honey
Method
Preheat your oven to 175°C.
Grease or line a mini muffin tin with baking paper.
Mix dry ingredients:
In a mixing bowl, combine the rolled oats, all-purpose flour, baking powder, chia seeds, and brown sugar. If you're using nuts, you can add them in at this stage as well.
Combine wet ingredients:
In another bowl, mash the bananas until smooth. Add in the honey and mix until well combined.
Combine wet and dry ingredients:
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared mini muffin tin, filling each muffin cup about two thirds full.
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
To serve
Allow the oat and banana bites to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy as a snack or quick breakfast on the go!
Note
You can adjust the sweetness level by adding brown sugar and honey to suit your taste.
Enjoy your delicious oat and banana bites!
Desireé's Malva Pudding Recipe
This is a traditional South African dessert, with the recipe passed down to me by my Ouma. Translated, malva means marshmallow. Each glorious morsel of pudding should melt in your mouth like a fresh marshmallow!
Pudding Sponge
1 Tablespoon butter
1 cup sugar
Mix well. Then add:
1 Beaten Egg
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
Mix these ingredients well before adding:
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Cup of Milk
1 Tablespoon Apricot Jam
Mix these ingredients well before adding:
1 Cup Flour
¼ Teaspoon salt
Mix these ingredients together until well combined.
The mixture will be quite runny. Pour the mixture into a square or rectangular ovenproof dish and bake for 30 minutes at 180°C, or until cooked through. Use a dish that is much higher than the pudding sponge, as you will need to pour the sauce over later.
Pudding Sauce
1 Cup Sugar
1 Tin Evaporated Milk
4 Tablespoons Sugar
Mix together in a saucepan. Heat the sauce up to almost boiling point. Remove from the heat and add:
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
Prepare sauce to be ready as pudding sponge comes out of the oven. Pour the sauce over the pudding sponge immediately. Leave the sauce to soak in.
You may wish to adjust the quantity of sauce that your pour over the sponge, depending on how ‘soaked’ you like the texture.
To serve
A generous slice of malva pudding (because it's beyond delicious) can be served with cream, ice-cream or custard.
I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as I do!
Nic's Go With Your Heart Salad
This unique salad recipe was passed down to Nic by her Aunt. With each generation it has been tweaked to suit the holder's family. There are no quantities for the ingredients. Simply 'Go With Your Heart'!
It's an unusual combination of ingredients, but don't be deterred, it's a fabulous flavour sensation and the ABA team thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ingredients
Broccoli cut into tiny florets
Red seedless grapes cut in half
Shallots roughly sliced
Bacon. Small pieces and fried until crisp.
Slivered almonds. Toasted until lightly browned.
Dressing
Mayonnaise
White vinegar
Curry powder
Sugar
Method
Combine ingredients for the dressing. Go with your heart and your preference to achieve the balance of flavour you prefer.
Combine ingredients for the salad and then stir in the dressing. Serve immediately or refrigerate to give the flavours a chance to blend.
We hope your family will love this as much as we do!
Desireé's Cape Brandy Pudding
Another popular South African dessert that most probably morphed from the Irish Tipsy Tart. The history isn't clear, but most people adapted recipes to suite the ingredients that were available. Dates no doubt brought by the trade ships passing the Cape of Good Hope, and brandy produced by the local vineyards in the Western Cape.
Ingredients
250 dates, stoned and finely chopped
5mL bicarbonate of soda
250 mL boiling water
125g butter
250 mL white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
500 mL cake flour
5 mL baking powder
250 mL walnuts or pecan nuts, chopped (I recommend using walnuts)
Sauce
300 mL white sugar
15 mL butter
200 mL water
5 mL vanilla essence
1 mL salt
125 mL brandy
Method
Preheat your oven to 180° C.
Divide the chopped dates into 2 equal portions in a heatproof bowl.
Add the bicarbonate of soda and boiling water to 1 portion, mixing together well, the leave this to cool.
Cream together the butter and sugar, and the beat in the eggs until well mixed.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt over the butter mix and fold in.
Now add the dry portion of the dates and the walnuts, mixing until well blended.
Next is the bicarbonate soda and date mix. Blend this in gently until well mixed.
Pour the batter into a large baking dish, leaving enough room for the dessert to rise and to be able to pour the sauce over it without it spilling over the sides.
Alternatively, if you would like to make it more Tipsy Tart style and come out like a slice, divide the batter between two pie dishes, still leaving sufficient space for the batter to rise and to be able to pour the sauce over without it spilling over the edges.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out of the mix clean.
Sauce
While the pudding is baking, prepare the sauce.
Heat the sugar, butter and water on the stove for about 5 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stove and add the vanilla essence, salt and brandy to the sauce.
Pour the warm sauce over the pudding as soon as you take it out of the oven.
Serving
If you've made the warm winter dessert in the deep dish, you can serve this with custard.
If you've gone with the cold summer slice version, you can serve your Tipsy Tart with whipped cream.
I'd love to hear if you and your family enjoy this dessert as much as I do!
Narelle's Boysenberry Cheesecake
Another decadent delight! Narelle assures us that once you have eaten this cheesecake, you won't want any other. The cheesecake doesn't require any cooking, and the boysenberry glaze is quickly prepared on the stove. Easy to make in advance when you are entertaining guests. Or keep it all for yourself!
Ingredients
Crust
250g digestive biscuits
125g melted butter or substitute
Filling
2 packets of cream cheese at room temperature
1 can full fat condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice, fresh NOT bottled
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Glaze
1 440g can boysenberries. Other berries can be substituted if unavailable
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp cornflour
Method
Crust
Crush / process biscuits until fine.
Combine with butter and press onto base and sides of 20cm spring form pan.
Refrigerate while preparing filling.
Filling
Chop cream cheese into small pieces and add to food processor.
While beating gradually add condensed milk, vanilla essence and lemon juice.
Beat until smooth.
Pour into crust.
Chill 2-3 hours before garnishing.
Glaze
Drain fruit, reserving 1/2 cup syrup.
Set fruit aside.
Combine syrup, sugar, lemon juice and cornflour in a small saucepan.
Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly and ensuring there are no lumps of cornflour.
Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly and add fruit, taking care to retain as many whole pieces as possible.
Cool and spread over top of cheesecake.
ENJOY and don't count the calories!
Marc's Freestyle Fish
Marc is a wanderer at heart and works for us remotely. Travelling through Australia with his beautiful wife and delightful dog. Stopping at remote beaches and exploring outback canyons. Here he shares his simple yet delicious recipe for Freestyle Fish.
Ingredients
Freshly caught fish
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Oil
Beer
Method
Grab a beer and go fishing. If you're no good at catching fish, hang around the boat ramp. Someone who has caught too many fish and wants to give some away is sure to show up!
Have a beer and light the fire. Wait until you have some nice coals.
Lightly coat the fish flour, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Oil the pan and heat over fire. Add the fish when the pan is hot and cook to your liking.
Serving
Plate up your Freestyle Fish with the sides of your choice. Chips cooked over the fire are fabulous or go with the healthy option and have a salad.
Kick back and enjoy the fresh fare next to the fire!
Deanne's Camp Oven BBQ Chicken
Deanne loves to make this for her family when they go camping. It's simple to put together with pantry staples but punches well above its weight in flavour! Easy to make in a Dutch Oven on the stove at home, or in a Camp Oven over gas or coals. Deanne's tip, make enough for seconds!
Ingredients
6 chicken breasts (boneless)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon seasoning salt
½ cup oil
1 cup ketchup
½ diced onion
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
2/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup water
3 tablespoons prepared mustard
½ teaspoon mustard powder
Method
Mix flour, paprika, chilli powder, salt and seasoning salt together.
Heat a 35 cm camp oven using medium heat. Add oil.
Dust the chicken in flour and then cook in the oil until both sides are well-browned. Add more oil if necessary.
While the chicken is browning, mix the remaining ingredients together to make the sauce.
Serving
Plate up and enjoy!
What are your favourite team recipes?
The ABA Advice Beyond Accounting team aren't just about accounting and numbers! We love life and love food. We're always looking for inspiration and would love it if you shared your favourite team recipes with us too!