Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Anna @ Adobo Down Under

Misky @ Misk Cooks

Siobhan @ Garden Correspondent

Shelley @ All Litten Up

Amanda @ Lambs’ Ears & Honey

Mrs Mulberry @ Mulberry and Pomegranate

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

Brydie @ CityHippyFarmGirl

Emilie @ The Clever Carrot

My Experiments & Food

Pam @ Grow, Bake, Run

Zirkie @ Pink Polka Dot Food

Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots

Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things

Tania @ My Kitchen Stories

Glenda @ Passion Fruit Garden

In My Kitchen, September 2012

Posted in In My Kitchen on September 1, 2012| 84 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…are two jars of flavoured honey, a gift from my neighbour Jane. They have a delicious, savoury taste – I never considered using honey as a dip or spread before…

In my kitchen…

…is a new discovery from Norton Street Grocers – dark molasses sugar by Billington’s…

It is very dark and sticky – I had to crumble it with my fingers for the photo. I can see its slightly bitter, almost salty flavours working well with Asian coconut milk based desserts. I usually buy their Muscovado sugars, but this is quite different…

In my kitchen…

…are a squillion dried curry leaves, from my mum’s tree. She cut three large branches for me, and they dried crispy within days. Neighbours, if you’re reading this and could use some curry leaves, please come over…

In my kitchen…

…is a bag of blue cornmeal…

It’s more a dark mauve than blue…

…and it makes the best tortillas! We had a simple dinner of blue corn tortillas with chipotle sauce, coleslaw and tomatoes from the garden, and slow roasted belly pork. Out of the seventeen tortillas we made, I managed to get two (note to self: learn to take photos faster!)…

In my kitchen…

…are two amazing bars of Amedei chocolate, a gift from the lovely Tania. The 9 is particularly delicious, and the Porcelana a rare and much appreciated treat…

Only limited quantities of the Porcelana are made each year. The white Criollo beans which give the chocolate its name also give it a surprising sweetness, given its 70% cacao content. Each bar is individually numbered!

In my kitchen…

…is rainbow chard – which is actually silverbeet in disguise. I’ve discovered a secret – if I take the stems off and feed them to the chooks, my family will happily eat the remaining part of the leaves. That’s a good thing too, as it grows like a weed in our garden…

. . . . .

Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

Here are this month’s posts…

Sue @ Sous Chef

Pam @ Grow Bake Run

Shirley @ The Making of Paradise

Sally @ My Custard Pie

Mrs Mulberry @ Mulberry and Pomegranate

My Experiments & Food (first time contributor!)

Emilie @ The Clever Carrot

Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots

Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things

Tania @ My Kitchen Stories

Glenda @ Passion Fruit Garden

Siobhan @ Garden Correspondent

In My Kitchen, August 2012

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged beechwood spoons, clay pot cooking, hazelnut praline, homemade praline, lemongrass, mini choc chip cookies, Paula Wolfert, Pepe Saya Butter, wooden spoons on August 1, 2012| 93 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…is dark golden hazelnut praline. These pieces were eaten straight, and the rest went into a large batch of dark chocolate…

In my kitchen…

…are new beechwood utensils from Chefs’ Warehouse. After several years of using silicone spatulas, we’ve gone back to wooden spoons…

They’re made in France from sustainably harvested timber…

In my kitchen…

…is a simple lemon bar, made with June’s shortcrust pastry…

…Katey’s lemons from her new garden…

…and a recipe from Chicken and Egg by Janice Cole. If you have chickens in your backyard, this is the book for you – the recipes are quite good, but the stories are just fabulous…

In my kitchen…

…are 73 mini chocolate chip cookies…

Here’s a cherry tomato for scale…

In my kitchen…

…and two different butters. This Italian one was bought at Johnny’s shop…

It’s very tasty – quite salty and pale in colour…

The next one is a completely Australian product – Pepe Saya butter is handmade in nearby Tempe using organic cream from Country Valley in Picton, NSW and seasoned with Murray River Pink Salt…

It’s absolutely delicious! At $8.50 for 225g, it’s not cheap, but I think it’s worth it to a support a local company that’s striving so hard for quality…

In my kitchen…

…is lemongrass from the garden. We’ve just divided up our large clump – it was suffering a bit from all the rain…

In my kitchen…

…is a dedicated clay pot cookbook, by Paula Wolfert. Given the number of Römertopf and Emile Henry pots I own, I felt it was a justifiable purchase!

. . . . .

Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

. . . . .

Here are this month’s posts…

Sue @ Sous Chef

Tania @ My Kitchen Stories

Emilie @ The Clever Carrot

Misky @ Misk Cooks

Linda Maree @ My Garden Feast

Mrs Mulberry @ Mulberry and Pomegranate

Anne @ Life in Mud Spattered Boots

Pam @ Grow, Bake, Run

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things (Anniversary Post!)

Glenda @ Passion Fruit Garden (check our her Sydney shopping spree!)
. . . . .

Rebecca @ InTolerant Chef

In My Kitchen, July 2012

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged clay garlic holder, iPod dock, romertopf, Rouge Pink apples, Stirma Pippen apples, Turkish ceramics, weaving baskets from organic materials on July 1, 2012| 105 Comments »

This month’s IMK is dedicated to Barbara Harris of Winos and Foodies, who passed away yesterday. I hadn’t known Barbara very long, but she was always kind, and a highly respected member of the Australian food blogging community.

The last entry on Barbara’s blog was her joyous June IMK post. Our deepest condolences to her family and friends.

. . . . .

In my kitchen…

…is a beautiful new egg basket, woven from our rosemary prunings by our friend and neighbour Nic. I think it’s a work of art…

In my kitchen…

…are three varieties of apples. The one at the back left are Pink Ladies – an old favourite of ours – but the Rouge Pinks on the right and the Stirma Pippens at the front are both new to us…

In my kitchen…

…are my new Turkish ceramics, purchased from Turkuaz Motif. I loved the matching inside and outside fish! I bought this bowl, perfectly sized for dips and condiments…

…and a matching mini bowl for sauces and oils…

Here is a close up of the tablecloth we bought – our dining room is painted Egyptian red with sage green wood trim – and the tablecloth matches perfectly…

In my kitchen…

…is a Römertopf clay garlic holder, which arrived in the same Peters of Kensington order as the loaf pans…

In my kitchen…

…is the best purchase I’ve made in ages! My new iPod dock takes up very little room, produces a reasonable sound, and lets me cook while dancing around the kitchen to Meat Loaf…

. . . . .

Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

. . . . .

Here are this month’s posts…

Roz @ Taste Travel

Shelley @ All Litten Up

Christine @ Invisible Spice

Lizzy @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things

Rose @ Greening the Rose

Karen @ Soul Kitchen

Misky @ Misk Cooks

Anne @ Life in Mud Splattered Boots

Sue @ Sous Chef

Christie @ Fig and Cherry

Emilie @ The Clever Carrot (brand new blog!)

Shirley @ The Making of Paradise

Brydie @ CityHippyFarmGirl

Glenda @ Passion Fruit Garden

. . . . .

Chapatti Pan

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged chapatti pan, Lebanese sorj, seasoning a chapatti pan, tawa on June 3, 2012| 72 Comments »

What I really wanted … was a sorj.

Pete said no.

A sorj is a metal pan used for cooking Lebanese flatbreads. It’s shaped like a gigantic inverted wok. We found one at Harkola in Auburn for a very reasonable price, but I suspect Ray’s description of how it was to be used put my husband off. It was either that or the sheer size of the thing, which was nearly a metre (3′) in diameter (Wiki has a photo here).

According to Ray, the process begins with an oil drum full of burning wood. The sorj is seasoned by burning it over the fire, dome-side up, until it’s completely blackened – only then is it ready for cooking bread. I was really quite keen, but…

Pete said no.

So when I picked up this chapatti pan at Chefs’ Warehouse, my husband didn’t complain at all. It cost just $22 and is made of heavy cast iron.

Perhaps that’s the secret to successful negotiation: ask for a sorj, settle for a chapatti pan.

Pete even suggested that we call our new pan “The Sorj” and he offered to help me season it. We washed it in soapy water, then heated it over the middle gas burner until it was a red hot 370C (according to our infrared thermometer). As it heated and turned black, we used a wadded up paper towel to wipe over the surface several times with oil. At the end of the process, it looked like this…

Now, has anyone ever used one of these things? I’m hoping that it will work for all sorts of flatbreads, as well as the traditional Indian style ones. I’d love any suggestions you might have!

Edit: I’m up early this Sunday morning – here’s our first attempt: