Chilli Tamarillo Jam

STICKY SWEET CHILLI and TAMARILLO JAM
My garden is full of little bell peppers (like Pepperdews), Chillis and my Tamarillo tree is drooping Tamarillos.  So what better way than to utilize them all in a sweet chilli jam.  You can substitute the Tamarillos for tomatoes if you like.  It is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients
1 Cup (250ml) Tamarillos, skinned and chopped.
1 Cup (25ml) peppers, chopped. ( I used a mix of sweet caspium peppers and chilli peppers)
1 Tbls (15ml) Garlic, crushed.
2 Cups (500ml) Sugar.
1/2 Cup (125ml) White grape vinegar
1 Tbls (15ml) Dark Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbls (30ml) Freshly squeezed lemon Juice
1/2 tsp (5ml) Salt

Method
- Put all the ingredients in a medium sized saucepan
- Keep on a low heat stirring occasionally until all the sugar has turned to liquid.
- Turn up slightly and simmer for about 45 minutes until the jam turns syrupy.
- Test a bit on a spoon, the cooled liquid on the spoon must be thickish and syrupy  but it will thicken even more on cooling.
- Sterilize a jar in boiling water, and pour the warm jam into the jars.

Tips:
- Makes about 2 cups of jam
- will keep for about a month or so in the fridge
- Can substitute tomatoes for the Tamarillos


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Setting for Four
Stone Gable
Real Coake
Fresh Eggs Daily
Anyonita Nibbles
Best Blog recipes

Potato Chips

CRUNCHY POTATO CHIPS

Every now and then I just love fried potato chips (or french fries).  I'm not really fond of 'shlap' chips that they serve in fast food places - seriously - those are just so not cooked enough.  In my opinion they need to be a lovely golden brown and a bit crispy.  This is my recipe that works perfectly every time.  Easy, simple and yummy.  if the peels on the potatoes are nice - leave them on.  

Ingredients:

Potatoes, (work on about 2 potatoes per person)

A generous sprinkling of salt

sunflower oil (enough to just cover the potatoes)

paprika

Method:

- Put the oil in a deep pan to heat up

- Slice the potatoes thinly in sticks.

- Sprinkle the raw potato chips with salt (this is the trick to their crunchiness)

- Check that the oil is hot enough by putting one potato stick in the oil.  It must frizzle and rise to the surface.

- Add all the raw potato chips, carefully one handful at a time.

- Turn the whole lot over a couple of times to brown all over.  Don't turn too often or too soon, else they turn to mush.

- Drain on newspaper

- Sprinkle with more salt, and paprika

Tip:

You can re-use the sunflower oil a few times. I put mine in a large glass jar and store it in the fridge, until the next chip craving comes along

Brinjal Jam

STICKY BRINJAL JAM

This recipe comes from my friend Nadia.  It is super easy, yummy with cheese, and lasts for about 2 weeks or so in the fridge.  The recipe uses palm sugar, but you can substitute this for normal light brown sugar.  Palm sugar can be purchased at a Chinese food store.

Ingredients

2 to 3 Brinjals, sliced into thin rounds (about 250g)

5ml (1tsp) cumin seeds

5ml (1tsp) Mustard seeds (I used yellow mustard seeds)

1 Chilli, halved long-ways and seeds removed

250ml (1 cup) balsamic vinegar

125g palm sugar, grated

Method

- Grind the cumin & mustard seeds with a pestle & mortar

- Place all the ingredients in a saucepan.

- Simmer for about 30 minutes, until vinegar reduces and it is thick and syrupy. 

- Cool, and chill until required.   

This post links to:
Saucy, Dippy Jammy recipes Pinterest
Love Bakes Good Cakes
Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
My Snippets of Inspiration

Chicken Soup

THICK NUTRITIOUS CHICKEN SOUP
This is my hubby's recipe, he makes the most divine chicken soup, it is thick and full of nutritious goodness. One of those real 'feel good meals'.  A lovely winter meal or when you just need a pick me up, coz the immunity has dropped.  He never follows a recipe and just raids the fridge and veggie garden for whatever is in season and available at the time.  But this is more-or less, give or take the standard recipe.  He makes an enormous pot and then we freeze it in Tupperware, for a quick meal in nights to come.

Ingredients:
2kg of chicken pieces
enough water to cover the chicken and some
1 Tablepoon chicken stock powder, or 1 stock cube
1 large onion,  finely chopped
1 potato, peeled and cubed into 1cm blocks
2 stalks celery, including the leaves, chopped finely
1 large red caspium pepper, finely chopped.
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 baby marrow (zucchini), top and tailed and finely chopped
1 red chili, finely chopped
2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 cup soup mix or barley
1 teaspoon turmeric
Large pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon parsley
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon soya sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
- Put the chicken in a large pot with chicken stock.  cover with water and boil until the chicken is tender and starting to fall of the bone.
- Take the chicken out of the water with a slotted spoon and put in a colander reserving the liquid in the pot that it was boiled in.
- allow the chicken to cool enough to work with and take all the chicken off the bones and add back into the soup pot.  Discard the skin and bones
- Add the remainder ingredients to the soup and allow to simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the barley and the potatoes are soft

This post links to:
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Herb Peppers and Lemon salt

HERB, PEPPERS and LEMON SALT
I love doing different salts to sprinkle over a fresh garden salad, or pasta, or whatever you fancy really.  They look fab and fancy on the table.  And are really easy to make.  I am fortunate enough to have the most wonderful herb garden,  (but you could also add dried herbs towards the end).  Use whatever herbs you got available to you.
The herb mix I used was:  Rosemary, Marjoram, Parsley, Vietnamese coriander, Chives, Mint, and Lemon basil.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh herbs 
1/2 cup different peppers (chili, Caspium, pepper-dew)
1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime peel
1 cup Maldon Sea Salt Flakes

Method
- Cut and chop up the herbs and peppers finely.
- Mix everything together and place in a baking tray (don't grease)
- Bake in a low oven at 80 degrees C for 1 hour 20min.  Stirring occasionally

The Finished Product:
It will keep for a long time (up to a year) in a pantry, as salt acts as a natural preservative

This post links to:
Fab Savoury Recipes Pinterest
Flour me with Love
Veggie Gobbler
Love Laugh Rowe
The Best Blog Recipes
Stone Gable
VMG206
Frugal Foodie Mama
Cookin' for the Seven Dwarfs
Twelve O Eight
Love Bakes Good Cakes
Favorite Blogger Recipes Pinterest
Memories by the Mile
This Chick Cooks

Spinach Quiche

SPINACH QUICHE - The best ever!

This is one of the most fabulous spinach quiche recipes ever.  Not the quickest but oh-so-worth-it!  

My brother had a photo of a scrap piece of paper with this recipe scribbled down on it, and he very kindly

whipped it up for us for lunch using fresh spinach out my veggie garden.  

Pastry Ingredients:

250g Flour

Pinch Salt

5ml Castor Sugar        

2.5ml Lemon juice         

125g Butter

1 Egg yolk

20ml Iced water

Method: 

- Sift Flour, salt and sugar into a bowl.

- Add lemon juice.

- Rub butter with fingers into the flour.

- Beat egg yolk with 15ml of the iced water.

- Make a well in the flour and add liquid.  Mix. Then Knead.  Add more water if necessary.

- Wrap in plastic and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.

- Pat into a dish (22cm).  

- Prick with a fork and bake at 220°C for 15 minutes.

Filling Ingredients:

500g Frozen spinach (or 400g fresh)

35g butter

4 eggs

Salt & pepper to taste

250g creamed cottage cheese

250g chunky cottage cheese (or feta)

70g parmesan cheese

125ml cream

Nutmeg

Fresh sage

Method:

- Cook spinach with butter until all the liquid has evaporated.  Season to taste.  Allow to cool.

- Lightly beat eggs and add together with cheeses and cream. 

- Add nutmeg.  Decorate with fresh sage.

- Pour into pastry case and bake at 180°C for 40 minutes or until the crust is brown and filling set.

Sweetcorn Bake

SWEETCORN BAKE

I love this recipe, and I end up making it a lot to go with a braai (barbeque).  Really fabulous and different to the normal braai side dishes

Ingredients:

100 grams Margarine

2 eggs 

100 grams self raising flour

1 cup milk

1 tin Creamed Sweetcorn

5ml  salt

Method:

- Cream Marg and eggs. mix well

- Fold in Self Raising Flour and salt

- Mix milk & creamed corn and add to flour / egg mixture.

- Bake for +- 45 mins at 180'C

This post Links to:
Fab Savoury Recipes Pinterest
Live Laugh Rowe
The Best Blog Recipes
Fresh Eggs Daily
Favorite Blogger Recipes Pinterest
Memories by the Mile
Adventures of a DIY mom
A Peek into my Paradise

Prawn mousse

PRAWN MOUSSE

Notes:

This is one of those recipes that was handed down to me.  It is absolutely fabulous, and always receives amazing comments no matter how times my guests have tried it.  

Ingredients:

250g Cream Cheese

3 x 200g tins of Prawns – do not drain

1 x 295g tin Tomato soup

½ cup Onion – chopped

½ cup Celery – chopped

1 cup Mayonnaise

15ml (one packet) gelatine

Method:

- Boil the soup.  Add the cheese and allow to melt off the stove completely.  Cheese must be completely melted.

- Add gelatine to ¼ cup warm water.  Stir until dissolved.

- Add gelatine to soup mixture, return to stove and bring back to the boil.

- Remove pot from stove and allow to cool.

- Add remaining ingredients.  Pour mixture into moulds and refrigerate until set.

Choc coconut yoghurt cake

CHOCOLATE COCONUT YOGHURT CAKE

Ingredients

185g Butter

300ml (240g) sugar

4 eggs

5ml vanilla essence

560ml (270g) self-raising flour

180ml Plain yoghurt

100g dark chocolate

60ml milk

For theTopping:

90g Butter

180ml (100g) sugar

60ml milk

200ml (70g) desiccated coconut

Method:

Cream butter & sugar well, add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Add the vanilla, sifted flour and yoghurt, and a little milk if necessary.

Spoon cake mixture into a greased, lined 20cm spring-form pan.

Melt chocolate and 45ml milk together and pour over cake batter.

Bake cake at 180ºC for about 50 minutes or until done.

To make the topping:

Combine the butter, sugar and milk, bring to the boil for 2 minutes, then remove from

the heat and add all the coconut and vanilla essence.

When cake is done, spoon over the topping and place the cake under the grill for a few minutes until golden.

Fabulous Scones

FABULOUS scones

Notes:

This scone recipe just works, I've tried many (as i do just love scones!), but never had any great success until i came across this beauty.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 cups Cake Flour
125g Marg / butter
1½ cups maas or buttermilk
6 tsp Baking Powder
pinch of salt
2 small eggs

Method:
Mix all dry ingredients using your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs.
Gently beat the egg into the buttermilk.
Mix gently into the flour mixture, ensuring not to over kneed
Flatten out onto a floured surface using a cookie cut out the scones,
Place onto a sprayed baking tray and cook for about 25 min at 180ºC

Served with whipped cream, cheese and jam…… you will have to try them to believe it!

Super Fast Cake

SUPER FAST CAKE

Notes:

I just love this recipe, I make it a lot, great when you have visitors that just pop in out the blue.  I usually just sprinkle it with some coconut or spread jam over the top, when there is not even time to make icing.  

Mix together:

1 cup Cake Flour

1 cup Castor Sugar (or normal)

20ml Baking powder

5ml Salt

In a separate bowl mix:

1 cup warm water (not hot)
40ml Cocoa (can leave out for  vanilla cake or add lemon juice or coconut to dry ingredients)

2 eggs

¼ cup oil (62.5ml)

5ml Vanilla essence

Method:

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. 

Put mixture into a greased 4cm by 20cm round glass or microwave proof dish

Microwave on high for approx 8 to 10 minutes