In my kitchen…
…sits a dish of beetroot dip, made by roasting whole beets, and then pureeing the peeled vegetable with a little garlic, olive oil, salt and a pinch each of ground coriander, cumin and sweet smoked paprika. Very moreish!
In my kitchen…
…are several bespoke chocolate bars. One of nicest things about learning to temper chocolate is that it has allowed us to create custom blends that we just can’t buy in stores.
Pete’s favourite is a 50:50 blend of Callebaut 811 54% and Sao Thome origin 70%. I’m blissfully happy to be able to make it for him…
Small Man, on the other hand, is a lover of milk chocolate – these Belcolade Venezuela 43% bars (with just a little Callebaut Milk 823 added) were made for him, using fantastic “golden ticket” moulds from Candyland Crafts…
In my kitchen…
…is a whole filleted Atlantic salmon. The fillets will be divided into dinner portions for the freezer, the bones will be used in a fish stock and the head will eventually become a Malaysian fish head curry. Don’t laugh – the only thing I had to pin-bone the fillets with were my eyebrow tweezers!
In my kitchen…
…is a bowl of corn chowder, perfect fare for our cold Sydney weather. Although I do confess to making it just so I could give the leftover corn cobs to the chickens!
In my kitchen…
…are three spelt sourdough baguettes, inspired by my dear friend Joanna’s blog post. The boys enjoyed a school holiday lunch of baguette hot dogs, with Dijon mustard and homemade tomato relish…
Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Your dear friend would like the formula for those fantastic baguettes, were they sourdough or yeast?
… and she is going to go and root up the beetroot in the garden and make that dip. It sounds delicious.
Have been to two supermarkets in quest of bleached flour… they don’t write it on the packets, so what would be a good test to see if what I have is the ‘white stuff’ do you think?
Thanks for mentioning me! xx
Dear friend Joanna, the baguettes were sourdough – 50/50 mix of spelt and bakers flour. Hydration 75% including some EVOO, and a looooong rise overnight in my cold kitchen. I followed Mr Hitz shaping instructions from the video on your post (including the preshaping), and got the best looking baguettes to date. I’m sure there would have been more definition if I’d used yeast and a lower hydration, but I’m quite partial to the flavour of spelt with sourdough…
Bleached flour is getting harder and harder to buy – over here you can really only get it in specialty stores and (I suspect) in Chinese grocery stores where it’s labelled things like Hong Kong flour or bun flour. Good luck with your quest!
And I want – (so greedy) – the recipe for that corn chowder, looks perfect and the customized choccie bars leave me speechless with desire…
Hardly greedy! The corn chowder recipe is easy – take all the ingredients on the chopping board (that’s a bit of prosciutto on the left, and when I make it next, I’ll probably use less as it was a bit salty) and fry them up in a pot in a little oil, then add the corn, some peeled, diced potato and some diluted chicken stock and cook until the potatoes are soft. Of course, you could add any veg you wanted – I was winging it a bit. My usual rule of thumb is it must have bacon (or a substitute), corn, onions (or leeks) and potatoes and wherever possible tomatoes. Then anything else in the crisper drawer can go in as well..
Wow Celia. Those custom blends are amazing. I’ve never tempered two different chocolates. Do you treat it the same way?
Gill, thank you – praise from the tempering queen!
I just put half 811 and half Sao Thome by weight in a bowl and melt them together, then temper using the seed method with a cold lump of 811. I’ve also been making a straight Tanzanie origin (Cacao Barry) bar for me, but everyone seems to prefer “Pete’s blend”. I reckon you could have a field day playing around with blending flavours. And the best thing of all is that they’d be completely original – no-one else would make that blend but you! :)
What beautiful salmon!
In my kitchen – shiso and sugar plums fresh from the farmer’s market. Juicy tomatoes, stunning red onions. My favorite ever bean, the romano.
Hardly any other food though! We need a trip to the store.
Carrie, isn’t it lovely? It was so fresh at the markets that I couldn’t resist, and also the first time I’ve ever bought a whole one. I don’t think I’ll ever buy fillets again – it was just so mush fresher whole! Plum season – other friends in the US have been telling me about their wonderful harvests – fabulous time of year for you all!
i wish i were in your kitchen. those chocolate bars look entirely made by a pro chocolatier. and the baguettes look wonderful! everything looks wonderful.
i’m marinating a rabbit. can’t quite decide which way to go when its 3 days will be up. planning to go pick raspberries. i doubt i’ll eat anything else for a couple days after that, i love them so :D. this evening we’re having a beautiful dover sole, my favorite version of it: each filet stuffed with mushroom duxelle then oven-poached in white wine, served over parmesan polenta, with mushroom sauce.
Dana, I so wish the rest of my tribe would eat rabbit – it’s such a gorgeous meat! I hope you get a chance to take some more of your beautiful photos, because everything in your kitchen sounds divine.. :)
If the eyebrows don’t need regular plucking then the tweezers are underemployed! I always use mine as I never get around to buying fisher tweezers if there is such a thing.
Roz, I’m sure there is. My mum told me though that I should have asked for the fish to be cut into cutlets, then there would have just been a bone in the middle and no need to pinbone?
Yes Roz, fish tweezers do exist – I’m living proof. No…not me, I have a pair is what I meant to say!
Your kitchen always looks way more delicious than mine.
The beet dip is calling to me with its depth of color and cumin.
I have baba ganoush and toasted pita wedges awaiting me.
Your chocolate bars are stunning! I want to learn chocolate, but I would eat it ALL myself. So I’m restraining myself.
I have sugar-free chocolate covered almonds in my kitchen.
That salmon is Lovely.
I have tilapia fillets ready to bake with Parmesan cheese and macadamia nuts.
Your corn chowder is so rich and thick.
I made summer vegetable soup with a clear broth base.
Surprisingly, my baguettes look much like yours- we have both been watching videos on Joanna’s blog.
I do have a wonderful harvest of culinary lavender that I am going to remove from the stems for yummy cookies and tea breads and lavender lemonade.
Thanks for sharing your photos- they are savoury indeed!
Heidi, that is SO not true, I love the stuff in your kitchen! (Especially those amazing bread bears!)
The beetroot dip was actually Pete’s idea, and it was so nice that I kept eating it with a spoon! And I know so many people love lavender in food, but I just can’t do it – we grew it for so long that I can only ever think of it as a perfumed flower!
Look forward to seeing your baggies – where would we be without Jo? :)
Roast beetroot dip! I have a whole bunch of beetroot in the kitchen and I was wondering what to do with them. I was thinking a beetroot curry (a Flying Fish recipe), but didn’t have half the ingredients so am still pondering what to do with them.
Your chocolate…sigh… looks perfect. I still haven’t got the whole tempering thing, I haven’t touched in about a month, but seeing your delicious ones makes me think I really do have to conquer that beast.
Ravioli was a hit this week in our kitchen, and still playing with the sourdoughs.
(Mr Chocolate saw the picture of your hotdogs and wanted one!)
Brydie, I hope you do try tempering again, but it is such an expensive exercise when you’re practicing. The problem isn’t really the tempering – not really – it’s more trying to keep the chocolate at the right temperature so you can actually do something with it. My digital thermometer is invaluable, and really accurate, and I know without fail that if the chocolate gets half a degree too hot or too cold that it just won’t set glossy.
Ravioli – pasta making is the one thing we can’t seem to get right! I always end up with rock hard pasta, and nothing near as good as we can buy. I must try again though.. :)
Look forward to seeing more of your sourdoughs!
I was just about to make a minestrone when I saw your corn chowder…am now rushing out to buy corn to copycat and give the cobs to my new girls, who by the way seem to be on strike, I’ve only had 2 eggs in 9 days…should I be panicking??
Hi W! :)
Did you get your ladies from Enfield Produce? If so, they might do the same thing ours did – which is lay a couple of eggs straight away, and then stop altogether for a few weeks while they readjust to their new surroundings. The other thing that our mate Ian the chicken whisperer told us is that ISA browns are what he calls a “Rolls Royce” chicken, and they’ve been bred specifically for laying. If they don’t get at least 15% protein in their diet, then they just won’t lay, no matter how happy they are. Some older breeds will forage around and look for food and lay say an egg a week or something, but the ISAs won’t do it unless they get a lot of protein, it’s all or nothing. In the end we went out and bought layer mash from Enfield and put it in a feeder. We now have two feeders, one with layer mash and one with grain mix, and they can eat as little or as much of it as they like, whilst still scratching around for worms and eating all the green stuff we give them. They’re now consistently laying 2 – 3 eggs a day between the six of them.
It has been an age, girlfriend, we need to get together for lunch! :)
Celia x
In my kitchen there are Lego models on every flat surface. My little monkey is busy building his creations. He really wants to go to Legoland USA by winning the Lego building contest. We have to rank the creations and let him know what the “cool” parts are.
I hope the weekend might see some food come back in.
Yes we must, lunch that is.
And yes again to Enfield, seems our chooks are mirroring yours, I’ll rush off to get the mash.
Thanksx
Wow Celia your kitchen is so expansive in every sense of the word (I just read up on all the info you’ve blogged on your freezer and how much incredible stuff you make and keep on hand)! Also such synchronicity – just last night I was thinking that I wanted a good recipe for corn chowder, and now, between the photo and your comment above, I’ve got one. Thanks.
I simply must have one of those chocolate molds! Thankyou for the very helpful link :) And yes been there with pinboning salmon with my precious tweezers :(
Moo, that little man of yours is a national treasure.. :)
Wendy, let’s do lunch soon. And just so you know, our chickens started laying again after about a week on the layer mash…
Sarah, it’s easier to do lots of stuff in the kitchen now that we don’t have toddlers anymore! I’m impressed you and all the other new mums get any time at all! Re the corn chowder, you could also add cream at the end, but I never bother…
Lorraine, isn’t it annoying that the only thing that grips well enough has to also be used on our faces? :)
Waw,..everything looks so tasty,…especially the milk chocolate,…and those spelt baguettes,…truly awesome too!
That roasted beetroot dip looks quite tasty & delightful as well!
Celia, I do so love what goes on in your kitchen (fishy things aside). The beetroot dip is a must (assuming my beets ever grow) and your chocolate looks as fab as ever. Being able to custom your own chocolate blends must be great – I’m with Small Man, I like milk chocolate, but I don’t like it too sweet and I do like a high cocoa content.
Not a lot going on in my kitchen – I’m waiting for my first harvests of potatoes, carrots, beetroot and broad beans.
I love the flavours in the beetroot dip most of all. I’m going to start baking breads in the coming week – trying my hand at sourdough so….expect some emails! LOL
Oh, my, that chocolate looks SO good! I’m sure the golden ticket mould would go down very well here, too!
And coinincidentally, we had corn chowder this week too! I have to say, you do eat very well, my dear!
What’s been happening in my kitchen? Well,let’s see, it was going to be some of your lovely microwaved lime curd (was absolutely SURE I had a bag of limes in the fridge…but they were gone..must’ve used them up without knowing it, very frustrating!), so, decided to do a whole post on what else has been happening instead. :o)
Sophie, thank you – hope you’re having a good holiday! :)
Choclette, we’ve just planted beetroot and broadbeans, fingers crossed we’ll get something edible in a couple of months. I know it’s not chocolate related, but hope we get to see some broadbean recipes on your blog – they’re new to me, so I don’t know what to do with them. Apparently when they’re young you can eat the whole pod?
Oz, how exciting about the sourdough! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Christine, enjoyed your post, thanks for joining in! I’m making microwave lime curd because that’s what I have at the moment, but I usually make lemon curd – both work on the same recipe! I found gorgeous organic limes at the markets this week for 20c each! Oh, and we have planted out our first bed on Linda’s rotation – very excited!
Everything looks wonderful! I LOVE the golden ticket chocolate!! :)
Tina, thanks for stopping by! What a serene and peaceful blog you have… :)
Everything looks so delicious! In my kitchen tonight is Artichoke & Asiago dip, a mix of black thai, brown, & basmati rice, butter chicken with prawns, and fresh leeks. All courtesy of my favourite chef – my husband. :) Just waiting for the main dish to finish cooking. Yum!
Cat, that all sounds very flash! Your husband must be a great chef! :)
You should be so proud of your kitchen Celia.
Mine’s shameful at the moment.
Shhhhhh, don’t tell the chooks. But we had slow-oven-poached chicken with greens. Simple and light.
So this morning I’ve got glossy oily stock on the hob, pulled chicken pieces, and my work surfaces are piled with empty jars and tins needing filling.
The muesli’s nearly finished. No cake in the cake tin.
Biscuits are begging to be baked for my husband’s afternoon cup of tea.
& the leaven is as flat as a pancake, feeling hungry and neglected.
I’ve just unpicked my “proud to be a foodie” stripes from my sleeves.
Not for long,eh.
I’ve just got the pasta machine out of it’s box for something glamorous & simple tonight.
You’re an inspiration!
Gill, you always make me laugh! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with on that pasta machine – mine’s been in storage so long that it’s covered in cobwebs. I won’t tell the chooks – we had chicken tonight as well. Do you always make your own muesli? Pete buys mixed fruit and nut from a stall at the markets and adds organic rolled oats – he never toasts his. Which is probably just as well, because if it was toasted, I’d probably snack on it all day long! :)
I make & bake muesli about every 3 weeks, Celia. Toasty, oaty, fruity and nutty in our house.
With seeds if I’ve got a packet opened.
I have mine with my plain strained live yoghurt, Tony with soya milk.
I could snack on it too but have to stop myself.
& my pasta machine hasn’t seen light since December some time. Nothing fancy, just the crank one that gets viced to my kitchen worksurface, requiring the lower cupboard door to be left opened.
It just does lasagnes and fat or fine spaghettis.
I’d like one that could couple a penne attachment, but cannot justify the purchase.
Between you and Brydie and a few others who’ve been blogging about making pasta, I’m quite inspired to try again. I never have much luck with pasta making – I always end up with a hard lump of dough that doesn’t want to be worked smooth. We have the whole kit and kaboodle too – no penne attachment, but I think there’s a ravioli device somewhere…
Hi Celia,In my kitchen, actually it’s looking more like a “Work in Progress” organized mess!!!I’ve just come back from the fresh growers market where I know i’ve exceeded the weekly budget on fresh fruit…there was so much to choose from apricots,nectarines,plums and purchased a huge watermelon….48cents (Euro) not quite double for the dollar…but still a great buy…too many zucchini and tomatoes from the garden…with green tomatoes ready to make the chutney pot..fresh lemons also…waiting to be made: Lemoncello….I know I’ll get there but todays heat is just too much….
Have a great weekend,Yvettex
The colour of that beetroot dip is absolutely beautiful! In my kitchen there is a lot of Japanese going on at the moment!
The salmon looks so fresh, it’s so nice that you had fresh salmon like that. It’s so hard for me to find fresh salmon… most of them in my kitchen are frozen :(
Maria, the beetroot dip has lasted very well – we’ve been eating it for several days now! Look forward to seeing your Japanese cooking adventures.. :)
Tes, we’re very lucky to get such great access to seafood here. But we’ve found that even the pieces we’ve frozen have been fine, providing we take them out in the morning and let them defrost really slowly, then they are fall apart tender when panfried!
Celia, that’s really exciting to try broad beans for the first time. You may not like them of course, they are not everyone’s favourite. Yes, you can indeed eat the whole young pods – simmer in a little water, steam or stir fry. The shelled beans are great when they are young again simmered in a little water. When older they can get bitter and the skins get tougher. My mum loves them anyway, but lots of people slip the skins off after cooking and they are really nice like that. I often cook them and then add to salads. They also make a really nice dip.
Thanks for that, Choclette! Our broadbeans are all growing well – hopefully we can harvest in a couple of months time!
[…] got three more planned: Carrot, sweet potato, orange & ginger; Corn Chowder (thanks Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial); and Pea, bacon & […]
[…] first, Corn Chowder, is from Celia’s blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. The colours were really vibrant and on the day I made this the flavour was totally awesome. After […]
Happy Friday evening from Kentucky… well, I have my first sourdough on its 2nd rise. Will have to take photos. A few questions: what digital thermometer do you recommend, what electronic scale do you recommend (all these recipes in gram, etc., are killing my US brain, so wish we would go metric!)? And when making cordials, after you have made them what is the ratio of cordial to water, seltzer, etc and do you refrig after making or after using for the first time? Have a great weekend! Sara
Hi Sara,
I don’t have a digital thermometer brand to recommend, as I have no clue which one I’m using. We’ve had it for so long that the label rubbed off! :) For what it’s worth, it’s waterproof, and is a probe thermometer, which reads in both metric and imperial. At the moment we’re using Tanita scales, but we’ve used Salter ones in the past – both are very good. Most electric scales, or at least the ones sold here, will give you both metric and imperial options.
In terms of the cordials, we’ve only made a couple, but we always keep them in the fridge, even before using. They get used up pretty quick around here – within a few weeks at the most. I haven’t yet found a good way to heat process the cordials to extend their shelf life, so we just tend to make it as we go. We like just a little lime cordial to soda water, but Pete likes his plumbeena quite strong – approximately 1 part cordial to 5 parts water. Of course, it’s all up to personal preference! :)