Hot Lemon Pickle

A couple of nights ago I sat down to a dinner of homemade lentil curry, unscrewed the lid of the hot lime pickle for to have on the side when to my alarm realised that it was the last spoonful of hot lime pickle! *Gasp* Once I'd happily devoured the lot (mmm delicious), I hastily added 'hot lime pickle' to the shopping list. Then I looked in the fruit bowl; there sat 4 lemons and 2 limes. I looked in the spice cupboard; well stocked. So I scrubbed out 'hot lime pickle' from the shopping list. I was going to make my own.

Simon brought me THIS South Indian cookbook for my birthday and there is a recipe for Hot Lemon Pickle in the chutneys and pickles section, so I decided now was the right time to give it a go. This is a really simple and quick recipe - some of the others I've come across, although incredibly delicious I am sure, require weeks of stirring, shaking and marinating in sunlight, the latter of which we are not having much of in England at the moment!

So here's what you will need;

Lemons, 6 (I used 4 lemons & 2 limes)
Water, enough to cover the lemons
Fenugreek seeds, 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder, 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil, 180ml
Brown mustard seeds, 1 tsp
Chilli powder, 4 tsps
Ground tumeric, 1/2 tsp
Green chillies, 6 chopped
Fresh ginger, 4cm piece, peeled and chopped
Salt, 6 tbsp (yes I know that's a lot, but I think it's worth it!)

And here's how to...

Dry-roast the fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder for about 2-3 minutes. Grind into a fine powder. Set aside. 

Place the whole lemons/limes in a pan. Add enough water to cover them, and bring to the boil. Boil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender. Allow to cool, cut into small pieces, be sure to remove all the pips, and set aside. Reserve the cooking water. 

In a large heavy bottomed pan, heat the sesame oil and add the mustard seeds. 

When the seeds start to pop, add the chilli powder, ground tumeric, ginger and green chillies. Saute for 2-3 minutes.

Add the lemons/limes and reserved cooking water. Now add the salt and the fenugreek/asafoetida mixture. 

Store in an airtight jar/bottle and refrigerate.

And enjoy on the side of a homemade lentil curry!

Poo Balls

A couple of years ago I went to Melbourne to visit my good friend Caitlin and whilst I was there she took me to meet and her dad and his family. His wonderful wife Lorena cooked us all a delicious meal and for afters we had 'Poo Balls', well that's what their two young girls called them, a more explanatory description would be Date Truffles.

Lorena, a very creative and talented photographer, artist and food blogger - follow her here at Comida de Moda - has just recently published her first cook book, The Rich Hours, well done Lorena! And the recipe for Poo Balls is in there! A sneaky peak can be found here or contact her if you'd like your own full copy.

I've just made a whole batch of Poo Balls and they're amazing! Here's how..

Ingredients:

1 cup sunflower / pumpkin seeds

500g dried and pitted dates

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp cocoa

Shredded coconut

Method:

Whizz up the seeds in a food processor then add the dates, cinnamon and cocoa and whizz again until you've got the consistency of coarse sand. Lorena's note: "Be careful not to burn out your food processor - it's hard going for the poor motor." Form into little balls and roll in shredded coconut.

Couldn't be simpler. What's more, they're delicious and are even good for you!

Thank you for sharing Lorena!

Home Made Fig Rolls

For Christmas my friend Chloe very kindly gave me a jar of her home made Figpote: Figs bottled in a honey and orange syrup. I decided to put them to use in home made fig rolls!

You will need:

For the filling:
200g Figpote - Chloe used a Pam Corbin recipe from the River Cottage Preserves Handbook

For the pastry:
75g plain flour
75g wholemeal flour
75g unsalted butter
50g sugar
A pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten and a little reserved for glazing
1tsp vanilla extract
40ml cold water 

Here's how to:

Put the flours, butter, sugar, salt, egg and vanilla into a food processor and whizz until combined. Whilst the machine is running, slowly add the water. Remove the dough, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  

 

In the meantime, cut the figs into small pieces, preheat your oven to 180C and prepare a baking sheet with parchment/greaseproof paper.

Take the dough out of the fridge and using a rolling pin, roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle, about 40cm x 12cm. You want the dough to be relatively thin, about 5mm or so. Tidy the edges by trimming.

Arrange the figs lengthways down the centre of the rectangle, then fold one side of the dough over the filling, and then the other side over the top of that.

Cut the roll into pieces about 7.5cm long. Place the rolls fold side down onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the remaining egg and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until they start to turn golden. 

 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

Time now for a cuppa I think!

Baked Eggs

When you fancy something a bit different to the usual boiled/poached/fried egg on toast, I recommend you try baked eggs! Simple to rustle up and very tasty; perfect for a Saturday or Sunday breakfast or brunch.

Serves 2

- Knob of butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 handfuls of grated cheese
- Nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- Spinach, cooked and drained (cooked mushrooms would also work very nicely)

Here's how:

- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Smear some butter in two ramekins. Layer in your spinach (and/or mushrooms) and a little grated nutmeg.
- Crack an egg over the top, followed by grated cheese, salt and pepper.
- Place your ramekins in a deep baking dish and fill the dish with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the egg yolks are to your liking. 

Sit down and enjoy.

Sweet & Spicy Popcorn

Here's another warming autumn snack for y'all... Sweet and spicy popcorn. I found the recipe here but increased the measures of spices slightly and used maple syrup as a substitute to agave.

You will need:

Sunflower oil
Corn kernels
1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon
Good drizzling of maple syrup

Method:

Heat the oil. Pop the corn. Sprinkle over the spices. Drizzle over the syrup. Eat the delicious popcorn.

Cheddars

These little rich cheesy biscuits with their kick of red chilli are perfect for autumnal comfort snacking. I enjoyed them dipped in a home made cauliflower soup but they would also be a great accompaniment to a nice real ale or a cocktail. Here's how to make them.

You will need:

200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
150g extra mature Cheddar cheese, grate
1 whole medium free-range egg, plus 1 egg yolk

NB The mixture is very dense so these little babies are best made in a food processor.

Put the flour, salt, chilli flakes and cheese into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just combined. 

Add the diced butter and run the machine until the ingredients look like coarse sand. 

Add the whole egg and the yolk and run the processor again until the ingredients come together to form a firm dough.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a log shape with your hands. Bang the roll down on the work surface a few times to expel any air pockets that may have formed.  With your hands, roll the dough until it forms an even cylinder roughly 50cm long. Cut into 3 equal pieces, then wrap in greaseproof paper and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. (The dough can be stored for up to 3 days).

When ready to bake, heat your oven to 200c.

Cut the dough into 1cm thick discs and place on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

And proceed to devour.

Madeleines

It was that time again... recipe here. Mmm.

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival 2012

This weekend the 15th/16th September was the Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival. The festival is now in its seventh year, however it was our first time to visit and I have to say we got rather over excited about all the delicious fresh locally caught seafood, locally made wines and locally brewed ales and ciders on offer and wanted to try everything! 

We managed a rather decadent 4 delectable lunches; fish soup with bread, hot smoked salmon with bread and salad, Pollock goujons with samphire and home made chilli jam and Caribbean barbecue jerk fish with jollof rice each washed down with tasty local tipples from Battle Cider, F.I.L.O, Dark Star and Sedlescombe Wine. Simon then got hungry again later on and finished up with one of Tush & Pat's Famous Fishermen's Rolls.

Phwoar. Looking forward to doing it all over again next year!