Pickled Beetroot and Onion (or French Shallots)

My Scottish great (great?) grandfather Jock came out to Australia many years ago.  Not sure if he was a convict or not.  So I am predisposed to all things Scottish (I love me a bagpipe!).  And I really enjoy the videos and recipes from Ali Stoner aka the Roving Haggis, a fabulous Scottish cook, currently living in Melbourne. Can't wait till her new cookbook Scran comes out!

My best friend at high school had Scottish parents, who still kept their accents after many decades here.  Her mum introduced me to recipes like Clootie dumplings, a delicious dried-fruit pudding.  Not sure if it's Scottish, but my friend introduced me to Heinz baked beans on toast with grated cheese, under the grill till it melts.  So good!  

Hubby and I backpacked around Scotland way back.  We loved it!  And almost met Princess Di (told you it was way back).  I think the Queen was residing at Balmoral too when we were nearby.  And we had a gander at the little kirk (church) she used to attend when in Scotland.  Such a shame we didn't catch up with the Loch Ness monster.  I would love to go back!

I've made these three times recently!

Recipe by the Roving Haggis!

Makes 1 large jar:

ingredients:

400g./14 oz fresh beetroot

150g./5.3 oz sliced white (or red) onion  (or French shallot)

100 mL/3.4 oz apple cider vinegar

100 mL/3.4 oz malt vinegar

150 mL/5 oz water

120g./4 oz caster sugar

1 Tbs sea salt

1 bay leaf  (or 2)

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp juniper berries  (I used Tasmanian mountain pepperberries)

1 tsp mustard seeds

delicious vinegar

Method:

Boil the beetroots till tender, then cool, peel and cut into big chunks

Finely slice the onion (or French shallot)

Layer the beetroot chunks and the sliced onion into a large jar

Now place all the other ingredients - vinegars, water and spices - into a medium saucepan, and bring it to a simmer, till the sugar is dissolved

Let it cool for a few minutes, then pour into the jar with the veg. (and shove another bay leaf in, if you please)

Give the jar a rotation or two (make sure the lid is well closed), then in it goes to the fridge for a few days - so tasty, I just eat it straight out of the jar :=)

yep, it's a beetroot :)

Notes:

Okay, I confess - I bought vacuum-sealed, pre-cooked beetroots!

as that Canadian YouTuber always says: Use two, I'm not driving :=)

dissolve that sugar!

pour the brine mixture over the veg.

sealed and ready for the fridge

so pretty and so tangy!

I used a few pink peppercorns too

Lemon (and Lime) Chutney

Winter is a-coming, and citrus season will be bouncing along soon.  I love me a bit of citrus, and I love some chutney, so here is a lemon and lime chutney I made.  (Don't tell, but I actually made this one last winter.)

The fruit trees in neighbours' yards are full of lovely lemons at the moment, and I am very tempted to grab some.  I could always knock on their doors, and suggest sharing some produce and homemade goodies, of course.    

We are very lucky in our street to have wonderfully community-minded folk around us.  One neighbour - I'll call him Mr B. - moves the rubbish bins in and out for us (and our doctor neighbour Ms. M) on rubbish day.  And we often share produce and cakes and so on.  I handed out some of the blueberry-lemon loaf I made last week to a couple of neighbours, and in return Ms. P gave us some Basque cheesecake - delicious!  Oh yes, Mr B. also mows the lawns for us and the young doctor.  We are very lucky!

citrus-y, tangy and sweet!

(Gives you 3 x 150g./5.3 oz jars, says Karon: I only ended up with 2!)

Recipe by Karon Grieve from Larder Love blog:

ingredients:

500g./18 oz lemons, zested   see Notes

125g./4.5 oz onions, peeled and chopped    see Notes

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs EV olive oil

250g./9 oz apples, peeled and chopped

125g./4.5 oz sultanas

1/2 tsp chilli, chopped  (I used 1-2 dried chillies)

1/2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp sea salt

350 mL/12 oz cider vinegar

225g./8 oz white sugar

garlic bulb

Method:

Peel the fruit, and zest it (or chop finely), then roughly chop the flesh

Tip the flesh only at this point into your food processor, and give it a good pulsing 

Sauté the chopped onions (in a heavy-based saucepan) in the heated olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and the chopped apples - and cook (on a low to medium heat) for 10 minutes till tender

Now add the lemon zest/peel and the zapped lemon flesh, the sultanas, the chilli, the ginger, the salt and HALF of the vinegar

Simmer for about 30 minutes till the peel is tender

You then add the other half of the vinegar, and also the sugar into the pan

Stir the mixture till the sugar is dissolved and the chutney has thickened

Pour/spoon into very clean jars, and let it mature for a fortnight

(Can be kept for a year, says Karon, and use within a month of opening)

zest that lime - or lemon!

Notes:

I used a mix of lemons and limes, so do as you please :=)

Peel the onions, then weigh them out to the required amount

lemon!

fresh ginger root

ingredients gathered

sauté and stir the onions, garlic and apples

simmer till tender

and spoon into some sterilised jars ...

red chillies

Green Tabasco-Style Hot Sauce

While on our recent road trip, Mr P. and I stayed a night in a re-purposed pottery shed, now a delightful guest cottage.  The owners had just rescued a young sheep, as a companion for their other young sheep, so I got to feed this gorgeous baby her bottle.  So cute!  And she was amazingly strong.  And her wool was incredible - so tough, and firm, like nothing I had ever felt before.  I think they said she was a mini-Dorset sheep (or was it a Babydoll sheep?), grown for its meat usually.  They are not going to eat her, don't worry! 

interior of the cottage/pottery shed

This recipe is from a book called Giffords Circus Cookbook, by Nell Gifford and Ols Halas.  (I had a quick read of this fascinating book, which was lurking in the cottage bookshelves.)  This is a real circus and restaurant that travels throughout the U.K.  Nell who was also an artist sadly died in 2019 from breast cancer.  Her niece took over the circus, after Nell died.  I can hardly get my head around a travelling circus/restaurant (!), much less a woman who painted sixty paintings in a year before she died.  And guess what?  She was the half-sister to Emma Bridgewater!  I love Emma's pottery pieces, and as you may know, I have a small collection of her mugs and plates.  Mm, that reminds me I still want to buy one of her eggplant dishes ...

the book!

Makes 1 small bottle (maybe 250 mL?):

ingredients:

200 mL/7 oz white wine vinegar

2 tsp sea salt flakes

1-2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped

100g./3.5 oz green jalapeño chillies/peppers, de-seeded and thinly sliced  see Notes

Method:

Put the vinegar, salt and garlic into a small saucepan, and bring it to the boil

Throw in the chillies, boil it for a minute or two, then take off the heat and let it rest for ten minutes (at least)

Blend this in a food processor (till smooth, says Nell)

Pour this green mixture into the sterilised bottle, seal it and store in the fridge (Nell doesn't mention the fridge till after you open it, but we live in hot and humid Queensland)

Nell also says it will keep in the fridge once opened for a week, but I have had it there for seven weeks, and still all good!  It tastes bloody good, I must say

ingredients gathered

macerating the chillies

the yoghurt cure!

We tried everything on my hand for the burn - milk, ice, water ... only the yoghurt left on for a couple of hours actually helped!  And I barely touched the chillies with my knife hand. 

really hot and delicious!

Notes:

I kept in some of the seeds, 'cos we like it hot!  As some readers will know, when I was chopping up the jalapeños for this, I foolishly only wore a glove on one hand, not the knife hand.  Oh silly me!  I had never realised properly before that chilli burns like fire! - and for hours.  So don't do what I did; wear the gloves!

I would love to make this again, but with red jalapeños.  I think that would be a fabulous change-up.

chillies!

I nearly forgot to tell you the story of the disasters when we stayed in the cottage.  We were seated at the table on wooden chairs, one of which decided to die, and threw Mr P. on the ground!  And then one of the lamps died, and he got an electric shock from it when we tried to check out what was going on with it.  I'm pretty sure there was a third disaster, but I've blocked it out :=)  Oh yes, I remember - the air con kept turning itself off, and the outside sensor light kept going on whenever we went to the fridge.  Interesting! :=)  But no worries.

the Bonville Headland Lookout at Sawtell, NSW

This Headland looks to the south, showing a beautiful sandy beach.  My previous photos were of Boambee Headland Lookout, looking north.

The owners of the Pottery Shed are very interesting people; she is English and he is American and they live here in Australia.  The cottage sits on their 1.5 acre rural property in the Boambee valley, near Coffs Harbour.  We have stayed there twice now, and will happily go back.  Not an ad by the way; just happy we stayed there.  And we didn't give a hoot about the accidents; we had a fine time!

(Joining in with Jo from Brookford Kitchen Diaries for BKD Cookbook Club.)

Peanut Chutney - and What to do With It

Chutney?  Interesting word for it.  Nah, I think this is more of a marinade-type thingy.  I made this for Cookbook Club, waaaaay back in August last year.  The recipe is from Everything is Indian by Justin Narayan.  I decided to use it as a marinade for some chicken tenderloins.  I gave half the chutney to a friend (who used it as a marinade for chicken, too), and made this for dinner.  Great minds ...

deliciously nutty

Makes approx. 200g./7 oz:

ingredients:

130g./4.5 oz unsalted peanuts OR 130g. of peanut butter

30g./1 oz white sesame seeds

1/2 brown onion, roughly chopped   see Notes

2 tsp tamarind paste  (or 2-3 tsp lemon juice)

1 Tbs lemon juice

3 small red chillies (or your fave chilli), roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves - yep, roughly chopped :=)

100-125 mL  (3.4-4.3 oz water)

sea salt flakes (1/8-1/4 tsp) and freshly ground black pepper

luckily for me, I don't taste soap when I eat fresh coriander :)

Serves 4:

For the chicken dish:

500-600g./18-21 oz chicken tenderloins (or chop up some breasts)

Peanut chutney - maybe half the jar; just have the chicken well-coated     see Notes

Lemon juice - maybe 3 Tbs

Fresh coriander leaves, torn or chopped - a big handful, or to your taste

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Rice or rice noodles, to serve

Cucumber and tomato, chopped, to serve

small red chillies

peanuts!

Method:

Grab a wee saucepan/frying pan and toast your nuts and seeds till golden brown (obvs. no need to toast the peanut butter, if  using)

Tip them into a blender or small food processor, with the other ingredients, except the salt and pepper

And blend away till it looks like the consistency of peanut butter

Add more water if you fancy it a bit thinner

Season with the salt and pepper

For the chicken dish:

Marinate the chicken pieces in the chutney for at least 30 minutes

Fry in 2 Tbs of vegetable or olive oil, which you have heated up

Add lemon juice, coriander leaves, salt and pepper

Throw on some white and/or black sesame seeds, if you like

Serve with rice or rice noodles

And chop up some cucumber, tomato and fresh coriander leaves, to go with ...

Notes:

I used peanut butter made from just peanuts and salt

The average brown onion weighs around 150-200g.; I used c. 90g.

I gave half the chutney away to a friend, so I probably used about 100g/3.5 oz for the chicken dish

Throw some mustard seeds or cummin seeds into the chutney (after blitzing to a smooth sauce) - if you fancy!

        brown onion

        cucumber

ingredients gathered

get ready to blitz!

and ... blitzed!  See how smooth :=)

ready for dinner!

Mangoes update: all 200 kilos! (maybe 150 kg.) of fruit has been laboriously picked up (even dug out) from the backyard.  The fruit bats, possums and birds are very sad!  The crows have been indignantly squawking for days about it.  I do love me a crow - so smart, so kind, dropping off gifts now and then.  And did you know? - they absolutely adore fruit.

Mr P. is very slowly getting over his cough, which has lasted for well over 3 weeks!  I can't believe I haven't caught it from him, though he has been politely sleeping downstairs so I don't get it!  Autumn is nearly here, and we have had copious amounts of rain over the last week.  And some flooding out west; it never ends here with the weird weather!!  Hope you are all doing well, my friends.

Guess who?  Yes, moi!  (c. G McKinnon)

Pickled Beetroot AKA Beetroot for Salads

I have turned into a pickle fiend lately.  Don't know why, but there it is.  I pickled some chillies that I snipped off a bush outside Reception at some holiday apartments, and I finally got around to pickling some beetroot.  There was actually a beetroot shortage last Christmas, and you just could not buy them - the ones in tins and jars, I mean.  So now I am prepared!  And they are delicious!

This is a recipe from the PWMU cookbook, first published in 1904!  That is the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union, in case you are not familiar with the acronym - 'cos I wasn't :=)  And it's such a fab cookbook.  I made half the amount so just double it if you are really keen.  They just blithely say you need a bunch of beetroot; so I figured that might be about 1 kilo, so I halved it for my recipe.

c. Sherry M.

Makes 1 x 680g./24 oz jar:

ingredients:

1/2 bunch of beetroot - around 500g./1.1 lb  see Notes

for the brine:

1-2 cm/half an inch or so of fresh ginger, grated or finely chopped

300 mL vinegar (I used white wine and apple cider vinegars)

100g./3.5 oz sugar (I used caster sugar)

1 tsp sea salt flakes

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1/4-1/2 tsp of mountainpepper berries (optional) and of 

coriander seeds and of allspice berries   see Notes

Method:

Chop up the beetroot and pile into your clean, sterilised jar

Place the ginger, vinegar, sugar, salt, and all the other spices into a small saucepan

Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 5 minutes

Let the mixture cool down a bit, strain it over a bowl, and MAKE SURE you collect the vinegar mixture

Pour the liquid over the beetroot in the jar, whack on the lid and into the fridge it goes!

Notes:

You can buy raw beetroot, boil it for an hour, cool it and peel it OR be sensible - just buy the vacuum-packed, cooked, and peeled stuff

The extra spices are my idea; they just went for salt, pepper and mustard - probs not easy to get mountainpepper berries and coriander seeds back in 1904 :=)

c. Sherry M.

And for those of you who don't come from Australia, I have to tell you about our iconic Aussie hamburger 'with the lot', as it's known here.  You add a fried egg, and a slice of pineapple, the meat pattie of course, plus fried onion, and a thick slice of beetroot!  It ain't a burger with the lot without the beetroot!

ingredients gathered

simmer your brine

chop up the beetroot and into the jar(s)

the (mostly) strained brine ready for the jar  (I do love me some mustard seeds)

and ready for the fridge

all done!

c.  Sherry M.

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 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.