Ask a Chef reveals the secrets of those superb dishes you ate in cafes and restaurants and wanted to try yourself.
Potpourri's birdseed bar
Ingredients
3 cups raw peanuts, toasted
¾ cup sesame seeds
2 cups shredded coconut
2 cups raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
1½ cups sunflower seeds
1½ cups pumpkin seeds
½ cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
200g butter
Method
Toast peanuts in oven for 12 minutes at 180deg, then combine all seeds and fruit in a Bowl.
Put honey, brown sugar and butter in pot and slowly combine.
Bring to boil, testing until getting to soft ball stage (use a sugar thermometer. It is at soft ball stage when it reaches 118degC or when you drop a bit of it into cold water to cool it down, it will form a soft ball.)
Add to dry ingredients and mix to combine.
Press into a lined 30cm x 20cm tin and allow to set in fridge.
Cut to size when firm.
Requested by Nicola Ralston of Dunedin.
This recipe comes from Potpourri Vegetarian Cafe in Lower Stuart St, Dunedin.
• If you have enjoyed a dish in an Otago cafe or restaurant and would like the recipe, write to Ask a Chef, Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin, fax 474-7422, or email odt.features@odt.co.nz, including your name, address and a daytime telephone number, and we will request it.
