In my kitchen…
…are magnificent Turkish ceramics, purchased from Metin at the Orange Grove Markets. I’m a big fan of these intricately detailed pieces, and couldn’t resist these new offerings when I passed his stall last week…
Metin and his wife now have the store in Crows Nest full time, with a wide range of pieces on offer…
In my kitchen…
…is Pete’s favourite drink – Rochester Ginger. This sweet brew is non-alcoholic, but carries a serious ginger hit, so it needs to either be sipped slowly, or diluted with soda or water. Pete likes it neat, but I love it with hot water and honey. The promotional blurb on the bottle describes it as having the “kick of two very angry mules”…
In my kitchen…
…is an Ottolenghi-inspired vegetarian paella, created for dinner with our lovely friend Craig, who came over to give us a yoga lesson…
In my kitchen…
…is the strongest truffle oil I’ve ever tried! Unlike versions made with extra virgin olive oil, this one uses grapeseed oil, a neutral base that doesn’t overpower the truffle aroma…
In my kitchen…
…is a Scanpan bread knife with holder. My homemade ciabatta can be challenging to slice with a dodgy knife, so I thought I’d buy a sharp serrated blade that I could take on my travels…
In my kitchen…
…is a collection of Miellerie Honey from Tasmania. Gorgeous Roz from Taste Travel gifted me a jar of the Lake Pedder honey, and I’ve been hooked ever since…
This creamed honey is unheated, and has a texture which varies from a thick caramel (in the case of Lake Pedder) to firm toffee (Blue Gum). My current favourite is the Prickly Box, but all the varieties are delicious and distinctly different from one another. I bought mine online from Honey Tasmania…
. . . . .
Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?
If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free to use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post. We’d all love to see what’s happening in your kitchen every month too!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I’m with you two about the ginger & honey.
First saw Turkish Ceramics on a Greek Island. Managed to bring some home in one piece.
Good post thanks.
Hi Peter! I’d love to see pics of your Turkish ceramics, I reckon you’d be able to take some awesome photos of them. I struggled with reflections and angles.. :)
The Rochester ginger is very moreish!
The second Turkish ceramic, that bowl, it’s just stunning!
x
Thanks Kavey! I’ve put it in the kitchen to use, and resisted the urge to just stash it away safely in the cupboard. They don’t have a very long life, as they chip really easily, but they’re such a joy on the dining table…
I love the creamed honey, we have that in NZ as well, it is Manuka honey and everywhere.. but I especially LOVE that absolutely darling blue ceramic plate.. so so cool.. c
Thanks C! They’re now claiming to make manuka honey here, although I didn’t think we grew the trees! :)
Like Kavey, I love the Turkish bowl. I’d love to try the different honeys too – Blue Gum sounds very exclusive.
I wish there was something new in my kitchen worth mentioning – the stack of washing up isn’t very inspiring! :)
Suelle, the honeys are really interesting! The blue gum is very solid, like wax almost, but really subtly flavoured…
Fell in love with your bowls…. head over hills….
and I wish I could taste that ginger concoction, the description of flavor is priceless! I am very fond of ginger ale, only one brand in the US has enough “kick” for me, Vernors – but I bet I would love a sip of the one you featured here
wonderful “In My Kitchen” wrap up this month, Celia!
Sally, it really does have a serious kick! When we mix it with soda water, we have to drink it without breathing, because if you inhale..you sneeze! :)
Oh, gosh… I want it sooooo bad! Now I am absolutely sure I would love it!
Sally, I just had a look, you can buy it in the US! Found these guys on google (caveat: I haven’t bought from them before)..
http://www.original-drinks.com/rochester-products/
The knife intrigued me, what a beauty. When I was in culinary school my instructor recommended that we buy a set of very expensive German knives (which I did) OR go to the local Chinese section of town and procure a cleaver that forty years ago cost $1.25 (which I also did, it now costs $3.00) stating that if we learned how to use it we’d need that one knife for 99% of our needs. The long and short of it is that only the cleaver has been used over the last forty years along with a paring knife, it has followed me to my restaurant, catering service and thirteen times to Italy. The German knives? They’re in the drawer unused for the better part. I recently bought several Japanese knives that hold their razor sharp edge and “I can’t live without” as chef friends and I have stated. Their cost?? $1.50 each!!!… I must see if I can find Blue Gum, wow.
Gian, my friend Moo is insistent that the cheap Chinese cleavers are the way to go, and it certainly is culturally congruous, but…they scare the daylights out of me! Too many kung fu movies when I was growing up, I guess, with the bad guys chasing people around with cleavers.. ;-)
Ha! Thanks ever so much for the great laugh!!! I’ll never look at the old cleaver the same ever again!!! I’m to checkout the Scanpan site today to see if they possibly ship to California.
Gian, they should be widely available. The coloured styles come in a variety of different blades. No cleavers though! Now there’s a truly scary thought, brightly coloured cleavers! :)
I absolutely love those ceramics… I wish they were offered somewhere in Canada:( They are stunning! In my kitchen? A new mortar and pestle and I finally got a coffee bean grinder! I’m looking forward to fresher espresso!!
Thanks for stopping by! :) I’ve been on a quest for a particular mortar and pestle – a big wide dish with a large flat grinder, but I’m yet to find one..
Hi Celia, Nigel Slater uses one like this. Here is the link, not sure if you can have it shipped from the UK. Ania
http://www.kitchenaria.com/Pestle-and-Mortars/Kitchen-Essentials/kitchenware_763.html
Ania!! Thank you! That’s exactly the one I’m after and I hadn’t been able to find it anywhere – I saw Nigel Slater using it on his show and have lusted after it ever since. I have to admit though, I don’t think I can bring myself to spend hundreds of dollars on buying and shipping it, but at least I now have a photo and shape to look out for! Thanks again! :)
Beautiful ceramics. Love the bread knife too, hope it’s plastic if you’re taking it on your travels…or you may be a little delayed at the terminals these days.
Bless You with Truffle Oil, Honey and Ginger..
paul
Oh, I get it..ScanPan
Hi Paul, yes, it’s a Scanpan metal one. I actually bought it after I nearly sliced off a couple of fingers trying to cut up one of my crusty ciabattas with a friend’s dodgy knife. Now at the risk of insulting friends but saving my digits, I’ve taken to bringing my own whenever I go over with a loaf of bread. No plans to take it on any planes at the moment.. ;-)
They come in a wonderful array of colours, and mine cost just $8! :)
http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Public/Scanpan-Spectrum-Bread-Knife-Red.aspx
once again celia you titillate our senses with colour and virtual aromas..what a lovely lot of kitchen goodies! :)
Jane, thank you! It’s lovely to be able to share my kitchen with you all!
Celia that honey looks so luscious. I could eat thick honey by the spoonful. In fact I sometime do when I need a little sweet hit after dinner. That’s a very pretty looking paella.
I wrote about my kitchen yesterday http://clairekcreations.com/2011/10/in-my-kitchen-october-2011/
Claire, thanks for playing, it’s always fun to see what’s in your kitchen. I’m excited to watch as more engagement/wedding gifts start rolling in! :) The honey is amaaazing…
That paella! Is it sun-dried tomatoes I see?
Thanks Linda! Actually, they’re oven-dried – when we last had a box of tomatoes, we sliced them in half and roasted them, then we were too lazy to put them through the food mill, so we just froze them as they were. They’ve been great to pull out and add to all sorts of things, and just so much easier than actually making passata!
Celia have you tried fresh ginger sambal? Finely grate up a small bowl of ginger then quickly add some lemon juice and salt. The surprise is that the mixture goes a lovely light pink all on its own. Great with Indian food and many kinds of vegetarian dishes too. My experimental ingredient at the moment is stevia powder. The stevia extract sweetener has an aftertaste I don’t like, but the unprocessed powdered herb used as a sweetener is different. You can put the powder in cooking or in the pot along with the tea. The plant is a kind of crysanthemum.
Frances, I always wondered how they made the Japanese pickled ginger go pink? I’m drinking a tea with a little stevia in it at the moment, and it’s very nice. I actually grew up drinking chrysanthemum tea, it’s supposed to be very good for sore throats! :)
This IMK is a great post and I would love to do one but I can’t because we are in this competition that requires a blog post everyday for 30 days this month.
I tried the Rochester ginger drink as they were handling out samples in a deli at Chatswood Chase and it is pretty awesome, A great recipe using this drink is steamed ginger prawns – just butterfly the prawns lengthwise with head and shells on and sprinkle shards of fresh ginger, salt and drizzle Rochester over the prawns and steam it. Then garnish with some fresh coriander and serve warm. The juices from the prawns and this drink is really awesome and best of all you’ve got prawns to eat too!
I have a fave curry powder and have replied to your enquiry.
Happy cooking!
Thanks for all the advice on curry powders/pastes and for the new use for the Rochester ginger. I never thought about cooking with it before, that’s a great idea! I’ll have to seek out some wonderful prawns – will look out for them next trip to the Fish Markets!
Would love to see what’s in your kitchen if you ever get a chance to do a post.. :)
We’ve missed you Celia! We have to take a break from blogging unfortunately, but we finally got chooks for the backyard, and have been thinking about you throughout the process! Linda’s book came in really handy, thanks again! How are you doing? I’ve put up some pics of the chooks on our blog if you wanna meet them!
If I want to meet them? You are kidding, aren’t you, Honey? When I read your comment, FIRST thing I did was let out a squeal of delight, SECOND thing was to jump straight over to your blog and see your girls! Hooray!! And an egg too, the Soy Eggmonster must have been beside herself! :)
I really like that ginger drink. It’s a punch like green ginger wine without the alcohol…actually I kind like the alcohol as well.
I love that stall at Orange Grove Markets too, so many lovely pieces they have.
What’s happening in my kitchen? Dirty dishes today… which I’m choosing to ignore, and hope they might go away :-)
Brydie, we were at Orange Grove today – aren’t there some amazing things there? Hope Mr Chocolate did the dishes for you.. :) xxx
What a great post for this month, Celia. The bowls are so bright, just right for the warmer months. Like you, I love the honey. At the moment I have the Lake Pedder. I remember reading an article about the honey, produced in a beautiful environment. The hive frames are built from recycled local timber and even the labels are handmade. A magical story!
I also love the label on the truffle oil, makes it look special like many other French products.
Thanks Christine! The Miellerie really is the most beautiful honey I’ve ever tried, I’m forever grateful to Roz for the enlightenment. The prickly box is wonderfully subtle if you ever get a chance to try it!
love, love, love the knife! I have a small knife just the same that we take overseas with us! Lovely honey and truffle oil as well :) My sister is moving to Sydney so I have told her to look at your blog for places to shop etc.
Tandy, I hope your sister enjoys her move – please feel free to give her my email address in case there’s anything I can help her to track down.
The knife is really fun – they have big brightly coloured chefs’ knives too!
I do love the shades of blue in your bowls, Celia. Where do you get the ginger drink? I can see it as the perfect gift for one of my ginger loving friends. My kitchen is very quiet at the moment but I have a lovely bowl of cumquats waiting for me to make into marmalade.
Liz, the Rochester Ginger is stocked pretty widely now in Australia – there are a list of suppliers here:
http://indigogreen.com.au/purchase/
If you can’t find one nearby, drop Rob the Aus distributor an email, and he’ll be able to let you know where you can get it (we ran into him at the Better Homes and Gardens show, and I think they sell at a lot of food shows).
I adore ginger – must look out for the Rochester. It’s certainly lovely to have you back posting Celia!
Thanks Anne, you’re very kind! If you love ginger, I think you’ll really enjoy this drink. They also bring out a dark ginger drink, but it doesn’t have nearly the kick of the green label one…
That vegetarian paella looks delicious! Any chance of getting the recipe?
I’ve just discovered that you can get the Rochester in the UK. Must pick up a bottle – it sounds like it would be perfect to add to hot toddies.
Hi Kate, the paella is an adaptation of an Ottolenghi recipe, adapted to suit what we had on hand. There’s a link to the original recipe here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/apr/12/foodanddrink.recipe
Rochester Ginger comes from the UK ! :)
Ginger drinks are fabulous aren’t they? Have you ever made those ginger steamed puddings? Delicious. I don’t know the Scanpan range but I have seen similar here a brand called Kuhn Rikon and lots of versions of these brightly coloured sheathed knives in the local kitchen shop. I think they are just great. And your pretty new dishes are just delightful too :)
I must try and do one of these posts for you soon xx Joanna
Joanna, that’s really interesting, because I always thought Scanpan was a big international brand. I’ve seen the Kuhn Rikon knives, they’re beautiful, but a lot more expensive than the Scanpan versions. I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation to me, when you take a loaf to a friend’s house, and they’ve got the dodgiest bread knife ever. :)
Would adore seeing what’s in your kitchen, darling.. :) xxx
There is a lot going on in your kitchen this month, dear Celia!
Your turkish dishes look so beautiful & that vegetarian paella looks amazing & so appetizing too!
That ginger drink is a must try, if I can find it! :)
Sophie, how nice to have you back blogging again! Thanks for stopping by! :)
What gorgeous bowls! Those colours just sing don’t they? What gourmet ingredients this month, very cheffy indeed. Also very cheffy to take your own knives with you, I take mine with me when I travel too as there’s nothing worse than dodgy knives- I’m proud of you for being so cheffy pro active!
Becca, you know how it is – you bake a really gorgeous loaf, and then hack it to pieces at a friend’s place with their dodgy knife.. ;-)
I’m glad you approve, O Chef! The truffle oil is really truffly, if you ever come across it!
[…] to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial, where she had her monthly feature look at what’s ‘In my Kitchen’, Turkish ceramics, wild ginger drinks,and vegetarian paella to name a few, take a look and maybe […]
[…] a while since I gave you a peek into my kitchen but I always visit Celia’s over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. About my actual kitchen, as British expats in Dubai, we live in a rented house and I’ve […]
Hi Celia, I have the same truffle oil in my kitchen this month. Promise I didn’t look at your post until I’d written mine…spooky! http://mycustardpie.com/2011/10/15/in-my-kitchen-2/ Need to make an Ottolenghi dish for my kitchen too.
Sally, isn’t that great that we both found it in the same month! I was very excited by it, although I underestimated how potent it was, and it completely overpowered the mash potatoes I sloshed it into. Will use a much more gentle touch next time.. :)
Thanks for playing! :)
Oooh that honey looks divine! Wouldn’t last long around these parts with my sweet teeth!
I love your in-my-kitchen posts :)
Shelley, it’s sooo moreish – I eat a teaspoonful a day, and tell myself it’s good for me.. :)
my justification would be that it’s natural so it has to be good for me so I’m hearing you on that one!! lol
(ps here’s my contribution to IMK this month…. http://alllittenup.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-my-kitchen-october-2011.html)
Great post- I love your kitchen, Celia!
I’m not going to do one of these this month. My kitchen is a mess- and I’m mainly concentrating on working on a Gingerbread house. It looks great when finished, but up to that grand finale- it looks a mess!
Heidi, I’ll bet that gingerbread house looks amazing! Can’t wait to see it! :)
Such a lovely collection of things in your kitchen this month Celia. I particularly love that knife and it’s holder – very practical and those honeys look amazing. The nicest honey I’ve had recently was a Canadian clover honey – the texture was fudgy and delicious, just like yours look. I love a good set honey. Your Rochester Ginger cordial looks amazing too – as a big ginger fan I like the idea of it kicking like two mules!!!
C, the kick of two very angry mules! I’d assumed the ginger was well known in the UK, as it’s imported from there and is the only one of its kind that I know of! Funny how we make assumptions like that.. :)
The clover honey sounds delish! :)
That scanpan knife looks like just the ticket for picnics and such. And so colourful! I did recently took a friend to Peter’s of Kensington and we had a blast. It’s almost like a casino – with no windows or clocks, we spent four hours in there and didn’t even know it! And then they took our basket away and replaced it with an empty one… it was a wonderful, and yet dreadful, moment. Oh, and I’ve put up a In Our Kitchen post, if you’ve ever got time to look…
Hahaha…that ka’ching ka’ching moment when they add it all up is pretty daunting, isn’t it? Thanks for playing, I’ll add your post to my list in the sidebar! :)
I think it’s the moment of shame at the counter when they pull out all the other baskets of goodies you have and inspect each one – you can almost hear them thinking “Oh dear. It’s another one of those kitchengadgetaholics. Poor soul.” Thankfully I’ve moved to VIC and only manage to get there once a year. For the benefit of my bank balance as much as my dignity.
Thanks for putting our post up, it’s very exciting!
Love the pottery and the knife. Bad knives are SO frustrating – we traveled to a vacation house for Thanksgiving one year and after we had cooked our turkey, discovered that there was only one small paring knife in the house. We have some pretty funny pictures of an extremely hacked up turkey. I always take at least one knife with me when I travel now! In my kitchen this month is the last gasp of summer bounty. I’m drying red jalapeno peppers for chili flakes and powder and making fig-sesame jam.
Lynn, I love fig and sesame jam – I bought jars of it (from Lebanon) when I was last at Harkola. It’s the most interesting ingredient to include include in tagines! Bad knives drive me bonkers.. :)
Oh – I’ve not tried the jam in a tagine, but that sound yummy. We usually use it on toast or on top of a wheel of brie cheese baked until gooey. Or on flatbread with prosciutto and arugula. Love finding new avenues!
Lynn, do you have a blog? I’d love to see all the treats you cook up! :)
When I was at an Egyptian restaurant a couple of years ago, they used this fig and sesame jam as a stuffing for chicken, and it was sublime..
Oh Celia – thank you, that is so nice of you to say. I don’t have a blog – I tried it for a while but never quite got the hang of it. I think about trying again but haven’t done it. These days I mostly post my food discoveries on my facebook page which you can find by searching BrianandLynn Beaumont. I am now off to buy some quinces from my produce guy – looking forward to a new batch of jelly & paste.
Your turkish ceramics are gorgeous. Love the colour and the intricate detail especially of the bowl. I’m a nutter for little bowls, plates and all manner of ceramics and fine china.
I’ve been meaning to begin an ‘in my kitchen’ segment for ages. Finally, I have. It was fun. I hope I haven’t broken ‘any rules’ and I hope my girl traveller’s can check in and enjoy the segment. Thanks for a lovely concept.
Mariana, thanks for playing! I’ve added your post to the list in the sidebar! It’s lovely to see what’s in your kitchen, and especially to see all the treasures you brought back from your travels! :)
Such lovely goodies. The honey sounds wonderful, especially the Blue Gum. Your knife is a great idea to have as an out and about knife – haven’t seen anything like that here. And I have yet to try truffle oil or even truffles come to that.
Choc, I hope you get to try something truffly soon – the oils are a really good way to go, actually. Most of the truffle’s gift is in its aroma, and in the high quality oils, that’s captured very well (without costing an arm and a leg!). :)
Have to give Honey Tasmania a try. Big fan of specialty items like that.
Thanks for stopping by! The honey is spectacular! :)
WOW! Where to start I don’t know, they are all so beautiful, what an amazing kitchen! Thank you Celia, I think the best part in our houses is the kitchen always, and I loved yours too. All these beautiful recipes coming from there.. How exciting for me, because so many new things I can learn… By the way, I love blue colours and your ceramics are so beautiful! I have too but mine is Iznik Tile… and with traditional patterns… Blessing and Happiness, with my love, nia
Nia, thank you for telling me about Iznik Tile – I think I have a couple of pieces with those designs! Here’s a photo of a bowl I own…
Those ceramics are breathtakingly beautiful, Celia!
Thanks Cindy! Hope you’re well, I’ve been missing your posts!
ALways look forward to IMK posts. The plates are beautiful.
Thanks Norma! :)
[…] so to Celia’s monthly initiative: November in my […]
I finally got around to doing a In My Kitchen. I know you can’t comment on Food24, I’m going to try and remember to do it monthly.