Honey fermented garlic, Carrot and tomato "store cupboard" soup, Ottolenghi's Cauliflower roasted in chilli butter, Blueberry (or whatever berry) pie, Chinotto, Baked sharp berry cheesecake, Roasted garlic paste (not included in web pages), Charred hispi cabbage with Pete's Nam phrik sauce, Onion bhajis, Black garlic.
1st August, 2021
Honey fermented garlic
Ingredients:
Approx. 350ml unpasturized, runny honey
2 bulbs worth of garlic cloves
1 tsp chilli flakes
Method:
Wash and sterilize a small Kilner/Mason jar, 140°C for 30 minutes.
Gently break the structure of the garlic cloves under a broad knife (don't crush them), they should remain intact.
Place in the jar with the chilli flakes.
Pour in the honey, almost to the top of the jar (a little more full than in this photograph) and give everything a good stir.
Seal the jar and leave in the dark, at room temperature for at least three weeks, opening the lid every 4-5 days to let out any fermentation gas and tamp the garlic down into the honey with a clean spoon.
It takes some days for the fermentation to begin, be patient!
The garlic in honey will store at room temperature for up to a year.
Serving suggestion:
As an accoutrement to cold or cured meats.
Honey fermented garlic (not tasted yet at the time of posting).
2nd August, 2021
Carrot and tomato "store cupboard" soup
Carrot and tomato soup - a store cupboard back-up
Vegan
Ingredients:
5 medium sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1,5 cm pieces
2 tbl oil
1 425 g can of tomato pulp
½ tsp salt
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tbl balsamic vinegar
120ml or cream (or vegan substitute)
Chopped parsley and a "dollop" or two of sour cream, mascarpone, Turkish yoghurt or ricotta to serve if you wish.
Method:
Coat the carrots in oil and bake on parchment at 200°C for 50 minutes. Let them cool somewhat.
Use a stick blender and 120ml of water to achieve an absolutely silken carrot puré. Pour into a saucepan.
Puré the tomato pulp, also to a silken consistency and add to the pan.
Add 480 ml of water, all the seasonings, as well as the vinegar, and stir well.
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
9th August, 2021
Ottolenghi's Cauliflower roasted in chilli butter
Ottolenghi's Cauliflower roasted in chilli butter Vegan option using vegan butter substitute
This recipe can be found at: Link
11th August, 2021
Blueberry ( or whatever berry) pie Vegan option
Ingredients:
4 dl flour
1½ dl sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1½ tsp vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
125g melted butter or vegan margerine (cooled but still liquid)
½ dl demerara sugar
1½dl yoghurt (oatbased yoghurt works well)
1 dl rolled oats
5 dl berries (suitable amount for 28cm pie dish)
(2 tsp of potato starch if using frozen berries)
Method:
Mix 1st 6 dry ingredients together. Add and mix in the butter/marg.
Separate half the mixture and mix in the oats and demerara sugar..this is the topping.
To the other half of the (base) mixture, add the yoghurt. Mix well and gently spread into a 28cm, well greased pie dish.
Sprinkle the berries over the base (with potato flour mixed in if using frozen berries). Then sprinkle over the topping.
Bake at 175⁰C for 45-50 minutes.
Excellent also if you use 4dl blueberries + 1dl raspberries.
Serve cool with icecream or vanilla sauce
12th August, 2021
Thanks to my good friend Darryl in Melbourne for pointing me in the direction of this Italian burnt orange and spiced syrup; to be enjoyed, ice-cold, in sparkling spring water or even sparkling white wine.
Although I first made this using just oranges, I have more recently adopted a mixed citrus and cherry recipe.
Ingredients:
3 oranges
2 lemons
1 blood grapefruit
3 mandarins
400g cherries
1 star anis
3 tbl coriander
3 cinemon sticks
1 tbl juniper berries
10 cardemom pods
5 whole cloves
3 sprigs rosemary added after 20 mins. baking
2 fresly grated whole nutmegs
You will need one 2 litre Kilner/Mason jar + one 1 litre jar- washed and sterilized for 30mins. at 140°C
For the syrup:
1.5 litres water
1.42 kg white sugar
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C
Slice the cicitrus fruit about 6mm thick and spread them on two baking trays lined with parchment, so that they're not touching each other.
Sprinkle the spices evenly over the fruit.
Bake for about 25 minutes or more until the edges are well browned (adding rosemary after 20 mins.) Check occasionally that the bottoms are not burning.
Meanwhile, make a syrup by heating and stirring the sugar and water.
Once the syrup has cooled somewhat, load the jar with the orange slices and spices squidging the fruit in your fists.
Do not pack the fruit tightly. Pour the syrup to completely submerge the fruit. I use a small single-use up-turned 1 dl plastic container to prevent the fruit from rising to the surface and going mouldy.
Store in the fridge.
Ready after a minimum of 3 weeks, but the flavour will probably further develop if you can bear to wait!
A Tip...
Use an up-turned single-use 1dl plastic container to help keep produce submerged when preserving or pickling.
14th August, 2021
Thanks to my kind neighbours
Baked, sharp berry cheesecake
Ingredients:
250g oatmeal biscuits or digestives, finely crumbed in a blender.
125g melted butter
600g Philadelphia cream-cheese (I have used lactose free also)
1 can (397g) of sweetened condensed milk
½ dl lemon juice
3 eggs
6 dl of red/green/white/black currants or mixed
(I think gooseberries would be good too but you'd need to cut them in half)
Method:
Preheat oven to 150⁰C
Stir the melted butter into the crumbs with a fork.
Line a 20cm x 30cm tray/dish with baking paper, turn the crumb mixture in, spread evenly and press it down firmly.
Place in the fridge for 30 mins.
Meanwhile, whisk the Philadelphia into an even creamy mass, whisk in the condensed milk and lemon juice. When evenly combined, whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
Spread half the berries over the biscuit base, pour over the cheese mixture using a silicon spatula and sprinkle the remaining berries over the cheesecake.
Bake at 150⁰C for 55 mins.
Turn the oven off, wedge an oven glove in the oven doortop and leave for another hour.
Remove from the oven and once cool enough, place in the fridge overnight (uncovered).
Charred hispi cabbage Vegan
Method:
Cut the hispi (pointed) cabbage in quarters lengthwise.
Lightly massage with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt.
Place into a hot frying pan or griddle and char on each of the three sides for 4-5 minutes per side.
14th August, 2021
Charred hispi cabbage with nam phrik sauce
The downside of a busy day! (No I don't have a dishwasher or a wife!)
14th August, 2021
Onion Bhajis Vegan
One of my favourite comfort foods, served with either my date bbq sauce here or Nam phrik sauce here and boiled rice here.
Ingredients:
450 g potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated
1½ tsp salt
1 tbl lime juice
600 g brown onions thinly sliced and divided into rings
½ dl fresh coriander, finely chopped
A thumb sized piece fresh ginger finely grated
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1½ tsp ground cumin
250 g chickpea flour
Rapeseed-, corn- or canola oil, to fry
To serve:
200 g (vegan) yoghurt mixed with...
15 g finely chopped mint leaves
Method:
Using a clean tea towel or muslin cloth, squeeze the moisture out of the grated potato.
In a bowl, thoroughly mix all the ingredients except the frying oil. Add 140 ml of water, a little at a time, whilst squeezing fistfuls of the mixture to break down the onions and form a batter.
Put 4 tbl of oil into your frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Fry as many bhajis as will fit in your pan without touching each other, using 1 dl of the batter for each. Fry for 4 minutes each side, until crispy and golden. Add 15 ml of oil to the pan to continue frying another batch.
Serve with mint joghurt and chosen sauce.
16th August, 2021
Black garlic
Black garlic is often referred to as fermented garlic, although no actual fermentation is involved. The colouration is due to the Maillard reaction. There are recipes using an electric proofer or a rice cooker on its "keep warm" setting.
I purchased a non-digital (analog) slow-cooker with high and low cooking temp. settings as well as a "keep warm" feature costing just 42€. here
(Digital ones all tend to have automatic safety switch offs after a max. of 12 hrs. or so.)
The ideal temperature for producing black garlic is supposed to be between 60°C and 85°C, at a humidity of 90%. My keep warm setting is 58°C.
Method:
Simply double-wrap the whole corms in two layers of heavy kitchen foil. Place in the slow cooker and set to "Keep warm".
Check the clove of one corm after after 21 days. If it's white, it's not working - try a higher temperature. If it's brown, check again after another week. If it's black - "rejoice"!
Due to the low temperature I had, mine took 42 days; but the result is perfect. They will keep up to a month in the fridge, I chose to freeze my bulbs individually.
