When life Sends you Lemons...

Easy peasy recipe today although it's so easy I'm not sure it counts as a recipe!

I found these gorgeous Grolsch Beer bottles on their way to a bin in a house that doesn't recycle (I know, right?!?!?) and rescued them... It's taken a couple of weeks but i've managed to make something that's perfect for them - Lemon Cordial. The recipes I have say it will keep for a year but with the sixteen year old in my house I'll be lucky if it lasts until next month!

Basically dissolve sugar in freshly squeezed lemon juice (at a ratio of about 1-1.2kg sugar per litre of juice) by warming it gently until the sugar is disolved. I haven't done much experimentation here but the research i did suggested that the mixture shouldn't reach the boil. In reality the sugar disolved by the time the juice was body temperature - which is when I stopped heating it and bottled in sterile bottles. You can water bath preserve if you're pedantic but I really don't think this is necessary. Having left the cordial for a couple of hours I've decided that next time I am going to strain it before bottling - this version has separated with quite a lot of scummy lemon cells on top... Yes, I can be a silly, annoying perfectionist some days!

The sixteen-year-old did a taste test (tot of syrup and fill the glass with cold water) and gave it a massive thumbs up (in teenager that's a grunt and gulp and then pouring another for those of you who haven't got a teenager in your life...)

What to do with Onion Marmalade

I managed to recover from the recipe test session sufficiently to actually have an appetite. What a great feeling!

The 16 year old was nagging for a snack so I thought I'd test out some marmalade on him... I put some cheese and onion on rice cakes. I got a grunt and "it's good" which in the world of the teenager is quite the positive reaction!

Saturday night was burger night (again!) and we all had cheese and onion toppings (or bottoms depending on who was assembling!)

Sumptuous Simple Supper

Living in SA I've been lucky enough to eat crayfish off the braai pretty much each season... I've never tried cooking them any other way but gave it a bash when a friend asked for help in the kitchen department (he'd bought tails for an occasion and wanted to learn how to cook them before trying a big batch)

We served them with seafood mayo from woolies, homemade lemon butter and some coriander pesto.

The reality is all you need to do is pop them in a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes. I can honestly say it was the yummiest fast meal I've had in a very long time!

Onion Marmalade Recipe

Perfectly sticky and sweet onion marmalade

This is a seriously frustrating post since I tested (and retested and retested) and played around with Onion Marmalade recipe ideas a while ago and then promptly lost the notes in a house move. Just thinking about it has made me feel all worked up :(




Unfortunately it was too long ago to remember what worked best so today I've pretty much started from scratch.

The epic fails were recipes I found online all of which turned out to be more like caramelized onion than anything of a preserve... I eventually resorted to going with what I know about making actual jam and marmalade and got the result I was after (after burning a batch of course!) 

Caramelized Onion (FAIL)

Right recipe but burned and overcooked (EPIC FAIL)

Onion Marmalade

• 1kg onions (it makes no difference what kind of onions you use - I've tried yellow, brown and red onions and they were all very similar)
• Lug of Olive oil for frying
• 1 kg Brown Sugar 
• 1/2 cup brown vinegar (again, not essential which type of vinegar you use. Balsamic works pretty amazingly too but you end up with a much sweeter marmalade rather than the slightly tangy version with spirit vinegar)
• 15ml Lemon Juice (this is for pectin rather than flavour)
• 5ml Sea Salt

Thinly slice onions and fry gently (not brown) in olive oil to soften. This is probably the most important step in the process as once you add the other ingredients the onion won't cook any softer. Once the onions are soft, add sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and salt. Allow the the sugar to dissolve slowly over low heat and then bring to a fast boil. Boil until the mixture turns dark and sticky. I've bottled the marmalade as I would any other jam or preserve - seal in hot, sterilized jars and it will keep for ages (I'm not going to commit to a timeline here but will suffice to say I've just finished a jar form a year ago and it was perfect - pity I had to reinvent the recipe too!)

Serving suggestions:

Serve on top of brie cheese on homemade burgers

Amazing on crackers with pretty much any kind of cheese (strong cheeses are my favourite with the sweetness of the marmalade)

Let Them Eat Cake...

I managed to have a birthday come and go without a cake this year and to be honest I feel a little devastated to admit that... I'm not sure this has happened before and I'm pretty certain it shouldn't happen again!

Anyway, to make up for it I made my 'effort' cake yesterday afternoon to go with tea for a special friend :)

Dark Chocolate Tray Cake

500ml Flour

500ml Sugar

pinch of Salt

5ml Bicarbonate of Soda

125g butter (or margarine if you're not a purist)

250ml water

125ml Oil

125ml Cocoa Powder

2 Eggs (I choose big ones from my hens)

125ml buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius and grease a large baking tray.

Sift flour, sugar, salt and bicarb into a bowl. Well, that's what the recipe I got says... In reality there's absolutely nothing wrong with dumping the ingredients in a bowl and using a whisk to mix them up whilst adding a little air.

Put the butter, water, oil and cocoa in a microwaveable jug and heat through (basically so the butter melts and they can be mixed). 

While this cools slightly beat the eggs and buttermilk. Now add wet ingredients to dry and mix without killing them! (that's 'Lauren' for "fold in gently")

Pour into the prepared tray and bake for 25minutes. This time is a guideline only - which means you should start testing after 25 min... yesterday's cake took closer to 35minutes before my skewer came out clean. Don't panic, just give it another few minutes at a time!

Cool and ice in the tray.

Mind-blowing chocolate Icing

75g butter

30ml cocoa powder

45ml buttermilk

5ml vanilla essence

375ml icing sugar

Melt butter and then add all the other ingredients and mix until there re no lumps. The original recipe had elaborate instructions but I'm of the view that things should be kept simple unless it's absolutely necessary to make them complicated and in this case it definitely doesn't need to be complicated!

Pour over the partially (or completely) cooled cake.

It's been a while....

Matilda

So much has happened since my last post and it gets to a point where I feel so overwhelmed about posting I procrastinate indefinitely :( 

Anyway I'll  just pretend that my last post was yesterday and be normal!

I added a new member to the farmyard a week ago - she's wiggled her way into our lives and hearts in record time (think girls and puppies and you'll get the idea!) The only relationship that isn't going to work out is that between Matilda (or Piggity as my mom insist on calling her so as to avoid naming her and dealing with the consequences surrounding the naming of a 'farm' animal.......)






The other thing I've done is ban boring salads. Now by boring salads I mean a typical greek salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, etc.). The consequences of this decision have been entertaining :) We've gone from a teenage lad who had to be persuaded to eat fresh greens to one who, if left unsupervised to dish up, cleans the salad platter before anyone else can get a look in...

Roasted Tomato and Feta Salad

Today's salad to go with a mid winter braai for mom's birthday - as usual there are many people at this table!


I've got a very simple yet impressively tasty recipe:


Cos and Iceberg Lettuce (I find the mix is way nicer than a single leaf choice)
Rosa Tomatoes
Feta
Pine Nuts (Toasted in a nonstick pan - but don't let them burn or they'll turn bitter)

Cut the lettuce in manageable chunks and spread on a salad platter (not a bowl as this salad doesn't want to be tossed!) Toast the pine nuts in a pan (if the oven is on for something else you can roast them instead). Set aside in a bowl. Put a little olive oil in the pan and toss in the tomatoes - roast them until they're soft but not squishy (experiment with what you like here). Add the feta and stir in to melt a bit. Pour this gooey yumminess over the leaves, sprinkle with pine nuts and dress vinaigrette just before serving. 

Vinaigrette Recipe

50ml vinegar (you can use pretty much any vinegar but the better the vinegar, the better your dressing!)
150ml Olive oil 
1tsp sugar
Fresh parsley (or any herb of your prefeerence)
White pepper
Salt

Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar and allow to stand for an hour for the flavours to develop. Super simple. Super yummy!

Gourmet Burger Night!

I'm no big fan of the burger. There, I said it... And now I have to take it back and say I'm the world's biggest little fan of the right burgers! I'll include the recipe just because I'd love everyone to see just how easy it is to make burgers from scratch and you'll be in love too...












Burger Patty Recipe

• 500g lean mince (Sirloin steak put through a mincer is your very best option but if you haven't got one of these woolworth's lean mince is delish)
• Handful parsley, finely chopped
• An onion finely chopped and cooked over a low heat until soft and sweet
• Egg
• Bread crumbs
• Salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients excluding bread crumbs in a large bowl. Add bread crumbs until you have a firm consistency. Weigh off your burgers (small = good in this case!) the size you'd like them and shape into patties. I have a mould that's the right size but I find making a ball and squashing it with my hands is way more fun. Place on a greased tray and put into the fridge for at least an hour to set.


Cook in a marinade of your choice. To serve, lightly toast your buns in an oiled pan, then use a layer of salad leaves under the patty. We love the combination of brie and my homemade onion marmalade with rocket leaves. Give it a try - there's no limit to the toppings you can add!