REAL JAM RECIPES!

Fat serves several purposes in the body. These functions are performed by the fact that fats and water do not mix, so the fatty tissue of the body can store and transport other substances like fat soluble vitamins which otherwise would not be carried by the blood. This also means the (at cannot be dissolved by body fluids — so it is an excellent energy reserve. Fat within the body is used for fuel; upon digesting it, it produces twice as much energy as the equal weight of carbohydrate or protein. On eating a good diet the energy reserve should be continually used and replaced. This is governed by the correct calorific intake, thus bringing about no weight gain. The balance is essential to good health.

It is well known that over-consumption of fat causes cardiovascular disease, of which heart attack and stroke are examples. Research consistently points to the risk factors of fat-like substances in the blood called cholesterol, and high blood-pressure coupled with too little exercise, a diet too rich in saturated fat, diabetes and ‘hurry sickness’. In any combination of two or three factors all of these things aggravate each other.

However a little fat in the diet is necessary because it contains an essential nutrient which is a polyunsaturated acid called linoleic acid. Other fatty acids can be synthesized by the body if linoleic acid is present, but we cannot synthesize linoleic acid. Only 1.2 per cent of our total calorific requirement is linoleic acid — this is approximately one tablespoonful per day.

Every cook can appreciate the qualities of fat in cooking; it has the ability to absorb flavour — this is why people on a low-fat diet and who want to lose weight should beware of convenience foods. Make sure that the food has not been coated with margarine, this automatically makes the food satisfying, but because of the high proportion of calories, the foods take longer to digest and the stomach stays fuller longer.

We used to it watermelon fresh, but Chinese cuisine offers you an easy and unusual recipe - fried watermelon with icing sugar.

¾ pound fresh watermelon with rind
2 oz wheat flour
1 egg
2 oz corn starch
2 oz sugar
2 oz ice crumbs
1/3 oz powdered sugar

1. Combine flour, egg, starch and sugar in a bowl and stir. Add ice and some water if needed and stir again.
2. Slice watermelon pulp in triangle pieces and roll in batter. Fry in a deep-fryer and lay out on a paper napkin to let the excess oil soak into it.
3. Serve up with powdered sugar.

Small beef pieces and sweet peppers, rolled up in sesame glaze… What can suit better for a picnic at your lawn in a warm spring day?

1 pound beef stake 1 ½ inches thick
2 red and 2 yellow peppers, sliced
lime segments
sweet chili sauce

for glaze

2 cloves garlic
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sunflower-seed oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp piquant chili sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce

1. Cut beef stake in 1 inch slices. Roll beef and pepper cuts in glaze and grill each side 2-4 minutes, pouring with glaze.
2. Make skewers, each consisting of a beef slice and 2 pepper slices. Serve up with lime and sweet chili sauce.

This citrus duck salad is a perfect cold collation or a light main dish for supper.

2 cabbage lettuce
2 duck breasts, skin removed, chopped
7 oz water chestnuts, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
2 inches long cucumber piece, sliced in lines
4 spring onions leaves, sliced
1 stick celery, cut into thin lines
4 ½ oz bean sprouts
orange segments for decoration

 for seasoning

 3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 ½ tbsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red chili pepper, sliced
1 green chili pepper, sliced

1. Combine shallots, sprind onions, celery, cucumber, bean sprouts and water chestnuts in a big bowl. Mix thoroughly.
2. Put cabbage lettuce leaves in a dish, lay out salad and put duck pieces on top.
3. Put seasoning ingredients in a pan, heat up about3-5 minutes. Sprinkle salad with seasoning and decorate with orange segments.

This dewy milk-shake will help keeping your gastric acidity balanced.

2/3 cup yogurt or milk
2 grapefruits
soda water

1. Peel grapefruits and make juice with a squeezer.
2. Combine juice and yogurt and blend it. You can dilute milk-shake with soda water.

It’s hard to make sure whether it’s a salad or a dessert. Anyhow, this dish is a fount of vitamins. It can be served as a juicy dietary breakfast or a refreshing garnish for meat, fish and chicken.

1 pound carrot, grated
2 big sweet oranges
2 tbsp chopped pistachios or pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt, black pepper

1. Peel oranges, remove pellicle from orange segments.
2. Mix oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a small bowl to make a seasoning.
3. Combine carrot with oranges, pour in seasoning and strew with nuts.

This spicy mixture is an essential part of many Indian courses. You can make it yourself by frying all these spices in a dry pan for a minute. This will make them more fragrant. Then just crush spices in a coffe-grinder and put garam masala in a clean jar for spices.

2 tbsp fennel
4 parts anisetree
3 inches cinnamon stick
2 tbsp black pepper peas
2 tbsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp cardamom
1 tbsp cloves

Do you remember what Homer Simpson from the cartoon The Simpsons liked the most? It’s donuts - fluffy, warm and sweet. I like this easy recipe with currant or guava jam. The only condition is: jam shouldn’t be too fluid, it must be more like a jelly.

6 oz flour
1/3 oz (8 g) fresh yeast
4 egg yolks, whisked
3 ½ oz jam
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp warm cream
1 tbsp rum
2 tbsp water
powdered sugar
sugar
salt
oil

1. Dissolve yeast in water and add a pinch of sugar. Stir, cover and leave for 10 minutes in a warm place.
2. Sift flour with a pinch of salt. Make a hump with a hollow in the middle of it and pour in yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, egg yolks, cream, orange juice and rum. Add some water if needed. Knead dough until very soft and elastic.
3. Make a dough ball, cover with a towel and leave it in a warm place for an hour.
4. Roll out dough ½ inch thick and cut small pieces two inches in diameter using a glass. Divide dough circlets in two halves. Put 1spoon jam in the middle of each circlet and cover with another one. Leave for 20 minutes.
5. Heat oil in a deep pan and fry donuts two minutes on each side until golden. Put donuts on paper napkins and strew with powdered sugar.

Remember, that this tender chiffon cake is cooked in an ungreased pan – it clings to the pan sides and becomes light and high. To prevent sticking oil is added right into the cake.

¾ cup guava paste
2 cups flour
1 ½ cups sugar
6 egg yolks, lightly whisked
10 egg whites
½ cup flavorless oil
¼ cup water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon zest, grated
1 tsp cream of tartar
powdered sugar for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 160 C (325 F). Sift flour trough a strainer into a large bowl. Combine with 1 ¼ cups sugar and backing powder and mix. Add guava paste, water, oil, lemon zest, vanilla extract and yolks. Beat up until the cake batter is very smooth.
2. Whisk egg whites thoroughly, combine with cream of tartar and beat again until very soft. Add the rest of sugar gradually while mixing and whisk until thick. If you use a hand mixer, beat up whites for about 10 minutes, using a stand mixer – 5-6 minutes.
3. Take ¼ of the whites, add to the batter and stir lightly. Then add the rest of the whites and gently fold them into the cake batter clockwise, using a large egg whisk or a spatula.
4. Carefully place the batter into a pan with a removable bottom or usual pan and smooth the surface. Bake about an hour, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Do not open the oven until cake is half-cooked – it will fall.
5. Decorate chilled cake with powdered sugar.

Tasty home cake for a family dinner on saturday. You can use guava jam instead of paste; in this case you should use less sugar because your guava cake will be too sweet.

1 ¼ cup guava paste
2 cup flour
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Slice guavas and blend to a solid mass. Preheat oven at 180 C (350 F).
2. Cream butter in a bowl, adding sugar slowly. Combine with eggs, vanilla extract, flour and backing powder. Mix batter thoroughly.
3. Pour half of the batter in a casserole, put guava on it and cover with the rest of the batter. Cook about 50 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.