I so wasn't in the mood for making something hot, or meaty. And I'm glad I didn't - there was so much meat already. So I made mojito iceblocks, in little plastic shot glasses. There was 58 of them, and they kept us cool and minty! And I made sure I followed a recipe, 'cause then I knew that the alcohol amount would be enough to ensure freezing.
Win!
I'm interested in some of the other recipes, if they're available - jerk marinade, for starters!
Saturday, 23 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
General Bottling
*queue Hey Hey It's Saturday cheesy memories*
Hello! General Bottling here!
Okay, enough of that.
Over at BT's we've been talking about bottling stuff, and I though I'd copy down my notes on bottling stuff, the basic methods you can apply to anything you want to bottle, like jams, sauces, pickles, stewed fruit etc. I still find it disconcerting that it's called canning on the US. Bottles, people. Bottles.
In general, to bottle something:
1) the liquid must be boiling hot. If you've let something cool down, bring it back up to a boil for a few minutes.
2) the jars and lids must also be hot, to avoid explodifications. Hot liquid + cool jar can sometimes = bang. You can be mildly cheaty and do this straight out of the dishwasher. Or if they're already clean, microwave them (except the lids, put them in a bowl of boiling water). I tend to stick jars and lids on a tray in the oven on about 100C until you say OUCH when you touch them.
3) put your hot bottles onto a teatowel on the kitchen bench to help avoid other explodifications. Hot bottle + hard or cool surface may = bang.
4) leave about 1 - 1.5 cm for expanding/contracting at the top. Where the bottle becomes the neck is often a good guide.
5) ideally, wait until the liquid is no longer steaming, then put lids on. Too hot can mean too much condensation. If it's too cool, you may not get a good seal.
6) once filled, you can do one of three things:
A: Seal lids about quarter turn too loose (ie, not completely tight) and boil in a saucepan of water, making sure the water doesn't come right up to the neck. The boiling expands the bottle, causing a tight seal. You still need to check this seal and make sure it's tight. It usually is.
B: Seal lids completely (as tightly as you can by hand) and turn upside down to cool. Turning upside down helps to create a vacuum against the lid as it cools, thus making the seal tight.
C: Be a slack tart and just seal tightly. I like to think this isn't completely slack, because if I turn jam upside down it would set like that and then be messy-looking when I turn it back upright. I do it for sloppy things though.
7) Rest the bottles on a teatowel until room temperature (see explodifications, bottles thereof).
8) In theory, pop-tops should pop down. If they haven't, and they pop down when you press them, it's worked. I usually have a few which go SNAP and it's very satisfying ;-) If they don't, it's still probably worked but you might like to store them in the fridge just in case. So far I haven't had any problems.
9) I've used some jars with plastic screw lids (like the Vegemite jars) for things that either aren't going to be kept for very long, or are going to be kept in the fridge. So far, so good.
Got any other tips to add?
Note: As exciting as it sounds, I haven't had any exploderating bottles experiences, nor do I want to. I'll leave that to Dr Nik to explore ;-)
Hello! General Bottling here!
Okay, enough of that.
Over at BT's we've been talking about bottling stuff, and I though I'd copy down my notes on bottling stuff, the basic methods you can apply to anything you want to bottle, like jams, sauces, pickles, stewed fruit etc. I still find it disconcerting that it's called canning on the US. Bottles, people. Bottles.
In general, to bottle something:
1) the liquid must be boiling hot. If you've let something cool down, bring it back up to a boil for a few minutes.
2) the jars and lids must also be hot, to avoid explodifications. Hot liquid + cool jar can sometimes = bang. You can be mildly cheaty and do this straight out of the dishwasher. Or if they're already clean, microwave them (except the lids, put them in a bowl of boiling water). I tend to stick jars and lids on a tray in the oven on about 100C until you say OUCH when you touch them.
3) put your hot bottles onto a teatowel on the kitchen bench to help avoid other explodifications. Hot bottle + hard or cool surface may = bang.
4) leave about 1 - 1.5 cm for expanding/contracting at the top. Where the bottle becomes the neck is often a good guide.
5) ideally, wait until the liquid is no longer steaming, then put lids on. Too hot can mean too much condensation. If it's too cool, you may not get a good seal.
6) once filled, you can do one of three things:
A: Seal lids about quarter turn too loose (ie, not completely tight) and boil in a saucepan of water, making sure the water doesn't come right up to the neck. The boiling expands the bottle, causing a tight seal. You still need to check this seal and make sure it's tight. It usually is.
B: Seal lids completely (as tightly as you can by hand) and turn upside down to cool. Turning upside down helps to create a vacuum against the lid as it cools, thus making the seal tight.
C: Be a slack tart and just seal tightly. I like to think this isn't completely slack, because if I turn jam upside down it would set like that and then be messy-looking when I turn it back upright. I do it for sloppy things though.
7) Rest the bottles on a teatowel until room temperature (see explodifications, bottles thereof).
8) In theory, pop-tops should pop down. If they haven't, and they pop down when you press them, it's worked. I usually have a few which go SNAP and it's very satisfying ;-) If they don't, it's still probably worked but you might like to store them in the fridge just in case. So far I haven't had any problems.
9) I've used some jars with plastic screw lids (like the Vegemite jars) for things that either aren't going to be kept for very long, or are going to be kept in the fridge. So far, so good.
Got any other tips to add?
Note: As exciting as it sounds, I haven't had any exploderating bottles experiences, nor do I want to. I'll leave that to Dr Nik to explore ;-)
Sunday, 10 January 2010
Sweet Tomato Chutney
8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
5 inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
2x400g tins chopped tomatoes, or 800g peeled fresh
300 clear vinegar
350gm jaggery or brown sugar
2 tablespoons sultanas
2 teasp salt
3/4 teasp cayenne pepper
chili powder (optional)
Combine garlic, ginger and half the toms in a blender and blend till smooth.
Put the rest of the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, sultanas and salt in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil and and add the garlic and ginger mixture. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 90-120 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick enough to tall off a spoon in sheets. Make sure the mixture doesn't catch / burn.
Add the cayenne. For a hotter chutney, add the chili. Leave to cool, then pour into steralized jars. Store in a cool place, or in the fridge.
Makes 2 cups.
I find that the cayenne is enough to give this quite a nice warmness, without being evil. I always add a little more garlic, of course. And I was mad enough to take the skins off the cherry tomatoes before I made it, and I think it was worth it.
From The Food Of The World
5 inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
2x400g tins chopped tomatoes, or 800g peeled fresh
300 clear vinegar
350gm jaggery or brown sugar
2 tablespoons sultanas
2 teasp salt
3/4 teasp cayenne pepper
chili powder (optional)
Combine garlic, ginger and half the toms in a blender and blend till smooth.
Put the rest of the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, sultanas and salt in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Bring to the boil and and add the garlic and ginger mixture. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 90-120 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick enough to tall off a spoon in sheets. Make sure the mixture doesn't catch / burn.
Add the cayenne. For a hotter chutney, add the chili. Leave to cool, then pour into steralized jars. Store in a cool place, or in the fridge.
Makes 2 cups.
I find that the cayenne is enough to give this quite a nice warmness, without being evil. I always add a little more garlic, of course. And I was mad enough to take the skins off the cherry tomatoes before I made it, and I think it was worth it.
From The Food Of The World
Saturday, 2 January 2010
Productive!
Today, I've turned 2.5 kilos of cherries into jam, using this recipe. I'm yet to see if it will set - I think it will. I cooked it for far longer than recommended, convinced it wouldn't set each time I was ready with jars...I'm a jam beginner. On the dream wish gift list now? A thermometer!
This cooking frenzy was brought on by a buying frenzy yesterday at the markets. We picked up a box of toms for 5 bucks, and the 5 kilos of cherries was 6. Sadly, I might have got most of the 5k out of the box if I'd done this yesterday. The compost is happy and dripping red.
There's about 800gms of cherries left. I might make muffins. Or jelly - I'm keen to try that out, now that I know about gelatin. And I'm not scared of hand-pitting the last of them. Not now.
Two kilos of toms became roasted tomato puree, using this recipe. I'll slip that into some freezer bags soon. It tastes good - better than the old eye-tie/aussie boil up. I might finish the rest of the box that way. Most of it will be a donation to Pasta Night.
Also got a fist full of basil from the markets for a buck. That's become pesto for Pasta Night, using pine nuts, brazil nuts and almonds that got a quick and dirty dry roast beforehand - so dirty, in fact, that I burnt a few. Pesto still tastes grand though!
What did you cook this Sunday?
This cooking frenzy was brought on by a buying frenzy yesterday at the markets. We picked up a box of toms for 5 bucks, and the 5 kilos of cherries was 6. Sadly, I might have got most of the 5k out of the box if I'd done this yesterday. The compost is happy and dripping red.
There's about 800gms of cherries left. I might make muffins. Or jelly - I'm keen to try that out, now that I know about gelatin. And I'm not scared of hand-pitting the last of them. Not now.
Two kilos of toms became roasted tomato puree, using this recipe. I'll slip that into some freezer bags soon. It tastes good - better than the old eye-tie/aussie boil up. I might finish the rest of the box that way. Most of it will be a donation to Pasta Night.
Also got a fist full of basil from the markets for a buck. That's become pesto for Pasta Night, using pine nuts, brazil nuts and almonds that got a quick and dirty dry roast beforehand - so dirty, in fact, that I burnt a few. Pesto still tastes grand though!
What did you cook this Sunday?
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Christmas Cooking
It is the season to eat until you explode!!!! and the need to spend days sitting infront of the boiling oven in 33C heat preparing.
We love it. and dam you freaky "White Christmas" Euro/Americanos
So...to the cooking
Zucchini Pickle
This was Liams discovery while he was sitting around being a French housewife and I was the bread winner before we left on the Euro tour. We survived on this for a couple of months while living as hobos. In the end it was so good we were rationing so we didnt run out.
1.0 kg zucchini
4 onions
2 apples
Apple cider vinegar
500g sugar
Salt
1 tblsp Tumeric
2 tsp Curry powder
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tblsp Brown mustard seeds
Dice the zucchini, onions, apples into 5mm pieces (+- 1mm ...yes im an engineer).
1 onion
2 large potatoes steamed and sliced
200g of bacon pieces
a small can of mushrooms (or fresh)
Roblochon
2 soup spoons of creme fraiche
parsley
salt, pepper
We love it. and dam you freaky "White Christmas" Euro/Americanos
So...to the cooking
Zucchini Pickle
This was Liams discovery while he was sitting around being a French housewife and I was the bread winner before we left on the Euro tour. We survived on this for a couple of months while living as hobos. In the end it was so good we were rationing so we didnt run out.
1.0 kg zucchini
4 onions
2 apples
Apple cider vinegar
500g sugar
Salt
1 tblsp Tumeric
2 tsp Curry powder
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tblsp Brown mustard seeds
Dice the zucchini, onions, apples into 5mm pieces (+- 1mm ...yes im an engineer).
Add about 100ml of water and boil them until they are soft.
Add 400ml apple cider vinegar (important here to adjust to taste, ive killed too many things by just following the recipe), sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, tumeric, curry powder, cayenne pepper and mustard seeds.
Boil for 25-30 minutes and thicken with 1 tablespoon cornflour and a little vinegar (make them into a paste) and boil for another five minutes.
Pizza Tartiflet
This is a classic Marseillais pizza. using creme freche instead of a tomato base. For the fully classic marseille experience its cooked in a woodfired pizza oven in the back of a truck (yep, smoke stack out the roof and everything). This was our little christmas eve dinner.
1 onion
2 large potatoes steamed and sliced
200g of bacon pieces
a small can of mushrooms (or fresh)
Roblochon
2 soup spoons of creme fraiche
parsley
salt, pepper
Fry the bacon pieces, after a couple of minutes add the onions and mushrooms. Fry for a bit, add the parsley and salt and pepper
Butter the base with crème fraîche. Lots of Creme fraiche. Put on the potato slices followed by cheese and cook at 180C.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Shredded Pork Stew
So I know that a lot of the folks who read this blog are in Australia, and Australians don't on the whole eat a lot of pork (just try to get decent lamb in this country though - it probably came from NZ) but I thought I'd pass this along.
True Mexican cooking - as opposed to Tex-Mex, which I also like and which is most of what you get in anything called a Mexican restaurant - involves a lot of rich stews and/or stewlike substances stuffed into other things. And often, for whatever reason, their stews involve the meat being shredded, instead of cubed. I like the texture this leads to, and it also helps get those yummy sauces spread around a bit. So when Coz brought home a slow-cooking "crock pot" the other day, I thought I'd try to make a shredded pork stew, though the shredding technique should work equally well with any meat in just about anything stew-like. I started from some recipe I found online and as usual ended up tweaking things fairly severely, but the first version last week went something like this:
~1 lb. beans (I think they were pintos) soaked overnight with a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a couple of dried chilies. Cooked in the slow-cooker for about 6 hours, then drained.
~1 lb. pork loin boiled for about an hour with a couple of bay leaves and some more crushed garlic. Skimmed the fat off the top and drained, reserving the liquid for later. Left to cool (pour cold water over it, or leave the whole pot out in the snow for a bit :) Then you literally shred it with your fingers; work the stringy fibers of the meat apart, but try not to break them too much.
~1 lb. of Italian sausage, skinned (recipe calls for chorizo, but we didn't have any.)
Saute in a big pan (I like our tall-sided paella pan for the job, as its harder to spill things out of, but a big frying pan or wok should work) until it starts to brown. Remove the sausage, but don't clean the pan.
1 large onion, sliced.
5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped.
8-9 baby potatoes, quartered.
Sautee in the juices in the same pan until the potatoes start to brown. Re-add the sausage, the shredded pork, some salt, and some baby carrots, and cook for another few minutes.
Transfer to your stewpot, and de-glaze the frypan with some red wine; pour that in too. Add your beans, some oregano, and some more chili - I used a couple of tablespoons of smoky chipotles in adobo, pureed, which are the bestest chilies ever. Added about a cup of the liquid reserved from the pork, and the rest of about a cup of red wine (what I didn't use for deglazing.) And the juice of a decent-sized lime. And 2 cans of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted; my favorites.) Oh, and some bacon left over from breakfast. Stewed this for absolutely _ages_ in the slow-cooker, but a couple of hours on a low simmer on the stove would probably do it. Served it over rice with sour cream. Yum!
Todays version of same has no beans in it, nor sausage, but a huge amount of shredded pork (whole pork shoulders are cheap to begin with AND they were on sale for half-price. I used half of what I got off the shoulder, and this stew is going to be twice as big as the last batch.) Gave in to temptation and just used a whole head of garlic this time. Put the carrots in early with the potatoes so they get that almost-burnt carmelly flavour that carrots do. Added cubed eggplant and sliced capsicums when the veggies were about half-done. Used about the same amount of chipotles - for the double batch - and added a bunch of fire-roasted milder Hatch chilies. Twice as much tomatoes. Half again the red wine. A bit of ground cumin. I'm a little worried that dropping the sausage and pre-boiling the meat will mean there isn't enough fat in it (Hey! Fat is good!), but its a stew; it can't exactly dry out on me. Smells good anyways - I'll let you know.
True Mexican cooking - as opposed to Tex-Mex, which I also like and which is most of what you get in anything called a Mexican restaurant - involves a lot of rich stews and/or stewlike substances stuffed into other things. And often, for whatever reason, their stews involve the meat being shredded, instead of cubed. I like the texture this leads to, and it also helps get those yummy sauces spread around a bit. So when Coz brought home a slow-cooking "crock pot" the other day, I thought I'd try to make a shredded pork stew, though the shredding technique should work equally well with any meat in just about anything stew-like. I started from some recipe I found online and as usual ended up tweaking things fairly severely, but the first version last week went something like this:
~1 lb. beans (I think they were pintos) soaked overnight with a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a couple of dried chilies. Cooked in the slow-cooker for about 6 hours, then drained.
~1 lb. pork loin boiled for about an hour with a couple of bay leaves and some more crushed garlic. Skimmed the fat off the top and drained, reserving the liquid for later. Left to cool (pour cold water over it, or leave the whole pot out in the snow for a bit :) Then you literally shred it with your fingers; work the stringy fibers of the meat apart, but try not to break them too much.
~1 lb. of Italian sausage, skinned (recipe calls for chorizo, but we didn't have any.)
Saute in a big pan (I like our tall-sided paella pan for the job, as its harder to spill things out of, but a big frying pan or wok should work) until it starts to brown. Remove the sausage, but don't clean the pan.
1 large onion, sliced.
5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped.
8-9 baby potatoes, quartered.
Sautee in the juices in the same pan until the potatoes start to brown. Re-add the sausage, the shredded pork, some salt, and some baby carrots, and cook for another few minutes.
Transfer to your stewpot, and de-glaze the frypan with some red wine; pour that in too. Add your beans, some oregano, and some more chili - I used a couple of tablespoons of smoky chipotles in adobo, pureed, which are the bestest chilies ever. Added about a cup of the liquid reserved from the pork, and the rest of about a cup of red wine (what I didn't use for deglazing.) And the juice of a decent-sized lime. And 2 cans of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted; my favorites.) Oh, and some bacon left over from breakfast. Stewed this for absolutely _ages_ in the slow-cooker, but a couple of hours on a low simmer on the stove would probably do it. Served it over rice with sour cream. Yum!
Todays version of same has no beans in it, nor sausage, but a huge amount of shredded pork (whole pork shoulders are cheap to begin with AND they were on sale for half-price. I used half of what I got off the shoulder, and this stew is going to be twice as big as the last batch.) Gave in to temptation and just used a whole head of garlic this time. Put the carrots in early with the potatoes so they get that almost-burnt carmelly flavour that carrots do. Added cubed eggplant and sliced capsicums when the veggies were about half-done. Used about the same amount of chipotles - for the double batch - and added a bunch of fire-roasted milder Hatch chilies. Twice as much tomatoes. Half again the red wine. A bit of ground cumin. I'm a little worried that dropping the sausage and pre-boiling the meat will mean there isn't enough fat in it (Hey! Fat is good!), but its a stew; it can't exactly dry out on me. Smells good anyways - I'll let you know.
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Tomotoes
I have a billion baby toms. I'm open to suggestions - what the hell am I going to do with them all?
So far, it's been:
Bruchetta
Salsa (really good! will post my ideas here later)
Pasta sauce (handy serves in freezer)
Salads
Last year I made chutney. But we didn't eat it all. Though a jar of chutney could be a good christmas pressie for mum.
Yesterday, I should have left some sliced toms out there, and harnessed the power of the blazing heat and sun to dry them. Oh well. Live and learn.
I've been taking them to work too, and feeding my colleagues tasty home made toms from the fridge.
Any other ideas?
So far, it's been:
Bruchetta
Salsa (really good! will post my ideas here later)
Pasta sauce (handy serves in freezer)
Salads
Last year I made chutney. But we didn't eat it all. Though a jar of chutney could be a good christmas pressie for mum.
Yesterday, I should have left some sliced toms out there, and harnessed the power of the blazing heat and sun to dry them. Oh well. Live and learn.
I've been taking them to work too, and feeding my colleagues tasty home made toms from the fridge.
Any other ideas?
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Nuts!
Tried my own muesli bars today. In fact, they're still in the oven. I hope I remember to take a photo!
So, the doc and I are still searching for an answer to my lack of B12. But she's circling around coeliac, so I thought I might test out a gluten-free diet for 2 weeks, and see what happens. If it's a reality, then I guess I'd better get use to it anyway. Gawd. I'd always hoped I'd never be one of the high-maintenance guests at parties.
So, I was always going to make muesli bars. But now I can't make them with oats. So I made peanuts the base.
400gm peanuts
100gm almond slivers
165gm 'seed mix' (papitas and sunflowers)
100gm sesame seeds
150gm cashews
Roasted at 160 in oven for 20 minutes.
The peanuts had their skins on, so after the 20 mins I played with them until I'd got most off.
The glue roughly follows Moni's recipe - 2 big dessert spoonfuls of peanut butter, honey and brown sugar. I could have done with a tiny bit more glue, I think. Of, and a pinch of salt.
I mixed it all up, and pasted it into the lamington tray. Important to keep the glue warm, otherwise it's really hard to mix. Spose if the nuts had still been hot, that would be a different story!
Threw it all in the oven, and left it for 10 minutes.
Then put baking paper over it, and gave it a damn good pressing! With a tea towel to avoid the heat.
Back in the oven for 15.
Out to take of the paper. I'm glad I did this - pulling the cooled stuck nuts off the paper for nibbles didn't work - they were stuck. It was really easy to pull it off when hot.
Back intot he oven for 5 to dry out a little more.
It's cooling now, and here's a picture of it! I hope it's tasty!
LATER: They were well tasty. A little heavy on the sesame, but great nonetheless. Mores soon!
Leeky joy
I grew leeks!
I've been waiting for them to get big enough to eat...I mean, I knew they were growing on down under the ground, where I couldn't see, but, you know, it was my first time...
I turned them into potato and leek soup. First time for that too. I read a few recepies, hated them all, and made one up. Here's a ruff redaction:
butter and oil
2 huge leeks, and 2 tiny ones, chopped
garlic
many potatoes. I think they were dutch creams
vegeta stock - in cold water, and enough to cover the mix
teaspoon of cumin
salt and pepper
huge splosh of cream
Saute leeks and garlic in butter and oil. Add potatoes. Add stock. Boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove and keep some liquid, just in case. Blend. Splosh in cream, bring back to heat. We ate it with parsley and chorizo garnish. And more pepper.
Was well tasty. Horray for tasty home grown leeks!
ASIDE: I also found potatoes in my garden. tiny, baby, shouldn't be allowed away from their mother kinda size. So I boiled their bottoms off, and ate them today for lunch, with a boiled egg (home made), parsley, alfalfa and mayo. Woot!
Monday, 26 October 2009
Friday, 23 October 2009
Smoky Puttanesca
Saving this for re-use, sharing... and also asking for more puttanesca recipes, or ideas for things to try with this one; it was good, but not quite what I was going for.
Sauteed for ~3 mins:
6 cloves of garlic diced (well all right; 12. But they were tiny little things and hardly counted for half.)
Half a large Spanish onion, diced.
1 tin smoked sardines. (no anchovies :( )
1 chipotle in adobo, diced, and a bit of the adobo sauce from the tin.
Added, then simmered for ~20 minutes:
1 small tin of tomato paste + 3 tins of water.
1 medium tin of chopped fire-roasted tomatoes.
about a glass of red wine.
about a tablespoon of smoked paprika.
20 black olives, chopped.
3 tablespoons of capers.
Those chipotles are hell-on-wheels, but I think it needed a bit more hot. Liked the various smoky flavours running through it. The rough source baseline recipe called for crushed tomatoes rather than paste and water, but you work with what you've got...
Sauteed for ~3 mins:
6 cloves of garlic diced (well all right; 12. But they were tiny little things and hardly counted for half.)
Half a large Spanish onion, diced.
1 tin smoked sardines. (no anchovies :( )
1 chipotle in adobo, diced, and a bit of the adobo sauce from the tin.
Added, then simmered for ~20 minutes:
1 small tin of tomato paste + 3 tins of water.
1 medium tin of chopped fire-roasted tomatoes.
about a glass of red wine.
about a tablespoon of smoked paprika.
20 black olives, chopped.
3 tablespoons of capers.
Those chipotles are hell-on-wheels, but I think it needed a bit more hot. Liked the various smoky flavours running through it. The rough source baseline recipe called for crushed tomatoes rather than paste and water, but you work with what you've got...
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Potato and Olive Salad
Kim asked for this Morrocain recipe from Claudia Rodin,
500g of new potatos (not old apparently)
3 tlb olive oil
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp paprica
1/2 tsp cumin
pinch chilli power
salt
bunch of parsley
1/2 spanish onion - chopped
12 olives
Peel and boil the potatos in salted water until tender. Drain and cut into 0.5 or 0.25 fractions. If the mean potato size < 2.5cm then scission is not necessary. In a salad bowl, add oil, lemon juice, paprika, cummin, chilli pepper and salt. While still warm add the potatos and parsley and onion and olives and agitate gently.
500g of new potatos (not old apparently)
3 tlb olive oil
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp paprica
1/2 tsp cumin
pinch chilli power
salt
bunch of parsley
1/2 spanish onion - chopped
12 olives
Peel and boil the potatos in salted water until tender. Drain and cut into 0.5 or 0.25 fractions. If the mean potato size < 2.5cm then scission is not necessary. In a salad bowl, add oil, lemon juice, paprika, cummin, chilli pepper and salt. While still warm add the potatos and parsley and onion and olives and agitate gently.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Roman Salted Cod stuff
I ate something like this in Rome when I was there. It was amazing but I could never find the recipe back. Google fails because it always wants plums to be plum tomatos. Stupid googel. Anyway girl is bringing back Baccalao from itally for me. This will be cooked next week I think
Salt Cod with Prunes
Salt Cod with Prunes
- Prepared Salt Cod
- Onion
- Celery
- Dried Prunes
- Pine Nuts
- Dried Bread
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Spicy Plum Sauce
of course! der Speedy!
having been given some of BT's flukey plum largesse it's experiment time for me too.
so to the Googlemobile and instant success. this not being Baking (and therefore Science) I've done what I wanted to one of St Stephanie's recipes. hers is here. cracking stones etc is not for me, I couldn't find the muslin, and I only used 1 kg of plums instead of 1.5kg (saving the rest for something else), so this is my version -
Ingredients:
Method:
having been given some of BT's flukey plum largesse it's experiment time for me too.
so to the Googlemobile and instant success. this not being Baking (and therefore Science) I've done what I wanted to one of St Stephanie's recipes. hers is here. cracking stones etc is not for me, I couldn't find the muslin, and I only used 1 kg of plums instead of 1.5kg (saving the rest for something else), so this is my version -
Ingredients:
- 1 kg plums
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups red wine
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 1 1/2 tsp seeded mustard
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chilli
- 1 tsp salt (actually, I forgot about this)
- 1 Tbsp ginger
- 1 Tbsp garlic
Method:
- score the plums into segments. if the flesh comes off easily, well, hooray, otherwise bung them stones and all into a medium saucepan (like I did).
- put everything else into the pan.
- bring to the boil and stir well.
- turn down to a medium simmer and cook until plums collapse, stirring occasionally. this turned out to be over an hour rather than the 20 mins in the recipe. even then, they still had a lot of structure. cooking for an hour doesn't do any harm anyway, and dear god, it smelled fantastic. I stopped once the liquid started to reduce and become syrupy.
- strain liquid into a bowl then tip it back in the pan.
- pick out all the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and stones. yes, okay, the muslin would have been handy.
- dump the fruit back into the pan.
- whizz with your stick blender. you'll find out if you left a stone in there!
- bring back to the boil and continue to cook till it's as thick as you like. remember this doesn't have to become thick like jam, it's a sauce.
- spoon/pour/funnel into hot, clean jars.
- seal tightly once the steam has stopped rising from the jars. but don't just walk away from them and come back later - they've got to still be very hot.
- leave for a week before using. in theory. not sure if I can follow that instruction.
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Epic fail!
The jam doesn't seem to have worked. Way too runny, Don't know why. Perhaps I should have let it boil a little longer? I know I added too much vanilla essence (didn't have a pod).
I wonder if it would taste OK with ice cream?
I don't eat ice cream.
Maybe on muesli!
I wonder if it would taste OK with ice cream?
I don't eat ice cream.
Maybe on muesli!
Kitchen adventures
Went to the market, where we found 6 boxes of unwanted plums. They were ok - a bit past it, not sellable, sure, but I've eaten worst things from my fridge. There were three of us, so we got two each.
So I built some jars of plum and apple jam, from here. I'm yet to see if they will set, or even taste good. But the sticky horrid pink jelly I had to peel off the bench fills me with confidence. They will be cold and set by morning.
I also have plans to dry some of them. But I ate one raw, and they're not flavoursome. They might not be tasty dry.
Chutney might get a look in, too.
I had to get rid of some apples, too. I just didn't eat them fast enough. Though I'd have given a medal to any who could have eaten a whole box by themeselves. So the jam was good for about 7 apples, but this apple cake took about 12 more out of the box. I think I'm down to 2 or 3 now.
Sadly, the cake turned out very, very moist...like warm delicious batter. Good crunchy around the outside though. The problem was probably the tin. My tall round tin made everything too dense. Thin and flat, like they suggest, would be great...But I don't think I have one like that.
I also made port-you-geese chicken from this site again, without too much chili so that I could share it. It's not as much fun when it's not burny. But it is still a good chicken.
The pumpkin that was slowly turning to mush on the bench became spiced baked orange for the cous salad, that went beautifully with the chicken. So of course, after all this, I had to have someone over to eat it all! And get rid of some plums!
So, got any good plum chutney recipes?
(stolen somewhat from my blog)
So I built some jars of plum and apple jam, from here. I'm yet to see if they will set, or even taste good. But the sticky horrid pink jelly I had to peel off the bench fills me with confidence. They will be cold and set by morning.
I also have plans to dry some of them. But I ate one raw, and they're not flavoursome. They might not be tasty dry.
Chutney might get a look in, too.
I had to get rid of some apples, too. I just didn't eat them fast enough. Though I'd have given a medal to any who could have eaten a whole box by themeselves. So the jam was good for about 7 apples, but this apple cake took about 12 more out of the box. I think I'm down to 2 or 3 now.
Sadly, the cake turned out very, very moist...like warm delicious batter. Good crunchy around the outside though. The problem was probably the tin. My tall round tin made everything too dense. Thin and flat, like they suggest, would be great...But I don't think I have one like that.
I also made port-you-geese chicken from this site again, without too much chili so that I could share it. It's not as much fun when it's not burny. But it is still a good chicken.
The pumpkin that was slowly turning to mush on the bench became spiced baked orange for the cous salad, that went beautifully with the chicken. So of course, after all this, I had to have someone over to eat it all! And get rid of some plums!
So, got any good plum chutney recipes?
(stolen somewhat from my blog)
Monday, 31 August 2009
terribly good fool-proof* chocolate brownies
I'm not bad at baking if I do say so myself, but brownies have always eluded me. they usually turn out too cakey. I love cake, but cake isn't brownie. so this recipe makes me feel happy and clever. and heavier. sigh.
a lady from a book-making class I went to a while back gave it to me. we took turns making morning tea, and this was her contribution. she must be very devoted to it - when I asked for the recipe, she wrote it straight down on a scrap of paper without having to think.
this works beautifully with the Basco all-purpose gluten free flour as well. dangerously scoffable especially when you cut it into little squares. wafer-thin, don't you know?
Ingredients:
Method:
I have to add, resist the urge to slice it when it's still warm, because a) it's much more crumbly and just gets messy, and b) much as I'm a fan of scoffing straight out of the oven, this is SO much nicer after a few hours, or even the next day. the moisture content rises and it becomes perfectly brownie-like, but when it's still warm it's drier and cakier. so a bit of patience pays off. and it is brilliant straight from the freezer. unfortunately.
*no guarantees
a lady from a book-making class I went to a while back gave it to me. we took turns making morning tea, and this was her contribution. she must be very devoted to it - when I asked for the recipe, she wrote it straight down on a scrap of paper without having to think.
this works beautifully with the Basco all-purpose gluten free flour as well. dangerously scoffable especially when you cut it into little squares. wafer-thin, don't you know?
Ingredients:
- 125g butter
- 125g dark chocolate
- 1 cup almost-but-not-quite firmly packed brown sugar (the darker the better)
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1/3 cup plain flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3 eggs
Method:
- as with all baking, it's best if ingredients are at room temperature
- preheat oven to 180C, if you're lucky enough to have an accuate oven
- grease and line a small pan about umm... a bit smaller than A4-sized and about 3-4 cm deep. that's what I use and it's just right. I'm crap at measuring pans, which is naughty, because for baking you should try and use the same dimensions as described in the recipe. except she didn't tell me
- melt butter, chocolate and brown sugar together in a medium bowl - about 40-50% power in a microwave, minute at a time and stir in between
- sift cocoa, flour and baking powder together into a larger bowl. yes, you lazy bugger. sift. it does make a difference, especially with the cocoa
- add the butter/choccie/sugar mix to the dry ingredients and combine
- lightly beat the eggs (just to combine them). I use the bowl that's just had the wet ingredients in, because it saves washing up another...
- mix the eggs in - fold and stir rather than beat. no need to beat
- pour into the pan
- bake for approx 35-40 minutes. test by skewer or wait until the brownie has risen in the centre (it won't rise much) and has slightly cracked open
- cool a little in the tin then turn out and cool completely
I have to add, resist the urge to slice it when it's still warm, because a) it's much more crumbly and just gets messy, and b) much as I'm a fan of scoffing straight out of the oven, this is SO much nicer after a few hours, or even the next day. the moisture content rises and it becomes perfectly brownie-like, but when it's still warm it's drier and cakier. so a bit of patience pays off. and it is brilliant straight from the freezer. unfortunately.
*no guarantees
Monday, 17 August 2009
Pork with Red Wine Poached Pears
I made a thing.
It started with some pork chops. I like applesauce with my pork chops, and we didn't have any, so I thought I'd do something else fruity with them. Pork and fruit seems to work pretty well. So I dug around the cookbooks in the kitchen and found a recipe for Prune and Sage Pork Chops.
But I didn't have any prunes. Or any sage. Or, in the end, any white wine, thyme, shallots, chicken stock, or parsley... or effectively _any_ of the ingredients for the recipe. (Time for a shop.) So I faked it, stealing a few ideas from the original, and got:
~3/4 cup red wine (a Merlot)
the juice from a tin of tinned pear halves
salt and pepper
~1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
"some" chipotle pepper sauce, to taste (more than you think - the sweet of the rest drowns out the chili.)
Brought to a simmer in a small pot, removed from heat, added the pear halves, covered and let sit. Seasoned the pork chops and seared on both sides in a pan, then removed to a tray in the oven until just done, then removed to rest. Put a nob of butter in the chop pan with some salt and pepper and about 1/4 cup diced onions. Sauteed for a couple of minutes, then added 1 tablespoon of flour and sauteed for another minute. Stirred in the pears and the pear liquid and simmered for ~4 minutes, until thickened somewhat. Added the juice of 1/2 a lemon (one of the sweeter Meyer ones, from my grandmother's garden) and removed from the heat. Poured the sauce over the chops and served with boiled baby taters and broccoli.
Really rather nice. I would not do this without the chipotle - or at least some form of chili - and lemon juice; it would be too sweet. Could have used a bit more rosemary (or possibly some of the sage I didn't have.)
Figured I'd best write it down; there is no way I'm coming up with the same thing from the same starting point a second time...
It started with some pork chops. I like applesauce with my pork chops, and we didn't have any, so I thought I'd do something else fruity with them. Pork and fruit seems to work pretty well. So I dug around the cookbooks in the kitchen and found a recipe for Prune and Sage Pork Chops.
But I didn't have any prunes. Or any sage. Or, in the end, any white wine, thyme, shallots, chicken stock, or parsley... or effectively _any_ of the ingredients for the recipe. (Time for a shop.) So I faked it, stealing a few ideas from the original, and got:
~3/4 cup red wine (a Merlot)
the juice from a tin of tinned pear halves
salt and pepper
~1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
"some" chipotle pepper sauce, to taste (more than you think - the sweet of the rest drowns out the chili.)
Brought to a simmer in a small pot, removed from heat, added the pear halves, covered and let sit. Seasoned the pork chops and seared on both sides in a pan, then removed to a tray in the oven until just done, then removed to rest. Put a nob of butter in the chop pan with some salt and pepper and about 1/4 cup diced onions. Sauteed for a couple of minutes, then added 1 tablespoon of flour and sauteed for another minute. Stirred in the pears and the pear liquid and simmered for ~4 minutes, until thickened somewhat. Added the juice of 1/2 a lemon (one of the sweeter Meyer ones, from my grandmother's garden) and removed from the heat. Poured the sauce over the chops and served with boiled baby taters and broccoli.
Really rather nice. I would not do this without the chipotle - or at least some form of chili - and lemon juice; it would be too sweet. Could have used a bit more rosemary (or possibly some of the sage I didn't have.)
Figured I'd best write it down; there is no way I'm coming up with the same thing from the same starting point a second time...
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Cajun Arse-periment
half a chicken breast, big chunks
a chorizo, sliced thin
some bacon, cubed (I had some 'cut your own' left over)
one onion, diced
garlic (you do the maths)
'cajun' spice (stole ideas from here, then added more paprika, and lots of smoky paprika, and didn't bother with their amounts except as a ratio guideline)
carrot, diced
a can of white beans
a can of tomatoes
green beans, in little pieces
crapsicum slices
In a casserole, brown them all in olive oil. Let them rest on paper (that's gotta be healthy, right?).
I burned the bottom of the pot, so I glazed with water to clean it up before the onions. The water went a great colour, so I kept it as stock.
Brown onion, garlic. Add spices, stir. Throw in tomatoes to stop the burning happening, mix, add meat, carrots and the magic water. Let it all warm up again.
When it's simmering, turn it to a low heat, add beans, put lid on, leave it for 10.
Take the lid off, let it reduce for 20.
Add the geen beans, stir through, allow to heat. Either add the crapsicum to the pot to warm them, or use as garnish. I like my crapsicum crunchy.
Serve on rice.
Totally tasty. The smoky paprika was a great addition. I also added some chopped fresh toms that needed eating, but I don't think it made a major taste difference. The amount of water from the glaze was small, about 3 tablespoons. I feel that it could have reduced a little longer - it was a bit wet. Then again, I might have been dreaming of paela, and not getting paela!
The beans had disappeared by the time we ate it. I think I'd put them in after the 10 min simmer next time.
I might add sweet potato next time too.
a chorizo, sliced thin
some bacon, cubed (I had some 'cut your own' left over)
one onion, diced
garlic (you do the maths)
'cajun' spice (stole ideas from here, then added more paprika, and lots of smoky paprika, and didn't bother with their amounts except as a ratio guideline)
carrot, diced
a can of white beans
a can of tomatoes
green beans, in little pieces
crapsicum slices
In a casserole, brown them all in olive oil. Let them rest on paper (that's gotta be healthy, right?).
I burned the bottom of the pot, so I glazed with water to clean it up before the onions. The water went a great colour, so I kept it as stock.
Brown onion, garlic. Add spices, stir. Throw in tomatoes to stop the burning happening, mix, add meat, carrots and the magic water. Let it all warm up again.
When it's simmering, turn it to a low heat, add beans, put lid on, leave it for 10.
Take the lid off, let it reduce for 20.
Add the geen beans, stir through, allow to heat. Either add the crapsicum to the pot to warm them, or use as garnish. I like my crapsicum crunchy.
Serve on rice.
Totally tasty. The smoky paprika was a great addition. I also added some chopped fresh toms that needed eating, but I don't think it made a major taste difference. The amount of water from the glaze was small, about 3 tablespoons. I feel that it could have reduced a little longer - it was a bit wet. Then again, I might have been dreaming of paela, and not getting paela!
The beans had disappeared by the time we ate it. I think I'd put them in after the 10 min simmer next time.
I might add sweet potato next time too.
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