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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...

After my earlier attempt at a tomato ketchup, I was inspired to play around with other ketchup varieties. One that I wanted to try, thinking that the vegetable would lend itself well to this, was beetroot. The challenge in making this ketchup was to make it taste properly ketchupy and not like borscht. I think I managed! Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think! Ingredients: 4 beets, peeled and chopped 1/2 head garlic, minced 1 onion, chopped 7 tbsp red wine vinegar 3 tbsp light brown sugar 1 tsp oregano 1 - 1 1/2 tsp thyme 1/2 - 1 tsp salt 1 - 1 1/2 tsp tandoori powder 1) Place beets in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking, covered, until beets are tender. Add other ingredients, and continue to simmer, uncovered for about 20-30 minutes. 2) Cool the beets slightly then pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and blitz well. Taste test, adjust, then transfer back to the saucepan and cook further until reduced to the desired gloppiness. 3) Meanwhile, boil clean jars for 15 minutes, completely submerged in water, thus sterilising them. While the ketchup is still hot, spoon into the jars one at a time (canning tongs come in handy here to fish the jars out of the boiling water), then wipe the rim, seal and place upside down on a clean towel to cool. I made my ketchup last week, and then we pulled it out this evening to have some, and I am really quite pleased with it. It tastes like ketchup, but it also still tastes like beet. And to my great relief, it does not taste like cold borcht!

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!

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 mentioned in Day 46 of The Challenge Soup season continues! (Does it ever really stop?) A friend recently gave us quite a large bag full of sage, so needs must... This was a first try at this soup, but it will be sticking around now. Very tasty, quick to pull together and a good twist on the various other carrot-based soups we make. Many thanks to my hubby for putting it together! Ingredients: 1 kg carrots, chopped 2 onions, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 1 l of veggie stock 1/2 c dried sage 2 tsp honey 1/2 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1) Heat oil in a soup pot and sauté onions. Add carrots and potatoes and allow to char briefly on the bottom of the pan. 2) Add stock and sage and bring to a simmer. Add honey and cook for about a half hour. 3) Blitz til smooth, taste test and serve. This has got to be one of the simplest of soups, but it was warming and satisfying on a cold October lunch. We had it with crusty bread, local cheese and home made Green Tomato Chutney.

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!

A friend sent me a recipe from another blog, agoodcarrot.com, for Turkish rice. The recipe looked good and it occurred to me that I hadn't made any stuffed grape leaves in a while, and that I had the necessary ingredients on hand. Tomorrow's lunch planned! Massive caveat to doing this in the late morning with a teething 1 year old: it takes a while to fold grape leaves! The rice, slightly modified to suit my pantry and tastes, took no time to cook what so ever, but then folding was another story. Moral of this: plan a little further ahead and give yourself more time than I did! They were tasty enough to make up for the delay in lunch though, so no worries. Ingredients: for the rice: 1 onion, chopped 1/2 c raisins, chopped 2 1/2 tbsp dried mint, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 c walnuts, chopped 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 2 c rice 3 c water salt and pepper to taste 1 packet grape leaves, washed 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 egg, beaten 1) Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions until they are translucent. Add the nuts and toast lightly. Add the raisins, spices and rice and cook for a further couple of minutes on medium heat, until the rice becomes translucent. 2) Add the mint and water and stir, and bring to the boil. At this point, put a tight lid on the pot and then you can either do what I did and put it in a Wonderbag slow cooker, or you can lower the heat and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). 3) Cool the rice! Then fold into the grape leaves: cut the stem off a leaf and place it stem-stump down on your palm. Place a small amount of rice filling (approx. 2 tsp) in the centre and fold in the sides then roll it up to the top. Place seam side down in a heavy bottomed pot. Use torn or small leaves to line the pot. 4) Pour 1 1/2 c water and 1 tbsp olive oil over the top and place a plate on the stuffed bundles to keep them from floating. Heat the pot over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes. 5) Beat the egg and lemon juice together and pour evenly over the stuffed leaves and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. 6) Serve! These were really tasty! I highly recommend them, provided you have enough time. The rice is very tasty on its own too, so if you don't have time to fold them, just serve it as a side for something else. With some of the left over rice, I made rice balls stuffed with orange peel and raisins with cloves and fenugreek, a couple of days later and served them with a very simple minty tzatziki and lentil sliders.

As mentioned in Day 41 of The Challenge Vegetables stewed with prunes and warm (rather than hot) spices served over couscous. What better for a rainy autumn afternoon? Especially not knowing how well the friend coming to lunch tolerates spice... Ingredients: 3 red onions, chopped 2 tomatoes , diced 3 carrots, chopped Half a head of garlic, sliced 6 celery sticks, chopped 400g chickpeas 400ml vegetable broth 1/2 c tomato passata 100 g prunes, pitted and chopped (or apricots could work) 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp tandoori powder (I like the light heat and the warmth of this spice, but you can use paprika if you'd rather) 1 tsp of Aloha Spiced Cacao (or cocoa powder) 3 tsp urfa biber or chilli flakes Salt and pepper to taste 1) Put a heavy oven proof dish in the oven without its lid, and heat to 180°C. 2) Chop your veg and add to the preheated dish. Add spices and stock, replace in the oven and allow to cook 1 - 1 1/4 hours until vegetables are almost tender (I like the carrots and celery to have a little bite left) and flavours have blended. Taste test and serve over couscous. Super simple, tasty and easily adapted to different veg, chicken or different levels of spice. It diffuses a lovely smell through the house, and on a cold afternoon warms you from the inside.

As mentioned in Day 38 of The Challenge This can be vegetarian, as this was, or with ham and bacon, but either way it's tasty and satisfying, while also being easy and quick to assemble. Ingredients: 2 c peas 1 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 2 carrots chopped. 2 tbsp lemon Salt and pepper to taste 1) Sauté onions in oil in a saucepan. Add potatoes and carrots and sauté for a minute longer, then add the peas and enough water to cover the veg. 2) Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Blitz to desired smoothness. 3) Serve into bowls and drizzle the lemon juice over the top and season as desired. Simple and satisfying especially served with crusty bread and some cheese.

From somewhere came the idea of trying a Salted Caramel Ice Cream recipe, and then on Binging with Babish I saw a trick for making Dulce De Leche. You boil a full tin of condensed milk in a pot of water for between 1 and 3 hours, and then when you open it, it is caramelised. I tried this recipe twice. The first time I used the same basic ice cream recipe as in the Rose Petal Ice Cream, but I accidentally used unsweetened condensed milk. I tried adding sugar and further caramelising it once I took it out of the tin, and it worked, but the flavour was not strong enough to hold its own once I mixed it with the cream and put it all in the churn. The result is nice, but a bit bland, more of a fiore di latte than a caramel ice cream. In my second attempt, I made sure to pick up sweetened condensed milk, and the caramelising trick worked great. On opening the tin we found a thick, rich Dulce de Leche with a beautiful colour (although I must say that I feel rather like Amelia Bedelia boiling a tin). I then tried out Michel Roux's basic ice cream recipe (sort of) based on a frozen Crème Anglaise, but unfortunately got this going when I had a number of other bits going on the stove at the same time, and Little Bit started resisting bed time. The result was that the eggs lumped a bit in the mix. I wondered whether to chuck it and whip cream for my ice cream instead, but instead decided to run with it. I mixed in my caramel and stirred more or less continuously until it all thickened up enough to go in the churn. The result has a wonderful flavour. The eggy custard base adds a beautiful depth and richness to the flavour. The small eggy lumps mar the effect a little, and are more perceptible as the ice cream melts, but initially they are barely noticeable unless you look for them. I will include both recipes - using whipped cream, which I recommend if you don't have a churn, and the custard based one - as the flaws were neither of them in the conception or recipe but rather in the execution. The first produces a lighter flavour with a firmer, harder texture when frozen, the other a softer texture and a richer flavour. Both were tasty (but I can only imagine version 1 with properly caramelised ice cream). For V1 (with or without an ice cream maker): Ingredients: 1 c sweetened condensed milk (ish, I just use the whole tin) 2 c cream 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 c caramel bits 1) Place the unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Place over heat and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and boil for 2 ish hours (less time will result in a lighter caramel, more in a darker caramel. In order for the flavour to hold its own I wouldn't boil for any less than 2 hours). Top up water as necessary. 2) Whip cream. Fold in caramel, salt and caramel bits. 3) EITHER place in Ice cream churn until thick and nearly frozen, then place in container in the freezer OR place directly in a container in the freezer, relying on the lightness of the whipped cream for the ice cream's lightness. For Version 2 (using an ice cream churn): Ingredients: 1 c condensed milk (ish, I just use the whole tin) 6 egg yolks 2 c milk 1 c sugar 1/3 c caramel bits 1/2 tsp salt 1) Place the unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Place over heat and bring to a boil. Cover the saucepan and boil for 2 ish hours (less time will result in a lighter caramel, more in a darker caramel. In order for the flavour to hold its own I wouldn't boil for any less than 2 hours). Top up water as necessary. 2) Place milk and 2/3 of the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks with remaining 1/3 of the sugar until it forms a ribbonny consistency. 3) Pour milk over the egg and sugar mixture, whisking continuously. Pour back into the saucepan, turn the heat to low and stir constantly (this is where I failed) until the custard thickens. Stir in the caramel and salt about mid-way through. 4) Remove from the heat and allow to cool thoroughly. Pour into the ice cream churn and allow to go until nearly frozen. When the mixture is very cool but not yet anywhere near set, add the caramel bits (I added mine a little early and they were less discernibly bits in the final ice cream, and more just concentrated caramel pockets of ice cream. Place in a container and freeze. To my great good fortune, when my sister stayed over last night (invited in the very solemn role of Ketchup Guinea Pig), she warned me that she would have to make brownies to bring to work while staying over. For dessert today therefore, we had Version 2 of the Salted Caramel Ice Cream with fresh brownies. There are certainly worse fates one could have to face. The consensus was that this was well worth making again, and was not ruined by my failure to stir the custard constantly yesterday. It would be nice served with some flakes of sea salt or curls of dark chocolate, something with no add sweetness which would contrast nicely with the caramel's sweetness. I am certainly glad I tried a different method for ice cream making, and that I picked up the right condensed milk this time!