Pickled Cucumbers

As regular readers will be aware, I am a big fan of pickled cucumbers.  And I make them often, especially in summer.  My recipe here is just a guide really, as you can spice 'em up however you like.  Add more or less sugar or spices ...

You can also just make a cold brine - i.e. - don't bother to heat it up, just pour it over the cukes in the jar and give it a good shake.  And let sit for a few days before eating.  But I do find the hot brine gives a tiny heads-up, in the taste department.

For some reason, this recipe reminds me of a day in Budapest, where Mr P. and I were wandering around the city looking for a café.  A young fellow came up to us in the street, offering pale green bullhorn chillies.  I'm not sure if we were meant to pay for them.  So we took one!  In fact, there was usually one on every plate of food we had in Budapest.  Pale and mild, and very light green in colour.  But kinda weird, just hanging out on the plate, or with your sandwich ...

ready!

Makes 1 big (I used a 680g./24 oz) jar:

ingredients:

2 Lebanese cucumbers     see Notes 

Hot Brine:

200 mL/7 oz apple cider vinegar (or vinegar of your choice)

100 mL/3.5 oz water

1/4 tsp coriander seeds

3 bay leaves

1/4 tsp mountain pepperberries

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1/4 tsp peppercorns

1/4 tsp cummin seeds

1.5 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds

1/8 tsp caraway seeds

2 Tbs dark brown sugar  (add more if you like it sweeter)

1-2 tsp sea salt flakes

2-3 garlic cloves, unpeeled, and lightly smashed

1/4 tsp allspice berries

1/4 tsp red chilli flakes  (optional)

For the jar:

add 3-4 dried red chillies to the jar before sealing (optional) and 

2 tsp lemon juice 

Method:

Peel your cukes (or not, as you please), and slice into thin discs

Put aside while you make the hot brine

Put the brine ingredients into a medium saucepan, give it all a good stir, let it come to a boil, then simmer it for a few minutes

Place the cukes into a sterilised glass jar, pour over the hot brine, add the extra chillies if using, and the lemon juice to spritz it up  see Notes

Seal the jar and put away into the fridge once cooled

Will last for a couple of weeks in the fridge

Notes:

My cukes were about 16 cm/6.3 inches long; their combined weight ranged from 340g./12 oz to 440g./15.5 oz (I made them several times, and the weight was a bit different each time)

If your jar isn't quite full with brine, just add a bit more water and/or vinegar to cover all the cukes!  Or on the other hand, if not enough cuke slices, add a few more :=)

gather your ingredients

peel and slice the cukes

fill up your jar

stir the brine, and let it simmer

pour the hot brine over the cucumber slices

ready to sit for a few days before eating

done!

you can add some sliced radishes if you fancy too, as I sometimes do

c. Sherry M.

Preserved Lemon Hummus

I love a garlicky, lemony hummus or is that hommus?  Or even houmous?  Dunno but I like to eat it.  I have made many a hummus, adding different herbs and spices, or some lime instead of lemon.  (I have to say my very fave is a medieval hummus that is made with lots of green herbs.)

But here we have a recipe by Cherie Hausler from A Plant-Based Farmhouse, which uses preserved lemon.  As I usually have a jar of my homemade lemons in the fridge, I happily decided to make this version.  In fact, I preserved some Meyer lemons with mountain pepperberries recently, and they turned a beautiful pink!

I also made tomato relish, which I handed over to my mate Chainsaw Newton, along with some of my other homemade condiments in return for a fabulous artwork of his.  See Gelato Bob below :-)  I have quite the collection of Bob's!  (Or is that Bobs?)  The things you can do with a chainsaw and a wee bit of fire.  

great with crackers or crudités

Gelato Bob by Chainsaw Newton

Makes about 400g./14 oz

ingredients:

40 mL/1.25 oz lemon juice

60g./2 big oz tahini

250g./9 oz chickpeas, tinned or cooked up by your sweet self

30 mL/1 oz EV olive oil, plus more for drizzling

30 mL/1 oz water

1 Preserved Lemon quarter, plus 40 mL/1.25 oz of the brine

2 large garlic cloves, peeled

a pinch or 2 of sea salt, if needed

1-2 Tbs toasted and/or black sesame seeds, to sprinkle over the top

Method:

Into a blender or food processor, you add the lemon juice and tahini and let it rip - 'till whipped and creamy', says Cherie

Then you chuck in the other ingredients, and keep blitzing till smooth

Scoop into a bowl, and throw on some EV olive oil, and some sesame seeds if you fancy

Eat with crackers, or crudités, or whatever you like

Notes:

Cherie doesn't say if you use the complete lemon quarter, or just the skin so do what you like; I usually take out most of the flesh

I added quite a bit of the lemon, as I like my hummus tangy!

in they go

and blitz!

grab those crackers!

my homemade lemons

which turned pink!

c. Sherry M.

Lime Syrup Buttermilk Cake

Buttermilk, you ask?  Yes, it's becoming a bit of an anachronism these days.  I tend to make my own version with milk and lemon juice anyway.  Though for this cake, I used Greek yoghurt, almond milk and the juice of half a lime!  Use what you have; be frugal, finish off that just-about-to-go-mouldy stuff in your fridge - nah, just kidding.    

This recipe is from The Australian Women's Weekly Cakes & Slices Cookbook - Vintage Edition.  Phew, what a mouthful.  For those who don't know, the AWW have produced much-loved cookbooks for many years.  The recipes always work, and are made in the simplest (and best) way.  I think every Aussie household would have one or more of their cookbooks! 

The AWW cookbooks bring back memories of me, mum and my sister, all cooking together in our tiny, freezing cold, living in the mountains with no heating kind of way.  Mum had a Sunbeam Mixmaster (didn't everyone's mum?) which I imagine was a gift, as we were bloody poor.  I've seen some vintage models still around the ridges (I even saw a blogger some time ago with a still-working, pink one!); wish I still had mum's!  Anyhoo, let's get on with the recipe. 

looking all syrupy and deliciously moist :=)

(This makes a 20cm/8 inch cake:)

ingredients:cm/

250g./9 oz butter

1 Tbs lime zest  (about 2-3 limes needed)

220g./8 oz/1 cup caster sugar

3 large eggs, separated

juice of half a lime  (optional)

1-2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

300g./11 oz/2 cups self-raising flour

240 mL/8 oz/1 cup buttermilk   see Notes

Lime Syrup:

1/3 cup lime juice   see Notes

3/4 cup sugar   - I used caster

1/4 cup water

zest of half a lime (optional)

Method:

Butter and flour your 20cm/8 inch baba pan, and shake out the excess flour  see Notes

Put the butter, sugar and rind into a small mixing bowl, and beat 'em up with your electric beaters till creamed - you know - pale and fluffy

Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, till combined nicely

Now spoon/pour the batter into a big mixing bowl

Briefly stir in the vanilla and lime juice, then add half the flour and half the buttermilk, give it a good mix and add the other halves of flour and milk

Put that aside while you beat the heck out of those egg whites -  nah, just till soft peaks form

Then fold 'em gently into the cake batter, in 2 lots

Now pour/spoon that batter into your greased and floured tin

Bake in a moderate oven (180C/350F) for about 1 hour (they say) - check after 50 minutes

Let it sit for 5 minutes, (while you now make the syrup!), then turn onto a wire cake rack

The Lime Syrup:

In go the lime juice, sugar and water into a small saucepan

Give it a quick stir, and keep stirring over a medium-low heat till the sugar is dissolved

Let it come to a boil for about 30 seconds, then take off the heat

Now you are going to stir in the lime zest, and 

Pour that syrup over the still-warm cake, which it will suck up into its cakey heart  see Notes

Any left-overs will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days

Notes:

Use lemon or any citrus you like, really

I made my own buttermilk with about 2/3 cup yoghurt, just under 1/3 cup almond milk and the juice of half a lime!  Stir together and let it get thick and oddly curdled-looking :=)

The recipe is in cups, so I finally gave up when it came to the syrup, and used their measurements!

The optionals are my own additions

A baba tin is one that has an empty ring in the middle, like a bundt pan but it's a bit smaller (the hole I mean); use a bundt pan if that's all you have

Make sure the cake is sitting on a rimmed plate or a tray so the syrup doesn't go all over your bench when you pour it over the cake

gather those ingredients

get ready to cream that butter and sugar

juice that lime to make your buttermilk

cream the butter and sugar, and whip up those egg whites

pour/spoon into the baba pan

let it sit for a bit while you make the syrup

so make it!

pour it over the warm cake

looking tasty I have to say

Ms M. displaying her dessert

c. Sherry M.

In My Kitchen - November 2024

You know I have to say it - eek!  how did it get this far into the year?  Eight weeks till Christmas?!  And what a mixed bag this year has been.  And storm season has started early!  We had a whizz-bang ripper storm the other night, with huge winds and rain and a wee bit of hail.  Could be the start of something ...

October was a busy one - I made 3 sorts of muffins for our local indie bookstore The Quick Brown Fox for Love Your Bookshop Day.  I picked jaboticabas and made jam, and I made basil paste and mustard, and cake (my fave German chocolate cake).  We went away for a weekend, to one of our happy places - the Granite Belt, home to many vineyards, and fruit farms, and arty people.  

Here's to a splendid November; feel free to join in, everyone.  We're waiting to 'read all about it' !:=) - as they used to say in the movies.  Was that in the old Superman/Clark Kent days with George Reeves?  I sometimes think of the other fella - Christopher Reeve, and how his whole life would have been so different if he had hit his spine just one centimetre to the left or right ...  There but for the grace of God, as they say!  Anyways, here we go!

In My Kitchen:

there were pineapple mini muffins for Love Your Bookshop Day

and corn muffins

and another cookbook

and a (free) Santoku knife from the supermarket

I made mustard - again!  Mr P.'s fave.

and some basil paste (not pesto) - just basil, salt and EVoo

I bought a few goodies on our recent weekend away in Stanthorpe

and a few more things

Yep, another one!  But Nagi is worth the shelfroom!

So, here we are, racing to the end of the year.  I hope everything is going well for everybody!  See you in December, my friends.  Well, or before that, if you read my other posts :=)

Oops, nearly forgot the curveball!

a beautiful bee by Lauren Broughton

c. Sherry M.

Be a part of our friendly IMK community by adding your post here too - everybody welcome!  We'd love to have you visit.  Tell us about your kitchen (and kitchen garden) happenings over the past month.  Dishes you've cooked, preserves you've made, herbs and veg. in your garden, kitchen gadgets, and goings-on.  And one curveball is welcome - whatever you fancy; no need to be kitchen-related.  

The link is open from the first of the month to midnight on the thirteenth of the month, every month.

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Kladdkaka - Swedish Chocolate Cake

Has anyone watched the lovely YouTuber Emmy of Emmymade?  I love her videos!  And I am a big fan of her lovely smile and warm demeanour.  And she tries all sorts of interesting recipes, and eats interesting and weird foodstuffs.  Or she just makes regular ones like this delicious chocolate cake.  And you can't really go wrong with chocolate cake!

The more chocolate the merrier - witness Nigella Lawson's Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake for starters!  I often use the chocolate syrup from that one on other cakes that are a bit dry.  But I digress; we are here for this Swedish beauty.  

And talking of Sweden, Mr P. and I spent one whole hour in Sweden years ago.  Yes, I kid you not.  We were backpacking thru' Denmark, and decided to hop on the ferry to Sweden, with only Danish kroner in our pockets.  So we hopped on in Helsingor and ferried across to Helsingborg, Sweden.  The lady at the Tourist Office took pity on us, and let us use Danish kroner to buy a soft drink.  We wandered around for a bit and jumped back on the ferry.  And then took a train (or was it a bus?) back to our room in the former - or was it? - house of ill-repute with mirrors on the ceiling!   

But let's head to the cake!  I just love a really squishy cake, don't you?  And a dollop of crème fraîche on top goes down a treat too.

look at that squishy moist interior :=)

Serves 8:

ingredients:

135g./5 oz butter, melted

350g./12.5 oz white or caster sugar

30g./1 heaped oz cocoa powder

25g./1 scant oz black cocoa powder (or regular if you don't have this)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract/paste

110g./4 oz plain flour

2 Tbs icing sugar/powdered sugar

Method:

On goes your oven to 170C/350F to heat up

Now you grab your 18cm/7 inch springform pan, grease and line it with baking paper - bottom and sides

And melt the butter (if you haven't already) in a medium saucepan, then stir in the sugar and cocoa powder(s)

In a separate medium bowl, beat the eggs gently with the vanilla

Fold/stir in the eggs, then the flour in 3 additions into the buttery mixture - you know what I mean! - fold in a third of the eggs, then a third of the flour and so on till all gone

Once beautifully and lightly combined, pour/spoon the batter into your prepared pan

Now bake for around 45 minutes; you want it slightly jiggly in the centre, says Emmy

Let it cool down till room temp., before whacking it into your fridge for a couple of hours - or more, if you have the patience :=)

Then sprinkle that icing sugar over the top, slice it up and hand it out

Notes:

I watched her video for this one again, and it is quite different in method to her written instructions so you can go either way!  Add the eggs in at the end without beating them first or just follow her written recipe - which I did!

yep, I got started!

a lovely chocolatey batter ready for the oven 

into the oven it goes

and out it comes after 45 mins. at 170C

let it rest in the tin till room temp., then into the fridge for 2 hours+

and cut yourself a slice

even Nemo wants a piece :=)

c. Sherry M.