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Next on this winter's odyssey of marmalade batches is a lime one (and yes, I say "a lime marmalade" as I plan on making another one), and for this one, I decided to add gin and almond extract. Not sure exactly why I decided on this, but I am glad I did. I am afraid that with night shifts and a teething toddler (how many molars does one kid need?!) who is now in a big boy bed (woohoo for sleep disruptions again!) I opted for the easy, lazy method again. Ingredients: 1,5 kg limes (about 20 limes), halved 1,5 l water 3 c sugar 2 tsp almond extract 1 c gin 1) Squeeze the limes and place them and the water in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil and cook for about an hour until the limes have softened and the contents of the pot has begun to reduce. 2) Blitz and add the other ingredients. Continue cooking until the marmalade thickens to desired consistency. Taste test to check for sweetness and gin content. 3) Boil jars for 15 minutes to sterilise them, then spoon the hot marmalade into the jars. Wipe the rim clean, seal and place upside down on a tea towel to cool. This came out really well. No tonic in the jam, but it still tastes like a G+T (sort of) so I am sticking with the name. Unfortunately, the almond flavour doesn't come across much, but the lime does, and it proved a very popular spread when I brought a jar up to my parents' house for the weekend. Let me know what you think if you try it!

We had leftover Broccoli and Fennel Tart for lunch, but not enough of it for a whole meal. We are going away for the weekend so I wanted to draw down on what we have rather than picking up more food. With a kilo of carrots in the fridge and a large chunk of ginger, a warm "salad" seemed ideal, especially for a cold, rainy day. It could just as easily be served over rice or couscous or something and become a more substantial meal though, or even have chunks of meat added to it to make it a main. We had it as described here below though, and aside from maybe a little fresh coriander, I wouldn't change anything. I spiralised the carrots and ginger (my first time spiralising ginger. I got mixed results), but they could just as easily be chopped or julienned. It was just the quickest, easiest way for me. Ingredients: 5 carrots, spiralised 3 inches of ginger (ish) spiralised or chopped 1/2 head of garlic, crushed (ours was a very big head. If yours is smaller, 1 regular head should do). 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil 1 tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp pomegranate molasses 1 tsp nigella seeds 1/2 - tsp Aloha Chilli Spiced Cacao 1 tsp white sesame seeds 1 tsp black sesame seeds 1) Heat oil in a small wok or a frying pan. Add ginger and garlic and fry until fragrant, allowing a few of the pieces to brown a little. Add carrots and stir. 2) Add other ingredients aside from sesame seeds and cook for 5 minutes until the carrots are beginning to become tender. Add sesame seeds and cook for another minute, then serve. This was super tasty! I would not change anything. I had help cooking it (hence the second spatula in the picture) and Little Bit could stuff it into his mouth fast enough once it was ready (after brief protestations of "hothothot").

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!

Continuing on from that initial request for a ketchup recipe, here is another one. This time I decided to do a spiced (but not spicy) carrot ketchup, in part because I had a bunch of carrots on the brink of going off. It turned out really tasty, but slightly less classically ketchuppy than the Tomato Ketchups or the Beet Ketchup. Ingredients: 6 c carrots, chopped 3/4c tbsp apple cider vinegar 5 tbsp brown sugar 1/2 tsp ras el hanout 1 tsp tandoori powder 1 pink onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 4 cm ginger, minced 1 tsp nigella seeds Salt and pepper 1) Place all ingredients except nigella seeds in a saucepan and simmer until carrots are tender. Blitz until smooth. Taste test, add nigella seeds and reduce until the ketchup reaches desired consistency. 2) Meanwhile, sterilise glass jars by boiling them for 15 minutes. Fill while the ketchup is still hot, seal and leave to cool. We've been having this on all sorts of things recently and it's proved very versatile. Little Bit stays true to his trend of eating condiments as though they were their own foods, but in this case, I'm fine with that.

I made Jerk Chicken for the first time recently, from a recipe in my Spice Bible cookbook, and it worked out really well. One of the next recipes in the book was for sweet cardamom mango. I liked the idea, but instead of sticking with the recipe and having it for dessert, I took the idea and went my own way, turning it into a side to have with the Jerk Chicken. As the mango was a very tasty side, I thought I would include it. Ingredients: 2 tbsp butter 1 mango, peeled and sliced 2 tbsp tomato purée 1/2 shallot, sliced 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1/2 tsp ginger 1 black cardamom pod, crushed 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar Juice of 1 lime 1) In a small frying pan, melt the butter. Add the ingredients, and stir, cooking until combined and mango is beginning to caramelise, about 8-10 minutes, then serve warm as a savoury side dish. And it was that simple. We also had coconut and raisin rice with the mango and the chicken, and the whole meal was a hit (except with Little Bit, who, having said he was excited, decided he didn't like coconut, chicken or cooked mango for the purposes of this particular dinner. And then promptly went back to liking them again afterwards... The joys of toddlerdom!)

So I'm a little late in posting this, but we get spectacular apricots here in the summer, so while they were in season I decided to make jam. Rather than going traditional though, I thought I would try something a little different and add port to the jam to deepen the flavour a little. We then had to try them with scones and clotted cream... Ingredients: 2.5kg apricots, stoned and sliced 3c sugar 2 c Tawny port Water 1) Place apricots in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add enough water to cover the fruit and bring to a simmer. Stir in other ingredients. Put a saucer in the freezer. 2) Stir occasionally to prevent the jam from sticking. As it thickens you'll need to stir more consistently. 3) Taste test to check for sugar. I go light on sugar, you might want to use more. 4) When the jam looks as though it has thickened enough, drop some of the hot jam on the saucer from the freezer. If after a minute it starts to solidify and the top wrinkles and pulls tight, it should gel nicely once cool. If not, then boil it a bit longer or add sugar (or both). 5) To sterilize jars: boil clean jars and their lids for at least 15 minutes. Fill them with the boiling jam immediately on removing them from the boiling water (canning tongs make this so much easier and make it less likely that you'll burn yourself, but you can do it with a spoon or a spatula and a dishcloth). Fill to just below the rim, wipe the grooves clean and screw the lid on tight. As the jars and contents cool, the centre of the lid should be sucked down and the jars will be sealed properly. Place the jars upside down on a clean cloth. Label when cool. I was very pleased with the result. The balance between the apricots, the port and the sugar was delightful. The jam worked well on scones or muffins but also in oatmeal and such. I will definitely be making this again!

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...

When I posted my home made mayo recipes a while back, a friend asked me for a ketchup recipe. It's been a little while coming, for which I am sorry, but here it is. Or rather, here they are, as I am posting a couple of options below. When first asked about a ketchup recipe, having only made it a couple of times before I took a look around other recipes and let the ideas percolate for a while (and got busy with work and potty training a toddler, among other things)... and then didn't get back to it right away. Yesterday was a very rainy day though, so I decided it was a good time to have something simmering away on the stove all afternoon (well, several somethings. We made yogurt, apple pectin, salted caramel ice cream, goat's cheese and burger buns too.) When checking different methods a while back, there was a debate on whether to use tomato passata and paste or chopped tomatoes (from a tin or fresh), so I decided to do both yesterday and see how they came out and which I liked best. I also used dried vs fresh garlic and onions in the two recipes. I therefore made two basic variants, and then tweaked, separated out portions and tried further variants through the afternoon. In the evening, having been informed by my Guinea pigs that the only way to truly test ketchup was with a burger and some fries, I made burgers with fresh buns and my sister brought down her fryer to make chips. Long story short, we tried four different ketchup variations yesterday, detailed below. We all liked all of them (and all ate a bit too much). So here they are. Ketchup One: Sharp and Bright Ingredients: 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 800g tin of chopped tomatoes 1 onion, minced 4 small cloves garlic, crushed 1 tbsp dried oregano 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp red wine vinegar Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Sweat the onions and garlic until soft, then add the oregano and cook for another minute. 2) Add other ingredients and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened. Blitz until smooth and taste test, adjusting as necessary. Ketchup Two: Deep and Rich Ingredients: 3 c tomato passata 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp dried onion 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp dried oregano Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion and oregano then add the passata, vinegar and sugar. 2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly. Ketchup Three: Sharp and Rich Ingredients: 3 c tomato passata 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp dried onion 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp dried oregano Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion and oregano then add the passata, vinegar and sugar. 2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly. Ketchup Four: Deep with a bite Ingredients: 3 c tomato passata 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp dried onion 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 1/2 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tsp (or more) tandoori powder/paprika Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a saucepan. Briefly fry the dried garlic, onion, oregano and tandoori, then add the passata, vinegar and sugar. 2) Bring to a low simmer and cook for about 2 hours, stirring regularly, until thickened and reduced to desired consistency. Taste test, adjusting accordingly. We enjoyed all four Ketchups enormously. Hubby declares he never wants to buy ketchup again. The four different ketchups all had great flavour, and all of them actually tasted like tomatoes. This was very easy to make, but it did require time spent in or near the kitchen to stir regularly. My favourites were probably One and Three. I made all of them using white sugar. Given that I was already comparing the effect of fresher ingredients vs passata and dried garlic and onions, a further variable I thought would muddy the waters, but I would like to try it with brown sugar at some point as well. I also intend on trying other tweaks, like different herbs or spices, different base vegetables, and tweaking the quantity of garlic etc. I'll keep you posted! And in the mean time, don't hesitate if you have questions, suggestions or ideas! NB: This ketchup is entirely natural. Sugar and vinegar are both to a certain extent preservatives, but not really in these quantities, so be aware that this won't keep as long in the fridge as commercial ketchup. I will see how mine does and let you know!

There's been a bit of a hiatus since my last posts due to some travelling, the first trimester of a pregnancy and fun things like planning a move. As things are beginning to settle down again though, I have some exciting recipes to share from the last little while. I hope you enjoy! My last citrus jam that I made over the winter was a lemon jelly. Unlike most of my others, like the G+T Lime Marmalade or the Spiced Grapefruit and Rum Marmalade, I decided to take the more elaborate route for this one and actually process the peels properly rather than just blitzing them into the marmalade. I also decided to try using my Apple Pectin that I made in the autumn to see how it went. And then I added bits... NB if you do not have homemade apple pectin, replace with the recommended amount of a store bought one. Ingredients: 1 kg lemons 3 1/2 c apple pectin 1 l water 2 c sugar 2 chilis, minced 2 - 2 1/2 tbsp ginger, peeled and minced 1) Using a vegetable peeler, remove a thin layer of peel from the lemons and set the strips aside. Juice the lemons into a large pot, discarding what remains of the pith. Add the sugar and the pectin and water, and bring to a boil. Stirring, reduce to a simmer. 2) Meanwhile, thinly slice as much of the peel as you want. Add this and the chili and ginger to the pot. 3) Cook until the marmalade thickens. You'll want to test readiness by putting a drop of the hot jelly on a saucer which has been in the freezer. Give it a couple of seconds to cool and then prod it. If the top of the jelly wrinkles, it is ready to put into jars. 4) While the jelly is cooking, boil 4 or 5 jars with their lids in a large pot at a rolling boil for at least 15 minutes. When the jelly is ready, carefully extract one jar at a time from the pot and fill it. Wipe any spills from the rim of the jar, seal and place upside down on a cloth to cool. Once sealed the jars of jelly should keep well in a cool dry place for a good while. The jelly came out very nicely. It ended up being a different colour than I had originally pictured, both because of the pectin and because of the chilis. I had some doubts about my pectin, but those have been cured. If anything I used a little too much of it. I really liked the flavour when it was fresh and can't wait to try it now that the flavours have had a bit more of a chance to develop. Not using the bulk of the lemon peel as I did for the other marmalades, my output was drastically reduced, from about 10 jars to about 4. Those 4 are worth it though! They are a clear jelly instead of a thicker bodied marmalade. Occasionally not taking the lazy route pays off! They are different beasts, the marmalades and the jelly, but both very tasty. All in all, it's been a lot of fun playing around with different citrus jams this winter!

The Domestika course I am doing introduces three different architectural textures to replicate in chocolate - terrazzo, marble and concrete. This was my first attempt at making bars at all, and more specifically my first attempt at making terrazzo bars, with contrasting main flavours and chips. It was also my first time using spirulina, chlorella and açai for colouring. I overdid the chlorella and spirulina a little, making for darker colours than I had intended, but I intend to learn from that next time and add the colours in smaller increments. I made three different bars using the previous chips I had made and a different base chocolate flavour and colour for each. The first was amchoor and spirulina with grapefruit and black pepper chips. The second was sumac and chlorella as the base, with orange peel and earl grey tea flavoured chips. The third was a black sesame and açai base with kafir lime and turmeric chips. All three of these went over very well with my test audiences, quite flatteringly so. The tempering succeeded and the flavours interacted very nicely. I found the bars a little busy though but was assured by others that this was not the case. The terrazzo chip idea was interesting, and matching up flavours has been a fun challenge, but I might stick more with one or two flavours in future instead of three or four. As this was my first time making bars, I also played around with some texturing using crumpled wax paper wrinkled in different directions, and a plastic baggy. I am pleased with the different looks and had fun testing the three methods. Making the moulds was fun, my first time playing with legos in years! I had intended to be further along in the course by now and had hoped to be able to give chocolates of my own making and design to people for Christmas, but alas I have been a bit sluggish and haven't moved my studies in this field along as fast as I ought. Oh well. Mayhap next year I will be ready!