Pickled Beetroot

Beetroot is a much underrated vegetable as far as I am concerned, I love to roast them and serve them as a vegetable in their own right or preserve them for a later date.  

Pickling beetroot couldn’t be simpler. Take some fresh beetroot, give them a wash and roast until tender, about twenty - forty minutes, depending on their size. Once cooked remove from the oven to cool slightly. The skins will peel away quite easily. If large, slice as desired.

While all of this is going on get a saucepan and bring enough malt vinegar to cover the beets to the boil. Add a cinnamon stick, three or four cloves, a bay leaf or two, some peppercorns, a couple of dried chillies and a sprinkle of coriander seeds. Let it boil, whisk in some white sugar (not essential but I like it) to take some of the acid bite away then leave to cool. Once cool, strain the vinegar over the beetroots which are now sat snuggly in a sterile jar.

Seal and wait. Once opened, keep in the refrigerator. This will keep for a long time in the fridge.

Courgette Ginger Jam

Here is yet again another courgette/zucchini recipe I made to attempt to catch up with my "glut" of green and yellow courgettes. I used the few green courgettes/zucchini that have turned into marrows. I hallowed out the centres, removing the seeds and then chopped them up to make this beautiful recipe. I had a taste and love the ginger/lemon flavour - it also made our house smell lovely while I was cooking this. (much better smell than a sweet chilli sauce permeating throughout the house!!!!)

Marrow Ginger Jam

"As marrows become larger, they also become filled with water rather than flavour. Huge marrows are prized by horticultural judges who do not have to eat them. This is an unusual solution for using up good courgettes that have swelled into bulging marrows, perhaps while you were away on holiday."

4lbs (2kg) chopped up marrow/courgettes
3lbs (1 1/2 kg) preserving sugar
1oz (30g) ginger, grated
3 large lemons, juiced then thinly sliced

Prepare marrow/courgettes/zucchini by peeling and seeding them, then chopping or cutting into cubes

Sprinkle with a third of the sugar and allow to stand overnight.

Place ginger and lemon rind slices in a muslin bag or mesh ball.

Cook slowly, making sure sugar is dissolved before the boiling point is reached. Continue to boil steadily until marrow looks transparent. Taste after 15 minutes to adjust flavour, and remove bag/ball if mixture is strong enough. Cook until the setting point is reached.

Makes approx 4 pint size jars.

(testing using video in my blogs!)

Light Summer Courgette Casserole

TJ and I picked a wheelbarrow full of courgettes - yellow and green and I set about yesterday morning trying to use them all up, while also giving a few away. Needless to say as soon as I went out to the veggie patch this morning, there are more to pick!!!!!

Anyway, made this for a side dish to chicken breasts this evening and it is very light and tasty - will probably make this a lot over the next couple of months! Very Paleo and low fat, but lovely, fresh flavour - goes well with chicken or fish,

Light Summer Squash Casserole

1 1/2 pounds yellow/green summer courgettes, sliced thinly
1 onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 Tbsp butter
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, then add squash and let cook until it's tender (about 10 minutes). Drain the squash and return it to the pan. Then add the onion, egg, butter, and salt and pepper, and mix well. Pour mixture into a baking pan or mini baker, stoneware, and cook at 180C/375F for 45-50 minutes, until the edges are brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serves 2-3

Sweet Chilli Sauce!

Made 3 double batches of this courgette chilli sauce over the past few days - we ran out of it a few months ago and so I promised DH that we wouldn't run out again over the next year! If you would like the recipe, please see this link:
Sweet Peas Ramblings . . .: Some like it HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!!!!

The finest cut . . . and Asian Salad!

Yesterday morning a good friend and PC colleague of mine, Jenny Wijesinghe, came round here to give me a hand's on demonstration on how to chop, chop, chop the professional way!!!! Jenny is Malaysian and has loads of experience:


"I have always been passionate about food since growing up in my mothers kitchen and love to experiment with new dishes and new ways of preparing food. In 2004 I took this a step further by completing a diploma in Cordon Bleu cookery at the Tante Marie Cookery School earning a distinction. I currently teach courses at the Stirring Stuff Cookery School in Henley on Thames."

Well Jenny showed me how to chop almost like a pro!!! I felt so good making the Asian julienne chopped veg salad (see recipe below),  that in the evening I practiced my new-found skills by making a thai sitr-fry with loads of chopped up veg!  I love this new way of chopping - I have so much more confidence with a knife and can even look away as I chop without chopping off my fingers!!!  (well I almost feel that way!) Anyway, I highly recommend contacting her if you would like to gain more confidence with using knives like a pro!!! Jenny was an absolutely brilliant instructor!!!!  Thanks, Jenny!!!!

Check out my pics of the cut veg and the fantastic recipe she has given me permission to post on this blog. If you would like to find out more info about Jenny or want to take a private lesson on chopping skills with her, please email her at: jenny.wijesinghe@gmail.com.

Below is the fantastic recipe - very Paleo-friendly and low fat that Jenny demonstrated her knife skills with me.  It is very versatile - you can choose what you want to put in it and alter the sauce to your tastes. I will be making this loads now that I know how easy it is to prepare and am so much faster with my chopping!!!

Oh yeah, and I want to recommend the Forged Cutlery Knives from Pampered Chef!!!  They have a lifetime guarantee and worth their weight in gold - I PROMISE!!! (for more info, contact me!) xx

Thai/Vietnamese Style Mango Salad Recipe

Nouc Cham is used as a dipping sauce as well as a salad dressing. Use the quantities below as a starting point. Try varying the different ingredients until you get the precise balance of flavours that you like.
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp grated palm sugar (honey or maple syrup is good too)
5-8 Tbsp water (use less if more intense sauce is required)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1-2 Thai chillies, finely chopped
1-2 cloves finely minced garlic
Optional additions:
1 tsp ginger, finely grated
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander stems or spring onions
1 tbsp coarsely chopped roasted peanuts/cashew nuts

Coarsely chop roasted peanuts using Food Chopper. Dissolve palm sugar in water (don't use all at once), add lime juice and taste the limeade. Then add fish sauce, chillies and garlic. Taste again. Aim for a more intense flavour than you'd normally like. Remember that it will be used to flavour other foods that may not necessarily be pre-salted. Sauce may be prepared in advance and left in a glass jar for the flavours to 'blend' for a couple hours at room temperature if desired.

Mango Salad
2 unripe mangoes, and a selection of salad vegetables such as:
Chinese pear
cucumber
1 small carrot
red peppers
daikon

Small handful of fresh herbs such as:
Mint (finely shredded)
Coriander leaves (roughly chopped)
Thai sweet basil leaves (finely shredded)
Spring onions (finely shredded lengthwise or cut into rounds)
cooked shrimp/chicken (optional)

Either shred or cut fruit and vegetables into small cubes, toss with herbs and drizzle with the Nouc Cham sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with additional crushed nuts. Lovely with barbecued king prawns or grilled chicken.

ENJOY! 

Beetroot Relish with Horseradish

I have a big glut of beetroot at the moment and I just LOVE beetroot! Roasted, grated raw on salads, juiced, the possibilities are limitless and it is just sooooo good for you!!!!

Looked on an american website and found this lovely recipe! I didn't want to make chutney just yet - I love relishes - it can go with just about every dinner - and this works really well with lamb, burgers, and as a side to any meal, really. Hope you like it!!!  I know we will!!!

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (640g) chopped beetroot (raw beets)
• 6 cups (750g) chopped cabbage (I used white cabbage)
• 2 cups (350g) chopped onions
• 2 cups (420g) Castor (granulated) sugar
• 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (use raw horseradish, not the creamy kind!)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups vinegar (I used malt vinegar)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a large stock pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and ladle into sterile jars and seal. (Americans - process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes)
Makes 4 to 5 pints of beet relish.

This tastes lovely! I will definitely make this again!!!!! Will be putting adding this to loads of meals!!!!

 Just want to point out that the PC bamboo spoon I used did NOT stain at all!! FABULOUS!!!!

Veggie Patch in FULL Glory!

Just thought I would share the progress going on in our veggie patch. At the moment I am picking loads of lettuce, cucumbers, courgettes, yellow courgettes, spring onions, runner beans, french beans and beetroot. Spaghetti squash are coming along as well as everything else - tomatoes, aubergines (eggplant) sweet potatoes, leeks, chilli's, fennel, globe artichokes, onions, the list goes on!!!!

Oh and our lavender and other flowers/plants are in their prime as well!!

 (as usual, click on any pic for an enlargement)

Bay tree in foreground

Runner Beans

Spaghetti Squash and French Beans

French Beans

Courgettes

Leeks and Cherry Tomatoes

Yellow Courgettes

Beetroot, aubergines, lettuce, rocket, sweet peas

Massive Beetroots

Rocket and Lettuce

Yellow Courgettes and nasturtiums

Peas, nasturtums, tarragon and chives

sunflowers and nasturtiums

Sweet potatoes

tarragon, nasturtiums and peas

sunflowers and tarragon, potatoes in the background

View from back of veggie patch looking into our back garden

Runner Beans

French Beans, Spaghetti Squash and lavender

Smokey Chicken and Chorizo Hotpot

Made this for the first at one of my Pampered Chef shows. (well, actually, I did make it for DH and mine lunch the day of the show just to see if I needed to tweak it or not!)

I must say that this was an absolute hit with both DH and I at lunch, but an even BIGGER hit when it was made at my show on Monday evening! In fact, the guests at my show were asking for the recipe, so I directed them to my blog - better late than never!!!!

The ingredients don't have to be exact - just use the whole pack of chorizo if you want. You can add another chicken breast to serve more people . . . . you can use butter beans, like in the picture - I didn't have chick peas . . . . you can use sliced potatoes instead of the chick peas . . . . you can . . . ----- oh, the possibilities!  

(oops! only have pics of it BEFORE it went in the oven!)

Smokey Chicken and Chorizo Hotpot

Try it - you will love it!!!!!!

3 chicken breasts

6-8 oz chorizo  (approx. 200g)

Slosh of olive oil

1 onion

1 red pepper

1 tin tomatoes

½ pint chicken stock (270ml) (or a stock cube disolved in water)

1 tblsp dark brown sugar

1 can chick peas (drained)

Salt and pepper

1 tblsp smoked paprika

2 large cloves of garlic

1 chilli (optional)

Good handful of fresh parsley

Crusty French bread to serve

Chop, slice and prepare the above ingredients any way you like.

Put everything into rectangular baker. (or a large casserole dish)

Cook for approx 30-35 mins in oven at 200c.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley or coriander and serve.

(if you are serving this for children, just omit the chilli and use regular paprika unstead of smoked if they are picky eaters!)