Maggie Beer's recipes for a good life

A good food life for all is what I hope for for all Australians. Who needs the pleasure of a beautiful meal to look forward to more than any other? The aged, who may be unable to "do" for themselves. There is no more instant gratification that the scent of freshly cooked food in pleasant surroundings for our elders.

There are homes doing this brilliantly and one part of the journey of my Maggie Beer Foundation is to find these, recognise them and use them as benchmarks for others to follow. For those homes where food is not deemed to be important I want to share new thinking, ideas and research.

I want to help everyone in the industry know that beautiful food in season prepared in a

I have chosen these dishes with flavour, simplicity and economics in mind.

Shoulder of lamb cooked in a bag

The lamb shoulder can be cooked in an oven bag overnight while everyone is sleeping. The oven will need little cleaning because of the oven bag and the lamb will have such a soft mouthfeel that it's like butter and easier to digest.

1.8kg lamb shoulder, bone in

60ml extra virgin olive oil

5 sprigs rosemary, stripped and chopped

sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

1 large to extra large oven bag

1. Preheat oven to 110C.

2. Remove the lamb from the fridge and place into a large bowl or tray. Set aside to come to room temperature.

3. Rub the shoulder with olive oil, rosemary, sea salt and cracked pepper, then place into the oven bag, then pop on to a baking tray.

4. Place into the preheated oven and cook for 8 to 9 hours, depending on the breed of lamb and the oven, or until the lamb starts to come away from the bone.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the bag for 30 minutes. Drain juices off into a jug then skim off any fat. Carve lamb and place on to a serving platter. Serve with pureed spinach, creamy polenta and some of the juices.

Note: If your oven bag breaks, cover the baking tray with a double layer of foil and crimp around the edges to seal and continue to bake. This will keep in the moisture for the remaining cooking time.

Serves 6-8 with accompaniments

Roasted rhubarb with orange and brown sugar

450g rhubarb, cut into 5cm lengths

30g brown sugar

3 tbsp orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).

2. Place the rhubarb on to a baking tray, sprinkle with brown sugar and drizzle over the orange juice.

3. Place into the preheated and bake for 30 mins or until softened but still retaining structure.

4. Remove from the oven and serve with "runny" custard.

Serves 8-10

Creme anglaise to serve as a runny custard

This custard is intentionally runny and made with all the good things, like full cream milk, cream and whole eggs. It can be made efficiently in a steam oven, standard equipment in most aged care homes, without anyonehaving to stand stirring over the stove. It's food everyone enjoys, though you could go that extra step and add an extra 2 or 3 egg yolks to make it lovely and unctuous.

350ml thickened cream

200ml full cream milk

2 eggs

100g honey

1. Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl or blender and blend until the honey has dissolved.

2. Set a steamer oven on 100 per cent moisture and at 87C.

3. Pour the custard mixture into a baking tray, cover with cling film and ensure that there are no gaps or holes for moisture to get into the mixture.

4. Place the baking tray into the preheated steamer and cook for about 1 hour. Because this is a runny custard it will not coat the back of a spoon.

5. Remove custard from the steamer and allow to sit for five minutes then remove the cling film and whisk the mixture together, then place into the fridge to chill.

Note: If you don't have a steam oven, simply bring the milk and cream to a simmer slowly in a heavy-based saucepan, add the honey. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes for the flavour to infuse. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, then gradually whisk them into the warm milk and cream. Return the mixture to the stove, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to 82C. This will take about 10 minutes, depending on the saucepan you use. If you take it too far it will curdle. To avoid this, put the mixture into a stainless steel bowl over boiling water to cook more gently. Serve immediately or chill.

Serves 8-10

maggiebeerfoundation.org.au