In my kitchen…
…is a special cut-resistant glove, knitted from hollow yarn with a wire core. Every month, when the moon is at a particular point in the sky, I turn into a kitchen disaster. I cut myself, burn myself, and grate the tops of my fingers off. So I went into Chefs’ Warehouse and told them I needed a glove to wear, just for one week out of every four, which would stop me injuring myself. After the laughing had subsided, this is what they sold me…
In my kitchen…
…are treasured gifts from our friend Moo. Incredibly generous soul that he is, he arrived with a goodie bag the last time he was over from Adelaide. The items below are just a small sampling of his largesse…
In my kitchen…
…is Big Boy’s lunch – a large potato cake topped with smoked salmon and Italian mayonnaise. Potatoes and salmon are one of our favourite food combinations!
In my kitchen…
…are six bottles of Pete’s wonderful vanilla syrup, made using an aged bottle of homemade vanilla extract (March 08) that I uncovered in the bottom of the linen closet. The syrup is dotted with black seeds which you can’t quite discern from the photos (most have sunk to the bottom).
In my kitchen…
…are more pomegranates! I won these three from Not Quite Nigella. We juiced one of them, resulting in nearly a full cup of ruby coloured sweet juice.
So tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
It’s summer here, so we are just waiting for the tomatoes to ripen. Artichoke season is over, sadly, but squash and zucchini is in abundance. Saturday, I made a fresh herb lemon butter to brush over grilled zucchini. I have some filo dough and I want to make a goat cheese, squash tart.
We made lasagna Sunday night. We tried it using wonton wrappers instead of pasta. I can’t say that it was a success. The wrappers had a pasty taste to them that wasn’t quite right. I have an extra package of wrappers so I might try shumai or potstickers.
The wonderhub is going to make mozzarella this weekend. Nomnomnom!
How did you juice the pomegranate?
Happy cooking!
Marilyn.
Marilyn, homemade mozzarella! He really is a wonderhub! Juiced the pom by cutting it in half and squeezing it onto a citrus juicer. Not ideal, and it worked much better the second time when I pulled out all the seeds, blitzed them in the blender, then strained the juice out. It’s amazing how much juice came out of each pomegranate!
I need a pair of those gloves myself. The one-week-out-of-four, moon-at-a-high-point accident magnet personality? SO me.
I have a new bottle of orange-champagne vinegar, a jar of red currant jam, and a loaf of serrano pepper-red onion bread in my kitchen.
Lunch: spring mix salad with chopped onions & tomatoes, goat cheese, sliced almonds, olive oil & vinegar. A glass of iced sparkling water with an orange squeezed into it.
This month I will be mostly making truffles. There are two birthdays coming up as well and not to mention the very exciting news of a possible farmers market stall. So if I get thru this month in the kitchen I will be doing rather well :-)
PS Nice Cuizel stash; be sure to take notes as I can get my hands on bars easy peasy … even out in the countryside.
That chocolate looks mighty fine! I love looking at different chocolate wrappers. I always thought a collection of wrappers from travels around the world would look good, but never got organised to do it.
Sourdough madness happening in my kitchen this month- still trying to find the perfect loaf, and keep palming it off to unsuspecting friends :-)
A little chocolate making action…again, and lots of biscuits for the boys as they consume their weight in them regularly.
Sandy, the glove is washable too! I only bought one – the right hand is usually wielding the weapon, although I do wear the glove on the RH when I’m grating. Orange-champagne vinegar sounds amazing!
Gill, look forward to seeing all your truffles, O Queen of Temper. :) The Cluizel chocolate was most fine – to my tastes, one of the nicest we’ve tried. I particularly liked the Venezuela, but Pete liked the Papuan plantation. Prohibitively expensive over here, so if you can get it at a decent price, definitely worth a try!
Brydie, you go girl with all that sourdough! It’s a very exciting time when you first start playing with starters – it’s like having a new pet! :)
Ha I need those gloves as well! :D the potato cake looks delicious!
Vanilla syrup, now there’s an idea. What do you use yours for? Rather envious of the fig and walnut confection as well as the chocolate of course. Elderflower cordial is what we should be making this month – if we get around to finding and picking some elderflowers.
Studying those photographs…. Can I ask what are the tops on the bottles of vanilla syrup, they look like proper seals? And the potato cake, have I missed a recipe post somewhere, that looks very, very desirable to me……?
My kitchen is having a rest after its recent work out…though I think there is still a 6 kg box of tomatoes waiting. Chutney? Tomato relish? We’ll see in the morning.
The potato pancake looks yummy…let us know if you will share the recipe!
In an attempt to do a spring detox my kitchen is filled with lots of veggies!
Right now my kitchen counters are stacked high with my cookbooks. I took my bookshelf out of the kitchen because my daughter kept getting into it while I was cooking. It was getting kind of dangerous (and lots of papers were getting shuffled and wrinkled), so change was necessary.
Unfortunately, I haven’t made a new place for my books yet. I have so so so many books. I had to cook my Global Table dinner in what felt like a moving mess. Not easy to function, but at least Ava has a nice corner to play in – I give her bowls, measuring cups and spoons. She loves it and hasn’t complained about the missing bookshelf (she’s 11 months).
That potato cake with smoked salmon looks like something my Sam would absolutely love!
The mental picture I had of your glove does not match the real picture – the one in my head was a metal mesh, much like an old fashioned knight might wear to battle…..
In my kitchen is one small piece of apple buttermilk slice – all that is left after my kids demolished the big slab I made yesterday…sick kids at home needs lots of apple slice…and hot chicken soup… Right at this minute my kichen is filled with sounds of a carpet cleaner and a security alarm guy testing the alarm…..joy…lucky I have a nice patch of sun to sit in and blogs to read (instead of doing work).
yes please, do tell about the potato cake! looks like something i will make every week.
a new chef’s knife, still untested. another bunch of eggplants to be charred. smoked fleur de sel. roasted piquillo peppers. coconut icecream (mark&bruce’s recipe, divine). new springform pans. ad-hoc at home. enrollment forms and to-do lists on every flat surface. plans for strawberry picking at an organic farm, and then jam. and absolutely no time to blog about any of it.
Maria, thank you! Maybe Chefs’ Warehouse will have a new line – cut-resistant gloves for hormonal women..hahaha
Choclette, the fig and walnut paste is divine! Pete’s vanilla syrup is our most requested homemade treat – we have friends who are hooked on it for vanilla milkshakes. Big Boy puts it into his hot drinks occasionally, and we also serve it over icecream, add it to the poaching liquid for fruit, over porridge and Pete uses it in some of his jams as well.
Jo, Cindy & Dana, the parsley potato cake recipe is from Dan Lepard’s book The Handmade Loaf. It was very tricky to flip over, but quite delicious to eat! :)
Sasha, how lovely for you to have an 11 month helper in the kitchen! Hopefully you’ll find a spot for all those books soon!
SG, I looked at the chainmail glove, but it was overkill – $150 per glove! The one I bought was about $35 from memory. Apple buttermilk cake sounds delish!
Dana, that all sounds amazing, I hope you find time to blog about at least some of it! :)
I’m so glad the the Poms arrived safely! And what a very generous friend! I love the Michel Cluizel single plantation chocolate. It’s such an interesting idea being able to choose which plantation your chocolate comes from! I’m interested to know which one you like the best Celia :)
Hi Celia – I have an enormous bowl of seville oranges from Christina and about six jars of marmalade, though I don’t think I can make any more after an exploding marmalade incident almost destroyed my stove. Was a bit distracted by a toy dispute and forgot about the marmalade. I’m now thinking about making some orange cordial…
I’ve made those potato cakes and they didn’t look as nice as yours.. :( I will have to try harder!
Lorraine, thanks again for running the contest! And yes, we have a ridiculously generous friend – that was only a small portion of what Moo brought! The Cluizel was wonderful – I really liked the Venezuela, but I’ve noticed that I like the Venezuela origin choc of most brands (even in blind tastings!). Pete liked the Papuan – it was smoky and a little cedary. The Saint Dominican was interesting – you could almost taste green olive in it!
Alex, I’ve never made marmalade before, but I do know Christina makes a wonderful one! I’ve never seen Seville oranges for sale in Oz, figures they’d be growing in her yard! :)
Jo, I just took a pic of the nice bit. It was hard to flip – actually, hard to slide off the oiled plate back into the pan. But tasted very nice!
I love your “in my kitchen” features- they make me aspire to be more focused in MY kitchen!
And- that potato cake w/salmon really is quite beautiful- it made me salivate.
The glove is something I NEED- between the burns and cuts- my kitchen almost qualifies as a war zone! I’m going to look for something like that on-line- thanks for the idea.
In my kitchen, I have an entire array of Russian chocolates- I’m thinking the Russians are not real chocolate afficionados- these bars are all rather insipid and uninspiring- but who knew?
I have fresh local strawberries, raspberries, and sweet dark cherries. The last of the asparagus of the season, beautiful spinach and lettuce and am watching the tomatoes in expectation of fried green tomatoes.
I have a new Thai cookbook from The Blue Elephant and am anticipating some very yummy meals in the near future.
Also- and I am just a recent coffee convert- but I have a five pound bag of Kona coffee waiting my daily grind.
Heidi, I’ve never seen Russian chocolates! What a shame they’re ordinary! And I gave up caffeine years ago, but the smell of ground coffee can still make my mouth water…
I also think that potato cake recipe could be shared..looks delicious…have a look at what’s in my kitchen…:) Yvette xx
Edit: link to Yvette’s post is here. Celia
Wow, Yvette, your kitchen looks wonderful! :)
What’s happening in my kitchen is unpacking! All my beloved equipment that I haven’t seen for 6 months, safely arrived from Australia. Including my very-much-missed welders’ gloves, which I bought on your recommendation and are the only things that keep me from burning myself about once a week! It’s like Christmas in June around here.
Nancy, I’m so glad you’re finally getting settled! Look forward to reading about it all.. :)