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.)

Parsley, Preserved Lemon And Caperberries

I didn't realise before making this that parsley came first in the title because - guess what? - parsley is the hero ingredient here.  So get the freshest parsley you can when making this.  Out of the garden would be best of course.  Damn those sneaky, parsley-eating possums!  Supermarket parsley it is then :=)

This is another recipe from Harvest, the massive tome by Maggie Beer.  It's heading back to the library pronto, as I am not feeling the love for this book.  It could just be me, not you, Maggie.  There are so many recipes in this book - over 350 I think - so there's something for everyone.  But I just can't get over her dislike of chillies, and spices.  Somehow she missed the huge Asian influences on Aussie cooking!  

Serves 4:

ingredients:

12 caperberries, de-stalked; 6 of them cut in half lengthwise  (I used 20 small ones)

1 cup parsley (15g./0.5 oz) - I used curly, but Maggie says flat-leafed

1 Tbs preserved lemon rind, finely sliced  see Notes

40-55 mL (1.3-2 oz) EV olive oil    see Notes

2 thick slices of a hefty bread - pane di casa, sourdough, or similar, torn into chunks (or chopped by Mr P.) - use gluten-free if desired

1 Tbs red-wine vinegar (or vinegar of your choice - I used my homemade blood-orange vinegar)

black pepper, to taste

a handful of pine nuts (optional)

Method:

So de-stalk half the caperberries, slice 'em up and throw them into a salad bowl

Add the roughly-torn (or chopped) parsley leaves (or leave them as - well, leaves)

Chuck in the finely sliced lemon rind

Heat up a grill plate and cook up the brushed-with-EVOO bread slices/now chunks till nicely scorched/golden (or do it in a frypan)

These go into the bowl, along with the rest of the EVOO, vinegar, pepper and pine nuts - Oh I forgot!  Add the other half of the caperberries, too!

Toss and leave for a few minutes so the dressing can soak in

Serve with a protein and/or another salad of your choice

Notes:

I used 2 wedges of (my homemade) lemon rind 

Maggie uses 80 mL of EVOO, but I thought that was way too much, so I used 20-25 mL for the salad, and 20-30 mL for the bread grilling

Does anyone else think flat-leafed parsley tastes like grass clippings?!  And not in a good way ... bluuurrrgghh

grill your bread

get Mr P. to chop it up into chunks

serve it with grilled halloumi if you fancy

and a sweet potato and bocconcini salad

and with halloumi

C. Sherry M.

C. Sherry M.

Blood Orange Vinegar

Blood oranges are still in season - just.  Though you can use pretty much any fruit or berry (or herb) you fancy to make this.  It's a very simple concoction, where you soak fruit in vinegar for a week or so, then strain and bottle.  I was inspired to make this when I saw an ad for a French passionfruit vinegar.  I can't buy it here, so it came to me that I could make it myself, but use blood oranges instead.

Blood orange season is short and sweet, so I've been using them while they're available.  I've also made raspberry vinegar in the past; such a glorious colour, as is this!  I was also inspired by a couple of recent blog posts with similar recipes - one from Angie's Recipes blog, and another by ...  Sorry, I can't remember whose blog, but I think it was for blueberry vinegar.  If it was you, please remind me, friends.   

so pretty, tangy and fruity

ingredients:

350 mL/12 oz vinegar - use a good quality white wine vinegar

4 blood oranges - use the peel of 3 blood oranges, and zest of 1

flesh of 2-3 blood oranges

the juice from 1-2 of the oranges

2-3 Tbs caster sugar

Method:

First scrub the fruit with a potato brush, then pat dry, and peel and zest away

Pour the vinegar into a small saucepan, and heat gently till just about boiled - when you see a bubble or two on the side, take it off the heat

Place all the fruity bits and pieces into a glass jar, pour over the hot vinegar, stir in the sugar, seal the jar and place in a dark spot for a week or even two

Shake every second day, till you're ready to finish it off

Then strain out the bits by tipping the mix into a sieve/strainer lined with a piece of muslin (don't squish the fruit through the muslin as it will go cloudy)

Leave it for an hour or two to finish straining, then pour/ladle into a sterilised jar or bottle

Best placed in the fridge where it will keep for up to six months

Use in vinaigrettes, or maybe even with sparkling water like a shrub drink 

Notes:

I've read recipes for this where they say to use room temperature vinegar, but you may then need to leave it to infuse for 2 weeks rather than one in order to get the full flavour out of the fruit

You can double the recipe if you feel the need for lots of the fruity stuff

ingredients gathered

start peeling and zesting

chopping up the flesh, and into the jar

ready for the hot vinegar

vinegar and fruit ready for steeping for a week

and a week later - ready for filtering

a muslin-lined sieve/strainer sitting over a large bowl

pour the vinegar into a jug, then decant into bottles

and end up with pretty bottles

love that colour!

C. Sherry M.

Red Pesto And Eggplant Sandwich

This open-faced sandwich calls for regular (green) pesto, but I prefer a red version so I used red capsicum (peppers) instead.  Funny how only Australians call them capsicum (as far as I know).  I was watching UK food YouTuber Barry Lewis the other day and he was warning viewers not to touch their eyes after chopping them up.  Huh? thought I.  There's no capsaicin in them so no burny-burny.  Funny fella.

This recipe is from a book called The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook.  It's a collection of 76 stories with recipes, from (famous?) American kitchens.  Pardon my Aussie ignorance, but I'd only heard of ten of these people :-)  Perhaps that's why this book didn't really gel with me, but anyway, there are some 'interesting' recipes here.  Including this one by author Daniel Wallace (sorry, never heard of him).  

cheesy, crunchy and garlicky

He gives no quantities and very little instruction so I have done my best with it.  He made it for his wife-to-be, who told him months later that she had hated it!  Thankfully, Mr P. and myself chowed down on it very happily.  I assume he used a bought pesto but I decided to make my own, but you do you :)

Serves 2-4:

ingredients:

For the red pesto:

240g./8.5 oz roasted capsicum (from a jar)

20g./¾ oz/2 Tbs pine nuts

45g./1.5 oz cashews

1 tsp sea salt

a dozen grinds of black pepper

20g./6-7 Tbs fresh parsley

50g./1.8 oz parmesan, grated

1 Tbs vinegar

1 Tbs lemon juice

45 mL/3 (US) Tbs EV olive oil

Method:

Blitz all the pesto ingredients till you have a rough paste (mine was fairly liquidy), and set aside in a bowl or jug

Ingredients for the sandwich:

1 baguette or long bread roll (about 40 cm./16 inch length)

you will need: several Tablespoons of the pesto (Hi Mrs. Crocombe)

150g./5.5 oz grilled eggplant (I got mine from the deli)

1 or 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated

80g./3 oz cheddar cheese, grated and parmesan (2-3 Tbs), grated, to form a cheesy blanket over the eggplant

A few Tbs of chopped fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

Method:

Slice your baguette in half lengthwise (horizontally)

Slather the two halves in as much pesto as you fancy - maybe 3-4 Tbs per slice?  Mr P. wanted lots on his half :-)

Cut the eggplant into large bite-sized pieces and place them across each baguette half

Scatter the garlic over the eggplant then Cover both slices with the vintage and parmesan cheeses

Place them on an alfoil-lined baking tray, wrap them loosely in the foil and bake at 180C/350F for about 15 minutes

Then open up the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or so till the cheeses are melted and golden

Sprinkle on the extra parsley, if using and serve with a salad

Notes:

If you're feeling energetic, grill or bake the eggplant slices yourself

Use vegan cheese if you wish, and to make it gluten-free, use a GF bread

I used Strong and Bitey Vintage Cheese 

There will be leftover pesto, so use it on anything you fancy

As a total aside to this, I recently discovered that our Aussie tablespoons which are technically 20 mL, are in fact quite often 15 mL as per US and UK recipes, since the actual spoons are not made here!

pesto ingredients gathered

pesto ready to blitz

slice that baguette!

and slather on the red pesto

eggplant goes on top of the pesto, awaiting garlic and cheese

on go the garlic and cheeses

golden and cheesy

ready to eat

Mr. Wallace's sparse ingredients list :-)

The method was equally sparse!  He says to halve the baguette, spread with pesto, place the eggplant on top, sprinkle on cheese (only cheddar) and garlic, and bake at 350F.  No times given, and no amounts.  And he doesn't even mention the eggplant in his ingredients!  His attention to detail ... :-)

© Sherry M.

Pickled Cucumbers - The Quick And Easy Way

Pickles - the quick and easy Curtis Stone way.  Curtis, a well-known TV chef and food writer, lives in the U.S., but is originally an Aussie boy.  He writes a monthly column for the Coles supermarket magazine, and this was one of his latest recipes.  I figured I could put this together even with my wrecked ribcage, so I did - with just a few tweaks.  (All the optional items are my additions.)

Next time I will use the smaller amount of sugar, as it was too sweet for me, but see how you go ...  Curtis just blithely states to use 1 cup, but wow, that's very sweet.  I've had the pickles in my fridge for a week, but I'm getting through them like the clappers (an ancient British phrase, but I like to use it - tee hee).  Great on sandwiches, and good for your gut health.

ready to go into the fridge

ingredients:

5 Lebanese cucumbers (about 12-15cm/5-6 in) long

1 tbs sea salt

1/2-1 cup (110-220g.) of caster sugar

1 cup (250 mL) apple cider vinegar

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

10 black peppercorns (optional)

2 small red chillies (optional)

2 bay leaves (optional)

6 mountain pepper berries (optional)

Method:

Slice those cukes nice and thin, after topping and tailing of course :)

Place them into a sterilised jar (or 2) then add all the other ingredients

Give it a good swirl, leave on the kitchen bench for 3 days, swirling once a day, then into the fridge, where they will happily last for at least a week (or 2)

Notes:

Lebanese cukes are those cute little ones, with dark-green skin

It's hot and humid here in Brisbane atm, so I only kept mine out for 2 nights

Curtis says to use a 450 mL/1 lb jar, but I only had 2 smaller ones

gather your ingredients

thinly slice those cukes

ready for the vinegar

vinegar in; ready for jarring

now to sit for 3 days

© Sherry M.

Apricot Harissa a là Nigella

Happy New Year, my friends.  I hope you had a lovely festive break, and feel full of vim and vigour for 2021.  I'm not sure how I feel lately; life, blogging, writing, drawing, reading - they all seem a teensy bit hard right now, but let's keep on keeping on (as Martin Luther King once said).  So here's my first food post for this year - a recipe from Nigella's new book Cook, eat, repeat which Mr P. gave me for Christmas.  I am a big Nigella fan, and I love her new book which has lots of lovely essays as well as recipes.

During the Christmas break, Mr P. and I headed west to Murgon and Kingaroy, small Queensland towns.  He is designing a cultural centre in Murgon, and wanted to check the lay of the land.  We stayed in Kingaroy, the peanut capital.  And yes their peanuts are fabulous.  We loved the heritage-listed peanut silos out there - soooo huge!

the back end of the peanut silos

silos silos everywhere ... (built in 1938)

Silos to the right of us, silos to the left of us ... And a massive storm rolling in!  Anyway, back to the recipe.  Just so you know, I always re-write recipes from books, etc.  Re: copyright - a list of ingredients does not come under copyright but prose does, so I always re-write the method in my own words (and the ingredients if poss.).

ingredients:

20g. large dried chillies or 15-20g. small fresh red chillies

1 tsp cummin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp caraway seeds

the seeds from 4-5 cardamom pods

45g. soft dried apricots, chopped into 2 or 3 pieces

1 tsp ground turmeric (or 15g fresh turmeric, sliced)

4 juicy cloves of garlic

25g. fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

a few small pieces of naked ginger (uncrystallised ginger) (optional - my idea)

2 tsp dried rose petals (optional - my idea)

2 tsp sea salt flakes or 1 tsp fine salt

1 tsp sweet smoked paprika

60 mL (4 x 15 mL tablespoons) olive oil

1 tsp vinegar (I used raspberry 'cos that's what came to hand first, tho' Nigella says to use apple cider vinegar)

Method:

If using dried chillies, put them in a bowl and pour over 500 mL of boiling water, and let them soak for 15 minutes

Tip the four kinds of seeds into a small frying pan, and let them toast carefully over medium heat - watch them, my friends as they can burn so very easily!  Give them a bit of a shake often as they toast.  When they smell delightful after a few minutes, take them off the heat and tip into a bowl to cool

Grab your food processor (I used my small one), and throw in the apricot pieces, turmeric, garlic, ginger, naked ginger, rose petals, salt and paprika

Drain the dried chillies, take off the stalks, and chuck 'em into the processor - or if using fresh chillies, de-stalk and throw into the processor

Add the cooled spices, the oil and vinegar and blitz to a lovely, fiery paste - Nigella suggests using a bowl and a stick blender but I think the processor was a better bet

Notes:

Try adding another couple of apricots if you want a fruitier flavour, and less chillies if they bring you out in a sweat

I only had small, fiery red chillies in my freezer so that's what I used - phew!  hot hot hot ... la la la ...

Naked ginger is ginger that has been infused in cane sugar syrup, and then allowed to dry out, with no crystals of sugar on the surface

gather your ingredients (this is 20g. small chillies BTW)

dry-toast your spices (no oil needed)

ready for zapping and blitzing

beautifully blitzed!

keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge

all ready for my next blog post :-)

artwork © Sherry's Pickings

(Joining up with Marg from The Intrepid Reader for Weekend Cooking)