Indian Lime Chutney

I thought I loved curries best during the winter months - with frozen breath floating over icy pavements, the need to rush home for something hot and spicy, rich and filling seemed to provoke a lot of curry cooking. Then spring came and I became quite sure that I loved curries best during the spring months - mild days with cold evenings, lighter nights but still a need for food that warms your bones from the inside out. But now it is summer, and despite a dearth of hot, hazy summer nights, the urge to linger over spicy food on a warm clammy evening is definitely with me.

Like cooking a Mexican menu, Indian meals in particular benefit from a plethora of side dishes: parathas; nan; scented rice; dhal; raita; poppadoms; and the ubiquitous chutney.

Lately I have become completely addicted to the hot and sour flavours of Indian Lime pickle. It introduces a sharp note to a mild creamy curry, adds a tangy heat dabbed into a paratha with spiced mackeral or adds balance simply served on the side of barbecued chicken or fish.

Many versions abound the internet, most taking weeks to age before they can be eaten (I do have one such version sitting maturing in a cupboard but I was too impatient to stop there so needed to find a flavourful but far more speedy version.) This is based on a chutney recipe but has no sugar to sweeten the end result leaving the most perfectly sour and spicy condiment.

Indian Lime Pickle

300 g of chillies (green or red or mixed)
1 kg limes
200 g grated fresh ginger

1 large bulb fresh garlic, peeled
5 or 6 curry leaves, shredded
900ml white vinegar
2 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp mustard seed
1 Tbsp fenugreek seeds
500ml rapeseed (or veg)  oil
5 Tbsp rapeseed (or veg) oil

Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan until hot.
Sauté the limes turning them over and over until their skins are a golden brown.
Cut the limes into about 6 thick slices and then half the slices.
Add 2 Tbsp of oil to a blender with the chillis, peeled garlic, grated ginger and curry leaves. Blend to a paste
Heat the remaining oil in a pan until hot. Add mustard and fenugreek and warm till the seeds are toasted and start to pop.
Add the chilli paste, stir and cook gently for 15 minutes.
Add the turmeric, lime and vinegar and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Cook for a further 10 minutes...  to reduce and thicken
Put the pickle into sterilised jars then cover with any remaining liquid. Seal and leave for a couple of weeks, if you can bear to - if not open immediately and serve.

Maple Syrup & Oatmeal Scones

 

The sun is out.... the sky is actually blue, the snowdrops are springing around happily in the wind. I know its premature and I know I shouldn't tempt fate but I think it might be spring. Thank goodness for that too, I have never felt quite so desperate for winter to end as I do this year. I have been cooking every day recently enjoying the spring vegetables that are creeping slowly into the shops but because of school holidays, family visits and a plethora of other excuses I have only been cooking late at night (not a good time to take photographs) so have a huge backlog of recipes to share this month.... Happy Spring.... bring on the sunshine and daffodils.

This scone recipe is based on a recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and is one of my favourite breakfast recipes. They are incredibly moreish, make the house smell A- MAZ-ING, and as this makes quite a big batch of scones, the dough will keep really well in the fridge overnight so you can bake fresh batches all weekend.... how fabulous is that.

Maple Oatmeal Scones

425g plain flour

125g whole wheat flour

125g porridge oats

2tbsp baking powder

2 tbsp light brown sugar

2tsp salt

450g butter

225ml yogurt

25ml milk

125ml maple syrup

4 eggs lightly beaten

Glaze

160g icing sugar

75g maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp porridge oats

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. 

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt.

Rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. 

Reserve a couple of tablespoons of eggs to use as an egg wash at the end.

Whisk together the yogurt, maple syrup and eggs and add to the flour and butter.

Stir together until just blended - as with any scone recipe, the scones will be lighter if they are handled as little as possible. 

The dough will be soft and sticky. 

Remove from the bowl onto a well floured surface and using a floured rolling pin, roll to 3cm thick.

Cut into 10cm scones with a round cutter.

Brush the tops with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes until the scones are golden and risen. Allow to cool on a rack while you prepare the maple syrup glaze. 

To make the glaze whisk together the syrup, icing sugar and vanilla till thick and glossy. Drizzle over the still warm scones and sprinkly with a few uncooked oats.

Serve with hot coffee and warm sunshine.

Blue Cheese with Pears, Walnuts and Honey

Is it a starter? Is it dessert? Is it a meal in its own right? I ate this at my lovely friend Sandra's house. One of those recipes that relies on fabulous ingredients treated with respect and love. We had it for dessert and cheese course rolled into one, no need for crackers or bread - the soft cheese smeared on the pears and dragged through the sweet honey was that was needed. Absolutely divine.

Blue Cheese with Pears, Walnuts and Honey
250g of good blue cheese (I used Gorgonzola) 
4 ripe pears
100g walnuts
4 tbsp orange blossom honey (or other aromatic variety)

Take a large platter. In the centre, place a hunk of beautiful pungent blue cheese.
Slice the drippingly ripe pears and lay around the cheese.
Scatter the walnuts are scattered over with abandon before drizzling with aromatic orange blossom honeyto give a luscious golden glow to the whole platter.

Bring It on!

Yeah..... bring it on!!! After weeks of anxiety, I am getting really excited about the cafe@The Hub opening this week. We'll be open tuesdays, thursdays and fridays initially will extend the opening hours soon. The plan is to start out with a fresh and simple menu and build our repertoire slowly. But still, I am obsessively testing all sorts of soup and panini recipes this week just for fun. 

When the cafe opens, we'll be rotating sandwiches, testing out fillings and chatting to visitors to see what our customers would most like to see on the menu. Meantime, I am devouring cookbooks, blogs and cafe menus and taste testing any and all sandwich fillings I come across. Really it is the best excuse ever to spend all my time making cakes and going out for coffees - all in the name of research.

This sweet and sour relish is one of my favourite condiments. Its strength is beautiful with blue cheese, the richness cuts through the sharpness of goat cheese and its balsamic sweetness adds depth of flavour to beef or roast vegetable paninis.

Today's lunch will be roast beef sandwiches with caramelised onion relish. A little blue cheese adds depth, a slick of mustard adds bite and a handful of rocket adds a peppery crunch but I love it best served simply with rare beef.

Caramelised Onion Relish

4tbsp olive oil

4 large red onions, finely sliced into half moons

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Saute the onions gently for 30-40 minutes until soft and golden. Add the garlic for the last few minutes of cooking and gently stir through the gelatinous oniony mess. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and stir well through the onion mixture. Bubble gently for a minute or two to allow the sweet and sour flavours to meld then season to taste. Keep in the fridge and use within a week or bottle as you would chutney or jam (in sterilised jars) where it will keep in the pantry for months.

Muscovado Baked Beans

Will this winter never end? Will the snow never go away? Will the temperature ever rise above zero again?

I've never felt so desperate for spring to arrive as this year. Even on days like today where the air is crisp, the sun bright and the buds beginning to emerge - you know, the very best kind of winter day that reaffirms all you believe about living and loving the seasons, I am desperate. I have to brace myself to even leave the house now because I am dog tired of thick snow, extreme cold, black ice, wearing layers and seeing my own breath.

The only thing to do in the face of such despair is cook. So back to winter warmers, I've been hunting through my vast cookbook collection and through piles of newspaper clippings and recipes written on scraps of paper to find something that I have not made in a while, something to simultaneously warm our bones against the onslaught of this endless Scottish winter and properly cheer me up.

Muscovado Baked Bean Crumble (a mouthful in more than one way)

A good glug of olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tsp paprika
2x 400g tin haricot beans (or 250g dried beans, soaked and cooked according to pack instructions)
1x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp dijon mustard












(optional 2 tbsp plum chutney)
150ml beer (I used corona)
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the crumble topping:
100g cold butter
100g flour
75g porridge oats
100g strong cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 200C.
To make the beans:
Heat olive oil in a heavy based pan and saute the onion and garlic till soft.
Add paprika, beans and tomatoes. Stir well then add the sugar, ketchup, mustard and chutney if using. Stir well then add beer to thin the sauce a little. Season with thyme, a few grinds of black pepper and a hefty pinch of salt. Allow to simmer gently for around 20 minutes to allow the flavours to combine. Add a little water if required.

For the crumble:
Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the oats and cheese.

To assemble:
Put the beans into an ovenproof dish and top with the crumble mixture.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and burbling.

Spicy Hummus with Crispy Lamb

Middle Eastern and North African food is a wee passion in my kitchen. Whenever I search for dinner ideas, I return again and again to the books that experiment with flavours of the east: Claudia Roden's 'Arabesque', Sam Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi's 'Ottolenghi: The Cookbook' and Sam and Sam Clark's Moro books among others. For me the attraction is in the aromatic spices, slow cooking and liberal use of beans and seeds.

Hummus is one of my favourite foods of all time, we eat our way through an astonishing amount of hummus each week, served with salad on flatbreads for lunch, as afterschool snack with carrots and sugarsnaps, or as late night snack with pitta bread and a glass of wine.

No matter how good some of the shop bought versions are, it never tastes as good as when you make it yourself. Hummus itself takes five minutes to throw together but this recipe transforms it from a simple dip into a more luxurious starter or supper.

For a vegetarian version, liberally sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, or with chickpeas cooked in place of the lamb.
Spicy Hummus with Crispy Lamb

For the hummus:
400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 tbsp tahini
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
100ml olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp plain greek yogurt

For the crispy lamb:
100g minced lamb
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp harrisa or chilli paste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Blend all the hummus ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
Spread thinly across a large plate.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and saute the minced lamb till browned. Add the harissa, cumin, coriander and cinnamon and cook gently for around 5 minutes until the lamb starts to become a little crispy.
Scatter the lamb over the hummus and sprinkle the smoked paprika over everything. Just before serving anoint with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve with flatbreads.

Fresh Raspberry and Vanilla Jam

Scotland is known for its prolific berry farms. Brambles, tayberries, blaeberries, blackcurrants and raspberries both grow wild and are farmed throughout - the cooler summers and long days apparently encourage their sweetness. This week I am clearing out my freezer, which mostly means a week of eating portions of frozen chilli and left-over curry. However, hidden deep under the frozen spinach are two bags of raspberries picked and flash-frozen at the height of season last autumn and crying out to brighten this winter's day.

This is no jam in the traditional sense of the word - fruit boiled up for an age and preserved in jars (lovely though that can be). This fruity concoction is somwhere between a fruit compote and a fresh sauce that will liven up any breakfast with only a few minutes work.

Don't expect this raspberry jam to last forever, without the boiling process, it is not preserved! If it is not eaten within hours (which in my house it invariably is), it will keep in the fridge for about a week. Do expect it to be a little runnier than traditional jam - it needs a spoon rather than a knife to spread but the fresh zingy raspberry flavour is more than worth the minor inconvenience. If you are using frozen raspberries, defrost before cooking.

Not so much a recipe but a suggestion for: 

Raspberry and Vanilla Jam

Equal quantities of raspberries and caster sugar

For 2 punnets of raspberries (approx 200g) you will need either 1 vanilla pod or 2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160C.

Place the raspberries in an oven proof dish.

Place the caster sugar in another oven proof dish.

Heat the raspberries and sugar in the oven for around 10 minutes until warmed through.

Watch carefully to ensure the sugar does not burn.

Remove both from the oven and whisk together with the vanilla seeds or extract.

Allow to cool then store in the fridge for a week.

Cold Hands, Hot Pastry

The snow has been falling for weeks now, my car has disappeared under driven snow. Between snow showers, the world freezes, the sky becomes clear blue and your breath is like fog. Beautiful maybe but I can not escape the village to break out to the shops and we are living entirely on storecupboard concoctions.

My hands have not warmed up since I ran to the logpile for firewood this morning. My fingers are numb so I am carrying my own winter warmers with me when I go out to play. Wrapped up in foil, hot and crispy with a delicate chilli hit, I'm hoping they will take the sting out of the cold and make it easier to hang out sledging and igloo making in the garden without needing to come indoors and cuddle a radiator every ten minutes.

Versions of these turn up in every bakers throughout Asia. Made with puff pastry or samosa pastry, they are breakfast fare in Malaysia and tiffin in India but I like them baked not fried, and although they can be filled with anything from spiced chicken to minced lamb and vegetable, I am having a post Christmas, vegetarian week so hot potato curry it is. 

Curry Puffs

2 large baking potatoes

4 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

3 cm ginger, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander seed

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp hot chilli powder

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

100g frozen peas

2 balls of frozen spinach

Small bunch of fresh coriander

1 package filo pastry

2oz butter, melted

Peel the potatoes. Chop them into small dice and boil till just cooked then drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan and add the onion, garlic and ginger. Fry gently till soft and aromatic.

Add the cumin, coriander seed, garam masala, chilli, mustard seed, spinach, peas and potatoes and cook together on a low heat for 5 minutes until well mixed. Remove from heat and add a good handful of finely chopped coriander.

Cut the pastry into long strips, approx 6cm x 25cm. Place a teaspoon of the mixture at the top of a pastry strip and fold over to cover the potatoes and make a triangle. Keep folding the triangle over until you reach the end of the pastry sheet and your filling is well enclosed. Brush the filled triangle with melted butter.

This makes around 20 pastries which can be frozen uncooked and baked from frozen. Bake 180C for 8-10  minutes until golden brown (10-12 minutes if frozen).

Serve with raita and fruity chutney.

Banana Flapjacks

 
Snacks to give you energy during a long winter run, snacks for school playtime or after school snack, snacks to stop you snacking everytime you sit down during the day - just can't get enough easy snack recipes.

I am trying (in vain) to get into a "my body is a temple" vibe but can't stop snacking so I thought I would try to create a snack I didn't feel guilty about. They are very gorgeous and  morish - just what you don't need from a wee snack - one is never enough but I guess you can't win them all.

Don't be put off by the long fruit and seeds list - you can substitute the same weight of any dried fruit and nut/seed combination. I just used what I had in the house but raisins and peanuts would be great too.  

Banana Flapjacks
100g butter
4 tbsp maple syrup
150g porridge oats
2 bananas  

50g dried cranberries

50g dates, chopped
25g pumpkin seeds
25g sunflower seeds
25g sesame seeds

25g flaxseeds
A sprinkling of poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ gas mark 4. Line a 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

Melt the butter and syrup together in a heavy based pan.

Take off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top. The flapjacks will furm up as they cool. Cut them into squares and store in an airtight tin. 

Pickled Beetroot or Beet Stains Everywhere

Isn't it gorgeous. All home-grown, home pickled and patiently waiting to be served on a gray and cloudy autumnal day with some cheese, crusty bread and an apple. A quality ploughmans lunch.

This year I grew pink chioggia beetroot, pale and stripy like a tea towel as they come out the ground, turning a rosy sunset shade as they pickle in the jar.


Larger beets could be sliced thinly but I already cooked all mine or made them into soups and salads so only undersized babies remain in the soil. These I quartered, baked then pickled in spiced vinegar. Roasting the beetroot in the oven instead of the more common boiling allows it to retain its sweetness and rich colour.

They taste sweet and spicy after just one week but should really be left at least a month before opening.

Pickled Beetroot
1 kg fresh raw beetroot
1l white vinegar
4  heaped tbsp granulated sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 tangerine
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp black peppercorns

Wash the beets, taking care not to pierce the skin while you handle them. Wrap them in tinfoil and bake in the oven until tender.(Baby beetroots took around 30 minutes, larger ones longer). Allow to cool then peel and quarter or slice thinly. (Next time I might try chopping larger ones into little batons, they might be easier to eat than big slices)
Put the vinegar into a saucepan, add the sugar, cinnamon and peppercorns. Stud the tangerine with cloves and float in the vinegar. Bring almost to the boil and turn off the heat to allow the spice flavours to permeate the vinegar. Put the beetroot into sterilised jars then cover with the hot spiced vinegar. Seal and leave for at least a month. (If you can bear to)

Apple Jelly

Doesn't it look like melted down jewels a jar? I love the colours of preserves, my shelves are struggling to hold up the glass jars of different hues, orangy amber mango chutney, tawny plum jam, turmeric yellow apple chutney, ruby red tomato ketchup and today's wee project, apple jelly with the most beautifully jewel-like clarity.

My friend (and vegetable guru) Keith allowed me to scrump a bag of apples while I was raiding his plum tree last week (check out the plum ketchup recipe) and instead of peeling and freezing them - for winter apple pies -  as I do when I have too many apples, I wanted to produce a preserve to give us a little bit of summer warmth deep into our gloomy borders winter.

The kids love apple jelly on bread for packed lunch, (as much because they helped pick the apples as for the flavour.) I like it on the side of roast pork and the apple and chilli jelly makes a gorgeous crostini appetiser atop a sliver of  goat cheese.

I added a plum, no good reason, I just had one in my fruit bowl that needed used and I thought I would throw it in to see what happened. I don't think it affected the flavour at all but ....the colour oh my god..... the colour is divine. So cidery in aroma, appley in flavour and clear with an ochre tint in colour, the loveliest apple jelly, thanks Keith.

Apple Jelly
2kg apples, quartered, stalks and leaves removed, seeds and cores left
1.2l water
900g sugar

 Put all the fruit in a saucepan with the measured water. Bring to the boil and turn down the heat to a simmer. Cook until the fruit is soft and breaking up, around 20mins. Remove from the heat.
Pour everything into a jelly bag (or muslin cloth tied to each leg of a stool with a bowl underneath to gather the nectar as it drips down) and leave to drip overnight. DO NOT SQUEEZE!!! the jelly will lose its clarity if you do.

The next day, put the apple juices and sugar into a large pan and bring to the boil. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. Boil rapidly without stirring for 10-15 mins until you reach setting point ( 105 degrees apparently but I drop a spoonful of jelly onto a cold saucer, allow to cool then push with my finger - if the jam crinkles then it is ready to be taken off the heat). Pour into warm sterililsed jars, seal and label. Use within one year.
(For Apple and Chilli Jelly - stir in 2 finely chopped red chillis for the last few minutes of boiling, they set beautifully suspended in the jelly)

A Glut of Plums

Can you really have too much of a good thing? I raided my friend's plum tree a few weeks ago to throw together some plum jam, then had some left over and made plum chutney, then put a few in the freezer to brighten up a gloomy fruitless winter breakfast and made a giant plum and apple crumble to last the weekend.

Still finding myself with a bagfull of plums and a need to try something new, I thought I'd try a plum ketchup. Similar to tomato ketchup but fruitier, cooking up a batch of dripping-ripe sweet plums creates a smooth, sweet and tangy dipping sauce that can be used as a dip for tortilla chips, a rich sauce to serve with duck and pancakes or a sticky side for hot and spicy chicken wings.

It might take a while to persuade the kids to use it instead of the more traditional tomato ketchup with chips but I think I might work on it.



 



Plum Ketchup

1 kilo plums, stones removed and halved
1 red onion cut into chunks
3 large cloves of garlic
10cm of ginger, grated
250ml cider vinegar
400g dark muscovado sugar
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1/2 tsp chilli flakes

In a blender, blend the plums, onion, garlic ginger and vinegar together.
Put into a pan with the sugar and spices and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Heat the mixture till it comes to the boil then turn the heat right down and simmer for 30-45 minutes till thick.
Either bottle as you would jam, or keep in the fridge for up to a week.