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Back in the autumn, my dad shared a video with me by Pro Home Cooks on making your own vinegar at home. I was intrigued, and after checking out a few more websites and how-tos, I decided to try it out. I then checked out instructions from a couple of other places and launched into it. I used only dried fruits as these apparently have a lower incidence of white mould forming on top. I made six different kinds of vinegar, using cranberries, raisins, apples, lemon slices, rosehips and one combo vinegar of apple and rosehips. I filled the bottles about a third to half-full bottles with the fruit and then filling the rest with water. I covered them with cloth, so as to allow the bottles to breathe but keep debris out and stirred them (almost) every day. And that was it. At the 3 week mark I filtered out the fruit, and at the 60-day mark, I capped the bottles. Once or twice I had issues with a little mould on the top, which I skimmed off. Other times, it was hard to tell what was mould or what was the mother of vinegar forming. I only hope I didn't skim the mother at any point! Interestingly, it was the lemon vinegar with which I had the greatest mould challenge, even right up until the end. Each of my six vinegars now has a distinctive colour, smell and flavour. I am leaving them to mature a little before really launching into using them, but will do so soon! SO far they've been used a little on salad but not for much else yet. I want to try the same method with other things too. Supposedly vinegar can be made from carrot peels for example. We'll see how it goes!

I know, I know. Not another Rösti recipe! We've already had two (the Non-Traditional 6 Veg Rösti from way back, and the Courgette and Apple Rösti from the autumn, made with Chanterelles from a friend's mushrooming excursion), but the combination of the red cabbage and the sweet potato in this one was too good not to share. I wasn't initially sure about the cabbage (Cabbage? In rösti?!). but it worked, and in fact, it was the tastiest part (along with the bacon and the cheese and the peppers and the sweet potato...) I initially had other plans for last night's dinner, but it was snowing harder and harder, and my original plans meant a trip down the mountain to the store. In view of the weather conditions, I decided against that. The veg we had then led me to the idea of a stir-fry. And then the image of the big cast-iron skillet came to mind, which naturally transitioned the dish's conception from stir-fry to rösti. I rooted around in the pantry and grabbed a number of bits and pieces, and that was the basis of the dish. And when is a rösti better suited for than when there is a howling snowstorm outside and a toasty fire in the fireplace? It was perfect, for the mood, the weather and to keep us all warm. Ingredients: 4 tbsp butter 2 tbsp olive oil 1 red cabbage, sliced 4 onions, sliced 1 head garlic, sliced 1 red pepper, sliced 2 sweet potatoes, grated A handful of carrots, grated A handful of small potatoes, grated 1 tsp thyme 1 tsp sage 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp Urfa Biber 1 ball mozzarella, sliced 1/4 c bacon, diced (or more, if you want. Or none at all, although I really do hold with bacon in general) 1 tomme of fresh cheese (I used a tomme vaudoise that we had on hand), cubed 6 quail's eggs 1 spring onion, chopped Salt and Pepper to taste 1) Heat about 2 tbsp butter in a large cast-iron skillet. Fry the onions and garlic on medium heat until beginning to soften. Add the red pepper and bacon and cook for a few more minutes until the bacon bits are cooked on the outside (this is going in the oven after, so don't worry if it isn't completely cooked through yet). 2) Add the remaining vegetables and mix well. Season, add the herbs and spice and fry for about 5 more minutes. Finally, add in the cubes of cheese, and dot with the remaining butter. Crack the quail's eggs on top and arrange them neatly, and place the mozzarella round on top of the rösti. 3) Place in the oven at 180°C for about 10 minutes. Pull it out and sprinkle the spring onion over the top. Add a drizzle of olive oil if the top is looking too dry. Place back in the oven for a few more minutes, until the mozzarella is melted, the eggs are cooked, and the top of the rösti is beginning to brown but the spring onion is still crisp. I am very pleased with how this one came out. Hubby thinks it is my best rösti yet, but then I think his favourite version of many things I cook is the one on his plate at the time... The flavour combos and the deep flavour of the cabbage especially were rewarding. The only oddity really is that the cabbage turned some of the other bits, like the cheese and potato, blue. I can live with that though, especially in such a colourful dish! And I must say that quail's eggs make almost anything look fancy and dainty. It also worked re-heated for lunch today! The bacon could be skipped for a vegetarian version of this. I wouldn't suggest skipping the cheese, but you could turn it vegan if you really wanted to. Switch things up according to your tastes!

I received an air fryer for my birthday this year. Since, I have been playing around with it, trying out different recipes, my own and others', and getting to know my new kitchen toy. Here is one of the recipes I have tried a couple of times now. It is simple but very tasty and a very good side dish. A bit of faff, but easy, and we are very happy with the taste! The adobo seasoning isn't one I usually use, but I had some on hand from another recipe. Given that it is all spices and herbs I was going to use in the coating anyway, I thought it was a good substitute. NB the quantities of ingredients for the breading will vary a little depending on the size of your broccoli head and the size of florets you cut it into. Ingredients: 1 head of broccoli, floretted 1 1/2 c flour 1 - 1 1/2 c milk 2 eggs 2 tsp adobo seasoning 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1 tsp thyme 1 1/2 c breadcrumbs (Optional: 1/2 c millet 1/4 c sunflower seed oil) Black pepper 1) Place the eggs and about 3/4 c milk in a bowl and beat well. In another bowl, mix the flour and the adobo seasoning, Kashmiri chilli, and thyme. In a third, mix together the breadcrumbs, the pepper, and the millet (if using). Finally, put the oil, if using, in a bowl, and the remaining milk in another bowl (I know that it is a lot of bowls! I've tried it with fewer, but this is how I got the best results, so bear with me!) 2) Dip each floret in the milk, the flour, the eggy mix, the breadcrumbs and then briefly in the oil (or brush it on), making sure that it is well coated after each dip, and then place in the basket of the air fryer. When it is full, leaving plenty of room between the florets. Set the air fryer for 9 minutes at 180°C. We had these served with mayo, the Roasted Red Pepper dip, Sriracha sauce... anything you want really. The millet is optional. We've had it both with and without. I like the texture as it pops a little in the heat, adding a little crunch. Rolling the pieces in only millet and no breadcrumbs didn't work as well though. Instead of the first milk dip, I have alternatively used broth or the egg-milk mix. Both work well, so take your pick. With the oil, that too is optional. I find that the coating is very crispy but a little dry when done with no oil at all. Brushing it on knocks off some of the coating, so the best solution I have found is a very quick dip, without necessarily coating fully, just enough to make it less dry and nice and golden, but not enough for it to be anywhere near saturated. After 9 minutes, these were tender inside and crispy on the outside! Little Bit got very excited helping with these last time I made them. He loves the air fryer and is excited to "watch the air fryer work" (although there isn't much to see), and enjoys commenting on the (not very loud) noise it makes.

As I mentioned in the Tangerine Marmalade recipe, I want to take advantage of the citrus season to make a bunch of different marmalades. This is my second one, and making it so soon on the heels of the other, I decided to flavour it a little differently. It also seemed to me that spicing this marmalade would counter the bitterness of the grapefruit, which was not inconsiderable. This is maybe because I was lazy and I didn't peel the fruit, juice it, and then strip the pith and slice the peel before adding it back to the pot - which might have minimized the bitterness. Instead, I only sliced the grapefruits into halves or quarters, and then blitzed them after stewing them for a while. Either way, whatever the reason, the marmalade pre-spicing was quite bitter. The spicing, especially the cardamom pod, helped, and I am happy with the result. Ingredients: 1,5 - 2 kg pink grapefruits 4 1/2 c sugar 1.5 l water 1/2 c rum 9 cloves, crushed Nutmeg 1 Black cardamom pod, crushed 1) Slice the grapefruits into halves or quarters and place them in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add the water and stew for an hour to an hour and a half until reduced by about a third. 2) Blitz until all the big pieces are gone, and add the remaining ingredients. Cook further until the marmalade has thickened to the desired consistency. 3) In the meantime, boil jars for at least 15 minutes. Then, when the marmalade has thickened to your desired consistency spoon it into the jars. Wipe the rim of the jars clean and seal them, placing the filled jars upside down until cool. (I still don't know why upside down, but it was how I was taught, so it is what I do.) As with all my jams and marmalades, I didn't make this very sweet, as that is how I prefer it. It does mean that it doesn't set as firmly, but I'm ok with that. Feel free to add more, though, if that's your thing. Onto a lime marmalade next! Or maybe I should make another curd instead (the Pink Grapefruit Curd just before Christmas did come out very nicely!) And maybe I'll make one of these marmalades the not lazy way one of these days... Or maybe not. With Little One going through some sleep issues now that he is in a toddler bed instead of a crib, and with another molar coming in, things are a little chaotic and we're all a bit tired around here, so the lazy way is sometimes the only possible way...

We were having a games night with some friends recently, so I decided to make nachos, as an easy finger-food nibble. Instead of fully loading them, I mixed the tortilla chips only with the Meat Sauce and cheese, and on the side, I had several dipping sauces - guacamole, Carrot Top Pesto, sour cream and this Roast Pepper Dip. Initially, I made this one really simple, with only peppers, garlic, some Kashmiri chilli and some olive oil. The taste test proved it to be rather bland though, so I added some bits. The taste came out quite interesting and unexpected - but tasty. Ingredients: 2 red peppers 1/2 head garlic 1 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 1/2 tsp cacao powder 1 tsp sesame oil 1/2 tsp Black Sesame seeds Squeeze of lime juice Salt to taste 1) Roast the red peppers and the half head of garlic at 200°C for about 20-30 minutes, until they are soft and the skin of the peppers is beginning to char. 2) Leave the peppers and garlic to cool for a few minutes, then peel the peppers and remove the cores and the seeds. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and place these and all the ingredients in a blender. Blitz until smooth. Serve with dippables. I was in a hurry before people arrived and tweaked the dip without giving it much thought, or having time to do it properly, so the dip came out a little differently than I had thought, but tasty nonetheless. It is even better a day or two later once the flavours have married. I might make it a little hotter in future, but didn't want to carpet bomb my friends' tastebuds. Then again, as it currently stands it is tasty too, so pick whatever suits your mood!

This one isn't anything particularly spectacular, but it was quick and easy for a week night dinner and very tasty, so I thought it maybe worth sharing. Little Bit loved it for all the bits he could pick out and identify and get excited about (and for the mess he could make with the couscous). Ingredients: For the couscous: 1 c couscous 2 c water 1 tbsp olive oil 1 carrot, grated 1/2 c raisins 3 cloves 2 tsp curry powder (I used a pineapple curry powder from a spice market) Salt to taste 1 tbsp butter For the veg: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1/2 head of broccoli, floretted and chopped 2 - 3 cm butternut, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 2 tsp zathar 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp honey 3/4 c chopped almonds, toasted 1) Heat oil in a small saucepan and toss the couscous. Add the other ingredients except the butter, bring to a simmer, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed and the couscous is fluffy. Add the butter and mix it in, allowing it to melt into the couscous. 2) For the veg, in a large sauté pan, heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Sauté onions until beginning to soften. Add other veg, balsamic, honey and zathar, and cook until veg is tender - about 10 minutes. 3) Spoon the veg over the couscous and serve. Sprinkle warm, toasted almonds over the top. Full of veggies, with a little crunch from the almonds and some sweetness from the raisins, it was satisfying and flavourful. The balsamic and honey balanced each other nicely, with the sweet curry flavour adding further flavour notes. Dead simple, this pulled together in under a half hour and was filling and satisfying, not to mention healthy! The butter could be skipped to make this vegan, or bits of chicken could be added just after the onion for the carnivores out there.

I tried to grow all sorts of things on my balcony this year - thyme, rosemary, beets, strawberries, peppers, basil... Between late frost, two hail storms and a lot of rain this year on the one hand and a very enthusiastic, helpful toddler on the other, not much survived. The carrots did though. I had to bail them out at times, but I grew them from seed and was excited to watch them grow taller and taller. Eventually, by early November, the carrot tops were each about 2 cm wide, if not bigger, and the greens were easily 40cm tall. I excitedly kept an eye on them and left them in the ground, figuring them I would harvest them in time for Thanksgiving. When I did harvest them on the Thursday of Thanksgiving, two days before our dinner, I was rather bewildered when the first one left the ground. Had I broken it? No. There were root hairs hanging from the bottom of the carrot. That was all there was. Each of the carrots, 2 cm or more at the top, was only 2 to 3 cm long. I cleaned them up and supplemented them with store-bought carrots for Thanksgiving dinner and laughed off the failure. The tops were big and bushy though. I didn't want to just chuck them in the compost, especially given how meagre the carrot harvest had been. Some went into the stuffing instead of celery - which couldn't be had even for ready money - but that still left me with a big bunch. Needing to clear it off the counter before cooking Thanksgiving dinner, the cleaned greens went in the blender with olive oil, lemon juice and water and became Proto-Pesto. For a while, that is all it was, as we ate through leftovers. This proto-pesto proved very handy though, on savoury French toast, in the Leek and Cheese Tart, and the Pumpkin and Stuffing Casserole, and in little leftover pies. The Proto-Pesto then went in the freezer to await the end of the festive season, with all its traditional meals, time away and masses of food. This week I pulled it back out though and turned it into pesto. It is tasty as a dip for tortilla chips, or spread on little puff pastries with tomato paste and parma ham, with or without cheese, and of course, the classic, with pasta. I still have some left, so we'll see what we use it for! Ingredients: 1 very large bunch of carrot greens (6 ish cups when chopped) Juice of 1 lemon 1/2 c water (or enough for the blender to be able to run) 1/2 c olive oil 1/2 c parmesan 1/4 c ground hazelnuts 1 tbsp sumac 1 tsp dried orange peel Salt to taste 1) Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Taste test and adjust as necessary. Add to pastry or pasta, use as a spread, or simply dip. Enjoy. This one has been a while in the making, given that I started it way back at Thanksgiving, but it was worth it. I enjoyed it every way we've tried it so far. Book Pairing: When I first made the Proto-Pesto, I was listening to the Bayou Trilogy by Daniel Woodrell. I enjoyed it, but it is definitely Grit Lit, which I sometimes have to be in the mood for. Finishing this Pesto and making my little Pastry Swirls, I was listening to Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. I didn't really think about it while cooking yesterday (there was rather a lot else going on), but reflecting back now, the difference in tone in these two books is striking. I enjoyed both a great deal, but in very different ways and for very different reasons.

Citrus season is now in full swing, and I plan on taking advantage of it in a variety of ways, not least of which is by making a bunch of different marmalades. Given that tangerines were on sale in 2kg bags, I started with those. There are a number of ways of making marmalade, some of which involve juicing the fruit and then placing the solids in a muslin , cooking them with the juice and then removing them, or straining and mincing the zest etc. I opted for the easiest possible route and just cooked it all together then blitzed the juice with the zest and pulp before adding the sugar. It does mean that the end product is less pretty - there is no golden jelly with elegant slivers of zest suspended in it - but it tastes none the worse for it, and I happen to like the bits. I kept mine less sweet, but feel free to add more, if that's your thing. Using less sugar, it is a little runnier, too, though. Ingredients: 2 kg tangerines, halved and deseeded 1,5l water 3 1/2 c sugar 1) Halve the tangerines and squeeze them into a large heavy bottomed pot. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours until reduced by about a third. 2) Blitz until all the big bits are gone. Add the sugar and stir, on medium-low heat, until the marmalade has reached the consistency of your choice. You can check the consistency by placing a saucer in the freezer. Spoon a little onto the saucer and give it a minute to cool. You'll now be able to get an idea of the consistency of your marmalade. 3) Meanwhile, boil clean jars for about 15 minutes to sterilise them. Extract the jars carefully (at this point, canning tongs might come in handy...) and spoon the marmalade into them. Wipe the rims, seal and place the jars upside down to cool. I really like the balance of flavours in this marmalade. Not too sweet, with a lovely tang. It also caramelised a little, deepening the flavour nicely (this was not planned but because I stopped stirring briefly while helping Little One with something. We've been enjoying this on toast and in yoghurt with oats. There are also plans afoot to put some in a bread pudding one of these days... This is the first time I've made marmalade with tangerines, but it won't be the last! I am so pleased with this one. Book Pairing: While making this, I have started listening to Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. It's years since I read it, but I've been meaning to reread it since watching the movie a few years ago. I enjoyed the movie, but it felt very melodramatic, which is not how I remembered the book. I am thoroughly enjoying the book, and am indeed finding it less melodramatic. Hugo writes beautifully, but he is a tad verbose at times... As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

So, it isn't like we needed more cookies just before New Year, but for Science, it was necessary to make a control batch of these using the more traditional ground almonds rather than the ground Hazelnut variety of Cinnamon Stars I made last week. I had also found that the chocolate variation was too chocolatey and needed to be toned down a little, so I wanted to try them out with only a dash of cacao instead of a full third of the powdered sugar being replaced by cacao. I was a numpty and sent the hazelnuts back to my house before making this batch at my parent's so both the standard and the chocolate variety were made using almonds this time around. I had a bit of an oven problem, so they came out softer than usual, but this was a hit with the family. I also increased the cinnamon content in both varieties, which was also a popular move. Ingredients: For the plain ones: 3 egg whites a pinch of salt 1 1/2 c powdered sugar 3 c ground almonds 3 tbsp cinnamon 2 tsp kirsch For the chocolate ones: 3 egg whites a pinch of salt 1 1/2 c powdered sugar 2 tbsp cacao 3 c ground almonds 3 tbsp cinnamon 2 tsp kirsch 2 tbsp sugar for rolling Optional: 1 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted 1) Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to form stiff peaks (check out my beautiful, stiff, hand-whipped peaks!). Fold in the powdered sugar and set aside 2 tbsp for the icing. If using, fold in cacao at this point. 2) Mix in the nuts, cinnamon and kirsch to form a stiff dough. Roll out 1 cm thick on a sugared surface and cut out shapes. 3) Lay out on a cookie sheet (preferably greased or with a silicone sheet) and ice with a little dollop of the icing. If using, add a few flaked almonds on top of the icing at this point. 4) (Optional: Allow to rest for 5 hours or overnight. I skipped this step this time) Bake at 240°C for 4 minutes. The consensus, seeing as these were the control batch to the experimental hazelnut cookies from earlier in the week, was that both types of nut work. If you prefer almonds generally, then you likely prefer the classic variety of these cookies (which I will continue to call Cinnamon Stars even though all of these were circular). If you prefer hazelnuts generally, you will probably prefer the hazelnut variety. Just swap out the nuts in a 1:1 ratio. The increased cinnamon was a hit, and I think I've hit on the right proportion of cacao. These were now cinnamon cookies, with almond and a little chocolate, rather than chocolate cookies with some nuts and a little cinnamon. If you want chocolate cookies, check out the classic Basler Christmas Cookie recipe instead (which I like as well), or the orange variation that I tweaked this year. For this type though, I am delighted with these ones. The flaked almonds were an idea of my dad's as we had some left over from the Chicken Tagine the day before.

I picked up fresh Burrata (such a delight!) and then wasn't sure how best to use it. We had lots of plums on hand, so I ended up making a spicy plum sauce, served on toast with the burrata split open over the top. To complete the lunch, we had it with sautéed mushrooms and scrambled eggs. This was quick, easy and delightful after a morning at the zoo with Little Bit (he was most excited to see the goats and the excavator. It takes all sorts I suppose!) Ingredients: 4 slices of bread, toasted, (I used tresse) 1 pink onion, chopped 1 tbsp vegetable oil 5 plums, pitted and chopped 1 small red chilli, chopped 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp almond extract 1 tbsp ground almonds 1 tsp cinnamon 1 ball burrata 1) In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium flame. Add the onions and chilli and sauté until tender. Add the remaining ingredients except for the burrata and the toast. Cook, stirring regularly until the plums are beginning to fall apart. 2) Serve the toast on two plates, dividing the sauce and the burrata between them and allowing the cheese to ooze. The creamy burrata balanced the spicy and sweet plum sauce and the eggs gave everything a relatively neutral counterbalance. The toast provided some bite to oppose the softness of the plums and the almost custard consistency of the burrata. Overall, I was quite happy with this. I would maybe just tone down the spice a little next time. I loved it but it was a little much for Little Bit, who was perfectly happy with eggs and mushrooms instead.