In my kitchen…
…are some jars of pickled garlic, made with Diana and Ian’s homegrown produce and using a recipe from Pam Corbin’s wonderful Preserves book…
…I’m sipping on a cup of hot mint tea, made with a mix of Chinese green tea and fresh spearmint from our garden. I’m drinking out of the most beautiful tea cup which my friend Donnie bought me from T2…
In my kitchen…
…is a plate of Australian tiger prawns, bought fresh from the Sydney Fish Markets. Big Boy and I are going to have them for lunch today!
In my kitchen…
…are two gorgeous copper bowls. I’ve longed for beautiful copper cookware, but have always been dissuaded by the hefty pricetag. So when I spotted these two bowls at Chefs’ Warehouse for under $20 each, I couldn’t resist! They’re serving bowls, copper on the outside, lined with stainless steel.
In my kitchen…
…is a half-batch of these seriously decadent chocolate brownies (the other half is in the freezer). They’re simple to make, but the large quantity of sugar makes them a nibble-only food…
What’s happening in your kitchen this weekend?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Ransoms in red onion salsa, fried courgettes with mint and lemon and yoghurt dressing for lunch. I could have done with those prawns of yours DOUBLE WOW! – we had a tin of pilchards (don’t laugh). It’s Dr Who later which I have watched since the first episode back in 19… so dinner might be a bit late, but in theory sort of tandoori lamb and maybe a bel poori salad/starter, and rice. Trying to make an effort, it’s been a bit basic this week, all that word processing has taken me over.
…and I am definitely going to try pickling garlic this year!
x J
So what did you think of the new doctor, Jo? Big Boy really liked him..
We made behl poori recently – the Spice Girl gave us a mix!
Celia, what should be happening in my kitchen is preserving the remainder of last year’s garlic crop as it is looking non too happy. BUT you haven’t given the recipe?????
Love the cup and saucer and the brownies look pretty good too.
Choclette, probably too late, Pam Corbin’s recipe is only for new season’s garlic (apparently older garlic can be bitter). I didn’t post it because this is my first attempt and I’m not sure yet how it will turn out, but if you want to try, Pam’s recipe is :
…..
500g new season’s garlic
1 tsp fennel seeds
12 peppercorns
4 – 6 bay leaves
200ml cider vinegar
50g granulated sugar
good pinch saffron strands
Blanch the garlic for 1 minute in boiling water to loosen the skins, then drain and pat dry.
Sterilise three jars, and keep them warm. Peel each clove and pack them into the jars, adding the fennel, peppercorns and bay as you go.
Boil the vinegar, saffron and sugar together for a couple of minutes, then pour the hot liquid over the garlic. Seal with vinegar-proof lids. Use within a year.
…..
I’ve kept mine in the fridge, and they’re only just ready for eating now, I think – still very garlicky, but crisp and vinegary.
Have you ever tried freezing garlic? It works quite well – we break ours into cloves, skin on, and freeze it. It changes texture and becomes translucent and a little soft when defrosted, but it’s perfect for cooking. Lasts a lot longer that way, at least in our house!
Passata – just short of 10 kg has been made today, along with meatloaf (in my claypot), bolognese, for the deep freezer, chicken tomato stew, chocolate chili pots de creme. No pretty teacup like yours but a nice green glass cup with some gold work…..just had water out of it! LOL
Oooh, chocolate chilli pots! Sounds very grown-up and moreish, Oz! We’ve been madly passata-ing as well – 18kg last week – desperately trying to pack the freezer before the end of Roma tomato season.
Celia, buy some gunpowder green tea and use that spearmint up, it is exactly what the Moroccans put in their mint tea. So refreshing and you can drink it cold if you have leftovers. I put the French La Perruche rough cut sugar cubes in mine, the only time I ever sugar my tea.Roz
It was gunpowder green, Roz. I adore Moroccan mint tea, though I don’t drink mine sweetened. I also pour off the first pot, which I think is traditional – maybe it’s the way they wash the mint? I really enjoyed your last post about Morocco – I’m sure you must have drunk a lot of mint tea while there.. :)
What a lovely weekend for you. Your brownies look very decadent, perfect to go with the tea, in a beautiful cup. I love weekends. (I added my weekend to my blog.)
Marbled sourdough rye and hamloaf with pineapple chutney, baked sweet potatoes and homemade applesauce. Then Kona coffee and bee-sting bars for after dinner- it was a nice slow day and the sourdough raised quite happily.
Still spring here, which meant we have green grass and flowers up, but snow showers intermittent with sunny skies.
And a morning fire in the family room fireplace.
What a delicious weekend you’ve had, Heidiannie! We baked sourdough too – four loaves – and I adore how the timetable of the day is determined by the speed at which the dough rises.
Thanks for the recipe Celia and for the freezing tip. I guess I’d better leave the pickling for some of this year’s crop.
I love the look of those brownies!! Yesterday i made a batch of choc chip cookies using Lindt 70% and a recipe from David Lebovitz – seriously good biscuits!!
Amanda, I’ve just made a brownie recipe from DL’s new book, will be posting about it soon!
Nothing as decadent or productive in my kitchen…not by me anyway. Sam was on a scone baking frenzy so he made a couple of batches of them. Tara decided she had to get into the action as well and made us dinner – chicken noodle soup and fruit salad.
Did he have scones with crabapple jelly? :)